8-Bit's Inside Story

Chapter 5: The Bravery

Sandy groggily focused on the kids in the corner, "What about them?"

The goliath biker blew a puff of smoke from his nostrils. His lumbering steps quaked the ground beneath him. And his haunting height cast a shadow over the intruding youths. "Who are you?" Bull's question was given no response. He grunted, "I'm only asking once. Who are you? And how did you get inside?"

Don avoided eye contact with the behemoth. Togo however, "I'm Togo. This is Don. And we snuck in through the back door." Togo turned his nose up with a prideful smirk.

In contrast, Don shoulder-checked his overconfident friend. "What are you doing?!"

"I'm showing him we're not scared."

Don and Bull both groaned from his ridiculous response. The latter continued his questioning, "Where are your parents?"

Togo smarmily answered, "Wouldn't you like to know?"

Don groaned out, "Really? That's the question you won't answer?"

Bull watched with tired eyes as the two kids bickered back and forth. He noticed a distinct lack of blue in their trio. "Where's the girl?" Don and Togo went silent. Bull's eyes widened. He snapped back to Rico and Sandy and shouted, "Stop her!"

Sandy looked beside them and saw the small girl sneaking into the entrance to The Virus's cell. He woke up and tried to snag her shirttail, but the blast door slammed shut behind her. Rico desperately tried to press the buttons on the panel and get the door opened again but he was too late.

Milly slowly walked into view of the plexiglass window. She was visibly shaking as she crept closer to a currently stationary Virus. Rico went to turn on the mic but Bull quickly grabbed his hand. He silently showed him how The Virus still had its eyes locked on them, unaware of the approaching child. They also saw how she was holding a small grey ball close to her chest.

Rico pawed at his control station for The RETRO and gave an electronic hiss when he saw it was gone. Somehow the girl had slipped around them and grabbed the device while they were talking.

Milly was currently quaking in her metaphorical boots. She had seen the machine through the window but getting close to it was horrifying. It was a black void with grubby green marks running along its body. As she drew closer she noticed how it stood three heads above her even while it sat down. That and the low hum it emitted constantly gave the silent box an eerie air.

Her timid steps brought her behind the large cabinet. She gawked at the giant green 'X' that covered a large panel on his rear. She noticed how most of the sickly imperfections stemmed from a corroding battery stored atop his head. Milly sneaked a hand around The Virus's body and felt the heat seeping from the cracks. She subtly slinked her arm around its torso until she could slip The RETRO inside his bandaged coin slot.

A small blonde boy snapped a hand onto the mic, "NOW RUN MILS!" Bull, Rico, and Sandy jumped back from Togo's outburst. They looked back and saw Don shaking his head with his hands in his pockets. Somehow all the kids had broken free of their restraints.

Milly jumped nearly a foot into the air and began her swift escape. Only for The Virus to latch a clawed hand onto her fleeing shirt collar. "Wha-Wha-Who are you?"

Rico's robot eye did a three-sixty as he rushed to the far east side of the panel. Sandy and Bull got ahold of the microphone. The gruff diner boss ordered, "Put her down."

The Virus turned a passing eye to the window. He continued to peek back and forth at the girl and her companions. He released a threatening cackle, "Oh this is ri-ri-amazing!" The Virus presented the girl as if she were a trophy fish, "Did you think she could stop me?"

Milly had been brought to tears by her predicament. Why now? Why was this the time she decided to be brave? She was dangling in the arms of an infectious freak as he taunted men she assumed could bench-press a building. How did she get into this mess?

"This is pathe-etic!" The Virus lifted her up to his face. Her steamy tears had fogged up her glasses, "She is so small. How could this tiny-tiny-tiny-minuscule girl be a threat?"

Bull took advantage of The Virus' confusion. "Sandy... tell me you have a way to get her."

The dreamer racked his skull. "Maybe... but if I go in there he'll kill me."

Bull looked through the pane. Milly was kicking the air and The Virus' face in a desperate attempt to flee. Bull asked, "How much time do you need?"

"Wha-?"

"How much time!?"

"Uh. One, maybe two seconds?"

Bull stood beside the massive blast doors. His gargantuan hand dwarfed the humongous access panel. "I can give you five." Sandy quickly ran to the adjacent door. He heard the hissing call of the hydraulics releasing the protective barrier.

Bull ran headfirst toward the toxic arcade machine. The Virus's ferocious glare shifted to the giant and released a volley of deadly lasers towards him. Bull was just fast enough to roll to the side, "NOW!"

Sandy jumped into the cramped box, his palm swiftly retrieving a glimmering handful of sand. The Virus turned into a face full of glowing blue dust. A bit of the residue spread out to encompass Milly's feeble frame.

The Virus was a bit frustrated. It would be days before he got all these grits from between his servos. Then a dreamy feeling washed over him. He could feel his CPU slowing down and his eyes matched this visible shutdown. His grip on Milly faltered as he and the captive child relinquished their consciousness to sleep.

Bull surged onward and snatched up Milly with his dominant hand. He cradled the girl and snatched Sandy by his purple hood. The button that had failed Bibi before worked for Bull and the three homo-sapiens crashed back into the control room.

Immediately after the blast door slammed down The Virus perked up. He checked his grimy, green grips for the child he had snatched away. From within the control room Bull and Sandy checked the blue-tipped brunette for bruises. She wistfully awoke with a wimpy whimper. "sorry..."

Bull went to scold her but a new sound soured their mood. "ah-ha-ah" They looked through the viewing pane. "ha-ha-AH-H-H-H-AHHH!" The Virus had returned to its seated position in the middle of the box. His infernal sneer in full effect while he stared through them.

Milly could barely see his glowing eyes from the bottom of the partition. She tried to back away but was quickly confronted by her male amigos. Their fervent inspection of her was embarrassing to say the least. She tried to cower beneath her pigtails, but Togo and Don's eyes pierced her flimsy defense.

Her flushed face would soon give way to shocked eyes. From behind the boys stood the looming figure of the monster Bull. His goliath grip lifted the boys by their collars and carried them back to the corner of the room. He tightened their restraints to ensure they couldn't escape again. Milly tried to sneak away but an angry grunt from Bull paralyzed her. She willingly sat in the seat and presented her hands to be restrained.

Once they were properly tied up Bull asked, "What's your parents' numbers?"

Don quickly clasped Togo's mouth shut. His inverted eyes stared through Bull, "We aren't telling you anything."

"(248) 434-5508!" Milly squealed. Don gave her a sideways glare. "I'm sorry he's so scary."

From the main keyboard, Rico hushed them, "I have attained a feed!"

Bull and Sandy joined him at a wall-mounted TV. They saw a bright green flash as the scene appeared before them. They marveled at how the world had binary codes emanating from its very being.

Rico flew around and gawked at how 8-Bit's mind had created a tranquil environment with a simulated ecosystem to boot. A few minutes of flight brought them within range of Bibi and Tara. Bull snickered when he saw the pigtails framing Bibi's face. Tara had also been redesigned by 8-Bit's sci-fi reality.

Rico feared for their safety but was currently unable to worry. For just ahead of the duo was a massive pair of glowing plateaus. Their height would put the Washington Monument to shame. And the valley between them was a little too conveniently formed to not be suspicious.