AN: This is the first of a possibly ongoing bunch of oneshot crossovers while I try and figure out what in the world to do with my other story. Please tell me if you like any and I may continue! :) Also, my spell-check isn't working too well right now, so please refrain from criticizing my horrid spelling... I will try to edit it later when things are working again.
Disclaimer: I do not own the shows Danny Phantom or Generator Rex (which, if you haven't seen, you should definitely watch), nor do I own any of their products... Kensington and the plot are mine, but that's it... Please do pity me. :*(
Arc 1: The Big White Box in the Desert
Dusty wind blew across the bleak Nevada desert as Six stared apathetically at the large white box of a building looming above him. His lips thinned as he fingered the hilt of his double sword at his side. All around him, lesser agents and a small pack of scientists scanned the building, searching for the source of the mysterious energy that brought them out here.
It was strange... It had been quiet the entire week. There were no devastating EVO attacks to speak of, just a few routine jobs here and there. In the still silence of everything, Six found himself unable to calm himself. Despite Rex's, Holiday's, and the 'monkey's insistance, he knew that something was going to happen... Aparently, he was right.
Early that morning, when the sun had yet to rise over the mountain peaks, the alarm sounded. A strange energy pulse had been recognized deep in the Nevada desert, right in a middle of where the maps showed nothing but sand for miles, and it was only getting stronger by the minute. He couldn't help but feel some satisfaction in knowing that he was right... Still, something was off about it. The energy readings were inconsistent with those that radiated from high-powered EVOs when their nanites were active. In fact, the whole area seemed to be repulsing nanites, the content level there was so low. It didn't take long for White Knight to insist they investigate, sending Six out with a crew of agents and scientists. Doc and Rex had been ordered to stay behind, in case they were needed for a more 'EVO' related trouble. Now, here he was staring at a bleak warehouse-like building in the middle of nowhere. Perhaps the silence had been better.
"Agent Six, sir!" Six looked up at one of the scientists waving him over to the large gleaming silver metal doors, the only opening in the white-concrete walls. With long strides he met the shorter, lab-coated man. Focusing his attention on him, he nodded for the man to continue. Adjusting small glasses the brown-haired scientist looked down at the device in his hands.
"The energy readings we're getting seem to contradict our earlier assessment. We believe they have, in fact, been at the same level the whole time." Six rose a curious eyebrow over his dark sunglasses.
"And what, Dr. Kensington, accounts for the increase we registered? How come we never noticed this before?" The older man, Kensington, licked his lips nervously, hands fidgeting with his energy reader. He lifted his head to look Six in the eyes.
"That's the thing, sir. The building's been here a while. It's long abandoned now, no life-signs coming from the inside, but... from what we can tell, it's been here for at least twenty years before the Nanite Storm... Whatever's here... we don't know exactly how, or why, or how long yet, but... it was hidden and whatever was hiding it is failing... It's like a crack in a dam, where more water would escape as it got bigger... it's not nanite related, though. That's for sure, but whatever it is...it seems powerful..."
Six frowned at that, looking back to the large double-doors. A strange feeling of foreboding was eating at his stomach. Judging from what had been found, this place was probably a pre-nanite research facility... or containment unit... long forgotten. While that in itself wasn't very unusual (many places had been abandoned in the chaos when the nanites were first released and a place so remote wasn't likely to be remembered), he couldn't help but wonder what was inside. Kensington had said it was powerful and he had enough trouble with the evos running amuck... He really just hoped it was some weapon that could be dismantled before anything disastrous happened. Looking to some of the agents milling around, he made a decision. They needed to know what was in there... It couldn't be left for someone else to find.
"Get those doors open!" He called out. Immediately, all agents in the vicinity had their eyes on him. "We're going in!" A loud chorus of "Yes'sirs!" was heard as several larger agents ran to get a battering-ram or some other tool to break down the sturdy, oddly pristine metal.
It took over fifteen minutes, but the doors broke from their old, dry hinges with a satisfying thud, falling into the darkness beyond. Six broke off a group of agents and a couple scientists, deeming it far easier to keep track of a small group of eight than to let loose the entire squadron in the unknown and possibly unstable territory.
The combined light from their flashlights illuminated the empty entry-way. It looked as if everything had been left behind in a hurry. A large black desk, to their right, was covered in scattered paperwork, and an old computer monitor stood by a corded phone. A black chair was toppled on its side, likely knocked down when the place was abandoned. The walls were blank and the once stark-white paint was peeling from shrinkage in the dry environment and there was a thick gray layer of dust over everything. Carefully, the group of nine ventured further into the complex, coming across a few more offices with seemingly ancient equipment. Every room maintained the same color scheme. Bleach-white floors and walls and black furniture. If not for the lack of electricity and the obviously abandoned look to the place and the prevailing black furniture, they could have very well been back at Providence headquarters.
Coming across a door clearly marked with only the letter 'A', they found a large room, likely the main office, lined entirely with file cabinets. Though the energy source was still further inside, Six took a moment to investigate. Perhaps the information stored here could clue them in on what they were looking for. As the others scrounged through the cabinets, Six directed his attention to the file on the large desk. Unlike the rest of the offices, so far, that had hurriedly forgotten sloppy stacks of paperwork and other supplies, it was the only thing on the desk, carefully placed in the middle with its papers neatly stacked inside the manila. Placing the flashlight down so that it was aimed at the folder, he looked to it's label.
A bright green pentagon stood out against the folder's pale background, the fifth point facing down and 'G.I.W.' typed clearly in black lettering. He pursed his lips at the newly discovered symbol for... whatever this place was. It was unfamiliar to him and the acronym aided him little in discovering the truth. Typed below was 'PROJECT: Phantom" and in bright red stamp-ink was an old 'TOP SECRET' label... Ah... A government agency of some sort?
Flipping it open, he scanned the various charts and statistics listed. 'Daily Energy Output, Anatomization Results, Electro-shock Treatment Analysis, Ecto-energy to Mass Stability Ratios, Temperature Extreme Test Results, Lifetime Prediction Analysis, Energy Signature Analysis Results, Half-life Analysis, Radiation Emission and Energy Expenditure Correlation Results, Potential Energy and Mass Destruction Capability Analysis, Combat Success Evaluation..." The dread grew in Six's mind as he continued to look through the vague data shown. He had no clue what most of the results meant or how they were used (he wasn't a scientist, after all), but the names of the tests implied something much more than something as benign as genetically modified produce. There was a weapon here with unknown and likely disastrous capabilities. He couldn't help but feel relief that Providence got to the mysterious base before Van Kleiss could spot it. Who knew what the maniac would have done?
"Ah-hah!" His flashlight rocked gently on the table's surface as a younger agent slammed a large piece of paper down on the desk. Six raised a questioning eyebrow to the young man, who happened to be grinning like a mad man. "I found a map sir!" Six blinked, mind still focused on the confusing file in his hands before he realized what the agent meant. Snatching up the paper, he quickly found what he was looking for. Towards the middle of the building was a set of five fairly average rooms. Unlike everything else shown, they were unmarked, but a red line around it clearly denoted it as 'High-Security Access Only'.
With the newly recovered map, it didn't take long for the team to navigate the hallways and find the likely source of the mysterious energy. The closer they got, the more frequent the continuous beeps were emited from the scanners. Coming around yet another corner, the group halted.
Blocking them from continuing on to the door was an energy barrier of some sort, bright green and blinking in and out of existence rapidly as if whatever powered it was failing. From the lack of electricity around the entire building, Six supposed that whatever generators were powering the strange field were also failing. However, walking up to the barrier without thought, much to the scientists' horror, he found no resistance to his hand passing through. A curious eyebrow raised above his sunglasses' dark lenses. Behind him, he heard someone remove a panel from the wall and flip a switch and the barrier instantly fizzled out. Glancing over his shoulder, he noted Kensington excitedly typing notes into his pad and taking new readings. The man met his gaze.
"It looks as though my assumption was correct and that barrier was our 'dam'...we have an almost steady stream of energy, now... And it's coming right from that door ahead."
Six nodded stiffly in return before turning back to the door. The doorknob was cold to the touch, much more so than the rest of the building that had been hidden from the hot sun for decades, and there was strange tingly feeling that almost reminded him of a static shock. The security panel electronically keyed into the lock had long since failed and the knob turned with ease, and, suddenly the door was shoved open with a crash, wild freezing wind whipping out around them, holding that same tingly feeling and nearly knocking several of them over. It died away in seconds, however, and they stared into the room in shocked amazement.
Cold and pale luminescent blue ice covered the floor and ceiling, steadily creeping up the walls into amazing stalagmites and stalactites and away from a single icy cylinder in the middle of the room, attached at both ends the floor and ceiling. Six barely noticed the hushed whispers of the scientists' instruments or their startled exclamations that they were picking up a faint new life-sign or the soft footsteps of the other agents, as he carefully stepped up to the cylinder. The glow of the ice, which seemed to pulse almost imperceptibly like the steady beat of a heart, cast eerie shadows across his hands. A strange lump grew in his throat as he wiped away a layer of frost at about eye-level to reveal a glassy surface. Six's eyes widened behind his black lenses. Behind him, a chorus of shocked gasps rose into the frigid air.
Within the clear, frozen liquid of the cylinder, bright glowing green eyes snapped open to stare steadily into Six's and the man took an uncharacteristic step back, feeling the undeniable, horrifying power radiating from those eyes. And for that moment time seemed to stop and go on for eternity at once.
Fading to a pure, but definitely not glowing, blue, they blearily slid closed. The ice continued to beat, casting shadows on the pale face of a black-haired teen-aged boy.
