Matt woke up with a throbbing headache. And the numbness of his body ceased as pain revealed itself. He tried sitting up, a sharp pain ripped from his side as he hissed. He surrendered as he heard nearby footsteps..

"Hang in there Matt." Slyder assured. Matt opened his eyes, focusing his vision on the figure that stood before him. He realized his arm was in a sling with medication on the table side. He was still in his room. He tried to get his memory together. He last remembered getting jumped by three guys and left for dead on the pavement.

"How did you get in here?" He croaked.

"Spare key; remember? We were heading to Jack's house when we saw you on the ground. We got there just as they left..." Slyder grimaced. "I would've chased them down...but it was just me and the girls."

"They're here too?" Matt said. Slyder nodded.

"Of course." Slyder paused, "You should seen the look on Inez's face...she was really pale."

Matt didn't know how to respond.

"I think, you should thank your friends. Because, honesty, I think you've been acting like a complete jerk lately." Slyder admitted. Matt agreed. Deep down, he didn't like being the jerk of the year. Though, he was pretty sure he could've won a few awards if such a thing existed.

"Fine." Matt grimaced.

/

Matt was left alone in his room for half an hour, taking his medications for the migranes and sipping the water. Propped up against the bed, he glanced over a turn-down frame of his friends. These dark days; what has happened to him?

His head snapped up as the door opened. The three of them entered; Slyder, Inez, and Jackie. They all took a seat by the bedside, as Matt took a careful sip of water before placing the glass down.

"Ready to grow up already Matt?" Slyder asked.

"Sure." Matt sighed.

"How are you feeling?" Jackie asked. He sipped more water.

"A little better except for my arm. Just plain sucks." He told Jackie as he glanced at Inez, who couldn't meet his eyes.

"Aside from our...issues, something happened in the cyberworld that severed the connection between our world and theirs." Slyder stated.

"Slyder was the last person able to get into Cyberspace after the three of us realized we couldn't get back." Jackie said. "So he digged up some details."

"Apparently, there was...a very peculiar case. Something confidential. It had to do with three things: Motherboard, you, and the Hacker." He continued. "I have the details on the case on my laptop at home. I'll show you all later. But right now, what's important is filling in Matt on everything; because he's part on the C-squad."

"I agree." Jackie rooted.

"Thanks." Matt mumbled as he rested his good arm on the sling. "But, I want to know why I'm stuck in the middle of this...case."

"That's a good question. No sarcasm intended. Which is why we wanted Inez to tell us what happened that last day." Slyder glanced at Inez.

Inez looked deeply at Matt, her eyes recalling a terrible memory. Her hands started to shake.

"I was there. I saw everything." Inez stood. Matt could feel a twinge of guilt in the soles of his feet. The way she talked seem like a cold shard of glass was piercing her.

"What did you see Inez?" Jackie touched her arm.

"One of the reasons why we can't go back to Cyberspace? I'll tell you." She shook, clutching her hands together, staring directly at Matt. "Matt committed a crime. He murdered the Hacker."

/

Matt's head began to pound; unsure if the medication wasn't working or it hasn't kicked in yet. Then memories appeared; he started to remember who Hacker was. He was a megalomaniac villian that threatened the Cybersquad and the cyberworld despite his failures. He succeeded one time infiltrating Motherboard's harddrive and created a deadly virus. Hacker reigned those few days as head of Cyberspace and created the uprise of the Dark Ages of Cyberspace.

"That's not possible." Slyder narrowed his eyes. "Matt doesn't have the heart to do that."

"There was video evidence of the last conversation between Matt and the Hacker." Inez shut her eyes. "And I was there."

"Inez, things would make a little bit more sense if you could tell us what you saw." Jackie placed a hand on her shoulder. Matt sat up in the bed, not believing his ears. He didn't do anything of that...he couldn't.

Inez scrunched her brows, shutting her eyes tightly, "I...can't."

Slyder sighed as Jackie comforted Inez.

"I'll try to dig through the files and see if there was any last minute clips. Matt, I don't think you could've done such a thing. It wasn't your fault. But, it doesn't explain what happened to Motherboard and why we couldn't go back anymore." Slyder said.

"Maybe...someone is trying to cover up something and blame Motherboard for it. And that she stopped us from going back to Cyberspace because it was too dangerous." Jackie thought. Then she scowled. "It doesn't click with Matt's amnesia!"

"What if, the anmesia is clouding the memories of what Matt saw? What if someone planned to get rid of us all by using Matt?" Slyder said.

"Why would they use Matt, Slyder? Of all people?" Jackie frowned.

"Thanks." Matt grimaced.

"I didn't mean like that..." She apologized.

"Because Matt has probably seen more and knows more about what happened that day. And that he probably got caught in a trap trying to expose that. I remember when we were seperated, and it was just us two. Matt was trying to tell me me something...something important. And then... he changed." Inez glanced at Matt.

"What do you mean changed? Like, my appearance?" Matt asked.

"Not exactly..." Inez directed to him, "It was like...you were possessed."

Matt didn't know how to feel at this point. He felt like he was rich meat laid out before wolves wondering how to divide it equally among the pack. But at the same time, he was a patient awaiting treatment as they undergo a critical and delicate procedure.

"It must be why I've been having serious migranes." He clutched the side of his head and took another tablet; sipping the water. "Someone's trying to get into my head."

The ex-squad were silent, unsure how to approach this problem. It was like baby steps to Calculus for them; and it wasn't an easy walk.

"I'll tell you what we need to do." Jackie pounded her fist in her hand, her eyes glowing, "We need to find a way back to Cyberspace!"

Matt grimaced, "I've tried going."

Everyone glanced at him, confused.

"What do you mean Matt?" Inez asked.

Matt felt queasy telling them about his secret; about how he's been working on getting back to Cyberspace. He would have to tell them why he didn't tell any of them; or he could simply lie. But instead, he confessed his feelings

"I've tried going back to way things were. But I was scared. Scared that it'll become worse. So,...I just kept running away from my problems. I'm sorry." He stared at his hand clutching the sheets.

Slyder couldn't help but to smile, along with Jackie and Inez. But then out of the blue, someone's stomach began to rumble in the peaceful silence.

"Wow, I hadn't ate since lunch! Slyder, let's order takeout." Jackie winked at Matt as she dragged confused Slyder out the room. "We'll be downstairs!"

They closed the door as Inez and Matt were left alone in silence. That silence became almost too painful to bear; and made Inez want to leave. But Matt reacted quickly, reaching for her wrist.