Reboot: ReJuvenated - Season 1

by Izztreme

Chapter 2: Cooking Gamma

Summary:

The main gang have to play a café competition game against an interesting user, while Dot has a conflict with the new Web Sprites

Notes:

Eat Bats. Live.

(Intro is the same as previous, with a couple of differences.

Red and Raspberry are now part of the intro.

During the silhouette part, Raspberry floats down the cliff after Bob and Enzo, while Red trips up and crashes into Dot, causing them to both fall off the cliff.

That’s it for differences.

 

A shot of Dot’s Diner is shown. Dot is spraying Red with discolored water from a hose, while Red is flailing about in distress and doing…very little else. Shows Enzo and Bob walking up to the diner, with the latter carrying a red and pink gift basket, with red and pink eyeliner to match. )

Enzo: Oh man! I can't wait to see what new adventures we're going to have now that two Web Sprites are moving… (notices what Dot is doing) in…. Uh, Dot? What are you doing?

Dot: This red glitch won't go away, so I'm spraying him with dirty brown water.

Red: Joke’s on you, I like getting sprayed!

Dot: (turns off hose to increase the pressure) Would you keep that to yourself!?

(Dot resumes spraying Red at the last syllable, this time with a stronger blast.)

Enzo: Wait! Dot! (moves his sister's hand holding hose) Stop! You wouldn't want to keep spraying a new citizen of Mainframe, would you?

Dot: (rolls eyes) Enzo– (quickly shakes head) Wait what!? What did you just call him!?

Red: (jumps up) A new citizen of Mainframe ! Really, Dot, have you not heard?

Dot: Of course not! You just got here yesterminute! And why the Net would I want to live in the same system with this pest !?

Red: Aaaaw, come on, Dotty. You'll come around to me~.

Dot: (increases the pressure again) Don't call me (resumes spraying Red, knocking him down) Dotty !

Bob: (walks over and moves her hand) I would suggest you cease.

Dot: Why should I? He's just going to be another annoying stain on Mainframe like Mike!

Enzo: Maybe we can give Red a chance. I mean, sure, he's not exactly the best person to be around, but I think he might have a kind heart hidden underneath.

(Red floats up and does a little cutesy pose, complete with a halo appearing on his head. Dot stares at both of them with an unamused expression, before immediately turning up the pressure to max and blasting Red away with a short yet powerful burst of water.)

Dot: Where’s Raspberry? I want to talk to her about..all of this.

Bob: She's currently with Blinn, finalizing their moving plans.

Enzo: You’re not going to try and get them to go away, are you?

Dot: Look, I'm fine with Raspberry living here, but Red has got to go !

(Red decides to get up and walk over to the trio, with an annoying smile on his face.)

Red: Well, I have to say I could get used to a dingy place like this diner.

Dot: Excuse me? My diner is not dingy….

(Enzo frantically shakes his head at Red, trying to signal to him to stop.)

Red: Really? Because it certainly feels that way. I mean, come on! It's so small and looks like something from the 50s. I expect a little more from someone who classifies herself as a business woman.

(As Red continues to speak, Dot gets progressively angrier and angrier, until…)

Dot: YOU SPAMMY SON OF A BI–!!

 

(As Dot lunges at Red, it quickly cuts to the Principal Office. Raspberry walks down the giant hall to the pink door. She tries to knock, but hesitates for a moment. They have done this song and dance so many times, but almost none of the systems they’ve crossed wanted them in. Most of it stemming from them being Web Sprites and the firm belief that the Net and the Web should never mix. And if it’s not that, well…Red usually presents problems. Despite that, she still loves her brother and they’re a package deal, not something people want to accept. And if those things aren’t the problem…it’s the reason why they’re trying to hide. But she can’t hold off on it for too long. She still tries to find a home regardless of the hardships, and she will still keep carrying on until she finds the perfect home for them.

She finally knocks on the door after a long moment, expecting it to open to a large empty office.)

Blinn: Oh modem! Coming right down, darling!

(Raspberry tilts her head at that voice. That wasn’t a voice she came to expect when it came to system leaders. But even so, she still kept her formal behavior, still thinking it’ll be someone serious, if a bit laid-back. The door slid open and Raspberry straightens her posture, in an attempt to appear presentable. She tenses up as she awaits the system leader, only to be met with a ball bouncing down the stairs. Raspberry stares at it with pure confusion. Blinn pops out of ball form and looks up at Raspberry, trilling with curiosity at the new sprite.)

Blinn: Oh my, I’ve never seen you before. Are you new here?

Raspberry: Well..um..me and my brother are looking to move into Mainframe. Is your system leader here, by any chance?

Blinn: (chuckles) Oh you silly goose! I am the system leader! I know, it’s surprising, isn’t it?

Raspberry: O-oh! My apologies! I didn't mean to imply–

Blinn: Oh don’t get so high strung about it. I never look the part, and it brings me great joy to see new faces around. (hops onto the slide) Follow me, sweetie. I'll bake us some cookies before we have a talk.  

(Blinn rolls up the slide, and Raspberry stands there for a moment, watching her go. She never came across someone like her before. She seems sweet and welcoming. Maybe this will finally be the moment they can have a place to call home? Only one way to find out. Raspberry takes a small hop to start floating, and flies up the stairs. She enters the office space, which is nothing like how she expected to be.

The interior looks like the inside of a cabin. The walls are dull shades of orange, pink, and brown. There's a dining table in the middle with a white table covered in pink paw prints and lace at the bottom. Hanging above is a chandelier with various yarns and cat toys tangled within it. And besides the dining table, all against the wall, is a red and white polka-dotted kitchen on top of a counter. Raspberry had come to expect offices to be cold, detached, and empty feeling. But this place…it was warm, inviting, and full of life. A welcoming change from what she knew during their system hopping journey.

Blinn is rushing around the kitchen, gathering up ingredients for some cookies and begins to make the batter. She looks behind her to see Raspberry standing there, admiring the interior.)

Blinn: (giggles) Don't just stand there, darling. Go on! Have a seat!

Raspberry: (snaps back to reality) Oh! My apologies.

(Raspberry goes to sit at the table. As she lovingly admires the tablecloth, Blinn pulls out a big box of raspberries. She looks over at Raspberry and seems to instantly get an idea of what cookies to make.)

Blinn: Pardon me, but do you happen to like raspberries?

Raspberry: Heh heh. Well, my name is Raspberry Pi. I don’t intend on making that a secret.

Blinn: Hoo hoo hoo! And would you like white chocolate too?

Raspberry: I would, if you insist.

(Blinn quickly pulls out a bag of white chocolate chips and pours some of it and the raspberries into the batter. After fully making the dough, she rolls it up into little balls, puts them on a tray, and slips them into the oven. She then hops onto the table and rolls over to Raspberry.)

Blinn: So, mind telling me why you're moving here?

Raspberry: I..I prefer not to say right now. We've been kicked out many times before for that reason.

Blinn: Oh, I'm sure it's not that bad. We have many people who come here for different reasons. Some just want a new place to live, others just like the small system’s community. And there are those, who I'm not going to reveal, who are in hiding.

(Raspberry’s eyes widen upon hearing the last sentence.)

Raspberry: You have people in hiding?  

Blinn: (tilts head with a trill) Is there a problem with that?

Raspberry: O-of course not! I’m just..surprised, is all. Most systems I’ve come across don’t like that type of thing.

(The oven dings and Blinn hops onto the counter and rolls over to the oven.)

Blinn: Well, unlike those systems, (opens the oven, puts on oven mitts, and pulls out the tray) I personally believe that Mainframe is a place (closes oven and hops over to the table) for everyone to live. (pours cookies on the plate) Any reason, barring some exceptions, is perfectly valid to move to this little system of ours. So, (takes off mitts and turns to Rasberry) are you willing to tell me why you’re moving in now?

(Raspberry seems nervous about the prospect, not being helped by Blinn bringing out her pleading kitty face, the only time her always closed eyes actually open .)

Raspberry: Can…can I go get Red? He’s probably causing some trouble around town already. (gets up from the table) I shouldn’t have left him all by himself.

Blinn: Alright, dear. Perhaps it’ll be easier with both you and your brother in the room.  

(Raspberry turns to leave through the door…)

Blinn: And Raspberry….

Raspberry: (looks back at Blinn) Yes…?

Blinn: Don’t be so worried about telling me. I’ll understand whatever reason you have. And I'll make sure these cookies stay warm for you until you come back, alright, sweetie?

Raspberry: (smiles) Alright. I'll be back as soon as I can.

(Raspberry flies back downstairs as Blinn waves goodbye to her. As the pink Web Sprite reaches the bottom of the steps, she feels something she hadn't truly felt before.

Hope. Hope for a better future for her and her brother. Hope for a true sense of community with the Net beings. Hope..for a safe place to live after so long…. She should probably find Red now before this feeling gets shattered.

She flies out of the office in search of Red.

 

Cuts back to the diner, where chaos is occurring. Bob is restraining Dot while Red is hiding behind Enzo, who’s spreading his arms protectively. Dot is struggling against Bob’s restraint, snarling and punching and smacking Bob in order to let her go, though it doesn’t have any effect on him. )

Dot: Let me at him! Let me at him!  

Enzo: D-D-Dot! Please! Just-just calm down!

(Raspberry floats down into the scene just in time to see the chaos.)

Raspberry: (sighs) I see that things haven’t changed as quickly as I hoped.

Enzo: Raspberry!

(Enzo runs up to Raspberry and glomps her, though it doesn’t knock her down as it would normally do, it just simply pushes her back slightly. Bob looks over, which causes them to drop their guard just enough for Dot to push them back and lunge at Red. A cartoon cloud of fighting ensues, though mostly one-sided in Dot’s favor. )

Enzo: So, did you do it!? Are you finally a citizen of Mainframe!?

Raspberry: Not quite yet. I just came around to pick up Red. I feel it would be easier to finish up with us both in the room.

(The cartoon dust cloud settles, showing Dot with her foot on a beaten up Red. She looks at Raspberry with an angry scowl.)

Dot: Maybe you should leave this gnat behind and just move in by yourself.

Raspberry: Unfortunately, I cannot. Me and Red are a package deal.

Red: Yeah! Package deal!

(Dot kicks Red on the “chin”, whatever you can call a chin on a tv, anyway, and goes over to Raspberry.)

Dot: Are you really a package deal?

Raspberry: (stands straight) Yes. And I’m sticking with it.

Dot: Well, if that’s the case, then you both should leave!

Enzo: Dot! I thought you said you’d be fine with Raspberry being here!

Dot: If it were her by herself! But since she wants to associate herself with that roach , she should go too!

Raspberry: (irritated tone) This is not your decision here, Dot. It’s purely on the system leader and whatever guardian resides within it.

(The group looks at Bob, who’s eyes quickly turn purple upon realizing the implication.)

Bob: Despite what you may believe, I’m not in charge of nor in any direct control of this decision. However, if I were, I’d still side with Raspberry. Even in spite of Red’s… (sees Red in a cheeky “draw me like one of your french girls” pose while spraying water on himself via hose) eccentricities.

Dot: Well, I’m not standing for it! Why don’t you move back to the Web 2.0 where you belong ?

(Raspberry seems very hurt by the statement. Enzo shares the same hurt feeling, while also seeming quite irked as well. Red covers his mouth, surprised by the drama happening here. Bob recognizes the expressions and decides to step in.

Bob: I would suggest you cease now. You don’t want to say something you will regret.

Dot: (pushes Bob back) Oh cease yourself! (gets closer to Raspberry) I don’t think low-life, random Web Sprites like them should be living anywhere inside the–!

(Enzo gets in between them, looking up at Dot with a tearful, pissed off expression. Dot realizes what she’s saying and backs off with regret. Then suddenly…)

System Voice: Warning. Incoming Game.

(The sky turns purple as a game cube falls down far away from the diner.)

System Voice: Warning. Incoming Game.

Dot: Well fuck. That’s just perfect.

Raspberry: Looks like we’ll have to put this conversation on hold. I hope you get time to change your mind.

Dot: Let’s just get this spam over with already…. Bob–

(She looks over to see that Bob has once again dashed off without the others.)

Dot: Oh for the love of–!

(Quick-cuts to Bob racing to the descending game cube on his zip-board. He keeps accelerating at an increasingly dangerous speed, until he eventually reaches a speed that causes him to trip up and fall off his zip-board. He lands on his feet and decides to dash the rest of the way there. Unfortunately, even with peak Sprite speed, it still wasn’t enough to reach the cube, and it settles down and locks in place. Bob looks up at it with light blue eyes, feeling that same severe disappointment the first time it happened. The rest of the group catches up with Bob, with Dot sighing with exasperation.)

Dot: Great…this will be the second time this half hour that happened.

Raspberry: Perhaps I may lead a hand. This is an old game, correct?  

Bob: (looks at her, eyes turned darker blue) Correct.

(Raspberry walks over to the cube. She looks over to Bob, who steps aside to give her space. She holds her hands over her gemstone(?), making it glow with power. She allows the power to flow into her hands as she draws a circle and sends it over to the cube. The circle carves itself into the game’s wall and creates a portal through it. The three Net Sprites are amazed by this sight, Enzo most of all.)

Enzo: (runs up to Raspberry) Alphanumeric! How’d you do that!?

Raspberry: With the power of my Web Stone. It’s the sole key to my power.

Enzo: (staring at Raspberry’s Web Stone with starry eyes) Can I hold it?

Raspberry: Perhaps another time. Right now, we must go through the portal before it closes. It won’t last long.

Red: WEB SPRITES FIRST!!

(Red rushes straight through the portal with little regard. Bob follows after, determined to win. Then goes Raspberry, with Enzo quickly tagging along. Dot tries to stop Enzo from going in, before freezing up and backing away in guilt. She already fumbled the bag, she can’t ruin things further. Being the last one left, she takes a deep breath and walks through the portal, which closes up behind her.

 

Fades to a close-up of Dot’s closed eyes. She opens them and quickly realizes…they’re all squished together inside a tiny kitchen.)

Bob: This is quite unfortunate.

(At this point, Enzo is pretty much suffocating. He quickly double taps his icon with a muffle “Reboot!” slipping his lips. He glows and shrinks as the rebooting process initiates, and he seems to be gone. A small, quiet panic erupts in the tiny kitchen as they wonder where Enzo is. The panic disappears as soon as it occurs when Enzo crawls up Dot’s leg, revealing he’s now a Sanrio-esc cat, wearing an orange frilly waitress uniform. Dot sighs with relief and double taps her icon.)

Dot: Reboot.

(Dot starts glowing and shrinking in the same vein as Enzo did. Enzo takes the opportunity to dash away and change clothes. Dot gets up and is shown to have rebooted into a Sanrio-esc bull in a chef uniform with green accents and a star on her chef hat. Red snickers upon seeing Dot’s new form and starts to poke her.)

Red: Aaaaaaw~! Look at you! So small and cute! Goochy goochy g–!

(Dot bites Red’s finger very, very hard, making him pull away with a yelp. She then crawls up to his icon and double taps it for him, causing Red to undergo the same process into a chibi version of himself, with his demonic-esc appearance more pronounced, complete with demon wings, and a chef uniform with red accents, and his Web Stone placed on his hat. Bob gets their turn, and it results in them becoming a Sanrio-esc rabbit in the same uniform with blue accents. Finally, Raspberry, who undergoes a similar transformation to Red’s, with her angelic-esc appearance becoming more pronounced and with angel wings, and wearing the same thing as everyone else, with pink accents this time and the same Web Stone placement as Red. 

Enzo comes running back wearing the male variant of the waitress uniform, which was less frilly and more like what a dashing gentleman would wear. Frisket follows after him, also a chibi with a fancy collar and a tray strap to his back. Dot tries to say something about this, but no words come out of her mouth. She tries yelling and screaming and shouting, but to no avail. Then Enzo taps her shoulder and points up at a green textbook with a flaming border around it, revealing one thing that rarely occurs when they reboot into these games…)

[Dot: Wait…WE CAN ONLY SPEAK IN TEXTBOXES!?! ]

[Bob: How unusual…. This rarely occurs in these games. ]

[Raspberry: This feels very unorthodox. How would we be able to speak to each other like this? ]

[Enzo: I'm sure we can figure something out. After all, it's not everyminute we play a game like this! This should be fun! ]

[Dot: At least I won't be hearing Red’s annoying voice anymore. ]

[Red: Annoying voice, eh? I think it sounds okay. Oo! That rhymed! ]

[Dot: And yet you have the worst font of us all…. Great…. ]

A/n: For context, this was written on Docs where I can change the fonts…and Red got Comic Sans. That’s all you need to know.

(Some clatters are heard outside the building and Frisket starts to bark.)

[Dot: Oh heeeee gets to make sounds! Not us! Okay! That's fair! ]

[Bob: Perhaps because he's the only true animal amongst us. Therefore he can't speak. ]

[Dot: Of course…. ]

[Raspberry: What’s going on out there? ]

[Enzo: Well, let’s go find out! ]

(The group peer out the doorway to the main dining area, where a group of opposing game Sprites are reeking havoc, being commanded by a Sanrio-esc panda. Dot, having gone through this at her own diner, stomps over to the raiding group, fire alighting her head as she stares at them with anger.)

[Dot: And what the Net do you think you’re doing!? ]

[Panda: Well hello there, Mr. Bull. Didn’t quite see you there. ]

[Dot: Excuse me!? I’m not a mister! I am a ma’am! ]

[Panda: Jeez…sorry lady. Hard to tell with all this chibi shit going on. Anyways, hope you don’t mind us redecorating this dump. It was looking a little drab. ]

[Red: Oh, that’s nice of you! ]

[Raspberry: Red, they’re destroying this place. ]

[Red: So? That’s how I do redecorating. ]

[Monkey: Enough chit-chat! Let’s get them! ]

(The Monkey is about to fight them, only for The Owl to hold him back.)

[Owl: No, Monkey. Now’s not the time! ]

[Monkey: Ah come on! ]

[Panda: Let’s just ditch these losers already. We got some other fish to fry. ]

(The opposing group race out of the café, laughing and cheering as they do, though The Dragon looks back sympathetically at them before following the others. Dot tries to give chase but Bob holds her back.)

[Dot: Hey! Let me at them! Those spamheads need to be taught a lesson! ]

[Bob: We are not sure of what game we’re in. We must be vigilant. ]

(Dot lets out a groan while Bob checks with Glitch on the game info.)

[Bob: Title: Happy Animal Café. Type: Children's Restaurant Competition. Objective: Complete four courses with a satisfaction rating higher than the opposition. Meanwhile, you have to play minigames to gain an advantage. And the only way to win is with a strong friendship.]

[Dot: User's name, that's cheesy…. ]

[Enzo: Huh. ] (takes Bob’s textbox for a closer read.) [ That doesn’t sound so hard. ]

[Bob: I appreciate your confidence, Enzo, but you must keep your diligence. ]

[Enzo: I know, I know. Not everything is as easy as it seems. You told me that 124 times already. ]

[Bob: And that seems to be enough times for you to remember without question. ] (pats Enzo’s head) [ Good job. ]

(Enzo smiles and purrs, feeling proud of himself. Suddenly, a loud bell rings through the café. Enzo covers his ears, wincing in pain.)

[Enzo: What’s that sound!? ]

[Bob: The first course has started. ]

[Raspberry: Already? But our café is a total mess. How are we supposed to deal with that? ]

[Dot: Enzo, you know how to fix stuff, right? ]

[Enzo: Um…yeah? Why–? ]

[Dot: Find a toolbox and repair these tables. I’ll take orders from the remaining tables until you’re done. ] (turns to the rest of the group) [ As for the rest of you, go do what you’re assigned to do by this game. And Red…you better not cause any trouble, you got me? ]

(Red half-heartedly nods.)

[Dot:] (claps her hands impatiently) [ Come on, people! Get to your posts! We don’t have time to just stand around! Customers are coming! ]

(Dot walks off to prepare for her part of the job. Raspberry stares at her with a surprise look on her screen.)

[Raspberry: I’m quite amazed at how quickly she adapted to this situation. ]

[Enzo: That’s my sister for you. She’s been in the business world longer than you could think. She’s pretty much been through everything…. ] (turns away from Raspberry) [ { I just wish she could be more accepting of my Web half…. } ]

(Raspberry sees that his inner thoughts are being projected on the textbox, but she decides not to mention it right now. Everyone part ways to do their thing. Raspberry, Red, and Bob walk into the kitchen and prepare the ingredients. Frisket stands by the service windows, sitting down and looking cute. Enzo looks around the storage and finds the pretty pink toolbox he needs. He grabs it and rushes over to the broken tables to start repairing. 

A small pink title with a fancy white border drops down from the sky, announcing the first round; Mid-Morning Tea Time. The first group of customers arrive, a licorice frog, a dingo space cadet, and claret dugong. Dot quickly moves over to them and gets them seated. The frog orders a latte, the dingo orders some karē, and the dugong orders a melon soda. Dot writes down the orders and dashes over to the service window, hanging the piece of paper onto the clothing line. 

Raspberry takes the paper and all three of the Sprites in the kitchen take a look at it. Bob takes charge and directs the two Web Sprites to make the drinks while he makes the karē. The two siblings nod and head over to the drink station. Raspberry handles the latte, using the coffee machine to pour some out. She then decorates the foam with a picture of an icon on it, which rewards her with style points, displayed with a small effect of fireworks and star-shaped confetti. Red handles the melon soda, pouring some of the fizzy green drink into a nice-looking glass. . Red then thinks about what to add to it, landing on putting a scoop of ice cream and sprinkles on it. He’s rewarded with style points and this excites Red enough to look for stuff to add to it. Raspberry takes the soda before he could go overboard with it, much to her brother’s disappointment. Bob gets done with the karē, with some slightly overdone chicken, and it, the latte, and the melon are placed on the edge of the service window. 

Frisket stares at it, unsure of what to do. Enzo finishes fixing another table, having done three others previously, and sees Frisket standing there confused. He looks over at Dot, who’s handling another set of customers, and he decides to help Frisket out himself. He puts down the toolbox and goes over to the puzzled mutt. He puts the food on the tray and leads Frisket over to the table that is in the yellow range on their waiting clock. He serves them their food and gains a rating of 3 ½ stars.)

[Enzo:] (heavy sigh) [ {Dot’s not gonna like this….} ]

(While Enzo is doing all this, The Monkey is waiting by a window for the perfect opportunity to strike. He seizes the moment to take the toolbox with his tail, quietly sneaking in and wrapping his tail around the handle. At the last second, Enzo spots the monkey.)

[Enzo: Hey! He’s taking the toolbox! ]

[Monkey: Ah spam! ]

(The Monkey dashes off through the door and makes a beeline to the rival café.)

[Dot: That ASCIIhole! ] (shoves the notepad into Enzo’s hands) [ Take care of the orders! I’ll get that cunt! ]

[Enzo: O-o-okay! ]

(Dot races out of the café and chases down The Monkey. The Monkey tries throwing some tools at her, but she dodges a couple of them. A hammer does hit her in the face, but it barely slows her down. They run around in circles while the NPCs just watch on, confused, intrigued, and a few scared. Soon, however, Dot catches up to The Monkey and tackles him to the ground. The Monkey pulls a bit of a struggle before finally giving back the toolbox to Dot. Dot grumbles as she picks up the tools that were tossed at her and heads back to her team’s café. Everyone stares at The Monkey as he makes a defeated retreat to the rival café. 

Dot slumps back in the building, exhausted. She hands the toolbox back to Enzo, giving him a more disapproving look. Though Enzo can tell she’s just too exhausted to be angry, judging from how much heat is emulating from her .)

[Dot: Next time, tell me when something’s going on before you just walk off like that. That monkey would’ve seriously jeopardized this whole café just by taking this. What were you thinking? ]

[Enzo: Who else was supposed to help Frisket, huh!? Clearly it wasn’t going to be you! You were too busy being some big boss lady! ]

[Dot: Hey, I could’ve helped, Enzo. All you had to do was ask me. ]

[Enzo: Forget it. ] (takes the toolbox and gives Dot the notepad.) [ Just let me fix the rest. There’s no point in arguing…. ]

(Enzo and Dot part ways to resume their jobs, though Dot looks back at her brother with regret before continuing on. Raspberry was peering through the service window as this interaction occurred. Her expression seems near wincing, but not quite there yet. She can definitely tell that there’s a divide between them that was clear to see.

 

The bell rings again, signaling the end of the round. Everyone gathers up as the results pop up in the sky, except Enzo who’s still working on the tables. The wait time shows as 4 out of 5 stars, the food gets a 4 and a half out of 5 stars, and atmosphere is granted 3 and a half out of 5 stars, grading them a B-. Dot looks heavily frustrated with this.) 

[Dot: What!? B-!? I thought we were doing everything right! If it wasn’t for that rival gang breaking our tables, we would’ve done better! And Bob, I thought you said you were good at cooking! That’s why I chose you to run the kitchen! ]

[Bob: There were dishes I haven’t quite done before. You can’t expect me to master new recipes instantaneously. ]

[Enzo: It’s just the first round, Dot. We still have three other chances. ]

[Dot: But what if this becomes a string of bad luck!? I mean, we have Red here, for user’s sake! ]

[Red: I haven’t even done anything yet! ]

[Dot: But I know you will at some point! ]

[Raspberry: Everyone, please settle down. We cannot know that for sure. ]

(The result screen displays the amount of money that was made during the round, which was $1,099. Dot smirks but it quickly disappears once the money gets cut down to $962. A small slip of paper floats down from the sky and in front of Dot. The title says penalty charges, and shows a number of reckless actions like chasing down a rival employee and tackling with the amount of money lost tagged beside it.)

[Dot: What!? I didn’t know there were penalties for any of that! ]

[Bob: It is a children’s game. They wouldn’t want to encourage stuff like that. ]

[Dot: Oh spam mail! ]

(Enzo finishes fixing the last table and goes over to Dot, taking a peek at the slip.)

[Enzo: Well, it could be worse. ]

[Panda: WHAT!? C+!? AND PENALTY CHARGES!? WHAT KIND OF BULLSHIT IS THIS!? ]

(Everyone looks up at the textbox as it appears, and Enzo chuckles a bit.)

[Enzo: You could’ve ended up like that panda over there. ]

[Dot:] (sighs) [ I guess you’re right. At least we’re doing better than them, but it’s still not enough. We need to improve. Make this better! Make it perfect! ]

[Enzo:] (groans) [ Do you really need to act like a perfectionist here now? ]

[Dot: Enzo, we both know that games are basically life or nullification. Unless you want to be a null for the rest of your input/output, we have to do everything perfectly. ]

[Enzo: We just need to beat the user in order to end the game. We don’t need to be perfect, I mean, we’re already ahead of them, we just have to keep it up. ]

[Dot: But perfection gets us the best rewards! We can’t just settle for nothing! Especially with Red here! ]

[Red: I still haven’t done anything, lady! Sheesh! Give me some time first! ]

[Enzo: Can you stop blaming Red for things he hasn’t done yet!? Just because he’s annoying doesn't mean that he’s a bad luck charm! ]

[Raspberry: Perhaps we should cut this argument here before things get out of hand. ]

[Bob: I must agree with both Enzo and Raspberry. Red hasn’t proved himself a detriment quite yet, and you have a terrible habit of saying things you regret later…much like earlier before the game fell. ]

[Dot: Thanks for reminding me of that…. Look, I just don’t want these Web Sprites causing trouble, okay? ]

(Silence falls into the room, not a textbox in sight. Raspberry gives her a look of disapproval before just turning and walking away. Enzo seems bitter by it all and walks off quietly, tears in his eyes.)

[Enzo: {Guess that means me as well…huh? Fine. I’ll stay out of the way….} ]

(Dot looks up at Enzo’s textbox, and her heart immediately sinks. She didn’t realize just how hurtful her words were to her brother…til now. )

[Dot: Enzo! Wait! I didn’t mean–!]

(Before anything else could be said, the six are transported to a battlefield with walls made for ducking behind. Everyone looks around, confused.)

[Enzo: Boooob…what’s going on? ]

[Bob:] (looks at his keytool) [ It seems the user has spun a wheel of minigames and landed on this one. A minigame similar to a snowball fight but with pies. ]

[Dot: Good. I need to unleash some anger from that spam those ASCIIholes pulled on us. ]

[Bob: Speaking of which…. ]

(Bob points to the other side of the field, where the rival group is preparing for battle. The Monkey is filling the pies with lethal weaponry, The Owl is doing graceful twirls, The Deer is taking in the landscape and thinking of the best plans to win this fight, The Dragon is on the ground doodling up pictures with some crayons he found, the frog, the only non-anthro animal of the group, sits there doing nothing, and The Panda is staring at the Mainframers from the other side, with a shit eating grin on his face.)

[Panda: Heh heh heh! Look at those idiots! They have no idea what we’re planning! This will get us all the way to first place! ]

[Deer: We would’ve been there already if it weren’t for your insistence on messing with them. That, and below average cooking…. ]

[Panda: Hey! Shut it, will you!? ]

[Owl: It is true, however. You may have caused a lot of trouble for them, sure, but you’ve caused trouble for us as well. ]

[Monkey: Ah, none of you are fun! I think the panda has the right idea! ]

[Panda: See? The monkey agrees with me! ]

[Dragon: He just likes trouble in general. You can say he’s a good example here. ]

[Deer: The Dragon is right. ]

[Panda:] (scoffs) [ {You sprites are all the same….} ]

(The prep timer is about to go off. Everyone has their pies ready and raring to go. Each character has a unique pie specifically tailored to them:

Bob has a blackberry pie with a dark chocolate crust and dollops of whipped cream around the edges topped with a single blackberry each.

The Deer has a golden raspberry pie with a golden crust, and topped with edible gold flakes.

Enzo’s is a mixed fruit pie with stuff like kiwis, pineapple, dragonfruit and the like, topped with rainbow sprinkles.

The Dragon’s is a mixed chocolate pie with various colors of icing just splattered every which way without second thought, and topped with chocolate sprinkles.

Raspberry gets a, well, raspberry pie with a pink crust and the top crust has a fancy lace pattern cut into it.

The Owl gets an apple pie with a blueish crust and, similar to Raspberry, has a fancy lace pattern cut into the top crust.

Red is given a classic coconut cream pie. That’s it.

The Monkey has a basic banana cream pie…which is ruined by all the lethal weapons stuffed into it.

Dot has a spicy meat pie with a buttery crust and no top crust nor toppings.

And The Panda…doesn’t get a pie for some odd reason….

And Frisket and the frog don’t get pies either, though they have no way of throwing them, so that’s logical. The frog doesn't care.

The timer goes off and the challengers race into the battlefield. Well…all except the Panda, for some odd reason. The Monkey and Red are going ham on each other, throwing pies at everyone regardless of whether they’re an ally or not. The Monkey’s hurt much more, however, given there's weapons inside them. Bob and The Deer are on the opposite side of the spectrum. Their moves are cold and calculated, with little hints of emotion. Though Bob is the better shot here given their Ai interface gives them what’s essentially an aimbot. Raspberry and The Owl are both careful and elegant in their throws. Raspberry utilizes her telekinesis to throw multiple at a time, while The Owl uses her flight to get arial hits. Enzo and The Dragon are just like two kids having a water balloon fight. Both are giggling, joyful, and having fun, even if they’re facing each other directly. Just a couple of kids having a blast despite everything being treated seriously by the others. Frisket is running around and attacking all the rival animals that cross his path. Occasionally he attacks Bob too, but they’re usually quick to avoid or shake him off. The frog is just sitting doing nothing. That’s it. The frog doesn't care. Dot is making a beeline straight for The Panda, who’s just standing there with his hands behind his back, ignoring everything that’s going on around her. The closer she gets, the more a smile creeps up on her face as she believes she has him right where she wants him. The Panda is smiling too, but for a much…different reason. Once Dot is close enough to The Panda for a direct hit, she jumps into the air, pie in hand and determination in her eyes. Unfortunately…

WHAM!

She’s whacked on the side by a giant pie hammer and swung out of the way, crashing straight into a wall. Everyone looks at The Panda in shock and awe.)

[Enzo: Wh-where did you get that !? ]

[Raspberry: We’ve never been offered such a thing. ]

[Panda: I got it from a little store that only I have access to. ]

[Enzo: A…store? ]

[Panda: Ha ha ha! Can’t you idiots take a hint!? I’M THE FUCKING USER, BITCH!!! ]

(The Panda proceeds to laugh via textbox. The Mainframers look upon him with shock as his appearance never truly gave away his nature. The game Sprites, however, knew the whole time, but are pissed that he revealed himself this early, meaning that he’s now a target that’ll make them all lose. Dot manages to get herself up, while still in massive pain given she’s clutching her side.)

[Dot: So…you’re the user, huh? I wouldn’t be so cocky if I were you…. ]

[Panda: Ha! Come on! I nailed you right on the side! What are you gonna do about it? ]

[Dot:] (points to something behind The Panda) [ I’m not the one to worry about. ]

(The Panda turns his head only to be met with Bob’s fist, as he receives his objective.

Objective: DESTROY THE USER!

The Panda shakes it off and tries to whack him with the hammer, but Bob quickly flips out of the way. Bob then pulls out one of their pies to throw at him, but The Deer jumps in the way, taking the hit. The Owl then swoops down and tackles Bob to the ground from behind. The Owl shoots a glare at The Panda.)

[Owl: Jack! You imbecile! You could’ve gotten hit! ]

[Jack: So? ]

[Owl: One hit and you lose ! Or have you– ]

(Her textbox couldn’t finish as Bob grabs her by the neck and rolls over to where she’s now pinned to the ground. Bob looks at Jack with orange eyes.

New objective: One hit defeat. Loading plan--OH SPA–!

Unfortunately, Jack whacks Bob away right beneath his chin with the hammer before he could do anything, causing him to crash straight into the wall and knock him out.)

[Jack: Bullseye! ]

[Enzo: BOB!!! ]

(Enzo rushes to Bob’s side, shaking them and trying to wake them up. The Dragon looks horrified by that action and turns to Jack in disgust.)

[Dragon: What the Net was that!? You didn’t give him a chance! ]

[Jack:] ( pfffft ) [ They don’t need a chance! They’re just NPCs to smack around til I win. That’s how games always work. ]

[Monkey: Ha ha ha ha! Yeah, that’s right! But you’d never see us that way, right? ]

(No response.)

[Monkey: Um…right? ]

(The Monkey turns around and sees Jack looking at him with a glare of indifference, which creeps him out.)

[Monkey: Sheesh…. All you needed to say was no…. ]

(Suddenly, a pie hits The Monkey in the face. Soon after, another one takes a direct hit at The Dragon. And it’s quickly followed by a flurry of other pies pelting the rival group. Jack is quick to hide behind a wall as soon as the pie blizzard begins. The group looks up and sees the two Web Sprites floating above, with Red ready to fight.)

[Raspberry: Alright, Red, you distract the group, I’ll go heal Bob and Dot. Understood? ]

[Red: Loud and clear, sis! Let’s do this! ]

(Red lets himself fall to the ground, landing in a superhero style pose. Red then starts waving his hands around in an awkward type of dance. The rival group stare at him confused until Red pulls out a big ASCII bright red minigun from thin air.)

[Jack: The hell!? You can’t just do that! That’s not fair! It’s basically cheating! ]

[Red: Says the guy who bought a hammer. All’s fair in pie and war, baby! ]

(Red loads up his minigun with a whole lot of pies and just starts firing. The barrage of pies gets the entire group to duck behind the wall, practically unable to do anything as the barrage was too much. All this while Red is laughing like a maniac. Raspberry takes the opportunity to heal Dot and Bob. She goes to Dot first, as healing her wound is much faster than bringing someone back to consciousness . She tries to place her hand, now glowing with green magic, on Dot’s side, but Dot fights against it.)

[Dot: Hey! Don’t you try and touch me! I have a minigame to win! ]

[Raspberry: Well, you can't win if you're in this condition, now can you? Just hold still and let me heal you. It's your only chance of succeeding. ]

[Dot:] (growls) [ Fine…just make it quick…. ]

(Raspberry nods and puts her hand on Dot’s wound, which at first sends a stinging pain throughout her body, but as quickly as the pain came, it's gone in a flash. Soon, Dot feels the wound disappear and feels way better than before. She shoots up to her feet, in pure disbelief and simultaneously revved up.)

[Dot: Wow…that..that made me so much better!! I could've used something like that ages ago with my chronic back pain! ]

[Enzo: Really!? That means you want them to stay, right? ]

(Dot stays quiet, not really showing any sway in her opinions. Enzo looks a bit heartbroken, believing she’s still refusing to let them in. Raspberry looks at the kid's expression then glares at Dot, before turning away to handle Bob.)

[Raspberry: Perhaps there's still more convincing to be done, for your brother's sake. ]

(Dot starts having second thoughts about her decision…. She can’t see herself living in peace with Red around, but maybe Raspberry’s right…she probably should accept them for her brother’s own good. Even if she has to deal with Red’s shenanigans. Speaking of Red…

WHACK! SLAM!

He gets hit with the hammer the same way Bob did, sending him careening straight into the wall. The minigun disappears into a puff of red smoke upon impact, with the remaining pies that were in the ammo pack splattering on the floor. Red slips down to the ground with a faceplant.)

[Jack: Ha! That’ll teach you to cheat! I'm the only one that should be playing unfair! ]

[Monkey: Hell yeah! ]

(Jack and The Monkey high five each other. Jack tries to get the others to do the same, but they’re not particularly happy with him, especially The Dragon.)

[Jack: Yeesh. Tough crowd…. ]

[Enzo: Red! ] (rushes over to Red) [ Are you okay!? Come on! Speak to me! ]

(Red floats up to his feet like nothing happened.)

[Red: Chill out, Matrix. I’m fine. Nothing’s knocking me down! ]

(Jack swings his hammer directly in their direction, though thankfully all of them dodge out of the way of fire, making the hammer collide with the wall. Jack stands above them with a scowl on his face.)

[Jack: Can’t knock you down that easy, huh? We’ll see about that. But first… ]

(Jack turns to Raspberry, who’s busy healing Bob’s head, with a sinister grin.)

[Jack: I’m taking care of that damn healer first! ]

(Jack tries to swing his hammer at Raspberry, but Dot grabs hold of one of the ends and pulls him back.)

[Dot: I don’t think so! ]

[Jack: Hey! Stupid bull! Let go! ]

(Jack swings around his hammer, smashing Dot against several walls to shake her off. Despite getting hurt even more, she still clings on for her input/output. The Monkey swings in to hit Raspberry himself, but Red counters with his own copy of the pie hammer he managed to conjure up. The Deer tries to go from behind, but is met with the same fate. The Deer and The Monkey quickly team up to face Red, knowing he’s not gonna let them pass without a fight. While that is going on, Enzo decides to put his newfound cat claws to use and climbs a wall that wasn’t being smashed into constantly. The Owl sees this and flies up, snatching him off the wall and way above ground. Enzo is terrified and wants to cry for help, but knows that the others wouldn’t be able to see his textbox. Then he notices that The Owl is twirling around in a circle as she hoists him above, and at a certain point he’s directly above Jack. Enzo decides to wait and make sure his next move is perfect…. Once he’s about to hit the right angle, he scratches The Owl’s eye, making her let him go. He gets his claws fully out as he descends upon Jack. Jack looks up only to have Enzo land on his face, claws digging in. To say Jack begins to freak the fuck out is an understatement. )

[Jack: HOLY FUCK!!! THERE’S A CAT ON MY FACE!!! GET HIM OFF!!! GET HIM OFF!!! GET HIM OFF !!! ]

(This just causes him to swing the hammer wildly, hitting more walls and even hitting his own allies, knocking out The Deer and badly injuring The Monkey. Dot flies off the hammer and crashes into Red, pretty much in disbelief at what’s happening.)

[Dot: What does that random kid think he’s doing!? ]

[Red: I don’t know, but whatever he’s doing, it looks like it’s working. ]

(Jack eventually rips Enzo off his face and slams the kid into the ground. He looks at everyone with rage burning in his eyes and his sharp teeth bare. Everyone already knows…they pushed this user to his limit. )

[Jack: ENOUGH WITH THIS SHIT!!! I’M ENDING THIS AND I’M ENDING THIS NOW !!! ]

(Jack swings his hammer on Raspberry for one final strike…

SHATTER!

The pie hammer finally breaks into millions of glowing bits upon hitting the shield Raspberry put up, which was invisible the whole time. Raspberry briefly looks at Jack with a smug expression then refocuses on Bob. Jack stumbles back with a mix of shock, despair, upset, but most of all…anger.)

[Jack: What…what just happened…? ]

(The Owl flapped down just in time to see the shatter, and glares at Jack.)

[Owl: You have wasted all that hammer’s usage on needless chaos. How’s it feel knowing you can lose that power at any moment? ]

(Bob begins to wake up as his head is fully healed. He takes a look to assess the situation and becomes instantly confused as he looks at the aftermath of the chaos that happened, his eyes changing to a deep blue to reflect this.)

[Bob: Did I miss something? How long was I out? ]

[Raspberry: We’ll fill you in on everything later, guardian. Right now… ] 

(Jack screams in pure rage and anguish.)

[Raspberry: We have bigger problems to worry about! ]

[Jack:] (stomps his feet about like a toddler) [ No! NO! NO ! You CPUs are complete and utter horseshit! You so called “allies” did nothing but fuck around all day! And ] (points at the Mainframers) [ YOU ! You’re the sickest cheating bastards I’ve ever seen in a game! ]

[Enzo: You’re the one who was cheating with that giant hammer of yours! ]

[Jack:] (scoffs) [ Me!? I bought that hammer with my own money! What do you even have that I don’t, huh? ]

[Dot: THIS!! ]

(Jack turns to look at Dot, only to be met with a spicy meat pie to the face.)

Game Announcer: Minigame is over! Computer players win! Yay!

(And like that, the whole minigame disappears into a cutesy puff of smoke. Everyone is teleported back to their respective cafes, though the pie was still on Jack’s face. Jack wipes the pie off his face and angrily throws it down on the ground.)

[Jack: God damn it! As usual, the computer fucks me over! ]

(The Owl is being patched up by The Deer, but overhearing what Jack said makes her turn her head 180 to glare at him.)

[Owl: It was your own fault! If you had just left that damn store alone and hadn’t made such a big display about you being the user, none of them would’ve known. ]

[Deer: And they were looking at us as a collective. As if they needed to defeat us all rather than just you. If you hadn’t made it about yourself, then we would’ve had them in a corner. ]

[Jack: Oh shut up! Both of you! I don’t need any opinions from brainless Ai! ]

(All the game sprites look at him offended, with The Monkey just looking away, shielding his face with his hand. The Dragon stands and stomps his foot down, looking at Jack with an expression fit for a hero facing down a great evil.)

[Dragon: We’re not brainless! And I’m going to prove it! ] (takes the frog and walks over to the door) [ I’m going to join the other team and see how you feel when the others leave you as well! See you later, cheese curl breath! ]

(The Dragon leaves the café, slamming the door behind him. Jack smirks before seeing an info textbox that tells him two employees left the café for the side, which then turns the smirk into a look of surprise and confusion.)

[Jack: Wait, you’re allowed to switch sides? How come no one told me that? ]

[Monkey: Have you never read the manual, mate? It should’ve told you what was going on. ]

[Jack: Of course I never read the dumb manual. Who even reads manuals nowadays? ]

[Monkey: Ouch! You just messed yourself up, my bro! ]

[Deer: This game runs off a friendship mechanic that is necessary to win, something that you can’t seem to grasp. ]

[Jack: Pfffft ha ha ha! That sounds so stupid! That should’ve been changed since day one! Friendship shouldn’t be a part of games like these! All it matters is to win! ]

(Jack enters the kitchen as he says that last sentence. The game sprites all look at each other, wondering if they should follow The Dragon’s footsteps.

 

Meanwhile, over at the other café, the Mainframers are taking a bit of rest before the next main round. Enzo is talking to Bob, filling them in on all that happened while they were unconscious, while moving about and using big expressive movements to emphasize his points. Bob reads his textbox intently, while also thinking on what to do better in the next minigame. Frisket is taking a nap by the front door, snorting and yipping as something goes on in his dreams. Red is in the kitchen doing…something the others can’t see as he covered the service window beforehand. Finally, Dot is sitting in a chair while Raspberry is busy healing her up, as she sustained the most amount of injuries during the chaos. Dot looks over at Enzo, as a consideration goes to her head.

Enzo had been the only half Web Sprite in Mainframe for cycles since his biological mother left. He hadn’t been able to relate to anyone other than Bob, who he came to consult him as a friend due to both not being considered natural by others. She knows she shouldn’t keep him from learning about his other half, and having Raspberry in Mainframe could make him feel less lonely. The problem she has is with Red and Red alone. Red is a purely annoying gnat in her eyes that shouldn’t be near Enzo or her diner, or the rest of Mainframe, for that matter. But now she’s beginning to wonder if maybe she’s being too harsh. She had been conditioned to hate Web Sprites by her father…which is rather ironic when she thinks about it, but she’s trying to break herself out of that mindset by accepting Enzo as her brother. Maybe she should let these two new guys into Mainframe, even if she’ll have to put up with Red. Here goes nothing…. )

[Dot:] (takes a deep breath) [ I’ve been thinking…maybe I was a little too harsh on you. ]

[Raspberry: Hmm? What are you implying? ]

[Dot: What I’m trying to say is that I’m willing to accept you as part of Mainframe. ]

(Enzo glances at her textbox, perks up, and looks at his sister with joy.)

[Enzo: Really!? You finally changed your mind!? ]

[Dot: Yes, I did. Under one condition…. ]

(Raspberry seems put-off by the thought of accepting a condition, but if it means being able to move in with no issues, she’ll have to take it.)

[Raspberry: And that condition being? ]

[Dot: Keep Red away from my diner, please? I can’t let that annoying sprite destroy any more of my business. ]

[Raspberry: And what about me? ]

[Dot: I said before that I was alright with you moving in. It was the fact that you came along with that red bug that really bothered me. But if you’re really not gonna leave him behind…I guess I’ll have to suck it up and deal with it. ]

[Raspberry:] (smiles) [ I’m glad you finally changed your decision. ]

(Raspberry turns to walk away, but Dot grabs her arm before she could.)

[Dot: And I want to say sorry for calling you low-life randoms earlier. My father taught me to hate you Web Sprites and I'm trying to break out of that mindset…I don’t have any excuses. I should’ve known better than to run my mouth like that…. ]

(Raspberry goes quiet for a bit, before a small smile displays on her screen and she gives her a pat on the back.)

[Raspberry: Your apology has been accepted, Dot. I’m aware it’ll still take time for you to adjust to this, but it’s a good start. ]

(Dot turns her head away from Raspberry with a blushing face.)

[Enzo: Hey..uh, not to ruin this moment, but… ] (looks at the kitchen door) [ what’s Red doing in there? ]

[Dot: Something stupid, I bet. ]

(Dot gets up and goes over to the door. She tries to open it at first, only to find it locked, then she starts slamming her fist against the door to get Red’s attention.)

[Dot: Red! What the Net are you doing in there!? ]

(Dot decides to try to use her bull horns as she steps back and gears up to charge at the door, huffing as she does. But before she does, Red kicks the door open with a sense of enthusiasm. He steps out, showing off a horribly over-decorated cup of hot chocolate. The hot chocolate in question has a mountain of whipped cream, covered in rainbow sprinkles, various marshmallow shapes, crushed peppermints, toffee bits, peanut butter filled hearts, edible flower petals, and topped with a chocolate covered strawberry. The side of the mug was also drizzled in chocolate syrup. Bob and Enzo look at it curiously, wondering how he made such a concoction, with the latter looking more excited to try it. Raspberry tilts her head at her brother's antics this time. Dot looks at it with disgust and heavy judgment.)

[Dot: Red…can you explain what the Net you just made…? ]

[Red: I found out that you can earn style points for making something look good. So I just wanted to see how many style points I could squeeze out before it became too much. Thus, this beautiful piece of art was coded! ]

[Dot: Beautiful piece of art? That looks like spam! ]

[Red: You just can’t see the potential in it! Who knows, it could be a big hit~! Think about all the points we could get! ]

[Dot: For that ugly thing!? We’d be lucky if that could scrape up one fan! ]

[Red: That’s just old timey business talk. ]

[Dot: Excuse me? What did you just say!? ]

[Raspberry: Red…. ]

[Red: Old. Timey. Business talk. ]

[Dot: WHY YOU–! ]

(Before anything could escalate, a textbox pops up announcing the arrival of two new employees. Everyone looked at this with confusion, until Frisket began to growl and bark at the door. The Dragon and his pet frog walk through the door and the former gives them a sheepish wave, with a hopeful look in his eyes. Enzo purrs with delight at a new worker, but his sister isn’t too happy to see someone from the rival café.)

[Dot: I’m sorry, but what are you doing here? ]

[Dragon: Pardon my intruding, but I was wondering if you wanted some more hands to help out. Me and Froggie are great waiters and would love to make your café management better! ]

[Dot: And just why do you want to join us? What about that other café you’re always with? You know, with that dick of a user? ]

[Dragon: I decided to cease working with him due to his deplorable behavior and treating me and other employees like dirt. I figured working for someone who perhaps knows more about business could provide a better working experience than previous. ]

[Dot: {Wow. I’ll give this kid credit, he’s far more professional than some other interviewees I had the displeasure of talking to. But still, he isn’t buttering me up with those words.} Alright, but how can I trust you? ]

[Dragon: Hmm? ]

[Dot: How are we supposed to know that you’re not going to sabotage our café and make us lose. ]

[Enzo: Aw come on, Dot. I think he’s being genuine. ]

[Dot: Enzo, I’m not just gonna let some rival join us like that! ]

[Dragon: I do know a way to defeat the user faster than the game is willing to let you. ]

(Upon hearing that, Bob pushes the two siblings aside to hear for themselves.)

[Bob: And how do we achieve that? ]

(The Dragon smiles, knowing he got the ticket to put that panda in his place.

 

Shows a cutesy little clock, counting down the time until the next round starts. The Mainframers get The Dragon set up and the kitchen clean from Red’s mess. Dot struggles to find out what to do with the frog as, unlike Frisket, it doesn’t have a single brain cell in its tiny head. She then decides to put it on the display table with a bowtie as living decoration. The frog doesn't care.

At the other café, the rival game sprites seems very miserable continuing to work for Jack. The Monkey is now put in The Dragon’s place, and working all by himself without assistance. The Owl and The Deer are preparing ingredients beforehand, making sure that everything is ready for whatever meals need to be created. The Owl is struggling due to having lost use of her eye from Enzo’s attack, but The Deer willingly helps out with her newfound disability. Jack looks at this with judgment and irritation.)

[Jack: Dude, why are you helping her? She can do that herself. ]

[Deer: She’s not doing well with half of her sight missing. She needs help so she can adjust. ]

[Jack: Pffft. So? There’s blind chefs that can cook. ]

[Deer: That doesn’t mean they didn’t struggle with learning how to get around it. ]

[Jack: If those blind chefs can cook without seeing anything, then she can cook without half of her vision, that’s all I’m saying. ]

[Owl: You’re…aware that most blind people have a tiny amount of vision left, right? ]

[Jack: That’s just a myth they made up to make them seem less desperate. I have my  lunch at the door now, see you losers. ]

(Jack leaves the kitchen and pauses the game without further elaboration. Both of the animals were completely baffled by his statement, but resumed what they were doing anyway. 

A few seconds later, the clock finally hit the start of the next round, letting another loud ring. Enzo covers his ears again, completely annoyed by the ringing sound.)

[Enzo: Dear user, that sound is horrible…. ]

[Dragon: This will be the last time, however. As long as we stick to the plan, we’ll be at the boss fight in no time flat. ]

[Bob: As long as you’re aware of what you’re doing. ]

[Dragon: Of course I do! I’ve lived in this game for my whole life! I know all the ins and outs of it! You can trust me! I’ll never steer you wrong! ]

[Dot: You better be right in that statement. ]

(Dot spots Red putting his abomination on a pedestal as decoration and stomps over to him.)

[Dot: What the Net do you think you’re doing!? ]

[Red: Why, putting my masterpiece on display, madam! FOR THE WHOLE WORLD TO SEE! ]

(Dot jumps in panic at that statement and quickly snatches the mug off the pedestal.)

[Dot: No! No! No! We are not going to put this thing on display! ]

[Enzo: Are you sure about that? ]

[Dot: Yes! This thing is a horrible mess! Why would anyone want to look at this thing!? ]

[Dragon: Because it has a lot of style points! ]

[Dot:] (looks at The Dragon with confusion) [ What? ]

[Dragon:] (pulls up a stat screen above the mug) [ Look at all the décor points it can bring us! Who wouldn’t want to gain that many points like that!? ]

[Dot: But it’s ugly as sin! ]

[Dragon: Taste is subjective. ]

[Bob:] (eyes the stat screen from the service window) [ It could give us a great advantage. Don’t you wish to end this game faster? ]

[Dot:] (sighs) [ Fine! ] (puts the mug back on the pedestal) [ But I’m not happy about it! Now, get to your places! We got customers coming! ]

(The Dragon looks at Enzo with a slightly concerned face, but Enzo gives him a reassuring smile.)

[Enzo: Don’t worry about her. She’s a little tough but she knows how to do business right. ]

(The first three customers step into the café, a buff chipmunk, an ultra violet panda, and a periwinkle sloth. The Dragon quickly goes to seat them at a table and take their orders. Another three walk in, a lapis lazuli cow, an oxford blue hog, and a coral pink elephant. Enzo takes them to their seats and writes their orders. The cow looks up at the overly decorated mug and grows curious about it. The cow turns to Enzo and asks about it, though there’s no visible textbox for the audience to read.)

[Enzo: Oh, that? That’s something Red made during our preparation time. ]

(The cow asks if they can make it for them. Enzo hesitates for a moment, but upon seeing that the consequence of refusing is losing points…)

[Enzo: Of course! Let me write it down for you! ]

(Enzo writes down under the cow’s ‘Red’s Special Mug’ and walks over to the service window. Bob takes the paper and seems a bit puzzled by the mention of the special mug.)

[Bob: Enzo, what do you mean by Red’s Special Mug? ]

[Enzo: Just give it to Red. He’ll know what to do. ]

(Enzo walks away to handle another set of customers that set in. Bob looks at the paper again and shrugs, turning to activate the computer and read the recipes.

On the side of the street, inside Jack’s own café, everything isn’t going so well. The Monkey gets run ragged, having to race between taking customers to their tables, taking orders, and delivering food all by his lonesome, without a single break in between. The Owl has gotten better at working with one eye, but still makes mistakes, a lot of them involving aiming. The Deer is still doing their own thing but helps the Owl every now and again. And Jack is doing jackshit. Just sitting down with feet on the table, not contributing to anything at all. All the employees look at him with rage in their eyes, but they continue working anyway for the sake of their team. It’s what they were programmed to do and they can’t change a thing about it…right?

Back in the Mainframer café, things are beginning to get a little hectic. The Dragon and Enzo are doing their best with taking orders but are a little slow to the punch, causing a few to leave. This prompts Dot to step in and take the notepad from Enzo.)

[Dot: You go deliver the food to the tables. I’ll handle the order taking. ]

(Enzo nods and goes to take some plates to some of the customers, helping Frisket out as well. In the kitchen, Bob is working in overdrive. He quickly scans recipes and starts making them on the dime. Every new recipe starts out with him making a few mistakes, but his ever-enhancing Ai makes it to where the mistakes are noticed and learned, practically making him nearly perfect. Raspberry, on the other side of the coin, is taking her time with the drinks, making sure they’re of good quality before sending them off. Sure, it takes a good chunk of their time, but it gives good points in return, so it works for her . Red is tolling away at the other side of the drink maker, bored out of his mind. Then he takes a look at the next order…an order for his special mug. Red didn’t know what that meant at first, but then he looks out the service window. He sees the cow looking at the mug longingly, hoping to have just a taste of his masterful creation. The cow is willing to wait however long it’ll take to have that mug. Red pulls back from the window and looks up dramatically as a spotlight shines on him.)

[Red: My time has come. ]

[Bob: What time? ]

(Shows that the spotlight is not real and he’s just standing there looking at nothing, with Bob and Raspberry staring at him with tilted heads. Red notices their stare and turns away in a huff.)

[Red: None of your business is what! ]

(Bob and Raspberry look at each other, upon which the latter just shrugs and they return to business as usual. Red pauses to see if they’re still looking at him and lets out a gleeful giggle, before going over to the hot cocoa station and beginning to make his creation again. 

A while later, Red lets his special slip out of the service window. Enzo picks up the mug and starts walking over to the cow, who seems to be losing hope for getting the mug. The cow turns around and sees Enzo approaching them with the promised mug, and their eyes light up with wonder. Dot is on the other side of the café handling a large group of customers that just came in when she turns around and sees what’s going on. She panics and tries to run over to stop him, but gets overwhelmed by all the customers in the café. She realizes it’s too late once Enzo hands the cow their mug and she only can watch in horror as the cow takes a sip.)

[Dot: {It’s over! It’s all over!} ]

(The cow takes a moment to process the taste in their mouth, then…they begin to dance. In a way similar to what a Mii does in Tomodachi Life when you give them a food they really love. Once they’re done dancing, they proudly proclaim it the best cup of hot cocoa ever made. Silence permeates the room as everyone stares at the cow. After a bit, every customer in the café riles up, asking for the mug as well…some more rude than others. Dot is left slack-jawed after expecting the worst and ends up getting a better result instead. Enzo purrs with pride when he realizes he made the right decision. Bob, Raspberry, and The Dragon stand there in surprise, not expecting any of this in the slightest. Frisket just looks around, confused about what is happening. The frog does not care. Finally, Red is shown to be shedding a single tear of joy.)

[Red: They all truly love me…. My life is complete…. ]

(Switches focus to the rival café. The place seems almost empty, outside the occasional customer here and there. Jack seems to notice this and seems relieved by it.)

[Jack:] (gets off chair and stretches) [ Thank god! Things finally lighten up around here. ]

[Owl:] (steps out of the kitchen) [ That’s not a good thing, Jack. ]

[Jack: Not a good thing? Why not? ]

(The Owl opens the door, revealing a large crowd surrounding the Mainframers café, sending many hearts up to the sky. The Monkey’s jaw is left agape as he looks at the excited crowd.)

[Monkey: What in the bloody dell is happening over there?! ]

[Owl: They managed to create their own custom menu item that’s an instant hit. If they continue making more like this, they'll run us out of business! ] (turns to Jack) [ And if you actually did anything except just sitting on your ASCII and watching us do all the work, we would’ve been in that position instead of them ! Don’t you see the problem here!? ]

[Jack: Yeah. I do, actually. And that problem is with all of you ! ]

[Owl: Excuse me!? ]

[Jack: Yeah! You're all nothing but disobedient, insignificant little shits who never help and have the worst Ai I have ever seen! What kind of game lets all this happen!? Honestly, if you asked me, you should've all been recoded years ago! ]

(The three game sprites stay silent after that rant. They look at each other and come to one final conclusion…)

[Owl: I'm sorry, but I believe we shouldn't be working with you anymore. ]

[Deer: You do not value our work efforts enough to keep us around. In fact, you do not value us as living beings. ]

[Monkey: And honestly, I thought you were cool. And you were, for a while. But honestly, if I were to choose between ] (points to the crowd) [ that adoring crowd and ] (smacks Jack’s chest) [ your lazy ASCII…I'm sorry man, but I'm going with the crowd. ]

[Owl: We wish you luck and hope this humbles you. ]

(The three game sprites take their leave, with a textbox popping up announcing this to Jack. Jack stays silent for a moment, gritting his teeth. Then the panda turns his back to the door.)

[Jack: Yeah, walk away. You're all useless anyway. ]

(Jack raises his paw, as it charges up with blue, crackling energy and binary. He smiles menacingly, his eyes glimmering with excitement.)

[Jack: If I can't win this game to get in, then I'll break it to hell and back! I have the power! I can do anything! They don't know the power I weld! And you know what!? This game… ]

(He raises his arm high above his head.)

[Jack: …ends… ]

(He clenches his hand into a fist, the blue energy glow brighter and more violent.)

[Jack: …NOW!! ]

(Jack punches the ground and a wave of blue energy flows through, taking control of the game’s code. The Owl, Deer, and Monkey sees the incoming wave and, quick on her feet, the former grabs the other two and flies up to the sky, avoiding the wave. The three look down at the slowly moving wave passing through, shocked and concerned.)

[Monkey: Holy spam! Where did that wave come from!? ]

[Deer: I believe it came from there. ]

(The Deer points at the café they left, which is now glowing an ominous blue and glitching.)

[Monkey: Whoa…what the bloody dell is going on there? ]

[Owl: We have a hacker on our hands…. We must warn the others. ]

[Monkey: The others? ]

(The Owl dives down and towards the Mainframers café, where the wave slowly approaches. The Dragon is busy with giving a table their mugs when they see the hacking wave coming closer and closer. The Dragon drops the tray in shock and quickly flies through the roof.)

[Dragon: Hack wave incoming!! ]

(Everyone looks at the wave and begins to panic. The NPCs run away from the wave, though some were too late and end up logged under the panda's control. The Dragon unleashes a fireball attack that breaks the roof wide open. He then swoops in to grab the frog, Enzo, and Frisket, hoisting them up to the sky. Red and Raspberry do the exact same, grabbing Dot and Bob respectively and flying upwards. They look down as the game is consumed more and more by Jack’s power. They then look at the other café as it glitches out more and starts gaining upgrades that it shouldn't be able to yet.)

[Enzo: Hey! That guy is cheating!! ]

[Owl: Not just cheating… ]

(The Owl flaps down to the rest of the group, relieved to see The Dragon is okay.)

[Owl: He's hacking the game and messing with its files. It seems the User grew tired of playing fair. ]

[Monkey: I would be too if my team quit on me. ]

(The Deer smacks The Monkey upside the head.)

[Monkey: Ow! Hey! I was just saying! Sheesh…. ]

[Dragon: But I had this whole plan about winning you over to our side! What are we supposed to do now that this is happening!? ]

[Deer: We are going to have to work together to keep this panda from winning. Something tells me there'll be far worse consequences than the foreign Sprites getting nullified if he wins. ]

[Bob:] (looks at their keytool) [ There has been something I've noticed about this game that I haven't mentioned until now. ]

[Dot: And that is…? ]

[Bob: This game did not come from the true User of Mainframe. It's in fact coming from another source. A strange system far away from here that must’ve taken control of this one to play this game. ]

[Dot: Wait a nano! So what you’re saying is that we're not even facing the same user we've faced countless times before!? ] 

[Bob: It appears that way. ]

[Dot:] (rubs the side of her head) [ User's name, this is gonna get so confusing…. ]

[Enzo: But what's going to happen if he wins!? Because if you haven't noticed… ]

(Enzo points at the glitching café, which is getting closer and closer to completion.)

[Enzo: He's getting closer and closer to victory as we speak! ]

[Bob: I'm not sure, but I do not wish to find out. From the look of things, it will be disastrous for every last one of us. ]

[Deer: Indeed. And that is why we wish to propose a truce. ]

[Bob: A truce? ]

[Owl: Yes, a truce. It's blatantly clear that your lives as well as our own are in grave danger if this is to continue. If we don't work together to stop him, there's no telling what could happen! ]

[Dot: And how would we know you won't just backstab us!? ]

[Monkey: Look, I know we had our little…er…problems with each other, maybe it'd be a bit better to worry about ] (gestures to the glitching café) [ him than worry about us? You know, just a thought. ]

(Dot starts to growl at The Monkey before Raspberry gets in between them.)

[Raspberry: He has a point. The User is a much greater threat now than ever before, so we should put our bias aside and focus on what matters most. You want you and your brother to live, right? ]

[Dot: Yeah! Of course I do! ]

[Raspberry: I do as well, which is why we must work with them for a common goal. Do you understand? ]

[Dot:] (relenting sigh) [ Yeah yeah yeah…let's just win this game already. This has gone on long enough. ]

[Owl: It seems the ground is safe to walk on now. ]

(All the Sprites lower themselves til they reach the ground. By this point, the café has reached full completion and Jack steps out to greet them.)

[Jack: Well well well! Just look who it is! The sore losers, the ones that missed out, and that one traitor I forgot the name of. ] (makes a grandiose gesture to his fully completed café) [ What do you think, huh? I say it's a masterpiece! All my hard work has paid off! ]

[Enzo: That wasn’t hard work! You just cheated your way to the top! ]

[Jack: Hey, hacking can be hard work too, kid! Though, there's one thing I'm missing to fully seal my victory upon you worthless Sprites…but I just don't know what it is…. ] (snaps fingers) [ Oh wait! I do! ]

(Jack proceeds to laugh via textbox as a golden glow admits from the sky. The glow is revealed to be a trophy, lowering itself down to Jack. Jack reaches out to touch when it gets swiped by The Owl and hoisted into the air.)

[Jack: Hey! What the fuck!? ]

[Owl: Keep the trophy away from the User! It's our only hope! ]

(Jack growls as he charges up an electric attack and launches at The Owl. She manages to dodge the attack, as well as the second one he throws at her, before unfortunately getting hit by the third. She drops the trophy which is swiftly caught by The Deer, who makes a beeline towards Bob.)

[Deer: {These foreigners must be the ones who touch it, only then would this game end in peace!} ]

(The Owl, now being controlled by Jack, swoops in to attack The Deer. They roll out of the way and toss it over to Bob, who leaps up to catch it. Unfortunately, The Owl quickly snatches it before he could touch it.)

[Dot: Hey! I thought you were on our side! ]

[Bob: She's being controlled by the User. She's not on our side anymore. ]

(The Owl makes her way over to Jack when The Dragon tackles her. They both have a scuffle, which causes the trophy to fling away from them and into the hands of The Monkey. The Monkey seizes the chance to dash off. Jack decides to zap The Dragon under his control. The Dragon tried to resist the effort but it was too strong.)

[Jack: Ha! You thought you could betray me like that but look who’s on top now! Now then, ] (points at The Monkey) [ GET HIM!! ]

(The Owl and The Dragon team up to dive bomb The Monkey, who is running as fast as he could go. This attempt gets interrupted by Frisket, who headbutts The Owl, knocking her off course and crashing into The Dragon.)

[Enzo: Alright Frisket! Way to go! ]

[Monkey: Hey kid! Catch! ]

(The Monkey throws the trophy in Enzo’s direction. Enzo runs to catch only to be tripped up and pinned down by The Deer, who, like the others, is under Jack’s control. Enzo looks at this with shock before turning his attention to Jack, who once again is laughing via textbox.)

[Jack: What? Did you not think I was going to take control of another game Sprite while all of you were still playing keep away? Ha! You dumbasses make me laugh! ]

(A banana hits Jack’s head and the hacker turns to The Monkey, who looks really pissed now.)

[Monkey: You know what!? Once this is all over, Imma beat the snot out of you! Then Imma wear your clothes! ]

[Jack:] (moment of silence) [ Well that’s weird. ]

(Jack instantly zaps The Monkey, effectively putting all game Sprites under his control. Except for the frog. The frog doesn’t care. Jack laughs via textbox again and looks upon the Mainframe Sprites. All of them seem to have lost hope…except for Enzo.)

[Jack: Welp, looks like it’s game over for you. I win, you're all gonna die or…whatever happens to you when you lose a game, and your little computer world here will be mine! ]

(The Dragon slowly floats down to Jack to give him the trophy.)

[Jack: Really, what  kind of idiots are you? What chance did you have against a hacker like moi? Like come on! I should’ve done this from the start! You had nothing against me! But anyways… ]

(Jack grabs the trophy and lifts it high above his head. He has one last boisterous laugh via textbox and all Mainframers except Enzo prepare for doom…but after a few moments…nothing happens. No voice saying the User wins, no devastating explosion, and no nullification taking place. Just…nothing.

Jack looks around confused. He never prepared for absolutely nothing to happen. What was going on? )

[Jack: Hey! What gives!? I have the trophy! I have the empire! I have the victory! So why am I not winning!? ]

[Enzo: Because you never made a friendship. ]

(Everyone looks at Enzo as he gets up to his feet, The Deer having backed off from him.)

[Jack:] (snarls) [ Ex-fucking-cuse me!? What do you think this is!? My Little Pony!? ]

[Enzo: Probably, I mean, this game does have a friendship mechanic, doesn't it? ]

[Bob: Indeed. It's the only true way to win. ]

[Jack: WHAT!? HOW IS THAT FAIR!? ]

[Enzo: It’s not to you because you only cared about winning it the easy way out. You never once took the time to build a friendship with the game Sprites that joined you. Never once have you considered them people, and you’re controlling them as puppets! ]

[Jack: {What kind of friendship is magic bullshit is happening here…?} Yeah right! I’ll just make it to where they’re the bestest friends with me! That should win me this game, shouldn’t it? ]

[Bob: It would never be legitimate. ]

(Bob walks up and stands besides Enzo. They look at Enzo and give him a confident nod. Jack just rolls his eyes)

[Jack: So? ]

[Bob: This game has many checks for this kind of mechanic, surprisingly. Checks that you should’ve known about if you’d look into the code more. ]

(Bob and Enzo hold hands and a blue and orange glow emanates from the two.)

[Bob: For a hacker, you’re not very bright. ]

(Jack’s eyes widen as he realizes what’s happening and he stammers in embarrassment.)

[Jack: Wait-wait a second! I haven’t had the time yet! You can’t just do that! Give me a minute! ]

(Jack looks through the code as fast as he can, desperately trying to manipulate the game into giving him the advantage. Unfortunately, he’s not fast enough as Dot joins hands with Bob and her little brother, adding the color green into the glowing aura.)

[Dot: As much as I think all this is cheesy as dell, I care enough about my brother to do something like this. You know, there’s a saying in Mainframe that I’ve…been forgetting a lot. That saying is all Mainframers stick together. And that means… ]

(Dot looks at the two Web Sprites and extends her hand.)

[Dot: …all Mainframers. ]

(Raspberry realizes what Dot is saying and smiles. She happily walks over and holds Dot’s hand, adding pink to the colorful glow. Dot blushes when she looks at their held hands, with Enzo trying to hide a giggle. Jack is now in full blown panic mode, trying to change any code he can to have himself win, but ends up changing all except the necessary code needed to earn his victory. Eventually, Frisket decides to join in and lean against Enzo with a smile, yellow now being added to the rainbow.)

[Enzo:] (pets Frisket) [ Good boy, Frisket! ]

(Jack becomes extremely frustrated and smashes the little display that was showing him the code and turns to the group with a scowl.)

[Jack: OH REALLY!? YOU THINK I’M FUCKING SCARED OF YOUR LITTLE ] (mocking tone) [ “FrIeNdShIp”!!  WELL GO AHEAD! HIT ME! I FUCKING DARE YOU!! ]

[Red:] (shrugs) [ Well, if he insists. ]

(Red jumps in and pulls everyone into a big ol’ hug, his namesake color joining the glow. Raspberry, Enzo, and Bob embrace the hug, showing joy in the newfound bond they all have. Dot and Frisket begrudgingly accept it, as Dot still doesn’t like Red and Frisket just hates everyone except Enzo..especially Bob. The glow becomes very bright and a giant rainbow of all their respective colors zooms out of the hug and heads straight for Jack. Jack just stands there slack-jawed at what is occurring in front of him.)

[Jack: Holy shit. This really did turn into My Little Pon– ]

(The rainbow hits and disintegrates the panda, winning the game.)

System Voice: Game Over.

 

(The game cube lifts off the system and goes back into the sky from whence it came. The group is still standing there hugging, but after a bit Dot pulls herself out of the hug.)

Dot: Alright, that’s enough hugging for me.

(Everyone else separates from the hug.)

Enzo: At least we can talk normally now. Those textboxes were getting annoying.

Bob: Agreed. 

Dot: Yeah, I hated those things. Glad all that is over…it was starting to overstay its welcome.

Enzo: (looks up at the sky) I hope those game Sprites will be okay. It didn’t seem like they were able to break from that User’s control.

Raspberry: I’m sure they’ll be fine. I’ve heard games tend to reset once everything is said and done. But regardless, me and Red should be going now. We have to finish our move into Mainframe. And Dot…thank you for finally coming around to us.

(Dot just gives her a smile before the Web Sprites fly away. Her smile fades as she looks at Enzo, who looks back at her, sensing something wrong.)

Dot: Hey, I’m sorry for all that…drama..earlier. I should’ve considered your feelings more.

Enzo: It’s okay, sis! I forgive you!

(Enzo gives his sister a big hug and she returns the favor.)

Enzo: How about we go get food at AL’S? I heard they got some new shakes on the menu.

Dot: Are you sure you want to go there, kid? It’s really slow. 

Enzo: Of course! It’ll be plenty of time for Red and Raspberry to join. I mean, you did ban Red from your diner, didn’t you?

Dot: Touché.

Enzo: Come on! We gotta get there before it closes!

(Enzo runs off and the two adult Sprites run after him.)

Bob: But AL’S doesn’t close for a few seconds. There’s no need to rush.

Enzo: Oh really?

(Enzo deploys his Zip-Board and jumps on, proceeding to zoom away.)

Enzo: RACE YOU OVER THERE! HA HA HA!

(Bob takes the challenge and deploys his own Zip-Board. He hops on and speeds off to catch up with Enzo. Dot screeches to a halt and looks up at the two speeding Sprites with disdain.)

Dot: Why must these two be so fucking fast…? (deploys her Zip-Board) HEY! WAIT FOR ME! (gets on board) These motherboard fuckers….

(Dot zips off after the other two, ending the scene. 

 

Next scene shows Blinn rummaging around her kitchen, looking for ingredients to make her next batch of cookies. Raspberry and Red float in through the open door, without Blinn noticing.)

Raspberry: Excuse me, miss?

(Blinn yowls, jumps and drops a pan she was holding. She turns around and sighs with relief upon seeing that it’s Raspberry.)

Blinn: Oh! Raspberry! You startled me! (looks at Red with a curious trill) And may I ask who is this besides you?

Raspberry: This is my brother, Red. The one I told you about.

Blinn: Oh my goodness! My apologies for not introducing myself. I am Blinn, the system leader of Mainframe. (holds out paw for handshake) Nice to meet you.

(Red seems almost starry-eyed to see Blinn, never having expected her to actually be a cat.)

Red: Aaaaaw~! You're so cute!

(Red begins to pet Blinn and Raspberry starts to panic.)

Raspberry: Wa-wait! Red! I don’t think she'd….

(To Raspberry’s surprise, Blinn actually liked being petted. Purring and rubbing against Red’s hand, just being a loving cat in general.)

Raspberry: (giggles) Blinn? Do you still have those cookies you made earlier?

Blinn: Wha-? (pulls away from Red’s hand) Oh! Of course, sweetheart! Let me go get them for you!

(Blinn rolls over to a cabinet and pulls out the plate of cookies, still as nice and warm as when she made them . She places the plate on the table while Raspberry and Red take their seats. Blinn looks at Raspberry with a cheerful expression.)

Blinn: So…are you willing to tell me now?

Red: Tell you what now?

(Raspberry gives Red a certain look which clues him in on what's going on, then looks at Blinn with a determined expression.)

Raspberry: Yes. I'm willing to tell you.

(Cuts to the outside of the Principal Office before fading to black.)

(Play credits)

 

(After credits scene:

A screen pops displaying the game status, with a message overlaying it saying that the game was lost and the entry point was a failure. A groan is heard offscreen.)

???: Of course…. You let an idiot try to infiltrate a system and they fail you on the spot. Computer, allow me to speak to Jack the User.

(The computer compiles and opens the Vidwindow to the user's camera. It shows Jack throwing a gamer rage temper tantrum inside his room. Ranting, yelling, and throwing things, everything you expect from a manchild . The yellow Sprite is shown looking annoyed by this and plays an air raid siren through his computer to get his attention. This startles Jack and he turns his computer in panic. This quickly becomes rage once he sees who it is.)

Jack: YOU! YOU MOTHER (slams fist on desk) FUCKER ! WHY THE HELL DID YOU MAKE ME PLAY A GAME WHERE FRIENDSHIP IS INVOLVED! THEY PULLED SOME MY LITTLE PONY BULLSHIT ON ME!

???: Admittedly, I should’ve got you a game that relates more to your..shall we say..lack of social skills and gigantic ego?

(The Sprite chuckles to himself while Jack simply glares at him.)

Jack: How about a game I know I'm good at!? Like Doom or…League of Legends or…um…uh….

???: We're doing a game that can easily connect to another system and neither of those two will do. We need something quick and simple to get past those lines. I don't care whether you enjoy the game or not, it's a simple matter of completing it and entering the system. 

(Jack grumbles with annoyance. What does this Sprite have over him, anyhow .)

???: I'll find another game to enter into the system, but I need you to cooperate this time, and no hacking business. You've already ruined the last game with your unneeded mayhem.

Jack: (rolls eyes) Whatever you say, Captain Jaundice.

(The Sprite closes the Vidwindow and rubs his temples in disappointment. He pulls out a tablet and begins to look through it, though whatever’s on the screen is not shown to the audience.)

???: The developments my creation has made during the years away from my grasp is astonishing. Perhaps in the meantime I'll do some studying. After all…

(Cuts to black)

???: What good is having a creation if you can't study and learn from it.

(A chuckle is heard before the episode ends.)

Series this work belongs to:

• Part 1 of ReBoot: ReJuvenated