The Thunder Tower

It was only a short while after Ace had left that Sparx made her way back into the Thunder Tower. She slouched and shuffled into the building to find Lady Illusion sprawled across their only sofa, flicking through channels on the old TV set with a steadily growing frown of confusion.

"This thing was a lot safer earlier on in the evening…" she said almost to herself. And then she noticed Sparx. "Oh… you're back. I thought you were Ace."

"Nup." Sparx folded her arms. "So, did you mean it?"

"What?"

"What you said earlier. Or was that just a show for the blonde wonder?"

Lady Illusion sighed. "No, I meant every word. There is no reason for us to fight."

"I suppose not. And Lord Fear?"

"I meant that too. I have no intention of crawling back to that creep."

Sparx nodded. "Alright then." She sighed, and then with a slightly uncomfortable expression on her face moved to the free side of the sofa and sat down. "Did Ace talk to you?"

"About the… game? Yes, he did."

"So how's that work for the evil side of things?"

Lady Illusion frowned. "What do you mean? You still think of me as 'evil'? I'm here, aren't I?"

Sparx let out a sigh. "Zoar, I don't know. I suppose it doesn't really matter anymore, everything being not real. You just seem pretty intent on staying. I figure that means I've got to live with you, so we might as well learn to talk to each other without resorting to blasting."

Lady Illusion's shoulders slumped. "That would be a good idea."

"So… yeah… sorry for all the blasting and the spider-head comments…"

"Can't believe I fell for that one."

There was a brief silence.

"So…" Sparx tried again. "Lord Fear…"

Lady Illusion tensed. "I'd prefer if we didn't talk about Fear. He… he wasn't really pleased after I helped out Ace; last time he was defeated. When I thought… you and Ace… I went back to Fear. And he wasn't pleased. He… made me regret what I'd done to him." She glanced quickly at Sparx. "I don't know why I'm telling you this."

Sparx stared at her for a moment. "Well," she finally shrugged. "I was just going to say I agree. I mean, I don't know him as well as you do. But he is a creep. And a jerk-face. But I've always found they're the most fun to blast."

Lady Illusion gave a faint smile. "Probably, but I'm not sure I'm powerful enough."

"Tell you what… rather than fighting with each other… let's find that old bonehead and give him a good blasting. I'm still ticked off at Ace for telling Fear about the game first, but I can't go zapping Ace because then you'll have to avenge him and I think we've already agreed we're going to avoid fighting with each other. So it's the only logical solution."

Lady Illusion eyed her warily. "You and I… it would even the power ratios."

"Exactly," Sparx jumped to her feet. "It'll be the perfect girls' night out."

Rick's Computer Shack

Ace was only unconscious for the briefest of moments. He pushed himself to his feet. Kilobyte had moved away from him, over to where Rick was cowering in the corner.

"I should rip you to shreds," Kilobyte growled.

Rick wrapped his arms around his head and whimpered.

"Hey!" said Ace. "Why don't you pick on someone your own size?"

Kilobyte turned his head slightly and sneered at Ace. "My fight is not with you, Lightning."

"Yeah?" said Ace. He adjusted a wrist cannon. "Well, you could've fooled me."

Kilobyte sighed. "You got in my way last time. Not that you could help it; it was all part of your programming. And mine. If this fool had had more sense he should have sent me after that mortal boy you hang around with, rather than you."

Ace's jaw tensed. "Leave this man alone."

Kilobyte took a half step back from Rick. "You don't know what's going on here, Lightning. But, as I have just said, my fight is not with you. So if you'd like to stop playing the part of the superhero for a few minutes and listen to me, I'll explain it to you. Think you can manage that?"

Ace lowered his wrist cannons. "I might know more than you think. But… if you leave Rick alone for the moment I'll hear you out."

Kilobyte's lips curled into a lopsided smile. "Oh, you're on first-name basis? How sweet. But be careful. This is a more cunning enemy than any you've ever faced. He controlled me and used me, and if he has made any promises to you I wouldn't trust them. Lord Fear and I? We are but poor reflections of what some of these mortals are capable of."

"That hasn't been my experience. But I'll keep it in mind."

Kilobyte growled deep in his throat, but did not reply. "Programmer," he snapped. "Get to your feet. You've been bought a few minutes to live, at the least. And you may be required to give some answers yourself. Get up!"

Rick scrambled to his feet and retreated to the safety of his computer chair.

"Now," Kilobyte turned back to Ace. "What is it that you think you know?"

Ace drew in a breath and did his best to stare unflinchingly up at Kilobyte's towering form. "I know that I'm from a video game. And that this man was responsible for bringing it all to life."

Kilobyte frowned. "I see. And yet you protect him? What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing," Ace snapped. "I've just got a bit more experience with mortals than you do."

"Really?"

"Look, all you've seen of them is this guy. I don't know much about that, but I'm not particularly happy with what he put us through…"

"You don't get it, I lost my job…" Rick stuttered.

"Shut up!" Kilobyte barked.

"Whatever part of the game you came from…"

"No!" Kilobyte snapped. "I came from no part of the game. This programmer…" He turned around and raised a tentacle.

"You said you'd leave him alone…"

"So stop me, Lightning." The tentacle wound its way around Rick, but kept a few feet away, wrapping the man in twists and turns, but never quite touching him. "He created me specifically to destroy you. He had complete control of me for months. He made me give you those human emotions, you know. He controlled every action and reaction of mine like I were just some puppet…"

"I'm sorry…" Rick cringed away from the circling tentacle.

"Look how he cowers and cries when he's brought out of the dark and has to face his demons? And he creates me so I fear the light?" The tentacle was withdrawn with a sharp snap.

"That's what he did to you?" Ace paused, watching Rick.

"Yes, but I'm free now."

"So you can make your own choices?"

"Yes. As you too should be able, Lightning. This is why I have decided to give you, all of you, a chance to see what it is we face here. You and I, we aren't so different."

"You tried to enslave the mortals in the sixth dimension… in the game… was that after Rick lost control?"

"They deserved it!"

"They're not all like Rick!"

"And yet you protect him? Try and think outside your programming! We are both constructs of these mortal minds. We are both designed to do their bidding."

"So we should just destroy every single one of them?"

"I never destroyed any of them. I imprisoned them, as this mortal did to me. Besides, they've left us no other choice."

Ace shook his head. "No, Kilobyte. You're the one who doesn't understand what's going on. Ignore this programmer for a minute, and you listen to me."

Kilobyte folded his arms and leaned back against the rig. It sagged again, but he didn't seem perturbed. "Alright, Lightning. It's interesting. Even after all the fear I implanted in you you're able to stand up to me. I can see it's still there. You flinch every time I get near you. No, I'm not insulting you. I'm impressed. You still play close to your programming, but you're not bound by it. I wouldn't waste my time with you otherwise. But, go on."

Ace momentarily lost his train of thought. He swallowed. "The mortals. They've not all like Rick. The ones I know… they've saved my skin more times than I can count. They're… my friends. Mark… Mark has always been there for me when I need him. I know he would never do a thing to hurt me."

"The boy who purchased the programmer's tainted copy of the game? Perhaps. But he played you. Like a puppet."

"Before we came here. He didn't know."

Kilobyte growled. "Well, you certainly seem convinced. I have seen these mortals as the wander about that Carnival. They certainly seem harmless enough. But I am not so easily fooled. I would bet that with the right motivation that child would betray you in an instant to save his own flesh."

Ace shook his head. "Look, let's just leave Mark out of it. You're wrong though. He's one of the good guys; he wouldn't."

Kilobyte smiled. "Now you're thinking within your programming again. With these mortals there are no good guys and bad guys. Rick!" he shouted suddenly.

The man jumped at the mention of his name and actually fell off of his chair. "What?"

Kilobyte rolled his eyes. "Are you a good guy, or a bad guy?"

Rick stared at him blankly from the floor. "I…"

"Answer me!"

"I… I… neither! I'm just a programmer!"

"You see, Lightning? You don't know what they will be next."

Rick shuffled himself back across the floor towards his chair. Something glinted silver and caught his eye. Sitting on the floor was a disc with 'Kilobyte Control Disc' scrawled on it in black permanent market. Rick's eyes widened. He glanced at Kilobyte then back at the disc. He slid out his foot and then drew it back, the disc and a few loose bit of paper were drawn towards him, and then his hand closed around the disc and he slipped it into his pants pocket.

Mark's House

Mark stared across at the glowing numbers of his bedside clock.

01:07

He groaned and sat up in bed. He was still in his clothes, though he had slipped off his shoes. He paused, and listened. The house was quiet; all he could hear was the faint rustle of the wind blowing through the trees outside.

He glanced at his clock again.

01:09

"Dammit…" he muttered. "I'm going to be grounded for sure." The boy slipped on his shoes, then paused at his bedroom door. He frowned, and then headed back across the room to his window. He slid it open quietly and then looked down at the ground. "It's not that far, really…"

Mark climbed onto the window frame shakily, and then turned himself around. He gripped the edges of the frame and let his shoes grip the outside wall and then started to slide them down. The soles of his shoes squeaked and he winced. Now he was hanging by his fingertips, but still several feet above the ground.

"Oh, man…" he let out a rather unmanly whimper as his fingers lost their grip and landed first on his feet, then he toppled over backwards onto the concrete. He stared up at the night sky for a moment, and then upon realising he wasn't seriously hurt, stood up and dusted himself off. He looked around as if he feared someone may have seen him. "Nothing to it."

His parent's bedroom light hadn't come on. He hadn't disturbed them. Mark jogged around to the garage door, paused, and then groaned. "How am I supposed to get my bike… no…" With a sigh, Mark turned towards the centre of town, drew in a breath, and then began to jog down the street.