Cyberchase: Cry of the Lost
By: Phoenix Ride
Ch.1: A Shifty Shade
Bright lights and cheers reflected through the shining, blue stones that encircled the cybersite When Rich Action Knocks. A place where all the well dressed and adourned could lie on their snelfus and wallow in luxary.
The site's premise for etremely rare cyber crystals was the very basis of its fortune. Blue cyberite alone was worth thousands of dollars, but thanks to recent excevations, the citizens wealth could almost triple in price.
To celebrate this new found discovery, all of the great leaders of Cyberspace were invited to a galla. Of course, Motherboard would be there, and she brought the Cybersquad along as her personal guests.
Matt was busy tugging at the collar of his tux, while Jackie and Inez just watched the aristocrats ballet on the dance floor. Being around eleven years old, the thought of being formal never comes to mind. And the shock of making a wrong impression was enough to kill trees.
Everything was ritzy here, and the thought of doing anything wrong was making Matt sweat tears.
"Are you okay Matty?" asked Digit, looking towards the red-haired boy.
"I'm fine" said Matt " it's just hot that's all,"
"Don't worry Matt" said Digit " everyone gets ansty here. I mean, this is the richest site in Cyberspace. If you piled up the snelfus it would probably reach higher than Control Central,"
"That is a lot of snelfus" said Jackie " but I wonder what this new discovery could be?"
There's the host" said Inez, pointing to a ritzy elephant approaching the stand " Maybe he has the answers,"
After tapping the mike with his trunk to make sure it worked, Mr. Rich spoke out to the huge auidence around him.
"Honored guests, I greatly thank you all for coming to our big celebration galla. As we all know, blue cyberite is a very valueable resource that has stamped our site's name to the very extent of our rich history. But now, thanks to the hard work of our miners, we've uncovered something truly astounding. A mineral believed to exsist only in legends...Phoenix Gold,"
A collective gasp choked the entire crowd, and a few mumbles stirred the air. Matt, Jackie, and Inez sat silent. What was Phoenix Gold?
As if to answer, Mr. Rich held up a shining piece of yellow rock in his hand. But it didn't just shine, it glowed, and the glow twisted and turned just like the flame on a fire.
"Wow" said Matt, captivated by the glow. Jackie and Inez nodded their agreement.
"For now" continued Mr. Rich " this priceless find is locked safely in our vault, but soon we will sell it so everyone can get a piece,"
"I wouldn't mind having one of those," said Matt.
"Me neither," said Jackie, Inez, and Digit.
Yes, everyone was just dying to get a piece of the Phoenix Gold, but soon it wouldn't be the gold they'd be chasing, but someone else.
Meanwhile, over in the Northern Frontier, Hacker was busy breaking up his two dunce-buckets for fighting over the remote when Mr. Rich's announcement of Phoenix Gold caught his interest on the screen.
Greed filled up Hacker's eyes quickly, and the genius of a evil scheme twisted in his mind. Why should those rich monkeys keep all the loot for themselves? Why, it would be criminal to keep Hacker from getting his fair share.
"Buzz! Delete!" shouted Hacker " Fire up the engines! We're going to When Rich Action Knocks!"
Back at the galla, Matt found himself lost in the crowd while Jackie and Inez went for punch. He wasn't sure how he could find his way back to the banquet table.
"It's got to be somewhere in this swarm," thought Matt.
A shifty shadow suddenly caught Matt's eyes, dashing and dodging between the crowd. The artistcrats barely noticed its presence, to caught up in their own expensive worlds.
Coming to a stop just a few feet away, the shadow stood still and twisted its orange eyes around, as if looking for something important.
Matt could now make out more detail in this strange figure. It was completely lizard-like with long, sharp claws and spines that stood out like a headdress of feathers on a Chief's head. The tip of the tail was spiked with a deadly-looking arrow that would have no problem slicing an enemy heart.
"I wonder what site he's from?" thought Matt, curious about this creature he had never seen.
Before he could approach and ask though, the lizard let loose a toothy grin and then dashed off to the West, flying striaght through the crowd.
Determined to catch it, Matt ran after the shifty shade, curious as to where it was going.
Dodging the crowd wasn't an easy task, but Matt managed to keep up with the shade. They were now outside the party lines and into the city itself.
Making its direction towards the bank, the shade slipped himself inside with Matt soon following suit. Taking cover behind a desk, Matt watched as the shade extended its claw towards the vault door, purple energy dancing from the tips.
"What's he doing?" wondered Matt, as the claw touched the vault.
A gasp escaped the earthling's mouth just a second later as he watched the purple energy the shade produced attach and melt through the steel door. The glow of Phoenix Gold instantly lit up the room the moment the door was gone.
"I have to stop him!" thought Matt, as the shade picked up a few pieces of the gold.
He stood up to grab the shade, but just as he was within reach, a red light flashed on and the wail of the alarm suddenly blasted through the room.
The shade turned and faced Matt. The earthling had been caught!
Back at the galla, Jackie and Inez were confused to where Matt had went. A third cup of punch sat cupped in Inez's hand with nowhere to go.
"Where is he?" asked Inez " it's not like him to disappear,"
"I wouldn't be surprised in this crowd" said Jackie " let's go back to the banquet table,"
Just as she said that a loud alarm suddenly blasted through, and Mr. Rich looked towards the city with shock.
"The vault! The vault! Someone's breaking into the vault!"
"Let's move!" said Inez, dashing towards the city, Jackie and Digit right behind her.
"You dunce-buckets!" shouted Hacker, smacking his two bots " Now the whole town knows we're here! We've barely even stepped inside, and you set off the alarm!"
"I thought it was a lightswitch," stumbled Delete.
"To the Wreaker quick!" said Hacker " We will have to come back another time. But rest assured, that gold will be mine!"
"Everything looks fine in here," said Inez, as she and the others arrived at the bank. The vault was still in one piece, and it didn't look like anything had been disturbed.
"Maybe we should check the vault just in case," said Jackie.
"I'll open it," said Mr. Rich, and punched in the combination to the vault.
Slowly the door clicked and swung open, allowing everyone to see the space inside. Once open, the air was cut with sharp gasps.
All of the Phoenix Gold was gone! And Matt was lying face down on the floor!