It's certainly not Tron Tuesday...'cause I was late again. :( I have good reason though, it's private, but it's a good reason. Oh, and I also know that we're far from April Fool's Day, but the original plan was to make this chapter a flashback in the actual trilogy. Unfortunately, I never got around to that so I'm going down to this. Enjoy.

Chapter 4 – Prank War!

Alpha's POV

She went through her usual routine in the cycle's work after she woke up: tidy up anything in her room that required it, drink some energy, go to work (no Program could be lazy), hang out with her friends, drink more energy, go to a party or play games, then go to bed.

The start of this particular cycle felt…different though. It, of course, was different. Everyone had the whole cycle off today because Flynn insisted on celebrating some sort of holiday in the User world. Of course, no one was actually required to follow the actual customs, but they did have the opportunity to have some fun.

Though, in the minds of some of her friends, fun had different definitions. Alpha figured she'd have to be cautious this particular cycle. Knowing Liz, Ace, and Jude, she could bet that they'd be up to no good.

She opened her door and peeked out, looking side to side. The coast was clear. She took a step forward-

And tripped over a wire. Alpha landed in a clumsy heap just before a bucket of water tipped and dumped its contents over her. She grumbled and stood up as Liz's hiccupping laughter echoed throughout the building.

Alpha narrowed her eyes and wrung out her hair. This means war.

…

Zoe's POV

She figured before having fun this cycle, she'd check in at the base to see if any assistance. She opened the door to Tron's headquarters and her eyes widened. She ducked just in time to avoid pain balls coming her way.

Zoe made her way further into the building, constantly looking over her shoulder. There was no doubt in her mind that either Ace or Liz was behind this. They were true pranksters that still had the security clearance to commit such childish acts.

Just before Zoe could make it to the door that led to their section of the headquarters, the gravity in the hallway reversed and she was flung to the ceiling. Her back made contacts with the smooth white surface and gritted her teeth when she was suddenly drenched in paint.

Ohhhh…they were so dead to her.

…

Tron's POV

User holiday or not, he still had work to do. Taking a whole cycle off of work for the majority of the population would no doubt be chaotic and someone had to keep things in line.

Tron opened the door to exit his office and paused, blinking at the sight in confusion. The entire floor was upside down! He rubbed his eyes and looked again to see if that was real. Of course it was.

He sighed. "Of all cycles to do this and it has to be this one." He muttered irritably. Tron had enough to deal with and this was just an annoying inconvenience. He reached into one of the drawers in his office for a data pad and paused.

He pulled out the thin, hard matter that was shaped like a tablet…but wasn't. It was a piece of flat, rectangular metal with writing on the front such as: 'Boring things-to-do list', 'Programs to tickle', and 'Ideas on how to kill Agents for setting up this ridiculous prank'.

True, he was going to kill them…after he finds his real data pad. But as Tron searched the whole building, he only found the same rectangular pieces of matter.

As he started recoding the floor (using old fashion methods) to be right side up again, he thought about how he was going to discipline whoever was responsible for this.

He could hide the twitching in the corner of his lips. Next cycle was going to be a pain for his agents.

"Tron!" The Security Program glanced up, his eyes widened a fraction, and he recoiled in shock. Zoe was covered head to toe in paint. "H-Have you seen anyone in the building earlier this cycle?" Clearly he wasn't the only one that was annoyed.

Tron shook his head. "I wish," He muttered. "But whoever's responsible for these…these pranksters are going to have a hard time in the next few cycles."

"Hopefully," Zoe replied darkly as she turned around and left the building. Tron shook his head slowly and sighed. Young Programs, He thought. Always so irresponsible…

…

Liz's POV

She ducked behind a dark corner and waited for Jude to fall into her trap. Earlier this cycle, she and Ace sought out each other and agreed to an alliance for a prank war. So far it's been a riot. She booby-trapped Alpha and Courtney's doors while Ace laid out a few surprises at Tron's headquarters.

Honestly, Liz would be a little scared to face Tron's wrath next cycle. Who knew what he'd have in mind to discipline her and Ace this time? They were always the usual suspects…although there was never really a time when either of them was innocent. They were always out to get others just because it was fun. And they were always caught.

Jude entered Liz's field of vision as she casually exited the building. Liz grinned with ecstasy. This little trick took forever to set up; it required so much planning and calculations that Liz had to wonder if it was all worth it. Hopefully it was.

Jude slipped on the path and Liz smirked as the poor Program landed on her back. Most of her weight where she was laying applied force to the whoopee cushion beneath her. Liz erupted with laughter. "Oh, oh man. You should look at yourself right now!" She wiped her eyes.

Jude's face turned bright red. "That wasn't fair! I didn't even see the cushion; it's like…the exact same color as the sidewalk!"

That's the point. Jude stood up and glared at the Special. "I'm gonna get you!" She gave chase to Liz but didn't make it far. Jude ran face-first into some sort of clear, see-through plastic. There was some sort of disgusting goop smeared on the side that her face touched.

Jude wiped the mess off of her with a growl while Liz ran off with that infamous giggle.

…

Courtney's POV

Courtney sat up and yawned. After a lot of tossing and turning last night, she finally fell asleep. It was a pleasant rest too. She rubbed her eyes and blinked them open. Her vision was a little blurry from just waking up but it cleared very quickly.

When she could finally see better, she pulled her bed sheets over her head and screamed at the top of her lungs in fright. Courtney braced herself for attacks from the little insect-like buggers but it never happened.

Courtney hesitantly peeked out of the sheets and stared at the little statues of fake Grid Bugs that infested her room. It was just a prank. She sighed and grumbled profanities, cursing whoever sabotaged her room so she'd wake up to a jump scare.

One by one, she started deleting the fake Grid Bugs, not feeling eager to be accidentally scared by them again. Courtney had a pretty good idea of who would pull something like this.

And she'd get them back in her own way.

She stood up and walked towards her door. Opened it. She accidentally pulled a string and activated a fan that suddenly blew glitter all over her body.

Game on.

…

Ace's POV

He chuckled wickedly when he secured the string. Liz said she'd take care of the pranks with Alpha and Courtney, but he wanted to set up the Grid Bug one for her. A special little gift from himself to her.

Ace hoped she enjoyed it.

It was such a privilege to be pranked by him. He took the time to make complicated and elaborate traps for his victims with the exception of Courtney – hers was very quick and simple.

Ace finished setting up the trap for his final victim – Liz. This is the part where he would betray her in order to become the lone prankster. But he also wasn't stupid. Ace never underestimated Liz to the point of not believing she wouldn't try to betray him first.

However, Ace wanted so badly to be the one privileged of getting to prank the ultimate target. The consequences on any other cycle would be horrific but this was a special one. This was a free shot that anyone would be able to get away with.

There was no way anyone like Ace or Liz would pass up such an opportunity like that.

A mischievous grin adorned Ace's face as he backed away from the trip wire – which Liz hopefully wouldn't avoid – and quickly made his way back to his bedroom so he could gather the materials he needed for his last prank victim.

He opened the door and stopped dead in his tracks. His room was completely redecorated…

With him.

There were pictures of Ace scattered all over the floor and covering every millimeter of the ceiling, walls, desk, and bed. Behind him, he could hear a high-pitched yelp coming from Liz, along with the sound of spraying water. He bent his head and sighed with a content smile.

No one could see him and as far as he could tell, no one was looking at him either. Ace grabbed what he needed and left his room as if he didn't even see the unusual surprise hidden inside.

…

Ace pressed himself against the wall and peeked around the corner. All clear. He stayed in the shadows while he sprinted down the hallway towards his destination.

He snuck into the final victim's room and closed the door behind him. Ace turned around and smirked. Good. Still asleep. He picked up a nearby side-table and set it down on top of the victim, the legs standing sturdy around the upper body but not touching in any way.

Reaching into his pocket, Ace pulled out a blow horn he'd taken from Flynn during his last visit – the Creator was planning on using it for his own purpose but wouldn't get the chance. Plus there was his own prank he'd fall for at a later time this cycle.

Ace blew the horn very close to the sleeping Program's ear but standing out of reach. Clu bolted upright and his forehead collided with the underside of the table hovering over him.

The System Administrator muttered colorful Grid curses and lay back down, clutching his now-aching forehead. Ace laughed maniacally and quickly slipped back outside, still holding the blow horn.

At a later time, he attached it to the bottom of a chair that Flynn sometimes sat in when Clu was discussing plans with him. It wasn't high priority to prank the Creator though – he went far enough to prank Clu. If Flynn didn't fall for the air horn chair thing, it wouldn't matter.

Following through with the last step of the plan – escape to his room and stay there until next cycle. It sounded cowardly, but it was necessary if he didn't want to be chased around until bedtime.

Unfortunately, before he could get to the elevator, he bumped into a soaking wet Liz. A very angry soaking wet Liz. However, she didn't make a move to attack him like he expected.

"Tron called for an emergency meeting." She said bluntly.

Without a word, Ace followed her to headquarters. When they got there, they greeted Zoe, Con, Ken, and the rest of the agents. And then there was Tron standing there with his arms folded and his face emotionless. Zoe was standing next to him in a similar fashion.

Ace went into a straight line formation with everyone – Avery standing to his left, and Reni to his right. Zoe was looking at him with a not-very-happy expression.

Tron slowly started pacing up and down the line while Zoe remained stationary in front of everyone, scolding each and every one of the agents. Tron caught Ace's eyes and shook his head, showing his disappointment. "All of you. Each and every one of you in this line has been involved in causing trouble in this City."

"The Programs on the Grid look up to each and every one of you. You're supposed to set good examples to be followed." He gestured for Zoe to step forward. "However, if you insist on participating on something like this…"

Zoe picked up a bucket of water that was sitting against the wall and drenched everyone with it. Then Tron pulled out a remote and pushed a button. Tons of fluffy white powder rained down onto the Programs and made them look like Grid-snowmen.

Zoe smirked at Ace and high-fived her superior. "We win." She said smugly.

Tron pointed to the sparring ring. "Happy April Fool's Day. Now get training."

It's nearly impossible to make Tron not awesome now and again. Honestly, no one could be a better prankster than the Hero of the Grid, I think (even though the poor Monitor takes everything so seriously). Anyway, this is something I've been dying to write and I have. XD
Thank you very much, guys. And up next, we're going to pay a visit to the ISO District to get to know the early lives of specific OC's.

TRON LIVES! Toodles.