Chapter 12
Aaron had jumped down two complete levels in his attempt to escape, but the three Recognizers continued to pursue.
"So this is what it feels like to be the lead of a chase," Aaron growled as he recklessly jumped the rooftops. He knew he couldn't return to Tron City with the Recognizers following, he had to lose them somehow. Aaron found an inclined ledge to the structure he cruised on. He accelerated with a thrust of the throttle at the peak of the incline. Aaron's bike flew through the air. He glanced back to find that one of the three Recognizers was flying just behind him. Aaron activated the light ribbon from the rear wheel of his cycle. The bright almost liquid ribbon glowed lethally blue. The Recognizer had no time to adjust and couldn't stop itself from crashing into the leftover track. The Recognizer exploded and dissipated in orange light. The other two Recognizers swerved out of Aaron's dangerous path as the ribbon traced his route like footprints. Aaron disengaged the beam as he landed on a lower level. The bike swerved around a rounded bridge to reach for a freeway below. Pedestrian programs were becoming scarce as Aaron led them from the outer rims of the Grid. The two Recognizers behind him unleashed a hail of lasers fired from turrets at their joints.
"Oh crap!" Aaron growled as he swerved to avoid the shots. The lasers dissipated in light harmlessly behind him Aaron continued to avoid their shots looking for some way to lose them. Finally Aaron came spotted a tunnel ahead. With a grin, he threw the throttle and accelerated as fast as his light cycle would go. As he plummeted inside, he yelled out in triumph, with a quick glance behind him. He was scot free, and on his way back to Tron City. Suddenly from over his own cycle's high pitched hum, he heard others just like it. Aaron glanced back again to see four orange circuited light cycles speeding towards him. "Oh great," he growled as he dived down a ramp to a lower level. In doing so, one of the rider's cycles accelerated at him with his arm out to the side, armed with an ignited disc. In diving into the lower level, he narrowly missed the slice of the disc. From below, Aaron saw through the transparent level, watching the rider continue to zip down the street; followed by an orange light ribbon. Aaron activated his light ribbon once again as a precaution. The fluid barrier glowed as it dangerously traced his path. From below, a flash of light caught Aaron's eye. He glanced down through the transparent level to see another rider zipping by. The rider swerved onto a ramp, launching him onto Aaron's level right next to him. The cycle's orange light ribbon flowed parallel to Aaron's blue as they raced down the tunnel. Aaron glanced over at the rider who growled at him through a polarized black visor. As the rider reached for his disc, Aaron quickly threw a punch into the polarized face. The impact threw the rider's balance off center, toppling his cycle. As Aaron sped away, the orange circuited cycle rolled before exploding into a liquid-like light. Aaron continued guiding his cycle down the street, trying to stay ahead of the other enemy cycle behind him. He kept his light ribbon on to keep the rider off of him, but the orange-circuited cycle was speeding up to him. Aaron swerved to a hard right, driving the trail of his light ribbon up against the wall of the tunnel. Aaron waited with a smirk on his face as he raced down the street. From behind, the pursuing rider was joined by another of the four that had dropped down from the top level. As the ahead rider unluckily followed Aaron's path into his well-laid trap, the third rider used the thrust of his cycle to jump over the fluid barrier. Aaron glanced back at the sound of the explosion to find from the bright flash of light, the third rider emerged from over his light ribbon. Suddenly from below, a sizzling object had shot at an incline up the entrance ramp. Aaron watched as the disc launched up the ramp and circled straight to the front wheel of his cycle. The front of his cycle erupted in a splash of light causing Aaron to topple forward. He threw himself off to the side as much as he could to avoid being run over by the quickly dissipating rear tire. As he hit the ground, he kept rolling. Pain streaked up his shoulder as he landed on it. His entire body stung and throbbed. The sound of the fast approaching cycle brought him back to focus. He struggled to a crouch and reached for his own identity disc. The moment his grip wrapped around the ring- like object, it ignited to a sizzling blue. As the cycle closed into a four yard distance, Aaron tried to ignore the pain in his shoulder and chucked the disc at the rider. The disc zipped through the air, slicing into rider, derezzing him. Aaron dived to the left to avoid the toppled cycle. In a flash, the cycle erupted and dissipated. Aaron struggled back to his feet; catching his disc with slight trouble as it returned to him. This had not been his first motorcycle crash; he knew he was in trouble. The pain in his shoulder reminded him of when he had dislocated it in his high school football days. He could tell it was at least sprained, if not broken. As he dropped his arm down against his side, his ribs struck with extreme discomfort; cracked at least, he thought to himself. He stumbled as he dragged around, searching for an abandoned baton. After only a minute, he found his own, discarded just feet away from where his bike was destroyed. As he retrieved the device, he noticed the brail-like design in the center was unlit. The bulbs were unlit except for one. The second suddenly started flashing. Aaron disregarded the strange occurrence and forced his beaten body into a run. He jumped after a short distance, breaking the baton in half again. Aaron expected the light cycle to materialize in between his hands and was barely able to throw his legs under him to catch his fall. Aaron stumbled to his feet. "Guess I'm walking."