Chapter 5: The Electra Chronicles
  Part 1





"Alright, Hex, pick a hand." Jareth held out his hands, fists closed.

"Okay," Hex said, looking from one hand to the other. "I choose....that  one!" Hex pointed to Jareth's right hand.

"Good choice!" Jareth switched to a grinning mask, and dropped a small object into Hex's outstretched hand.

Hex's face lit up. "Oh, Jareth! You found it!"

Jareth laughed. "Yep. It was lying where the Tor used to be before the Restart."

Hex gave Jareth a look. "Why wasn't this deleted when the system restarted?"

"I dunno." Jareth plucked it from Hex's hand. "Remember how much fun we had with this last time? I thought we'd never see it again."

Hex grinned. "I bet Bob and the others were HOPING never to see it again."

Jareth gave the small device back to Hexadecimal. "What are you going to do with it?"

"Oh, I don't know....I'm sure I'll think of something." Hex started to walk towards the window.

"Hey...where are you going?"

"Oh....I thought I'd stop by the Diner, see what our friends are up to."

"Don't let them see that. It's not going to make them happy."

Hex laughed. "Don't worry....I won't." Hex Mask-teleported out the window, leaving Jareth standing alone in the Lair.

"Have fun.." Jareth said, gazing out the window after her.
 


 

"Doooot...."

Dot Matrix looked up, recognizing the voice before she saw the face that went with it. Only one person in Mainframe tended to stretch names so hauntingly.

"Hello, Hex," she said, "What are you up to today?"

"Oh, not much. It's been very boring around here lately. When are we going to go to the supercomputer?"

"I'm working on the plan right now. We've got to find a way to get in without being spotted, so Mouse and I are trying to come up with some sort of cloaking....Hex? Are you listening?"

Hex looked back at Dot. She had been staring at the ceiling. "Oh..Yes. Yes, I have been listening. We are still going, aren't we? Jareth and I are SO looking forward to seeing Mother again..."

Dot sighed. "And that's another thing. If Jareth comes with us, how can we be sure he won't take Daemon's side? He is still half viral."

"And what am I?"

"Yes, but you're not dangerous anymore. Well....not quite AS dangerous. Jareth is."

Hex pondered that. "Couldn't Bob help him, the way he helped me?"

Dot removed her glasses and started rubbing the bridge of her nose. "No, I'm afraid he already tried. It had no effect."

"Oh. Well, do you have any ideas?"

"Not a one."

Hexadecimal sighed, then turned towards the entrance as a binome burst in, ringing the bell above the door. "Ms. Matrix," the Binome said, sorely out of breath, "I think...there's something...you should see...A portal...just opened..."

"Which way?" asked Dot. The Binome pointed.

Dot, followed closely by Hexadecimal, started off towards the portal. As she exited the Diner, she ran face-first into Bob.

"Hey! Dot? What--"

"Shut up and follow."

Bob followed.
 


 

Electra stepped out of the portal and looked around. "It's almost exactly how I remembered it," She said in a low whisper.

"Freeze, Virus!"A gruff-sounding voice shouted. Electra suddenly felt the barrel of a gun press against her back.

"Do you have any idea who I am?" Electra said with a growl.

"No, and I don't care. You're a virus."

Electra mouthed a quick command to her Keytool. "BuBBle--Containment Field." Instantly, a crystal-clear bubble appeared around Matrix. "I wouldn't shoot in there if I were you... That bubble would reflect it right back at you."

"How the Motherboard did you get a keytool?" Matrix asked, surprised. His eye swiveled back to it's original position.

"I have two, thank you very much.... If you promise to be a good boy, I'll introduce you to Jet." Electra smirked.

"I'll never su..."

"Hey what's going on there?" Bob's voice rang out. Electra toyed innocently with her hair as the chrome-plated guardian walked over to her.

"Oooh, Bob...It's a viral sprite." Hexadecimal's voice rang out and she appeared beside Electra.

"Um... Hi. could you release my friend?" Bob asked.

"But BOB!"

"Matrix, no complaining." Matrix frowned, but shut up anyway.

"BuBBle, release field." With a sound like glass shattering, the Containment Field dissolved.

Hex's eyes widen. "BuBBle? Is that you Electra? My, you've grown."

"No, Hex, I haven't. That's just your mind playing tricks on you."

"Oh. Well, it's still good to have you back. And Jareth will be so happy to see you."

"Jareth's still here?"

"Of course he is... I'm going to go tell him now."

Electra suddenly looked very uncomfortable. "Yeah. Catch up with you later Hex." With a flash of light, Hexadecimal disappeared.

Electra looked down at her shoes.. "Um... Bob. Take me to Phong."

Bob was surprised she knew so much about the city. "Don't you know where Phong is?"

"Fine. I'll go looking for him myself."

  Phong's head snapped up as the Principal Office's alarms activated, signaling an unauthorized entry.

"Oh, dear...," the old Command.Com said, punching a few buttons on his console and bringing up a visual of the intruder. His hand automatically went to the button that would activate the security systems, but he paused when he saw who the intruder was. Moments later, the doors to the Phong's office opened, and Electra entered, looking just as she had when he had last seen her.

"Hello, my child," He said, smiling kindly at Electra. "How have you been? For that matter, WHERE have you been?"

"Hi, Phong. I've been...busy. How's everything? And what happened to Hex's face?"

"Hex's face was mended by Bob....does he know you're here? He'll be very happy to meet you."

Electra grinned. "I saw him as I was coming in. So, what's new? Is Megabyte still terrorizing everyone?"

"No, Megabyte has been deleted."

"Deleted? What else have I missed? You're not hiding a wife and family somewhere, are you, Phong?"

Phong laughed. "No, my child. Perhaps I should...bring you up to speed."
 


 

"Oh, Jaaaaareth...." Hexadecimal swooped into the Lair through the usual entrance, the window.

"Hi, Hex. Don't you ever use the door?"

Hex gave Jareth a perplexed look. "The Lair doesn't have a door, Jareth."

"Oh, yeah....maybe we should build one. We could put it over-"

"Jareth, you'll never guess who's back," Hexadecimal interrupted.

"Megabyte?"

"No."

"Bob?"

"Ages ago."

"Elvis?"

"Who's Elvis?"

"I give up. Who?"

"I don't know who Elvis is."

"No, I mean, who's back?"

"Electra."

"ELECTRA?"

"Viral sprite, twin Keytools, about this big..."

Jareth switched to an annoyed mask. "I KNOW who she is. She's really back? As in, HERE?"

"I believe she said she was going to visit Phong...are you going to go see her?"

"I dunno....it's been a while."

"You should go see her." Hex grinned. "I think she likes you."

"Everyone says that."

Hex shrugged. "Maybe it's true. You'd make a good couple." Jareth vanished into his mask, which went spinning out of the room. "AND YOU KNOW IT, TOO!" Hex called. She sat down on her throne and stroked Scuzzy. "This....should be interesting."
 


 

The past.....

Electra sat up. Her mother had been yelling at her for milliseconds, trying to wake her up.

"Electra! Get up. Kit just called... She wants you to meet her at Chu's Diner!"

"YES, MOTHER!" Electra looked over to her mirror. "I hate my hair in the morning." She said. She picked up her comb and tried to unknot her long black hair. It's strange white tint shone through when the light caught it just right.

"And don't forget, you ARE going to school today. I don't want another call from your principal saying you were in a fight, or were caught skipping.

"YES MOTHER!" Electra sighed and double clicked on her icon, to changing into her school uniform. She looked at herself in the mirror again and rolled her eyes. She hated her school uniform.

"Electra?" Electra rolled her eyes again. "Are you ready?"

"Yes mother." Electra walked out of the room.
 

Kit looked out the window, waiting for Electra. She finally spotted her, but with a guy from their school, 3D. They stopped for a second, then Electra walked on alone into the diner.

"So... Who's Ms. Guy magnet going out with next cycle?" Kit asked.

"No one."

"But I saw you with..."

"No one.... he's such a jerk, anyway."

"Well, if your looking for a nice guy, then what about Jareth?" Kit smiled smugly.

"Jareth...he's a User. I guess if you go for that type...."

"Oh, I do. I do."

"Fine then, You go out with him." Electra smirked.

"Wha? I wouldn't be dead seen with him. I have more important guys to look out for."

"Like Backslash?" Electra grinned.

"I don't have to sit here and be insulted."

"No you don't.... since we're late for school, you can be insulted on the way."

Electra stood up, and Kit followed her as she walked out of the diner. In the booth directly behind the Kit and Electra had just vacated, Jareth finished off the last of his meal. He turned to watch as the two girls left the Diner.

"Hmmmm." He placed a few units down on the table and walked out.
 

The present....

Night fell upon Mainframe. Timesprite wandered aimlessly down the seemingly endless alleys of Level 31, searching for something to allieviate her ever-growing boredom. It seemed like it had been forever since the system restarted, bringing her back to life after many minutes of deletion. Actually, it had been less than a cycle, but one of the drawbacks of being chaotic was an unreliable memory.
      Timesprite sighed. Maybe something interesting would happen soon. She had heard that Electra was back in town. Maybe she could go and listen to some of her stories. She had always wondered what Electra had done, where she had gone after she left Mainframe.

Without warning, a small black object went spinning past Timesprite, heading in the vague direction of Al's Wait 'N' Eat.
Timesprite turned the corner just in time to see it fly through the restaraunt's entrance. Timesprite entered, wondering if it had been what she thought it was. Sure enough, there, sitting at the bar, was Jareth. Timesprite wandered through the crowded room and sat down next to him.

"Hey, Jareth."

Jareth started at the sound of his name. Level 31 was renowned for being the worst neighborhood in Mainframe, and he hadn't thought a Virus would draw too much attention here. He hadn't realized the other Virals in Mainframe might be hanging out here as well.

"Hello, Timey. What's up?"

Timesprite looked up. "The ceiling, the rafters, the--"

Jareth held up his hand. "Please. You have no idea how sick I am of that joke."

Timesprite shot him a perplexed look. "What joke?"

"The joke that...never mind."

Timesprite shrugged and started digging into the complementary chips that were set on the bar. "So, what brings you to Level 31?"

"Nothing much. I've just been thinking. You know Electra's back in town?"

"I heard. I thought about going to see her, ask about her adventures.. Have you talked to her yet?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"It's just....I..."

"You Like her?"

"I do not!"

"You like her. I think--"

"If you're going to say you think we make a good couple, skip it. I've already been through that today."

"How long have you known Electra, anyway? You knew her before I came to Mainframe, right?"

"Oh, yeah. We've been friends ever since we were little kids..."

"So this isn't anything new?"

Jareth sighed. "No...."

The past....

The bell rang. Jareth looked at the school gates as students quickly flittered out. They're were a few sprites that went slower then the rest, among them was Kit who happily walked along with some boys in the direction of the diner. Electra, followed her slowly....very slowly.

Jareth didn't have to walk that much to catch up with her.  "Hello Electra."

Electra jumped, startled. She hadn't realized she was being followed.  "Hello Jareth."

"I was in the diner last cycle," Jareth said, walking backwards so he could face her. Electra blushed bright red for a second, no easy task for someone with green skin.

"Oh.... were you?" she said as calmly as she could. "I didn't see you."

"I saw you. Actually, I was sitting behind you."

"You wouldn't be listening in on other sprites conversations, now would you?"

"No, Of course not." Jareth said, his fingers crossed behind his back.

"Well..... Maybe I'll see you around," Electra said, walking past him and into the Diner.

(You both sounded pretty insecure)

(Well, we were just kids.)

(And this was all before the Twin City incident?)

(Yeah. Way before. Everything changed after that....)

In the newly decorated room, A sleeping Electra tossed and turned in her sleep. She hadn't slept well since the crash. Maybe it was because of the burns that hadn't yet healed. Maybe it was because she felt somewhat guilty about what happened to Jareth. Electra rolled over again, knocking a picture off the nightstand. Jareth picked it up and recognized it. It was a picture of Electra and him taken a long time ago.

(What were you doing in her room? And didn't she notice you?)

(Quiet... I was getting to that.)

"What are you doing here?" Electra growled.

(Jareth... I think you skipped a bit)

(Did I? Oh. So I did.)

Jareth was looking at the picture when Electra sat up. "What are you doing here?" Electra growled.

(Better?)

(Much)

"Easy, easy, I only wanted to talk to you." Jareth switched masks, smiling warmly. He hoped she'd believe him... She didn't.

"Out." She said, sliding out of her bed.

"Come on. Why can't we just talk like we used too?"

"You're different now, if you haven't noticed." Electra said picking up her sword from the floor beside her bed.

"I noticed. Are you planning to skewer me?" Jareth smirked.

"Only if you come closer."

Jareth deliberately took one step towards Electra. Electra raised the sword a little. "Calm down."

"Calm down? Are you crazy? I'm in my room with a Virus! A Virus who used to be my friend."

"Why can't I still be a friend?" Jareth moved a little closer, and

Electra got ready to strike, but instead dropped the sword.  "Look. Just get out."

(Did you end up leaving on your own free will?)

(No, she kicked me out.... Literally.)

The present....

Electra climbed through the window of Hexadecimal's Lair, trying not to tear her clothing on the edges as she did.

"Hello Electra," said Hex, watching her in amusement. "I should really get a door, shouldn't I?" she asked. The Lair was normally accessible only to those who could fly.

"It might help." Electra hopped down from the windowsill. "Is Jareth around?"

"Jareth? No, but he should be here soon."

"Do you want me to find him?"

"Oh, I'm sure if we wait around long enough, he's bound to show up eventually."

Electra sighed. "It's probably better that he's not here. I'm not even sure why I'm looking for him."

"Electra? How did you become viral?" Hex asked, completely out of the blue.

"Rather blunt, aren't you, Hex?"

"You could say that. How did it happen? You weren't a viral when we first met, were you?"

"Alright Hex, sit down and I'll tell you."

The Past.....

Jareth walked into the Diner, ringing the bell that hung above the door. Electra glared at him from her booth.

"Kit. Electra." Jareth walked up to them.

"What do you want, Virus? Are you going to follow me everywhere now?"

(Do you have to do the actions?)

(I am? Oh my.)

(And why did you call Jareth names?? You're half-viral too...)

(Hex....)

(Yes?)

(I didn't know what I was going to do, and I wasn't viral yet. Now don't interrupt.)

(Okay.)

"Hex is throwing some sort of party tonight at the Lair. You and Kit are invited. Please come." His message delivered, Jareth wandered off to another part of the Diner.

(Oh, the Party..... what party?)

(Think of it this way. You, me, Jareth, and Kit. Tea party.)

(Oh yes.... I really must have another one of those. So what happened next?)

(You mean at the party?)

"You've been staring at him all cycle." Kit exclaimed.

"Well, not all cycle.... I mean.... Who?"

"Jareth... who else?"

"Actually I've been looking at these biscuits Hex made. Look... they're little Jareth's."

Kit flashed her an ‘Oh, please.' look.

"Alright... maybe I glanced a few times. but do you remember? He became hands off when he became viral."

"Then un-infect him, or find another way to be together."

"He can't be uninfected. It was the Guardian who merged with the virus, not the other way around. If I tried to split him, there'd be no Jareth left in him at all, just Lore."

"Yeah, Yeah, but there has to be another way."

"No.... Unless...."

(So what did you do?)

(Well.......Do you have any more of those Jareth cookies?)

(I think so.)
 

Dot Matrix studied the vidwindows that were arranged in front of her, all of them displaying 3-Dimensional maps of the Supercomputer. Possible weak points, armories, and Guardian barracks were indicated by small blinking lights. The others who were present in the P.O.'s control room waited to hear Dot's plan. Nearly all the sprites in Mainframe were present, including several Webriders who had been recruited by Bob at the last minute.

"Wait a minute...." Dot said, "Not everyone's here. Where's Hex? And Jareth?"

"Electra and Timesprite are missing, too," AndrAIa said.

"I think I can round them up....just gimme a few nanos," Kit said.

Without waiting for a reply, she turned and headed out. Dot sighed and turned back to her charts. Soon, the attack would begin...
 


 

"And that's the whole story. What do you think I should do?" Jareth asked. He turned away from his drink and faced Timesprite.

"I think you should talk to her. You do care about her, right?"

"Yes. I think I do. It's just--"

"I'm sorry. I have to ask this. How the Motherboard do you drink that?" Timesprite gestured towards Jareth's drink.

"This? It's not so bad."

"No, I mean HOW do you drink it? You haven't got a mouth."

"Oh, that. Well--"

"Jareth!" Kit's voice resounded throughout the nearly empty bar.

"Kit?" Jareth turned as Kit entered the building.

"Hello, Kit," Timesprite said. "What brings you to Level 31?"

"You do. Dot's planning the attack on the Supercomputer. She wants everyone who's going to report to the P.O. ASAP."

"What's the P.O.A.S.A.P.?" Jareth asked.

Kit sighed and rolled her eyes to the ceiling. "The Principal Office,

Jareth. If you're going, get there." Kit turned and left the bar, muttering something about ‘Crazy Viruses'.

Timesprite turned back to Jareth. "Well?"

"Well, what? The Supercomputer awaits." Jareth vanished into his mask and went spinning out of the restaraunt. Timesprite used the door.
 


 

  Hex held a tray out to Electra. It was laden with biscuits and cookies shaped like all sorts of sprites and binomes, including Megabytes and Jareths.

"Thanks, Hex." Electra took one of the Jareth cookies and bit it's head off.

"So, where were we?"

"We were at the part--"

"Hex!"

Hexadecimal and Electra turned to the window, where a struggling Kit was attempting to climb into the Lair though the window.

"Hex...can I make a suggestion?" she asked.

"Get a door?" asked Electra.

Kit nodded and dropped to the floor. "Dot wants everyone to report to the P.O."

"Why?" asked Electra.

"Mouse found a way to get into the Supercomputer without setting off any alarms. So Dot wants to go over the plan before we attack."

"Yes....I must have a chat with Mother....did you know she attacked Jareth?" Hex asked Electra.

"No. Why? When was that?" asked Electra.

"Not long ago. When she heard that there were Guardians who escaped her infection, she sent a bunch of aero-drone things to attack the system. Jareth showed up on their scanners as a Guardian, so they went after him, too," Kit explained.

"Yes...and I mean to ask her about that. Let's go," Hex said. She vanished into her mask and floated out of the Lair.

"Why can't they just walk like everyone else?" Kit asked.

"Beats me," Electra said. "Now, how do we get out of here?"
 


 

After half a cycle passed, Kit and Electra finally managed to get to the principal office....grumbling. "I wish I could do that mask-teleport thing," Electra said.

"I should have brought a zip board," Kit replied. She keyed in the access code and opened the P.O.'s security doors.

"It's about time you two got here." Dot announced to Kit and Electra as they entered the room.

"Sorry... We sort of had trouble trying to get out of Hex's window." Kit said sighing. Accepting this, if not completely understanding it, Dot gestured for Mouse to begin.

"Ah'm going to be able to turn the Supercomputer's alarms off for three nanos," Mouse said. "But no longer than that. So we'll have to get to the rebel sector pretty quick. Which reminds me.... Where is this rebel sector?"

Electra pointed it out on the map.  "There," she said. "A few of the Viruses are jealous of Daemon, and were planning an uprising. The trouble was, they'd have to deal with the entire Guardian collective before they could make it to her."

AndrAIa looked up from her console. "Maybe you should call them, and let them know that reenforcements are on the way."

"Good idea," Electra said. She walked over to the communicator and dialed up her contacts. While Electra was making the call, Dot announced the rest of the plan to the others. She informed everyone that they'd leave in a cycle. "You hear that, GigAnate?" Electra asked. The slender Chaotic Virus grinned back at her from the screen.

"That's great, Electra. I'll tell the others," GigAnate said. "When are you coming?"

"We leave for the Supercomputer in a cycle."

"Okay. What will you do ‘till then?"

"I thought I'd see if my old place is still around. Later, GigAnate." As Electra switched off the Vidwindow, she felt a familiar pair of  eyes on her back. She turned around, and there stood Jareth. "Um..... Hi....... Jareth......" Electra stuttered.

"Hi Electra."

"Well.... I'll see you later." Electra quickly walked off before Jareth could say anything more. Jareth watched as Electra left the P.O. Hex walked up to stand beside him.

"I don't get it, Hex. The girl lives in the Supercomputer. She walks on the same streets with Viruses and infected Guardians every day. But every time she sees me, she takes off like a frightened Null."

"She likes you."

"Oh, shut up." Jareth said.
 

Electra wandered through the streets of Mainframe, heading in the general direction of her old apartment. She was shocked to find it still standing, and even more shocked to find that the doors were still keyed to her code. Apparently, no one had been living here since she had left.

A sudden fluttering noise made her jump, but when she turned around she saw nothing. "Get a hold of yourself, Electra. You're losin' it." Electra turned and entered the building. "You're even talking to yourself." Back in her old room, She began to sort through some of her old things. The entire apartment was covered in a thick layer of dust. She sneezed.

"Bless you."

Electra gasped and spun around. There stood Jareth, his wings spread behind him. That explained the fluttering noise.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"I followed you." Jareth picked up a picture from one of the tables and dusted it off. "I used to come here a lot, right after you left. But I haven't been here in a long time."

"Why are you following me? What do you want?"

"Electra? Why did you leave Mainframe?"

"I...wanted adventure. I was bored."

"That's what you told everyone. But why did you really leave?" Electra looked at him, but didn't say anything. Jareth sighed. "We can still be friends, ‘Lectra. Think about it." Jareth tossed the picture to Electra, who caught it. Electra looked down. It was the same picture, the one of the two of them as children.

"Jareth..." Electra began, but when she looked up, he was gone.

The next day....

Electra quickly ran through the Principle Office's double doors.  "You're late Electra...," Dot said.

"Sorry."

Dot shrugged, then headed for the conference room. Kit looked up at Electra as she walked over. "You've changed your clothes," Kit said.

"Yeah, what of it?"

"Aren't they the clothes you...?"

"Yes, they are."

  The past....
 

"Do we really have to continue this?" Jareth said as he ducked to miss the swipe of Electra's sword. Electra executed a quick back flip and shouted a command to her Keytool.

"Jet--Crossbow!" Before Jareth could react, she shot him square in the chest.

"Don't worry. It's only a stun arrow." Electra said as Jareth sunk into a deep slumber. "Bubble--code extractor." Electra kneeled down next to Jareth. "Copy and download Viral programming" BuBBle beeped, and a stream of green diamonds flowed from Jareth's Icon into Electra's. Electra screamed as Viral programming began to integrate with her code. Roused by her screaming, Jareth awakened. His vison cleared just in time to see Electra hit the ground.

"Electra? What did you do?" He picked her up and, unfolding his wings, carried her off towards the Principle Office.

"Now Jareth, Tell me what Happened, we can't help her if we don't know what attacked her." Phong explained.

"I didn't see it, She had used a stun arrow on me, by the time I woke up she was fainting."

"Are you sure, Jareth? Are you sure......you didn't do it?"

"Yes, Phong. Well...pretty sure."

"Phong! Her condition is changing." A binome in a doctor's uniform called out. Both Jareth and Phong rushed in. Electra lay on a hospital bed, tossing and turning restlessly. With a green shimmer, Electra's Icon changed from Black-and-white to Purple-and black.

"She's turning Viral!" Exlamined the Binome. The Binome and Phong glared at Jareth.

"What?" he asked. Phong and the Binome continued to glare at Jareth. "I didn't do anything, I swear!"

"He didn't do it, I did." They turned around to see Electra, crouching on the bed as if she was about to pounce. Her black hair with its strange white tint looked wild and unkempt, and she had developed claws and fangs. Her perfect blue eyes seemed almost innocent alongside her wild hair.

Jareth looked at her, stunned. "Electra...?" Electra jumped through the window and ran off. Phong sighed. "Tell Security that we have a new Virus on our hands."

  The present.......

"So how come you changed back?" Kit asked. "I thought you liked that new outfit better."

Electra just shrugged and changed the subject. "Come on, we'll be late."

"We're already late," Kit said, but followed anyway. The two sprites entered the conference room, where most of the others had already gathered.  Mouse was typing at one of the workstation consoles, presumably trying to hack the Supercomputer's security network. AndrAIa stood nearby, watching her work. Dot and Bob were standing off to one side, discussing the plan for the attack. Matrix was cleaning his Gun, and Hack and Slash were arguing about cheese.

"Why cheese?" Kit asked of no one in particular as they passed.

"Why not cheese?" Electra replied.

Unable to argue with her logic, Kit shrugged. "Gavin and his crew are preparing the ship," she said to Electra. "We'll be taking the Saucy Mare, except for Mouse and Dot. They'll be taking Ship." Electra looked around the room. "Where's Jareth?"

"He and Hex already left. They said they'd meet us there."

"Electra? Could you come here for a moment, please?" Dot asked. Electra walked over to her. "I need you to contact the Rebels again. Tell them to meet us here." She pointed to a position on the Holo-display.

"Okay," Electra said. She walked over to the communicator and punched in a few buttons.

Mouse, done with her hacking, walked over to Dot. "Why aren't we stickin' with the original plan?"

"In case anyone here has been leaking our plans to Daemon. Think about it. Jareth and Hexadecimal are Daemon's children. They might decide to side with her."

"And they also left ahead of everyone else," Mouse agreed. "Do you think they might be settin' up an ambush?"

"A last minute change of plans should throw them off if they are, and if they're not, well...."

Mouse shrugged. She held up a small disc-shaped object and handed it to Dot. "This command will blank out the Supercomputer's defense grid. I can't say how long it'll work, so we'll have to get to the rebel sector in a hurry."

"Thanks, Mouse." Dot turned back to Electra, who was just finishing the call.

"New rendevous coordinates set," GigAnate said. Electra reached over to terminate the connection. "By the way, Electra...I like the outfit."

"That's the last of the supplies, Lass. We be ready to shove off."

"Thanks, Gavin," Dot said.

The pirate Binomes loaded the last of the crates onto the deck. They seemed to be having a little more trouble carrying this one than they had with the others, probably because this crate had an Enzo sitting on top of it. High up in the sky above the harbor, a silver sphere suddenly appeared. Two forms, one black and one red, flew out as the portal disappeared.

"Honey, we're hoooome...." Jareth called out in a singsong voice, touching down on the deck. He folded his wings to his back and leaned against one of the crates.

"Where's Hex going?" Dot asked. While Jareth had landed, Hexadecimal had shot of across the sky towards Lost Angles.

"She said she needed to get something from the Lair." Enzo jumped down from the top of the crate Jareth was leaning on..

"This is gonna be alphanumeric! I finally get to see the Supercomputer!"

Dot turned to him. "Oh, no, you don't. Go back to the Diner, Enzo."

"Oh, but Dot--"

"No arguments. Go."

"Hey, Sis," Matrix said, walking over to them. "Gavin says we're ready to go."

"I know. We'll leave in a nano."

"But Dot! I want to come, too!"

"No way. The Supercomputer is crawling with Viruses," Dot said. "You stay here."

"But I want to come! Why can't I come along?"

"It's too dangerous. Ask anyone."

"Jareth?" Enzo asked.

"I say let him come," Jareth said.

Enzo grinned. Jareth had just made a friend for life.

"What if the Virals attack Mainframe again, Dot?" Matrix asked. "I think he might actually be safer with us."

"Frisket can stay with him."

"No way," Matrix shook his head. "Frisket's coming with me."

"Fine. Hack! Slash!" The two robots came rolling up to Dot.

"Yes, Dot?"

"What can we do for you?"

"How may we be of service?"

Dot couldn't help but grin at the pair's overlapping dialogue. "I want you two to stay behind and look after Enzo."

"Yes, Ma'am!"

"Don't worry about a thing."

"It shall be done!"

Hack and Slash rolled over to Enzo. Each grabbed an arm, and together, they drug him, kicking and screaming, off the ship. "Now, then. Shall we be off?" Dot asked.

"Not yet. We still have to wait for Hex," Jareth said.

"All right. I'm going below deck. Let me know when she gets here."

"Wait for me," Matrix said.

As Dot and Matrix went below deck, Electra and Kit emerged, arguing about something. They stopped when they saw Jareth sitting on the crate and staring up at the sky.

"What's he doing?" Kit asked.

"I dunno. Looking at clouds?"

"Well, let's go find out."

"Let's not," Electra said, glaring at Kit.

"Oh, come on." Kit grabbed Electra by the arm and dragged her over to where Jareth stood.

"No...no....I KNOW it's here somewhere....." Hexadecimal yanked open another drawer and began searching through it, tossing objects over her shoulder as she went. A large pile of assorted objects was rapidly growing on the floor behind her. Scuzzy entered the room and headed strait for Hex. He nudged her leg, on object in his mouth. "Thank you, Scuzzy!" Hex reached down and took it from him. "WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY SOMETHING SOONER?!" Scuzzy, terrified, ran from the room. "Oh, well." Hex examined her outfit. "Hmmm...now where can I...keep it?"

"What are you Doing?" Electra quickly asked, then grabbed Kit's arm.

"There, we asked, Let's go."

"NA-ah. I want to hear his answer." Kit replied back, just as quickly.  Electra sighed and let go of Kit.

"Just thinking really." Jareth's reply came dreamily. Electra waved her hand in front of his face, but he caught it. "I'm not daydreaming that much." He looked at Electra.

"Kit, sugah! You're needed!" Mouse's Voice rang out.

"Uh, I'll be back later… You two have Fun." Kit turned and walked off. Electra stuck her tongue out at her.

"I…" Jareth was interrupted by a portal opening above them. Four figures jumped out and landed on the deck. Electra rolled her eyes at them.

"Electra. You asked us to come, Did you not?"

"Yes, GigAnate, but I--" Electra quickly grabbed GigAnate aside and began talking to her in a harsh whisper. "--Didn't ask you to bring Macro and Rachel, For crying out loud! The guy has a crush on me, and as soon as Rachel sees what I'm wearing, she's going to question me about it.... You know I hate her fashion criticism." Electra's voice quickly went from whisper to whine.

"I know, I know, But…."

"No Buts! Where's Cathryn when you need her?"

"I brought Emily."

"Emily? Where?" Electra looked over to Emily, who was sort of checking out Jareth. She walked over to Electra.

"Nice looking Guy, Wonder what he looks like under the mask?"

"There's nothing under the mask. At least, I don't think there is."

"Really?" Emily asked. "How does that work?"

Dot walked up the steps and joined them. "Ah, so these are the rebels."

"Yes Dot," Electra said. "This is Macro…"

"Charmed to meet you, madam." Macro said, bowing and bring Dot's hand up to meet his kiss.

"Nice to meet you."

"Ahem. And these are Emily and Rachel Hotkey."

"Hi," Rachel said. Emily waved.

"Hello." Dot smiled at them.

"And this is GigAnate, Second in charge of the rebel virals, As you can guess, they're aren't many. Hexanate and Daemon either eliminated or corrupted most of the virals in the Supercomputer."

"Who's First in Charge?" Jareth asked.

"Hexanate?" Dot asked, at the exact same time.

"Hexanate, My mother, and unfortunately Daemon's closest friend." GigAnate sighed.

"Your mother?"

"Who's going to answer my question?" Jareth asked impatiently.

"You 5 probably want to plan it all out now… So run along then." Electra practically shooed them off.

"Are you going to answer my question?" Jareth asked again.

"Yes, Jareth. Macro and I are fist in charge. Unfortunately."

"You don't like the guy, do you?"

"He gives me the creeps. There's just something sinister about him. But, Let's get back to our conversation."

"Right. What were we talking about again?"

"Ummm...."

At that moment, Dot walked back over to the two of them. Jareth wondered briefly whether she was getting tired from running al over the ship like this. Probably not, he decided. Dot was used to running around and taking charge of things. Maybe she just drank a lot of coffee. Wait...she was saying something....

"Have you two got everything?"

"Everything but my sister," Jareth said.

"She still hasn't gotten back? Did she forget what she went there for?"

 In a flash of light, Hexadecimal appeared behind Dot. "Oh, Ye of little faith, Dot," The Virus said, grinning.

Dot jumped. "Don't DO that!" She snapped.

"Did you find it, Hex?" Jareth asked.

"Yes Jareth. Here, you have pockets. Carry it for me?"

"Sure." Hex handed the small object over to Jareth, who placed it into his seemingly- infinite coat pocket.

"Is everyone ready to shove off?" Dot asked.

"Yes, Dot." Hex replied. Jareth nodded.

"Good." Dot called up to Gavin, who was standing on the platform, just behind the steering wheel. "We're ready to go, Captain!"

"Aye, Lass," The captain called back down to her.

Dot, followed by Mouse, quickly disembarked. Halfway down the gangplank, Dot turned. "Oh, and Jareth? Help Bob keep Matrix in line. He doesn't like working with Virals."

"Believe me, I know," Jareth replied.

Dot grinned, then hurried down to the docks. Without any further ado, the saucy mare pulled out of port. "Hoist the sails!" The captain called. One by one, the floating energy sails deployed out over the bow. As soon as they were all raised, the ship sped off toward the horizon.

"So, how exactly do you help keep him ‘In line', Jareth?" Electra asked, as Matrix walked past. He looked even edgier than usual, and his hand kept creeping toward his gun. Between the Mainframers, Pirates, and Webriders, the lower levels of the saucy Mare were very crowded. Many of them squirmed through the crowd, trying to get wherever they were trying to go.

Jareth and Electra stayed well out of the way, in the corner. Jareth leaned against the wall, while Electra crouched on one of the ROM barrels.

"I dunno," Jareth replied. "I guess if he snaps and starts shooting people, I get to kick his ASCII."

Electra looked at the large renegade, then back to Jareth, who was roughly half his size. "Yeah, right. I'd bet ten units he'd mop the floor with you."

"Wouldn't it be easier to use a mop?"

Electra laughed, but stopped when she realized Jareth wasn't joking. "Ummm...never mind," She said. "Aren't you two, like, related or something?"

Jareth considered. "I suppose he's my half-brother. Or something. Mom DID use his father's code to create us."

"Us?"

"Hex, Megabyte, and I," Jareth replied.

"Oh. So...Megabyte was his brother, too?"

"Yep. But don't ever tell HIM that."

"Electra!" Jareth and Electra turned as Mr. Christopher, Gavin's right-hand man, entered.

"GigAnate wants to see you. She says it's urgent."

"Okay. Thanks." Electra stood up. "Later, Jareth."

Jareth waved at her as she left. As soon as she was gone, he took her seat.

"What's up?" Electra asked as she entered the conference room. Gavin, GigAnate, and Marco were already gathered there.

"We recieved an urgent transmission from the Supercomputer," GigAnate said.

"It seems that the rebel sector is under heavy attack, Lass," Gavin added.

"That's impossible!" Electra said. "Someone must have given Daemon the coordinates."

"Aren't two of Daemon's children aboard?" Macro asked.

"Well, yes, but--"

Gavin looked at Electra sadly. "I'm afraid they'll have to be contained, Lass."

"Contain them? But they wouldn't Hurt a Fly!"

"I'm sorry, My Lady." Macro Reached for Electra's Hand.

"If you want to Contain them, then you'll have to Contain me!" That surprised everyone.

"Jareth and I share the same Viral code," Electra continued. "If you think he's dangerous, then what about me?" Macro Looked at her, horrified.

"That's right, we share the same Code. Why so shocked?" Macro quickly Whipped out his pair of binders and Locked
  them on Electra. The twin cuffs not only bound her wrists, but also stop-filed the Keytools that sat on her Bracers.

"Macro! What are you doing?!" GigAnate stared, shocked.

"If they all share the same Code, then why not contain her too?"

This wasn't going the way Electra had planned. Surprising everyone, Electra headbutted Macro and ran out of the Room. She made it out onto the deck, but didn't get much further before running into Jareth.

"Whoa! Where you going? What's wrong? And why are you wearing handcuffs?" Jareth fired questions left, right and center.

"I took your place! But no time for that, We have to find Hex and hide."

"Why? What's going on?"

Electra dragged Jareth further down the hall. The two reached a corner, but just as they were about to turn it, voices crept down the cooridoor. Jareth and Electra flattened against the wall, trying not to be seen.

"Hex! There you are! I've been looking for you. Would you like this  Necklace? I found it in the cargo hold, and it looks like it might just fit you."

Electra peeked around just in time to see Hex take a small silver collar from Macro and slip it on. Macro then led her off downstairs.

"Hex...." Electra put her Hand over Jareth's mouth, not that it made much difference. Jareth's mouth never moved anyway. Still, he got the hint.

"No time for that," she said. "The collar she put on makes her unable to use her powers, and it will hurt like Hell if she tries to remove it. I should know, I helped create it."

"Huh. You'd have thought she'd learned her lesson about collars. But what is going on?"

"The rebel sector is under heavy attack, as if somebody told Daemon that that's where all the Rebels are nesting. They blame us, Because we all have Daemon's Code."

"Makes sense, But you know we didn't do it."

"Of course I do. It's not your sort of thing to do. It's just..... Un-chaotic."

Jareth tilted his head to the side. "Un-chaotic? Is that a word?"

"There they are! Get them."

Jareth and Electra spun around to see a group of sprites headed their way.

"Uh-oh. They got Matrix to help. Would this be a good time to hide?"

Jareth asked. Electra grabbed Jareth's arm and pulled him along.

"I wonder when they bring us the menus?" Hexadecimal asked, to no one in particular. She began to pace slowly back and forth across her cell.

"Psst! Hex!"

Hexadecimal turned. "Jareth? Is that you?"

Jareth's head popped up from behind a barrel. "Yep. It's me." Electra's head popped up next to him. "We're here to bust you out of  here."

"Oh, good. I was feeling a bit ......cramped." Jareth walked over to the Hex's cell. He tried the door. When it wouldn't open, he turned to Electra.

"It won't open," he said.

"That's because it's locked, Jareth. BuBBle--Cutter!" Electra's Keytool transformed into a small saw. Within moments, there were no longer any bars on the cell door. "There. Piece of cake."

Jareth opened the cell door and Hexadecimal walked out. "You know," she said, looking around the brig appraisingly, "This place really isn't so bad. All it needs is a few mirrors here and there....."

"What do we do about her collar?" Electra asked.

"I broke your binders, I can break hers." Jareth Grabbed hold of Hex's collar and quickly snapped it off. "Dude, that thing snapped like a twig. Why didn't you just chuck it, Hex?"

"I thought it looked good on me. Didn't it?"

"Never mind," Electra snapped. "We have to get out of here."

Jareth switched to a contemplative face "You guys go ahead. I'm gonna stick around and have a little fun."

"Oooh, me too!" Hex said.

Electra sighed. "All right, all right. Here's what we'll do. I'll go and see if I can steal one of the lifeboats. You two can provide the distraction. When you see my signal, meet me at the back of the ship."

"I think it's called the Stern," Jareth said.

"Who cares what it's called? You're my distraction. So go distract."

Jareth switched to an evil grin. A similar grin spread across Hex's face. "A distraction...I think we can arrange that." Hex Mask-teleported out of the room, followed closely by Jareth.

"And don't accept jewelry from ANYONE!" Electra yelled after them.

"Captain!" All the Sprites in the conference room turned as one of the pirates burst into the room. "Captain Capacitor, sir!"

Gavin turned from his maps to face the distraught Binome. "Out with it, Lad! What's the matter?"

The pirate tried to regain his breath. "It's Hexadecimal, sir."

"I should have known that cell couldn't hold her," Matrix said. "Have you had any luck finding the other two?"

"No, sir," the Binome said. "No sign of them. They may have gotten off the shi--"

"Mr. Matrix!" Another Pirate Binome, this one wearing a chef's hat, burst into the room. His entire outfit was covered with food, as was his face. " It's the Virals!" he said. "They're in the Galley!"

Matrix practically kicked down the door to the ship's galley. He drew his Gun, expecting, even hoping for trouble. Frisket entered alongside him, sniffing at the ground and growling threateningly. A few of Capacitor's Guards followed them, but stayed back so as not to get in their way.

"Scanning." Matrix's eye spun around in it's socket, glowing a bright red. He began scanning the crates in the Galley, searching for the Virals. Unfortunately, all he saw was food.

"Hey!, Matrix!"

Matrix spun around. First Jareth's head, then Hex's popped up from behind a row of crates.

"Catch!"

Before Matrix knew what was happening, he was being pelted with an endless barrage of fruit. The other guards moved in behind him, but also ended up being pummeled by produce. Jareth couldn't help but laugh. This was the most fun he'd had all day. Matrix wiped the fruit pulp from his face, trying to get a clear shot at them, but the virals kept pelting him with fruits, vegetables, and the User only knew what else, laughing insanely the whole time.

"You think this is enough of a diversion?" Hex asked, hitting one of the Binomes in the face with an orange.

"Diversion? I thought this was a distraction."

"It's both." Hex reached behind her, but couldn't find any more produce. "Ummm.... Jareth? We seem to be out of fruit."

"Really?" Jareth looked back at the now-empty shelves. "Oh, dear...we are, aren't we?"

Matrix wiped the fruit juice off his face, revealing an angry scowl. He raised his gun and aimed strait for Jareth's head.
  "Gun, Command Line. Full Delete...."

*THUNK!*

Suddenly, Matrix's eyes rolled back in his head. Jareth and Hexadecimal watched as he fell to the floor. Behind him, holding a wooden rolling pin, stood Electra.

"I thought you told us to wait for you signal." Jareth said.

"I realized I didn't have one. Come on, let's go."

Electra ran out of the galley, followed by Jareth. Moments later, the two returned. Hex was still there, admiring her reflection in one of the frying pans. Electra rolled her eyes as Jareth grabbed Hex's arm and dragged her along.

Moments later, a lifeboat sped across the energy sea. It twisted and turned haphazardly, never heading the same direction twice.

"I thought you said you could drive this thing!" Electra said.

"I never said I could drive it well," Jareth replied, yanking the wheel sharply to the left. Electra let out a yelp as she fell to the floor.

"Whoops. Sorry."

"Try steering!"

"You should know better than to stand up in a boat. And I don't see YOU trying to drive this thing."

"Well, anything you can do, I can do bett--"

"Oh, shut up."

Hexadecimal looked from one to the other, watching the argument as if it were a tennis match. "Well," she said, "If it'll stop you two from fighting, I suppose I could always drive for a while," she said. The silence following that statement lasted for quite a while. Finally, it was broken by a bleep from BuBBle. Electra answered, calling up a communications Vidwindow.

"Calling Electra.... Emergency... Calling Electra...." The strange-looking sprite announced.

"I'm here," Electra said.

"Oh. Hello. Wonderful weather we're-we're-we're Having today." The sprite seemed to have a small glitch in his program, he kept repeating fragments of his dialogue.

"I thought there was an Emergancy, Kass?"

"Oh yes, Boss Man gone crazy-crazy-crazy. Told Kass and Kiran to tell Guardians where the sector was. Kass and Kiran never thought it would lead to that, I mean this-this-this."

"Boss man??" Jareth asked.

"What actually is going on?" Electra asked at the exact same time.

"Rebel Sector under attack, attack, attack." the screen started to fade.

"You're breaking up."

"Ack.. ack.. ack." The Vidwindow screen suddenly went black..

"That was a lot of help!" Jareth exclaimed. "What did he mean, Boss man?"

"Marco, lousy fink. He set us up. You. Set you up."

"So what do we do?" Hexadecimal asked. She leaned far out over the water, trying to get a better look at the fish.

"For starters, don't fall over the edge," Electra considered. "We could go to my place... Only place that Macro doesn't know about. Well, he doesn't know where it is, anyway. It's perfectly hidden. Built right underneath the Collective."

"Why would you build it there?" Jareth asked.

"Because, they'd never suspect it. That's why only I know how to get there.... It's a secret." Electra smiled. "Of Course, you guys are like family, so I'll show you the way." Electra looked out over the sea.

"Now, all I need is a tear...."

Jareth reached into his coat and pulled out a small crystal sphere. He tossed it out over the edge. As soon as it hit the surface of the liquid energy, the crystal exploded, producing a large tear.

"Show off," Electra grumbled. "BuBBle--Portal!"

Dot Matrix stared aghast at Matrix's face on the Vidwindow. "You did WHAT?"

"Tried to capture them. The captain thought-"

"You tried to lock them up. Why did you try to lock them up? Both Jareth and Hexadecimal have transfinite energy levels. They were two of the strongest sprites we had. Without them, we may not be able to crack Daemon's defenses."

"We received a transmission from the rebels saying that their sector was under attack. The captain thought that since Jareth and Hex are Daemon's children, they might have been the ones who-"

"Uh-huh. And you didn't try to stand up for them?"

Matrix opened his mouth to respond, but Dot cut him off. "Of course not. Listen, I don't care how much you hate Virals. We need their help. Send someone to find them."

"They've disappeared from our scanners. And I don't think-"

"Don't think we need them? Think again. We're dealing with a class seven here. Tell me, have you EVER run across a class seven? I didn't think so. Let me talk to Electra."

"She left with-"

"She's gone, too? So not only have we lost two of the strongest sprites at our disposal, but now our main connection to the Rebel sector is gone too?!"

"Well, yes, but Sis-"

"No buts. Change of plans. Meet Mouse and I at the following coordinates." Dot punched a few keys on her organizer, sending the coordinates to the Saucy Mare. "Meanwhile, I want someone to go out to search for the runaways. Someone they wont run from, like AndrAIa or Surfr. Got it? Dot out."

On his end, Matrix closed the Vidwindow. GigAnate stood off to the side, staring in surprise. "Why do I still let her do that?" Matrix asked, to no one in particular.

Gavin spoke to the pirate Binome next to him. "Send for Surfr and AndrAIa. Bring them here." The Binome nodded, then rushed off.

"You're sending them both?"

"Why not?" Gavin asked. "Two heads are better than one, after all."

"Electra still thinks we're out to get her. I don't know much about Jareth or Hexadecimal, but I've seen ‘Lectra fight," GigAnate said. "And if they're not careful, they may lose those heads."

"Home sweet home," Electra said, keying in the password and opening the door to her house. The door slid open, and Electra stepped in. "Lights," She said. Responding to her voice, the lights in the room turned themselves on.

"Oooh, what a lovely house," Hex said, coming in and looking around. "It could use a bit of work, though....I think that wall over there would look better in green..."

"Hmmm...maybe you're right...," Jareth said. He started to dig through his pockets. "I KNOW I've got some paint in here somewhere...."

"Hey! Redecorate your own house. Right now, we've got to figure out how we can help the rebels....and the others! We've got to find some way to get in touch with the other Mainframers. They still don't know about Macro."

Jareth wandered off, exploring the other rooms of the house. Hexadecimal flopped down on the couch, still picturing the room in various shades of green.

"That double-crossing snake," Electra continued, "When I get my hands on him..."

"Hey, Electra...where's your fridge?"

"Don't you ever think of anything but food? This is important!"

Jareth gave her the most vacant look one can who has no face.

"Forget it. The kitchen's the second room on the left, just past the bathroom, you can't miss it."

Jareth switched to a grin. "Thanks," he said, before running off towards the fridge.

"I don't suppose you have any suggestions?" Electra asked, glancing over at Hex.

"Oh, I have several. For instance, I think that lamp would look better over there...."

Electra sighed. "Forget it."

"Got any I/O shots?" Jareth's voice rang out of the kitchen.

"Nah, I hate that stuff." Electra poured over many Vid windows.

"Whatever. Hey! Energy Shakes!"

"Get me one while you're in there, would you?" Electra typed a few more keys. "Got it!" Electra's study lit up with the glow from the Vidwindows. They now displayed various lists and graphs.

"Got what? Is it suddenly brighter in here?" Jareth walked into the room, carrying two Energy Shakes. He absently handed one to Electra, staring at the Vidwindows.

"Yeah, I got access into the rebel files. It wasn't easy, either. Macro tried to block my access codes."

Jareth eyed the files displayed on the Vidwindows. If he'd had eyelids, he would have blinked furiously."Rather colorful, isn't it?" he asked.

"Thank Ms. Tracer. She programmed it."

"Sounds familiar. Is that the one that wouldn't stop looking at me?"

Jareth remembered the girl who watched him until she walked into the wall.

"Yup, She's only there because her two older sisters are." Electra shifted in her chair. "And as long as she's been there, she's been trying to make the rebels more....Fashionable, She's already threatened to have a Formal Dance, once we get rid of Daemon. And seriously, I think she just wants to see me wear a dress!"

"Um...Don't you mean IF we get rid of Daemon?" Jareth Corrected.

"Whatever."

"Umm...why did we access the rebel files?"

"To contact the others. Remember?"

"No."

"Oh, forget it."

"I already did." Electra sighed, trying very hard not to slap him.

Hexadecimal wandered into the room."What are you two doing in here?" she asked. "If I'm interrupting anything, I can always come back later," she added, giving Jareth a sly look. Jareth switched his mask to an evil glare.

"We were just about to Call Dot," Electra said, ignoring the exchange. Electra summoned up a Vidwindow, displaying the back of Dot Matrix.

"Auntie Em?" Electra asked. Dot turned around. "Oh, it's you," she said. "I take it Enzo found you?"

"Nopers. But we do have nifty Evidence that Clears our names..."

"No need," Dot actually looked relieved that they had contacted her.

"We wish to regroup."

"And crush Macro....," Jareth added. "Oh, I forgot to tell you. Macro's a traitor."

"Macro? Wasn't he with you, Electra?"

"He was," Electra replied. "At least, we thought he was. But he's been working for Daemon the whole time."

Dot's face looked grim. "So he's the one who set the rebel sector up. The rebels have taken heavy losses because of him. I'll contact Gavin and have Macro contained until we can deal with him. Meantime, we'll have to change our plans." Dot sighed. "Again."

"Ugh," Electra said, as she stepped into something that probably shouldn't have been stepped in. "Of all the ways into the Supercomputer's Principal Office, we just HAD to go in through the sewer."

Jareth shrugged. "Just be glad you're wearing boots. Dot said someone should sneak in and shut down the P.O. defenses form the inside." Jareth nimbly hopped over what Electra had stepped in.

"Yes, and I would have gladly volunteered to go. But why do we have to go in through the sewers?"
 
"I don't know. You tell me."
 
Electra stared at him. "But it was your idea."
 
"It was?"
 
"Yes. You said that since no one in their right mind would try to sneak in to the P.O. by wading through raw sewage, Daemon wouldn't think to put defenses here."

"Sounds logical. Are you sure it was my idea?" Once again, Electra had to resist the urge to slap him.

As if the smell wasn't bad enough, the light began to fade after abou thirty feet. "Man, it's dark in here," Jareth said. "Shark--Flashli-"

"No!" Electra stopped him in mid-command. "Dot said that the P.O. scanners would be able to detect the use of a Keytool."

"Oh, yeah," Jareth said. Now he remembered. Since a Keytool left a Guardian when he became infected, Daemon had set up Keytool-scanners to locate uninfected Guadians. Jareth knew from past experience that he showed up on most scanners as a Guardian. Maybe Electra was right, he shouldn't call attention to himself.

"But it IS dark in here," Electra said. "I don't suppose you have any Viral tricks you can pull off?"

"Maybe." Jareth sounded surprised. That simply hadn't occurred to him. "Let me see what I can do."

Electra heard faint rustling sounds, and she could tell that Jareth was digging through his pockets again. "Ah, here we go," Jareth said. Suddenly, a bright flickering light appeared, so bright Electra had to shield her eyes. When her eyes
  adjusted, Electra glanced at the source of the light. One of Jareth's crystal orbs floated just below eye-level, shining a bright bluish-white. It hovered unsteadily, as if it could not make up it's mind which way to go. "How's that?" Jareth asked.

"It'll do. Can you send it on ahead?"

Jareth bent down so that he was on eye-level with the crystal.

"Light...go on ahead." The light hovered exactly where it was, seemingly content to stay where it was. "Light...ahead!" Jareth repeated.

This time, the light floated over and came to rest on Jareth's shoulder. Electra smirked at him. "What? At least we can see where we're going now."

"Yeah....now we can watch where we step."

Electra pushed the spite-hole above them. "Sealed." Electra sighed. "They were prepared."

"Let me try."Jareth said. He pushed against the cover, but it wouldn't budge.

"Ahem. Jareth... IT'S SEALED! you can't push it."

"Oh. So what should we do?"

"Hmmm...." Electra stood as if in a trance for a while. Jareth dug his hands into his pockets and waited. A while later Jareth got fed up and poked Electra. "Wha? Where am I? What's going on?" Electra said sleepily.

"You were asleep." Jareth's mask flashed an angry look.

"Oh, sorry. Anyway, I have an idea." Electra reached behind her and pulled out Jet. The strange Keytool seemed to be permanently stuck in the shape of a double-handed short sword. Jareth looked Electra up and down inquisitively. Not sure she liked the way he was looking at her, Electra frowned. "What are you staring at?" she asked.

"Just where were you hiding that thing?" Jareth asked.

"Never mind. The point is, I can use it to pry off the Sprite-hole cover."

"But the collective will pick up the use of a keytool...or at least you said it would."

"It will. But not if I don't give Jet a command. I can just use it as a sword."

"Oooh. Whatever."

Electra shoved Jet straight up through the spite-hole. "OW!" A voice called out from above. Electra and Jareth looked at each other, shocked.

"Do you think it's a guardian?" Jareth asked Electra.

"Of course it's a Guardian!" a familiar voice called through the cover.

"Bob!" Electra said.

"Bob?" Jareth asked.

"Bob!" yelled Bob, clearly in pain.

Electra pulled Jet out from the cover, prompting another yelp from the Blue-skinned Guardian. "Everybody off the cover!" Electra waited for the all clear. Electra cut a hole in the cover big enough for her and Jareth. They climbed up with Bob's help. Jareth look around the room. It seemed to be some sort of Prison cell, though why a sewer should lead to a cell was anyone's guess. Matrix was sitting dejectedly against the wall, brooding over something. Bob's leg was bleeding where it had been sliced by Jet. Jareth couldn't help but note the unusual color of the blood oozing onto the floor.

"Hey! we're in a jail?" Jareth exclaimed.

"Let me guess... Macro?" Matrix looked down at the floor.

"He followed me." Matrix growled.

"There, there. It's not your fault you're a big dolt." Electra said sarcastically, patting his shoulder. Matrix slapped her hand away.

"Keep your hands off me, Virus!"

"Hey! If you weren't so hooked on being Macro's newest best friend...."

"So this is now my fault?!" Matrix instinctively put his hand to his holster, only to remember that it was empty.

"No! This is his fault!" Electra pointed at Jareth, who switched to a shocked, innocent expression. "He dragged me through the sewers and now I'm peeved." While Electra was facing Matrix, Jareth made a crazy sign behind her back.

"I saw that!" Electra yelled.

"Saw what?" Jareth asked innocently. The conversation was cut short as footsteps were heard echoing down the hall outside the cell.

"Eep! Guards!" Jareth shoved Electra back down the hole, hopping in after her. He kept the side of his head to the ceiling of the sewer until he heard the footsteps leave, then climbed back out of the hole. He reached his hand down to help Electra out, but she didn't surface. "Alright Electra, I know you don't like the sewers but... Lectra? Electra?" Jareth searched the water around him. "ELECTRA!? LECTRA?! Where are you?"

Elsewhere in the Supercomputer, a Sprite hole cover was moved aside, creaking in protest against the concrete. "Gah!" Electra pulled herself out of what she hoped was only murky water. The current had swept her down a side tunnel, dragging off to User knew where. "Jareth, I swear, when I get my digits on you...." Electra pushed the hair off her face. "Jareth? No witty Comeback?" Electra looked around....only to find herself standing in the street, directly in front of the Principle Office. " Oh, Slag," she said to the various Guardians who stood around her, weapons held ready.

  "Well, how was I supposed to know that there was undertow in the sewers? It's not like I go sewer surfing on weekends. It's actually YOUR fault, you know. You should have told me there were Guards posted, then we could have been quieter. You know--"

"Shut. Up," Matrix growled. "Just break the bars so we can get out of here."

"And just how am I supposed to do that?" Jareth asked.
"You can use your Viral energies to melt the bars," Bob said, nursing his wounded foot. "I'd do it myself, but..." Bob gestured with one arm, indicating his entire body. For the first time, Jareth noticed that Bob's chrome Glitch-Armor seemed to be covered with some sort of green fuzz. Looking closer, Jareth saw that Bob was actually covered with tiny
  lines of glowing green zeroes and ones. "It's a sort of file-lock," Bob explained. "A Codemaster did the same thing to Glitch once before. My powers won't work until I can manage to break it."

"Okay. Stand back." Jareth cracked his knuckles and aimed his bony white hands towards the bars. In moments, they were free. "Funny," he said. "The last time I tried that, nothing happened. These bars were much softer."

"We must be in the low-rent district," Bob said.
 
"Now what?" Jareth asked, following Bob and Matrix as they crept down the hall.
 
"First of all, keep your voice down," Matrix snapped.
 
"We're headed to one of the storage rooms," Bob said. "They took Matrix's Gun, and I'm hoping to find something that'll break this time lock."

"Ah...say no more. Say, when do you think we'll run into Mom? I still want to talk to her about the time-"

"Shhh!"
 
"Sorry."

Electra winced as she was forced into a chair by a rather unfriendly hand. The interrogation room she was in was one of the most uncomfortable the Supercomputer could manage, and the bright lights were shining directly into Electra's face.  "Electra! I was wondering where you'd gotten to. Welcome home."

"Macro! You scum-sucking--"

"Ah-ah-ah, flattery will get you nowhere. I'm just here to ask you a few questions."
 
Marco's smooth, cover-up personality was gone, replaced by a predatory look in his eyes. He was after something, and he was determined to get it.
 
"I thought capacitor was supposed to have had you locked up," Electra said, glaring at him.
 
"Did you really think that miserable little mousetrap of a brig could hold me?" Macro leaned forward, his hands on the tabletop. "Now, just how many of you are there?" he asked.

"Just one. Accept no substitutions."

Macro slapped Electra square across the face. "Don't tempt me," He said. "I can do much worse." Electra sneered at him, but didn't answer. "So tell me, How many?" Macro leered over Electra.

"You think I'm just going to TELL you? You tried to capture us. And you nearly doomed the Rebels." Elecra inwardly flinched at the word
 
"Nearly", hoping Macro hadn't picked up on it. For all the Guardians knew, the rebels had been crushed in that attack. Fortunately, Macro didn't seem to have noticed.

"I wouldn't had to, if you had accepted my offer." Macro brushed Electra's cheek.

"I'd rather marry Frisket." Electra growled, and bit Macro's hand. Her fangs sank into his skin, drawing blood.

"Who's Frisket?" Marco said with a growl while nursing his hand.
 
"The dog behind you," Electra replied with a grin.

Matrix, Bob, and Jareth slid past a hall of cells, moving as stealthily as they could. As they pasted the last one, three different pairs of hands pulled them in. After a slight struggle, GigAnate lay on the floor, keeping as still as she could.

"GigAnate!" The three almost shouted. They slowly got up off of her.

"Shhh... Do you want us all to be re-captured?" said a female sprite that Jareth thought looked a lot like a squid.

"Hey. I know you. You sent that transmission to Electra." Jareth pointed to the squid lady. Jareth suddenly realized that there were quite a lot of squid people around them.

"That was-was-was Me," one of the others said. "Where is Elec-ec-ectra?"

"I accidentally flushed her down-own-own the sewer," Jareth replied, imitating the Sprite's speech impediment.
Emily and Cathryn Hotkey stood to the side, watching. Recognizing the rebel Viruses from the Saucy Mare, Matrix did a quick double-take.

"Hey, weren't there three of you?" he asked.

"Rachel Whined." Cathryn said. "So we left her back on the boat."

"Listen," Bob said, "We need to form a plan. We have to..." Bob suddenly swooned and would have hit the floor had Matrix not caught him.

"He's in a file lock!" GigAnate noted, startled. "It seems to be draining his energy."

"Can you fix him?" Matrix asked, a note of unease in his voice. He disliked entrusting Bob to a Virus, especially since he didn't have his Gun handy.

"Not GigAnate personally, but we rebels will have him out in a jiff," One of the nearby Virals said.

"Who are you?" Jareth asked.

"Hmm? Oh, name's Aurora. Put ‘er there." The Virus extended a tentacle-like hand.

"No," Jareth said, staring at her hand as if it might bite.

"Jareth, I want you to find Electra." Bob said. GigAnate opened his mouth to say something, but Bob cut him off. "No matter how capable she is, She might need back up" Jareth nodded and dissappeared into his mask, which spun haphazardly out of the room.

"Rebels, Let's get working." GigAnate announced.

Electra stood looking down at the floor. "Yuck," she commented. Lying there were various pieces of what had once been Macro. He was badly injured, though he hadn't yet disappeared. "What does that taste like?" Electra asked Frisket.

"Woof!" Frisket replied.

At that moment, Jareth chose to appear. "Hey, what's this place? Oh, the interrogation room. I remember this! This was the place where...." Jareth paused when he saw what was lying on the floor. "Is that what I think it is?"

"Yes. Macro. I thought I'd just watch him writher for a while."

"Good dog," Jareth said. "Wait...how did Frisket get here?"

"I don't know. Ask him."

"Frisket, how did you get here?"

Frisket barked.

"All right, enough fun. We need to get out of here. You, Jareth..."

"Me Jareth."

Electra sighed. "You, Jareth, go get Hex, Bring her here. Think you can remember that?"

"Okay, Hex said she'd be finished by now."

"Finished with what?"

Jareth gave her a puzzled look. "Your house. What else?"

Electra sighed, picturing what her house would look like after Hexadecimal was through with it. "Listen, when you and Hex get back, be prepared to fight. We're going to have to battle our way out of here."

Jareth looked at her skeptically. "This is the Principal Office of the Supercomputer. Do you really think we can fight our way out?"

"Hmm...maybe not. I don't suppose you have any tricks left?" Jareth began to search through his pockets, his hand encountering the small object Hex had given him to hang onto.

"You know what? I just might."

Jareth's polished black mask flung itself down the halls of Electra's house, finally halting when it reached the living room. In a flash of bright light, Jareth appeared. "Hex? Hexadecimal..."

"Jareth? In here!" Jareth followed the sound of Hexadecimal's voice, finally finding her  standing on the kitchen ceiling, painting herself into a corner. The entire kitchen had been re-done, the walls covered in jet black paint. Hand-and-footprints had been splattered over everything in neon colors, and Jareth was almost positive that the microwave did not belong in the refrigerator. Now, why was he here again....?

"Oh, yeah! Hex, Electra told me to come get you. We get to fight and...stuff." He shrugged.

"Really? Who are we fighting?"

Jareth shrugged again. "The Guardians, I suppose."
Hex hopped down from the ceiling onto the freshly-painted turquoise floor.

"All right then, let's go!" Hex vanished into what had once been her mask, and floated gently away.

Jareth gazed around the kitchen. "I wonder where she got all the paint?" he mused. Then he followed Hexadecimal, hoping that she knew where they were supposed to be going.

"What could be keeping them?" Electra asked, pacing the floor of the interrogation room. Frisket replied with a growl. Already, three half-eaten sprites lay on the floor of the room, and eventually, Electra knew, sooner or later someone would want to know where all the guards were going.

"Honey, I'm home!" Jareth appeared in the room, with Hex following after.

"What did you call me?" Electra asked.

"Never mind. Here, I think this is yours." Jareth reached into his coat  and pulled out what looked like a cross between a Keytool and a katana blade.

"Jet!" Electra said, taking the strange tool from Jareth. "Where did you find him?"

"One of the Guards was carrying him, heading for the evidence room."

Electra shot Jareth an odd look. "What were you doing there?"

"I only went in to look!" Jareth said defensively. "It's not like I went in just to take things. And you should be glad did, because I also found your other Keytool, What's-His-Name." Jareth pulled another Keytool, this one a more conventional-looking device, from his other pocket and tossed it to her.

Electra caught BuBBle and attached it to her bracer. "Whatever. Listen, we need to get back to the others."

"Right," Jareth nodded. "Follow me." Hexadecimal and Electra fell into step behind Jareth, as the three of them exited the interrogation room. They had not gotten far when one of the wandering Guardians stopped them.

Electra was about to attack, as was Hexadecimal, when Jareth withdrew the small command from his pocket and threw it to the floor. It had been a long, long time since the Medusa Bug had been activated, but it was obvious that it hadn't lost it's touch. The moment the small, honeycomb-shaped object hit the floor, it's power began to spread, turning everything into stone.

The Guardian tried to run, but the effects of the Medusa were too fast. Soon, he was nothing more than a statue. Unfortunately, Jareth and Electra too were affected. Both stood in the narrow hallway, frozen solid. Hexadecimal, hovering inches off the floor, gazed sadly from one to the other.

"Hmm....I suppose I should really undo this, but..." Hex's gaze went to the frozen Guardian. "That would release HIM as well...." Hex shook her head, unaccustomed to logical thought. "What to do, what to do.....Hmmm?" As Hex stood there, the stone encasing Electra began to crack. Soon, it had shattered entirely, freeing her from her imprisonment. Moments later, Jareth, too, was freed.

"What in the World Wide Web was THAT?!" Electra asked.

"The Medusa Bug," Jareth explained, shaking a few fragments of stone from his hair. "You were out of town the last time Hex played with it. It's a lot of fun, but for some reason, Guardians are immune."

"Wait," Electra said, puzzled. "If Guardians are immune, then doesn't that mean..." All three looked down the hall toward the Guard that had stopped them. Sure enough, the stone holding him prisoner shattered, freeing him. He took off down the hall, running as fast as he could. The three exchanged glances.

"After him!" Electra shouted.

"Now, just hold still, Bob...," GigAnate said, opening up a Field Medic Kit. The chaotic Virus withdrew a small tool and aimed it at Bob, who was lying against the wall. "This'll get rid of that file lock, faster than you can say-"

GigAnate never got to say what it work faster than you could say, because at that moment a wave of energy swept through the area, turning everyone and everything it passed into stone.
Bob, unaffected, sighed. This was a little too familiar. Moments later, the stone encasing Matrix shattered. He dusted himself off carefully, looking a bit confused.

"The Medusa Bug, or something just like it," Bob explained. "Guardians are immune, but it clearly works on Viruses." Bob gestured to GigAnate, who stood still as a stone.

Matrix tried to pry the tool from GigAnate's hand, but it, too, was stone, and now seemed to be a part of her hand.

"This is bad," Bob said.

"Very bad," agreed Matrix.
 
 

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