I'm so sorry I haven't posted in three weeks. I had to study for finals, then finals, and then I went to Disney World with my family. I've been writing this whenever I could, though. So here it is. Chapter 12!
Beck opened the door and was shocked when he saw Ava standing there. What is she so worked up about at this point in the cycle?
"Uh... come in... I guess." Beck warily opened the door for Ava.
"No time for that. Right now, you have to come with me." Ava grabbed Beck's wrist, dragging him along towards the elevator. Once they got out of the elevator, Ava pulled out her baton and rezzed her lightcycle. Beck quickly followed her.
Over the loud sound of their bikes, Beck yelled, "Where are we going?" It seemed like they were heading in the direction of the club, but they could also be heading towards the docks.
"We're heading for the club. Pavel trapped everyone in there, hoping to get some information on the Renegade." Ava shouted back.
Why would Pavel check there? He's already been there before, and he came up short. He wouldn't bother unless he knew something. Beck thought to himself. They would find out soon enough.
Kalie turned towards Damien with a look of regret in her eyes. She didn't want to leave Ava, but she also didn't want to become a wanted program. She would do anything for her but not that. That was too much to ask. Right?
"Relax. It's ok, Kal. You made the right decision. There's no reason to run, so we didn't. Ava apparently did have one. That doesn't make it your fault." Damien was trying to comfort her. She looked like she was on the verge of tears.
"Was it though? We are her best friends. You said it yourself. Best friends help each other out, no matter what the situation is. Maybe we should've gone with her." She sighed deeply. "I don't know. Maybe you're right. If Ava had a reason to run, then why didn't we know why?"
"Ava's apparently been keeping secrets from us." Damien couldn't think of any other possible answer. She did stop telling them where she was going whenever she took off, and she was gone for the past two cycles, longer than usual.
"Ava wouldn't keep secrets from us." Kalie was shaking her head, trying to make herself believe what she was saying. "She tells me everything. She tells us everything. Why wouldn't she tell us why she needed to leave?" As Kalie was saying this, a guard strode up to their table with his hand out.
"Hand me your identity discs, programs."
Damien, cooperating with the guard, handed him the disc, while Kalie disconnected her disc and stared at it in her hands. The guard then finished scanning Damien's, gave him the all clear, and then handed it back to him. He then turned to Kalie with his arm outstretched, waiting for her to hand him her disc.
"Your disc, program."
Kalie continued to hold the disc until she blinked back her tears and did what he asked. Right before he took it from her hand, all the lights in the club turned off. Everyone program was turning to the person next to them and asked them what was going on, creating an awful din. Pavel must've gotten annoyed with it because he then yelled, loud enough for all of Argon to hear, shut up, or everyone would be derezzed.
Then, a brilliant white light filled the room. "Seems like I was missing out on a fun time."
Mara was entering the garage for her shift. She got stuck with the late shift this cycle while Zed got the early one. There was a lot she needed done, and she hoped she could finish ahead of schedule.
Of course there was no one there, except for Link, who was just cleaning. She waved to Link as she past him and continued to walk to her work station. She secured her armor and started to work on a tank.
"Hey, Link? Have you seen Beck today?" Mara was still focused on the tank's gunner.
Link looked up from where he was cleaning, then looked back. "Uh yeah. Beck came in to work his shift, then Able talked to him, and he started to walk towards his room."
Mara stopped what she was doing. "So he's here?" If Beck was here, then she had to congratulate him for showing up for the first time in hilocycles.
"I think he's here. Unless Able told him to take a break or something. Then maybe he left for the club or the Coliseum. I heard the club was closed, so then maybe the Coliseum. Although I don't understand why anyone would want to go there." Link then started to talk to himself, and Mara was ignoring him. Beck really was here then! Mara jumped down from the gunner and raced towards the elevator. She had to see Beck. She missed him, and she couldn't remember the last time she did see him.
Once the elevator reached Beck's floor, she raced down the hall towards his room. When she found his room, she pounded at the door and called his name. The door creaked open much to Mara's surprise. She peeked in only to see that no one was there. Beck had to have been here though because the sheets on his bed were all over the place. Mara silently cursed herself for believing that he was actually here. She wanted her best friend back.
When Beck and Ava were a block away from the club, Ava derezzed her lightcycle back into a baton, and Beck copied her. "We need a plan. Pavel has probably around 30 guards with him, scanning everyone's disc. We can't just walk in." Beck peered over the side of the building to get s glimpse of the outside of the club. There were four guards blocking the entrance. They would definitely be stopped if they tried walking in.
"Yeah, you're right. We could always enter through the roof." Beck turned back towards Ava.
"Looks like that's our only option, Beck. What do we do after we enter, genius?" Ava rolled her eyes. If this was how he planned out every mission, she wasn't too sure she wanted to join him on them.
Beck smirked. "I go in, take down his guards, then you enter, and then we run Pavel out. There's your plan."
Ava rolled her eyes again. She was never going on another mission at this rate. "So you're going to wing it, right? Because that's all I got out of that."
Beck tried not to laugh too hard, so the guards wouldn't hear them. "Not much planning needed. It's Pavel. He doesn't always think things through. So, us just showing up is a bit surprising for him. He will probably run back to Clu."
"He runs back to Clu no matter what happens. Beck, we need a plan. Do you always just wing it?"
"Only for small stuff like this I do. We don't need a plan, trust me. Just follow my lead." Beck switched suits, then took off running.
"I'm going to derez you, Beck." Ava muttered, flipping on her mask, and then running after Beck.
This chapter was actually inspired by the RWBY soundtrack (an anime web series by Rooster Teeth. I definitely recommend it.) I've been listening to it a lot lately, especially when writing this. Thanks to Panda Bear Lover 317 for reviewing :)
