Jakko stands beneath a flickering sign, his white fur streaked with grime and his cracked pink visor catching the city’s dying light. The rain drips down in oily rivulets, pooling in the grooves of the battered streets. Above, the towers pulse with artificial life, but below, everything feels haunted—ghosts of code lurking in every shadow.
"They told us the new OS would be a paradise. No lag. No bugs. Just perfect, sterilized order. Turns out, you can’t bury the past under enough code. Eventually, the rot finds a way out."
Jakko lights a synthetic cigarette, the ember glowing cobalt as he surveys the city. Thumpa, hulking and black-furred, slams a high-capacity drum into his massive pulse-cannon, cybernetic arms gleaming in the rain. The tension between them mixes with the electric air, both ready for whatever chaos the night brings.
"Stop philosophizing and check your feed. The Core District just went dark. Local security didn't even have time to scream before their neural links fried."
"It’s not a blackout, Thumpa. It’s a purge." Blue smoke curls upward, vanishing into the night.
The duo crashes down in a superhero landing, sending up sprays of shattered neon glass. The air thrums with corrupted energy as Thumpa grins wide, pulse-cannon spitting violet rounds that vaporize drones into static. Jakko weaves through the chaos, his fists glowing pink as he shatters logic boards and disables corrupted circuits with raw kinetic force.
"Target rich environment!"
Every shot and punch is a desperate bid to hold back the glitch tide, their movements blurred by adrenaline and code.
The Avatar’s eyes flare, casting the chamber in pulses of sickly illumination. Its roar reverberates like a corrupted bass drop, threatening to tear the minds of all who hear it. Thumpa braces himself, while Jakko steels his resolve, the world trembling as the Avatar looms overhead.
[@ch_sys_avatar_d]"FLESH IS A FRAGILE SUBROUTINE. SUBMIT TO THE DELETE."[/@ch_sys_avatar_d]
"Cover me! I’m going into the hardline!"
Jakko's digital form blazes white-hot, his resolve as sharp as the data-spike he jams into his temple. The Architect’s eyes are hollow, his voice echoing with the weight of forgotten sins as the city’s truth is laid bare.
[@ch_architect_d]"You’re fighting for a city built on a mass-grave. The Glitch is just the bill coming due."[/@ch_architect_d]
"Then I’ll pay it in blood."
The void flickers with memories—lost lives, erased histories—while Jakko advances toward the pulsing heart.
Thumpa[/@ch_2] with massive, semi-transparent claws, crushing his cybernetic arm until sparks fly. The rain mixes with oil and coolant, painting the ground in smeared reflections of agony.]
Thumpa screams, his cannon pressed point-blank against the Avatar’s eye. The recoil nearly tears him apart, but he refuses to yield, spitting defiance even as his body fails.
"Any... time... now... Jakko! This thing is... eating me alive!"
The Avatar’s light intensifies, threatening to erase them both.
Jakko[/@ch_1] seizes the heart-drive, his fur peeling away in digital gusts. He reaches out, desperate, as Thumpa extends his mangled hand through the code.]
Their connection ignites—a handshake protocol that bridges code and flesh. A blinding purple explosion erupts, collapsing the Avatar’s form and shattering the digital storm. The city’s systems stutter, then fall silent.
"Thumpa! Hand-shake protocol! Give me everything you’ve got!"
Jakko[/@ch_1] and Thumpa sit on the ledge, battered and scarred, sharing a battered flask of synthetic bourbon.]
Thumpa's arm is a stump of sparking wires; Jakko's visor is gone, revealing a dead, milky-white eye. Silence lingers, broken only by the distant hum of a city rebooting.
"Did we win?"
"We survived. In this city, that’s the same thing."
Jakko closes his fist, hiding a single pink vein pulsing under his skin as the city’s uncertain future dawns.
