Ant Hill
Lexi and Kalluto traveled back upward and stepped off on Level 46. The valley of insects was sealed off from the elevator area via a glass wall. There were wide tubes lined along the glass, but they would compress into smaller tubes as they let out on the other side. Lexi walked up to the glass and placed her forehead and hands to it. She looked over a very tiny mushroom town with tiny players. "They're so tiny! I thought our avatars could only go down to 3 inches?"
"Hmm…" Kalluto studied a tube entrance. "Perhaps we have to use this-" He curiously took a few steps in, but as the tunnel compressed, his body shrank along with it. "Oh?"
"Whoa!" Lexi perked up when she came to see. "You shrunk!"
"Ah…" Kalluto looked up at the twice-as-tall Lexi with a neutral stare. "Well, at least we'll be on equal ground with everyone else in here."
"Man, do we have to shrink?" Lexi sighed. "They already had giant bugs on the flower floor, why can't we just have tiny bugs here?"
"I don't like it any more than you do. Ugh, I can just imagine my brothers looking down on me like some…ugh." He shuddered at the frustrating thought. "But it shouldn't matter since we'll be secluded from the 'big' zone."
Lexi gave in and followed, the tunnel expanding as she caught up to Kalluto's level. As they crossed the mushroom town, Lexi viewed around at all the players going into the mushrooms. "Hey, Kalluto, are the NPCs just blended in with the actual players? I sort of feel like none of these buildings have actual characters in them. Are they just decorative or do they have collectibles?"
"I think I heard it was possible to buy your own house or business. Maybe these buildings are meant for the players in general. I even remember seeing some out in the greater valleys, I guess for players who wanted a more scenic home."
"They actually expect people to 'live' in this game?"
"I mean… that's sort of what we're all doing now."
"Yeah, but this was all a big accident, right? Unless this whole Infinite thing was a part of the game. Wouldn't Hinobi get their butts sued big time?"
"Unless they had powerful backers. Like… Disney."
"Pfft, why would Disney approve THIS?"
"Who knows?"
"Oh, you're just being pessimistic. Between you and me, Hinobi games tend to glitch all the time. And not just your everyday glitches, I mean the glitches that LITERALLY try to kill you. But sooner or later, my big sister and her friends are gonna pull us out of here!"
"Even so, that's no reason to not take action ourselves."
"Yeah, yeah." Lexi rolled her eyes as they began to venture off from the town. "But can't we wait until the sun comes up? A lot of nasty bugs come out at night."
"Sheikah become faster at night, and we have heightened senses."
"Cool! …What are Sheikah?"
"We're a race who are naturally adept to Ninjutsu."
"Wow! No wonder you're so cool!"
"Well, my skills are quite a few leagues above the average Sheikah my age. My training is especially more strict."
"Is it like those movies where the student has to run across a mountain in bare feet while carrying ten jugs of milk?"
"No… it's more like this." Kalluto turned to her and untied his robe.
She instinctively shut her eyes from his nudity. …But after cracking them open a tad, they widened: Kalluto had numerous cuts along his skinny frame. "Uh…what the heck?"
"This is the Zoldyck Family tradition. As soon as we can walk, our training begins. My parents work to toughen and harden my skin, just enough to where it doesn't impair me, and begin hammering the art of Rokushiki into my brain and body. Unless of course you're my sweet older sister, who's too 'precious' for such torture, and has never developed the heart of an assassin. Compared to that, karate is a little child's game."
He retied his robe and walked away. Lexi was left frozen in place, dumbfounded by the revelation. She didn't know whether to focus on the assassin part or the torture. "…No wonder you're so-" She turned, but… he was gone. "Uh…Kalluto?"
"Hissss…" Her heart skipped at the sound: she frightfully turned to find a giant snake looming over her. "AAAAH!"
But the tip of a grass blade flew around and sawed the snake's head off. She saw Kalluto behind the grass. "Be careful. All kinds of predators lurk in the grass."
He proceeded forward, with Lexi running to catch up. "It sounds like your family are a bunch of jerks."
"Well, it has made me strong, and I take my teachings to heart. I can at least take solace in the fact that I surpass my siblings. Milluki is lazy, Alluka just goofs around, and Killua would rather go parading with 'friends.'"
"Hm…" She narrowed her eyes. "Well, you know what I think?"
"What? HMP-!"
Lexi suddenly glomped the skinny boy in a tight squeeze. "You need a BIIIIIIG hug!"
Kalluto shoved her several meters away. "What do you think you're doing?!"
"Don't give me that act!" Lexi pushed up and stomped back to him. "No kid should be raised that way and you know it. You let me hang around you all this time because you wanted someone to talk to. You wanted a friend."
"I hung around you because I considered it bodyguard training, and you were paying me. Otherwise, I think you're annoying and I would've ditched you ages ago."
"And how much allowance do you think I have, anyway?"
"Depends on what kind of family you belong to."
"We Kubotas are an average family who make the average amount of income!" Lexi stepped up and poked him in the nose. "And I've got at least… $50 in my drawer! Is that enough for you?"
"That…that's hardly enough!"
"Well, what're you gonna do about it? Kill me?"
He grit his teeth and raised his fan to her neck, Lexi shutting her eyes and cringing in fear. "…?" She cracked an eye open. Kalluto's violet eyes were cold and dark under his bangs. And yet, he was clearly hesitant, and his eyes were shaking. "…A firefly."
"Whuh?" Lexi asked. She turned to see a giant firefly atop a grass blade. It flapped its wings and flew away. The kids watched mouths agape as it flew toward a distant, shining tree. "Whoa… that's a lot of them."
"Yeah…" Kalluto slowly stepped toward it.
"Do you… like fireflies?"
"Well, they are pleasant. When I was four, my parents dropped me out in the woods one night. I had to survive the night, run, and hide from a bunch of monsters. Eventually, I found a hidden garden of fireflies. I thought their bright lights would've given away my location, but the monsters never came near them. Perhaps they hated the light."
"Awww! So, the fireflies protected you!"
"Perhaps, but I'm more than capable of protecting myself now."
"Man, if only I still had my…?" Lexi brought up her U.I.. "Wait…" She clicked an image and transformed into her Draconian form. "I can change into my avatar again?!"
"Huh?" Kalluto was taken aback by her wings, claws, fangs, and horns. "So, that's your avatar."
She lit her body with lightning as she flapped her wings and lifted off. "We should be able to blend in like this! I'm like a lightning bug! Wanna grab on?"
"I'm not sure. This game has been really picky with flight mechanics."
"Let's just go see if the boss is in the firefly tree!"
"I suppose…" Kalluto climbed onto Lexi's back. The dragon rose from the grass and soared to the flies. (Play "Fireflies" by Owl City!)
As they drew nearer to the tree, dozens more fireflies fluttered past them, blissful as they joined their friends amongst the leaves. There were boarded walkways and huts suspended along the branches. Lexi landed on a walkway, gazing at the glimmering bugs in awe. Their golden lights contrasted the dark sky and warmed Lexi's heart. …And, as she turned to Kalluto, his dark eyes twinkled in wonder. "?" His hand was taken in Lexi's as she led him up the path.
Smaller fireflies were lain on the bridge in slumber. As they released snores, they emitted electrical fields the duo had to avoid. The walkway ended, so the two used flight and Moon Walk to land on giant leaves. Pairs of fireflies were linked via electric beams, floating up and down between the platforms. Once past this section, they landed near a car-size bug zapper near some sleeping bugs. Lexi used her bending to light up the zapper, causing the bugs to wake and light up. They floated at different heights and served as platforms to a higher level. Because they were baby fireflies, they wouldn't electrify the kids.
A gentle gust of wind indicated they could fly on this route. Lexi carried Kalluto across the gust, calmly maneuvering around the peaceful fireflies. Even so, Kalluto didn't feel much of a threat from the giant bugs. Even if they threatened to electrify him, they felt too relaxing to fear. After landing, the duo had to jump some adult fireflies that were flickering on and off, only jumping while they were off. They landed on a leaf beside a more giant bug zapper. The zapper would light up every 10 seconds, giving them that much time to climb around to other leaves. They carefully made their way up the zapper until they reached the roof. There were several baby fireflies asleep up here. Lexi walked into the center and released a brief, bright jut of electricity. The bugs startled awake and took flight, generating a gust of wind. Lexi carried Kal and flew alongside them.
It wasn't often that Kalluto could lower his guard and put his trust in someone else. As he rested on Lexi's back, he surveyed the thousands of lightning bugs, not to observe them like an enemy, but simply because he was enticed. He would almost say this was the most peaceful place in Aincrad. Although this shouldn't matter to him… if anything, he would want more threatening enemies to train himself. He couldn't just let his heart grow soft.
"Ahhh…let's rest here for a bit." Lexi said as she landed on a leaf.
"The stamina meter is pretty inconsistent."
"Yeah, but like… I just wanna lie down for a bit." She lay on her back and gazed at the flies. "They're like a bunch of giant stars, aren't they?"
"Laying here won't help us find the boss any faster. We don't even know if-"
"Kalluto, the boss isn't going anywhere. Just lie down."
"…Hm." Kalluto lay beside her. The bobbing leaf felt nice under his virtual back.
"Wouldn't have guessed you were an assassin. Why didn't you tell me before?"
"It's not exactly an occupation you make public."
"True. But if you wanted me to go away, you could've said it to scare me."
He turned his head away. Lexi noticed this and smirked. "Do you even like being an assassin?"
"Of course I do. The training might have been painful, but the occupation is fun."
"But it's nice to take a break from it, isn't it? And have someone normal to hang out with?"
"You've proven that normal people are frustrating."
"You like having me around."
"Well, you have been an interesting study."
"Yeah~. …Hey, when we get out of here, you wanna come over to my place sometime? You can have dinner with my family."
"Why would you want that?"
"Just… thought I'd ask. If you wanted a break from your family… or something."
"Since you clearly don't have enough allowance, I suppose you have to repay me somehow."
"I'll take that as a 'yes.'"
"Hm." Kalluto faced up at the fireflies. "I don't actually eat that much, anyway. I try to maintain a good diet so I can stay thin. It helps with the job."
"And you dress like a girl because…?"
"What's wrong with kimonos?"
"Nothing. I think it's cute~"
"When are we gonna look for the boss?"
"Let the song cycle through one more loop."
The kids lay in silence and let the fireflies entrance them, like flickering stars drifting to the sky. (End song.)
Battlestar Belt
Meanwhile, the stars of Floor 70 were fraught with war as the Irken player, Gaz Membrane fought her way through a fleet. Beyond the fleet was a seemingly vacant part of space, where a gigantic, rabbit-earred spaceship ominously rose from beneath. The "Here Comes Trouble" music accompanied its arrival, and a green-furred alien bunny was seen in the cockpit, wearing an emperor's robe. "You made quite a mess of my armada, little missy! Allow me to introduce myself: I am Galactic Bunny, conqueror of the univoise!"
"This game has such weird bosses."
"You ain't the first one to challenge me today. I had me a little scuffle with some other green guy. He didn't get the best o' me, but he made off with my precious heart! Once I deal with you, I'm off to get dat heart back. And I will use its power to become emperor of the galaxy!"
"How nice. I'll be stealing your throne now."
After a rather one-sided battle, Gaz would be flying away from the ship as it erupted into a great explosion. She turned around to witness the blinding aftermath, shortly before Galactic Bunny's severed head plopped onto her windshield. The head popped into fireworks and became a Boss Key. "These bosses really speak to me and I enjoy them." Gaz smiled. "Alright… that's three Boss Keys for me. …" She viewed across the distant space, where another battle was taking place. "I guess I should check on those guys. Though now that I think about it… where is that girl, anyway?" (Play "Area 6" from Star Fox!)
Stage 70: Battlestar Belt
Mission: Recover the Pure Heart from Hacker!
Mabel Pines was piloting her own H-Star that left a star-glittered streak from its engine. Dipper was manning a small control station above Mabel's seat, shooting lasers at enemies, while Tronta and Vanellope were riding the ship's wings. "You know, I thought the name 'Shooting Star' was familiar." Tron commented. "That's actually Nebula's personal ship."
"Copyright infringement not intended!" Mabel declared. "I am not liable!"
"There's enough infringing in this game as it is~" Vanellope teased.
Mabel shot some ships that looked like TIE Fighters, having shields to their sides that Mabel had to shoot between. Star Gunners flew in from the sides to shoot the wing riders. Tronta tossed his Light Discs to K.O. the ones on his side while Vanellope took care of hers with a glitch-jump combo. A circle of TIE Fighters flew ahead of them, only briefly shooting lasers before turning sideways to defend from their attacks. Dipper saw an incoming mine and targeted it with a missile, launching once the mine was in the center of the TIEs. They exploded and rewarded them a bomb. The team flew toward a field of giant asteroids, Mabel first maneuvering right, then left. However, Star Ninjas pounced out of the craters and latched on the H-Star. Tron suffered a cut before knocking two ninjas off, but Vanel's ninja suffered a Lickety Split Kick before taking the fall.
"Mabel, incoming!" Dipper yelled as meteors flew from ahead. His sister steered the ship as necessary to dodge them.
"Dipper, we got enemies coming from behind!" Tron alerted.
"Okay!" Dipper twisted the turrets around to shoot behind them. The two enemies were Mechapedes, centipede-like ships that shot fireballs from their segments. Dipper could destroy the individual segments, but mostly focused on the heads to destroy the ships completely. He then faced back ahead as they were flying to a cluster of small asteroids, deciding to launch the bomb and blow them all to pieces. They flew down and under a giant asteroid, making a curve to the upright as large Top Ships spun into being. They spun like actual tops, and Tronta whirled his discs like shields to defend the ship from their shots. It took several laser rounds to down the tops. Once past the asteroid, they flew over the surface of another asteroid. Topmen were on that surface, using springs to bounce up onto the roof.
Vanellope would kick down those Topmen while Tron dropped and zoomed along the asteroid, using his discs as boot wheels. He would stylishly slice the Topmen with light-bladed kicks, but had to perform leaps over electric bars and use the craters' slopes as ramps. Turrets shot along the ground and tried to hit him, but Tronta was faster as he beheaded the turrets. He bounced some Spring Tops to get onto some ledges, ending at a group of three pillars with springs on them. Tron carefully landed and bounced these pillars as they returned him to the ship! As they were nearing a space station, four devices conjured a green barrier to block them. Enemy ships came from behind, so Dipper shot them while Vanellope zipped her way into one of the generators. She hacked the device and glitched it up, creating a gap for the ship to fly through.
"Boss! Another ship is breaching our defenses!" a robot named Delete's voice was heard through the intercoms.
"Bah! Where do these brats keep coming from?!" Hacker shouted.
"Bhhhhhuuuuu…" Vanellope had to rest on the wing as her form sparked. "Th~is ga~me ha~s pretty str~ong co-o-o-o-ode…"
"Don't overdo yourself, Vanel." Carol cautioned. "I'm not sure if you could possess another Program in this game."
Once past the barrier, a Shield Ranger began zooming around, a robot designed like a knight. It would swiftly dodge Dipper's shots before flying up to land a cut, but Mabel steered right in evasion as Tron tossed a disc at its head. The ranger retreated, and Dipper landed enough shots to destroy it. Three large, armored ships suddenly spawned out of hyperspace and began to fire. As Mabel frantically dodged their lasers, golden lasers rained from above and destroyed the ships' cockpits. "Hey, newbs! It's a bit dangerous out here at the moment!" Mitch called, flying his H-Wing upside-down.
"Are you Sector Hinobi?" Tron asked. "We've been sent by Sector Q!"
"Sounds like you're allies!" Zahra said, flying past. "We're trying to breach that space station. The Pure Heart is in there!"
"They'll never shoot down THIS ShootingStar!" Mabel declared, stomping the gas to boost over the cannon-loaded roof of a ship. Missiles launched out of said cannons, but her boost outran them as Zahra shot them afterward. Another ship flew in front of theirs and had giant hands attached. High Five's hands blocked a hundred lasers from ahead, and when a group of ships tried to fly into him, he clapped the hands over each one to smash them.
"I can't fit through there. Meet you later!" Five said before flying down. The H-Star flew toward an asteroid trench and twisted vertically to fit into the gap. Mabel maneuvered carefully until the trench exited to a wider area where ships rested in wait. They were taken by surprise as Dipper shot some down. A barrier activated at the end of the tunnel and was steadily moving toward them. Vanellope got on Tronta as the boy leapt to a walkway on the left. He raced on his discs, dodged around pillars, and sliced Star Ninjas that hid in wait. He jumped a ramp to go over some spikes and reached one of the barrier's sliding generators. Vanellope went inside it, hacked the device, and shorted out that corner. They jumped back on the ship as it flew through, with Vanel needing another moment to rest.
They flew out of the tunnel and back into open space, shooting down a few Top Ships as a dreadnought station came into view. "Boss! They're getting closer!" Buzz alerted.
"Why aren't you shooting them, you damnable duncebuckets?!"
"Guys! I can use some help here!" Bergy shouted as the four could see him being chased by enemies. Dipper locked a missile onto the middle ship and fired, taking the other ones down with the explosion. "Thanks! I needed time for the shield to recharge." He then flew toward a larger squadron and activated a shield, absorbing their lasers. Once in the center of the squadron, he unleashed an explosion to take them all down.
"There's a landing platform!" Tron pointed. "Vanellope, let's see if we can get in from there!"
"Right!" The two jumped off the H-Star and landed on a long, wide metal platform. Tron skated them across and jumped over shockwaves generated by Jump Beamers. The machines also served as springs, and one bounced Tron up to a Riddler Trophy. "You know, aren't there also Cassette Tapes that unlock new soundtracks?" Vanellope asked.
"It doesn't matter if people can just look the music up online." Tron used a Jump Beamer to spring over a large gap, kicking down some Topmen that tried to knock them off a more narrow path. Once past the tops, Tron bounced some Spring Tops across some platforms and reached the base of the slanted Dreadnought. An electric barrier tried to impede them, but Vanel transferred her glitchiness to him to help zip over it. Large billiard balls were rolling down the slope, bouncing rampantly. Tron was hit by some of the balls and knocked back down, so Vanel zipped him back up before it could get worse. The slope ended as Tronta had to grind up a rail that snaked about the air, jumping Topmen that came from the opposite direction. The world glitched as the next rail segment warped above, but Vanel zipped them up in time.
The rail let off on a stable floor with three generators situated on tall platforms. A horde of Megatanks formed a maze of barriers to block them off. The duo searched for the nearest Megatank and destroyed it, then steadily picked down the other ones sequentially. They Wall Jumped to get onto the left pillar, bounced Topmen to reach the right pillar, and from there, Tron threw both discs toward the central platform for Vanellope to jump across. The candy girl hacked each generator and disabled the nearby barrier.
"Boss! Two of those brats are comin' up from the lower entry!" Buzz alerted.
"Blast! You two, get up there and shoot down the gnats! I can deal with these two myself."
The barrier opened to a very steep slope with holographic up and down conveyors, which would shift gravity in the duo's favor. Tronta carried Vanel up a green 'up' path, but it suddenly tried to shift them down. Tron had to jump to a diagonal rail on the left and grind up it, jumping to the next 'up' path. Tron sliced down some turrets, but the road was about to cross to a 'down' slope, so Tron jumped to a rail—the game glitched as the rail transferred him downward, so he quickly jumped to another upright rail, followed by an upleft one. The 'down' path had changed to 'up,' and Tron could jump to it. He had to jump a "stairway" of small 'up' paths, each one immediately swapping to 'down' and requiring him to jump quickly. There were no platforms for the last wide jump, so Vanellope glitched them up. They landed in a wide hangar where the Grim Wreaker was parked. (End song.)
The other operatives were circling the top of the Dreadnought in their ships. The hangar was blocked by another barrier, so they were searching for and destroying generators. "You think those two will be fine on their own?" Dipper asked.
"They are top sector operatives, right?" Mabel shrugged. "They can at least get started until we-" They were shot from behind.
"Haha! Ahahahahaha!" Two sources of laughter sounded from a ship that looked like a giant doughnut with a rabbit's head on top. Buzz's cockpit was inside the doughnut hole and Delete's was in the rabbit. "You ain't screwin' up the boss's plans today!" Buzz declared.
"Wow, look, Dipper!" Mabel exclaimed. "A bunny doughnut! It looks so cute and tasty!"
"Focus, Mabel. That adorable pastry is trying to cream us!"
"Then bring on the sprinkles!" On her command, Dipper pressed a button to release a storm of tiny stars, dealing a large amount of damage in small quantities. Buzz and Delete dove downward and performed a U-turn to get behind the H-Star.
Tronta and Vanellope fought through some XANA Krabs to reach the Wreaker. The green-skinned villain's visage displayed on a screen. "Since you meddlesome kids have come this far, perhaps you can be a test for my new weapon!"
"Hang on, I know that big-chinned creepo!" Vanellope said. "It's Hacker! He's a Brotherhood villain who attacks elementary school websites. He used to be a Program in this online math game where you had to solve a bunch of equations to beat him. He developed sentience and started trying to conquer Cyberspace."
"How do you know him?"
"He attacked Gallagher's website one time, so they got me to bust him. Problem is he was only programmed to know elementary-level math, so the best he could do was target those schools."
"That's THE Hacker, you candy-coated pest! And once we harness the power of Aincrad, I will upgrade my I.Q. one-hundredfold! Neither you nor that blasted Riddler will humiliate me again!"
"Oh, please, Hacky." Riddler's visage squeezed itself on the screen with him. "No upgrade you give yourself will ever measure up to my magnificence!"
"WHAT?! How did you find this channel?!"
"You may be a technical wizard, but I am a sage! Just wanted to remind your friends here that they are falling behind on their Riddle Collection, and they should get started posthaste when they are done wasting time with you."
"Get out of here!" Hacker disconnected him. "Once I'm through with these twerps, you're next! Activate the Digi Displacer!" (Play "Egg-Cerberus" from Sonic 2006!)
Boss fight: The Grim Wreaker
Two large antennae atop the Wreaker conjured a sky-blue energy sphere. The operatives jumped away when it launched at them, destroying a wide radius of code and leaving a clean cut, gaping hole. They ran separate directions as the ship shot rapid lasers at either. Vanellope saw some platforms on the ship's right and planned to glitch up them once the lasers stopped. Once they did, Hacker began charging the Digi Displacer. Vanellope hurried up the platforms and hacked into the antennae: the code wall that awaited her appeared to be fraction addition. "Let's see, '2/4 + 3(5/8 – 3/6) = ?' They teach this in elementary school? Uh, CAROL?"
"I got my calculator handy!" Carol quickly inputted the equation. She passed the answer onto Vanel, allowing her to breach the code wall and attack the antennae.
The energy for the machine was sucked back into the Wreaker, electrifying The Hacker. "Nooooooooo!" Once it ceased, the math villain growled angrily and commanded his ship to lift off the ground. He tried to hover over Tronta and drop bombs over him, but he remained fast on his discs and outran their explosions. Tron raced to the wall so Hacker couldn't follow, prompting him to drive his ship away. He fired a wide laser from the ship's left cannon, but Tronta could grind up it. Hacker switched to the right laser as Tron flipped onto it, and he continued doing so despite Hacker alternating at a faster pace. Tronta smashed through one of the green windows, and Hacker drew twin pistols to shoot him. Tron pulled the discs back to his hands, dodging the shots and knocking the guns out of his hands with the discs. Once the discs returned, Tron flipped over to painfully bash them against Hacker's chin.
The Pure Heart's machine released an energy field that blasted Tronta out of the ship. The Wreaker flew away and charged another Digi Displacer. It quickly launched at Tron, who rolled away, the sphere destroying a smaller area of floor. It had enough energy to launch three more spheres, with the last one covering a wider area. Tron and Vanel stayed away from that zone, but the dark vessel began to release green shockwaves across the ground. At the same time, Hacker sent missiles that rained down in random areas, the duo having to dodge them while jumping the waves. Unfortunately, Tronta was electrocuted, and the blast of one of the missiles knocked him away.
Meanwhile, Vanellope was able to zip and kick off some missiles to reach the Wreaker's roof. When Tronta was downed, Hacker began to charge the machine, so Vanellope hacked into it. Another math equation appeared before her. "'Train A leaves Station A at 5:30 p.m., Train B leaves Station A at 5:33,' come on, do we have to do one of these?"
Tronta pushed himself up and got ready to dodge. He waited expectantly for Vanellope to stop the device. "…!" Nothing was happening, and once the sphere grew to full size, it dropped to the ground. Almost the entire floor was swallowed by the Digi Displacer, save for a few tiny strips and platforms. Tronta had skied along the wall to avoid the blast. "Not sure why those parts survived, but I'll take it! But where's Vanellope…"
Tron zoomed around and down the side of the great crater. He leapt onto a small strip of ground and skated up, ducking Hacker's bullets. He leapt some small platforms, but there was nowhere to go from there. Luckily, Hacker shot a large laser that he could grind across, then flip onto a rail hanging from the ceiling. He was about to jump some small platforms, but Hacker burned the laser along to melt them. Tronta simply jumped on and grinded that laser again, making it up to the ship's windshield and smashing through! Tron kicked the villain's chin and spun him around in a combo attack. One kick knocked Hacker's wig off, and the other knocked him against the heart's machine.
"Didn't you learn your lesson, boy?! My anti-intruder field will send you flying!"
Tron braced himself as the machine was about to release the same force that blasted him off. "AAAAAHH!" But instead, The Hacker was blown off, Tron watching as he flew across the hangar and out the exit (the barrier seemed to have been disabled). Tron turned back to the machine as Vanellope jumped out.
"I reprogrammed it into an anti-Hacker thingy! I THIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINK…" She immediately froze and vibrated in place.
Tronta used his discs to slice the machine and take the sky-blue heart inside it. "You did good, Vanellope! Why don't we use this baby to get out of here?" (End song.)
Outside, the H-Star closed in on Buzz and Delete from the side, taking down the rabbit's ears. "AAAAAH! My poor bunny's ears!" Delete cried.
"Dede, they're coming back! Drop the bomb now!"
"What? I can't hear you!"
"Dang it, I told you not to connect those ears to your comms!"
"These robo-twins seem a little out-of-sync, Mabel!"
"Give them another taste of our Super Twin Missile, Dipper!"
Dipper gladly released the button and launched twin missiles. Delete panickingly sent a bomb backwards, but the missiles struck it before it could get far from the rabbit-doughnut. "AAAAAAHHH!" The henchbots went spiraling out of control.
The Hacker had fallen onto a lower ground on the Dreadnought. He looked up in panic as his henchmen's ship was falling toward him, bolting out of the way. The ship crashed, the explosion blowing Hacker away. "YEAH!" The Pines Twins high-fived. "Haha, your hand is so tiny, Dipper~"
"As soon as this game's fixed, I'm changing my-"
A powerful beam struck the engine of their ship. "WAAAAAHH!" They began spiraling down toward the same ground Hacker was on.
"I'll save them!" Five flew down.
"Who shot…!" Zahra stopped herself, her eyes filling with dread. "INFINITE!"
The black-and-silver jackal was floating in the middle of space, highlighted by his red aura. Five tried to grab the H-Star in his hands, but the vessel had already exploded. As he stared over the wreckage in horror, he saw the Pines limping out of the smoke, their HP reduced to 10. Five sighed in relief.
Infinite set his sights on the Wreaker flying out of the hangar. The jackal flew like a comet and blasted into the cockpit. "INFINITE?!" Tron screamed. "AAH!" He and Vanel were pushed back by his force, dropping the heart.
"I'll be taking this if you don't mind." Infinite calmly took the heart in hand.
"Give it back, you jerk!" Vanellope recovered and zipped around to confuse him.
"No, Vanellope!" Tron yelled. The candy girl dealt a Lickety-Split Kick, but her form froze and glitched as soon as her boot met the heart. Infinite was about to attack her, but… Vanellope's pixels seemed to shatter. "VANELLOPE!"
…
"AAAH!" Carol screamed.
"What's wrong, Carol?!" Pacifica yelled, rushing in.
"V-Vanellope…" Carol's screen was horribly staticky. Vanellope's HP bar was the only thing she could make out, but it was extremely erratic as the bar kept flickering to different sizes.
"Is Vanellope… destroyed?"
"I…I don't know. I'm not sure… what's happening."
…
Tronta attacked Infinite out of anger, but found himself glitched under his power and forced back. "That was disappointing. Now, I need to check on something." Infinite abandoned Tron and flew out of the ship, dropping straight down. The Pumparian growled and leapt out of the ship after him.
Infinite landed near Hacker, the villain recovering from the explosion. "Hacker! Is the Pure Heart adaptable?"
"If my calculations are correct, give it a spin!"
Infinite pressed the heart to his DNEgg and felt a surge of power. "Raaaaahh… yes! I can feel it! Now, I have a chance at seizing the MCP's power completely!"
"What's he doing to the heart?!" Mitch yelled, blasting gold lasers at Infinite. The beams were easily repelled as one of Mitch's wings were destroyed.
"Ah hahahahaha! I hacked the Pure Heart to be adaptable to Infinite's gem!" Hacker cackled. "You rats will never defeat him!"
"Don't you know, Hacky?" Mabel yelled, still hunched due to her weakened HP. "We're masters of defeating people!"
"We'll see about that!" Infinite mustered a sphere and launched it at the Pines—but it was intercepted by a missile. "?!" The jackal whipped up at the ship responsible.
It belonged to the scowling Irken lady. "You know, the final boss ain't supposed to attack the players ahead of time!"
"Gaz!" Five exclaimed.
"Gaz? One of the top players?" Infinite shot up to punch her ship, but Gaz expertly maneuvered away, twisting her ship to shoot him. Infinite glitched the lasers away, but was shot in the spine by Mitch's gold laser.
"Mabel, I think we should call Miko's group." Dipper said as they watched the battle.
"Yeah, let's do it."
However, as Mabel began to bring up the Friend Codes, The Hacker was stealthily retrieving a shotgun from the wreckage of his henchbots' ship. Tron gasped, seeing him lock the gun on the Pines as he fell. "HEY!" He tossed the disc directly down.
The disc curved and sliced The Hacker's head… just before he pulled the trigger. The laser flew and pierced Mabel's chest. Dipper gaped in horror as her HP dropped to zero. His older twin wobbled before falling, Dipper raising his arms to suspend her.
"Uh…ow… Dipper…I…"
The particles of her body scattered like stardust. Dipper was left struck speechless.
Mystery Shack
An explosion shook the shack. Mabel's bed was ruined… and so was her head. Candy, Grenda, and Gideon were utterly horrified. "M…Mabel?" Gideon choked.
"She's… dead?" Candy gasped.
"What the hell is going on up here?!" Grunkle Stan yelled as he rushed in. "Eh…huh?" His grumpy face fell upon seeing his great-niece's head black and lifeless. "Mabel…"
…
Pacifica received a call, Carol glancing to her as she answered. "Hello? Hey, Candy. What's… WHAT?!"
"What's wrong?!"
"Mabel is… dead!"
Carol choked on her breath, unsure how to respond. "Her helmet blew up and…and killed her."
"Does that mean…" Carol faced her screen again. "She… and Vanel…"
…
"RAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!" Dipper's rage was uncontrollable, but since Hacker's body had already derezzed, he directed his anger at Infinite. "YOU MONSTER! YOU KILLED MY SISTER!"
Gaz grit her teeth and extracted eight lasers, blasting the villain, but he simply endured them. "I don't have time to waste with you fools, anymore! I need to prepare myself against her…" Infinite vanished in a flash of pixels.
Tron had thrown his extra disc beneath him to bounce and break his fall. The operatives were sympathetic as they faced Dipper.
Cutie Park
Sectors Q and SA were flabbergasted after Miko revealed what she just learned. Neither group had any desire to discuss their recent exploits after hearing that. "So, you…you're one of the Pure Hearts?" Carmine asked. "You're a part… of Boly?"
"Affirmative." Boly confirmed. "You needn't be concerned. As mine and Miko's friends, I am very eager to spend more time with you!"
"H-Hang on a sec!" Miko stated. "I…I don't wanna become a 'perfect being'!"
"But it shall benefit you greatly. There is nothing to fear."
"But I…I like the way I am."
"I really didn't expect this." Index said. "As soon as this incident started, I had a feeling Miko would meet the Matter Newborn, but…"
"Huh? Matter Newborn?" Jenny cocked a brow.
"I mean, it would seem obvious Boly is the Matter Newborn. Didn't you guys guess that? I'm sure Quill told you."
"Huh?" Miko raised a brow herself as she looked down at her short leader. "Told us what?"
Quill grit his teeth and nervously fiddled his fingers. "You didn't tell them?" Index asked. "At the meeting, I gave you the Spirit Ball to give to Miko, saying she might be-"
"Fine, I didn't tell them! I…I didn't want a Firstborn Guardian in our sector! That would mean we'd have a big responsibility and…"
As soon as Miko processed their words, her mouth dropped. "ME?! I'M A FIRSTBORN GUARDIAN?!"
"WHAT?!" Eddy popped out of Carmine's pocket. "You dick, what else aren't you telling us?!"
"Why is there a talking dolly in your belly?!" Millium exclaimed.
"I still don't know who some of you people are!"
"Everybody just shut up!" Kazma shouted. "I…I can't keep up with this! What the hell is a Firstborn Guardian?!"
"I…" Miko stared at the holographic diamond above her glove. "I guess it means… Boly and I really are connected."
"As it has been established. Once we are reconnected, Miko, all will be made clear. You will understand and accept."
"But… what does that mean? Will I even… still be the same person?"
"Our 'hearts' will merge as one and become an upgraded person."
"Will you stop saying that?! You don't know how I'm feeling!"
"But I do. You are confused and afraid. Your 'heart' has developed these feelings as you have grown proud of yourself. It is these very feelings that will make us complete."
"I don't really know what will happen myself." Index said. "But she has to become the Guardian somehow. Or maybe… there's a different Guardian altogether? I'm not sure…"
Her expression downtrodden, Miko walked away from her friends. "I…I don't know if I wanna be a Guardian either."
The friends shared sympathetic looks, wondering how to comfort her. But the silence was broken by the call of Miko's Friend Code. High Five appeared. "Miko, I have some bad news. Two of the operatives you sent to help us… Mabel and Vanellope… they're dead."
The group froze pale. "V…Vanellope? Mabel?"
"They were killed by Infinite and one of his henchmen. And then… Infinite took the Pure Heart. It sounds like he learned how to use its power. Is everything… okay up there?"
"…I'll call you back." Miko hung up. Her teammates couldn't think of what to say or do next.
"I would advise we terminate Infinite immediately." Boly said. "I sense one other Pure Heart on Floor 100. Miko… it will be okay."
"…" Miko narrowed her eyes and faced the sky. "Then let's get to it."
Code Room
"So, Hacker has helped you harness the heart's chi? Excellent!" Eggman smirked.
"But XANA has told me of something imperative! The one who's carrying the MCP, that Miko girl… Apparently, she is a part of the MCP! She's one of the Pure Hearts!"
"What?!"
"They plan to form into a perfect being once the hearts are reunited! If that is the case… perhaps she is the secret to-"
"No. Infinite… I want you to destroy that girl."
"Destroy her?"
"She is a KND operative… and I am positive the MCP is a Firstborn. Their connection can be nothing but bad news. It isn't about harnessing the Firstborn's power, it's about stopping the KND from becoming more powerful! I've already sent robots to Sector Q. I will destroy Miko's physical body, but you make sure to do the same on your end. It may not destroy the MCP completely, but it should greatly hinder it."
"I see… Yes, you're right. I won't let Hinobi's plans succeed. With Aincrad or this Firstborn… their organization will fall!"
"Yes. This should leave a grave wound on Disney's name as well, along with the KND. Still, this heart could serve to revitalize your Matter Chi and sustain your body."
"Indeed… this has been a fruitful opportunity, Doctor. And once I'm finished in Aincrad, I will repay my debt to you. The Eggman Empire will rule!"