Animator vs Animation: The Dark Web

Chapter 2: The City

 As the friends dropped down into the glowing white tunnel, Red tugged on The Second Coming's hand. He glanced up, seeing Red upset. Red tilted his head toward The Chosen One—why did he want their help for the virus? Couldn't he just get rid of it on his own, like he did with the Virabot years ago when they first met him? The rest of the friends agreed, all of them sharing the same doubt. The Second Coming looked at the stick figure ahead of them and slowly shrugged, hesitant. Even he, the closest to The Chosen One, was left without answers.

They trailed behind The Chosen One, who started to move faster like the world depended on it. The Color Gang, who always knew him as solitary, found this strange. The Chosen One never asked for help, always did everything on his own.

The tunnel around them flickered with soft pulses of red; a haunting memory of what they had just escaped. The creeping glitches still clung on the edge of their thoughts, Yellow's especially.

Yellow couldn't shake off the feeling. He looked at his hand, the one glitched by the note; it was duller than the rest of him. It reminded him of that moment—powerful and painful. The memory of the note...it felt like a lightning strike that went through his entire body.

His vision jittered when he touched it, with a wave of immense anxiety that was clawing through his chest. Yellow wasn't used to feeling afraid. He wasn't used to this. Blue squeezed his hand softly, wondering if he was okay. Yellow glanced back and forced himself to nod with reassurance. But the truth was, his mind couldn't stop spinning. He didn't want to worry Blue, or any of his friends for that matter, about his well-being. What mattered more, was theirs.

Then just before them, the friends finally reached the end of the tunnel, and the blinding light swallowed them.

As soon as they surfaced to the Outernet, The Chosen One caught The Second Coming, who instinctively caught Green as he slipped. The others scrambled to save one another from falling into the dark water below them, holding onto each other by the leg like a string. As they steadied themselves, The Chosen One slowly hovered towards the cliffside. The friends watched the world to see what was wrong.

But the world beyond them took their breath away.

The landscape stretched before them, twisted and broken in ways that made their stomachs churn. The trees, once tall and serene, were now warped, with branches glitching into shapes that were impossible. The sky's horizon, once a calm light blue, had darkened to an ominous red, creeping across the sky. And the city in the distance...it was hardly recognizable.

The Color Gang thought the Outernet was a beautiful place–a world new to them and they yet to explore. But now, it was as if reality itself was decaying, caused by the exact glitch that frightened them back in their home. All of them couldn't help but think, would they too start to break?

As The Chosen One finally reached the cliff, he dropped The Second Coming mid-air, piling up the friends onto the ground. They untangled themselves and looked around; they were at the spot where The Chosen One and The Dark Lord once fought. It still stayed the same, yet broken from the virus's glitches.

The rest of the friends gathered around prattling about the glitches, except for Blue. He watched The Chosen One distancing himself, watching the red horizon. Tentatively, Blue tapped on The Chosen One's shoulder, asking him the question that Red had to begin with; why did he want them here? Couldn't he just get rid of the glitch on his own?

At first, no answer. The Chosen One didn't react immediately, standing still with their gaze not meeting each other. He processed the question, making Blue worried. It made him realize just how The Chosen One, their friend, was getting really tired. Not only physically, but deeper than the friends thought.