The night over Decentraland deepened into a restless shroud, the city’s vibrant skyline dimmed by the rebellion’s urgent hunt for Claire. Nexus Square stood as a tense hub, the sapling’s faint glow a muted backdrop to the flurry of activity. Doge’s golden form cut through the streets like a blade, his instincts a relentless pull driving him southwest toward the marketplace’s hidden fringes. His fur bristled with every step, his senses locked onto the fading thread of Claire’s essence—a sharp, familiar scent now tangled with the acrid tang of metal and static. Solana, Bitcoin, Bonk, WIF, Chillguy, and the council’s intelligence team—Polygon, Cosmos, Glyph, Avalanche, and Near—followed in his wake. Their movements a synchronized storm converging on the last known trace of their missing ally.
Doge’s growl rumbled low as he veered into the marketplace’s underbelly, past the bustling stalls and into a shadowed warren of alleys. Bonk and WIF flanked him, their pack instincts honed, while Bitcoin’s towering form cast faint light into the dark, his ledger a steady pulse of ancient power. The trail sharpened as they neared a loading bay—a concealed transit hub beneath the city’s surface. Its walls etched with the pulse of data streams converging in a tangled knot.
He stopped dead, his nose twitching, his golden eyes narrowing on a patch of scorched ground. “Here,” Doge snarled, his voice a raw edge, “Claire’s scent. It’s strong, then gone. It ends here.”
Bonk sniffed the air, his red bandana twitching, “Tech stink. Something fast grabbed her.”
WIF traced the scorch marks with a paw, his voice tight, “Pod launch, leaving high-speed tracks. She’s not walking.”
Bitcoin’s deep rumble cut through, “This has to have been Pepe’s handiwork.”
Doge’s claws scraped the bay’s cold floor, his growl a low thunder, “I’m telling them now.” He tapped Solana’s network, his signal sharp, “Solana, found it. Loading bay, southwest market edge. Claire’s scent stops here. She was transported in a pod.”
Solana’s response crackled back, her tone clipped, “Hold there! I’m coming.”
Minutes bled into eternity as the team secured the bay, Doge pacing its perimeter, his fur flaring with every loop. Solana arrived, her form pulsing with urgency, Chillguy at her side, his avatar taut with focus. Ethereum followed, his ancient presence a steady anchor, trailed by the intelligence team—Polygon, Cosmos, Glyph—each primed to dissect the scene. Avalanche’s scouts streaked in from the plains, their crystalline forms glinting with data, while Near’s agents filtered through the market’s fringes, their voices a low hum of gathered whispers.
Polygon’s form flared, syncing with the bay’s data streams, “There are residual traces. The flow was disrupted by high-velocity exit. The pod signature is Sui’s tech, cloaked but sloppy.”
Cosmos wove through the networks, his voice a steady hum, “Vector’s southwest—deep undercurrents, not surface. They’re hiding it, but it’s there.”
Glyph slipped into the shadows, his ink-like form tracing the bay’s hidden currents, “Energy burn scorch confirms it. The pod was fast and stealthy. It’s headed out, long range.”
Solana crouched near the scorch marks, her network pinging the faint residue, “Claire’s essence was here, then cut off. She fought. There are traces of vines, static disruption. They overwhelmed her.”
Doge’s growl deepened, his golden eyes blazing, “Rust—Sui—XRP. I caught their stink in the alley. They took her!”
Chillguy’s illusions flickered, his voice sharp, “They timed it, knew she’d be solo.”
Ethereum’s form pulsed, “Abduction, not assassination. Pepe wants leverage. Where’d they go?”
Avalanche’s scouts fanned out beyond the gate, their speed slicing through the digital plains, tracing the pod’s wake. Faint ripples in the ether marking its path. “Southwest is consistent,” one reported, its voice crisp, “past the plains, into contested zones.”
Polygon’s data streams surged, “The undercurrent logs and the pod’s tech matches Pepe’s playbook. High-speed, cloaked—Sui’s signature. Three likely hubs: CryptoKitties City, MemeVerse, TokenTrash.”
Cosmos cross-checked, his tone measured, “MemeVerse is too close and would be too messy. TokenTrash is unstable, even for Pepe. CryptoKitties City to the far southwest is Pepe’s domain. Distance and control fit.”
Glyph surfaced, his ink tracing a faint arc southwest, “The wake’s thin is days out, high burn. CryptoKitties City’s the call.”
Solana rose, her network syncing their data, “CryptoKitties Cityis Pepe’s chaos hub. It’s deep southwest. It’s a long trek through plains and contested streams, their turf.”
Doge’s fur flared, his growl a storm, “We need to start the track before traces are eroded away.”
Bitcoin’s ledger glowed, his voice a low thunder, “It’s going to be along haul. We need precision, not a blind run.”
Bonk barked, his tail rigid, “Can’t sit—she’s out there!”
WIF’s quiet voice sliced through, “We won’t. Begin prepping while they nail down a plan. Doge’s nose is our edge.”
Solana’s network flared, “Polygon, Cosmos, Glyph please dig deeper. Avalanche scan the plains and wider sweep. Near gather talk to others in the market place and see what you can find out. We’ll begin our chase soon.”
The intelligence team dug in, their work a relentless grind. Polygon sifted transit logs, isolating the pod’s cloaked signature. It was a jagged ripple in the undercurrents, southwest-bound, fading past the plains’ edge. Cosmos mapped the route—open plains to contested zones, skirting MemeVerse’s chaotic sprawl, threading through hostile streams toward CryptoKitties City’s distant lights. Glyph traced energy residues, confirming the pod’s burn which was a thin, high-speed thread stretching days into Pepe’s territory.
Avalanche’s scouts returned, their data stark, “The trail holds towards southwest, past plains, into contested streams. It’s fading fast, Pepe is cloaking it.”
Near’s agents filtered back, their voices hushed, “There’s whispers in the marketplace of an old token, Rust, with Claire. It was a quick grab because no one saw the pod.”
Solana stood over the bay’s scorch marks, her voice cold, “We’ve confirmed that the destination is CryptoKitties City. It’s days out, through Pepe’s wild domain.”
Doge’s growl was a raw edge, “Though her sent is nearly gone, I can still track her.”
Bitcoin’s golden form loomed, “They have the lead on us but we mustn’t be hasty.”
Chillguy’s illusions steadied, his tone hard, “We’ll hit ’em smart—sneaky, brutal.”
