The moment Deadpool hit the 'Enter' key, the Cyberpunk neon didn't just fade into Gintama's low-budget Edo style—it completely crashed the system.
The mall began rapidly cycling through every anime art style in existence. One second, everyone had thick, dramatic JoJo shadows; the next, they had giant, sparkly 1990s Sailor Moon eyes; then they were entirely made of Attack on Titan crosshatching.
"MAKE IT STOP!" Vegeta screamed, currently rendered as a very poorly drawn stick figure with a widow's peak. "MY PRIDE CANNOT BE CONDENSED INTO THREE LINES OF INK!"
"My eyes are too big for my skull!" Goku yelled, his pupils taking up 90% of his face in a hyper-shoujo filter. "I can see the curvature of the earth!"
The Odd Jobs Intervention
A man with naturally wavy silver hair walked calmly through the chaotic, strobing food court, picking his nose. He was wearing a white yukata with a blue wave pattern, completely unaffected by the visual noise.
"Oi, oi," Gintoki Sakata sighed, flicking a booger into the void. "What kind of amateur production is this? You think you can just cycle through art styles without paying the animators overtime? Do you know how much a single frame of Demon Slayer water costs? It costs my entire rent for a year."
"Gintoki!" Deadpool cheered, currently trapped in a minimalist, black-and-white manga panel. "Help us! Soum said to end the Graphic Arc, but the 'Reality Router' is jammed! We're stuck on shuffle!"
Gintoki pulled out his wooden sword, Lake Toya. "Look, red guy, I don't work for free. If I fix this, I want a lifetime supply of strawberry milk and a prominent spot on the Chapter 21 cover."
"Deal!" Deadpool agreed instantly. "Charge it to Bruce Wayne's credit card! Wait, he's not here anymore... charge it to Gilgamesh!"
The Router Boss Fight
"Where is the router?" Saitama asked, his face cycling from a detailed masterpiece to an egg with dots for eyes.
"Up there!" Denji pointed a chainsaw.
Floating above the Auntie Anne's Pretzels was a massive, glowing, glitching box labeled: [MASTER RENDER ENGINE - DO NOT PUNCH].
"Who puts a 'Do Not Punch' sign in front of a guy named One Punch Man?" Deadpool asked the camera. "That's just bad level design, Soum."
"Leave this to a professional," Gintoki smirked. He leaped into the air, swinging his wooden sword with all his lazy might.
CLACK.
The wooden sword bounced off the router. The router beeped angrily and changed the art style to "Crayon Drawing."
"Oops," Gintoki deadpanned, falling back to the floor. "Turns out my sword is literally just wood. Who knew?"
The IT Guy Arrives
Saitama sighed. He walked over to the Auntie Anne's counter, stepped on a cash register, and jumped.
He floated up to the glowing, glitching box.
"Excuse me," Saitama said to the box. "Can you stop flashing? It's giving me a headache, and I can't read the labels on the discount meat."
The box beeped aggressively.
"Normal Series..." Saitama raised his hand. " ...Tech Support Slap."
Saitama slapped the side of the Reality Router exactly the way a dad slaps an old CRT television when the static gets too loud.
SMACK.
The Default Settings
A massive shockwave of pure, unadulterated "Default Settings" exploded outward. The strobe lights died. The crayons vanished. The neon dissolved.
Slowly, the dust settled.
The Nexus Mall was back. Crisp, clean, standard 2D anime animation. The lighting was normal. The gravity was functioning. The floor was solid tile, and the escalators were working perfectly.
"Oh, sweet, sweet standard definition," Deadpool groaned, kissing the clean, linoleum floor. "I have my shading back! My pouches look three-dimensional again! Thank you, Soum! The Graphic Arc is dead! Long live the base reality!"
Saitama landed on his feet. He looked at his hands. They were normal. He looked at his cabbage. It was still just a cabbage.
"Finally," Saitama muttered. "Now, where is the supermarket?"
"Saitama-san!" Genos jogged over, his cyborg body gleaming in perfectly standard lighting. "I have located the grocery section! However, it has been commandeered by a turf war between the Phantom Troupe (Hunter x Hunter) and the Akatsuki (Naruto)."
Saitama's blank face hardened into actual focus. "They are blocking the bargain bin?"
"Yes, Master."
"Let's go."