//------------------------------// // Darkness Gathers // Story: There's Nopony I'd Rather Be Than Me // by Tatsurou //------------------------------// Nightmare Moon struggled to calm her emotions as her kidnapper rapidly scaled the Central Tower of Hero's Duty, straight up to the chamber where the Hero's Medal was awarded. His body seemed to have a host of legs and claws, making him ideal for climbing. It wasn't long before they reached the Chamber of Heroes. However, unknown to Moony who'd never been up there, the chamber had undergone some radical alterations. The holoprojectors had been disabled, and there were far fewer Cybug eggs than usual. From what Wily had told her about Cybugs, this was a bad sign, as it meant more hatchings. A vicious hum filled the air, the sound of thousands upon thousands of pairs of buzzing wings. "W-who are you?" Nightmare demanded, managing to get herself somewhat under control. Her kidnapper chuckled as he stuffed her into a containment pod. "Oh, where are my manners? Now, which name would you prefer?" He threw off his cloak. Standing before her was a massive cybug, at least twice as large as any she had ever seen. Its body was red, wearing a purple overcoat. It had two long feeler tails coming from its rear, and spikes on its back where it should have had wings. It had far too many crab like legs and clawed hands, and the face that rose up on a long neck was almost clownish, despite the crown it was wearing. "Would you prefer King Candy?" it asked. Its face then glitched, revealing grey skin and a white helmet with red stripes. "Or that I go Turbo?" it hissed. "T-Turbo?" Nightmare Moon asked surprised. "But...but you're dead! My Daddy killed you by exploding the cola mountain with the Mentos!" "Oh, indeed he did," Turbo replied angrily. "That halitosis hooligan thwarted my plans, unseating years of careful planning. It took years of work to take over Sugar Rush...and all that down the drain because of him! He even managed to kill me...but I wasn't kidding when I said it was my game!" Moony gasped. "You were still plugged into the game code! When you died, you just respawned!" "Indeed!" he replied. "Right back in the throne room, like I'd programmed. Of course, I was still a Cybug because of the glitching his precious Princess had inflicted me with. Now, I could have fixed that with the backup of my original code stored in my code block...but then she crossed the finish line, and not only was the game reset, but as a foreign code block, I was blasted out of the game! Do you have any idea how much that hurt?" He slammed one of his larger clawed fists into a nearby wall, denting it. "How hard it was to work my way around Game Central Station looking like this? How long it took me to figure out how to communicate with the other Cybugs so they didn't eat me?" Nightmare shrunk back from the rage before her. After a time, Turbo began to chuckle. "But soon...soon I'll have my revenge! Ralph, his little glitch friend, the anti-viral squad...soon the entire arcade will be mine to pillage...and then the internet awaits! I've already managed to carefully purge the beacon's influence on my Cybug programming, and have become unstoppable! And with your powers..." His laughter gradually became maniacal. "With your powers, I can tear them apart slowly, piece by piece, line by line, bit by bit and byte by byte!" He laughed even louder. "And bite by bite, for that matter!" "So you're going to eat me to absorb my powers?" Moony asked, trying to feign bravado she didn't feel. "You really think that'll work? You sure Cybug programming can handle me?" "No idea!" Turbo replied. He snapped his fingers, and another large Cybug walked up, hissing spitefully. "That's why he's going to eat you, once I've made sure your code has been applied to Hero's Duty so Cybug programming can properly interface with it. If he manages to absorb your abilities safely, then I can eat him to get the power. If not, well, I've still destroyed Ralph's hope by killing his daughter. That's what I call a win-win." Moony shivered at hearing her fate pronounced so coldly, as if she didn't even matter. Briefly, she felt something familiar and strange stirring inside her. "But...but how do you know eating the cybug after he eats me will work?" she asked, desperate for anything to make Turbo alter his plans. Turbo chuckled wickedly. "Oh, don't worry about that." His largest arms seemed to glitch, and various weaponry popped out of them. "I've already run a few tests of that sort. How do you think I managed to get these nightmarish virus beasts to obey me?" Laughing, he turned to go. "Keep an eye on her!" he commanded the other cybug, a hiss in his voice. "But no snacking till I get back! I have work to do on her code." Grinning, he reached out and grabbed a code block off the top of the containment pod. "Just have to get her plugged in!" He walked off, laughing maniacally. Moony shivered as the bug turned to stare at her. In desperation and fear, she began banging her forehooves on the containment unit. "Let me out!" she screamed in a panic. "I don't wanna be eaten up! Let me out! Daddy, help me!" She struggled to force magic out her horn, but a spasm of pain shot through her and she collapsed. "...Daddy...help..." She closed her eyes, curling up on herself as she shook, desperate for succor that she hoped, prayed was coming. Ralph stared up the Tower he had climbed so long ago, when he sought the medal to prove he could be a good guy. Being the hero didn't matter to him right now. Deep inside, a rage was building inside of him. He didn't know who had taken Moony or why, but he knew one thing: they would pay. He turned to those who had gathered. Every sprite in the arcade who was combat capable had gathered, save the random monster sprites of the longer platform or exploration games. They felt they would be more a hindrance than a help, and if they fell their games would suffer. However, the entirety of the anti-viral squad and Bad-Anon was there, ready and waiting for him to start the assault. Pulling his helmet down, he smashed his fists together. He pointed up. "We will save Moony!" he proclaimed angrily. "For Pony!" the Golden Axe warlock proclaimed loudly as the group charged, a charge to be met by the endless swarms that descended from the skies.