AUTHOR"S NOTE:

Thank you so much for reading! Things will pick up pace a bit form here on out. I would love it if you could leave a review to let me know how you are enjoying this little adventure of mine so far. :)

CHAPTER 8

"I've found him. I know where he's going to be!" Xevra paced, talking excitedly to the Black Guard. He merely stared ahead blankly. Xevra stopped pacing and sighed, "Of course, what's it to you." She felt that strange feeling in her chest again, like she was lonely.

That doesn't matter. You're so close to your goal! And after you derez CLU, the Grid is yours!

Xevra smiled to herself. The voice was right, soon she would have her revenge.

"I need to make a plan." Xevra began to pace again, tilting her head thoughtfully. "Let's see, I'm sure CLU always has some Black Guard with him at all time. And I've heard of an elite combatant who is his personal soldier. I'll either have to deal with them or try and avoid them. I suppose if I somehow corrupted them-"

Rinzler listened in shock. This Program was planning on derezzing CLU! He had hidden himself in the rafters of the warehouse. The rogue Program appeared to be female, he could see her feminine silhouette from beneath her cloak as she paced back and forth. She lowered her hood, revealing a bald head with a large scar running down the right side of her face. Rinzler had no idea how she had survived her wounds, let alone had caused so much chaos for CLU.

Rinzler had to stop her before it was too late. A small part of him almost wanted the rogue Program to succeed with her plan and derez CLU, but Rinzler's corrupted programming easily overpowered the stray thought.

I must act now. Rinzler closed his eyes and readied himself for what would most likely be a tough fight.

Xevra had stopped pacing and was leaning against one of the warehouse's cold walls. Now that she had made a plan all she had to do was set it in motion. The Games were only 10 milliCycles away, what seemed an eternity for Xevra, however.

Knowing she would need her full power, Xevra decided it would be a good idea to power down for a bit and recharge. She ordered the Black Guard to keep watch and made herself a bed with cloak and pack on the floor behind some crates.

Perfect. He would be able to finish her off without even being noticed, provided he could take out the Black Guard without raising an alarm.

Rinzler grabbed his Disc and split it into two. He crept to the edge of the rafter above the Black Guard and dropped down. The Black Guard shattered into thousands of cubes as Rinzler's Discs ripped through him. No alarm was raised.

Rinzler stood and turned to continue only to see the rogue Program standing a few feet away from him, a voxel cube in her hand.

"Well done I must say. You almost had me." She smiled and flicked the voxel cube at Rinzler. "Almost."

Xevra sat up abruptly. She had heard something scatter on the floor. Looking down she saw the faint glow of a voxel cube, an orange one. The Black Guard. Xevra grabbed the cube and moved out form behind the crates to face whoever had discovered her.

A Program wearing a light-less suit, face obscured by a glossy black helmet, was crouched in the middle of a pile of the orange cubes. He stood and turned around. Xevra heard the Program's electronic rumble catch in his throat for a moment upon seeing her.

"Well done I must say. You almost had me." Xevra smiled wickedly and flicked the voxel cube at the Program. "Almost." The cube bounced off his chest and landed in the pile of cubes at his feet. Xevra noticed the only lighting on his suit was a small T made of four orange squares.

"Who are you anyways? Why are you here?" Xevra questioned.

The Program held his Discs tightly. "I am here to stop you." His voice had an electronic rasp to it.

"Rinzler. CLU's elite guard." Xevra stated. "I've heard rumours of you. Never thought I would actually meet you. I'm honoured." Xevra bowed dramatically. As she righted herself, she grabbed the baton at her side and activated it. Her light sword illuminated the surroundings with a soft yellow glow. Xevra swung the sword easily in her hand, settling into a crouched stance with her sword held in front of her.

Rinzler narrowed his eyes at her from behind his helmet. She seemed not to fear him, something Rinzler had never encountered in anyone before except CLU. Most Programs quaked with fear as he passed them on the streets or on one of CLU's ships. He knew this wasn't going to be easy.

Xevra and Rinzler stood in silence, squaring each other up. The only sound was Rinzler's rattling breath and the faint hum of their weapons. Xevra had had enough, she needed to get this fight finished and find a new safe house before the Games started. She lunged forward, slashing at Rinzler with her blade.

Rinzler blocked the sword with one of his Discs, bring the other one up underneath to strike at Xevra's exposed side. Xevra retracted her blade from his Disc and jumped backwards to avoid being hit. Rinzler immediately threw one of his Discs at Xevra who managed to block it with her sword, sending it back to its owner. Rinzler caught the Disc as he ran forward, pressing his attack.

Xevra blocked and dodged Rinzler's attacks. He was a relentless fighter, she understood why he was CLU's elite guard. When she could find opening, Xevra would counterattack. Rinzler was always able to block her attacks, however, and rarely gave her an opening. They battled back and forth across the warehouse's floor, Xevra using the empty crates as cover from Rinzler's fatal Discs.

Xevra knew she wouldn't be able to keep up the pace much longer. She could feel the scar on her back stretching, threatening to unleash it's crippling pain upon her. I need to figure out a way to end this, quickly.

I can help you. If you desire it.

The voice distracted Xevra for a moment, almost causing her to loose her leg to one of Rinzler's Discs. Not now. You're just a voice. What can you do to help?

Where do you think you get your power from? Me of course. I'm the one that's keeping you alive, that kept you from dying when you fell those many microCycles ago. Let me help you now.

Xevra was having a hard time processing what the voice was saying to her as well as trying to stay in one piece. Deep down she knew there was no way she could beat Rinzler on her own, she had to accept the help being offered. Fine. Just finish this cleanly.

My pleasure.

Rinzler had her. He knew she wouldn't be able to keep up with his attacks much longer. There, a lapse in her focus. He threw one of his Discs at her leg. Xevra snapped back in time to block the Disc. She seemed different, more than unfocused. Distracted. But by what? No matter, the fight was almost over. Rinzler only had to keep it up a little while longer. He pressed on, throwing his Discs and every now and then blocking a blow form her blade.

Suddenly something seemed very wrong. The rogue Program's good eye started glowing faintly and her attacks grew stronger and more frequent. She seemed to be gaining energy, but how? As her energy grew, her eye glowed brighter and brighter. Static energy began to build in the air around her. Rinzler had never seen anything like this before. His burst of confidence from earlier vanished.

Some of the static began to swirl around the empty crates, causing them to levitate a few inches off the ground. Rinzler didn't know what was going on. The only thing he knew was that he needed to get out of there or he was going to be derezzed. He deactivated his Discs and put them on his back. Rinzler launched himself into the air in an arc over the Program's head, landing gracefully a few feet behind her.

"Where do you think you're off to?" The Program spun around to face him, her cloak swirling at her legs. She held her arms outstretched, static leaping from her fingertips to the crates now floating a few feet from the ground. A cruel laugh escaped her lips as she thrust her hands in Rinzler's direction.

Rinzler only had time to put his hands in front of him before the crates slammed into him, making him loose consciousness.