Where our heroes do a lot of flying...
By now, the trio's mode of transportation had been zooming through the black skies in a state of invisibility. From up this high, you could see everything, but they could hardly see you - and anyone who did would likely just register them as a particularly large cloud, and that was if anyone was even able to spot their tiny figures up above in the first place.
Ribbons of cold air brushed past the senses in their cheeks and their skin, with Nemurin seated at the front now - so as to direct their speedy little cloud - while Quorra was positioned somewhere in the middle, the two working in tandem to maintain an idea of their position in the sky, if anyone was getting too close, and how close they were to the Rectifier. They still had some ways to go, it seemed, and it left room for an initially comfortable silence, one Sora put an end to with an odd mumbling; words of the past came spilling out of him, little by little, and eventually, Quorra couldn't help her curiousity from joining in.
"So..." the black-haired woman posed the beginning of her question, "Since you're obviously...different, where is it you two came from?" she asked.
"Well..." Sora answered, his head going slightly to the side as Morgana remained restful at his back. "It's kinda hard to explain. Nemu, you wanna go first?"
"Huh...?" Nemurin responded, before registering the question. "Yeah, sure~ I came from a place called N-City, Japan. Though I..." she continued, only for a trickle of sadness to reach her - a flow of feeling she hadn't even acknowledged was there until just now. "Don't really go there anymore," she concluded, somewhat vaguely.
"Wait, so you're both from the real world then?" Quorra questioned, eyes shining with interest. "Like Sam and Flynn?"
"Yeah, I guess that's a way to put it!" Sora replied, sunnily. "Though maybe not the same place as them, if you get my idea...?"
Quorra chuckled a little to herself. "Don't worry, I already figured that out," she assured before her eyes fell on Nemurin. "I'm still wondering how you were both able to do all this. I mean, you and your key, Sora, and that magic you pulled off earlier, Nemurin,"
"It's gonna sound a bit crazy, probably...~" Nemurin admitted, half in a warning and half in jest. Then again, it seemed like crazy things weren't off the table around here, so maybe not. "Back where I'm from, I'm called a...'Magical Girl',"
"And where I'm from, I'm called a Keyblade Wielder!" Sora added.
"Ah, you mentioned that was what your weapon was called. Incredible...and a Magical Girl...? That's amazing...I'm not so familiar with what that is, I'll admit - maybe I should ask Flynn if he knows anything about it..." Quorra trailed off, going off on a bit of a tangent to herself.
Sora patted Nemurin's shoulder with an enthusiastic grin, hyping her up all the while, "I'm not an expert on it, but they're really cool! Nemurin told me about it," he began. "There's a bunch like her where she's from, and they all have different powers which they use to protect people! Like changing the size of your sword from normal to massive, or hearing the thoughts of people in distress!"
Laughing bashfully, her cheeks now punch pink, Nemurin gave a wave, "Not as cool as him though~ That key of his can cast elemental spells, from fire to lightning...~ And it can unlock just about anything! It can even go to a whole bunch of different places too...~" she explained, now taking her turn to build the Keyblade Wielder up.
Their new ally listened dutifully, and with a somewhat restrained, yet still glowing excitement that seemed to grow the more she learned. Her eyes lit up like they were underneath a beautiful fireworks display, an almost girlish fascination present - indeed, it seemed she had a yearning to know about the outside world, a yearning they were filling wholeheartedly.
"Wow..." she said, almost breathlessly. "That's...it's so..." she fought to find the words.
"But hey, enough about us," Sora shook his hands a little bit. "Why don't you tell us about you?" he asked as he offered a friendly smile.
"Me?" Quorra repeated, blinking a bit. "Well...obviously you know that Flynn and Sam and I already know each other. Flynn...he rescued me a long time ago, and Sam showed up just a bit before you. I had been thinking of sending him to Zuse, but...well, you know how that ended," she explained, a pang of guilt beginning to trail at the ends of her voice, only for her to be met by a shake of the head from Sora.
"Hey, don't blame yourself for that. We had no clue he was going to be on Clu's payroll either," Sora comforted, rubbing the back of his neck. His expression and Nemurin's shared a certain embarrassment, for the fact they took a tip from a stranger, but to be fair, it wasn't like they had much else they could do - not when they were running on borrowed time.
For Sora, the longer the world slept, the harder it'd be for them to finally awaken and return to the Realm of Light. For Nemurin, the longer she did nothing, the more would drift out of her until there was nothing left of her, even if Sora didn't know of that particular aspect of it. After all, she'd technically stared death in the eyes once already, and though it was more relaxing than she had expected, she didn't wish to be the one to find out if there was anything that came after the end. All the same, she tried to pin those thoughts to the back of her head - it wasn't like moping about it was of much help, and it was just...exhausting for her to do anyway, so she tried not to dwell on it.
"You mentioned 'Perrault', earlier, right?" Nemurin added, conveniently dodging that particular train of thought. "Are you a fan?"
Quorra nodded. "That's right - I'll admit we aren't particularly stacked with Perrault though, his was in a collection of other stories. Leo Tolstoy, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Victor Hugo, Jules Verne...they're far more in my line of interest," she listed, a small glint in her eye present at the last part.
"Oh, they're all writers, right?" Sora replied, curiously, a certain unfamiliarity beginning to show in how he not so subtly looked to Nemurin, likely hoping she'd heard of them - because it appeared that he sure hadn't.
"Right~ Tolstoy wrote Anna Karenina, I think...I think Ruler mentioned it, something about 'You dolts! I shouldn't be surprised you don't indulge in classic literature!'" Nemurin obliged with a peaceful smile, taking a few seconds as she pronounced the surname before proceeding on with her best attempts at replicating the brief display she'd managed to catch between Ruler and the other Magical Girls in her team.
Subsequently, it was Nemurin's turn to look a bit dumb; "Uh...which one did Victor Hugo write again...was it..."
"Oh! He's had a fair few, but Les Misérables and the Hunchback of Notre Dame are the main ones to know," Quorra chimed in, helpfully.
Now, Sora and Nemurin were both equally giving each other the side-eye; namely because they were pretty sure they had only just met the Hunchback of Notre Dame not too long ago. "Right..." Sora nodded, his voice somewhat strained as he tried to hold back the questions that could probably snap the world order in half right there on the spot.
"Anyways...~" Nemurin spoke up, hoping to rerail the conversation back onto something a little less...well, meta. "Is Jules Verne your favourite?" the blonde girl wondered.
"Absolutely - do you two know him?"
"Eh, I've heard of him~"
"I've not..." Sora confessed, head hanging a little.
"Once this is over with, I'll lend you one of his; now, which one to start you off with..." Quorra beamed, before giving herself to thought, the gears clearly turning in her head. "It's got to be 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea or 80 Days Around the World. How about I show you them later and you can pick which one you fancy most?"
"Looking forward to it!" Sora agreed, the stilted nature of his voice having faded now into a radiant smile.
Indeed, it was clear that - even with the knowledge of what Sora and Nemurin had come here to do - her request was one he hoped to fulfil. It would probably end up as a longer wait than she initially expected, but he would return to the digital frontier once everything was over with, before...before whatever came next after he and Riku became Keyblade Masters, he wanted to go back to each and every world they'd been to, and see them in their waking forms, see what they were like once they were freed from the burdens of darkness-induced sleep.
After all, they were all friends, weren't they?
As their cloud continued forward, Nemurin's face was screwed in thought. With the flow of magic still relatively steady through her, it occurred to her that she could potentially use it to aid in Sora's goal; if he was to try and talk to Rinzler, to snap him out of his brainwashed state, then those words would need to be powerful, to well and truly sway his heart. But...Nemurin's powers dictated she could do really anything in the Dream World as long as she was creative enough. So...she could maybe bring out Sora's memories, for Rinzler to see directly. After all, sometimes you only remembered things after seeing something that reminded you of it - like when you were about to leave the house, only to spot something specific that made you remember the one thing you almost left without. Now that sensation wasn't particularly common for Nemurin as a self-proclaimed NEET who by her nature hadn't gotten out much (at least in reality), but the point still stood regardless! So perhaps, if they were to try that - even without his source code - perhaps that could help turn the tide.
"Nemu?" Sora's voice broke through her thoughts, as he and Quorra looked at Nemurin in partial puzzlement and concern.
"W-wha?" Nemurin spurted, almost dizzily. "S-sorry, I was lost in thought...I had an idea, about Rinzler, I mean..."
"You did?" Quorra inquired, eyes widened in questioning. "Well, what is it?"
"So, Sora already knows this, but...I can summon just about anything here if I want to...and since it's easier to remember something when you have a visual of it...I want to try and use that to jog Rinzler's memories a bit, y'know?" Nemurin suggested as she brought their cloud to a quiet stop, high in the sky, the silence of the wind loosening under their earshot.
"Nemu..." Sora began. She was half-expecting him to reject the idea - only to be subsequently proven wrong as he practically tackled her into a hug, pulling her into his arms, grinning from ear to ear. "Aaaah, Nemu! That's a great idea!" he cheered - for someone fairly small, he could definitely give a good hug. Giggling a little to herself, Nemurin simply offered a small pat on the head, before returning the hug, albeit in a calmer fashion.
Quorra's lips curved into a smile as she watched the pair; recalling how they thought she and Sam were close now felt a tad ironic to her since these two seemed to have already been fighting side-by-side for a while. She understood, how severe circumstances like those that promised battle could bound people together - Flynn and herself knew one another through him saving her life, as an example, so it didn't surprise her much.
Resting a hand at the edge of the cloud, she leaned back slightly, Quorra agreed, "I have to say, it sounds like it could work pretty well. I'll watch your backs if things start to get out of hand." just then, her eyes fell low, and widened in recognition. "We're here - we can get into Clu's ship if we land now."
The three looked between each other for a second - and nodded in solid agreement. With their plan laid out, disguises readied, and their present goal set in mind, the time to infiltrate Clu's battleship had arrived. Stopping for a second, Nemurin took a spare chunk of her seat, about the size of a dumpling, and gave it a set of eyes; before allowing it to float down through the wide, greyed masses of space, until it drew closer to their location, flicking about it like a fly on the wall. It was a titan in size, and seemed to contain two floors; the first was way down below their sight and was blocked by the second, which was formed by a spiderweb of walkways, which lit up with the distinctive bright orange of Clu and his regime. Dream Eaters, or rather Nightmares, patrolled each pathway, a good number seeming to be guarding a circular elevator at the centre of it all - and it was that elevator that seemed to lead to the Throneship, which seated itself on top. A part of Nemurin suspected this was so the Grid's dictator could laud over and watch the people from on high; from what she'd heard and seen of him so far, it seemed a likely answer, at least to her.
As the tiny spy came floating back up, Nemurin passed it between Quorra and Sora, who had their turns of looking through and gaining an eye for the situation. The former's face hardened, and after the cloud was passed from her hands to Sora's, she reached for the disc attached to her back and readied it, her grip on it firm. "Those monsters are everywhere..." she commented, a certain gravity present within her voice.
"We can take 'em," Sora assured, the resolve set alight in him. "Those Nightmares won't stand a chance against the five of us."
"Hmhm~" Nemurin agreed, airily.
"Still..." Quorra trailed off, folding her arms. "It's troubling Clu has those things guarding him."
"You have a point...that creep must have lent them out to him or something." Nemurin conceded, her eyes narrowing in some disdain for the figure mentioned.
"Do you mean...those people in the black coats who apparently started working with Clu not that long ago?" Quorra questioned, only for Sora and Nemurin to confirm it. "Sounds like you've been dealing with them for a while," she commented, her tone not lacking in sympathies.
"Yeah, I guess..." Nemurin said, allowing that vagueness to come back within her again.
Just then, Sora's heart sickened, and it showed. "Wait, did you say them?"
"Oh no, not another one..." Nemurin sighed, drearily. If this second one was anything like that guy, she wasn't sure how much of it she could tolerate. One was more than enough to fill the bar of annoyance for them, thank you.
Quickly as he could manage, Sora shook it off, "We'll deal with that when we get there; just be careful if they show up, Quorra. They're trouble."
"I suspected as much..." Quorra acknowledged. "Don't worry," she offered a reassuring look. "I can handle it. Anyways, they're not here from the looks of it, at least not right now. So we should take advantage of it while we can."
"Right!" Sora and Nemurin chimed in agreement.
"We'll probably need a distraction for the way down, or those turrets will make this harder for us than it needs to be." Quorra pointed out - sure enough, turrets positioned at the roofs of various walkways and smaller surrounding ships surveyed the area for targets to shoot down. "Any of you have any ideas?"
"Hm..." Nemurin thought; only to recall the Ideal Magical Girls once again, and a tricky smile began to crop upon her face. "I...might have an idea,"
Within those next few seconds, an eagle-like Nightmare had just been sliced in two by a flashing bullet, something so fast that the sensors could hardly keep track of it.
Various shots exploded throughout the sky, yet each one always seemed to land, at closest, at the figure's tail. A hearty laugh rang out through the air as it went, and the Dream Eaters on the lower walkways finally got an eyeful of the figure.
It was a girl, with a face fresh and full of mischievous laughter, eyes focused on wherever the next location happened to be - her black coat billowed in the air as she zipped through it, acting as the element's master. A pointed hat rested atop her head, the brim circled a bright cyan, as were the insides of her cloak and her dress, every accent that might have been orange was now cyan in sworn alignment to everything Clu stood against. Perfection might not have come from playing around, but Ideal Top Speed wasn't the type to seek out any of that. You went for the best you could find and count your blessings, yadda yadda. Her braids, though still long, seemed to rest more across her shoulder in a side-plait, and she seemed to maintain a more natural look to her face - the ideal version of her, the blend of her Magical Girl self and the one known by the man she loved and who loved her back, called upon by a certain sleepy Magical Girl.
The air whistled wildly past her in friendly greetings, even with the screams of falling grenades as they went off, and Ideal Top Speed took a nosedive for the walkways, aiming for several Dream Eaters - a few rounds of fire hit at the tips of her but healed swiftly, and an adept dodge meant the last of it bounced off her armguard - and with a tug, the broom pulled upwards right before making contact with the ground, ramming into several snail-like Nightmares, who bounced and practically clattered in their shells from the impact of the collision, from which Top Speed had been protected from thanks to the neat little windshield that now propped up around the front part of her broom.
In the spaces between, Ideal Top Speed had heard Nemurin's voice, asking for a favour; and as was the Top Speed way, she didn't think about it too hard. Besides, this one was an exciting bit of action - darting about the walkways and keeping them occupied while Nemurin and her new friends got inside this goliath of a place. She'd admit, she probably had some questions for her later - but hey, it'd be fun hearing Nemurin's adventures, especially since it was usually the other way round!
"Sorry 'bout that, lil' guys! Nothin' personal!" her boyish voice called out as her broom gambolled into a hard turn - she had to clear out this floor, then make her way up the next walkway, and then, the way to the elevator.
Her catlike eyes darted briefly to the side as she spun and bolted her way out of the gunfire's range - and sure enough, the turret she was closest to sparked and gave a dying breath, a black and cyan disc slicing right through its centre, before returning to its owner. Landing below were a trio, only one of whom she was familiar with, that being her sleepy Magical Girl companion. The other two were a cool-looking bunch, one a boy about maybe three or four years younger than herself, and the other a woman about two years above herself, give or take. Ideal Top Speed turned her attention back to the next array of fire coming her direction, and her broom burst forward abruptly, her braids flying all over the place now as she went. The scenery around her blurred somewhat into a visage of black and blue, but she managed to keep it straight in her head.
Just then, a distorted caw chilled against her back, followed by two more. Ideal Top Speed's head snapped behind her, and she was met with the image of three Nightmareish (both figuratively and literally)-looking eagles in hot pursuit of her. Offering a grin, she gave an audacious tip of her hat to them, "Ooh, wantin' revenge, right?" she almost seemed to tease. "Well, give it your shot!"
With that taunt out of her mouth, she set herself into high gear as she circled the bridges, some of the railings becoming bent and scorched from the heat of the exhaust, which crackled aloud like a raging flame at the end of her broom. An eagle screeched again, and dove for her neck, but she swayed to the side, swinging her broom abruptly - allowing the Nightmare a full-frontal taste of the flames of the exhaust. It let out another cry, and it fell backwards in response - only for a pure white light to consume it, its silhouette softening and becoming far friendlier in its gaze. As if forgetting what just happened between them and deciding to let bygones be bygones, the Dream Eater (now a Spirit, though Ideal Top Speed didn't quite get that part) soared off for places unknown. Ideal Top Speed allowed a perky grin to remain on her face - the perfect way to live, the eagle had taken, as it should do.
Alas, its two companions didn't seem to take the hint, and tried to aim for her head. Swatting them away with her hand, Ideal Top Speed let out a grumble, sighing a little. "C'mon, not cool!" she scolded.
Her hat brustled a little atop her head and nearly fell off hadn't it been for her taking it into her other hand. Sora, Nemurin and Quorra were making their way up the first floor, but there was still another turret a tad too close - and then, in those catlike eyes, an idea sparked within her soul. Shooting off towards the turret, she ducked up and down and left and right in order to avoid the rapid flames that it shot towards her, seeing it explode at the side of a bridge in the meantime, before checking over her shoulder to make sure the two eagles were still pursuing her.
Yep, still on her back.
Ideal Top Speed circled, now hovering slightly behind the turret. The Nightmares aimed for her - and they met a mark alright, but they sure didn't meet her. Forcing her broom backwards, the Nightmares smashed into the turret, ripping the top of it clean off, almost sputtering a little, as if ready to fire another round, before giving up instead. That shining white light reached the pair of them, and like their friend, flew off in surrender.
Okay, nearly at the elevator now - Ideal Top Speed's posture was light as she sat atop her broom, her eyes gleaming with energy to spare. Several Nightmares of several types surrounded the elevator's base, but fortunately, it seemed the plan to separate them would go off without a hitch. The spiky-haired boy approached from one walkway, then Nemurin from another, and Quorra from the third. The fourth one, a short distance from Top Speed, was the last one to be covered, and she didn't slack on it - with a cheer, the flames revved up and the broom shot out like a bird through the open sky, and with a curve, she was facing forward. Quorra acted first, her arm angling itself as she threw her disc; curving and slicing through the ether around them, and right into a line of Dream Eaters who set to charge for her. The others followed suit - by now, the guards in black had reemerged, likely once they realised that one of their enemies had the ability to undo the Nightmares' will to fight.
Yet, something struck the witchy-looking Magical Girl as rather odd, even as she kept the remaining Nightmares busy. Namely that...something was different about Nemurin, or rather, off. Even though she knew the girl to be rather sleepy, even droopy, the way she stood now seemed to be subtly forced. More specifically, forced to remain upright. It had been by chance that Ideal Top Speed had begun looking for the signs when she first noticed the eyebags, pale, but still purple. Maybe it came easier to her - she was a Magical Girl too, after all, and every time she looked at herself in a mirror she'd be reminded of the almost inhuman radiance they were said to have. But something about that was lacking with Nemurin, and she had first noticed it with the small dark circles - after all...they were supposed to be physically immaculate, particularly with their skin, by nature, so...how did she end up with those? She seemed to breathe fairly normally, and her demeanour didn't seem out-of-keeping with how she normally was, but...
Eh, she was probably thinking about it too hard. Not her style. It had been a bit of a conflict in her as of late, after all, finding the balance between the side of her that was maternal and perpetually attentive, and the youthful side of her that flowed with the wind she flew alongside...that was probably it.
...Right?
From way above it all, Clu stared out the window of the Throneship, his exit prepared, eyebrows raised slightly as the silhouette continuously darted to and fro, from one place to another, slowly drawing out each of the Nightmares, where his usual guard would have been standing. For most on the outside, it would appear to be quite a major blow; having several of your forces decimated, only for the compensation to be evidently lacklustre. And yet, his face didn't falter; in fact, he almost seemed significantly satisfied, a certain smugness making its way into his expression.
"Master Clu, awaiting instructions," a watchman's voice echoed through the monitor.
"Remain where you are. The rest, come with me." Clu ordered, without room for argument or rejection. Rinzler was about to step outside, but Clu raised a hand. "No, not you. Though I'd...usually have you deal with these sorts of matters yourself, I need you here. You know what to do. Kill the girl and anyone with them - except for the boy. Understood?"
A silent nod. With that, Clu exited the room, a small smirk present against his features - they'd probably be here looking for Tron's source code- no, not probably, definitely, at least in the case of that boy. What Rinzler had shown them from their previous encounter gave more than enough evidence for that. Well, they weren't going to have any luck, not here, and if they wanted it, they'd need to come to find him directly.
But let them wander right into the lion's den, as those imperfect ones on the outside are prone to do.
It suited him just as well, after all.
A/N: Fun fact, the last chapter I actually wrote like...two days before publication, and then this fucker I somehow managed to write the day afterwards. I have no clue where the sudden inspiration came from, but I'll take it where I can get it! Anywho, this was originally intended to be part of the start of the next chapter, but for the sake of tone, I thought it'd be better to split them up a bit, keep things a bit more even, y'know? Ideal Top Speed originally wasn't part of the outline either, but I thought I could go somewhere with this particular thread, and who'd be better to distract something in the air than good old Top Speed? Not to mention, she's pretty damn fun to write, ah...RIP, Top Speed, RIP.
Anyways, time to answer questions! I swore I wrote this in another A/N somewhere but I must have forgotten, my apologies. Anyways, in regards to new worlds for this specific story, I'm going to be sticking with the worlds that appear in the game, and those only at least for now because I already have more than enough material present in my outline as is~ After this story is completed though, I'll definitely be more open to going for other Disney worlds! I'm already considering quite a few, including some of the ones you've suggested (such as Neverland), though I've not quite worked out the details about who will be going where, but I'm only considering all that closer to when this is finished which is...not for a bit, though that's somewhat apparent~
Now, onto Tsuuji's questions! I'm sorry to hear about those particular classes, I hope you're doing okay, m'dude. Classes and tests can be tough, so make sure you're taking care of yourself. And honestly, I was really interested in your question! I'm still thinking over how I'll do that transition, but I definitely intend to have a separate story for it when the time comes, plus some other adventures in between. I can't quite go into the character-based questions since those answers will come up during this particular story, but your questions have definitely got me thinking about possibilities for the future! I hope I've answered your questions to your liking, it means a lot to me that you'd take enough interest in something made to ask about it. ^^ I really appreciate it!
With all of that said, I'll see you next time, when Sora finally reunites with Rinzler, and he and Nemu try putting their plan into action!