Zapper HQ:Macon Attn: May

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Macon grumbled as he was tossed out into the streets, landing on his right knee, left foot against the ground. He turned back and tried to glare at the Technos who were standing guard over the door, dressed in plain clothing, but the sun hit his eyes and he could no longer see. It wasn't darkness this time, it was complete white, and where normally

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Becky sat huddled in the closet, the blue blanket wrapped tightly around her. She had since cried once, but the tears had now dried, leaving her face feeling red and itchy. She rocked back and forth. When would Macon be back? Would he be back? The thoughts ran rapid through her head. What had happened in Reality Space? HOw had her wonderful trip turned into a horrible nightmare. She thought back to the monsters and the cement block falling on her and began to silently cry.

She didn't hear her name the first time, but as the voiced asked where she was, she was hesitant to move. She knew the voice was Macon's, but was she still in VR? Was this all a crazy trick? She dared to slid the closet door open, seeing a badly bruised and badly looking Macon. A smile slowly streched across her face as she slowly got out of the closet, blanket still tightly around her. She walked over to him, trying to hold back the tears. She wrapped her arms around him, laying her head on his chest, crying. "Macon, it was horrible. There were Monsters and the ground began to disappear and then there was fire from the sky and then I died." She sniffled, realizing how much she sounded like a baby. She let him go and went back to the bed. "I never want to go into VR again. I hate it! I hate this stupid war too! It scares me!" She had admitted it. Although Becky loved to fight, she was constantly scared. What if she was killed? Or hurt? What if Macon was kidnapped? What if while they were sleeping, the Stingrays raided? There were so many scary things about this whole Color war, and she hated it.

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Macon's heart clenched as Becky emerged from the closet, wide eyed and pale. His hand moved down to pat her back, he didn't say anything for fear that he would choke up and cry. Tough guys didn't cry, and he'd never teach Becky to be tough if he started crying in front of her. Listening to her whine about the VR, he understood, it was rotten what Mega had put her through, but crying about it would do her no good at all.

When she stopped whinging, he kneeled before her, grasping her shoulders, his still foggy eyes searching her face frantically. He had to do this, to keep her safe, so she wouldn't die, or be tortured, or die when she was tortured. He had to harden her, and in order to do that he had to become harder than he was with her. "Becky, stop crying. You have to toughen up and go out there and kill those Stingrays. It's them who did this to you, you gotta go and get the parts for the game tonight so we can crush them, do you hear me?" His kung fu grip on her shoulders relaxed a little and he pulled her closer. "Listen to me, you get out there and you help bring home one of the missing parts for tonight, and if you don't, then you don't come home, do you understand? I need you Beck, you're one of the best small fry guys we have, you have to get out there and mean business! You can't cry when the other guys beat you down, you have to get mad, you have to get even!"

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Becky didn't look Macon in the eye as he tightly gripped her shoulders. He didn't love her anymore. Usually, if she was upset about something, he'd hug her, help her get through it, telling her it would be okay. But now, it seemed that Macon was more focused on winning that he used to be. What had changed him? He probably didn't understand what she had been through. The horrible monsters, the fire, the horrifying VR trip.
His grip loosened and she was about to protest, to try and explain, when he threatened her. If she didn't find a part, she wasn't to come home. She clenched her teeth. Usually she would have smiled as Macon called her one of the best, because it was true, she was. She furrowed her brow as he told her she couldn't get cry when the others beat her down. That she had to be mean. "FINE! I'll go! I HATE THIS AND I HATE YOU!" She stood up and marched over to the closet, picking up her small blue backpack and putting a few things in it. "I HATE YOU! YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!" She stomped a few times and walked back over to him. "You used to becaring, like this afternoon, but now I see you're just like everyone else in this Tribe. Cold hearted!" Becky threw her back pack to the ground, now sobbing. She felt alone and lost. "Go away. I'll be gone in a while. I'm never coming back. Ever." She collapsed onto the bed, trying to quiet her sobs. Where could she go? She had no place to live. Part of her wanted to go into VR and just be happy, but after this afternoon, she knew that Vr and real life where both equally frightening.

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Macon crossed his arms over his chest, watching her throw her little tantrum. She'd been more like a pet to all of them, coddled and spoiled, and now she was a brat. She had no idea what he'd just gone through, and all for her. It was all because of Becky getting hurt that he'd gone down to the Mall, and it was because of his little trip that Mega tortured him. Hate was fine, Macon could deal with hate, he knew she didn't mean it, but if she hated everyone who cared for her, then she'd toughen up. He knew that, hate would harden her heart and she'd be a survivor, no longer relying on the kindness and handouts of the rest of the Tribe.

Scowling, he didn't move from the spot as she demanded that he leave. "Becky," he muttered out, trying to find the right words, his eyes glazing over as he imagined Line injecting things into her and shocking her eyes out of her skull. "Get up! If you're leaving then LEAVE Becky! No more spoiling you, no more coddling, you have to toughen up," stalking to the bed he grabbed her up by her waist and set her on her feet, almost toppling over as he was still feeling weak. Grinding his teeth, tears shone in his eyes, against his wishes, and he flared his nostrils to stop himself from the overwhelming feeling he had to burst into tears. No tears, they were tough, and she was going to toughen up.

"Don't you go out there alone anymore, and don't you ever go down to that Mall again, you hear me? It's forbidden. If you do, I'll feed you to the Stingrays myself. Now listen, I do care about you, alright? You're like my little sister, but I don't want you to get hurt, and as it stands you are far too soft right now. You have to get tougher, or those Stingrays are going to eat you for breakfast! They are foul dogs, you get out there and you find that piece and you zap some Stingrays and you come back here after you've learned what it means to be a Zapper!"

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Becky wanted to lay there and cry. She hated Macon. He didn't love her anymore. He probably would tell her that she was a baby for having nightmares and being afraid of the dark. Jeck, she wouldn't be surprised if he kicked her out of the Tribe because she was a wuss. She wanted to be brave! She did! She had tried to fight those Stingrays earlier and look where it got her!

She didn't move as Macon picked her up, being a dead weight. She could tell he was weak, usually he could have done that with one arm, but now, she could see that Macon was in pain. She stared at the floor. She didn't want to leave. She wanted to be with Macon. She wanted to make sure he was okay. "I am TOUGH! I took on 6 Stingrays this morning!"

She looked to the ground as he told her she couldn't go out alone or go to the mall. She nodded, but became nervous as he said he'd feed her to the Stingrays. He didn't mean it did he? Was he really that upset with her. "I'm sorry." She felt a small bit better as he said he did care, and she did understand why he was being so harsh. He wanted her to be safe, to fight and be strong, like he knew she could. HIs last part was harsh. She knew what it meant to be a Zapper. It meant you were tough and didn't take crap from anyone. And right now, she wasn't a Zapper. She nodded and quickly moved to hug him. "Alright. But, who's going out now? Who should I go with." She pulled away and took Macon's hand, leading him down onto the bed. "What happened?" She made him lay down, taking the blanket from the bed and covering him. "Why don't you rest and I'll go and see how we are doing."

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Macon laughed, "Six Stingrays you say?" He hadn't heard about that, all he knew was that she'd been hurt - possibly killed - and taken down to the Mall. The word made his skin crawl, and he shuddered, closing his eyes for a minute and swallowing the acid at the back of his throat back down. "Don't be sorry, Becky, be strong," he stood up, pacing away.

He had to do this, he had to stay tough, no matter how hard it was, and it was very hard at the moment. He wanted to hug her, he wanted to tell her it was ok and that she never had to go out again, that he'd keep her here, keep her safe, forever. But he couldn't, he couldn't promise that, and he knew if he tried, Mega would only find her and torture her, just to get at him. If he sent her out there, made it look like he really didn't care what happened to her, Mega might lose interest in hurting her. The best way to keep her safe was to put her in the middle of the danger.

"Stop going out alone, alright? Just, just stop. You stay in the groups, I don't want you out there and taking on six Stingrays by yourself, Becky," he was spitting the words out, it hurt him to think it, let alone say it. She had her little hand on his, leading him back to the bed, making him lay down and covering him, mothering him. It made his eyes glisten with tears, it hurt so much, all of this hurt.

"The Stingrays," he grumbled out, it was a lie, a big huge fat one that he had to tell everyone. The hatred for Line and Mega flashed through his eyes, "They found me on my own and took me to some warehouse, tortured me and beat me, said they'd come after you if you didn't start playing fair. Something about us being weak. I don't want them to hurt you Beck, the only way to save you is to make you stronger," he was mumbling now, near sleep, babbling, he was ready to pass out.

Macon knew he had to get up from this bed, he had to get up and go outside and get the final pieces, or at least rally his troops and get everyone moving. His bed, however, was so inviting, warm and soft, he could melt into it and never get up again. Tossing the blanket to the side, he sat up sharply, his head swimming then shattering with pain. "No, I have to go out, we'll go out together. The only way I can toughen up is to be tough, the same goes for you. I sent everyone away, except Zix, and he's not worth his weight in horsecrap," he forced himself to stand, ignoring the wobble of his jelly legs.

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Becky clearly understood that Macon wanted her to be tough. No more whining, no more VR tea parties. It was time for vengance and revenge. She had to go out and there and kill. Go out there and hurt other people. And if it made Macon happy, she'd do it. She knew deep down that this entire war was wrong in so many ways, but Macon was her leader and her big 'brother' and what he said went.

She nodded as he told her no more fighting on her own. She hadn't wanted to fight the Stingrays. They came to fight her! Becky was seperated from the group she was with, but she didn't tell Macon. She just nodded. "Okay, no more going out alone then." She sighed.

As Macon told her what those stinkin Stingrays did, she became angry, her eye brows furrowing. How could they do that? Stingrays didn't have the guts to do that to Macon, unless something happened... She just nodded. "Don't worry Macon, I'll get em back for ya. Just of what they did to you. I'm gonna go and zap them to dust!" She paused.

Zapper. She didn't have a zapper, Macon didn't trust her with one. "Macon, I know you don't like me having a zapper, but now that the Stingrays may hurt me, is it time I start using one?" She didn't know what he'd say. If she had a zapper that morning, why she'd have taken all those Stingrays out! She smoothed his hair, jumping back as he quickly moved up. She got off of the bed and went beside him. "Alright, you and me, zapping some stinkin Stingrays. They'll pay for what they did to you. All of em." She gave him a shy smile, understanding full well that he was only telling her to be tough because he did care. "You do care. And that's why you want me to be tough." She stood on her tippy toes and puckered her lips to kiss him, hoping he would let her kiss his cheek.

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Looking down at the little face, lips puckered, Macon used all that was within him to resist letting Becky go soft in any way. Kissing, hugging, it was all weakness, too loving, this was not that kind of world. He simply walked away from her, heading to a cabinet in the corner and putting the key attached to his wrist into the lock. Turning it, he opened it and pulled out a TGun for Becky, and a new blue bandanna for him. "Here," he told her, tossing the TGun in her direction. He tied the new bandanna to his forehead and took his TGun off, exchanging it for one of the recharged ones in the cabinet, setting his old one on the charger.

Macon stared at Becky for a moment, "You'll have to practice," he stated simply, "It's not like in VR, it's different in the real world. Set it at five, that's a good setting, it probably won't kill the stinking Stingray, but it'll knock em out for a while. See, we don't really want to delete them, unless they ask for it, cause if we delete them all then we'll just fight each other, and that ain't cool. So knock em out, the more get knocked out, the less likely they'll be to have the part for tonight," he strapped the new TGun to his wrist and did just as he'd told her, setting it on five and then turning it off. "There, set it to five, just like this, then turn it off. When we go into a battle you turn it on and it's set already," he explained with an even nod.

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Becky didn't pout or say anything as she watched Macon look away. Her heart felt like it was breaking, but she knew this is what he wanted and it was what she needed to do. She sighed and went back down onto her feet, clasping her hands in front of her. This would be hard to get used to, Macon being so harsh and now having to prove herself to the Stingrays so they didn't hurt her, like Macon said they would. She closed her eyes, imagining the awful things they did to Macon and what they'd do to her. She shuddered at the thought.
Becky opened her eyes as Macon's voice echoed through the room. moving them to catch the TGun, she caught it in her hands, a bit shocked at what she was holding. She stared at it. A Tgun of her own! She'd be the best shooter in town. She didn't hear most of Macon's lecture. Only that she should have it on five. Maybe she'd turn it up to six later, but right now to please Macon, she'd keep it at five. She strapped it onto her wrist, making sure it fit right and was comfortable. "Wow, a Tgun of my own. Awesome." She powered it down but continued to stare at it. "Macon, let's go! I want to try this on some stupid Stingrays!" She bounced a bit with excitement. Now she could really fight, now more biting or kicking or screaming loudly. She was important. She had a TGun.

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"Yeah slow down cowgirl," he reached out and put a hand on her shoulder, pulling her back, "You'll have to do some target practice, but yeah, just shoot at Stingrays and we'll be cool, ok? If we get somewhere that has stupid virts then forget it, we don't want to shoot them. Cause how will we get new Zappers if we scare them or hurt them?" Macon limped towards the door and led Becky out into the street, his eyes causing sharp pains to go to his brain, cringing and biting through all of the pain.