Caught Up in the Web
Synopsis: A CL/Reboot crossover. As Megabyte is looking for other systems to infect, he comes to find Lyoko, which is completely different from Mainframe. Being true to his programming, he begins infecting Lyoko. When the Warriors receive threat of the new Trojan horse virus, they know they're up against an entirely different type of nemesis.
Chapter 1--Strange, New Plane
Megabyte had easily escaped Matrix's firewall by bypassing the code Matrix had uploaded and created himself. No virus had bypassed it before and he was cursing his luck. Even Mouse had difficulty stopping him from breeching the gap between Mainframe and the outside Web. Entities only knew what existed there. Matrix had been there with the Crimson Binome and crew had seen thousands of different places and seen myriads of unique beings while there. He almost died while in the 'Net, but he knew Megabyte would have no trouble navigating its unpredictability. Unfortunately, outside Guardians had no lock on his IP code so they couldn't track him. Even if they could, he was undefeatable in the state he was in now. Phong hung his head.
"I do not know where he is headed, but wherever he is going may the User have mercy upon them.", he said. Bob placed his arm around Dot, feeling absolutely helpless.
"We mustn't give up hope. Somehow, we'll be able to find him. I say we should follow him.", Matrix said, with conviction.
"Do you think that's wise, Sparky ?", adult Andrea asked, her arm looped through his affectionately.
"I don't care if it is or not. Who knows what Megabyte will do once he reaches his destination.", Matrix responded, with bitterness in his tone.
"I agree. We'll be taking the Saucy Mare and Ray Tracer to assist us.", Bob said, the surfer nodding in approval.
"Very well then. All I can advise you is to exercise caution in the Web.", Phong added before the whole lot of them started out the door of the Principal office.
"Don't worry, sugar. We will be.", Mouse assured him. As soon as they all left, including little Enzo, Phong sighed heavily.
"I know, but that is not what worries me.", he murmured.
Megabyte broke through the barriers of the web, unaffected. When he breached the gap into another world.
"Where am I ?", he mused, acclimating to his surroundings. It wasn't the Web or Mainframe, but someplace unique, sumptuous to the eye and dazzling to behold. He saw dwellers with pointy ears in Asiatic clothing walking by, couples with children playing with one another, a musician in the background playing a lute-esque instrument and he sneered devilishly.
"I think I am going to like it here. It's like they're giving me an open invitation to conquer it, peoples and all !", he thought, extending his cables from his back and tapping into the new 'format's' interface. He learned the realm was called Lyoko and outside of it was Stability, that which kept Lyoko in place. It was simple to overrun parts of it within one download session but Stability wouldn't be hacked so easily, let alone the stronghold in the distance.
"That must be the ruler of this place…Lyoko. I must give their King, Queen and Princess a visit and extract the access codes to Stability from them.", he thought, stroking his chin sinisterly.
Chapter 2--Signal Unknown
Merpati had been fiddling around online when she came across a peculiar numerical sequence that she had never seen before. It was unlike anything she had ever encountered. One minute it would be stable and the next, it would shift.
"Trojan horse.", she thought to herself. She knew such a virus was extremely unstable and very dangerous. Lyoko was in grave danger. Taking her communication device, she sent a signal out to the other Warriors who soon joined her in Lyoko. When they had arrived what they saw how gray, dismal and lifeless Lyoko was becoming they knew without a doubt that now wasn't the time to think but act.
The Warriors were rapidly as they assembled in the forest sector of Lyoko. They noticed that many of the Lyokoians had gone pale in complexion and were moving about in a zombie-like trance.
"Care to explain to us what is going on ?", Leona began, which was unusual for her since she understood the structure of Lyoko. Jeramie shook his head from left to right.
"Don't look at me, Leona ! I haven't the foggiest. Merpati noticed an unknown signal, and that's why we all arrived here…We know we don't have a lot of time to chat…so…Go on then, Merpati.", Jeramie said, gesturing to her. Merpati explained that all she knew about the unusual signal is that it was coming from a Trojan Horse. She caught its ping from the castle and didn't have to say one more word. The whole lot of them formed a platoon and began running towards the signal that she had located only minutes ago. Luckily, when they had arrived, XANA, Diana and Oleander were still fighting valiantly against the virus they would soon learn was called Megabyte.
Chapter 3--Not Amused
They arrived at the Palace shortly thereafter. Some of the Warriors were panting for air. Megabyte was distracted for a moment and had dropped XANA, who managed to escape his fierce grasp.
"And who might you be ?", the super-virus asked, raising an eyebrow. Megabyte already knew the army that surrounded him was irate about his presence there and would stop at nothing to eradicate him from this place.
"We were about to ask you the same question, virus.", Taelia stated in a furious tone. If she had wanted to, she would've begun shooting at him immediately but she had changed her impulsive ways of her youth. Still, she didn't care much for a Trojan Horse invading her friend's land and taking whatever he pleased. Megabyte wasn't amused and retracted his massive talons.
"I am Megabyte. My format; to infect, destroy and control. Need I say more ?", the Trojan Horse answered with an evil guffaw as he pile-drove through them and escaped out of the crystal palace.
"Where is he headed to ?", Ulrich said as he and the others got back up to their feet.
"Stability. I tried holding back as much information as I could but Megabyte is extremely persuasive. If he had tapped into my memory much longer, I might've gone viral…", XANA admitted. Oleander and Diana had already begun the process of healing him and he was beginning to resemble himself. He was too weak to join them and because of their positions now, Oleander and Diana were in no condition to fight.
"Go on without me. Once I regain my stamina…", XANA began.
"We know, save your strength.", Jim answered, walking over to XANA's side and compassionately patting him on the shoulder. Suzanne took his hand.
"Let's go. We don't have time to lose.", she said, tenderly. Something told the Warriors that they would have to use every spell and move to fight Megabyte and they knew it was going to be far from easy.
Chapter 4--Unexpected Allies
Megabyte traveled much faster than any of them could've expected but the Princesses knew how to track him down and keep up with him even as he shifted form. The advantage they had is it took him time to access new forms and this would give them an opening to follow him before he hacked into Stability and overtook Lyoko as a whole.
Sentry stood between the breech line separating Lyoko from Stability. Though the two were two different planes, they were one in the same since Stability kept Lyoko in balance. Megabyte stared down the tall guards and nearly had a paroxysm of laughter.
"This is the welcoming committee ?", he queried, barely able to contain his amusement. He threw the guards to the ground like rag dolls. Before he could unleash ciphers to break the barrier between Stability and Lyoko, he heard a familiar voice.
"Hack into unknown territory to enslave it ? I don't think so.", Bob said with conviction. He was followed by Little Enzo, Little Andrea, Matrix, Adult Andrea, Mouse, Ray Tracer, Dot and a whole army of Mainframers.
"Hack ? Slash ? You too ? And to think I thought you were loyal to me.", Megabyte said with feigned disgust.
"We can't trust the likes of you.", Hack mentioned, strongly.
"Yeah. You treat us like trash files !", Slash agreed. Megabyte laughed.
"I can still defeat every last one of you. You forget, I am much more powerful than any of you puny sprites can comprehend.", Megabyte boasted. Before he could continue his conceited soliloquy, the Warriors arrived.
"Where on earth did you come from ?", Patric asked, noticing the different color skin and clothes these characters possessed.
"No time to chat about that now. It seems that you are against Megabyte's entry to this other plane.", Dot observed. Jeramie nodded, the green-skinned woman was correct. Megabyte leapt up and landed in the middle of the field in the Forest Sector.
"Let's make this a fair fight then. If I win, I rule this world and if I don't, you can do with me as you please.", Megabyte said after landing on the ground without making a gaping chasm where he landed.
Each faction, Mainframers and Warriors, surrounded the Trojan Horse. Megabyte unleashed a massive viral attack and both sides shields suffered immensely.
"He really is tough…But we have to stay strong.", Suzanne said, bolstering their courage as well as refueling their HP and MP. One group would attack and another would follow with a barrage of weapons. It was having some effect on Megabyte, but he acted as if everything merely tickled him. It wasn't until the attacks kept coming at him that he realized that they were more powerful than he originally wagered. He broke free of Suzanne's brambles and Merpati's mulberry snares. Typically enemies could never untangle themselves from the deep root system of a mulberry snare but Megabyte was the first.
"That's different.", she said, strangely awed by the sight.
"This is no time to be impressed.", Jim said as he helped her dodge an energy attack, barely getting hit himself.
Just as it was beginning to look grim for the Warriors and Mainframers, XANA, Oleander and Diana joined the battle and caused Megabyte to shrink back from the war zone. He wasn't about to be defeated, though. Extending his chords from his back into the platform of Lyoko, he tapped into its very essence.
"One way or another, I will control this plane, Stability and all !", he said, feasting on its energy and beginning to grow more powerful. Suddenly, he received an uppercut, not by a fist, but by a mask.
"Hexadecimal !", Matrix exclaimed. Apparently Bob had fixed her illness and she wasn't viral any longer.
"I don't think that the inhabitants of this system would think of you very kindly if you did that, brother.", she said in her usual sultry, catty way. Megabyte glowered at her. The last sprite he wanted to see was his sister but now he was getting beaten by her. It was all too embarrassing.
"No ! I haven't come this far just to leave empty handed !", he bellowed, trying to retract his chords again to tap into the life source of Lyoko, but it had been guarded. Matrix had created a more powerful firewall and uploaded it just as Megabyte had been distracted.
"Very clever, lover.", Adult Andrea stated with a flirtatious wink. Megabyte clenched his fists and roared, trying to knock them all over or strike them down but he could hardly even move. The whole group had bound him within a force field and he was too weak to escape it. Not wanting to breathe one more word lest he would mortify himself further, he hung his head and admitted defeat silently.
Chapter 5--Sentenced to Deletion
Megabyte would be sentenced by the High Courts of Lyoko for illegal, unwarranted entry and terrorism of a virtual realm, a crime outlined in the United Virtual Nations' Charter of Freedoms. Megabyte was not at all content with being paraded in front of so many people before, and he could feel their disgust.
Elder Luna and the court read the many offenses that Megabyte had committed in Mainframe and elsewhere in the Web before accessing Lyoko. Not only had he been responsible for mass genocides in multiple platforms but he had nullified sector upon sector to try 'unifying the web under his supreme command.'. Daemon had been another viral entity to try such a thing, but she hadn't succeeded. He took upon her mantle to carry out her programming in a more straightforward and vicious way; being typical of his character. After the crimes were read off a vortex to an unknown section of the 'Net was opened and Megabyte was pushed into the swirling, darkened abyss by none other than Artemis, who was an Overseer in training. She had definitely grown up since the last the Warriors had seen her and she was more confident, self-assured and strong. With the spear in her hand, she was assuredly intimidating, especially as she prodded Megabyte into the pit of deletion. As the gravity of the singularity began to work against him, bit by bit, he was erased, and the whole process was quite painful. He let out a painful scream that caused everyone around them, particularly the Mainframers, become pale and wan. The horrible noise lasted for only minutes before Megabyte became nothing more than dust and the portal closed for eternity. An eerie, strange sort of silence fell over all of them as they paid their respects for the enemy. It was the honorable thing to do, even despite the atrocities he had committed.
Chapter 6--A Celebration for the History Books
After leaving the High Court, no one made a sound until Lady Oleander brought them all together in a peaceful glen.
"It has been a harrowing battle we have fought as one. Together, we vanquished our foe and both our worlds as well as countless others can live in peace without the tyranny of Megabyte. I have called us here to raise a toast to everyone in celebration. It is my honor, as well as that of my brave husband XANA and daughter Diana to dine with you all in our victory.", Oleander said with a smile that uplifted and motivated everyone within a 100 mile radius of her.
"I second that !", Patric called suddenly.
"I third it.", Odd agreed.
"Here, here !", Ulrich shouted. Then came The Warriors and Mainframers followed the Queen, King and Princess to the Crystal Palace and were treated to a repast that was far more than they could've ever wanted. They had plenty to share and more. Some of the members felt guilty when they asked if they could take some of the celebratory feast with them and Diana smiled saying,
"Take whatever you want. There is more than enough for all."
And that is exactly what all the participants did.
Epilogue
After the feast waned, the Mainframers and Warriors went their own ways after congratulating each other and explaining their similarities though their lives were different. However, the topic of friendship kept coming up again and again. It was true what was said about friendship. It was a combining force; an everyday miracle that made life worth living and so many successes possible.
Though the Warriors had never seen Mainframe they could get a picture in their minds about how vast it truly was (as well as the Web itself, which knew no limits). They had been relieved that Megabyte was deleted from existence. The future was now more serene for both worlds and the Web could rest easy at least for the time being. The 'Net was still a highly wild place with little or no policing but thanks to the Guardians, it would be more guarded from viruses in the future.
The Warriors couldn't stop talking about their enervating experience. Despite the fact it had ended with a bang, everyone was tired and looked forward to a pleasant, uninterrupted night of sleep. One by one, the friends said their goodbyes and departed, knowing that it wouldn't be their last time together. It wasn't certain whether they would be seeing their new friends from Mainframe again but even if they didn't, they knew that they could count them as allies whatever occurred.
No sooner had each Warrior settled into bed did they fall into delta sleep, thinking of the possibilities that had just been opened up to them. They would never stop training for attack, if it happened again. Just as Jim had taught them, they remained diligent and poised for anything that could come along their pathways. For the time being, though, they were simply relieved that they could enjoy this time of peace and reconvene in another Warrior reunion, celebrating the one element that had kept them strong for all these years: friendship.
The End