Reunion

[Cloud]

A few hours later, Zack would shake his head lightly, and groan back to consciousness. His eyes focused slowly as a hand lifted to run through his hair and rub at this temple somewhat. "What... happened...?" he asked more to himself than anyone before slowly standing up.

He found himself in the small headquarters of the Hallow Bastion Radiant Garden Restoration Committee, which was disorienting enough because he was in the town square, but he also found Zolapaz sitting nearby without a worry in the world. He stumbled over to the table, sitting down and trying to clear his head a bit.

"Zola... man, how long was I out?" he asked, then looked over to the guy at the computer, with his back to the two adventurers. "And who's the old geezer typing his memoirs?" he muttered, only half-cognant at the moment.

[kefka]

Zolapaz hadn't really moved in the several hours Zack had been unconscious, though he had spoken to several others as the went in and out of this squat residence. It appeared the Nobody was lost in his own thoughts, so it was several moments later when he noticed that his attention was being called for.

"Hm? Oh, that. You have been asleep for three hours and six minutes; I was beginning to wonder if you and Firion were related somehow. You people find it so amusing to just fall asleep in the middle of activities, don't you?"

He shrugged his shoulders and turned around, his features unchanging, almost robotic.

"That is Cid; he is the...how did he put it...'the mechanic, slash brains, of the Restoration Committee'. Or something to that degree."

[Cloud]

Zack couldn't help but laugh a little at Zola's comment. "You're building a sense of humor..." he chuckled before looking off. "Three hours, huh... I guess Aerith took off, then..." with a shrug, he turned his attention to Cid at the computer.

"So, what're ya workin' on over there, old timer?" he asked, to be greated with a much bigger reaction than he anticipated.

"I AIN'T NO OLD-TIMER, WHIPPERSNAPPER!!!" Cid snapped, turning in place to yell at the man who instinctively ducked behind his chair. As Zack slowly made his way back to his seat, Cid grunted and went on about 'what he was workin' on'.

"I don't expect some punk still in diapers to understand it, but I'm workin' on the town's automated defenses. Ya'll ain't heartless, so it don't make a lick a' sense that it attacked ya! Further, now that the damn thing's all cur-fuddled, it's goin' after normal folk too! May hafta run over to the ol' lab and download something to the I/O and let Tron deal with it...."

Of course only half of this really registered with Zack, who with a clueless look on his face, shrugged to Zolapaz as though asking him to figure it out.

" 'course GETTING over there's a dag-flabbed suicide mission with the machine out fer blood..." Cid added, swiping a thumb under his nose before continuing to work.

Zack looked between Cid and Zola once more, then leaned forward. "Seems if we wanna get out of here, we gotta deal with this little glitch we caused first. Besides, if they have bioscan tech here to target that nasty bit of work, maybe they have something that can help us figure out what's going on?" he whispered before sitting back. "Question is, who's this Tron guy?"

Cid chuckled, overhearing that last part. "Tron's no guy, pup. He's a computer program."

[kefka]

[glow=gray,2,300]"I wonder if the machines have turned on me because of my origins? Perhaps I have attacked this place once or twice in my past life, killed several innocents in my quest for absolute destruction. Who knows?"

He shrugged and rested his head on the table, feeling the coldness of it brush his cheek; he stared over at an umbrella rack on the wall for several moments before picking himself back up.

"A Program, you say? And it is sentient? That sounds very technical. What shall we do about it?"[/glow]

[Cloud]

Zack lifted an eyebrow at Zola at his comment. Seemed he mentioned being a bloodthirsty maniac a lot, but he just didn't have that... vibe. Sure, he was duller than a chess program by Hojo, but that didn't a psychopath make. It was clear even Cid was confused by this, but he too shrugged it off.

"Whatever. If you kids wanna figure anything out, your best bet's probably in Ansem's computer. Here..." he tossed a disk to Zack, who caught it quickly and looked at it. "Take that over to the I/O room. It's just past the Postern. It'll give Tron some functions to deal with this little hiccup in security..." and with that, Cid turned away from them to grumpily punch into the computer.

Zack just shot a salute, then walked outside, jesturing for Zola to follow. "Guess I'll catch up to Aerith later. In the meantime, what's all this about laying waste to places and stuff? It catches me way off guard, man. I need to know what's up so I don't put my foot in my mouth again..." he asked, walking along.

"Who the heck ARE you?"

[kefka]

[glow=grey,2,300]"I am Zolapaz Afkek, a Nobody, a remnant of the vicious whole I used to be known as Kefka...a terrible being who once wreaked havoc in his own name and then took on masters to do their bidding, in the hopes of reaching eternal destruction in the incarnate form."

He shook his head while they walked, and tilted his head. "Hm...I wonder where he is, anyway..."[/glow]

[Cloud]

"Kefka..." Zack muttered, then looked off. "Yeah, I think I heard of that guy... Weirdo with clown paint on, right? I thought he died though..." he looked over, an eyebrow lifted. "Well... whatever the case, that's not you now, right? So, if I were you, I wouldn't bring it up every five minutes... people'll get the wrong idea."

He walked along, looking at the disk in his hand before slipping it safely under his shoulder armor. "So, you're that guy's Nobody. That effectively makes you your own person, right? So, as if you do, don't worry about it!" he said, then shot a friendly smile. Then he paused, blinking.

"He? He who?" he asked, wondering what Zola was talking about. However, he didn't have time to really beat around the bush. Just as he asked, several Armored Knights appeared out of nowhere, their armor clicking as they held up their swords.

"Man! Bad timing!" Zack grumbled, pulling out the buster sword to prepare for a fight. "We just can't CATCH a break, can we?"

[kefka]

[glow=grey,2,300]Zolapaz was basically unfazed by this new wave of interruptions, so while he prepared himself to face off against the Heartless, he continued.

"'He', as in...one of those--of sorts--a Heartless. My Heartless...he who bears most likely the very same title as my former self...Kefka. A much more dangerous foe now, due to the greater darkness he has aquired by the splitting of body and soul from its heart."

He took an Armored Knight by the head and slammed it into the ground, affixing his cold, stony gaze into the creature's visor. He crunched down harder, smashing it into the ground, while black swirls of dark energy poured from his hand and began tearing away at the Heartless' form.[/glow]

[Cloud]

Being an expert sword fighter, Zack was right at home in the middle of a fight with sword-armed heartless. He matched blow for blow their attacks before counterattacking. The problem mostly came from the seemingly unending waves of them. They'd finish up in one spot, then move on only to find another group. Annoying, but clearly the reason Cid couldn't deliver the disk himself.

"That's a good point..." Zack said as he fought, seeming able to split his attention (a telltale sign of ADD, some people would say). "Where ever he is, he's not taking a shot at you, which is a good thing, right? I don't know about you, but if I was made into a heartless, I'd think I'd go after my Nobody, to eliminate the threat of ever being whole again. Just me though."

He sliced another knight in half before moving forward again. "If memory serves... the Postern's... This way!" he lead Zola to the area that lead off toward the underground lab, only to be stopped by another large group of heartless. "Come ON...."

[kefka]

[glow=gray,2,300]Zolapaz sent several Knights into a rippling pool of darkness through his Banishment spell before turning to follow Zack.

Once they were somewhat clear of the whole, he continued on. "Yes, I suppose that is good...but he will come, in time, I'm sure. A plotter by nature--an impulsive one, however--he is probably working on other things before he comes around to take me down. Though I wish to do the deed before he gets the chance...becoming whole? No chance. Letting him reign over myself? Definitely not."[/glow]

[Cloud]

Zack finished off another knight before smiling back at Zola. "See, I knew there was something I liked about ya!" he said, giving the guy a thumbs up. "You recognize who the bad guys are! I know this is a bit of a misnomer here, but you got a good heart, Zola. Whoah, heads up!" he said, then sliced through another that was diving at him.

A few moments later, the heartless were cleared out and they were on their way down the twisting corridors that lead to the lab. Zack would look around the small office area when they got there, finding it a bit... erm... wrecked? "Jeesh... wonder what happened here?" he said, then glanced around.

"Okay... anything here that looks like a computer to you?"

[kefka]

[glow=Gray,2,300]Zolapaz nodded as Zack gave him the thumbs up, unable to feel happiness from the compliment. He shrugged and pressed forward, jogging through the labyrinthe structure of the laboratories of Ansem the Wise, looking around now at the room Zack surveyed.

"I see nothing but a heap of junk," he said, and a memory flashed through his mind. None of that junk is enough to fulfill your hearts!

The Nobody shook his head, rememberind the Dread Clown's words, hearing them as if he were in the room. Out of physical fright, Zolapaz shuddered, though he could feel no fear.

"Perhaps there might be a clue? Or maybe even someone to assist us?"[/glow]

[Secondary Characters]

Leon stood inside the Computer Room, fiddling with various knobs and switches as he tried to make sense of why the system was acting so chaotic.

Ever since those two arrived, the entire security system has been going haywire...better check the tapes again.

He began tapping on a keyboard, bringing up the security videos that had been taken throughout the day. Observing the footage carefully, he watched a man, dark-haired and muscled, toting around a large blade. He spoke with Aerith momentarily, making several gestures before falling to his knees, apparently in shock.

So...that must be Zack. Gotta find out more about him and that...stranger...

The "stranger" in question was a fairly tall, white-skinned man with blond hair. Several bangs hung over his forehead, framing his emotionless, pale eyes, the rest tied back to fall behind his head. The man was clearly capable of fighting, dispatching armored knights with ease alongside Zack.

Aerith hasn't told me much about Zack...I've got to figure out why they're here...at least now I know why the system's been so crazy lately. With those two, it's bound to cause trouble...

Closing the security tapes after viewing their location in Ansem's office, he turned, taking a deep breath before walking towards the door that would lead him directly into the office. A small alcove that would open up and reveal the entrance to the Computer Room...a clever guise, and one utilized by Leon on several occasions.

Stepping through into the messy remnants of the space, he fixed Zack and the other man with a serious gaze.

"What are you two doing here? And what do you want?"

[Cloud]

Zack nodded a bit to Zola, trying to think. "Okay... well..." he looked around, trying to take in some clues. "If I had to guess... there's gotta be another entrance or something. This is the only room down here, right? And Cid said there'd be a computer around here. No computer, so there's gotta be another room..."

He pointed to one of the walls, the only one empty for that matter. "That's gotta be it!" he said, walking over. "The mess covers all the other walls, but this one's totally cleared. Maybe there's a secret-"

Before he could finish, the wall wooshed open to reveal a serious looking guy in what looked like biker-wear. Zack flailed a bit in surprise before jumping back and reaching for his sword. When the guy started asking questions, he blinked, then realized this probably wasn't a heartless or nobody. Well... MAYBE a nobody with the tone he was taking.

"What?" Zack asked, then blinked and shook his head, dropping his hand off the sword. "Oh! Uhm, Cid sent us!" he said, reaching into his shoulder pauldron and pulled out the disk, holding it up. "He asked us to take this to the I/O room? Something about fixing the security system?" he said, a smile on his face, hoping to make peace here...

[Secondary Characters]

Leon looked Zack up and down casually, chuckling when he flailed at his sudden appearance.

"So Cid sent you, eh?" He narrowed his eyes suspiciously, motioning behind towards the Computer Room.

"I warn you, no funny business. You're not the only one who knows how to use a sword, pretty boy." Leon laid a hand on the pommel of his Gunblade for emphasis, his finger lightly resting on the trigger. Relaxing his arm, he motioned for Zack and the newcomer to follow him.

"The I/O room's this way. Come on. I sure hope that disk can fix these system glitches, 'cause we've got bigger fish to fry. Much, much bigger fish..."