Roxas and Riku suddenly awake as they feel the fuzzy body of Flynn hitting them over their heads to wake up
"Ugh. . . where are we . . . ? Wait! Our clothes!" says Roxas as he looks down at himself. Riku looks too to see strange black and glowing white armor over their bodies instead of their usual clothing.
"This world must be special," says Riku.
"Yeah. . . It kind of reminds me of Tron's world actually. . ." says Roxas.
"Maybe they're connected?" asks Riku, before a bright light suddenly shines upon them
"A dream eater!?" asks Roxas as he shields his eyes. Riku peeks between his fingers and gets a decent look at the orange and black aircraft above them.
"I don't think so. . . Let's wait and see how this plays out." Says Riku, looking towards Roxas. He nods and the two lower their hands as the aircraft lands. The two hear footsteps behind them and see two guards in red approaching from behind, they hear a noise in front of them and see a platform lowering from the aircraft, revealing two more guards, they stop off and grab the two by their arms.
"Another stray." The two resist and throw the men's arms off them, before Riku steps onto the aircraft of his own free volition, Roxas follows his lead. The men seem almost confused at this, but decide to not stop them, they rarely get such cooperation. The aircraft flies off as the two are put into a seat next to another man, this one also dawning black and glowing white armor.
"Are you two also prisoners?" he asks
"Yeah, it looks like it," says Roxas
"Name's Sam."
"I'm Roxas."
"I'm Riku." Riku turns to look forward, trying to get an idea of where they are. "Where are we, Sam?" he asks
"We're on the Grid," he says simply, as the aircraft flies towards some sort of Arena. After being taken off the aircraft and guided towards the Arena's track, Roxas and Riku see an unfamiliar man, with two guards next to him.
"You're in luck. Only a precious few are granted Light Cycle battle privileges." one of the guards steps forward, and hands them two strange devices. Shaped like cylinders.
"Why exactly is it so lucky?" asks Roxas
"I'll show you." says the man. His eyes move to look at something behind them, and the two look over their shoulders as two men in orange on light cycles ride past them at high speeds.
"Oh, I get it now. . ." says Roxas, remembering the time he and Xion rode on a light cycle together in Tron's world inside Ansem's computer.
"How hard can it be?" Riku asks himself. The three men leave the arena as Riku and Roxas run forward the leap into the air and put the objects in front of them suddenly, a motorcycle materializes around them, and they hit the ground as they start to accelerate, leaving ribbons of light behind them.
The two race around the track, derezzing enemy light cyclers with their light ribbons and shooting any flying combatants in front of them.
"Is this the best you got?" Roxas taunts. Suddenly a shadow rolls over them as a large glowing orange nightmare flies in front of them, it resembles a bug with large scythes for hands.
"You had to ask?" says Riku. Roxas laughs a little at himself before the two go back to focusing on the task at hand, taking out the nightmare. The two dodge and weave around the identity disc-like object thrown by the nightmare, while shooting it using the dual discs on their light cycles. It doesn't take long for the nightmare to find them bothersome. It flies off, leaving the two alone.
"That was fun!" yells Roxas as he pumps his fist into the air.
"Yeah, but I think I've had enough entertainment for one day. Don't you?" asks Riku. Roxas nods and the two do a 180 on their light cycles. They use the guns to shoot a hole in the wall, before escaping. They drive at top speed for a while as they get far away from the arena, until stopping on an empty bridge where they think it's safe. As they get off and dematerialize their light cycles, and put the devices in their pocket. They turn around as they hear footsteps approach them.
"Riku! Roxas!" shouts Sam as he runs up to them. "You made it! You escaped the games!"
"Yeah, it was easy too with the light cycles," says Roxas
"That's good to hear," says Sam. "I know a way off the Grid. Wanna come with?" he asks
Roxas is about to say yes, but Riku interrupts him. "No. You go ahead," says Riku
"W-Wait! What's the way out?" asks Roxas.
"Through the portal" Sam answers.
"A portal?" Riku asks
"Yeah, it's like a gate that opened when I came here. Once I'm back in the real world I can Delete CLU. And then. . . then my dad will be able to come home."
"Your dad?" Roxas asks
"He vanished, twenty years ago when he came here to the Grid. But because he needed to protect his identity disc from CLU, he went into hiding. He's been trapped ever since." he explains. "But I'm gonna change that. "
"I see. . . Sam, you mind if we go with you after all? To the Portal?" asks Riku
"Sure. I'll take what help I can get," says Sam, before turning to face the city ahead. "But first there's somebody I need to meet. He's in the City." Sam starts to walk towards the city, and the two boys follow behind, choosing not to use their light cycles since Sam doesn't seem to have one.
Riku, Roxas, and Sam navigate the city as fast as they can in order to reach Sam's contact, They run into multiple nightmares on their way, which Roxas and Riku take out with ease, and they manage to avoid running into any guards. It takes some time, but they manage to reach Sam's contact. Sam turns to Roxas and Riku as they stand outside the building his contact is in.
"Kill some time 'till I get back," says Sam, before entering the building. Riku and Roxas lean against the building as they wait for Sam to finish talking with his contact. It doesn't take long for boredom to set in
"How long is he gonna be gone?" Roxas asks to no one in particular, a hint of annoyance in his voice.
"Who knows, wish we had something to pass the time," says Riku as he looks around, for once there's not a nightmare in sight.
"Well, there is something we could talk about." Says Roxas as he looks to Riku, who seems a bit curious. "I think now's the time you give me my answers."
"oh . . . right," says Riku as he rubs the back of his neck, thinking of what Roxas said at the end of their journey in the city of bells. "Well, what do you want to know?" asks Riku
"Everything. Why we'd have to disappear to return Sora's memories, why Namine went with us if she knew there's no other way, why she didn't just tell us, all of it."
Riku takes a deep breath before speaking again. "I guess now that I know better, it's not really that both of you need to disappear, but rather, Xion would need to disappear."
"What!?" Roxas almost yells as he steps towards Riku
"Hey! Let me finish!" says Riku with frustration in his voice. Roxas stops and takes a step back. Riku takes a deep breath. "At her core, Xion is a replica of Sora, made from his most precious memories, those of Kairi." Riku explains "If she were to give up those memories that make up the core of her identity. . ." Riku hesitates for a moment, before finally saying it "She'll cease to exist. Not just physically, but in our memories as well."
Roxas takes a sharp breath as he hears this "No. . . you're- you're not serious right now." Roxas takes a step back. "You can't be. . ." Roxas thinks for a moment as he stares at the ground before looking back up to Riku "What if we don't return Sora's memories?" asks Roxas
Riku glares at Roxas as he asks this, "That won't work either. Not only would you be dooming Sore to sleep forever, but Xion's fate would only get worse as well."
"What do you mean!?" asks Roxas
"Xion was designed as a contingency plan in case you went rogue." says Riku "Even if she doesn't know it, she's taking Sora's memories that are inside you and putting more of them within her. If that keeps happening, she'll become less like herself and more like an actual replica of Sora." says Riku. "Once she has all of Sora's memories, the contingency plan would activate, and she'd kill you, making you one with the replica in the process, before going on to finish off Sora."
Roxas is still as his world starts to fall apart. "No. . . that's a lie. . . you're lying!" yells Roxas, as he materializes his keyblade
Riku leaps back "Roxas! Stop! I'm not lying to you!"
"Then why would Namine help us on our journey!? Why wouldn't she tell us this!?"
"I don't know!" Riku yells. "She never told me why!" the two take deep breaths as they end their shouting match. ". . . I don't know why, but even now there are things she doesn't tell me. I understand that some things are best left unanswered, but . . . I just wish I had answers too sometimes. . ."
". . . why does it have to be this way? Is there any other way?" asks Roxas. Riku shakes his head.
"I'm sorry Roxas. . . This is the truth as I know it." Roxas stands there for a moment before falling to his knees.
"No. . . No. . ." Tears form as he slams his fists to the ground. The two are still as Roxas lets his tears flow freely before Riku crouches down and puts his hand on Roxas's shoulder.
". . . I don't know if there's another way Roxas, But if it helps, I'll help you find one."
Roxas manages to collect himself before looking up to Riku "really?"
"Of course. Xion's my friend too, and Namine's. I won't let things end this way." Roxas manages to smile as he gives Riku a hug.
"Thanks . . . Riku." Roxas lets go of Riku, before pushing himself back onto his own feet. As things just start to get quiet again, a sound is heard in the direction Sam went, without a second thought the two abandon position and go to see him. They run through the city and manage to find Sam, holding a woman in his arms, and an older man walking by his side
"Sam!" yells Roxas as the two approach them.
"Who are these two?" asks the older man
"I'm Riku, and this is my. . . friend, Roxas. He, Sam, and I were on our way to the Portal." The older man turns to Sam, who nods, he turns back to Roxas and Riku
"Come with us." says the man. He guides the group to the docks. They board a solar sailer and await their destination. Sam sets the woman he's holding on the ground, while the older man messes around with a projection nearby.
"Is she gonna make it?" asks Sam
"I don't know."
"But didn't you write her code?"
"Some of it," the older man answers "But the rest is just. . . beyond me"
"She's an ISO. . ." Sam says in disbelief
"ISO?" asks Roxas
"A whole new life-form. Quorra is the last ISO."
"And you created them?" asks Sam
"They manifested, like a flame. They weren't really. . . really from anywhere. The conditions were right and they came into being. For centuries we've dreamed of a pure existence beyond our own. I found them in here, like flowers in a wasteland. They were spectacular. Everything I'd hoped to find in the system, control, order, perfection, none of it meant a thing. The ISOs, they were gonna be my gift to the world." The man pulls out a strange orange light from the projection, before throwing the light aside. "There, good as new. It'll take a while for her system to reboot." says the older man.
"So what happened. . . to your gift?" asks Roxas
"CLU. CLU happened. He was built to create the perfect system. But endless potential can never, ever be fully realized. CLU saw the ISOs as an imperfection, so he destroyed them."
"He's made a mistake," says Sam aloud
"No, he's me. I screwed it up. Chasing after perfection chasing after what was right in front of me. . . Right in front of me." says the older man, looking at Sam.
Roxas turns to see Riku standing near the far edge of the Solar Sailer, far from the rest of the group as he talks to himself. "Chase after one thing. . . and you ignore everything else. And then, the people around you get hurt in the process. Like Xehanort. His single-minded thirst for answers created Ansem." Roxas approaches from behind and stands beside him
"And Xemnas." Riku turns, and nods. "We all have a little of that curiosity in us. . . So if we're not careful, any one of us could create an Ansem." Riku's voice trails off, before the two hear the sound of something flying nearby them, they turn to see an enemy aircraft flying beside them "Great. They found us." the solar sailer shifts around as it changes direction
"We've been put on a new course. . ." the older man notes as he looks in the direction they're headed.
The group, now with Quorra awake, looks from around a corner where they're hidden. Quorra pulls out her identity disc and hands it to Sam.
"Goodbye," she says promptly, before sprinting out from behind cover.
"Quorra!" Sam says as he tries to chase after her, but he's stopped by the older man. It doesn't take long for Quorra to get caught by a guard.
"She's removing herself from the equation. . ." the older man utters
"We can't just let her go!" says Sam.
"Yeah!" Riku and Roxas say Ready to run along with Sam after Quorra
"No. Hold on, Sam. What about getting you to the Portal? You shut them down from the outside." Sam doesn't listen
"But Quorra's my friend! She comes first! And we still have to get back your disc." Sam argues
"Sam. If you chase two rabbits, you won't catch either." Riku steps into the conversation, but only for a moment
"If this is a father-son thing, I won't butt in, but we should probably get back that disc at least- before CLU uses it to destroy the outside world." Roxas looks surprised at Riku as he had yet to deduce that the older man is Sam's father.
"Right." says sam, before turning to his father. "Meet me on the flight deck, and get us some wheels," says Sam
"Wheels? What's your plan?" asks his father
a far enough distance away from his father, Sam speaks up.
"Riku, Roxas I gotta save Quorra too."
"We will. Don't worry!" says Roxas they keep running along.
"Great! The disc should be somewhere on the throneship. I saw it dock here earlier" sam looks around before pointing somewhere above. "Over there!"
"All right," says Riku, before he, Roxas, and Sam start making their way to that location. Climbing up many sets of stairs, and taking down many guards and nightmares, eventually, they make their way to the second floor of the Rectifier where they take the elevator to the throneship. They enter a room with nothing but a strange structure holding a glowing white disc, which Sam takes, suddenly, an alarm goes off as the door near the back of the ship opens, revealing a man in armor similar to that of other guards, Holding Quorra prisoner.
"Sam. Go!" yells Quorra before being pushed aside by the strange guard. Sam tightens his grip on the disc while Roxas and Riku materialize their keyblades. Same throws the disc at the man who does a backflip and doges. Roxas and Riku jump onto the wall and use flowmotion to dash at the guard and attack him with their keyblades, Riku swings but his attack is blocked, but the guard is left vulnerable by this, and his knocked off the ship by Roxas. The two boys dematerialize their keyblades as they overhear Quorra and Sam talking
"What are you doing here?" asks Quorra
"To the flight deck!" Sam says quickly.
"But CLU will be here any minute. We'll never make it."
"Don't worry, we have a plan!" says Sam, before running out of the ship. Quorra, Riku, and Roxas follow. They make their way back to the deck where Sam's father waits with a ship. Sam and Quorra jump into a sea while Roxas and Riku hop onto the platform, holding on tightly to the filled seats beside them. She ship's color changes from a reddish-orange to a glowing white as it flies off to the portal. They arrive just outside the portal and run up the staircase that leads to it. Upon reaching the top they see one man, in black and orange armor. They didn't have a name to tie to that face before, but a gut feeling in Riku and Roxas tells them that the person in front of them, is CLU. CLU stands alone on the bridge between the portal and the Grid, staring them down.
"This is mine," says Sam's father, as he walks down the bridge to meet CLU halfway. "Had a feeling you'd be here!"
"You! You promised that we would change the world. . . together! You broke your promise!" CLU turns around as the same nightmare from the light cycle track appears behind him. "I took the System to its maximum potential. And now, you see the applications at my disposal!" Clue begins to walk towards the nightmare
"I don't believe it," says Sam's father as he looks upon the nightmare. Roxas and Riku walk past Sam's father as they materialize their keyblades.
"You can leave this one to us," says Riku. They take on their battle stances as they stand before the mighty nightmare. Suddenly, a small ball of light comes from Roxas's stomach, before taking the shape of a bat. As the light fades away, it reveals Flynn, flying around with sudden energy.
"Oh, so that's where you've been this whole time. And I was almost worried," says Roxas jokingly, before staring down the nightmare before him, known as Commantis.
Roxas and Riku dash away opposite from each other as the mantis slashes its scythe-like hands, while Flynn flies into the air. Flynn rams into the nightmare's head, before casting a gravity spell on it. This distracts it long enough for Riku and Roxas to slash at it from the sides. Commantis jumps back to the edge of the arena and used its back wheel-shaped torso to roll across the arena, leaving light ribbons behind similar to a light cycle. Forcing the three to the center of the arena.
Commantis lurches forward as it slashes with a hug-like motion. Flynn manages to fly out of the way, but Roxas and Riku are sent flying, landing just barely on the edge of the arena. The nightmare prepares to finish them off as it dashes once more to do the slashing movement, only to get stopped in its tracks by Flynn's strongest gravity spell. Riku smirks as he gets on his feet, he dashes at Commantis and leaps into the air, before feeling a familiar rush through his veins, he slashes with his keyblade as the edge enflames with darkness, boosting the power of his attack, a new technique Riku decides to call sliding crescent.
"That's not fair! Why do you get your darkness magic back but I can't use any drive forms!?" Yells Roxas. Riku laughs for a moment before noticing movement from the nightmare in front of him. He leaps back as the Commantis slashes with its scythe hand, Roxas gets on his feet as he stands beside Riku, before noticing how the thin blue lights the edge of the arena move like a conveyor belt. Roxas runs along it as he feels a rush of energy through his body, similar to that of grinding along rails.
The nightmare spins its head as it keeps its eyes locked on Roxas. It prepares to leap forward and strike when it's hit with another gravity spell cast by Flynn Roxas forms wicked smile on his face as he jumps off the light belt, flowmotion energy coursing through his body as he stabs Commantis right in the forehead, it screeches at it lowers its head to the ground, Riku dashes straight at it, and performs sliding crescent once more, it lurches its head back and screeches even louder, piercing the ears of anyone nearby, Roxas leaps off the creature and dematerializes his keyblade as he looks back to see the creature derezzing. CLU looks on in disbelief, as he sees his nightmare fall. He turns back to Sam's father with fury in his eyes.
"I created the perfect system!" CLU shouts
"The thing about perfection is that it's unknowable. It's impossible, but it's also. . . right in front of us, all the time. You wouldn't know that because I didn't when I created you." Sam's father takes a deep breath, before opening his arms wide. "I'm sorry, CLU. I'm sorry." he moves his arms forward a bit, welcoming CLU into an embrace. If he chooses to accept. CLU shows mixed emotions on his face, before making his choice, kicking Sam's father across the bridge. Sam charges CLU and tries to tackle him, but he's picked up and thrown across the other side of the bridge. Roxas and Riku run to protect Sam, as Flynn condenses himself into a ball of light once more and takes shelter in Roxas's body. Quorra runs up to Sam's father to see if he's okay.
Sam's father simply looks at her and says "Go". Quorra nods before leaping over CLU and joining the four at the other end of the bridge. Sam's father pushes himself into an upright position, as he talks to CLU. "CLU! Remember what you came for," he says. CLU turns around and walks towards Sam's father. The ends of the bridge start to retract, separating the two wholes from one another, growing further and further apart. CLU kicks Sam's father back to the ground, before turning him over, and taking his disc, or rather, what he thinks is his disc. He looks at a projection that appears before him, and realizes whose disc it really is, he turns around and looks at Sam then back to Sam's father.
"No. . . Why!?" asks CLU, enraged
"He's my son," CLU yells in frustration before throwing the disc to the ground and turning around, running closer to the edge of the bridge,
"Go!" yells Sam's father. CLU leaps across the gap and barely grasps the edge
"Dad!" Sam yells as he fruitless reaches out to him.
"Sam! It's time!" his father shouts.
"No!" Sam yells, as he tries to run to the edge of the bridge, but Quorra stops him
"Sam. It's what he wants." but Sam shakes his head
"I'm not leaving you!"
"Take her!" his father yells. Sam looks to Quorra as she takes out her identity disc, and hands it to Sam. Sam reluctantly takes it, and gives his father one last look, before looking to the sky, and raising the identity disc in the air. A beam of light swirls around Quorra and Sam. as the identity disc floats into the air.
"Goodbye, kiddo." Sam's father utters. As he sees his son and friend begin to disappear. CLU pulls himself onto the platform and makes a mad dash to the portal. Roxas and Riku materialize their keyblades and stand in the spot where the bridge meets the circular platform.
"Don't even think about it," says Riku as he and Roxas prepare to defend their friends with their lives. CLU gets closer and closer as Sam's father puts his hands to the grown, and emits a ripple of light. As soon as the ripple touches CLU, he begins to be pulled in back towards Sam's father. CLU eventually can no longer resist and is derezzed as his data is pulled into Sam's father, who prepares to use all his energy to destroy himself alongside CLU's data
"Wait! Don't go! We don't even know your name!" shouts Roxas as he reaches out to him. Sam's father smiles as he looks at them
"Flynn. The name's Kevin Flynn." Kevin explodes, emitting powerful light only comparable to that of a supernova, before disappearing, forever. The two keyblade wielders are left alone, as they dematerialize their keyblades, and turn around.
"The portal is gone. . ." says Roxas
"These portals. . . these gateways that connect worlds. Maybe when we can pass through them, we're challenged and changed," says Riku aloud. "And it's not over. There are more trials ahead we have to overcome. Some we'll take on soon, and some that are in the far future." Riku looks to the sky where Sam and Quorra disappeared. "But we'll be ready, right Roxas?" Riku turns to Roxas, who gives a little smirk, and nods. the two face forward as a keyhole-shaped light appears before them. They rematerialize their keyblades and point them at the keyhole. Beams of light shoot from the tip of the blades, and pierce the keyhole. Bright light, in turn, pours out from the keyhole, as the sleeping world reawakens, and the awake Riku and Roxas, slowly fall back to slumber.