_{TL;DR: This is a mixture between a tribute/spin-off puzzle and an attempt at a new puzzle type, greatly inspired by the notorious arcade game, Q*bert, published originally by Gottlieb Amusement Games. However, there are modifications to the original game's rules (which are listed below in a story-like format) to attempt to simplify and establish certain logical/predictable behaviors. The formal puzzle will be attached to the end of this question.}

I couldn't wait two more years for a nicer number, so let's go ahead and celebrate the 38th anniversary of one of my favorite cabinet games of all time!

In fact, I set the current table record at my local arcade for shortest game on a particular level: 42 seconds!² Try and beat that!

What's it called? Well... uh... I can't really pronounce it... too many special characters, I'm afraid.... Let's just call it Qubes.

WHAT!? You never heard of it?... Hmm... Well, let me introduce you.

MAIN CAST

You control our strange, epicene hero... oh, what's his¹ name?... Oh, dear, I forgot... Was it... Hubert? Er– fine, yes, it's settled. His name's Hubert.

Hubert's goal in life is to maneuver around his pyramid and light up each cube along the way (I never knew why; perhaps he's just scared of the dark?). He can hop diagonally up-and-down the pyramid to get from the top of each cube. But be warned! He can also hop off the pyramid and fall to his demise amongst the dark abyss below—sometimes even unintentionally—so look before you leap.

Beyond our hero, there are some quirky villains in this adventure you need to watch out for, each with their own habits, namely:

• The Blobs: these pinkish orbs are rather complex, but to be succinct they are gravitationally-inclined, left-handed, exhaustive, short-tempered but unintentionally suicidal. What, you didn't get all that? Ugh... fine, I'll explain.
  • gravitationally-inclined: Laws of physics, be dam– oh, wait, nevermind. These balls of goop bound down the pyramid, and never go back up.
  • left-handed: Strange, little orbs, aren't they? If given the choice, they'll prefer bounding to the left instead of bounding to the right.
  • exhaustive: Boy, they're hard-workers! They'd prefer to choose a unique path off the pyramid every time, and will try every path they can before they repeat the pattern.
  • short-tempered: No beating around the bush here! The path they'll use is the shortest path they haven't tried yet to shuffle off their mortal coil before trying again in their next incarnation.
  • but unintentionally suicidal: Gee, and I thought I had problems. Blobs cannot jump off the pyramid as soon as they are spawned, so they must land on at least two cubes (their spawn point plus some other cube), and can only jump off in the same direction as their last move. That doesn't mean that they won't jump, just that a Blob can't jump at first notice or upon creation.
• Twisty: This teal-colored charmer is a relentless pest. Twisty starts out as an Egg when he spawns, which kinda acts like a Blob at first glance. He falls down the pyramid in a similar fashion, but his behavior changes when he gets to the bottom of the pyramid.
  • After incubating for a mere second, the Egg not only becomes... an adult Twisty... he starts to hunt down Hubert right after birth! Now, unlike the Blobs, Twisty can climb up or down the pyramid, and are right-handed (although, if he can catch Hubert by going left, he'll gladly do so). Twisty is smart enough not to jump off the pyramid, so there's only one way to defeat these baddies—I'll leave that explanation to the detailed rules.

These guys will knock out poor, ol' Hubert upon contact, so be careful.

STAGE RULES

Now that you know the protagonist and antagonists, it's time to set up some ground rules.

• Rather than keep score, we'll be using time as our barometer. Each second, you're allowed to move either up or down the pyramid. But be warned, with every second your adversaries get to move as well!
  • Mind you, you're allowed to move; you could wait a second or two if it helps avoid a bonk on the head, but Hubert's "friends" won't be waiting for you.
• As you might already know, each stage requires you to light up all the cubes in sequence; that is the ONLY way you can win.
• In line with established video game standards, you have three lives. On your third death, it's game over, so you better have plenty of quarters on hand... What? You only have one? Oh... well, better make it count!
  • How do you lose a life? Well, we already covered falling off the board, but if an enemy bonks you on the head it also counts as a lost life. Rather fragile, ain't he? However, different things happen depending on how Hubert dies.
  • There are penalties for each type of death. For starters, each death adds 3 seconds to your final time. But there are two different results depends on the method of murder: (1) if Hubert falls off the pyramid, he starts back on the top of the pyramid, or (2) if he gets bonked, Hubert starts back at the place he was bonked.
  • No matter how Hubert dies, the enemies on the board reset—almost as if Hubert starts from wherever he respawns.
• Pink and teal spawn points denote where the Blobs and Twisty start from, respectfully, along with the time they start spawning. Only one creature can be created from a single spawn point at a single time (though, with multiple spawn points, multiple creatures can exist on the board). Once the first spawn has "died," another spawn is created at the spawn point one second later.
• You might notice these strange, green discs around the pyramid; these flying discs allow Hubert to escape Twisty's pursuit... well, provided he's close enough to Hubert (more on that later). However, they are very slow moving—in fact, it takes three seconds to travel on these things (yes, the same amount of time you are penalized for each of Hubert's deaths). But there is a bonus for using them.
  • You see, Twisty's a bit nearsighted. If Hubert jumps on one of these discs and Twisty is three seconds or less from getting Hubert, Twisty will fall off the board. Anything more, and Twisty will catch himself in time to turn around. These are your only defense against Twisty; but not only do you beat Twisty, you force him to wait his initial spawn rate until he reappears!
  • While it seems like a waste of time, if you use all the discs on the stage, you'll actually regain those lost seconds at the end. Meaning, each of those idle 3 seconds (per each disc) will be subtracted from the total time.
  • Those discs can only be used once. Once they're all gone, you'd better get creative!
  • Not only that, there's only one way to jump onto these do-hickeys. You can only jump onto a disc from a cube that is edge-level with the disc.

Additionally, there are some other rules to this stage:

• We'll be using the intermediate rules for this stage: that is, cubes toggle on or off every time Hubert lands on them, instead of remaining on once he reaches them.
  • If Hubert dies by falling off the pyramid, he does not turn on/off the top cube, but if he uses the floating disc, then yes, he does switch the cube on or off.
• Those Blobs and Eggs don't care if you use the discs; they'll keep bounding away as if Hubert never did anything.

THE PYRAMID

Now, for what you've all been waiting for: the actual pyramid you'll be playing on! Hubert will start from the spawn point indicated by the yellow marker labeled "H". As mentioned, the pink and teal markers indicate the spawn points for both the Blobs and Twisty's Egg with the times they start emitting. The lines emanating from these markers indicate the initial path either will take on their way down. The green markers indicate where the discs are located, along with the path to the top of the pyramid (as a reminder of where Hubert will land after using them).

Can you beat my best time of 42 seconds?²

...and here is a color-labeled view from above:

"T" denotes Twisty's spawn point, "R" denotes the Blobs' spawn point, "G" denotes the flying discs, and "H" denotes Hubert's starting position. Lines emanating from each marker either denote the initial path the creature takes or, in the case of the flying discs, the direction Hubert must land on to activate the discs.

A valid solution to this puzzle is either of two cases: (1) Beating my shortest time around the pyramid, or (2) Admitting defeat at the hands of your bona-fide Qubes champion! To deter spamming, you also have to prove that this is the shortest time possible. Note that there might be multiple ways to achieve a shortest time, but you need only show one desired path that will yield such a time. The first person to post a shortest time (without any challengers) will be anointed with the ever-emerald checkmark.

¹_{Technically, I never found out its proper gender; the first time I asked, it started cursing at me, so I figured it best not to ask again.}
²_{DISCLAIMER: I had made a critical typo in my attempted solution and miscounted the total time I originally posted. Hopefully now the challenge time is more realistic.}