Chapter Three

Throughout the bickering of the three, Beck had decided to take the chance to leave. Tron could deal with these Users on his own. He was fully capable of taking them on at once if a fight broke out, though Beck doubted that would happen. Maybe Clint would be itching for a fight, but Natasha would hold back. All the while Beck was still trying to figure out what was really going.

With the recent attack on Purgos everyone was on edge. The program Paige had rescued was retelling stories of how the city had been destroyed in nanocycles. Beck glanced in their direction, hoping to get a better look at the program. He had short brown hair with white and green circuits running along his suit. Everyone seemed interested to hear what he had to tell. Paige leaned against the wall as he talked in a hushed whisper, as if afraid someone might be listening in on them.

"Hey, we heard what happened!" Beck flinched when he recognized Mara's voice. Standing beside her was Zed, who looked nervous as all eyes turned towards them. "Is it true?" Mara leaned forward as the survivor nodded. "How could this happen? Wasn't there anyone around to watch out for anything dangerous?" She glanced towards Beck's direction, than to Paige.

"It happened so quickly that we never had a chance to strike back," Paige replied with a shrug. "Even if we had been there on time, there wasn't anything we could do. Whoever attacked the city knew exactly where to strike."

Mara's face fell at the realization. Even with Tron and his team constantly patrolling, they could not prevent this from happening. Beck felt his fists tightening with frustration. First this had to happen, and now no one seemed to know what had happened to Mira.

Before Mara could say anything else, the sound of footsteps coming down the hall echoed. For a moment Beck thought it was Tron, reporting that Clint and Natasha had left. But his eyes widened when he saw the two Users standing behind Tron, looking more frustrated than ever.

"Someone managed to shut down communication," Tron announced as everyone stared at him in surprise. Than at Clint and Natasha.

"That's impossible," Paige retorted. "Only someone with administrative power can shut down communication." She was right about that much. Only Tron had administrative powers as far as Beck was aware. Unless Sam Flynn had given someone else that kind of power, though he doubted it.

"Or a User could shut it down," Zed pointed out warily.

Beck bit the bottom of his lip at the thought. A User could be working for Dyson. It was possible he had shut down communication to keep Tron from asking Sam to shut him down from the outside. The plan was almost full proof actually, as much as Beck hated admitting it.

"So who are you?" The program Paige had rescued looked terrified when Clint shot him a cold look.

"If that's the case than we can't return to the real world." Natasha placed her hand on her hips before Tron could argue, ignoring the program's question.

She did have a point there. They couldn't reach out to the Digitizer if communication was down. So until the threat of Dyson was taken care of, they would have to offer their assistance. Or they would drive everyone on the Grid to insanity.

Beck looked at Tron uncertainly as he thought over what to tell everyone. Should they go back to business as usual, or should he tell everyone that this was all Dyson's fault? Beck had a feeling that would only stir panic.

"I assume you two know how to operate a light cycle?" Tron's question caught Beck by surprise. Clint just exchanged a look with Natasha before shrugging in response. "You two are coming with us than. We need the rest of the team here, to keep an eye on things," he ordered.

He didn't give them or anyone else a chance to argue. Beck wandered after him as he led them to the elevator.

"Okay, what's going on?" Clint demanded once they were inside.

Tron hesitated before answering. A solemn look passed his features before he glanced at Beck. "Look, the video feed showed someone standing at the edge of Purgos as it was being destroyed. While I didn't get a good view of the program, I did catch something eerily familiar," he explained.

Beck didn't need to ask Tron what he meant by that. The familiar feeling of guilt had returned. If he had explained to Mira what was going on earlier, maybe none of this would have happened. Tron had always told him that there was no point in dwelling on the past. Even if it did leave a pain in your chest.

"And you expect us to find this mysterious program," Clint muttered.

"You two were trained for missions like this," Tron retorted. "You should start your search in Purgos. Look for any clues that might lead to where this program is. If you see Dyson, run. He's far more dangerous than any program we've ever faced."

Clint was about to make a retort when he thought better of it. Tron handed them a pair of light cycle batons.

"Well, this should be fun," said Natasha after catching her baton. "Try and keep up."

Before Clint could respond, she rezzed her light cycle and sped off. Beck couldn't help but smirk as Clint rolled his eyes and did the same. Mira had done the same thing with him many cycles ago. They would race across the Outlands to see who was faster. And every time she would win.

"Beck, you and I are patrolling the edge of the city," Tron suddenly ordered. "If my hunch is right than that soldier might strike Argon City next, and we need to be ready for the attack."

. . .

Amusement coursed through Dyson as he watched the two Users. Getting lost in the midst of turmoil was never a good idea. They were vulnerable, leaving an opportunity for him to attack. But before he decided to launch his next attack, he was readying the line of soldiers he had gathered.

"Take down Argon City. Leave nothing behind, but I want Tron and his 'apprentice' alive," he ordered.

All of these soldiers had once been loyal followers of Tron. But the code extractions Dyson had created made certain they forgot all about their so called hero. Once they were ready to leave he turned to face his greatest warrior.

"I think you'll make fine use of this," he explained before handing the program a second disk. The disk was similar to the one Clu had used on Rinzler. Once activated the soldier's memories would be all but locked away. "You know what to do."

The soldier only responded by putting the disk back in place, locking it with their own. Once the task was complete the soldier ran after the others. Dyson could only smirk as they left the base. Things were about to get very interesting indeed.

AN: Ah so many questions. And yes, things are going to go from bad to worse before they get better ;) I already have most of the story typed up XD Goes to show how much I'm enjoying the plot. So thanks to 2theSky, Guest and Panda Bear Lover 317 for reviewing! You guys are awesome :D