Chapter Five
"I can't think of a more despicable, disgusting, poor-excuse-of-a-pirate to surf the web!" a patrol officer growled at the swaying form of a cyborg with dark blue dreadlocks. The pirate gave the officer a reproving stare.
"I cannot confirm or deny that there is any probability in the truth of what you have just said or not, but there stands a likely chance – undoubtedly – that at the very least you have heard of me: Captain Back Space!"
Slider paused the film and glanced over at Inez expectantly. The woman was snuggled beside her husband on the couch, her mind wandering, not realizing for a moment that silence had filled the room.
"Hey, how come you paused it?" she asked.
"You didn't seem to be watching."
"I-I was," she stammered.
Slider shook his head. "Nah, your mind's elsewhere. Has been since before dinner. What gives, Nezzie?"
This was not how Inez had planned on telling him, no dramatic lead up, no creative phrase. But as she sat curled up beside him, wearing his sweatshirt that was too big for her but was warm and cozy for movie-watching, both of them bathed in the blue light of the television screen, Inez realized this was it. It was just the two to them, no missions to save Cyberspace were weighing on their minds, they were just relaxing in their usual way. It was perfect.
With a new light shining in her eyes, Inez faced Slider with her news, only to pause when she saw the same light in his own eyes. "You know!" she reprimanded.
"Wasn't hard to figure. Pickled cranberries? My father said my mom used to eat those when she was going to have me. And she used to make him go to the cybermarket in the middle of the night. Now that we have that cookie, I won't have to make those same late-night trips."
Inez swatted him playfully with a pillow. "That cookie ruined everything!" she said, though she was laughing. "I'm surprised it hasn't tried to interrupt this moment, too."
"I locked it in the garage." Slider grinned and wrapped his arms around Inez. "I may have guessed it, but I've been dying all evening to hear it from you."
Inez snuggled in closer. "Slider, you're going to be a dad."
o.0.o
The Amazin' drone halted before the large hanger on the Northern Frontier, where the Grim Wreaker was stationed. Buzz and Delete hurried down the gang plank towards the waiting drone, excited about their order of doughnuts and bunnies. They were disappointed when the only purchase aboard the drone was the Zoom-Broom.
"Where are my bunnies?" Delete lamented.
Buzz shushed him. "The Boss doesn't know about our orders. We'll just have to intercept the next drone and get to our orders before the Boss finds out." Buzz picked up one end of the large package. "Get the other end, Dede."
Together, the robots carried the package inside the Grim Wreaker to find Hacker adding some extra hair gel to his wig and buffing his pointy chin. "Wicked said she is on her way," The Hacker almost sang. "Put that on the table, boys! Gently!"
The Hacker could not believe his luck that Wicked had agreed to meet with him again after their recent upset. He had barely had to coax her with any of the speeches he had prepared to win her win over. He glanced over at the package, imagining the joy on the witch's face when she saw that he had gotten her the latest flying broomstick. With her own money. Well, served her right for insulting him, dumping him the way she had. And it wasn't just Wicked who would pay; all of Cyberspace would soon be in debt because of him, he who would arise as their only hope because he would have the items they would need to survive, the items they could no longer purchase at Amazin'. And he would appear merciful, giving to the poor...in exchange for a revolution in his favor. The poor would adore their new savior and fight to replace Motherboard with him: The Hacker.
Hacker hurriedly finished grooming himself. Evidently, Wicked was in the vicinity of the Northern Frontier anyway and would be there in just a moment. How fortunate.
Just then, Wicked marched into the large, open area of the Grim Wreaker, looking partly insulted, partly intrigued. Hacker threw his arms wide as though to embrace her.
"Wicked, dear, I'm so glad you came back and have allowed me to woo you once more."
The witch sniffed disinterestedly. "I did not come back to be wooed, Hacker." She crossed her arms.
Hacker lowered his arms, slightly put off. "The Hacker made a promise, and The Hacker always keeps a promise, Wicked." Again, the witch showed little interest as Hacker gestured towards the package. "Guaranteed to be the latest version!"
Wicked walked over to the package, lifting the lid. The shiny chrome and green hue of the broomstick handle seemed to wink up at the witch. A grin spread over her face in spite of herself. "Oh, Hacky-poo, you've really outdone yourself," she said in her sweetest, most excited voice.
"Only the best for my Wicked."
"Now, what was it that Al Gorinthm told me to do in order to keep it?" Wicked pressed a finger to her chin.
"Al...what? The cyborg from Amazin'?" Hacker looked startled.
"Oh yes," Wicked replied, slowly turning towards Hacker, the sweetness from her eyes fading. Full wrath took over. "That's right, make the jerk who robbed me pay for what he did, not just to me but to all of Cyberspace."
Wicked's wand flashed into view and before Hacker could respond, a streak of yellow light had flashed from the wand and engulfed him.
"Reset all the cookies and the damage you have done, and send all the cookies back to Amazin'!" Wicked growled, twisting her wand back and forth. Likewise, Hacker, trapped in the yellow glow of power, was rocked to and fro around the room.
"But, Wicked...darling...sweet cakes, I did it all for you. The new broom for my future queen when I take control of Cyberspace."
Wicked glared. "But you had to do it with my snelfus, huh?" Swinging her wand, Hacker was launched towards the controls of his computer. Wicked grinned. "Reset!"
Hacker crossed his arms. Wicked couldn't hold him prisoner forever in her forcefield. Either she would give out or Buzz and Delete, who had retreated into another part of the spaceship, would eventually overpower her, forcing the wand from her grasp.
"You can't do this to me, Wicked!"
Suddenly, Hacker's chin disappeared, eliciting a scream from the supervillain.
Wicked smiled. "I'm thinking of giving you hair, Hacker, some nice, craggy witch's broom, with split ends and nothing you can do to tame it, brush it, cut it. No wig will hide it."
"Stop! Stop!" Hacker cried. "I'll do it! I'll reset the cookies and send them back! Anything but that!"
o.0.o
Wicked glided around Al's office space on her new Zoom-Broom. (Shari could not help being a little envious of the shiny new broomstick.) Wicked had finished relating what had transpired on the Grim Wreaker, and one of Al's employees had just arrived with news that all the cookies that had been hacked had been returned and that employees were in the process of ensuring that the damage had been undone.
"We'll be recalling all cookies," Al informed Jackie and Shari after Wicked had left on the broomstick, a gift from Amazin' for the trouble Hacker had caused her and for her help in reversing the damage. "There will be added safety features to protect cybercitizens' accounts."
"Glad to hear it," Jackie stated before yawning. "Goodness! It's getting late."
Al escorted the women to the store's entrance. Although not as busy as it had been during the day, Amazin' was surprisingly still packed with shoppers at the late hour. "Amazin'," Al marveled. "The cybersite that never sleeps."
At the sliding doors, Al turned towards two employees making their way towards them. "Amazin' is indebted to you two, and we would like to show our appreciation."
One cyber-employee held up some jewelry for Jackie, while the other lumbered under the weight of a new Zoom-Broom. Once outside and away from Al and the employees, Jackie and Shari grinned excitedly over their rewards.
"I almost feel guilty taking the stuff," Jackie admitted. "It kind of feels weird, like we didn't do much, other than show up at the right time."
Shari switched on the Zoom-Broom, watching the handle glow green.
"Though it was kind of nice just solving the problem ourselves." Jackie moved toward Shari's cyberpod. "Though it was different without Inez or Matt."
"Oh my gosh!" Shari cried, coming out of her daydreams about the new broomstick. Fear filled her eyes. "MATT!"