So not as long as the last one...but definitely just as, if not more, feelsy. This is the final Evolution chapter...and those who've played the game or at least looked up some of the characters...they'll know what's going to happen at the end here.
Chapter 11
Dying Wish
Sneaking onto the Regulator was laughably easy. The Guards didn't even see Quorra as she snuck through the ship. She cradled the grenade that she had hacked together in her hand, looking up through the layers upon layers of machinery and piping.
Now all she had to do was find a weak part in the ship…a vital weak part in the ship and blow it up.
She crept through to one of the engines, carefully looking to see if there was anyone around…thank the Users there weren't. She jumped down, holding the grenade in her hand before placing it on the engine.
"For my people, for Tron," Quorra murmured as she set the timer, "For my mother. For my…"
She closed her eyes as tears fell.
"For my father," she whispered, "For Jalen, who you turned into a monster,"
She set the bomb and started to turn…only to run into a group of Guards. Quorra lashed out, trying to cut through their ranks with her katana…but there were too many.
They subdued her and dragged her to the bridge…where Clu was standing with his back towards her.
"Sir," one of them started, "We found her around the engines, trying to sabotage them with a grenade. We destroyed the threat,"
"Good," Clu said before turning around.
His eyes scanned over her and Quorra's own ice-blue eyes narrowed.
"You're Anon's friend," he stated.
"What's it to you?" Quorra snarled.
"Didn't anyone tell you that sabotage is not polite!" Clu teased as Quorra struggled.
"After what you did I wasn't worried about manners!" Quorra snapped.
"What I did was fix a problem in my system! Most seem to appreciate my gift, why not you?"
That…honestly shocked Quorra a bit. Clu thought she was a Basic…not an ISO. Granted, he only saw her once in Arjian white and she was very young at the time…but still…
"Because I know the truth," Quorra spat, "I saw what you did to Flynn, to Tron, to Radia, to Jalen, to the ISOs! I saw EVERYTHING!"
"Really?" Clu asked innocently as he pulled out his Disk, "I thought I was being discreet!"
"I'll make sure everyone knows what happened," she hissed as he put the golden edge to her throat.
"That's going to be tough…"
A blur of black and white slammed into Clu's arm and the offending appendage burst into golden voxels, showering the floor with amber cubes.
The Disk that hit him ricocheted off the wall and back into a black and white Program's hand. Clu's gold-tinted eyes narrowed as he locked onto the blank, black helmet of a Program who made Quorra's core leap to see.
"ANON!" Clu snarled.
Anon gave a threatening, frigid growl in reply, chilling Quorra to the core. There was no fun-loving Monitor here. This one was hell-bent on destroying the monster that killed Tron, that nearly killed Flynn and Anon both. His own brother.
"WHY'S HE STILL HERE!?" Clu demanded, grabbing Quorra, "NOBODY'S KILLED HIM YET!? TAKE CARE OF THIS!"
The guards leaped towards Anon, but with righteous anger on the Monitor's side, they didn't stand a chance and they collapsed into cubes as Anon hurled his Disk at them.
More and more of them poured out of the doors.
"YOU'RE FASTER THAN THEY ARE!" she yelled down to Anon, "KEEP GOING! THEY CAN'T CATCH YOU!"
"I thought you were supposed to be elite!" Clu screeched, as Anon derezzed Guard after Guard, seemingly flying and dancing around the arena, "Why haven't you killed him yet!? You're ticking me off by continuing to be alive Anon!"
"See Clu?" Quorra smirked, "We can and we will fight back. That's true courage! Go Anon! Cube those glitches!"
"Shut up you," Clu snarled, shaking her.
Anon's white Disk punched through the last Guard and he looked challengingly up at his older brother.
"Such a plucky spirit!" Clu sneered, "Love the upgrade brother, Flynn must have had a hand in it…tell me, how's our father doing?"
Anon snarled darkly, but due to his impairment, couldn't snap back the scathing reply that Quorra knew he had.
"No comment?" Clu jeered, "That's not like you, Anon, always the one who wouldn't shut up…now I can't get you to talk,"
Anon's Disk blazed in his hand.
"Still nothing?" Clu asked, pouting, "Such a waste…"
He brought his Disk closer to Quorra's neck…
The Regulator rocked violently as a Recognizer crashed. Quorra watched in growing terror as a blackened, sickly yellow hand gripped the flight deck…and watched as Abraxas hauled himself up.
"I wanted…death…" the Virus started and Quorra's eyes widened in shock as she realized it wasn't the Virus speaking…
But her father.
"And I was left with this," Jalen snarled, "My future, my family, was robbed of me…and now I will TAKE YOURS!"
"Father…" Quorra whispered so softly that Clu didn't hear her.
"He's got some rage in there, no?" Clu asked innocently.
And he pushed Quorra off the ledge, sending her screaming to the lower deck, where her head collided with the floor and darkness flooded her vision.
01000100 01111001 01101001 01101110 01100111 00100000 01010111 01101001 01110011 01101000
The Virus might have been in control most of the time…but when he saw Clu shove the ISO…
No…she had a name…
Quorra! Oh dear Users, QUORRA!
The Virus felt his old self struggling to freedom. What rage 'Jalen' felt was overpowering…And the ISO broke through.
"Quorra…" Jalen breathed, circuits flickering soft white as he started forwards.
The Monitor…Anon if he remembered right, stood in front of Quorra, growling darkly with his Disk out.
Anon wasn't going to let Jalen anywhere near his daughter.
The corrupted ISO looked around at the power cores…if he could get Anon to blow them up…and then he got the other one…
Clu would be crippled!
"THIS IS WHAT I CREATED YOU FOR, VIRUS! FRAGMENT THAT GLITCH ALREADY!" Clu shrieked.
"I'm not your puppet anymore!" Jalen snarled to himself.
Jalen limped towards a power core, howling in pain as Abraxas resurfaced, wrenching control with fiery talons.
The Virus stretched out his hand, drawing energy from the core only for it to blow up in his face. He snarled, watching as the Monitor retreated towards the ISO girl, holding position.
No matter…he'd just get the others…
One by one, no matter which one Abraxas went to, the young Monitor blew up each core.
The Virus gave a spitting hiss and stalked around the energy core towards Anon right as the young Monitor broke the last of the bindings keeping the cores from running. A wave of warm hued energy shot from the main core, throwing Abraxas back and derezzing the little underlings he had called up. No matter…they were expendable…he had his prize now.
And Anon couldn't stop him from getting it!
He climbed up to the main power core and stepped inside.
"ABRAXAS NO!" Clu shrieked, "YOU'LL OVERLOAD THE DRIVE!"
The coward ran as fast as his golden circuited legs could carry him. But the Virus didn't care…he had never had so much energy before…not since absorbing the code streams in Arjia…
Anon threw the Disk, and the Virus felt the keen white edge knifing through his midsection. And Jalen, not Abraxas, threw his head back and gave a scream of elation…
Right as his world shattered.
Brilliant white light exploded before him and he saw honey-colored eyes sparkling softly as a hand took his.
And for the first time in a long time…
Jalen smiled.
01000100 01111001 01101001 01101110 01100111 00100000 01010111 01101001 01110011 01101000
When Quorra awoke, she felt the rain pounding on her skin, heard the crackling of flames…she opened her eyes to see the flaming wreckage of the Regulator on the ground. But how did it happen?
She remembered Anon coming to rescue her, then the Virus coming aboard, the Clu throwing her to the lower level…then nothing.
"Ow, my head," Quorra moaned as she sat up.
Where was Anon? Where was the Virus…Users glitch it, where was Clu so that she could give him a piece of her processor!?
She looked around the dreary Outland landscape, alone…wait, no. She spotted white circuits and she turned her gaze towards Anon.
"What are you…" she started…and then gasped in horror.
Anon's body was crushed underneath the fallen Recognizer, only his arms, head and neck stuck out. His light flickered feebly as Quorra came to his side.
"Anon…" she whispered.
The Flynn Monitor tilted his head towards her, acknowledging her presence with a nod as he scanned her for injury. She felt tears threatening to fall, knowing that even now his concern was for her far more than himself. She offered him a small, shaking smile as she reached out a hand to place on the side of his helmet. He'd given every measure of his self to protect the System… Protect her… And now he was fading.
Anon derezzed his helmet, revealing his now sad, old, sky-blue eyes and unruly blond hair, Kevin Flynn's face. Dull silver-white code bled from his lips and nose as he weakly reached towards Quorra. As he moved, she could see the ugly gash torn over his throat from where Clu slashed him, rendering him mute.
What hope did a system have when its heroes fell while tyrants ruled?
She leaned forward, resting her forehead on his, tears streaming down her cheeks and streaking across his face. She was weeping for the system, for everything they'd lost because of a single program, for her parents, for the Creator, for Tron, for Anon; for the knowledge that she was about to lose the last friend she had. He reached out with a shaking hand, brushing one tear away and looking at it before turning to give her a miniscule shake of his head.
And somehow she knew he was letting her know that it was alright; that he'd accepted the cost of this victory. She pulled away slightly and smiled in acknowledgement- the only thing she could give him.
"Thank you… I just…. Thank you."
Anon's circuits flickered, and his body tensed before relaxing once more. He reached out and Quorra watched as he took her hand in his, guiding it to his Disk. After a moment she figured out what he was asking for and removed the Disk from its dock, bringing it within comfortable reach of the weakened program. He reached out with his other hand and tapped a few commands before draining power supplies caused his arm to drop. She turned to look at him and he gave another slow nod before seizing up once more. This time the system corruption tore through him, causing fractures in his format to appear.
The daughter of Jalen and Radia gently held Anon's hand, making the Monitor's eyes flutter contentedly shut.
"Anon…stay with me," she begged, "I lost everyone else…I can't lose you too,"
Anon's blue gaze fluttered open again and he squeezed her hand, weakly trying to pull her closer to him. She could see the terror and pain in his eyes as tiny grid-like latticework etched up the side of his face.
Quorra leaned forwards and Anon took his other hand, putting it behind her head…
And pressed his bleeding lips to hers.
She felt wetness on her cheeks as a coughing rasp left Anon's broken vocalizer, and she realized that the fatally wounded Monitor was crying.
She pulled away, holding his hand with both of hers.
"I'm here," she told him, sniffing to keep her own tears from falling, "I won't leave you alone,"
Anon gave a shaky smile and caressed her cheek softly, his kind blue gaze beginning to glaze over.
He opened his mouth and tried to speak…but like before, all he could manage was a rasp. He settled for mouthing his last words.
"Thank you,"
His body seized and then released, the bright, mischievous gleam in his sky-blue eyes dimmed and dulled while his head relaxed and lolled to the side. Quorra squeezed his hand tightly as Anon's eyes seemed to stare past her, lifeless…
And his body flickered even more…finally glowing brilliant white before melting back into the Grid.
"No…!" Quorra cried.
She sat for a few moments longer after he was gone, looking out at the vast nothingness that was the Outlands as she held his Disk…all that remained of the once noble warrior. After a second she activated it to see what Anon had intended. She gasped when she saw that he'd initiated an information transfer- one that would allow her to assimilate his basic combat and technical knowledge. In his last action, he'd done what he could to assure her future survival…
He'd given her everything.
She interlocked the Disk with hers and activated it, watching as data streamed from one to the other.
Memories streamed through and Quorra saw Anon killing Abraxas, then picking her up and leaping…dear Users how in the Grid could he possibly jump that far?! She saw him latch onto a Recognizer, catching her as she fell past him. Then an explosion sent the Recognizer on an irregular pattern, watching as it crashed, throwing them both far ahead…
Watching as Anon looked up at the looming threat and threw her out of the way, sacrificing himself for her.
When it was done Anon's code went dark; the lifeless Disk of a fallen hero. With the transfer completed, she stood, and watched as her armor automatically modified itself to a more combat ready design; one that held the ghost of its predecessor, her blue circuits fading to more of a blued white. She stood, walking over to a rock at the edge of a hill and placed Anon's Disk reverently on a natural platform.
Then she started to walk farther towards the lights. She knew Tron City wasn't far…she'd find someone, anyone to help…
"I'll never forget you, Anon," she murmured as she walked.
I will admit I cried when I wrote this one. Especially Anon's death. Jalen's I was ok with because it was a mercy kill...but Anon...Ah gosh darn it Disney why do you have to kill off the character I liked in the game?! *deep breath* I'm calm now, I'm calm. Still crying, but I'm calm. ANYWAY! I'm venturing into pre-Legacy stuff now...including Quorra getting to Flynn and maybe even getting a glimpse of a certain Repurposed Program. But I will say this, Yori and Flynn both make an appearance next chapter. That's for sure.
For those of you that read Son of Tron, I'm currently working out the new chapter, so be patient ok? And Anon's story is in the works too!
Anyway, hope you liked it. If you did, please R&R! :)
Qui vállë tóquetë, ván tecë (If no review comes from y'all; no story comes from me)
Máriessë ar mára tecië
Farewell and fair writing
Elhini Prime signing off.