Kingdom Hearts II Vol 1

by Tomoco Kanemaki

  Tron had to smile. “Never mind.” He shook his head and went to a small terminal in the corner of the room, similar to the one from their cell. Tron set to work at the keyboard, and the screen glowed.

  “So, what did you want us to do?”

  He turned to them. “Find my user. He’ll give you the password to access the DTD.”

  “Understood!” Donald replied with a salute.

  “Um…”

  “That’s the name my user gave to the dataspace,” Tron explained over his shoulder. “Copies of the original programs are stored there, along with any sensitive data.”

  “The restricted dataspace? So that’s where all the secret stuff is?” Goofy asked, watching the program that appeared humanoid, his fingers dancing over the keys.

  “Yes. A number of my functions were appropriated the last time I took on the MCP. But if I can get inside the DTD, I can access my original backup program and restore everything. Then I’ll be able to get this system back the way it was before the MCP was modified. The way it was supposed to be—a free system for you, the users.”

  Mystified, Goofy tilted his head. “Gee, Tron…”

  “What is it?” He paused to look back.

  “Isn’t the MCP one o’ those programs, too? Do ya know who it was who changed it?”

  “Well…”

  They waited, but Tron didn’t seem to have an answer.

  “Actually, I don’t know,” he admitted, and his shoulders slumped a bit.

  The trio exchanged glances at that.

  “Okay, we’ll just have to find your user and ask him for the password,” Sora said. “What’s his name?”

  “I thought you already knew! It’s the user of this system—Ansem the Wise.”

  “Ansem?!”

  The three looked at each other again. They’d never imagined Ansem would have set up a system like this.

  “You know, Tron…,” Sora started.

  “Yes?” The moment Tron replied, the steady bluish lights in the room flashed red. “Looks like the MCP’s onto us. I’ll keep this terminal up and running. You’d better exit the system now!”

  He returned to the screen.

  “Um, Tron, Ansem is—”

  “We’ll get ya the password!” Goofy pulled Sora by the arm.

  “Okay. You’re good to go. Hurry!” Tron urged, and light beamed from the screen.

  The trio disappeared into it, just the same as when they’d come.

  Leon stared at the screen after his friends vanished—glared at it, in fact. But if he tried to mess with the computer himself, the same thing would probably happen to him. He couldn’t touch it if he wasn’t absolutely sure what he was doing.

  “Sora…,” he muttered, just as a light shone from behind him. “Now what?!”

  When he turned, Sora, Donald, and Goofy materialized before his eyes.

  “What are you—?”

  “We did it!”

  Ignoring the stunned Leon, the trio hugged one another with delight.

  “Where have you been?” Leon demanded.

  They let go and filled Leon in. Not everything Tron had said made sense to them, but they conveyed the most important parts.

  When they came to a pause, Leon sighed heavily. “So, basically, we can’t get into Ansem’s research data unless we know the password… But you already defeated Ansem…”

  “Gawrsh, maybe we’ll never find the password.” Goofy folded his arms, trying to think.

  “Which means this is all a wild goose chase,” Leon said.

  The gang checked to see if anyone had any ideas.

  “Maybe we’ll find something if we look around Ansem’s study…?” Sora thought aloud.

  “All right,” Leon agreed. “You three search the study. I’ll try going through this computer a little more.”

  The trio agreed and headed back up the passageway.

  “D’you suppose DTD stands for anything?” Goofy wondered.

  Sora cocked his head. “Data…data…something, something?”

  “Anyway, let’s see if we can find any clues!” Donald ran into Ansem’s study with Sora and Goofy close behind him.

  The study, of course, was still a mess.

  They opened every single book, rifled through the memos cluttering the desk, left no stone unturned.

  “Say, fellas, whatcha up to?”

  Donald, startled out of his reverie, sprang up from his position atop the desk—then recognized the voice. “Your Majesty!”

  Not quite hidden underneath a black cloak was King Mickey. Goofy promptly swept him up in an embrace, and Donald joined them.

  The king laughed as their greeting knocked him over. “Whoa!”

  “Where’ve you been, Your Majesty?!” Donald asked, peering at him closely.

  “Shh!” King Mickey held a finger to his lips. “Organization XIII might be listening.” He got calmly to his feet, glancing this way and that.

  “It’s good to see you, Your Majesty!” Sora grinned once Donald and Goofy had managed to calm down.

  “Were ya lookin’ for something?”

  “The password to the DTD.”

  “DTD?” King Mickey tilted his head thoughtfully. “Now, what’s that mean?”

  “Um, well…” Sora didn’t exactly have an answer.

  The newcomer pointed to some scribbles on the wall.

  “Huh?” The trio moved for a closer look.

  They’d gone through everything in the room, but they had missed the literal writing on the wall—a single phrase scrawled in small letters.

  “‘Door to Darkness’?” Sora touched the letters with his fingertips. “D…T…D…”

  “DTD!” Donald and Goofy both exclaimed.

  “The Door to Darkness… That’s what Ansem was trying to open,” King Mickey explained. They all looked at one another. “But that can only happen with the seven princesses… Remember?”

  The trio nodded. With the help of their other foes, Ansem had captured the seven Princesses of Heart in order to open the door.

  “So what’re you trying to do?” King Mickey asked.

  Sora explained the part he could understand. “If we find the password, we’ll be able to access Ansem’s research data.”

  The king grinned. “Oh! Then you might be able to find out where he is!”

  “Aw, quit joking around,” Sora said. “We already beat Ansem! You know that.”

  Why would the king want to find Ansem so long after they’d defeated him?

  King Mickey was rather nonplussed himself. “…Looks like I’ve got a lot of explaining to do.”

  “We’re listening, Your Majesty!” Donald stayed close to the king as if he couldn’t stand to let him out of his sight for a moment.

  “But fellas, isn’t there someone waiting for your help?”

  Sora, Donald, and Goofy looked at one another again.

  “Don’t worry,” the king said with a reassuring smile. “I’ll stay right here in town—I’m not going anywhere. If those Heartless attack, I’ll stand and fight with everyone else.”

  “So will we!” Sora smiled back.

  “Okay—we’ll talk more later.”

  “That’s a promise, right?!” Donald pressed.

  “I’ll see ya when you get back.” The king nodded to them, and the trio returned to the computer lab.

  When they arrived, they found Leon glaring morosely at the screen.

  “Leon!” Sora ran up to him.

  “Did you find out the password?”

  “Yup!” Goofy said.

  “So you’re going in again?”

  Sora nodded. “See ya soon!”

  Leon tapped a few keys, and the laser beam from the device behind them shone on Sora, Donald, and Goofy.

  After a few moments in the dark, a familiar bluish glow illuminated the room around them—apparently the same place they’d first met Tron.

  “Where’s Tron?” Sora wondered, searching for his friend—and finding him collapsed on
the floor. “Tron!”

  Sora rushed to him, and he seemed to wake up upon hearing his name.

  He rose unsteadily to his feet. “I don’t understand. Why are you here…?”

  “We came to give you the password!”

  Tron rubbed his forehead, sounding upset. “You could have just transmitted the data.”

  “‘Transmit’?” Donald asked, but before Tron could explain, his legs wobbled and nearly buckled under him.

  Sora barely managed to catch him. “Hey, are you okay?”

  Tron smiled weakly. “I’ll be all right…once we access the DTD.”

  “Well, okay, but…” They regarded him with concern.

  “Let’s get going.” Tron walked—well, staggered—forward, and Sora slipped his shoulder under Tron’s arm to help.

  “Are you sure you’re okay?”

  “Yes…”

  It was hard to tell under the bluish light, but Tron seemed horribly pale.

  “Did the MCP do something to ya?” Goofy asked anxiously.

  “…Don’t worry.” Tron smiled without confirming or denying. “The DTD isn’t far. Let’s go.”

  They forged ahead with Tron leaning on Sora. The route to the DTD was teeming with Heartless, but they made it through.

  The room containing the restricted dataspace had three big screens.

  “Is this the DTD?” Sora said.

  “Yes… Now, what’s the password?” Tron rested his hands on the keyboard in front of the screens.

  “Uh, Belle…Snow White…” Tron typed in the names as Donald gave them.

  Goofy continued the list. “Aurora, Alice, Jasmine, Cinderella…” Before he named the last one, he turned to Sora.

  “Kairi.” Sora pronounced it slowly.

  “…Kairi, right?” Tron looked back at Sora for confirmation.

  He nodded.

  “K-A-I-R-I…” The moment Tron finished typing, the screen began flashing. “It worked!”

  He jumped into a victorious pose. The password had granted them access to the DTD. He placed his hand, palm down, on a panel in front of the screen, and his outfit glowed blue white. “All my functions are restored. I’m as good as new!” Tron told them with a grin, and he did look healthier.

  “That’s great, Tron!” Sora grinned back—but then the buzz of an alarm filled the chamber.

  A voice broke into sinister laughter. “Ha-ha-ha-ha! Finally, I have full access to the DTD! My takeover of the system is complete. I might have anticipated such a simple password…”

  “It stops now, MCP! We won’t let you do this!” Tron shouted.

  “Hmm, what’s this? A self-destruct program for the entire town. Let’s see how it performs…”

  “No!” Tron’s fingers flew across the keyboard.

  “You, program—you changed the password!” the MCP bellowed.

  Tron ignored it. “That should buy us some time,” he told the trio.

  “Tell us what’s going on!” Sora pleaded.

  “The MCP is loading a hostile program into the I/O tower.”

  “Gawrsh, does that mean Hollow Bastion’s gonna be destroyed?”

  “Wak! What do we do?!”

  “We’ve got to protect the users’ town. Let’s head to the tower!” Tron said, and the trio agreed.

  A broad pillar with red lights zooming along it stretched high into the strange sky.

  Sora stared up at it. “So that’s the I/O tower…?”

  Beside him, Tron strode toward the nearby terminal when they heard a huge rumbling—and something enormous fell from the sky. Two powerful-looking arms protruded from a round body covered in spikes. It could be a Heartless, but Sora figured it was the hostile program meant to destroy the town. It definitely radiated hostility.

  “Here it comes!” Sora brandished his Keyblade.

  “Your actions are disconcerting, Tron,” the voice of the MCP declared from somewhere overhead. “Why do you insist on allying with these selfish users?”

  “Because I want to help them.” Tron took a step forward. “Something in my code commands me to.”

  “Really? What sort of code would command that?”

  Tron considered the question for a moment before he replied, looking at his new companions. “I don’t really know for sure.”

  “Friends help each other, that’s all!” Sora declared. “Uh-oh—look out!”

  Just as he spoke, the program fired a laser from its arm.

  “Ngh!” Tron evaded it and ran.

  “Fire!” Donald cast his magic, while Goofy charged at the program with his shield. There was a clang! and the program briefly halted.

  “Huh…? It stopped?”

  “Don’t let your guard down! It just froze!” Tron dashed in under the program and withdrew the small device he’d been carrying to start typing on it. “Sora!” he called.

  The device emitted a ray that seemed to damage the program.

  “Got it!” Sora lunged and slammed the program with his Keyblade, and in the next moment, light burst from the gaps between its parts, and it fell to inert pieces.

  Tron and Sora high-fived. “We did it!”

  “That’s a load off our minds,” Donald added cheerfully.

  “All right, I’d better get you users out of here.” Tron headed for the terminal off to the side and crouched down at the keyboard. “With my functionality restored from the backup, I think I’ve got a chance at getting control of the system back from the MCP. I have to get to work fast. It’s what my user would want.” The keys clicked as he talked.

  “What your user—what Ansem would want…,” Sora murmured. Donald and Goofy gave him a look.

  “Sora…?”

  “I know. I’ll tell him.” Sora nodded. Tron was still facing the screen. “Listen, Tron…”

  “Yes?” He stopped and turned to them.

  “We didn’t get the password from Ansem,” Sora told him. “We just happened to find it back in the user world. And one more thing. Ansem—he was our enemy. Well…he still is, I guess.”

  Tron narrowed his eyes slightly and got to his feet. “The truth is…he’s my enemy, too.” He sounded determined.

  “What do you mean?” Sora asked.

  “Ansem built this system by customizing ENCOM’s original system for his own use. I was part of that original system, and Ansem modified me, too. That makes him my user.”

  The trio nodded, following so far.

  “But he’s also the one who made the MCP the way it is now. The Ansem I knew wouldn’t do that. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.”

  “Okay, but…” Sora cocked his head. “Now I really don’t get it.”

  Ansem had created this system to protect Hollow Bastion, but then he’d altered it? In that case, Sora had no idea what Ansem was trying to do.

  “I don’t think it’s in my programming to understand,” Tron admitted. “Users like you will probably be the ones to figure it out. You have the capacity to take illogical routes to arrive at the answers you seek.” He shrugged with a shy smile. “You should go now, before the MCP starts acting up again!”

  Tron gestured at them to get in front of the screen.

  “Any data you need from the DTD can be accessed directly through my user’s terminal. I’ll keep a dedicated access channel open for you. And since I changed the password, you won’t have to worry about the MCP for a while.”

  “Access…channel?” Sora repeated.

  Tron laughed for some reason. “I knew you’d ask. It’s important—the link between our worlds. It’s how we stay connected.”

  That made sense—or at least, it felt right. The trio nodded, and finally a device by the screen fired the familiar beam at them.

  “Sora—my friends are the new password!” Tron told them as they blurred and pixelated in the transfer.

  Tron’s friends.

  “Does that mean—?”

  Tron held a finger to his lips, then grinned. “Don’t let the MCP hear it. You’d better go!�
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  “Thanks, Tron. Take care!” Sora said as they waved to Tron.

  “You too. And give my best to the other users!” they heard Tron say as they disappeared from the system.

  “All taken care of!” Sora announced eagerly, back in Hollow Bastion’s computer lab.

  “Look at this.” Leon gestured to the screen, as if he’d been waiting to tell them something.

  The screen showed little caricatures of Sora, Donald, and Goofy with the caption THANK YOU!

  “Hang in there, Tron,” Sora said softly, peering at the image.

  “So…where do we start?” Leon asked.

  “I know—let’s access the DTD!” Sora went to the computer and leaned over toward the screen. Behind him, Donald and Goofy scanned the room for something.

  “The king’s checking the situation in town,” Leon said. “Don’t worry, he’ll be back soon.”

  “That’s good to hear!” Donald smiled, relieved.

  “So…how do we use this?” asked Sora.

  “Just a second.” Leon started typing. “Hey, it’s asking for a password.”

  He turned expectantly toward the trio.

  “Oh, that’s easy.” Goofy eagerly shifted closer to the screen. “It’s…”

  “Sora!” The boy cut in with his own name.

  “Sora…?” Leon frowned, dubious, as he typed it in.

  “Donald!”

  “Goofy!”

  The other two completed the list.

  The password was “Tron’s friends”—which had to mean their names.

  “Well, that’s…to the point,” Leon remarked.

  “Did it work?” Sora watched Leon’s hands on the keyboard.

  “Yeah, we’re in. Now I have to go into town and see how things are.”

  “You’re not gonna look at the data?” Sora complained. “It wasn’t exactly easy to get!”

  “I’m coming right back. Sora, why don’t you get started on loading the data and copying it?”

  Sora squinted, a little confused by the instructions.

  “You just use the keyboard to tell it what to do. It’s pretty straightforward.” Leon left with a little wave and not a glance behind him.

  “…You think you can do it?” Donald said, not looking very confident.

  “Maybe, if you’re not on my case!” Sora reached for the keyboard, took a deep breath, and tried pressing the biggest button. The screen immediately displayed something else—strings of questions for them. “Whoa… It’s doing something!”