The Rabbit that Wanted to Help: Balan Wonderworld & Vib Ribbon/Ripple Crossover

Ch. 1: Void

In a certain universe, there was darkness.
Well, not darkness necessarily. On a planet in this universe, everything was vectored and monochrome: lines, polygons, black, white, and the many different shades of gray. Of course, there were some fully 3d, polychrome objects in said world, but whenever they appeared, they seemed out of place in the environment around them.

There was one inhabitant of this place that collected some of these objects, and invented a game where she took a picture from the Internet of those objects, placed hidden pictures into the image, transferred the image to a light-up trampoline and then jumped around trying to find the hidden pictures. But that's another story.

However, this character was currently running along the white line that encircled the entire small planet at top speed, dodging the obstacles the line threw at her.

That white line, known as the Vib-Ribbon, was said to be the most dangerous pathway in this world- at least, when it wanted to be. The aforementioned individual running along the line had discovered that the Vib-Ribbon often responds to music, using its generated obstacles to punctuate the rhythm. The individual had turned this into a kind of sport, running along the line to the beat of her music. In this day and age, there were usually a few people, shadowy figures called Players, that would try out this pathway along with her. She loved it when a new Player asked her how it works, because then she would perform her little song for them that explained how the game worked. She also sang for them whenever they got a high score. They would then shower her with compliments like "OMG so kawaii!" and "This is kinda weird... but I like it."

Today wasn't one of those days. On this day, Vibri Vector, rabbit shapeshifter and Princess Game-Mistress, ran alone. 

Was it the fact that she ran alone that the music sounded sadder than usual? Or was it something else entirely? 

The music stopped as Vibri turned off the cd player she was carrying on her back. The obstacles disappeared, all except for the one directly in front of her, one of the most basic obstacles: a block. Vibri needed to think, so instead of hopping over the block like she usually did, she jumped up and sat down on top of it. The Vib-Ribbon still didn't respond; she let out an audible sigh. 

Actually, now that she thought about it, she hasn't talked to the Mojibribbon couple or anyone else on this planet since a few weeks ago. And she hadn't multiversal video-chatted Um Jammer Lammy or Parappa since those weeks because of how she got into an argument with Parappa, and since then she focused on making friends with Players and getting them to play her games. 

And now that the crowds of Players were growing thinner and thinner... 

Had they forgotten about her?

A small thought in the back of her head so horrible she wanted it to stay back there finally came to light: 

[Am I really this lonely???]

And the answer came: [Yes?!]

Before she knew what was happening, tears started running down Vibri's polygon face and she put her head in her hands, ears drooped depressingly as small sobs began to escape the distraught rabbit. Soon it became too much for Vibri to endure, and she jumped off of the Vib Ribbon, crying loudly as she ran all the way back to her home. The block sank slowly back into the Vib-Ribbon, as if the line itself felt sorry for her. 

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A few minutes later, Vibri burst into her bedroom, transformed into a scribble-ball and launched herself onto the bed, bouncing three times before settling down, shapeshifting back into a rabbit, still curled up and crying. She threw the covers over herself, trying not to hear the words resonating in her head. Game over, [forever]. Game over, [forever].

The room was painted mostly a dark grey, with white square diamond shapes decorating the walls. The floor was white though, and the aforementioned collection of multicolored 3d objects were neatly displayed on a set of shelves on one wall. On another side of the room, there was a desk in front of a window, complete with a retro looking desktop computer with a camera mounted on top. on yet another side was a mirror, the side-panels were closed for the time being. Next to the mirror was an electric piano, powered off, a guitar, and a small drum set. The rest of the sound equipment was neatly put away in a black cupboard. And then, of course, there was the small bed, with black sheets, and a black comforter with a white music staff pattern on it. It was a very cozy looking bedroom, perfect for hanging around in, or taking a nap, or hiding in when miserable, which Vibri was doing right now. 

But as the sobs turned into quiet sniffles, Vibri stuck her head out of the blankets, opened one crystalline eye and discovered something had changed. 

Next to the bedroom door, basic and rectangular, was another door that she had never seen before. Vibri could tell that if it had been in a different, multicolor art style, the door would be a brown wooden door, curved at the top. It would have black iron hinges, knocker, and floral patterns on it; however, all of it was now black, white, grey and polygonal, all the better for her to interact with it, Vibri guessed. However, the only thing that couldn't change on the door was a box-lighted, brown cursive "W" on the door, the light bulbs giving off a quiet, friendly amber glow. Vibri's curiosity got the better of her.

"Chotto matte."  she said aloud. [Hang on.]

She got up and walked in front of the door. It felt like it was beckoning to her somehow. She sighed again. 

"[Okay,]" Vibri muttered, tiptoeing in place nervously. "[here goes nothing.]"

And silent as a scared sparrow, she slipped inside. 

(Author's note: whenever Vibri's dialogue is in brackets, that's the translation from Japanese.)