Sam tilted his head to the side to take a glance behind them. Two guards followed behind closely with Rinzler stalking just behind them dauntingly. As they came to a halt onto another hexagonal platform, he gave no indication of the anxiety he felt as they were lifted up onto a stationed ship like structure at the tip of a tower.
Sam cleared his throat clearly and loudly when they were urged to move forward once inside the ship. From the corner of his eyes he saw Victoria nod the very slightest.
Victoria tried to grasp onto any courage left in her to steel her face from emotion as they made their way in. The first room seemed like a lobby with...four secretaries. Each sitting in a corner in a circular desk half way into the floor. Weird. The guards made no move to acknowledge tem as they stopped in front of a second door.
There at the window stood a tall figure with their back facing them.
"Let me go," Sam tried again as he tugged at the one of the hands clamped around his arms. Which surprisingly, they did after squeezing a bit harder in warning.
"Freaks," he murmured as Victoria stepped up to stand next to him. He immediately placed a hand on her lower back to pull her a bit closer.
Sam surveyed the figure before him before tilting his head slightly with narrowed eyes.
"Where am I?"
Victoria felt unsettled as the figure turned and all she could see was her reflection on his dark helmet. She couldn't see their eyes but could practically feel them burning into the pair.
"Am I on the Grid?" Sam persisted, determined to get some answers this time.
Feeling a small prickle on the back of her head, Victoria tilted her head to the side to glance behind them. She immediately froze for a second as she spotted Rinzler right behind them. His proximity bordered at personal space invasion. She turned her head straight in front of her once more at the intimidation she felt as he turned his head to face her.
"Who are you?"
The two user's jaws dropped in shock as a face was revealed to them.
"Dad…" Sam whispered as his hands flexed in shock.
Victoria's eyes were wide as she glanced back and forth from Sam to the man who was apparently…Mr. Flynn. Yet, the man who was supposedly Sam's father looked so…
Young.
"Sam. Look at you man, look at the size of you," 'Kevin Flynn' said with an odd smile as he moved down to their level to hold Sam's shoulders.
"And you are Ms. Stevens. You are quite the fighter, the both of you. I must say, that this is quite a pleasant surprise," Kevin complemented with a critical eye and tone as he stared intently at Victoria's face. Swallowing up whatever shock she had, Victoria nodded her head the slightest yet chose not to speak.
"How did you get in here?" Kevin said as he looked back at his 'son' before backing up.
"We..we got your message," Sam stuttered out breathlessly as he tried to grasp the situation at hand. His father had been here all the long. Right under all their noses.
"Oh," Kevin began pacing around them with a growing smile, "So it's just you two?"
"Yes," Victoria answered as she grasped Sam's limp arm that had dropped from her back.
"Just you…" The man seemingly speaking to himself.
"Isn't this something?" He continued joyfully as he made himself back over to face the two shocked users.
"You look the same," Sam interrupted softly as he stepped forward the slightest with disbelief.
"Oh, lots have happened Sam, more than you and Ms. Stevens here can imagine."
Victoria watched carefully as Sam's father continued to pace rather eagerly.
"Disc,"
Victoria and Sam heard Rinzler stepping up closer causing the woman to look back as Sam's disc was taken off from it's place and stepped in between the two adults forcing them to separate.
"Let's have a look…" Sam's father stalked off to the side and turned away from them once more blocking them from seeing what he was doing.
Sam became hyper aware as he felt the vibrations of Rinzler growling from his side. He turned and glared at him as he spotted Victoria away from him on the other side of the experienced player. He opened his mouth to say something but was stopped as Victoria shook her head the very slightest.
Eyes furrowing in slight anger, Sam consented but with a small laugh before staring at his father's back. He was puzzled as to why he was acting so…strangely. After all this time, his father didn't seem like the father he remembered. What had happened for him to change. He looked like his father yet something felt…very different.
"Alright," Sam's father turned back around with Sam's disc in his hand.
"So…you were trapped in here," Sam concluded as he looked around.
"That's right."
Victoria was beginning to get very agitated as Sam's father began pacing around them once again. His whole persona screamed 'giddy child' under the cool exterior.
'But it isn't for Sam, not him exactly,' Victoria thought as she began glaring at the man. If this was Sam's father, this wasn't the man Sam described in his stories.
"And you're in charge," Sam shot out.
"Right again."
"So can we just go home now?" Sam finally said with an uneasy yet relieved chuckle.
Victoria glanced at Sam in worry. She wanted to feel happy for Sam and she was but something did not feel right. She wasn't quite sure if she even wanted him around Sam. Victoria knew deep down she was being extremely selfish and was worried that Sam's father returning would cause Sam to drift away from her. But at the same time, why had Sam's father been stuck here?
"Not in the card," Kevin Flynn's tone immediately took a different turn, "not for the both of you."
Victoria's lips pursed tightly in surprise as she burned holes into the back of the man's head. What.
"…That's a hell of a way to treat your son," Victoria shot back as the tension suddenly intensified by a thousand.
"Oh, that," 'Kevin Flynn' approached the woman who instantly felt like an quivering child as his towering figure stopped in front of her. He stared at her with a sadistic happiness in his eyes before he turned his head to look at Sam.
"I'm not your father, Sam."
Oh. My. God.
"But I'm very very happy to finally see you. And you as well Ms. Stevens," he drawled out her name as if knowing it wasn't her real name. He stepped back before stalking back toward the large window.
"Who are you then?" She demanded as she stepped forward but was held back as Rinzler grasped at her forearm.
"Clu…" Sam answered for her. He was lost in thought as he was being pulled away but began struggling with new vigor as he tried to get a glimpse at CLU once again.
"What did you do with him? Where is he!" Sam shouted out as they were escorted out of the room and back on the platform.
"Same thing I'm going to do to you."
A shiver ran down Victoria's spine.
This was not good.
It was eerily quiet as Sam and Victoria were forced to wait as the ship they were on moved down onto the main platform. Victoria was like a fish gasping for water as her mouth opened and closed as she tried to think of what to say. But there was nothing she could say because she wasn't sure what was happening.
"Dad is here Tori, we have to find him," Sam declared with a passive look. Tori looked at Sam but he was staring, no, glaring at the door that they had gone through. Biting her bottom lip she nodded slowly but solidly. She would do anything for him.
There were no words as they were pulled off and out of the ship and onto the stadium floor. The strange garbed, bald man that had stood beside CLU followed them out.
"Greeting programs," The man began and paused as a wave of cheers rose.
"Oh what an occasion we have before us. Because your rumors are true. We do indeed have in our midst, not one. But TWO Users! Users…" He turned to point viciously at the two of them. Negative jeers rose and filled the air.
"SO, what do these Users deserve? Might I suggest perhaps a challenge," he turned away with a smile," of the Grid?"
Victoria and Sam glanced at each other in confusion as cheers echoed once more.
"And, who best to battle these senior opponents..perhaps one who has some experience in this map?"
What.
'We don't even know what the hell you're talking about!' Victoria thought as she opened her mouth to shout at the man. An indignant muffle left her as a gloved hand clamped around her mouth from speaking. The ominous growling next to her ear stilled her. Oh.
"That's right programs. Your liberator. Your luminary. Your leader. The one who vanquished the tyranny of the User those many cycles before," The man chanted like a sweating pastor.
Sam stood solid as Clu, with his helmet on once again, leaned forward.
"I've been waiting for this," Clu whispered before walking to stand in front of the two Users.
"CLU"
"You want to play? I'll play," Sam countered as he squared his shoulders to match Clu's stature.
Victoria watched as the man brought over a long sleep, black object to Clu.
"Excellent words sir. Were you pleased with my execution?"
What a suck-up. Tori rolled her eyes at the display as he rabbled on.
"The crowd seemed quite energized."
"It wasn't meant for them."
Burn.
Hearing a quiet whirling sound, Sam tilted his head to try and catch a glimpse of what the announcer was holding. After Clu grasped what was inside, the man turned toward Sam with a disgusted look and reached out the object toward the two humans.
Victoria gasped inwardly at the display. She would call racism but considering their position, she wasn't quite sure what kind of discrimination this was. Nonetheless.
"Ass," She hissed as she reached and grabbed the last object in the box. She gave him a good glare before glancing down at what she was holding. It was a long flat rod that reached almost a foot in length with a glowing ring around the center and ends.
"What's this," Sam asked as he grasped the baton with two hands and flexed around trying to figure out what it was, "What am I supposed to do with this?"
Victoria tilted her head as Sam held it out like a sword. She was in awe as she thought Sam had already figured out what it was. She moved to hold it like he was with a curious tilt of the head.
A small mocking laugh left the man.
"I'll give you a hint, not that," he grimaced his face at Sam.
Victoria's face burned in embarrassment and couldn't help but feel hurt at the mockery. She looked down before glancing at Sam. His face did not hold any hint of offense but could tell he was annoyed at the weasel of a man.
Spotting Tori from the corner of his eye, Sam turned to her, mentally chastising himself for forgetting about her. Her red cheeks and upset eyes pulled strings inside him making him angrier at himself and the man. Sam pulled the woman toward him and leaned down to rest his forehead against hers. He felt his muscles relax the slightest as he breathed in Victoria. Despite all that was happening, he was glad she was with him. And he would protect her for that.
Victoria closed her eyes enjoying the moment for a second before reaching up to kiss Sam's chin. She didn't care that they were standing in view of all the crowd and CLU or the weasel-like man. She was content.
They would survive this.
They pulled apart but did not move away from each other as they turned to stare at CLU. Who in turn, was staring at them with a tilt of his head before walking away in the opposite direction.
"The Grid is live."
The automated female voice echoed once again.
"Initiating Light Cycle Battle."
Turning to the other side of them, Tori and Sam blinked in bewilderment as three men descended from the floor behind them. They too, had a look of confusion but at the same time they seemed like they knew what was happening. The two watched unmoving as the programs stared at the two of them.
A strange sound had them all looking toward CLU as the lead program began running. And what happened next was something Victoria had never in a million years would have guessed would happen. She could barely get out of the way as multiple light cycles zoomed past them at a fast pace.
"You've got no chance User, their bikes are faster than ours," One program advised as he stopped to speak to them, "Use the levels."
The two users watched as the programs that were supposedly on their team activated their own cycles.
Victoria looked down at the baton and realized the light strip in the middle was where they were to "break" the baton to activate the bike.
"Now this, we can do," Sam commented as he looked down at Victoria with a smirk.
Victoria stared at Sam before smirking in return.
Game on.
