Chapter Two
"Sir, the subject is showing signs of disobedience." A soldier was standing beside the general, looking rather terrified as he held up a tablet.
"We need to ensure that this project does not fail," the general replied after grinding his teeth in frustration. "Modify the code. Make sure that the subject submits."
"What happens if the subject fail-" The soldier didn't get the chance to finish speaking.
A disk sliced across his chest. Cubes fell to the floor, and the program standing nearby watched on with mixed horror and awe.
"Clean up this mess, and finish the task," the general ordered.
The program didn't argue. He knew better.
. . .
Almost at once Tron's circuits glowed a hot white with rage. Dyson. Beck had not heard that name in a long time. He almost forgot about the old general, and had hoped that Dyson was derezzed when Clu was taken down.
"We've got bigger problems to worry about," Tron snapped after shutting down the screen. "You two can solve your problems in your own world."
Tron just moved to the side as soon as Clint fired an arrow. Paige's eyes widened in horror just as the formidable User rushed forward. Standing to the side as Tron caught Clint by the fist, Beck couldn't help but wince. Those two were probably evenly matched.
"You're Users, aren't you?" Paige managed to ask once Tron had pinned Clint to the floor. While the two were having a go at it, Natasha pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration.
"Look, what exactly happened?" Beck demanded before things got any worse. He guessed that it was Tony Stark who sent these two here in the first place. The Digitizer had been moved to a secret location, hopefully one that other Users wouldn't find out about.
"Mira disappeared about five days ago," Clint explained before Natasha could open her mouth.
This time it was Beck's turn to look worried. He knew all too well that she was capable of taking care of herself. But being gone for five User days meant that something must have gone wrong. He couldn't remember noticing if an alarm had gone off signaling that a User had arrived.
"We need to find out what Dyson is up to," Tron ordered after letting a very annoyed Clint up. "Paige, you're going with me to Purgos." Paige just nodded before Tron looked at Beck. "Keep an eye on them, I don't want any trouble from SHIELD," he added.
It didn't take them long to leave. Once they were gone the tension Beck had felt earlier suddenly returned. Having two top assassins in the same room certainly wasn't helping. And the fact that they looked more confused than ever only made things worse.
"What's with him? Seems more tense than usual," Clint muttered under his breath.
Beck leaned against the wall as he thought things over. He had gotten to know that both Natasha and Clint were very loyal to SHIELD. And any information might be fed to Director Fury. So he needed to play it low in order to keep the Grid safe.
"Tron and Dyson share an... uneasy past," he explained warily.
If he could he would rather leave it at that. Most likely Mira had already told them about Dyson. And if she hadn't they were about to find out just how brutal Dyson was in combat. His attacks had left a heavy toll on Tron, both physically and emotionally.
"He's a former soldier working under Clu," Natasha suddenly pointed out. Beck looked at her in surprise before nodding. "So Dyson survived after Clu was taken down, and now he's out for revenge."
"Well that's just wonderful." Clint folded his arms. "At least he's a somewhat normal villain." This time Beck raised an eyebrow. He hadn't seen Mira since she left the Grid. Clearly things had happened in the User world. It looked like there was a lot he needed to catch up on.
. . .
It didn't take long for Tron and Paige to reach their destination. With the possibilities of the threat still being in the area, they needed to take extra precaution. The remains of Purgos was a mess of rubble and torn apart code.
Whoever had done this knew precisely where to strike. That was what bothered Tron more than anything else. How could Dyson let this happen? Was this to provoke them into attacking? Or was there a hidden message in this attack?
"I never liked Dyson to begin with," Paige muttered after getting off her light cycle. "But this is going too far."
Pixels crunched under her feet as she walked. They were the shattered remains of programs, likely fleeing from the scene.
"We need to look for any clues that might lead to why this happened," Tron told her. Paige was experienced with situations like this. He just hoped that Beck could keep those Users from delving deeper into this mystery. If what he feared was true, than everyone's lives were in danger.
Paige kept close to the edge of the city, exploring a building that was somehow still standing. Half of the roof had been torn apart, collapsing in on itself. And the front of the building had a gaping hole that left it exposed to the elements.
Her eyes widened when she caught something moving in the building. Reaching for her disk on pure instinct, she activated it and prepared for the worst. Gridbugs were drawn to destruction and a masses of code. Tron wouldn't be surprised if that was what waited for them.
What they weren't expecting was to find a program lurched under a pile of rubble. The program was struggling to free himself from the beams that had held up the building. Paige glanced at Tron in alarm before pulling off the beams, while Tron pulled the program out of the building.
"Tron, thank you!" the program gasped. Part of his leg had been badly injured, along with a few scratches along his torso. Paige immediately went to work on fixing the code, making sure that he didn't derezz on them.
"What happened here?" Tron asked while she worked.
"I was alone in the building when that explosion shook the city," the program explained. "It happened so quickly. One minute everything was fine, and the next, I found myself being crushed." He grimaced as Paige put his disk back in place.
"Did you happen to get a look at who did this?" Though he had been in the building, perhaps he had gotten a look at anyone who might seem suspicious. Although in Purgos, just about everyone looked suspicious.
"No... I'm sorry," he admitted, sounding guilty. "Whoever did this was fast, faster than any program I could think of."
Tron exchanged a wary look with Paige. For now they would take this program to Argon City. At least he had survived, and as far as Tron could tell after scanning the city, he was the only survivor.
. . .
"Sounds like I missed a lot these past few days," Beck sighed once he was filled in on what had happened.
Users were such strange creatures. Having a giant enemy like the Lizard didn't sound like a fun adventure. To top things off people around the city had become infected with the Lizard's serum. It was only thanks to a User called Spiderman that the Lizard was taken down in the first place.
At least that was what Beck had gathered. Right now Clint looked bored, fumbling with his arrows while Natasha spoke with Director Fury. Having the place rigged thanks to Sam and Tony meant that communication with Users was so much easier.
It felt like cycles had passed by the time Tron returned. Beck was surprised that Paige wasn't by his side. Something must have happened at what was left of Purgos. And judging from Tron's expression it wasn't anything good.
"We found one survivor," Tron reported before anyone could ask what had happened. "They didn't have much of a description of the attacker."
"So other than that nothing serious happened," Clint concluded with the slightest smirks.
The look Tron gave him was priceless. Beck had to wonder why Clint never took anything seriously. At least with situations like this.
"You two should leave before things get worse." Tron's response was curt, but Beck didn't miss the worry in his voice. He glanced at his mentor in surprise.
"Not until we find out what happened to Mira," Natasha replied. "Director Fury just informed me that she was last seen at her apartment, before she disappeared. That was five days ago, when the Digitizer was last activated," she added before Tron could argue.
Chills swept down Beck's arms. Five days ago she had disappeared. And five days ago the Digitizer had been activated. Beck could only imagine that meant she had been on the Grid at some point. So if that was the case, than where was she now?
Tron just folded his arms and looked at the two Users thoughtfully. "If what you're saying is true, than finding her now will be impossible," he explained. "Like Flynn she has discovered what Users can do on the Grid, and that included hiding herself from security programs."
"Can't you just let SHIELD hack into the system and find her?" Tron stiffened at the mention of SHIELD, and Beck rolled his eyes in annoyance.
At this rate they would never get anywhere. Beck was just hoping that things didn't get any worse from here on. Otherwise they were all going to be in trouble.
. . .
The plan was working. Dyson tried not to grin triumphantly as he watched the events unfold.
Purgos was left in a pile of rubble after his ultimate weapon had destroyed it. Only one survivor had remained, and he made sure that program had lived to tell the tale. Send fear into the hearts of countless programs. Soon everyone would know that he was their ruler, and he would strike down anyone who opposed him.
He turned towards the soldier standing beside him. Throughout the video feed the soldier had remained silent. And despite the struggles they had put up earlier, the soldier was now close to being perfect.
"I want you to close off communication throughout the Grid," he ordered. The soldier eyed him warily before he explained, "I gave you administrative powers. Now use them."
The soldier didn't argue. Communications were cut off within the Grid and the User world. Now Tron wouldn't dare ask the Son of Flynn or anyone else for help. This was now the perfect plan.
AN: So there's the second chapter. Glad to see some positive feedback, and hopefully I'm not rushing too much ^^" I tend to do that a lot unfortunately. So thanks to Panda Bear Lover 317 and 2theSky for reviewing! You guys are awesome :)