Rico paced the group like a commanding officer. His robotic tone was once again replaced by that assertive audio. "Bull. You will act as the commander. With your massive size and outstanding power, you shall lead the team to an uncertain goal."
Bull blew a proud puff of smoke from his nose. "Who better?"
Rico turned to Tara, "Tara. Your mastery of the mystical arts will be paramount to our success. 8-Bit's body is as much technology as it is magic. Your assistance is pertinent."
Tara respectfully bowed her head in response.
Bibi annoyingly prodded Rico with Mr. Bat's barrel. "What about me?"
"Bibi. You have a personal connection with 8-Bit. Perhaps you can connect with The Virus. Stop its rampage."
Bibi thought about that for a second. She questioned, "Why aren't you joining us?"
Rico tapped his smooth head. His voice went back to its normal robotic cadence, "If I were to enter, I would risk being hacked by The Virus." They ignored the loud banging coming from The Virus' holding pen. "Your flesh bodies are not corruptible."
Bull solemnly nodded, "Yeah that makes sense."
Rico presented the large milk crate of items, "If you wear these special suits."
"Ah there's the catch," Bull grumbled. The giant man retrieved one of the shockingly small wet suits. The latex body condom was roughly the length of his upper torso. "I can't fit this," he grumbled to the waist-height robot. "I've blown balloons bigger than this."
"One size fits all." Rico demonstrated by stretching the fabric far past Bull's wingspan. The satisfying snap that followed upon its release made Bull cup his fragile gems.
Rico went around the group passing out the strange uniforms. Their blue-and-black scheme looked like scuba gear save for the excluded goggles and breathing apparatus. Sandy groggily gazed at his gear and asked an interesting question. "What about me?"
Rico's distribution was swiftly halted, "Yes?"
"What about..." He yawned between his sentences, "Me? What's my job?"
Rico's quickly remembered Sandy's inclusion. "Oh... you are Tara's translator." He swiftly responded without augmenting his voice.
"I didn't even get the cool voice," the sleepy prince sighed. Bibi examined the stretchy fabric. She tried her best to keep her eyes off of 8-Bit's eroded body but she couldn't help but sneak a peek.
The broken arcade machine was trying to crack the glass with his spiked feet again. The sounds of his constant strikes were akin to the tink of a pickaxe against stone. His verdant LEDs locked with her black dots. Her gaze didn't waver but her mouth flipped with discontent. This sign of weakness pleasured The Virus. He partook in more taunts behind his plexiglass barrier.
His constant jeers turned Bibi's nose up. She refocused on the robotic owner of the arcade. "Yo Rico! Are you sure we can do this?"
Rico silently stared at her. She could feel the power in his glassy gaze. He bluntly stated, "No." Bibi snorted at his blatant lack of faith. "I would have chosen Jessie, Pam, and possibly Penny."
"Mhmm-HHmmH HHHMM!" Tara yelled from her spot in the middle of the room.
Sandy lazily translated, "She said thanks for the vote of confidence."
"You're welcome." Rico happily answered.
"She was being sarcast- *sigh* oh who cares." Sandy fought off the need to nap. "Before we start... can I use the bathroom?"
Bull stepped to the side, "Third door on your left." The magical prince sloppily trudged out of the viewing room.
Rico stepped out behind him to wheel in a cart. On the bottom rack of the stomach tall transportation bed was a small box. Though they were more intrigued by the strange machine on top. It was a sparkly sheet of white paint plastered onto the body of what looked like a giant microscope. However, the lenses that one would rest their eyes on had been removed and the magnification lens was swapped with a giant drill-like mechanism.
Rico ignored their perplexed stares and retrieved the small box below. Out came four small black buds. They looked like tiny marbles with a thick lump signifying a factory imperfection. He presented one to each of them, "These are earpieces for communication. They will also allow me to monitor your vitals while inside."
Bibi was the first to insert the strange orb into her ear. She hissed when she felt something cut into her ear canal. She tried to remove it but the harder she pulled the more it hurt. Rico reassured her, "Do not worry. The pain you are feeling is the bud burrowing into your skull so it can monitor your brain waves."
Bull and Tara instantly placed the buds they were given back in their cases. Bibi tried to scratch the bud out but her attempts only sharpened the pain. Rico opted out of informing them he could remove the devices once the mission was over. He instead directed their attention to the large white machine, "This is the coin-cobbler."
The trio of mercenaries didn't gel with the name.
"Brock came up with it." Rico tried his best to be serious while explaining the device. "This machine will scramble your molecules and re-arrange them into the form of arcade tokens. Once you've been transformed... I shall release The Virus and you will be inserted into his body. Upon entering you must hurry to The Virus's source."
"Mhhmmh mhhm-hhmh mmmhhhmm mmh mmhhhh hm?"
Bull and Bibi shrugged at Tara's muffled speech. Bull guessed, "I think she's saying... how do we find the source?" Tara nodded in agreement.
"I do not know."
Bibi grew frustrated, "You're not giving us a lot to work with Rico."
"This is equally as new for me as it is for you." Rico used a more assertive tone, "We don't have time to waste. Where is Sandy?"
Bull stared through the window, "He probably fell asleep on the toilet. I'll go get him." Rico joined him as the two left the women in the viewing room alone.
Tara fixed her pink ponytail as she moved to exit the small block as well. A heavy sigh from a frustrated Bibi caught her ear. The brash batter was fiddling with her 8-Ball keychain. She seemed lost in the chrome reflection her polished barrel gave her. Mr. Bat's bright smile felt like it was taunting the distraught Bibi.
Tara squatted beside her. She tried to mumble out some kind words but her mystical language offered only more confusion. Bibi smiled at the efforts, "Thanks Tara. I'm just nervous for the little guy." They both looked at The Virus. He was staring at them intently. His vicious green eyes refused to blink.
"Mhhmmm mhh?"
Bibi tried to reason out her words but the language barrier was too strong. They had grown to be allies with their actions on the battlefield. Words were never their strong suit. Instead of wasting her breath with words, Bibi snatched Tara up in a sideways hug. She rested her heavy chin on Tara's fiber wrapped skull. Her reassuring warmth was all she needed to be sure they would finish this. They might not have been the team Rico wanted, but she was determined to be the one he needed.
A soft thud was heard from inside the control room interrupting Bibi and Tara's peace. Tara was the first to stroll up to the window. Bibi stole another glance at The Virus and cringed at his malicious mug. Tara shouted for her to come to the window.
What Bibi saw next would be both the funniest and most infuriating display of incompetence she would ever see. Dancing atop the flashing lights of the control panel was a familiar-looking blonde boy with khaki shorts. Bull was currently trying to grab his legs but the youth was able to jump out of his clutches. Bull's chin would smack into the array of buttons as the boy vaulted over his head.
Behind him, Rico had to deal with two more children. The gothic child that he was currently holding the arm of reached out to a stack of papers sitting on the countertop. He threw them in Rico's face and the robot quickly switched his attention to collecting the sheets before they could fall.
Bibi and Tara shared a simple chuckle at the goofy hijinks. "I better go help 'em," Bibi suggested. She moved for the steel blast-doors, but they wouldn't open. She tried shoulder charging against the wall, but it wouldn't budge. Her and Tara tapped on the glass partition to get the group's attention. It became increasingly obvious that Rico and Bull were too distracted to notice them.
Milly wandered closer to the see-through wall and got distracted by Bibi's knocking. This brief distraction allowed Rico to grab hold of her shirt. He rested his hands on her shoulder and signaled to Bull that he got one. Unfortunately, Don picked up Milly's childish notebook and hit Rico in the back of his head. His metal dome popped clean off and landed onto the flashy panel.
Bibi and Tara burst into laughter as he gave them an irritated glare. His headless body turned to chase after the boy again.
While spectating their comedic destruction of the control room, the feminine fatals heard a strange electronic whirr fill the viewing room. They both saw the coin-cobbler begin to spur to life. It dropped a few fizzling sparks as its craning neck spun around the room.
Bibi and Tara stopped their childish laughter and started pounding against the glass. Rico's head saw their calamity and signaled for the tomfoolery to cease. Bull dropped Togo and rushed to the terminal. He helped Rico reattach his head and the two started mashing buttons in hopes of stopping the machine.
Bull was not one for technology only action. He rushed to the doors and charged them with twice the force Bibi had tried before. The echoing thuds of his shoulders against the metal reverberated with the pounds of Bibi's bat against the glass. The childish invaders joined the adults by peaking into the barren room. Milly was terrified when she saw the distress on Bibi's face. Don and Togo showed more inconsequential shrugs.
Bibi saw Rico rapidly shake his head in Bull's direction. Her heart dropped at his visible admittance of defeat. A desperate tap on her shoulder snapped her vision backward. The coin-cobbler had extended its sectioned crane body so it was pointing at them. The drill-like tip spun rapidly with a bright yellow light blinding the viewers.
Tara and Bibi plastered their backs against the wall. Their screams were instantly silenced by the sound of the laser beam engulfing their bodies. The viewers in the control room shielded their eyes from the intense light.
After a few seconds of noise, the laser finally stopped. The coin-cobbler looked around the room for targets and deactivated shortly after. The spectators looked through the window and saw two coins where Bibi and Tara once were. One showed an angry pin of Bibi's face. The other was a placid frown from an unamused Tara.
Rico tried to open the doors but the protocol wasn't complete. The glass door holding The Virus slowly rose. The hissing of the hydraulic locks was inaudible from their safe position behind the glass. The Virus slowly stepped out of his cell. His entire body turned around once to get a feel for the size of his new environment.
He then scurried to the window like a dashing spider. His sudden movements and dark appearance made the kids scream. He couldn't hear their screeches but he was satisfied when Milly fell over trying to run.
The Virus dragged his spiked foot along the coins below him. They were forced to watch as he ran the golden tokens through his blocky fingers. He laughed when he saw the tail side of the coins showed their preferred weapons of choice: A smiling baseball bat and a set of tarot cards.
The Virus waved the coins in the group's face as he rested his gun on his large cabinet shelf. He carefully peeled away the tape that was covering his coin slot. Rico pressed a button on his console, "Don't!"
The Virus paused when he heard their voices. It made him happy that he could hear them scream now. He slid both coins into his body and sealed the hole shut again. His evil cackle filled the mostly quiet room. "You-YOuu-You idiots! They'll never escape alive!"
The Virus continued to laugh to his corroded heart's content. His joyous guffaws wouldn't halt even when the door behind them creaked open.
Sandy stumbled into the room with a roll of toilet paper stuck to his foot. "Sorry... I fell asleep on the seat." Sandy was perplexed by the three new arrivals beside Bull and Rico. He showed a small bit of alarm when he locked eyes with the filthy Virus. That, and the lack of Tara or Bibi spurred a question, "What did I miss?"