Ch.3: In Hacker's Hands

" Mr. Rich!" shouted Jackie, as she and the others ran into the office with the tape "We have something to show you,"

The ringing of the phone soon cut their speech short as the elephant picked up to answer. A few seconds later, the cybermates could make out the impression of pure anger on his face.

"He escaped!" growled Mr. Rich " What do mean he escaped?! Don't move, I'll soon be down there with every officer I have!"

After slamming down the phone, Mr. Rich rudely brushed past the stunned Cybersquad, whispering cruel words under his breath.

"Still think your friend is so innocent?" said Mr. Rich "That was the captain of the police force. Your friend has been broken out of jail, thanks to the Hacker,"

Inez, Jackie, and Digit didn't know what to say and just stood there stunned as Mr. Rich walked away from view. Neither of them could believe what was happening. Matt was in the hands of Hacker. Was it by his own choice, or by force? Could it be possible that Matt had lied about who really stole the gold?

"I can't believe this" said Digit " this just can't be real,"

"Real or not" said Inez " this has gotten way out of hand. I doubt Matt would just turn around and become a crook. We need to regroup and talk to Motherboard. We don't know why Hacker is helping Matt, but I doubt its for anything good,"

–-

Meanwhile, while flying through Cyberspace, Matt was waking up to an entirely new situation. Trapped aboard the Grim Wreaker, with the trio of villains he worked so hard to win against.

Hacker sat in his favorite recharger chair, grinning wickedly, while Buzz and Delete stood at his side, mimicking his smile.

"Welcome Matthew" said Hacker " to my lovely home,"

"What do you want Hacker?" asked Matt.

"Can't I help out a fellow criminal?" said Hacker " After all, we're on the same side now,"

"I'm not a criminal!" said Matt " and we're not on the same side!"

"Then why did I find you in jail?" scoffed Hacker " Oh, that's right, for stealing a vault's worth of precious Phoenix Gold. You're a fugitive now Mattie, better get used to it,"

"But I didn't steal the gold" said Matt " that lizard-like creature did,"

"Don't lie to me boy" said Hacker " I've made my career out of lies and schemes. Now that one of Motherboard's flunkies finally turned to the dark side, I'm willing to offer a little deal. Either join me as my partner, or rot in my dungeon,"

"Pass" said Matt " I've seen how you treat your followers, and I'll never work someone ugly like you!"

"Ugly!" shouted Hacker, getting ticked, but surprisingly the moment was soon over with calm " Insults aside, it may be better to give you some time to think before making the right decision. Enjoy the dungeon pretty boy!"

"Ahh!" cried Matt, as the floor suddenly opened up beneath his feet, and then sealed itself shut after he fell.

Landing with a hard thump, Matt scanned with his eyes to peer at his new surroundings.

Big, white, slanted walls, polished slick so that he couldn't reach the air vents above. An uncomfortably small floor, with little room to stretch or lie down. The ceiling above was padded with black lead, preventing any signal for the Squackpad getting out.

There was no question about it. Matt was trapped and completely on his own.

Sighing sadly, Matt sulked off to one of the small corners of the room, and stared at his Squackpad, its siglessness sapping his hope.

"What do I do now?" sighed Matt.

The answer came suddenly when a beep flashed on screen, and the word 'Lost' lit up the page. The sight of the familiar word stunned Matt.

"Lost?" he thought " That shade!"

Soon, another word came up on screen.

"Matt,"

Curious to who could be actually be able to talk to him, Matt decided to take a risk and respond.

"I'm here," typed Matt.

For awhile there was nothing, and Matt was wondering if had been even worth it to respond, then a huge, red word suddenly popped up on screen.

"Danger!"

As soon as that word was typed, everything seemed to go wacky aboard the Grim Wreaker. Hacker's ship was now rocking and rolling out of control.

"Duncebuckets!" shouted Hacker, up on the bridge " What the heck is happening?"

"There's something wrong with the system Boss" said Buzz " the Grim Wreaker is starting to tear apart!"

"We're going to crash!" yelled Delete.

And with that said, the Grim Wreaker spiraled out of control, crashing into an unmarked cybersite.

Hacker and his gang now stood stranded in the ruins of an ancient city, with Matt tagging along for the ride.

From up on one of the ruins ancient temples, a shifty shade stood grinning at the smoking destruction that was once the Grim Wreaker. Everything had been set. Soon all of Cyberspace would feel the wrath of the Lost.