Bionica: Origins

Chapter Nine

Ratchet, Glitch, Siren, and I wait outside for whatever this threat is. The earth is still. I can't see anything right now. But soon enough I see a cloud of dust coming our way and take out my weapon.

"Something's headed for us!" I say, unfolding the scythe. Ratchet holds up his rocket launcher, Siren puts her hands on her pistols, and Glitch grips a pair of her nunchucks. The dust cloud gets closer and closer and I see a long, dark braid whipping around in the wind. I'm not afraid to take her. But she gets closer and we begin to see details like facial features.

"Umm... Gayge?" Siren says, confused.

The figure rides up on a motorcycle and stops about thirty feet away from us. It walks closer and I see what my friends are talking about.

I'm standing face to face with myself.

"So," the assassin says. She sounds just like me, too. Tronyx has gone all out this time. "You're going to try and stop me?"

I step forward. "Well, it's that or let you take over our base. So, yeah."

My clone smiles. "Good luck wth that."

She pulls out a black hunk of metal that doesn't look like it would amount to much. But she hits a button and it starts expanding into a double-bladed axe. I guess that's the only way we can tell each other apart until we knock each other's weapons away. But I get the feeling that if she looks like me and talks like me, she can fight like me, too.

We lunge at each other and she sideswipes with her axe, but I use the handle of my scythe like a staff and block it, which gives me room to swipe downward. She blocks it, and I can tell I'm in for the fight of my life.

"Glitch! Go in!" I say. My weapon's too bulky and I won't be able to beat her like this. So Glitch goes in with her nunchucks. They're lighter and more movable than the assassin's axe, and Glitch is making short work of her. We're around the assassin's back, making sure she can't retreat. Suddenly Siren collapses and doesn't get up. I run to her side.

"Siren?" I ask, feeling her pulse. It's normal. I reach up to make sure she's breathing.

And I get smacked backward ten feet.

The assassin looks over at Siren and me. Tronyx speaks through Siren, and I feel chills run down my spine.

"Hello, Rove," Tronyx says. "May I join you?"

"President Tronyx?" The assassin, whose name is evidently Rove, seems surprised. Didn't she see this coming?

Glitch, Ratchet, and I form a line against Rove and Siren. "Okay," I say, "this just got a whole lot harder."

Siren lunges at me with her pistols. I tell Ratchet and Glitch to get out of the way as I take her on hand-to-hand, using my scythe as a shield when I need it. It's tough work; dodging bullets and keeping her from hitting me at the same time isn't easy. But I've got a couple tricks up my sleeve. I unfold the scythe, dig the blade into the ground, and push up on the handle. As Siren comes at me, I kick her square in the chest with both feet. She goes crashing to the ground.

Out of nowhere, while she's fighting Rove, Glitch drops to the ground, screaming and clutching her head. "Glitch!" I yell, running at her to drag her out of the way. But Ratchet comes up behind me and pulls me away from her. As soon as we're out of Rove's sight, Ratchet makes me look at him.

"What are you doing?!" he asks. "Don't you realize that's just what happened to Siren?"

"Tronyx doesn't have control of her. It could be bad!"

"Gayge," Ratchet says, looking into my eyes, "have you forgotten who her father is?"

Oh my god.