Collision Course [+ Additional Levels]

Level Thirteen - New Arcade

Jumpman sighed, adjusting his grip on the steering wheel. "I talked with Pac on this."

"Oh, did you now?" QBert interrupted.

"Yes, in fact I did," he replied, unfazed. "And we both thought this could be something to calm you down. You seemed the most stressed of all of us."

"Calm me down?" QBert finally turned to look at him, giving him a funny look. "Coily is all I can think about. And your plan is to bring me to a place that will remind me of him?"

"Well, usually a place like this cheers you up," he said. "Besides." He glanced at QBert. "We couldn't have you cooped up in your room all day."

QBert just shook his head, and turned back to the window.

"There isn't going to be games of just Coily," he told him. A car with bright headlights passed by them, briefly lighting up his face and casting shadows on it. "There's plenty of other code―uh, games―to distract you while we're there."

His friend sighed, steaming the glass as he did. "I guess," he said quietly.

Jumpman glanced at him and smiled. Watching the road, he playfully punched QBert in the shoulder, startling QBert and making him look at him. "Come on," he said optimistically. "It'll be fun!"

QBert let out another sigh and turned back to his window with a small shake of his head, but a small smile touched his lips. After a couple minutes, he said, "All right."

Jumpman sighed, satisfied with his response. "Ace."

QBert chuckled. "'Ace'?" he echoed.

"What is it?"

"It's just not a word I hear from you often," he replied.

"Oh, really?" Jumpman questioned, amused.

"So, if this was a trip designed to relax us from recent events, then why didn't Pac come along with us?" QBert asked, changing the subject and looking at him, shifting to face forward in his seat.

Jumpman straightened, slowing the vehicle to stop it at a red light. "He's still exhausted from last night."

"Ah. Couldn't have him snoozing at a game. Hey, was he up enough for telling you what happened?" QBert asked him.

"Um... sort of?" Jumpman replied, tilting his head to one side, waiting for the traffic light ahead to turn green. "He wasn't really sure of what happened himself."

"Well," QBert began, "the last thing I remember is me shouting at Coily to stop, some loud arguing, Coily yelling 'no', and then Pac yelling 'do it', or 'yes', and then I blacked out." Then he furrowed his brows, knotting them together in thought. "Er, I mean, then I yellowed out?" He turned to Jumpman, now with his eyebrows raised. "Can you 'yellow out'? Is that even a thing?"

Jumpman smiled. "No, I don't believe that it is an actual thing to 'yellow out', though I do believe you can yellow out; that is, if your best friend is Pacman." QBert laughed. "But yeah, I do believe I recall him mentioning the part where he yelled that back to him," Jumpman told him. "He said that when he did, that was when the room became bright. And it was because of him."

The traffic light then changed color, and with a slight glance left and right, Jumpman pressed the gas pedal and drove through the intersection. "What happened next?" QBert asked him expectantly.

Jumpman frowned slightly. "He said that he felt this incredible power surging through him. Something really weird happened. Certain sensations he couldn't quite explain. He also said that he went somewhere―but, didn't?"

QBert looked at him deadpan. "You know that's an oxymoron, right? You're either somewhere else, or you're not."

Jessie sighed, trying to relay what their friend had shared with him the best that he could. "I don't know. He didn't seem to either. Oh, and there was a point when he felt like he was shifting form, but not, at the same time."

"Hold up, how is that possible?" asked QBert, bewildered. "So, was he in both of his forms at the same time?"

He could only shrug. "I don't know. He said that he couldn't understand that either."

QBert leaned back in his seat, thinking. "Well, how did he fix the rules?"

He paused before answering. "This part probably isn't going to make any sense."

"Only this part?"

Jumpman gave him a dry look. "You know I'm trying to do my best here, right?"

QBert rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, but really, how could this sound any weirder?"

"Well, it does."

"Try me," QBert automatically replied, arching an eyebrow at him cockily.

Jumpman glanced at him, thought through what he was going to say next, and then took a breath. "Alright, then. Here it is: He said that he was able to see the Game Code. He felt some of his power transfer into Coily, and by doing that, he was able to see his connection to the Game Code, and was then able to shift the digits back to their corresponding places."

"What?!" QBert exclaimed, startling Jumpman even though he had been expecting it. If QBert hadn't had his safety belt on, he would have fallen out of his seat.

He just lifted his shoulders, saying, "I told you it wouldn't make any sense."

"Yeah, sure, but what you just said..." QBert shook his head. "Not only was Pac able to basically upload himself into Coily, and was able to somehow view Coily's connection, but was able to access it."

"Uh... yup." He nodded. "Pretty much."

QBert shook his head, astounded. "That's zany. And, you know what, you were right. That is even weirder than being in both forms at once." QBert squinted as he looked through the windshield, struggling to grasp the concept. "What would that even look like?" he muttered quietly. "How does that work?" He tried to picture it, but failed. Giving up on it, he shook his head. "Anyway, I know we're essentially code and all that, but we're not, like, computers. We're not something that can be accessed, or... or... hacked, I guess," he stated, trying to explain in the best way he could. Then he added, "I think." With that, he looked to Jumpman for an answer, his eyes wide at the thought.

"Well, perhaps it has something to do with his game already having started," he suggested.

"It'd have to be," QBert told him, looking down now at his hands laying open in his lap. "I couldn't even imagine myself being able to do anything like that."

"Me neither," Jumpman agreed. "We're here, by the way."

"Oh, we are?" QBert straightened in his seat.

"Yeah." They turned off the road and pulled into a parking lot. A row of vehicles faced the road, and another row faced the building. Jumpman parked at the side that faced the road. He turned off the ignition and they hopped out. They walked across the lot, breaths steaming in the cold air. QBert set his jaw when he read the name of the place. Jumpman chuckled when he noticed him, and he looked at the glowing red sign. "Still don't like the title?" he asked him.

QBert scowled. "I don't mind the 'Q', I just wished that they had used it differently," he said. "It's really cheesy too."

Jumpman laughed, and they walked past a white Tahoe as they walked up to the building.

"After you," Jumpman said, holding open the door.

QBert walked through, ready to temporarily leave the weirdnesses of the past behind him. "Don't mind if I do."

They entered the arcade.