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As Rex's BFS drew near Six's head, Six's magna blade slipped from his sleeve. It blocked Rex's BFS but because he was at an odd angle he could not get enough leverage to push Rex back. Rex's sword got uncomfortably close to Six's face. Rex's countenance was contorted with anger. Six debated how he could disarm the boy without hurting him when, Rex's body went slack and he fell over.
Six looked up to see Holiday holding a tranquilizer gun and three darts sticking out from Rex's back. Bobo was standing next to her.
"He'll be okay. He'll just have a whale of a headache when he wakes up." Holiday said wearily as she went over to check on him.
"We have to find that EVO!" Six said getting up.
"What EVO?" Holiday frowned. "Bobo mentioned something about a moving shadow..."
"Yeah, it was a mean SOB, too." Bobo agreed.
Holiday looked to Six for an explanation.
"Remember that Shadow EVO that we brought in a day ago?" Six reminded her.
"Yes, you think it escaped?" Holiday asked incredulously. "That's unlikely"
Six hit his comlink. "Confirm location of captured shadow EVO."
"It's still in its cell, sir." A grunt responded.
"Then there's two EVOS. Lockdown the base!" He authorized.
Immediately, the lights turned red and all the doors shut down.
"Can I ask why my base has been put on lock down?" White Knight's face flashed on a monitor.
"We believe that there is an EVO loose." Six responded.
"I know of two EVOs loose around here." White Knight said.
"No sir," Holiday chimed in. "There seems to be a shadow EVO causing the undue havoc recently."
"Then get it off my base by any means necessary. White out." He ended transmission.
"Let's get Rex to my lab so I can check on him." Holiday said.
"Ugh, kid's heavy. He needs to lay off the double burrito with guac." Bobo grunted as he lifted Rex's legs.
Bobo and Six carried Rex to the lab. Holiday checked the results from the previous samples. "Darn it! The chemical compounds break down too fast. I would need a fresh sample to see what's really going on."
"I bet I know where we can get one." Six said grimly.
"You mean the captured EVO? Good idea. Have them bring it up to the lab." Holiday agreed.
Six complied.
As they waited, Rex groaned.
Holiday went to his side.
"How are you feeling?" She asked him gently.
"My head is killing me and why am I in the lab... I didn't... Is Six okay?" He asked getting up quickly.
"I'm fine." Six answered walking over. "Do you remember what happened?"
"I remember seeing an EVO. Then I was going to cut it but... I stepped in slime. Then everything became hazy. I saw fire and... Van Kleiss!" Rex looked around frantically.
"I was hallucinating again... wasn't I? Did I hurt anyone?"
"No." Six answered quickly. "Everything is fine. We're going to figure out what's causing these hallucinations of yours."
"I need to stay away from slime." Rex groaned.
"Maybe, oh, the EVO's arrived." Holiday said as the door slid open.
Two grunts pushed the energy cell with the trapped EVO. The EVO snarled and banged on the energy field.
Holiday took a large needle and thrusted it into the force field. The field yielded to the needle and it entered the backside of the EVO. It yelped in pain and banged on the shield even harder.
Holiday inserted the liquid in the needle onto a tray and slipped it into a slot in the computer. Rex watched as the monitor flashed as figures and numbers flitted across the screen.
"What does it say?" He asked impatiently.
Holiday frowned. "I can't seem to identify some of those polypeptides." Her fingers flew over the keyboard. "But they look familiar." They all waited silently as Holiday typed furiously. Bobo shifted from foot to foot. Rex stared at the ground. Six stood with his arms crossed.
"Odd." Holiday said suddenly.
The sound of her voice startled them.
"What? What's odd?" Rex asked nervously.
"There's nothing here I can see that would cause hallucinations." Holiday frowned.
"Then why when I touch the slime, I go loco?" Rex sputtered.
"That's what I'm trying to figure out." Holiday took a needle. "I'm going to need a sample from you."
Rex stuck out his arm. Holiday took some blood. She mixed it with the slime. She bent over the microscope. She gasped.
"What?" Rex asked with agitation.
"Your nanites are going crazy." She replied. She went quiet as she stared through the eyepiece. "But why?" Straightening up she looked at Bobo and Six. "I would like a sample from both of you for comparison."
"What?" Bobo held up his arms defensively.
Six had already removed his jacket and was rolling up his sleeve. "What's wrong? Scared of a little needle?" He asked as Holiday drew some blood.
"Bobo, doesn't like losing any of his precious blood." He sniffed. Glancing at Rex, however, he also stuck out his arm. "But I'll do it for you, chief."
Rex gave him a faint smile.
Holiday mixed the slime with the samples. "No, the secretion is having no affect on dormant nanites. And it's not having any affect on yours either Bobo. Huh. It's as if the slime is attuned specifically to Rex."
"You mean the slime has it in for me?" Rex gulped.
"Yes, it seems that way." Holiday crossed her arms looking pensive. "Six, where was this EVO captured?"
"It was brought in by Beasly and Wade." Six said. "I'll go ask them." He tapped his comlink and walked to the other end of the room to talk.
"Rex, can you tell me exactly what you see during these hallucinations." Holiday asked.
"Well, the first one I saw Van Kleiss…" Rex began to detail each of the episodes to the best of his ability.
"Wade says that they caught it during a fight with the Pack." Six answered as he walked back.
"Hmmm," Holiday tapped a pen to her chin. "I wonder…"
"What?" Rex asked getting more agitated.
"Now this is merely a hypothesis…" Holiday began. "It's possible that the slime as you call it is psychically linking you to the EVO."
"Quewha?" Rex gaped at her.
"You're seeing what it's seeing or more accurately seeing what's in his head." Holiday amended.
"Trippy." Rex muttered. He shook his head. "So the EVO knows Van Kleiss?"
"Van Kleiss could have planted the EVO for us to capture… but how are there two of them?" Six asked.
"I'm going to take another sample." Holiday took another needle and reached into the field again. The EVO drew back. Before Holiday could push the needle through the energy field, Six swept in and pulled her out of the way.
The second shadow EVO's sickle had landed where Holiday was standing.
Everyone got into defensive stances. The EVO then slashed at the controls, releasing the trapped EVO. Then to their shocked eyes they merged into one EVO.
"It replicates!" Holiday said. "Of course. When Wade and Beasly caught this EVO, it replicated itself. It hid while the other served as a decoy."
"Enough exposition, let's blast it!" Bobo fired his blasters.
"Wait, Bobo!" Holiday yelled but it was too late. The EVO flattened itself on the floor and the blasters hit some equipment. It burst into flames.
Holiday grabbed the fire extinguisher and sprayed down the fire. "The EVO can literally blend into any shadow." She said.
"How do we stop it then?" Rex asked spinning around. "It can hide anywhere."
Six opened up a drawer and pulled out a flashlight. Spraying the light around the room, the shadows fled except one.
"Over there!" Rex formed his BFS and swung at the EVO who blocked it with its sickle. The EVO split into two, then three, then four. They surrounded Rex.
"We need more lights!" Holiday said as she ran to the console. Meanwhile Six pressed the flashlight into Bobo's hands. "Keep it trained on the EVOs." He ordered as he unsheathed his one blade. Taking a running jump, he flipped to land right in the center next to Rex to help him. Together they kept the EVOs at bay.
"It would help if yous two didn't keep blocking my light." Bobo complained as he moved the flashlight around trying to keep track of the EVOs.
Rex carefully kept his skin away from any of the slime that the EVOs were producing. But he was angry. "Mess with my head will, ya?" He attacked the creature. "Tell Van Kleiss he can go…"
Lights flooded the room. The creature screeched and the EVO reabsorbed its replicas before trying to escape.
"Oh, no you don't!" Rex yelled cutting off its route. The EVO screeched and without warning threw slime at Rex.
"Ugh!" Rex wiped it off his face. "No one told me it can do that!"
Immediately, he started getting dizzy. "Oh no, not again. Guys, you have to get out!" Rex said with panic in his voice.
"We're not leaving you Rex." Six said firmly.
"But I don't know…" Rex grabbed his head as he struggled. The EVO's eyes glowed red and when Rex lifted his head his eyes were bright white.
His BFS formed and he got up.
"Rex, fight it!" Six called to him. But Rex didn't seem to be able to hear him.
I know, another cliffhanger. But it's almost done. I promise I'm working on it. Thank you all for reading and reviewing. And good call SirenSoundss97. You're thinking what I'm thinking.
