City of Madness
Turbo's Log
I have failed the net and my format. Hexadecimal and Dr. Apple are now dead and I have lead an innocent civilian to a virus infested system. There is no way out. I made sure of that when I ordered procedure 37. At least no more people can get hurt. It all started just before we reached Mainframe, Young Hexadecimal had fallen asleep and I.
**********************************************************************
The Majoor, Turbo's Houseboat
Turbo frowned as he looked at the sleeping white form on the couch. Hex had curled up in Dr. Apple's lap. No doubt the trust she felt for this sprite was due to his resemblance to Bob. The Prime Guardian didn't like this situation one bit.
"Dr. Chandra, Hexadecimal still hasn't learnt how to eat properly let alone shown signs of using her powers why in the net is she taking a nap?"
"Mr. Prime Guardian, sleep is a vital part of the learning process. She needs her rest: it'll help sort things out. I guarantee that when she wakes up she'll be much more lucid."
"And what about her memories? She still seems to be in a fugue?"
"The best way to treat that would be to take her into familiar surroundings which we are doing right now. It'll take a while, her life up until now was pretty traumatic she may not want to remember."
"Wonderful just wonderful."
A few micros later the houseboat's proximity alarm blared. Turbo leapt to the steering wheel.
"All right positions everyone we reached Mainframe. Rom wake up Hex, " ordered Turbo.
When they went out of web space the sight that greeted Turbo confused him. As Prime Guardian he had thought he was prepared for anything, he had thought there wasn't a solution he couldn't handle but he was wrong. There before him lay two walled cities, both laid in ruins, both had fires burning in them they were more or less alike.
"Which one is Lost Angles?" said a bewildered Rom.
"The one without the principle's office I would say," said Dr. Chandra.
"That both have a principle's office. Right Hex, tell us which is your home?" said Turbo.
The young girl stared for a moment then she turned around. "I don't know, so much has changed, so much.."
The plan was looking worse and worse as time went by.
Turbo snarled, "Fine, I'm going to land in the data sea and then we're.."
An explosion rocked the houseboat, knocking Hex off her feet Turbo grabbed the steering wheel and attempted to dodge the missiles coming at them. The houseboat was not a battle cruiser. One of the missiles hit the boat squarely on the side, ripping a hole in the cabin. The air in the cabin escaped causing Hexadecimal to fall right towards the hole.
"Hex," screamed Rom as he reached for her. He caught her as they both fell right out the hole into the waiting sea below.
"Sweet User I've deleted them both!" gasped Turbo.
*********************************************************************
Lost Angles
The pair had not been deleted in fact Rom was very much conscious as he desperately swam down to reach Hex. His lungs almost bursting he followed the sinking form to catch Hex and prevent her from drowning. Little did he know that her viral origins kept her safe. Lower and lower he swam once he almost caught her she slipped out of his arms. Finally his vision blurring he got her and swam as fast he could towards the surface and air.
The young girl coughed and spluttered in his arms. Now what where they going to do? Rom still had no idea which city he should swim to as he tread water. Then he heard the singing. The melody was absolutely haunting and beautiful. Surely no virus could make that. Nothing good ever came from them. Slapping Hexadecimal gently to wake her up he pointed to the source of the singing and swam after it.
As they swam closer and closer he could see the source of the singing. A beautiful and scantily clad sprite sang sweetly as she sat on rock by the shoreline near a gap in the huge wall. She caught sight of the pair and beckoned invitingly towards the shore.
When they got there the singer dragged Rom up by his shirt onto the shore. She was an odd colour, beige like some game sprites he saw when he was trapped in a game. Her hair was a normal colour a good healthy green and though she didn't wear much she wore it well.
"My you're a handsome catch aren't you?" she purred pawing at him. She ignored Hex.
Flustered Rom hemmed and hawed, "I eh don't believe I know you name, Miss hee, hee."
"Shh, I already know yours," she said as she unsheathed her long claws behind Rom's back.
"Rom look out!" cried Hex.
Rom dodged the claws just in time. He quickly stood up. The siren crouched low and hissed at him. No longer did she look beautiful with her long green claws and sharp pointy teeth. She launched at him and missed again. Rom clasped Hex's hand and ran for his life.
"Lover get him, Bob's getting away," the siren screamed in a voice almost viral.
He was about to reach the end of the beach when Hex held him back.
"Rom no! Mines are here, must be careful," she pleaded.
"Do you know a way out !?"
"Yes but we must move slowly or"
She never finished that sentence. A shot rang out barely missing them. Hex fainted. Rom whirled around and saw a green skinned man standing in the window of a ruined tower. He looked mean. The doctor didn't like that he couldn't see the man's eyes for the dark sunglasses he wore. The sniper raised his gun again. Not wanting to be deleted Rom picked up the young virus like a sack of grains and ran as fast as he could into the necropolis ahead of him.
He raced frantically trying to find a safe place for the both of them as bullets whizzed by them. The ruins streets loomed before them offering no adequate safe haven. The doctor got the distinct impression that this sprite was toying with them prolonging his fun. Hex still had not woken up.
"Great," thought Rom. "The girl's narcoleptic. Now what I'm going to do with this dead weight."
He turned around a building and found himself in a clearing of sorts. The shooting stopped, which was fortunate since their shooter would have a lovely clear shot at them. There before the pair stood a field of small stone shrines. Hex stirred in his arms.
The girl seemed right at home here but Rom wasn't. He eyes kept darting side to side. The customs in this system were weird: on each shrine was a name and some offerings. Occasionally a null would poke its head out. And they were hundreds, maybe even thousands of them. They obliviously honoured the deleted and nullified here. Honour such vermin as nulls what randomness is this?
A null appeared in his path, Rom tried to shoo it away but it did no good. Then another null came and another until he and his patient were completely surrounded. No wonder why their sniper avoided this place. The nulls surged forward. Rom put his hands to ward them off and screamed as they covered Hex completely.
Forgetting his disgust he tried desperately to pull the slimy things off the girl. Several nulls bit him but he didn't care Hex's life was at stake.
"Go away get the Dell out of here!" he screamed.
No matter what he did the nulls still wouldn't leave. All looked lost when he heard a shrill whistle. The nulls dropped off Hexadecimal and scurried back to their respective shrines.
"That tickled," said Hex. Thank the User she wasn't hurt.
Their rescuer marched in. He was a strange pink colour and dressed as oddly as he looked in a loose fitting set of khaki shirt and shorts.
"G'day, G'day, I'm Ray Tracer, Null Tamer and you have come to the wrong system," he swayed slightly as if drunk.
"Yes, we're looking for someplace safe. There's this green skinned gunman after us," said Rom.
"See what you mean mate. That would be Matrix. Him and his girlfriend are a nasty piece of work. Come to my house you'll be safe there."
They crossed into what was once a residential area. Ruins of houses stood in neat orderly rows. When they were new they must have looked almost identical. Finally they stopped at one of the least damaged ones and stepped in.
The inside was a hovel. Ray tried to do his best by repairing the furniture but it was obvious that his format was not that of carpenter or housekeeper for that matter. Several nulls scattered as they came towards the table.
"Sorry the place is a mess. The missus is - out. So what wrong with the Sheila?" asked Ray as he put down some fruit and cooked fish.
Rom could now see the lesions on this sprite's face, the swollen fingertips. The Null Tamer had slowly been poisoned. The doctor looked at Hex as she played with the nulls. She did not show signs of any emotional reaction. Her face was like a mask. "The girl is my patient. She suffered severe damage in the web but she's recovered physically."
He pulled out his med scanner, the one piece of equipment he didn't lose in the sea and scanned the food. The fruit contained large amounts of toxins not enough to kill quickly but enough to do something like what happened to Ray here. By this time Hex had seen the fruit and reached out to take a bite.
"No!" shouted Rom. "The fruit will make you sick. Sorry Ray, tell me what happened here?"
And so Ray told the whole sad story of how an old enemy had returned more powerful than ever. Of how Megabyte used his shape shifting abilities to take over the principle's office and of the midnight escape to Lost Angles. Ray sighed, "After we set up a new principle's office people stared acting, funny. Since then I've been training the nulls. So I don't believe I got your names."
"Well I'm Doctor Rom Apple and this is Hexadecimal."
Ray's features twisted into an expression of utter hatred. "Mouse!" he roared.
With a terrifying roar leapt a female sprite welding a sword. Her hair was a flicking red like a fire, her skin a bruise like purple and she wore a dirty robe. The missus was a fearsome sight. Mouse immediately turned on Hex and took a swipe with her sword. The only thing that saved the girl's life was that she had fainted again causing the swordswoman to miss.
With Hex down the terrible creature, turned to Rom. She took a swipe but missed as Rom easily dodged it. Whatever was affecting the inhabitants had got to Mouse too. Rom then snatched Hexadecimal and ran as fast as he could into the streets.
"Great," thought Rom. "Now I've got two psychos chasing me."
She watched them run through the streets in a panic. The girl looked familiar and the man looked very much like Bob, but she still couldn't tell they could help her. So she watched in the shadows as they finally reached the Saucy Mare.
'C'mon, now we're almost there, Hex. Maybe we can book passage and get the FAQ out of here," shouted Rom.
They ran straight up the gangplank and were on the deck when they noticed the crew. They were all dressed in pirate gear. Rom's heart sank.
"My User, more crazies, let's go before they shoot us," cried Rom. Then he ran as fast as could dragging a protesting Hexadecimal.
Despite their odd appearance the crew of the Saucy Mare were the sanest people in Lost Angles. Living on a fish and seaweed diet they avoided the poison that blighted Lost Angles and its inhabitants. They watched in amazement as a pair of strange sprites ran up the gangplank, take one look and flee back to the mainland.
"Captain were those newcomers?" asked Curly.
"Aye lass, we'd better get them before they hurt themselves or somebody else does," replied Captain Capacitor.
"Quick Hex hide in here," said Rom as he shoved her into an abandoned building.
"But, Rom they were always like that they're software pirates!"
"Alphanumeric, can it get any worse?"
As if on cue the vid window opened. It was a very dirty and frightened Dr. Chandra.
"Thank the User you're safe," said Chandra with a sigh. "Look, I'm in Mainframe, it's safe here now. How are things with you?"
"We've been chased by three different groups of loonies all wanting to kill us. They show definite signs of being exposed to toxins most likely from the food. What do mean Mainframe's safe now?" said Rom.
"When we got there the entire city was under the influence of Megabyte. They quickly found us and Turbo fought and killed the virus. The system's now free now that Megabyte's dead. They could really use a doctor. You and Hexadecimal will be safe here."
"Where's Turbo?" asked Hexadecimal.
"I'm sorry Turbo deleted after fighting Megabyte. Look Hex, you and Rom can help Bob by coming over here. We'll activate a purging program, clean up Lost Angles. All you have to do is come over the bridge, I'll meet you there."
Mainframe several cycles ago
Turbo landed the Majoor near an abandoned warehouse. He quickly gathered what supplies they could use and motioned for Chandra to follow him into a sewer tunnel.
"We'll be safe in these tunnels for now. I've activated a hidden file command. They're no doubt looking for us as we speak so .. Ah FAQ!"
As they turned around the corner the ran straight into a squadron of infected binome troopers. Their leader Megabyte smiled nastily at them.
"Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me!"
************************************************************************
Lost Angles the bridge
"Rom, wait up I don't like this at all," protested Hex.
"Well I don't like this city at all we're leaving."
As they got closer they could see a lanky figure. It was far too tall and skinny to be a sprite instead it was a code master assassin a native to the web. The slimy green creature pointed its Gibson coil pike dangerously.
"Halt! I, Talon level 10 assassin order you to stop. None may cross this bridge I am the protector of the inhabitants of Lost Angles," said the thing.
"Well we want to leave, we've been shot at, sliced and chased by pirates and frankly we've had enough. A friend is waiting on the other side and we're going to meet her," said Rom.
"The only beings left in Mainframe are virals and their allies. Are you a viral?" challenged Talon.
"No we're not we just want to leave this system. A friend will be picking us up and there she is now," said Hex.
Megabyte watched in amusement at the drama about unfold. He wondered just exactly his new servant would do. What ever happened it would be fun to watch.
"Chandra, Chandra! We're over here," cried Rom as he raced towards her.
Dr. Chandra stood halfway on the bridge. Something was wrong , Hex could tell. The young virus followed slowly with Talon.
"I don't like this, something's wrong I can feel it," said the girl nervously.
"Get away Chandra's been infected," shouted Turbo as he ran towards them.
"I'm sorry" said Chandra as she injected Rom with a tranquilizer.
The young doctor fell like a sack of bricks. Suddenly viral troop carriers appeared as if from nowhere. Both Talon and Turbo shot at them desperately leaving Hex alone with the infected psychologist. Chandra turned to the young virus intending to knock her out as well but Hex for the first she was reborn actually defended herself.
Hexadecimal held Chandra's arm the one with the tranquilizer away from her but that was not all she did. The doctor's eyes and skin flickered and changed colour back to the normal healthy grey they were supposed to be. Dr. Chandra slumped to the ground unconscious but cured of Megabyte's infection. For awhile everybody stared at this miracle. In the shadows of the principle's office Megabyte gasped his sister's name. Not believing she had returned.
Turbo took this opportunity to retreat. He ran towards the small group on the bridge.
"You! Code Master can you hold these troops off till we get to safety?" asked Turbo.
Talon nodded and went right to work as Turbo led them off to relative safety.
When they reached Lost Angles a female figure waited for them. She was bizarrely dressed in a wild crown and black leather but she was obviously sane.
"Welcome Mistress," said Hex's alias. "Follow me, Bob needs you."
Turbo's Log
I have failed the net and my format. Hexadecimal and Dr. Apple are now dead and I have lead an innocent civilian to a virus infested system. There is no way out. I made sure of that when I ordered procedure 37. At least no more people can get hurt. It all started just before we reached Mainframe, Young Hexadecimal had fallen asleep and I.
**********************************************************************
The Majoor, Turbo's Houseboat
Turbo frowned as he looked at the sleeping white form on the couch. Hex had curled up in Dr. Apple's lap. No doubt the trust she felt for this sprite was due to his resemblance to Bob. The Prime Guardian didn't like this situation one bit.
"Dr. Chandra, Hexadecimal still hasn't learnt how to eat properly let alone shown signs of using her powers why in the net is she taking a nap?"
"Mr. Prime Guardian, sleep is a vital part of the learning process. She needs her rest: it'll help sort things out. I guarantee that when she wakes up she'll be much more lucid."
"And what about her memories? She still seems to be in a fugue?"
"The best way to treat that would be to take her into familiar surroundings which we are doing right now. It'll take a while, her life up until now was pretty traumatic she may not want to remember."
"Wonderful just wonderful."
A few micros later the houseboat's proximity alarm blared. Turbo leapt to the steering wheel.
"All right positions everyone we reached Mainframe. Rom wake up Hex, " ordered Turbo.
When they went out of web space the sight that greeted Turbo confused him. As Prime Guardian he had thought he was prepared for anything, he had thought there wasn't a solution he couldn't handle but he was wrong. There before him lay two walled cities, both laid in ruins, both had fires burning in them they were more or less alike.
"Which one is Lost Angles?" said a bewildered Rom.
"The one without the principle's office I would say," said Dr. Chandra.
"That both have a principle's office. Right Hex, tell us which is your home?" said Turbo.
The young girl stared for a moment then she turned around. "I don't know, so much has changed, so much.."
The plan was looking worse and worse as time went by.
Turbo snarled, "Fine, I'm going to land in the data sea and then we're.."
An explosion rocked the houseboat, knocking Hex off her feet Turbo grabbed the steering wheel and attempted to dodge the missiles coming at them. The houseboat was not a battle cruiser. One of the missiles hit the boat squarely on the side, ripping a hole in the cabin. The air in the cabin escaped causing Hexadecimal to fall right towards the hole.
"Hex," screamed Rom as he reached for her. He caught her as they both fell right out the hole into the waiting sea below.
"Sweet User I've deleted them both!" gasped Turbo.
*********************************************************************
Lost Angles
The pair had not been deleted in fact Rom was very much conscious as he desperately swam down to reach Hex. His lungs almost bursting he followed the sinking form to catch Hex and prevent her from drowning. Little did he know that her viral origins kept her safe. Lower and lower he swam once he almost caught her she slipped out of his arms. Finally his vision blurring he got her and swam as fast he could towards the surface and air.
The young girl coughed and spluttered in his arms. Now what where they going to do? Rom still had no idea which city he should swim to as he tread water. Then he heard the singing. The melody was absolutely haunting and beautiful. Surely no virus could make that. Nothing good ever came from them. Slapping Hexadecimal gently to wake her up he pointed to the source of the singing and swam after it.
As they swam closer and closer he could see the source of the singing. A beautiful and scantily clad sprite sang sweetly as she sat on rock by the shoreline near a gap in the huge wall. She caught sight of the pair and beckoned invitingly towards the shore.
When they got there the singer dragged Rom up by his shirt onto the shore. She was an odd colour, beige like some game sprites he saw when he was trapped in a game. Her hair was a normal colour a good healthy green and though she didn't wear much she wore it well.
"My you're a handsome catch aren't you?" she purred pawing at him. She ignored Hex.
Flustered Rom hemmed and hawed, "I eh don't believe I know you name, Miss hee, hee."
"Shh, I already know yours," she said as she unsheathed her long claws behind Rom's back.
"Rom look out!" cried Hex.
Rom dodged the claws just in time. He quickly stood up. The siren crouched low and hissed at him. No longer did she look beautiful with her long green claws and sharp pointy teeth. She launched at him and missed again. Rom clasped Hex's hand and ran for his life.
"Lover get him, Bob's getting away," the siren screamed in a voice almost viral.
He was about to reach the end of the beach when Hex held him back.
"Rom no! Mines are here, must be careful," she pleaded.
"Do you know a way out !?"
"Yes but we must move slowly or"
She never finished that sentence. A shot rang out barely missing them. Hex fainted. Rom whirled around and saw a green skinned man standing in the window of a ruined tower. He looked mean. The doctor didn't like that he couldn't see the man's eyes for the dark sunglasses he wore. The sniper raised his gun again. Not wanting to be deleted Rom picked up the young virus like a sack of grains and ran as fast as he could into the necropolis ahead of him.
He raced frantically trying to find a safe place for the both of them as bullets whizzed by them. The ruins streets loomed before them offering no adequate safe haven. The doctor got the distinct impression that this sprite was toying with them prolonging his fun. Hex still had not woken up.
"Great," thought Rom. "The girl's narcoleptic. Now what I'm going to do with this dead weight."
He turned around a building and found himself in a clearing of sorts. The shooting stopped, which was fortunate since their shooter would have a lovely clear shot at them. There before the pair stood a field of small stone shrines. Hex stirred in his arms.
The girl seemed right at home here but Rom wasn't. He eyes kept darting side to side. The customs in this system were weird: on each shrine was a name and some offerings. Occasionally a null would poke its head out. And they were hundreds, maybe even thousands of them. They obliviously honoured the deleted and nullified here. Honour such vermin as nulls what randomness is this?
A null appeared in his path, Rom tried to shoo it away but it did no good. Then another null came and another until he and his patient were completely surrounded. No wonder why their sniper avoided this place. The nulls surged forward. Rom put his hands to ward them off and screamed as they covered Hex completely.
Forgetting his disgust he tried desperately to pull the slimy things off the girl. Several nulls bit him but he didn't care Hex's life was at stake.
"Go away get the Dell out of here!" he screamed.
No matter what he did the nulls still wouldn't leave. All looked lost when he heard a shrill whistle. The nulls dropped off Hexadecimal and scurried back to their respective shrines.
"That tickled," said Hex. Thank the User she wasn't hurt.
Their rescuer marched in. He was a strange pink colour and dressed as oddly as he looked in a loose fitting set of khaki shirt and shorts.
"G'day, G'day, I'm Ray Tracer, Null Tamer and you have come to the wrong system," he swayed slightly as if drunk.
"Yes, we're looking for someplace safe. There's this green skinned gunman after us," said Rom.
"See what you mean mate. That would be Matrix. Him and his girlfriend are a nasty piece of work. Come to my house you'll be safe there."
They crossed into what was once a residential area. Ruins of houses stood in neat orderly rows. When they were new they must have looked almost identical. Finally they stopped at one of the least damaged ones and stepped in.
The inside was a hovel. Ray tried to do his best by repairing the furniture but it was obvious that his format was not that of carpenter or housekeeper for that matter. Several nulls scattered as they came towards the table.
"Sorry the place is a mess. The missus is - out. So what wrong with the Sheila?" asked Ray as he put down some fruit and cooked fish.
Rom could now see the lesions on this sprite's face, the swollen fingertips. The Null Tamer had slowly been poisoned. The doctor looked at Hex as she played with the nulls. She did not show signs of any emotional reaction. Her face was like a mask. "The girl is my patient. She suffered severe damage in the web but she's recovered physically."
He pulled out his med scanner, the one piece of equipment he didn't lose in the sea and scanned the food. The fruit contained large amounts of toxins not enough to kill quickly but enough to do something like what happened to Ray here. By this time Hex had seen the fruit and reached out to take a bite.
"No!" shouted Rom. "The fruit will make you sick. Sorry Ray, tell me what happened here?"
And so Ray told the whole sad story of how an old enemy had returned more powerful than ever. Of how Megabyte used his shape shifting abilities to take over the principle's office and of the midnight escape to Lost Angles. Ray sighed, "After we set up a new principle's office people stared acting, funny. Since then I've been training the nulls. So I don't believe I got your names."
"Well I'm Doctor Rom Apple and this is Hexadecimal."
Ray's features twisted into an expression of utter hatred. "Mouse!" he roared.
With a terrifying roar leapt a female sprite welding a sword. Her hair was a flicking red like a fire, her skin a bruise like purple and she wore a dirty robe. The missus was a fearsome sight. Mouse immediately turned on Hex and took a swipe with her sword. The only thing that saved the girl's life was that she had fainted again causing the swordswoman to miss.
With Hex down the terrible creature, turned to Rom. She took a swipe but missed as Rom easily dodged it. Whatever was affecting the inhabitants had got to Mouse too. Rom then snatched Hexadecimal and ran as fast as he could into the streets.
"Great," thought Rom. "Now I've got two psychos chasing me."
She watched them run through the streets in a panic. The girl looked familiar and the man looked very much like Bob, but she still couldn't tell they could help her. So she watched in the shadows as they finally reached the Saucy Mare.
'C'mon, now we're almost there, Hex. Maybe we can book passage and get the FAQ out of here," shouted Rom.
They ran straight up the gangplank and were on the deck when they noticed the crew. They were all dressed in pirate gear. Rom's heart sank.
"My User, more crazies, let's go before they shoot us," cried Rom. Then he ran as fast as could dragging a protesting Hexadecimal.
Despite their odd appearance the crew of the Saucy Mare were the sanest people in Lost Angles. Living on a fish and seaweed diet they avoided the poison that blighted Lost Angles and its inhabitants. They watched in amazement as a pair of strange sprites ran up the gangplank, take one look and flee back to the mainland.
"Captain were those newcomers?" asked Curly.
"Aye lass, we'd better get them before they hurt themselves or somebody else does," replied Captain Capacitor.
"Quick Hex hide in here," said Rom as he shoved her into an abandoned building.
"But, Rom they were always like that they're software pirates!"
"Alphanumeric, can it get any worse?"
As if on cue the vid window opened. It was a very dirty and frightened Dr. Chandra.
"Thank the User you're safe," said Chandra with a sigh. "Look, I'm in Mainframe, it's safe here now. How are things with you?"
"We've been chased by three different groups of loonies all wanting to kill us. They show definite signs of being exposed to toxins most likely from the food. What do mean Mainframe's safe now?" said Rom.
"When we got there the entire city was under the influence of Megabyte. They quickly found us and Turbo fought and killed the virus. The system's now free now that Megabyte's dead. They could really use a doctor. You and Hexadecimal will be safe here."
"Where's Turbo?" asked Hexadecimal.
"I'm sorry Turbo deleted after fighting Megabyte. Look Hex, you and Rom can help Bob by coming over here. We'll activate a purging program, clean up Lost Angles. All you have to do is come over the bridge, I'll meet you there."
Mainframe several cycles ago
Turbo landed the Majoor near an abandoned warehouse. He quickly gathered what supplies they could use and motioned for Chandra to follow him into a sewer tunnel.
"We'll be safe in these tunnels for now. I've activated a hidden file command. They're no doubt looking for us as we speak so .. Ah FAQ!"
As they turned around the corner the ran straight into a squadron of infected binome troopers. Their leader Megabyte smiled nastily at them.
"Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me!"
************************************************************************
Lost Angles the bridge
"Rom, wait up I don't like this at all," protested Hex.
"Well I don't like this city at all we're leaving."
As they got closer they could see a lanky figure. It was far too tall and skinny to be a sprite instead it was a code master assassin a native to the web. The slimy green creature pointed its Gibson coil pike dangerously.
"Halt! I, Talon level 10 assassin order you to stop. None may cross this bridge I am the protector of the inhabitants of Lost Angles," said the thing.
"Well we want to leave, we've been shot at, sliced and chased by pirates and frankly we've had enough. A friend is waiting on the other side and we're going to meet her," said Rom.
"The only beings left in Mainframe are virals and their allies. Are you a viral?" challenged Talon.
"No we're not we just want to leave this system. A friend will be picking us up and there she is now," said Hex.
Megabyte watched in amusement at the drama about unfold. He wondered just exactly his new servant would do. What ever happened it would be fun to watch.
"Chandra, Chandra! We're over here," cried Rom as he raced towards her.
Dr. Chandra stood halfway on the bridge. Something was wrong , Hex could tell. The young virus followed slowly with Talon.
"I don't like this, something's wrong I can feel it," said the girl nervously.
"Get away Chandra's been infected," shouted Turbo as he ran towards them.
"I'm sorry" said Chandra as she injected Rom with a tranquilizer.
The young doctor fell like a sack of bricks. Suddenly viral troop carriers appeared as if from nowhere. Both Talon and Turbo shot at them desperately leaving Hex alone with the infected psychologist. Chandra turned to the young virus intending to knock her out as well but Hex for the first she was reborn actually defended herself.
Hexadecimal held Chandra's arm the one with the tranquilizer away from her but that was not all she did. The doctor's eyes and skin flickered and changed colour back to the normal healthy grey they were supposed to be. Dr. Chandra slumped to the ground unconscious but cured of Megabyte's infection. For awhile everybody stared at this miracle. In the shadows of the principle's office Megabyte gasped his sister's name. Not believing she had returned.
Turbo took this opportunity to retreat. He ran towards the small group on the bridge.
"You! Code Master can you hold these troops off till we get to safety?" asked Turbo.
Talon nodded and went right to work as Turbo led them off to relative safety.
When they reached Lost Angles a female figure waited for them. She was bizarrely dressed in a wild crown and black leather but she was obviously sane.
"Welcome Mistress," said Hex's alias. "Follow me, Bob needs you."