Happy New Year from the States! Here's the first chapter of 2015...let's hope that this new year is full of bright, beautiful chapters (and not just for me, but for EVERYONE in that case!). Anyway, I won't keep you long...I'm tired, it's 1 a.m...and my little sister has a basketball tourney this coming afternoon. I'm going to sleep now. But I hope you enjoy this new chapter!

Chapter 12

Escape and Reunion

The trek through the Outlands was long and hard, but she managed to sneak into Tron City. Quorra kept going through the myriad streets, searching for the one haven she knew she could call a home.

She turned the last corner…and then hid behind it again, peering out from the corner just to see a very angry looking Yori glaring at a smug Clu.

"They were my guests!" Yori yelled, "How dare you drag them out and derezz them!"

"Yori," Clu told her, "They were dangerous miscreants that would have turned on you for the hospitality you showed,"

"If you ever do this again, Clu, I will derezz you with my bare hands," Yori snapped, "You can't do this! Flynn would never…"

"Flynn's dead," Clu reminded her, "And I know you're grieving…especially with the loss of Tron,"

The Simulations Program's circuits flickered dully as she bowed her head, jaw taut.

"But times are changing," Clu murmured, lifting Yori's head and caressing her cheek, "I need your help, Yori,"

Yori's circuits flared almost white in anger and she swung a fist at Clu, sending the Admin to the ground with a new discoloration overtop of Radia's handprint.

"I'll help you the day the Void freezes over," Yori hissed, "The last time I saw those colors, Clu, was when a System nearly shut down under the reign of a tyrant. I knew your predecessor, Clu. He would be ashamed to know how his name was carried now,"

Clu rubbed his chin, gold-tinted eyes glaring heatedly at Yori. He turned on his heel, motioning for his soldiers to leave.

As soon as the last red Program left, Yori turned towards her home, walking through the door and leaving it open.

Did she know Quorra was there?

The young ISO didn't know. But she saw an open door and she took the opportunity.

Quorra raced through the square and darted into the home, the door hissing shut behind her. She was them promptly crushed in an embrace, making a squeak of surprise leave the young ISO.

"You're alive," Yori breathed, relieved, "Clu said the ISOs were all dead. Radia…"

Quorra's eyes misted over in tears and Yori gave an understanding nod, pulling Quorra closer. The two stayed like that for a long time until Quorra looked up.

"He did it," she whispered.

"Did what?" Yori asked.

"Clu killed Tron,"

Yori's dark blue eyes filled with indescribable pain upon learning of the cause of death of her beloved.

"And…Anon?" Yori asked.

This time Quorra was the closest to tears.

"Dead too," she whispered, "He saved me…gave me a chance to live at the cost of his own life,"

"He loved you, Quorra," Yori said, brushing a tear away from Quorra's pale cheeks, "He wouldn't admit it, but he loved you very dearly,"

"I just wish he could have survived too," Quorra muttered.

Yori gave a sad smile and guided the young ISO to the couch, sitting her down.

"You wait here," she said with a soft firmness, "There's got to be some joy today, with all this death, there's life. You're proof of that…and so is this,"

She got up and walked to a panel hidden in the wall, pressing down in a certain spot and revealing a small alcove.

"You can come out now," she said to a shadowy form inside, "They're all gone…it's just me and Quorra,"

There was a faint shuffling sound and Quorra looked up, eyes wide as a tall, dark form tripped out of the hiding spot, the single stripe of white circuits on his jacket and the tiny lights in his shoes unmistakable.

"FLYNN!" Quorra cried, dashing forwards and nearly crushing the User in an embrace.

"Ow! Hi, it's good to see you too," Flynn gasped, "Quorra…I can't breathe! Ow my rib!"

"Sorry," Quorra apologized, letting go and looking more closely at the User.

Flynn…to say that he was a mess was an understatement. The User was very badly banged up, a long, thin gash sliced across his cheek, still oozing the scarlet liquid that Users had as their lifesource. There was a very nasty bruise on his eye…possibly a fist…as well as what looked unnervingly like a handprint over his neck, like someone had attempted to strangle him. His jacket was tattered and torn, but the User had created a cloak to keep him warm in the cold Outland winds. His jeans had rips and tears, most of them had wounds that bled through the fabric and quietly dripped onto his shoes.

"What happened?" Quorra breathed, "Clu didn't do that much to you…"

"Your friend Gibson got me to Bostrum after Clu ambushed Tron and me," Flynn told her, "Bostrum was overrun by the virus and well…I got in a scuffle with some of Clu's goons,"

"Sit, both of you," Yori ordered, "I'll be right back,"

The two refugees sat on the couch while Yori rushed out of the room towards the kitchen area, the Simulations Program came back into the room with medical supplies and two vials of energy.

"Drink," she urged, handing the two to her guests before yanking Flynn's Disk off his back, making the User yelp, and beginning to try her hand at healing him.

Flynn dug in his pocket and pulled out six tiny shards, all of them flickering faint white. He turned to Quorra.

"Anon gave me these," he stated, "Before he set out to find you…"

Quorra reached out to touch them…

"They're the shards from the Virus' Disk that Anon broke off," Flynn murmured softly.

Quorra jerked her hand back, staring at the shards with a mixture of revulsion and sorrow.

"Why do you have them?" Yori demanded, fixing another strand of code and making Flynn yelp and twist to grab at his shoulder, "Hold still you big baby! Users you're worse than…than Tron…"

She shut her eyes before taking a deep breath and continuing her work. Flynn put a gentle hand on her knee.

"I…Yori, I want to say I'm sorry but I know that's not going to be enough," he told her, "Sorry won't bring him back, I just…I miss him too. He saved my life Yori…if it wasn't for him, I wouldn't be sitting here,"

He clenched his fists, his nails biting into his palm.

"I'm so sorry…I should have turned around and nailed Clu…but I couldn't…I ran like a coward and now look at us all!" he put his head in his hands, "The ISOs: dead, all killed by Clu, Tron: dead because I was a coward, Anon…Anon's dead because I sent him on a suicide mission. 'Bring her to me in once piece', how could I have been so stupid!"

"Wait…you sent him after me?" Quorra breathed.

"He would have gone after you anyway," Flynn sighed, "I should have just let him go…or gone with him,"

"The ISOs weren't all killed by Clu, Flynn, remember?" Yori said gently, "Jalen…"

Flynn winced while Quorra closed her eyes. He turned towards her.

"Do you want to tell her or should I show her?" he asked.

"Show?" Quorra blinked.

"Watch," Flynn said, taking out the shards again and attaching them to his Disk.

The shards flared brightly before playing a staticky and garbled message.

"Today I went deeper into the system than I've ever gone before. Memory Siphons, Firewalls, Security programs on every tile of the Grid," Jalen's voice rang out from the Disk, "And what is this, this…Regulator? Clu? Why would he…"

There was a pained cry and the sound of rock being crumbled away.

"It's impolite to snoop," came Clu's voice.

"W-What's h-happening to m-m-m-my Disk?" Jalen stammered, "It's…it's…"

A pained cry came from the Disk.

"Why?" Jalen breathed

"I'm just helping you realize your true nature," Clu said calmly, "A disease…it just needed a little…encouragement to bring it out,"

"You sick twisted basta...AGH!" Jalen shrieked, "What did you do to me!?"

Another shard flashed as that one died.

"The stage is set," came Abraxas' low rasp, bearing a ghost of Jalen's voice, "My creation: Achieved,"

"Be careful in your match. The games are dangerous," Clu warned.

"A death…reported. Evolution will take up in turn. Their time is over! The Grid will know only pain! Spread. Infect. Destroy!"

There was silence for a moment…and then a voice rang out again.

"Quorra…Radia…" came Jalen's tear-filled voice, "It's so cold…I'm sorry…"

Yori sat there, completely stunned. Flynn, who had heard the recording from all six shards, was still very pale from hearing it. Quorra…

Both User and Basic looked at the young ISO, watching as she sat with her hands covering her eyes, sobbing as she heard the last remnants of her father's voice. Yori wrapped her arms around Quorra and the Child ISO buried her head in Yori's shoulder.

"I'm so sorry," Yori breathed…

But Quorra was asleep.

01000101 01110011 01100011 01100001 01110000 01100101 00100000 01100001 01101110 01100100 00100000 01010010 01100101 01110101 01101110 01101001 01101111

When Quorra woke up, she saw Flynn and Yori rushing into the house, slamming the door shut.

"We need to get you out," Yori panted.

"I agree," Flynn nodded, brushing his hood back and revealing his sweat slicked hair.

"What happened?" Quorra asked.

"Clu's new pet," Flynn spat, "Since Anon killed Abraxas Clu needed a new way to hunt down Programs,"

"And now he knows you're here," Yori said, the gravity in her tone making Quorra's circuits turn cold, "I think it was a security Program…because it found us in that warehouse when we both thought we got away,"

"He tracked us," Flynn murmured, "But I don't recognize this Program…Clu must have really messed up his coding, I didn't even recognize the guy as my own Program,"

He gave a sigh, pinching his nose.

"But I have the strangest feeling I know this Program,"

"We can figure that out later, right now we need to get you out of the city," Yori said.

"And Quorra," Flynn said, "No doubt he'd gone back to Clu and told him about you helping me. He'll kill her if he finds her, Yori,"

Yori closed her eyes and looked up at Quorra.

"Is this what you want?" she asked.

"There's no place safe for me," Quorra told her, "I have to go…I don't have a choice. Clu will find me and kill me if I stay,"

Yori pulled the girl into an embrace.

"Tron and I never had the chance to have a child…a daughter…" Yori breathed, "But if we did…I know for sure she'd be like you. You're the little daughter I never had, Quorra. You know that Counterparts rarely outlive their derezzed partner. But, I will live for you Quorra…even though Tron is gone,"

"If we're going to go, we need to go now," Flynn told her, "While its still dark,"

"Good bye," Yori murmured, hugging Quorra one more time, "I'll visit when I can, I promise. Stay safe,"

"I will," Quorra promised as Flynn put a hand on her shoulder.

"Come with me Quorra," he said gently, "Let's get somewhere safe for the both of us,"

And they left, ghosting along the streets of Tron City so quietly that no one could have known they had left…

Little did they know…that one Program, other than Yori, saw them leave.

His scarlet circuits flickered a faint, wavering blue for just a split second before he turned his helmeted head back towards the fortress where Clu waited for him. His circuits surged scarlet again as the invasive code sank back down into the roiling, burning code that made up his lean frame.

He would let Flynn go…this time.

And Rinzler took his baton, rezzing the scarlet bike underneath him and raced back towards Clu.

Next we fast forwards about a thousand cycles (20 User years). Quorra sneaks out to visit Yori...and ends up meeting someone else...

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.