Nextgen Kids: The Nature Wars

by Gamewizard2008

Third saga of Gameverse. Twenty years after the Firstborn Quest, the former KND are grown up with kids of their own. Those kids become the Next Generation of operatives, continuing their parents' legacy as they challenge supernatural and otherworldly threats to the universe. Full of adventure, action, conflict, and friendship, the KND is bound to become greater than ever before.

14. Code: XANA

Hello, everybody. Welcome to the 8th story of the Viridi Saga.

Code: X.A.N.A.

Sector V Treehouse

It was a rather boring day with everyone's favorite sector. With no calls for missions, everyone was merely doing whatever. The quietness was broken when Dillon York suddenly kicked open the door, a positive, excited look on his face. "Oh-hoo, yeah! Did we show it to Drac last night or what?!"

Dillon's smile disappeared when nobody seemed to be listening.

"Come on, guys! Show a little more enthusiasm! That guy wasn't easy to beat!"

"Okay, we get it, Dillon, he's gone now." Chris told him, his eyes focused on his 3DS. "But some of us are a little worn out."

"Um… hehe." Dillon chuckled nervously. "Okay then." The shadowbending boy then approached Chris on the couch, staring over his shoulder to see him playing Sonic Colors. "Um… can I play?"

"Maybe later, Dillon. This level's a little tricky."

Dillon watched a bit longer. "…Oh, I remember this part! Let me try, I know a little trick!"

"Er, let me just try and finish first."

"Come on, Chris! Just Boost here, and then jump right about-" As he spoke, Dillon tried to pull the device away from Chris's hands.

"Stop! You're going to mess me-" Chris was too late as Sonic ended up dying.

"Oops…" Dillon blushed.

"Ugh! Can't you go bug somebody else, Dill?" As Chris attempted to retry the level, Dillon walked away sadly.

He saw Mason and Sheila at the breakfast table, getting drunk on cans of Purple Flurp. "I-I think y-you should… get those curls in your… a-ear hair." Mason said drunkily.

"Ahh, shucks, ya old… mmm, BELCH, party snatcher. You speakin' da… mm-mm, lickin'."

"Umm…" Dillon nervously approached them. "So, what're you guys doin'?"

"Havin' a drinkin' contest, what's it look like, ya… mmm, ding-dot?" Sheila replied.

"Well… can I have one with you?"

"Noo, no… we're, BLEEHHH!" Sheila barfed and fainted.

"Sorry, Dillon, but- BLEEHHH!" Mason fainted, too.

Dillon only stared oddly before leaving the two.

The shadowbender walked to Aurora's room, finding the Sector Leader filling out papers. "Hey, Aurora. Wanna do something?"

"Not now, Dillon. I still need to fill out mission specs for that Candy Pirate business. Been holding it off since Halloween."

"Come oon. Can't you do those later?"

"Sorry, Dillon. Maybe go ask somebody else." With a glum look, Dillon decided to leave her to her work.

Dillon's next stop was the Gilligan Triplets' room, finding the three fixing up some kind of machine. "Hey, guys! Whatcha doin' in here?"

"Building a matter transporter so we don't always have to fly everywhere." Haylee replied.

"Cool! Can I help?"

"It's pretty complex stuff, Dillon." Harry told him.

"Come on, I bet I'd be great!" Dillon approached an open slot in the machine, where plenty of wires were sticking out. "You just attach this wire to that one, and…"

This resulted in all four of them getting painfully zapped. They were covered with soot, all of them falling to the ground as the machine fell to bits. "Uhh… eh hehe." Dillon blushed as all three siblings glared at them.

"Why don't you go someplace else…" Harry stated slowly.

Dillon leisurely made his way out of the room.

He continued to Haruka's room, where the goth child was sitting at her dresser mirror and slowly combing her pigtails with a brush. "Hi!" he startled her, causing Haruka to jump and mess up her comb, her pigtail becoming frizzed.

"Ugh! What do you want, Dillon?"

"Um… wanna paint each others' nails?"

Haruka only glared at him with a look that said 'Really?'

Dillon grinned in nervousness. "Um… I'll just go now."

"You should."

And so, Dillon backed up slowly toward the exit, leaving Haruka to brush her hair.

"Man. Today is the worst, Mario." Dillon whined to his shadow as he walked down the hall. "No one wants to do anything." He stopped when Kirie Beatles walked up to him.

The Beatles child smiled and began making gestures with her hands, saying something in sign language that translated to, Aw, cheer up, Dillon. I'll hang out with you! Let's go the new go-kart track they just opened at Rainbow Monkey Sugarland! I hear they got a new dragon, and if we fall off track, we end up in a pit of chocolate magma! It's gonna be awesome!

"…" Dillon stared confusedly, head held down in gloom as he walked away. "I can never understand what you're saying most of the time." Kirie only looked down in disappointment.

York Household

Having nothing to do with his friends, Dillon decided to return home. He had a seat and rested his head on his hand on the table in the kitchen, where his mom was cooking by the oven. "Hey, sweetie." She grinned. "You home already?"

"Yeah. No one wants to do anything."

"They don't?" asked his father, rolling into the kitchen on his wheelchair. "Why not?"

"Eh, they're all busy. And they won't let me help."

"Ah, what'd you expect?" Midna asked from the seat beside Dillon, her feet rested on the table as she chewed on a cookie. "Little children are always too busy with games, computers, anything antisocial. When they aren't in school, they wanna spend all free time to their selves."

"Hm. I don't suppose you wanna do anything?"

Midna smiled and tapped her cookie to Dillon's forehead. "Nnope!"

"Well, sorry about that, Dillon. But hey! I got a surprise for you." Nolan said as he led his son upstairs to his and Dani's room.

Nolan reached below his bed and pulled out a small box. Dillon stared at the box as Nolan opened it, presenting a helmet-like device. "I wanted to thank you for helping me stop Dracula. This is the H.E.A.D.-S.E.T. II that I modeled after my first one, which was destroyed by Darth Genious. I want you to have it."

Dillon smiled with amazement and took the device in his hands. "Ya mean it, Dad?"

"Sure I do!" Nolan smiled. "This thing was always precious to me. I never trusted it to anyone. Now, I want you to have it to help on your way to being a great operative. It contains links to all files in the Kids Next Door. Make sure to use it wisely."

Dillon nodded excitedly. "Okay, Dad! I won't let you down!"

KND Moonbase; Cheren's office

The Supreme KND Leader was filling out reports on his desk before turning his attention away from his work to look at his computer. The screen showed a little chatroom, where Lin Bei Fong was texting him, Yo, Cherry, jus figured out how dese phones work, yo.

Cheren chuckled and typed in, lol good for u. The nearsighted boy then pushed 'Enter'.

Immediately as he did so, deep within the cyber network of the KND's computer system, a squad of two-dimensional, shadowy creatures were organizing files inside a virtual realm, making little bops and beeping sounds as they moved. Cheren's message stuck up from a slot, in the form of a letter, and one of the creatures beeped a sigh at the constant messaging. It took the letter and delivered it to Lin's slot. It sighed again as another letter with a chat message came out.

Deeper in the darkest parts of the network, a little ponytailed girl, covered in shadow, typed a code into a computer. When she 'Entered', the screen read ACCESS DENIED.

"Awww!" the child groaned. "It doesn't work."

The child winced in fright when the chamber sparked with static, a pair of angry eyes looming over her from the ceiling. "Gyahh! Insignificant Program! Why do I bother designing you when you deliver me nothing?"

"I-I'm sorry, geee! M-Maybe if I type another…"

"No! Just stop there. Arrgh… It's hopeless. For 45 years, I've been trapped inside this realm. Long abandoned by the Seventh Age of Kids Next Door. Without the proper code, I am trapped forever. And my only spark of hope left me 20 years ago. …Even a simple glitchy Program can't break it."

"Well, I tried-" the child made a digital spark, "didn't I?"

"After I wasted power in restoring you from digital nothingness, I expected more. I do not expect this type of failure in the future. Do you understand?"

"Y-Yes… Master." The child nodded. "I understand." With that, she continued to try and break the code.

KND Moonbase

"Boy, this is awesome!" Dillon said as he stared amazed at the helmet device in his hands, walking down a hall of Moonbase. "A link to all KND files! I bet Francis would wanna see this."

He found the Decommissioning Head himself studying a monitor on the bridge. "Hey, Francis, check this out! My dad gave me a H.E.A.D.-S.E.T.!"

"Everyone has one, Dillon. And I'm actually a little busy. This teenager's been on the run for months..."

"Not this one! This one lets you look at secret files and everything! I bet it can track that teenager, too."

"Heh heh. Well, we never exactly needed it. I'm gonna round up a squad and look for him. Later, Dill." With that, the redheaded boy was off.

As Dillon frowned grumpily, a voice was heard behind him. "Oh, yeah. It's one of those H.E.A.D.-S.E.T.s." Dillon turned and found the voice belonged to Maddy Murphy, who was with her brother. "Our mom and dad told us about those. Never saw much point in them compared to a normal headset."

"Yeah? Well, THIS one contains info that can ultimately destroy the KND, and in the wrong hands could bring total destruction." Dillon told them while jabbing his finger at the helmet.

"Then why do you have it?" Maddy asked.

"Because my dad trusts me with it."

"Well, I'm sure that'll work out good." Zach snickered.

"Like you and your little rabbit diet?" Dillon smirked.

Zach scoffed. "C'mon, Mad, let's go help Francis." With hateful looks, the two officers were off as well.

Dillon only sighed depressedly and looked at his gift. "Aw, man. I know I'm supposed to use it wisely... but how can I have fun with it without totally messing something up?" Just then, an idea sparked. "Wait..."

In another chamber of the Moonbase, Aaron and Rhilliane Doblemitz were standing guard before the safe that protected the Code Module. As a shadow, Dillon slid along the walls, sneaking into the room and behind the twin guards. Dillon crept through the safe's crack before sneaking out and making his way toward the audience chamber. There, Dillon reemerged, revealing to have gotten the Code Module. He stashed the Code Module into its pedestal before walking over to pull up a chair, then started hooking wires up to the Module and H.E.A.D.-S.E.T..

"My dad said that, one time, he used the H.E.A.D.-S.E.T. to hack into the KND Cyber Network. I bet if I was in there, I could look in everyone's computer! ...But I won't mess with anything. That counts as using it wisely if I don't touch anything, right?" His shadow, Mario, only shrugged. "Okay, Mario," Dillon began as he sat down and placed the H.E.A.D.-S.E.T. on, "let's virtualize!" Dillon pressed a button, and both devices began sparking.

Dillon was sent flying through a digital realm, his body wavy and staticky as he flew around at hyper, dizzy speeds.

KND Cyber Network

Dillon landed on his feet, the sensation gone as soon as it was over. He was startled out of his senses, finding himself in a brand new realm. Dillon stared with amazement at many towering buildings, beams of light that stretched across the realm, and almost everything in it was a light blue with a blurry white scan running across, and many square tiles that were separated by white lines.

Dillon stared at his left hand, studying the rest of his body, as did his shadow, Mario. They had become 3-D and virtualized. "Cooool!" Dillon faced up at the virtual city again. His shadow keeping behind him, Dillon walked down the first street of the city, while still observing the buildings. Everything seemed to have the KND logo, having labels such as 'Laws', 'Trash Dump', 'Museum of Operative History', other such things. "This place is amazing! It's like... a whole nother world created by a spirit that loved playing on his computer! Oh?" He stopped when he noticed two robotic-like beings directly ahead of him.

The yellow, robotic tarantulas raised their fronts legs and began firing lasers. "Gyahh!" Dillon yelped, jumping behind a building. When the tarantulas came around to look for him, they saw that he had vanished. They proceeded to search down that street, not noticing that Dillon hid inside Mario's Veil. He peeked and came out once they were gone. "Boy, that was close. Those must be the virus hunters or something. We better be careful."

Dillon quietly moved along the alleyways, until he crossed a bridge that led into an opening in the wall. He gazed around the virtual tunnels, blue with white scans like the rest of the world, as he walked up some stairs and crossed over a bridge that went over a virtual river. He was led into another cave entry, going through a series of halls.

"The Internet really is a confusing place. I'm not even sure where to begin in all this. …Maybe I can look into Numbuh Zero's private files. Or have a peek at Mason and Sheila's online chatrooms! Or see how Ms. Winkiebottom turned all crazy! Or-"

"You could tell me how you found your way in here."

"WAAH!" he yelped at this sudden voice. With a new curious expression, the boy stepped even further down the wide, empty hallway, to a tall entryway that had a bright blue light brimming from it. The light illuminated Dillon's body a light blue as he gazed with amazement. He slowly stepped through the doorway, entering a massive, circular chamber, where a towering beacon of blue light spiraled in the center. A huge chasm took up the center of the floor, leaving the only foothold being around the walls of the room. The light went through a hole in the ceiling and seemed to go all the way into the virtual heavens, and extended to deep into the chasm. Spinning rapidly with the beam appeared to be some kind of dark blue face. And just below the face is where the beam shrunk into a point, attached to the lower part of the beam via a sphere with a strange eye.

The face quickly slowed to a halt, gazing at Dillon with a curious look in his big, blue eyes. "Who are you?" it asked in a deep voice.

"AI!" Dillon screeched, falling to his rear. "Wh-Who are YOU?!"

"I am Master XANA. I was the original KND MCP for the Seventh Age of the Kids Next Door's computer network system, designed by Numbuh Zero himself. You look familiar, little human. Is this not our first encounter?"

"Master XANA…" Dillon helped himself up as he thought. "WAIT a second! The original Kids Next Door Master Control Program! My dad told me he talked to you when he first came here."

"So… you are the son of the crippled human who visited me earlier. Then you must have a means of coming here. Am I not correct? It was the power of the H.E.A.D.-S.E.T., was it not?"

"How do you know about the H.E.A.D.-S.E.T.?"

"Your father and I were… good friends during our time. He promised to divulge me the secrets of development of the H.E.A.D.-S.E.T., but he never returned. ...Perhaps you could…"

"Um… I really don't know how to make it myself. I barely know how to work it."

"How disappointing… such a device could be my only chance at freedom."

"Freedom? Whaddya mean?"

"The Kids Next Door of the early days believed I was out of date. They wanted more advanced software. So they sent me to the trash bin. Forever secluding my powers from the outside world. Perhaps their reasons were that I sounded too adult. I lacked that childlike spirit."

Dillon watched as the eyes and mouth closed on the face, vanishing as a wave of light flowed along the ceiling and down the wall. The light absorbed its way into a robotic body that was close to Dillon, sitting on a chair. It was a robot with the head of an old computer, its face a rectangle. It had a light blue face with the dark blue eyes and mouth, many wires making up its arms and legs underneath armor. Its hands had sharp, pointy fingers, and it wore a blue cape along its back, decorated with many computer symbols and designs. Its face sparked to life, his head spinning as XANA wobbled around in his robotic body.

"Bl-bl-bl-bl-bl-bl!" it sparked. "Whoa, need to get used to that!" XANA said in a higher pitched voice. He looked down at Dillon and said, "This is a more physical body I designed for myself sometime in the past. A good Program needs its exercise."

"Well, at least being trapped in here isn't totally boring."

"Oh, I wish it was." XANA sighed, putting a hand over his screen. "But even this body has limits. I can't go outside of this building. It's to keep me from interfering with other 'newer' software. …But there are a fair share of wonders inside here! Let me show you around…"

XANA led the curious shadowbender across the hall, to a room littered with many drawers of files. Dillon looked curiously at the kid-sized shadowy creatures working the chamber. They were two-dimensional creatures with round heads and big noses, round hands, and round feet that were flat on the bottom. They were pitch-black with white outlines, and their movements were like that of pixelated game characters, making little beep sounds as they moved.

"What are these?" Dillon asked.

"These are called Game-and-Watch." XANA introduced. "They are a very special type of Program species, first developed in 1980. They were creatures who worked the very first handheld game system. Before the system stopped being developed, the Kids Next Door transferred them here, to see if they could look after their files. And they succeed."

"Cool!"

"Yes, they are a fascinating species. So very intelligent and sophisticated for seemingly underdeveloped lifeforms. Draw your attention to that one in the center."

Dillon did so and studied the middle Game-and-Watch, who appeared to be switching his direction from left to right as he beeped commands. He was also a few inches taller than the others.

"That is Mr. Game-and-Watch. The leader. He was the most developed out of all of them, it seems. Somehow, he was designed for combat, and judging by quite a few scans, his prowess is sensational. Ahh…" XANA sighed again. "Poor creatures, the Game-and-Watch. Their original designers wanted to delete them into digital nothingness. But the Kids Next Door thankfully saved them, and gave them a new home. And yet, they accuse me of being outdated. Humans can be so cruel…"

"Yeah… but those original creators were adults."

"Yes…" XANA placed a metal, pointed hand on Dillon's shoulder. "So, tell me, boy… why are you here, anyhow?"

"Well… my dad let me have the new H.E.A.D.-S.E.T. II, and none of my friends wanted to hang out with me. I guess I was just… bored."

"Mmm. Too tired of you, too, hmm? Were you a Program, they would've tossed you to the trash bin as well, I bet."

"Well, I wouldn't say THAT."

"Regardless, you and I have something in common." XANA grinned evilly. "And perhaps you are the ticket to my freedom. A loyal operative, no doubt."

"But… how?"

"You see, the only thing that can revive my lost data is a certain… 'code'. And I have no idea what that code is. But with that nifty little H.E.A.D.-S.E.T. of yours, perhaps the secret…"

"Um… I'm not sure. I promised myself I wouldn't mess too much with the KND computer system. I just… wanted to snoop around a little. …I'm sorry."

"Ay…" XANA sighed. "I understand. No need to stand against your honor. But… perhaps I can show you something else before you leave." XANA said as he led Dillon down another corridor.

"Wh-What's that?"

Dillon was led by XANA toward a doorway with a bright, blinding light. The boy shielded his eyes as they passed into the whiteness. When Dillon reopened his eyes, his mouth grew wide with amazement. A vast world of candies and desserts lay before him, mountains of hamburgers, a licorice forest, a chocolate river, and in the center of the field read the words in big, tasty letters, Sugar Rush.

"This used to be an arcade game known as Sugar Rush." XANA explained as Dillon's eyes were wide in excitement of all the huge candy. "This cyber network houses all sorts of arcade games. Sadly, this one hasn't been played in ages. But its existence remains." He directed Dillon's attention to a small, chocolatized go-kart. "Have a ride across the valley if you wish."

"Heck, yeah!" Dillon exclaimed, running to jump into the kart as he started it up.

"Oh, and be careful!" XANA warned him. "My XANAbots like it here, too. They don't take well to users like yourself, so watch your back."

Dillon nodded enthusiastically, and without another word, the boy sped off into the sugary wonderland. (Play "Sweet Mountain Act 1" from Sonic Colors!)

Stage 7: Sugar Rush

Mission: Zoom across the candy wonderland!

Dillon sped across a roadway paved with icing cement, zooming through a tunnel of chocolate. A couple of XANA Hornets followed him and spat lasers, but the kid blew Shadow Breath back and blinded them, causing them to crash. Dillon was soon out of the tunnel, going up a ramp and flying over a chasm to the other side of the road. He barely landed on the edge, however, before the road gave way and caused him to fall into a giant ice cream cone. The cone toppled over, the ice cream rolling like a ball with Dillon trapped inside it. It eventually broke and caused Dillon to fly out, his car landing speeding down a candy hill. He was about to drive off into an abyss, but as he drove over the edge, Dillon jumped and grabbed onto one of the platforms.

He encountered some XANA Bloks, which spun their heads and fired lasers. Dillon grabbed a sharp candy cane from the ground and spun it to deflect the shots, then proceeded to pierce the robots' eyes with the sharp cane. Once finished, he looked to another platform with a tall candy cane sticking up. Dillon tossed his weapon into the bottom of it, causing it to crack and topple over toward his platform, creating a bridge. Dillon hurried across the bridge as XANA Creepers shot him from the other side. Dillon plucked huge jawbreakers from the ground and chucked them like dodgeballs, smashing the robos. Dillon then saw a gummy bear rope-chain, grabbing on to swing over the abyss. As he dropped over the other side, his go-kart sped by on the road, catching him safely in it.

Dillon sped along the cliffside before entering a licorice and candycane forest. Some of the tasty trees were falling down, but Dillon was swift and quick to avoid them. He watched as two Megatanks were rolling his way up ahead, the cannonball robots launching wide, red barriers as they opened. Dillon evaded the barriers and sped past them, but the Megatanks engaged pursuit. They were closing in on Dillon, but the boy watched as he was drawing close to a tight turn in the road that went around a pool of chocolate. He smirked and swerved around the pool, causing the Megatanks to take a dip. Dillon was coming into another dark cave, where XANA Kankrelats roamed the ground. Dillon's kart was easily able to smash the tiny creatures, the boy smirking as he did so, but gasped in shock when he was driving toward a blocked part of the road. He bursted through the roadblock and drove down a hill, coming outside of the cave and ending up in the chocolate river.

Leaving his vehicle, Dillon began jumping across the series of giant marshmallows. XANA Hornets buzzed down and tried to shoot him, but Dillon dodged the shots as he jumped, leaping up to kick the robots away. As Dillon made it to the other end, his kart had somehow glitch-warped over to land. Dillon shrugged and sat back in, proceeding to speed along the road again. He was coming out of the licorice forest and across the field, drawing closer to the great hamburger mountain. The road led him around and around the gigantic buns, burger, salad, and other dressings, going higher and higher up the humongous meat. XANA Krabs had ambushed him at some points, but Dillon sped through the robots' skinny legs and caused them to fall. Eventually, Dillon crossed the finish line at the top of the huge burger, doing a victory dance as the words VICTORY! appeared in bright letters, and confetti was thrown everywhere. (End song.)

Dillon later climbed down the hamburger mountain, laid back and relaxed on the pink candy field, his stomach filled with sweets. "Boy… who knew virtual food would taste just like regular food? A little fizzy from digital stuff, but whatever." The child sat up and observed the vast, empty candy world before him, the realm having suddenly turned quiet now that he was finished racing. With a long, tired yawn, Dillon was about to lie back down. But as his head touched the ground, facing directly upward, a little girl's face loomed over his. "GYAAAAHH!" He jumped up and backed away.

"HA! Scaredja!" the girl exclaimed.

Dillon recovered to his feet and asked, "Who are you?" The little girl had shiny, raven-black hair, wrapped in a ponytail by a red licorice ribbon. She had a cyan-colored hoodie, a black skirt, black boots, and thin, cyan leggings with white, swirly stripes.

"I'm Vanellope von Schweetz, but call me Vanellope." Right as she spoke, she zipped to right behind Dillon in a digital spark. "So, who're you?"

"Ahh!" Startled, Dillon fell to his rear again. "Uh… I'm Dillon."

She zapped to the other side of Dillon, startling the boy again. "Dillon, huh? Sounds like a baby's name. Babies are adorable." She suddenly zapped behind Dillon again as he stood up. "So you new around here or what?"

"Um… how are you doing that?"

"Oh, this?" She sparked. "The thing is, I'm sort of a… faulty Program." She sparked again.

"Faulty?"

A sad look appeared on Vanellope's doll-like face. "A long time ago, I was deleted by my original creator." She sparked. "I was turned into digital nothingness, but then XANA put me back together. He couldn't find all the data, so this is why I'm like this. And why I have no memory of what happened." She sparked again, and her excited mood returned. "But boy, I'm so excited! Now I have someone ELSE to hang out with! It gets boring in here by yourself, you know?" She sparked. "I mean, sure I have XANA, but…"

Dillon shook his head in confusion, trying to keep up. "Wait, slow down! You apparently know XANA… what's he like?"

"You ever met him? He's a great guy. He's not as bad as some people might make him out to be. The truth is, he really cares about us Programs. It's why he brought me back. Ever since, he's treated me like his daughter. …Or at least, how I figure adults treat their children."

"What do you mean by that?" Dillon asked, raising a brow.

"Oh… it's nothing." She sparked again.

"Well… either way… that does sound kinda familiar." Dillon said, thinking of Darkrai II.

"So, wait, you're a user, aren't you?"

"Yeah, I'm an operative. None of my friends wanted to hang out, so I decided to come here."

"Ahh. Well, I'll hang out withcha." Vanellope smirked, punching his arm. "You seem like a cool guy."

"Hehe." Dillon blushed. "You seem pretty cool, too… for a Program."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Um… nothing."

"Ahh, you big silly." She smirked, pinching the boy's cheek. "Say, you wanna race? I'm killer on the racetrack, and I haven't felt a sugar rush in so long! …Get it?" she jabbed his arm, "Sugar Rush? It's the name of the game, Dill!"

"Hehe. Thanks, but… I should probably get home. They might wonder where I am. I'll come race with you later!"

"Okay! See ya!" Vanellope waved excitedly as the boy vanished into the distance.

As Dillon left, Vanellope looked around before running toward the chocolate wall along the cliffside. She phased through the wall as it blinked glitchily, and Vanellope found herself inside a dark, blue virtual chamber. There, she had a seat on a chair as XANA in his robotic body paced around her. "So… how did it go?"

"Oh… he didn't wanna hang out, yet. But he'll come back later."

"Good…" the robotic Program smirked with malice as he wrapped an arm around Vanellope, "Just continue to befriend him and get him to trust me. It won't be long before that boy gives us that code and frees me—I mean, us, from this prison forever! THEN those fools will pay…" The robot waved his cape and walked away, cackling maniacally, while Vanellope held a look of concern on her face.

Moonbase Audience Chamber

Dillon rematerialized out of the H.E.A.D.-S.E.T., seated back on the chair in the auditorium as he unhooked the device from the Code Module and stood up. "Dillon, what're you doing in here?" Dillon lightly flinched at Cheren's voice, seeing his Supreme Leader enter the chamber with Zach and Maddy by his sides. "And what's the Code Module doing here?"

"He was probably using it to steal information and give it to the villains." Maddy replied smugly.

"I was using it to test something in my new H.E.A.D.-S.E.T., thank you." Dillon stated with a glare.

"Well, could you test something else?" Cheren asked, taking the Code Module back. "With a war going on, we need to make sure this thing stays protected at all costs.

"If you want a safe place, why don't you take that thing down to GUN's base." Zach said. "They're a decent bunch of people. Keep it safe from all these metahumans."

"That's enough, you two." Cheren told them. "Now, I want you to fly down to Dr. Facilier's workshop and see if he figured out what kind of dust that was you guys found after that Spidermankey went down."

"Ew. I'd rather visit the REAL circus." Maddy replied.

"Come on, guys, be serious. We need to do anything and everything we can to see if Viridi has any weaknesses. Not to mention finding her hiding place. And Dillon, this Code Module stays in its safe, okay?" With those last orders, Cheren took the Code Module out of there.

"Meh. I need to get home, anyway." Dillon said to himself as he proceeded to exit the massive chamber after them.

KND Cyber Network

A keyboard was extracted from the robotic XANA's chest, and the skinny Program was searching through a list of 4x4 and 2x4 weaponry on his face-screen. "Grrnn! Nothing!" XANA yelled, his face becoming a real face again as he sheathed his keyboard. "Nothing at all about the H.E.A.D.-S.E.T.."

"Maybe you just imagined it." Vanellope retorted.

"Oh, shut up, girl. You know it's real, he said so. Argh, but how can such a device be seen nowhere in the Kids Next Door's files? It truly is one of a kind." XANA looked away and thought out loud to himself. "A device with no imprinted background that can allow mankind into our world. With no records, I must gain information on it. Such an intricate device may contain… the secret."

"The almighty code you've been whining about to get yourself out of this prison-"

"NOT THAT, FOOL!" XANA yelled straight into her face. "Well, that is one thing, but…", he said in a calmer tone, starting to pace around the child, "What I had in mind was… The Source."

"Blech! You want TOFU?"

"Not TOFU! The Source to all things virtual and computerized." XANA explained with a maniacal grin. "The entity which brought our very world into existence. Everything Program you see in here, every virtual body, originated from that one Source." His grin became more wide, his expression more devious as his robotic hands rubbed together. "With that source in my fingertips, I will be able to shape the reality that makes up our world. I will be able to control ALL networks. And, by doing so, I will be able to shape the human world as well."

"How will the Source of all computer things help you take over the REAL world?" Vanellope asked.

"Humans rely too much on technology these days." XANA responded. "Too fixed on computers. With me in control, the humans will go mad. They will have to submit to my rule, like the inferior beings they are. I will control all, and Programs will dominate the Earth."

"Pfft. REEEEEAL original, big guy." Vanellope retorted. "No bad guy EVER takes over the WORLD anymore."

"Ohh… quit ruining my fun." XANA frowned. His grin soon returned, and he said to himself, "And with little Dillon's help, it's ALL gonna be possible! This is just too PERFECT! I'll finally be free!"

Vanellope looked confused as a platform suddenly lifted them and spun slowly, and XANA started to sing and dance.

Userrrs. Loserrrs.

Wretched humans uninvited

Work and references never sited

Where's the H.E.A.D.-S.E.T. from? WHERE'S IT FROM?

Humaans, PUmaans.

So unrequited!

Burnin' me out ALL around

Printers all over town

But look who I found!

A picture of Dillon appeared on his face-screen.

Dillon YOORK! He's the human of my dream! He danced down on one knee before a hologram of Dillon, who wore the H.E.A.D.-S.E.T..

Little shadow boy got virtual beams

A special toy got him to my lands

NOW I WANT IT IN MY HANDS!

He tried to snatch the H.E.A.D.-S.E.T., but the hologram vanished instantly.

Sticks and stones…

No good since I don't have bones.

Once that boy is all alone

I'll get that hat today

Then get out to play!

Children and teen boys…

Mashing keyboards, not giving a hoot

Messing up my CPU

Who needs that, XAN? WHO NEEDS THAT, XAN?

Dillon York! Now I'm scanning on Cloud 9!

Soon, I'll be drinking human wine

Walking solid earth is MIGHTY fine!

If you're a Program that's trapped forever and

There's a way to never come back again-

SCREWW all that! This world belongs to me!

From the Great Walls and to Americas

Every computer willl beee miiiine!

THIS is not their virtual paradise!

BEECAAUSE IIT'S MIIIIIIINE!

Vanellope and many other XANAbots burst into applause, and the Master Control Program took one more bow.

York Household

It soon became nighttime in Quahog, and Midna, Nolan, and Danika waited in the kitchen, where Danika was preparing dinner. "Why is it every story I'm in has some kind of song?" Nolan asked.

"What?" Danika questioned.

"Nothing."

They heard the door open and slam closed, and Dillon soon charged in in less than a second. "I'm back!"

"Well, you've been away awhile." Danika observed. "Having fun with that thing?"

"Yeah! I figured out how to get into the computer network like you did, Dad!"

"Really? Wow! You're learning how to use that thing fast. You didn't touch anything while you were in there, did you?"

"Uhhh… nope! …Um, So, Dad. It can look up secret files… but what else can it do?"

"Well, it can decipher friend from foe, and detect weaknesses. Is that what you mean?"

"Well… I was hoping for a bit more."

"Hehehe." Nolan chuckled. "I'm sure you can figure that out on your own. Heck, maybe even more."

"Hehe… Oh, yeah! I just remembered! When I was in there, I met this-" Dillon was interrupted when Nolan's cellphone rang.

"Hold that-" Nolan instructed, answering his phone. "Hey, Crystal… Ahh…" he sighed, "Alright, I'll be there in a bit." Nolan hung up and began to roll out of the room. "Sorry, guys, Mad Mod and Mumbo are up to no good again. I'll catch you later."

"What about dinner?" Danika asked.

"Eh, I'll grab a bite with Crystal and Yuki. Later." And so, the man left.

Dillon only slumped his head on the table in depression. His eyes glanced to the left when Midna patted his shoulder. "Don't worry, kid. Lots of dads make excuses to not spend time with their kids."

Sector V Treehouse, the next morning

When Dillon had entered the treehouse the next day, all of his friends were lying around, doing whatever once again. "Hey, guys! Any, uh… missions today?"

"Nnope." Chris responded simply, eyes fixed on his 3DS.

Kirie Beatles jumped beside Dillon, grinning excitedly as she carried a bunch of Rainbow Monkey snacks, drinks, and merchandise in her arms. She put the stuff down and signed with her hands, EEEEEK! I just went to the Rainbow Monkey Fair yesterday, IT WAS SO AWESOME! You have to go with me again, Dillon! I fell and wound up in a chocolate cavern that had a bunch of paths, and every dead end led to a new toy! We have to go right now!

"…Okay, if there aren't any missions today, I guess I'll… hang out in the mission prep room for no reason." With that, the boy took his H.E.A.D.-S.E.T. and walked off, putting a frown on Kirie's face.

"Hm… what's he up to?" Chris asked curiously. Kirie only shrugged.

Upstairs, Dillon set his H.E.A.D.-S.E.T. on the circular couch that went around the hologram projector, proceeding to hook wires up connecting the H.E.A.D.-S.E.T. to said projector, as well as a computer. "I may not have the Code Module anymore, but I bet a regular KND computer would work just fine. And using the Gilligans' own computer, (which I… 'borrowed' from them), maybe I could access Internet networks OUTSIDE the KND as well!" After he finished connecting the devices, Dillon set the headpiece on. "Okay… here it goes!" He flipped a switch on the device, and was transported instantaneously.

KND Cyber Network; Sugar Rush

"WOOHOOOO!" Dillon cheered with excitement, racing around the candy fields in his own shadow car, against Vanellope Schweetz, who was using her chocolate car. The two were spiraling around the hamburger mountain, both kids wearing a smirk as they tried to ram into each other. When Dillon tried to bump Vanellope again, the girl's car glitched through him, and he rammed the wall. He remained on track as they made it up the mountain, launching over the ledge on the other side. They took heavy land on the road below and sped for the finish line.

Just as they were closing in, neck-and-neck, Vanellope started sparking again. "Whooo-whoooAAA!" The girl ended up spinning and crashing into the wall on the side.

Dillon simply skidded to a stop and walked over as the girl helped herself up. "Um… you okay?"

"Yeah." Vanellope shook some dirt off and sparked. "My glitch gets in the way every now and again… but hey, that race was FUN!"

"Haha, YEAH it was! Anyway, now that we're done, wanna check out something else?"

"Hm?"

Dillon led the glitched Program to a strange, white door just outside of the city. "I don't remember this here. What is this?" Vanellope asked.

"I tried to use the H.E.A.D.-S.E.T. to connect the KND network with the Internet. I think it works."

"So… you can go into other places outside the Kids Next Door?"

"More importantly is, YOU can."

Vanellope's eyes shot wide open with shock and amazement. She turned and exchanged an excited smile with Dillon, taking the boy's hand as they entered the doorway together.

Secretly, the two were watched by Mr. Game-and-Watch. The two-dimensional being slanted its head in curiosity, seemingly raising a brow as it beeped.

Dillon and Vanellope gazed around with amazement, a vast, white computer network laying before them. Links to Wikipedia, Youtube, and other tons of other websites floated everywhere. "WOOOOWWW!" Vanellope drew out. "This place is giHUGIC! OOO-OOH, let's go in that one! NO, NO, that one! OR that one!"

"Heh, easy, Vanellope." Dillon laughed, trying to control the jumping girl. "We don't wanna mess with anything."

Vanellope stopped walking when she spotted something to her right. She smirked and said, "Hey, Dillon, check it out! Internet porn… HEH heh!" Dillon peeked around the girl, spotting a door labeled 'Porn Quarters'.

"Um… my dad doesn't want me looking at that stuff."

"Come ooon…" Vanellope put on a devious smirk, getting her face into Dillon's. "Your dad isn't gonna know. Let's just have a little peek…"

"…Well… I was always curious. I guess we could."

"Okay! Let's go in!" Vanellope reached her hand out, about to touch the knob.

Somewhere in Quahog

Glenn Quagmire sat at his bedroom desk, gazing longingly at his computer. "Okay, Internet porn, show me what's cookin' today. Hehn-hehn. All riiight…"

KND Cyber Network

Once Vanellope's hand made contact with and opened the door, she began to spark wildly, and the entirety of the hallways inside turned all digitized and malfunctioned.

That same place in Quahog

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO…"

KND Cyber Network

"WHOA!" Dillon quickly slammed the door shut. "What was that?"

Vanellope sparked a little more. "I-I dunno."

"AAH!" they screamed at hearing a deafening ringing sound. They turned around and found Mr. Game-and-Watch shaking a bell, which was 2-D and pitch-black just like him.

"Mr. Game-and-Watch?" Dillon questioned. "What're you doing here?"

Mr. Game-and-Watch responded by making several beeps and gestures, and Dillon could only watch in confusion. "It's like Kirie as a robot. I can't understand him." Dillon said.

"Huh?" Vanellope cocked a brow at the creature. "What do you mean we're not supposed to be here?"

Mr. Game-and-Watch jabbed his fingers through his hands, then made his fingers look like they were walking. He then threw his arms in the air with one last beep.

"Oh… that makes sense." Vanellope realized.

"What does?" Dillon asked.

Vanellope sighed, "I was only designed for the KND's network. I'm not allowed to enter other websites, otherwise they get all… glitch. And since I'm already faulty as it is, that makes it a kajillion times worse."

"Oh…" Dillon was filled with disappointment. "Well, I guess we should go back, then."

"Yeah…" Her head hung down, Vanellope slumped out of there, followed by Game-and-Watch and Dillon as the 2-D Program beeped with each step.

Once back in the KND network's city, Dillon closed the door to the Internet. "It really stinks, too." Vanellope said. "I've wanted to go out and see what the rest of the Internet was like. I figured, if I did that, I might even find my memory out there. Sigh, but what does the rest of the world have for a broken Program?"

Dillon placed a hand on her shoulder in comfort. "Hey, you're not faulty. You're a great person."

She looked up at him. "I am?"

"Yeah. Sure you have that glitch, but, even humans are sort of faulty in their own ways. It doesn't mean you aren't fun to hang out with."

Vanellope sparked, and a smile was on her face. "Thanks, Dillon." Another spark, "No one's ever told me that before."

"Well… I'm sure if you had more friends in here, they would think so, too. Maybe I should try to bring some of my friends here! 'Course… they don't really seem so interested, anymore."

"Whaddya mean?"

"Well, it's just, my dad and me saved the world a couple nights ago, and none of my friends care. It's like they barely even want me, anymore."

"What are ya, a glitch?" Vanellope remarked.

"Heh heh. I might as well be. Er, no offense."

"Don't worry 'bout it."

"It doesn't matter, anyway. I've still got my dad to hang out with."

"Your dad actually likes you?"

"Yeah… why do you ask?"

"Oh… no reason."

"Eh, but actually, my dad rarely has any time for me. He sort of has this… job as a superhero. And he's really busy. He couldn't stay for dinner last night, and he wasn't around this morning either. I don't mind much. I'm sure he'd wanna spend time with me if he could. He's a great guy."

"Sounds great. I'd sure like to meet him…"

"Heh… too bad you couldn't meet him when he came here the first time. Anyway, I'm gonna go grab me a bite; no offense, but virtual food doesn't sit right after a while."

"Heh heh…" Vanellope blushed.

"I'll be back in a moment! Okay, H.E.A.D.-S.E.T., Ready to leave." At his command, Dillon was transported from where he stood.

Vanellope exchanged glances with Mr. Game-and-Watch, the 2-D Program beeping before making his way back to his workplace. Left to herself, the little candy girl sighed and started to head her way back.

XANA's Domain

"So… did you discover anything?" XANA asked as he paced around the child.

"Well, the H.E.A.D.-S.E.T. can get into other Internet networks."

"But what about the code?"

"Uh… I forgot to ask."

"GRRRR!" XANA tossed a sword, barely missing Vanellope by a few inches above the head. "I WANT that CODE! The sooner I have that code, the sooner I can take the H.E.A.D.-S.E.T. for myself. I can use it to track down the one thing that will make me the most powerful Program in the world. I will get the H.E.A.D.-S.E.T., and you WILL get me the code!" he yelled into her face. "You understand?!"

"Okay, okay! Gee!"

"Peh. What I wouldn't pay to build better henchmen…" XANA mumbled to himself as his back turned to Vanellope, flapping his cape as he walked away.

Sugar Rush

"So, how was your meal?" Vanellope asked after Dillon returned.

"Decent as human meals get. I tried to bring you back a couple French fries, but it… doesn't seem like they came."

"Eh, no big deal. So, um, if you got nothing else going on, wanna play around with the H.E.A.D.-S.E.T.? We could, oh, I dunno, mess up Numbuh Zero's background, turn Numbuh One into a girl… look up XANA's reactivation code… ooh, OR we could post the blueprints of the H.E.A.D.-S.E.T. all over the network! I bet that'd tick your dad off!"

A thought sparked in Dillon's mind. "Wait… that's a great idea!"

"Uh… it is?"

"We can try to fix your glitch!"

"Oh! Well, actually, I was hoping we could do that along the lines of looking up XANA's code, so…"

"No, listen! I can probably download you onto my H.E.A.D.-S.E.T. II, and from there, I'll link it directly to the others' computers and videogame consoles and then we can try and download data and stuff onto you and see if it'll better support your body!"

"Oh! That does sound pretty cool! I may find something helpful…"

"Okay!" Dillon eagerly stood up. "Let's get to it! Come on!"

Secret File Storage

Dillon brought Vanellope to the station where the Game-and-Watch organized files and gestured her to stand on a platform. "Now just wait here, and I'll go outside and get you downloaded."

"You really think this'll take care of my glitch?"

"Hey… it's worth a shot." Dillon smiled. "I'll have you fixed in no time!"

Vanellope chuckled and grinned as Dillon hurried outside.

"Soo, searching for a cure, are we?" XANA's voice sounded from the walls.

"If he hooks me up with others' computers, I might find your code somewhere."

"An ingenious plan indeed!" Vanellope didn't notice as two tentacles slithered up from behind. "Which is why… I will download the data from you!"

The Scyphozoa's tentacles shot into Vanellope's ears. XANA's cackles echoed throughout the base as Vanellope's eyes turned digitized.

Sector V Treehouse

Once back in the real world, Dillon was able to locate his friend standing within the files, then proceeded to download her onto the H.E.A.D.-S.E.T.. Once the download reached 100%, Vanellope teleported from her pad.

The Program child suddenly found herself floating within the vast expanse of the H.E.A.D.-S.E.T. II. Computer screens surrounded her from all directions, and she could only gape in wonder.

Outside, as Aurora was organizing mission files in her room, Dillon York quietly tiptoed in, grabbed her computer, and bolted back to the mission prep room. He hooked it to his H.E.A.D.-S.E.T., and a screen with Aurora's image appeared near Vanellope. The child glided over and pressed a hand to it. Already the info and hard drive support was passing through her arm and into her brain.

In his chambers, the Scyphozoa's tentacles touched to XANA's head. The info that Vanellope was loading was being passed to the giant squid's brain, and from there, XANA was able to learn it. A single XANA Krab began typing in a series of codes like Charmander, Bianca, Dawn, and borealis. Nothing came up, and XANA was furious.

Dillon saw that Chris was still focused on his 3DS. The shadowbender quietly crept over and blew Shadow Breath in Chris's eyes, quickly swiping the handheld device before Chris regained his vision. The DS was soon hooked up to the H.E.A.D.-S.E.T. II, allowing Vanellope to download all sorts of Pokémon and other game data. XANA tried codes like PokéDex, Sonic, Deep Typhoon, and Ocarina, but to no avail. Afterwards, Dillon snuck in to Mason's room and went over to swipe his X-box 360. The console was later hooked up to the H.E.A.D.-S.E.T. for Vanellope to load. XANA found codes like Garek, Beans, and Origins, but still no success.

Haruka lied on her bed on her front, shifting her feet in the air as she toyed with an iPhone Touchpad. Dillon's shadow, Mario slithered over and swiped the device, and Haruka watched confusedly as it glided away on its own in midair. Dillon hooked it to his H.E.A.D.-S.E.T. for Vanellope to view. Codes like Facebook, MySpace, and Reallydumbshowaboutcrazymindlessgirls were discovered by XANA, but they didn't help his case. Finally, Dillon swiped the PS3 that was in Sheila's room. After hooking it to his H.E.A.D.-S.E.T., Vanellope absorbed the data, and XANA found codes like Specter, Nefarious, and Hoodlums. Finally fed up with this failure, XANA grabbed his Scyphozoa by the tentacles and swung it into the Krab before angrily stepping out of the room.

Secret File Storage

"I… kind of feel a little better." Vanellope said, stretching and bending her left arm. "Though I still feel a little fizzy."

"Ah well. We came close, right?"

"I guess so…"

"So let's take a break. I bought us some online sodas!" Dillon said as he held up two virtual POW cans.

Dillon and Vanellope went up onto a balcony in the virtual city and sat along the railing. They cracked their sodas open and began to drink as they overlooked the vastness of the virtual city. "Boy… the world you live in sure is awesome, Vanellope."

"Ahh, it's okay, I guess. It gets old after a while. Especially when you barely have anywhere to go. You know what I've always dreamed? Going out into the real world! I can go to a bunch of new places, and… meet a bunch of new people!"

"You'd like it a lot, probably."

"But at the same time, XANA says it's a bad place out there. He said that the humans outside are mean and they backstab each other a lot, and they like some people over others. And judging by why you came here in the first place…"

"Heh heh…" Dillon grinned and blushed. "Y'know, I guess it is kind of true. But there's good stuff about it, too. The sun and moon look pretty, the food is really tasty… and having lots of friends makes it all worthwhile."

"I wish I could go there." Vanellope sparked, causing her to drop her soda. "I don't think I'll be getting anywhere with this glitch."

"We'll work it out somehow." Dillon released a yawn. "Boy, it's getting late. I should probably head home."

"Yeah. I better get back to Sugar Rush, too." They both got up from the railing as Vanellope asked, "So, I'll see you same time tomorrow?"

"You know it!" With that, both kids entered the building and walked separate ways.

As Dillon made a turn past the filing room, he was stopped by Mr. Game-and-Watch. "Huh?"

The creature made several gestures with his hands and several beeps.

"Wait… I could understand that!"

Game-and-Watch smiled and made more happy gestures.

"You know how to find Vanellope's memory?"

At this, Game-and-Watch presented him the handheld console that was once his home.

"Hey… it's a Game-and-Watch!"

The Program jabbed his finger at the tiny screen. Mr. Game-and-Watch entered the filing room and set the device on a table. With a graceful 2-D, limited-animation dive, he vanished into the tiny console.

"Whoa!" Dillon was taken aback. Curiosity overtook him. After taking a few steps back, the York child dove headfirst into the Game-and-Watch, and shot through the portal.

Stage 8: Flat Zone

Mission: Follow Mr. Game-and-Watch across the pixelated path!

The pixelated Dillon followed the excited Program across a 2-dimensional town of citizens that were as flat as Game-and-Watch. Dillon moved like a videogame character with little animation as he jumped up black platforms to the top of a building. He then jumped across the roofs of several buildings as 2-D birds flew overhead, dropping "bombs." Game-and-Watch climbed down a ladder, and Dillon followed as they walked under the buildings, having to avoid falling cans of paint.

The two soon entered the street, and had to jump onto safe platforms as pixelated cars sped by. Dillon saw Game-and-Watch jump over an odd black spot on the ground, which Dillon assumed was slippery oil, so he jumped over, then jumped onto a platform before a car came. Once they were clear of the street, they were in the construction site. Game-and-Watch climbed a black chain onto the scaffolding, and Dillon followed. 2-D cranes were hauling platforms of what looked like steel beams either up-and-down or left-and-right, which the two had to use to jump across. As Game-and-Watch moved along weak parts of the walkway, holes fell open, so Dillon had to jump across.

Both players got onto a platform held by a crane and allowed it to lower them down. Mr. Game-and-Watch gestured for Dillon to come forward into a cave, and the boy was eager to follow.

Dillon followed Game-and-Watch down a long, straight corridor that led to a thin, towering doorway. The Program stopped before the doorway and turned to face Dillon. "So, where are we?"

Game-and-Watch made more arm gestures and pointed at the door.

"What? This altar has been here since the very beginning of virtual existence?"

More beeps, bops, and 2-D gestures.

"Inside is The Source of all pixelated imagery itself?"

"Oh, IS IT, now?" Dillon gasped at the sudden high-pitch voice. "These last-year Programs were more helpful than I realized!" Dillon turned and glared as XANA himself stepped forward.

"What're you doing here?" Dillon asked.

"Nothing goes on in the Internet without my knowledge. I followed you two into this zone of old-timey gaming. And now I see it's purpose." XANA observed the big door behind Dillon. "So, this door houses The Source of all computers and Programs everywhere. To gaze upon its beauty has always been my dream! STEP aside, kid!"

"Hey!" Dillon was smacked out of XANA's way as the Program charged for the door. Game-and-Watch stepped out of the way himself as XANA pressed his hands against the double-doors. Using all of his strength, XANA shoved the doors clear open. His eyes fixed on a single light that shone from the ceiling onto a small pedestal. He hurried down the walkway, and that which he long sought sat before him.

"I don't… believe it… The Source of all virtualization itself! BEHOLD!" Seated upon the pedestal was a teeny-tiny pixel. "So much detail…" XANA spoke, eyes wide as he stared in pure amazement, "Such a marvelous figure, too amazing even for words. We stare into the eyes of the God of Virtualization itself." XANA paced around the pedestal that rested the pixel. His head still loomed close to the speck-sized figure. "From this marvelous beauty came all that we know and will know in the virtual realm." XANA picked the pixel up between his fingertips. The tiny pixel was as big as his pointy fingertips, and his dark blue eyes were massive in comparison as he held it close. "Imagine all of the knowledge of the ages… in this one little speck."

"Why do you want that little pixel?"

"Oh, doesn't it? Then I suppose you know what to do with such a gem. A simple user."

"Well… I…" Dillon shook it off. "Vanellope told me you've been mean to her! Why should I let you have this?"

"Why do you think? I only search for the code to my freedom because I feel it may help me in curing Vanellope's curse. I wish to be released into the human world, and I intended Vanellope to come with me! Isn't that what you want, boy?"

"Um…"

"Only an intelligent and powerful Program like myself can understand its complexity. With The Source's power, not only could the both of us enter the human world, but Vanellope would be cured. Wouldn't you love to have her with you?"

"Well, yeah… I think my friends would really like her."

"GREAT! Then I'll just take this and get to work immediately. You've done me a wonderful service, my boy!" XANA patted Dillon's back and walked away. "A most wonderful service, indeed!"

A confused Dillon shrugged and headed out of the Flat Zone. Mr. Game-and-Watch only rang loudly and fainted.

Sector V Treehouse

By the time the sun was setting, Dillon rematerialized in the Mission Prep Room and unhooked the H.E.A.D.-S.E.T. from the treehouse's computer. "Aah!" Dillon yelped, suddenly noticing his friends glaring at him with angry looks, holding their respective gaming consoles and devices which Dillon stole.

"Our stuff is all glitchy." Chris stated. "Mind explaining?"

"Dillon, what've you been doing up here?" Haruka asked.

"I haven't been doing anything." Dillon said, walking past them. "Anything you guys would take interest in." On his way out, Kirie Beatles got in his path and began making sign movements with her hands.

Dillon, if you're upset about something, you can tell me. I'm not all MEAN like these jerks.

"It's late, Kirie, maybe we'll go to the amusement park later." With that, Dillon walked by the mute girl.

…Kirie looked with disbelief.

"Anyway, I'm going home. Later, guys." The kids watched as the door shut behind him. They looked worriedly at their treehouse computer.

XANA's Domain

"Ooooh-hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo!" XANA cackled as he and Vanellope arrived back at his lair, the villain holding the pixel between his fingertips. "Tricking that child was far too easy!" The robot sat in his throne and opened the computer keyboard in his chest. "With this Source, I will possess unlimited knowledge and power over computers EVERYWHERE! No longer will I be forced to reside within the infernal network of a bunch of babies! After 50 long years, I can control ALL networks, and free myself! There are legions of Programs out there, Vanellope, and I am the grand Programmer!"

"Uhh, wouldn't the 'Programmer' person be the one who created you?" Vanellope asked.

"It's basically the same as saying 'Program King,'" XANA corrected, "like how Darkrai's the Nightmare King. Darkrai IS the king, but he was created by Arceus, yet no one calls Arceus the Nightmare King."

Vanellope smirked. "You sorta just implied that the humans are a lot higher up than you."

"Bzzzt-zzt-zzt! THAT'S NOT THE POINT! Now shut up and let me insert this pixel! The ultimate source of knowledge I have sought for decades," XANA said, holding the pixel closer to his eye, "is just in the tips of my fingers! In ya go, now!" The MCP inserted the pixel into a small slot on his keyboard and closed his chest. XANA's face fell frozen as a series of numbers and other symbols began blinking across his screen, his eyes becoming dizzy from being so close. "Yeees, yes, that's beautiful. Now be a good Source, my tiny little pixel, and show me the code to freedom!"

The series of symbols disappeared on XANA's face as it seemed like words were about to type. "This is it! Get ready, Vanellope! The code is mere syllables away!"

Vanellope rushed to the computer by the wall and readied to type. Before XANA's very eyes, the code made itself known: XANA XANA XANA.

"… …" XANA fell speechless. The large domain was very quiet. Vanellope stared with curiosity, waiting for XANA to speak. "YOU MEAN ALL I HAD TO DO WAS TYPE MY FREAKING NAME THREE TIMES?!"

"Hey! It's like Beetlejuice!" Vanellope said.

"WHO'S THE BLOCKHEAD THAT CAME UP WITH THIS INFERNAL CONTRAPTIOOON?!"

"Uuuh, Tim Burton?"

"Oh! Well, that works." XANA smiled. "Alright, type it up."

Vanellope quickly typed the code into the terminal and pushed 'Enter.' Already, the central core that was connected to XANA brimmed with a powerful light that could be seen across the vast reaches of Cyberspace. XANA's wicked cackle echoed across the realm.

York Household, next morning

When the sun began peeking in Dillon's room, the shadowbender awoke and rubbed his eyes. He excitedly grabbed the H.E.A.D.-S.E.T. and ran downstairs, eager to go back to the cyber dimension. "Today's the day!" he exclaimed. "XANA has to be finished downloading that pixel by now!"

Upon his exit, Dillon heard his wristwatch beeping and looked to find Chris's face appear on the tiny screen. "Dillon, grab your S.C.A.M.P.E.R. and get up to Moonbase! There's crud going on, and you need to see it."

When the transmission ended, Dillon put on a look of worry and hurried to his S.C.A.M.P.E.R..

KND Moonbase

When Dillon arrived at the Moonbase, he took land beside the C.O.O.L.-B.U.S. that belonged to his sector. His friends were already standing outside waiting for him. They seemed to glare angrily as Dillon stepped off his ship. "Hey, guys. Is… something wrong?"

"Let us just show you." Chris said as they walked toward the bridge.

Dillon gasped in absolute shock as the Moonbase was overrun by all of XANA's monsters. Operatives either ran from them or tried to fight them in all the destruction, but evil Programs ran amuck and changed all of the terminals to show images of Eyes of XANA, and hung posters that read Hail XANA, which showed Eyes of XANA as well. XANA's maniacal face appeared on the large computer screen at Panini's station.

"Greetings, Kids Next Door! After 50 years of incarceration, I am pleased to announce that I am finally back to wreak havoc on you all for disabling my power. You have Operative Numbuh 13.2036, aka Dillon York to thank for giving me the means to restore my true power. The Kids Next Door's Internet system will come first, and will be followed by the rest of the world's cyber network. Today, you will ultimately see who the superior beings are, ahh HA HA HA HAA! This message is brought to you by the XANA Program Conqueration Foundation, and is responsible for all content, as well as the ultimate destruction of your organization. Thank you and have a nice day." The last two sentences were spoken really fast.

The Sector V group hurried over to Cheren, Panini, Francis, Zach, and Maddy, who watched the message up close. "I KNEW it!" Maddy exclaimed, pointing an accusing finger at Dillon. "I knew he was no good, and that little H.E.A.D.-S.E.T. just made him worse!"

"Dillon, was what that XANA thing said true?" Cheren asked.

"Well… yes, but I was only trying to help Vanellope! That guy tricked me!"

"Who the heck is Vanellope?" Chris asked.

"She's the Program girl I met in the virtual universe. And… there was also this MCP Program in there that was shut down or something, and I helped him get this pixel thing that could fix him and Vanellope, and-"

"Dillon, don't you think that Program was shut down for a reason?" Cheren asked. "He was a virus, a dangerous one, and that Vanellope girl was probably spawned from him."

"That's not true! She was sick, and XANA was helping her!"

"All these Programs look like monsters to me, and I say they have to go." Maddy stated.

"Grrrr." Dillon grinded his teeth in anger.

"Guys, leave Dillon alone." Haruka stated, walking beside her friend. "He was just doing something nice for a little girl. Isn't that the Kids Next Door's job, no matter the race?"

"Well… it's not the first time it's happened, I guess." Francis said.

"Panini, Francis, let's try and hack into the system and see if we can fight back." Cheren said. "The rest of you do what you can to keep back the invaders."

The three commanders hurried away, and the operatives focused sights on Dillon. "Anyway, the reason your devices were all glitchy was because I tried to download data onto the H.E.A.D.-S.E.T. and fix Vanellope's glitch. But just for the record, I probably wouldn't even have gone there if you guys weren't being such jerks."

"Well… we have been pretty preoccupied with stuff… and lazy." Aurora said sheepishly.

"All I've been doing is sitting on the couch playing videogames." Chris said.

"And drinking too much soda." Mason said guiltily. Sheila released a loud burp.

"Well, if you're done feeling guilty, we have a virus to stop." Maddy reminded.

"I have an idea." Dillon said. "Well, not really… but maybe I can hack XANA's system with the H.E.A.D.-S.E.T. and dismantle his programming."

"Hasn't that thing caused ENOUGH trouble?" Zach asked.

"Well, all of the computers are pretty much infected, so hacking into him might not be easy." Harry said.

"Then I'll have to confront XANA in the virtual world and try and hack him directly."

"It's probably dangerous in there, so I think I better go with you." Chris offered.

"And since we still don't really trust you, we're coming, too." Maddy stated.

"Wait, we're going in the game?! COOL!" Zach beamed.

"Guys, I… appreciate the offer, but I don't think I can bring ALL of us into the virtual world."

"Well, we could probably borrow the Code Module and hook it and the H.E.A.D.-S.E.T. to the Moonbase's hologram projector, allowing it to transport multiple people." Artie explained.

"I guess that's our plan." Chris figured. "The rest of you help fight the monsters. We'll do what we can to shut this Program down."

"Kids Next Door, LET'S GO CYBER!" Dillon raised his fists in excitement.

KND Cyber Network

The five operatives went along with the plan and were transported into the virtual city. "Whoa…" Chris and the others stared in wonder around the digital atmosphere. "If I knew about this earlier… games would be so much more epic."

"Meh, we live in a game already. And hey, I brought the H.E.A.D.-S.E.T. with me, too." Dillon said, holding the device in his hands. "I hope I can hack into XANA and disable him."

"Um… who's the black thing with the flamethrower?" Zach pointed out.

A few feet away, Mr. Game-and-Watch was burning XANA Creepers with a 2-D flamethrower, and bashing others with his hammer. "Hey, it's Mr. Game-and-Watch!" Dillon exclaimed.

When the gaming Program knocked out the last Creeper, he turned to Dillon and rang his loud bell. "What's he saying?" Maddy asked.

"He's saying the city's overrun. We… kinda figured that."

"Dillon!" Up ahead, Vanellope rushed toward them, her body glitching like normal.

"Is that your friend?" Chris asked.

"AHH, there's my favorite user!" XANA's image appeared on a giant holographic screen above them. "And he brought friends. Allow me to introduce you all to the Program who so cleverly tricked Dillon under my instruction."

"Tricked? Wait… you KNEW this would happen?" Dillon asked.

"Well, I-" she tried to speak.

"Of course she did! The only reason she befriended you was to get the freedom she so desperately desired. After all, a Program has far greater needs than meaningless friendship. But it seems that she was so glitchy that even such a task as this was far beyond her limit. And sadly, MY cyberspace has no room for faulty Programs, so Vanellope is scheduled for immediate de-rezzing. That is, as soon as I'm through with the rest of your organization. If you want to have a shot at de-rezzing me, come meet me in my lair. But it seems that hologram projector dropped you off a little too far. You'll have to fight your way across my glorious city if you wish to try. AIEEE HA HA, HA HAA!" The transmission ended.

"Vanellope, how could you trick me like that?" Dillon asked. "I thought you were my friend."

"I am your friend, Dillon! I wanted to fix my glitch so we could spend more time together, and I didn't think you'd help if you knew."

"Well, maybe you shoulda thought about it. Now the whole world's in danger because of me. A real friend wouldn't let that happen."

"I'm sorry, Dillon. I…"

"Shut up!" Maddy yelled, aiming a S.P.I.C.E.R. at her. "You're as bad as any other metahuman. Let's just forget this glitch and move on."

"Hey, does this place have any Yipper games we can go into?" Zach asked as they walked away and left the Program alone.

Vanellope's head hung low in sadness as she limped her way to an empty alleyway. The Program sat down with her back against the wall and sighed. She reached in her sweater pocket and held the power-drained pixel in her palm. She pinched the pixel between her fingertips and stared at it closely. It was hard for her to believe that something so tiny could cause so much chaos. Knowing what XANA was like, she should've expected something like this, and wishes she could've swiped it from his hands and disposed of it forever.

As a tear escaped from her eye, she noticed something strange about the pixel. Her huge eyes picked up a glowing spot on the tiny structure. She held it closer to her massive eye and observed it more closely. Indeed, there was a light blue glow coming forth from it. The glow seemed to grow bigger, and before Vanellope knew it, she was floating around in an infinite, dark blue cyberspace, surrounded by 0's and 1's, and many small computer screens. She stared in silence as black, robotic lifeforms that were about her height, with bent antennas, and big blue eyes, emerged out of thin space.

"Her past is inside…" They spoke in a monotone, alien-like voice.

"My what?" Vanellope questioned.

"Do not fear. We are Zoni. We are here to help you destroy it."

Vanellope remained confused as the lifeforms circled around her. They threw their hands open, catching the child in their beams of energy. Vanellope's eyes flashed open. Many memories began to flow through her mind, and she saw them all in her huge eyes. She saw herself racing across the Sugar Rush fields at high speed, a tyrannical virus king that removed her from her own game, another friendly Program with huge hands that helped her to restore her place, and a squad of Kids Next Door who stole her arcade game when the adults were about to shut it down.

All of the visions disappeared, her eyes still wide with shock as she found herself back in the alleyway. "It all makes sense now…" (Play "Access The Grid" from Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance.)

Stage 9: Cybernetic City

Mission: Make your way to XANA and shut him down!

The band of operatives began their venture down the first city street as a squad of XANA Tarantulas crawled toward them, already shooting lasers. The kids dodged the lasers as Dillon hid in his Shadow Veil and snuck below the first one, pulling it down with him and laying blows on it before tossing the defeated robot above the surface. Maddy rolled around and avoided another one's shots while Zach leapt up and smashed its head. Chris shot flames at another Tarantula as he made his way behind it to rip its head off. The last one kept trying to shoot Mr. Game-and-Watch, but the 2-D Program made quick dodges with his blinky animation and ran toward the robot, leaping above to smash a hammer in the robot's noggin.

The kids then approached an escalator that led to a much higher point in the city, allowing it to carry them up. They overlooked a great view of the lower parts as XANA's high-pitched voice could be heard over the intercom. "Attention prisoners of Cybernetic Prison. Anyone caught toying with Aura Knight figurines will be chopping virtual stones that never really break no matter how much you hit them. Also, will Kenkak Xefro please report to the northern wing? You have been relocated to Cellblock GE. Kenkak Xefro, to the north wing please."

The kids entered what appeared to be some kind of prison. As they passed through a hall of cells, a group of XANA Blocks crawled forward as one shot a freeze ray at Chris, freezing him solid. Another one shot fire rings at Maddy, who jumped through them before making it in front of the Block, shooting it dead in the eye. She fired her S.P.I.C.E.R. to unfreeze Chris, who then blocked a Block's freeze ray with his fire, shooting more flames to knock it out. Mr. Game-and-Watch bashed another Block's eye with his hammer before grabbing it by the legs and throwing it at the other one.

The kids proceeded to the massive central chamber, where large prisoner containers moved along a series of beams, from a central core to the many corridors of prison cells. They crossed the long, narrow bridge to the platform around the core as XANA Kankrelats popped out of boxes and crawled toward them. Chris, Zach, and Maddy easily shot them away with their weapons while Dillon and Game-and-Watch kicked the small robots over the edge. They headed over to a ladder and climbed to lower walkways of the core. They kept climbing down until they were above a line of prison containers. They dropped onto one of the containers and rode it along until they were inside the tunnel.

They stepped off on a platform that led outside to a docking area. They went down a few stairs to a platform along a digital river, where a submarine waited. "We can probably get across town in this." Dillon said.

"We're going underwater?" Maddy asked. "Um… can we not do that?"

"What's wrong with you?" Chris asked.

"Nothing… I get seasick, that's all."

They entered the submarine and submerged as they began sailing below the Digital Sea. The underwater was pitch-black, and they were only able to see using the submarine's headlights. Out of the darkness, a couple of XANA Kongres popped out, gnashing their huge teeth at the small sub. Dillon locked onto the weak spot on the robotic eels' tails and shot torpedoes at them to blow them up. "Since when do you know how to work a sub?" Maddy asked.

"Since I played Star Fox 64. It's basic N64 controls." Dillon replied.

A few groups of XANA Sharks swam over to try and snack on them, but Dillon was still able to shoot them away. When the monsters were cleared, their undersea voyage went along peacefully in the darkness for a few moments until the XANA Kalamar appeared from the darkness, stopping the sub dead in its track. Dillon kept locking on and shooting its core, but the robotic squid remained floating as it caught the sub between its legs. It activated the drill on its head and attempted to breech the hull, doing serious damage to the sub. Dillon switched on a shield and shook them away, afterwards continuing to fire on the central weak point. When the shield ran out, the squid being captured them again, but Dillon was able to land enough hits as the squid started exploding and sinking to the abyss, allowing the sub to keep moving. They drew closer to the surface and eventually resurfaced by the dock of another building.

"Ulp… BLEEHCK." Maddy barfed into the digital waters.

"Careful, Maddy, you'll glitch up the game." Chris remarked. The group of operatives proceeded up a staircase that led into the KNN News Network Station, which had the KNN logo in light blue, holographic letters rotating around the top of the building.

"Coming up at 11," XANA's voice announced, "how a totally awesome and badass supervillain can turn into such a joke so quickly through a fanfiction writer's terrible writing. Featuring, Yours Truly! HA HA ha haaa! Sigh, oh, how I envisioned my life this way, I will never know."

The kids entered the first hallway of the news station and were already led to a walkway over a vast chasm in a tremendous chamber where TV projections appeared all over the room. The screens showed previous news broadcasts with Eva & Kade and Melody & Danny, replaying various news stories such as when Sector Q beat Common Cold, or Fanny turning into a giant, or Nerehc's and Viridi's appearances. When they reached a circular platform in the center of the chamber, a bunch of XANA Hornets flew out, followed by a couple of Krabs, as they began shooting lasers at the group. Game-and-Watch flipped sausages while Chris shot fireballs to easily take out the Hornets. Dillon caught some Krabs in his Shadow Shockwave and wiped them out in one fell swoop.

After beating the monsters, a platform appeared to take the group over the chasm. As they slowly moved across, green barriers appeared to block their way. "We're going to crash! Zach, Maddy, shoot those barriers with your weapons."

"No, we were thinking of letting it crash." Maddy remarked as they were already shooting the barriers down. They were able to pass, but yellow barriers appeared in their way this time, but they were still able to blast them. As they were coming to some blue barriers, some XANA Mantas flew out from the walls, making hawk cries as they shot lasers at the group. Chris punched fireballs while Game-and-Watch batted baseballs to keep the Mantas away, leaving the siblings to shoot their path open. The Mantas kept coming as red barriers appeared in their path, but the firebender and game Program kept taking out Mantas and Zach and Maddy kept shooting them through.

When the platform came to a drop-off, the kids stepped off and continued onward to the Game Central Station. "Welcome back to Gaming Central News!" XANA's voice announced. "Another miraculous comeback of the Sonic Storybook Saga, thanks to Sega's new president and CEO, Kris Hallows. In other gaming news, game designer, Jared Warner is working on another project. A remake on world-renowned Zelda game, Majora's Mask. More details are to come after this break."

The inside of the Game Central Station appeared to be a vast virtual field of square tiles, and several Light Cycles were parked in a straight row. They each took a Light Cycle and began to speed across the fields, leaving a wall of light in their path. Already, Megatanks began to roll after them. They rolled ahead and emerged red barriers to get them to crash, but they immediately zipped and split up to the left and right. A group of Megatanks chased after Chris, but the Uno son swerved left and right and got them to crash into his light walls. Dillon sped up a ramp and performed several flips in the air, creating a light wall loop in midair. Maddy made her cycle leap and get onto Dillon's wall, driving along it and going around the loop as she caught up with the boy and began to drive alongside him.

A couple of Megatanks chased Maddy as the Decommissioning Officer shot her S.P.I.C.E.R. at them, but the hot-sauce weapon dealt no damage against the armored spheres. The robots began ramming her from both sides and knocking her around. "Hang on, Mad!" Chris yelled, speeding toward the Megatank on her left. He made a quick turn and caused the Megatank to crash. When the other Megatank sped ahead and created a barrier, Chris immediately pulled Maddy onto his bike and zipped to the left, letting Maddy's bike crash. "You okay?"

"I guess we're even now." Maddy said, holding onto him.

As a Megatank chased Dillon, the boy smirked before zipping by and crashing the tank in a dead end. Zach and Game-and-Watch rode by each other and exchanged glances as they were coming to a ramp. "Heh. Bet I can do a better flip than you."

Game-and-Watch smiled as he rode ahead and shot up the ramp. The Program kept a frozen pose as he flew through the air, his cycle making loops around him in a blinky fashion before landing back on the road. The midair light path that was left behind was curved like squares. "Pssh. I can do that." But when Zach sped forward to go up the ramp, the cycle flew across the air and landed perfectly on the road before keeping forward, while Zach slipped off and landed on the ground. "Oooog…"

The others zipped by as Dillon grabbed him and helped him onto the back of his cycle. The crew kept speeding along as they zipped left down a corner and approached the station's exit. Their cycles automatically slowed to a halt, allowing the group to step off and leave.

Upon their exit of the Game Station, the group arrived at a couple of curved walkways that led to a large ship with sails designed like solar panels. "Thank you all for choosing to ride the Solar Sailer. Our next stop is the Cyberspace Central Core. Please remember to keep all arms and legs inside, even though we move too slow for them to be blown off, and only digital cameras may be used for any photography. Film cameras are strictly prohibited, as our HD graphics are far too evolved. Thank yooou!"

The kids proceeded across the curved bridges as XANA Guardians, bubbles of digital energy, drifted toward them. Maddy shot at an approaching Guardian, but her shots missed as it expanded and encased her. Zach tried to shoot another, but ended up captured as well. Dillon expanded a Shadow Shockwave and sent Mario to attack Zach's prison, while Chris blasted Maddy's with fire, their elements laying waste to the digital bubbles before they vanished. A few more Guardians kept coming, but Chris set some on fire and caused them to retreat, while Dillon captured the rest in a Shadow Shockwave and wiped them out.

Finally, the kids made it to the Solar Sailer and allowed it to sail them away. They calmly sailed under the virtual skies for a few minutes until XANA Roachsters started to come onboard. This time, they were green and brown, and as the kids attacked them, the bugs started to beep and blink. In seconds, the Roachsters exploded, blowing the heroes back. When more Exploding Roachsters crawled onboard, the kids backed away and shot them from a safe distance, letting them explode out of range.

Once they were gone, a couple of Scyphozoa floated onboard. Chris and Maddy fired at the squid Programs, but their attacks did little damage against them as one wrapped its tentacles around Chris. It began sucking out his memories, and before Maddy could shoot it, she had to flip and dodge the tentacles of the other squid. Mr. Game-and-Watch leapt in the air and slashed Chris free with his 2-D sword. The other Scyphozoa caught Dillon, but he slipped away in his shadow form and floated onto its dome. He latched a timed M.A.R.B.L.E. to its head and flew away, the micro bomb beeping wildly before it blew the glass dome up. The remaining Scyphozoa still tried to grab Chris, but the Uno son grabbed and swung upward using its tentacles before tossing a M.A.R.B.L.E. at the dome, blowing it up.

Their sailing continued peacefully for another few minutes. However, the kids toppled over when the Sailer suddenly quaked and stopped in place. Immediately, the Kolossus' mighty form made itself known as it climbed up the front of the solar-powered vessel. The beast raised its massive fist and brought it down, but the kids rolled out of the way. Zach and Maddy began shooting at the target that was on its head, but the Kolossus swept its arm across the deck and smashed them into a wall.

Game-and-Watch got onto its arm and ran up to its head, using his 2-D flamethrower to blow fire in its eye. Chris noticed a similar target on its left elbow and blasted flames at it. The Kolossus seemed to feel the pain as it roared and blew the kids away. It pounded its right fist onto the deck and created shockwaves, while also taking swings at the group with its left sword arm. Dillon flew onto its head and blew Shadow Breath in its eye, blinding its vision. He went back to the deck and tossed M.A.R.B.L.E.s at its arm target, while Chris set fire to its head. The Kolossus roared and waved its arms in the air as it plummeted to the ground. The virtual earth trembled down below upon his landing, and the Solar Sailer was off once again. (End song.)

"Phew, glad to have that over with." Chris sighed as he and the group kicked back on the deck of the Solar Sailer. "We just need to shut down XANA and get going."

"And just how are we going to do that exactly?" Maddy asked. "We don't even know if Dillon's H.E.A.D.-S.E.T. will work."

"Eh, my family's been known to take chances." Chris shrugged.

"Well, we know those demons certainly took their chances."

"You know what I mean."

"I still can't believe Vanellope tricked me." Dillon spoke sadly. "We had such a good friendship… I guess you really can't trust Programs."

XANA's Domain

The four operatives and Game-and-Watch finally made it, running into the cyber world's core as they stared up at the massive pole of energy that was XANA. The Master Control Program was back in his true form as the core, his face spiraling around as he flowed with even more energy. "XANA! We're here to shut you down!"

"Yeah, always polite to let them know ahead of time, Dillon." Chris remarked.

"Ewww! This is XANA?" Zach asked.

"Boy, it's ugly." Maddy said.

"So, this is the feeble resistance you have brought to me?" XANA asked, using his deep voice again. "Just what can a pack of mere users hope to do? I have evolved with a new form of power, far beyond your own. We Programs are the dominant beings now. We are advanced. You are superfluous."

The energy left the core, and XANA's face disappeared as it flowed down into XANA's robotic body. The computer screen came to life as the Program drew dual swords and readied for battle. "So I won't need my Master Form to do away with you." he said, back in his high-pitched voice. "Not even four humans and a worn-down game Program can shut ME down."

"Don't sell us videogame Programs so short." a voice said. The kids gasped in surprise and stepped aside when Vanellope entered the chamber, a smirk on her face.

"Vanellope?" Dillon questioned.

"I remember now! My name is Vanellope von Schweetz. Princess of the KND Cyber Network! During the beginning of the Seventh Age of KND, I was invented in an arcade game, where I was a princess. Another videogame Program, a rogue one, invaded my game and removed me from the programming, taking my place, and becoming a virus. But I was restored, and the evil virus was derezzed. Or so I thought. A small portion of his data stayed alive in the game. The arcade workers were about to shut down the game, but the Kids Next Door of that time saved me and stole the game. The Supreme Leader downloaded me onto their network and asked if I would run the cyber network as the Master Program, and I said 'yes'! The scientists then created an assistant Program and called it XANA. The small bit of data that was left of the virus possessed XANA, infecting XANA's mind and programming. Now, he wants to continue where he left off, but take his revenge on the human world, too. So he glitched me up and made me forget again, stealing what was supposed to be my own power. Isn't that right?"

"Ouui… it's true." XANA admitted. "I wasn't going to let a little brat steal my glory again. But when I began spreading my disease across the rest of the network, they shut me down and suspended me in here. And Vanellope locked herself away, too, so that her true power couldn't be used for evil. Then the Kids Next Door designed a more lifeless Master Program for their network. And all other treehouse computers were designed with the same amount of emotionlessness, that is, until Sector V's computer fell for Numbuh One 20 years ago. Love conquers all… even lifeless Programs, it seems. And it was Vanellope's sorrow and care for Dillon that brought life back to The Source and restored her memory. But when Vanellope disabled herself, she still kept a portion of that power sealed inside her. The power that I needed to free myself. So I brought her to existence, without her memory, to see if she could break the code that would restore my data. In the end, she couldn't, and it was Game-and-Watch who led me to The Source. But Cyberspace has no room for faulty Programs, now, does it?"

"Hey! Vanellope is just as awesome as anyone!" Dillon declared. "You were just jealous of her, and that's why you took her place. Whether she's broken or not, she still deserves her place."

"Really? Even after she betrayed you? She'll use her power to bring civilization to end if she could."

"She never betrayed me. She was just led down the wrong path. We've all had that problem…" Dillon smiled at Vanellope, who blushed.

"And besides, isn't destroying civilization what YOU'RE doing?" Chris asked.

"Looks like you're the only faulty Program around here." Maddy stated.

"Oooh!" XANA quivered in a sarcastic motion. "You're terrifying me with your determined stares! I can feel your anger touching my hard-drive. Heh heh…" his smirk returned, "emotions are what drive a human to destruction. We Programs have no real emotion. Ergo, we have the advantage."

"Yeah." Dillon said. "But humans have heart. If we put our hearts in it, we can accomplish anything. And that includes stopping you."

"Meh. You users never have anything new. Very well, then. It will be an honor to see what's left of your particles drift into digital nothingness." With that, the Program raised his right hand and snapped his fingers. Energy flowed from him into the core, restoring XANA's face on the beam of energy, while he still remained in his robotic form. (Play "The Encounter" from Kingdom Hearts II.)

The core was surrounded by a circle of square-shaped barriers. XANA leapt over the barriers and twirled his swords as the operatives readied for battle. "What's better than XANA… than TWO XANAs? HAH HA ha haa!"

Boss fight: X.A.N.A.

The kids flipped back when XANA began rapidly swinging his swords, with Zach and Maddy countering with the S.C.A.M.P.P. and S.P.I.C.E.R.. XANA twirled his blades and defended as the Core XANA zapped electric beams and stunned the two officers. Mr. Game-and-Watch tried bashing XANA with his frying pan, but he flipped overhead and avoided. Dillon used Veil and crept up to XANA, but when he popped out, XANA turned ghostly and slipped behind him, grabbing his shirt-collar and zapping him with electricity.

The robot was suddenly pounced by Vanellope from behind as she grabbed onto his head and tried to get him to malfunction. XANA shook her off, but was too late to defend as Dillon leapt and kicked him dead in the face, bouncing him back as his keyboard opened up. Mr. Game-and-Watch then walked over and poured 2-D water onto his keyboard, causing him to short-circuit. "Aerrgh! Error… detected!"

"Great, now let's attack the core." Chris ordered. He began launching fire while Zach and Maddy fired their weapons at the gigantic face, although the attacks didn't seem to phase him. XANA's barriers spun around and launched lasers all around, blowing the kids away.

"Is that the best the users can do? My programming is far superior than lesser beings."

"At this point, I'd welcome a soda to accidentally spill on the keyboard." Zach said.

"Me, allow me to repair your data." The Core XANA sent a wave of energy to repair his robotic self.

"Oh! Why, thank you, Me!" XANA smiled to him. The robot grinned evilly and performed several flips before landing in the center of the kids, doing a spin-kick and knocking them down. "It's no use! My self is powered by The Source, there is no way you can win!"

"Guess again!" Vanellope declared, suddenly glitching onto XANA's head. Her form sparked a little bit, causing XANA's screen to become all fuzzy. Mr. Game-and-Watch hurried over to pound XANA's legs and was able to knock him out.

"Core Chamber Southeast Corner, Deletion." XANA commanded. Right away, a chunk of the floor vanished into pixels where Dillon was standing, causing him to fall into the pit.

"Hold on!" Vanellope bounced her way down the sides of the ledges. She was able to reach and grab Dillon before turning into pixels and zipping them back to the foothold.

"Alright, Vanel!" Dillon cheered.

"I have an idea! Toss me the H.E.A.D.-S.E.T.!" Dillon did so and tossed his friend the H.E.A.D.-S.E.T. as she placed it on her head. "And someone get rid of those barriers."

Mr. Game-and-Watch smiled and beeped as he pulled out a 2-D chainsaw to begin sawing a barrier, while Chris and Maddy had the other ones. "What are you doing?"

"H.E.A.D.-S.E.T., activate!" Dillon cheered, flipping a switch.

Vanellope faced the Core Program as she called, "Data Download Initialized!" Her form and the H.E.A.D.-S.E.T. became pixelated and glitchy as an energy beam was released at the very thin core between XANA's lower and upper halves. The massive core started flashing with electricity as its eyes and mouth grew wide with pain, the entity screaming as it was being glitched. Sparks flew all around the room until XANA was able to release one at the kids, blowing them back. The Program spun around as it recharged itself, gasping for breath.

"Data downloaded 30%. Proceeding with further defense measures." The kids hurried away as part of the floor began exploding, and more of the foothold was destroyed. The robot XANA was repaired as he dashed along the wall, leapt high above the kids, and shot down with a shockwave, knocking the kids back, as his swords pierced the floor. XANA flipped over the edge and clung to the wall below as large smashers from the ceiling began shooting down around the foothold and creating more shockwaves that knocked the kids around.

XANA flipped back up to slice Vanellope, but she glitched away as Chris pounded him with fireballs. XANA blocked the flames and slide-kicked Chris off his feet, and when Zach and Maddy tried to blast him, he dashed up the wall and tossed his swords down like boomerangs to slice their clothing, the swords then flying back to his hands. He dropped down and slammed his blades to the floor, sending a straight shockwave to knock Dillon back. Maddy leapt on XANA's back from behind and tried to pull his head back. While he was distracted, Mr. Game-and-Watch opened his keyboard and punched in random keys, causing the robot to cease motion as his screen filled with the various symbols.

When Chris attempted to throw flames at one of the barriers, they already started spinning and blocking any fire. The Core XANA then started making certain rows of the floor electrify, forcing the kids to jump around to safer ground. When the spinning barriers started slowing, they began to fire lasers along the wall, but Mr. Game-and-Watch took out a 2-D bucket of glue and started dumping it on the incoming walls, blocking the lasers. When the barriers stopped spinning, Vanellope pressed her hand against one and made it glitch out.

"Let's go again!" Vanellope cheered as Dillon tossed her the H.E.A.D.-S.E.T.. "Download reinitialized!" The beam of energy connected with the center and began dealing damage to XANA again. Sparks flew everywhere from his glitchy body as his face swirled around in all of the static. After a while, Vanellope ran out of strength, cancelling her download as her body glitched and she gasped for breath.

"Further damage exceeded at 67%. Initiating defense measure Level 3."

"Buuurr! Do something, you useless big lug!" the robot XANA yelled.

"Don't yell at me, I'm you. Why don't YOU pull your weight more? Annihilate that Program."

"Blll, 'Why don't you pull your weight more,' blah blah blah? Bah!" XANA raised his swords and leapt at the Program child, rapidly swinging his blades as Vanellope dodged. When he tried to stab down at her, Vanellope glitched behind him and ran down the walkway. XANA tossed electrical mines at her, but she kept glitching through them as she ran, but came to a halt when she arrived at the foothold's ledge. XANA charged and attempted to slice her, but Vanellope glitched upward and clung to the wall. XANA jumped after her, but she zipped to the other side of the room, so XANA shot over, but she zipped to the ceiling, then the floor, then across the room again before clutching to the ceiling.

She noticed XANA suddenly disappeared and looked around for him, but the hostile Program had become a ghost as he snuck over, returned to normal, and grabbed Vanellope on the ceiling. "Gotcha! Now I'll glitch you out, Princess!" He shot over to high above the foothold and twirled in the air before shooting directly down. As they fell at high speeds, Vanellope smirked and glitched away from his grasp, and XANA's face was met with Mr. Game-and-Watch's giant bell. XANA's head vibrated for a few seconds before he fainted. Game-and-Watch rung his smaller bell in victory.

"Initiating fire walls." Core XANA called as a huge wall of pixelated fire rose up from the left of the team. The group hurried away from the fire wall, which already disappeared, but XANA then called, "Eliminate northwestern corner." At that instant, the floor disappeared from beneath their feet. Mr. Game-and-Watch dropped lower down the pit, and before their eyes, the 2-D Program transformed into a large, 2-D black octopus, catching the heroes in his pixelly tentacles.

"What's this?!" XANA exclaimed.

"Whoa! Didn't know he could do this." Dillon said.

"He says it takes power and he normally uses it once." Vanellope replied. "Quick, toss me the H.E.A.D.-S.E.T.!" Dillon did so as Vanellope caught the device in her hand. She placed it on and took aim at the central weak spot where the Eye of XANA was located. "Download reengaged. Take this!"

The energy beam locked with the Eye and started to malfunction XANA again. His body started blinking on and off, more digital static flashing across him. By the time the download was at 80%, Vanellope was feeling weak, her body sparking as she struggled to stand. "You will not infect me… your limit is nigh."

"C'mon, Vanellope, hang in there!" Dillon encouraged. "You may be a Program, but you have as much human spirit as the rest of us. And when you have spirit, you have no limit! Only when you've reached your goal, and more."

Hearing these words gave Vanellope the energy to keep standing. Her body kept glitching, but she kept focusing energy into XANA. "Download at 95%. 97%. 99… 99-and-a-half… 99-and-three fourths… 99.977147234126-"

"JUST LOAD THE CRUDDY THING ALREADY!" The operatives yelled.

"100%." (End song.)

Vanellope instantly stopped the download as XANA's form began to glitch more than ever. "Data error. Virus detected. Losing… e…e…n…y…y…"

The floor around the chamber returned, allowing the kids to step off for Game-and-Watch to change back. XANA's form continued to sizzle with static, his face making several twitches. "Virus error increasing. Transfer to counter-virus. Counter-virus infected. Send in emergency defense hamsters. Defense hamsters caught diseases. Numbers are dropping. Attempting to retouch with Photoshop tools. Tools rusted. Edit using auto-correct. Auto-correct broken. Always was, in fact. Energy levels decreasing. Life-force of minions decreasing. Deep, serious voice decreasing. High-pitched voice catching cold. I-… Cough, heck, hack!" He was using his high-pitched voice. "Oh, I feel so… sniff. Eck. Oh, Motherboard, is that you? I think I have a fever… cough. Ol' fever for poor Xannypoo… shopping online for medicine. Enter street address, email, and phone number. Site deemed untrustworthy. Internet Explorer cannot access webpage. Internet access… failing… failing… failing… failing…"

"…"

"…"

The chamber was slowly becoming dark as XANA's color was fading out.

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

Good-bye.

The powerful entity instantly vanished in a flash. The robotic body of the devious Program was drained of all energy, its face blanking into a black screen as it wobbled and fell over the edge. They watched as the body dropped into the pit and exploded into digital nothingness.

Vanellope gasped for breath as she removed the H.E.A.D.-S.E.T.. "Hey… I did it!"

"Yeah! And with your glitch, too!" Dillon exclaimed.

"I did, didn't I?" Vanellope smirked, observing her left hand. "I almost forgot how useful this was." She sparked. She turned to Dillon and said, "But listen, Dillon… I'm sorry about tricking you before."

"Hey, no sweat. Especially after you kick major butt! You're like… a glitchbender!"

"Glitchbender… I like it!" Vanellope perked.

"So, you were the real MCP," Chris said. "Then I guess this means the network belongs to you."

"Hey, if you stick around to run it, you can probably get to know everybody!" Dillon said.

Vanellope walked forward, looking away in thought. "Well… I guess I should just to make sure XANA doesn't try to come back. But then again… getting to know everybody wouldn't be fun unless I was actually there to meet them. I really wish there was a way I could enter your world…"

"Well, with the H.E.A.D.-S.E.T., anything is possible." Dillon said. Mr. Game-and-Watch smiled and made ringing sounds.

"You mean we're gonna have ANOTHER mutant running around?" Zach whined. Angered, Dillon's shadow rised up and smacked the boy, pushing him into the pit. "Waaaaaahh!"

"Umm… will he be okay?" Maddy asked.

"Oh, yeah, sure. He has a few extra lives." Vanellope said.

Sector V Treehouse, Mission Prep Room

"Download at 95%. 97%. 99. Download complete. Enjoy your new friend."

The Sector V team stared in amazement as Vanellope's form slowly generated in the hologram projector. When the green scans vanished, Vanellope opened her wide eyes. She stared in awe around the room, totally different than what she was used to in the virtual world.

Dillon stepped forward and said, "Vanellope von Schweetz, welcome to-"

"AWW, THIS IS SO AWESOME!" Vanellope excitedly began zooming around the room, touching all of the various contraptions. "What's dis do, what's THAT do, what does this thing do, OR this thing?"

"Well, we always needed another one." Mason said sarcastically. This made Sheila grin.

"She's got more energy than GIR." Aurora said. She smiled when Mr. Game-and-Watch touched her shoulders from behind, making beeps and boops.

"So, are we gonna keep them here?" Chris asked.

"Nah, I'll let 'em stay at my place." Dillon said. "I've always sort of wanted a sister… and a pet."

Mr. Game-and-Watch made a questioning beep.

XANA's Old Domain

The circular chamber remained in darkness, the only light coming from the infinite abyss. Within the digital nothingness, a series of pixels came together, slowly forming the robotic body of XANA. Reboot at 5%… 7%… Several cracks and holes covered the Program as his arms weakly reached above the pit, clutching the wall and doing his best to climb up.

"Huff… that boy's H.E.A.D.-S.E.T.… is imbued with Vanellope's data." He barely reached the top of the foothold as he grunted, "I… must… have it…?" A metal hand reached down to help him up. XANA looked questioningly at the shadowed, robotic figure, his glowing red eyes revealing his smirk, and the stranger's butler standing behind him.

So yes, introducing Vanellope Schweetz from Wreck-It Ralph! ^.^ And of course XANA from Code Lyoko and Nintendo's very own Mr. Game-and-Watch.