Hollow
By: XBroken EternityX
Disclaimer: I do not own Cyberchase; if I did, new eps would be out everyday:)
Chapter 1 -- " In Desperate Measures.."
It all had gone horribly wrong. Once again, his plans that had been unnationally flawless to gain control of Cyberspace had been thwarted. All spectre of hope that he would gain the world he longed to have had been snatched from his fingers again. By those brats. Those Earthbrats... and that tin-turkey. How he loathed them. The whole set of them. He loathed them far beyond he had ever loathed anyone -- even Motherboard. Motherboard just stood in the way of him accomplishing domination of Cyberspace; those bratty kids humilated him time and time again, over and over. How did they do it? He didn't know. Perhaps they were just too smart for him?
NO! Hacker mentally told himself. He was smarter than those kids, he was much more clever than them. He sat back in his chair and thought back on the confrontation earlier. The plan he had thought up had been ingenious. He had written a letter to Motherboard, claiming to have captured Slider and demanded that she bring the kids along with the NIC if they wanted him back. The first half had worked out like clockwork -- the kids had showed up, had brought the NIC, and walked headlong into a trap. It wasn't until they realized Slider hadn't been captured did they work out that they had been tricked. They had escaped, destroyed the object, and left Hacker without another chance to reuse the Transformatron. All Hacker had left now was the scars of humiliation and a lot of thinking for new plans to conjure up.
Feeling even more miserable, Hacker turned on his computer, switching to the television option. He flipped the remote until he reached Motherboard's channel, where he turned the volume up to audio hearing and sank back in his chair. There was screaming going on, much like the sound of arguing. Blinking in both suprise and curiosity, Hacker turned the volume up higher, straining to hear what was going on.
" You should have known it was a trap!" A girl was screaming.
Moments later, the Cybersquad appeared on the screen. All of them looked particularly uneasy. The African-American girl, Jackie, was standing near Motherboard, her hands placed on her hips, and her expression of suppressed anger. Inez, the hispanic girl, was standing alongside her, also looking quite plussed. Above them, Digit was hovering over their heads, an expression of disturbance on his face. The boy, Matt, however, was standing near the door, his arms crossed, and he appeared to be glaring in the direction of the others.
" How was I to know it was a trap?" he retorted.
" That's your problem!" Jackie snapped, " you always run into a situation without thinking it through! You could have gotten us trapped, Matt!"
" Don't blame me for trying to do the right thing!" Matt yelled back, " I thought Hacker had him, okay?!"
" Matt," Inez sighed and looked in the direction of the Red-headed boy, " that's why we tried to explain that when you're put into situations of that fortitude you have to check it and see if it's legit before actually going ahead with it. If all your sources say it's fraud, then don't do it -- it's more than likely a trap when that sort of thing happens!"
" Fine," Matt raised his hands. " Since I mess everything up so badly, you can handle Hacker yourselves! You try to do the right thing, and you get the third degree for it!" Without another word and a fit of rage, Matt wrenched the door opened and didn't bother to slam it lightly as he stepped out into the outside.
" Fine, we will!" Inez called after him.
" Girls. . . "
The two girls turned to see Motherboard's face looking slightly unpleased.
" Give Matt time... to cool down... The main thing that you're misunderstanding is that I was the one who made to believe that Hacker had captured Slider. I should have checked and see if we were acting upon false information before I sent you all out to Radopolis when there really was no need to. So this whole deal is my fault, and my fault only. One of you could have been seriously hurt on my behalf, and I wouldn't want that. I should have made sure you weren't stepping into Hacker's web. Your whole expedition today was pointless."
" But Mother B," Jackie began, " Matt just rushed in after we told him that we should check for the probability of Slider actually being captured. We hadn't even formed a plan or anything, Matt just wanted to move right in!"
" An easy mistake to make," Motherboard acknowledged, " look at how many times Slider had been caught by Hacker: at least three times, if I count correctly. And then look at the probability of it actually being true: 3 to the once chance of it actually being a trap. Had we known that this information was false, we could have seen that the likelability of it being a trap was 100. Matt was just acting the way I would have expected you all to act -- but again, the blame is on me and no one else."
The girls exchanged miserable looks.
" I guess you're right," Inez said softly.
But Hacker had already stopped watching. He was flying the Wreaker towards Control Central. He had already figured out his new plan; the plan that would destroy the Cybersquad forever!
Matt walked the permeter of the sidewalk outside of Control Central. Once or twice he glanced nervous glances through the window pane to where Inez and Jackie stood, never directly meeting their eyes. They appeared to be wrapped in conversation with Motherboard, and Digit wasn't paying him the slightest bit of attention. He sat down on the pavement, staring out at the massive Cybergalaxy that was Cyberspace.
" Maybe it was my fault." He acknowledged. He looked through the pane just behind him once again and stole another glance. Inez, he noticed, had been watching him. Once she caught sight of him looking, however, she turned away quickly, but from what he could see of her expression it was a guilty one. But she went back into conversation with Motherboard before he could meet her eyes once again. He saw a purple portal develope in the center of the room. He smiled.
" Guess it's time to go home." He said to himself.
" That's what you think."
The sudden voice made Matt jump and turn around. He screamed.
Inez stole a glance to where Matt sat just outside the room and instantly caught his eye. Ignoring the blush that was swiftly crawling up her face, she turned and looked back up at Motherboard.
" Can you portal us home? I'm going to go out and get Matt."
" Yes." Motherboard nodded, and a split second later a large swirling vortex had appeared in the center of the room. Inez was just about to turn and call for Matt when a sudden scream pounded through her eardrums. She knew who it was before it had even faded away -- Matt. He was in danger! Turning swiftly, Inez gasped in utter shock as her eyes scanned what she was seeing.
Matt was no longer on the ground; instead, he was now standing up and clawing at the arms of someone who had wrapped a massive arm around his bony neck. His eyes met her's.
" HELP!" He screamed.
" Shut up!" A cold voice boomed.
Jackie and Digit, upon hearing this, turned automatically towards the door. They, too, were shocked at what they saw.
" It's The Hacker!" Digit cried.
" He's got Matt!" Jackie gasped.
" Hurry!" Inez panicked, " We've got to help him!"
The trio ran out in time to see Hacker wrestling with a struggling Matt into the Wreaker. Hacker looked up at the sound of their footsteps.
" Well, well!" Hacker sneered. " Come to watch the show?"
" Let him go!" Inez demanded, her fists clenched and her eyes very bright. " Now."
" Or what?!" Hacker laughed.
" Or I'll make you." Inez threatened, her eyes fixating on the Green cyborg's. It was impossible to tell which held more loathing. Hacker's were filled with a mixture of amusement and suppressed joy while Inez's held nothing but anger and hatred.
Hacker smirked as he watched the girl's expression, " I'd like to see you try!"
Inez took a huge step foward. Matt, fearing what would happen if she came any closer, choked out a very scratcy " No!". Inez stopped mid-way, about a foot from him and Hacker.
" Why?" She asked.
" Get out of here before he gets you too!" Matt choked, " Just get out of --"
" Zip it!" Hacker snapped, tightening his grip on the boy.
He moved away from the Wreaker slowly, never taking his eyes off the three figures. He stopped when he reached the very edge of the Cybersite, with nothing but an endless pit of Black down below. Inez, understanding what Hacker was going to do, suddenly screamed, " No! Don't!" Matt was hanging practically off the site and into the air suspended above the endless veil of darkness. The only thing keeping him from falling was Hacker.
Hacker's smirk grew ever so wider, " So, why don't you try and make me now?"
Inez took a step back and growled, her teeth clenched.
Hacker's eyes glinted. " I'll take that as a retreat."
Moving towards the Wreaker once again, Matt still hung in a one-arm grip, Hacker raised a finger and pointed it directly at them.
" If you want to make sure no harm befalls your little friend here, I advise you to bring me the NIC. I'm giving you 48 hours. If you don't have it by the time the clock strikes six tomorrow, one second more, and you'll never see your friend again." Hacker gave a bark of a laugh and walked the rest of the way into the Wreaker, Matt still locked in an iron hold. The Wreaker took off moments later, and Inez fell to her knees on the patch of dirt with forbidden tears trapped beneath her eyes.
" What are we going to do?" she whispered.
Jackie hung her head, unsure of what to say. The NIC that Hacker was demanding had been disposed of hours before. How were they going to reclaim it to save Matt? It seemed hopeless, and God only knew what Matt would have to endure before two days was over...
So what do you think? Good, bad? Want me to continue? Please let me know!
Also: I got the idea for this fic when listening to a certain song called "Hollow". I forget the name of the artist of the moment, but I was listening to it earlier at school and for some reason I started seeing images of Matt to the song.. with a diabolical Hacker! I'm not going to reveal what I'm planning, because then it would spoil it, but listen to the song -- there's a reason Hacker decided to use that exact moment for his plan. In fact, it's one I'm shocked he hasn't done yet -- it's actually a good one for once.. LOL.