So now that I've incurred your wrath and grief over the past two chapters, let's try for some smiles, ok?

I've got a lot planned for this mini arc, so just hold on tight; the world is about to get a lot more complicated for our Codebusting heroes!

Disclaimer: There's a lot in here that I don't own, so much that listing it all would be a moot point. So let's just say that if it looks copyrighted, it probably is, ok?

Five days earlier, Miyoko yawned as the plane touched down. While DeeDee teased Toby about Katarzyna and Adia finished her whimsy sketch of E-Call from Mighty No. 9, she pulled out her iTouch and turned it on.

Honey's POV

And then they were alive.

Consciousness came with a rush of the booting computer processor, her backed up data spawning her in the corner that she disintegrated in not five seconds earlier. First a wire frame of her avatar, then the nerve networks and mesh, then the colors that she painted herself with. She sat up, disbelieving that they were breathing the sterile iTouch air, and saw the wide brown eyes of her two friends lock with hers.

Choko immediately burst into tears, and Honey was hugging them close, unable to speak because her heart was locked in her throat and she could smell Skrillex's faint cologne, the chocolate in Choko's hair and they were gasping and beating and alive in her arms.

The girl's wails turned into exclamations of sheer joy, and Honey was laughing harder than she ever had before, kissing them all over their faces and shoulders and they were alive. Not dead, no Void from where she couldn't reach out and tell them how much she needed them—they cheated death and never before had Honey felt the hidden powers coursing through her veins so wonderfully.

She looked up to see Skrillex grinning with a painfully open happiness that gave him an aura of clean blue energy, and she giggled while brushing hot wetness from her cheeks, "It worked, your idea worked." She resisted the urge to scream for joy because she was talking in free space filled with air to breathe. "You son of a Chaos damned emerald-chaser, you saved us all."

They startled when they heard voices from outside the touch screen; Misha was in another airport terminal, loudly casting doubt as to whether or not Toby was man enough to stop being a "mighty wuss" and ask this Katarzyna girl out. They held on to each other tighter, and Honey whispered, "Where are we going now?"

"Either way..." Skrillex's eyes were locked on the moving world above them. "If we ever want to get back home, we must disconnect our backups from this iTouch."

"But where would we hold the data?" Choko rested her head on Honey's shoulder, shaking hands clinging to Skrillex's shirt. "To hold our backups so freely in dangerous space could spell the end for us..."

Honey looked down to see her Action Replay thrumming in her fists; she didn't even know she'd summoned it. Memories of being so deep in its influence, speaking without words and breathing in pure code flashed through her mind, and she trembled with a sudden idea. "What if...we just use our Action Replays as the holding space?"

They looked at her with eyes flooded with brown irises, and she swore they were turning blue as she continued in a rush, "We just cheated death guys, who says we can't just bend the rules even more? It's not like we don't risk our lives with every monster of the week with our codes locked away in far away games; this way we're keeping it close, keeping it powered under our touch..."

"..we'd be immortal." Skrillex exhaled. "As long as our Action Replays aren't damaged, we'd just respawn wherever it'd put us..." They started to laugh breathlessly, the thrill of not being dead making them believe the most impossible things. "We can do it, we just need to convert the files into code that can be assimilated into the cartridges."

And then they were beyond themselves, sinking lower into the blue sea that made Honey's eyes roll back to see galaxies and her fingers tingle with the sensation of rearranging the universe pixel by pixel. Their hearts were beating in sync with hers, and she tasted life blossom like honey over her tongue.

Honey sat in their corner, breathing deeply as the citizens of the iTouch prepared themselves for another landing. From what they heard from Miyoko, they were doing to a place called "DQ" to dock for a brief moment before they headed off to the "parks". The Codebusters were getting off as soon as they could, since Ooga warned them that their owner was in the bad habit of running out her battery; Honey could live without the sensation of deresolution, thank you very much.

Her body was thrumming faintly, residual energy from the delicate cartridge in her internal inventory making her want to run and beat her Sonic's personal 12K record. But Misha was giggling as Toby was flustered by a full-figured blonde hugging him close—she gave Skrillex a smirk and he calmly responded by flicking her ear—and they were in a plaza heading towards a giant building. "Ooga, is this DQ?"

"As far as I can tell!" He and his fellow iTouch friends circled around them, eyes blazing with determination. "Once we dock you need to get out and run before she unplugs us again. If there's a computer in the building then you can get to a Search Port like Safari or Google, and go back to the arcade."

"Hai, Ooga-kun!" Choko stood up on slightly shaking legs and hugged her friend, adding with a smile, "And don't hesitate to come back to the arcade, ok? Just warn us ahead of time about suspicious new ports."

They laughed and Honey released some of that clean blue energy into the air. The time for despair was long gone, and they were on another grand mission; no rest for the Codebusting and all that.

The screen clicked off as Misha went into the building and they could hear the USB port getting plugged in. Moving down the bright white halls, they hovered outside the exit, waiting for the all clear to bail. While Honey admitted that it was fun to actually go in a mobile game device, she was itching to leave and get back to—she gasped. How long were they out? Long enough for her Sonic to worry? Cold seeped into her gut at the thought; they needed to get back as soon as possible.

Skrillex noticed her stricken expression and squeezed her hand; she ducked her head so he wouldn't see the stupidly happy grin that stretched across her face. That clever little bastard, too hipster to die like normal people did in a power shut down, she owed him a root beer or twenty.

The iTouch vibrated with the influx of energy and Ooga yelled, "It's now or never! Good luck!"

Grabbing on to Skrillex's lapel and Choko's hand, Honey ran as fast as she dared and it was like back home, pushing her limits to the edge of a sonic boost. Skrillex was yelling and Choko was cheering, and Honey jumped out of the end of the port to roll along the ground. Freedom!

Dark blue lines glowed in the glassy black ground, and Honey didn't recognize the model of the power strip, if they were even in one. Adjusting her jumpsuit, she turned and blew a goodbye kiss to the port before following the lines. They formed arrows and the walls of the tunnel they were in were covered in signs saying "Welcome!" in too many languages for her to count.

"What is this place..." Choko froze as they heard laughter ahead. Then she was the one dragging them forward, yelling, "I heard a few 女の子 (onna no ko) ahead, they're giggling about roller coasters and cute boys and—こんにちは！(Kon'nichiwa!)"

A gaggle of Vocaloid girls accepted Choko cheerfully into their Japanese conversation, and Honey wrung her hands. Roller coasters? Were they by a Roller Coaster Tycoon? Skrillex shrugged since he knew as much Japanese as Honey consciously did—half a step above diddly squat—and titled her head when Choko waved them over. "We're not in Kansas anymore, are we babydoll?"

"Honey-neesan...Miku-san and Yukari-san told me a lot about this place." Honey flushed with the added title; she knew that much. Before she could develop a small complex, she saw an elevator was waiting in front of them, and through transparent glass walls Honey could see other groups of people waiting for their own ride. "And I think we have to see it to believe it."

They piled into the tube and marveled at how it expanded to fit the Codebusters, the Vocaloids and a straggling group of Hungry Lumas and a bubblegum-chewing Rosalina. She offered them all gum and Honey shrugged; it was flavored with honey and got the taste of static out of her mouth. With a cheerful whistle it launched them up and over through a rainbow of lights, and were they going through the electrical system?

The elevator touched down and the doors opened to let the Hungry Lumas run away shrieking in delight, Rosalina flag down two of her twins already present, and the Vocaloids bid Choko farewell and run off into the crowd of people. Music was playing from every corner and lights of every color were flashing around them, and Honey couldn't breathe because it was beautiful.

She slowly walked into the center of the great space, and she could see hundreds of ports and tunnels in the walls that curved over them like a spaceship sphere; and unless she was tripping out, there were roller coasters and gliders looping through the air, people in costumes taking pictures with giggling programs. Pixie dust fell from the ceiling that was covered in delicate metal and glass work, and they dusted her jumpsuit as if she'd run through a supernova.

Skrillex was slowly smiling because that little snot-nose was losing himself to the music, Choko looked on in wonder with big brown eyes lit up by stars, and Honey looked down to see that the floor was made of golden clockwork. At the center was a giant loop with two smaller ones on the side, and they thrummed with warm energy that made her want to cheer like a five year old child.

A slickly dressed man around Skrillex's age slid up to them, brandishing a large camera. "Can I get you three to smile for the picture?" Choko moved in front of Honey to grin cheekily and throw up a double V-sign, while Skrillex smiled bashfully by Honey's side and Honey could only fighting down the urge to giggle. A flash of light that somehow smelled like vanilla later, he showed them the picture and it was admittedly quite good. "Pretty picture from pretty ladies, da?" He held out his hand. "Trolmir Fandov, I am photographer. Can I post this on blog for world to see your happy smiles?"

"S-Sure..."

"Khorosho!" He shook all their hands—he kissed Choko's knuckles, making her giggle—and saluted. "Well, I must go take more pictures!" He turned, but then called back, "Oh, and be welcome to DisneyQuest!"

Skrillex's POV

Skrillex was many things—Codebuster, music maker, both a little and older brother figure for select people—but deep within his code he shared many traits with his namesake. And one of them was "Disneyland fanboy on par with Sora's enthusiasm for anything with Mickey ears".

So when somehow they ended up at DisneyQuest, the indoor virtual theme park in the middle of Lake Buena Vista, Florida, Skrillex just about had an aneurysm from the sheer joy. A joyurysm, to be exact, and only the fact that they had to go home as soon as possible kept him from abandoning all hope and diving straight into the madness.

He grabbed on to Choko before she could barrel forward, and breathed out, "We gotta...we need guest assistance?"

"You called?"

He did not yelp from the sudden words darn it, he calmly turned to see a girl in a blue uniform and she was the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen.

He knew some things about beauty—Suri was beautiful in that neon flashing confidence way, Pixie was a pretty sort of beautiful that was covered in sparkles and bubbles, Layla was smoother and richer in her beauty, and Judy...well, Judy was Judy. But this woman has short white-blonde hair that looked like starlight under her cap and was masterfully proportioned—she was taller than he so he could see the taper of her waist, how her legs curved down into sleek platform boots—with these perfectly curved pink lips and he could only exhale softly, because her eyes were a clearer blue than even the Action Replay glowing in his soul.

Skrillex couldn't peak, couldn't look away from her face because she was so beautiful it hurt him in a terrifying sort of way, and she smiled with a faint dimple in her left cheek. "Good afternoon, guests! My name's Elsie, and I'm an ELA program—Electronic Layman's Assistant—here at DisneyQuest. You mentioned that you needed some help?"

Honey, thank Litwak for Honey because Elsie's name refused to come out of his throat where it was making beautiful music in the words he didn't dare say. "Yes, Elsie, can you help us? We need to get back home, since we kinda came here in an iTouch, it's a long story..."

"You mean you're from Ms. Tobigawa-Martinez's iTouch?" Elsie clasped her hands together. "We knew she was coming earlier, but we didn't know there would be people busing in..."

Choko laughed a little, still overwhelmed and Skrillex idly wondered if she could see how hard Elsie had affected him. "Well, not so much busing in as getting accidentally taken out of our arcade and put here. Is there any way for us to go home, Elsie-san?"

"Oh, not at all! Follow me to my station, please?" And even through the crowds of people Skrillex could see her clearly; maybe it was her outfit, so professional but feminine and all sorts of flight attendant-meets-TRON-Siren, maybe it was how purposefully she walked with her head held high and confident...and maybe it was because her white hair caught all the glittering lights and he couldn't look away from the rainbow on the nape of her neck.

"So you need transportation back home?" She was sitting with her legs crossed at the ankle as the holographs and translucent panels haloed her face like an electric glory. "Ok, do you have an IP address for your residence?"

Skrillex blurted out the string of numbers for the computer room, and felt his knees grow weak when Elsie giggled; she was a soprano, synthetic harp chords making delicate blue in the vibrant purples and golds around them. "Fast talker, aren't you? Well, let's see if I can get you guys a ride home..."

While she typed away Skrillex forced himself to stop looking at her hands; the fingers were just a bit longer and rounder than his, it was strange to see anyone with hands his size but there it was. To his left Honey was gaping at a giant coaster crashing overhead to thunderous cheers, and to his right Choko was giving him this ridiculous soft smile that he ignored because he didn't want to know what his face was doing.

"Oh no." Elsie leaned back, "Nellie, can you come over here and confirm this?" Elsie's identical twin—another ELA program, but for some reason Elsie was much prettier in his eyes, he didn't care to explain why—slid over, frowning lightly. "So it's real then?"

"Yeah..." Nellie tapped away before leaving. "Offer them rooms with those credits, they're not going anywhere."

"Sorry guys." Elsie smiled sheepishly and light caught the Hidden Mickey on her cap. "But there's a Twitter trending hurricane across the North American server collective. I can reroute you guys back to your homes through the Scandinavian route, but there's a disturbance going on in Asia over a satire blog publishing one too many false hope posts...I'm afraid that until Saturday or so you're kinda stuck here."

Honey sputtered and Choko gripped on to the counter top, but Skrillex only sighed; he knew a little about the Internet and its pathways, but he wouldn't risk an early move. "Is there anywhere for us to stay?"

Elsie's smiled was genuine now and he lost himself a little in a swell of longing adoration. "Well, you're in the right place. DisneyQuest offers a large selection of hotel suites within the complex and outsourced to the various resorts in our hyperlink connections." She placed her pals flat on the counter and the holograhic panels around her head rearranged themselves, flashing images of various rooms in myriads of themes. "From traditional Disney to NintendoLand aesthetics to nature simulations, we make sure that there's something for any guest here.

"And since you're stuck here on accident, we're offering rooms at half price for you." She shrugged lightly. "Personally, I've always wanted to stay in the Axiom Quarters. It's located in DisneyQuest, next to the End of Line Club and the fifth floor with Ride the Comix and all the experimental Disney arcade games..."

Skrillex looked at Honey and Choko, then nodded. "W-We'd like those, please."

"Perfect!" She typed something into her console and the music changed again, Gem's ethereal motif from Outlands, Pt. II making Skrillex want to sing every love song he knew. "For a three bed suite, that'll be...fifty credits." She paused. "Fifty five Sonic rings, fifty seven Mario coins, there's an exchange center to the left in case you need—"

"No, it's fine." Between private gigs and Codebusting Skrillex wasn't exactly hurting for cash. He pulled out the credits and pressed them into her hand; it was soft and warm and he caught a whiff of perfume when she leaned in, he couldn't identify it but it made him melt all the same. She handed him three glassy cards, "These are your access keys and week long passes to the rides in and out of DisneyQuest's internal structures."

She pointed at a cluster of ports, "See those? Those are games that gamers outside play in here. You may enter anyone ringed in green, as those are specially modified with guest areas that you can visit even during game hours. Games rings in white are after-hours only, and ports ringed in red are invitation-only, as they are for the residents who live and work here."

Choko spoke up, "What kinds of games are here, Elsie-san?"

Elsie smiled at her and Skrillex was tired of being hit over the head with how gorgeous she was, it was like drowning in Judy all over again except that there was no hidden agendas and jealousy, no cycles of toxic romance...just Elsie replying with a voice he saved to memory, "Nearly every arcade game before 2001, along with many more recent ones. I believe that there's about 6 or so Sugar Rush console here."

"Eee!" Choko looked ready to blast off into the stratosphere, and Skrillex had to laugh; he could always count on her to show proper enthusiasm for any situation. "We must go visit them as soon as possible! Niisan, neesan, can we go see?"

Skrillex bit his bottom lip as Honey and Choko made a plan of attack now that they were staying. That was right, Choko considered them family now...he gently ruffled her hair, avoiding her swat and cry of "Watch the chopsticks!". Today was an interesting day.

Elsie was looking at him with this expression too, one that he'd seen Suri give Joel when he acted like a nice human being. Her electric blue eyes were really soft, and her lips were curved in a smile that begged him to press his mouth to but he didn't dare to even dream about that. "You two aren't from the same game, are you?"

"No, but she's my little sis all the same." He smiled briefly, hands fumbling uselessly with the cards. "So...ummm..."

"Would you like me to show you around?"

"What?"

She laughed again, bell tones that were more beautiful than anything he'd ever created in their purity. "Well, usually I just man the desks and appear whenever guests need help. But since you guys came here on accident, I should assist you guys in getting assimilated." She paused, eyebrows furrowing, "Unless you want a different ELA. I can get my sisters Ellie or Helsette or Elenadora to do it—"

"Please show us around, Ms. Elsie." And Skrillex was never teasing Honey again because she just saved him from a heart attack. "You seem like you know your way around a giant indoor arcade of awesome."

Elsie grinned and shut down her terminal, stepping out into the lights that span around the main entrance. "Well then, let's get this tour started! As I've said my name is Elsie, and I was programmed to help make DisneyQuest the most program-friendly experience both inside and outside of the screen..."

He let the words wash over him like so much wondrous music, and wondered if they'd actually died and this was where programs went to in the After.

Choko's POV

Choko inhaled as a giant roller coaster flipped through the air, controlled by a cackling Bill Nye the Science Guy-sensei. Elsie-san was taking them through the second floor, and Choko didn't know that both during and after hours the virtual coaster builder was accessible by guest programs, that was nice to know. Plans to make the Ultimate Spacecart Launcher floated around her mind until she stored it into memory, and she was getting used to having her Action Replay boost all of her data capacities.

Honey-neesan was joking around about moving here since back home she could never get a true vacation, and Choko was happy to see that the momentary panic in her eyes back in the iTouch was gone. Five days wasn't too terribly a long time, everyone at home would be fine without them.

Choko sneaked a glance at Skrillex-niisan, who was currently watching Elsie-san describe the elevator schedules. She saw him melt earlier, completely in love with the woman, and Choko was thrilled; she loved romance, and Elsie-san was such a nice lady, much kinder than that Judy-san whom Honey-neesan and Leia-hime whispered mean things about when they thought no one was listening. And his eyes were so open, his posture so helpless...Choko watched a Tinkerbell flit by and wished for them to find happiness together.

Behind them over the balcony DisneyQuest stretched on, and Choko sighed in wonder. DQ was simply grand, six physical floors of plug ins and a virtual theme park resort hidden in the electrical system. Choko had heard of arcade megaplexes before—Club SEGA, Hey! Taito and Tobikomi GiGo came to mind—but she'd never even dreamed of visiting one; she didn't know the first steps in actually crossing between buildings! At least iTouch travel was confirmed to be one route, albeit rather risky.

And the air smelled like happiness, a mix of vanilla and mint and clean water and sparkles that tasted like Disney. No wonder Sora-kun loved Disney and the kingdom of his King Mickey-heika so much, Choko was about to die from the excitement! Elsie-san made a clever comment on how the internal programs of DisneyQuest were far superior to the outside world that make Choko laugh, and she was filled with such sudden joy that she could hardly stand it.

They were alive. They were alive and safely backed up into their Action Replays and she was catching stars falling from the gilded blue and gold atriums. And there was just so much to see, so much to live for that when a group of Choko Pockysticks swarmed by flashing their cameras, she nearly burst into tears.

Honey-neesan's hand was firm on her shoulder, keeping her grounded, and she grabbed on to Skrillex -niisan's wrist when Elsie-san moved ahead. "And this elevator will take us to the Axiom Quarters. Once we get you guys settled there, we can continue either through the in-system exclusive attractions or go down the Cave of Wonders Electric Slide to the third floor."

After having a small spazz attack—electric slides are the best kind of slides—Choko ran into the elevator, blushing lightly when Elsie giggled at her enthusiasm. But the guest assistance lady wasn't very concerned with decorum herself; she struck a magnanimous pose and demanded in a wonderfully melodramatic tone, "Kronk! Pull the lever!"

Choko shrieked as the elevator fell fast enough to lift her off the ground. Honey-neesan was saying a lot of adult things in a short amount of time and Skrillex-niisan was femininely screaming, but Elsie-san only laughed, "Wrong lever!"

The elevator zoomed around and up a different track without a beat, and soon they were on the fifth floor, Choko laughing because she couldn't stand straight and Elsie-san had no business smiling so deviously when a passing ELA program merely rolled her eyes. "Get used to her kiddies, Elise's a maniac."

"I prefer...adrenaline enthusiast." She clapped her hands together, "So, to your suite for your week-long stay!"

Choko decided to stick close to Elsie-san; she needed to see if the woman was good enough to be a possible contender for Skrillex-niisan's heart. "So, do you like working here, Elsie-san?"

"It's like a dream." She sighed happily, "There are many programs dedicated to keeping DisneyQuest the best place possible for visiting guests all around the world. Some, like the MARI and SUSAN collectives function like the technicians and custodians of this resort, keeping everything in top shape. The ION programs are the medical core, the JET group are a mix of electrician and security, and the AMIS are like the bosses behind the scenes.

"The ELA programs are lucky enough to be the ones that directly interact with the guests here, as guest assistance, tour guides, lost and found directors...and I just love making people happy, since this is the only place I think can claim the title of happiest place on earth." She stopped in front of a sleek metal door, motioning, "And this is one of those happy-making jobs. Hopefully this suite will fit your needs."

The interior was set in shades of white and gray, but covered in rainbow glass, ranging from the holograms controlling the fridge to the screens over the windows, stars glittering to form Hidden Mickeys in the translucent light. It was so inherently pleasing that she wondered if being so connected to her Action Replay caused her to jump on to the clean white couch and act like a sugar rushing three year old, but she saw Honey-neesan running around squealing in delight and Skrillex-niisan announcing in a somber tone that he will find a way to translate the room's aesthetics into music.

Elsie-san was smiling brightly at the door, bit her lip as Skrillex-niisan raised his arms like a conductor before a gigantic orchestra, "So do you like your rooms?"

Choko smiled; Elsie-san passed the test. "Yes, I think they're fit to our needs."

Choko sat heavily on the side of her levitating bed, sighing as the day's energies rolled off her like melted chocolate. After getting settled in—which was easy to do since they didn't have any luggage like normal tourists—Elsie-chan ran them through DisneyQuest's gauntlet. From the racing game corner to the three tiered food court to the giant Ferris wheel that doubled as a light show on certain nights, the Codebusters saw nearly everything that the resort had to offer.

Elsie-chan had to go once DQ's operating hours closed, and they were tired from not being dead. Not physically tired—Choko felt static discharging from her swinging feet, she needed to burn off this energy during the week if she was ever going to learn how to sit still again—so much as kinda emotionally wrung, because the euphoria was fading a bit and the darkness hiding from the rainbow lights reminded her of what being derezzed tasted like and

And she died earlier today.

She really didn't want to cry because it was pointless, but she had been so afraid in that one moment before she hit the end of the tunnel and collapsed into nothing. And for all that it was going to be wonderful staying here, they were so far from home, so far away from Vanellope-heika and her racers and friends and...she looked over to see Honey-neesan staring blankly at the light paneled ceiling, and wondered what she was thinking about.

"You know..." Honey-neesan was lying casually on her bed, arms crossed against the ridiculously soft pillow and hair falling in her eyes. "Back when I was a glitch but before I froze over, my Sonic and I would just pour over our Game Genie, pretending to be gods that could shape the world as we saw fit.

"He always wanted to make the world a perfect plain where he could just run for a thousand miles in any direction, and I wanted mountains to climb and oceans to swim in. Rainbows too, I love the color red the most but all of them are so beautiful when the world you grew up in was in eternal shadow."

Honey-neesan took a slow breath in and out, and Choko saw Skrillex-niisan return from the balcony, looking more melancholy than she'd ever seen him. Honey shorted faintly, "But most of all we wanted to live. We wanted my code to stop being broken and to just run...run away and live forever in one non-stop adventure.

"So color me surprised when after all this crap, after being frozen then becoming a Codebuster and by the name of Chaos, we died earlier this morning, b-but we're still here!" She laughed but the noise caught in her throat, "Look at us! We're like energizer bunnies because for all intents and purposes, our game is an Action Replay and we can die outside of games as long as we don't screw up our cartridges. How unbelievable is that, how freaking amazing and wonderful and t-terrifying—" She hid her eyes with a folded arm as she laughed, "What a way to fulfill that wish!"

Skrillex-niisan sat on his own bed, holding his stomach. "And we can't tell anyone that doesn't already know, which amounts to people back home. Imagine what crazies with heads full of ultimate power would want to do with us."

Choko began to shake, mind buzzing with half-formed images before they were chased away and banished by a spectrum of blue. "I bet they think we're dead. Our friends and loved ones only know that we left in an iTouch, which Miyoko-ooju turned off..."

They were silent for a while...before Skrillex-niisan murmured, "I hope that Joel didn't cry. He's my best friend outside the Codebusters, and he better not have cried over me."

"I hope my Sonic did cry, and that people made sure he didn't run off into dangerous games like when Mighty and Ray died."

"I have a bad feeling that my girl friends aren't going to be very happy, especially Roll-chan and Mee Mee-chan..."

"Ugh, not to mention what Dr. Robotnik will say. 'I told the girl to stay out of trouble, nag nag nag, this is what happens to pesky teenagers and their code altering machines, ya ya ya.'"

"Pfft, you think that's bad? I can see it now, the 'Let's Roast Skrillex Hour', hosted by all the DJs who got drunk off of cheap liquor and can't enunciate to save their lives."

"Hah, my friends' grief will far outstrip yours! Vanellope-heika will erect statues of me, gilded with edible gold and able to withstand the most brutal of chocolate milk rainstorms!"

They paused, then burst into laughter, rolling around and soaking the pillows with tears. Then static stung their eyes and they shrieked, Skrillex-niisan throwing his pillow at Honey-neesan. She retaliated by launching off her bed into his stomach, and Choko piled on to the fight, kicking and tickling and laughing hard enough to make the world sing in streaks of light and blue.

Her friends...her family, her nakama had five days to burn until they could return home and prove that the rumors of their deaths had been greatly exaggerated. And with so much energy to burn and so much to do—Choko needed to slide down the slide 178 more times, go on all the roller coasters at least twice, make sure that her niisan actually got the girl and not some weird love scandal, and take all the selfie pictures with her neesan—she didn't doubt that this little adventure was going to be yet another blast.

The neon lights from the glass panels softened as they fell asleep in a tangle, and their internal clocks counted down for the next day in their renewed lives.

THEY AREN'T DEAD GUYS, I SWEAR.

So, where exactly are my darling Red core of Codebusters? DisneyQuest!

Yes, DisneyQuest, the "indoor interactive theme park" located in Downtown Disney at the Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. For gamers, it's a slightly outdated place to blow a fun afternoon in. But for game characters across all spectrums of the gaming world, it's their own Disneyland-meets-Axiom-meets-TRON City.

Elsie the ELA program is going to be very involved in this little mini-arc. And yes, I just wrote Sonny boy having the most overdone "love at first sight" reaction of my life and I love it. Will they or won't they, it's up for me to write and for you to read and rage about how obvious I'm making things.

The other programs mentioned will appear, along with many, MANY other characters from a bunch of games. While the Codebusters may be on yet another vacation, the tough times are around the corner!

So...how exactly are they alive, you ask?

Well, lemme put it as simply as possible. They backed up their data to the iTouch, severing their connections to their games; if they died in those games they would've stayed dead since their data is no longer there. I realize that's not how it works in real life, but for the sake of making things simple that's how it's happening here.

They "died" when Misha turned off her iTouch, and came back when it got turned back on. Then they backed up their data to their Action Replays because screw the rules, they have the most powerful data altering mechanisms in their world outside of direct code modification.

Now they've got a lot of energy stored up in their bodies due to residual energies from the cartridges seeping into their data, and they can die outside of games since their "game"/respawn algorithm is the Action Replay. As long as it stays in their hands, they stay alive. Oh, and they have a complex about glass and the color blue, since that's how their Action Replays are represented as in this story.

So...yeah. That just happened.

I HOPE YOU LIKED IT GUYS, I'M REALLY EXCITED FOR THIS ARC.

Read and review my lovelies, and hold on tight, because I love Disneyland to death and therefore so will these little bastards!