Turnabout Hearts II

by EmeraldWings1992

BK 2 - Stranded in Twilight Town, Aurora tries to make the best of her situation. Meanwhile, Roxas is reaching the end of his Summer Vacation, and Sora's next journey is about to begin. But the Organization will stop at nothing to reach their goals, and Aurora's destiny is quickly intertwining with the Keyblade Wielders and the battle they will soon have to face.

10. The Program and The Showdown

A/N: …

Review Reply to Gamergirl: It's okay! Sorry I made you cry. Err… *looks through this chapter* You're really close. If you've played Dream Drop Distance, think about the whole Xehanort situation in that game. Aurora probably could hold her own against Sora or Riku in a friendly duel, to be honest, especially with the training she's gotten since coming to Hollow Bastion. As for Demyx… well….

*hides* (this isn't exactly proof read either, just be warned…)

…

Chapter Ten: The Program and The Showdown

Since Aurora arrived, she fell into the day to day routine of the Restoration Committee pretty easily. Early morning was dedicated to training with Leon, who had seen her potential, but lack of formal training. He would have her do drills, such as running laps or other physical exercises, then he would spar with her, teaching her more effective ways to block different attacks, and more effective physical attacks. He taught her that her speed was her greatest advantage.

After that was magical training with Merlin. He was impressed with the spells she had learned on her own, and wanted to add to her arsenal, as well as refine just how much of her own magic reservoir she used. She had already known Fire, Blizzard, Reflect, Water and Watera, Thunder, Haste, and Cure. Under his training, she learned Cura, Aero, Thundera, and Reflecta.

After magic training, Aurora would run messages for the Committee. That was her main job, after all. Despite the HBRC getting a few computers up and running, the Telecommunication systems were all still down. Not only that, but half of the Committee spent all of their time at the Castle, while the rest stayed in town.

Having two messengers was the best way to go, so it was both Aurora and Yuffie.

"Hey, Aurora?" a voice suddenly said from behind. She turned and found herself face to face with Tifa. Tifa wasn't part of the Committee, but she knew the others, and tended to help out a lot recently.

"Yeah, what's up?" Aurora asked with a smile.

"You know how I'm looking for Cloud, right?"

"Sure."

"Have you seen him recently?"

"Eh, not really," Aurora said, putting a hand to her chin thoughtfully. "Though I personally haven't been looking for him either."

"Ah. Well, I was hoping you could deliver this to him. See if he's in town or something," Tifa said, pulling out an envelope. Aurora took it, studying the paper. It was sealed.

"Alright. You'll tell the others where I went?" Aurora asked. Tifa smiled.

"Of course."

"Cool. I'll be back a little later," she said, before jogging out of the castle. As soon as she was outside, she broke into a run.

The way to town usually wasn't that hard. Recently, however, there have been more Heartless and Dusks. Aurora frowned as she reached an area fraught with Heartless, and reached into her new shoulder bag. She had bought it from Huey, Duey, and Louis once she started carrying messages. Tifa's envelope was tucked safely inside a small pocket. Aurora, however, was quickly taking stock of the amount of Elixars she was carrying. Satisfied with the amount, she activated her shield and dove forward.

A quick sequence of Water and Thunder spells later, they vanished, leaving the way clear. Aurora quickly ran down the steps of the bailey and looked around once she reached the square in front of Merlin's house.

"No sign of him…" she muttered softly to herself, before continuing forward, entering the main square.

"…he look like?" A familiar voice was speaking as Aurora rounded the corner. She grinned.

(No… it can't be…) she thought, quickening her steps.

"Silver hair. Carries a long sword."

Leaning against the wall, his eyes closed, his arms crossed, was the man she was looking for. In front of Cloud, talking to him, was none other than Sora, Donald, and Goofy.

Aurora frowned at that description. That sounded exactly like the guy who stopped her the other day, demanding to know where Cloud was. Again, like today, she wasn't sure. The man had left her alone, but… she was glad about that.

There had been no warmth coming from that man. She risked closing her eyes for a moment and found her vision to be that of one trapped in an icy cave, isolated from the outside world, and completely dark.

"Sure. Well, be seeing you, Cloud," Sora said, turning away from him.

Cloud opened his eyes. "Be careful," he said, before dropping his arms, stepping forward. "He messes with your head, makes you think darkness is the only way."

"Is something wrong?" Aurora finally asked, stepping forward. All four turned to face her. Well, Sora, Donald, and Goofy did. Cloud turned his back, walking away.

"Cloud, wait! I have a message for you," she said, reaching into her bag. She made the mistake of looking down at it. Once she had the letter in hand and looked up, Cloud was gone. "Oh," she sighed, putting it back in her bag. (If he's going after that man…) "I wonder if he'll be okay," she said softly. Sora stepped up beside her.

"He'll be fine," he said. Aurora smiled at that, thinking back to a certain red clad attorney who works with her cousin.

"You're right. He's Cloud, and he's fine," Aurora said with a grin.

"Hm?" Sora asked.

"Nothing," she said, before turning to him and hugging him. "It's great to see you again," she said.

"Yeah," Sora said with a smile, hugging her back. She left go and stepped back.

"Hey, Sora, don't forget to ask about the—" Goofy started.

"Oh yeah!" Sora gasped, before reaching into his pocket. He pulled the pouch out, and from that, the locket. Aurora gasped, her eyes widening, her hand jumping up to cover the locket attached to her choker. "This has a picture of you and Riku in it," Sora said, opening it and showing her.

"That's Riku's locket," she said softly. "I made it for him, before he left my world. I have the matching one. Why do you…" she trailed off, looking up at Sora with wide eyes. Sora was slightly taken aback by the worry on her face.

"I dunno. It was in the pouch that the king gave us," Sora admitted, rubbing the back of his head. "Aurora… how did you and Riku meet, anyway? And what is he, really, to you?"

Aurora sighed. "It was my first day interning at my cousin's law firm. His best friend was accused of murdering his girlfriend by making her turn into smoke." As she talked, she lead the way to Merlin's house. "There were two witnesses. One who got it on video, from a bad angle, the other who saw the heartless and chased after it."

"Riku," Sora said.

"Right. When Nick, my cousin, and I went to speak to him at the hotel the police gave him… I don't know," she put a hand over her heart with a warm smile, "it was like our hearts instantly connected."

She shook her head, her hand moving back to the locket. "The case didn't go anywhere, but I'm pretty sure my ability intrigued him. He stayed on my world for months, and we hung out. A lot. After the Heartless tried attacking me, he told me everything: the other worlds, the heartless, about Destiny Islands…" She looked back at the three silent boys. "And how he was trying to find a way to wake you three up. I'm sure he felt that my ability could help in some way with that, but as time went on, and it became clear it wouldn't, he knew he'd have to leave. And… he did. But not before giving me this shield," she ran her fingers over the now un-activated shield, "and teaching me magic. I haven't seen him since." A pang shot through her heart. (Well… I might have. Those two times. But I really don't know if that was him on not…)

"Wow," Sora said softly. "It sounds, and looks, like you two were… really close. Closer then friends, even," he said. Aurora glanced back to see him looking at the picture in the locket. Aurora smiled, blushing.

"Well…" Her cheeks turned a little darker. "I developed feelings for him. I don't know if it was mutual, but…" she trailed off, blushing more.

"Gawrsh, I think it mighta been," Goofy suddenly said.

"Huh?" Aurora asked.

"Well, in this picture, Riku has the same look on his face that Sora gets when he things of Kairi. All blushy and grins," Goofy elaborated. Aurora's blush flared, turning her whole face scarlet.

"Hey!" Sora blushed slightly.

"Y-you really think so?" Aurora asked breathlessly, her face breaking into a grin. The boys all looked at her, before laughing. Her eyes widened, and she covered her face with her hands.

"Oh, shut up!" she cried, before running forward, into the wizard's house. She stopped at the door, however, as she remembered something.

"Hey, guys," she said with a smile, turning back to those three.

"Hm?" Sora asked.

"I meant to tell you earlier," Aurora started with a huge grin. "We found Ansem's computer."

"WHAT!?" Sora, Donald, and Goofy all exclaimed.

"Mhm! With it, we might be able to find info on the Organization, Riku, and the King!" Aurora said brightly. Sora pouted slightly.

"And Kairi," he added.

"Kairi? Did something happen to her?" Aurora asked. She remembered Riku talking about the ginger from the Islands. Apparently, she was Sora's special someone.

"The Organization kidnapped her," Sora said. Aurora stiffened, fear shooting through her.

(Wh-what? Why? To get to Sora? Will she be okay? I mean… I don't think I would have made it without Roxas, but he's no longer with them. Oh god, please let Kairi be okay.) she thought. Sora leaned closer to her.

"Aurora? What—wait! You were kidnapped by the Organization, right? But you escaped! Which means you must know how to get there!" Sora said brightly.

"But… I don't," Aurora said, her shoulders slumping. "I had help escaping, and he used a Portal. None of us can make that, as far as I know," she explained. Sora deflated, looking defeated.

"Oh," he said softly.

"But, we have Ansem's computer, and that might tell us something. Come on, let's get to the castle!" she said, taking off in that direction.

"Right!" the three said, following after her. They didn't make it past the Bailey, though, before running into something a little unexpected.

"Excuse me, are you with the Restoration Committee?" a soft voice asked. All four turned, looking around the empty area, until three girls suddenly flew into their line of vision. The one in front smiled at them as she floated there, as did the blond one to her left with a little wave. The one to her right, who wore mostly black, simply looked at them, crossing her arms.

"We are," Aurora said uncertainly.

"What's Leon's gang up to?" the one in front asked.

(Huh. Usually "are you with the Restoration Committee" is followed up with "can you help me with this" or "can you pass on this message" or "can I join?" Never what they're up to. Suspicious…)

Aurora went to answer, but Sora beat her to the punch.

"They've got stuff to do over by the castle postern," he said.

The one in front bounced slightly and turned to her friends.

"Scoop!" the blond cheered.

"Huh?" Sora asked.

"Let's report," the dark one said.

"To who?" Aurora asked, trying to keep her voice curious. The one in front turned and looked over her shoulder.

"Out leader, of course!" she said.

"Yeah, you know," the blond started, "Malefi—" The one in black shot over, covering the blond's mouth. Sora and the gang finally grew suspicious as they watched them. Aurora crossed her arms, her eyes narrowing slightly.

"Don't mind her," the one in black said. "I assure you, we come in peace." The blond gave up on trying to remove the other's hand and looked over at Sora's group with a nod. The brown haired one, the one in front, looked away as though embarrassed.

"You're kidding…" she muttered. The one in black looked at her for a second, before pushing the blond away.

"Problem?" she demanded. "Okay, fine. You do the talking." And with that, she vanished in a swirl of light.

The brunette quickly turned to the gang and bowed. "So sorry about this!" she gasped, before vanishing as well.

The last one, the blond, just giggled and saluted us, before she disappeared too. The four all glanced at each other before Sora shrugged.

"That was… strange," Aurora said, before shaking her head. "But come on, let's get going!" With that, she took the lead again. The four easily took the Heartless out and made it into the castle in record time.

"Wow," Sora muttered.

"Yeah, we've been busy," Aurora admitted, leading the way forward. She lead them through the maze of corridors, before finally reaching a door and opening it.

Inside was a destroyed lab. Containers of glass were on the ground, and the bookshelves that lined the round walls were half empty, their books scattered across the floor. Across front the door was a large portrait, showing a tan man with silver hair.

"Ansem…" Sora gasped as soon as his eyes fell on the picture.

"Gawrsh, I guess this must be his room," Goofy said.

"That's what the Committee has figured," Aurora said.

"Where the King?" Donald demanded.

Sora jumped slightly and turned. "Hello?" he called. Aurora smiled.

"Come on, it's this—" she began, taking a step towards a blank wall.

"Hey, Aurora!" a voice said from the door. Aurora turned.

"Ah! Tifa," she gasped.

"Did you deliver it?" she asked.

"Not yet. He left before I could speak to him," Aurora explained.

"Ah." She looked around the room, before looking at Sora. "I'm looking for somebody. Have you seen a guy with spiky hair?" Tifa asked. Aurora covered her mouth with her hand as a giggle threatened to escape. Donald and Goofy both turned to look at Sora, who tugged on one of his spikes.

"Heh, spikier," Tifa said.

"Not around here," Aurora said with a grin, while the boys shrugged.

"I'll just take a look around," Tifa said, before doing just that. Aurora waited, not knowing how many people should know about the computer, before she lead Sora, Donald, and Goofy down the secret corridor. Tifa walked all over the place, checking everything out, before kicking one of the walls. Aurora jumped slightly, but nothing more happened then a bit of dust drifting down. Tifa shrugged and turned to them.

"Sorry to bother you," she said as she headed to the door.

"No bother, ma'am!" the boys said, going to attention. Aurora smiled, shaking her head, and looked back at Tifa.

"I'll deliver it as soon as I see him again," she said. Tifa smiled at her.

"Thanks," she said, pulling the door closed behind her.

"So you made it," a voice said from behind. All four jumped and turned.

Leon was leaning against the wall, arms crossed, completely nonchalant.

"Leon!" Sora said brightly. Leon pushed off the wall with a nod to them, before noticing Aurora.

"I was about to bring them back when Tifa showed up," she explained.

"Ah," he muttered, before turning to the wall and touching a secret panel. The wall itself faded away.

"Whoa…" Sora, Donald, and Goofy gasped. Aurora grinned.

"Right this way," she said. The five of them walked through a short corridor, before reaching the computer room. Sora instantly ran over to the keyboard.

"This is it!" he gasped. "Where's Kairi? Where's Riku?" he pecked at the computer for a moment, before slamming his hands down on the Keyboard. Aurora darted over, grabbing his shoulder.

"Easy, you wanna break it?" she demanded. Sora looked up at her with a sheepish grin.

"Oh, sorry," he muttered, rubbing the back of his head. "Guess I got a little carried away Aurora shook her head. (Worse than Nick when it comes to tech. That's possible…?)

"Whoa!" Goofy suddenly gasped. The group looked at him to see him looking up. Following his gaze, they spotted a blue… dog? thing clinging to the ceiling. It seemed to lose its grip and fell, landing on its feet… on the keyboard. Aurora cringed at that.

"Get offa there!" Donald yelled, before jumping up onto the keyboard himself.

"Donald, wait, no!" Aurora tried to catch him, but it was no use. He landed on it, while the blue thing laughed, jumped back, bounced off of Donald's head, then took off. Donald shook with anger for a moment, before turning. Alarms suddenly went off all around them.

"Attention current user. This is a warning," a loud, digital voice announced. "Further misuse of this terminal will result in immediate defensive action."

"Who's there?" Sora asked.

"It's the computer itself," Aurora told him, having more than enough experience with video games and computers to know this.

"I am the Master Control Program. I oversee this system," the computer replied.

"Where are you?" Sora asked. Aurora face palmed.

"It. The. Computer!" she answered again, making dramatic hand motions with each word towards the terminal that Donald was still standing on.

Donald looked around a moment before, before taking a careful step… onto more buttons.

"Donald!" the other four in the room said in exasperation.

"I'm sorry…" he said as more alarms went off.

"Decision gate reached. You are now under arrest," the Master Control Program announced.

"Arrest!?" Sora gasped.

"Objection! We didn't break any laws!" Aurora replied.

There was no answer as she, Sora, and Leon looked around, while Goofy walked over to get Donald off the keyboard.

Leon saw it first.

"Run!" he yelled. They all looked over at him, before turning to look behind him. Aurora cursed herself for being so slow… but it was too late. Beams of light shot out of a machine behind them, and the four of them froze, their bodies becoming pixels that got pulled into the machine. Leon's eyes grew wide, horror flashing across his face as he watched the four of them slowly disappear.

…

When Aurora woke up, everything was different. Everything, including her. Her clothes were gone, replaced by… she didn't even know how to explain the material. It was black, though, with bright blue lines of light etched through it. Even her wristband, which worried her about its functionality now.

She was also wearing an odd helmet, which pushed her ponytail down and to the side. She slowly pushed herself up, looking around.

"Sora, Donald, Goofy?" she called.

No answer. Suddenly, Heartless surrounded her, their bodies gleaming with yellow light.

"Back off!" she snarled, going through the automatic motions of activating her shield. To her relief, it appeared in a swirl of digital light. The silver bands of metal were now completely made of blue light, and the pure energy that made up the shield part now contained 0's and 1's. It was actually pretty cool looking.

(I feel like a techmage…) she thought to herself.

"I would not do that, if I were you," a voice suddenly said behind her. She spun around and found herself face to face with a man, taller than herself. His body suit… thing was light gray, streaked through with red light.

"Oh yeah? And what are you going to do about it?" she demanded.

"Hmph." The man held his hand up towards her. The lights on her suit suddenly flashed between red and yellow, and she cried out as electricity surged through her.

"O-okay!" she cried. The electricity stopped. The lights returned to blue. She slumped slightly, panting.

"Hmph. Put her with the others," the man said. The Heartless began to herd her forward, until they joined another group. This one was surrounding Donald and Goofy, who looked just like her.

"You okay?" Goofy muttered, holding his hands up in surrender. Donald was doing the same. Aurora nodded, following their lead.

"Yeah," she muttered softly. The Heartless herded them forward, until they found the last member of their group.

"Sora!" Donald called.

Sora looked up from where he was inspecting himself, only to see the position those three were in.

"Go on, show 'em who's boss!" Sora said, about to start forward to help them. A light suddenly shined from next to him, and the man who had captured Aurora earlier appeared. "Who're you?" Sora asked.

"I am Commander Sark," the man said.

"A Heartless Commander?" Sora asked with a grin. Even with the position Aurora was in, she couldn't help but smile slightly at the absurdity of that.

Sark, on the other hand, was unamused. "Observe." He lifted his hand towards his prisoners. Aurora attempted to brace herself, but it was no use. The lights on her's, Donald's, and Goofy's suits began to flash red and yellow as electricity shot through them, causing all three to cry out.

"Okay, you're the boss! I get it!" Sora cried, lowering his head in defeat. Sark stopped, giving those three a break, and turned to Sora with a smirk. The Heartless rounded Sora up to, and lead them to an isolated set of rooms, putting them in one.

It was small, with only one window. Below the window was nothing that any of them could see, but the walls, floor, and ceiling were nothing but blue. Aurora paced anxiously.

(At least they're not grayish-white…) she thought. Sora watched her for a moment, before putting a hand on her shoulder.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Peachy," Aurora replied, before sighing. "Sorry. I just… after the Organization, I can't stand being cooped up like this. Besides, we did nothing illegal, and we didn't even get a fair trial. They shoulder be allowed to arrest us without at least a trial," Aurora seethed. Sora smiled weakly at her.

"Be… careful about wanting a trial," he said.

"Hm?"

"On other worlds, laws and all work differently. I went to one world, for instance, where I had to find evidence that proved it was the Heartless who tried to steal the Queen's Heart. I found like, four pieces, and she added one… then mixed them up in boxes and had me choose just one."

"Did you choose the right one?" Aurora asked.

"Yes, but then the queen said that me, my friends, and the poor girl I was defending were all to be beheaded, for defying the queen."

"Oooh…" Aurora muttered, putting a hand to her throat.

"Yeah," Sora chuckled. "Thankfully, all of us managed to escape."

"Well, that's good. Seems like Sark falls in line with that queen though," Aurora said.

"Hm. Yeah," he muttered, before looking around. "Man… what kind of world is this, anyway?"

Donald and Goofy looked back at the two of them and shook their heads. Someone else, on the other hand, had the answer.

"You're inside a mainframe computer system," he said. It was a man, sitting in the corner. He was a bit like Sark, having light gray, but his light lines were blue, as opposed to Sark's red.

"A what system?" Sora asked. Aurora facepalmed.

"A computer system—for processing data," the man elaborated. "This system is a copy of one created by a corporation called ENCOM. The original program was destroyed."

Although Aurora could follow all of that perfectly, she could still see the confusion on Sora, Donald, and Goofy's faces.

"This copy was acquired by another User," the man stood. "The new User updated and customized the programs, renaming the system 'Hollow Bastion OS.'" I guess the man saw the three boys' confused faces, because he continued to elaborate. "He used the system for town maintenance, and to advance his private research."

Still more blank looks. Aurora pinched the bridge of her nose.

"You know that computer we were looking at, right before we got here?" she asked.

"Yeah…" Sora, Donald, and Goofy said.

"We're inside that computer."

"Oooh…"

"My name is Tron," Tron said. "I'm a security program."

"Like a cop," Aurora hissed to the boys.

"But now I'm under arrest, same as you," Tron added.

"Gawrsh, how about we just introduce ourselves?" Goofy said.

"I'm Sora," Sora said.

"And I'm Donald."

"Nice to meet'cha, Tron. I'm Goofy."

"And I'm Aurora."

"With that configuration, you must be Users," Tron said, inspecting them.

"Users?" Sora asked.

"People who use the computer?" Aurora suggested. The three pondered that.

"You better get out of here quickly," Tron said. "Who knows what the MCP will do to you?"

"You mean the Master Control Program, right?" Aurora asked. Tron nodded earnestly.

"Yes. It controls the whole system. If you idle here, you will be de-rezzed," Tron said. The boys looked confused, but Aurora jumped.

"D-de-rezzed? As in… deleted?"

"What!?" the boys gasped, jumping as well. Tron nodded gravelly.

"So, how do we get outta here!?" Sora demanded. Tron crossed his arms thoughtfully, before turning to a yellow terminal.

"This terminal could've gotten you back to the User world," he began. The boys began to look excited. Aurora, on the other hand, was taught to pick up on contradictions, and she narrowed her eyes slightly.

"'Could've'?" she asked. Tron nodded.

"The MCP cut the power fifty microcycles ago," he said. The boys sighed. Aurora looked thoughtful.

"There's a way to repower it though, right?" she asked. (I mean, I know this isn't a video game… but it's a lot like one. What sort of quest do we have to do to make this work…)

"Well… if we could bring the energy core in the canyon online, we could power it back up," Tron said.

(I knew it!)

"The problem is," Tron continued, bringing Aurora's doubt back, "we're stuck in this cell. We're not going anywhere unless we unlock the energy fields."

Aurora looked over at it. "There's a Keyhole," she noted, before looking back at Sora, who grinned.

"Really…" he commented, summoning his Keyblade. Like Aurora's shield, it looked different. Every line of his Keyblade was etched with light blue light, while the colors themselves were dulled. Sora studied it for a moment before walking over to the door and pointing his Keyblade at it. A beam of light shot from the tip of the blade and hit the keyhole. A soft click filled the air, and the energy field evaporated.

"Let's go!" Sora said, rushing forward. Donald, Goofy, Aurora, and Tron followed. They made quick work of the Heartless that stood in between them and the canyon, where Sora quickly solved the puzzle to energy core and brought the power back online.

Finally, they returned to the Pit Cell, where Tron instantly went to work on the terminal. The others waited for a few minutes, before Sora spoke up.

"So, what did you want us to do?" he asked, referring to the favor Tron had mentioned a little earlier.

The man finished on the Terminal and stood, turning to face us.

"Find my User. He'll give you the password to access the DTD," Tron said.

"You bet!" Donald said, but Aurora felt dread wash into her stomach.

(Wait. We're in Ansem's computer. Which means Tron's User is… but everyone has said Ansem went to the Darkness. Riku and Leon and all said he was the enemy. Does Tron… not know this?)

Before Aurora could say anything, Sora spoke up.

"So, um…"

"DTD is the name my User gave to the datascape," Tron explained, used to Sora's cluelessness now. "Copies of all the original system programs are stored there, along with anything that's sensitive or restricted."

"Is there stuff about the Heartless or Organization XIII?" Goofy asked.

"Hmm… Most likely," Tron replied, before turning back to the terminal. "A number of my functions were appropriated when I last took on the MCP. That's why I need the password," he explained. Aurora nodded, but the boys looked confused. She leaned over to them.

"MCP stole his powers. He needs to enter the DTD to get them back," she explained quickly.

"Oooh…" the boys replied.

Tron turned back to them. "Then, I'll be able to put this system back the way it was before the MCP got control and changed everything. The way it was supposed to be – a free system for you – the Users.

Goofy suddenly looked thoughtful. "Gee, Tron, ain't the MCP one of those programs, too?" he asked. "Do you know who it was who made it?"

"Actually, I don't know," Tron said. Aurora put a hand to her chin thoughtfully.

"It was probably someone from that ENCOM company you mentioned earlier, and it got copied over from the original," she said.

"Okay, we'll just have to find his User and ask him," Sora said. "What's his name?"

"You mean you don't know?" Tron asked in surprise.

"I have an idea. It's Ansem, isn't it?" Aurora asked.

"Yes. Ansem the Wise," Tron said in a warm voice.

"Ansem!?" Sora, Donald, and Goofy gasped in shock, before looking at each other. The terminal behind Tron suddenly flickered, and he turned to it, tapping away at the keyboard.

"Looks like the MCP's on to us," he said. "I'll keep this terminal up and running. You better exit the system, now!" Tron said.

"Sure… but Tron… Ansem is…" Sora started.

"We'll get ya the password!" Donald cut him off.

"Okay. You're good to go. Hurry!" Tron said, stepping away from the Terminal. Aurora walked over to it, the other three behind her, and clicked a button. Suddenly, light surrounded all four of them, and they vanished before Tron's eyes.

…

Leon typed furiously at the computer, trying to figure out what happened to the four. However, every route he tried was blocked by a firewall, and he found his patience growing thin.

Just as he slammed his fist down on the keyboard, he heard the machine behind him whirl to life. There hadn't been any warning or alarms, but he still turned, wanting to be ready for anything.

To his relief, the only thing that happened was Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Aurora's reappearance.

"What happened?" Leon asked. Aurora smiled, glancing at Sora, Donald, and Goofy's still confused faces.

"There's a world inside of there," she explained. "And we were transported into it."

"In there, we met this guy, Tron. He asked us to find the password to the DTD," Sora said.

"That's probably where all of the information we need is," Aurora added.

"Hm… we could always search the lab," Leon suggested. The others nodded in agreement, and the older man lead the way.

Tifa had returned, and was searching the lab again. She moved around, checking different areas, before stopping in front of the large portrait of Ansem.

"Excuse me," she told it, stepping forward. The five watched as she gripped the corner… and actually lifted it off the wall. Like it was nothing. As she put it down, Aurora felt the impact through the floor.

(Whoa…)

Behind the portrait, in purple, was a lot of writing, and an illustration of a heart. Tifa studied it for a moment before punching the wall again, this time with the same results as the last. She turned to the others, shrugged with a sigh, and walked away. Sora, Donald, and Goofy moved closer to inspect the drawing on the wall, while Aurora moved over to Ansem's desk, checking the drawers.

"Oh!" Sora suddenly gasped, pulling her focus back over to the wall. He moved closer and jumped, pointing to something on it.

"D!" he jumped again, pointing to something else. "T!" Another jump, another location. "D!"

"DTD!" Aurora, Donald, and Goofy gasped as Aurora came closer.

"What's up?" Leon asked as he entered the room.

"Look at this!" Sora said, turning halfway to face the man as he pointed at the wall. "This must be the dataspace! The DTD, see? The Door To Darkness!"

Leon came closer, studying it himself. "What do you know," he muttered after a moment. "But… that still leaves the password," Leon reminded them.

"Well, now that we know it stands for Door To Darkness, we should be able to figure that out, right?" Aurora said brightly.

"Say, fellas, did somebody mention the Door to Darkness?" a voice suddenly said from the door. Everyone whirled around. Standing at the door, wearing the black cloak from before, was the King.

"Your Majesty!" Sora, Donald, and Goofy all exclaimed. The king put a finger to his lips, looked around, and quickly closed the door to the lab. He pulled his hood down as he turned to face them again, only for Donald to tackle him in a hug. Goofy ran over and picked them both up in a hug, laughing, while Sora moved closer with a huge grin. Aurora stayed next to Leon, walking across the room with him, back to the corridor that leads to the computer room. She felt awkward, knowing she technically disobeyed him, and didn't want to bring attention to herself.

"Long time no see!" Sora said brightly.

"Shh!" the king said, putting his finger to his lips again. He looked around again. "The Organization might be listening!" he said. A sliver of ice trailed down Aurora's spine, and she shivered at the thought. Sora's face grew serious as well, and he put a finger to his lips with a serious nod.

Goofy put the king and Donald down, and the king gently pulled himself from the duck's arms, before he looked at the three seriously. "You mentioned the Door to Darkness?" he asked.

"Uh, yes, sir!" Goofy said as he and Donald snapped to attention. Sora stayed relaxed, just behind them, while Aurora and Leon watched on from across the room. "You see, we're lookin' for the secret password."

"Password?" the king asked, and the three boys slumped forward. The king's face lit up. "Oh, I guess you mean like a code!"

Leon shook his head slightly, a flash of amusement crossing his face.

"Well, the Door To Darkness can only be opened by the seven princesses. There's Snow White, Jasmine, and Belle…" the king started, ticking them off on his fingers.

"Of course…" Leon said, before turning towards the corridor. The others didn't seem intent on leaving, and Aurora's curiosity was getting the better of her, so she wondered over and took Leon's place on the edge of the desk.

"What are you tryin' to do?" the king asked.

"With that password, we can get access to Ansem's research data," Sora explained. The king jumped at that.

"So that means you might be able to find out where he is!" the mouse exclaimed.

"Stop jokin' around, Your Majesty," Sora said with a chuckle in his voice. "We already defeated Ansem. You know that."

"Looks like I've got a lot of explainin' to do," the king said, crossing his arms.

"We're listening, Your Majesty!" Donald announced, as Sora began to look thoughtful.

"Okay, but first, I've got a question," the boy said. Aurora put a hand on her locket, remembering how they said the King and Riku had been together last they saw them.

"As do I," she said.

"Hey," Leon suddenly said from where he reappeared at the mouth of the secret corridor. "Isn't Tron waiting for you guys?"

Those four turned to look at Leon, then the king, then Leon again. The King smiled.

"Don't worry, I'm not goin' anywhere," he said. "If those Heartless attack, I'll stand and fight with everybody here."

"Yeah, we will, too," Sora agreed.

"Then let's talk more later," the king said.

"That's a promise!" Donald added. The king nodded.

"I'll see ya when you get back."

Those four followed Leon back to the computer room. Aurora went to step over to the computer, but Sora beat her to it, and hit the 'Access' button. The teleporter instantly turned on.

"We could have just—" Aurora started, but got cut off as the beams of light caused them to freeze as it pixilated them, pulling them back into the system. They appeared in the Pit Cell again. Goofy walked over to the Terminal, looking at it.

"—transferred the data," Aurora finished with an exasperated sigh. Sora threw her a confused look.

"Huh?"

"Nothing."

"Goofy, don't touch that!" Donald suddenly yelled. Before either Sora or Aurora could look over, they were surrounded by a bright light and transported away again.

"I didn't touch nothin'!" Goofy said once they reappeared, this time on a large empty area, .

"Welcome to the game grid," a horrifyingly familiar voice said, though the source was unseen.

"Game Grid?" both Sora and Aurora asked.

"That's right, you've been chosen to play a few games," the voice continued. "Lose, and you will be subject to immediate de-resolution. Win?" He paused ominously. "Well, no one wins," he finished with a chuckle.

(So… there's just no hitting reset on this if we lose. No extra lives, no cheat codes… great. This video game is just a little too realistic.) Aurora thought in horror.

"We're not gonna play your games!" Donald yelled.

"You have no choice."

"Well then, get on with it!" Sora demanded. Light suddenly shone under each of them, and they were transported to different areas.

As the light faded, Aurora spotted a motorcycle-like bike in front of her. She walked over, inspecting it, before sighing and getting on.

"I've never driven one of these before…" she muttered, before giggling to herself. "Actually, I've never driven at all. Hm… let's see here…" She tested the different controls for a few seconds before the game started, a race through a maze, where the walls only appeared as she got close to them. Her opponents? The Heartless.

She could only hope Sora, Donald, and Goofy were okay, wherever they were, and whatever kind of game they were playing.

As she finished this round, all the walls dropped. Aurora looked around to see a large, purple Heartless shoot at Sora. Sora dodged to the side, and a hole was blasted into the wall behind him.

(An escape route!) she thought, turning her bike in that direction and gunning it. Moments later, the walls began to appear again.

"Damn," she hissed, veering to the right to avoid hitting the wall. A bit of weaving and turning later, she finally reached the hole, spotting Sora, Donald, and Goofy just ahead of her. All four of them shot through the hole in the wall and breathed sighs of relief. Before they could relax, light surrounded them once more, transporting them again.

This time, however, they reappeared in the Pit Cell.

"That… was the scariest video game I've ever played," Aurora muttered.

"Tron!" Sora suddenly called, before rushing over. The other's looked up to see him lying, face down, in the middle of the cell. They rushed over to help him as well.

Tron slowly pushed himself up, seeming exhausted, until he was on his feet.

"Ugh… I don't understand. Why are you here?" Tron asked in a weak voice.

"We came to give you the password," Sora said with a smile.

"Why didn't you just transmit the data?" Tron asked.

"That's what I was going to do," Aurora said with a grin, while Sora shrugged.

"Transmit?" Donald asked.

Tron suddenly pitched forward. Sora and Aurora moved closer, catching him in between them.

"Hey, are you okay?" Sora asked. Tron lifted his arm and put it on Sora's shoulder, using that to push himself up like it was hardest thing to do. To Aurora, he almost felt like dead weight.

"I'll be all right…. Once we access the DTD," Tron said. Aurora frowned slightly.

"Maybe it's a good thing we came in person after all," she said as Tron tried to stand up fully, only to stagger again. Sora looked over at her and nodded.

"Yeah. Well, come on," he said. Everyone nodded, and Sora took the lead, summoning his Keyblade. Goofy took the rear, while Aurora and Donald helped Tron, making sure he stayed on his feet.

Sora handled the Heartless easily, with only a few spells from Aurora to help, until the five finally reached the Dataspace.

"Whoa…" Aurora muttered once realizing it was just a small platform, with nothing for miles below. (I'll just… not go near the edge…) she decided as they moved forward, walking right up to a terminal. Tron put his hands out, and a keyboard appeared under his fingertips.

"All right, what's the password?" he asked. Aurora looked at the boys, not knowing who the seven princesses were.

"Well," Donald started, "Belle, Snow White—"

"Aurora," Goofy continued. Aurora jumped slightly, but Sora shook his head with a smile.

"That's one of the Princesses's names, too," he muttered.

"Oh."

"Alice, Jasmine, Cinderella," Goofy said.

Both Donald and Goofy turned to look at Sora. Even Tron turned at the silence.

"Kairi," Sora finished.

"Kairi, got it," Tron said, turning back to the terminal and typing it in.

The platform suddenly shook. Tron turned back to them with a grin. "That did it!" he said.

That's when the alarms started.

"Now switching DTD over from hibernation to active mode," a mechanical voice announced. "This process will take some time. Please enjoy a game while the process is running."

"Ugh, not another game…" Aurora grumbled, before her eyes widened, and she put a hand over her mouth. (Never thought I'd ever say that…)

"Oh no!" Tron gasped, having turned to look at the monitors. "This isn't a game, it's the DTD's final security routine. Stay focused!"

Suddenly, the Heartless symbol appeared on the three big screens, and Heartless began to appear. The group readied their weapons, ready for the attack.

As they began to attack, Aurora noticed a time on the terminal.

One minute, forty-three seconds.

"Guys, we're being timed! Just under two minutes!" she called, before holding her left hand up. "HASTE!" she yelled. The gold clock timer appeared on the shield face, the arms spinning. She began to glow gold, and shot forward.

"Water!" she cast, her shield becoming cloaked in the magical liquid. She dove forward, shield held up in front of her face, braced with her right hand, and bashed right into two Heartless. "Take that!" she snapped as the shield connected. She allowed her body to roll into a gymnast tumble forward, before jumping back to her feet, throwing her shield forward like a deadly, water coated Frisbee. It bounced off a few of the Heartless, defeating a few, before returning to her hand.

Meanwhile, Sora stuck close to Tron, wanting to be sure the man would be okay, while Donald and Goofy moved forward, helping take the Heartless out.

Aurora skid to a stop a few feet away from the last one, and punched it with her left hand, making sure the edge of the shield hit first. The Heartless lurched away from her, before vanishing.

The Heartless symbols vanished from the monitors, and Sora, Donald, and Goofy walked over to Aurora, while Tron rushed to the terminal.

"Whoa, Aurora! You're getting really good at fighting! That was amazing!" Sora cheered. Aurora giggled slightly, pushing a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

"Thanks. I owe a lot of it to Merlin and Leon, though," she said.

"Still," Sora replied, before the four of them turned to Tron.

Tron pressed his hand against a panel. Light flowed from that, into Tron's hand. Once it was done, Tron studied himself with a grin.

"I'm as good as new!" he said, turning to the four. "All of my functions have been restored!"

"Oh boy!" Donald said excitedly.

More alarms went off, with the terminal flashing red.

"Ugh, not again," Aurora grumbled. Suddenly, a light shot down between the five of them, throwing Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Aurora back.

"Finally," the voice Aurora recognized as the MCP's announced, coming from all around them. Tron quickly turned back to the computer as four picked themselves up off the ground. "I have full access to the DTD. My takeover of the system is now complete. I might have anticipated such a simple password."

(Simple!? There was like, seven names in that password…) Aurora thought incredulously.

"What's this? An emergency destruct program for the town," the MCP continued. "Let's see how it performs."

(What!? Why? Just… why?)

"No!" Tron cried, turning back to the computers. He placed his hand on the panel, and light moved down his arm, entering the terminal once more, before typing furiously.

"Program!" the MCP snapped, sounding furious. "You changed the password!"

Tron ignored him, turning back to the group. "There, that should buy us some time," he said.

"Tron! Tell us what's going on!" Sora said.

"The MCP's loading a hostile program into the I/O tower," Tron said.

"What do we do?" Donald asked.

"We've got to protect the User town."

"So… we should head to the tower?" Aurora asked Tron looked at her with a grin and a nod.

"Right!"

…

The I/O tower, much like the rest of this world, was mostly blue. It was tall and circular, earning its name, and in the center was a platform with darkness pooling down towards it. To the right of the entrance was a terminal, much like the one they used in the Pit Cell to get to and from Hollow Bastion.

"It must be total chaos outside," Tron said softly. Aurora bit her lip, thinking about her friends, the Restoration Committee.

(I hope they're okay…)

"I think there's gonna be trouble INSIDE, too," Donald said, pointing to the terminal. The screen showed a loading screen, the bar itself was dark purple.

"We should check around," Tron said, turning back to the door, the others following.

In the hallway just outside of the main room of the tower, a large Heartless appeared. It had three eyes, and was round and dark purple, with red spikes. It's arms weren't connected, but floated beside the monstrosity.

"I guess… this is the Hostile Program the MCP was loading into the tower," Aurora said, activating her shield.

"Seems that way," Tron replied, as the rest of them got ready for battle as well.

"I'm disappointed in you, Program," the MCP suddenly said, causing Tron to start slightly. "Why do you insist on allying with these selfish Users?"

"Because I want to help them," Tron replied. "Something written into my code commands me to do what is right."

"Really? And what command would that be?" the MCP asked.

(Uh… ?)

Tron, on the other hand, shrugged. "I can't really say for sure," Tron admitted, looking at the others.

"Friends—They help each other, that's all," Sora said.

(So now he has a command?) Aurora thought to herself with a tiny smile.

"Uh-oh!" Sora suddenly gasped. "Look out!"

Lights shot off the Heartless's spikes, creating barriers to cover the exits and effectively trapping the five.

The battle was tough, especially as the Heartless never stopped moving. It constantly circled the walls, shooting lasers and missals of light at the group. At one point in the battle, Sora ran over to the only girl in the group.

"Aurora!" he yelled. Aurora instantly knew what he wanted and dropped to one knee, holding her shield in front of her parallel to the ground and braced be her crossing her right arm under her left. Sora jumped up and onto it.

"Aero!" Aurora yelled as Sora's foot touched her shield, at the same time as she surged upward, throwing him into the air. The spell gave Sora added height.

Aurora wasn't done, however. "Water!" she yelled. A geyser exploded from under her, launching her into the air as well, and right into Sora's personal whirlwind, so that the two wound up back to back.

"Ready?" Sora asked.

"Yep. Take That!" Aurora yelled as both she and Sora rose their weapons into the air. Water magic slammed into the heartless from below, while Thunder magic slammed into it from above. The effect was super effective, stunning the Heartless. Once the attack was over, and Sora and Aurora were back on the ground, Sora clasped Aurora's shoulder.

"Good job!" he said. Aurora grinned and shot forward, attacking alongside him, until finally, the Heartless shuddered and dropped to the ground. It slowly began to glow, until finally, it exploded.

The group returned to the I/O Tower, where the darkness in the center of the room had turned to light. Tron got to work on the terminal right away.

"I really owe you one," he told the group. "With all my functions up and running, I think I've got a chance of getting system control away from the MCP. Now I'd better get to work. It's what my User would want."

Aurora cringed at those words, before glancing over at Sora.

"What Ansem would want…" he breathed to himself, before looking at the others. Donald and Goofy nodded, but Aurora shrugged.

(I never met this Ansem they keep speaking of. Heck, I still don't know if that guy was Riku… or Ansem…) she thought to herself.

"Listen, Tron," Sora started, "we didn't get the password from Ansem."

"We kinda just found it," Aurora added, "back in the User world, by accident."

"And one more thing…" Sora picked back up. "Ansem—he was our enemy. I mean, he still is, I guess," Sora trailed off as Tron stood.

"Well, actually…" Tron sighed. "He's my enemy, too."

"What do you mean?" Sora asked in shock.

"Ansem took ENCOM's original system and customized it for his own use. I was part of the original system, and Ansem modified me, too. So, that makes him my User," Tron explained. "But Ansem is also the one who brought back the MCP. The Ansem I first knew wouldn't do that," Tron said with a frown. He then looked up at his friends. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you."

Sora looked up from where he had his arms crossed, a perplexed look on his face. "That's okay… but now I really don't get it."

"Perhaps there was two Ansems? Like, two people with the same name?" Aurora said. The others looked over at her.

"Impossible!" Donald snapped.

"Well, why not? Tron says the Ansem he first knew wouldn't have freed the MCP, yet a man named Ansem did. The King seemed pretty keen on finding him, despite what happened, and although you all said you defeated him, I… saw someone by that name, not too long ago," Aurora said.

"It's just too perfect! Why would there be two Ansems?" Donald replied.

"Well… I don't know. But we should twist the evidence to fit the theories," she said quoting a good friend of her's and Nick's ancestor. Donald huffed, not liking that answer.

"For what it's worth, I don't… understand it either," Tron said now that it looked like their argument was over. "But I think Users, like you, are going to be the ones who will finally figure it out. You have the ability to take illogical routes and still arrive at the answers you seek."

"Now go—before the MCP starts acting up again!" Tron said. The four nodded, moving over to the Terminal. Before they could leave, though, Tron stopped them once more.

"Any data you need from the DTD can be accessed directly through my User's terminal," he said. "I'll keep a dedicated access channel open for you. I changed the password, so you won't have to worry about the MCP for a while," he finished. Sora, Donald, and Goofy looked confused, but Aurora nodded.

"Access Channel?" Sora asked. Aurora face palmed.

"I knew you'd ask," Tron said, laughter filling his voice. "It's a very important link between our worlds. It's how we stay connected," Tron explained, wording it in a way for the computer illiterate to understand. Tron clicked a button on the terminal, and light surrounded those four. "You, my friends, are the new password," Tron said. Sora grinned.

"Thanks Tron. Take care!"

"You too! And give my best to the Users!" Tron said as the three disappeared from this world, back to Hollow Bastion.

Leon turned from where he stood in front of the computer.

"Well, that's that!" Sora said, walking forward.

"Look," Leon said with a small smile, pointing to the screen. The screen was orange, with four pixilated images. Aurora smiled when seeing it was of her, Sora, Donald, and Goofy, all standing over the words 'THANK YOU!'

"Tron, hang in there," Sora said warmly.

"So, where do we start?" Leon asked.

"We should access the DTD. Try to get as much info as we can," Aurora said, stepping forward. Leon nodded, stepping forward and clicking off that screen. Meanwhile, the three guys stepped away, looking around. Leon could feel their anxiety.

"The King's checking the situation in town," he explained. "He'll be back soon, so don't worry." He hesitated, his hands raising from the Keyboard. "Hey, look, it's asking for a password."

"That's easy. It's—" Goofy started, when Sora interrupted.

"Sora!"

Amusement crossed Leon's face, and he turned back to the keyboard, starting to type.

"Aurora!"

"Donald!"

"Goofy!"

"That's… to the point," Leon said.

"Well?" Sora asked, moving closer so that he could see the screen.

"That did it. We're in," Leon said as the screen came up. "I have to go into town. Need to see what that last shakeup did."

"You're not gonna check out the data? It wasn't exactly easy to get!" Sora complained.

Leon turned and looked at the computer. "I'm coming right back," he said. He then turned to Aurora. "Hey, Aurora – why don't you get started on loading the data and copying it down?"

"Sure," Aurora said with a smile, stepping to the computer. She studied the screen and the keyboard for a moment. Leon smiled and clasped Sora on the shoulder, before walking out, waving without looking back.

Suddenly, Donald was at Aurora's side.

"Did it work?" he asked.

"I haven't even started typing yet!" she said, letting her finger tips rest on the keyboard. "Let's see…" (This isn't the same operating system I had back home, so the commands will be different. But… maybe if I just start typing…) Aurora hit enter experimentally.

"Whoa! It's doing something!" Sora gasped. Aurora bit her lip, trying not to laugh. Suddenly, a search engine like bar popped up.

"I think it wants to know what we wanna know," Goofy said. Aurora nodded.

"Alright, let's try this," she muttered, about to start, when Sora suddenly pushed forward.

"Riku and Kairi!" he said, typing in their names.

"Sora, I doubt—" Aurora began, when a red window popped up.

DATA ERROR.

"No way…" Sora sighed. "Even Ansem's computer doesn't know…" the boy said, turning his back on it and moving away. Aurora took her spot again at the keyboard.

"Well, let's try something else," Aurora said, typing in 'Nobodies' and hitting enter.

She felt those three move closer again, looking at the screen over her shoulder (or, in Donald's case, from under her elbow). A gray window popped up, containing the Nobody symbol and some writing. "Score!" she said, looking around for a disc to copy this onto.

Suddenly, the red box popped up. "The data is corrupt," a mechanical voice announced.

"Ooookay…" Aurora muttered. "How about the Organization?" she said, typing 'Organization XIII' into the search engine. A loading screen appeared again, but this time, the red window popped up before anything else did.

"Huh…" (It's like something purposefully ruined the data. I doubt the MCP did that…)

"Stupid computer!" Sora suddenly yelled, slamming his hands down on the keyboard.

"Whoa, Sora!" Aurora yelled, watching as the windows went crazy on the screen. She reached forward and grabbed his wrists.

"Stop! That how—"

"Huh?" Sora gasped, cutting Aurora off. "Who's this guy?"

Aurora turned to see a profile had appeared. The words to the right were gibberish to her, but the picture on the left showed a handsome, middle aged man, blond, with a mustache of beard. He wore a white lab coat with a red scarf, and had a serious expression on his face.

"Welp, I see ya got things workin'!" the King said from behind them, causing all four to jump and turn.

"Oh, Your Majesty!" all four gasped. The king jumped slightly, and put a finger to his lips, reminding them to be quiet. He then walked forward.

"Good goin'! The computer should tell us the things we need to know," he said.

"But it keeps on sayin' the data inside's all ker-skuffled," Goofy said.

"All we got is a picture of some guy we don't know," Sora said, stepping aside so that the king could see the screen.

The mouse king looked at it for a moment, before jumping. "Ansem the Wise!" he gasped. Sora, Donald, and Goofy all looked at each other for a moment, before Sora answered.

"Come on, are you teasing us again?" he asked with a shrug.

"Did you forget what Ansem looked like, Your Majesty?" Donald asked.

"Of course not!" the king said. "This is him! I'm positive!"

Sora shook his head and stepped forward, taking the king's hand and gently pulling him back to the lab. "Excuse me? Could you come this way, please?" he said. Aurora shook her head.

"There could be more than one Ansem," she said softly.

"Could not!" Donald countered, before following after them. Aurora rolled her eyes, but followed as well.

Sora stopped in front of the painting. "Look," he told the king. "This is Ansem. You know, the guy we all worked reeeally hard to defeat?"

"Oh, that's right. I never finished explaining," the king said.

(You never STARTED explaining…) Aurora thought.

"Well, the man in this picture is definitely the one who tried to take over Kingdom Hearts—the one you fellas defeated. But, what you actually fought was his Heartless. Ya see, he wasn't really Ansem. He just went around telling everybody that he was."

"You mean…" Sora began thoughtfully, before his eyes widened.

"Whaaaat!?" he, Donald, and Goofy all cried at once, causing both the king and Aurora to jump in surprise.

"We went through all that trouble to defeat an imposter?" Sora asked, slumping forward.

"Yep. A fake. But he still had to be stopped," the king replied.

"Aw, I can't believe it…" Donald groaned. Aurora smiled slightly, putting a hand on his back.

"Looks like we were both right. There wasn't two Ansems, really, but they were two different people," she said. Donald nodded with a small huff.

"Uh, I'm kinda confused," Goofy announced. "If he's a fake, then what happened to the real Ansem?"

"Welp, that's just what I'm tryin' to figure out," the mouse king announced. "Ansem the Wise should know all about Organization XIII's plans, and what's been happening to the worlds. I'm pretty sure he'll give us some help." He turned to the group again. "Ya know, I came close to finding him once…"

"Hmm…" Goofy hummed thoughtfully.

"Don't tell me there's more? I'm lost enough as it is!" Sora said.

"Well, let's see," Goofy began. "Some feller named Ansem, who wasn't really Ansem, became a Heartless. Does that mean a Nobody got created when that happened, too?" Goofy asked.

"Yup!" the king said. "And that Nobody is the leader of the Organization."

Aurora gasped softly at that, remembering back to her time in their stronghold.

"You mean Xemnas, don't you?" she asked. Everyone turned to her, and the king's eyes softened.

"That's right," he said, nodding slightly as though to acknowledge the fact that he knew what had happened to her. He then turned back to the painting.

"I know I've met this fake Ansem before, and I've seen the leader of Organization XIII, too. Hmm, kinda felt like bein' around the same fella."

"So, where did you meet this guy?" Sora asked.

"Gosh, I can't remember," he said, crossing his arms. "Ansem the Wise—the real Ansem—must know the imposter's true identity. That's why I've got to find him and ask him about it."

"You…!" Sora suddenly growled at the picture, his eyes narrowed. "You started all of this! Because of you, Riku and Kairi-! Oh!" He turned to the king. "Your Majesty, do you know where Riku is?" he asked. Aurora quickly looked over as well, hope bursting into her chest. The king froze, before sighing.

"He's…" he hesitated, then sighed. "I'm sorry. I can't help," the king said, not looking either in the face.

Sora looked at him for a moment, before moving closer, trying to glimpse his face. "Really, Your Majesty?" he asked. "Are you sure?" The king turned away from him.

"I'm sorry, Sora," the king said. Aurora walked over, kneeling to eye level with the king, her hand over her locket.

"Nothing, at all?" she asked softly. The king shook his head, not looking up.

"What about Kairi?" Sora asked. "Organization XIII might've kidnaped her."

Life re-entered the king, and he spun to face the boy. "Oh-no!" he gasped. He looked at the painting for a moment, before nodding to himself. "Sora, Donald, Goofy, Aurora." He turned to face those four. "I was plannin' to go get help from Ansem the Wise. But—now I know I forgot the most important thing. Helping others should always come before asking others for help," he said. "We're safe and sound—and free to choose! So there's no reason we shouldn't choose to help our friends."

The four nodded. Aurora smiled at that. (Helping other's should always come before asking for help. Almost sounds like one of Nick's proverbs about Defense Attorneys, heh.)

"Let's look for Riku and Kairi together."

Suddenly, the whole castle shook like a massive Earthquake, throwing all five of them off balance. Aurora managed to grab the edge of the desk to keep herself upright, while the rest kept their balance.

"Outside!" Sora cried, turning towards the door.

"Sounds like we gotta start by helpin' out here!" the king said, taking off towards the door. The remaining four nodded, following after him.

Aurora knew the corridors like the back of her hand, so she easily lead them through. They stopped, however, when they reached an open space. Dusk Nobodies filled the area, fighting against Armored Knight Heartless. At the head of it was a woman in a black robe with horns, her face an almost sickly green. The boys frowned, dropping into their fighting stances, and Aurora followed their lead.

"Hmph," the woman huffed, vanishing in a burst of green flame. "Heartless!" her voice echoed through the room. "Leave the white ones. Turn your attention to Sora and his friends!"

"Uh-oh!" Goofy gasped.

"I'm guessing she's not a fan of yours," Aurora muttered to Sora, activating her shield.

"Heh, not really," Sora replied, getting ready himself. Both the Dusks and Armored Knights threw themselves at the group, attacking. Aurora used a combination of spells and physical attacks, dodging the creatures' attacks. As they defeated those, a few more Heartless appeared. These were different from the Armored Knights, though, and Aurora hated fighting these. The Crimson Jazz's, which floated around, shooting fireballs everywhere at the group.

Reflecta became a much used spell during this part, until finally, Sora finished off the last one.

As they finished the battle, the three fairy girls they had met in the Bailey flew over to them.

"Where's Maleficent?" the brunette asked.

"Looks like she ran away," Sora replied.

"Well, that was PRET-ty lame of her," the blond sighed.

"I guess we picked the wrong side," the dark-clothed one said.

The three turned to each other, huddling up and talking Aurora smiled slightly as she heard snippets of the conversation, mainly about how lame Maleficent was. She leaned over to Sora.

"I guess that woman with the green fire was Maleficent?" she asked softly.

"Mhm," Sora muttered with a nod, watching the girls.

"Um, hey," Sora finally interrupted, "if you're looking to pick sides, why don't you pick Leon's? They can always use help."

"Right! The Restoration Committee is always looking for fresh hands," Aurora added with a grin.

The girls turned back to them.

"Does this Leon have any treasure?" the brunette asked.

"Yeah, lots of stuff!" Donald said brightly.

"Perfect!" the blond cheered.

"Come on!" the dark-clothed one said.

"Who are you?" Sora asked.

"Oh, we're nothing worth mentioning," the brunette said brightly.

"Just three treasure fanatics," the dark-clothed one added.

"Later, taters!" the blond said, and the three vanished in flashes of bright light.

"Does Leon… really have any treasure?" Sora mused.

"No," Aurora said flatly, looking over at Donald, who cackled, almost evilly, before taking off. The other three followed, with Aurora taking the lead again.

The three quickly made it out of the castle and to the Postern, where Aurora stumbled to a halt, a chilling wind suddenly blowing over her.

Light shot down from the sky. As it faded, a man slowly stood up straight. He had long, silver hair, and a single, blackish-purple wing sprouting from his back. At his hip was a long sword.

"Guys, it's Sephiroth!" Donald gasped. Aurora shuddered as the man's darkness continued to make her feel cold.

"Ain't Sephiroth the one who's supposed to be the dark part of Cloud's heart?" Goofy asked.

"Hmph. Did Cloud tell you that?" Sephiroth asked. "Then he must understand now."

"Just what are you gonna do to him?" Sora demanded.

"Nothing. Cloud is the one who hungers for Darkness," Sephiroth said.

"You're wrong. Cloud's heart is full of light," Aurora said. Sephiroth just smirked at her comment, not answering.

"Cloud's said he's got a score to settle with you," Sora said.

"I see…" Sephiroth said. "He wants to meet me again…" he turned away from the group. "Then I should give him what he wants. That last bit of light is always the hardest to snuff out."

"He's too strong—his light is too strong. He won't give in," Aurora growled, stepping forward. Sora reached out to grab her shoulder, remembering how Cloud's warning.

"Hmph," the man said, before floating into the aid. The group watched as he disappeared in a flash of darkness.

As they started forward again, Goofy noticed something in one of the cliff walls near the castle.

"Where did that come from?" he muttered. The group turned to see a giant hole in the wall.

"A hole. Is something in there?" Sora said thoughtfully.

"Ah!" Aurora gasped, darting over to it. "We just finished outside repairs too," she groaned, looking in. There was a long, dark drop inside, and Aurora quickly backed up before vertigo could get the better of her.

"We'll check it out later! Right now, we have to go find the King!" Donald snapped.

"Yeah…" Aurora sighed.

The group quickly fought their way down the path leading to town, taking out Heartless and Nobodies alike, and even helping Aerith and Leon.

"The King's in the Bailey! You better head over there!" Leon called once the creatures were gone, running ahead.

"Got it!" Sora called back, rushing forward with Aurora, Donald, and Goofy at his side.

The Bailey was destroyed. The gate leading from town to the castle had been blown to pieces, and half of the wall was collapsed.

"Oh my gosh," Aurora gasped. Sora put a hand on her arm.

"It'll be patched up soon. I just know it," he said. Aurora nodded. Despite not being originally from Hollow Bastion, she had come to care for it just like her own home. Seeing the damage it was taking from the Heartless… well, it was heart breaking. She clung to Sora's words though, knowing he was right.

"Yeah," she said softly, before following him forward.

They slowed to a stop on one of the cliffs, able to see far into the Dark Maw from this vantage point.

"Whoa…" Sora gasped, while Aurora's heart plummeted into her stomach.

Thousands of Heartless were surging forward. Aurora knew, if they reached the town, all would be lost.

As she watched, Aurora began to pick out different members of the committee. There was Yuffie. She caught her throwing star and fell back, though Aurora wasn't sure if it was exhaustion or injury. A green light shone around her, a cure spell, and suddenly, there was Aerith, helping the ninja back to her feet.

A blue blur bounced around, green beams of light shooting from it and striking the heartless.

The three fairy girls they had run into twice already were fighting Heartless up on one of the cliffs, though they weren't doing much to thin the numbers.

Cloud and Leon fought back to back, taking out Heartless one by one, in quick succession.

Aurora thought she saw a flash of silver, then Tifa was there, fending off the Heartless as well.

"Leon, everybody—hand in there!" Sora said. Aurora took a deep breath.

"We're coming."

They ran forward again, but didn't take more than a few steps, when the King landed in front of them.

"Okay, fellas, you've gotta go find Riku and Kairi!" he said. "And Aurora, you need to stay back where it's safe."

"What!?" Aurora gasped, shocked by that. It was Twilight Town all over again!

"But Leon and the others are friends too!" Sora exclaimed.

"Don't worry. There's already lotsa help here," the King said, still not turning to face them. "We'll take care of this fight."

"But… I promised Leon!" Sora said, sadness oozing into his voice. Aurora put a hand on his shoulder, before considering simply running forward, past the King. Donald and Goofy glanced at both her and Sora.

"Donald! Goofy!" the King said, making those two snap to attention. "Get Aurora to safety then take Sora and get goin'!" the King commanded.

"Riku, Kairi… give me a little time, okay?" Sora muttered to himself. Both of the King's aids looked at him, then at the pleading look Aurora was giving them, before nodding to each other.

"Your Majesty!" Donald called.

"We understand. We'll go search for Riku and Kairi!" Goofy said.

"Right. Watch for danger!" the King warned. Sora and Aurora both turned to them.

"You be careful, too!" Donald called.

"Wait, you guys!" Sora said.

"This isn't fair! I'm part of the Committee, I can help to!" Aurora added.

"Sora, Aurora, do as you're told!" Donald said.

"You're comin' with us whether ya want to or not!" Goofy added.

"C'mon, you two! Ya gotta be good!" Donald said, before winking at them. Sora, who had a retort ready on his lips, froze, before smiling.

"Gotcha," he said. Aurora relaxed with a smile.

"Right," she said.

"Well then, skedaddle!" Goofy said. Sora nodded, mouthing 'thank you,' before turning to face forward again. Aurora did the same.

"Let's go!" Donald said. Those four rushed forward, past the King, and down the cliff. The King ran forward to the edge, looking after them.

"I'm sorry, Your Majesty!" Sora called with a wave, jumping down the next cliff.

"We have to do this!" Aurora said, following after.

"Hope you can forgive us!" Goofy said as he and Donald saluted their King, before following after those two.

…

Demyx didn't want to do this. He really, really didn't want to do this.

Especially since Aurora was with Sora at the moment.

But if he didn't he knew it would be all too easy for the Superior to follow through on his promise—his threat. Especially with the Organization out in full force today.

So, he had to do it. But he really didn't want to.

As Sora, Aurora, and their two companions reached the battle ground he had chosen, he stepped out of a dark portal, causing those four to skid to a stop.

Aurora gasped.

"Edym!" she cried. Sora put a hand on her shoulder, keeping her from rushing forward. Demyx pressed his lips together, keeping a cold façade up and not letting himself crack.

"You were in the Underworld, weren't you?" Sora said.

"Heh, you've already forgotten, Roxas?" Demyx said. Sora frowned slightly.

"Edym, snap out of it! This isn't like you…" Aurora said, her eyes wide. Demyx looked over at her.

(She's grown up so much, and have gotten so strong. I'm really proud of her. Hell, she's even attending Themis!) Demyx thought, finally noticing the patch on her vest, the crest of Themis Legal Academy. (I can't let them hurt her. But so long as…) his thought trailed off for a moment, before determination steeled over him. (I know what I have to do.)

"I'm no longer Edym. Didn't Roxas tell you?" he said in a cold voice. Aurora took a step back at that. "I'm a Nobody. I don't have a heart."

"But in the Underworld, you—" Sora started. Demyx threw his arm out, pointing at Sora. Never before had he felt so much like his cousin.

"Silence, traitor!" he snapped. Sora jerked back, his eyes widening at that.

Demyx dropped his left arm and threw his right arm forward. A Jetstream of water shot out from the ground, right next to his feet, and shot forward. Aurora brought her shield up, and the water slammed into it, throwing her backwards, back to the top of the steps the group had just come down.

(Sorry, Aurora.) he thought, trying not to wince.

As soon as she landed, Demyx brought up a barrier surrounding the area, trapping Sora, Donald, and Goofy in, and trapping Aurora out. He then summoned his Sitar, preparing for battle.

"Dance, Water, Dance!" he yelled, summoning water clones for Sora to fight, while he took a moment to glance over to where he'd thrown Aurora. She was back on her feet, slamming her fists into the barrier, trying to get in.

Sora and his friends made quick work of his clones, forcing Demyx to focus on him again.

Sora was fast, but it was obvious he was holding back. Demyx vaguely remembered Sora mentioning Aurora asking the Keyblade wielder to try to save him, so it made sense.

So, he made his attacks stronger and harder. Still Sora held back. Demyx heard Aurora's cries for them to stop, but it sounded like it was coming from underwater.

Demyx finally jumped back. "Dance, Water, Dance!" he hollered. More of his water clones appeared, forcing Sora to turn his attention away from the man. Demyx panted slightly, watching, but his mind was elsewhere.

…

Edym peeked into Aurora's room, watching for a few moments as she played her game system.

"What game are you playing?"

The girl looked up with a smile.

"Pac-Man!" she said brightly. Edym came further into her room, watching as she made the yellow little circle race through the maze on the television. Aurora sniffled slightly, then sneezed, and Blinky the Ghost caught up to Pac-Man.

"Aw…" she groaned.

"Still got that cold?" he asked.

"Yeah," Aurora sulked, shifting closer to lean against her older brother. "It's not fair! I wanted to go down to the river with you and your friends today."

"Yeah, but swimming isn't good for you if you're congested," Edym said, putting a hand on top of her head.

"Yeah…" Aurora sighed, before peaking up at him. "But… Mom and Dad don't have to know… right?" she asked with a grin. Edym shook his head.

"Mom and Dad would kill me. Besides, I bet Mom already knows."

Aurora sniffled again, rubbing her nose with her wrist. "Yeah, you're probably right," she sighed. Edym smiled, kissing the top of her head.

"I'll see you, okay?" he said, standing and heading out.

"Have fun!" she called after him.

"Love you!" he called back, before walking out the door.

Little did he know that would be the last time he'd see his home.

…

Demyx snapped back to the present as the last of his water clones were defeated, and immediately went on the defensive. He managed to knock Donald and Goofy out, careful not to hurt them too much, and turned his attention to Sora.

Sora scowled at the Nobody, but glanced back over his shoulder. Aurora was standing just past that barrier, slamming her hands against it, trying to get through. He turned back and threw himself at Demyx, swinging his Keyblade down, probably attempting to knock him out. Demyx brought the Sitar up and locked it with his Keyblade.

(This is my last chance…)

Knowing Sora's head, and hair, blocked his face from Aurora's view, he dropped his façade. He allowed all of the emotion he had, but shouldn't, enter his eyes, and one word.

"Please."

He didn't mean for his voice to crack, but it did. It was just too hard to keep pretending. He was just so tired.

Sora faltered, his eyes widening. Then, understanding entered them, and he gave the slightest of nods. Demyx let himself fall back.

Sora began his onslaught, and Demyx could tell he was no longer holding back. He tried to block or dodge his Keyblade, but there were times where he wasn't fast enough.

Finally, he fell, collapsing to his knees. Sora stepped back, just as Donald and Goofy woke up. Sora watched as the Sitar disappeared from Demyx's hand, and the barrier shattered.

"Edym!" Aurora cried, throwing herself forward, wrapping her arms around his neck. Demyx looked up at Sora and mouthed 'thank you,' before he closed his eyes for a moment.

…

The sun was beginning to set. He and his friends had spent the entire day at the river, alternating between cooling off in the water, splashing each other, and working on their songs together.

They were heading back now. The shadows between the trees were dark, but that didn't stop Edym from noticing what looked like an injured animal between the trunks.

"Go ahead. I'll catch up," he told his friends, hopping over the bush that lined the path. He moved closer to the animal, noticing it was black, with yellow eyes. It was so dark under the trees that he couldn't fully see it, but he could tell that whatever it was, it was twitching erratically.

"Come here, let me help you," he said soothingly. The animal tipped it's head to the side, before suddenly lunging at him.

It plunged its claws into his chest. Edym cried out in fear and pain as he fell back, before darkness swallowed him whole.

…

When he woke up, he was in an unfamiliar town. It was still in the mountains, and it was still sunset, but it wasn't any of the towns he knew.

He himself even felt a little different. He couldn't explain how, but it was like he was… empty. He pushed himself to his feet, only to find a man in a black cloak stood before him.

"You are a new being. One who has lost his heart. A Nobody."

The man rose his hand, and gold, floating letters appeared before his face. They spelled his name.

"As a new being, you must use a new name."

The letters flew around him, until the man made an X appear. Edym read them, before looking up at the man. "Demyx," he said softly.

"Yes. Come. The Organization will help you obtain that which you have lost."

…

Aurora clung to her brother like a life line, sobbing into his neck. She felt his arms wrap sluggishly around her, giving her a squeeze.

"Don't be sad, Aurora. Now we're both free," he said softly. Aurora pulled back a little to look at him.

"…Both…?" she whimpered, before realizing the truth. "There were threatening me to control you," she sobbed. Demyx closed his eyes and pulled her back to his chest. Aurora wrapped her arms around him again, sobbing harder. Guilt, anger, and sadness crashed through her all at once.

Demyx began to glow, and his body began to fade.

"N-no! D-Don't leave me! Please!" she cried.

"I'm sorry…" Demyx muttered, his voice faint, as he vanished. Aurora wrapped her arms around her chest, hugging and curling in on herself tightly, as her sobs doubled, shaking her entire body.

"A-Aurora…" Sora said softly, coming over and putting a hand on her back. She jerked away from him, shaking his head, and Sora stumbled back a few steps. His own guilt was gnawing away at him, but… the way Demyx had looked at him… hat pleaded with him… Sora couldn't just ignore that.

"Aha! There you are!" the King suddenly called. Sora, Donald, and Goofy turned to find the king standing at the foot of the steps, glaring at them.

Then he noticed Aurora. "Wha…?"

"It was her brother…" Goofy said. "He was part of the Organization, and…" Goofy trailed off, and the King's eyes widened.

"Oh…" he said.

Suddenly, there was an explosion from overhead. Goofy looked over, before turning to Aurora.

"Look out!" he yelled, shoving her aside. A boulder dropped down and slammed into his head. He was thrown back, and slammed his head again into the wall.

"Goofy!" Sora yelled as he and Donald ran over to him. Aurora pushed herself up, yanked out of her grief-induced stupor, and watched as Donald dropped to his knees next to his best friend.

"No…" the King gasped.

"Hey! You're the King's Captain! You gotta get up!" Donald yelled, shaking Goofy.

"C'mon, wake up!" Sora cried.

"O-oh-no…" Aurora breathed, painfully aware that if Goofy hadn't pushed her out of the way, he'd be fine.

"I'm sorry about the ice cream!" Donald called.

"Goofy…?" Mickey muttered. Aurora slowly walked over to him.

"I-I… I'm so…" she started, fresh tears running down her cheeks.

"Goofy…" Donald sobbed, resting his head on Goofy's chest.

"This is not happening… It can't be happening… It can't…" Sora muttered, inching forward before dropping his head, his voice shaky.

The King's fist clenched, and he turned his head, looking towards the Great Maw, past Aurora.

"They'll pay for this," he said darkly. He yanked off the cloak, summoned his Keyblade, and charged forward.

Suddenly, Donald let out a rage and grief filled yell, before jumping up and charging after him. Sora tried to stop the duck, before taking one last look at Goofy. Aurora took Donald's spot.

"I'll watch over him," she said softly. Sora nodded.

"I'm sorry," he said softly, before taking off after Donald and the King.

Aurora kneeled next to Goofy for a few minutes, her arms wrapped around her stomach loosely.

(First Edym… now Goofy…) she thought.

Coldness suddenly washed over her, much like a blizzard. She stood, activating her shield, and focused on the portal that opened in the middle of the area.

"You're rattled by their deaths, aren't you?" an all too familiar, and hated, voice asked as a cloaked figure stepped through the portal, a rapier held loosely in his hand. Aurora frowned and tried to hold back the fresh wave of tears, but they still blurred her vision.

"Shut up!" she yelled.

"Hmph. So emotional. The best Defense Attorneys keep their cool in the face of a crisis," he said.

"Wh-what!?" she gasped. That was her downfall. The man suddenly rushed forward.

Aurora would usually be able to dodge the attack, but she was distracted by Edym's and Goofy's deaths, as well as the man's statement, that she wasn't fast enough. The man's shoulder rammed into her chest, slamming her back into the cliff wall. Her head snapped back, hitting the wall, and dazing her.

The man grabbed her wrist while she was stunned and wrenched her through a Dark Portal.

Goofy groaned and slowly sat up as the portal vanished, rubbing his head. "Gawrsh… that hurt…" he muttered, before looking around. "Guys?"

End Part Two

…

A/N: What have I done…?