I didn't get everything I wanted in here for sake of time and space, but I got the main point of what I wanted. I had a lot of fun with this one...mainly because of one little change I did...
Chapter 21
State Of Mind
Accessing Archive Data…
Oh how I've missed being a little mischievous. Not many know this, but back on the Old System in the days of the MCP, I used to lead a rebellion. Unfortunately, we had a mole in our rebellion and as a result, Tron was captured and I was Repurposed. I've missed causing chaos and watching as Sentries went crazy trying to figure out who's to blame, the one dressing up as my husband or the two tricksters who were still active.
I've missed the thrill of the chase, but I'm still making sure that I don't get myself caught. I can't afford to alert Clu to my, or my son's existence. I've been Repurposed once…I don't want to be Repurposed again.
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Curfew had fallen before Beck could get out of the stronghold, but neither he nor Tron minded it when the Child Basic had to stay overnight. Able had become more understanding with Beck's secret identity and no longer forced Beck to stay behind when he knew Tron had something in mind that cycle.
But this night was different. Beck couldn't place what it was…but something just didn't feel right. He got out of bed and wandered around the stronghold, trying to clear his head.
The young Monitor had just walked past Tron's room when he heard the shriek.
Beck immediately whipped around and tried to open his father's door but to no avail. Tron had locked it tightly.
"Tron! Open up!" Beck yelled, banging on the door.
He didn't get any reply other than a horrible, haunting, staticky scream. Dear Users, the Monitor sounded like he was being derezzed!
Beck finally had enough of trying to force the door open and whipped out his Disk, letting it hum as it activated and he rammed it into the door, melting a way through.
The boy leaped into the room just to see the older Monitor thrashing.
"NO! Please! Leave them alone!" he howled, "Take me instead! No…NO!"
He thrashed so much that he fell out of bed, tumbling to the floor as he continued to scream, circuits flickering and flaring wildly.
"Tron! Easy!" Beck called, shaking the Monitor's shoulder, "WAKE UP!"
Suddenly, Beck found himself pinned facedown to the ground with something very hot and very sharp pricking the back of his neck.
"Tron…it's me! Beck!" Beck yelled, "Friend! Remember!?"
He heard a shuddering breath and the weight that knelt on the small of his back ceased. Beck turned around to face his father, who was leaning against the side of the bed, shaking badly and gasping, trying to calm himself.
Beck came cautiously closer and laid a hand on Tron's shoulder. The Monitor grabbed it and held onto the younger Program's hand as if it were the only thing keeping him from fading.
"Bad dream?" Beck asked softly.
Tron gave a clipped, mute nod before answering.
"I am so sorry,"
"Mind telling me what happened?"
Tron wearily opened his eyes, shuddering as the remnants of the nightmare came back.
He'd been strapped to Dyson's table again…but this time, Dyson brought out two more victims. A slender, blonde female Program dressed in white and a tiny, brunette toddler boy with steely blue eyes that cut you right to the core.
Dyson threatened Tron, saying he would Repurpose them both if Tron didn't join Clu's side. Tron was a bit too slow in his answer and so Dyson attacked the mother and child. The woman burst into thousands upon thousands of sapphire cubes while the little boy sprinted away, eyes wide and terrified as he finally came to Tron and hid behind him. Dyson grabbed the boy by the Disk dock and lifted him high, making the child scream and thrash wildly.
"DADDY!" the boy shrieked…
"…ron!?"
Tron snapped out of the nightmare to see his son's worried face before him.
"Thank the Users you're ok," Beck sighed, "I called your name five times…but you were out of it,"
"I don't want to talk about the nightmare, Beck," Tron stated firmly, "It's my problem,"
"But…"
"Let it go, Beck,"
"Tron…"
"I said, let it go," Tron growled, "Go back to sleep. Curfew will be lifting soon,"
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"Hmm…which one says 'overthrow Clu'?" Mara asked, looking up from her Disk at Yori as the latter looked up from her datapad.
The two women were currently driving down the highway, on autopilot, for a delivery to a client who couldn't make it to the garage. Yori looked at the younger Program as she flipped to a green colored style that would replace her normal aqua colored hair.
"Ooo!" the girl beamed, "I could pull this off…don't you think?"
"No!" her Bit chirped.
Mara looked at the little creature and playfully swatted it.
"Who asked you?" she teased, making Yori laugh.
"Honestly, Mara, I like your hair how it is," the older Program started, "It's just you. You certainly stick out in a crowd…makes finding you easier for the rest of us!"
Mara playfully stuck out her tongue before looking out the window.
"Hey! Look!" she beamed, pointing at a brightly colored patch of graffiti on the sign.
Both Programs smiled as the colors reflected off their faces. The Occupation hadn't had the chance to scrub off the evidence of their last escapade, so the whole city had a beautiful view of their hopeful message.
Suddenly, a large crash caught both women's attention. Yori gasped, switching the truck off autopilot over to manual and jackknifing the vehicle to avoid getting hit.
"Mara! Brace yourself!" the older Program ordered…
Right as they slammed into the crash-site.
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What could possibly frighten the most battle-hardened, fearless warrior on the Grid? It had to be something really bad to rattle Tron like that…
Beck shook it off, he'd worry about it later. Right now, he had to get to work…
That's when he saw Zed working on a bike…
And talking to himself.
"It's ok, you're in gifted hands," he crooned as he worked, "Zed'll take good care of you. Plus, I know you'd never leave me for the Renegade,"
"Should I be worried that you're talking to your bike?" Beck teased.
"Can you blame me?" Zed retorted, shooting a glare at his best friend, "Going a little stir crazy from pulling all these double shifts. 'Cause someone's never here!"
"Ouch," Beck thought dryly before replying aloud, "I'm here now, lemme help…"
"You wanna help?" Zed asked dryly, "Get my old bike back from the Renegade,"
"Aw c'mon, Zed, that's the nicest bike I've been on!" Beck whined internally…but he kept a stone face…just like his father's.
"You're not still sore about that, are you?" Beck asked, coming around the other side of the bike.
Zed gave a heavy sigh, "I just wish you'd be on my side for once…like you used to be,"
"I'm always on your side," Beck thought, "That's why I'm doing this. For you and Mara and everyone,"
Speaking of Mara…Beck barely noticed her walk up until Zed stopped working and looked up at her. Beck frowned, his eyes narrowing slightly as Mara's Bit zipped nervously around her. Something was off…not right…
"You just get back?" he asked, ignoring the feeling, "Everything go ok?"
"Yep," Mara replied.
"No!" her Bit retorted.
"…There was a…minor…fender-bender," Mara started nonchalantly, "But…I'm fine. Better than fine. I feel…purified,"
And that set Beck's Monitor code off, blaring alarms flickered across his vision but he shut them down…even though that didn't mean he wasn't worried about it.
Something about 'purified' triggered the alarm.
"Like everything's in focus," Mara finished, a beatific smile playing on her face.
And that's when he saw it.
Her eyes.
Instead of the normal aqua color that matched her hair, they were a stone grey color rimmed with orange.
"You sure you didn't hit your head or anything?" Beck asked.
Mara gave a loud, sneering laugh that made Beck go on high alert…something that only got reserved for Gridbugs or Occupation soldiers.
"Accidents put things in perspective," Mara added in slight sing-song, "I mean, just look outside!"
"I see Recognizers," Zed said slowly, "Lots of 'em,"
Beck's blue eyes hardened as he tensed, a low rumble building up in his throat.
"Exactly…" Mara sighed, "They're so…beautiful,"
Both Beck and Zed looked at each other and then at Mara.
This was coming from the Program that led two pranksters in a vandalizing brigade, who helped free said pranksters from some sort of torture device, who stared down a Recognizer and shot it with free code…
The one Program who believed in Tron's Revolution other than the Monitor's son.
And she was calling Recognizers not ugly things that needed to be destroyed…but beautiful!?
"Beautiful!?" Zed demanded, "Where'd she say this accident was?"
"She didn't…" Beck said slowly, backing up as he made his mind up to look into this, "But it's…it's nothing to worry about…"
"Are you blind!?" Zed screeched, "Something is obviously wrong with our friend! Shouldn't we be doing something about it?!"
"Not we, me," Beck muttered softly as he jogged back up to his and his mother's dorm.
He had just opened the door just to find his mother sitting at the window, looking at the Recognizers flying in.
"Mom?" Beck asked, "I just heard from Mara that there was a crash…I wanted to make sure you were ok,"
"I'm fine," Yori murmured, looking out the window, "Better than fine,"
"…That's what Mara said…" Beck said slowly as he came up and put a hand on his mother's shoulder, "she looked a little off though…are you sure you're ok?"
Yori gave a soft laugh and turned to face her son. Beck noted that like Mara, his mother's normally dark blue irises were tinted a dim grey and rimmed with an orange band.
"As I said, I'm perfectly fine," she smiled, "I feel much safer now…Tesler's making sure we're protected,"
"I thought you said that's a bad thing…"
Yori looked at him strangely.
"Beck, that's sedition," she blinked, "Why would I ever say something like that?"
Beck shook his head, grabbing his mother's shoulders and slightly shaking her.
"Mom, this isn't funny. What would Dad say if he…"
He didn't get to finish because he suddenly found himself on the floor. Users! He didn't think his mother would move that fast!
"Mom!" Beck yelped as her staff unfolded and she tapped his chest with it, "What…"
"Let me make one thing clear," Yori growled, "Your father was a traitor. Always was and if he were alive, he would still be!"
"Mom!" Beck cried, "What has gotten into you!? You love Dad…you said he was always doing the right thing outside of always working himself to death! What Tesler's doing is wrong!"
"I see I'm going to have to teach you a bit of a lesson then, aren't I?" Yori started, lifting her staff again and whirling it down towards her son…
Only for Beck to roll out of the way and up to his feet. Yori swung at him, her circuits tinging an unhealthy looking orange color as she attempted to hit her son. But, due to his heritage and his training, Beck dodged every attack.
"Mom…calm down!" Beck tried to placate her, "Please…this isn't you!"
Yori didn't answer…except for jabbing at Beck with her staff. The young Monitor put the center of his Disk in the way, encircling the staff, in then flipped the staff out of his mother's hands, cracking her good in the chin as he did, and let it clatter to the floor…only for her to come back around with her foot and catch Beck in the side of the head. Beck collapsed to the ground with a groan as he held his head.
"LOOK OUT!"
Beck looked up in time just to see the sparking end of a staff slamming into his chest. The young Monitor shrieked in pain as electricity sparked up and down his frame…and everything went black.
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When Beck came to, he saw a dark shape sitting on the bed next to him and he lashed out…only to have his wrist firmly locked in an iron grip.
"Take it easy," a deep, growling voice ordered as the speaker came into clarity.
"Tron?" Beck whispered and his father took down his helmet, his scarred gaze taking in Beck's beat up form.
"Able called," he said, "He heard you yell and that your mother took off, said something about teaching you some sort of lesson,"
"Yeah, how to get my butt handed to me," Beck grumbled, "She…it wasn't her fault though. Something's happened to her…and Mara…and almost every Program in Argon. She…"
He bowed his head and Tron put a comforting hand on the boy's back.
"She called my dad a traitor. Said that if he were still alive he still would be one," Beck muttered, "A couple millicycles ago, she told me he was a hero…I don't know what's going on…but I bet it has something to do with the crash…"
"Crash?" Tron questioned, "I will admit, there've been more and more accidents on the road…and Programs have been reporting changes in their friends behavior after that. You believe that has something to do with your mother's change in personality?"
"I don't think…" Beck growled, "I know,"
He started to get up, only to groan in pain.
"Not so fast," Tron said gently, easing the boy back down, "Your system is still repairing…rest. I'll let you know if anything happens,"
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Not long after his conversation with his father, Beck was back on track and fully repaired. He grabbed his father's Disk and his baton and headed out to investigate what happened to his mother, Mara, and many other Programs.
"Please join us for music and mingling in Argon square!" Tesler announced as Recognizers flew across the city, "My treat, because you deserve it Programs!"
Beck looked up at the sky as he reached the barrier around the crash.
"Since when does Tesler throw parties?" Beck murmured.
He shook his head and plugged the recoder into the barrier, making a grid pattern form on it. Beck carefully moved the squares around so that there was a big enough space for him to climb through.
He leaped on top of one of the cars, climbing easily to the top of it.
"Now…what caused you…" Beck thought as he looked around…
"Hold it right there, Renegade!"
Beck whipped around to face the speaker.
It was Zed.
"Go home before you get hurt," Beck growled sternly.
Zed's eyes narrowed.
"No," he snapped.
Beck's eyes flickered in warning and he jumped off the car, stalking up to his friend.
"Don't push me…" he warned, not in the mood put another one of his friends in danger.
"Don't push me…" Zed mocked making Beck growl.
"What is it with you?" Beck demanded, "Do you want to get derezzed!?"
"What I want is to help my friend, Mara," Zed explained, "See this accident? She was in it…"
He jumped off the car.
"And it knocked something loose in her head!" Zed growled, "And my other friend, the one Program who should be helping me, is nowhere to be found!"
"Wrong, I'm right here," Beck thought, seriously considering derezzing his helmet, but his father's advice came back to mind.
All telling Zed would do would put him in the crosshairs…not to mention Zed had even said that even if the 'Renegade' was one of his friends he'd still be the first to turn him in. Now, Beck didn't think he'd actually do it…but it was better safe than sorry.
"Why am I telling you?" Zed sighed, "He's not your friend,"
"No, because I am him,"
Zed put his hands in the air.
"I'm starting to think he's not mine either," he muttered…
And that's when Beck found the first clue.
The young Monitor came forwards and grabbed Zed's wrist, making the other Program cry out in indignation.
"What's this?" Beck asked, indicating the orange smear that marred Zed's hand, and then noticed that the orange dust covered almost everything in the scene.
Zed snatched his hand back.
"Obviously a clue," he snapped, "You can thank me later,"
Beck fought down the snap that he so wanted to say, and made his way over to the tanker that had the most orange dust on it.
"See that!" Zed announced, pointing at the controls, "This tanker is a drone,"
"I know that, Zed,"
"It was driven by remote,"
"I know that too," Beck thought dryly.
Beck took out his Disk, activating it and making Zed yelp.
"Relax, I'm not going to hurt you," Beck sighed, driving the edge into the glass, giving them an entrance into the tanker, and pulling out the drone.
Zed pulled up the security feed in the tanker.
"Good thing one of us is a mechanic," Zed said with a smug grin and Beck resisted the urge to shake his friend, "Let's see what its camera picked up,"
The two watched as the tanker veered off the bridge…on purpose.
"The tanker was programmed to crash," Beck noted.
"Waaay ahead of you," Zed replied, "Try to keep up. And it wasn't the only tanker to crash this cycle,"
"Why would someone crash six of their own trucks?" Beck murmured.
"Danger, incoming,"
Beck turned around, noticing that a seventh tanker was rushing down the road.
"Up," Beck ordered, jumping up to the top of the bridge while Zed struggled to get up with him.
Beck snatched his friend's wrist and hauled him up to the same level before running to the edge.
"Anyone for seven?" Zed asked.
"We need to stop it," Beck started, backing up to get some distance, "Or whatever happened to Mara will happen to others,"
He pulled out his baton, flipping it in the air before running forwards.
"You coming?" he asked as he leaped off the bridge, rezzing his…Zed's…bike underneath him.
He looked behind him and saw Zed racing forwards to catch up.
"We need to catch that truck before it crashes," Beck yelled as Zed pulled up beside him, "Try to keep up!"
"Try not to make me hate you!"
Beck rolled his eyes and urged the bike forwards, weaving through the traffic like and expert with Zed right on his tail.
They had nearly gotten to the truck…when it swerved into a lower branch.
"Now what!?" Zed demanded.
"How's the tuning radius on that thing?" Beck asked, grinning wickedly.
Zed was not going to like this but…
"Turning what!?" Zed screeched as Beck shot forwards, wrenching the bike's handlebars so that he flowed into a smooth turn that made his knee brush the pavement.
He heard Zed coming up behind him not long after.
"What happened to making me not hate you!?" Zed demanded.
"Well, this certainly won't help," Beck muttered, rushing the guardrail and crashing through it, Zed yelling as they hit open air…and then thudded safely on the pavement below.
"The truck!" Zed announced, pointing at the tanker in front of them, "It worked!"
"Not yet!" Beck yelled as an emergency vehicle swerved in front of them…and let three Black Guards out.
"You're very popular," Zed deadpanned.
"They're not here to make friends," Beck reminded him as a Black Guard's lightribbon flashed to life, "Let me handle this,"
The second Black Guard's ribbon flared to life, tapping Beck between the two. Immediately Beck saw that they were more than likely going to converge and make him wreck…and then the third Guard came up behind him, ramming him against the wall. Beck gave a low growl of pain before urging his bike forwards, out of the Guard's reach.
The young Monitor took out his Disk, decelerating, and slammed it into the wheel of the Guard's bike, derezzing it and letting the Guard tumble harmlessly to the ground.
Beck looked up just to see his previous prediction of the whole convergence come true.
He took out his Disk and calmly threw it at a sign, slicing through a support and making it tumble to the ground, creating a ramp. Beck shot off the ramp and landed right in between the two Guards. He detached his Disk once again and smacked the spokes of the left Guard's wheel, making it derezz from under him before elbowing the other Guard and making him wreck as well.
Beck accelerated, coming closer to his friend.
"Let's go," he ordered and they both shot forwards.
As soon as he got close enough, Beck reached for the tanker, his hand closing over a handle while he derezzed his bike with another. He clipped the baton back to his leg and held out his hand for Zed.
Zed stood up on the bike, wavering as the bike started to wobble.
"Oh this is not fun!" Zed yelped, grabbing for Beck's hand right as the bike started hitting caution sticks.
Beck grabbed his friend's hand right as the bike fell from underneath him, derezzing underneath the tanker's wheels.
"Now you owe me two bikes!" Zed snapped, turning to face Beck, who rolled his eyes.
"C'mon," Beck growled, edging along the side and opening the door, sliding in.
He saw the camera mounted to the back of the drone and disabled it before settling into the driver's seat.
"According to this…the tanker's going to crash in a tunnel," he said, looking at a screen.
"You mean that tunnel?" Zed asked.
"We need to switch this thing back over to manual," Beck started…and then Zed stole the drone from Beck, "HEY!"
"Take the wheel!" Zed ordered, "When I say so, jackknife the truck!"
Beck grabbed the wheel.
"Ready?" Zed asked, "NOW!"
Beck wrenched the wheel around, feeling the tanker's axels shriek in protest as they were wrenched in a position they were not supposed to go, feeling the jolts as the tanker slammed through the guardrail of a bridge overlooking the river below.
They finally came to a halt.
"MOVE!"
The truck started sliding backwards and Zed turned to his friend.
"Now what?!"
"You're asking me!?" Beck demanded.
"Door! Get the door! Jump!"
"We have to jump," Beck reiterated, kicking door open and grabbing Zed's arm, hurling "
Both boys leaped out of the tanker, rolling to a stop and looking up right as the tanker went over the side, crashing into the water below. Beck stood up, the voxels that remained of the guardrail crunching under his feet.
Zed started laughing.
"That's hilarious," he grinned, "'You're asking me!?'"
Beck rolled his eyes right as an explosion rocked the Grid.
A sick feeling twisted his core as more and more explosions sounded off.
"Corruption, sickness, pain,"
"Know how we'll stop these trucks?" Beck asked, to which Zed shook his head, "Follow the victims,"
"I knew that!" Zed snorted.
"Sure you did, buddy, sure you did,"
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They hid in the shadows of the 'hospital' where they brought the injured Programs. Beck made sure no one was looking and sprinted forwards, agilely leaping over a barricade like it was nothing…while Zed got to the top and tripped, falling to the floor with a yelp.
"Zed!" Beck hissed turning back around.
"What? I'm fine!" Zed retorted, getting to his feet…and then freezing.
The Renegade had called him by name…he had never told him that.
"Wait, how did you know my name?" Zed asked, running to catch up with the young Monitor.
"You told me," Beck replied, not really paying attention.
"I never told you tha…"
But Beck had already slid down the ladder, and snuck over to the window of a lab.
"What's taking you so long!?" cane Pavel's voice from behind the glass.
"It's a complicated process," a female voice said, annoyed, "In order to trigger the pathogenic code, it needs to be done right,"
"…I'm going to pretend I know what that means,"
Beck gave a soft snort, and Pavel said he was smarter than him. Yeah right.
"I'm talking about activating the orange stuff," the female growled, exasperated.
Beck leaned in closer to listen…when he heard Zed yelping as he fell down the ladder. The Child Basic shot over to the ladder and caught his friend at the bottom of the ladder, desperately praying that Pavel didn't hear them…
"Danger!"
He heard footsteps nearing the window and Beck grabbed Zed, pulling him against the wall and covering the Basic's mouth with his hand, leaning back as far as he could while muffling Zed's sounds of protest.
"I need to finish calibrating this antenna!" the female voice announced and Pavel's footsteps faded away.
"Why are you telling me? Do it already!" Pavel snapped, "And pick up the pace! The party's waiting!"
Beck didn't dare move until…
"Safe,"
He let go of Zed, earning a black glare from the Basic.
Beck looked up at the tower above them.
"That tower's what's controlling your friend Mara," Beck started, "And anyone else who's breathed even a speck of that orange stuff,"
"So in theory…if we destroy the tower, everyone goes back to normal?" Zed reasoned, standing back up, "You don't happen to have a spare mega-bomb on you?"
Beck didn't know if he was being serious or sarcastic, he didn't even get a chance to reply.
"Dirigible launch in progress. For your safety, stand clear of bay doors,"
Beck gave a wicked grin.
"I do now," he smirked, "C'mon!"
He and Zed both ran towards the rising dirigible nearing the edge of the platform…when Zed hesitated. Beck didn't see him stop and ran right into him, throwing the both of them off of the platform and onto the loading dock of the dirigible.
"Watch it!" Zed snapped.
"You were the one who hesitated," Beck retorted, getting up and helping Zed to his feet.
"Well you…"
Beck clapped his hand over Zed's mouth.
"Shh! We'll be caught if you don't be quiet," he warned and Zed gave a begrudging nod.
The two stopped their bickering as music started up. Beck gave a shuddering sigh as he briefly closed his eyes. More than anything he wished that his friends could enjoy something like this…just not under the threat of being controlled by Tesler. Mara was probably down there…along with his mother. He shook off his pain and made it to the edge next to Zed right as the latter activated his mask.
"Good thinking," Beck applauded, "Don't want those guards coming after you later,"
"It's not for them," Zed corrected, the light inside the mask lighting up, "I'd rather not inhale any of that,"
He pointed to the thick orange haze right as the main screen lit up, displaying the System Administrator's name…and the crowd went nuts! Beck gave a low growl, tensing while Zed's eyes narrowed.
"We can't leave Mara alone down there," Zed stated, "I'm going after her,"
He walked over to the emergency chutes and put one on, the reddish light fading to a cool teal color as it synced.
"She must mean a lot to you," Beck said with a faint smile as he came over and helped his friend,
"More than you'll ever know," Zed muttered as Beck made sure that the chute would open.
"Your friends are lucky to have you looking out for them," Beck told him, standing back and giving some final instructions, "Glide with your arms out and land with your feet moving,"
"I got it," Zed snapped, "I've used a Tron chute before,"
"No you haven't,"
"Ok," Zed admitted, "But I've seen it done, how hard can it be?"
He steeled himself and stood on the edge, freezing at seeing how high up he was.
Beck shook his head and gave his friend a gentle nudge. Zed wasn't expecting it and jumped…falling off the dirigible and towards the ground. The Child Basic started breathing easier when Zed opened the chute and glided well, not so gracefully, to the ground.
Beck turned around and started towards the helm of the ship. He watched as Pavel and the female scientist, Keller, walked out and he snuck in, disarmed and disabled the guards, and he wrenched the controls around, driving it towards the tower.
"Danger! Intruder! Behind you, Monitor!"
Beck didn't even have to turn around to know who it was.
"You!" Pavel snarled.
"I'm setting an alternate course," Beck stated, not taking his eyes off the tower, "You can leave now or stick around for the fireworks,"
He heard Pavel's Disk unsheathing.
"I love fireworks!" Pavel cackled, lunging forwards while the Grid told Beck what side the commander was coming from.
Beck dodged out of the way, launching a kick at Pavel's midsection and sending him flying with a loud 'oof!'
Pavel got up and charged, yelling angrily while Beck stood perfectly still, seeming to teleport out of the way as Pavel slashed down the air where Beck had been less than a nano ago. Beck grabbed Pavel's wrist and twisted the commander around, not giving much of an effort, but still making it hard for Pavel to break out of the iron grip. Beck flicked the commander into the air, kneeing him in the gut while kicking Pavel's Disk behind him, a low growling purr rumbling through the air.
Pavel brought out his staff and derezzed the Guard in front of him, taking his Disk as he did.
"That was fun," Pavel grinned as he took the Guard's Disk off his staff and let it ignite.
He charged at Beck while the young Monitor unsheathed his Disk, also charging forwards. The Child Basic kicked Pavel in the chest, knocking him flat before hurrying back to the controls, keeping the dirigible on track…
"BEHIND YOU!"
Beck dodged out of the way once again, Disk sliding out in one practiced move as he blocked Pavel again, knocking away the Disk and then the staff and then repeated the process. Disk, staff, repeat.
Pavel yelled, thrusting his staff at Beck's chest…and Beck dimly remembered his mother doing the same thing. He put the center of the Disk in the way, encircling the staff, in then flipped the staff out of Pavel's hands, cracking the commander good in the chin as he did, and let it clatter to the floor.
Beck leaped up, slamming one foot and then the other into the side of Pavel's head, knocking him back again only to have Pavel charge him again, screeching angrily as they engaged in Disk play again.
Beck grabbed Pavel's arm and flipped him over his back, the commander landed on his feet and straightened…only to have a staff crack down over the top of his head.
Pavel went down as Keller stood up.
"I had him…you know," Beck told her.
The scientist gave a wry smile and shrugged.
"Yeah…I still needed to do that," she replied…
Pavel leaped back up, yelling with Disk raised. Beck settled back into a fighting position, Disk raised and growling darkly…before Pavel froze, fear painting over his face.
And the commander bolted out of the room as fast as he could.
Beck and Keller looked behind them at the viewport…and saw the tower looming before them.
"Run!" Keller yelled.
Beck made sure that the scientist was in front of him as they ran. They both snatched a chute as they ran into the loading bay, jumping right as the dirigible exploded…and the tower went down with it.
The young Monitor looked over to see Keller going in a different direction, most likely getting ready to run from Tesler once Pavel gave him his report.
As Beck hit the ground, he stopped and let his armor fade back to black before looking at where Keller disappeared.
He hoped that wherever she went, she'd be safe.
01010011 01110100 01100001 01110100 01100101 00100000 01001111 01100110 00100000 01001101 01101001 01101110 01100100
"Where's Mara?" Beck asked as Zed came into the locker room.
"Upstairs," Zed replied, "Recoding her hairstyle…she turned it orange,"
"She turned it orange!?" Beck wrinkled his nose in distaste.
"Yeah, that's what I thought too," Zed chuckled, "But…I met the Renegade again…"
He felt Beck's steely gaze zero in on him.
"You know what?" Zed asked, ignoring the wary look, "He's not half-bad,"
He saw Beck's blue eyes spark in amusement.
"Oh, so you and the Renegade are best friends now?" Beck teased.
"I dunno if I'd go that far but…" Zed gave a smirk, "I did teach him how to use a Tron chute,"
Beck gave a low laugh, shaking his head as Zed turned back to look in his locker...
And spotted a familiar baton.
"My old bike!" Zed breathed, grabbing the baton and turning it over, not noticing the small half-smile that Beck was giving.
"Guess someone thought you needed it," Beck stated.
"He still owes me a second bike," Zed said with a grin.
"Zed…" Beck sighed.
"I'm joking!" the Basic laughed, "I've got the old one back…it'll be…hey, wait…something's not right…"
Beck bit his lip as Zed frowned, looking over the baton and scanning it.
"He…huh…he made the recharge for the overdrive quicker," Zed said incredulously, "But…how!?"
"Maybe Tron's just as good at coding as one of us?" Beck suggested.
"Maybe…"
"Look, I've got to go talk to someone really quick," Beck started, "But when I'm done…why don't we meet up later and have a race, just like good old times? Test that bike out…"
Zed gave a wicked grin.
"You're on!"
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Beck gently pushed open the door to his and his mother's room, just to see his mother with her back towards him, hugging her knees to her chest as she stared out the window again. Beck quietly padded towards her, his boots making nearly no sound on the floor.
"Did I ever tell you that I was Repurposed once?" Yori asked, still not looking at her son, "Back on the old server, I led a rebellion with your father. But there was a mole in our group and your father was captured. I was too…and I was tortured a bit,"
She touched her wrists, two thick bands of bruised code lighting up under her touch and making Beck's own wrists ache from their mistreatment from Cyrus.
"They took everything from me," she whispered, closing her eyes as a tear streaked down her cheek, "My friends, my counterpart…my will…I was lucky your father found me again,"
She finally turned towards him.
"And now…now it happened again…and I didn't hurt anyone the last time," she stammered, tears choking her words, "But I hurt the one I hold dearest to me this time…Beck…I…"
Beck hugged his mother, burying his head in the hollow between her neck and shoulder like he used to when he was a child.
"It's ok, Mom," he told her, "I forgive you. It wasn't you in the first place,"
"But…"
"No buts," Beck said sternly, "You would never consciously hurt me. I know that, you know that…and I forgive you,"
Yori burst into tears and hugged her son, rocking him back and forth.
"Your father would be so proud of you," she whispered.
"I know," Beck thought as he hugged her back, "He just doesn't know it's me,"
Guilty pleasure moment for me...I wanted Yori to give Beck a little bit of a smack down. And yes, Yori's been Repurposed before. That would be the 1982 Tron movie. Tron snaps her out of it though...next up is 'Welcome Home'. It's kinda a slightly boring episode for me...but the one right after it is one of my favorites really...
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.