So here is the first chapter in the story Son of Tron, where we have Beck as being the son of Tron and Yori. This also includes the Once Upon A Time and Twice Upon A Time stories (though they aren't exactly in the story, they are mentioned and built upon too). This takes place Post-Legacy but then it turns into a sorta AU of Uprising. It will follow the Uprising script later on. The story starts a little while after Legacy, though how long is left up to you *less than a year* and we find out how exactly Tron and Yori entered the User world.
I do not own any of the Tron franchise, much as I want to.
Chapter 1
Salvation
"Yori, you've got to move or do something at least,"
Yori looked up at the dark haired Program next to her, her blue eyes sad.
"Do what, Zila?" Yori asked, "Everyone I know is gone. You said yourself that Clu is dead and judging by the explosion…so is Flynn,"
She turned her head, gripping the edge of the window.
"Clu's dead, Flynn's dead, Anon's dead…Tron…" she felt tears come and her throat locked up, "Tron is dead as well. Everyone is dead, I am the last,"
"You've still got friends here, Yori," Zila explained, putting a hand on her friend's shoulder, "me for one…unless I'm mistaken. Yes, they're gone, but you can make a new life for yourself,"
Yori looked up at the young Program's face.
"You're smart," she finally said, "You have a point,"
"I'm a search program, kinda comes with the programming," Zila shrugged, her dark eyes sparkling, "Hey, why don't you go for a walk on the cliffs by the Sea? You used to love doing that,"
"…with him," Yori replied, closing her eyes and remembering the strong, barely lit, hand in hers, pulling her back if she wandered too far, "I'll go…but I want to go by myself. It would feel wrong if someone else came with me. Anyone not him,"
Zila nodded and patted Yori's shoulder.
"I'll be waiting here," she said.
…
Yori pulled the cloak around her, the white circuits barely gleaming through the black material as she stood on the edge of the cliffs.
"I miss you," she whispered but the words were caught by the wind, "I don't know why I held on as long as I did. Maybe it was for Flynn, but I should have gone when I lost you,"
A tear slipped down her face as she edged closer to the end of the cliff.
"You were always there to catch me if I started to fall," she continued, "I can't remember the feel of your embrace anymore…it's been so long. There's no one here to catch me. I'm lost without you,"
She wavered on the edge.
[Identify]
The ping startled her and Yori stepped back, looking around. There was no one there.
"Who's there?" she asked.
Silence.
She shook her head starting to go back when the ping sounded off again.
[Identify]
"Identify yourself," Yori demanded, not amused, "State your function, where are you?"
She isolated the source of the ping, finding it to be on the beach below her. Yori carefully climbed down the slope, getting closer and closer to the viral Sea…
And she saw him.
A lone form was lying prone in the shallows, covered in the thick, black tar-like substance that came from being in the Sea. He, and she could tell it was a he by the shape of his frame, wasn't moving. He didn't look like he was even breathing.
She cautiously made her way to his side, seeing if she could identify who it was.
[Function: Obsolete]
She frowned as he pinged her again, his head trying to lift out of the water but failing and splashing back into the viral code. Yori grabbed his arms and yanked him out of the surf. She got his feet clear of the water and she started to take a look at him.
He was very well built. A strong, lean, lithe frame that looked full of deadly, cat-like grace. His circuits pulsed dimly, she couldn't even tell what color they were because of all the black tar on his body.
The injured Program lifted his head slightly, tilting the blank, black mask towards her. He seemed to recognize her as he shakily raised his barely lit hand and gently put said hand on the side of her face, cupping it passionately and leaving thick black streaks as it thudded back onto the sand.
Yori's own hand touched the same cheek, remembering steel blue eyes and a gentle smile as another Program did the same so many cycles ago.
"…Tron?"
A low, broken whine sounded through the area as the injured Program tried to reach for her again but he failed, his helmet cracking onto a stone noisily.
The circuits started flushing red-orange and the poor creature gave a strangled cry, his back arching off the sand in pain.
Yori shakily put a hand on his chest. She took the edge of her cloak and wiped off the gunk at his throat, revealing a very faint blue-white tetramino design that was edged in faint red-orange.
"It is you!" she breathed, reaching down and gently kissing the fading blue circuits as the orange rushed in.
Suddenly, the sound of a helmet retracting sounded and a hand gently brushed her cheek.
"Yori…"
Yori looked up and faced pained, sorrowful, weary steel blue eyes. She took in the red-brown hair that was sticky and streaked with black, the horrible grey scar that slashed from the left eye down the cheek and past the neck, into the armor.
"You're alive!" she breathed, embracing him, "Tron, you're alive!"
He hissed in pain.
"Yori…hurt…can't…" he grunted, holding his side, "Agh, Users, it hurts!"
She gently tilted him upwards…
"Where's your Disk?" she demanded, looking at the bare port.
"Gone," he groaned, "They're gone,"
"They're?"
"Had…two…"
She frowned and then something occurred to her. Zila said she found two Identity Disks in the surf less than a millicycle ago!
"Can you move?" Yori asked, trying to help Tron to his feet.
"Barely…" he answered before groaning again and nearly falling, Yori caught him and slung his arm around her shoulders.
"You used to do this to me, remember?" she asked.
Silence.
"Pride hurt a little?"
"No," Tron replied, frowning, "I…I don't remember,"
"It wasn't long before the Coup,"
He turned to look at her.
"Yori…I can't remember anything. I remember you and Flynn and Anon and…Clu but that's it. I…Clu repurposed me, I can't remember anything before the Coup,"
"Are you sure?"
Silence.
"Tron?"
"I…I'm trying," he admitted as they came to the house, "I…"
He cut off with a low growl as he shielded his eyes. The light from the house hurt his eyes, he couldn't see!
Automatically, the Monitor rezzed his mask and relaxed as the light became more bearable.
"Yori, you're back!" Zila beamed, coming down the stairs to greet her friend, "And…"
She froze as she saw the Program that was being supported. The search program whipped out her Disk and Tron immediately stiffened, a low purring growl building in his throat as his circuits flicked orange.
"Rinzler!" Zila screamed, launching herself at Tron and slashing while Tron ducked, rolling out of the way and coming to a graceful halt, "Run Yori!"
"Zila, stop!" Yori yelled as her friend slashed at Tron.
The Monitor's head suddenly cocked to the side…like he was sensing something…
Yori's eyes widened as Tron leaped upwards at an impossible height, diving into a roll and coming back up to his feet before dashing over to a panel in the wall and ripping it open, revealing an Identity Disk.
"Mine,"he growled, his voice distorted by the mask.
The Monitor yanked the Disk out of the wall and twisted it…revealing not one but two Disks. He struck a defensive pose, his head tilting to the side in a mocking gesture.
"STOP!" Yori yelled, running between the fighters, grabbing Tron's shoulder, "Tron, stop, please!"
The purring suddenly halted and Tron's circuits faded to blue-white as he collapsed to the floor, groaning in pain.
"Yori…don't you realize who that is?" Zila demanded, "He's…"
"Tron," Yori replied, prying his Disks from his hands, "and he's mine,"
Zila stared at her friend and the downed Enforcer.
"Yori, you know I really care for you…but Rinzler…he's derezzed so many Programs that no one can count them,"
"He's not Rinzler," Yori snapped, "he's Tron,"
"I'm sorry," Zila said, "I can't…you need to go. I won't have him in the house,"
"He's derezzing!"
"Then the Grid would be better off without him,"
"If he goes, I go,"
Zila closed her eyes and stepped out of the way.
"I'm sorry," she murmured, "But he's killed most of my friends. I wish you luck though,"
Yori grit her teeth but lifted Tron to his feet again.
"Is there anywhere I can get you?" Zila asked, "One last favor?"
"You know where the Portal used to be?" Yori growled, "Get us there. We'll be together and the closest to our Users when he derezzes then…and I will be there with him,"
…
"You…didn't…have to do…that," Tron coughed, trying to get the viral code out of his system but failing.
"I like Zila, I really do," Yori murmured as Tron's scars became more visible, now tearing cyan gashes in his side and chest "But you are far more important to me. I've spent over a thousand cycles away from you. I'm not spending another moment without you,"
He leaned into her shoulder, a weak purr rumbling through his frame…
Right as the Portal burst into brilliant white fire, making Tron reactivate his helmet to shield his sensitive eyes.
Tron and Yori looked up into the sky.
"Users," they breathed.
01010011 01100001 01101100 01110110 01100001 01110100 01101001 01101111 01101110 00001101 00001010
"You called me here…in the middle of the night…for what now?" Alan growled as Sam walked towards the Tron game, "A late night game?"
"It's no game," Sam replied, yanking the consol out on its hinges and making Alan's eyes widen as he started down the hidden hall, "Well, c'mon then!"
Alan shook his head in disbelief but he followed in any case. They walked down the secret hallway, down the stairs until they got to Flynn's lab. Sam immediately walked over to the desk and sat down, tapping on the desktop keyboard.
"Where are we, Sam," Alan ordered, looking around at the dusty space.
"Dad's secret lab," Sam replied, not looking up from the desktop, "Remember all those nights he stayed late? Well, here's where he was,"
"I wondered where he was…he always said he was at ENCOM but I never believed him. I never once saw him,"
"Why?"
"Sam, you've known me for what, 27…28 years? You know when I joke about sleeping at the office I'm not kidding,"
"Ah, right, forgot about that,"
Alan shook his head and looked at the room again…he stopped as he noticed something directly behind Sam's chair.
"Is that the Shiva laser?" Alan asked, walking up to it and studying the machine.
"Oh so that's what's it's called," Sam hummed, not really paying attention, "Yeah, Dad and I called it the digitizing laser…basically it shoots stuff,"
"I know that, Sam, Lora designed it,"
"You know what else it does?" Sam asked with a sly smile as he turned around in the chair.
"Besides 'shooting stuff'?" Alan growled, "No, Sam, what else does it do?"
"You're going to find out," Sam said with a slight sing-song quality to his tone.
Alan froze. When Flynn had gotten that tone, it meant something totally insane that would possibly get them killed…he learned that the hard way.
And Sam was exactly the same.
"Sam…" Alan warned as Sam turned back to the computer, typing a few commands.
No answer.
"Sam…"
"Don't hate me," Sam replied, hitting the last relay and the laser flashed to life.
"SAM!"
And everything froze.
...
Alan groaned as he opened his eyes.
"I'm going to kill that boy," he thought angrily to himself as he pushed himself off of the stone, blinking against the soft white light in a cloudy dark sky…
Wait a second!
Sky!?
He stood and looked around, taking in the crashing waves of the ocean far below, the lightning as it crackled across the sky…
"Greetings Program!"
Alan whipped around just to see Sam sauntering up in…what in the world was he wearing!
"Sam…two questions," Alan growled.
"Shoot,"
"One: Where are we and two: Why do you look like a lava lamp?"
"You should talk," Sam smirked, gesturing at Alan, "God, Alan, you look like Dad…"
Alan looked down at the white, illumined robe that hung on his frame. His head snapped up and he scowled at Sam.
"Sam…you have three seconds,"
"Ok, so you remember when Dad disappeared…the day he didn't come home?"
"Yes…"
"He was trapped in here…the Grid. A digital…"
"Frontier to reshape the human condition," Alan finished, "I know…but what does that have to do with the fact that you zapped us here?"
"Well, Dad came here every night that he worked late. He couldn't be in here all the time so he made a digital copy of himself called Clu. Clu ran the place when Dad had to come back to our world every eight hours or so Grid Time. And since Clu was running everything…he couldn't protect it so Dad brought in a System Monitor from ENCOM's system…you should know who it was, Alan…you created him,"
Alan frowned, blinking. He remembered when Flynn came to him asking for a copy of Tron to monitor a new system he was working on.
"I can't tell you, man, it's not ready yet! But I need him, he's the best Program for the job. Please Al? Please?"
"Tron?" Alan asked and Sam nodded.
"And so we had the three amigos, Clu the Administrator, Tron the Protector, and then Dad, the Creator," Sam continued, "Everything was going fine until one day something came up in the Grid. The ISOs,"
"ISOs?"
"Isomorphic Algorithms. Basically, Programs that the Grid created. They had no User but they were just as smart, just as powerful as one. Dad was fascinated with them, so was Tron, but Clu hated them. He even set a virus on the Grid just to get rid of them,"
"Sounds like a nice guy," Alan said dryly.
"And then there's the fact that Clu overthrew Dad, trapping him in the Grid for twenty years while he repurposed Tron into a six-foot tall, purring, kung-fu flipping Enforcer named Rinzler,"
"Agai…wait, what!?"
Sam grinned painfully and looked out over the Sea.
"Clu had enough of Dad and his rule. He figured that he could rule just as well as Dad could and the Coup happened. Tron fought to save Dad but Clu defeated him, taking him captive and repurposing him. Creating the ultimate, obedient fighter. Rinzler. That Program listened to Clu's every word, did exactly what he said too. Dad hid in the Outlands, the desert basically, for twenty years our time with the last ISO, hoping and praying that there would be something that would stop Clu. And there was,"
"And that was?"
"Me," Sam shrugged, "Clu sent out the page to you and you sent me to the Arcade. I accidently activated the laser and was sent to the Grid. I ended up in the games, fought Rinzler and met Clu and…"
He scuffed his foot on the ground.
"I met Quorra too,"
"Quorra…your girlfriend? She's from the Grid too?"
"She's more than that, Alan," Sam said, "She's the ISO that lived with Dad. She rescued me from the Games and brought me to Dad. We all tried to escape to the Portal but Clu followed us with Rinzler right behind. There was a big dogfight and Dad caught hold of Rinzler…the Program could have shot us down, Alan, but he didn't. He turned on Clu instead and attacked him, giving us some extra time to get to the Portal. Clu somehow survived and beat us there, Quorra and I made it to the Portal…Dad reintegrated with Clu and the resulting explosion…well, you see the damage here,"
He gestured to the shattered formations and then bowed his head.
"I've been trying to get the Grid fixed up, but I couldn't do alone. That's why I brought you here, you're the best Programmer other than Dad that ENCOM has ever seen. I mean, you wrote the Program that was the firewall for ENCOM for almost twenty years until…"
"Until they scrapped the whole system and replaced it," Alan said dryly, "I know,"
"I need your help, Al, I can't do it on my own,"
Alan sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"Fine, I'll help. Where do we start?"
Sam looked up at the Portal.
"I'd say we could start here and work our way out. Get this stable and then head to the mainland," he said, "You work here, I'll go to the west side and start there, we'll meet back here to go home,"
Alan nodded and looked around.
"Sam…what on earth am I supposed to do?"
Sam ran a hand through his hair.
"I'm not sure…Dad was able to manipulate stuff just by touching it…maybe…"
Alan knelt down on the ground, placing a hand on the smooth stone. It lit up at his touch and he could see all the code, all the work that Flynn put into it.
"I think I can handle this," he nodded, "Thank you, Sam,"
Sam gave a shrug and started walking towards the west part of the island. He pulled out a baton and broke it, a lightcycle rezzing underneath him as he shot off.
Alan shook his head. This place…Sam had a lot more to explain.
01010011 01100001 01101100 01110110 01100001 01110100 01101001 01101111 01101110 00001101 00001010
"User!"
Sam looked up from his work. He had been working for about an hour and already there was someone who wanted his attention. He stood and faced a pair of Programs, one cloaked but showing pale blue-white circuits on white armor the other…
Sam whipped out his Disk.
"Rinzler!" he snapped.
"No!" the cloaked Program, obviously a female, begged, "Please…he's hurt,"
"He's going to be more than just hurt when I'm through," Sam growled.
"Don't you know who this is?"
"Yeah, Clu's henchprogram," Sam replied, "But…he was known as Tron,"
Rinzler cocked his head, pointing a shaking hand at Sam, his blue-white circuits flickering.
"U-User," he said, "S-Son of F-Flynn,"
"Tron?" Sam asked and Rinzler…Tron…nodded sadly before groaning and grasping his side where code dripped like a heavily bleeding wound.
"Like I said, he's hurt really badly…" the female Program said, shaking her head and letting the hood of her cloak fall back, revealing long rivulets of blond hair flowing past her shoulders.
"Lora?" Sam asked.
The Lora look-alike shook her head and pointed to herself.
"Yori," she said and Rinzler gave a short, gentle purr as he leaned into her.
Of course! Sam remembered his father's stories…Tron had fallen in love with a Program named Yori…who turned out to be Lora's Program, reflecting the bond between Alan and Lora both.
Yori looked up at Sam.
"Please, I've lost him once…I don't want to lose him again,"
Sam sighed and approached the two warily. Ever since he was a kid, he had wanted to meet Tron, the hero of his father's stories but when he finally got to meet him…he had met Rinzler instead. Rinzler, to Sam, was a thing of nightmares. Broken purring, dim red-orange circuits, twin Disks that burned and slashed…he would never forget.
He cautiously touched Tron's shoulder, the Program shuddered at the contact almost leaning away but Yori held him still, murmuring something to him.
She looked up at Sam.
"You'll have to take off his mask,"
Sam frowned.
"How?" he asked.
"Normally, only he can do it…" Yori said, "But I've seen Flynn do it a few times when Tron almost worked himself to derezzing. You, being Flynn's son, should be able to as well,"
She touched the back of Tron's neck, ignoring the male Program's growl of protest.
"There should be a switch here," she directed, taking Sam's hand and guiding it to the Protector's neck.
Sam placed his hand on the soaking wet Program's neck, even through the Grid armor that Tron wore, Sam could feel the freezing temperature of the Program's skin.
He felt around gently and his fingers brushed over a tiny switch. Sam flicked the switch and the mask derezzed, folding elegantly backwards and into the Program's neck armor, revealing reddish-brown, sweat-slicked hair that was streaked with an oily black substance.
Tron gave a shuddering breath and his knees buckled. Yori caught him and she gently turned him over on his back, holding his head up on her lap.
"I've never seen him without his helmet," Sam mused as he took in the face that looked like Alan's…
Except scarred horrifically across his left eye and down his neck where Sam thought it continued.
The steel blue eyes fluttered open and locked blearily onto Sam's face before returning back to look at Yori.
"Alan-One…he's here with you…isn't he?" Yori asked.
Sam nodded.
"I'd try to fix Tron myself…but he's…really badly damaged and I don't know his code, at all," he apologized.
He heard footsteps behind him and they suddenly stopped…like whoever was making them had stopped dead in their tracks.
"Oh my God. Tron?"
"Please," Yori begged, turning to face Alan, "Please help us,"
"Lora…" Alan whispered, hushed.
Yori shook her head 'no'.
Alan smacked his forehead.
"Yori, you're Yori aren't you?" he asked.
Yori nodded.
"Can you help us?" she asked.
Alan came close to the barely conscious male Program, his hands ghosting over the flickering circuits. Suddenly, the soft blue flared angry red and the male gave a spitting, feral hiss as he clawed at Yori's frame, trying to get away and leaving dark black streaks over her snowy armor.
"Easy, Tron, easy," Yori murmured, gently stroking the amber eyed Program's hair, "It's ok, he's going to help us. He won't hurt you,"
Alan stared in wonder at the creature with his face as the amber eyes flickered, blinking a steely blue that matched his own as his circuits did.
The steel blue eyes flicked to Alan and Tron's mouth opened and shut, trying to get a word out as his eyes widened in shock and wonder.
"User…mine…" he rasped before his circuits dimmed even more and he collapsed unconscious into Yori's arms.
"Flynn was right…" Alan breathed, putting a hand on the unconscious Program's shoulder, "Sam…we need to fix him,"
"You'll need his Disks," Yori supplied helpfully, lifting Tron's limp form up a little higher, and letting Alan detach them, "But he needs time and a place to heal,"
"Time we don't have," Sam muttered, "Yori…is there any place you can stay?"
She shook her head.
"We were chased out of the city, they wanted to kill him,"
"I can see why,"
"Sam!" Alan snapped, pausing in his work to glare at his godson.
"I'm just saying that they're not going to see him as Tron, they're going to see him as Rinzler. You have no idea how much terror Rinzler caused,"
"Does that really matter?" Alan growled, turning back to his work, "Rinzler can't hurt them, he's Tron not that Enforcer,"
No one said anything until Alan finally straightened up, motioning for Yori to lift Tron up again so he could replace the Disks. As they were synching, Alan rubbed his eyes.
"I've done the best I can do…he's very badly hurt. Those scars won't heal, they're viral. And that stuff on him's not helping,"
"What do we do then?" Yori asked, "There's nowhere we can go,"
"There is one place…" Alan started.
"Al…are you sure?" Sam asked, "Bring both of them?"
"I'm not leaving him here to die and Lora would have my head if I left her too,"
Sam gave a sigh and got to his feet, prying Tron from Yori's arms and slinging the unconscious Monitor's arm around his shoulders.
"Let's go then,"
Yori got up to her feet and looked at Alan as Sam started back towards the Portal.
"Where are you taking him?" she demanded.
"Come with us, Yori," Alan said, gently taking her arm and helping her towards the Portal too, "We're going home,"
"Home?" Yori asked.
"Well, I guess you'd call it the User World,"
Well, I guess that's it for the first chapter. Beck will be coming around later, its not going to be for a few chapters though because well, these things take time. Next we get to see Lora and Jet meeting Tron and Yori. And Tron gets a "terrifying" experience in the area of getting himself cleaned up (Tronzler+Bath=Not Good) while Alan and Lora see the extent of Tron's injuries. Oh...and Tron gets to meet with a certain pet of Jet's...
I hope you guys liked it, if you did send in the reviews! (Along with ideas because I will need them eventually!) :)
Qui vállë tóquetë, ván tecë (If no review comes from y'all; no story comes from me)
Máriessë ar mára tecië
Farewell and fair writing
Elhini Prime signing off.