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The Tearing6,257 words
Racing The Clock4,478 words
Medusa Bug3,633 words
Game Crash4,206 words
Caged In Storage2,934 words
Between a Byte and a Game4,721 words
Corruption3,236 words
Unplugged2,532 words
New Protection4,205 words
Propaganda4,532 words
Firewall2,808 words
Game Over3,341 words

The Tearing

The small, beautiful city of Mainframe sits in the middle of a sea of data. Ports connecting the Mainframers to the rest of the net. Flying along the port is Guardian Hitch Trailblazer. He stands on his zip board, which consists of two circles with a bendable metal bar between them. He is dressed in a light blue uniform with orange shoulder pads. On his chest is his Icon, a bright gold with a black triangle in the center.

“There he is!” a scratchy high pitched voice yells. Hitch looks back to see a brown ship with guns aimed at him charging towards him. Hanging off the side of it is Hack, a red robot built by Megabyte. He has broad shoulders and a body that leads to a point where a little metal ball allows him to move smoothly on the ground. His face is just a dome with eyes.

“Get him!” A much deeper voice yells out. Pulling up beside Hack is another ship. This time Slash is hanging off the side of it. He is a blue robot with the same design as Hack.

“That’s what I was going to say,” Hack says back to Slash.

“Oh, sorry,” Slash apologizes before yelling out. “Charge!” His ship pulls in front of Hacks and heads for Hitch.

“Hey!” Hask yells in anger before pulling up next to Slash again.

“Those two have some seriously slow clock speed,” Hitch says, looking back at the pair. He looks forward before turning down a street road.

“Split up!” Hack yells. Slash’s ship pulls away as Hack follows Hitch down the narrow road. Hitch looks back to see only Hack following him.

“Where did Slash go?” Hitch whispers. Glitch, a blue square with an orange rod and a display that looks like a gear, beeps at him. He looks down at his left arm as Glitch shows an overhead few of where he was. Slash was flying overhead, blocked by the buildings. “There you are,” Hitch says, looking up as Slash pulls a head off Hitch and blocks his way. Hitch stops his zip board as Hack’s ship stops. Slash’s ship turns around to face Hitch as SLash yells out in excitement.

“He’s trapped!”

“Yes, He’s trapped!” Hack yells back before the two start charging at Hitch.

“Trapped?” Hitch says, a little offended. “I don’t think so,” Hitch says with a smile on his face. He jumps up, off his zip board, and back flips as the two ships use the robots as jousting roads. Hitch lands on the zip board as Hack and Slash’s body parts fall to the ground.

“I hate when this happens,” Hack says as their heads land next to each other.

“Ya same,” Slash responds as he looks around. “Where is my arm,” Right on cue, Slash’s arm lands on his head before rolling off. “Oh, there it is,”

“Sorry boys,” Hitch says as he circles the two slowly on his zip board. “Better luck next cycle,” Right then, a vid window pops up in front of Hitch. On it is the virus, Megabyte, sitting in his chair at his tower. He is a tall, bulky sprite with dark purple skin and a jawline that could pick an eye out.

“Hitch,” Megabyte calmly says in a deep, dictator-like voice.

“Megabyte,” Hitch replies with a little anger in his voice.

“Why must we do this cat and mouse? It’s just a small favor I ask of you,” Megabyte says as he looks at his claw-like fingernails.

“I don’t know,” Hitch says as he crosses his arms over his chest. “Maybe it’s because I don’t work with viruses,” Hitch says, shrugging. “Just a hunch,”

“Oh, Hitch,” Megabyte says, shaking his head disapprovingly. “If you keep resisting, I might have to get your friends involved,”

“You stay away from them!” Hitch yells in anger. Megabyte slowly laughs before the video window disappears. Hitch quickly takes off down the street. Before he can get far, another vid window pops up with Sparky, a little, light bluish-greenish dragon. Hitch’s eyes widen as he hits the vid window at full force. He grabs it so he doesn’t fall to the ground as his zip board goes flying.

“Dad, you ok,” Sparky asks in worry.

“Glitch, fetch zip board,” Hitch says. Glitch detaches its gear part and sends it to the zip board. “Ya, I’m fine, what’s going on,” Hitch asks, turning back to Sparky on the video window.

“It’s not good, someone trashed Dot’s Dinner!”.

“What!” Hitch responds as the zip board returns under his feet. He lets go of the vid window and lands on the zip board. The gear part returned back to Glitch.

“You need to come quick,” Sparky says before the vid window collapses. Hitch speeds away towards the dinner as fast as the zip board will carry him.

Hitch turns the corner on his zip board as his eyes widen in shock. The once beautiful dinner was now wrecked. Windows shattered, tables broke, and stools and chairs were thrown out onto the street. The letter d on the sign lies on the ground in the parking lot.

“That’s a first, Dot’s is down,” Hitch says as he slows down and lands in front of the door. Laying in front of the door is a big, bulky red dog with orange stripes sleeping soundly. Hitch steps off his zip board before picking it up and placing the two circle disks together. The metal part disappears as the disks merge together. He then places the board on his hip before turning to the dog on the ground.

Hitch slowly raises his foot and carefully lifts it over the dog’s body. The dog growls without opening its eyes. “R-right,” Hitch stuttered out with genuine fear in his voice. He puts his foot down and looks to see a window he can get through. Before he can do anything, the dog gets up and starts barking at him. “Good Frisket,” Hitch says as he slowly backs away, towards the broken window. Frisket barks at him and follows him. “It’s me, Hitch,” Hitch says as he makes it to the window.

Frisket jumps at Hitch, who blocks by using his foot to push Frisket out of the way. Frisket bits down on Hitch’s foot as a tug of war starts. “Frisket, let. Go.” Hitch says, tugging his leg away, causing his boot to slip off and sending him sliding into the dinner. He lands on the table and slides across it before his head bumps into another body.

He looks up to see Pipp looking down at him with a smile. Her purple hair curled and combed to perfection like most days. She wears a tight pink crop top with a light blue unzipped coat over top with blue jean shorts. Her black and white icon is placed on her coat pocket,

“Have you ever heard of a door?” Pipp asks as Hitch sits up. He slides off the table before responding.

“Have you ever heard of a Frisket,” Once the words left his mouth, his boot came flying into the dinner. It lands on the ground, torn up and wet. Hitch sighs as he looks at his boot. “Now I have to compile up a new boot,”

“That’s the least of your worries,” Pipp responds.

“What do you mean?” Hitch asks, looking down at Pipp.

“Dad!” Sparky yells out in excitement. Hitch and Pipp turn to see Sparky running at full force at Hitch. Hitch has little time to prepare as Sparky jumps up and slams his entire body into Hitch’s body, toppling him over onto the ground. Sparky is dressed in a baseball-like shirt with his age on the shirt pocket reading 101 and blue jeans.“Dad, it was crazy, goons came and trashed the place,'' Sparky says, shaking Hitch a bit before standing up on top of his chest.

“Sparky,” Hitch chokes out before Sparky goes on a rant.

“I mean totally deleted, offline, canceled,” Sparky says, swinging his hands wildly with his words.

“Sparky,” Pipp gently but sternly says as she places a hand on his shoulder.

“Yes Pipp?” Sparky asks, looking up at her.

“I think Hitch gets the point,” Pipp says before the two look down at Hitch.

“No kidding,” Hitch responds.

“Oh, sorry dad,” Sparky says, getting off of Hitch before helping him up.

“What I want to know is who would do this?” Pipp asks.

“It was probably Megabyte,” Hitch responds. “He’s asked me for a little favor, but because I haven’t done it, I think he’s trying to get to me threw you guys,”

“Just a little favor?” Cecil asks as he slides along his rail over to the group. He is a crt tv looking spirit with arms that lead to big white gloves for his hands. His face is on the screen. “Maybe you should do it so we can keep functioning,” Cecil crosses his arms and slides away on his railing in the dinner ceiling.

“He might be right,” Hitch says, shrugging.

“No, no way are you doing anything for that virus,” Pipp responds. “If he wants to mess with you, he will have to mess with all of us,” Pipp says, getting a cheer from the binoms in the dinner.

“Ya, we aren’t afraid of old Megabreath,” Sparky says, puffing up his chest and putting his hands on his hips. “Why would I take him on by myself if I could,” Sparky says as a vid window pops up behind him with Megabyte on it. Sparky turns around to see Megabyte looking at him with irritation. “Bail!” Sparky yells before darting behind Hitch’s legs.

“My, what a messy establishment you hang out in,” Megabyte says, placing his fingers together and taping them together.

“Ya, no thanks to you,” Sparky yells at him before hiding behind Hitch again.

“For your information, we are still running fine,” Pipp replies.

“Now come my dear, all I want is a little favor from my favorite guardian,” Megabyte replies with an evil kind smile.

“I’ll be doing you no favor, Megabyte,” Hitch replies. “I’m going to plug myself in right here and protect my friends from whatever you throw at us,” Right when the words slip out of his mouth, the sky turns a dark purple as an electric sound rings out.

“Pitty,” Megabyte says as the vid window closes. He pushes a button on his chair as another vid window pops up. This one is of his lieutenant viral binoms “I want 10 ships patrolling the game cube, we don’t want Hitch playing any games before he does my favor,” Megabyte says before closing the video window.

Hitch runs out of the diner and throws his zip board to the ground, where it uncurls and becomes two again. A feminine voice from the sky rings out from the sky repeating the same words, “Warning, Incoming game,” Hitch jumps onto the zip board before flying towards the purple box dropping from the sky.

“Hitch! Wait!” Pipp yells as she and Sparky run after him.

“He’s not going to make it,” Sparky says.

“Not with Megabyte on his rump he won't,” Pipp says before running towards her car. Sparky follows after her.

Hitch flies over the city skyline as he heads for the gamecube. He jolts a bit before stabilizing again. He looks behind him to see one of Megabyte's ships on his ass. Another one flies under him while two follow up beside him, bumping him in the process. “Hey!” Hitch lets out as another ship flies over his head. “Oh no,” Hitch says. In front of him, a ship blocks his way into the game cube.

He hits the ship at full focus, sending his zip board flying into the sector before the gamecube lands just next to the ship. Hitch tries to hold on as his head spins. His hands start to slip as Pipp drives her flying car over to Hitch. He makes it under him right as his hands slip. He lands in the back seat before Pipp drives away.

“I knew they would be here,” Pipp says as Hitch sits up, still a bit dizzy.

“Did I make it?” He asks, turning to the two in the front seats.

“Not quite,” Sparky says, turning around in his seat to look at Hitch.

“Darn,” Hitch says before collapsing into the seat.

Pipp landed the car on a side road overlooking the gamecube. Hitch gets out and quickly walks over to the edge of the road. “Glitch, Game stats,” Hitch says before Glitch’s screen shows a graph. Pipp and Sparky get out of the car and walk over to Hitch.

“Do you think they can win?” Sparky asks, looking out at the purple gamecube.

“I hope so,” Pipp responds back.

“Oh no, no, yes!” Hitch’s emotions swing wildly as he watches the data change. “No, wait… nop,” Hitch says with a hint of sadness in his voice. “Wait, yes! They might actually,” But before Hitch can finish his sentence, the gamecube shoots up into the sky and disappears as a voice from the sky says.

“Game over, user wins,” The words reverberate in the head of the three ponies. They look in horror and shock at the sector. The entire sector was gone, replaced with nothing.

“The lost,” Hitch says in disbelief as a little anger slips into his voice.

“The sector is offline, deleted, nullified, no backup,” Sparky says before stopping when Pipp gently places a hand on Sparky’s shoulder. He looks up at her while she looks over at Hitch with worry on her face.

“I should have gotten in,” Hitch says, turning away from the two.

“There was nothing you could do,” Pip responds as the pair look at him with worry in their eyes.

“I should have just done a little bit of a favor, then none of this would have happened,” Hitch says. “Glitch, fetch a spare zip board,” Hitch says before Glitch flies off to find the other zip board.

“You don’t know that for sure,” Sparky responds, running up to Hitch.

“At least see Phong first,” Pipp begs. Hitch sighs as he relaxes his shoulders.

“You're right,” Hitch says before turning around to face them. “I’ll go to Phong, see what he has to say, and then meet back with you two at dinner, all right?” Hitch asks.

“Sounds good,” Pipp says, giving Hitch a thumbs up. She turns around and heads for the car as Sparky looks up at Hitch.

“You sure you don’t want someone to go with you?” Sparky asks.

“I’ll be fine Sparky,” Hitch says, looking down at Sparky with a warm smile. “Now go with Pipp to dinner,” Hitch says as a zip board with Glitch attached comes flying in. Sparky smiles and nods before running to the car.

Hitch sighs as Glitch returns to him. He throws the zip board down before stepping on it and flying toward the principal office.

Inside the giant main hallway of the principal office, Hitch and Phong stand several feet away from each other. An energy barrier surrounds them in a rectangular, tennis court-like shape. Hitch has energy boxes around his arms and his feet.

Phong is a little old robot-looking sprite. His body is scary and dark orange with a gold storage cabinet in his body. His neck is this and gold. His head is short and squashed. His face is small with little reading glasses sitting on his nose. A thin beard extending from his chin. His legs are replaced with just a ball like Hack and Slash have. Phong also has energy boxes on his hands. He bounces a frisbee-looking device that floats between his hands. Phong squints at Hitch as he prepares himself for the first hit.

“Aahhh… begin!” Phong yells before hitting the disk, sending it towards Hitch. Hitch hits it back, sending it toward Phong. Phong moves and hits the disk back at Hitch. Hitch smiles before hitting the disk hard into the opposite corner. Phong goes to dive but misses the disk. The disk hits the energy barrier, causing it to disappear along with the disk.

Phong gets up as Hitch slides over to him. The energy boxes disappear when he stops in front of Phong. “You have won my game, and my knowledge, my child,” Phong says, looking down at the floor. “What was the question?” Phong quickly asks, looking up at Hitch.

“Is it a good idea to see what Megabyte wants from me?” Hitch responds.

“Oh, yes, yes, I see,” Phong says as he scratches his chin. “The little favor he asks of you, do you know what it is?” Phong looks up at Hitch.

“That’s the thing, I don’t know what he wants,” Hitch replies with a shrug.

“I see, hmmm…” Phong thinks for a moment, looking down at the ground as he twirls his beard. “I don’t think I can help, but I do have an old read-me file that might help,” Phong says, looking up at Hitch. “It says to keep your friends close, and your enemies closer,”

“Hmm… pixelashes idea,” Hitch says with a smile.

“Oh, be careful Hitch. I’ve seen that look on many young sprites before,” Phong warrens, wiping the smile from Hitch’s face.

“Don’t worry, I’ll be fine,” Hitch replies, waving it off. “I have to go see Pipp and Sparky first anyways,” Hitch throws down his zip board before jumping onto it and starting to fly it out of the room.

“Be careful young Guardian!” Phong yells as Hitch leaves the room.

(Time Skip)

Hitch flies over the seat towards the tall, threatening tower at the edge of the city. Hitch slows down before landing on the ground by the door. He steps off the zip board before picking it up and putting it away. He pushes the button next to the door, which pops up a video window. The window shows an old door knock. It trumps against the wood before the video window is replaced with Megabyte.

“Ah, Guardian, come to help me?” Megabyte says, lasing his finger together as he speaks.

“I’ll see what the favor is first,” Hitch responds.

“Good, come in. please be my guest,” Megabyte says before the video window disappears and the door opens. Hitch walks in before the door shuts behind him.

(Time Skip)

Hitch stands with Megabyte in a circle elevator that is going down. Megabyte stands just a bit over him in height. “So, what changed your mind?” Megabyte asks.

“I realized that having a friend like you might be beneficial,” Hitch responds with a fake smile.

“Good dissection Guardian,” Megabyte says as the elevator hits the bottom. A Hug, dug-out, cave-like room that leads to a giant door with Megabyte’s logo on it. The platform the two are standing on moves towards the giant door. Hitch looks around at the army lining the floor around them. Ships, viral binoms, and other weapons stand waiting for something.

The platform stops just in front of the giant door before it starts to open up. A bright flash of light blinds the room. Hitch covers his eyes as Megabyte’s eyes turn black with a red pupil. Hitch saints as he lowers his hand. His heart drops as he sees what is making the bright light. Sitting in the center of the room is a giant, glowing blue, pulsing tear. A platform surrounding the tear with a computer attached to it.

“Glitch, states,” Hitch says before Glitch complies. Megabyte walks up to the controls as Hitch follows. “That’s a level five tear, one that could stabilize the supercomputer,” Hitch says, trying to keep composed as his heart raises.

“You guardians sure know your tears,” Megabyte says as a binomial with a black box walks up to him.

“That’s the idea,” Hitch responds. “But what’s up with the army?” Hitch says, pointing over his shoulder with his thumb.

“Army?” Megabyte asks, trying to act innocent. “Oh, you mean my… friends?”

“Ya, friends,” Hitch replies, skeptically.

“So will you stabilize the tear for me?” Megabyte asks.

“Stabilize the tear, let a virus into the supercomputer, and infect the net,” Hitch says, stepping forward to look at the tear. “I don’t think so,”

Megabyte sighs as he grabs the weapon in the box the binom is holding.“I really did try it your way, guardian,” He says as he aims the weapon at Hitch. He shoots out a tether that then wraps around Hitch’s body before pulling him back to the weapon.

“Hey!” Hitch yells as he struggles against the straps. Megabyte points Hitch at the tear. Hitch’s eyes widen as Megabyte shoots Hitch toward the tear. “Glitch! Stabilize!” Hitch yells as he speeds towards the tear. Glitch shoots its gear to the tear. It lands against the tear as it forms the metallic portal. Hitch goes through before the tether stops and pulls him back out. Hitch is again back at the weapon held by Megabyte. “Glitch, return!” Hitch says before Glitch returns to him. The portal goes back to being a tear. “What are you trying to do, delete me?” Hitch yells, turning his head to look over at Megabyte.

“If necessary,” Megabyte responds before being interpreted by Hack and Slash.

“Boss, we found her,” Hack starts before being interrupted by Slash.

“Yes, we found her,”

“She was starting a,”

“She was starting a protest,” Slash finishes. The two held onto Pipp’s arms, letting her hang a bit in the air. Megabyte turns to look as Hitch looks between Pipp and the computer.

“Hello,” Pipp says, waving a bit with her right hand.

“A protest, those are harmless,” Megabyte responds. “Throw her in the holding cell,” Megabyte says as Hitch kicks the computer over. Megabyte looks at Hitch with anger. Hitch shrugs back. “Close the door!” Megabyte yells as sirens scream to life. He throws Hitch to the ground as the door closes. The ships explode as the tear destabilizes.

Hack and Slash drop Pipp to the ground. She lands on her feet before turning around and stepping onto the platform. Hitch runs over and slides onto the platform before Pipp hits the up button, sending them back the way they came.

“Nice plan,” Hitch says as he messes with the harness around his body. A rope dangling off the back.

“Plan?” Pipp asks. “What plan?”

“This one,” Hitch says as the platform makes it to the elevator and starts moving up.

“When we found out you were not with us or Phong, I went after you,” Pipp explains. “I thought a protest would get their attention, lead me to you, and then I thought I would figure something out from there,” Pipp shrugs.

“You’ve been hanging around me too much,” Hitch says, smiling at Pipp. Megabyte climbs up the elevator shaft after them. He lunges at the rope still dangling off of Hitch. He grabs it, causing Hitch to get pulled to the edge of the platform. “Glitch, tether!” Hitch says as Glitch’s gear detaches, connected with rope. The gear lands against the platform as Hitch pulls on the rope to keep himself up. Pipp rushes over and looks over the strap connected to the rope. She pushes the button in the middle, unlocking the strap and sending Megabyte screaming into the elevator shaft. “Thanks,” Hitch says as Glitch returns back to normal.

“Don’t thank me yet, we need to get out first,” Pipp says before the elevator stops at the ground floor. The two go for the door but are stopped when a megabyte jumps in front of them. Hitch steps in front of Pipp and readies Glitch.

“Leaving, so soon?” Megabyte asks sweetly. “How rude,” His voice deepens in anger as he readies his claws. Right before anything can happen, the electric sounds echo throughout the building.

“No,” Hitch says with worry in his voice. “Glitch, where is the game landing?” Hitch asks as the voice rings around the incoming game. Hitch’s face drops as Megabyte laughs.

“I guess I won’t need you after all, guardian,” Megabyte says before walking away.

“What does he mean?” Pipp asks, looking at Glitch.

“That game is going to land on us, stabilizing the tear into a portal,” Hitch says as the purple gamecube lands on top of them, transporting them onto the giant carrier in space. Ships line the runway. Other binoms already getting into the ships as they get ready to take off. “Space race, nice,” Hitch says as he looks around.

“Now where is the user?” Pipp asks as she looks around.

“I’m more worried about where Megabyte ran off to,” Hitch responds. Sirens sound as the user's spaceship makes a sweep down by the carrier. The user shoots up the ship, deleting binoms while hurting others.

“There’s the user,” Pipp says as they watch the user.

“And there’s Megabyte!” Hitch says as Megabyte jumps onto the user's ship from the tall control tower.

“What is he doing?” Pipp asks as the user flies over them again.

“He’s infecting the user,” Hitch says with deep worry in his voice. “Viral take over, now we have a mega user,” Hitch says, turning to Pipp. “He’ll head for the portal, we need to beet him there,”

“Then what are we waiting for?” Pipp asks before double tapping her iron on her chest. “Reboot,” She says before a green glow overtakes her body. Changing her clothes into a space suit.

“Reboot,” Hitch says, also double tapping his icon. The same green energy consumes his body before revealing his space suit. Pipp and Hitch run over to two of the remaining ships and climb into them. They put on the helmets as the canapes close on them.

“Engines looking good,” Pipp says as she drives the ship to the runway.

“Wings are in good condition,” Hitch says as he pulls up behind Pipp.

“Wing leaders, you are clear for lunch,” a slow, serious voice says over the communications.

“Ali?” Hitch asks in confusion.

“He’s here too,” The voice responded before a barely audible, what! can be heard in the background. Hitch shakes his head in disbelief as Pipp takes off. Hitch follows after her, the two headings where Megabyte went.

“Where is the portal Hitch?” Pipp asks as she checks her sensors.

“Level 3, in the center of the planet,” Hitch says as he checks his sensor. “Stay frosty,” Hitch says with a big smile. Pipp shakes her head while rolling her eyes. Hitch shrugs before his sensors go off. “Asteroid field a head, stay close,”

Pipp pulls behind Hitch as they enter the asteroid field. Hitch dodges and dips around asteroids as Pipp follows his lead. “Almost there,” Hitch whispers as they get to the end of the asteroid field. Pipp’s eyes widen as an Asteroid flies in front of them.

“Hitch!” Pipp yells as Hitch’s eyes widen. He presses the fire button on his control stick, sending two red lasers at the asteroid. They melted the center on contact as Hitch flies threw it. Pipp goes around the asteroid and meets back up with Hitch.

“That was easy,” Hitch says, getting another eye roll from Pipp. The two fly towards the ice planet below them. Megabyte just getting to the planet's surface as he contacts his army.

“Delete them,” Megabyte commands. The binom salutes him before the image goes away. A giant, dark purple ship comes around to where Hitch and Pipp are, blocking their way. They start pointing their many guns at the pair before firing at them.

“Get behind me!” Hitch commands as he sets his shields to the forward potions. “I’ve set my shields to the front, you should do the same,” Hitch says as Pipp pulls behind him.

“All right,” Pipp says as she puts her shields forward. Laser beams hit their shields, but don’t penetrate threw.

“Shoot the giant icon on the bridge,” Hitch says as he tries to lock onto the ship’s icon. Pipp nods as she targets the icon as well. The two approach the giant ship as the guns keep shooting at them.

“I have a shot,” Pipp says as her targeting system locks onto the icon of Megabyt’s army.

“All right, tell me when to pull up,” Hitch says as the two fly toward the icon.

“Wait for it,” Pipp says as the shooting starts to break threw their shields. “Now!” Pipp yells before Hitch pulls up and out of her way. Pipp pushes the fire button and shoots two missiles at the icon before following Hitch. The two missiles hit the icon, causing the ship to blow up as the two getaway.

“Nice work Pipp!” Hitch cheers with a big smile on his face.

“I learned from the best,” Pipp responds, making Hitch blush a bit. The two head to the planet's surface to see Megabyte fly into a cave.

“There, he’s heading to level 3,” Hitch says, diving down towards the cave. Pipp follows after him. The two dive down before pulling up and flying into the cave. “Be careful, if you hit the wall you’ll be deleted almost instantly,” Hitch warrens as Pipp tries to stay away from the wall. Her wing clips the walls before she over-corrects and clips the other wing.

“It’s harder than it looks,” Pipp says, trying to stay behind Hitch.

“Use your stabilizers,” Hitch says. Pipp looks down at her console before pressing a blue button. The ship stops swaying and stays in the center of the cave. “It keeps you away from the walls,”

“Convenient,” Pipp responds. The two catch up quickly with Megabyte’s ship.

“Let's see if you like this Megabyte,” Hitch says before shooting at Megabyte. The beams hit the shields of the ship and bounce off. “Dang, nothing,” Hitch says in anger. A gun pops out of the back of Megabyte’s ship and turns toward the pair. “Crap! Impulse cannon!” Hitch says as the cannon charges up. The cannon fires a shot that passes clean over them and into the cave ceiling.

“That was pathetic,” Pipp says as she watches the bolt.

“No, it was smart,” Hitch responds. “Glitch, cave stability,” Hitch says, looking down at Glitch. Glitch shows a line graph of the cave’s stability. It starts to drop rapidly as the cave starts to fall apart around them.

“What’s going on?” Pipp asks, looking around as she dodges falling rocks.

“He destabilized this part of the cave to try and delete us,” Hitch responds.

“Can we get out of it?” Pipp asks.

“Glitch says we have a seventy-five percent chance to get out alive,” Hitch says as he starts pushing buttons on his console.

“I don’t like those odds,” Pipp responds.

“But if we burn out our engines going full speed, we have a twenty-five present chance to live, but a fifty present chance to run into the wall at the end of this tunnel,” Hitch explains as he starts to power up his engine.

“That sounds a bit better,” Pipp responds as she powers up her engines.

“There the same ods, just different ways to get deleted,” Hitch responds back.

“One I can’t control, the other I can,” Pipp responds back.

“All right then,” Hitch responds. “Engen burn out in three, two, one, NOW!” Hitch yells as he pushes his accelerator all the way up. His engine fire turns bright blue as he speeds ahead. His body is pushed into the seat as he struggles to keep the ship steady. Pipp follows after him in the same manner. The two make it into the open area of level three.

“We made it!” Pipp says in joy before her engine cut out. “Crap,” Pipp says as her ship does a nose dive. Hitch's ship does the same thing. The two frantically try and start the engine again. Hitch is able to get his to start and pulls up before following Megabyte. Pipp’s heart pounds up her throat as she approaches closer to the ground. “Come on, stuiped engin!” Pipp yells, hitting the control panel, causing the engines to light. She pulls up, but not in time, as the bottom of the ship scraps the ground, and the wings break off. The ship slows down before coming to a complete stop.

She looks up and watches as Megabyte pulls up behind Hitch. “Hitch! He’s behind you!”

“Not for long,” Hitch responds, pulling back on his controls, causing him to go up and over Megabyte’s ship. He pushes down and levels with Megabytes ship. “See you later, virus,” Hitch says, targeting megabyte’s ship before shooting at it. The lasers hit, causing Megabyte to fly out and lands on the wing of Hitch’s ship.

“You know, we could make a great team,” Megabyte says, looking over at Hitch.

“Never!” Hitch responds.

“Wrong choice guardian,” Megabyte says as he unsheaths his claws before slashing Hitch’s ship’s wing. Megabyte lands on the ground in front of the portal as Hitch goes spiraling out of control.

“Glitch! Tether!” Hich yells, pushing the canopy eject button. The canopy shoots off as Hitch points Glitch up at the ceiling. The gear goes shooting off with a rope attached to it. It lands on the ceiling and pulls on Hitch, holding him in place as his ship collides with the wall.

“Now I can go and infect the supercomputer, then the net,” Megabyte says with a wicked smile on his face.

“Infect the supercomputer?” Hitch asks no one. “I don’t think so,” Hitch says before looking up at Glitch. “Glitch, zip line,” Glitch shoots out two lines in weather directions before disconnecting the tether. Hitch zips along the line before making it over the portal. “Glitch! Detach!” Hitch yells before Glitch detaches from the rope, sending Hitch into the portal.

“No!” Megabyte yells as the gamecube lifts off the ground and leaves the sector. The voice yelling out game over. “The portal, it’s reverted back into a tear!” Megabyte yells in anger before turning around to Pipp. Her eyes widen as Megabyte starts walking over to her, readying his claws. “I hate to lose,” Megabyte growls at Pipp as he stomps toward her.

Hitch lands on the metal ground with a thud. He landed in between two rows of weapons. He stands up and looks around before smiling. “Supercomputer armory, convenient,” Hitch whispers to himself.

“Hitch!?” a deep, raspy voice yells out from behind him. Hitch turns around to see a red stallion with blond, combed-back hair and wearing a blue guardian suit.

“Cadet Sprout?” Hitch responds as he fully turns around.

“It’s Guardian Sprout now,” Sprout says, pointing confidently at his golden icon.

“So you finally passed the final?” Hitch asks, walking over to him.

“It only took two hundred and three tries,” Sprout responds. “What are you doing here?”

“Jumped threw a portal that was stabilized by a game that a virus was about to use to get here,” Hitch explains as he looks around the room. “Say, do you know where the common balls are?”

Megabyte holds onto Pip’s neck as he raises her up to eye level. He raises up his claws, ready to strick, but stops when he hears the portal reopen. He drops Pipp onto the ground before quickly turning around to see Hitch walking out of the portal. Pipp stands up as she coughs.

“So you decided to stabilize the portal after all?” Megabyte asks as he slowly stomps over to him.

“Not quite,” Hitch responds, throwing a yellow ball up into the air. It locks onto the portal and flies up and over the top of the portal. It disintegrates into little yellow particles, which cause the portal to disappear.

“The portal!” Megabyte yells in seething anger. “What did you do?!”

“Repair common, pretty neat right?” Hitch asks. “And I think you’ll find these next to really cool,” Hitch says, throwing up another pair of yellow balls. One flies over him, while the other heads for Pipp. The two balls disintegrate like the one before them, causing Hitch and Pipp to disappear.

“It must have been a return common, they went back to the dinner!” Megabyte thinks aloud before walking off. Once he was gone, Hitch and Pipp reappear next to each other.

“Hiden file command,” Hitch explains to Pipp. “I love using them,” Hitch smiles as Pipp rolls her eyes at him.

“Do you think he’ll be made?” Pipp asks.

“Furious,” Hitch responds back.

“He totaled uprooted the place looking for you guys,” Sparky explains as the group sits at a booth. “Once he knew you were not here, he left in anger,” Sparky ends before sipping on his energy drink.

“Clean up is not my function!” Cecil yells, sliding up to them. “I’m a waiter, not a butler!” he says before taking off in anger.

“Looks like Cecil isn't happy,” Hitch says, watching him slide away.

“You would be too if you had to clean this place up,” Pipp responds, looking around at the almost completely destroyed dinner.

“Far point,” Hitch responds before taking a sip of his drink.

“At least Megabyte knows now not to mess with us,” Pipp says.

“Ya!” Sparky yells, bumping his fist into the air in joy.

“Because if he ever messes with one of us,” Pipp starts.

“He messes with all of us,” Hitch finishes.

“Oh, so we finally got that threw that thick head of yours?” Pipp asks, knocking her fist gently against Hitch's forehead. Hitch shakes his head in disappointment as the two laugh their butts off.

Author's Note:

This chapter is the result of three days of writing at 2,000 words a day. It ended up much longer than I thought it would be. I hope you liked it.

p.s. One last thing, why is Sparky not a character tag I can use, it's kind of irritating.

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