A/N: So... I'm alive... Heh. Sorry for the wait, but life and school and just... Yeah I'll let you have the chapter now.
Chapter 8~
After Six was able to break the EVO teen out of his cell, the two began to travel North where Six knew the Providence base would be located. It was slow going, and wasn't long before the two Providence agents had to stop and rest, Rex's situation worsening without the slight protection his cave had offered him. Once again, metal protruded painfully through his skin, weakening the boy until he could barely stand.
Six watched as his ward fought against the pain, trying to stand up again after the short break. He frowned, he should have known better, come up with some sort of solution while he was back at the base. He might have been able to be of some use instead of dragging the boy through ice, snow, and wind that made everything worse. At the least, he could have radioed in to give his location before his electronics buzzed out, but no he just had to go solo. He had to suppress a growl of frustration at his own shortcomings.
They hadn't made it much farther after the first rest before it was clear Six was doing most of the walking while Rex was being dragged along with minimal leg movement. The agent puffed out a breath, trying to circulate as much heat through his body as he could. "Let's take a break."
Rex wouldn't admit it, but his expression of pure gratitude spoke volumes about how exhausted he was. He was so tired, and he wouldn't last much longer if they kept the pace going like this. He was weak enough that it was a miracle he was able to move at all, no doubt due to his unique physiology because of the nanites. At least they haven't completely turned against me, Rex thought to himself. Somehow Rex found the energy to smile and laugh, shaking his shaggy head, "R-remind me wh-why I wanted to fly th-the airship?"
"You wanted to be independent." Six answered, his usual stoic tone colored just the barest shade of worried. Rex was shivering and shaking, most likely from the cold but it could be something else too. Was he getting sick on top of everything else? Or was it hypothermia? They needed shelter and fast.
"Right… N-next time that h-happens, just say no, o-ok?"
The green suited ninja allowed a small smile. "Come on, we need to set up camp."
The so-called camp was nothing more than the two finding a wall of ice and digging a crevice into the ground to try and get away from the freezing wind, but it was better than nothing. Six shrugged off his thick jacket, maneuvering it so that it covered both him and Rex as they leaned against the wall of ice as they settled in for the night. If anyone had seen this scene, they might have almost called it a paternal gesture, but of course this was Six; he didn't dopaternal. Instead, in his own mind, he was simply making sure the boy didn't die of hypothermia before they made it to base. There was nothing parental at all about taking care of your assignment. Not one bit.
"D-do you th-think we'll die out h-here?" Rex's teeth chattered, making his words come out broken, but he was starting to shiver less thanks to Six's body heat and the coat.
Six shook his head, "Not if I have anything to say about it, I'm not going to let anything happen to you. Holiday would kill me if I did."
"D-did you just m-make a joke?" Rex asked with a smile, settling in against his mentor (so not snuggling, he was 17 after all) and closing his eyes, relishing in the small amount of warmth they shared.
Six swallowed a yelp of surprise and pain as some of the metal coming out of Rex touched his skin, pressing painfully into him. On top of that, it was freezing, no wonder Rex was deteriorating so fast the metal must be lowering his temperature too. "Now I know you're delirious. Get some rest, kid."
Rex nodded with a grunt of acknowledgment, already drifting away. And if Six tried to rub some heat back into his charge, no one was there to say anything about it.
(~)
"Rex. Rex wake up, someone's coming."
The young EVO sat up as quickly as his aching body would allow, working to stay silent. After he was able to get himself upright, he watched as Six put a finger to his lips before signaling to stay low and indicating the direction of whoever it was approaching. Rex nodded, moving closer to Six with slow and easy movements, staying close to the ground as best he could. Once he reached the edge of their little crevice, he peeked over the edge to see what had his mentor so alarmed.
There on the horizon, little black dots were swaying back and forth, growing rapidly as they approached on swift feet. "They're following us?" Rex asked incredulously. "Wow, they must really want that food."
Six raised an eyebrow, asking what it was that the boy was talking about.
"The penguins, or Izumees, whatever, they wanted me to help them get to the mainland so they could eat. Apparently they eat metal, but they also eat people so… Bad idea."
The ninja nodded, looking back at the approaching threat. "Can you fight?"
Coming from anyone else, Rex might have been offended, but he knew that Six wasn't asking to put him down or make fun. He knew that the man needed an accurate assessment of his resources so he would know what to do for the battle plan. Rex assessed the number of the enemy, took stock of his own health, and shook his head, "I might be able to do some damage, but I can't make any of my builds, so I won't be able to do much." He held up his hand to demonstrate, the lights of the nanites appearing for a second, but the sound that usually accompanied making something sounding more like a busted car engine than state of the art nanotechnology.
Rex smirked, "Maybe if I had a cool sword..." He let the statement trail off, looking pointedly at the green sleeves he knew hid the deadly magnetic weapons.
"No."
"Worth a shot."
Six rolled his eyes, knowing the action would be lost behind his shades before turning back to the army of small EVOs approaching. "We need to get to higher ground. They won't be able to follow as quickly with their smaller legs, we might stand a chance that way."
"Great plan," Rex nodded, "But there aren't a lot of options here. The ice isn't going to be easy for us to climb either, you know."
"I know, but we don't exactly have a lot of options right now." The green suited man glanced up the ice, "Come on, we better get a move on."
Six helped Rex maneuver out of the crevice and began to help/drag the boy up the slope. The Izumees were far enough away that by the time they reached their previous camp, the EVO and his handler were already 15 feet up the slab of ice.
Beneath them, the large penguins squawked and paced around the bottom, looking hungrily at Rex and Six. The leader of the group stepped forward, raising two of his four arms up to silence his companions before calling up to his prey.
"You there! Release the weak one! If you do not, we will take you both!"
"And eat you!" One of the group called eagerly, much to the pleasure of the rest of the group. They murmured in agreement, and Rex didn't like the way their sharp beaks were dripping with saliva.
Six didn't answer, he just kept on climbing, helping Rex up as well. The problem was, their pursuers were a lot faster than them.
"This isn't good." The boy said, trying once again to make something, anything, that could help them out. At this point, he'd be happy if he could make a can opener.
"Get ready for a fight." Six told his charge, setting him on an outcrop of ice so he wouldn't slide off before unsheathing his magnetic weapons.
"As ready as I'll ever be.
A/N:
Thank you to all my readers and reviewers. Thanks to YellowAngela, BabyBird101(times 3!), Alexina23, Doggy129, Lavz, Ninuhuju, Little miss BANANNA HEAD, a fanfictioner, xangabell, theWriterunknown, hakuchan1
Guest: I'm glad you had a party! Why wasn't I invited though?
the second Guest: This is what happens! obviously...heh...
A special thank you to all of you guys who are favoriting and following during my long absence. I wonder how ya'll found me, but I'm glad you did because each time I get an alert it reminds me this story exists and that there are people who want to read it.
Shout out to taylovesbevin, Skygirl1997, and all the others who have asked when I'll update. Especially taylovesbevin, cuz you helped me out so much. I'm really sorry it took me so long. I could blame a lot of things, but ultimately it's my fault.
Edit 12/29/16: minor typo fixes and one missed sentence fixed.