Chapter 9: The Training Zone:
The very next day, both ministers walked into the hallway to sound their trumpets as they began to play the song reveille; the same song that was played in the U.A.V academy to wake the students up.
As the song was sounding through the brass instruments, everyone in the bedrooms were all scrambling to get up, get dressed and get ready to start the day. Of course, it was training day.
"Reveille Reveille, this is a roll call!!! Get your uniform on and head downstairs!!!" Roared Norton.
"This is probably the first time i've ever been woken up by a drill sergeant in all my life." Catney muttered as she was brushing her teeth inthe rest room,
"Meh, you'll get used to it." Void responded as he was putting on his cap, he wasn't phased by the loud music.
"Dislike...dislike!!!" Saki argued as she was trying to put her shoes on.
The rest of the rangers looked at the 3 individuals weirdly. "So this is the sh*t anti-viruses have to deal with on a daily basis? No thanks." Axer Blue whispered.
Once the students were ready, Void opened the door and ran downstairs to the gymnasium while everyone followed close behind.
When they arrived at the gym, the students were in awe.
The gymnasium was big, it had 2 floors, and open for any type of training exercise needed to keep anti-viruses active. It even had soft grass mats to mimic the ground from the outdoor environment.
Suddenly, both Norton and ClamWin entered the room and began to introduce the training to their fellow students.
"Ladies and fellow rangers, welcome to the U.A.V training room. Before the U.A.V academy, this facility was where we trained many anti-viruses just like you; before we administered their exams. Nowadays, it functions as a secondary training facility for any anti-virus who wishes to 'up their game' if you know what I mean." Norton explained.
"And with the limited amount of time that we have to train ourselves, we have decided to pair you up into teams of 3. Catney and Saki, you're withme. Together, i'll be teaching you about virus culture. Axer Rangers, you'll be working together by fighting each other, while learning virus detection and removal." ClamWin chimed in.
"Good, as long as we don't fight each other. That's all I care about." Catney sighed in relief.
"Honestly, I fought with Catney twice now, I don't want to fight her a thirdtime."
"Wait what? You want us to fight each other?" Axer White complained.
"But of course. By fighting each other, you will learn to understand each other's strengths and weaknesses. In doing so, you will all be able to adapt against any virus that gets thrown at you." Norton said.
Void then stepped towards Norton and asked, "But wait a minute minister, what about me?"
Norton walked up towards Void and placed one hand over his shoulder. "Void Ranger, you and I are gonna train in private."
"Private, why is that?" Void questioned looking curious.
Norton smirked,"Because, I am giving you the opportunity to take the next exam."
Void backed away looking shocked. "Now wait just a minute!!! Let me get this straight. Are you telling me that after all we've been through; after the U.A.V academy was destroyed! Hell, after SNT quitting school... You still want me to take the second exam?"
"Well misterVoid." Norton smiled, "U.A.V academy or no academy, we of the United Anti-Virus movement have administered hundreds of exams long before building the academy. And since you are now here with us in this very room, I think it's about time you return to schooling. Only this time; we're doing things the old fashion way, as it was for many generations. What say you mister Void?"
Void thought about it for a moment and took a bow before his superior. "Thank you for the opportunity minister Norton, I really do appreciate it."
"Well then, what are we waiting for? Let the training begin!" Shouted Catney asthe 3 assigned groups went their separate ways to begin their training.
In one corner of the gym, ClamWin had setup 2 computer desks already set up for both Catney and Saki.
As the girls took their seats, the class of virus culture was now in session."Good morning ladies, and welcome to virus culture. In this class, you will be learning about viruses, how they work and what must be done to prevent them from infecting your system.
Today, we'll be taking a look at the Yerg virus. And if you are a conspiracy nut that loves aliens, then this virus is just for you. When you run it... "ClamWin explained as Catney and Saki began to click on the executable file on their desktop; which opened up a paint program.
"We get a fake macrosoft paint program, and the virus has already infected your system. It will then try to infect any file that you try to run. Now if we change the date to the eighteenth of every month, we get a message box saying Win 32 UFO, and when you click okay; the paint program once again launches and our mouse cursor is replaced with a UFO icon.
And finally, the internet then opens up a web page called abduct .com, which tells us more information about aliens taking over computers; and eventually, the world.
Now to prevent this virus from entering your system, all you have to do is install a firewall into your system and make sure to keep your anti-virus up to date. And congratulations ladies, you just learnt your very first lesson on virus culture... I am very impressed with the both of you." ClamWin concluded.
Saki got up from her desk and made 2 fists while looking excited, "Yay, i'm an ascension sock that learnt how to use a computer!!!"
Both Catney and ClamWin smiled at each other, as Saki took her seat and the lessons continued.
Meanwhile, in another corner of the training room; the Axer Rangers were standing in a wrestling ring and were measuring each other to prepare their first attack.
"The following contest is a 5-corner free for all match scheduled for one-fall. And the first fighter to gain pin-fall or submission will win the match." Norton announced on the intercom as the boxing bell began to ring.
With the bell rung, Axer Lime quickly dashed away from her opponents and went to ring-side to grab a weapon from under the ring. The weapon she picked up was a medium sized ladder.
She then quickly returned to the ring, and bashed Axer Crimson with the ladder while the 3 other rangers were attempting to retreat.
As the robots were retreating from Axer Lime and her ladder, Axer Magenta attempted to unleash his steel hammer on Axer Blue.
But Axer Blue caught on to Axer Magenta's attacks and slid out of the way like a snake. He then drew his sword and slashed Axer Magenta's abdomen, causing the pink robot to fall to the floor.
He then used his open hand to gesture both Axer White and Axer Lime to just bring it.
With both Axer Magenta and Axer Crimson down, the chase was on.
Axer Lime quickly hid behind a wall with her weapon in hand. She took a quick peek to see Axer White being chased by Axer Blue.
But when she returned to hide behind the wall and took a deep breath, little did she realize, Axer Blue was already standing next to her on the opposite side of the wall.
"Guess who?"Axer Blue taunted as he dashed towards a shocked Axer Lime and kicked the ladder towards her; hitting her chest and causing her to fall to the floor.
With only one robot left to K.O, Axer White drew his sword and began to swing it around left and right diagonally in an attempt to intimidate his opponent. "Stand back, i'm warning you! Don't come any closer or ill shoot!!!"
But Axer Blue didn't care about Axer White's fear and proceeded to run towards him. "Ready or not! Here I Come!!!"
He then slashed his stomach; causing Axer White to fall to his knees while holding onto his abdomen. And with that, Axer Blue had won the fight.
"As a result of a knockout, that was pathetic!" Norton announced on the intercom; not looking too happy with the robots' performances.
Meanwhile, in the second floor of the training room. As Norton finished using the intercom; and was preparing to go one on one with the blue robot, mistress ClamWin, ran upstairs to greet Norton with some news.
"Minister Norton, my apologies for interrupting your lessons, but we have a visitor waiting for us in the lobby." ClamWin said.
Norton was curious on who the visitor was, he decided to follow ClamWin and leave Void behind on the second floor. "I'll be back Void, give me a few minutes."
"Sure master."Void replied.
Norton and ClamWin opened the doors to the stairwell and walked down a few flights of stairs.
When Norton and ClamWin finally reached the lobby, they were very shocked with what they saw waiting for them.
A black and red spaceship had parked in front of ClamWin HQ, it was monstrous, armed with cannons and was capable of carrying a small army.
When the doors of the spaceship opened, Rob Donovich; the CEO of Macrosoft corporation emerged from the platform and began to approach the ministers.
"Rob Donovich of Macrosoft? What brings you here to ClamWin HQ?" Norton asked; as he was surprised to see the CEO of the company who threatened to shutdown the academy years ago.
Rob wasn't happy. "Minister Norton and mistress ClamWin, may I please come in?"
Both Norton and ClamWin slowly bowed down before Rob as ClamWin placed her hand over his shoulder and led him inside. "Of course, Macrosoft is always welcome here in ClamWin HQ."
Once inside, ClamWin and Norton led Rob Donovich into an elevator which would take them to the conference room on the top floor of the skyscraper.
After a few minutes, when they exited the elevator and entered the conference room; right next door to the elevator. Norton opened the doors and the trio began to take their seats on the rotating chairs.
Rob then broke down and his depression began to kick into gear.
"Mister Donovich, you are very lucky to be alive after escaping from that attack by Content Control. I'm sure it wasn't easy to escape without your fellow employees." ClamWin said as she rolled her chair to the water station where she grabbed a Styrofoam cup and poured herself some water.
"I agree. Content Control has been very insidious when it comes to negotiating. Last I remembered, they transformed one of our ministers into a brain dead coconut; thus censoring him of any freedom of speech he had left." Norton chimed in.
But Rob stayed silent and bowed his head down, the CEO of Macrosoft was ready to cry.
"Is everything okay, mister Donovich?" ClamWin asked, while placing her hand on Rob's shoulder.
Rob took a deep breath and attempted to hold himself together, "No Mistress ClamWin, I am not okay. Those rat b*ds! They caused so much damage at Macrosoft HQ. They came in with guns blazing and shot down my security guards. They arrested all of my employees, including your fellow minister; Windows Defender. They even threatened to execute me if I ever reported any of their incidents to police."
Rob then bent his head down and placed his hands over his eyes as he sighed, "What do I do at this point? I honestly don't know what to do..."
Furious, Norton slammed his fist through the glass table; shattering the glass infront of him. He then picked Rob up and shouted, "YOU CAN ACT LIKE A MAN!!!" He then placed the CEO back on the ground and gave Rob a backhand to the side of the head. "What's the matter with you? Is this how Macrosoft ends?!! By surrendering everything they worked hard for over the last few decades to a bunch of low life hackers?!!! Huh?!!"
"Waaaahhh!!! What can I do?!! What can I do?!!" Norton taunted.
He then approached Rob and gave him a stern look, "Have some bollocks for Vindock sakes! Show them why you are the CEO of Macrosoft corporation, YOU DUNCE!!!"
Norton then turned his back on the CEO and returned to his seat to calm himself after his recent outburst.
"Mister Donovich, let me ask you a question? Do you have a family? Do you have a wife and kids?" Norton asked.
Rob wiped away his tears and slowly looked up towards Norton. He eventually replied, "Yes sir... of course sir."
"Good...because any man who doesn't spend time with his family can never be a real man." Norton responds.
Rob then took a deep breath and began to keep his composure. "So ministers... how do you propose we take down Content Control?"
Norton simply bowed his head down in disappointment. "Infiltrating Content Control HQ will not be so easy. In order to take out Content Control, we must split into two teams; air forces and ground forces.
The ground forces must go in and destroy the energy force fields surrounding the building before the air forces can come in for a landing. Then the air forces can run in all guns blazing; as they will have to survive an onslaught of soldiers, viruses or whatever those sons of b*s throw at us... They must all be deleted."
"And then we meet up inside the base to rescue all the prisoners, and try to escape their headquarters as soon as possible." Rob chimed in as the ministers suddenly heard a glass window break in the distance.
"But is there anyone who's willing to help us when things go wrong?" Rob asked,
Both Norton and ClamWin got out of their chairs to look out the window, "Yes, I know someone who can help us!!!"
"And it looks like he's in trouble!!! Cmon, let's move!!!" Norton shouted as he and ClamWin stormed out of the conference room with their swords drawn.
"Hey! Wait for me!" Rob shouted as he staggered out of the conference room to follow the ministers back into the elevator.
When the elevator finally landed back at the lobby, the trio ran as fast as possible to the training room, only to be shocked by what they saw.
The window onthe second floor was shattered, as they saw the Axer Rangers and the 2 girls keeping each other company. Unfortunately, Void was missing.
Norton turned to the light blue haired girl, "Where is he? Where's Void Ranger?!!!"
Fearing for her life, Catney pointed up towards the second floor.
Without hesitating, Norton and ClamWin rushed up the stairs to the second floor, only to find their former minister Webroot with his sword drawn; and cornering the injured robot.
"Well well well, how delightful. The minister and his mistress are finally here. I've been waiting far too long for this moment!!!" Webroot chuckled.
"Virut! What the hell is the meaning of this?! And what are you doing here in ClamWin HQ?!!" She shouted,
"Muahahahahahahaha!!! I knew I would find you all here in one of the anti-virus headquarters!!" Webroot laughed.
"What do you want with Void Ranger?!" Norton demanded as he and ClamWin slowly approached the rogue anti-virus.
"Would you like to keep a secret between you and I?" Webroot teased.
Void, slowly returned to his feet while grabbing onto the side of his abdomen,"What kind of sick and twisted secrets do you have to share? We all know what you did to Team 182 and the U.A.V academy many years ago, what else do you have to hide?!!!"
"Well, not that it's any of my business... but we have your little chimera!" Webroot announced.
Void and the ministers was shocked upon hearing Virut's words as Void took a fewsteps back.
"You? As in Optical Illusions?!! You're holding SNT hostage? But why?!!" Void asked,
Webroot chuckled, "Tis a very simple answer, really. You see, you have something that belongs to us. And if you want this adorable chimera back alive, you will surrender your dev codes and no one gets hurt. Do we understand each other?"
Norton slowly approached Webroot and aimed his sword towards him, "Over my dead body; you rogue b*d!"
But Void slowly placed his hand on Norton's arm, gesturing him to lower his weapon. Void then slowly walked up to Virut and asked, "Let me ask you a question Webroot, and be honest with me... How does it feel, now that you betrayed your own anti-viruses?!! That you forced all your customers away from your software, have you no shame Webroot, or perhaps I should call you Virut from now on?" Void taunted.
Furious, Webroot swung his sword and began to lash out on his three opponents, sending them flying six feet away from him.
He then began to taunt the injured robots. "Hehehehehe! So, a little beast with light blue hair thinks she's special. She thinks she can take on the world all by herself. She thinks she owns the world, but in reality... the world... owns... her!"
"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!!!" Catney interrupted in anger upon hearing Webroot's insult towards her OC, she ran upstairs to the second and began to check on the robots for injuries, "Hey Jacka, what have you done to SNT?!!!" Catney demanded,
At the same time, Saki quickly followed her sister upstairs and ended up meeting face to face with Webroot.
"Oh god, Void, ministers. Are you ll okay? Here, let me help you guys!" Catney said as she reached for a nearby medical kit and began to administer first aid to the 3 robots.
As Catney began to treat their wounds, Saki gave out an angry look on her face and began to approach the dark green minister.
"WHERE'S SNT?!!! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH HER?!!!" Catney shouted,
"Well well well, if it isn't the 2 girls who have become Content Control's subjects of interest... Catney and Saki. How delightful." Webroot laughed,
"You're no anti-virus minister, you're nothing more than a monster!!!" Catney yelled.
"Heh! At least Optical Illusions pays me a better salary than these fools!" Webroot remarked.
"Listen up you green piece of sh*t! You have to the count of 5 to tell us where you're keeping SNT!!!" Saki shouted as she reached for Void's sword and aimed it towards Webroot's direction. "1, 2, 3, 4..."
Webroot looked back at her unamused, "Must we always have to resort to violence just to get what we want?"
But Saki just ignored Webroot's comments and began to jump up in the air. Once she was airborne, she quickly slashed his face, causing him to bend down and cover his face in agony.
She then threw Void's sword to the side and grabbed onto Webroot's throat. She then began to punch him repeatedly.
"You're gonna tell me where SNT is right now, you f*ng b*d!!!" Saki shouted.
As Webroot tried to get up, she then leaped into the air once more and threw a side kick to Webroot's back, sending him face first to the ground.
Saki then wrapped her arms around the evil minister's neck in an attempt to make him tap out.
But with Webroot's arm, he swung at Saki and pushed her away from him like a rag doll; giving the rogue minister enough time to return to his feet.
"God f*ng dammit!!!" Saki muttered as she slwoly crawled back to her feet.
Saki then threw another side kick towards Webroot's abdomen. She then got on top of Webroot's chest and began to punch his face left and right repeatedly.
After a few good hits on Webroot, Saki then picked up the evil minister with all her might, and body slammed him down to the floor.
"Konichiwa mother f*er!!!" Saki taunted towards the injured Webroot.
Saki then reached for Webroot's throat and began to squeeze it, "Alright you green piece of sh*t, tell us where SNT is being held!!!" She shouted.
Feeling defeated, Webroot had no other choice but to confess, "Grrr, fine... Optical Illusions." He coughed.
Saki then lets go of Webroot's throat and walks towards her sister who is helping the three robots back to their feet.
"Oh Void, ministers! Thank god you're all okay! Are you all hurt?" Catney asked.
Void slowly turned around to look at Courtney while the ministers slowly approached Webroot with their swords drawn.
"I'm alright Courtney." Void responded.
Catney lunged at both Void and Saki and gave them a hug, "J*s ch*t! Don't scare me like that!"
"Catney, look at me."
Catney stopped hugging and looked at Void while placing her hands on his shoulders.
"I'm alright, i'm not hurt!"
Void then turned to Saki and smiled at her, "Wow Saki, you were awesome, you managed to single-handedly defeat minister Webroot all by yourself. I'm impressed."
"Yeah, you sure showed him who's boss!!!" Catney chimed in as she gave her sister another hug.
Saki wiped a tear off her face, "Thank you guys. I have all of you to thank for helping me beat up this poor b*d. You all kept me going when the odds were against me."
Saki then gave both Void and Catney a big hug. "And for that, I thank you."
"You're most welcome Saki." Void responded.
As Void and the 2 girls were giving each other a group hug, both Norton and ClamWin walked up towards the evil minister who was still unconscious after the beating he took from Saki.
They both aimed their swords towards Webroot's jugular, as Norton said to him, "You are under arrest... minister."
Meanwhile, back at Content Control HQ; inside the news room. As Quant and his fellow moderators were preparing another broadcast regarding the censorship of the world.
Toxoit opened Vic's cell door and left the room. Little did Toxoit realize but the door was still opened.
Realizing this was his chance, Vic slowly snuck out of his solitary confinement cell and quietly crawled towards a nearby control panel; while avoiding moderators who were walking by.
"Now what was the command to send a distress signal again?..." Vic whispered to himself.
When he arrived at the panel, he found a conveniently placed alarm button. "Ha! Never mind the command line, this should do it!"
Without hesitating, Vic quickly pressed the button and the fire alarm began to sound.
He then quickly slid away from the panel and began to crawl back into his solitary confinement cell and smirked. "Content Control, you're in deep trouble now!"
Meanwhile, in the news room; just as the cameras were about to start rolling, a large purple armoured moderator named Big Old Tori ran towards the desk and grabbed on to it while panicking, "Sir Quant, sir Quant! Come quick, we have an emergency sir!!!"
Quant jumped onto the table and gave Big old Tori a furious look, "WHAT HAPPENED?!!"
"Sir, we have an intruder in the premises who sent out a distress signal to the outside world. What the hell do we do?!!!" Big Old Tori shouted.
Quant slowly looked away from Big Old Tori and growled. He knew there was only one victim who would try to shut down Content Control from the inside.
"Find Toxoit... tell him to find Vic, and bring him to me alive so I can break him in half!" Quant growled.
"Yes sir, roger sir. Right away sir!" Big Old Tori responded.
Upon receiving his orders, the large purple moderator got up to his feet and quickly gave Quant a soldier salute before scrambling out of the news room to find Toxoit.
As Big Old Tori left the room, Quant expressed his anger and frustration by letting out a loud roar. "GRAAAAAAAAA!!! FIND HIM!!! I'M GONNA KILL THAT SON OF A B*H!!!"