THE GRID – THIRD TRONCYCLE
ABLE'S GARAGE
The would-be pair tiptoed and sneaked their way past the guest lounge and the private cabin of Mara with a pinch of luck and fatigue. Not to mention the number of tactics and improvisations they've had to apply all over the way in escaping from the workers' guard, especially Zed's scorn and skepticism. Those naïve workers were an easy hurdle to cross, as they are always immersed in their daily routine and never bother to check every nook and corner of the garage, and those same nooks and corners of the garage helped become checkpoints for the duo to slide their way into the secret vehicle Sam has spotted out from his recces. Just as they thought they were free from any vigilant mind, enter Zed. He's the only tough nut to crack in the whole garage, given his notoriety for scrutinizing eyes and excruciating interrogations, which he simply terms as "casual talk", talk about sarcasm. He stopped the couple and after they said they were going t talk to Mara for a while, Zed was about to turn on his inquiry mode and gain sadistic entertainment from his victims. But these were Mara's new friends, who were not at all to be disturbed without Mara's permission. Case in point, the fresh wounds of humiliation he got as a result of crossing the line a bit too far. An otherwise silent and peace-loving Mara never becomes aggressive and commanding unless and until it matters to her the most.
Keeping that bitter memory in his mind, Zed couldn't help but give a long suspicious look at them and turn his face away, minding his own business, and cursing his bad luck. Crossing him cautiously, Sam and Quorra were one step away from escaping the sweet prison, the bridge to their goal being Mara. They then approached her cabin and started to put on their friendly faces before greeting their innocent caretaker. Maintaining her usual bubbly nature, Mara greeted her guests-cum-friends and made them comfortable in their seats. Unlike the previous time, Quorra carried on the chat with Mara, as she was the one well-versed in the affair of the technopunk world. Taking the conversation in a current-affairs session, Quorra dragged her chair near Mara and narrated the several gossips and conspiracies she'd given attention to in her past, all the while arresting Mara's attention on her while seated opposite to her, whereas Sam silently slid his seat near Mara as well. Limiting her talk to only her past, omitting Kevin from the picture, Quorra had a delightful conversation with Mara where Sam dedicated his attentive ears to their sugar-syrupy words and eyes to the sparkling eyes and rosy red lips Quorra flaunted fashionably.
And then, as the right side of his brain tingled Sam's right half of his body. But then as the right arm settled itself comfortably on the desk, unable to execute its task, the left hand took the responsibility and activated the palm, and the fingers as well. Carefully plucking out the miniature tweezer from the garage, too small even by the standards of earth, from his pocket without grabbing any attention and moving his left elbow, he then waited for a few seconds as the tweezer then extended its pair of limbs into a tentacle-like, softer than ramen, tendril-like handles. Each of the handles is capable enough of grabbing medium-weight objects with its hidden magnetic property and dragging them to its crown. As Sam started to mingle in the conversation and slowly divert Mara's attention toward his charismatic face, he then got a little bit close to her and shifted the tone of the conversation into a more flirting one, close enough that his tweezer hand could hover over her right back pocket.
Confident enough that Mara's deeply invested in his attractive story, Sam then let the tweezer in his hand touch the opening of her back pocket as those handles traveled deep into the pocket and started doing their work. It was a minute process until the handles grabbed the pair of keys and dragged them to the crown, hanging those keys open in sight, visible enough for Quorra to confirm the key position to Sam with gestures and Sam to grab the keys by his hand. As he threw the tweezer to Quorra's successful catch, Sam then caressed his right hand gently onto Mara's back pocket and attempted to grab the keys without being noticed. As easy as it sounded on paper, the task at hand required delicacy, sensitivity and Sam's improving acting skills as well. As the key pair is in close contact with Mara's body, Sam needed her to just get up from her seat a little bit to make things easy. For that purpose, he then shifted his sweet talks into the narration of anecdotes through imitations of his friends and emptying his jokebook, succeeding enough in his attempt that Mara stood up from her chair as her laughter gradually increased with her giggling lips and shining teeth. At this moment, Sam knew the time is right and grabbed the keys by the hand from her back and pulled it out in a swoosh.
Wasting no time in displaying his magic trick to Quorra, Sam swung his hand in a lightning speed and shoved the keys in his pocket, and reassured himself by brushing them with his fingers, giving sensory confirmation to the right part of his brain. He then decided to end the convo as his work is done and asked her permission for leaving the place. Mara softly declined his request by saying that they are free to roam anywhere in and around the shed, but it's for their safety and security that they can't travel anywhere outside. Tagging Quorra along with him, Sam took Mara's leave and turned towards the exit. Quorra took hers as well, turning her head behind and smiling at Mara. As soon as they exited the cabin, the partners in crime exchanged a brace of satisfaction at each other and rushed their way from the periphery of the crime scene.
Swiftly and silently tiptoeing their way into the private parking place of Mara, located behind the garage, the longer key of the pair unlocked the door to one the most gorgeous and stylish-looking Light Vehicle in the whole Grid, aside from Mara's Snowmobile. Having a glance at the otherwise empty but stylistically lit room and ignoring the snow-covered Snowmobile in the front view, the couple went a little bit inside the room to find the golden goose, standing regally in front of its guests. Struck in awe by its flamboyant design and sleek wheels, Sam wondered how the car's design posed as a techno-punk offspring of Keaton and Arkham Knight's Batmobile, substituting the simplistic night black color scheme with a mostly gloss finish black laced with neon-red ribbons at the boundaries of the wheel spokes and windows. Caressing the well-maintained beast with a sense of beginner's curiosity and rider's enthusiasm, Sam unlocked the car using the shorter key in the pair and gestured for Quorra to hop in. She then remembered that Mara mentioned this car in one of their conversations, referring to her favorite yet secret automobile as "Roadster". The inside looked more futuristic than the outside, with led lights sprinkled all over the inside. The front deck is yet another digital marvel, competing with the likes of BMW and Mercedes Benz's futuristic vision prototypes. The steering wheel itself seemed like a hollow circle, with no spokes and steering column connecting the wheel to the Roadster. It looked like the shape of the Identity Disc when placed in a darker, pitch-black cell. Funny thing is that the wheels of the Roadster seemed to steer at the will of the hovering circle i.e. the steering wheel even without any physical connection to it.
Turning on the four-seater, Sam grabbed the gear-less gear rod and tested it, all the while sensing some hidden button beneath the plain surface cap of the rod. Sam then clicked the button while in the reverse direction but to no avail. But the magic of that hideous button displayed its trick when he pushed the lever in the forward direction and then clicked the button, to which the Roadster de-pixellated in its middle portion and split into two halves, forming two distinct Light Cycles, separating the two wheels a couple of feet apart from each other seating Sam and Quorra in their respective driver seats. Displaying their curiosity at their newfound trick, Sam then pressed the button again, as the two Light Cycles pixellated themselves and morphed into the Roadster it was. A new wave of fuelled excitement and energy got pumped into Sam's heart as he stepped his restless right foot on the accelerator, gearing up the car for some adventure with Quorra feeling bad for stealing Mara's favorite pet from her for their journey.
"Time to bid your friends' adieu, buddy. No hard feelings!" Sam announced in the sealed interior of the Roadster as he started the new chapter in their journey.
ABLE'S GARAGE – MAIN ENTRANCE
After an arduous, rumbling, and excruciating journey amidst the humid portion of half of the Outlands, Pavel's convoy hardly reached the main entrance of the garage, crawling with heavy effort into the huge opening of the large shed and crippling a few inches away from the entrance, emanating fire laced, black smoke from inside and giving up in its attempt. As the troops went inside and summoned the mechanics inside, the gargantuan beast got dragged inside the large, spacious main hall of the garage, with the vehicles of other clients being pushed aside to accommodate for space. After all, vehicles of the military are of greater priority than other clients, if any rational mechanic wants to save his head from being sliced in half. Seated in the damaged ship is Pavel, relaxing by extending his legs and supporting them on the remains of the carrier, oblivious to the commotion taking place around him.
Descending from his escort vehicle in a regal fashion, Paige turns to the young lady Mara, who rushes into the scene greeting the Commander and offering to escort him to her private cabin. Pavel declined the offer, fuming in rage, and shouted at the owner of the garage for a 0.0002mTC straight. As his anger settled down, he then ordered the young owner that his ship be repaired within 50mTC or the whole garage will be burnt into ash pixels, to which Mara and Zed bowed down in subservience, to an unquestioning YES.
Sensing that the commander has been cooled down to a good mood, Paige courteously escorted the Commander to her private cabin, leaving Zed at the door for vigilance. Pavel remained silent to the questions from Mara, lost deep down in his thoughts, into the past his humiliations, and plans. Oblivious to the flattering offered for free by Mara, the task of capturing the criminals from Purgos woke up Pavel's slumbered mind as he started interrogating Mara from there. Despite Mara's pleas regarding her innocence and ignorance of the issue at hand, Pavel stopped at no point in grilling her to the core. Mara put herself and her whole garage at risk, denying the presence of the User-ISO couple, both at the command of the Renegade and her sense of affection towards them. Just as Mara felt as if she is about to blow the gasket and compromise the mission at hand, one of Pavel's personal bodyguards' barged into the room and informed Pavel that the wanted fugitives were spotted near the garage and are trying to escape the troops in some mysterious Light Vehicle. Hearing the good news, Pavel turned into berserk mode, running out into the main entrance as he saw the absconders in the Roadster, revving off from their captors at a speed rivaling that of a Light Jet. As he shouted at his soldiers to pursue them, the brief sight of the Roadster took him back to his memories, the time when he was with the General
"THE ONLY ROADSTER TO OUTRUN A LIGHT JET"
"THE L-ONE NIGHT SPLICER"
"DON'T EVER BRING THIS UP"
Meanwhile, Sam shouted in excitement, commending himself for not only staging a successful breakout from their prison but also valiantly fighting off their way from the sentries, who sprung up from nowhere in their elaborate plan and made it out without even a dent or a scratch to the magnificent flying carpet, while Quorra breathed heavily as they'd just escaped the not-so merciful troops of the Commander. Sam is still lost in his perceived sense of achievement, as their escape was complete only after they showed their back, also the Roadster's back, to the incompetent Commander who just stood still watching them flee. Sam then removes his Disc and charts the path toward Kevin, giving it to Quorra to guide them accordingly.
Unbeknownst to them, their victory is short-lived as Paige's troops spot the Light Vehicle riding away from the garage toward them in plain sight a few miles ahead. Predicting the path the deserters are heading towards, Paige leads her men hurriedly to one of the spots near the mountains, making the poor, dehydrated soldiers exhausted. Setting up their traps, Paige and her men hide in one of the shadows of the cliffs nearby and watch the show unfold. As soon as the Roadster falls unassumingly into the trap set by the soldiers, the camouflaged mines blast in succession, tumbling off the automobile and crashing it a few feet away. Even though the blast radius is relatively high and the impact of the mines capable of derezzing out a generic Light Vehicle, along with the passengers inside, the Roadster survived all of it miraculously, albeit with a few scratches and a considerably big dent. Mirroring the scene at the garage, Paige's mind rewound her memories many Cycles back, at the slightly damaged sight of the Roadster
"HOW CAN I HELP?"
"YOU CAN'T"
"PROVIDE US WITH INFORMATION ABOUT THE RENEGADE, AND THIS REMARKABLE VEHICLE IS YOURS"
As her men dragged the wounded couple out from under the Roadster and cuffed their hands to a cliff nearby as their injured legs failed to make them stand upright, Paige approached them slowly. The very sight of Quorra ignited her memory of the past, of the pain and destruction caused by her enemies, who backstabbed her to escape from the authorities.
"WE JUST WANT TO LIVE IN PEACE...I CAN TRUST YOU, CAN'T I?"
She couldn't be wrong at all. This weak, wounded lady who struggles to stand in front of her is the same woman who knocked her down that day, destroyed her promising career as a nurse, killed her friends, burned her hometown, and acted innocently with her only to knock her unconscious and unleash chaos and mayhem wherever their people went. It is this beautiful-looking wretch, her heart said, that led her to become the ruthless, cunning, and cold-hearted warrior that she is right now. It is her actions that made Paige subservient to the General, following his commands without any hesitation, to exact her deserved revenge. This is the only ISO that fueled her rage and unfiltered hatred towards all the ISOs that ever existed; survived the Purge, or would emerge from nowhere in the Grid in the future. She is QUORRA!!
Fueled by the wounds of the past, the skilled Major landed a mighty punch with full force on her backstabber, knocking Quorra into unconsciousness. Still not able to satiate her thirst for vengeance, the fists turned into auto mode, landing punches one after the other into the helpless victim. Despite Sam's insults and cries in vain, the punches stopped for none. Ultimately, as Paige thought of exacting her revenge, in a more old-fashioned vigilante way, drawing out her Disc and bringing it closer to Quorra's neck, the Disc stopped from going any further when it heard the taunts of Pavel, arriving seated above one of the Light Vehicles snatched from the garage, while his men arrive in Light Cycles. Dropping off the vehicle, Pavel started belittling Paige
- Paige! Tesler's little princess! Killing off innocent thieves easily while the warriors die to catch them.
- (Grabbing Pavel's throat and pointing the Disc) Like this?
- (Brushing off her Disc) More like tying them to a stone like a coward. Hehe.
- They're my prisoners. And I caught them with some common sense, that you never have.
- These cowards ran away from me, bastards. Fearing they'll die with my one punch.
- (Facepalming) This is exactly why the General put you in Purgos. Felt bad for you back then, but you deserve it.
- No, it's you who deserves it, you ungrateful hack! I show mercy on you and let you steal the credit, and you remain silent while I rot in the drainage and sewers of that dump yard.
- The General may be strict at times, but he knows what is best for everyone. Even for you.
- That old hack, Tesler! Sends his minions to work, sits on his so-called "throne" and does nothing all day but abuse worthy and loyal warriors like me as shit.
- Maintain discipline, Pavel. He is to be referred to as "General", nothing more nothing less. There is a thing called "hierarchy" in Argon, which applies to everyone in the military. Now, if you are done, let me execute the General's orders.
- To kill them off and steal all the praises, while I become the scapegoat?
- Capture the perpetrators alive and present them in front of the General.
- They are my trophies. Fight me and get them, pretentious piece of shit.
Pavel drew out his Disc with his right hand and hastily attacked Paige at the front, a generic full-frontal assault. Bored at his foolishness, Paige dodged with a left maneuver and knocked his head at the back with a tight slap, making his legs slip a little forward. Turning back, Pavel charged like a raging bull again, taking a few steps back, and throwing continuous jabs and cuts from all sides. With a calm face, showed sympathy towards her partner, and applied respective counter-defense strategies for every attack from him. Right maneuver for a left jab, left maneuver for a right jab, right dive for a left upper jab, left dive for a right upper jab, back jumps for gut punches. All for the bragging and boasting, Pavel didn't throw one single kick at Paige, demonstrating his incompetence and lack of fighting techniques in full display. The attacks went on and on, as Paige deflected and parried every possible attack on her and retorted with simple yet highly skilled jabs, slaps, punches, and kicks. Hell, even a few moves from Pavel were handled by Paige effortlessly with just her right hand while keeping her left hand behind.
The whole ruckus seemed like a tournament for the troops on either side, as they sat back and enjoyed the fight while joking with each other and laughing at Pavel's futile attacks and epic fails. The one-on-one fight was so entertaining for the armed men that they forgot the captured duo tied to the cliff, who used the extra time they'd been gifted to regain their strength and wait for the right time. The first one to regain his strength is Sam, who had managed to stand strong on his feet and woke up Quorra after many failed attempts. Finally, when Quorra woke up, he assured her that he'll get them out of this mess and that she just needed to stay by his side. At one failed move, when Paige parried Pavel's uppercut, she kicked him so hard that Pavel fell on Sam, the result of which Pavel's Disc accidentally landed on Sam's left cuff with full force, breaking the cuff instantly. Sam, who's been waiting for the right chance, grabbed Pavel's throat by his left arm and strangled it so hard that Pavel hit Sam's arm with the upper face of his Disc, trying to free himself. Seizing the opportunity, Sam grabbed the Disc during one of the hits and kicked Pavel with all the force left in his right leg. As Pavel fell on his face, Sam broke his other cuff as well and kicked one soldier who ran towards him, not before bending down to deflect his upper jab. Paige then diverted her attention to the freed captives and ran towards them, that is when Pavel, attempting to get hold of her, performed an Atomic Drop on her, and they both fell straight-faced on the ground after which the fellow Commanders resumed their fight yet again. Following the first sentry's defeat, the second one attacked Sam from behind but to his bad luck, Quorra alerted Sam in time wherein Sam bent forward and cut the enemy's gut in a full circle from below. Immediately breaking off Quorra's handcuffs, they formed an offensive pair, standing and defending each other's back.
What followed then is the teamwork that the couple excelled in at this point. Sam threw his Disc at his opponents, as always, from every angle known to mankind. His maneuvers and Disc Attacks attuned more to the likes of Captain America's shield attacks rather than that of a trained warrior in the Grid. Most of the attacks were a hit and miss, but Sam, being the User he is, improvised the attacks and self-defenses and was able to stand his ground, derezzing around 6-7 enemies so far, out of the twenty men present over there. His time in the Grid amounts to a total of 3 weeks and 8 hours of Earth time after all, and expecting perfection from an ordinary User in such a short period is burdening them with over-expectations. Quorra, on the other hand, used her Disc more like a Light Baton, attacking her incoming foes with the upper face rather than derezzing them, her defensive strategies stopping her from using her hundred percent energy. If Kevin hadn't restricted her training to a mere defensive program, only the Sea knows how much of a femme fatale Quorra would've turned into. Fate as it has decided, reduced Quorra to just non-fatal blows and occasional paralyzing of foes using her wrist shockers.
After a colossal fight of 0.051mTC, Paige finally pinned down Pavel to the ground with cuffs on all four limbs, as Sam and Quorra narrowed their total active enemy count to 17 enemies so far, 13 enemies derezzed and 4 paralyzed and immobilized. Losing her patience due to Pavel's false prestige, Paige ordered her soldiers to step back, as she stood alone to face the crime duo on her own. As Sam and Quorra stood beside each other, the couple shared a look of trust at each other, assuring each other that they'll fight together, through thick and thin, through victory and defeat, and charged towards Paige. Overestimating his Disc throwing skills and underestimating the foe at hand, Sam threw the Disc recklessly at Paige as she dodged the throws effortlessly and charged toward him. Grabbing his pouncing right arm, Paige headbutted Sam into the ground, following which Quorra gave a Biel Throw. Both got up and started the longest one-on-one fights ever. Both Quorra and Paige parried each other's attacks successfully and the number of attacks and counterattacks balanced each other so perfectly, even the Grid would be shocked to see such well-trained female fighters from vastly different backdrops fighting their way to a draw. Quorra perfected her skills in hand-to-hand combat so well that she could hold her ground for as long as 0.1mTC, provided that it is a one-on-one fight. Alas, the only thing Quorra lagged behind Paige is the survival of the fittest mindset, which leads any disciplined, ethical warrior to compromise his values to survive harshest of the situations, which Quorra was kept away from by Kevin, as a noble attempt to save the only remaining pure soul in the Grid. Be it the tragedy of those noble intentions that made Quorra lose to an opponent like Paige, her worthy counterpart, with a single leg kick after a fatal cut to the ribs. Not long after Quorra's defeat is Sam pinned down by Paige, owing to his inexperienced and reckless fighting skills. Both of them were rendered unconscious this time to avoid another ruckus.
Handcuffing the unconscious duo, Paige headed towards her Light Vehicle with her men, when Pavel shouted at her from behind.
- My dear Paige, forgive me for my foolishness, will you? My ship crashed and we landed here, so kindly take me with you.
- I must return with the fugitives. The General has instructed you to travel solely in your vehicle.
- We both caught them, so you owe me one.
- (sighing) Do you still wish to debate with me, after all the beating you took?
- If it weren't for me, they would've fled away long back. They wasted their time escaping from my men, and that bought time for your men. Fair enough for both of us.
- (Facepalming) All right! Come with me. Only one person can fit in my Light Vehicle other than me and the captives, your men are not of my concern.
- Thank you so much, my dear! I know very well about your large, golden heart.
ABLE'S GARAGE – A FEW MOMENTS LATER
Scheduling his arrival, the Renegade arrived at Able's Garage on his Light Vehicle, albeit with a little mTC delay due to petty issues on the way. By the time he had reached, a lot of damage has been done to the Garage on the outside. Entering inside with his men, he became the sight of Mara heading the damage recovery process undergoing around the Garage, stressed and anxious, disappointed in her failure to avert the unprecedented danger.
The Renegade then stopped the frantically roaming Mara and stationed her at a single point. He then inquired about the whole disaster that happened in his absence, as his men searched for the guests inside the Garage.
- I am sorry, Mister Renegade. I didn't expect the guests to escape in my vehicle. I was about to lock the whole garage for the Cycle but Pavel's men came and…you know no ordinary citizen of Argon opposes the military.
- YOU HAVE REALIZED YOUR INABILITY AT LEAST NOW, WHICH IS BETTER THAN LATE. OVERTHINKING IS A FUTILE THING.
- All of this is because of me. My life has been busy with repairing things and living with my friends. I should've let Zed handle them, at least he's adamant and stubborn at his work, and certainly not too nice like me.
- WHERE ARE THEY?
- Last thing I remember, I've seen Pavel chasing after them. The Roadster is faster than a LightJet, you know better than me, so they must've escaped easily.
- OVERCONFIDENCE LEADS TO FAILURE. WORST CASE, PPAIGE MUST'VE GOT THEM AND TAKEN THEM TO THE GENERAL, OR MAYBE ON HER WAY.
- Shit, I've compromised the whole mission! I'm a big waste.
- EVERY BASIC IS NOT AS SKILLED OR AS INTELLIGENT AS A SENTRY. LEARN FROM YOUR MISTAKES AND AVOID REPETITION. TAKE CARE OF THE GARAGE, I WILL DO WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE.