Greetings, Programs! Happy New Year's Eve. You have your "New Year's Resolutions"?...I don't :P
Haha but anyway, I just want to mention that I did start to kick off "The Foreshadowing" in this chapter for what happens in the next one. I'll be honest with you: There's gonna be a lot of messed up **** happening in the next Chapter.
No, Really. There's going to be chaos EVERYWHERE. You'll either laugh at what happens, or be completely shocked...or surprised.

Chapter 25 – Time to Act

Courtney's POV

It wasn't very hard to apprehend a few large groups of Rebels. Courtney felt a little sickened how those Programs could live with themselves. What sane Program would possibly want to resist Perfection itself?

Clearly, Alpha was more influential than she expected. The Renegade too; what was everyone thinking? What would the rebels get in return for helping these destructive Programs tear everything apart?

No wonder Clu was beginning to feel so desperate. For some reason, not many civilians were taking his side in the matter unless they bargained. Shouldn't a perfect life in a perfect City be enough?

Insolence… Courtney thought bitterly as she walked down a street. She was glad for the time alone while she pondered over some stuff. The rebellions, possible future missions, and her lack of memory.

"They never told me what happened." Courtney realized aloud. "Then again, I never asked." She sighed and looked around at the dark alleys and the glowing white-blue lights that emanated from signs and such. "Orange would look much better." She said with a frown.

She liked orange. It wasn't just a pretty color; it was also a way of showing loyalty to Clu. Orange is now her Primary circuitry color due to her liking of the color and because of how dedicated she was to Clu's cause. She didn't know why but for some reason, her primary circuits were white before.

Jake told her that was because she was undercover as a spy before she lost her memories. She felt like she should believe him but for some reason, something felt a little bit…off.

Maybe it was because she didn't know how she lost her memory. She shrugged. "I'll have to ask later."

A hand shot out of an alley and gripped her arm hard as she was pulled into the darkness. She gasped loudly. "Who're you?" Courtney asked in an alarmed voice.

She heard the disarming of a mask and her eyes widened when she was greeted with Alpha's face. "What are you doing here?" She whispered sharply. "You should be in either Barium or Tantalum; otherwise you'd be in Evelyn's hideout! Where's Aurora, by the way?"

Alpha glanced down and gasped when she saw the orange Primary circuits. "Why are you wearing that color?!" She asked, backing away.

This was her chance to capture one of the Grid's biggest rebels. She drew back a fist and threw a punch towards the Program's face. Alpha dodged with ease and looked a little confused. "Courtney, what are you doing?! I'm a friend!"

Courtney was slightly confused by the claim but shook her head. "You're lying!" She shouted. "You're trying to take advantage of my memory loss but I won't let you! Justice will be served when I take you to Clu, and then Perfection will finally spread all across the Grid!"

Alpha blinked a few times as if she was a little 'weirded out' before she recovered her wits and jabbed her several times to disable her of movement. The Special crumpled to the ground, fazed and was helpless to move, paralyzed as Alpha turned her over and looked at her disk.

The Rebel's eyes widened when she noticed all the lack of memories and her current ones filled with lies. "Courtney…" She whispered. "Someone stole your real disk!" Courtney looked at Alpha, confused. "Courtney, you need to remember. Do what Flynn taught you! Meditate or something!"

Meditate? That sounds so…familiar… Courtney thought as she just stared back. "W-What are you talking about?"

Alpha turned her head when she heard Jake call out Courtney's name. The rebel sighed. "I'm not going to force you into anything like Clu did." She said as she returned Courtney's new disk to its holder. "But don't ask them anything! Don't listen to them! They'll lie; you have to find out the truth yourself."

"Courtney! Where in Users name are you?!" Jake shouted. He was getting closer.

Alpha glanced back again before turning back to her brainwashed friend. "Stay in a quiet room alone for a while; close your eyes and focus on your breathing. Try to remember!"

Jake rounded the corner and his eyes widened. "Courtney!" He glared at Alpha. "Stay away from her!" He drew his disk and threw it at the Program, who easily dodged it and disappeared into the dark of the alley.

Jake caught his disk and sighed. He turned and looked at Courtney warily. "Are you okay? What did she do to you?"

Courtney frowned. "She…paralyzed me."

Jake put away his disk and chuckled slightly. "Did it hurt?" He asked curiously as he gathered the Special in his arms and carried her back to the building they, along with Tris and the rest of the group stayed in.

Courtney shook her head. "It just felt like a bunch of pokes." She said dumbly. "Well…at least until they turned out to be more then jabs. Everything sort of felt tingly…and then it all went numb."

Jake frowned and looked at her. "That doesn't sound very pleasant." He commented. Courtney shook her head. He opened the door to the building and stepped in.

Tris raised an eyebrow at them. "What happened?" She asked skeptically.

Jake stood in the doorway and held Courtney tightly. "She was just going for a normal walk until Alpha just…attacked her." He pointed to unmoving figure. "She paralyzed the poor girl."

Tris scowled. "We were just about to go on a mission!" She face palmed. "You know what, okay, whatever. Take the amnesiac to her room and then come back down here. We'll do our usual sweep and so forth without her this cycle."

Courtney frowned. She really wanted to go on the mission but knew that she couldn't just because of a stupid disablement. Because of Alpha… She thought bitterly.

Jake adjusted his hold and took her to her bedroom. "I'm sorry for your disappointment." Jake said quietly. "But I'll tell you what; when you get your feeling back and can move again, I'll make it up to you and we'll spend some time together alone." He smiled and patted her hand before turning and leaving the room.

Courtney frowned as she heard him descend down the stairs and follow everyone out of their temporary apartment. When she heard the door shut, she let out a sigh. Not being able to do anything useful was awful. What kind of a soldier under Clu was she? A horrible one, for sure.

She pursed her lips when she started going over what Alpha told and asked her. "Who's Aurora?" She wondered aloud. Clearly it was a name spoken, so it must've been someone that usually spent a lot of time with her. A friend, perhaps.

She had to remember. But why couldn't she ask her friends? She bit her lip. Would Jake really lie to me? She wondered. Perhaps she really could just close her eyes and regulate her breathing. Clearly, there were no risks to that.

She squeezed her eyes shut and inhaled through her nose, exhaling through her mouth. She did this a few times and started to zone out of reality. Now logically speaking, if she started to remember things again, they would be her real memories, right?

So no harm could possibly come to doing what Alpha said.

Wait. Why should I do what Alpha says? Courtney frowned. She's the enemy…not to mention she just paralyzed me less than a PectroCycle ago. But then again, I was the one that attacked her first.

Courtney felt so confused. Alpha didn't seem nearly as cruel or violent as she was described by her friends. Alpha acted more…calm, surprised, friendly…

"She did mention that my friends would lie…but what do they have to hide from me?" Courtney asked herself. "I'm one of them…right?" She sighed and went back to breathing. She had to find out on her own.

She must've taken at least 30 MicroCycles to trying to finally get a memory. It was a strange one.

Her primary circuits were white and…she was with Alpha. Several other Programs were with them, she quickly identified them to be Tron's agents, which was something Jake told her. He sounded sincere when he said it so she still believes him without doubt.

They were at a party, drinking energy, telling jokes, laughing, pranking others, and having a good time like normal friends did. But why? Weren't they enemies?

"Don't ask them anything! Don't listen to them! They'll lie; you have to find out the truth yourself."

Alpha's words starting ringing in her head as the memory played through and faded away. Courtney tried again and was rewarded with another memory.

She was fighting with Black Guards and defending a group of ISOs. The ISO War! She realized. She wasn't on Clu's side at the time; otherwise she wouldn't be derezzing the orange soldiers right and left.

Her realizations were supported when they deterred the army of soldiers and embraced Alpha and her friend in a hug.

As she started gaining back her memories bit by bit and filling up her disk's memory bank again, she started to realize how much she's been deceived by the Programs she thought were her friends.

By the time she finally remembered everything, she was able to physically function again. It definitely took a while to gain back all that she's lost but it was definitely worth the effort in the end.

But her attitude? Her natural feelings were no longer eager for fighting and enforcing Clu's delusion of 'perfection'. But surprisingly, she wasn't feeling natural. She was angry…and craving revenge for what those Specials did to her.

She scowled and got off the bed, taking long strides to the door. "No one will stand in my way." She said determinedly as she went to look for her deceivers. "I'll get back at them for what they've done."

But first, she had to do something. She grabbed a light jet and first headed towards a newly constructed base that contained the rebels that were apprehended. She smirked. Good thing I didn't change my colors yet.

It was a good thing she was smart in battle strategy. No Program in their right mind would blindly confront an enemy without someone being there to assist…if needed.

…

Liz's POV

She sighed and pulled up the hood of her cloak to shadow her face as she gazed into the square. "Okay, I'm in position and watching." She said into the earpiece that was given.

There was a little bit of static before Zoe spoke up. "I'm set and ready."

"I'm braced and ready to act, should anything go wrong." Beck said over the roar of the crowd.

There was more static. "Roger that." Tron said. "I'm set and ready for Liz's signal."

Liz took a deep breath and looked around for Zoe. The Special was lost in the middle of the crowd wearing her own cloak too. "Uh Zoe, I don't mean to be lagging in your eagerness but are you sure this plan will work? It's well-thought and everything, but…" She couldn't bear to say the rest.

Zoe sighed into her earpiece. "Even I don't know, but it's better than having Tron go in blindly to fight Clu. It's only right that we're there for him…unlike that one time when we weren't."

"It's fine, Zoe." Tron said. "I'm grateful that I have Programs watching my back this time. I'm sure this will go over smoothly and turn out okay…as long as there are no distractions and we stick together and stay focused."

Liz nodded. "Yeah, we've got our loopholes! After all, Clu never said this was going to be a single-combat fight. If he needs backup, Beck can jump in as the Renegade and spice things up a little bit. Maybe inspire the crowds to start fighting the soldiers."

"Don't hope for that kind of fight, Liz." Beck said. "It's disorganized and a lot of things could go wrong when there's no plan."

"Well you didn't seem to have much of a plan when you beheaded Clu's statue and blew it up!" Liz retorted.

Zoe groaned. "Shut up, Liz! We all need you to stay in the front of the crowd and keep watch so you can signal to us."

Beck cleared his throat. "Zoe, I know you can manipulate colors and paint and stuff, but are you able to do it with your mind? It would be less conspicuous."

Liz smirked. "I doubt it! She'll probably just have to bend down and touch the floor the whole time. You might as well be in the back of the crowd so you don't disturb other Programs…or get stepped on."

"What a great idea, Liz." Tron spoke up. "Zoe-"

"Yeah, I know, I'm moving." Zoe said.

"Liz, get out your-" Tron started.

Liz reached into her pocket and pulled out a small mirror and mini flashlight. "I got it."

"Beck, you know the drill."

"Uh huh," The sound of Beck's suit changing and a mask sliding on came through the earpiece. "I'll be watching carefully."

Liz looked around with the hint of a small smile. "Where are you, anyways?" She asked. "I can't see you."

"Good." Beck laughed. "That's the point."

"Liz, focus!" Zoe said sternly. "This isn't a simulation and there are no retries, no rematches. We've only got one shot at this."

Liz rolled her eyes. "Okay, I get it! I don't need your pep talks! You're horrible at them, anyways!"

Beck chuckled. "Well then, she really is starting to become a lot like Tron. You'll make a great system monitor when Tron's unavailable under other circumstances."

Zoe faked a laugh. "Whatever,"

Liz narrowed her eyes. "Okay, Clu's entering the square!" She rested her thumb over the button of the flashlight without pressing it. "On my mark, Tron goes in on his light jet and breaks through the banner with Clu's face, do some aerial tricks!" She grinned. "The signature moves on the rebels' behalf!"

"I'm ready." Tron said over the earpiece.

Liz kept her eyes steady on Clu as he kept walking towards the center of the square. The shouting of the crowd got louder with either excitement to witness the fight or fear that Clu's opponent was a no show and that they'd be held hostage.

When Clu stopped walking and looked around expectantly, Liz pressed the button and turned her flashlight on and off, the light shining directly into the sky as her signal.

On cue, Tron's light jet flew overhead and crashed through the banner as planned and then he flew a couple of circles over the heads of the crowd and landed directly into Clu, white clad in his signature uniform.

And the moment Tron derezzed his jet back into a baton and put it away, he deactivated his mask and showed his face to the cameras. Everyone gasped in shock and everything went tensely quiet.

Liz angled her mirror and pressed the button a few more times to shine the light back at Zoe. At that moment, the Program knelt down and pressed her fingertips to the floor and allowed her colorful paint to trail across the floor in between each Programs' foot and onto the bill boards and walls, covering them completely in colorful code and showing the 'Tron Lives' design clearly.

Clu briefly glanced at the signs and walls, then the crowd, and lastly met the eyes of the fierce protector of the Grid. He smirked. "Tron, where have you been for all those Cycles?"

Tron frowned. "Is that a trick question?" Liz started laughing loudly. She was the first one to make noise but other Programs followed her lead and started chuckling too. Tron ignored everyone. "Apparently you were spreading rumors of my supposed death."

Clu raised an eyebrow. "Well where have you been?"

Tron smirked. "Attempting to assassinate your right-hand man."

Liz's grin turned to a panicked expression when Clu's amused expression died almost immediately. Tron clearly hit a really sore spot because the System Administrator drew his disk and lunged himself at his opponent.

Liz touched her earpiece. "Beck? Are you watching? Be ready to assist if anything goes wrong." She kept her eyes trained on the two Programs. "This is clearly going to be a messy fight." Her hook fell down the moment her hand brushed against it again but didn't bother to pull it back up.

"Yeah, okay. I see them." Beck answered.

Liz bit her lip really hard as she watched Clu kick Tron in the stomach while the older Program socked the other in the jaw. This was really a close fight and no one appeared to be winning.

Liz took a moment to look around. "Liz? You okay? You seem a bit distracted." Beck commented.

"Something just feels…off." Liz said as she narrowed her eyes. They widened slightly when they locked with the eyes of an all-too-familiar Program that she'd rather not deal with right now. "Crap." She muttered.

The Program glanced around before turning to approach her. Liz groaned. "Guys, Zoe's plan is about to go off-course!"

"Why? What happened?" Beck asked.

Liz swallowed hard and looked around for an escape route but the crowd was too tightly packed for her to back away in her desired direction. So she really couldn't get away without making a scene. She sighed. "I've just been compromised."

Yeah, I know. It's a REALLY short chapter compared to what I usually write. I felt like I needed just the tiniest bit of a break...and I've been busier with my family and friends. I saw "Frozen" over the weekend with my friends! It was pretty good! ;)
(There was also 3 minute teaser trailer for "The Lego Movie" (very creative title :P) I'm SO going to see it when it comes out! It's starring Batman, Superman, Moses...I think, Wonder Woman...there's even Abraham Lincoln! XD

Flynn: Yay! Abe Lincoln! :D

Tron: I'm BATMAN! (Tron does a great job of representing the dark knight!)

Me: -_- Whatever...
TRON LIVES! Toodles.