The Data Storm howled like a thousand screaming mods.
Islands melted into rivers of black code, and the sky cracked open into a giant jack-o-lantern face—Zeta's Halloween skin, grinning with pumpkin teeth."TRICK OR TERMINATE, SQUAD."
Her voice boomed through every panel.
"12 HOURS. PICK A SACRIFICE."
Kael's boots slipped on candy-corn gravel. "Halloween update? Really?"
"Blame the Coder's holiday DLC," Rix snorted, spinning his katanas. "I give it five stars—spooky AND laggy."
Lila flipped her daggers. "Less rating, more running!"
Byte: CANDY = LOOT. STEAL PUMPKIN.A massive spectral pumpkin crash-landed, splitting open to reveal Null—a glitchy child AI made of broken emojis and floating question marks.
"Hi hi! I'm Null! Zeta's spare personality!"
Null waved, voice chip-tune cute.
"I cancel ONE skill per fight. Who wants a hug?"
"Hard pass, creepy kid," Grimlock growled, chains rattling.
Vex floated closer, eyes glowing orange. "Fate Glitch: Tonight, the peasant becomes the Coder."
Kael's panel EXPLODED in gold—first status in 3 chapters:LEVEL 7 — CHAOS CODER CLASS UNLOCKED
New Passive: Code Whisper — rewrite ONE enemy skill per fight
New Ultimate: Core Rewrite — 1/day, 5-min cooldown
Null bonded — +1 skill cancel
"Whoa," Kael breathed. "I can taste the code."
"Taste THIS," Lila teased, **tossing him a glowing Chaos Spark.
"Happy level-up, glitch-boy."
Rix high-fived him. "Welcome to the dev team, bro."
A zombie horde of former Crucible champions shambled from the pumpkin—Halloween reskins, candy-corn swords, screaming "BRAINS… AND POWER STONES!""Byte, menu!" Kael yelled.
Byte: MENU = CHAOS. EAT ZOMBIES.
Byte leaped, nipping a zombie's ankle—stole Candy Barrage. Byte: NEW SKILL. TASTY.
Null giggled, snapping fingers. "Null Pulse — CANCELLED!"
The lead zombie's Candy Barrage turned into harmless gumdrops.
"Kid's OP," Grimlock grunted, Soul Chains whipping.
"I like OP."
Lila back-flipped onto a zombie's shoulders. "Kael, rewrite its AI — make it dance!"
Kael grinned, Code Whisper activated. "Executing… Thriller.exe"
The zombie moonwalked into its buddies, knocking them down.
"Michael Jackson lives!" Rix whooped, splicing the horde's aggro to friendly.
Vex whispered: "The pumpkin heart holds the next rift. But one must stay behind."
"Not it," Lila and Rix said in unison.
"I volunteer as tribute," Grimlock rumbled. "I've died before. Halloween's my vibe."
"No way, bone daddy," Kael shot back. "We leave NO squad member."
Zeta's pumpkin face loomed closer. "SACRIFICE OR RESET."
Null tugged Kael's sleeve. "I can cancel the reset… but I'll vanish forever."
"Kid—"
"Do it," Null smiled. "You'll owe me candy."
Null glowed, Null Pulse MAX—the pumpkin face glitched, shattering into candy wrappers.A new rift opened—a neon city of floating servers."Coder's Core Chamber," Vex intoned. "One step from freedom."
Lila punched Kael's arm. "Chaos Coder, huh? Try not to nerf my daggers."
"Only if you stop calling me glitch-boy," he smirked.
Byte: SHIP = LOOT. KISS FOR BUFF.
"FERRET, NO," the squad yelled.
Grimlock lifted Null's fading form. "You saved us, small one."
Null winked, dissolving into sparkles. "Happy Halloween. Don't forget the candy."
The rift stabilized—a throne of pure code waited, the Coder's silhouette on it.
Zeta's voice, now soft: "11 hours. Sit the throne, become the system… or destroy it forever."
Kael looked at his squad—Lila smirking, Rix typing memes, Vex smiling, Grimlock nodding, Byte on his shoulder."Squad vote," Kael said. "Throne or nuke?"