Escape from Starr Park

Chapter 8: Arcade Invasion

Team Recap! We have Colt, Spike, Edgar, Colette, Jessie, Pam, Mortis, EMZ The Mystic, Old Town, Super Hero, and Retropolis Trios!

"Ahaha, we are here!" Bibi exclaims. The retropolis trio steps up in front of the rest of the crew. The bright light of signs filled with ads and more stand out to them. "This does remind me of our own retropolis." Crow says, both Bull and Bibi nod in agreement. "Well, is it safe to assume everyone is in the arcade building?" Barley asks the rest of the people.

"Yes, I can see that." Mortis says, "but all this light is bothering me." He takes his cape and covers as much as he can. "Stop being dramatic, let's get this over with." Edgar says, grabbing on Colette and dragging her to the arcade building. "I was about to!" Mortis replies running quickly to the building. Everyone else tries to catch up.

Everyone eventually comes into the building with Pam being last, monitoring Jessie's well-being and Sandy's sleep. They find not the usual 3 but 4 brawlers in the building, one of them is out of place. "Oh come on! We can beat you!" "I assume not! Our AI will always surpass yours!" 2 people and 2 robots playing against each other.

"Game Over! Team 2 Wins!" one of the brawlers say in a classic game voice "Awh! You must be hacking!" One of the brawlers say. "Negative." Another of the robots say. "Well, uhm..." The one brawler stutters. "I-I was lagging!" He tries to cover up his loss. "Brock, let's not be salty." The other human brawler reassures.

"Brock!" Colt steps up "Colt? You're here?" Brock then comes up to him, they both do a mini- handshake. "Colt? What are you doing here?" The other one asks. "Shelly... It's a pretty long story." Colt replies. "You know these two brawlers pretty well." Mortis points out. "Yes! I do!" Colt replies. "Brock's a good friend of mine and Shelly is part of my trio!" He says, bringing in both brawlers in his arms.

"Ahaha..." Brock laughs nervously "Alright, Colt, can you let go of us?" Shelly asks "Aha, sorry.." he puts both of them down. "So, what were you guys doing?" Piper asks "Oh! We were trying to see if humans can surpass AI!" Brock says, "Though Rico and 8-bit really kicked out butts..." Barley and Surge, the two robots on the gang start chuckling.

Brock starts sweating, "Argh, my ego's been destroyed..." he says. "Sorry, bro. But a quick question." Colt reassures Brock. "Have any of you guys found some VHS tapes laying around?" "Negative." Rico answers. "Are you sure?" Colette starts speaking "One can appear anytime soon, or one is laying around and we've not noticed."

"Well, let's look around for a bit." Brock suggests. "Alright then." Colt replies. "Everyone should get in groups based off what trios everyone's in!" Edgar commands everyone "Split up! "Sobreentendido!" Shelly agrees. Everyone gets together in their trios and search around the arcade environment, even inside and outside the buildings. Time has passed, everyone meets up once again.

"Found anything?" Crow asks everyone else. Every trio comes out with nothing "Well, we tried..." Edgar says, "I no longer see a purpose in this quest. I want to go back to working at the gift shop..." Edgar starts walking away. "Edgar! Wait up!" Colette calls him out, she tries to run over to him but trips on one of 8-bit's wires. "Are you okay?" Pam tries to help Colette up, still keeping Sandy asleep.

"Yeah... I think I am..." Colette answers. Everyone looks at 8-bit's wire that has just been hit with impact. "System Error..." 8-bit repeatedly says, louder each time. "What's happening?" Brock exclaims. "Edgar, come back, there IS a purpose." Colt tries to call him back. EMZ snaps a photo of 8-bit "Hashtag, what is happening? Hashtag, help him.."

"This is not the time for this nonsense!" Byron tells EMZ. "Hold up, I think I can try to fix him up." Meg steps in. "Here, Meg, here's a tool box we brought!" Jessie shows her one Pam has brought. "Thank you." Meg replies, taking the box and exposing 8-bit's wiring. "Nothing seems to be damaged on the inside."

8-Bit's screen proceeds to continuously glitch until it goes full black. "No, he is not broken." a voice comes out of him, though not his own. "Hey! I remember that voice!" Colette exclaims. "Huh? It can't be..." Edgar joins in after coming back to the group. "Is it really him?" Colt asks. Spike prepares an attack to throw at 8-bit.

"No! Don't!" Max calls out. Surge comes in to take Spike farther from 8-bit, his metallic body protecting him from the spikes. "Yo, dude! You could have killed him!" He yells. "I can hear you all right now, and so can I see you all." It says. Tara starts intensely murmuring "She's saying that she was right, someone was watching us!" Sandy translates.

"Now listen here." The gang gather around 8-bit. "This may be our next clue!" Brock says. "We need to use this information wisely." Crow adds. It continues. "There was no tape here in the first place, even if Colette weren't to trip on the wire, I'd still be here talking to you. I've simply hacked into 8-bit." Some of the brawlers were left confused while others were left intrigued.

"First things first, your theories were correct. Every robot, brawler or not, is made specifically for Starr Park's entertainment, some of you all just got that brawler treatment." Everyone was speechless. Barley, Surge and Rico cuddle around together, contemplating everything they do. "Guys, we're just lucky." Surge says "I know I'm a hero but I think letting all out is fine right now."

Surge starts having a mental breakdown, the two other available robots try to calm him down. "Whoa, calm down." Barley says. "We're all fine." Rico adds. Piper sees them all and approaches them. "Rico, my sweetheart, I'm sure everything is fine. Everyone else here, too" Piper proceeds to comfort them. "Well that was unexpected." The man in 8-bit listens in.

"And now I'm guessing you all want the next clue?" "Yes!" Brock exclaims. "Well, you are not getting it so easily." He clocks off 8-bit screen, he's brought back to normal. "Rebooting... Finished! Press Start!" "He's alright!" Meg then says. Rumbling starts sounding "What was that?" Byron yells out. "Ack!" Colt yells out while getting shot.

"Oh, no! Robots? Is this another Robo Rumble session??" Colette asks everyone. "It can't be! There's WAY more than 3 brawlers!" Bibi replies. "Quickly keep 8-bit safe!" Colt commands "The guy will probably leak our next clue if we succeed. If he dies, we'll never get that clue!" "Understood!" Pam yells, picking up Jessie and 8-bit and runs into the arcade. "Coming with!"

Meg then follows Pam into the arcade. "Well, square up everyone." Edgar starts, "We have a lot on our hands." Colette adds. "Well, let's do this." Colt finishes the sentence. Everyone get ready to fight, as the robots starts invading the arcade.