Okay, a little bit of warning to the readers. In Buzz and Delete's first appearance later in this chapter you'll find that they are quite a bit more serious and morose than the rest of the characters. In my mind this humorous story is starting to form shudders a plot. I'm sorry to those that are disappointed by this. I can't help it, it's a curse. A lot of it is starting to be based on romance, but I'll die before I let this story slip from humor. And I'll die, come back and die again before I let go of all the monstrous violence I have planned. Fear not! Hilarity shall ensue!

Unless there's a scene with Buzz and/or Delete. Then it'll probably be touching/romantic/sad/angsty/cute. Of course I just gave a way a pairing which goes against one of my toughest rules of fanfiction, but you'll find out soon enough, right?

XXXXXX

"So...uh...What do you suppose...?" asked Rudy.

"Um...I'm not rightly sure..." said Judy.

"Don't look at me," said Digit.

"There must be a pattern somewhere," said Matt.

"Make room," said Jackie, "I'se gotsta pace."

"Paceorzs?" Matt put in happily.

"Shut up," said Jackie and smacked on the side of the head. "Damn white boys..." she muttered as she began to pace. "Now let's see. The water lever reached zero over twenty-five days," she paused, "The first day being the most and the last day being the—"

She stopped suddenly when she felt a hand pressing against her chest. She looked up at Inez who was looking extremely irate and rubbing her temple. "Please," she said, "Don't insult my intelligence."

"What do you mean?" asked Digit.

Inez retrieved her hand before Jackie could slap it away and stared at the dumbfounded group. "Don't tell me you can't put it together." More blank stares. "Look. Something happened on the seventh day to make the water level begin to drop."

"How do you figure?" asked Trudy.

Inez was very close to smacking them all very, VERY hard, "Digit. Lift."

Digit did as she told him and grabbed her around the waist. He lifted her up to the sixth day mark and she pulled out a pointer. Smacking it hard against the steel wall she began to yell, "One, two, three, four, five, six. Six. Six days. The water level was fine for the first SIX DAYS. Understand? Then..." she instructed Digit to lower her to the seventh day water mark, "...The water level. Not so good. Low around the SEVENTH day."

The group nodded in realization.

"Honestly, it's like working with trained apes," Inez muttered as Digit lowered her to the ground.

"So what happened around the seventh day to make the water level drop?" asked Matt.

"Well," said Judy, "Come to think of it, that fleabag Hacker showed up around that time."

"Think he could be the culprit?" asked Matt.

"Gee, ya think?" asked Inez.

"Well," said Digit, "Let's go find out."

XXXXX

The lush green garden was filled with cherry blossoms and exotic plants and the fountain was running sending a soothing hum around the area. The sun was directly overhead, but it went unnoticed to Buzz and Delete who were seated next to one another on a stone bench underneath a cherry tree in full bloom, holding hands.

"It's beautiful here, isn't it?" asked Buzz.

Delete sighed and leaned his head against Buzz's shoulder.

Buzz looked down at him, "Is something wrong?"

"...I don't know."

"Did you take your medication today?"

Delete nodded.

"Do you feel any better than you did this morning?"

He nodded again.

Buzz reached down and brushed a few strands of stray hair from Delete's face, "Maybe you just need to rest."

"No...it's not that. This just...doesn't feel right."

"What doesn't feel right?"

Delete turned his head downward and squinted his eyes shut, "The air...Something bad is coming. Hacker isn't going to like it."

"Do you think we should tell him?"

Delete looked up and nodded, "Just so he can keep a good lookout."

XXXXXX

"So you want me to pull up all sensors, lockdown and shut off the water supply based on a feeling?" asked Hacker as he leaned back in his chair.

Buzz nodded.

Hacker sat there looking at the two of them for a moment before he turned to Delete, "All right. Delete, I'm releasing the helm to you. Go on full lockdown and monitor the area. Buzz, get the best gun in your arsenal and wait on top of the ship. Contact me if you see anything coming," he got up to let Delete begin his work.

"So you believe him?" asked Buzz.

"The boy's never steered me wrong before. I'll be damned if I ignore his obvious foreshadowing now."

"And what about you?"

"I'm going to the gate," he grinned, "To greet whomever pays my little paradise a visit," he grabbed his coat and whipped it around his shoulders as he marched off the bridge.

XXXXXX

There you have it, the first showing of Hacker and his minions in my twisted world of Cyberspace. What do you think? Sexy, evil and smart. What a guy.

Review if you feel the need to!