AN: I managed to get this typed up in one day. Kind of sad huh? But listening to music is always what gets me going. I was listening to the Firebird Suite when I typed this, and for some reason it just encouraged me to write. Anyways thanks everyone for your reviews, they're always appreciated :)
Chapter Twenty Six
Mira wasn't surprised to see Tron standing in front of the screen that overlooked the Outlands. His expression was difficult to make out as a video played out on the screen.
"What's going on?" she asked as she studied the trucks that were crashing into the roads.
"Someone is setting a trap," Tron explained after the screen went blank. "Tesler recruited a scientist by the name of Keller."
Mira raised an eyebrow in surprise. Recruiting scientists was a common thing for the occupation. Tesler had recruited Shaw in the hopes that he would create a super weapon. Whatever Keller was up to, it would only lead to disaster in the end.
She turned around just in time to see that Beck had returned from work. His eyes were dark with worry when he approached.
"I need your help," he said when Mira tilted her head to one side. "Mara's acting strange, and it has something to do with an accident she was in."
Big surprise there, Mira thought with a roll of her eyes. Mara must have been on the course that one of the trucks crashed into. If that was the case than there must have been something in the trucks to make her act so strangely.
She glanced around to see if Tron was in the room. He had wandered away by the time Beck returned. There wasn't time to ask Tron whether it was safe to leave. Besides, Mira knew that she could handle this mission. With a smirk a mask hid her face as she followed Beck out of the safehouse.
Things would get interesting if what she thought was true. Mara had been effected by the trucks that programed to crash. And if one program started acting strange, she could imagine that others would begin to act just like Mara had at the garage.
"Please join us for mingling and music at Argon Park." Mira rolled her eyes when a recognizer with Tesler's image flew by.
"Since when does he throw parties?" she asked.
"Don't ask me," Beck muttered.
Beck rezzed his light cycle once they were outside and led the way to where the crash sight was located. Mira knew that they would find their first clue near or at the crash if they were lucky. She hoped that Tesler's army wasn't smart enough to clear away the evidence.
"So exactly how strange was Mara acting?" Mira asked as they reached the city.
"She thought the recognizers were beautiful." Beck's expression was grim, and Mira understood why.
That definitely didn't sound like Mara, unless she counted the artwork she had used on the recognizer in Tesler's ship.
It didn't take them long to reach the crash sight. Orange lines acted like barricades, preventing programs from getting any closer. Beck turned his light cycle into a baton and pulled apart the barricade. Mira folded her arms when he moved them apart wide enough for one program to fit through.
Once Beck was inside she followed him, carefully avoiding the wreckage. Bits and pieces of the truck were scattered around the area. A strange orange substance coated parts of the wreckage. Mira felt a shudder run down her spine as she wondered what the orange coating could be.
"Let's split up, we'll find what we're looking for faster," Beck ordered as he climbed to the top of the rubble.
Mira rolled her eyes and decided it was better to look than argue. Mara's life could be in danger, and it was crucial they worked fast to get rid of the problem. Suddenly a flash lit the area up, and Mira turned to see Zed glaring at them.
"Stop right there renegades." Mira stood up and joined Beck as she wondered if Zed knew what he was getting himself into.
"Go home before you get hurt," Beck snapped. He sounded more worried than irritated.
"I don't have to do what you say." Zed remained icily stubborn as he glared at them.
"What is with you do you want to get derezzed?" Beck jumped down from the rubble and stood in front of Zed, who was pinned against a wall.
"What's with you?" Zed said mockingly. Mira sighed in annoyance as she stood beside Beck. "I'm here because this is the accident my friend Mara was in. Something got knocked loose in her head, and the one program who should be helping me is off with some girl."
Beck flinched while Mira smirked. Maybe Zed was jealous, or he just didn't know any better. Either way it was fun watching Zed face the renegade.
"Why am I telling you? He's not your friend. I'm beginning to wonder if he's my friend at all." Zed turned around just in time for Mira to see the orange coating once more. Beck noticed it as well and grabbed his wrist.
"What's this?" he demanded.
"Obviously a clue, you can thank me later," Zed muttered. He looked down at the orange coating warily before wandering around the wreckage. Mira wasn't surprised when he reached what she guessed was the driver's seat. "Let's find out what really happened. It's a good thing one of us is a mechanic. Let's see what the camera picked up" Again Mira grinned when she looked back at Beck. He was still as stone, unsurprisingly. But he was focused on the screen Zed had pulled up.
A video began playing after Zed found the memory files. Mira blinked in disbelief when she watched the truck pull aside, right into the rail. It skidded across the road, crashing into several vehicles until it came to a screeching halt. The orange coating that they had seen earlier exploded around the crash, landing on the programs nearby.
"These tanks were programed to crash," Beck finally said.
"I'm way ahead of you, now try keep up." Mira shook her head in frustration. Zed was trying to outsmart them - something she wasn't too fond of. No wonder Beck spent less time with the guy.
He managed to find where the other trucks had crashed, and eventually found the amount of trucks that had crashed. Six trucks in six parts of the city. And another was on it's way to it's next target.
"Anyone up for seven?" she asked as she spotted the tanker.
"Let's go." Beck led the way out of the wreckage, rezzing his light cycle in the process. Mira followed him and looked back to see that Zed was following them. She rolled her eyes once more as they fell in pursuit of the truck. "Try to keep up!" Beck shouted as he pulled forward.
"Try not to make me hate you!" Zed shouted back. Mira sighed in frustration when she saw the truck swerve under the bridge they drove onto. "Now what?" Zed demanded as they moved in and out of the traffic.
"How's the turning radios on that thing?" Beck asked as he suddenly spun around.
"Turning what?" Zed screamed.
Mira couldn't help but smirk as she followed suit. She was using her modified light cycle, and Mara had tweaked with the breaks and wheels. Thanks to Mara she nearly pulled off a wheely before pulling in beside Beck. She glanced back to see that Zed was keeping up with them.
"What happened to me not hate you?" Zed demanded.
"Well, this certainly won't help," Mira whispered as she turned towards the rail. The truck was surging ahead, and she saw that it was moving towards the tunnels.
She surged forward until the rail broke. Mira let out a gasp when she landed on the street below. Beck had followed her, and she could hear Zed shouting in surprise when he landed behind them.
"That was easy," Zed managed to say.
"It's not over yet," Beck promised when they reached the truck
A smaller truck had pulled in behind the tanker truck. Mira cringed when the doors swung open, revealing four soldiers who had been waiting for them.
Someone knew we'd be tracking them, Mira thought with a roll of her eyes.
"You're very popular," Zed said as two soldiers pulled out of the truck with their light cycles.
"They're not here to make friends!" Mira called back. She gasped when the soldiers pushed her into a pair of light walls. She glanced around nervously until Beck managed to squeeze in, pushing her out. Beck managed to swing his disk into one of the soldier's light cycles, while Mira threw her disk into the soldier beside her. Beck had thrown his disk into the light cycle that was pushing him into the light wall the two soldiers ahead had created.
Mira blinked in disbelief when the soldiers pulled beside each other, using the light wall to derezz Beck's light cycle. He saw the move coming and threw his disk into the pole of a sign in front of them. The sign fell just in time for Beck to move along the ramp, narrowly avoiding the light wall. Mira followed him quickly and threw her disk into the other two light cycles, leaving the soldiers behind.
"Let's go," Beck told them when Mira moved alongside Zed.
The three of them surged forward until Beck fell in beside the truck. It was moving at a faster pace, and they had to work quickly before it crashed. Beck managed to get on board after turning his light cycle back into a baton. Mira jumped up just as she turned her light cycle back. Beck pulled her up just as Zed moved in beside them.
"Oh this is not fun," he gasped as he struggled to get on board. He pulled up just as his light cycle got caught under the wheel of the truck. Mira cringed when she realized that it had been derezzed. "That's two light cycles you owe me now," he grumbled as he jumped into the truck.
Mira rolled her eyes after following them into the truck. She sat between Beck and Zed.
"We need to stop this truck before it reaches it's destination." Beck tried breaking the code before Zed grabbed it.
"You grab the wheel, I'll switch it to manual mode," he said.
The truck had suddenly swerved to the right, jostling them just as Beck managed to pull the break. The truck had rolled over the rail, and now it was dangling over the Sea.
"We need to jump," Beck ordered as he looked at Mira. Mira followed him just in time to see the truck fall into the Sea down below.
Zed let out a laugh when he looked down at the Sea. "Nice," he whispered. Mira jumped when a set of explosions shook the city. She looked up in time to see that more trucks had been set to crash.
"You know how we'll stop these crashes?" she asked after recovering from the shock.
"We follow the victims," Beck finished for her.
"I knew that." Zed rolled his eyes as they ran away.
Mira rezzed her light cycle once more as they reached the area the last truck had crashed. Programs were being carried off by medics. Their sirens wailed as they moved towards what Mira guessed was a medic center. Beck and Zed followed suit as she led the way to where the programs were taken.
A set of rails blocked their way into the building, and Mira easily jumped over them. She turned around to see Zed stumble over the rail.
"Zed!" Beck glanced at his friend nervously as Zed recovered.
"I'm fine!" he promised.
They ran along a path that kept them hidden from view. Mira's eyes narrowed when she saw soldiers keeping watch over the area. The programs that were infected with the orange coating had been taken into a building.
She looked up to see an antenna reaching for the sky. Her fists clenched when she realized that a pulse was vibrating from the antenna, and she guessed that was where the source of Mara's behavior came from.
"That antenna is what's infecting your friend Mara, and countless other programs that breathed in any of that orange stuff,"Beck explained after following Mira's gaze.
Mira wandered towards the building the antenna was attached to. In order to reach the building they had to climb down a ladder. Mira could hear the voices of programs inside when they reached the bottom. She peered into the door to see the scientist Tron had mentioned earlier.
She flinched when she heard Zed shouting in alarm. He must have missed a step as he fell down. Beck caught him before the two programs realized that they weren't alone. Mira's eyes narrowed into tiny slits when she spotted Pavel whispering to the scientist.
"We need to find a way to destroy that antenna," Beck whispered after letting Zed go. He let out a sputtering cough and glared before looking back at the antenna.
"Anyone got a bomb?" he asked with a smirk.
"Dirigible launch in progress," a voice suddenly announced.
"We do now," Mira replied. "Come on!"
She led the way towards the dirigible. Beck wasted no time in following her, while Zed was a bit more reluctant. The ship was flying over Argon Square. Mira could see programs shouting or dancing as the orange gas filled the area. On the screens around them were the words, "Perfection is freedom."
Zed's mask suddenly hid his face when they looked down at the crowd.
"Good thinking, we don't want any of those guards recognizing you," Beck said just when Zed glared at him.
"I'd rather not inhale any of that gas," he admitted.
He does actually think before he speaks, Mira thought.
"We can't leave Mara down there," Zed added when he looked back down at the crowd. "I'm going after her." He suddenly grabbed one of the emergency chutes and placed it on his back.
"You don't know how to use a chute," Beck muttered.
"Sure I do... well, I've seen others do it." Zed rolled his eyes once more while trying to get the chute on. Mira smirked when Beck helped him out.
"You're friends are lucky to have you looking out for them. Bend your legs and arms while landing," Beck instructed as Zed moved towards the door.
He looked back at them before jumping off of the ship. Mira raised an eyebrow when Beck turned towards the control room.
"So now what?" she asked as she followed him.
"We crash the ship," he replied.
A guard was flying the ship, unaware that the renegades were on board. Mira threw her fist into the guard's back, knocking him unconscious. Beck grabbed the controls just in time to move the ship towards the tower. Mira groaned when the door to the control room swung open.
Standing at the entrance was Pavel. His expression was priceless - it was filled with shock and anger. But Mira knew that he wouldn't let them live, not without some kind of fight.
"Go now, unless you want to be part of the fireworks," Beck ordered.
"But I love fireworks!" Pavel shouted as he grabbed his disk.
Mira reached for her disk and blocked a fatal blow, just in time to receive a kick in the leg. Her teeth ground together in pain as she threw a fist into Pavel's stomach. Pavel stumbled back and grabbed a light sword. Mira winced when he plunged the light staff into the soldier she had knocked out.
"Why won't you stand still?" Pavel demanded as she dodged each swipe of the sword.
"Maybe she doesn't want to get derezzed." Pavel let out a gasp when Beck managed to knock him off of his feet.
He recovered quickly and started swiping his disk at Beck. Mira sighed in annoyance and was about to strike back when something slammed into Pavel's back. She turned to see Keller glaring down at him.
"We had him..." Mira cut herself off when Keller looked back at them.
"Yeah, I still had to do that," she replied.
Mira grabbed her disk once more as Pavel recovered from the impact. She followed Beck's pose and prepared for another fight. Pavel's eyes widened in panic before he turned and threw his disk at the closed door. Mira smirked when he ran like a coward.
Keller looked back at the window. Mira followed her gaze, and her eyes widened in alarm.
"Run!" Keller shouted as she made a run for it.
Beck grabbed Mira by the wrist as they ran towards the nearest exit. Mira sighed in relief when he rezzed a light jet baton he'd been carrying. Keller had grabbed one of the emergency suites. Mira looked over her shoulder to see the scientist make a safe landing down below.
"That was too close," Beck sighed when they reached the edge of the city. "Are you okay?" He looked at her leg in concern.
"It's fine, just a slight bruise," she replied. "So Zed thanks you're secretly meeting with me?" She grinned when her mask receded.
"Don't even start with that," Beck muttered.
Embarrassment crawled over Mira's skin as she thought of what Zed had told them. True, she had become good friends with Beck. But it seemed strange imagining them as more than just friends.
"I should get back before Tron blows a circuit," she sighed as she stood up. "I'm sure I'm already in for a lecture."
Knowing Tron he would likely call her a bitbrained User. He was probably right, but she'd rather not hear it from the security monitor himself.
"You know, we never really did get a chance to just hang out alone." Mira raised an eyebrow in surprise. She turned to look at Beck. "Next cycle we're out we can hang out at the club, or do something fun for a change."
For the first time since they met, Mira smiled. "I'd like that," she replied.
Before Beck could respond to that, she got on her light cycle and sped off back towards the safehouse. Again for the first time since she met Tron, Mira had actually felt happy. Maybe the next cycle wouldn't be as bad as she expected.
AN: Yeah, I went there :P So let me know what you thought of this chapter, I love hearing them.
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