“Your assignment for the weekend is to read chapters five through ten to prepare for the exam on Wednesday,” The professor droned on in a monotonous drawl that made Ben Stein sound like a Latin soccer announcer in comparison.
When combined with the fact I worked the graveyard shift at work last night, only a miracle (and five cups of coffee) kept me awake throughout the day. Barely able to keep my eyelids open, I unintentionally let out a gaping yawn before I gradually slumped forward onto my MacBook. Just as my vision blurred, a loud “thump” jolted me back awake, followed by a chorus of stifled chuckles. That’s when I found half the class staring at me and the professor shooting a stoic, but unimpressed, glare in my direction. “Excuse me Mr. Mains, but is this class boring you?” He asked the same monotone, but now laced with irritation.
I would’ve been embarrassed had I not been dazed and half-asleep. “No,” I wearily groaned, “I’m just tired Professor. I promise I won’t let it happen again.” And pray I don’t get another closing shift next week. I silently added.
“I should hope not Mr. Mains,” He remarked for all the class to hear, “I can not allow these distractions to continue, even if it’s at the end of the class. If there is no other business to discuss, class is now dismissed.”
“Another day, another round of classes finished.” I sourly remarked as I reached for my textbook and my laptop and placed them into my backpack. My mind slowly turned back to oatmeal as I lurched towards the exit at the top of the stairs.
Once outside in the halls, one of my classmates, a pleasant and easygoing chap known at Peter Watson, approached me from behind and gave me a hearty slap on the back. “Almost thought the Prof was going to pop a vein back there,” He said, “So what’s up Pat? You look like you’re about to drop dead.”
“Between classes here at the U, a full-time job to pay for them, and family commitments—don’t tempt me Pete.” I retorted, heaving a lethargic sigh as I continued my shuffle down the corridor.
Pete wasted no time in following me. Probably out of the eight thousand-plus students attending the university, he’s the closest thing I have to a friend on campus. “Want to grab a cup of coffee?” He asked, “Looks like you need another caffeine injection.”
“Can’t.” I replied, “I have another agonizingly long shift at work tonight and it starts in less than an hour and I’m [tornado fang]'d if I don’t catch the next bus.”
“It’ll only take a couple minutes,” He continued to prod and knowing Pete as well as I do, he’s not going to stop until I tell him what he wants to hear, “You have mountains of homework to complete every week and a job that bleeds you so dry, you can’t stay awake in class. Call your boss up and tell him that you missed the bus and will have to catch the next one. You deserve a break man.”
“All right, all right.” I grumbled as I grudgingly followed him towards the coffee shop in the Student’s Union building. On the way over I began to reminisce about the days where life was simpler and much more bearable: a life without having to worry about bills, taxes, or careers. I found myself yearning for the days when I transformed into Magma Dragoon and my only concern was pounding Mavericks into sheet metal. That was eight years ago and the Mavericks disappeared, and the world doesn’t need protectors anymore.
“A penny for your thoughts.” Pete said as he opened the door.
“It’s now a dollar after adjusting for inflation.” I deprecatingly quipped. As much as it would relieve me to cast this burden off my back, I couldn’t tell Pete about my fleeting tenure as Magma Dragoon. Most people forgotten who Magma Dragoon, or the X-Force, were in the intervening years and the very name left a sour taste for those that do. The lost of us were teenagers when we took up the armor, a dangerous cocktail of recklessness and arrogance that killed dozens in the crossfire. Looking back on it now fills me with guilt, but even then I had a sense of purpose—“I thought enrolling at the college would give me the direction I needed in life but here I am but three years later, I’m enrolled at the University and now I feel even more lost.”
“Maybe you just need take time away from all this and find a place where you can collect your thoughts.” He said while we waited in line. We each ordered a coffee and I ordered a bran muffin since it’ll probably be my supper.
A commendable idea but once I got a taste of saving the world as a teenager, the little things in life lost their flavor. Why would you want vanilla when you can have the other thirty-one flavors? Besides—“I don’t have the money to go on vacations Pete. I’m barely keeping my head afloat as it is.”
“Geez,” He groaned, more out of pity than anything. Just when I reached inside my pocket to scrape up the loose change to pay for my order, he pulled out his debit card. “Don’t worry about bud, I got your back covered today.”
“Thanks,” I said as I picked up my medium coffee and muffin. That’s when I remembered that I had to call work and tell them that I “missed” my ride. I stuffed the muffin in my coat pocket and pulled out my technomorpher from the inner pocket. Even though I promised not to use it to transform into my reploid alter ego, this fire engine red beauty still doubled as cellular phone and MP3 player (albeit one with infinite storage space) among other features. Thankfully looked like an iPhone with black rubber grips and blue trim so no one would notice when I used it.
I phoned work just as the two of us sat down and when I told them my story—well— “I don’t care if you missed the bus Patrick. It’s your responsibility to get to work on time.” My boss said before giving me a harsh warning, “If you don’t get your butt down here in the next half-hour, I’m going to fire you and believe me when I tell you there are twenty people dying to get your job.”
“[tornado fang]!” I snarled as I hung up and hurriedly rose to my feet. “Sorry Pete, I have to catch that bus. Five minutes ago.”
Even though clearly disappointed, Pete nodded. “I understand man, some things can’t be avoided.” He waved at me as I bolted for the terminal at warp seven. “See you on Monday!”
Luck, unfortunately, was not on my side as the bus drove off as I raced down the stairs. With no other recourse I let out a scream of impotent rage and fired off an unyielding barrage of expletives, heedless of the students and faculty nearby. I pitched my coffee to the curb and resumed cursing. “God [tornado fang]ing damn it!” I shouted, “Why does this have to happen to me? Why do I have to be some sick joke in the scheme of things?!”
Ah, the pitfalls of not having a license, or a car, or a parking pass. I ruefully pondered once I calmed down. Then it hit me: the technomorpher in my pocket. Rob’s disapproving voice echoed in my head while I ran down the winding path towards the amphitheater. When the four of us (Gary, Rob, Andrew, and myself) disbanded the X-Force, me made a covenant to never transform to our alternate forms or to use the technomorphers for personal gain. Its ability to teleport the user to any place on the planet fell that category. Yes, I literally had the world in my back pocket.
Once I was sure no one was coming my way I pulled out the technomorpher and activated the teleport feature. “A short jump downtown shouldn’t hurt,” I assured myself, “I’ll set the coordinates to an alley so no one will spot me as I come in.” Although I had some second thoughts, I knew Rob isn’t in Lethbridge anymore to enforce it. I haven’t seen Andrew in almost two years and Gary—he’s gone and he’s never coming back.
The technomorpher’s screen radiated a dazzling crimson that consumed my vision and sent an electrical surge pulsating through my entire body. My physical body transformed into a living data stream that shot towards space where an orbiting satellite bounced it towards my destination a few short kilometers away. Although instantaneous, there was one side effect that I had forgotten over the years. When I rematerialized in the alley a block away from work, I instantly felt my stomach twist itself into knot after knot after knot. I ran for the nearest can and wretched up my lunch into it. One important lesson about teleportation is to never, ever eat a large meal before you do it.
“Ugh,” I groan after dumping a plate full half-digested chicken strips with fries out of my system. “Makes me wish I had a car.”
When I felt strong enough to stand up, I wiped off my lip with my sleeve and leisurely paced towards the street since I still didn’t have to show up for work in twenty-nine minutes. Gary’s memory returned to haunt me once more and I tightened my grip on the technomorpher. To say his untimely passing affected me would put it too lightly; the two of us knew each for a couple of years before we received our technomorphers, fought side by side against the Mavericks, and still kept in close contact with each other towards the end. No, his death didn’t just affect me, it nearly shattered me. With the technomorpher I could have instantly teleported to Dallas to be at Gary’s side when he was on his deathbed but I had to keep my word to honor him. Gary died without truly knowing how much he meant to me and I let so many words, so many feelings go unsaid. The guilt’s been eating me alive for all these years and combined with my need for purpose, there’s nothing left for me to fight for.
“I don’t know why I continue this struggle. It’s ultimately useless in the end.” I grumbled as I headed towards the street. For a moment I thought I saw a shadow looming over me, I looked behind me and to the rooftops above and found nothing. Something didn’t feel quite right; it’s a sensation I haven’t felt in years so I couldn’t put my finger on it. I shrugged and continued on my merry way until someone else entered the alley.
Naturally I ignored the stranger in the dirty and tattered trench coat and hood and gave him some berth to pass by me but the stranger shuffled sideways to block me. Irritated, I attempted to sidestep him again, but he kept persisting in blocking my only way out. After a minute of this little “dance” I turned around to find another visitor in an oversized hoodie and jeans.
“Jesus Christ!” I groaned, “What’s your malfunction dipshits?! Are you here to take my wallet?” I pulled out my wallet and tossed it at the stranger’s feet. “Go ahead and take it! It’ll be the easiest forty bucks you make today!”
“We’re not interested in your wallet or any of your possessions.” The stranger in the trench coat said in voice that struck a familiar chord. He slowly reached for his hood and pulled it back. My eyes widened in astonishment and alarm as I locked glares with a pair of soulless red eyes.
I recognized that conceited smirk anywhere, and that horned saffron crest. “Double,” I growled, unsure of whether to be angry or afraid. “I thought the X-Force destroyed you and your Maverick pals when we smashed that portal to your universe years ago.”
“Ha!” Double scoffed, taking a step forward as he shed his disguise. “You humans and your foolish presumptions. No, you failed to destroy us but without the parts or the expertise to rebuild the portal we switched tactics from outright conquest to infiltration. We spent the last eight years infiltrating your governments, militaries, and industrial complexes—”
“And you wouldn’t be gloating about it if you weren’t planning to terminate me. I’m a writer Double; I’m aware of the tropes and schemes used in narrative. You’re exposition is both clichéd and boring.” I remarked, tightening my grip on my technomorpher as I looked back to his partner at the back of my peripheral vision. “Who’s your partner? Anyone I know?”
His partner pulled back his hood to reveal a violet helmet reminiscent of Boba Fett with a red “V” painted on the forehead. “Oh yes,” I said as he crossed his arms and glared at me. “Vile.”
“I see you’re familiar with my associated,” Double chuckled. His eyes darted towards my technomorpher and his perverted grin grew even more twisted. “Don’t even think of calling the others for assistance. We ripped them all to shreds before we moved onto you.”
He proceeded to maniacally cackle while Vile stood silent and ready. “It’s pathetic really,” He sneered, “All them grew soft and weak over the past eight years; none of your team mated kept their technomorphers on hand when we killed them. They all forgot who they were and what they fought for. It was so amusing to watch them beg for their lives before I slit their throats for the animals they were!”
“Liar!” I shouted back at them. Part of me couldn’t believe it: Alon, Marc, Rick, Trevor, and Andrew, all dead. I knew Rob would never beg for his life, nor did I believe that Double killed Rob or Andrew yet. The only thing Double was in my all encounters with him was a braggart and a sadist. He just wanted to play with my emotions and watch me suffer. Well I wasn’t about to give him the satisfaction.
“I’m not going to fall as easily as the others,” I declared as I held my technomorpher towards him. Sliding my finger over the “transform” button, I clenched my teeth and gave Double an icy glare. “I never forgot who I was and I have only two syllables for you Jello Man. SHA-ZAM!”
The technomorpher suddenly glowed a brilliant red, and lightning seemed to streak out of the sky to strike me. Once the crimson flash subsided, the human known as Patrick Mains no longer existed and the Maverick Hunter called took his place. Feelings of guilt washed over me while I watched on from the “control room” in R-Space, but then again, I made that pact when the remaining X-Force assumed that the Maverick threat was over and I think this qualifies as self-defense.
“Alright,” I said, assuming a defensive stance. “Which one of you turkeys wants to take on the big bad dragoon first?”
Vile took to the air on his jetpack first while Double unsheathed his energy blades and lunged towards me. Two against one; I didn’t like those odds as I leapt out of the way of Double’s attack but Vile locked me in his sights and fired off a barrage of incendiary grenades. One of them detonated close enough to send me flying face-first into the streets below and into the path of an incoming bus. “Oh, fuh” I growled as it hit me and knocked me into the rear of a nearby Taurus.
The civilians on the sidewalk started to panic when Vile came swooping in to fire off another bombardment of grenades. I rolled out of the path of one but the others exploded and incinerated any civilian unfortunate to be at ground zero of its arbitrary target, while the shrapnel shredded those outside the blast radius. Even though his helmet left little room for expression, I could tell Vile enjoyed the carnage he wrought when he picked off several pedestrians with his gattling cannon before scoring a direct hit on my midsection.
“Argh!” I screamed, running a quick diagnostic on my systems. Only a 7.3% power loss and no damage to any vital systems; I can easily compensate but I can’t let either of them blindside me like that again. Double finally joined the fray and unlike Vile, I saw him coming a mile away and clasped both hands together as he came charging towards me.
“HADOUKEN!” I shouted thrusting both hands forward to throw a fireball that threw him into a storefront while Vile came circling around to fire off another round from his gattling cannon. This time I leapt into the air and performed a Shoryuken (or flaming uppercut) attack that momentarily knocked his flight stabilizers out. More than enough time to grab him and throw him into the same storefront as his partner. Once I landed and did a quick scan and confirmed that the building is now deserted; I crouched downward, raised my flaps, and fired a column of flame that weakened the support beams inside enough for the building to collapse on itself.
Although buried under a few hundred tons of brick and steel, I doubt that even that much rubble will keep Double or Vile down for too long but hopefully enough it’ll buy me enough time to get some breathing room. My first priority right now is to get these civilians to safety and without the rest of the X-Force to assist me; I have my job cut out for me. Thankfully most had ample sense to run once they saw two large robots duking it out on Third Avenue but as I scanned the abandoned vehicles and flaming wreckage for survivors, my aural sensors detected sobbing from five meters away.
“Where are you mommy?” I heard a child whimper, “I’m scared and wanna go home.”
I reached under the hood of the nearby Humvee, and tossed the hulking vehicle onto its side to find a little girl no older than five with blonde hair and a dimple on her cheek. She slowly raised her head and stared at me; paralyzed by fear, she only quivered as I knelt down. “Don’t be afraid,” I told her for what little assurance it would give her. “It’s too dangerous to stay here. Come with me and I’ll take to someone who can help you find your mommy. Do you understand me?”
The girl slowly nodded and I picked her up with one arm. If I had my human face, I would try to smile at her. “What’s your name kid?”
“Jasmine.” She sobbed.
“Don’t worry Jasmine.” I whispered as I made a leap that spanned two city blocks. “Everything’s going to be fine. I promise.”
Sirens wailed in the background, which told me that the Lethbridge Regional Police was hard at work to cordon off the area while the Fire Department moved in to take the injured from the battlefield. This will make my life harder because Vile and Double will target them as well as me but first thing’s first I got to get this child to safety. When I finally reached a police barricade the officers looked at me with equal measures of disbelief and apprehension. “Holy mother of god,” one of them gasped, “They are actually real.”
I silently handed the girl to the nearest officer and turned around to go back to the battlefield where my sparring partners are less then a minute from breaking free. However, the other cop pulled his gun from its holster, pointed at me, and shouted. “Freeze!”
Without showing any fear or hesitation, I turned around and stared at him. I saw his hands quiver as he gradually paced towards me. “You’re under arrest!”
This is the last thing I needed right now; I could lecture him on how firing that weapon at me would be a waste of ammunition but time is a luxury that neither of us had. “You do your job officer,” I growled, “And I’ll do mine.”
Before I could jump back into action, I heard the roar of incoming jets and it didn’t take me long to calculate its origin. Vile streaked overhead, once more firing his gattling cannon with the intention of pick off me and as many humans as he can. I rushed to protect the officers taking more damage and to add insult to injury Double also appeared out of nowhere and thrust his energy blade through my abdomen. “Oh my god!” The officer yelled, firing his gun in a panic.
“Run! I’ll hold them off for as long as I can!” I shouted. Double managed to severe my main power coupling; I’m running on back up but it’s going to take at least twenty seconds to bypass it. Luckily for them, Jello Man only wanted me.
He watched them run and then smirk. “What’s the matter Dragoon?” He sneered, “There was once was a time you’d let a dozen bystanders die just to get a crack at me. You disappoint me.”
“Guess I had to grow up and rethink my priorities,” I weakly sputtered, punching him in the “stomach” as a pitiful show of defiance.
Double looked down, and shook his head in mock disappointment. “Did you already forget that I’m made of a gelatinous polymimetic compound? Your blows can’t hurt me Em-Dee!”
My secondary power coupling then kicked in and all systems were now functioning within nominal parameters. “Yeah. But is it flammable?” I retorted. Double only had a few seconds to realize what I meant. A nervous grimace replaced his trademark smirk when he realized my fist now glowed white-hot with all the infernal heat I could muster. “I take that as a yes.”
Diverting all available power to the flame generators in both forearms, I unleashed an unholy conflagration that consumed the two of us. I clenched my jaw shut and grunted as I watched Double literally burn away like wax from a candle. As resistant as he was to conventional damage, I reckoned heat resistance wasn’t in his repertoire. Double’s screams flooded my aural sensors but I kept pouring on the heat until only his non-gelatinous parts remained in a smoking heap.
“I was expecting a better fight out of you Double-Oh.” I sardonically quipped to his smoldering corpse, “You disappoint me.” Unfortunately for me, that stunt reduced my power reserves to 31% and my strength and agility are greatly diminished without my main power coupling, and Vile was still on the loose to top it all off. Luckily I didn’t have to wait long for him to appear as he dove towards me full throttle.
“I wonder if that jet pack of yours can take two passengers,” I said before leaping onto Vile and holding onto him while we was still airborne.
“What are you? Some crazy son of a [sonic slicer]?” He shouted
“Well, you know what desperate times call for Vile.” I remarked, grunting as clung onto him while the two of us wildly flew in the skies above downtown Lethbridge. We had a couple of close calls with the ground and the buildings below but Vile managed to maneuver his way out it. In a desperate attempt to shake me off, he hit the afterburner and sent up wards like a rocket. Unable to handle the rattling, I released him from my grip and plummeted back to Earth but Vile’s overtaxed jet pack exploded and he followed me shortly thereafter.
My optics focused on the rapidly approaching ground below while I calculated my chances of surviving this fall. Let’s say my prospects didn’t look promising, “Even if I raised my impact shielding, I have less than a one in ten chance of survival.” Assuming I survive the impact, will I have enough power to beat Vile? I didn’t even need to use Magma Dragoon’s CPU to figure out those odds. “About a million to one.”
While I directed all available power to the impact shielding, my thoughts were on Rob. “I can’t do this alone,” I thought as braced myself for what would be a painful landing on top of Lethbridge Centre Tower. I wished he was here, and Gary too. Hell, I’d settle for Rick or Alon; anyone could help me smash this sucker to bits. “Come on,” I muttered just before slamming back first into the roof. “Where are you guys?”
--
Rob was walking back home from another draining shift, “blissfully” oblivious of the battle raging on over two hundred kilometers due south. Much to my chagrin and undying jealousy, he had much easier time finding a life after the X-Force. He moved to Calgary over four years ago to get one step closer to his aspirations of becoming a paramedic, and last I heard, he’s looking at some universities out East to complete his education. The two of us rarely talk anymore and see each other even less. Some of it’s because of a lack of maintenance on my end, but Rob’s found some new friends and pursued other interests, the X-Force is just a flickering memory in the back of his mind.
As harsh as that may sound, I don’t believe that the X-Force was the first thing on his mind when he unlocked the door to the townhouse he shared. “Hello? Anyone home?” he called out as he took the mail out of the box and flipped through it and grumbled. “Bills, bills, and let me guess, more bills. Oh wait, buy one pizza get another one half price.”
“Guess I know what I’m having for dinner tonight.” He jibed, tossing the bills onto the coffee table and picked up the TV remote before throwing himself onto the couch. “‘Cause heaven knows I’m not in the mood to cook tonight.”
He turned on his roommate’s big screen to catch the tail end of Dr. Phil but the thought of watching it make Rob cringe so he surfed through the channels until something in CBC Newsworld’s marquee caught his eyes. Two words he never thought he would never have to see grouped in the same sentence again: “Mavericks Attack.”
“I don’t believe it.” He gasped, slowly rising to lean forward as he turned up the volume.
“Authorities can’t verify specific details, but eyewitnesses conform that the attack began at approximately 4:50 P.M. Mountain Standard Time.” Then it switched to grainy and blurred video of two reploids fighting hand-to-hand in what Rob recognized as downtown Lethbridge. “Amateur video taken via cell phone confirms that one of the combatants is Magma Dragoon, leader of the X-Force, whom many remember for their paramilitary actions against the ruling Junta of Myanmar in 2002--”
Rob pressed the mute button and froze in deep contemplation. He recognized the other reploid as Double and though he remembered out Pact, he also remembered that we made it when we assumed we eliminated the Maverick threat. “I got to help Pat,” He said to himself, springing to his feet and racing up the stairs to his room before he stopped in the hallway. “Oh [tornado fang]!” He groaned, “I left my technomorpher back in Lethbridge!”
He then pulled out his cell phone and frantically pressed in the numbers. “I hope Andrew remembers where we put them.”
After a couple rings, a voice picked up. “Hello?”
“Andrew? It’s Rob.” Rob hastily said. Given what was at stake, neither of them had any time to dispense with the usual pleasantries. “Did you catch what’s happening in downtown Lethbridge?”
“I did.” Andrew replied, “I’m only my way back home to look for my technomorpher. They said Magma Dragoon destroyed Double on the radio but it’s not looking good.”
“Why not?”
“Pat hopped onto Vile and the two of them crashed into the Lethbridge Center tower, and he’s already taken heavy damage.” Andrew explained. “I don’t know how much longer Pat can hold out.”
“You better hurry then and let me know what happens down south Andrew.” Rob said as he slowly descended the stairs to resume watching the news feed. “God. The Mavericks disappear and show up again after eight years? I have a terrible feeling about this.”
--
“Ugh,” My vision suddenly flickered back as my systems started rebooting, and awoke to find a giant hole above me. From a cursory glance, it appears that we both fell through three floors. I groaned as I shakily lifted myself back to my feet and ran another quick diagnostic. Somehow my impact shield protected me from the crash but it reduced my operating power to less than 5% and left my right arm a mangled and barely functioning wreck. Although lucky to survive a one thousand meter drop, my luck quickly ran out as a spray of gattling cannon fire chewed up the office furniture around me. “[tornado fang]!”
I rolled behind a wall, which Vile quickly turned to Swiss cheese, and waited for his gattling cannon to overheat. “So you survived our little fall Dragoon. I’m going to make you wish that didn’t get back up!”
“I’m already regretting that I didn’t rip off your head and use it as an ashtray!” I retorted (despite the fact I don’t smoke) before smashing through the drywall. No time for plans or strategies now, just a battle for survival. I acted on my first impulse and grappled with Vile.
“Getting desperate now aren’t we Dragoon?” He goaded as he squeezed my mangled right hand. The electrical surge sent a wave of painful feedback though R-Space that caused me to howl in agony. “I am going to enjoy watching you light up like a Christmas tree!”
Vile’s eyes glowed a hellish red from behind his helmet when he sent a few thousand extra amps course through my damaged systems. My screams grew louder as the servos in my joints went into spasm from his electrical attack. I watched as my energy plummeted to dangerously low levels. Four percent, three, two, one point five. In a rash and last-ditch attempt to get the upper hand, I opened my jaws and bit into Vile’s shoulder. Then when pain forced him to hesitate, I tore off his arm, sending sparks and hydraulic fluid spraying everywhere.
“ARGH!” He squawked, “Bastard!”
“You have no idea.” I snarled and I swung his dismembered arm and knocked him into a support column. While I had Vile pinned, I continued to bludgeon him with his arm until I turned the Maverick into a dented wreck. “Any last words before I send you to scrap yard Vava Fett?”
Vile slowly raised his head. “Just six Dragoon: Shut up and die human scum!” Then with lightning fast reflexes, he fired a shot from his shoulder-mounted cannon that sent me flying clear through the demolished office space and out the window. To make matters worse, that blast also depleted the last of my power reserves and with a brilliant red flash; the technomorpher changed me back to my human form. Everything happened so quickly. I plunged towards the street like a rock and hit the ground just in time for Andrew (as Cyber Peacock) to come flying in.
“No! I’m too late!” He cried out as he landed next to my lifeless and changed back to his human form. Tears welled up in his eyes as knelt next to me and checked my pulse, anything that could tell me I was alive. “Don’t you dare die on me man! I didn’t tear up my room just to see you croak!”
Despite his doomed attempts to resuscitate me, Andrew never gave up and stayed by my side when the paramedics came to take me to the already crowded hospital. He sat in the corner of the Emergency Room, and silently watched my mother, father, and sister huddled together on the other side of the lobby. About an hour passed, before a doctor in a pastel green smock approached them. His heart sank when he witnessed the doc deliver bad news and clutched his chest as he reached inside coat pock for his cell phone. He pressed Rob’s number and waited for him to pick up.
“Andrew? What’s happened? Tell me, please.”
After a long and uncomfortable silence, Andrew finally spoke. “I’m so sorry Rob.” he sobbed, “Pat’s gone.”