Psy felt a yank on his shoulder and tumbled backwards into Eagle as he was forced backwards.
"You're an idiot, Psychedelic!" Eagle hissed at him. "Don't you recognize him?"
Psy glanced back at the man who had started spray-painting the wall. It irked Psy that the thin raven program would dare perform such a blatantly disrespectful act. "Should I?"
"Those distinctive red headphones should be a dead giveaway. Those were discontinued after he affiliated himself with them. Only other viruses dare wear them now."
"How do you know it's 'him' then?" Psy asked, picking up on his pronoun use.
"Only his outfit mirrors ours. We believe he likes the contrast. I also believe that is why he sticks with the color red, because it directly opposes our green. He challenges us any way he can, so I assume his style of dress is just another way." Eagle looked scared.
Psy grinned. "Then we better confront him."
"Are you out of your—"
Psy broke free from Eagle and the crowd to storm up behind the virus. "I think you've had enough time to rethink your actions," he said with a deepened voice to sound impressive. "Stop what you are doing or I will be forced to deactivate you."
The virus whirled around but did nothing. He raised an eyebrow and asked, "Who are you supposed to be?"
"An antivirus," Psy grinned proudly. "Ready to turn yourself in?"
The virus nodded and raised his arms in defeat. Right as Psy moved to grab them, the spray can went off and coated his entire face with its red paint.
"Why you…!" Psy growled as he tried to regain his vision. It was only thanks to his glasses that he still had usable eyes but they were rent useless and so served to cripple him. "I'm gonna—"
"Toodles!" the virus teased. Psy removed his glasses in time to see him dance away.
"What the hell were you thinking?!" Eagle yelled as he pulled away from the crowd. "He could have easily deleted you! Is that what you want? Huh?!"
"Lend me your glasses!" Psy said desperately. "I will catch him! I swear!"
Eagle paused but then sighed and gave in.
"You won't regret this," Psy called back at his partner as he took off after the virus.
"Not without me!" Eagle called and kept pace with his partner. "I may be letting you take the lead, but I'm not leaving you up the creek without a paddle."
Psy was busy with hooking up the glasses to his transmitter. "What?"
"It means I'm not leaving you."
They didn't have to run very long before their target was sighted. Ordinary programs avoided the virus like he was diseased. The dark, red figure was easy to spot and so easy to shoot at.
"AIM!" Eagle ordered.
They stopped together and began firing. Aiming didn't require an order as it was part of their training to always keep aim on the target. They only said it because it was an easier word to say than 'open fire' or 'take him out'. They only shot to disable unless it became deadly where shooting to delete was allowed.
The virus avoided the shots like they were cars instead of tiny, piercing data streams. He wiggled his fingers back at them with his thumbs stuck in his ears.
Psy took off after him again and the virus turned to run in response. Eagle was a little delayed but copied his partner.
Suddenly the virus turned and aimed something at them. Psy's new glasses recognized it as a pistol and warned him of its danger potential.
"COVER!" Psy cried as he dove to the side to avoid any shots fired.
Eagle wasn't as lucky. He didn't have his sunglasses to warn him of something his eyes could barely register and his auditory senses weren't as accurate during a chase. As a result, he paused after hearing Psy's outburst, leaving him a target for the virus.
Three sharpened data streams hit him in the chest. He fell over as the virus took off running again.
"EAGLE!" Psy screamed and ran to his partner's side.
The other antivirus coughed and smiled. "It's not as bad as it looks. There's no pain at all."
It was all bravado and Psy knew it. The three wounds were festering and soon the holes they created were much bigger. His chest was changing color from green to red as the virus's data was infecting him, changing him as it destroyed him.
"How could he do this?" Psy growled. He felt tears well-up in his eyes but refused to let them fall. "It was me that picked the fight! Why you?"
"Because I was careless," Eagle said calmly. "Will you listen to me now?"
Psy nodded and did his best not to cry.
"Don't give up. That guy's fast, but I've never seen another antivirus who can keep up with him before. You're better than I expected."
"But I didn't do anything!" Psy cried. "I just left you defenseless! It's my fault you're being deleted!"
Eagle chuckled. His data was being corrupted slowly, with his chest barely still intact but red spreading out to his limbs. "You're not afraid of him. You're probably the only one left who isn't. Don't be disheartened like the rest of us! Here."
He used what was left of his arm data to grab his gun and hand it to Psy. "Your weapon? But duel-wielding is illegal."
"It's illegal unless you're justified, right?"
"That doesn't sound like something you should be saying."
Eagle chuckled. "No good antivirus plays by the rules, Psychedelic. Maybe one day you'll learn that." His limbs were fading and now so was his face. He was smiling and continued, "You have the potential to be the best. Make sure it isn't wasted."
Psy hugged what was left of him until his data was completely gone and his program completely disappeared. Then the blonde antivirus slowly got to his feet and stared off to where he knew the unnamed virus was waiting for him.
He loaded Eagle's gun with his own data and started walking.
So I kind of forgot about this fic, no lie. But I thought about this couple again and wanted to continue. Just needed a little editing and was good to go. Please review! It means the world to me!
