ALTERNATE MACHINOS
By Grand High Idol
Disclaimer: I do not own Cyberchase, nor any of its characters. (Well, duh.)
CHAPTER I: The mistake
Jackie, Matt and Inez ran across the large cybersite of Proportiona, trying their best to escape Hacker, who was in the Grim Wreaker and chasing after them. They had stolen a special item of his earlier, and he wanted it back. And if that meant trying to destroy the kids to get it, so be it.
"You've meddled with my plans for the last time, kiddies!" he shouted as he came ever closer to them. "You won't get away again!"
"We have to find a way out of here!" Jackie told the other two. "We can't outrun the Grim Wreaker!"
"I know," Inez said. "And sooner or later we will run out of breath."
"We need a plan," Digit said.
"I'll try to piece together what happened earlier," Matt said. "Maybe then we can think up some way to escape…"
"We've got trouble," Dr. Marbles said as the Cybersquad fell out of the pinkish portal that took them into cyberspace so often. It was early, about an hour or so before the incident. "And this time it might actually be serious!"
"What's the problem now, Dr. Marbles?" Matt asked him.
"It appears that Hacker has a new weapon," the Doctor informed them nervously. "I haven't seen it in action on any cybersites yet, thank goodness, but it is dangerous. He tested it on the remains of his voice statue."
"You mean the one we shut off when he was broadcasting his voice?" Inez said. "Yes, I remember that."
"What happened?" Jackie asked curiously.
"I didn't see the beginning; I think my reception was poor. But I can inform you of one thing—the statue was no longer there when he finished."
"We can start right away," Matt told him. "But it might be a bit difficult if it was as bad as you say it was."
"Whatever the circumstances, you must turn it off!" Dr. Marbles warned them. "If it has the same effects on cyberspace as it does on the statue, there's nothing we can do."
"We're on it, Doc!" Digit said.
"Good," Dr. Marbles said, smiling. "Since Motherboard is still in sleep mode, I need to generate a portal myself. This will only take a second."
He turned around and started typing something, then after a while another pinkish portal opened up near them. The kids and Digit immediately jumped into it, while Dr. Marbles waved to them. "Good luck!" he said.
The kids sailed through the familiar tunnel of light and virtual code until they entered another opening and fell from the sky, landing on their backs on top of a large flower. They remained on top of it for a second, then one of the petals tilted and they rolled off and hit the ground.
Inez got up, rubbing her back. "Ow! That's the last time I ever try to land back first." She looked around. The trees towered over her and the flowers were just as tall as the one they had landed on, which was about the size of a house. She had been here before, and she knew what site it was. Cybersite Proportiona, the site of scale and size.
Matt noticed at once. "Geez, leave it to Hacker to start with as big a cybersite as this one."
Jackie nodded, then got up, brushing the dust off of her skirt. "We'd better find him quick, before he starts anything."
"Let's go!" Digit said at once, lifting himself up with his tail and flying off. The kids stared after him, then shrugged and ran after the Cybird.
They had run for at least fifteen minutes before they stopped. Noticing what they had seen at once, they gasped, then ducked in the bushes as Hacker came by, a machine that looked very much like a ray gun in his hand. He looked around, thinking he had heard something, then shook it off and called, "Buzz! Delete!"
The two robots came running over, as always. "What now, boss?" Delete asked.
"I want you to stand guard on the Grim Wreaker while I find a good place to start this up," Hacker ordered, pointing at the machine. "If anyone—anyone at all—interferes with this plan, YOU'LL be the ones to blame. Do I make myself clear!"
"Crystal clear, boss," Buzz replied, nodding his head.
"Good. Now, stay here! I've got a cybersite to conquer!"
He then turned his back to them and walked off. As soon as he had disappeared from view, Jackie, Matt, Inez, and Digit glanced over towards the direction in which he had walked from. They then turned their gaze on Buzz and Delete. The two didn't seem to be doing much; Delete was sitting with his back against a tree, looking relaxed, while Buzz was pacing around.
Matt turned his gaze back to where Hacker had walked off. "I say we follow him," he told the rest of them. "Then maybe we can snatch the device."
"It's a bit risky," Jackie said, shaking her head. "If that thing can destroy a statue, it can destroy us hands down."
"Still, we've got to try."
"But what about Buzz and Delete?" Digit asked him. "Won't they notice us when we slip out of here?"
"Does it look like they're noticing anything now? Come on, we have to follow him!"
The rest of the Cybersquad looked reluctant, but they knew that Matt was right. Inez sighed, then got down on her hands and knees and crawled out of the bushes. Jackie followed her, then Matt, then Digit. As soon as they were out of the bush (which was indeed very large) they pulled themselves up and started running in the same direction that Hacker had walked off in.
They caught up to him pretty quickly, after some difficulty with leaping over large rocks, roots, and such. As soon as they reached the spot that Hacker had stopped at, the Cybersquad got down at once as Hacker set the machine down, then looked around.
"Let's see…" They heard him mutter to himself, "where to start? I could go out to the playground, but it could be a bit dangerous—for me, anyway—until I start it up. The island's no good…The house won't do at all…Neither will the pond…" He thought for a few more moments, then said, "I suppose I'll just start here!"
He then laughed evilly. Inez gasped, then said, "We have to stop him!"
"But how do we get the device away from him?" Matt asked her.
"It was your idea, you think up something!" Digit said.
"I just said to follow him. I didn't say I was going to figure out how to get the device away from him!"
"Okay, okay," Inez said. "Listen, we need to make this quick. Hacker could start it up any second!"
"I'll get it," Digit offered.
"Good," Inez said. "Just sneak over and grab it."
"You want me—" he gulped—"To go near the Hacker?"
"I believe that's what she said," Jackie told him.
"You're not chicken, are you?" Matt dared him, nudging him in the side.
"O-of course not!" Digit stammered. "I just don't want to—" He stopped and stared at the three kids, then sighed and said, "okay, okay, I'll go. Just warn me if he spots me, got it?"
Inez nodded. Digit swallowed, then said, "okay, here goes."
He flopped down on his stomach, then slowly started making his way across the ground—exactly like a soldier on enemy grounds—towards the device. He came closer and closer, trying to remain hidden in the tall grass…
In a few moments he was within range of the machine, and slowly reached out towards it. He had grabbed it and was just about to pull it back towards him when Inez whispered loudly, "DIGIT!"
"What?" Digit asked, but he was interrupted by the sound of footsteps. A large shadow fell over him, and he looked up, still on his stomach, to see the Hacker, standing in front of him and not looking very pleased. He growled at the bird.
"I believe that this belongs to me," he said, grabbing the device away from Digit with such force that the bird fell backward. Hacker then took a few steps closer to him and said, "You really thought that you could get away with that, didn't you?"
Digit gulped; he was too frightened to say anything. He rolled over onto his back and slowly took a few steps backward. Hacker took a few steps towards him, so Digit stepped backward again. This continued until they were right near the bush where the kids were.
Jackie slowly backed up a bit. "What if he finds us too?" she whispered.
"He won't as long as we're quiet," Inez whispered back. "But we still need to get the device away. You heard Dr. Marbles!"
Matt, overhearing the girls' conversation, slowly turned his gaze towards the outside of the bushes. The device that Hacker had snatched from Digit was still in his hand, and it was about a yard or so away from Matt. He finally decided upon doing something to get it away and have enough time to grab it, but he only had one chance. He would have to make it quick.
Getting up, he slowly walked over to where the Hacker was and slowly started to extend his hand from the bushes. He had to start slowly at first, but as soon as he was within reach, he knocked the device out of Hacker's hand with one quick blow. Digit caught the device before it could smash itself on the ground, then looked around in confusion.
"Give it to me, you two-toned Cyberturkey!" Hacker snapped at him. Digit, seeing Matt, Jackie and Inez running out of the bushes, turned around and bolted as well. "You won't escape that easily!" Hacker yelled after them, then started to chase them.
Matt turned around. "I don't see him," he said. "Do you think we lost him?"
"We'd better keep running, just to be sure," Inez told him. "You never know when—YAH!"
She shouted in surprise as Buzz leapt out of the bushes at her in midair. She bolted out of the way, narrowly missing him. Delete looked and followed suite, but his particular target was Jackie. She screamed, then jumped out of the way. Delete missed her and landed on his back on the ground.
While the two were still stunned, the kids and Digit continued running. Hacker arrived shortly after, just as Buzz and Delete were starting to get up. Delete, looking dazed, said, "Hi, boss, how'd it go with the—"
"Never mind that!" he snapped at them. "Just get into the Wreaker at once!"
"But can't we just go on foot?" Delete asked, regaining memory.
"No!" Hacker shouted at him. Delete cowered in fear as Hacker continued, "I want the advantage, and it's the advantage I get! Go!"
So that's why the kids were being chased at the moment. Matt finished piecing it together, then said to the girls and Digit, "I think there's only one option right now."
"Which is…?" Jackie asked.
Matt reached into his backpack and took out a Squawk Pad. "We need to call Motherboard to send us a portal. Maybe then we can—GAH!"
He yelped in surprise as a large portal suddenly opened up in front of them. It looked like the usual portal they took, only it seemed much larger and seemed to be embossed into the scenery around them. The kids stopped immediately, staring at the large portal in front of them.
"Heh, looks like Motherboard knew about it," Digit said.
"This doesn't look like a normal portal, guys," Inez said. "It's much too big. It looks more like a wormhole."
"You mean one of those holes that, if you enter it, it takes you to a whole different time or place?" Matt asked. "Yeah, I've heard of those."
"Well, should we go in or not?" Jackie said, starting to get impatient. "Hacker is gaining on us, if you didn't notice before!"
Matt and Inez turned around and looked at the large ship above them, then turned to look back at the portal. Inez rubbed her chin and said, "I still don't know…"
"Let's just get in!" Digit shouted. Before anyone could react, he jumped into the portal. Jackie looked at Matt and Inez, then turned to look at the portal.
"Digit, wait!" she shouted, then jumped in after him. Matt and Inez looked at each other, then shrugged and leapt into the portal as well. It closed just as Hacker entered their area.
"What in cyberspace!" he remarked. "Where'd they go to?"
"'Dey probably entered a portal, boss," Buzz stated.
"You don't need to tell me that!" he shouted at Buzz. Buzz remained silent, then slowly backed up and stood next to Delete. Hacker searched the area, but the kids were gone.
"This is sickening," he said angrily. "They may have the device, but I will prevail! The Hacker has not been defeated yet!"
The Grim Wreaker then lifted itself up and disappeared into the treetops…
Meanwhile, inside the portal, the kids were doing what they always did normally when they completed a mission—sailing around in the tunnel of light. "Well, that didn't go so bad," Matt said, laying back.
"Yeah," Inez agreed. "And we still have the device, so it should be safe until—"
Digit looked around, then said, "hey guys, do you think it's getting a bit—well, lighter in here?"
Matt glanced around like Digit had done, then shrugged and said, "no. Why?"
"Well, it just seems like—"
Jackie suddenly felt a sharp pang in her arm. She looked down, only to see that it was starting to turn a pale purple-ish color. She yelped, then said to the others, "Guys, are you turning color?"
Matt and Inez looked at themselves. They couldn't see anything wrong with their arms, then Matt gasped and said, "Inez, your head…"
"What?" Inez asked.
"It's turning the same color as Jackie's arm."
"So's your leg!"
Matt looked down at his leg, which was indeed changing color. He yelped in surprise, then the tunnel grew brighter, and they seemed to speed up just a bit. The kids started to warp too. Digit looked around, then gulped and said, trying to remain calm but scared half to death, "Guys…"
"What?" Matt asked.
"This isn't our portal."
None of the kids could make a response, for they were starting to speed up even faster. The tunnel grew brighter, and the kids had to shield their eyes as so not to be blinded. They started speeding up—going faster by the second, faster…
Then a large series of flashes happened, and finally they heard the sound of something opening. They felt themselves go through something thick, then they were falling…falling…