Would You Like To Enter Stardust?

Challenge: Accepted

Once through the tunnel electric music and the strong smell of fruit punch immediately greeted them.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the rainbow brigade!" An oddly happy sounding Jay exclaimed from above them dangling on one of those hanging clouds.

"Jay we need to talk to you." Nya said sternly.

"Ha! Doesn't everyone! I am the most loved person in all of Prime Empire." Jay yapped kicking his legs up and down still hanging and looking at them upside down.

"Jay, this is important come down here now or I swear to the master I will make you." She said crossing her arms.

"Uggggh, fffiiiiiinnnneee"  he whined slowly letting himself lean forward until he fell down rather than just jumping. First master it was like watching a mother arguing with a three year old who didn't want to leave daycare.

"So what's up?" He asked as if he hadn't blasted them backwards out of his room a few hours ago.

"You know we're in a game, and you know that Unagami is controlling the game."

"Uh yeah? We've established this" he replied rolling his eyes.

"Look this game, it's been stealing people from our home and we need to save them but to do that we need the keytanas and we need to stop Unagami" Nya said carefully taking her time to pick and choose her words.

"Stop... Unagami?" Jay asked in almost a fearful voice.

"Yes, if we stop Unagami everyone will get to go home! Look you may not remember this right now but there are lots of people out in the real world who love you a lot and lots of others who have their own families to go back to. Could you help us?"

"Real... world?" He repeated with his face scruched up in confusion and something that looked almost like hurt.

"Yes the real world! We can all go back to the real world as soon as we find a way to shut down Prime Empi-"

"What?"

"What, what? The real world, the world beyond the game we can all go back to it after we shut down the-"

"SHUT DOWN THE GAME?"

"Well maybe not shut it down but we need to find Unagami and defeat him!" Cole cut in sensing the quickly building tension. It was just like Scott said, a bomb simply waiting until you hit the right buttons for it to go off.

Cole must've hit a button.

"You want to destroy my home? You want to destroy Prime Empire? You want to destroy me?!"

"What? No! Jay we don't want to destroy you but Unagami needs to be stopped!"

"BUT YOU JUST SAID YOU DIDN'T WANT TO DESTROY ME!" He wailed at Nya's attempt to keep him calm.

"Jay just- listen! Unagami is a guy named Milton Dyer we need to find him and stop him so everybody can go home!"

Jay's eyes flickered back and forth across Nya's face as if he was looking for something but couldn't find it.

Then a noise like static buzzed. Jay lurched backwards gripping his head as his entire body glitched. The loud noise continued to screech with each twitch and jerk of Jay's unstable form. With each spasm things changed one second bright yellow studs then another blood red, one second bright gold eyes the next one gold and one in the shape of the prime empire insignia.

Around them even the world seemed to be glitching, the only ones unaffected being the players. That was not the same story for The Stardust. The entire building rattled as if there were an earthquake, glasses falling from tables and shelves. Dark tones of red creeped up the indigo walls, neon lights flickered and died, the clouds turned a dark stormy grey, red lightning arcing across them menacingly. The floor buzzed and crackled turning into a loud black, white, and red mash of static that darted to different spots along the ground.

Then as soon as it started it stopped.

Everything slowly dimmed back to normal and the room stopped shaking giving them a moment to regain their balance. They all stumbled a bit disoriented before stopping to turn to Jay.

Laughing.

Jay was laughing.

Not a normal laugh though. This laugh was manic and insanity driven, the laugh of a mad man.

"Heh- heh heh heh he Ha hah ha HA HA HA! NO. No you don't get to do this! You're not getting rid of me! You're not getting rid of PRIME EMPIRE! NO ONE IS! I. WON'T. LET YOU!" he shrieked and red climbed up the walls as his voice carried and they all took a step back, the older Smith siblings moving to shield the younger.

Jay's breathing was heavy and panting before he whipped his head up to look at them.

A horrifically wide smile and blown eyes snapped up at them. White hair covered one of his eyes but didn't cover the prime empire symbol now replacing his iris and pupil.

"I WON'T LET YOU SHUT IT DOWN! I WON'T LET ANYONE LEAVE!" He laughed, and echoed and cracked sound.

"Jay stop! We have to-"

"Stop? STOP?! I'M JUST GETTING STARTED!" He cackled wickedly and whipped his hand out.

It was almost like he had reached into thin air, as if he reached into the fabric of the universe itself; as his hand disappeared and the air around it glitched until he seemed to pull his guitar, his keytana, out of some sort of pocket rift.

Red electricity crackled around his head and his smile twitched. Another small snap of a glitch and suddenly Jay was holding a pick.

The bright neon doors of the stardust slammed shut. People began to catch on and started panicking, pounding on the doors. On of them grabbed a chair and attempted to throw it at the sealed entrance only to be met with horror as red crept up the surface until it glitched and vanished.

Like the code itself had been destroyed.

They scrambled back in terror as Jay jerked himself forward glitching and crackling with red electricity with every step, that demented smile never leaving his face.

They tried backing up further and further only to be met with a table and a wall.

They were cornered.

And Jay was still lurching towards them.

They didn't have any weapons, they didn't have any powers, they didn't have a plan, they didn't have an escape, everything was going to shit and his best friend was- was-

Jay lifted up his guitar and got ready to jump forward to attack.

"RRRAGH-"

"STOP! WE CHALLENGE YOU!"

Jay froze.

In a snap it was like a switch had been flicked.

Lights changed back to normal, doors opened, and Jay... Jay stood ramrod straight.

It was like he suddenly tensed and froze in place.

Much like the rest of the club his entire look had changed back to normal. Eyes were back to that happy gold, red electricity had gone away, and any sign of red or the prime empire logo had vanished replaced with a clean slate and blank expression. Even the glitching had stopped on a dime.

"What the fu-"

"Player! You have challenged Superstar Rockin' Jay, please confirm!" A new voice boomed.

"Uhhhh confirm?" Cole said questioningly.

"Confirmed! Challenge initiated! Accepted?"

Suddenly Jay's unmoving figure blinked and snapped back to life. A large neon yellow button appeared next to him.

He shot them an angry glare and without even turning Jay slammed his fist into the start button that glowed red and fizzled away.

"Challenge accepted!"