To Die For

"Now you wait here. Tron has a marvelous surprise for you."

"Ooo….what is it? And why are we meeting here?"

CLU forced a chuckle as the young program followed him. "If I told you, it wouldn't be a surprise, would it?"

Beck sat down. They had come near the edge of the city, in a quiet part of town. He sat coiled in eagerness. "If you tell me, I'll act surprised."

CLU forced a chuckle and shook his head, "No this is just for you and Tron….a sort of father-son…thing…"

He sighed, and then after a moment, the smile appeared back on his face.

"Well, I better go get him."

The younger program began to get up, "I'll come with you_"

"NO!"

CLU realized his outburst and quickly pulled back. He chuckled as he softly shook his head, "No. Just…stay here." He pointed to the ground where Beck was standing.

"You wouldn't want to end up in a mess like you did with those rogues."

Beck's eyes widened, but he slowly sat back down. "You know about that?"

"Beck…everybody knows about that."

He ducked his head in embarrassment, "Really?"

"Oh, yes." CLU nodded grimly, "Lucky your father was there to save you, yes?"

Beck didn't answer, looking down at the ground.

"Oh! And just between us…" Beck looked back up as CLU leaned in and whispered in his ear, "I would work on using that disc of yours."

"Oh…okay." He drooped back down.

CLU stood fully and turned his back.

"Hey CLU."

The program stopped at his name.

"Will I like the surprise?"

"Beck…it's to die for."

And with that, the Admin was gone.


Far behind, Dyson crouched. He was watching the skyline. The rogues waited behind him.

"Is it time yet?" One asked.

"Like I've said already, CLU has a signal."

He looked up to see CLU. He turned his head and gave a small nod. Dyson returned the motion.

"Now."


Time indeed had passed quickly, but to the young program, it felt like an eternity. He sat there, arms crossed, brooding.

He looked up, though, as he sensed a presence. A tiny Gridbug was scuttling around, now just in front of him. Slowly, he took off his disc and tossed it once. It clanged off to the left of the bug, which scurried up the wall, where another try missed. Beck exhaled loudly through his nose as he concentrated. Then, with a loud grunt, he managed to hit the bug with a killing swipe. The disc hung there as the bug fell to pieces.

"YES!" He whooped and threw his hands up in the air, "I did it! I_"

A low grumble made him break off. His arms lowered slowly as he heard a clatter. He turned and gasped.

Gridbugs, loads of them, crawled out of every crevice and hold. An entire infestation. Now he knew why this part of the city had been quiet. But it wouldn't matter why now. The bugs noticeably collected his energy signature and started towards him.

With a grunt, he pulled on his disc, to get it out of the wall. It jarred out and with a small gasp, he put it on his doc and tore off in the opposite direction of the hoard.

He's holding them away well, but with every pant for air, his system struggled to keep from overheating and the gap between the bugs and Beck began to diminish.

Up ahead. A ledge. The Gridbugs are at his heels, so he jumped up and scrabbled onto the rock ledge. He numbly realized he was in the Outlands, pushed into the middle of a gorge, but it didn't matter now. He got into a crouch, coiled to fight or run if he could.

Help!


"TRON!"

Tron, Anon, and (a rare sight) Flynn stopped as CLU came running towards.

"What's wrong?" The Admin's panic made the Monitor uneasy.

"Near the edge of the city. Gridbugs. Into the Outlands. Beck's down there!"

"Beck." Tron breathed, and he started off towards the Outlands. Anon was hot on his heels and Flynn was not far behind. CLU glanced back, and followed.

He followed the Gridbugs, into the Outlands, into the gorge…

There.

"BECK!"

His son's head snapped up, and he could see the fear in his eyes, the shake in his body.

"Hold on!" He called, and started into the gorge.

"Tron, wait!" Anon started after him, "There's got to be another way!"

Tron didn't listen as he began down.

Beck had been distracted by Tron, unable to notice the Gridbug that scuttled up his arm and latched on. Crying out at the pain, he threw it off and grunted as his lightlines flickered once. He stumbled back, off balance, to find the ground was no longer under him and gravity pulled to land with a painful THUD. Stunned for a moment too long, the Gridbugs took advantage of his lack of mobility. They crawled up his legs, his arms, meeting at his waist and chest. The scream ripped out of him as the pain escalated. He couldn't move. He couldn't move…..No no no no no…..A numb feeling spread throughout him and he could feel his eyes begin to close.

No no no!

Gridbugs went flying as someone gripped Beck, pulling him out and throwing him onto their shoulder. He could glance to see Tron tearing through the stampede, trying to ignore the bites with a grunt. They latched onto the warrior's ankles, but he didn't stop, wouldn't stop. He couldn't.

The bugs began to spread up the back of Tron's legs, despite that he was running and Tron stumbled. Beck cried out and held on tighter to his father, who in return held him close.

He could see the side of the gorge. A way up. With enough momentum, he jumped up and grabbed the edge. Already his hands were slipping. Grunting, he threw back on the ledge before he fell back into the stampede.

"DAD!" He tried to reach out to grab his father's hand, but his shaking and unsteady legs held him back. Tron disappeared beneath the horde and Beck's wide eyes searched the chaos.

"Nononononononononononono…."

Lethimlivelethimlivepleasepleaseplease….

He gasped as Tron suddenly jumped up just down the way. He began to fall but dug into the side of the gorge. His whole body shook for a moment, processing the pain, before he began the grueling climb out of Beck's sight.

Grunting, he shakily got to his feet and immediately stumbled towards the rocky path to the top. He had to meet Tron. They had to make it home as quick as possible. They had to…

"TRON!"

He stopped at that and a cry. His head snapped back just in time.

"NO!" The cry ripped from his throat as the broken form seemed to fall in slow motion, back curved, splayed. He hit the ground with a loud CRACK, before disappearing under all the Gridbugs as they took over.

Beck stumbled back down as the Gridbugs began to disappear themselves. He fell to his knees once, but pushed back up, panting being his panicked prayer to Flynn, any User, anything that would help find him…

"Dad?"

Nothing.

"DAD!"

There's a clattering and Beck turned, hoping only to be disappointed that it isn't his father, but a lone bug that fled the scene, not even stopping to feast on Beck.

The bug barely passed as he looked up and just beyond, he could see the shadow of a form and his core froze.

Gasping, he stumbled over before collapsing to his knees next to Tron, shaking his shoulder. He was still breathing.

"Tron…"

Tron coughed and his eyes opened to see his son. A smile shakily made its way onto Tron's face and he reached up. Beck took his hand immediately and held it close.

"Dad…"

Tron eyes began to close.

"Dad…no dad no!"

He let go of his hand and, panting, got to his feet, running.

"HELP!" His scream echoed off the gorge walls, "SOMEBODY! ANYBODY!"

His breath hitched as he realized there would be no answer. He and Tron were alone.

Tears started down his face and he whispered, "Help."

He shook as he sobbed, covering his left eye with his hand. He looked back to Tron, and headed back next to him. His eyes had remained closed as he struggled for breath. Beck got down to his knees before cupping his hands around Tron's side and hugged him, burying his face in Tron's struggling chest.

He gasped and his eyes snapped open as he felt Tron's breath stop and his form began to fall to cubes beneath him. He let go quickly.

"No! No…."

But it was already done. He was alone, holding remains of voxels in his hands. He began to shake, and those voxels fell out of his hands to give way to a scream, shaking his very core, as he looked up to the deadening sky. The scream left him and he bent in on himself, gripping his head and rocking as his sobs echoed.

"Beck."

His name surprised him, and he looked up to see CLU standing above him. He seemed…horrified.

"What have you done?"

He looked back to the cubes as he sniffled, trying to stop his tears.

"Th-there were G-gridbugs….he tried to save me…it was an accident! I didn't mean for it to happen…"

"Of course." CLU set a hand on his shoulder as Beck began to shake again, "No one ever means for these things to happen…"

He let Beck hug into his robes, before he spoke again, his hand tracing the young program's head.

"But Tron is dead…"

Beck looked up as the older program had squeezed his shoulder to see the Admin was looking down to him.

"And if it weren't for you, he'd still be alive."

Beck looked back to Tron's cubes, gripping CLU's robe tight. CLU gasped and he looked back up.

"What would your mother think?"

No…he could already imagine Yori's face, horrified and ashamed at the sight of her son with tears in her eyes. Paige wouldn't even look at him…and everyone…everyone….

I can't go back…I can't…not to that….

He looked back up, sniffling still, "What am I gonna do?"

He wasn't prepared for CLU's cold withdraw, or his chilling words.

"Run away, Beck. Run away and never return."

He didn't even stop. He had glanced back once before getting to his feet and taking off, tripping once.

Had he looked back again, he might've seen the victorious glint and the simple words CLU barely uttered to the shadows behind him.

"Kill him."

But he didn't. Rather, he skidded to a stop as he looked up at the pile of rocks blocking the end of the gorge.

I can't make that!

He heard a low growl, and looked back to see the rogues, the rogues from his last encounter, were closing in. He looked between both his options, panting, until he chose to grapple the shifting rocks, barely missing a strike to his heel as they took chase.

He pushed off the rock on top and sprinted ahead. His feet skid on the surface and he was almost pitched over the edge, holding his breath. Far below him, a field of thorns lay. He looked back to see the rogues round the corner, furious in their advance.

He took a deep breath.

And jumped.

He grunted as he hit the rocks and rolled, landing right in the thorns as it snapped underneath him. He winced, and looked up to see they showed no signs of stopping. He hissed through his nose and pushed to his feet. He didn't stop. Not when the thorns disappeared. Not when the meaningless screams of the rogues had long disappeared as well. Not when his bites and scrapes started to sting and flare or his circuits started to flicker.

He slowed, though, as the scenery started to blur together. He felt himself shaking, and his face was stiff from long dried tears. His breath echoed in his ears. He was warm, perhaps too hot. He couldn't tell anymore.

Maybe…maybe I'm almost….

The thought didn't finish as his legs crumpled underneath him. He made a soft thump against the sand and he sighed softly. All sense of pain dulled softer and softer as he held his arms open for death.