Author's Note: Happy New Year, everyone. Let's hope 2025 turns out well for us.
Enjoy the chapter. Any and all comments are welcome.
Smashamals was a very famous and well-beloved game for many. In the story, a mysterious meteor crashed into a zoo, wiping out all humans in the city and transforming it into a giant jungle and mountainous filled land. Not only that, but many of the animals in the zoo were changed into armored mutants that vowed to become the new protectors and to smash and destroy any who would dare to attack.
Indeed, it was loved by many, but to Five and Tim when they were younger, it was one of the best things in the whole world. They weren't the only ones who loved the game though. They also had a third friend in their group: a boy named Casino. The trio always played and hung out together and one of their favorite games was to go to the West Bridge and play Smashamals together.
"Alert, alert!" shouted a young Five wearing a mechanized bear mask. "Grizzlor's causing some ursa major animal destruction downtown! RAWR!"
"With me, one of his best buds, Jack-L!" Tim cried wearing a jackal mask.
"And me, Rhinawesome! Casino yelled wearing a rhino mask. "These animalistic pals are unstoppable!"
Happily laughing and roaring, the three ran across the bridge and stopped at a pile of cardboard boxes and trashcans. They played around by knocking them down, kicking them, throwing them, and crushing them while a nearby fisherman tried to catch his fish, ignoring the childish game going on behind him.
During their game, Five took a tumble and fell to the ground. He wasn't hurt, but he couldn't help but let out a sneeze. Of course, when he did that, he sneezed repeatedly in a high-pitched cute way making his friends laugh.
"You sound like a chipmunk with hiccups!" Casino laughed.
"Very bad hiccups." Tim agreed.
"Come on, guys. I can't help it." Five said.
"Oh, we're just messing with you." Tim said. "Right, Casino?"
"Of course." Casino answered helping Five back to his feet. "Let's finish this battle and smash this bridge! Smash…"
"Smash…" Tim continued.
"Smash it up!" Five finished proudly… right before the sound of a car horn caught his attention.
"Five! Come on, mijo. Gotta get to work." yelled out a man from a nearby car.
"Holy smokes!" Five gasped. "I forgot. I'm supposed to go to work with my dad tonight."
"Really? Cool!" Tim said knowing what kind of work Five's father did.
Casino however had a different reaction. "Come on, Five. We just got started." he said watching Five walk away.
"I won't forget, 'Sino. We'll hang out soon." Five assured as he picked up his bike and put it in his dad's car. He then got in and they drove away from the bridge until they were out of sight.
"Yeah. See you soon." Casino said glumly.
Tim saw how sad his friend was and placed his hand on his shoulder. "Oh, don't be like that, buddy. You know you still have me, right?"
"It's just not the same without all three of us." Casino answered quietly.
"Casino, Five's not gone forever. He'll be back." Tim assured. "Just you wait, when it matters most, he'll always be back for all his friends. Don't forget that, okay?"
Casino raised his head and nodded. "Okay, Tim."
"Great. In the meantime, let's see how much damage Jack-L and Rhinawesome can do!" Tim said putting his mask back on.
Tim jumped back to the garbage pile to smash apart the boxes and Casino joined in, but he was still frowning worried about what would happen if Five ever left him for good.
PRESENT DAY
Tim swung around the Chinatown district in his Web Tech form avoiding the giant, hungry monster vines that snapped their teeth at him. While he was keeping them busy, Five and Miko blasted them with their gauntlets.
"Is that all you got?" Web Tech taunted landing next to a string of Chinese lanterns. "I've seen tougher weeds in my aunt's rooftop rose garden!" He then took the lantern string and threw it up into the air. "Five, speed boost!"
"On it!" Five pressed on his gauntlet and activated a feature that boosted his running speed. With it, he jumped in the air and grabbed the lanterns so he could use them to throw himself above the plant Glitch and stomp on it.
"It's baby bird time!" Miko cried out summoning Ally beneath her. She then rode her all the way to a balcony where several other plants were. "Hey, plant face! Say goodbye to your little friends!" She and Ally jumped onto all the potted plants smashing them beneath their feet.
The plant Glitch screeched in anger pulling their attention away from Five. He raised his gauntlet ready to deliver a critical blast from it when…
"Incoming call from… CASINOOOO!"
The gauntlet's caller ID became so loud, the plants looked back at Five, who was distracted by the name of the person who was calling him.
"Oh, beans! Tim and I were supposed to meet Casino." He swiped his finger on the screen to answer the call from his old friend.
"I'm at the arcade already to smash it up! Where you and Tim at?"
"Five, take the shot!" Miko called from above. "Tim, what's up with Five?"
"I don't know." Tim said unable to see the call. "But hey, I'll take care of the plants."
While Web Tech swung over to fight the plants, Miko jumped down to meet her other partner. "Dude, what happened? We had a plan." She then noticed the phone call end. "Huh. Weird time for a phone call."
"OOF!" Web Tech's grunts were heard as he was slammed down by the vine that was wrapped around him. "And here I thought you were supposed to mash your veggies! Not the other way around!"
Before they could help their friend, Five and Miko were also wrapped up by two more vines. The plant Glitch raised them all up and began crushing them tightly like a python. They strained in vain as they got closer to being mulched. That's when the most unwanted calvary arrived.
"Hey! Noobs!" Mitch Williams' voice sounded when suddenly, a huge blast shot out, completely destroying the plant Glitch and making it take its root form. At that, Mitch stepped out from the hole that had been made from the blast and sucked it up into his gauntlet as he smugly smirked at the trio of rookies. "Thanks for the distraction."
"Hey! What's wrong with you?!" Miko asked angrily as Mitch jumped back down to ground level.
"Lots of things, Miko. We all know that now." Web Tech groaned watching Mitch head to his van.
"Well, you can't just show up and KS another Tech's Glitch, Williams!" Miko shouted.
"Que te pasa, Mitch?" Five asked equally annoyed.
Behind them, a little girl came out of hiding and ran over to them with her broken game console. She was already out of breath by the time she caught up to the Glitch Techs. "That… That thing! It came out of my game system! It just went all crazy!"
"Did a flash of light shoot out of the game when it came out?" Web Tech asked.
"YES!" the girl shouted.
"Did that flash look anything like this?" The Web Tech fired his memory flash at the girl causing her to walk away with a blank look on her face.
"If you kiddies can't handle Glitches… Hey, more XP for me." Mitch said.
"Hey, we can handle a LOT more than Glitches." Web Tech argued. "Don't know if you heard, but the other day, the three of us came face to face with the girl who hacked Hinobi."
"Oh, I heard Wall-Crawler." Mitch sneered getting into his van. "I ALSO heard you lot lost her AND you allowed her to unleash a Mapper Glitch that nearly wrecked the entire sim room. If you want to upstage me, you'll have to do better than that." Without another word, he drove away from the district.
"Man, that dude's the worst." Miko commented. "No wonder he's got, like, zero friends."
"Friends!" Five gasped. "Oh, man! Tim, we've got to meet Casino at the arcade! We're late!"
"Oh, right." Tim realized. "Huh. Feels like I haven't seen him in ages."
"Who's Casino?" Miko asked.
"An old friend of ours." Tim said. "Back when we were younger, we often pretended we were Smashamals. You know that game?"
"Duh! Of course, I know that game! It's an instant classic!" Miko answered. "It's been made into everything from lunchboxes to a cartoon to action figures! I even heard they're making a movie with Blaine "The Block" Johnstone! So you guys dressed up as super animals and smashed stuff all day? Awww, that's so cute!"
"Hey, why not come with us? I know Casino would be thrilled to meet another gamer." Five asked.
"A chance to meet a pal from your guys' past? How can I say no?" Miko said happily.
At the Joystick Jr. Arcade, Casino played solo on the Smashamals game for a while waiting for his friends to show up at his side. He continued playing until he lost his last life.
"Oh, no! That is NOT how I go out!" Casino yelled swiping his game card on the machine. However, he soon realized that there was no longer any digital currency on it. "Aw, out of plays already?"
"Swipe." Another game card swiped into the reader, and it was accepted. Casino turned and smiled as he saw Five and Tim by his side, along with Miko who was right behind them. "No worries. Tim and I got enough plays to last all day."
"Finally!" Casino cheered bringing Tim and Five into a hug. "Long time, no see, fellas. You know, I didn't expect you of all people to be late, Tim. Especially since YOU helped set this whole thing up, man."
"Yeah, sorry about that." Tim said embarrassedly. "Our new jobs have been challenging lately."
"Mmm-hmm. Sure." Casino said. "Anyway, I hope you brought your A-game with you. Especially you, Chipmunk!" He addressed this last bit toward Five.
Tim couldn't help but laugh at that. "Oh, man! Five the Chipmunk! I haven't heard that in forever!"
"What's this about a chipmunk?" Miko asked.
"You ever heard this kid sneeze?" Casino asked while mimicking the rapid sneezing.
"Oh, yeah, yeah!" Miko answered excitedly. "Like he's got the hiccups!"
"Exactly." Tim said. "Every time he does that, I can't help but wonder how he would sound if he actually DID have the hiccups while he sneezed."
Five chuckled embarrassedly. "Anyway. Casino, this is our work buddy, Miko."
"And trust me, she's as much as love into gaming as the rest of us." Tim said.
"Sounds great." Casino said. "So what do you say, Miko? You bring your game face?"
"Pssh. It's the only face I got." Miko answered.
"All right, then!" Casino cheered. "Get ready to… Smash!"
"Smash!" Five added.
"Smash it…" Miko added.
"Up!" Tim finished.
The four of them selected their avatars and proceeded to play their games. They had steel focus as they played through the hordes of mutant animal NPCs that stood in their way and the dark structures that became their obstacles. Most of their time, their playing drew in crowds admiring their skills.
After a long hour of playing, the four of them found their characters stopping at a bridge on the final level.
"Check it out." Casino cheered. "These games always end on a final bridge level."
"Yeah, I know. That's why we always played pretend over at the West Bridge." Tim said.
"That is classic Smashamals." Five said.
"And we always used to get to this level, but could never finish." Casino said.
"Well this time, we're gonna do it!" Five declared.
All of a sudden, the metal bracelets on Five, Miko, and Tim's wrists lit up making a ringing sound that Casino noticed.
"Huh, you guys have the same ringtone?"
"Uh, buddy, I may need to step away for a sec." Five said putting his controller down. "It's a work thing."
"Work again?" Casino scoffed.
"Maybe I can…"
"Uh, quick pause for some super boring, really lame work talk." Miko said before pulling her friends away from the game. "Guys, we got a Glitch sitch up in here. What are you bugging about?"
"It's just that, Casino's been waiting for me for a long time." Five said.
"So he waits a little longer." Miko shrugged. "No big deal."
"It is to Casino." Tim said seriously before turning to Five. "Look, Five, you go back and play with Casino. Just tell him I'm covering for you at work. He'll understand."
"Really?" Five asked hopefully. "Oh, thanks, T! You're the best!" He rushed back to continue the game with Casino, who looked a lot happier now that Five had joined him again.
"Tim, what's all that about?" Miko asked. "We got all day. They can just try to beat the game later."
"Miko, this isn't just about finishing the game. It's about fixing a bond." Miko looked surprised by that statement, so Tim explained. "See, Casino doesn't hide it very well, but he's got some issues with Five leaving him in the middle of stuff. Most of the time, when we were kids, Five had to leave out of nowhere and leave me and Casino behind. Whether it was playtime, video games, you name it. Sure, I was fine with it, but Casino? He was always bummed out." Tim sighed heavily. "Then, about five years ago, some major stuff happened and Five kinda… distanced himself from us. We had the occasional sporadic meet-ups with him online, a couple bump intos at the Hinobi store, but for the most part, it was touch and go. Finally, two years ago, he finally locked us out basically. No texts, no emails, answers to play and hang, nothing. Casino took it pretty darn hard. Though I kinda got it. It was tough for Five since…" He stopped and frowned.
"Since what?" Miko asked now concerned.
"Not my story to tell." Tim said. "The point is, Five and Casino need this gaming time together, but Casino REALLY needs it. It's why I worked hard to try and set this whole thing up. This is the first live meet up of all three of us in two years and honestly, it took a bit of convincing for both those two to agree to this. So, let's just leave the guys to it and you and I can catch the Glitch. Okay?"
Miko glanced back at Five and Casino as they resumed their gameplay with big smiles on their faces before letting out a sigh. "Okay. Sure. We can do this. It'll be a dynamic duo sort of thing. A Timmy and Miko adventure! This will be totally epic!" She then materialized her gauntlet and read it. "Alright. My gauntlet says it's in the arcade, but there are too many games to detect the source."
"Another Glitch in the arcade?" Tim asked with a groan. "I swear, if we have to fight Dr. Lizardo again…"
"I see it!" Miko pointed at a lone, ghost-style game machine, [Spooky House, that had started to go green. "Here we go."
A purple wave flashed out of the game conjuring a purple Glitch in its root.
"Sucker pumped! Let's move!" Miko instructed as she and Tim put on their uniforms. They both zapped the Glitch with beams shooting from their gauntlets until Web Tech pulled his away for a second.
"Okay, I got a signature reading. According to my gauntlet, this thing is called… a Possessor Glitch? Wonder what that means."
"Whatever it is, let's…" Miko started to say, but was interrupted when the Glitch escaped from her beam and started flying around the arcade. "After it!"
The Web Tech and Miko chased after the Possessor Glitch as it bounced around the arcade. Every time it got near a gamer, they would blast it with their gauntlets to chase it away, which annoyed it more.
Meanwhile, Five and Casino were having the time of their lives playing their game.
"Final Boss!" Five said. "Glad we could finally share this moment together."
"Dude, right?" Casino asked. "Can't believe Tim would agree cover for you for your work thing instead of being here. He's missin' out!"
"Yeah. Well, he's a good friend like that," Five said. "So by the way, sorry we haven't talk for a little while."
Casino frowned at his words. "Well, I wouldn't call 'two years' a little while, but whatever." he said with a shrug, though his words seemed a little more sour.
"Two years?" Five asked confused. "It can't be…"
"FIVE, CASINO, LOOK OUT!" The Web Tech shouted just as the Possessor Glitch was closing in on the two. He shot two lines of web aiming directly at both of his old friends.
Five got caught by one of Tim's webs, but Casino inadvertently sidestepped out of the way not knowing the danger he was in. Out of instinct, Tim pulled Five in without noticing Casino wasn't with them.
"You okay?" Tim asked Five before realizing he was one head short. "Wait, where's Casino?"
Both boys gasped as they looked back at the Smashamals game where the Glitch was hovering over. It eyed Casino and gave a malicious grin before flying directly towards him. The others tried to stop it, but they weren't fast enough. Eventually, it completely fused itself into Casino's body, making him scream and his eyes glow while his Rhinawesome avatar's logo flashed. The Glitch Techs could only watch in horror as Casino was launched backwards all the way into the playpen ball pit.
"Oh, no! Casino!" Five yelled before running to the ball pit and diving in. While he swam around frantically in search of his friend, Tim and Miko came in and looked around for any trace of their quarry.
"My scanner lost the signal." Miko said. "It must have gotten away."
"I… don't think so." Five said once he picked up a giant, gray, animalistic hand.
"What in the world…" Tim asked before Casino's voice was heard again.
"Whoa! I'm okay!"
When Casino emerged from the pile of balls, the Techs stared in confused surprise seeing that he didn't look anything like he did before. He wasn't even close. Instead, he looked like a humongous, gray, humanoid rhinoceros with gray, futuristic armor and a green visor around his eyes and underneath his sharp horn.
"What?" Casino asked unaware of how he looked now.
"Um… I don't know how to tell you this, but…" Five said awkwardly.
"Is there something on my face?" Casino asked, patting his rhino face. Once he felt his horn, he became confused. Then, he looked at a play area window and got a good look at his reflection. As soon as he saw himself, his eyes widened. "Dude! I'm a real-life Rhinawesome! And I LOVE IIIIIIIIT!" At that last word, he jumped so high in his excitement, he crashed right through the ceiling and into the sky.
"... Ooooooh schmup muffins." Tim murmured.
After staring at the hole above them for a moment in shock at the development, Five, Tim, and Miko raced outside to where they knew their friend would fall to.
"I guess now, we know what a Possessor Glitch does." Miko said.
"Turns people into video game characters." Tim said just as Casino landed back on the ground in front of them.
"Uh, 'Sino," Five said nervously approaching his transformed friend, "Are you feeling all right?"
"Are you kidding me, Five? I feel amazing!" Casino shouted with glee. "I don't know how this happened, but I'm loving it!" He then turned to a trash can and smashed it with ease. "Smash! Haha!
Miko pulled out her gauntlet and scanned Casino. "The gauntlet can't tell what's a Glitch and what's Casino."
"Okay, pal." Five said, trying to ease down Casino, who was still punching the trash can with vigor. "Don't worry. I'm sure we can take care of this. Tim, Miko and I just have to figure out what to do."
"Yeah, so how's about laying off the trashcan, Casino?" Tim asked. "I'm pretty sure it didn't do anything to you." He stepped closer to Casino, but that's when he felt his tingle in his head, which only went away once he stepped back from Casino. "That's weird…"
"We've been dreaming of something like this since we were kids!" Casino exclaimed. "I'll tell you what we're gonna do. We're gonna smash, smash, smash it up!"
"Hehe, cool." Five chuckled, bumping elbows with him nervously before Casino went and started gleefully shattering the fence behind him.
"We gotta get him somewhere safe." Miko asked.
"Like where? The zoo?" Tim asked.
"He's NOT going anywhere!"
Everyone was surprised and annoyed by the sudden arrival of Mitch, who had his gear all ready for Glitch extraction. He raised his gauntlet and fired a blast at Casino, but Five, Miko, and Tim quickly changed into their Glitch Tech and Web Tech outfits and created shields to protect him.
"Back off, Mitch!" Five ordered sternly.
"Ho-ho, Five! Tim! You guys are superheroes?" Casino asked with a wide smile. "I mean, could this day get any cooler?"
"Clear the shot, beanpole!" Mitch yelled trying to zap again.
"Not gonna happen, Mitch!" Tim shouted as he launched webs at Mitch who dodged them.
"I was wrong! It JUST got cooler!" Casino cheered. "When did Tim get superpowers?!"
"Look, I know we usually get upset about you stealing our XP, but this is WAY different!" Tim said trying to reason with the egotistical Tech.
"I'm not interested, web-head!" Mitch shouted. "Now like I told Five, get out of the way before I show you what happens when a spider meets a laser beam!"
"Hey!" Casino yelled as he muscled forward angrily. "When you come at my friends, you better show RESPECT, griefer!"
"Friends?" Mitch asked before inferring the situation, which made him laugh darkly. "A Possessor. Oh, why didn't you say so in the first place?"
Suddenly, Mitch reached behind his back and pulled out a gun that was as big as half his body. He aimed it at Casino and prepared to fire.
"Where was he keeping something that big?" the Web Tech asked frantically.
"HIYA!" Miko yelled kicking Mitch away and making him drop his gun. "Five, run!"
"Get Casino out of here! Preferably back to HQ!" Tim said. "We'll keep Captain Hairgel busy!"
"Got it!" Five said summoning a hoverboard and using it to carry Casino away back to their van.
Mitch returned to his feet growling at the sight of Five running off with Casino. He was about to run after them, but Tim shot him with his impact web instantly sticking him to the wall of the casino.
"Let me go!" Mitch yelled. "I'm gonna have this disgusting web leaving bits of itself all over my clothes!"
"Tough!" Tim snapped.
BITT was on monitor duty in the Glitch Tech lobby when he heard a notification from one of his computers.
"Incoming call, emergency channel."
BITT answered the call greeting Five on the other end. "Greetings, TechTag: Hi-5."
"BITT, Miko, Tim and I captured a Possessor Glitch." Five said.
"Ho-Ho! Very impressive, Tech!" BITT congratulated. "The Possessor is an ultrarare, supremely dangerous, high-priority Glitch. How did you capture it?"
"Uh… In my friend's body?" Five answered.
"Oh, my!" BITT exclaimed.
"Boring!" Casino shouted crushing the phone and abruptly ending the call.
"Hey! That was important!" Five shouted.
"Don't be so quick to zap me back to normal before I've had a chance to enjoy it." Casino said before spotting something. "Look! A junkyard!" He slammed his gray hooves through the floor of the van and making it stop in front of the dump. "Supreme smashing opportunity, bro!"
"What?" Five asked. "Wait, Casino, this might be too dangerous!"
"Come on. Say it with me." Casino urged. "You know what time it is."
"No, Casino, we can't."
"Smash…"
"We gotta get you some help."
"Smash…"
Casino placed his hand on Five's shoulder, and right when he did, a purple glow escaped from his hands, covering Five for a minute. The Tech's eyes flashed purple as well before smiling back at his rhinoceros friend as if he was in a trance. "Smash it… up."
You know it, buddy!" Casino cried out, literally walking the car into the junkyard.
Mitch was still stuck attached to the wall by Web Tech's impact webs still as upset as before. "Miko, Tim, for the last time… LET ME OUT OF HERE!"
"Sheesh, what a ham. He's been screaming like this for the last fifteen minutes. I'm surprised he isn't hoarse, though I guess that's wishful thinking." Miko complained before seeing the Web Tech fiddling around with his gauntlet. "Uh, whatcha doin' there, buddy?"
"Something's wrong." Web Tech said. "I've been trying to get in touch with Five three times already, but I can't connect to his van."
While the two of them talked, Mitch was able to adjust his wrist position to activate his gauntlet with the wall. He managed to activate the laser sword feature to cut himself free while the others didn't notice.
"How come?" Miko asked.
"I don't know," Web Tech said, "But I think there's more going on with Casino than we think. You remember that weird feeling in my head when something bad's going to happen?"
"Yeah, the Timmy Tingle."
"Well, I… Wait. The Timmy Tingle?"
"Eh. I'm workshopping it."
"Well, as I was saying, earlier, whenever I got close to Casino, my tingle acted up. I'm gonna step away for a minute to call BITT. You keep an eye on Mitch."
"On it." Miko said watching Tim swing away before turning back to Mitch.
All of a sudden, Mitch shot Miko with a blue blast freezing her in place. "What the…"
"Oh, don't look so glum." Mitch mocked. "It's a timed effect. Just long enough to shake you off and shut you up. Just gotta leave before your web-slinging boyfriend comes back." He raced back to his van.
"He's not my boyfriend!" Miko reacted loudly with red in her cheeks.
Mitch returned to his van to see it smashed. Although initially peeved, he zapped it with his gauntlet to restore it before speeding away. "I'm bagging that XP goldmine, even if I have to go through Five and that miserable Wall-Crawler's little buddy to do it!"
Over at the roof of the arcade, Web Tech landed and heard a ringing sound from his gauntlet.
"Incoming call from… BITT!"
Tim answered the call seeing the helper drone on the screen. "Hey, BITT. I was just about to call you."
"W3B_Burns, sorry for the sudden call, but your partner, Hi-5, is in terrible danger!" BITT said.
"Danger?" Web Tech asked concerned. "Does this have to do with Casino?"
"Indeed. I endeavored to tell him the dangers of a Possessor Glitch, but the living vessel called Casino c-c-cut off communications!" BITT explained. "Possessors have an influential effect, not just on their host, but anyone who's near the host. The Glitch overrides their natural thinking with the Possessor form's basic programming."
"So THAT'S why Casino won't stop smashing things and why I've been tingling when I was getting near him." Web Tech realized. "Does this mean he could make Five want to do the same?"
"Yes, and I'm afraid it only gets w-w-worse," BITT said. "Said effects are the Glitch's way of preventing extraction. If the Possessor Glitch is not removed soon, it will erode Casino's human mind and body until it bonds with him permanently. In a sense, Casino will BECOME the Glitch!"
The Web Tech's eyes widened shocked to hear such news. "Thanks for the heads up, BITT! I got friends to save!" He ended the call and swung back to Miko. "Miko, we have a problem!"
"You're telling me." Miko said still stuck in her frozen state. "That dingleberry, Mitch, got the jump on me and froze me."
"Oh man, this just got worse with that news! BITT told me the longer a Possessor's in a host, the more it bonds to the host and eventually makes them BECOME the Glitch!"
"Oh no! And if Casino turns full Glitch with Mitch on the warpath, he's a goner for sure!" Miko cried in horror.
"Then we gotta stop him!" Web Tech declared. He grabbed Miko and held her over his shoulder. "Ready for your first web-swinging experience?"
"You kidding?! I've been fantasizing about that ever since I discovered those powers!" Miko answered.
Web Tech then leapt into the air and sent out his webs before swinging towards the road.
"WOOOOOOO-HOOOOO! THIS IS AMAZING!" Miko cheered.
Mitch glanced at his GPS computer while driving to the spot where it tracked Five. "There you are, tiny tech. You make it too easy."
TAP-TAP!
Mitch was surprised to hear the sound of glass tapping beside him. He looked out and saw the Web Tech sticking to the side of his van holding Miko over his shoulders. By that time, she had finally recovered from her freezing state and hopped on top of Mitch's van.
"Let me see your license and registration." Web Tech said.
Mitch growled before pressing a button on his dashboard. A laser popped out of the side of the van aimed directly at the Web Tech.
"That is not what I asked for, and you know it!" Web Tech shouted before bouncing off the van to avoid the laser blasts. He swung over to the trees to keep up with the van's pace.
"Mind if I drive?" Miko asked appearing right on the other side of the van spooking Mitch enough to swerve the van for a moment.
Miko fired a beam from her gauntlet and jumped off the van. Mitch looked ahead and failed to stop himself from falling into a portal that she made. Once he was gone, the Web Tech swung back to Miko.
"Where'd you send him?" he asked.
"Somewhere near the creek. It's gonna be minutes before he drives out of there." Miko said.
"Well, in that case, let's get a lock on Five." Tim said, typing in his GPS and ignoring a portal opening behind them and a screaming Mitch, van and all, vanishing down a ravine. "There! I got a lock! They're at the junkyard. Makes sense. Perfect place for 'Sino to engage in his programming."
"Then let's go!" Miko declared, hopping onto Tim's back and hooking her arms around him. Tim leapt back up and began to swing away once more.
As they did, Miko couldn't help but notice how much… nicer it was swinging like this. She then unconsciously felt Tim's chest a bit and her cheeks flushed once more. "Has he always been this… firm? Man, if only I'd asked to swing like this earlier… Wait, what am I THINKING?!"
"You okay back there? Being a bit more quiet." Tim said breaking Miko's train of thought.
"Oh, uh, yeah, yeah!" Miko stammered glad Tim wasn't seeing her blushing so hard. "So, uh, y-you think we'll be able to get there in time?"
"Hopefully. Especially before Casino does something he may regret."
"What, like hurt Five? He's your bud. He wouldn't do that, right?" Miko asked.
"Remember what I said about Casino having abandonment issues with Five? If Five does or says something that could be misinterpreted in 'Sino's state of mind, who knows what could happen!"
Five and Casino spent the last half-hour smashing as many cars as they could with Casino's rhino-like strength and Five's gauntlet. After a while, though, Five started to feel tired, but Casino never lost a single ounce of his natural energy.
Soon, Five approached his friend drawing heavy breaths. "Hey, Casino, you had enough yet, buddy?"
"No way!" Casino yelled throwing a red car on top of a pile of other cars. "I can't explain it, but it feels too good to smash things! Like it's my purpose, you know? What I was made for! Like I was…"
"Programmed for it?" Five asked finally realizing enough to remove the Possessor's influence on him. He suddenly became afraid once Casino escalated his smashing. "Okay. I think it's game over, 'Sino! Look, this is dangerous. We need to get you to HQ and get this thing out."
That, however, turned out to be the exact thing Tim had been worrying about.
"NOOOO!" Casino yelled, growing in size and his voice deepening with an echo. "You left me behind when we were kids, and you wanna do it again now?!"
"What?" Five asked. "'Sino, no, look, it's not like that."
"No. It's not," Casino huffed, "Because this time, I'm the one leaving you behind!" He smashed every pile of cars in his way before jumping far away from the junkyard leaving Five alone.
"Oh, nerds." Five said worryingly.
"FIVE!" The Web Tech and Miko found their way to the junkyard to meet up with their friend.
"Where's 'Sino?" Web Tech asked.
"On a rampage!" Five answered.
"It's about to get worse." Miko said. "We need to get that Glitch out of him quickly or we'll lose him forever."
"I just wish I knew where he was going." Five said.
"Well, if he's following the game program," Miko said, "Didn't you say those Smashamal games always end on a large bridge?"
The Web Tech gasped. "The West Bridge. That's where we always played Smashamals when we were kids."
"Let's go get our friend back." Five said gearing himself up.
The three of them reached the top of a mountain that overlooked the West Bridge, where they could hear Casino's angry roars from. Unfortunately for them, they also spotted Mitch's van driving to the same location as they were.
"Aw man. Where did he come from?" Five said.
"He's like a human cockroach. You just can't get rid of him." Web Tech said.
"Mitch only cares about the XP. To him, Casino's just collateral." Miko said summoning Ally. "I'll keep him busy while you two stop the rampaging Rhinawesome."
The boys nodded as they separated from Miko, who proceeded to race against Mitch before getting in front of him to trap them both in a bubble with kitten popups around them. While Mitch despised it, Miko loved it because of the cute kitties and the fact it annoyed Mitch.
Meanwhile, the Web Tech and Five landed in the middle of the bridge, causing Casino to stop himself from crossing it. They shared an intense staredown, feeling the sunset shine on them.
During the staredown, the Web Tech glanced to the side and noticed the same fisherman from years past still trying to catch fish. "How are you still here?" The fisherman shrugged before packing up and leaving before things got too wild.
"Well, look who showed up for a reunion." Casino said with disdain.
"Casino, you gotta stop!" Web Tech said. "This isn't a game. Your mind is in terrible danger."
"He's right!" Five agreed. "We have to get this Glitch out of you."
"Oh, no. I know THAT face." Casino snarled. "Five wants to forget me again, and Tim has to always take his side making it seem like it's not a big deal. Well, it is to me!"
"I didn't forget you, Casino!" Five argued. "That's the Glitch talking!"
"I never took anyone's side." Web Tech shouted. "I was just trying to cheer you up!"
"You did a lousy job then! You may not have cared, T, but I did! How can you be so cool with all of this?! Until he saw you at that tournament and until today, he hadn't seen or spoken to either of us in two whole years!" Casino ranted.
"It hasn't been that long… has it?" Five asked.
"Yeah. Time really flies when you're having fun… without us." Casino growled. "Especially me."
"I'm… afraid he's right, Five." Web Tech sighed making Five shocked. "When we were younger, you always had other stuff going on that pulled you away from playtime with us. And then later, what happened with your dad occurred and you just… I know it would be tough for any little kid, but over the years, you just shut us out. You could've at least sent a text or something! Honestly, I was hoping this reunion day could fix things between us, but… it looks like 'Sino's still upset."
"Tim, I'm sorry." Five apologized before turning back to Casino. "You too, 'Sino. I didn't realize. But I'm here for both of you now."
"Yeah." Casino said lowly right before digging his gray fingers into the ground as if preparing to charge. "So let's finish this!" As he roared, he upgraded himself to look even bigger and more advanced than before. "I WANT TO SMASH…" He stomped on the bridge turning it into a dark structure like in the game. "SMASH…" He lifted up a boulder and threw it at his friends. "SMASH IT…"
Thankfully, Five was able to stop the boulder by making it hover with his gauntlet. "I can't let you do that."
"What?" Casino huffed.
Five crushed the boulder with a hard look as he and Tim turned to their gauntlets, pressing on the screens.
"Selecting armor skin: Smashamals!"
"You really want to finish this?" Five asked leaping up into the air.
"Let's finish this!" Tim added, doing the same.
While in the air, two heavy mechs materialized around Five and Tim, resembling a high-tech, weaponized bear and jackal respectively.
The three faced each other to begin the big battle.
"SMASH…" Casino roared.
"SMASH…" Tim shouted back in a growly tone similar to Casino's.
"SMASH IT UP!" Five finished in a similar tone before Casino started the fight with a full-frontal charge. Five piloted his Grizzlor mech to charge right back at his brainwashed friend. They clashed fists and blew each other away from one another.
Once Casino was moved back, he felt a slash on his back as Tim raked the claws of his Jack-L mech down Casino's back. Casino roared at him, slammed him and sent him into a bridge support.
Casino was about to attack again, but Five grabbed him from behind and threw him back. Casino landed back on his feet before ripping off one of the bridge's support cables and using it to strike at Five like a huge whip. Thankfully, he jumped out of the way.
Suddenly, a traffic cone fell out of nowhere and landed on Casino's horn. He turned and snarled at the Jack-L mech, which was holding another cone.
"Woo-hoo! I got the thing on the thing!" Web Tech said. "What do I win?"
"You!" Casino growled.
"I win me?" Web Tech asked. "That makes no sense."
Casino raced towards him and punched at him. Tim dodged and then sank his mech's fangs into Casino's arm. Casino roared in pain and tried to shake him off, eventually grabbing him and flinging him to the ground, breaking the mech apart.
Before Casino could do anything, Five launched a mechanized bear trap that attached itself to Casino's back and rapidly pulled him to Five, who kicked him back as the trap let go.
As the two kept at it, the Web Tech climbed out of his wrecked mecha and surveyed the damage. "Well, looks like Jack-L is out. Seems like it's time for the spider to tag in!"
Meanwhile, Five flung rocks at Casino, but Casino plowed through them to hit him with a hard tackle, moving him backwards still.
"Yeah, that's it!" Casino yelled. "Now, say it with me! Smash… Smash…"
"No, Casino! I'm through playing!" Five shouted pushing Casino away and managing to avoid being influenced again.
Casino quickly recovered however and delivered a punch, sending Five down. At that moment, Web Tech swung forward and landed a hard kick to Casino's face. He stumbled back before glaring and snorting in anger at Tim who fired web pellets at Casino and trapped his feet.
"Come on, Casino! Work with me here!" he cried as he formed his spider legs and proceeded to leap around and deliver kicks and punches as the enraged Rhinawesome as he tried to escape the webs.
"This is just like I said!" Casino roared as he finally escaped and swung viciously at Tim as he dodged. "You always stuck up for him! Made it seem like him hurting me wasn't important! Like it was okay for him to abandon me—abandon US—and shut us out! Just because YOU weren't hurt by it…"
"I WAS HURT!"
The fight stopped for a second as both Casino and Five stared at Tim in shock as he lost his legs, landed on the ground on a knee and proceeded to faze off his mask and glare with a few tears leaking out before continuing shouting at Casino.
"You think it didn't hurt me that Five kept leaving us as kids, abandoning us in the middle of games?! That he gradually cut us—me—out over the next three years and succeeded for two after that?! That he never played or came to Game Kingdom anymore?! That I didn't see one of my best friends until fate led to us meeting at a crazy tournament after so long and then very nearly losing that reunion thanks to a champ with a grudge?!" Five looked down in guilt at that as Tim took a breath and continued a little more calmly.
"Yeah. It hurt, Casino. Just as much as it hurt you. But I really was just trying to help you from ending up like THIS. Because the one thing that kept me from becoming resentful about it was the hope that, in his heart, Five still cared for his friends. And all that I've done with him since that Hinobi Smash tournament proves he STILL does. He DID return. True, he may have a long way to go with dealing with some ghosts that remind him of better times, and maybe WE should have told him sooner how we really felt and possibly avoided this mess in the first place too. But now... now that this is all out in the open, we have a chance to try to make things better for us. A fresh start." Tim stepped forward to Casino and held out a hand. "I gave Five another chance. How about you, 'Sino? What do you say?"
Five held his breath, hoping Tim had finally gotten through.
Casino stared for a moment in thought and nearly reached out a large hand before his face glowed purple and contorted into a snarl again and he clenched his hand in a fist, showing the Glitch exerting control once more.
"I SAY I WANNA SMASH YOU LIKE THE PEST YOU ARE!" Casino roared and he swung his fist down as Tim jumped out of the way.
The Web Tech then fired a webline, but Casino grabbed it and violently threw him to Five. He managed to catch him and then attempted the bear trap again, but Casino grabbed it and raised them both up before smashing them hard onto the ground, nearly breaking apart the Grizzlor armor.
Casino stood above his wounded buddies, ready to finish things off. He picked up a boulder and was about to bring it down on them both before a blast grazed his side. He turned to face Miko pointing her gauntlet towards him.
"Aren't you three smashed out, already?" she asked.
Casino growled before throwing his boulder at her.
"MIKO!" Five and the Web Tech both shouted. They rushed over and stepped in the way of the boulder. The impact completely destroyed the mech and caused the three of them to spread across the bridge seemingly unconscious.
When the dust cleared, Casino laughed maniacally looking down at the three. The more he looked, though, he lower his laughter was, especially when he was staring down at Five and the Web Tech's unresponsive states. Eventually, he stopped laughing and his evil expression was replaced with one of horror.
"Five… Tim… You okay?" Casino asked genuinely worried. "Say something, dudes! Say… something!"
Five slowly woke up and raised his head for a bit. He opened his mouth as if he was about to speak, but at the last second, he started sneezing rapidly like he always did.
"…HAHAHAHAHA!" Tim, Miko, and even Casino couldn't help but laugh at Five's sneezing habit.
"See? Like a chipmunk with hiccups!" Casino laughed causing his Rhinawesome body to glitch out.
"Casino, the Glitch!" Five yelled out.
Casino suddenly fell to his hands and knees straining to fight against the influence the Possessor had over his body. "I know! I can feel it! GET OUT OF ME, YOU GLITCH!"
After a moment of fighting, the Glitch nearly separated itself out of Casino's body. There was still a part of itself connected to him trying to reconnect with him. It was about to attack everybody when…
"HEY, NOOBS!" Mitch appeared from behind the Possessor Glitch and activated his gauntlet quickly sucking it in. Once it was gone, the whole bridge returned to normal, and Mitch gave a boastful pose. "Thanks for the distraction."
"Tell that to someone who cares, you XP obsessed psycho!" Web Tech sneered. He joined the rest of his friends in helping Casino stand back up while Mitch looked at them in surprise before simply scoffing and marching away, but not before resetting the memory of the fisherman who returned to his spot once more.
"Oh, 'Sino, buddy, are you okay?" Five asked.
"Yeah. Embarrassed mostly." Casino said recovering from the separation. "Not sure what came over me. I wish we could just forget all this happened and start over from the beginning."
Tim smiled. "Luckily for you, we can. One of the perks of our job is access to memory-wiping tech. One zap, and you'll forget this whole thing ever happened. We'll make it like we never left the arcade."
"Really?" Casino asked hopefully before frowning a little. "So… I'm just going to forget everything that happened? All I did and said, being a huge rhino guy, finally letting out my bottled-up feelings? Alla that?"
"Yeah, but we won't." Five said stepping forward and hugged him. "And that's okay. I never knew just how bad you felt every time I left. And Tim too. So after today, that changes. Promise."
Casino smiled thankfully and returned the hug before stepping back and spreading his arms out. "Thanks, Five. All right, you guys! Hit me!"
FLASH!
After getting his memory erased, Casino was returned to the arcade where he continued playing Smashamals not knowing he was already gone before. He kept playing until he noticed Five, Tim, and Miko approach.
"Hey, buddy." Five said. "Sorry I'm late. It's been a really long day at work."
"I tried to cover for him," Tim said, "But things just spun out of control."
"Yeah, whatever." Casino said dryly.
"I missed you, hermano." Five said. "And honestly, I missed you too, Tim. It's been way too long for all three of us." He pulled both Tim and Casino into a hug, which they both returned.
"Thanks, man. Missed you too." Casino said glad to feel something change in his old friend.
"Aw! Reunions give me the feels." Miko commented.
"Oh, and this is our pal, Miko." Five said. "You mind if she joins in?"
"What's up, Miko?" Casino greeted. "You bring your game face?"
"Pssh. It's the only face I got." Miko answered taking up her controllers.
Together, the four of them played Smashamals with all their gaming fashion. And this time, there was no Glitch that could ruin this beautiful moment between them.