Disclaimer: I do not own Tron, or anything to do with Tron. I am not so lucky as to own Disney. They own Tron. I am a simple fan sharing a story…my first story. Please R/R.

TC301

I don't like Clu.

He's up to something. I was restricted access to the secure areas under the command complex. Why would he do that? I snuck down there anyway. I heard someone screaming, and one of the walls had yellow "decay" all over it. It shouldn't be possible for a virus to get into our closed system. Flynn wouldn't allow it.

And then there's the ISOs. I know Clu acts like he's okay with them, but I know he hates them and would just as soon erase them all. I told Radia, but she said I worry too much, that Clu wants nothing but peace for the system. Tron is starting to suspect Clu too. Clu is drezzing programs in the Games when they lose. Tron and I don't play anymore.

I wonder what I should do.

-End of Line-

"You really should go to the ceremony," Gibson said, "isn't Radia your friend."

Risie looked over at her ISO friend. She liked Gibson for his blunt honesty, but she really didn't want to hear it today. Radia was being installed as a co-System Administrator. Another ISO, Jalen, was supposed to have the honor, but died in the Games. Risie suspected foul play.

"I told her I'd keep my ears open," Risie said, "but I don't think Clu is as excited about it as he acts like."

"You think he'll try something?" he said.

Risie nodded. They had been sitting at the End of Line club's bar since programs had started gathering for the ceremony. Gibson would not be attending either, stating that there were enough ISOs there that he really wasn't needed, or interested. He respected Radia, but she was from a different faction than he was and they really didn't talk much.

A scream made them both turn. Both ran to the window and saw programs running in the streets. Some were infected by a yellow virus. Risie clenched her fists.

"I have to get to Tron," she said, "he's probably with Flynn. We have to get him out of the system."

"I'll help," Gibson said, "where do you want me to go."

"We'll meet at the Arcade," she said, "you go around the city center and I'll cut through this mess."

Both ran out of the club and parted ways. Risie folded down her helmet and ran into the crowd, derezzing infected programs wherever she found them. She was almost to Flynn's Arcade when she heard Clu's voice just ahead.

"Flynn!" he yelled, "am I still to create the perfect system."

Confused, Flynn answered, "Yah…"

There was a pause, and then she heard Tron yell:

"Flynn! Go!"

Risie bolted around the next building and into the area in front of the arcade. She spotted Flynn as he ran around the building across from her. Tron was fighting Clu's elite guards with two disks. She didn't have time to process why he had two disks when Clu ripped them from Tron's hands, overpowering the security program and slamming the disks into Tron's chest. Tron screamed and Risie pounced on Clu. She knocked the disks out of his hands and stood between him and Tron.

Her attacks were relentless. Tron struggled up onto his elbow to watch Clu recover from his surprise, pulling out his own disk and smashing Risie's helmet. She cried out and fell back and landed beside Tron. She picked up his disk, still laying on the ground, and renewed her attack. Clu didn't seem to be taking any damage. The more she pressed the more damage Clu did to her.

"Risie!" Tron yelled, "Go! Get Flynn out of here!"

"I'm not leaving you here," she said.

"Risie," Tron said, "he'll kill you."

If she heard him, she made no indication. Clue grabbed her by the throat and tossed her into the building. Tron got a good look at her face. A thin black line crossed her cheek bones and the bridge of her nose where Clu had sliced her face. She got to her feet and threw Tron's disk at Clu. Clu knocked it away and charged at her. She tried to dodge his attack, but he slashed her in the stomach. She cried out in pain and fell on one knee. She blocked his next attack with her disk. He went to attack her again when Tron hit him from behind. Clu turned to Tron, who weakly stood in a battle stance with two disks.

"GO!" Tron yelled.

Tron leapt at Clu, allowing Risie the time to engage her Lightcycle and escape the battle. She turned back to see Clu standing above an unconscious Tron and yelling for two guard to follow her. She rode off at full speed, never looking back, until she finally reached the Sea of Simulation in the Outlands, where they could not follow her, and collapsed.

Risie heard two disjointed voiced as she faded in and out of consciousness.

"…she survived…"

"What could have…"

"…too much damage…"

"…reroute the programming…"

"…gaps in the sub-routines…"

"…be alright."

Risie slowly opened her eyes. She raised one hand, turning it in the air and looking at it. Her armor lines were flickering in and out. A firm hand clasped her own. Risie looked at the owner.

Flynn smiled at her in relief. Behind him, Quorra stood looking towards the city. Flynn put a hand behind Risie's back and helped her sit up. His touch energized her, lighting her armor lines.

"I shouldn't have left him," Risie said.

"Who?" Flynn said.

"Tron," she said, "he was fighting Clu. I saw Clu try to derezz him and something happened. All I wanted to see was Clu shatter into pixels. Nothing else mattered. I couldn't think straight. Tron finally got me to run away."

"Was he alive?" he said.

"I don't know," she said, "I feel like I can still hear him screaming."

"We need to find a place to hide," Quorra said, "if Clu finds out you're trapped her, he'll hunt you too."

"He knows," Flynn said, "that was part of his plan. He wants my disk. It's the master key for the entire system."

"This is my fault," Risie said, "Oh! The ISOs! If Clu has become this powerful, then I have to warn Radia and Gibson. We can hide them out here where Clu can't find them."

Quorra lowered her head.

"We're too late," Flynn said, "Clu wiped them out. Quorra is the last one."

Risie and Quorra looked at each other. The two women locked eyes. After a moment, Risie nodded and struggled to her feet. Her armor lines flickered and Flynn caught her as she fell.

"Your code is damaged," Flynn said, "it has more holes than a slice of Swiss Cheese."

"Swiss Cheese?" Risie said.

Flynn tried not to smile.

"Something with a lot of holes," he said, "Quorra has a point. We need to find somewhere safe. I need to repair your code and it will take a long time from in here."

Risie leaned on Flynn's shoulder as they trekked through the Outlands. It felt like an eternity before Quorra spotted a raw energy conduit on a cliff-face. When Flynn put his hand on it, the geography itself changed, creating a small building out of the top of the cliff-face. He made a lift for them to use and they entered the building. It was a simple room. Flynn programmed a couch and lay Risie on it. Risie's consciousness faded out until a sudden burst of pain jolted her awake. Her whole body was rigged and her voice felt like she had been screaming. She was breathing hard. Across from her, Flynn sat with her disk, deep in concentration. Quorra knelt beside her, holding Risie's hand tightly in her own. Risie tried to calm herself.

"She's coming around!" Quorra said.

Flynn breathed a sigh of relief.

"Turn her over," he said, "let's get her rebooted."

Quorra turned Risie on her side. Risie felt her disk click into place on her back. Everything went dark again, but when she awoke this time, the pain and fatigue were gone. She slowly sat up and looked around.

Flynn had programmed himself a home. He stood on the balcony outside. He was dressed in white and from her angle, Risie could see hair on his face. His hands were folded behind his back. Risie rose and joined him. Both were silent as they starred at the city. It felt darker than usual. Flynn spoke without moving.

"Feeling better?" he said.

She nodded. She clenched and unclenched her hands.

"I gave you a self-repair routine," he said, "I couldn't repair all the damage, but I got most of it and routed around the rest. Your new routine should keep fixing the damage and also repair anymore you might get."

"So what's the plan?" she said.

"You've been on the edge of life and death for who knows how many cycles," Flynn said, "now you're asking me my plan?"

"How do we remove Clu from power?" Risie said, "there were a lot of Basics with ISO friends. We can gather their help."

"Clu is too strong to be taken from the outside," he said, "we wait for him to make a mistake."

"He's not programmed to make mistakes," she said, "you know that."

"Quorra and I have tried to fight back," he said, "the more I fight, the stronger he gets."

"So we wait," she said.

He nodded. Risie closed her eyes. She tried to focus. Her evolving programming, however, went into overdrive. It took all the data she knew, assessing the situation at hand. It came to one conclusion, a question rather than an action.

Was Tron still alive somewhere?

That question infected her every thought. She knew it was against all logic to set one program above the welfare of the system. Nothing she could come up with would erase the question. She knew what she had to do. She smiled as she thought of her first Disk Wars match. She could almost see Tron's face.

"Live in the moment and let it all go."

"I'm going back," she finally said, "I have to know."

Flynn turned to her. She opened her eyes and looked at him.

"Tron wasn't dead when I left," Risie said.

"He is by now," he said, "either Clu killed him or his programming fell apart from the amount of damage."

"I still have to know," she said, "tell Quorra I'm sorry I couldn't save her people."

"It wasn't your fault," he said.

"I know," she said, "but I also knew that Clu was up to something and would have erased them all long ago if he could have. I did not act and my inaction caused the deaths of many."

She turned her back to him and went to leave. Flynn grabbed her arm. Risie didn't even look at him.

"What did you call me?" she said quietly, "an Independent Evolution?"

He swallowed hard. He was afraid of what she would say next.

"I can't get him out of my head," she said, "I feel something…something I can't explain."

"I can," he said, "but you need to learn it on your own."

He let her go and watched outside. He saw her Lightcycle headed for the city and doubted her would see her again.

The city was quieter than Risie remembered. She had no idea how long she had been offline. People kept their distance from her. She disengaged her Lightcycle. Clu's elite guards patrolled everywhere. She engaged her stealth mode and made her way to the central complex.

She entered though the unoccupied access tunnels to make her way to the cells under the complex where they kept rouge programs. The only lights were from the armor lines of the guards and prisoners. She snuck into an area she had never seen. The door said it was restricted to the highest level clearance. She saw the guard before he saw her and smashed him into the door. She used his disk to open the door, then derezzed him on the spot.

In the center of the room, Tron was bound with his arms outstretched. His hands were encased and his head hung low. His armor lines were orange instead of light blue, save the "T" logo on his chest. She disengaged her stealth mode and approached him.

"Tron?" she said quietly.

He slowly raised his head. A trio of lines went down the left side of his face, like something had clawed their way across it.

"Risie?" he said weakly, "were did you come from?"

"Long story," she said, "though I guess it's shorter than yours. I came to find you."

"Flynn?" he said.

"The portal was closed before we found each other," she said, "he safe though. He and Quorra, an ISO friend, are watching out for each other."

"You should stay with him," he said.

"Now without you," she said.

"I can't," Tron said, "Clu repurposed me. I don't know what he has planned. It's almost complete. I won't be myself anymore."

"Flynn fixed me," Risie said, "he'll fix you too."
Without another word, she took out her disk. She started slicing carefully into the casing around his hand. He winced as sparks flew. She freed one hand, then the other. Tron collapsed and she caught him, pulling one of his arms over her shoulders. She could hear a soft growl in his chest.

She helped him back to the door when she looked up to see Clu and two of his elite guards. Risie shifted Tron's weight and held out her disk, putting her other arm around Tron's waist. Weakly, Tron pulled out his own disk.

"You think you can escape?" Clu said, "last time I almost killed you both."

"Things change, Clu," Risie said, "step aside."

"You can't save him," Clu said, "just look at him."

Risie's grip tightened around Tron's waist. She put her disk on her back and folded down her helmet.

"Hang on," she whispered.

Tron did so and Risie jumped into the air and right over Clu and his guards. She ran as fast as she could until they were outside the main doors. Clu's guards surrounded them. Tron could feel Risie's armor change as she assessed the situation and adapted for heavy combat. She pulled her disk back out and heard Clu laughing behind them.

The growl in Tron's chest grew louder as his eyes squeezed shut in pain. Risie's helmet folded up and her eyes darted everywhere. Tron was breathing hard against the pain. The "T" on his chest started flickering.

"I'm thinking," Risie said quietly, "fight as hard as you can and I'll get us out of this mess."

"I can't" he said, "leave me here and run for it."

Tron looked up at Risie. Her eyes told him she knew he was right, that if she stayed she would die.

"I'm not leaving," she said.

Tron cried out in pain and fell to his knees. Risie knelt beside him. Her eyes filled with fluid. Tron put a hand on her shoulder and tried to shove her away. She put a hand on his scarred cheek. Their eyes locked and Risie knew it was over. His eyes glazed over.

"Goodbye," she whispered.

Tron's helmet folded down and he leapt to the side. The "T" on his chest reflected it's orange light in Risie's eyes. He split his disk in two and took up an attack stance.

Behind them, Clu clapped his hands. He was smiling.

"Tron's dead Risie," Clu said, "he's Rinzler now."

"You're sick Clu," Risie said, "turning him into that."

"He's perfect now," Clu said, "Rinzler, get rid of her."

Without a word, the figure that was Tron charged at Risie. There was no hesitation in his movement as he attacked. Risie ducked, using the momentum of his charge to launch him over her head and drew her dist. She blocked the disk Tron threw at her, but he slicked into her free arm with the other. Risie yelled, clutching her arm to her chest. Her helmet folded down as she got to her feet.

"You can't win," Clu said.

"I don't have to win," Risie said, "I just can't lose."

She charged at Tron. No, she told herself as they clashed, not Tron. Rinzler. She leapt back and landed on his chest, causing him to fall on his back. She jumped over his head, but his disk came up and sliced into her leg. She engaged her Lightcycle as she fell, setting her disk on her back. She sped into the city core.

Once she was far enough away, she disengaged her Lightcycle. She took a long coat from someone's window and faded into the crowd.

Author's note: here's what was said when Flynn and Quorra found her –

Quorra: "I can't believe she survived. What could have done this to her?"

Flynn: "There's too much damage to repair. I have to reroute the programming to compensate."

Quorra: "But there will be gaps in the sub-routines."

Flynn: "In the end, she'll be alright."