Tron: Sacrifice
Episode Ten: ISO, Part Two
"NO," BECK SAID. "I just remember being on the light jet with Mara."
Tron had taken Beck aside after Kassandra's warnings.
"That's understandable," Tron said aloud to himself more so than to Beck, "after all, your disc was in no condition to record your memories."
"So what happened after my accident?"
"I took everyone back to the Outlands." Tron remembered the changes the mechanics have made. "The safe-house is more efficient now. And Zed and Mara and Paige know you're the Renegade."
Beck exhaled slowly looking at the ground.
"How'd they take it?"
Tron chuckled a little, "It's not you they are upset with."
The sliding doors of the Lab opened to reveal his friends, and Paige, who watched him closely.
"Hey, guys." Beck said, almost sheepishly.
"I have to show you something," Zed said, putting his arm around Beck's shoulders and lead him from the Lab, and Beck relaxed a little seeing that they didn't seem to be bothered by the fact that he'd kept the Renegade a secret.
Mara and Paige stood by Tron, letting Zed have his turn to talk with Beck and show him around the ISOs' Lair.
Kassandra was looking on at them from a distance.
Tron spoke in a low voice to Paige.
"We need to keep an eye on him." Tron said. "He'll need to know that his disc is gone."
"I'll tell him." Paige said. "When I can get him alone."
But before Paige could get Beck alone, Kassandra ordered he needed to regenerate.
"It will only take a Nano." Beck said to her, shooing Kassandra away for Paige to talk.
"You're quite a celebrity."
Beck laughed, "The Renegade.
"So you left the Occupation?"
"I was fired," Paige said, "by CLU."
Beck froze, and before he could say anything, Paige stopped him.
"I know I was lucky." Paige sat next to him. "After I nearly killed you, I reported to Tesler...and Clu, plus his commander Dyson. My failure to bring you in and calling you Tron lost me my job, and Tesler's position as general. CLU promised me deresolution if he sees me again. Tesler would be entered into the Games, I expect, and Pavel has gone missing."
"Pavel is missing?" Beck said. "More like deserting. He ran when the Repurposing unit crashed, and the mechanics rebelled."
"That seems more like Pavel's style." Paige agreed.
"So how'd you come to join Tron?"
"I didn't exactly join."
"Light Taser?" Beck asked.
"Yeah," Paige smiled. "How did you know?"
"It seems like Tron's style." Beck joked, remembering his first encounter with Tron.
"Beck," Paige said her smile fading. "You should know your disc was destroyed."
"What? But I'm here!"
"You are here because of the ISOs' efforts. Tron brought me on to keep you alive until we could find more advanced help."
"If my disc is destroyed," Beck started slowly, his brow furrowed, "whose Identity Disc do I have?"
"I don't know, Beck." Paige said quickly as Kassandra was coming back to them. "I'll find out."
She got up abruptly as Kassandra urged Beck into a regeneration chamber. He laid down inside as Kassandra closed the rounded lid over him. And he watched Paige walk away as Kassandra entered the settings and activated them.
"What is taking so long?" Dyson asked the program before him. "Shouldn't you be somewhere?"
The program laughed out loud at Dyson.
"Your impatience is wearing me thin, Dyson." the program said suddenly sober. "It is not like your career is on the line. Oh! Wait, it is!"
The program laughed again.
"But, Dyson, you really must be patient." The program continued, suddenly stern. "My operation has only just been put in affect."
"How much longer must it take? And what is exactly your operation?"
"Haha, Dyson," he chuckled, "you don't expect me to give up my secrets, do you?
"The key," he continued sternly, "is patience. Tron will be in your hands soon enough."
"CLU won't stand for 'soon enough.'" Dyson said standing up and stood face to face with this program. "I won't stand for it either."
The program let out a low, dangerous sounding laugh.
"You think you scare me, don't you, Dyson?"
The program shoved Dyson away from him with a forceful strike, hurtling Dyson several feet into the air and landing six feet away from him. Dyson whipped out his disc, but the program already had his at Dyson's neck.
"You want to fight me now, Dyson? You would fail. I am quicker than you. Younger than you. And, need I say, smarter than you." The program retired his disc and waltzed away to the edge of their building. "We met next on my terms, and if you want Tron so badly, you will wait the appropriate amount of time for my operation to be complete. We follow my plans, not yours."
With that the program turned and stepped off the edge of the building with calm and ease. Dyson leapt up and looked over the edge to see the program zoom upward, and backed away before the program could take off his head with the light jet.
Dyson turned on his heel and ran off the building, also activating his jet, and zooming to the games.
"Dyson." CLU said when he arrived and was being fitted in his armor, "there has been a change in plans. Due to the injuries the blind program sustained against her last opponent, her companion will fight in her stead."
Dyson knew the one. In fact, CLU knew them both too. History.
"Why do you keep them around?" Dyson asked adjusting a light taser more securely on his holster.
"They must pay for their insolent faith in Tron. You know this." CLU said in a false, cheery voice. "They are the only ones that remain from Tron's forces. It will teach the people of Argon to put no faith in the Renegade's cause. Their loyalty should be for me, not for Tron."
"I know, Sir, but it seems entering them into the games is not a means to receive their loyalty." Dyson stated confidently. "I mean, why haven't you Repurposed them?"
"All these questions lately." CLU paced around him a full 360 degrees before continuing. "Should I take that to mean you are losing faith in me, Dyson?"
"No, Sir!"
"Then you are questioning my authority?"
"No," Dyson said sternly. "Ruby and Miranda are a liability. If Tron should know of their existence-"
"Tron would come to me." CLU said smiling. "He would simply jump at the chance to save his only friends here, and in my grasp."
The armory doors opened to the ground level, and Dyson walked out into the screaming crowds. CLU remained in the armory and took a different route to his place to watch the fight.
Dyson saw Ruby across the way, glaring at him. Ever since they arrested her and the last of Tron's force, she's never let down an opportune moment to try to attack him.
They stepped out on to the platforms and at once the circular stages hovered up into the air to join with the rest of the battle field. The cheers were deafening as they rose up and once the platforms joined the hovering battle ground, CLU waved the full stadium into silence.
"Citizens of Argon!" CLU's magnified voice echoed and reverberated around them. "Welcome to the Games!"
The cheers and shouts rose up once more and CLU waved at the crowd smiling as proudly as ever before he held his hands up for silence.
"It is a very great pleasure to introduce this round of Games in the arena!" CLU paused for effect, and continued on in a happy voice. "Today we have two extraordinary fighters: My very own first commander, Dyson"- cheers sprang up and lasted for what seemed several minutes too long, and Dyson managed a wave with his baton hand before they died out - "and his opponent, a Renegade supporter."
The cheers were indistinct, Ruby was sure the massive crowd was booing her. She glared up at CLU on his new throne above them.
CLU let the crowd voice their displeasure at Ruby until the boos died out themselves, which took an eternity, but Ruby made the best of it. She turned away from CLU and bowed toward the Outlands, where she heard rumors Tron was hiding before she was able to find him.
CLU smiled at her evilly as she turned back and glared with her one good eye up at CLU, and then back at Dyson. Dyson noticed how much her scar seemed to remind him of another. It stretched from her forehead and down passed her cheek and jaw. Her right eye discolored and staring, as her left eye drilled into his face. Her expression of hatred and loathing were more than Dyson had ever witnessed before, but yet, all of Ruby's features reminded him of the day Tron had visited him in full, head-on rage.
"These programs will fight a series of rounds, which will carry on over the next several cycles." CLU explained, his voice shaking slightly from anticipation, but the crowd didn't notice. "They are allowed a bike, light tasers, a staff, and their Identity Disc.
"Programs of Argon! Please, enjoy the Games!"
The crowds screamed and roared nearly drowning out CLU's unusually cheerful call, "Let the Games begin!"
Dyson turned from CLU to see Ruby was already charging him, activating her bike as she forcefully leapt up into the air, and nearly came down on top of him with her bike; speeding off in the opposite direction.
Dyson remained where he was, his disc ready for her next attack against him.
Ruby smiled serenely, as Dyson did exactly what she'd hoped he would, as she activated her staff and pulled sharply to her right to see Dyson to her left.
He watched her intently, barely hearing the disappointed screams and boos from the stands below them. Ruby was drawing nearer and nearer, until Dyson threw his disc and Ruby jerked the bike more to her right, letting Dyson's disc zoom passed her, and increased her speed. Dyson drew out his tasers and leapt up on a twist, throwing the small beeping objects in every direction, forcing Ruby to turn in a wide arch around her target to avoid the little bombs.
Her speed had decreased and she swung around to the other end of the arena.
CLU watched with amusement playing at his lips. It was the first time in the longest time that he smiled naturally. He knew perfectly well Dyson was playing with Ruby. And his smile twitched slightly as Ruby drew too close to Dyson, nearly knocking him down.
"Fool," CLU said aloud as he saw through Ruby's plan.
Each time Ruby drew near, she forced Dyson closer and closer to the edge of the floating arena. All she needed was one more swipe at Dyson to make him back off the edge, she was hurtling toward him on her bike before finally Dyson, jumped up and landed behind her on her bike.
She instantly deactivated the bike before he could get a good grip on her, sending him flying, and rolling toward the edge. He failed to stop himself and barely caught the edge of the platform with one hand, jarring his shoulder. He swung up to catch the platform with his other hand, and then he saw her standing above him.
The anger in her scarred face and eye, even her blind eye showed at him eerily with that unfocused stare at him. She knelt and raised her disc, slamming it into the platform to cut away his hold on it. Dyson struggled to move along as fast as she was cutting. He looked up to the side and saw the edge was running out. She was going to run him off the platform.
He stopped moving and suddenly started swinging his body and on the third swing he launched himself back onto the platform, knocking Ruby off her knees.
Her disc went flying and Dyson snatched it off the floor, as he picked himself up. Ruby caught her breathe and rolled into a standing position, whipping out her staff. She glared at him as he held her disc in his hand, while he had his own in his other hand.
"You should know," she growled, "that I won't let you walk away from this, after what you did."
"Is that so?"
"You used to be so loyal. What happened to you, Dyson?" Ruby started them off walking in a ring facing each other. "Did Clu Repurpose you?"
"No, he didn't." Dyson said curtly. "Clu preferred my personality intact. He healed me."
"That's too bad." She said twirling her staff. "If you were, it'd have giving you an excuse for your treachery. Tron trusted you! And Flynn-"
"Flynn didn't care anything for me! Clu did!"
"How could you be so wrong!" Ruby shouted at him, the angry fire in her eyes flaring. "Clu could easily replace you! And if I have been hearing right, you're slipping off CLU's good side."
"Lies!" Dyson grimaced.
Ruby smiled, "Thank you for confirming my suspicions. Now you die."
With a roar of rage, Ruby attacked, lunging forward with her staff, hooking her disc with it and drew it upward. She laugh with triumph as her disc flew out of Dyson's hand and caught it at once, her staff out in front of her horizontally and her disc held up by her head, ready for Dyson's move.
"Shame, really." Dyson said. "It really is. An outstanding fighter such as you should be fighting for something worth your energy."
"Still recruiting, are you?" Ruby spat at him. "I will never join Clu."
"Then you are a fool," Dyson stood his ground as Ruby lunged again, "and fools that stand against CLU die."
"As long as Tron is alive, I will never yield. Even if Tron is unbelievably killed, I will take his place, and die for him if I must."
"Such loyalty to Tron will get yourself killed."
"Better derezzed than sorry."
Ruby unleashed her fury, striking with fierce movements across the arena, her anger drowning out the crowds screams. Then she caught Dyson with her staff around his shoulder as he backed away from her ferocious onslaught, knocking him to his knees.
"Any last words?" She said venomously, kicking Dyson to the floor and kneeling down on him.
Dyson said nothing, and simply watched Ruby raise her disc above her head, and smiled as a gong tone vibrated the air around them, announcing the end of their first round.
Several guards appeared on the arena and apprehended Ruby.
Ruby laughed cruelly.
"Aren't you glad for such protection?" She laughed, fighting against the soldiers as the seized her wrists ad forearms. "I will make you pay, Dyson, for Tron if it is the last thing I do!"
The guards dragged her away, and Dyson picked himself off the floor, and looked up at CLU, who stared down at him with his usual inexpressive, false smile.
Beck woke, standing alone in a single light surrounded by darkness.
"Hello!"
His voice echoed in the vast emptiness.
"Tron! Paige!"
Their names echoed into nothingness, and as he began to walk, the light above him followed.
"Mara! Zed..."
"They are not here, nor can they hear you."
Beck whirled around to see someone's circuitry glowing in the dark close by: White, and symmetrical. They drew nearer and nearer, and then one leg entered the light slowly followed by a hip, abdomen, hand, and shoulders.
Beck froze where he stood, as the program revealed herself. Black hair with bangs, a long, narrow face, white circuitry and a black suit with the corners of her shoulders showing bare. Her eyes were larger, giving off a sad appearance to her face.
"Who are you?" Beck asked stepped back, the darkness once again swallowing the program.
"My name is Ada."
SPECIAL THANKS TO MIKI FUJIMOTO
ONCE AGAIN FOR PERMISSION TO WRITE IN HER CHARACTERS.
