Generator Rex

Mission 2/ Cardinal's Champion

"Doesn't look like anyone's here." Noah looked around curiously. The Birds' Nest looked empty, and abandoned.

"That's 'cause we're early. Time to wake everyone up." She pulled drumsticks out of an empty paint can. She ran them across the bars of a balcony. A man peaked out over the balcony.

"Woah, Crow! Diggin' that sound. Let me kick it up." She handed him the drumsticks. He began tapping on the bars in a rhythmic pattern. Suddenly, there was movement in the Nest. People began emerging from the bushes and small tree house like things.

"He's got a beat going!" Tapping on trashcans began, and suddenly the playing of an electric guitar. Music erupted all over the Nest.

"This is cool." Sqwydd laughed in amazement.

"Ha, knew you'd say that." Crow laughed.

"Yo, Crow!" A girl with blonde hair floated to the ground in front of him. She spotted the 'guests.' "Who are they?"

"Hey, Canary. These are my new friends. Noah, Bobo, Sixx, Sqwydd, Cricket," She pulled Rex closer. "This is Rex, my entry for the tournament."

"Wow, is he any good?" She eyed Rex with a curious expression.

"He's gotta be if Crow picked him." A strange girl with neon purple hair approached them. "Hey, Crow." She smiled at Crow.

"Hey, Raven. Guys, this is Canary and Raven. They're members of the Birds' Nest."

"Nice to meet you." Canary smiled brightly while Raven gave a less ambitious smile.

"Charmed." She nodded.

"Have you guys seen Sparrow?" Crow asked.

"He's in the Garage, as usual." Raven answered but her eyes were too busy scanning the strangers she had just met. Her eyes stopped on Sixx and a grim look captured her face. "Crow," she grabbed her shoulder and whispered in her ear. "You wouldn't let your infatuation compromise the Nest, would you?"

"Raven, if you have time to question my motives and actions, shouldn't you be prepping for tournament? Before Cardinal throws a fit." Raven released her shoulder, shaking her head. Crow turned to the group. "To the Garage, then."

She led them past people who were dancing, singing, playing instruments. Suddenly an explosion went off. She stopped Sixx and Rex from rushing towards it. "That came from the Garage, meaning Sparrow blew something up again."

"Or it could be your mystery attacker." Rex said, with a serious look on his face. Crow busted up laughing.

"Sorry, but if our attacker is stupid enough to attack Sparrow himself, not adding the fact he's in the Garage, then I'm worrying over nothing. Sparrow can handle himself."

They reached the Garage entrance, the smoke was escaping out of the doors and windows. Another explosion went off, sending a girl with short brown hair through the doors. She sat up, rubbing her head.

"Hey, Chickadee, you still alive?" Said a male voice coming from the Garage.

"No thanks to you, you pyro!" She growled back. He walked out of the Garage. He was a bit shorter than Sixx, long brown hair restrained by a rubber band, goggles covered his eyes and leather work gloves on his hands. He helped Chickadee up.

"Sorry 'bout that." He chuckled. He spotted Crow and the group. "Oh, new toys?" he joked.

"Shut up." She laughed.

"You must be Rex." He said. "Crow told me about you guys…. Except for you two."

"I'm Sqwydd."

"And I'm Cricket." She blushed as she introduced herself.

"So what's with the explosions?" Noah asked.

"Oh, that's what happens when you play with bombs." Sparrow said as he yawned.

"Bombs?" It made Sixx shift uneasily.

"Yup, we had a problem with a terrorist, and he planted bombs all over Springfield. We found them but each one is different, so its trial and error when it comes to disarming them. I hit one wrong thing and-"

"I get blown out the door." Chickadee glared at him.

"I said sorry, what do you want me to do, buy you a car?" He said sarcastically. "You guys want to blow stuff up?"

"A chance to blow stuff up with no consequences? Sweet." Rex attempted to go into the garage but Sixx grabbed the back of his shirt.

"Rex, remember why we're here."

"Oh come on, Sixx. Relax. Can't you go five minutes without trumping my attempts to have fun?" Rex frowned.

"Don't worry about it, Sixx." Crow told him. "Let them have their fun for now." Sixx let Rex go and they vanished into the Garage. "Besides, you want to talk to Cardinal, don't you?" She began walking and he followed. She stopped after a few minutes and pointed to a shack surrounded by tables. "Take a seat and you can order anything on my tab. Cardinal will meet you there."

"How will he know its me?"

"I told him to look for a man who looks like Agent Smith from the Matrix in a green suit." He gave her a strange look. "What? Would you rather me not make a cool movie reference?" She turned and, with a bounce in her step, headed back for the Garage.

Sixx sat down at a table and ordered coffee, black. He had way too many unanswered questions and every question Crow answered gave him more. No offense to her, she'd been unnaturally kind to them so far, but there was something off about her. She was incredibly skilled for a human and the fact she had no memory could mean anything. She could have been raised to be an assassin or- He stopped himself. What was he thinking? She'd done nothing, she knows nothing, why was he being so fickle towards her? Rex seemed to like her, a lot. He knew she had to be hiding something, but who wasn't nowadays? Even he had his secrets. He snapped out of his thoughtful daze and noticed a man sit in the other chair across from him. He had long, wild, ruby red hair but his eyes were two different colors; one was green while the other was clear and had two slash scars across it. He was wearing a strange scarlet trench coat with black belts all over it.

"First time in the Birds' Nest?" He smiled when he posed the question. His eyes hinted that he already knew the answer to the question.

"Yeah, its rare seeing evos and humans getting along like this. It's almost like a town."

"That's the point, isn't it? If only the rest of humanity could follow their example." He sighed and frowned, a bit disappointed.

"So Crow told you I'd be coming." Sixx jumped to the conclusion, this must be Cardinal.

"Nope." He leaned back in his chair.

"You're not Cardinal?" Sixx asked.

"I am Cardinal."

"But you said-"

"I said Crow didn't tell me about you, not that I wasn't Cardinal." A waiter placed a cup of coffee in front of Sixx and another in front of Cardinal. "I have eyes all over the city so everything gets reported to me so there's no need for her to tell me anything."

"Then why is there a problem?" Sixx asked.

"I never said my system wasn't flawed. I believe we have a bug in our system. I believe Rex can lure it out. I get my roach and you get your evo…. But I'm having a second issue now."

"That would be?" Sixx raised an eyebrow. His gut feeling told him he wasn't going to like this.

"Crow. She's a full fledged member of the Birds' Nest but where her priorities lie…questionable." Cardinal frowned. "She's used to praise so I don't understand why she's gone this far."

"What do you mean?" Sixx was more than interested now.

"She's a member of course, but we practically had to beg her to join. If it weren't for her brother she never would've."

"Her brother?"

"Sparrow. She isn't some bleeding heart who would instantly jump in to help anyone with a sob story."

'Sparrow must be Tex.' Sixx thought to himself. If Crow was so uncaring, why? Why would she stake everything on them. A ringing interrupted his thought. Cardinal pulled out his phone.

"Ah, I must be going. I have to get to the arena before the tournament starts. I hope to see you there." He stood up. "Last word of advice. I told you about Crow, so you should keep in mind, she's just as big of a suspect as anyone else. You've seen what happens when she's challenged. Keep an eye on her for me, will you?" He walked off.

Sixx couldn't tell exactly what he meant but he was getting the hint, don't trust Crow. He knew he couldn't tell Rex this, he'd get defensive and say he was paranoid. He headed towards the Garage, where he could see constant explosions going off in the air. Once he reached the door, he stopped before entering. His feeling about Crow, could it have something to do with her being the attacker? He hadn't thought about it much before because he asked them to find the culprit. Could she be attempting to frame someone? Was that what she was hiding? He pushed the thought to the back of his mind. He was getting way too ahead of himself. He pushed past the door into the Garage. He spotted them, standing under the opening in the roof, watching Sparrow launch the bombs in the air while Rex shot them; forcing them to combust.

"Woah, nice shot." Sqwydd shielded his eyes from the sun.

"Thank you." Rex bowed his head, a smug grin on his face.

"Ah, I think I can top that." Sparrow smiled.

"No way!" Rex shook his head.

"Want to make that a bet?" He looked at Chickadee. "Launch!" She released the lever and sent a small bundle rocketing into the sky. Sparrow took a fighting stance, his arm pulled back, his hand started glowing. A small orb charged up in his palm, he lunged his hand forward, shooting a beam of energy at the bomb. It exploded, and exploded again, raining little purple beams of light like fireworks. It quickly vanished.

"Sorry, Rex. He's got you beat." Noah laughed.

"Wow, how'd you do that?" Cricket asked in awe of Sparrow.

"I used my nanites to charge the nanites in the surrounding space. I charge it and then release it. Fun part of being an evo." He chuckled.

"Huh, didn't know you were an evo." Rex smirked. He spotted Sixx in the doorway. "Yo, Sixx. Finished talking to Cardinal?"

"Yes." He looked at Crow. "We should head to the arena."

"Good idea." Crow smiled.

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

The crowd roared with excitement as Cardinal stood up from his throne on the balcony. With a smirk on his face and an air of arrogance about him, he raised his hand and the crowd became silent. Rex and the group watched from the windows peeking into the arena, one of the best views you could have, except it was for fighters only. "Welcome, one and all, to the arena!" Cardinal's voice carried and echoed throughout the arena. The crowd cheered but was silenced again with a small hand gesture. "This new tournament will bring new surprises and new challenges for everyone, fighter and patron alike. We have a variety of new fighters along with our old favorites, both evo and human. They'll compete with each other in order to face our grand champion!" The crowd went wild again.

"Wow," Noah said, impressed. "He sure knows how to get the crowd going."

"Yeah, its rare seeing so many humans and evos getting along with each other." Cricket smiled.

"Eh, you get used to it." Sparrow chuckled.

"Just wait until I get into the arena- hey, where's Crow go?" Rex looked around. Crow was no where in sight.

"And now!" Cardinal announced. "A sneak peek of what's to come! A quick demonstration from our champion!" As he spoke a group of evos entered the arena, lead by a lizard like man. "Our challengers! Some of the finest evo warriors alive! Versus," he looked at the opposite gate as it lifted, releasing a cloud of dust. "Crow!" The dust cleared to reveal Crow. She walked towards the center of the arena. The crowd was in an uproar over her.

"No way!" Rex was stunned. "Crow's the champion?!"

"I could've told you that." Sparrow said. "She's one of our strongest members."

"B-b-but- why didn't anyone tell me this?!"

"Because you never asked." Sparrow said bluntly.

"Heh." The lizard man scoffed. "Crow's a little girl, eh? Is this some kind of a joke?"

"A joke, you say? We shall see!" Cardinal smiled as he raised his hand in the air. He swung his hand down and shouted, "Begin!"

"She's only human! Those evos will rip her apart!" Noah couldn't believe his eyes.

"If you remember correctly, Sixx is human too." Bobo pointed out.

"I'll jump in if anything bad happens." Rex reassured him.

"Uh, Rex, I hate to rain on your parade but-" Sqwydd started.

"The match is over already." Sixx finished.

"Wait- what?" Rex looked out the window. The entire group of evos was on the ground, unconscious. Crow stood in the middle of them. "Did I miss something?"

"Yeah, the fight." Sparrow smiled and Rex glared at him. "I know, stating the obvious."

"That's showing them how its done!" Cardinal clapped.

Crow turned and headed back towards the gate. The lizard man sat up, shaking his head to avert the dizziness. He growled and then charged at her. "Crow, look out!" As the lizard man swung his claws at her, she dodged. She grabbed his wrist, pulled him close and slammed her knee into his jaw. He dropped to the ground. Crow's eyes had lost the energetic gleam of interest that they shone when she was around Rex and it was replaced by a dull look of malice. 'Its like she's not even the same person.' Rex couldn't believe what he saw. Sparrow looked at him thoughtfully, he could easily tell what Rex was thinking.

"Our champion remains the same! Give her a hand!" The crowd was ecstatic at Crow's display of skill and strength.

"If you're done choking on words, she's heading back this way." Sqwydd joked. They all started walking down the hall in the direction of the gate.

"Hold on a minute, Rex." Sparrow grabbed Rex's arm as he started walking. "Can I have a word with you?" He looked at the group. "We'll catch up."

"Don't take too long, Crow will start worrying." Noah laughed at the thought.

Sparrow waited until they were a safe distance away. "Rex, did Crow tell you…" he started hesitantly.

"That you're her brother, Tex? We talked about it last night. I figured you were either her brother or her boyfriend, and option two would've been awkward."

"Heh, she was right, you do have a sense of humor." He smiled but it quickly vanished. "You caught a glimpse of it just now." Rex expression changed to a serious one.

"What is 'it'?"

"What she was like when she first lost her memory. I was surprised today. I haven't seen a smile like that in a very long time, she normally just fakes it." He ran his fingers through his hair and shook his head. "Don't worry, that means you're good for her, Rex. Do me a favor, will you?"

"What's the favor?"

"Sometimes she looks up at the sky for a long period of time, like she might take off. Snap her out of it."

"Are you yanking my chain?"

"I'm serious, Rex. Maybe it has something to do with something that happened a long time ago, but it scares me when she gets like that."

"Rex!" Crow ran towards him. She nearly tripped but Rex caught her arms. "I thought you ran off or something."

He looked at Sparrow, but shook off the thought and smiled. "Ha, like I'd give up the chance to kick butt in front of a crowd."

"Good, because I convinced Cardinal to let you go first in the first round. I gave Noah and the gang seats in the balcony with Cardinal. Come on, I'll walk you to the gate." She looked at Sparrow.

"I better go check on the other contestants." He waved as he walked off.

"You know, I just remembered. I forgot to ask Sqwydd and Cricket what they're doing here and where Circe and Tuck are." He started walking towards the gate, Crow gripping his arm.

"You can ask them after your match."

After a few minutes of walking, they stopped in front of the gate. Rex gave her a devious smile. "How 'bout a good luck kiss?"

"How about a victory kiss?" She trumped his request. He frowned in response. "What are they worth if I don't make you work for them?"

"Fine," he put his goggles over his eyes. "But it better be on the lips."

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

"First round! In our first match, we have the mysterious speed demon, Sheeva." Cardinal announced as a female evo walked the gate. "Don't let her beautiful appearance fool you, she's as fast with a blade as she is on her feet. She's an old favorite in the arena. Versus a newcomer! He's never before been in the arena but he's fought and cured evos around the world! I present to you, Rex!" A murmur went through the crowd as Rex walked into the arena.

"No cheering, of course." Rex frowned, then he heard clapping. Crow was sitting on the edge of the balcony clapping her hands with a smile on her face. Sqwydd stepped forward and started clapping, followed by Cricket, Noah, Sparrow, even Sixx. "Huh, looks like I got some fans." He smiled and looked at Sheeva. "I don't usually hit girls, but I'll make an exception."

"Don't assume I'll go easy on you." She teased.

"Huh, I was gonna tell you the same thing."

"Ready? Fight!"

Sheeva charged at him, katana in hand. She struck from the right, only to be blocked by his shields. He smiled and jumped back, retracting his shield. He swung a hug metal fist at her, she back flipped to avoid it. The crowd gasped in amazement but then cheered and whistled. "Now I have your attention." Rex let the crowd's cheering sink in a little, it felt good being a hero. "Woah!" He dodged the katana as Sheeva lunged at him, she barely missed. She swung sideways at him but he dropped to the ground, on his back, ducking under the blade. No time to revel in the glory, he told himself. The girl of your dreams is watching and possibly judging you…. And you really want that victory kiss. When Sheeva approached, he booted her in the stomach, sending her flying, and launching him back onto his feet. "Had enough?"

"You are pretty good." She smiled and slid down the wall, unconscious.

"Sheeva is unable to battle, our winner is Rex!" Cardinal announced as the crowd went wild. They were thrilled by the sight of him. "Looks like we have a new favorite in the arena!"

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

Rex rushed towards the balcony, a huge grin on his face. He stopped, he heard talking from around the corner. It sounded like Crow and Cardinal, he peeked, it was Crow and Cardinal. Cardinal's tone was a bit agitated. "I'm not saying that you have to now, I'm just reminding you."

"Cardinal, that's not fair!"

"News flash, life isn't fair. I don't have to remind what would happen if this gets out of control."

"I-! I know." She frowned.

Rex wondered what they could be talking about. At this point it could be anything, he had to remind himself he didn't know much about her. He froze, he heard laughter. He turned around to see a boy, around his age. He had a Mohawk, long in the back, and horns on his head, like a bull. He had black markings on his cheeks and snake bite piercing in his lips. "Must suck watching your girlfriend get grilled by the boss and not being able to do anything about it, eh, Rex?"

"What makes you think I won't do anything about it?"

"Don't even joke, this is out of your hands. One false move and the little black birdie is bye-bye. You do realize its all your fault she's getting yelled at, don't you?"

"What are you talking about?"

"You tell me, pet of Providence." He smirked. "You're exactly what Cardinal was trying to keep away and the idiot brought you here without even thinking about our safety, you must feel pretty lucky."

"Condor!" Crow had rounded the corner, she walked past Rex and stopped a few feet away from Rex's visitor. His shadow had jumped up, pointing like spears, centimeters from her throat. She didn't even flinch at it, Condor couldn't help but smile.

"Hehehe…" It started as a low chuckle and grew to a hysterical laugh. "Hahaha! You crack me up. Can't even get you to jump, can I? The big bad Crow, eh? Everyone's so worked up over a little thing like you…." The laughter and smile were gone, they were replaced by an enraged look. "You disgust me. Tell me, is he worth it? Worth what Cardinal is going to put you through once Providence is knocking on our doorstep?" He glanced at Rex. Her eyes stayed focused on Condor. He growled. "Quit giving me that look!" The spikes got closer to her throat.

"That's enough!" Rex crushed them with a huge metal fist. "Back off, Condor. I mean it."

He smiled again. "Okay. We'll settle this in the arena." His shadow sank back into the ground. He walking away but stopped a few feet away. "The world is changing, Rex. Evos are getting stronger and soon, we won't have to hide." He walked off.

Once Rex was sure he wasn't turning around, he went back to normal. "Are you okay?"

He looked at her. She smiled.

"Yeah, he's nothing to sweat over. All bark and no bite, though he wasn't like that before."

"He wasn't?"

"He had attitude of course, but he wasn't' that bad." She shook her head.

"Maybe, he's the leak." Rex said.

"It's possible. He's fairly new and he's got such a temper-"

"Wait, he said we'd fight in the arena, he's in the tournament?"

"Yeah, your point?"

"Just a hunch. It's nothing to worry about if I'm wrong. I'll talk to Sixx and see what he thinks."

"Okay, I guess." She was a bit confused.

"So," a huge grin spread across his face. "Isn't there something you want to give me?"

"Oh, what?"

"My victory kiss." he pointed to his lips.

"Oh? Oh! Haha, nearly forgot about that."

"It's a good thing I didn't." She looked around suspiciously. "What are you doing?"

"Making sure no ones looking. I'm not good with public displays of affection." She stepped closer and kissed him, then- CLICK! They looked to see Sqwydd with his camera phone out.

"Oh, that was a nice shot." Sparrow peeked over his shoulder.

"Thanks, it's a new phone. It takes great pictures." Sqwydd chuckled.

"Sqwydd!" Rex looked at Crow, her face was beet red.

"Rex, we were only having a little fun." Cricket reassured him.

"There we go, message sent." Sqwydd put his phone back in his pocket.

"Who did you just send that to?" Rex panicked.

"You'll never guess." He laughed.

"Alright! That's enough fun for now!" Crow interrupted, trying to compose herself. "We're crowding the hallway. Back to the balcony to watch the next matches." She started pushing them along. Of course Sixx didn't go with. He glanced at Rex.

"Something on your mind?" He asked.

"Yeah, can you ask Cardinal to give me a list of all the people who were attacked and whether or not they were registered for the tournament?"

"You're thinking sabotage?" Sixx asked.

"Just something Condor said. He said he'd face me in the arena and that evos were stronger than ever, which I know but then he said we wouldn't have to hide anymore."

He heard clapping. Cardinal was leaning against the wall.

"Great deductive skills, Crow was right. You'd lure out our little roach with no problem." He smiled. "Sure, I'll get you a list."

"Cardinal, what are you not saying?" Sixx asked.

"You do know that Condor's are birds of prey, right? The largest birds of prey in fact. I wouldn't give that title to some random member. Condor's incredibly strong."

"But?" Sixx implied that there was more.

"A couple days ago, he got stronger out of no where. I had sent him, Vulture, Chickadee and Canary on a mission to round up some evos. Simple really, they were originally ladybugs, vegetarians, but they were eating trees and that's something Providence would notice when the mountains are picked clean. When they got there, there were a few bugs that were different than the others, bigger and stronger but worse; they were carnivorous."

"Well, that happens from time to time." Rex pointed out.

"You saw his shadow right? How it jumped of the ground? It's part of him more or less, he can move it in any way he wants. The catch was that it was only his shadow. It was noon when those bugs charged and you imagine my comrades surprise when Condor moved a shadow the size of a building."

"Wait, what? How?"

"It's like he made his shadow grow and expand, no one had ever seen anything like it before. I'm warning you, if you think Condor is the culprit, tread carefully and if you ever end up facing him in the arena, you better show that your reputation isn't all show. That day, his shadow didn't just swallow up the bugs, it swallowed up four whole cabins." He caught Sixx's glance. "I'm surprised, Sixx. Providence and White Knight aren't banging on my door. Have you failed to report in?"

"Holding off. Knight likes answers." Rex explained. "And don't worry about me, I'll live up to my reputation."

"You better. For both your's and Crow's sake." He walked off.

END