Episode Thirteen
*written with help from Clearsky* The SuperComputer
The army finally entered the portal, and looked around. Bob quickly went to the head of the group. "Oh.. my USER…!" Bob gasped when he saw what was left of the supercomputer.
It looked very much like Mainframe had when Megabyte took over, but this was much much worse! The semi-demolished buildings seemed to be entwined with glowing yellow vines. Any and all vehicles were dead in the street, also covered by the odd vines.
Bob looked towards the principle office. It had succumbed to the same fate, except the vines were thicker and thornier. The air smelled slightly foul, and a thick fog loomed above the city. The sky itself seemed to pulse with the eerie yellow glow that seemed to cover everything here.
"It's not just the guardians…" Matrix began, "It's the whole supercomputer! EVERYTHING'S been infected!!"
McAfee looked around, and went up to one of the vines. She held her hand over it… and suddenly doubled over in pain, crying out. "So…. strong…!" she shouted as her skin paled, "So… evil…!"
AndrAIa quickly grabbed hold of her, and pulled her away from the vines. The colour came back to the anti-virus's face, and she seemed to breathe normally now, "Are.. are you ok?!" AndrAIa asked.
McAfee took a deep breath, "Yes.. yes, child.. I am fine… although it seemed as if I have harmed myself, in truth I am gathering information, sensing how strong the infection is, and building up defenses…" she explained.
AndrAIa nodded.
"Come on…" Bob began, "Let's head to the principle office.."
"It looks… deserted.." Matrix said as they walked towards the infected dome.
"Do not think that, child…" McAfee began, "It is highly unlikely that the Guardians would leave such a place un-guarded.."
"You've got THAT right…" Turbo said. He looked towards the principle office, and smiled, "Anytime…" he said quietly.
As if on cue, over 300 infected Guardians emerged from the shadows, and quickly converged on the small army. Not only did they have individual weapons, but the principle office itself powered up. Targeting guns raised out of the roof of the PO, and began firing. An energy shield went up around the building.
"Fire at will! And for User's sake, make your shots count!" Matrix shouted as he started firing his Gun. His shots took out huge chunks of the local scenery, and the Guardians hiding behind them. Beside him, AndrAIa reflected an energy bolt that was shot at Matrix's back, then fired her own gun at the infected Guardian. Her shot turned the other's weapon to slag, and knocked the Guardian back, but it wasn't a lethal hit. AndrAIa frowned and turned to shoot at another target.
Bob was finding it hard to fire on his fellow Guardians, but thankfully, the volunteers and Web Riders had no problems. Shots were flying back and forth, but almost everyone had something to use as a shield. The broken buildings and rubble gave excellent cover. People were getting hurt, but not killed. Then it changed.
Matrix gave a shout as he managed to hit a Guardian dead-on, and the infected sprite had time for one final scream before he was deleted. This attack seemed to signal an increase in the fighting, and suddenly there were twice as many shots coming at the Mainframers.
Five Guardians fired at a building behind a group of volunteers, and the hits caused the wall to buckle and collapse, deleting all 12 fighters. The Guardians gave a shout and a few recklessly advanced, only to be wounded themselves as the volunteers redoubled their fire.
Matrix took the idea from that attack and began destroying walls and such, but the Guardians knew the layout of the city better then Matrix did. Most were able to escape his shots, but almost none got away unhurt.
Bob still wasn't sure he could fire a killing shot against another Guardian, then a Web Rider beside him was deleted by a shot in the back from one, and Bob had no more doubts. The bolt of energy he shot off caught the Guardian square in the chest and deleted him before he knew he was dead.
Bob ducked an energy bolt and looked around at the fighters; they were pinned down, and every nano they stayed in one place was another nano Daemon had to prepare for them. They couldn't keep fighting like this forever!
"Quick, Mouse… take Ray and Hex. Hack into the defenses and get into the principle office! Find the main control room. Do what you can! Just disable their weapons and the shield!" Bob shouted as Guardians, web riders, and other sprites fought around him. He quickly shot a beam of golden energy towards one of the guardians, "And HURRY! We've gotta get McAfee in there!!" He looked towards the anti-virus, who was currently holding her own against the infected Guardians.
"Gottcha' sugah!" Mouse said. Ray, and Hexadecimal followed her as she snuck through the mess of fighting bodies. She opened up a small computer disguised as a communicator on her wrist, and did what she did best. Hacked. A small space appeared in the energy field, and the three squirmed through. It closed quickly behind them. "Now, we're gonna have to get this WHOLE shield down somehow. And ah can't do it with this thing.." she held up her wrist. Then she looked at the door of the PO. "Hmm… one moment here…" she pushed a few more buttons, and did a bit more hacking. Soon, the door opened slightly, allowing enough room for the three to sneak in.
*** SuperComputer - Principle Office
The building was dark. The walls on the inside were covered with the same vines as the outside. "This place is HUGE!!" Mouse commented as she looked around. The hallways seemed to go on forever, with many twists and turns. She looked at the wall, and smiled, "Well.. it seems the Guardians don't know everything after all.." she commented, as she noticed the yellow vines covered a map of the PO. She was going to remove the vines herself, but remembered McAfee's reaction to them. "Cursors…"
Hexadecimal looked at the vines, "Mother has been busy…" she commented. Then sighed, "I only wish she would have let me in on her plans. But now it's too late… and she's made me rather angry."
"Where is that control room…?" Mouse asked, "If only ah could see this map…"
"Oh really, Mouse.." Hexadecimal said, and quickly reached up and pulled the vines away. Being a virus herself, this didn't affect her in the least, "No need to be so dramatic…" she smiled, showing fangs.
Mouse looked at her, "Uh.. thank you, sugah.."
Hexadecimal smiled, "Oooh.. you're very welcome. Did I ever thank you for sending my brother into the web?!"
"Uh.. no.. no you didn't.. but that's quite all right.." Mouse commented dryly, "Besides, ah didn't do anyone any favours… least of all myself.." She thought to herself, and shivered involuntarily at the image of web virus Megabyte. She shook the image out of her head, and took a look at the map. "According to this, the control room is down a few corridors, and to the right…"
"Let's go then.." Ray commented. And the three headed on their way.
*** Guardian's Meeting Room
"The hacker known as Mouse has breached the shields," Paige began. "Cursors!!" She hit her hand angrily on the table.
"Calm yourself, Paige. We will be able to stop them.." a voice spoke quietly from the shadows.
"How, Daemon?!" Paige asked as she looked towards the shadow.
Daemon leaned forward every so slightly, and Paige could see her smile, "My child…" she began, but she was not talking to Paige. She was talking to the virus behind her, "Take care of our intruders… and your sister…"
*** P.O. Corridors
Mouse looked around in confusion. "There are so many doors here! How will we know which one leads to the control room?!"
Ray shrugged, "Lucky guess?" Mouse looked at him with a raised eyebrow.
"Well.. why don't we just open the doors and see… hmm.." Hexadecimal began. She opened the door to her left. It was a closet. "Oh dear.. this WILL take a while…"
"You will not get far enough to WORRY about which door leads to the control room…" a deep voice said behind the three. They all spun around in unison.
"YOU!" Mouse gasped. "AGAIN! How did you survive THIS time..?"
"With a little help from my mother, and Tower. Oh.. but.. you probably know him as Cannon,"
"Ah saw the cave in, Megabyte!! You couldn't have gotten out!"
"Well, you see, Mouse...Tower prevented Matrix from shooting me.. so I COULD get out. The cave in did not do much but dent me…" he explained. "Mother made sure of that! Once you were gone, she opened a portal for me. Ah yes.. Mother is wonderful."
"To you, perhaps…" Hexadecimal commented.
Megabyte just seemed to notice her, "Oh… hello, Hexadecimal."
Hexadecimal raised her eyebrows, "Hello, brother… "
Megabyte glared at Hexadecimal, "I would say it's a pleasure seeing you again.. but that would be a lie. After all, you DID ruin my TOR …!" he said.
"Now now.. it was your fault, brother! You're the one who made me angry. But now that we are face to face, I can work my frustrations out. I do hope you don't mind!" She laughed.
Mouse grabbed Ray and ran down the corridor, "Come on, sugah.. let's get outta here while we got the chance.."
Hexadecimal stared down her brother, "The web look is good for you, brother…"
"You've let them get away, you fool!!" Megabyte shouted. "They are going to get to the control room!"
Hexadecimal shrugged, "So let them. I don't care about the supercomputer, brother. In fact… I do hope that nice anti-virus lady can hurt mother like mother hurt me!"
Megabyte looked at Hexadecimal, confused. "How did mother hurt you, Hexadecimal?!" But he didn't really care.
A tear slid down Hexadecimal's cheek, and she became sad. "It seems my whole family has turned on me. YOU tried to use me as a power source, and Mother has disowned me! I don't appreciate the way I've been treated, you know!" Her sadness quickly turned into a sadistic smile, "It is time for my revenge!"
***
"Shouldn't we help Hex?" Ray asked Mouse as she dragged him away.
"Believe me, honey.. she can take care of herself!" Mouse replied. "Besides.. this is her fight. She's hated her brother for a long time. That's one fight I won't interfere in."
***
"Ah, Hexadecimal.. you always were random. I regret that I didn't see how fragile your mind was BEFORE I put that collar on," Megabyte commented.
"Log off, brother… come now.. let's fight!"
Megabyte snarled and leaped at Hex, claws unsheathed, both broken and whole. Hex snapped an energy shield in front of her and smirked as she waited for Megabyte to smash into it. He did, rather comically too, but Hex's smirk turned to a scream as Megabyte's Web tentacles slithered around the shield and grabbed at her arms.
"NOOOO! Get them OFF of me!!!" Hex remembered the last time she had been held by a Web creature, and panicked, swiping at the tentacles with her claws. They held her tightly though, and Megabyte snarled at her from the other side of the useless energy shield.
"Not good enough, DEAR sister... I am stronger then you now, and with Mother helping me-"
Hex screamed in rage at the mention of their mother and removed the shield from between them. Megabyte staggered forwards, off balance, and Hex slashed her claws across his chest and face. Megabyte roared in pain, and the Web tentacles whipped through the air, thrashing around them. Half blinded, he struck out at Hex, tearing into her arm with his claws, and it was Hex's turn to scream.
The flailing tentacles knocked Hex back, away from her brother, giving Megabyte time to recover. He shook his head, clearing his eyes, then ran at Hex, arms outstretched, tentacles reaching. Hex was still breathless from the blow. She looked up in time to see Megabyte coming for her, and she did the only thing she could - form a deadly fireball and throw it at him before throwing herself to one side.
Megabyte screamed as the fire ate into the Web tentacles, burning them away, and he fell, blown backwards from the blast. Hex stood and carefully walked over to him and watched as he writhed in pain. Megabyte tried to stand, and that was when Hex decided she'd had enough fun. She formed yet another fireball, bigger then the first, and sent it flying directly at his head.
Megabyte didn't have a chance. He never even heard it coming, and he was flung onto his back from the explosion, battered, broken and bleeding.
Hexadecimal looked down at the fallen Megabyte. He barely moved. "Now, brother… it is time to have a chat with my dear Mother!"
Disclaimer: All ReBoot (tm) characters are property of Mainframe Entertainment.
The character of Paige is property of Joey Cruz
All other new characters are property of ME.. ^_^
The author would like to thank you for your continued support. Your review has been posted.