"Lost Within the Void"
Chapter Two
Disclaimer: I do not own ReBoot, or any of it's characters; they are property of Mainframe Entertainment.
The Renegade had disappeared into the night after his lover, cursing himself at every turn, and as he reached their apartment, he hesitated to put his hand on the doorknob. What was he going to say to her? What could he say? He had snapped in the blink of an eye over a sprite who already had a girlfriend. When he reflected on the situation, he had seen how basic his actions had been, but he couldn't shake the anger that surged beneath the surface at the thought of Ray and AndrAIa. There had been a time when his jealously had subsided, but now there was nothing else to worry about, and since things had calmed down, Tracer was around much more frequently.
Daring to put himself into motion, he twisted the knob and pushed the door back so that he would be seen before he came in.
"I'm sorry."
Those had been the first words out of his mouth as he had dropped to his knees in front of the couch where AndrAIa sat, wiping the tears from her eyes.
"AndrAIa, I..." Matrix couldn't look at her knowing that he had caused her misery, and so he let his gaze hit the floor. "I'm sorry for what I did. I never meant to embarrass you. I just-"
"Get away from me." The aqua-haired female ordered coldly. "I can't talk to you right now, or I might say something I'll regret later."
"But AndrAIa..."
"Matrix, don't try my patience; what you did just now...it was barbaric, and random, and just so basic." Her cheeks suddenly flushed red. "What did I do to you to deserve this? What did Ray do?"
"Nothing." He stayed kneeling as she stood and walked away from him. "Please, we need to talk about this..."
"No, not right now. I can't." The Renegade's eyes followed her clicking heels as she headed for the apartment door.
"AndrAIa, don't walk out on me..." He voice was measured to contain as little emotion as possible. "I'm trying to make things right here-"
"And because you're trying I should forgive you?" Swallowing hard, she cast a quick glance back at him. "No." She felt like she was unraveling; how could she still feel so much love for him after what he'd done? "I'm partially to blame for this - I always dismissed your anger, or lulled you into a calm, thinking the quick fix would do, but all I've ever done his nurse the behaviour, and help it to grow..."
Matrix leapt to his feet.
"No, no...don't blame yourself for this-"
"Who else is there to blame?" She scoffed, her emotional roller-coaster taking a severe turn. "User knows it can't be your fault." She waited for a sharp reply, but getting no more than an intense glare, she pushed forward with her sarcasm. "No, the Great Matrix has never done anything wrong, because the ends always justify the means, don't they?"
"What's that supposed to mean?" Matrix asked, with low, metered anger.
"Exactly what it sounds like, Lover."
The burly sprite's eyes became slits.
"Now you listen to me," He warned, taking only a few broad strides to be within reach of her. "All I have ever tried to do is make things good for us, and you have no right to spit in my face about it. Tread lightly."
"Tread lightly? You say it like you own me." Her expression became as hard as his. "That's what it is, isn't it? This random jealously is because you can't control me."
"What? How dare you!" He raised his index finger and pointed it squarely in her face. "I took out of the games-"
"Yeah, only to get us lost in them later!" The Gamesprite retorted.
"Trying to defend this system!" Matrix snarled.
Both sprites had started a yelling match.
"So that makes things all better? Enzo, you ruined my life!" She screeched as if she had been harbouring this pure rage for an eternity.
"Shut up!" He put his hands to his head.
"You can stand to hear it, can you? Knowing that you destroyed everything I ever knew-"
"I said shut up!"
"No, Matrix..." The aqua-haired beauty's voice fell to an astounding low. "I won't. You wanted to talk, so we're going to have a talk."
The Renegade could feel the surge of heat to his cheeks. He could feel his eye rotate, and it scared the bits out of him to know he could feel this way about AndrAIa.
"I can't do this," He shook his head. "I can't do this...move. Get out of the way." All he could think of was getting out of the apartment.
"You can't keep running from yourself, Matrix; you can't keep ignoring your problems." She was standing her ground, and despite how gentle she tried to make her voice, there was still a hint of bitterness in her words. "You're a mess...what did you think you were doing back there with Ray? I mean, he has saved my life more than once, and he's definitely helped you out along the way, whether you'll admit it or not," She hesitated for a split-nano, and then added: "And I can't live this way anymore...you're on this warpath with yourself, and you're blowing away everyone in sight..."
"If I'm so horrible, then why have you stayed?" His query held a hint of menace that he could not bury.
"...I don't know," She fell quiet in search of her answer. "I think I'm still clinging to the memories of what you were before you became...this." She tossed her hand in an idle gesture.
"And what is 'this', AndrAIa? Hm?"
"You've become everything that we've ever hated, everything we've ever fought against..." She could see him crumbling on the inside, but if her message was going to hit home, she had to be relentless. "You're the infected Guardians; you're Daemon; you're every unjust system crash, nullification, and deletion...you are Megabyte."
Matrix buckled as if he'd received a blow to the stomach. It couldn't be true...it couldn't. He closed his eyes and tried to block out what she'd said, but it just echoed inside of him, over, and over, and over. A thousand sprites stood jeering and ridiculing him, and all he could think of was silencing them. He wasn't Megabyte...no, he wasn't...
"No!" This verbal blast was followed by Matrix' ever swift and powerful fist, and all AndrAIa could do was flinch as the hand hurtled forward into the wall beside her cheek.
No sooner had the Renegade thrown the punch had he regretted it. Pieces of the wall crumbled and fell away as he withdrew his hand, and his heart shattered as he looked into the eyes of his love and found only pain and fear staring back at him.
"I...I just-" He stared at his own hands in horror before pushing past her and running as far and as fast away from the apartment building as he could, questioning himself on everything he'd ever done.