It was a rather dark and spooky night as Nix and Bergy went on their nightly patrol. Eventually, their patrol led them to a house that, after the lights flickered for a second, went completely dark inside.
"Hmm. Got a low signal coming from that house." Bergy said. "Why is this neighborhood always so glitchy?"
"I don't know, Bergy." Nix said. "But our gauntlets don't get much signal out here."
The two of them burst through the door expecting a fight. Instead, though, they flashed their lights onto a man who was startled by their appearance and fell over the couch.
"Oh, my gosh!" Bergy cried out before going over to help him up. "Are you okay, sir?"
The man groaned as he stood back up. He had a messy black hairdo and was wearing a purple turtleneck and green jeans. He wasn't a very handsome man, but he wasn't too grotesque either. Just rather in-between. On his back was a purple backpack with eyeballs on it.
"I'll live." he said before realizing the two. "What kind of kids are you?"
"We're tech support for Hinobi, sir." Nix said. "We got reports of technical difficulty in this house. We're just responding."
"Well, I'm not sure what you mean," the man said. "I mean, I haven't noticed any technical difficulties, and I DO live here." He seemed adamant on making that clear. None of them, however, noticed a lamp on the wall suddenly change into an unlit torch like one would find in a castle.
Nix walked over to a light switch to flip it. However, the rooms and hallways were still dark.
"No technical difficulties, huh?" Nix asked making the man chuckle awkwardly. "Look, sir. Just let us take a look at your game console. We'll do what we can, we'll give you a little flash, and we'll be out of your hair. In and out."
"And hopefully real soon." Bergy said looking at his gauntlet, which was already at just 7% power. "Our gauntlets are experiencing a major power drain. Not loving that."
"Don't get creeped, Bergy." Nix said. "We can recharge at HQ after the mission."
"I am not creeped." Bergy said. "I am simply experiencing a small peak in anxiety."
The man glanced between the two of you with a raised bushy eyebrow. "What kind of tech support are you exactly?"
"Oh, we're a special kind." Bergy said. "See, whenever a Glitch becomes too powerful, it can threaten people, so we're specially trained to contain those Glitches."
"Bergy!" Nix shouted. "Why are you telling him this?"
"What? It's not like he's going to remember any of it. After all, we are going to zap…" Bergy paused for a moment and turned to the man. "Uh, sorry. What was your name, sir?"
"Oh, it's, uh… Nick. Nick Macabes."
"Well, Mr. Macabes, you certainly have weird taste in furniture." Nix said shining his light on an old grandfather clock that seemed a little out of place before noticing a stack of Pizza Pawn boxes. He moved them away and found the Hinobi game console, which had a game box leaning on its side. "Found the source. Glitchy game console."
"You see, Mr. Macabes?" Bergy asked. "This is why you shouldn't block the vents. Nobody respects the vents."
"Uh, thank you?" Macabes said nervously.
"Ooh. Check out what game he was playing." Nix said picking up the game box.
"Castlestein." Bergy read aloud. "Huh. Classic. Nice choice, Mr. Macabes."
Nix then looked to the ground and noticed something on the ground. Attached to the pizza boxes was a receipt. When he looked at it, something about it made him uneasy glaring suspiciously at the citizen.
"So, Mr. Macabes, you must love your pizza? What with all these boxes here?" Nix asked.
Macabes was silent for a moment before smiling. "Well, I… Uh, sure. I mean, who doesn't love pizza? Always love a good couple of pies to go with a great game."
"True, true." Nix said. "Then I guess that meat lover's special, green and red pepper, and black olive and pepperoni really hit the spot then?"
"Er... Sure. Yeah." Macabes said after a second, his smile faltering. "The meat lovers especially. Mmm."
Nix's suspicions were confirmed and he aimed his gauntlet at him. "Nice try! The receipt on the boxes says the orders were an extra pepperoni with garlic parmesan sauce, a Hawaiian lover's special, and an extra-large cheese with bacon! None of what I said before! For that matter, the pizzas were for a guy named XAVIER! NOT Nick!"
Macabes quickly dropped his smile and gritted his teeth, knowing he was caught.
"Nix, what's going on?" Bergy asked uneasily.
"I think we just stumbled upon a crime scene here, Bergy." Nix said. "This isn't this guy's house. I bet he's just a burglar who tried to rob this place while whoever owns it is asleep or out, and we just interrupted him."
Upon hearing that, Bergy became serious too and aimed his own gauntlet at Macabes.
"Well, aren't you a smart brat." Macabes said. Slowly, he snuck his hand behind him to grip onto a lamp. "But out of the three of us here, I'd say I'm the smartest."
"Tell it to someone who…" Nix was in the middle of his sentence when he was cut off by the sight of the Hinobi game console.
Everyone was startled when a green cloud hissed out of the console. The wall behind it began to change into something more gothic. While the boys had their eyes on the changes, Macabes hid himself behind a chair, starting to get creeped out himself.
"Okay. NOW, I'm creeped!" Bergy exclaimed before hearing a loud laughter. He and Nix disappeared right after.
One of the advantages of working in a video game store: the employees can play games during their break. And that's what the team of Five, Miko, and Tim are taking advantage of. They stood side by side playing the same game on different consoles about a bee racing across a flower field.
"Yes! Collected all the schmoogs." Five celebrated. "Now for the third warp."
"Oh, don't miss the Easter egg." Miko advised. "Under the last ring in the chain."
Five and Tim followed Miko's advice and found the hidden treasure that Miko pointed out. They collected it with ease while also impressed by Miko's advice.
"Wow. Thanks for the tip, Miko." Tim said.
"How'd you know about that?" Five asked.
"Found it on my second playthrough." Miko said.
"You already beat this game?" Five asked in surprise.
"You know how it is." Miko said. "Till I've totally beaten a game, I just can't move on to the next one."
"You said it." Tim said. "I always worry that if I play a game, stop in the middle to do another, and come back to play the one I stopped again after, I might forget how to play it."
Five laughed nervously. "Sure, yeah. I know how that is. So you've beaten every game?"
"Well, not, like, every game." Five sighed in relief at Miko's answer. "Just the ones I've tried."
Five freaked out for a moment, before recomposing himself. "Uh… I see. What about you, hermano? You finish every game you tried?"
"More or less." Tim replied.
His answer made Five freak out again. This time, he lost control of his game and caused his bee to get eaten by a frog.
"Ooo. Tough luck, dude." Tim said as both he and Miko passed the finish line, with Tim crossing first. "Yes!"
"You win this round, Timmy." Miko praised.
"All right, you three." Phil said as he approached the trio. "I've got a mission for ya."
"Whoo!" Miko cheered sharing a fist-bump with Five and Tim.
The trio took their van over to the suburbs and parked in front of a house that was mostly pink. There was another Glitch Tech van in its driveway. Once they stopped, Phil talked to them through their communication network.
"Okay, here's the dealio. Nix and Bergy have gone AFK on a case. Can't waise them on gauntlets, so I need a B-Team to go in after them."
"Really?" Five asked. "We're the B-Team?"
"Well, figuratively, you're the B-Team. Literally, you're the D-Team."
"Really?" Web Tech asked seemingly insulted. "Even though this team has a unique Tech like me?"
"You kinda lost points with the whole Black Cat situation. But ya work with the tools you've got, right?"
"Hey, that's still good." Miko said. "I mean, we're still the tools."
"Funny," Web Tech said, "I always thought the only tool in this business is Mitch." That made Miko snicker.
"Hilarious." Phil said sarcastically. "Now, speaking of the Black Cat situation, according to our data, you're facing a Mapper Glitch."
"Like the Hinobi Wheels thing we raced in before?" Five asked.
"Got it in one. As you know, they tend to lay video game maps over real-life environments. The Glitch you'll face in that house is the game itself. So you beat the game, you'll beat the Glitch. Capisce?"
"Who still says 'capisce'?" Tim asked.
"We totally 'capisce' it." Miko said.
"Yeah." Five agreed. "Which game is it again?"
"Yeah, it was hard to make it out from their last transmission. Something like 'Castlegrime' or…"
"Wait." Web Tech said with widened eyes. "You mean Castlestein? The horror-adventure game about going through an evil vampire's castle?!"
"O-M-squee! I lurve that game!" Miko cried out.
"Yeah." Five said nervously. "Totally beat that one."
The three of them left their van and knocked on the front door. It creaked open revealing the inside, which was very, very, VERY spacious compared to how the small house looked on the outside. Inside was a grand, gothic hallway with many rows of petrified animals along it. The large windows reflected a raging thunderstorm outside.
The trio looked outside for a minute to see it was perfectly sunny, happy and modern before looking back in to take in just how big and strange the Glitch made the house look from the inside.
"This is just like how that Hinobi Wheels Glitch made the entire 30-feet of the sim room look like a galaxy-sized race track." Web Tech commented.
"I know! It's so neat!" Miko exclaimed, looking at the inside again. "Map." She turned outside once more to see the nice day. "No map." She repeated this a few times to her amusement. "Map. No map. Map. No map. Map! No map!"
"Thanks for clearing that up, Miko." Phil deadpanned as the screen on Five's gauntlet fizzed out a tad.
"Let's find those other Techs and bust this Glitch." Five said entering the castle with the others.
"AH! I can't believe it!" Miko exclaimed happily. "We're actually inside the castle from Castlestein!"
"Yeah. I remember Aunt Geri saying it was game of the year back when it was released." Web Tech said. "It really boosted the popularity of gothic horror games."
"Phil are you monitoring this?" Five asked.
"Yes, but there's a wall of interference dulling the signal. What do you see?"
The group scanned their gauntlets around and a green light emitted from them, showing under the creepy gothic setting was a completely ordinary house.
"Pretty much what you said." Tim stated. "Walls of interference."
"Hey! I see a Tech gauntlet." Miko said pointing to something coming out from the side of the fireplace. She and the boys pulled on it with all their might trying to yank it out of its place.
Finally, the gauntlet fell out… along with the stone body it was attached to! Miko yelped, seeing that it was the petrified stone state of Bergy! She pushed the statue onto his back, showing Bergy in a frightened and cowering position.
"It's Bergy!" Five shouted. "He's stuck. Poor guy."
"Totally." Miko said. "If I were a statue, I woulda tried to pick a much cooler pose."
"I don't think that's the issue, Miko." Web Tech said. "Is he okay? Apart from being a human statue?"
Miko activated a light from her gauntlet, which she then shined on Bergy. It showed him not really a statue, but fully asleep and snoring.
"He's asleep in there." Miko said.
Five returned to his gauntlet. "Phil, we found Bergy."
"Wh-at?" Phil asked through a video feed that was quickly failing. "I'm l-l-losing your s-s-signal. Eh, these stupid…" That's when the call ended with just a wave of static.
"Phil?" Miko asked without getting an answer. "Better get clear of all this interference."
Before they could return to the door, however, it slammed shut and disappeared in a wall of interference.
"This is probably why the other Techs lost contact." Five said seeing his gauntlet losing its energy. "We're gonna have to power down until we get some more signal."
"Easier said than done, I'm afraid."
The three of them turned their attention and raised their gauntlets to a man's voice coming from the corner of the room. Nick Macabes slowly stepped out with his hands up.
"Take it easy. I don't want to hurt anybody."
"Who are you?" Five asked.
"Nick Macabes. I'm the owner of the house… Well, before it became a haunted one anyway."
The Techs looked at each other before lowering their gauntlets.
"What happened?" Five asked.
"Well, last night, these two tech support kids came by to take a look at my console. That's when something burst out that made everything like something out of Bram Stoker." Macabes explained. "That vampire from the game showed up and challenged the boys to a fight. They tried to stop it, but… Well, you can see the result." He gestured at Bergy's petrified body. "Later on, a whole bunch of other kids were sent in, and they all met the same fate. Each and every one defeated. I know how crazy this must be."
"Nah. It's pretty standard for us," Miko said. "Anyway, sorry we have to do this to ya, bud." She raised her gauntlet ready to zap him when Tim stopped her.
"Wait, Miko! Stop!" Web Tech shouted pulling her arm down and pulling her aside. "What are you doing?"
"I'm… wiping his memory?" Miko asked. "I mean, that is what we do with non-Glitch Tech guys, right?"
"I don't think now's the right time to do that though." Web Tech said. "Think about it. If we wipe his memory now, he'll be dazed and stunned in the middle of a dangerous game full of monsters."
"Tim's right, Miko." Five said. "This guy's probably safest with us instead of being a sitting duck."
"Ooh. Good point." Miko said before turning to Macabes. "Good news, sir. The three of us are going to be watching your back while we neutralize the cause of the Glitch. Shouldn't be a problem though. Phil said if we beat the game, we beat the Glitch. And everyone's beaten Castlestein, right?"
Five laughed nervously. "Yeah, totally."
"You sounded unsure." Macabes said.
"Nobody asked you." Five shot quietly.
"Well, let's get this Castlestein thing going." Tim said heading down the hallways with the others behind him.
Macabes was the last one who was following thinking to himself. "I don't know what's going on, but right now, these kids are my best shot out of here. So for now, I'll play along."
"The glitchy graphic maps have turned this whole house in to a real-life castle crawler." Miko said as he and the others walked through the sinister hallways.
"And this excites you?" Macabes asked.
"Oh, trust me. Almost everything excites her." Tim said.
Just then, Five accidently knocked a candle lamp over, but once it hit the ground, it quickly transformed into a small, purple pouch which he then wore.
"Ha! That was just like the game!" Miko cheered. She then jumped to break a lantern. It turned into a coin for her to collect.
"Does that mean we can really loot this stuff?" Five asked.
Tim shot a webline to pull another lantern towards him. When it came to him, he punched it and collected the coin that came from it. "Looks like it!"
"You kids seem way to excited about a situation like this." Macabes said.
"Well, duh. We're living the best life! We're actually interacting with our favorite video games!" Miko exclaimed. "I mean, what kid WOULDN'T want to do that?"
Macabes stopped for a moment, feeling a brainstorm beginning to form in his head. "Yeah. That's a VERY good question." He sneaked in a mischievously sneering smile before quickly getting rid of it as he continued to walk behind the kids.
"Now that we're actually in a game like this, you can see how goofy it really is." Miko said observing her surrounding.
"Yeah, it does look less scary up close now that I see it." Web Tech said.
"Oh. And the game's villain was, like, a total cheeseball too, remember?" Five laughed. "He had, like, the dumbest bad guy laugh. Muahahahahaha!"
At that moment, a flash of light lit up the room followed by a similarly loud and evil laugh that echoed throughout the chamber. The party all stopped and stared upwards as the wall opened and a figure was formed before their eyes.
"Who dares disturbs my dark slumber?!"
The figure looked like a man, but with gray skin and red, glowing eyes. He had black hair that flowed in the breeze and dark-and-red fancy clothes that matched his large cape.
"It's him!" Macabes cried out pointing at the monster. "That's the vampire that took your friends!"
"Count Morbius." Web Tech said in awe. "According to the game's in-story history, he was once a brilliant scientist who fell ill with a deadly disease, so he sought for a cure in Romania. He managed to find one, but in return, he became a bloodthirsty vampire devoid of all his humanity. He then took over a nobleman's castle—the titular Castlestein—and plotted to take over the world and make its people into his slaves!"
"Well, why is he just floating there?" Five asked.
"He's waiting for the dialogue, silly." Miko said. She cleared her throat before making a dramatic proclamation. "Vile creature, I am here to end your reign and save humanity!" She then whispered, "Now, it's his line."
"Humanity." Morbius laughed. "Perhaps I too once cared for humanity, but now I have long since passed caring. After all, compared to a creature like myself, what is a mortal but a pile of petty vanities?"
"Says the guy who's overcompensating with a Phantom of the Opera cape." Web Tech returned.
"That's not part of the dialogue." Five said.
"I know, but I said that back when I first played Castlestein, so I'm acting a bit nostalgic."
"Well, you go ahead and say your line, Five." Miko said.
"Oh. Uh…" Five went on to talk back to Count Morbius. Or try to anyway. "You may rule the darkness, but, um… Something, something… light!"
"Seriously?" Macabes asked dryly.
"Your challenge is acceptance!" Morbius accepted. "But bewared! For when the bells toll negative midnight, you shall join my collection… FOREVER!"
Morbius laughed as the floor underneath the heroes lifted them up. They were quickly carried over to the next door.
When the four of them fell through the door, they found themselves in a creepy library with hundreds of book stacks. With nothing else to do, they walked down the hallway admiring everything around them unaware that something was building up behind them.
It would've caught them by surprise, but the Web Tech's tingles alerted him to the dangers. "Guys, heads up!" Everyone looked around seeing skulls hovering in midair. "Wow. The one time I made an accidental quip."
"It's the Skele-Tomes!" Miko exclaimed as the skulls created bodies out of the surrounding books.
The Skele-Tomes roared before one of them swiped at Macabes, who fiercely avoided the grabs. "AH! This is insane! How do we beat them?!"
"Easy. Their spines are book spines." Miko said kicking at one of the books on a Skele-Tome's body causing it to disappear.
"Hey, check this out." The Web Tech shot a webline at a book that made another Skele-Tome and ripped it off defeating it. He then looked inside the book before groaning. "Ugh! No pictures! Can I exchange this for a manga?" He then launched the book at a Skele-Tome that was about to get Five. Thankfully, it was destroyed before it could hurt him.
Miko dropped one of the Skele-Tomes, but instead of disappearing completely, a large mace formed and fell into her hands.
"Aw, yeah! I got the spiky stick!" Miko yelled before swinging her mace everywhere.
The Web Tech dropped down on a Skele-Tome and crushed it beneath his feet. It then formed a metal crossbow that fell into his hands. "Nice! I got the crossbow!" He then used it to shoot the Skele-Tomes. "You get an arrow! And you get an arrow! And you get an arrow! You all get arrows!"
Once Five defeated his enemy, a new weapon appeared and fell into his hands. "I got…" His excitement fell when he realized he was holding onto a sword that was bent into a perfect 90 degree angle. "…a bent sword?"
"Is that even useful?" Macabes asked hiding behind a table.
A Skele-Tome come up to five to attack him. Out of instinct, he turned to it and immediately swung his bent sword at him. However, it merely bounced not causing a single bit of damage to its skull. To defeat it, he grabbed some of the book pages within it and ripped it out.
"To answer your question, sir: no. It's not useful." Tim said.
"Yeah, don't tell me you're keeping it, Five." Miko said. "When I played, I just threw that thing away."
"No way, dude. You gotta keep ALL the loot" Five said swinging the sword in his hand. "After all, it can't hurt… OOF!" He accidentally struck the back of his head with the sword. "Don't say a word."
"But the irony… Okay, fine. Let's go." Miko agreed. She ran towards two diverging hallways and went left. "This way!" A jet of green flame erupted and after a second, a smoking Miko ran out to the right instead. "OTHER way!"
"She's… a little out there, isn't she?" Macabes said.
"Eh. You get used to it. It's a little endearing honestly." Web Tech said.
Throughout their journey, with Macabes following from behind, the Glitch Techs traveled through the halls of Castlestein taking out every monster in their way. Whether it was gryphons, spiked beasts, or other monsters, they overcame them all.
During their playthrough, the Web Tech and Miko noticed Five jumping up to loot every torch he came across.
"You don't need to loot every torch." Miko said.
"Yes, I do." Five responded softly.
"Let him have his fun, Miko." Tim said. "Sometimes good stuff can come of it." Five then collected a shield he had just gotten. "See?"
After a while, the four of them stopped when they noticed a platform hovering in the air above them. On top there was a wooden treasure chest. Unfortunately, it was too high for them to reach.
"Look. It's that one treasure chest you can't ever reach." Miko said. "Pretty kooky game design, huh?"
Five chuckled. "Yeah. You fell for that too? That is so Castlestein."
"Admittedly, yes." Web Tech said. "I always had gamer rage trying to find a trick to…" He stopped when he realized something. He looked at the his hands with a smile forming in his helmet. "That's it!"
"What's it?" Macabes asked.
"Maybe now, I can finally reach it!" The Web Tech fired his weblines up to the platform and pulled himself up. He managed to get to the top and kick the chest open.
"Nice! Your powers are the ultimate cheat code!" Miko cheered.
"Don't put it like that. It makes me sound cheap." The Web Tech said before reaching into the chest. "And the mystery prize is…" He picked up the item only to be slightly disappointed. "A spork?"
"Wait. Did you say, a spork?" Five asked as his friend jumped back down.
"Yep. Read it and weep." Web Tech said holding up the utensil. "All that gamer rage over a silly food tool."
"Well, at least, we know now." Five said. "Come on. Let's find Morbius."
The four of them took an elevator and made it to a floor with staircases set up like hills. During their walk over them, they encountered several flying eyeballs with bat wings. They fought them all off, and when Five destroyed the last one, he achieved a new loot: a pair of mechanical gloves.
"Whoa! You just won the lootery, dude!" Miko congratulated as five put the gloves on.
"Magnetic gloves." Web Tech said. "You lucky duck."
"And these are great because… Um… They're used for…" Five struggled to continue thinking hard of what to say next.
"Disarming the Iron Knights." Web Tech said.
"Yep. Totally got that one." Five said. "I just… forgot what they were called, that's all." Suddenly, his gloved activated pulling in Miko's mace and the Web Tech's crossbow. He strained to release them before his partners helped. However, they exchanged a knowing look as they began to realize something.
"Uh, hey. You wanna clear the next room?" Miko asked.
"Me?" Five asked accidentally sticking his gloves to the sides of his head. "Uh, yeah. You know I would. Whatever comes your way, Five's got your back… from, uh, the front. And I've got your back too, Macabes?"
"Just as long as you're far away from me." Macabes said stepping away. "I don't need your weird gloves to pull out one of my iron fillings."
"Got it." Five said taking point.
"So we both thinking the same thing?" the Web Tech asked Miko.
"Depends; if you think Five's not being honest with us about Castlestein." Miko said.
"It does fit. I mean, Five's always been an overthinker. There's no way he can figure out the secret of the next room."
"Only one way to find out."
"Wa-cha! Bring it on, minions!" Five dared once he and the others entered a large room with weapons. The back of the room had a wall covered in holes. "Oh, uh, it's the armory."
"Yeah. Gotta get past the mini-boss, and it's straight to Count Morbius." the Web Tech said.
"Is that a problem?" Miko asked.
"…Uh, no. I'm kill… Uh, chill. Uh, cool." Five chuckled nervously. "Cool as a… as a coolcumber."
"Whatever gets us closer to getting out of this nightmare manor," Macabes said rolling his eyes. "So what kind of mini-boss are we dealing with anyway?" He yelped as behind them, spikes popped out of the holes.
His answer came with the sound of a buzzsaw piercing through the ceiling from above. A large, metal creature landed before them. It had the body of knight armor along with the face of an axe and the hands of different blades.
"No one defeats the Blade Demon of Truth!" the monster declared.
"Ironic name." the Web Tech chuckled quietly.
"All who try this shall fail!" the Blade Demon shouted covering himself with even more swords.
"This was a clever challenge." Miko said. "Took me a while to finally beat it."
"Yeah. I almost rage quit before I realized what to do." the Web Tech said. "I'm sure you must know what to do, right, Five?"
"Uh, yeah." Five said with a forced smile. "You… may, uh, wanna back up."
"No problem." Macabes said moving as far back as he could.
"All you, pro." Miko said joining Macabes.
"Break a leg, bud." the Web Tech said leaving Five along with the Blade Demon of Truth.
"Hey, man! You know what time it is?" Five asked daringly to the demon with a sear in one hadn and a golden shield in the other. "It's Five o'clock!"
Five charged in, ready to deliver his most powerful blow. However, with just one swing, the Blade Demon comically knocked Five away. Five nervously assured the others he was "just weakening the defenses." He then reached for more weapons and attacked again, but the Blade Demon kept on defeating him. Again and again, the process continued, and every time, the Blade Demon defeated Five without much effort.
After a while, the Blade Demon had enough. It approached Five while he was down ready to fire spears at him. Thankfully, he rolled away just in the nick of time.
"Uh, okay, guys!" Five cried out to his friends. "I tired him out! But, uh, maybe we could use a tag team here?"
"Really? Why?" Miko asked with an insinuating tone.
"She's right, Five." the Web Tech said. "You don't need more than one player to find the answer to this. The solution is laughably simple. How come you haven't done it yet?"
"Because…" Five stammered, seeing the Blade Demon stomp closer to deliver the final blow. Finally, he had enough and decided to come clean. "BECAUSE I LIED! Look, I never beat this game! So if you don't take over right now, we're gonna end up here stuck forever! Okay, guys?" He turned and became afraid once he saw that his friends weren't there anymore. No Miko, no Tim, and even no Macabes. "Guys? GUYS!"
Five looked back up seeing the Blade Demon raise his buzzsaw hand and lower it slowly toward him. He was too scared to move away. And he couldn't step back because he had his back to the spiked wall behind him.
"I never beat the game! I never beat the game!"
THWIP!
Five felt a line of web shoot at his back. He looked back and saw the web come out of the spiked wall. Before he could ask, the web yanked him through the wall. He expected to be impaled, but much to his surprise, he was very much okay.
When Five stood back up, he found himself in an unfamiliar hallway confused about what's going on. Miko, Macabes, and the Web Tech stood beside him watching his reaction.
Miko laughed. "I knew you never beat the game! You should see your face right now! It's all like, 'HUH! WHA… HUH!'"
"What just happened?" Five asked.
"I told you, the solution was laughably simple." the Web Tech said. He placed his hand on the wall Five fell through and showed a reaction from it. "It's a fake wall."
"How about that?" Macabes asked. "Gotta say, even I was a bit surprised when they yanked me through."
"So the only way to defeat the Blade Demon was… not to defeat it?" Five asked.
"He said it himself." Miko said. "'All who try shall fail.' Truth."
Five dropped his jaw stunned by how simple it was. "I was stuck for so long, hating on this game for being so impossible when the answer was right in front of me the whole time."
"No game is impossible, Five." the Web Tech said. "If it is, then the guys who made it are just a bunch of jerks who deserve to be sued."
"Exactly. So don't beat yourself up." Miko said. "That's just Castlestein, man. It gets in your head. You could've told us you never beat this game before, you know."
"I know." Five sighed. "But you two made such a big deal out of beating every game you played. As the only one in the group who quit his games after thinking they were impossible, I… felt a little left out."
"Five, whether you beat as many games as us or not, you're still an awesome player." the Web Tech said.
"We wouldn't have thought any less of you." Miko assured. "Beating one game isn't that important."
"Listen. This emotional growth is cute and all." Macabes said impatiently, "But can we do this after we get out of here! I'd prefer not to live in a house that looks like it came from H.P. Lovecraft's brain!"
"Boy, are you a cold guy." the Web Tech commented.
"I may not have beaten Castlestein," Five said, "But I'm gonna beat it now. Hear that, Castlestein! I'm coming for you, bro!"
The four of them reached to the end of the hallway where an elevator awaited for them to fill it.
"This elevator goes to Morbius' clock tower." Miko informed. "Ready for some classic boss battlin'!"
"Ready!" Five answered.
"Ready!" the Web Tech answered.
"Not ready!" Macabes said earning a look from everybody. "What, I can't do what you kids do. I'd only be a liability."
Miko shrugged before swinging her mace at the elevator's support chains. The four of them were launched upwards to the final boss.
The four of them were thrown out of the elevator as soon as it reached the top floor. The Techs landed safely, but Macabes landed flat on his face. They then looked around seeing the many giant clock gears in motion around them. The clock face at the front of the room lit up until Count Morbius appeared in floating above them.
"The time is nigh for you to join my collection!" Morbius announced. "I put my heart and soul in them. You will enjoy everlasting life… as my toys. MUAHAHAHAHA!"
"Toys?" the Web Tech asked. "Sorry, pal, but I'm not one to be any kind of toy unless I come with kung fu grip."
"'Time is nigh…' 'Heart and soul…' 'Muahaha…" Five recounted Count Morbius' lines. "These must be clues to a riddle."
"Really?" the Web Tech asked. "They never really meant anything when I beat it."
"If I fall, you may rise." Morbius said. "But time Is always on my sides!"
"Yeah, maybe you're right." Five said. "Maybe this game's dialogue is just really bad."
"Well, I'll leave this to you kids." Macabes said taking a step away from the fight.
Miko offered her hand to her friends. "Just take my hand, learn the pattern, and aim for the guy with the fabulous hair."
"You ready to finally finish Castlestein, Five?" the Web Tech asked.
"Let's do this." Five answered.
The three of them interlocked their hands and readied for their fight against Count Morbius, who started by summoning a huge pillar of green light that shot projectiles at them. They avoided the attacks before he moved onto another attack with a pattern that they were able to work around.
"Got the pattern?" Miko asked.
"Got it!" Five answered.
"Then let's ground this bat-case!" the Web Tech said.
They went through the pattern again. This time, once Morbius was vulnerable, the three of them took their chanceand jumped right at him hitting him with critical blows at the same time. They then watched as he began to detonate in red smoke.
"NOOOOOO!" Morbius yelled before disappearing into thin air. His disappearance sent a shockwave that shook the castle and caused a bunch of rocks to fall in front of the door they had come from. The Glitch Techs celebrated after that.
"Okay, so this is the coolest." the Web Tech said. "At this part, the game fades to black." As she said, the lights in the clocktower all dimmed.
"And… that's it?" Five asked.
"That's the game." Miko said. "You, good sir, may now say you have beaten the 32 bits of awesome that is Castlestein. KABOOM!"
"Now, there's just one last thing to take care of." The Web Tech turned his head and spotted Macabes stepping out of his hiding place. He shot a web line at him and pulled him over to them. "Time for a memory wipe, courtesy of your friendly neighborhood Glitch Techs."
"Memory wipe?" Macabes asked frantically. "Whoa, whoa. Let's not get too crazy. I mean, I promise, I won't tell anyone what I saw."
"Sorry, ese, but it's not our call." Five said readying his gauntlet. "We beat the game, so now, all we gotta do is erase your memories. It's Hinobi policy."
"WAIT, WAIT, WAIT!" Macabes pleaded causing the kids to hesitate. "Um… Did you really beat the game?"
"Dude, you saw us." Miko said. "We beat Count Morbius, and so, we beat the game."
"But if that's true," Macabes said, "Then why is everything still here? Shouldn't this place turn back into a normal house by now?"
The Glitch Techs looked around and saw that he was right. The clock was still ticking, the gears were still turning, and nothing about the castle changed.
"He's right." Five asked. "Tim, Miko, when you played this game before, was this how your games ended?"
"Well, let me think." Miko said recounting her gameplay at the same time as the Web Tech did. "I beat Morbius…"
"It went dark…" the Web Tech said.
"I stood around for a while," Miko continued, "And then, since there was obviously no way out of this room, I just, kinda… shut the game off."
"You shut it off?" Five asked.
"Yes! I shut it off," Miko repeated, "As in how one turns off appliances no longer in use so as to responsibly conserve energy! Why am I yelling at you?!"
"Tim," Five said turning to his web-slinging friend, "Did you…"
"Well… kinda," Web Tech admitted rubbing the back of his neck. "I mean, I didn't have any other route. I figured the end credits were gonna roll sooner or later, but as I kept waiting, I figured it was time for me to move on, so… Yeah. I shut the game off too."
"Ooooooh." Macabes said with a knowing smile. "It looks like the three of you have more in common than you think. It turns out, none of you beat the game."
"We did not beat this game." Miko realized with widened eyes.
"So if we didn't beat the game, then…" the Web Tech started to realized.
"We didn't beat the Glitch." Five finished.
Just then, four figures slid out of nowhere positioned before the heroes. They were stone statues of their own coworkers.
"It's Nix!" Five recognized one of them.
"And Simi!" Miko went on.
"And Zahra and Haneesh!" the Web Tech said. "A… B… C…"
"Oh, wow." Five said fearfully. "I guess we really were the D-Team. Only now, it's us who are…"
"Stuck…" Miko gasped before falling to her knees. "CASTLESTEEEEEEIIIIIIIIN!"
"I'm guessing this doesn't happen to you very often." Macabes said.
"It's fine," Five said, placing his collected torches into the hands of all the petrified Glitch Techs (and into Nix's buttcheeks). "We can figure this out. Uh, if the game didn't end, that means that the Morbius we just fought must have been a fake or a decoy."
"Everything in my life up to this point has been a lie." Miko said blankly staring off into space. "I am a lie."
"Miko, calm down." Tim said. "I'm just as concerned about this as you are. But you said so yourself, this game gets in your head. We just have to… What are you doing?" He turned to see Miko acting very strangely.
"I'm just trying to figure out which pose to take before we're frozen for all eternity." Miko said in a forced happy tone, trying out various poses. "Does this look cooler? Or this?"
"Miko…" Five tried to say.
"Yes, you're right." Miko chuckled nervously, laying down on the ground in a fetal position and rocking side to side. "I should think about comfort! Eternity's a long time." She began giggled crazily.
"Hey, kid, snap out of it, will you?!" Macabes shouted. "You and your friends are my one way into getting out of this alive! I can't afford for one of you to have an existential crisis right now!"
"Hey, lay off her! You've been a jerkish load since we found you! The least you could do is be grateful we're trying to get your house back to normal!" the Web Tech snapped at him, getting in his face.
Five got between them. "Guys! We can't argue like this! We need to keep our heads together!" He then turned back to the freaking out girl. "Miko, please, help," Five said. "We need the Miko who doesn't give up. The Miko that hurls herself at spiky walls."
"And where did that get her?! STUCK!" Miko cried out before reaching in Five's loot bag pulling out all sorts of items he collected. "Stuck with a satchel full of the dumbest loot in game history!" She stopped when she pulled out the 90-degree sword. "Like this ridiculous, useless, busted up sword!"
"Esperate!" Five stopped Miko and took the sword from her to examine it, particularly the symbol of the crescent moon on the sword hilt. "Where have I seen this symbol before?"
The Web Tech looked and turned his attention to the clock tower face. "Hey! It looks just like the clock tower!"
"That's right!" Five realized. He looked at the crescent moon on the clock and noticed a slot in the center of it. "It's Morbius' symbol! Tim, see what you can do."
"Aye, aye, captain." The Web Tech took the sword and swung over to the clock face. "Hmm… Morbius said 'If I fall, you may rise'. I wonder if…" He slid the sword into the slot, which then started to glow. "Guys, you might wanna brace yourselves!"
While the others prepared for what was to come, the Web Tech flipped the sword down like a lever handle. That's when everything started to flip upside down slowly. Seeing his friends in trouble, the Web Tech shot his webs to attach them to other clock pieces and keep them from falling like a big net. The room kept flipping until it was completely upside-down.
"Now, what?" Macabes asked.
"I got an idea." Five said. He passed one of his magnetic gloves to Miko, and together, they swung away from the Web Tech's webs and attached themselves to one of the clock pieces.
"Hey, what about me?!" Macabes asked. "I can't stick to walls like the rest of you!"
"I gotcha!" The Web Tech leaped off the clock face and grabbed onto Macabes, who he then held in his arms. "Aww. Look, what the stork dropped in. A newborn baby."
"Shut up" Macabes growled annoyed.
"Oh, and it talks already too! I think I'll name you, hmm… Pickles."
"Do you EVER stop talking?"
"Come on, everyone!" Five said. "We're gonna find the real Count Morbius and we're gonna beat his game together!"
After leaving the clock tower, the four of them headed straight to the armory, which was also upside down. The Blade Demon of Truth was still attached to the floor, so he wasn't able to reach them as they ran over him to the farthest exit, though they did have to avoid him throwing swords and blades at them.
One by one, the quartet ran past all the familiar rooms that were now inverted facing the same monsters as they faced before. They soon found themselves standing on the bottomside of a familiar chest they couldn't reach except for the Web Tech with his powers.
"Oh, so this must be how we were supposed to reach that unreachable chest." Five realized.
"Yeah. Too bad all we got was a dumb spork." Miko said rolling her eyes.
After that, it was a straight shot back to the chamber where they had first met Count Morbius, where all the banners had begun falling revealing the statues of Bergy, Nix, the others, as well as even MORE Glitch Techs; evidently the rest of the other teams sent in after the ones who had failed. Count Morbius himself was seen sitting on the bottom-side of a chandelier like it was a throne.
"Dang! Caught this guy on the flip-flop." Miko said.
"Your trespassing is no longer tolerable to me, humans." Morbius declared. "Beholden, as the clock tolls negative midnight!" He laughed his cheesy laugh seeing as the clock behind him reached a minute ahead of 12.
"Aha! But it's one past midnight!" Five said dramatically. "Your powers fail you, you vile crumb bum!"
"Crumb bum?" the Web Tech asked.
"It'll catch on."
Morbius cackled at Five's statement. "But with my castle inverted, your past midnight becomes my NEGATIVE MIDNIGHT!"
"That's a weak technicality!" the Web Tech stated loudly.
Morbius didn't respond. He just wrapped himself in his own cloak covering his entire body. When he emerged, he became bigger, scarier, and more demonic, his body covered by a shadowy aura. His fangs were displayed more animalistic, which he hissed at the Glitch Techs with.
"So… you three got this right? Right. Well, I'll leave you to it." Macabes said running to hide behind a pillar.
"Judging by that rated-M display he's got going on," Miko said as she and her partners drew their weapons, "I'd say this is the real boss fight."
"Humanity ill needs saviors such as you guys!" Morbius hissed in a demonic tone.
"We'll see about that Vegas sideshow!" the Web Tech returned as he and his friends jumped toward the vampire.
Five, Miko, and the Web Tech attacked Morbius with their weapons and attacks. All the while, the demon didn't budge. He didn't even fight back because he didn't need to. None of their blows were doing any damage to him at all. He laughed before clapping his hands sending the three backwards back to ground level.
The Web Tech saved himself from hitting the ground by sprouting out his green spider legs from his back and slid on the floor. He then used them to spring himself to the nearest pillar to swing around Morbius, who kept his demonic eyes on him. The Web Tech fired his crossbows, but like before, they never caused him any damage. He finally stopped when Morbius caught the last arrow and snapped it in half within his grip.
"Tis this the best attack you can use on me?" Morbius asked.
"Kinda. By the way, no one says 'tis' anymore." the Web Tech said.
While the Web Tech was drawing Morbius' attention, Five and Miko searched through the former's satchel looking for weapons. They tried the scythe and stake club, but it didn't do anything to the vampire. They tried a garlic hammer, but Morbius didn't even notice. Miko's Power Punch barely even touched him. Even a cannon called the Love's Kiss couldn't hurt him. No matter what they tried, nothing they could use would even get Morbius' attention.
Morbius kept his eyes on the Web Tech and opened his mouth. That's when he fired a red blast from it aimed straight for him. The Web Tech swung away, but the red beam zapped through his web causing him to fall straight down. Once he hit the ground beside Five and Miko, his spider-legs disappeared, and he lost his energy in the process.
"Tim!" Miko cried out. She grabbed him and dragged him behind the pillar with her and Five.
"So…" the Web Tech breathed heavily, "Are we winning?"
"Not even close!" Miko exclaimed. "Nothing's working! Give me something else! ANYTHING!"
"Let's see…" Five said passing Miko various items which Miko then threw desperately. "Trophy. Werewolf rip. Porcini mushroom. We're down to the dregs here!"
"What about that bent sword?" the Web Tech asked. "Any chance that's a strong item now?"
"Let's see…" Miko pulled out the bent sword and threw it over at Morbius, but like the others, it just bounced off him. "Nope! Still only useful as a key!"
The bent sword flew into the air until it landed on the ground right next to Macabes, who fixed his eyes upon it with interest.
"What's left?" Miko asked.
"Uh, shield, and… HERE!" Five kept the shield for himself and threw the other item to Miko, which turned out to be the spork from the unreachable treasure chest.
"What the heck am I supposed to do with this, Five?! Serve him a hot lunch?!"
Tim's tingling sensation began to ring in his head again causing him to turn around. That's when he noticed Morbius preparing a green light growing in his claws.
"GUYS, RUN!" the Web Tech yelled.
The Glitch Techs scattered around, hoping to avoid getting caught by the blasts shooting everywhere. Five's arm was caught by the beams and became covered in solid stone. Web Tech's shoulder was caught too and it was petrified as well.
"Watch out for the lasers!" Five advised. His warning became too late, as Miko's leg was caught and petrified.
"We're gonna end up like the others!" Miko panicked. "Stuck in desperate and uncool poses!"
Morbius charged up another green blast aimed directly for Miko. Tim saw her in trouble and took Five's shield running over to her, despite his exhaustion. When Morbius fired his green beam, Tim made it with his shield raised to protect her. It bounced right off his shield and rebounded over to the statue replica of Morbius. His statue's arm cracked apart, and at the same time, the real Morbius roared in pain as his own arm got turned to stone and fell off his body.
That's when Five realized the winning strategy. "Tim, Miko, forget Morbius! Just aim for the statue!"
"With what, Five?! This?!" Miko asked holding up her spork.
Morbius saw the spork from afar and hissed trying to defend himself. "Tis the legendary Spword of Gygaggen!"
"I'm sorry." Miko said with a mocking smile. "Did you just say 'spword'?"
Suddenly, the spork in Miko's hand grew to tremendous size instantly in a flash of light. Now, it looked like a sword with three prongs, all of which fired a blue blast of light that Morbius quickly evaded.
"That shoots!" Miko said. "Okay, learning as we go."
Morbius fired green blasts at the kids again, but as they dodged, Miko fired her weapon again at the statue breaking off one of its legs. As it did, Morbius' leg fell off his own body too.
"INCONCEPTUAL!" he yelled.
"This word. I do not think it means what you think it means." Web Tech mocked.
Morbius growled and let out an animalistic shriek before he began firing his beams more desperately than before. This time, not only did Five drop his shield, but Miko and Tim's right arms were caught and turned to stone.
"My spword arm!" she gasped.
"YOU ARE ALMOST OUT OF TIME!" Morbius yelled before letting out a demonic roar into the air. Just as he did, a swarm of bats flew in from out of nowhere swirling above him as he prepared his final attack.
Miko struggled to lift her big sword with only one hand. Thankfully, she wasn't alone. Tim and Five held the sword handle with her and helped her carry it.
"Take our hands." Tim said.
"And aim for the statue with the fabulous hair." Five added.
Miko smiled. "Let's do this."
With the bats by his side, Morbius fired one more green blast right at the three kids, who worked together to fire their spword magic right at him. The two beams clashed, but the heroes' attack won piercing right through the statue behind Morbius, which was immediately disintegrated before the defeated vampire's eyes.
"WHO DOES YOU THINK YOU ARE?!" Morbius asked as his bats scattered and his body turned to stone plummeting to the ground.
When Morbius hit the ground, he shattered to pieces creating a "Victory" sign along with a score of 10,000 XP. The stone that trapped the kids all disappeared allowing them to resummon their gauntlets. Five then aimed his gauntlet over to the root form of Count Morbius, who looked up at them with fear.
"We're the D-Team, crumb bum!" Five answered before absorbing the Glitch into his gauntlet.
With the Glitch gone, the castle quickly disappeared and transformed back into the house it once was. All the other Glitch Techs who were once statues were seen scattered around the room slowly starting to wake up.
"'Crumb bum' is catchy." Miko admitted.
"I'm saying." Five said.
"Oh…" Zahra groaned getting back up along with Haneesh while everyone else stood back up. "What happened?"
"You were all turned into statues by a vampire Glitch while you were trying to rescue Nix and Bergy." Tim answered.
"We suffered for Nix and Bergy?" Haneesh asked. "That can't be right."
"So you guys got us out of that mess?" Simi asked. "Congrats."
"Saved our skins back there, rooks." Nix said. "Thanks."
"Yeah, thanks, you three." Bergy repeated. "Hey, let me ask you, did I at least look cool in my statue pose?"
Miko grinned nervously. "Sure. Totally… I'm not great at lying."
"Well, this has been fun." The group turned and saw Macabes coming out from behind the couch and inching towards the door with a big smile, his backpack on his back. "Thanks so much for your help, kids, but if you don't mind, I've been cooped up in that heck house for who knows how long and I could use some fresh air, so just let me know where to send the bill and I'll…"
"Hold on." Tim said, leaping in front of him and readying his gauntlet. "You still need a memory wipe, buddy."
"And a trip to the police." Nix growled as he and Bergy aimed their gauntlets as well.
"Say wha…?" Zahra asked.
"What are you talking about?" Simi asked.
"This guy doesn't really own the house," Bergy stated. "He's just a crook who broke in here before things went pear-shaped and got caught up in it all."
At that, all the Glitch Techs aimed their gauntlets at him with hard faces, making Macabes very nervous as they surrounded him.
"You mean this whole time, we were helping a BURGLAR?!" Miko cried. "You were trying to use us to escape justice!"
"Looks like I'm not the only looter here." Five stated.
"N-now hold on a minute, kids!" Macabes cried frantically. "Look. If you let me go, I won't breathe a word about this to anyone! W-who would believe me anyway? I'll… I'll even give up this life of crime! Turn over a new leaf!"
Tim tapped his chin and seemed to think on it. "Hmmmmm… Nope. I don't think so." He prepared his gauntlet.
"Wait! N-!" was all Macabes had time to say before the bright flash caught him off guard and he suddenly got a blank look on his face as the usual reboot symbol appeared above his head.
"Welp, that takes care of that," Tim said dusting his hands. "Man. We stopped an evil vampire AND captured a burglar. What a good day."
"Uh, shouldn't he have snapped out of it by now?" one of the other Techs asked.
The group looked and, sure enough, Macabes was still rebooting.
"Huh. I didn't think it took this long." Five said tapping Macabes on the head, only for him to do nothing but keep rebooting.
"Normally it doesn't." Haneesh said. "Though, then again, I don't think ANYONE has been this immersed in a Mapper Glitch situation before either. Maybe there's just a lot of extra detailed memory to reboot."
"Well, whatever the case, it'll make it a lot easier for the police to pick him up." Nix said, setting up his gauntlet. "I'll send an anonymous tip to come here."
"We'll check around and see if there's anyone else to rest." Simi said as she, Zahra, Haneesh and Bergy left to look around.
"Right. We'll take care of Rebooting Beauty here." Tim said, jerking a thumb at Macabes.
"Cool. The rest of us will head back and report to Phil," the other Tech said. "And you can bet we'll tell him about you guys doing a good job, rooks."
The others agreed and the trio grinned widely in excitement. This would get them leveled up for sure.
After about ten minutes, everyone met up outside along with the STILL rebooting Macabes.
"Well, nobody else is in the house." Zahra said. "They must have left for a vacation and that's why Macabes here chose it."
"Um, should we be worried?" Five asked pointing to the spaced out man.
"Pft. Nah. Like Hameesh said, it's probably processing all of those highly detailed memories," Miko assured. "I'm sure once he's finished rebooting, he'll already be in the back of the popo's car, on the way to a nice jail cell."
"Well, they should be here in a couple minutes." Nix said. He then heard a faint siren in the distance. "That's likely them now."
"Think we should just leave him here?" Burgy asked.
"Eh. He hasn't moved in a good while and the police should be here any second." Simi said. "Plus, I'd rather not explain what we're doing here. I say leave him."
"Oh! One second!" Tim said, setting a blank faced Macabes on the steps before webbing something from in the house. It was a piece of paper upon which something had been written. Tim set it up in Macabes' hands and the group saw that it said "Arrest me! I rob houses and I stink!" The Techs all laughed at that. "Okay. Now we can probably go." They all got into the vans outside and portaled away.
As the sirens got closer, it was then Macabes woke up. However, much like with what happened with Miko and Tim, the reboot symbol turned into a red "no" symbol, indicating it didn't take!
"Huh? What? What happened?" He looked around and saw he was alone then he remembered. "Those darn kids! They tried to wipe my mind somehow! Make me forget all-" He stopped as he realized something. "Hold on. I… I still remember. I remember everything! It didn't work! Ha! Take that, you lousy brats!" He then heard the sirens getting closer. "They must've called the police. I have to get out of here!" And with that, he shouldered his backpack, raced behind the house and climbed over the fence right before the car pulled up to the house, leaving only the sign Tim had made and a couple confused police officers.
Later, Macabes was almost out of breath as he ran all the way from the house to an abandoned warehouse. He took a seat and removed his backpack. When he zipped it open, he pulled out the bent sword that he took from the Castlestein game while the Glitch Techs weren't looking.
"Yes! Still here. Looks like those Glitch Techs or whoever failed to check my haul." He looked and felt it over. "So video game elements can come out of Hinobi games, huh?" He laughed. "I think I just hit the jackpot."
After that, he pulled a cell phone from his pants pocket and dialed in a number. After a couple of rings, a voice on the other end answered.
"Hey, buddy." Macabes said. "It's me. Oh, come on, you know who. It's Quentin. Quentin Beck."
The man on the other end then shouted at him so much, he moved his head away from the phone until he spoke again.
"Hey, hey, take it easy, will you?! Look, I KNOW I owe you all a lot of money, believe me. But I know how to not only pay back my debt, but I can arrange it for everyone to end up as wealthy, WEALTHY people. I just need the gang's help to collect a few… little things for me."
The man on the other end paused for a moment before speaking softly.
"What am I proposing, you say?" asked the man formerly calling himself Macabes, now calling himself Quentin Beck. He held up his sword with an eager and sneaky smile on his face. "You know Hinobi, the game company? Well, let's just say their product's glitches can give us… a rich opportunity."