Virtual Insanity!

Hey there, folks! L1701E here! Right here, I got a great new fic for you starring everyone's favorite team of international mutants, the West Coast Misfits! Basically, Virus is at it again! And this time, he's attacking through a new realm: the world of Virtual Reality! I hope you like it!

Disclaimer: All characters belong to me, Marvel Comics, and Hasbro. If you want to use my characters, let me know. And here's your quote: "Did he say Wesley? The boy?" - Michael Dorn as Lieutenant Worf, Star Trek: The Next Generation

Chapter 1: What the Heck is This?

Hi-Tech's lab in Malibu Base

"Oh boy oh boy oh boy oh boy oh boy!" A young man grinned happily. He was dressed in a gray and blue uniform with various electronic devices on it. His semi-long blond hair was kept out of his face by a green headband. The headband helped keep his blue eyes out of his face. This man was Hi-Tech, a young St. Paul-born Joe who specialized in technological warfare. This was helped by a strange ability he had. As a child, he and an electronic device were struck by lightning. It altered his brain chemistry, giving him the ability to mentally access and control electronic devices. He was working on what appeared to be a helmet with a visor on it and a pair of cameras mounted on the sides.

"What're you working on, Hi-Tech?" A blonde woman in a gray uniform asked as she walked in.

"Hey, Vorona!" Hi-Tech grinned. Vorona, or Daina (as her friends called her), was a Czech-born Joe who specialized in helicopter piloting and sniping. She was once a member of the Oktober Guard, the Soviet version of the GI Joe team. The Joes and the Oktober Guard were more rivals than enemies, and they have joined forces to take on Cobra a couple times. After the USSR collapsed, the Oktober Guard broke up. Vorona had grown a great respect for the Joe team, and gladly accepted an invitation to join them. "Check it out!" Hi-Tech held up the helmet. Daina blinked.

"That is…a virtual reality helmet, correct?" The Czech Joe asked. Hi-Tech nodded like a little boy.

"Yup! What do you think?" Hi-Tech grinned.

"Hi-Tech, you are a bit late. It was already invented." Daina replied, crossing her arms.

"I know. Think about this…" Hi-Tech nodded. "These days, warfare is not just about who has the bigger guns or bigger army. These days, it's about who has the biggest technological advantage. I believe that virtual reality is the way to go." Hi-Tech pointed at a futuristic looking chair, with a red cushioned seat and back, and a pair of futuristic gloves on the seat. The gloves were attached to the sides of the chair by fiber-optic cables. Attached to the arms of the chair was a pair of computer keyboards. "Gentlemen…" He said in a booming voice. Daina raised a blond eyebrow. "BEHOLD! CHAIR!"

He's a nice boy, but he is very strange. Daina mentally judged. But then again…you have to expect that from GI Joe. They are crazy, but this outfit only proves that insanity can also be a heroic trait.

"I call it…my VSC: Virtual Sabotage Chair." Hi-Tech said. "It allows a person to use virtual reality to hack into other computers and actually walk around inside them."

"How is that useful?" Daina wondered. Hi-Tech chuckled.

"It makes hacking easier." Hi-Tech explained. "You see, it does this by actually allowing a person to walk around inside a computer and interact with the data within it like it was another person. It makes introducing viruses and other program problems a lot easier and this process allows it to be done a lot more covertly. I'll show you." Hi-Tech ran to a keyboard and typed some commands into it. A humming was heard from the chair. "Watch this screen." He told Daina, pointing to the screen. Vorona nodded. Hi-Tech jumped in the chair, and put the gloves and helmet. "Rev it up, baby! Whoo!" Hi-Tech turned on the chair. Vorona blinked in astonishment as a computer-generated Hi-Tech appeared on the screen. He was standing in a solid blue room. He waved at Vorona. "Hello Vorona!"

"Hi-Tech? Is that…you in there?" She asked, completely astonished.

"Yeah. Neat, huh?" Hi-Tech grinned from the screen. "I'm now going to enter the Joes' main computer system." From his chair, Hi-Tech started typing some commands. The screen showed a purple vortex appearing in the wall of the blue room.

"What is that?" Vorona pointed at the vortex.

"This is the portal to the Joes' main computer system." Hi-Tech explained. "The programming in the chair's computers converts websites and mainframes into different interactive environments. I asked the West Coast Misfits to help me out with the virtual environment programming. I'll show you." The purple vortex disappeared. A blue, yellow, and a black vortex appeared in its place. In the middle of the vortex was a gold thunderbolt, like the thunderbolt on the chest of Kyle's costume. "This leads to Thunderbolt's personal little environment we made in this thing." Hi-Tech's virtual self walked in. Vorona saw Hi-Tech appear in a room that looked like a room in an old gym. A wrestling ring appeared in the center of it, various exercise equipment around it, a large mirror on the wall, and wrestling posters decorating the walls. The vortex materialized in front of the wrestling ring. Hi-Tech stepped out. "Amazing, huh?"

"Incredible…" Vorona nodded. What neither of them realized was that they were being watched. A small cybernetic fly was fluttering about in the lab.

Virus's Lab

"Interesting…" Virus noted from within his lab. The psychotic English mutant was spying on the Malibu Joes, hoping to find something he could take from them and use in his eternal quest to rid the world of the Toad and win over Althea for himself. "Virtual reality, aye? That sounds really interesting…"

"Hey Virus! How long do I have to stay in this thing!" Cobra Commander roared from his DNA repair tank. "Do you know how long I've been in this blasted thing?"

"Hey mate, calm down!" Virus snapped. "The damage Serpentor did to your bloody DNA was pretty bloody extensive. Not to mention it self-replicates all the bloody time! Besides…" Virus smirked at the tank. "You need me. I could just as easily stop the reversal and have it change you back…" He reached for a control pad next to the tank.

"Okay! Okay!" Cobra Commander exclaimed. "Sheesh…" I never thought I'd see the day when my fate would be at the mercy of that psychotic arrogant loudmouthed Brit worm.

Well, well, well! Looks like our heroes are in big trouble! What insanity will happen next? What is Virus's plan? Can our heroes stop it? Find out in the next chapter! Suggestions needed badly!