AN: I was totally watching Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen while typing this XD Sorry if there are any references to that movie. Love the Transformers series :D Thanks to QuilSniv, 2theSky, PrincessKai317 and Briannajs-22 for reviewing!

Chapter Four

An Explanation

They were led to a small room deep within the building. Unease crawled down Mira's skin as Rinzler jumped down beside her. A clear round table was placed in front of four seats. Mira barely noticed that the walls themselves were padded in what looked like cloth.

"Now, why don't you two explain where you've come from," Director Fury suggested after closing the door behind him. Beck watched him suspiciously as he pulled out what looked like a tablet. Maria had explained what they were used for before they arrived at SHIELD's HQ.

"It's... kind of a long story," she explained warily. "And a bit hard to believe." She glanced at Beck, but he only frowned in response. They couldn't tell SHIELD everything about the Grid. Otherwise more and more Users might find themselves getting trapped. And that would lead to chaos.

"I think I can handle 'hard to believe' just fine," Director Fury replied.

Mira looked down at Rinzler thoughtfully as he began washing his whiskers. He seemed unafraid of their situation. She wished she could feel the same way.

"The place we came from isn't exactly easy to access," Beck retorted after struggling to find the right words. Director Fury raised an eyebrow and looked at Mira. She felt a shiver run down her neck. The whole eye patch thing was really beginning to unnerve her.

She took a deep breath before explaining as much as she could, without giving away too much information. Director Fury took everything in until she mentioned Clu. After a few nanocycles he had to sit down stare at them both in disbelief.

"And you're saying this Clu wants to rule the world?" he asked when she was finally finished.

"No, just the... place we came from," Mira quickly replied.

"Clu isn't the only threat that you've escaped from, is he?" Director Fury looked at Beck, whose eyes narrowed in response.

Cyrus has already caused trouble here, Mira realized.

"I suppose you could say that," Beck muttered with a shrug.

Mira jumped when an alarm sounded. The noise was deafening compared to the sirens she was used to on the Grid. Director Fury suddenly rose from his seat when the door behind him swung open.

"Sir, the threat is back!" A voice sounded over the intercom.

"I want all agents focused on the target," he ordered through what Mira guessed was a watch. She had seen Alan glancing at his every now and than before he dropped them off. "Don't let them out of your sight!"

Panic started to grip at Mira's heart when she realized how serious this was. Cyrus was already powerful enough on the Grid. He could modify recycled codes into weapons in his prison. If he could do that than she could only imagine what he was capable of in the User world.

"We have to stop this from getting worse." Beck sounded just as worried as Mira felt, if not more.

"Look, we can help," Mira added when Director Fury turned to face them. "We know the target's identity if that's of any use."

"I'm not sending a couple of untrained kids into the field," Director Fury snapped.

We can handle ourselves just fine! Mira was desperate to shout the words. But she kept her jaws clenched firmly shut as she locked gazes with Director Fury. Cycles seemed to pass before he finally let out a sigh of frustration.

"Alright, fine," he grumbled. "Follow me."

Mira glanced back at Rinzler, who was crouched under the table. His eyes were wide with fear, and she could understand why. This was new to him.

"Stay here," she murmured, hoping that he would somehow understand. Rinzler simply blinked at her as she turned to follow Director Fury and Beck.

After running through winding halls and passing several agents running in the opposite direction, they finally reached a room that seemed vaguely familiar to Mira. Computers were scattered throughout the room along with a large desk standing in the middle of it all. The biggest computer held an image of the target in question.

"Cyrus," Beck whispered. "Should have known he wouldn't stay in hiding for real long."

"I thought civilians weren't allowed here." Mira froze when a woman with long dark red hair approached them. She wore an outfit that was similar to a program's suit. Only it had an eagle with a shield symbol on her right arm.

"Agent Romanoff, I thought my orders were clear." Director Fury looked at the woman sternly as she remained strangely calm. "Beck, Mira, I'd like you to meet one of my top agents. Romanoff has worked for SHIELD for years, and she'll be keeping an eye on you."

"You mean babysitting us," Mira said under her breath. The last thing she wanted was another Tron watching over her the whole time.

"Sir?" Romanoff looked at Director Fury curiously as he paused the video that was playing.

Mira had a difficult time understanding why Cyrus was just standing in the middle of the street. The agents that were sent to capture him had Cyrus surrounded. He was wearing a cloak this time, similar to the one he had worn when Mira first saw him. The smirk on his face told Mira that he had a plan.

Everything that followed seemed to happen in slow motion. Explosions went off around Cyrus, sending clouds of smoke and flames towards the stunned agents. They didn't have time to react as he leaped after the first agent, quickly grabbing the gun they had pulled out. In a matter of nanocycles he had knocked out the agents that seemed more than capable of fighting back. Shivers ran down Mira's arms when he disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

"You want to explain to me who that guy is?" Everyone had stopped working after witnessing the scene. After getting a good look at Cyrus's face, Mira was pretty sure that they could guess he wasn't normal. Mira was surprised that the white circuits were still on his face, flowing in their usual menacing way.

"The guy's name is Cyrus," Mira replied. Director Fury looked at her in surprise when she held back a sigh of frustration. If they had been faster they might have been able to stop him. Now more innocent lives were taken thanks to Cyrus. "He's from where we came from."

"How do you know him?" Romanoff asked the question this time, and the few agents that were in the room quickly went back to work.

"He's... an old friend of ours." Mira didn't miss the anger in Beck's voice.

We have to stop him, she thought angrily. Who knows what other problems he created?

"When did this all begin?" Mira asked. She remembered Maria explaining how time worked in the User world. The system wasn't anything like the Grid's. It was difficult enough keeping track of how time worked on the Grid, let alone the User world.

"A few days ago," Romanoff replied. "We've been tracking down his attacks. They're not as random as they seem."

Mira exchanged another look with Beck. She knew he was thinking the same thing. Cyrus knew that they were here. He was trying to drawl them out of hiding.

"We'll help you capture him." Beck folded his arms when Romanoff and Director Fury looked at them in surprise.

"And exactly how do you expect to do this?" Director Fury demanded.

"He'll track us down," Mira explained. "He's a... creature of habit."

She bit the bottom of her lip as she thought of what to do next. Cyrus would find them once he knew they were free from the Grid. The real question was whether or not these Users would let them go.

Director Fury pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. He obviously wasn't expecting them to jump right in a fight willingly.

"Very well," he muttered crossly. "We'll discuss plans tomorrow. For now, you both should get some rest. Natasha will lead you to your rooms."

Mira raised an eyebrow in surprise when Romanoff's shoulders sagged in what she guessed was annoyance. She didn't even notice how exhausted she was until Director Fury had mentioned something. Even Beck looked tired when they were led out of the room.

"Your rooms are right down this hall," Natasha told them when they reached another hallway.

She left them to choose which room they would sleep in.

"This just got a lot more serious than I realized," Mira whispered when they reached the doors.

"What if they find out about..." Beck cut himself off before he went any further. Mira understood how he felt. Even in the User world they were bound to secrecy.

"We need to keep them off it's trail," she said under her breath. If SHIELD was anything like Tron, they would be watching their every move. They would have to be careful for the next few cycles. "Will you be able to sleep?"

"After what I just saw, I doubt that's even possible," Beck replied. He ruffled the back of his hair in embarrassment. "I'm sure we'll be fine though."

She couldn't help but smirk at his false reassurance. "Sleep well," she murmured. Though she doubted in a place like this, sleep wasn't going to come so easily.

AN: So yeah, not a very long chapter but it was a chapter. And of course you got to meet the infamous Black Widow. Just a forwarning, she has several alias due to her alliance with both SHIELD and the Avengers, so her name might change quite a few times throughout the story. Please let me know what you thought of this chapter!

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