Chapter Text
"Useless."
"Dead weight."
"Weak."
"Pathetic."
"Loser."
They didn't have to say those things specifically, but that's how everyone treated Emmet. Even his friends. Emmet knew that his friends didn't mean for it to sound that way, they just wanted to protect him. But what were they really protecting Emmet from, and why did they have to treat him like a child to do it? He didn't know, all he knew was that he was tired of it. For the first time in Emmet's life he truly knew what it felt like to hate something, but he ignored it. He ignored it for years. It didn't matter what other people said or thought about him. As long as he was true to himself he'd be happy. Right?
Well he was happy with his life! He had an awesome girlfriend, and some pretty cool friends. Even if they may have belittled him without even knowing they still hung out with him. He still had some fun times with his friends. But even then it didn't change how he felt.
Sometimes he'd wonder what would've happened if he actually listened to everyone. If he actually became "tough". Emmet didn't really want to do that. Okay, maybe he did, but only because he wanted people to get off his back. Being tough just wasn't who Emmet was. It isn't how Emmet is. The dark muted colored outfits with mostly brown grey or black didn't appeal to him. All the spikes on their outfits too, that seemed like a hassard. Being mean and grouchy also didn't appeal to Emmet. He never liked it when people were mean to him so he didn't think people would appreciate it if he was mean to them!
But recently the thought of him becoming a "tough" guy kept plaguing him. He'd try to push it away all the time but it always came back. Maybe if he did he'd get to go out on patrols with his friends. Maybe if he did he wouldn't be belittled all the time. Maybe if he did people would actually start to treat Emmet with respect…
One day the thoughts finally took over, and he decided he'd try it out. He first tried to help out his friends with some hardcore things. He would get pushed away. Emmet then thought that maybe he just needed to start training to be tougher? He was probably rushing it with just immediately asking to help out. So he started to train to be tougher in secret. During that time he then thought of something important. If he were to mess up doing something with his friends they'd probably never let him get to do "tough" things again. Sure he'd seen his friends make some mistakes before, but they'd probably get too over protective of Emmet. But… what if he wasn't Emmet.
What if he was a complete total stranger that nobody in this town even knew? They wouldn't immediately push him away for being "soft". Heck they wouldn't even really know if he was soft if he just didn't show it. Emmet shook the idea away. What a completely absurd thing to think about. How would he even be a total stranger? People would instantly recognize him right?
But the idea was just so… appealing. He imagined being someone else for a day. He imagined not having people constantly leave him out of stuff. He imagined being someone new… someone tougher, someone better.
Someone his friends would actually be proud to be around.
Emmet looked at himself in the mirror. Neat hair, a baby face, plain… normal… average… His naive optimism couldn't stop Emmet from seeing the truth.
He decided then and there that he'd do it. He'd pretend to be someone else for a day. Just a day! But first he needed a new outfit, and a new name… He'd figure out his outfit later, but the name was something he needed to figure out soon. He took out a notebook and a pen and wrote down any tough things he could think of.
Fire was tough right? Maybe Flame?
No, that didn't sit right.
Chainsa-
There's no way anyone would think his actual name was chainsaw.
He heard of a guy named Rocky Dangerbuff before mayb-
No, he didn't like the name Rocky either.
Lions were tough right??? Maybe Leo!
No, that didn't even sound tough!
Missile launcher?!??
Who has the name Missile Launcher?!??!
Emmet scribbled on the paper, tore it out of the notebook, and threw it away. He was so bad at thinking of names! He decided to look around the room for something, anything. He got up and looked at the movie collection. He scrolled, and scrolled, and started to get frustrated when he suddenly came across some kind of dinosaur movie. Dinosaurs were tough… The back showed people getting chased by different dinosaurs. There were raptors, some other things he couldn't remember the names of… Veo? Could he go by Veo? He then looked at the T-Rex. Rex? All of a sudden it was like a lightbulb had formed over his head. Rex! That was it that would be the name he'd go by!
Now all Emmet needed was an outfit, a last name (maybe even a middle name), a backstory, and a new act. Once he'd figure that out, everyone in town would be talking about this new mysterious stranger.
Everyone in town would talk about Rex.