Mirror Mirror
Page 7
c. The Star Gate
7 How many Agents are sent into the Hall of Mirrors to help Rex?
a. Four
b. Eight
c. Sixteen
8 Who is the last member of the Mirror Pack to go back through the portal?
a. Dan Nice
b. Biowoof
c. Seal
Answers: 1. b, 2. b, 3. c, 4. c, 5. a, 6. b, 7. b, 8. c.
Read an exclusive sneak preview of
GENERATOR REX: THE TRADE
FLUUUB!
HIGH ON A GRASSY VERGE in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park, something was growing. It was a man. At least, it had been.
His arms and legs were swelling, puffing up until they were several times their normal width. His whole body bulged, growing larger and more bloated with every second that passed.
Other park visitors began to scream and wail and run for their lives, as the man’s skin became slick and gloopy and his limbs were drawn into his now bus-sized body.
Inside him, microscopic machines called nanites were altering his molecular structure, turning him from a human being into something new.
And into something revolting.
Rex yawned. He was curled up on a chair inside a Providence tank, wishing he were still in bed.
‘Eight a.m.?’ he groaned. ‘Seriously? Who goes to the park at eight a.m.?’
Over by the door, Agent Six jabbed a series of buttons. ‘Half of San Francisco,’ he snapped, ‘so we need to keep civilian casualties to a minimum.’ He turned and glared at Rex through his sunglasses. ‘Which means I need you awake.’
‘I’m awake!’ Rex protested. He stood up, stretched, then yawned again. ‘But seriously – eight a.m.? Someone needs to teach these Evos how to tell time.’
Agent Six flicked a final switch and the door slid open. The sound of screaming and gunfire immediately filled the inside of the tank. Six stepped aside. ‘Be my guest,’ he said, motioning for Rex to lead the way.
‘Ew,’ Rex winced as he stepped down from the tank, ‘what stinks?’ He looked up and spotted the giant slug-like monster squirming on the grass just twenty or so metres away. ‘Oh. Yeah. Forget I asked.’
Gunfire roared around them as a squadron of Providence Agents opened fire on the Evo. The Agents’ bullets passed through the creature’s jelly-like body, before emerging harmlessly on the other side.
A woman in a white lab coat stormed out from within the tank. ‘Tell them to stop shooting,’ Dr Holiday barked. ‘That thing’s unstable. Hit it in the wrong place and it pops like a balloon, then everyone here gets covered in nanite soup.’
Six raised an arm. The sound of gunfire immediately stopped.
Dr Holiday sighed with relief. ‘Thank you.’
‘Looks like it’s all down to you, kid,’ said Six.
‘So, what’s new?’ Rex asked. ‘Anything special I need to know?’
‘Don’t get killed.’
‘Thanks,’ replied Rex. ‘I’ll bear that in mind.’
With a whirr and a clank, he put the nanites within his own body into action. Two enormous robotic fists grew from Rex’s arms. He clanked them together a couple of times, testing them, then ran closer to the wriggling slug-beast.
‘Hey, Gloopy,’ Rex cried. He pointed to a small “KEEP OFF THE GRASS” sign sticking out of the ground. ‘Can’t you read?’
BEEEUUUK!
The Evo’s mouth opened and a spray of bright green gunk erupted from inside it. The gunk hit the sign, turning it into a sizzling pile of goo.
‘OK,’ Rex said, ‘I’m going to take that as a “no”.’
Raising a metal fist, Rex charged. One good, solid punch should be enough to knock the Evo out, he reckoned. After that, the rest would be easy.
Halfway there, Dr Holiday’s voice crackled in his ear. ‘Pop like a balloon, remember?’
‘What? You mean I can’t even – Whoa!’
Another spray of green slime spewed at him. His robotic arms retracted back into his body and a pair of jet turbines extended from his shoulders. With a roar, the Boogie Pack lifted into the air just as the grass at his feet dissolved in a puddle of sludge.
‘So, we can’t shoot it or hit it?’ Rex asked, climbing higher above the park.
Dr Holiday’s voice buzzed in his ear. ‘No. We can’t risk it spreading more nanites.’
Rex looked down. The slug Evo was squelching across the grass towards the Providence soldiers.
‘I’d say reasoning with it is out of the question, too,’ Rex muttered. He took a deep breath. ‘Guess I’m just going to have to get my hands dirty.’
WHOOSH!
Rex rocketed towards the Evo, his face fixed in a mask of determination. This was going to get nasty!
As he passed above the slug-beast, he folded the jetpack back into his body. Almost at once he began to fall. Only the gloopy hide of the Evo stopped him hitting the ground.
Mechanical feet grew from Rex’s legs, allowing him to grip onto the Evo’s back, like a cowboy on a bucking bronco. The Evo growled as Rex pressed his hands against the monster’s slimy skin.
‘Trust me,’ he grimaced, ‘I don’t like this any more than you do.’
Concentrating hard, Rex absorbed the nanites from inside the Evo. He felt them flow into his body, and as they did, the slug-creature became a slug-man, and then, finally, just a man.
Standing up, Rex wiped his sticky hands on the front of his trousers. ‘Another one bites the … um … slime.’
Retracting his Punk Buster legs back into his body, Rex turned to find Agent Six standing in front of him. He was about to speak when the Punk Busters emerged again all on their own. ‘Whoa, where’d they come from?’ he frowned.
Agent Six raised an eyebrow. ‘Everything OK?’
‘Yeah, it’s just –’
The legs pulled back into Rex’s body. He paused for a moment, making sure they were gone for good this time. ‘Weird,’ he began, but a sudden clanking sound stopped him. The Punk Busters reformed yet again, only this time it was clear that something was very wrong.
Rex stared at his arms, which now had a huge pair of mechanical feet attached to the end of them. ‘OK,’ he swallowed. ‘This is not good.’