(Idk how I'm even writing this insanity tbh)

"What happened?"

Holiday's eyes went wide as she watched Rex carry the unconscious Six into the main room, and she scrambled to find a cause for the ninja's injuries. The boy smiled at her concern and placed his mentor onto an examination table that, thankfully, doubled as a bed.

"He only got hit in the head," Rex assured her, hoping to tone down her fears. "He's not hurt anywhere else. The EVO just thwacked him when he wasn't looking."

The doctor calmed down a bit, but fear was still apparent on her face. "How? He's usually good at avoiding that. What kind of an EVO was it?"

"Nothing that can multiply or spread evil ooze, I'll tell you that," the boy joked, trying to insert humor into the situation. "He'll be okay, right? I got him to safety as soon as he blacked out."

Holiday glanced down at Six, and raised a knowing brow. "I guess you're right."

"I'm conscious, Rex."

The teen nearly jumped out of his skin when he realized that his mentor had already awoken just a few seconds ago, and a chill ran down his spine. Hopefully, the agent would-

"The EVO must have had extreme speed abilities," Six informed the woman standing above him. "I didn't even see the hit. Or, one of Black Knight's pawns must have attacked. I saw a few of them around from the rooftop. Which was it, Rex?"

Rex frowned. "It was the EVO. That hit was lightning fast. You should have seen it- er, no offense. Are you okay?"

"Just a headache," the green agent responded. "I need rest, is all."

"I think so too," Holiday piped up. "And I'll make sure you don't try to escape on a mission if you're not ready. You're staying here with me."

If he hadn't just carried out a murder, Rex would have waggled his brows.

"Well, I gotta go," the teen announced, heading out the room. "Kinda wanna grab a bite to eat."

"I suppose you deserve it, seeing as how you cured such a dangerous EVO," the doctor agreed. "I'll give you some money."

Rex paled. "C-cured? Oh."

Six turned his aching head to glance at the boy. "Did you cure it?"

The young EVO let out a deep sigh, and turned around. "No, it... it was an incurable. Sorry. I had to... you know."

Holiday nodded. "I see. Well, enjoy a meal anyway. I know you want to forget all of this. We only have each other, after all."

A small smile crept onto the boy's face. "Yep. We do. And it's perfect."

"We might want to inform White Knight about my injuries so he doesn't send me out to another mission without your permission, Doctor Holiday," Six chimed in. "You know how he is about being aware of everything."

Rex froze.

"True," Holiday responded, "I should go tell him. If he gets mad, you could bring him a glass of milk or something, huh, Rex?"

The joke was lost on the teen as his mind frantically searched for a way to break it to them that their pasty leader was never coming back. He then shook his head at himself, remembering that he'd already came up with a solid lie long before the man had died.

"Um... about that," Rex nervously began, fake concern melting across his features, "He went on the mission with me for backup, but he didn't come back yet. He told me that he'd take care of the EVO while I brought Six back for you."

Six and Holiday glanced at each other.

"It's been a while," the ninja muttered. "But I suppose he's on field duty today."

"Afternoon, chief!" a familiar simian voice greeted them. "It's a heck of a lot of damage out there. Barely managed to get away."

"Bobo, are you talking about the EVO at the intersection?" the doctor asked, her green eyes bright with curiosity. "Was it really that bad?"

The chimp shook his head and scratched his armpit. "Yeah, the EVO wasn't really the problem. There's a lot of Black Knight's soldiers out there. The lady herself is standing at the intersection, staring at the streets for no reason. I always knew she was a few bananas short of a Fruity Tooty Smoothie."

Rex nearly smacked himself in the face, recalling the deal he'd made with the woman in black. He couldn't exactly fulfill his end of the deal anymore, seeing as he had no idea where the silver EVO even was. The subway tunnels were dangerous, and honestly, he expected the creature to get lost and possibly starve in there.

It was far better than him being sent to prison for the rest of his life.

"Yeah she's... crazy," the boy added nervously. "White Knight can deal with her. He's great for stuff like that."

The words felt like acid on his tongue.

"Rex, are you alright?" the lab coat clad woman asked, her tone outright motherly. "It sounds like something's wrong."

The perfect criminals show no warning signs.

"I'm fine," the young EVO replied. "I just got kinda hurt at the EVO fight, got a little tired, and scared when Six got knocked out. It's just been a really draining day so far, you know?"

"Well let's get some chow, then," Bobo suggested, grabbing the boy's arm and leaving the room with him. "Pizza or burgers?"

"Burgers."

An hour later, they found themselves at a relatively new fast food joint, eager to stuff themselves with everything and anything unhealthy. With an equally unhealthy side item, of course. Rex was intrigued by the Grand Canyon theme of the restaurant, admiring how even the seats were shaped like mountains. The tables added to the aesthetic as well, each one with a serene mountainside landscape painted onto it. It was an unusual setting, but if the food was good, he could hardly complain about anything.

But his breath ran cold when he spotted two black clad soldiers standing against the walls.

"Um, maybe we should try another place?" the teen suggested, tugging on Bobo's sleeve. The chimp grimaced.

"We've been waiting in line for ten minutes," the monkey shot back. "We're almost at the end, pal. Good grub waits for no one."

"Yeah but... Providence is around."

Bobo peered around the restaurant, finding that the boy's words were true. The soldiers in the building seemed to be staring straight at them, unsettlingly enough. An nervous feeling began to permeate through the boy's body, turning his stomach and forcing him to lose much of his appetite.

"That's nuts," the monkey remarked, interrupting the sickly sensations in the teen's stomach. "We're not even close to the intersection. I made sure of it."

The boy gazed at the two soldiers, his heart rate beginning to speed up. "Well then why do you think they're here? It doesn't make sense."

"Maybe they're looking for something."

Rex cursed under his breath, realizing that Black Knight must have gotten irritated by his unkept promise and sent out pawns to find him. The silver EVO was powerful, after all, and would likely make for a good soldier. It was just his luck, really. He hasn't counted on her involvement at all, and was slowly beginning to wonder if his plans were a little too hasty. It would make sense, considering how they were mostly emotionally fueled, and-

No.

Rex refused to regret what he'd done. The man had treated him like a mindless slave for much too long to be given sympathy.

"Look," the boy began, "We can come back later. Let's just wait out whatever weird thing Black Knight's doing and eat somewhere else. There's always pizza, anyways."

Bobo turned to the teen with a confused look on his stout face. "The lady's crazy, but she's not that crazy. She's not forcing you to join her unless you want to, remember? She doesn't care about snatching us up."

"Who knows?" Rex retorted, creeped out by the way the guards stared at him, unmoving. "I don't wanna be around her soldiers. It's-"

"Hi boys, welcome to Boulder Burgers. What can I get you?"

Bobo turned to face the woman at the front and beamed. "Finally. I'd like a.. triple cheese bomb burger with a side of chili fries. Extra grease!"

"Bobo," the teen murmured agitatedly, "Let's go."

"Too late, Chief. Order up!"

"Ugh. Okay, but I want this to go. I'll have a plain burger with a side of fries. Don't really have the appetite for anything more."

The woman at the front nodded, absentmindedly running a hand through her red hair. "Got it. That's order number fourteen. Take a seat and wait for it to be called out. Thank you!"

Rex sighed as he made his way towards a seat against the wall, purposefully next to a window. That way, he could smash it and run through if anything happened. His simian companion, meanwhile, sat down and stared at the child as if he'd grown a new EVO power.

"We come all this way through that line, and you order what I could find in a dumpster?" Bobo asked incredulously. "If I didn't know better, I'd say you were a Robo Rex."

The teen shrugged, then glanced around at the black clad soldiers. "I know it's weird, but I think something's really wrong about all this. I wish I could tell you more, but I just know this isn't one of Black Knight's normal daily schemes."

"What do you mean you wish you could tell me? Why won't you?"

Rex spun his head around so fast he almost got whiplash. "No! I'm not saying I'm hiding anything, I'm just saying that I wish I knew more, so that way, I could tell you more. I guess it came out kind of awkward. Sorry."

Bobo huffed. "You don't gotta be sorry, pal, but the goth chick's rubbing you in all the wrong ways."

"Ew."

"Ew, yourself."