|
|
Mouse tiredly trudged towards the door of the Principal Office, holding a zipboard in one hand. Now that Megabyte was gone, all she really wanted to do was go sleep for about a year. But the system was crashing and she was needed, therefore she couldn't.Stifling a yawn, she wandered over to where Matrix and AndrAIa were standing. "Am Ah doin' this alone or…" Mouse trailed off, her eyes widening marginally when she saw the lean sprite standing next to them. Some part of her mind told her that he'd been up on the roof when Dot had announced her plan, but she hadn't really LOOKED at him until now.
"Mouse, this is Raytracer," AndrAIa introduced, hiding a smile behind her hand. Raytracer swiftly took Mouse's hand in his and kissed it.
"The pleasure is all mine, lovely lady."
"Yeah, yeah, get going," Matrix said gruffly. "We don't have all day. If you two will stop staring at each other and…?"
"Yeah, yeah, don't get your wires in a knot," Mouse retorted, flipping open her zipboard and raising an eyebrow at Raytracer. "You got one or are you going to walk?"
"Better than that, pretty lady," he winked and whistled. A Surfbaud came shooting over and he stepped up on it. "Shall we go?"
*A WebSufr, eh?* Mouse thought, intrigued. *This ought to be VERY interesting…*
****
"Wake up, Sleeping Beauty."
Mouse drifted back to the land of the living, blinking her eyes and looking up into Raytracer's face. "Y'have got t' be kiddin', sugah," she mumbled out, her accent becoming thicker and even harder to understand. "I' can' be mornin'…"
"It is," Raytracer told her, unable to hide the wry grin. "Rough night?"
"You could say that," Mouse yawned, trying to bury back under the covers.
Raytracer put a hand on her shoulder, his manner shifting to concerned. "Mouse… didn't you go back to sleep after we talked?"
"Not… immediately. Eventually, but…" She shook her head. "Ah just had a rough night. Nightmares, don't worry about it."
"If you say so… Look, Dot just called. She wants us to get down the Principle Office as soon as we can; she wants to talk things over with us. Apparently, she and Bob think it's time we started doing something about Daemon. But the way you look, I'm not too sure you should…"
"Ah'll be fine," Mouse insisted, sliding out of bed. "Just let me git dressed and wake up a bit and Ah'll be fine."
"If you say so. I just don't want you falling asleep on the schematics or anything…"
"Ah won't!" Mouse said, meaning for her words to be firm and emphatic; the yawn that interrupted them rather turned the effect, however.
Mouse tried to keep her eyes open and her mind focused on the task at hand, but Dot's voice kept blurring and fading in and out of her hearing. She didn't even realize that her head had dropped onto the table until Dot said, "Mouse? If I'm that boring…"
Mouse jerked her head up, face flushing with embarrassment. Everyone was staring at her, a little startled that Mouse was acting so un-Mouse-like. "Ah… Ah'm sorry, Dot, Ah had a rough night…"
"You look awful," AndrAIa said, concerned. "Maybe you should just go lie down… We could wait and do this later, when you're awake…"
Mouse shook her head. "No, we need to git this done with…"
"You aren't going to be any help if you are falling asleep on the table,"
Bob said firmly. "Go. Sleep. Come back when you're coherent. We won't do anything drastic in the few hours it will take you to get rested."
Mouse grimaced, knowing that she was outnumbered. Standing, she stood up, nearly tripped over her chair, and stumbled for the door. Outside, she leaned against the wall, feeling her face aflame. As much as she hated to admit it, they were right. She needed rest. Yawning, Mouse slowly walked off towards her apartment.
Mouse came out of her slumber slowly, taking an idle pleasure in lazing about in bed. Finally, the dreams had stopped, and she was well rested. Stifling a yawn, she decided that she really ought to get up, and slid out of bed, padding across the cold floor and absently clicking her icon to change her clothes. Glancing out the window, Mouse realized that she had slept much longer than she'd originally intended - it was already midafternoon."Bettah git ovah to the Principal Office," she sighed. "Cain't laze about all day…"
As she walked down the street, she noticed that some of the younger sprites - they must have just gotten out of school - walking by were looking at her with a mixture of respect and awe. The hacker chuckled a bit, shaking her head. Who would have thought, her, a small-town hero.Her chuckle nearly burst out into full laughter as she walked by a playground and heard the sounds of chatter coming from the group of girls clustered around it.
"I get to be Mouse!"
"Oh, Lexi, you ALWAYS get to be Mouse!"
"I get to be Dot! She's the best!"
"No way! Mouse is!"
"You're BOTH wrong! AndrAIa is! And she gets Matrix, he's so dreamy…"
That sparked another debate and Mouse hurried her footsteps along, hoping to be away from them so they didn't hear her laughter.
"Mouse!" a joyful voice cried and Mouse turned around just in time to see a small green sprite barreling down the sidewalk towards her. "Enzo, don't you even th…!" Mouse yelped just before she was slammed to the ground. Shaking her head to clear the stars from her vision, she looked up at Enzo, who was already talking a mile a minute.
"Wow, school was so alphanumeric! I really didn't want to go back but Dot said I had to, but it was really cool anyway, even though I've been back for a week, it's STILL neat and everyone keeps bugging me for stories about all of you guys which I don't really know but I don't think they mind anyway, but all the girls keep bugging me about meeting you and Dot and Andi and asking me if I'm going to grow up to look just like Matrix and I like the attention but girls have cooties - well, most girls do, you and Dot and Andi don't - but I wish I wouldn't keep getting in trouble when they're the one's talking to me…"
Mouse planted a finger over Enzo's mouth, silencing him. "Sugah, you need to stop drinkin' so many of Dot's energy shakes!" She removed her hand from his mouth and tried to sit up. "Now, if you wouldn't mind getting' off me…?"
"Oh! Sorry…" Enzo said sheepishly, letting the hacker up. "Hey, where's everyone else? I thought I'd see Bob or Dot or…"
Mouse hastily reached down and clamped her hand back over his mouth. Looking around warily, her brow furrowed. Enzo squirmed in her grasp, but she shook her head tightly. "Be quiet." Enzo froze and Mouse looked around, then up at the sky.
Her eye caught a small ship exiting from a portal and she cursed. "What is it!?" Enzo demanded, having pried her hand from his mouth.
"Trouble," she replied grimly, taking off towards the Principal Office.
"She must have really been tired," Bob said, slipping his arm around Dot's shoulders as they exited the Principal Office. "I would have thought she'd be back by now."
"Doesn't surprise me," Raytracer said dryly. "I don't know if she got ANY sleep last night."
"And whose fault was that?" AndrAIa asked coyly, laughing when Raytracer blushed.
"None of that," Dot reprimanded and AndrAIa ducked her head, coughing a bit as she tried to stop.
Matrix suddenly pointed up at the sky. "Is that somebody we know?"
"What?" Dot asked, following his finger. "I've never seen that ship before in my life, what…"
Bob's eyes narrowed as he stared at the moving vessel as it approached. Something about that ship…
"They shouldn't be able to get in without requesting clearance from the Principal Office!" AndrAIa protested. "This is bad…"
"Very bad," Mouse finished grimly as she trotted up to them. "Ah know that ship and…"
"I think we're about to find out just how much trouble!" Raytracer snapped as it touched down in Baudway. "To the Web with the backstory, lets just get over there!"
"I couldn't have put it better myself," Bob replied, flipping out his zipboard. Dot, Matrix, and AndrAIa followed suit and Raytracer called his Surfbaud over to him. Without asking, Mouse stepped on behind him, holding tightly to his waist as they sped over to Baudway.
"How do you know these people?" Raytracer called back to her as they zipped along.
Mouse shook her head. "Ah'll tell you latah!"The Surfr made an exasperated noise in the back of his throat, but said
no more as they hovered over the ship. Bob and Dot hesitantly touched down, watching the hatch warily. It slid smoothly open and sprites and binomes seemed to pour out, each holding a gun. Mouse tensed, her eyes locked on the opening as a final figure emerged, silk cape swirling around him.
"Layzir, you null-son, you haven't changed a bit," Mouse growled, her hand gripping the handle of her katana.
He looked around confused a moment before his eyes rested on her. "Ah, Mouse. I see you are still the same charming, impressionable young lass you've always been." There was no mistaking the sarcasm in his voice.
Mouse's lip curled in a sneer and she leapt down from the 'baud, landing neatly on her feet, katana in hand. Dot crossed her arms over her chest and glared at Layzir. "I don't know precisely who you are, but I do know that you are trespassing. Leave now, and you and your crew will remain unharmed."
Layzir threw back his head and laughed. "Oh, Miss, you certainly have a healthy ego, don't you? I think you've missed the point that you're outnumbered."
"Ah don't remembah it takin' too much to take you down!" Mouse shot back. "If Ah recall correctly, it only takes a lil' ol' hackah and a rookie Guardian!"
Bob blinked and looked at Layzir again, who scowled at Mouse. "Luck. But speaking of Guardians, that would be precisely the reason I am here. As you probably know, Daemon has set a rather… large bounty on the head of your friend there, and I fully intend to collect."
"Cocky as usual, Ah see," Mouse snarled. "Ah'm afraid that's one bounty you'll have to skip out on. You took away my life once, Ah ain't goin' to let you do it again!"
"I grow weary of your senseless prattle!" Layzir snapped at her. "I will have that Guardian, dead or alive!" As if that was some unspoken command, the armed henchmen attacked.
A good dozen of them leapt for Bob, but the blue Guardian merely grinned. "I don't think so…" Feet still planted firmly on his zipboard, he shot straight up in the air and the thugs ran headfirst into each other. Mouse hacked her way mechanically through the thugs, her eyes blazing as she stared at Layzir. All around her, the battle was raging, but all she could see was that smug sprite, standing there in his silken cape, surveying everything with his red-eyed gaze. He wouldn't win, not this time. She wouldn't let him win. This time, he would be the one to fall…
Something struck her hands sharply and she cried out as the sword went skidding away from her. A large hulking brute of a sprite stood over her, pointing a gun directly at her forehead. Mouse covered her head with both arms - like that would do anything - and kicked blindly. His laugh told her she hadn't come close to hitting him. The sound of the gun being cocked rang in her ears, painfully loud over the sound of the battle.
"Heads up!" a voice called and both Mouse and her attacker looked up to see Raytracer come whipping by, flipping his 'baud and whacking the bandit in the head. He slumped the ground, unconscious, and Mouse quickly grabbed her sword.
"My hero," she drawled and Raytracer bowed, still hovering on his board, before flying off to make trouble for somebody else. Mouse turned, once more finding Layzir in the crowd. He was ranting loudly to his folk about their incompetence, something that was quite apparent, considering how badly they were being beaten. AndrAIa and Matrix actually seemed to be ENJOYING themselves - *but then again, they would…*Mouse resumed her headlong plunge towards the leader, this time making sure she kept an eye out for his henchmen. She wouldn't be caught unawares again. It appeared that she wasn't the only one aiming for Layzir; Bob was working his way through the crowd towards the bandit leader. Mouse nearly yelled at him to go back - they were TRYING to get the fool Guardian and he was just helping them along by walking right into their arms. But, she knew from experience that it would be a waste of her breath.
Just before she broke through the crowd, a nimble woman leapt in her path, instantly engaging the hacker. Mouse fought furiously, but the woman was good. Over the black-clad ninja's shoulder, Mouse could see that Bob had reached Layzir and the two men were bantering back and forth. Glaring once more into the eyes of her opponent, Mouse tried to knock the other woman out of her way, but it was useless.
"Bob!" Dot's shrill cry rang through the air and Mouse snapped her head up to look. Layzir had gotten an energy rope from somewhere and knocked Bob's zipboard away. The Guardian had been doing a fair job of avoiding capture, but Layzir caught his ankles, sending the blue skinned sprite tumbling.
Mouse shoved the ninja out of her way with sudden fury, letting out a roar. Layzir froze and turned, just in time to jump out of the way of Mouse's katana. "Ah thought Ah told you," she hissed, boring into his eyes. "You wrecked my life once and you are not goin' to do it again!" Slapping his hands with the sword blade, she knocked the rope out of his grasp. Pressing forward, she kept swinging at him until he tumbled to the ground. Hands shaking, she held the katana tip to his throat. "Not so tough now, are you, without your little bodyguards," Mouse growled softly.
He wet his lips, looking at the blade, then up at her. Everyone else had froze, staring at the two sprites. "You wouldn't do it, Mouse," he said softly, his voice mocking. "You keep telling everyone you're not a murderer; would you really disprove that whole morale you have for yourself just for me?"
Her eyes narrowed. "It wouldn't be murdah," she snapped. "It would be justice. And don't tempt me, null-son. You don't know what ah would or wouldn't do."
"Mouse…" Bob said quietly, stepping forward and moving like he was going to take the blade away from her.
"Get away, Guardian," she said harshly. "Ah've waited my whole life to do this, Ah'm not goin' to…"
"It won't fix anything he's done, Mouse," Matrix said from the crowd. "I know. I've been there. Killing him won't bring back anything."
Mouse clenched her jaw, flicking her gaze over to where Matrix was standing. AndrAIa was next to him, her hand on his arm. Turning her gaze back to Layzir, her eyes hardened. "It won't fix anythin' he's done," she said softly. "But it will stop him from doin' anythin' more."
Before anyone could stop her, Mouse brought the sword down in a swift slice.
Mouse sat on the highest section of Floating Point, her knees tucked up to her chin as she stared out at the city. Her city. It was a strange feeling, to know for the first time in her life, she had a home. A real home, not just someplace that she could inhabit for a few days before leaving when the local authorities caught on to her.
Years of living on the run let her know that someone was coming across the grass to her, no matter how silent he tried to make his footsteps. "You ain't happy with what Ah did, are you."
Raytracer sat down next to her quietly, making himself comfortable before he said a word. "No…" he said slowly. "I can't say that I am. I believe that you must have had your reasons…"
"Ah did." Mouse sighed and leaned back until she was resting against him. "Ray, Ah… Ah think Ah need to… tell you some thangs. It might not be the shortest story in the world, but…"
He wrapped an arm around her comfortingly. "I've got free time for as long as you need to tell it." Her voice was hesitant at first, something that she was profoundly not used to. Still, the longer she talked, the easier became, until the whole story seemed to spill out into the space between them. He listened patiently until she was finished, then hugged her tightly. "I still don't know if I like it…" he whispered in her ear. "But at least I understand you now."
Mouse chuckled. "That's good. Cause Ah sure don't." They lapsed into silence once more, staring out at Mainframe. "It's funny," Mouse said finally. "What this place can do to you. Ah nevah thought Ah'd be fightin' FOR somethin'."
"Me either…" Raytracer said softly. "Especially not a system. Just something about this place, these people… I didn't really know any of them, but once I got here, I couldn't let it be destroyed. I had to help."
"These loveable Mainframahs sure can be convincin' when they want to be."
"So can a certain electric haired beauty I know."
Mouse turned to look at him, planting a finger on his nose. "Flattery will git you everywhere," she said softly, looking him in the eye the best she could. Leaning over, she kissed him full on the mouth, and he hugged her tightly. When they parted, she sighed happily. "Ah love you, Raytracah."
He laughed and hugged her again. "I love you too, my little Mouse." Pulling her to her feet, he draped an arm about her shoulders. "C'mon. Let's go home." Mouse snuggled closer to him, the word sweet on her tongue.
Home.
THE END