Chapter 04

He recalled the gloating smirk that spread over his face when he saw his prey catch hold of the ground, grasping at the edge where the ground level of the NetZone remained for his life. Phantom wasted his ability to fly when they reentered the NetZone, leaving him unable to do anything beyond clinging desperately while Skulker made his way leisurely to the edge. Phantom wouldn't be able to escape him this time. His prey would finally be his to collect, to brag about to all the other viruses, that he, Skulker, ended the threat of Phantom.

So weak, Skulker remembered thinking when he watched Phantom hanging there below him. Four years ago, Phantom seemed like a terror, beating every virus that came his way, stopping them at every turn from completing their purposes. But while Skulker and other viruses grew stronger, even finding ways of breaking out of the NetZone to manifest a physical form in the real world, Phantom remained the same, if not weaker than he was in those early days of his odd existence.

But he was foolish in his smug sense of victory. When Phantom's grip failed him, when he plummeted into the under level, the dark recess beneath the ground level that went unspoken about, Skulker could only watch in stunned silence, his expression falling much like his prey. He took a moment too long in relishing his win, missed his opportunity to snag the rogue program. He didn't dare chase after Phantom, even with his new jet propulsion ability. No virus would be stupid enough to enter the under level. Once he entered it, there would be no way to escape it. Endless darkness, forever falling, unable to move but remaining conscious; it was a fate he wouldn't wish upon any of his enemies, even Phantom. Yet he could nothing at this point to save the rogue program from his terrible fate.

Skulker ran a hand back over the metal of his head, steel fingers sliding through the strip of a flaming green as he walked into the usual hangout of his kind. The Vortex was a spot located in the dark part of the NetZone where viruses tended to gather when not wrecking havoc for the users. It was a business venture created by a virus named Nocturne years ago. The viruses that frequented the place liked to gamble with data, exchanging what they collected recently. On rare occasions, a virus would have a program up for auction that other viruses would jump at the chance to acquire. He recalled one such event that happened a while ago when Spectra bought a short program called Bertrand that she eagerly corrupted to suit her purposes.

Walking up to the bar, Skulker dropped onto one of the stools. His head rested in his hand as he leaned on the counter, grumpily watching the data streaming across the screens over the back of the bar. As usual, The Vortex was loud with the chatter of other viruses, shouting rising up every now and then when fights broke out over something ridiculous like cheating at a game. Green eyes rolled at that, knowing they were all guilty of cheating, swindling, short changing each other to greedily collect more data for their own taking.

"What happened to you?"

Skulker tore his gaze away from the streaming data to the female virus that appeared before him. A smile almost made its way over his grouchy face when he spotted her. Her black clothes hugged around her body, showing off her curves, her top with the one strap over her right shoulder cutting off to show off a generous amount of her midriff. Her fiery bluish hair was drawn back into its usual high ponytail with the bangs left lose to frame her face.

"You look like someone just destroyed your favorite weapon," she continued with a lift of one delicate eyebrow as she moved around data on a screen made of translucent red energy.

"Well," Skulker said, allowing a smirk to slip onto his face as he sat up a bit straighter, "I'm surprised you're stuck working behind the bar. Not allowed to play for the house anymore, Ember?"

"After that last time?" She scoffed, green eyes glowering, and she nearly shattered the screen in her hands from the tight grip she had on it. "Do you really think Nocturne would allow me the chance to play again?"

"You did make the whole place go crazy," Skulker reminded as he thought back to that incident. Ember was a music type virus that corrupted audio files with her hypnotic songs. When she played for the bar several months ago, she turned every virus present into her mind controlled slaves. Nocturne was not pleased with that, and Skulker thought he was probably happy he wasn't there to see the aftermath of Ember's one and only performance at The Vortex.

"What can I say, baby? I'm infectious." Ember smirked, purple lips stretching sideways across her face. After placing the screen into a slot in the countertop, she folded her arms. "Are you planning on getting in on the action here? Or do you plan to continue sitting there like a useless lump?" Her gaze turned annoyed as she held out a hand, rubbing fingers against thumb. "This is a business. If you're not going to deal in data transfer, you can get out."

"You're going to kick me out?" Skulker snorted as he stood from the stool. With his hands on the countertop, Skulker leaned forward, putting his face close to hers. "You would kick out the virus that finally took out that pesky Phantom?" He grinned widely, waiting for her reaction to that news. It would be more impressive if he had Phantom to cart around and show off his superiority. But with the rogue program lost in the under level, he would have to settle for simply boasting about it verbally. Soon it would be all over the NetZone that he brought down the great Phantom program.

Ember stared at him, vibrant green eyes narrowing as she examined his face, perhaps thinking to catching him in a lie. "You expect me to believe you took out Phantom?" She shook her head, her long flaming hair swishing behind her like the tail of a cat. "Please," she shifted her weight, hip jutting out as she gazed dully at him, "like I'd fall for that one. Nice try, Skulker, but you'd probably have better luck convincing the Box Bug. He'd buy just about anything you tried to sell him."

"You think I'm lying?" His mouth twisted to the side, eyes alight with amusement. Standing up straight, Skulker reached out a hand to her, and a screen of neon green energy appeared within his palm.

Ember stared at it hesitantly, eyes crinkling as they narrowed suspiciously at the screen. When she snatched it from his hand, it was with a look that said she wasn't about to buy the game he was playing. Her lips pursed in a thin line as she touched a finger to the screen, skepticism in her eyes. Skulker waited eagerly with a smug look on his metal face while the scene of what happened earlier in his fight against Phantom played out on the screen. Her expression didn't change as the images flickered over the screen, obvious to her that there was nothing doctored in what she was viewing. It wasn't tampered with, and that fact seemed to sour her mood when the scene came to a close.

"Well, sweetheart." Skulker plucked the screen from her hand before letting it fade out of existence. "What do you have to say now?"

Ember rolled her eyes at the proud grin on his face. "And you expected what exactly? I'd watch that dinky little clip and fall madly in love with you like an idiot? Please, I'm not some sad sap."

"I defeated Phantom," Skulker argued, almost gaping at the fact that she acted so utterly unimpressed by that face. She stood there, arms crossed with boredom in her green eyes like he announced something as pathetic as tricking Klemper into thinking Johnny wanted to be friends with him. He frowned, his mouth thinning, refusing to acknowledge it as a pout when she didn't shower him with praises over his success. "This is big news. You could act a little more excited about it."

"Why would I be excited?" A finger tapped out a beat on her arm as Ember waited for him to explain it to her. "You didn't do anything. Not really. All you did was blow up the ground level, and he fell into the under level." A hush fell over the bar at the mention of the under level. All the viruses present paused in their chatter, their gambling, as they all turned to stare at the pair. "Oh, cut with the dramatics!" Ember snapped, scowling at the viruses. "Go back to being idiots and stop eavesdropping on our conversation." Green eyes narrowed dangerously, and many of the viruses twisted back around to return to their business. Those that didn't tried, and failed, to subtly continue listening in to what Skulker and Ember discussed. She huffed a sigh at that as she dragged her gaze back to Skulker. "Phantom might be lost to the under level, but you," she bent her arm, turning her fist palm up as she pointed a finger at him, "Mr. Expert Hunter, failed to actually capture him. You would have been rolling in data beyond what any one of us could imagine having if you actually brought him here to be auctioned off."

"Auction him off?" Skulker barked out a laugh. "Why would I auction off my greatest prize? I'd mount that pesky rogue program to my wall and show him off like all my other successful hunts. Just like I did when I collected the sword of the Fright Knight." He leaned forward on the countertop, waiting to hear songs of praise for his amazing skills as a hunter.

"Right," Ember said, drawing the word out as she nodded her head. "I don't consider it a success when your prey plummets into the under level like a brick. And the Fright Knight? Please! You took it from him while he was sleeping. Which, by the way, he's still looking for your head on a silver platter for taking it. You're just lucky he hasn't tracked you down yet. He was, after all, the dog for Pariah Dark." She rolled her eyes to the ceiling, shoulders slumping half an inch when another hush fell over the bar. "If you all keep that up, I'm getting my guitar and making you all do something you'll greatly regret." That got all of them to turn away from the conversation. None of the viruses wanted a repeat of being under Ember's mind control.

Skulker ground his teeth, scowling at Ember. "What's a guy got to do?" he muttered to himself, not understanding the way a female virus' mind worked. "Why do we continue playing this game?" he asked in a change of tactics. "No one else has any interest in you, but you keep pushing me away. Let's cut the act already."

The boredom from listening to his boasting quickly changed to anger, hands gripping biceps tightly, teeth clearly clenching, a storm of fury raging in her eyes. "You think I can't get a guy?"

From the darkening look in Ember's eyes, Skulker wondered if perhaps he said the wrong thing. "I don't see any guys lurking around here trying to get with you." He leaned on one arm and smirked. "Other than me. And really, why would they bother when they see me with you? Might as well throw in the towel and admit we're made for each other."

"Oh there's a laugh!" Ember raised the back of one hand to her mouth and laughed cruelly. "Made for each other? You have to be joking! Only someone with a few screws loose in their heads would want to be with you. You're too obsessed with your stupid hunts to pay attention to anything else. Why would I want some idiot that can't even capture Phantom and will ignore me the moment something new pops up to chase after? Thanks, but no. I'd rather stay single than deal with a virus like you." She shook her head, still chuckling.

Rage boiled through him. "I could have captured him!" Skulker shouted, slamming down a fist hard enough to send cracks spider webbing over the countertop. The sound drew attention to them again, but both viruses were so fueled with anger that they didn't pay attention to the other eyes upon them. "What did you want me to do? Jump into the under level and fish him out of there? No one is that stupid!"

"And bravo," Ember said sarcastically as she clapped her hands. "You've lost Phantom to the under level. You're the big bad virus that got rid of the pest. Let's celebrate." She lowered her gaze to his fist. "Nocturne is going to make you pay for that."

"He's not lost."

The voice drew both of their attention to another virus sitting at the counter. He had screens open all around him, filtering through data, picking out pieces and tossing it away like garbage that other viruses eagerly jumped on to add to their own collection. Skulker frowned as he watched the virus with the clear top of his head showing what would look like a human brain. He saw pictures of such things when he looked at information about the human anatomy once. He didn't recognize this virus before, never seeing him visit The Vortex.

"What do you mean?" Skulker leaned toward him. "I watched him fall into the under level. No one escapes from there."

The virus turned his head away from his screens to stare at Skulker. "Apparently, Phantom isn't just any program then."

Skulker snorted. "I could have told you that." He laughed as he glanced at Ember, who only rolled her eyes at him. "But even if he's no normal program, there's no way he could break out of the under level. Once you're in there, you don't come out. Ever."

"I believe you're wrong on that account." The virus touched one of his screens and dragged it over to place it right in front of Skulker's face. A scene played on it, and Skulker frowned as he watched the images, spotted Phantom suddenly appearing through a portal that seemed to manifest out of nowhere before disappearing again through a nearby access point. He glanced at the time stamp on the scene, searched it for any sign of tampering, but what he saw was indeed real.

"That's not possible," Skulker growled as Ember laughed, amused that even dropping Phantom into the under level proved a failure for the hunter. "It doesn't matter how different he is. There's no way Phantom could get out of the under level."

"Better luck next time, Mr. Genius Hunter." Ember waved a hand, chuckling as she walked away.

The unknown virus pulled his screen back to him, returning to his filtering of data. "So tell me some more about this Phantom program?" He slid his gaze back to Skulker as a smirk tugged at his mouth.

Guest: No, it's okay! Don't be embarrassed! D: *hugs you* Tucker and his tech. XD Well, his tech knowledge would come more in handy with Danny being digital instead of a ghost. XD;;

jeanette9a: Maybe~

XD: Haha, Clockwork is like the WOPR! He's constantly running variations of how things will play out based on all possible choices. XD;; And then tries to guide things to the best possible outcome with the least damage to the NetZone and the real world. Yup. Those of the NetZone call humans users. Programs are useful things, like Word or Excel or other things people use on the computer. Viruses are, you know, harmful programs that are created to infect other people's computers, steal their information, crash their hard drives, etc. The users that created the viruses never expected them to have, you know, artificial intelligence and the capability of acting on their own. XD;;; That's part of what got, like, Jack and Maddie into researching the NetZone. Now Danny just has to go meet him! 8D There's a lot Danny doesn't know about himself. Dash better watch out or Danny'll figure him out! XD Valerie will be coming in the future! =) I hadn't thought of that idea~ 8D It makes for an interesting idea and would be fun to explore!

Sammi: Yay! I'm glad you think so! Vlad will be coming up in the near-ish future!