Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Feeling the Flow for the Hinobi Tournament

"Oh man, I can't believe I'm really here!" One young man excitedly pressed his face on the window.

"Easy with the glass, Yuma. I don't exactly have car insurance for little brother breaking through due to overdose of excitement." The big sister chuckled.

"Sorry about that, Kari, but I just can't help myself that I get to enter the Hinobi Tournament which is one of the biggest events in the world that I'm going to show the world how amazing my skills are!" Yuma expressed his excitement for this tournament.

Yuma is a 15-year-old boy who has tan skin, red eyes, and black and red spiked hair that points out and upward. He wears a golden key with golden curves and a ring on top and a green gem. He wears a red vest with a white hood, a purple shirt with a green "D" symbol, white pants with orange crescent designs, and black and blue shoes.

"You know this tournament is just for video games, right?" Kari pointed out what they're here for.

Kari a young woman with a slender, athletic build and light skin. She has long raspberry-red hair that reaches down her back tied into a ponytail, with two distinct strands framing her face. She also has wide pink eyes with thin eyebrows and noticeable eyelashes. She wears a light blue shirt under a black vest with an orange hoodie, white pants with a brown belt and gold buckle, and white shoes with orange crescent designs on each shoe.

"Hey, it's a cool event that I'm going to win!" Yuma proclaimed.

"Maybe, but next time when you want to compete in a gaming contest, be sure to check if the place is in Japan and not across halfway around the world." Kari said with a scolding tone.

"Okay, you got me there…" Yuma chuckled nervously, should have read the whole web page before rushing on the sign up.

"But it's going to be worth it. Besides, this will give you a chance to meet up with your fellow journalist friend to talk about the strange rumors in Bailley." Yuma mentioned.

"Yeah, I guess it's a good thing to come all this way to see what's going on here." Kari smiled.

"Man, I can't to see how Miko is doing and see how we can kick butt together!" Yuma smiled excitedly to see his online friend.

"Oh, do you mean your online girlfriend?" Kari asked with a teasing grin.

"Kari! I told you we're not dating! We're just friends who met online and do video chats whenever we want to do online video game stuff, and discovered that our grandparents know each other, and get some high scores!" Yuma smiled happily, almost like hearts are forming in his eyes.

"Yeah, definitely something the things "friends" would do getting closer together." Kari rolled her eyes.

"(Man, I can't wait to see Miko in person today. She is going to be so excited!)" Yuma thought excited.

He wonders how his online friend is doing right now, bet she is getting ready for the big Hinobi Tournament for them to enjoy together and to see which one of them will win the whole thing.

(With Miko)

Yeah, things were not going what Miko had hoped it would go for her.

"You're taking everyone else to do the stuff they like, but not me? That's not fair!" Miko complained, her parents say she can't compete in the gaming competition, which is a big deal, but they don't see it.

Miko is a Japanese-American female of medium height, she has long, straight blue violet hair with magenta sheen, trimmed in a hime cut with blunt bangs, and has fairly light skin blush on its cheeks and large, round hips. She wears a black tank top covered with a yellow cat t-shirt, purple tights, a blue hoodie wrapped around her waist, red and white socks, grey boots, and an orange wristband.

"Okay, that's time! I want butts in the belts people! Din, din. Do it now, do it now!" Miko's mom, Mayumi, shouted, getting her family to the family van.

"Tell you what. You can have a little extra game time tomorrow. Okay, kiddo." Miko's dad, Hugh, said while placing a silly monster-like hoodie on top of her daughter.

"But I promise my online friend Yuma that I would be at that tournament!" Miko mentioned.

"Oh, don't you mean your boyfriend?" Lexi teased with a little giggle.

"Hey, hey, he is not my boyfriend! He's just a friend who happens to be the grandson of our grandma and we do a lot of things together, friend things, and just want to enjoy being in person for the first time." Miko stated strongly.

"Well, maybe you can video call him when we get home." Hugh shrugged then hurry to the van.

"(No, I can't leave my main man hanging like this!)" Miko thought tried to think of something to get her out of family time and compete in Hinobi Smash, the big Hinobi video game tournament.

But then she looks over to the family's pet dog, Cloud, liking some milk from a bowl and suddenly she gets a fool-proof idea.

Scene changes to the whole Kubota family in the family van including "Miko" siting in the back with her hoodie on.

"Gang's all here. Let's go!" Hugh said before driving the van away from the house.

But the "Miko" in the van with them isn't really Miko at all, but the dog Cloud with the hoodie over him to fool the family while the real Miko is still at the house so that she can compete in Hinobi Smash.

"Miko, it was very irresponsible of you to bail on family day. What do you have to say for yourself?" Miko mimicked either of her parents on how they would react to her ditching the family.

"I say, you're looking at a first-place champion, Mom and Dadi!" Miko believed with a confident smirk.

"Have no fear, Yuma, ME_KO will be there!" Miko shouted as she kicks the door open and went inside the house to get set up to log into the tournament online.

(Hinobi Store)

At the parking lot of the Hinobi store, there is a food truck for coffee about to serve the next costumer when suddenly another food truck pushed the coffee truck away and a muscular old man slaps a burrito onto the girl's hand.

"Oye, muchachos! Who's hungry?" The old man laughed.

Then one teenage boy game out of the taco food truck seeing the Hinobi store with his own eyes.

"Oh man, look at all those people." The boy surprised.

He is tall, very slim, and has fairly dark tan skin. He has a puffy hairstyle with a galaxy blueish purple/indigo hue, along with slim arms and legs. He wears a green graphic t-shirt with a black elbow length shirt underneath. He also sports grey skinny jeans and a pair of Hinobi sneaker

This young man is Hector Nieves, also known by his friends and gamer name: High Five! And he is here for the Hinobi Smash tournament that he also entered and got a band too.

"Oh nerd, oh nerd, oh nerds." Five freaked out a bit until his grandmother snapped him out of it.

"Get out of that head, you. I swear, you're gonna get lost in there one day, and I'm not gonna be able to get you out!" Five's Abuela comforted her grandson.

"Eh, just have fun. Try not to think too hard." Five's Abuela advised.

"Alright, Yuma. You better do well in this tournament to at least make it into the top five best players." Kari said as they exit the car.

"Top five? Please, I think you meant to say that I'm going to be Number 1!" Yuma smirked, believing he's going to win this.

Yuma make his way into the Hinobi store to see that there are a lot of people inside to see the tournament and the fun it's gonna bring, and being here is already making him feel very excited that he's going to kill it.

"We are coming at you live from the Hinobi Store located in the Bailley Square Mall of Royal Woods, bringing you this year's Nobi Smash challenge, sponsored by Hinobi Games and Buzzcore Beverages."The announced said.

One player on the stage known as Mitch Williams, he has pale blonde hair that is in a pompadour style and dark-skinned.

He is blowing some kisses to his fans glad to watch him win again, then a bee mascot came in ruining his moment for a bit.

"And guess who's out there, pumping up this crowd. They know him, they grew up with him. Nobi, the Hinobi Honeybee!"The announced said as the crowd goes wild.

"Man, that thing creeps me out." Phil, the store manager, exclaimed.

"Man, that thing creeps me out." Phil, the store manager, exclaimed.

"Uh, hi, sorry, do you work here?" Five asked walking in.

"No, I just make it a point to accessorize all my button-downs with manager name tags." Phil said sarcastically and flicks on his name tag.

"Yo, is this here the tournament is being held because I'm here to compete!" Yuma entered the scene and show his wristband.

"Uh, yeah, m-me too." Five showed his wristband and one employee with a hijab saw this.

"Whoa, he's the missing player." The girl known as Zahra said as Phil saw this too.

"Took your sweet time logging in, didn't you? Great, let's incite this riot." Phil scanned the band and his face appeared on the TVs around the stage.

"Give it up for HI-5 and Flowing_Utopia39!"The announced said and the crowd cheers for two other players entering the tournament.

"Oh yeah, now that's what I'm talking about! Let the crowd shout for their future winner all the Japan!" Yuma bragged, smiling.

"(Great, this kid thinks he already got this in the bag.)" Phil thought rolled his eyes, sometimes he wonders why the company host these kinds of events.

"Dude, are you hype for this?" Yuma asked.

"Yeah, totally, and I heard that the winner for first place is going to get a job here in the store!" Five mentioned.

"(A job in the store? Guess that was another thing I forgot to look up.)" Yuma thought realized in surprise.

"Wait, so you really came all the way from Japan?" Five asked.

"Yeah, kind of embarrassing to—Hey, isn't this exciting or what?" Yuma asked, quickly changing the subject on why he's here.

"All eyes on you, champs." Nix grinned.

Five and Yuma quickly follows Phil up on the stage while he explains what the tournament is going to be like this year.

"Okay, we're doing standard competition rule set. You'll be playing on a new map designed specifically for this tournament. So, no outside communication is permitted in play, and there will be absolutely no respawns. Any question?" Phil explained and handed a headgear to Five and another headgear to Yuma.

"Wait, did you just say no respawns?" Five asked shocked.

"Yep, if you're out, you're out." Nix answered as Phil just walks away.

"So, don't get nauseous, faint or freak out, and you should do just fine." Zahra inserted the game chip for the tournament and leaves Five with the other players on the stage.

"Whoa, this is like the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Back to the Sewers when their adventures took place in cyberspace!" Yuma was amazed, comparing this to one of the ninja turtles' shows.

"Yep, except this is gonna be epic for you." Nix said.

With the headgear on and the view completely change to what appears to be space with lots of floating platforms, and he even looks at himself wearing some kind of armor with the right arm being like a cannon for the ball holding it inside.

"Whoa, now this is taking high fiving the sky to the next level!" Yuma smiled, so glad to have come here.

And then Mitch Williams appears with the other players with a smug on his face.

"Mitch Williams? Is everyone seeing this? I'm meeting Mitch Williams!" Five excited, getting all fanboy right now.

"I can't believe it. I learned so much from watching your Let's Play videos." Five smiled.

"Thanks." Mitch chuckled with a cocky smile.

"Yeah, I never heard of you, but you must be good to be here." Yuma said, making Mitch flinches with one eye twitching.

"Really, you never heard of me? Mitch Williams, greatest player who ever live." Mitch smirked.

"Funny, that name doesn't ring up back in Japan meaning you're not a big deal back home." Yuma said, making Mitch feel angry.

"We'll be ready to start once our remote players finish logging in! Here comes two now!"The announced said as one player came in first.

"I am ME_KO!" Miko entered in a deep demonic-like voice.

"Join me or die! In my chipmuck boy band." Miko laughed with her voice being all squeaky now, but then her voice went back to normal.

"Hey, who disabled the voice filter?" Miko asked but she suddenly went all coughing.

(With Miko)

The scene shows the reason for the coughing was because Miko was eating some popcorn.

"I'm okay." Miko said, over the cough and ready to be rough.

(Back in the Game)

"Wow, you're ME_KO, aren't you?" Five asked, excited to meet the amazing game player he heard about.

"Yeah, and you are… Hi_5? Do I know that gamer tag?" Miko felt like she knows this guy somehow.

Then Five started having flashbacks of battling against those players from the time of the before the Hinobi tournament.

(Flashback)

Five is seen playing an online fighting game and immediately defeated by ME_KO. "DEFEATED BY ME_KO!" Five groaned a little.

"Sniped by ME_KO!" Five groaned again.

"Obliterated by ME_KO!"

"Aw, come on!" Five was angered that he threw the controller and walks away.

(Flashback End)

"Nope, don't think so." Five backed away and laugh nervously "Oh nerds."

"ME_KO! I can't believe we're competing here in your hometown!" Yuma was excited as he walks up to Miko.

"Flowing_Utopia39, awesome to have you here! Just you wait that you're going to have the greatest time here in Bailley once I win." Miko smiled.

"Don't you mean once I win?" Yuma asked with a smirk.

"(Oh crap, they know each other!)" Five thought gulped, fear that Yuma is just as skilled in gaming as Miko.

"Relax, bro. No matter what happens out there, we're all gamers." Mitch said comfort Five a bit.

"Thanks." Five thanked, feeling better now.

"Three. Two. One! SMASH!"The announced started the tournament.

"And gamers play to win!" Mitch pushed Five towards Yuma and Miko causing the three to fall off the cliff while he and the other players ran off for the race.

Yuma is actually hanging onto the edge of the platform with his arms while Miko is hanging onto his leg and Five is hanging onto her leg.

"Hey, man! Let go of my leg!" Miko demanded.

"Uh-uh! I am not letting go of your leg!" Five scared to fall.

"Guys! I can't hold on much longer! Miko, see if you can help Five get up first!" Yuma suggested while doing his best not to let go.

"Ugh, fine. Grab my ball!" Miko held out her ball for Five to give it with his ball, then she launches the ball with Five into the air and then lands back on the platform.

"Nice one!" Yuma smiled as Miko gets back up and she helps him get up too.

"You owe me!" Miko ran past Five while getting her ball back.

"It's on!" Five smiled, getting into the game.

"Time to Five High the Sky!" Yuma said his catchphrase.

Yuma jumps from platform to platform while taking down other players to rank up in the rattle to while trying to make his way into first place, Five and Miko are also doing well to eliminate other players with the latter singing her own theme song while taking down two more players.

Mitch Williams running while three players are after him hoping to take out the reining champion of Hinobi, but the Mitch himself shot one player out before jumping off the floating platform he was on while the other two players jump after him.

But Mitch smirks seeing this coming and made a fast turn around catching his ball returning to him and shot out one player, then when he landed on another platform, he shot the other player the moment he landed.

"You're Mitch Williams!" A little boy player amazed.

Mitch turns around and looks down, seeing the boy with a giving thumb up for a second.

"And you're not." Mitch said before simply push the boy off with his foot taking him out and jumping to another platform.

KO a new story is born and hope you all enjoy it!

This new crossover story is dedicated to Glitch Techs on this day since its second season was aired five years ago on Netflix, same year as season one, and I wanted to make something cool like bringing Glitch Techs and Yu-Gi-Oh Zexal where Yuma and Miko are gonna be on a glitchy adventure!

KO comment, favorite, and follow through of how this story will go!

Chapter Text

Big Win with a Glitching Problem

"(This is it, Yuma! This is the moment you have been preparing your whole life to make it to the top!)" Yuma thought hyped himself while dodging a couple of players trying to take him out, but he took them out instead before hiding behind a rock with Miko and Five.

"Can you believe that rager?" Miko asked.

"I guess that's why he's number one." High-Five said, starting to see the jerk and slightly bullying kind of guy Mitch is now.

"Number 1 dingleberry, maybe." Miko mocked the guy.

"Yeah, I can see he's the kind of guy I definitely wouldn't like if that's the way he plays with others, so obese with winning and status, it's about giving it your all when it comes to having fun in the game." Yuma stated strongly.

"I so want to beat this guy!" Miko said.

"Yeah, bring him down from the top place so he can feel the crushing defeat." Yuma nodded.

"Alright, look, I just say the three of us gang up on him. When it's down to just us, best shot wins?" High-Five suggested a trace between the three.

"DEATH TO DINGLEBERRIES!" Miko shouted and charges back in the game.

"Uh, was that a yes?" High-Five asked as he and Yuma ran after Miko.

"Pretty sure that was a yes!" Yuma believed as he fired his ball at another player.

Yuma is sliding on one platform before jumping off to the next with one other player trying to blast him out of the game, but Yuma counter by blasting the ball away to immediately get it back and blast that player out.

"(Man, if only Tori and the others can see me now!)" Yuma thought smiled, feeling like his friends are cheering for him right now.

Five does well on beating some players along the way with some cool moves along with his quick thinking to get around, Miko is doing her own being to charge in first and taking out players like there's no tomorrow.

All three new friends have joined together a few times until they met up with each other again.

"Sweet!" Yuma smiled.

"Wait up, I think I got a plan to get us to the final platform." High-Five said to Miko who was about to go again.

"We're on the final platform!" Miko gestured at where they are right now.

"We are!" Yuma gasped as he looks around to see that they really are on the final platform of the tournament seeing some floating squares and a really huge statue of a man with a floating circle thing above the head.

"Awesome!" Yuma was at awe with this.

(Reality)

"Yes! You got this, little brother!" Kari cheered for Yuma having arrived at the final platform, maybe he can win this.

(Back in the Game)

"Yes! Okay, but slow down. These tiles may be booby-trapped." Five theorized with a warning.

"Slow down? It's a race?" Miko gestured to the platform.

"Coming through!" player forced his way past them and jumps onto one of the tiles, and two seconds later fire burst up destroying that player.

"Okay, that's a game changer." Miko commented.

"I love a good game changer!" Yuma smiled excitedly as he and the others jump in.

Mitch is seen already within the last platform making his way to the giant statue, but he stops as he turns around seeing those three remaining players right behind and decided to take them out to completely secure his win for good.

Especially that one kid who dares to disrespect him for not knowing about him nor how great he is.

"(He's going to learn the hard way to never mess with number 1!)" Mitch thought smirked.

Yuma made it on one tile still trying to figure out if there's a way to avoid getting burned, not noticing Mitch coming in and about to blast him out of the game.

"Hold still, you slippery sandworm." Miko jumped in to save Yuma, forcing Mitch to dodge.

"Whoa, thanks, Miko!" Yuma thanked his best friend who smiles at him.

"You two realize this isn't co-op, right? There's only one winner… Me!" Mitch proclaimed.

"That's about to change!" Yuma called out.

Five saw that his new friend was saved only to realize the tile he's on is about to spit fire and quickly jumps off, then he notices the symbol on it glows blue for a second then look back up at the giant statue, it has the same symbol on its chest then it changed symbol.

"Wait, it's a puzzle." Five figured out how to get through this.

Five looks around to find the find the new symbol to jump onto knowing he'll have to move fast in order to win.

Meanwhile, Yuma is trying to make his way to the final square only to end up on the wrong ones most of the time.

"(Yes, I'm going to make it!)" Five thought excited as he gets closer and closer.

Five jumps on the final square that floats him up to the head of the giant statue where the final score is.

"Yes! This is for the win!" Five said to himself.

But then he turns to see Mitch getting closer to Yuma who hasn't noticed him yet.

"Yuma!" Miko gasped, seeing her best friend online is about to get hit by Mitch.

"Hey! Look out!" Five fired his ball to help save Yuma while at the same time, Miko fires her ball.

Miko's ball managed to hit Mitch's arm just before he fired his own ball and Five's ball collided with that ball causing it to miss Yuma.

"Thanks, you guys!" Yuma smiled, giving them a thumbs up.

The ball floated back to Five only for it to suddenly stop in the air while strangely glowing green for some reason.

"Come on!" Five tried to get his ball back, but it won't come to him.

"My ball, it's stuck! Did the game just glitch on us?" High-Five shocked.

Then there are some strange green sparks coming around in the final platform though only Mitch notice this while the other remaining players are focused on Five, then he got a call from his boss.

"So weird, is this part of the tournament?" Yuma asked.

"Uh, I'm showing a major bug in there, Mitch. We need to pull you from the game."Phill alerted.

"Not until I secure this win." Mitch grinned. Even though he knew exactly what's going on here, he doesn't want anyone to take his title away from him.

"You know, I thought you were gonna be cool considering how you like to play games like the rest of us, but all I see is a jerk who's forgotten how to play the game." Yuma glared at Mitch.

"Oh, I know how to play, playing to win." Mitch smirked.

"No, playing isn't about winning or losing, it's how you play with your heart and the bond you share with others that'll last a lifetime. Something that's way more important than trying to be better than everyone else." Yuma scolded Mitch with a heartful speech.

"Sounds like a talk from a loser." Mitch mocked.

"I guess that also makes you a loser since your name ever reached Japan, it also means there are others out there way better than you." Yuma grinned, making Mitch angry.

"I'm the kind of guy who always feeling the flow when I'm high fiving the sky!" Yuma raised one hand in the sky.

"Well, that's the stupidest thing I've ever heard." Mitch chuckled with his eyes close.

But closing his eyes for just one little moment was a mistake on Mitch's part as Yuma quickly moves closer to Mitch and instantly fired his ball at the so-called champion, blasting him right out of the game.

(Reality)

"What…?" Mitch realized that he's not in the virtual game anymore and looks up to see Yuma smiling in victory.

"NOOOOOO?!" Mitch shouted in rage.

(Back in the Game)

"Dude, you just took out that dingleberry!" Miko smiled as she jumps over to Yuma.

"Yup, and there's only one thing to do." Yuma decided on what to do next.

"Yo, Five! Take my ball and get that win!" Yuma fired his ball at Five.

Five saw the ball coming at him and reacted in time to catch it then turns around firing it right in the final goal ring, numbers above giving him a 10,000,000-point score with fireworks.

(With Hive-Five's Grandparents)

Everyone inside and outside of Hinobi Tech are cheering loudly that Five have won and even defeated the champion, and Five's grandparents are really happy for him.

"Oh yeah, that's showing them!" Abuela cheered.

"That's right, you get them, mijo! Get them!" Papi laughed proudly for his grandson.

(With Kari)

"Why am I not surprise." Kari shook her head with a smile, seeing how her little brother is helping others.

(Back in the Game)

"Yes! Yes! I won! I won!" Five cheered.

"Dang, you sacrificed your win to help Five." Miko was surprised that Yuma pulled a move like that.

"Five deserves it since he was the one who made it there first." Yuma said.

"I wonder if Mitch was raging about how, you just helped another player scored a win like that?" Miko asked, giggling.

"Oh yeah, I think he'll rage himself to the bathroom!" Yuma joked as Five jumps down to them.

But the green sparks zapping around and onto the giant statue that suddenly came to life and roars.

"And we just unlocked a bonus level?" Five surprised.

"Okay, now this is cool!" Yuma commented, then they jump out of the way when a foot was about to stomp on them.

(Hinobi Tech Store)

Phil and Zahra are shocked at what is happening right now, then Mitch came in angry of his lost in the game.

"Did you see how that kid caught me off guard? Me? Off guard?! There's no way I could be caught off guard by some nobody from across the world and score my win!" Mitch was angered that he shakes his boss.

"We got bigger problems than your high score right now, Mitch." Phil gestured to the game.

"Plixel breach in three, two—" Nix counted down the danger that is about to happen.

Then a giant green arm of that giant statue character came out from one of the TV screens causing everyone to panic wondering if this is looking a little too dangerous, which it is.

"Techs, gauntlets up!" Phil ordered.

Mitch, Zahra, and Nix jumps in changing into new armor-like outfits and blasting the arm with pink energy blasts while the crowd is looking scared.

"Let's hear it for augmented reality, folks!" Phil announced hoping to calm everyone down.

Then three more arms came out of the other screens knocking down Zahra and Nix,

"I'll do this myself!" Mitch cracked his neck, ready to let out some anger for losing the tournament that was supposed to be his next win, again.

Mitch tried fighting them off by himself though it's proven to be more difficult than he thought as he was knocked back to a wall.

"Okay, this is looking way more than just part of the show and the game!" Kari felt in her guts that this isn't what all fake nor what that guy claims to be as she took out her camera.

(In the Game)

The three players still inside jump back at the giant new Boss level walks up to them looking down with the eyes of danger.

"Think we can take him?" Miko asked.

"Just one way to find out!" Five smirked, thinking they could take him. But got stomp by the big boss.

"Oh, nerds." Five said before being kicked out of the game.

"Uh-oh!" Yuma and Miko gasped at the same time, thinking this boss might be more than they can handle.

(In Miko's House)

Miko, still thinking this is part of the game, fails to notice a giant arm like the ones at Hinobi Tech came out smash the table in front of her.

"This VR is so tight!" Miko commented, unknowingly dodge the hand.

Then that giant arm grabs Miko causing her VR googles fly off and she saw the giant arm is real and out of the TV.

"Ooooooh." Miko realized that this is real and started screaming.

(Back in the Game)

"Miko!" Yuma gasped that his friend/secret crush is gone and quickly moves around.

The giant statue guy throws some punches, forcing him to jump around trying to think of something, but nothing he thought of would actually work against something that big.

"Okay, so I'm the last one standing… Fine, if you wanna fight! Then let's fight!" Yuma decided to take this stand.

(With High-Five)

"What the…?" Five is confused about what's going on as he sees Mitch blasting one arm after dealing with the other ones.

Then he saw Yuma, still in the game, with his pendant glowing a bit red.

"Zahra, Nix, with me! Take it down!" Mitch said and they combined their gauntlet blast to destroy the arm for good.

But at the same time, Yuma jumps at the giant statue throwing a punch that collided against the giant fist causing it to dissipate into nothingness and the whole game to go static then he is suddenly log out of the game.

"Did I win?" Yuma asked.

(With Miko)

The arm grabbing Miko disappeared right before their eyes and the screen change to the Hinobi Tech logo.

"Hello, a minori glitch has been detected. Please stand by as we restore your system's memory."An automated female voice said.

"What in the…" Miko wondered what just happened.

"Ten, nine, eight…"

(At the Hinobi Store)

"Seven, six, five, four…" The countdown is happening all over town to those who are watching the Hinobi Tournament.

"Okay, okay. Whoever wants a free T-shirt… you just look right there. Right at the big screen." Phil pointed at the screen, saying as a ruse for the mind whip.

"Three, two, one."

A shockwave flash of light hits everybody making him go daze in a trance with a three doted icon appearing above their heads.

(With Miko)

Miko looked at the screen and suddenly a shockwave blew Miko so hard, she crashes onto the wall and fell unconscious.

The three doted icon appeared above her head with the last dot blinking for a few seconds then changed to one word in red color saying "ERROR" then disappear.

(With Yuma)

"Whoa, that's even freakier than the time grandpa took me to that maze for Halloween!" Yuma was surprised to see everything happening around him feels so crazy that it could be real than just a game. But not having the icon over his head.

"What kind of game is this?" Five asked, having not seen the flash to be affected.

"The kind nobody's gonna remember." Mitch said and flash Five with the same thing.

"Good then you were never here." Mitch said as a new place of memory for Five while taking his game band.

"I was never here." Five repeated emotionless.

"Hey! You can't just take something that doesn't belong to you!" Yuma marched over to Mitch.

"Give that back!" Yuma demanded.

"How about… no." Mitch grinned before using the mind-whip on Yuma.

However, Yuma's body glows faintly red from his key pendant causing a faint shockwave from his body and making Mitch stumble back a bit.

"What the…?!" Mitch was shocked.

"I said give that back!" Yuma repeated, only to flinch when Mitch points his gauntlet at Yuma to try again.

But Yuma quickly smack the gauntlet away and snatch the band back to run away from the guy, grabbing Kari and dragged her out of the store making their way to the car.

"No way, he can't… reset!" Mitch realized what just happened with that kid.

"Okay, I don't know what that was all about, but we gotta get out of here and fast!" Yuma hurried over to the car, and just in time when Kari got out of the trace.

"Yuma, what's going on?" Kari asked in totally confusion.

"No time to explain! Just start the car and let's get out of here!" Yuma said before getting into the passenger seat and Kari started the car then drove away from the plaza to get away from whatever was going on in there.

KO a new chapter is done and hope you all enjoy it!

The tournament is over, and it looks like Yuma was the one who drove Mitch out of the game before helping Five score a win, but suddenly the Glitch came out almost ruining the festival only for everyone to get mind-wipe, all except for Yuma who will be back for answers.

KO comment, favorite, and follow through of how this story will go!

Chapter Text

Charging into the Hinobi Secret Job

"So, do you mind telling me why we suddenly ran out of the Hinobi store like you just committed a crime?" Kari asked, then her eyes widen with something bad in her mind.

"Oh my… Yuma, please tell me you didn't…!" Kari paused in shock.

"No! Of course, I didn't do anything bad like robbing the whole place!" Yuma clarified with his big sister that he hasn't done anything bad.

"Good. Just wanted to be sure." Kari sighed in relief.

"Man, and all that weird thing in the game happened just when I helped my friend win." Yuma exclaimed, wondering how something like that could happen in the first place. Aren't those people supposed to be like experts in technology and other tech stuff.

"Weird stuff? Like what?" Kari asked.

"You didn't see all the crazy thing that was happening back there? The game suddenly glitched and that Mitch guy did something to my friend High-Five while taking his gamer wristband, though I'm not sure if anything else happened before that." Yuma explained.

"Weird, I don't really remember anything that happened during that time." Kari said.

"Check my camera, I might've taken some pictures of the event. And PLEASE be careful with it, you know it's my best camera." Kari handed her camera to Yuma.

Yuma started looking over the pictures like him entering the Hinobi store for the tournament, him playing the VR game, but then a couple other pictures look glitch very hard to see anything.

"Looks like your camera got messed up during the event." Yuma said.

"Weird, my camera never fails me." Kari was surprised to hear that.

"Oh man, I really hope Miko is okay since she was forced to log out!" Yuma was worried about Miko, hoping nothing bad happened to her.

"Guess we'll have to go to her house for Yuma, the Knight in Shining Armor, to come to rescue his gamer princess." Kari smirked teasing.

"Just drive…" Yuma groaned blushing, then took out his phone to look over any news about the Hinobi Smash.

But what he didn't expect to find was the gaming news article talking about the winner of Hinobi Smash to be that Mitch-jerk guy, which doesn't make sense because he remembers being there when it happened with him beating Mitch and helping Five make the winning shot then the giant statue game character came to life.

"(That can't be right… Five's the winner, not Mitch?)" Yuma thought was puzzled.

Yuma tried to look up anything about High-Five or ME_KO or himself, but he only seems to find his own name and not a single thing about his friends as if they were never there to begin with.

"(No, I know they were there, so why is this stuff saying they weren't?)" Yuma thought wondered.

"Hey, Kari…" Yuma was about to ask her something.

"We're here." Kari announced, parking the car right in front of the Kubato house.

"Miko!" Yuma gasped and quickly got out of the car.

"(So cute that he cares so much for his girlfriend.)" Kari thought giggled as she soon follows him.

"Miko! Miko! It's me, Yuma!" Yuma called out to his online best friend knocking on the door.

"Yes? Oh, Yuma!" Mayumi was surprised to see Yuma here now.

"Hi, Mrs. Kutabo, is Miko home?" Yuma asked.

"Yes, she's in her room." Mayumi answered, then got surprised when Yuma suddenly ran into the house and up the stairs to see Miko.

"Just to let you know, Miko is grounded meaning no video games!" Mayumi informed while Kari comes in.

"What did she do?" Kari asked, rising an eyebrow.

"Skipping family day for some stupid gaming tournament nonsense." Mayumi answered with a sigh.

"Miko!" Yuma ran to the door hoping that Miko is in there and knocks.

Luckily for him, it was indeed the right door when Miko opened it to show herself.

"Yuma!" Miko was surprised to see him here.

"Miko! You're okay!" Yuma suddenly jumped in for a hug, glad to see his best friend doing okay after everything that happened today.

"Dude, come on. You know how tough I am." Miko smiled as she returned the hug.

The kept on hugging each other for a moment until they realize what is happening right now then quickly separated from each other, but their faces are blushing like crazy upon the hugging moment they just had.

"S-So, have you notices anything weird happening moments ago with the tournament?" Yuma asked.

"Y-Yeah, something definitely happened, but I'll tell you about it along the way!" Miko said, but realize something important her younger sister, Lexi.

"Uh, how much not to tell Mom I'm sneaking out?" Miko asked, knowing Lexi would want something more in return for covering for her.

"Mindy needs a laser blaster." Lexi answered while waving her mermaid doll, making Miko groan.

"Wait, we're sneaking out?" Yuma asked.

Soon, Yuma and Miko roll out and into the streets while riding on her bicycle while the latter thinks that Lexi should be a lawyer with how much she bribes her like that.

"So, your TV was attacked by a giant arm from the statue in the game?" Yuma asked after Miko explained everything that happened to her.

"Yeah, it was so weird, and I panicked, but the arm disappeared into the TV and then there was the countdown with a big flash that literally knocked me back and I blacked out. Next thing I knew, I got grounded for ditching family day." Miko explained.

"Now that just add another weird thing about this whole thing, I just hope Five can help us solve it." Yuma looked at the wristband Mitch tried to take from Five.

Miko and Yuma rode through the streets to find the place where the taco truck is where he works because his grandparents own the food truck too, which is pretty nice in Yuma's book.

"Look!" Yuma pointed at the taco truck in an alley.

"Yes!" Miko smiled and they go towards the truck and spotted High Five taking out the trash to the dumpster.

"Five! We found you! In an alley! No judgements." Miko said.

"I'm glad you're okay, man. Things have been really weird lately today." Yuma said.

"Do I know you two?" Five asked, genuinely confused after throwing away the trash.

"It's ME_KO." Miko introduced herself.

"And my gamer tag if Flowing_Utopia39!" Yuma said with confidence.

"ME_KO?" Five was confused at first, but he freaks out recalling all the online gaming of him being completely defeated by this one player gamers easily like she was a monster for video games.

"N-Never heard of you." Five pretended while looking scared of Miko.

"For real?" Yuma was surprised that Five doesn't remember them from literally moments ago.

"We just played in a tournament together. You know, Nobi Smash? The game glitch? The statue monster?" Miko asked while mentioning those things.

"How you got stomped by the statue monster in the game and Mitch flashing you with that weird light?" Yuma added.

"We were in a tournament?" Five confused and walks away.

"It literally happened minutes ago, man! It's almost like you got mind wiped." Yuma said, and then Miko cause upon what her friend just said.

"Maybe somebody doesn't want you to remember. Maybe some evil someday who's trying to hide the truth like some… some… some-spiracy." Miko guessed, not getting the word right.

Five look at them for a few seconds before letting out a laugh for a second.

"Come on, I think I'd remember playing Nobi Smash with a statue monster." Five said. He always has a good memory of every video game he never played in his life, and he would definitely remember playing Nobi Smash today if that happened.

"Well, you better remember because you were there, and you had this with you when we went into the store together." Yuma revealed Five's wristband.

"Is that real?" Five asked in surprise.

"I would never lie to a great friend like you who I see as someone with a good heart and know how to have a great time, I've already trust you fully the moment we met, and I never give up on a friend who won the tournament." Yuma slipped the wristband on Five's wrist.

"(This… This is real!)" Five thought realized this Hinobi wristband is real.

"(And this guy…! I don't know, but I feel something that is telling me to trust this guy.)" Five thought looked at Yuma like there's a connection between him and Yuma.

"When you're with a guy like me, you can always High Five the Sky!" Yuma smiled.

Suddenly, Yuma's key pendant started to glow red, surprising the three kids and a little red beam shot from the pendant onto Five's forehead, freaking him out, then he started to remember everything of his time at the tournament like winning and saw the strange glitch statue monster coming out of the TV screens. And to the part where Mitch flash a light at his eyes to erase his memories and took his wristband with a smirk before remembering what Mitch said.

"Good thing you were never here."

"I… I did play in the tournament. And I did beat Mitch Williams!" Five realized what happened back there was the truth.

"You really remember?" Yuma asked.

"I do, and I remember how you kicked Mitch out of the game before you shot me your ball, and I won the tournament!" Five answered with a smile.

"Dude! That is so awesome! You're awesome, Yuma! How did you do that?" Miko asked, smiling excitedly.

"I don't know, I never even knew my pendant could even do that up until now!" Yuma was confused too.

"Okay, that's another mystery we can look into right after we go after Mitch to get answers!" Miko smirked.

"You coming?" Yuma asked Five.

"Yeah, I definitely wanna give Mitch a piece of my mind! After he wiped mine!" Five answered.

"All right! Setting new quest waypoint for the Hinobi Store!" Miko declared as she and Yuma got back on the bike with Five getting onto his and the friends ride together.

(Hinobi Store)

The three friends arrive at the Hinobi Store where it's known to be a great video game store that sells lots of games and other tech stuff for gaming, the best games you can only buy from such a store, but this time they're not here for the games because there is a secret they wish to uncover.

They quickly hide behind one of the cars in the parking lot.

"Man, I love this store." Five smiled.

"Me too, it's like they have the best stuff for games." Yuma commented.

"When I was little, my dad would bring me here for all the latest game releases. Sometimes, we'd even camp outside the doors to make sure we got one of the first copies" Five explained, smiling of the memories.

"Wow, it's cool your family is so into gaming. Mine, not so much." Miko mentioned.

"So, we just have to be on the lookout for Mitch." Yuma said.

"There's that wrinkly little sandworm!" Miko already spotted Mitch in the store talking with his boss.

"Okay, we need any information on the guy. Five, you looked like a fanboy back in the game when Mitch logged in, anything you can tell us?" Yuma asked.

"Make that former fanboy." Five stated, not liking Mitch much anymore.

"He's a local legend. He won his first competition when he was just six years old. And still holds the highest global score on Nobi's Bubble tea." Five explained on what he knows about Mitch.

"Well before you finish that love letter, remember, Mitch is the creep who wiped your brain." Miko reminded the guy.

"Yeah, I remember, but why didn't he do the same to you or you?" Five asked Miko then Yuma.

"I don't know, I think it has something to do with my pendant somehow protecting me from the mind wipe, but I'm not sure about Miko." Yuma shrugged, confused as well.

"Maybe he did, and it just didn't take." Miko confused a bit as well, but then gasp on one exciting theory. "Maybe I'm like, the one, you know? No, we be the Chosen Ones by destiny to protect the innocent from trolls like him!"

"Whoa, that would be so cool!" Yuma smiled with amazement like they are destined to become superheroes!

"Or not, I don't know." Miko shrugged, shattering Yuma's fantasy.

"Well then, let's go—wait stop!" Miko tackled the boys down.

Mitch is leaving the store and getting into a van with the Hinobi logo on the side and driving away.

"New plan! We follow him, stealth-mode style, 'till he leads us to his den of lies." Miko planned, sounding a little sinister.

"Just to let you know, I'm only medium sneaky." Yuma informed her.

The three friends quickly follow Mitch in the van all the way to a drive-through of one giant bucket-shaped restaurant.

"(Let see what you're up to, champ.)" Yuma thought glared at Mitch carefully, trying to see what he's about to do here.

"Welcome to Mama Miyamoto's Spaghetti in a bucket, where we put spaghetti in a bucket." The female employee greeted, who's name tag says Blake.

"Uh, yeah. I'll have a small pail with a side of...mmh, no." Mitch said and mind-wipe on the girl erasing the girl's memories of a few seconds.

Five stammers in shock upon seeing that Mitch just flash a bright light onto the girl in the drive-through window, definitely the same flash as before in the store.

"Welcome to Mama Miyamoto's Spaghetti in a bucket, where we put spaghetti in a bucket." Blake greeted, saying the same thing again because of her mind being wiped.

"Gimme two mega buckets and two apple pies." Mitch ordered his meal and holding up two fingers.

Blake nods and handed Mitch two bag paper bags containing his order.

"That'll be $9.75." Blake informed about the total price.

"Boosh!" Mitch mind-wiped Blake again.

"Welcome to Mama Miyamoto's"

"Y'know, I'm not really hungry." Mitch cut off Blake's sentence and drove off with a cocky laugh, leaving the employee girl confuse of this.

"Holy smokes! That guy really can mess with minds just like what he did to me!" Five gasped.

"And just made off with about ten pounds of free pastas in buckets." Miko mentioned.

"I think it's time we have a face-to-face chat with the guy!" Yuma pounded his fist in his hand.

"Sounds like a plan to me!" Five agreed as Miko nods and they ride after Mitch.

Mitch is enjoying himself to some free food that Blake "kindly" gave him while driving as he was glad to have this device on hand, that way he won't have to worry about spending money on expensive food to fill his belly whenever he wants to eat out.

But suddenly two bikes and three people appeared in front of him causing Mitch to panic and quickly pressed the break to immediately stop, this also causes his food to splatter onto the windshield and some on himself as well.

"(There goes my free pasta.)" Mitch thought angered.

"Hey, champ, we need to talk." Five said.

"What the- I remember you." Mitch glared at Five.

"And we remember you." Miko glared back as everyone else came up from behind them.

"(This suddenly feels like we're facing a boss level in a game.)" Yuma thought commented while getting ready for whatever may happen next.

"You stole my win after Yuma beat you out of the game." Five said.

"How can you know about that? I reset you myself. Everybody resets" Mitch surprised as he exits the van and threw down his jacket, revealing the same armor Yuma and Five saw him wear.

Mitch points his gauntlet at the three kids and then fired the bright flashing light at the trio only it didn't work on Yuma because he was protected again and Miko Miko who stood as a protective shield with the hologram sign above her head like earlier. And like before, it changes to red saying the word "ERROR" for a couple of seconds before it vanished.

"Five, you okay?" Yuma asked.

"Yeah, my mind is good too." Five answered.

"Mitch, you have a lot to answer for and we're not leaving until you owe up to them!" Yuma declared with a fierce determined look in his eyes.

KO a new chapter is done and hope you all enjoy it!

Oh damn, Yuma was carrying something really important, and he had no idea that it could do something like that, like protecting him from getting mind wiped and restored memories like with Five's. Now he and his friends are facing Mitch to figure out what is going on and might be in more than what they wanted.

KO comment, favorite, and follow through of how this story will go!