AN: Alright, took me a while to get this chapter finished, but I managed it. Sorry for the two day wait, but here it is :) Thanks to 2theSky and Sunofaia for reviewing!

Chapter Twenty Five

They walked into the safehouse just in time to see Tron running on a treadmill. Mira folded her arms when she realized that he was upside down. The sight was something that would have normally made her laugh, but Tron took things way too seriously.

"Remember when you first approached me? How did you know I was the right choice?" Beck sounded skeptical as he looked down at the floor. Mira knew that he was worried about Mara, and rightfully so. "You said I wasn't afraid."

Mara's leading a ragtag group of programs to frustrate the Occupation, she reminded herself. Sounds a bit like us when I think about it.

"I didn't, but you kept coming back." Mira rolled her eyes and wondered how true that really was. Tron had encouraged Beck into training.

"Was I your first choice?" Mira raised an eyebrow when Tron slowed down. Beck was risking his secret encounter with the rogue program by asking these questions.

"Why do you ask?" Tron had stopped running by now, and the treadmill he was running on had returned to the floor.

"Just curious." Beck shrugged and glanced at Mira, who simply looked away. She didn't know what to say - she didn't meet the program Beck had met.

"You forget, you were already fighting against the occupation. I just steered you on the right path." Tron placed a hand on Beck's shoulder before walking away.

Mira sighed as she followed Beck out of the safehouse once more. It seemed like this would get them nowhere, and they had to meet with the 'Jolly Tricksters' once more. She wasn't sure what Beck had in mind for their first mission.

"Did that give you any ideas?" she asked as they headed for the abandoned warehouse.

"Yeah, I have a good plan." Beck grinned when he looked at her.

It didn't take them long to reach the abandoned warehouse. Mira changed her suit once more as she began pacing. She turned just in time to see that Mara and her friends Moog and Rasket had returned. Beck glanced at them as well, but Mara was the first to approach.

They settled down near the center of the building. Mira stood beside Beck while Mara, Moog and Rasket sat on stools. Rasket was fumbling around with a screen he'd pulled up, while Beck had pulled up his own screen. The three of them looked as though they were still trying to process what had happened.

"The right path," Beck began as he sifted through the images on the screen in front of them. Mira stood firmly as she watched the image of Tesler's ship come into view. "Whether it's fighting the occupation or defacing public property-" Moog's eyes widened when he realized what their next target would be.

"Whoa, that's Tesler's ship!" he exclaimed.

"Each fifth cycle General Tesler's ship comes to port for fuel," Mira explained. She remembered Tron mentioning this to Beck when they first searched for the data cube.

"There's a data cube in Tesler's ship with information on it, and you're going to help us get it." Beck finished for her.

"That's the biggest canvas in Argon!" Rasket looked at the ship longingly, and once again Mira's fists clenched.

She knew that these programs were only in it for the thrill. They didn't realize how big of a risk they were making by doing what they did.

"You won't be anywhere near the ship," she snapped.

"That's right." Beck glanced at her, and she knew that he was annoyed with her reaction, but she couldn't resist. These programs were too stupid to realize what they were getting themselves into. "You're going to put that free code of yours to good use outside Tesler's ship, while we go and get the data cube."

"That way the guards are distracted while you're inside!" Mara finished for him. "Amazing that I figured that all out huh?" She glanced at her companions excitedly, but Moog and Rasket frowned.

"Wait, so we're just your distraction?" Rasket demanded.

"Where's the fun in that? We want in on the thrill!" Moog added in a whiny voice.

Mira's eyes narrowed as Beck suddenly turned around.

"If you just want in on the thrills, than you might as well give up already," he snapped.

Silence fell between them before Mara stood up. Mira could see the anger in her eyes as she turned to face her companions.

"I can't believe what I'm hearing!" she scolded. "This is Tron and the renegade we're talking about. Moog, they inspired you to use your creation. And they inspired Rasket to fight back-"

"Uh, Rasque," Rasket cut in and glared as Mara rolled her eyes.

"Whatever. I don't know about you, but I'm willing to fight alongside them."

Mira was surprised by the inspirational words Mara had chosen. She would have made a good leader if it wasn't for her lack of faith in herself. Mira had a feeling that if there were a female version of Tron, Mara would fit that description perfectly, minus the lack of humor Tron had.

"So are we in?" Beck turned around once Mara was finished. Moog and Rasket exchanged looks before nodding in agreement. "Good, you'll be at the docks using your free code, and wait here after you're finished."

The three programs stood up. Mira watched as their masks hid their faces. She couldn't help but grin back as they turned their light cycles towards the docks. Despite Moog's need for thrill and excitement, she had a feeling he would have made a good friend.

But I'm not about to trust them so easily, she reminded herself.

"Do you still have that light jet baton I gave you?" Beck asked when he turned to face her.

"Of course," she replied.

"Good, we're gonna need it." Mira wasted no time in handing him the baton.

She had practiced driving a light jet since her last encounter with Tesler. But two light jets would look more suspicious than one. If they were lucky Tesler or his soldiers would be too busy searching for the Jolly Tricksters.

Beck rose high enough into the sky that they wouldn't be detected by anyone on the ground. Mira watched as the graffiti the Jolly Tricksters created began to develop around the docks and city. She was amazed at how beautiful the artwork looked.

She held on as Beck dove towards the ship. Recognizers flew towards the docks and the outer city as more of the code appeared. Mira smirked when she realized that Beck was right - Tesler wasn't about to let the programs that caused this graffiti get away alive. Fortunately Mara wasn't an easy program to capture, and hopefully her friends were just as good.

"Remember, don't let the guards see us," Beck whispered when they jumped into the ship.

Mira rolled her eyes as she followed him into the room where the data cube was kept. She glanced around nervously as she remembered their last adventure in Tesler's ship. A place where hope goes to die. She wasn't sure where she had heard those words from, but she knew that they fit Tesler's ship.

Her heart was beating frantically as Beck found the data cube they were looking for. She was surprised there weren't any soldiers wandering about. Tesler really didn't want those programs getting away.

"Let's go." She almost jumped when Beck grabbed her by the wrist. He held the data cube as they made a run for it.

Beck wasted no time in returning to their meeting place. Mira blinked in surprise when she saw Mara standing near the ledge. She was alone - something that sent a thrill of worry through Mira. Beck glanced at Mira before walking forward. Mara was biting her finger, and Mira restrained a giggle.

A User would have done that, she thought.

"You're alone," Beck said in an accusing tone.

Mara gasped and whirled around to face them.

"I'm sorry, I tried stopping them!" she tried to explain.

"Where are they?" Mira demanded as she folded her arms.

"There." Mara looked down at Tesler's ship, and Mira's eyes widened in disbelief.

Idiot bit-brained programs! she thought angrily. She imagined that Tron would have used a colorful vocabulary for them, but now wasn't the time to think about him. Moog and Rasket were likely already captured, and she couldn't imagine what Tesler would do to them as punishment for what they had done.

"What were they thinking?" Beck sighed.

"They weren't." Mara's reply made Mira smirk in amusement. "I'm the one who usually does the thinking for them."

"We need to free your friends before they're derezzed," Beck said as he grabbed an extra baton. Mira raised an eyebrow when she realized that he had a spare light jet baton.

Mira drew out her own light jet baton and flew into the air, leaving Beck to ride with Mara. She looked over her shoulder to see that Beck had joined in a nanocycle later.

"Zed's never gonna believe this!" Mara exclaimed as they flew towards Tesler's ship. Once again they were undetected by Tesler's soldiers, much to Mira's surprise. Mara was having the time of her life as she followed Beck into the ship.

Mira wondered if she would have felt the same way after being trapped in the garage all day. She knew what it felt like being stuck inside all cycle. But Mara had the freedom of going to clubs or doing what she wanted. Mira was stuck with good old Tron, who only let her go out on missions or with Beck.

She sighed as she followed them into the ship. It seemed inevitable that they would get caught. An alarm was buzzing around the ship as they ran to where Tesler would interrogate his prisoners. Mira had never seen this part of the ship before, and felt a shudder run down her spine.

The scattered remains of programs covered the floor that Pavel and a band of soldiers walked on. Moog and Rasket had been caught, and as usual it was Pavel leading them to their doom. Mira's stomach churned with disgust as she looked down at Pavel.

"This way." Beck's whisper was enough to gain Mira's attention as she ran after him. Mara stood beside him as they looked down at machine Pavel was leading Moog and Rasket to.

Mira's eyes narrowed when she saw a stone-still program sitting in one of the chairs. His expression was filled with horror as Pavel lifted his head.

"Did he scream?" Pavel sneered.

"Yes sir," one of the soldiers replied.

"That's the problem with these programs. They can't hold themselves together." Pavel's last remark made Mira wish she could throw the guy into the Sea of Simulation. He deserved to be lost and forgotten for all of the pain he had caused. The program's remains skittered across the floor, leaving nothing behind. "I'd like some alone time with these two."

The soldiers left the room almost at once, not wanting to get on Pavel's bad side.

"That device extracts a programs' disk information and codes," Beck explained in a whisper. Mira glared at Pavel as the soldiers threw Moog and Rasket onto the chairs. They were bound by cuffs as the information from their disks were drawn out.

"Now before you lose your ability to speak, why don't you tell me who the renegades are?" Pavel demanded.

"We don't know!" Moog cried out. "We use free code, that's all!"

"So you work with your hands do you?" Pavel smirked as he pressed something on the machine. Mira winced when Rasket let out a cry of pain. His arm suddenly shook, and to Mira's dismay, the code began to fade.

"Now!" Beck and Mara began pushing the machine with their legs. Mira joined in and used all of her strength to push it towards Pavel.

The machine let out a creaking noise before it slammed onto the floor. Mira watched in amazement as pixels from the machine scattered around Pavel as he made a jump for it. She jumped down just in time to help free Rasket.

"You came back!" Moog exclaimed.

"Don't thank me," Beck replied with a shake of his head.

"You're welcome," Mara sighed with a roll of her eyes.

Mira smirked when Moog and Rasket gave Mara thankful looks. She followed Beck as he led the way towards the entrance of Tesler's ship. By now more soldiers were beginning to appear as the alarm buzzed around them. Mira wasn't surprised to see that Paige was leading a band of soldiers towards the runaway programs.

"You four keep an eye on the entrance," Beck ordered as he reached for his disk. Again Mira rolled her eyes as she stood beside him, ignoring his orders.

"Sorry, but you're not Tron," she snapped. Beck sighed in frustration when he realized that she wouldn't listen. She grabbed her light sword and swung it into the thigh of a soldier. The soldier slumped to the floor just in time for her to knock him out.

"You just won't give up, will you?" Paige managed to grab Beck by his wrists. Mira groaned in annoyance as she struggled to keep a group of soldiers at bay.

"Nope!" Beck pushed Paige away just in time to grab Mira by the arm. She gasped in surprise as he pulled her away. "We need to get out of here alive," he whispered.

Mira was about to say something back when Paige caught up to them. Beck managed to climb to the top of the recognizers that were lined up. Mira followed him before getting tossed aside by Paige, who grinned when she was about to throw her disk.

Beck tripped Paige with his legs before she could make her aim. She whirled around with her disk in hand as he blocked her blow. Mira looked over her shoulder just in time to see that Mara was holding a recognizer at bay. To her surprise and amazement the colors Mara used had covered the entire ship, even the window.

It took her a few nanocycles to realize that the recognizer was flying towards the others that were lined up. Without thinking about it she rezzed her light jet baton and flew away. Beck realized what was happening and shoved Paige aside before following her. An explosion shook the ship as the recognizer Mara had attacked landed into the other recognizers. Mira felt the heat of flames erupt around them as she led the way towards the exit.

"Mara, run!" she shouted as light copters fell in pursuit.

Mara turned around just in time to get blasted by one of the shots from the band of light copters. She gasped in alarm as she stumbled backwards. Mira's eyes widened in panic when Mara fell out of the ship. She sped forward just as Beck managed to pull ahead. Beck barely managed to catch Mara as they swerved away from the ship, and away from Tesler's soldiers.

Relief washed over Mira's shoulders when they turned back towards the abandoned warehouse. She wondered what had happened to Rasket and Moog while they were fighting Paige. Mara had waited long enough to nearly get killed, but they wasted no time in fleeing.

To Mira's surprise Moog and Rasket were waiting at the abandoned warehouse. Mara ran over to them only to fold her arms and glare.

"We're sorry... about what happened," Rasket murmured. His arm was nothing more than a hologram now as he looked at Beck and Mira shamefully.

"We messed up real bad," Moog added.

"There's always going to be mistakes," Mira said as she studied them. "But you'll learn from your mistakes."

"Are you still willing to fight back?" Beck asked.

"No way, we're not good enough," Moog replied with a push of his hands.

"We barely survived our last encounter, I don't think we can fight them again," Rasket muttered.

"The right path... it's out there isn't it? You're fighting for Argon City," Moog suddenly looked out towards the city, and Mira tilted her head to one side.

"No, you fighting for the Grid, so that this never happens." Rasket held up his injured arm and looked at them hopefully.

"Hey, it's a good thing you're alive, we need you."

The two programs left before Mara or Beck could stop them. Mira simply stood still as she wondered how much Moog and Rasket had learned from their mistakes. If they had not taken such a big risk than none of this would have happened. Maybe that was why Tron had taken it easy on Beck during his first cycles of training.

"No matter what, I'm still ready to fight alongside you," Mara said as she turned to face them.

Beck took a deep breath before looking back at her. "But I'm not," he replied.

"What... does that mean?" Mara asked hesitantly.

"It means that without your friends, you're useless to me." Mira stiffened when Beck said those words. He was acting so... cold towards his own friend. Mara's eyes widened as he turned and left her standing there. Mira shook her head and followed him.

It didn't take them long to get back to Argon City. Mira was surprised that Beck wanted to go back after what had happened. She could only imagine what Mara must have thought as they left her standing there. Would she be angry? Or would she forgive them?

She blinked in surprise when she saw Tron hiding out in one of the alleys. She was even more surprised to see that he wasn't hiding his face. She exchanged a look with Beck before they sat on the bench beside the alley.

Beck went on explaining what had happened, and how the two programs Mara recruited ended up becoming thrill seekers.

"In the end, Mara was the only one who truly believed in the cause. I just wasn't ready for the consequences," he finished as Tron took it all in.

"She was the one true believer," Mira sighed as she leaned back.

"If she truly believes in the uprising, than she'll come back," Tron replied.

Mira looked across the square to watch the programs wandering around. She hoped that Tron was right. The uprising needed more programs like Mara. Programs that were ready to give their lives to fight Clu.

End of Line