AN: Not a very long chapter, but it's better than nothing I always say! Happy New Years everyone! I haven't really made any resolutions aside from the usual weight loss or spending less time on the computer XP Like that's gonna happen. Thanks golden eyes for reviewing! Always glad to see someone is reading this :D
Chapter Seventeen
"I thought I told you to get rid of that weapon!" Tron sounded furious when Beck returned after dropping Able off at the garage. Mira leaned against a table while she listened. She knew how Tron felt about the upgrade. It had changed Beck in more ways than one. "Now because of you Tessler's turned the garage into a prison. And he won't stop there until you give up that upgrade."
"Then help me." Beck's choice in words caught Mira off guard. She stood up in confusion before realizing what was about to happen. "You could teach me to control it-" Tron cut him off with a glare.
"This kind of power comes at a price Beck," he explained. "You need to destroy it."
Beck closed his eyes, and for a moment Mira wondered if he really considered Tron's advice.
"No, I need it." Defiantly he struck out at Tron, and Mira jumped to her feet.
Tron dodged the first few blows, but Beck was fast with the weapon. Mira watched in alarm as Beck kicked Tron in the chest. Without thinking of the consequences she lunged forward and stepped in between them.
"Enough!" she shouted. "You're acting like a couple of children!"
Beck stared at her in confusion before swinging his disk towards her neck. She braced herself for the impact. Her eyes widened in shock when he pulled away.
"I... I'm sorry," he finally stammered.
"Now do you see why this weapon needs to be destroyed?" Tron stepped forward after Mira sighed in relief. "I chose you for a reason Beck. You're strong both physically and mentally. Now prove it."
Silence followed his words. Mira looked down at the floor and thought of what Tron had said. Was she capable of more than she realized? Maybe she didn't need the upgrade either. She had already managed to live out her life on her own for so many cycles.
Eventually Beck sighed in defeat and pulled the upgrade off of his disk. Tron placed a hand on his shoulder and looked at him encouragingly.
"I'll be back soon," he promised.
With those departing words he walked out on them. Mira continued thinking of what she could do without the weapons upgrade. They would need a team if they wanted to take on Clu without it. A team that would show no fear towards Clu or general Tessler.
"I want you to follow him," Tron suddenly spoke up. Mira looked at him in confusion. "I trust Beck enough to get the job finished, but he needs support."
"And you trust me?" Mira was surprised that he would have trusted her this much. After all she was a User.
"Just go." His reply held a sharp edge to it that made Mira narrow her eyes.
She simply shrugged and put on the disguise she had used before. Once her disguise was ready she rezzed her light cycle and sped out of the safehouse, eager to get back to the city.
If this keeps up maybe he'll actually let me leave more often, she thought. She doubted Tron would allow her to risk getting caught by Clu's guards. Already news of a suspicious program spread like a virus through the Grid. She was surprised Clu hadn't sent out more forces to keep an eye on Argon or the Outlands.
The city soon came into view as she swerved her cycle into the traffic. Other light cycles and vehicles dodged as she continued speeding forward. Luckily the guards didn't seem to care if one was speeding. Mira had a feeling they were more interested in finding the Renegade than anything else.
Once she reached the garage she realized that there were recognizers hovering around it. A few guards were posted outside when she got off of her light cycle. One of the guards had noticed her arrival and raised their staff.
"No program allowed," the guard announced.
"Look, I work here and I'm... really late for work." Mira winced inwardly when she realized how lame her excuse was.
The guards exchanged what she guessed were looks of confusion. Eventually they stepped back and relaxed their posture.
"You don't look like a mechanic but... go in," one of the guards sighed.
It sounded as if they were bored of what they were doing. Mira shrugged and walked in warily. She was half afraid of what would be found once she was inside.
Don't let any programs derezz, she begged silently. Once inside she saw that several programs had been gathered near the center of the garage. They were surrounded by a group of soldiers and one annoying commander. Mira rolled her eyes when she recognized Pavel.
"You brought them here?" It was Mara who demanded the question. Handcuffs were placed around her wrist as she was pushed into the crowd.
"You brought this upon yourselves," the program that had fought with them earlier sneered.d
"Just to make things clear, until the renegade gives himself up you are all prisoners of war," Pavel announced.
"Then what should we do about that program?" Mira froze when the darker-skinned program looked at her. He was the same program that had been in the tunnels during the Argon race. She'd recognized his annoying looking friend standing beside him.
Before she could make a response a beam of energy struck the walls of the garage. Mira ducked in surprise - Pavel had gone missing shortly after the two programs noticed her arrival. She hadn't even noticed his disappearance until now.
"It's the renegade! He's come to save us!" Mara's shout of joy was cut off by another shot of the laser. Mira guessed that it was the laser Beck had tried to use in order to destroy the weapon upgrade.
"Then who's going to save him?" Zed demanded.
Leave that to me! Mira thought as she raced forward. The soldiers had scattered in panic when the laser was flaring up. Light copters and ships were flung across the garage as the ropes that held them together were cut in half. Mira ducked several times to avoid getting knocked out.
"This power is intoxicating isn't it?" Pavel's voice rose above the sirens that wailed in the garage.
Mira's fists clenched when she saw that he had Beck overwhelmed by both speed and strength. He didn't take into account that there was more than one renegade on the Grid. And she was about to prove that she could handle herself just fine.
"Leave him alone!" Mira shouted when she slammed into Pavel's side. The program staggered in shock at the sudden impact. Beck shook his head in disbelief before recovering from the butt-kicking Pavel had given him. "Didn't know you had so many friends," Mira said when she raised her fist against Pavel's cheek.
The program had moved away faster than she could swing. His speed caught her by surprise before he kicked her in the thigh. Mira gasped at the sudden pain that exploded from the impact. It took her a few millicycles to catch her breath.
While she recovered from the pain Beck twisted around and threw a few kicks at Pavel in the face. The commander staggered and let out a snarling noise that sounded eerily like Rinzler. Mira shuddered and tried not to think of the program that had caused her so much pain in the past.
Time to end this, she told herself. While Pavel was distracted by defending himself from Beck, Mira managed to sneak up on him. By now the laser had caused enough destruction that smoke fumed all over. She used the smoke to her advantage and grabbed Pavel's disk. The commander gasped in surprise when he realized that she had grabbed the upgrade.
"Destroy the upgrade, now!" Beck shouted as he held Pavel down by wrenching out his arms.
Mira looked down at the upgrade and thought of the possibilities it would give her. Then she remembered how it had turned Beck against Tron and those he was close to. There were better ways of getting revenge on Clu and his guards. She knew now more than ever that she needed to take Clu down without using any upgrades. She would prove that Users were capable of taking care of themselves.
Silence seemed to fill the garage as she held up the upgrade. The laser was heading towards her direction where she stood. Pavel continued struggling to break free from Beck's grip, but he managed to keep the commander at bay. Time stood still for Mira when she heard the upgrade snap in half as the laser made contact.
Once the upgrade was destroyed she backed into the smoke, using it to hide her from Pavel's view. There was no need to stay while the garage was being destroyed. She rezzed her light cycle once more and sped forward, away from the falling debris. She wasn't surprised to see that Beck was close behind.
"You hesitated," Beck said once they were side-by-side.
"Let's just say I thought about using the upgrade myself," she explained with a grin. "But I realized that the only way programs are going to trust Users again is to not use their upgrades against them."
Beck seemed surprised by her choice in words. Mira had thought hard about what to do with the second half of the upgrade. She had decided to keep it as a souvenir kind of object. Maybe someday the upgrade would come in handy.
For now though, I'll stick with being a normal User, she thought with a shake of her head.