The boys looked at the characters and the characters looked right back. This went on for a few more seconds before Matt broke the silence. "You guys have any questions?"
"So you're saying that this all happened because of your brother?" asked Seth.
"Yep," replied Matt. "I can't fix it. Still, I have reached out to people who helped build the machine and other people who can probably fix it."
"How long do you think it will take to get it fixed?"
"Probably a month or so. We'll see."
"Got any ideas on what we should do now?" asked Anna.
"Other than keeping an eye out for other foes that could have come in, nope," said Matt. "Still, can you and Lance teach Andres and Seth some new skills?"
"Sure," replied the green archer.
"By the way did all your stuff come through alright?" asked Lance.
"Yep it did. Thanks for showing me how to do everything," answered Matt.
"You're welcome. By the way, how many more days of school do you have left?"
"At least four more days," said the swordsman. "I'm going to review my stuff. I'll see you guys soon."
Matt headed into the garage and began working on the console again. "Hmm. Is the console really the issue?"
He moved away from his NES console and took a look at his new laptop.
"Maybe I should try to hook up my new laptop. I should console the expert first though."
"Matt! We need your help! Klee, Diona, Sayu, and Qiqi are in trouble!"
"I really hope they aren't in serious trouble," commented Matt as he left his garage. "Where are the kids?"
"With a Toxic and River Squid," answered Natz. She was badly injured and Matt could tell that she was low on MP points as well.
"When did this happen?" asked the swordsman. "Where's everyone else?"
"Just now. Several Mage dogs appeared and stole my MP. Andres and Seth took them out but then, the squids appeared and stunned them both. If it wasn't for Lance and Anna, they'd be down for the count until we got some coffee."
"How'd the Chibis get involved?"
"They came outside to play under Jean and Ganyu's supervision. None of them even knew until it was too late."
Matt handed her some food before running outside. "I'll take care of this."
The sight outside was enough to give him some shivers. The four kids were wrapped securely in the tentacles of the purple colored Toxic squid while a blue colored River squid was busy stunning his allies. Knocked out on the ground was none other than Jean and Ganyu who were being carried back inside by the rest of the GI characters.
"Let's take them down one at a time."
The swordsman started off by using a plasma cage on the purple colored squid before getting hit square in the face by an electric blue tentacle.
"Oh that hurt."
The swordsman got up and watched as the blue river squid prepared another attack. However Matt used another plasma cage to stun the creature before getting out some garlic which he tossed to his stunned friends.
"You guys alright?"
"Yep," answered Andres. "I've got this."
Andres closed his eyes before reopening them in a sudden manner.
Just then, a dozen logs appeared and stabbed right through the river squid.
"And it's down for the count!" declared Seth as he finished it off with a single shot from his rifle.
Just then a huge black cloud came out of the Toxic Squid's mouth and blinded the heroes.
"What in the world?" asked Seth.
"You've got to be kidding me," said Andres. "That squid just blinded us!"
All the heroes moved around blindly through the cloud of smoke until Matt felt his vision improve. While the cloud still existed, the swordsman could see perfectly through the smoke. Looking at his chest, Matt realized what had happened.
"Thank's Lance."
Concentrating on his sword's power, Matt made multiple small but powerful versions of his signature weapon appear and strike the poisonous creature. However, the cuts sealed themselves once the holy blades vanished back into light and the squid was not harmed.
"So it's managed to adapt to the radioactive waste environment it came from," commented Matt. "I'm not surprised."
The swordsman simply pulled out a different blade and struck the ground with it. Upon coming in contact with the ground, a big yellow ball of energy flew out and exploded on the purple squid. The tentacle monster wriggled in pain and dropped the kids it was holding while the smoke cleared from the rest of the heroes' view.
"Finally I can see again."
"Matt! Toss us some garlic next time!"
"Sorry! That guy kept me really busy."
Just then, a large white beam of light shot out from the ground and went right through the squid. The light was so intense, Matt and the others had to cover their eyes to avoid being blinded by the powerful beam.
A few moments later, the light dimmed down and the squid had been taken out.
"Wowwee! Who did that?" asked Seth.
Matt turned around in time to see Natz using her cleansing ability to remove all the negative effects they gained from the fight.
"Thanks Natz."
"You're welcome. By the way, did you really have to give me a burger?" asked the mage.
The swordsman rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Erm, yeah. It was the only food that would restore both your health and MP."
"Next time, just give me an item that restores my MP. I can heal myself."
Matt put away the two blades that he used in the battle and handed her a cupcake. "Only if you promise not to use any spells that can drain your health while you're here. It's pretty risky to revive someone with coffee in this place."
Natz nodded her head in agreement and helped the rest of the team bring back the kids who were captured by the squids outside.
Meanwhile, Matt picked up his phone and called an old friend of his.
"Yeah. I know," said the blonde-haired boy as he talked over the phone. "I've looked at the NES console and there isn't any problem with it. All of its systems are running without any issue."
Matt paused for a few moments before nodding to the response over the phone.
"Okay I'll try doing that on my new laptop. I really hope this will work."