We're back folks!
I'm so sorry this took so long to write. It wasn't easy to come up with. But I had to change a few ideas I had for the twist, not the plans for the upcoming chapters, just the patterns I was going to do them in. But I still plan to make the next chapter dramatic and heavy after this one.
But I need ideas.
Since Kairi is with the team. How will the Organization manipulate Sora through anger if they don't have her? Will it happen to both Sora and Aiden? If anyone has ideas for how I should do the scene after the upcoming one thousand Heartless battle. Let me hear from you in a PM.
"Seriously. If you folks don't want the next chapter after this one to take a bajillion years to write and post. Speak now and never hold your peace." Maverick warned the readers.
Also I saw 'The Suicide Squad' last week. That was so much better than the first film, hands down. If you're a DC fan that's 18 or older. Definitely check that film out...Warning: You must not be afraid of rats while watching it.
"Watch Little Chef's film to get rid of those jitters." Sora advised.
Also I've seen the first episode of 'Marvel's What If'. It was better than I had expected. All of you who subscribe to Disney Plus, go and watch it if you haven't yet. There's more of them where that came from.
"If it works for StarWars it will work for the MCU." Victoria remarked.
True. And now with that out of the way. Let's answer some comments.
olehbilenko93: Well well. Someone's excited. LOL! Thanks I appreciate your support.
Haxorus knight: Oh rest assured. There will be carnage on the Grid. But the MCP's time hasn't come yet. But it will. Thank you so much for helping me write the Lightcycle Grid battle!
RustyPete12: Thank you! Yeah I couldn't add that scene from Spongebob as cannon because Fantasia's magic is not apart of the Grid. But I'm glad I made a compromise to show it anyway. And I'm glad you approve for how I set up their parts to play on the Grid and how they got there. But yes. I would like to hear your ideas for Avalanche if you have any more. As always I'm all ears. But do you have any ideas for the upcoming twist scenes I mentioned in the texts above? The part that took after the one thousand Heartless battle.
SPYRO 101: Thanks Buddy! Yeah it would've been wrong to pass up an opportunity to give IRIS a body. As I might have stated before, her designs were inspired after 'Aya' from 'The Green Lantern Animated Series'. And rest assured. They will get out of the Grid safely.
Alright! Now that we're all here!
LET'S GET DANGEROUS!
Shedding Light In The DTD.
Down At the Lightcycle Holding station…
After Sora won the Ring Game Match against Crom. He was being marched over to easily the hardest game on the Grid, the Lightcycles. Sora felt really bad for getting Crom killed, but he had to win for his own survival. Without him his team wouldn't make it. Sure they have Aiden, but Sora has a light and a role that only he can fulfill. But he still blames himself for what happened to Crom.
"This is the holding area for the Lightcycles." The guard who was escorting Sora stated.
Sora was brought by two guards to where his friends were stationed. Up against a red circuit wall. Everyone except for Aiden.
"Sora!" Donald beamed.
"You made it!" Goofy was glad to see him as well.
"Wait here!" The other guard ordered as he pushed Sora forward making him stumble.
"Leave him alone!" Kairi snapped at the guards who walked away.
"It's okay Kairi." Sora responded as he glared back at the guards. "These guys are all bark and no bite."
Just then nine other program players with glass helmets and red circuits went up against the wall that was facing Sora's group. Which were the ones they would be riding against in the Lightcycle arena.
"Hey where's Aiden?" Sora asked.
"I don't know, I thought he was with-" Kairi almost answered.
"The Maverick is okay. He is coming up with an escape plan as we speak. For now, we must play along if we are to survive." IRIS answered them.
It was still weird to them to see IRIS in a human form. More like a program form. That looks human. They all look human, but still.
Sora and the others nodded, getting the idea as they readied themselves for a fight.
"Once we're outside, we must gain access to the DTD." IRIS stated to the team.
Tron looked at her curiously. "That's what my User wants. All of my original functions are on the DTD." He said.
"Then our goals are aligned." IRIS smiled at him which made Tron look as if he could blush.
"What's the DTD?" Kairi asked.
"It's acronym stands for the 'Door To Darkness', the DTD is the dataspace where all of the Grid's original files are restored. even Ansem's resources. I was able to gain this info before we were sent in here." IRIS revealed.
"Cleaver." Sora remarked as he understood.
"I am Groot." Baby Groot agreed while he was standing on Victoria's shoulder.
Before they could ask anymore questions. The Grid announcer says. "Prepare to transport to Lightcycle Grid."
"We'll talk more after we wipe the floor with these worms." Victoria stated as she cracked her knuckles, looking at the competition who stared back looking confident that they could beat Sora's team.
They don't know the Guardians that well, do they?
Up on the Light Cycle Arena…..
The team was later transported via a digital teleporter toward a large vast open front field that looked like a cyber space for a NASCAR game. Only this one has a cheering audience of Programs who all live under the MCP's influence and law.
The Guardians looked around and were rather a little impressed with the designs of this place.
Sora whistled. "Kinda reminds me of the Olympus Coliseum." He remarked.
"Yeah but more on racing." Kairi agreed.
"Oh if it was a race, we would lose automatically." Ram stated.
"What do you mean?" Sora asked curiously.
"Their bikes are faster than ours. We'll have to be alert and use strategy to our advantage." Tron warned the Guardians.
"So what can we use...?" Sora pondered as he scanned the arena.
On the field were a pit of many laser spikes, The kind that would send an opponent flying, and in the center was a combat bot with a futuristic dragon helmet that has circuit blue circuit lines on it.
This is the Degi-Dragon .
Around the laser spikes were leveled diverted roads that ride around like a combo of a roller coaster and an obstacle course. Once a pedestal rose up in front of the Guardians. There were a number of small handle rods in front of them. One for each of Sora's team members. Sora picked up and held it like the handle of a sword.
"How do we use this?" Sora asked while he posed and was getting ready.
"I'll give you a hint...Not like that." Ram snickered while Tron was doing his best not to laugh.
Sora realized his mistake and chuckled in embarrassment as he stood up while Kairi giggled a little.
"Watch." Tron said as he ran out and flung himself. It felt like there was a slow motion effect as he stretched the rod out on both ends and it materialized digitally into a lightcycle and Tron was the first to begin riding out in the field.
Sora and his friends, besides those who had seen it before, had their jaws as if they fell on the ground.
"Now this I can do." Victoria smirked as she was the first to do the same.
"Wait for us!" Kairi smiled as she and the team did the same. Even Ram as they rode out to the playing field.
Their red opponents did the same with their lightcycles on the other end of the arena. Ready to challenge them on the field.
The hype-speakers cheered as the announcer program spoke out loud. "Are you ready to rev up and battle!? Good! Let the games begin!"
Sora and Tron rode up a ramp that went on a loop as the Degi-Dragon fired digital fire balls at them. Donald and Goofy followed their patterns and driving styles while Kairi followed Victoria's lead from the other side.
But two of the opposing red teams were fired at by the Degi-dragon's fireballs.
Which split into two fireballs and hurled at high speed.
"AAAAAHHHHH!" two of the red opponents screamed as they were burned by the attack.
"Woooah! Talk about third degree gore! Sort of." Victoria watched in horror and amazement as she drove around the Degi-Dragon.
Kairi was on the move dodging the unfriendly fire while planning to find a way to turn tables on his enemies. She saw some fireballs chasing after her. But she also noticed that her lightcycle was leaving a trail of energy like a game of snake. In fact all the bikes were.
Which gave her an idea.
She turned towards the Degi-Dragon and drove in a three side square and turned to retreat before it would slash it's claws at her. She passed by another opponent who drove for the Degi-Dragon to try to attack. But as he dodged a fireball, the opponent screamed as he was box in by the light trail Kairi left behind and got derezzed.
"Whoo!" Kairi cheered as she got one.
"Yeah! That's what I'm talking about Kairi!" Sora cheered.
"Another customer! Let's go!" Victoria gestured at the opponent that was chasing Ram.
Victoria drove on as she is on a killing streak by tricking the other opponents and taking them down with here sweet tricks. Then suddenly she saw some new types of enemies spawn on the playing field. These were called Bully Bikes, rhino themed bikers with a terrible case of road rage and bruiser, and darkcycles with rhino heads for the front wheel cover, and a stream of red slamming into her light trails.
As strong as these things were, they were never the brightest of bullies. Due to the fact that they were riding in a group like a pack of wild animals.
Victoria saw her advantage as she smirked and stood up on her lightcycle while it was driving. Then she dives into the air and runs her bike past all of the Bully Bike while she spun in the air and tossed her disk at the Bully Bike ahead of the group. Her disk knocked the head Bully in the wheels causing it to fall over and knock the others down. The moment all of the Bully Bikes tumbled over each other, they blew up in a digital mushroom.
And Victoria landed back on her bike perfectly as she resumed riding across the field. She rode back up with her team who happened to have seen those enemies.
"What were those things?! Heartless?!" Sora looked back.
"No. They're NCPS for the Game Grid Arena. But just as fragile, if you know what I mean." IRIS stated and hinted.
"Oh I definitely know what you mean." Victoria grinned as she got it.
Then suddenly what appeared on the field which caused a shockwave to wipe out the other red program opponents. "AAAAAAAHHHHH!" They screamed as they were derezzed.
Was a military tank with long legs with wheels replacing its feet, black and yellow eyes, and red circuit lines on its metal hide.
This was the Tusk Tank
"Ah come on! Is there anything they haven't come up with yet?!" Donald exclaimed in frustration as he drove.
"Sark's game Grid uses NPCs to make things harder for those he's trying to get rid of." Tron stated.
"And he really wants to get rid of us!" Ram added while they were riding and avoiding the laser spikes.
Then a group of zebra themed lightcycles appeared, they were very quick and yet easy to turn. It had electrical weapons on the sides.
The Zebra Ztriker
Then the announcement Program spoke from the hub. "Now entering the arena, a creature so terrifying that looking at it directly could melt your brains! The towering titan of tussle and teeth, the wreck-tacular: WRECK-O-SAURUS!"
"ROOOAAARRRR!" Then appeared out of nowhere is a dinosaur like monster of a vehicle with a hi-tech touch. It looks like a T-rex with Triceratops head with blazing horns and a spiky tail that sparks sky blue lighting.
"Okay? This is new." Ram muttered.
"They never inserted that kind of NPC before!" Tron stated while driving.
"The MCP must be desperate to get rid of us!" Sora figured.
"Who gives a shit. We can take em." Victoria grinned confidently.
"Do these things even come with weapons?!" Sora inquired looking at his lightcycle control panel.
"You really have to be told?!" Ram looked surprised that they hadn't noticed the lightcycles built in weapons. He pointed at their panels. "Press the indicator!"
Sora pushed his lightcycle's indicator, which caused a set of weapon controls displayed on the panel. He grinned and fired energy bullets that streaked like a gush of wind blowing in a spinning motion. The drilling bullets hit and dented the hide of the Tusk Tank.
Making the mechanical elephant roar and fired bombs that look like blue and black pineapples with sparking fuses.
But then Tron shot and projected a circuit shield which caused the bombs to bounce back at the Tusk Tank and blew it to bits.
**Boooom!**
Donald and Goofy were busy firing blue energy pulses that bounced off the head of Wreck O' Saurus while denting the sides.
Kairi fired glowing flowing water drop shaped energy shots that seem to cancel the bolts sent her way while Victoria drives with a burning charge, blazing her guns. And charged her weapons at the Wreck-O-Saurus.
IRIS was right. These things maybe hrd for Programs to fight. But a user has more of an advantage. Even though the Guardians were using Grid conventional weapons. The codes of these weapons are twice as strong due to them being Users.
Ram rides up to Tron while they watch Sora and his team winning.
"You're seeing this too right?!" Ram exclaimed with a large smile.
"You might be right about them!" Tron smiled as well.
The Kairi jumped off her lightcycle as she rides on the back of a Zebra Ztriker and pulled to ride it fast up to the Degi-Dragon. Then she reached out to to snatch a fallen bomb from the now destroyed Tusk Tank. And she jumped and flipped in the air to land on the back of the Degi-Dragon while Sora was dodging it's claws and distracting it.
"Hey! Pop quiz hotshot!" Kairi joked as she bent down to wave at its eyes. Then she jabbed the bomb on its eye. and jumped off to land back on her lightcycle to ride off.
Then Sora jumps off his lightcycle to spin in the air and slash the claws off with his disk.
Then as soon as Sora and Kairi drove away from the Degi-Dragon.
*Boooom!*
"WHOOOOHOOOOOO!" Sora and Kairi whooped as they cheered for their victory over these NPCs.
"What else do you got bitches!" Victoria cheered with then as everyone was driving together.
Sark up in the control hub was angry at seeing all of his back up fire power on the Grid destroyed in an instant.
"Alright. No more NPCs. Time to get direct. Send in the-" Sark was about to order but was interrupted by an alarm going off. "What is it now?!"
Just before the second round could commence. The southern wall was blown open.
*Boom!*
The explosion startled everyone. Sora and the team looked as they were driving to see none other than Aiden himself. Driving a light tank right through the hole and greeting his team through its speakers. "Greetings co-workers! And programs. Let's blow this Circuit Board Olympics and hit the road!...Back there is a road right?"
"Aiden!" Sora was glad to see him.
"I knew it." Victoria smiled.
"Let's go!" Donald suggested.
Everyone agreed as they turned their lightcycles toward the giant hole.
Aiden looked down at the tank controls and saw some vehicle conversion commands in the form of buttons with icons shaped like different Grid vehicles. It doesn't take a genius to these buttons do. Especially the one with a lightcycle on it.
"Well if everyone's digital Mad Max, I don't see why not!" Aiden quipped as he slammed his fist on the button and his vehicle shifted digitally into a lightcycle. Then as he his team, along with Tron and Ram drove by. Aiden turned and rode with the others.
"You know you could've kept it as a tank right?" Victoria remarked.
"Nah. I had fun with it already. Just look at how I marked my territory." Aiden grinned as he gestured to all of the destruction they were driving by. So many of Sark's security guards and vehicles that were blown and busted by Aiden's light tank. It looked like a digital version of Vietnam.
"Video game warriors escaping Game Grid. This is an illegal exit, you must return immediately. Repeat. This is an illegal exit. You must return to the Game Grid." The intercom alerted.
"Ah phooey!" Donald responded as he rode out.
"Yeah well go squirm in a recycle bin!" Kairi jested as she agreed.
Just as the team refused to follow orders to surrender, they saw some shot rounds that missed which startled them. Those shots came from behind as they looked back to see some more light tanks driving after them and some recognizers flying towards them as well.
"Come on! We'll lose them in the canyons!" Ram suggested.
"Lead the way!" Sora nodded as he and the team followed Ram and Tron down the digital road towards the canyon.
The team rode with the sound of digital motorcycles filling the sound waves of the computer systems as they evade the fires from the light tanks. And trying to lose the incoming recognizers that were flying after them. Thankfully before the Guardians and their program friends could be captured by the beams of the recognizers. They drove up to a tunnel that was straight ahead, which was too narrow for the recognizers to follow. But the light tanks were able to drive through.
Back up in the command tower. Sark watched in frustration from the screens seeing the prisoners escape on lightcycles, heading for freedom.
"Get them. Send out every game tank in the Grid." Sark ordered while gritting his teeth.
"But sir. Our tank inventory is low. The one called Aiden took down a number of- Ah!" The guard who tried to explain was cut off when Sark knocked him down in anger.
"Get them!" Sark yelled and ordered his troops.
Back at the escape. The team drove past the tunnel and saw a cliff coming up ahead. Tron and Ram turned their lightcycles with the team following the same pattern.
But as the light tanks drove over. One stopped just near the ledge of the cliff. The driver felt relieved to have avoided certain death. Only for the light tank behind him to accidentally push his vehicle off the edge of the cliff and hurled into the abyss below.
"Pursue force minus one tank. Close rank." The operator for the light tanks ordered.
But it was a fruitless effort as the Guardians, Tron and Ram managed to get away using a narrow express way to get off the game Grid bandwidth range and into the Canyons of the system.
"Pursuit force reporting. We lost visual contact with escaped units. Awaiting further orders." They reported to Sark.
Down at the Canyons…
Once everyone was out of range. They shifted off their lightcycles and stood to catch their breaths.
"I think we lost them." Tron said as he stood up and looked back.
"Good work guys." Goofy huffed as he was hunched over his knees.
"I am Groot?" Baby Groot was hiding in Victoria's pocket as he peeked his head out and asked.
"Yeah. It's over little one." Victoria assured while stroking his chin and she smiled at Aiden. "Good thinking with that tank trick."
"Eh. It all usually looks so easy on the other end of a screen." Aiden shrugged.
"I'm not sure what that means, but sure." Ram remarked.
"We should get going." Tron suggested.
"He is right. The DTD is not far from here." IRIS agreed.
"You know where it is?" Ram asked the female A.I. program.
"Afirmative." IRIS nodded.
"Well then. Why don't you lead the way?" Tron offered her with a smile like a gentleman.
"Very well. Thank you." IRIS appreciated the gesture.
The others nodded as they followed while Aiden gave a subtle smirk at Tron. He took the hint that this independent program had a small crush on his personal A.I. program.
The Guardians looked around at the canyons and saw how the circuit surfaces and digital structures gleamed and shone like crystals and diamonds. It was a breathtaking sight to behold. The team were at awe as they took in the sights as they followed IRIS, Ram and Tron.
"It's beautiful." Kairi whispered, looking at the sights.
"Yeah." Sora agreed.
"These places never get old. It's been a long while since I've been out here." Ram smiled and looked around.
"We actually made it this far." Tron remarked as he was glad to be out of the Game Grid.
As they followed past the canyon's structures, while Sora and the others were enjoying the sights. Aiden cursed himself for not having his gummi phone with him to take pictures. Still his memory will have to be enough for now. Just as Tron climbed ahead of a small digital hill. He looked out to see the data space building straight ahead.
"There. That's where we can access the DTD." IRIS pointed as she made it up top.
"Quick question. When do we pay a visit to the old Master Control?" Sora wondered in amusement.
"Nice one, Sora. I don't know if you got the memo. But….It's us versus an entire army." Ram snorted as he and the others made it up top.
"Well if you know anyone that sells an army for a mortgage. That's fine, I'll pay with Donald's overdraft." Aiden quipped.
"No you won't." Donald scowled which made some of them chuckle.
"Best not to rush into things. We'll face the MCP when the time is right. For now, getting to the data space and accessing the DTD is what's important for now." Tron stated as she slid down the hill and headed for something bright ahead at the ground. And it was moving. Like a small lake. In fact this sight definitely looked like a lake.
Which seemed impossible since water is like the total opposite and death to almost all technology.
"Hey, what is that?" Sora asked as he and the team ran over to check out the large area of liquid substance.
"That. Is just. What I need. Right now." Ram beamed as he enthusiastically climbed down and ran down to the source of liquid.
This wasn't water they were seeing in this digital stream of blue digital liquid. Tron was the first to start drinking the liquid as his circuits were glowing. And he looked like he was enjoying it as he cupped some more in his hands and drank.
"Oh it's nice." Tron sighed as he felt the energy flow through his circuits.
"IRIS, what is this stuff?" Victoria asked.
"This is a pure source of power. All energy in the Grid is manifested in the form of liquid. Which is similar to the effect of H2O for Users." IRIS explained.
Aiden was already drinking as he was feeling like he was floating while drinking. He was getting into it.
"Holy blue lagoon cocktail, Batman….Guys you gotta try this stuff! It tastes and feels like a baby angel!" Aiden quipped and urged his team to come and drink from the liquid energy.
The team didn't hesitate as they came in and try it out.
Donald drank and felt the effects. "Woooow…." He breathed as he dunk his head back in to drink some more.
"Ahyuck!" Goofy could only say after he started drinking it.
"Oh my God….This stuff is great!" Victoria exclaimed as she started drinking.
"Woooah…." Kairi breathed as she was drinking.
"I can believe what my mouth and body is feeling." Sora gasped as he resumed drinking.
All of the circuits of their bodies were glowing as they all kept drinking. Even Baby Groot felt a strong effect.
"I…...Am…...G-Groooooooooot…." Baby Groot slurred as he drank from the energy and didn't stop slurping.
"The energy is even restoring all of my reserve power." IRIS stated as she was drinking. "At This rate. I will have more than enough energy to get us back up to the service."
"Don't wait up for us IRIS. Tell everyone back home we drowned in bliss." Aiden quipped which made everyone laugh.
Even Tron laughed as he turned over and laid back feeling as if he was refreshed. Everyone was even using their identity disks as bowls to drink more of the energy.
"Oh...Boy you forget how good the power feels, until you get to a pure source." Tron exhaled as he felt great.
"That's how I felt the day I met Vicky here." Aiden said while drinking which made his girlfriend smile.
"My friends. My fellow conscripts, we have scored. I feel so much better." Ram said humorously which made them all laugh. Except IRIS who has no emotions, being a computer.
Tron looked up at her and offered his disk to her.
"Oh, no need. I have my own." IRIS politely declined.
"I know. For now it's for drinking." Tron explained.
"I see." IRIS understood as she received his disk and used it to scoop up some more energy to drink. "Thank you."
"My pleasure." Tron smiled at her.
"Spike?" Aiden said as he noticed what Tron did to IRIS.
"Yeah?" Sora asked after he swallowed some more energy.
"I think they're gonna have a Mac Mini." Aiden mused as he was amused seeing Tron and IRIS socialize.
"Awe." Kairi gushed quietly at the sight.
Back up on the service…..
The avalanche team were still in Ansem's computer room trying to find a way to bring Sora and the team back from inside. Jesse was still operating the terminal while the others were either pacing or waiting impatiently.
"Is there any good news yet?!" Wedge asked again while resisting the urge to bite his nails.
"If you ask the same question, you'll get the same answer." Jessie rolled her eyes as she kept typing.
Then she noticed a regularity in the mainframe. Several of them. As Jessie had a hunch of what or who they might be. She ran a scan just to be sure if her hunch was correct.
Just as they waited. Tifa came in as she wasn't expecting the wall back outside to be gone.
"A hidden room huh? Who would've thought?" Tifa remarked as she walked in.
"Hey Tifa! Have you found Cloud yet?" Wedge greeted her with a wave.
"Not yet. But I think I'm close." Tifa smiled and looked around. "Where are the others that were here?"
"The Guardians? Well….That part is complicated." Biggs stated.
"The MCP brought them into the mainframe. They're stuck inside the Grid until we find a way to bring them in." Leon explained.
"Oh they're not stuck. They just need the right directions." A voice stated from behind Tifa.
The person who spoke walked up. It was a short guy wearing a black coat…..With big ears. Leon grinned as he knew who this was.
"Nice to see you again. Your Majesty." Leon said.
As the hood dropped. Revealing that it was none other than King Mickey himself. He had finally arrived. And he was here to rescue the Guardians from inside the Grid.
"I think you're right. I'm detecting several glitches inside the power actuator." Jessie stated as she was typing.
"May I try?" Mickey asked, coming up to the terminal.
"By all means." Jessie smiled and offered Mickey to take over.
It was time to get the Guardians out of there. But first, they needed to get what they came for.
The DTD.
Back inside the Grid….
Everyone was still enjoying the pure energy and drinking to their system's content. Tron looked into the energy as if he could see something no one else was seeing.
"Tron? What's wrong?" Sora asked.
"Nothing's wrong. I can feel it." Tron stated.
"Feel what?" Sora asked, looking curious.
" The User by the name S.T. Will-28. I haven't felt this connection for over a year now." Tron smiled in anticipation as he stood up before taking one last sip. "Let's move out."
"Right. Let's go guys!" Sora got up and followed Tron and IRIS.
Everyone looked a little disappointed to leave the pure source of power. So everyone took one last quick sip before they got up.
"Come on Aid. Put a cork in it." Ram urged Aiden to get up as he was still drinking.
"One sec Norton…" Aiden insisted as he took a big gulp and exhaled loudly. "Aaaahhhhh…"
Then he ran to catch up with the others. And he grabbed Baby Groot who was swimming in it.
Inside the data space…
They followed inside of a giant digital chamber with green digital blocks floating all over a platform with a ramp that led up to a pedestal that was presented with three different holographic screens. Tron ran up to the one in front and began typing.
"He'll need help. IRIS, take the terminal on the left and run a level six diagnostic protocol." Aiden gave a command to his personal assistant.
"Yes Maverick." IRIS nodded and took the controls.
"Ram, take over the security terminal and see if you can keep any alert protocols at bay." Aiden said to Ram.
"On it." Ram nodded and took the one at the left to keep an eye on any security protocols that would interrupt their progress.
"No good. The DTD required a password to access." Tron stated as he approached a login procedure.
"Well any idea what the password might be?" Sora asked the team.
While the others weren't sure, IRIS received the info from her terminal. Coming from the User that contacted Tron
"I am receiving a hint for the password from S.T. Will-28. He states that access to the Door To Darkness can only be opened by the Seven Princesses Of Heart." IRIS revealed while she was typing.
"Bingo! Spike, tell Tron here the names of every one of the Magnificent Seven." Aiden figured it out and suggested.
"Right right, okay so. The names are Belle, Snow White…." Sora started listing.
"Aurora, Alice, Jasmine." Kairi helped with the other names.
"Cinderella. And….Kairi." Sora finished while giving a smile to Kairi who smiled back.
"Got it." Tron said as he typed in all the names.
Once that was done. The whole data stream lit up as the computer announced 'Passcode accepted.'
"That did it! We're golden!" Ram beamed.
Just then an alarm went off as the whole room turned red. Which startled the team.
'Now switching the DTD over from hibernation to active mode. This process will take some time. Please enjoy a game while the process is running.' The computer announced.
"No!" Kairi gasped.
"Not another game!" Sora groaned.
"Ugh. I knew this was too easy." Donald sulked.
"If I ever get out of this, I'll boycott all video games…..for eleven minutes. And then play GTA V." Aiden quipped.
"Guys, this isn't part of the Game Grid! This is the DTD's final security routine! I can't stop it from here! I can only speed up the process to make sure it ends quickly!" Ram stressed as he kept typing.
"Do your thing Ram. The others and I will watch your back as we play along." Tron stated as he drew out his identity disk.
The others drew their disks as well, as they stood around. Then a group of NPCs that were identical to the ones on the lightcycle track appeared. Only these were brutal and armed like mechs. The kind of robots they had never seen. Except for Aiden and Baby Groot.
"Oh shit. Guys stay alert! They're Dark Mongers!" Aiden stood ready to fight.
"Dark Mongers?! You mean Lash's troops?!" Victoria's eyes widened.
What else?
Before Aiden could answer that, the digital Dark Mongers started shooting at them. They dodged and used their disks to block their attacks while Aiden tossed his disk and took five of them out.
Sora got the general idea as he slashed his disk at four of the Dark Monger heads while Kairi kicked one into several others. Tron was flipping and slashing at the enemy with skill and precision as the team gave their all. Donald and Goofy were making digital scrap metal with their disks while Victoria didn't hold back. Even IRIS was fighting back. Spinning and fighting on alert as they couldn't land and attack on her.
IRIS flip kicked one Monger in the air and Tron jumped to slash it down. He landed next to her as they both stood back to back and took on each Dark Monger that tried to take them on.
The Guardians may not have their keyblades, powers or magical weapons in the Grid. But give them a weapon of any kind and you won't stand a chance against them. Even if you're a dozen armed robots.
Once every single Dark Monger was derezzed. The team looked around.
'Process complete.' The computer announced.
Thus ending the fight.
"Alright!" Sora beamed as everyone cheered as well.
Everyone except IRIS who has the emotions of a computer. And sadly Ram. Who was hunched over the terminal with a painful looking grimace on his face. Sora was the first to notice.
"Ram?" Sora called over to him.
The team turned to see Ram holding his side as he struggled to turn around.
"Crap. This is going to ruin my whole evening." Ram moaned as he fell on the ground.
"Ram!" Tron ran over and helped him up but he was shocked to see a large digital graze on his side. "He's been hurt!"
Ram was apparently shot by one of the Mongers while he operated on the security terminal. The team did their best to protect them. But a shot from a Dark Monger's arm cannon can hit when you least expect it.
"Oh no!" Kairi gasped as the Guardians looked shocked.
"What do we do?!" Goofy asked in fear for Ram's life.
Tron looked back over to the transfer terminal and then at IRIS. "Keep an eye on him?"
"Of course." IRIS nodded and held on to Ram while Tron got up.
Tron went over to the terminal and placed his hand on the transfer port. Once he began gathering the data. Another alarm went off.
'Finally! I have full access to the DTD. My takeover of the system is now complete.' The MCP spoke. 'I might have anticipated such a simple password. What's this? an emergency destruct program for the town? Let's see how it performs.'
"Oh no you don't." Tron glared as he began putting in a different protocol into the DTD as a quick measure to keep the MCP out.
'Program! You changed the password!' The MCP responded to Tron's diversion.
"There. That should buy us some time." Tron sighed.
"Tron, what was that?!" Kairi asked, looking worried.
"That was exactly what I tried to keep the MCP from doing earlier before we were shanghaied on board this place!" Aiden stated why he challenged the MCP earlier.
"And with the DTD. He can access to every protocol that can destroy Hollow Bastion all over again." Victoria realized.
"Not only that, but is loading a hostile program into a nearby Input/Output Tower." Tron revealed.
"What do we do?!" Donald asked.
"We gotta get out of here and save Hollow Bastion." Sora figured.
"I'll carry Ram. Let's make haste to the tower!" Tron insisted as he picked up Ram and ran for the exit.
The others followed as they made their way to their ticket out of the Grid.
Inside the I/O Tower…..
After running past the entrance and the communications hall. Tron and the Guardians made it to the simulation hangar where there was a pedestal with a light beaming from above the sky. Which meant this was their ticket out of the Grid.
"It must be total chaos outside." Ram winced.
"Easy Ram…" Tron sat Ram against the wall for him to rest as his blue circuits were flashing. Meaning he was losing power.
"There's gonna be trouble inside too if whatever's coming in gets past us." Victoria said.
'Who's to say it hasn't already?' The MCP stated as they heard something large inside the hall.
"Oh no!" Donald and Goofy were alarmed.
"Wait here Ram! We'll be back!" Sora said as he ran out to the hall with the others.
"Don't….Don't have too much fun without me." Ram joked and winced as he laid back against the wall while the others ran to face whatever was outside.
Ram would be okay in here for now. The Guardians and Tron had bigger things to worry about right now.
Once they were outside. They looked up at the hallway ceiling to see a Hostile Program hovering menacingly above them all.
This Hostile Program had a smooth, oval-shaped upper body that was indigo in coloration and lined with light grey and red computer circuitry. Nine red, conical spikes protrude from the upper body, and an opening on the front side of it reveals the Hostile Program's three glowing, yellow eyes, which were arranged in a triangular pattern. A smaller opening appears just below this one.
The Hostile Program's lower body was small, predominantly silver, and lined with indigo and red circuitry. It ended in four small, silver appendages.
This enemy's arms weren't attached to its body. Instead, they hovered at its sides. The arms were translucent, violet tubes with pink spikes in them. The Hostile Program has grey "elbows" lined with indigo and red circuitry, and both its hands end in three pink, squared-off fingers with black and red circuitry on them.
The Hostile Program's name reflects its nature as a computer program tasked with eliminating Tron and the Guardians of the Multiverse.
'I'm disappointed in you, Program. Why do you insist on allying with these selfish Users?' The MCP spoke to Tron.
Tron, much to their surprise, didn't seem shocked that the Master Control called them all Users.
"Because I want to help them. Something in my code commands me to do what is right." Tron responded.
"WHAT?!" Donald and Goofy gasped.
"Wait wait wait! Tron?" Sora looked shocked as well. "You knew we were Users?!"
"What can I say? You do a terrible job at hiding it." Tron smiled and responded.
"I am Groot." Baby Groot scowled cutely at Aiden.
"You always blame me for spilling secrets." Aiden snorted at Baby Groot.
'Really? And what command would that be?' The MCP inquired.
"I can't really say for sure." Tron looked uncertain as he turned to Sora.
"Friends." Sora answered Tron. "They help each other. That's all."
The others nodded in agreement.
"Look out!" Kairi alerted as they dodged out of the way from the Hostile Program's incoming fire.
Sora, Aiden and Tron stood together with the team as they drew their disks out and all together as the group began tossing and attacking the Hostile Program. Which was shooting lasers from out of its arms and spikes while moving like an 8-bit boss battle. Dashing from side to side while avoiding some attacks. But not all.
The Hostile Program projected security walls all over the halls which gave an advantage for Tron, who ran up across the walls to fund a weak spot. Aiden copied his moves running up another wall while the others were dodging some spinning digital cubes that kept being projected out of the Hostile Program.
Thankfully their disks were able to derezzed the cubes as Kairi and Victoria got in close and delivered some punches and kicks onto the eyes of the Hostile Program. While Donald and Goofy slashed at its back.
IRIS was blocking all attacks without even looking like she was fighting back. Which confused the team as they were giving their all into taking out this Program.
"IRIS! What are you doing?!" Aiden called out.
"Giving you all an advantage." IRIS stated as her eyes glowed blue and green.
IRIS the entire time had managed to hack into the Hostile Program and caused it to pause.
The team stood and were flabbergasted and amazed. Then they smirked as they all came in at once and gave a really big slash of their disks and took down the Hostile Program all at once.
Thus they ended the fight.
After the fight was over. They ran back inside and saw that Ram's circuits were flashing red. Which didn't mean he was corrupted like Sark's troops. This meant that he was dying.
"Oh crap." Victoria looked worried as they ran over.
"Ram?" Tron called out to him.
"Are you alright?" Sora asked as he touched his shoulder which made him hiss in pain.
"Oh my user…..users….users…." Ram muttered as he was beginning to process everything that was happening. "Sora?"
"Yeah?" Sora responded.
"Tron had his suspensions. But tell me please…..Are you a User?" Ram asked looking amazed.
Sora nodded with a sad smile. "Yeah. We all are. Except for IRIS, but…. she's been with us since we started the ride." he chuckled a little.
Ram chuckled back as he looked happy to hear it.
"Hang in there. We can save you." Kairi said with tears in her eyes.
"It's alright. Just…..See this cycle through for me, okay?" Ram responded. Then held Tron's hand. "Tron?"
"Yes?" Tron responded.
"I told you so." Ram smirked as he was the first one to suspect that they were Users.
Tron nodded sadly. "That you did." He agreed.
Then Ram slowly closed his eyes. And he slowly faded away and was completely derezzed. Aiden and Victoria looked broken hearted to see this happen as well as Donald and Goofy.
Kairi silently cried as Sora hugged her. "Ram." He whispered.
Tron looked down to the floor. Having to lose a cell mate and close friend like Ram was hard. It would seem Programs can have something of a heart. Just like Users.
"I'm sorry." IRIS placed a hand on Tron's shoulder. Comforting him.
Aiden took a deep breath and looked up at the light coming from above.
"We have to go. They're waiting for us." Aiden stated.
"He's right." Victoria agreed.
after a moment of silence. Everyone stood up after paying respects to the fallen program and Tron began operating on the terminal.
"I really owe you all. Especially you Sora." Tron stated to the team. "With all my functions up and running, I think I've got a chance of getting system control away from the MCP."
"You mean all of your original functions were restored the moment we accessed the DTD?" IRIS asked him.
"Yeah. And we're all lucky it was there. There's so much more in there. But I believe you all will find use for it." Tron smiled at the team and IRIS.
"Oh believe me, we will." Aiden nodded with a smirk.
"You should know something else. The User you call Ansem the Wise. He was the one who took ENCOM's original system and customized it for his own use. Ram and I were a part of the original system. And Ansem modified us both. My original User was named Alan Bradley. That much I remember about him." Tron gave his insight.
"I know him actually. He now works at an ENCOM commercial building in this world's Chicago. Rest assured he is safe. I will contact him as soon as our journey is over." IRIS stated as she had this info in her database.
"That's good to hear." Tron looked relieved.
"Was Ansem the one who brought in the MCP?" Victoria asked.
"Yes. Ansem may be my User now. But because of his actions, he is also my enemy too." Tron answered as he looked down. "He wasn't the same User we all once knew. He wouldn't be so trusting to something as chaotic as the MCP."
"Was actually. We dealt with him already. And we're trying to repair all of the damage he caused." Sora stated.
"I'm sorry to hear that. And….I'm sorry I didn't tell you all of this earlier." Tron said sincerely.
"It's okay, Tron. But….. There is a lot that doesn't add up about Ansem. It's like two different pictures in one frame for something." Aiden looked confused trying to ponder how Ansem would do all of this while being the dark warrior that Sora fought a year back.
"I don't….. understand it either. But I think users like you, are going to be the ones who will finally figure it out." Tron said confidentially. " You all have the ability to take logical routes and still arrive at the answers you seek."
"It's what we Users do best." Kairi remarked.
"And we'll keep doing it. For everyone. Especially for Ram." Sora assured Tron and out of respect for their fallen friend.
"Thank you." Tron smiled and looked at IRIS who came over to shake his hand. Which he accepted. "Until we meet again?"
IRIS for the first time. Smiled and kissed Tron's cheek. Which made everyone smirk and silently snicker.
"Count on it." IRIS nodded before she went up to join the others.
"I am Groot." Baby Groot said.
"I can't wait to be back up there too. I feel naked without my powers." Victoria agreed as she stressed her arms.
"I bet you would-" Aiden almost made an innuendo about her statement, the smirk gave it away as she cut him off.
"Say it and I'll dump your ass in a recycle bin." Victoria warned her boyfriend with a glare.
"Message received." Aiden mimicked a computer as he sealed his lips.
"I'll keep a dedicated access channel open for you all to access the DTD from the User terminal. I even changed the password so you won't have to worry about the MCP for a while." Tron assured the team.
"Access channel?" Sora inquired looking at Aiden.
"Really Spike? Didn't you ever get a laptop for Christmas? Or even a TV remote?" Aiden deadpanned which made Sora roll his eyes.
"I knew he'd ask." Tron chuckled.
"It's an important link between our worlds. It's how we stay connected from here to above the surface." IRIS explained to Sora.
"Ah gotcha." Sora nodded in understanding.
"And one more thing." Tron said as the portal back up to the surface opened in the I/O Tower.
"Yes?" Sora listened.
"You. My friends, are the new password." Tron declared with a smile.
"Righteous." Aiden smirked as he was impressed to hear that.
"Thanks Tron." Sora smiled as.
"Take care." Kairi smiled as well while the others bid him farewell.
Then at that moment. Every single member of the Guardians of the Multiverse were beamed back up to the surface.
Back up in Ansem's computer room….
With the room empty except for Leon who stood by the terminal and waited patiently.
Suddenly the lights from the Sarah beam lit up and the Guardians of the Multiverse rematerialized right before his eyes.
The team looked around and were glad to be out of the computer.
"Well. That's that." Sora stated.
Kairi inhaled the air. "Nothing beats organic non digital air." she sighed with a smile.
Victoria held her hands up and caused her fingers to spark and inflame from her abilities. She and Aiden's powers were back.
"Sweet burning thunder." Victoria smirked as she dropped her hands.
Then she gave a weird look to Aiden as he was cradling a block of neon covered ice in his arms like a baby.
"Oh chilly magic. I'll never take you for granted again." Aiden mused as he continued to cradle his ice, but then he stopped and dropped the ice the moment he saw everyone give him weird looks. Then he snorted. "How would you react if you lost your ability to fly?"
"Uh….Should I ask?" Leon raised an eyebrow.
"Nothing too complicated, Leon. We couldn't use our powers and keyblades inside that computer. That's all." Victoria stated.
"Well. Anyway. Glad to see you all topside again. Take a look at the screen.
The team looked at the terminal screen and saw some 8-bit images of all members of the Guardians, with a large 'Thank You!' note in the background of orange. It was clear Tron sent that. To let them know they've done good in his world and he'll look forward to their return.
"Thanks Tron." Kairi whispered.
"Hang in there. We'll be back soon." Sora silently promised.
"He'll be fine Spike." Aiden assured his friend and added. "It's best we all pick up where we all left off. Like way before we were rudely interrupted by Alexa's abusive uncle."
"So, where do we start?" Leon asked as they approached the terminal.
"First things first, let's access the DTD." Sora suggested and looked at Aiden. "Aid?"
"Way ahead of you Spike." Aiden went up to the computer and started typing. "IRIS?"
Everyone noticed IRIS wasn't with them when they came back. Which means she's back where she belongs. Inside Aiden's ring and suit.
' Hello Maverick. How does it feel to stretch your legs again?' IRIS remarked while speaking from the computer.
"Feels like we just finished crossing the Red Sea. Except it's a computer screen and Sora's not Moses." Aiden quipped and asked while typing. "Give me an update."
'The MPC has been locked out of the system for now. I am in charge of Ansem's computer for the time being.' IRIS stated.
"That's good news." Sora nodded and looked back. "Hey, where did Wedge, Jessie and Biggs go?"
"They were getting reports of Shinra sightings all over the town, and Avalanche went out to check the situation. Of course Wedge was a little anxious to stay." Leon said and grinned at the last statement.
"Awe, poor guy." Kairi crooned amusingly.
'Password required.' IRIS spoke as a login screen displayed in the background screen of the DTD.
"I think we have an idea." Sora smirked.
"So should we start with your name or mine?" Aiden mused.
'No need. Tron told me how it is in order. I'll type it for you.' IRIS automatically inserted the password for them.
"Ooooh You and your digital admirer sharing secrets?" Aiden smirked, mentioning Tron.
'I can't not understand that reference.' IRIS stated while not seeming phased by Aiden's remark.
"Don't worry about it. You'll see your 4K hunk muffin again soon." Aiden teased before the DTD came up on screen.
"We're in." Victoria grinned.
"I think I better go check on the restoration committee. Can't have the Heartless or Shinra invading our home base." Leon said as he picked up his gunblade.
"You're not gonna stick around to see the data? It wasn't exactly a trip to the arcade to get." Sora inquired.
"I'm sure it wasn't, but don't worry. I'll be right back. Why don't you get started on loading up the data and copying every file?" Leon suggested which made Sora look confused by those words. "It's just a few keystrokes. Easy, right?"
Leon grinned at that last statement before tapping Sora's shoulder and leaving.
"Actually….Aiden will handle it." Kairi mused looking at the team. "Sora and computers are like cats and water."
"Huh?!" Sora gawked at Kairi's joke.
"First rule of women, Spike. They're always right. Even when your guts, Testosterone and laws of physics prove otherwise." Aiden quipped while typing. "And….Done. Every file is copied. Ladies and gentlemen. We are about to know everything the Organization knows."
"No way!" Sora gasped.
"Oh boy!" Donald beamed.
"Ahyuck! Where should we start first?!" Goofy asked in excitement.
"What does it say about Riku?!" Kairi pressed in excitement.
Aiden searched for anything related to Riku in the files. After a few seconds some records popped up from the DTD archives.
"What's this?" Sora pointed at the image of Riku in the background.
"It's a psychological profile. Basically everything they know about Riku." Kairi said as she watched.
"It says that during your first Journey, Spike. Riku was deceived by Maleficent into turning against you
In order to find a way to bring back Kairi's heart while trying to follow his destiny and-" Aiden read the details. But Sora spoke up to stop him.
"I know I know! I was there. What happened after he and I closed the door?" Sora groaned.
"Sheesh, someone's bathing in sour grapes." Aiden muttered before he scrolled down. "Ah. Here's something. After that event. Riku was hurled in the realm between light and darkness and woke up in a place called…...Castle Oblivion?"
"Castle Oblivion?" Everyone repeated in confusion.
"Kay?...A place where memories of the Nobodies are archived and where people lose in order to gain….Whatever the hell that means. And Riku was led to follow where Sora's heart led all the way to the top." Aiden kept reading while making a verbal comment in between.
"Wait. Does that mean I was there? Impossible! I don't remember being there." Sora furrowed his eyebrows.
"I don't either." Goofy pondered.
"Yeah…." Donald looked just as confused.
"Hold it Dynamic Trio. There's more." Aiden eased their tension and continued to read on. "He discovered the girl Namine and…..For some reason they call her a witch. I hope it's not the Roald Dahl kind. Anyway, Riku met Namine who was there trying to repair and restore the memories of Sora, Donald and Goofy after they stumbled onto the castle and lost not only their abilities but their memories as well due to the effect of the castle's magic."
"Wait….So we really were there?" Sora was surprised to hear this.
"But we woke up under an old mansion in Twilight Town." Donald Duck pointed out.
"And according to this, all three of you including Jiminy were placed in stasis pods and transfer to that exact lab." Victoria noted as she read with Aiden.
"Ooooh." Sora, Donald and Goofy responded in understanding.
"Gawrsh. No wonder Jiminy's journal told us to thank her." Goofy realized.
"Well. What else does it say about Riku?" Sora asked.
"After Riku battled and took down two members of the Organization named Zexion and Lexaeus. Riku conquered what little of Ansem remained in his heart. Including a replica of himself. Once his battle was over…..He left the castle with Sora in the care of Namine. To walk the road to dawn?" Victoria read out loud looking confused on that last part.
"There's nothing else about Riku after that." Aiden noticed and looked back at Sora sympathetically. "I'm sorry, Spike. I know you were hoping for more than this, But."
Sora looked down sadly. "It's okay but….It seems like every step we keep making to try and understand. We keep getting more questions than answers."
"Don't say that Sora." Kairi placed a hand on Sora's shoulder. "We know Riku got out of the Realm of Darkness and we know he was watching you while you were sleeping. As creepy as that sounds. It's something."
"Yeah. You're right." Sora smiled back at her.
"I am Groot?" Baby Groot suggested as he stood on the terminal.
"Yeah. Maybe some other leads can help." Aiden agreed with the little tree and resumed typing.
"Maybe try looking up anything about the Organization members?" Goofy guessed.
"Exactly." Aiden nodded as he was typing in a search for the files on Organization XIII.
Once a folder popped up on the screen everyone looked interested. But then an alert pop-up came up stating 'The data is corrupted'. Which made Sora groan.
"Hold it Boy Scout. They pulled the oldest trick in the book. The data's not corrupt. It's encrypted to just look that way. See?" Aiden hacked the data and opened up everything about Organization XIII
"Wow." Donald was impressed.
"How did you know?" Sora asked, surprised.
"Same way Gordon Ramsey knows how to sniff out a terrible cook. I have a passion for shit like this, I can smell a digital rat all the way back to Windows 7." Aiden quipped his answer and noticed something on screen. "Unfortunately not all of the members' info has been loaded up yet. It will take a couple of hours but rest assured it will be open even on the Gummi Ship's computer."
"But there is enough here to let us know if you need extra flaws in their ranks. And here's something interesting. They were already a few members down. Even before you woke up, Sora."
"How many?" Sora asked.
Aiden's eyes widened as he read and revealed. "Eight of them!"
"Whoah! Talk about missing a hard blow to the school bully!" Sora remarked in shock.
"Which makes me wonder why are we even still calling them Organization XIII if they have a shorter number?" Victoria figured with her arms crossed.
"Yeah they should be called Organization quarter pounder." Aiden snickered.
Then Aiden pulled up a photo and a file on a mysterious figure. It appeared to be an older gentleman with blonde hair and a beard. Wearing a white lab outfit and a scarlet scarf.
"Who's this guy?" Sora asked curiously.
"I don't know. But he sure does look familiar. Like a decaf deja vu." Aiden quirked his eyebrows looking at the photo.
The file about this mysterious man was incomplete and still loading. So they couldn't read what his name was. But Aiden could swear he had seen this guy before. Either he was too young to remember, or it was perhaps an omen of a forgotten life.
Just then they were trying to figure out who this guy was. King Mickey himself walked in and greeted his friends with a chuckle.
"Hey everyone!" He waved at them.
The team turned around and gasped in shock and joy. Including mostly Sora, Donald and Goofy.
"Spider-Man?!" Aiden gasped.
"YOUR MAJESTY?!" Donald and Goofy exclaimed happily.
"Oh right. I knew that." Aiden bit his lip.
Mickey gestured to them to shush before checking to see if everyone was standing behind him. "Settle down fellas. The Organization might be listening." He warned them, which they understood.
But then Donald and Goofy tumbled on top of him with big hugs. Even Goofy was Ahyucking and lifted both of them up in a bear hug. The others stood and smiled at the sight.
"I am Groot!" Baby Groot waved at Mickey.
"Long time no see!" Sora greeted him.
"I'll say. You know the fam back home were disappointed you didn't show up for Christmas last year." Aiden remarked.
"Awe, I'm sorry to hear that." Mickey chuckled and asked. "By the way, How's Minnie doing?"
"She's doing well. She believes in you." Victoria assured him which the king felt relieved to hear.
"It's wonderful to see you all again, I heard about all of the good you've done across the multiverse." Mickey smiled at every one of the Guardian members. And he was glad to see Kairi with him. "And I'm glad to finally meet you Kairi."
"Hehe. It's wonderful to meet you too, Your Majesty." Kairi smiled and gave a short courtesy.
"I am Groot?" Baby Groot asked.
"Groot here asked where have you been? We couldn't find you, even with all the magic and tech we had available." Victoria wondered.
"Ah. Well. I've been following the Organization's trail for the past year. After we closed the Door to Darkness, I became aware of them and their wicked deeds." Mickey explained.
"How were you able to hide from them?" Kairi asked.
"Well funny thing is their black coats are able to block anyone from sensing their presence. Including each other. So I borrowed one." Mickey wiped the sleeves while gesturing to the black coat he was wearing.
"Ah. And I just assumed they were a Marilyn Manson fan club." Aiden quipped while understanding why they wear black robes.
"Well now that we're here. And I see you got things working." Mickey gestured to the terminal.
"Yep. We're also copying everything in the DTD." Sora said.
"We?" Aiden inquired gesturing that he's been the only one operating the terminal.
"Good going. The computer should tell us the things we need to know." Mickey said as he was glad to hear it.
"It sure told us a lot. But most of it is still downloading." Kairi pointed out.
"Plus it showed us a picture of some guy we don't know." Sora gestured at the photo on the screen.
King Mickey got a good look at the picture and his eyes widened.
"It's Ansem the Wise!" He stated
"Ansem?" They all asked looking confused.
But Sora chuckled. "Really funny Your Majesty. We defeated Ansem last year and he looked nothing like that." He grinned.
"Did you forget what he looked like, Your Majesty?" Donald inquired.
"Of course I do. And this is him, I'm positive." Mickey insisted that picture was him.
Aiden was about to speak up when he remembered something.
"Wait a minute. Yeah, he's right." Aiden admitted.
"Really, Aid." Sora raised and eyebrow.
"I swear to God, Spike. I remembered seeing Ansem in person when we came to visit the children at the hospital I stayed at. I was about four when I saw him personally greeting me and the children. I was so young and it was the only time I ever saw him." Aiden recalled.
"Rest assured one young. No disease is incurable. You will have your time to join us in the sun." He remembered Ansem's exact words.
"But are you sure that's what he looked like?" Goofy asked.
"Well I was under a lot of meds at the time. So maybe everyone looked like a Professor Thor." Aiden figured.
"I assure you Aiden. If you've met Ansem. And that's what he would've looked like." Mickey insisted on the picture.
"Excuse me, Your Majesty, but could you come this way please?" Sora took King Mickey's arm and dragged him back over to the office.
While everyone followed. Aiden turned around when a new file pinged on the screen. Aiden got curious and walked back over to the terminal.
"IRIS? what is this?" Aiden asked, looking at the file.
'This is everything they have on Project Stormur.' IRIS stated.
"Stormur?" Aiden furrowed his eyebrows as he read the details and information.
And what Aiden read was something he never would've expected. He took everything in as he was wondering if this was all false info. Except the Organization wouldn't waste time to put lies on their most secure info.
"IRIS. Pull up every info the DTD has on the Nobodies named Dianex, Roxas, Axel…...And Xion." Aiden said while typing.
'Yes Maverick.' IRIS obeyed and pulled up so much info.
While everyone was talking and having an understanding in Ansem's office. Aiden remained in the computer room and took in everything that was taken by total shock. He was flabbergasted. The Nobodies that he always hated for killing his mother. Everything he knew about them, and everything he ever believed about them…..Was wrong.
He was wrong.
"Holy shit." Aiden choked in shock as felt his heart tug. And his eyes start to water at all of this revolation.
Meanwhile back in Ansem's office…
Mickey was brought back to the office as they all stood in front of the portrait on the wall of Ansem. The Heartless leader Sora, Donald and Goofy defeated years ago.
"Look, this is Ansem. You know? The guy we worked reeeally hard to take down?" Sora pointed at the portrait on the wall.
"Oh. That's right. You all were told." King Mickey realized.
"Told about what, Your Majesty?" Kairi asked.
"Well, the man in this picture is definitely the one who tried to take over Kingdom Hearts. The one you fellas defeated." Mickey said looking back at Sora, Donald and Goofy. "But what you actually fought was his Heartless. You see, he wasn't really Ansem. He just went around telling everybody that he was."
This new revelation was slowly starting to kick in for Sora, Donald and Goofy. All of the work they did last year led them up to defeating this guy. All of the worlds they've seen and people they saved. They felt like they accomplished something of great importance to defeat Ansem. But now they're realizing that never was Asnem.
"You mean?" Kairi realized this as well, as she nervously looked back at Sora, Donald and Goofy who were pondering the words of King Mickey very carefully.
The trio looked at each other. And then it hit them.
"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!" All three of them exclaimed in shock which even startled King Mickey.
"We went through all of that trouble to defeat an imposter?!" Sora sulked in shock and disappointment as he hunched down.
"Yep. A fake, but he still had to be stopped." Mickey stated.
"Ah….I can't believe it!" Donald exclaimed.
"Come on guys. You still accomplished a lot last year! You saved me and billions of people when you brought all of those worlds back out of darkness." Kairi said which somewhat cheered them up.
"Uh, I'm kinda confused. If he's a fake, then what happened to the real Ansem?" Goofy asked Mickey.
"Welp then that's just what I'm trying to figure out." Mickey said as he looked back at the secret entrance. "Ansem the Wise should know all about Organization XIII's plans and what's been happening to the other worlds. I'm pretty sure he'll give us some help."
"And if not. What we found on his computer will." Victoria pointed out.
"Right. You know. I came close to finding Ansem once." Mickey stated in agreement.
"Now that I think about it…." Victoria realized.
"Don't tell me there's more!" Sora moaned as he was getting overwhelmed by all of these secrets revealed. "I'm lost enough as it is."
"Cool your jets Destiny's Child. I'm just thinking out loud, But…..If Anti-Ansem here became a Heartless. Doesn't that mean a Nobody was created too?" Victoria theorized.
"You got it Tori. And that Nobody is, the leader of Organization XIII." Mickey revealed.
"WHAAAAAAAAAAAT?!" They all responded at once.
"I know I met this fake Ansem before. And I've seen the leader of the Organization too. It kinda felt like being around the same fella." Mickey remarked.
"So where did you meet this guy?" Kairi asked.
"Honestly….I can't remember." Mickey admitted. "But Ansem might know if not the computer. That's another reason why I have to find him."
Then Sora glared at Fake-Ansem's picture with such fury.
"You. You started all of this." Sora seethed. "Because of you. All of the people who suffered. And Riku is…."
"Wait a minute, Riku!" Kairi turned and anxiously asked Mickey. "Your Majesty, do you know where he is?!"
Sora shared her worry as he held his breath wanting an answer too.
Mickey's eyes widened and he looked down sadly. "He's…..I'm sorry. I can't help." He said.
Sora gave King Mickey a skeptical look. He felt like the King was hiding something.
"Really, Your Majesty? Are you sure?" Sora insisted, trying to look at Mickey's expression as his back was turned to him while looking down..
"I'm sorry. But I can't really say." Mickey insisted.
"I can."
They all turned to see Aiden in his Maverick form as he walked over to the team.
"The computer told me enough about the Organization's plans. And what homeboy's been doing, Spike." Maverick stated.
"Really?! What?!" Sora's eyes lit up with Kairi while Mickey looked worried and gestured to not tell them.
"He's been working in the shadows trying to stop the Organization from making progress with their plans to create a new Kingdom Hearts. They believe that if they make one. They'll become real people." Maverick revealed.
"Except that would cause a serious unbalance between the realms of light and darkness." Victoria pointed up.
"And they don't give a flying ***k about what happens to the rest of us. All they care about is gathering as many hearts as possible so they can make and create their home made Kingdom Hearts." Maverick stated.
"How are they able to do that?" Donald asked.
"The files didn't say. But it's so obvious. They use their troops of Husks to summon and attack the Heartless in order to capture their hearts. And it seems like we were interfering with their goals and slowed them down." Maverick figured.
"And that's why they made Stormur." Victoria nodded in understanding.
"To either get rid of us or to slow us down." Maverick stated. "Mostly me."
"But did the computer say where Riku is?" Sora asked
"No, but be glad it doesn't. Because if it did, those boys in the hood would've killed him a long time ago." Maverick stated which made Mickey relieved.
Sora wasn't ready to hear the one secret about Riku. And apparently Maverick agrees.
"Oh." Sora sadly understood.
Then the whole room shook as there was the feeling of an explosion and Earthquake outside. Everyone was startled as they stopped themselves from tripping.
"What was that?!" Kairi asked.
"Sounds like things are coming to a head." Victoria figured.
"Could be, or Shinra. Either way. We're Guardians." Sora narrowed his eyes at the danger as he shifted into his keyblader armor. "Let's go guard the multiverse and kick some butt."
"Hell yeah." Maverick smirked as Kairi shifted into her armor and Victoria shifted into Blaze.
Then as the Guardians ran out to the halls. Mickey and Maverick lagged behind to talk.
"You know? Don't you?" Mickey asked Maverick.
Maverick confirmed he knows now what happened to Riku.
"As much as I love seeing that dork gawk and whine. Sora is my friend too. And he's not ready to hear the whole truth." Maverick agreed with Mickey's decision to not tell Sora.
"Riku made me promise. But….Thanks. And I can tell you weren't either. Are you alright?" Mickey asked Maverick out of concern of what he read back there.
"I am. And I will be. Now more than ever." Maverick confidently stated.
With all of this clarity in mind. The Maverick and the Guardians are ready to face off against the source of all of their troubles and struggles. And this time, Maverick is going to do it the right way. Not out of vengeance. But of absolution.
"Let's go Mick." Maverick walked out with Mickey to join the team outside.
"Right behind you Mav." Mickey winked and smiled as they left.
THAT'S ALL FOR NOW FOLKS!
Before anyone comments. Yes. Maverick and the Guardians have no idea that Organization XIII actually wants them to fight as many Heartless as possible to collect hearts. Aiden is just drawing a conclusion since that part of the info was not in the DTD files. But rest assured, it will come up in the upcoming battle in the next chapter. With more added to the drama.
Sorry for those of you that might have hoped that I was going to spare Ram his fate, but it was inevitable. Still I hope the difference for how it was executed was done respectively.
But look on the bright side. King Mickey is back! YAAAAY!
"for now." Maverick muttered.
BTW. Did you folks like how I'm shipping a personal romance idea for IRIS and Tron? Cute right?! I mean I know Tron had Yori from the film. But since she never showed up in future installments. And since she was a main character from the film just like Keven Flynn was who are both absent from KH II and this story. I figured 'Tron X IRIS' was a better and more unique course to take.
And also some secrets have spilled due to Aiden's genius level skills at operating and decrypting the files on the DTD. Something Sora could never do to save his own life.
"HEY!" Sora exclaimed.
Don't worry you're still awesome Sora. It's in my name.
"Fine." Sora sighed.
Also Aiden has learned the truth about what happened to Dianex. He knows also everything about Roxas, axel and Xion. And what happened to them as well. Now his pure hatred for the Nobodies is starting to fade as he realizes that just because their kind murdered his mother. Not all of them are monsters. And Roxas and his friends were victims just like he was.
Whatever happens next. Aiden's next priority is to find a way to help them. 'How' You may ask. Well I'll give you a hint. The DTD had more than just info in their data. And now it's all in the hands of the Maverick.
But also Aiden knows what happened to Riku. Will he tell Sora soon? Will this next battle go well despite my hints?
Find out in the next chapter!
And share me your ideas if you want it to come out faster. leave your thoughts in the comments below. If you like what you see, don't forget to fave and follow.
And as always Disney/Square Enix fans!
FISTBUMP!