At a truck stop diner, a bulky man sat at the bar, enjoying his coffee, when suddenly a man ran into the diner, panting on his knees and looked at him desperately.
"It's Providence! Some kind of EVO attack!"
The man only gave a sigh at that new information.
Elsewhere in the neighborhood, Rex and Roxie shouted out as they were tossed into a wooden fence and groaned out in pain. They looked up to see a mother, who had picked up her young son with a smile at the heroes.
"Huh. Good times," Rex said.
The twins ran to Six as he bared his swords and Roxie gave a shudder of disgust.
"Bugs. I hate it when they dig."
"We need to take it down fast before it causes any more damage," Six said, noticing a liant, which was a giant flea EVO, burrowing underground and destroying the street.
"Alright," Rex said, building up his Smack Hands. "Meet Exterm and Nator!"
He then looked to his sister and their partner, both of whom looked unimpressed.
"Uh... yeah, I'm working on it."
Roxie sighed as she conjured her warhammer and hoisted it over her shoulder as her brother spun his giant fists and burrowed into the ground after the liant.
Everyone in the neighborhood looked on as the underground duel sent a few cars flying into the air, which were then destroyed on impact with the ground, before noticing as the duo flew up out of a house, destroying that as well as Rex tried to pry the liant's mouth open.
"Ugh. EVO breath."
As Rex struggled, Roxie ran up and whacked the liant away with her warhammer with a shout of effort. Unfortunately, the giant flea popped up and tackled her before tossing her back through a fence and then it ran up and picked a car up in its maw before it tossed to Rex, which hit him head on.
This fight continued through the streets all the way to the diner and everyone ran for the hills at the twins and the liant's struggle in the parking lot. Rex shouted out and reared back a fist before sending it forwards, until the liant bit down on it, causing Rex to scream in pain as the flea EVO ripped it off of him.
"Come on!" he said as he, Roxie and Six chased after the fleeing monster. "That's my favorite hand!"
The bulky man simply remained in his seat, sipping on his coffee before he laid down the cash and change to pay for it on the table and got up from his seat, leaving the diner.
Elsewhere, a woman walked across the street, only to gasp in horror as the liant charged towards her. Fortunately, Roxie flew in on her hoverboard and picked her up, carrying her out of danger. Rex leaped in with his Punk Busters and gave a wicked kick to the monstrous flea.
"Down, boy!"
"You're okay," Roxie said, setting the woman down. "Trust us. This will all be over soon."
Elsewhere, the man walked up to his truck and pulled out a case containing his gear, including a blaster that he called "Sweet Caroline."
Rex shouted out as he gave a Punk Buster to the liant's face, sending it stumbling back into the street as Six moved up to it and placed his hands on it.
"I've got the pincers. Now flip the switch on its nanites."
"Uh, we don't exactly have the best luck with non-humans, remember?" Rex asked.
"Afraid to try?"
Rex and Roxie placed their hands on the liant's thick shell and started absorbing its nanites.
"It's working!"
"Enough!" the man from the diner said, aiming his blaster at the twins.
He fired and the twins gasped as they hit the dirt, and the blast hit the liant and its nanites overloaded, causing it to blow apart into blood and guts, which rained down on the twins and Six.
"Oh, thank you," one of the civilians said and the twins gasped at the bulky man in front of them.
"What's your damage, idiota!?" Roxie shouted. "We were this close to curing that thing!"
"Didn't look that way to me," the man said, removing his red mask. "Filthy EVO."
"Filthy EVO?!" Rex asked, stepping in front of Roxie as the man aimed Sweet Caroline at them.
"Give me one reason why I shouldn't blow your heads off. Just one."
"Lower your weapon," Six said, lowering the blaster.
"I know my rights. The law says we can defend ourselves against EVO scum."
"Um, in case you didn't notice, that's exactly what we were doing!" Roxie shouted. "It's our job!"
"Really? Look around you! These are our homes, or at least what's left of them. Your job is making our lives worse."
All of the neighbors around the man all shouted out in protest against the twins and Six.
"These people have had enough."
"What are you talking about?!" Rex asked. "We're here to help."
"Do these people look like they want your kind of help?"
As they talked, a shadow loomed over the man and a Providence drop ship moved in and lowered down by the team and a reporter and her camera man ran up to the scene.
"People know what's going on," the man said as he turned to the camera. "Providence claims they are here to cure the world. But now they got two of those sickos working for them?! It makes you wonder whose side they're really on."
As the neighbors shouted and threw things at the twins, they stepped up to protest, only to be stopped by the Six.
"Come on, you two. Let it go."
The twins sighed and walked back to the drop ship with a defeated glance at the man.
"You are now under the protection of Hunter Cain!"
As the twins regrouped with Holiday in Providence headquarters, Roxie groaned as she ran her hands through her hair as Holiday wrapped Rex's arm in bandages.
"Who does that guy think he is?" Rex asked. "The two of us are out there risking our necks for these people every day! People love us!"
"Well, some people just have too much hate in them to see things any other way,," Holiday explained. "Hold still, Roxie."
Roxie winced as Holiday put some hydrogen peroxide on the wound on her cheek before she bandaged it.
"Ow!"
"Don't sweat it, kiddos," Bobo said, walking up. "Humans are idiots. End of story."
"Not all of them," Roxie said as she grabbed her jacket and walked away, joined by Rex. "But anyone who would believe what that guy has to say makes you wonder."
In the communications hub, Six sat at a table, looking over the man's files.
"His name is Hunter Cain," he said to White Knight. "Lost his wife a few months ago when she turned. Locals say this isn't the first EVO he's attacked."
"Another hometown hero," White said. "Is he going to be a problem?"
"Usually, I'd say no. This time, I'm not so sure."
On the side of the street in a TV shop, the twins were watching a talk show called Ultimate Exposure with a disgusted look upon their faces.
"Tonight on Ultimate Exposure, the rise of Hunter Cain," the host said. "Since his arrival on the scene just over a month ago, the hunter has captured the public's attention as the common man's answer to Providence. He's inspired a devout following, including the makings of his own private army."
"We're dealing with an epidemic here," Cain said in a video clip. "And we're the cure. When something is making you sick, you cut it out."
"And what of Providence's secret weapons?" the host asked as she showed a clip of the twins battling EVOs. "No longer secret?"
As soon as Cain sat down for the interview, he glared at the freeze frame of Rex and Roxie.
"How can we protect our children from this disease when the very thing we're fighting against is walking free among us?"
"But you know you can't catch EVO like a cold?"
"Says who? Providence scientists? You're gonna trust them? We need to protect ourselves from this Rex and Roxie and every other sicko like them. People should be able to draw their own conclusions."
"Yeah?" Rex asked. "Well here's our conclusion: you're a lying whack job!"
"You know he can't hear you two, right?" Bobo asked. "Now can we finish this?"
"Right," Roxie said as Rex lifted an EVO up with his Smack Hands and slammed it down.
Roxie then placed her hands on it and used her powers to cure it before helping the resulting human to his feet.
"See there? Nothing to worry about," she said to the approaching crowd. "Your old pals Rex and Roxie keeping the streets safe."
"Uh, curing EVOs?" Rex asked nervously as the man ran away from them and the crowd looked worriedly upon them. "Saving cute puppies?"
Later, the twins were at the ballpark playing some B-ball with Noah as Rex tossed the ball to his best friend.
"Somebody's off their game," Noah said, tossing the ball to Rex as he caught it.
"I'm just warming up."
"We've been playing for an hour."
Rex gave a toss and the ball sailed past the hoop and into a trash can, resulting in the trio hearing a cat yowling sharply. Noah sighed and picked the ball back up.
"I saw the news. Hunter Cain really has it out for you two, huh?"
"Forget him, Noah!" Roxie shouted. "I mean, the guy's a joke. Do you really think people believe what he's saying?"
"Uh..."
"Do you?" Rex asked.
"Well, it's complicated, guys. People are afraid. They'll believe anything if it sounds like it will keep them safe. I know you guys are cool but everyone else..."
"They'll just have to be won over by our charm and personality."
Rex tossed the ball, which bounded off the rim back to him as a group of boys walked over to the twins.
"Hey, look. It's them- the two EVOs from TV."
"Oh, what's up? Want to play?" Roxie asked.
"And then catch your freak disease? Puh!"
"So that would be a no then?" Rex asked.
"Why don't you two get lost?" the leader asked as a crowd formed around Rex, Roxie and Noah. "We don't want you and your EVO germs around here."
"Look, we don't want any trouble," Noah said to the rest crowd as they yelled at the twins.
"Stay out of this, EVO lover! You're the trouble. Am I right?!"
The crowd all shouted out agreements and the twins felt themselves get hit by rocks.
"Oh, now we're throwing rocks, are we?" Roxie asked.
"We gotta go, guys."
"No," Rex said. "I'm not gonna let a few jerks push us around."
"Uh, Rex. It kind of looks like more than a few to me."
And at that point, several pieces of trash bounded off the twins heads as the crowd all hurled their jeers and taunts at them and Roxie felt a huge tick mark form on her forehead.
"Okay," Rex said, building his Smack Hands. "Back off."
The crowd only stepped back at this and continued pelting the twins with trash as Roxie took a deep breath.
"Keep it together, Rox. Do not stoop to their level," she told herself under her breath.
"I said BACK OFF!" Rex said, spreading his hands out before he accidentally knocked them into a man, sending him skittering back and the crowd all gave a stunned and scared look at that.
"I'm sorry. It was an accident," Rex said. "I didn't mean to hurt him."
Suddenly, a massive bus ran through the gate, sending the crowd scattering away screaming as it collided right into the twins, sending them crashing into the street with a shout of pain before they fell under the front. After that, several masked men carrying guns filed out and surrounded the bus just as Rex lifted up the van and set it down.
"Oh, you want EVO?" Rex asked. "Is that what you want?!"
Rex then built up his BFS and gave a massive slice straight down the center of the bus, splitting it in two. He then activated its buzzsaw function as Roxie sighed and summoned her greatsword and both sliced the bus into several smaller pieces.
"You tried to run us over with a bus?!" Roxie shouted. "We're human too, you know!"
Suddenly, the twins stopped in their tracks and looked up to see the crowd looking scared around them.
"Guys," Noah said, stopping them. "You really need to get out of here."
"But, we didn't mean... We have to explain!" Rex protested.
"It's way too late for that. Go now! Go!"
The twins got the message and both ran off as Rex built his Boogie Pack and Roxie conjured her hoverboard and both hightailed it out of the scene as fast as they could.
"This is exactly what I was warning about," Hunter Cain said as another episode of Ultimate Exposure showed the twins seemingly wreaking havoc at the basketball court. "Providence insists on sheltering these dangerous EVOs. Letting them endanger our families with their nanites. Is that helping us? Not a chance."
"They tried to infect me," a man said in an interview. "It's a miracle I'm still alive."
"I saw what they could do. We're lucky to have a good man like Hunter Cain protecting us."
"I thought Rex and Roxie were helping, but is it really safe having them around?"
"This is officially completely out of control!" White Knight shouted.
"This is all out of context," Holiday said. "The twins were attacked by that crowd. They were only defending themselves. Hunter Cain is whipping the public into a frenzy."
"Why am I not surprised?" Bobo asked. "Humans are sheep. I could shave them and make a coat."
"We should have dealt with this sooner. Can't someone put a lid on this guy?"
"We have truth on our side," Holiday assured. "Once we discredit Cain, this whole thing will be over."
Little did the adults know that Rex and Roxie had been eavesdropping on this conversation and both sighed as they walked off.
Later, the twins and Noah entered a diner and sat down at the bar.
"Two slices of apple," Rex said.
"And one slice of cherry," Roxie said.
The waitress turned around, only to hesitate once she recognized the twins before she wrote the order down and headed into the kitchen.
"Let's just go, okay," Noah said, before the trio looked behind them Hunter Cain and his followers approaching behind them, the door's bell ringing as it opened. "You said we were going out for pie."
"We did," Rex said. "Pie at his favorite restaurant."
"We just want to talk, Cain," Roxie said.
"I got nothing to say to either of you."
"Fine. Then just listen," Rex said. "You hate EVOs. I get it. A lot of them are really bad news."
"But we're not," Roxie said, gesturing to herself and her brother. "People need to know the truth. We don't want to hurt anyone."
Cain only scoffed at that.
"What did we ever do to you?"
"You're infected."
"We're all infected!" Roxie protested. "Every last living thing on Earth, every human, plant and animal, has nanites inside of them. Even you."
"Providence lies."
"That is just... ARGH!" Rex shouted. "You are a moron!"
Noah then stepped up between them.
"Rex, Roxie, come on," he said.
"And what are you two? The world's big hope? I don't need an EVO to save me. And they don't either."
Everyone turned to see the patrons of the diner glaring at the twins.
"We don't need you, we don't need Providence."
"Fine," Roxie spat. "But when you find yourself mutating into one of those monstrosities that you hate so much when your nanites activate, don't come crying to us."
Roxie said as she and the boys left, turning her nose up.
"Are we gonna go after them?" one of Cain's henchmen asked.
"No. Their day is coming."
"They don't want our help?" Rex asked as he, Roxie and Bobo looked out over the Petting Zoo. "Fine. No more flying to the rescue."
"No more turning giant blobs back into mailmen," Roxie agreed.
"Works for me," Bobo said.
"Are you sure about that?" Holiday asked, walking in. "Because the people who really do need you two are going to suffer."
"Ah, details," Bobo said.
"So?" a defeated Rex asked. "They don't think we're any different than those things down there in the Petting Zoo. Why should we care?"
"Because someone has to. Most people have given up hope, guys. Since you two came here, that's all changing. Don't let one man's anger get in the way."
"That's the problem, Doc," Roxie sighed, rubbing at her scalp. "It isn't just one man. Whenever either of us walk down the street, everyone runs away from us or looks at us like we're gonna turn them into some monster."
"Forget it," Rex said. "We're through."
As the defeated twins walked off, Bobo scoffed as he stepped up.
"Well, if you want my opinion..."
"I don't," Holiday warned as she walked off as well.
As things were swinging in the main hall of Providence Headquarters, White Knight suddenly appeared on the main screen.
"Full scale alert! I want strike teams geared up and ready to deploy."
And following orders, every agent in the place geared up and got into the ship that rose from the hatch underneath the river below the headquarters. Every agent excpet two that is as the twins were listening to music in their room on their beds
"This is Alpha Team- ready!"
"Bravo Team a go!"
"Weapons check!"
The various Providence agents all dropped down into New York's shipyard and readied themselves as they moved through the streets, not noticing the EVO moving in the shadows behind them.
"Nothing yet, Sir," a Bravo agent told White Knight. "No sign of... sweet mother of Murphy!"
On the shipping crates above them were tons of white ghost-like EVOs, ready to puonce on them.
"Open fire! Open fire!"
Bravo Team opened fire on the EVOs, only to get instantly swarmed and knocked down from all directions.
"Alpha Team, we're surrounded! We're cut off!"
"They're on top of us! They're right on top of us!"
"Bravo Team! We're pinned down! We're pinned down!"
"To your left! To your left! ARGH!"
"Send reinforcements! Send everything!"
At this constant onslaught of the sounds of the agents getting attacked, the twins shot their eyes open and looked to each other with an unsure glance.
"How did we get such a huge concentration of EVOs in one place?" White Knight asked. "Did you talk to the twins?"
"They still say no," Six said.
"Get down there with another team and clean this mess up. Wipe it if you have to."
The agents continued their fire on the EVOs before one was suddenly run over by Hunter Cain's bus and his henchmen all filed out and blasted their own special weapons at the EVOs, causing their nanites to overload and they instantly disintegrated as a result.
Soon enough, both Cain's soldiers and the Providence agents were divided on either side of the bus, dealing with the horde of ghost-like EVOs in their own ways. Some stunning them and the others just destroying them.
Soon afterwards, the big kahuna himself appeared and started absolutely wasting the EVOs with the same reporter and her cameraman from earlier filming the battle.
"See that, folks?" Cain said into the camera. "Providence isn't the only answer. And what happened to its heroes? What about Rex and Roxie?"
Little did Cain know, however, that the twins had already left their room a while ago.
Another Providence ship dropped down into the cargo bay and the hatch opened to let Six and his team out and they joined the current team of agents.
"Blasters are useless against these things," one of the agents told Six. "Whatever they have is working."
Six then drew his swords out before he heard the rumbling of an engine.
"Que pasa, people!" Rex said as he and Roxie rushed in on the Rex Ride, ramming all of the EVOs like roadkill before the twins disengaged and joined Six.
"Glad you guys could make it."
"Yeah, well, we're tired of seeing someone else do our job," Roxie said with a cheeky smile. "Poorly, I might add."
Roxie then summoned her swords and Rex built up his Smack Hands and both ran off to fight off the EVOs, not noticing Hunter Cain looming on a crate above them as he aimed Sweet Caroline down at them.
"Not this time, freaks."
He pulled the trigger, sending a massive blast of energy down at the twins, who gave a horrified look at what he just did and they leaped out of the way, nimbly doding the hunter's cannonfire on them.
It was in vain, however, as Roxie was blasted point blank in the chest and she shouted out in pain as she crashed against a storage crate and fell to the ground, convulsing in pain.
"Roxie!" Six shouted, running to her, only to have his path obstructed by the EVOs.
Rex hoisted Roxie over his shoulder before he ran away from Cain's cannonfire.
"Hot! Hot! Hot!"
As the battle raged on, the cameraman was filming everything taking place as Rex carried his unconscious sister bridal style as they ran away from Cain.
Rex dodged the falling debris on him as his sister began to come to, only for them both to get blasted back into a wall, the explosion obviously doing a lot of damage.
Cain smirked as he approached the downed twins as they weakly shifted the debris from the explosion off of their bodies and Cain slammed his boot onto Roxie's chest.
"Can't you two just die already?!"
"We don't do dying!" Rex said, activating a Punk Buster and kicking Cain off of his sister before he activated his Smack Hands and tossed Roxie into him, both of them crashing through a storage crate and sending Cain's weapon skittering away from him.
Rex then gave a kick of his Punk Busters, only for Cain to do some parkour tricks to climb on top of the large leg and gave a roundhouse kick to his head, sending Rex stumbling back as Cain gave him a brutal beating as he turned to Roxie and slammed her back over his knee, causing her to scream in intense pain as he tossed her beside her brother.
"You're not so..." Rex began, only for Cain to pick him up and toss him to the ground again before going over to collect Sweet Caroline again, but Roxie took note of this and sent a metal boomerang out that she tossed at Cain's head, nailing him dead on target before it flew back to her hand as her brother built his Smack Hand again and slammed Cain into a bunch of steel pipes.
As the twins moved in to attack, Cain picked up one of the pipes and nailed them both in the head before Roxie caught it and used her gauntlet to give a massive uppercut to his jaw, sending him crashing into some crates.
Cain ran through the crates, where he was then cornered by the furious twins.
"You have no idea who you're trying to kill," Roxie warned.
Cain then took off into a sprint again before he found himself at a dead end, at which point the twins moved in and Roxie gave a powerful roundhouse kick and Rex gave a wicked punch that sent Cain straight through the crate and his mask went flying off his head.
Cain scrambled away as Rex grabbed his torso and slammed him into another crate and Roxie conjured a shotgun that she aimed at his head.
"You're done," Rex said. "We just want to know why."
"You two push hope when there isn't any," Cain answered, looking at Sweet Caroline. "There's no saving EVOs. There can't be. You're a sickness! And you need to be destroyed!"
Cain then gave a kick below him, sending a lever downwards, which loosened a rope above the twins, who gasped out as a large storage crate landed on top of them. Rex groaned out as he pushed the crate off of him and his sister, where they found themselves face to face with the barrel of Cain's weapon.
"Hunter, help us! Please!" came the voice of one of his men as they wwere chased by the ghost-like EVOs.
"We're out of ammo! The EVOs! They're everywhere!"
Shockingly, however, Cain shut his radio off and kept his attention on the twins.
"Cost me everything I had for those clone EVOs."
"This was a set up?" Roxie asked, shocked as hell.
"A demonstration. To prove how worthless Providence is."
"Did you hear that guy?" Rex asked. "It's not exactly working."
"Every war has its casualties."
"You are one messed up prick!" Rex shouted, building his BFS and giving a massive slice to Sweet Caroline, which then blew up in his hand and Roxie shouted out as she gave another spinning kick to Cain's face, sending him flying away from the twins, who then approached him angrily as Roxie conjured her sword and pointed it at Cain's face.
"Well, what are you waiting for?" Cain asked. "Show them who you really are."
"Oh, we will, fraud," she said as she dispelled her sword and Rex deconstructed his BFS.
"We don't care what you think about us," Rex nodded as he and his sister looked up to the crate to see the reporter and her cameraman standing by, having filmed all of the action that had just taken place. "We don't care what anyone thinks. Not anymore."
"If people want to hate us, then that's their business. But it's not going to stop us from doing our jobs. Do you wanna know why?"
"Because we're awesome."
Later, the twins had tied Cain up in the cable and hoisted him from the crane for all to see as they descended on their Boogie Pack and hoverboard.
"Try not to fall," Roxie smirked before the twins flew off to join the fight with Providence and Cain's men, who were doing their best to keep the clone EVOs at bay.
"We've got this!" Rex shouted as he and Roxie flew in and built their projectile weapons and blasted at the EVOs with everything they had.
"Well?" Roxie asked, looking at Cain's men, who shrugged before they and the Providence agents resumed blasting at the clone EVOs.
Later, with all of his men and the Providence agents witnessing, the Providence agents led the restrained Cain into the Providence ship as the twins stood by proudly with Six.
"Adios," Rex said.
"There's a fight coming," Cain warned, looking back at the twins. "It's time to choose sides."
"You showed me we didn't have to be helpless anymore," one of Cain's men said before pulling his mask off. "But sometimes, you still gotta ask for help."
All of Cain's men then removed their masks, tossed them into the bay and walked off as Cain was led into the ship, which then flew off, leaving the twins and Six behind.
"He's not the only one out there like that, is he?" Roxie asked.
"Unfortunately, no," Six confirmed.
"Sometimes, you just get the wrong idea," said someone in a new interview on Ultimate Exposure on the twins. "They're fighting for us."
"They saved my mother."
"They saved my dog!"
"They saved my priest."
"Providence's secret weapon: a teenage boy and girl named Rex and Roxie. Hero? Abomination? Humanity's last hope? You decide."
"Well," Rex said as he, Roxie and Bobo watched the interview from their room. "A few people get it. That's a start."
"What can I say that I haven't said already?" Bobo asked. "Humans are idiots. But every once in awhile, they get it right."