Collision Course [+ Additional Levels]

Level Eleven - Forgetful Times

"Ssee? QBert wassn't right about anything," Coily stated, almost hiding his relief in triumph.

"No, he is right." Everybody turned to Slick. "I can't remember it either," he announced.

Coily frowned, and opened his mouth. "That'ss becausse—"

"Because of what, Coily? Because I wear sunglasses all of the time?" Slick snapped. "I'm not currently experiencing somebody else's pain or whatever, I'm not forgetful and I actually keep track of the rules." At those last two he couldn't help but pause, look over at Ugg with a confused expression, and let out a small hopeless sigh with a slight shake of his head. "And yet somehow," he continued, "when I try to remember what rule twenty seven says, all I can get is 'If somebody breaks one of the rules, then...'—but that's it. Other than that, it's this hazy text which I know is to be what's left of it." Slick's gaze hardened behind his dark lenses. "What did you do, Coily?"

"He screwed with repercussions of his actions so that they had a different type of effect," Pacman answered. "He also twisted the rule so that the opposite team receives the consequences, not everybody." He shot a heated glance at Coily. "And with only two other bad guys loaded, it was easy to bend your memory and target the one he hated most."

After a couple seconds, Slick's eyebrows arched and he pointed at Ugg. "Him?"

"Hey!"

"No, you retard," QBert told him with a groan. "Obviously not Ugg. I mean, come on. Who's the one in this room with the damn headache which is about to split his skull?" He shook his head—slowly with a grimace—as he gestured to Ugg. "Not him. Obviously." He looked back at the ground in front of him, breathing heavily.

Then, after a couple seconds, he shrugged and said, "I mean... I'd be more than happy if it was somebody else instead of me." He looked up at him. "You wanna switch?" he asked.

"What?" Ugg squeaked, eyes wide as he stepped back. "Why would I—I don't—but you—no," he said finally and decisively. "No, I don't want to, to switch places with you. I, well, I mean..." Then he just stopped and looked around at them with a hurt look on his face, and raised his hands in the air. "Why do I feel like everybody's out to get me?" he whined.

"Uh," Pacman began from the other side of the room with a small raise of his hand. "I'm not..."

"It's Ugg, not Ubb," Ugg shot back. "Besides," he waved a hand at Coily, "he's the one who broke the rules! Or, rule. Or, twisted it up in some jumbled mess or whatever," he pointed out.

They looked at Coily. After a couple seconds of silence, he suddenly shrugged and lifted his hands.

"Sso what?"

"So," QBert said, gritting his teeth. "I'm going to kill you!" he yelled angrily, lunging for him.

Pacman stepped forward to reach for his friend. This was bad, but he wasn't going to have anybody killing anybody. "QBert, wait!"

Though, Coily simply scowled in annoyance. He lifted his hand out to QBert, and curled it into a fist. QBert immediately crumpled with a cry. This time though, his body flashed to show orange glowing numbers flying around him, and he became transparent for a split second.

Coily blinked in surprise and looked down at his hand as if he hadn't realized just how much power he actually wielded, but he also couldn't keep the smile from his face.

"He flickered!" Ugg exclaimed, his eyes wide.

"QBert!" Pacman pounced on Coily, and the two twisted onto the floor, the room flashing with purple and yellow light again. Coily swung his fist for him again, and this time, the blow hit its target. Pacman's head was knocked to the side as knuckles hit his jaw, but the move only gave him a rush of adrenaline, and in a surge of strength, he amazingly yanked Coily around and clambered on top of him in one quick move. His knee in a stomach and his foot on a wrist, Pacman pushed the other arm back as he smacked his hand down on Coily's forehead to keep him from lifting his head, yellow numbers sparking at the touch. "Reverse the effects! Return rule twenty seven!" he shouted.

"Why should I?" Coily spat as he struggled to get free, but he was pinned.

"Reverse it, or you'll kill him!" Slick told him, glancing at QBert flickering on the floor.

"Oh, would that really be sso bad?" Coily asked them, a wild look in his eyes that Pacman frowned at.

"By messing with the Game Code, you could throw off the entire balance, man," Ugg began. "I mean, I don't even know if there is a balance or whatever, but we could all disappear. Without QBert, there'd be no reason for us to exist. Heck, even Pacman and everybody else could disappear," he said shakily, looking fearful as the implications of that hit him.

Suddenly he yelped, and Slick also staggered back. They exchanged a glance, and Slick looked in wonder and uncertainty at Ugg, then down at himself. Ugg followed his gaze to see electricity crackle and snap around their bodies; both of them were reacting to the sudden high charge in the room. They felt the hairs on the back of their necks rise.

"Come on, Coily," Pacman chided. "You're a bit old for childish schemes, aren't you?"

The air around them started to buzz, becoming saturated with energy. Hearing another yelp, Slick glanced over and saw Ugg scrambling to the desk for cover. He looked up at the scene unfolding before him with worry. Something was about to happen. Something big.

"You want to talk to me about being childish?" Coily replied vehemently. "When you're the one who'ss fiddling with a game that'ss not your own? When you believe in ssomething petty like friendship? When you're bussy trying to end ssomething that'ss unsstoppable? What'ss childish about what I'm doing? It'ss exactly what I'm made to do, issn't it? I jusst want him to be out of my life! Forever!"

Slick jerked his head to the side with a wince as static zapped his ear. "Hey, guys..." he began loudly, looking at them, taking steps back and scanning the area for an escape, or at least some sort of shelter.

"Coily! Stop!" QBert shouted, his plea sounding garbled as he flickered again.

"No!" Coily roared defiantly.

"Yes!" Pacman responded, and Slick dove under a table... just as Pacman's entire body started shining bright with ribbons of electricity that shot around him. The room turned yellow in the light, Coily blinked hard in the glare of it. He stared in shock as he saw Pacman's eyes glaze over, and turn into glowing orbs. Sparking numbers flew from him, and a round shape took form behind him. It was a large yellow sphere that nearly touched the ceiling, and had two round black eyes with a pointed indentation within each. When he spoke, a line spread and part of the sphere opened as a mouth and spoke with him, moving when his mouth did, both of them speaking as one. "Reverse the effects! Return rule twenty seven!" the Pacmen commanded.

Flying digits suddenly ran between his shoulder blades and spiraled down his right arm beneath his skin, onto the hand that held Coily's forehead, whose eyes turned completely violet. When Pacman's hand started to glow, Coily cried out, squeezing his eyes shut in a pained grimace. Then his eyes flew back open with a gasp.

And when he opened them again, his eyes were yellow glowing orbs.