WE'RE BACK FOLKS!
I had a wonderful birthday last Fourth Of July! That's right! I was born on the day Will Smith flew to go fight aliens with Jeff Goldblum! How about that?!
"Technically Will Smith and Jeff Goldblum were safe inside the mothership to deliver a virus while everyone else did the ass kicking. But who's head counting?" Maverick shrugged.
Right...
Anyway. I saw 'Black Widow' and watched the first two episodes of 'Monsters At Work'. I'll start with good old Natasha (May she rest in peace while counting her share of the box office money at home) LOL. Spoiler alert for anyone who hasn't seen Avengers End Game yet.
"They're's someone who hasn't seen End Game?!" Anna gasped. "WHHHHHHYYYYYY?!"
I think it's a good movie. It's not the best of marvel's work, but it's not among the worst. What worked was the action the main characters. Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff won my heart once again as Black Widow in what is possibly her final movie. And Florence Pugh was excellent as Yelena Belova AKA the future Black Widow. While I look forward to the day she'll finally don the title. I think my favorite character in the film was David Harbour who played Alexei AKA Red Guardian. How ever in spite of all of that, and while I can get by the inconsistent plot and forgettably cheesy master mind behind all the evil! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!... I was disappointed in Taskmaster.
"Whaaaaaa? I don't get you- WHAT THE DEATHSTROKE HELL DISNEY?! HOW IS IT THAT 'I' AKA THE MAVERICK! A CHARACTER FROM A FANFICTION FOUGHT WITH THE BETTER VERSION OF TASKMASTER?!" Maverick ranted.
I mean don't get me wrong, I know why they went with this kind of set up and twist for Taskmaster. But I feel like it could've been done with a different villain or possibly a made up version. We wouldn't have mind. But this doesn't fit the character or reason why Taskmaster was so famous in the Marvel comic books.
But despite all of this. I did actually enjoy Black Widow. While it could've been better it was still a fun film to watch and like any MCU film I look forward to watching it again. If no one here is of the same heart, I understand. And believe me when I say I definitely understand the criticism towards the film. But I'm not of the same mind, I just think the redeeming qualities speak louder than it's faults.
I'm gonna give 'Black Widow' a 7.8 out of 10.
As for Monsters At Work. It's...Okay. The first two episodes are funny, but it can get weird and obnoxious with those new characters from Mift. Tylor Tuskman is a decent guy but his co-workers are either funny or obnoxious, like Spongebob season 6 or 7. I can see kids liking this show fine. I definitely like the parts with Mike and Sully. But it's just not much with it's start with. Monsters Inc had heart and passion and it took it's time to give us life in the world where the Monsters in our closet live. But who knows. Maybe the later episodes will pick it up. For now it's just fine as it is. I definitely recommend it over Monsters University.
"AKA the Ferris Bueller's Pixar Diet." Maverick quipped.
Anyway. Let's answer some comments.
olehbilenko93: Thank you! As always your words are kind. Even if they could go into detail and explain why you like my chapters or what part of it was your favorite, maybe...Sorry I don't know where that came from. LOL! Thanks man!
RustyPete12: Well Hayner's never been to Hollow Bastion. But you're right, if he had before given the new toys Aiden gave him. That would explain a lot. Also thank you. I believe since Kingdom Hearts also includes Final Fantasy characters, it would be a sin to not include team Avalanche in this story. So I had to bring them on. My plans for Avalanche are good but needs some slight adjustments. Still who knows where it might lead. If you have any ideas for them. Let me know okay? *Thumbs up and wink!*
KingdomWarrior125: That's the plan! *Smile!*
SPYRO 101: Thank you! I'm glad my idea for using the DuckTales Reboot versions of Donald's nephews worked. Also LOL Sour Patch Kids! Ha! That's rich! Yeah, you'll have the blame that film the Errand boy for the candy store flash back. It's just too good to not have Donald doo a parody of that candy store scene. As for the Grid. I've decided to blend in KH II and the first Tron movie for when the Guardians are in the Grid. With mostly the film version. I seem to impress you all for doing that and it feels good knowing that.
Alright, now that we're all here!
LET'S GET DANGEROUS!
Welcome To The Grid.
Going inside the Grid….
Sora didn't know what happened. One moment he and his team were warning Aiden to get away from Ansem's computer and the next thing he knew. He was standing in some place he didn't recognize.
He looked around and saw a world that was completely metallic with blue circuitry, they appeared to be like streams of lights going up and down in lines and patterns. Kind of like Maverick's suit but more consistent. But then Sora noticed that he was wearing something new as well. His outfit was now just like this world, metallic in the colors of grey and blue, with lines of blue lights in a techno pattern. And he was given some kind of headgear with two long pointed bands at the back.
"What the…..Is this really happening?" Sora said to himself.
He looked over to see Aiden was out cold, face first on the ground. Probably because he was zapped first being so close to the computer last. Sora went over to check on his friend.
"Aiden….Hey Aiden wake up!" Sora shook him awake and helped him stand up as he groaned and muttered to himself
"Ugh…..Christ almighty my head…..What happened last night?" Aiden held his head with one hand while using his other hand to stand up with Sora's help.
"Are you alright?" Sora asked.
"Yeah….I'm good Pal. Just give me a couple of…" Aiden then noticed where he was standing and looked around in amazement. "Holy Earnest Cline…...Spike are you seeing this?!"
"Yeah. Where are we? And what are we wearing?" Sora asked in wonderment and confusion.
Aiden looked down to notice his attire was just like Sora's but different based on his normal attire. But metallic with his own color circuitry of blue and green. Aiden also had on a headgear with two silver bands going up, kind of like bat ears or Optimus Prime's ears if Aiden were to describe it. In the middle of his chest was his signature M symbol in the form of a blue circuit.
Before Aiden could answer. They heard someone scold them. "Vacate the entry port, programs."
They turned to see four men marching down and wearing bulky white armor with red circuitry. Each wore a cowl, but while the faces of some of these men were visible, others were not. They each walked with metal staffs that looked like stun sticks.
"Damn. If I had known the Mighty Ducks were pros at laser tag, I wouldn't have betted on the other team." Aiden quipped, insulting their attire.
"I said move it!" One of the guards stunned Aiden's right shoulder with a stun staff.
"Hey!" Aiden grunted and threw a punch into the guard's face, but it barely dented the guard's steel hard face as it only hurt Aiden's hand enough for him to recoil and grip his swelling hand. "Oh!...Canada!"
"Good one program." One of the guards mocked.
"Program?" Sora inquired. "Why do you keep calling us-"
"C**k shot!" Aiden interrupted by delivering a kick in between the guards legs. But he ended up hurting his shin when it banged against the guard's steel groin. "D'oh! Oh your poor wife…." Aiden hissed in pain as he hopped on one leg while holding his hirt one.
"Are you done?" The guard inquired.
Aiden exhaled before saying. "Oh yeah. Totally…..IRIS engage counter measures!" He ordered. Only for nothing to happen. "Uh….IRIS?"
"Okay my turn!" Sora held his hand out to summon his keyblade. But nothing happened. He tilted his head and shook his hand trying to get his keyblade. "Huh?...Come on….Oh great. Now I look like an idiot too." He groaned.
"What do you mean too?" Aiden inquired.
"Okay shows over programs." One of the guards grabbed their forearms and shoved them forward. "Get moving!"
"Hey! Fine we're going….." Sora grumbled as he and Aiden were being marched forward by the guards that were arresting them for some reason.
"Hey look, if this is about those parking tickets, they weren't ours. They belong to a short-tempered friend of ours that's cranky that he missed his birdbath." Aiden tried to explain as he was still being escorted.
*Zap!*
"Ow! What is this, communist Russia?!" Aiden complained from being zapped.
*Zap!*
"Ugh! Ronald Reagan was right." Aiden grumbled as he and his friend were being escorted to who knows where.
Meanwhile on board a floating fortress…
The commander of the MCP's army, Sark came in to communicate to the Master Control Program via a relay chamber which displayed the MCPs digital face which was spread everywhere while Commander Sark stood on the com pedestal with both hands linked to the handles for connection.
"I've got a challenge for you, Sark. Some new recruits. One of them is a tough case, but I want him treated in the usual manner. Train him and his team for the games, let them hope for a while and blow them away." The MCP commanded.
"You've got it. I've been hoping you'd send me somebody with a little bit of guts." Sark responded and asked. "What kind of programs are they?"
"They're not any kind of programs, Sark. They are users." The MCP answered.
"Users?" Sark was surprised to hear.
"That's right. The one named Maverick pushed me in the real world. Somebody pushes me, I push back. So I brought him and his friends down here." The MCP confirmed. "What's the matter, Sark? You look nervous."
Sark was indeed nervous. To hear that a group of superior beings came down to the Grid. The same beings that created all Programs are here among them. How was he to handle a group so powerful and unpredictable?
"Well I….it's just. I don't know, a user I mean. Users wrote us." Sark stated. "A user even wrote you!"
"No one User wrote me. I'm worth millions of their man-years." MCP affirmed.
"And yet they're the toughest case. With all do respect. You said so yourself." Sark insisted. "Why not de-rezz Tron then? This could make our-"
"I still haven't located the password to the database." The MCP reminded Sark.
"What about a logic probe? With all of your processing power you could-" Sark tried to suggest.
"Out of the question. The current environment hampers the processing power needed for such an analysis." The MCP stated firmly.
"But what if I can't-" Sark tried to say.
"Would you rather take your chances with me? Want me to slow down your power cycles for you?" The MCP threatened as he began to slow down Sark's life power which made him falter and wince on the pedestal.
"Wait! I need that!" Sark wheezed as he was nearly dying. Then the MCP spared him and released his power cycles.
"Then pull yourself together and get those clowns trained. I want them in the games until they die playing. In addition stop any remaining anomalies in the system, or else. acknowledge." The MCP ordered.
"Acknowledged. Master control." Sark replied as he slumped against the pedestal.
"End of line." The MCP dismissed Sark.
Sark was relieved afterwards. But he wasted no time in preparing the games for Sora and Aiden. Including the others that were arrested.
Down in the pit cells…...
Aiden and Sora were not the only ones that were taken. Kairi and Victoria, Donald and Goofy. Even Baby Groot was taken into a cell together.
And just like Sora and Aiden's outfits. their outfits were digitized as well.
Donald and Goofy's outfits were similar as before but in a metallic white fashion with blue circuits. Baby Groot was now white with blue circuits all over his little wooden body. Kairi and Victoria's outfit were also changed to fit the style of the Grid. White metallic just like Sora and Aiden's outfit. With blue circuits flowing all over. Only their hair was loose as usual, only with metallic headbands in front.
Currently Donald was banging against the forcefield that had them locked in their cell. And despite how shocking and painful it felt in his hands. It couldn't compare to Donald's raw fury as his feather were bright red with rage.
"WAKWAKWAKWAKWAKWAK! WAAAAAK! LET US OUT YOU DIRTY PIGS!" Donald shrieked as he was rapidly banging on the force field.
"Donald! Shut up! They're not letting us out!" Victoria yelled trying to stop him while she and Kairi were seated. But the duck wouldn't listen.
"Knock it off Program!" One of the guards yelled.
"Move up! We got several new prisoners." Another guard ordered as Sora and Aiden were brought up to the cell.
The cell door powered down long enough for them to be shoved in only for it to turn back on as Sora and Aiden were locked in with their teammates.
"Sora!" Kairi beamed
"Kairi!" Sora was glad she was okay as she ran up to hug him. He didn't hesitate to hug her back.
Victoria ran up as Aiden flinched expecting her to hit him, but instead she kissed him on the lips and wrapped her arms around his neck. Much to Aiden's relief as he kissed her back.
"Are you alright?" Victoria asked out of concern.
"Yeah...Yeah I'm okay." Aiden assured her with a smile. "I guess this means your not-"
*Slap!*
Victoria slap Aiden in the back of his head making him recoil.
"Ow! What was that for?!" Aiden winced.
"For being a smartass on overdrive and getting us in this mess!" Victoria snapped angrily at him.
Even she was furious that they were trapped in this world and it was all Aiden's fault.
"Yeah! This is all your fault!" Donald accused Aiden.
Aiden held his hands up and surrendered.
"Okay. My bad. Burn me." Aiden deadpanned as he couldn't argue with them.
If he hadn't pressured the MCP earlier before locking out his countermeasures. They wouldn't be in here.
Next door to their cell were two more prisoners Programs who were watching their argument from the cell window. The guy sitting was an actuarial Program named Ram. He looked human like all the program. Aa they take on the appearance of their users. And each of their outfits and designs were the same but with slight differences.
The other Program with Ram was a pretty famous one. In fact people couldn't tell at first due to his outfit. But what stood out mostly in his appearance were the four blue circuits shaped like period dots that formed a small T like symbol in the middle of his chest. This was an independent Program that fights for the users.
But everyone calls him Tron.
"Definitely new guys." Ram commented while he was fiddling with his Identity disk.
"Another set of free Programs offline." Tron figured.
"You really think the Users are still there?" Ram asked.
"They'd better be." Tron sighed. "I don't wanna bust out of here and find nothing but a lot of cold circuits waiting for me."
Back over in the Guardians cell. Aiden was trying to bring the heat down from his girlfriend.
"What the hell were you thinking?! Taking on a digital entity with unknown abilities?! He'd probably trapped us in a ***king digital version of Armageddon!" Victoria yelled at her boyfriend.
"I wasn't just taking him on! I knew what the Master Control was going to do next!" Aiden protested.
"Then why didn't you stop trying to hack him?!" Victoria demanded.
"Because if I did nothing! He was going to suck up everybody in Hollow Bastion! He would've brought the whole goddamn city on top of this place!" Aiden yelled back. "I wasn't fast enough to stop it completely but I kept it from getting worse."
"Uh huh. And the reason you didn't give us a heads up?" Victoria inquired with her arms crossed.
"Any second later and any hesitation would've caused Avalanche to get sucked in with us." Aiden sighed and rubbed his face while taking a deep breath. "Look I'm sorry we're all in this crap. But you better be glad it's just us and not a whole town of people that wouldn't handle a laser tag fantasy."
"Oh sure. except we're powerless. In case you haven't noticed! We don't have our keyblades! Even Donald can't summon his weapon!" Victoria pointed out.
"Even Donald?! EVEN?! Should I be insulted?!" Donald glared at that statement.
"Eh, why start now?" Aiden waved it off humorously before saying. "We're in a computer world alright? Our magic can't work in the limits of technology."
"Then why can't I shoot fire or strike lightning? My main powers aren't magic based." Victoria pointed out.
"Apparently the Master Control Freak Program locked in that part of your genetic code when he sent us in here." Aiden explained. "Our bodies were sent in using a shiva laser that converted our particles into code and refurbished into genetic forms."
"I don't mean to interrupt the trial and hacking class. But where exactly are we anyway?" Sora asked the team.
Before Aiden could answer. Tron spoke from the other cell.
"You're inside a mainframe computer system." Tron stated getting their attention.
"a 'what' system?" Sora inquired which made Aiden facepalmed himself.
"You're killing me Spike. He said 'Mainframe computer system' It's a process for collecting data like writing events in a notebook." Aiden explained it better for Sora to understand while fighting back his own annoyance.
"Also Let's just say this isn't the original Grid we used to live in. This system is a copy of the one created by a corporation called ENCOM." Ram stated.
"What happened to the original system?" Victoria asked.
"It was destroyed. This copy we all now live on, was acquired by another User. The new User updated and customized the Programs roles in the system. Renaming it Hollow Bastion OS." Tron explained. "He used the system for town maintenance, and to advance his private research."
"Did you catch any of that Aid?" Sora asked, looking confused.
"Yeah. All of it." Aiden scoffed and whispered. "Programs are what the people here called. While we 'the friends in high places' are called Users. Duh!"
"You lazy bum. You were always slacking off in computer class." Kairi snorted.
"Hey, I know enough about computers! I know how a cell phone works and how to write emails!" Sora retorted.
"Because I taught you those things myself." Kairi teased.
"Are...They together?" Ram asked, thinking Sora and Kairi were a cute couple.
"We're working on it." Aiden snickered before he began making introductions. "Anyway, The name's Aiden.
"I'm Victoria and the little one is Groot." Victoria said while Baby Groot waved at the two programs.
"I'm Sora." Sora introduced himself.
"Kairi." Kairi introduced herself.
"Donald." Donald added his name.
"And I'm Goofy." Goofy waved.
"Nice to meet you all. I'm Ram. I was an actuarial Program before all of this. I worked for a big insurance company." Ram Introduced himself. "What programs are you?"
"Well….Uh….." Sora wasn't sure how to answer that. He wasn't sure if he could tell them he and his team are Users without proof.
"We're called the Guardians. Before all of this, we were System Monitors. Meant for keeping things under control in our Grid." Kairi said as she came up with the perfect cover for them.
A System Monitor helps all Programs without the need for a logical role because that's their function. No one here, not even the guards will suspect that they are Users.
Kairi really impressed the team with that cover.
"I am Groot." Baby Groot muttered. Translate: "She's good."
"Nice. That's a pretty good gig for a tall order." Ram complimented them.
"But seeing how we're off duty and laid off at the same time. What part of the Grid are we in now?" Sora asked as he was staying in character.
"You're uh….Guests of the MCP." Ram stated lightly.
"MCP?" Sora whispered to Aiden who rolled his eyes.
"Master Control Program. The dick that dropped us in here." Aiden whispered back.
"Everyone else in here either broke the MCP's order and protocol, or a threat. I'm guessing you're in both categories." Ram figured with a grin as he stood up and leaned on the side of the wall.
"That's one way of putting it." Victoria muttered.
"You've all been sentenced here to play video games." Tron stated.
"Okay that's not a sentence, that's good news on a smorgasbord." Aiden quipped with his arms crossed. "I play video games better than your average Twitch stream."
"Not better than me! I beat you twice on madden." Sora stated feeling competitive.
"And who beat you four times on Marvel Vs Capcom 3?" Aiden reminded Sora with a grin..
"Those super moves are too complicated to remember and you know it!" Sora protested.
"Just let him have that one Sora." Kairi eased Sora with a pat on his back.
"He always has the last laugh." Sora complained.
"Because I take jokes and give them back with interest." Aiden humorously responded.
Ram and Tron smirked at each other figuring Aiden was bluffing about his game skills. But they'll see. Aiden usually gets physical in VR headsets, and sometimes digital training.
Later on in the gaming procedure station…..
The Guardians were being escorted by a group of guards to a ramp that had a view of the whole Grid. Sora could see how this entire place would appear being inside a computer. He had always seen circuit boards and parts inside a computer and never completely knew which part was what. But he could tell and recognize certain things being up close and on the inside. Perhaps he'll understand more about computers the more he spends time in the Grid.
"I'm guessing this means we won't get to speak to the guy in charge?" Aiden snorted at how the guards were marching him and his friends.
"You will." One of the guards stated.
The Guardians were brought in a straight line with other prisoners. All of the other prisoners looked about the same. All of them wore outfits similar to Tron and Ram, with insignias that made their difference stand out, besides their human faces and appearances inside their outfits. They all seem to be male. But what got Aiden and Sora's attention is that they saw an adult female in the group who had blue skin.
This female also had a white helmet, with two blue circuit lines carrying over from the top to the bottom of it and two blue circuit lines on both sides of her head. Her face was visible in front of the helmet as she had a beautiful looking human face for someone who was blue skinned. She had a white chest, some matching shoulder pads with a blue circle on the top. Her body's white area on the chest greatly resembled that of a tank top midriff. Her legs had metallic white boots that resemble long gogo boots that go up to the thighs. Her bottom wear was metallic white and it resembled women's shorts as it showed off a little below the legs. Her forearms wore metallic gauntlets with her blue fingers exposed. Her whole outfit had blue circuits running around her attire except for her blue skin.
But what really got Aiden's attention was that she was wearing his traditional M symbol on her chest.
He furrowed his eyebrows seeing that and it made him curious.
"Wait is she wearing-" Aiden almost asked looking at her but a Program next to him stopped him.
"Shhh. She's the only female stray Program locked away in here besides the two in your group." The Program whispered.
"Who is she?" Aiden whispered.
"No one knows. She doesn't speak to anyone but she co-operates with the guards despite being in here with us." The Program answered but then they were interrupted.
"Hey no talking! And look up! Command Program Sark's carrier is approaching!" The head guard announced. "He will explain the training procedures!"
The Programs and Guardians lined up in a straight row facing forward and looked up at the floating carrier that hailed Commander Sark. He himself stood from the bridge of the carrier and looked down at the prisoners.
The Guardians could see him and they scowled up at him. They could tell this guy was bad news. Then Sark began speaking.
"Greetings! The Master Control Program has chosen you to serve your system on the Game Grid! Those of you who continue to profess a belief in the Users, will receive the standard substandard training, which will result in your eventual elimination! Those of you who renounce this superstitious and hysterical belief, will be eligible to join the Warrior Elite of the MCP!" Sark announced with authority as his voice echoed loud enough for everyone to hear.
"So we're going to a digital Roman colosseum, got it." Aiden muttered in un-amusement.
"You will each receive an identity disk! Everything you do or learn will be imprinted on this disk!" Sark stated while holding up his disk for display. "If you lose your disk or fail to follow commands! You will be subject to immediate de-resolution! That will be all!"
After Sark dismissed the prisoners. The guards started escorting them away. Including the Guardians.
"Move out!" The guard behind them ordered.
"Have you ever noticed how the floor makes digital noises when we walk on them?" Kairi mused, trying to bring the tension down.
"Yeah I'd love to hear the sound of driving in this world." Sora chuckled quietly.
"Something tells me we'll hear that sound long before they decide to do a cavity search." Aiden quipped.
"You're gross." Victoria rolled her eyes.
"Not all the time." Aiden said in defense.
"Sure. Sure…." Victoria teased.
As they were marching across a platform. The Guardians got a view of the disk war games. They looked down to see Tron standing in the middle and taking on four other combatants, tossing his Identity disk like a frisbee and moving athletically like a ninjutsu fighter. Those other combatants didn't stand a chance against Tron as his skills seemed to impress the team.
"I never got that guy's name. Who is he?" Sora asked a Prisoner Program.
"That's Tron. He fights for the Users." The Program answered before they continued to be escorted by the guards.
Tron used his disk skills to block an incoming disk to deflected it back at the other combatant who was de-rezzed immediately. The effect didn't have the same appearance as human death. But they faded away in a flash of red. That must be how all Programs die. Tron dodged and would deflect an attack to another combatant before taking out another by tossing his disk at him. Then the disk would come back like a frisbee. These combatants had red circuits like the guards meaning they were on the side of the MCP. So it didn't bother the team how they were being taken down.
Tron would take down the last two with ease by blocking attacks and tossing his disk in a pattern. They both didn't know what hit him until Tron was done.
With all of the combatants down. Tron held his disk up showing his mark of victory for the match. While his match was ending, Tron saw the blue skinned female walk by with the other prisoners and for some reason he couldn't take his eyes off of her. Until she was taken away with the other prisoners.
Back down in the pit cells…..
After the team was given their disks, they were taken back to their cells. As they waited while their pending game matches were being processed, the Guardians were watching as Ram was spinning his disk around in his finger. Showing them some neat tricks.
"Woooow." Donald breathed.
"Not bad." Goofy chirped.
"That's pretty cool." Sora complemented.
"I am Groot." Baby Groot was watching in awe as well, leaning
"Watch this." Ram smirked as he twirled it while it hung at the bottom tip of his fingers. Making it spin around the curved rims. "You all gotta be good at certain skills like this if you wanna survive."
"Hey Ram? What was it like working for an insurance company? Before all of this happened?" Kairi asked.
"Well it gives you a great feeling, helping folks plan for their future needs." Ram smiled as he answered. "And of course if you think of the payments as an annuity over the years, the cost is really quite minimal."
"Well it's a shame those people think about their stockholders more than their title. They even treat their employees like crap for not being dirty like them." Victoria stated some facts.
"True. I remember running into some Programs that were drained due to an overdose of libations." Ram snickered remembering those days. Then he asked the team. "How about you guys?"
Sora thought for a second. "Well we….Use to monitor security against computer viruses. A special kind of virus made in the black market called Heartless." He made up a little bit.
"Heartless? That's a classy name for a virus." Ram remarked.
"Yep." Goofy nodded.
"Sure is." Donald nodded as he played along with this cover up.
"In fact one time….." Sora began telling a story about a battle against Chernabog. While covering the theme of magic in 'computer system' talk.
While that was going on. Aiden was over on the other side of the cell watching as the female Program from earlier was brought in to the other cell. Aiden could see from the cell window as he spoke to her when she sat down facing the wall with a blank stare. Looking like she was calculating something.
"Why do you have the Maverick's insignia?" Aiden asked her directly.
Without hesitation she answered.
"Because it is my duty to serve the Maverick." She spoke in a familiar voice.
Aiden's eyes widened as he recognized who this was.
"IRIS?" Aiden realized.
That's right. The female blue skinned Program is none other than IRIS. Aiden's personal A.I. Made in the form of a humanoid Program.
"Hello Maverick. I am sorry I can be of service to you at this moment. I am under the control and lock down of the MCP's system." IRIS said to him.
"Oh no it's okay. I mean really but….damn. It's so good to see you. For real and not just a voice." Aiden chuckled in amazement.
"Are you really amazed to see the real me?" IRIS asked, looking curious.
"Well...We've been through so much together, we kicked ass together, we drove folks beyond their reasonable breaking point together. Hell we did everything together. To me, this just adds a whole new layer to you." Aiden smiled.
"Interesting. Well, I am also glad to see you in person as well." IRIS responded.
"Thanks IRIS. We're gonna get out of this, Don't worry our team is working on it. Do whatever those glow stick sentries tell you to do until you find an opening to bust out of here." Aiden assured and instructed IRIS.
"Yes Maverick. I'll be ready when the time comes." IRIS nodded.
Just then. A guard came in and pointed at Sora and Aiden. "You two! You're up next!"
Victoria stood up front narrowing her eyes at the guards ready to defend her boyfriend. But Aiden knew it wouldn't end well if they fight the guards here and now in the pits. So he held his hand up and stopped her.
"Vic. It's okay. I can handle it." Aiden assured her.
"What without your keyblade and powers, you can't-" Victoria looked worried.
"I will handle it. Okay?" Aiden promised as he shared a kiss with Victoria. She kissed back of course trusting his word.
"You better be alright. Come back to me in one piece so I can tare you to pieces for bringing us down here." Victoria whispered after kissing.
"I thought we were pass that." Aiden quipped in response making her giggle silently.
"Don't worry Baby, we will be. After you give me another manicure on the ship." Victoria winked.
"You. Are. So cruel, beyond all reason." Aiden humorously deadpanned.
Kairi of coursed gave Sora a hug as he hugged her back, while Donald and Goofy were secretly smirking.
"She's the gold medal he'll win for coming back." Goofy whispered and chuckled with Donald. "ah-hyuck."
"No more stalling! Are you both ready or not?!" The guard inquired as he was getting impatient.
Sora and Aiden stood up looking prepared for what game this is.
"Bring it on." Sora narrowed his eyes.
Down in the Game Grid…
A large pattern battle cage made of a glass-like generated material was set up for a disk wars match. Aiden stood in the middle with his newly acquired identity disk. Aiden stood there spinning his disk with his finger. Something he inadvertently picked up from watching Ram play with his disk.
"Not exactly a keyblade but I know not to pimp slap a gift horse in the cheek." Aiden quipped as he spun his disk while looking around. "Vic was right. I do make everything sound dirty."
Just then the cage flashed as the first combatant was beamed into the cage. Then the cage shifted into two platforms facing each other with a low gate in between like a tennis game. Aiden was on the back platform while the competitor with red circuits was on the other platform. This combatant also had long hair drawn back, white lines painted below his eyes like a football player and a serious look.
"Hey I got a twelve inch version of you on my shelf back home." Aiden pointed at the combatant.
The combatant didn't respond as he drew his disk and caused an eye visor to form over his eyes. Then he tossed his disk at Aiden who twirled in the air to avoid it before landing on his feet. The combatant caught his disk and posed.
"You actually did that with a hula hoop!" Aiden quipped before he drew his disk out causing a clear eye visor to form over his eyes.
Then Aiden tossed his disk at the combatant who dodged in a flip and tossed his back. Aiden caught his disk in the air in time to counter the combatant's disk only for the fighter to toss it again. Then Aiden ran up the side of the wall to toss his disk and catch the combatants disk. The combatant dodged with a side twirl to run ahead and jump over the gap between both platforms. As Aiden did the same thing. The combatant grabbed his disk from Aiden's grip only for Aiden to pick up his own disk in time to block the combatant's incoming disk attack that broke a hole in the floor.
Aiden noticed the hole which gave him an idea.
The combatant ran and jumped over the gap while Aiden rolled and smashed the floor with his disk. Causing the combatant to scream and fall through the hole before de-rezzing in the laser field below. Thus Aiden won the first round.
Aiden looked down and shrugged. "People have got to stop falling for me." He quipped.
Then Aiden watched as the laser field below spun in several blades like a fan. Which gave him yet another idea. It's crazy, but crazy is right up his alley.
Aiden watched as the platforms went through a quick digital self-repair and launched the second match. Then the second Combatant appeared as a big muscular Program with red circuits. The Combatant flipped and smashed the floor growling.
"What in the Matrix hell? That's it. I'm outta here." Aiden shook his head.
The Combatant tossed his disk only for Aiden to slide and block the incoming disk, causing it to ricochet back over to the Combatant at full force which sliced the Combatant in half, de-rezzing him instantly. And as Aiden slid across the floor he timed himself just right before he fell off the platform and passed the laser fans.
Aiden fell through and the rail slid across a digital pipe while sliding to dodged some incoming laser blades, he jumped over a gap and landed on a steep platform and flipping in the air to fall into an exhaust vent. Thus Aiden had escaped. Now he needed to find something big and loud to help his friends escape.
Earlier on the other side of the Game Grid….
"This one has spirit. Let him fight one of his own kind." Sark had ordered while watching Sora being escorted to the game grid by the monitors.
Thankfully Sark and his troops didn't translate that order to mean fighting one of the Guardians. But Sora was set up to fight a compound interest Program named Crom. Which still wasn't good because Crom was a good Program. He believes in the Users and it's those beliefs that brought Crom into the Game Grid. He survived for so long in the Games that he'll be a tough opponent. He's not going to back down to anyone. Especially someone like Sora.
Crom and Sora were escorted to a Ring Game match. They both went through an open door which led onto two round platforms made of concentric energy rings.
The object of the game is to de-rezz the other's platform by striking it with an energy ball, which must be hurled at the ceiling from a cesta before rebounding at the other player. If the energy ball hits one of the platform rings, the ring disappears; a careless step or the loss of too many rings causes the player to fall to their de-resolution. The game is very similar to Jai alai, although with the ball thrown to the ceiling instead of a wall.
Sora stood on the ring platform on the left while Crom took the one on the right. Sora held his hand up which held the ball cesta to greet Crom. "Hi there." He said with a friendly smile.
Crom responded with a grin and held his cesta hand up as if to wave back. Then they looked to see the ceiling unlock a mechanism that shoots out the energy balls. A ball shot down and Crom caught. Given that he won this game last, it was his turn.
"You think you're gonna wipe me out don't you?" Crom pointed at Sora accusing the keyblader for challenging him here.
"What? No I didn't choose to be here!" Sora tried to explain.
But Crom tossed the ball to the ceiling and it bounced down to Sora. Sora ran to the edge to catch it but he missed as the ball hit the ring far which made him almost lost balance.
"Hey- whoa whoa whoa!" Sora waved his hands around at the edge as he regained his balance.
Crom laughed at how clumsy Sora seemed before the next ball fell into his cesta. Then he tossed the ball up on the ceiling again. But this time after it bounced. Sora was quick as he caught the ball. Then Sora stood up and tossed the ball over the ceiling for it to bounce and land on one of the rings near Crom, breaking it as he nearly tripped. This let Crom know that Sora was not going to be easy to beat.
Sora caught the next ball. as he paced from side to side facing Crom.
"Need to take a nap?" Sora jested.
"I'm just getting started." Crom stated as he was getting ready to catch.
"So am I." Sora breathed as he tossed it.
From caught the ball and tossed it back to Sora who caught it with ease. This happened several times until Sora took a moment to say.
"You know you should forfeit before this ends badly. You and I could make a good team." Sora offered.
"Not a chance Kid. There is no forfeiting in the games. Only death." Crom refused while pointing out a fact
"We'll see." Sora breathed before he jumped and flung the ball up to the ceiling for it to bounce and hit another ring in between the three rings from the back gap, creating two gaps to make it difficult for Crom.
Sora took the next ball and flung it again. Crom caught it and rolled to fling it up the ceiling. Crom broke another ring platform in between just like what Sora did. Making his match just a difficult to even each other out. After a few more tossing and catching like a tennis/baseball game of death. Sora wasn't backing down because his team needs him, and Crom wasn't backing down because he intended to survive.
Crom spun and flung his shot up at the ceiling as Sora had to hop over a gap to catch it. Sora caught it and huffed to catch his breath.
"That was a pretty fancy shot!" Sora complemented Crom. "Here's an easy one!"
Sora jumped in the air and triple spun as he tossed the ball up in the ceiling so hard. Crom couldn't catch it in time as the ring platform near his foot broke and he fell. Crom's arms gripped onto the ledge of a ring as he dropped his cesta.
Thus Sora won the match.
Sora looked worried as Crom was hanging on for his life trying not to fall.
"Hold on!" Sora called to him as he tried to jump to his platform. But after Sora jumped he was blocked by a force field that pushed him back. "Hey!"
Another ball fell into Sora's cesta much to his shock of what they were suggesting him to do.
"You're move User!" Sark suggested from the intercom.
"Are you insane?! I'm not gonna kill him!" Sora yelled back.
"A User?!" Crom widened his eyes in realization as he was struggling to hold onto the ledge.
"Finish the game!" Sark ordered.
"NOOO!" Sora bellowed in refusal.
"Kill him." Sark demanded.
Sora glared up at the control room window knowing Sark was there. Then he dropped his ball yo refuse to kill Crom.
"Never." Sora seethed.
Killing innocent people, human or program is not who Sora is. And he'll never be that kind of person.
"You will regret this." Sark glared back from the control room
Then as a means to follow the Games harsh protocols. Sark pushed a button that caused all the rings in Crom's platform to vanish.
"NO!" Sora reached out to Crom as he fell through.
"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Crom screamed loudly as he fell through an endless chasm and de-rezzed passing through the energy field.
"No." Sora whispered watching Crom die. He felt like he was having fun with this Program despite their misunderstanding. Sora didn't want it to end this way. But he silently vowed that he will make it right by making sure he get's justice.
Up in the control room. Sark was about to push the other button to cause Sora to fall to his death. But then he remembered the MCP's orders to let Sora and his team play in the games until they die.
So instead he watched as the guards escorted Sora out of there. Sark wanted the User threats to end badly before they could do anything to disrupt the order of the Grid. But the orders of the MCP were strict. He couldn't do anything to disobey.
The head guard came up to Sark and stated. "Commander Sark. The Maverick Program named Aiden has escaped in the disk wars game."
Sark looked surprised and an idea came up to him.
"Then it's best we finish his friends off before he comes back." Sark concluded.
"What are your orders Sir?" The head guard asked.
Sark smirked sinisterly. "Take them to the lightcycle arena." He ordered.
Down at the games armory…..
Aiden was sneaking around the area as he was good at not getting caught. Not as good as Victoria, but still good.
As two guards were patrolling around a light tank platform. But Aiden dropped from above as he slashed the force guard and instantly de-rezzed him. While the other guard didn't have time to turn around as Aiden flipped up and twirled and used his disk to slash the last guard. As he landed he snickered and spun his disk around in his finger.
"Sorry Ruby Troops. I dropped my keys." Aiden quipped.
Then Aiden looked over to see the light tank they were guarding. Aiden pondered for a moment before he placed his hand on it and the red circuits turned blue. Which made him smirked and chuckle.
"Oooooh Daddy likey…" Aiden expressed before stealing this really cool light tank.
He and his friend were about to bust out of the game Grid and find away back up to the real world.
THAT'S ALL FOR NOW FOLKS!
If this chapter was kinda short. Forgive me, with the time I had with work and trying to write the first chapter of my 'Tangled/Maverick WHAT IF' story (Speaking of 'WHAT If?' didn't you enjoy that 'Marvel WI?' trailer? Wasn't that awesome?!). I just ran out of time to try and add anything else in here. Any more ideas and it would've taken me another week.
"He did have this one idea to have me singing while I was picking out weapons in the game grid armory. But that wouldn't have worked because Atlantis Squarepantis was not everyone's favorite Spongebob special. That and putting Fantasia in the Grid would be like putting Tarzan in the Jungle Book." Maverick stated.
He's talking to you Jason Scott Lee.
"In fact let me show you guys the deleted musical armory scene!" Maverick stated pressing a button.
NO DON'T!-
(DELETED MUSICAL MOMENT IN THE GAME GRID ARMORY...)
Aiden was frolocking around the weapons vault, skipping like a maniac who was excited to pick his new toys. And boy was he feeling the Fantasia magic flowing through. That he began to hear music playing while he was spinning around and dancing while looking at the variety of weapons. Weapons! not food! Innocent Dreams! A girl or freedom! BUT WEAPONS! THINK ABOUT THAT! He's singing about which weapon to pick!
"Oh, what a beautiful sight!~ Weapons as far as the eye can see~ But which one will be right for me?~" Aiden sang and pondered.
"How do I pick?~ Which one will do the trick?~ Which is best to guarantee eternal rest?~" Aiden asked as he jumped from combat vehicle to combat vehicle while admiring the glowing circuit patterns.
So many goodies!~ How do I choose?~ Look at this one with a beautiful fuse!~" Aiden sang that last note with a squeal as he twirled his finger around the trigger of an artillery missile launcher.
Aiden kept picking up and tossing different weapons away as he piled them up on the ground. Picking through them like he was going through junk in a toy box. Observing each one amusingly before tossing it aside.
"And with this one I couldn't lose~ That one will surely give them the blues!~" Aiden bellowed with passion as he held up another weapon, and he puts on atomic boots. "And this one here matches my shoes~"
Then Aiden walked away looking serious and irritated as he had been searching for too long and he needed to settle so he can not only end this stupid song, but to help his friends break out of the games and quickly.
"Come on Aid, damn it just pick one and forget about your shoes!~" Aiden glared before he pointed at each vehicle and chose the light tank. "Eeny, meeny, minie moe~ I pick you, now let's go!~"
He quickly got into the light tank and drove off. Thus ending the song and our misery.
Now that's all for now! FOR REAL FOLKS!
FYI! That lame song is not cannon.
"I like to think of it as a misunderstood expression of freedom and joy." Maverick gushed humorously.
You're insane.
"Why thank you good sir." Maverick mimicked a British accent.
Anyway thank you all for reading!
Some interesting stuff happened in this chapter! Matching up with the film. Aiden got to see IRIS in person as a Program. And Tron might have a crush on her.
"Ooooooh." The Guardians teased.
'I'm a computer I can't ve offended. But if I had feeling. I be what humans call flattered. I actually think Tron is quite interesting.' IRIS stated.
I'm sure 'interesting' in computer means 'handsome!' Lol!
Also I'm glad to know you're all looking forward to not only my next chapter, but also the first chapter for my next story 'The Sundrop And The Maverick'. If anyone likes the title or has a better one, and if you have any comments on the chapter and that insane deleted scene.
Let me know in the comments below!
And as always Disney/Square Enix fans!
END OF LINE! And...
FISTBUMP!