Chapter 1
10 Years Later…
June 6th, 2029
Academy City. With a population of 2.3 million. Located in the former industrial district of Tokyo, the independent, sovereign city-state is home to the Espers, who are gifted with psychic abilities ranging from the non-powered Level 0s to the highest level [known as the Level 5s] only 7 people have reached (the 6th ranked is still unknown to the public). Academy City is still recovering from the incident that occurred from England 6 months ago that had the entire population evacuated. No one knows what started this, but they just decided to forget about it like it never happened.
And then, a new rumor recently began to spread all over the city. It is said that people begin to disappear in alleys whenever they come across a sickly yellow-black colored goo glowing on the streets or buildings. Luckily, it started appearing in School District 7 and the rumor started to become more suspicious to Anti-Skill (the police/military force of Academy City) and Judgement (a disciplinary committee of students tasked alongside Anti-Skill to maintain peace and order within the city's school system, catching those who misuse their abilities for their own personal gains) to begin a full-on investigation.
"Arrrrgh! This is ridiculous! Every time a rumor becomes a potential incident, Kuroko doesn't want me in on this case!" exclaimed a certain Level 5 Electro-master. She has short chestnut hair with a flower hairpin on the right side of her hair, along with her eye color matching her hair. She also wears a summer middle school uniform for rich girls at a certain prestigious school. This is Mikoto Misaka, otherwise known as the Railgun.
Right now, the 15-year-old is complaining that her roommate - Kuroko Shirai – always tells her that she can't get involved in Judgement business as Shirai is a member of Judgement, and it's also because each time Misaka gets involved, she gets a bit trigger happy with her electric shocks. But Misaka just couldn't stand by while scum like Skill-Out or members of an organization within Academy City's dark side prey on the weak and innocent. Despite complaining to herself, she bumped into another friend who is also looking into the rumor as well since she's huge fan of looking into rumors or urban legends.
"Saten! It's good to see you!" Misaka says with a smile to one of her friends.
The girl is pretty-looking (despite being 14 years of age) and is often mistaken as a 16-year-old. She's around Misaka's height and has long raven-black hair reaching down midway on her back. She also has blue eyes and a noticeable small white flower on the left side of her hair. Since it's the weekend, she is wearing black and white blouse and green pants, along with a pair of sneakers. Her name is Ruiko Saten, and she's classified as a Level 0 Esper.
"Oh, hey Misaka!" replies the Level 0 with an excited tone. "What are you doing here?"
"I could ask you the same thing. Let me guess: you're investigating this rumor too?
"You could say that. Uiharu says that she doesn't want me to get involved in it."
Saten recently had a discussion with Kazari Uiharu, who is also a member of Judgement and best friend to the Level 0. She explained that Saten can't be nosing around this time because it could be too dangerous for her. However, being the stubborn girl that she is, likes the thrill and adventure, even though she gets into trouble in the process.
"Hey, I know! Why don't we investigate this rumor together?" asks Saten, still excited for adventure.
Misaka is taken aback by her question. "Me? I-I don't know. I really don't want break Kuroko's word, but I just can't stand by while people are disappearing. And besides, curiosity always gets the better of me more often than I can remember." she thinks as she's still not sure if she should do it.
"Thanks for the offer Saten, but I don't think Uiharu and Kuroko would be happy that we're nosing-" Misaka explains but the bubbly girl just interrupted her.
"Don't be silly! It's not like they can watch our every move 24/7. Come on!" she reassures as she grabbed Misaka's wrist and pulls her along.
"W-Wait! Don't I get a saying in this?! At least let me think for a second! Saten!" she yells, still trying to process at what she said.
A few hours pass and the middle of the day turns into nighttime. The two girls have been looking for anything related to the goo popping up in School District 7 but found nothing so far.
"Man, it's been 4 hours and now it's 6:30. And yet, still no sightings of what that rumor says." Misaka sighs in frustration. She thought this investigation is going to be easy. However, it's getting more difficult to even find something out of the ordinary.
"Relax. I'm sure we'll look again tomorrow after school. We better wrap up before it's past curfew," Saten calmly explains. "Wouldn't want your Dorm Mistress finding out you've been out late at night."
Misaka pales at the thought of it. That lady gives her and Kuroko the creeps and she even twist the latter's neck in a non-lethal way to prove a point of why being out late at night or using an ability inside the dormitory is strictly forbidden within Tokiwadai Middle School's disciplinary code.
As Misaka and Saten turned the next corner, they immediately stopped. Before them lay a sight that was not caused by an Esper. Instead is the same yellow and black goo that are on the walls of several buildings and some of it was spread out on the road. The yellow light from the goo flashed on and off, making it a little eerie.
"What the-? What the heck is this stuff?" The Level 5 Esper questioned as she bent down to observe the goo.
"B-be careful! We don't know what it is. It could be toxic or something!" Saten warned.
"Don't worry, I'm not gonna touch it. Although, this is weird. It looks like the rumor is true: this stuff's been appearing for the past several days, yet whenever we come by to check it out, there's practically no one on the streets." The brunette said while indicating the barren area around them.
"Do you think that – whatever this stuff is - is the reason people are disappearing?" Saten asked.
"I don't know, but I honestly hope that's not the only reason." Misaka said.
Just as the girls were continuing their investigation, a bright light shines down upon them. It seemed to be a bright searchlight. And as the girls covered their eyes as they looked up, they could hear the engines of a jet, which confuses them. How could a jet be approaching them?
"What is that?!" Saten yelled over the noise.
"I have no idea, but there better be a good reason why we're being hit with a huge ass light!" Misaka complained.
However, what they saw isn't really related to the Anti-Skill. As the girls looked up, their eyes widened and gaped at the sight before them. Hovering above them was a strange black aircraft with orange glowing lights. It had a double-decked crew and passenger compartment that was supported by two enormous pylons. This was the Recognizer, a flying craft from the Grid. As the ship landed, the compartment lowered itself down from the pylons like an elevator and revealed two strangers standing on the platform. They were dressed in black skin tight suits with black and lit-up orange armor. On their thighs were round devices, presumably grenades. The elbow joints had batons sticking out and round discs were attached to their backs. Their heads had bizarre looking black helmets that made them look intimidating. These were the Black Guards, the elite forces that patrolled the Grid.
"W-what is that thing?! And who are you?!" The Railgun demanded to the two black suited men. Her shock turned to annoyance when the two beings didn't respond.
"Hey, I'm talking to you! Stop ignoring me! I said, who are you?!"
Saten however, was quite scared at the sight and her friend yelling at the two strangers was making it worse.
"Misaka, don't antagonize them!"
The two Black Guards still didn't say anything. Eventually, they turned their heads toward each other before looking back at the girls. They then walked towards the nearest person, which unfortunately was Saten. They roughly grabbed her by the arms as they began to examine her.
"H-hey, let me go! What are you doing?!" Saten squirmed in their grasp trying to break free, but with no luck.
"Let her go!" Mikoto shouted to the two, only for them to ignore her as they continued their examination.
"This program has no disc. Another stray." One of the Black Guards said to his partner in a deep, modulated voice, scaring the two girls. The two armored men then began dragging the struggling girl back to the Recognizer.
"Let me go! Let me go! W-wait, what do you mean by 'program'?!" Saten yelled as she continued struggling, desperately trying to break free but to no avail.
Misaka immediately went into action, rushing up to her friend and grabbed onto one of the men. "Hey, get your hands off her, you creep!" The only response she got back was a punch to the face from the man, and she ended up with a bruise on her left cheek. While the punch hurt, it only made Mikoto angrier. "Alright, that's it! I'm taking you bastards down!"
The brunette gathered electricity in her hand and with a flick of her wrist, launched the lightning bolt to one of the Black Guards. She smirked, thinking the bonehead would go down quickly. When the dust cleared, her smirk turned into a look of disbelief. "W-wha-? I-Impossible! That attack was strong enough to knock you out!"
The man she shot at had not even suffered a scratch! In fact, he just kept staring at her through the black mask. After a short moment of silence, the man then grabbed one of the round devices on his thigh, pressed the button, and threw it where Misaka was standing. She looked at the device, confused until realizing it was glowing and blinking.
"GRENADE!" Misaka screamed and ran as fast as she could.
BOOOOOM!
The bomb exploded, knocking Mikoto off her feet, but thankfully, due to her running clear from the explosion was not hurt badly.
"Misaka!" Saten screamed.
The two men then returned their attention to their captive and dragged her to the aircraft. Saten was then forced to stand on a lit-up square on the platform as a pair of manacles clamped down on her feet. As the Black Guards returned to their original standing points, the compartment began to rise up. As the compartment reached the edge of the pylons, the Recognizer's jet engines roared to life as the aircraft lifted itself up.
Misaka, stunned for a brief moment, saw the Recognizer taking off and immediately ran after it. "SAAATTEENN!" She yelled in despair as she chased after the ship, only for it to fly further out of her reach. Eventually, the ship disappeared behind several buildings, making Mikoto stop running and collapse onto her knees, punching the ground in agony and frustration. "DAMMIT!"
As the Recognizer flew off with its prisoner, no one on the ship noticed a figure standing on a rooftop a few blocks down. The figure was a young man dressed in similar black attire to the Black Guards. However, he had white lines lit up on his suit and had a helmet that was more round. The young man had noticed the Recognizer taking off with a female prisoner and knew that it was time to take action.
"Looks like they're at it again. Better get to that ship before they take that girl to who knows where."
The young man, revealed to be an older Anon Flynn, begin chasing after the Recognizer from rooftop to rooftop as it carried its 'passenger'. When he got closer to the ship, he took out one of his Batons attached to his thighs and launched a grappling hook from it. Thankfully, the grappling hook attached to one of the pylons, allowing Anon to reel himself up to the flying craft. As he held on, he noticed the Recognizer flying towards an abandoned building within School District 19, probably where the Blackguards would take their prisoners to have them 're-purposed'.
Meanwhile, Saten was looking through the transparent platform as the craft flew to its destination. She had to admit, despite being terrified of her current situation, she was really enjoying the view from up in the air. Sure, it was similar to flying in an airliner, but she was actually able to see Academy City below her in all its glory at night, even feeling the wind blow on her face felt amazing. Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end.
The Recognizer landed in front of the building, a really large warehouse. As the compartment of the Recognizer came down to floor level, the two Black Guards approached Saten as the manacles automatically came off her. Before she could attempt to run away, the two armored men roughly grabbed her and dragged her to the warehouse entrance. As this occurred, the black suited figure that was Anon quietly jumped down from his position from the Recognizer and sneaked up on the roof. When he got up there, he finds an exposed window and jumps in it, landing on a walkway. He sees the guards drag the girl to a platform that speedily lowers them to the underground levels. Seeing his chance, he jumps down and uses his grappling hook to lower himself down to the lower levels before the platform elevator doors closes.
Luckily, the hallways are empty. So, he discreetly followed them to a room they just entered, and the automatic door closes on Anon.
"Looks like this where they re-purpose these innocent people into brainwashed puppets. Damn them. I gotta find a way to sabotage their operation or else that girl's a goner." Anon thought, knowing he would be forced to Derezz her if it happens. But he won't let that happen. After all, he was taught by the best. Then, it hit him: he could find the control room and destroy it before the Black Guards succeed. But he only has 3 minutes and when that time is up, it's End of Line for her.
Inside the re-purposing room, Saten was dragged to a spot in the room where light shone on her. The two Black Guards then stood by her sides at attention. "W-why have you brought me here? What's going on?" Instead of an answer, the two armored men held up their index fingers. To her surprise, small blazes of flames ignited on their fingers similar to a blowtorch. Much to her shock and embarrassment (as she blushes), the Guards slowly ran down their flamed fingers down Saten's clothing, cutting up everything she was wearing!
"AAAAAGGHH! Stop it! Why are you stripping me?! I'm not an idol!" Saten screamed and blushed in humiliation as she was left completely nude. She did her best trying to cover her exposed perfect breasts (which are surprisingly a little bigger than Misaka's), but it was no use.
The two men ignored her. "Preparing to rectify program." The Guards said.
Before the armored men could do anything else, the lights went out. And just then it is replaced with red lights.
"What was that?" One of the men asked.
"Don't know." The other replied. "Inform the Alpha we have an intruder."
But before they can do anything, something fast flew through one of them, and instantly his body shatters into thousands of cubical voxels, which scatter on the ground like broken glass, with only the guard's disk remaining intact. The fast flying object flew back to an unknown figure and he catches it.
Saten gasped at the sight. She became scared when that guard was killed. Killed? Or was it something else? Anyways, standing before her and the remaining guard was another male dressed in similar attire to the Blackguards, but the person was wearing a different helmet, round and pointed to where the chin was located. Small dots of white lights lit up on the suit. Seeing this strange person made the girl shiver in fear.
The remaining Black Guard stepped away from Saten and grabbed his Identity disc from their backs, activating the light edge blade surrounding his disc.
"Halt, Progra-," the guard orders, but was immediately silenced when the figure ran up and slide under him with his knees and use his disc to slice through the program's neck, Derezzing him immediately.
The figure – Anon – then looks back at where the girl was standing but realizes she's not there. Suddenly, he hears the sound of an activated disc and turns around only to see the naked girl holding up one of the Derezzed guard's discs with her two hands, terrified. Since she's not hurt, he was able to get a look at the girl's face and he was a bit blown away. She was surprisingly a very beautiful girl with blue eyes and a single white flower attached to the left side of her long raven-black hair. And despite her being nude, her hourglass body looks perfect and physically fit. And although this might sound a bit embarrassing from Anon, her body has zero traces of body hair and her chest is the perfect size, making her more like a goddess. But he snaps those embarrassing thoughts out of his head and focus on what's more important: getting the girl to safety. But first, he needs calm her down.
"S-Stay back! I'll use this!" Saten yells with fear in her tone.
Anon just simply and casually deactivates his disc and attaches it back on his back. He simply walks toward her, but she moves back a bit, still scared.
"I said, get away from me, you pervert!" She repeats.
Anon speaks through the helmet with a modulated but slightly less creepy voice. "I'm not here to hurt you or do something disgusting to you. I'm here to help."
Although his voice doesn't sound creepy like those Black Guards, Saten calms down a bit but still holds up the disc. "W-Why are you here?"
"Like I said, I'm here to help." He responds.
"Then… Who are you?" She asks.
"That's not important. What's more important is that you're okay."
Saten then realizes he's not the enemy or a pervert. Just a guy trying to do the right thing. So, she drops the disc and drops to her knees, tears in her eyes. Suddenly, she feels a cloak wrapped around her exposed body and looks up toward Anon's jet-black helmet, her face reflecting off it.
"We need to get you out of here. I've set this place wired to blow via this detonator I'm holding." He explains showing her the detonator.
He then simply picks her up and carries her bridal style and runs out of the room towards the platform elevator. Luckily, emergency power was able to keep the elevator operational, otherwise it would be difficult to grapple up with a girl without clothing on. Saten didn't say a word as they made it outside of the warehouse from a safe distance. He then puts her down as she stands up. He then takes out the detonator and detonates the bomb, causing the entire warehouse to go up in flames and smokes.
A few minutes go by and Saten finally breaks the silence. "H-Hey. Thank you for saving my life. I owe you one."
Anon simply replies, "You don't owe me anything. I'm just doing what's right. That's all that matters."
"Okay, but I have some questions: Just who the hell are those guys?! What were they trying to do to me?! And what's with that sickly glowing yellow-black goo my friend and I saw earlier?!
Before he could answer her questions, sirens and the sound of a helicopter can be heard.
"I have to go." He says.
"Wait! You didn't answer my questions!" She exclaims.
"I'm sorry, but I can't let the authorities see me." He simply explains.
"But-," She retorts but Anon just ran off and parkour on the rooftops into the night.
The sirens got closer and Anti-Skill along with the chopper found her and the still burning building safely behind her in the background. When the authorities asked if she was okay, she simply didn't say a word to them, not in the mood to answer their questions. Just then, someone teleported out of thin air along with two others run toward her. One of the girls is Misaka with a bandage on her bruised cheek and the two other girls are their friends. One has auburn hair styled as pigtails with matching eye color and wears an exact Tokiwadai uniform as Misaka is wearing. This is Kuroko Shirai, the Level 4 Teleporter. And as for the other girl, she has short black hair with a flower headband on top of her head. She has brown eyes and wears a Sakugawa Middle School sailor uniform. Her name is Kazari Uiharu, a Level 1 with the ability to change the room temperature of an object. Both Uiharu and Kuroko are wearing green Judgement armbands as they're on duty.
"SATEN!" The three girls shouted in relief and excitement that their friend was okay.
"Guys! I'm glad you found me!" Saten says with a bit of joy.
"We were so worried about you! When Misaka told us what happened, we thought we lost you!" Uiharu cries in an almost dramatic way while hugging her best friend.
"Uiharu, I'm fine. Really." Saten says as she sweatdrops.
"We we're lucky that the explosion here tipped us off. On another note, what were you and Sissy thinking?! You two sneaked behind me and Uiharu's back just so you can do the ONE THING we told you not to do!" Kuroko questions them.
"Shirai, we really didn't mean it and we're sorry. I'm sorry. All we want was to try to help in any way we can. I know we're not Judgement officers like you and Uiharu are and I don't care what you do to me or Misaka, but we can't just stand by while people are hurt, missing, or worse. We're supposed to be in this together! As friends! And if you two can't see that, then your no better than the ones that keep others in the dark that resulted them in worse scenarios."
Saten's speech shocks her three friends, mostly towards Kuroko and Uiharu. Misaka smiles proudly that her friend is still standing at what she believes in.
"S-Saten… I don't know what to say. You're becoming more philosophical than Misaka is." Uiharu responds to what her friend said.
"Hey!" shouted Misaka, somewhat offended at what the Level 1 said.
Kuroko only sighs. "I guess there's no point in stopping you and Sissy anymore, is there?"
"Nope." Saten replies with a pop sound for the letter 'p'.
"Oh, alright. You and Sissy can get involved on one condition: promise me and Uiharu that you won't do something like this again. Okay?"
Saten and Misaka nod in response as of right now things are going to be different.
"Uh, Uiharu? Could let go of me?", the Level 0 asks. "I kinda need some breathing room right now."
Uiharu lets go of hugging her. "Sorry."
"Hey, Saten? Uh, where are you're clothes? And why are you… ummmm… naked?" Misaka asks with a blush on her face.
"Hm? Oh, that!" Saten chuckles nervously. "It's kind of a long story."
Saten decided to tell them what happened and to be honest, it didn't sit well with them.
"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTTT?!" The three shouted.
Uiharu was blushing red and nearly fainted. Kuroko and Misaka have the same red faces as Uiharu but are angry that these 'apes' - her sissy and Saten described to the her and her Judgement partner - would do something so savage. However, Misaka [with a red face] angrily snarled that they tried to do something to her friend (Not what you think, Zapper) and almost caused a blackout in the 19th School District.
Up on a rooftop elsewhere, Anon watches the 4 girls happy together and got kinda comedic when the pretty girl in the cloak told her friends what happened. Surprisingly, he smiles and happily chuckles at how well they get along.
However, this made him a bit lonely about not having friends. Sure, he's made a lot of good friends in the Grid, but zero friends in the Real World. "As if I'll ever make friends here." He says in his thoughts as he walks away into the night.
A/N: Hey everyone! Tython055 here! This concludes the first chapter of TRON: Awakening. Stay tuned as I'll be giving you some TRON facts to clear up any confusions.
TRON FACTS:
1) The Suit Anon is wearing is based on the Rinzler suit design from TRON: Uprising (the one without a 'T' emblem).
2)The Blackguards and Recognizer in the chapter are based on the ones from Kevin Flynn's version of the Grid.
Leave feedback and tell me what you think of this chapter. Next one is coming soon.
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