Author's Note: Updates may become increasingly delayed in the future. I now have two fics running, this one and "I Love You, AndrAIa", plus ROM (which is online as of today, by the way) and besides dividing my time between them, I'm getting sort of depressed about the way my writing seems to be going. I'm sure some of you are familiar with it: I've hit a sort of plateau. My writing doesn't seem to be improving any really, which was one of my main goals when I started writing for this fandom. The idea for Enemy especially that I've envisioned since the beginning seems to be fading, and the chapters turning out shorter and of less quality than I would have liked. All in all, I think I need a fresh perspective on things, so after this chapter I'm going to take a short break from writing- except for ROM, which I feel I need to support since I'm the one who created it. I'm going to spend a much longer time on future chapters, trying to make each one a little more perfect, and who knows? Maybe one day I'll succeed, lol. It IS better for me than writing each chapter in one exhausting all-night session, I'll admit. The Reboot fandom is my favorite to date, and one I'm going to stay with- but just be aware, this is my last chapter for now and it may be awhile until my next update. I'll try to make this one a bit longer, K? Lol, enjoy. –Tom

PART VI: The Fall of G-Prime

AndrAIa collapsed to the floor motionless, unconsciousness claiming her as the high-frequency waves attacked her hearing and her mind. "What is it?" Dot asked, staring horrified at the game sprite's inert form on the floor of the War Room. "We need med teams in here now!" Phong stared intently at the viewscreen, eyes wide at what he saw: the waves spreading slowly from the impact crater like ripples in a pond, covering all of Mainframe with their distortions. "They- they are using sine waves against us!" Phong said, visibly rattled. "What?" Dot asked, distracted as med teams of binomes arrived, carrying the unconscious game sprite from the room. "We are facing sine waves," Phong said evenly. "No one knows exactly how they are generated, but they interface directly with the brainwaves of sprites and binomes alike- that pattern is unmistakable."

"But what does this mean?" Dot asked, clutching the railing. "And why did whatever it is affect AndrAIa more than the rest of us?" "The game sprite's condition is caused by a type of sonic weapon, my child- unnoticeable by most sprites and binomes at this distance. In fact, Principle Office shields should compensate to screen that out momentarily. As for what it means, my child... Mouse and Matrix may be in grave danger." A single tear rolled down Dot's cheek as she watched the clouds of dust and debris churn over G-Prime. Their interference made it impossible to contact Mouse and Matrix... but in spite of what might be happening to them even now, Dot didn't want those clouds to dissipate. She feared whatever might be revealed once the concealing clouds departed... even though she didn't want to admit it, she feared what disaster that might spell. For her... and for Mainframe.

            "WARNING... INCOMING GAME. WARNING... INCOMING GAME." The words were all Matrix could hear as blackness encroached on the edges of his vision, his consciousness fading in and out. In the distance he could hear a shrill scream as Mouse, inside Ship's cockpit, was undoubtedly experiencing the same thing- but it was all so distant... so removed now from his own losing battle to stay conscious. To live. Soon even that will faded, being drowned out by the overwhelming agony that had become his whole universe as the renegade slipped slowly into inky blackness...

            Mouse awoke first, consciousness returning slowly to her as she blinked dazedly in the half-light. The awful high-frequency waves that had been driving her insane were gone- and so, she realized, was G-Prime. With a start, she sat up, the sudden movement causing a sharp pain to shoot through her aching head. With a groan, she stood up and walked slowly toward where Matrix lay motionless on the ground several yards away. Reaching him, she collapsed at his side, the pain in her ankle and all through her making it impossible to go farther. "Matrix... Matrix!" she whispered insistently, shaking the renegade with both hands. The bulky sprite's eyes blinked open slowly, rubbing his temples as he came to. "What happened?" he groaned, slowly sitting up. "Don't you remember, Sugah?" Mouse asked, looking up at him. "That thing almost had us there, and then the game cube saved our ASCII's." "Yeah..." Matrix mumbled, standing slowly and reaching for Gun, "I DO remember."

Not twenty yards distant, the gleaming silver ovoid rested against a skyscraper in what was apparently a game based in some kind of inner city. Gun held at the ready, he advanced toward the cause of all his troubles. "Matrix, no..." Mouse said, trying faintly to stand, to stop him. "Stay right there, Mouse," Matrix said, a grin slowly spreading across his pain-wracked face. Blood poured from his nose and ears, from being so close to the ovoid in Mainframe- but he didn't seem to notice, its weapons apparently rendered powerless by game energy. "I'm going to finish this thing off, once and for all." Mouse climbed to her feet in spite of the agony that wracked her body with every step she took, fighting off the pain as she sought to approach the renegade. "But you don't know what might happen if you-" Matrix cut her off, waving Gun in the object's general direction.

"Look at it, Mouse," he said, his face darkening as he recalled what it had done to him, to Mainframe. "This thing destroyed half a sector back in the system- but here, it's powerless. We can finish it off for good." With that, Matrix levelled his weapon, finger tightening on the trigger. "Matrix, NO!" Mouse shouted, running toward the renegade, trying any way she could to stop him- but it was too late.

            Gun fired, a spear of brilliant blue energy impacting on the ovoid's silver armor. The renegade blinked, trying to clear away the afterimages. The thing had been stronger than he thought, he saw. Only one panel of its armor seemed to have been vaporized. And a dark, writhing mass of something reached out of its center toward him. In that instant, Matrix realized the deceptively simple trap he'd fallen into. The thing, whatever it was, had waited for him to do exactly that- open the doors to whatever prison had held it. And now, it seemed, he would pay for the disaster he had just inadvertently caused. He tensed his legs, ready to jump back, knowing he would never make it- and a blur of sudden movement catapulted into him, pushing him back, stunned, onto the ground.

Mouse stood before him, eyes grim and fastened on the mysterious mass, katana poised before her to strike. "Get outta here, Sugah!" she gasped, breathing hard, "I'll hold this thing off." "Mouse..." Matrix said, stunned at what had just happened. "Get out of here now!" the hacker cried, bringing her katana down in a deadly arc toward the mass below. Matrix stumbled to his feet, watching with horror as Mouse's blade struck. The teeming mass of whatever it was writhed for a moment, an audible squeal reaching the renegade's ears... and then swarmed up the blade, Mouse's eyes widening in shock as she saw what was about to happen.

It took less than a nanosecond. The teeming gray mass consumed Mouse's arm, and the hacker cried out in sudden pain. She slumped to the ground, motionless... and the thing slithered quickly in Matrix's direction, looking for fresh victims. The renegade jumped quickly aside, weapon held at the ready... but the thing raced by at incredible speed. Apparently, the bulky sprite hadn't been its target at all... He got shakily to his feet, confused by his apparent salvation. He ran to Mouse's side, kneeling over the hacker, hoping she wasn't...

            A sharp flash of light in the distance, where the cube's edges touched down in Mainframe made Matrix look up abruptly. The renegade gasped in horror as the ground, the sky all around him began to merge in a vast expanse of writhing, featureless gray. In an instant, the inner-city world he had been in was no more.

            Steve blinked blearily at the screen, the Grand Theft Auto game he'd been playing disappearing from the screen in a wash of harsh gray light. This time I've definitely had a few too many, he thought as images began to flash on the screen. Images that were definitely not from Grand Theft Auto. His thief character screamed horrifically as the lower half of his body simply disappeared, blood pumping out in surges of grisly red to stain the buildings around it... and suddenly, there were no more buildings. That's wierd, thought Steve. Didn't know they had that programmed in. With a groan, Steve lowered his head to the desk, his snores resonating throughout the house.

            Matrix looked around frantically as the world he knew disappeared around him, the sky darkening to be replaced by... an arena. His eyes narrowed as a bolt of flaming red hit the ground inches from him. He knew this place! He reached desperately for Gun as Zaytan stepped menacingly forward. What's happening to me? he thought as he frantically sidestepped the demon's clawed swipe. Matrix screamed in agony as he felt the monster's claw tearing into his eye... Suddenly the arena vanished before him in a wash of featureless gray, to be replaced by the laughing image of...

            "Megabyte?" the renegade whispered. He shook his head, renewed pain flaring within as he ground his teeth in frustration. Zaytan's deadly blow, the agony as he performed the finishing move... His stolen youth, the eternity spent in the games... Megabyte's laughing face as he held Matrix at arm's length, helpless. Somehow whatever it was was probing his thoughts- forcing him to relive his worst fears. Curling into a ball on the ground, eyes closed against the impossible array of nightmarish images before him, Matrix screamed. Harsh, desperate, inhuman with sheer despair and horror, it went on and on as the images continued to shift around him. Dark laughter filled his ears, the pain in his head agonizing beyond belief... then the most welcome sound he had ever heard.

            "GAME OVER," the voice intoned. The wash of purple energy disappeared into Mainframe's nighttime sky. Shaking, his body soaked with sweat, the renegade slowly uncurled from his fetal position. His eyes opening slowly, afraid of what he might find, he stood up slowly, looking around at the buildings near the skyscraper he had been leaning against. Something skittered in the shadows of the alley to his right, and Matrix's hand reached for Gun, his hackles rising at the feel of wrongness in the air around him. Something's not right here... he thought, looking at his surroundings uneasily. Baudway. The financial district. But the monorail had ceased to move for once... and he'd never remembered this part of the city as looking so run down...

He peered around the corner cautiously, holding Gun ready at his side. Dot's Diner stood before him... or rather, the place where Dot's Diner used to be. That area of the district looked as if it had been bombed mercilessly, still-smoldering wreckage scattered about the area. Nothing recognizable existed of the place Matrix had spent so much of his life, enjoyed some of his happiest times... the renegade swallowed, a tear trickling slowly down his dirt and blood-encrusted face. "Dot!" he called in a broken voice, his voice echoing in the eerie stillness of the dead city. "Cecil! Bob!" He prayed for someone, anyone to answer his calls... but only echoes of his own distraught voice answered him, silence reigning over the district. He stepped out into the open space where Dot's Diner used to be... and then he knew.

            The rest of the city lay spread out before him, the remnants of once-proud Mainframe bared for all to see. The shards of remaining buildings jutted into the air like blackened, broken fingers, as if struggling to regain the greatness they had once known. Broken, shattered, debris filled the empty streets. No one appeared to deny the holocaust Matrix saw before him- to comfort him, to tell him it was all right like AndrAIa once had. AndrAIa... he thought, sobs wracking his chest as he thought of the beautiful sprite he had loved so deeply. What happened here? Where are you now... Matrix's thoughts wandered as he gazed across the apocalypse that had once been Mainframe. His eyes fixed on a building in the distance, parts of it consumed in a terrible, raging inferno that lit up the desolate expanse of the city. The Principle Office.  His shoulders shaking, he made his way down the empty street before him, knowing in his heart that he had caused all this... that whatever had come out of that hardware had destroyed forever the world he had once known. What have I done? he thought, coming to a stop before a pile of rubble, blood staining the broken concrete before him. Oh, User... what have I done?

******

            He made his way down the cracked, broken expanse of what had once been the main street of Mainframe, stooping to enter the jagged hole at the base of the Principle Office. The heavy steel door lay to one side, torn asunder by force. Deep gouges marred its once-sleek surface, scorched and pockmarked now by weapons fire. Matrix took a long look, drawing Gun as an uneasy shudder ran down his spine, his sweat turning cold as he stared in disbelief. The deep gouges near the door's center looked an awful lot like claw marks...

            The first thing that hit him as he stepped into the Principle Office was the atmosphere. The air felt hot and sticky on the renegade's back, and smelled strongly of sulfur. A shiver ran down Matrix's spine as he stepped alone through a low doorway. The lights were on, but a thin haze of smoke and mist floated in the air- much like the atmosphere after a battle. Matrix swallowed hard, a lump forming in his throat. He knew how this battle had most likely ended... He shoved aside a pile of wreckage, entering the cavernous expanse of the War Room. The smoke and the damp, warm mist grew thicker the deeper he went into the room. Ahead he saw a flickering red hint of flame. Almost like descending into the depths of hell...

He took a deep breath of the oppressive air and walked farther into the room- then stopped cold at what he saw. Specky leaned against a wall near the door like a broken toy soldier, head lolled to the side at an unnatural angle. A long knife was embedded deep in the binome's chest, and letters were scrawled on the wall beside him. Red letters... as if done in blood. The writing was done in an ancient language, but it didn't matter... the intent of the words was clear. The door at the other end of the War Room stood open, beckoning, flames flickering in the darkness of the hallway beyond. Rage began to build in Matrix's chest, mingled with fear... what had done this to the people and the system he had once held dear? He saw the entrance up ahead. The Grand Hall... perhaps there he would find answers.

He pushed open the double doors, the hinges groaning as he made his way inside. He coughed, smoke and heat filling his lungs and obscuring his vision. Step by step, he made his way into the gloom, the hairs on the back of his neck rising as he looked around uneasily. Something terrible had happened here... he was sure of it. As the smoke cleared for an instant, he saw the bloody remains of a sprite on the ground near the hall's end, and gagged first in nausea at the way the body seemed to have been violently ripped apart... then in mounting horror. He rushed forward, tears streaming down his face at what he saw. "No... no..." he whispered helplessly, desperately, cradling the sprite's limp hand in his own. A trident stood embedded in the flooring near the broken body.

"AndrAIa..." he whispered, body shaking as he sobbed over the sprite he had once known... had loved more deeply than any could have imagined. This is it then, he thought. He raised Gun to his own temple, closing his eyes as his finger tightened on the trigger. It's over... it's all over...

"But it's not over, boy," a sinister, all too familiar voice sneered from behind him. A crushing force gripped the renegade around the waist, smashing him into the wall. "You see," he said, the voice hissing within inches of Matrix's face, "The nightmare is just beginning." The renegade cringed as if struck. "Megabyte..." he whispered hoarsely.

Dot stood in the War Room, staring with mounting fear at the main viewscreen. The dust had cleared from at least part of the sector now- enough so she could see the startling change that had taken place in the game cube. "The second cube in as many minutes to land in G-Prime," Phong said as if reading her thoughts. "Coincidence?" "I think not," the Command.com said, studying the viewscreen intently. "Look what's happening!" The cube had turned almost completely, uniform gray, with a few areas near the base retaining their normal color. "Mouse and Matrix may be inside, my child," Phong advised, turning toward the Command.com. "I hope not, Phong," Dot said, a tear rolling down her cheek at the thought of what might be happening to them even now. "I truly hope not."

            "You monster!" Matrix shouted, kicking viciously backward and connecting with the virus's midriff. Megabyte staggered backward, reeling as Matrix walked forward, slamming blow after blow into the virus's face. "It may be too late for Mainframe," he gasped, throwing all his weight behind a smashing punch to the jaw, "But I will rid the Net of you for good!" "Oh, I don't think so, boy," Megabyte snarled, catching the renegade's hand easily in his fist. "Not so easily." Matrix raised Gun, pointing it straight at the virus's snarling face. "Prepare for deletion, Virus!" Tentacles slashed out of Megabyte's midsection, sending Gun flying off into a distant corner. "Deletion?" Megabyte's laugh was mirthless, mocking. "I think not." Matrix never saw the dark fist coming, the force of the blow pushing him up against the wall. Megabyte's hand closed tightly about his throat, claws sliding out of their sheaths as he prepared for the ultimate blow.

            "Go ahead," Matrix gasped, fighting for air, "I have nothing to lose- nothing left to live for now." "Not quite yet," the virus said thoughtfully, slowly retracting his claws. "Your end will be much more... interesting..." He drew back, his fist smashing the renegade through the hard concrete wall into the space beyond. Matrix screamed in agony. The pain was like nothing he'd ever felt before, raw, terrible... He looked behind him groggily. A solid wall of energy extended from the ground up as far as he could see. Game energy...

            He looked up at the encroaching virus, who flexed his extended claws thoughtfully. "So, you've realized the truth," he said, staring balefully down at the renegade. "You're not even real," Matrix growled, rising slowly, painfully to his feet, recognition dawning at what the virus had almost tricked him into doing. "There's no way I'm going to let some game kill me off!" "That's where you're wrong, boy," the virus sneered. "You see, in this game I am still just as real... and I can still delete you just as thoroughly." With that, Megabyte surged forward, claws reaching in a killing swipe for the renegade's throat. Matrix barely dodged, seizing the virus's arm in mid-swing and using his own momentum to propel the virus into the wall of coruscating game energy. Ignoring Megabyte's howl of pain, Matrix reached backward for the trident... the weapon that had saved his life before against the virus and would now take care of him for good. Taking hold of his old enemy with both hands, he threw Megabyte mercilessly to the ground, standing over him with the trident poised.  Megabyte raised his arms helplessly, looking up at the renegade's grim features, searching his face for some sign of mercy. He found none.

            "You can't... do this.." he gasped, reaching weakly for the arm holding the deadly trident. "Game over, Virus," Matrix snarled, hurling the weapon down with full force. This time, the trident's three prongs struck home.

            "There is a buildup of energy," Phong said into the tense atmosphere of the War Room. "The game is leaving." Dot watched the screen facial muscles tensed at what she knew must be about to happen... Not again, Enzo, she thought, burying her face in her arms. As her shoulders shook with muffled sobs, the wash of energy descended into the heavens. "GAME OVER," the voice came. She waited expectantly for those three final, fatal words she knew were about to come... but they never came. Crying with relief, she threw her arms around Phong, hugging the old sprite to her tightly. "They're OK," she said, the words a miracle in themselves. "Somehow, some way, they did it... now we just have to get them home."

            Phong's eyes widened- not at the way Dot was behaving, but at what was now occurring on the main screen. "Dot..." he said, not wanting to end her joy so soon, but shaking as he saw the monitors fluctuate rapidly with renewed change. "Dot... it's happening."

            Matrix stood up, exhausted, as the game cube left. The city was still there, laid out below him in all her glory... the Principle Office still stood in the distance, tall and proud behind her still-raised shields. He'd never seen something so beautiful before in his life. A smile creased his blood-streaked face, exhausted but elated: he'd made it back. They could finally go home. His face darkened as he glanced around, specks of gray spreading out to cover buildings, streets, and anything that stood in its path. Mainframe was still here- but because of him, it might not be, for long. Because of him, it might soon be that dark apocalypse he'd envisioned in the game. And with this second chance, he could not allow that to happen as long as he could stand against it. Never again, he vowed silently as he started away from the encroaching death.

He had to make it back to the Principle Office- had to warn everyone before the horror he'd seen happened all over again. "Mouse!" he shouted. "Come on- we're getting out of here! Mouse?" With a muffled curse, he glanced over his shoulder to where the hacker's prone form lay- directly in the path of the spreading horror. He slung her over his shoulder, running for where they'd left Ship parked just outside of G-Prime. We'll make it out of this, he vowed to himself We've got to. For Bob, for Dot, for AndrAIA... and for Mainframe. Because there is no one else.

            "What is it?" Dot cried, turning her tear-streaked face to look back at the main viewscreen. "We are reading an energy pulse in G-Prime!" Phong shouted, pointing at one of the monitors. "It's trying to map the system!" "What happens if it does that?" Dot asked uncertainly. Fear was mirrored in the old sprite's eyes. "Mainframe is finished," he whispered. "Is there any way we can stop this thing?" she asked, voice shaking slightly. "Our defenses were not calculated with this sort of attack in mind," Phong said, eyes downcast. "In short- no. I am sorry, my child."

Dot's head came up, tears stopped for the moment and eyes filled with a new sense of purpose. "Well I for one am not ready to go down without a fight," she said, surveying the assembled War Room staff. "I know of one thing that just might work. Specky?" "Yes sir, ma'am," the binome said, fingers flying over his console. "Tell Hugh and his boys to ready the senders." "What are you going to do?" Phong asked, the old sprite's eyes wide. "The only thing we can do, Phong... the only thing that stands any chance of working." "And that is?" he asked doubtfully. "We're going to reactivate the firewall."

            Matrix pushed onward, the burden on his shoulders slowing him down as he ran desperately from the closing gray mass. He knew he could make it if it weren't for Mouse... but he would never leave his friends behind. Never again. Arms and legs burning with fatigue, he struggled onward, hoping that some way, somehow they'd still make it back.

            "You can't be serious!" Phong exclaimed. "You don't know how many were left by the reboot... and how many were shorted out by Hexadecimal's attack!" "The field will be weakened," Dot admitted, "But it's our only defense at the moment. Hugh and his boys can reroute the current through the undamaged senders... I just hope they can work fast enough." She palmed open another vidwindow, this time to the one sprite she loved and trusted most in the world. "Bob," she said, her voice hesitant. "I know what I said before... but we need someone out there to activate the firewall, and you're the only one who can do it. I-" Bob held up a hand, zip board already maximized. "I understand," he said, a small smile lighting his face. "We'll be there." And the vidwindow closed. She could only hope they'd all make it through this day...

            Hugh appeared on the main viewscreen. "The senders are ready," he said simply. "Everything is in place. Awaiting your command." The words caught before she could say them. On the main viewscreen, she saw Matrix racing for the border, carrying Mouse... but the darkness was outracing them to the left, cutting ahead of them mercilessly. At this rate, she knew, it would reach the border before they would. "Dot?" Phong asked tensely, waiting for her to give the order. "I can't," she said at last. "We can't leave Matrix stranded back there!" Phong's face tightened again with the same gut-level fear. "Dot," he said, "Do you know what that thing is? It will destroy all of Mainframe if you don't give the order now!" Bob hovered into position, looking through the vidwindow at the War Room. All eyes were on her. She sighed, a tear trickling slowly down her cheek. "Bob..." she said, still almost unable to say the words. "Activate the firewall... now." Dot slumped to the floor, knowing that because of that sing, simple, fatal command, she was about to lose her own brother... and her best friend, someone she'd never even gotten a chance to apologize to.

Bob's eyes closed, concentrating, focusing every last bit of power he had into one final command. He was still weak after Daemon's defeat, though he hadn't let any of the others, even Dot, see just how much... He needed all of his energy if he was going to make this work. Glitch... he thought inwardly, remembering a lifetime ago when they'd been separated... when voice commands had been necessary. Now he was one with the keytool... and one thought would complete the command. Firewall.

Hope shining in his eyes, Matrix ran as fast as his tiring muscles could take him toward the border of G-Prime... where Ship could finally fly them to safety. The gray mass had gained on them to the left, but they were almost there- they could still make it! Just a few more steps...

            Then, straight ahead, he saw Bob- hands spread out before him, energy focused straight into the ground. Suddenly, he knew what was about to happen- knew there was no way he could stop it. "Bob, no!" he shouted. The Guardian's eyes lifted, taking in the renegade with horrified shock... but it was far too late. A wall of red sprang up, cutting off Matrix's last vision of freedom... and trapping him behind the firewall he had helped to create. "ANDRAIA!" he shouted, staring in mounting terror as the blazing wall rose up and the seething gray mass closed in...

A/N: There. A fine last chapter, for awhile. Let me know what you think of it. And no, I have not "killed everyone off"- reread the prologue (set in the future) if you want proof of that. Please, please review... I've stayed up all night and written everything to the best of my ability into this chapter. This is the best I could do... so be good enough to tell me what you think of it. Until next time, Tom