In the office of who was obviously a very wealthy man, a package was found on his desk as he walked into the room. Confused, he pressed a button on what appeared to be some kind of machine, which caused a compartment to open up and a voice sounded out from the speaker.
"Any man who runs from his past will surely forfeit his future," a male voice sounded out. "The time has come to see what you created."
The man leaned in and a mist was sprayed into his face. The man shouted out in pain as he collapsed to the ground and a few moments later, his silhouette was cast on the wall, showing him mutate into an EVO that the author doesn't even know how to describe.
"And this is only the beginning."
The EVO, revealing himself to be a creature with two spikes for arms, brown skin and his entire head consisted of a large open maw with tons of sharp teeth, leaped out of the window of his skyscraper office and landed in the street and landed on top of a school bus, causing it to swerve and fall over, causing a massive traffic jam.
A cop car pulled up and fired out tons of bullets that only bounced off the EVO's thick hide. Roaring out, the EVO charged forwards, smashing through all the cars that were sent flying back.
"Hey, what's the rush?!" Rex's voice called out as he used his Boogie Pack's turbines to send out two large weights that smashed the EVO into the wall of another building.
The EVO simply leaped up and faced Rex.
"Whoa there! Easy now!"
The EVO only growled and hacked one of the Boogie Pack's wings off, sending Rex falling into the arms of his sister, who smiled at him as Six and Bobo ran into the fight as well.
Six leaped up with a grunt and stabbed his swords into the EVO's head, but the attack barely phased him at all as he knocked them off. Bobo ran in with his blasters, also doing nothing as the EVO simply ran in and slashed the blasters apart, upsetting Bobo.
The EVO was all set to attack once again when he was suddenly smashed back into a truck. Bobo looked up to see Roxie with a large battering ram in her hands as she gave a salute to Bobo with a smile.
The EVO simply growled and spat a spurt of acid from its maw and Rex leaped in and used his Smack Hands as a makeshift shield to protect himself and his sister from the attack, causing him to wince in pain as the acid dissolved the metal of his build.
Roxie placed a hand on her brother's shoulder and both looked up to see the EVO attempting to make a break for it.
"Oh ho! We are not done yet!" Roxie shouted.
"Did we say you could leave?!" Rex asked, building his Punk Busters and taking his sister over his shoulder as he ran after the EVO, leaping into the air as he tossed Roxie at him and she managed to secure her place on top of him as she built up two daggers in her hands that she used to steady herself.
"Roxie, deactivate his nanites before he-"
"I'm already on it, Six!" she said... just before she suddenly felt the EVO wobble before he inexplicably transformed back into human form and tumbled into the street and she fell off of him on her back.
"Please don't let him hurt me again," the man begged as the others walked up to Roxie as she stood on her feet.
"Hey, don't look at me. I barely touched the guy," Roxie said.
"Calm down, sir," Six said. "We're only here to help you."
"He said it was just the beginning. You have to stop him!"
"Oh boy," Bobo said. "Somebody's a few tacos short of a fiesta platter, aren't they?"
"He's a madman!" the man screamed before running through the busy street. "A madman!"
"Come back!" Rex shouted hopelessly as he and Roxie turned to each other with a worried look on their faces.
"Our most recent EVO incident was not an isolated event," White Knight said as the team gathered at Providence Headquarters. "Similar outbreaks have been reported over the last 24 hours- all linked to these mysterious 'gifts' that were sent to the victims."
The team looked upon the board to see photographs of the same kind gift that was sent to the man's office.
"Talk about your sucky presents," Rex scoffed. "Like socks for Christmas."
"The mechanism delivers a substance that activates any latent nanites," Holiday analyzed.
"Yeah, but one thing's amiss," Roxie said. "That thing suddenly changed back before we could shut it down."
"How is that possible?"
"From what I can tell, the victims were only exposed to a low dose designed to wear off quickly," Holiday said.
"There has to be a motive," Six said before turning to Holiday. "Was our victim able to tell you anything?"
"No. Complete mental collapse. He's too far gone. But we did recover a fingerprint from the device."
"It belongs to evolutionary biologist Gabriel Rylander," White Knight noted. "He was a leading expert in nanotechnology."
"Was?" Six asked.
"No one's seen or heard from him since the original nanite event."
"Hold up," Rex said. "Are you telling us this guy was there?"
"We have no evidence of that. But following the event, Rylander vanished along with his wife and young son and daughter."
"Son?" Rex asked.
"Daughter?" Roxie asked.
"Analysis of the nanite agent turned up elements of a rare plant found only in South America," Holiday said, pulling up the plant's file.
"Thermal imaging has located what appears to be a fortified compound. And that's exactly where intelligence reports Van Kleiss is heading. Which means you will be too."
Soon, the team found themselves on a motorboat through the swamps on the Amazon river.
"We expect the target to be heavily defended," White reported. "Six, your team will handle the initial covert assault to recover the nanite agent and Dr. Rylander. If Van Kleiss really is after the same targetr, you better hope you get there first."
Speaking of Van Kleiss, he, and the rest of the Pack, barring Breach for obvious reasons, were riding on very large gorilla-like EVOs with the head honcho hooked up to a machine that fed the nanites from Abysus' soil into him. He held up his gauntlet hand to halt his team as a shadow burst across the trees and landed on his mount, revealing himself to be an EVO that was covered from head to toe in brown fur in various shades with razor sharp claws and piercing orange eyes.
"The path is clear," the EVO, named Jungle Cat said. "I'll continue ahead."
As Jungle Cat left, Van Kleiss turned to his two most trusted assistants.
"Our newest member of the Pack seems to be working quite well, wouldn't you say?" Van Kleiss asked Biowulf and Skalamander as the former scoffed in irritation.
"You should've stayed in Abyssus, master," Biowulf said. "Even with this suit and soil from home, your powers are weak."
"This is no ordinary errand, Biowulf. An old friend has just announced his return."
Van Kleiss reached into his pack to pull out the same mechanism that the recent victims had recieved.
"Dr. Rylander's calling card to the Consortium offers an interesting prospect: a limitless supply of active nanites. All that power- anytime, anywhere."
Bobo was very annoyed, swatting away mosquitos as Rex and Roxie smiled at him.
"Got any idea where they keep the bug spray on this thing? Stupid stinking nature!"
"You're a chimp," Rex said. "It's the jungle."
"Let me tell you something, mister. The jungle is a cruel mistress," Bobo inquired. "One day, you're at the top of the banana pile, the next, you're a pile of peels rottin' in the sun. She'll chew you up and spit you out. Never forget that. Never forget!"
"Okay," Roxie said, rubbing her neck as Bobo walked away. "We'll keep that in mind if we ever get back here."
"I understand your point, Doctor," Six said as Holiday worked on her laptop. "But the fact of the matter remains that we have no idea what Rylander's agenda is."
"His motives don't make his research any less valuable," Holiday explained. "If I can get my hands on that nanite agent, I might be able to reverse-engineer a permanent cure."
"What?"
"Think about what that could mean for the world- for the EVOs the twins can't cure... like my sister."
Six remained stoic as the boat trudged through the swamp and Rex and Roxie stood on the bow, keeping a look out.
"See anything interesting?" Six asked them.
"NEVER FORGET!" Bobo called from the distance, startling a few birds that flew overhead.
"Don't ask," Rex sighed.
"Listen, guys. This mission. I need to make sure your heads are in the game."
"What are you talking about?" Roxie sighed.
"Answers about your past... and whether or not this Rylander has them."
"Whatever," Rex scoffed. "If he has them, he does. If he doesn't he doesn't. No big deal."
"We can handle it. Really."
"It's just that... sometimes knowing the truth can be worse than not knowing at all."
Suddenly, everyone felt a strong jolt coming from the boat's underside and they all rushed to the rear to see the surface bubbling.
"What the hell is down there?" Rex asked.
"No idea," Holiday answered.
"Whatever it is, it's got company!" Bobo pointed out as everyone saw the bubbles rising up from further below the water and drew their weapons in preparation, Rex using his BFS' buzzsaw mode. "Show off."
What were revealed to be mutant piranhas burst out of the swamp, flying towards our heroes as well as munching at the boat.
"Sushi boat special, coming up!" Rex shouted as he used his saw on several of the fish as Roxie fired her hundred chamber revolvers at the fish, killing several of them in the water or in the air. One fish made its way to the boat's captain, who boosted its speed, but Six managed to slice it in half just in time. Bobo used his blasters to fry several fish at once while Holiday fired several torpedoes into the swamp.
The boat steadily filled up with water as two fish managed to knock Bobo off his perch and started gnawing at the engine and tackled the boat's captain into the water, where he was promptly devoured like by several of the EVOs like a swarm of piranhas. The engine finally blew its fuse as the twins turned to Holiday worriedly.
"Holiday, get us out of here!" Six ordered.
Holiday went to the driver's seat and boosted the speed as the rest of the group continued fighting off the fish.
"It's a dead end!" Holiday reported.
"Full throttle! Get us to the shoreline! Rex! Roxie! Jump!"
Rex and Roxie nodded as Roxie formed her hoverboard in her hand and picked up Bobo as Rex activated his Boogie Pack and took off with Six and Holiday hanging from his legs, watching at the boat sank into the swamp.
Soon, due to all the excess weight, Rex and Roxie crash landed on the shore.
"Amazon River," Rex said. "Never a dull moment."
Elsewhere, a Guardian drone was looking out at the jungle when it was suddenly swatted aside by Jungle Cat, who looked up as Van Kleiss walked up with Biowulf and Skalamander in tow.
A few more Guardian drones walked up to the group to scout on as Van Kleiss chuckled.
"Rylander's welcoming committee, no doubt. Gentlemen, if you will."
The drones opened fire on them, sending out tons of bullets, but Biowulf and Skalamander simply shrugged them off as they leapt off of their mounts, slashing and smashing the drones to pieces. Skalamander sent out a few stones that destroyed a drone to his right.
One drone leapt onto Van Kleiss' mount, but Jungle Cat took notice of this and used his insane jumping ability to leap onto the map and vaulted over Van Kleiss, swatting the drone off of the mount. However, in the process, he sliced off the tubes that were feeding the Abysus nanites into Van Kleiss.
Jungle Cat's face gained a look of fear as Van Kleiss glared upon him.
"He, he. Oops."
Later, Van Kleiss had completely drained the nanites from Jungle Cat, petrifying him as a result.
"It's fortunate there are other ways to sustain me."
Van Kleiss and company then continued on their trek, but not before Biowulf simply pushed the petrified EVO over.
Meanwhile, another feral EVO meandered by when it was blown to smithereens by another Guardian drone that walked along the perimeter when it was suddenly destroyed by Six, who had used one of his swords as a boomerang.
"Guardian drone," Six examined. "We must be getting close."
"Impressive observation, Six," Rex said, only to be jabbed by Roxie.
"Obviously, Rylander doesn't want to be found," Roxie said. "Otherwise, he wouldn't be so protected."
"Previous electromagnetic imaging puts the compound in this general region," Holiday examined. "But something's jamming the frequency now. I can't get an exact location."
Rex and Roxie both nodded to each other and laid their hands on top of the busted drone, scanning its information into their brains with a smile.
"It's that way," Roxie said as she pointed in the direction of the compound.
"Oh yeah," Rex said to Bobo. "We're just that good."
"When you two find me an ice cold drink in this miserable armpit, I'll eat your ticks," the chimp EVO said.
The team then walked up to a bunch of plants blocking their path and Rex stepped up, activating his BFS.
"I've got this one. Six, you protect Holiday."
Holiday beat Rex to the punch by using her machete to chop down the plants, not noticing the snake that was hovering over her shoulder.
"Worry about yourselves, Rex," she said before promptly cutting the snake's head off.
The team trudged further through the woods before hearing loud hooting from overhead and they looked up in the trees to see the shadows of...
"Howler monkeys," Holiday examined. "They're going to give away our location."
"Bobo! Do something!" Roxie shouted.
"Like I speak howler monkey," he said as two more Guardian drones popped out of the bushes. "Oh, boy."
"Run!" Six shouted as everyone split up into different directions.
The drones opened fire as Six and Rex ran in one direction, as Rex turned to Six.
"I'll try and shut it down!"
Six backflipped away as Rex ducked for cover behind the trees as the bullets ricocheted off of it. Rex wasn't looking good at the moment, when suddenly, Six popped in and sliced the drone's guns off before Rex ran in and used his nanites to overload the drone, blowing it to bits as the explosion sent him flying right when his sister grabbed his shirt and pulled her by her as she pointed to Holiday and Bobo, who were also hiding behind a tree.
"You have a bad habit of dropping in, bro," she said.
"Fine. Sue me."
Roxie only sighed, gave a sommersault forwards and placed her hand on the face of the Guardian drone, using her nanites to overload its circuits, causing it to explode as well.
"You okay, guys?" Holiday asked as she, Bobo and Six approached the twins.
"Hey, you know our line of work," Rex said. "A day without getting blown up is like a day without sunshine."
As the team continued walking through the jungle, Six turned to the twins as Roxie rubbed her arm.
"You two have been quiet," Six told them.
"Okay, we've been thinking about it since we got here," Roxie said. "This Dr. Rylander guy may finally be proof that we're not alone in this world."
"And if he's not? I just don't want you two to be disappointed."
"We understand," Rex said.
As the team continued on their trek, Six held his hand out to stop them as a low growling was heard. Everyone looked ahead and saw the Pack looming in the clearing ahead.
"Six to White."
"What's your status?" White Knight asked. "Have you found the location?"
"Affirmative. But it seems we've been beaten to the punch."
"Understood," White Knight said before disconnecting the call with Six and then contacted Captain Calan. "Captain Calan, you have a go."
Calan nodded before signing off.
Biowulf growled at seeing absolutely nothing in the clearing ahead. "It should be here."
Van Kleiss simply stepped forward with a smirk. "Your eyes deceive you, Biowulf." He tossed one of the devices towards the clearing, only for it to bounce off an invisible wall. But before he could retrieve it, it was blown to bits by an energy bolt and he looked to the side to see Bobo standing there with his blasters drawn and smoking.
"He should've been aiming at you," Rex said.
"Ah, Providence at last. Traveling light, I see," Van Kleiss noted.
"Oh, we're just here to find this place, Van Kleiss," Roxie smirked before pointing up as several Providence fighter ships rose from the trees. "They're here to secure it."
"Is it here?" Six asked as Rex and Roxie touched the ground and used their nanites to scan for machinery. And as the blue lines glowed underneath their hands, the invisible field around the compound was deactivated, revealing Rylander's hideout in all its glory.
"Destroy them," Van Kleiss ordered as the Providence ships opened fire on him.
As they aimed at Van Kleiss, Skalamander leaped in front of him, generating a large wall of crystals that blocked all their bullets. Biowulf, meanwhile, gave a mighty leap upwards and slashed his claws right down one fighter's wing, sending it careening out of control, its bullets blasting into another fighter, sending them both crashing into the jungle, going up in a fiery explosion, leaving only Calan remaining.
"The compound's surrounded by a forcefield," Holiday reported to White.
"If you can't secure that base, we will take it out," White warned.
"We can't lose that formula," Holiday told Six.
"Rex, Roxie, get in there," Six ordered. "We'll handle the Pack."
Rex nodded and activated his Punk Busters, grabbing Roxie as he leaped over Van Kleiss and his mount before getting to the security console.
"Please don't blow me up," he begged.
He placed his hand on the console and it glowed, accepting him and Roxie as the doors to the compound opened, prompting the twins to rush inside.
"Master," Biowulf said as Van Kleiss ducked behind Skalamander's crystals, hiding from the onslaught of blaster fire. "You're in no condition for battle. Seek cover!"
Van Kleiss darted his eyes over to the open door before giving out a smirk.
Inside, Rex and Roxie ran up as Rex used his Smack Hands to burst a door open before Roxie conjured a large shield into existence as she blocked a Guardian drone's gunfire before ducking as Rex smacked it aside. Another drone came walking up before Roxie dispelled the shield and summoned a crossbow, firing at the drone right at its eye, causing it to drop dead.
"Punks," he scoffed.
The twins degenerated their builds before an old man with stubble pointed a gun at Roxie's head.
"Don't move or I'll drop you!"
The twins then gulped as they moved their heads and the man gave a thousand yard stare at their faces.
"Rex? Roxanne? Is that you?" the man asked, dropping his gun before running up and gathering both of them into a hug.
"You... you know our names?" Roxie asked.
"Of course I do! I gave them to you! I can't believe you're alive. What a stroke of luck."
"Um... Dad?" Rex asked.
"You've both lost your memories, haven't you? I mean, it's not surprising, considering what you've been through."
"You're Gabriel Rylander," Roxie realized. "You are our dad, right?"
"Oh. I'm sorry to disappoint you, Roxanne-"
"Please, just call me Roxie."
"Roxie. I'm not the man you want me to be."
"Oh, okay," Rex said, understanding the situation as Dr. Rylander nodded.
"Well, if you're not our father, do you know where he is? Or anyone else in our family?" Roxie asked.
Dr. Rylander only shook his head sadly.
"Well, 'Rex and Roxie Rylander' are goofy names anyway," Rex chuckled.
"Ain't that the truth," Roxie smiled.
Suddenly, he entire compound shook from overhead and Dr. Rylander took the twins' hands.
"Come quickly. We don't have much time."
The trio moved deeper into the compound as Dr. Rylander showed the twins his research on the nanite project.
"I was so close to completing the code," Dr. Rylander began, beginning his work on the formula. "There's been a problem with the molecular penetration, resulting in a sequencing gap.
"Dr. Rylander, we have to know," Rex said.
"You two must understand. It was never about power or greed. It was about changing the world. Saving mankind by putting an end to disease and starvation. And we would have succeeded until... they got involved."
"What are you talking about?" Roxie asked.
"The nanites were incomplete. The incident spread them across the globe before we could their final programming... except for you two."
"What?" the twins chorused.
"Your nanites were from a different batch. The first two actually. All those innocent victims..."
"Whoa," Rex said before realizing something. "But wait, if you feel so bad about what happened, then why have you been attacking more people?"
"Hmm. The chosen few. Those men and women, Roxie, are far from innocent. You see, while they hide in their office towers and gated estates, I've been here trying to set things right. To find a cure for what we created. I begged them for more funding. But alas, they refused."
"Wait a minute," Roxie said. "Everyone you sent those devices to... they all worked on the nanite project?"
"They merely commissioned it," Dr. Rylander explained. "All I wished to do was to send them a warning to show them what would happen if they refused to finish the good work we started. And it was good. Rex, Roxie, you two are living proof that we were doing the right thing."
"By turning us into EVOs?!" Rex shouted as he and Roxie stepped back.
"Let me explain," Dr. Rylander said, putting his hands up. "We had no choice for you two."
"Okay..." Roxie said. "Explain."
"You two... had a terrible accident. The nanites were the only way to save you. It was a tremendous gamble. The... unexpected side effects came later. Oh, the look on your brother's face was a true Kodak moment."
"Brother?" Rex asked.
"We have another brother?" Roxie asked.
"When the event occurred, it was your new powers that saved all three of you. Most of the others... they weren't so lucky."
"So we're not alone after all," Rex realized as he and Roxie turned to each other with huge smiles on their faces.
"Oh, here. I have something for you two."
Dr. Rylander took out two syringes and injected their contents into the twins' arms.
Outside the lab, the Guardian drones blasted at Van Kleiss as he approached, only to be destroyed by spiked plants that grew from the ground beneath it.
Meanwhile, Bobo and Holiday continued their assault of blaster fire on Van Kleiss' mount as well as Skalamander, Holiday dodging a large boulder that was tossed at her with surprising acrobatic skills. The duo ran away from the mount as it charged on them. On the mount's back, Six was battling Biowulf, trading sword strikes with the swipes of the EVO's claws.
Taking a look overhead, Six saw some more fighters fly in, dropping bombs on the Pack before letting loose a torrent of bullets from their cannons. Six and Biowulf immediately leapt off the creature as it roared, leaping up to grab the fighter before sending it crashing onto the roof of the invisible wall, which was then instantly dissolved. Following this, the second fighter dropped its bombs onto the compound.
"The force field must be failing," Dr. Rylander said as he and the twins took cover from the falling debris.
"Forget the force field," Roxie said. "What did you just inject us with?"
"Everything."
"Enough, okay!?" Rex shouted. "Do you have any idea what it's been like for us? Not knowing who we are, if our family's dead or alive?! Quit it with the mad scientist act and just give us some straight answers!"
"Forgive me, Rex. I've been so consumed by my own guilt that I never even considered what you must have been going through. The truth is..."
Dr. Rylander never finished as his body suddenly seized and he fell to the ground.
"The truth?" Van Kleiss asked, stepping out from the shadows as he retracted his gauntlet. "You wouldn't know the first thing about it. Nor loyalty, for that matter."
"Van Kleiss," Roxie spat.
"How many times must I tell you two this? The answers you so desperately seek lie with me. And as for you, Doctor, consider our past disagreement settled. I look forward to continuing our research... alone."
Dr. Rylander closed his eyes and Roxie held him in her arms.
"This was unavoidable, Rex, Roxie. The longer you two resist me, the more people get hurt."
Roxie's eye rapidly twitched and she conjured her warhammer up and she gave a wicked smack to Van Kleiss, sending him crashing into the wall as Rex jumped up and built his BFS, slicing off Van Kleiss' gauntlet hand, leaving his arm a sparking stump. Rex then activated his Smack Hand, trapping Van Kleiss against the wall.
"Rylander has always been on borrowed time," Van Kleiss explained. "All of this belongs to me now. Destroy me and you two lose everything."
The twins gained an unsure look as they glanced at each other... but that was when the entire compound rumbled and debris started falling down again. Rex retracted his Smack Hand and the rubble began to bury Van Kleiss.
Unfortunately, two vines shot out and ensnared the twins where they stood, both shouting out in effort as they were tossed around into several desks and walls like ragdolls before they finally landed in a heap.
Van Kleiss formed a large vine around his stump arm before forming it into a spike as he attempted to drive it through the twins' hearts.
Fortunately, Dr. Rylander recovered and tackled Van Kleiss, sending them both crashing into the large nanite reactor in the center of the room.
"Dr. Rylander!" Rex shouted as Rylander and Van Kleiss were both frozen where they stood... and were then instantly vaporized by the energy from the reactor.
"We gotta get out of here!" Roxie shouted as he and Roxie ran away from the compound as Rex tripped and fell right at the feet of Six, who ran in to rescue them.
"Rex, Roxie. Where's Dr. Rylander?"
"He's gone," Rex sighed. "And so is Van Kleiss."
The trio then continued running out of the flaming compound as Biowulf and Skalamander continued battling Holiday and Bobo.
"The reactor is shot!" Six told them as he and the twins ran past. "This entire place is about to blow!"
"Don't have to tell me twice," Bobo said as he sheathed his blasters and he and Holiday ran off after Six and the twins away from Skalamander's crystals.
"Why do they run?" Biowulf asked.
"Where is Van Kleiss?" Skalamander asked.
The team then leaped up and boarded one of the Providence fighters as the compound went up in a fiery explosion, seemingly taking Biowulf and Skalamander down with it.
"No, I didn't see what happened," Six told White Knight over his communicator. "But according to Rex and Roxie, Van Kleiss has been eliminated. Rylander's experiment is a total loss."
"All of this was for nothing," Holiday said. "I'm sorry, you two."
"No," Roxie said. "It wasn't for nothing. Before he died, he injected us with something. I don't know what it is, but it's clearly important."
"Plus, we just learned that we have a brother," Rex said, excited. "He's out there, somewhere."
"We're not alone anymore," Roxie smiled. "We're finally getting some real answers."
"Now, we're closer to the truth than ever," Rex said as the camera split and zoomed into their bloodstreams, showing one special nanite that was injected into them by Rylander.