A/N: Okay everyone, I do not own Cyberchase so I'm deciding to wing it with this plot bunny that just entered my head. I hope you all enjoy.
Prologue: Reunited Once More
It had been 8 years since the last adventure in Cyberspace. The Cyber Squad had returned to their own paths when they were no longer needed. Of course they visited but their visits became fewer and fewer due to their own busy lives. However, the three of them still remained good friends. It seemed as if, even when they fought, that they found a way back together. That was, at least, until they graduated middle school and went their separate ways. Now, they were all attending college.
Matt was headed towards his class when he bumped into someone, sending them flying back.
"Ow, that hurt!" The other person cried and Matt blinked. He quickly reached out to help the girl who had fallen. The girl sounded strangely familiar but didn't look like anyone he had seen before.
"I'm so sorry," Matt said quickly. "Are you new here too?"
"Yeah," The girl replied. "I'm Jacqueline Jamis, but call me Jackie. But, it's fine, I wasn't watching either..."
"Jacks?" Matt said, not daring to believe it. Her voice sounded the same but there was no way that this girl could be the same girl that he knew in middle school and had adventures in Cyberspace with. But could it be? "It's me, Matt."
Jackie blinked at the nickname. It had been awhile since anyone called her that and when the boy introduced himself, her eyes widened. It was Matt! Her old friend! He had definitely gotten taller and a lot more handsome than he once had been. Of course, she had always thought he was cute but now he was almost as good-looking as her fan-girl crush, Slider.
"Matt!" Jackie cried, surging forward and embracing her dear friend.
Matt wrapped his arms around Jackie, glad to see her again.
"It's great to see you," Matt admitted. "You didn't get too hurt by the fall, did you?"
Jackie smiled, shaking her head although flushed a little at being so close to Matt. It seemed okay when they were kids, but now it felt a little different and almost odd in a good way. It seemed almost a coincidence when they saw another girl come in. The dark-haired girl could recognize her anywhere. While she had definitely grown prettier, she was still recognizable unlike herself and Matt. Jackie had curled her hair and grown it down to her waist. Matt's hair was straighter although he hadn't dyed it or anything.
"Inez!" Jackie called out causing the girl to stop and blink.
"I'm sorry, do I know you?" Inez asked, being as polite as ever considering she didn't recognize them.
"Nezzie, it's us," Matt said moving away from Jackie. "Matt and Jackie, remember?"
Inez's eyes widened as she gaped, taking in their appearances. Now that they had mentioned their names, it was like it was so obvious. Happiness lit up in her eyes and she threw her arms around both her friends. She was so happy to see them that she didn't even scold Matt for calling her 'Nezzie' like she usually did.
"Matt! Jackie!" Inez said joyfully. "It's amazing to see you two again! It's been way too long."
"No kidding," Jackie agreed before frowning a little. "Think it's a coincidence?"
Her other two friends shrugged at that. That was something to wonder but nothing had happened so far and it was kind of nice to see each other again. Keeping these positive thoughts in her mind, Inez spoke up.
"Anyway, I skipped a grade and am in the scholarship class so we'll be together," Inez told them. She took out her timetable and the other two followed suit. "At least for our cores anyway."
Inez and Jackie glanced at each other, a little saddened that they only had their core subjects together. Despite being together, they wouldn't get to spend as much time together as they were able to in Cyberspace. It almost made the girls wish they were kids again and able to hang out more freely.
"Don't worry," Matt assured both Jackie and Inez seeing their downcast expressions. "Since we attend the same college, I'm sure that we can catch up during the breaks."
The two girls cheered up and they both smiled at him. Luckily, they did have an introduction class together. A woman entered the room who was clearly their teacher. The woman had wavy blue hair and brown eyes, she had a warm expression on her face.
Inez felt a knot of familiarity tie itself within her as she looked at the woman who was meant to introduce them to the college and introduce the core subjects to them. It was almost like she had seen this woman somewhere before, like she knew her? It almost seemed like they were old friends or something?
"Good morning," Inez said quickly, not wanting to seem like she was rude.
Jackie rubbed her eyes as she looked at the woman. Just who was she? There was such warmth in her eyes that it almost reminded her of her second mother figure in Cyberspace, Motherboard. Thinking of Cyberspace made her heart give a painful twinge of remorse. She wished they could visit that place more often but they had become so busy with their own lives. She hoped Motherboard and Digit were alright.
Matt, like Inez and Jackie also felt like he knew this woman but also felt he may be overthinking things. After all, he had never seen her before but the look on the woman's face was so heartwarming and encouraging. He felt he had seen that look before but where? Before he could decide that, the woman spoke.
"Good morning students, my name is Maya Jones," The woman said softly, a small smile. "You can call me Maya or if you prefer Mrs. Jones." With that, the introduction began.
While Inez was trying, she found herself concentrating more on the woman than the actual class and she could see Jackie and Matt seemed somewhat disturbed as well. Could it be they felt a connection to her as well? It wasn't a negative connection, in fact, it was very positive. Sort of like the connection she felt with Matt and Jackie, only stronger. Fed up with trying to understand, she brought this up three hours later when the trio were on their lunch break. She explained to them her feelings about the new teacher.
"Hmm..." Jackie mused thoughtfully, a small frown gracing her features. "I actually felt the same way, like I know Maya from somewhere. Like we're old friends or something? My gut feelings usually aren't wrong and if you felt the same way then it must mean something. Right?"
"I actually felt something to," Matt chimed in, deciding to voice his own thoughts. "But who is she? I mean, if we all seem to have this connection with her...?"
"Don't strain yourselves too much," A voice said causing the three to turn. The boy who came up behind them looked a tad older than them, he wore a red baggy shirt and shorts. He hadn't changed much at all over the last 8 years at all, despite getting taller.
"Slider!" All three teens gasped. The three of them had never thought they'd see Slider in the real world with them again. Stunned with silence, it was Inez who chose to speak up first.
"Slider, what are you doing here in the real world?" Inez asked, worry and awe both coating her tone. "Did something happen to Cyberspace?"
"And if something happened, what?" Jackie chimed in, finally finding her voice. "Are our friends alright?"
"Whoa, you two calm down!" Matt said, raising his hands and going besides Slider. He too, was shocked at the Cyborg being in this world but bombarding him with questions was not a way to get their answers. "Let's let Sly speak. Okay?"
"Sorry," Inez and Jackie both mumbled at once. Slider chuckled a little.
"Don't be," Slider said good-naturedly. "You have a right to be curious. Unfortunately, I'm not allowed to answer your questions just yet. But I can reunite you with an old friend. Follow me."
The three frowned but followed him nonetheless and he led them to a deserted area where there was a small cave.
"Hey, you can come out, I have a surprise for you," Slider called into the cave causing Matt, Jackie and Inez to exchange confused glances.
Matt's eyes widened as a bird flew out. But not just any bird, their oldest, dearest friend Digit. He seemed as fresh as ever, although his eyes didn't hold his usual excitement. Excitement bubbled up inside Matt at the sight of his friend and he rushed over to embrace him.
"Digit!" Matt said happily, wrapping his arms around him.
"Dige!" Inez and Jackie cried, joining in the hug. All three of them were happy to see the fourth member of their Cyber Squad safe.
"Heya Earthlies," Digit said happily, hugging his friends back. "Though I suppose that name doesn't really work anymore huh since Sly and I are practically Earthlies now too." He rubbed the back of his head, although there was a small smile on his face.
Jackie frowned a little at that.
"What do you mean?" Jackie asked softly. "Guys, what's going on? We're glad to be able to see you guys again but you've never come to the real world." She realized that sounded a little harsh with how she had worded it. It made her sound unwelcoming and she glanced at Inez. The girl nodded back at her before turning back to Slider.
"What Jackie means to say is that you're welcome here anytime but we were wondering if everything in Cyberspace is okay?" Inez said with a small smile, although she twiddled her thumbs, still a little nervous around Slider, her crush. Jackie had sort of gotten over it but Inez still felt her heart beating at the speed of light whenever Slider was near her.
Slider and Digit exchanged a glance with each other.
"Let's tell them, Sly," Digit said almost pleading. "They've always helped us before, maybe they'll be able to find out where he is and what he's up to."
Slider hung his head. He really wanted to tell them but at the same time, he knew Motherboard hadn't given him permission to tell them everything just yet because they didn't know themselves.
"Alright," Slider relented. "If you must know, Cyberspace has been deleted."
Matt gaped at Slider at the word 'deleted'. He didn't understand the whole gist of what had happened, except that it might mean that Cyberspace no longer existed but how? They had imprisoned Hacker eight years ago, so it surely couldn't have been him, could it? He didn't know for sure but he sure hoped it wasn't Ledge. He had been a tough one and he had almost won if Inez hadn't saved the day. The question now was: who was Digit referring to when he said 'he'?
Inez felt her stomach drop at Slider's words. Deleted? Worry filled inside her, wondering if Motherboard was alright. Not just Motherboard, but Creech and Jules as well. The thought scared her, what had Hacker done? Had he and Ledge joined forces like the back-stabbing traitor had once wanted to? If Cyberspace was deleted, did that mean all its residents were gone too?
Jackie turned white as a sheet at Slider's words. No, no! Cyberspace couldn't be gone! Why hadn't Motherboard called them? She would have helped, she would have set aside her busy schedule for a place that had been practically her second home. She glanced down at Digit and realized it was why he looked so dull. He had lost his home, the place he had opened his eyes in. She couldn't even imagine being lost in an unknown world forever, being thrown out of your own home wondering if you would ever see it again, the thought terrified her. She thought back to Motherboard, not wanting to picture how she must have felt seeing her world that she ruled over crushed in front of her very eyes. Speaking of Motherboard...
"Where's Mother B?" Jackie asked worriedly. "Is she alright?"
Slider smiled at that.
"Relax, Motherboard's fine," Slider said softly. "You'll work together with her soon." He knew he couldn't tell any of them more than that as it wasn't right to put them in unnecessary danger besides it was Motherboard's request not to tell anything.
Matt knelt besides Digit putting an arm around him.
"We'll help, Didge," Matt promised. "I don't know how yet but we'll bring Cyberspace back." He looked at Inez and Jackie. "Are you with me?" He hated to see his friend so downtrodden and depressed by what was happening and wished he could do something. A part of him did wonder why Motherboard and Digit hadn't called upon them but couldn't bring himself to ask Digit that as he already looked quite upset.
"Of course!" Inez cried, pumping her fist in the air and looking at Slider, her eyes meeting. He smiled at her and she blushed, although she nodded towards him, her eyes holding promise. Cyberspace was a second home to her and it ached her heart that it had been deleted. She would definitely get to the bottom of this.
"I'm in," Jackie agreed as well kneeling down besides Digit as well. She looked to Matt and smiled at how determined he was. She could tell he was upset at how things had turned out for Cyberspace but that sadness wasn't going to stop them. Whoever was behind this would pay dearly. No one hurt Cyberspace without facing the wrath of the Cybersquad.