Virus
Part 1
By Alex Perez
Prologue
Darkness. That was all Megabyte could see and feel, as if the lack of light was tangible. Then, everything turned to chaos. Vast space appeared, surrounding him. Megabyte grimaced as his stomach started to collapse. Pain lanced across his abdomen, as he struggled to keep processing. The cut on his body made him vulnerable to whatever force that surrounded him. Then, as quickly as it appeared, there was nothing again. He could not even see his own hands. Suddenly, a loud monotone voice thundered out of nowhere.
"You are virus"
Megabyte did not respond, but looked all over for the source of the voice. He could find none. It came from all directions.
"You are 174M001A...."
The voice continued spewing out seemingly random numerals and letters, until
Megabyte realized in horror what they...it was referring to.
"My code!" he whispered to himself.
Silence. Without warning, the voice stated a simple request.
"Confirm"
"I am Megabyte."
More silence.
"You are required"
"For what?"
"Access to system 394H02-"
"Mainframe?"
The voice paused, as if considering. Megabyte rubbed his ankle, pain shooting up his thigh. Broken.
"Correct" it stated, startling him.
"When chance arises, enter system, locate Guardian 452-"
"Bob!"
"-transfer virus from symbiote to Guardian"
"And if I refuse?" he replied, bold as ever.
"Deletion"
Chapter 1
Mainframe's Stroling Players took one last bow before the curtain dropped.
Almost every resident attended the performance of "The Battle for Mainframe."
Even old binome Pearson decided to watch the glorified musical. Thousands of
hov-cars lit the sky as the population of Mainframe went home. The symphony
hall was empty save for two binome janitors and one sprite. Phong and young Enzo
decided to walk to the Principal office, while Mouse and Ray sped off on his board.
AndrAia and Dot waited outside as Matrix went back in to see what was holding
up Bob. The lone Guardian sat, eyes closed, his feet settled on the seat in front of
him. Matrix walked through the rows of seats until he reached Bob.
"Hey, Bob," he said, moving Bob's shoulder. "You awake?"
Bob slowly opened his eyes. Taking his feet down, he turned to Matrix.
"Yeah. I was just thinking. I'm glad to be home. Its really too bad though."
Matrix sat down. "About what?"
"We're home, Megabyte is gone, Hex is no longer a virus or a threat, and
the system is completely fixed."
"So, what's the problem?"
"Daemon. It's a problem that will have to be dealt with. And soon. If what
you told me is accurate, Turbo might not have a lot of time left. And if the
virus prove's to be too much for him, that will just make everything a whole lot har-"
Bob broke off his sentence, interrupted by a fit of coughing.
"Hey, are you OK?" queried Matrix. Bob stopped coughing, wiped
his mouth, and stood up.
"I'm fine. For now, let's just go to the P.O. and talk to Phong. Maybe he can help us
contact Turbo discretely."
Suddenly, the ground shook, as an explosion sounded out from afar.
Matrix jumped up, his hand hovering over Gun.
"Uh oh," said Bob. "That came from Lost Angles."
Matrix frowned. "Hexadecimal."
**********
Hack shifted to the right, nearly bumping into Slash as one of Hex's masks
flew past him. Laughing uncontrollably, she continued to reach into her storage
vid-window and throw things over her shoulder. Hundreds of masks, explosives,
various equipment and assorted junk flew at Hack and Slash. They didn't have
the common sense to stand to the side. Hex turned around, holding two of her masks:
a happy face and a sad face. She threw them at Hack and Slash. The masks stuck to their
faces. They turned to each other and began rambling.
"Oh, Hack, that really is you."
"Slash, that accents your strong cheekbones."
"These are kind of scary."
Hex smiled and turned back to her vid-window.
"Ah, so much to get rid of." She pulled out one of the copies of the Medusa bug.
"You caused lots of problems. No more." She whispered. The small container
imprisoning the dangerous system virus spun in the air, then disintegrated.
"Ah, spring cleaning! How fun!" she said, feeling happy for the first time in
a while. Reaching into the window, she pulled out something else. Her psychotic
mask. Frowning, a strong sense of sadness washed over her.
"You. You have caused to much trouble. Never again. In fact, none of this
will ever cause any more problems!"
Hack and Slash turned around nervously. "Um, Miss Hexadecimal, are you OK?"
Hack got in front of Slash. "Do you need a hug Ma'am?"
Hex smiled sadly. "Thank you for offering, but now I need a moment alone."
"But....Um, you teleported us in here."
"Yes there is no way for us to leave without you."
"It would be a shame if you got left here alone."
"Yes, it really would."
Hex would have laughed, but now was not the time.
"Don't worry about that. She waved her hand and they disappeared, the masks clattering on the floor. Junk surrounded her, cluttering up what used to be her domain. She hovered in the air, viewing all that surrounded her. She levitated an odd piece of junk from the ground.
"You, I have another use for."
She began spinning in the air, and energy began to radiate around her.
"All this shall trouble no one ever AGAIN!"
*******
Hack and Slash appeared on the bridge between Lost Angles and Mainframe.
"Oh boy, she teleported us!"
"I guess she did not want a hug."
"Oh well."
They turned around and started towards the Principal Office when....
*******
Phong and Enzo stood on the walkway to the Principal Office, watching as the citizens
of Mainframe went on with their daily business.
"So, you're telling me that that big green ugly guy is me?"
"It.....is a confusing concept, my son. But an explanation will be devised.
For now, you can live your normal life. We still have your zip board in stora-"
Phong was cut off by an explosion from afar.
"Phong, look!"
A series of giant explosions riddled the center of Lost Angles, where Hexadecimal's
domain was. Smoke plumed all around it, and even from where they stood, they could see debris flying all over the place.
"Spring cleaning. Messy, but necessary. Wouldn't you say so, Phong?"
"I don't know, Hexadecimal. I wonder what she was thinking when she did that."
"Umm, Phong?" said Enzo, tapping his shoulder. Phong turned around to see Hex standing in front of him. Phong yelled out and fell over, startled. Sitting up and straightening himself, he looked at Hex, then at the burning center of Lost Angles,
then back at Hex. Setting his spectacles straight on his head, he addressed the former
virus.
"Good afternoon Hexadecimal. How goes the clean up?"
Chapter 2
"WHAT?"
An indignant voice echoed throughout the Principal Office. A binome, one of the programmer's, shuffled his feet nervously in front of Phong.
"Well, um, sir, when the system rebooted, all the shield controls, tracking systems,
communications console's, and all other computer functions reverted from Mouse's
altered preferences back to their default settings."
"WHAT?"
Another voice rang out, startling everybody, even Phong. Mouse stood at the entryway,
hands on her hips. The binome tried to inconspicuously hide himself behind Phong,
for facing an irritated Phong was bad enough, but when Mouse was angry....
Phong turned back to the binome.
"What difference does that make?"
"Well, we got so used to working with Mouse's algorythem's, that we kind of forgot how
to work by our original settings."
Phong looked around the room. Everyone nodded in agreement to their colleague's statement. Sighing, he turned to Mouse and adjusted his glasses. Rolling her eyes,
she walked to an adjacent console and started making changes.
"You know, this is really isn't their fault, sugah." She pointed out to Phong.
"I know, and I'm sorry. I'm not used to such silence. It used to be that a virus would
be attacking a sector, or something else to occupy the ti-"
"WARNING, INCOMING GAME"
"WARNING, INCOMING GAME"
Almost immediately a vid-window popped up in front of Phong. Dot's face centered in the picture with the archives in the backround.
"Phong, where is the cube landing?"
"Mouse?"
Mouse worked feverishly at the console, typing faster than any binome was able.
"Ahm sorry, sugah, but it's too soon. I can only isolate the general area. It's landing between sectors five and eight." Mouse wiped her brow. "It's up to the boys now."
********
The shine of Gun was bright enough to momentarily blind someone.
"Not good enough," muttered Matrix. Suddenly a quick knock sounded at the door to his room, his door opened, and Enzo ran in.
"ME!" he yelled and sprinted at Matrix.
Matrix stood up. "Didn't I lock that door?" he said as Enzo collided with his chest and fell to the floor.
"Hey, Matrix, cool gun. Can I try it?" he said, picking it up and swinging it directly at Matrix.
"Hey, wait, that has a hair trigge-"
Several shots exploded from the gun, narrowly missing Matrix. He dove behind the couch he was sitting on to avoid getting shot. The gun finally stopped shooting,
leaving a gaping hole in the wall.
"Gun, return!" He yelled. The gun tore itself from Enzo's shaky grip and flew straight at Matrix's hip. The gun barreled through the back of the couch, knocking it onto Matrix.
The gun was pressing the couch down onto Matrix, until he wheezed: "Gun, stop."
Gun powered down, and Matrix kicked the couch off himself. Enzo winced as
Matrix picked him up by the collar.
"THIS IS NOT A TOY!" yelled Matrix, waving the butt of the gun in Enzo's face.
"OK, jeez. Don't let it pause your processors. You're not hurt." He replied, smirking.
Matrix shook his head in disbelief, as Enzo worked his way loose.
"I can't believe I was like this as a kid. How could Bob sta-"
"WARNING, INCOMING GAME"
"WARNING, INCOMING GAME"
"Oh no! I have to find Bob!"
Suddenly a portal opened, and Bob flew through.
"Matrix, we have to reach the game! C'mon." Bob levetated Matrix and threw him into the portal. Enzo grabbed Bob's foot.
"Bob, can I come with you?"
Bob shook his head. "Sorry, Enzo. Maybe next time. Talk to Dot about it."
He pulled his foot loose and went through the portal. The portal collapsed and
Enzo was left alone. Sighing, he kicked a piece of the destroyed wall.
"Wait a nano..." Enzo spun around. The gun had created a sizable hole in the wall,
exposing the dark purple skies, the result of a game. Enzo pulled his zip board out, extended it, and flew out the hole. The game was far away, but...Enzo sped away at top speed towards the game.
*********
"Is everyone OK?" Yelled Ray Tracer as he ran into Matrix's quarters. "I heard gunshots and...I'm talking to myself."
The room was empty. He stared for a nano at the gaping hole in the wall, and Enzo, who was looking at something. Then then the young sprite flew off.
The game. The boy.
"Oh no!" Ray jumped on his board and flew out the hole. Scanning the skies,
he quickly spotted Enzo, and started after him. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw
Matrix and the Guardian flying towards the game. Even from there, he could see that he could not make it to the game in time. And neither would Enzo. Ray sped up. Matrix and the Guardian made it safely under the cube, but it was closing fast. Ray closed in on
Enzo, and grabbed the collar of his shirt. Enzo's zip-board continued, and broke apart as it hit the cube. He was safe. Enzo struggled and yelled indignantly,
"I could have made it!"
Chapter 3
The game cube landed just as Bob and Matrix made it in. Matrix opened his eye's and
sat up. Bob was standing, surveying their surroundings. Matrix stood up and looked around. This was a strange game. The ground was brick, the sky was blue, and there were clouds with...smiley faces?
"Glitch, stats." Bob waited for a moment, then laughed softly.
"Force of habit. OK, the game is called...Super Lethargio Brothers. The objective for the user is to find the princess Loadstool. She is in the castle that's over there in the distance. We need to stop him. He has three lives. Hmm. Let's reboot."
They both reached to their icons and double-clicked them.
"Reboot!"
Matrix rebooted as a three or four feet tall green turtle. Bob rebooted into a six-foot tall green lizard.
"You have got to be kidding me." Matrix muttered.
Bob looked himself over. "There's no information on our abilities, so we will have to figure them out for ourseUUUUUURRRRP."
Bob belched out a large fireball at Matrix. He quickly ducked as the fireball flew over him, scorching some nearby greenery. Matrix glared at Bob.
"Oops, fire breath for me." He said, grinning sheepishly.
Off in the distance they could see a small man with a mustache and red suspenders
running towards the castle.
"We've got to stop him!" Yelled Matrix.
Bob picked up Matrix by his shell. "Uh Bob, I don't know what you are planning
on doing, but could you let me in on i-"
Bob heaved Matrix towards a large green pipe sticking out of the ground. Matrix could
see Bob running after him. Then, Matrix collided with the User as he was jumping over the pipe. They both stopped in midair and fell inside the pipe. By the time Bob ran up,
he was wheezing and panting.
"To...big for the....pipe." Bob lapsed into a fit of coughing. After a nano, he stopped and
started running towards the castle.
*********
Matrix and the User fell about fifteen feet out the bottom of the pipe into a rocky cavern.
As soon as he regained his breath, he attacked the User. The fight didn't last long, for even though the User was short, Matrix was shorter. Matrix launched himself at the User, but the User pulled out a plunger and caught Matrix in midair. The User grinned evilly and slammed him to the ground. The User immediately began stomping Matrix, and Matrix found after being stomped, he couldn't emerge from his shell. The User stopped the brutality and tossed Matrix at the wall. As Matrix soared through the air, the User turned around to survey the cavern. There was a large lava pit with four pipes in the middle. As he prepared to jump, Matrix ricocheted off the wall and hit the User in the back. After hitting him, Matrix slowed down and came out of his shell. He watched as the User flew through the air and over two of the pipes. While going over the third one, a large vine with a large mouth on the end jumped up and clomped its teeth on the User.
"Ow." muttered Matrix as he rubbed his shell.
The screams of the User finally died out, and the plant retracted back into the pipe. A small transparent mushroom floated out of the pipe.
"One down, two to go. Your move, Bob.
*********
After Bob made it to the castle, he was about ready to collapse. Through a window, he saw a mushroom floating in the sky, and the User running towards the castle.
"My turn." He muttered.
The User entered the castle slowly and carefully, avoiding three traps the game had set.
One nano later, the User was in visual distance of the key that ended the game. Running towards it, he got sloppy and didn't notice some scorch marks on the wall. As he passed
them, Bob jumped out and engulfed the User in flames. Screaming, he ran around untill
finally falling over. Another mushroom rose in the air. Bob slumped over, trying to catch his breath. Matrix ran into the hallway leading to the key. Bob lay on the ground, breathing shallowly.
"Bob, are you OK?"
Bob opened his eyes and barely got out "The.....User.....the key!"
Matrix looked over to see the User, on his last life, running towards the key.
"NO!" Matrix ran after the User, but he could see he would not make it in time. They were going to lose the game. The User ran onto a bridge, which lead to the key. Looking back to see Matrix, waddling after him, the User slowed to a walking pace. The key was in front of him. The User reached for it.
"Say, me boy, did ye expect to win?"
The User looked behind him up towards the floating platform to see a small brownish
lizard with a helmet on, brandishing two large hammers.
"Mr. Christopher, now!"
A small brown mushroom like creature with stumpy legs came from behind and nudged the User forward. The lizard brought the hammers down, swinging them in an ark.
They connected and smashed the User's head flat. The User twitched a couple of times,
then faded away. Everyone sighed with relief, except for Matrix.
"GAME OVER"
"GAME OVER"
The game cube lifted, and revealed that Captain Capacitor and Mr. Christopher were in
the game as well. Matrix kneeled by Bob's side. Bob was unconscious.
Matrix looked at Gavin frantically.
"Capacitor, get a medic. Something's wrong with Bob!"
Chapter 4
"I am afraid that I cannot find what is wrong with Bob. His illness is completely new to me. I am worried that the situation may be hopeless," said Phong.
Dot and Matrix stood by Bob, who was lying on a medical table. Dot buried her
face in Matrix's chest. The door opened slowly and Ray inched his way in.
Without turning around, Matrix said: "Now's not the time, surfer."
Ray walked up to Bob.
"He saved AndrAIa. I owe him for that. Besides, he lived in the web for quite some time.
I might know what's wrong with him. Phong, what are his symptoms?"
Phong handed him a small diagnostics sheet. Ray looked over it for a nano, then
stared at Bob.
"Unknown reasons for energy depletion, it almost sounds like.... oh no."
Phong rolled up to him. "What is it?"
Ray shook his head. "Any living thing that stays in the web for over a minute, contracts a virus. I call it the Leech. It enters your system, and does insignificant damage.
That's not the problem. The virus feeds off the energy that Bob's system is devoting to fighting it. Bob may have a second or an hour to live. Its hard to tell. His body does the fighting in waves, so his periods of conscious and unconscious may phase in and out."
Matrix grabbed his shoulder. "What about the web creatures? What about you?"
"The body armor Bob was wearing, the same as the Web Riders, bonds with your system, counteracting the virus, and stays there, keeping it dormant. It would have stayed like that for the rest of Bob's life. Something destroyed the enzime that was keeping the virus dormant."
Dot wiped her eyes. "Could a chemical reaction from prolonged exposure to the core
have done it?"
Ray nodded. "What ever energy radiated from inside the core, it did the trick. I am
immune as are the web riders, and the web creatures, for that matter.
Those energies are nonexistent in the web."
Matrix pulled away from Dot and hit the wall, leaving a large dent.
"What about Hex?"
Matrix ran out of the room. Everybody, including Capacitor and Hex were in the waiting room.
"Hex, come in here, quick!"
She looked up at Matrix, a look of pure sorrow and devastation on her face. She disappeared. Matrix stared at the empty seat for a nano, then turned around.
Hex was at Bob's side. He walked back in. Ray had finished explaining to her what was wrong with Bob. She shook her head slowly.
"I am truly sorry. This is beyond even my powers."
Matrix grabbed her by the arm. "C'mon, there has to be something you can do! Your powers are infinite! Your powers are destructive and healing! Your powers a-"
Hex grabbed Matrix's neck and threw him against the wall. He opened his eyes to see
her face inches from his. She looked enraged.
"My powers are enough to destroy you!"
Her face faded back to sorrow. "But.... even my powers are not enough to save Bob.
Let us come to an understanding, young sprite. I am, if not more, just as overcome with
grief about this as you, as anybody is."
Matrix was struck with guilt. "I, I'm sorry."
"As am I."
She let him go, and he fell two feet to the floor.
"Don't.....fight." whispered Bob. Everyone rushed to his side. Bob was moving slightly,
and Dot hugged him tightly.
"I thought you'd left me again." She whispered, tears rolling down her face.
"Never again." He whispered back, putting an arm around her.
"It's the wave. The effects are fading away. He should be fine, for now. But the effects are cumulative. Eventually, he won't even be able to move."
Phong shook his head. "Then, we need to work fast. Aside from deletion, nothing is irreversible."
*********
Enzo watched in amazement as Matrix punched through his third punching block.
He was about to walk in and talk to him, but AndrAIa came up behind him and told
him Matrix needed some time to himself. They walked off together, Enzo promising
to take her and show her some zip-board moves. Matrix still couldn't think of anything to do to help Bob, and it made him almost insanly furious. Compressed spongy stuffing exploded from another punching block. Matrix spun around, looking for something else to hit. He settled on the wall. Captain Capacitor walked through the halls, pondering to himself what that constant banging was. He walked past the training room, and discovered what the ruckus was. Matrix was riddling the wall with dents.
"I do feel for the sorry lad who looks at ye wrong, lad."
Matrix stopped his pounding and turned to Capacitor.
"What do you want?" he muttered, sitting down on the floor.
"I came to talk, me boy. What is troubling you to the point of meaningless vandalism?"
"It's Bob."
Capacitor sat down across from him and removed his hat. "I've never met a more noble sprite than that Guardian. I doubt this system would recover if Bob was gone."
"I can't lose Bob. Dot, she......she would go crazy. I would go crazy. I can't, I won't let it happen."
Capacitor reached over and patted his shoulder. "I doubted you would, young lad. Cheer up, Bob should be almost fully recovered by now. Go see him. I'll join you. And don't worry. We still have time to find a cure."
Matrix smiled faintly, then stood up.
"That's the spirit, lad."
Matrix and Gavin left the Training room and headed towards the medical area.
"Say, Gavin, where were you during the musical?"
"Ah, yes, tis a shame. The crew and I were at the docks. We were trying to find some
old parts to peice to a new ship. Be glad Mr. Christopher and I stayed came back to do buisness with Dot. That game might have been the end of ye."
*********
The medical room was empty, save Bob. Everyone had left, so he could rest. The slow beeping of his system monitor was the only noise. There was a quiet knock at the door. He pulled the cords connected to his chest off, and the beeping stopped. He got off the bed and opened the door. It was Dot.
"I just came to see if you were awake, and how you were doing."
Bob rubbed the back of his neck.
"Well, I'm feeling a lot better now."
Dot rushed up and hugged him fiercely. "Don't ever scare me like that again."
He returned the hug, and grimaced as pain lanced up his spine. She let go, looking at his face.
"Did I hurt you?"
"Its worth it." He said, smiling.
They moved closer to each other.
"You know, we don't know if this is contagious." He whispered.
"It's worth it."
*********
"And, little did Mr. Christopher know, I had a stockpile of profit hidden, in case of an emergency." Said Gavin. They rounded the corner that led to the
medical room. "Every time we made profit, I put my share into the stockpile."
Gavin peeked behind the ajar door.
"By the code, lad. Perhaps our timing was off." He whispered.
Matrix peeked in the room. Bob and Dot were in a deep embrace. He nodded and they both walked away.
Chapter 5
"It has been too long since I have played this!" yelled Phong, as he caught the oncoming game puck. Without hesitation, he faked left, then threw the floating puck across the other side of the court. Ray Tracer ignored the fake, and recovered the puck. Knocking it back and forth between his hands, he suddenly backhanded it. Phong had not expected this, and dove for it a nano too late. The puck hit the wall behind him, and the game ended. Phong righted himself and rolled over to Ray.
"You are an excellent player, my son."
Phong took the chip from Ray's forehead. "You're not so bad yourself."
"You defeated me at my favorite game, so now you may devulge any information from me."
"I...um, need some advice. I think I know how to counteract the virus that's killing Bob.
But, to do it, we would be putting the entire system in danger. Considering the past this
system has had with the web..."
"I believe you will do what you know is right, and that desicion will prevail. In the end."
Ray opened his mouth to say something, but instead nodded to Phong and left.
Phong watched him leave, and muttered to himself: "I...am glad I am not him.
* * * * * *
Everyone in Mainframe slept, save for one sprite. Ray tried to sleep, but he couldn't stop thinking. Finnaly, he got out of bed and made his way towards the medical room.
* * * * * *
The slow steady beeping of Bob's vital moniter had long since droned Dot and Matrix off
to sleep. Earlier, Bob had nearly slipped into a coma, but had recovered quickly. Now, he
too slept. Ray walked in slowly so's not to wake them. The door closed behind him, and
awoke Matrix. He jumped up, waking Dot. His hand went straight for Gun..
"Wait, Matrix. It's me!"
Matrix relaxed. "What is it?"
Ray shuffled his feet nervously. "I think I know how to counteract the virus that's killing
Bob. But-"
Dot stood up. "How? What do we need? I'll go make a list. Where's my fi-"
"Wait!" he interupted. "It's not like that. It would involve going into the web."
Without hesetation, she replied, "I, we can do it. Can't we, Matrix?"
Matrix considered it for a millisecond. "It's possible. We could do it, but only class R and
below can be stabelized into portals to the web. A protal that large would expose us to an
attack from the web creatures. What would we need to do?"
"I go into the net, get some blood samples from a web rider, come back, and transfuse it
with Bob. Problem is, this might not work. His system might accept the antibody, and the virus will be counteracted. If his system rejects it, it will destroy the enzime."
Matrix shook his head. "It would be risky, but we can try."
"No."
Everyone turned to Bob, who was trying to sit up.
"I won't let you...risk it. Not for me."
Dot rushed to his side. "Bob, this might be the only chance we have to save you. I am willing to risk this. Mainframe needs you. I need you."
Bob smiled faintly, and coughed violently. 'I...know. But I don't want the system
in...danger."
Bob coughed a few more times, then fell asleep.
Ray frowned. "He doesn't have much more time. What's it going to be, mate?"
Matrix looked at Dot. She nodded.
"Let's do it."
* * * * * *
Hundred's of CPU's hovered around the enourmous tear that floated above the Princpal
Office. The hole in the middle of the pinnacle had been covered, and Mouse had a computer set up to monitor the tear. Bob was in a medical vehicle, hovering close to the tear. Phong rolled away from it, having checked on Bob, and stopped in front of Dot.
"My child,.is that necsisary?"
For this event alone, Dot, Mouse, and AndrAIa had spent all night converting two old
ABC's and an exo-suit into a walking war mech.
"Yes Phong. What we're doing right now is incredibly dangerous. If Bob were awake right now, I doubt he would be allowing this."
"I agree. This is highly unorthadox. Ah, where is young Enzo?"
"I sent him to the energy slides with Hack and Slash. He doesn't know this is happening."
* * * * * * *
Ray was preparing for his trip into the web.
"Just in case you run into any web creature's." said Mouse, as she handed him her katana.
"Thanks. Are you ready to close that portal at the snap of a finger?"
"Don't you know it, sugah. You just make it fast. And Ray, you be careful out there."
"For you, pretty lady, anything."
* * * * * * *
Matrix looked at Mouse. She gave him the signal.
"You ready, Dot?"
He saw her nod, as the face plate lowered over her mech.
"Surfer?"
"Ready when you are, mate."
Matrix signaled the CPU's.
They all got into a ready formation.
"Ok, surfer. Everything's ready. Open the portal!"
Ray nodded, and jumped on his surf board. He double clicked his icon, and his skin and
armor changed. Flying up to the front of the tear, he began blasting it with energy. The tear collapsed, and then fromed into a large portal.
"Good luck!" yelled Matrix.
Ray backed up, and sped through the portal. Nanoseconds seemed like seconds. The tension in the air was heavy. Matrix checked his chronometer. Thirty nine nanoseconds.
Suddenly, a large object flew out of the portal, over the pinnacle, and beyond the Principal Office.
AndrAIa squinted. "Was that Ray?"
Then something else came out of the portal.
"Really, boy. Did you think you could stop me?"
It was Megabyte.
Chapter 6
Megabyte stood in front of the portal, holding Ray's board above his head. His once gleaming armor was now covered in black streaks. Grinning, he brought the board down on his knee with a sickening crack. It shattered in half, spraying small peices everywhere. Matrix stared at Megabyte for a nano, then began screamming and shooting him. Megabyte laughed as the bullets ricocheted off his chest. Dot and Phong stood there, too amazed for words.
"Ah yes, the renegade and his... toy." The sarcasm in his voice was thick. Mouse jumped
at Megabyte, her energy ring ready. Without turning, he grabbed her hand and threw her off the side of the pinnacle. AndrAIa ran after her. Dot recovered from the initial shock and aimed her weapons towards Megabyte.
"You... NO!" she screamed and fired every turret and missle towards him.
"Dot, wait!" yelled Matrix. He grabbed Phong and dove off the side of the pinnacle.
Flames singed his boots as the top of the pinnacle was engulfed in explosions.
"All CPU's attack on my command!" Dot yelled. Her launcher ran out of missles and
when the smoke cleared away, Megabyte was still standing.
"Attack!" she screamed, as she walked towards him, turrets still firing. The CPU's flew
around him, but didn't fire for fear of hitting Dot and her mech.
"Really, Miss Matrix, such anger. It isn't you." Megabyte said, smugly. He walked up to her, past the turrets, up to her faceplate. He ripped the faceplate off, exposing her face.
"Tell me, Dot. Where is my good friend Bob?" Dot stared at him, with no fear in her eyes. Bob had long since been escorted away in the medical vehicle.
"Not here? What a shame. We shall have to play without him." The greenish tinge
of the mech's armor changed to a dark blue. Grinning, Megabyte looked at the sky,
the CPU's still not firing.
"Shall we swat some flies, Miss Matrix?" he said, chuckling. Dot screamed, but was drowned out as Megabyte started firing the turrets on the CPU's. Twelve were shot
down before the turrets overheated and died out. Growling, Megabyte pushed the mech
over and began running towards the edge. The mech tipped over and fell precariously close to the edge. Megabyte got to the edge and jumped. He landed on one of the CPU's
flying overhead. He crawled to the back and started ripping the fuel tank apart. Damaging
it beyond repair, he jumped to another CPU as the previous one exploded behind him.
* * *
Matrix landed on his shoulder and broke Phong's fall in the process. Sounds of laser fire
from the top of the pinnacle were almost deafening. Matrix stood up, dumping Phong off his back.
"Dot! I have to gAAAAUUGH!"
The fall had dislocated his shoulder. He leaned against against the pinnacle wall, and slammed his shoulder against it. Phong turned away as the bone was forced back into
place. Matrix screamed through clenched teeth, and his eye glowed red.
"Enzo, look!"
Matrix stifled the pain and looked over to what Phong was pointing at. AndrAIa was
on the side of the Principal Office wall, and was lowering fast. She had her wrist blade
jammed in wall, but when he looked closer, he saw Mouse had a hold on AndrAIa's leg.
The weight of them both was dragging them down, beyond his view.
"Phong, wait here."
He grabbed Gun and started running down the side of the P.O..
"Gun, freehand target. Curve down ninety degree's on my mark." He aimed and shot a
target diagonally down the wall.
"You'd better see this. MARK!"
The target shot down. Where it landed Matrix could not see. The wall grew steep, and
Matrix started to slip.
* * *
"Hold on, Mouse!" yelled AndrAIa, as they inched lower. The outer plating of the Principal Office was strong, but her wrist blade was making short work of it.
"Don't have to tell me twice!" she yelled back. AndrAIa couldn't climb up, because the
weight of her and Mouse was too much. Suddenly, a small red crosshair landed on AndrAIa's hand.
"Matrix!" She grabbed the target with her free hand and threw it at the wall. It landed
five feet above her. A spinning object flew overhead, fired a shot, and flew back the
way it came. The shot hit the target, making a small hole in the wall.
"AndrAIa, what was that?" yelled Mouse. Before she could answer, Matrix came into view. As he passed the hole, he reached out and grabbed hold of it, stopping his descent.
Growling in pain as the hot, thin metal cut through his glove's, he yelled out to AndrAIa.
"AndrAIa, give me your trident!"
She unclipped the trident from her waist and tossed it up to him. Catching it, he extended it to it's full size and jammed it into the wall.
"Matrix, hurry! It's slipping!" Just as AndrAIa finished her sentance, the wrist blade
slipped out of the wall.
"ANDRAIA!" he screamed. He reached out for her hand, but she was out of reach.
He yanked the trident out of the wall and fell after them. She reached out to him as
they inched closer. Using his eye, he jammed the trident into the wall just as they grabbed
eachothers hands. Lifting with all of his might, he brought Mouse and AndrAIa up to the trident. The metal creaked, signifying the excess weight.
"This won't hold us much longer." Matrix said.
"It'll have to, sugah. I'm setting a beacon right now."
The wall creaked again, and the trident tilted slightly. Matrix sized up the distance, and
shook his head.
"I'm going to have to jump."
"Matrix, don't be basic. It's too far." yelled Mouse.
"I know, but if I don't, we all fall."
"Matrix, Mouse is right. She set a beacon, and sooner or later some CPU's will come by."
Matrix looked into her eyes. "We don't have till later." He leaned over and kissed her fiercly.
"I love you." he said, and let go.
* * *
Matrix could hear their screams as he began to drop. Looking down, he saw the bowl like
curve of the bottom of the P.O.. It was coming in on him fast. He aligned himself with the edge and prepared for impact. One inch off could mean deletion... He shot past the edge, and began sliding with the wall. He didn't slow down, even as the wall started to curve. His foot got caught by the friction, and it threw him on his face. Matrix began tumbling down the wall. He finally hit the wall to the archives, stomach first. Falling to the ground, he curled up into a ball and slipped into darkness.
* * *
Bob woke up in the medical car. Binomes were huddled in a corner, while the doctor
tried to get them to stand up and help. Bob sat up and tried to get off the strecher. The docter turned to him and tried to force him back down.
"You are not well! Please lay down."
"Whats happening?"
"Something came out of the portal, sir. Its attacking the CPU's as we speak."
Bob jumped up. "They opened a portal to the web? Of all the..." Kicking the door open
he jumped out of the car and started flying towards the Principal Office.
* * *
Megabyte jumped from a flaming CPU onto the pinnacle. Several CPU's had been destroyed before they had backed off to a safe distance. The mech Dot occupied was
still infected, and no matter how much she tried, she couldn't break free. Megabyte walked up to the mech and started dragging it towards the tear.
"If Bob will not join us by choice, we shall just have to persuade him."
He picked up the mech and threw it into the portal.
"I don't think so, Megabyte." Bob stood behind him. Dot lay on the floor next to him,
still strapped to the back hull of the mech.
"Ah, Bob, so good to see you again."
"Megabyte, I don't know how your still processing, but I don't have time for this."
Bob blasted Megabyte with energy, tossing him off the Principle Office. Turning to Dot,
he broke the safety strapes on the seat and helped her up.
"Dot, are you OK?"
"I'm fine. Megabyte, how is he..."
"I don't know. We need to take care of the portal."
"I'll take care of it."
They kissed briefly and Bob flew away towards the remains of Lost Angles. Dot watched him leave, then got out a comlink.
"All CPU's, I need a search and rescue."
She ran to the control console and started the pinnacle descent.