Notes:

I may already be *checks notes* on chapter 5 of this thing.

Chapter Text

It's euphoric really, watching them on the mp4. cameras, scattered to every corner of the Principal's Office. They were like cornered rats, trying to save themselves from the cat but they didn't even realize just how trapped they really were. Here, in the War Room the entire Principal's Office and system was at his fingertips. He could control every aspect of the building, shutting down every door and vent to the outside. They were stuck.

This place would be their final resting place. They would die and it would be at his hands. But first, who to choose as his first victim? He had so many choices for playmates. The Guardian of course, his Arch-Rival since he first arrived in Mainframe. The uptight and honestly, boring Ms. Matrix who he enjoyed torturing, the Boy (or rather Boys, he still wasn't sure what to do with the copy…) who thought himself better than Megabyte, as if he wasn't just as much of a monster as the Virus. Oh the hypocrisy. And of course Mouse, who dared to not only betray him but he found out after returning to Mainframe, to be the one to send him to the web. And finally….

He would be honest, he knows little about her, and he can barely remember her name. AndrAIa or , at least he thinks it is. He honestly didn't care enough to remember. He had no real quarry with her, aside from her choice of friends. But he knew how much the Boy loved her, and killing her first would bring him immense satisfaction in seeing the pain on the Boy's face when he confessed to her murder. Ah love, what an inferior notion he thought, eyes narrowing on his target. There were many reasons why viruses were superior to sprites, and this was one of them. Only fools believed in such fairytales. Besides, she had aided the Boy during their last fight, throwing her trident to him just as Megabyte had been about to delete him. That made him hate her just as much as the rest of them.

"Let me go! You're going to be sorry, once Bob and Big Bro' get here!"

Ah yes, the other Boy. Turning around from the console and the vidwindows, he could only raise an eyebrow as he watched the smaller, copy of Enzo Matrix struggle in the grasp of his father, desperate to get free. Some how, the adult version still managed to annoy him more than this one did. Perhaps because the copy had the excuse of still being a child with how he acted versus the adult male who acted like a pouty teenager even at 2.8.

"I highly doubt that, Boy. I have the entire Principal's Office locked down and at my mercy. Your friends and that pathetic whore you call a sister are going to die. You might want to behave, otherwise you will be joining them." he said, face inches away from the squirming preteen. Enzo shrunk in fear, going silent as Megabyte ran a clawed finger down his cheek, leaving a welt in its place.

"You will never get away with this virus. I know my Dot and she will come up with a way to defeat you."

Megabyte could only sigh, while he may control the suit that encased Welman Matrix, the squiggling null inside the suit was very much still of his own free will and mind, much to the thanks of his dear departed sister. Like his son, the bot had a mouth.

"Do you really believe that, Nibbles? You and I both know she has no chance. If it makes you feel better, I'll leave her for last so you can watch me kill her in front of your very eyes. But I digress, I have a hunt to begin and I know just who to start with."

Look right,

Turn,

Look Left,

Turn,

Look Straight

Repeat.

To AndrAIa, it was like a dance, her fingers tightly gripping her trident as if it were her only lifeline as she constantly scanned the three corridors, making sure Megabyte wasn't sneaking up on them while Mouse attempted to hack into the security system without success. It was a chaotic situation; just this morning she had been a bridesmaid in a wedding, and now she was being hunted like prey.

"Argh!" With an exasperated grunt, Mouse slammed her fist against the screen in frustration, causing AndrAIa to flinch at the loud noise. The perks of heightened hearing.

"Anything?" she called over her shoulder, eyes darting back and forth between corridors.

"Sugah, the bastard has every inch of this place locked down. I can't get a door open, let alone open a vid-window in this place." the hacker retorted, as she tried once again to break through the security. AndrAIa sighed with frustration, lowering her trident for a moment to peer over her friends' shoulder.

"What about the backdoor you put in place? Can't you use the override codes to get in? Little Sparky and Phong are still in there, we need to save them."

"Ah wish it were that easy, sugah, but this virus is one step ahead of us. He's changed all the codes, and disabled the emergency controls as well." Mouse shook her head in frustration.

AndrAIa felt her heart sink at those words. If Megabyte had already thought to change the codes, what chance did they have of reaching the others trapped inside? She gripped her trident tighter, her knuckles turning white.

"Then we have to find another way. Maybe there's an air vent or a service hatch we can use to sneak in. We can't just abandon them to Megabyte's mercy," she said, determination steeling her voice. She couldn't bear the thought of Enzo and Phong being at the mercy of that vile virus.

Mouse shook her head grimly. "I've scanned the livefeed schematics. Every entrance and exit is sealed up tighter than a drum. That slime-ball has this whole place on lockdown. We're trapped out here, sugar, and they're trapped in there with him."

"I'm afraid my dear, the hacker is correct." A deep, sinister voice echoed from behind them. AndrAIa whirled around, her trident raised defensively, to see Megabyte standing there, his glowing red pupils piercing into her.

"Megabyte," she growled, her grip tightening on her weapon. "Let them go, this is between you and us."

The virus let out a chilling laugh. "Ah the Fish. I'm afraid not. This is no longer just about you and your little band of friends, you see. This is about the complete and utter destruction of Mainframe." He took a step forward, his clawed hand reaching out towards her. "And you, my dear, have been chosen to be first pawn I will eliminate. Congratulations, no no. I'm afraid we don't have time for speeches."

AndrAIa bit her tongue as she ignored the facetious comment, body tense as Megabyte lunged towards her, his claws outstretched. Without hesitation, she swung her trident up to meet his attack, the metal prongs clanging against his razor-sharp talons. The virus gave a growl as they faced off.

'Oh, Ah don't think so Sugah" Mouse yelled, pulling out her katana and wasting no time jumping into the fray to protect her friend. The virus snarled as the hacker rushed him, swiping at him with her katana. He side stepped as the hacker swung with precision he was all too familiar with, his tendrils still aching from where she cut them mere microminutes ago.

Megabyte snarled as he parried Mouse's attacks, his claws clashing against the hacker's katana. AndrAIa took the opportunity to lunge forward, her trident aimed at the virus's midsection, eyeing the scar that had been left there by her lover. But Megabyte was too quick - with a swift motion, he grabbed the trident's shaft and twisted it, throwing AndrAIa off balance.

"Nice try, my dear," he hissed, taking note of where she was attempting to hit, "but I'm afraid your little games won't work on me."

With a powerful shove, using her own trident against her, he sent AndrAIa stumbling backwards, her trident wrenched from her grasp. With a laugh he crushed it in his hands, throwing it to the side before jumping out of the way as Mouse pressed her attack, her blade a blur as she rained blows down on Megabyte. But the virus was nimble, dodging and parrying each strike with ease. He let out a mocking laugh as he toyed with the hacker.

AndrAIa hit the ground hard, the wind knocked out of her and dazed from being hit. Perfect. Right where he wanted her. With a laugh and a quick motion, he sidestepped the hacker lunging at him once more and with a quick punch, pommeled her in the stomach, sending her flying to the floor in agony.

It was a shame the Boy wasn't around, he was going to enjoy this. As AndrAIa began to pull herself up from the floor of the Principal's Office, that's when he pounced, slamming her back into the ground as he pressed the full weight of his body against her, her hands pinned beneath one hand as he had his other raised, intent on driving his claws through her chest.

"And that's when it happened, or so I've been told. I didn't actually see it myself."

Deep within her mind, a forgotten code lay dormant, waiting for this precise moment to awaken. And when that moment came, it spread through AndrAIa's body like a wildfire, igniting every inch of her data with a pulsating blue glow. The light pulsed in time with her heartbeat, filling her with a surge of power and energy. But just as quickly as it appeared, the pulsing turned into a solid radiance, radiating from every fiber of her being. A part of the light broke off, forming into a ball that traveled through her form until it reached the tips of her fingers, and exited out into the body of a bewildered Megabyte, who still held her pinned to the ground.

As Mouse pulled herself up, clutching her stomach, she couldn't help but stare in confusion as she watched the pair. What in the Net was happening? The virus seemed to recoil and pull back, trying to stop whatever was happening. But it was too late, the energy from the light surged into him, swirling through his veins until...like a beacon in the dark, he began to glow in unison with AndrAIa, their bodies pulsating in tandem.

Megabyte's snarl turned into a growl as he felt the intrusion of foreign code entering his body, slowly changing something within him. His mind raced with fear and uncertainty- What was she doing? What was this burning feeling in his chest? Why did he feel so happy?

The sudden burst of light that had engulfed them vanished just as quickly as it appeared, leaving no trace behind. In the aftermath, the room was now shrouded in a deafening silence, as Virus and Gamesprite stared at each other. AndrAIa on the floor, her eyes filled with fear and horror and Megabyte above her, hand outreached towards her with a look of… Mouse didn't know. The look could only be equated to a sort of softness but that wasn't right. Nothing about Megabyte screamed "soft."

And yet, how else would Mouse describe that look?

The Virus stared down at AndrAIa, the softness giving way to confusion and uncertainty. What just happened? The burning rage he felt towards her and the want to crush her beneath his hands had melted away, leaving behind a feeling of elation and content as she looked up at him with those big eyes of hers.

This wasn't right. This feeling wasn't right.

He didn't understand it. As a virus, Megabyte had never experienced anything akin to this strange new sensation. He felt emotions of course; he wasn't immune. He knew hatred, desire, greed, jealousy, amusement and elation (when he found a vintage wine or a particularly good book of course, nothing like this). This however was indiscernible and unparalleled to anything he had ever felt.. Looking at her made him feel like he was infecting a thousand binomes at once, giving a feeling of satisfaction and want he had never known he needed. It was….good. He wanted more, and that scared him.

A sob caught his attention, bringing him back from his thoughts. Tears were beginning to fall down her cheek. A new feeling filled him, even more despicable than the last. It was a feeling of regret mixed with the need to stop her crying. Watching her cry made his stomach twist and turn in ways he never knew possible. Was it his fault she was crying? He liked seeing suffering and pain, so why did this hurt?

Instinctually, he started to reach down, the need to cup her cheek and brush tears away overwhelming, but found himself doubling over as the hacker pommeled him in the stomach with the back of her katana, aggravating his old wound and causing him to pull away out of reflex. Mouse wasted no time and grabbed AndrAIa's hand and pulled her up and away, deeper into the heart of the Principal's Office away from Megabyte.

The Virus watched them go, choosing or perhaps unable to follow after them. Though the hacker did not look back, she did, eyes wide with unshed tears and something he couldn't place (longing?). He was left there stunned and rooted to the spot for what felt like an eternity until his brain caught up with the rest of him.

"What the FAQ just happened?"