Digital Showdown

Tony, Sketchbook, Meat Man and Red Guy crept through the halls of the large building. It had turned out that despite no longer being brainwashed, Sketchbook still had the ability to open and close the unusual walls. The three of them were slowly making their way toward what they hoped was the center of the building. Despite the fact that they hadn't even seen another living thing since they had entered the building, Tony was still on edge.

"Something seems wrong about this," said Red Guy. "It's been nearly four hours since you freed Sketchbook. I would have thought that Shrignold would have regrouped for an attack by now."

"You're right." replied Tony, though he was more focused on the fight ahead. "Can we go over the plan one more time?" he asked meekly.

Red Guy rolled his eyes. "It's fairly simple, Meat Man and I will tackle down Colin, and you'll get the memory stick. The two of us together should have no problem taking him down."

Meat Man stopped suddenly. "Make that the two of you!" he declared. "I need to go!"

"Go where?" asked Red Guy.

"To rescue Spinach Can!" He pulled out his fork. It was buzzing slightly, and when he held it up, it was drawn towards a nearby hallway. He ran off before anyone was able to protest. "I'm coming for you, sweet pea!"

"Right, 'his soul'." said Red Guy, watching Meat Man run off. "Oh well, I should be able to handle Colin if we have the element of surprise."

Meat Man raced down the empty hall, his fork guiding him through the winding hallways. He had discovered this trick one day when Bread Boy had fallen behind the counter. The poor child had been missing for nearly a day when Meat man had noticed his fork buzzing. It had pointed him towards the place that Bread Boy had gotten stuck and they were able to save him with only minor damage to the counter. A memory of Red Guy's annoyed face drifted into this head, "Okay, maybe major damage, but it was in my way."

Meat Man was the dedicated leader of the food crew, and the rest of the crew were like family to him. He had learned how to protect them, and how to make each of them happy. He had helped them discover any special talents they had, though Fridge had surprised him with the Hucailluc. Every discovery brought the crew closer together, though Tony had said that they should have know this stuff already. It didn't take Meat Man long to figure out the truth, they had been rushed, they were on their own. No preparation, no lesson plan, just the four of them. They were all he had and he would guard them with his life.

The fork pointed toward a closed wall. Meat Man pounded his fist against it, but it didn't budge.

"Blast!" he yelled. He leaned against the wall, trying to gather some extra strength. His mind went back to the house. The sound of tearing plastic, Lamps faint cry from the bedroom, followed by Laptop's and Gilbert's from the living room. Fridge yelling that they had to go. Spinach Can preparing to jump from the cupboard into his arms, when suddenly a rift appeared in the cupboard behind her. The sounds of her screaming as her utensils fell to the floor. Seeing her fingers hooked on the edge of the cupboard, before slipping off into the oily blackness. Then a piercing cold.

Meat Man could feel his anger rising. He backed away from the wall, then charged full force, breaking through with a loud crash. Stinging pain assaulted his senses as he tried to get his bearings.

"M-meat Man?" the voice belonged to Lamp, who was gripping Spinach Can's hands tightly. "Spinach, wake up it's Meat Man!"

"Lamp, whats going on?" Meat Man asked, cringing from the pain.

"It's the hearts! Break the hearts!" Lamp called back.

Meat Man spotted them, the yellow hearts that lined the walls. He pulled together his strength and punched the nearest one. It cracked easily and faded to black. Instantly, some of the pain subsided. He continued punching them until they had all gone dark, and the pain vanished completely.

Lamp breathed a sigh of relief and let go of Spinach Can's hands. She yawned and looked around the room. Her eyes took in the destruction before finally landing on Meat Man. "Pa!" she cried out, and Meat Man ran up and hugged her.

"Sweet Pea!" They two of them stood embracing, happy to be together again. Lamp stood up and wiped the sweat off his forehead, smiling at the two of them. He then frowned, looking around at the destroyed hearts.

"Ugg, I think I'll crack into my emergency whisky reserve when we get home, and put this whole thing way behind me." He muttered.

Suddenly, a red light filled the room. "Intruder alert! Self destruct in t-minus 10...9...8…"

"Sweet mother of dreams!" Lamp yelled. Meat Man picked him up and began barreling down the hallway.

"This should be it!" Sketchbook called from ahead. The Red Guy and Tony ran up to meet her. "Ready?" she asked.

"On three." said Red Guy.

"1...2...3…" they counted together. Sketchbook pressed her hand against the wall and it faded away.

The large room was completely dark, save for a few blinking lights on the monstrous computer. The three crept in, hoping that perhaps Colin was sleeping. Their hopes were dashed, however, when a spotlight snapped on. It landed directly on the stage with the chaise longue, and on top of it sat Colin, who was cradling Laptop in his arms.

"Hello, friends." His voice was bitterly cold. He glared at the three of them with an icy contempt. "Shrignold told me you were coming, but I didn't want to believe him. Looks like I was wrong about you."

"W-what?" Tony tried to keep his voice steady, but it cracked all the same.

"I thought you were good people. A bit rough around the edges, but still, good people." He stroked Laptops head gently, and she muttered something rather rude under her breath. Once again, Colin took no heed. "But now you've come to steal my love away."

"No, we haven't Colin, honest!" Sketchbook tried to reason.

"Oh, really." Colin grumbled. "So you haven't come for this, then?" He jerked his head to the side, pointing at the memory stick. Sketchbook's guilty look was all the confirmation he needed. He placed Laptop next to him on the longue.

He snapped his fingers, and the door they had come through lit up vibrantly. They could hear a rumble in the distance, and all of the sudden dozens of brainwashed objects, animals, and puppets began pouring through the archway.

"Oh for the love of-" Red Guy ran to the door and began swinging his fists, knocking several creatures back, but for every swing, more brainwashed creatures would fill in to take their place.

Sketchbook tried to take advantage of Colin's averted focus to charge at him, but as she got closer, she felt an all too familiar crushing sensation in her head, and was forced to make a retreat. "I can't get too close! I'm still connected to him and if I try to take him head on, he'll brainwash me again!"

"Looks like you're on your own, Tony!" Red Guy yelled. Tony groaned.

"Okay, I can do this!" Tony tried to psyche himself up as he climbed the stairs to the stage. "I'm going to have to take him head on!"

Tony approached Colin, who stood up to face him. Instantly, one of the many problems with Tony's plan made itself apparent. Tony wasn't particularly tall, and clocked out at about 5 feet. In his digital form, Colin towered over him at about 7 feet. Tony shook as Colin leered down at him, grinning menacingly.

Colin raised both his hands, and attempted to shove Tony off the stage. Tony raised his hands to meet, and soon the two of them were locked in a shoving match. Tony could feel his feet sliding across the floor, and he dug his heels into the rubber grip at the edge of the stage. "Okay, I doubt I can beat you with brute strength, but maybe strategy will work." Tony decided.

"Perhaps," mused Colin. "But I should warn you, I've never lost a game of chess." Colin raised one of his blocky feet, and slammed it down on Tony's foot. Tony cringed, attempting to keep his grip on the stage. Colin ground his foot into Tony's, and finally shoved it off the edge. Tony lost his balance and was sent bouncing down the stairs.

When he finally hit the bottom, he attempted to straighten himself out, but found that his movements were very sluggish. Suddenly Sketchbook grabbed his arm and dragged him across the floor.

"Sketchbook what-" he stated to ask, when suddenly he heard a loud crash. He raised his head to see that Colin had jumped from the stage, right onto the place that he had been lying just moments before. The tiles beneath Colin's feet were cracked. Tony shivered. "That could have been me!"

Sketchbook dragged him to a far side of the room. "Thank you." said Tony, relieved. He tried to stand up, but found he could barely move. "What in time's name is wrong with me?"

"Hold still!" shouted Sketchbook, running around behind him and propping him up. "One of your batteries fell out!"

As Sketchbook attempted to remedy the situation, Tony was stuck watching as the 7 foot tall computer began charging at him. "Sketchbook, hurry up!" he fretted.

"I'm trying! There!" she yelled triumphantly. Tony felt his mobility return, and he grabbed Sketchbook and threw her across the room. She landed with an "Oof!" as Tony dodged Colin's attack just in time.

"Sorry!" he yelled.

Sketchbook gave him a thumbs up. "S'all good!"

Colin, in the meantime, was trying to break Newton's first law in an attempt to turn around and face Tony. When he finally did manage to get turned around, he was greeted with Tony tackling him down. He landed with a crash on his back as Tony attempted to make a grab for the memory stick, but Colin managed to keep it just out of reach.

"Red Guy? Can you lend me a hand?" Tony yelled.

"No!" said Red Guy, loudly.

"Can you lend me something?!" Tony yelled back.

With a loud clang, a spade landed next to Tony. "Do you need to dig a hole?" Sammy asked.

Tony rolled his eyes, but picked up Sammy anyway. He attempted to use him to reach the memory stick, but Colin simply shifted his head a little further away. Tony put Sammy back down in frustration. It was then that he noticed something odd. Tony could feel his metal gears being both attracted and repulsed by Colin's body.

While he was contemplating this, Colin used his distraction to hook a foot underneath Tony. He kicked him off, sending him flying backwards. While Colin got back to his feet, Tony grabbed Sammy and began to run. As he ran, he began putting the pieces together.

No one had really known what kept Colin's head in the air when he was in is digital form, and with his aversion to touching, no one had dared to get close enough to find out. Now that Tony thought about it, it should have seemed obvious. A magnet, or more likely, a magnet and a superconductor, repelled to keep his head in the air, but attracted to keep it firmly attached. Quantum Levitation. The magnet was likely small as to not cause damage to Colin's hard drive. How the magnet was kept cold enough for constant Quantum Levitation was still anyone's guess, but this was enough information for Tony to begin hatching a plan.

He couldn't use Sammy to attack Colin, as they were trying to rescue him in once piece, but he had no qualms with attacking the much bigger computer in the room. He slammed Sammy into it, creating a good sized hole. He used the spade to continue burrowing in, hoping to find what he was looking for before Colin found him. He could hear Colin crashing behind him. Colin had to make the tunnel bigger in order to fit, which bought Tony a little bit of time.

He quickly found the supplies he needed. He wrapped a couple of wires around Sammy, which he hoped were somehow connected to a power source. He turned to face the incoming computer. He had to hope that he had built this right, and he had to aim carefully if he didn't want to accidentally erase Colin hard drive.

Finally, Colin came bursting through the machinery. "134 cycles of learning, don't fail me now!" He thought as he thrust the spade between Colin's head and body.

Just as he had planned, the electrical current running through Sammy had turned him into a magnet. Both the magnet in Colin's head and the superconductor in his body were repulsed by the makeshift magnet. Colin's head slid backwards and landed with a thud on the floor behind him. Tony gave Colin's body a quick shove to the side, causing it to stumble a little bit away from the head. Tony looked down at Colin's scowling face, before reaching out and grasping the memory stick.

"Checkmate."

When Tony, Colin and Sammy finally emerged from the computer, they were greeted with an interesting sight. A large hole had been blasted into one of the walls, and a line of puppets, animals, and talking objects were slowly funneling out. Sammy went off to follow them while Tony approached Red Guy to find out what was going on.

"They're all free now," said Red Guy. "Universe has opened a portal thingy, and they're all going home."

Tony watched for a bit as Lamp, Red Guy, and Meat Man (who was carrying Spinach Can), worked crowd control, getting everyone out in an orderly fashion. Then he turned to watch as Colin went to apologize to the biggest victim of his plight.

"I'm sorry Laptop." Colin apologised, kneeling down to be at her level. "I can see now how uncomfortable my actions made you, even if I couldn't control them. Can you forgive me?"

Laptop looked at him uncertainly. "You're sure you don't," She spat the word. "'Love' me anymore?"

Colin raised a cursor hand and placed a gloved hand on the number pad of his keyboard. "On my word, no more 'Love' on this hard drive."

"Okay, I think I can forgive you, on one condition."

"What's that?"

"Never write poetry again!"

Colin laughed heartily. "I swear I won't!" he declared as he helped her down from the longue. "Now let's go home! I think we've all had enough adventure to last us until June 21st!"