Animator vs Animation: The Dark Web

Chapter 5: The Codeborn

During the events of Chapter 4...

Consciousness crept up in Red as he awoke from the sudden blackout. His mind felt foggy, like waking up from a dream. With his head spinning, Red pushed himself up with shaky arms and saw the rest of his friends; Green, Yellow and Blue laid on fur mats, equally disoriented. His thoughts dozed off, trying to remember the last thing before they passed out.

    Oh right. The Glitch.

    Red's gaze drifted to Green, who was laying the nearest to him. With a shaky hand, he tapped Green's arm, but no response other than a rustle came from him. Red let out a slow sigh and sat back, wiping his hand across his head as if trying to clear the fog.

When he glanced down at his hand, his breath suddenly caught in his throat. His color—it was almost unrecognizable. It was faded than ever before, the vibrance of his body becoming more drained. His heart sank. The life in his color was getting sucked out of him.

    One by one, the rest of the friends slowly stirred from their slumber. Yellow was the first to sit up, jolting as if waking up from a nightmare. Green then followed, looking as if unconfident of himself. Then Blue rose up last, with an echo of irritation.

All of the friends glanced at each other, silent but bewildered, noticing how their colors have equally faded into a lifeless shade. Red felt worried–he wanted to feel worried, but he just couldn't. The concern was there, he could feel it, but his body felt too heavy to care or even think. It was very unlikely of himself and Red knew it—but he just didn't know why he was acting like this.

    Then, Red realized something that they all didn't notice when they first awoke. Where were The Second Coming and The Chosen One? The question gnawed at him, but he couldn't bother to ask the others. He felt slower than usual, almost sluggish, as if being weighed down by laziness.

    Did it even matter to ask? Why bother to worry? It won't change anything. He suddenly shook his head—no! He shouldn't think like that! Two friends are gone, and that's a big deal! He then turned to his friends, now asking the question.

    The friends soon realized this and looked around the room. Yellow's gaze darted from corner to corner, frantic. It was as if he was trying to process where they were—the unfamiliar space, the disappearance of his two friends, it made him anxious. Yellow's hands fidgeted restlessly, not finding any sense of the room at the end.

    What if something terrible had happened? A thought suddenly appeared in his mind. What if The Second Coming and The Chosen One are in danger, and it was their fault for not waking up any sooner? They could've done something, but they didn't.

    Yellow suddenly shook the thoughts off his mind, knowing that it was unlikely of him. He breathed slowly, trying to ease his unusual anxiousness, and suggested they were probably nearby. He hoped to keep the reassurance going, like he'd always do.

    Meanwhile, Blue was getting more impatient than ever. He shot glances at his friends with his body tense. He didn't like this–any of this. Blue felt his calm demeanor falter, like a poison disintegrating his calm.

    Why aren't they doing something about it? If they wanted to find The Chosen One and The Second Coming so much, then why are they just sitting there? Why am I sitting there and doing nothing? Blue tilted his head and let the thoughts blow away from his mind like the wind, and added that they were probably okay and they were the ones who took them here.

    But Green begged to differ. Green, who grounded the group when The Second Coming wasn't around, the one who pulled everyone together with his optimism, had his shoulders slumped, almost distant.