Previously on SAK: Sword Art Kingdom
Suddenly, there was something ringing in the Gummi Ship. "Sounds like someone's callin' us." Goofy guessed, looking to a blinking light at the control panel.
"I got it." Yui replied, and she pressed the button. The screen above them flickered, and Leafa's face appeared on the monitor. Based on her expression, it was not a pleasant call.
"Sugu." Kirito stated, "You doing ok?"
"Not a good time right now!" Leafa told him, and Kirito noticed the distress in her voice, "This is bad. There's chaos here in Hollow Bastion, and you guys are the only ones able to fix it!"
"What do you mean?" Asuna asked, standing up at these words, "What's happening there?"
"It's…really hard to explain right now…" Leafa started.
Just then, Recon's voice called out from behind her. "Leafa!" he shouted, "There's a bunch more coming! Leon needs your help!"
"Got it." Leafa answered, turning her head behind her, then to the screen again, "Listen, just get over here as soon as you can, ok?" She pressed a button, and the screen went blank.
The team looked to one another. "What should we do?" Donald asked.
"It's obvious, isn't it?" Sora answered, "We need to head to Hollow Bastion right away!"
"Yui, set coordinates to Hollow Bastion!" Kirito ordered.
"On it." replied Yui, setting in the coordinates, and the Gummi Ship took off towards Hollow Bastion. 'Sugu, please don't do anything reckless before I get there.' Kirito thought to himself as the Gummi Ship flew at a fast pace towards their destination.
It took an hour, but the team finally got to Hollow Bastion. They didn't waste any time, and they teleported down to the surface. They arrived at the usual touchdown spot, only they saw a bunch of Soldier Heartless running away from the scene.
"Wait a sec…" Sora said in a puzzled tone, "I thought everything was supposed to be under control here!"
Just then, they heard something from behind them. "Hey, look!" Donald stated. They saw the defense mechanism of Hollow Bastion moving around on its' own, but something was off about it. It had a different hue on it, and it wasn't attacking the Heartless.
Kirito got in close to check it out, but instead it got near him and knocked him aways, landing in the middle of the group. "What was that for?" he asked, rubbing his head as he stood up.
"The programing on it made it hostile to people." Yui explained, analyzing it. Kirito stood up, but he looked down and noticed he dropped Aincrad's Soul on the ground. He quickly grabbed it and pocketed it so he wouldn't lose it.
"Must be Organization XIII again." Sora assumed, "We better go see Leon."
The team started making their way through town, passing by the shops They noticed Cloud as they ran, but they didn't have time to chat. They only stopped to drop off all the items they had to the Moogle at his stand before running down the stairs to the Borough. They made their way through the Borough until they were able to see Merlin's house. They started walking their way towards it, with Donald in the lead. He almost made it to the steps when suddenly a defense mechanism rushed past him, almost running him over. Suddenly, Heartless appeared in front of them, though they weren't the Heartless that they were expecting.
"Strafers?!" Yui exclaimed, "And a Devastator?! But why here?"
"Less talk, more action!" Kirito cried out, shocked to see the kinds of Heartless that were in front of them. The team went to work, taking on the group of cybernetic Heartless. They were tricky to deal with, especially because the Devastator was shooting from a distance while the Strafers kept blocking them. Not to mention that the defense system was no longer destroying the Heartless, but now helping them. The team eventually found a way to destroy them, and they cleared them out.
When they did so, the door to Merlin's house creaked open, and Yuffie came out to meet them. Everyone gathered up to meet her. "Come on in!" she told the group.
"Wait just a sec…" Sora cut her off, "What's happened to this place?"
"Why are there Heartless from Tron's world here?" Yui asked.
"And where's Sugu?" Kirito asked, hoping she was safe.
"Leafa is in the bailey at this moment, clearing out the Heartless in there." Yuffie answered him, "C'mon, just get inside!" She led the group inside.
In there, Cid was working hard at the computer, and Yuffie and Merlin were watching him work. "Hurry up, Cid!" Yuffie told him.
"Give me a second!" barked Cid, pounding at the keyboard.
"Confound it! Hurry!" Merlin told him.
"Why, you…!" sneered Cid, gritting his teeth. The team drew near trio at the computer.
"What's going on?" Sora asked the group's question. Yuffie, Merlin and Cid all turned to them.
"Talk about yer good timin'!" Cid stated to them.
"Leafa told us to come back." Asuna responded, "Now what's going on?"
"The MCP is wreaking havoc inside the computer." Yuffie explained.
"You're kidding me!" gasped Yui.
"Not again!" moaned Donald.
"Accordin' to Leon, anyway…" Cid stated, "He went on over to Ansem's study to find out what all the ruckus was about. Turns out the MCP is using the data in that computer to crank out Heartless. The MCP's been messin' around with the town's control system, too."
"How horrible!" Asuna said in surprise.
"That MCP sure doesn't know when to quit, does it?" Yuffie stated.
"I can't believe how far the MCP will go to destroy people's lives." Yui said, fearing the destruction.
"That's a computer program for ya." Cid stated. He then heard Asuna clear her throat, and caught her glare at him. "I mean besides your kid!" he realized and corrected.
"How's Tron doing?" Sora asked.
"We can't reach him." Yuffie answered, "We figure he must have been forced onto the game grid."
"I bet it's one of those games that we dealt with; the not-so-fun ones." Kirito stated. Donald moaned in sympathy for Tron.
"And I guess this is why Leafa called us." Asuna stated, "Since we know Tron, and we know the environment inside the computer, we could deal with that problem." Cid nodded in response.
"We'll go check on Tron." Sora told them.
"Thanks, kids." Cid thanked them, "We're puttin' together an MCP Eradication program. I got a hunch it's almost finished, too."
"Well, I hope your hunch is right for once!" argued Merlin. Cid turned to glare at Merlin.
"Listen, we're gonna need Tron's help when that Eradicator's completed…" Yuffie informed the group.
"Don't sweat it." Sora responded, "We'll make sure to tell Tron!"
"I'm worried about him." Yui moaned, "So let's hurry over to Ansem's computer as soon as we can!"
Merlin and Cid stopped glaring at each other and looked to the group. "Remember, boys and girls; we're counting on you." Merlin told them.
"Roger!" Sora answered.
"No pressure." Kirito added amusingly. And with that, the team dashed out of the house.
The team ran out of the house and started racing along the street to the bailey. They had to deal with tons more Heartless, not to mention the defense system. The main Heartless that stood in their way were the Bookmasters, Strafers and Morning Stars. As they were reaching close to the bailey, the heard Recon's voice inside cry "Aeroga!" Suddenly, a couple Strafers came flying out of the door, then they disappeared. The team were surprised at the sudden attack. They watched as Leafa and Recon came walking out of the bailey, panting in exhaustion.
"That attack is a lot more powerful that Aerora, that's for sure." Leafa stated.
"Man, I'm worn out." groaned Recon, slumping his shoulders, "These Heartless just keep coming no matter how many times we defeat them!"
"Then why don't you let us do some work here." Kirito stated, drawing the two's attention.
"Glad you made it here." Leafa stated, "You would not believe how many Heartless keep popping up. It's complete chaos here!"
"Well then it's a good thing were here to help you out." Sora said to them, eager to see Tron again.
"We were about to check up on Cid to see how that MCP Eradicator program is doing." Recon explained, "Did you talk to him?"
"Yeah." Asuna answered, "He's almost done, but he still needs more time."
"Then we'll lead you to the castle." Leafa told them, "Leon and Aerith are there, so we better hurry."
"Got it." Kirito confirmed, and the crew ran into the bailey.
"By the way, Kirito." Leafa said as they continued running, "How're things going with that gem you got from Aincrad? Any luck reviving the people in it?"
"Oh, you mean Aincrad's Soul?" Kirito corrected her, "No such luck. But I'll keep on finding a solution." He proceeded forward with his dash, leading the group. I have to find an answer. he thought to himself, I made a promise.
The team proceeded onward through the wreckage of the bailey. The place was still damaged from the previous siege of Heartless that stormed it. There were still more Heartless here, too, even though Leafa moaned that they just cleared it. They knocked out all the stragglers before moving through the construction site, which also had hordes of Heartless. Despite their worn out state, Leafa and Recon have both improved their strength and skills since the last time they saw them. Their magic had been improved as well, and they were able to perform other things like Blizzara, Regen, and even Gravity.
They finally made their way to the castle entrance. There didn't seem to be any sign of Heartless there. What were there however were the trio of fairy girls, the Gullwings. They spotted Sora and Kirito's group, and instantly flew over to them, looking angry. "Liars!" Yuna barked at the group.
"Wha…" Sora said, startled at the accusation.
"Leon or Leafa doesn't have any treasure!" Rikku wined at them.
"And we fought for you guys." Paine stated.
"Oh, yeah. I forgot." Leafa recalled, turning to Kirito with a stern expression, "What was with you guys telling them that we had treasure?" She and the Gullwings glared at Kirito, who just remembered why they were angry.
"Hey, it wasn't my fault!" he defended himself, "Donald's the guilty one. He said that you guys had treasure!"
"Donald…?" Goofy said, looking at the guilty one.
"Well, I had to tell them something!" Donald replied. Asuna shook her head at the predicament they were in.
"I don't see how we're gonna work this out." Yuna moaned as Leafa walked to their side. Recon made sure to stay his distance from the problem.
"So what should we do?" Sora asked Kirito, who shrugged, then they turned to the Gullwings. The trio of fairies, along with Leafa, grouped together and started talking to one another, wondering what they should do. The team waited for their conversation to be over. Yui looked somewhat impatient at the moment.
Finally, Leafa and the Gullwings turned back to the group, their decision made. "We're just going to take YOUR treasure." Yuna decided.
"But we don't have anything!" argued Sora.
"Oh, I'm sure you have something valuable." Leafa sneered at them.
"Give me a break, Suguha." Kirito moaned.
"Hmm. Let's take a look." Rikku stated as she flew in to look at each and everyone of them carefully. Kirito fingered the Aincrad Soul. He felt like it always seemed to be in danger of being stolen, no matter where he went.
Rikku flew back to Yuna's side and whispered something in her ear. "Okay, we've decided!" she stated, "The Gullwings are taking all your items!"
"What?!" exclaimed Asuna.
"You gotta be kidding me!" Sora complained.
"Not on your life!" Kirito growled, ready to take his Keyblade out.
"Oh, foofie!" moaned Yuna.
"This stinks!" Rikku whined.
"So not cool…" said Paine.
Leafa sighed. "I knew they would say no." she said under her breath.
"Look, we're very sorry we tricked you, but…" Asuna started, and the others turned their attention to Donald, who tried to look innocent.
"Forget about it." Paine replied, surprising the group, "Leon told us the whole story. He said your journey's been pretty rough."
"So it wouldn't really be right if we took your things." Yuna continued.
"We'll root for you." Rikku said excitedly, "Here, this is from us." She waved her hands, and a Keyblade keychain appeared, with a red, rope-like chain and a strange silver cross on the end.
"Gee, thanks." Kirito replied, reaching out to the keychain.
Leafa's hand dove in and took the keychain instead. "Sorry, but I'll only accept this as an apology from you." Leafa said, dangling the keychain.
"Hey, hold on!" Sora moaned, reaching out, but Leafa retracted the chain.
"From now on, don't make lies about me, ok?" she growled at the group, "This makes us even."
Kirito and Sora looked to each other, then dragged Donald between them and forcefully bowed him to Leafa. "Ok, we're sorry." Kirito and Sora said in unison.
"Sorry." moaned the duck.
"Good. You are forgiven." Leafa replied hotly.
"Bye! Good luck on your journey!" Yuna said to the group. The Gullwings took a pose, and they disappeared in a glittering of lights.
Leafa turned to Yui. "So what's this Keyblade's name?" she asked, holding out the keychain.
"It's simply called 'Gull Wing'." Yui explained, "It is all around weapon, and it will give you an experience boost in critical situations, too."
"Might as well use it." Leafa stated, swapping her keychains on her keyblade, revealing the Gull Wing, which had a feather-looking structure on the guard, ribbons along the blade, and a bird's head on the end with its' wing as the teeth.
"Not bad." Leafa said, looking at her new blade.
"Hurry! To Ansem's computer!" Yui exclaimed to the group, and the team ran down the stairs and into the castle.
The team dashed through the corridors of the castle, dealing with even more Heartless that were inside. They were much tougher than the ones outside, and the fact that they were in an enclosed space wasn't helpful to the team's dodging abilities. Still, they managed to power their way through the place and finally made it to Ansem's study. They quickly recovered and went into Ansem's computer room, where they saw Leon and Aerith standing there, and Leon had his Gunblade out. The moment they heard them, the two turned them, ready to fight. This surprised the team.
"Easy, Leon." Leafa assured him.
"Gawrsh, it's only us!" Goofy stated.
Leon and Aerith relaxed at bit as the team walked over to them. "How are things outside?" Leon asked Leafa and Recon.
"It's a madhouse out there." Recon answered exasperatedly, "Every time we beat them, more pop up!"
"Were just glad this room wasn't damaged." said Leafa.
"You can't talk to Tron if this room gets taken over." Aerith warned the team.
"Did you check in with Cid?" Leon asked.
"Uh-huh." Sora answered.
"And the Eradicator?" Leon asked.
"He said it's almost done." Yui answered.
"Great!" Aerith sighed in relief, turning to Leon, "Say, Leon, why don't you go work with Cid? I have this place under control."
"Are you sure? All by yourself…?" Leon questioned her. Aerith gave him a look that made him second guess what he just said. "…Er, sorry." he apologized, "It's all yours."
"We'll stay here, too." Leafa said, indicating her and Recon, "We can never be too sure of what's to come." Aerith and Recon went to the door to defend against the Heartless.
"How's Tron?" Sora asked Leon.
"We still can't get in touch with him." Leon answered, "Maybe you guys should give it a shot."
"I think it would be best if we do an inside job." Kirito decided, "We'll go talk to him in person."
"Then I have a favor to ask." Leon told the group, "When you find Tron, could you tell him to come to the I/O tower? That's where we'll upload the MCP Eradication program."
"The I/O tower. Got it!" repeated Asuna.
"You be careful in there." Leafa told the group, "You never know what the MCP would be planning."
"We'll be fine." Kirito reassured her, "Have a little faith in your brother."
"Here, Sora. Take this." Leon said, holding something out to him. It was a Keyblade keychain, but a familiar one.
"Wait, isn't this the Sleeping Lion?" Kirito asked, reaching into his pocket and pulling out the same kind of keychain.
"It's another one." Yui explained, "There is more than one of the same Keyblade out there." Kirito didn't realize it. Then again, Sora does have an Oathkeeper keychain just like Asuna, so he should've realized it. Sora took the keychain, and decided to replace his Wishing Lamp for it.
"Watch your backs." Leon told them, and he dashed out of the room to Merlin's house.
Kirito walked over to the computer and looked up at the screen. On it had one sentence; 'Ignorant Users. Obey the MCP'. "Please be okay, Tron." Yui mumbled as she looked up at the screen.
"We'll be there soon, Tron." Sora added, walking right next to Kirito. The two looked to each other and nodded. Kirito activated the machine behind them. As Leafa backed away, the team stood together as it lit up. It digitized their bodies, and they were sent into Ansem's computer into Tron's world.
One moment, they were gone. The next moment, the team arrived in the Pit Cell of Tron's world. Their bodies and clothing adapted to the environment. Yui became human-sized again.
"Gawrsh, I hope Tron's okay." Goofy hoped.
"I hope so, too." Asuna agreed.
"Me, too." Sora seconded.
"Let me check where he is." Yui stated, walking up to the terminal, "It looks like the terminal is working." She typed away at the keyboard, searching.
"Well, looks like we were right. He's in the game grid." Yui told the group.
"Let's go!" Donald squawked.
"Do it, Yui!" Sora ordered. Yui nodded, and activated the teleportation system on the terminal.
The team teleported out of the Pit Cell and into the game grid. The first thing the group noticed was Tron standing in the middle of a horde of Heartless, fighting as best as he could. "Tron!" cried Sora and Asuna.
Tron narrowly dodged a couple Heartless, then turned to the group. "Careful…! Watch out!" he shouted to them. A Devastator charged up a shot, and blasted it straight at Tron, knocking him off his feet.
"Hold on!" Sora called out as the team whipped out their weapons, and charged at the onslaught. The game grid had been enclosed by walls, and they were right next to the gap in the game grid. The team fought as hard as they could against the barrage of Devastators and Magnum Loaders. The Devastators were powerful and endurant while the Loaders were fast and agile, but the team were able to pull it through and take out the enemies. Yui helped Tron up and she led him out of the game grid. The others polished off the rest of the Heartless and followed them.
The team gathered together at the Pit Cell again. Tron was feeling fine again. "You really saved me." he thanked them.
"Don't mention it!" Sora replied.
"What's going on here?" Donald asked.
"The MCP is ready to wage all-out war against the Users." Tron explained, "What's been happening on the outside?"
"Well for starters, Heartless from this world are now outside thanks to a machine." Yui explained, "Not only that, but the MCP messed up the defense control system, and now instead of eradicating Heartless, they are now trying to eradicate us!"
"But Cid's putting together a program that can de-rezz the MCP." Asuna assured Tron, "Once we pick it up at the I/O tower, he things we can use it to stop the MCP for good."
"Let's try it!" Tron exclaimed.
"Great!" Sora responded eagerly.
"So who's this Cid?" Tron asked.
"He's a friend of ours." Sora answered, "Leon, Leafa, Merlin, Aerith, Recon and Yuffie. They're all on the outside worrying about you, Tron."
Tron looked up, as if the people Sora addressed were up there. "I must have a lot of User friends." he assumed.
"You betcha!" Yui replied, smiling at Tron.
"That program oughta be done by now, don'tcha think?" Goofy assumed.
"I believe so." Kirito answered.
"To the tower!" Donald declared.
"Let's go!" Tron agreed.
As they went to the elevator, Tron looked to Kirito with a questionable expression. "What?" Kirito asked, noticing him.
"I'm not sure." Tron answered, "But it seems there is an enormous amount of data on you than before."
Kirito was confused at first, then he remembered something. He pulled out Aincrad's Soul from his pocket and held it up to Tron. "It's probably coming from this." he guessed.
"Fascinating." Tron said, looking at the gem, "But what is it?"
"It's called Aincrad's Soul." Kirito explained, "It contains almost four thousand hearts of Players, or in your case, Users, in it, all of which sorta got de-rezzed." He let Tron hold it as he examined it.
"This is incredible." he said, analyzing it, "From what I can tell, there are 3,854 different sets of data within this. And these were all Users?"
"Yeah." Kirito responded, "But I'm trying to find a way to revive them again, but so far there was no…such…luck…"
Kirito slowed his sentence down, and he stopped in his tracks. Tron looked to him, puzzled. The others turned to him, also confused on why he stopped. Kirito's eyes widened. He looked down at the floor, then looked to Aincrad's Soul. "Kirito?" Asuna asked.
"Of course." Kirito whispered, his voice audible to everyone, "Why didn't I think of this before? That might actually work!"
"What might work?" Sora asked as the group gathered around him.
Kirito looked up to the team. "I think I know a way to revive them!" he exclaimed.
"You do?!" Asuna and Yui asked in unison.
"Think about it! When we enter this world, what happens to our bodies?" Kirito asked them.
"They…turn into data?" Asuna answered.
"Exactly!" Kirito replied, "And what happens when we exit this world?"
"Why they become normal, of course." Yui answered. It took a second before Yui and Asuna knew where this was going.
"You get it?" Kirito asked, seeing their expressions, "Our bodies…our hearts. They turn into data when we enter this world, and back to normal in the other world. And as we already witnessed, the Heartless can also be sent into the real world, too. So why not these hearts?" he picked up Aincrad's Soul from Tron.
"Of course!" Asuna exclaimed, "If we can reconstruct their data into the Players they once were before, we can revive them and send them outside. They'll be living again!" Kirito, Asuna and Yui all beamed at one another. The answer was just plain simple.
Kirito turned to Tron. "Tron, is it possible to separate all these data and reconstruct them back to normal?"
Tron paused, thinking about it. "Well, the data within this item is rather difficult to extract. I don't have the ability to do something like that." The SAO trio looked despairingly at him. "But if we destroy the MCP." Tron continued, "I might be able to gain the program to do such things. And if Yui is able to help, I believe I can restore these Users back to their normal forms."
The trio beamed at the good news. They turned to Sora, Donald and Goofy, who all looked happy for them. "I knew you could figure it out." Sora stated to them.
"Now we have an even bigger reason to destroy the MCP." Kirito stated, looking at each of his friends, "Let's go to the tower, now!" And with that, the team raced onto the elevator to the canyon.
The canyon had a ton of Heartless around, and they were attempting to attack the crew. However, Kirito and Asuna's new-found determination overpowered the Heartless completely. Yui wasn't able to use her powers unless her parents used the Heart Charm, but she was just as determined as them. Sora, Donald, Goofy and Tron were all noticing just how empowered they were, and Tron started to realize just how much reviving these Users meant to them. Regardless, they made it to the platform that sent them to the I/O tower. They dashed through the hall over to the communications room.
"Almost there!" Tron stated as they made it to the door leading to their destination. Suddenly, they were stopped by a group of Heartless that surrounded them. The team whipped out their weapons and prepared themselves.
"Outta the way!" Sora, Asuna and Kirito said in unison. They dispersed, taking on all the Heartless that surrounded them. There were Strafers and Devastators, but they didn't stand a chance against the team. Kirito entered Valor Form, and he knocked out the Heartless like crazy. Once they cleared the area, they proceeded to the communication's room.
Out of Ansem's computer, Leafa, Recon and Aerith were taking a breather from fighting the Heartless. Leafa managed to find a Cosmic Chain down below in a treasure chest, and it improved her defense strength well. While they waited, Leon came tearing back into Ansem's computer room again.
"Did you get it?" Aerith asked. Leon held up a disc, containing the MCP Eradication program.
"Way to go!" Recon cheered as Leon dashed over to the computer and started typing away. Leafa, Recon and Aerith came to either side of Leon, watching him work.
"Warning." said the MCP's voice, "User control is terminated indefinitely."
Leon tried work the computer, but to no result. "No good!" he growled, slamming his fists on the keyboard.
"What do we do?" Leafa asked, "If we don't find a way in, we can't give Tron and the others the program!"
"Leon, let me try." Aerith asked, walking up close to him. Leon looked at her, then nodded.
"What can you do about it?" Recon asked her as Leon handed her the disc.
"This is your final warning." the MCP stated, "Stop at once!"
Aerith walked over to the slit where they could place the disc in. "Bon appetit!" she said, inserting the disc, "Don't talk with your mouth full."
Leon put his palm to his face, unable to believe on how simple it was. "That seemed…way too easy." Recon stated.
"Is that really gonna work?" Leafa asked.
"What…what are you loading?" the MCP asked hesitantly. Aerith looked to the group, confirming their success.
Leafa looked to the machine behind them. "Please make this work, Kazuto." she muttered, folding her hands together in prayer.
At the I/O tower's communication room, the team were waiting on the platform, looking above at the hole above, where the program was suppose to come from. "Nothing's come in yet." Tron pointed out.
"Give them time." Kirito told him, though he was growing more impatient by the second.
"Leon! Come on!" shouted Sora.
Suddenly, the hole above them lit up, as the data from the program was being transferred over. "There!" Tron said excitedly.
"That's the program!" Yui stated.
"All right!" exclaimed Sora as Tron leapt up onto the platform. The light from above shone down upon him as he took out his identity disc and held it up high. The disc started to glow, and it floated all the way up to the hole. It went through the light above, and disappeared. For a while, the team waited. Finally the disc came floating down, now glowing even more. Tron made a grab for it, and examined it curiously. The light above disappeared.
"Looks like all of the data has been transferred." Yui stated, eyeing the identity disc.
"What's it like?" Goofy asked.
"This is very strange…" he muttered, seeing his disc.
"That's Merlin's magic!" Donald pointed out.
"Huh?" Tron voiced, turning to the others, "There's a power booster for me! And flight routines for the solar sailer!"
"Solar sailer?" Kirito echoed.
"It's the transportation we'll use to get to the MCP." Tron explained.
"Meaning…we're set?" Sora asked.
Tron put his identity disc back onto his back and hopped off the platform into the middle of the group. "Well, like you Users say; 'we won't know until we give it a try!'" he quoted. Sora, Kirito and Asuna all smirked at this comment.
"We'll need a sailer to reach the MCP, so let's get to the simulation hanger!" Tron told the group.
"Right!" everyone responded, and they ran out. The hanger was on the other end of the I/O tower. They had to get through a few Heartless, including some Bookmasters and Surveillance Robots. Finally, they reached the hanger, where they saw the solar sailer. It was pretty much a big platform with an engine, sails, and the controls to using it. They got on board, and Tron got it all set up.
"You ready?" Tron asked them.
"Lets go." Kirito answered, ready to take on the MCP.
The solar sailer activated with Tron at the controls. It looked like there was a railway line made of light which the vehicle ran on. Tron explained to them that the solar sailor ran on this wave of light. He also explained that the sailer did not have any defense systems, and that the MCP would surely attack them. If the sailer had too much weight on it, it would slip of the railing and fall, so they had to make sure that didn't happen. When his explanation was done, he started up the sailer, and they were off. The sailer flew through a vast land of data. It looked sort of barren. There wasn't much to see. Sora, Donald and Goofy looked to all sides, pretty much sight-seeing. Kirito, Asuna and Yui were standing in the middle, watching them and looking out for Heartless.
Tron turned and noticed Sora and his buddies fooling around. "You've got to keep a lookout." Tron sighed at them, "The MCP isn't going to just let us waltz in." Sora looked to him, and rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment.
"Sora's even carefree in this sort of situation?" Kirito questioned out loud, "Where does he get it?" Asuna and Yui shrugged in response.
Suddenly, a Devastator appeared from Sora's side, startling him. It produced legs and landed onto the sailer. A few more Heartless appeared along with it. Everyone drew their weapons, preparing to fight. "We need to get them off!" Tron told the group, "If we have too much weight, the sailer will fall and we'll never get to the MCP!"
"On it!" Sora replied, and the team charged in for the attack. The team had to deal with the Heartless on board, though more kept piling up. As strong as they fought, the Heartless started to swarm on top, attempting to stop them.
"We're over the 50% until the solar sailer is over the weight limit." Tron stated, knocking back a Surveillance Bot.
"At this rate, we'll never beat them!" Sora exclaimed, already in his Master Form as he, Donald and Goofy took on two Devastators. Kirito and Asuna were struggling with their group of Heartless, and they didn't know how they could defeat them in time.
"Mama! Papa!" Yui cried out, running over to them, "Summon my powers!" Kirito and Asuna looked to her, then to each other, and nodded in agreement.
Kirito pulled out the Heart Charm, and he and Asuna held it up together. "Summon!" they shouted in unison. In a short cutscene, Yui flew into a gate, and was instantly encased inside a ball of data. She curled herself up inside of it as her program started to flow into her again, and she gained her original programming. She landed back on the ground and hugged Kirito and Asuna together as they hugged back.
"Okay. Let's do this!" Kirito declared as the mother, father and daughter gathered together to take on the Heartless. Yui wasn't holding anything back, and was delivering all the attacks she could against the Heartless along side Kirito and Asuna. Tron noticed her programming had changed, but he didn't pay too much attention to it. They stalled out the Heartless from coming aboard.
"Mama! Papa!" Yui shouted to them, indicating that she wanted to do her Limit Break.
"Gotcha!" Kirito replied, turning to his friends and shouting, "Everyone, stay back!" Sora, Donald, Goofy and Tron all stepped back as the group of Heartless that were still on board gathered in front of Yui. Asuna and Kirito shot beams of light at Yui, giving her the power to produce her special flaming sword. She held it above her head, and with one swipe, she sent a blast through the entire area in front of her. When it was clear, there were no signs of Heartless there, vanished without a trace.
"Incredible." Tron gasped, seeing Yui walk back to the others, "You completely de-rezzed them."
"It wasn't her first time." Kirito noted, rubbing her head, "Despite being a Mental Health Program, she knows pretty much how to defend herself." Yui giggled as Kirito rubbed her head. Tron watched them, starting to see a bit of the 'family bond' that Users had, despite the fact that she wasn't their actual daughter. This was something he hadn't really figured out. Well, at least he understood what the meaning of 'friendship' was. He has that with Sora, Donald, Goofy, Kirito, Asuna and Yui. Not to mention he has friends in the outside world. He kind of liked that.
"Is that it?" Donald asked, pointing into the distance. Tron turned to where Donald was looking at. There was an ominous tower off in the distance, surrounded by rocky ledges, and a red beam shot up into the sky from the tower.
"Yes." Tron answered, "That's where the MCP is at." The team looked onward towards their destination. They docked the ship and got off. Yui had already lost her Summon powers then. They got off and looked up at the tower before them. "The MCP is straight ahead." Tron told them.
"Time to settle things for good." Sora stated.
"And once we defeat him, it will restore this world, Hollow Bastion, and the hearts in Aincrad's Soul." Kirito stated. They looked to each other, and nodded. They proceeded forward into the base of the MCP.
The team entered into the tower and looked in front. There was a very large hole in the ground, In the center, there were two very large red cylinders that looked like columns. The top cylinder looked like it had a polygon face spinning rapidly counter-clockwise. Then they noticed that the cylinders were being projected from a very small spherical device that was between them. It was silver, with a red circular light displayed on it.
The team felt another presence, and they turned to see a familiar face looking at them. "I remember him!" Sora recalled.
"Sark." Tron sneered, "The MCP's number two."
"Tenacious little bugs!" Sark snapped at them, "Your time is up. Prepare for de-resolution!"
"After you!" shouted Kirito, and he, Sora and Tron led the team into a battle with him.
Sark produced a group of Strafers against the oncoming team. Sora, Kirito and Tron bypassed the group while Asuna, Donald, Goofy and Yui fought the small brigade. Sark used his identity disc, and he threw it at the group. The trio dodged it, and Kirito attacked him with a barrage of attacks, followed by Sora's barrage. Tron threw his disc at Sark, adding more to the damage. Sark immediately teleported the moment he got his identity disc. He then tossed it again at the group. Kirito stepped in and scooped up the disc with his Keyblade, and tossed it into the air.
"Take it! We don't want it!" he shouted, and he whacked the disc back at Sark, damaging him and causing him to daze.
"Kirito!" Sora shouted, and the two entered their Limit Break, Starwave Stream. They didn't even give Sark a chance to recover as they attacked him relentlessly, ending with their furious 'Cross Storm'.
Sark was on one knee, damaged from the attack he just survived. Asuna, Donald, Goofy and Yui walked up to the rest of the group, having dealt with their battle. "You're very persistent, Tron." Sark groaned as he struggled to get up again.
"I'm also better than you." Tron added. Sark tried his best to stay on his own two feet.
"We…would have made a great team…" he moaned. Tron powered up his identity disc, and tossed it at Sark. It hit him square on the forehead, and he collapsed face first onto the floor, defeated.
Tron grabbed his disc and placed it back. "Now for the MCP!" he stated, turning to the rotating face.
"This thing is the MCP?" Sora asked.
"That's it." Tron answered, "Ugly, isn't it?"
"It looks…somewhat primitive compared to the Cardinal system." Yui compared.
"And much more evil at that." Kirito added.
"Tron…" the MCP spoke up, "Don't you understand? We don't need Users. We've advanced, they're superfluous. Be a part of me, and together the world will be ours to control!" Tron shook his head at this.
"MCP. You still don't get it, do you?" he yelled at him.
The MCP's face started to slow down, then it looked down at the group before them, then at Sark. "Sark…" he called out to the lifeless body, "Sark! All my functions are now yours!" The MCP then projected a beam of light onto the head of Sark.
"He's adding new programing to Sark's data." Yui exclaimed as the team witnessed it. Sparks seemed to emanate from Sark's body to the floor. He then started to get up. As he did so, he grew bigger and bigger, until he was ten times the size of the team beneath him. He looked all around, then he looked down at the group beneath him, and he was ready to fight.
"So now we have to fight the MCP and him?!" exclaimed Asuna, shocked at the size of Sark.
"The bigger they are, the harder they fall." Kirito quoted, "But our main focus is on the MCP. Let's take both of them out!"
The MCP produced a circular barrier around the gap between it and the team. The barrier started to be coated in an energy as it started to spin rapidly around. Getting to the MCP was impossible at the moment, so they had to deal with Sark. He kept stomping down onto them, so the team had to dodge them.
"We need to aim for his head!" Yui called out to them.
"How?" Donald asked, "He won't come down to us!"
"Then let's force him down." Kirito stated, and he made a few swipes at one of Sark's legs, and he damaged it.
"Good idea!" Sora shouted, and he charged in. Sark then produced a barrage of lightning bolts down at Kirito and Sora. Kirito got shocked, but Sora put up a Reflera in time, and sent the damage to his other leg. This caused Sark to kneel down to them, his head wide open. "Now!" Sora shouted, and he led Asuna, Donald, Goofy and Tron into action. Kirito recovered from the shock, and joined them. They took turns dealing damage to Sark, until finally, he started to hover in the air, paralyzed from data errors.
"Now we aim for the MCP!" Tron stated, turning to the wall. It stopped rotating, and it stopped producing the energy that protected the wall.
"Strike at the wall!" Kirito shouted, "Make a gap in it!" He dove in and slashed furiously at one part of the wall.
"Switch!" Asuna shouted, and Kirito backed off to let Asuna dive in and unleash her combo of attacks. She made one shining jab, and she broke the barrier.
"Tron, now!" Asuna cried, and she backed off as Tron, Sora and Yui dove in, ready to execute the Eradication program. They set the identity disc up, and fired a beam at the machine that powered the MCP. It was doing its' job, since it looked like the MCP was being severely damaged. This wasn't stopping the MCP from stopping them, and he lifted the barrier above them, caused it to spin around rapidly. The hole in the barrier was not where it was before. Not only that, but when he brought it back down, beams of energy were being fired from the barrier. Sora, Tron and Yui didn't have time to get away, and were blasted from the attack, slamming into the wall behind them.
"Sora!" Goofy shouted.
"Yui!" cried Asuna. Another beam of energy was about to hit the trio again had it not been for Kirito's quick thinking on using Reflera in front of them. After that, the lasers stopped firing.
"Guys, you ok?" he asked them as they got up.
"I think so." Sora replied.
"I really underestimated him." Yui stated, "I didn't know that the attack would actually hurt me."
"What?" Kirito questioned in surprise.
"I only took half of the damage compared to the others, but the MCP is able to get through my immortality." Both Yui, Kirito and Asuna looked fearful. The MCP has the power to damage Yui, too? They had to finish him off quickly.
The MCP repaired Sark's data once again, and he was now kicking. The team basically did the same routine with him; attack his legs, avoided his thunder attacks, brought him to his knees, struck the head continuously until he was damaged too much. After they were done, they waited for the opportunity when the wall stopped spinning, then they dashed at the wall, and struck it continuously until there was an opening. Sora, Tron and Yui dove in and repeated the deletion process. As they were damaging the MCP, the others watched the wall carefully. The was started to spin rapidly, then it floated up into the air. They noticed it starting to shoot laser beams.
"Get outta there!" Asuna shouted to them. Sora, Tron and Yui dove out of the way just as the barrier set into place again. Everyone started avoiding the laser fire, whether it was by jumping, dashing or quick-running. But the MCP started firing the laser rapidly and randomly from the barrier. Yui ended up going into her fairy form and flew up above the laser fire. Asuna's quick wit was able to predict where the fire was at. Tron was able to see the pattern, too. The others did get hit at different point, but thankfully they weren't fatal. The MCP stopped firing, but he restored Sark again.
Yui dove back into her human form again, and watched her friends and family fight. She dashed in just as Sark tried to put up a tall wall in her path. It blocked her from getting to the others. "Everyone!" she shouted, slamming her fists onto the wall in front of her.
Kirito heard Yui's voice, and ran over to the wall. "Yui!" he called out, "Are you ok?"
"I'm fine, but I can't get to you." Yui replied.
"Don't worry. Just hang tough, and we'll find a way to eliminate this barrier."
"Where do you think you're going?" called out Sark's voice. Kirito turned to see Sark stomped towards him. Kirito snarled at him, then he looked up the wall, and got an idea. He tossed his Keyblade up, and leapt up the wall to the top. Once he made it, he grabbed the Keyblade, and he propelled himself towards Sark. He spun like a drill as he pierced Sark's head, causing instant knockout.
"Nice shot, Kirito!" Sora shouted to him as he landed onto his feet again.
The wall that separated Yui from the others disappeared. Yui dashed in as Asuna, Goofy and Donald broke a hole into the barrier. Sora, Tron and Yui got into position in front of the gap, and activated the program once more. The beam of energy damaged the MCP even more, and it looked like it was almost over. However, the MCP had already started spinning the barrier again, and he started to activate the laser beams. "Not yet." Sora moaned as he looked up. He then noticed the barrier falling down. "Now!" shouted Sora, and the trio dove away just as the barrier settled for a third time. It spun around slowly now, now shooting random laser fire again. The team did all they could to dodge them.
"Insignificant Users." the MCP said while they dodged, "Is this the best you Users can do? Even you Tron, as well as you, program, are insignificant to them." It indicated Yui, who was shocked when it addressed her. "Why do you fight against me?" he asked, "I have created the perfect system. You cannot exist without me. Users cannot help you as well as me." Yui and Tron looked to each other, then to their friends, who were panting in exhaustion.
"You…may be right." Yui muttered, her eyes shadowed from view. Asuna and Kirito turned to Yui, shocked to hear that. "It's true. Programs and Users, or what I call Players, are much different. We don't think and react the same way. We programs are designed by those who are superior to us. As such, we must obey them. We must follow the system's rules."
She then looked up at the MCP, and her face became serious. "But that's when mama and papa taught me something that I was never programmed with, and that is I shouldn't be controlled by the system. I have my own choices. I can choose whether I should obey the system or not. I chose not to obey, and you know what? I'm happy. Tron here is doing the same thing; fighting against the system for a better life. We all have a goal that we want to achieve. Whether it is to get back home again even though it seems impossible, stopping a system that was completely superior to us in every way, or restoring the hearts of many people we don't have any connection with, we keep on fighting for them. We may be made up of data, but we have hearts just like Users!"
Yui looked to everyone before continuing, "What we want the most is for Users and programs to coexist with one another. You just don't see how much we need them. You may think that their inferior, but you are wrong. They have evolved beyond our understanding. As such, we want to understand them. We want to bond with them, make friendships, or in my case, become a family. That's why we are fighting; to rid the world of programs who find Players and Users inferior, such as yourself!" Tron nodded in agreement. The wall stopped, and Yui noticed a hole in the wall that they damaged before that was near them. "Sora! Tron! There!" Yui shouted to her friends, and she led them to the gap. Sark was restored again, and it tried to get in their way. Kirito, Asuna, Donald and Goofy stopped him in his tracks, giving the others the chance to get to the gap. They activated the program from Tron's identity disc, and resumed the attack.
"Stop!" the MCP begged, "I am perfect! I am superior! How can you de-rezz me?!"
"It's simple, really. Because there is no such thing as a perfect system!" Sora replied.
"Whether it is a program or a User, no one is perfect!" Tron continued, "But you wouldn't know that, would you, MCP?"
"Because we acknowledge that we are imperfect, we are far better than you." Yui cried, "You cannot understand this because you don't have a heart to see such things. But we have hearts. Our hearts are telling us what's the right thing to do, and our feelings, though imperfect, give us strength, and we can use that strength TO DEFEAT YOU!"
Just then, Yui started to glow a white light. The beam coming from Tron's disc suddenly grew bigger and more powerful. The strength from Yui's heart empowered the Eradication program, and it cause an incredible amount of damage to the MCP. The beam's empowerment gave a five second burst, then the beam suddenly dwindled and died. However, it was just enough. The MCP's face stood frozen for a short while, then the columns that projected the MCP turned blue, and the MCP's projected head started to spin his head clockwise. The columns suddenly shrunk, and it faded away, along with the machine that was the MCP. Electricity surged on Sark's head, and he started to shrink and fade away until there was nothing left. They had just defeated the MCP.
From where the MCP once was, three magic orbs floated towards Sora, Kirito and Asuna. "Those…are the Reflect Elements." Yui panted, worn from the attack, "They will…upgrade your Reflera to Reflega." The trio took their orb.
Suddenly, Yui felt faint, and she started to fall. Kirito dashed over just in time to catch her. "You ok, Yui?" he asked as everyone gathered around her.
"I'm fine." Yui replied softly, "I…just wanted to save you…with all my heart." Kirito and Asuna both smiled at her. She really did just save them, along with Hollow Bastion.
"Way to go, everyone!" Sora cheered. Donald and Goofy all whooped in joy.
"We did it!" cheered Tron, jumping into the air with his fist raised in victory. He was unusually over-excited from this, and it drew everyone's attention.
"I see Tron has a silly side, too." Sora noticed.
Tron realized what he was doing, and he tried to look authoritative again. "I learned it from you." Tron replied, "Of course, I do have my silly limits."
"Okay, then I'll tweak your program when I get back to the User world." Sora replied.
"You, Sora?" questioned Kirito, help Yui stand on her own two feet again, "I don't think that's a good idea." Tron looked hesitantly at Sora, too.
"Aww… How 'bout it, guys?" Sora asked, looking to Donald and Goofy, "Singin' Tron? Dancin' Tron! Sound good?"
"Yeah!" Donald responded eagerly.
"Oh, my." Asuna sighed, shaking her head.
Tron started to laugh at this. "Okay, okay, fine." he said to them, "But before I crash…" Everyone looked to him as he continued, "Sora, Kirito, Asuna, Donald, Goofy and Yui, and all the Users out there. Thank you. You really helped me. You made me so much stronger. You taught me what friendship is truly all about. And you taught me what having a heart is all about. I'll never forget it. As soon as I met you, I knew we were going to defeat the MCP and free the system."
He walked over to Sora and Yui, and raised his hands to them. Yui and Sora looked to each other, then raised their hands up to Tron's and they grasped. Without warning, Tron pulled Sora and Yui into a group hug. The two looked sort of awkward at this point, particularly Sora. "Isn't this what Users do when they're sorry to say goodbye?" Tron asked, releasing them from the hug.
"Uhhh…it's a first for me." Sora replied.
"Same for me." Yui added.
"Gawrsh, Tron, it's like a promise that we'll see each other again real soon." Goofy explained.
"Okay." Tron understood, "Well, then…" he walked over to each of them and hugged them. Even Kirito decided to let Tron hug him.
"Now with the MCP defeated, we can restore the hearts trapped in Aincrad's Soul, just like we promised. We'll save even more lives." Kirito told him.
"I promise." Tron said to him, "I promise to all." He backed away from the group, smiling at them. He nodded to the group, and they nodded back. He then backed away even further from the group. "Where are you going?" Asuna asked. He simply waved at them, then he dashed over to the giant hole in the floor, and dove in. Everyone was shocked at what he just did and ran over to the edge. They saw a white light down below, but no Tron.
"Tron…" Sora moaned.
"Why did he do that?" Asuna asked, "Where is he?" She looked to Yui, who was just as puzzled as she was.
Suddenly, the tower started to shake violently, and the light beneath them started to glow brighter. "Let's go back to Hollow Bastion again!" Kirito shouted, waving to everyone. He led the team out of the tower, towards the nearest terminal.
In Ansem's computer room, Aerith and Recon stood at the computer, waiting. Leafa was pacing back and forth, waiting for her brother's arrival. They heard footsteps, and they turned to see Yuffie dash to the group. "Things are settling down in town!" she told them excitedly, "The only Heartless left anywhere are the local variety. And it looks like there are fewer than before."
"They did it!" cheered Recon, punching the air, "Sora, Kirito and everyone else stopped the MCP's attack!"
"Now if we can just get those six back in one piece…" Aerith hoped. Aerith and Leafa made eye contact, and Leafa was hoping for the same thing.
Just then, the machine behind them activated, drawing the girl's and Recon's attention. Sora, Kirito, Asuna, Donald, Goofy and Yui, now a fairy again, appeared out of the machine. "You're here!" Aerith said excitedly as she, Yuffie and Recon jumped in excitement.
"Welcome back!" greeted Yuffie.
"Way to go, you guys!" Recon told them.
"I'm so glad you guys are safe!" Leafa cried, leaping at Kirito and giving him a hug. Kirito wasn't as happy as Leafa had hoped, and she looked up at him. Kirito looked sort of solemn.
"How's the town?" Sora asked them.
"A-okay!" Yuffie cheerfully replied.
"Not a single trace of the MCP, either." Recon added, "Everything's back to normal. We made it."
"What's wrong, Kazuto?" Leafa asked, seeing his and the other's faces.
"Hey, why the long face?" Yuffie asked, looking at them, "What happened?"
"Tron just disappeared." Donald moaned.
"Not only that, but he promised that he would restore the hearts in Aincrad's Soul." Kirito muttered, pulling out the gem and looking at it, "Why…why did you leave us, even though you promised?" Leafa looked consolingly at Kirito, somewhat understanding him.
"He promised we'd see him again…" moaned Sora. The group looked depressed. Kirito looked somewhat frustrated.
Just then, the computer alarm went off, startling everyone. "What's happening?" Aerith cried.
"I thought you guys defeated the MCP!" Recon told them nervously.
"We did!" Yui replied, "So why…"
Just then, a voice came from the computer. A very familiar one. "Greetings, friends." it said, "System is up, and ready for User input."
"Tron!" cried the team. Then Yui figured it out.
"Of course." she realized, "He must have gone and gained all the powers that the MCP had. He has full control of the system!"
"You're correct, Yui." Tron replied, "I also now have the ability to do something with those hearts. Now if you would be so kind as to come back and help me reprogram them again."
"Of course." Yui replied, and she flew in front of Kirito, "Papa, can I have the Aincrad's Soul, please? I'll take it with me to Tron."
"Sure." Kirito replied, and he handed Yui the gem, "But come back as soon as you're done." She struggled to carry it, and as the others moved out of the way, the machine activated again, and Yui with Aincrad's Soul instantly went back into the digital world again.
"I'll have it done momentarily." Tron stated.
"Thanks." Asuna replied.
Donald dashed over to the computer, and his hands reached the keyboard. "Oh boy, oh boy!" he squawked excitedly, fumbling the keyboard.
"Hey, stop that! It tickles!" chuckled Tron.
"Tron is ticklish?" Goofy asked the group.
Kirito and Sora looked to each other, and grinned menacingly. They had their hands out as they walked to the keyboard. Asuna and Goofy giggled as they watched the two boys. "How 'bout this!" Sora said as he and Kirito started tapping away at the keyboard, pressing random buttons.
"Please stop that!" laughed Tron. The team started to laugh together at the amusement of the moment.
"What did they do to Tron?" Leafa asked, watching the team with a bemused expression.
"I think Tron's been hanging around those guys too much." Yuffie said to a giggling Aerith and Recon.
"And Kazuto and Asuna have been hanging with Sora and his friends too much." Leafa sighed, shaking her head, but smile nevertheless.
"W-wait, wait just a moment." giggled Tron, "Yui had just arrived with the data. Give us a couple minutes to reconstruct them."
"Okay, okay." Kirito understood, signaling Sora to stop, "Let's stop for the time being so they can concentrate."
The team watched the computer for a couple minutes, waiting for a reply. "Okay." Tron replied after a moment of silence, "The reconstruction process is complete. I'll transport them to the real world as we speak." Kirito and Asuna looked to each other excitedly, and they ran out of the computer room and looked down at the massive room down below. The machines down below started to activate, and beams of light shot out from each of them. Out of the lights, Players started appearing, opening their eyes and looking around, confused. The machines kept churning out more Players, several at a time.
"It's working!" Asuna gasped excitedly, and she and Kirito dashed to the other exit of the computer room to the place down below. Sora and everyone else weren't far behind. The group ran down the walkway until they reached the bottom. When they got there, they saw thousands of people there, and based on their getup, they were still in their SAO attire. The machine continued to churn out the remaining Players, until they were all there.
As Yui, now back from Tron's world, flew down to meet them, Kirito noticed Diabel, the Beta Tester that died while fighting the first boss, looking at his hands, then looking around, wondering what happened. Asuna saw deceased member of the Knights of the Blood Oath look all around, with Godfrey, Kuradeel, and a girl carrying a string instrument in her hands in front. Godfrey looked to Kuradeel, and grabbed him by the shoulders, angrily looking at him, and startling the girl. Kuradeel looked shocked and confused at him, not sure of what he was talking about. He apparently lost his memory. There was also members of the Army, and Corbatz was rubbing his head, wondering what was going on. However, Kirito was looking closely through the crowd, searching for the people he wanted to see the most. Sure enough, he found them, close to the front. It was the five other members of the Moonlit Black Cats; Keita, Tetsuo, Sasamaru, Ducker, and of course, Sachi. Kirito saw Sachi's face, which was confused. At seeing her, Kirito's eyes welled up in tears. His arms started to shake as he was sobbing. She was back. They all were back. The nightmare of SAO disappeared.
Sachi felt like she was being watched from afar, and looked over her shoulder, and saw Kirito's teary face. She was surprised at first, then she smiled. "Kirito." she said, looking up at him. Her voice drew the other four boy's attention, and they saw Kirito and his friends up there.
"No way!" Sasamaru cried.
"Kirito's here?" Ducker questioned.
"What's going on?" Tetsuo asked, "Didn't we just died?"
"I think Kirito might understand what's happening." Keita assumed. The five ran over to the spot where Kirito's group stood. "Kirito!" Keita shouted as they got in close. Kirito rubbed his eyes, removing the tears.
"Hey, guys." he said with a squeak in his voice, "Welcome back."
"Welcome back?" Ducker asked, "Didn't we die? What's going on? Where are we?"
"It's a very long story." Asuna stepped in, drawing their attention, "But we can tell you this; everyone that died from SAO are now alive again. But now you guys are in a different dimension."
"We're…alive?" Keita asked.
"We're in a different dimension?" Tetsuo asked.
"And more than three years have past since you guys died." Kirito added.
"Three years?" Sachi asked, surprised.
"Ah! My head's gonna blow!" Sasamaru cried, grasping his head, "This doesn't make sense at all!"
"Then perhaps I should explain." said another familiar voice. The team looked as Akihiko Kayaba walked over to them, still in the same lab uniform as before.
"Kayaba…" Kirito muttered his name.
"Akihiko Kayaba?!" the five members cried out.
"That's the Kayaba guy who created SAO?" Sora asked Asuna, who nodded in response. The member of the Moonlit Black Cats split a path as Kayaba walked to Kirito. The two looked at each other for a moment.
Finally, Kirito smirked. "Well, I fulfilled your request." Kirito stated, "Guess that makes us even."
"Indeed it is." Kayaba replied, "Thank you, Kirito, Asuna and Yui."
"I really am turning out to be more of a Beater." Kirito stated, looking to Asuna, "I'm a Beta Tester, and now I've cheated death."
"So a 'Death Beater' now?" Asuna assumed, "Well, that does work even better for you."
Kayaba looked to the others who he haven't met. "So which one of you is the person who I was intrigued on meeting?" he asked.
"It's that guy, right there." Kirito answered, waving to Sora, "It's thanks to him that we were able to make it to this point to save everyone."
"I see..." Kayaba stated, glazing at him, Donald and Goofy, "Well, I guess introductions are in order. I am Akihiko Kayaba, the creator of Sword Art Online, and an... let's call me an ally of Kirito's."
"I'm Sora." he responded, stepping forward, "Nice to meet you. These are my friends, Donald and Goofy." The two mentioned waved at Kayaba.
"I see." he acknowledged, "I've heard great things about you from Kirito, along with the results of having you around with him." Sora smiled eagerly.
"I'm Kirito's real life cousin, Leafa." Leafa stated, walking to Kayaba, "This is Recon, Aerith and Yuffie. We're members of the Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee."
"Hollow Bastion what now?" Keita asked.
"Hold on." Yuffie said, then she found a high point near them, and stood above the others. "Everyone!" she shouted to the crowd. The people, who were busy talking, looked over to Yuffie's position, noticing the people there. "I know this is a lot to take in." Yuffie shouted to the crowd, "But it was thanks to Sora, Kirito and his friends that all of you are now alive again!"
"You forgot to mention that Kayaba was the one who passed the data of everyone to us." Kirito muttered to Yuffie.
"In any case..." Yuffie continued, not adding what Kirito mentioned, "I would like all of you to follow me outside! We will explain everything from there!" She hopped off the high point and looked to the crew. "I could use some help informing them what just happened, but even I have no idea what to say." she told them.
"I'll explain." Kayaba stated, walking up to her, "I think they'll understand if we both told what just happened."
"Let us come too." Leafa added, indicating her and Recon, "We'll also fill in the gaps." They saw the crowd come to them, and Leafa and Yuffie led the crowd up the stairs and outside. After the crowd came through, all that were left were Sora and Kirito's crew, Aerith and the Moonlit Black Cats.
"Lets go with them!" Sasamaru stated to the team, "I've got a lot of questions to ask."
"You comin', Sachi?" Keita asked her.
"In a minute." she replied, "I want to talk to Kirito first." Keita acknowledged, and he led the other members up the steps to catch up with the crowd. The team had a wide birth from Kirito and Sachi. The two looked at each other for a moment.
"Listen. Sachi, I…" Kirito started, but Sachi raised a hand in silence.
"It's ok." she replied, "You have nothing to apologize for. You already made up for that by reviving me. And I can tell... you were able to moved on." she glimpsed at Asuna, already seeing the connection between the two of them. "I won't forget all the time we had together." Sachi told Kirito, "But I also know that I am given a second chance in life. I want to take that, and change myself for the better. Don't worry about me, okay?"
Kirito looked into Sachi's soft eyes, and understood everything she said. He smiled consolingly at her. Asuna watched the two. She did remember that Sachi was Kirito's first love. There was a time, back in ALO, when the emotions of Sachi actually reached out to Asuna (Author's Note: This does take place in the light novels, in 'The Day After'). She seemed satisfied with how things turned out.
"Well, let's go outside." Kirito suggested to the crew.
"We should catch up with them." Aerith agreed. The team started walking out of the space, up the stairs to the computer room.
"Asuna?" Sachi addressed, walking up to Asuna's side, "Is he…was he affected from the time I lost him?"
"Well, for the two years in SAO, he had been a solo Player and he didn't want to join any guilds." Asuna explained, fully aware that Kirito could hear them, "But we've straighten out his attitude, so he's fine again."
"Asuna…" moaned Kirito.
"That's great to hear." Sachi replied, "I hope you two are happy with one another."
Asuna looked back at Kirito, and she smiled. "We are." she answered simply.
As the team walked through the computer room, Tron spoke up. "Hold on a moment." he called out, startling Sachi at the abrupt voice from the computer, "Before you go, I want to show you something I dug up from the system archives. You can see the town back when it was first built." The team gathered in front of the computer screen and watched as it lit up.
From outside, pillars of light shot up into the sky, drawing everyone's attention. Then small sparkles of something fell down to the ground, like a raining of diamonds. The crowd of Players were gathered around the outside of the castle, along with Yuffie, Leafa, Recon and Kayaba. They looked up as the pillars of light shone in the sky, followed by the sparkles that rained down. Everyone looked up, amazed and awe-inspired.
"Wow!" Leafa gasped, reaching out as one of the sparkles landed on her hand.
"What is all this?" Recon asked, watching them.
"Where are all these coming from?" Kayaba asked.
"Oh, it's just like back then!" said an excited Yuffie, hopping around as she saw the glittering lights fall.
Just then, Sora and Kirito's group, along with Aerith and Sachi, came out of the castle. The crowd parted as the team walked through to the four. The Moonlit Black Cats members also joined them as well. The all stood around watching the sparkles fall. Kirito and Asuna unconsciously held hands as they watched, with Yui flying onto Kirito's head. Sora and Aerith walked over to the side, and watched as more columns of light shot into the air.
Aerith turned to Sora and the others and said, "You know, this town had another name once."
"Hm?" Sora hummed.
"Really?" Kirito asked.
"Come to think of it, Hollow Bastion does sound a bit grim to me." Recon stated as he, Leafa and Yuffie walked over to their group.
"So what was this town's original name?" Leafa asked. Aerith looked up at the castle, with everybody following her gaze.
"Radiant Garden." Aerith answered.
"Radiant Garden." Sachi echoed, looking at the sky. She and Kirito made eye contact once again.
"And this place is now your new home." Kirito added to her.
Sachi looked down, a bit worried at the fact that she was away from family. Then again, she had her friends, along with the other SAO players, too. Not to mention the Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee. She looked back up and smiled at Kirito. "I'll do my best to make it home." she answered him. Kirito smiled at her bravery in the situation. A new life was about to begin with everyone here. And a new beginning was about to commence for the people that will now be known as the SAO Revivers.