The Thunder Tower

When Mark and Kat arrived at the Thunder Tower they found Ace pacing the floor, muttering to himself. Chuck was still busy with his computer gear.

"What's up with Ace?" Mark asked Chuck.

Chuck was thumping away madly on his keyboard. "Don't know."

"He's…"

"Dude! Not now!" Chuck gritted his teeth and the clatter of keys increased.

Kat raised an eyebrow in Mark's direction. "Maybe we should ask Ace…"

"Yeah."

Ace only noticed Mark when he was almost in front of him. "Woah, kid…"

Mark was only briefly startled. When you were nearly eaten by various Evils every second day of your life, getting bowled over by a distracted superhero wasn't all that unsettling. "Ace, are you alright, mate? You're going to wear a hole in the floor at this rate."

Ace sighed and crossed his arms, looking at the floor. He still appeared fidgety. "I thought about what you said earlier, Mark. About talking to Sparx. Problem is I have no idea how to start, and…"

"Wait," Kat interrupted. "I thought you already told her?"

Ace frowned and shook his head. "No. I only told Lord Fear."

Mark blinked. "Lord Fear? Wait… why?"

"Long story, kid."

"Well, Sparx knows," said Kat. "I saw her at the Carnival, and she didn't seem very happy…"

"The Carnival?" Ace groaned. "Oh no… she must have overheard."

Before the conversation could go any further they heard the whine of an engine. The Lightning Flash dropped in through the roof.

"Ace!" Sparx shouted down. "I need to talk to you!"

"Better tell her you didn't know she was there…" said Mark under his breath.

"Better start apologising and make it good…" said Kat, at exactly the same time as Mark.

They both glared at each other.

Ace glared at them both before turning to Sparx. "Sparx, I know what happened; I'm sorry… you're right, let's…"

It was at that moment that Chuck let out a triumphant yell. "Oh, yeah baby! I am the back door King!"

"Chuck?" Mark frowned.

It was impossible for anyone in the room not to give the boy their full attention. Even Sparx brought the Lightning Flash down to the ground and followed the others over to Chuck's computers. Chuck glanced at all the expectant faces. He had everyone's undivided attention, and he was relishing it.

"What?" Sparx snapped at him.

Chuck continued to grin. "Lady Illusion," he said, twisting a finger in the air, which he then stabbed down on the 'enter' key. "Is coming home."

There was a roar. A purple light burst into existence at the centre of the Thunder Tower, its glow lighting up the building in the dying afternoon light. From the depths of this portal appeared a withered looking zombie.

"Um… Chuck…" Mark began.

But then the zombie seemed to look about and gather where it was. It suddenly twirled and spun, and then dissolved into the form of Lady Illusion. The woman dusted herself off. "Well done, mortal," she said to Chuck. "I don't know how you saw through my disguise and then brought me here, but I am grateful."

Chuck gave a lopsided smile. "Dude, I'd know your code anywhere."

Lady Illusion raised an eyebrow in his direction, but she may have also been smiling faintly. She turned to Ace, and the smile was now more than apparent. "Ace…" she said warmly.

She got no further. Ace covered the space between them in a microsecond and snatched her up in his arms. He spun her around, lifting them both a few feet off the ground and eliciting a faint gasp from her. He wrapped his arms around her and held on tight, burying his face briefly in her neck. "Illusion…"

He set her back gently on the ground, his hands still resting on her shoulders.

Sparx snorted. "Wonderful. As if it wasn't crowded enough in here already. You gonna tell her too Ace? Or you wanna let Fear do it?"

Ace's whole body tensed. He turned around. "Sparx…" he growled.

Lady Illusion put a hand on Ace's arm. "Ace, wait…" she stepped past him and faced Sparx.

Sparx frowned at her. "You want to do this now, Lady?"

Illusion nodded. "Yes, I do. Sparx… I want to apologise to you."

"Yeah, well bring it… wha?" Sparx blinked.

"For all the fighting we did. I… misunderstood. About you and Ace. And I've decided I'm not going to be working for Fear any longer. So there's no reason for us to fight, or be angry with each other."

Sparx stared at Lady Illusion. Complete silence had fallen over the Thunder Tower. "I…" she began. Then she just sighed and shrugged. "Alright, fine. But you can relax, Lady." She glanced at Ace. "It wasn't you I was angry at anyway."

She turned to leave, and then paused in front of Mark. "Not that it matters much now, kid," she said, reaching inside her jacket. "But I found this when I was at the Carnival. Here." She pushed the piece of the amulet into his chest. Then she stomped out of the Thunder Tower.

Mark stared at the amulet piece.

"Sparx," Ace began. "Wait…"

"It's okay," said Kat. "I'll go talk to her." She followed Sparx outside.

Mark turned the amulet piece over in his hands a few times then with a sigh put it in his pocket. He glanced briefly at Ace and Lady Illusion. "Um, Chuck, why don't I help you start packing up your computer equipment?"

"Dude, that can wait…"

Mark glared at him.

"Oh, right."

The two boys moved away from the couple and began busying themselves tidying the computer cables.

Ace led Lady Illusion across the Thunder Tower. "You have no idea how happy I am to have you back," he said, taking her hands in his.

Illusion smiled. "Me too, Ace. But… what was Sparx talking about? What did you have to tell me?"

Ace sighed. "I shouldn't put it off, should I? I'll just get myself in trouble again."

"What is it?"

Ace drew in a deep breath and steadied himself. "This whole fight, Fear and me, the sixth dimension… Mark told me a short while ago, but…" He paused, and swallowed hard. "It's all just a game, Illusion. A video game. It's not real. We're not real. Not until we came to this dimension. This world is real… and ours isn't."

Lady Illusion stared at him for a moment. "What? We're… so my allegiance to Fear…"

"It was just programmed."

Lady Illusion stared at the floor.

Ace's shoulders slumped. "Sorry."

"It's not your fault," she said eventually. "But if everything we are is fake…"

"No." Ace took a hand and gently raised her chin. "This… it was never in the game. You and me. This is real."

Lady Illusion gazed into his eyes for a moment, and then she pressed her lips to his and kissed him for a long moment.

Mark glanced up only briefly, then seeing what was going on bent down to busy himself picking up cables once again.

Chuck was nowhere near as discreet. "Aw, dude, look at 'em…"

"Chuck, really?" Mark hissed.

"I so wish I could tell Jess that this is real. She totally 'ships those two."


Rick's Computer Shack

The sudden influx of energy had sent loose paper and discs churning in a mini whirlwind about the room. Rick landed face down in this mess, his hands gripping onto the paper on the floor. He groaned, and pushed himself slowly up.

He only got about halfway before he slumped back down into a seated position against his computer rig, drawing in deep breaths. He was shaking, and as he gathered his wits about him he stared at the computer screen that glowed bright purple. This was the source of his entry. The purple hues still churned away deep inside it, but there was no sign of Kilobyte.

Eventually, the man's breathing slowed. "Oh God, what am I doing?" he groaned, putting his face in his hands. He stayed like that for a long moment.

Then the vibration started. It began from the computer, and eventually Rick felt it. He lifted his head and then jerked to his feet. "No, no, no!"

The whole rig was rattling now. From within the portal on the screen tentacles wound their way up. They were still far away, but struggling to pull themselves higher.

"I made sure there was only enough power for me! I made sure he couldn't get out!" Rick wailed.

But the monstrosity was pulling itself up.

"He's… he's too powerful. Oh God, I made him too powerful. He knows how to manipulate the programming too… he'll still get out! Unless…" Rick looked about him. He dove onto the floor and riffled through the paper, picking up discs, looking at them, and then tossing them over his shoulder. "I made backups, lots of backups; if I can find a control disc…"

A haphazard search of the room found nothing. Rick was so flustered he was almost in tears. "Where is it!?" He hurled the last disc he held at the computer screen, and it bounced off harmlessly.

Kilobyte was closer now. Rick could see his body attached to those tentacles, being hauled higher. He was like a squid stuck in a fast flowing pipe, but he was still moving against that flow. Rick made a weak whimpering noise and dashed for the door. He slammed into the frame and then stopped, one hand pressed flat against the wall. He looked back over his shoulder and then glanced back out the door.

He looked back at the computer. "I… I may not need the disc. I'm still the Master Programmer. I can still… I can still do this…" Drawing in a deep breath, Rick moved back to the computer. He righted his computer chair and sat down shakily.

"Well… do right, fear not. I guess." With that his fingers hit the keyboard and became a blur.

THE END