jhvh777: Well, Slate doesn't know Lloyd's true agenda. He thinks that he is just trying to get them busted. He figures that he won't try anything funny while the other rebels are so close him and can possibly stop him if it comes down to a fight.

Dash has been infected since the beginning. In fact, he's been infected ever since The Link Between the Past and Present, but he hasn't shown any signs until now.

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Chapter 16: To Stop an Outbreak

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Zero, Dash, Tyria, Crushman, and Ryn materialized in the virus controller's cyberworld. The only things that set it apart from most other cyberworlds were platforms floating above the ground, and the control core, which looked like a diamond.

As expected, viruses began to materialize, but these were of an unfamiliar breed. Their basic design was similar to a Swordy, except that these were larger and more heavily armored. Clutched in their hands were nasty looking broadswords.

'' What are those?'' Tyria said, eyeing them warily. '' I've never seen a virus like that before.''

'' Hmph. Creation of new virus species is illegal.'' Ryn scowled. '' It was one of the first laws that T-Corp passed.''

'' Well, let's see how tough they are!'' Dash said, firing off a buster shot that bounced off of the virus's armor.

'' Okay, so they're not going to be that easy…'' Dash sighed. Tyria noticed that there was a look of worry in his eyes, most likely from what Arman had said, as the worry seemed to run deeper than concern about viruses.

Slate started off the battle. '' Areasteal, slot in!'' Zero warped over to the nearest virus. The thing brought its sword down with massive force. Zero managed to side step, but he almost lost his balance from the shock. Recovering, he thrust his saber up into the black space where its glowing eyes were. The virus let out a groan, and then fragmented into a cube like any other virus.

'' So, the eyes are the weak point.'' Terry observed. '' Markcannon! Slot in!''

Dash's hand was replaced by a mark cannon. He leveled it at another virus's eyes and fired, scoring a direct hit. The virus lurched back from the hit and fragmented.

Another virus thrust its sword at Ryn, blade parallel to the ground. Ryn hopped back out of range and leapt onto the flat part of the blade and thrust his spear in between the eyes, deleting it.

Crushman wasn't using any battlechips at all, he was simply throwing punches left and right, his powerful fists smashing armor and shattering swords, while Tyria was taking advantage of her size and speed to confuse the virus until she could score a fatal hit.

Slate slotted in an Airshoes, sending Zero onto one of the platforms floating around the core. Slate took out three more chips. '' High Cannon, triple slot in!'' Zero's hands morphed into a Giga Cannon. He aimed it at the core and fired, letting the immense plasma blast incinerate the core.

With the core destroyed, the viruses lost their will to fight. Some simply stood there, while other's mulled around aimlessly. They put up absolutely no resistance, and were easily deleted.

'' Alright!'' Dash said happily, as the last virus was destroyed.

Zero jumped down from the platform. '' Good job.'' he said. It was rare for him to offer congratulations after a successful mission.

'' How do you feel?''

It was Ryn who had said it. He was standing with his back to the rebels, so that they could not see his face.

'' What do you mean?'' Zero asked, tightening his grip on his saber.

'' Now that you've accomplished your goal, how do you feel?'' Ryn asked, still facing away. '' Do you feel happy, relieved, satisfied?''

'' What are you trying to get at?'' Dash asked.

'' What you should be feeling…'' Ryn said. '' …is fear.''

'' Fear?''

'' Heh heh heh.'' Ryn chuckled. '' You've made my job much easier, thanks.''

He turned around, his face was now decorated with a leer, while there was a maniacal gleam in his gray eyes. '' As a little reward, I'll try to make this as painless as possible!'' His spear materialized in his hand.

'' We knew it!'' Tyria shouted. '' You and Lloyd are traitors!''

'' Really?'' Ryn said, sounding vaguely amused. '' Then why didn't you do anything about it? Then your deletions will be your own fault!''

He leapt into the air and swung his spear in a downward slash. '' Sonic Slash!'' A sonicboom like energy wave was unleashed. Zero flipped over it and fired off a Saberwave when Ryn hit the ground.

Ryn jumped to the side to dodge it, then turned to see Crushman make a leap at him. Ryn ducked down low and swung his spear in a crescent shaped arch, forcing Crushman to log out.

Karla slotted in a chip. '' Senshahou!'' Tyria's arm morphed into a Tank Cannon and she fired a large blast from it, but Ryn merely tilted his head to the side and let the blast blow past his head and explode.

Dash fired off the Boomerang battlechip, but Ryn sliced it in two. Slate slotted in two chips, and Zero charged in to attack, but Ryn sliced him nearly in two. '' And that is the end of the legendary Zero!'' he said smugly.

'' Guess again.''

The cloven body turned into a Zero doll, and the real Zero reappeared above Ryn via an Areasteal. He came crashing down on Ryn, knocking him to the floor and kicking his spear out of the blue and white navi's reach. '' If you want to live…'' Zero growled, pointing his saber at Ryn's throat. '' I suggest you not make a move.''

All seemed to be well in the cyberworld with Ryn's defeat, but all was not well in the real world, as a series of crashes and panicked shouts came from Arman's office at the top of the stairs. '' Oh no…'' groaned Terry. '' Kuso!'' Slate spat. The rebels ran up the staircase and into the office to witness something terrible.

Lloyd had grabbed the sledgehammer that had been in the toolbox, and had brought it up in preparation for a blow. Arman was cowering on the floor, helpless.

'' NO!'' Slate screamed as Terry screwed his eyes shut, trying to block out the sickening crunch that followed. '' Wh, what the #$ was that!'' Butch sputtered.

Terry opened his eyes to find Arman's body on the floor, his skull crushed like an egg. Blood and other gore was leaking out onto the floor.

Slate was wearing a look of fury on his face. He looked far angrier than Terry had ever seen him before. Butch looked bewildered, while Karla, who was still on the steps because there was no more room in the office, looked sick.

Lloyd dropped the bloodied murder weapon and turned around, a cold look in his eyes and a sneer on his lips. '' What was this?'' he repeated. '' This was execution for conspiracy and treason.''

'' What do you mean?'' Karla asked.

Lloyd chucked to himself. '' You thought that I was another vagabond, didn't you? If only you knew… the truth!''

'' What do you mean by that Lloyd? If that's even your real name!'' Butch shot.

'' Yes, Lloyd is my real name.'' he answered. '' But I'm not some vagabond, I'm actually… Lloyd Alva!''

Slate's look of fury changed to one of complete surprise. '' Lloyd… Alva… Why?''

'' Huh? Why do you look surprised?'' Terry asked.

'' You remember, right?'' Slate began. '' Franklin Alva was the head of T-Corp. However, he died five years ago. Afterwards, I heard that his children, Lloyd and Kassandra, took over, but I've never actually seen them before! I wrote off his name as a coincidence, as I had no reason to suspect him back when I interrogated him.''

'' So, everything you told us, including growing up in San Diego was a lie?'' Butch growled. '' Crap! I knew that there was something wrong with you the moment we met in that bar!''

'' But why would the head of T-Corp come all the way out here?'' Terry asked.

'' It has to do with Arman over there.'' Lloyd said, glancing at the stiffening corpse. '' You see, three months ago, he stopped sending us his monthly report, then, viruses began to appear. I simply put two and two together.''

'' But if you already knew that Arman was responsible, then why did you have to come to us?'' Karla asked.

'' I suspected that the viruses were being broadcast by satellite, for the attacks always started at transceivers.'' Lloyd began. '' But I wanted to verify it, and if I started to delve into records at work, people would start spreading rumors, I'm very conscience of my image at work. So I claimed that I was ill and went undercover as a rebel.''

'' It was a matter of pride?'' Slate said, sounding bewildered. '' That does not make any sense at all. Anyway, how do Chirol and Kurohige fit into all of this?''

'' That incident with the metools gave me all the confirmation I needed, and I was now finished with you.'' Lloyd explained. '' So I tipped off the Enforcers, and they were sent. Obviously, they failed to beat you at the dock. Afterwards, they kept bugging me about giving them a second chance. I told them to take it up with my sister, and they did. I guess she humored them. Hmph, she's too soft… Anyway, another reason for destroying you was that you've caused us quite some trouble recently. Namely, destroying the Dimensional Chip Factory!''

'' Oh?'' Karla objected. '' Ace gave us the impression that you didn't care about the factory!''

'' We didn't care about the chips, true.'' Lloyd admitted. '' But we did care about all that money that was used to fund it.''

He took a step back, so that he was standing behind Arman's desk. '' Do you know what I'm going to do now? I'm going to delete your navis, trap you down here, and then head to Ironsould to have Dullaq come up here and arrest you!''

'' I highly doubt that.'' Slate said. '' You're outnumbered, in the middle of nowhere, and we've already defeated Ryn.

Lloyd laughed. '' Just as I am not the man you knew, Ryn is not the navi you knew!''

'' What are you saying!'' Slate demanded.

'' I've simply installed a copy program into my PET.'' Lloyd explained. '' It allows me to alter my navi's physical appearance. The rest is just simple acting.'' He hit a command on his PET screen. '' Meet 'Ryn's' true form!''

Ryn began to glow, and he tossed Zero aside. Zero flipped to his feet, ready for another fight. '' His power level… It just went through the roof!''

Ryn's form began to change, and when the glow faded, he had completely changed.

'Ryn' was now taller, and had no helmet. His hair was sleek and orange, as were his eyes. His gloves, boots, and body suit were white, while his sleeves and neck were black. There were orange jewels set into his boots and gloves, and there were orange stripes on his legs. He was wearing a vest similar to Zero's, except his was white, had an orange collar, and was open as opposed to Zero's closed one.

'' R-Ryn?'' Tyria said nervously.

'' Ryn?'' the navi repeated in a clear, precise voice. '' No you fools, I am Solinar.exe.''

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Lloyd's true identity has been revealed! Shock shock!

Poor Crushman, this is the second time in a row that he's been beaten during the finale. At least he wasn't deleted this time.

Kuso is Japanese for shit! Netto says this a lot in the anime.

Those enhanced Swordys were actually Bladia viruses. They were minibosses during Liberation Missions in EXE5. They were quite annoying, as they stayed in the back row and their attacks hit one column and cracked it as well.