Eclipse of the Heart

by FadedPhantom

Aila's life on Earth had always seemed normal. However, when she suddenly finds herself stranded in a world she thought only existed in a game, she becomes a part of an adventure that is anything but ordinary. During KH2.

38. Technologic

Sooo I might have accidentally written a whole 'nother chapter while I was meant to be working on other things this weekend.

Oops. Bad bad bad for me.

But good for you, because now you get another update only a few days after my last one. Yippee!

Thank you SO MUCH to everyone who reviewed, followed, and favorited last chapter! I am having so much fun reading your guys' theories on what's gonna happen, especially about Danny and about what's gonna happen between Aila, Demyx, and Axel. That's probably why I couldn't stop writing this chapter, because I want to get to the parts you guys are all guessing about so you can have your answers (AKA mostly the fight between Sora and co. and Demyx). We'll be there very soon! Keep the guesses coming!

Sidenote, I definitely made up how some of the things work in this world, such as the Light Cycles… I did some research, but the things I found were mostly like LOOK AT THESE PICTURES SO PRETTY rather than telling me how the things actually worked. Annoying. I hope I didn't offend any diehard Tron fans with my very loose knowledge of the technology.

(Also, I did proof read this because I can't bring myself to post without doing that at least once but I'm kinda super sleepy and eager to get this up so forgive me if I missed some mistakes.)

Now without further adieu, I give you the somewhat sidequesty but still super awesome world of Space Paranoids. Enjoy :)

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"I know there's a proverb which that says 'To err is human,' but a human error is nothing to what a computer can do if it tries."

― Agatha Christie, Hallowe'en Party

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Chapter 36: Technologic

"This is so weird," Aila mused, examining her new outfit and surroundings. Everything was very… techy looking in the Pit Cell they'd been uploaded into, the walls, ceiling, and floor pulsing with red and blue lights and making Aila feel slightly dizzy if she looked at one spot for too long. Her outfit was now some sort of dark blue bodysuit with lighter blue lines shining in geometrical patters all along it, and she felt her head to find that she had some sort of helmet on, her ponytail flowing out through the back. Sora, Donald, and Goofy were wearing similar outfits, though each seemed to at least sort of resembled what each person had been wearing in the outside world.

"I know, right?" Sora agreed, messing with the tufts of hair that were sticking out of his own helmet. "Who knew a whole world could exist inside a computer…"

"Gwarsh, I wonder where Tron is?" Goofy asked, walking up to inspect the control panel that they'd been beamed out of.

"Don't touch that!" Donald scolded. No sooner had the words left his mouth did the panel begin to glitch, static disrupting the images on the screen and creating a very unnatural sound that they were pretty sure wasn't good.

"Goofy!" Sora cried, exasperated. Aila looked around nervously, trying her best to remember what was about to happen but coming up relatively blank. Her memories of this world weren't the best, since it didn't have too much to do with the main storyline. She knew at one point they'd go on some flying ship thing with Tron…

"Uhh… I didn't do it!" Goofy said, turning around to plead his case. Aila opened her mouth to say something, but before she could she felt a strange jolt in her body and everything vanished. Or rather, she vanished.

"Whoa!" the gang cried, stumbling as they all reappeared in a new location.

"I didn't touch nothin'," Goofy insisted, scratching his head as he tried to figure out what had just happened.

Aila looked around nervously, and what she saw made her stomach drop. They were standing on an extremely vast, empty grid, surrounded by purple walls much too high for them to climb. A red light shone straight up into the sky in the distance, looking very ominous against the deep purple backdrop. "Uh oh…" she breathed, inching closer to the boys. Aila knew where they were now, and she didn't like it.

"Welcome to the game grid," a voice echoed around them, making everyone jump in surprise.

"Game grid?" Sora asked into the nothingness around them.

"That's right, you've been chosen to play a few games. Lose, and you will be subject to immediate de-resolution. Win? Well…" Whoever was speaking (Aila thought it might be Commander Sark) chuckled evilly. "No one wins."

Aila gulped, she and the boys exchanging nervous glances. She raised her hand and spoke into the void. "Uh… th-that's okay, we're not really in a game playing mood…"

"Yeah! We're not gonna play your games!" Donald shouted angrily.

"You have no choice."

"Well then, get on with it!" Sora challenged confidently.

"Sora!" Aila hissed, tugging on his arm.

"Don't worry Aila," Sora said, giving her a thumbs up and his signature grin. "We make a game out of our fights all the time, don't we? We'll win this easy!" Aila bit her lip, not feeling quite as confident.

Four Light Cycles appeared before them, one for each of them it seemed. Sora walked up to the second from the left and examined it. "Cool!" he exclaimed, immediately hopping on.

"Yeah… cool," Aila said, walking up to the bike on the far left a little more tentatively. She had a feeling she was not going to be good at this.

"How do you work this thing?" Donald asked, hopping up onto the bike on the other side of Sora, leaving the one on the far right for Goofy. Donald studied the bike for a moment, leaning forward as he did so. As soon as he'd leaned to about forty-five degrees, the Light Cycle shot forward. "WAHHH!" Donald cried, immediately sitting up again and flailing in an attempt to stay balanced. The Cycle came to a sudden stop when he sat up and the duck was thrown forward off the front of it. "Oof!" he cried, tumbling onto the floor. "What happened…?"

"Ohh, so you lean forward to go, and you sit up to stop," Sora said, testing his theory. It seemed he was right, and Aila climbed upon her own bike to test it out. The farther forward you leaned, the faster you seemed to go. Aila, not intent on going too fast just yet, kept her bike at a relative crawl for now. "Lean to steer!" she heard Sora call, the boy making a tight circle a few yards ahead and heading back to where he'd started. Aila leaned to the right, but her bike was going too slow to take the turn and she toppled to the ground, sprawled very unceremoniously next to the strange vehicle. Sora drove up and stopped next to her, an amused look on his face. "I think you need to be going a little faster," he laughed, offering her a hand.

"I don't really wanna go faster though," she protested as she took his hand and stood. "I'm pretty sure if I do, I'll make an Aila shaped hole in one of those walls."

Sora chuckled again as Aila righted her bike. "Don't worry, Aila. It's kinda fun!"

"I think I've got the hang of it!" Goofy called, sitting the wrong way on his bike and leaning backwards as he zoomed past the teens.

"You're sitting the wrong way, Goofy!" Sora laughed, zooming off to go help his friend. Aila watched the boys' antics as they attempted to all get the hang of the Light Cycles and sighed nervously. She really hoped this wasn't as hard as she worried it might be. She'd never really had a problem with this level on her world; in fact, she found it to be really fun. But now that she wasn't sitting under a blanket on her couch while she played in the safety of her own home, she was very nervous. She had a feeling that pressing buttons on the PS2 controller was not even close to the same as doing this in real life was going to be.

"Game grid ready to activate," the voice from before suddenly announced, getting everyone's attention. "Prepare to begin in three…"

"Wait! What're the rules?" Sora called.

"Two…"

"I guess maybe there are no rules?" Goofy said, finally sitting the correct way on his bike thanks to Sora's coaching.

"One…"

"Then what do we do?" Donald asked.

Aila took a deep breath. "Survive."

"Begin."

A dozen Heartless programs sprung into existence behind the gang ('Magnum Loaders' Aila believed they were called) and shot forward, clearly intent on attacking whoever they got to first. Aila blanched.

"Come on, let's go!" Sora urged, hopping back onto his bike and taking off toward the center of the grid. Aila hurried to follow, she, Donald, and Goofy zooming after the Keyblade Master as they tried to outrun the attacking Heartless. Walls sprung up on either side of them as they drove, and so it seemed continuing straight ahead was their only option.

"Don't crash, don't crash, don't crash," Aila chanted to herself, leaning much lower over her Cycle than she would have liked. But speed was definitely necessary right now, so she grit her teeth and leaned ever lower down until she had pulled up on Sora's right.

"You doing okay?" Sora asked, glancing her way.

"I-I think so!" Aila said nervously. "As long as we don't have to turn or anything…"

Of course, as soon as the words left her mouth a wall appeared right in front of them, with the only viable option being to make a sharp left turn.

"Swing left!" Sora ordered, leading the pack as he made the turn. Aila leaned a little too vigorously and found herself careening toward the left side wall after she'd made the turn, nearly cutting off Donald in the process.

"Watch it, Aila!" Donald squawked. Aila could hear Goofy screaming in the background as he attempted to stop zigzagging.

"Sorry!" Aila cried, straightening her bike out at the last second. She sighed in relief.

"Everyone okay?" Sora called over his shoulder.

"YAHOOOOOHOOHOOHOOHOO!" Goofy cried before anyone could answer, shooting past the rest of them at breakneck speeds.

"Goofy!" Sora cried, speeding up to match his friend's pace.

"Uh, Aila?" Donald called from behind her.

"I'm a little busy!" Aila cried back, her voice a little higher than usual due to the stress of the situation. She was terrified to take her eyes off the road; she was pretty sure she wasn't even blinking.

"Well get unbusy and help me!"

Aila chanced a quick glance over her shoulder to see that her feathery friend was surrounded by Magnum Loaders, much to Donald's chagrin. "Uh, um, magic them away or something!"

"I can't just magic them away," Donald scoffed, summoning his staff and bopping one of the Heartless on its head while trying not to lose control of his Light Cycle. "Get over here! Please!"

Aila sighed. "I'll try…" She sat up a little too quickly and her Light Cycle screeched to a stop, nearly throwing her off of it in the process. Two of the Heartless that had been surrounding Donald careened into her now stationary vehicle and exploded on impact, their wheels still turning uselessly as they were derezzed. Aila blinked. "Uh… I meant to do that?"

That gave her an idea. She leaned forward again and her Light Cycle took off after Donald, who'd passed her when she'd accidentally defeated the Heartless that had driven into her. She drove until she was right behind one of the remaining Magnum Loaders, the front of her Light Cycle skimming the back of the Heartless's wheel. This got its attention, and it turned around just in time to see her smile wickedly down at it. "This road ain't big enough for the two of us," she said in her best trucker voice before shifting the bike ever so slightly so her front wheel was flesh with the Heartless's left side. She then leaned to the right, taking both her and the captured Heartless toward the wall on their right side. At the last second she straightened her own bike out and watched as the out of control Heartless slammed into the wall, the impact enough to derez it almost immediately.

"Nice one!" Sora complimented. Aila and Donald had apparently caught up to the other two boys, and Aila was glad to see that Goofy seemed to be back in control of his Cycle. Sora threw his Keyblade at the last two Heartless surrounding Donald, taking them out with ease. Aila sighed in relief.

"So uh, what's the plan here?" she asked. "Keep driving forever?"

"Not forever, just until we win," Sora said, narrowing his eyes as he focused on the road ahead.

"Well how do we win?" Donald asked.

"By escaping!" Aila exclaimed, suddenly remembering how they were meant to get out of this. "We need to find a way off the Grid!"

"Sounds good to me," Sora said with a nod. "If we can make it to the outer wall, then we can—"

Aila didn't get to hear the end of his sentence. At that moment, pillars appeared right in their path, forcing all four of them to swerve in opposite directions. Walls rose up around each of them individually, and Aila realized in horror that they'd all been separated. "Guys?!" she called. She had a feeling they were somewhere to her left, but the walls on either side of her forced her to continue straight ahead. Magnum Loaders pulled up around her, and her eyes widened. "Crap!"

To make matters even worse, a wall suddenly appeared right in front of her, forcing her to take a sharp right. She screamed, nearly losing control during the turn and accidentally slamming one of the Heartless into a wall in the process.

"You're good at accidentally killing these things," Celina commented, sounding rather amused.

"That is not helpful information right now!" Aila called, leaning low over her Cycle in an attempt to outrun the Heartless hot on her tail. She was forced to take another right and then a left immediately after that, her heart pounding so hard and fast that she had the very uncomfortable sensation that it might leap right out of her throat at any moment. A Magnum Loader drove up next to her and slammed into her, seeming to be attempting to bump her into the wall. "Hey, that's my move!" Aila growled at it, bumping the Heartless back and sending it careening into a second Magnum Loader. "Don't steal my moves!" she called as the two Heartless crashed into the wall in one tangled heap.

"To be fair, it seemed like it was actually hitting you on purpose, so it wasn't really stealing your move," Celina quipped. Aila was irked by how laid back the Spirit sounded.

"Great time to make jokes. It's so nice to know you care so much about my well being," Aila grumbled.

"Oh, come on. You're having fun too."

Aila scoffed. "I can assure you that I am most definitely not!" Aila swerved around a pillar, hitting another Heartless in the process and sending it tumbling head over wheels. Okay, so maybe that was a little satisfying…

"I bet you could crush them with your Light Cycle."

"…Like Sora does in the game?" Aila mused, the idea dawning on her.

"Exactly like that."

"Okay, yeah, one problem," Aila said, finding it actually a little comforting to be talking to Celina amidst all this chaos. It at the very least made her feel less isolated. "To do that I'd need to like, lift up the front of my Cycle and then slam it down on them. That sounds hard."

"But think about how cool it'll be if you do it."

Aila raised an eyebrow. "You are concerned with how cool something will be?"

"Not concerned," Celina said. Aila could practically hear her shrug. "I just… find it interesting. It is rather exciting, all this…"

Aila coughed out a laugh. She'd never heard Celina sound so into anything she was doing before. "Did you used to ride a motorcycle or something?"

"There were no such things," Celina scoffed. She paused. "Though the speed at which you're traveling is… exhilarating…"

Aila remembered running at lightning fast speeds during one of her fights in Halloween Town, and a light bulb went off. "Ohhhh!" she exclaimed. "You used to be able to travel like that, didn't you? You were really fast!"

"…Hn…"

Aila laughed. "Okay, I'll try the move. But if I die I'm gonna be really mad at you." She slowed a tiny bit to allow one of the Heartless to catch up to her and gripped the handles of her Cycle tightly. Her heart pounded in response to her nerves, but she also felt rather exhilarated at the thought of what she was about to attempt. "Here goes nothing," she breathed. She jerked the front of the Cycle up, its front wheel rising off of the ground. For a terrifying moment she was wheelieing down the grid, her fingers gripping the Cycle's handles so tightly that she wondered if she'd have permanent impressions of them on her palms when this was all over. Using every ounce of effort in her body, she lunged the bike so it was directly over the Heartless's head. All the thing could do was watch as the Light Cycle came crashing down on top of it, causing immediate de-resolution upon impact. Aila laughed triumphantly.

"Very nice," Celina commented.

"You know, I like this side of you," Aila said with a smirk. "You're much less of a nag when you're enjoying yourself."

"A nag?" Celina scoffed, sounding slightly offended. "I resent that my assistance should be considered – watch out!"

A wall appeared inches in front of Aila, who panicked, jerking her bike to the right far too forcefully. The Cycle spun out of control, and before Aila had a moment to even register what was happening she was flying through the air. She hit the ground hard and tumbled painfully along the grid, finally coming to a stop a few dozen yards away from where she'd landed. "Ow…" she groaned, the lights of her surroundings blurry as her eyes tried to adjust to what had just happened. She put a hand to her head, trying to regain her bearings.

"Aila, dodge!"

"Huh…?" Aila mumbled, still trying to recover from her fall. She hurt all over. What was Celina babbling about…? She looked up just in time to see three Magnum Loaders barreling down on her, the closest one only about a foot away. Her eyes widened in terror.

"MOVE!"

The next moment, Aila felt herself somersaulting out of the way, one of the Magnum Loaders just barely nicking her shoulder as it passed. She stumbled to her feet and watched as the Heartless circled around to take another pass at their target. "How did…?" Aila breathed. She hadn't even remembered telling her body to dodge.

"Pull yourself together, I don't want to have to do everything for you!"

Aila's eyes widened. "You… you did that?"

The Magnum Loaders zoomed toward her again, and once again she felt herself dodge before she'd even considered a move. She leapt up and used the first Heartless as a stepping-stone, using its head to launch her up and over the two following it. She landed in a crouch behind them, watching them carefully as they began to circle back a second time.

"C-cut it out!" Aila commanded, straightening up and stumbling back once again. She waved a hand in front of her face to confirm whether or not she was in control of her own actions now. She was.

"I apologize, but I couldn't allow you to be derezzed," Celina explained quietly. "Are you prepared to fight now?"

Aila felt shaken up, both from the nasty fall she'd taken and from the revelation that, yes, Celina apparently could take over for her if she felt the urge. She apparently didn't even need Aila's permission. It made her feel a little sick, the idea that she wasn't the only one in control of her body. Was that what the King had meant about not 'losing' herself…?

"Aila!"

Aila snapped out of it just in time to dodge a third time, this time of her own volition, spinning to the right as the Heartless rushed by. She steeled her face and summoned her staff; she would have to worry about this new revelation later.

"They're moving too quickly – it will be too difficult to fight them from the ground. You need to get back to your Light Cycle."

Aila nodded curtly. She was not really in the mood to be talking to Celina anymore, but the Spirit had a point. If she tried to engage one of the Magnum Loaders from here, they'd just mow her down. She glanced around and spotted her downed Cycle maybe fifty yards away. She'd have to make a run for it.

She took off at a sprint, the Heartless having just circled back toward her once again. They were gaining quickly, and Aila realized within a matter of seconds that they were gonna be on top of her well before she reached her Cycle. She grit her teeth and listened hard as they approached, trying to gauge their distance without having to slow her pace. When they sounded close, she raised her staff high above her head. "DEFEND!" she cried, her go to spell springing to life around her in a protective cocoon. The Heartless slammed into her translucent shield with a force so strong it knocked her and her shield back quite a ways. Her ears rang as a result of such an intense impact, and she shook her head a few times to try and keep her vision clear. Two of the Heartless had split off, the Reflect spell having sent them in opposite directions, but the third seemed to be dazed. Aila took the opportunity and ran at it as her shield faded, leapt into the air and stabbed her staff down into its metallic body. The Heartless let out a very digital sounding screech and derezzed a moment later, much to Aila's relief.

"Hurry, now's your opening!"

Aila began to sprint toward her Cycle again, hoping that the other two Heartless wouldn't turn around and be back on top of her before she made contact. She noticed for the first time that there were no digitized walls around her on the grid anymore – she supposed the MCP didn't see the point of creating them if she wasn't on her Cycle, which meant she could get to the outer wall…

"Oh!" Aila gasped, skidding to a stop.

"Aila! What-?!"

"Change of plans!" Aila said quickly, turning and running back in the opposite direction toward the outer wall closest to her. It wasn't that far away – maybe two hundred yards. Perfect.

"This is a terrible idea!" Celina scolded, sounding nervous. "You're being far too reckless!"

Aila ignored the Spirit and focused on one thing and one thing only – running. If she made it to the wall and tricked the Heartless into attacking the wall instead of her, maybe she and the boys could get out of here!

One of the Heartless suddenly zoomed in front of her, clipping her arm as it passed. Aila gasped and stumbled back in surprise, only to have the other Heartless zoom behind her and clip her in the back. She fell to her knees, clenching her teeth against the stinging pain in her back and arm. The two Heartless began to circle her like sharks, moving so quickly that all Aila could make out was two reddish-black blurs. "Crap," Aila hissed, her heart beating loud and fast. Her hand began to glow white around her staff. "No!" Aila cried, grabbing her glowing hand with her free one. "The King said not to!"

"I know, but—"

"No buts!" Aila commanded. "I don't want to use my powers, I don't… I don't trust you!" Celina did not reply this time, and Aila focused instead on the Heartless, who were circling closer and closer in now. "Defend!" she shouted, raising her staff and watching the Reflect spell surround her. The Heartless' circle was just barely wider than the spell's circumference, and so they continued to circle around her undeterred. "Defend!" Aila cried again as the spell faded. Once again, the Heartless were unaffected. Aila grit her teeth. "Thunder!" she shouted, but the Heartless were moving too fast and the lightning missed them completely. Aila tried a few more times, but each lightning bolt she conjured missed its mark. She could feel her energy waning; she probably had one good spell left in her, and then that was it. She'd be wide open.

One last spark of an idea flashed in her mind, and she lowered her staff until its tip was touching the ground. "Blizzard," she said, trying to feel calm like she knew she needed to for the spell to work. Ice spread across the floor in front of her, creating a slick coating that Aila hoped would slip the Heartless up. The first Magnum Loader to cross that section of floor spun out of control, tumbling away like Aila'd planned. Unfortunately, the second Heartless's instincts were a little more honed, and it widened its circle enough on that side in time to avoid the icy patch. Aila hissed out a curse, feeling her heart sink. That was it – she had no mana left. She felt around for her pouch, which thankfully seemed to have formed with her new outfit, and dug inside of it for one of the Ethers Sora had given her when they'd left Twilight Town. "Come on, come on," she muttered, pulling one out and fumbling with the cap. The Magnum Loader was circling in extremely close now. It clipped her arm right as she went to drink the Ether, and in her horror the bottle went clattering to the floor, its contents spilling everywhere. "No!"

"Hah!"

A flash of something shiny struck the Heartless, stopping its circling and sending it stumbling back. Sora landed next to Aila, catching the Keyblade he'd thrown and taking a defensive stance. "You okay?" he asked, glancing at Aila.

"Yeah," Aila sighed, relieved. "Good timing. How'd you find me?"

"I saw you a few times, but any time I tried to get to you on my bike thing I was walled off," Sora said, throwing his Keyblade at the dazed Magnum Loader and taking it out. His weapon flew back to him and he caught it again with ease. "I noticed you weren't on yours and weren't walled off anymore, so I ditched mine too." He jerked his thumb over his shoulder and Aila saw his discarded Cycle nearby, its wheels still turning. Sora must have leapt off of it to keep up his speed when attacking the Magnum Loader that had been circling Aila. He flashed her his signature grin. "Guess the walls only form when we're on our bikes, huh?"

"Guess so," Aila said, smiling back. "Quick thinking."

"I have my moments," Sora joked. "So, what were you up to anyway? You know you were running away from your bike, right?"

"Right!" Aila said eagerly, remembering her plan. "I thought if I could get the Heartless to attack the outer wall…"

"We'd have a way out," Sora finished with a nod. "And to do that we've gotta be on foot. Got it."

"WAHHH!"

Donald suddenly skidded toward them on his stomach, apparently having been thrown off his Cycle once again. Lucky for him, that meant that the inner walls had stopped forming around him, allowing him to get close to his pals.

"Donald!" Sora cheered. "Decided to join us?"

"…Uhh…" Donald moaned, seeming very dazed. "Join wha?"

"Good answer," Sora said with a nod. Aila giggled. "Hey Goofy!" Sora called, cupping his hands around his mouth. Aila followed his gaze to see Goofy hurtling toward them on his Cycle, walls springing up around him on either side. "Ditch your bike and get over here!"

"Uh, if you say so!" Goofy called back. He let go of the handlebars and the Cycle shot out from under him, leaving Goofy floating in the air as if he was still riding on an invisible bike for a few seconds. Eventually he fell to the floor, landing right on his face. Aila and Sora winced; it looked kinda painful.

"Okay guys," Sora said once Donald and Goofy had pulled themselves together and made it over to the teens. He lowered his voice to a whisper so the MCP wouldn't hear him. "We need to get the Heartless to attack that wall." He pointed at the wall behind him. "Hopefully their attacks will weaken it, and we'll be able to break out of here. Sound good?"

"I guess…" Donald replied, looking a bit skeptical.

"Maybe we could just ask the MCP fella if he'll change the game to Go Fish," Goofy suggested. "I'm pretty good at that game."

"I've got a feeling he's not gonna go for that," Sora said with a smile.

"Insolent Users," the voice from before boomed. The gang jumped. "Return to your designated Light Cycles immediately."

"Nah, we're good," Sora said with a dismissive wave of his hand.

"You can't continue your game if we won't play," Donald taunted with a smirk.

"Your information is incorrect."

A giant purple and black Heartless blipped into being before the group, making everyone blanch. A Devastator. Its four legs pounded the ground ominously, the cannon on its front glowing as it charged an attack.

"Take cover!" Goofy cried, and all of them dove out of the way as the Devastator fired. The sparking blast just barely missed Sora, blazing past him and instead traveling straight into the outer wall. It exploded on impact, leaving a massive, gaping crack where it had hit.

"All right!" Sora cheered, pumping his fist. "It looks like we can escape through there!"

"It's too far away!" Aila cried, dodging as the Devastator attempted to step on her. More Magnum Loaders were appearing all around them. "We'll never make it on foot!"

"Probably not," Sora agreed. "We'll have to try to get there on the Light Cycles."

"Way ahead of you!" Donald cried, making a run for his bike. Aila, Sora, and Goofy did the same, each of them running toward their Light Cycles as fast as they could while trying to dodge all the Heartless around them. By some miracle they all made it unscathed, and a moment later they were off, heading straight for the crack in the wall.

"Don't let 'em separate us this time!" Sora called. "Stick together!"

"Roger!" Aila, Donald, and Goofy said, all of them riding as close together as possible without risking a crash. Walls formed on either side of them again, and, as Aila'd expected, one sprung up right in front of them before they could reach their exit.

"So how do we get around this wall situation?" Aila asked as they swung a left.

"Maybe we can distract the MCP?" Donald asked.

"Doubtful," Aila replied. "It'd be pretty tough to distract a Master Control Panel… well, unless maybe we broke something…"

"That's it!" Sora said with a smirk. "We'll break something!"

Aila's eyes widened. "If we make something glitch, the MCP might focus on trying to fix it. It'd probably only be for a few seconds, but…"

"That'll be enough time," Sora said confidently. He threw his Keyblade at a few Magnum Loaders that were gaining on them, and they took another left.

"Well what should we glitch?" Donald asked.

"The walls are the only things besides the Heartless we can touch," Aila pointed out.

"Then we'll attack the walls," Sora said. He caught his Keyblade and smirked at the rest of them. "Come on!"

They all summoned their weapons and followed Sora toward the right side wall. Sora held out his Keyblade, letting it drag along the surface of the wall as he drove. The rest of the gang followed his lead, sparks flying off the wall as their weapons scraped along it. Heartless programs drove up next to them, looking confused as to what these Users could be doing.

"We've got company!" Donald yelled.

"I got it!" Aila said, dismissing her weapon and gripping both handles of her bike instead. She raised the front of her bike up and lunged onto one of the Heartless, then another, and another. "Yeehaw!" she cried, feeling like she was on a bucking horse. A very fast, sleek bucking horse.

"Where'd you learn to do that?" Sora laughed as Aila swerved a little to the left to take out another Heartless.

"Celina suggested it!" Aila called back. She frowned a little as she thought of how Celina had taken over her movements before, feeling suddenly annoyed. "…Not that I needed her help…" Celina stayed silent.

"You keep on them!" Sora instructed. "We'll focus on the wall. Don't get too far away though – we need to stay together!"

"Aye aye!" Aila replied. She continued to smash any Heartless that got in her path while Sora, Donald, and Goofy did their best to scuff up the walls forming around them. Pillars sprung up in their path, seemingly in an attempt to throw them off, but the boys dodged and then immediately went back to the wall, with Aila using the pillars to her advantage as she pushed Heartless into them. They were forced to make a hard right, followed almost immediately by another. A few moments later, a wall appeared in front of them, and it seemed the had the option of which way to turn this time.

"Which way?" Goofy called.

Sora did some quick calculations in his head. "Right!" They did as he instructed, taking a third right. "We should be heading back toward the crack now I think!"

"You think?!" Donald squawked. Sora smiled and shrugged.

They were forced into another right and then immediately had to take a left, the turns coming fast and furious now.

"The MCP is definitely trying to throw us off!" Aila called, crushing another Heartless.

"He must not like what we're doing," Sora smirked. "That means it's working!"

Right, left, left, left, right, right. The turns were coming so quickly now that the gang almost crashed head first into the rapidly forming walls more than a few times, especially Aila, who didn't have the advantage of hugging the right side wall like the boys were doing. A wall formed far ahead of them, much sooner than it should have, the walls on either side seeming to flicker in and out as they passed.

"We got 'im on the run!" Sora whooped.

Left, right, right. The walls were forming much earlier than they had been before, almost like the MCP was trying to compensate for any damage the boys might be doing by forming the walls as early as possible. Aila zipped around a few pillars, tricking some Heartless into smashing into them.

Left, right, right again. The walls were forming in a strange order now, with some of those farther away forming before the ones right in front of the gang. The MCP was definitely getting thrown off.

Right, left. They were in a very narrow pathway now, the walls on either side of them so close together that Aila had to be careful not to hit any of her friends on accident when she attacked a Magnum Loader.

Right. The walls flickered and suddenly stopped forming altogether, the gang finding themselves now in an open space on the grid with just pillars and Heartless to worry about.

"There!" Sora cried, pointing straight ahead as he dodged a group of pillars. The crack in the outer wall was a few hundred yards ahead of them now, and with no walls forming to block their path, it was basically a straight shot. He threw his Keyblade at some Magnum Loaders to help Aila out and glanced around at his friends. "We probably only have a few seconds before the MCP starts trying to trap us again! Come on, full speed ahead!" Everyone leaned as low over their Cycles as possible, dodging deftly around the many pillars that had been placed in their path. Aila ignored the Heartless around her now, trying to focus instead on outrunning them so as not to waste any time.

"The walls!" Goofy called, and sure enough walls had begun to spring up again. Their locations were rather sporadic though, like they were forming on autopilot rather than directly responding to the movements the gang was making.

"Come on," Sora muttered, urging his Cycle to go even faster. The crack was just ahead. Walls sprung up on either side, but the path before them remained clear. This was their chance. Two Devastators had been placed in front of the crack, acting as guardians should the gang manage to make it this close to their way out.

"Uh, Sora?" Aila asked, feeling a little nervous. They were heading straight into the Devastators' line of fire. The Keyblader didn't answer. "Sora!"

"Don't swerve," Sora instructed. "We can do this. Don't swerve."

It went against every instinct in Aila's body to follow Sora's instructions, the Devastators firing huge, shining blasts of energy their way as they barreled down on the exit. Aila ducked down low, the blasts just barely missing her, and a moment later they'd done it, zipping past the Devastators and riding at breakneck speeds into the hole in the wall.

Everything went white.

KHKHKHKH

"WAHHHH!"

The four of them fell to the ground in shock, having just been transported back to the Pit Cell they'd arrived in.

"Are we dead?" Aila asked dully, her face flat against the glowing floor, muffling her words.

"No," Sora breathed, sounding worn out. "We did it."

"Good," Donald sighed, panting a bit as he sat up. "Now let's never do that again."

"Got any twos…?" Goofy babbled, sounding a little dazed by the whole experience.

"Go fish," Aila replied, her face still flat against the floor. She didn't have the energy to move quite yet.

"Tron!"

Aila forced her head up to see Sora running toward a man laying on the ground a few feet away from them. The man struggled to his feet, seeming to use every bit of his energy to do so. Aila recognized the man as Tron, who was not actually a man at all, but a computer program.

"I don't understand. Why are you here?" Tron asked, sounding a little worse for wear.

"We came to give you the password," Sora replied.

Tron put a hand to his helmeted head, seeming a little aggravated. "Why didn't you just transmit the data?"

"Transmit?" Donald asked, clearly not understanding what Tron was telling them. Tron looked at Donald like he'd grown a second head.

Aila finally got to her knees, feeling a little less like she was about to die. "Oh good, we almost got derezzed for nothing…"

"You should have remembered that…"

"Shut up," Aila grumbled. Donald and Goofy shot her a questioning look.

Tron fell forward, his energy having almost given out. Sora caught him, looking very worried. "Hey, are you okay?" the boy asked nervously.

"I'll be all right…" Tron insisted weakly, pushing himself off of Sora and attempting to stand on his own again. "Once we access the DTD…" He stumbled and Sora moved to catch him again, but Tron held out a hand as he caught himself. "Thank you, Sora. But I'm okay."

"If you say so…" Sora said, sounding unconvinced.

"So," Aila said, finally getting to her feet. "Where is this DTD exactly?"

Tron gave her an odd look. "I do not recognize you."

"Oh, this is our friend Aila," Sora said. "Aila, this is Tron."

"Friend…?" Tron said, seeming to be searching for the meaning of the word. "So another User then, I presume?"

"Yep," Aila said with a nod. She walked up and held out her hand. "Nice to meet you."

Tron looked at her hand skeptically. "This action does not compute with me."

"You're supposed to shake it," Donald said, he and Goofy walking up to join the group as well. Tron looked at Aila's hand again, cocked his head to the side, and then grabbed her arm with both hands and moved it rapidly from side to side.

"Wah!" Aila cried, stumbling a little as Tron jerked her around. The boys all burst out laughing.

"No Tron, not like that," Sora chuckled. "Like this." He held his hand out to Aila, who had thankfully been released from Tron at this point, and she took his hand in her own, shaking it up and down. "See? It's a way to say 'hello' when you meet someone new."

"I see," Tron said, sounding extremely interested. He examined his own hand for a moment before holding it out to Aila. "Hello!"

"Hello," Aila giggled, taking his hand and shaking it the proper way this time.

"Fascinating!" Tron exclaimed, continuing to shake Aila's hand for much longer than was necessary. "You Users are simply fascinating!" Aila had to put her free hand over her mouth to keep from bursting with laughter. "Now then," Tron said when their handshake had finally ended, "we'd better get moving. I'd really rather not have the MCP locate us and send us to the Game Grid."

"No thank you!" Donald exclaimed. "His games are no fun!"

"Indeed, they are not," Tron agreed grimly. "Come, follow me."

Tron led them out of the Pit Cell to a platform that overlooked a massive technological Canyon and gestured for all of them to step aboard. The boys did so without question, having already done this once before, but Aila felt a little nervous as she glanced over the edge. That was a long drop.

"So uh, what would happen if we fell down there?" she asked as the platform lurched forward, beginning to carry them up and across the void.

"I imagine one would be violently derezzed," Tron mused idly. Aila gulped and backed away from the edge a bit.

Thankfully the ride was relatively short, with the platform touching base on the opposite side after only about a minute. Aila hurried off of the thing, only slightly comforted by their new location – sure, it seemed like solid ground, but there was still a sharp drop into the Canyon on their right side that was not marked off by any rails or anything. It made her nervous.

"We can access the DTD this way," Tron said, leading the way up the slight incline. "Once I input the password, I should be able to bypass the security protocols and extract the data from the system."

"Uh…" Donald said, looking rather confused.

"He means the password will unlock the DTD's information for us," Aila said.

"Very good, User Aila!" Tron said with a smile, sounding impressed. "Have you traversed the Dataspace before?"

"Nah," Aila said, shaking her head. "My world just has a ton of computers."

"Really?" Sora asked, putting his hands behind his head.

Aila nodded. "Practically everyone has their own computer on my world. At the very least they have a smart phone or a tablet, which are basically computers too, but with less processing power."

"Smart phone?" Tron parroted. "My, how interesting."

Aila beamed. "Yeah! Computers are the best! You can read and write and watch TV and do research and play games and talk to people from almost anywhere," Aila gushed. "We even started to learn how to build our own programs in school this year!"

"Incredible!" Tron exclaimed. "I had no idea such knowledge was so widespread amongst some Users!"

"Your world sure does like technology, don't it, Aila?" Goofy asked, putting a finger to his chin.

"Totally," Aila agreed. She sighed. "Maybe a little too much…"

"We don't use all that much technology on my world," Sora mused. "Not unless it's part of your job or something."

"Weird," Aila said, giving Sora a baffled look. "I can't imagine going a day without some sort of tech on my world. What do you like… do all day?"

Sora shrugged. "Go to the beach, play sports, spar… That sort of thing." He looked a little nostalgic for a moment as he reminisced.

"That sounds kinda nice, actually," Aila mused, cocking her head to the side. Technology was great, but she couldn't really remember the last time she'd gone to the beach or something without at least having a phone in her hand.

"Indeed, those things sound rather interesting," Tron agreed. He grinned. "I would very much like to experience those things someday. Perhaps I could generate a simulation to further understand how you Users spend your time…"

A handful of Heartless that were about Donald's size appeared, their massive hands glowing with yellow light. Strafers. Tron threw a few disks at the things, knocking them off the ledge before they could move to attack.

"Those are cool," Aila commented as Tron caught the returning disks.

"You have them as well," Tron said, tapping Aila's back plate. She reached over her shoulder and pulled out two glowing disks. "They're quite effective on programs, maybe more so than some of your User magic."

"Neat!" Donald said, he, Sora, and Goofy pulling disks off of their back plates as well.

Another Strafer appeared and Sora quickly threw a disk, derezzing the Strafer on contact. "Awesome!" Sora cheered, catching the disk as it returned to him. "Thanks for the tip, Tron!"

"You are very welcome," Tron said with a smile.

Another Heartless appeared and Aila quickly threw her own disk, eager to test the new weapon out. Unfortunately, this Heartless was a Soldier, not a program like the Strafers, and the disk didn't do nearly as much damage as Aila'd hoped. "Shoot," Aila muttered as she caught the disk again.

"Looks like this guy needs an old fashioned beat down," Sora said, summoning his Keyblade as a few more Soldiers appeared. The gang followed his lead and attacked, taking out the Soldiers with relative ease.

"How'd non-programmy Heartless get in here anyway?" Goofy asked as he charged a Soldier and knocked it off the ledge with his shield.

"The MCP must have created a way in for them," Tron said with a frown, throwing his disks at a Soldier right before Sora finished it off with a horizontal slice. "More recruits to assist with his takeover."

"I don't like the sound of that," Sora grumbled, straightening up as the last Heartless faded away. "We'd better hurry up and access the DTD."

"Agreed," Tron said, leading the way once again. The group reached the top of the Canyon and took a right, Tron leading them to a door with glowing, purple, geometric designs.

"Whoa," Sora gasped as they walked through the door. They now found themselves inside what Aila could only describe as a giant, cylindrical computer monitor. The glowing, green screen, which enclosed the room completely three hundred and sixty degrees around, seemed to be awaiting input from a console on the far end of a platform in the center of the room. Tron made a beeline for the console, the gang hurrying to keep up with him while simultaneously gawking at their new surroundings.

"This is the strangest world," Donald muttered. Goofy nodded in agreement.

Tron placed his hands on the console and a keyboard appeared beneath his fingertips. "All right, what's the password?" he asked, quickly typing a few things as he spoke in order to access the proper screen.

"Well," Donald began. "Belle, Snow White…"

"Aurora, Alice, Jasmine, Cinderella…" Goofy continued, counting the names off on his fingers. Tron typed as they spoke, easily keeping up with the names as they were given to him. Goofy paused, he and Donald turning to Sora with nervous looks on their faces. Sora was looking very pained, and Aila felt a jolt of guilt surge through her body.

"Kairi," Sora finished softly, just barely loud enough for Tron to hear. Aila bit her lip – she wasn't used to Sora sounding so… sad.

"Kairi, got it," Tron said, oblivious to the pain in the hearts of the Users behind him. Sora shook his head a little and flashed his friends a small grin, trying to convince them that he was okay. They were not convinced, but decided not to press the issue.

The monitor began to glow, catching everyone's attention. "That did it!" Tron exclaimed triumphantly.

"Now switching DTD over from hibernation to active mode," a voice rang out around them. "This process will take some time. Please enjoy a game while the process is running."

"Oh no!" Tron cried, urgently typing a few things into the console. The monitor did not respond to whatever commands he was attempting to input.

"Not another game," Sora groaned, seeming back to his old self.

"No, it's the DTD's final security routine," Tron explained quickly. He turned to face the group, looking very serious. "This isn't a game. Stay focused!"

"Where have I heard that before," Aila commented under her breath.

"Very funny," Celina replied dryly. "Speaking to me again, are you?" Aila snorted.

Strafers appeared on every side of the platform, and everyone got ready to fight. Three individual monitors floated into view around them, each of them displaying a countdown; the timer was set for two minutes.

"We need to freeze those monitors before they reach zero!" Tron instructed.

"What happens when it hits zero?" Sora asked, narrowing his eyes at the Heartless surrounding them.

"It'll erase the entire DTD database."

"What?!" everyone exclaimed.

"I don't need to explain why we can't let that happen," Tron said with a nod.

"How do we freeze the monitors?" Donald asked.

"Gather data clusters from the Heartless programs," Tron instructed. "When we have enough, we should be able to use them to freeze the monitors."

"Got it," Sora said. "No time to waste – let's go!"

They charged, Aila leaping up and immediately slashing at some of the Heartless on their right. Some strange dark masses fell to the ground as she struck. "Uh, are these blackish things the data clusters?" Aila asked.

"That's them!" Tron said. "Store them, quickly!"

"How…?" Aila began, reaching for one as she parried another Heartless's attack. As soon as her fingers touched the mass, it got sucked into her suit. "…Oh. That's how."

"How will we know when we have enough?" Donald asked somewhere behind her. Aila leap frogged over a Heartless before spinning around and impaling it with her staff.

"I'll be able to tell," Tron said. "Come to me when you think you've gathered enough!"

Aila grabbed a few more clusters as the Heartless she'd impaled faded away and scanned the area for her next target. A group of Strafers had just appeared about a dozen yards away from her. She grinned, dismissing her staff and grabbing the two disks off of her back instead. "Hey!" she cried, getting the Heartless' attention. They looked her way and she hurled the disks toward them, cutting their heads clean off and causing instant de-resolution. "Awesome," Aila gushed, rushing toward the clusters that were falling where the Heartless had been. She leapt into the air to catch the disks and landed in a crouch before the clusters, gathering them up as quickly as she could.

"Aila!" Tron called, getting her attention. He and Sora were over by the monitor on the right side of the platform, not too far from her. Aila put away her disks and rushed up to them as quickly as she could, ready to help. "Good, you and Sora combined have enough clusters to freeze this monitor," Tron said quickly. He held out his hands below the monitor in question, another keyboard appearing as he typed in some sort of command. "Okay, both of you hold out a hand." The teens glanced at each other and then did as they were told, waiting for further instructions from Tron. "I've told the monitor to retrieve the clusters from you. It'll take a few seconds. I'm going to go check on the others." He bolted away, leaving Sora and Aila standing there, awkwardly holding their hands out in front of the monitor while nothing happened.

"…So," Aila began after a few moments of silence. "You come here often?"

Sora laughed. "Oh yeah, all the time. This is actually where I'm from, didn't you know?"

"You don't say!" Aila gasped in mock surprise. Finally their hands began to glow, and suddenly the clusters they'd collected came rushing out of them and into the monitor before them. As soon as the last cluster was retrieved, the monitor froze and the timer stopped.

"Score!" Sora cheered, pumping his fist in the air. "Take that, computer!"

"Don't celebrate yet, we only have a minute left!" Aila reminded him. She glanced around to see Tron setting Donald and Goofy up at the left side monitor. That only left the one in the center. "Hurry, we've gotta freeze that one!"

"Yes ma'am!" Sora agreed, leaping toward some Strafers nearby. Aila followed his lead, the two of them taking out as many Heartless as they could and gathering up the clusters left behind.

"Thirty seconds!" Donald yelled, he and Goofy having frozen the second monitor.

"Warning. Warning," the computer began to chant, only adding to the urgency of the situation.

"Let's go, Aila!" Sora cried. He grabbed one last cluster and booked it toward the main monitor, Aila hot on his heels. Tron was already there, typing in the commands needed to retrieve the clusters from the teens.

"Do we have enough?" Aila fretted, she and Sora holding their hands out like they'd done before as Tron finished typing.

"Let's hope so," Tron said. "Fifteen seconds!"

"Come on, come on…" Sora said, looking anxious as he waited for the monitor to register his and Aila's clusters. After an agonizing few seconds their hands began to glow, and the clusters began flowing into the monitor.

"Seven seconds!" Donald cried frantically. Aila gulped.

"Warning. Warning. Warning."

Aila was sure that she would be sweating if she was in the User world right now.

"Warning, deletion in three, two…"

The final cluster flew out of Aila's hand and the monitor froze, the countdown officially stopped. The warning alarm stopped as well, and everyone let out a huge sigh of relief.

"Talk about cutting it close," Sora moaned, running a hand through his hair. Tron walked up to the console and placed his and upon it, data beginning to transfer into his body. After a few seconds, he removed his hand and blinked a few times, as if trying to sort through all the data he'd just received.

"I'm as good as new!" he announced happily, turning around to face the gang. "All my functions have been restored!"

"Oh boy!" Donald cheered. The monitors around them began to crackle with static, and everyone looked around, confused.

"What the…" Aila began, but before she could finish a red laser shot down from above, hitting right in the middle of their group. "Ah!" she and everyone else cried, all of them getting blown back by the impact.

"Finally," a voice boomed, "I have access to the DTD. My takeover of the system is now complete."

"What?!" Sora gasped, getting to his feet. Aila shook her head a few times, her vision blurred by bright red spots.

"I might have anticipated such a simple password."

"Uh, y'know, I think we did somethin' we maybe weren't supposed ta…" Goofy said, biting his fingernails nervously.

"What's this? An emergency destruct program for the town?"

Aila gasped, her eyes widening in horror. Did that happen in the game?! She frantically searched her memory as the MCP continued.

"Let's see how it performs…"

"No!" Tron cried defiantly, rushing back to the console. He placed his hand upon it and transferred the data he'd received back into the monitor before quickly typing in a few commands.

"Program! You changed the password!" the voice boomed angrily.

"There, that should buy us some time," Tron sighed.

"Tron! Tell us what's going on!" Sora cried, he and the rest of the gang rushing over to their friend.

"The MCP's loading a hostile program into the I/O Tower," Tron explained.

"What do we do?" Donald asked worriedly.

"We've got to protect the User town," Tron said, narrowing his eyes.

"Yes please," Aila said, nodding her head vigorously. Mickey's talk with her about this potentially being a different story than she was used to made her worry, and she felt an almost painful need to protect the members of the Committee from anything the MCP might be planning.

"Let's head to the tower," Tron instructed. Everyone nodded and followed Tron at a run back out the door they'd come in from. "I disengaged the security program," Tron said as they ran. "Now the lift to the I/O Tower should work."

"The outside's already bad enough with Heartless and Nobodies!" Donald fretted. "Any more problems, and the town will fall apart!"

"We can't let that happen," Aila said quietly, feeling her heart pound painfully at the thought.

"Don't worry Aila, we won't," Sora assured her. She nodded, thankful for his words, but she still felt very uneasy.

They took out the few Heartless that formed in their path quickly, not wanting to be slowed down, and boarded the platform Tron said would take them to the I/O Tower.

"It's just a short ride from here," Tron said as the platform began to move. They were even higher up over the Canyon now, but Aila wasn't as concerned about falling this time around. She stood at the front of the lift, toes on the edge, prepared to leap off as soon as they made it to the other side. Her anxiousness about the situation was extremely obvious. "Is the User town your home?" Tron asked. It took Aila a moment to realize he was asking her. She turned to see all four of her companions giving her looks ranging from quizzical to sympathetic.

"No," Aila said softly. "Or… well…" She clenched her fists and looked down, memories of the time she'd spent on Hollow Bastion flashing through her mind. The Committee helping her decorate her room, she and Yuffie arguing about what to get for dinner before inevitably deciding on pizza for the umpteenth time, reading books on magic theory with Merlin, helping Cid with the Gummi ships, learning how to patrol with Leon, Yuffie, and Aerith… "Kind of… I guess…"

"We won't let nothin' happen to Hollow Bastion," Goofy said. He walked up and enveloped Aila in a hug. "Don't you worry!"

Aila smiled and returned the hug. "Thanks, Goofy." She pulled away after a few seconds, wiping her eyes a little, though no tears would form in this world. "I'm sorry, I don't know why…"

"You were living there for a while, right?" Sora asked kindly. "It's no wonder you're so upset. But like Goofy said, you don't need to worry. We'd never let anything happen to the town."

"That's right!" Donald said, crossing his arms confidently. "This MCP doesn't know who he's messin' with!"

Aila smiled gratefully at her friends. "You guys are cool."

"Duh," Sora said, putting his hands on his hips. "Are you just realizing that now?"

Aila giggled and shook her head. "No. I always knew."

"Come here, fellas!" Goofy said, grabbing Sora and Donald and pulling them toward Aila. "I think this calls for a group hug! Now that we know Aila likes 'em so much, ahyuck!"

"Goofy!" Sora protested between laughs, but he and Donald didn't resist. Goofy pulled Aila in to the hug as well and they all laughed, Aila feeling significantly less anxious now.

"Hm…" Tron said, watching the Users before him. "How intriguing. You are no longer distressed, Aila."

The gang pulled out of their hug and Aila smiled at Tron. "Yeah, I feel better."

"So a 'hug' is some sort of medicinal maneuver?" Tron asked, cocking his head to the side.

"What? No!" Donald said, shaking his head.

"They do make ya feel better though," Goofy said, running a finger under his nose.

"A hug is something you do to show someone you care about them," Sora explained, putting his hands behind his head.

"I see," Tron said, putting a finger to his chin. "So then, you must all care about each other very much, correct?"

"Yup!" Goofy nodded, giving the rest of the gang a wink. Aila and the other boys nodded back at him.

"You Users have some very strange customs," Tron said, crossing his arms. "Who would have thought attempting to smother someone could be used to convey endearment…"

Aila and Sora burst out laughing, Donald rolling his eyes at Tron's statement. Goofy just looked confused.

"You're hilarious, Tron," Sora said between laughs.

"I am?" Tron asked, sounding intrigued. "Hm. Interesting." He glanced around the gang. "We're here."

Everyone turned just as the platform was docking and they all took off at a run once again, Tron leading the way down a dark blue hallway. They took a right when the hall split and ran through a circular room, up some stairs, and through a doorway at the opposite end which led into a very tight, almost cylindrical hallway. This eventually opened up into another circular room with a large, pulsing black and purple spot right in the center. Darkness was swirling above the spot, its presence causing shivers to run up the gang's spines.

"It must be total chaos outside," Tron said as they came to a stop.

"I think there's gonna be trouble inside, too…" Donald said nervously.

"Do you think the MCP might try to send the Heartless programs to the outside world through that thing…?" Sora asked, eying the Darkness before them warily.

"Yeah," Aila said softly, remembering seeing the Heartless programs in the outside world in the game.

"We gotta stop 'em before they get out," Donald said seriously.

"We're most likely going to encounter much more dangerous programs than we've fought so far," Tron said. "To fight them, we should delete any enemy data to limit their movements."

"Uh, sure," Sora said, not entirely sure what Tron meant. "You be in charge of that."

"Roger," Tron said with a nod.

"Well uh, where do ya think these programs are hidin'?" Goofy asked.

"We'll have to cut them off before they reach this room," Tron mused, half to himself. "Come on, follow me." He turned and ran back out the way they'd come, the gang following close behind.

As they exited the cylindrical hallway, however, their way became blocked by probably the most terrifying Heartless Aila had see thus far. It looked kind of like a giant, flying, mechanical jellyfish, with extremely sharp-looking spikes covering its entire body and gigantic clawed arms that spun dangerously above its head. The group skidded to a stop, their eyes wide as they took in this new monster.

"I'm disappointed in you, Program." Tron clenched his fists at the sound of the MCP's voice, looking around angrily. "Why do you insist on allying with these selfish Users?"

"Because I want to help them!" Tron called back without hesitation. "Something written in my code commands me to do what is right."

"Really? And what command would that be?"

Tron opened his mouth to respond, but then paused. He looked around at the gang, seeming a bit puzzled. "I… can't really say for sure."

"Friends – they help each other, that's all," Sora explained quickly. He smiled a little at Tron, whose eyes widened a bit.

"Friends…" Tron said, again sounding like he was trying to figure out the word.

"Uh oh, look out!" Sora cried, summoning his Keyblade. The creature above them seemed to be preparing to attack, its spikes glowing dangerously as it charged. The light erupted from it and struck both of the room's exits, the light changing the room's code and causing the walls to rearrange, sealing the room.

They were trapped.

"Okay, that's not good," Aila said, summoning her staff and taking a defensive stance. The giant Heartless lowered itself down so it was hovering just above the floor, its many mechanical parts spinning in a very threatening fashion.

"We need to delete its data!" Tron instructed.

"How do we do that?" Sora asked.

"It's the same process as freezing the monitors was," Tron explained quickly. "Collect the clusters, and then we'll freeze the program. Understood?"

"Understood!" everyone echoed, and the battle was on. Or at least, they thought it was, but instead of coming toward them, this Heartless hurtled in the opposite direction, coming to a stop as far away from them as possible.

"What is it doing?" Donald asked skeptically.

"Ha! Maybe it sensed how powerful we are and got scared!" Sora taunted.

"I do not believe that assumption is correct," Tron said nervously.

The Heartless raised its two claws and shot a light out of each, both lights sparking and sputtering in a very unnatural way. They hovered there in front of the creature for a moment before quickly blinking out of existence and reappearing a few feet closer to the gang. This happened ten more times in such quick succession that Aila and the boys only just barely had time to dodge before the lights collided with where they'd just been standing, tiny but powerful explosions erupting where they hit the floor.

"Definitely not scared!" Aila said, coming out of the somersault she'd launched into and bracing herself against the wall.

"We need to make it drop data!" Tron called. "Attack it from afar if you can't get close!"

Aila dismissed her staff and grabbed the disks off of her back, hurling them at the Heartless as hard as she could. The Heartless was quick though and dodged out of the way before summoning more lights, at least half a dozen in total, which blinked closer and closer to her and her companions. Aila launched herself off the wall to catch the returning disks and rolled when she hit the ground, just barely dodging a light and bringing her a bit closer to the Heartless, giving her a better vantage point. She threw one disk again from her crouch before rolling again and throwing her second disk at a different angle. The two angles caught the Heartless off guard and the second disk hit home, causing a few clusters of data to fall to the ground beneath the massive creature. The boys seemed to be trying similar tactics, all of them hurling their disks at the Heartless from various places around the room. Many of the disks hit, adding to the cluster pile. The Heartless let out a metallic roar and zipped around the edge of the room, nearly flattening Donald and Goofy in the process. White pools of light appeared beneath Aila's feet; another attack from the Heartless. Her eyes went wide.

"Aila, watch out!" Sora called, having seen the attack as well. Time seemed to slow as Aila stared into the light pools beneath her feet. She knew she should move, but… it was just so nice and warm… almost familiar… The light erupted up from the floor and she held out her right hand, letting her arm become soaked by the attack. But she didn't feel a thing. The white light surrounding her made her feel nostalgic for some reason, and powerful, very powerful. She smiled as it licked her fingertips, the sight comforting her. She felt like she could hear someone calling her, but it was very muffled, as if someone had placed pillows over her ears. It didn't really matter anyway. She had this light. That was all she really needed. She finally had the Light…

Something rammed into her body and she and whatever had just collided with her went tumbling across the floor. The warmth she'd just felt vanished, and she suddenly felt very panicked, as if she'd just been torn away from a piece of herself. She screamed, pushing at whatever was on top of her and trying desperately to get away as they tumbled to a stop.

"Aila, Aila! It's okay!" She blinked a few times before realizing that it was Sora above her, cradling her defensively. "Try not to move too much."

"Why did you do that?!" Aila cried, struggling in Sora's arms.

Concern laced Sora's blue eyes as he stared down at her. "It was hurting you, Aila."

"No it wasn't!" Aila writhed within Sora's grasp, twisting and turning as she attempted to get away. "I want to go back! Let me go!"

"Yes it was," Sora insisted, forcing Aila to sit against the wall. She could hear the sounds of battle continuing around them, but she didn't care. She just wanted to get back to that light; why wouldn't Sora let her go?! The boy grabbed her right arm and wrenched it up in front of her face. "Look!"

Aila looked, and when she did she immediately stopped struggling. Her arm looked like it had been burned. Her suit had been damaged to the point of almost being completely torn away, revealing blackened, cracked skin beneath. Her eyes widened in horror. "What…?"

"You were standing in that attack!" Sora shouted, looking angry. "What were you thinking?! Why didn't you get away?!"

Aila was breathing hard. Her arm was beginning to sting, the pain spreading rapidly through the appendage. "I don't… I thought…"

"Heal," Sora said, placing his Keyblade on her arm. Her skin crackled with the green magic, the burned cells healing themselves as the spell took hold, the cracks in her skin sewing themselves back together. Sora took out a Hi-Potion and uncapped it. "Here, drink this too," he murmured, placing it against her lips. Aila drank, feeling confused and scared as the potion did its work. What had just happened? "I think it's fully healed," Sora said with a sigh of relief. He pocketed the empty bottle and then placed his hands on either side of Aila's head, looking her right in the eyes. "What happened?!" He sounded equal parts angry and concerned, and Aila winced as his blue eyes bored into her own. She couldn't tell if he was trying to shield her from the battle or prevent her from running away.

"I… I don't know," she said quietly, quickly. "I didn't feel it… I didn't think it was hurting me…"

"Well it was," Sora said, his voice a little calmer now. After a few moments of silence he sighed, letting his hands fall away. "Don't scare us like that, okay?"

Aila nodded. "I'm… I'm sorry, I…"

"It's okay," Sora said, smiling a little. He glanced back at the others, all of whom were still barraging the Heartless with attacks. "You good to get back in there?" he asked, his brows furrowed in concern.

"Yeah," Aila said, pushing herself to her feet. Sora helped her, seeming like he wasn't entirely convinced.

"If that thing does that attack again…" he began, looking very serious.

"I won't get caught in it this time," Aila promised. "I… wasn't thinking straight. I know better now."

Sora nodded. "Okay. Let's go then."

They took off toward the Heartless again, Aila trying her best not to freak out. Why hadn't she moved away from the attack? She vaguely remembered feeling comforted while she'd been standing there… Comforted standing in the middle of an attack?! What the hell?! She would never do that… She would never… Aila clenched her teeth. Had Celina…?

She spotted some clustered along the edge of the room and broke off, heading toward them instead of the Heartless. She was feeling a little shaky, so it was probably a good idea not to try and engage the creature too much right now. The clusters disappeared into her suit as she picked them up, trying as hard as she could not to dwell on the thoughts running through her mind. Had Celina taken over her body? Did she intentionally try to hurt her…?

"Aila, please," Celina whispered, sounding a little scared. "I didn't mean—"

"Shut up," Aila hissed as she collected some more clusters. Those few words were enough to confirm Celina's guilt in her mind, but she didn't have time to really address it now. "I need to focus."

Celina hesitated. "I'm… I'm sorry…"

Aila glared. "Whatever."

"Look out!"

Aila looked up to see the Heartless sending a barrage of attacks at her friends, the blinking lights blasting them all back a ways. The Heartless was focused on them, Aila realized, because they were actively attacking it. Maybe she could use that to her advantage.

She rushed around the edge of the room, trying her best not to attract any attention to herself. After a short sprint she found herself behind the Heartless, the creature seeming to be none the wiser about her presence. She smirked, grabbing the disks from her back and summoning her staff. "Hope this works," she whispered, putting her staff through the holes in the center of the disks. The disks slid down toward her hand, and she focused her energy as she swung the staff back. "FIRE!" she cried, swinging as hard as she could at the dangling legs of the Heartless. A fireball formed as she swung, the disks sliding forward thanks to centrifugal force and flying off her staff at the same time the fiery blast was released, everything striking the thing's legs at once. The Heartless howled angrily, data clusters spraying the area as a result of the blow it had just been dealt. Aila hurriedly gathered up as many as she could before the creature turned around, its red eyes boring down upon her hatefully. "Uh… it wasn't me?" Aila tried, smiling up at the thing. It roared again, lashing one of its clawed hands out toward her. She yelped and dodged, back flipping away before the Heartless could grab her.

"Good job, Aila!" Tron called. "Quick, everyone gather the data! That should be enough!"

The Heartless rushed to the other side of the room, being programmed more for range attacks rather than close combat and therefore seeking out a location far away from its enemies. This happened to work out in everyone's favor and they all dove upon the remaining data clusters, gathering them up as quickly as they could while the Heartless changed positions.

"Okay, everyone, stand with me," Tron said, rushing to the middle of the room and holding out his hand in the direction the Heartless program now occupied. Everyone joined him, all of them holding out their hands together. "Here goes!" Tron closed his eyes and focused, and all the clusters they'd gathered came shooting out of their hands, slamming into the Heartless in front of them with incredible force. When the final cluster was sucked into it, the Heartless froze. "Now's our chance!" Tron cried. "Attack!"

The gang didn't need to be told twice. They all rushed forward, throwing everything they had at the frozen creature. Aila and Sora leapt into the air when they got close enough, slashing at the thing as many times as they could before they hit the ground. After a few seconds of nonstop attacking, they all leapt back, hoping their barrage had been enough. The Heartless shuddered as it unfroze, trying its best to stay afloat. For one tense moment, Aila thought it hadn't worked. But then the thing went crashing to the ground, sputtering and sparking in a defeated heap. It began to glow so brightly that everyone needed to shield their eyes, and they all backed away as far as they could. The thing exploded, its parts derezzing almost immediately, and then everything was quiet.

"Did we win?" Donald asked, peaking out from under his arm.

"Yes," Tron said, sounding relieved. "Yes, we did."

"Good," Donald sighed. His expression shifted from relieved to angry and he marched up to Aila, grabbing her ponytail and pulling her down to his level. "Now I can kill Aila for being so stupid!"

"Ow ow ow!" Aila cried, trying to pry the duck's fingers from her hair. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"

"You okay?" Goofy asked, looking Aila over nervously. "You sure scared us when you didn't move out o' that attack."

Aila finally shoved Donald away and stumbled back a few steps. She sighed, and then looked at Goofy guiltily. "I know. I'm really sorry. I don't know what happened."

"You said you didn't think it was hurting you," Sora said, walking up and gently inspecting her arm. It seemed completely fine now, despite the damaged suit. "Does that mean you didn't feel anything at all?"

Aila shook her head slowly. "Well, actually, it kinda felt… nice…"

Sora gave her an incredulous look. "Your arm was practically burnt to a crisp! How could that feel nice?"

"I have no idea," Aila replied quietly, her voice shaking a little. "It didn't start to hurt until you pointed it out to me…"

"You still shoulda moved outta the way!" Donald squawked, shaking his fists at her. "That attack was summoned by the Heartless, of course it was bad news! I don't care how it felt at the time!"

"I know that!" Aila snapped bitterly.

Sora raised an eyebrow. "Why'd you emphasize 'I' like that…?"

Aila sighed and shook her head. "…Nothing, never mind. I'm sorry for being stupid."

"It's okay, Aila! We forgive ya!" Goofy said happily, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Goofy!" Donald protested. He clearly wasn't ready to drop the conversation so quickly.

"I am confused," Tron said, chiming in. "You all care about one another, and yet Donald wants to kill Aila. These two things do not seem to coincide."

"He doesn't really want to kill her," Sora clarified. "He was just upset and scared that she was in danger."

"Ah, I see. A figure of speech," Tron said with a nod, sounding satisfied.

"I was not scared, I was angry!" Donald huffed.

"Angry 'cause you care?" Aila cooed, smirking at her little friend.

"No, angry because you're a dunderhead! If you keep being careless you could get this whole team killed!"

"If I go down, I'm taking you all with me!" Aila declared dramatically. Donald whacked her in the leg with his staff. "Ow! Hey!"

Tron smiled. "Users are very odd."

"Yeah, kinda," Sora chuckled.

"Come, we should finish things," Tron declared, leading them back down the cylindrical hallway.

Aila blinked, looking back toward the other exit before following Tron. "Uh, wait, is that it?"

"I believe so," Tron said with a nod. "According to my data, that was the only program the MCP had been loading into this tower. I should be able to reconfigure things now while you go help out in the User world."

Aila was confused. She thought they had to do more stuff in this world. Apparently everything else happened during the second visit, not the first. Huh. (It's also quite possible that her author thought the same thing and is now equally as baffled by her faulty memory of this world's events.)

When they entered the second circular room again, the gang was happily surprised to see that the purple spot that had been surrounded in darkness before was now surrounded in light. Apparently they had defeated the most powerful threat in here already. Neato.

Tron made his way over to a control panel on the side of the room, transferring some of the data in there to himself and typing in a few commands. "I really owe you one," he told the gang as he worked. "With all my functions up and running, I think I've got a chance of getting system control away from the MCP. Now, I'd better get to work. It's what my User would want."

"What Ansem would want…" Sora muttered. He glanced back at Donald and Goofy, who nodded at him. Sora took a deep breath. "Listen, Tron," he began slowly. "We didn't get the password from Ansem. We just sort of found it, back in the User world. By accident." He ran a hand through his hair nervously. "And one more thing… Ansem – he was our enemy. I mean… he still is… I guess."

Tron, having not looked up from whatever he was doing during the entirety of Sora's confession, finally stood. "Well, actually…" he began, his face hardening. "He's my enemy, too."

"What do you mean?" Sora asked, taken aback.

Tron turned to face the gang. "Ansem took ENCOM's original system and customized it for his own use. I was part of the original system, and Ansem modified me, too. So, that makes him my User." Tron frowned. "But Ansem is also the one who brought back the MCP. The Ansem I first knew… wouldn't do that." He sounded confused and saddened by this bit of information. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you."

"That's okay," Sora said, crossing his arms, "but… now I REALLY don't get it."

"I don't… understand it either," Tron said slowly. "But I think Users like you are going to be the ones who will finally figure it out."

"We are pretty good detectives," Aila said, lacing her hands behind her back.

Tron smiled and nodded. "You have the ability to take illogical routes and still arrive at the answers you seek."

Aila, Donald, and Goofy exchanged questioning looks. "Uh… that's a good thing… right?" Goofy asked quietly. Donald and Aila both shrugged.

"Now go – before the MCP starts acting up again!" Tron said, pressing a few final buttons on the control panel. "I'll stay here to make sure the MCP doesn't cause any more trouble. The User world is still in trouble, though. You should hurry back through this terminal."

"Okay," Sora said with a nod. He and the rest of the gang hurried over to stand in front of the control panel. "Are you sure you'll be okay?"

"I'll be fine," Tron said with a nod. "Thanks to you all."

"What are friends for?" Sora asked with a grin. Tron smiled back.

"Any data you need from the DTD can be accessed directly through my User's terminal," Tron said, standing up as he finished whatever he was doing to the control panel. "I'll keep a dedicated access channel open for you. I changed the password, so you won't have to worry about the MCP for a while."

"…Access channel?" Sora asked, clearly not understanding. Aila giggled at him, and he shot her a glare.

"I knew you'd ask," Tron chuckled. "It's a very important link between our worlds. It's how we stay connected." He looked at Aila and smiled. "Aila, you seem to have a sufficient knowledge of how my world works. You'll help them, won't you?"

"Of course!" Aila said with a nod.

Tron pressed another button on the panel and grids of light appeared around Aila and the boys, preparing to transmit them back to the real world. Tron turned to them and smiled. "You… my friends… are the new password," he said, sounding extremely proud.

Sora smiled. "Thanks, Tron. Take care!"

"You too," Tron replied sincerely. "And give my best to the Users!" He flashed a thumbs up, the gesture seeming very foreign to him, and grinned. Aila laughed, and they all waved as the light intensified around them and they were transported back to Hollow Bastion.

KHKHKHKHKH

…Yeah. I definitely didn't realize their first visit ended so soon. Hence why it ended up all in one (rather long) chapter. Whoops? Sorry if it's a little rushed – again, I wrote this basically all in one sitting because I was just too dang excited.

Oh well, this moves things along a little quicker. Don't worry, those of you who love this world – we'll be back eventually (I-think-probably-but-if-something-happens-to-change-my-plans-for-the-plot-please-don't-kill-me)!

There were a few Celina moments in here that I didn't initially plan, but they started happening and I just went with it. She's quite the mystery, isn't she? Poor Aila just has no idea how to feel about her.

Speaking of poor Aila, the confrontation you've all been waiting for is just around the corner now! If Demyx doesn't show up in the next chapter, he most definitely will in the one after that, so stay tuned~ ;)

Thanks so much for reading; I love you all! Please leave a review to let me know your thoughts – I like it when we talk. And I do listen! Zero1313 suggested I add in Aila being able to fight with a disk, which is something I hadn't thought of initially, and so I put some of that in. I hope I didn't disappoint, Zero1313!

Well, until next time!

Peace out.

~Fade