Reunion

[Cloud]

Zack blinked, then nodded and followed the man with a shrug. As they walked and received that little warning, he glanced to the sword Leon carried and whistled. "Niiice," he said, approving of the weapon. "Haven't seen one of those before. How does it handle?" he asked, seeming somewhat eager now. He loved a good match, and a chance to try his luck against a strong opponent was always one of those things that got him interested.

However, now wasn't really the time or place. He needed to focus a bit. "Oh! Right! The disk. Wait, you said you had bigger problems? Like what?" he asked, and when they entered, he tried to slip the disk into the slot... only to have it spit back out.

"Huh? Come on!" he said, trying it again. Again, failure. Looking to the screen for information, Zack found the following written there:

"External input malfunction. Please deliver data manually"

He stood up, shrugging a bit as he looked to the others. "What the heck does THAT mean?"

[kefka]

[glow=Gray,2,300]Zolapaz had stayed quiet throughout this exchange, giving Leon a cold look of apathy as he and Zack spoke, and followed obediently to the I/O room with them, tagging behind several feet.

When Zack began rambling about asking questions on the gunblade he gently tapped him in the chest with his knuckles, and cleared his throat. "If you didn't hear the man, he's got fish to fry, so we can't be forcing him to linger here while they burn."

He turned back to Leon and put on a queer smile. "You may go back to your kitchen now, Sir, for we are--"

He was cut off by Zack trying to insert the disk, and then moved over to examine the system message. "Perhaps it...well, it does say 'manually', but I thought that is what you were doing? This doesn't make sense, but then again neither does life."[/glow]

[Secondary Characters]

Leon looked at Zack grimly as he attempted to input the disk, only to have it ejected.

"...the heck does that mean?"

Leon shrugged. "It means exactly what it says. Manual. Looks like I'm gonna have to go in..."

He turned absent-mindedly to the man accompanying Zack.

"About the fish comment, it wasn't literal fish. I meant...ah, hell. Forget it. Zack, you and this guy watch my back while I'm inside. Stand ready at the computer, but don't forget to watch your backs. This place is going to hell really fast, and I need to find out what's going on."

"Computer, initiate manual integration. Color, emerald. "

Leon grabbed the disk, sliding it into his pocket and walking over to the side of the computer, fiddling around for a moment. Apparently satisfied, he hit a button, then froze in place. What would seem like several seconds passed as his body became covered in a blue lattice-like grid pattern, still maintaining skin tone, hair, and color. However, a small blue laser was systematically integrating him into the mainframe, pixel by pixel.

Before a full minute had passed, Leon was no longer on the outside world. His data fully passed into the computer, he suddenly found himself in an emerald suit, glowing with striped bands of energy. The world all around him was digitized, little blips of light blinking throughout the cyberspace.

Leon grunted, setting his mind to the task at hand. He gripped the handles of his lightcycle, leaning forwards as the green shield slid over the top of his body. Gunning it, he blasted forwards, streaming a trail of emerald light behind him...

[Cloud]

Zack jumped when he saw this sudden display of light and sound. He blinked as Leon was suddenly zapped into non-existance by that laser light, then coughed loudly. "What the HELL??" he asked, then ran to the computer, hoping to find some clue to what was going on.

"What the heck's going on??" he asked, going over the screen a few times.

[Secondary Characters]

As Leon went streaking across cyberspace, another light cycle would come up beside his, and on it a familiar face. "Leon?" the program asked, looking over as they rode side-by-side. "What are you doing here?" he asked, then suddenly swirved to the side, just as a blast of digitized energy came streaking between them, blowing a section of the game grid into pixels.

"Nevermind, no time!" Tron said, swirving back over. "We have malware on our hands! We caught a virus at some point during the latest scheduled update. Heartless incoming!" he yelled, then quickly made a sharp turn away from Leon, hoping the man would follow him. Sure enough, if Leon glanced over, he'd see several tanklike heartless called Devastators firing at them, followed by the much swifter lightcyclelike creatures called Magnum Loaders.

"They're swarming the I/O tower!" Tron explained, grabbing his datadisk and throwing it as hard as he could to take out the two M.Loaders chasing him. "Nothing's getting in or out! We gotta get off the game grid if we want to come up with a decent plan! There should be a crack in the wall somewhere around here that Sora and I used to escape once! Go for it!"

With that, Tron's bike took off, leaving behind a streak of blue in its wake. He'd weave this way and that to create walls which M.Loaders would crash into, or simply to avoid massive blocks that popped up at random around them. When the crack appeared, he called out to Leon. "There!"

He revved up his engine and took off as fast as he could. There were two Devastators on guard, but he streaked right by them without much trouble. Now, it was up to Leon to follow...

[Secondary Characters]

Leon nodded firmly as Tron came up next to him, then sharply cut his lightcycle to the side, avoiding a blast that ruptured the fabric of the game grid, blowing a hole in the very world itself.

"What the...?" Leon looked up as Tron rattled on about the I/O tower, malware, a virus in the system, and heartless being inbound. Large, towering tank-like behemoths were blasting away at them, and smaller, lightcycle-resembling heartless were streaming towards them.

As Tron took several of the heartless out with his disk, Leon cut four corners sharply, extending the last one so he could make a getaway as an Magnum Loader slammed into his makeshift box, exploding into nothingness and floating away.

"...Go for it!"

Leon looked over to the side, veering to avoid a collision with a Loader as he saw a small crack forming in the wall. Tron sped off towards it, and Leon gave chase, cutting a wide swath around the larger, tank-like heartless as he gunned the engine, his eyes on the prize, speeding towards the gap...

[Secondary Characters]

Through the crack was a dangerous stretch of cyberspace. The road was narrow, and twisting. You had to have pretty good reflexes just to get through there at normal speed. Tron was taking it at the full capacity of the lightcycle as if it were nothing. Once out, he'd abruptly turn his bike sideways and slide to a hault. The domed roof of his bike would de-rezz and he'd sit up, overlooking a large area of the system with a grim expression.

Flying over many of the buildings and towers were hundreds of the tanks the MCP once employed for security purposes. They were a sight on their own, but they were now also infected with something Tron had never seen before. Some kind of foreign virus from the web had taken over nearly an entire quadrant of the system, which unfortunately included...

No time for that now. Tron turned to look to Leon, before grabbing his datadisk and throwing it above their little exit. The result was that several blocks of data would fall over the exposed tunnel and block off any pursuers. When the disk returned to Tron's hand, he slipped it onto his back before addressing Leon.

"Nice work. You know your lightcycles..." he said, then pointed out over the system. "See what we have to deal with? That virus is causing a lot of problems, and based on the fact that you're here, I'm assuming not just for the system but for the users too?" he asked.

[kefka]

[glow=Gray,2,300]What Zolapaz said next was simple, blunt and straighforward.

"I am confused at what just happened."[/glow]

[Secondary Characters]

Leon pulled his Lightcycle to a stop alongside Tron, revving the engine a few times and savoring the sleek, mechanical roar. It'd been a while since he'd ridden like this, and he'd enjoyed it, despite the danger. A spike of adrenaline had kicked in when he fled from the M. Loaders, and it still buzzed in his system, heightening his senses.

"...but for the users, too?" Leon looked up at Tron, focusing for a moment as he processed what he'd overheard. He cast a glance out as Tron pointed, nodding firmly towards all of the viral activity before turning back to face him. His expression was serious, and he leaned casually to the side on his cycle.

"Yeah, the security system's been hell. I can't make heads or tails of what's going on in there, but outside, in Radiant Garden...everything's not doing so well. I have a disk that should repair the system, but...it told me to insert the data manually. So here I am."

Leon pulled the disk from his pocket, holding it up for Tron to see before slipping it back into the jacket from whence it came.

"So...where to now?"

[Secondary Characters]

Tron looked over when Leon produced the disk, his eyes going wide. "That's a systems upgrade disk!" he gasped, his attention now fully on Leon. "We have to get that to the Mainframe..." he said, then looked over the dataspace, pointing to a very large building that was at the center of the viral infection. "There it is... We'll have to do some fighting to get there. I don't doubt that the virus we contracted is there to..."

Just then, Tron heard an odd beeping sound. He looked to Leon and pointed at him. "I think your communicator's going off..." he said calmly, indicating a small device attatched to Leon's belt which he probably didn't notice beore. It beeped again, and a voice came over it. "What the heck's going on??" Zack complained over the communicator.

"If that's one of your user friends, we could use him when we go to hack the mainframe..." Tron said, then leaned forward to create the dome of his lightcycle and took off toward where they would need to go, instinctively knowing that Leon would know to follow...

[Secondary Characters]

Leon nodded firmly as Tron mentioned fighting. He looked momentarily to make sure his Gunblade was still there, winking at the man as he gunned his engine.

"It may not be a spinning light disk, but it gets the job done. Now, you mentioned the virus that we contracted...how did it get here?"

He was interrupted by a beeping sound coming from his side belt. Looking down, he picked it up, staring inquisitively at Tron.

"...communicator's going off." "What the heck is going on?"

So, it was a communicator, after all. Leon nodded firmly, hearing Zack's voice over the device.

"Listen, you and your friend are gonna have to guard that room against any Heartless. I'm here inside of the mainframe, and things've gone to hell real fast. There's some kind of virus that's eating everything up, and we'll need your help when we go to hack the mainframe. Stay there, keep safe, and wait for my command, alright?"

Leon clipped the communicator back onto his waist belt, sliding the top over his lightcycle and gunning after Tron, his mind racing on ways to beat this virus...

[Cloud]

"Listen, you and your friend are gonna have to guard that room against any Heartless. I'm here inside of the mainframe, and things've gone to hell real fast. There's some kind of virus that's eating everything up, and we'll need your help when we go to hack the mainframe. Stay there, keep safe, and wait for my command, alright?"

Zack jumped, looking around until he realized what just happened. A voice was coming from the computer! And it sounded like that guy! He leaned over, blinking a bit. "Woah! You're INSIDE?" he asked, "What do you mean virus??" he added, then stood up a bit, sighing.

Out the window, he could see the machine firing up. It looked like it was... MAKING heartless! Zack jumped again, then looked over to the door nearby, grunting. "Great..." he muttered, then grabbed his sword.

He nodded to Zola, then ran over to the door, opening it and heading outside. "I've got down here! Make sure the other entrance doesn't get overrun!" he called out, then hit the elevator button to head down to where the action was. It was up to him to hold the line there... at least until they got word to do something else...

"Come get some!" he called out the second the elevator lowered, and ran forward, ready to slice into the M.Loaders and Armored Knights pouring out.

[Secondary Characters]

Tron... was fearless. In the heart of the virus-infected sectors of the system, he wouldn't even slow down through the residential areas for statistics programs. They were all infected here. He revved his lightcycle and sped through densely-packed areas where programs had oddly changed color to a purple-and-yellow scheme and seemed to dredge about like zombies. Every once in a while, he'd pull his datadisk out and throw it ahead, destroying some bit of property in order to speed through.

"Leon!" Tron called behind him to the man following. "We're about to hit ground zero of virus infection. Be ready for some serious fighting!" he warned, then rushed forward. With every passing second, they were drawing closer to the mainframe, a massive building at the center of the system where the MCP once resided. Around this were several half-destroyed I/O towers, and the skies were littered with thousands of destroyer tanks and various vehicles used by military programs to protect the heart of the system. All of them shared the same miscolored infections...

As they drew closer, several Heartless would begin to gather in the area around them. The Devastators would open fire, blasting large chunks of terrain about the cycles as they advanced. Magnum Loaders would rush forward and try to kamikaze the program and the user as they charged forward. All the while, Tron would be throwing his datadisk, taking out incoming blasts while he left Leon to deal with the M. Loaders.

"The Mainframe can only be accessed by solar sailer!" Tron called out during the mad dash. "The hangars are just beyond this group of viruses!" he elaborated. "We need to get past them, but there's so many!"

Just then, a blast would rocket out of nowhere, destroying the front half of Tron's light cycle which immediately de-rezzed and sent the program flying through the air. Luckily for Tron, he was a security program, and was able to fix his flight pattern enough that he could throw his data disk and take out a few M. Loaders before landing in a roll way ahead. However, several Devastators would turn their barrels toward him, and with just his datadisk he was out gunned.

Or was he? "Gentlemen, I'd like you to meet my friend Leon..." he said, then leapt out of the way. He had literally cleared a path for the man so that he could handle the big guns. Now, it was a matter of seeing if this great plan actually worked.

[Secondary Characters]

Leon sped behind Tron, easily keeping his speed and staying just far behind him so as not to be caught off guard in case he needed to perform a sudden "brake check". As they sped through residential area and infected section alike, Leon marveled at the destructive capacity of the viral infection.

All around, a sickly purplish yellow color emanated. Program after program was being decimated, pixel by pixel slowly being replaced by the zombie-ish hue. Normal functions subsided as they were left to do nothing but amble around with no objectives. Leon shook his head sadly as they blurred past them, gritting his teeth.

Suddenly, the virus seemed to explode out from all around them. We must be nearing the "Proving Grounds"...better get my Gunblade ready... Sure enough, just ahead of him, Tron was shouting over his shoulder as he sped forward, using that glowing disk to take out enemies and pieces of property.

A group of Devastators and Magnum Loaders appeared from nowhere, bearing the same sickened hue as the rest of the programs. As Tron zoomed past and worked at the Devs, the Magnum Loaders swarmed around Leon, closing in for the kill, attempting to Kamikaze.

Leon grinned, slinging the blade off of his shoulder and spinning his bike at a hard angle. Clicking the trigger as he swung, and explosive burst of a sword-cut sliced the first Loader clean in half. Righting himself, he watched as the two halves crashed into two more, creating a chain reaction of rubble. The last Loader rocketed past him, and his mind moved onward, forgetting about the foe...

"...We need to get past them, but there's so many!" Leon was abruptly brought back to reality by Tron's shouting. Then, out of nowhere, a blast destroyed the front half of his lightcycle, and he was flipped off of it, spiraling through the air. Leon expected the worst, but Tron exhibited excellent control of his momentum.

Landing deftly, he stood before a massive group of Devastators, moving to give Leon a direct view of the battle that he faced. After introducing him, Leon chuckled, looking back and remembering the M.Loader behind him. An idea quickly formulated in his head, risky but totally worth it if he could execute it correctly.

Sheathing his blade, the last Loader was coming towards him with great speed, but Leon was prepared. Time to get a little extreme... Leon ramped his cycle up a small trail of rubble, the beam of rigidity still following behind him. At the last minute, he jettisoned the vehicle, sending it careening into the first Devastator.

Flipping through the air, Leon pulled the trigger on his blade again, coming down to split the last Loader cleanly in half. The halves of his foe rocketed away on either side of him, crashing into the buildings. Spinning to face his opponents, he spun his sword once, twice, then grinned to Tron.

"Alright...let's dance!"

[Secondary Characters]

Tron got up quickly when the assault took place. Soon, the two were back-to-back, and Tron was getting his datadisk out. He nodded over his shoulder to Leon, before looking up to see the massive amount of infected heartless closing in on them. "Seems familiar..." he said lightheartedly before running forward to throw his disk and take out a few baddies nearby.

New heartless would join the fray, with large pointed heads and arms, but miniscule bodies. They were called Strafers, and were the more brawler type heartless. They would try to get in close, which is where Leon was most effective. Tron would focus more on the far-off enemies like the Devestators or the M. Loaders zipping around them. Every once in a while, Tron woudl take a hit, but he tended to recover pretty quickly.

"We can't keep up a war like this!" he called to Leon while they were seperated by at least ten feet or so. "I'm gonna make a run for the hangar! Hold the line!" he called, then broke through a line of Strafers to make a run for the controls to call back the solar sailer. He began to type in commands, trying to get the vehicle to return. "I'll need a few minutes at least!!"