"Rex, I'm getting a strange biometric reading," Doctor Holiday warned. "Pull back."

"Aw, come on, Doc. I can handle it," Rex replied, alighting on a building just above the rampant EVO. "It's not like I can leave Six to fight this bad boy alone."

This EVO wasn't exactly normal for Rex. While most were blob-like and didn't resemble much of anything, this EVO was like a synthesis of a bunch of animals. Two heads (goat and lion, it seemed), an oversized bear body, and a whole snake for a tail; it almost seemed like something out of one of those mythology books Doctor Holiday was always trying to get him to read for an education. Not that it really mattered to Rex.

"Remember what happened last time you ignored the Doctor?" Six pointed out from beside his charge. "Go back. Now."

More orders. Everyone knew Rex wasn't one for authority, so what he did next wasn't the least bit surprising. "Maybe you should try please next time," the teenager jeered before jumping off the building. He sprouted what he liked to call his Boogie Pack and shot off like a rocket with the jet-pack-like addition.

The EVO wasn't paying much attention to the skies. It was much too busy snapping at people and things with its many heads, which was perfect for Rex. The metal wings returned to his body, and as he fell, Rex went for his BFS. His arm became the giant sword in an instant. Too easy.

Things were going so well, something just had wrong. The sword arm disappeared, and Rex was barely able to correct himself in time to land on his feet. What was going on? He hadn't been stressed or anything, which was what usually caused his nanites to stop working. Well, he certainly was stressed now. Without his sword, he was a sitting duck.

Come on, come on, Rex thought, trying to make anything happen. No BFS, no Smackhands, not even his Punk Busters. Nothing was working.

The EVO turned and hissed with all three of its heads. Rex backed away. "Er... Nice kitty, goat, snake thing..." Why now, of all times?

The snake head launched at him. Rex dived out of the way. The snake came again, and he didn't have enough time to dodge. Desperate, he raised his arm and tried again. This time, his arm was able to become the giant mechanical punching glove.

Crunch. The snake reeled back, teeth shattered because of the metal. The EVO backed away, hissing at Rex more violently.

Six swooped down on his hover board. "Rex!"

"I got it."

Before anything else could go wrong, Rex slugged the EVO with a satisfying thud. The chimera-type flew a few feet away, and then lay unmoving. Rex took his chance and cured the monster, which turned out to be a young woman.

A blush spread across his face before he could stop it. She was hot. And naked. He turned as fast as he could and started walking away. He was so not mature enough to deal with this one.

"Are you all right?" Six asked, his voice flat. He was obviously irritated.

Rex shrugged. His pride was bruised, what with his machines failing for a minute, but otherwise he was unscathed.

"Go back to base."

"Yeah, yeah." Rex started walking, but the ground shook beneath him, and he lost his balance.

"Stop fooling around, Rex."

How was Six still standing? In fact, how was anyone still standing after that quake? "I'm not fooling around." Rex tried to stand again, but the shaking continued and he collapsed. No, the ground wasn't shaking; it was Rex's whole body.

He felt terrible. He hadn't felt this bad since his last overload of nanites. That wasn't happening again, was it? He'd just offloaded two days before. No, this feeling was different, spreading from the pit of his stomach.

Six knelt next to Rex, who was struggling to his hands and knees. "What's wrong?"

Rex tried to open his mouth to reply, but something very different from words came out.

The agent cursed and helped Rex to his feet. The teenager was shivering.

"Woah... Who barfed?" Bobo asked.

"You're not helping, monkey," Six snapped.

The chimp looked from Six's scowl to Rex's pale face. "You okay, kid?"

Six shifted Rex to carry more of the boy's dead weight. "Don't answer," he warned Rex. It seemed the teen was about to vomit again.

While Six helped him get to the jump jet, Rex glanced up at the agent's face. He didn't seem disgusted with his throwing up or annoyed that he hadn't obeyed the order to return. In fact, only worry cracked through Six's otherwise stoic expression. That couldn't be a good sign.

"I can't remember the last time the kid's been sick," Bobo commented as he, Six, and Doctor Holiday headed to the infirmary. As soon as Six returned with Rex, the staff had been ready with a stretcher and had carted Rex off without a word.

"He's never been sick," Doctor Holiday corrected. "At least, not as long as he's been here. Not even a cold..."

Six stayed silent with his hands balled into a fist. He wasn't wearing his green suit and tie for once.

"What, you still mad that the kid barfed all over you?"

"I'm not mad."

"He's just as worried as the rest of us," the doctor said before the monkey could open his mouth again. Things were bad enough without Bobo instigating anything.

They reached the infirmary before Bobo had the chance to cause anymore trouble. Only Rex was there now. All those who had been injured by the last EVO had been bandaged and sent home, leaving the staff free to fuss over Providence's greatest asset.

Doctor Holiday stepped inside, and before she could be greeted by her colleagues, asked, "How is he?"

"Not vomiting anymore," one of the doctors replied. "It seems he's picked up a nasty case of the flu. The medicine's working, for the most part."

"'For the most part'?"

"His fever's not going down."

Six stepped around the scientists and doctors and looked down at Rex's still form under a blanket. He looked paler than he had only a few hours ago.

"Sorry about the suit, Six."

He wasn't surprised that Rex was still awake. "It's not a problem."

Rex turned his head away. He looked terrible.

"You gonna be sick again, kid?" Bobo asked.

The teenager shook his head, but it was obvious he was swallowing back the bile. And he was shaking again.

Once he got his stomach back under control, he tried to grin at them. "So... am I in trouble?"

Holiday was taken aback. "Of course not. It's not your fault you're sick."

Again, Rex closed his eyes. "Not even for Six's suit?"

"It's being washed," was Six's reply.

"Or not being able to fight EVOs?"

"Just focus on getting better." Holiday stepped forward and adjusted the covers so Rex was more comfortable. It was apparent by his face that he liked the attention. "There's no need to push yourself. You'll just get worse."

Rex groaned, but it was unclear whether it was to milk the situation or not. "Don't remind me, Doc."

"Just get some sleep." She then said goodbye and gestured for the others to leave with her.

It was late. Everyone else had already gone to bed. Doctor Holiday sat back and rubbed her eyes. She was exhausted but had to keep looking.

Someone placed a cup of coffee next to her. She woke with a start. When had she nodded off? "You're still up?" she asked, turning to Six. He looked as tired as she felt.

He didn't say anything. Just sat down in the empty chair next to her and waited for her to talk instead.

Holiday understood and looked back at her computer screen. "I was looking at Rex's biometric readings. They've been all over the place since the anomaly this afternoon."

Six raised an eyebrow at her. He knew saying anything would be useless, but he also knew that Holiday liked talking to others about her theories, even if the one listening didn't understand much of it, if anything. Talking just helped her straighten things out in her own mind.

"I'm worried," Holiday admitted. "His nanites seem to be shutting down, and his system along with them."

That got the agent's attention. "What does that mean for Rex?"

Holiday stared blankly at the screen. Things weren't looking good. She had to stay awake and figure this out before things got really bad. "For most people, nanites are like parasites. In order to survive, they need us to take care of ourselves and they don't give us anything in return. In Rex, and EVOs in general, the relationship becomes more... symbiotic. The EVO keeps itself healthy, thus keeping the nanites alive, and in exchange, the nanites give the EVO abilities. Rex is sick, and the virus seems to be shutting down the nanites. My guess is that the reason Rex has never been sick before was because the nanites helped fight off any illness that threatened them."

"And what does their shutting down mean for Rex? He just won't be able to create machines anymore?"

The doctor shook her head. "No. Rex and the nanites are more closely linked than that. If all the nanites shut down, he could go into a coma or worse." She didn't need to say anymore. Six was perfectly aware what worse meant.

"Is there anything you can do?"

Holiday shook her head. "We just have to hope Rex gets over his illness before the nanites shut down."

Six cursed. Things were certainly in a downward spiral now.

For those curious as to the names of Rex's machine parts (like the BFS) in this story, I didn't make them up. I got them from Cartoon Network's Generator Rex website.