The Emperor's Jubilee II

[Proto Man]

With that said, Samus Aran turned her attention away from the other two members of her group and to the white infinity that surrounded them. Her gun arm was above her heart, poised to cut down the first hostile element that revealed itself. He could only imagine that she wore the same expression behind that green visor now, in the face of potential death, as she had worn while somewhat casually walking the streets of Coruscant’s most patrolled tier. Even with the metal suit, Proto Man would have been able to recognize the woman based on her posture and movements.

A few yards away, Nanoha had crouched down to examine the ground. The white surface was almost identical to that of the Nexus, but it had a grainy texture and additional imperfections that the Fountain’s surroundings had lacked. Nanoha turned to face her staff and said something beneath her breath that the robot didn’t catch as he turned around and glanced behind them.

How are we supposed to get out of here, anyway? Despite the fact that they had entered devices to be uploaded to this reality, nothing existed behind them save more grainy whiteness. Did the machine on the other end control their escape? A frown spread across the preteen’s chin. Does that mean we’re stuck here until we solve this?

Rising to his feet, Proto Man materialized his gun-arm and shield. To his left, Samus had already wandered off, and after a quick nudge to Nanoha’s shoulder, the robot jogged after the armored woman. He’d nearly caught up to her when a black column erupted up through the floor in front of her—throwing the two of them onto their backs. Despite the shock, Samus was up to her feet in the span of a few moments and sweeping the area again with her arm cannon. When she was satisfied that nothing was preparing to lunge at them, she eased her rigid posture and turned her eyes to the black pillar jutting up from the ground.

Now back on his feet, Proto Man joined her side as Nanoha closed the distance and kept her eyes glued to the opposing direction. “Still nothing,” the woman remarked as she visibly tightened her grip on her staff.

“What do you think this even is?” The android asked as he stepped forward and pressed his palm against the black column. It felt much the same as the ground did—cold and smooth.

Samus shrugged her rounded shoulders. “I’m not su—”

Whatever statement she was about to make was cut off by the earthquake that struck from nowhere. Just as they had less than two minutes prior, the pair was jostled and lost their equilibrium. To make matters worse, the moment he hit the ground with a dull thud, Proto Man something crack apart as the earth continued to spasm. Looking to his left, he realized that the ground was fissuring, and the expanding crack was heading their way.

Before either of them needed to react, a flustered Nanoha dropped down between them, hooked their shoulders, and dragged them up and away from whatever awaits someone beneath the surface of the Dataverse. Unfortunately for the woman, she only managed to cart them a few feet to safety before she had to drop them down or risk too heavy a strain on whatever power source lay behind her techniques.

“What is going on?” Nanoha asked, her tone having lost most of its usual cheer. As he looked at her, Proto Man no longer doubted that she was very accomplished in her home world.

“I don’t know,” Samus shot back as the shaking started to die down. Instead of tremors, however, they watched as more black pillars exploded up through the ground at various points in the area. Between the three of them, with their various computers and intelligences and high-tech equipment, they were able to rapidly discern that the pillars were forming an enormous circle around them.

As Proto Man rose to his feet, he watched with a slight degree of boy-like awe as an assortment of giant, yellow pixilated triangles popped into existence inside the circle formed by the pillars. A beat later, dozens of robots started to drop in from nowhere, their stout bodies comprised of blocks of bright colors. They were scattered across the place, but none of them seemed to be active.

Before anyone in the trio could ask the obvious question, a voice boomed in from above. “Did you really think we weren’t expecting intruders? We have enough contingencies to make your heads spin…enjoy!”

And just like that, the blocky robots started moving around and the sky became filled with laser bursts.