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| It didn't take long to get back, but Dot and the others looked at them solemnly. Vick frowned. "What's wrong? The force field is on, isn't it?" "It is, and I thank you guys," Dot replied, "Only I'm afraid it's not going to hold out very well. Cayo and his army are already fighting their way through." Vick looked through the vid window and her heart sank when she saw Cayo's army fighting against the shield. "Oh no," she said. "Okay you guys," Bob said, causing everyone to look at him. "Remember our plan. Vick and Matrix, you take the grounds. Dot and Mouse, you two stay here, and Ray and AndrAIa, you take the sky. Enzo?" He looked at Enzo and the boy straightened up. "You're going to stay with Dot and Mouse and help with the main weapon." "Yes sir!" Enzo grinned. "Okay then, let's get going," Matrix said. He jumped on his zip board. "Are you coming, Vick?" Vick turned away from the vid window. "Uh, yeah, I'm coming." She took out her whip and jumped on another zip board. She turned to the others. "You guys hold out, okay?" With that, she followed Matrix out of the building and onto the streets below. "Okay," Matrix said, coming to a halt. "The army hasn't broken through the force field yet, but we don't have much time until they do. I think we should split up and do the best we can, getting binomes together and in safe places. Once the army breaks through, we attack whatever comes down on the ground." "What about Cayo?" He sighed. "We won't have to worry about him unless he gets past AndrAIa, Ray, and the main gun on the Principle Office. If that happens, we fight him." Vick nodded. "Okay." Matrix tried to smile reassuringly. "Everything will be okay, okay? We'll just see how things go and hopefully, everything will go the way we want it." "I hope so." She turned and flew off, whip out in hand. She just hoped everything would go as planned. It didn't take long before she noticed the force field was flashing every now and then. Looking up, she could tell that one of the Cayo's army men had come through the field. She winced. "Oh no," she murmured. "Mommy, what's happening?" A small binome wailed. Vick turned to see a whole alley way of homeless binomes. "You guys have to get out of here!" Vick cried, flying above them. "Cayo, this really bad Virus is attacking Mainframe. Come with me to a safe place!" The binomes looked at each other doubtfully. "Come on!" Vick urged. "Do you want to die? If you come with me, you'll be safe. It's not much longer until Cayo breaks through the force field and attacks us." She stood there and waited for a reply. Her face lit up when they nodded and decided to go along with her. ************** Mouse stood at the computer console. "Okay guys," she announced. "A couple of micro-seconds and this baby is ready to fire." "I hope so," Dot replied, eyes still glued to vid window. The army was making good progress through the shield. Bob had flown out and inspected the whole city. Every once and a while she'd see him talking to Ray and AndrAIa, and then fly off to see how Vick and Matrix are doing. Just then, Ray and AndrAIa flew past the vid window, waving. They had a small army of voluntary binomes to help them out, flying along also on their zip boards. Dot grinned. "Great going guys, good luck." "Okay!" Mouse cried, looking up from the computer. "We've got ourselves lift off! Our little weapon is working beautifully!" "Good job, Mouse," Dot praised. "Okay, we're ready for them." ********** Vick looked over the bundle of weaker binomes in the saftey building, then looked over at the group of stronger ones. "Okay," she said, "I thank you all for volunteering. Your job is to fight whatever virus infected creature comes around the corner, you got that? No mercy whatsoever. Cayo, their leader, is out to get me, and in order for me to go back, he'll destroy this whole city." "Then why don't you just leave Mainframe?" A brave binome challenged. She took out her whip and held it menacingly. "Because if I do right now, Cayo will still destroy your city. Is that what you want? With my help, you guys might actually have a chance." The binome nodded nervously and she turned away from them. The shield was getting weaker and blinking more rapidly. Matrix flew up to her, another band of binomes following behind him. "I've got some," he said, "You?" "Got my bunch," she nodded toward the group of stronger binomes. "Are you sure this is the right thing? I know we have to protect Mainframe and everything, but I think it would be better if I faced him alone." "Yeah right, like you'd survive that," he argued, "he's got an army out there, and they want to attack, whether you go with them or not. Don't give up, I won't stand for that kind of thing. Now let's get the sprites ready. I just got a call from Bob, he says Dot and Mouse have the main weapon ready." Vick nodded. "Okay then." She turned to the small binomes. "You guys, get ready. Whatever you do don't-" She was cut off when the force field suddenly snapped off. A loud battle cry ripped through the air as Cayo's army advanced on Mainframe. She swallowed hard, sensing the binome's fear behind her. She could feel some doubt in Matrix also. "…panic," she finished off. "Go!" Matrix directed the binomes. "Fight with everything you've got, let's get ready!" Vick zipped off down the street as smaller viruses came pouring down out of the sky. "I just hope Dot and Mouse got that thing on top of the Principle Office down." ******************* "Now!" Dot yelled. "Got it sugah!" Mouse called back, pushing a button in front of her. The gun-like weapon on top the Principle Office came to life and let out a bright beam of energy. It hit the virus army, burning everything it lit on. Mouse and Dot smiled as they saw Cayo's army grow smaller. "It's not enough," Enzo said, breaking the ice. He pointed at a cluster of viruses heading down toward streets. AndrAIa, Ray, and the rest of the flying crew were having a hard time fighting off all of them. "Oh no," Dot whispered. "They're going to attack Mainframers, what are we going to do?" "Matrix and Vick are down there, remember?" Mouse reminded her. "Besides, everything will be okay. We're doing good, Cayo's army is now half the size it was when it first attacked. And we're still making progress." "That reminds me," Dot said, examining the scene through the vid window. "Where is Cayo?" ************** AndrAIa slashed one virus apart, then cried out as another slammed into her zip board. "Ray!" She screamed, falling off. "Got you, AndrAIa!" Ray called, flying down on his board. He grabbed her and held her close. "Whew, that was close." AndrAIa hopped back onto her zip board and unhooked her trident. Glancing around, she noticed that the army wasn't so strong after all. Several groups were flying toward the streets, but what was left in the air wasn't many. She was grateful for Mouse's hacking and getting the super weapon in order. "AndrAIa, we're doing pretty good," Ray said, flying over to her. "We'd better start fighting again or we'll fall short." "That's the least of my problems," she replied, looking around. "Cayo is supposed to be this really distinctive virus. You'd think we'd see him by now, but I haven't seen him yet." ************ "Cursors!" Vick cried as a virus grabbed her zip board. She fell off and rolled down the street, coming to a stop against a building. Standing up, she grabbed her whip. "I want that back, you hear me?" She swung the whip, wrapping it around the zip board. Pulling back, she pulled both zip board and virus toward her. She kicking him against the wall, and the virus withered and died, dropping the zip board. She picked it up to see that it was broken right in half. Even if it wasn't broken, the power was low, so she couldn't ride it no matter what. "Crashes," she muttered, tossing the zip board aside. "Every thing just gets harder and harder." She started running down the street, fighting every virus that came her way. They weren't huge and surprisingly defeatable, but she knew that wasn't all. There had to be a secret weapon of theirs she didn't know about. Just then, AndrAIa dropped down in front of her. "Where's your board?" she asked. "AndrAIa!" Vick skidded to a stop. "It's you, thank goodness! Have you seen Cayo by any chance?" "We haven't been able to find him," another voice replied, and Bob came down beside them. "I'm worried about that." "So am I," Vick replied. "Where's Ray?" "He's still up there finishing the rest of the viruses. We haven't seen Cayo at all, we're wondering if he's even here. Where's Matrix?" "Probably doing the same thing I'm doing." "Come on," Bob urged, "We'd better hurry toward the Principle Office. We need to figure out where Cayo is." They were just about to start off, when a huge virus dropped down onto the street. It let out a roar and pounded down on the ground. Vick and AndrAIa screamed in surprise. "What is that!" AndrAIa cried. The virus seemed to chuckle as it tapped something on his shoulder. Slowly, it began to change and became more human looking. Right away, they could tell it was a he, but he wasn't exactly a sprite either. He was a huge man, only there were some sort of spots on his legs, arms, neck, and forehead. He wore heavy armor that covered his whole body neck down. Vick stepped back, mouth open. "Cayo…" AndrAIa gaped. "That's a virus?" Cayo sneered at Bob. "We finally meet, Guardian. Vick was supposed to dispose of you long ago, but I guess I might as well do it now." Without warning, he grabbed Bob and held him by the neck up in the air. "No!" AndrAIa cried, running forward. But Vick held her back knowing that it was too dangerous to go against Cayo. Bob grunted as he tried to get free, but the virus was holding him too tightly. "Say bye-bye," Cayo sneered. He started to strangle the guardian, sending in dangerous energy along with it. Bob yelled out in pain. Vick couldn't take it any longer. "No! Bob!" She cried, running forward. "Vick, becareful!" AndrAIa yelled, following after her. But Cayo, with his free hand, swung at AndrAIa, sending her across the street and slamming against a building. Distracted, Cayo didn't notice that Vick had freed Bob and was dragging him to safety. "No!" Cayo yelled. Vick stood and turned around, only to see AndrAIa lying motionless on the sidewalk. It was the same scene as the one in her vision. Her eyes widened in disbelief. "No," she whispered. Then she got angry when she looked at Bob, also hurt. "No!" She threw herself at Cayo, giving him all she had. Kicking, punching. Until Cayo grabbed her around the neck and held her up in the air. Vick gasped for breath but he wouldn't hold up. "You," he sneered. "I'm going to make sure you pay for not going by my orders." Before he can doing anything, the system voice rang out, "WARNING, INCOMING GAME. WARNING, INCOMING GAME." ********************** The Principle Office was cold and silent as AndrAIa was laid out on a flat surface. Matrix was kneeling beside her, holding his hand. Thank goodness she's not blinking or losing energy, he thought. Bob groaned as he rubbed his bruised neck. "I couldn't do anything about the game cube," he explained, "All I could do was get AndrAIa and come back here." "This is terrible," Mouse said, leaning against the main console. "Vick and Cayo, trapped in the same game. What's going to happen?" She glanced nervously at Ray and he slipped his hand into hers. "Everything will be okay," he whispered to her, "have faith, things will pull through." Dot looked through the vid window. Apparently, the virus army had been destroyed. Cayo was all that was left of it and he was in the game. She turned to the others. "What if they don't win?" She asked. "They're either nullified," Matrix replied, "or they go through what AndrAIa and I did long ago." He paused, knowing they were all thinking the same thing. If they were to travel from system to system, all the better for Cayo. "But if they win…" "Cayo might still be alive," Bob finished off, "that means we have to be ready for him. Mouse?" "Already there, sugah," was the reply, as the hacker turned back toward the computer. Just then, AndrAIa groaned and opened her eyes. Matrix smiled gratefully. "Did we…get him?" she asked. Matrix didn't answer right at first. "No," he replied, "they're stuck in the game cube. We can't do anything right now." ***************** Vick was surprised to find herself standing ancient ruins. Cayo was standing on the other side, and above them, were vid windows of different fighting characters the User was choosing from. Cayo, using his icon, tapped it and instantly rebooted into one of the characters. The funny thing was, his appearance didn't change a bit. Sighing, Vick rebooted also, becoming one of the characters. She was dressed in a skimpy, New York outfit with a whip in her hand. She felt a blinking light surround her when the User chose her for one of the fighters. She dropped down toward the center of the ancient ruins, obviously the fighting area. She watched as the User chose her opponent. Her heart sank when she found out who. Cayo. Cayo dropped down opposite her, and Vick stepped back, cautious. She hated games, especially fighting ones. But she had to go through this whether she liked it or not. "BEGIN," a loud voice rang out. Instantly, battle music filled the air, causing Vick to hesitate a little. She held out her whip defensively, waiting for the first move. The virus smiled. "So," he said, "we finally fight each other, and officially too. Who'd have thought?" "I hope you know, Cayo," she shot back, "I would never work for you again, no matter what happens. You killed my family, I will never work for a murderer." "Oh?" Cayo tilted his head at her. "Well, then I guess you wouldn't work for yourself if things were turned around, since you're a murderer yourself." Vick was about to attack, when she stopped. He's right, she thought, I am a murderer. I was. No, I am. I am a murderer, once you kill someone that's not a virus, you will always be a murderer. She looked up when she heard Cayo's laughter echo throughout the ruins. She stared at him hard. "Well then," she said, "so I am a murderer, but I will be no longer. I only destroy viruses, the ones that hurt others! And I am officially starting with you." Cayo let out an angry yell, finding out he wasn't able to turn Vick's thoughts inside-out. Then, without warning, he attacked. *************** Vick jumped to the side and out of the way as Cayo rolled where she was. She jumped to her feet and without hesitation, swung her whip. It caught on Cayo's arm, and and she pulled, bringing him toward her. She kicked him in the stomach, then again in the chest. To her surprise, though, Cayo held through and punched her. With a cry she fell back against the marble floor. His laughter echoed once more. "You can't beat me, assassin," he snarled. "I'm not an assassin," she corrected him, getting slowly to her feet. "You're the assassin, killing whoever doesn't work for you. You assign yourself the job, and you kill them. That's what you are." "I'm sorry, but you're incorrect," he said, shoving her back. She stumbled again and hit the marble. "Now, if you were to agree to work for me again, this wouldn't happen. We'd be out of this game, and Bob would be dead." "I'm sorry," Vick said, climbing to her feet and mimicking him. "But in order to get out of the game, I have to kill you." With that, she swung a leg, kicking him right across the face. She jumped back on her hands and flipped, bringing herself farther from him. She swung her whip, catching it on his legs, and pulled, bringing him to the ground. "This one's for my mother!" she yelled, walking up to him and kicking him on the side. "My father!" She punched him in the stomach, "And this one's for me!" Grabbing a pointed rock, she stabbed it right through the virus. Standing up, she picked up her whip. "I'm not your little assassin anymore," she said. "It's not over yet," he snarled. Vick's smirk disappeared. ************** "GAME OVER. USER LOSES." "Okay," Dot said, heading over to the vid window. Inside, she was feeling a sense of pride that Vick had defeated the game. "Mouse, ready?" "Ready sugah!" "Go." ************* Vick found herself back on the street, Cayo lying next to her. The rock was gone, though, since it was just a prop in the game. He grinned as he slowly got to his feet. "Told you," he sneered. Eyes wide, she stepped back. "No," she whispered. "It's supposed to be over!" Cayo reached out a hand to kill her, when a sudden bright light lit the sky, shooting down right at him. He screamed in agony and fell to his knees. Vick backed up and looked at him in surprise. What was going on? The light was coming from the weapon on top of the Principle Office, and she grinned. "I told you," she said, "Bye-bye, Cayo." Cayo wailed as he was slowly burned to death. Vick waited until he was fully deleted, before she walked away. Things were finally over. * * * Vick had gone straight to Dot's Diner after the whole thing was over. She was sitting at the bar, drinking an energy shake, thinking. It had occurred to her that since she had killed Cayo and helped lead the battle destroying thousands of viruses, maybe she was no longer a wanted assassin. It was a good feeling to have, but then again, it made her sad at the same time. She couldn't stay here in Mainframe. Of course she'd come back some day when she was truly ready, but for now she felt she should go back to the Super computer first. Since she had ran after her parents' death, she had no time for mourning. No time to visit their graves. No time at all. She wanted to make up that time now. And maybe, she'd continue her title as a virus anialator. Maybe she'd start calling herself a virus assassin. At least this time, the title was safe. The doors swung up, and AndrAIa walked in. "Hey," she greeted her, sitting down. "What are you doing here all alone? Some of the binomes are having a huge celebration and they invited us all to come." Vick shook her head. "I'd like to go, but I can't. I'm leaving." "What do you mean, leaving?" AndrAIa frowned. "You can't stay? But why not? You're part of the gang now, we all trust you, you don't have to worry about Matrix anymore." "That's not it." Vick put her energy shake down. "I still have lots to make up. My parents is one thing, I have to…visit them." AndrAIa nodded. "I understand. Are you going now?" "Yeah," Vick stood up. "Tell the others for me, will you?" She hugged AndrAIa. "Thanks for everything. You're my best friend." "And you're mine," AndrAIa smiled. "You take care, okay? Don't become an assassin again, that wouldn't be good." "No it wouldn't," Vick grinned. She turned and walked out of the diner. She was hoping to just leave, only she passed Bob on the way out. He was headed toward the diner. "Hey Vick!" He called, "where are you heading?" Vick stopped and looked at him, deciding what to tell him. AndrAIa stepped out of the diner with a 'tell him' look on her face. I can't, she thought. "I…I'm leaving," she said. "I'm sorry to hear that," Bob said, "do you have to?" Vick nodded, avoiding eye contact. "I need to go back to the Super computer. Clear things up, you know." Bob looked at her sadly, then hugged her. "You come back, kay?" Vick hugged back tightly. When she drew back, she had to wipe tears from her eyes. "Yeah, I'll be back." She considered telling him how she felt, but it wouldn't be right, it would just mess up his relationship with Dot. She wanted him to be happy, and she could tell he was with her. "Well, I'll see you around," she said, blinking hard. "Bye Bob. Bye AndrAIa, I'll miss you guys." With that, she turned, and left, wiping tears from her eyes. "I will be back," she whispered. |
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