Reunion

[kefka]

[glow=Gray,2,300]Heeding the words not to let the villain out of his sight, the Nobody quickly obeyed, sure that he would not be distracted by such things, until the creature took its leave through a Corridor, of sorts, and burst through another at his back.

He heard it before actually seeing, and because he was not quick enough, two of the three piercing claws dug deep into his back, scraping over his spine and the rear-sides of his ribs as he jumped forward, turning on his opponent with glowing hands.

"Cheater," he said in that apathetic tone of his, and threw one burning hand forward. "Blizzaga." The sudden chill in the air heralded the oncoming onslaught of icicles and hailstones, pillars of ice and cold winds.[/glow]

[Secondary Characters]

Megabyte was of course stunned that Zola had survived the attack, but this merely served to enrage him further. The blizzagaa attack came, and Megabyte was left with no option but to take it head on. The cold was biting, freezing... soon, it would have him frozen in spot, and not long after that, encased in ice.

A moment would pass in silence... until the tell-tale 'crik... KRAK' of snapping ice would issue in the echoing chamber that was the Mainframe. Seconds later, the coffin of ice shattered, sending frozen shrapnel-like shards flying in all directions at bulletlike speeds. Megabyte would let out a loud roar before looking to his enemy, those claws extending in deadly arcs of blades.

"If it's games you want to play, you'll find me a most stubborn opponent!" he declared, then rushed forward, swiping the infection-carrying weapons at Zola's arms and chest, his speed blurring and swift...

[Secondary Characters]

Leon rushed over to Zack, making sure that Tron was doing everything he could to help him. Satisfied that the man would be fine, he patted him on the shoulder, giving him an encouraging, albeit non-chalant, "Hang in there, pal! You'll be up to fighting strength in no time!"

Picking up his Gunblade, he turned to face Megabyte, only to find that his foe had vanished into the shadows! He turned to shout a warning to Zola, only to find Mega emerging from the shadows, his clawed hands extending to stab into the man! Zola took the attack, grunting and casting a glowing hand towards him.

"Blizzaga!" Leon felt the air turn cold as spears of ice began to rain down, flecks of snow momentarily blinding him. Zola's magic was quite powerful. Megabyte began to slow, surely and willingly, and soon he was frozen! Leon gripped his weapon, ready to charge in and attack, when all hell broke loose.

Megabyte burst from the ice with a loud snap, his claws extending. Leon saw the taint of the virus, could almost visualize it dripping from his claws, hitting the ground with an acrid odor and an acidic hiss. Megabyte began to advance on Zola, and he could see that the only way to save him from infection was to throw himself in the way.

Leon burst from nowhere, seeming to fill up Zola's entire field of vision as he slammed the flat of his broadsword into Megabyte, knocking him aside. Moments before he attacked, several claws penetrated his chest, causing him to gasp with pain. Once the attack landed, the claws were ripped from his body, arching his back and throwing his midsection forward.

Leon crashed into the ground, his hand still gripping the Gunblade as he began to twitch, feeling a burning, searing sensation where the claws entered him. He cried out in pain, gasping for air as he rose to his feet, gritting his teeth and pointing his blade at Mega.

"You and me! Let's finish this. RIGHT. NOW!"

[kefka]

[glow=gray,2,300]The spell had been enough to give everyone a breather, but soon the virus-born Megabyte had broken free and was on a war path, heading straight for the Nobody.

It would be useless to try that same spell again, he knew, for the enemy would just break free. "Teleport," he said, and just as Leon took his place before him, apparently ready to take the brunt of attack, he disappeared in a cloud of darkness, and reappeared farther off, where he would charge up his next attack.

"Forsaken Null," he whispered, throwing up his militaristic arm, conjuring a field of energy above the battlefield to track Megabyte, and then dropping magical orbs on him. As they rained down the villain would be caught in a wide-spread static explosion.[/glow]

[Secondary Characters]

Hearing and seeing the spell Zola was casting, Megabyte had only nanoseconds to react. Leon had so boldly made his case clear, so who was he to deny him? Rushing forward with incredible, almost animalistic speed, Megabyte closed the distance between himself and Leon, grabbing at his cybersuit and pulling him close.

"As you insist... shield..." he muttered, then hoisted Leon up over his head, using the poisoned body of the gunblader as a sort of umbrella as the blasts came down...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Meanwhile, Tron had just finished taking care of Zack, the last of the virus removed. He hefted the man into a sitting position and patted his back. "On your feet, soldier..." he said to the dazed buster-sword wielder before looking off. "This is getting ridiculous. We need a strategy to take this virus down!"

Zack, on the other hand, was in no mood to talk tactics. Yelling angrily, he grabbed up his sword and charged forward, dragging the buster along the ground to create sparks as he went. Now, he wasn't about to repeat the mistake he made last time, but instead called upon his memories for inspiration...

"Use brings about wear, tear, and rust..."

"You're a little more important than my sword... but just a little..."

"Always protect your SOLDIER honor..."

"Angeal..." Zack muttered, then glared forward at Megabyte attempting to use Leon as his shield. With a roar, Zack hefted up the Buster Sword and gave it a strong throw. The Buster Sword spun forward at an amazing speed, slicing through the air before implanting itself into Megabyte's leg!

"RRAAAGHH!!!" the virus would scream, dropping Leon and falling to one knee just in time to take a massive attack from above. The smoke kicked up from the impact would conceal him a moment, but when it cleared, Megabyte would be knealing there, breathing hard and pulling the buster sword from his leg with an agonizing hissss...

"Clever boy..." he muttered, then used the sword to heft himself up. "But this isn't over..."

Lifting the Buster Sword, Megabyte prepared a downward swipe... over Leon's neck.

[Secondary Characters]

Leon gasped as Megabyte rushed forward and gripped him by his cyber-suit. Hoisting him into the air, Leon felt the oncoming heat wave from the spell that Zola cast. He simply closed his eyes, his hand still gripping his weapon, waiting for the blinding light and the quick flash of pain before he died...

But the end never came. He heard scraping along the ground, a dull, metallic, sound, and looked up just in time to see Zack hurl his blade across the space of the Mainframe. It embedded in Mega's leg with a sickening thud, and he threw Leon several feet away, where he rolled and picked himself back up, holding his bleeding chest.

Mega ripped the sword from his leg just as Leon moved forwards to end it. But his pain got the best of him, and he crumbled to the ground just as Megabyte took the brunt of the explosion from Zola's spell-casting. Leon rolled, attempting to regain his feet, but saw that he would have no time.

Megabyte swung the sword down at his neck, and Leon parried, giving his enemy a hard kick in the chest to knock him back. Leon rose suddenly, a fire burning in his eyes as he gathered his strength for one final, all-out attack. This was his last shot, and he knew he had to make it count.

"RENZOKUKEN!" He shouted, his body afire with blue light as he surged forward, slicing his Gunblade through Megabyte multiple times. He clicked the trigger of his trusty Revolver handle each time, the slicing action accompanied by an explosive burst of power. The hits quickly added up. One! Two! Three! Four! Five! Six! Seven!

Then Leon leapt backwards slightly, his body still glowing as he held his Gunblade up and at an angle away from his body.

"Rough..." He charged forward, holding his weapon outward from his body, rushing up to Megabyte and delivering an earth-shatteringly powerful upward cleave.

"DIVIDE!" A sharp note rang through the air, a peal of noise before the floor underneath Megabyte erupted with a powerful explosion, flame and energy circling around the foe as Leon's final blow ended with immense force.

He landed on the ground, stumbling a few steps before falling to his knees. He nearly succumbed to unconsciousness, stabbing the blade of his trusty sword into the ground to keep his balance.

"Is it over...?" he croaked, turning weakly to survey the damage and see if he needed to be prepared to attack again. But after his Limit Break, Leon was exhausted. He hoped that move had finished his foe off, for he didn't know if he had the strength to even lift his Gunblade, much less fight with it...

[Secondary Characters]

The attacks would land, and Megabyte would drop the buster sword away from himself, stumbling to regain his stance. He was badly damaged, every slice evident on his body, with green viral compounds floating from them like weightless blood. He stepped backward, holding at the more lethal wounds with one hand as he breathed hard.

"It would seem... I'm a little outnumbered..." he muttered, slowly stepping back and away from the group. He was making his way to a console on the wall. When he got there, he threw his good arm back, slamming a button there, which caused the ground to slowly split open, revealling a swirling rift below. "But hardly outmatched!"

"He's opening a port to the Web!!" Tron cried out, grabbing onto whatever he could to avoid being sucked in by the changing pressure in the room. Think of it like a hatch opening in space.

"I suppose I'll retreat for now, but soon, I will return... and this system will be mine..." Megabyte threatened, then leapt into the rift, making his escape into the world wide web, where he would heal and grow more powerful over time, leaving behind the portal which could prove deadly to the others.

You see... Viruses could move about the web easily... programs not so much, and users were doomed if they didn't have browsers...

[Secondary Characters]

Leon looked on in panic as the floor began to open up to the Web. He looked over to Tron, shouting out random answers and hoping that one stuck.

"Hey! We still need to get the datadisk in the system so we can eliminate the virus completely! Can't you use that thing to remote-access the computer or something! That way we can upload the program, eliminate Megabyte, get the heck outta here, and go back to fighting the Heartless in Radiant Garden!"

He held onto his sword, now out of the ground, and raced across the room, attempting to dodge the portal opening that was growing slightly larger by the second...

[Cloud]

Zack had just collected his buster sword, ready to run in and deal some damage with the Virus pulled his nasty little retreating schtick. The floor opened and the portal attempted to suck them in. The only thing he could do was jump away from the center as best he could and use his buster sword to anchor himself in place.

"HOLY CRAP!!!" he cried out, holding on for dear life. He could hear Leon yelling something, but couldn't tell what. "WHATEVER IT IS, DO IT QUICK!!!" he yelled over the rushing air around them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tron didn't have much to hang onto, and was being pulled toward center as a result. He couldn't grab Leon or Zack, or even Zola as they were all evenly spazed, so his last resort was to literally grab onto the edge of the opening floor. He grunted, grasping as hard as he could with both hands, feeling that this would be the end.

But then Leon said something about remote-accessing the terminal. Looking up, Tron could see the terminal from his position, but making that throw would be tricky. He needed to hold on, but at the same time he needed one hand free to throw his disk. Maybe one hand could hold for aproximately 2 seconds. Would that be enough? It'd have to be!

Grabbing his disk, he gave it one good throw, the momentum luckily enough to break free of the suction pulling at the others. "PRAY THIS WORKS!!" Tron yelled out, watching as the streak of blue coursed through the air...

And attatched to the terminal! "Yes!" Tron called, then closed his eyes to remote-access his datadisk, instructing the terminal to take them offline. Instantly, the floor would begin to close up again, but there was a problem. Tron was still being sucked in due to holding on to only the edge!!

The suction for the room on the whole would diminish as the hole in the floor grew smaller, and Tron's chances of escape slowly vanished. In another five seconds, he'd have no room to get back into the Mainframe... and be lost to the Web.

4...

3...

2...

[Secondary Characters]

Leon sighed in relief as Tron accepted his idea, backpedaling so that he wouldn't lose his balance and crash to the floor. He wanted to avoid being sucked into the portal at all costs. That was when he saw Tron clinging onto the edge, and knew that he had to do something to prevent him from being lost to the Web.

As Tron threw the disk, he attempted to remote access the panel, and Leon saw that his grip (and his chances of escaping the portal) were getting smaller by the second. He slung his sword across his back, leaping forward and sliding on his belly towards the hole. He began to slow, and he twisted his way across, making good time.

Just as he saw Tron's grip beginning to give, he reached the man's hand and grabbed it, pulling as hard as he could while rolling. He was lifted bodily and pulled onto Leon, who lay there taking a breath for a moment before he stood up, offering his partner a hand.

"Alright, now that that's over...we've got a Garden to save!"

[Secondary Characters]

Tron got hoisted up just in time for the doors to slam shut and seal off the portal. He breathed a second, then looked up to take Leon's hand. "Thanks..." he said, then held a hand out to summon his datadisk to himself. He put it on his back and nodded. "I've shut off the modem, so we shouldn't be able to access the internet for a while. At least not until this gets taken care of..."

With that, Tron held up the disk that Leon had tossed him earlier. The system update disk! Behind him, Zack would be walking up and nodding. "Oh, yeeeaaah, that thing!" he snapped his fingers then slammed a fist into his open palm. "Once you upload that baby, the security system's gonna start working right again, right??"

Tron nodded. "Affirmative. With Megabyte out of the way, it's just a quick run over to the I/O tower here at the central mainframe!"

It didn't take long. There was an I/O tower nearby, as Tron had said. And when they got there he didn't spare any words but ran over to the center and jumped up onto the upload pad. Holding up the disk, he lifted it skyward in both hands, the light beam pouring from the ceiling scooping it up and lifting it slowly into the air.

The entire area would pulse, seeming to regenerate damage with renewed power. Purplish blobs of viral infection would be swept away as the entire area took on a strangely more modern look, born of black backgrounds, higher resolution textures, and odd glasslike structures that seemed ultra-futuristic. Even Tron himself got a new look:


Turning to face the others, Tron tapped his helmet so his face could be seen, and jumped down. "That's it. The system has been updated. The security protocols have been brought back online. The data transfer terminals are up and running, and you can go back to the user world any time you please. However, when I received my update, I found something you gentlemen may want to see..."

Walking over, Tron pulled up an image on the terminal. It was Zack's case file. On it, was a big red "DECEASED" stamp. It outlined his death, in Gaia, several years ago... "I'm sorry, Zack..."

Zack stood there, dumbfounded as he read it over again and again, shaking his head. "That ... can't be right. I'm here! I'm alive!" He looked at his hand, shaking his head. "Or... am I?" he questioned...

"And it gets worse..." Tron said, opening up another file, this one a video of the sun eclipsing without the help of the moon. Looking to them, Tron had a grim expression on his face. "The User World is in trouble... Radiant Garden is safe for now, but who knows how long. I thank you gentlemen for your assistance with our virus matter, but you have problems of your own to attend to now..."

Punching in the codes, Tron stepped aside to allow a beam of light to shine in front of the three figthers. "I'd come with you, but I'm just a program..." he said solemnly. "But if you need anything, I'll be onhand to be your eyes and ears in cyberspace!"

[Secondary Characters]

As Leon pulled Tron up into the Mainframe, he sighed in relief, leaning back to roll onto his feet as Tron began to upload a new program. As the floors and surfaces became glossy and futuristic looking, and Tron himself got an entirely new makeover, Leon whistled, admiring the beauty of the new place.

"Wow...you really did a number up here, buddy!" He clapped Tron on the back, turning his gaze towards the column of light. That was the way back to Radiant Garden! He turned towards Tron, giving him one last thumbs up before making sure he still had his communicator on him.

"We'll be sure to give you a holler if anything happens in the outside! And if you need us, you know where to find me." He tapped the communication pad, turning to Zola and Zack and gripping his blade.

"C'mon, fellas! Let's get to bashin' some Heartless!" He raced for the column of light, stepping into it and feeling his body become light and weightless as he was systematically vaporized (so to speak) piece by piece...


***Back at the Computer Terminal in Radiant Garden***

Leon phazed back into reality at the Terminal, punching in the codes to access the Security System. A retinal/thumb-print scan and the RCON password later, and he was in business. The computer beeped to life, a robotic voice coming online and giving him updates.

"Security System activated. Weapons Status: Unarmed."

"Roger. Computer, arm Weapons Systems, clearance level Omega. Code one-three-three-seven. Eliminate hostiles on sight."

"Clearance granted. Weapons Status: Armed. Hostiles detected, firing mode engaged."

Leon looked on with satisfaction as he heard the sounds of the weapons system pulverizing the Heartless that were attacking. He began to slice into those still in the Mainframe room, waiting for Zack and Zola so they could finish this mess and take back Radiant Garden once and for all...

[kefka]

[glow=Gray,2,300]When they were released from the system, Zolapaz would have kissed the ground had he felt happy to see it again. His former self he understood would have been utterly annoyed at being forced into a strange place while destruction awaited him on the outside.

Before he left to follow Leon out of the chamber he stopped near Zack, rested a hand on his shoulder and stared blankly into his eyes.

"It's a pity you're deceased," he said flatly, his apathetic gaze like stone. "Perhaps I did, in fact kill you in a past life, and not your family, as I once thought."

And with that he continued on, passing by Leon and nodding his head, standing in wait for their Soldier.[/glow]

[Cloud]

"If only that were true, big guy..." Zack muttered, then walked forward to the beam of light. He may be a blunt kind of guy, but he was sharper than people knew. He was able to see how he died on the file with a quick glance. Gunned down by Shinra Grunts just outside Midgar after escaping a lab. They experimented on him... christ, was nothing sacred?

He was lifted into the real world, where he'd have to try and fight past his own thoughts to give Leon time to get things going again. Slicing down heartless, he tried to focus.

So that's why Aerith acted the way she did... no wonder... he thought, then shook his head as he mowed down various creatures.

So... if I'm dead... and buried... how the heck am I here now? Again, distracted. He grunted, taking a hit to the stomach as he fought back. It was crazy, this amount. But when Leon got the machines running, the odds went way up in their favor.

"HECK YEAH!" Zack cried out, happy to see the security system running NORMAL now. The Heartless were quickly dwindling in numbers and Zack was finally able to take a quick break. Flopping onto his rump, he sat there a second, the Buster Sword sitting next to him as he took a breath.

"Whew... glad that's over..." he said, then looked at the screens again to see that blacked out sun... and his obituary.

"What's wrong with the world... since I left it?"

[Twilight Path]

As in on cue, a dreaded corridor appeared near the young man with black hair, and from it a woman emerged. Jenova had a fresh dress on, a dark Lilly velvet that pressed against her features, accentuating her curves. It had long sleeves that ended in black water-like patters just above her knuckles, and it flowed down past her ankles, opening in a van like manner from behind, and dragging a dark mist from her path.

Her violet eyes narrowed when she spotted the innocent man, and she walked over a hand raised to point an accusing finger to him, "You..." she spoke in a soft manner, almost annoyed, "...you have been nothing but a pain on my neck." she hissed, and stopped short a few feet away from the man. The cells that rested on her neck were moving wildly, almost appearing like a gold like choker.

"If you want to return so badly...here is your chance." she continued, but he didn't speak to Zack... she spoke to another only she herself could hear.

"I release you."