It was all their fault.
Hat Kid wallowed in her own misery as she tried to comprehend how she lost Mono. She was smarter than this. But she couldn't have done anything wrong. Neither did Isaac...
No. It was their fault. Susie's fault. That non-binary bitch failed to be there when Hat Kid needed them the most. Even though Susie wasn't in cahoots with Kyle, Hat Kid hated them even more. It didn't matter that Susie was going out of her way to help the children on their mission. If Hat Kid ever saw Susie again, she was going to strangle them before they could get their little excuses out of their mouth.
It was all their fault.
Hat Kid and Isaac wadded through the marsh that was Twitter. The water or what seemed to be water wasn't deep but because of her short height, it reached Hat Kid's waist. For Isaac, it was even worse. Hat Kid had to carry the child because the water would be up to his ears. It was one more thing to deal with for Hat Kid and she didn't like it. But she couldn't leave him in the water. It was disgusting. It was murky and dark brown, probably from all the mud and gunk. It was also extremely salty. Hat Kid found that out when she tripped over one time and got a mouthful of it. Oh yeah. Also, the ground seemed to suck at her shoes with every step she took, making walking more difficult. The only consolation was that the tall grass provided visual cover from wandering Twitter users, although she had to occasionally peak above the grass to make sure she was walking towards the giant aviary. She saw a group of Twitter users in the distance attacking some poor Instagram user and decided that she rather not be exposed, considering that Kyle probably had all his goons on high alert.
Hat Kid sighed. Mono would be held captive inside the aviary. But Hat Kid had no idea where to start for an infiltration. And with Susie nowhere in sight, they have no access to the recommendation bomb, which meant the original plan was now in tatters. Fuck Susie for putting them in such a difficult position.
Hat Kid spotted a small patch of ground that was not submerged and realized how tired she was. The girl waded towards the spot and put Isaac on top of the dry patch. Hat Kid let out a sigh of relief and sat down.
Then absolutely everything went downhill.
Three spires of purple, yellowish sludge exploded out of the water and into the sky. The air turned thick and putrid with the smell of rotting eggs. Hat Kid lept to her feet and drew out her umbrella, not like it was going to do much anyway. She glanced beside herself and saw Isaac hyperventilating at the sight of the spires. No. Not the spires. The sludge. Hat Kid saw it in his eyes. He'd seen this before. Before she could do anything, millions of Twitter users burst out of the sludge. Their stork-like legs cut easily through the water. Suddenly thousands of Discord Mods, League of Legends users and copies of Ayano Aishi emerged from the water like soldiers on swamp patrol. Hat Kid and Isaac were completely and utterly surrounded. Cancel Culture slithered out of the water and onto the shoulders of a Discord Mod, thumbing the trigger on its flamethrower, rage and anger burning from its eyes. A maniacal cackle echoed from above and Spamton NEO dropped down, his arm cannon pointed directly at Hat Kid, his wings crawling with Spambots.
The entire army was silent, all poised to attack. The anticipation hung thick in the air. Hat Kid knew without a shadow of a doubt that this was the end. Susie had abandoned them. They lost. And it was all their fault. Hat Kid fell to her knees. She threw aside her umbrella. Isaac made a whining noise and tried to prod Hat Kid to stand up. But it was no use.
Hat Kid finally saw what Ayano meant. You can't kill a god if you believe in what it's saying. Hat Kid hated Susie. She hated them with every being in her body. She didn't believe in miracles or niceties anymore. All that remained is the toxic vitriol that plagued the group.
And then from some unheard command, the army closed in.