Chapter 1: Return, Pt. 1

Argon City, TC2013, GridTech Labs...

Argon City was a sure sign of recovery. The Grid Wars were over, carved into history archives, and Argon had been the first to build itself back up. Smaller buildings, destroyed in TC406, were reconstructed into massive skyscrapers, glistening in the circuitry of their fellow skyscrapers. With the defeat of the Occupation, led by the power-hungry CLU, in TC 1103, came massive casualties and the reward of freedom. Argon was a distant city, only reachable by either the Arjia Conduit or by aqua or air transport via the Sea of Simulation. Light Cycles, Grid Limos, whatever a program used these days, faithfully carried their owners to their proper locations.

Everything was peaceful here. And that was just the way Travis liked it.

Thin, tall, and physically in top shape, Travis (short for Technical Retrofitting Aptitude and Vanguard Insurrection Specialist) was at his prime, even as an engineer at GridTech Labs. Short, soft brown hair, bristled and shot at an angle towards the ends, blew across Travis' face when he stepped into Argon's tranquil breeze. Some programs liked to joke about how he was similar in personality to Beck, the hero known as Delta, and the previous owner of his former title "Renegade". Travis just went along with it, saying that though he did carry a close physical resemblance to the young war hero, he probably wouldn't amount to much in his lifespan, despite the fact that he was one of Heliod's top engineers at GridTech, using the steady paycheck to rent an apartment, keep himself with a fresh supply of energy, and pay his loans for term at Argon Institute.

"Hey, Trav," one of his coworkers shouted over the noise of recoders and fission drivers, "I found a glitch in an old Light Cycle and I need your help." Travis went over to the heavily-customized Light Cycles and inspected it.

"These are really old parts," Travis said, activating his safety gear, "If I were to guess, these parts would be from... about, maybe, TC1023." His co-worker's jaw dropped, his muscles letting go from shock. "These are too old for real use. Get the customer and tell him that we need to replace his afterburner and coolant turbines. The afterburner fumes were blocked by this chop-shop focus array- highly illegal, and used to increase the strength and longevity of a Light Ribbon. I'm going to call Ginger on it, and see if she can remove that part. Talk to Reto and see if we have any spare units for her to work with." The Co-worker nodded, rushing off to find the two programs.

Travis sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose with two fingers, then using the other two fingers, his ring and pinkie, to rub his eyelids from exhaustion.

"Travis!" A sharp, clipped accent barked a few meters away, and closing in. Travis stood up straight and observed Heliod striding towards him. Short, lean and equipped with many tools necessary for her function, she was head of GridTech Labs, and never appreciated a slacker. However, she rested a soft, velvety hand on one of Travis' orange secondary circuits. "You are right there, kid?" Travis nodded, and deactivated his safety gear.

"Yeah, just another illegal upgrade found that's welded in and overheating the afterburner. It's causing the entire bike to glitch up. Just tired and frustrated." Heliod patted Travis on the shoulder and pointed towards the individual labs. Besides, they didn't call it GridTech Labs just to repair vehicles. GridTech was one of the highest in renown for their exceptional technology, which was cheaply priced, but sold in high quantities. "Tell you what, kid. Get some rest after finishing that new Light Cycle you've been coding, and come back next Cycle. I have a major assignment to give you and a few others." Travis nodded, waved to Heliod, and headed back into his lab.

The best part of being a top engineer at GridTech, Travis thought, was having an individual lab with infinite resources to build technology to create high funds for the Labs themselves. Besides the fact that he had unlimited tools at his disposal, and a state-of-the-art lab to use them in, Travis had a helping hand: BIT. BIT assisted Travis in his work room, operating different consoles and giving his master status updates. Basically, to Travis, BIT was four extra limbs in a spiky ball. Travis coded open his door, and put his bluetooth in his ear.

"Hey, BIT," Travis said to no one in particular, "Are those coding strands ready to be solidified?"

"YES." Travis nodded, and shoved a wrench into a random, organized drawer system. "Good. Commence the power signature transfer." The response was another "YES" as a beam of high-radius energy coded itself into a newer, sleeker Light Cycle. Unlike the 5th Gen model, which was designed for acceleration rather than speed, Travis edited his Light Cycle to be balanced in all four categories of Light Cycle statistics: Speed, Acceleration, Handling and Durability. He knew that while they couldn't be a perfect mix, he could alter the braking system to make the model close to even in statistics.

Travis ran his hand over the sleek, new bike he designed, having been doing so for DecaCycles, and rezzed it back into a baton. "Check it out, BIT..." He murmured, strapping the new baton to his belt, "The newest Light Cycle to hit the shelves." It took a hundred Cycles, but to create the 6th gen Light Bike... it was well worth his time and code.

Travis' bluetooth went off, his index finger pushing the 'receive' button. "This is Travis, who is it?" A loud, half-maniacal, half-friendly laugh splintered Travis' eardrum.

Travis rubbed his ear as a clipped, well-trained voice replaced the laugh. "Trav, you should know by now that it's gonna be me who calls you at this hour." Travis looked up at the clock. It had been a full PectroCycle since he went into his lab, and he hadn't even noticed a NanoCycle fly by. "Sorry, Zek. I lost track of time. Been finishing the new Light Bike." As one of Travis' best friends, Zek was knowledgable of all of Travis' past works, and usually filled in on GridTech's current models. "Ah, so I heard. Congrats on finishing the new bike. Now hurry up. Miranda, Natalie and I are at 322nd and Jolson intersection. We're walking to your place." Travis considered how fast he could make it to his apartment: with the new, incomplete prototype, he could be there much quicker than the others, and if he used the classic 4th Gen he kept at his waist, he would have to sneak in the back door.

"Yeah, I'll be there soon. Just need to give Heliod the prototype and I can be there in a few Nanos." Zek silently nodded and hung up as Travis hurriedly turned off his computer system, coded the door, and allowed BIT to rush out with him. Travis jumped, activating the prototype Light Bike, and sped down 9th street to his apartment.

Travis' bike's brakes screeched across the ground, leaving tire trails in the dust behind him. The first thing he saw, upon nearing 15th street, was fire. Blue flames, licking at the air above it. It could only mean one detail. Or there was an alternative, even worse than the previous assumption.

Either some kind of gang war, or, as Travis would guess correctly, another CLU had arrived to take the former dictator's place on the throne.

Soon enough, tanks began rolling past Travis' stone-still body. Tanks with yellow circuitry, and secondary circuits of pale-green. Travis watched in horror as Sentry-like Programs, though this time with riot gear, began tearing down buildings like they were simple roadblocks. They had force fields erected around the entire two city blocks, and had programs screaming for help inside the doomed apartment buildings.

Travis pushed his Light Cycle into it's baton, and snuck around the eastern wall of the perimeter. A recoder, one from GridTech Labs, slipped into his hands and began clearing sections of code in order for Travis to sneak through. A back exit led into his house via a fire escape, which was enough to give him room to shove a few belongings out the hole. His helmet slid over his head, to prevent smoke from hindering his objectives.

He knew that the belongings he took would have to scarce and easy to transport. Though Zek had a large storage transport, he scarcely used it, only to go camping in the Outlands with Travis, Miranda and Natalie. As Travis held up a small duffel bag with his belongings, he picked up several items he might deem useful: Several bottles of energy, some spare code to work with, a handheld holoprojection console, and a few photos of himself, Natalie, Miranda and Zek. They would be the only memento he had at this point of his former home.

Apparently, not a single program had noticed Travis' illegal entry, but he was cautious, as trained by Heliod, as he slid down the ladder railing, and through the re-coded barrier. The code fixed itself, sealing the barrier as Travis dashed through it.

Travis slid around the corner, only to look up in horror as several bombers made a collaborative effort, bombs searing the code of buildings below them. The helmet in front of Travis' face hid his tragedy as foundations collapsed on themselves, setting an example for the buildings that crumbled with them and pushing dust into the air. And one of these houses once belonged to Travis.

Citizens hid behind riot barricades, watching as a program whose entire body beside his head strode towards the programs in front of him. Travis grit his teeth behind his mask as he stood at the front of the crowd, where the program's yellow circuits, in a cracked pattern, showed themselves behind his cloak. The helmet, to Travis' keen eye, was the most offsetting feature. It resembled the helmet of Kevin Flynn, his System Administrator CLU, and the famous System Monitor Anon.

"Allow me to introduce myself," the program growled, his voice distorted and sharp behind his mask, possibly even without the mask. "I am your new ruler, Concept. As of this Cycle, I am supervising the construction of a new military base here in Argon." He gestured to the yellow-circuited programs behind him, who saluted loyally. "These are your protectors of the law: my Enforcers. They are upgraded versions of CLU's Sentry, and will keep you safe from any trouble. They are programmed to only keep peace, but I am not bound to programming. If you so much as question my rule, you have me to answer to."

"Trav!" Travis turned around to see three programs rushing towards him. One was a tall male Basic, with spiky black hair and white and green circuitry on his Light Suit.

It was clear that he had found Zek.

The other two were females, yet still Basics. One was shorter than the other, and bore velvet-red circuits as a secondary color. Miranda was a stand-out with her blonde hair, containing seven different colors on the left hairline. And Natalie. The taller of the two, with long, chest-length hair, and bearing soft, lavender-purple secondary circuits. Travis' best friends, here to support him in his trial of courage. And he appreciated it.

"What happened?" Natalie asked, gripping Travis' hand with both of her own. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," Travis said, kneeling from a leg wound. He had tried escaping quickly, grazing himself on the windowsill. "Not so sure about my place, though. And I think Big, Tall and Demented over there is feelin' better than two of myself." Miranda marched through the crowd, and faced the towering figure that was Concept.

"Excuse me!" Miranda shot out, prompting Concept to turn around. "Just what do you think you're doing?!" Travis stood up, rushing to get to the front of the crowd. She hadn't heard Concept's Rule Number One, and it was important she be stopped before anything bad happened. "You can't just tear down program's homes and expect us to be okay with that! Wait until the Coalition-" Concept's disk moved faster than Miranda, and the force of her derezzing body combined with Concept's superhuman strength smashed her into cubes, scattering right into where Travis was standing. Just feet away from stopping the scene.

"MIRANDA!" Travis' lungs blew a fuse as his friend's disk ID disk rolled into his hand, the purple edges glowing menacingly. "NO!" He gripped the disk, until microscopic cracks formed on the area of hold. "No..."

"Don't try anything," Concept whispered where only Travis could hear. He then bellowed loud enough that Travis flinched in an attempt to keep himself. "What just happened is an example of whoever tries to question me. Any program who attempts a similar action will face the same punishment. Now, unlike Tesler, I understand that jurisdiction by curfew is unnecessary. You will return to your normal lives, and you will never realize that we were ever here." Concept swung on his heels and strode away, four Enforcers accompanying him. "Good day to you all."Travis' helmet retracted, showing his rage in a state of anger. Natalie's hands grabbed Travis' arms, and locked them together tightly. Travis closed his eyes and shook his head in the art of shame.

Travis' fist smashed into the table, creating a large splinter upon impact. Travis' disk, lit in an orange blade and white center, lay inactive on the now-destroyed table. Natalie watched as Travis silently stormed around the room. She knew that with Travis, a silent rage could mean inner trauma.

"Trav?" Natalie's voice stopped Travis' quiet ranting, allowing her to stand up and place a hand on his shoulder. "Are you... okay? I mean... if you don't want to talk about it..."

"I'm fine," Travis croaked, blinking back tears, "Just... a bit too much, that's all. I've lost everything except you and Zek, my job, and a few profound possessions that were just laying there. I only took what the fire and dirt hadn't. My home... Miranda... our freedom... it's all gone."

"I know," Natalie said, motioning for Travis to sit down, pointing to the chair with her finger. Travis, knowing not to get on Natalie's dark side, obediently lay down in the chair. "We lost a lot this Cycle. But just remember this: next Cycle, we'll still be here. And if Concept is true to his word... then almost nothing will have changed. Just a few homes were destroyed. Nothing more."

"A few homes?!" Travis shouted, forcing Natalie's body to flinch backwards. "Just a few homes?! Nat, I was there when Concept's forces began tearing down 9th and Junction! There were innocent programs, trapped inside the barricades! And do you know what the Enforcers did?! NOTHING! They just stood there, backs against the screams... I saw it. I know you may not like Concept, and you might not have seen it, but I did." Travis' heavily-breathing body stood stone-cold for several NanoCycles, then loosened it's cold demeanor. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." Natalie began breaking down, rushing towards her friend and sobbing into his chest.

"I'll find a way to fix this," Travis said, running his hand through Natalie's hair, "I'll ask Heliod if I can take a business trip to Tron City in a few Cycles. Maybe I can go and get to the bottom of this. Maybe I can figure out why the Coalition is turning a blind eye... why Tron isn't here."

"No can do, kid," Heliod said, using a fusion welder to scorch two pieces of code together in her lab. "I have a few assignments to be done, and I need all senior staff in Argon." Travis straightened up, nodding in compliance. Arguing with Heliod was a lost cause; if she had a final say, it stuck like a Light Cycle in the Outland wilderness.

"Huh... eh, all right," Travis said, holding a baton for a custom Light Cycle order Zek had placed a MylaCycle back, "I've figured from experience that this isn't going any further." Heliod looked back, turning off the fusion welder, and nodded an approving nod. "So.. you needed me for a 'major assignment'. Would you care to elaborate?" Heliod nodded, sealing away her new project, and strode over with Travis to a holoprojector. She activated it, and a large ghostly image of a GridTech energy rig was initiated, the bottom of the Sea of Simulation farther below it. Travis pointed a finger and squinted. "Hey, isn't that the rig we've got in Argon Quay?"

"Smart boy," Heliod said, pressing another button and beginning her explanation. "Recently, we built the Raft to begin mining energy, since it's crucial to the creation of all of this equipment around us." Travis nodded and noticed a large red dot. "Two Cycles ago, we experienced problems with the drilling. Some kind of box was buried underneath the Sea of Simulation floor. We suspect, based on the ore settlement patterns in the quay, that this thing is from the Grid Wars era. It's blocking our drill, and we can't risk moving the Raft in lieu of allowing the energy to freely escape to the surface."

"So, in short, you're telling me to remove the suitcase and allow the drill to continue mining." Heliod looked up, pulling back her lenses to reveal two diamond-blue, pale eyes from their hiding place. Travis' memories reminded him of how a Coalition ordnance accident had blinded her, and she required the lenses for everything. Though she retained her brilliance, Heliod would look up to Travis in his ability to be her fifth sense.

"Sometimes I envy how smart you are, kid."

Travis rubbed the fog off of his mask, exasperated by the lack of self-cleaning visors. Despite being the top technology producer in the entire Grid, Travis lamented over the fact that he couldn't get something with better visibility.

"Hey, Heliod," Travis grumbled, holding the helmet in his left hand, the right hand adjusting the correct mods on his SCUBA suit. "Any chance I can just go down in my Light Suit and mask?"

"Sorry," Heliod denied, helping Reto put on his emergency surface unit, "Pressure levels are too high down at the bottom of the Sea. Your masks would crack and break before the halfway checkpoint. These SCUBA masks are designed by AIChem. They're designed to be cheaply manufactured, and are cheaply sold. Too bad our budget is strained enough that we can't afford one of those sophisticated Liparth Corp suits." Travis sighed. Some of one of his co-worker's experiments involved a lot of credits, severely pressuring GridTech Labs' budget. This was pushing them towards either cutting off funds for Gregor's experiments, or merging with AIChem for more funding. And Travis knew that Heliod wasn't one to cancel an employee's work.

"So, get to the bottom of the Sea and remove the box. Otherwise, we're gonna have a real barricade to deal with." Travis' mind shot backwards, the screams of innocent programs filling his ear, at the pronunciation of a single word. Travis nodded and jumped over the edge, a large splash and ripple effect the sole reminder of his exit. Reto joined him shortly after.

"Do you see anything?" Reto's distorted voice filled Travis' ears as they sunk deeper into the water. "No, nothing yet. We're nearing the quarter-way checkpoint." A large, blinking light flashed green as Travis and Reto swam downward into the blackening depths. "I can't see anything. Activating floodlights." Two pairs of four floodlights brought an end to the void of the ocean depths.

Reto shivered, watching a code shark swim by and grazing his gear. "I don't think they like visitors." Travis nodded, moving deeper until a loud, deep grinding noise replaced the comm static. "Stay sharp. We've found the drill. Could be anywhere." Reto shouted, wincing as the drill skinned his right arm, code flowing freely from the wound.

"Reto, head back to the surface," Travis ordered, "I'm not taking any chances with this one." Reto's floodlights bounced up and down as the figure bearing them shot towards the surface.

"Travis, what the Users?!" Heliod's voice replaced Reto's comm, forcing Travis to land on the seabed. "You just sent your friend back up! What're you gonna do if you get hurt?!"

"I'll be fine, Heliod," Travis coolly replied, "And get Reto some medical help. He cut himself with the drill. And don't worry, the box'll be gone by the end of the PectroCycle." Heliod responded affirmatively and cut the channel.

Travis descended to the point of the box's location. A large, thin, black box, with a handle on it. Travis recognized this as a suitcase. His first instinct was to open a channel with Heliod.

"This is Trav. I think I just found our problem. It's a suitcase. And it's heavy. I can't lift it out without breaking a bone."

"Try opening it." Heliod calmly spoke to him, as if nothing was going wrong. "If we can get rid of the contents, then-" Static replaced Heliod's voice as Travis began following her instructions. He knew that it was common to lose contact this far below the surface, but the way it cut her off... it was demonizing.

The first few things floated out, a brick, another brick, and yet another brick. Travis raised an eyebrow, then closed the suitcase. Picking it up now felt like a feather. "This is Trav. I'm coming back u-" Travis looked around, eyes widening as the ground beneath him shook. "Uh, Heliod?! What's going on?!"

"The coding you broke off destabilized!" Heliod shouted, gripping the console. "You're right in the middle of an undersea current! Get outta there before-" A loud bang shook the station to it's core. Warning klaxons blared, programs rushed to their designated areas. But Heliod remained in her chair, watching Travis' camera feed. Bubbles sprayed everywhere, Travis' voice raising an octave as he shouted in surprised shock. A few Nanos passed before the camera feed became as static as Travis' comm unit.

Heliod just sat there, hoping that, eventually, it would come back online.

Travis' eyes slowly forced themselves open, their owner having no control over the movement. As though in slow-motion, Travis lifted his sand-coated body onto it's knees. Breathing heavily, Travis read his status check in his HUD. All of his bodily systems were functioning normally, and there was no collateral damage as far as limb function.

Travis laid back, using his hands to keep himself from falling back. Looking around, Travis realized he was laying on Argon Port's least hospitable beach. Travis leaned forward, noticing a large black box in front of him.

He knew that whoever left the suitcase to sink to the bottom presumably had a valid and good reason to abandon it where he did. But Travis wasn't one to let mysteries solve themselves. On the contrary, he enjoyed chasing the trail of bread-crumbs to their hub, and earning a long-earned thanks. This was a case he wanted to solve badly. Badly enough that the end of the Grid wouldn't stop him.

Cautious, since it could turn out to be a bomb, Travis activated his safety gear and popped open the lid. A silver and white glint flowed out from the suitcase, reflecting into the smooth amber gems that were Travis' eyes. This was a treasure, one not commonly found in this scenario.

Inside the suitcase lay the disk of a hero who had vanished into dust nearly a KiloCycle ago- a hero known as the Renegade.

QuilSniv Proudly Presents

Book Two of the Tron: Aftermath series...

Tron: Unlimited

A/N: So here we are. Yeah, I know we're on a bit of a cliffhanger, but that's why we have part 2 to look forward to tomorrow, if at all possible. I'll be gone from Wednesday to Friday on a trip, so you won't receive a review or favorite. But let's remember that we have a clean slate, and I'll use all my power to make this a good story regardless. Oh, by the way, review and favorite the third gen Tron writers (Myself, PrincessKai317, and 2theSky), check out the Grid Time System on my profile, and just be prepared for Chapter 2.

Beck: Ooooh! Will I be in it?

Me: Um... maybe? I don't wanna give away too much, otherwise the readers won't have anything to look forward to.

Beck: Aw...

Travis: Well at least you have the three-program band to definitely look forward to!

Me: Oh, yeah. Well, as my closing note, Sparkle Sparkle Sparkle!

Next: Travis decides to wear the Renegade Disk and begins his one-man war against Concept's forces.

The Renegade Lives! P.S: What would be a cool name for Concept's forces? You decide! And I'm also letting people submit ideas for OCs, and they wil be promised a supporting role in at least one chapter. Yeah... Kay!