"Get him!" Five ordered. He and his friends ran around the Joystick Jr. Arcade chasing down a special type of Glitch, a superfast bunny in futuristic armor. His speed was making it very hard for the Techs to get a lock on him.
"Zoom, zoom! Kazoom!" the bunny cried out.
"I think I got him!" The Web Tech shouted. He swung over to the upper beams where Zoom Kazoom was, but the superspeed bunny flashed out of the way. "Or not. Definitely not."
Zoom Kazoom dropped down where Five was and shot kicks at him. The Glitch Tech blocked the attacks, but was met with a hand cannon aimed pointblank at his face.
"Kazoom."
"Not so fast, fuzzball!" Miko shouted. She leaped over a couple of arcade machines and struck the bunny with a sharp kick to knock him down the aisle, making the rabbit bounce around like a pinball before he stopped and angrily tugged his ears, making buzzing sounds at the three.
"Man, I used to love Zoom Kazoom games, but that catchphrase really gets old fast." Five groaned.
"Okay, we get it! You like the sound of your own name!" Miko complained to the Glitch. She aimed her gauntlet at the bunny, who immediately ran off at the speed of light.
The Web Tech groaned. "Where's a tortious to beat this hare when you need one?" He then felt a tap on his chin and looked down to see Jeff the Land Shark, his newest companion pet. "Jeff? I thought I told you to stay back."
Jeff then put on a Zoom Kazoom costume and mimicked his running. He then changed into a Glitch Tech costume and pounded his fist to his hand.
"I think he's saying he wants to help." Miko said.
"Absolutely not!" Tim cried. "Look, Jeff, you've been a big aid in helping us track down this Glitch, just like the last few Glitch targets, but just like I told you the last two times, I can't have you throwing yourself into a dangerous situation! There's, like, a hundred machines here that could crush you if they fell over!"
Jeff poofed away the costume, made a "hmph" sound, and sat disappointingly, making sad sounds.
"Oh, don't worry, Jeffy." Miko said tapping into her gauntlet. "I got at least one majestic birdy to represent companion pets. Come on, Ally! Let's frag that fuzzball!"
Ally was released and flying into the air where Miko jumped and landed on her back to ride her. She flew faster than Zoom Kazoom could run, so the rabbit made a quick U-turn and ran past Five and the Web Tech, who continued to give chase.
Ally, on the other hand, started acting strange. With Miko struggling to hold on, the bird flew in the air and spasmed sporadically.
"Ally, what's wrong?" Miko asked before seeing at what Ally was locking her eyes on: the arcade ball pit.
Suddenly, Ally disappeared for a second allowing Miko to fall. She reappeared catching her again and flew right into the playpen crashing into all the balls in the pit.
"What the…" Miko said recovering from the crash. "Ally? Where'd you go, me birdy?" Ally poked her head out of the ball pit. "Ugh, no time for a pitstop, girl." That's when she noticed one of Ally's tail feathers blinking before disappearing leaving only a quick icon of a heart next to a subtraction sign.
"Oh, no!" Miko exclaimed. "You've taken damage! That's never happened before!"
Ally didn't listen. She just scooped up the balls with her beak and threw them all in her mouth. That just made her twitch out even harder and more violently.
"Five, Tim!" Miko called out to her friends. "Something's up with Ally! I think she's sick!"
"What do you mean?" Five asked trying to catch Zoom Kazoom with the Web Tech. "She's a program. She doesn't get sick."
Suddenly, Ally regurgitated all the balls she ate launching them at Five and the Web Tech, who dodged them all (except for Five with the last one).
"Really?" Web Tech asked. "Because I'm pretty sure THAT'S not the sign of a healthy bird!"
"Try rebooting her!" Five suggested.
Miko took Five's suggestion and recalled Ally back into her gauntlet. She then pressed a reboot button and waited a second before the process was finished. Ally was zapped out of her gauntlet right after.
"Feel better, girl?" Miko asked hugging her Chicky Chum… who immediately acted out again changing her forms erratically. "Oh, nerds!"
Five and the Web Tech came back holding Zoom Kazoom by his ears. "How's Ally? Did it work?"
As if to answer Five's question, Ally's gigantic foot stepped down on him making him let go of Zoom Kazoom.
"That's a BIG no." the Web Tech said before getting kicked in the stomach by Zoom Kazoom. The rabbit Glitch then hopped over him to run away, but was immediately blasted and absorbed by Mitch Williams, who was passing by boastfully.
"Thanks for the distraction, noobs." Mitch laughed walking away.
Tim groaned and glowered after Mitch. "Leave it to him to make a bad sitch worse." He then saw Jeff sitting by him, who gave him an upset look, but Web Tech believed that he was upset Mitch had gotten the Glitch. "Aw, don't worry, Jeff. We'll get the Glitch next time. At least you found it for us." He patted Jeff on the head, oblivious to the Land Shark letting out an annoyed sigh with a puff of air.
Everyone's attention was back at Ally, who kept changing and acting out putting everyone on edge.
"What do we do, guys?" Miko asked. "She's acted twitchy before, but never like this. This is next-level twitching!"
"It's like she's taken a gallon of crazy juice with extra loco in one gulp." the Web Tech observed.
"Yeah, this is bad." Tim said before calling into his gauntlet. "BITT, come in. Ally needs help."
After the trio returned to HQ, they followed Phil and BITT down the halls just finishing telling them of their story and their situation.
"Can you guys help?" Tim asked.
"Why are you asking us?" Phil asked. "I haven't played any Bravestone game in eight years."
"What about BITT?" Miko asked. "He's got all sorts of useful Glitch data, right? Maybe one of them can help us figure out what's wrong with Ally."
"I am sorry," BITT apologized, "But as a Tech training entity, I do not possess the data to diagnose your pet."
"So how do we fix her?" Five asked.
"Beats me," Phil said just as he and the others entered a room at the end of the hall, "But luckily for your bird, Hinobi's got a pet trainer."
"You have arrived at your destination." BITT said.
The Glitch Techs looked around the room in awe. Along with a huge laboratory, there were different Glitch animals wandering around the place. Along with a flock of parrot like birds overhead, they saw a huge dog with an antenna on its forehead, a small purple dragon, a falcon with red, white and blue clothing, a cat that looked like an ordinary orange and white tabby (though the other animals seemed to be giving it a wide berth for some reason), and even what appeared to be a large sabre tooth cat.
"Whoa! Check out all those companion pets!" Five exclaimed in wonder.
"It's like an MIT lab mixed with the inside of Newt Scamander's briefcase." Tim said.
"You really think this trainer could help me with Ally, Phil?" Miko asked.
"Well, Emma is a very dedicated trainer, but she kind of marches to the beat of her own frequency, if you know what I mean."
Just then, the kids were all alerted by a monstrous roar. It came from a giant, winged, purple cat beast with four eyes that stood in front of them and roared. Then, the cat creature started retching violently before finally rolling its tongue out. To their shock, out popped a woman with pink hair in a Hinobi-style lab coat. She was carrying a creature wrapped in a yellow-green blanket.
"Aha! Sweet success! I have found my car keys!"
"Well, I can see you're in good hands, so…" Phil immediately turned and rushed right out of the lab, leaving the others to look at each other awkwardly while silently asking just what the heck they had gotten themselves into.
As soon as Ally cawed, the trainer looked at her and gasped in delight. "A first-generation Chicky Chum NPC mount?" She passed her wrapped-up creature to Five. "Hold this and do not stop showering it with food, love, and Hinobi gossip."
Five took a moment to look at the creature in his hands, which resembled a purple octopus. "Oh, hey, little guy." he greeted right before it shot a tiny fireball right through his hair.
"So… you're this expert Hinobi pet trainer?" Tim asked still in slight disbelief.
"Ah, yes. Emma Deveraux at your service." She bowed dramatically. "And this is my assistant…" She stopped to look around. "Carlton! Carlton, where are you?"
"I'm up here." answered a voice from the upper floor. A young man came down the stairs. He had dark skin, short, brown hair, and a pair of silver-rimmed glasses. He raced down the stairs. "Emma, how many times have I told you not to jump into the Glitches' stomachs like that?" She shrugged and proceeded to silently count on her fingers, making the man sigh heavily. He looked at the kids. "Carlton Drake. As Emma said, I'm her assistant, though sometimes I feel like SHE'S a pet herself and I'M the owner."
"Oh, uh, hi." Five greeted. "I'm Hi-Five. These are my partners, Miko and Tim."
"Tim?" Carlton asked looking over at the web-slinger, now with enthusiastic interest. He moved in closer to him, much to his surprise. "So YOU'RE the human being who's successfully managed to bond with Glitch energy? I must say, I have a thousand questions!"
"Well, I may only have ten answers." Tim admitted nervously. "I barely know how this works myself."
Emma then snapped her fingers. "Face front, Carlton! We have a very special kind of companion pet here." she said, looking over at Ally while Carlton reluctantly turned away from Tim. "Oh, how I love these turkeys. You know, Bravestone XII is my all-time favorite RPG!"
"That's my pet, Ally." Miko introduced. "She hasn't been acting like herself lately."
"Oh. Has she been erratic, nervous, distractible, eating pretty much anything that isn't nailed down?"
"Pretty much since we met."
"Uh-huh. So you don't know your pet very well."
"Are you kidding?! I know everything about her! She flies like a rocket, looks great in red, hates authority, and loves to caw!" The two proceeded to pose and show off, with Ally cawing at the end. "See? Phil told us you were somebody who could fix glitchy pets."
Carlton let out a short laugh. "If you think the pet's the problem, maybe you're the one who's glitchy."
"What do you mean by that?" Miko asked sounding insulted.
"Kid, there's no way she's broken." Emma said.
"But she's an artificial intelligence, isn't she?" Five asked. "Can't you just fix her by pushing a button or something?"
Carlton laughed even harder. "Yeah. Because the key to taming every Glitch in the world is as simple as a button push."
"What Carlton is TRYING to say," Emma said with a judging glare at her assistant, "is that there is NOTHING artificial about intelligence, Hi-Five," She took back her baby jellyfish, tenderly rubbed her nose against it, and allowed it to float upward. "You don't have a pet, do you?"
"Uh, no." Five answered.
Emma then turned her head to Tim. "What about you, spider boy? Do you have a pet?"
"Oh, yeah. Just adopted him not too long ago." Tim said before zapping out Jeff. "Introducing the most adorable tracker around, Jeff the Land Shark! We're great pals. Say hello, Jeff."
However, Jeff didn't greet anybody in a friendly manner. He just sat down and pouted, crossing his flippers together, grumbling.
"Looks to me like your little fish would beg to differ with that 'great pal' business." Carlton said with a smirk.
Tim chuckled nervously and knelt down. "Come on, Jeff. You're embarrassing me in front of the pet experts." He reached out a hand to pet him, but quickly pulled away once Jeff attempted a large bite, making Tim move his hand back quickly. Tim gazed at him in shock as Jeff shifted his face away from his partner. "Oh come on! You're not still mad about the arcade thing, are you?"
Jeff nodded and let out another huff.
"You know, even when he's pouting, he's still SO adorable!" Miko squeed.
"Um, excuse me. 'Arcade thing'?" Emma asked. "Care to elaborate?"
Tim sighed. "Well, we were trying to capture this slippery Glitch rabbit at the arcade earlier. Jeff wanted to join in, but it was too dangerous. So I had to keep him away. Honestly, this has sort of happened before with two other Glitch situations. One where we faced a bunch of Moloids from Mole Man, the other against a big snake from Revenge of Set. In fact, the day we first met, we were facing a Crystal Crush Glitch. He wanted to be the one to finish off the final boss, but I wasn't going to let someone as tiny and cute as him throw himself into something so perilous."
"I see." Emma said, eyeing both him and Jeff. "So you're saying you haven't let your pet help you fight rogue Glitches even once. Why?"
"Well, he's technically a support character who helps you find things. We've been mainly using him to help track Glitches. Besides, just look at him!" Tim answered gesturing at the shark. "He's so tiny and cute and easy to hurt. He's not like Ally. It's for his own good to stay out of the dangerous parts."
Jeff turned back to Tim only to blow a raspberry at him.
"Did he just blow raspberries at me?"
"He sure did." Emma said. "So what do you three want from me? I suppose you're here to exchange this faulty bird for a brand-new one."
"No way, lady!" Miko cried keeping Ally close to her. "That wouldn't be Ally."
"Miko, Ally is a program, remember?" Five asked. "Nobody would know it was a copy."
"I would know." Miko returned.
"Oh. I like you, kid. You think with your thumper, not your thinker," Emma said. "Ultimately, it is up to you, young humanoid, to find out what's wrong with your pet. But what we can do is… Oh, yes! That'll do! Carlton, prepare the simulation!"
"Already ahead of you, ma'am." Carlton said working on the main computer console.
"Simulator?" Tim asked. "What simulator?"
"What we're doing is borrowing a few elements from my favorite RPG to generate a custom training level that should help you on the right track." Emma said.
"I'm in!" Miko cried out. "Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!"
"And… we're all set." Carlton said. "All that's left is to hack the simulator, upload the program, and portal you in."
"Uh, isn't hacking the sim a little dangerous?" Five asked.
"If it's a quest to save my bird, I am going!" Miko proclaimed.
"Well, if you're certain this will help." Tim said.
With one last button push, a pair of portal guns popped out and blasted into the center of the room. A blue portal was made ready to be crossed.
"Come on, Ally! Hi-yah!" Miko cried riding Ally all the way into the portal, which closed as she left.
Tim chuckled. "That's Miko; jumping straight into a portal without any idea what she's about to enter."
"So…" Five said awkwardly, "We'll just, you know, hang out here until she gets back."
"Oh, no." Emma said. "I've devised a little trial for you to help with your pet problem. You too, web boy."
"Trial for us?" Tim asked while Jeff looked with interest.
"But I don't have a pet, remember?" Five asked.
"Yeah! That's the problem!" Emma pushed a button and fired another portal underneath Five. He plummeted straight down before looking over at Tim.
Tim chuckled nervously walking back. "Now, now. I don't know what kind of problem you think I have. It's just a little attitude thing with a baby shark. It's not THAT serious. I mean…"
Just then, Jeff ducked behind Tim and, he quickly falling backwards and right into a portal which was blasted right behind him. Jeff grinned widely at Emma and shouted "Geronimo!" before jumping in after Tim as the portal closed.
"You're one crazy woman, Ms. Deveraux." Carlton commented.
"Maybe, but there's always a method to my madness." Emma said. "Trust me. By the time they come back, they'll be thanking me and be closer to their pets than they ever were before. And they'll be better Techs for it."
Tim groaned as he returned to his feet. He looked around and found himself in the middle of a flat desert wasteland. His attention was then directed at a very large, black spikey tower protruding at a distance away from him. A portal was displayed over the top of the tower shining like a beacon.
Tim then heard a familiar chirping sound coming from beside his feet. Jeff the Land Shark stood close to him looking at the new environment they found themselves in.
"Jeff, I don't think we're in Bailey anymore." Tim said.
"Miko. Tim. Can you hear me?"
"Five?" Tim asked checking his gauntlet. He was happy to see two call connections to his friends. "Oh, man. Am I glad to hear your voices. Where are you guys?"
"I think we ended up in different places." Miko answered.
Just then, the screen on the gauntlet changed displaying footage of Emma Deveraux who was speaking to them.
"Okay, pet trainees. Welcome, welcome to my custom training sumilation. As RPG fans, you may find some aspects of this world a bit familiar."
"Eh, kinda sorta." Miko replied. "Ya seen one lava level, you've kinda seen them all."
"The rules to this simulation are simple." Emma continued. "To find what you need, you must each rely on your pets."
"Rely on our pets?" Tim asked. He looked down at Jeff with a concerned look on his face. "Well, I guess if I have to…"
"Hey, I told you, lady, I don't have a pet." Five said.
Just then, a loud, humming noise caught their attention coming from the tower. Everyone turned and saw a green wave brush over every inch of the land, even over the Glitch Techs and their pets.
"Whoa." Tim said. "What was that?"
Jeff shrugged.
"Uh, oh." Emma said as the screen began to flicker. "This is the opposite of good. The sim appears to be glitching. You should probably make your way to the exit portal at once. Get out! Go!" Suddenly, her face on the screen was changed into a warning symbol.
"Safety protocols are offline."
"Oh, this can't be good." Tim said worryingly.
"Miko, Tim, we're breaking up!" Five said through a rapidly flickering screen. "Meet me at the exit portal!"
"See you there!" Tim said.
"We're on it!" Miko said. "Me and ally will be right—" Just like that, she screen glitched blank.
"Oh, that's just great." Tim groaned. "Stuck in a glitching simulator with safety protocols offline, meaning that if we die here, we die for real."
Jeff muttered to himself sadly. Tim saw it and picked him up to hold him close.
"Don't worry, Jeff. I won't let anything hurt you." Jeff sighed at that a bit annoyed while Tim equipped his Web Tech costume on. "Now, come on. We gotta head to the top of that tower. How bad can it be?"
"Okay, my guess is pretty bad." the Web Tech said as he and Jeff looked carefully over a sand dune.
On the other side was a wide, flat field filled with dozens of mutated rat beasts. They all looked like rats, but they stood on two feet. They all stood around a creature that looked more human, but had rat fur, red eyes, and a long, thin tail.
"Oh, boy." the Web Tech gulped, eyeing the rat monster that was standing on a rock and overlooking the pack. "That's Vermin. He's a side boss in Bravestone XII. He has a whole pack of scavenging rats ready to attack anybody who steps on his territory." He took a moment to glance at the tower in the distance. "Still, the tower's right behind them. I can't just swing over since there's nothing to attach my webs to. And as I recall, there are lava rivers on both sides here, so going around isn't an option either. Guess I have no choice but to kick rat king butt so we can advance ahead."
Jeff leaped into the air with a battle cry and did martial arts moves into the air showing that he was ready to fight. That is, until the Web Tech grabbed him and set him down.
"Whoa, boy. This is DEFINITELY not the kind of guy I want you to go against. He's a real animal. He'll tear you apart. Please, just trust me, and I'll get you through this."
Jeff growled and pouted, falling into a sitting position again and muttering to himself in an upset way.
"All right then." the Web Tech said stretching his arms and legs. "Watch and learn."
The Web Tech launched himself over the sand dune and landed right in the field catching the attention of all the rat monsters around him.
"Hey! Could you help me? I'm trying to find my way to Vegas, but I guess I made a wrong turn."
The rats all screeched and ran right at him. He flipped over one of them and kicked another before landing back down on his feet.
"Sheesh. A simple no would've been enough."
More rat monsters appeared, but the Web Tech dodged each of their slashes and pounces, and countered with his own attacks with his fists, feet and webs. One after another, the rats tried and failed to defeat the wall-crawler or even lay a claw at him before he knocked them down.
Meanwhile, Jeff watched from the dune with a wide-eyed expression before sighing irritatedly.
After a while, it was all down to Web Tech and the mutant rat leader.
"Looks like it's just you and me, handsome. How about we call it a draw, and you let me head on over to that spooky tower?"
Vermin stood and screeched letting his claws unsheathe out of his fingertips.
"Yeah, I didn't think so."
As Vermin tried to swing his claws at him, Tim blocked them with his spider legs and countered with his own blows and strikes, which thankfully connected. After one last hard punch sent Vermin sliding backwards, the Web Tech could tell that his enemy was nearing the end of his health.
"Is that it?" he laughed. "Man, why did I ever think you were a challenge when playing this game, you mutated Mickey Mouse?"
Vermin growled before letting out an ear-shattering cry into the air, making the Web Tech cover his ears. During that scream, just about every mutant rat he defeated before suddenly woke up and returned to their feet, surrounding the shocked Web Tech.
"Oh. Now, I remember." he said just as his spider legs broke apart and he started to feel groggy. "Oh, nerds."
The rats pounced again. The Web Tech tried his best to avoid them, but in just a short moment, his exhaustion got the better of him, and he slowed down just enough for the rats to actually land some hits on him. He got battered around, exchanging hits, slashes and kicks at Tim between them until he came face-to-face again with Vermin, who gave a hideous smile before he struck him with an uppercut-like strike with his claws, sending the Web Tech flying backwards. He crashed and landed on the sandy ground, his suit torn up a tad, while Vermin and the rats roared triumphantly into the air.
"So this is how I go out." Tim thought miserably to himself. "Trapped in a simulator and being beaten to death by rat monsters. That's a bummer."
Vermin stood right above the Web Tech, claws shining viciously. He raised them high above his head, ready to deliver the final blow.
Suddenly, a big, powerful blast of water slammed into Vermin, shooting him away from the Web Tech, who gaped in surprise. He looked over at where the water blast had come from and saw that it was Jeff, who was shooting water from his mouth at the other rats now. He managed to get enough of them away so he could rejoin the Web Tech's side, making a heroic cheer and pose.
"Jeff?" he asked astonished by the power in his pet's water blasts. "Do you have… super spit or something?"
Jeff looked blankly at the Web Tech before blasting him with another water blast. He then shot back up to his feet wiping the water from him.
"Hey! I'm sorry I called it super spit. I just…" He stopped when he realized he was standing and moving normally again. He then felt his body and realized he was no longer feeling sore or fatigued anymore. His costume was even repaired. "Hold the phone… Can you… heal me?"
Jeff nodded in a tone that made it seem like it was obvious.
"Wow! I never realized…" the Web Tech said before remembering the army of mutant rats that were surrounding them again. "Right. Reconciliation later. Wanna bash some rat heads… partner?"
Jeff smiled at that and readied himself.
Like before, Tim- and now Jeff- had the advantage against the rats, who were even more overwhelmed than ever. After a while, Jeff readied himself for a very special attack. He conjured up a whirlpool underneath him as well as a few other horrified rats. He swam around the whirlpool before he actually and SWALLOWED them whole into his mouth! When he came back out of the whirlpool, he turned to Vermin and spit at him with the rat monsters he swallowed, slamming them into the rat monster.
Vermin was ready for one last attack to be brought down. The Web Tech shot two weblines at him before swinging him around. When he let go, Vermin was sent straight to Jeff, who jumped up at him and delivered a strong punch which disintegrated him. With Vermin gone, all the other rats disappeared as well, leaving the Web Tech and Jeff to celebrate.
"BOOM! That's how you do it the spider and shark way!" the Web Tech laughed before looking down at Jeff, who smiled back, panting like a dog and wagging his tail. Web Tech rubbed the back of his head and sighed as he knelt down. "I'm sorry, Jeff. It turns out you're a LOT stronger than you look, and definitely stronger than I thought. I suppose I should've remembered the old saying; 'don't judge a book by its cover.' From now on, no more being put on the side. No more just using you as a tracker. If you can help, you're welcome to our fights unless otherwise stated. Deal?"
He offered up his hand, which Jeff accepted and shook before jumping into Tim's arms and licking his face.
"Haha! Okay, okay, great," the Web Tech laughed before looking back at the tower. "Now to reach our goal."
With a little effort, the Web Tech and Jeff the Land Shark managed to travel to the black tower and scaled up its side until they reached the top. At the same time, Miko flew in on Ally, who was now much bigger, had paler yellow feathers, and had a small fire burning above her head.
"Timmy! You made it!" Miko greeted happily. "So how'd it go?"
"Not as cool as it was on your end, it looks like!" the Web Tech answered gaping at Ally's new form. "Is that Ally?"
"Yeah. It turns out she needs some special power-up berries." Miko said. "That's why she's been moody lately."
"How about that?" the Web Tech said. "So where's Five?"
"WOO-HOO!" Five's cheer was followed by his entrance, which was basically him riding on the back of a giant gorilla-like robot with a single red eye and an alpha symbol on his left shoulder. "Miko, Tim, check it out! I made a friend! Say hello, Alpha!"
The robot called Alpha turned to grunt his greeting to the other Techs and their pets.
"Wait, is that Ally?" Five asked.
"I asked the same thing!" the Web Tech laughed.
All three Glitch Techs quickly went over their stories talking over one another with great excitement. All the while, Ally, Jeff, and Alpha had their own greetings toward one another.
All that ended, though, when the Web Tech felt a tingle in his head. "Guys, move!"
All of a sudden, a big burst of purple sludge shot out from between the three like a geyser. The sludge then grew teeth and roared into the air. Everyone watched as the boss monster formed before them.
"Oh, nerds." everyone gasped at once.
"We can take him!" Miko said. "It's six on one!"
"The portal's closing!" Five pointed out as the portal above them started to close.
"No! Why, portal? Why?" Miko panicked.
"We're gonna have to do this quickly!" the Web Tech said.
The sludge monster began by slamming the ground sending a shockwave around it. Five and Alpha stood their ground as did the Web Tech with his sticking powers. Jeff was almost blown away, but the Web Tech managed to catch him with a webline and reel him in. As for Miko and Ally, they were blown away and nearly crushed by the sludge monster's essence, but they flew around to avoid its attacks. They shot a beam of fire at it, but it didn't do much damage.
"Eat this!" Five exclaimed as Alpha threw a boulder at the sludge monster… which then absorbed it into its body. "And so it did."
The sludge monster shot out its arm at Alpha, but the robot held out his hands and stopped it trying to keep his ground.
"Looks like it's our move, Jeff, while it's distracted." the Web Tech said as his companion perched himself on his back.
Web Tech slinged himself upwards and flew around the sludge monster, hitting it with a Web Barrage while Jeff fired a powerful water blast at it. Neither had any effect as the sludge monster blasted its own mess at them, knocking them to the ground. Miko and Ally then tried to continue shooting fireballs, but the sludge monster knocked them down too, even sticking Ally to a rock with its goop.
"Alpha, our friends need us!" Five informed, filling the robot with enough determination to punch the sludge monster's hand so hard, it exploded. While it roared in pain, Five and Alpha regrouped with the others with the latter pulling Ally free.
"We can't get past that thing! Nothing we do has any effect! And the portal's about to close!" the Web Tech shouted.
"Then what are we going to do?" Five asked.
Alpha then got an idea. He removed Five from his back and placed him on top of Ally's back along with Miko. The Glitch Tech realized what his new friend was doing.
"No. Come with us, Alpha!"
Alpha patted Five's poofy hair and grunted happily. He then pointed into the sky for the saddened Ally, with Jeff also whimpering. After that, Alpha turned and roared before he jumped into the air before landing on the sludge monster's head. Ally saw his cue and prepared to fly.
"No! Wait!" Five shouted to the Chicky Chum, who had already flown off.
"I guess we have no choice." the Web Tech said reluctantly. Jeff nodded in the same tone. He shot a webline at Ally's body and allowed him to carry him all the way towards the portal.
Alpha beat his giant metal fists on the sludge monster's head until he was knocked off. The sludge monster then reached out to try and subdue the Glitch Techs. Thankfully for them, Alpha quickly recovered and leaped into the air between his new friends and the monster that attacked them. He delivered a punch so hard, it destroyed the ground they were standing on, and they both fell into the lava below them.
"ALPHAAAAAAA!" Five cried out before he and his friends managed to make it through the portal before it closed.
Everyone grunted when they fell back into the pet-training lab and changed into their work clothes. Ally was the first to get up, but she reverted back to her usual red-and-yellow look.
Oh, there you are. Wow!" Emma chuckled as the Glitch Techs returned to their feet. It turns out she was simply sitting at her desk calmly reading. Carlton then walked over and leaned against the desk himself. "So how was it? Tell me everything!"
"Are you… excited about our near-death experience?!" Tim shouted. "We were nearly burned, beaten, and drowned by evil sludge!"
"Yeah! Your crazy program glitched on us, lady!" Miko complained. "We were stuck in there with no gauntlets, no communication, and no…"
"Go on." Emma said with a knowing smile.
"…You made it glitch on purpose, didn't you?" Miko asked in dull realization.
"WHAT?!" Tim gasped. "WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?!"
"I told you, it was to help you all with your pet problems." Emma said. "A pet is a relationship, everyone. You get out of it what you put into it. For example, when it comes to the care and the feeding of Miko's chicky chum, I highly suggest you read the instructions." She pulled out a small pamphlet and gave it to Miko.
"I gotta read all nine pages?!" Miko yelled in disbelief. She then looked at Ally and sighed with a smile. "The things I do for you, Ally." The bird nuzzled Miko affectionately and warbled and cawed.
"And as for you, Mr. Burns, I got an instruction manual for you too." Emma said handing another pamphlet to Tim. "Remember, just because something is cute, it doesn't mean it's weak. You gotta have trust in your pet and know that they'll care for you enough to always have your back, just like you will theirs. It's a two-way street, web boy."
Tim looked back down at Jeff and playfully scratched the top of his head. "Yeah. I guess you're right. Guess that nutty sesh really DID help us out." Jeff chirped and jumped on Tim, licking him like a dog as Tim laughed.
Emma looked back at the last Glitch Tech, Five, who had his head lowered sadly. "You're quiet, Hi-Five. Why so emo, Nemo?"
Five picked up a metal screw as it reminded him of his robot companion. "Uh, Emma, in the simulation, I met someone."
"Oh. Like this Bravestone XII Exclusive Edition Alpha Mech?" Emma turned on her tablet and displayed a projection of Alpha for Five. "I can replicate a brand-new one for you if you want."
"I don't want a new Alpha." Five said. "I want MY Alpha."
"Not as replacable as you once thought, hmm?" Emma asked keeping up her knowing smile. "Reality's not just here, my friend." She tapped on Five's head. "It's also here." She tapped on his chest.
After that, Emma tapped on her tablet again. The room lit up once more, and something was being constructed out of thin air at the very center. Much to everyone's surprise and delight, Alpha had returned fixing his proud eye on Five.
"Alpha!" Five cheered giving his new pet a big hug. "I thought I lost you, buddy! Looks like I have a pet now."
"Aww. Nothing like a bond between a boy and his Iron Giant." Tim joked.
"Hey," Miko cried out looking through her pamphlet, "Says here in the manual there are even more treats that can teach Ally all kinds of tricks!"
"Wait 'til you see what these babies can do." Emma said summoning six orbs of different colors. The group laughed happily awaiting what they could do with their pets.
"Hey, Emma." Carlton Drake called out. "This whole craziness has sort of tired me out, so I'm gonna go and log this into the lab records and then leave for home, okay?"
"Well, alright. But you're going to be missing out on some cool Chicky Chum power-ups, Carlton!" Emma sang in excitement.
"I'll deal with it." With that dry statement, he left through a door at the back of the lab.
"Sheesh. No offence, Emma, but your pal could make Otto Octavius seem like Mr. Cuddles in comparison." Tim said, jerking a thumb to where Carlton had gone.
"I'll admit, Carlton's not really a 'people person'," Emma agreed, "and he has some… odd thoughts once in a while." She then smiled. "But he does good work and I trust him. Believe me, if there's one person I know who is commited to helping the Glitch Techs through Glitch research, it's Carlton Drake."
Carlton went into another lab in the back, then looked around to make sure he hadn't been followed. He then lifted a piece of the wall up and scanned his hand on a handprint detector. Once he did, another door automatically opened up and Carlton went inside before it qickly shut behind him. The new room he entered was mostly dark and empty, so there was no one to hear him let out a deep annoyed sigh.
"Finally. I thought it'd never be over." Carlton said as he turned on some lights, though they were less than the bright happy Happy ones in the pet lab. If anything, the shadows they cast made the room more sinister. "Ridiculous Glitch Tech protocols. Deveraux wants us to work ALONGSIDE the Glitches. The Glitch Techs say we should CONTAIN them. But what benefit does that give the human race? Just a bunch of contradictions! No. In order for us as a species to progress, we need to become ONE with the Glitches!" He walked to a nearby containment holder. "They all said I was ridiculous for even thinking that. That it wasn't even possible! Well, it's a good thing I have THIS!"
He reached into his jacket and pulled out a glass cylinder canister with a black sludge-like essence inside of it floating about.
"That Tim Burns doesn't know it, but he's the perfect fusion between man and Glitch. Physical and digital essence melded into one. The perfect human being!" He looked down at the moving black goop. "So it's a good thing I managed to harvest this much from him while he was fooling around in that stupid simulation. Now, all I have to do is see how I can apply such a relationship to other humans as well." He put the canister in the holder and grinned maniacally. "This might be JUST the breakthrough I was looking for for so long. Time to see what I learn from this… symbiosis."
With that, Carlton walked over to a set of computers that glowed red as he turned them on. The numerous menacing shadows that filled the dark room however, seemed to bring out a monstrous side from the contained essence in that Carlton didn't notice. For a brief moment, as his back was turned and he began typing, it looked like it had a monstrous face complete with white eyes and a big, toothy smile before it reverted back.