Reboot: Condition Critical,
1.1, The Hunt Begins.

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A/N: There are different time conversions used while writing ReBoot fanfics, and mine goes as follows: second/nano, minute/milli, hour/cycle, day/second, month/minute, and year/hour. Also, this is a Season V fic.

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"Prepare yourselves for the hunt," Megabyte's words echoed throughout the entire Principle Office, striking terror into the hearts of all.

--**--**--

Matrix grabbed for Gun, but Bob put his hand on the renegade's arm. Matrix looked the Guardian in the eye and demanded, "What are you doing, Bob? We have to get Megabyte!"

"No Matrix. If what he said is true, then we have to find any survivors before anything so we can plan out and attack in numbers," he explained. He sighed, and continued. "I know you hate Megabyte, and what he just did to Dot and I is unforgivable, but if we just run into the War Room guns a-blazing, we'll be deleted, or even worse, infected."

"I don't care, Bob! He's terrorized Mainframe for too long! He hurt my sister and everyone I care for!" Matrix let out in rage. He turned and punched the wall, yelling, "Megabyte!"

Bob put his hand on his friend's shoulder and said, "It's okay Matrix. We'll get him."

--**--**--

Mouse slammed her fist against the control panel and let out one of her infamous hisses. The annoying beep went off as she entered yet another incorrect password, and she drew her katana and sliced at the wall beside it, not wanting to damage her and AndrAIa's closest entrance to the War Room, which they knew was where Megabyte was, along with Phong and anyone else he had infected.

"Calm down, Mouse," the former Game Sprite instructed, still keeping a close watch on the three open corridors, any of which they could be attacked from at any moment by any viral or form of the Principal Office's defence system.

"Calm down, sug'? How can I calm down when Megabyte's in there with complete control over the Principle Office?" She looked behind her at AndrAIa and asked, "Didn't you see what Phong did for us? He sacrificed himself so we could escape. If you don't do anything, and just let that virus overrun Mainframe and delete all of us, Phong's efforts will be put to vain."

AndrAIa bowed her head for a split moment, and then lifted it, saying, "First things first -- we find Bob, Matrix, Dot, the boys, and anyone else who got out of the War Room intact. Then we can see what to do."

Mouse stood silent, but let in and agreed through gritted teeth.

"Good. Now let's get going."

"But which corridor do we take, AndrAIa?" Mouse asked, drawing her dagger from its leg sheath. "I didn't see which one Hack and Slash dragged Dot down."

AndrAIa shrugged, so the two of them quietly studied each of the three corridors, and listened to see if they could hear either Dot, Hack, or Slash's voice, but they didn't, so the former Game Sprite called out, "Dot, where are you?"

They waited for a response, but none came.

Frustrated, Mouse threw her katana and dagger to the floor and let out the loudest hiss AndrAIa had ever heard her do. The hacker then violently shook her head, and instantly being filled with energy, turned and jump-kicked the door that let into the War Room, though it didn't make even the slightest dent in it.

"We may not know which corridor Dot went down, but I'll tell you," AndrAIa started, "a wrong one would be better than Megabyte and his ABCs finding us here in this little hunt he's talking about."

Mouse got up, so AndrAIa picked up her katana and dagger and handed them to her, and then took her own trident in hand and extended it, gripping it in a defensive position extended out in front of her with two hands.

"Maybe we should try calling out to her one more time before picking a corridor," Mouse suggested, not wanting to get separated any further from Dot, Hack, and Slash than they already were.

"Right. Dot! Where are you? It's me AndrAIa, and Mouse is with me! Where are you?"

They waited in silence for a response, and when none came, they decided on taking the left corridor because they thought taking the middle would be too basic for Dot and anyone else who was running from a new and improved, ticked off Megabyte.

--**--**--

Dot listened to Megabyte's speech, and then started adjusting her plan to accommodate the Virus's words, not fully comprehending them, and completely ignoring the bumbling ranting of her two bodyguards.

"Hunt? What does he mean by 'hunt'?" Hack questioned his brother.

"He's going to come delete us all!" Slash yelled in terror. "Aaahhh!" He started running round in circles, as did Hack, who was equally terrified by Megabyte's new intention that had nothing to do with simply taking over Mainframe.

Dot, at the same time, wasn't concerned with Megabyte's words because she still hadn't fully processed them, but rather was still in deep thought sketching out multiple plans in her head, preparing mainly for anything wrong that may happen, rather than for if everything went smoothly as she wanted it to. But, she had had past experiences that proved the need for a backup plan, and often more than one at that, so whenever she did plan out, she usually did so for at least five different scenarios, which she thought to be the reason for her high stress levels ever since Enzo - no, Matrix - and AndrAIa, along with Frisket, lost that fatal Game to the User.

The Command.Com then started thinking off topic by pondering where Frisket was at the moment, and how Megabyte had ever gotten the chance to steal his form. She also thought about Matrix, and whatever happened in the Games to make him such a renegade and how he lost his eye. A wave of questions flooded her, and she tried to start answering them, but was cut off when Hack actually ran into her, knocking her back into reality, where Megabyte's speech played out in her head full out. "Oh no."

"I'm sorry, sir ma'am," the buffoon apologized, holding his hands defensively in front of his face. "I didn't mean to - he," he said, pointing to Slash, "pushed me."

"Liar!" Slash screeched, not wanting to anger Dot, though he knew he had indeed pushed his brother, of whom he was jealous of for circling faster than him. "Alright, I admit, I did it! Please don't hit me!"

Dot watched Slash cower, and asked, "How many times have I hit either of you, and even for doing something way worse than this?"

Slash turned to Hack and said, "She's right."

He replied, "Yep, she's right."

They both then looked at her, and simultaneously questioned loudly, "What's the plan?"

"I'm still trying to think, boys, so just keep quiet and watch, and if you hear anyone, just stay quiet," the Command.Com instructed. So, they did what she told them to do while she continued to think of a plan that didn't involve the three of them instantly finding Bob and Matrix, who she knew they would most likely need to take out Megabyte.

She continued to think, and Hack and Slash continued to keep watch, until they all heard a faint, muffled voice call out, "Dot, where are you?" It sounded like AndrAIa.

"It's AndrA-" Hack started, but was stopped when Slash covered his mouth with his hand.

"Dot said to be quiet," he whispered, looking back and forth down the corridor. He then turned to Dot and asked in a coarse whisper, "Did you hear that? It sounded like AndrAIa."

Dot nodded and responded, just as quiet, "It may be Megabyte."

"But it's AndrAIa's voice!" Hack shouted in a whisper. "How can it not be her?"

"Remember when Megabyte took Bob's form? No one could tell it wasn't him, and Phong's sensors couldn't even pick up the difference. And, I couldn't tell it was Megabyte," she added in a sorrow tone, still haunted by the fact that she couldn't tell the difference between Bob and Megabyte, and had almost married the now-Trojan Horse Virus. "It'd be best to just keep moving until we get to the Holding Cell Room; maybe then we'll find Bob and Matrix if they haven't already taken off for the War Room. I mean, if either of them had any common sense, they'd wait there for everyone to meet up with them."

Hack and Slash nodded in sync, and the three were about to start making their way in the direction of the Holding Cell Room, when they heard AndrAIa's voice call out again, this time asking, "Dot! Where are you? It's me AndrAIa, and Mouse is with me! Where are you?"

Dot touched her pointer finger to her lips, and motioned for the brothers to follow her down the hall. So, they followed her in the direction of the Holding Cell Room, hoping to find Bob, Matrix, and any other escapees waiting there for them.

--**--**--

Bob and Matrix walked down the corridor back-to-back, keeping an eye out for any oncoming object, slowly making their way to the War Room, where they hoped anyone who had escaped Megabyte would be waiting for them, neither thinking they should stay and wait in the Holding Cell Room, where everyone else would probably go in hope of meeting up with them so they could attack Megabyte in the War Room together.

As they walked silently, Matrix had a tight grip on Gun with his eye's targeting system set in infrared mode, while Bob held his arm just above where Glitch was, in case he needed to use its laser blast. Neither of them loosened their grips, for they were full of a mix of anxiety and terror, though neither would admit to feeling either, as they thought it would destroy their reputations if word ever got out of it. But that was only if they made it out of the Principle Office alive.

They continued to walk so, until a slight buzzing noise in the near-distance broke the silence.

"Bob, do yo-" Matrix stopped dead in his tracks and started, but was cut off by Bob saying, "I hear it."

"What do you think it is?" the renegade questioned, never before being in that section of the Principle Office. "Do you think maybe it's Megabyte or one of his ABCs?"

"No, it's much worse, Matrix."

"What do you mean, 'much worse'?" he asked.

"It's the Principle Office's defence system; Megabyte must've activated it."

"This is bad, very bad," Matrix muttered while shaking his head, utilizing one of the Guardian's infamous quotes.

"Even worse than bad," Bob stated, quickly looking from side-to-side, anticipating an attack from whatever defence mechanism Megabyte had set the system to use.

--**--**--

Megabyte chuckled after delivering his speech, and looked over the War Room as the mindless drones he had infected worked away at setting up the security cameras to televise his hunt to the whole of Mainframe.

"You won't win, Mega Breath!" Enzo screamed, trying to squirm his way out of his infected father's tight, robotic grip. "Bob, and Matrix, and Dot, and AndrAIa, and Mouse will come here and kick your can!"

"Maybe so, little boy, but you, well you can't do anything," the Virus mused, thinking back to before he was sent to the Web, and when he had first encountered the grown up Matrix, and remembered the amazement he had felt at his change. "Your sister and the idiots can't do any harm to me, and the Game Sprite and Hacker can't crack their way back in here. As for the Guardian and the renegade Guardian, well, I have a little surprise for them to warm them up before I make my move on them."

Welman chuckled, wanting to please his master.

"Dad, you're not supposed to laugh at that!" Enzo whined, though he knew it was only because he was infected.

The War Room abruptly fell into silence, but was then interrupted by a faint hiss.

"Ha-ha-ha," Megabyte laughed, amused. "It appears as though Mouse can't get in here...too bad. But no matter; I'll be seeing her and the vixen soon enough." He rubbed his chin, and pointed to one of the working drones, commanding, "Have you activated the defence system near the Holding Cell Room, as well as the labyrinthine walls in the whole of the Principle Office?"

"Yes, Lord Megabyte," the Binome replied, not taking its eyes from its workstation.

"Very good. And you," he said, pointing to another Binome, "have the security cameras been channelled for viewing for the rest of the system yet?"

The Binome drowsily nodded, saying, "They are all being broadcasted for all of Megaframe to see."

Megabyte's head cocked. "What did you say?"

"They are all being broadcasted for all of Megaframe to see," the drone repeated.

"Megaframe?"

"Yes, my lord."

"Did I not make myself specific when I said I didn't want to take over Mainframe?"

"Yes, my lord."

"Then why in the Net would you call it Megaframe?"

"I'm sorry, my lord."

The Virus shook his head in disgust. "It's too late to be sorry, slave."

The Binome continued working, not realizing what was to come, and dropped offline when one of Megabyte's spiked tentacles pierced through its mid-block.

"Clean up this mess," he growled. "I don't want to be reminded of that incompetent fool's pathetic failure."

The drones closest to the offline Binome instantly went to work in disposing of its body, while Enzo continued to squirm, shouting out Megabyte with lines such as, "You'll pay for that Mega Breath," "Matrix is going to kick your ASCII," and, "You're lucky I'm being held back!"

Megabyte simply chuckled, and moving closer to the young Sprite and touching his forehead with his hand, began copying Enzo's code to use in the first part of his hunt.

--**--**--

Mouse cautiously peeked around the corner, and signalling to AndrAIa with her left hand, turned the corner and continued down the path they had chosen to take, hoping it would lead them to the Holding Cell Room, as neither of them had ever been in the Principle Office other than the War Room, Phong's Office, the Recreation Room, the Science Lab, and a few of the small public rooms between the both of them.

"Mouse," AndrAIa called out from behind the Hacker, "are you sure this is the right way?"

She turned, shrugged, and confessed, "No, but sug', it's safe to say that being lost in any off-course corridors is better than knowing where we are nearby the War Room, what with Megabyte's talking of this little hunt of his."

"I suppose you're right, but still, I'd feel a whole lot safer knowing where we're heading, especially if the direction is toward Bob and Matrix."

"Me too, AndrAIa," Mouse sympathized with the former Game Sprite, still making her way cautiously down the hall. "Me too."

--**--**--

As Bob and Matrix crouched low to the ground in anticipation of the Principle Office's defence system, the low buzzing got closer and closer until it was just around the corner from them.

"Get ready," Bob commanded, though he knew he didn't have to tell Matrix what to do, as he had been fully informed of his and AndrAIa's exploits in the Games and foreign systems when they had been reunited in the Web aboard the Saucy Mare. "Whatever it is, it's going to be dangerous; Phong would never load a half-ASCII defence mechanism into the Principle Office's system."

"Right," Matrix agreed, gritting his teeth and tightly clenching Gun, his eyes fixated on the corner where whatever it was that was approaching them seemed to be waiting for them to take the initiative.

They waited for a couple millies, and when the buzzing remained stationary, Matrix leaned in close to his Guardian friend and asked, "What's it doing, Bob? Why isn't it attacking us?"

"I think it's an attack-on-sight mechanism, probably a Shifter or Fragger," he tried to answer as best he could, having never really studied the Principle Office's defence system much, as he had never thought the Principle Office could be overrun and used against them, by Megabyte no less. "As long as we remain still, we'll be safe."

"No can do, Bob," the renegade stated, lunging from his spot halfway through his sentence, hoisting Gun in a shooting position and ready to round the corner to meet whatever was waiting for them face-to-face.

"Matrix! No!" he shouted, also rising to his feet and rushing to turn the corner.

But what they both saw was nothing but a Sweeper, cleaning the corridor floor.

"Ha-ha," Matrix let out at what he thought was his and Bob's stupidity, pointing at the cleaning tool with his free hand. "We were worried about a Sweeper."

"Uh, Matrix?"

"Yeah Bob?"

"Cleaning is only the Sweepers' primary function," he reminded the gun-toting hothead.

"You mean," he began, "that we're not safe?"

"Exactly."

"Oh. Crap."

As the Sweeper shot out a laser blast from the turret that had emerged from its 'head' while the two were talking, Bob and Matrix dove away from the cleaning tool in opposite directions, neither avoiding the dangerous beam by very much. Also, two swinging arms armed with saw blades emerged from the Sweeper's body, as well as an armoured vest of spikes that covered the entire bot's bodice.

The two both instantly bounced back to their feet, and shot the Sweeper down with Gun and Glitch, and as they began to celebrate their victory, heard the same buzzing sound the Sweeper had made come from all directions in what sounded to be an excessive amount.

Matrix sent a worried look at Bob, who responded by solemnly saying, "This is bad, very bad."

--**--**--

Little Enzo Matrix walked down the corridor, looking as innocent as he normally was, only it wasn't really him, but rather Megabyte in disguise, beginning his hunt for the Mainframers who, much to his pleasure, were scattered about in the labyrinthine corridors of the Principle Office, and also to his liking, were to be moved around even more by the shifting walls that one of his drones had activated.

"Ready or not, here I come," Mega-Enzo chanted, predatorily making his way through the maze. "And you better watch out, or else this little Horse will stomp all over you."

--**--**--

Dot spun around and chastised Hack, who had just bumped into her, causing her heart to skip a beat. "What are you doing?" she shouted, forgetting to keep her voice low. "You nearly scared the data right out of me!"

"I'm so sorry, sir ma'am. I tripped over my own foot," the red bot tried to apologize with an unconvincing lie, because it was well known to all three of them that neither he nor Slash had feet, but rather moved around on a scroll wheel, and the Principle Office floors were free of any possible dents, bumps, or potholes for the scroll wheel to get stuck in, so both Dot stared him down while his brother smacked the side of his head, cursing, "You moron! Watch where you're going!"

Dot listened while Slash shouted out Hack, actually finding humour in it in the dark situation they currently found themselves, but shortly after told him to back off and said, "Just don't follow me so closely next time, boys. And remember -- if you hear anything, don't make a sound."

"Yes sir ma'am," Hack replied.

"Roger that," Slash stated.

"Who's Roger?" asked the red bot.

"No one's Roger."

"You said, 'Roger that'," Hack repeated his brother's words.

"It's just a phrase."

"A phrase?"

"Something people say," Slash informed.

"I know what a phrase is."

"Then act like it!"

"What if I don't want to?"

Slash was about to reply, but didn't do so when he saw the hateful and annoyed look on Dot's face. "I'm sorry, Dot."

"Me too," Hack chimed.

She shook her head, muttering, "Of everyone who was in the War Room, I had to get stuck with the idiots."

Hack and Slash mopefully looked down at the floor.

"I'm sorry boys, but right now you're just getting on my nerves and I can't think up plans when I'm being annoyed," the Command.Com tried to justify her words.

"We know, but we can't help it -- that's how Megabyte made us," Hack defended.

"When Megabyte made you? What does that mean?"

"It means that Megabyte made us," Slash said.

"I know that, but I didn't know he made you two -- I thought you guys were pre-built and he just took you in as his henchmen."

"Nope, he built us himself to be strong and stupid," Slash recited.

"I don't think he purposely made you two stupid, but rather failed in just making you extremely loyal to him," Dot suggested.

"Nope, he built us to be strong and stupid," Hack backed up his brother's words, trying to remember back to the first mission he and his brother had done for Megabyte, but he came up short and lost interest in it long before anyway, so he repeated his sentence.

"Why would he make you guys stupid? I've always seen Megabyte as being appreciative of intellect and strategy."

"Don't ask us; he made us," they both said at the same time.

Dot shrugged it off, and re-evaluating their present situation and position, started planning what to do, though personally, she was getting sick and tired of always planning, and actually briefly contemplated playing out the scenario on-the-fly, as Bob often, or rather always, did, something which she had always scolded him for doing. But of course, Dot being Dot, she left the thought alone and motioned for Hack and Slash to follow her.

"Oka-" Hack started, but stopped himself by clasping his hands over his mouth, while Slash raised his finger to his own mouth and shushed him.

Dot gave her head a slight shake and continued on her way, trying to creep as stealthily as possible, not wanting to run into any kind of defence mechanism Megabyte may have set to watch over all who were making their way through the maze. At that thought, all she could think about was how everyone else was doing.

--**--**--

The corridor looked to be longer than any of the others they had taken, so naturally Mouse and AndrAIa thought it was the last one before they reached the Holding Cell Room, but much to their surprise, its end actually broke into five separate paths.

"My ASCII," Mouse grumbled, snorting at their predicament. "Why in the Net are these corridors so darn confusing?"

AndrAIa remained silent for fear of making Mouse mad, though she knew she would never try to hurt her, but would rather lose her cool and start a temper tantrum, which would probably bring more damage to them than any type of defence mechanism Megabyte had set the Principle Office to use, if he had activated any at all, though they thought he didn't because they believed it would be too out of character for the now-Trojan Horse Virus, especially with what he said about a hunt.

"Well," the Hacker said, looking back to AndrAIa, "which way do you think we should take?"

AndrAIa shook her head in what appeared to be a mix of confusion and disbelief.

"What's wrong, hun?" she asked, noticing the look on AndrAIa's face. "You look like you were just partially magnetized or got some energy sucked out of you by a Web Creature."

"No, it's something else...something I can hear," she replied, not caring to remind Mouse that she had indeed been completely sucked of energy by a Web Creature before and had to be saved by Bob, which was when they had reunited with him in the Web. "It sounds like rumbling."

"What kind of rumbling?"

"Like something's shifting." She placed an ear upon a wall, and said, "Like the walls are shifting."

"What do you mean, 'like the walls are shifting'?" Mouse questioned, forgetting about the Principle Office's capability to alter its maze-like corridors' structure. "I don't understand."

"It's like the walls are changing their positioning," she explained. She slammed the bottom of her trident on the floor, and shouted, "Megabyte's going to make us all even more lost than we already are!"

"Look at the bright side, AndrAIa -- it'll make the Virus's job in finding us all the harder," Mouse tried to cheer up her companion.

"Maybe, but I still don't like the premise of things right now, no matter how far or close to Megabyte we are."

"I agree completely. But forget about Megabyte for now; which path should we take?"

AndrAIa closer her eyes, waved her hand in front of her face, and pointed. She left her hand in the air, opened her eyes, and found that she had picked the path second from the right.

"Let's do it then," Mouse said as she started stepping in that direction.

But, before they could make any progress down the chosen path, a wall inexplicably dropped from the ceiling, cutting them off, and then the rest of the walls around them also shifted until they were in the middle of a fourway intersection.

"Blast it!" Mouse scolded the shifting walls, once again throwing her katana and dagger in rage. "We're never going to get out of this maze online!"

AndrAIa nodded, thinking about how much she just wanted to be cuddling with Matrix in a safe spot and just let the rest of the system take care of themselves. But, she finally decided that they couldn't stop and give up, because if Megabyte successfully deleted everyone who was lost in the Principle Office corrdiors, there wouldn't be a rest of the system to take care of themselves, and the thought of her adoptive home being put to shambles by a lowly Virus sickened her. So, she coaxed Mouse, suggesting, "Once we find Bob and Matrix, and whoever else is running through these corridors, we can rest. But until then, we should keep moving. Now get up and follow me." She waited for a nano and started making her way down the corridor to her left, and looking back, watched Mouse pick up her weapons and follow her.

--**--**--

From the War Room, the infected Welman watched in a vidwindow as the legion of Sweepers advanced on his son and Bob, and in another, the walls where Mouse and AndrAIa were shift. He let out a bellowing laugh, and turned to Viral Phong, who was also chuckling at the activity that was going on in the maze-like corridors.

"Do you suppose they'll make it very far to the Holding Cell Room?" the scientist asked Phong, curious of his thoughts, and speaking of Mouse and his possible daughter-in-law-to-be.

"If they can pick the right paths to choose, anything is possible," he responded. "As for Bob and Matrix trying to reach us here, I believe the Sweepers will provide something of a challenge for them, even if they do take them offline in a short time."

Welman nodded in agreement. He then looked at the vidwindow where Dot and her bodyguards were, and sighed, bored and disappointed that nothing had yet happened to them, save for the little fight that had erupted between the two bot brothers.

"Indeed she is a smart one," Phong said of Dot, noticing Welman's gaze. "Always coming up with plans, is she. But for her, to fight Megabyte would be to shut yourself offline."

"Perhaps," Welman said before turning away from the line of vidwindows, and looking down upon his master's mindless drones, all of who worked restlessly at their stations. "But perhaps she may come up with a plan yet, and with those two bumbling fools, if they ever get their act together, they may put up enough of a fight to make our lord work up even the slightest of a sweat...nah."

"Ha-ha-ha," Phong laughed, though he was mainly distracted, as the fight between Bob and Matrix and the Sweepers began. "This will be interesting."

--**--**--

Bob and Matrix prepared themselves for the onslaught of Sweepers that were slowly advancing on them from all sides.

"Are you ready Bob?" Matrix questioned his friend through gritted teeth, before commanding Gun to go into Cherry Blossom mode, which would target all the Sweepers.

"Without a doubt," he told him. "Glitch, multi-blast mode."

Partway through Bob's sentence, though, the Sweeper closest to him shot out a blast he had to dodge. The rest of the Sweepers then started shooting at Bob and Matrix, and despite their current situation, a slight grin appeared on the renegade's face, for he fed off of action.

"Aaahhh!" Matrix bellowed, springing up straight and running towards one of the Sweepers, shooting at the ones behind it. When he got close enough, he kicked the cleaning tool dead on, and then shot it three times in its 'torso'. He then yelled out, "Bob, get down!" and commanded Gun, "Shoot, now!"

Bob immediately dropped to the floor, as did Matrix, while Gun began spinning rapidly in the air, shooting laser blasts at all of the targeted Sweepers. But, before all of the Sweepers could be destroyed, Gun stopped spinning, and a small red light started blinking as the near-sentient weapon beeped in a distressful tone.

"What's wrong with it?" Bob asked as Glitch turned into an energy-composed arm-shield. "It looks like it's tired."

"By the User," muttered Matrix, dropping his head and shaking it, clenching his hands into tight fists.

"What, Matrix? What's wrong with your gun?"

He looked at Bob and stated, "It's out of energy."

"What?"

"It used all of its energy up."

"I thought guns' energy supply lasted a long time," Bob said, wondering why Gun was so different, and blocking a barrage of laser blasts from the advancing Sweepers.

"They do, but it's been a while since I refilled Gun. Since a few Games ago," he said.

"A few Games ago? It hasn't been that long since we last went into a Game, and even then, you haven't used Gun in a while. Not since we tricked Megabyte."

Realizing that he still wasn't used to being back in Mainframe, Matrix apologized, "I mean since one of the last few times AndrAIa and I hopped a Game. Since then, there hasn't been much need for me to use Gun, and I forgot to re-energize it." He retracted Gun back to his hand, put it in its sheath on his leg, and dove at a nearby Sweeper that he had to dodge a few blasts from, ripped off its swinging arms, and used them to impale the side of its body and cut it in half. He then ducked as another Sweeper shot at him, and turned to see it strike an unsuspecting Bob in the arm.

"Bob!" he called out, rushing to the injured Guardian, who had grabbed the spot of his arm where the blast had struck. "Are you okay?"

"I'll make it," Bob said, still clasping his arm. "Just watch yourself." He then looked down at Glitch and ordered it to heal his arm, while Matrix stood up and quickly counted how many more Sweepers there were -- thirty-two.

"I don't like the looks of this," he grumbled, looking back down at Bob, who Glitch had finished healing.

The Guardian took in his surroundings and sighed, "Me neither Matrix." He stood up and backed up so he and Matrix were once again back-to-back, and anticipated another onslaught of the cleaning tools, who kept slowly advancing on them.

A few of them shot at the two, but to Bob and Matrix's surprise and delight, before any of the Sweepers could get much closer to them, the walls inexplicably shifted around them, isolating them from their attackers.

"What in the Net?" Matrix blurted, looking around in all directions, trying to figure out what had just happened. "What in the name of the User happened to the walls?"

"They shifted," Bob pointed out the obvious. "It must be another action of the Principle Office's defence system, though I'm sure if Megabyte can see this now, he'd be cursing himself for activating it."

"I'm not so sure of that, Bob," Matrix started, retrieving an energy plug from his belt and replacing Gun's spent one with it. "I mean, Megabyte did say to prepare for a hunt, so maybe right now he's just -"

"Trying to weaken us before confronting us, or is keeping us busy while he hunts everyone else, so he can save us for last," Bob finished. "I should've known Megabyte would try something like this."

"No matter what Megabyte's doing, we have to find everyone else before the bastard Virus does," Matrix suggested.

"It's going to be a hard thing to do if the walls keep shifting like this," Bob said, "but you're right -- we can't let Megabyte harm anyone."

Matrix, finishing recharging Gun, chimed in, "And if he does, he'll wish I had deleted him the first time around, and not let him escape into the Web."

The two then turned and went down the only path there was, eager to save their friends and inflict their revenge on Megabyte.

TO BE CONTINUED