Chapter 4: Marketplace mishaps
"Ooh Sky!" Sydney squealed excitedly as she held up dark blue blazer. "Come here! You have got to try this on. It'll look perfect on you."

Sky just shook his head as he trudged over to Sydney's bouncing form. "Why? Why me? Why is the world so cruel?"

Sydney rolled her eyes as she held up the blazer in front of Sky. "Oh, don't be such a drama queen. Come on! Just try it on."

"Syd, I don't need any more clothes. Besides, where would I wear something like that? When I'm not working, I'm sleeping. And at no point in the near future can I see that ever becoming standard work attire, nor something I sleep in."

"That's besides the point, Sky," Syd said, now putting on a full pout, "You buy something like this for a special occasion. Everybody needs at least one nice thing to wear."

Sky raised an eyebrow. "That's what you said the last time you conned me into buying something, and guess what? It's still sitting in my closet. Why? Because there haven't been any special occasions where I've needed to wear that. I'm a security guard Syd. I wear sweat pants and a t-shirt on my days off, not formal wear. Back me up here Bridge," Sky pleaded as he turned to his surprisingly quiet friend. "Bridge?"

"Hmm?" Bridge replied groggily as he snapped to attention.

"Someone not get their coffee this morning?" Syd asked curiously.

"Oh, um, no," Bridge replied sleepily as he ran a gloved hand through his disheveled hair. "I just, didn't get a good sleep last night."

"I noticed," Sky replied curiously, "I meant to ask before, where were you? You weren't in bed when I got back last night."

"Oh, right," Bridge replied sheepishly, "I couldn't sleep. I went to go grab a hot shower. You know? To see if it would help me sleep."

"It obviously didn't do the trick," Syd chuckled, as nudged Bridge playfully.

Bridge chuckled as well. "Yes well, when it comes to sleep quality doesn't make up for quanti-

Bridge was suddenly cut of when the sound of sirens began to blare throughout the market place. All at once the market place burst into panic as shop owners began to furiously pack up their merchandise while pedestrians began to scatter to either get out of the area or find shelter.

"Shit," was Sky's only reply as he latched onto both Sydney and Bridge and began to drag them off in the direction of the complex. Hopefully they would be able to get out the crowd before the krybots came decided to clear the crowd their own way.

"Is it another rebel attack?" Syd asked, trying to hide the panic in her voice.

"Don't know," Sky replied sternly, "but sirens mean Krybots which means we have to get out of here, fast."

Krybots: the law enforcers of New Tech city. They were interesting creatures. Being robots they obviously had no emotions yet for some reason they were always known for their ruthlessness, which many people claimed, they enjoyed. It was certainly a well know fact that the law enforcers of New Tech city had a tendency to shoot first and ask questions later. No one was safe when they were carrying out orders. And the fact that they had incredibly bad aim didn't help, not that it mattered when there were twenty of them shooting at you. Needless to say though, when sirens like that went off it meant anyone who wanted to keep their lives needed to get out of there as soon as possible which Bridge, Syd, and Sky were all trying to do.

"Bridge," Sky barked, "Can you do a sweep of the area? We need to know which way their coming from."

"No problem," replied the now fully alert Bridge. He quickly removed his glove and waved his hand in front of him. His eyes went wide as he quickly reached over and pulled Syd and Sky to the ground. Just in time too as several shots whirred by, right where Sydney and Sky had been standing, causing them all to jump.

"That way," Bridge replied, now stating the obvious as several Krybots came into view. Along with them also came a young man and woman, who were obviously being chased by the Krybots. The black man had shoulder length dread locks, and was dressed in a pair of torn baggy jeans and a faded green jacket. The Hispanic woman had shoulder length brown hair and was wearing similarly ripped black jeans along with a black leather jacket over a pink t-shirt. Neither of them looked much older than Sky or them. But they were obviously with the rebels which was why they were now running for their lives and, to the particular dismay of Sky, heading their way.

"This way," Sky yelled as he pulled Sydney and Bridge down out of sight behind a nearby market stall. He sent them both a menacing glare as he placed his finger to his lips, signaling them both to stay quiet until the Krybots passed.

"Shouldn't we-

"Shh!" Sky hissed, cutting Sydney off.

Syd sent a glare back at Sky before starting again, her voice lower this time. "Shouldn't we help them or something?"

"Syd, we don't even know who they are or why they're running. We do not want to get mixed up in this."

"Well I do. They need help, and if they're running away from the Krybots usually means they're the good guys which is a good enough reason for me," Syd shot back making to move out from behind the stand. Sky pulled her down though.

"Are you nuts Syd?" Sky hissed angrily. "What exactly do you plan to do when they start shooting at you?"

"Fight back!" Sky replied haughtily as she tried to wrench her arm from Sky's vice like grip.

"No way Syd! Your father ordered me and Bridge to keep you safe and I intend to do just that."

"Well then, you're going to have to keep up," Syd replied defiantly as she quickly grabbed one of her shopping bags and launched it at passing Krybot, tripping it in the process. With equal speed and force kicked Sky's hand away and launched herself at the nearest Krybot.

Stunned only for a second, Bridge and Sky quickly shared knowing glances and headed after Syd. They too engaged the nearest Krybots trying desperately to stay as close to Syd as possible and keep her out of harms way.

Meanwhile, only a few yards the young man and woman had also began to engage the Krybots in battle, having been cut off from their escape root. Both sent each other curious looks as they noticed they're new allies who had joined the fray. Not that either of them minded. They could certainly use the help, and the three of them seemed to be holding their own quite well.

Suddenly though, fear spread across the face of the Hispanic woman as she recognized one of the fighters. "Oh no," she breathed. Unfortunately she didn't have much time to think over the situation as she was quickly engaged by another Krybot. Leaping out of the way of the Krybot's shots, she quickly replicated herself and grabbed the machine from behind.

In their own type of partnership, Sydney and Sky had also taken on an approach of double teaming all the Krybots that came near. Sydney had recently picked up a near by stone and was handling much of the offensive attacks while Sky had unconsciously put himself in charge of defense. Almost like a dance partners, Sky would lead and toss Syd towards the attacking Krybots, and, when necessary, spin her towards him so he could throw up shield to protect them from the laser shots. At the very least both parties seemed fairly satisfied with the situation as each got what they needed out of the alliance: Sydney got an ally in battle and Sky got a way to keep Sydney from running off out of his sights. It definitely wasn't a permanent thing though. It was the kind of alliance that ended the minute the fight ended and that suited both of them just fine.

While Sky and Sydney had managed to stay close together, Bridge had managed to drift quite a distance from his two friends but he seemed to be holding his own quite well. All the street fighting skill he had picked up from his days before joining Drew Tech security served him well as now as landed a series of punches and kicks to anything that dared approach him. He was almost enjoying himself as he let out his pent up fury on the attacking Krybots. Not that he had a lot of fury, but it was just nice to not worry about sportsmanship and fighting dirty. The Krybots would certainly not show him the same courtesy and it's not like they cared either way.

For each of the fighters the battle continued to rage on for several minutes more until most of the Krybots had been destroyed. They finally got to the point where only four were left. Syd and Sky were making quick work of the two nearest to them and the two rebels took on the others. Bridge, who had defeated the last Krybot nearest him pondered on whether or not he should even bother to interfere as both pairs seemed to be handling themselves quite well. His thoughts though were cut short though as one of the Krybots who had been fighting Sky and Syd landed a surprise kick and knocked Sydney back into Sky. Before Bridge's brain could even register the thought to react he was hit square in the shoulder by the Krybot's laser blast, sending him crumpling to the ground.

"Bridge," someone cried out.

Surprisingly though, it wasn't Sydney or Sky who had called out. It was the brunette rebel girl. In a few swift moves both her and her partner took down the two Krybots who they had been fighting with and rushed over to Bridge's side.

"Bridge, Bridge," she called out as she tried to rouse her fallen friend. "Wake up Bridge, come on." She looked about worriedly as her male comrade began to inspect Bridge's wound. "How bad is it Jack?"

"I don't know Z, but it doesn't look good," he replied grimly. "We need to get him to a doctor ASAP."

"Hey you two!" Syd yelled angrily as she rushed over towards Bridge, "Get away from him."

"Relax girly," Z replied gruffly, "We're just here to help. But we need to get him to a doctor quick!"

"We can take him back to complex," said Syd, slightly insulted by the 'girly' comment. "We've got an on staff doctor there. He should be able to help him no problem."

"Back to Drew Tech? Are you nuts?" Jack exclaimed incredulously.

"You have a better idea?" demanded Sydney. Suddenly she turned back to Sky who was surprisingly still engaged with the last two Krybots. "Sky! Get over here!"

Sky ignored her though as he continued to fight. With a swift round house kick he literally knocked the head straight off the Krybot closest to him. The other one took advantage of this moment and fired at Sky who barely had time to raise a shield against the attack. Sky was briefly blinded as sparks showered from the connecting energies, and it was just enough time for the Krybot to race off. Sky began to chase after it but he soon lost it turned a corner amidst the sea of market stall.

"Damn it!" he cursed under his breath.

"Sky, just let it go," Syd shouted after Sky who was still staring off in the direction where the lost the Krybot. "We have bigger problems here."

Sky's face immediately darkened as he turned back to face Syd. "No Syd, thanks to you, Bridge's wound is the least of our problems," Sky sneered as he began to approach Syd. "That Krybot was actually quite a bit more important than Bridge because that Krybot is the very reason that we now can't go back to complex to get Bridge to a doctor."

"What do you mean, thanks to me?" Syd demanded, clearly insulted by Sky's insinuating tone.

"God, you really are as stupid as you act, Syd, I just never truly realized it before today," Sky snarled angrily. "We just attacked a platoon of Krybots Syd. You know? Krybots! The law enforcers of New Tech city. And now that Krybot that just got away there is going to back to who ever he reports to and is going to tell them exactly who attacked him."

"You don't know that for sure Sky. They don't even know who we are! All they're going to say is they were attack by 5 rebels. No big deal! We'll lay low for a bit and no one will know the difference. I don't even know what your problem is Sky! You're the one who's always saying you don't want to be one of the people who stand around and wait to be saved. I just decided to do that myself!"

Sky growled angrily in frustration. "Ugh! You're missing the point Syd! This isn't about being brave. It's about being smart! Laying low isn't going to work because they don't need to look for us. They know exactly where we live. That Krybot probably has surveillance footage of each and every one of us, attacking them no less! AIDING two rebels! That's more than enough to reason for them to lock us up for life, assuming they don't shoot us on site! And even if they don't have footage, how long do you think it will take them to figure out who the blond girl escorted by two Drew Tech Security personnel is? You're Dad builds their bloody weapons for god's sake! They're going to figure it out and they're going to tear the whole complex apart to find us."

"My Dad-

"-can't do a damn thing Syd," Sky finished. "The only reason he's been able to protect all the people he has is by going along and following the rules. The minute you attacked those Krybots you threw that all away. Your whole life, my life, Bridge's life, all for a couple of strangers. I hope it was worth it Sydney," Sky spat.

Syd stared silently at Sky, her mouth open to protest, but she couldn't think of anything to say. He was right. And now they had no where to go.

"Um," Z said, grabbing both their attention. "I hate to break to this up but Bridge still needs to get a doctor and sooner really would be better than later."

"We can't take him to complex," Sky stated coldly. Syd only lowered her head in shame.

"Then you'll all come with us," Jack commanded. "I know someone who can help."

To be continued…

Wow! this has to be one of my fastest updates yet! But I guess I'm really getting back into writing this story! Hope you enjoyed the chap! I made it extra long hopefully to the enjoyment of the readers!

Thanks to all of the reviewers! Let me say now though that there will not be any romances taking place in this story! Maybe some light flirting between Sky and Syd but no major subplots. Trust me, if you knew how badly I sucked at writing romances you'd be thanking me! Besides, I think there's enough going on to keep you readers plenty interested! So I put your worries to rest when I say there will not be any romances taking over the plot line! Personally, I love a good romance, just not in this story! Don't think there won't be a good deal of angst and flirting though! There's always plenty of that to go around! And it's so much fun to write! ; P

Please, as always review... even if you hate it! I really won't mind if you say so! At least then I know! I promise I won't get insulted. I'm not dumb enough to think I'm that great of writer that I will always get good reviews! Bad ones are more helpful anyways!