Nightmare Mode

Nightmare Mode is the 9th episode of Meta Runner Season 2 and the 19th overall. It aired 12/11/2020.

Summary
Tari and Theo finally reunite and together trek through a harrowing nightmare.

Characters

 * Tari
 * Sofia Porter
 * Theo
 * Lamar Williams
 * Masa Shimamoto
 * Belle Fontiere
 * Derek Lucks
 * Evelyn Claythorne
 * TAScorp. Workers
 * Ultra Jump Mania Monsters

Plot
After the intro, Lucks is on phone trying to search for Tari, Sofia, and Lamar. Shortly after, Sofia starts calling him. Lucks accepts and asks if she called to turn themselves in. Sofia laughs and says she's calling to threaten Lucks. She explains MD-5 can ruin him anytime releasing the data, and while she's talking, an agent starts locating Sofia's coordinates, and Lucks threatens Sofia back saying if they release the data, Masa and Belle will never be seen again. Sofia then tells them they learned a lot, and it's time they taught him something. Lucks then tells if Sofia seems so eager, they'll talk. Sofia is still talking, but Lucks hung up, and the hostage van appears following Sofia. Sofia tries to run, but the van stops in her front, releasing the agents, which surround Sofia while Lucks comes out. Lucks said he just preferred to talk face to face, and orders another agent to find Tari and Lamar. One of the agents that surrounded Sofia takes the cartridge, and Lucks orders a scientist to scan the cartridge and wipe the data. Lucks and Sofia stare at each other angrily for a brief moment, Sofia's frown then turns into a smirk while Lucks shakes his head in disappointment. Suddenly, the scan shows there's no server data in the cartridge, meaning it was the original show match cartridge. Lucks then notices it's a normal cartridge, and the 2 agents also come back, without Tari and Lamar. Sofia says she told him they learned a lot, and Lucks finally understands it was a distraction. Rushing to scan the server, he finds an anomaly and notices it's Tari saving Theo. Lucks calls back to TASCorp, and when the 2 scientists accept, he tells Tari is infiltrated and is trying to save Theo, ordering them to release the programs. Sofia says just that won't stop her, and to do it he would need a total server reboot, also telling perhaps only Lucks has the permission to do a reboot. Lucks orders 2 agents to put Sofia together with Masa and Belle and take them back to TASCorp. Sofia gets into the van, and says hello to Belle and Masa, saying it's good to see them again. Belle answers back she's glad Sofia could join them and asks how the plan is going. Sofia says it's all going alright, and when Tari beats the game, they can release the data and ruin Lucks. Masa asks about the part they're still hostages, and Sofia, visibly worried about that part, just says Tari knows what she's doing. Cutting to Lamar, he wishes good luck for Tari.

Tari seems to be falling from an absolutely high height to the lava stage, while Theo is fighting some monsters. Tari lands a 5-jump combo on the enemies, and Theo is overjoyed to see Tari. Tari explains to Theo that she came to get him out of there, while Theo claims that Tari plays cool now (indicating Tascorp improved her skills). A swarm of quarantine drones arrive, much to Theo's groans seeing their return. Tari kicks a rock at one of the drones, smashing it into a nearby cube. Meanwhile, a certain Tascorp Scientist is playing Pocket Gakusei, when the game file glitches and Loses data (due to what is going on in Ultra Jump Mania), causing the Scientist to cry. Back to Ultra Jump Mania, Theo lands a trickshot ricocheting his coconut against a tree and 5 quarantine drones. Tari grabs the coconut and turns it into the Crab King (while making an OG Pokemon Reference), which scares the rest of the drones away. When Theo shortly gets his coconut back, he and Tari relax and talk for a bit before deciding they should clear the level before Lucks resets the server.

Lucks gets mad that the termination program failed and Sofia mockingly tells him so and gets zapped by a scientist (Worth It - Sofia). 2 scientists attempt to fix the door Evelyn is trapped in. Lucks calls Evelyn and she is glad to see so. She asks Lucks for another snow match but Lucks could not do so, but he proposed a rematch. The 2 scientist interrupt and Evelyn chased them out. Evelyn gladly agrees.

With Tari and Theo, they what a few enemies but while they reach the flag, Evelyn emerges out of the lava. Tari and Theo attempt to cross the flag, but she takes it and places it on her back. She easily beats the two till they reach 1 life. Tari thinks of a plan and tells Theo to run away. Tari grabs the medal and turns it into the pineapple hammer. Tari and Evelyn then face off in a fair match while saying, "Final round, Let's go!"

Trivia

 * Again, the episode's name is based on a game term. Nightmare Mode is usually the name given to the hardest mode of a game. A good example is the Five Nights at Freddy's series, which in the 4th game has a nightmare mode (AKA Night 7).
 * In the thumbnail, a tiny part of the Pineapple Hammer's Season 2 design can be seen.
 * The intro has been updated to feature Tari with her new hoodie she got in the previous episode.
 * This is the fifth episode to update the intro, the first four being Bad Split, which added Theo, Aimbot, which added Lamar, Sofia, and Masa, Hack and Slash, which added Belle, and Friendly Fire, which added Masa's new Meta Runner arm.
 * When Tari and Theo glitch while running, they briefly are shown with their Season 1 models.
 * When Evelyn's "Glitchemoth" Emerges, she says "Warning: Challenger Approaching". Referencing the Super Smash Bros. series.
 * At 6:47, Theo says C-C-Combo Kill, Referencing Killer Instinct.
 * When Tari summons a giant crab, she says, "I choose you!". Referencing a popular quote from the Pokémon series.
 * The spinning move that Theo uses on Evelyn resembles the Spin Dash from the Sonic the Hedgehog series.