Thank you all who reviewed! Here it is, the next chapter.
Disclaimer: I don't own Star Ocean, Kingdom Hearts, or Xenosaga.
Chapter 21: When computer programs attack
In the Old Mansion at Twilight Town, Fayt had finally found something after spending an hour or so looking at the computer.
"Based on this thing, it seems like that device over there is a transporter," said Fayt.
"Nice find but... where will this thing take us?" Asked Cliff.
"Who cares? Let's just activate this device and use it," said Albel.
"In this situation, you're right. It might be better off to just use it and ask questions later," said Dr. Leingod.
"I agree, we don't have much choice nor time. Who knows how much damage those Nobodies and Heartless have caused to our Universe during our absence?" Said Nel.
"Then let's use the device," said Adray.
"Hold on a second... well this is a problem," said Fayt.
"What's wrong?" Asked Mrs. Leingod. Fayt looked back over at the others.
"It seems like we can't use this thing unless we type in the password."
"You've gotta be kidding," said Cliff as he put a hand to his face. Fayt looked back at the Computer screen and then back at Sophia.
"Maybe your powers will do something," he suggested.
"Okay, I'll try," said Sophia. She walked towards the computer and touched the screen. There was a loud beep sound and a beam of light shot down from the device on the right.
"Alright it worked!" Said Cliff. Fayt got up from the chair and walked towards the transporter.
"Let's go," said Fayt. They all got on the transporter and there was a flash of light. As it faded away in various hexadecimal digits Fayt and the others looked around at their destination... only to see that it looked very familiar.
"Wait a minute, this is the same place," said Adray.
"No, it's not," said Dr. Leingod.
"How can you tell?" Asked Nel. He pointed at where the computer was.
"Take a look at that."
"The Computer!" Exclaimed Sophia. They all starred in shock as they saw that the Computer has been so badly damaged that it was sparking and not functioning. Fayt walked over and looked at it.
"This thing won't ever work again. Whatever happened here completely destroyed this computer," said Fayt.
"Why would someone do this anyway?" Asked Cliff. Nel looked over at the entrance to the next room several feet away.
"I sense that something is in the next room," said Nel.
"Something?" Asked Sophia.
"Yeah, but I don't know what."
"Only one way to find out," said Albel as he walked through the open door. "What is that?" Everyone rushed in to see a large sphere of energy in the corner of the room.
"I agree with Albel, what IS that thing?" Asked Cliff.
"Some sort of energy? Or maybe a portal?" Asked Dr. Leingod as they got closer to it.
"I don't remember seeing this thing when I last entered this room," said Adray.
"It must be what we have been looking for," said Fayt. He began to walk closer to it.
"Wait are you sure this is a good idea?" Asked Mrs. Leingod. Fayt stopped and looked over at his Mother.
"I think it will be fine."
"I agree with Fayt. I've got a hunch that this thing will lead us to a new place," said Cliff. Fayt raised an eyebrow and looked over at Cliff.
"Another hunch?"
"Yeah, a hunch. You remember how all my previous hunches were correct, right?"
"What about that time that Mirage told me about, the one involving the asteroid?" Cliff smacked a hand to his forehead.
"But that was one time out of many," he protested. "Why did Mirage tell him about that?" Cliff looked over at the others. "At any rate: 'Nothing ventured' as they say. The only way to find out is to walk through that thing."
"Seems like that's the only choice," said Sophia. The group walked into the portal. When they arrived at the other side they were in a completely different place.
"Whoa..." Said Fayt.
"I wasn't expecting this," said Albel.
"Talk about surreal," said Cliff.
This new area was a cloud of energy. It consisted of light red colors mixed with light and dark blue. Circling around in groups was a bunch of Nobody Symbols. At the far end of this room was a green portal that had dark energy coming from it. It was dead silent, they couldn't even hear the sound of their own footsteps. The oddest thing about this room was that there was no walls and no floor. And yet you could walk in this room as if there was a floor.
"What is this place?" Asked Nel.
"I don't think we're in Twilight Town anymore," said Adray.
"It seems like we are getting close, look at the symbols," said Sophia as she pointed at the constantly moving Nobody Symbols.
"That's the marking that is on those Nobody Creatures," said Albel. "It seems like this is the 'back door' to their stronghold."
"It must be, and that portal over there must lead to their world," said Dr. Leingod.
"Then let's show them what happens when they disturb the peace," said Nel.
"Right, let's go!" Said Fayt. They walked through the next portal and they arrived in the World that Never Was. All of them just starred in bewilderment at this new place.
"It's a city... a very creepy looking city," said Sophia.
"This place is Organization XIII's world?" Asked Nel.
"Rather fitting place for a group like them," said Cliff.
"They must have a strong hold somewhere in this city. Let's find it," said Fayt. They began to search the city, to find Organization XIII's base.
Meanwhile in space...
I was currently piloting the Gummi Ship. Sora, Donald, and Goofy went to the Cabin to get some sleep. But since someone needs to keep watch of what's happening outside of the Gummi Ship, one of us stays awake while the others sleep. Generally I volunteer for this job. Nobodies do not require sleep, I mean they can sleep but they don't have to. But since I am half human I have to sleep, but not as much as a regular person would. While I am on duty I usually just sit there and look out the window for danger. But today I was lost in my thoughts. Suddenly the Dark Horizon popped up in my hand.
"Is something wrong? I can sense that you are troubled," said the Dark Horizon.
"Well, it's just... you remember before we left Halloween Town?" I asked.
"Of course I do. I don't have trouble remembering things that happened only a few hours ago. Why?"
"It's just... some things I heard back there. They've been puzzling me, that's all."
"What things?" I sighed and looked out the window.
"Well... it's just... I don't quite understand what they were talking about. To be with someone you care for and not need anything else... what does that feel like?" The Dark Horizon didn't say anything. "Perhaps being half Nobody has this effect on me." I looked back over at the Dark Horizon.
"I must say, all of my wielders have had something in common," said the Dark Horizon.
"What would that be?"
"All the ones in the past had issues of various kinds, just like you."
"I see..." I would have asked more questions about the other wielders but I chose not to. It wasn't important right now, so I decided not to pursue it. The Dark Horizon disappeared from my hand. I swear, it's impossible to predict when that Keyblade will appear on it's own accord. I wonder why the Dark Horizon is so unique amongst all Keyblades. I looked over to see the door to the bridge open up. Sora, Donald, and Goofy walked in.
"Good morning guys," I said.
"Good mornin'," said Goofy.
"How is it you are still awake after all this time?" Asked Donald.
"Don't you feel tired?" Asked Sora. I shrugged and stretched in my chair.
"Not really, I will probably take a little nap after we check in with everyone at Hollow Bastion," I said.
"Looks like we are there," said Goofy. I looked back over at the window to see that we were closing in on Hollow Bastion.
"Well what do you know," I said. We landed on Hallow Bastion and got off the ship. Everything seemed to be fine... minus the fact that there were quite a few Heartless running about.
"Wait a sec... I thought everything was supposed to be under control here," said Sora.
"Hey look!" Said Donald. Suddenly one of the town's defense mechanisms went off nearby. Hold on, those things are supposed to go off when there are Heartless in the area... and yet the local Heartless just ran off. What's going on here?
"I don't like the looks of this," I said.
"Must be Organization XIII again. We better go see Leon," said Sora. We started walking towards Merlin's house, where Leon would probably be. As we got close to the next area we saw Scrooge (a duck who looks a lot like Donald) jumping up and down as if he was really happy about something.
"Bless me bagpipes! I did it! I recreated 'Sea-Salt Ice Cream!'" He exclaimed as we walked over to him.
"Sea-Salt Ice Cream? Oh yeah, that's what Ansem and I had at the Ice Cream store at Twilight Town," I said in my thoughts.
"Can we try some?" Asked Donald.
"Of course!" Said Scrooge. He handed us all a bar of it.
"This is as good as the bar I had back in Twilight Town," I said in my thoughts.
"Oh boy! This is good!" Said Donald.
"So salty!" Said Sora.
"But sweet," said Goofy.
"Aye. It's unique! When I was a lad, all the kids were crazy for it." Said Scrooge. After we finished the ice cream we thanked Scrooge and continued off towards Merlin's house. As we arrived at the front door a bunch of Heartless appeared. But instead of being the local variety they were the ones from inside Ansem's Computer. Okay, something is DEFINITELY wrong here if new Heartless are popping up. We defeated the Heartless and the door to Merlin's house opened up. Yuffie popped her head out from the open door.
"Come on in," she said. We walked in and Yuffie closed the door. Cid was sitting at the small computer, typing something.
"Wait just a second... What happened to this place?" Asked Sora.
"Didn't that Heartless look like the ones from Tron's world?" Asked Goofy.
"Yeah, it did," I said.
"It stuck out like a sore thumb," said Donald.
"Hurry up, Cid!" Exclaimed Yuffie as she turned her attention over to him.
"Give me a second!" Exclaimed Cid.
"Confound it! Hurry!" Exclaimed Merlin.
"Why, you..." Started Cid.
"What's going on?" Asked Sora. Merlin and Cid stopped glaring daggers at each other and looked over at Sora.
"Talk about yer' good timin'," said Cid.
"The MCP is wreaking havoc inside the computer," said Yuffie.
"Not again!" Exclaimed Donald. Man, that's one rebellious program. I wonder what went wrong that caused it to act this way. I have never heard of a program that was created to act hostile and attempt to take control of everything.
"According to Leon anyway, there was some sort of alarm going off up at the Postern. He went on over to Ansem's Study to find out what all the ruckus was about. Turns out the MCP is using the data in that computer to crank out Heartless. The MCP's been messin' around with the town's control system, too." Said Cid.
"That MCP sure doesn't know when to quit, does it?" Asked Yuffie.
"That's a computer program for ya."
"So true, they don't give up until they complete what they are programmed to do," I said. "Damn, this is almost as bad as the Executioner Incident. At least the MCP is confined to the computer." I said in my thoughts as I clenched my teeth.
"How's Tron doing?" Asked Sora.
"We can't reach him. We figure he must have been forced onto the game grid," said Yuffie.
"And it don't sound like a particularly fun game, either."
"You got that right," said Donald.
"We'll go check on Tron," said Sora.
"Thanks, kid. We're puttin' together an MCP Eradication program. I got a hunch it's almost finished, too," said Cid.
"Well, I hope your hunch is right for once!" Said Merlin. Cid glared daggers at Merlin.
"Listen, we're gonna need Tron's help when that Eradicator's completed..." Started Yuffie.
"Don't sweat it. We'll make sure to tell Tron!" Said Sora.
"Remember, boys, we're counting on you!" Said Merlin.
"Roger!" Said Sora. I took a few steps over to the computer and looked at the screen.
"So this is the program that will help take care of the MCP, right?" I asked.
"Yup," said Cid.
"Do you need a hand with it?"
"Well if it can get this program finished as soon as possible than yeah, why?" I looked over at Sora, Donald, and Goofy.
"I'm going to stay behind and help with this program. You guys head on over to the postern, I'll catch up later," I said.
"Okay, see you later, Alex," said Sora. They quickly left and headed off to the Postern. I looked back at Cid and the others and then at the computer.
"So what's your status?" I asked.
"The main part of the program has been completed, now we just need to add some small stuff in order to finish it,' said Cid.
"Are you using anything to enhance the program? It would probably help if you had that."
"Yes, I have added a touch of my magic to this program," said Merlin.
"Do you have any experience working with computers?" Asked Yuffie as she looked over at me. I nodded.
"Yeah, I have been working with computers for almost my entire life," I said.
"Alright then, do ya' know of anything that will help with this program?" Asked Cid.
"Yeah, I think I know of something that could help. I know of some sub-programs that I could add to this thing that will make it more powerful. But..."
"Is there a problem?" Asked Merlin. I nodded and folded my arms.
"Yeah, those sub-programs require a special type of coding. I doubt this computer has that format. If I had some sort of terminal that I could connect to this thing then this would be a..." I was cut off as something suddenly starting vibrating in my pocket. "What could that be?" I asked as I pulled out whatever was in my pocket. "What is this thing?" In my hand was a small device that looked like half of a video game controller. I pressed a button and a blue holo-screen appeared along with a holo-keyboard.
"What's that?" Asked Yuffie.
"It looks like it's some sort of hand-held computer," I said. "This technology is incredible. Whoever made this thing is a genius," I said in my thoughts. I began to press buttons to see what things would do. "1 new message?" I opened the inbox and the screen changed. On screen was a familiar face. "Shion?"
"Hey Alex, sorry I couldn't talk to you directly but it seems it's impossible to use the live video across universes. I could only send this video to you. I guess by now you have found the Connection Gear, it's the thing you are holding right now. I had KOS-MOS slip it into your pocket, you never know when you might need it. Besides, it will allow you to keep in touch. I don't know what you are doing right now, or if you have completed your mission, but whatever you are doing I wish you the best of luck with it. Come back and visit sometime, okay? See ya!" Said Shion. The screen disappeared and the default blue screen appeared.
"Who was that?" Asked Merlin.
"It's a friend of mine, her name's Shion," I said as I continued to browse the Connection Gear. "Alright, I can use this to connect to other computers and use programs."
"So you can do whatever your planin'?" Asked Cid. I nodded and began to walk towards the computer.
"Yeah, I think so." I pulled out a cable and connected the two computers together. Then we began working on the program. It was good that this program was written in the format it's in. It made it easy to integrate the sub-programs that I created. My job was finished first, now all we had to was wait for Cid to finish. But apparently Merlin's Magic was making the progress a little more difficult. With warning, the door bursted open and Leon rushed in.
"Finished?" He asked.
"Would be, if it weren't for the old loon's magic!" Exclaimed Cid as he was typing.
"OLD loon, you say?" Exclaimed Merlin as he glared at Cid.
"I'm tryin' to work here!" Exclaimed Cid. Merlin continued to glare at Cid as he raised his wand.
"Oh ho-ho-ho, I'll show you who's old!" As Merlin began to cast a spell, Cid finished the program. A disc popped out of a slot and Cid caught it in Mid-air.
"Done!" Merlin's spell hit the computer, creating a shockwave that sent Cid to the floor. He held up the disc and waved it around in the air. "There you go, Leon." Cid grunted and got up. "One homemade program. A loony wizard special." He handed the disc to Leon.
"This had better work," said Merlin.
"I'm off," said Leon.
"I'm going too," I said.
"Be on your guard!" Advised Merlin. Leon and I walked out the door and began to walk towards the Castle Postern.
"What's the status over at the castle?" I asked as I looked over at Leon.
"Not good, I'm afraid. As you probably know, the MCP is using the machine to create Heartless. We've managed to push them back so far. But it's only a matter of time before the try to take the Computer room over," said Leon.
"And I take it that Sora, Donald, and Goofy have entered the Computer by now."
"That's right. They are going to try and contact Tron. This program was designed to be used by Tron. Hopefully it will work." We arrived at the Postern only to see Heartless all over the place. Leon pulled out his weapon and I summoned the Dark Horizon. "Looks like getting in is going to be a little difficult." I nodded.
"Yeah, we'll just have to break through." We began to charge towards the entrance to the castle. I slashed through a nearby Heartless as I was running, I jumped to the side as a large Heartless tried to attack me and then Leon cut it in half. We broke through any other Heartless that got in the way and went inside the castle. From there we traversed through the maze of hallways and into Ansem's Study. As we got there, Leon went up to the computer and entered a command into it.
"Alex, go and let them know that the program will be loaded shortly," said Leon.
"You got it!" I said as I walked in front of the terminal.
"Good luck," said Aerith. The device on the back wall began to glow, as the light hit me I was transported into the computer. When I opened my eyes I was at the I/O Tower. Standing around the pillar of light was Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Tron.
"I was wondering where you were when I didn't see you with these three," said Tron.
"Is the program done?" Asked Sora. I nodded and looked up at the pillar of light.
"Yeah, they should be loading it up as we speak," I said. Suddenly there was the sound of the terminal becoming active.
"There!" Said Tron.
"Alright!" Said Sora. Tron jumped up onto the system and removed the Identity Disk from his back. He held it up into the light and it floated up to the top. It came back down a few seconds later with the program on it. Tron looked at it as he analyzed the program.
"What's it like?" Asked Goofy.
"This is very strange..." Said Tron.
"That's Merlin's Magic," said Donald.
"And a few extra things I added to the program to make it more powerful," I added. Tron stepped off of the platform and walked back towards us.
"Huh? There's a power booster for me! And flight routines for the solar sailer!" Said Tron.
"Meaning...we're set?" Asked Sora.
"Well, like you Users say... we won't know till we give it a try!" Sora nodded in agreement. "We'll need a sailer to reach the MCP, so let's get to the simulation hangar!" We quickly left the central area and headed down the hallway to a room with a really large platform. It was very thin too. I really doubt that this thing could hold much weight without collapsing. And yet, it looks very stable somehow. We got onboard and Tron activated it. Soon we were sailing off into the purple landscape.
The view was very nice, mainly because there was no wall on this thing. We would be easy targets for Heartless. It's like putting yourself in clear view for a sniper. It was quiet, far too quiet. I could sense that an ambush was near, and that kind of suspense is the worst of all. Tron looked back over at us.
"You've got to keep a look out," said Tron. "The MCP isn't going to just let us waltz in." Suddenly a bunch of Heartless appeared and began to board the Solar Sailer. We fought them off and arrived at our destination. There was a large pillar ahead of us, it was obvious that the MCP was in there somewhere. "The MCP is straight ahead."
"Time to settle things for good," said Sora. We rushed into the building to see a large, red, spinning pillar. And every now and then I swear I could see a face on that thing. To the left of the spinning pillar was a man in attire similar to Tron's. Only it was glowing orange red. He had an unpleasant look on his face that made him look like he wasn't all that hospitable of a person. "Who is that?" Asked Sora.
"Sark. The MCP's number two," said Tron.
"Tenacious little bugs! You're time is up. Prepare for de-resolution!" Said Sark. We pulled out our weapons and got ready to fight. Sark's attacks consisted of teleporting around and shooting laser attacks at us. We quickly brought him down to his knees. "You're very persistent, Tron."
"I'm also better than you."
"We...would have made a great team..." Tron threw his Identity Disk at Sark. There was a loud crack as it broke his helmet thing and he fell to the ground. We turned our attention to the red pillar.
"Now for the MCP!" Said Tron.
"This thing is the MCP?" Asked Sora.
"I wasn't expecting the MCP to look like this," I said.
"That's it. Ugly, isn't it?" Asked Tron.
"That it is," said Donald.
"Tron... Don't you understand? We don't need Users. We've advanced, they're superfluous. Be a part of me, and together the world will be ours to control!" Said the MCP. Tron shook his head.
"MCP. You still don't get it, do you?" Asked Tron. The MCP stopped spinning and starred right at us with it's ugly face.
"Sark..." There was no response from Sark. "Sark! All my functions are now yours." Sark slowly got up and grew bigger. I looked over at Sora and the others.
"I'll hold him off. You guys work on defeating the MCP!" I said.
"Gotcha," said Sora. I looked up at Sark.
"Alright, big guy, I'll show you that size doesn't matter!" Since he was bigger, so was his attacks. He shot off several lasers at me. I blocked them and then slashed at one of his legs. There was now a marking where I had hit him. He swiped at me with his large arms. I dodged to the side and slashed his other leg. He fell to the ground and wasn't able to get up, but he was still alive. I jumped up and stabbed the Dark Horizon into his head. He went limp and floated up into the air. "How do you like that?"
"I will repair your functions," said the MCP. A soft light glowed from the areas where I had hit Sark and then he got back up.
"Data restored," said Sark.
"You've got to be kidding me," I said. If he can be restored over and over again, then the only way to defeat him is by taking out the MCP. Which means I'm going to have to keep on fighting this guy until Sora and the others succeed with their task. Suddenly, the humming coming from the MCP completely stopped. I looked over to see the MCP had turned blue and was now shrinking. Within a few seconds it had completely disappeared. Sark disappeared as well.
"We did it!" Exclaimed Tron as he jumped up in joy.
"I see Tron has a silly side, too." Said Sora.
"I learned it from you. Of course, I do have my silly limits."
"I think we have been a bad influence on Tron," I said in my thoughts.
"Okay, then I'll tweak your program when I get back to the User world," said Sora.
"You? Maybe we'd better not try that," said Tron with a smile on his face and a tone of nervousness in his voice.
"Aww...How 'bout it, guys? Singin' Tron? Dancin' Tron!" Sora spun into the air and landed on the ground.
"That would be an interesting sight," I said.
"Sounds good?" Asked Sora.
"Yeah," said Donald. Tron chuckled a little bit.
"Okay, okay, fine. But before I crash... Sora, Donald, Goofy, Alex... and all the Users out there... Thank you... You really helped me. You made me so much stronger. You taught me what friendship is truly all about. And, I'll never forget it. As soon as I met you, I knew we were going to defeat the MCP and free the system." Said Tron. He held out his hand. Sora shook it and then Tron embraced him in a hug.
"Uhhh..." Said Sora.
"Isn't this what Users do when they're sorry to say goodbye?" Asked Tron.
"Uhhh...it's a first for me." Said Sora.
"Gawrsh, Tron, it's like a promise that we'll see each other again real soon," said Goofy.
"Okay. Well, then..." Tron hugged Goofy, Donald, and then me. "I promise." He slowly began to back away.
"Where are you going?" Asked Sora. Tron waved and jumped into the core without warning. We ran up to the edge of the hole and looked down into it. "Tron..." Suddenly there was a loud rumbling, and then we were transported out of the computer and back into Ansem's Computer room.
"You're here!" Said Aerith.
"Welcome back!" Said Yuffie. Sora nodded, but he looked sad.
"How's the town?" He asked.
"A-okay!" Said Yuffie.
"Not a single trace of the MCP, either. Everything's back to normal. We made it," said Aerith. Yuffie noticed Sora's sad face and pointed right at him.
"Hey, why the long face? What happened?"
"Tron just... disappeared," said Donald.
"And he promised we'd see him again..." Said Sora. Suddenly there was an alarm.
"An alarm?" I asked.
"What's happening?" Asked Aerith.
"Greetings, friends. System is up, and ready for User input," said Tron's voice from the computer. I guess we know who our new MCP is. At least this one will be a good MCP, unlike the last one.
"Tron!" Said Sora, Donald, Goofy, and I.
"Stay in touch!"
"Yeah!" Said Sora. Donald ran over to the keyboard.
"Oh boy, oh boy!" He said. Donald began to randomly type buttons.
"Hey, stop that! It tickles!" Said Tron.
"Tron is ticklish?" Asked Goofy. Goofy and I looked over at Sora. He looked at us and then grinned evilly. I grinned and then Sora and I began to walk towards the computer. Goofy was chuckling in the background.
"How 'bout this!" Said Sora. He started typing buttons randomly along with Donald. I would occasionally press a button or two whenever there was room for me.
"Please stop that!" Said Tron between fits of giggles and laughing.
"I think Tron's been hanging around those guys too much," said Yuffie.
"W-wait, wait just a moment. I want to show you something I dug up from the system archives," said Tron. "You can see the town back when it was first built." A bunch of images popped up. On the picture was tons of flowers and other plants, filled with water such as rivers, waterfalls, and streams. There were buildings here and there and a great castle in the horizon.
"Wow..." I said. "Hey, look outside!" Said Yuffie. We all quickly ran outside to see small pink sparkles coming from the sky. Aerith looked over at Sora.
"You know, this town had another name once," she said.
"Hm?" Asked Sora.
"Radiant Garden." We boarded our Gummi Ship shortly afterwards and then talked about what we were going to do next.
"So where to now?" I asked.
"I don't know, we don't have any other leads. Other than this," said Sora as he pulled out a picture and handed it to me.
"A picture of Hayner, Pence, Olette, and Roxas?" I asked.
"What? You know who he is?" Asked Sora. I nodded.
"Yeah, I met him once. It was very brief. He looked a lot like you. I thought it was you when I saw him," I said. I looked at the picture again. "Hey, this place looks familiar. The gate they are standing in front of.
"The mansion!" Said Goofy as he recognized it too.
"Oh that's right!" I said.
"Now I remember, that place where we woke up at," said Sora.
"So it's off to Twilight Town?" Asked Donald. Sora nodded.
"Yeah, let's go!" Donald set a course for Twilight Town and we were on our way. Sora looked over at me.
"What makes you think we will find something there?" Asked Sora.
"I don't know, it's just this feeling that I have. Perhaps we will find a clue there, one that will lead us to the Realm of Darkness. That's what I am thinking," I said.
So what will our Heroes find in Twilight Town? Find out in the next chapter. And any of you out there who have played Kingdom Hearts II must know one thing by now: This is the beginning of the end. Anyway, please review.