Twisted Metal [Madotsuki+Hiro Protagonist] [Complete]

[Madotsuki]

Madotsuki had a lot to think about following the incident.

Deep down, she felt a little guilty. If she were living with the Night Terror, she could've kept her safe. But now it was over, and Madeline had the scars to prove it-- two long claw marks across her right eye, according to a picture she sent a few days ago. It was a miracle she could still see out of that eye. Although she looked more intimidating with the newfound injuries, it just didn't fit her; she was surprisingly friendly for a gangster. Sure, that helped out when they were forming ties between other groups, but the dreamer felt that it would make it more likely to get her stabbed in the back. She didn't seem like the kind of person who'd even join a gang in the first place. Maybe she could ask her next time they met in person? Certainly not over the phone-- Madeline hadn't been very talkative as of late; she'd send a message to her each day to tell her she was okay, but after that, she just clammed up. Could you really blame her though?

She hadn't heard anything about Sabitsuki and Errol, although that was to be expected. After all, she had tried to kill the former twice. They weren't bothering her though, which she took as a good sign. Maybe that temporary truce she had formed during the kidnapping incident was more permanent than she thought? She wasn't particularly fond of the monstrous albino, but she didn't want to be on her bad side.

With those thoughts out of the way, she returned to the news-hologram in front of her. One article mentioned that the "F-Zero Duo Races" were happening this week, but the article that caught her eye went something like this:

"BREAKING NEWS: An attorney in Tier 3 by the name of Dewey Chet has been brutally murdered in his own businessplace. Around 3:00 AM, the alarms were set off in the victim's workplace. By the time the police arrived, the building was a mess and the victim's barely-recognizable body was found. The cameras, unfortunately, were destroyed and cannot be used for evidence."

Before she could read into it further, she heard someone trying to unlock the door. She turned to it, waiting in anticipation for whom was probably her roommate. The door opened, and in stumbled Hiro, his hakimachi torn to shreds. Without a moment of hesitation, she grabbed the samurai by the hand and led him to the couch.

"Are you okay?" she asked telepathically, backing into the kitchen. "You look like you got into a fight with a hurricane and lost. You need anything? Tea? A blanket? What on earth happened out there?"

Current word count: 473
Minimum word count: 7500

[Hiro Protagonist]

He'd been teleported to the Nexus by the staff at the Danteverse HQ, after the ponderously slow boat ride. From there, it was a quick trip back to Coruscant  (after he'd spent fifteen minutes resummoning his hoverbike). Rather woozy from blood loss and the accumulated injuries from his harrowing adventure on the island, he coasted through the gate back home with a limp wave to the gate guard.

Once through,  he idled for a few minutes in front of the check in station as the troopers waved people through into the city. "Sir! If you would please move your vehicle to the side for a moment?"

Hiro lifted his head from the weary slouched posture he'd maintained since getting on the bike. A man in a crisply maintained imperial uniform came striding out of the EPD station and gave Hiro a startled look, quickening his pace. It was his old acquantaince, Overseer Jentral.

"By the Emperor, Hiro! What happened to you?" Jentral looked over the beaten and bloodied hacker on his bike. "You're going to have to go through remedial training if you keep returning from missions missing most of your clothing."

The codeslinger managed a weak chuckle. "Hey, Overseer. The Danteverse happened to me. I'm just getting back now." Jentral gave a stern, fatherly look and brought up his touchpad, tapping a few sections of it. "I've ordered a rehab kit sent to your apartment, Hiro. I actually came out because the bioscanners registered your life-signs as 'perilous'." The hacker was slightly touched, and gave the Overseer a salute. "Thank you, sir. I deeply appreciate it. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a shut-in roomate to get home to who is probably half starved by now."

Jentral waved Hiro's bike forward and watched him lift off into the skyway toward the Tier 2 elevators. "Keep it up, kid."

__________

Hiro barely even noticed the lobby droid's greeting and notification that he had a package delivered, each pained step he took burning his aching muscles. The cut on his leg had healed enough not to reopen and bleed, but it was seeping disgustingly through the makeshift bandage. Fumbling in his pocket for his wallet, he fished his apartment key out of the bonded, blood covered leather, and the door swung in, revealing his nearly naked form. Chest glistening with sweat, dirty bandages around his torso, his pants cut to near ribbons, blood, dirt, and scratches marred his flesh as he stood silhouetted in the doorway.

He felt a small, strong hand immediately grab his wrist, and looked down in astonishment to see Madotsuki gently but firmly leading him to the couch. He collapsed gratefully on the recliner and took a deep breath, when the teen's voice echoed in his mind, although her lips hadn't budged. "Ahh..hahaha. Found a way of communicating without speaking, huh? Cool. Yeah, I would actually love some water...or a stiff drink. Although I don't really know how long it's been since I left."

He watched as she backed into the kitchen and busied herself with fetching him something. The hacker futzed with his goggles, seemingly stringing a few programs together, and spoke aloud as he did so. "Give me a minute...I'll tell you the basics, but it'll be easier to just show you..."

Madotsuki returned with a glass of water which Hiro gratefully sipped as he rewound the holo-playback on his goggles. What followed was a twenty minute long highlight clip of his adventures in the Danteverse from a first person perspective, from the plane crash to their final mad escape on the boat fleeing from the zombie hoard. Having already lived through most of it, the battered samurai caught a small catnap, although he couldn't gauge Madotsuki's reactions as she watched Hiro's assault on the monster Jason Voorhees to avenge the slaughtered Secondary, Barry. Her hand went to her mouth as she saw Carmelita the fox woman abuse the poor hacker's sensitive areas, and when the highlight reel had finished, she spoke into his mind again. "I'm glad you survived. It's been....lonely. With nothing to do."

Hiro poked his head up and gave her a small grin. "Well....now i'm back. And I think I have a bath and a long sleep due to me. Speaking of which..." He heaved himself off the couch, staggering over to the cardboard box next to his package delivery chute, embossed with the seal of the Empire. Picking the box up, he set down the briefcase containing his rewards on the table. With that, he staggered towards his room and the private bathroom that awaited him. "Oh, by the way...if you need any money for essentials, there's enough Omnilium in that briefcase to build a house. Just take what you need. I'll be in the tub."


And indeed he was. Five minutes later, he was sinking into a deep, emerald liquid that filled the tub. The empty envelope labeled "Dehydrated Bacta" he'd fished out of Jentral's care package went to work on his cuts, slashes, and injuries.

473 + 887 = 1360 Words
Minimum count: 7500

[Madotsuki]

Hoo-boy, it was worse than she thought. All throughout the highlight reel, she couldn't help but wonder how he managed to keep himself together for so long. What with the plane crash, the zombies, the crazy guy in a hockey mask and the furry beating his nuts in. All in the same month. ...Now that she thought about it, that sounded really strange. And fun. In a weird way, she wished she had come with him, if only to help him out or maybe wear out her fighting instincts.

'I'm glad you survived... It's been lonely here... with nothing to do,' she mumbled, feeling as if she had to say something. 'Well, I've made some money from my art, but...' She fell into silence as Hiro mentioned that he was going to take a bath. As he left, he pointed out the suitcase and said she could take what she needed. Once she was alone, she examined the Omnilium bar, brushing her hand across its surface. She couldn't quite determine the texture of the technicolor metal, but even then, it was quite hypnotic. She stared down at it for a few moments before realizing what she was doing. Slowly, she closed the briefcase without taking anything.

Her friend Hiro had almost died out there, and here she was oogling at a bar of Omnilium. Wow. Well, her samurai buddy was probably hungry, so why not make some sandwiches? At least it would keep her mind off of his reward. She returned to the kitchen, quickly whipping up a pair of salami sandwiches and returning to the living room to wait.

When the hacker arrived a few minutes later, she noticed that his injuries have more or less patched up. Now that that his shredded outfit had been replaced by a set of jeans and his goofy pink shirt with the "I <3 Coruscant" text, he appeared to be somewhat presentable. He sat down next to the dreamer and picked up the news-hologram, skimming over the articles.

'Sandwich?' She asked, offering one of her salami sandwiches. With a shrug, he grabbed one and started eating it. After a moment, he stopped.

"Yeesh, take a look at this," Hiro mumbled, turning the hologram to point at the article that Madotsuki had been reading earlier. "What's the world coming to these days?"

'Yeah, I saw that.' Several minutes passed by in silence before she spoke up again. 'Uh, I've been wondering... if you're up for it...' She grabbed the hologram and zoomed in to the F-Zero ad. 'This looks fun... and we didn't actually get to bond last time.' Considering that the one time they tried to go out, the arcade wanted them to die-- literally. 'You interested?'

Current word count: 1360 + 467 = 1827
Minimum word count: 7500

[Hiro Protagonist]

Hiro took a few more bites of the sandwich while he inspected the F-Zero ad. Hmmm. He was feeling a bit conflicted; while the island had been a harrowing experience, he'd never felt more alive fighting for his life against the myriad horrors of it. And this contest looked very similar to the types of games he and his hacker friends had played in the dawning days of the Metaverse. Plus it seemed they had more than a few days to build their own craft and enter it...his wounds were already healing, and things were going good in terms of the wealth of information he'd gathered pertaining to his computer skills.

".....sure. I think that actually sounds like an awesome idea. I could definitely use something fun to do, and you're right. Last time was kind of a bust." He scrolled through the ad and read aloud, "Contestants must build their own vehicles...huh. now...I'm not the beat at building machinery, but I could definitely handle the circuitry and software. It might be best if we built off an existing frame."

He turned to Madotsuki to see what looked like the faintest hint of excitement. "Let's do it...I could call in a favor with the EPD and get a junked cruiser, unless you possibly have your own connections you'd like to use?" His roommate nodded and again her voice echoed in his head. "Yeah. Yeah, I think I could get us started with a frame."

Hiro grinned and took another bite of his sandwich. "Awesome. I already have a couple idea for the weapons systems." The hacker leaned off the sofa and pulled up some schematics,  throwing a rotating hologram of a dodecal barrelled gatling gun, attached with several wires and cables to a large, metal orb. "This is probably the coolest gun I've ever seen in action. Ng Technologies Flechette Dispersal Device, also known as Reason." He look to Madotsuki and dismissed the hologram. "I'm sure you've got some awesome ideas, too."

Just then his goggles beeped and a ringtone sounded from the side speakers. "Ooh, hold on, I've gotta take this. It's  my comm-" Madotsuki nodded and got up, heading to her room. "I'll make a call for the parts."

The samurai nodded and turned off the tv, getting up and heading to his office. He had a lot of work to do, and it all started with this debriefing. 

--------

The commander had been quite pleased with his detailed account of the Danteverse, and with the intel on Karl Jak's operations. Some more commission funds had been deposited in his account, which he used to pay the rent as it had been getting near time to do so.

Inside the techno-sanctuary that was his office, he hung up the sword he'd tossed into the room when he staggered home, although the plinths for his tanto were regrettably empty. He'd have to resummon them later. For now, though...

The automatic program decompiler he'd left running had switched itself off, and the suspendes flash drive with the Skynet code on it was completely altered. He leaned close to stare at it, noting that the materials of the drive itself had been used to construct a rudimentary mechanical contraption that pulsed and twitched like a neuron. The saved data on it was fairly routine, until the timestamp when the drive was deconstructed. Shaking his head, he initiated the disposal procedure and incinerated the Skynet infected thing. Waste of time.

His other programs proved more fruitful, and he spent a good amount of time clicking through Dataverse tutorials and code writing practice while he waited Colonel's biodata to upload. This would be immensely helpful to him in the long run, but in the short run...ah ha ha. 

It seemed the Omniverse had it's fair share of mundane computer viruses, most likely brought here on the software of summoned Primes. Hiro snapped his fingers, seeing the classic and disruptive Chernobyl program listed on a few computer repair message boards. Now, that was what he called an offensive program...

He took care of a few more housekeeping items, then looked around for a public garage where he and his roommate could work on their ride. Fortunately, there was one nearby, and Hiro purchased an account and both the basic and advanced builder's kits, which would give them every hand tool and standard part theyd need to build an engine. Weapons, armaments, and other systems would have to be purchased specially or summoned by the two Primes.

"Hey, Madotsuki!" Hiro called down the hallway.

"Yeah?" She answered as though she were standing right next to him.

"Ever seen Transformers?" He called back with a grin.

1827 + 805 = 2632 words. 

[Madotsuki]

Madotsuki nodded in reply, watching as Hiro deactivated the hologram. 'Of course I have a couple ideas.' She had to admit, the gun sounded mighty impressive, although she had something more... electrical in mind.

The samurai left to take his comm call, and the dreamer immediately went to sketching various weapon designs. Among the various pictures were mini-laserguns, booby traps, like oil slicks and EMPs, special types of tires that were designed to destroy others tires when they bumped up against each other, among other things.

She stared at the screen for a minute before realizing that she wasn't sure what kind of frame she wanted. She wasn't very familiar with how these kinds of cars would work, and she doubted her own estimate could do it justice. Then again, there were some people who owed her a favor.

Seeing that the hacker was still away, she whipped out her MDD and started texting a certain someone she knew that could possibly have a frame on hand.

"Crusher? I need a favor. You happen to have a car frame I can use?"

"I'm sure the boys down in Tier 7 can hook you up with one."

"Make sure it's not one of those shoddy ones-- it needs to take a hit."

"We'll see what we can do. Why do you need one?"

"You heard of the F-Zero races in Tier 4?"

"Say no more. Where do you want it?"

"I'm actually not sure where we'll be working at. I'll let you know when I find out."

-------

It didn't take her too long to receive her frame when she located the garage. It looked a little rusted, but it appeared sturdy enough to work. With a "thank you", she started rolling it towards the workspace. Hiro was waiting for her at the other end, and he asked her if she knew what "Transformers" was. She tilted her head in confusion. 'I can't say I ever heard about that,' she answered, wheeling the frame into view.

Hiro stared back at her, dumbfounded. "You seriously don't know what 'Transformers' is? At all?" He ran his hand along the frame. "Did you not have TV back in your world?"

'I did, but...' She rolled out her weapon schematics onto one of the tables, picked up a guide on building engines, and returned to the frame. 'my cable never worked.' She kicked one of the tires gently, examining it. 'I had a Famicom though.'

"Well, then." He pulled out the tools necessary for the engine block and went to work. "So you played Mario Bros.? Oh, can you tighten the screws on the other side?"

Using the screwdriver, she tightened the screws as the hacker fitted a section of the engine into place. 'I heard of it, but I don't remember playing it. I only had NASU."

"Never heard of it. Is it any good?" One look at her face confirmed that it wasn't all that great. "What a shame. You haven't had a childhood unless you played Mario. Did no one else there have it?"

'There was no one else.'

"At all?"

'No one.'

"In the entire town?"

'No. One.'

Things were silent for a while, save for the typical sounds of construction. Hiro only dared to speak again once the inner workings had been made. "So, anyway, I was thinking that we could make this like a Transformer."

'I still don't know what that is,' she retorted, welding a tire shredder to one of the hubcaps.

"It's like a vehicle that turns into a robot."

She froze in the middle of installing the steering wheel. 'A... robot?' Typically, robots never really got along with her-- the Miku bot, the horde down in Tier 7, the Kaito prototype... However, this one wouldn't be sentient.

"Don't tell me you don't know what a robot is."

'I do, it's just... nevermind. If you can do it, I'm up for it. How exactly would you do this?' Looking at the frame, the dreamer didn't understand how it possibly morph into a humanoid shape. Unless, of course, they were thinking of two totally different machines.

2632 + 711 = 3343/7500 words

[Hiro Protagonist]

Hiro continued to bolt, screw, join, and expand on the frame they had procured with Madotsuki. Liberal use of the wire brushes and angle grinder that came with their toolset had transformed the beaten up vehicle frame into something almost resembling the skeleton of a car. The engine was there, and a basic exhaust system, but that was about it. However, their had prepped it for the next, most important phase: the modular build.

The hacker raised his goggles and wiped some grease off his cheek, looking across at Madotsuki. Somehow she had managed to avoid the typical dirtiness that came with car repair; Hiro was secretly impressed. The reveal of her history alone explained a few things about her, namely her reluctance to physically speak and her introverted style. "Alright, so that's the frame...now, for the actual motion and handling and stuff, I figure I can handle the bulk of that. I have a few pretty good ideas. Weapons, defense, and any other surprises would be appreciated, I don't have much to add to that besides Reason."

He stepped back from the frame and lowered his goggles over his eyes once more, flicking his fingers in the air as green lights flashed over the lenses. Speaking slowly as he concentrated, he explained. "These are the very top of the line in wheel technology from my world. RaDiks Gyroscopic Smartwheels." Slowly, gradually, something began to take shape and coalesce from the significant reserves of Omnilium in Hiro's body. 

"I've modified their mounting platform somewhat, for ease of use and weight optimization." The shape of the wheel began to become apparent, and it was becoming easier to see that these were not traditiinal wheels in the tire-and-rim sense, but rather more like cylinders. "Each wheel consists of a hub with many stout spokes, that can telescope into five sections." Said cylinder appeared on the ground in front of Hiro, slowly gaining density.

"On the end is a squat foot, rubber tread on the bottom, swiveling on a ball joint.  As the wheels roll, the feet plant themselves one at a time, almost merging into one continuous tire.  If you drive over a bump, the spokes retract to pass over it. If you skid over a pothole, the robo-prongs plumb its asphalty depths." 

The hacker grinned at the dreamer across from him as a thick, jointed arm attached to the wheelspokes. After about ten minutes, the fully assembled wheel joint was propped against the frame, Madotsuji inspecting it's lightweight but durable carbon fiber covering protecting the sensitive pneumatics inside. "Phew....three more to go...then we can separate the frame and joint it to the wheel-legs....that'll let us adjust the car's height.

After about another two hours the vehicle frame now had four bent "legs" ending in the thick SmartWheels, giving it a slight arachnoid appearance. Hiro was wedged under the car's frame, running a mess of wire and tubing to the engine and a small central console which would serve the the digital interface for the vehicle's systems. Madotsuki was alternatively munching on a slice of pizza they'd ordered, and assembling the driver's cab above the hard at work samurai. The seats were compact, but comfortable, and incorporated ergonimic designs to keep their limbs and torsos cushioned as the vehicle would inevitably take damage.

While he was under the frame, running wire and tubes and pipe across the undercarriage, he altered the frame even more, cutting, bonding, and joining with shock absorbers,  guided rails, and other such extraneous additions. The purpose of these was to allow the sections of the car to swivel around and lock into other positions, allowing for the supreme maneuverability that was going to be needed in the tight gridlock of the F-Zero Tier 5 Arena. He also was hoping that it would support a bipedal arrangement for maximum robot goodness, but was beginning to see he lacked the technical know how to make it function completely...although he had a small ace in the hole that might make it possible, if only for a short while.

As they worked and the vehicle began to full take shape beneath their ministrations, he tried to make up for his earlier ignorance. "So...you let me know a little about where you came from...I'll tell you about my world." The girl wiped his forehead, finally having managed to get a little dirty. "Go ahead."

"I was taken from Earth, in what used to be the country of America. During the last 15 years, the government collapsed, corporations and extranational entities began to grow in power, and territory all across the former United States was split into franchise-consulates, which we call "Franchulates". Burbclaves were residential territories, run by corporations or nations with complete autonomy. I lived in Mr. Lee's Greater Hong Kong #9384 near Pasadena, California. Well, I was a citizen of Mr. Lee's, I actually lived in a storage unit on the highway, with a roommate." 

He chuckled from under the car, then let out an "Ow!" as he shocked himself on a wire.  "Goddamnit...ah, so I'm used to living with a roommate...just in a much smaller space. Our apartment would have cost 50,000 KongBucks a month in rent back in my world."

3343 + 903 = 4246/7500 words

[Madotsuki]

'Wow,' Madotsuki muttered, having installed the seat at last. 'that sounds horrible. At least you had someone to wait it out with.'

"When you put it that way... yeah. I guess you could say that." Hiro backed up and grabbed one of those flamethrowers you'd use to weld things together. Once the dreamer pulled away from the inside of the car, he promptly went to work installing the outer shell of the vehicle. The Night Terror started welding the deadly hubcaps to the cylindrical wheels, trying not to cut herself on the pair of curved metal plates shaped like a fish head sticking out from it.

If it worked as intended, the plates' sharp tips would dig into the opponent's tire when they bumped up against each other. The rotation of the wheel would shred the other into pieces. While simplistic, it could prove to be very useful for disabling other cars.

It seemed like she would have a knack for designing the vehicle's weapons and other gadgets, although she required some assistance from the hacker since this was her first time wiring things; stuff like the seat and wheels didn't need to do anything fancy. In the end, though, she managed to get a good chunk of her ideas into the build:

Aside from the wheel-shredders, she also engineered the car so that at the push of a button, an iron pole would pop out of both sides so it could push other vehicles away if needed. Welded to the top of the car was Reason, the minigun-type weapon that the samurai had shown her earlier. On top of that was a small laser EMP blaster, which would fire a concentrated, electric blast that would mess with the opponent's electrical equipment (although that could mean that the weapons might go off on their own, so the two had to be careful). Amongst the hi-tech weapons were some more traditional ones, should they be the ones to receive an EMP to the face:

What sort of decked-out car would it be without the classic oil spill and smokescreen? They were rigged to a cord in the back, where Madotsuki could pull on it. And, of course, she had a retractable iron fist on the very back of the car so she could nail anyone who tried to tail them.

Over the course of a few days, they tested and adjusted things as best they could. Finally, the fateful day arrived.

Normally, it would prove difficult to bring the car down to Tier 4-- the elevators were made for humans, and even if it could somehow fit, she doubted the Empire would allow their four-wheeler of death on it. Somehow, she got the idea that this event was really only meant for those in the lower Tiers. However, things are simplified when you're a Prime, since you can just resummon things. The idea was simple: put the vehicle into either her or Hiro's Prime hammerspace, arrive early, then summon it before the game started.

It worked smoothly enough, although the man at the sign-up desk (who clearly didn't want to be there) gave them a suspicious look when they arrived without a vehicle. Once they presented him with the orb of Omnilium, car packed inside, he let them through, warning them that if they didn't have the car prepared five minutes before the event, then they would be kicked out.

That almost proved to be a problem, since this was their first time summoning something this large. They eventually managed to summon it with a few minutes to spare. As expected, the man from before checked in to see if the car was there.

"You really want to do this, kid?" He asked, staring down at her. "The people down here don't play nice... and are you even old enough to drive?"

She probably wasn't, but after all those months... years, maybe? Of living alone without any way of telling the time except for the sun, things like age, birthdays and dates became almost meaningless. 'I'm not a kid," she replied, leaving the man confused about how she was talking like that as he retreated.

The two returned to making their final rounds on the vehicle until the voice of a Korean woman interrupted over the intercom. "Hello everyone! I'm D.va, and I'll be your host for today's 'F-Zero Duo Destruction Derby!' Get into your cars!"

Current word count: 4246 + 758 = 5004/7500

[Hiro Protagonist]

The past few days had been methodical, almost meditative in their goals. Eat, relax, work on the car, rinse, repeat. The cyber samurai had spent some time going over the F-Zero races of past years, although since this contest was a new style all it told him was the identities of previous racers and just how fast it could get on a traditional track. He also spent some time developing new offensive programs from the example of Colonel's biodata, culminating in the accidental destruction of his training dummy using a materialized Chernobyl virus. Well enough. He could buy another dummy, and the added offensive capability might give them an edge in the race. He was sure Madotsuki had her own tricks up her sleeve. Additionally, he tweaked and improved on his goggles, expanding their capability  he was experiencing some odd visual errors, like sensor ghosts, and there was a new spark and tingle of electricity whenever he put them on, but he just lived it with. Consequences of upgrading, he guessed.

Finally, race day had arrived. Hiro had been contacted by a recently resummoned Barry Sanderson, to his great delight. The Syntech bartender had opened his own hole-in-the-wall on Tier 3, and when Hiro had told him of his participation in the race, offered him a deal on some Syntech merchandise. Hiro had wired the funds, befitting from a small discount, and received two form-fitting racing jumpsuits made of padded armor gel and plastic impact plates, with  goofy logo on the back for "Barry's Cantina". His datagloves replaced the thicker ones that came with the outift to ensure maximum tactical operation with his goggles.

As the two Primes loaded into their vehicle, the spiderlike quad racer that Hiro had christened the "Digital Nightmare", he heard the announcer introduce the other seven racers, a quick picture of the pairs, their vehicles, and a few stats flashing up on the event datapad they had been given by the organizers, which also served as a leaderboard.

"First up, we have Fragile Bob and Manic the Crunch Warrior, racing their vehicle, Anger Highway!" Two figures covered in spikes and menacing scrap metal waved from their behemoth of twisted chains and smoke belching pillars, one of the racers strapped in place on top of the machine. He held what looked like a guitar, and the screeching, crunching licks were accompanied by balls of flame issuing from the neck of the hellish instrument.

"Next, Captain Blaze and the Arsonist!" This vehicle was built much smaller than Anger Highway, although it sported far more tubes with drilled holes. The engine roared and flames almost completely engulfed the car, shooting a considerable distance away from it. The crowd, high above the Tier 5 mockup arena on floating bleacher platforms, went wild at the sight.

"G. Getter Gruesome and BoneZone, piloting the Coffin Maker!" It was actually shaped like a huge coffin, although covered in spikes and barbed wire, with a large mallet attached to the front and sides, segmented treads underneath it hinting that the vehicle would be slow but incredibly tough and hard hitting.

"Hiro Protagonist and Madotsuki, bringing bad dreams in Digital Nightmare!" The hacker turned around to his co pilot, flashing a thumbs up and pulling a couple levers that made their car spin in place, the smartwheels rotating and locking underneath them as he raised and lowered the frame, leaving it perched high in the air like a predatory arachnid.

"Carlos Manuel and Chica, bringing blood back in Aztecá!" Another thick behemoth of a racer, it looked like a stone temple with machine guns, bamboo tubes, and wicked, curved scythes serving as forward grabbers. Both drivers popped their heads out waving, and Hiro could see one of them was a girl about the same visible age as Madotsuki. Welp, this was a rough competition. He would make an effort not to obliterate their vehicle too badly.

"Boomstick and Flynn, in their unique vehicle, Screaming Eagles!" Either Boomstick or Flynn pumped their fist and raised the motorcycle helmet they were wearing, the two competitors both riding twin linked tricked out motorcycles. The man's face was familiar somehow, but when he mouthed the words "Tier 4 Falcons" Hiro recognized him. He pointed at the screen. "That's the fucker who tried to run me off the road on my first mission from the EPD! I broke his arm, but I knew he was still down here...son of a bitch. Well, motorcycles won't be too hard to take down, right?" Madotsuki shrugged, offering a small smirk, and rotated her gunner's chair, testing the speed and reaction swivels on her targeting screen.

"The Enigmatic Mr. Dark, in his Death Orb!" It was quite simply, a featureless black sphere. It should have looked stupid and woefully underequipped, but the blank face of the sphere was crisscrossed with all sorts of lines and hidden sections. Not to mention it was floating three feet off the ground and rippling with waves of black lightning. Hiro made sure to keep an eye out for that one in the arena.

"And finally...The Terror of Tier 5, The Laughing Monster, Needles Kane driving his vehicle, The Sweet Tooth!" Hiro's stomach dropped as he beheld a seven foot tall behemoth wearing nothing but pinstriped pants and a bloodied butcher's apron, a chipped ceramic clown mask covering his face and most of his forehead. His actual head seemed to be on fire, although the man (or was it monster) showed no discomfort. He climbed into his vehicle, a battered ice cream truck, and flicked a switch. Distorted calliope music sounded from the screen, and Hiro had flashbacks of Jason. "I recommend we unload everything we got on that guy, pod." He called back to Madotsuki.

D. Va finished the racer introductions, and a big stylized "3" overlaid their windshield. Hiro tightened his grip on the steering column and raised his foot over the pedal, waiting for the battered garage door to open.

2

"Racers......GOOOOOOO!"

1

The door opened, and Hiro slammed on the pedal, the car neatly gliding out onto the asphalt grid of Tier 5.

Cruising for Destruction: Light 'Em Up

5004 + 1050 = 6054/7500 words minimum

[Madotsuki]

With a mighty roar of the engine, the duo blasted out into... wait, was this Tier 5? Madotsuki glanced at the side window just in time to catch a replica of the Blue Moon Cafe as they sped by. Interesting design choice, but if it was exact, then she had a homecourt advantage. This had to be the outskirts, so they weren't going to see much action unless they did something about it.

"Hey, Mad," Hiro said, rounding the corner with little effort. "Something's coming up on our left. Get ready." Already? The dreamer held tightly to the joystick controlling Reason and aimed to the left, waiting for something to pop out from the alleys. The Screaming Eagles rushed in, trying to ram into the Digital Nightmare with the razor-sharp blades installed on their fronts. Hiro forced the wheels underneath and raised the vehicle up high, barely avoiding the twin motorcycles as they careened past. They made a quick u-turn back into the alley before the DN could lower itself, trying to create some distance. Hiro gave chase while the Night Terror tried to shoot at the unorthodox vehicle.

While the idea of using two motorcycles sounded absurd, it actually made them really difficult to shoot at. The two drivers constantly wavered, avoiding the machine gun fire as the pair of plasma guns on their backs locked on and started shooting. Considering that they were blindly firing, they managed to land a few good hits at the windshield despite Hiro's efforts.

"Wow, Hiro, where'd you get your gunman? The reject bin at the gunsmith's?" One of the riders mocked.

Madotsuki gripped the joystick so tightly her knuckles turned white. 'I am not a reject,' she thought to herself. After a few more seconds of shooting, she decided that a different plan was in order. 'Hiro, get them in range of the iron bars-- ASAP!'

"Roger that," the hacker agreed as they exited into a plaza. A giant, rusty fountain sat in the center, forcing the SE to turn around it. The DN had other plans, however, as its pilot raised the vehicle over the blockade and landed on the other side. The moment they touched the ground again, the dreamer launched out the iron bars. She only managed to connect with one of the motorcycles, but since they were linked together, the other half of the vehicle followed suit, spinning end over end as they crashed into the fountain with a satisfying clank.

That'll teach them to mock her! She took a deep breath and exhaled, flexing her fingers as adrenaline began to overtake her. 'Who's next, Hiro?'

"According to the leaderboard, Anger Highway and The Arsonist took each other out. Sweet Tooth destroyed the Coffin Maker. The Azteca and the Death Orb's still intact."

As if on cue, a black ball of nothing hovered into view. The duo paused for a moment, not sure what to make of the spherical object that appeared to be defying the laws of physics. One of the panels popped open, revealing that the orb had a pair of Tesla Coils. Electricity arced through the air and into the metal of the Digital Nightmare, coursing through the drivers (this was a feeling Madotsuki knew all too well). The dreamer struggled to activate the EMP. Slowly, but surely, she reached over to the button and pressed it.

A blast of white plasma flew from the emitter and into the black orb, whereupon all of the plates fell off and all the weaponry underneath began to fire wildly until it fell to the ground with a thud. Pure black energy bullets launched into the sky, and the Death Orb's own EMP activated, sending a visible ring of electric power into the atmosphere.

All the lights in the weaponry department shut off; Reason would no longer respond. With a sigh, she let go of the joystick.

"That was too close!" Hiro said from up front. "Are you okay?"

'I'm fine, I'm fine,' she mumbled, the extra electricity trying to exit her body. 'I just need a moment.'

Unfortunately, that moment wouldn't last very long-- the faint sound of distorted ice cream truck music could be heard, and it was getting closer.

"Sorry, Mad, but you need to hold on a bit longer."

6054 + 729 = 6783/7500

[Hiro Protagonist]

"Shit. Shit!" Hiro yanked the drive shaft and pulled some levers, and the car did a smooth 180. Thank Omni he'd made the decision to keep the leg switching mechanisms on pneumatic power, although it did make it more difficult to execute the maneuver without the anti-lock assistance. The ice cream music grew steadily louder as Hiro peeled away and sped off down the street, searching for an alleyway or some small alcove they could duck into.

Madotsuki lowered the auto-targeting screen, which was showing a staticky black and white snowfield, and reached behind her seat to the weapon racks, pulling out a sleek looking Imperial blaster rifle. Hiro was puzzled as to where she got it, but shrugged. They had bigger problems on their plate. He took a few sharp curves, and they blew past the huge, slow bulk of Azteca coming the opposite way. The other racer seemed focused on the approaching ice cream truck, and their weapons were already priming and launching down the street.

The piloting hacker took a few more hairpin right angles, and managed to slot the car in between an alley full of dumpsters and a laundromat. He shut down the engine and any other running power sources except for the main terminal, to avoid detection. Rapidly, he lowered his goggles, jacked into the main BIOS of the car, and began to look for trouble. "Reason is fucked....circuitry is fused. The poles are stuck in their retraction sockets. I had most of the automatic weaponry separated from the operation systems. Those are running on redundancy right, only reason we're still mobile."

As he was splitting his attention between the computer console and their surroundings, he looked out the window and let out a surprised yelp. A metallic, fanged monstrosity was scraping needle like claws across the window at him, the smell of burning oil in the air. He was on the verge of panic, when he realized he recognized the ghastly apparition as the dataghost that had spooked him in Dante's Abyss. But....Okor wasn't in this race. And the machine-spirit wasn't attacking him, it was...curled up on the roof, almost protectively. He raised his goggles and it disappeared, then lowered them again to see it fizzle back into view. Confusing....but this would have to be investigated when they weren't under threat of attack by a deranged clown.

As to reinforce his thought, Madotsuk spoke into his head. "I hope you're almost finished....Azteca was just taken out. The leaderboard updated. It's us and Sweet Tooth left." She lowered her own window and peered out the window, the large blaster pointed down the street towards a cloud of smoke and ash. Hiro kept working on the console, managing to restore main power to their drive section and most of the auxiliary systems. The machine spirit prowled in the corner of his vision, but he tries his best to ignore it. "Okay, that's all I can do. We've got the machine guns, the fist, and I've got a couple tricks up my sleeve. Let's take this clown out!"

On cue, the battered ice cream truck screamed out of the cloud of smoke, guns blazing as the music took on a warped, hellish melody. Strapping himself back in, the hacker floored it and peeled out into the street, revving the engine and traveling ahead of their adversary. A high whistling noise sounded three times, and Hiro was alerted to incoming projectiles, performing some fancy lateral shifts and angled maneuvers to avoid the mortars that screamed out of the sky towards them. Madotsuki was firing at their pursuer, but the ice cream truck was reinforced with armor plating and she wasn't doing much more than scratch damage.

More mortars sounded in the air, and Hiro chanced a look backwards, only to find a missile tracking their course and getting perilously closer. He swore, and jammed his palm into an indented section of his console, screaming out a command code. "Faraday shield!" His mesh vector program expanded around the car just in time for the missile to hit it, detonating too far away to do any real damage. Madotsuki wiped her brow and leaned out the window, taking careful aim before letting loose a full auto burst from the rifle, this time aimed at the ice cream truck's wheels. The bolts hit their mark, and the front wheel exploded into shreds of rubber, sending the Sweet Tooth into a wild skid.

Bullets flew through the air, penetrating the green-shield as it failed and puncturing the Digital Nightmare's armor. Both the hacker and the dreamer yelled out in pain as shrapnel ripped through their clothes and pockmarked their bodies with flesh wounds. Hiro spun around, their velocity unchanged and still traveling in reverse, and held his hand out the window, concentrating as a drop of blood smeared his goggles. "Grrhh.....Chernobyl Packet.....execute!" A series of spiky red balls coalesced in the air and zoomed off towards the advancing ice cream truck, Hiro watching as the clown twisted the wheel to try and avoid the explosive programs.

It was no use. The Omnilium born viruses impacted the truck's siding and stuck there in a star pattern, then exploded in a red flash of glittering data residue. The impact made the clown's conveyance lurch, and tip onto the busted wheel, pitching onto its side and starting to barrel roll straight at Hiro, Mads, and the Digital Nightmare. Hiro revved the engine and rereversed their direction, now heading back towards the oncoming truck. They had been running out of road, anyway. The hacker's impeccable reflexes came in handy, and just as the truck bounced off the asphalt and came up towards them like a spinning bundle of dynamite, he dropped their suspension and cruised underneath it, spinning back around and watching the truck come to a skidding stop on its side.

"Yeah!....wait, where's the announcement..." 
Madotsuki shrugged and leaned back out of the window, then ducked back inside, pale. She pointed towards their opponent. "Look." Hiro looked.

"YOU....YOU TRASHED MY RIDE! I'M GOING TO TRASH YOUR LIIIIIIVES! HHRRAAAAAAGGGGHHH!" 

The clown was half out of his passenger side window shaking his fist and roaring at the sky. There was a whirring, scraping, grating sound as various mechanical shafts and gears ground against each other, the boxy shape of the ice cream truck unfolding into what was now obviously some sort of battle-mech complete with grinning ice cream cone for a head.

The hacker ducked back inside with a manic grin on his face and buckled himself in. Nearly shouting with excitement, he turned back to his partner. "I told you! I told you, Pod! Let's fucking do this! Yeah!" He flipped a covered box on his driving console marked "Rock N' Roll, and punched the big red button underneath it, throwing a few levers and making the car spin on it's axles.

As it spun, the modular sections he'd so painstakingly set onto rails and gyro sockets disengaged and relocked into a different position. The car's wheel assemblies locked together and became two short, stout leg appendages, while the gunner's cockpit swiveled up and locked into place above Hiro's compartment. Everything locked back into place, the retractable fist serving as one arm and Reason's bulk serving as another. Hiro took a deep breath and slid both of his hands into the depressions on his console. "I'm gonna be powering this thing...you've got near complete control in your section now. I hope you got better at video games while I was gone!" 

Hiro gritted his teeth as Sweet Tooth finished transforming and started to stomp towards their half assembled mech, laughing in a sinister tone. "Alright....here goes! Metaverse Mode! HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGHHHHHH!" 

The outer plating of their mech torso sparked with green electricity, power readings surging to the top of the scale as thin green lines blazed in right angles over their vehicle. Sweating, Hiro bit his tongue and felt the outline coalesce fully, his perfected overclock mode translated into a suit of green, crackling vector armor for their vehicle, a green sword enveloping Reason's hilt with tracers in the air. The two mechs faced off, one with rusty scrap and steel bones, the other a fusion of a solid core encased in shining, sparking armor.

 

You! Dig! Giant Robots! We! Dig! Giant Robots!

Hiro used T1 Power-Up: Ronin of the Metaverse, Vector Faraday, Chernobyl Packet

Word Count: 6783 + 1463 = 8243/7500 Minimum

[Madotsuki]

Wait, this was actually working? Hiro had explained that the car had another form, but she doubted they would actually get to use it. She only had a brief moment to get used to the car's new form, however, before Sweet Tooth's giant monstrosity of a mech launched a punch. With a quick swing, she knocked the incoming fist away and grabbed his shoulder, holding him back while she shot at the mech's ridiculous-looking head with Reason. If she wasn't currently in a fight with the thing, she would've found its appearance laughable. Right now though, she was face to face with it-- and she found it to be terrifying.

One thing she didn't realize was that the Digital Nightmare was designed to be lightweight, which meant that it was easy to lift with another mech. She suddenly started floating for a brief moment as her mech was lifted off the ground. Immediately afterwards, Sweet Tooth did an underhand toss and slam-dunked the DN into the ground. While the outer exoskeleton absorbed most of the impact, she (and presumably Hiro) was left in pain.

With his opponent briefly incapacitated, Sweet Tooth raised a razor-sharp foot, ready to piece the robot's torso. They needed to act fast, or else they'd be crushed 'Hiro!' the dreamer projected, straining through the pain to make sure her partner heard. 'Lash his other leg!' Shortly afterwards, the DN spun and kicked out, colliding with the other foot and toppling their enemy, whipping out a cloud of dust.

They lunged, standing on top of the other mech, throttling its neck with Reason and bashing its head in with the other hand. For a second, it appeared that Sweet Tooth had given up, but a compartment on the robot's chest opened up and fired several rockets. There was no time to dodge. It was a direct hit, sending the DN flying into a nearby building. It collapsed as they struggled to stand up.

The manic ice cream man was drawing near, one of his mech's hands now a gigantic sawblade. Madotsuki glanced over at her status screen and frowned; mech mode wasn't made to last forever, and it seemed like the damage dealt was about to undo the transformation. The locks on the legs were on the verge of breaking apart.

'Any other tricks up your sleeve?' she asked her partner.

"Just one. In mech mode, the fist can detach from the arm via rockets. I don't think you can get it back afterwards, but it'll hit really hard."

It was then that she noticed the "Rocket Fist" button on the control panel. Considering that the mech was about to suddenly fold back into a car, there wasn't really any other choice. She slammed the button and watched as the fist flew towards her opponent.

Hopefully it would hit.

Word count: 8243 + 489 = 8732/7500

Result of attack depends on whether or not the quest is complete. Turning in...

[Hiro Protagonist]

As their combined mech buckled and began to break apart, Madotsuki slammed the Rocket Fist button. The Sweetbot was leaning forward, a drilled tube leaking flame and gasoline about to ignite and douss them in flame. That plan was thwarted as a half-ton of steel impacted the doofy looking ice cream cone head. The clown's mech pitched backwards as its head was punted clear off it's frame, and as Hiro's power surge finally flickered and failed, he wound up and jammed Reason into the midsection of the twisted robot.

One last blast of flechette fire was audible and a grievous howl of pain before the remains of the Digital Nightmare crashed to the ground and broke into sections. It was deadly quiet, except for a steady dripping of red from the ruined clownbot. The silence of the crowd was audible as a hatch on their vehicle open and Madotsuki popped her upper torso out,  looking out at the still standing ice cream truck mech. She turned back inside towards their vehicle, as if listening to something, then faced outward again and swiped in the air. A thin glowing line arced through the air and impacted their opponent with an almost comical "dink!".

The robot collapsed into a broken heap of rusted metal and blood spattered ordinance, with a lone bloodstained hand sticking out of the pile. Needles Kane was defeated. They had won.

"AND IT'S HIRO AND MADOTSUKI IN THE DIGITAL NIGHTMARE! WE HAVE OUR WINNERS!" The amplified voice of the announcer rang through the smoking city streets. "CHAMPIONS! PLEASE STEP ONTO THE WINNER'S CIRCLE!" Sure enough, by the time they had extricated themselves a floating platform had made its way down to them. They both ascended the small ramp on the side to see a gloriously shining trophy sitting on a pedestal. Together, they approached it and the platform lifted off into the sky, leaving the arena far below them.

The platform rose towards a large, circular ring set into the ceiling and as it locked into place, they were surrounded by hundreds of spectators cheering. As one, they lifted their prize up into the air, Madotsuki with her head lowered and her other fist raised into the air. Hiro had instead chosen a more camera friendly thumbs up and cheesy grin, and was rewarded with several flashbulbs reflecting off his goggles. "We did it!"