This is my first Fanfic ever and pretty much my first time writing something that isn't for school, so bear with me. I do not own PBS, Cyberchase, or any of it's characters.
"We lost! I can't believe we lost!" said nine year-old Inez with disbelief. She sat down on a nearby bench and put her head in her hands, looking as though she might cry.
"Oh! My! Gosh! How did we lose?! We never lose!" Inez's eleven year-old friend Jackie yelled at nobody in particular. She started to frantically pace back and forth, all the while muttering to herself.
Meanwhile, a red-headed boy the same age as Jackie ran up to where the two girls were.
"Matt!" Jackie yelled as the boy neared her. "What are we going to do?!" she shouted at him while frenziedly shaking him.
"Jaks, calm down! We'll figure this out. Why don't we start by calling Motherboard?" Matt suggested as he wrestled himself out of Jackie's panicked grasp.
"Why didn't I think of that?!" Jackie said hitting her palm on her forehead. Her mood seemed to be brightening a little.
Matt pulled out his blue Squawk Pad and called up Motherboard. When her face appeared on the screen, Matt and Jackie took turns explaining the situation. Inez was still shocked to speak.
"Well...it seems that...since you made a bet with Hacker," started Motherboard with difficulty. She'd had trouble with speech ever since Hacker gave her the virus. "Then he is... in the right... he gets to keep Radopolis...and Inez."
Though they had known this was the case, the three of them had still hoped that Motherboard would be able to do something to change it.
"Mother-B! You've got to do something!" Jackie pleaded; desperate to help her friend.
"I am... so sorry... there is... nothing I can do," she said mournfully. "Where is... Digit?"
Matt hadn't thought about Digit since the end of the contest. He felt like everything was happening in slow motion and nothing was making any sense. He looked around for Digit and saw him sitting next to Inez on the bench. Digit seemed to be trying to comfort her; he had a wing around her shoulder. She looked so young. Too young to be dealing with something this horrible. In fact, they were all too young for this. Too young to be fighting evil and defending a world that wasn't even their own. Too young to have everything depending on them. Too young to play a game where all the stakes were real and permanent. It was shame that it had taken Matt so long to realize this. A shame, that it took this tragedy for him to see it.
Turning back to the Squawk Pad, Matt told Motherboard: "He's sitting with Inez"
Motherboard looked sad, like she was bogged down by something upsetting. Matt wondered what could possibly be worse than what was playing out right now. Motherboard looked to Matt. "I would like to speak with him."
Matt and Jackie brought the device over to Digit. "She wants to talk to you," Jackie said, pointing to Motherboard's placid face that was still glowing on the screen.
Digit got up from the bench slowly and took the Squawk Pad from Matt. Inez was still sitting with her head in her hands so Jackie and Matt each sat down beside her. Jackie put one arm around Inez's shoulder and held Inez's hand with her other. Matt followed suit, holding her hand tightly. At first, he felt a little awkward because she was a girl and he hadn't ever held a girl's hand for more than a few seconds, but he quickly pushed that feeling aside; it was clear that Inez needed both of them right now.
Digit returned from wherever he gone off to, in order to speak with Motherboard in private. Now Digit also had that same sad, melancholy look in his eyes. Matt was starting to feel like something even worse was going to happen.
"What's up Didge? You look upset," Jackie asked, concerned.
"Motherboard says you have to go back," Digit said.
"What do you mean?" he asked, the concern obvious in his voice.
Digit was silent for a moment, as though he was considering his words very carefully. "She wants you and Jackie to leave Cyberspace...forever."
"What! Why?" Jackie demanded, her voice beginning to rise into hysterics again.
"She doesn't want you two to get hurt. She said she doesn't want to lose you too and she thinks you'll be safer in your own world." Digit was clearly as upset by this as the kids were, but he thought to himself: Maybe it's for the best. Without Inez, the other two don't stand much of chance at beating Hacker.
"What about Inez?" Matt asked, looking over at his distressed friend. What was going to happen to her?
"Motherboard already explained that..." Digit said. "Inez has to stay in Cyberspace with Hacker; there's nothing we can do about it."
At this, having not heard it said earlier, Inez finally broke her steely silence with a rush of sobbing. Jackie held her closer, "Shh, shh...it's going to be alright, it's going to be okay." She looked away from Inez and up at Digit and Matt, defeat in her eyes. Behind them, she saw Hacker approaching, Buzz and Delete bumbling up behind him.
"Hello kiddies! I'm here to claim my prize," Hacker said, his voice dripping with a sick delight.
"Hacker!" Matt said whirling around, startled by the green borg's sudden appearance. "You can't have her! We're not going to let you!" He shouted. Clearly he was the only one of the Cybersquad that hadn't yet given up hope.
"That's THE Hacker to you!" Hacker told him. "And...you have to, that was the deal. We agreed that if I won this rematch, then I win control of Radopolis and Inez. We had a deal. Motherboard wouldn't want you to break a deal...now would she?" He smiled sinisterly down at the kids. He knew he had them beaten.
Matt was silent. He started running through all their options in his head. Before he could come with a sensible plan, Inez got up from the bench. Matt looked up at her. She was no longer crying, but there were very visible tears still brimming at the corners of her dark brown eyes. She swiftly wiped them from her eyes before taking a step toward Hacker.
"Fine, Hacker," She said with a sigh; the will had gone out of her. "I'll go with you. Just let me say goodbye to my friends. Please?" She looked up at him pleadingly.
Hacker was shocked by the sudden surrender of one of the willful "Earth brats" that had been the bane of his existence for almost a year. He looked down at Inez, trying to figure out if this could possibly be some sort of trick. But what he saw was a child broken by defeat. She no longer looked threatening to him. He glanced over at Digit and the other two children; they all appeared to be in the same sorry state. Matt was still fuming, but in the way one does when the world has screwed them over and there's nothing they can do about it. Hacker had finally done it, he thought with a smirk; he had finally defeated the dreaded Cybersquad. They were broken and he would make sure they stayed that way. He didn't see why he couldn't let them have their goodbyes. It would only serve to sadden them more. It would be the last time they would ever be together; Hacker would make sure of it.
"Okay, but I'm staying right here," Hacker said, giving permission to the young Earth girl. The thought of her needing his permission made thrilled him. He now had one of Motherboard's coveted "Earthlies" under his control. He was going to enjoy every moment of this farewell.
Inez turned around to face her friends. Even though they'd known each other for less than a year, they'd become very close through the act of protecting Cyberspace. I guess that's all over now, she thought. She was going to live out the rest of her life with Hacker and there was nothing she, Motherboard or the rest of the gang could do to stop it.
"Inez," Matt whispered, feeling awkward that Hacker was leering over them, enjoying himself. What a sicko, he thought. "You can't just give yourself up to Hacker. Think about everything he's done to Cyberspace... to Motherboard... to us!" Matt almost shouted as his anger increased.
"I know Matt, but I've got to do this. A deal's, a deal," Inez said sadly.
"Why do we have to keep our promise; Hacker never keeps his," Matt said, trying vainly to convince Inez to not give up so easily.
"That's what makes us the good guys," She said quietly.
"Well, it's stupid," Matt responded angrily.
Inez laughed briefly, almost inaudibly. "Yeah, sort of is, isn't it," she said, tears completely blurring her vision. She blinked them away and leaned in to give Matt a hug. Some of her tears fell on his neck as she silently sobbed into his shoulder. After a few seconds, once she'd finished crying, she released Matt and hugged Digit. Then she turned and gave Jackie a hug too. She turned back to Digit.
"Make sure Matt and Jackie get home safely," she told him. She didn't want Hacker to get his hands on them too.
"Will do, Inez," Digit said slowly and sadly. "You know that Motherboard said that they can't come back, right?" he asked her quietly. Hacker smiled evilly at this. This is getting better and better, he thought. Now all three Earth brats will be out of my way for good.
"Yeah, I heard you talking about it with Matt and Jackie." The heartbreak in Inez's voice as she said this was unbearable. Except to Hacker.
Inez turned to Matt and Jackie. "And guys, if my parents ever ask you what happened to me, please don't tell them."
Jackie looked surprised, until just then, it hadn't occurred to her that it would be more than just the three of them that would miss Inez. Inez's family would have to wonder why she simply didn't come home one night. How horrible!
"Don't you think they'd want to know that you're okay? That you're not dead in a ditch somewhere?" Jackie asked, confused.
"I'm not really okay though, am I?" Inez answered, a touch of fear in her voice. "Besides, it wouldn't do them any good to know that I'm being held captive in another world that they could never reach. Maybe it's better if they just think I'm dead. I might as well be to them" And to us too. Jackie thought darkly.
"I guess you're right," Jackie answered sadly. "Okay, we won't tell them." She gave Inez another quick hug followed by Matt and Digit. They all said goodbye to Inez.
Digit pulled out his Squawk Pad to call Motherboard. A portal appeared. As Jackie and Digit stepped through it, they waved goodbye to Inez one last time.
Before he climbed through it, Matt looked back at Inez and quietly said "Goodbye Nezzie." He knew she didn't like being called that, but he couldn't help himself. She didn't get angry, but only replied with a simple: "Goodbye Matt." He waved to her as he climbed through the portal and disappeared. Inez waved back and didn't stop until the pink circle had faded into nothing.
As soon as it was gone, Hacker harshly told Inez to follow him and grabbed her roughly by the shoulder of her shirt. He threw the poor girl to Buzz and Delete, who had been standing quietly off to the side through all of this. He told them to hold onto to her as they walked to the Grim Wreaker. My new home, Inez thought coldly as they boarded the ship in silence.