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then rolled to a clumsy stop. Winded, he clambered back to his feet. A trickle of blood ran down his cheek, from a cut on his forehead. He ignored it, and focused instead on the enormous scorpion-monster teetering towards him.
    â€˜That’s it, big guy,’ he spat. ‘Let’s see how you like the Slam Cannon.’
    Rex waited. Nothing happened. The Evo hurried closer.
    â€˜The
Slam Cannon
,’ Rex said again.
    Again, nothing.
    â€˜Aw, man,’ Rex groaned, before a swiping blow from the scorpion’s tail sent him tumbling across the tarmac. A pain, like none he’d ever felt before, suddenly burned through his whole body, but it was nothing to do with the Evo’s attack. Something was happening to him. Something bad.
    A scream burst from Rex’s lips. His back arched and his muscles bunched into knots. A deafening
clanking
and
whirring
of machinery rose up, as his transformations began to activate one after another.
    Smackhands, Punk Busters, Boogie Pack; they appeared one after another, vanishing as quickly as they had come. The Slam Cannon appeared next, forming around his shoulder even as the Rex Ride formed around his feet.
    â€˜Wh-what’s happening?’ Rex cried, as the Big Freakin’ Sword appeared briefly at the end of onearm, and then the other. There was a loud grinding of metal as the Punk Buster feet appeared and fought for space with the Rex Ride. The arm without the sword attached became a Smackhand. Through the pain, Rex realised that every one of his transformations was happening at the same time!
    Even the Evo had hesitated, confused by what was happening to the boy on the ground. Deep inside its deranged brain, though, it came to the conclusion that it really couldn’t care less. The boy had attacked it, and for that, the boy would die.
    Raising its lethal stinger, the scorpion fixed its four eyes on Rex, and crept slowly forward.

CHAPTER 7
    â€˜G ET UP , R EX. Get up!’
    Back at Providence HQ, Dr Holiday was watching events through a CCTV camera mounted on one of the battle-damaged tanks. She had seen Six trapped by the pizza van and Rex’s machines begin to malfunction. More importantly, she could now see the monstrous Evo stalking towards Rex, who was now thrashing around in pain.
    Another screen blinked into life beside her. Dr Holiday turned and came face to face with a video image of White Knight.
    â€˜This is all
your
fault,’ she told him, forgetting for a moment who she was talking to. ‘I told you he wasn’t ready. I told you it wasn’t safe!’
    â€˜Rex was vital to this mission,’ White Knight said.
    Dr Holiday threw up her arms. ‘The mission,’ she cried, ‘it’s always about the mission!’
    â€˜Yes,’ said White Knight, flatly. ‘It’s always about the mission.’
    Holiday folded her arms across her chest.
    â€˜Then maybe we’re on the wrong mission,’ she muttered, and she turned back to the main screen.

    Rex’s teeth were clamped tightly together. Veins bulged in his neck until they stood out like blue ropes from his skin. Just a few metres away, the scorpion Evo drew back its tail and prepared to strike.
    CLANG!
    A pair of katana swords blocked the scorpion’s attack. Its four eyes swivelled to find Agent Six staring back at it. ‘You messed up my suit,’ Six said. ‘No one messes up my suit.’
    The tail pulled back, then stabbed sharply towards the centre of Six’s chest. Six stepped sideways and swished the swords down. The scorpion’s stinger
clacked
hard against the pavement. ‘Clearly you weren’t listening,’ Six said. ‘
No one
messes up my suit.’
    Six brought a knee up to his chest, then fired a devastating kick against one of the scorpion’s front legs. The armoured limb buckled and the Evo stumbled sideways, screeching in pain.
    On the ground, Rex was doing more or less the same thing. He