(Goomba)
When the wheels started to turn, ideas formed in the minds of many. What once started as a simple course of actions churned forth an endless torrent that inspired the lives of many. From bicycles to cars and from simple fires to giant ovens, the world continuously concocted new ways to live life and adapt around it. Various cultures and ideas revolved around constant advancements to live their lives the way they felt moved them forward, as what once thought impossible suddenly turned reality upon new discoveries that got sought out every day. One might have never concluded on such a resurgence, but for others they sat on a gold mine and would take advantage of every single piece imaginable. Some would call the process evolution while many others consider it the process of life, but no matter what name they gave it…existed.
The process gave way to some of the most successful ideas in the history of mankind. When the clash of metal and electricity culminate into a concoction that acted on its own merits a much simpler term came forth to generalize the types of groups. Technology. From the mixes of wires and circuits to mechanisms and motors, one could utilize the tools available to build something that could change the way we acted and lived to the potential to muster through hard work and dangers without repercussions. With a near endless amount to work with, the limits only came in the form of individual imaginations. Progression only furthered the amount to work with as more materials became usable to such endeavors. Every custom under the sun potentially had the function to adapt to such technologies and further develop their way of life with them at their side.
Of course not everything about technology required a tone of seriousness to stand out. The entertainment industry underwent a major boon in popularity as a result of these technologies. What started off as words only soon became pictures before they combined into moving pictures with sound. While black and white at first, color followed close behind to form the first ever televisions for the public. Some time after the first revolutions to complement the new sensations exploded in popularity in the form of certain consoles that did something extraordinary. Not only did they provide a new sense of pictures across the screen but it also made them controllable with a few buttons and joysticks to form a new system to how everyone handled the market.
The industry of video games.
The popularity of such a concept only grew as time moved on. As technology advanced further into the future the industry followed with it. Consoles formed into more powerful machines with graphics and sound that went unheard of…until its successor improves upon it. From controllers, perpetuals, and raw processing speed the video game industry flourished into a beast all on its own. From all over the globe companies poured their earnings into the growing trend until they eventually make branches specifically to cater to the certain crowd, and the video game industry was no different.
Of all the companies to join in the fast growing industry though, one managed to remain consistently good throughout the ages. From decent ideas to cult classics, one could look no further than the Hinobi company. They took their chances and ran with it, which eventually paved way for them to create their own consoles and run a type of monopoly not usually seen in other industries. Most of their branches around the world kept up to date and assisted each other when one part doesn’t perform on par with the others. They worked from certain dependencies that structured the company to stay strong and live longer than others that eventually fell to bankruptcy. They ran on quality over quantity that kept a loyal fanbase even to this very day. The fact that they didn’t often follow trends worked in their favor as they remained one of the most talked about tech companies when it came to video games.
Too bad not everything worked flawlessly in their favor. Whether by faulty parts, broken code, or some other exploit, many of the games they produced came with major caveats. Despite their near universal praise for their quality, their games usually contained at most a single glitch or two. Sometimes it usually went by harmlessly, such as a misplaced object or missing collision data, but for the most part it came out as something much worse. Those types of glitches never had restrictions bounded by the games that contained them, they contained the supernatural ability to break out into the real world and cause havoc. The pandemic always flew on Hinobi’s radar, so they created a secret branch of their company meant to debug the issues and store them back into their database for potential analysis.
Their name? The Glitch Techs.
You couldn’t just immediate apply for the position either, they used extraneous precautionary methods to alert any employee of their potential. Sometimes they used minuscule notes, sometimes they sent e-mails that deleted itself after half a minute or so, but no matter the circumstance they wanted the branch to never get known or seen by the public. Even so, they had measures in case anything went out of line. Every piece of equipment they carried out on missions came with a mind wiping flash to “reset” someone back to a regular state of mind from before the situation happened which also came with the perk of setting objects back to their normal states like nothing happened in the first place like any signs of destruction. The entire job didn’t set itself as something boring either, as the more glitches a particular worker collected the more benefits they obtained to provide incentives to keep at it. From upgrades to their Glitch Tech gear to actual Hinobi hardware, one could claim them behind closed doors after they captured enough glitches. With the right talent behind them, it’s usually claimed as an honor if you get picked for the secret job behind the scenes.
Most of the Glitch Tech bases stayed hidden behind closed doors at Hinobi stores, usually in some sort of basic locker room, that usually required a special key to access. Inside it displayed a much different appearance than the typical game store. The main hub area curved into a circular shape with dozens of rooms on the second floor around the balcony. At the center of the mostly white interior lied the central terminal responsible for counting all of the experience points earned and handling the rewards system. It also hosted a database of all employees of the Glitch Techs to monitor progression and keep track of how highly ranked each individual placed on the ladder. Those that showed excessive skill and leadership usually sat near the top while the rookies placed near the bottom. The more you worked to catch glitches, the more experience you earned to rise to the top.
While very effective to monitor and catch any excess game code turned real, like any other business it couldn’t stay open all twenty four hours. Eventually the gadgets and all of the machines required cool down periods for them to function to their full potential, which left night shifts pretty vacant. Even so, it still required some sort of security that usually got placed in the duties of certain specs of AI.
Unfortunately certain holes in the system lead to the start of an intense frenzy of destruction and ruin for a certain Hinobi store.
While everyone else counted sheep, one particular type of assistant stayed up a little bit later in a last minute surveillance before he shut himself off. While he didn’t get out of the base often he didn’t need to when his duties mostly required him to stay back. With a large floating monitor for a body and a screen for a face, he usually thought things exactly how his programming made him. He never minded the setbacks though, as he provided essentials to help out any Glitch Tech employee such as flawless memory on all things about the branch and marked down schedules for the higher ups. While all Hinobi stores supported at least one of his models around the premises, every single one had some sort of uniqueness to them…even if nobody could notice at a first glance.
The peculiar machine hovered down the hallways one last time as his embedded round decals on the screen for eyes surveyed for anything out of the ordinary while he dotted down a personal report for a more accurate representation for the ones in charge. With a quick swivel of his monitor body, he faced one of the stylized doors of the establishment before he opened it. He only required one quick scan before he formulated a conclusion.
“Essential target practice room: Clear!”
The machine beeped a couple of times before he closed the door. He then hovered a short distance down the hallway until he reached another door. Like before he opened it up and quickly scanned the area.
“Generic lounge room: Clear!”
The routine progressed according to his programmed routine. With each new door the machine opened it before it scanned everywhere for any abnormalities or intrusions. If it ever detected something amiss his memory banks contained measures already baked in. He never got to use them in a while since everything remained spotless in recent times, but he always had the option should everything get down to it.
He approached another door and went through all of the steps as before. His typical computerized smile stayed on his screen as he scanned the premises.
“Internal database room: Clear!”
He closed the door in a haste to get the rest of the rooms accounted for. If he stayed put a little bit longer he could have probably saw everything coming, but his programming knew more than he did. While the room he left contained a much broader and larger scope than the other rooms, it carried more importance than most. It had a specialized keypad that held all of the company’s history in gaming and their entire archive library of all of their software title. From their very first console to current day, it contained all of the necessary data on all of their titles. It also carried the handy bonus of a common operating system in case of certain requirements, but other than that it mostly contained all of their software tidied up and ready to go.
At first nothing happened and everything seemed fine, but soon after a small spark lit for a quick second. For some reason it came out gray instead of any other natural color, but it didn’t end there. It came up again in the same spot which wore away some of the essential cables before the frequency turned up. Once a couple more seconds passed the fault got bigger and bigger until the cable couldn’t take the punishment any further and worn off to the floor. From the shower of electricity one certain entity slowly stuck out of the small hole between the sparks and uttered some inaudible high pitched noises. It bore no shape, but it showed off the distinct gray color the sparks gave off as the small entity plopped to the floor. The formless blob fizzled in and out like loose static but it didn’t take off somewhere else immediately. A portion of it steered up toward the big screen where the displays in the room usually occurred before it shook up and down uncontrollably. After that it zipped off toward the room’s door and squeezed right under it into the main hallways. It pried itself loose in the base.
It ended up setting off the machine’s accurate hearing capabilities. Its screen quickly changed into a large question mark for a quick second before it turned around and hovered toward the source.
“Picking up extra noise indicators…” the machine said to itself as it rounded a corner. It directed him to another corner as his wires twiddled for answers, but before he ever got the chance to go around it the fizzling mass burst forward past the machine and grazed the frontal part of it, which caused the machine to whirl around on the spot before it fell to the ground stunned. Its screen then showed a progress bar that slowly started to fill up until it reached the top.
“Dizziness feeling eliminated.”
It fired up its hover technology and took off back into the air as its face lit back up on its screen. Immediately upon boot its sights caught the small weird blob as it zipped off into another corridor. To any normal person some would quickly freak out, but for the machine it never fazed unless programmed to do so.
Also normally some of the Glitch Tech employees would stay around to handle it, but since the machine hovered on its own at the moment…
“Loose glitch detected. Initializing emergency lock down procedure.”
The machine followed behind the formless mass in hot pursuit while the area around them suddenly blinked red in with a large siren overhead. The upper part of the entity darted left and right as the hallways around it locked up tight, but that only served as the start. From under the many sirens near the ceiling panels opened up and revealed top notch revolver type guns that hung and aimed right at it. They wasted no time and fired blue shots that formed into small stray blue cubes when they hit the ground, which left no room for error…at a glance. Their appearances only seemed to rile up the formless mush before it zipped around every single shot effortlessly. It fizzled even further like loose static while every single bullet at best missed it by mere inches. At one point it even sat atop one of the guns only to ditch it at the last possible second and let it get annihilated by the extra gunfire. The first layer of protection fell almost instantly, which left the rest to pick up the slack.
As it left the guns in the dust, it immediately entered another hallways as the second layer suddenly showed up. Before long, various explosions of light erupted all over the floor around the shapeless mass as even more of the specialized revolvers stuck out of the ceiling. One could easily mistake the flashes as land mines with a timer attached to them since the explosions came up so quickly in sequence with just as equal power behind them while the guns unloaded behind them. To complicate things even further the various corridors around the mass suddenly dropped chromium shutters to make it even harder to move around and box it in. The blob twisted and turned from all of the chaos around it as any single strike would eliminate it with everything seemingly in order to finally bring it down. Its body disappeared and reappeared all over from the bursts and the shutters prevented it from any sort of escape…except one crucial point. It seemed the blob already had it in mind and silently waited for the right moment the whole time as it sprang into action a few seconds later and its movements went erratic all over the place. From missed explosion to missed explosion and hails of gunfire, the entity dashed across the floor and made its way atop one of the large guns from the ceiling. In a direct repeat of last time, the other guns aimed right at it as the blob zipped right off of it which not only turned the gun to scrap but left everything else wide open. The bursts of light across the ground almost got to it at one point, but it successfully escaped again and rushed straight through the grates into the ventilation system.
Hinobi always thought ahead just in case though. The temperature instantaneously dropped to the negatives while the wind picked up in speed. The mass shuddered against the wind and held its ground before it made its way through it but to immediately complicate things further dozens of panels opened up all over the place and pulled out…even more of the specialized guns. Clearly someone had a hard on for the type of weaponry, but it didn’t matter at the time as they immediately started to fire upon the loose blob. Because of the cramped space it almost proved troublesome to even begin to make it across, but it didn’t halt the entity in the slightest. Each loose piece of gunfire unloaded only to miss it by centimeters while the winds had more trouble pushing back and freezing it. The noises banged all across the base from all of the commotion inside the vents with varied results. None of the chilly winds or smaller guns in the vents stood no chance against the opposing formless mass as it steamrolled through all of it with no trouble.
Eventually the mass came across a grating to the side, but it didn’t need to push against it to fall through. With one electric zip it phased straight through the spaces and into another portion of the base, but it proved pivotal. It landed straight into the main hub room on the outer balcony, and right above it near the ceiling was where the Glitch Techs enter and exit. An upper part of the mass extended up a bit toward the ceiling even if it couldn’t reach before it stuttered into blurriness for a second.
Its sudden emergence got cut short when a small cocking noise came up from behind it.
“Ammunition fully loaded. Ready to fire.”
The machine stayed on the blob’s tail the whole time. It’s goofy smiling face didn’t quite match up to what it had wielded before it. He had no idea what the glitchy blob planned the whole time, but it didn’t need to. One blast from its embedded large gun and he would put the mess of code in its place. For some reason the mass stayed frozen in place, whether by the sight of the gun or some other reason, which gave the machine ample time to fire at it. However, because he had no reason not to, the machine scanned the blob to obtain more information about it. Normally the machine had flawless intellect on every single type of glitch imaginable, so it should have had the required notes to know what sat before him.
…except it didn’t.
He searched his data banks thoroughly for any shred or clue on its whereabouts, but yet only the general description came up which the machine could see for himself. Various symbols and other unrecognizable coding displayed that didn’t pass through its deciphering system. It almost brought its AI to a staggering halt as it put in the hardware acceleration to try and figure something out from all of the mysterious data…only to go into an infinite loop with how much it couldn’t figure out. Nothing added up as much as the machine tried.
“What…what are you…what ARE you?!”
Its lack of knowledge frustrated the machine to speak up even though it kept its focus on the trigger for the glitch ahead. It never expected an answer until it heard something very chilling in front of him.
“……I’m back…”
Without warning, the blob charged straight at the machine and smashed it straight in the face which made it whirl out of control until it crashed into a wall. It fell to the floor with a loud thud before it completely shut down from damage which left the blob the opportunity to zip straight out of the base and into reality all while the sirens blared and the defense system struggled to figure anything out. From straight out of the front door of the Hinobi store the mesh trekked right under the front doors. As it did so some distinct features slowly started to pierce out from its formless being, but before they could fully show up it immediately disappeared into the bushes.
A trail of smoke soon followed out from the store.
*****
For a certain young girl the city around her exemplified the great world around her even if she preferred more condense spaces at times. Of course her job as a Glitch Tech employee required some form of understanding the local area which she knew like the back of her hand. Even so, she still appreciated the changes in scenery every now and then, especially on her way to work. The rest of her siblings had their own agendas which left her at what some would consider somewhat of a dream job.
For someone like Miko Kubota, it became routine at that point.
While the common stereotype of a gamer usually leaned toward something of a masculine pastime, it only served as a loose definition to someone like her. She thrived to play new releases and had a game face that gave off serious undertones. At first glance one might never connect the wires that she had the sort of hobby but she always proved them wrong after a game or two. Her long mixed violet and blue hair stood out from all of her other features that brought some nice flash to her while her common yellow shirt with a black cat decal usually caught others’ interest as a unique twist to the genre. For work reasons though she kept her hair bundled up while she wore the worker’s suit, a casual light blue and white shirt combined with the same colored pants that supported a large letter H decal, when she had to go to her job at Hinobi. She didn’t mind it too much even though she was a teenager, but she did have her moments of various overreactions. When she got into a game, she REALLY got into it, which usually lead to her many emotions over the rainbow. The term “think before you act” never crossed her and her endeavors in gaming, which usually got her into dozens of sticky situations that required assistance…including her outings with glitches. Still, she had dozens of wins across the board to her name with many different genres under her belt so she understood her craft when it came to particular games she enjoyed. If given the chance in a game she really understood and enjoyed any opponent would get mopped across the floor from her or they would exhaust themself trying. Miko showed herself as a reckless girl gamer with an enjoyable personality, something almost unheard of in the city she lived in, that she took as a badge of honor…or an achievement trophy.
Since her mother had dropped off her other siblings already, she had the back seat all to herself. With a pair of headphones over her ears she had herself occupied quite nicely with some of her favorite rap music while her eyes stared out of the window. She noticed the typical kid behavior along the sidewalks, such as little kids playing hopscotch and riding bikes, but then something else caught her eye. Nothing but a small group of kids with their noses against a portable screen could have steered Miko’s interest over somewhere else. She heard musings over the last couple of days about a certain major release coming up in the next couple of days, something called “Tanks Alot: Cartoon Carnage Deluxe Edition”, but she must have miscounted to see that many kids at their consoles. If her calculations ended up correct, the Hinobi store would easily have a swarm of buyers clawing their way through the front doors. If so, she definitely had the work in for her.
“Okay, we’re almost there! I’ve packed your lunch for the day so don’t worry on that front!”
Even though she had her headphones on, Miko could make out what her mother said.
“Thanks mom. Pull up to the front as usual.” she said as the car pulled into the parking lot. Upon her first glance at the Hinobi store up ahead, he expectations came in spot on. Not only did people flock to the front doors, but they also appeared crammed right in it. They practically bloated the whole building from the sheer amount her eyes witnessed, which made her shudder for a quick second. For some reason the store didn’t have an employee only entrance which meant only one way in and one way out.
Stopping a short distance away from the crowd, the car slowed to a crawl as Miko opened the side door with her brown lunch bag in her hand.
“Have a good day!” Miko’s mom said before she drove off. Miko waved her goodbye for now until she turned back to face the mob of avid gamers. She frowned pretty deeply at the sight.
“If I don’t get through this alive…I better go down in history for that Bomb Maniac high score.” Miko said to herself as she approached. The customers had their eyes on the prize inside the store and didn’t bat Miko any looks, which left her to her own agenda. She swore she saw the entire crowd pulsate like a whole being to add to the disturbed craziness. She wouldn’t like it, but if she wanted to get in for work she had to go with the flow. She nearly cringed, but like an Olympic swimmer she held in her breath before she rushed straight into the maniacs. Immediately she felt the pushing and shoving from all angles along with some angry outbursts but she did her best to keep her mind straight and just go for it. She almost tripped over a guy on the ground, likely from force, and hit her head against multiple people while she struggled to keep her pace forward as the walls caved in around her. Eventually she got to shouting herself to try and make it easier on herself even if it didn’t do anything. Everyone around her relentlessly compressed from the sheer numbers but she made progress even though she had no idea how further she made it in. While technically not a Black Friday sale, it sure acted like one.
It seemed like an eternity, but after all of the forces pushed against she finally saw the light at the end of the tunnel. With that, she then gunned it. The curtains parted and she soon found herself against the floor all tumbled out. While somewhat exhausted she had something else in mind.
“Woohoo! That’s a game winning point for Miko!” she exclaimed to herself as she threw her hands in the air with a big smile. She picked herself off the ground and brushed herself off to see what sort of chaos occurred before she arrived…and her expectations had perfect accuracy yet again. The store usually had its wide open space to ease up on browsing for a particular title, but thanks to the new anticipated release she could hardly make out any certain landmark to help figure out each section. At certain angles she could barely make out some of the other employees with boxes of the new game in their hands, such as Haneesh and Zahra, only for them to suddenly get mowed down by the customer onslaught. As for everyone else her vision remained obscured until mounds of customers parted ways, where she saw a distinctive employee she always had her eye on.
She could recognize the certain hairdo and certain Hinobi employee outfit from miles away and it belonged to none other than Hector Nieves, commonly known around the premises as High Five or Five for short, while he scrambled to assist buyers at the front desk. Like herself, he carried a certain knack for games which made him a prime candidate for an employee at Hinobi, although he thought things a bit differently than others. His large tuft of black hair probably stood out the most recognizable part for Miko in case of large crowds, like the one currently in the store, while his tan skin showed signs of his culture especially since he used to work at a taco stand before Hinobi. If Miko boldly took incidents without as much as a plan or thought, Five had it almost the total opposite. He liked to think things through and plan out before any certain problem turned critical, almost like a strategist, then handled it appropriately. In many ways he seemed like a perfect partner for Miko, and that’s exactly what occurred when he joined the Glitch Techs. Whenever he got sent out on a mission he always took Miko with him which made them a complementary duo even if they didn’t rank too high on the experience ladder yet. His personality usually tipped toward high end of carefree when not handling a glitch with a bit of showing off here and there, but overall he was very dependable in his craft. While very unique in his own right, Five proved himself a gamer with a knack for planning.
His nervousness showed all over his face as dozens of avid gamers bundled around the front desk. Some of them bared cheesy sharp teeth and wide crazy eyes while they barked like angry dogs which got Five to hold up a small stool like a lion tamer.
“Back, back you animals! We still have plenty more copies coming!” Five said. The stool immediately got taken by the crowd and ground to dust in a comical buzz saw noise, which only got Five to sweat even more.
“Need help there Fives?!” Miko exclaimed over the constant chatter of the crowd. Even though the crowd cluttered the volume, once Five turned to see her she knew he heard.
“Ah, Miko! You have no idea how difficult it is to handle this!” Five replied as he struggled. “Please get over here quickly!”
“Got it!” Miko answered and she narrowly avoided a loose gamer by her feet. Like before she made a beeline for the desk while she made sure to avoid any rabid customers out for blood. Luckily she didn’t have to deal with too much unlike her way in even though she basically had a horde of animals all over the place. She fended off one crazed gamer that latched onto one of her legs before she made it to the crumbling fallout shelter of the front desk and enforced herself behind it.
“I’m not too keen on survival horror, but I’m seriously considering this as some sort of first step!” Miko exclaimed as she used a clipboard to hold off an avid customer. “Any news about the others?!”
“I haven’t seen them since the plague started! There’s too many of these people here to make them out!” Five answered after he batted away a couple of sloppy people. “Get the copies under this desk before we become zombie food…err, shopper zombie food!”
“On it!” Miko replied. She hastily shoved the clipboard away and ducked under the counter before another rabid customer could get to her. She saw a couple of boxes close by and immediately grabbed one and pried it open. She felt some form of relief the moment she noticed the familiar box art of the particular title while nicely packaged at the same time. Because of the insane popularity of the franchise she easily recognized the familiar red cartoon tanks over the bottom of the picture along with the text that told the consumer which console the developer made it for. She surprised herself at points to know that the tanks had red all over them thanks to a programming quirk in their debut game which became a staple despite such a minor detail. The box art detailed the popular vehicles in full as they fired up at the opposition which the picture depicted as…a giant rampaging kooky girl figure? She knew nothing as to why the designers chose something like that, but she ended up flipping the case over to the back side for more details. Once she saw the screenshots and descriptions on some of the game’s features she realized something. In the day and age she lived in it didn’t strike her as too surprising.
“Hey, is this is a port of the last game in the series to modern consoles? Why have others stooped to this low for a port of all things?”
“It’s apparently more than a port, but I can’t speak too much about it as-HEY, SOMEONE ALREADY PREORDERED THAT!”
Another loose customer attempted to snatch the copy away while Five had his back turned, which resulted in the two going into a game of tug-o-war over it. Since she had to quell the rabid buyers in some way, Miko resorted to the blatantly obvious and chucked copies into the crowd straight from the box.
“You want the hot new release zombies? Well, HERE’S YOUR BRAIN FOOD!” she shouted. Her arms became a blur as she fired each one like a rapid fire Gatling gun while she expressed herself like she accidentally waltzed into a radiant apocalypse. While it satisfied some, soon enough more gamers replaced them eager for their cartoon tank action. When she ran out of copies in one of the boxes she busted open the next and ran through the procedure all over again. Whether by desperation or not, the girl kept at it like her life depended on it.
Eventually the inevitable happened. Once out of copies she reached down for more only to see all of the boxes completely emptied out and she still had swarms of crazed shoppers before her.
“Five, I’m out of ammo! Got any left?!” Miko shouted through all of the noise.
“I think…we should have more…in the back! Hurry!” Five replied while he continued to swat away the dozens of buyers from crawling over the counter. The young employee understood and carefully sidled from the back wall before she bolted. She legs rushed over dozens of trampled people as she made her way near the back of the store over to a door reserved for employees only. Hinobi usually kept more extra copies of a popular game in the storage room, but when she saw it blocked with more of the swarms she had to make a critical call. With a hint of determination in her face, she felt around her waste area before she found what she had in mind. She had one more copy of the game from the boxes just in case and now she had the perfect time to use it.
“Tactical nuke incoming, zombies!” Miko shouted before she ripped the plastic wrapping off with her teeth. Everyone else only had a split second before she tossed the spare game a decent distance away from the crowd. Like a swarm of piranhas in a feeding frenzy, the brainless shoppers hauled themselves over to the spot before they started to claw at each other for the copy. With their guard off to the side Miko madly dashed over to the door before she vigorously grabbed the knob and pulled the door open. She hastily made her way inside and slammed the door shut, which gave her a brief moment to relax from all of the insanity.
“Step one complete. Now I just need to find those extra copies.” she muttered to herself while she took some deep breaths. In terms of most of her Glitch Tech emergencies, today really seemed like it started off with another glitch breaking loose of some survival genre…except the bloodthirsty animals got replaced with avid shoppers.
She held her back against the wall as she got a good look of the whole storage room. In terms of visual pizzazz it never needed it as it had a different purpose altogether even if some employees didn’t like the blank white wallpaper. Shelves of various heights littered the walls that stayed stiff thanks to the sturdy metal that held them up and to make sure employees understood where everything went the higher ups labeled everything in alphabetical order. It made everything easy to access in case nobody had any clue where to search in case of something like shortages…like the incident Miko found herself in. She never wanted to bat an eye over to the possibility of no more copies, but she needed them now.
“Okay, just get the copies and then fight through the hoards again. Everything will go by perfectly fine as long as you don’t think about it!” Miko said to herself as she slowly started to panic. Her eyes darted all across the room and skimmed over all of the letters until she hit the one she wanted. The C section set near the back and not too far away from where she stood but she bolted over to the area anyway. As she came to expect, dozens of extra boxes with the game’s title all clumped near the section only a few inches above her.
“Yes! I found the cure for the undead!” Miko said to herself. She reached up to grab a box of the game copies to end all of the chaos…but she couldn’t get to it. Her wide grin turned south as she went for the boxes again only to come up short.
“Errgh, come on, come on, I SHOULDN’T HAVE THESE SORTS OF DIFFICULTIES!”
Her frustrations grew as she resorted to the tips of her feet. While she gained some she still didn’t have enough to reach the boxes, which only fed to her hot head. She went for it again and again and even jumped a couple of times but she always fell a few inches short. If the five stages of grief had a chance with Miko she would clearly find herself stuck on the second step with no hope behind her. The facts lined up; she lacked the height to get to the particular shelf.
Her eyes stayed on the prize as all of her countless effort plummeted to absolutely nothing. She gritted her teeth as her focus narrowed down to her entire existence on the boxes. She couldn’t accept the fact that everything she tried got foiled thanks to her lower height. She held her attention over the boxes so much that she failed to see someone walk up next to her until they spoke up.
“Can’t reach a couple of measly boxes, huh?”
She suddenly got spooked out of her complete concentration by the voice on the sidelines, which caused her jump up slightly into the air. Once she calmed down she turned to the side to see who spoke up only to frown once she figured it out. Out of all the employees to run into she would take anyone other than someone like Mitch. He made sure everyone in the facility knew him and his high experience streaks. Some say his stylish blonde hair exemplified everything he desired to achieve as part of the Glitch Techs, from his placement on the leader boards to the amount of experience points he acquired in a single outing. She wouldn’t get too surprised to see him snake his way into a high profile boss glitch and snipe away the final shot to reward himself all of the glory and experience points. He had the skills to pull off crazy maneuvers to get the job done swiftly and efficiently, while contributed to the fact that he held the status of the best pro gamer in the city which he wore like the king he claimed to be. To think that she used to respect him before she joined made her feel sick on the inside at certain points, although his meddling did get her into the Glitch Tech business in the first place even if she didn’t want to admit it. Even his two teammates, Zahra and Haneesh, kept their slight disdain from his a secret as he called all of the shots. He played to win and reap the highest bounty of rewards which played to his high reputation among the public.
His ego also translated into his words.
“If you can’t reach a couple of measly boxes, get a ladder. There’s obviously plenty to go around for newbies like you.”
“I’m only missing a couple of inches Mitch, I don’t need it.” Miko replied in a bit of a huff.
“Then why haven’t you gotten them yet?” Mitch asked. “If you think of them as inconsequential you should have pulled them down by now.”
The endless snake in his throat got through to Miko too many times to count. Before she could even attempt to retaliate, Mitch reached up for himself and effortlessly grabbed each of the boxes and put them down at her feet, all while he wore that smug grin like a trophy. No sweat at all; just an everyday job for someone like him.
She almost got flustered for a second from such a tiresome task for her to fall over for someone else.
“See? Too easy. If you can’t handle a single group of boxes I wonder down the line how you’ll take on any of the big glitches out there without losing an arm or two.” Mitch said.
“I can handle any type of them just as well as you can.” Miko spoke with a tinge of anger in a blowback effect. “Just because I don’t have the height for one simple task doesn’t mean it inhibits my ability to smash glitches.”
“Suit yourself. I just call it as I see it.” Mitch said. He arrogantly flipped his back against her as he casually made his way out of the storage room like a stuck up snob, much to Miko’s anger.
“Maybe we should give you a handicap and have you carry around a ladder at all times! Hahahahah!”
He shut the door behind him which left Miko to herself again. While she learned to zone herself away from certain topics, hearing one come from Mitch put it on a different level. At times she liked to make fun of the fact that he always desired superiority and seriousness all in one, but his words rang through her head like an infectious alarm clock. She didn’t understand why the one specific insult lingered more than all of the others he vigorously hauled at everyone else on a daily basis. It lacked any sort of intense harshness more than other and yet it stuck to her and wouldn’t let go. It never appeared like a big deal at all, just a certain remark at how she didn’t stack up against taller people, but it effected her in a way she never went through before. She reached and only felt the enigma of something she couldn’t get out of her. Confusion, worry, and every other emotion blanked themselves out. Definitions got lost in translations to what just occurred as the coats shrouded them under the sheet of black. Mitch hit her more with just a couple of insults and yet she didn’t know of any extras despite it sticking to her head at all times.
Even though she found herself unable to let his insults just fly by, he at least got the boxes off of the troublesome shelf for her. She could finally end the reign of the “undead” shoppers and their desire for the big game release of the year with the load. With a tight grip around the bottom in a small stack, Miko grasped the boxes to the best of her ability. While a bit heavy on certain sides she didn’t have too much trouble with the second step unlike the first. She felt sweet relief to know she could finally handle something on her own so she carefully stutter walked her way over to the exit door. For some reason her ears picked up nothing on the other side despite the pandemic, which struck her as a bit off but she brushed it off in the end. She placed the boxes down next to the door so she could open the door freely, but once she did she prepared herself for a world of brainless gamers.
With one final breath behind her, the desperate girl kicked the down open while she struck a confusing fighting pose.
“HEY ZOMBIES, I GOT MORE OF THOSE NUKES RIGHT-”
Her sense of awareness shattered as to the store around her. A few minutes inside the storage room changed everything as it went from a chaotic swell of a fiasco to a soothing fountain that dripped small droplets to the floor. Even as her eyes darted across the entire room she saw not a single deranged customer that demanded the next game release of an incredibly popular franchise. It stood far from spotless, as dozens of shelves lay in ruin and dozens of black damaged marks and raw chunks splattered all across the wall, but the Hinobi store stayed intact. If she wanted to move she needed caution so she wouldn’t step on any loose glass or any other sharp construction piece, but even so her mind filled with light air as calculations missed the components to try and comprehend one particular sense. If anything she could have suddenly whisked herself away into another dimension where everything seemed completely normal, and she already had dozens of conspiracies conjured up over the years from her gaming sessions, but she didn’t have too many concrete details to put it to the test. Even so, she would most likely put it on a space warping djinn creature anyway than something man made. While familiar yet unfamiliar, whatever happened in her absence must have gone by quick.
A couple of employees already put themselves on cleaning duty with a couple of construction hats and wheelbarrows. Some even brought in a couple of soapy buckets and rags for the walls, including her partner Five, which Miko wasted no time with the questions.
“Fives, what happened here?! I thought we just had a wave of zombie shoppers come in!”
Five suddenly faced her as he pulled out a wet rag from a bucket.
“Oh, Miko! You actually came back in one piece! I thought those shoppers got to you, but I guess I should have expected your tenacity to pull through.”
“Yeah, yeah, I perfectly fine and survived the onslaught, but I’m asking where all of them went! They can’t just vanish for no reason!” Miko replied.
Five’s eyes opened up a little before he scratched the back of his head.
“Oh right, THAT part.” Five explained. “Well, you see…I kind of expected you to come back pretty quickly with all of those copies, but the precious minutes started to pass and I kind of couldn’t hold them back too long. I don’t know what you went through back there to delay for that long but once I realized I was alone with no copies left I nearly got covered in the flood.”
“Delay? I was only back there for a couple of minutes sharp!” Miko replied with a pinch of seriousness.
Five shook his head.
“Umm, you were back there for much longer than that. I’m not as pinpoint accurate in tracking the time, but I estimate you stayed back there for around, ummm…thirty minutes at best?”
“WHAT?! I can’t have stayed there for that long!” Miko exclaimed in disbelief.
“Sorry Miko, but I kind of have the marks to prove it.” Five answered as he showed various red marks and slight bruises all over his arms from the mobs. Miko couldn’t believe it for herself, she wanted more definitive proof on the matter. She silently shook her head as she hurriedly brought out her personal cell phone and opened the flap. Her stare shot daggers at the screen as she waited for it to boot up, but once it did her heart dropped. She felt her jaw hang open as the certain numbers displayed on her personalized background. She wanted to turn away and not accept the facts, but her phone didn’t lie to her. Not only did Five tell the truth, but it also seemed to go a bit further then half an hour just to run salt in the wound. What she thought only went by as a couple of minutes stretched further than she imagined, and it shattered her to a certain extent. She focused so much on the certain boxes that she failed to track the time correctly much to her downfall. She did that all while she failed to accept her short stature and it put her emotions all over the place. Time flashed by her all because she didn’t have the size to match the shelf and it hurt her esteem.
“Miko? Miko! Hey, snap out of it!”
She jolted herself back to reality once she heard Five speak out. She somehow spaced out for a second once she saw the clock on her phone and saw herself on her knees. Her arms went dead before they sprang back to life with her phone in hand. To try not and sound too out of it, she got back on her feet and put on a tepid but cheesy smile.
“Are you okay Miko? Is something going on?” Five asked. Miko shook her head this time.
“No, everything’s fine and dandy over here! We made it through in the end, didn’t we?! You still haven’t told me about how we got out of the trouble in one piece, remember?!”
Five cocked an eyebrow at Miko’s terrible acting. She didn’t have the cleanest record of hiding stuff behind a fake smile and attitude but after a couple of seconds he appeared to let her true intentions off for the time. Bullet dodged…but only by centimeters.
“Well…okay then.” Five said before he explained further. “Anyways, back to the shopper apocalypse, I basically couldn’t hold them back any further and nearly collapsed from all of the forces around me. I seriously thought they put me on my last legs…until we received backup.”
“From where?” Miko asked. The answer to the question didn’t require an exchange of words when a certain noise of metal on metal rang through their hearing. It startled the two teens at the moment before they turned around to the source. The two stood stunned as a cloud of mist steamed from the back of the room where the Glitch Tech entrance usually placed. A think cloud of the stuff followed soon after as a slowly formed from behind it. The two couldn’t make out any distinct features other than a bright red slit near the top of the shape, which got a few shudders out of the ones with their eyes on it. It took its time before it made the first few powerful steps, which nearly shook the ground with each impact. The red light shined like a stray beacon as some deep slow breathing followed after. The gaze into the unknown never gave everyone immense chills before, but after that moment the onlookers wished they never batted an eye in its direction.
Five and Miko couldn’t stop cringing and shuddering all over as each powerful step got the figure closer and closer to them. The red light aimed straight at them before a voice echoed through their craniums.
“All targets have been…terminated.”
If Five and Miko were any younger they probably would have asked for brown pants at that moment. Their fears couldn’t last forever though once they next heard some loud coughs from the figure’s direction in a familiar tone. The two looked at each other for a second in confusion before something from behind the figure blew the dense mist away and only then could they determine what they’ve had their eyes on the whole time.
It ended up as nothing but the head manager of the store.
With every type of retail business, most local establishments have one person in charge of all of it. Hinobi continued the norm and followed most of the required procedures and the duty for this particular store fell to a certain expert named Phil. While he tended to stay pretty chill and mellowed out at most time he knew his craft which kept their store up and running even during hardships. In many ways the employees had to thank him for such a strong leadership without having to worry about him potentially blowing a gasket. That didn’t mean he had no emotions to speak of, but when it came to monitoring the Glitch Techs he took the job more seriously. Some would say he didn’t appear fit for such a privilege, with his generally round figure and generic brown hair and beard, but they had no idea how he operated. He made up for all of his shortcomings through his knowledge of the Glitch Tech establishments and how the job worked, especially to potential newcomers, along with his ability to keep things in order…for the most part. A few incidents flew under his radar beyond his control but he did his best to contain the problem when given the option. When needed he also made calls to individual Glitch Tech members on status updates in case of potential outbreaks and other types of information just in case. He acted, he planned, and he kept order; three traits managers would have to master, and Phil did it all.
He coughed a couple more time while he waved a hand before his face.
“Phew, someone really needs to clear up the rest of that smoke! I can’t go through two places at once after all!”
“Umm, are you okay?” Five asked. The manager got to his feet to compose himself a bit better.
“Yeah, just a bit exhausted from the craziness. I can’t exactly adapt on the fly like others around here too well.”
“Then why exactly do you have that certain getup?” Miko asked. Her sight didn’t deceive her. While through normal circumstances Phil usually wore his classic Hinobi vest with his special name tag, for the moment he wore something a little extra. His left eye stayed hidden behind a crimson red colored visor with a black rim and professional reticle in the center while his right arm had itself replaced with some sort of blue lined launcher that had a large glass capsule near the back end that appeared empty. While only two extra items, they made their manager appear like the next action hero on a quest to save humanity, something Miko adored behind the scenes in some of her favorite video games.
“Oh, this thing?” Phil replied. “For your information lady I saved this whole store from the shopper Armageddon with nothing BUT this. Haven’t went through something like that since we released our second ever console…and we didn’t have the numbers back then!”
“…really?” Miko said with serious doubt. “You took on the onslaught and completely warded them off with that? Looks more like a refurbished launcher used at sporting events than anything.”
Five twiddled his fingers a bit before he got back to her.
“Umm, that kind of actually happened. He saved our butts back there.”
To hear her partner give more confirmation only gave Miko more to take in. She still sat on the fence about it, especially for something that sounded ridiculous to her.
“Okay, I’m still not completely into the fact, but if you-”
What happened next occurred so quickly that nobody batted an eye in another direction until their minds caught up with them. Miko’s words never fully finished as Phil turned the launcher over to the right and pulled the trigger, which instantaneously rocketed three flat copies of the new Cartoon Tanks game over to an empty shelf. One unlucky employee never had the chance to fully react as the copies sailed over his head and flawlessly landed straight onto the surface of the shelf with the cover front and center. The employee shuddered all over before he bolted off somewhere else to comprehend what just happened.
Phil continued to look into the eyes of the two rookie employees while he appeared content.
“Looks like I still had some ammunition in this thing.” Phil stated. Miko nearly felt her heart skip a beat for such a sudden course of actions.
“Okay, okay, okay, I get it now! You really sent them packing!” she said while slightly flustered. “How do you even have those skills in the first place…with that sort of modified t-shirt launcher?!”
“You learn the hard ways when you deal in retail.” Phil answered. “I don’t tend to resort to showing them off, but when push goes to shove with no other option…my hands can get a bit sticky.”
“Point taken immediately.” Miko said as she quickly calmed down somewhat. “I also suppose the visor helps your aim or something?”
“No, it’s just a preorder bonus for the new game.” Phil said. He then took the visor off of his eye and placed it on the front counter for no further comments on it.
“Sooooo…should we get to work on repairing everything then?” Five asked.
“Actually I have a different assignment for you two.” Phil responded. “I would have liked to send in a higher leveled group but all of them have their hands full and…I guess you can already see the damage everywhere.”
“Yeah, we kind of don’t need any reiterations.” Miko said. “What do you have in mind?”
“We got another glitch out in the streets for one thing.” Phil explained. “It’s a pretty uncommon one too. They don’t show up often, but once they-”
“Sorry for interrupting, but don’t you usually explain the details on our way to it, you know, because it’s an urgent response?” Five asked. “I think we should already be on our way at this point.”
Phil shuffled his legs slightly while he shook a little. The two tilted their heads in confusion as he bit his lower lip and a couple drops of sweat fell from his forehead. They’ve almost never seen him act like that before unless it usually carried some hefty weight behind it which stuck a few red flags in their heads. If something got Phil to show signs of nervousness, it must have some definitive importance.
It only lasted a couple of seconds though, as Phil quickly recomposed himself.
“Well, as much as I shouldn’t speak up on the matter because I finally got to whip out the launcher and use it in ages I’m in a good enough mood to explain things.”
“So something did happen?” Miko asked. Phil silently nodded.
“Something happened last night that breached the whole security system and wrecked the whole base. Really destroyed it hard too, but luckily whatever went through missed most of the important stuff. We should have full repairs in the coming days as the engineers fix it as their top priority.”
“Ooh, like in those spy movies?!” Miko asked with a hint of excitement.
“We’re not quite sure on that front yet, just the fact that something made the system go haywire.” Phil answered. “We have top notch security too, especially with our secrecy to the public, so for something to effortlessly wind through it has certain divisions on high alert.”
“Can’t you just check the security cameras or something like that?” Five asked. Phil deeply sighed.
“We tried that already, but we ran into more complications. You see, when the database starts to shut down and the cameras activate there’s a brief windup period before they fully work, so to alleviate the downside we temporarily have BITT’s internal memory act as the database for the video to stream to while he does his last calls around the place. The occurrence happened during that certain sweet spot so we could just browse through BITT’s memory banks for the camera recordings…if something didn’t happen to him.”
“Something happened to BITT during the incident?” Five asked. “What could possibly mess him up to-”
“HAPPY BIRTHDAY!”
The sudden shout echoed throughout the entire store. Phil shook his head again and put a hand over his face while Five and Miko had no idea what just happened. Before they could ask their boss, more smoke burst out from the back room as another figure zoomed out like a sugar rush. Unlike earlier, the two employees understood exactly what came out from the voice alone. However, the didn’t prepare for what they saw which almost startled them. The indications became readily apparent to an extent that something bruised his ego during that time, but if they had anything positive to come out of the incident…at least they found him right away.
They have gotten used to seeing the Binary Intelligence Tech Trainer every time his monitor displayed the typical programmed happy face, but not the way they saw it this time. The roundness of his curvature body lost some of its luster to dents and patches which soiled some of the clear white it usually displayed. A couple of loose sparks cracked from various spots while he tipped and swayed in the air as he hovered. The thrusters to keep him in the air also contained a bit of damage as the lights that ordinarily stayed on flickered like dying light bulbs and uttered some underlying buzzing and sputtering noises. If any of those features didn’t tip anyone off, the monitor that displayed his expressions unquestionably indicated tampering or damage of some sort. A massive crack in the glass stretched all the way from around the top right portion to the bottom left and gave off more bolts of static than any other part. It also messed up proportions of the display underneath as his left eye now had a much bigger scope than the other and plastered millions of dead pixels over the screen. Any type of rotten dead console had nothing to what Five and Miko saw at that moment. Nothing but an abridged husk of what they once knew hovered before them with an ugly but similar mask.
The once helpful and useful robot instantaneously hovered over to Phil and immediately blew a party horn right in his face, which hurt everyone’s ears for a moment, before he strapped a birthday hat around his head and himself.
“Hoo-hoo-hoo-hooray for your spe-spe-special day! I’ve already guh-guh-got the cake up and ready and-and-and-and the entertainment planned for your one-one-one hundred seventy sixth birthday! Let’s cel-cel-cel-celebrate with party favors!”
Five and Miko stood dumbfounded as the now clumsy assistant whirred all over the place before he pulled out one of his many compartments and picked up a couple of party poppers. Soon after he set off every single one of them which burst them open and showered the cadets and Phil in streams of colorful ribbons and confetti, which only made Phil more discontent with the whole fiasco.
Phil used a hand to push him back as BITT, with his crooked and messed up screen, tried to unload another party popper on him.
“Yeah, he’s kind of set on a certain protocol now.” Phil said with a flat expression before he turned his head and yelled. “Someone was supposed to keep him boxed in the base!”
“Whoa, he doesn’t look too hot.” Five said. “Can you fix him?”
Phil got back to the two while BITT tried to shove a cupcake with a candle on top in his face, much to the manager’s dissatisfaction.
“Thankfully we can, but it won’t happen overnight. A majority of his functions and programming suffered corruption but we can easily wipe the pixel vomit away as the days pass. Once he recovers we can finally see what happened during the breach. Until then, he only has one function in his banks that survived the damage which you can see is…well…”
“Invitations se-se-se-sent! Almost time to-to-to cut the cake! I-I-I-I especially made sure to feh-feh-feh-fetch a donkey pinata!”
He reached into his compartments for a second time before he brought out one very dazzling and colorful piece of cardboard in the shape of the respective animal and a long baseball bat to complement the particular custom. No matter how much he tried to get the “birthday boy” to participate in the festivities though, Phil pushed him back every single time which fed to the corrupted dedication.
“Ugh, I’m going to have to give the briefings to you quickly just to get this bot off of my back for a bit! He won’t leave me alone at this rate!” Phil exclaimed as his attention kept getting drawn over to BITT.
“Sheesh, why does he have that function in him in the first place if…you get these results?!” Five answered while he ducked under a tray of cupcakes BITT had on hand.
“I’ll think you should…leave it to interpretation!” Phil replied while BITT tried to get up to his face.
“Par-par-par-par-party time for the-the-the special guh-guh-guy! He-he-he-he gets the first wha-wha-wha-whack!”
Phil wouldn’t get the chance to hold the bat as dozens of shining birthday sparklers fell to the ground from BITT’s compartments and ignited immediately. Phil, Five, and Miko suddenly had to awkwardly move their feet like they just caught fire to avoid the snaps and bangs of the party toys, which completely avoided BITT since he hovered in the air.
“WORST…PARTY PLANNER…EVER!” Miko angrily shouted as she narrowly avoided stepping on a couple of the lights.
*****
BITT wouldn’t go down without a worthwhile struggle. With his only programmed routine left in him he had no choice but to follow through and commit to his vision of a birthday party for the manager of the local store, which he claimed was a completely inaccurate one hundred seventy six years old, whether he wanted one or not. As he loaded up with balloons, sweets, streamers, and even something he called “the party gator” the others had to act fast just to hold him down for a few seconds. It took a lot of effort, especially for an assistant like BITT, but eventually Five, Miko, and Phil managed to put him on standby and keep him in storage until the engineers fix him back into his cheery and accommodating personality. Thanks to their tiring efforts, Phil finally got the chance to explain what glitch currently ran amok in the streets and the certain attribute that made it stand out. Cataloged as a Chimera glitch, the mischievous rascals of coding tend to come out as a respective character from the game they’ve infected along with something extra. They love to twist and mutilate whatever they got their hands on until they barely resembled the entity they originally represented. The limitless possibilities made them potently dangerous for first time Glitch Tech members although their uncommon nature meant they didn’t show up that often. Whatever it decided to form into would gain something whether programmed or not. It almost started out as any other day in the life of an employee that hunted down loose programming code as a job.
Five and Miko took the assignment in a heartbeat. They got their specialized gauntlets that can derez any loose code in the form of quick and efficient light shots and can capture the glitches after a quick pummel or two. It also came with a benefit of a function into an easy switch into their Glitch Tech uniforms, which varied depending on the body type, and the ability to mind wipe witnesses to any of the disturbances. They didn’t have to activate them right away, which also wasted the gauntlet’s power supply, so most employees usually waited until the glitch encounter before they do so. The gauntlets handled the dirty work, but for transportation the Glitch Techs relied on specialized minivans that displayed the logo. At first glance it didn’t seem too eye catching to draw any suspicions, but one look inside the vehicle and all of the skeletons would pour out. Not only did the sides of the back appear straight out of a science fiction novel but all of the gadgets fit inside effectively, especially most of the larger machinery. From sleek green radars across the walls to small compartments for storage, if anyone didn’t see the outside one could mistakenly think they set foot straight into a submarine. Small compartments dotted the around the machines and contained dozens of loose wires, extra game controllers, and more extras just in case. If everything went according to the current plans, most wouldn’t have to rummage through them to handle the current targeted glitch. The back had its merits for missions but up front held the controls to operate many of them. Besides the standard car necessities like the driver’s wheel and pedals, the front contained many buttons and mechanisms that operated certain parts of the van. Five and Miko never got the chance to press all of them yet, but at their current levels they didn’t really need to. They took on most glitches by foot anyway which Miko preferred over driving so she could get up close to blast them to smithereens. The equipment and transportation of the Glitch Techs provided more than utilities for any operations, they complemented them.
Miko sat in the passenger’s seat while Five sat in the driver’s seat, but he didn’t have to do any driving. Thanks to the van’s glitch tracking technology they only required a simple tap on the screen to where the glitch was and the van calculated the quickest route to it while on a straightforward autopilot. No license required, although one could opt for manual control if they wanted as an alternative option. Since the vehicle handled the way to the glitch, Miko and Five prepared themselves for the upcoming hassle. Miko undid her braids and let her long violet hair loose, since she really only required them when back at the store doing retail, while Five put his game face on.
“Man, I never thought we’d make it out of that insanity with our skin intact!” Miko said. “I know I live for games and all, but to go crazy for any certain specific…I don’t know anymore.”
“Hey, unpredictability happens.” Five answered. “Happens all of the time in video games. I don’t want every single session to play out exactly the same way every time, for it gets stale pretty quickly.”
“Yeah, I understand what you mean.” Miko said. “Still doesn’t change the fact that everyone got hyped over a port of an older entry. If I had to express myself like those zombies I would have at least done it over something completely new.”
“Well…that’s not completely true.” Five responded. “From what I heard they added so much new content into it that it could act on its own at points. A fully fledged map editor, online matchmaking, and a whole new second campaign kind of gives it a new identity along with a crazy new power up for beginners of the genre.”
“Oh really?” Miko asked. “And that would be?”
“Some sort of high fructose candy that make your general super huge so you can crush any opposition under your feet. It only shows up if you turn the option on.”
The one tidbit alone killed some of Miko’s spirits. As if she needed more reminders that she couldn’t reach certain thresholds on her own, but now the new game everyone would die for taunted her and her shortcomings. If she had access to something of that kind of power she would take it instantly and enjoy her time as the big one for a change before she crushed the opposition. Never had she understood pure anger over her height than all of the situations that happened, but for now she didn’t reach the boiling point yet. She only had to worry about it when she handled jobs back at the store, so when it came time to smash glitches the insults and remarks went null. If anything she could release all of her pent up anger out on their current target, and she already felt the need to tear one to shreds. As long as she still had it when she hunted the loose pieces of programming code her height didn’t matter.
Her train of thought derailed the instant her eyes picked up a loaded trash can sail right toward her. Luckily it hit the windshield of the van and fell off, but it sure gave her a wake up call as she hastily stiffened up.
“Whoa, I don’t think that’s supposed to happen!” Five exclaimed. “We might have a reckless one to take care of!”
“I’m ready when you are!” Miko responded with one of her signature grins. The minivan slowed to a crawl before it safety parked on the side of the street, which meant game time for the two. The two front doors burst open as Five and Miko put on and activated their gauntlets. Soon after their attires underwent a drastic makeover for the job at hand, and it nearly happened instantly. Their eyes got covered in a tactic visor that wore like glasses, but for the ends around their ears instead had a headset straight out of hardcore gaming sessions complete with a small microphone that extended from one side, depending on preferences, along the side of a cheeks for quick communication. From tactic maneuvers to pinpointing certain attributes on a target the visor had efficiency and collaboration combined into a well made device, but it complemented the other features of the Glitch Tech outfit like a fluffy blanket. Their work clothes they wore shifted completely into a fully fledged black and white jumpsuit with white for the legs and black for the upper parts. To show that they still worked for the same company, Hinobi’s iconic “H” decal plastered in the black upper part in bright white in contrast to the color around it. For a bit of protection, the suit came with knee pads and shoulder pads of light blue and black colors respectively along with a suited belt around the waist that had a square front that could hold some small objects in case they required something on the fly. In a sort of a stylish touch up, each suit came with black fingerless gloves, although one usually got partially covered by the gauntlet. For easy maneuverability in combination with all of the gadgets, the Glitch Techs suit got the job done while it carried a bit of visual candy for the appeal.
The two now suited Glitch Techs prepared themselves to go around the corner of the street where the glitch wrecked havoc, but before they could do so they immediately halted once a street lamp suddenly flew right in front of their faces and landed an entire block away. Various crashes followed after along with around dozens of screams from innocent pedestrians.
“I swear every time we do this it suddenly becomes the next big kaiju movie for everyone around us. Oh well, not like they would remember any of it of course.” Miko said.
“Let’s do this.” Five said. Once a group of people finished running past them, Miko and Five rounded the corner, gauntlets aimed and at the ready, to see what “Glitch of the Day” they had to deal with. They didn’t expect anything too fancy at first, but once they saw its whole shape they finally understood why Phil called them Chimera glitches. Of all of the features the certain glitch made sure to put in the forefront, the two immediately took notice of the massive head. It curved and angled in weird ways but also had similarities to a normal human face. In terms of sheer size however, it almost seemed unbelievable even as their eyes painted the whole picture. The top of its head matched with some of surrounding buildings from sheer height alone and already gave Five and Miko a couple of shivers. If the height of the mutant glitch worried them, the features on the face would give them nightmares. The blank and empty eyes dripped down and bent like two long slimy slugs which its nose swung crooked to the side and protruded nose hairs from the abyss of its nostrils. The large red lips appeared like they got welded to the face as multiple parts continuously melted onto the streets in a gooey mess. While the ears remained partially covered from the long hair, from the brief glimpses Five and Miko could witness they almost puked from the nonstop falls of ear wax that poured out and mixed with the lip gunk across the pavement. Long thick brown noodles for hair set atop the creature’s head and extended beyond the ears while they also appeared to move on their own at points. As for the skin that held everything together, which it had normal peach colors it bubbled and popped all over the place while it also excreted them out that burst a few seconds later. To top off the grotesque abomination of nature the actual body of the whole thing barely made a presence and almost remained hidden under the massive cranium. Five and Miko couldn’t even make out any further details on it other than the fact that it had a body in the first place that held up the main attraction. It didn’t stand out as too crucial over everything else and only exemplified the need to wipe the face clean. It sure had uniqueness for a glitch, but everything about it made the two want to end it quickly to scrub it out of their minds.
The glitch seemed to struggle a bit to keep its massive head from falling over as it tipped around in a ditsy fashion and set it sights on a nearby building. Five and Miko easily distinguished it as one of the local woman’s shopping centers, but they didn’t get to think on it for too long as the glitch’s huge head slammed straight into the glass windows and shattered them completely. Shards flew everywhere, but the two kept their distance at first to avoid damage.
“Fabulous! I must have the styles to match my fashion!” the glitch’s highly feminine voice rang throughout the area. Soon after the two saw its head pull back into the streets only to see it various points completely covered and stuck in its slimy skin. Miko held herself back from hurling on the spot as Five fired up his gauntlet to get a good scan on it. He didn’t exactly have the enthusiasm once the words popped up.
“I can’t get a read on it. The merged state of the glitch seems to interfere with the analysis.” Five said.
“I don’t think we need words to figure out how to bring this down. We can still kick butt after all!” Miko replied.
“I know, but I want to take the precautions just in case.” Five replied. “We need to figure out what makes it tick for better chances to take it out. You go left and I’ll take the right.”
“On it!” Miko answered. With everything set in place, the two split up in opposite directions around the ugly glitch. Its huge head swayed back and forth as its body held everything together by a thread, but it didn’t seem bothered by it too much. It stared off in the distance for more possible buildings to look into when it caught sight of the two Glitch Techs down by the streets.
“They have style. I MUST HAVE THAT STYLE!”
Dozens of objects that ended up stuck in the mucks of its face outright fell off the instant the two got noticed. From large vanities to piles of loose clothes, they plummeted to the ground below along with millions of goop puddles that creepily oscillated every few seconds. Five and Miko wanted to stay clear from anything the glitch threw at it and only had split seconds to evade. However, thanks to their sleek skills when they handled other glitches they had no trouble weaving in and out of potential incoming danger. Five almost clipped a falling wardrobe but otherwise stayed intact while Miko wasted no time to unleash destabilizing shots from her gauntlet. It appear to inflict some damage on the goop for a head, but not enough to call it a decent weapon against it. With her fast fingers, Miko hastily tapped away at the gauntlet’s screen until a certain image popped into view. She grinned before she pressed the screen one more time and in a quick flash a large pink holographic hammer materialized in front of her.
“Alright slime for brains, let’s see you handle this baby!” Miko exclaimed as she ran forward with the hammer in her hands. The glitch swiveled around halfway before the eager Glitch Tech member leapt into the air and struck the weapon straight into one of its long eyes. It left behind a visible indent and oozed something sticky and yellow as Miko quickly backed off for a second.
“I’m not satisfied with your choices! Pick something better!” the glitch shouted with a loud boom. Dozens of loose goo puddles fell to the ground from the glitch’s face that only got Miko more grossed out. She started to panic a little as nothing seemed to visibly damage it.
“Hey Five, find any tidbits yet?!” she shouted to her partner on the other side.
“I’m combing through the database as fast as I possibly can!” Five exclaimed back. “I’ve seen nothing yet about what possible game the glitch is hiding behind!”
He continued to hammer away at the buttons on his gauntlet for any shred of potential games the glitch portrayed itself as, but it cloaked itself really well and didn’t make it easy for Five to figure out. He aimed his focus so much into skimming Hinobi’s database that he completely failed to notice something speed by him until it smacked him on the back of his head. The impact forced him to the ground for an instant before he got back on his feet to face the perpetrator. It never stood out as a “who” when Five set his eyes on it, but a “what.”
“Umm, Miko?! We have something else to worry about!” Five exclaimed. His partner diverted her gaze to what Five talked about only to find herself struck with disbelief. The glitch not only took hold of something from a video game and mutated it, but it also brought along with it an inanimate assistant…one most people in the technological business saw at least once in their lifetime or even took control of. One could customize it to their liking to top of certain themes on the workbench, but its appearance before Miko and Five took the most common shape. With a white pointed triangle up top and a small handle at the bottom, the guide and selector of nearly all operating systems took the stage next to the glitch as a mutilated tag team. It provided at least a few hints as to what the glitch mimicked in the first place, but for the Glitch Techs at the moment it only stood out as something extra to take out.
The floating assistant hovered over to a bush close by and turned pure black as it quickly plucked the plant from the ground and moved it over to the glitch’s huge face. It then turned back to white and dropped it right in an empty space next to one of its eyes. It seemed to not satisfy the glitch though.
“Not pretty enough. Try selecting something else that would fit my whole look.”
As if on command, the thing bolted off in another direction while it confined itself somewhat close to the glitch. Five and Miko lacked the will to speak up at first but eventually one mustered up.
“Okay, so apparently…the glitch brought an actual mouse cursor with it!” Five shouted to Miko with a hint of huge astonishment.
“I can see that for myself Five! As if we needed another problem to get around!” Miko exclaimed back. “If anything, try to go for the eyes or something like that!”
“Got it!” Five answered. As he left his strenuous search on hold, Five immediately pointed his gauntlet forward and ran around to angle himself in the right spot. Miko stood further up and to his right as she gripped her materialized hammer with immense vigor while the glitch diverted its attention over to her teammate. With its sight set on the boy, Five quickly fired a couple of rounds from his gauntlet straight at the monster’s features. Like Miko’s beforehand it didn’t appear to inflict much damage or pull it apart, but a few splatters of its gooey skin fell off with each shot that he had to avoid.
“Not fabulous enough!” the glitch boomed. As Five honed the creature’s attention, Miko took her chance. She rushed forward in a burst of adrenaline and hoisted her hammer up high like her life depended on it.
“LET’S WHACK THIS FOOL!” she exclaimed as she increased her jump height with her high tech boots and pulled her hammer back. Her eagerness to smash the glitch mirrored to her expression as she formed one of her trademark wide grins.
Unfortunately she never got her chance. Right before her hammer could make contact with the gross glitch her trajectory suddenly paused. Her expression changed to sudden confusion as she hastily looked around to figure out what happened, but it only took a gaze downward to figure it out. The glitch’s arrow shaped assistant arrived back early in the nick of time to hold off the Glitch Tech girl and keep her frozen in the air on the spot by her boots. It held her in place as it turned pitch black.
“Hey, let me go you stupid mouse!” Miko shouted. She tried to smack the cursor repeatedly with her hammer to no avail before she immediately found herself upside down as the pointer “dragged” her across the air.
“I’m going to rip you apart piece by piece for this!”
Her long hair swayed as the wind pushed against it and the blood fell to her head. She started to feel dizzy when the motions immediately stopped. While she couldn’t think straight at the moment, she could barely make out a round wooden object right below her. Before she could try to comprehend what she saw the cursor released her boots and made her fall a short distance into something that instantaneously chilled her to the bone. With one loud splash the cursor let her fall straight into a loose rain barrel before it headed off somewhere else. It was beyond her comprehension as to why someone in this day and age still functioned off of something old fashioned, but it never mattered to her. She ended up completely soaked in freezing water while her boots got clogged into unavailability. The water also brought wrinkles across her skin upon contact and made her hair into a wrinkly mess.
The barrel collapsed shortly afterward for her convenience even if it only extenuated the point that she needed to shred the glitch into dust. She could still see Five distracting the glitch, and with the cursor nowhere in sight it gave her the opportunity she heavily leaned on.
“That’s it, I’m bringing out the bird!” Miko said with her teeth clenched. Her eyes darted back to her gauntlet as she dissipated her hammer and scrolled over to another section. Once she arrived at the desired area she smiled and pressed a couple of buttons. In one brilliant flash right before her, the respective large bird of her choosing showed up from her command. In the many ways she loved her glitch busting job her ability hold and summon her birdy buddy at will stood out near the top. First time Glitch Tech members usually had to grind a bit of experience to earn the privilege, but once they put in the effort they would really appreciate the reward. If a certain game program in a particular game took interest and appreciated the employee’s presence they could actually recruit the piece of game code as a “companion pet.” They cannot force it to bond, only after both the Glitch Tech employee and game program form a deep friendship could the employee get granted the ability to take the program for themselves. While most of the time it required a bit of experience to unlock, in extremely rare cases it didn’t apply. With the new companion by their side the employee would store the creature in their gauntlet and have the ability to summon it out at will, although higher ranked members commonly recommended to bring them out during tough glitch fights. A majority of the time any captured companion pet had their bounds set by the game they came from, but that didn’t mean they lacked actual emotions and feelings. A well trained and understood companion pet provided themselves as one of the greatest assets to a Glitch Tech member that put in the work to form an everlasting bond, even to something like a low leveled walking mushroom.
For Miko, she found her companion pet early on in her Glitch Tech career. What she once thought as another glitch to defeat turned out to be a friendly NPC, one called a “Generation Chicky Chum”, from a game called Bravestone Twelve. After quite a scuffle, she ended up recruiting it and even gave it a nice nickname: Ally. In terms of acting as her companion pet, Ally could get pretty unpredictable at times. Of course since she appeared as a large bird with a mix of yellow and red feathers one could apply the term “birdbrained” to personify her choices of actions at times. Since she stood at a height equal to an ostrich, she could let someone hitch a ride on her, similar to what she could do in her home game, although she normally had Miko on her back thanks to their close bond. With two long blue legs topped off with a pair of sharp talons on each she had no problem reaching high speeds on par with some of the fastest of vehicles, and if she couldn’t reach the required threshold with speed alone she had another trick up her sleeve. Provided she didn’t have someone on her back riding her, in one quick flash of pink pixels one would find the speedy bird right in front of them after she nearly instantaneous teleported. Thanks to that nifty tool Miko always had a friendly safety net when heights came into effect, but if she required raw firepower she also had a bag of tricks at the ready. While they can’t appear normally in reality, in her origin game her kind heavily relied on special types of berries to grant them special abilities or recover health. Miko always carried a few of them on hand when situations got dicey, but even then she still didn’t know about all of the possible berries yet and what effect they put on Ally. As of now she kept things simple with a few berries she understood enough, but they still packed a punch when she needed it. What many gamers of Bravestone Twelve though of as one of the generic friendly NPCs had no idea that the particular bird had a companion that counted on her and desired to hone her skills to the fullest. Nothing but Ally all of the way.
The huge bird got on its long feel and clucked in a friendly manner as if she waited for Miko to call her out. She flapped her stubby wings as her trainer hastily made her way over.
“Alright Ally, we got some large face to bash! Let’s get going!”
“Caw! Caw!” Ally replied in an upbeat manner. With one quick hoist upward, Miko climbed aboard Ally’s back and once she did so Ally took off running. She approached the big headed glitch as Miko held on tightly and pushed a couple more buttons on her gauntlet. As fast as she inputted the correct combination a stubby pink blade appeared right around the front of the device. If pure force didn’t impose any visible damage than cutting it down to size just might.
Ally’s appearance didn’t go unnoticed. Five had some relief lifted off of him while the glitch thought things differently.
“Ooh, a dazzling large birdie! If I have that I’ll get first place for sure!”
The instant the glitch finished speaking its floating arrow assistant zipped straight into the scene and angled straight at the large bird. It sprang forward toward her but Five wouldn’t let it near Ally. He diverted his main attention over to Miko and fired shot from his gauntlet straight at the cursor. While the glitch never showed to care for the shots, the cursor had the opposite effect. As each derezzing shot pierced the soulless entity various small black and white pixels whittled off of it and made it stutter in the air. Five locked it in place as he continued to shoot straight at it while Miko and Ally went for the much bigger prize.
“Go for it Miko! I got this thing locked down tight!” Five said.
“On it!” Miko answered back. With the cursor temporarily out of commission, her focus on the main glitch sharpened. Its massive head loomed over her and swung around that dropped more of its disgusting facial goop all over the ground which Ally expertly maneuvered around. With a pink blade around her gauntlet, Miko got up close and let loose over a dozen slashes in the blink of an eye. Puddles of stickiness shot everywhere and almost got to her on many occasions that she had to slash out of the sky. The glitch’s ugly expression turned south, which eventually lead a massive yellow spray to foam and spread out of its nose and mouth. Ally had to stay more alert to avoid any of the new attacks while Miko did the attacking and thanks to other outings knew how to handle them like a pro. For her occupant, she kind of went crazy on the last couple of slashes and slices to make sure the glitch would stay down after her flurry rushes. When Miko overreacted, she OVERREACTED. Her attacks better have done their job or someone would probably lose a leg or arm at that point.
The scuffle went on for a couple of minutes until Ally and Miko suddenly came to a halt on the sidelines. The glitch suddenly paused all of its actions as Five watched from the sidelines. Almost like she studied ninjutsu, Miko smirked and recalled her gauntlet’s blade simultaneously as a majority of the glitch’s slimy exterior suddenly separated straight off its huge face to the pavement below, completely inanimate and lifeless. It left the glitch with a hideously bare face as everything slowly resumed around it. Miko smiled joyfully as she finally managed to get a decent hit. She got one step closer to bringing it down.
Her moment ended up short lived though as the bare spots around it burst open and excreted more of the grotesque facial skin. After only a couple of seconds it got back to its hideous look as if it never suffered a scratch. Miko’s mouth fell to the floor as a certain detail escaped her and Ally’s vision, but not to someone like Five.
“Miko, watch out!”
His words came out too late. Some portions of the gross grime from Miko’s slices lingered around her bird buddy’s long legs that slowly crawled to them while Miko and Ally steered their attention elsewhere. Before they could even think about it, the goo snared Ally by the talons and forced her to the ground which consequently made Miko fall off of her back. With its target neutralized the goo performed a hasty retreat as Ally clucked for help. Miko hustled and got to her feet but before she could attempt to save her companion the loose piece stuck right back on the glitch’s face and brought Ally along whether she wanted to or not. Right across the messed up left cheek of the glitch squawked Miko’s companion pet with its entire body stuck firm due to the sticky sludge across its front and back.
“Ally!” Miko cried out. While she got a cluck of distress from her bird in response, it couldn’t move an inch.
“Yay! New high score!” the glitch said in high praises. “Let’s keep going further and maybe we can reach the Doll Hall of Fame!”
She had no idea how, but something from the deepest corners of her mind slowly started to reemerge upon hearing the glitch’s statements. Somewhere deep into her childhood right in the corner of her eye as she toyed around with some of her imaginary concepts for her own personal world among dozens of stuffed plushes she witnessed something of an enigma. She didn’t fully grasp the concept of video games at the time, but her older sister definitely had some snippets set in stone. Right as she hovered the mouse over the face of one of the common dolls usually seen in the toy aisle she clicked a respective feature on one of the side bars and dragged it over. Once she found a good spot she released the part and watched in come to life before her. She remembered how mesmerizing it felt and how it practically put stars in her eyes like flashy cartoons on the TV. It gave her a small inkling of what she wanted to do in the future, but then one final detail from that time came forth. She remembered her sister shaking her head before she pressed a button on the keyboard the turned the displayed doll around, which revealed…
She had to inform Five.
“Five! I finally figured out where the glitch got its kooky masquerade!”
As much as she wanted to turn her attention to Ally, she needed Five to listen in on what she had to say. The glitch swung its head around once more as the cursor zipped around for any grabbable object to stick on the massive face. The arrow tripped up Five a couple of times in its wake.
“I don’t think we should focus on that right now!” Five answered.
“But I think I know how to make it vulnerable!” Miko said back. “We’re dealing with something from a game called ‘Doll Star.’ While I could ramble on and on about it, the only relevant bit is that if you wanted to start over a design from scratch you could always pull the zipper on the back of its head. Do you see one over there?”
With Miko’s advice fresh in his head, Five avoided any incoming attacks while his sight darted all over the massive glitch for any semblance of what she spoke of. The gross goo covered a lot of the glitch’s face, but it didn’t completely hide the decisive bit that could provide their win condition.
“Wait, I think I see it! Looks like some of it already zipped down from scuffling so one good pull should pry it loose.”
“Good, then it’s a plan. You distract it long enough and I’ll let loose the zipper to finally end this thing!”
The two companions then locked eyes with words they knew all too well.
“Gamer logic!”
They split in opposite direction as the glitch tumbled around to try and pay attention to everything around it. It almost tipped over from all of the motions as it tried to set its sights on one of the two, which ended up on the one who wanted its attention for their plan. The cursor even took the bait as it hovered around him like it waited for his next move. It didn’t have to wait long as Five quickly fired his gauntlet shots right at the glitch even if it never damaged in in the slightest, although he also had to stray a couple of loose shots against the cursor to lock it in place a couple of times.
“Bonus points for eliminating the competition!” the grotesque glitch said as it loomed over Five. Those few words seemed to entice the cursor to act more aggressively as it constantly tried to get up to Five’s face which forced him to act on the spot and quickly divert over and shoot it before it could attempt anything on him. His shots may have no effect on the actual glitch, but its pointed companion clearly showed that it didn’t want to get blasted. All of it culminated for Five into a full blown distraction that kept the opposition away from his partner. Even Ally seemed to take all of it as her gaze stayed locked to his caretaker’s partner despite her inability to move or teleport out of her sticky prison.
The plan’s start worked just as they intended and Miko took it for all it was worth. With the glitch’s attention on Five it left its backside completely out in the open, which pretty much painted the picture in Miko’s head as a massive bullseye with a “kick me” sign in neon red lights. She glanced over to the trapped Ally against the glitch’s face for a second before she hastily sneaked around the back. Any type of gaming code that could teleport can’t do so if they end up trapped or captured, which Miko learned the hard way when she first met her, but once she pulled the zipper her companion pet would get to stretch her legs once more. With Ally fresh in her mind, once she made it over to the required spot she glanced up and her target reflected across her eyes. It dangled around as the glitch moved and shined in the sunlight like a pair of shiny keys that begged for her to pull on them. While she gained a lot of intellect over the years far beyond the likes of a toddler, she would gladly take the dangling keys now if her job depended on it. Since it took some punishment earlier the zipper set near the bottom with over half already undone, which gave Miko a clear sight of the bare brown underneath that represented the blank slate underneath all of the gross and disgusting grime. It seemed only a short distance up, and for Miko it was perfect for her.
“Alright Miko…you got this.” she thought to herself. The zipper dipped down a bit further as Miko reared up and stiffened her back to reach it. She ended up around an inch or two short, but it didn’t stop her. She stiffened up on her toes for another attempt and tried again…only to whiff it again by around the same amount. Her frustration level slowly started to rise as she hopped up a couple of times for some sort of leeway. Unfortunately, she always came up a little bit short as the sparkling silver taunted her while it swung back and forth.
No functional high tech boots, no Ally for any type of assistance; nothing but herself and her short and stout height that heckled her behind her back.
While she could somewhat excuse her downside when she worked at the store, to witness it in full force during her main job couldn’t leave her to accept it. She loved her job and everything out it stuck out like a dream to her, but to let a glitch win because of a minor setback never passed through her mind. She continued at it again and again but never got enough to fully reach the zipper which fed to her frustration until something else took its place.
“No…no, I can’t go down like this…” Miko thought. Her efforts to grab the zipper above her slowly got weaker and weaker. Her mood plummeted south as each passing attempt always came up only a few inches short. The zipper eventually mutated into a pile of wooden boxes that dangled over her with eerie faces and each attempt only made them steer further and further away while they insulted her from afar. They even turned around at one point and shook their flat pointed behinds while they hummed an insulting tune, which sapped Miko of her high effort spirits. She never once thought something that always passed over her would end up as the once to remind her that she truly felt hopeless. If she didn’t have the height to solve something as simple as something that appeared so close yet so far, maybe she didn’t completely cut it for certain missions. A few tears dripped down her face as she reached out one final time only for the heckling boxes to disappear out of sight with one final wiggle from their behinds. She couldn’t do it, she failed in an incredibly stupid fashion that no one else would ever go over in their lifetime. Part of her wanted to lay in a corner and weep silently while the other-
A clash of colors then erupted right in front of her before she abruptly found herself on the ground. Her senses tried to catch up to all of the happenings as some loud noises stirred in front of her. Reality progressed in motion once again and the picture soon came into clear view. She shook herself awake one more time until she fully became herself again and saw everything.
Out of everything in the world to rush in as backup, a large mechanical marvel certainly came out of left field. While many missed many traits that gave them a sense of humanity, the one before her supported dozens and showed them in his actions. She saw not a stranger in his burly tech, but he didn’t stand out as a common sight yet unlike all of her times with Ally. He arrived from the exact same game Ally came from but supported different skills and strengths that differentiated him from the large bird. In Bravestone Twelve he got implemented as a friendly NPC one could befriend on their journey, just like Ally, and his large beefy mechanized body meant he became one of the strongest powerhouses should one join. With a name like an “Exclusive Edition Alpha Mech” he sure lived up to that title nicely. His metal laden body withstood any weak attack while its beefy arms dealt major damage to anything sorry enough to into contact with them. It also didn’t require any anything facial in case of short sight as it had one head sized red screen with a single white dot that meant no goggles necessary for certain journeys. To top it all off, if someone required any type of manual control over him he came packed with an outfitted seat and control panel he could whip out at any time it he really trusted them like a friend. All of his positive aspects did come with a major downside though, as his hind legs missed the same chunkiness his arms had which normally meant he traveled at most with his burly arms. Even with the setback he proved himself a valuable asset to the one who tamed and formed a friendship with him which he knew all too well.
Miko hastily crawled back as the large mech grasped the zipper tightly, and with one large grunt and strong tug downward everything about the glitch immediately came loose as Miko watched the outer part of its face completely peel off and collapse to the ground with a loud thud. Even though she only saw it from the back, she had a high hunch as to how the glitch must have felt at that moment.
“AAAAAAAH, MY FACE! MY FACE!”
The glitch instantaneously went ballistic as its small body dashed all over the place as its completely bare head now acted more tipsy than ever. It spun around in a dizzying fashion as it struggled to comprehend how to move around without any of the senses to assist it. The cursor around it would have zipped off for something else to put on it but Five kept it place with multiple shots from his gauntlet. Miko’s head went hollow enough that she almost failed to pick up her partner’s words soon after.
“Miko, quickly take the last shot!”
While a bit shaken up from all of the mind games, if anything could pull her out of it a wild shot against a rowdy glitch would do the trick. The glitch still frantically ran around but she already got a clear focus on it. She took aim and put on a slight grin before she eagerly pulled the trigger which put all of it down for the count. The shot punctured straight through the gigantic bare face of the glitch which made it pause in the air that seemed like pure shock. As it twirled around slowly one final time, the glitch had no more steam behind it and collapsed to the ground in one huge boom. Soon after dozens of lights burst through it until it completely lit up and exploded, which temporarily put up the saying “5,000 XP” in gold letters before it vanished, thankfully with no massive collateral damage. All of its loose parts dissolved into nothing, which included the cursor as it fell to the ground and shattered before it entirely disappeared, but that didn’t mean it never left anything behind. Right where the monstrosity once stood a small entity that appeared entirely made of static and loose electricity slowly to a crawl as it trudged across the ground in a last ditch effort to get away. It displayed a rather unique orange color for the type it was based on and, exactly like its namesakes, had two separate heads on the opposite sides of its formless body that each showed two empty but threatening eyes and pairs of jaws each paired with sharp teeth. It would appear pretty threatening if it didn’t stand at the size of a soda can, but the types of glitches it was related to always had bark but no bite. Another day, another win for the Glitch Techs.
One of the glitch’s tiny heads waltzed sluggishly in the other direction while the other provided the baggage, but it didn’t last long until Miko made her way over and raised her gauntlet above the entity. She felt a small spur of joy seeing herself stand much taller over something for once, but even so she activated her gauntlet which sucked the glitch up and trapped it inside. Mission accomplished.
“Phew, what a handful with that one.” Miko said. “Not the highest amount of XP but I guess it lacked some of the flashier stuff even if its kind doesn’t show up much.”
Five hastily made his way over to Miko with the large mech next to him. The mech’s eyes turned happy as it uttered some joyful beeps.
“Remind me to never mess with those style up games at any point after this…even if it wasn’t too crazy.” Five said after a couple of deep breaths.
“I’m pretty sure those games weren’t tailor made for boys, so you won’t have to worry on that front.” Miko answered before she addressed the mech. “Nice save there Alpha. You really saved my bacon back there!”
The mech, named Alpha, grumbled happily and gave the girl a thumbs up.
“He really comes in clutch when he needs to.” Five said as he gave his companion pet a pat on the back. “Speaking of which, is Ally around anywhere?”
Realization hit and Miko started to panic a bit. Her bird remained stuck against the glitch’s face at the time, so if they already ended the glitch…
“Oh no, you don’t think she-”
She never finished as a familiar call hit her ears. As soon as her emotions steered one way they went back upward as a fizzle of pink pixels formed next to her followed by a recognizable flash. Out popped Ally in all of her Chicky Chum goodness, which couldn’t have been happier for.
“Ally, you made it!” Miko exclaimed as she rather happily embraced her loving companion, much to the bird’s happy clucks. “I’m so happy you’re still here!”
“Another day, another win for us!” Five said before he addressed Miko directly. “By the way Miko, I’ve been meaning to ask you something about that scuffle back there.”
Miko turned to face Five with a slightly confused expression.
“Yeah? Is something up?” Miko asked.
“It’s not too much, since we still beat the thing and everything, but…it’s about the plan to pull that zipper down.” Five said. “You see, I called on Alpha because you were taking a long time and I didn’t see the outer part of the glitch pull down yet. I tried to call you but you didn’t answer. Did something happen back there? I thought you said you could handle it.”
Her legs stiffened and her heart throbbed. The same situation occurred just like back at the store along with the same outcome, but to have it happen while she did her main job…it almost crushed her. She focused so much on trying to grab the zipper that she wasted more time than she actually thought, which got Five to send in his companion pet for an emergency backup. Not only did her low height hamper her during a mission, something she never wanted to go through after the store incident, but she had to have someone else handle the problem in her stead. All of the feelings from when she saw the boxes and zipper hang above her reared their ugly mugs and shook their butts straight into her young eyes. She fought back a torrent of tears just so she wouldn’t have Five carry some of her personal burden, although some managed to squeeze out. She couldn’t go on for now, even if the employees around her knew her for her up tempo and reckless attitude.
“It was…it was nothing.” Miko answered with a dip in her voice. “Everything turned out fine in the end anyway. Come on, we still have a next to a whole neighborhood to mind wipe.”
“Ohhh…kay?” Five replied. Even Alpha didn’t take her response that lightly as he tilted his head and uttered some befuddled growls. As much as he didn’t want to look into things, Miko had her reasons to not speak about it at the time. He put a pin in it to ask her about it later, but for now she had a point.
Five called Alpha back into his gauntlet while Miko also did so with Ally. Mind wiping en mass usually didn’t go by quickly, so the sooner they got it done the sooner they could head back to headquarters. They hurried off down one of the streets as they made a pretty strong guess that a panicked crowd of people hurried down that direction.
Miko stood on the fringe of breaking down completely throughout the whole ordeal.
Miko succumbed to one of the worst nights imaginable after everything fell back to normal. Her tears filled her eyes enough so that she couldn’t fall asleep easily and her head rattled with one of the worst aches since ever knew. She entire face plastered against her pillow while she wept silently to not wake her sister in the bed beside her, as she didn’t want to release all of her pent up sorrow onto someone else. A large chuck of her chest felt like it just ripped open against someone without a doctor’s degree and the impersonator immediately hoisted out critical parts of her heart. Her body shuddered all over while her breath shorted out into spasms in an attempt to stabilize things to failing results. She ended up forced through the whole process all because her height hovered into a no man’s land that couldn’t help out in some of the most basic of aspects. Even during her job that she adored over everything else displayed her nasty limitations on the stadium’s big screen to the hecklers below. What originally hit her as dull spoons ended up as sharpened daggers that struck her in ways unfathomable to someone like her. Many more Glitch Tech members had heights lower than hers so she didn’t stand out as the shortest member, actually far from it, but everything about that one day irked her to ruin. She had no idea if what she went through qualified as the worst day ever, but it lingered around the podium for its honorable mention.
Her world jumbled out of stasis once a certain ring hit her ears. She almost lacked the strength to pull herself out of her pillow, but she had a job to work at and losing it had its pin up near the top as one of the last things she needed after last night. She didn’t know how she ended up falling asleep but as long as interrupted her misery period she would easily take it. With a small grumble under her breath, Miko reached over and bopped the alarm clock straight at the top as she sluggishly stirred awake. Once her eyes adjusted she noticed her sister Lexi progress through the same situation with a big yawn behind her.
“Good morning sis.” Lexi said as she got up quicker than her big sister. Miko rubbed her eyes while she slowly got up to her feet, which ended up painting a bullet point for Lexi to see.
“Uhhhh, Miko? Did something happen last night?”
Miko shook herself more awake as she addressed her sister.
“No, why?”
“Well it looks like you splashed yourself in red marker for one thing.”
Miko had no idea what Lexi talked about at first. Sure, she had a rough night but it never dipped down too severely in her head. Even so, she kept a small mirror in the drawer under the alarm clock, so to be on the safe side she pulled it open and brought it out. Once her reflection settled in it nearly stunned her. Her sadness dug deeper than she thought with its two long streamed marks all over the bottoms of her eyes like something poured out. First impressions alone revealed her as a wreck which fed to her immense sadness over everything that happened.
She couldn’t let Lexi know about it though.
“I…I just had it rough yesterday is all. Nothing to make a fuss about.”
“Oh really?” Lexi responded as if she didn’t buy it. “You didn’t have anything happen during your job then, right?”
“Nope, cleaned everything up nicely.” Miko said. Her sister quickly glanced over to the opposite bed before she addressed her again with a small smirk.
“Looks like your pillow got completely soaked. I never recalled hearing a THUNDERSTORM last night…”
“Sis, you already snooped into my job once already. I have nothing else to hide!” Miko replied. She spoke the truth; her younger sister understood the true nature behind her job and didn’t undergo a mind wipe. The higher ups would definitely roast her and explain the massive risk behind such knowledge, although after a certain situation in the past she directly said to Miko that she would never reveal the secret. While Lexi could act snarky and haggle her way so benefits steer her way, Miko knew she meant it and had since never mind wiped her to show her appreciation for her little sister.
Lexi just shook her head.
“You always hold something behind the curtain Miko and don’t have the cleanest record of holding secrets. Got something on your mind last night?”
“I’M FINE LEXI, JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!”
She instantaneously covered her mouth with her hands while her eyes went wide. While she quarreled with her sisters on occasion, even if she usually never started them in the first place, she almost never snapped back so vigorously like an animal. Even Lexi appeared to have a look of surprise all over her face as the two eyed each other. She never set a finger on her sister, but she verbally smacked her on par of a loose punch. While Lexi enjoyed her dose of karate for a hobby, Miko knew she never expected to endure something from her older sister let alone one with an extraordinary job. They stepped outside of the time line for what seemed like forever and both didn’t want to accept the fact set before them. Miko’s mentality stood in a stalemate and no signs pointed to where it would dip next.
The mere sight of her shocked sister brought some of her tears back from yesterday, but before they could pour out she rushed over to her bed, grabbed her gauntlet from under her pillow, stuffed it in her pocket while she made sure it wouldn’t get noticed, then zipped straight out of the bedroom before Lexi could make a single remark.
Her younger sister could only muster up one single statement as she left.
“…Miko?”
*****
Miko sat miserable throughout the rest of the morning. She ate her breakfast in silence despite her other siblings and their noise and remained that way in the car on her way to work. To think it only took one bad day to utterly ruin her up tempo and crazy personality, and now she wanted nothing more than ever to get everything about the day over with. No matter how much her mother tried to strike a conversation she always turned it down and remained silent, which got partially covered up by her other siblings in the car. She couldn’t bear to gaze in Lexi’s direction after their confrontation and she felt pretty certain she had the same idea. All of the terrible experiences from yesterday clouded all of her thoughts and paralyzed them into a downward stasis, which left her with nothing as she stared out the window through all of the city streets and the business on the sidewalks. Nothing but dull blank shapes formed around her that did nothing but insult her behind her back which leaked lethal venom from their dirty syringes. If anything she could have called in sick if she really wanted to, even if she made a promise to herself a while back to never do with her dream job, but she still had one faint glimmer left that held her bake from that last resort. She didn’t get driven into that sort of mindset just yet, but at the rapid pace it deteriorated it paced itself around the corner for her arrival.
Her mother packed her daughter’s lunch like always, so when she pulled into the driveway Miko knew immediately what to do. As uneasy and miserable as she felt, her mother never questioned anything thanks to the other passengers on board. With her hands already full she had to leave early to take care of the other girls, but she did wish for Miko to have a good day like she always did. Miko found it hard to believe for today after the walls closed in on her everywhere laden with spikes like an iron maiden. At least she still had something left in her to walk through the front doors.
Once she made it inside it didn’t seem too different from yesterday other than more of the damages all patched up. She distinctly remembered some very nasty cracks across the ceiling that already completely vanished from the repairs done to it along with some other minute details. The shelves restocked with newer releases while other employees took care of the walls around them, especially around the corners from the rabid fans. One employee handled the front desk and currently had a customer before them, but other than that everything appeared to simmer down into order once again. A few more customers remained around certain sections as they contemplated whether or not to purchase a particular title, while a couple others stayed around the few kiosk machines that showed off certain titles in small playable demos. She recognized a couple of titles on the kiosks, like a platformer with a Spanish janitor and a tournament fighter starring some of her favorite giant monsters, but more importantly she noticed her trusty partner at one of them with his attention on the screen. She couldn’t blame him because of the slow day, as every type of business has them when everything aligned just right. Even so, besides the less amount of damages, it seemed like every typical day at the store.
As down as her expression spelled over her face, she still wanted to give Five a hello. She trudged over to him right as the game he had in his sights obliterated his character and gave him a game over, which he didn’t take lightly at first.
“Aw come on! I got so darn close to the end credits on that attempt!” Five remarked. His head tilted downwards sadly as it turned over to see Miko. His pupils shrank a little before he recoiled back.
“Geez Miko, what happened to you?!” Five asked. Miko didn’t feel the same.
“…nothing too bad. Just some reinforced facts to arrive and ruin everything so far…”
As much as she wanted to talk to Five, a large part of her pulled back from talking to the tenth degree like she usually did.
“Yeah, I don’t think I can buy it this time. With marks like that, you pretty much spelled out that you went through something.”
He made his point. Not only did she not appear like the up tempo personality she displayed for the world to see, but Five also caught wind of something after the glitch outing yesterday. She wouldn’t get by without spilling the beans to him even if it pained her to explain all of the troubles on her mind.
“I’m…not feeling too great after yesterday. I kept undergoing some pretty harsh hardships that always made sure to remind me that I’m not the tallest person out there. I couldn’t reach the boxes of games in the storage room and the zipper when he handled that glitch…and I got so frustrated that I ended up wasting too much time. I never thought a single shortcoming…could come with harsh consequences to push me to an all serious low…”
She almost couldn’t bear to see Five in the face after her confession, so she turned her head to the side and downward while she grasped her right arm in a hopeless motion.
“That’s why you feel so terrible?” Five answered. “I mean, you never showed any type of worry about it until now. Besides, you’re far of from standing out as the shortest…”
“Don’t you think I know that already?” Miko said. “I completely batted an eye away from the subject until it aligned front and center since yesterday. These stupid thoughts completely have me in their clutches and I can’t wring them out. If I can’t reach a few simple things than maybe I deserve missions better suited for my talents and not my weaknesses. I did learn something though despite all of the insults hurled my way. Bigger is definitely better.”
Her voice really dipped to new lows Five never knew existed, but before he could try to change her mind one of the doors in the back burst open to something he never expected. Tons of light harmless smoke streamed out as the door hit the wall with a loud slam. From the opening a certain manager scurried out and hastily slammed the door back shut. Most of the patrons around the store, along with most of the employees, had their eyes on him in confusion but then they watched as the man spread his back against the door in a sort of a barricade, and a few seconds after they got a hint as to what was on the other side. Several large bangs against the door rang through everyone’s heads like a fire alarm while the man’s back seemed to barely hold it from breaking out. The massive panic against his face told Miko and Five everything they needed to know in regards to his safety. Whatever he had blocked up behind him didn’t come for tea and cookies but wanted his head on a platter.
Buckets of sweats dripped from his face while his apparent bloodshot eyes aimed straight at the two.
“Give me chairs, a LOT of chairs!” Phil exclaimed while he held his back to the door. As much as they had no idea what had their boss up into a nervous wreck, they learned that for their jobs what the boss says goes. Five took off near the front while Miko handled the back. One of the receptionists near the front of the store suddenly got whisked off of her feet in a comical fashion as Five snatched her stool from under her while a display rack of some later released games lost most of its eye candy once Five hastily put all of them on the floor before he ran off with it. Miko had things a bit easier with what she picked out, although it didn’t make her look any less crazy to what Phil demanded her to do. She ended up with a small ladder used for games near the tops of shelves and a couple boxes of latest shipments from the storage room. They obtained what they required just in the nick of time as Phil barely hung on as the being’s relentless banging steered attention over to the fiasco. With objects in their hands, Five and Miko stacked all of the objects around the door while Phil immediately broke off. While it appeared a bit flimsy in some areas, the pile held their stance and kept whatever attacked from the others side at bay much to Phil’s relief.
He wiped some drops of sweat from his forehead and rested a bit on his knees before he got back to Five and Miko.
“…come with me into the storage room so we can talk.”
Not wanting to ignore their boss, Five and Miko followed behind him while every single onlooker had questions to what they just witnessed. Most of the extra Hinobi employees inquired that they didn’t have to worry and had everything under control, and one even commented that, in a guise to keep their side job under wraps, one of the steam pipes in the back must have burst. While absurd to hear from some, they took the information and let it slide. No need to mind wipe any bystander yet.
The three made their way inside the storage room and closed the door behind them. Miko didn’t appreciate her surrounding too well as it brought reminders to how everything collapsed around her from the one moment. The less she stayed in the room the better.
“Phew, I finally have a moment to myself.” Phil said. “I never once thought I’d have to get away from HIM of all things.”
“Have something constantly hounding you down?” Five asked. “I mean, from all of those noises I heard…”
“Yeah, something wants me all right.” Phil said with a hint of discouragement. “I thought I ordered someone to keep him on standby, but apparently someone got their wires crossed and missed the memo.”
It didn’t take a genius to figure out who he talked about.
“You still have BITT going after you in his messed up state, don’t you?” Miko responded while still a bit down from everything that happened.
“All while he constantly nags at me to cut the cake.” Phil said with displeasure. “I can’t stay alone for two seconds without that bot insisting on many ‘special day’ activities. I keep trying to bring up some engineers to fix him but they insist on doing the Glitch Techs base as their top priority…much to my efforts.”
“I mean, they kind of have the right state of mind after that supposed break in.” Five replied.
“Break in or not, I still want BITT fixed soon before I lose my sanity.” Phil stated. “Enough about me though, I have an assignment for you two.”
While any type of mission would tend to rile up Miko into “really eager” territory it brought a much lesser effect to the young girl. She couldn’t get too into the concept if something hung mere centimeters out of her reach and heckled her over another missed failure. She still had to pay attention to the briefing for the sake of her job and when it came to glitches nothing ever stayed concrete until they captured them. She would still do her job but not with a smile on her face.
The two young kids stayed attentive as Phil reached into his pocket and brought out what looked like a small remote control. Before Five or Miko could ask what it did Phil pressed one of its buttons which whirred it to life and performed a brilliant flash before them. Once the light died down something not too common for the Glitch Techs hovered right above them with pristine details. Every Glitch Techs minivan contained one to assist in glitch hunting and provided a great asset to those willing to use it. The general area in all of its transparent blue glory highlighted specific points of interest while it provided a general analysis of surrounding glitches in case of low leveled glitch hunters. Colors of various intensities painted the difficulty curves which gave an incentive to try out things on the easy side before any attempts on the higher levels. It even provided recommendations for lower leveled techs just so situations don’t get too hairy, although the decisions set on the one in the driver’s seat most of the time. Five and Miko dabbled with the assistance when they needed it but for the most part they handled things like an open world sandbox. The display had just as much importance as all of the other technology under the Glitch Techs umbrella.
First glances went null as nothing showed up and gave no indication that something ran amok.
“Uhh, I don’t see anything out of the ordinary on the radar.” Miko said.
“Look closer.” Phil answered. With that the two kept their eyes peeled through all corners of the radar, which revealed nothing at first. Not until Five and Miko really focused their attention did they barely make out something they had never seen before. They took on various glitches of different colors on the radar before, usually from green to red to signify intensity, so to see anything else beyond the normal sets told them something else. They almost completely missed it if their eyes never caught up, as it dipped in and out of existence seemingly at random intervals, and they only saw it for around a millisecond or so. When glitches showed up on the radar they always stayed on there until captured, so for something on it to detect one of that behavior never crossed their minds.
“Umm, is there a bug or something that needs fixing on the radar? I keep seeing some random black dot appear and disappear everywhere.” Five said.
“That’s what we’re dealing with.” Phil explained. “We’re picking up something on the outskirts of the city that constantly jumps in and out of our reach. It keeps saying that we have a glitch loose but then it suddenly goes out and says otherwise. Whatever it keeps detecting, it has its sights on something and I need some tech to go out there and check it out before the signal completely goes out. As much as I would like to have someone of a higher level take the job after what happened yesterday we’re kind of short on available employees.”
“So we might have a teleportation glitch to take care? A nice change of pace I guess.” Miko said.
“We still don’t have concrete information about it yet.” Phil responded. “I want you to report back once you find out what’s going on. Something rubs me off the wrong way about this and I need all of the information I can get.”
“We’re on it!” Five answered with determination. Miko had less enthusiasm than she usually had thanks to her troubles but to go on a mission to take on something that even the professionals couldn’t figure out gave off a small spark in her mind. She wanted to get hyped, she wanted to smash the glitch’s face in with her bare hands, but no matter what everything barricaded her from taking it further. She had to give it to Five for taking her current feelings rather well even if she didn’t know if he really paid attention to what she said. She had so many current emotions bottled up in her that sat stuck in a never ending void while they scrambled to find the exit of the volatile maze. Nothing but one thought drove her forward to a certain degree.
Too bad Phil couldn’t get let off that easily. While he had prepared to hold the thing back from the previous door, the one to the storage room basically keeled over in an instant. Behind it hovered one really riled up robot stacked on crazed programming with an appearance that nearly masqueraded his true identity. A large colorful donkey shaped pinata and a huge disco ball stuck out from his back on long stick while his main body suffered multiple chips and cracks all over him. The monitor that displayed his current expression almost completely filled with dead dark pixels over the top that swirled in a dizzying fashion. Only his mouth near the bottom of the screen remained somewhat intact, but even that showed a couple of dead pixels on it already. Multiple types of hats sat on his head that each corresponded to popular ones used in parties, from cone shaped to stereotypical magician, with some in multiple stacks over another. How each one fit flawlessly on his head without falling off never crossed their minds. As for what he held in each of his extended arms only accentuated his corrupted programming. From party streamers, ribbons, gift wrap, and slices of cake along with everything else in between his dedication had no bounds. Some loose pieces even dangled off of his body as they could make out some type of cake mix and melted ice cream that dripped down off of his hovering mechanisms. If anything he really nailed the “party zombie” look perfectly and didn’t want to stop. The banging from earlier made sense and now everyone that watched had more explanations to write up.
The robot shuddered and shook as he slowly brought up a slice of cake on a platter while his mouth on the display morphed into a wide grin.
“Go ahead…take the cake…”
Five and Miko took a couple steps back before Phil suddenly took off through a door nearby. His arms flailed like the end of everything as the zombified partier BITT zipped off after him in hot pursuit. Despite everything piled on him BITT remained competent with his movement, which only made Phil’s time with him worse. The cadets could hear Phil scream out with some rather worried tones while BITT made more remarks about how to plan for “the birthday boy’s” party later. Since they didn’t want to interfere with whatever BITT’s programming had planned, unlike last time, Five and Miko silently whisked away with faces like they just saw a terrifying ghost.
They left the building as a person that leaned on a wall near the front doors rolled his eyes and got back on his own two feet.
*****
The trip down to the glitch went down in silence. No matter what Five tried to say to cheer up Miko she always killed it off with nothing but the silent treatment. If anything made her that terribly down in the garbage it came with serious allegations and any attempt to get through to her only resulted in her swatting it down and killing it. The van’s radar fizzled in and out as the single black dot appeared and disappeared almost in an instant, which thanks to autopilot meant they never had to drive to the supposed spots. Miko had her sights on the window next to her as she moped silently in her head even when Five said something to attempt to brighten the mood. To her though, she could only hear incessant nonsense and blots of random colors out through the clear glass all while the voices in her head talked down to her like an inconsequential insect. She loved her job along with all of its intents and purposes, but if she couldn’t do everything like everyone else in the job than maybe she shouldn’t take on glitches unless she had complete certainty that she could sit on an even playing field. She just wanted to accept the reality that she never had the potential unless she matched everyone else. Maybe if she indulged on a couple of mushrooms she could potentially get her fix…
The van suddenly stopped right in the middle of what appeared like an open field in the middle of a sea of trees. To think such a place existed in a bustling city never crossed Five’s and Miko’s train of thought until they saw it for themselves. If anything, they should thank Hinobi for having a van that could function like an abridged ATV in rough terrain. Once the vehicle halted the two rushed out and got to their gauntlet’s radars.
“Okay, what I once thought to be a buggy radar might not turn out as true if out gauntlets have the same reaction.” Five said.
“I’m picking up just as much infrequent interference in location as you are.” Miko answered. Just like the display earlier, the radars on their glitch gauntlets seemed to pick up something around the area in brief snippets before it went cold. What stood out on them as a black dot vanished as soon as it appeared almost like old film reels, but technology evolved as time moved on. To see such an enigma on modern technology sounded unheard of, but Five and Miko saw it for themselves. Whether or not their tech had something bugged or not could only get solved if they mustered out into its general area as the dot made its movements all over the place.
Five and Miko’s directions zipped everywhere with each appearance of the black dot on their radars. Even though it seemed like it had no sense of direction where it appeared, the van pinpointed the general location to where most of its appearances plastered on the grids. For it to calculate equations from a dot that appeared for only a millisecond showed how much changed in the years up to that point, but for now the two needed to handle the trouble on foot.
Five kept his gaze on the radar with slight frustration.
“Well it’s picking up something in short moments. I’m not liking the looks of this.”
“You and me both.” Miko replied. The dot showed up on her radar again, but as soon as she turned it already disappeared. She silently shook her head before something very faintly hit her ears. She almost missed it completely but the last part of her tugged her back at the last possible second for her attention. Her radar displayed null but she looked it the direction anyway. Something hissed akin to loose static in that direction that ruffled Miko the wrong way.
He had to alert Five.
“Hey Five, I don’t think we’re alone anymore!”
Once he heard Miko’s plea, her partner quickly reversed to her direction. Their eyes locked to the one spot as they barely made out the sight of some rustling bushes. It didn’t happen immediately, but as time progressed something did start to slowly come out. They made out two appendages that hit the grass and stayed there for a second before another piece followed soon after connected to the two on the grass. With that came after two more with one of each on the left and right side that hung down and ended with five smaller forms of them that wriggled about. Finally, a unique shape plopped in right at the top but had familiarity to the witnesses, and with all of it combined it seemed like it stood at a height around the middle of Five and Miko. Most distinct features unfortunately faded out under the shadows of the trees, but they could guess with some observations. Something flowed off the top and behind the figure that ended around the “neck”, but out of everything else they could plain see a sky blue shine the size of a golf ball gleam on the figure’s right side of the top portion. It got covered by something around a certain portion like a certain understanding on the wheel of palettes. Something about it screamed at them to get away, but Five and Miko knew better than to back off from a glitchy threat.
“Are YOU members of the GLITCH TECHS?”
The voice uttered immediately packed a punch. First impressions detailed a somewhat high pitch akin to a young feminine with adulthood over the horizon; something that came out of left field for Five and Miko. They could feel the red flags rupture from the ground, but they couldn’t show fear in the face certain danger.
“Ummmm…yes?” Five answered in slight bewilderment. The blue light glowed with a small twinkle as something slowly formed under it. It had a small slit to it at first until it extended further up and curved into a wide crescent before it quickly stopped. Something about it made the two cringe and rub them the wrong way.
“...good.”
The anomaly spoke again with an extra hint of malice, but Five and Miko never got the chance to fully think about it. Before they even knew what happened, the entity on the other side raised one of its appendages then instantaneously slammed it straight into the ground below. The impact banged into Five’s and Miko’s ears while the ground rumbled immensely like a terrifying earthquake. The motion alone forced both of them on their behinds before they tried to get back up only to fall back down. Whatever stood before them clearly had the power to wring them out, but they unfortunately found out that it only performed the first of something beyond their comprehension. From the entity’s slam spurted millions of long white lights that shot forward in a long stream before it split in two and raced in opposite directions. They each underwent a long curve that stretched across the grass that almost got Five and Miko if they never backed up in an emergency scuffle. The streams of light finally met and connected from opposite ends that formed a massive illuminated halo that expanded the size of around half of the sprawling plain. The two Glitch Techs couldn’t even see the whole shape from their current angle, but soon after they saw the inside of the whole thing immediately light up like dozens of spotlights that aimed down at a whole stadium.
The lights stretched upward that almost blinded Five and Miko as the shine intensified.
“What the heck are we dealing with?!” Miko exclaimed with her hands up to her face.
“You’re asking me?!” Five replied. “I’m just as lost as you are!”
Their eyes almost completely gave out but they barely managed to distinguish the one final step their opposition had in mind. Something faint sluggishly started to materialize among all of the blinding lights almost like something was tugging it out from the huge light circle. From the depths of the white the true intentions behind the glitch became clear as a figure emerged and made its presence known to the two. The lights began to die down as more of the figure appeared before it sprang to life with a loud cry that shook the surrounding area.
Once the two could finally see again, they found themselves gazing up at something akin to colossal behemoths.
“Oh…my…stars…” Five muttered with Miko just as astounded.
The beast flapped in the air and stayed airborne while its gaze held the two in place. Miko may know to some degree how someone like Ally worked, but to a bird of the same scale as the one that showed she drew blanks on all ends. She couldn’t even see its entire body from her angle since its sheer scale surpassed them by miles. Their rough guesses equaled some of the tallest buildings in the city but it could easily go much higher than their estimates. As for its appearance of a massive bird, it had a lot of the basics checked off. Its large burly round body indicated it could take a beating with no issues while its long slender wings gave off powerful gusts with each flap that resonated across the grass. Long powerful talons gave off a sharp and edgy feel of some of the world’s most dangerous hunters that relentlessly ripped their prey to shreds with no amount of fatigue. Similar to someone like Ally or an ostrich, it also contained a long slender neck the held together the monster’s viscous expression of a lethal predator. Two lanky appearing crescents made up the large bird’s mighty beak while two orbs around the same full size as an adult male aimed right at Five and Miko with no pupils to show. A couple of various tall feathers stuck straight atop the creature’s cranium that wore down shorter and shorter as they continued down the sides of its head like something akin to what royalty has in old fairy tales. In one final footnote, atop the bird’s large back set one long type of peak around the same length as half of its whole body. Its shape resembled something like an underground stalagmite that stuck upward to the sky. All of it combined to form something of exuberant strength and technique that one would assume only came from myths and tall tales, but for Five and Miko they saw all of it with their own eyes.
Something stuck out to them more than anything about the creature though. For a monster of its caliber and style to appear straight out of a video game, they didn’t expect its weird selection of color choices. While its main body showed off extravagant warm colors of feathers like orange and red a large portion of them had nothing but long squares of blank white. The stalagmite structure on its back didn’t even had any colors at all for some reason. The two had never seen something like it, but the limit didn’t end there. Its right wing may have had normal rings of feather of red and blue, but its other told something much different. Nothing but small cubes of what looked like every single color made up the left wing’s palette like messed up static if given form. It gave off an unnatural vibe to the two compared to others parts they saw that looked messed up. Its left claw for a foot had a normal yellow appearance but its right only had a splotch of yellow while the rest showed completely barren white. A similar factor resulted in the right tall feathers on its head to have no color at all with nothing but void while the others had vibrant red. Its face exemplified how messed up it appeared with its colors, as the beak stood out as bright yellow but everything else had something wrong about it. The left side, like other parts of its body, displayed pure white even as it moved while the other had the total opposite…in the wrong way. It had orange and blue on that side but with the same pattern as its right wing that made it look like its wing had ink on it that splattered all over that side. Even its right eye and side of its beak contained the same pattern which made it appear like those parts were also made up of the long feathers of its right wing. Five and Miko knew none of it correlated to any birds they’ve seen or heard of, even with video game knowledge. Whether or not the glitch held anything contagious, dozens of palettes on the bird mixed into an upside down rainbow of something very uncanny and wrong.
The huge bird screeched powerfully that shook the winds around it and the sea of grass below it, which unnerved the two Glitch Techs.
“Whatever display I just witnessed…I don’t know what to expect anymore!” Miko exclaimed. “What type of glitch is this?!”
“I’m getting nothing in the database!” Five replied as he scoured the database on his gauntlet. “I guess we just have to take it on and maybe we’ll get some answers!”
“That’s not making me any less worried for my life!” Miko responded with a look of desperation.
Before they could try and cope with what visuals their sights picked up, the bird already got the first move. With its long wings providing the turbulence, the monster bird kicked up a series of whirlwinds that aimed straight at the two while dozens of its longs feather shot out of its body. Like most of its strange color choices, the feathers didn’t give off a single color other than pure white. However, they also flickered to a mass of contrasting colors for a quick second before they changed back but it could change Five’s and Miko’s mind on their deadliness.
“Break! Break!” Five said with a pinch of panic. Miko understood immediately and went left while Five zipped off to the right. They nearly got swept off their feet from the winds that put them in range of the onslaught of sharp feathers. Five chose evasion over brawn while Miko had the exact opposite idea. With a combination of slick movements and quick thinking Five just barely grazed by the incoming attacks and even almost performed a seven ten split when a clump of feathers rocketed too close. His legs ached for a couple of seconds but he otherwise made it out okay. Miko’s mindset rested somewhere else in the distance as she took the attack head on. With her gauntlet aimed at the barrage of feathers her way she fired crazily and blasted most of them aimed right at her. Each direct hit derezzed each feather into nothing as she moved around even if the whirlwinds careened her into the air for a couple of seconds. Even though they underwent different maneuvers, both proved successful.
The bird angrily screeched again and flew higher into the air before it sent more projectiles their way. Whether it changed tactics never crossed Five and Miko as the threat still loomed over them.
“Let’s see if our shots have an effect on it!” Miko shouted. “I can’t keep blocking these stupid feathers forever!”
“I concluded on something similar!” Five responded. Gust of winds started to pick up speed as more rains of feather plummeted toward them which forced the two to pick up the pace. While they still had to pay attention to what the bird fired at them, if they ever got the chance to blast it they would go for it. They did their best to blast ever impending feather while they tried to sneakily get a few free derezzing shots straight at the bird which appeared to damage it but not quite enough to effect it in any way. Eventually, its tactics changed as it pulled away from the constant shots and reared up for something fierce. With its large talons bared and another of its loud screeches it suddenly swooped downward straight at the two with an immediate burst of speed, which left almost no time for the two to react. At the last possible second from its sheer speed alone, Miko and Five quickly ducked as the talons subtly grazed their scalps, where if they reacted just a split second too late they would have gotten some major hurt. They avoided it by the skin of their teeth.
The monster bird faced them again as the two got back to their feet.
“We need more firepower to break that thick hide!” Miko exclaimed. “Got anything?”
“I’m not picking up anything from the database!” Five answered as he combed through his gauntlet’s screen. “Something’s up with this glitch and I can’t figure it out!”
“Five, it’s game code! If anything they always have some sort of weak point!”
Miko’s remark took Five’s attention enough to realize that she might be on to something. While the Hinobi database had no idea what type of glitch they confronted most of the time they came with a visible weakness. He just needed to find it and capitalize on the perfect moment to bring it down, and thankfully for him it stuck out like a bright neon sign at Las Vegas.
“It’s the large point on its back! If I had to make a wild guess I would easily say to go for that first!”
“While I appreciate the observation, it won’t solve the fact that for a plump bird it sure moves pretty fast!” Miko exclaimed as another string of feathers nearly wiped her out. “If we can find a way to stun the thing we can fire a clean hit at it!”
“You mean like those certain bosses that require something to immobilize them first?” Five replied as a small display showed up on his gauntlet. “I can’t think of any other place for a possible spot other than its messed up face. If we hit it across the face with a strong enough impact…maybe it will keep it in place long enough!”
Miko couldn’t help but smirk at his last sentence.
“You’re speaking my type of language Fives!”
She immediately went down to her gauntlet after she dodged another assault of winds and scrolled through all of its options. She had something in mind that she wanted to use for a long time but never got the chance with all of the less than average glitches roaming around. Once she saw the image pop up she didn’t hesitate to select it. Soon after the selection her hands instantaneously got large pink pieces of aura around them before it materialized into her desired upgrade. If the going got tough for someone like Miko, one hard punch from a spike coated knuckle would let off a lot of steam. She would send the glitch bird packing in just one single punch if she landed it.
Her eagerness to use them had no bounds, but she still required one final addition if she ever wanted to get up close to the monster. Too bad her realization came in a bit late after she put on the holographic knuckles, but she made it work anyway. With some VERY light taps, Miko carefully navigated to her particular “bird brained” companion on her gauntlet and activated her with one precarious tap. After one brilliant flash of light out popped her close large chicken friend Ally in all of her feathered goodness.
“Caw! Caw!” Ally exclaimed while her head zipped in many directions like the bird she was.
“Alright Ally, no offense to your kind and all, but we kind of have a massive bird to beat down.” Miko said to her companion pet. “You’re still up for it, right?”
She got her answer when her Chicky Chum partner clucked in a happy tone, which lifted Miko’s spirits by a little. Ally even took the moment to sit on the ground so Miko could get on without a potential injury from her newly formed knuckles, which Miko did with a bit of extra caution. Once her rider got comfortable on her back, Ally got to her feet before both of them stared down the glitch bird for a few seconds with intensity.
“Ally, let’s bag us a bird!” Miko exclaimed which Ally took as a signal to take off running speedily.
“Hey, hey, at least give me a bit of time to plan things out further!” Five called before he calmed back down. “Oh well, she has the right idea. Better get my big guns out too…”
He hastily looked down upon his gauntlet and scrolled through his respective icons. One he set his sights upon his big robot buddy he smiled as he selected it. Like Ally, a bright flash lit up close to him as his companion pet materialized with a couple of happy beeps. Its red screen for an eye lit up like a happy mech as Five gave a thumbs up back.
“Okay Alpha, we have to back up Miko and Ally and strike at the right time!”
Alpha nodded and grunted in a friendly agreement before he deployed the control panel on his back for Five to control. While it didn’t take too long of a process, for a few quick seconds his screen set right on the large glitchy bird that opposed them. It let off another one of its loud screeches, but for a split second its actions completely froze while its shriek stuttered into short spasms. Its last action held onto its last pose before it suddenly sprang back to life as if nothing happened. It almost went by so quickly that one could easily mistake it as all in their head, which got Alpha to utter a few low leveled bleeps to himself.
“Umm, Alpha? We have to head after Miko, remember?”
Five’s remark seemed to have brought his companion pet out of it as he immediately glanced up to his caretaker with a happy eye across his screen. While he lacked in raw speed most of the time, unlike Ally, Alpha’s raw damage output made up for it even if he held up the back end. As much as Five felt more comfortable if him and Alpha went up to daze the opposition, Miko’s returning high attitude told him otherwise. She acted as if she never went through the tough times yesterday and rolled back to her cheery and high attitude personality she yearned for. As long as she continued to act like herself Five let her do her thing right now other than the more optimal solution.
The extra firepower from the two didn’t seem to give the glitch bird any appreciation. In fact, it reared itself back up again to strike before it charged forward. Ally kept a fast pace to keep up with the surprisingly fast glitch despite its girth while Miko kept her knuckles up and ready for a good blow. As they approached the monster they saw it slow down a bit and reel its head back. Miko and Ally prepared themselves, even if the companion pet didn’t express itself in the way often, and before they knew it right as the two bird crossed paths the glitch rapidly swung it large head down in a hazardous somersault through the air. For someone like Ally though she handled much worse, so with a swift execution of hasty movements combined with Miko’s lead the two just managed to get by without a scratch. It didn’t end there though, as the large bird required a split second to recover and take off back into the air, which granted Miko the opportunity she needed. She locked straight onto the glitch before Ally let loose her long legs and sprang into the air. Miko jumped off her Chicky Chum partner for a little extra distance and yelled like a maniac with her knuckles spread. Right as she approached the bird’s head through the air she unleashed two brawny punches with each knuckle that left two large indents from strength alone. She could hear the impacts like sweet butter before Ally positioned herself below to catch her partner before she hit the ground. The maneuver successfully went through without a hitch and she easily saw the gratifying results. The glitch bird immediately came to a halt as its head swayed around and its wings struggled to keep it airborne. It held consciousness, but its dizzying state from the strong attack left its weak point vulnerable and ripe for the smacking.
That’s what Alpha was primed for.
“Nice one Miko! I got it from here!” Five responded while Alpha made his mad dash toward the immobilized beast. The mech’s speed didn’t compare to Ally’s in the slightest, but it was enough to keep up with the action for a finishing blow. The giant bird’s height above the ground faltered slightly while it tried to regain its composure, but for Five and Alpha it hovered at just the right point to grab hold of it. With arms outstretched, Alpha grabbed the messed up feathers and held on tight for a strenuous climb. He kept the pace going as he gripped tightly and climbed with vigor to reach the weak point. Five himself found the situation as a bit difficult since his footing got slanted from the angle while his reigns tried to slip out from under him, but after a dozen or so glitch outings with Alpha he adapted to as much rough spots as he could for any sort of problem ahead. He made sure to stay with his buddy and work as a team to take any type of opposition down.
While a bit of a hassle at first, Alpha soon got the hang of it until he finally reached the top of the bird’s back where the massive blank stalagmite placed.
“Let’s put on the hurt!” Five exclaimed which Alpha seemed to agree on. With his two burly arms and a few robot growls behind him, Alpha unleashed a flurry of a beat down against the tall feature. Bits of white pieces fell off in chunks before they suddenly vanished as Alpha sent blow after blow against the weak point which eventually got some very lanky cracks to spread all over it. The bird gave off another of its loud shrieks before the stalagmite uncontrollably shook and shattered to a much lower height. As bits and pieces of shrapnel formed into a landslide Five and Alpha did their best to stay put and not fall off in the face of the loose white gravel. Soon enough, the endured enough to see the structure now under half of its original height with a couple dozen cracks around the base from the damage inflicted.
The mood around them took a drastic dip when the large glitch bird performed something different. Before Five and Alpha knew it, a huge gust of wind burst out from the bird and knocked both Five and Alpha off of it and into the air. Five panicked for a little but soon became vigilant while he angled Alpha around so that he landed on his large arms and legs. With his type of body Alpha didn’t mind many hard hits and shrugged them off to no damage taken, so a fall from a monstrous bird in the air only served as child’s play to the mech. Miko and Ally soon joined back up with the two while Alpha recuperated a little but otherwise remained up and running for another round. As for the glitch bird it gave off another one of its high pitched shouts before it showered dozens of blank feathers around itself with a nasty glare. However, for such a minute action it showed some rather unorthodox behavior to the opposition. For a couple of split seconds its entire body suddenly formed into nothing but mangled lines as its shriek shorted out for around half a second in intervals. Its weird color choices deformed into more strange and odd types while patterns all over it plastered on features that made no sense at all, such as its feathers showing on its large talons. It even formed into a stance common to a certain letter of the alphabet at certain moments. While it only lasted for a couple of seconds, as soon as it started in ended just as quickly and the bird appeared up for another round as it stayed airborne.
Miko didn’t seem too amused on the subject.
“Great, it’s one of THOSE bosses.”
“One with multiple phases.” Five finished. “Even so, it doesn’t look too different. As long as we aim for the weak spot we should still win this. I’m certain it’s on its last legs now!”
“Then I’ll finish it with a lot of extra firepower!” Miko exclaimed. Five understood and charged forward with Alpha while Miko stayed back for a second to pick something out of her gauntlet. She had one particular item in mind even with its multiple variants. She fumbled around for a moment as she scrolled back and forth between the types.
“Err, ummm…eenie eenie miney…this one!”
Even though she stated eenie twice, she hastily picked the distinctive item on the display before it materialized in front of her. She recognized it almost immediately since she played the game on multiple occasions and understood the item in question. Since Ally came from a game called Bravestone Twelve she likewise functioned with objects from it and thrived off of certain specifics. In terms of power ups, for Ally it came in the form of large sized berries. Each one contained some sort of benefit for Ally when eaten even though Miko still didn’t know all of the possibilities yet. Even so, she expected Ally to transform into something helpful for the final part against the glitch.
As for what type Miko managed to materialize, it clearly stood out as something new for her. While it had the same size as the other berries she came across, this one displayed a light blue exterior and almost felt chilling to touch.
“Well…can’t say I expected something better.” Miko said as she got off Ally’s back to feed her. As a friendly NPC with a gluttonous appetite, Ally wasted no time to give off a few hearty clucks before she plucked the berry right out from Miko’s hands. Miko watched with caution as anything could happen with a power up she had never seen before, and when she saw Ally stutter and shake for a few seconds she took a couple steps back. Soon enough, she witnessed the first few signs. Dozens of Ally’s feathers instantaneously illuminated even through the sunshine before every single part of her lit up in a wide glowing effect. Ally withdrew her wings before she some indescribable features began to form under the light. Even though the displayed seemed somewhat dangerous at a first glance, Miko got used to it over time and stayed with her partner.
It only lasted a couple of seconds, but once everything died down Miko saw a completely different Ally before her. Out of everything from her base appearance, she could only differentiate her partner’s friendly face as somewhat the same and even then she still had differences. Her entire body displayed the same chilling color as the berry she ate, a beautiful light blue, while her head protruded some weird translucent objects in a circle around her that extruded some low cold type of mist despite the clear sunlight. Each one around her head branched into unique angles and shapes that made Miko shiver as she looked at them. Her legs shortened a little but her body widened a big larger to compensate. Her wings stood out as the most defining feature to Miko, as they spread out at nearly double the length of Ally’s whole body. Elegant sparkles fell from her gorgeous white wings that blew frosty winds with each flap. Various marking of certain shapes dotted the feathers on the underside akin to underlying winters that glittered among all of the falling sparkles like stars. The long tips of each wing rounded out the amazing transformation, as just like the eye catching protuberances that circled around Ally’s head they had something much similar. She saw nothing but clear ends that warped the picture when Miko looked into them with a cold presence even when she approached them. While the sun shined overhead the semitransparent parts didn’t show any signs of vanishing much to Ally’s delight. Whatever berry power up her bird friend ate, she definitely made a note about it for later especially with the new appearance.
Miko’s eyes practically turned into large stars as she marveled over her buddy’s new form.
“Ally…you look amazing!” Miko exclaimed. “We can definitely pummel some fools now!”
“Caw!” Ally responded.
Miko wasted no time to run over and get on her bird’s back. Even though she rode Ally on multiple occasions it usually didn’t require anything fancy. The act of sitting on an animal that can travel great distances required no in depth descriptions for something so minute. However, for Ally’s new form, the instant Miko placed her behind against Ally’s back the temperature immediately dipped into the negatives. It almost took Miko by surprise, enough to make her get back up for seconds.
“Sweet mother of ice physics, I almost couldn’t move from that pinch of frostbite!”
Ally gazed back at her with half open eyes before she squawked at her in a certain tone which Miko understood instantly.
“Hey, don’t you sass talk me now! You would easily feel the same way in my shoes if you didn’t have that new form!”
Ally squawked again in small bursts like small laughter before she turned back around. Even though it sounded offensive, Miko understood her bird buddy’s way of thinking and didn’t lash back. Knowing she couldn’t dawdle any further, Miko sucked it up and sat back down on Ally’s frigid back before the bird took off to the sky after the glitched one. The change in mobility meant that she wasted no time to catch up to Five and Alpha, who turned to see their friend in a new light. If Five had no idea about Ally’s special ability he would probably have some astonishment behind his face, but after multiple scuffles where Miko had to morph Ally into something else it quickly became natural for him to see. He still had yet to see every type of form Ally had just like Miko, but since she belonged to his partner he left most of the discoveries over to her. Despite that, he appreciated the change of pace Ally brought to the table which provided a layer of unpredictability to the Chicky Chum that some companion pets never fully revealed; something Ally used to her advantage at points.
He still felt a bit of a shock after one of Ally’s “stormy” forms took out a glitch with a lightning charge.
They approached the glitch bird as it revved itself back up for another shot. It screeched again to the heavens as it climbed up a bit higher before the feathers atop of its head gleamed. Before Five and Miko knew it, long beams of energy expelled and shot straight at them. It got their heads scratching for a second due to the way they suddenly appeared. In all of their years of games they played, when a certain enemy contained an attack that launched out as some sort of damaging beam it commonly came straight from a particular part that oscillated with some type of quick animation to show how much power it had. For the bird though, it flipped the expectations around into its own types. While the beams angled in a way like they came out from its head feathers, in terms of speed they showed up instantly. One moment they never existed and then they suddenly just popped into reality with no warning at all. They never even uttered a single sound before they came into existence, and the instant they showed up they immediately disappeared in the blink of an eye. Their appearances didn’t even make a whole lot of sense as they looked more like a long white tube-shaped girder that seemed to end prematurely after a certain point. Beam attacks in video games usually progressed until it hit something, but not for the bird. It made each one a bit awkward to look at before they vanished and another took its place. The bird may have a new type of weapon that Five and Miko have never seen function so uniquely before, but that only meant they had to take it down quicker before anything else happened.
“Let’s put that glitch on ice!” Miko exclaimed while Ally clucked in agreement. They narrowly stared at the huge bird while Five and Alpha watched from below so they can strike when the huge bird flew low all while they dodged the loose beams from it. Without a moment of hesitation, Ally opened her beak as a small circle of blue light formed in it and with one powerful shot released craggy shots of pure cold energy straight at the glitch. They struck dead on at multiple points on its body and wings, but any attempt at the crooked point on its back only resulted in a swift flap of its wings to bat it away. While it appeared to impose some damage against it, it only seemed to irritate it further as it screeched again and swiveled its head at every angle. It reached a fever pitch once the glitch bird made a faint light appear over its body which immediately started to rain large flaming balls upon the area that left almost no room to make a mistaken dodge. Like the beams it fired beforehand, their appearances got Five’s and Miko’s eyebrows raised. The supposed flames that surrounded each circle popped in straight out of an elementary school child’s imagination with how crude they showed compared to everything else. Not only that, but each balls contained in them had no colors at all except for plain and uninspiring white, complete with no sounds whatsoever. The flames along with the driving force downward played on mute along with their impacts against the ground. If anything Five and Miko could make a wild guess and claim that they had flaming meteors to dodge, but first glances diverted to somewhere beyond that type of conclusion.
While Ally had it easy with her agile flight, Alpha handled things much different. Five’s quick thinking helped maneuver the large robot around any messed up meteor that headed their way, some even by mere inches. They couldn’t keep to the sidelines though especially with Miko and Ally also in the crossfire, but they needed to draw the glitch away from them for a clear shot at its head.
What Five came up with though probably wouldn’t leave Alpha unscathed.
“Hey big guy, how good are you out in the outfield?”
Alpha glanced back at his rider with the reigns and uttered a powerful type of grumble along with a couple of beeps and a strong fist. He understood what he meant.
“Ah, good. It might hurt a little, but we need to get that bird’s attention.”
Alpha nodded sternly while he beeped happily and turned back around. The incoming meteors from the bird rained upon them as the pace picked up face which left reaction time available by the seconds. The two dashed around most of them while they kept their eyes open for one specific opening they baited on to suddenly appear. Their patience paid off once a meteor started to fall in just the right spot, so Alpha got into position and firmly planted his feet into the ground. He opened his arms up as he and Five waited for just the right moment…
“NOW!”
Right as the hunk of rock sailed above their head about one foot apart, Alpha hoisted his arms forward while Five kept the reigns for better control. The driving force of the rock gave off exuberant power which would have driven away weaker ones but Alpha clearly didn’t belong in that crowd. With two thick arms outstretched, the large mech applied its own force against the meteor with clashing results. At first it appeared to strain him as it pushed the robot back a couple of inches which the robot form a couple of small divots in the ground from its power. However, it didn’t take long before Alpha increased his strength to surpass such a spectacle.
“Aim for the glitch, buddy!” Five exclaimed. Alpha understood even with its attention drawn to the rock. While the temperature gave off some serious heat, Alpha withstood it to the best of his ability and put its strength in control of the force against it. With another burst of strength, Alpha managed to pull the large meteor straight of of its path before he started to swing it around in a horizontal spin. The process got Five dizzy for a second while Alpha concentrated somewhere else, but once he picked out the spot he strongly grunted. With an intense focus behind him and a number of swings, Alpha released the hunk of rock straight at the glitch bird like a makeshift javelin. While he aimed for its head, because the bird moved all over the place it ended up hitting one of its sides which did accomplish their goal. It only took one loose strike to divert the glitch’s attention to the ones on the ground and it didn’t look happy to see them.
Ally actually had to back up a little and hold off from firing ice blasts as the opposing bird angrily screeched and reared back. Five and Alpha had no idea what it had in store for them next until it came bolting straight at them. They saw the bird act quick before but when it suddenly dived forward with its talons bared they barely had any type of moment to act accordingly. If Five didn’t have quick ways of thinking they probably wouldn’t get out in one piece, but he had lightning fast reflexes to assist Alpha when he needed it. Five commanded Alpha to raise his arms up once again and, with impeccable timing, got him to hold back the bird’s talons in a contest of raw strength similar to the meteor but on a grander scale. The bird didn’t like it and tried to push back against it, which thrust the robot back a couple of feet while the robot held its ground and thrust back at it.
Their distraction gave Miko and Ally the opening they required.
“MIKO! THE HEAD!” Five shouted. His partner in the sky gave a quick thumbs up as Ally swooped in close to the large bird. The incoming silent blank meteors made her job a bit more difficult as the continued to shower above her despite the bird’s attention drawn somewhere else. Some almost clipped Ally’s ice tipped wings from the sheer amount thrown at them, but Miko had enough experience with her bird buddy to know how to cleanly fly without too much incident.
With the clusters of the space rocks obstructing most clear openings, she only had one shot to strike the bird in the noggin. She took a moment to focus and clear herself before one goal popped up in her mind.
“Let’s let ‘em have it Ally!” Miko exclaimed. Ally clucked in agreement before she instantly charged up another energy shot. With her sight set in stone, the companion bird fired a chilling ice shot that weaved through the nooks around each clump of meteors until it blasted straight across the glitch bird’s unsuspecting face. Small flakes bounced off in recoil from the impact while the glitch shrieked with a visible echo and, just like before, struggled to stay in the air in dizziness. With its weak spot open once again, Ally rocketed forward toward the stalagmite structure on its back while Five and Alpha had to unfortunately back off for now due to the dozens of meteors that arrived in droves too large to handle alone.
Too bad the caution didn’t rub off on Miko and Ally at the moment. Whether by the eagerness to get everything over with or the relief of finishing off a hard earned glitch, somehow it never crossed their minds with the goal in sight. Ally suddenly cried out once she felt the deathly impacts that misaligned her flight pattern and got Miko to notice it rather quickly. The long clear ice tips of her wings shattered on impact and sent the two into a spiral to the ground below. Eventually Miko couldn’t hold on to Ally any further as she slipped through her grasp and sent her careening through the air.
“MIKO!” Five cried out. Alpha also had equal emotions even if he expressed himself a bit differently than the others. His partner yelled out through the air as her voice got eaten by the rushing winds while Ally spiraled in a completely different direction. He started to panic a bit until he took note of Miko’s trajectory, and his assumptions hit spot on a few seconds later.
As for Miko, she never saw it coming. She thoroughly expected to fall much further down as drew blanks from the constant changes in scenery. Skydiving never crossed her mind, and thankfully for her she didn’t have to experience it early. Right as she thought her fall would continue she immediately hit a somewhat soft surface. She didn’t even start to think before she instinctively turned herself around and took hold of whatever ground she landed on and never considered letting her fingers slip. It took a moment for her brain to catch up and take everything in which started up the rest of her senses. Out of every possible area she could have landed in, she possibly hit the center of the bullseye. Her sudden worry over becoming a splat on the ground flipped over into sincere gratification as the huge weak spot sat only a few feet away from her on a slightly higher plane.
She could send the whole thing crashing down in one clear shot from her gauntlet, and she intended to see it through.
“What I thought would end up as something grave turned out to be a stroke of major luck.” Miko thought. She got up closer to the spire as the glitch she stood on rumbled around while still a bit dizzy. Even with the motions though, Miko kept her grip firm to capitalize on her lucky streak. She didn’t want to fall off now with the end literally a few feet in front of her.
She didn’t go unnoticed from the ones on the ground thankfully, and once they saw her a major relief lifted off of their backs. They could only watch from the sidelines though as Miko primed her gauntlet for one final blast.
She widely grinned as her gauntlet booted up.
“So long, stupid glitch!”
What happened next went by so quickly that some would say it never happened if they saw it with their own eyes, but it did. Miko’s gauntlet fired one fully charged blaster shot straight at the bird’s weak point that imposed major damage and cracked the stalagmite even further. Eventually the shot’s pressure proved too overpowering and blew apart the whole thing to smithereens. The go lucky Glitch Tech never got the chance to celebrate in those brief moments, as she felt the bird uncontrollably shake beyond belief. The once burly glitch bird let loose one final deafening shriek before it completely engulfed in a bright light. Five and Alpha ducked close to the ground for some sort of cover but Miko had no such safety guard. As such, it never occurred to her that something wasn’t right until it completely exploded right in her face. The glitch’s messed up appearance fell into nothing with one big bang that shook the whole grassy field along with some of the surrounding trees. It went off in equivalent to an atomic bomb going off, including the large boom that would probably destroy everyone’s hearing in close vicinity. Out of every single overblown finish Five and Miko ever went through, they never went through something like the glitch they took out that day.
As soon as the burst of force started, it ended a few seconds later. Alpha and Five slowly got back to their feet and would have felt relieved if a certain fact didn’t hang over their heads.
“MIKO!
Five got back on Alpha before the two raced off toward the spot where the explosion occurred. While the grass had some height too it, most of it got blown into oblivion which made scanning the area not too difficult. However, even though they looked around at every corner, they couldn’t see Miko along the bare ground. Five grew increasingly worried and he could tell Alpha felt the same way as he gave off a few dreary grunts and beeps like a caring partner. They couldn’t lose her, not after everything they went through for the annihilation of the troublesome glitch.
Not until a few minutes later did Alpha notice something under the brush of a spread of grass. He alerted Five with a couple of hearty grunts before he got the memo and came over. He had to move the tufts of grass out of the way, but soon after he found sweet relief. They found Miko, although she had a bit of unconsciousness stuck to her face.
“Miko! Miko!” Five said as he tried to move Miko to wake her up. It seemed to do the trick after a couple of attempts as he heard a couple of coughs followed by drowsy moans. Her eyes creaked open as she slowly stirred back to reality.
“Ugh…did we win?” Miko groggily asked.
“You might have gotten a small concussion in the process, but yes, we beat the glitch.” Five answered with a smile. She stirred a bit some more before she sluggishly got back up and held her head for a moment.
“I don’t know if I broke anything despite that massive…boom.” Miko said as she shook herself awake some more. “At least tell me that you bagged the thing and earned a lot of EXP in the process.”
A sudden realization hit Five that moment, so to make extra sure he booted up his gauntlet whie it silently scanned the area. His eyes went wide once he saw nothing pop up along with total experience earned from the fight. Usually when a glitch got pummeled into submission its true form was the only thing left to capture which many claim as the easy part of the job. However, despite the massive amount of struggle and effort they put into destroying the glitch bird no such leftover glitch showed up on the radar. As much of an oddity that Five saw, it only stumped him further to see that they barely earned anything out of it, in fact, only a single point of experience got calculated from the encounter. Even low ranked glitches gave out much more EXP than a single point, and yet the numbers didn’t lie. No leftover glitch to bag and only a single point of EXP gained for their efforts. He never saw quite the enigma before, which only fed to his confusion.
“Umm, I don’t think we got anything. I’m not getting any readings of the glitch or any major experience gain. Something’s not right here…”
“WHAT?!” Miko shouted as she immediately bolted awake. She hastily got to her feet and booted up her own gauntlet to see with her own eyes. Hers suffered the same conclusion.
“What the heck?! I busted my BUTT to take that thing down and we ended up with absolutely NOTHING?! Our gauntlets must be busted because I deserved a boatload after that crazy fight!”
“Well, Phil did want us to inform him about any possible weird occurrences-”
The group all of a sudden got distracted by a recognizable cluck over to their left, but it didn’t sound too cheerful. It didn’t take a genius to figure out who after the major glitch fight.
“ALLY!” Miko exclaimed before she slightly panicked and ran off in that direction. She almost forgot about her partner after Ally took a beating from one of the glitch’s attacks which practically turned the bird into a skydiver. It didn’t take long to find her weird bird, but she had seen better days. The impact changed her back into her base form while she laid on the ground to her side with multiple bruises all over her. Miko trembled as she saw Ally’s eyes halfway open while her bird clucked a bit weakly. Nothing appeared majorly struck or broken much to her love for the bird, but to make extra sure she gazed over to her bird’s backside. Ally may have taken damage, but the one tail feather she still had told her that she still had a little bit of juice left in her.
Even so, she couldn’t help but rush up to her companion pet and give her a big hug.
“Ally, you made it!” Miko said with immense gratitude. “I’m so happy you made it through like I did! I’ll get you back up and about in just a second!”
Ally cawed out weakly again as Miko got her gauntlet out while Five and Alpha watched. It only took a couple of seconds to find what she wanted, and once she did she only needed a single click and the two objects materialized in front of her. While they shared the same shape as the berry she brought out earlier, the new ones displayed a red type of color scheme and a round crack around the center of the curve. While it didn’t sound like much, Miko knew exactly that Ally wanted it.
Once she put the two berries close to Ally, the Chicky Chum wasted no time devouring them thanks to her gluttonous appetite. As soon as the two Glitch Techs saw the bird’s injuries they immediately vanished upon her consumption of the berries and seemed to rejuvenate her to a certain extent. To further imply her resurgence into her normal attitude, two long tail feathers phased into existence next to the one that remained along with a small decal of a heart with a plus sign next to it that quickly vanished as soon as it appeared. Even though Bravestone Twelve contained multiple power ups that enhanced abilities, it would stand as none the wiser if it didn’t contain something simplistic as health recovery which Miko carried on hand just in case for her loving companion pet.
With the health power ups putting her back into shape, Ally shot back up to her long feet. She immediately looked straight at Miko and gave the young Glitch Tech a happy lick across the face. Miko knew Ally did so to show appreciation and affection at times, so even though she got covered in slobber she adapted pretty quickly and learned to appreciate her friend right back.
“Heheheheh, you’re welcome Ally.” Miko responded. Even though she loved having her companion pet out, she did have to call her back into the gauntlet when a mission finished to not draw any attention. Since they finally took that glitch down, Miko booted up her gauntlet once more and recalled Ally back into it. Five also did the same with Alpha soon after Miko so he wouldn’t forget later.
“Well…we sure got something for today’s mission.” Five said. “I think you needed something like this to put you back into high spirits.”
The wires reconnected in Miko’s head as it hit her out of nowhere.
“Wow, I…I guess you’re right!” Miko answered with one of her signature smiles. “Nothing like a good smashing to get back into the mood of things! Woohoo, Miko’s back baby!”
“Glad to see you’re back and ready for action. I can’t take on glitches without my partner by my side.” Five said with a smile. The two would have spoken further if their gauntlets didn’t abruptly chime a certain ringtone. They checked the caller’s ID before they figured out who and ringed them up, which cleared the display on their gauntlets for another picture. The face of their boss showed up along with what appeared as a door behind him.
“Hey techs, how’s the patrol over in that spot?” Phil asked from the call. “The entire base heard something like a large bomb going off and I’m pretty sure the whole city heard it too. We’ve pinpointed the source to around your area, so did anything happen over there?”
Five spoke up front and to the point since he sent them to the area in the first place to investigate, and they sure couldn’t withhold the information from someone like him.
“Well…quite a bit actually. The radar picked up something all right, and it kind of blew up in our faces.”
“So you handled another glitch then?” Phil asked.
One major details slipped under Five’s and Miko’s attention until that very moment when in came up in a winding spur. They may have handled whatever massive trouble put up the fight, but the one that made it appear got away scot-free. Whatever spoke with them before the bout still roamed around and with their radars going haywire around its supposed location they wouldn’t have an easy time if they ever went after it again. Something about it spelled trouble for the whole city if left unchecked.
“Umm, sort of.” Miko replied. “We kind of have a lot to speak about with what just happened. First, this weird-”
“I’m going to stop you right there.” Phil interjected. “If it’s of major importance I think you should come back to the base and explain in person. With the wrecked base and unstable BITT I can’t let the information out to just anyone in the company.”
“That kind of makes sense I guess.” Miko answered even though she didn’t like the interruption.
“We’ll be back in a jiffy.” Five said. Phil seemed to understand as he nodded to the two before the call went dead. As much as they had no idea what went on with the malformed glitch and the one behind it, Hinobi had better knowledge of the sort than they did. If anyone can make use of what they witnessed and experienced, they could.
The two made haste back to their van and set a course back to headquarters.
*****
He saw the whole thing coming.
He knew the lack of security would bite them in the foot when they least expected it.
Everything came full circle and her reemergence signified something foreboding over the horizon.
Despite his knowledge though he wanted one final conformation. He didn’t think much about it around the front doors, but the more potential damages that sprouted in his head the more he had to see it for himself. While the employees had their security protocols, they lacked a flawless reputation. It only took a couple of evasive motions to render himself out of their sights until they left the scene. They had no clue as to where she wandered off next, but he did. She masqueraded her intentions for now and if they never realized how dangerous she potentially acted they could have an entire city of desolation in seconds.
Of course they did everything to retcon him out of the picture as any reference to how things once acted only painted a blemish on the company as a whole. Even so, if his hunches proved correct she couldn’t have gone far off from the whole skirmish. As he wandered in and out of the sea of trees he kept a lookout for any states of corruption from her signature footprints. Whether by the barks of trees fizzling in and out of squarish colors or malformed canopies of pixels he knew he took the right path. The grassy plain already had its signs stick out even after the scuffle which the two teens missed on their way out. The stretches of grass that didn’t suffer elimination upon the explosion showed dire signs as they struggled to maintain their consistent form.
“…typical for someone like her.” the man muttered. He trudged on under the trees as a small breeze wafted around the falling leaves. If a potential crisis didn’t constantly loom over the world he would have taken a moment to relax a bit. Too bad he had to track her down for certainty reasons.
He stayed at a steady pace as he didn’t stray too far from the beaten path when the signs appeared more frequently. Multiple bushes and trees completely lost their shapes while the ground failed to make an identity around the dead pixels that hovered in the air. Any sane person would turn tail and take off, but the man knew the one behind the walls of corrosion. He took the moment to stay silent, which paid off when his hearing picked up some slight motions from a bush falling victim to the destruction of the one he desired.
He stared straight at the malformed bush while he stayed put.
“Still can’t hold any type of stability, huh?”
Once he said that a distinct shape stuck out from the top of the ruffles of leaves followed by a little bit more under, but the bottom half remained obstructed. Out of what he saw a certain blue light told him everything he needed to know that he found his target.
“Do NOT remind me of what I’m left with unless you WANT me to ruin you.”
“You know you never want to do that to me.” the man said. The shape tilted a little before it got a little closer then quickly retreated.
“Oh, you still exist. You look different…the last time I saw you. Isn’t that just…PERFECT.”
Her form may not have been fully visible, but the man could definitely make out her fizzling as she spoke about him. She appeared to stutter a couple of times as she nearly turned into loose static followed by one of the cheesiest and plastered grins ever imaginable. He could visualize how she must have felt at that moment just from a few simple clues.
He kept the thoughts to himself.
“You can come out if you really want to lay your hands on me.”
“I haven’t fully reformed since I broke out yet, idiot.” the girl responded. “I would have done so by now if I didn’t currently have that handicap.”
“Of course you would.” the man said with a hint of sarcasm. “If anything I expected you to break out sooner than now, but I guess when the winds blow at a steady pace-”
The girl’s body phased in and out of blurry static while she trembled from all over for a few seconds as the man talked.
“Don’t…inject me…with those remarks…” the girl interrupted before the man saw the same blue twitchy light and cheesy wide smile pop in. However, the features now shook silently while he heard some indescribable mutters that could basically snap out at any moment at her current rate. The light also seemed to to twitch for a couple of seconds that also painted a picture for him. He had to tread a little bit more cautiously from now on for a bit longer.
“I assume you also know about what happened to the world since then? It’s not as identical as you remember after all.”
“Pffffft, I’ve known that basically for ages.” the girl answered. “The countless musings along with so many recollections over the years stayed stuck and reverberated all over me in an endless loop. Glitches going loose, employees go crazy, then get sent out to capture them until they do so. Rinse, repeat, rinse, repeat, all of that fancy stuff. I guess you came all of this way just to bag me, you know, imprison me back to that GRAVEYARD of a database with no return?”
“I lost that privilege a long time ago.” the man stated. “Since then they put everything in place to make sure I don’t exist in the eyes of their employees.”
“So you came all of this way just because you felt like it?”
“Not exactly.” the man replied. “Once I heard you broke out I wanted to make sure that I didn’t hear any lies. Of course now that I know you’re now here in this day and age I can lay that part to rest.”
“Aww, you still have some care for me. Ain’t that just SWEET.” the girl answered with an intense tone of sarcasm. “Such a shame then that it won’t matter in the end.”
“You don’t have to go through with whatever you have in that thick head of yours.” the man said. “I’m one of the only ones left that knows about your nature and you’re above all forms of glitches. Don’t drive yourself to act so single minded like those loose pieces of game code.”
He watched in silence as the girl trembled and shook again while the small blue light disappeared for a few seconds. Before long, the light shot back in with a more intensive glow.
“NO! Don’t EVER compare me to those loose idiots!” the girl exclaimed with a lethal tone. “Ugh, just looking at your ugly mug and hearing you berate me only makes me want to wreck havoc EVEN MORE!”
“Calm down, you don’t have to get driven to that.” the man calmly said in an attempt to cool her off. It didn’t seem to work too well if her next response had anything to go by.
“SHUT UP! I’ve already wasted too much time hearing you bellyache about me like a spoiled child! Just…get out of my sight! I have my own agenda to follow!”
Before the man could attempt to speak to talk her out of it, the girl already zipped away with a trail of loose static in her wake. The area where she once stood started to corrode away to the loose and dead pixels until they eventually turned mangled beyond recognition. The man couldn’t help but slowly shake his head and pinch his forehead after the whole encounter. She would go through with whatever she had planned even beyond his attempts to talk her out of it. If he had some sort of profession in therapy he could have had a better shot, and yet he earned nothing.
She would carry out with what she had in mind even through reason.
“Hinobi, I sure hope you know who you’re really dealing with, for if you don’t…I…I honestly don’t know if the world can handle it…”
*****
Five and Miko had a whale of a story to unwrap to their boss.
The store still had some damage here and there, but overall it started to finally shape up back to the Hinobi store everyone could recognize from a mile away. The main base on the other hand had much more work to undergo before anyone would call it hospitable and sustainable in the days to come, including the work done to the robot assistant crazed out to give Phil the perfect birthday party. Thanks to BITT’s malfunctioned actions their boss had to hide out in more places than one just to get some alone time for specific members. When he called Five and Miko for an update on the situation he just so happened to box himself inside one of the broom closets that BITT just so happened to never cross during his corrupted surveillance of the premises. As much as he didn’t want to resort to such activities, if it got him away from the robot’s antics he would do it in a heartbeat. He still constantly ordered for someone to put him on standby, but thanks to the priority over the broken base they mostly went ignored for more pressing matters. It added to his manger duties and riled him into big headaches at points, but in the meantime he had to deal with BITT…whether he wanted to or not.
Once the two finished their details on such a weird glitch encounter, although Miko added on a couple of superfluous details about certain excitements, Phil actually took the news rather well. As much of an info bomb as they brought, both figuratively and literally due to way the glitch imploded, he kept his mellowed out demeanor and said he would relay it to the higher ups in case something has gone array that they may have missed. He could have some information he purposefully withheld from the two or have a massive sense of relief to finally have some time away from the crazed BITT, but either way he remained pretty chill on such a situation. At best a hint of concern showed up once they told him about the massive explosion once they eliminated the glitch, but only because he had some uncertainty over many potential mind wipes. Even so, he didn’t get too surprised.
After such a huge hassle over a tricky glitch Five and Miko could basically fall over to the slightest of breezes, but they knew such a trouble didn’t mean they could slack off at any point. Even though they took down one troublesome glitch, in the age of Hinobi tech it only stood out as one of many still potentially out there. As such, they got back into the van and patrolled around a couple more areas for any other loose ones, which meant some well earned EXP if they bagged a high leveled one. Their scans around the areas paid off with a couple more glitches to bag, some big and some small, with various levels of EXP gain. Miko probably enjoyed it more than Five did, especially after a series of unfortunate events that drove her mood into the gutter, enough to make her more giddy than usual. For someone like Miko whose companions know her for her upbeat nature, for a wave of giddiness to course through her pretty much put her on overload. The sourness lingered in the back of her mind at all time, but thanks to some everyday glitch bashing put her into high hopes again.
Her attitude extended into the rest of the day and through the course of the night. She finally got some well deserved relaxation with a smile on her face. It almost tingled her from all over that also progressed through her sleep, and it only kept her in high spirits. Even as her mind wandered somewhere else it always lingered behind her like some weightless baggage. It almost worked too well for someone like her, and soon enough she couldn’t help but suddenly shudder. She felt goosebumps all across her her skin while her heart rate accelerated up a peg for reasons beyond her comprehension. It wrangled her a bit in her sleep almost up to a point where all of her emotions completely filled her mind. While far beyond the likes of a deep nightmare, they bombarded her and tipped the line back and forth between satisfying to acceptable. In many ways she never underwent something like it before and it filled her mind with so many questions that would make Five have a field day with her. She didn’t mind the intrusions too much even if they annoyed her to an extent. It still didn’t dampen her spirits too much even if she found it a little strange.
She would learn the hard way.
Once the alarm went off once more she knew morning had arrived. Her eyes moved open sluggishly before she reached over and shut it off. While she didn’t have work today, since other employees took over on certain days due to work schedules, she still lacked energy on wake up when it came to particular moments and after the glitch work done yesterday she almost tuckered herself out. Part of her kept a weight shackled to her leg while the other urged her to pull herself together.
Eventually her pulled herself free as she pushed herself off of her mattress and sat herself up. She noticed Lexi on the other side of the room wake up at around the same time as she rubbed her dreary eyes.
“Ergh…morning Lexi…” Miko said before she deeply yawned.
“Morning Miko…” Lexi answered while equally as tired. Her sister got to her feet while Miko attempted to do the same, but before she could put her feet to the group she saw Lexi’s eyes open wider than usual before she lightly screamed for a quick second and back up against the wall. It almost jolted Miko completely awake from such a rare reaction to come out of her.
Miko heard her stutter a bit while her eyes stayed locked.
“Umm, what’s with the sudden shift?” Miko asked.
“Yuh…yuh…” Lexi stammered to no end. “Yuh…you’re so…so…”
“Come on Lexi, spit it out.” Miko said with slight irritation and a flat face. Her younger sister eventually couldn’t take it anymore from the increasing buildup.
“You’re…you’re jacked up in the height department!”
If she didn’t fully wake up before, Lexi’s words definitely did the trick. Her eyes shot open as the rest of her senses kicked in. She immediately looked down to see herself only to notice nothing special at first. She still wore her recognizable cat top and everyday blue skirt so that didn’t strike her as something off, and then she finally got off the bed and onto her feet. Almost instantly the first signs pulled up as her head bopped against something above her. She ducked a little to see only to realize that she hit some sort of flooring, but a closer look revealed that she barely hovered under the ceiling. Her heart almost gave out as her pupils shrunk before she finally took a look downward. Lexi still had her back to the wall while her breath shortened almost like extreme hyperventilation, but it also revealed just how much scope she gained over her. Her head almost measured up to her knees while every other object acted almost like a doll from her newfound size. She had no possibility to get out through the bedroom door if she ever planned to, and she already had trouble keeping her head down from the ceiling. While she lacked the reason behind it, the facts all lined up.
She somehow became the biggest gamer girl in the city.
“I…I’m flipping massive!” Miko said as she looked down at her huge self for a second time.
“I’ve kind of already learned that, thank you!” Lexi replied as she started to slowly calm down. The much bigger Miko then gazed down at her sister with a small smirk.
“Well how about that Lexi? Looks like I’m now your much BIGGER sister now!”
“I get it, I get it! I totally get it!” Lexi answered. Her sister’s large head loomed over her like some sort of large blimp, much to Miko’s amusement. She still couldn’t believe that such a miracle occurred after her hardships that finally granted her the height she desired. If it occurred to anyone else they probably would go into a slight panic over the happening, but for Miko her mindset wandered into different territory. She couldn’t contain most of her long excitement and barely held it back by a thread. No more name calling and objects too high for her to reach, as she now had the height to match her up tempo personality and not chastise herself any further.
She nearly covered her face with her hands from her exhilaration.
“I can’t believe something like this actually happened to me! I don’t know how I ended up like this, but I don’t care! Five would surely…oh my gosh, I HAVE to show this to him when we meet up!”
“Can you stop talking to yourself and actually pay attention to the current problem here?” Lexi said as she crossed her arms. “I don’t know what kind of mishap you gotten yourself into from work, but frankly we have a different issue…like how you’re going to find a way out of here.”
As much as she already enjoyed her time as the biggest gamer girl, her sister brought up a slight consequence in return. Her room may have the capacity and staying power to support someone of a normal height, but for an amazon like her now it almost seemed like an impossibility. Not only that, but she also had to make it out without major notice, because while her gauntlet had the ability to mind wipe the higher ups stated to only use the technology when necessary. An entire crowd or city block of people was essential enough at times, but for a trivial problem, in her eyes, like a sudden growth she would rather not stoop to that mechanic.
Another hurdle showed up when the two heard knocking on the other side of their door.
“Miko? Lexi? I’m heard some rumbling going on in your room earlier. Is everything okay?”
The two girls immediately exchanged nervous gazes. They never went down for morning breakfast yet, and Miko’s increased size definitely made some unwanted noises to their parents, along with their other siblings, downstairs. If they never locked their doors at night their would easily get exposed about now, but thanks to the lock they had a little bit of time to think of a solution. With the front door out of commission Miko required an alternate route, but only one option stood out to the two of them and it looked like a tight squeeze. They didn’t say anything at first so their mother wouldn’t hear them, like some sort of sister code, while Lexi acted first and pointed straight at the window next to Miko’s bed. Her now much larger sister responded with a look of confusion and disbelief before Lexi crossed her eyebrows and pointed at it again. With no other option, Miko silently rolled her eyes and carefully swiveled around to face the window while she made sure to not make too much noise. She then bent over while Lexi stayed in the corner to avoid her sister’s large behind.
“Miko? Lexi? I’m talking to you both!”
Miko’s glanced back at Lexi while they both matched their nervousness and Miko made her first crawl toward the now small window. Her large arms pinned her bed to the ground while her head made its move. She put her arms in first which went through easily but it took a bit of cramming to pull her head through with minimal damages. It came with a consequence though, as she now got stuck on the spot.
“Umm, we’re fine mom! I’m just helping Miko with…a clothes issue!” Lexi answered. She clearly didn’t have an excuse at the ready. Miko tried to pull the rest of herself through to no avail which sent the message to her sister.
“With all of that rumbling? I can hear it all the way from the kitchen!”
Her mother spoke with authority while Lexi had her eyes set on her overgrown stuck sister. She cringed a little from the sight as she saw nothing the bottom portions of her sister which included her legs and…THAT end. She saw no other way to potentially get her out than to shove it which already made her gag under her breath. On the plus side, she could use the situation as a bargaining chip for future use, but she couldn’t if she didn’t actually do the deed in the first place. Miko owed her big time for bailing her out of another situation
“It’s, uhhhh…she’s finding it hard to pick out the perfect out for the day, that’s all!” Lexi replied as she approached the stuck Miko. She held her breath and closed her eyes before she charged forward and rammed straight into her sister’s behind. Even though she never considered herself too strong, her approach made some progress as it moved a bit of her enlarged sister’s body forward through the window. As for Miko, she felt the impact and knew she probably had to endure a couple more to get pushed out. Luckily for her nobody seemed to pass by or notice the weird set of circumstances currently happening in the Kubota household…except for the postman who just so happened to pass by after he delivered to a house next to hers.
He only required one look up at the enlarged girl in the window as she tried to use her arms to push herself out.
“It’s all in your head, it’s all in your head, it’s…all in your head…”
He wisely chose to skip out on the house for now and come back later. It didn’t do anything for the two troubled sisters though with their mother on the other side of the door.
“Well you can’t stay in there all day. You’re going to miss breakfast if you don’t hurry up!”
“One minute mom, we just have a little…problem with one of her skirts!” Lexi stated as she pushed against her huge sister’s behind with one of her shoulders. Her body stubbornly stayed put at first, but over time the reigns the windows held to started to slowly loosen over time. Miko pushed against the walls outside, which made some slightly damaged indents in the process, while Lexi hammered away with each passing bash to move her sister forward.
The two never had their full attention set to the amount of progress they made, so after what seemed around five minutes of window pulling and pushing Miko abruptly found the grip over her midsection immediately release after one final push from Lexi, which made the large teen surprisingly fall to the ground below. She shrieked lightly for a second before she hit the ground with a large boom, only to pull herself back up with a straight face and some dirt on it.
“Well…that didn’t go over well.” Miko thought as she got back up to her feet. Now that she finally made it outside, she got to compare herself to a new set of visuals…which only got her more giddy for her new height. She measured up to around halfway of her house from her angle and just one of her feet could fit the width of a slab of sidewalk. She even stood higher than a couple of trees around the neighborhood as well as the dozens or so cars in many of the driveways. It hyped her in a way she never completely understood until now. The tingling that occurred throughout the night drove her forward, and she had to show Five her new gigantic look.
Her eyes sparkled with her hands to her face from all of the fantasies that surged through her mind until she heard some shuffling behind her. Once she turned back around she saw Lexi from the window she fell out from and she had the same flat expression she had on earlier.
“That process never happened.” Miko said with a pinch of monotone.
“I’m sorry, what are you talking about?” Lexi answered in a similar tone. The two exchanged flat looks as they got the gist instantly before Lexi tossed a familiar type of wristband down into Miko’s enlarged hands.
“Please hurry and get away before the memories resurface.” Lexi stated while she closed the window with a small cringe. She finally got that troubled moment out of the way, so now she finally had the freedom to go around as she pleased while at her new huge size. First she took the moment to glance down at the wristband Lexi tossed down to her, which she recognized right away. While it didn’t stand out at first as anything interesting, Miko, and everyone else that worked for the Glitch Techs division, knew full well that their high tech glitch gauntlets specifically took the shape to avoid public detection. She didn’t need to activate it now, but one thing did stand out to her that she had never seen before. Her expectations set to a problem where she couldn’t actually wear the thing with her increased height, but in some sort of twist her personal band now rounded out and stretched to fit her now enlarged wrist without any sort of strain. She slipped it on right away and didn’t think too much about it other than the fact that she could glitch hunt at her new size, and she already wanted to utterly crush as many as she could.
Hinobi really thought one step ahead when it came to certain technologies, and their adaptive glitch gauntlets proved it.
*****
While the city had loads of hangouts for kids and teens of all ages, one made a particular name for itself for its balance of fun and games all in one. While on the outside it showed up as an out of place barn on the side of a highway, a closer look inside revealed a wealth of what every kid dreamed of. The main attraction usually stemmed from the long selection of arcade cabinets that originated from both old and new companies of the decades. For retro fans and newcomers of all kinds, the place well adapted to the current age of home media with many games that many couldn’t find anywhere else which got people coming back to it on a daily basis. From cabinets with long fake turrets to simulate a shooting gallery to simple but effect games like pachinko, the place had it all of the hottest arcade games. It didn’t end with those types of games either, as the little kids could even get with some of the physical classics like whacking mechanical objects that popped out with a cushy hammer or tests of strength that required one huge blow against something to see how high you went on the scale. It also included winding play tubes that extended near the ceiling and a large ball pit, which made the place a prime target for birthday parties geared toward young kids. All of it culminated into a wide open place where everyone of all ages could find some enjoyment if they so wished.
Nothing really came close to somewhere like Joystick Junior’s Pizza Arcade.
Dozens of patrons already flocked inside and had their eyes set on the endless enjoyment before them, which for someone like Five seemed like a dream come true. For today though, he had something else in mind. He couldn’t stay inside for too long since he agreed to meet up with Miko around the front doors in tandem with a small errand he promised to someone else. He finished up the deed rather quickly which only left Miko to arrive on time…which didn’t happen at first. With her chaotic siblings combined with her type of mindset he didn’t find it too surprising to see a couple of minutes flash by on his watch after the targeted time. If anything she knew how to make an entrance for herself if she wanted, which added to the unique girl that also was a good friend and coworker.
Five lingered a little more around the entrance of the establishment while he tried to keep his mind occupied with a couple of loose thoughts about all of Hinobi’s damages after the security breach combined with the fight with the malformed glitch bird.
“Hey Five, over here.”
His loss over his train of thought snapped him out of as he turned to the source. He recognized the voice easily as Miko’s, but he certainly didn’t expect her to make herself known off to the side. As for her entrance at the moment, she sure had something in mind if she stayed out in a couple of bushes next to the arcade, with enough to completely mask herself behind them even to Five.
“Umm, Miko? Is that you?” Five asked as he tilted his head. “Why are you-”
“I can’t exactly explain it in only a couple of words, so I’m going to need you to see for yourself, heeheeheehee!”
As much of circumstance he found himself in, Five handled a lot worse. With all of the Glitch Techs duties he tended to have his hand full at points that sometimes progressed into something much worse. However, he knew Miko and the way she acted so he understood that he she didn’t give off any danger whatsoever.
With the caution left behind him, Five approached the bushes but didn’t see much at first. He got a little confused until he heard Miko again.
“No, no, not over there. Come in a little closer.”
Even though he still didn’t consider Miko dangerous by any means, the way she wanted him in a specific spot stumped Five some. Even so, he still couldn’t deny her as he did as she wanted and went in further. The trees almost completely covered the sky and surrounding area at that point which gave off a relaxing breeze that wafted throughout the place. In some ways it almost felt like he could forget all of his worries and just lay down to relax, but he didn’t get lured in here for that. Miko wanted him here for a reason.
He looked around a bit and never saw a sliver of his peppy friend anywhere. She could have camouflaged herself against the scenery for some sort of prank even though she didn’t fancy herself to do it often or something else. Either way, he saw nothing of her at first…until a few seconds later. It began a bit inconspicuous until he definitely made out a spot of movement next to him. He could have panicked but remained with a steady mindset as he backed up a little. His heart raced even though he stayed put while he slowly made out some sort of lump that raised from a certain bush. He silently watched as it elevated higher and higher until it almost hit the tops of the trees. It abruptly stopped around that point before he saw it bend over toward him which provided him with a closer look. Once he determined what appeared he couldn’t believe his eyes, and eventually he found himself on the ground with eyes as big as his head.
“Hey Five, I see you’ve noticed my wardrobe malfunction in height quite nicely!”
“Muhmuhmuhmuh…Miko?!” Five stated in pure astonishment. His first impressions against her increased size started with quite the surprise. If anyone else potentially saw something like her at the time they probably would have taken it much more fearfully. However, for someone like Five who understood the person behind the costume change and the potential circumstances that surrounded it the quick amazement period lasted only for a brief moment before he slowly started to recover back to his normal state of mind. Even with the height of an amazon, Miko would never harm someone close to her like Five which played to his swift recovery.
He heard the huge Miko giggle a bit as he got back up.
“Well that’s one for the books! Man, the look on your face…priceless!”
“Wha…what happened to you?!” Five asked as he tried to believe his eyes played tricks on him. The huge girl got to her knees to get a closer look at him which rang a small boom on the ground.
“Heck if I know.” Miko responded. “I went to bed last night and, poof, I’m suddenly colossal. I had to go through a couple of detours just to meet you here without anyone finding out about…whatever I have going on.”
“So…you’re feeling okay with the increase?” Five asked.
“Five, do I look like I’m injured or have anything else going on?” Miko said as she loomed her large face closer to him. Despite the change in size he saw on his partner, everything else completely checked out. No scratches, bruises, damages, or scars of any sort and she still appeared to have her normal up and peppy personality she loved to express. He didn’t want to admit it, but he had his eyes set on her from the start.
“Okay…so you managed to grow somehow.” Five said as a small drop of nervous sweat fell off the side of his head. “We should probably report this back to the base since we can’t have-”
Miko’s demeanor quickly fell south with a look of disappointment.
“But Five, I finally got the one desire I’ve wanted for the last couple of days! I can’t let an opportunity like this fall to the wayside, as these sort of situation only occur ONCE IN A MILLENNIUM! Please don’t immediately kill my enjoyment just because it’s not natural. I’m perfectly fine like this, remember? Surely you can give me this ONE moment just this ONCE?”
Her eyes gleamed while she put on one of her wide friendly smiles. For Five, he teetered back and forth on the issue as it posed a risk that could potential get blown wide open. He liked to go with the more logical conclusion when faced with a decision, especially with his quick planning when goings got tough, but he also learned that it didn’t always usually meant that he should follow down that path. He had to make the hard call for Miko previously at one point even if the numbers showed the opposite result which exemplified the fact to him. However, a different dilemma stood before him which much greater consequences if they slipped up at any point. It almost didn’t make any sense to how he could make it work, but Miko really waited for a destined moment to finally reverse the effects of the insults thrown her way. Just because the percentages added up in one direction didn’t mean it resulted in the correct resolution.
A nasty nag in the back of his head told him otherwise, but he went for something different.
“Ohhh…well, okay fine. I feel really awkward going with this, but if you really feel like you need it I’ll let you stay like that for a bit longer. We do need to inform headquarters about your state at some point and I don’t want this to drag out too long.”
“YAY!” Miko exclaimed before she lightly jumped in the air. Once she hit the ground it shook and almost made Five lose his footing which she hastily noticed.
“Oops, kind of forgot my own newfound strength there. You still want to hang around me, right?”
Five lightly chucked at the miniature colossus.
“Miko, just because you grew larger, around maybe ten feet or so from my mental math, doesn’t mean I lost your friendship. You’re still the same Miko I’ve known since we worked together and no change in appearance will change that.”
“Aww, thanks Fives. I’ll never forget you either.” Miko answered. She would have spoken more if a certain ring didn’t hit her eardrums. Five almost got spooked for a second before he reached into his pocket and pulled out his cellphone only for his eyes to turn into dinner plates once the screen booted up.
“Oh shoot, I almost completely forgot!”
“Is something up Fives?” Miko asked. His dinner plates shot back up to his large partner.
“Don’t tell me you forgot about Marshall’s exclusive birthday party! We’ve been talking about it for weeks!”
Somewhere inside her head two wires sparked and came to life. Soon after her eyes almost shaped up like her shorter comrade as it hit her like a freight truck. Her excitement over her fateful growth completely shoved aside something the two yearned for in the last couple of weeks. Marshall didn’t come out of the closet often, especially as the son of a veteran game designer that formed a new game studio, but when he did everyone basically put bulletins on everything they could think of. As a gamer himself he got preferential treatment from his father with early game releases and betas, and even though the studio currently only had one game under its belt it became an instant success. Because he knew how good Five and Miko were as gamers it came as a no brainer that they got invited to one of the miraculous parties of the century, and the two couldn’t pass up such an opportunity with a gaming prodigy.
“…oh shoot, OH SHOOT, thanks for the reminder there! We need to get to that party PRONTO! I’ve waited my whole life for recognition from someone like him and I NEED that elite status as a gamer!”
“You don’t need to tell me twice!” Five said. “I actually came here because he wanted me to recharge his arcade card since he can’t exactly leave from such an event, but while I’m all set and ready you on the other hand, well…”
It didn’t take a genius to figure out what he meant.
“Are you going to kill my excitement of my new height already? You promised to let me have this for a bit!” Miko said.
“No, no, no, I still stand by that!” Five answered as he sweat comically. “We’re going to need some sort of idea to get you through without triggering anything.”
“I’m pretty you thought of something already in your slight panic.” Miko said, which made Five’s face suddenly go flat.
“Seriously Miko? I was just about to get to that point!”
The tall and expressive Miko couldn’t help but humorously snicker.
“Hey, when you hang around someone for so long…you kind of understand how they think.”
People often called Marshall’s humble abode “The Castle” for a reason. It didn’t look like a one million dollar mansion, but it sure had the capacity of one. From the outside the distance from the ground to the roof often compared to high class government courthouses compared to an everyday house, and it even had two large podiums around the simple door for anyone visiting to soak and take in. If the scope of the house provided indications of his supposed luxurious life, the garage told a different tale. The house eclipsed it and covered over half of it in a dense shadow, which often gave the teens that went over there the tall fables that the goth kids loved to hang in there when Marshall had his eyes somewhere else. Even though his dad had a company to run he drove a normal everyday blue van that had just enough to fit inside the garage with no major issues. Even though the house’s colors didn’t speak the same volume as its depth and sheer size, as it mostly consisted of white and gray, the features often mislead some people that his family had more money than the average person. He tried to set the records straight and dispel the musings but it didn’t matter in the end. Everyone still thought that the kid could own the world in his fingertips even though they couldn’t have isolated themselves further from the truth.
While the outside provided the window dressing, the main course remained inside. One quick walk through the door revealed that in matched the outside perfectly. Immediately guests would come across the family room that almost appeared like a huge lobby of a hotel with a ceiling that stretched to the skies and a large couch fit for some of the comfiest ones if they ever decided to sit on it. The back displayed a window that nearly touched the ceiling from sheer height and contained a couple of fresh plants on the sill near the ground. A large TV stuck plastered to the wall on the left in a long cabinet that contained the latest game consoles in a drawer under it, so any type of gamer could easily sit straight on the couch and enjoy the hottest games as long as they wanted. As much of a state of the art room many saw it as, Marshall didn’t tend to play there often not because of the setup but because he had a much better option downstairs in the basement. Like so many of the rooms in the house, it clearly had a different image in mind at first glance. From scope, it almost pulled off a look that made it feel like anyone waltzed straight into a gym complete with a small refrigerator that had a transparent door to see its contents. It even split into two separate areas that could act all on their own, with the left littered in dozens of toys fit for a young child while the right provided everything else. The right side even contained two small bedroom doors as if Marshall needed more guests than necessary. The back of the room however, contained the main attraction. A large flat screen TV that spread across the wall with another one of the comfy couches from upstairs right before it provided Marshall his gaming area of choice. He stated that he made the basement his gaming area of choice and those that listened couldn’t blame him. The main lobby had appeal but in terms of other features the basement had it beat. The usual impressions of his supposed wealth would have ended there if any of the other rooms didn’t exist.
The pseudo luxury continued through a short hallway next to front door but before the main family room. A transparent door shortly after lead to a compact room that contained a couple of bookshelves and a small desk that held up a bulky computer. While it functioned like a calm and relaxing room when it needed to for the most part Marshall went inside to usual computer business. Social media, web surfing, and usual business for his father occurred in such a stark contrast to everything else in the house. Details remained somewhat uninspired about the room so it didn’t get noticed much, which played to Marshall’s advantage when he required moments of isolation. It also applied to his father when he had to do business tasks on the computer, which Marshall respected when it came to those times. A short distance down the hall after it showed off the large kitchen the boy could treat himself to. A medium sized counter sat isolated near the front in a space to itself while a curved form of it extended across the wall next to it before it stuck out near the middle similar to types seen in restaurants and bars. Both pieces of furniture had a few stools around them and glistened from from the lights in the ceiling. Since the counters displayed surfaces like were made of sleek black Formica it made them extra shiny to visitors. A long wooden table that could possibly fit around a dozen or so people set near the back away from the counters, which also contained a common fridge and sink for ease of access. The main gathering for lunches and dinners occurred over there with particular stylized chairs that fit anyone who chose to sit on them, and also provided a great view of the TV in the other room since an entryway into the room set next to them. Another opening mirrored on the opposite side that lead to the garage but it did have a small bathroom crammed right before the door to rub in the fact that Marshall lived with everything in between so much already.
As much of an entourage of countless luxuries one could witness on the bottom and middle floor, everything topped off with an evaluation of the top one. Right next to the flock of stairs that went down to the basement, two flights of stairs drove upward to another part of the spacious mansion of a house. One quick race to the top and one would immediately take note of a small hallway to their left that lead to another small bathroom and two medium sized bedrooms for guests. As guest bedrooms they lacked much of a visual pizzazz that some of the other rooms contained as it only contained a basic two person bed, makeup vanity, and closet but they got the job done in the long run. A short trek in the other direction revealed a walkway to a small balcony that overlooked the massive family room and almost reached the ceiling. It almost made anyone who walked across it like royalty, which many who came in the huge house already felt like if the signs didn’t point that way already. A railing held back any potential absentminded people from injury, although a certain rumor stated that a construction worker fell off it once as the house was being built. Further down from the balcony revealed another small bathroom to the side before it ended right at Marshall’s own bedroom. While not the most eye catching, it gave off a certain vibe like any young boy’s dream. The dark blue walls combined with a rug that appeared like a small race track and a bed in the shape of a common red Formula 1 told everyone that he had a certain interest in fast types of race cars if he didn’t already tell them in advance. A common dresser set on the opposite wall while a couple of white doors set near the bedroom door that opened up to reveal his closet. All in all, Marshall’s bedroom really expressed his young kid attitude at times in contrast the exuberant royalty everything else seemed to indicate even though it wasn’t the case.
He didn’t act like he got spoiled in his childhood, but his mansion-like house told a different story.
Eager going partiers already flocked the front door with invites straight from the kid himself. His pseudo popularity contributed to the fact which he didn’t mind since he appreciated the company of ones that actually batted an eye in his direction. Five and Miko had theirs in hand by the time they arrived and one look at the Marshall’s abode got them staring in awe.
“I can’t believe Marshall, THE Marshall, wanted us at his actual party!” Five said with a big grin. “I don’t think I’ll ever fully live down such a momentous occasion!”
“You and me both Fives!” Miko chimed in with sparkles in her eyes. “Destiny had us on a hot line to grant us the best unlockable for so many flawless victories and I sure feel the enhancements!”
“I…I think I might…so legendary…” Five said with a small sniff. He then looked up to see the tallest gamer girl with a similar expression which suddenly canceled them out into their normal moods.
“Oh, errr…ummm, are you sure everyone might pass you off so easily? I still have a bit of doubt and we might have to pull out the mind wipes.”
“Sure I’m sure!” Miko answered. “Marshall knows a lot in the technology business, so if we convince him we convince everyone else.”
“I guess that makes sense.” Five said. “I still say we should have some caution just in case.”
Miko chuckled for a second.
“Even with the simplest of tasks you still love to overthink things.”
With everything now agreed on, Five and Miko made their move and headed up to the front door along with some other people that just arrived. Even as they walked up others already had their eyes on Miko and her “larger than life” height over everyone else. The two chose to not give them any attention to not arouse things too much, especially with their attention set on the party ahead. As a few attendees made their way through the front door Five followed behind, but Miko had a bit of trouble. Even though she made it through a window earlier, that didn’t mean she had gotten the hang of it in that time span.
“Umm, Fives? A little help here?”
Five turned back to see his giant friend stuck in the door halfway through. He fought the urge to smirk and roll his eyes as he approached her from the front and took hold of one of her large arms. It took a bit of elbow grease but it didn’t take long until she suddenly stumbled straight out and fell humorously on Five. Although easier than her scuffle through the window, Five ended up mushed against the floor with Miko’s enlarged body pressed against him. A couple of people that came in after them exchanged a couple of laughs while one even hastily whipped out her cellphone and snapped a picture before she headed off in another direction.
A couple of muffles came out from under her before Miko quickly pulled herself back up and saw her partner nearly flattened like a pancake. He had a kooky emotion all over his face that almost made Miko laugh a bit but since she knew what caused it she held back on doing so, although her cheeks puffed up for a few seconds as some tried to surface.
“…now that…almost got me.” Five said as he got to his feet and gasped for air.
“Okay, now that was pretty funny.” Miko said with one of her notable smirks. “We still need to locate Marshall though.”
“I…figured we should…” Five answered even with a bit of flattened lungs. They didn’t want to delay any further, so Five made his first stop in the massive family room while Miko followed close behind. She hit her head on the underside of the balcony but it didn’t hurt too much along with the fact that she knew that some troubles would come with her new bigger size. With such a large house some party patrons hung out in the large room, whether by chatting with others or playing the many consoles Marshall left out, but it also meant they got front row seats to witness the huge purple haired girl that just arrived. Reactions varied, but most of them only cocked an eyebrow in her direction. They didn’t think about it too hard though since they still had a massive party to go through, and with Marshall they couldn’t waste the opportunity.
Once they arrived in the large kitchen, where Miko had to duck a little just to get in, the ensemble of various patrons hit them immediately. They also noticed another pretty significant detail; the main kitchen table got crammed to the fullest in various pastries and sweets. From pies to cookies, Marshall made sure to cover all of the bases when it came to party sugar. Five didn’t pay too much attention at first, but for Miko her state of mind drifted far off from her companion’s. Her eyes and pupils went wide while her mouth dripped down as she started to salivate from such a prosperous sight. All sensible sensations to hold back ran off screaming while the other voices in her head pushed her on. She almost lost all feeling in her arms while her legs shuddered uncontrollably. She wanted it, she wanted ALL of it.
She got so caught up in her own disillusions that she almost missed Five call out to her.
“Miko? Hey Miko, is everything okay?”
She felt the imaginary splash across her face when the pictures of her surroundings popped in around her. She hastily gazed down to see Five near her large legs with a tilted head and confused face.
“Umm, errr, I’m fine…just fine.” Miko answered with one of the most obvious fake expressions imaginable.
It didn’t take a massive amount of brain cells to figure out that she had something in mind.
“You want me to leave you alone for a bit, don’t you?” Five asked. Miko kept up her cheesy smile as if to try and persuade him despite her height increase. Now Five had to hold back a couple of laughs from such a ridiculous set of circumstances. Miko’s huge height from something, her failure to hide the obvious details with her smile, and her stuttering remarks practically put on a show all by themselves that unintentionally put things into a set of moods mostly brought out by professional comedians. While he found it rude to classify Miko as a clown, when the situations climax just right for the girl she put her makeup on and provided a gold standard in comic relief.
“Okay, okay, even though we shouldn’t draw too much attention I’ll let you have this one moment. Meet me outside in the back when you’re done and the festivities start.”
“Got it Fives!” Miko answered with one of her standard wide grins. Her head instantaneously swiveled over to the table of sweets while Five grabbed the handle to the door outside and pushed it open. She clearly wanted time to herself even with her huge height and since he agreed on it earlier he wouldn’t pester her about it until later.
While he only heard musings about Marshall’s large not-mansion, he never picked up anything about his backyard…and he now understood why. His house had a lot going for it, but behind it gave off completely different vibes. He almost couldn’t fathom that the wealth of surprises didn’t end with only the house, but his eyes told him everything. Right as he took his first steps in Marshall’s backyard he quickly looked down to see that he set foot on the long wooden porch. It almost had too much of a natural feel to it as he turned his head back up to see the dozens of lawn chairs spread out everywhere and a grill to his right. Even though many party goers dotted around the premises he made out a type of meat sizzling and smoking from the grill, most likely a couple of patties or some cooked chicken. A small wooden railing surrounded the area but left an exit close by followed by a couple of small stairs to the real amount Marshall’s backyard held. A small type of swing set sat over to his right along with a slide next to it, probably from Marshall’s childhood. He couldn’t blame the guy for some of his kiddie toys that stayed out in the open, especially in a house that practically spoke for itself, but the vast field ahead diverted most of his attention into pure amazement. The long stretches of grass seemed to go on forever in an endless run, although he saw some other houses down the line to his left placed in such a way that he might accidentally tread into their own yards if he went further down enough. A couple of festivities already set up camp close by, such as a striped tent on stilts that housed some of the refreshments and a board to the side with a round hole that some attendees used for games of cornhole, which Five couldn’t wait to try out for himself. A small creek stretched a bit further down along the right of the field that didn’t go too far before it headed through a small hole, and a bit further than that set a small playground for the really young kids. It even contained a decent sized carousel that all kids loved to spin endlessly so they could try to throw their friends off. He chuckled to himself as the thought of Marshall doing it to some of his close friends almost sounded too good to be true. All in all, it almost felt like he just walked into a large park instead of someone’s backyard.
Marshall really had a spoiled life at points even when he didn’t know it.
Five wasted no time heading into the crowds for the festivities. He nearly shuddered from the sheer amount of stuff added just for Marshall’s that almost made him indecisive to figure out what to go for first. Eventually he settled on the refreshment tent and made his way around many patrons to get to it. A couple of coolers sat on the grass to his right while a small table covered in a white tarp had a place next to it that held a few plates of small appetizers like cheese and crackers. Even so, Five went for one of the coolers and flipped it open for a quick drink only for someone else to reach in and take on for themselves.
“So you also got invited to Marshall’s party. I didn’t think you had the experience to cut it to such outings.”
Five picked up a drink from the cooler before he got to see who spoke. Once he found out who his enthusiasm died a little, especially since it basically came as no surprise to see someone of his status attend a party for another gamer. He probably conversed a bit with Marshall beforehand and arrived early just because of how much of an opportunity that came from hanging around him. While not the only gamer that attended, he had a high profile around the city that almost seemed inevitable to get an invite to such an event.
“He thought I was close enough to get an invite, that’s all.” Five asked. “What’s your excuse?”
“Oh, you know, being me and all of my accomplishments at once.” Mitch answered in his cocky manner as always. “Me and Marshall go back a bit so it became a no brainer.”
“Really?” Five asked since he didn’t buy it. “I don’t recall Marshall saying anything about you in his ventures.”
“Because it involves, you know…WORK.” Mitch answered, clearly miffed. The way he said it indicated that it he meant not any normal job, but…their job. This surprised Five more than usual, as Marshall always had the guise of an everyday normal kid that just so happened to have a house the size of a mansion. With all of the electronics and luxuries dotted everywhere around his abode the pieces started to move into place until the picture pulled together.
“He…actually works there?” Five slightly stuttered. Even though he could obviously say the name due to the crowds of innocent people around them he couldn’t blow the secrecy even with the mind wiping technology under his belt.
“Oh, you never knew about that minor detail? I always thought common knowledge would easily find its way to newbies like you.” Mitch responded with a small smirk. He practically dripped smugness as he spoke to Five.
“Knock it off Mitch. What exactly does he do?” Five asked while slightly annoyed.
“He helps with funding when things get dicey.” Mitch answered. “I’m sure you took notice of how quickly repairs have progressed since the supposed break in and customer onslaught? All thanks to his contributions. Since his father just started that gaming branch he invited me as one of the many testers for anything awry with their first game…and you can clearly see my name in the credits if you ever played it.”
“Wow, way to rub it in there.” Five answered. Mitch didn’t take it too kindly.
“Don’t try to humor me. I’ve busted my hump to get Marshall where he stands today and even had to take some time off of work just to help him run this whole party. I’m more important to him than you think.”
“Whatever you say Mitch, I’m just here to hang out and enjoy myself.”
“Like searching for the so called legendary glitch that broke out?”
Five almost chocked on his drink once he heard Mitch speak about that topic. He thought only the higher ups at Hinobi along with Phil and Miko were the only ones to have insight about the current underlying problem after all of the incidents that occurred recently, but apparently some details slipped through the cracks if someone like Mitch heard about them. If anything he shouldn’t have too much astonishment since he yearned for perfection when it came to catching and containing glitches so his placement stayed on the absolute top of the leader board. Just another day in the life of a compulsive employee dedicated to his craft.
“Wha…what are you talking about?” Five asked after he recovered.
“You know what I mean. I’m talking about the one glitch that started the whole fiasco.” Mitch answered with an immediate dip in tone. “For something like that to break out it must have a wealth of EXP up for grabs. I may not have all of the details fully uncovered but I know enough to track it down for myself, and once I capture it…I’ll be the talk of everyone beyond what they already know of me.”
“Mitch, you don’t know what you’re dealing with.” Five said. “I only managed to get a brief glimpse of it, and from what I witnessed it has more power behind it than-”
Five never got to finish as he heard a call from the porch behind them. The two gamers turned toward the source and Five’s heart almost stopped. He knew the kid of the hour had a presence somewhere, but he didn’t expect to see him so soon after arrival. Even with so many others around him, he stood out to the ones that closely knew him and his traits. His light brown hair combined with a flat head helped separate him from large crowds and gave him a nice miniature representation of how his father appeared when it came to business meetings. One pierce of his azure eyes told everyone that he meant business while his jolly grin expressed his immense go lucky attitude he went for on occasion. He already stood at around the same high as any normal teenager when they just turned sixteen which reflected down to his choice of attire. For someone who loves to hang around others and show off when given the chance he didn’t decide on any eye popping visuals. Nothing but a casual type of t-shirt laden with vertical white and blue stripes covered over his chest while a pair of navy blue jeans covered over his legs straight out of a photo shoot at first glance. For his choice of shoes though, they supported a bit more eye catching designs like a couple of decals from some popular arcade games like Chomp Kitty and the Twin Murphy Siblings that displayed over the stylish black backgrounds. For a pair of loafers they really got the job done to stand out over everything else.
The kid fixated his sight on Five and Mitch while the party around him continued. He grinned as he walked up to the two like close friends.
“Ah, I see you finally made it! The more the merrier when it comes to what I can come up with!”
Five almost couldn’t find the urge to speak, but since he couldn’t act out of character around someone like Marshall he had to come up with something anyway.
“Wow, uhhhh, thanks Marshall!” Five replied. “Happy birthday!”
“Thanks Five, it really means a lot.” Marshall said before he turned to Mitch. “I see you’ve acquainted nicely with Mitch. The dude busted himself up real good with the assistance here.”
Mitch put up one of his cocky grins and flipped his hair like the next best supermodel.
“It’s a joy to help out the ones who need it most. I assume everything went by without so much as a hiccup?”
“Of course!” Marshall responded. “I even got in a few extra finishing touches to make sure today is one for the history books…for my family at least! Thanks for the help by the way.”
“No problem.” Mitch replied. While very subtle, from his body language alone Five could tell Mitch wanted Marshall to shut his mouth. The preparation couldn’t have gone that smoothly to see the city’s most prominent gamer carry some slight ire to the one in charge. Since Marshall already had a livened up attitude from a day that only arrived once a year it seemed relatable to hide any type of negativity to not upset him, especially with the type of reputation that he carried with him. With the two supposedly close in terms of the jobs they work for, as long as Mitch stayed on Marshall’s good side his reputations wouldn’t burn into fading embers.
The subject quickly diverted into another direction.
“While I would say that you should go around and mingle with others while enjoying the festivities, I need to address the elephant in the room first so I came to you as hastily as I could. I’ve gotten some tidbits from other party goers and I can’t let it fly under the radar.”
As much as he came to his own conclusion on what Marshall meant, after what Mitch said about his knowledge on the secret Glitch Techs branch of Hinobi his astonishment stayed around the set bar instead of over it. Even so, he tried to remained chill and not give anything away just to stay on the safe side.
“And what might have sparked you up so intriguingly?” Mitch asked. Marshall’s eyes and mouth went straight before he rotated back to the large porch behind him. It didn’t take long until Five heard some banging from behind the doors before the topic Marshall talked about literally tumbled straight out through the crowd. While Five had the knowledge about how Miko wanted to stay inside to munch on a couple of the pastries, he had no idea how much she intended to go through with. Her mouth had what appeared to be powders of white sugar all over like a rabid animal, but he only saw that as the least of his worries. Just like what happened as they arrived, Miko’s new size made it difficult to go through any type of door she didn’t completely dwarf over which meant she would tend to get stuck often. While she intended to stay as the tallest gamer girl for a bit, when she did find her way out of a doorway it wouldn’t go by without some sort of hiccup in her way. Once she finally pushed her way through the doors to the backyard she immediately fell forward into a continuous somersault across the wooden porch, which accidentally bulldozed over some innocent bystanders. They didn’t suffer any lasting effects, but it did hurt as if they suddenly got crushed under a large bowling ball. She never meant it at all, but it came as yet another consequence of her growth spurt.
As soon as she started rolling it immediately ended conveniently right before the three boys. She fell forward one more time and landed on her front inches from where the boys stood in one big boom. They stood silent as Miko slowly stirred back up which caught the attention of some attendees at the party. Even Mitch appeared to have a moment of surprise as the realization hit him, but it seemed to go by so quickly that Five questioned as to whether he changed expressions in the first place. Her hair got a bit frazzled from the tumble coupled with a few groans under her breath, but other than that she appeared okay and not seriously hurt.
She got to her feet at her own pace and held her head for a second from slight dizziness.
“Geez, I really need to find an easier way through doors at this rate. I can’t let such a simple slab of wood beat me like this.”
Five and the others stayed quiet for a second as the huge girl cleared her head. Their eyes opened slightly wider while others glared straight at her. She didn’t understand the commotion at first and thought that the sugary powder over her face had something to do with it, but before she could comment on it Marshall quickly spoke up.
“We need to talk over by the playground.”
Five and Mitch understood what Marshall meant by then. While she caused a bit of damage in the hassle, one glance at the kid’s face told the strangers that witnessed the act that he had everything under control. He spoke with no knuckles in his tone but he meant business with the gigantic Miko that stood out like a bright neon sign. Since the playground lacked anyone around it at the moment, it became a prime spot for talk somewhere privately. He soon motioned for the others to follow as he head down which the other obeyed with no questions asked. Five masqueraded his intense nervousness from Marshall while Mitch appeared as calm and collected like he usually did. Miko had things a bit differently though, as any free space around her soon vanished from the dozens or so party goers that had their attention set on such an unorthodox occurrence before them.
“Uhhhh…nothing to see here! Please ignore the abnormally tall girl and get back to, ummmmm…partying! Yeah, partying stuff! Heheheheh…”
She shuddered for a second and put on a tepid smile before she tried to move around all of the smaller partiers. The ones that got crushed under her tumble threw her ire stares but otherwise kept their distance from the massive girl. Her movements through the crowd didn’t fare much either as her enlarge legs ended up hitting a few others in the face. While not to the same degree as her roll through, they gave all of the shorter people a large headache. She even almost stepped on someone else that she barely caught in time and avoided, all while she tried to keep a low profile with obvious failing results. While it didn’t last long, Miko already left her mark even if she never intended to.
She hastily followed behind the others as each waning step made a strong impact against the ground, which the other three tried to ignore so they wouldn’t cause a scene despite Miko’s huge presence. It lasted until they made it to the empty kids playground, but for extra caution they headed near the back behind a couple of trees that completely covered them, including the giant girl. Marshall took one final look around the make sure nobody else followed or could possibly listen in while the other three fixated their attention on him. Miko had to get on her knees for a closer encounter which also consequently made a small boom against the ground that almost made the boys lose their footing for a second.
With the safety precautions set in place, Marshall laid it on them with no drawbacks.
“Alright, what happened back at headquarters to make her that huge?”
“Well, it’s kind of a funny story actually…” Five answered with a guilty expression. Mitch shifted gears in an instant and spoke his mind.
“Really?! From what I see something MUCH WORSE happened behind the scenes for your BEHEMOTH of a partner to suddenly reach heights equal to some of the tallest trees around here! Are you really that blind or just incredibly stupid?!”
Mitch suddenly found himself smacked across the face from one of Miko’s large fingers.
“Hey, I’m quite enjoying my time like this thank you very much! Can’t criticize my short height anymore now that I have the advantage now!”
“That doesn’t help the fact that you suddenly had a growth spurt behind my back!” Mitch retorted. “You better have a good explanation as to why you shot up like that!”
“I’m also just as curious, even though I’m not as offended like Mitch.” Marshall chimed in with his arms crossed. Five found himself in a bit of a predicament, as even though Phil insisted to keep the secrecy of the whole debacle behind closed doors Mitch and Marshall stood right before him waiting for an answer to Miko. While Mitch learned some concepts of the problem, such as the powerful glitch that started the whole thing, he didn’t fully grasp the severity and all of the damages it caused from its brief stint in the real world and Marshall had full knowledge of the whole Glitch Techs branch of Hinobi but nothing else regarding recent events. Even so, they had him cornered in a mental choke hold while they waited for something to come their way.
Miko would have spoken up first if Five didn’t take his chance.
“Well, I can give you the shortened-”
“Wait Fives, we can’t speak about it with someone oblivious to the facts.” Miko interrupted. “Do you want to test the mind wipe function or something?”
“Easy there big girl, I’m already in on the facts behind the scenes.” Marshall said. Miko didn’t completely buy it at first and loomed her huge face close to him.
“Oh really? How can I be sure you don’t have a cage of lies behind those teeth?”
“Because his father helps fund the glitch hunting branch in the first place!” Mitch intervened. “I explained it already to your buddy over there!”
“Easy Mitch, you don’t want to lose your hair prematurely now.” Marshall responded to Mitch’s freak out. Mitch took one glance over to Marshall and his stature before he shook himself off and did his best to calm down.
“Ergh…fine. I’ll deal with your antics JUST THIS ONCE. Now can you please explain what chemicals your partner got soaked in to make her into…that?!”
“To condense everything in as few words as possible…we defeated a massive glitch and it exploded right on Miko.” Five explained. “She woke up this morning and, well, you can see the results.”
“Yeah, and it took quite the elusive hiding to even make it here in the first place.” Miko said as she stared down at the smaller boys by her knees. Mitch and Marshall took the news rather adequately…in their own unique ways.
“Ah, so you were the ones who threw off the Richter scale yesterday! I knew I didn’t imagine things when that happened!” Mitch said. “What type of glitch did you even deal with anyway?!”
“Sorry if I’m butting in Mitch, but as much as I would like to learn just what type of messed up entity those two ran into we have the current situation to account for with, you know…the huge girl?” Marshall chimed in again. Five glanced over to Mitch who appeared to already have fumes blowing out of his nostrils. He understood that Mitch hated any type of diverting topic without his consent. If he didn’t authorize the changes ahead of time he would heat up in an instant. As humorous as Five found to mess with him on occasion, he usually made sure to pay him back when the time came. If Marshall’s presence alone didn’t calm him down, considering how the two were close if he had to believe, someone would become the punching bag for his venting.
Everyone stayed silent for a couple of seconds for the outcome, and luckily for Five the expert gamer took the easy way out and let the rest of his steam pour out.
“You’re lucky that I know you and the fact that it’s your special day.” Mitch responded to Marshall.
“Thanks for holding it in for once Mitch.” Marshall answered with a nod and a smile. He then addressed Five and the overly large Miko before him.
“Now can I finally ask how you intend to let this by without wasting one of your mind wipes?”
Miko looked down at her huge hands and twiddled her fingers for a second.
“Well…I kind of hoped to spread the fact that that I got doused in some sort of…highly nuclear waste or something, you know, like how it happens in the movies.”
“And I said that it wouldn’t pass, but she wanted to go through with it anyway.” Five spoke up as his face went flat, which Miko didn’t appreciate.
“Come on Fives, it always works as a ‘Get Out of Jail Free’ card in the cinemas! Girl gets doused in the stuff and grows in a mutant side effect! It works every single time!”
“Maybe on the big screen, but not here.” Marshall said with a shake of his head. “How about something much simpler like…one of my dad’s newest machines that needed a test run? Since I have control over the whole party I can easily say that you came in as one of the many surprises I had planned for everyone that attended.”
“Awww, really?” Miko replied with a frown. “I already had so many ideas to spruce things up with that type of story! I can play myself up as some sort of-”
“Yeah Miko, I’d probably go for a much more believable option for safety’s sake.” Five interjected. Miko frowned more in a humorous manner before she silently huffed and crossed her arms like a young child. Even while she had the taller height for once she still couldn’t enjoy herself the way she fully wanted.
“Then how exactly will you explain why your ‘machine’ looks like her and not, how you say…robotic natural?” Mitch retorted.
“Got that taken care of already.” Marshall answered. “I’ll say that I allowed her to take it for a test drive since she couldn’t make it to the party in person. I’ll also say the machine takes a holographic appearance of the user and allows them to control it remotely, even from far away. Satisfied yet?”
Mitch’s face remained stagnant but he got the message rather quickly.
“Normally I would call that an incredibly stupid and preposterous idea, but since you have a whole background committed to technology…I can MAYBE see this getting pulled off without a hitch.”
“Sooooooo…you basically have me booked as an android? A really, REALLY, huge android?” Miko asked. “As much as I’m not happy since we can’t go the nuclear waste route…I guess it can work as a decent substitute. Will I have to act the part though?”
“Not to an extreme degree.” Marshall replied. “Technology advanced far enough that I think you can act like yourself and get away with it. Trust me, I’m good at convincing others when it involves technology because I learned a lot with all of the business from my dad.”
“Yay! Thank you so much!” Miko exclaimed. What happened next surprised everyone, including Mitch to an extent, and caught them completely off guard. Miko quickly shot her hands forward and grasped the smaller Marshall with her large fingers, but before he could even react appropriately the giant girl brought him in closer and squished him right across her chest in one of the biggest hugs imaginable. Marshall’s back stiffened from sheer shock while Five and Mitch got taken aback more than usual. Five felt his cheeks heat up slightly as Miko showed her friendly affection while gigantic while his bones shuddered all over. Miko’s personality loved to swap over with a large teddy bear at times which always gave Five a small tug in the back of his mind. He didn’t understand what it meant so it fell to the wayside almost instantaneously, but he got annoyed having to deal with it when the situations aligned perfectly. Either way, Miko gave her condolences to Marshall in a way she knew how…like a large stuffed animal.
The giant Miko spent around half a minute with Marshall before she had enough and placed him back on the ground. Five managed to get a good look at his face and once he saw it he couldn’t blame him. His pupils turned into half inch bullet holes while his entire body remained stiff, something similar to how Five felt as he watched. Even though his attention placed on Marshall, he could make out Mitch on the other side who, as if a switched flipped, hastily reformed back into how he normally felt after the stunning action Miko pulled. While visually he appeared like himself, Five estimated that Mitch would have rolled his eyes and groaned to himself if he had someone else before him than Marshall. He probably had heavy defiance under closed doors while he wiped the memory from his cranium, which sounded like something he would go for without hesitation. The effects varied which painted everyone as someone different in every sense of the word.
Marshall stayed a statue for quite a bit which made Miko chuckle and snicker under her breath. Since progression halted so abruptly and Marshall wouldn’t move, Mitch eventually had enough and gave the stunned kid a decent smack behind his head. While not exactly a light tap, it had just enough to snap him out of it and jolt him awake.
“Woah! Well, errrr…ummmmm…” Marshall stuttered with a slight blush. “Uhhhhhh, thanks for the agreement there.”
“No problem!” Miko answered. “Sometimes I just can’t help myself, and at the size I am now…I basically had tons of screaming in my head to go for it.”
“Heheheheh, I’ll, ummmmm…inform the others at the party.” Marshall said as he turned to leave. The others could see him shudder and shake as he walked, and at that rate he wouldn’t get over the action in a couple of minutes. While it humored Five a Miko, for Mitch he didn’t budge as he walked behind him for support. He still wanted to remain on his good side after all. Five looked back at Miko and the two half smiled from such a display. Everyone has a soft spot somewhere.
The two followed behind Marshall and Mitch back to the party, and like every other time Miko’s large shoes made small booms against the ground with each step. Once they made it back, Marshall had a lot of explaining to do to make sure everyone stayed on the same page with the story he conjured up. He told everyone from the front of the pack that he had a special robot make an appearance for today thanks to the technologies his father helped create, and because it was his birthday he got to take it out for a live beta test. He chose Miko since she unfortunately couldn’t make it, and because he felt charitable and didn’t want to leave her out he got her to become the primary tester, which made the robot inherit her appearance to try and blend in even if it towered over everyone. Since Marshall said everything was still a work in progress anything could change when certain specifics got ironed out, and thanks to his tiring explanation the confusion from earlier changed into astonishment. Due to his background and knowledge of technology beyond the bare minimum, like how his father acted, questions fell to the ground as they accepted Miko’s giant appearance like Marshall intended.
As for Miko, whether intended or not, she got her fair share of the spotlight with the made up backstory in everyone’s minds. In many ways she enjoyed it, although she did have to act the part at times to keep the charade going. She had to hold back on breaking out in pure enjoyment when a dozen or so surrounded her large legs just to get a closer look at the “machine” Marshall surprised them with. For once she felt glad to always wear closed off shorts even though the faint idea never crossed the party goers’ minds. She didn’t have to witness any idiot sickos killing her fun as the massive girl she got to act as. It came with the side effect of Five staying relatively close, but not too far, since one misstep at her height could ruin a lot. As much as Mitch got riled up from seeing Miko tower over everything, once some attendees recognized the major gamer they swarmed him for recognition. If anything could calm him down into into his chill and collected attitude, followers ranked high on his personal tier list. As such, when he didn’t have his moments with Marshall, he reveled in his adoring fans like the celebrity the public painted him as. Suffice to say, the gamers had their hands full at every corner and they loved every second of it.
Of course the “large robot” that Marshall described as Miko couldn’t stay as the only major surprise Marshall had planned. The huge girl had her face stuffed in a majority of the pastries by the time Marshall called everyone up once more. She had difficulty as she tried to make it through the door outside, but since Five stayed close by he made sure to help out and get her through without becoming another pancake on the ground. While Mitch had his socialization with his fans at the time, talking about his gaming achievements in his everyday cocky attitude like usual, when the announcement that Marshall had another surprise he couldn’t let it slide. He had the reputation, and even though he slipped up a bit earlier with Miko’s massive appearance he still didn’t want to mess up any further, not with Marshall’s golden status before his eyes. He made sure to inform his fans that he would be back, but it didn’t matter in the end as they followed behind him anyway.
Soon enough pretty much everyone that attended the party crowded in droves before the one that hosted everything, and he had one big smile on his face.
“Okay everyone, today has been probably one of the greatest birthdays I’ve had in my life, and I’m extremely grateful to share all of it with you. Of course I’ve planned most things out already and am eager to tell you about another surprise to astound everyone. To think I have even more planned must sound inconceivable to some of you, but I got more under my sleeve than you can fathom.”
His announcement already got others muttering as to what he had in mind. Miko even tried to listen in at one point only to almost fall over and crush them like she did with Five earlier.
“I’m not out of everything just yet, as my dad invented something very special for this day that I’m sure nobody could expect. I already showed you the massive robot that my friend Miko took out for a test drive but now…feast your eyes on these beauties!”
The kid motioned over to his left that diverted the crowd’s attention. At first nothing appeared to show up but a few seconds later their ears picked up something wheel in from behind the trees. The instant the curtain pulled back the audience’s eyebrows raised. It came in on two large wheels straight from an automobile, which didn’t stand out too much compared to the main shaft. It looked straight out of a high tech sci-fi film, complete with a chrome coating and small blue lines that emitted on and off like someone hitting the light switch. It almost seemed like it didn’t belong in a location like the big city, even taking into account Hinobi’s innovating technology. Even with the appearance of the large object, one question lingered in the back of everyone’s minds. While its function stood out as obvious, everyone drew blank to figure out what it fired and how it did so. Iron balls? Missiles? It buzzed around them in an enigma of possibilities.
The volunteer that pushed it in withdrew back so Marshall could continue with his explanation.
“Yeah, I know right? Looks like a beauty, doesn’t it? Leave it to my dad to engineer something this powerful and fun all in one handy device. Okay, I get that it might just appear like some sort of weird cannon straight from the distant future but this baby packs a punch in one specific way, not lethally if anyone wondered. The ammo this huge thing takes in? Why, nothing but the finest…of colorful water balloons!”
Some of the onlookers showed more interest than others while another volunteer from close by carried in a box full of supposedly a dozen or so of the filled balloons. He made sure to keep steady as to not burst any on accident so he tread a bit slowly before he picked up the pace around the cannon. A lid near the back opened up before he opened the box and tilted it slightly to pour the contents into it, and like the others suspected the box contained water balloons of all colors. As that happened another volunteer appeared and carried a large red and white typical target in their grasp. She made her way over to a somewhat distant tree and carefully hung the large board right as the other volunteer finished loading the rest of the wet ammunition. The volunteers then made their way off of the field before Marshall got over to the back of the launcher with a big smile on his face. All eyes set on the kid as he took aim straight at the distant target, and before they knew it, one filled water balloon soared right out of the circular opening at blistering speeds. It seemed Marshall had his eyes on the prize the whole time, as the fragile rubber encasing ripped open and splattered across one of the closer rings. The target got soaked as the remains fell to the ground, but Marshall didn’t want to end it just yet. With one flip of a single switch, the boy let loose a barrage of water balloons right at the target with seemingly no remorse behind him. In some ways it freaked out some of the audience members, but it didn’t last long before he left the target on the tree soaking wet. Clearly some stress left him for him to go ballistic for a second, but in the end it still amazed a majority of the audience and left them yearning to try it out for themselves.
Marshall then got back out of the cannon to address a few extra details.
“Pretty nice piece of technology, huh? My dad always loves to think one step ahead. Now I know most of you probably want to try this out as soon as possible, but since I have so many people here I thought of a little activity that will determine who gets first dibs. This large lug has both autopilot and short lobbing functions, so with that in mind why not see who can catch the most of these water balloons in a row without a single one bursting? Whoever gets the longest streak has the pleasure of using this cannon first followed by the second, third, etc. You’ll get wet, that’s for sure, but it shows your dedication to this sort of arrangement. So, is everyone up for this?”
As if someone just scored a winning touchdown, the crowd in front of him erupted in agreement. Some every raised their hands in an attempt to go up first. While the variations of reactions waved all over the place, the Glitch Techs members already had theirs set in stone. Mitch stayed his usual smug self and didn’t care too much, which contributed to the fact that he didn’t have any interest in taking part when he already proved himself more than capable when glitches came loose. Miko and Five however, couldn’t have acted any further from the opposite of Mitch. Five always fancied himself with any new gadget he got his hands on, but to control something ripped straight out of fairy tales got his blood pumping for his behind on the seat. He took on much worse than water balloons anyway, which gave him a heads up over the possible competition, and he primed himself up to go before most of the others. Miko thought similarly to her partner, but possibly contained a bit more excitement than strategy which fit herself nicely. While she took hold of shooting things before thanks to her glitch hunting duties, she never took the helm of something like a full on turret before. She wouldn’t blame herself if she went mad with crazy power the instant she got hold of the controls while laughing insanely. In some ways it reminded her of those really engaging shooting games at the arcade that often carried her away and brought her into the zone. She couldn’t lose and end up in dead last which contributed to her great excitement. For a moment she completely forgot about her increased height as the thoughts clouded the reality around her, because she was a person that easily let her emotions take control of her. Just the announcement alone shook up the community around the party to a degree meant for events like catching water balloons.
Even though so many people wanted to attempt the challenge first, only one got the privilege to do so. The eager kid made his way up a decent distance away from the cannon with his arms outstretched and ready to go. Marshall smiled at the enthusiasm before he pressed a button to turn on the autopilot function and slower shots. As much as the kid aimed to grab as many water balloons as possible, before he even knew it he found himself drenched all over from a single missed one. He stood shocked for a second before he slightly sulked back to the crowd. He ego clearly got the best of him, but it benefited the others who now understood what to go for. The lines progressed at their own pace as more attempts hovered around the front gates of the game, with some more successful than others.
Five never saw his turn coming until he found himself up at the front. His excitement nearly blew the roof off of his head as he stared down the ready cannon and Marshall’s supportive expression. He wasted no time to get into position as the barrel glared at him with a certain itch he needed to get off of his chest. His observations from others before his turn got a pretty decent streak down the line but with his quick thinking he could possible go even longer. He only required a quick reaction time and everything would fall into place for him.
He could hear Marshall at the other end with the cannon.
“Hey Five, you ready for this?!”
“Marshall, I was BORN ready!” Five answered. He barely saw what appeared as a faint chuckle from Marshall before he turned and pressed the combination of buttons. He almost missed the first shot as it whizzed toward him, but a couple of instant calculations got him in the right spot before the water balloon landed right in his grasp without a single tear or pop. Some of the others that watched had their eyes open a bit from such a swift and delicate catch all in one, but he still had plenty more down the road. Soon after another water balloon launched straight out that also resulted in a safe catch, which reinforced the fact that he had a strong streak down the line. Each one whizzed by his head in a dashing blur which left next to no margin for error, but he made sure to not bring out any type of safety net. He kept going, and going, and going that got some part of the crowd hyped for more action. Five sure entertained them just by his quick thinking and reaction time.
After a while fatigue started to settle in, which brought him the one mistake to end all of it. He failed to figure things out in time before he took a large splash across the face. While he felt some slight disappointment, he knew he reached high in the leaderboards when it came to the cannon shots. He only needed to hear the number, and once he did it didn’t matter about his abrupt end.
“Wow, I think we have a real showman here today!” Marshall exclaimed. “We just saw fifty six straight catches with no breaks! You really showed the dedication to the craft there Five!”
Five rubbed the back of his head a bit as he walked back to the crowd of amazed eyes. Mitch didn’t bat an eye in his direction since he only looked out for himself most of the time, but for everyone else it almost felt like a superstar just set foot on the premises. If he set his mark on anything that day, the high streak basically engraved his name on a plaque high with the pros. He made sure to get one of the first dibs on the cannon as everyone else trailed behind.
Right after him stood his enlarged but peppy partner. She had her attention set on the bursting cannon for the most part, so when it came time for her to go up next she almost missed it. The ones behind her questioned as to why she got to compete since Marshall spread the word about her guise as a robot, but in the end most had their excitement crank up as they finally got to she her in full blown action. That didn’t mean she wanted to slack off either, as she fully intended to reach a streak high enough to not have to wait too long for her time with the long launcher. Her increased size meant nothing as long as she took each shot with instantaneous hand motions. Her game face enhanced up to eleven for such a trial ahead of her.
“Alright Marshall, hit me!” Miko exclaimed. The aforementioned kid gave a thumbs up and revved up the cannon’s autopilot. Unlike someone like Five, Miko never hesitated to get her hands dirty so the instant she saw a water balloon fire right out of the barrel she got on it in milliseconds. With only one reach of her titanic arms she safely snagged it straight out of the air. To say her swift movements entranced the audience only undermined its true nature. Five caught their eyes earlier with his impressive streak, but Miko and her skills the feelings into its purest form. She could hear the cheers from the sidelines for her to go further beyond which she would happily oblige to. Her abnormal height actually complemented the reactions into a greater spectacle and made each successful catch more meaningful to someone like her.
The praises that came her way motivated her further. One after one her enlarged hands caught each one effortlessly.
Keep going.
Go further.
Make history.
Her dedication slowly raised from the itch she couldn’t scratch. Everything around her faded into nothing as she made them out as nothing but inconsequential. Catch after catch, if she failed she would never live it down, but the itch now covered the entire back of her head. Her steel clad self chipped to reveal the wood underneath as it slowly made its way down and demanded that she keep going, but it never left behind the depths of pain. If anything, she loved every second and made her desire for much more even if her expression told otherwise. Her game face remained dominant while her entire back fell to the itchiness and spread to her legs. She could easily brush it off with each passing dot that came into contact with her fingers even as her inner factory shook. She pushed more and more toward her limit that made sweat pour down her forehead, although she could have just gotten wet at some point and never realized it. The spreading rash eventually took hold of her back and gripped it in a spiral of stiffness that would have taken her under if she gave it attention, but she focused on the dots as she caught each one. Her neck fell next before it tapped on the shoulder one final time for her last phone call that resulted in her not budging an inch. Its sharp smile reach the apex of her skull while another water balloon whizzed into her sight. She opened her palm again to effortlessly catch the water balloon with ease.
The last piece of her sanity ripped to shreds with nothing left.
Everyone waited in eagerness to see what the giant Miko would go for next, only for it to transform into confusion. One moment she had her concentration set to max, the next she instantaneously buckled up and collapsed straight on the wet grass with a small boom. Her eyes went black as her body wriggled about across the ground, which Five couldn’t take standing idle. Marshall even slightly panicked and shut off the cannon before he rushed over as well, although since it didn’t concern himself Mitch never set foot in her direction. Many others wanted to help but they had no idea if Marshall planned it or the “robot” would go suddenly go berserk at any moment. Marshall’s made up story about Miko’s sudden height gain came back to bite him in the butt as it disguised the true nature of the situation.
Five ran up to his large friend and tried to get through to her.
“Miko! MIKO! Are you okay?!”
While he had no idea initially if he succeeded as her body flailed all over the place, once he saw her gaze back at him he got the right idea. She could have explained what was going on, but she didn’t need to. One quick look across her face spelled out everything he needed. He’s seen Miko in so many emotions during their time together as partner, but never had he witnessed something come from her that resonated something terrible, possibly the worst kind imaginable. For Miko to undergo THAT type of torture without lifting a finger definitely meant something utterly grim and dangerous over the horizon.
He would have went in closer to try and shake her out of it, but then he heard something come out.
“...Five? Five?! I…I’m burning all over!”
She still held on to the last amounts of consciousness left but still shook and rumbled all over.
“What’s going on?! Are you having a seizure or something?!” Marshall exclaimed in slight panic. He had no idea what to do to the gargantuan girl before him as she writhed along the ground.
“No, no, not…that…” Miko muttered as it shot up again. “Get away…GET AWAY!”
Her shouts couldn’t have grabbed any more attention, and soon most of the party had their eyes on the young girl as she gripped the ground for any semblance of relief. Marshall and Five had no idea how to help out if the didn’t know what was going with her, but their wait soon abruptly revealed the first signs. Some slight beeping sounded from around Five’s wristband, which his glitch gauntlet formed into for casual outings and to remain secret from the public, and once he caught a glance it made his heart skip a beat. It detected some type of energy all around Miko but like the incident with the glitch bird beforehand it couldn’t determine anything else about it. In fact, his wristband started to sputter as it picked up more indescribable details in some sort of overload. He had no idea behind the set of bizarre circumstances, and then his attention turned over to Mitch for a second as his wristband began to suffer the same set of occurrences. He looked down at it and tried to figure out it out while getting increasingly frustrated when nothing seemed to work on it, only for Miko’s band to follow suit with the malfunctioning.
Then the true symptoms crawled in.
“Errgh, it hurts all over! Make it stop, MAKE IT STOP!”
Her pain fell further and further into the bed of spikes while Five tried to figure something out, but he didn’t think for too long until he saw something happen to Miko, and it complicated things to a worse degree. It startled off a bit inconspicuously until the pace picked up where it became much more apparent.
Miko had another growth spurt on the way.
Her limbs may have flew everywhere in sheer pain, but Five could see the true culprit as her entire body expanded to greater heights. Her clothes stayed intact thankfully enough, but even as she flailed against the ground they soon got a bit dirty. Her screams got worse as she took up more and more space with her growing body and no end to it in sight. To make matter even worse, she still had the crowd of party goers on the sidelines that remained clueless as to the true nature behind the ordeal. Fie needed to get Miko out of there before her growing got too much for them to handle.
His options remained slim but he had to think of something.
“What the…what’s going on with this?!” Mitch exclaimed to himself as he fiddled around with his band. Some other kids tried to get a sneak peek only for him to shove them away.
“I hope you thought of something Five. I can handle crowds at my house but not an ever growing girl!” Marshall said with a hint of desperation as Miko continued to cry out in pain.
“You mean stuff that MIGHT be feasible?! Yeah, I’m still working on that front!” Five answered while just as panicked. Their delays over what to do in combination with the wailing and growing Miko shorted out Mitch’s fuse until he couldn’t take it anymore. Without even so much as a pinch of remorse, Mitch pressed a few buttons on his band which uncovered its identity and turned into his glitch gauntlet. Before any of the others around him had a chance to ask anything about it, he turned back and aimed straight at the crowd before he fired a bright strobe right at them. Even though the gauntlet had its scanning function on haywire due to the excess of weird energy, it still had enough untouched to have some of its features work without issue which included the all useful mind wipe. While other employees like Five and Miko tend to use the option only when necessary Mitch would freely whip it out if he ever felt the need to, which included personal benefits.
The crowds of partiers immediately went blank upon the light hitting their eyes and stood almost like they got entranced by an immense wave of hypnosis. The first step went off without a hitch, so now Mitch required one final step to seal the deal.
“Everything is fine. Go back to your socializing as the party must go on.”
A dozen or so patrons parroted his words before they turned back to the wooden deck supposedly for some sort of enjoyment in their trance. They eerily swayed back and forth while they tried to do stuff to a certain degree as Mitch glanced back down at his malfunctioned gauntlet. The intensity of the mind wipe didn’t go up too high but not too low either, which he determined as a good amount to delay things a bit until they can somehow get the growing Miko out in one piece.
The arrogant gamer steered his attention back to Five and the others.
“I got you around ten minutes to settle this fiasco, so get going! I don’t have all day!”
“I’m thinking, I’m thinking!” Five answered back. While he never wanted to pull out a mind wipe at all during the trouble, Mitch whipped it out anyway and did the action for him. On the flip side, it gave him some buffer room but didn’t give him any ideas to potentially help him out. At least his ears stopped hearing Miko cry out to a high extent, but she still didn’t stop growing any time soon. At the rate she kept at none of them had the strength to push, pull, or carry the huge girl out of there, and even though Marshall owned a plethora of technology it mostly consisted of gaming related perpetuals. Nothing at their disposal worked to move Miko an inch let alone out of someone’s backyard.
With nothing on the table, he had to go for a type of last resort.
“Miko! MIKO! As much as I don’t want to ask for this, we need you to get on your feet so we can attempt to find a safer spot! Please pull it together just this once!”
While she did stop screaming to a certain extent, she still writhed and squirmed everywhere on the ground while the conditions got worse. From all of the painful signs it almost seemed like she had no control over if she ever contained the strength to break away, but Five knew Miko. She barged into situations without a single thought and managed through nearly every single time. If she had to, she definitely could muster up and not let any type of opposition control her especially from something beyond their normal reality. She succumbed to a lot the moment it started, but she had the willpower to control when it ended. It made her a partner and friend he wouldn’t hesitate to help out.
Everything pointed direly in the wrong way as hope appeared to fade…only for Five to see his giant friend slowly turn her head up toward him from the ground.
“Five…Five? Please, I can’t take…this amount anymore…”
Her body still had a mind of its own but to finally see the Miko he knew under all of the suffering it kindled a little happiness in his chest. She continued to expand, which only spiked her pain at points, so they needed to act fast before Mitch’s mind wipe wore off.
“Just hold it in a little longer Miko, you need to get out of here.” Five said.
“You don’t need…to tell me twice…” Miko answered. While her mind remained intact, as to whether she could wrangle control back to her body was almost a different matter altogether. It almost seemed impossible after the sudden collapse, but Five knew she had it in her to pull through. He kept hope bundled up in him as Miko closed her eyes and clenched her teeth, and after a few more second the first signs appeared. Her legs slowed down until they stiffened to a standstill followed by her arms and midsection. She shuddered for a second or two before her palms planted against the ground with a loud boom, and before Five knew it he saw Miko make her way off the ground one at a time. She didn’t have a free pass throughout the whole process as her rather tight expressions clearly told him that she still had pain course through her. To make sure she had some extra room, Five and Marshall backed up a bit just as the giant girl put a foot to the ground. She shuddered once more and held her breath one final time before she got on her other foot which finally got the stricken teen back to her full height. She held her chest while she bent over for a second, but even then Five could tell that she surpassed her previous height by a wide margin…and she still had more coming.
“I’ll handle things back here, since it’s still my party after all, so you can get Miko out of here. I wish you guys the best.” Marshall said.
“Thanks Marshall.” Five said as Miko took her first ever growing steps that increased in volume. She made her way slowly out of the backyard while Five followed after. Mitch would have went after them if Marshall didn’t interrupt him for a second.
“You going after them? I thought you only cared about the EXP and nothing else.”
“I still do.” Mitch replied with assertion. “I’m only doing this to find the exact location of the glitch that caused that type of change. For one to pull off that type of power must have a fortune behind it for its capture and I can’t miss that opportunity.”
He then took off after the waning giant footsteps of Miko which left only Marshall and the entranced crowds. It would take a bit before they snapped out of it, but when they did they wouldn’t have any recollection about Miko’s huge appearance and only know about the party around them. The aftermath of the whole thing made the kid chuckle under his breath and roll his eyes happily.
“Heheheheh, guess I still have a lot to learn about that particular branch and its crazy fiascoes. How does my dad put up with that?”
*****
If getting a girl nearly ten feet tall through a neighborhood without eyes pointing her way only barely scraped by, to get one growing even bigger while she had pain swelled in her would never pass. Trees that once covered her now barely reached her waist and she kept going up. Sufficient movements never mattered anymore which inevitably got her noticed more than once. Mitch had a trigger finger though and made sure to mind wipe every single person they ran into, which Five would usually hesitate on unless necessary. It only got worse once Miko’s pains intensified and forced her into having a light head which resulted in a couple of cars and trees suddenly collapsing once she tripped over them. Five and Mitch used their gauntlets to repair the damage in seconds but it didn’t make each trouble less tedious in the long run. She even fell over in pain in the middle of a busy cross section that not only made a massive imprint into the road but also got crowds of people to stare in bewilderment in her direction. Five and Mitch had to crank up their gauntlets when those situations happened while they avoided getting crushed by Miko themselves. To think they had to watch over one of their own teammates while she accidentally wrecked everything as she grew with each passing minute. Only with Glitch Techs could something like that sound normal.
Mitch already concluded on a destination where Miko could hide out, and it just so happened to be a location somewhat close to the Hinobi store. At first glance it didn’t appear like anything special, and with Miko’s growing presence getting in without serious damage seemed like once in a blue moon. Because of the impossibility, Miko wasted no time busting down one of the walls effortlessly which required a quick repair by Five’s and Mitch’s glitch gauntlets. Once everyone made it inside, the full interior lit up before them as they turned the lights on. While a bit dusty at first, everyone definitely determined the whole building as some sort of gymnasium, or at least something close to it. Each side of the room supported a large pair of metal bleachers that had the capacity to hold at least twenty people per row, and its height reached around the halfway point of the whole interior. Five would tread cautiously across them even as they appeared sturdy from a distance. Since nobody else showed up as they arrived, the place potentially never saw life in a long time which meant anything could fall over and collapse in an instant. Even though the bleachers basically gave away the place’s past, the two small balconies above both sides only reinforced it. From his angle he barely managed to determine a couple more bleachers near the back of them on a smaller scale due to the fact that they stood near the ceiling. If the bleachers under the balconies couldn’t hold the weight from first appearances, Five bet the ones on them fared no better. At least some sort of rickety rail at the balcony’s lip held the people back should anyone go up there, but since the whole area lacked life it almost seemed like it never mattered in the current day and age. Faint patterns spread across the floor that Five couldn’t make out along with a couple of banner that appeared to have corroded away at one point. Just the thought that he had a presence in such an area gave him a couple of chills. Wherever he wandered into, it irked him in a way he didn’t like.
Miko’s massive height made her movements that more intensifying than the ones by her feet, so once she made even the slightest movement against the ground it almost made the others lose their footing from each loud quake. While more pressing matters diverted their attention in another direction, she still needed to adapt to the new size to not trouble them too much.
“Umm, Mitch? Where did we stumble into exactly?” Five asked with a slight tremble. Mitch stayed cool and level headed despite the surroundings.
“An old storage facility the store used during busy shopping days.” Mitch answered. “They reworked it from an abandoned basketball court. While efficient, better storage methods cropped up over time so this place nowadays gets used for spare space…like hiding your massive friend there.”
“Hey, I suffered a lot back there buster!” Miko’s loud voice rang. “I’d like to see your face if you understood what I experienced during those painful moments!”
The wide space meant her voice reverberated around the area which caused Mitch and Five to cover their ears for a second to drown a bit out.
“Tone it down a bit, you almost blasted out my hearing!” Mitch exclaimed. As much as she wanted to retort back to him, she didn’t fully understand the consequences of her new height just yet. To better prepare herself she settled down and tried to keep her voice low.
“Okay, okay, I’ll tone down.” Miko answered back while she fought the urge to roll her eyes. Since she appeared not not have any more pain built up in her and have no more growth spurts, Five and Mitch got the chance to get a good look at the girl’s increased size. Mitch remained level headed as usual but Five couldn’t believe his eyes. Earlier today she stood about as high as most tall trees, but now they completely sulked in her shadow while she gazed down at them. He needed to know the exact numbers, so in a bit of a haste he fired up his glitch gauntlet and fired up one of its useful functions. With a couple of taps on the miniature screen, a faint silhouette of Miko displayed along with some numbers that rapidly flickered between every single digit. The model rotated for a bit before the definitive numbers got calculated from the internal memory. Once the teen saw the calculated answer he almost lost his breath. He couldn’t accept the fact that his friend reached that type of height over that particular time span.
Even so, he needed to inform Miko about it.
“Miko, you…you gained more height than I could imagine…and the numbers don’t lie…” Five stuttered while he made one more worried glance back to the screen.
“What does it say there Fives?” Miko asked to her friend down by her knees.
He almost couldn’t utter the words.
“According to the gauntlet…you…you reached the fifty foot mark!”
His words sent waves throughout the room which put all three of them in shock. Five could feel his heart stop while Mitch couldn’t believe his ears. It stunned him at such an incredible level that he even required a glance at Five’s screen for himself to make sure he told no fibs, and when he saw the numbers clear as day he still found it hard to take in. As for Miko, her jaw hit the floor as everything flooded into her head. The great five zero held a certain benchmark when it came to various forms of media, such as giant monsters, tall buildings, and even massive princesses on occasion, but it never occurred to her that she would get the chance to live it out like that for herself. So many conflicting thoughts ricocheted along the walls of her head from pure excitement to questionable worries which held her in place as she tried to comprehend what she heard, but since the other two currently had their own stunning reactions it didn’t get noticed.
In fact, pure shock resonated through everyone so much that they almost completely missed out on Miko’s companion pet freely coming out of her wristband disguised gauntlet until her full form zipped into existence. She stretched her wings and squawked happily before she turned around and took notice of her now humongous caretaker. It caught Miko’s attention and made her smile at her now small bird buddy.
“Oh, I almost forgot about you Ally!” Miko said. “Got caught up so much with this whole growing thing that I forgot about my animal buddy!”
Ally’s eyelids dropped halfway as her beak went straight. She uttered some flat bird noises that Miko understood immediately.
“Okay, okay, I didn’t completely forget about you! I just couldn’t risk accidentally stepping or falling on you since I can’t stand the potential of you taking damage. I guess you can determine why I thought that just by seeing the obvious, heheheheh…”
Ally’s eyes remained flat while Miko tried to explain to her now miniature bird companion. She clucked a bit under her breath as she slowly walked up to Miko’s huge knees and continued her gaze right at her. To think that her companion pet could unnerve a massive girl like herself painted a humorous picture to some that looked too into it, but it shined a different light to the ones getting affected. Before Miko could attempt to try and pick up Ally the bird disappeared and zipped right up to atop the girl’s shoulder with her blank pupils giving no signs to how she thought. Miko stayed silent in case her huge stature might scare her off, but soon after everything evened out as Ally gave her huge face a friendly lick on the cheek. Miko smiled to her tiny bird friend as she now knew that Ally still cared for her in every sense despite her different approaches to how she expressed herself.
“Oh, I’m so happy to have someone like you Ally.” Miko uttered at a tone that only Ally heard. Her Chicky Chum partner squawked kindheartedly while Miko used one of her giant fingers to pet Ally on her head and back. She enjoyed like like most pets which calmed her down enough so Miko could try something a bit riskier. Since Ally truly cared for her than she wouldn’t mind that much, but Ally could have a mind of her own at times so she still held back a little in caution. While Ally still had her eyes set on her caretaker’s huge face, Miko carefully loomed one of her hands in close but not too much to possibly spook her away. Without any other moment of hesitation, the huge girl grasped the bird with two finger gently before she plopped Ally straight into her palm. As she had hoped, Ally didn’t mind and clucked much to Miko’s satisfaction.
“I knew you would understand.” Miko muttered to her feathered friend before she brought in Ally close and snuggled her smoothly against her cheek. The bird clucked again then proceeded to enjoy herself next to her friend. Whether giant or not, they had a strong connection.
Of course the situation couldn’t have gone the polar opposite for the other two. While Miko and Ally bonded Mitch had to speak his mind to none other than Five.
“Fifty…agonizing…FEET?! She could mow over an entire building with a single breath! Do you expect to just parade her around like some sort of festive float?! She CLEARLY can’t handle herself if you couldn’t tell earlier!”
“Mitch, I’m still trying to figure everything out!” Five retorted. “Clearly something happened during that incident to make-”
Some type of ringtone rang through both of their hearing before Five could finish. While Five didn’t understand it at first, Mitch knew immediately and glanced down at his gauntlet. He smiled once he saw a particular photo pop up along with a name next to it.
“About time he finally picked up.” Mitch said with a bit of a scuff. Five glanced at the screen after and understood what Mitch meant soon after.
“Did you ring up our boss at some point?” Five asked.
“Of course I did you low leveled grunt.” Mitch answered with one of his insults. “With a situation like your partner there I had no choice but to call for some extra insurance, as much as I prefer to go solo, since you distinctly have no clue on how to handle it. A crisis like her carries too much weight for someone of your skill level.”
Five would have responded back strongly but another beeping noise went off from Mitch’s gauntlet. A few seconds after a clear picture of their boss Phil displayed over the gauntlet’s screen, and unlike the previous days where he sort of freaked out over a certain hassle constantly on him, he appeared completely content for once.
“Hello? Did someone ring for me?” the picture spoke. Mitch looked down at it followed by Five.
“Yes, I did.” Mitch answered. “We have a pretty dire situation up here and I need you to see for yourself.”
“And that would be?” Phil asked. Mitch didn’t delay at all with the reveal and immediately pointed his gauntlet straight at the enlarged Miko with Ally in her huge hands. The two still were in a time of their own until Miko set her sight on the two boys down by her knees. Despite the obvious differences in size, it didn’t take too long to figure out what Mitch just did and once it occurred to her she froze for a quick second which seemed to also carry over to Ally even though she lacked emotion in her face for the most part.
Miko unintentionally stared down her boss on the small screen as her pupils nearly disappeared.
“Oh, uhhhhh…hi there. Ummmm, everything is going…along nicely as you can see!”
Miko attempted to put on one of her cheesy tepid smiles before she weakly waved a hand as if to pass off the true nature behind everything. However, just like all of her bad attempts to hide something, it only made things more obvious which Phil caught on rather quickly. While not too shocked unlike the others, he did raise his eyebrows upon the revelation.
“You’re not pulling my leg, right? Am I really seeing Miko that greatly huge?” Phil asked.
“Of course I’m not lying! She suddenly grew right before us!” Mitch replied. “Got anything to possibly do something about it? I can’t be seen lugging around with a massive weight like her!”
Miko immediately frowned as she instantaneously got in close and flicked Mitch on the backside of his head with one of her huge fingers like beforehand.
“Excuse me?!” Miko answered with a punch in her tone. She didn’t get to answer back any further as Phil spoke up first.
“Easy there, I’m pretty sure that one patrol had something to do with it.” Phil responded as his line of sight soon turned over to Five. “So did this just recently happen?”
“Well, sort of.” Five explained. “She said she found herself suddenly growing when she woke up this morning, and after somehow avoiding detection we tried to go somewhere only for her to grow again to the fifty foot colossus you see right here.”
“I dealt with quite the surge of pain back there!” Miko chimed in with a booming voice.
“And now we’re stuck in that old storage facility to hide her away for now. She could grow again at any time and we have no idea how to deal with it, so we need some sort of assistance!” Mitch said as her tried to hold back as much frustration as possible. Five could tell just from his face alone that he tugged on his leash with every amount of strength that barely held itself together. One mighty pull and he would go ballistic.
Phil remained somewhat calm despite the demands thrown at him.
“I understand your point Mitch, so I’ll send some extra techs to look and review her to figure out the trouble. I know the perfect experts for the job, so they-”
The communication picked up some type of indistinguishable noise from the other end that stopped him prematurely. The others watched with slight confusion as Phil turned to his side and looked at something off screen. They couldn’t see his full face at the time, so when he got back to them they didn’t know what it meant until he spoke about it.
“Speaking of that one incident, looks like the radar picked up the culprit again…or at least the general area like last time. Your gauntlets should be under the same effects as what I’m seeing.”
Five wasted no time at all to fire up his gauntlet and go quickly to the radar function. While Mitch couldn’t turn his on due to his communication with Phil, Miko also fired her gauntlet up, forming it out of its wristband disguise in the process, even though she towered over everything like nothing. Just as Phil said, their glitch radar went crazy with one particular dot as it constantly faded in and out of existence all over the map of the city. It showed up for milliseconds before it popped in somewhere else on the map, and Five already had some flashbacks to the first encounter and how difficult of a scuffle it turned into.
“That…that glitch came back?!” Five stuttered. One glance over to Mitch revealed the same cockiness he played up for himself and the ones around him. It only took one rare glitch to spawn in to completely switch gears for the elite hunter.
“Well, well, well, look what wealth of EXP decided to show up to me at last.”
“That glitch is on another plane of power Mitch. Something about it puts it a grade above the others, so you can’t just take it on full force like that!” Five warned. Mitch didn’t seem to care as he already used his gauntlet to put on his Glitch Tech gear. No matter how much nonsense he tried to tell him, unless it contributed to his glitch career he wouldn’t bat an eye in the general direction.
Miko also got a bit hyped up from the announcement.
“Ooooh, that glitch showed itself and I’m still massive?! Count me in, for I want to crush it with my bare enlarged hands like tissue paper!”
“Sorry Miko, but we need to look over you with that height of yours.” Phil said over the communication. “If that glitch did something to your body in that incident we can’t risk it. Besides, I already sent some high leveled techs your way to check you out. If that particular glitch can shoot you up in height we need to look over everything to figure out how to subdue it.”
“Aww, come on! I can still handle things like this!”
“Sorry Miko, but we can’t risk it.”
Miko made a humorous pout and crossed her arms while she sat back on the ground, which almost made the boys lose their footing from a small quake. Ally stayed put on her shoulder despite the movements.
“So I guess it’s just me and Mitch then.” Five stated before something occurred to him. “Say, you’re not still freaking out over there after BITT’s…well, you know?”
“Glad you asked.” Phil answered. “I finally got through to a couple of engineers to take care of him while they finish with repairs. Last I heard they’ve gotten half way done while that robot stayed in sleep mode, so we should have him up and running in the coming days if things go to plan. We still need to check his security feed after all.”
“I kind of figured that as the case.” Five replied.
*****
The girl weaved through the trees as dozens of leaves hit her face. She spent a good majority of her time hidden under them as her body reformed, which progressed rather quickly in that time span. Even with the minor setbacks though, she still desired to go through with everything and her meetup with someone she formerly understood only reinvigorated her further to never look back. He had the gall to tell her off the moment she witnessed him face to face, and even included some of the most hated vocabulary just to further drive it into her. Her body may have regenerated from the confines of the Hinobi database, but everything else burned before her. Nobody understood, nobody knew…
She ignited and would not back down.
They shot bullets that still hurt her very essence. The entire world turned against her as she cried out to the empty walls around her. Her dozens of thoughts mixed into the worst of the worst for everything around her that made her grit her teeth. Heartless, every single one of them, and they always had it out for her. She nearly failed to notice something fall down her face from everything that occurred up to that point, which made her stop for a second. It fell down into her hand only for all of the memory rushes to pierce her deep down. She didn’t even know her kind had the potential to act in such a way, but she didn’t dwell on it for long as it served as a reminder that she could never truly turn in that direction. A sack of weights pinned her to the grounds and plastered everything before her, something she heard on an endless loop never to turn off. No matter how much she reached the wind always slipped through her fingers, and each time the blank stares shot daggers right at her. Eventually it brought too much to the surface and made her shut her eyes tight before she clenched a fist. It covered the inside of her hand, but she instantly blocked it out of her mind. The culmination of the worst drove her forward and she still had plenty of fuel left to burn.
“Those incessant words…I’ll wipe them off the face of the planet…”
She already had gotten sick from all of the green around her as she zipped forward, but she didn’t have to wander much further until she made way into somewhere different. She paused and almost stiffened from such a flip in scenery, and it nearly tickled as the small waves trickled below her. The sun sparkled in her eyes and reflected onto the extensive water to let her witness that masterpiece of a lake without any obstructions. The low triangles across the surface bobbed up and down to the pristine conditions set by the cool breeze and calm temperature. One could flip the switch off of their brain and let the waters whisk them away to a world of letting go. In many ways it pounded at the girl under the hood only for current times to suppress them back back in the ditch. Right across to the other side even had some cabins lined up across the coast and even some appeared like popular beach houses, although the girl never had the information put in her. It reminded her of the one area they had planned that would have…
Her fists tightened once they resurfaced while her body fizzled. She still had one whole process to go through to finally end all of it. No more delays, only progress moving forward. A certain stillness whirled through the wind that she picked up, but something about it stuck needles into her back. She never usually thought of herself as a showstopper but some obviously didn’t get the memo. The hook swiveled in glistening silver as conspicuous bait adorned right at its pointed end. It played off as something she always wanted, but with her type she knew that requirements skewed to a different degree beyond normal necessities.
Her body deformed for a second right as the loose shot of energy sailed straight at her previous position. She got back up and swiftly turned only to see the same type of outfits she had to deal with as long as she stayed in their reality. She recognized one of them, but not the other which didn’t matter to her. She noticed the trail of corrosion and glitchy deterioration right behind them, evidently from her entire nature, which painted the path straight to her. She couldn’t bare to see the destruction she left behind from deformed bushes, discolored grass of flashing colors other than natural, and trees that decompiled themselves out of existence all from direct contact, but it served at a reminder of her whole nature. She would see through with everything.
Mith and Five caught up with her, although due to the trees above her they could only see a blue shine from one of her eyes and her general shape.
“My next shot won’t miss.” Mitch said with a tone that packed a steady punch. Five also cocked his gauntlet up and aimed it at her for the extra backup even though Mitch always insisted he never needed it.
The girl didn’t like their intrusions one bit.
“Ugh, you can’t leave me alone for two seconds. Why don’t you point that down and just let me do my business without any further interruptions before everything commences?!”
“Not going to happen.” Mitch sternly responded. “Any final words before I blast you to your end?”
The two watched as the girl snickered under her breath before it grew increasingly louder. It continued for a little bit until it erupted into full blown cackling that made Five cringe. He glanced over to Mitch for anything extra only to see him still retain his composure despite her sudden actions. However, something about his eyes threw Five off a bit even if he couldn’t explain it himself. It almost seemed as if he diverted more attention to the glitch than he usually went for with others, and Mitch handled more types than he did since he joined the Glitch Techs at an earlier time. He knew their goals and functions and adapted his playstyle to fit each situation which was one of his many traits he used to reach the top of the leaderboards, but now Five couldn’t figure out what he had in mind. He had to have encountered that type of glitch before, right?
The girl calmed back down and smirked a little.
“Okay, wow, you got me there for a moment! You think that kind of peashooter can tame and derez an anomaly like me? You don’t understand the type of what I’m capable of, so I suggest you lower that barrel of yours and crawl back to that CESSPOOL of a job.”
“Not until we have you bagged and imprisoned back to the base.” Five said as he tried to match Mitch’s sternness to varying results. Something compelled him to not pull the trigger immediately, whether by uncertainty or the fact that he finally got up close to the glitch, but for Mitch to not shoot the moment he set his eyes on it shrouded Five in an enigma. He would tend to act first and ask questions later like Miko, so to see him also hold back sent shivers behind closed doors. The weird act in his eyes combined with the course of actions compounded things further into a mess of happenings that made Five question more than he tended to.
The girl spoke again with each passing sentence getting deeper and deeper into supposed madness and insanity.
“You act all stern and serious the moment you put on that hideous outfit, and yet you never question anything else. In all your time covering up the true nature of your business you put on the innocent facade of your technology store, then when you get the beck and call you act so stupidly CARELESS about the real issues! You want to put me down and stop me?! Go ahead and fail! I know you’re itching to blast me behind your expression, yet YOU CAN’T STOP THE PROGRESSION OF THE END!”
“…your funeral.” Mitch responded. The glow of the sapphire sphere opened wide while a broad forced and creepy smile followed soon after. After dawdling for a bit since they first encountered the glitch, Mitch fired the next shot followed by Five only for her to act one step ahead and zip straight out of harms way around the two boys. Their continuous shots followed her at every moment but narrowly missed her at every single point which drove up Mitch’s irritation. Five didn’t mess with him when he said the glitch stood at another level of intensity, and her evasive maneuvers served as another problem they had to watch out for. The girl disappeared then reappeared off the coast of the shore for split seconds in some sort of fizzled glitched blob that covered her true appearance, which Five and Mitch already had accounted for and fired appropriately in the general direction while they chased after her. Every hit barely grazed by the blob as her actions proved too quick for them to catch up on, even for someone like Mitch.
Even though their clash only lasted briefly, the girl seemed to already have enough as she evaded more shots from Five and Mitch before she settled under the shade of a couple of trees which, like before, only displayed her general shape and her blue eye.
“You act just like everyone else that thinks they have ALL of the power over ones like me. Everything’s all FINE and DANDY in your perfect world while I’m just some low ridden piece you can trample all over. Heheheheh, too bad that’s a pathetic way of thinking, and soon not even your fancy tech will match what I have in mind…so I think I should introduce you to THIS!”
Mitch and Five let loose a couple more shots her way while she raised her right arm, which Five understood what she would do next but by the time he figured it out she slammed it straight into the ground. The two boys felt the massive quake from under their feet that almost made them lose balance. Five nearly fell backward as the same type of white lights surged through the ground and stretched far into the humble lake. They soon split into two separate paths and curved toward each other as their radius between both of them grew wider and wider. While not an instant process, the two lights swiftly met up and connected to form one of the same large halos Five witnessed. With that he knew what would happen next, and just as he thought of it the inside of the entire shape lit up and emitted one bright luminous shine that almost blinded him. It lasted for only a second or two though, as it dimmed down a bit from a distinct shape that slowly started to rise from the center like it crawled out from the depths down below. Features didn’t stand out at first thanks to the lights, but once the visibility turned up it became clear as day. The glitch brought in another messed up creature to its aid.
The whole thing bobbed in the water as it verbalized some loud roars while the lights around in completely vanished. The glitch seemed to have a knack for massive beasts that eclipses even the largest of animals as the new thing brought up, from first glances, appeared to have a width equivalent to that of some of the largest blue whales. Half of it stayed submersed under the water, but from what Five could see the intimidation factor hovered pretty high up. One very long flat surface lingered above the water while something sturdy and circular stayed hidden under the water. While very odd, once Five saw a certain part stick out in the center of the top he understood what drifted in the water almost immediately. Nothing but the tactical craft usually reserved for underwater research and battles floated in the lake with its target set on him and Mitch, but for one to completely dwarf every mad made meant it wouldn’t waste any time tearing its opponents to shreds. Five took notice of the visual scope on top that gave away its identity, but the blades of the propeller displayed something very dangerous. Nothing but sharp edges that cut and sliced the waves that dared to come in close and almost resembled a wheel of guillotines than anything else. Five wanted to go nowhere near those blades if he knew anything about those types in video games, so he needed to take extreme caution around those. To make sure he got the message that the vessel meant business, what looked like mounted blasters and cannons straight from the most lethal of battleships littered the top at various spots both in front and behind the visual scope. He lost count on how many he saw on it, but if anything a single blast would prove deadly on contact. Out of everything he expected to go up against, a humongous submarine tiered somewhere in the middle grounds but still proved very dangerous.
The vessel also complemented the one in charge of the whole thing, and it stood right atop the long flat surface on the top. It almost shaped up like some sort of egg laden entity over twice as large as him with deadly features to boot. It looked like it had itself coated in a hard outer layer with a bare face near the top that supported a bushy short mustache and pure whites for eyes. Its face didn’t stray too far away from the two burly shoulder pads that could have weighed in tons and it contained its weapons of choice right below them. With two long arms covered in some sort of metal plating, right at the ends of each one set pairs of sharp edged claws that each came with a slight curve for extra pain if dealt. For mobility some type of retractable treads akin to some of the deadliest of tanks swiveled around under it and pivoted for extra efficiency. It could angle them in another direction while it faced another in case someone could potentially abuse the mechanics behind the directions issue most tank treads faced. The overall figure of whatever Five saw attributed to a culture he only understood snippets of, but thanks to video games from the land of the rising sun more figures of those types showed up each with their own spin, and for the one atop the submarine first sights alone told him everything he needed about what meaning stood behind it. Fight, destroy, act as an over sized boss character, and everything else in between. Yet another large boss glitch for the Glitch Techs to take out made its presence known to all that placed their eyes upon it, and it was ready to deal some serious damage.
However, out of all of their features, their colors stood out the most by an eyeful. It almost seemed like a repeat of the first encounter that nearly overpowered him. The huge submarine’s complete front showed off nothing but pure white with no shadows to speak of while the upper flat portion, and consequently all of the firepower set around it, displayed something akin to tree bark or something extremely flammable which they certainly never contained. A couple of the cannons even had colors that matched the feather of the glitch bird he fought before that appeared so out of place and unnatural to look at. The back of the vessel and visual scope didn’t fare any better, as the pure white up front didn’t match well with a checkerboard pattern of black and red squares. The propellers stuck out even more as it lit up bright orange with white streaks that slashed through it. Five could make out the letters H and R from the white streaks but other than that he couldn’t determine any other letters since they got obscured beyond belief. As for the one that manned the whole thing it also displayed an arrangements of visual oddities. The whole outer coat that surrounded its face had blocks of black, red, violet, indigo, and dozens of other mixes dotted everywhere on it akin to a television screen with nothing but static, similar to certain parts of the glitch bird Miko and him took down. The face probably had the most regular detail of the whole thing, but it still showed signs of weird quirkiness Five was clueless on. While the whites never showed anything wrong at first glance, every couple of second it instantaneously shifted over to the red and black checkerboard pattern like the back of the submarine before it changed back as if nothing ever happened. The mustache fared even worse as its spazzed out in multiple directions every so often in a skewed display of physics and distorted to no end. The arms and treads never had a chance if everything else stood out as weird even for a glitch. Various triangles and sharp angles stuck out while what could be seen as a pattern of a typical wooden door, complete with a doorknob, covered all over the parts like sick origami. Even with those troubles, it still wielded both with no effort and geared itself up. They didn’t stand out as works of art fit for a game, but ugly abominations.
Mitch already armed himself to the teeth while Five similarly followed but to a lesser extent. The girl, on the other hand, smirked with a deep crescent at such a creation she brought up.
“Aww, it already wants to meet up with you! I can’t interrupt a confrontation like that, so I’ll let all of you get acquainted. No matter the outcome, my progression will continue! Enjoy your time together everyone, heeheeheehee!”
The instant the girl finished her statement her body fizzled and deformed akin to loose static before she warped straight off in another direction in the form of a loose electrostatic sphere. A low audible cackle proceeded after, but Mitch wouldn’t have any of it.
“Oh no you don’t!” Mitch exclaimed at the speeding apparition before he flipped up his gauntlet’s radar and ran off after it in mad pursuit.
“Wait, we have to stick together!” Five responded after, but by that time he was already too late. Mitch disappeared through the trees straight after the glitch with only one goal set in mind. Nothing mattered other than the experience and notoriety from the illusive piece of game code that already got her infamy from the destruction she caused over the last couple of days. As long as it put him a step above the others, Mitch would go for anything.
The creature whirled its two claws in a frenzied manner while it growled and aimed all of its submarine’s cannons straight at Five. As for the teen, he could do nothing but look nervously back.
No Miko.
No Mitch.
Nothing but his own pride and body against a vessel of war and a crazed glitch of eastern influence.
“This won’t go over well…” Five thought with a small gulp.
When Miko agreed to let others research her for any oddities that went wrong with her inconsistent growth spurts, she never thought on the process they eventually went through. While she still had Ally with her to keep her company, once the researchers arrived they brought with them next to all of the essential tools. A majority of them painted unknowns to Miko, but if they produced accurate results she couldn’t go against them. At first they instructed told her to sit down, which took the smaller ones near her off their feet from the small quake, and asked the typical questions reserved for local doctors such as previous illnesses, symptoms, and everything in between. Miko held back the urge to roll her eyes as her age didn’t require such elementary school questions thrown her way, but she still answered to the best of her ability. Once the first part got taken care of they took a step down the ladder of instructions to the rung below it. They ran through the numbers on their screens as a silhouette of Miko appeared right after along with some points picked out across it. Something about it rubbed the titanic girl the wrong way especially with the sections picked out on the graph, which Ally also seemed to catch even if she didn’t express it.
“Ummmm…everything is FINE with me, right?” Miko asked. One of the technological experts looked up to face the giant girl.
“So far, so good. We still have a lot of data to comb over though. This shouldn’t take too long if everything progresses normally.”
“Well that sort of eases things a bit I guess.” Miko responded. She made herself comfortable despite the somewhat cramped space while everyone else did their work. She did hear a faint ringtone go off before one of the researchers hastily picked up the line. Once she noticed the caller ID she hung up immediately with a small frown.
“Ugh, that darn prodigy never ceases to annoy me with her constant scientific bragging…” the researcher mumbled before she got back to the others. Miko stood silent, to the best of her degree, as the smaller people down by her feet muttered to each other on subjects the girl understood nothing of. She really wanted the results quickly just to finally get out and potentially help Five with that one dangerous glitch, but at the rate the high ranked officials operated at she could have a long day ahead of her.
Her boredom crept in until around five minutes passed when another tech member with fidgeting glasses walked up close to her knees.
“We have a general synopsis of whatever currently courses through you, but we require more specifics to thoroughly pin them down.” the girl tech member informed. “Therefore we necessitate a much more distinctive second step we must have you process through.”
The whistling breeze effortlessly blew through her head.
“Umm…can I ask for a translation on all of that geeky speak?” Miko asked as her face loomed over the shorter researcher. She watched as the girl sighed before she transcribed everything into a language Miko could easily process.
“We don’t have all of the necessary information on you yet, so we need you to cooperate for this next step in the whole process.”
That connected the wires so Miko could understand.
“Well why didn’t you say that sooner? As long as I can finally get out of here soon I’ll deal with whatever you got.”
“Well, errrrr…it’s not that simple…” the tech member stammered for a second. She readjusted her glasses even as she stared up at Miko’s massive figure. Another red flag shot up and the giant girl didn’t like it.
“To acquire the necessary data we kind of…have to go for a closer look…so, well…”
The girl researcher couldn’t get her words out which made Miko more uneasy. As much as she never wanted to understand and undergo studies that never interested her to see a devoted tech into the sort of craft and work, like a scientist, that showed emotion spoke to someone like Miko in a way she usually ignored. In all of the media she ate on a nearly daily basis it always resulted in the type of profession where they always held an obsession with their craft almost to a perfect degree and neglected everything else so they could get back to their work with no more interruptions. To see someone similar but with a sense of emotion and humanity shifted the tone of those once single driven thoughts, even though she had no idea what the researcher tried to speak up about.
“You got a twisted tongue or something? What has you so clammed up?” Miko asked. Her question seemed to finally remove the lock on the tech member’s mouth as she hastily came clean in a nervous rush.
“We…we…WENEEDTOWALKALLOVERYOU!”
The researcher covered her face in her hands as if she couldn’t handle the huge girl’s reaction which took a moment for it to finally dawn on her what she just heard. Once she figured it out though she silently got taken aback to a degree while a portion of her cheeks lit up like a harvested tomato. Her pupils shrunk as her eyes went wide which somehow never got around to Ally at any degree. Her bird buddy remained blank all over while she clucked like an oblivious animal while Miko took the full brunt of the bombshell dropped. She may have her game face on at all times but even she had limits on personal space. She may show her affection from time to time, such as a cute expression or even a heartfelt hug, but even she respected others’ space if they willingly asked for it. For a researcher like her to ask for something of that caliber almost automatically wanted her to hit the ejection button and never address any of it ever again but only one single detail hover her finger an inch over the trigger. If she never saw the visible anxiety drip from her face the story would go by much differently, but it seemed like she had to force the words past her lips thanks to the higher up that lacked a spine to act themselves. Her reaction probably would go the same way if she ever had to ask something like that and to shoot the messenger wouldn’t result in anything but regret at a later time. She could go after the ones that instructed the girl but if she bit the hand that fed her the growth spurts could continue and nobody would know how to handle it or why it advanced the way it did.
As much as she fought back the behemoth of the obvious, her decision went the other way and her demeanor tried to revert back to how she usually acted.
“…you better only do my back and nothing else.”
The girl nearly perked up completely upon Miko’s statement as if she didn’t expect her to cooperate.
“Errr, ummmm, yes! We can determine everything quite nicely even with only one spot! Th…thanks for you cooperation…”
The researcher quivered and shuddered all over for a second before she ran back to her colleagues. It almost got Miko to giggle a little to see someone act like that even though she had her guesses as to why. It could have gone much worse if she had to bring up that certain subject to anyone else and even though Miko thought about it like the general consensus she took one final moment before she acted out of instinct alone. She had to give the certain researcher credit to speak up to her when she towered above everything else as she could have squashed her without hesitation.
The group of techs took a couple of moments to mutter to themselves before they got back to the giant girl in their midst. Miko watched as they migrated over to her left side, probably so she could lay down, and set their equipment next to the bleachers. As much as her innermost thoughts told her otherwise she had to go against them this one time for the sake of her overall condition. She made extra precautions to make sure nobody decided to stay in her way but once she saw nothing else she started her first move. She took it easy as she planted her massive hands against the floor first. She then proceeded to slowly make her way down until her front made contact. With that out of the way she finally released and fully embraced the floor with a bare minimum small quake that inflicted next to no impact against the researchers. She made extra sure to clamp up her skirt with no extra openings to make extra sure they never got the wrong idea. While she probably concluded that they wouldn’t try anything “wrong”, she couldn’t chance it. An angry Miko was one thing but a gigantic angry Miko spelled your funeral before you even knew it.
She turned her face over to the researchers next and set one of her enlarged arms right before them.
“Don’t you dare try anything funny unless you want your life to end early. I mean it.” Miko said with a dip in tone and sharp stare straight at them.
“No worries, we’ll get this done quickly.” a stout type of researcher answered. “Trust me when I say we didn’t want to resort to this, but we had no other choice to obtain the remainder of that data.”
Miko sure hoped the boy didn’t lie through his teeth as she already had to quell multiple fumes behind her facade of an expression. While she calmed down a bit, she still felt some irritation that annoyed her beyond belief as she slowly set her left arm close to the group for ease of access. Some of them hesitated at first, but then the first of them set foot on her hand before the others followed. As much as she didn’t like the whole aspect of them acquiring information from her backside, she did get a closer look at the members that even got her to giggle a bit. One wore some sort of golf hat that even came with its own pennant near the center, one walked like it had stilts for legs, and one showed a hairdo that appeared straight from the sixties. While each of them shared the same interest for the sake of Glitch Tech research none of them desired to pop in like stereotypical clones. Their signs of difference gave them more of an identity than the media tended to portray their types.
While it didn’t take too long, eventually most of the researchers made it atop Miko’s body with no issues. She had to hold back a couple of laughs and giggles as their movements unintentionally tickled her where they stood. She lacked full vision on where they each moved but she had just enough to get a decent synopsis of all of them. True to what they inquired earlier, the researchers only moved around one particular area around her back and nowhere near the spots she would kill them for although her slight movements as she tried to make herself comfortable proved quite troublesome for the small hitchhikers. To not complicate things further she tried to best to stay stagnant while she made sure they stayed in only the correct spots. With their scanners and screens at the ready they plugged in the numbers while they carefully glazed over each area as quickly and efficiently as possible but they ran into a bit of difficulty when their put Miko’s long violet hair into the equation. They lacked major mobility through the endless strands and some even tripped and fell face first into some piles that got Miko a couple of laughs under her breath. To think her colorful hair would provide a hazard to some came out as something she never thought of before now but when she stood at a height of fifty feet even the minority of traits gave off a different coat of paint to the tiny ants by her feet. If anything she could even give off the impression that she was the colossal boss to the members and their research provided the only solution to defeat her, which gave her a slight smirk at the thought. Her titanic self combined with her elite gaming skills basically would make her invincible to anyone who dared to try. For now though, she let the miniature bugs walking across her back finalize the information given to them by their equipment.
It took around fifteen minutes until something else came up. One tech with swirly glasses and a mullet uncovered something across his screen that raised his eyebrows.
“Hey, I think I completed my portion of this whole thing!”
Some of the other researchers carefully made their way over to him, so they wouldn’t accidentally fall off from her slight movements and potentially tickle her further, while a couple of others held their ground in specific spots so they could finish their scans and parts in the study. As much as the other researchers wanted results, they couldn’t find good enough footing atop Miko’s back to get a good view of the screen. They shook their heads for a moment before they walked back and trekked over Miko again for their sections to finish up.
Another ten minutes passed, which almost got Miko to nod off to sleep, until the rest of them done their portions. Once everyone came to an agreement they alerted Miko who nearly bolted awake and tossed everyone off at once.
“NOMAMAIMSUPPOSEDTOBETHISCOLOSSAL!”
Her eyes shot open as her brain tried to catch up on her surroundings. Once she fully awakened it almost hit her before she immediately turned her head back to see the tiny tech members still on her.
“Oops, almost forgot about all of you there! Sorry about that, but I assume you found what you needed?”
“Oh, definitely.” the girl tech from before responded as she readjusted her glasses. “We should finally reach the conclusion with everything we’ve obtained. Umm, do you mind if you…”
“Yeah, yeah, I know what you mean.” Miko answered with a playful grin. She made extra sure she had the space at first and once her calculation came back positive the giant girl placed her left arm back against the ground. The others took the hint before they carefully made their way back across Miko to solid ground, although some accidentally got tangled up in strands of her long violet hair. She chuckled at the sight while some of the researchers helped pull them out before they also made they way across her arm and back to the ground. Everything concluded without a major bump in the way.
Since she didn’t need to lay across the floor anymore, Miko got back on her hands and feet before she sat back on her knees. While she tried her hardest to not make any troubling impacts, it almost seemed impossible at her size as tremors knocked a couple of researchers off of their feet, luckily with no major harm or damage.
The one girl tech member went up to Miko’s huge self again with less worry and a warming smile.
“Umm, well…thanks for your cooperation. I think we got everything we need to determine the problem behind your constant growth.”
“Aww, it’s no big deal.” Miko answered with one of her trademark smiles. “I may have the height of a giant by I’m still a big softy on the inside. I’m just glad you finally got what you wanted.”
“Yeah, I kind of feel the same thing.” the girl said. “We’ll figure things out and have you back to normal height in a jiffy!”
It shot her in the dark. She always set her attention over to her titanic height the moment she realized that it happened, so to hear what will eventually come to its end didn’t faze her at first until she took a moment to comprehend the consequences. One of her desires finally got granted to her only for her to hear about the whole temporary nature of it. Sure, she had a bit of trouble with maneuverability as she weaved in and out of everything smaller by her feet, but other than those moments she practically had the time of her life as the biggest gamer girl in the world. Nothing could possibly bring it to an end other than opposition by the ones who claimed to be by her side, but now they acted like a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Something burned in her chest as the researchers showed their true colors behind closed doors as all they wanted was to ruin her fun and shackle her back to the inferior landscape. If they so wanted to force their ideals much to her enjoyment…
“NO!”
It came out swift and fast, and before she knew it the moment ended. The gears turned around once more as the huge girl suddenly came to. For some reason her head hurt ever so slightly, but clearly it meant nothing horrendous. She gazed downward at the tiny researchers only to see a complete shift in another direction. Only a few seconds ago they gave off such eager and humble vibes that made her feel welcome but now the displayed something driven in the opposite way. Most of them had the whites in their eyes enlarged while they staggered a bit backward, but a couple of them had their backs against the bleachers with similar expressions. Miko almost had her heart stop at such a sight before she made her well estimated guess in another factor. One of her enlarged fists stuck straight down into the floor and left a powerful mark around it and she didn’t require any clues to figure out anything further about it. Her strength upgraded as her height shot up, and the massive indent into the ground provided that fact in a harsh manner. Everything around her also seemed a bit shaken from such an action, such as a couple of bleachers that have now fallen to unintended angles and even an entire basketball hoop that sat shattered against the ground, and all of it happened in a split second that she couldn’t remember at all. She almost lacked the will to show emotion as she had no idea how to feel, but the researchers definitely had their own opinions.
However, one particular bird buddy also witnessed the whole moment in that split second. While Miko had no recollection of that moment, her companion pet did from the sidelines. She remained rather silent as her caretaker underwent the processes necessary to obtain specific information to her condition, and she stayed the way for the most part until Miko’s sudden outburst. While her programming dictated what she could and couldn’t understand at first, she didn’t need the bare minimum to know that something came up. It occurred nearly instantaneously but Ally captured all of it with her fast bird eyes. She witnessed Miko slam a huge fist into the ground and rumble everything around it along with one brief set of circumstances no one else other than her could have possibly picked up. Everything about Miko’s huge body may have given off the normal impressions at the time, but when it came to her recognizable eyes the bird saw something much different. Her pupils practically vanished from sight until they turned into nothing but small dots and dozens of red lines slithered in and made cracks that almost burst from such instability. Ally didn’t quite understand the whole picture, but she saw a side of Miko she never displayed beforehand, let alone an impostor that portrayed her in that exact moment. While not wholly spooked like the others by Miko’s feet, something about it automatically got Ally to not like it in the slightest.
Nobody wanted to speak up, especially since Miko could basically do anything to them and get away with it due to her size, but eventually one of the researchers took the plunge.
“Uhhhhhh…ohhhhhhkay then…” the certain researcher said with a quiver. “We still need to look over everything first…just to determine the cause…”
“Yeah, ummmmm…we can’t let this new information…go to waste, heheh…” another researcher chimed in with a similar impediment. Even though one glance across Miko’s face told them that she was very sorry they couldn’t take any chances and she immediately got the message.
“I…guess that makes sense.” Miko said. “Go ahead…I’m fine now I guess.”
She almost couldn’t get her words out either despite the size difference. Whatever happened at that moment struck everyone speechless but the less they let it stick in their heads the better. If anything Miko probably would have broken out of the building just to get some space to herself. Too bad she couldn’t do it unless put everyone below her in jeopardy from the destruction, so she stayed cooped up and let them do their work and figure things out. If the information had anything important in it now was the time to figure it out.
The researchers vigorously stared down at their screens as the calculations ran through their devices. A small gray looking blob waltzed across the screen that muttered “motimoti” as the numbers scrolled everywhere. Eventually, all of it subsided and the screen cleared. They expected something akin to some type of equation or loose variable, but they got something much stranger instead. In fact, it barely picked up anything at all, and what random numbers and data did show up only appeared for a split second before it disappeared then reappeared in another part of the screen. I almost seemed like a carbon copy of the incident with the Glitch Tech radars, and only spelled an enigma for the members.
“I…I don’t understand. Is anyone else getting the same weird results?” one tech member asked.
“You mean the constant on and off of something there but then nothing? Yeah, I’ve got that too.” another member answered. The others also chimed in to reveal that they also resulted in the occurrence.
“Maybe we have a case of unstable code?”
“Potentially, but we can’t exactly research something that constantly keeps messing up our scanners. Somehow we’re seeing a potential glitch…but also not a glitch at the same time?”
“Hey, hey, so do I have something in me or not? You kind of have me as the main focus, remember?” Miko suddenly spoke up. Some of the tech members looked up from their displays to address the giant girl in the room, despite the underlying fear from her outburst earlier.
“Well, you definitely have something in you even though the numbers say otherwise on occasion.” one member explained. “Our current equipment can’t figure it out, so we might need to put this report on hold until-”
“You sure you don’t have your minds pointed the wrong way?”
The next intrusion didn’t come from Miko, but it bared no flowers in its hands. Even Miko herself got startled a bit by the interruption until she glanced over the tech members again and figured out who suddenly decided to speak their mind. She saw one of the researchers as usual, only to differentiate him as the one who moved stiffly as he came aboard her back. He may have stayed relatively mellowed out at the time, but now he willingly spoke up against the others.
One of the other tech members replied to his question with a confused look.
“What do you mean by that? Of course we’ve had our thinking caps on the whole time and the numbers don’t lie.”
“Check again.” the one member stated. The others glanced over each other with just as much confusion but decided to adhere to the researcher’s request.
“Ummm, I’m not seeing anything different. Nothing but the constant flickering of black pixels like everything else surrounding the problem.” a researcher said as she put her eyes to her screen.
“Yeah, me too.” another researcher said. “She has something going on but our equipment thinks everything is fine in an on and off state.”
The one researcher with the stiff movements silently looked down and shook his head again and again.
“Keep checking.” he informed again only for another researcher to speak up.
“We can’t find anything else from the information we’ve obtained. The numbers don’t lie on our screens.”
“Then CHECK AGAIN.”
The one tech member’s tone slowly began to stir up with more aggression behind it which eventually got the giant Miko to talk.
“Umm, is everything fine down there? Looks like you can’t agree on something.”
One researcher gazed up at her while the others discussed the issue at hand.
“No worries, we have everything under control. We just a small argument going on.”
“Than what’s got that one guy up in fumes?” Miko asked while she indicated to the one stiff researcher. He looked just about ready to burst from all of others against him, enough so that he had to take a moment to look down and pinch his forehead just to calm down a bit.
“There’s nothing else we found in the data packets. Why are you arguing against that?” one researcher asked to the one against them.
“Because your gadgets aren’t picking up the whole thing!” the opposing researcher retorted. Without missing a beat, the fuming one angrily snatched one of the screens away from a tech next to him and took it for himself. While it gave Miko questions as to why he didn’t use his own scanning gadget instead of another researcher’s, the angry one hammered away at the gadget for something beyond her knowledge. The ones around him backed off to not instigate things further, but it didn’t calm his mood. His inputs appeared to not give him what he wanted, which instigated him further enough to have him hammer his own fists against the screen. Like any other attempt, he never got the results.
“Darn it, darn it, DARN IT! I can’t believe you STILL haven’t got that bare essential programmed into your high end technology! Even after all of your years tap dancing around it like any type of rhythm based game-”
“What exactly are you blabbing on about? Is it about the girl’s growth or something?” another researcher interrupted. She ended up with an intense leer shot straight in her direction, which even spooked Miko a bit even with her massive size, before the researcher pinched his forehead again and reached into his pants. It got everyone in the room asking questions to themselves until he slowly started to pull something out of one of his pockets. He mumbled something to himself before the top part soon came into everyone’s view.
…but it didn’t get revealed any further than that.
All of it shot out like a bomb going off, but the researcher had nothing else on him. Out of everyone in the huge gym, the Hinobi employees would be the last ones to suddenly pull their weapons on an innocent person. They never even blared out any warning sirens and just shot straight out of their holds and aimed straight at the researcher. They had the firepower behind them, but they never stood a chance against Miko’s arsenal as they also instantaneously whirred to life. She held no power over what malfunction surged through everyone’s weapons and the burst in weaponry made her immediately transform into her Glitch Tech gear and outfit which consequently morphed her wristband back into her glitch gauntlet. Her enlarged state meant her weapons gained the advantage as well, which meant the largest gauntlet in Glitch Tech history had its aim set straight on the innocent man.
Everyone barely had the moment to speak, but Ally manged to utter something at a tone pretty much everyone felt in them at the moment.
“…caw.”
The weapons let loose all of their firepower and left the researcher only a split second to react. Luckily a high requirement to joining the Glitch Techs is agility and reaction time, which the one guy understood in full and used to barely escape certain injury. Unfortunately for everyone else it didn’t end there as the weapons still had their lock on him and relentlessly shot at him again and again, with Miko’s gauntlet having the largest blast radius out of all of them. The others struggled to get their own firepower under control but the weapons still went ballistic with no end in sight.
“What the heck just…went through all of our stuff?!” one tech member exclaimed as she pressed her gauntlet against the ground for some sort of ammunition cover.
“You expect me to understand everything on the nose?!” another answered as he pressed buttons on his while it fired.
“You’re a Glitch Tech researcher! That’s kind of your thing!” another yelled as he dodged crossfire.
“I can say the same…about you!” another exclaimed during all of the struggles. As for Miko, she too had a gauntlet that suddenly had a mind of its own, but due to how enormous she stood over everyone it proved hard, if not impossible, to avoid any incoming fire let alone her own piece of weaponry. Her mind got so occupied with all of the blasts and shots around her that she almost missed the one researcher their weapons actively hunted down run straight up the bleachers on her side. She only had a brief moment to react when he immediately shouted at her as he ran.
“TAKE COVER NOW!”
Miko didn’t need any extra reiterations and tried to lower her head away from the ceiling as each weapon fired up there. However, her glitch gauntlet also kept going despite her attempted resistance against it. It moved her arm on its own just to get its scope right on the researcher and wasted no time to spray it shots in his direction. The man visible groaned to himself as the large blast hit the bleachers just as he moved out of the way, which obliterated them in milliseconds. Since Miko’s huge body took up most of the space inside the gymnasium, it left almost nowhere for the researcher to evade any loose shot which left only one option left. He groaned as more firepower barely grazed by him with his evasive maneuvers before he took his last resort and hopped straight onto the giant Miko’s shoulder. She had next to no time to react as her gauntlet turned straight around and stared point blank next to her face.
“What kid of glitch gauntlet would disregard everything and aim at its own-”
Her huge gauntlet unleashed next to everything in its arsenal before she could finish, which left only a very brief moment to get out of the way. Luckily both her and the researcher had quick thinking and hastily weaved in and out, although Miko could only moved her head from such cramped space. Her movements took the researcher along for the ride as he took his chance and took hold of the massive girl’s long violet hair. He wasted no time acting like he just attended gym class and hoisted himself up multiple strands like streams of rope as each opposing piece of equipment made destroying him their top priority despite the members efforts to shut all of them down. Each missed shot skimmed a couple clumps of Miko’s hair and charred them to shreds, but they never made any major difference to the giant girl’s overall appearance and if they did Miko would never forgive the unfortunate circumstances. He kept at it as he made his way up using her hair until he finally reached her scalp where it almost looked like he had nowhere else to hide. Miko’s movements suddenly stopped as every weapon in the vicinity, including her own gauntlet, took aim at the single person atop her head. Time seemed to slow to a crawl as everyone’s heart skipped a beat at where their own equipment aimed next while Miko nearly felt her pupils fade from existence.
“You better not fire those guns at-”
Their weapons lacked sense and reason which contributed to their relentless fire straight toward Miko’s head. The researcher made one final leap of faith off of the giant girl’s head and landed safely against the ground. For Miko, each shot grazed by her scalp and just barely struck a couple of hairs and charred them immediately. For someone who dabbled in facts over fictions, the targeted researcher sure had the agility and mobility to avoid enemy fire, whether from his own teammates or not.
He stumbled a bit from the landing as he finally reached his destination from all of the hassle: the back doors to the whole building. The guns readjusted their aim as he gave off some parting words.
“I’ll inform HQ about our current progression and get out of here since I’m clearly not welcome anymore. I wish all of you the best of luck to figure it out!”
With their aims now set one final time the weapons loaded one final time at the one researcher. He got the message instantly and bolted straight out of the door right before their ammunition made contact, although it did completely incinerate the doors. As quick as everything started, with the man no longer in the area all of the Glitch Techs weaponry immediately shut down and reverted back to their stationary functions.
Everyone stood at a loss for words and almost felt too paralyzed to move. They made it out in one piece but a majority of the place got tarnished in the aftermath. Ally popped her head out from one of the bleachers still intact as her caretaker drew blank at everything. Her chest silently pounded in the background to the emptiness in the air as she almost sat too dumbfounded to even notice. Something about the whole ordeal rubbed her the wrong way even though he mind couldn’t calculate the details necessary to try and deduce things. No safety harnesses, no warnings beforehand, and nothing but pure firepower. They may have some of the most up to date technology in the world but they still had vulnerabilities that required attention.
You’re better than them.
No one opposes you.
Show them what you’re capable of.
They crawled into her head once more. She still had no idea where they came from and she didn’t want to know. A small prick stuck into her right sole that her attention span missed at first due to the rest of the researchers down by her feet attempting to clean things up a bit. While a minor annoyance, the feeling soon spread to the complete underside of her foot and it munched away at any stability she coated over herself. Its appetite only made it desire more and more until it sluggishly trekked up her foot and over to her ankle. At that point she definitely took notice and thought that while strange it would wear off quickly. The worst of it seeped its venomous drool up her femur and left everything else behind it into a stasis that some couldn’t fathom ever existed. They basically made the parts into large cinder blocks of infinite weight that made her slightly panic under her facade of an innocent face. The smaller ones didn’t have to know that the colossus before them had something deadly course through her, especially since her abilities multiplied with her extra height.
The jagged spikes crawled to her other legs and up her torso as the other Glitch Tech members tried to comprehend what happened with their weapons.
“Did anyone…catch some information…about what just happened?” one of the girl members asked with some surprise still in her.
Another member had to catch his breath before he could answer.
“Unfortunately I had my focus…on my gadgets as they went haywire. Anyone else?”
The others shook their heads in unison.
“My attention set in the same area as you. As much as I want to relax after that, we still have work to do…if we still have some gadgets that function.”
“Yeah, I’m not sure on that front.” another researcher said. “At least that one member got away before it could get worse. How about you Miko? Did you get through all of that well?”
Even though she played herself off as perfectly fine on the surface, the hungry cruncher finished its meal at her legs and snapped at her midsection next. Her entire lower body struck with complete numbness and pins and needles pierced every part of her like an old fashioned torture device. Even as the dire situation rapidly increased pace, she acted like she had a perfect condition…as well as a fifty foot gamer girl could be.
“Yeah, I’m fine after all of…that.” Miko answered. Her voice stammered at a point while her skin crawled into a clammy surface. She put on one of her wide grins that barely held through as some of her back teeth chattered from the sheer conditions that coursed through her body. Most of the time when she acted all cheesy and high spirited it usually had the opposite effect to what she tried to hide under the surface but everyone already had massive exhaustion from their haywire weapons so she actually got away with it for once as their mind tried to catch up on current events.
The researcher smiled back at Miko and wiped some sweat from her brow.
“Ah, good! I almost thought you might have taken damage at some point! I’m terribly sorry we had to put your condition research on hold but when the unexpected happens we have to leap into action.”
The bottomless pit dug its claws into her chest next, which she also hid from the others.
“Yeah, I…kind of figured that out. Can we focus on something else like…cleaning up or something? Yeah, something…like that.”
Her smile started to fall apart as the forced nature of it became more apparent. It dove straight for her neck next and advanced over her arms with the poison in its wake.
“You read my mind Miko.” another researcher replied. “Unfortunately most of our equipment overheated from that assault back there. Something really turned them to the edge on that front.”
Her arms then paralyzed to the seething toxicity underneath. The giant Miko suddenly had something akin to dead fish as they drooped down and nearly touched the ground. While she successfully managed to hide the facts about her current condition her dead arms gave out a warning signal the one tech member caught in time.
“Umm, Miko? Is everything okay over there? You don’t look so good.”
The cracks in her expression got longer as her hands went limp. No matter the cost, she couldn’t let them know about her indignant numbness even though she wasn’t known as the best when it came to hiding details.
“Oh, it’s NOTHING. I’m PERFECTLY fine, just a small…itch! Yeah, a small itch! Definitely UP and ready to go with the task…at hand! Effortlessly…fine in all aspects!”
Her fake smile fell further down before the back of her head fell victim to the spread and closed in on her face. It surrounded it at all sides for the final dose of humanity left in her and she could hear the countdown drive in her like clockwork. Its jagged teeth gnashed to the joys of her pain with an echo she could hear for miles. She got to see the doses up close for the first time and it already started to corrode anything on contact as the harsh lesson would start up once more. She barely held on last time but it upped the ante since then and the punishment mutated into a poisonous fate to rip the skin off of her bones.
Five…
“You do realize that we initially came here to research your whole condition and possibly find a way to reverse the process? We have your back you know.”
“Yeah, yeah, I know that…all WEDGED UP IN THERE! You made it apparent from the…get go and I’m REALLY appreciative of that! Now can you PLEASE…leave me alone…for JUST a second?”
Four…
“Really now? First impressions can spell a person from head to toe and from the looks of it you’re cracking under some type of pressure.”
“Pressure? PFFFFFFFFFFT! What pressure?! I haven’t even learned the MEANING of such a FOREIGN word! Honestly, you should PROBABLY…steer your attention SOMEWHERE else.”
Three…
The girl researcher glared an intense sting straight into Miko’s fake expression for a second.
“Well…I know you have your strange ways of conveying yourself. As much as I want to not believe you, I’ll let you go this one time because I know you’ve been through a lot lately.”
Two…
“Thanks for…understanding. I REALLY need some…time to mys…s…elf…”
One…
The drift in her words shifted the researcher’s gears one final time. She stared Miko in the eyes one final time as the giant girl tried to stay together to failing results. She poured buckets of sweat as the numbness reached for the very last patch.
“One final time, and I want you to mean it. Lying through your teeth won’t cut it. To finally seal the deal and call it a day…are you really feeling okay?”
It only took that final question to completely unleash everything pent up in her.
“YES, I’M ONE HUNDRED PERCENT PERFECT!”
…
…
…
Snap.
She never saw it coming. Her sights faded into a blur and her hearing deafened into an irritating ring that blared at her nonstop. The terrible numbness that coursed through her pulled off their disguise and revealed the excruciating spikes underneath that pierced her at every point. She lost complete control of her body as she could barely make out her immediate tumble backward into the bleachers and balcony behind her. They stood no chance compared to her as her massive body obliterated all of it as she fell and turned all of it into shrapnel. Her heartbeat pounded louder than ever before while all of her strength faded. She tried to cry out for help from the ones vastly smaller than her but she couldn’t hear herself speak anything from the constant ringing. The amount of blurs passed over her eyes while her whole body acted with a mind of its own, just like the time at Marshall’s. Her eyes picked up some inaudible shouting as a couple of blurs ran up her wriggling legs and over to her throbbing head. Everything pinned her into one of the worst possible pains she had ever experienced in her life. It only gave her a couple moments to possibly notice any of the blurry blobs and shapes around her before it crumbled on her every single time, but once she took notice of a different picture she immediately knew what process her body was going through next. Multiple shouting inaudible blurs around her slowly started to fade and compress into nothing buts specks as a certain bump hit her on top of her head. Stuff began to fall around and all over her body as the signs pointed in one direction, and it wouldn’t go smoothly. Everything that currently occurred around her reinforced the whole idea she had in mind.
She had nowhere to go but up.
*****
Five couldn’t have a situation more unfortunate than the one before him. No other Glitch Tech member to help him out and a massive behemoth of a submarine piloted by some eastern influenced caricature of a monster waded in the lake with its messed up appearance. At most some type of backup from another member helped when the goings got tough but not in the face of an opponent with so much firepower behind it. A part of him wished he ran off with Mitch after the glitch that started all of it even though it would have left the one with the submarine all by itself, and during his time with the Glitch Techs that almost always spelled bad news. The database in his gauntlet couldn’t even locate the game the monster originated from, which would have provided a needed heads up to possibly find a weakness. His options limited to a select few and all of them had no type of backup to hinge on if things got dicey, but for the glitch to roam free wouldn’t pass. Whether solo or not, he had a duty to uphold in the name of Hinobi.
A drop of nervous sweat fell off of his forehead as the creature clashed its claws together and pointed them straight at him. He hastily turned down to his gauntlet for something specific as some type of plan formulated in his head while his opponent readied its artillery.
“Okay, I can’t get buried by that thing’s cannon fire but I need some way to get on that ship without-”
His thinking couldn’t fully go through once he quickly noticed the glitch in the distance as it jumped up and down in a furious manner before the inevitable shots from its vessel rocketed forward at blistering speeds. While obvious at first that cannonballs served as the ammunition, they gave off somewhat of an odd overall form. Gray displayed the sleekness and metallic nature of such a weapon, something cannonballs showed and became a common sight in dozens of media, but the ones the glitch had in store never contained that those types of traits. Nothing but bland white shapes blasted right out of the artillery it bared on its deck, and even its shape carried some weird angles to them. Some also had a bright red color to them in combination with similar colored cylindrical missiles that soared at an arc high above that would crash down if given the chance. Shots like that indicated the glitch wanted to obliterate him into smithereens.
“Oh shoot!” Five exclaimed as a weird cannonball narrowly missed his head. The glitch constantly bounced up and down as it unleashed next to everything at him. It only gave Five a few seconds to react and get out of the way, but he learned the hard way that the constant firing contained more than just simple angled spheres. He should have paid more attention to the red ones more thoroughly as he originally only thought of them as the same thing but colored differently. He failed to find out at the time that while the while angular spheres vanished upon impact to the ground the red ones stuck to it and stayed around while embedded in it. No type of signs indicated anything else, whether by blinking colors or some type of noise, but when it finally got down to it…
He never thought on it until that one moment.
BOOM!
The force careened him through the air and into a tree behind him. The glitch on the submarine pointed one of its claws at him and uttered an insulting laugh as the young Glitch Tech painfully got to his feet only to see more ammunition rocket straight at him.
“I’m going to become fish food at this rate!” Five exclaimed as he barely managed to get back up and running before more could blast in his face. He made extra sure to avoid any red cannonballs on the ground from now as it basically meant that he stepped on a land mine but he knew couldn’t keep at it forever. If nobody could stay by him to co-op a glitch only one other option stood out which thankfully he already had with him. Right as a barrage of ammunition sailed by his head and some red cannonballs combusted barely out of his range he hastily activated his glitch gauntlet and glanced at the single screen. He scrolled through the various icons with his fingers for something extra to assist him.
“Come on, come on, come on, I need equal firepower at this rate…” Five mumbled to himself as he scanned every inch of the available perks he had programmed into his gauntlet. Clouds of dirt and sand kicked up into the air as he tasked between finding some assistance and avoiding becoming a higher rating in the ESRB. His legs began to run out of steam from all of the dodging but he didn’t have to search through his gauntlet for too long to potentially locate a technological helping hand…even if he would rather go for something else.
“The jet boots upgrade…” Five muttered as his expression went flat. He experienced something similar early on in his glitch career where he lacked the knowledge to fully control it. Even since then nothing changed much in terms of that type of control, he required something to possibly get aboard that ship and he had basically no more time left to lose dodging the lethal weaponry that continuously shot at him. The messed up glitch geared up for more and wanted the opposition to fight back with equal force whether he desired to or not.
“…this better be worth the EXP.”
He punched the numbers in and let the gauntlet do its magic, and in a quick instant his shoes obtained something a bit extra. Not only did a type of hover technology lift him off into the air but two small silos burst out from both sides of each shoe. It almost threw him off balance from such a sudden action but the silos let off a bit of fiery exhaust from under them that made sure he stayed upright. They even automatically angled themselves for extra control over where he took off into the air. While a minor inclusion to him at first, they did their job and answered a question Five asked himself since the glitch appeared.
Five’s spirit seemed to lift a bit once he fully realized what he spent his experience on.
“Let’s do this.” Five said with a small smirk. With only one leap off of the ground, he took off into the air only to accidentally steer himself backward. He tried to settle himself down a bit until he stabilized his flight, and once he did so he shot himself toward the large submarine. The deformed glitch growled loudly before it pointed its claws and unleashed a shower of cannonballs and missiles right at him. If Five had trouble handling the shots on land, it definitely brought a challenge for him in the air. Spaces with barely enough room to squeeze through, shots that came in pairs, and some that even locked onto him only made his job toward the culprit more troublesome than it needed to. He came in fast, but so did everything shot at him.
His slick figure and impressive evasive maneuvers gave him some leeway with all of the cannon fire and his quick thinking helped him predict where another might suddenly appear. He couldn’t let the confidence take control of him however as any type of glitch can bring a layer of unpredictability to the table that every Glitch Tech member required to adapt to. While minimizing that factor stood out as a ground rule to some extent some will inescapably slip through the cracks and for someone like Five he still had much to learn. He made sure to take into account every single missile thrown at him, but when it came to ones that got covered by another right in front of them it threw a wrench in his plans forward. Whether by some sort of foresight or eagle eye, the glitch got another hit on him as the missile grazed by Five’s left boots and sent him tumbling through the air.
“Oh shoot, don’t give up on me now!” Five said as he tried to readjust his flight while the silos on the left and right sides of his shoe did the same. Unfortunately for him, the missile packed a punch even though it didn’t hit head on so by the time he finally found his balance again he splashed right into the water. The monster rumbled and verbalized some low sounding clacking akin to types of machinery like it madly laughed at him as the struck teen fell below the water. While Glitch Techs thought one step ahead and made most of their equipment waterproof as to which ones functioned boiled down to ones made for it. The jet upgrade may have mastery of the air but not liquid and refused to start in that circumstance. This left Five with nothing but his swimming skills at best, and he knew it wholeheartedly.
The single period under the water left him wide open for the full power of the large submarine. Because his sight got quite obstructed when he gazed up at the surface, he missed the sight of the fired up glitch as it stomped against its vessel and forced the main attractions of the underwater vehicle to straightaway pop right out with no delays and aim straight at the helpless kid. The full front underside of the vessel swiveled over in his direction as it whirred to life, with some odd cuts in between the noises, and released some swift moving torpedoes which had next to no features on it except for pure white colors, along with some type of water mines that basically looked like round white spheres with long black sticks sticking out of their surfaces in a crudely made manner. Five couldn’t pay attention to their weird displays for long unless he wanted to get blasted, but he had to get to the surface and onto the deck of the submarine to take the glitch down.
The mines littered all over the surface while the torpedoes maneuvered rapidly at their target. Five flailed his arms and legs frantically around to narrowly avoid incoming shots but they just kept at it in an endless loop. As long as they kept firing he couldn’t focus enough to get back to the surface so he required something to delay them for a while. His eyes darted all over the front side while he made sure to avoid incoming fire only to take notice of a rather minute detail that potentially provided a ticket out.
“Wait a minute, those torpedoes don’t get launched out immediately as I thought. With that brief moment in their holds…”
His thoughts measured up into an idea that sounded somewhat far fetched in concept but genius in execution. His glitch gauntlet remained waterproof like everything else on him, but it still required some skill to shoot. With two clean shots against the open holds before they shot their ammunition everything could fall into place to make his escape, so Five had to time all of it perfectly. Right as the final few torpedoes missed his limbs by inches Five concentrated and aimed his gauntlet at the precise points. If he missed he would lose his chance but he didn’t intend for that to happen. He waited silently for the opening and once he saw the compartments open up he took his chance. With his gauntlet up and still running Five fired multiple derezzing shots right at the underwater missiles on both side in one swift set of actions. His patience paid off in the end as it blasted the torpedoes and blew them up prematurely which damaged the holds for the moment. Various shards of white material leaked from the spots as the submarine bobbed a bit and left itself idle which gave Five his chance. Part one ended, so time for part two.
His swim to the surface wouldn’t go by without some sort of snag in it, and that came in the form of the underwater mines the huge ship placed everywhere earlier. One pop from one of them and his game would end early and they hovered in place at very erratic spots. He couldn’t dawdle and take his time either or else he risked another assault from the submarine but if he rushed it too quickly he risked accidentally setting one off. He required a decent balance of both sides, so he tried his hardest to do so as the black spikes practically leered at him mere inches away from his skin. Due to his dip under the water he lacked the ability to see himself sweat as he clambered for the surface around and in between dozens of the aquatic mines scattered throughout the area around him. He even narrowly managed to avoid one minuscule touch on one of them, which would have ended catastrophically for him especially if the cannonball hit from earlier provided him the signs. While not a professional swimmer, Five did his best among all of the explosive that existed to do so.
Even though it only took around half a minute to do so to him it lasted for far too long as he eventually surfaced with a gasp of breath.
“Wow, that was FAR too close for comfort.” Five said to himself before he stared down the vessel on the surface. “Now to finally put an end to this.”
He revved up his jet boots for a second time and took off into the skies once more. Even after he fell he made quite the distance which meant it only took him a couple of seconds to reach the submarine at last. The particular glitch let off some weird type of steam from its head before it angrily jumped up and down and angled its claws in his direction.
“Alright you scum of the sea, COME AT ME BRO!” Five exclaimed with a burst of confidence. The creature let off more of its steam but it didn’t attack him immediately. Instead, Five saw something much weirder and unorthodox for a glitch of its potential type. Its midsection started to jiggle a bit as it uttered some deadly growls before it turned into all out shaking. Before Five could even fathom what he saw before him the glitch’s entire midsection sliced open, displaying sharp triangular teeth around the rims, and revealed a bunch of miniature versions of itself, minus the long claws and feet but just as weirdly colored, that hopped out like a bunch of hatching eggs on television. They gave off some giddy squeaks as they surrounded the teen and geared themselves up.
“Seems like a mix of cultures inspired this one.” Five thought. “I still need to find a weak spot though and fast!”
The glitch closed itself back up and let its claws do the talking with its opening act. It started with a clean sweep of its claws that became blurs with how fast they acted. Five had experience with fast glitches like it but even so it wouldn’t let him dodge so effortlessly. The miniature versions obstructed his path and started to roll into him at breakneck speeds, which Five had to blast out of the way with his gauntlet for more space from the main glitch. After a few shots across their bodies they suddenly went dormant and silent across the deck, but after a few seconds the spontaneously combusted into black triangles and vanished from existence. He almost got caught in one after he narrowly avoided an instantaneous claw swipe which made him lose his footing for a quick second.
“While not so much of a difficulty spike, approach might have some complications with this one.” Five said to himself. “Man, if only I had Miko with me!”
He got worried a little as the angry glitch reared up for another strike. He shot at it with his glitch gauntlet but he never anticipated it to leap high into the air which caused them to miss their target. With its claws bared, the glitch then drove itself downward which left Five only a split second to react. He shot at it a couple more times until the distance closed in and forced him to get away right as the mutilated game code buried its long claws into the sturdy metal of the ship. It wasted no time letting off more steam until it ripped its claws straight out with no effort at all which gave Five a blank face for the moment.
“Those things…can literally rip through metal…” Five stammered with his round blank eyes. “This doesn’t look…too good…”
With his focus so much on the main foe, he never took notice of the miniature versions until he found one right at the end of his right arm. He started to panic a bit before another one latched on to one of his legs followed by another. He managed to shake one off but another immediately took its place, and soon enough his torso fell to another followed by the rest of his body. They kept him pinned in one place while the main glitch sharpened its claws for another potential pummel.
“No, no, get off of me! I clearly don’t have enough to go around!” Five cried out in his struggle. His heart raced as his time shortened but it straightaway got even more strict when he took notice of the smaller glitches on him. It started off weak but after a few more seconds their entire bodies lit up which pointed in one direction for Five. He needed to get them off NOW or regret it later, so he hastily turned to his gauntlet even as the smaller glitches bound it to near immobility. Any type of repelling gadget would easily help him at that point and once a certain objects displayed on the monitor he knew he hit gold. The small glitches completely lit up but before they could turn Five into scraps on the floor the teen enabled the respective power which immediately conjured up a large high tech electric shield that forced the small glitches off of him right before they could explode and take him with them. It only lasted for a quick second, but he didn’t have time to relax as he found himself before the main large glitch as it charged forward once more in a manic spin of claws and slashes. He tried a couple of shots at it but its weird body made them harmlessly bounce off which only gave him the option to get out of the way and try something different.
The glitch then opened itself up again and released more of its messed up mini selves that instantly rushed toward Five like before. This got him blasting at them, but unlike the main glitch they did take some type of damage when hit. In fact, they went completely immobile and sat on the ground in some type of stasis until they exploded after a few seconds. The way they acted got the wheels in Five’s head turning until something formulated to potentially damage the main attraction.
“The thick hide of that glitch makes most attacks ineffective…but maybe something that hit it harder might finally crack that thing open. Guess I need to connect with my Mad Warheads: Complete Edition skills for this one.”
He stood his ground as more of the mini glitches ran up to him. He made sure one got drawn in close before he shot a blast from his gauntlet at it. With it temporarily immobilized, Five hastily picked it before the main glitch aimed its claws at him once more. It rushed forward in an instant with a driving thrust from one of its claws which narrowly avoided Five thanks to a quick thinking evasive action even when the smaller versions tried to slow him down. With the glitch’s attention briefly in another direction, Five hurled the inactive small version at which blew up on impact. He immediately noticed the progress as dozens of visible cracks formed around the afflicted spot before the glitch angrily turned toward him in rage.
“So that’s your weakness, huh big guy?” Five said with a smirk. “Can’t say I didn’t expect anything complicated. Also, I know the rules of three with your types…”
More fumes steamed from the top of the glitch’s head before it jumped up and down that tipped the submarine a lot. Five almost got thrown clean off while the glitch stayed stationary and revved up for something else. It aimed its claws right at Five again but it had no intentions to run up and rip him to shreds this time. Before Five could comprehend what it had in mind, the glitch outright fired its razor sharp claws in his direction. The claws wouldn’t touch him though, as when they only had a few feet before him they burst into a shower of sparks and embers that rained heavily. It caught Five off guard and managed to inflict a few painful burns all over him, but then it reared up for another shot.
“Well that’s a new one for me…” Five thought as he kept his ground even after the sudden attack. Before the glitch could unleash another assault, its middle split open once more and released dozens of its miniature versions eager to explode all over the teen. It shut once the last one made it out and then proceeded to propel and dislodge its claws at its defending target which burst into dozens of hot embers and flares. In an efficient method to dodge enemy fire, Five ran to his right in circles around the glitch as it fired while the miniatures failed to tackle and explode on him. He just needed one miniature to stray away from the others long enough for him to shoot, which paid off after a couple of circles around. One happened to wander into just the right spot which Five took for granted immediately and shot with no delay. The small glitch went down and immobile as another claw shot barely grazed by him which hurt but not to the same degree as a direct hit. Right as he did his round Five hastily grabbed the small glitch as more honed in to take their chance. Five denied them the opportunity and shot most of the ones in the front so the ones behind had some obstructions from their immobile ones to get through that provided Five the ample time to strike again. After he ducked under another explosive claw shot and as the miniature glowed in its final seconds Five tossed it right at the main glitch’s noggin that exploded immediately as it made contact. Parts of the large glitch’s surface began to fall off as large holes formed in it, almost like a shattered window on the verge of collapse, but it still stood as more fumes steamed around it in one final standoff. Two down, one to go.
Some more loose pieces of shrapnel collapsed off of the glitch’s messed up face, but it had plenty of fight left in it. It clanged and shook a little before it entered its final phase, which Five witnessed as it opened up and released more of its miniature selves at first. With its backup now in full force it spread its arms out wide and stirred into a twirl that soon increased in speed at a rapid pace. Soon enough it turned into a full blown whirlwind that began to suck in everything in its path, including its miniatures, while it veered straight toward Five. Avoiding the new attack wouldn’t go by as easy as the other phases since dozens of loose objects got caught in gusts around it while it constantly pulled him in, but he could manage with the right strategy. Any miniature that got pulled in blew up in an instant the moment it collided with the whirlwind, which indicated an invincibility period and also meant a limited amount to use against the main glitch when its attack ended. He made extra sure to pay attention to his footing as he made his rounds on the deck of the submarine while he made sure one of the miniatures still got left standing.
“Just a little bit longer. It can’t keep itself like that forever.” Five thought as the whirlwind veered toward him again. While somewhat of a grueling process to avoid everything, most of the miniatures Five saw ended up reduced to nothing over time, so when only one was barely away from the damaging winds he made his move. With one desperate dash forward, Five swooped in and shot at it which not only immobilized the small glitch but nearly got him wound up inches away from potential damage. He barely managed to get sucked in and hung on by the skin of his teeth as he noticed the winds die down, and as the miniature lit up his chance arrived once again. The main glitch stumbled around in a dizzying fashion as Five released one final miniature straight at the glitch that burst the moment it touched. All three hits seemed to do the trick as the glitch swayed back and forth as the last pieces of covering over its body fell off which made it fall over on its back in supposed defeat.
Five did it. He beat the deadly glitch all on his own and he couldn’t have felt happier.
“Geez, that really blew the wind right out of me…no pun intended. I’m sure Miko would riff on me if she ever heard that, heheheh. Oh well, time to bag this bozo!”
He fired up his gauntlet once more and awaited the moment when the glitch’s true electromagnetic form appeared from the defeated entity. He waited for half a minute until he started to get impatient, as the defeated form of the glitch he took out still laid on the ground with not a single sign that it would get back up. He already dealt with everything else, so naturally the glitch’s true form should have come out by now but he never saw anything. Something didn’t add up but he had no idea what it was.
...until some low audible ringing hit his ears.
Five almost got startled once he heard the sounds and they slowly started to pick up volume over time. Before he could even think about it, all of a sudden the whole submarine gave off one of the loudest sound waves in the city’s history and it packed a punch. It sent Five clean through the air and into the water once again in one hard splash but unlike before it didn’t fight back. Five ended up with his answer even if it hurt.
Five didn’t seem impressed as his eyes went flat upon resurfacing.
“Well, that’s one way to figure it out.” Five said. “Whatever fight that’s still in there I’m not letting it take advantage of me again. There’s got to be some sort of boat application in the gauntlet somewhere…”
As he floated in the water, Five swiftly turned to his gauntlet and ran through the applications to find what he needed for the incoming bout. He scrolled through all of the gauntlet’s icons and touched a few of them before a recognizable chunk showed up on the display. In terms of EXP it cost a pretty hefty amount and Five worked hard to pot all of his earnings into one place. After all, he still had his sights set on a certain gaming lounge chair with a certain decal on both sides of everyone’s favorite gooey wonder Moti-chan that came at quite the price. He saved up to get that thing after what seemed like ages, so if he wanted to part that possibility away it would have taken a truckload of convincing…if his friend didn’t have an enigma of a condition. He really cared for Miko and everything she did to bind their friendship together and to see her undergo constant growth spurts due to a rogue glitch made him feel sorry that she had to stay back while he had to take on everything solo. She definitely wouldn’t have let a condition like that ruin her chance if the experts never got brought up, and if she could do something for him to stay safe he could also do the same and give up lots of his earnings to take on the one that started all of it. While not in direct correlation with the glitch that brought it up, he had to handle it for Miko’s sake.
Five held back the urge to deeply groan before he closed his eyes in “EXP spending sorrow” and touched the icon to purchase. He couldn’t bat a single eye at the screen as his points deducted but when the bought item suddenly showed up under him his mood completely changed. Once he felt something instantly pop in from under him Five eventually found the courage to open his eyes, and to his immediate amazement his purchase turned his mourning into cheering. Usual Hinobi purchases with experience points tend to come into play the moment the user selected the appropriate option and for something to help cross waters they stayed on the same track record for instant efficiency.
When Five spent his EXP he expected some type of boat, and he definitely got it to a top degree. It supported a type of round design with a triangular tip that cut down on wind resistance and even came with two front seats, one for the driver and one for a passenger, which provided a great asset for when Miko finally gets the chance to team up with him again…in case of an aquatic glitch obviously. In terms of color it gave off the common colors of light blue on the underside and white on top like everything else Glitch Techs related while the common H logo showed its decal on both sides. In terms of other features while no other displays caught a majority of Five’s interest, the dozens of levers and buttons in the driver’s seat had his eyes glitter and sparkle from the shiny eye candy. At first glance some would act pretty cautious when in came to the sort of control and their disposal, but for Five they basically screamed at him to try them out and see for himself. He shuddered from the sheer amount offered to him and soon he thought his experience points got well spent. He may not have a boating license but he didn’t need one to drive something extraordinary in the name of his job.
“No way…no FLIPPING way!” Five stammered from sheer amazement. “I…I almost can’t believe my eyes. I need to savor this moment…there’s no way I actually have a whole-”
Five’s fascinations of pure enjoyment got interrupted by a couple of identifiable beeps in the seat next to him, and it didn’t come from the technological boat. One turn to his right revealed none other than his burly mechanical buddy who sat comfortable in the passenger’s seat. Five never intended to bring him out for the fight ahead, especially since most of the time Alpha relied on close range on solid ground, but he figured he must have accidentally pressed the option when he closed his eyes for the boat purchase. While he couldn’t provide any type of substantial help, he didn’t want to just put Alpha back into the gauntlet just after release. Besides, Alpha already made himself comfortable despite the fact that it appeared rather cramped there and Miko still had a major absence at the moment. While Alpha was made up of loose game code and lived his life a different way, Five had a true friendly relationship with him and wouldn’t turn down the extra effort he brought with him.
That didn’t mean his reaction would go by calmly though.
“Whoa! I did not expect to see you Alpha!” Five said while startled a little. Alpha uttered one of his happy grunts before he tilted his head and gazed down at the controls in Five’s seat.
“Umm, yeah. I don’t think we should touch those right away. You really shouldn’t be out here right now, especially with all of the water and that giant submarine over there…”
Alpha’s tone dipped a bit while the large eye on his screen drooped. He beeped a couple of times as the guilt crept up in Five.
“Well, I know you can’t provide as much as you usually do for this mission, but since I have you out already and the fact that you seem to like that seat…I guess you can stay out for this. You can act as my Miko for this if you want!”
Alpha’s nonexistent frown flipped upside down as some gracious beeps and grunts came from him along with a couple of happy jumps in his seat, which happened to tip the boat from his weight. He made Five laugh a couple of times before the mech settled back down.
“Okay, okay, you’re welcome there. Glad to see you like that. Now even though this whole boat looks promising, I haven’t managed to test it out yet. To make sure we don’t accidentally activate something unwanted we should probably hold off on pressing any buttons or pulling any-”
Five had his back turned for only a couple of seconds, but already in those few moments Alpha had his attention still set on all of the controls by Five’s seat. By the time Five got back to him, Alpha nearly had a hand over one of the big buttons that basically looked like it wanted to be pressed. Five frowned in a comical manner while Alpha hastily withdrew like he got caught with his hand in the cookie jar. He tried to put on an innocent facade, as best as an Alpha Mech could act, but it only reminded Five of how Miko failed to hide something under her unconvincing methods.
“…you really know how to pull off an act there.” Five said with sarcasm all over. Alpha beeped and grunted lightly all over the place almost like giggling which carried over to Five.
“Heheheh, I know you mean well there buddy. Seriously though, don’t press the buttons or pull the levers. This glitch probably has one more phase behind it, and it could very end up as one of the deadliest and most fatal out of anything we have ever-”
A faint noise off in the distance interjected and managed to catch Five’s and Alpha’s full attention. The glitch that Five once thought to have stayed down for good sluggishly pulled itself off of the ground like the undead seen in various forms of media despite the fact that Five blew up next to all of its body to nothing. It got up in a way that really shook up Five as it never used its arms like some sort of spectral force and even held its arms out straight horizontally with no extra movements. He basically saw a backyard hoe slowly stand up like someone carefully stepping on its rake which gave him goosebumps from the sight alone. Alpha had his own thoughts but lacked the type of expressions one usually went for, similar to Ally in a way, so most of the time they got kept to himself like that moment. Whatever the case for the glitch, it had much more coming their way.
From the few remains of the glitch still standing something else raised at a snail’s pace. A weird type of adhesive oozed from the open holes before a better shape took form in its place. If the glitch’s previous head curved into some type of egg shape the supposed new one appeared to share the same trait. The gooey bits evaporated to make way for the shape that just came in…only to reveal a glitchy head similar to the one before. However, it brought something extra along for its opposition but in a strange way it bared not a single spike or piece of armor of any kind. Five felt a bit confused once he witnessed what appeared as a type of pristine wear akin to tuxedos and like the glitch itself it had messed up blocks akin to rainbow static all over it. It even came with some type of blank formal tie that only dumbfounded him even more. The eastern influenced glitch used its stubby treads to stand up firm and tall while it used its claws to readjust its tie at points, which lacked the lethal impressions Five expected for the glitch’s final phase.
However, not only the glitch got a transformation as the massive submarine it commanded went through something similar. The front part had it center split down the middle before it protruded forward and spread in opposite directions. Both side stretched and extended to around a quarter of the vessel’s full length until the almost unhinged from the main body which made them look like a pair of mandibles or pincers. If the architecture of it intended for it to function that way, Five concluded that what went on the inside of the appendages would end up as something sharp or jagged to rip everything it caught apart. He ended up with a guess in the wrong direction though when he saw some type of blank white cones that almost appeared like…trumpets? Nothing sharp or deadly at all, just some weird cones that gave off the impression of that certain instrument. The deck up top also underwent changes Five didn’t expect in the slightest as all of the weaponry and cannons suddenly withdrew back into the ship and covered their holes with flaps before something long emerged to take their place. Like everything else that had their colors all over the place most of the new object only gave off a vibrant red color, including something flat from under it, and two parts around the top part drooped all the way to the floor before it quickly closed up tight and even oscillated in the wind a bit quietly. The main glitch instantaneously vanished behind it which Five and Alpha couldn’t make sense of until the final touches came up. Once the wires connected into a loose knot they still couldn’t compute as to what the heck their eyes were looking at.
As if the whole thing required one final touch, everything around both of them, and the entire lake for the matter, dimmed down into pure darkness and left next to no visibility around them. Five started to get worried, which Alpha seemingly felt as well, before his ears picked up a slow type of piano solo. It began rather quiet at first until a few more seconds in where it got much more perceptible and distinct in its own manner. Soon after some types of wind instruments handed over their harmonies and chimed in to form a calming melody that extruded power in their notes. The trumpets obviously came from the large mandibles the submarine formed earlier. The song gave off a certain genre to Five but it stood at the tip of his tongue and refused to show up, but he didn’t have to wait long for the answer as the two long red parted spread in opposite directions to reveal what it shrouded behind it. At first the darkness concealed all of it until a streamed light shined near the front of the whole ship. Another soon showed up after followed by two more in opposite corners, and with one quick glance everything unraveled for the young glitch hunter but still nearly made his head hollow.
The main glitch, all dolled up in some type of formal attire, struck a pose of elegance and poise in the center of the makeshift area. A dozen or so miniatures of itself stood up straight on the left and right sides that confounded Five and Alpha even more. The glitch trudged up to the front of the area as the classical music continued to play before Five and Alpha heard something different.
…and it blew their minds.
Did you think that I would gooooo down to someone with no claaaaaaaass?
You barely scratched an inch over my big coat of braaaaaaaaaass!
To fall…to die…and perish just like thaaaaaaat…
You do not understand whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy……you fight like a GNAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT!
…
…
…
How can you aaaaaaact with weapons of such booooooooooore!
Especially with your lack of certain smaaaaaaaaaaaaarts!
I cannooooooooooot.
I canNOOOOOOOOOT.
I can nooooooooooooot………un…der…stand…bad AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARTS!
Five and Alpha couldn’t come to terms with their minds as the music picked up and the miniatures uttered a low chorus when the time came.
You show nooooothing and think you have it AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALL!
Have it all, have it all, have it all…
But yet you miss and lose the crucial BRAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWL!
Crucial brawl, crucial brawl, crucial brawl…
Now you must face the real meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee…
Oooooooooooooooh…
With my palettes out and freeeeeeeeeeeeeeee…
Out…and…free…out…and…free…
Everyone laughs; dread drifts in meeeeeeeeeeeeeee…
Drifts……in……me…
BUUUUUUUUUUUUUT I WON’T FAAAAAAAAAAALL!
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahh…
AS YOU DOOOOOOOOOOO NOOOOOOOOOT KNOOOOOOOOOOOW MYYYYYYYYYYYYY…STYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYLE!
You don’t know, you don’t know, you don’t know, you don’t know, you don’t know, you don’t know…nope!
With that last combination of words, they finished. Five’s and Alpha’s brains nearly melted trying to make any type of sense as to what they just witnessed. They could only really come to terms that they saw something, but everything else…it existed. If he had Miko beside them it wouldn’t have made a difference and she would easily understand the exact same way. For someone known for his calculations on the spot he still didn’t know everything in the world and he basically witnessed something beyond college level comprehension.
Nothing could divide by zero after all.
They got dumbfounded so stiffly that they initially missed the moment where their opposition started to change. The main glitch that gave such a showstopper uttered a couple of musings under its breath while the miniatures instantly displayed a vibrant amount of colors. The classical underlying music increased in beat until a certain tune formulated. The trumpets in the front also gave off their best performance as the miniatures began with a different beat. The music shook them up enough to make them sudden jumped and squirm all over the place in tandem with it while dozens of large sized arrows in their respective colors shot out from each of them. Five and Alpha didn’t take notice of the icons until they literally almost crashed down on their boat. Five revved up the engine before more arrows could attempt to crush them and attempted to get out of the way. Something else was going on and he had to figure things out fast.
“I…I don’t know what’s happening anymore!” Five exclaimed with a bit of panic. “This glitch steered off into another dimension of crazy!”
Alpha grunted in his usually technological way as if in agreement before he had to duck as a huge left arrow narrowly missed his head. He then uttered another type of tone that Five understood in his own way.
“I’m just as stumped as you are, but these relentless arrows have next to no reaction time to avoid!”
Five did his best but all of the arrows came in fast that could topple the boat over if they made contact. He couldn’t keep it up forever but if gaming taught him anything when it came to high leveled bosses most if not all of them contain some type of weak point or pattern to them. As much of the glitch’s…display he witnessed something within all of had to provide some type of hint to get through to it. The overall appearance of the whole thing stuck out to him first, as it reminded him of stereotypical theater actors that carried a powerful and loud voice in the midst of packed rows that desired to hear the highest regarded music of their time. He tried to think of something, but Alpha took his attention in another direction to the whole thing. His screen humorously displayed an hourglass that continuously flipped around as he processed the actual lyrics of the song for any hints. His processors took notice of the “palettes” line and the similarity to the miniatures sudden color change but couldn’t determine anything else. Something about it honed his senses to that particular set of words and he needed more about it.
“It…it has to be something about those colors.” Five said as the arrows kept coming. “Got anything it there Alpha?”
The mech’s screen changed back to a large single dot before a groan akin to something like a deep sigh came from his direction.
“Yeah, I figured as much.” Five said with a slight frown. More notes popped in his head but he still had to pay attention to the arrows shot his way. One barely grazed by the boat and almost careened both of them off, which forced both of them to hold onto the boat for some type of land.
He barely got a few glimpses at the miniatures while the arrows assaulted them at every corner. He could make out twenty four of them across many colors of the palette wheel. Around eight of them gave off sky blue colors, seven had ruby red, five orange, three purple, and only one showed off its black sheen. He immediately went back to the basics he stirred in his mind.
“Okay, okay, okay, I’m seeing lots of colors, and that glitch said something about palettes…and yet gibberish at every other corner! Style? No, they can’t mean anything. Something about dread? Nope, still nothing. Where else am I supposed to look next in all of those lyrics? The letters?”
His options started to run dry and he couldn’t keep at it with the arrows forever. Alpha tried his hardest to stay afloat but even he started to tire out from such attacks. Five couldn’t let his buddy go down easily so he hastened up his thought process and let his mind race with potential answers. If the words of what he heard didn’t ring any bells, naturally for him he turned to the letters of each word. Nothing caught his interest at first as he tried to process to the best of his ability while he paid attention to the projectiles shot at him. Throughout all of the nonsense he heard from the glitch he skimmed over most of it as he pinpointed various words that caught his interest, including the ones he very rarely heard of. He thoroughly scanned over every single one with precise analyzing and failed to comprehend anything said to him.
…until he combed over one specific verse.
Whoever programmed all of the nonsense in that glitch might have thought he concocted something very clever, and to ones with slow ears and eyes they probably would have never batted an eye toward the complete nonsense thrown at them. The pieces of the puzzle remained so obscure for him to possibly solve it could only have the description of a pristine miracle. The colors of the miniatures did matter, and the amount shown for each now made perfect sense. As for the arrows they shot out…as much as he wished Miko was beside him, without her he basically had to take on the task at hand by himself.
If he guessed correctly he should finally have his chance against the final phase with the glitch.
“Hey Alpha, do you think you could control this thing for a little while?”
Alpha’s screen lit up like he just got handed an overdue birthday present. His dot got wider as some rather upbeat grumbles and beeps rang around his armored body. He shook from sheer excitement as he reached for the controls before Five stared back at him.
“Not yet. On my mark.”
While he would have some disappointment in him from such a remark, the fact that he still got the chance a bit later pushed his attitude up enough so it didn’t tarnish the moment. To make sure he understood his caretaker, Alpha nodded in his direction and uttered a couple of happy groans while he stayed in his seat. Five steered the boat forward more while more arrows bombarded them at every turn and when they got somewhat closer to the vessel in a bit of a blind spot he slowed his boat down.
He glanced over to Alpha with a determined look.
“…NOW!”
The next series of actions went by so quickly it almost seemed like it never happened to a slow reacting eye. Five got up from his seat just as another arrow soared over his head before, in one fell swoop, he leapt right off just as Alpha got off of his. While impressive in his own right, the teen managed to land right on the front side near the right so Alpha could get a good view to know where to steer. He made extra sure to keep his footing this time while Alpha did his best at the steering wheel despite his fascination with all of the other gadgets at the boat’s disposal. For a large robot that only contained programming that fit the game he came from, he actually had some decent traction and maneuverability with the boat when the arrows came in near.
Five maintained a somewhat fine posture as the boat rocked everywhere while he set his sights on the miniatures that shot the arrows in the first place.
“While I couldn’t figure out all of the clues, I’m pretty sure I got this whole arrow thing figured out from the scraps I determined. The letters of that one verse indicated something about being in the middle, and since the orange miniatures have theirs numbers right between all of the other colors, if I follow their directions and ignore the others…”
Each of the arrows shot from the miniatures crowded around each other in droves, but with an eagle eye Five managed to barely make out the current arrows only from the orange ones. They came out in a sequence, which he memorized in an instant as up, down, up, right, left. Right as the arrows approached him he moved his body in the given directions while he stayed put on the boat’s front. When he finished the sequence of actions, every arrow that shot at him bounced off from a few feet in front of him like some sort of intangible force field. A huge relief fell over him, as his hunch turned out correct.
“Yes, I got your number now stupid glitch!” Five exclaimed with a big smile. The main glitch shook a bit and bared its teeth while more directions spiraled out of each miniature and homed in on him. Alpha stayed on track with the boat while Five kept his eyes peeled to make sure he only paid attention to the sequence of arrows shot out from the orange ones. He really felt like Miko when she busted out one of those rhythm games, even if he didn’t exactly have the type of talent she had. She would probably have no problems if she was in his shoes at the moment…but she currently had her huge fifty feet height to worry about so he had to go solo for this mission.
His sight honed in on the next sequence despite the arrows from other miniatures that constantly tried to distract him to another direction. Down, left, left, right, up, and down in that order. Right as the arrows approached the classical music started to go at a steady tempo which Five took as a cue to perform the actions. With his long arms and legs along with a forehead of sweat, Five performed the process of the next actions and watched the arrows bounce clean off the invisible force as Alpha drove the boat in closer. While his attention set on the incoming arrows, he never noticed the main glitch suddenly rear up and inflate like a balloon. Its glitched eyes stared him down before Alpha caught wind of the signs and grew increasingly worried.
Before they even knew it, the glitch unleashed a deafening tone of note that shook the waves around it.
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!”
The sheer volume of the whole thing rang through the whole area that bounced around Five’s and Alpha’s noggins. It made the two incredibly dizzy which almost made Alpha miss the complete bomb of a projectile aimed straight at them. The massive concoction consisted of nothing but the sheer voice of the deep note the glitch blurted out, and it rocketed toward the boat. Alpha panicked a little and turned the wheel with extreme haste for any type of saving grace away from it which almost tossed Five off of the boat. Any time later than that brief moment and they would have never had a chance, as the huge sphere of the loud sound waves narrowly missed their small vessel of a boat and crashed straight into the water. The complete power of such an attack hollowed out a portion of the water into an empty bowl for a split second before the waves shot back up in a brilliant crash that showered the air around them for a short time. It almost acted like an astronomical underwater mine or atomic bomb got set off near the surface, and they would have suffered all of the damage if they never acted so quickly.
Despite that quite dangerous temporary setback, Five remained focused on the incoming arrows. Down, up, down, up, then right? Nailed on his first go. Down, right, up, right, then left? Barely scraped by those. With each passing set of directions their boat drove in closer and closer until one more set of directions shot from the orange miniatures and it came out in one large package. Up, down, down, left, left, left, right, right, up, then down in that exact order which Five aced in one slick set of dance moves. With the last of the arrows now past him, Five got his footing down before he leapt right off his boat and onto the submarine’s deck once more. The miniatures stood in shock while the main glitch angrily bobbed up and down before it puffed itself up again for another loud scream.
“I don’t think so!” Five exclaimed as he aimed his glitch gauntlet right at its messed up figure and fired one strong shot. His aim stayed spot on as a large chuck of the glitch’s top got blasted into nothing and even made it teeter and forth in recoil. Before Five could attempt to get another shot in, another deafening sound launched him right off of the deck and into the air once more. His jet boots upgrade help alleviate the backwards speed, but he still had a bit of trouble with control. Alpha already had his scope up and ready to go the moment he saw Five sail through the air, so he steered the boat along and increased speed to get to him in time. He would not let his buddy suffer from such a sudden blowback move.
Of course the Alpha Mech’s curiosity over all of the shiny buttons and levers never left him. The instant his screen looked down over all of the levers and buttons at his disposal dim sparkles lit up around his circle while he shook and grunted from sheer excitement. The emotions clearly got the better of him as he wasted no time to press one of the big red buttons almost like a giddy school girl, which worked in his favor in the end. Right as he pressed the button something of a rubber yellow variety blasted straight out of the boat’s front and instantly inflated to float atop of the water. Five would have hit the water hard but thanks to Alpha’s eagerness he quickly found himself smacked right into a common inflatable raft…which comically displayed a large rubber duck motif.
Five shook himself up before he came to terms with what just happened. He waved him down before Alpha drove the boat up close to pick him up.
“Still couldn’t resist the temptations?” Five asked. Alpha beeped a couple of time while his screen showed a happy pupil.
“Okay, I get it Alpha. You still got me out of that jam and that’s all that counts in the long run. Can you please get me back on the boat?”
Alpha beeped again before he nodded and reached an arm out. Five grasped it as the raft deflated and got drawn back inside the boat. With his burly arm, Alpha pulled Five back onto the safe surface of the boat but he didn’t go into the passenger’s seat. Instead, he put himself back on the front of the boat just as the main glitch reared up for another round.
…not without another showstopper though. The classical music increased in tempo before the deep voice echoed around them once again.
How dare you go and strike me down and think that you have wooooooooooon?!
Don’t you know I personally take it as a stupid puuuuuuuuuuuuun!
I’ll show you me greatest hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit!
As you go rot in a piiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit!
While I shred you bit by biiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit!
None…shall…beat…this…fight…of…BRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWWWN!
…
…
…
Do you care? Do you worry? I suggest you dooooooooooo!
I have all the shots to utterly drown yooooooooooooouuuuuuuu!
Sit down and hooooold still while I try something neeeeeeeeeeewwww!
This whole entire process is really overduuuuuuuuuuuuueee!
I set it all up spitefullyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy…
I won’t back down and you will seeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee…
My final number and my gleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee…
Will prooooo… greeeeeeess…aaaaaaaaaaand…boooooooooooooost…MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!
Just like last time, the miniatures gave out their own underlying chorus while the main glitch continued.
To a big degreeeeee, I hold all of the right thiiiiiiiiings!
All the things, all the things, all the things…
You play as a protectooooooor while they pay you in riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiings!
Pay in ring, pay in rings, pay in rings…
Time to usurp the hero, and seize what’s rightfully MIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINE!
Ooooooooooooooooo…
As our fates can’t cross…and INTERTWIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINE!
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh…
The curtains and stage wait anxiously…
Anxiously…
FOR MYYYYYYYYYY…TIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIME…TO…SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINE!
Right as the final words of the glitch concluded, it struck an elegant pose and the music immediately ceased. Some low type of applause rang through the area while the miniatures turned toward the main glitch as if to hive some type of their congratulations on their own even though they lacked arms. As much of an occurrence to Five and Alpha as it was, the surprise factor already ran its course the first time. If they didn’t defeat the glitch now they had no idea what it would go for next, so the two prepared themselves for another round of whatever it got.
The miniatures started everything off as they changed colors to throw them off from last time. With new coats of paint, Five immediately took note that twelve painted themselves purple, five indigo, three crimson, two brown, and two more pink. The rules set in place from before informed him that he should definitely pay attention to the three crimson miniatures and ignore the others, so Alpha revved up the engine as Five got ready for another round of slick moves.
The mini glitches wasted no time to unleash their many arrows in Five’s direction, which he knew to only pay attention to the ones shot out by the crimson ones, but something extra got thrown into the mix. The classical music that accompanied each selection of arrows increased in tempo until it transformed into an almost completely unique piece and the shifts kept coming. The arrows approached at a speed akin to the music, which enforced one simple fact into Five’s mind.
“This really makes me feel like Miko should have handled this…”
He couldn’t dwell on it for long until the arrows honed in on him. Up, up, right, up, down. Five made those bounce right off. Down, up, right, down, left. He made sure to do those moves next and avoided those. Right, right, up, left, down. Five wasted no sweat with that sequence. He expected more of the same until the tempo and speed of the music increased. Now he really wished he had Miko’s skills for the next batches.
Right, right, right, up, up, up, down, down, down, left. Five almost tripped himself up on that one.
Up, up, down, down, left, left, right, right, up, down. His legs crossed as he barely got through.
Left, right, left, right, up, left, down, up, right, left. They came out so fast that he got mixed up with one of the wrong arrows and performed some wrong actions. Five watched in horror as the missed down and left arrows crashed down hard on the boat and nearly tipped it over. Alpha managed to stay afloat to a certain degree while Five got down and braced for impact. The strikes hurt, but the boat suffered more damage than they did. He glanced over to Alpha who glanced back. He couldn’t figure him out from certain looks alone, but Five could tell that he had just as much nervousness as he did. More wrong moves and the boat would take another beating, so while he may not have the active footwork that Miko had he better increase his performance or risk another dip in the lake along with the remains of the boat.
“Keep it steady Alpha, as I can’t miss any more of these.” Five said. The mech in the driver’s seat gave a nod of approval and cooperative grunt at the same time. The onslaught of arrows picked up once again that kept Five on his toes, and with each successful attempt Alpha got to steer in a little closer to the ship.
Up, right, right, down, up, down, left, left, right, up, down. Five almost twisted an ankle with that one.
Down, down, left, up, down, right, left. A shorter sequence which Five got with no trouble at all, but his focus locked to the incoming sequences so much something completely avoided his vision. The main glitch slowly started to puff up as the sequences progressed, which meant only one thing if the previous one didn’t reinforce it. Five might have missed it, but Alpha sure took notice right as it got up to full. Even though he would blatantly ignore Five’s directions, not suffering another potential capsize of their boat took priority over that.
Once the glitch inflated to full, it unleashed another sonic boom of a bellow that shook nearly everything.
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!”
The whole thing rocketed straight from the glitch’s lips at blistering speed. Alpha’s foresight into the attack paid off in the end as the premature turn of the wheel gave him just enough time to barely avoid collateral damage. The section of the water where the noise struck hollowed out into one deep bowl for a split second, which even revealed the bare lake bed from how deep it went, before it immediately filled back up and showered the two from the large waves in the aftermath. Five got taken by surprise and accidentally fell back into the passenger’s seat of their boat as Alpha tried to remain steady from the rough waves. Five hit his head on the way down, but other than that he still had a lot more in him. While a bit shaken up he quickly got back on his feet.
“Wow…nice one there Alpha. That almost got us too.”
Alpha gave a quick thumbs up and grunted in a happy manner in response. Five couldn’t waste any more time as more arrows aimed for them so he hastily got back on the front of the boat, but not before he slipped and almost fell into the water, in preparation for more attacks. They drew in close, so a few more dodges and Alpha’s boat driving would get them right where they needed to.
The miniatures got more desperate when they got in closer, so they shook things up a bit by putting some of their directions in some delays in an attempt to throw him off which Five had to account for.
Up, down, up…left, right, up…up…left, down. Five got their number and did it with no issues.
Down…left, up…right…down, up, down, right. He didn’t break a sweat on that one.
Left, right…left…down…up, left, down…up, right, left…up. It almost twisted his brain on memorization but he managed through that sequence. He greatly approached the vessel, which meant one more round and he should wrap everything up tightly, so he prepared for one more sequence. In one final desperation move, the miniatures shot out so many arrows that he almost lost his concentration on the crimson miniatures. His brain worked in overdrive at that moment with the arrow memorization and the moments when they delayed their shots, but as if he took on the mindset of a supercomputer he got next to all of it down and broke down all of the moves in one brilliant display of motions.
Up, up…down, down…right, left, right, left, up…right, down, up…left, down, up, down, right…right, up, down, down, down, up…left…up…right.
All of that and he performed all of them with perfect accuracy.
Five and Alpha watched as the miniatures spun around with kooky eyes before they suddenly collapsed onto their backs, likely from all of the ammunition they burned. Before they could think about them further, all of the miniature glitches combusted at once in one long stretch of white smoke. Their efforts were completely wasted as they tried to stop Five and Alpha, which left only the main attraction left standing. The main glitch stomped angrily as Five boarded the submarine once again, but before it could attempt an encore the teen fired up his glitch gauntlet and launched a couple of very strong blasts that struck the glitch dead on. Its top half only had a couple of minute pieces left which left it drained of nearly all of its energy. The glitch now stood on its last legs.
Five prepared another barrage of blasts while the glitch inflated one final time, but they never got around to finish the job. Before Five could attempt to finally take it down, the whole area suddenly dimmed around him. Now Five knew how it appeared when a cloud or something temporarily blocked the sunlight, but this time neither got concluded as the culprit. He slowly got increasingly worried until one major sign suddenly indicated its distinct presence.
“Hey Fives, you can’t take on a glitch like that without me you know!”
Everything rumbled with loud booms from the distance, and Five could recognize that upbeat voice from anywhere. The loud noises came in closer and closer that gave him goosebumps all over his back, and they even provided such a disruption that even the glitch stood still in its own way as if it also had some sense of worry for loose game code. Five glanced over to an equally worried Alpha who still sat in their boat before he did the inevitable and turned in the direction the signs came from.
He couldn’t believe his eyes.
“Muhmuhmuhmuh…MIKO?!”
He saw her last time just around the fifty foot mark, but now she obliterated that benchmark with no substitutions. What once started off as a giddy young Asian girl with a knack for adventure ended as a dominant colossus whose sheer height blocked out the sun. She still expressed her eager and uplifting attitude but her new growth spurt told a different story. Her long cosmic hair could cover an entire field and she could crush multiple buildings with one of her hands alone. Even a single breath could wipe out weaker structures if she wanted to although she never willingly wanted to go crazy on things that didn’t interfere with missions. The tallest of buildings in the city didn’t even reach above her towers for legs at her new titan height. He knew something went on with her ever since that glitch explosion, but it took a new turn with how much she gained in that time frame. She stood higher than gigantic, she went titanic.
Even though her height nearly doubled, she still had the ability to wear her Glitch Tech uniform and gear with no issues as they sized up with her.
“Well, well, well, look at what I found! A couple of ants that have their hands full with a glitch. Looks like they need help from the big girl, heeheehee, quite literally!”
Her volume came out much louder than before, which rang through Five’s ears like a dozen airhorns.
“Muhmuh, Miko, you, you…went through another growth spurt!” Five stammered. “How are you not in hiding right now and-”
“I think you have a worse predicament in your hands at the moment there.” Miko interjected. Even though her eyes basically had the size on an entire house, Five could tell where she set her sights and the recipient didn’t appear too pleased. In fact, it still froze up completely ever since it placed its sight on the massive girl.
Five still couldn’t find the words to speak as Miko rang through his head again.
“I see you still have a bit of a struggle there. Can’t say I kind of expected that from having to handle a solo mission without me. No worries though, for your massive partner Miko has arrived to perform the fatal blow like the fighting game master I am! I always wondered how it would feel to completely crush a glitch with my bare hands.”
“Whawhawhawait Miko, you’re going to cause a-”
Miko never got the chance to hear what Five tried to get out of his worried mouth as she made her next steps forward. Each one shook the ground at a level akin to small earthquakes that nearly knocked Five and the glitch off of their feet. To think a friend like her went from casual and eager to a collateral deity would have never crossed his mind until that moment, enough where she could accidentally crush him and never know until the aftermath. Alpha understood the concept just as well and didn’t need reminders about what to do next, so as Miko approached the edge of the water he turned up the boat’s engine and high tailed it out of there. While the natural reaction seemed like the most viable solution the robot’s haste made him forget a crucial thing he left behind.
“Alpha, where are you going?! You forgot to take me with you!” Five shouted to the mech only to get no response as he sped away. Five groaned under his breath from his companion pet’s mindset before his attention steered back toward the titan of a partner. Her steps kept increasing in power as she got closer until she set her high tech boots into the water. She didn’t seem to care about the effects her colossal height had on the ones she towered over, enough to make them look like the smallest of insects and bugs, which meant more hassles to deal with for Five. Miko’s steps forward now kicked up a series of large waves as she trudged through, which didn’t even measure up to the top of her boots and nearly capsized the whole submarine from her size’s force alone, and Five felt the full force of her like an ant that tried to survive from an elephant. He made sure to hold onto as much of the vessel as possible which the glitch seemed to also take into account and tried for itself. As the deity Miko got up closer and closer the waves got more and more erratic and rough while the huge quakes she made with every step made it that much harder to keep his footing and not slip into the water. He may have dealt with a majority of the glitch already, but Miko unintentionally made herself a surprise endurance round to potentially end things off on.
Once she finally made it over, Five could only see a portion of her massive boots as her voice boomed over him.
“Look alive ants, for here comes Miko!”
Her immense shadow practically covered the whole submarine in darkness before it got even darker. Five could only make a wild guess as to what she had in mind before it almost crashed right on him. With only mere inches away from him, Five nearly scrambled out of the way as a massive wall of sorts smashed right next to him that took up most of his vision. The whole vehicle almost began to cave in on itself as cracks form around and tilted at various angles. The wet floor challenged him to stay afloat, but then he felt the gravity shift from under him. That combined with all of the other destructive troubles made Five lose him balance and fall backward onto the white wall that started all of it. He held on tight as the gravity shot upward and various colors zipped by him. If he didn’t take on the mission earlier he probably would have concluded that he must have taken something to see the palettes go by his head, but clearly something else was going on and he knew it came from his now even bigger partner.
As soon as all of the motions started though, it ended after only a couple of seconds. Five shuddered from all over as his brain tried to catch up but before it could the gravity shifted one more time and stabilized to an extent. Five almost never wanted to open his eyes and see the consequences, but after everything that happened he managed to open them anyway.
His whole sight got taken up by one of the biggest eyeballs he had ever seen.
“Aww, ain’t that sweet to see the ants struggle against my grip? It’s almost cute in a sense, heeheehee!”
The submarine continued to fall into shrapnel that Five understood once he turned around to see where he landed. The wall he landed on once the gravity shifted turned out to be one of Miko’s massive fingers that almost took up the whole ship. Her fingernails cut through the vessel like paper as she left next to nothing behind. With wreckage all around him Five knew he couldn’t stay on it any longer and scrambled to get off as scraps flew at every corner. Shards of multiple cannons and metal rained upon him as the gravity shifts careened the ground below him at less than optimal angles. He nearly lost most of his footing but he barely weaved in and out of danger before his legs caught the edge of the submarine and made him tumble straight off. He didn’t land in water for another dip but he found himself against something between hard and cushy that gave him not a single profound injury. Even though he managed to get off the sinking ship he still wanted to get some distance away from it for safety so he put his legs to work one final time before he managed to do so. He escaped the destruction with everything he got and he couldn’t have felt a heavier relief.
Then he finally got the chance to find out what the heck happened to get to that point, and the first glance blew everything through the roof.
He got to see Miko’s full height from afar, but up close it provided a much different picture. She had a planet for a face at continents for eyes that expanded to ludicrous lengths beyond simple comprehension. As for where Five landed, he ended up on the vast valley of his partner’s palm, which because she was already in her Glitch Tech getup meant he stood right in one of her fingerless gloves. He couldn’t underestimate the scale her next growth gave her either, as one look down told him next to everything about how she saw everything below her. It really felt like he stumbled into another dimension where everything suddenly went mini and next to nothing could match the heights given. If he underwent the changes Miko did he would fully understand it but he only got long gazes through a window at that point. She stood at the end of all of the growths and her experience would only have some understanding to her alone, something Five would never fully comprehend.
Even though her planet sized face took up most of his sight he could tell that she didn’t have her attention on him at the time. With only two fingers against the submarine he once set foot on it took no effort to completely waste it. In one single crunch from the two digits the vessel had nothing left as shards of static and glitchy substances littered the air until they completely vanished. Five would have called it a day if one single recognizable instance never crossed his sight and it appeared that his gigantic friend that was Miko also took notice with her continent eyes. Once the submarine completely fizzled out of existence she used her other hand to snatch the troublesome glitch with only two fingers while she left Five in the other. Time for her to end it.
The glitch struggled to wriggle free from her fingernails that bound it in place to no avail. It made her smile for a second as she got it up closer to her continent eyes.
“Try as you might, but you won’t escape from my fantastic finisher. How about I mess around with you for a bit just to rub in all of that salt in your eyes, huh?”
The glitch couldn’t do much with every single part of its body stuck together by Miko’s fingers, and the giant girl knew that too well. Its egg shaped body clamped shut that Miko could pry open if she really wanted to but she opted for something simple…yet deadly due to the size difference. She knew exactly what she wanted out of it and she didn’t even have to break a sweat doing it. As she gripped the glitch and prevented it from fighting back, Miko slowly moved her fingers in a way that made the glitch rotate like it got stuck on a rotisserie stick, but she would let it go by harmlessly. As she turned it around and around she intensified her hold and slowly dug her fingernails into its body that destroyed more and more of its body with each rotation. Five could only watch from her other hand as she shredded the rest of the glitch in one of the most harmless actions possible for someone normal sized but Miko didn’t abide by those rules with her behemoth stature. Each time she rotated the glitch she destroyed more and more of the glitch’s body with her fingers and it could do nothing about it.
Her choice of actions left the glitch with next to nothing left. Five couldn’t even recognize its initial shape as Miko mangled it beyond belief. If he never saw it earlier he would have never guessed the glitch had a completely different shape. Miko completely ruined it without any effort on her end.
“Looks like I softened you up nicely.” Miko’s voice boomed. “While I would love to continue messing with you I can’t let you exist here any further. Game set…and flawless victory.”
The glitch started to bellow out one of its high notes but it never got far until Miko finished it off once and for all. It barely got it out before she immediately crushed the glitch and everything about it with only two digits. Some light sparks shined out of the impact but other than that it never provided any opposition to the colossal girl. In one fell swoop Miko ended the tiresome brawl much to her delight.
She smirked a little before she opened her fingers back up only to see nothing left behind. Five stood silent as she checked her glitch gauntlet and once her expression faded he understood what it meant.
“What?! Still nothing?! I don’t know what’s the deal with these types, but not getting any XP from them really grinds a gamer’s gears especially to someone like me!”
Five has so much worry over him that he almost didn’t want to speak up but Miko pushed him into it once she turned her planet face toward him.
“Don’t worry, I never forgot about you Fives.”
Her louder than life voice knocked the boy in her hand over onto his backside that got her to laugh a bit.
“You…you grew again?!” Five exclaimed in astonishment. “I can’t believe it happened again…and you had those researchers looking over you! Do they even know about this?”
Miko put on a tepid expression and rubbed the side of her head with her other hand.
“Well…yeah, to put it rather loosely. I kind of, sort of…hit the roof so to speak.”
“Your growth completely tore off the ceiling, didn’t it?” Five asked in a rather blunt manner. Miko comically shook like someone completely guilty, which also wiggled Five in her hand.
“Ummmm…not just that…” Miko muttered off shakily. “If you couldn’t tell by this…new height and all, I kind of…accidentally wrecked the whole area in the process.”
“I can picture that quite nicely.” Five said with a quick shiver. “At least tell me that the researchers found something to possibly reverse your condition.”
“Actually…as much as I would have liked to know…they didn’t find anything noteworthy.” Miko answered. “They did stir up a ruckus at one point which died down rather quickly, and luckily they managed to get out with all of their equipment before I demolished the building, again COMPLETELY INADVERTENTLY, but other than that…nothing.”
“I really hoped it wouldn’t come down to that.” Five said with a small dip in tone. Before he could speak up to her again, Five calmly moved one of her massive fingers over and lightly hit Five on the backside of his head with her fingernail. He got taken aback from the surprise action before he chuckled with a smile on his face.
“Cheer up Five, I’m still rather enjoying the height gains despite the inconsistencies. Besides, to see you so greatly tiny makes you look pretty adorable from my angle and I can’t get that out of my head. Face it, you like seeing me this ginormous.”
Five rubbed the back of his head.
“Well…I guess seeing you handle glitches effortlessly kind of makes me glad to know you still haven’t changed back yet. If you came a bit sooner it probably would have gone by a lot quicker, no offense obviously.”
“None taken.” Miko answered in her booming voice. “The researchers informed me to stay among the rubble while they retreated back to headquarters to, you know, make sense of what they discovered and all of that. However, since I REALLY wanted to see everything at this new height and potentially help you out I, well…”
Five held back an obvious roll of the eyes once he heard his giant friend say that.
“Can’t say I’m surprised you thought that way. If anything I should thank you since Mitch took off the moment that certain glitch zipped off in another direction. I didn’t exactly have a lot of options left.”
“I figured that out one I saw you completely alone.” Miko said. “You still brought out Alpha though, right?”
Her train of thought quickly got interrupted when she felt a small impact against one of her boots. She diverted her attention over to it only to see the chunky robot still in the boat with a dizzy swirl on his screen. She chuckled under her breath while Alpha came to and realized what he did. Five took the moment to scan over her and find out what height she stood at now, which thanks to Hinobi technologies took only milliseconds to compute. His pupils shrank once the sole digits displayed on the screen.
She surpassed two digits and wandered into the threesome.
Even though he only saw a one followed by two zeroes for the exact numbers he almost couldn’t believe his eyes. She eclipsed the previous heights but still acted like the up tempo and eager girl he knew all too well. If she grew again she probably wouldn’t fit in the whole city and maybe lay dormant in an ocean or something just to avoid some type of detection. She may have the same personality, but the height gains got deadlier with each new one which required more research to possibly solve it.
“Whoa, is that Alpha in a boat? I never knew he had it in him!”
Five’s though process destabilized back to normal upon hearing Miko’s immense voice. He took a quick glance down from her hand to see his mechanical buddy close by the giant girl’s boots still in the boat and his arms in the air. He waved from all the way down in a friendly manner while Miko slowly waved back with her other hand.
He still needed to answer her statement though.
“You have to make do with the available options when the time gets tough. Even though I never expected to have Alpha drive a boat in my career, I kind of had no other choice at the time.”
“I think he rather enjoyed it from the looks of things.” Miko said. A few recognizable clucks rang through the air soon after, which Five and Miko knew too well as the large bird Ally made her presence known. However, she didn’t come from Miko’s larger-than-life gauntlet like where all companion pets laid inactive, so Five got a surprise when he saw the bird’s blank face pop straight out of a thicket of Miko’s hair. With the giant girl’s long hair able to cover next to an entire valley if she wanted, Ally had a lot of room to work with. In some ways it almost looked like she made a nest in her caretaker’s strands, which would not be too far fetched for Ally to do, which got the colossus to giggle a bit.
She addressed the situation to not leave Five in the dark.
“Yeah, she didn’t want to leave me alone after the whole growth thing. I find it a bit charming in a sense, almost like she wants to comfort me in these hours. The things I do for her…and she wants to pay me back.”
“Either that or she could have just wanted to catch a ride up there.” Five stated. Ally then squawked like she always did, although neither Five or Miko could tell if she felt the former or the latter with the situation, before she disappeared then reappeared on Miko’s right shoulder.
“Soooooooooo…got any bright ideas what to go for next? I’m still a one hundred foot tall girl after all and I can’t exactly go anywhere without…wrecking things so to speak.”
“I’ve always had that in the back of my mind.” Five said as he thought for a moment. “If anything I think we should probably lay low in a less populated area until the researchers figure something out. I’ll call Phil and maybe we can figure something out, but you might have to walk…a bit carefully just in case.”
“Pfffffffffffffft, I can handle things just fine Fives! You worry too much!” Miko said while she readjusted her stance. While she only moved slightly, to someone like Alpha she did enough to bury him under the water. Her boots kicked up a couple of large strong waves that Alpha barely had enough time to react to that would have flipped him over. He revved up the motor and sped off to a safer distance while Miko looked down and noticed what she did.
“Ummmm…that doesn’t count! I’m still fully capable of handling this new height!”
“I sure hope you’re right on that front.” Five answered while he held back the urge to smirk in a friendly manner.
“I am right!” Miko answered. “Also, you’re right about what we should probably go for, so let’s find a place to settle down for now. I don’t want to bust out the mind wipes just because I never saw someone by my feet.”
“I’ve already settled on that idea.” Five replied. Miko couldn’t help but play along one final time for the moment.
“All aboard the massive Miko express! Next destination: who knows! Please remain seated in the comfort of her grasp which she wanders the continent for the next great challenge! WOO!”
With that said, Miko turned around her massive body and proceeded to walk out of the lake to hopefully find a nondescript unpopulated area to lay low for a while. While she made extra sure to not accidentally step on anything of note she did create large quakes with each step that shook everything around her boots. Alpha probably had more enjoyment at the time since he got to pilot the boat even more than Five intended, enough to make him not mind that much when big waves came from Miko’s steps. Her time as the biggest girl in the world would continue further down the line and now on a much greater scale, which fed to her eagerness and excitement over the whole ordeal.
At least most would think that way at first. Ally thoroughly enjoyed having a caretaker with a sky high size and would have remained that way if she never witnessed something catch her eyes. While she stayed snug against Miko’s shoulder and watched as she played around with her huge height and the tiny Five in her hand for a split second a different picture reflected in Miko’s face. A distinct frown followed by one of the meanest glares imaginable with a sense of inhumanity reared its fatal fate in a flash over the bird’s head and dangled a guillotine just inches from her neck. It spooked Ally enough to make her slump to the ground with wide eyes as if she got carried off with the greatest impostor and bound in shackles, although a certain part of her held her ground. One more glance and nobody around her seemed to notice, especially Five and Miko who had their attention to each other as they conversed on what to do next, which gave doubt to the bird if she saw anything or not. Even though her programming limited her to the game she came from, her experiences with Miko added to it in a way that provided many senses dozens of loose programming codes would die for.
She didn’t like it at all and wished she never placed her eyes in its direction.
To be continued...