Sorry for not posting for a while. This chapter might be slightly shorter than the others, but it should sustain you all for a little bit. Enjoy!
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The woman scoffed, rolling her eyes before lunging at Jay. Jay narrowly dodged her attack, trying to counter by spinning around and kicking at her head, only to have the attack blocked.
Catching his leg, the woman brings her arm down. Seeing this, Jay quickly lifts his other leg and kicks her away. As soon as he got up, the woman had already closed the distance and delivered a left hook.
Jay barely had time to block the punch, his arm stinging from the powerful strike. The woman didn't let up as she launched a series of heavy blows and strikes. She kicked and punched nonstop, forcing Jay to focus on defense.
"You're surprisingly persistent. No one has ever lasted this long against me," the woman said in what seemed to be mock recognition.
Although it looked like he was keeping up with her, Jay was barely hanging on. Each hit targeted his weak points, and he knew he wouldn't be able to keep this up much longer.
"Thanks..." Jay answered through clenched teeth.
"It wasn't a compliment. But I do think it's time we ended this charade." Grabbing Jay by the head, she kneed him in the face, then followed up with a spin kick to his chest.
Jay crashed to the ground, gasping for air. He erupted into violent coughing fits before wheezing as he clutched his wound. It was already severe, and the kick to his chest only made it worse.
"It's been fun, but you're no Tron. You're just a program pretending to be something else. A fake, that's all you are." The woman raised her disc, ready to derez him right then and there.
Seeing this, Jay desperately threw his disc, but it missed its target.
"Really? What was that? Your last wind"
"I wasn't aiming to hit you..." Jay said dryly, then kicked her knee.
"ArRgh! You son of a-"
She didn't get to finish as Jay clasped his hands and slammed them into her face. Breathing heavily, Jay clumsily rushed toward the light chopper.
It was still circling, and he knew it was his only chance to escape. He desperately jumped for it, managing to get on board before pulling himself up. Immediately, Jay went for the pilot.
He grabbed his head and repeatedly slammed him into the control console. Dragging the unconscious pilot out, he tossed him aside and took the pilot's seat. Jay quickly pulled out his wrench and connected it to the console.
'Thank the Users, I'm a mechanic.' Quickly repairing the light chopper's controls, he began to maneuver it away from the city.
He flew until he was halfway out of the city. It was then he heard the undeniable sound of a disc activating.
"Why can't you guys just let me escape in peace?" Jay sighed, activating the light chopper's autopilot before painfully standing to his feet.
"Why can't you just surrender?" The woman shot back.
"And be derezzed? No thanks."
Snorting, the woman went on the attack, her disc arced through the air. Jay barely had time to bring his disc out before it was already near his face.
Dodging the weapon by a hair, Jay activated his disc, blocking another attack from the woman before pushing her back.
Jay continued doing his best to block and dodge the woman's attacks as best he could, though it wasn't enough.
Breaking his guard, the woman's leg shot out, catching Jay in the ribs. Stumbling, he fell back into the light chopper's controls, sending it on a collision course into a tower.
Seeing this, he quickly took control of the steering and backed hard right, almost sending the woman out of the vehicle, but inevitably saving both of them from a fiery death.
Turning around, Jay saw the woman throw her disc. Jay turned his body to the side, the weapon just missing him, only to find its mark in the chopper's control panel.
"Nice shot," Jay muttered. " Now we're both going to be derezzed."
The chopper bucked violently as it began to lose altitude.
"Then I guess I'd better finish you off quickly." Jumping into the air, the woman kicks Jay to the side before retrieving her disc.
Jay brings his disc up to block hers, locking them as he fights to keep her from slicing into his neck. Jay began to scan the light chopper searching, hoping for something, anything to help him escape the situation.
To his relief, his eyes landed on a pair of wing chutes hung on the side of the chopper. Pressing his legging into the woman's stomach, he kicks her off of him before rushing towards them. Placing one on his back, he looked back at the now-standing woman.
"It's been fun, but I seriously hope we never meet again." He painfully grunted before letting himself fall out of the vehicle.
Jay hurled through the air, struggling to open his wing chute. He had never used one of these before. He never had a reason to. Seeing the ground approaching fast, Jay desperately fumbled to get the wing chute open.
He felt relief just as he finally got it to deploy, the feeling of air catching the wing chute. Unfortunately, he did open it fast enough. From the time of deployment to the time the ground approached, it was too late. Crashing into the ground, darkness began to envelope his vision.
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—
Jay's POV
"Hey, wake up. Who did this to you?"
I felt someone trying to jostle me awake. I was tired. Why couldn't they let me rest?
"Oi, come on. You don't look too hot."
They kept pestering until I finally opened my eyes.
"Where… am I?"
"Some kind of wasteland. Sorry, but I don't know a whole lot about this place just yet." They responded as they stared at me.
"The outlands… ugh… who are you?" I asked between gasps. It felt like something was stabbing my body all over. It was getting harder to breathe. To stay awake.
The masked figure looked down at me as if they were pondering what to do or how to answer before finally speaking.
"Is there any way for you to give me the information I need? You and I both know you're not going to make it…" They said, gesturing toward my body.
There was a long pause between us before I painfully grunted and reached for my disc.
"This is an identity disc… Every program on the grid has one, but for some reason…You don't." I answered truthfully as I looked up at them.
"..."
"You're different, I don't know why, but I can feel you are…" Something about them was familiar to me, but I didn't know why. "Take my disc, and place it onto the attachment on your back."
"What would that even do?" They asked as they carefully took my disc.
"Everything. What I've learned. What I know. It will all be transferred to you."
They flipped the disc in their hands, feeling its weight before looking back to me.
"I'm not entirely sure what will happen after you've connected with it… I've heard some terrible stories, rumors if you will. I hope they're not as bad as they sound."
"Mmm."
"One last thing…"
"What is it?"
"If it's not too much to ask… could you look after my friends?"
This was the least I could ask of this person. No… the most I could hope they'd do for me. If I weren't an idiot trying to seek revenge, then I wouldn't be leaving my friends to suffer at the hands of Clu alone.
"I don't-"
"Please…"
Those were the last words I uttered before everything went dark and before I felt myself slipping from consciousness.
—
Third POV
Heels clicked across the floor.
"Paige, I see you've returned empty-handed. That's unexpected."
"He's good, but he's no Tron." She responded.
"You seem uncertain."
"With the damage he's sustained, there's no way he isn't derezzed. Plus, you heard what Clu said. Tron's dead. And this renegade is too."