Spirits of the Glitch Part 2 (Smash Possession/TF) (Patreon)

Ahoy folks!

Good god where did the month go? I could swear I left at least a little of it in the fridge, but I guess someone got to it while I wasn't looking...

Well, I've still got some writing to do before the end of the month - especially since it looks like I'll be asking for our last short requests of the year straight away next week! So while I'm off doing that, enjoy part 2 of this smash brothers possession/transformation fic! And if you want to remind yourself of how we got here, part 1 is over here: Spirits of the Glitch Part 1: Palutena (Smash Possession/TF) | Patreon

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Things were not going well in the glitch realm. After the loss of Palutena, arguably their best guide in this strange land of forgotten set pieces and malevolent spirits, group leadership had… run into difficulties.

“It’s that way. Obviously it’s that way.”

“But, but Sheik thinks it might be-!”

“Oh does he?” Bayonetta turned to face the silent ninja in white. “Which way was that? Do speak up, dear, I’d hate to miss your mysterious and uninformed opinion.”

Sheik, eyes flatter than should have been possible, pointed to the left.

“Sorry, didn’t catch that.” The witch grinned, and then pranced straight to the right. “Guess we’re doing it my way after all!”

The other two fighters watched her go, and then shared a knowing look. A look that seemed to say, without vocalising a word, ‘Yes, we should just abandon her and try to find our own way out, but both of us are far too fundamentally decent at a base level to ever actually do that, so we’re going to have to put up with her nonsense’.

They’d gotten really good at that kind of exchange since they’d gotten lost in this place. Palutena had said that the Pac-maze zone was one of their most likely escapes, and though Zebes, her other suggestion, had looked closer, in the end this glitch world was so twisted that they’d found themselves over here while looking for a way over there. It was weird and it hurt to think about too much, so they’d just shrugged and taken the opportunity they’d been given. But they hadn’t reckoned on one thing.

The maze was being… well, a maze.

Kind of obvious in hindsight, honestly.

Felt like it maybe should have been anticipated…

Well, anyway. They were in the maze now, and they were absolutely lost, so whining about spilt milk wasn’t going to get them anywhere. The three of them just had to make do.

This was, inevitably, where the problem arose. Because despite their united cause, the three of them were hardly united in method. Their personalities – strong/silent, cheerful/tomboy, and flamboyant/sexy – didn’t exactly gel, and their usual interactions were designed around beating the crap out of each other. A friendly alliance, they did not make. Tension was definitely starting to arise as they explored deeper and deeper into this hostile realm.

… Okay, so Daisy and Sheik were getting on fine, but, y’know… We’ll pretend this was an even split so that it feels fairer to everyone involved. That’s how fairness works!

So yes, the trio was finding their way. Sort of. Eventually. Certainly, they were doing so right now, with the turning that Bayonetta had insisted on leading them out of a difficult tangle, and into another, much more open four-way junction.

“See? What did I tell you?” Yes, she was very smug about her deduction. “Don’t worry, luvs, I’ll have us out of here in no time. Maybe even fast enough to send help for that silly angel woman back there!”

The other two shared a long suffering look and a sigh, but neither objected. It was indeed important to escape this place quickly, especially for Palutena’s sake. It really wouldn’t do for a goddess to be hopping around as a busty slime-girl for any longer than she needed to.

“I’m glad we’re making progress,” Daisy finally spoke up, giving the witch a smile. “This place is far too dangerous for us to delay…”

“Psh.” Bayonetta waved the princess’s concerns away. “Don’t you worry your pretty little head about any ‘danger’. Angel babe let her guard down and suffered the consequences.” She shrugged. “Delightfully ironic, considering she was lecturing us all on not doing exactly that… But now that you two have me protecting you, there’s nothing to fear!”

“Oh, really?” The princess in yellow was delighted to hear it, relief clear in her voice. “That’s amazing news! So you can handle any of those strange glitched spirits that come at us?”

“Of course.” The witch gave her a confident grin. “The second you see one, just send it my way. They won’t be a problem.”

Daisy nodded. “I’m so glad to hear it. I don’t think any of the tactics I’m used to will work against these things… A-and, I see you already have a chance to demonstrate!”

She pointed, and the other two fighters followed her direction. There, hovering in the middle of the glowing blue tunnel, was another spirit. It hovered in place for a moment, blinking at them like an actual ghost, before slowly starting to drift in their direction.

“Ah, perfect!” Bayonetta twirled one of her pistols, snapping it out into her palm. “This’ll be a piece of cake. Watch and learn, Luv!”

She fired, unleashing a blistering blaze of metal and hellfire, filling the corridor with the devastation that only an umbra witch could summon!

The bullets passed straight through the ghost and vanished off into the distance. The spirit didn’t even seem to notice.

“Ah.” The witch paused, considering as she twirled her guns. “That does put a bit of a cloud over things. Alright then, plan B.”

“Plan B?” Daisy blinked up at the taller woman. “What’s- Hey!” She found herself coughing through a cloud of witch shaped dust.

“Sorry dear!” Bayonetta called back as she tore off back down the corridor. “Don’t have to outrun the bear, just have to outrun you and all that! Don’t worry, I’ll absolutely make sure to send someone in to rescue you once I get out of here – tootles!”

“… I really should have seen that coming, I suppose,” the princess muttered – before Sheik grabbed her arm and dragged her after the retreating witch. Then there wasn’t much time for grumbling. Too much running to be done.

But there was a problem. It was one that had been eluded to before, so it might not come as a shock to the observant reader, yet it still threw itself into the three heroine’s paths regardless. Because obviously, when you were running away, you needed somewhere to run to. And, as previously mentioned, the trio was currently lost in a surprisingly labyrinthian maze…

So soon, not only were they far more lost than ever – it was getting worse by the second. Sheik and Daisy were chasing after Bayonetta, following her lead. Which was fine, right up until the point where they found themselves running straight into a dead end.

“Ah. Probably should have turned left there.” Even the witch herself looked rather put out about how things had turned out. And even moreso when she turned around to see her companions, with the spirit still in close pursuit. So close, in fact, that it had already blocked off the other turns. “Oh wonderful…”

“Oh no…” Daisy skidded to a stop, but it was far too late to turn back. “What do we do? Can we get around it?”

“Hm. Maybe!” Bayonetta stepped up next to the princess and patted her on the shoulder. “You’re pretty spry, right? Tell you what – I’ll go left, you go right, and whoever gets past can write a nice letter of apology later. Ready? Go!”

“Gah!” The princess found herself pushed forward – more by the umbra witch’s pure authoritve charisma than by anything physical – and then it was too late to take it back. The spirit turned towards her, lunging forwards. “Eeep!”

To be honest, the sensation of getting possessed wasn’t what she expected. She… Well, okay, she hadn’t actually thought that much about what it’d feel like. It wasn’t helpful behaviour in this kind of situation. But as it turned out, getting possessed felt a lot like getting thrown to the side and landing on your ass. “Ow!”

Daisy blinked, and looked up. There, standing where she should have been, was a figure in white and blue. And too her horror, the spirit was already right on top of them.

“Sheik!” She reached out, trying to help her friend…

But the ninja shot her one last silent look – and then, even more shockingly, spoke, with a firm female voice. “Run!”

Then there was a flash of light, and the other fighter was gone, consumed by a ghostly glow.

Daisy swallowed, hesitating for a second. Then she turned and ran, and she didn’t look back.

-----

Zelda tried not to grimace as she felt the ghost’s aura surround her. Speaking to anyone but the legendary hero, a sage, or a fellow Sheikah warrior when using this disguise was a big no-no in the big book of family rules, but the situation had really warranted it. She couldn’t just let Daisy get caught in the same trap she’d just sacrificed herself to get her out of, after all.

That’d just make the whole thing pointless.

At any rate, she was in trouble. She could feel the spirit inside of her now, trying to merge with her. Having seen what happened to Palutena, an out and out goddess, the princess of wisdom bore no illusions as to her chances of resisting it. But maybe, if she focused, she’d be able to hold it off for long enough for help to arrive. It seemed like her best hope, feeble though it was.

So, she took a deep breath – or, you know, as close an approximation as she had in this strange spiritual realm that she now found herself in – and tried to calm herself. To bring her mind, her heart, and her soul into a trinity of protection, like the mark of the Triforce on the back of her hand. So long as she maintained this barrier, as long as she remained herself, then perhaps she’d be able to beat back the spirit’s advances.

… It was easier than she expected, too. This spirit, whatever it was, wasn’t a very strong presence. It was passive, almost docile. Perhaps she’d lucked out, and this was a particularly weak invader? Certainly it wasn’t difficult to keep it from affecting her. Her calm was complete, her spirit unbreak-

THWOMP!

Something pulsed through the princess/ninja’s spirit, staggering her back for a second. Cracks fractured through her defences, weakening her stance, and she reeled, trying to recover. What the hell was that?!

Eyes wide, she looked up – into the glaring, red eyed face of a spiky stone block – the kind she recognised from some of the old challenge runs the Smash Tournament had used to put out. They were those angry rocks that tried to drop down on anyone who passed under them. A- what were they called? A Thwack? A Thonk?

THWOMP!

Oh right, that was it- Ack!

The block slammed down on her again, with Zelda just barely managing to prepare her spirit for its assault. It was powerful – a sudden surge of spiritual pressure that should have flattened her where she stood. But fortunately, frantic protections worked once more – her spirit form cracked again, coming ominously close to shattering, but it held, and then repaired.

That was dangerous. If her spirit broke here, she’d be completely vulnerable to the spirit. In this form, she was the personification of her will to resist – if she shattered, the spirit would possess her totally in an instant.

It was okay  though. She knew what she was up against now. She just had to stay calm. Calm and composed, that was the ticket here. As long as she could maintain that, she would be unbreakable. Her spiritual Triforce of defence, as it were.

The Thwomp retreated back up into the air, returning to its still, passive state. For a moment, she had room to breathe.

Right. Prepare and endure. She shut her eyes. Let all other thoughts out of her head. All was silent. All was still. She would be a bulwark against this attack. Unbreakable. Unmovable.

THWOMP!

The impact came again, but she barely felt it. Cracks and fractures ran through her, but faded almost as quickly as they appeared. It was okay. She could do this. Already, she was regaining her calm. Her defences were firm. Rock solid. Her spirit was still. Her mind was firm. Her heart was stone.

… Wait…

Slowly, she cracked open one eye – only slowly, because for some reason, she was feeling incredibly sluggish. Peering down at herself, at her spirit, at her soul, she couldn’t help but notice that the white and blue of her Sheikah outfit were looking awfully muted. The colour seemed to have faded almost completely. So completely that they looked completely grey…

Her brow creased faintly. Was she… turning herself… into stone? In her attempt… at resisting… had she actually… resonated… with the spirit… instead? … Oh dear… Oh… That… would mean… That… Would… Uh…

Her thoughts slowed to a crawl, unable to reach the end of their paths. Stone wasn’t meant for hard thinking, after all. But that was fine. There was something else here to finish her thought for her.

THWOMP!

The block slammed down, and smashed the frozen statue to dust, pulverising her form in an instant. It didn’t hurt – it simply shattered her sense of self, her sense of identity and individuality, down into nothingness.

And perhaps that would have been fine, had she been left to reassemble herself. Zeldas were a resourceful folk, after all. But she didn’t get the chance. For as the cloud of dust that had once been the stone princess spread, it just as quickly found itself being sucked back in, drawn into the Thwomp’s angry mouth, filtering between its wide teeth, and vanishing into the darkness within.

Then, once the last of the grey cloud had been hoovered up, a most unexpected transformation took place. The spirit’s form shifted, its blocky surface melting inwards and taking on a new, more feminine form. The spiky cube shrank, a humanoid set of arms, legs, even a head and feminine torso sculpting itself out of the heavy material. It still had spikes, obviously, on the head, arms, around the neck, and two in the place of nipples, but overall, not a bad impression of a certain Princess… Albeit, one made entirely from stone.

And on its face, a wide, red eyed frown spread itself, awaiting anyone fool enough to step close. Beneath its still surface, unquenchable anger bubbled without cease. Oh yes, please, someone, dare to approach! It would show them all what happened to anyone who messed with the Princess of-

-

Thwomp!

The statue fell forwards, toppling face first to the floor of the maze. It had gotten a little overexcited. No matter – it would rise to its feet again soon enough. Then it would wait. Wait, until the blessed day that someone, anyone, found her – and then got thwomped in reward.

Unfortunately, there weren’t many people who passed by this dead end turn of the glitch realm…

It would just have to be patient.

This too, in its way, was a family tradition.

-

“Oh you made it luv! Congratulations – Though I do have to tell you, that letter I was going to write would have been one for the history books. Kind of a shame it won’t be needed now…”

That was as close to an apology as Daisy got when she finally caught up with Bayonetta at the maze exit. The witch wasn’t displeased to see her, at least, but she didn’t seem too bothered about how they’d parted ways. The benefits of incredible levels of confidence, one had to assume.

She didn’t seem to notice the absence of Sheik at all. But maybe that was because she was distracted? That was probably the most charitable way to look at it.

“Sad to say, this might not be the way out after all,” she said with a shrug, gesturing ahead. And it was easy to see why. The path stopped dead at the exit to the maze, a literal cliff edge – and beyond it stretched a faint trail of multi-coloured light. “

“Oh!” Daisy gasped, this time with hope. “It’s rainbow road!”

That finally got the umbra witch to pay attention to her. “It’s whatnow?”

“It’s a race course from my world. I think it was used as the basis of a stage for the tournament once or twice – don’t you remember it?” The princess glanced back as she approached the cliff edge. “You joined before I did…”

Bayonetta just shrugged. She’d seen a lot of places.

“It’s as winding as ever,” Daisy muttered, relieved to see such a familiar place. She had already a hand up to shade her eyes as she traced the length of the course. “But I think I see a glow at the end – maybe the exit that Palutena was talking about?”

“Well that would be wonderful – if we could reach it.” The witch waved her hand through the rainbow light. “But it doesn’t look like it’s feeling all that walkable today.”

“Not normally,” the princess nodded. “It is a rainbow, after all. But there are ways…”

She looked up towards the arch over the exit, spying a set of start lights hanging from it, and grinned.

-

“Where the hell did these things come from?” Bayonetta was a woman used to many, many strange things happening in her life. Time freezing, bizarre monsters attacking, increasingly obscene combo scores shooting up as she kicked people…

… But Little racing golf carts appearing out of nowhere was a new one to her. As was the fact that hers had a big B on its bonnet for some reason. She’dve expected something more sporty, if anything.

“Oh, they always show up when a race is about to start.” Daisy shrugged as she settled into her seat, revving the engine. “And with them, we should have a smooth ride to the-”

She was cut off by the revving of three other vehicles pulling up to the start line. Naturally, all three had glowing white spirits hovering behind their wheels, because that was just the kind of day this was turning into.

“Oh.” Daisy swallowed. “Well um, okay, as long as we avoid them…”

The countdown to the start had already begun. Bayonetta rolled her eyes. “Shouldn’t be a problem – I excel at extraordinary speed.”

The princess’s eyes widened. “Ah, no, no, wait, we don’t want to get too far ahead!”

But the witch snorted. “Maybe you don’t, but I want to get out of here.”

“But-!”

The lights flashed green, and Bayonetta shot ahead instantly, gas pedal pushed straight to the floor. No sharp turns and lack of walls was going to stop her from winning this race!

“Wait!” Daisy yelled from behind, showing some impressive moves as she darted around in 4th place. “Don’t!”

“Sorry, luv, can’t wait around!” The witch waved over her shoulder as she roared on ahead.

“No, you don’t understand! If you go in front, you’re a sure target for-”

Bam!

“A blue shell!”

The witch’s car spun out of control, almost hurling her from her seat completely. She cursed, trying to regain steering, but there was nothing she could do to stop her engine from sputtering out completely in the middle of the track.

“Damnit!” She slammed a fist against the dash. “How do you start this thing back up?!”

Unfortunately, she wouldn’t get a chance to find out. Before Daisy could answer, the car in second place slammed straight into the wreck, and everything went white.

She really should have listened more to the experienced driver.

-

When the glow faded, Bayonetta found herself standing by herself, in an empty white room. There was no sign of the spirit that had attacked her, nor of anyone else…

“Oh joy,” the witch sighed, casually playing with her pistols. “I suppose it’s about time one of you idiots made the attempt. Very well. If you think I’ll go down as easily as that silly angel lover, you’ve got another thing coming.”

Yes, yes, these spirits were all very scary and whatnot, but she had no doubt she could handle them. It was hardly any different from the normal nonsense she dealt with on the daily, after all. All she needed to do was find the spirit, beat the ever-loving stuffing out of it, and move on with her life! It’d just be another victory she could hold over Palutena once she was cured of her hilarious condition~

Once this stupid thing showed up, anyway. Ugh, was it hiding? Bloody hell…

“Where is this place, anyway?” She mused, folding her arms and walking around. The room wasn’t small – in fact, it had an incredibly tall ceiling – but it was narrow, barely wide enough for her to walk without brushing the sides. Plus seemed to lack for anything that resembled an exit. The walls and floor were all firmly tiled, and showed no sign of seams or breaks. It didn’t look like any tournament stage she’d ever seen, she could say that for sure.

Then, just as she was pondering that, music started to play. Jaunty, quick paced notes filled the air, like some electronic serenade. The witch frowned. It was… strangely catchy.

“Who’s there?” She called out – and then a moment later, she jumped backwards, just barely dodging her apparent response. Standing where she’d been stood just a second before was now a strange cube, one just slightly taller than her. It looked to be made out of pastel red blocks – four to a side, by her count, though they seemed to be packed together tight enough that she doubted they could be separated.

Her frown became a furrow. “What the hells…?”

Then she jumped back again as another shape slammed down next to her. This one was sky blue, and was bent in the shape of a Z. Once again it was made out of four blocks – identical to the ones in the cube, save for their colour. In fact the two shapes slid together perfectly, and took up the entire width of the room to do so.

The witch looked upwards. Whatever else one could say about her, she had good pattern recognition. “Oh fuck.”

More shapes were raining down, unstoppable in their descent. L shapes and T shapes slammed down with unmistakable finality, chasing the witch backwards further and further, always cutting off her attempts to get around them, until she’d been backed fully into a corner. There, just as she was preparing to try to scale the wall, and maybe get out of this mess, another shape – this one a straight line – shot down right next to her, just barely missing her – and in so doing her, trapping in a tight spot, arms squished at her sides with no way to free them.

“Nn – Right. I bet you think you’re bloody clever, don’t you?” Bayonetta grunted. “This is a tight squeeze – but it’s nothing to a witch!”

Naturally, a woman like her was options. Her hair began to unravel, giving her another limb she could use to lever herself out of this mess. Sure, it’d strip her of her clothing and leave her naked, but what’d she care? There was no shame in this witch!

But before she could make use of her trump card, even more blocks fell. She quickly fashioned her hair into a shield to protect herself from getting flattened – but now the blocks were raining down elsewhere. Filling in all the gaps and crevices that the shapes had left in the rest of the room, forming a completely solid wall, with only two gaps – the one where Bayonetta herself was (sort of) trapped, and one at the far wall. It was hard for the witch to see from her position, but from what she remembered of the shape she’d seen drop, there should be a one-block hole over there.

Then, just as she realised that – though honestly she had no idea why such a thing would be relevant – another straight line piece spawned overhead. She watched it, confused, as it drifted over – heading away from her instead of towards. In fact, it was positioning itself straight over that other gap…?

Bayonetta had never played Tetris, you see. So when the last line piece dropped, and everything started flashing – every block, and bizarrely, herself – all she could do was look down at her glowing tits, blink in confusion, utter one quick curse, “What the fu-?”

And then she vanished, just like all the other blocks. A couple of perfect line-clears.

It was a strange experience for the witch. One moment, she was feeling a flurry of emotions, her heart pumping with adrenaline, her mind racing with plots and schemes for how to get out of this. And then the next, she was completely blank. No thoughts, no emotions, no nothing. Her entire persona winked out at the drop of a block. Her strong, flirty, dominant spirit was converted into points, tallied up on the scoreboard, and then recycled to be played again.

For a few moments, perhaps a minute or two, all was silent – save for the ever catchy music playing on loop. Then, once more, something odd happened. So far, the shapes dropping from the ceiling had all been standard. Ls, Ts, Zs, Ss, the usual. But now a new form dropped from the shape bank. A B shape, made of black blocks, descended from the darkness above, twirling end over end for a few seconds, before slamming to the ground. Very irregular.

The game didn’t last for much longer after that. It was hard to clear lines with an odd B shape in the middle of things making a mess…

-

Daisy winced as she drove past the wreck. She’d really tried to warn her. Now there was no sign of Bayonetta, or the spirit who’d tried to possess her. Instead, laying across the two smashed cars was what looked like a black Tetris block – though this one wasn’t a simple shape. Instead, it looked more like a female mannequin. Smooth long legs, large, feminine curves, straight and firm arms, and a blank faced head with no hair. It looked like something out of a weird Tetris-themed clothing store…

W-well, just like all the others, hopefully she could be cured later? There really wasn’t any time to focus on the unfortunate witch now – not with the finish line coming up. She just had to leave the block head behind and focus on getting out of here.

The finish line was just ahead – and past it, the glowing light that she really, really hoped was the exit. If it wasn’t then she wasn’t sure how much further she’d be able to make it in this glitch realm without the others…

The problem, of course, was the two spirits now waiting between her and that exit. She could see them slowing to a crawl in their carts, plotting to sabotage her the instant she came close…

… But if either of these fools thought that they could play dirtier than Bowser, they had another thing coming. And she raced against him every second weekend!

Daisy hit the gas, zooming ahead for the goalposts. Turtle shells shot past and bombs exploded around her, but none of it reached. She was in her element, this was her zone!

Honestly, the moment that she hit the finish line in first was kind of disappointing. All that happened was her cart disappearing, leaving her stumbling on the last few steps towards the portal. At least the road stayed kind of solid under her…

No time to be grateful, though. Now the other racers were right behind her! And they had the benefit of not having legs…

The princess sprinted forward, throwing herself into this last, most important leg of the race. She could feel one of the spirits right behind her, gaining with every step. But the exit was so close!

She reached out for the portal, and everything went white…

-

… And when the light faded, Daisy found herself standing in a wide open field. For a moment, she doubled over, gasping for breath – that last spirit had taken everything she had! But then, once she got some air back in her lungs, she managed to look around. Where was she…?

There was no sign of that awful glitchy sky, nor the maze of islands floating in the void. In fact, the sky was normal – bright blue, with just a few whisps of cloud. And this field… Was this a stage? A regular tournament stage? Oh, could it be? Had she made it back to safety?

Yes… Yes! She recognised this place! It was… one of the Hyrule stages, maybe? Ugh, it didn’t matter, she was out!

Okay. That was such a relief. She needed to get back to the tournament management – tell them what had happened, and send help for the others. Palutena had said that the possessions might be permanent if left for long enough, but surely there was still plenty of time. She could afford a quick break to rest and get her strength back. That had left her exhausted.

Yes. She was safe. She could relax now. Take her time and that stress go…

The princess in yellow sighed, laying back and letting the fresh breeze wash over her. She couldn’t help the smile on her face now. After so many hours of terror and confusion, just being out in this nice, simple field, with no worries to bother her and no problems to trouble her was just the nicest, most relaxing thing she could imagine.

In fact, she was starting to feel really good, just laying here. The warm sun on her skin was really nice, mixed with the heady rush of her success. The grass was so soft underneath her, like the most comfortable bed she’d ever laid in, already making her tired muscles feel ten times better. Yes, this was so nice. Such a relief. So relaxing.

She was so relaxed that she could just… “Moooooooo~”

Her lips split into a wild smile as the bellow rumbled its way out of her throat, echoing through the field, so much that is sounded like she was being greeted by a Moo-chorus. The sound only made her feel happier, knowing that there were other cows-

W-wait… Other cows? Her brow held the lightest furrow, but…

Relax… Relax… Relax…

… But it soon faded. She was just too relaxed to worry about stuff like that.

Far too relaxed to worry about her dress starting to rip as her breasts began to swell…

Far too relaxed to worry as a cute leather collar with a large golden bell hanging from it appeared around her neck…

Far too relaxed as patches of her skin darkened into pretty little pink and black cow spots, revealed as her dress vanished in a haze of dreamy sparkles…

Indeed, after all she had been through, it was impossible for the princess to fight against the wave of sweet bovine bliss that washed over her. It just felt too good – all of her panic and worry and responsibilities just getting milked out of her brain. All she wanted to do was lounge around in her field, and maybe get a few more things milked out of her

Soon, there was no sign of Princess Daisy anywhere to be seen – just a brown haired cowgirl, with a thick body and the heftiest tits known to man, mooing contentedly as she lounged about in the grass. The thought of resisting had never even occurred to her as she descended into milky mindlessness…

-

“Moooo~” The cowgirl giggled as the light faded, depositing her back in the glitch world once again. Alas, she’d been just a touch too slow to escape the Miltank spirit chasing her, but she really didn’t seem to mind the loss so much. Maybe it had all worked out after all!

In front of her, the exit portal glittered, entrancing the simple minded creature with its tempting delights. Perhaps she’d reach out, and be spirited away – out of the glitch realm, perhaps? To the freedom she’d wanted, and a potential cure?

Or maybe it would just land her on some other stage filled with bugs. It was really impossible to say without going through, and the cowgirl might not even manage that. The fate of the glitched contenders rested on this slimmest of chances…

Well, surely they were due for a little luck eventually… right?