Souldance

Chapter Five: Savior

Author's Notes: And here it is, the elusive next chapter! Just a warning to my readers… school starts tomorrow for me, so my updates will not be as frequent as I'd like. Hopefully, I will be able to do a chapter per week on this fiction, my Fushigi Yuugi fics, and the Phoenix. Thanks for your patience, and now on with Souldance!

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Sierra emerged from her room early, stretching as she tread lightly down the stairs. Upon entering the kitchen she noticed Matt sitting at the table already, and gave him a tired grin.

"Not sleep well?" she teased.

He grunted, not responding. Raising an eyebrow, she shrugged and proceeded to raid the rather large refrigerator in one corner. With amazing speed, she whipped out some milk and eggs, then from the cabinets sugar, salt and flour. Still the boy refused to respond, apparently engrossed in picking pieces of lint from his shirt.

"I hope you're hungry," Sierra called over the quiet roar of the griddle. "I'm making a lot of food."

At last, Tech raised his head to the enticing aroma of pancakes. Seeing Sierra's smiling face filled him with dread, though he hid it beneath an apathetic mask. No, he hadn't slept a wink the previous night... but he wasn't about to make her worry about him.

"What are your plans today?" she asked, noticing his adjustment in position. "I was thinking of stopping by the arcade again. You're right about that Dance Dance Revolution game... it sure is addictive!"

"Actually..." he said slowly. "I was hoping the two of us could talk this afternoon."

"What about?"

He hesitated. "I can't say now. So will you go?"

She paused, looking in concern into his eyes. "Of course I'll go... but I hope this isn't what was kept you from sleep, I'd hate to think I was the cause of it."

If only you knew, he thought.

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Breakfast was completed in a flurry, and no words were spoken the entire time. This was, however, due to the fact that ravenous teenagers in the morning care only to scarf down the food with no room for conversation.

Sierra grabbed the last two pancakes somewhat greedily, piling onto them her usual syrup, chocolate chips and whipped cream. Tech grimaced at the loads of sugar she was consuming, but had to chuckle. It was a rare thing to see a girl eat so much junk food and still be so thin.

With now-full stomachs, the two rose to their feet and loaded the dishes into the sink.

"So where are we going?"

"To the park," he replied, a bit too quickly.

"Cool. Haven't been there yet."

"Nope."

Sierra glanced over at her companion, her mind clouding with worry. What's up with him lately? First the strange friends, then the sudden leap from poor to comfortable living, and now he's not acting like himself? What in the world could be going through that head of his?

"Let's go," he said suddenly, interrupting her train of thought. "We'll be late."

"Late?" she repeated curiously. "Late for what? We're just going to the park."

"I want you to meet someone." Before she could reply, he had grasped her arm in one hand and gently began to haul her out the door.

*****************************************

"Okay Matt, you're starting to freak me out again. What the heck is going on? This doesn't look like any kind of park to me."

Indeed, they weren't heading towards a park at all... it was instead a series of dank alleys behind the Plaza, smelling vaguely of rotting pizza and old dust.

Tech refused to respond as he continued to lead the frightened girl through the maze; eyes wildly switching from left to right... though from looking or avoiding someone, she didn't know which.

At last, he stopped her, standing a bit taller as he called out the word, "Delivery."

The figures began to surround them from all sides, at first seeming to detach from the shadows themselves. Tech remained calm, eyeing each in turn before whirling around to point grimly at his companion, regret evident in his eyes.

"Restrain her."

Two large and bulky figures grabbed Sierra by her two arms, firmly enough to hold her in place but gently enough to keep from bruising her.

"Let me go!" she shrieked. "Matt! What the hell is this? Some kind of sick joke?"

"I'm afraid... it's not, Annelle," Tech replied, turning to face her fully. She gasped at the sudden transformation of her friend... his face no longer held the soft caring and humor it had before... and his eyes were cold and dead.

"You'll be coming with us."

*****************************************

He stood on the rooftops, watching as two bruisers hauled the girl to her feet by force, her friend idly whipping out his holocomm. Stormy green eyes narrowed, one hand reaching out of a black leather trench coat and flexing; a barely audible click could be heard as it pulled back into his wrist, replaced by a small cannon.

Damn you Wily, for getting me involved…

He fired just to the right of Tech, leaping from his vantage point at the same time. The blast was close enough to fry the small communicator on the boy's wrist, sparks and smoke floating out in squealing protest.

Tech looked up just in time to see a fist connect with his face, sending him flying into the nearest wall. The newcomer landed smoothly on one knee, raising his arm cannon and aiming at the two who held Sierra captive.

"Let her go, or I shoot."

One of them flinched, but tightened his grip with a feral look. The girl whimpered from pain at his touch, giving a half-hearted struggle and closing her eyes tightly.

"Who are you?" they asked, backing away with a very frightened Sierra in tow. In response, he raised to his feet, pressing a button on his cannon. In a flash of red light, he vanished, only to reappear right behind the three. With a series of punches to the surprised captors, they were sprawling on the ground to join their leader; he stretched his arms out just in time to catch the girl gently within them.

"Stupid girl," he muttered upon realizing she'd fainted. "I told you not to trust him!" Hearing a moan, he shifted slightly to regard Tech, who was gripping the side of the wall for support while rising to his feet.

"Hold it… right there… Prototype…" he accused in apparent agony, blue eyes stricken with some foreign emotion. A finger pointed right at them, arm streaked with multiple, liquid crimson lines. "You can't take her…"

"Really?" he sneered at the agent, clutching Sierra protectively. "What's to keep me from doing so? A pitiful human pawn like you can't do a thing about it."

He laughed, a twisted sound embedded with regret and bittersweet tears. "You don't get it, do you? If you take the girl… Wily's already got this entire city surrounded… and if I fail, it will go up in flames!"

The newcomer visibly paled, mouth bending into a snarl. From beneath auburn bangs his eyes hardened, mistrust and confusion rending his robotic heart. "Explain."

"She was meant to come here," Tech continued, taking a step forward. "Wily sent me here to intercept her, in case Elecman failed… he informed me of your appearance and to anticipate your interference."

"Why you?"

"Sierra… Annelle trusts me."

"And you abuse this trust… this caring she has for you for your own gain? Damned typical…"

"I didn't want to!" he protested, pointing to himself in frustration. "I had no choice! Wily promised me that she would be safe if I delivered her… she's all the family I have left… and I won't let you take her away from me!" Gathering the remainder of his strength, Tech charged at his opponent, who calmly raised his cannon and fired. The boy flew backwards upon impact, the odor of singed flesh and coppery fluids permeating the dank air.

"I'm sorry," was all the robot said before teleporting away, Sierra still cradled in his embrace. I hope he was bluffing…

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The girl's crystal blue eyes opened slowly, taking in the unfamiliar surroundings of grass and trees. She brushed loosened hair away from her face, noting how grimy and dirty she felt. In an attempt to sit up, she found that a large coat covered her body for warmth, and as far as she could see, she was alone.

What happened? Moving to her knees, the girl squinted as she recalled the events that had occurred before blacking out; the memories remained mostly muddled, but one thing remained clear…

I'll never see Matt again… Tears stung her eyes as she realized she'd been used, and all of the things she'd seen and heard from Tech had been lies. He worked for Wily the whole time… But perhaps the one thing that hurt most was her heart; he'd said himself that he loved her and would always protect her, but like everything else in her life, he was ripped away by Fate and her dark minions.

"So you're awake?" a voice interrupted her thoughts, a rustle in the grass signaling his arrival. "How do you feel?"

"Terrible, thanks," she replied icily, not turning to face her savior. "Care to tell me who you are?"

"Ouch. You forgot me already, eh? Damned humans and their short-termed memories."

Sierra whirled around, shock evident on her softened features as she at last recognized him. "Blues?"

He didn't need to say or do anything; even without the dark visor over his face she knew that piercing gaze, the long reddish hair framing that tanned face… even the smirk he'd flashed to her only once before rising into sudden recollection.

"Did you really think I'd just up and leave?"

In any other circumstances, with any other man -- no, he was not human, she reminded herself -- those words would be endearing, bearing with them soft promises… but now they stood as pure fact, borne from logic.

"How… how would I know?" she answered, turning away. "Everyone else seems to have left; why should you be any different?"

"Are you saying I should have let that boy take you to Wily?"

No response; he sighed, a human reaction he'd recently picked up on.

"Look, Sierra. He betrayed you; he was working for Wily the entire time and you shouldn't have trusted him. I rescued you because I don't want to see your creations used and abused by that madman… seeing his own dirty work is enough."

"What did you do to him?" she blurted out, locking gazes with the robot. Blues seemed to jerk back slightly, and found himself wishing he had his visor on. Sierra's face changed to a look of detached horror and pain, tears streaming down her cheeks in realization. "You didn't…"

"I don't know," he responded through clenched teeth. "We left before I could determine his status…"

"WHY?" the girl exclaimed, rising to her feet as if to punctuate her outcry. "Why did you do it? I would rather have been captured than to see him dead!"

"He would have killed you, Sierra, had he been given the order."

"I don't believe you! I don't! Just… just stay away from me, you monster…"

Her words stabbed him like a blowtorch through his artificial heart, and he visibly flinched, much to his own surprise. He didn't know why it affected him so, and such an outburst coming from the girl before him seemed to magnify the blow tenfold. Didn't she know what he risked to save her? He knew he shouldn't have bothered with any of it… his mind all the while had screamed for him to turn away and go on with his wanderings… but each time, something called him back. Her image would float across his memory, haunting and taunting him until he bellowed out his frustration.

A sudden impulse overcame Blues as he stared in shock at the girl, and he reached forward instinctively. Pulling Sierra close to him in a sudden gentle but crushing embrace, one gloved hand cradling her cheek as he raised her face to meet his. The robot's lips crashed down, down… stealing her breath away as they covered her own.

She froze, unsure of what to do, but her weariness took control and Sierra found herself surrendering to Blues' kiss. Almost as quickly as he had come, the taller of the two broke away, taking a step back. Blue met green as their gazes locked, their hearts open for a brief instant before the machine's face clouded with indifference.

Taking another step, he half-turned from Sierra, who was still heaving slightly from the force of his embrace. "Don't think anything of that," he said, a small tremor in his tone nearly unidentifiable. "I only did it to shut you up. Now get some rest; we leave at dusk."

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Author's Notes: I made the chapter a bit longer than it was originally going to be… I wanted to leave it on a decent cliffhanger ^_^()

Next chapter: Pursued by trackers, agents and even the Robot Masters, Blues and Sierra find themselves even more deeply entangled in a web of evil. Their only hope is to seek out Dr. Light, Blues' other creator, but is he already dead or hidden at some secret site? Who is the mysterious blue robot who comes to their aid? Can he be trusted?