Chapter One: Exclusive
"This is Mike the TV with a Mike Show exclusive! Siege in the Principal Office!"
Mike the TV, Mainframe's lovable, but highly annoying, television set had somehow rounded up a camera crew and started to do that cycle's show live from the holding cell. Mike had been wrongfully imprisoned when the evil and horrid Megabyte had posed as him and thus spread panic through the system of the virus' return. And from what Mike had heard, Megabyte now had the Mainframe staff held captive in the very building.
"And...we're clear!" called the cameraman.
"Great!" Mike exclaimed. "I'm gonna win a PB for this, I know it! All we gotta do is get some interviews..."
"How're we gonna do that, sir?" asked the cameraman. "We're stuck down here in the holding cell. Megabyte has cut off us!"
"Oh yeah." Mike replied, now depressed. "I guess that means no vidwindows either huh? Nulls! Why that basic virus have to come back anyways? He's ruining my show!"
"We're back in two, Mr. Mike."
"Um..." Mike tried thinking. What could he do? His camera guy was right. This was going to ruin sweeps! "I got it!" he cried, causing the small binome holding the camera to almost drop it. "We'll just show the audience how this all happened. Like a...like a...hey, Joe, what's that thing called when you flash back to the past to relive stuff?"
"A flashback?" the binome replied.
"Yeah!" Mike said, nodding. "A flashback! That's what we'll do. We'll get those flashback effects they have in movies and the evening news."
"And we're back!"
"Hello, Mainframe viewers." Mike said, his voice growing eerie. "This your host, Mike the ace reporter TV with a Mike Show exclusive. Siege in the Principal Office! Earlier today, the evil virus Megabyte took over the central command center for this system, taking the staff hostage. Declaring a hunt, the virus now occupies in the command room, where he has enslaved the women and is making the men do horrible acts!"
"Mike, that's not really confirmed..."
"Well..." Mike faltered. "Reports are coming in as we speak. Right now, our communications have been shot, except for this last show I broadcast to you, loyal viewers. How did this come about? How did Megabyte survive the Web? What does he have in store for the citizens and staff of Mainframe? Will we be returned to the seconds of Megaframe? Where in the Net did I find a camera crew in the Principal Office holding cell? These answers and more as we receive them!"
***
"I can't believe this!"
Matrix was currently taking out his frustration on a nearby wall, while Bob stood against the other. They had barely made it out of the code (?) room before they heard Megabyte's announcement of the hunt. Right now, they were practically sealed up in the hallway, trying to find a way out.
Right now, all Bob could think about was what was going on inside the command room. He hoped the message he sent out hadn't been too late. What had happened? Sure, he and Matrix were out, but what about Mouse, AndrAIa, Enzo, Phong...Dot...the name caused a catch in his throat. It was over, they were over. And they hadn't even begun yet. When Dot had said those three magic words to him, he knew the fighting, the Web, the games...they all lead to that moment. Things were finally going to go right. But then he stepped from that portal, with Ray grinning stupidly from behind him.
He couldn't blame Ray. The surfer had been under Daemon's control, like they all had. He didn't know if everyone was safe. Besides... Megabyte looked like him. Hell, even Dot was fooled! Taken in by the face that she fell in love with, not the one...the guardian shook his head, trying to keep a floodgate of tears from spilling out. No matter how hard he tried, Bob couldn't stop the blame. He couldn't believe that everyone he cared for, those that he loved, would actually believe he was the copy. Believed that the very evil that was holding them hostage was the guardian they knew and loved. They had turned their backs on him.
Even now, as he watched Matrix have a temper tantrum, he couldn't forgot that this sprite, the boy who he loved like a son, the sprite that would be his brother in law one second, had been one of the first to turn against him. It had been his girlfriend and "little brother" if you will, that had shown him the compassion he needed at the worst of times. Bob wasn't sure if he could forget that, if he could push all that aside in order to save their lives.
Matrix looked at Bob, a look of concern and worry etched in his features. The renegade couldn't believe everything they had gone through and now they were back to this. The sad thing was, planning the wedding of the hour had been his happiest moment since being back in Mainframe. Yes, he knew Glitch Bob, the Bob that stood in front of him, was lying in the SC dying, but...he thought things were going right. His dreams were finally coming true. He was back home, his sister and his hero, the father figure he looked to all those hours ago, were getting married.
How could anything go wrong?
But it did. Horribly. Imagine the rage, the sadness, the...betrayal the renegade felt at knowing the long thought deleted virus would come back and ruin his life. Again! He hadn't told Bob he was sorry, well not in so many words, but the look on the guardian's face, as he stared straight through the big sprite told Matrix enough. Like he always done, he totally messed things up. He couldn't believe that, after all the times Bob had been there for him, he wasn't there for the blue sprite. Matrix had been thinking, for a while now, since the restart...but now wasn't the time.
"Bob?" he asked.
Bob's eyes suddenly broke their hold and actually looked at Matrix. "What?"
"What're we gonna do?"
Bob sighed and looked down at the floor. "I don't know." he said.
***
In some other part of the Principal Office, two other sprites were trying to get back in the command center. AndrAIa, trident in hand, kept a close eye on everything around them. Behind her, Mouse tried frantically to get the key pad working on the door. Every time she entered in a code, it was rejected, making her more and more frustrated.
"Do you think everyone's okay?" AndrAIa asked, the silence starting to get to her.
"I'm sure of it, Honey." the hacker drawed, still concentrating on her task.
"So everyone made it out, right?" she asked, glancing behind her.
Mouse was hesitant at first, remembering the heroic save Phong had made, allowing AndrAIa to pull her into the safety of the hallway. The scene was just way to reminescent of another time when Megabyte had cornered them in the Command Room and she had been the one to pull someone to safety. "All except..." she started.
"Phong knew what he was doing, Mouse." the game sprite replied, turning to face the hacker. "We'll get him out of there. Right now, we have to figure out who else got out."
"Well, Bob and Matrix are obvious." Mouse said, turning away from her work. "We're standing out here. In all the panic, Dre..."
"I know." she sighed, thinking along the same lines. In the panic, things went quick and it was hard to tell what happened to who. "I think Hack and Slash are with Dot."
"A moment of silence for Dot." Mouse muttered, sarcastically.
"I think Welman may be with Enzo, but...they're in there."
"Locked in with the tiger." Mouse replied. Suddenly, a sense of rage filled the hacker. Grabbing her katana, she was just about to make pudding out of the key bar when AndrAIa stopped her.
"When I said we should hack into the breaker, I didn't mean like that." she said, making sure Mouse was calm.
"I'm all right, I'm okay." Mouse replied. "I"m going to get that blue, tin canned devil if it's the last thing I do."
"You've got a line forming." AndrAIa murmured. Megabyte was now on her hit list.
***
"Geez, what are we to do?"
"I'm not sure."
"I can't believe he came back."
"Either can I. I hope he doesn't find us."
"He could. He's in the command room and everything and..."
"What if he comes to get us?"
"Oh, I would not like that."
"Not at all."
"Not at all would I like that."
Dot watched as Hack and Slash bickered worriedly over their predicament. She just didn't want to hear it right now. Yes, she was concerned about this. This was like an evil omen, an ironic return to some place she had been before, hours ago, but this time things had gone horribly wrong. Her wedding should have been the happiest second of her life. Instead, she had just made one mistake after another. Why couldn't she see it? Why had she been so blind? She had turned her back on the sprite she loved.
Again.
The first time had been just standing there and watching him being shot into the Web. Then losing hope that he would ever come back. And then, the worst of all, losing faith in her love for him. As soon as another, original looking Bob came along, that's who she wanted. Because he wasn't scarred by the Web, because he hadn't merged with his keytool, because he looked like Bob. Original Bob. Funny, she thought. Original Bob turned out to be Evil Bob, the evil Bob who was in reality an old enemy. An old enemy who had done the worst thing possible.
Put more and more doubt in Dot'a abilities, as a leader.
And a friend.
***
Enzo struggled as hard as he could, but he just couldn't escape the robotic arms of his father's suit of metal. His violet eyes held extreme fear, but also determination, something he wasn't short of. "Ah, things are working out nicely." Megabyte hummed, leaning against the main rail. "It's what you would call...or what is that little phrase you use? Alphanumeric? Yes. This absolutely, alphanumeric."
"Don't hold your breath, Megadork!" Enzo exclaimed. "Bob, and Matrix, and Dot are out there right now and they'll be in here soon to rescue me and..."
"Do try not to upset me, Boy." Megabyte growled. "You may not remember it the first time, but this is how I took over Mainframe before. Just ask your..."brother"...to tell you the story some second."
"So it's back to Megaframe, huh?" Enzo asked, slightly dejected. He did know what happened in those hours, his hours, as Matrix.
Megabyte just chuckled. "My dear, sweet Enzo." he said, walking over and kneeling by the boy. "That's in the past. And you should never repeat the past."
"Especially seeing as you failed at it." Enzo huffed. "By the way, did you know a super virus by the name of Daemon took over the Super Computer? Like taking candy from a baby. Had all the Guardians, the entire Collective, at her beck and call, something you could never achieve. Did I mention that she even infected us? Infected all of Mainframe, except me. That's right, Little Enzo ended up saving the system, just like Matrix did when he sent you to the Web."
"Ah," Megabyte replied, his face only inches from Enzo's. "But that's where you failed. Your pathetic, one eyed freak of a brother should've finished me off when he had the chance. But I guess weakness just runs in the family, doesn't it?" Megabyte back away, seeing the hidden look of hurt in the child's face. "But you're just a copy." he smirked. "Why should I let your feelings and words ruin my reign? This time, it isn't about power and taking it over. It's about revenge and so far, so good. It didn't take long for your sister to crack and when the mighty Dot Matrix crumbles, so does everyone around her."
"You're not gonna get away with this." Enzo whispered. "You won't win. Not this time."
Again, the virus laughed. "But...I already have."