//------------------------------//
// New Protection 
// Story: Reboot: New Generation 
// by The Irish Brony 
//------------------------------//

“Sweep sectors two and six to make sure they're clean,” Pipp says, leaning over the map of Mainframe in the control room. In front of her is a vid window of one of the binom generals out in the city. Zipp stands next to her, looking over the map with Phong rolling up between the two.
“Yes sir!” The binom says, saluting before the vid window collapse.
“This is bad,” Pipp says as she watches a sector next to Megabyte’s sector start to turn purple. “We fight off one invasion and Megabyte heads to the opposite side and takes three more sectors,” Pipp says, looking down at Phong.
“We must keep trying,” Phong responds.
“Hitch would know what to do,” Zipp says as she looks over the map.
“Well he’s not here, now is he,” Pipp responds with a little hostility in her voice as she looks over at Zipp. Zipp looks over at Pipp with worry in her eyes. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to…”
“No, I’m sorry,” Zipp resoinds. “I shouldn’t have commented on it. It’s a bit too soon,” Pipp smiles, causing Zipp to smile.
“Thanks,”
“No worries,” Zipp responds as Sparky walks up to them.
“That’s bad, very bad,” Sparky says as he watches another sector fall to Megabyte.
“Please don’t say that again,” Pipp says, turning to look down at Sparky.
“What?” Sparky responds, looking up at her as he shrugs. “It’s what dad always said,”
“And I don’t want to be reminded,” Pipp responds. “And I thought I told you to reboot into something else,” Pipp says, gesturing to Sparky’s Guardian uniform.
“But I’m the new guardian,” Sparky responds back.
“The kid is right,” Zipp backs up Sparky, causing him to smile up at her. “Besides, he looks good in the uniform,”
“Ya, well it reminds me of Hitch,” Pipp responds back as tears form in her eyes. She quickly wipes them away before taking a deep breath in. “You’re too young to be a guardian,”
“But dad made me a guardian,” Sparky retorts back.
“The young sprite is right,” Phong interjects. “He is the new guardian, and Hitch did make him a guardian,”
“You aren’t suggesting what I think you are,” Pipp responds.
“We need all the help we can get,” Zipp responds.
“While Sparky may be young, he can at least help fight off the games to keep our minds on the real fight,” Phong explains.
“Hello,” Sparky responds, waving his arms around. “Did everyone forget I am right here?” Pipp sighs as she turns to Sparky.
“You can be guardian,” Pipp reluctantly says.
“I didn’t need your approval,” Sparky responds, crossing his arms over his chest.
“But you are going to need help,” Pipp says, turning to Zipp. “Would you go in with him into the first few games?“
“Gladly,” Zipp responds. “When the next game drops, we are going to kick some major user butt. Right, guardian?” Zipp asks, turning to Sparky. Sparkys smiles up at her as he puffs his chest out.
“Right,” Sparky nods before the entire map turns a light purple. An electric sound rings out as the announcer says incoming game.
“Looks like we have our first mission,” Zipp says as the game cube shows up on the map as a three-dimensional cube.
“That is way too close to Megabyte’s territory for comfort,” Pipp says, looking at where the cube is going to land as Zipp and Sparky walk to the door. “I’ll send some CPUs to escort you two!”
“Thanks!” Zipp responds before the two walk out the door. Pipp sighs as she turns back to the map. Phong gently places a hand on her arm before Pipp looks down at him.
“Is there anything you would like to talk about?” Phong asks.
“Maybe later,” Pipp responds. Phong nods before sliding away.



“There it is!” Sparky yells, pointing at the falling Gamecube. He and Zipp fly over the city on their zip boards as two CPU ships guard them.
“Good, just a bit further,” Zipp says before a group of Megabyte’s ships start flying towards them. “Not good!” Zipp says as her face turns to worry.
“Glitch… Aaauu.. Shield,” Sparky says. Glitch beeps before morphing into an energy shield. “Get behind me,” Sparky says, raising the shield in front of him as the CPUs fly off to attack the ABCs. Zipp ducks down behind Sparky as shots start to fire. One of the CPU ships takes out a hand full of ABC ships before going down. Sparky turns around as Zipp keeps behind his shield. Bolts bounce off Sparky’s shield before the game completely lands.
“Nice thinking,” Zipp congratulates Sparky as Glitch returns back to normal.
“Thanks,” Sparky responds, looking up at Zipp with a small smile on his face. “Now Glitch, game states,” Sparky says before Glitch beeps and shows the stats on the screen. “I… have no idea what most of that means,” Sparky admits as Zipp looks around.
The two have ended up at the top of a castle wall. The castle wall surrounds a decent-sized castle in the center. The castle sits atop of a hill with a forest to one side and an ocean to the other. A steep cliff divided the Castle from the ocean below.
“A tower defense game?” Zipp asks.
“In a sense, yes,” Sparky responds before Glitch returns to normal. “It looks like the game is about defending the castle from the user,” Sparky explains as he walks over to Zipp, standing on the side of the wall, looking out to the forest. “We need to kill him three times before he can get the holy hand grenade that lays inside of the castle,”
“If he does get it?” Zipp asks, looking down at him.
“Then the castle goes boom, and game over for us,” Sparky explains, using his hands to mimic the explosion. 
“Then what do we have to do?” Zipp asks.



“Good work commander,” Megabyte says, tapping his finger together with a big smile on his face. “Keep them bouncing around,” The commander nods before the vid window changes into Hex. “Is the hardware in place?” Megabyte asks.
“Ready, and waiting to destroy!” Hex says, maniacally laughing. Pointing at the Principal Office is a giant gun-looking device with a clear barrel. At the end stands Hex, next to two yellow handlebars that lead directly to the power source.
“Good,” Megabyte says with an evil grin. “Charge it up and shoot when ready,” Megabyte commands.
“Yes, sir,” Hex says with a sarcastic respectful tone. Megabyte rolls his eyes as Hex turns around. She grabs the yellow handles, moving the weapon a bit before using her magic and changing the weapon.
“Let’s see how well you fare against this, Guardian,” Megabyte says, emphasizing Guardian with seething anger and spite.



“What is that?” Pipp says, looking up at the giant vid window. The screen shows the outside of the Principal Office and the weapon pointing at them.
“It looks like Megabyte’s new weapon,” Phong responds.
“And it looks like Hex is powering it,” Pipp responds as the vid window zooms in on Hex, who is charging the weapon.
“This is not good,” Phong says.
“Get the shield up!” Pipp yells at the binoms on the computers around her. “And do it quickly, we have no idea how long it will take for her to charge that thing,” Pipp commands. The binoms get to work, typing onto the computers. The blue shield rises up around the Principal Office as the weapon shoots at them. The shot bounces off the shield and up into the sky. The entire building shakes from the impact of the beam.
“How long can we hold the shield up?” Pipp asks, turning to Phong.
“Maybe five or six more shots,” Phong estimates as he does math in his head. “If we put all the power into the shields we could resist up to ten,”
“We’ll keep that as a last resort,” Pipp responds before the building shakes again. Another beam strikes the shield and goes up into the air.



“Come one, you have to listen to me!” Sparky yells out to the binoms. Some run and hid, while others work on separate traps and weapons. Sparky stands on a barrel in the center of the courtyard.
“Why would we listen to you?” A binom asks, crossing his arms over his chest.
“Because I’m the guardian,” Sparky says, pointing at himself. “If you don’t we could get deleted!”
“Hitch was the guardian, not some kid,” Another binom pips up.
“I’m his son!” Sparky yells in frustration.
“That doesn’t mean anything,” Another binom responds.
“That’s it!” Sparky yells, flinging his arms up into the air in anger before hopping off the barrel. He walks over to the nearby tower and walks in.
“Hitch would never have gotten angry,” a binom whispers to the other. The other binom nods in response as Sparky walks out onto the castle wall. Zipp leans on the wall, looking out into the forest with the wind blowing in her hair. She looks over at Sparky, who looks down in anger as he walks over to her.
“I take it they didn’t listen?” Zipp asks.
“They are either hiding or doing their own thing,” Sparky angrily flings his arms around while looking up at Zipp.
“At least some are doing something,” Zipp says, trying to cheer up Sparky.
“The last time they tried to help it almost go dad deleted,” Sparky grumpily mumbles s as he crosses his arms and places his face in them as he leans against the wall.
“Could you tell me again what the user looks like?” Zipp asks, looking out into the forest as a giant wooden rabbit is slowly moving towards the castle entrance below them.
“They should look like greek warriors, why you ask?” Sparky asks, looking up at Zipp.
“Because I think we have company,” Zipp points down at the giant wooden rabbit below them. The doors to the castle open before the rabbit starts to roll in.
“No!” Sparky frantically yells. He quickly turns around and runs to the other side of the wall facing into the courtyard. “Push the rabbit back out!” Sparky yells as the doors close behind the rabbit. “It’s a trojan!” Sparky tries to warn, but it’s too late. The side of the rabbit opens up to reveal a very muscular-looking stallion covered in greek styled armor. In his left hand is a short sword, and in the other is a greek shield. “Crap!” Sparky yells as the user starts to attack the binoms.
“At least he’s a looker,” Zipp says, looking over the edge with a little smile. Sparky looks over at Zipp with a dead-paned expression on his face. “I was just trying to lighten the mood,” Zipp says, raising her hand up in defense.
“You can lighten it by rebooting and helping,” Sparky responds before jumping over the edge of the wall. “Reboot!” He yells while double tapping his icon. He lands on the ground, now dressed in roman styled armor from the top of his horns to the lips of his feet. Strapped to his left side is a claymore. Sparky stands up before pulling the long claymore out of its sheath. He holds it up in front of him with both hands.
The user turns around and looks over at Sparky as Zipp lands next to him. She is rebooted into a Samurai. She pulls out her katana and holds it out in front of herself as Sparky looks over at her.
“Talk about the clash of the centuries,” Sparky comments.
“Wierdest castle game, ever,” Zipp agress with Sparky. “Look out!” Zipp yells before Sparky jumps away from the user’s sword.
“Now that was just cheap,” Sparky responds before charging toward the user. He takes a swing at the user but is blocked by the shield. Sparky looks up at the user with fear as he tries to back up with the heavy sword. The user takes a slash at Sparky but is stopped by Zipp’s katana.
The user looks over at her as she starts taking slashes at him. The user blocks most with his shield and sword, but some slip by. The attacks only cause minor damage to the user’s armor. Zipp is stopped when the user blocks the katana with its shield before pushing the sword away. Zipp stumbles back as the user takes a slash at her. Zipp ducks, causing the user to miss.
Sparky charges at the user as he is distracted and swings his sword at the user’s head. The claymore slices right threw the user’s neck, causing it to rocket off before landing on the ground. Blood spurts out the top of the neck as the body collapse. Sparky sighs as he relaxes.
Lighting starts to appear around Sparky as he looks frantically around himself. The lighting takes over his body, causing him to drop his sword and scream in pain.
“Sparky!” Zipp yells as she quickly stands up. The lightning goes away as Sparky stumbles a bit. “Are you ok Sparky?” Zipp asks, walking over to him before gently grabbing him to keep him steady.
“I know what the game is!” Sparky says in epiphany. “It explains the cultural appropriation, ” Sparky whispers before looking up at Zipp and saying, “It’s Highlander!”



Pipp sits alone in one of the meeting rooms. She sits at the end of a round table with her in her hands as she lets tears flow down her cheeks. The door opens, causing Pipp to shoot up and quickly wipe the tears out of her eyes. She looks over to see Phong sliding over to her.
“I was just…”
“You are hurt, my child,” Phong says, interpreting Pipp. “Please, will you talk to me about it?” Pipp takes a deep breath in before nodding.
“It’s about Hitch,” Pipp starts. “He and I didn’t always see eye to eye,” Pipp lets out a chuckle before saying, “He worked too much sometimes.” Pipp sighs as she combs her fingers threw her hair. “But with all the adventures we went on, I think I started to like him,” Pipp looks over at Phong, who nods knowingly.
“It’s not just the loss of a friend, but someone you loved,” Phong replies. “Is that why you’ve been protective of young Sparky?” Phong asks, placing a hand gently on her shoulder.
“He reminds me of Hitch,” Pipp sighs, looking down at the table. “His overconfidence, his knowledge… the uniform,” Pipp says as she swallows a lump in her throat. “He really is the new guardian. I just don’t want to lose him,” Pipp says, looking up at Phong.
“I understand,” Phong sighs. “Butt Sparky is a young sprite now tasked with protecting Mainframe. I think you know better than anyone he is ready for that responsibility,”
“You’re right,” Pipp responds before standing up. “And, thank you Phong,”
“I will always be here for you Pipp,” Phong replies before the building shakes.
“Not if those shields fail,” Pipp says, grabbing the tablet off the table and walking out of the room and into the command room. “How are the shield holding?” She asks the binom at the computer as Phong follows her out.
“We are at seventy-present power,” the binom responds.
“Good, keep them as powered up as you can,” Pipp says, looking down at the table with the map of Mainframe. Her eyes meet with the purple Gamecube as she sighs. “Please keep Sparky safe sis,” Pipp whispers to herself.



“Sparky! Duck!” Zipp yells over to Sparky. He ducks down behind the wall as arrows fly over his head. Zipp is ducked down behind the wall as well.
“How many arrows does this dang user have?” Sparky asks as he loads an arrow into his bow.
“Enough to feel like an army!” Zipp yells over to Sparky.
“I didn’t need an answer!” Sparky yells back, more than a little annoyed. The arrows stop before Sparky pops over the wall and points his bow down at the ground below. Standing at the entrance is the user, trying to get into the castle. Sparky pulls back the bow and aims for the user’s head. Sparky’s hands shack a bit before letting go of the string. The arrow goes flying toward the user before going straight threw the user’s head, causing the head to come off. The user’s body collapses to the ground before disintegrating.
“Nice shot,” Zipp says, looking down at the user.
“Thanks,” Sparky says, standing all the way up.
“That’s two lives, right?” Zipp asks, walking over to Sparky.
“Yep,” Sparky nods. “One more life to go,” Sparky turns towards the courtyard and look at the binoms that had gathered at the door. The binoms cheer as he looks down at them. Sparky looks a little shocked as Zipp walks over to him.
“Looks like they are ready to listen,” Zipp says, looking down at Sparky.
“Do you really think they will?” Sparky asks, looking up at Zipp.
“You’re the one wearing the guardian uniform, aren’t you?” Zipp asks, tilting her head to the side. Sparky smiles and nods before turning towards the binoms. He climbs over the railing and jumps down to the ground in front of the binoms. The binoms stop talking as he stands up.
“Look,” Sparky starts, looking around the group that had collected. “I know I’m not like my dad, and that I am just a kid. But I’ve been trusted by my dad to protect you all. He gave me Glitch and the emergency code. You don’t have to like me, but please just trust in me,”
Binoms start to whisper amongst themselves before one walks up to Sparky. “What do we have to do? Guardian,” The binom says, looking up at Sparky. Sparky smiles and takes a deep breath in.
“This is the last life of the user, so he’s going to have a lot more firepower. We must get ready for it.” Sparky looks up at Zipp. “Zipp, keep an eye out for the user, and shout when he comes!”
“On it!” Zipp says, turning around and looking out to the forest.
“Now I need a group to barricade the door,” Sparky says, pointing at the door. “Another group to be archer on the wall, and another to stand guard with me down here for when the user gets threw the doors,” Sparky explains. “And whatever you do, don’t let the user get to the holy hand grenade inside that castle!” Sparky yells, pointing at the castle behind the binoms. “You with me!” Sparky yells, thrusting his fist into the air.
“Yes!” The binoms yell before they split up into groups.
“Now we just have to pray we have enough time,” Sparky whispers to himself.



Sparky stands in front of the barricaded door with his claymore out and ready. Glitch is extended out into an energy shield. Standing behind him is a small army of Binoms with swords and shields. Sparky taps his foot against the ground as he waits impatiently. He looks up at Zipp, who is looking over the edge of the wall. A line of binoms stay hidden under the wall with their bows at the ready.
“Users incoming!” Zipp yells, ducking down.
“Users!” Sparky yells.
“He has reinforcements!” Zipp yells out.
“How many?” Sparky yells back.
Zipp ducks over the edge of the wall before ducking back down. “About five, including the user!” Zipp yells.
“Great,” Sparky sighs to himself. “This is going to be harder than I thought,” Arrows start flying over the wall as the door starts to get slammed against. “Sheild up!” Sparky yells as he covers himself with his energy shield. The other binoms use their shields to block the incoming arrows. The arrows bounce off the shields harmlessly. A few stick into the shield a bit before falling off. 
The door starts to crack as the barricade starts to fall apart. Sparky readies himself as the door begins to break down the center. The wooden door shatters into many small pieces. The barricade falls to the ground as the user steps into the courtyard. Four other similar-looking warriors follow him in.
“Leave the user for me!” Sparky yells before the binoms charge at the other warriors. The user looks over at Sparky before smiling. Sparky grimaces before charging at the user. He swings his sword at the user, who blocks with his shield before swinging down at Sparky. Sparky dodges before taking a swing at the user’s legs. The user blocks the attack with his sword before pushing Sparky’s sword up into his face. Sparky stumbles back into the courtyard as the user walks towards him with a wicked smile.
Sparky regains control as the user swings at him. Sparky rolls to the right before stabbing at the user. He blocks the attack, cutting right threw the claymore. Sparky stumbles a bit with the end of his sword cut off. He looks at what's left of it in shock. The user swings at him before Sparky blocks the attack with his energy shield.
“Hey!” Zipp yells, jumping down from the wall. “Over here you overgrown colt!” Zipp taints as she pulls out her katana. The user pushes Sparky to the ground, causing Sparky’s sword to slip out of his hand as he hits the ground.
The user squats up with Zipp. The two staring each other in the eyes, waiting for the other to make a move. Zipp uses her wings to blast herself forward. The user swings at her, but Zipp dodges and rolls under the user. She gets up and quickly turns around and takes a slash at the user’s head, but is stopped by the user’s shield.
The user goes for a jab, but Zipp dodges. She goes in for another attack, but the user stops it with his shield before pushing the katana and her away. Zipp stumbles to the ground, her katana flying out of her hand as the user looms over her with his sword raised up.
“Hey!” Sparky yells. The user turns his head to see Sparky running up at him with Glitch turned into a claymore. “There can only be one!” Sparky yells before cleanly cutting the user’s head off his shoulders. The announcer says game over as the Gamecube lifts off the ground.
“Thanks,” Zipp says as Sparky helps her up.
“Don’t thank me yet,” Sparky says, looking around to see Megabyte’s fleet surrounding them. Zipp looks around at the ships surrounding them as Sparky readies Glitch.
“How many can you take?” Zipp asks, grabbing her katana.
“Tow, maybe three on a good day,” Sparky responds. Zipp looks at him in worry. “What,” Sparky shrugs. “It’s the honest truth,” Zipp shakes her head as the ships slowly lower down to them. The binoms huddle up around the pair as the ships land.
“Ready?” Zipp asks.
“When you are,” Sparky responds.
“3,” Zipp whispers.
“2,” Sparky responds as the top entrance hatch of the ship opens.
“1,” Zipp responds before she charges towards the ship as Pipp comes out of the hatch.
“Wait!” Pipp yells. Zipp stops and Sparky turns around and looks up at her.
“Pipp!?” Zipp and Sparky say in confusion.
“We stole some of Megabyte’s ships to get you out of here,” Pipp responds, gesturing to the battlefield around them.
“Maybe tell us before we try and delete you,” Zipp responds as Sparky sighs. “Come on Sparks,” Zipp says, gesturing to him before running over to the ship.
“Sparks,” Sparky whispers to himself with a small smile. “I think I like that,” Sparky says, running after Zipp.



“The shields, they can’t take much more!” a binom yells in fear while looking at the shield’s charge.
“Give it all you can!” Phong yells back at Pipp, Zipp, and Sparky walk into the command room.
“What’s going on?” Sparky asks before the building shakes, almost causing Zipp and Sparky to fall over.
“Megabyte is using a new weapon to try and get into the Principal Office,” Pipp starts to explain.
“It’s the same one he used to corrupt the hard drive,” Phong adds as he slides over. “But we have shields,”
“And they won’t last much longer under constant fire,” Pipp responds.
“Is Hex the one charging the weapon?” Sparky asks.
“Yep,” Phong and Pipp say at the same time.
“I could see if I could get more power into the shields,” Zipp offers.
“How would you do that?” Phong asks.
“I’ll show you,” Zipp says, walking past Phong and towards the nearest computer. Phong follows after her, leaving Pipp and Sparky alone.
“Sparky,” Pipp says, turning towards Sparky. Sparky looks up at Pipp with a questioning look on his face. “Look, I’m sorry for lashing out at you earlier,” Pipp takes a deep breath before squatting down to his level. “I just want you to be safe,”
“You just have to trust I will be safe,” Sparky responds. Pipp noose before patting SParky on the shoulder.
“Do you have any ideas?”  Pipp asks as she stands back up. “Guardian,” Pipp says with a smile. Sparky smiles before the two make their way to the giant map of Mainframe.