Hacker Unknown
by: Michael Graham (Me, Linx120)

They say it's fear that gives men wings, but he knew he couldn't run. No, not now. He had come this far to save thousands of people; he couldn't just turn his back on them.
The bulky machine was hot on his tail. It peppered the air with bullets as the anthropomorphic white fox dodged around a corner; the machine's anti-tank rounds blowing a hole into the wall. The fox was luring it into a trap. He briefly looked behind him to find the A.I.'s metallic chassis busting through the wall. He continued to run down the corridor, appearing to be in deep thought.
Another crash and the A.I. was in front of him. Spinning around on it's spherical skates to face him, it aims it's guns at his center mass. RATTATATTATATTA! The fox doesn't flinch as he flips over it's line of fire. The A.I. quickly stops wasting ammo and morphs it's fore arms into the shape of thick blades. Time seems to slow down as it raises it's blades to try and block the opening above it's head. The fox, still in mid-flip, instinctively tries to twist his body to avoid getting hit, but barely succeeds leaving a gash running down his back.
Throwing off his now torn tank top, he picks himself up and continues to sprint down the corridor. The A.I. lashes at him as he rams the door open, tumbling out into a ruined portion of the building. The room barely had a ceiling and there were gaping holes in the walls. Rubble littered the wooden floor but a few crates were still intact.
The fox draws his swords and turns to face his enemy. The A.I. lunges at him with it's own blades and strikes. The fox dodges the incoming blow with a back flip and lands low on the ground. He thrusts his sword into it's mechanical belly with his right hand pushing against the hilt for extra power, but it doesn't seem to affect it any.
The A.I. swipes at the fox but he jumps back, getting into a defensive stance.
"You will die here," it spoke.
"No," the fox says confidently, "it is you who will die. As you pass from this world, remember this name: Amita12."
The voice from the machine softly chuckles before replying, "Other players have said the same. As you pass from this world, remember this name: Grim, for I am not intimidated by you." She mocks. The fox gets ready for another attack, observing his opponent for a weak spot. "Now, die!" Grim thrusts at him with one of her blades, but Amita jumps up and lands on the lethal weapon. He runs up the massive sword, flips over her as she raises the blade, twists in midair to face her unprotected back, and drives his second sword down her spine.
Grim swings around and strikes at Amita, but Amita blocks the massive sword with his index finger. Seeing the opening, Amita takes the opportunity to punch Grim, sending her flying back a couple feet. "I see," she says, "so you're the anomaly." Amita doesn't reply, they simply exchange serious looks. No more screwing around, the final fight for humanity was about to reach a conclusion. "Then I shall fight with my true power." The machine opens up and a woman steps out of the exoskeleton armor. "A fight to the death," she smiles, "truly."
Amita knew what she meant. Although they were playing inside a massively multiplayer online game, he could still die in the physical realm by her hands. She is the infamous hacker that could easily hack into any program or database without breaking a sweat. During her exploits, she somehow found a way to kill people without physically touching them: just by simply killing her victim's in-game avatar. She truly lives up to her hacker alias: Grim, as in Grim the Reaper. Why did she kill people, though? Was it to prove a point?
Grim was the first to make a move, her avatar disappeared and reappeared behind Amita. "Too slow." She throws a punch and Amita is sent flying out of the building. Grim follows him as he falls down two hundred stories. Amita swings at Grim, but she dodges and counter attacks with a drop kick. Amita blocks the kick, but his free fall speed increases. Grim grabs Amita by the collar and starts to repeatedly punch him in the face but before she could land a third punch, he grabs her fist and swipes at her stomach with a dagger. "You little runt!" she screams as blood trickled out of her wound. She then punches Amita in the face as hard as she could and his free fall speed increases by ten-fold.
Looking up at the dark sky, the white fox tries to concentrate, blood streaming out of his nose. After a few seconds, he hits the ground, dust and debris flying up a couple stories into the air from the impact. Grim gently lands on her feet on a nearby street lamp. "Heh. It seems that you're not as powerful as they say, Amita12."
The dust slowly clears to show a giant crater and a glowing white fox standing on his feet. Bright white wings protruded from his back, giving a heavenly look about him. "We'll see who is the victor." He replies.

To be continued?