Prologue

"It's coming undone, this world that I made, I feel it descending now The place that I run, or what I run from, The boundary begins to fade Every word's a trap to your lies, Every life you try to save dies You hold the truth like a knife, You couldn't leave it behind You're my impostor, I'm a shadow lost deep inside..." - Imposter, Red

Dyson scowled as he realized that idiot Pavel failed miserably in a battle against the Users. He had tried invading the Real World by using whatever means necessary after the Son of Flynn recreated the Grid. What Pavel wasn't anticipating was the fact that he had been intercepted the moment he arrived in the Real World. Of course, the Users would have easily taken the idiot down before he could destroy them. Dyson had always known in the back of his mind that Pavel would likely fail. That was part of the reason he had been bracing himself for the next contingency plan.

That was what had led him to the deepest parts of the Outlands. Luckily, Clu always had backup plans when all else failed. The Son of Flynn wasn't expecting to find so many programs still against the Users. Which had given Dyson the perfect opportunity to seek out the one program that few knew about. This program lived deep in the Outlands, where few survived due to a lack of energy. Venturing this far out meant the risk of running across Gridbugs as well as other less obvious threats.

Determination was what had pulled Dyson through everything. He was determined to make sure that Clu's order for perfection continued. And he wanted revenge on the Users that had ruined everything. But the only way to get his revenge was by going against everything he had taught himself. Going to the Outlands had always been meant as a last resort. Programs only went to the Outlands if they wanted to disappear for good. Others disappeared if they wanted to escape the Occupation while Clu was in power. Now, Dyson had an entirely different reason for wanting to visit.

It took a few more microcycles for him to reach his destination. From here, he couldn't even make out the cities that surrounded the Grid. The weather out here was unpredictable, and rain battered his helmet as he pulled to a stop. One microcycle it could be raining, and the next, there could be a blizzard that whipped up without warning. That was what made the Outlands so dangerous. It was also what made the Outlands the perfect place to hide something very important to the Grid.

Dyson took a few steps forward before tapping the ground with his boot. What looked like a simple procedure was actually a complicated set of security codes that only a few knew about. Clu had left instructions for him before he was merged with the Creator. First, find the Keeper of Archives. Then proceed with the rest of the contingency plan. He'd already gone through the first phase of his plan, which was to recruit as many scientists and soldiers as possible. He knew it would take as much effort as possible to take Tron and the Users down.

Suddenly, the ground began to split in half, revealing a set of stairs leading down. Dyson resisted a knowing smirk as he immediately made his way down the stairs. The secret passage closed behind him once he was inside, and as he continued on his way, it got darker, cold and damp. For a few nanocycles, he had to feel his way around before faint lights began flickering on and off.

Once he had reached the bottom, the blue lights became a little brighter, revealing what seemed like endless rows of data and files. Dyson waited patiently for the sound of footsteps that followed. The Archive Keeper wasn't exactly a program he enjoyed meeting with. Something about her creeped everyone who met her out. She was far worse than any old program who could tamper with someone's identity disk and make it seem as if they were working against the enemy.

A program emerged from the shadows as Dyson leaned against the grimy wall. Their face was covered by a mask until they recognized the mark of a highly elite general. The moment their mask receded, Dyson was able to get a good look at the old program. She had stark white hair that seemed tangled and messy, and her eyes were a pale blue. The suit she wore was black with primary white and red circuits.

"Archive Keeper, it has been a long time, hasn't it?" Dyson asked as his mask receded.

The Archive Keeper only scowled in response.

"Dyson, you of all programs know that while Archive Keeper is my official title, I go by a name," she retorted. "Or has it been so long that you've forgotten already?"

Dyson rolled his eyes at her snappy remark. One thing he didn't like about her was the fact that she had no limitations to what she could or couldn't say to Clu or his generals. Without her, they would have no access to the Grid's core memories. Clu was the one who had given orders not to derezz her even if she crossed the line. So it took everything he had not to instinctively reach for his disk and put an end to her rash attitude.

"Alright, Zena," he growled, already irritated with the fact that he was here in the first place. "You know why I am here."

"Yes." Zena crossed her arms and looked at nothing in particular – the subtle signs of the fact that she was blind. "I assume that Clu has failed miserably in dominating the Real World, and thus his contingency plans are failing as well." She smirked a little before saying something that really made Dyson's skin crawl with outrage, "You only visit when you are desperate. So tell me, what does the great Dyson need this time?"

"You know what I need," he snapped, losing his patience. "That little User that Clu was so interested in… I want to know exactly what he did to her."

Zena's smirk turned to a frown as she pulled out the files and data in question.

"What Clu did to her was unforgivable," she sighed. "But, it is not my place to interfere. Be careful where you tread your feet, Dyson. If you make any risky moves, they will more than likely end in failure."

"I am already aware of the risks," he retorted before looking through the files she had given him.

What Dyson saw next should have made him realize that Clu was far more cynical than he realized. Clu had run experiments on the User when she was out cold after a fight against Rinzler. Her wounds were only just recovering when he began running the experiments. His ultimate plan was to see whether or not Users could be repurposed and turned into the greatest weapons the Grid had ever seen. What he wasn't expecting was for the ISO to interfere with his plan.

Dyson couldn't help but grin triumphantly as he realized what this meant. The little User that Clu had focused on for so many xilacycles was far stronger than even Tron realized. And she would make a perfect experiment for his latest contingency plans. Zena had taken a step back as she guessed what Dyson's latest plan was. He knew she couldn't fight him off even if she wanted to. As someone who was coded to protect the archive and everything within, she couldn't interfere with the outside world. That included those who came by to pay her a visit.

"Tell me, Zena, what do you know of Users?" he asked after closing the last bits of data.

Zena tilted her head to one side warily.

The only User she had met in her lifetime was the Creator. He told her that the Archive Data was precious to the Grid, and that she would be the greatest and the only guardian it had ever seen.

"I've never really met any other User," she admitted honestly. "But I've heard that they can do great things, such as modify code and create things at will." Then she felt a cold rush of horror as she realized what Dyson was going to try and accomplish. "Dyson, you can't possibly think that repurposing a User will get you anywhere? I know that you've had your fair share of hurt in the past because of Flynn, but this… this is wrong!"

He suddenly grabbed her by the throat, then he held her against the wall, eyes narrowing with hate.

"I don't care whether this is right or wrong!" he snapped. "That little User ruined everything for me! And now she, along with everyone she cares about will pay."

The Archive Keeper didn't bother fighting back as he released his grip on her. She let out a choking cough before glaring in his direction. Even though she couldn't see him, she could sense where he was standing.

"Dyson, for the last time, please don't do this," she whispered.

She may not have seen what Clu did to that User, but she was aware of what she had heard. And nothing good could come out of it. Attacking a User would only bring trouble to the Grid. Trouble the Grid did not need to see, after Clu's fallout.

"I've already made up my mind. The scientists I recruited have created a special repurposing chamber… one that will work on anyone defiant against Clu's word. And I know the perfect specimen to test it on."

Zena felt a shiver run through her as she heard him leave. There was nothing she could do to stop this. She had never felt more helpless than now.

…

Now, it was a waiting game. Sooner or later, the User would come running back to the Grid. Her ties with Tron and the Renegade made this revenge all the sweeter. He couldn't wait to see the looks on their faces when they realized one of their own had turned against them. Especially when they realized that someone happened to be the very one they had protected for all these cycles.

Finally, after what felt like cycles had passed, the Portal had opened in the outskirt of Argon City. Somehow it was always Argon that had the most attention. Being this close to Tron's new headquarters should have put everyone on edge. But Dyson was determined to get his hands on the User, especially when she seemed so pleased with herself. He wanted more than anything to wipe that smug look off of her face once he knew it was the right opportunity to strike.

Lightning streaked ominously across the sky as Dyson signaled to his repurposed soldiers to strike. The User was no stranger to running across trouble on the Grid, and she was already tense, as if she had known they were waiting. Dyson signaled to one of his soldiers to throw a taser grenade before she could fight back. She would struggle, and given the fact that she had been trained by Tron, that made her all the more difficult an opponent.

Her attacks were quick and could be lethal if she wasn't holding back. Even after one taser grenade was fired, she still fought back. Dyson hated to admit that even he was impressed with the fact that she could hold her own in a fight. That made what he was about to do all the sweeter as he fired the second taser grenade. It would take more than a few soldiers to take down the User he'd been hoping to get his hands on for the final part of his plan.

Despite all of her efforts to fight back, the second taser was enough to knock her out cold. Dyson couldn't help but chuckle in amusement as the soldiers stepped back, deactivating their disks once she was taken down. His helmet receded as he approached the User, whose eyes widened in disbelief upon seeing his familiar face.

"You'll make a fine experiment," he sneered as she blacked out. "Take her to the base. I want to work on this experiment right away," he ordered the soldiers. The soldiers were all too willing to comply. Once they had taken her away, Dyson looked over his shoulder and glared at the city looming ahead of him. "Don't give me that look, old friend. You had this coming. I'm going to make you suffer, for everything you've taken from me."

…

All she could do was struggle against the restraints that held her down. The soldiers that Dyson had repurposed were stronger than she expected. Every fight against them seemed futile. Especially when cuffs were placed around her wrists. It wasn't until they had forced her helmet to collapse that she realized what Dyson was planning. That only enraged her further as she understood the severity of the situation. The cuffs were strong, and it seemed like the more she struggled, the stronger their hold became.

It only just dawned on her what was happening when a sickly orange gas filled the chamber. Her eyes widened in horror as she struggled further. She tried holding her breath in an attempt to protect herself. When that didn't help, any sense of reality seemed to sweep away. Her head was spinning. It felt as if someone was toying with her very thoughts, forcing her to proceed with the process. She tried to fight off the process, but it was helpless.

Any sense of fighting back was lost when her mind went blank. The first thing that she saw was empty darkness. A cold, endless expanse of oblivion. Then, words started forming in the back of her mind. They weren't known at first, but soon she began to understand the meaning behind them.

Perfection was freedom. The Grid was imperfect, unbalanced. Because of the Creator, it was left in chaos. The Son of Flynn had taken over and left programs with little hope of a better future. Clu was gone, because of the Creator. Clu was the rightful leader of the Grid, one of the few programs who could bring peace to the Grid.

The blackness began to clear as she found herself standing in a room. Her head was throbbing with pain as she tried to comprehend what just happened. She looked around warily, only to find that she wasn't alone. Her eyes narrowed when she found a familiar program standing in front of her.

"Tell me, who do you serve?" he asked, his voice quiet enough that it didn't hurt.

She blinked a few times as if it was the dumbest question anyone could have asked.

"Clu," she replied, her voice surprisingly hoarse from lack of use.

The general merely smirked at that, and she was left feeling confused at the look he gave her.

"Good. Do you remember why you were brought here?"

She frowned as she tried to recall what had brought her here in the first place. All that she could remember up until now was darkness. And something else.

The images were faint, but she could picture being surrounded by programs… Programs who were Tron's agents. Her fists clenched at the memory of one of them mocking her for following Clu's orders. And then, the whole group had attacked at once, until she was rescued by him. She looked at the general in confusion once again.

"I-I don't remember my name… or how I got here," she admitted, sounding shaken as she realized what sort of physical damage these programs had done to her could have caused.

"You are my top soldier," the general explained with a reassuring smile. "When I saw what those… barbarians were doing to you, I stopped them. But by the time I did, you already lost consciousness. Your name is Shadow."

Shadow couldn't help but smile back as she realized that he was the one who saved her life. And she had the audacity to forget his name. Now she really felt foolish.

"I'm sorry… I can't remember your name," she said, figuring it was better to be honest than let it linger.

"Those soldiers hit you pretty hard on the head," he told her, once again sounding reassuring as he put a hand on her shoulder. "My name is Dyson."

Dyson… Somehow, that name sounded familiar, but not in a good way. Shadow tried to push the worry out of her mind, though. After all, Dyson was the one who had saved her. She owed him her life, if not anything that she could offer to him.

"Those programs that attacked me, they were Tron's enforcers, weren't they?" she asked after Dyson took her outside the room.

She found herself standing in what appeared to be an extensive hallway leading to who knew where. She would have to make a mental note of remembering where these hallways went.

"Yes, and they are the reason I have brought you here," Dyson replied as he led her to another room. Shadow rose an eyebrow as she saw extensive files that were kept on both Tron and the Renegade. Apparently, they had been causing more problems than she first realized. "The Grid was close to perfection when Clu was still in power. But with his death, it has fallen into chaos once again. Cities need to be cleansed of their imperfection, starting with Purgos."

Shadow was all too quick to agree with Dyson. He was right about the Grid being in chaos. After her encounter with those Enforcers, she had no doubt that they would try to hurt some other innocent program. They needed to be stopped, and the cities that refused to follow Clu's vision of perfection would also need to be cleansed.

"I would be more than happy to serve, under Clu's vision of perfection," she said after giving it some thought.

Dyson merely smirked once again at that, and Shadow was given the coordinates to place her first attack. She knew Purgos like the back of her hand. In fact, she knew most of the cities like the back of her hand. So her attacks would be quick, lethal, and leave everyone shaken. She wouldn't let Clu, or Dyson down. Not after what the Creator had done to them.

AN: I'm excited about this story... mostly because it will be very different from the original. A darker take on what I originally posted, and hopefully longer. Which means, it might take longer for me to post new chapters, because I'll be working on them. As for the typical warnings, I should warn readers ahead of time that there will be mentions of self-harm. Hopefully, this won't trigger anything.

Retrokill - Hehe, glad I could do that :P And, I'm glad that you're enjoying them so much. Hopefully, you'll enjoy this one, too. I'll be interested to see what readers think of it :)