Hacker was peeved.

Another scheme that had down the drain, foiled by Motherboard's little helpers, those pesky Earth-kids. The once feared villain was the laughingstock of Cyberspace!

Not to mention that his chin had been itchy lately.

That was just adding insult to multiple injuries.

"Why?" he muttered as his nails scratched at the green skin. "How do they keep winning? They're only children; Earth children, for badness's sake!"

Truly, it was mind-boggling.

"Er, boss?"

Hacker twitched at the sound of his henchmen addressing him. He sighed. There was no sense in avoiding it anymore as he turned his chair around to face them.

"What?" he said in a flat tone.

"We was just wonderin' if you were feelin' okay," Buzz said hesitantly.

"Yeah boss," Delete said.

Hacker sneered. "My plans have been thwarted yet again by a gaggle of gangly brats and their mangy cyber-turkey; how, pray tell, do you think I'm feeling?!"

Both cyborgs flinched at their boss's outburst. He began to pace up and down the control room, frustratedly scratching at his chin as the itch intensified.

"What makes them so strong?" he said to himself. "How is it that they have always managed to beat me where even Motherboard couldn't?"

At that, his chin then cracked open, like a trap-door.

(Insert spaceship countdown man's voice- Countdown: 3, 2, 1, 0.)

"Ahhgg!" Hacker shrieked in horror

"Ahh!" Buzz and Delete yelled, clinging onto each other.

"Ahhgg!"

"Ahh!"

"AHHGG!"

"AHH!"

Over the yells, Hacker heard a clatter on the floor. His eyes averted to the ground, seeing a small chip with a strange label on it. The next second, the chin snapped into place, healing immediately.

The three cyborgs stared, mouths gaping before Hacker shakily took the chip off the floor.

"What is it, boss?" Buzz and Delete asked at the same time.

Hacker said nothing as he looked at it. It was rectangular, black and quite ordinary looking. But the fact remained that it came out of his chin, that had to mean that it was significant.

Hacker set the chip into the computer of the Grin Wreaker and typed in a few keys. However, an error appeared on the screen. Hacker's face began to turn into a scowl before a set of numbers appeared on the screen, flashing ever second or two and behind it was a strange picture.

A blue rifle crossed from the right, a red rapier crossed from the left, an orange fist behind both smashing downwards, a pink scepter crossing horizontally, a white bow crossing vertically, and a pale blue halberd pointing upwards.

"Hey Buzzie, what do those weird numbers and picture mean?" Delete asked the smaller borg softly.

Buzz didn't know what the numbers or the picture meant either but he wouldn't let Delete know that. "They're important, that's what," he finally answered.

"Do you think boss knows what they are?"

"Cybersoldiers."

Buzz and Delete glanced up to see their boss's eyes riveted to the screen.

"Cybersoldiers. Cybersoldiers. Cybersoldiers. Cybersoldiers," he kept repeating over and over again, transfixed. "Students, proteges, comrades, precious. Why... why...?"

A moment later, Hacker shook his head, confusion and bewilderment written on his face before he shook it off and began typing on the panel before him.

In truth, Hacker knew what the numbers were, but not what the picture was or what the significance of what it meant either, and especially he didn't know why he had acted and said those things before. But he would find out soon enough.

The Grim Wreaker began to power up before it shot off to its next destination.

"Bingo."

Ledge smirked as the tracker on the Grim Wreaker beeped lazily on his screen. He knew it would come in handy when he first visited Hacker.

"Cybersoldiers, eh? Sounds interesting," the cyborg teen grinned slightly before he flipped on the engines on his coop and flew after the Grim Wreaker.

"Let's see what exactly is going on here, shall we?"

Crack-crack!

The two party-crackers went off inside Control Central. A bowl of punch, and some assorted snack foods were laid out and music was playing. Jackie, Matt and Inez were talking cheerfully as the small celebration went on. Digit was currently dancing to the music and Dr. Marbles was trying unsuccessfully to act as the Disc Jockey.

"It's really been two years already?" Jackie said, smiling. "I still can't believe it."

"It seems like only yesterday that we got here," Matt remarked, drinking some of the punch.

"Two whole years of fighting bad guys and saving Cyberspace from certain destruction," Inez joked as she popped a piece of popcorn into her mouth.

Jackie looked back up at Motherboard's face on the screen, the blue-haired and skinned woman looking down with a saddened expression on her face. "Mother-B, what's wrong?" Jackie asked.

"I'm not sure," Motherboard admitted, frowning slightly, "I feel as if... as if there's something I'm forgetting. Something sad."

Matt and Inez looked up at her as well. The music stopped.

"Motherboard, are you feeling alright?" Dr. Marbles asked softly.

"Marbles, I-"

Suddenly, Motherboard's screen began crackling up, small sparks of electricity coming from the control panels. The Cybersquad and Digit immediately ran up to her after Dr. Marbles.

"Motherboard, what's the matter?!" Digit cried frantically.

"I-I-" Motherboard rasped, before numbers began to flash on her screen.

"What are those numbers?" Matt wondered as Jackie and Inez immediately wrote them down on their squackpads.

Then, a picture began flashing on the screen as well. It was the same picture Hacker saw on the chip, but the children and their allies didn't know that.

"What is that picture? I've never seen anything like it before," Jackie said before taking a picture of the image on said pad.

"CYBERSOLDIERS!" Motherboard rasped/shrieked suddenly., "CYBERSOLDIERS, CYBERSOLDIERS, CYBERSOLDIERS, CYBERSOLDIERS, CYBERSOLDIERS, CYBERSOLDIERS- FRIENDS- MY FRIENDS- WHY- WHY- NO..."

Tears, colored pale green, trickled down Motherboard's face as she continued to babble. The children, Digit and Dr. Marbles looked on in shock at the ruler before the mustachioed cyborg practically threw himself at the control panel as he frantically tried to find out what was wrong.

"What's going on with Motherboard, Doc?!" Digit asked frantically.

"I'm not sure," Dr. Marbles said over Motherboard's voice. "It seems that a traumatic memory from Motherboard is surfacing, but I don't know how or why!"

Then, as quickly as Motherboard reacted, she stopped. The picture faded away and the crackling stopped. The room became quiet once again. Motherboard looked startled if not downright traumatized.

"Motherboard, are you alright?" Dr. Marbles asked gently.

Motherboard said nothing, her lips shut tightly. The Cybersquad was concerned to say the least; they had never seen Motherboard act in such a way, ever.

"What do we do now?" Matt said softly.

Inez motioned her squackpad with the numbers on it. "These are coordinates. And if Motherboard had them, then they're probably important."

"But, what about Mother B?" Jackie said, looking at the ruler worriedly.

"I'll make sure Motherboard gets better," Dr. Marbles said gently. "Don't fret, Cyber-mates."

The Cyber-coop flew down low as the Cybersquad and Digit operated the device. There were no more Cybersites to be found around there, with only bits and pieces of debris and space rock floated around. The green sky was now becoming darker, a murky teal color.

"How long have we been flying?" Digit asked again.

"A few hours," Matt said tiredly.

"I think this is the farthest we've ever flown in this thing," Inez remarked as she maneuvered the coop away from a piece of asteroid.

"I wonder what we'll find there," Jackie wondered before her thoughts wandered back to Motherboard.

I hope she'll be okay...

"I don't think we'll have to wonder long; according to this, we're nearly there!" Matt said suddenly, pointing to the screen, where it showed how close they are to the coordinates.

The children and cyboid looked up to see a tiny, tiny Cybersite before them. From where they were, they could see a strange mist or fog covering the Site. As the coop went through it, the three children felt their skin crawl before they shuddered rather violently.

"You earthlies okay? "Digit asked.

"You don't feel that?" Matt said in disbelief, wrapping his arms around his chest.

"No...?"

Jackie and Inez frowned as the feeling passed. For as long as they could remember, they haven't come across anything in Cyberspace that could seriously harm them, so why did it affect them now?

They landed the coop down there and stepped off onto the Site. Indeed, the ground was polished steel and quite hard. The sky was now looking like black-specked teal above them, giving it a fairly ominous look. There was also fog on the surface, deep and dense and starting eclipse their group and coop.

"Why would the coordinates take us here?" Inez wondered, before tapping her foot on the ground, small clack-clacks echoing.

"There must be something here important," Jackie interjected. "Why else would Motherboard freak out like that?"

With that, the Cybersquad and Digit began walking across the Site, if it were to be called that. There were no trees or plants or hills. It was barer than Sensible Flats, even more barren than the Northern Frontier. There was absolutely no sign of life whatsoever.

Hacker, Buzz and Delete walked off onto the surface, searching for anything that could be important. But as the fog rolled in, it was harder to search effectively.

"This is it?" he said, looking around.

Hacker looked back at his energy scanner and typed in a few more keys. Buzz and Delete meanwhile were looking around at the site they landed on.

"I don't see nuthin', boss," Buzz remarked.

"Yup, just a bunch of nuthin'!" Delete echoed.

"Silence, you irritable ignoramuses!" Hacker snapped, waving them off. "I'm trying to listen!"

Sure enough, there was a faint beep-beep echoing on the scanner. Hacker examined it closely before his eyes narrowed.

"What is it, boss?" Buzz and Delete asked.

A scowl crossed Hacker's face before he began walking across the Site and his henchmen followed him, wondering what got their boss so annoyed.

"Well, is anyone else bored? I'm bored and I know I can't be the only one," Matt said, looking around at his friends, "Well? Come on guys, I-!"

"Hey!"

Inez's sharp voice interrupted him, causing Matt, Jackie and Digit to jump before the bespectacled girl motioned them over to her.

"What's up, Ne-" Matt began.

"Don't even start, Matthew," Inez retorted before gesturing to her squackpad, "I'm getting a signal from another squack!"

"Inez, we've all got squackpads on us-" Jackie began to interject.

"No no, it's not coming from our group," she said quickly before pointing to a map that showed their own squack-signals and then, near the edge of said map, was another signal, identical to the first four signals.

"How is that possible?" Digit asked, looking a little freaked out. "Motherboard made the squackpads herself and only made four! How's another appearing now?"

"I guess we'll find out once we get there," Matt said, looking much less bored now.

So the four of them kept walking, following the signal of the fifth squackpad. After a while, they seemed to be getting closer to the signal, as it was on the screen nearer to them as they approached the signal.

"Hey, I think I see some people up ahead!" Jackie said, pointing forwards.

Indeed, a few figures, barely recognizable in the light and distance were coming towards them.

"Maybe they're the ones who have the squackpad!" Matt suggested.

"I don't think so," Inez said. "The signal's not moving at all, but those guys are. And we don't know if they mean any harm or not."

"Well, it looks like that they're headed in the same direction as us, so we'll know when we reach the signal's location," Jackie finally said.

"Boss, the fog's getting really heavy!" Buzz said as he put his little arms in front of him so he wouldn't bump into anybody.

His boss simply ignored him, his eyes locked on the signal. He knew that the only ones who could possibly have access to this signal were the Earth-kids and Digit, but there was only one, and he knew that they all traveled in a group.

So either one of them's here, or the signal's coming from someone else...

Which didn't make any sense. He knew that there were only four of those pads in existence, so if this wasn't one of the brats or Digit, who did it belong to?

I suppose there's really only one way to find out.

"Geez, this fog is thicker than a brick wall!" Digit complained, trying to keep track of his friends.

"How much further do we have to go?" Matt asked, trying and failing to hold onto Inez's shoulder so he wouldn't get separated.

"It's just up ahead!" Jackie responded, eyes squinting to see ahead. "And it looks like whoever we saw earlier is pretty close too!"

"Hey Buzzie!" Delete tapped Buzz's antennas with difficulty.

"What?" the short borg asked irritably.

"I think I hear voices through the foggy stuff!"

"What are you-" Buzz began before he actually listened.

"..."

"Hey, you're right! Boss!" Buzz nearly shouted to Hacker, "There's som-"

"Shut up!" came Hacker's voice, sharper than usual.

His eyes were locked on the scanner and Buzz and Delete could also now hear a few more beep-beeps on the scanner, identical to the first beep-beep they heard when they first came to the Site.

"Boss, what's the matter?" Delete asked concerned.

"Hey, I hear voices up ahead! They're really close now!" Matt suddenly exclaimed.

"Don't yell, you nearly shattered my eardrum," Inez said irritably, rubbing her ear.

"Hey!" Jackie called through the fog. "Who are you guys? Can you help us?"

"Hey!" Digit yelled. "Can you guys hear us-?!"

At that moment, a whooshing sound came from all around, billowing the mist up, up and up and a great clacking and whirring pierced the air.

"Buzzie, I'm scared!" Delete whimpered, clinging onto the smaller borg.

"What's goin' on, boss?!" Buzz asked/yelled over the growing noise, barely able to see his boss through the fog.

Then, the fog was swept away, allowing the three borgs to see a a cubical/circular contraption rise onto the surface, revealing that the steel ground wasn't a single plate, but individual panels that could pull away or open.

It also allowed them to see the other party.

"Hacker!" the children all exclaimed and Digit quickly went behind Matt's legs.

"What are you doing here?!" Jackie asked.

"I could ask you four the same question!" Hacker retorted. "How did you find this place?"

"Motherboard had the coordinates," Inez said in a low, stern tone.

"Well, so did our boss!" Delete shot back.

"Uh-huh, yeah right!" Matt scoffed.

"Shut yer mouth, it's true!" Buzz snapped.

BA-YUM!

(Pronounced Baa-yuh-m, because the sound is that awesome)

All seven of them nearly jumped at the sound and turned to the source, which was the contraption that had opened up via door. A person shrouded in shadow was the gap before they walked out into the little light that the Site offered.

It was a boy, perhaps around fifteen to sixteen years old, wearing large goggles that obscured half his face, a large cap that his hair was completely tucked into, a baggy pale black turtleneck with the sleeves rolled up, a faded blue colored vest buttoned up, black gloves, white pants, brown lace-up boots, and a pouch around his waist. The presence he was giving off was colder than the arctic, making both Earthlings and Cyborg shiver.

"... it's been awhile since I've seen anybody," the boy remarked, his voice sounding scratchy, as if he hadn't used it for a long time. Still, even without the scratching, the boy's voice sounded pretty unique.

He glanced over to Matt, Jackie and Inez and added, "Especially humans," before looking at all of them. "So, since you actually found this rock, I assume you must have gotten the coordinates I set up, huh?"

"Wait, so that was you?! You put that chip in my chin?!" Hacker exclaimed, looking a little freaked out.

"What?! Ew, ew, double, triple ew!" Jackie grimaced.

"You made Motherboard act all wonky, then?!" Digit said, before a scowl crossed his face as he stormed up to the boy. "Why, I outta beat ya black and blue for what you did!"

The boy sighed. "If she went 'wonky' as you put it, I had nothing to do with it. But right now, I'm kind of saddened."

He looked up at Hacker. "You've changed so much, and by the looks of it, you finally let yourself go in more ways than one. Surely you still remember back then, don't you?"

Hacker stared in bewilderment before barking, "Why are you acting so familiar with me? I've never seen you before in my life, boy!"

The boy said nothing or a few moments before he said softly, "I didn't think so."

He then sighed. "It can't be helped. You all came here for answers and I can provide them. But first-"

The boy then took out a thin chain from his pouch and then threw it behind the Cybersquad, Digit, Hacker and his henchmen and into the fog. A grunt of surprise and pain was heard before the boy pulled the chain back, revealing the borg it held prisoner.

"Ledge!" Inez exclaimed, before a scowl crossed her face.

The boy then walked over to Ledge as he struggled to get himself free from the chains on the ground, staring down at him.

"Now listen up," he said in a stern tone, "if you want answers, then I'll give you them; you don't need to be sneaky. But if you try to cross me, then you'll regret it. Understand?"

Ledge glared at him angrily but eventually gave a stiff nod. The boy then pulled the chain back, freeing him. Ledge got back on his feet, dusting himself off. He glanced over to the two parties before giving both of them a smirk. Hacker and Inez both visibly glowered at him.

The boy turned and walked back to the contraption that was where he lived before turning back and motioned the eight of of them inside.

"I'm sorry that it's so cramped," the boy said as he turned on the lights, "but I can't really make this place larger than it is."

Indeed, the place was a bit small, especially now that it had eight new additions, with Hacker barely able to walk because of the low ceiling. There was a table, a few chairs, some cupboards, a stove, a fridge, a screen hooked up by wires and a compactor with some DVDs, a couch, and a coffee table in front of said couch, all in the space of a single room.

Well, except for the door on the far left that led to the bathroom.

"Here, you can all just sit wherever, I'll get some snacks out," the boy said as he began to rummage through the cupboards.

Hacker immediately sat on the couch, while Buzz and Delete were pretty much squashed. Matt and Jackie took the chairs, while Inez, Digit and Ledge sat on the floor. To say that the situation was awkward would have been a gross understatement. The forces of justice were currently sitting in the same room with a long-time rival that had diminished greatly over time and a new enemy that was clearly superior to the former.

"So..." Jackie stated, "you found the coordinates for this place... in your chin. That's... yeah."

About a minute later, the boy came out with a pitcher of a red drink, eight glasses, a bowl of chips, and a few boxes labeled "Pocky". He set it on the coffee table in front of the couch so everyone could reach the food.

"This is the first time I've been around others in a long time," the boy said, a smile on his face, "so don't be shy; eat as much as you please."

"How did you get all of this?" Digit asked as he tentatively examined one of the strawberry-flavored stick-like biscuits.

"The metal plates on the surface are only to hide what's beneath," the boy explained as he passed out the drinks. "There's soil to grow food, a fresh water spring, a nanomachine that can create disks and tech and tool, and trees/ wood for furniture. Also, it helps that I always keep large amounts of my favorite snack on me at all times."

Buzz and Delete picked up a piece of butterscotch and chocolate pocky each and tried it before their eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets and they grabbed a few more pieces.

"This is yummy!" the taller chirped as he ate another stick.

"They taste almost as good as donuts!"

The boy chuckled. "Yeah, pocky's awesome, there's no denying it."

Matt and Jackie drank from their cups, the drink tasting of cherries. It was sweet and tangy and they filled the glasses again with the pitcher. Digit continued to scarf down down more pocky with Buzz and Delete.

The boy simply stood, observing them all, until his eyes settled on Hacker, Ledge and Inez. All three were silent, all three hadn't touched the food he set out.

"Hey," he addressed them, "are you three okay? You guys'll be the death of this gathering."

Hacker and Ledge both directed an irritated scowl at the boy and Inez simply looked up. The boy sighed before picking up three glasses and filling them with the drink and coming back over to them.

"Come on; you don't have to act like you're best friends or anything," the boy said kindly, an easy-going smile on his face. "Just lighten up a bit, okay?"

Inez and Ledge said and did nothing, so both were surprised when Hacker simply took the drink from the boy after an odd expression flashed on the green-skinned borg's face. The boy's smile became a toothy grin.

"That's more like it!" he said cheerfully as Inez and Ledge followed suit.

"Is there anyone else here?" Jackie asked as she took a piece of butterscotch pocky.

The boy shook his head. "I've been living here all alone for the past two years."

"But why haven't you just moved to another Site?" Matt asked, drinking the liquid, before smacking his lips slightly.

"I don't have anything to fly, and even if I did, I really don't feel like going to another Site. I'm good here," the boy shrugged.

"But how did you get here in the first place?" Inez asked.

"Alright, enough with these useless questions!" Hacker snapped as he banged his glass on the table, making a bit of the drink spill. "I came here to find out why coming here was so important!"

"Hey, don't be rude-" Matt began, but the boy cut him off.

"He's right; as much as I enjoyed this, the time for pleasantries is over; we have to move on now," the boy said, much to Matt's chargin.

He then turned to Hacker, asking, "Do you still have that chip on you?"

Hacker simply took out the chip from his pocket and the boy took it and fitted it into the compactor by the screen. The error that appeared on Hacker's screen didn't and the boy typed in a few keys before the same picture from before showed up.

"Hey um, what was your name-" Delete suddenly pointed out, only for the boy to wave him off.

"I'm not going to waste you guy's time with pointless questions," he said simply.

"But we-" Jackie began but the boy shook his head, ending any more attempts at continuing the conversation.

"You want to know what this picture means, right? Well, what it is, is the emblem of the heroes who protected Cyberspace long ago; the Cybersoldiers."

"'The Cybersoldiers'?" the three children said at the same time.

"That's what Motherboard kept saying over and over when we saw the picture!" Digit exclaimed.

Hacker said nothing, but began listening more intently.

"Buzz, isn't that, what-" Delete began before Buzz shook his head before pointing back at the boy.

The boy typed in some more keys before the room around them dissolved and was transported to a new environment . They were all standing on bare ground. Above them, the sky was a distorted murky teal, much like the sky that was over the Site.

"Long ago," the boy said in a solemn tone, "Cyberspace a different place from what you are all undoubtedly accustomed to. It was over-run by bugs and viruses of every sort. Borgs would go through each day feeling blood-freezing fear for their lives, wondering if they would live to see the next day. It was utter chaos."

Then, a group of creatures came into view. They were shadowy, crackling, glitching, deformed creatures with demonic faces, their laughter and screeches insane. Cyborgs ran from them, utter terror etched on their faces. The creatures gleefully shot through the crowds and seconds later, their bodies littered the ground in pieces. the children and cyborgs looked on in horror at the scene.

"How horrible," Jackie said in a soft tone.

The boy nodded. "It was horrible. While the bugs could be beaten and even destroyed-"

A group of fighters blasted at some bugs. They were all different colors, other than black, shaped like beetles, bees and other insects as they scuttled around before the fighter's blasters took them out.

"- the viruses could only be destroyed by certain weapons and were so much stronger, and far more malicious than the bugs, which were little more than mindless creatures whose only instincts were to eat and multiply."

It then showed one of the shadowy creatures, clearly a virus, tear across the same group of fighters apart easily, their bodies hitting the ground in pieces. The remaining bugs went over to the broken and shattered borgs and began to eat them.

Jackie gagged at this and Inez shuddered as she gripped Matt's arm, who laid a comforting hand on her shoulder. Digit shivered violently as he gripped Jackie's shin, Buzz and Delete hugged each other, Hacker stared on with his eyes wide with shock and Ledge grimaced as his fists clenched tightly.

"There were even borgs who would even sell out their own kind to appease the viruses and bugs, so long as it meant them living; Turncoats, traitors."

Two cyborgs, one looking like a tin soldier and a snooty cat-like robot came out and walked to the Virus from where they had been hiding. It sneered at them both before nodding it's head. The two acknowledged the Virus and bowed.

"But they were never allowed to forget that their lives were in their Virus master's hands."

The Virus then snapped it's fingers (or whatever you call those things), and a bug went up and bit down hard on both borgs, making them cry out while the Virus laughed at their pain.

"So yeah, it was pretty bad," the boy said before he he snapped his fingers again

However, now it was slowly morphing into another scene. They were all now in a circular room, with a giant table with a screen in the middle. Four different people were around it, two men, a woman and a child.

The first man had large, oval glasses with bright green dreadlocks, orange eyes, yellow skin, a lab coat rolled up to his sleeves, a grey shirt, black pants and brown loafers.

"The man with the green dreadlocks is Esata. He was the head scientist and weapons developer."

The second man was wearing a dark blue militaristic uniform, a blue hat, short indigo hair, pale grey skin, black eyes, and a stoic demeanor.

"The man with the blue clothing is Proxen. He was in charge of the fighters and soldiers who combated the bugs and Viruses."

The woman had long blue hair in a bun with a few bangs over her eyes, which were asymmetrical; one square, one circular, and blue skin. She wore a grey dress that split off at her midriff, black leggings and grey shoes.

"That woman was once Motherboard. She was in charge of Cyberspace, even when it was being overrun. She helped provide safe Sites for the Cyborgs, before they were beginning to get attacked as well. However, since you have your own Motherboard, I'll just refer to this one as Motherboard A."

The child was a little girl with neon blue curls, with the same eyes as the woman, wearing a plain short-sleeved white dress and over-sized black boots. A white bow was in her hair.

"And that little girl over there is C.P.U. She's a cyborg that Esata created from Motherboard's genes."

With that, the boy snapped his fingers again, and the scene began.

"Are you serious?!" Motherboard A exclaimed.

Esata slammed a fist down on the table. "Curse it all!" he cried out in frustration. "I thought for certain-!"

"We all thought that your shield would work, Esata," Proxen said in a flat tone. "It's not your fault."

"What can we do now?" C.P.U. asked, her voice quivering. "We can't keep them out and we can't keep fighting and we can't keep hiding-"

Motherboard A went over to the little girl and gently laid a hand on her head. "You mustn't despair. If we do, then we lose any chance of winning."

"Really, our only option at this point is to fight," Proxen said, arms crossing. "We're running out of effective safe Sites and those bugs and turn-coats make it impossible to hide as well."

Motherboard A turned to the scientist. "Esata, are the weapons ready yet?"

"They are, but-"

'But' what?"

Esata looked ashamed now. "We can't use them. Or rather, Cyborgs can't use them. Everyborg who's tested them so far has begun to glitch out, some even getting deleted on the spot."

"So the only shot we have at destroying the Viruses is finished but we can't even use it? That is just lovely," Proxen stated, scowling.

"Do you know who can wield them, Esata?" Motherboard A asked.

"Right now, I'd say that the only ones who would have the potential to use these weapons effectively... are humans."

SLAM.

The scientist and ruler looked over in Proxen's direction, where he slammed both of his gloved hands onto the table, body quivering with rage.

"No," he said in a flat tone.

"Esata, are you certain?" Motherboard A asked sternly.

He nodded.

"You can't be serious!" Proxen shouted angrily. "Esata, have you forgotten-?!"

"Proxen, it's the only way right now," Esata countered fiercely, "and you know it. Would you truly be willing to risk your soldiers lives for using weapons that can hurt them, even delete them?"

At the next sentence, Esata's expression and voice became cold as ice as he said, "And I would never forget that."

Proxen gritted his teeth angrily and looked away.

"We've only a few working walls left and only one of them is at full power right now," Esata told Motherboard A, "and it needs to have a strong connection with the Human World."

"Go get them then, will you?"

With that, Esata left the room to go get the weapons, running right past the nine of them without even noticing them.

"The closest outlet is at Central," Motherboard A said, "but it's already been run over by some bugs."

Proxen's expression softened as he looked at his ruler. "Do you want me to send an escort with you?"

Motherboard A shook her head. "I'm not going to be going; C.P.U. is."

"Wait, what?!" Proxen exclaimed, looking back at the child, who nodded.

"Huh?!" the children and the majority of the cyborgs cried, while the boy, Ledge and Hacker remained silent.

"They don't know C.P.U. exists, and she was made from my genes so she has my scent. The only reason bugs would attack is if they don't recognize a certain scent or if they're provoked or under the command of a virus," Motherboard A explained. "It should be enough to protect her."

"And-And you guys can't afford to get hurt or captured; then who would protect Cyberspace?" C.P.U. added.

"Motherboard, here are the weapons!" Esata called, holding three separate objects wrapped in cloth and bound tightly in his arms. "Who will be delivering them?"

C.P.U. simply held out her hands solemnly to Esata. The scientist blinked before turning to Motherboard A. "You're not serious, are you?"

"It's fine, Dr. Esata," C.P.U. said, smiling softly. "I'll be okay."

The scientist frowned. "I'm not all right with this, not one bit, Motherboard," he said to the blue-haired woman.

The scene dissolved again, revealing what looked to be a battered and falling-apart Control Central. The boy snapped his fingers, freezing the scene.

"A few months prior, Control Central was attacked. Motherboard, Esata, Proxen and his people barely made it out. Since then, no one has dared go near it."

The scene dissolved again, revealing the inside. C.P.U. walked along cautiously, clutching the weapons to her as she made her way down the halls. It was dark, dank and deserted. It was such a stark difference between the Control Central the children and Digit and even Hacker were used to, it was chilling.

Finally, she made it to the main room. It was trashed pretty bad, the control panels and the screen were crushed and broken. C.P.U. took out a small square from her dress pocket. It looked like a mirror and a window combined. She held it up high above her head before walking around with it.

"She's trying to get a good, strong signal," the boy explained, "so that way, when she opens it up, it won't falter or glitch out. It's like trying to get cellphone reception in the obscure wilderness."

C.P.U. continued to walk around before she stopped. The window was glowing brightly now. She smiled before she tapped it, making the window enlarge. However, as this was happening, a scuttling pierced the silence, as bugs began to crawl around. C.P.U. shivered as she clutched the weapons closer to her.

"Oh no," she whispered. "Oh no, why are they...?"

The bugs approached her, the noises they emitted getting louder and faster. The window began to expand more and glow brightly, illuminating the room. At this point, C.P.U. was effectively trapped, with nothing to defend herself but the weapons that she held that she couldn't even touch without getting seriously hurt.

"Please," C.P.U. whimpered softly before she shouted, "SOMEBODY PLEASE HELP ME!"

Then, a shadow-y figure appeared in the window. A second later, it burst through and slammed into C.P.U., knocking them both down. The burster was followed by two more, who landed on either side of them.

"Urk... what just happened...?"

C.P.U. got up and turned to face the ones who had come through the window. Her eyes widened before a dismayed expression crossed her face.

While the lighting from the window threw shadows all around and distorted the three's appearances and faces, it was plain to see that the three who had tumbled through were all children, roughly around the same age. This made all eight start forward.

"There were Earthlies before them?!" Digit exclaimed in shock, gesturing to the Cybersquad.

Hacker said nothing but scowled slightly.

"What, did the part that the weapons could potentially be wielded by humans not make any sense?" the boy asked sarcastically. "Now kindly shut up and pay attention."

"No... you aren't supposed to be here; you're just kids," C.P.U. said softly, her expression warping into despair.

The three didn't really pay attention as their attention was on the bugs scuttling closer.

"Wha- what the heck are those things?!" one exclaimed, a boy with a really bizarre-sounding voice.

"Some kind of giant bug-species it seems," another stated, another boy's voice.

"Where did they come from? And how did we even get here?" the final voice, a girl's voice, said.

C.P.U. looked back at the three before looking at the weapons in her arms. A conflicted expression crossed her face before she steeled herself and rushed over to the three humans.

"Please, I know this is sudden, but you must fight!" she said sternly. "I have weapons for you all to use; take them and fight, or we'll all be destroyed here and now!"

"What?!" the second boy exclaimed, startled.

"Are you serious...?" the girl said in a soft, horrified tone.

The first wasted no time as he grabbed one of the weapons out of C.P.U.'s arms and faced the bugs, yanking off the cloth. "All right then! Which one of you wants to go first?!" he shouted in a determined voice.

As the human boy's hands closed around the material, it began to flash orange before him. "What the heck?! What's with the light show?!" he exclaimed.

As he spoke, the material began to lace around his hands, forming what appeared to be boxing gloves, bright orange. C.P.U.'s eyes widened.

"What the-?!" she said softly, "Is this part of Esata's handiwork?!"

"I dunno what just happened," the boy stated, clenching his fists into a fighting stance, "but I better get crackin'! Hey, you two!"

He turned to the other two humans. "You gonna sit there all day like a buncha couch p'tatoes?!"

The two humans looked surprised before they turned to C.P.U., who held forth the remaining weapons to them. "Hurry," she said simply.

The girl's weapon shone red before her before it transformed into a sword, while the second boy's weapon glowed blue and transformed into a pistol. The first boy then aimed a punch at the bug, knocking it back, shattering it's shell.

"Holy crud!" the boy exclaimed as the bug was pushed back a few meters, "I didn't know I was that strong!"

"It's just because of these weapons," the second boy snapped back, aiming his gun carefully before firing at the bug coming towards him and C.P.U., effectively killing it.

"Less talking, more attacking!" the girl shouted as she blocked a bug's stinger before slashing it in half.

With that, the three children fought back until they had taken out nearly every bug before they few remaining scurried off, making shrill noises as they did so. C.P.U. took the window and it became smaller as she took it into her hands.

"Well," she sighed, "there's one crisis averted."

The children drew in deep breathes before they collapsed onto the floor.

"Oh man,"the first rasped, "that was intense."

"There's no time for sitting around, you three!" C.P.U. snapped, gesturing to the hallway where she came from, "We have to get out of here now before they come back!"

The children got up and followed C.P.U. The scene dissolved again, revealing the room with the table again. Motherboard A, Esata and Proxen were waiting there. A moment later, C.P.U. came rushing in, followed by the three children, who were looking around in wonder. Motherboard A immediately rushed over to C.P.U.

"Are you alright?" she asked, concerned.

C.P.U. nodded. "The weapons have owners now."

She then pointed to the children, whose features were now easier to examine, thanks to the not-cruddy lighting.

The girl had long red-brown hair that reached to the back of her knees, held in a downwards ponytail by a hair-binder. She had a red jumper with pink lace on the collar, a pink long-sleeved shirt underneath, green tights, and grey school-shoes with a buckle. Her skin was tanned and her eyes were amber.

One of the boys had pale black hair with part of his bangs swept to the side. He wore a black dress jacket, a blue dress shirt with a purple tie, black shorts, black lace-up shoes and blue socks. His skin was a slight cream complexion and his eyes were a deep blue.

The other boy was by was definitely the most unusual, making the eight actually double-take when examining him.

He had stark white hair, ruffled and messy with his bangs parted on both sides, showing off his forehead. He wore a yellow shirt with elbow-length sleeves, an orange short-sleeved hoodie with a pocket in front, brown baggy pants, and orange and white sneakers. His skin was almost as white as his hair, and his eyes were a bright shade of red behind rectangular glasses which were also colored orange.

"Well, this is quite an interesting group there," Ledge stated as he surveyed them.

Inez said nothing but she couldn't help agreeing with the cyborg.

Esata stared at the children before turning to C.P.U. "You brought children?!" he exclaimed incredulously.

"It wasn't intentional!" C.P.U. protested, "I was cornered by bugs and I just asked someone to help me and out they came! And it's not the end, Dr. Esata; we can just try again and-"

"It doesn't work like that!" Esata snapped before turning to the children,."Try to discard and switch your weapons."

They blinked but all obeyed. But when the girl tried to pick up the gun, the raven-haired boy the gloves and the white-haired boy the sword, they all shouted out in pain before dropping the weapons.

"What was that?" the girl winced, blowing on her hands.

"I designed the weapons specially so that the first person who uses them effectively becomes their permanent users," Esata said tiredly, face-palming.

"So in other words, we wasted our one chance to actually score some kind of damage against the Viruses and it's been wasted on some good-for-nothing human younglings!" Proxen growled, eyeing the children with a scornful look, disgust in his eyes.

The white-haired boy scowled slightly. "Hey, we did pretty well against those things, considering we started literally thirty seconds after we arrive to where ever 'here' is!"

"See what I mean, Motherboard?!" Proxen snarled, "They're treating this like a game! We can't rely on them!"

"Your young friend told us flat-out what would happen to us if we didn't pick up those weapons and fight," the girl said patiently but with a frown. "I can assure you that we took the fight very seriously."

"My name's C.P.U.," C.P.U. said, pointing to herself.

"It's nice to meet ya, C.P.U.," the white-haired boy chirped before turning back to the other three adults, "So, who are you guys?"

"I am Motherboard," Motherboard A said, "I am the ruler of Cyberspace, where we are this moment."

"Wait, 'Cyberspace', as in the Internet?" the raven-haired boy asked, raising an eyebrow.

"In a way, yes."

"Huh."

"My name is Esata," Esata introduced himself, "I'm the one who made the weapons you used."

"Wait, so you made them transform when we touched them?" the girl asked, gesturing to her sword.

"I made them to morph into the shape that the wielder would be most familiar with," he said simply.

"Amazing."

The white-haired boy looked over at Proxen. "What about you?"

"... Proxen. In charge of the soldiers," he said in a flat tone.

"Wow, so you're like a commander or something?! That's awesome!"

"Shut up."

"So who are you three? Are you friends or something?" C.P.U. asked the children.

"No, this is the first time I've ever seen these two in my whole life," the white-haired boy answered sheepishly.

"As is the case with myself," the girl said.

The raven-haired boy nodded silently.

The white haired boy then gestured to himself. "I'm Dean Rukia," he said before grinning a toothy grin.

"My name is Emily Vargas," the girl said, smiling kindly.

"... Alphonse Cecil," the raven-haired boy responded calmly.

"Wait, you name's Alphonse?!" Dean exclaimed before shooting over to Alphonse right in his face,."Is it spelled with a 'ph' or an 'f' and does it end with an 'e'?!"

Alphonse looked startled at how close the other was but said, "It has 'ph' and yes, it ends with an 'e'... why do you ask?"

Dean's red eyes sparkled as he clasped Alphonse's hands in his own. "You are my best friend in the whole world. I'd take a bullet for you, man."

Alphonse stared, looking kind of freaked out. The eight stared incredulously at the sight.

"Looks like this Dean's got a few screws loose, huh?" Matt said, eyebrow twitching.

"More like all of his screws are loose," Ledge stated.

"Shut up and watch," the boy said in a flat tone.

The scene seemed to have fast-forwarded some time ahead, for now the three children were sitting opposite of the three adult cyborgs and C.P.U.

"So, your world is being overturned by these bugs and Viruses, and Dr. Esata created these weapons that can destroy them. But they can't be used by cyborgs, or they could get seriously hurt. That's why C.P.U. used that device to call forth humans who could use the weapons. But instead, we came through. Is that the gist of it all, then?" Emily summarized in a soft, patient voice.

"Yes," Motherboard A replied, "Cyberspace and everyone in it are on the verge of being wiped out by these monsters. We have to fight and we have to win, or else they will all perish."

"So in other words," Alphonse said sternly, holding up a hand, "you're asking three children with little to no experience in fighting to save a world that holds no connection to ours?"

"If there was another option, we'd take it," Esata explained, "I don't want to involve innocents, especially children. But you're still the only ones who can use the only weapons capable of effecting the Viruses with lasting damage."

"But Al's got a point," Dean said, "We can't just leave our homes and families behind to fight those guys."

"Don't refer to me as such," Alphonse said in a flat tone.

A solemn and saddened expression crossed Dean's face. "Even worse... what if we die here? The only reason we beat those bugs was because of the weapons and were really lucky to survive when we first came here. But I don't want to put my family through pain like that. It'd be too cruel."

Emily's face was shadowed and Alphonse simply frowned softly. Esata and Motherboard A exchanged glances and C.P.U. looked saddened while Proxen's scowl became a full out glare and he crossed the room and yanked Dean up over a whole foot off the ground by his shirt and hoodie collars.

"You selfish boy!" he snarled as he shook Dean. "While so many cyborgs are suffering because of those monsters, you sit around whining about what you want?! You can't even begin to imagine what we have gone through and lost!"

"Proxen, enough!" Motherboard A said sharply, grabbing his arms. "They are right to worry about how their loved ones would react. You would also worry for your own soldiers and their families more than yourself!"

Proxen's teeth gritted together, his glare lessening at Motherboard A's words before he let go of Dean, the boy landing unceremoniously on the floor. He winced as his hand came up to the skin of his neck and collarbone before getting back on his feet, Alphonse and Emily now eyeing Proxen wearily.

"I know you're reluctant to do this and you have every right to be," Motherboard A said. "Under any other circumstances, I would never consider doing this. However, we have precious few options, now that you three wield those weapons. Please, on behalf of all that is good in Cyberspace, I beg of you all to aid us."

Dean, Emily and Alphonse looked pretty startled now, clearly conflicted.

"It'd take a pretty cold heart for those three to refuse such a request," Inez said softly.

The boy said nothing, his goggle-clad eyes riveted on the scene. "It wouldn't take a cold heart, but a strong one," he said simply.

Jackie stared before her eyes widened as she looked at him. "Wait, are you-"

However, she was cut off as the scene progressed.

"... I can't do this," Emily said, "There are so many things that are expected of me back home."

"I can't just throw myself into battle or into death for such reasons," Alphonse stated.

Dean said nothing, his head bowed.

"But..." C.P.U. began but Esata shook his head at her.

Proxen rolled his eyes and turned away, exiting the room.

Motherboard A simply nodded, her face totally expressionless. "Very well then," she said before she turned to Esata, "How long until you can have another window up and running?"

"It should only be a little under an hour to charge one up," the greenet reported.

"Good," Motherboard A responded before following him out of the room, leaving the three children and C.P.U. alone.

Dean then sat on the floor, a saddened expression on his face, Emily kept standing and Alphonse leaned against the table. C.P.U. simply looked at them all, a dejected expression on her face and an accusing look in her eyes.

"... we're not bad people," Dean said softly, startling C.P.U. before a frown crossed her face.

"You're being selfish," she stated.

"We never asked to be brought here," Alphonse retorted, "and we certainly didn't ask to fight. It's not being selfish, it's called 'self-preservation'."

"None of us want to die," Emily said, her arms hugging her torso, "that can't be called selfish, it just can't."

"You're the only ones who can do anything now," C.P.U. continued, "and you know that we need help. Yet you say no anyways."

"Enough," Alphonse said in a stern tone, "How can you say such things when it's effectively your fault that ourselves and your friends are in such a mess?"

C.P.U. flinched but Alphonse kept going. "You brought us here, and you told us to take the weapons and fight and then you brought us back here. If anyone, it's you who's the root of this entire mess."

"Al, stop it; I know you're annoyed but please don't take it out on C.P.U.," Dean said, going over to C.P.U.'s side, and patting her head.

"Don't refer to me as such," Alphonse said in a flat tone.

"You didn't mean to bring us here, did you?" he asked gently.

C.P.U. shook her head. "I came to get strong humans, not little kids."

Dean and Alphonse seemed to twitch at that, their expressions and aura becoming ominous.

"Yeah, we're not kids," Dean said, his voice slightly choppy as his eyebrow twitched, "I'm nearly thirteen, I'll have you know."

"I'll be turning thirteen as well in a a little bit," Alphonse said, eyes colder than the arctic.

"I'm already thirteen and thus, a teenager," Emily said, her tone just soft and patient, but she sounded like she was repressing laughter at the boy's reactions.

C.P.U. stared at the two boys as their auras actually seemed to grow, while the girl merely watched with an amused expression. The majority of the group watching this shivered violently.

"G-geez, what's their problem?" Buzz shuddered.

"I'm scared, Buzzie..." Delete whimpered.

Ledge's eyebrow twitched and Hacker just stared, but the same thought was in both their heads.

They're freaks. Every single one of them. Those brats can't possibly have existed back then! And I thought the first three were bad enough; these three could be capable to mass chaos and evil that not even I could have dreamed of!

"There's always room for crazy people, you know," the boy stated simply, his mouth twitching and startling Ledge and Hacker with his apparent mind-reading, "There's always room."

Just then, an explosion shook the whole room, throwing the children and C.P.U. off balance.

"What was that?" Emily asked, looking up.

Then, a shrill alarm blaring split through the air, followed by, "Emergency, emergency; the base is being attacked by a Virus! This is not a drill, repeat; this is not a drill!"

"What?!" C.P.U. shouted, her expression horrified.

"Is that bad?" Dean asked.

C.P.U. didn't answer as she ran out of the room and into the hall as fast as she could. The children looked over at one another before they followed behind. They went down the hallway, then up a flight of stairs before they came to the door that C.P.U. took them through. It had already been opened revealing the outside.

"What the-?!" Digit exclaimed.

The outside of the base was exactly like the Site they had all landed on. However, there were blast marks and dents all over the ground, and in the middle of the action, was a svelte, shuddering, teal thing, cackling insanely as it cleaved through the fighters surrounding it.

But what C.P.U.'s eyes were fixed on was on the Virus's next target. Proxen and Esata were firing at the Virus, doing anything they could to slow it down as it loomed over an unconscious Motherboard A, who was surrounded by unmoving cyborgs and bits of machinery.

"NO!" C.P.U. screamed as the Virus drew back it's appendage to smash it down on Motherboard A's limp form.

"Hey jerk-face! Over here!"

At that moment, Dean ran over to the Virus as fast as he could, clearly not thinking and going on instinct.

The Virus halted it's movement as it heard Dean's voice and turned it's head to face him. A look of confusion flashed for a moment on it's demonic face, before it sneered maliciously before it began to saunter over to the boy. It stopped right in front of Dean, looming over the twelve-year old menacingly. Dean's body quivered slightly but he met the Virus's gaze steadily. Then, a moment later, a sharp shudder went up Dean's back.

"The Viruses communicate by adjusting their brain frequency to match another's unique wave to send their thoughts, because apparently, talking is overrated to them," the boy explained in an almost curt tone, "Right now, the Virus is relaying it's reply to Dean."

"Ahgh, what's he saying? This is so frustrating!" Jackie said.

After about a minute, Dean shot forward, attempting to punch the Virus, but it easily dodged the attack, still sneering. Dean frowned before he threw another punch, following another, but the Virus merely kept dodging him, it's mouth opening in a cackle. Dean's frown deepened and acting quickly, he faked a punch to the Virus, before finally scoring a hit on the Virus's right leg.

At the moment the orange boxing glove made contact with the appendage, it crackled orange before the entire thing disintegrated and the Virus went down. It screeched out, disbelief written on it's face. Dean looked just as startled at this before he turned back to Motherboard's limp form and rushed over to her.

"Hey um, Motherboard, are you...?" he said tentatively as he shook her a little.

A moment later, her eyes fluttered open and she glanced up at him. "What...?" she murmured weakly, before her eyes widened as she looked behind him.

Dean turned back, to see the Virus lunge at them at almost light-speed-

Slash.

The Virus screeched in pain as it's arm-appendage was cut off, red crackling over the limb before the entire thing disintegrated. Dean looked behind the Virus to see Emily, clutching her sword with both hands tightly, looking as freaked out as he must have felt a few moments ago. The Virus roared, struggling to keep up-right.

Bang.

The Virus's roar was cut off as it looked down at the hole in it's chest, crackling blue before what was left of it began to disintegrate. As it's body disappeared, Alphonse was shown, gripping the gun, his hands shuddering from the recoil of the shot.

"You guys..." Dean said, not a statement or a question.

"I couldn't just stay back and do nothing," Emily said, shaking her head.

"I'm not so apathetic to let people die," Alphonse said, frowning softly.

Proxen's expression of surprise turned into a scowl while Esata sighed with relief and said, "Thank goodness."

C.P.U. rushed over to Motherboard A's side, in tears. "Are you okay, mama?" she sniffled, "You're not hurt are you?"

Motherboard A smiled softly as she hugged the little girl close to her. "I'm fine, it's all right."

"Oh, so you guys are a family?" Dean said, putting his fist into his palm in realization before glancing over at Esata and Proxen, "that must that must mean what the papa is either-"

Dean's reply was cut off when Proxen and Esata both leveled their blasters at his head, faces both red whether from embarrassment or from exhaustion. Dean held up his hands in a "don't-shoot-me" sign before zipping is lips before Motherboard A and C.P.U. began wondering what he had been saying.

Emily and Alphonse's expressions had softened, and they looked almost guilty.

"You guys... you've been fighting all this time..." Emily said, not exactly a statement, more of a realization.

Alphonse said nothing, but looked away from the scene.

"Hey, Motherboard?" Dean said to the ruler before kneeling in front of her solemnly, "I'm not very good at fighting, and I'm not a hero, but I don't want to see guys like that hurt anybody."

Motherboard A blinked before a tiny smile touched her lips. "Very well."

"Um..."

The ruler glanced over at Emily and Alphonse before the mahogany-haired girl and raven-haired boy walked up to her, still clutching the weapons in their hands.

"I still don't want to fight and I still don't want to die," Emily said softly, before she looked Motherboard A in the eyes, "but I don't want to just sit back and let them do what they please."

"Bullies can't be allowed to do what they pleased," Alphonse said, disgust in his tone and eyes, both colder than ice, "they must be punished, no matter what."

"So, you'll help us?!" C.P.U. exclaimed happily.

"In a word, yeah," Dean nodded, grinning.

"Yes, lovely and all," Proxen barked as he addressed the three, "this is no game and you will not treat it as such. This is war, and if you lose, that's it; no more second chances, no reruns. You die. It's as simple as that."

This made the eight shiver, as well as realizing just how high the stakes were back then.

"Proxen," Esata said gently, "they can't start this minute," before he turned to the children, "Before you can fight, you need to get stronger; you know how to use those weapons, but you can get much get better, much better."

"Speaking of," C.P.U. said as she looked at them, "how do you know how to use those?"

"I took boxing lessons for a summer," Dean admitted sheepishly, before chuckling, "worst time of my life."

"My uncle was a champion fencer," Emily explained, "I've seen some of his matches and he even gave me some lessons when I was little."

"... annual family paintball," Alphonse finally said, looking slightly embarrassed now, "and my father's in the military."

"Well that explains your familiarity with the weapons and why they changed into such to accommodate you," Esata said, "so if you keep practicing with these weapons, then you'll get better."

"I guess..." Dean said.

"Wait."

Dean looked over at Emily, who looked worried. "How long have we been here?" she asked.

"Er..."

"This is bad," Alphonse said.], realization on his face.

"Huh? What's the matter?" C.P.U. asked worriedly.

"We were in the middle of a school meeting between the seventh and sixth graders; in other words, we were taken right out of the assembly hall!" Alphonse explained, fists clenching.

"If we don't get back there in a not-suspicious manner, we could make it on the newspaper headlines the next day, maybe even sooner!" Dean exclaimed, looking horrified.

"Can we please go back home?" Emily asked, almost pleadingly.

"We never said you couldn't go home!" Esata said, looking indignant, "We wouldn't keep children from their homes and families! But it's still gonna take a while before we can charge up a window..."

"Eh, fair enough..." Dean uttered weakly.

With that, the scene became muddled before the scene dissolved back to the room where the nine had been. The boy had turned away from them, his fists clenching and his posture stiff.

"Wha- That's it?! That's all there is?" Matt exclaimed in disbelief.

"After going back home, the children continued to fight for Cyberspace, against the Viruses and their servants," the boy said in an almost monotone voice. "They gained as many allies in Cyberspace as they did rivals, and even some allies in their own world. Their reputations as the ones who dealt the previously invincible Viruses such blows would earn them the collective title, 'Cybersoldiers.'"

"So, what happened in the end?" Digit asked.

"After two years of fighting and hardship, they won against the Viruses and ended their era of terror and blood, but at a steep price," the boy said, his voice now heavy with sadness, "Esata, Motherboard and many other cyborgs that the children befriended, lost their lives against the Viruses."

"That's terrible," Inez whispered.

"In addition, Dean Rukia was lost in the final battle, along with a human ally," the boy said, his voice almost dead now, his fists shaking slightly.

Even Hacker looked startled at this. Sure, he wanted to defeat the Earth-brats and take over Cyberspace, but he never sought to harm them, let alone kill them...

"Even you are surprised by this," the boy said, addressing Hacker, "it shows that you are much kinder than you let on."

The children, Digit and Hacker's henchmen stared incredulously. They couldn't believe what they were hearing; Hacker, kinder than he looks?! HA!

"I've had it."

Ledge suddenly shot up to the boy and grabbed him by the front of his shirt with both hands, "Just what are you trying to accomplish by getting us all here? You don't answer any questions we ask that are relevant to why any of us are here and you act purposely cryptic! Is this all a game to you or something? Why are you here in the first place? How is it that you've got a signal identical to a squack pad?"

"Wait, how did you-" the others began only for Ledge to shout angrily next-

"Just who the heck are you?!"

"... rry."

Ledge blinked. "Huh?"

The boy removed the other male's hands from him before he walked over one of the cupboards and rummaged around for a moment before withdrawing holding something tightly in his hands.

"This went off for some reason," he said softly as his hand tightened around the squackpad, "and then I saw the other signals coming towards my house."

Still turned away, the boy set the squackpad down on the counter before he took off his cap and goggles and turned to face his guests. A collective gasp rippled through the group.

"I apologize for coming off as rude; I think that omitting the story anymore would be pointless now."

Pure white hair tied back in a ponytail, bright red eyes were the boy's most prominent features as he offered his hand to them, expression serious, not at all like the boy they saw earlier with his friends-to-be.

"Let's start off again: My name is Dean Rukia, a Cybersoldier."

This is a one-shot of the story what I will eventually write. The actual story will be separate of this one-shot and be the entire story behind the Cybersoldiers.

Also, I didn't know it would get this long, as I was going on 4,000, then 5,000, then 6,000 and on an don, until I ended it with this behemoth. And all in the course of a few days. I couldn't even keep from typing this every singe, day, neglecting my other children...

And by "children", I mean my other stories. I'm sorry, FMG and SotR... and especially you, KoT...

Anyways, I don't know when I'll actually start the story, but it'll be something to look forward to after I finish Fullmetal Geass and Suzaku of the Remix, or even Knight of Truth. I'm very, very sorry if the Cybersoldiers come off as Mary and Gary Sues/Stues. It was not my intention to make them off as such.

Please review! But keep thine flames to thine selves.