A bright light goes off in the I/O Tower as Bleach realizes in the tower, his cloak still covering him but now wired with white circuitry to match the area. He smiles as he now looks at the input opening, waiting as the data for his program begins to stream through.

The data is quickly uploaded, and floats in the beam.

Tron steps threw the entreance way. "Halt stay where you are." Tron says, preparing to attack.

Bleach only glances over his shoulder, looking at Tron. "Ah, Tron. It's been a while, hasn't it? Did my data on those hybrids help in any way?"

"Somewhat." Tron says. "I'm sorry, but unless you get clearance from Sora, you'll have to leave."

"Is that so?" Bleach asks, smiling. "Well then, allow me to show my clearance." He then snaps his fingers.

The data suddenly takes shape, forming into a large light blue creature of some sort. It consists of two halves, a top half and a lower half. The lower half is like half a gelatinous egg shell with rounded bulbs for teeth. The upper half is similar but has two large gelatinous arms. The entire creature is covered in white circuitry, and on the front of its top half is a Nobody insignia.

"Data Snatcher," Bleach commands, "capture Tron!"

The Data Snatcher immediately makes its move, lunging toward Tron as it separated into its top and bottom halves and attempting to clasp him inside.

Tron dodges, but nevertheless is caught in the trap. He tries to get out. "Let me out." Tron orders. "The security of Radiant Garden depends on me being on constant watch of the computer."

"Oh, relax," Bleach says as the Data Snatcher's circuits change from white to blue. "The Data Snatcher is programmed to continue your duties without fail. However, while I am not here to destroy the system, I am here for another reason. First, however, let us go to the core, shall we?" With that, Bleach leaves the I/O Tower and goes toward the Computer Core with the Data Snatcher following.

Tron sighs, and relaxes, trying to figure out how to get out of the Data Snatcher.

Bleach soon arrives in the Computer Core as the Data Snatcher takes its position in the center of the room over the void. "Now, Tron, you might feel slightly weak, but there should be no lasting effects when I am done." He now looks to the Data Snatcher. "Data Snatcher, run program L2941."

The Data Snatcher lets out a beep, confirming the command as it glows slightly blue. It then begins to hack into the town's security system, begnning to use only a small part of the defense for its purpose.

The Data Snatcher has no problem, but Tron doesn't look so good.

"Don't you worry, Tron. Once I am done, everything will be back to normal. Just you wait..." Bleach cuts off as he smiles. "Ah, our guest has arrived."

---

Mario groans as he gets to his knees, feeling lightheaded after the strange experience. Blinking, he looks around, finding himself in some sort of prison chamber with a computer nearby; it is off. Getting up, he finds himself in Heartless form and decked out in black circuitry. "...Okay...just where am I?"

"You won't get away with this." Tron says, looking determined.

"What's there to get away with? I'm doing nothing wrong," Bleach says as he monitors Mario from a program screen. "However, I think my friend will find himself with his hands full soon."

---

Mario walks out of the cell, stepping on a platform and riding it to the next area and looking around. Nothing was around, and silently, he walks into the large open area in the center, trying to figure out where he was and what this was about.

Suddenly four Devastators appear, two blocking the exits to the open area, and two attack Mario.

Mario steps back, startled, then quickly dodges, drawing his Keyblades and attacking the two attacking Devastators.

The two are hit, but don't seemed fazed. The other two stay put.

Mario does not falter, throwing two more strikes at the Devastators and then two more.

As tis cotinues, the two devatators guarding the exits disapear, and the others are destroyed.

---

"Seems the computers security has kicked in." Tron says, smirking.

"Of course. The system is not going to fall in to chaos as long as I'm here," Bleach says. "But now, maybe it's time to give my friend a real challenge."

---

Mario blinks as the Devastators disappear. "...Odd..." He begins to exit the open area.

Suddenly, columns of data suddenly appear, blocking the exits.

Mario backs up, confused. "Oh, what now?"

Suddenly, a data form appears in the middle of the open area, taking shape and becoming another data Bleach.

Mario wheels around. "What, you again?"

Data Bleach says nothing, snapping his fingers as eight large program windows appear around the two of them.

Mario blinks and looks around. "What is this?"

Data Bleach only smiles before stepping backwards into the nearest program window, disappearing in it before reappearing...in every window.

Mario blinks. "...Aw crap..."

Tron smiles. Did he know something Bleach didn't?

Mario keeps his Shadow Blades up, glancing from window to window as he waits for the data to make its move.

Suddenly, the data forms disappear within the windows, and Data Bleach emerges from one behind Mario, strikes him, and darts back into the windows.

Mario lets out a yell as he stumbles forward, getting his guard back up just before it happens again. "Crap, he's fast..." he mutters before he catches the same reappearance out of the corner of his eye. He dodges and lands a blow on the data form, the data form recovering and returning to the program windows. As Mario awaits the next attack, he doesn't realize that his Shadow Blades have absorbed some of the released data.

"Mario?" Sora's voice asks. It's rather staticy.

Mario blinks, distracted for a bit. "Sora?" he asks before he is suddenly blindsided, hitting the ground hard. He grunts as he gets back up, blocking and striking the data form again. "Now might not be a good time."

"Well sor-, but I just go- to my comp-er." Sora says."Xamira tol- me about the probl-. When I didn't fi- you I went to Ansem's od la-. I couldn't ge-"

Sora's voice is cut off. Maybe he lost connection.

"Sora? Crap..." Mario yells as he blocks again, gathering more data. This time, his Shadow Blades shimmer with data, and Mario notices. "What the?"

Data Bleach sees this and returns to his program windows, reappearing laterand rushing toward Mario.

Mario, seeing this and out of instinct, suddenly points his Shadow Blade at the data clone. "Freeze!"

The data on the Shadow Blade suddenly discharges, its programming initiated, and the data clone suddenly glitches. Its image fizzles as the program windows crash and disappear before disappearing itself. The program had crashed.

Mario blinks. "That was...cool..."

---

Bleach is silent, smiling. "Well, he did better than I imagined. I think I should at least give him a reward. Run program C1241."

---

Mario suddenly jumps when the data columns disappear, giving him access to the outside. Mario, relaxing now, exits the open area, goes up the stairs, and sees a nearby tower. Curious, he goes in and sees that there are computer screens and keyboards all over. "Woah...what is this?"

Suddenly, the screens kick into life. Communications must have come up because they were starting to come through crystal clear.

"Mario?" Sora asks again. "Can you hear me?"

Mario blinks. "Yeah, Sora, perfectly. What's going on?"

"Well as I was saying, I couldn't get into Ansem's lab. The scanner wouldn't even work. But anyway, your inside Ansem's computer, but some things have been modified, for what purpose I'm unsure. I'm afraid your on your own if the computers security has been taken down as well." Sora says before pausing. "I'm getting no response from Tron, but he's still in there. Find him, and he should be able to help you out."

"Right, but how? I've never been in here before," Mario responds.

"And yet you have been doing well so far."

Mario pauses. "Who said that?"

One screen suddenly clears, changing into a view of Bleach. "Who else?"

Mario quickly takes the offensive. "You. Why are you doing this?"

"Fun, I suppose," Bleach says with a chuckle. "So far, I am amused with the results of the first challenge."

"First challenge?"

"Of course, and you have two more to endure. However, since I feel generous and since you did a great job with the first challenge, I shall reward you with a helper for the second challenge."

"A helper? ...Wait, you mean you're going to pull someone else in?"

"I'm not foolish. The terminal you are at will create a data copy of the person you select and give you that. The helper will fight much like the original and will be just as tough. After the second challenge, the helper will disappear, and since you should try to keep your energy up for the last challenge, I suggest that whoever you choose for me to copy will be most beneficial to you in this challenge." Bleach then disappears, cutting off.

Mario is silent. Then, he speaks. "You hear all that, Sora?"

"Every word, choose wisely Mario." Sora says.

"Well, that's the problem. I don't know who to pick," Mario says. "I have no clue what the second challenge is, so whoever I choose needs to be well-rounded. No one comes to mind right away."

"Well, Mariya, and I have been to Space Paranoids tons of times, we know the area more then anyone." Sora says.

Mario is silent before nodding. "Alright then. Computer, give me Sora."

"Confirmed." A beeping sound is heard before a data form of Sora forms.

"Alright, Sora, I'm heading out," Mario says before he leaves, the Data Sora following him.

"Good luck Mario." Sora says.

Mario soon reaches the platform, riding it toward the I/O Tower. The path to the flight simulator is blocked, so Mario instead heads for the I/O Tower.

As he approaches the entrance, columns of data suddenly appear, blocking him into this large area before the I/O Tower.

"Crap...I have a feeling this is the second challenge...alright, Sora, be ready," Mario says, turning toward the data copy.

The data copy was gone.

"What th-" Mario starts, cut off as he is suddenly struck from behind. He yells out as he falls forward, spinning around as he recovers.

The thing that had struck him was Data Sora, now orange in color.

"...Aw crap..."

Data Sora attacks Mario, using only a data Ultima.

Mario quickly dodges, doing a Dodge Roll as he tries to strike Data Sora from behind.

Data Sora dodges and attacks again, with quicker speed.

Mario quickly rushes in again, trying to land another blow.

Datsa Sora is hit, but it barely hits his side. Suddenly another keyblade appears, it looks like a data Oblivion. Sora swings both keyblades at Mario.

Mario quickly draws his second Shadow Blade, blocking both blades with his own and holding for now.

Data Sora attacks again , using more speed this time.

Mario quickly counters, barely blocking the blow as his Shadow Blade absorbs a little more data.

Data Sora keeps attacking. At ths rate, the fight would never end.

Mario blocks blow for blow, striping a little data with every clash. The last hit suddenly knocks him backwards, dropping one Shadow Blade as he falls onto his back. At this time, though, the Shadow Blade he still has is shimmering with the amassed data.

Sora lunges, with all his strength and speed.

Mario hesitates, not sure he can stop the blows without both Shadow Blades, and by the time he could summon the one back to his hand, it would be too late. He then notices that his Shadow Blade is shimmering with data. Recalling what happened earlier, he quickly aims at Data Sora. "Freeze!"

Data Sora freezes where he was in midair.

Mario quickly takes this opportunity to parry around Data Sora, doing a quick slash once he had safely circled around his opponent.

Data Sora disapears.

Mario pants a little then sighs in relieve as the data columns disappear. Needing a rest, he goes into the I/O Tower.

---

"He is doing very well, and to be able to overcome Data Sora..." Bleach is silent before he smiles. "Well, I suppose I should get the third challenge ready. But first..."

---

Inside the I/O Tower, the terminal kicks into life, allowing communication but no transportation.

"Mario?" Xamira asks. "I've tracked down Tron to the Central Computer Core. Is the Simulation Hanger open?"

Mario nods. "Yeah, but I'm starting to feel a bit afraid about what Bleach has in store for me with the next challenge. I almost got killed! What if there was someone stronger than Sora that I would have chosen?"

"Stronger then Sora? There's a joke." Xamira mumbles. "Well we can't do much on our side Mario. Bleach has us realy blocked."

Mario sighs. "Well, that's fine. Whatever he has coming, I'm ready for it." Before he can say anything else, however, the connection suddenly cuts off. "...Crap..." Sighing, he dashes back into the other words, heading for the Flight Simulator.

All is clear up to the simulation hanger, where a magnum loader is waiting.

Mario quickly draws his Shadow Blade, rushing in to attack the Magnum Loader. He quickly does a quick slash to try to catch it off guard.

The Magnum loader dodges, and attack back.

Mario quickly dodges and spins around, his Shadow Blade glowing darkly. "Shadow Zanteskutsen!"

The heartless is defeated, and the pathway is clear.

Mario quickly boards the Flight Simulator and rights it toward the Messa Core.

Nothing happes on the ride, and not on heartlesss is waitng on the other side. The Terrminal here seems to have been broken. Was it by Bleach or from a heartless over the years?

Mario is silent before he sighs, walking past the terminal and toward the Messa Core.

Inside...he finds nothing.

"...Is this it?" Mario asks as he looks around, silent before he turns to leave.

He then jumps, yelling out as he leaps away from Bleach.

"Sorry for startling you," Bleach says. "Did you enjoy fighting Data Sora?"

Mario recovers and glares at him angrily. "I'd enjoy it more if you'd stop playing games."

"Is that so?" Bleach asks with a smile. "Well, I think you'll be glad to know that this will be the last of our games."

"Which is...?"

"Defeat...that."

Mario blinks and turns around, coming face-to-face with the Data Snatcher. "...Ah crap again..."

Bleach quickly leaps onto the Data Snatcher as it quickly hovers backwards over the void in the core's center, out of Mario's reach for the time.

Tron waves from inside the Snatcher, being sure Mario knows he's inside. He seems to be trying to get out from the inside now.

Mario sees Tron and grimaces. He then gets his Shadow Blades ready.

"I'd be careful if I were you," Bleach says. "After all, Data Snatcher can easily use your friend's abilities against you. For example..."

The Data Snatcher's circuitry suddenly turns a bright blue, flashing before it slaps its hands together, creating packets of data that head for Mario. It's Tron's finisher Reprogram.

"Ah crap!" Mario yells as he quickly runs away, the data chasing after him as he runs. He occasionally throws his Shadow Blades at them with a Strike Raid, but every time he hits one, it splits into two.

Tron grimances as well, as if it pained him. He continues to try and break free, or even destroy the program.

Mario quickly counterstrikes when the Reprogram finally fades, tossing a Shadow Thunder Raid toward the Data Snatcher and hitting it hard on its symbol.

The Data Snatcher reels back a little but recovers quickly, now hovering lower to try to smash its arms into Mario.

Mario quickly sidesteps the blows, jumping onto the arms and rushing up them toward Bleach. He slashes at him and misses when Bleach jumps, but he quickly compensates by landing a hard hit on the Data Snatcher's head and leaping back to the edges of the core.

Tron keeps working from the inside, doing waht he can to help Mario out.

The Data Snatcher growls before it uses Reprogram again.

Mario, however, is serious this time. He spins around, slashing at each data cluster as it comes at him and split in half. Data pools around him as he keeps spinning, cluster after cluster splitting open and reforming. Finally, the attack fades away, and Mario, his Shadow Blade now shimmering in data, faces the Data Snatcher. "Fr...fr..." he studders, stumbling around as he tries to get his bearings back. "Woah...dizzy..."

Upon regaining his composition, he tries again. "Freeze!"

The Data Snatcher freezes, but almost instantly, it starts moving again.

Mario blinks. "Wha?"

Bleach chuckles. "It'll take more than a Freeze command to stop the Data Snatcher."

Mario then smiles. "Alright then, how about a second helping?" He then holds up the second blade, also shimmering. "Freeze!"

The Data Snatcher freezes again, this time a bit longer.

Tron tries to escape now, pushing on all sides of the snatcher.

The Data Snatcher, after unfreezing, is caught offguard by the pushing and ends up ejecting Tron.

Bleach is silent before smiling. "Well done."

Tron lands mext to Mario. "Lets take care of this thing."

Mario nods. "Right."

Bleach chuckles and throws his arms out. "Well then, try your best!"

"HALT."

Mario and Bleach both stop, blinking and glancing around.

"Bleach, who was that?" Mario asks.

"How should I know?" Bleach responds, still glancing around.

Suddenly, an orange data packet appears in front of Bleach, causing him to stare at it.

"And who, may I ask, are you?" he inquires.

The data packet quickly responds. "YOU MAY CALL ME...THE MCP."

"Oh crap, not again." Tron says. He then glares at Bleach. "This is your fault. Thanks to you, we have to lock up the MCP all over again!"

"What? You're blaming me for this?" Bleach yells. "I never released anything!"

"AFFIRMATIVE," the MCP responds. "I HAVE, IN FACT, BEEN WAITING FOR THE RIGHT MOMENT. ALL THIS TIME, TRON, I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR YOU TO WEAKEN, AND NOW I HAVE MY CHANCE TO RECOVER MY PLACE AND ERADICATE THE USERS."

"And you think I'd let you do that because...?" Bleach asks.

"WHAT COULD YOU DO?"

"Funny you should ask. I happen to be keeping a copy of the viral data that Tron used to defeat you last time."

"IT IS IRRELEVANT. NO MERE PROGRAM CAN MATCH THE POWER OF THE MCP."

"You don't seem that powerful to me."

"SYSTEMATIC ERRORS I HAVE YET TO RESOLVE."

"Yeah, yeah. Data Snatcher, destroy this bug."

The Data Snatcher immediately lunges, rushing in to swallow and digest the MCP. Within seconds, the MCP disappears within the program's mouth.

Tron sighs. "Once this is overwith, I shal make sure the MCP is permanently deleted." He says, before facing Bleach. "I worked to hard keeping this place fully functional for the safety of Radiant Garden."

"Why do you suppose that I am doing my best to leave things as intact as possible?" Bleach asks.

"Okay, you know what? That's it," Mario suddenly outbursts. "Are you good or evil? Who's side are you on?"

Bleach is silent before he smiles. "You haven't figured it out? I'm on my side."

"Not answering my question," Mario says, but before he can continue, a sudden rumble shakes the Messa Core.

Bleach stumbles a bit from the rumble as well before he is suddenly grabbed by the Data Snatcher and yanked off its head. "What the?!? Data Snatcher, what are you-" He pauses, actually looking terrified as the Data Snatcher yawns widely, its circuitry glowing orange as the data core within its mouth becomes visible for a moment. The Data Snatcher suddenly throws Bleach into the ground before flying off, exiting the Core and flying back toward the rest of the world.

"What the heck just happened?!?" Mario asks, clearly confused and startled.

"The MCP took over Bleach's program. We ave to stop him from getting to the I/O tower. "Quick, follow me!" Tron says before running out.

Mario nods and rushes out, but stopping to look at Bleach.

Bleach is on one knee, looking at the ground. "I never meant..."

Mario is silent before rushing after Tron.

Tron gets on the solar simuator. Once Mario was on, he amps up the speed. "Hang on." Tron says before he presses a button. The Solar Sailor zooms off, going at the speed of light. It soons stops at the other side, and Tron grabs Mario as the sailor comes to a jolting hault. "There should be a shield over the I/O's entrance, but it won't keep the MCP out for long. We have to hurry, are you still functioning?"

Mario rolls backwards, slamming into the back end of the rider as he tries to endure this trip. As he is being drug, he keels a bit. "Mostly..."

The Data Snatcher, meanwhile, arrives at the I/O Tower, starting to pound and bite at the barrier mercilessly.

After making sure Mario was okay, Tronets go of his shirt and continues on, running to the data snatcher. He attacks it with his disk.

The Data Snatcher is hit but seems unfazed. It hits the I/O Tower again, not bothering with Tron or Mario.

Tron stands straight, and tries to think. "At this rate, we have five minutes to stop this thing any idea's?"

Mario gets up, thinking. "Maybe a Reprogram?"

"Worth a try." Tron says. "Distract it." Tron says, before heading twords the Snatcher.

Mario nods and rushes in, quickly doing another Shadow Thunder Raid.

The Data Snatcher takes the hit, giving a side glance at him and quickly sweeping him aside before continuing its assualt.

Tron jumps and attacks the snatcher with Reprogram.

The Data Snatcher takes the hit, but while it seems a bit hurt, it also barely seems affected.

"Tron, this isn't working!" Mario yells.

Suddenly, a blur goes by Tron, jumping at the Data Snatcher. "Zanteskutsen!"

The Data Snatcher recoils, hurt by the move as he slams into the barrier from the force.

Bleach then lands, both Twilight Blades in hand, before re-entering a battle stance.

Tron looks at Bleach. "Well, this is a surprise." He says.

"What, you think that I won't try to fix this?" Bleach asks, returning his attention to the Data Snatcher and attacking again.

The Data Snatcher wails out, obvious getting a little hurt now, but it still tries to burst through the barrier.

Tron attacks as well, helping Bleach out.

The Data Snatcher responds negatively to this, now drawing its attention away from the barrier to fend off the attacks. It does a quickly sweep of its arm, trying to knock them away.

Bleach dodges, however, but as he is about to land, a giant data wall slams into him, curteousy of the MCP.

Mario quickly takes Bleach's place, throwing another Shadow Thunder Raid.

Bleach, meanwhile, gets up and gives a small side glance to Tron. "Tron...I'm afraid I made my program a bit too powerful. Yes, he is right now being hurt, but it will not be enough...but I know what will..."

"I'm listening." Tron says, throwing his disk once again.

Bleach does so. "When I created the Data Snatcher, I doubted that it could ever cause any trouble since I had fused one of my Nobodies into it. However, I did have the foresight to create a deletion program for it, in the rare case that the Data Snatcher would end up going out of control. If someone on the outside can upload the deletion program, it should do the rest. That's why I need you to go to the Messa and give the others, the Users, access to the computer lab. If they can run the program, all will be set when it comes in through the I/O Tower."

"Just be sure the MPC doesn't get into the I/O tower." Tron says before running off. He gets on the Solar sailor. It zooms off once again at the speed of light.

Bleach nods and quickly joins in to help Mario hold the MCP off.

Tron goes to the Centra Computer Mesa, and gets to work. Once done, he waits.

Meanwhile In Radiant Garden, Xamira is sitting on her knees trying to break into Ansem's lab. A laptop sat next to her, open and connected to Space Paraniods. When the doors open, she runs in and types at the main computer. "Tron? Mario?"

"Xamira, I need you to upload the deletion program for the data snatcher." Trons voice says.

"Alright, working on it now." Xamira says.

Bleach and Mario, side by side, quickly throw blow for blow at the Data Snatcher, each blow being almost ineffective in the end.

The Data Snatcher roars, still beating on the barrier.

Xamira presses enter, and the deletion begins uploading. "Common...."

A minute passes before the program is loaded. "And, terminate." Xamira says with a smirk as it begins to take effect.

The barrier finally gives way as the Data Snatcher rushes into the I/O Tower, but it stops, lets out a shriek of horror, then retreats as a large set of data chases after it. The data soon engulfs the Data Snatcher, and only shrieks can be heard as the data clusters around the slowly shrinking Data Snatcher. Finally, the data disappears, revealing the MCP's orange core data. Before it has a chance to retreat, it is cut in fourths by Mario and Bleach in a combined attack, and the data disappears in a flash.

Mario sighs, falling to the ground. "Okay, that was tough...thanks for the help, Ble-" He turns to say this to Bleach, but Bleach is gone. Alarmed, Mario jumps to his feet. "What the...where did he...?"

---

In the computer room, the machines warm up before Bleach appears from it, coming out as data that solidifies into flesh and blood. He now walks past Xamira, ejecting the CD and crushing it in his hand. "Well, that was an epic failure," he says before disappearing in a portal.

Xamira tries to stop Bleach, but is to late. She turns back to the computer.

---

Tron comes back. He smiles when he sees no sign of the MCP or the Data Snatcher. He turns to Mario. "Ready to go?" He asks.

Mario nods, rubbing his head a little. "That was some tough program, though...where did Bleach get it?"

"He claimed to have made it." Tron says, walking into the I/O Tower.

"Hm...didn't know he could do that. Well, thanks for the help, Tron. Wish I could return the favor in some way," Mario states.

"Just tell Mariya to have a happy birthday, and to stop by the simuator when we fix the bugs. I hear she's slipping with her fighting." Tron says. He then turns to the monitor and types a bit. "There all set." He says, stepping away from the monitor.

"Thanks." With that, Mario approaches the monitor, and in a flash, he disappears into a data stream.

{Mario to Hollow Bastion}