Emily

I start on the second cord, hearing the door thud. I cut through the pixels, hearing more thudding before the barrier starts to creak. I'm hallway through the third when it splinters, and I'm nearly through the fourth when the door flies open, and they pour in.

Yanking the shard through the remainder of the rope, I stumble away and turn my back toward the broken window, feeling the gust of air against me.

"There's nowhere to go, girl. If you jump, you die. If you let the Pixel have you, I'll consider about letting you serve me," the Terabyte offers, but the generosity is anything but kind.

"Never, I'd rather take my chances with the drop!" I yell, turning my attention to Pixel.

"Pixel. . . it's me," I plead, watching how is smile is wicked as he takes a step forward. "You know me, you can't forget."

His eyes are wild. "I'm going to corrupt you, little girl, and it's going to be good," he drawls, eagerness flooding his tone.

My heart stutters, and I can feel my feet rocking on the edge as I hold the glass out in defence.

His eyes waver, and the sight has hope searing me.

"I love you," I call, and he shakes his head, a rough groan coming from him.

"Get her!"

"Pixel, don't listen!"

He charges over, and panic wraps around me. When he's in reach, my mind splits between stabbing him, putting him out of his misery, or letting him take me. His hand grips my arm, and I hear the glass shatter as I drop it, tears welling my eyes as brightness fills the room.

I can't kill the only man I've loved, even if it means saving myself.

His teeth graze the length of my neck, and when I think he's going to bite down and turn me into one of those things, he releases me and cries out in pain, his eyes crumpled shut. He drops me and clutches his head as he hunches over on the floor, and I scan the room, noticing how the Kilobytes are shaking before smoke wriggles from the creases in their faces, and the purple guy's eyes pop like fried bulbs before he drops to the floor along with them. Unmoving.

The bright light is blocking everything from view, but when it dims, I see the woman, but she's different. She doesn't look frail, and there's colour. Her skin is like porcelain, hair with a variety of pixelated shades of green and silver, and she has green markings over the revealed parts of her skin.

The red man is crumpled on the floor, his body charred beyond repair, and he's also unmoving. Relief washes over me, and I drop to my knees and cradle Pixel to me until he stops writhing.

"It's OK, young one. I'm not going to hurt you," she says, inching closer before crouching. "I'm here to help you."

"W-who are you?" I mutter, only to shift my attention to Pixel who stirs.

"M-Motherboard. . . you're back."

She smiles down at him and rests a hand on his leg before returning it. "You did well, my boy, and you, girl for freeing me." Her bright green eyes soften as she scans the both of us. "The Terabyte tricked me; I let him corrupt me and drain me until I was nothing left but a power source to him. Pixel stumbled across me and has been trying to find a way to get the truth out, but that monster had a tight hold on everything."

I feel for her. It must've been terrible to know what's going on around you but feel powerless.

"He's got Virus dispensing every couple of hours, there are people dying and being corrupted as we speak," Pixel urges. "Please, help them."

"And what of you two?" she asks, her voice light as she inspects us again.

"This is my girl. . . I want her to go home. I've been helping her find the Recovery button, but Terabyte deleted it."

"Very well," she starts, rising as we do before approaching the window. She waves a delicate hand, and sprouts of green flutters over the landscape, mixing with dots of red I've come to see all too well before. They battle, and it turns into a mass before the green starts to overpower, and I know that what's be wronged will be righted.

"Things will be returned to how they should be, young ones, rest assured." Motherboard's green eyes land on me and she smiles like a mother would to a child. "Now, how about we get you home?"

I shake my head, taking a step away. "I-I can't. I'm sorry."

She raises a green brow, and Pixel is quick to spin me to face him as he cradles my cheek in his hand. "I thought you wanted to go home?" he murmurs.

Tears line my eyes again as I stare back into those beautiful green irises again. "I don't want to leave you. I lost you once, I can't do that again. My home is with you," I sob.

He smiles and crashes his lips to mine, and I clutch his shirt, loving how his lips feel against mine, something I thought I'd never have again.

Pulling away, we rest our heads together until Motherboard clears her throat with a tender smile. "Actually, I can send you both back. Long ago, there used to be a button for Cursors if they wanted to go back, and one for Pixel's who wanted to venture. I can send you both to the other side of the device, but Pixel, there won't be a way for you to come back."

I can hear the soft warning in her tone, but Pixel's eyes brim with tears as he looks at me. "That's my dream. . ." As if sensing the question on the tip of my tongue, he smiles. "I've never wanted to be a pixel, especially after the stories I've heard of what the outside is like. I felt like I could be more. . . and when I couldn't save Chris, I thought that was the end of everything. Then I met you, you brought my hopes back, blondie, and you made me fall in love. . . and I'm so glad it's all with you."

"And I'm grateful for you too, my perfect Pixel."

He smiles, and then asks with a light laugh. "I guess it's safe now, can I hear your name?"

A big grin spreads across my face. "Emily. My name is Emily."

He breathes out a content smile. "That's beautiful. My Emily."

Placing a delicate kiss to his lips, I embrace him for a quick hug and face the woman. "What do we do now?"

She offers her hands. "You both take my hand, and when you wake up, you'll be home."

Pixel takes my hand, and it ceases the shaking. Squeezing his, we thank Motherboard and count to three before we take her hand.

"Good luck, you two."

I flick my gaze to Pixel, and he smiles. "I promise, I'll find you."

My lips part to reply, but it feels like I'm being sucked away and everything is surrounded by black. Those familiar codes and squiggles return, but I'm alone as I'm pulled under. This time, when I'm spat out, I'm outside my house, in the open street, and I'm alone.

Spinning around in a three-hundred-and-sixty-degree circle, I repeat it once more and there's no one outside in the early morning. The sun is still rising, and that's the only thing to greet me. He's not here. I bet he's been dropped off on the furthest part of the planet away from me.

With a heavy heart, I turn for the front door and take three steps until I'm able to haul the door open. But I can't force myself to enter, knowing things won't be the same again.

With a deep breath, I pull the handle down, only to stop at the sound of shuffling behind me.

"Hello, blondie."

Whirling round, my heart bursts and I throw myself into his awaiting arms.

"Pixel!"

My heart warms, and he doesn't waste time to scoop me up and cradle me to his chest as he sits on the step. "I told you I would find you," he murmurs, and I can't fight my smile. "I love you, my dearest Emily."

"And I love you, my Pixel."

He found me, and we made finally made it home. 

ONC Count:

Wattpad App: 1,422

Wattpad Site/Desktop: 1,378

That's the end of the story everyone! I hope you enjoyed! :)