Author's note: Hey there. Bet you guys didn't think I'd update quite this fast, eh? Well, I was going to wait until the week ended, but I thought better of it. It's be better for everyone (myself included) if I just updated as soon as I finished a chapter.

By the way, a bunch of thanks goes to my first reviewers of this story, NiGHTfall48 and Flicker's Owner. They're pretty much the reason why I was spurred to finish this so quickly and post it up just as fast.

Hope you guys enjoy!

P.S: I suck at fight scenes!


Evening came, and so did a call to Providence about an E.V.O attack. Typical, just when things were starting to settle down for the day too.

Six, Holiday, a running late Rex, and a bunch of Providence grunts were in the briefing room listening to White about the situation. Well, Rex wasn't actually listening. He was engulfed with his thoughts about earlier, still calling himself an idiot and the other names from before.

Everything had been going fine, until that simple question about having a pet came up, which, even after the funny memories of being licked clean, eventually led to the heartbreaking reality that, even if the Nanite Event never happened, it was going to die anyway. Not to mention that he had put his brother through the painful situation of remembering it himself. For him, it hadn't been so long ago that everything was right with the world. Everything was how it was supposed to be.

Still, which was worse? Knowing that a dog you loved that much was going to die, or not even remembering that dog who loved you that much was…

"Rex, are you listening?" White Knight asked, highly annoyed to see Rex staring blankly into space.

"What? Yeah, of course I am."

"Really? Repeat back what I said."

Rex said it as innocently as he could manage. "Uh, there's an E.V.O attack happening and we're just wasting time sitting here?" He flashed a sheepish smile. If Six wasn't wearing sunglasses at the moment, anyone would be able to tell that he was glaring daggers at the kid. Holiday did the same, but not anywhere as menacing. The same could not be said of White.

"I said—the E.V.O is attacking in the capital of Nebraska, ransacking stores and eating all the food. You have to stop it before it does any serious harm, which it most likely could in a big city like that. Is that short enough for you, Rex?"

"Yeah, sure," he said rather cheerfully and leaning back in his chair. "This'll be easy."

"This is so not what I had in mind!" Rex was being swung around by the slender brown tentacles coming from the E.V.O's shoulders. This was not supposed to be happening. For crying out loud! His brother was watching! He was supposed to be showing him what he could do, not get pounded by some overgrown dog thing with tentacles!

Earlier, just before Providence arrived…

Rex was sitting there in the jet, waiting for them to get there already. He was so bored, it wasn't even funny. These flights sometimes took forever. His thoughts still weren't helping him either. He just wanted to stop thinking about that whole situation. But it just wouldn't go away. Then, he thought a little random thought. What if Cesar had lost some confidence in him after being attacked from behind by Hunter Cain? Sure, he hadn't actually spoken up about it. Rex couldn't exactly ask at the moment if he had or not though. Well, he could. But, after what happened earlier, he would rather Cesar take some time off from his pesky little bro anyway, even if that was in the job description to be a pest. He knew it was. So, he took a silent resolve: since Cesar happened to be coming along on this one (for whatever reason, no one knew), he would prove that he was more than capable of taking down anyone, and anything that stood in his way.

Rex tore down the Smack Hands he had up and put in their place the B.F.S (Big Fat Sword), cutting off the tentacles in one swift motion. The E.V.O dropped him on the hard road, but made no motion of pain at all, simply retracting the severed tentacles. They then restored back to their original state, deceivingly looking like hard, pointed pieces of bone protruding out. It had more of those, going along both sides of its body, most of them small except for two others, possibly more tentacles, on its hind legs. The spines got closer together until they met at the tip of its arrow tail. Its ears were cropped,* giving it that superior look, with nasty saber-like teeth that pointed up from the jaw, and longer than normal dew claws.*In general, it looked like the monster version of a dog.

Rex swung the B.F.S repeatedly, making the giant dog back up. It bared its pearly whites at the teen, all the while making its menacing growl. Of course it had to be a dog E.V.O on the exact same day as that awkward situation. What are the odds? With Rex around, pretty freaking high.

"Bad dog! Bad—dog!" He had to keep swinging that massive sword left and right, or otherwise it would make a lunge for him. Providence grunts were trying to help, but couldn't get a clear shot. Six stood back, quiet and stoic as usual, and waiting until his partner actually needed his help.

Rex decided to try a different tactic. He got rid of the ridiculously large sword, and made a sort of tentacle-like whip of his own. The whip looped around the dog's neck, which made it retaliate even harder, bucking like a wild horse. Being almost seven feet tall from head to toe, it had no problem dragging Rex around like a rag doll when he refused to let go. It made a run for it in the opposite direction of Providence. Six just raised an eyebrow at the kid.

"You need help?"

"Nope, I got it Six. No need to worry," Rex said calmly. Then, when he was done reassuring Six, he started to panic some.

"Sit! Stay! Heel! Stop!" He didn't have much of a choice at this point. He had to let go or get pulled along for the ride. Rex rolled a few times before he could regain his footing and build his Boogie Pack. Taking to the air, he thought he would have a better chance from there…maybe. This was humiliating; being outdone by a dog. Then, he spotted something on the ground.

On the E.V.O's rampage, it had picked up a few things along the way and just happened to leave a trail of mostly meat and dried dog food along that very road it was on.

Rex took a dive and grabbed a piece of meat. He flew up ahead and stuck it right where the E.V.O could see it. The giant dog stopped right there, and sniffed the air vigorously. It wagged its tail with the same enthusiasm, suddenly crouching in a playful manner, and jumped at Rex! The dog grabbed for the meat, but missed it by a mile when Rex pulled up.

"You want it?" He swung the meat tauntingly. "Come and get it!"

They went back the way they came, the E.V.O dog licking its chops all the while at that juicy, mouthwatering piece of meat that was just hanging there in his hands. "Get ready, its coming back to you!" He zoomed back to where they met in no time. Rex brought out a Smack Hand so that he would be able to grab it if the dog decided to run off again—not that it might have helped much. He continued to wave it right in front of it, taunting it so badly, that it took a chance and grabbed for the meat. It failed and grabbed Rex's metallic arm instead. "Ugh! Get off me!" He made the other Smack Hand and punched the E.V.O right on the snout. The dog yelped and lurched back, making its menacing growl somehow even scarier than it was before. Unfortunately, he had dropped the meat when it bit him so hard.

"Whoa, easy boy, I'm trying to give ya this treat. You're making it kind'a hard though."

Rex carefully reached over to the piece of meat, grabbed it, and tantalized the giant dog again, who was seeming to start drooling. "Ya want it? Huh, do ya? Do ya? I know ya do." He waved it back forth, the dog following the movement without a skip. Rex was about to throw it towards the containment unit that had just been lowered down to the street. But then, it suddenly started sniffing the air again, as if catching something startlingly familiar. The E.V.O moved its head up in the air. Rex tried waving the meat in hopes of grabbing its attention to it. Its ears perked, and it looked behind itself. There was nothing there at first. Then, something came down the corner off the far street. This whole area was supposed to be secured. There shouldn't be anyone there! Yet, it looked like some random bystander was whistling. It wasn't calling for the E.V.O…was it? If he was, he wasn't about to be.

The giant dog growled viciously at that supposedly random person, like it knew him all too well. It lowered its head, bared its teeth even wider, then, the strangest part of it all, it walked past Rex and stood between him and the man standing only a yard away. Without warning, it lunged! But Rex grabbed it by the tail just before it was too late. The Smack Hands was better to hold on with than the whip; he had more strength with them. Still, the dog was still pretty strong. It was about to start dragging him around again.

That E.V.O was barking at that strange person as loudly as its voice would allow it. The said person visibly got scared and retreated to the safety of the street he was on. While it was still busy trying to get to that mysterious person, Providence took this as the opportunity to hit it with a few tranquilizers. The dog stopped struggling and wavered about, trying desperately to keep its balance on all four legs. But, it was no use. Even Rex had thought it safe enough to let go of its tail. Its legs shook, and then gave up the fight against the drug, its tongue sticking out of its mouth as it fell to the ground.

"Mission accomplished," said Rex, cocky as ever after victory. He pressed a button on his comm. Link. "Hey bro, did you see that? I took down that E.V.O dog without breaking a sweat."

"What? Oh, I wasn't paying any attention."

The Providence grunts loaded the said unconscious E.V.O as Rex was in stunned silence. "What! What were you doing the entire time?"
"I was working on my other projects. I knew you'd be able to take down the E.V.O without much of a problem, Rex."
"Now you tell that after being thrown around, dragged, and bitten in the same day."


Quick note: *Cropped ears are done by a procedure used to get a dog's ears to stand up. *Dew claws are fifth claws found commonly on mixed breeds (as far as I know anyway).