Generator Rex

Mission 1/ The Birds' Nest

Rex rushed past the panicking citizens. This was a normal day for him, an evo running rampant through the city. People were running and screaming for fear of their own safety. The same thing just a different city. This time it was Springfield, Colorado; which was odd considering all his time working for Providence, an evo attack had never occurred in Springfield. Denver, sure, but never Springfield. Sixx was on his usual 'cure or kill' orders, as he chased down the evo. It was an odd one, a shadow like creature, virtually shapeless, with bat-like wings. "Rex!" Sixx barked at him, as an unexplained order for him to get his head in the game.

"Relax, Sixx." Rex screeched his bike to a stop as Noah and Bobo jumped off. "Hold on guys, this'll take a sec." He transformed back to himself, and then his mechanical 'wings' built out of his back.

"Okay, but remember. You promised we'd hang out today." Noah pointed out.

"I know." He laughed a bit. A smile spread across his face, the one he always wears when its time to do his job. He took off at top speed, passing the evo and stopping in its path. "Shows over-" A shadowy tentacle reached out and crushed his left engine and threw him to the ground. He retracted his machines in pain. "Ow…did not expect that." The evo jumped down and rushed down the alleyway.

"Rex! Go after him!" Sixx ordered.

"Yeah, I'm on it." He jumped up and ran towards the alley.

"Holiday." Sixx said as he clicked his communicator in his ear.

{"I know, Sixx. Its strange, So far Springfield has remained evo free as far as we know. How an evo suddenly appeared and is causing destruction, I'm not sure. Its something to look into."}

"What do you mean?" Sixx asked uneasily. He didn't like the tone of Holiday's voice.

{"There's something going on in Springfield. The people either haven't noticed, or-"}

"Or?" Sixx asked, a bit impatient.

{"The whole town is in on it."}

The was some static, an interruption in their conversation. A male voice rang through, it belonged to none other than White Knight.

{"Stop the evo and investigate. Report to me immediately when you find something."}

"Stupid evo is cutting in on my chill time with Noah." Rex rounded the corner sharply, and then, wham! He collided with someone, they both fell to the ground. Rex sat up quickly, a bit frustrated. "What the-?!" He stopped dead in his tracks when he noticed who the 'road block' was. It was a girl, with reddish brown hair, wild and mussy, past shoulder length. Her outfit was almost completely black, a long sleeved shirt, leggings and flats; all except an ornate tribal scarf wrapped around her waist. She rubbed her head as she sat up. Rex had just risen to his feet, a smile spread across his face. He held his hand out to her. "Sorry about that, you okay?"

She was grumbling as she grabbed his hand, not even looking at him yet. "First I get run over by some random evo, only to get knocked over a second time by a-" Her baby blue eyes sparkled as they met his. "-a really cute boy." She smiled shyly, a cute smile which made Rex want to smile more. "Hi, there."

"You said you were run over by an evo, happen to see where it went?"

"No, because as soon as I stood back up you knocked me over again." She frowned. "If it's an evo you're looking for, you're not going to find it if you lose sight of it. At least not in this town." She shook her head.

"What do you mean by that?" Sixx asked as they caught up with Rex. He gave the girl a quick scan, she didn't look dangerous but looks can be deceiving.

"How rude." The girl fumed at Sixx's question. "You're the strangers here, and you're giving me attitude while asking for information." She crossed her arms and turned away from him angrily. Sixx raised an eyebrow, he was baffled by her actions.

"Okay, how about an introduction?" Rex cut between them to defuse the situation. "I'm Rex, this is my best friend Noah, and my trusty partner Bobo. And the guy who looks like a green secret agent is Sixx." He smiled at her and held his hand out. She couldn't resist, she turned and shook his hand.

"I'm Crow." She gave him a slight smile.

"Crow as in the bird?" Noah inquired curiously.

"Yup. It's the name I picked up here in Springfield."

"It's not your real name?" Sixx asked.

"And Sixx is yours?" she chuckled. "Now that we're acquainted, how about I answer your questions over lunch, my Providence compadres?"

"How'd you know we're from Providence?" Rex asked.

"You just told me." She laughed. "If you want to keep it a secret, don't fall for that trick again and you're good." She sighed and began walking towards the street. "Follow me then, my favorite restaurant is this way. Don't worry, its my treat."

Noah walked next to Rex, a genuine smile on his face. "Wow, Rex. She's pretty cute. Not just pretty cute, really cute."

"Yeah, I know. Am I lucky or what?" Rex laughed triumphantly.

"Forget it." Bobo smirked. "She's out of both of your leagues."

"Rex, be careful. Holiday said there is something wrong with this city." Sixx said quietly, glancing at Crow to make sure she hadn't noticed. "White wants us to investigate."

"Great, I meet a cute girl and she might be insane." Rex said sarcastically. He paused, his face showed that he was thinking about something. "Well, as long as she doesn't try to behead me, I'm okay with it." Sixx gave him a strange look. "But she's cute."

"It's just a bit further." She said as they exited the alley way. That's when people started noticing them. Sixx looked around.

"Why are they staring?" He asked.

She laughed to herself a bit. "Don't freak out, I'm kind of famous in this town."

"Hey, Crow!" A man waved at her.

"It's Crow." Someone else said. Whispers surged through the crowd. People called out to Crow and waved cheerfully.

"Huh, and I thought I was famous." Rex joked.

Crow waved back but began walking faster towards the restaurant. She obviously wanted to get to the restaurant as fast as possible. She crossed the street and avoided people on the sidewalk. She opened the door to the restaurant and held it open for them. "Your lunch awaits." She gave them a smile and then followed them inside after a very hesitant Sixx.

"Crow!" The man at front greeted her warmly. "Ah, you brought visitors… and they are…?"

"No, they are my guests, Pierre, and they shall be treated as such." Her tone seemed so commanding.

"Ah, yes, yes. Let me show you to your table." He lead them to a table in the middle of the restaurant.

"Wow, you have a lot of authority." Noah said as they sat down and peaked at the menu.

"No one in this town can really tell me no." She handed Pierre the menu. "I'll just have the usual."

"Right, a coffee and a slice of chocolate cream pie." Pierre wrote it down really fast.

"I'll have what she's having." Sixx said as he handed the menu to him.

"I think I want a hot fudge sundae." Noah smiled.

"Me too." Rex agreed.

"I'll have what the birdie's having." Bobo smirked as he pointed to Crow.

Pierre ran off, leaving Crow to Sixx's glare. "Are you going to answer any of my questions now?"

"Hmm? Which ones?" She tilted her head innocently, she was obviously toying with Sixx.

"Who are you really? And what's going on with this town?" Sixx's patience was wearing thin.

"Pass on the first question. The second one is a bit complicated, depends on what mean by 'going on.'" She twiddled her fingers, ignoring the steam coming out of Sixx's ears as he remained expressionless.

"Uh, let me try." Rex motioned to Sixx to relax. "What Sixx means is why aren't there any evos running around? This is the first time we've ever had a disturbance in Springfield."

"No evos? There most certainly are." Pierre placed the food on the table in front of them as she spoke. He gave Rex a dirty look as he walked away.

"Did that waiter just glare at me?" Rex asked, a bit shocked by it.

"Yeah, but that's because most people don't like outsiders putting their noses in our business. There are many evos in Springfield. They make up forty percent of the population."

"No way. How come Providence doesn't know about it?" Noah asked.

"Because any chance the evos who can control themselves have, Providence crushes it underfoot like stepping on a bug in a meadow. We have it organized so that any evo who comes into the city is registered. We find them homes and based on their powers, we find them jobs. We keep them monitored to protect them from the abuse of evo haters and we take care of anyone who gets out of control." She stuffed a chunk of pie in her mouth.

"Who's 'we'?" Sixx asked.

"We being the Birds' Nest." She inhaled the steam from her coffee, it tickled her nostrils. She took a sip.

"What do you mean by you take care of the ones who get out of control?" Rex had a serious look on his face.

Crow stopped, stunned by the question. "We don't kill 'em, if that's what you're asking. Jeez, why does everyone always jump to that conclusion?" She shook her head. "We keep them locked in the Nest till we can rehabilitate them. If not, they stay there. it's a spacious place."

"The Nest?" Noah looked confused.

"Okay, listen. The Birds' Nest is our home base. My name, Crow, it was given to me 'cause I'm a member. We're all named after a different bird. Some of us are human and some are evo. If your rep is good enough and if you're skilled enough you get a name. We have it so that Providence should never have to come here. Cardinal made sure of that."

"Cardinal? He's the big guy in charge right?" She nodded at Noah.

"So here's the deal, I help you get your evo and you help me with something." She batted her eyelashes at Rex.

"What do you need help with?" Rex gave her a smile.

"The arena. It's where evos show off their skills. Its high paying so evos who can't find well paying jobs earn something. We hold tournaments and the winner faces the champion."

"You use evos for entertainment?" Bobo finally spoke up, having finished his pie."

"Only if they want to, they have to personally sign up for it. And there's no death and no risk. The fighters enjoy themselves." She explained. "I believe that's where you'll find your evo. Its actually two birds with one stone. Someone has been assaulting our evos and I believe the one who lured you here wants you to shut us down."

"You think it's the same person or they're working together." Rex realized.

"Yup, cute and smart." She complimented him. "We'll go to register tomorrow, it's the start of the new tournament. Once I explain the situation to Cardinal he'll be on board one hundred percent and you'll get to talk to him so Providence doesn't freak out." She looked at Sixx as she spoke. "I'll be your sponsor so no one will object to an unregistered outsider." She stood up and placed money on the table. "Let's go, shall we?" She headed for the door.

"Wait, why are you helping us?" Sixx asked, it made her stop abruptly. "And don't say its an even situation. You're going out of your way to help us even though it could possibly ruin your reputation. You're also putting the Birds' Nest at risk because you know I have to report back. Why?"

She turned around, her cheeks were red, an embarrassed smile on her face. "Rex, of course." She pointed to him. "When I first saw him, it gave me butterflies. It may be risky for something silly as a crush but I just want to help."

Rex seemed stunned by her statement. Noah smiled and put his hand on Rex's shoulder. "At least she's honest."

"Woah, woah, woah! Let me get this straight, you. Have a crush. On me?" Rex could hardly believe what he was saying.

"Is that so hard for you to believe?" Her eyes dazzled him with a curious glance. She laughed. "Come on, you guys can stay at my house for the night."

Rex gave Bobo a victorious look. "Eh, the birdie has low standards."

"You just can't let me win, can you?" Rex frowned.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~GR~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Thanks for the dinner." Rex smiled at her. "You have some awesome cooking skills."

"Thank you. I think we should turn in for the night. Tomorrow is gonna be hectic." Crow turned the sink off, finished with the dishes. "The guest rooms are down the hall."

"Sweet!" Noah and Rex wandered off down the hallway.

"I still want an answer to my first question." Sixx said as he dried dishes. "Who are you really?"

She put the leftovers in the fridge and then looked Sixx in the eye. "I have given you the answer to all the questions I have answers for." Bobo, who was sitting on the bar stool sipping iced tea, raised an eyebrow to the comment. Crow started wiping down the counters.

"You don't know who you are?" Sixx asked.

"Why must you restate what I just told you? Its not that big of a deal."

"It is a big deal!" Rex startled her with his outburst, he had overheard Sixx's comment. "Don't you at least have someone who knew you before you got amnesia?"

"Well, Tex, but his memory is only slightly greater than mine. I can only remember up to eight months ago. His goes back three years." She shook her head. "Rex, don't worry about it. Its not like I want my memory back anyways, if it comes to me then okay but otherwise don't stress over it." She clapped her hands together. "Now off to bed, you better be able to kick butt and take names tomorrow."

"Uh…okay."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~GR~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Crow quietly stepped past the open door of the guest room. Too late, Rex had rolled over and noticed her. He sat up and walked out of the room. He could see her next to the nightlight in the kitchen. "Crow, what are you doing up?" She seemed to jump out of her skin as he spoke.

"Sheesh, Rex, you scared me." She sighed. "I was getting some hot chocolate because I couldn't sleep. It helps me relax."

"Huh, you'd think the sugar would keep you wired." He joked and she giggled. It got quiet.

"Rex, can I show you something?" Crow asked.

"Depends, am I gonna regret it later?"

She laughed softly. "Hopefully not. Come on, follow me."

Rex followed her outside, he couldn't help but be curious. It was strange, this girl had charm, brains, and she laughed at his jokes; not to mention she was cute. How Sixx saw 'sneaky conspirator' he would he could never understand. What he and Sixx could agree on was that she seemed like she was hiding something….. Then again, he thought, it could be one of those times when Sixx is over reacting about something and he's giving in to suspicion. He noticed the trees that they passed. The looked like oak trees and pine trees. He noticed she stopped in front of a cliff side.

"It's a steep climb but-" she said.

"It's okay," His mechanical wings built out of his back. "I've got it covered." He put his goggles over his eyes and held out his hand. "Do you trust me?"

She smiled and took his hand. "Do you even have to ask?" He pulled her close and put his arm around her.

"Hold on tight." He took off towards the top of the cliff and landed gently on the ground. "So what did you want to show me?"

"Close your eyes." She told him, he gave her a confused look. She giggled and held out her hand. "Do you trust me?"

"Huh, déjà vu." He smiled and shut his eyes while placing his hand in hers. She led him forward. "This better not be one of those tease me and ditch me in the forest kind of things." She laughed.

"Ok, stop. Now open your eyes and look up." Rex opened his eyes, they were on the cliff side. When he looked up his eyes grew wide with amazement. The sky was sprinkled with star that looked like glitter on a dark purple cloth. There were little wisps of clouds which looked as if they were wrapped around the stars. "This is my favorite spot. Not even the Birds' Nest knows about it. I come here when I need to clear my head. It's my secret base in a way." She turned and pointed towards a dim lit dome in the distance, it was surrounded by trees and barely visible. "That's the Birds' Nest. Only members and their guests are allowed unless its tournament time. That's where we're going tomorrow."

She smiled to herself, seeming satisfied with her knowledge of the land.

"Crow," Rex started as he looked at her as she gazed into the distance. "Do you really not care about your memory? Your family? Who you were?"

"Hah, I see why I like you so much." She smiled at him. "You're really sweet. Well, I don't have such resources as Providence and there are so many people depending on me that I couldn't possibly waste time on something from my past." She cleared her throat. "That's what I would've told Sixx had he asked he asked me about it again."

"What would you tell me?" Rex asked.

"The truth, of course. I'm scared of finding out things about myself. What if I'm someone terrible or I've done something that I can't be forgiven for? I want to live my life now the way I want to, without regretting who I used to be." She got quiet for a while.

"I thought that once too. Every time we got close to finding something about my past I would wonder if its something I want to know. Now, there's no doubt in my mind, I want to know everything, even if it hurts me." He looked at her, she was smiling gently. "Did I say something weird?"

"No, not at all. Want me to share with you the only thing I know about my past?"

"Sure."

"Johanna." He looked a bit confused. "My real name, silly. Only you can call me that, when we're alone of course."

"Okay the, Johanna, let me ask you a question. You brought me all the way out here, shared your feelings and told me your real name."

"Yes, and?"

"Are you sure you didn't just want to get me alone?" He smirked.

She nudged him with her elbow and laughed. "Good sir, what are you implying?"

"Well," They turned to face each other. Her cheeks were a bit pink, she looked slightly nervous. "Am I making you nervous?" He joked.

"Shut up and kiss me if you're going to." Her face changed to a brighter shade of red. He leaned in close and kissed her on the lips.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~GR~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sixx wandered into the kitchen and sat at the table. He could hear the sizzling of bacon in the pan, he could smell it too. Suddenly, a cup of black coffee was placed in front of him. He looked up to see Crow, already awake and ready, cooking breakfast.

"Morning, Sixx." She said as Noah, Rex, and Bobo trailed into the kitchen. "Morning, boys."

"Woah," Noah yawned. "You're up early."

"Well, normally I'd sleep in till about noon but since the tournament is today and you guys want to catch your evo as well as my mystery attacker; I thought we might need to be moving early." While she was talking she had placed plates full of bacon, eggs, sausage and toast in front of them.

"Heh, we should hire her as a chef for Providence." Bobo joked as she handed him a cup of coffee. "Or maybe a barista."

"Nice to know I have job offers." She chuckled as she sat down.

"The birdie's in a surprisingly good mood." Bobo pointed out.

"Oh? I am?" She acted as if she hadn't noticed.

"Maybe it has something to do with you and Rex sneaking out last night." Sixx said. Everyone stopped.

"No way!" Noah laughed.

"Busted." Bobo added.

"Neither of us could sleep so we went for a walk, simple as that." Crow said as her face became increasingly red.

"Oh, Really?" Noah asked with a suspicious smirk on his face.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~GR~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They followed Crow as she swerved around the crowd. Evos were becoming more and more noticeable. Some were street performers and some were working in shops; even some were walking the streets in broad daylight. "Keep close, guys." Crow said as she walked ahead. Suddenly, she was out of view.

"Great, she says stay close but then we lose her in the crowd." Noah whined. The crowd itself finally thinned out, they couldn't see Crow anywhere.

"Hey, if it isn't Rex." A familiar face, Squid, Rex's old buddy. Following him, another familiar face, Cricket.

"Guys! What are you doing here?" Rex asked.

"We were about to ask you the same thing. We thought Providence didn't know about the Birds' Nest." Squid had a curious look on his face.

"Well, we didn't until yesterday. Actually, I'm entering the tournament."

"Really? You do understand that its filled with some of the strongest evos in the country, right?" Squid asked.

"I can take 'em. You never answered my question about why you're here."

"Well, Springfield is evo central-" Cricket started.

"There you are, bug!" A huge man showed up, he didn't look too intelligent.

"Crap, forgot about him." Squid frowned.

"You didn't pay the toll and you hit me, I'm gonna squish like a roach!" He growled. This man had to be three times Sixx's size. He looked furious. He lifted his thick arm up and got ready to swing. Right as his hand moved a few inches, it stopped. Crow had reappeared before them, her eyes narrowed into a threatening glare as she kicked the big man in the jaw, causing him to fall over.

" What's the meaning of this, Vulture?!" Crow demanded as the big man got back up. His expression had changed to a teary eyed frown as he rubbed his chin.

"Crow…I'm sorry but they wouldn't pay the toll." he cried.

"What toll? Since when was there a toll for evos entering the city?" she asked.

"Condor put it up this morning."

"Condor? The new guy?" She asked. "Then I'll have a chat with him, now go before I get even more angry." He rushed to his feet and ran off.

"No way, you're Crow! The Crow!" Cricket was astonished by her. "The strongest of the fighters in the Birds' Nest! Famed to be one of the biggest supporters of evo rights in the country."

"Yes, and I apologize for the rude welcome. Don't blame Vulture, he's kind of slow so he normally does what people tell him to. If it's a member, that is." she turned to Rex. "You guys okay?"

"Fine, I would've knocked him out if you hadn't stepped in." Rex joked. "Didn't know you had that in you."

"Why not? I'm a famous member of the Birds' Nest, you have to have skills to be a protector." She laughed.

"Yeah, next time warn us about the ninja skills." Noah added.

"You know each other?" Squid asked Rex.

"Met yesterday, she's entering me the tournament. Crow, meet Cricket and Squid. They're old friends of mine."

"Well, any friend of Rex is a friend of mine. Here, let me introduce you to Cardinal. We're on our way to the Nest anyways."

"The leader? We couldn't possibly-" Cricket panicked.

"Its okay, I have to discuss Condor's behavior with him so its no problem." Crow smiled. She turned and began walking. "Let's go, shall we?"

"Wow, Rex, she's-" Squid started.

"Cute?" Noah guessed.

"I was gonna say a dangerous choice but I'd be lying if I said that wasn't true." He laughed a bit.

The followed her down the street, nobody seemed to question her, but several stopped to greet her. They soon reached a gloomy, abandoned alley. It had torn cloth, most likely sheets, hanging from the clothes lines. She strolled past crates and garbage cans, a few alley cats and some rats. Rex had a strange look on his face while Sixx wore one of displeasure. "You sure you're going the right way?" Noah asked.

"Oh, its right here." She stopped at a sheet which hung down like a curtain. She grabbed it. "Right this way, my friends." She pulled it aside to reveal a dark tunnel made of bricks. "It's at the end of this tunnel." They all entered it, Sixx hesitated for a moment but was dragged in by Rex. She followed, releasing the curtain behind her. After about five minutes of walking, they reached where the light shined at the end.

It opened up to a huge and almost forest like room, there were crates and furniture everywhere, but no people or evos. "Let the show begin."

END