"Grab the chicken, GRAB THE CHICKEN!" Cry yelled into the microphone.

"I´m trying!" Russ said back, pulling Pinky the chick off a hot plate.

It was another normal Saturday evening. The Late Night Crew were currently playing Tiny Brains, the game where they played as lab mice working for a Russian scientist.

The masked brunette fidgeted anxiously in front of the computer screen, his fingers twitching and his laughs echoing around his bedroom.

"I hate the screams the little chick does when it´s burning." Jund said, also laughing. "It sounds so horrible."

"What do you expect it to do other than scream?" Red said. "That´s the only thing I would do if I were getting fried alive!"

"Guys, focus on the game!"

"Chill, Russ! Seriously, it´s like you have one of those disorders where you can´t tell reality from unreality. It´s just a game." Cry said.

"Don´t make fun of my mental disorders!" Came the response.

"You are a mental disorder." Cry said, too focused on the game to grasp the nonsense of what he just said.

"Fuck you."

"Fuck you too, Russ."

"Aren´t you two sweet." Snake cut in, dryly. That roused another round of laughter from his friends.

"A real romantic couple." Jund said.

"Pfft, I´m not gay." Russ said.

"Denial!" Cry said.

The conversation died down soon afterwards and the crew continued with shouting game tactics to another to beat the current level.

Unbeknownst to them or even Cry himself, there was a sixth member amongst them. No one anybody else could see, but someone who was watching them all.

He sat behind the thin veil of the computer screen, watching Cry silently. He looked like an exact copy of the American, with the exception of a few details. His eyes shone an electric light blue and his mask had a jagged blue smile. Small coding lurked at the edge of his mask and on his neck, glowing akin to his eyes.

Virus sat in Cyberspace, the only place known to him as home. The enormous main room was dark, with only multicolored wires and numbers gleaming weakly around him.

"Shit, shit, shit, shit! Hurry up! Gah! What do you think you´re-No! No! What the fuck!" Cry said, his shouts mingling with those of his teams.

They burst out laughing and accusing each other of fault when the game over screen showed. The chat box went crazy as people either commented on Cry´s laugh or the supposed stupidity of the crew, for not being able to work together, nor accomplish much.

It led to immediate sarcastic comments from Scott and Russ, reminding the viewers that they weren´t the ones playing.

While the others dealt with the subs or discussed the choice of games they had, Cry took that time to sip on his drink. It wasn´t alcohol, just a giant can of energy drink to keep him through the night.

I´m going to have diabetes soon. He thought, idly scanning through the chat, tasting the large amounts of sugar on his tongue.

His mind began to wander and the voices of his friends seemed far away. That is until his subconscious picked up his name in the hustle of fan comments.

Cry…

What was weird was that it was the double size of the normal text and had no user name or soup icon accompanying it.

Just his name, written out in electric blue text.

Cry.

There it was again. Sitting up straighter, Cry studied the word for the few moments it was visible before it drowned in other messages.

"Cry, you there buddy?"

"H-huh?"

"Cry, don´t ignore me!" Russ shouted into the microphone, causing the brunette to wince.

"Ow! Holy fuck, I´m not deaf!"

"Ignore me again and you will be!"

"Okay, okay. What´s the problem?"

"We can´t decide between Attack on Titan or DnD. Russ and I want AoT and the other two DnD." Red explained. "So you get to pick."

"How about we play AoT after break and then we can play some DnD. I don´t have anything planned for Wind Down Hour anyway, so there´s not really a time limit."

"Okay, sounds good."

"Alright, five minute break and we´ll be right back." Cry said, pausing the stream. As soon as they were offline, his friends bombed him with questions.

"Are you okay, Cry?"

"You were spacing out for a while."

"You´re not sick, are you?"

"No, no, guys I´m fine. It´s just…it´s been a long week and I´m a bit tired." Cry lied. He didn´t feel like explaining why a simple text got him spacing out.

"You shouldn´t lie to your friends." Russ said suddenly. His voice sounded different, echoic. His voice wavered like the connection was bad.

"What?" What the fuck?

"I said, no problem man. Geez, what kind of work are you doing there in Florida that´ll make you that tired?"

"Skyping with Pewdie. And eating Nutella. Lots of it. Plus I´m working out." The masked gamer joked.

"I think you´ve read too much fanfics!"

"Well, I gotta do something when I´m bored at night!"

To this, everyone laughed, but something was off. Again. In one ear, he could hear the faintest voice purr, "Why don´t you join me? You´ll never be lonely, or bored for that matter again."

Now he knew something was up. "Very funny guys. But seriously, April Fools is long over."

"Huh, what are you talking about?" Jund said confused.

"The weird text message in chat? The voices? I know it´s one of you guys."

"…"

"Cry…" Red started, worry and a hint of fear in her voice. "We´re not pulling anything off."

"How long are you going to stick wi-GAH!"

The sudden shriek of pain was followed by frantic shouts.

"Cry?!"

"Dude, what´s going on? Are you alright?! Say something!"

"I-I… I gotta go. Tell the fans I´m having some technical difficulties."

"What happened?"

"…er, exactly that. I just got the world´s biggest electrocution thanks to the many cables this computer owns. Plus, I don´t feel too well. I think I should take this night off. Sorry guys." He was lying through his teeth and was more than surprised when his friends bought it. They wished him goodnight and voiced their concerns before Cry disconnected from Skype.

As soon as he did, he jumped up and away from his desk, staring at his computer in fear.

He was trying to get his friends to reveal their prank when in the split of a second, the image on the screen changing, along with a loud, ear splitting screech.

In that fraction he saw another guy, looking similar to Cry. He had brown hair, a mask on his face and a loose white shirt. His skin, however, shone with numeric symbols, evil screamed in his eyes and he had the most menacing smile the YouTuber had ever seen on another person´s face.

While Cryaotic pressed himself against the opposite wall, wondering whenever it was worth checking out the matter further or turning off the electricity and going to bed, the same voice from before rang out from his headphones.

It didn´t sound muffled, like it normally would. It was crystal clear and loud, as if the person talking was standing in his room, shouting at him.

"Cry…what are you afraid of?" A chuckle followed, so familiar it sent chills down Cry´s spine.

"W-who a-are…wh-what do you want?!"

"I´m am nothing but a mere virus program…heh, who am I kidding? I´m not that harmless."

"Well…" Cry swallowed hard, feeling a dry, scratchy feeling in his throat. "What do you want from me?"

The image on the computer returned, just this time it didn´t disappear a second later. The gamer instantly wished it did. The sight of his electronic, smirking doppelganger disturbed him to the core.

"What I want from you? Hm, nothing much. You could, however, upgrade some of your programs here. If you´d sit down I could show you want needs to be fixed."

Cry didn´t move an inch.

"Cry?"

"I don´t trust you."

"What? Why not?"

The YouTuber slowly inched forward, keeping his eyes locked onto the other.

"Why are you bothering me? I don´t want you here."

"You look scared…is it because of my appearance?"

"Get out." The brunette halted behind his chair, gripping the leather tightly.

"Well, aren´t you kind to your guests."

"…"

"Fine." Virus´ smile changed into a snarl. He suddenly lurched forward, his arms shooting clear out of Cry´s monitor. The gamer scrambled back, but one of the program´s hands managed to get a hold of his arm.

The instant the fingers wrapped around his wrist, stabbing pain shot up his arm, quickly spreading throughout his body.

"No, NO! LET GO OF ME!" Cry shrieked. He faintly took note to the fact that the thing in his computer was pulling him towards him, dragging him closer and closer to that awful mask and the realm it calls home.

"Hehe, no chance, friend."

"Help! SOMEBODY HELP ME!"

"Don´t bother, no one can hear you…or even if they did, they wouldn´t be able to help you for that fact."

"HELP ME! MRS TEMMPLETON! MR DRAHN!" His dogs started barking along, scratching at the closed door. ´How can my neighbors sleep through this?´

"Don´t be like that, Cry…" Virus had drawn him close enough to grab his other arm. The gamer struggled against the grip, kicking his feet into the wall to try to loosen a cable or something. "I´m sure you´ll like it at my place…you do love the internet, don´t you?"

"I´m not going anywhere with you monster!"

"I beg to differ."

"Let go, let g- GAH!" Cry shouted in pain, electric jolts shaking his frame.

"I had really hoped you would be more cooperative. But if you want it to do the hard way, fine with me too."

The YouTuber squeezed his eyes shut, trying desperately to stay conscious. He pressed his feet against the wall underneath his desk, still struggling to get free.

Virus frowned and began to pull harder. It soon resulted into a very painful, life-or-death tug-of-war.

"Fine!" His voice was glitching out from either anger or the strain. "If you´re this resistant, I´ll just have to do it another way."

As soon as the words left his lips, waves of agony washed over Cry, breaking his concentration. Whimpers and cries left his lips and he seized hold of anything firm he could find, anything to save him from the monster inside his computer.

Through the maniacal laughter and his own sobs, Cry picked up the sound of someone calling his name. At first he thought it was the virus, mocking him, but when the calls were accompanied with wild kicks and bangs on his front door, new hope started to bloom.

Virus seemed to hear it too. He hissed in anger of being interrupted once again and yanked harder, getting the other´s arm through the screen.

A few more bangs and the yells were louder. Someone rushed to his bedroom door and flung it open. In rushed his dogs and Scott, all three of them looking panicked as hell.

The dogs were on Cry. They barked and yowled, scratching at his jeans while Jund stood at the doorway, staring at the unimaginable scene in front of him.

"J-Jund! P-po…power!" Cry gasped.

Scott snapped out of his daze and rushed towards the main plug yanking it out of his socket. In an instant everything went silent and the brunette stumbled backwards. He curled up into a fetal position and gasped for breath while his friend checked him over for injuries as best as he could.

"Cry! What the fuck happened? Who the fuck was that?!"

"A…v-virus…"

"A what?"

It took Cry a moment to regain his composure. The gamer sat up, still shaking slightly. He looked at Jund. "He c-called himself Virus…he was trying to pull me into Cyberspace…for some reason."

"Dude, I think we´re going crazy." Jund said.

"I would´ve thought the same thing if it didn´t hurt so real."

For a few minutes, they both refrained from saying anything and just stared at the blank screen, as if their looks could block any more attempts of Virus getting out.

Then Scott stood up. "C´mon. I´m staying with you for the night." He grabbed the blanket off the bed and threw the pillow at Cry. He walked out. "I knew something was going on so I drove over here as fast as I could. I just thought someone broke into your house but damn…this wasn´t what I expected at all."

"…" Cry slowly got up, clutching the pillow and staring at his computer. For a moment he thought he saw the ghostly outline of person standing in front of the desk, arms crossed and mask glowing. But then he blinked and it was gone. The brunette decided to call it a night and followed Jund out, ignoring the sharp jolt of electricity coursing down his spine as he closed the door.