AN: Thanks to beafstew and Ridyr for your reviews :D Chapter two is up next, and hopefully with enough description that it sounds similar to the first episode.
Chapter Two
Climbing up the statue was not nearly as hard as Mira had expected. She'd taught herself defensive strategies against programs that might try to derez her if they found her hiding place. From up here Mira could see most of Argon city. If she had been younger she would have admired the lights that gleamed in the distance. It seemed almost hypnotic to her as light cycles and recognizers flew across the Grid.
She was thrown out of her trance when Beck revealed a light grenade. It was a simple tool that would likely do the job of blowing up the statue.
"When I throw this in we have to jump," he said before starting it up.
"What are you going to do?" she asked.
A wide grin spread across his face when it was lit up by a recognizer. She watched as he used his disk to cut the head off before throwing the grenade inside. She was surprised that the statue was hollow on the inside.
Before she could make sense of what was happening he grabbed her by the wrist and jumped off. Mira gasped when an explosion shook the city. Within seconds Beck had rezzed up his light cycle, and they were flying through the city.
"Hold on, looks like we've got company," he shouted before she began to cling on.
For Mira this was only the beginning of the adrenaline that coursed through her. Guards were on high pursuit. Their orange circuits seemed to glow with all of the hostility that they felt towards the renegade programs.
She was surprised at how skilled Beck was at dodging anything that stood in his way. The guards were having a difficult time maneuvering throughout the many rails or screens that hovered in the air. Mira would have laughed if it wasn't for the situation. She would have had just as difficult of a time getting through the alleys without harming herself.
"Jump." Mira was about to shout something back before he turned the light cycle back into a baton. Her eyes widened when he grabbed her and leaped for a light that stretched across the alleyway. The light post had suddenly derezzed and they fell to the ground. "Well that was easy," he muttered before he helped her up. "You okay?" he asked.
"I think so," she replied.
Her eyes widened in panic when she saw another guard leap down to meet them. This one was different though. A cape was woven around their back, and the mask had what appeared to be wings on either side. Beck grabbed his disk and gave the new guard a good kick in the face, smashing the mask into broken pieces.
"Now that was a mistake." The guard had a feminine voice and suddenly lifted her cloak, revealing her face. "So you're Tron? I thought you'd be taller." Mira exchanged a look with Beck before he went into battle mode. "Who's your friend? I've never seen her around before."
Without warning Beck leaped forward, soaring over her as two more guards joined in. Mira followed suit, easily avoiding them as she landed beside him.
"That's it." The program swung her disk towards Beck, but he managed to dodge by leaning back.
Once the disk was in the program's hand Beck made another jump towards the boxes that towered above them. Mira glanced at the program nervously before she followed him. She hoped that he knew what was getting himself into.
She was about to say something when the female program came running after them. She pinned Beck to the ground and threw her disk at his throat.
"They don't usually last this long," she crowed before getting ready for the final blow.
This time Mira was able to throw her disk into the battle. The female program gasped in surprise when her own disk was knocked out of her hand. Beck gave her a good kick in the chest and managed to get away before she recovered. Once the disk came back Mira went over to his side, hopeful that they would get away.
"Just how long are you going to keep this up?" The female program had recovered and was glaring at them.
Mira looked over her shoulder to see that a light copter had risen to search for them. Beck noticed it as well and followed her.
"I'm done, our ride's here," he shouted back before leaping into the light copter. Mira followed him and barely missed it. He managed to reach out and pull her up. A guard was flying the copter, but Beck knocked him out and caused the control screen to shatter. "Hang on, this should fix that," he said when Mira glared at him.
Within seconds he had the screen fixed thanks to a tool that Bodhi had given him. Mira silently thanked the friendly program and watched as Beck managed to pull the light copter away. The female program had found her way to the copter though and threw her disk at one of the blades.
Mira grabbed her disk and prepared for another round before Beck went for a pair of chutes. Once he handed her a chute they prepared to jump before the female program managed to fling herself into the copter.
"We could use someone like you on the team," the female said before she knocked Beck over.
"I don't like your boss," he shot back. "I hope you know how to land this thing."
Before the female program could make a reply Beck grabbed Mira's hand once more and they jumped out of the light copter. Panic flared within Mira when she realized their chutes weren't opening. Beck was able to get his chute to finally open just before he reached the Outlands. Mira followed soon after, gasping in relief when she slammed into the snow.
Once she recovered from the impact she started laughing. About the only memory of her father was that he'd tell her that laughter was one of the best cures for when you felt sad or afraid. Beck unfolded his mask and glared at her in confusion.
"Sorry," she managed to choke out before she wiped back a tear. "Not used to that much excitement."
"You never did tell me why it's so dangerous to be around you," he said accusingly. "Maybe we can talk about it on the way back."
Mira was about to reply when a recognizer flew nearby. Beck saw the recognizer too and ducked behind a ledge where light vehicles could be seen. She wasn't surprised to see him reach for a light cycle that was more suited for traveling in the snow.
"You're a pretty good mechanic," she commented when he fixed the light cycle up.
"Thanks... I wouldn't have been able to do this without Bodhi's tool though," he admitted.
"You lost a good friend." She thought back to how friendly Bodhi had been when she first reached Argon. Everything had gone from bad to worse since she decided to get her light cycle checked. She wondered if Able would know what they were up to, or whether or not he knew what she really was.
Beck didn't say anything as he hopped onto the light cycle. Mira sat behind him and they were at cruising speed when another light cycle followed suit.
She leaned forward as Beck had and hoped that they could out speed the light cycle. The driver must have been a skilled one, because they managed to reach them in no time. Beck was the one who gasped this time as a streak of orange light sailed over them. Within seconds the driver had them cornered, and derezzed the light cycle before Beck could stop it.
"You're a far way from home program." The black guard wasn't like any other guard Mira had seen. Her eyes narrowed into tiny slits when he mentioned only Beck as a program.
He was about to reach out for his disk when something flew in their direction. Mira cried out in surprise when she realized it was a light taser. It came in so fast that neither of them had a time to react as it landed on his suit. A surge of energy coursed around Beck, knocking him unconscious.
"Rinzler," Mira snarled. She recognized the suit anywhere. Rinzler was the program that had become Clu's puppet many cycles ago. The program had found her once, and sent her into the games as means of torture. She'd been fortunate enough to not face Clu, but it was enough to cause bruises and scars on her memory that would never fade. The only reason she made it out alive was because of an ISO named Quorra who'd gotten her away from the light cycle grid in Tron city. The program cringed as though she'd thrown her disk at him.
"How do you know that name?" he demanded.
"I've lived here long enough to know many things about the Grid," she replied.
"You're a User." This time it was Mira's turn to look stunned. She wanted to know how this program was able to figure out what she was, but this wasn't the right time to ask. "This isn't the best place to chat idly," he added when a recognizer flew nearby. "I don't harm Users. Not like Clu does, you're safe for now."
"Why'd you hurt him than?" she asked.
He ignored her and began to drag Beck by the wrist. If she wasn't so tired she would have felt disgusted with the way he was treating the program. Beck had only shown defiance towards what Clu and his minions had done. This program, whoever he was, obviously didn't act like Rinzler. If this was Rinzler he would have likely derezzed them on the spot, if not take them to Clu for further torture.
She sighed before she followed him on a baton he tossed her. She didn't bother asking how he knew a second baton would be needed. She was just grateful that they wouldn't have to ride together.
They reached what looked like a mountain looming over the Outlands. The ride into the mountains wasn't nearly as dangerous as she would have normally thought. There were crevices and doors that swung open as the program led her deeper into the mountain itself.
Mira was surprised when the program led her to a large room where the light cycles turned back into batons. White lights glowed eerily above as the program threw Beck into the center of the room. She was about to rush over when the program turned to face her.
"You followed Flynn," he said accusingly. When she nodded in agreement he leaned against what looked like a desk. Above the desk was a large window which overlooked the Outlands. In the distance was Argon city. She could see the faint lights of the city gleaming in the shadowy darkness. "Why did you run when you followed him? You could have been killed, or worse."
"I was scared," she replied with a shrug. "Can you blame me? I was only six when it happened. Can you imagine what it would be like for a small six year old to be stuck on the Grid? I improvised for the last ten years. Every time a city was taken over by Clu or his generals I'd have to run. Argon was the last city I could actually call a home before he took over that as well."
"How did you know about Rinzler?" The program seemed determined to know everything about her past. This brought back bitter memories of meeting Rinzler, finding Castor and Gem who were a bit more sympathetic towards her cause. Both programs had helped her out by giving her a light cycle and a light sword. When she told the black-suited program about these past events he seemed to take it all in before leaning forward. "You're lucky to be alive. Rinzler is Clu's puppet. A commander who was created to kill. Clu hates the Users, and finding you would only fuel his hatred."
"How do you know about the Users? And how did you know I was one?" she demanded. It was her turn to start asking questions. She knew they only had a short opportunity of asking questions before Beck woke up again. She wasn't sure how he would react if he found out she was a User.
The program suddenly unveiled the mask that hid his face. Mira took a step back in shock when a pure white suit was revealed, along with several scars that were etched along the edge of his face. It wasn't the white or the scars that made her realize who this program was. It was the 'T' that seemed to glow even brighter than the white circuits.
"Tron..." She barely whispered the name before she met his carefully guarded expression. "I thought you were... dead."
"Clu took everything from me the day of the Betrayal. Everything but my name. I fought back, or I tried to. I've been searching for someone who can take over as the next Tron. Beck might just be that program." Tron paused before he narrowed his eyes and continued, "I saw someone follow Flynn out of the Portal. I thought it might have been the lights playing tricks, but it turns out I was wrong."
Mira gave him a look that asked why she wasn't good enough for the task. Tron met her gaze and simply shrugged as though it didn't matter.
"You are a User," he explained. "I'm not about to put your life at risk."
"I've learned everything I can about defending myself," she snapped. "I think I'm fully capable of taking care of myself. I've been doing it for the past few hundred cycles."
Beck already proved he was worthy though, she added silently. He saved my life twice.
"You'd better go." The mask suddenly hid Tron's face once again. Black replaced the brilliant white before he looked at Mira. "There's a place for you to rest upstairs. I'd get some after all that has happened."
Mira was about to argue when she realized he wanted to see how Beck would react to her sudden disappearance. After a few moments passed she nodded and headed towards the spot he'd pointed out. Sure enough stairs had shown themselves. After climbing up the stairs she saw that another room similar to the one at Able's garage lay outstretched before her.
As if Tron had known that she would come there was a bed placed nearby. A few sofas and chairs had been scattered across the room. Mira was surprised to see a large window open to the outside world. She walked forward to see the Outlands stretched before her.
A single word had formed in her mind when she thought of everything that had happened today. Able had offered her a place at the garage, but Tron had offered her so much more.
She'd found a home.
AN: I sort of moved through that rather quickly, but I wanted to get their meeting done and over with /= Next chapter should be out sometime soon.
End of Line.