Through a Diamond Sky

"I've seen a number of fics involving Flynn going to The Grid after Jordan dies, generally to... angst about how he'd wanted to show her this place eventually. What if he had?"

Through a Diamond Sky is a novella-length Tron-universe Fanfic written by Allronix in response to the above prompt. It takes place in the era of the Betrayal comic, between the two films.

Jordan Canas turns out to be a former army sergeant who used her time in the military to pay for her architecture degree. She was also rebounding from a divorce when she met husband #2, Kevin Flynn. Jordan begins to suspect that she's being cheated on again, and covertly trails Kevin, following him into his secret lab. As she's reading him the riot act, the laser goes off, and she gets dropped into The Grid.

But as anyone who's sampled the franchise knows, the digital world is quite hazardous. The danger this time comes from a gang of rogue Programs known as Resource Hogs. They've been menacing a small Iso colony on the Grid's frontiers, but the stakes escalate when they capture Shaddox. Kevin and Tron team up with a pair of Iso scouts - Herd and Kanna - to find and neutralize the Hogs. Their leader, The Baron, wants the Grid for himself, and is willing to do most anything to get it - even killing the Grid's creator.

Tropes used in Through a Diamond Sky include:

• Action Mom: Jordan Canas (and later, Kanna)
• Badass in Distress: The Hogs are savvy enough to severely weaken Tron. Once he gets a little energy back in his system, though, let the butt-kicking commence.
• Battle Couple: Let's just say Sam and Quorra got it from their parents.
• Bodyguarding a Badass: Flynn can certainly hold his own, but Tron still feels an obligation to bodyguard his User pal. Jordan uses this as a bluff later, claiming to be an "experimental" Program guarding Clu.
• Born in An Elevator: Quorra is born in a stolen Recognizer as the heroes are making their getaway.
• Cassandra Truth: Played with. It turns out that Kevin tried to tell others about Cyberspace, but while Gibbs (the former Encom CEO) believed him, no one else really did.

Kevin sighed. "Tried to tell [Alan], but his exact words were, 'Flynn, you're the CEO of a Fortune 500 company, with a wife and a child. Quit smoking that shit.' The only way he'll believe this is if I knock him out and drag him in here."

• Chekhov's Skill: Jordan being ex-military and able to out-score her husband at Matrix Blaster come in very handy.
• Combat Pragmatist: Kevin's no slouch in an actual fight, but he will never rule out invoking User abilities to cheat.
• Continuity Cameo: Jarvis (Clu's slimy assistant) makes an appearance as Yori's assistant. He's still a fawning, somewhat creepy bureaucrat. Shaddox also plays a part, as his disappearance sets off the plot. The last line reveals that Quorra is Herd and Kanna's daughter.
• Dad the Veteran: Jordan is third-generation Army. Of course, this means Sam has a case of "Mom the Veteran."
• Deadly Distant Finale/Doomed by Canon: Pretty much the entire cast.
• Deadpan Snarker: It's hard to say if Kevin or Jordan is worse. Clu also has his moments.

Jordan (regarding her gridsuit): Glow in the dark, skintight vinyl catsuit is 'proper attire?' Someone's got a fetish...

• Delivery Guy: Kevin, when Kanna goes into labor in the middle of their escape.
• Fantastic Racism: The whole issue with Basics and Isos. The Basics see Isos as chaotic elements that use resources, but have no apparent purpose or directive. Isos see Basics as inherently hostile and limited by their directives.
• Fluorescent Footprints: Clu and Jordan are able to follow the Resource Hogs' energy trail to their headquarters. Too bad they get ambushed on the way.
• Fourth Date Marriage: Kevin and Jordan hit city hall three months after meeting. Sam was already en route.
• Genre Savvy: The Baron keeps Tron and Shaddox alive as leverage to use against Kevin. Subverted in that The Baron thinks Users are overrated.
• Go and Sin No More: Flynn to Melodia. The epilogue indicates she took the order seriously, becoming a Badass Preacher.
• Happily Married: Kevin and Jordan, Herd and Kanna, Tron and Yori.
• Heel Faith Turn: Melodia, The Baron's Dragon. She certainly has second thoughts about the whole thing when it sinks in that she helped capture the Grid's Creator.
• How Do I Shot Web?: Zig-Zagged. Kevin hasn't quite got the Zen thing down yet, and ends up resorting to things like counting in prime numbers to focus his User abilities. Jordan, being human but not a programmer, is much more limited.
• I Think You Broke Her: After Jordan rescues Clu, he reacts...well, he reacts like her husband would. Tron then scolds him for acting improper behavior. Jordan's brain essentially goes to blue screen and she cracks up laughing. The confused Isos ask if she's "broken."
• Jerkass: Clu isn't evil yet, but he isn't a nice guy, either.
• Load-Bearing Boss: Lampshaded by Clu as the party's escaping.

"Explain to me," Clu grumbled. "Why we take out the boss and this place decides to go into cascade failure?"

• Large Ham: The Baron
• Love At First Sight: Herd and Kanna when they emerged from the Sea.
• Mistaken for Cheating: The opening scene; Jordan's trails Kevin down to the secret lab thinking she's going to catch him with his pants down. She ends up hit with the laser and taking a trip to Cyberspace instead.
• Noble Bigot with a Badge: Tron has a mild case of this, as he admits he isn't sure what to make of the Isos. However, he does make a good effort to overcome the prejudice. Clu, of course, has a much more obvious case of it. As we know, the latter's case only gets worse.
• OC Stand-In: The only "canonical" details on Jordan Canas were that she married Kevin, gave birth to Sam in 1983, worked as an architect, and died in a car wreck in 1985. Everything else was Allronix's design.
• Past Life Memories: Clu freaks out when he sees the decompiler racks. His previous version de-rezzed on one of those...
• Physical God: See How Do I Shot Web?.
• Pregnant Badass: Kanna
• Second Law, My Ass: Pretty much a given for this universe.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here Melodia to The Baron the instant Flynn comes in the room.
• Sensual Spandex: Lampshaded by Jordan when she gets a look at Grid attire. (See quote under Deadpan Snarker)
• Shout-Out: The names of the Isos were mostly cribbed from the Green-Sky Trilogy. Resource Hogs and suffusion guns were cribbed from Tron 2.0.
• Spell My Name with a "The": The Baron, leader of the Resource Hog gang.
• Start of Darkness: Clu, at the end.
• Synchronization which overlaps with Didn't Think This Through: A side effect of creating Clu is that when Kevin's on the Grid...well, hit one and the other's going to feel it.
• Take Me Instead!: Herd volunteers to be tortured on the energy-drainer so that his wife, child, and Tron will be spared.
• Teleportation Sickness: Jordan makes a less-than-graceful entrance to Cyberspace, landing with a thud in the I/O Receiving Chamber, passing out soon after arrival, and confusing the hell out of Tron and Yori.