Chapter 21: One Hundred Ways to Die
Argon Skyline, near Phoenix Tower, 0700 PectroCycles...
"I know, Beck." Travis grunted, firing a cable over Argon while dashing between two skyscrapers and talking over his bluetooth. "I understand that Negarade was placed under arrest at GridTech. And I'm also aware he was reported as escaped by ASF the same Cycle. What I'm curious about, Beck, is how he escaped without any detection or alerting my RPA units." Travis landed on Phoenix Tower's roof, and let his costume change over his body. The helmet retracted and let the face of the Argon economy's biggest skyrocket come out into the world. "He has all my abilities, and he knows what I do as the Renegade. I should have found him by now." Travis frowned as he entered his home, pouring a glass of energy. "Look, I'll get back to you, I have to go to work. Contact me if you find anything concerning the Renegade."
Travis went to the elevator, exiting into his private lab, and sunk down into his chair. He had found that Negarade had vanished under the radar, and because the Upgrade had copied all of Travis' abilities, that would include the ability to not be registered on his RPA units' sensors. Unless he wanted a manhunt going for him, bigger than his original, the best thing to do was to stay down until the entire Cyrus incident was over with. Then again, he had a mass murderer still on the loose, who had the original Renegade suit at his disposal. Two things to put on his priority list.
Before he could move a muscle, his phone buzzed, and Travis pressed his bluetooth's button again, not bothering to check the caller's ID. "Ello? This is Travis."
"Users, Travis, I know you're running your own company, but don't be so formal around your ex." Natalie's voice deadpanned through the receiver. Travis sighed, and sat forward into his chair.
"Um... hey, Natalie." The Renegade replied, fiddling with the holograms in front of him. "What's up? I thought you deleted my number."
"I did."
Travis frowned, not letting Natalie see his expression. "Wow. Thanks for letting me feel better about myself."
"But then Zek told me that we should talk things over, and try to sort things out again. I'm not saying we made a mistake breaking up, but... we should at least be friends again."
"I... couldn't agree more." Travis replied softly, gripping the edge of his bluetooth. "Tell you what. Meet me at your club, and we'll talk things over a drink. On me."
Travis could've sworn he heard Natalie grin over the other end. "Deal. See you then."
As soon as the line went static, Travis leaped out of his seat, shouting in victory.
Club Horizon, 1200 PectroCycles...
The first thing that Travis thought when he walked into the bar was probably the most accurate thing he had thought the entire cycle: 'This club represents my life right now.' A hectic solid mass, the club was filled to the rim with programs, both civilians and Enforcers, much to Travis' chagrin. It didn't feel right to him to be mingling with the programs that he was intent on defeating. But, just to make Natalie happy, he would put up with it.
"Trav!" a voice called over the loud music and conversations, and Travis turned to see Natalie standing behind the bar.
"Eh... hey Nat." Travis said, sitting down at one of the chairs, and picking up the glass of energy she had laid out for him. "So.. how're you doin'?"
"It's been okay... besides here, it's a pretty quiet life since... you know." Natalie solemnly replied, leaning on the bar. Travis sighed, leaning in so they were barely inches from each other.
"It's probably better than my life right now," Travis muttered, sipping from his glass and looking down. "Right now, I'm declared a criminal, I have a psychotic, grid-destroying maniac on the loose, along with my evil double running around and evading my RPA units. I've always been able to find what I needed since my rez-in, with only minimal difficulty. You used to know what it was like... as... Night Streak."
"I decided not to put the suit back on," Natalie interjected, with Travis' response being a slight raising of his eyebrow. "I don't think it would be good for a program who's been gone for over a HiloCycle to just reappear out of nowhere. I mean, look what happened with you when you first appeared in the suit and blew up Concept's base. I don't want it to happen again. Not to Argon." Travis smiled at the answer, and stood up to finish his glass, placing his hand on Natalie's shoulder.
"That's something Night Streak would do," Travis concluded, leaning back. "That's why I almost didn't want you to lose your time. Because you and Night Streak are one and the same person. I couldn't be the same person as the Renegade without wearing that suit. But I won't judge anybody for how they act, unless they put you or anybody else I care about in danger. But.. you can be two people at once. And I'll give you that." As Natalie watched, Travis stood up and exited the club, hoping to find some answers through crime-fighting.
Concept's Fortress, Conference Room, 1300 PectroCycles...
A door on Concept's left opened, and two Enforcers dragged a hairless program into the room, white circuits covering the majority of his skin and light suit. The Enforcer's leader nodded to his lackeys, and they silently exited the room, leaving Concept, his two main soldiers, and Cyrus in the room. The only light in the room came from the programs' circuitry and the circuits laying across the room and the table in the middle.
"I've been expecting you, Cyrus," Concept kneeled down, Cyrus keeping his eyes closed throughout Concept's dialogue. "I couldn't ever find you on Grid. I'm impressed, even Talon couldn't keep up with you."
"So?" Cyrus said, not moving a muscle and still keeping his eyes closed. "What do you want from a raving psychopath like myself?"
"I wish to free the Grid, just as you do." Concept relied, his tone lowering to menacing levels. "But in a way that doesn't involve destroying it with a massive bomb. I will not simply take over the Grid, I will improve it, in a way CLU could not even begin to comprehend."
"CLU..." Cyrus growled, his eyes bursting open, as he ripped apart his handcuffs. Hobgoblin reached for his satchel of explosives, throwing one at him, but Cyrus' disk deflected the explosive, turning the window into cubes and scattering them across the room. Hobgoblin grabbed his new anti-matter sword, but Cyrus snuck up behind him and wrestled the sword out of his grab, kneeing Hobgoblin in the crotch and pinning him to the wall with his own sword. Bangarang was next to act, tossing a razor-sharp boomerang towards his target, and Cyrus retaliated by catching the projectile and slamming Bangarang into the table, pinning him down as well.
Cyrus attempted to pry open the door. Only to fell two needle-like fingers collapse around his back, and felt the tranquilizing virus sink into his system. Concept kneeled back down, welding the handcuffs back together with his clawed fingertip.
"I think we both knew what that fight was," Concept growled, pulling the other two programs off of his base's wall. "A test. And you passed, with flying colors. Tron's fighting style, I'm guessing?"
"I was the First Renegade for a reason, Concept," Cyrus equally growled, struggling against the handcuffs, as the two Enforcers rushed back in to detain him. "I learned from Tron, to be his equal. And yet, somehow the newer recruits kept beating me down."
"Perhaps because they have strength in numbers," Concept replied in a monotone snark, a grin on Cyrus' circuited face being the response. "The Argon Crusades, it was Beck, Tron and their mechanic friend. Your biggest mistake was during the Grid Wars, when they had themselves, six Light Guard, a mute System Monitor, and an entire army of ISOs and Basics backing them. And now we come to present Cycle, where you were outsmarted by the new Renegade.. and his new allies, Sable and his unidentified comrade."
"I know a few things you don't, Concept," Cyrus smirked, drawing the attention of the masked virus. "Such as the identities of the entire team you're up against, along with your own team." Cyrus gestured to Hobgoblin, who cringed at eye contact. "Jag, also known as Jaggalarvin, a program who was one of your original Enforcers during your Argon takeover. Went through harsh training, became an Enforcer Squad Commando, went on to become the first and only member of the Hobgoblin program. Been in prison twice, both times in TC2014."
Cyrus' gaze then made contact with Bangarang. "Yashtab, a former Disk Wars champion after Tron retired from the Arena Combat Circuit. Disqualified and disgraced by the sport after your disk was discovered to be rigged with Aimbot hacks. You were hired for projectile training squads by Concept shortly before his takeover of Argon. You were selected by him to be a member of the Superior Six combat unit, and were given a superprogram ability to outfit your disk with different varieties of attachments, such as tracer launchers, explosives, and knockout gas." The three programs facing him were in complete shock as Concept smirked menacingly. "It's amazing what you can learn from a monitor you hack in a prison cell."
Concept growled, sweeping his cape behind him. "Take him back to his cell."
As the two Enforcers led Concept down the hallway, Cyrus sneered at the virus. "Oh, by the way, the offer is under consideration."
Next Cycle, Phoenix Tower, 0500 PectroCycles...
'Another Cycle of work,' Travis thought to himself as he swung across Argon's cityscape, taking in the beautiful view of the city beneath him as he swung towards the top of Argon Tower, one of the tallest buildings on the Grid. Standing on the peak of the literal behemoth, his mask unraveled to let his face take in the crisp air that came with the astounding beauty of the view beneath his eyes. 'Too bad other programs can't have this view before work each Cycle. Otherwise, the Grid would be a much more peaceful world.' Finishing his relaxation time, Travis rezzed his mask back in to nose-dive into Argon, firing another cable into the skyline, not caring where it went until it yanked on him, dragging him to down into the nearby alleyway to find himself facing-
"Negarade," Travis growled, not caring to admit that on the inside, he was a bit frightened, "And what might be so important that you dragged me down to your level?"
"Funny, Renegade," Negarade hissed, his expressive eyes narrowing to express enjoyment of his dominance. "Or should I say Travisss?"
"Well," Travis replied, using the wall to help himself up in pain, "You already knew my identity anyway, so I'm not feeling very threatened right now. Unless you had some way to reveal my secrets, though... that'd be reason for me to panic." Travis pointed to his belt, his lenses being his eyes to Negarade. "See this, Negarade? A utility belt containing a dozen sonic disruptor grenades, at my fingertips. Don't bother trying to attack me, unless you want to be ripped away from your host and disintegrated."
"Oh, I would dream of it, Travisss." Negarade growled, edging away from the figure holding his literal only weakness. "The only problem is that belt. But trust me, I've made a few friends, and they've given the same support you give yourself. I will be back, but only after I've gotten through to your heart, and cleaved straight into it. Good luck." Before Travis could rebound with a witty comeback, Negarade had vanished into the shadows, and Travis sighed in defeat. Walking out of the darkness, Travis exited the alleyway and looked at his phone to find 10 missed calls and 141 new texts from Natalie, all within the span of a PectroCycle.
Grunting, Travis looked at the list, and pondered, 'Jeez, are we sure that this isn't the reason we broke up? Not just the Renegade identity thing? Users, I wish.'
Argon Shopping Center, 1300 PectroCycles...
"Hey, Trav!" Zek shouted across the chatter of dozens of programs as they meandered across the large area. "There you are. I'm starting to think you and Natalie are mixing each other up for the other program. Used to be, she'd always be on time and you'd be lagging behind like you were infected by the Abraxas virus."
"I'd... rather not joke about that virus." Travis said, holding his hand up, and stuffing the other in his leather jacket. "My friends have had an experience with Abraxas that they never really recovered from."
"Oh." Zek replied, his voice trailing when he heard the subliminal message. "I'm... really sorry, man. I didn't know..."
"It's fine." Travis interjected, shoving his other hand into the other pocket in his jacket. "Phoenix is actually working on a cure for those that were infected with the Abraxas virus. All we need to do now is find a test subject."
"Hey, guys!" Natalie's voice rang out as the two found her enter the building. "Sorry I'm late. My boss wouldn't let me leave for another PectroCycle after my shift ended, but... here I am."
Travis grinned sheepishly, gesturing to the group next to him. "Here we are. The old team, together at last. Come on, let's get a drink and see how we can get our lives back to normal. I'm buying."
Concept's Fortress, Top Floor Conference Room, 1301 PectroCycles...
Hobgoblin's feet clanked against the floor leading into the conference room, a series of files in hand. By the time he had entered, he found that Concept and Bangarang had been ready for some time, sitting at the conference table in a bored and easy-going state.
"Um, did I mess up the time?" Hobgoblin asked sheepishly, only to be silenced by Concept.
"Not at all. We were just starting, and we were afraid you were not showing your goblin head." Concept gestured to the chair to the right of him and moved his hand to intertwine with his other. "Please, sit down. Our guest will be joining us shortly. But please, your report?"
"Right here, Concept." Hobgoblin replied, tossing the files to the center of the reflective surface, names of the original Superior Six falling out. "Right now, I've only got a trace on Jet Sentry and Rene-Slayer. They're still in Argon, I'm in the room, and the others... well, they're still recovering at the Vault. At least, one of them is. Talon is still in critical condition, the Rene-Slayer Tech is the only thing keeping her alive. Spectrum and Illusion broke out using smoke and mirror techniques and went their separate ways. According to ASF intel, Spectrum is in Bismuth running a bounty business, and Illusion is going all the way to Tron City to run a hit-and-run turf war gang. I don't think we'll be hearing from them any time soon."
"Would Talon be... interested in rejoining the team after she recovers?" Concept silently grumbled, pulling his hands apart to point his right hand's index finger.
"Not likely." the Goblin replied, pointing to medical and psychological reports from the Vault. "According to these reports, she's dead in the water at the mere mention of the Renegade's name, let alone the image. If she was to see him in person, she'd probably have a mental breakdown and blow every single fuse she has in her system."
"And what about the ones that are still in the city? Jet Sentry and Rene-Slayer?"
"We've got one that wants in, but one is hesitant. Jet Sentry isn't very pleased with the Renegade beating him into his armor, so he's ready to join at any moment. Rene-Slayer is an entirely different story. He would join the team, but only if he was given leadership of the team."
Concept's circuits flared, and he shook his head. "Not likely. I gave him leadership of the team twice, and that never worked, especially the second time around. I think it would be best if you were given command of the team, Hobgoblin."
Hobgoblin nodded, moving a majority of the files away to keep only a few on the desk. "So that's that. I have four members on my team confirmed, but I'd like three more to be safe. The Superior Seven, if you will." Before Concept could reply, the window behind Hobgoblin's chair smashed inward, the three programs ducking to prevent being impaled. The three programs looked to see a red-circuited Renegade, complete with a larger body mass and lenses, sitting on the head of one of the chairs in the room. "Huh. I guess that must be our guest, boss. Negarade, if my intel serves correct?"
"Indeed, Hobgoblin," Concept replied, stalking towards the new entity in the room. "However, he clearly does not know his manners. We recently replaced that window, Negarade, so I need you to remember next time to use the door like everybody else."
"Ssssorry, Concept," Negarade hissed, leaping off the chair with his massive claws leaving shred marks in the leather. His reflective mask shone yellow circuits from the walls into the eyes of everybody around him, though not to an extent where everybody was covering their eyes."So, I heard you were putting a team together. How does one... register for this little group?"
"If you've had an altercation with our friend the Renegade, you're automatically an honorary member," Concept replied, swishing his cape to prevent anybody tripping on it. "But, in order to become a full-fledged member, you must perform a... test, of sorts."
"And that would be?..." Concept turned around, the circuits on his body thinning with his subtle, yet maniacal cackle.
"Fight the Renegade to a standstill."
Argon Shopping Center, 1320 PectroCycles...
"So, let's talk business, shall we?" Zek said, taking a large gulp of his drink as the other two members of the group sat watching. "Argon Architecture is expanding. Pretty soon, we'll be known as Grid Architecture."
"Zek, that's... that's..." Travis tried to find a way to react, but Natalie found a way to beat him to it.
"We're proud of you, Zek. This is wonderful."
Zek smiled, sweeping his hair out of his face. "I knew you guys would take it well. I just wanted to let you guys know before it came out on ANN. So, all of that aside, what's Phoenix up to besides that cure for the Abraxas virus?"
"Well, I told you I'd separate all my ties to helping the Renegade by building his supplies?" The other two nodded, and Travis continued. "Well, I took a look at footage from GridTech during the Renegade's fight with the Upgrade weapon double."
"So, basically, you're going back to building tech for the Renegade?" Zek asked, trying to contain his annoyance.
"It's a bit more complicated than that, Zek," Travis replied, placing both of his hands on the table. "It's not to benefit the Renegade directly, but rather Argon. I decided to get Phoenix Industries the contract to build Argon's first super-program only penitentiary center."
Zek and Natalie stared at their friend for several minutes, before Natalie spoke up first. "Um... dark? I mean, you've never said anything about giving the Renegade his own place to detain programs, and you take this turn to give a base away to imprison them?"
"But that's the great thing about it!" Travis said, leaning back into his chair. "This isn't a Renegade base! This is meant for ASF to specially detain programs with super-programming! The Renegade has nothing to do with this!" The others looked at each other, somewhat impressed.
"I'll admit... we don't have a detainment system for super-programs," Zek replied, sitting upright. "I could get AA to build the actual prison and Phoenix could work with-" Before anybody could finish, the glass nearby them smashed inward and screams replaced the casulal conversations going on between the hundreds of programs in the building. Travis looked upward, having swung the table forward to protect himself and his friends, jumped over the railing and changed into his Renegade costume with the smoke being his cover.
"Renegade!..." Negarade hissed menacingly, stalking through the smoke, a missile launcher and Light Rifle extending from his hands. "Come out and play!.."
"Okay, let's play a game!" Travis replied, swinging into the conflict. "Let's play 'Whack-a-mole'. With your head."
"Good luck winning, Renegade! Tank missile!" Negarade replied, firing a missile. Travis fired a cable at the missile, grabbing it and swinging it back around at the opponent, who dodged his own projectile.
"Whoa, no playing with the big boy toys indoors, clone!" Travis mocked, tackling Negarade and forcing them both out the window. "Whadd'ya say we play outside so the adults don't get angry!"
"Couldn't agree more." Negarade grinned maniacally, smashing Travis into the concrete. "I bet you didn't notice my new toys, I guess I should introduce you." The two weapons went into sync, firing a volley of light blasts and missiles into the parking lot, forcing Travis to hide into the mess of destroyed Grid Limos.
"Holy!-" Travis cursed to himself. Pulling out his sonic disruptor planter, Travis looked over and saw the volley of bullets continue. 'His weakness is sonic blasts, I know that much. But he's holding the rocket launcher way too far away to cause him any harm from the sonic pulse and the explosion. Wait a minute... the explosion would be a sonic blast that would injure him! Just gotta get closer!" Travis fired a cable at a manhole cover, using it as a shield, only to find Negarade retreating into the building. "Hey! Big, white and ugly! Come and-" Travis found Negarade was ignoring him, and Travis realized what he had feared was coming true.
'He's going after Natalie.'
Travis fired another cable, dragging himself into the building with the manhole cover. "Hey, Negarade! You in here?! Come and find me if you are!"
"Oh, we're ssstill here!" Negarade replied, holding Natalie and Zek with his arms. "But one of these two won't be around to say the same! Choose, my old host!" And with that, Negarade tossed Natalie and Zek towards the edge, with Travis catching Zek and firing a cable at Natalie, who caught it before she was rolled over the side.
"Get out of here, Zek!" The Renegade grunted, knocking Zek off of him. "And help Natalie on the way down!" Before anybody could make another move, the ceiling caved, and Travis was hanging onto the cable, with Natalie on the other side of the wall. Negarade, ignoring Zek's panicking form, stepped onto the cable.
"And now, the grand finale!" Negarade hissed, the cable loosening in terms of durability. "Your deresolution!" The cable snapped, with Travis firing a new cable and smashing through the wall, damaging the launcher and catching Natalie, flipping her on top of him to avoid hurting him. Travis groaned, Natalie looking at him in worry.
"Oh my User, Trav," Natalie whispered, helping him up. "Are you?..."
"Ugh... yeah." Travis replied, falling back down, using the wall to help himself back up. "I'll be fine. Get Zek and get out of-" Travis' head was gripped by Negarade's foot, and his face was smashed into the floor, a foot-shaped crack appearing in his helmet.
"And now, for refusssing to die, we'll do it for you!" The missile launcher was pointed at Travis, and loading rapidly. Before another microcycle passed by, Travis' other, still-functioning cable launcher gripped the missile and pointed it at the wall. The resulting explosion derezzed neither program, but it exploded close enough to weaken Negarade's upgrade weapon, and destroying the weapons attached to his fingers. "Gah! You have tried to resssissst! For thisss, we'll leave you be! But we will be back, and with friendsss!" Negarade fired a cable of his own at the ceiling, escaping through the skylight.
Natalie and Zek were helping each other out of the rubble, before they saw Travis grip the rubble and help them out.
"Trav!" Zek said, shocked that he hadn't been derezzed. "What the Users happened to you?!"
"I... got separated during the fight." Travis looked at the ceiling, holding Zek up and letting him use his body as a balance. "So, when do you want to start building that super-program prison?"
"Uh.. Travis?" Natalie asked, pointing in a different direction. "Can I talk to you in private?"
"Um.. sure." Travis said, helping Zek down and walking down to talk. "So, what's up?"
"I'm sorry... for breaking up with you." Natalie said, helping Travis down the rubble. "I was so upset by learning you were the Renegade. I thought that would be the best route to take-"
"It is." Travis said, Natalie's eyes sinking down in defeat. "I do still love you, I really do, but... I can't date you anymore. If you and I kept dating, they would know who I was, and attack you, Zek, and Phoenix Industries." Travis pulled Natalie into a hug, letting her rest her head into his chest. "Just... give me a call, and we can do something as friends. I still love you, but... you know. When you're a hero, sometimes you can't get things exactly how you like, hun. I'm sorry."
Concept's Fortress, Conference room, 2100 PectroCycles...
"You did well, Negarade," Concept said, not facing his ally or his team.
"How, Concept?"
"You gave us time to study the Renegade. You pushed him to his limit, and forced him to use every move he was capable of." Concept looked at a monitor, and did what his team supposed was a smirk. "I see Cyrus wants to have a word. Enforcers, bring him up."
The programs entered the room, and Concept turned to face Cyrus as he looked up. "Well, Cyrus? Have you thought it over for a while?"
Cyrus grinned, crossing his fingers behind his back as he spoke to Concept. "I'm in. But..." Cyrus uncrossed his fingers subtly, and made his ultimatum. "There's a catch. If I get to join this team, you have to promise me one thing." Concept nodded, and Cyrus grinned in maniacal victory. "I get to be the one who kills the Renegade."
A/N: So, here we are. And surprisingly, I managed an upload within a week, so that's a throwback to the good old days. We're building up the Superior Six, and a new love interest for Travis. Thanks to PBL317 for creating the premise of this chapter. Also, a bit of a story: I went to see Amazing Spider Man 2 in theaters in May, and I won't give away the ending, but I was actually crying by the end, because the chemistry between Emma Stone and Andrew Garfield was just so good. Anybody who reviews and has seen the movie, please don't give it away. Anyways, Gwen and Peter has somehow become my OTP. Yeah, I went that far into the Spider Man fandom when I'm a Tron geek at heart. Either way, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, thanks to everybody else who reviewed, and remember to hit the favorite/follow button, and review!
Next: As the Superior Six recruit their final member, Travis rekindles a romantic relationship from his days as Tron's former soldier, all the while fighting the new Superior Six member.