Chapter 20

Beck and Tron stood by the edge of a wild energy spring. Tron held up Cyrus's disk and dropped it into the pool. "Beck, do you have anything positive to say about Cyrus?" Beck stared at Tron as if he just said that he was going to surrender both of them to Clu.

"Sorry Tron, I haven't known Cyrus long enough to notice anything good about him." Tron sighed. "Beck you should know that Cyrus wasn't always bad." Beck hung his head. "Well, yeah, I suppose he did fight against Clu alongside you for a while…" Beck turned and looked at Tron. "How did you meet Cyrus exactly? Was it the same way you met me?"

Tron shook his head a little, Beck could have sworn that Tron almost had a smile on his face, but he looked sad too. "Cyrus and I go way back." Beck had a feeling that this wasn't going to be a perfectly happy story.

"Right after I was defeated by Clu, the occupation held me prisoner, I was often tortured and they tried to make me join Clu willingly. When I refused, Dyson scarred my face… it was almost meant to be a mark of shame."

Beck was shocked; he had never imagined that the military could even get close to being that cruel. So that's why Tron hated Dyson so much. That part made sense to him now. Tron gradually continued.

Cyrus was a high ranked sentry working under Clu at the time, but he defected from the army and rescued me when he saw what had happened to me." Beck wasn't aware that Cyrus could have been so caring, let alone being part of the occupation at the time.

"When I recovered enough, I decided to teach him some of my own useful fighting techniques, which he put to good use until he was infected with the virus." Beck looked at Tron again. "What happened?" He asked. Tron looked down, sighing.

"I'm not entirely sure. What was it that the commander mentioned something about pure corrupted code?" Beck nodded his head. "Yeah, that's what she said about the virus that was infecting my wrist." Tron looked back into the energy pool.

"From what I understand, it looks a lot like energy when it's all gathered in a pool. Maybe Cyrus fell into one by accident when I sent him deeper into the outlands to destroy a disk; it's a rational explanation when I think about it. He came back covered in light lines when he said he completed the task."

The two programs stood by the pool, and then Tron broke the silence with a mild joke. "I think this is an energy pool, I can't be certain… would you like to test it?" They both laughed, and then Beck realized something.

"You know, I think this is the first time I ever heard you laugh." Tron smirked. "Yeah, I couldn't go easy on you when we had missions to focus on, and training."

The two programs stood side by side in silence for a while longer. Beck said. "Do you think the elevator to the hideout is going to be fine? Do you need help repairing it?" Tron waved a hand dismissively.

"No, it'll be fine, it's not even broken. Go see your friends before they start to suspect you're up to something." Beck looked at Tron. "What do I say to them if they want to know where I've been?" Tron looked back at Beck. "Do they know about Cyrus?"

Beck nodded. "Yeah." Tron looked forward. "Then you can tell them that Cyrus kidnapped you and tried to kill you. I'm sure it would be a worthy excuse." They started laughing, and Tron said.

"Okay, I'm going to get back to the hideout. You might want to meet up with your friends for now." "I will." Beck assured Tron as he rezzed his bike and headed for the lair.

When Tron was out of sight, Beck glanced down at the energy pool just in time to see the disk dissolve into nothing. It was gone. Gone…

Ally was gone, but the memories of her and the things she had told Beck were still with him. They had been together for only 22 cycles, but Beck cherished every moment he had with her.

Beck stood up and rezzed his lightbike. He knew where he would go, to the docks in Argon City. When Beck arrived, he climbed onto the highest crate and stood just over the sea. All he had to do was jump, and he would almost relive the old times.

Beck just stared into the dark waters; he remembered how often he had gone swimming with Ally. He suddenly flashbacked to the cycle they left the harbor, holding hands. It was the first time Beck had ever gone swimming, and he loved it.

"Come on!" Ally encouraged as she pulled Beck through the streets, she was holding his hand with both of hers. "I want to show you something!" They were heading for a large tower. "But we're still soaking wet!" Beck said.

Ally grinned. "Don't worry; we'll take the back set of stairs." Beck was confused. "Take the stairs to where?" Ally's eyes sparkled. "To see a magnificent view."

She opened a secret door and they ran up dozens of flights of stairs until they came up to the roof of the club. "Whoa…" Beck said as he overlooked the entire city. It was truly magnificent; Beck could spend cycles up here.

Ally brought Beck's attention back to her. "Hey Beck, watch this." She walked over to the edge of the roof, Beck quickly followed. "What are you doing?" Beck asked as she leaned over the railing. Ally grinned.

"Let's just say that this is one of the many reasons we went swimming tonight." Ally explained as she carefully scanned the ground beneath her. "Oh, someone's coming! Just be quiet, and then we can laugh."

Beck wondered what Ally would do until her actions answered his question. Ally's eyes sparkled, this time they showed off a hint of mischief. Ally grabbed her light dirty blonde hair, and then she wrung all of the water out over the passerby programs.

Ally quickly put on her mask and said. "Going… going… GONE!" The water splashed the programs at the foot of the building. Beck heard and saw the stranger's reaction. "Aw man! I got wet and… hey! I see you two up there! Come down here so I can give you a piece of my mind!"

Ally collapsed onto the floor of the roof, laughing hysterically. Her mask slid off her face as she tried to recover from the exciting experience. She paused and listened to the program that was still cursing at them, then she and Beck both bursted out laughing.

"Heh, heh. Wasn't that fun?" Ally turned her head and looked at Beck, whom smirked when they heard that the program was still cursing from below. Beck responded. "Yeah, that was incredible, but I'm afraid that 'Mr. Crabby-Pixels isn't going to let us leave the roof anytime soon."

Ally waved her hand in dismiss. "Ah, he's probably just having a bad day. Besides, it was just a harmless prank." Beck glanced at the foot of the building, he saw the program, cursing and shaking his fist at both of them. "What's he doing now?" Ally asked.

Beck looked back at Ally and joked. "He said 'thank you for the refreshing experience and that I would care for another." Beck stood up and wrung out his water at the program too. He cursed even more and shouted out colorful insults at them.

Ally glanced down at the double-pranked victim. "Way to go Beck, now we're stuck up here even longer." She said, grinning. "You actually might have gone too far on this one." She commented as she saw the program throw objects in their direction pointlessly.

Beck looked at Ally with a warm smile. He had been dating Ally behind the other gang's back for a while. Beck cupped Ally's cheek in his hand and whispered in her ear. "Sometimes, it's worth the risk." Ally smiled beautifully at Beck. "Now that, I agree with." Beck gently wrapped both of hands around her head and pulled her in for a kiss.

Beck had never kissed another program before, he's heard some programs talking about their first kiss being super special, and so Beck wanted his first kiss to be special. Ally moaned as he intertwined his fingers through her hair.

They pulled back for air, and they smiled at each other. "That was my first kiss." Ally admitted. "Mine too." Beck returned. Ally glanced over the edge of the roof again to see if their prank victim was still there and sure enough, he had retorted from cursing and throwing stuff, to giving them death threats and shooting some kind of arm cannon at them.

Ally sat back down, shaking her head. "Um, Beck? I don't know how I should say this, so I'll get straight to the point… I think we accidently pranked a gangster."

"What?" Beck said as he looked over the rail again to get a better look at him. Thankfully, the program wasn't part of the Crims' clique, but he was definitely part of another gang. His shouts were easy to hear, if you were quiet enough, they were up really high on this building.

Ally sighed. "Jeez, calm down buddy. You're breaking the three most important rules in life." Beck looked at Ally. "What?" He asked. Ally looked at Beck. "Oh, sorry. I never told you that I live by three rules in life."

Beck was really curious to hear. "Really, tell me them." Ally smiled. "Calmness, Respect, and Self-Control. Those are the three rules I live by." Beck raised an eyebrow. "But… you broke your rule about respect by pranking that poor gangster down there."

The program's shouting was still going on, but he was starting to sound tired. Ally responded to Beck's comment. "Pranks are okay, as long as they're harmless and you only do them every once in a while. That program is only tiring himself out by breaking the three rules; he's going to get himself hurt."

"What do you mean?" Beck asked, but his question was answered immediately. A large group of ordinary citizens started to chase him away, yelling at him that he was disrupting the peace in the city. Thankfully, no one got hurt and the prank victim ran off and didn't come back.

Beck and Ally giggled at the sight of the programs scaring the gangster off. "Well, tonight was really fun. Thank you for all of the excitement tonight." Beck said as he looked Ally in the eye. Her eyes started sparkling again. She looked really happy, and more pretty, she was practically radiating with it.

They couldn't help liking each other, they were inseparable. Beck pulled Ally in for another kiss, she didn't resist. When their lips touched, Ally wrapped her arms around Beck's neck as he held her face in his hands. Beck never wanted this night to end, ever.

They both lost their balance and fell on the floor of the roof, still entangled from their act of 'expressing their feelings'. They opened their mouths and pressed their lips harder together. The experience was incredible, exhilarating. It felt like a thousand cycles before they pulled away again, breathing hard.

They lay on the roof together throughout the night, enjoying each other's company. Beck loved Ally very much, and he knew she felt the exact same way about him. "I never want this night to end." Ally said dreamily.

"Yeah, me neither." Beck said as he pulled Ally closer to him. Ally rested her head on Beck's shoulder and they looked out at the view, together.

Beck snapped back to reality. He loved that night they spent together; it was so much fun, excitement, pranks… and love. Beck remembered how good it felt whenever he went swimming with Ally. He looked back down into the dark depths of the water.

Beck had never gone swimming by himself for fun unless Ally was with him. They had so much fun together, Beck wanted to feel that rush of excitement again. This was his chance.

Beck sighed, closed his eyes, and then he jumped.