HOLY WHAT CHAPTER 30! Man, this fic feels old.
I don't like this chapter very much for some reason. At least not the second half...
Chasing The Truth
By FlikFreak
Chapter Thirty: Disaster Strikes
Neku couldn't fathom why he was laying face-down on the ground. The familiar pins-and-needles sensation had swept through his body for a moment before he felt a strong wind pass by, but other than that and a bit of left over tingling he felt perfectly fine. Blindly, he pushed himself up off the ground and rubbed his eyes before glancing at his new surroundings.
It was dark and bright at the same time. The edges of whatever platform he was standing on were lit. Looks like someone went blacklight happy on this place, Neku muttered.
It took him all of two seconds to look at himself and find that he now sported new attire. Neku gazed in amazement; his clothes were now entirely grey and routed with glowing blue circuits. A helmet covered most of his head – one suspiciously in the shape of headphones. "What the…what is this place?"
It quickly became clear that the time for questions was not then. Neku abandoned his previous shock and began searching. "Sora! Joshua! Axel! Is anyone here?"
Nothing.
"Riku? Shiki?"
Still nothing.
"…Ventus?"
Not a sound.
Neku continued calling until he reached a large enclosed hallway of sorts. Biting his lip, he cautiously peered around the corner. The room beyond was large and open, with a passageway within. Swallowing hard, Neku stepped forward, all senses alert. "Man…what kind of place is this, anyway?"
"I understand Neku's intent," Sora began, "But seriously…I told him to stand back."
"He thought you were going to get hurt," Joshua replied, shrugging. "He doesn't exactly have a good history with gigantic beams of light, you know."
"At least Riku's in there with him," Axel pointed out. "Although…Riku doesn't know his way around in there, does he?"
Sora shook his head. "Afraid not…Tron, you there?"
Greetings, Sora. Can I help you?
"Thank the Enix you're there," Sora breathed. "Look, two of my user friends just got sent in. I was going to go in with only one of them, but the other one ended up taking my place. Make sure they stay safe, alright? I'll be heading in there in just a second."
Certainly. I'll run a scan and track them down.
Nodding, Sora went at the keyboard again. "Internal access loading…" He turned to the others. "Joshua, Axel, can you head on down to headquarters and check on Rhyme?"
"Certainly," Joshua replied, "Although I'm sure Beat won't be happy to see me."
"Tell him I sent you personally. He should listen." Brushing the issue aside, Sora turned to the other two in the room. "Cid, I know you can keep this room under control. Xenuk, do whatever you need to do to keep things under control."
Xenuk nodded. "You can count on me."
Sora nodded grimly and turned back to the keyboard. "Internal access loaded…data transfer commencing in five seconds. Wish me luck, guys."
"Get back here in one piece, Roxas," Axel threatened, "Or I'll burn your hair off."
May I?
Go right on ahead.
Sora felt his face smirk. "Don't worry. I will."
Light flooded his vision.
The new room was occupied by a column of light and a large screen with a small keypad, but otherwise the place was empty. Neku crossed his arms and groaned in annoyance. Geez…this isn't getting me anywhere. "Sora! Riku! Anyone!"
"You don't have to shout, I'm right here."
Neku spun on the spot and noticed another figure like him. His outfit was similar, although his helmet was slightly different in shape. The notable feature that Neku recognized him by was not only his long hair, but his voice. "…is that you, Riku?"
Riku rolled his eyes. "Duh. And nice going by the way, Neku. Now we're not only lost, but one wrong move could send this entire computer into a frenzy."
"This computer?" Neku echoed. "I don't see any computers anywhere…'cept for that TV thing over there."
"That's not a computer," Riku groaned. "Sora might know what it is, but he's not here, thanks to you. Do you even know where we are?"
Neku rubbed his chin in thought. "We're in a room with a shiny pillar and-"
"Less specific."
"…no idea."
Riku shoved his face into his hand. "Look, Neku…just be careful around here, okay? Sora's the only one that knows his way around computers."
Neku blinked. "Riku, I thought Axel said that Sora was terrible with computers…and you just said there weren't any computers in here."
"There aren't," Riku replied dryly.
"Then what are you talking about?!"
"Do I have to explain everything myself?" the silver-haired boy grumbled. "…Okay, listen. We're inside Ansem's computer right now, and right now we're nothing more than data."
"…WHAT?!"
"And when I said Sora knows his way around computers," Riku continued, "I meant he knows his way around… literally." He crossed his arms and glanced around. "If we can find Tron, then he can probably help us." And with that, he exited the room.
How can be be so calm about this?! Neku exclaimed before jogging up to Riku again. We're inside a computer, as bits of data…what does that make me now? A virus? A program? A file? Can someone hit the delete key and kill me while I'm in here? Oh, geez, this is insane…
"Nearly all the actors are in place, Meyxours," Jaxuk reported, bowing politely. "All we need now is to expose the proxy."
Meyxours nodded. "Excellent work," he said. "I would personally like to see the end to this."
Jaxuk tilted his head. "Closing the curtain on the opening act, sir? A premature ending would be rather dull…"
"Not quite," Meyxours replied. "I only mean to give our heroes something to occupy their time."
"Ah, perfect. This should be quite entertaining…but I would so very much dislike the opportunity to watch their performance…"
"You will get your chance, Jaxuk. Don't you have an old friend pursuing you?"
"Ah, yes. Zidane…that fool doesn't know when to quit." Jaxuk crossed his arms. "Well, Meyxours, have your fun. I have to go make sure that the rest of our performers are ready."
Meyxours nodded. "Very well. I look forward to hearing your progress."
As he left, Jaxuk's lips curled upward into a bloodthirsty smirk.
"Sora kept talking about how the I/O tower was where he could communicate with the outside world, but that obviously isn't working for us. Granted, we don't even know how to use it. Our best bet is to find Tron."
"How do we find a program, Riku? Do you even know what he looks like?"
"Relax. Sora gave me a very good description of him. He'll probably find us before we find him."
Gee, that's reassuring, Neku complained inwardly. This place was taking some serious getting used to; what with all the weird lights and the awkward clothing he had suddenly found himself in. The fact alone that he was now composed of data set him on edge. Suddenly I feel really bad for all those files I deleted off of my laptop…
Ten minutes later saw the two entering a large, very bright room, with three large screens on the walls. The platform descended downward in a slope, ending at a keyboard where someone was currently typing frantically.
"Who's that?" Neku asked Riku quietly. "Did someone else get sucked in here?"
Riku shook his head. "No, I doubt it."
The stranger at the keyboard froze at their voices and turned around. "Oh…I didn't see you two walk in. Would you happen to be users?"
"Users?" Neku echoed. "Um…maybe?"
"We are," Riku stated. "Would you happen to be Tron, by any chance?"
"Yes."
Neku gawked. Wha…this guy is Tron?! But I thought Tron was a program, not a person!
Riku bowed politely. "I'm Riku. Sora told me about you."
"You are a friend of his?"
"Yeah. He was supposed to come with me, but we had a bit of a mix up and Neku here wound up coming in his place."
"I'm right here you know," Neku grumbled.
"Actually," Tron began, "I was just speaking to Sora. He asked me to run a scan on the system in order to find you, but I see that's no longer necessary. He's on his way in here now."
"Where can we find him?" Riku asked.
Tron crossed his arms. "Normally, he teleports into the Pit Cell, but I can run a scan for him and find him faster."
"Then do that," Neku said.
The screen in front of the keypad lit up as Tron typed on the keypad, each key blipping upon contact. Neku realized that his mouth was open and shut it promptly, watching various lines of data scroll by on the larger screen. After a few moments, it stopped scrolling and flashed red. Riku started. "You find him already?"
Tron didn't look too happy at the quick discovery. "I normally scan all of the dangerous zones first," he replied. "That way, if someone's in trouble, the scan will find them quicker than if they're simply lost and not in danger. It looks like Sora's on the Game Grid."
It was hard to tell in that light, but Neku was sure that Riku's face paled at Tron's words. "Oh, no…"
"Game Grid?" Neku echoed.
"It's a recently unused location," Tron explained. "Commander Sark used to use it to force other programs to play games and test their strength. He'd try to convince the stronger ones to join the MCP."
"MCP?"
"The Master Control Program. He wanted to get rid of the Users."
"Oh…"
"After the MCP came back a second time," Tron continued, "He would force programs to fight against heartless, or to run through a Light Cycle. Only Sora and I have ever managed to make it out with our data intact, but even then we had a hard time avoiding deresolution...especially when alone."
"Deresolution?" Neku echoed. "What's that mean?"
Riku's face stiffened. "Deresolution is technically the same thing as being deleted, which for us – and Sora now, too, since he just came in – is about as good as being killed."
I dun like how this chapter ended...but it seemed fitting.
The blacklight reference is homage to how Tron was filmed.
Characters Met:
Tron (Tron/Kingdom Hearts II)
Zoners:
The Deceptive Evoker, Meyxours (Chasing The Truth/???)
The Elegant Reaper, Jaxuk (Chasing The Truth/???)
The Fallen Prince, Zarxilt (Chasing The Truth/Final Fantasy XI)
The Ruthless Emperor, Naxeyv (Chasing The Truth/Final Fantasy XII)
