Author’s Notes: I’m an old time ReBoot fan, but, except for a very short-lived pen-and-paper attempt some years ago, I have never really delved into the realm of ReBoot fanfic until now. As a UK fan, I was deprived of the concluding episodes to season 3 however many years ago it was that CITV broadcast the show over here, and have only recently come by the concluding episodes and the season 4 ‘movies’, so have finally caught up with ReBoot, though it is somewhat late in the day. :) This has inspired me to pick up an old idea, reform it, and see how it goes.

My favourite character has pretty much always been Megabyte - I like my villains, full stop, but this guy is one of the best out of all my fandoms - and season 4 gave me an interesting scenario to mull over in the form of my Megz nearly marrying Dot. Being a person with a particularly twisted mind (my Star Wars “Eclipse” fanfic is testament to this, and the most extreme of my fanfic creations) I’ve been inspired to have a go at what will undoubtedly become a rather twisted ReBoot tale, so if you don’t like going into risky - maybe even risqué - territory, then you’d better back off now. It’s fair warning. Those of you who do want to read something a bit different that might end rather weirdly, ‘stay frosty’ and read on to your heart’s content.

Constructive criticism is welcomed but I’d rather you didn’t flame me - if you don’t like the principle of it all, that’s fine, but let me know nicely and go and read something more agreeable rather than waste your time here. If you want to reach me by email, go to my profile page and send me a message - I like hearing from readers - and I’m also available on Live Journal as Jurious if you wanna catch me there.

Okay, that’s all for now. Later! -Juri’

“There is no grand scheme here. This is about revenge.” - Megabyte, My Two Bobs

Twisted Fate
- Part 1: The Target

Enzo’s legs dangled as he was held fast by his possessed father in the Principal Office. He didn’t want to admit that he was afraid, but he was; Phong lay inert on the floor and the User knew where Frisket had got to, but the worst thing of all was to watch Megabyte, stood there as intimidating and powerful as ever, delivering his threat to everyone, telling them to ‘prepare for the hunt’. Those red eyes and robust limbs could send a chill down even the most valiant sprite’s spine, but Enzo was just a little sprite and he was frankly terrified.

Once his agenda had been announced, Megabyte took a step away from the console and began to do some thinking. It was one thing to pledge revenge, but another thing altogether to accomplish it. He tapped his long, viral claws against his chin and gazed indifferently around the Principal Office. Every binome in the room was under his control, their eyes gleaming red-and-blue as they stood there, fully possessed and awaiting his command. Phong, Mainframe’s oldest and wisest sprite, was still inactive on the floor, and Welman Matrix, alive within his Null body, had lost control of his Null-Bot and was holding his young son Enzo aloft.

And that’s where Megabyte’s gaze lingered. “So, boy,” he said. “How would it have felt? To have seen your sister marry me?”

Enzo pulled his defiant face. “How do you think it would have felt, Mega-Breath?”

The virus grinned. “Yes, well… you might never have known, if your blessed Guardian hadn’t turned up.”

Enzo’s face faltered a little at that.

“I’m not sure I’d want you for a nephew, anyway…” Megabyte mused on. “Or your older self.”

“Yeah, I kicked your Bitmap once, didn’t I?”

A brief flash of anger flared in Megabyte’s eyes, but it soon passed. “Yes. A slight oversight on my behalf.”

“‘Slight’?” Enzo sneered.

“Yes, slight,” the virus repeated, turning on Enzo and glaring into his eyes.

Enzo leant back as far as he could. “So now what? You gonna delete me?”

Megabyte smiled smoothly. “Come now, Enzo. Where would the logic be in that? It’s not you that’s caused me any misery… not yet, at least. I have no reason to delete you.”

He then turned and began to pace away, giving Enzo room to breath.

“I have learnt much over the course of my life,” he then related,, his large hands clasped at the small of his back, “and I shall tell you now that there is more than one way to get revenge upon those who have wronged you.” He paused for another’s moment’s thought. “I believe that I’m in the mood to be inventive. Why should I hunt them all down like a ravenous animal? Why shouldn’t I keep them guessing at what form my vengeance shall take?”

Enzo swallowed the uneasy lump that had accumulated in his throat. “What are you going to do?” he asked.

He then yelped as, with an effortless leap, Megabyte flipped across the office and landed back before him in an instant. “Oh, I’m still on the hunt,” he murmured, “but I’m going to make things much more interesting, and , for some, much more painful…”

----

Hack, Slash and Dot were running down the halls of the Principal Office like there was no tomorrow (and, who knows, there might not be). The two robots were getting a lead on Dot, though, their jets making short work of the lengthy corridors, but Dot’s legs weren’t performing quite as admirably, and she soon found herself lagging behind. She knew that something bad was going to happen soon, she just had that terrible feeling - and she was right.

As Hack and Slash made it through the next open doorway ahead, the door then began to close on them! Dot tried to pick up speed, but she knew she wasn’t going to make it. She clenched her fists and swung her elbows back-and-forth, rushing for the door with all her might… but it was too late. The door closed with a final hiss, cutting her off from Hack and Slash, and she ran into it with an inelegant bang, and slapped its hard surface with her hands. “No!” she cried, pelting her fists against the shining surface over and over again, “No! Open up!”

And then she felt a terrible chill run through her body - she could hear the ominous resonation of large, solid feet as they approached her across the tiled floor, from behind. Her breaths came in short, sharp spurts before she managed to get herself to turn her head about and face the predator on her tail.

Megabyte.

Her eyes took in the lofty and burly form of the notorious virus and she studied him carefully. He was a little changed in appearance to what he used to be, but, if anything, his jaunt in the web seemed to have only made him stronger rather than brought him to his viral knees. This they all could have done without.

“What do you want now?” she asked in a low, breathy tone. “Haven’t you done enough?” She could feel the tears welling in her eyes and the devastation pooling in her chest, but she tried not to show any of this; this creature had been the mastermind of so much chaos and sorrow, both in the past and the present, and she hated him for it. Her family had been hurt, her friends destroyed, her city brought to the ground, and she had nearly married him, and yet he could only stand there, with that perpetual air of hauteur about him, as if nothing out of the ordinary had ever occurred.

“So,” he said at last, taking a few slow strides toward her, “it comes back to this. We’re back to playing cat and mouse.”

Dot’s gaze tightened on him, but, as soon as he began to close the proximity between them, she felt herself panic and grope at the door, desperate to get away from him. Just the thought of her having been near him for so long, having talked to him as if he were a friend, having kissed him like--

She swallowed convulsively and a choked sob escaped her lips. “Why are you doing this?” she cried, watching, with wide, terrified eyes, as this beast paced even closer.

“Doing what?” he smirked, and he stepped to within an arm’s-length distance of her.

The panic too hold of Dot and she flattened herself against the door. “Stop right there!” she snapped urgently. “Please stop.”

And, to Dot’s surprise, he did and stood quite still. “Am I rather invading your personal space?” he mused, giving his chin a tap. “We seemed to have no problems with personal space before.”

The cheek! “That was before --!” she shouted.

“Yes,” he interposed. “Before you knew. And what if you hadn’t found out? Would you ever have guessed?”

She faltered at this and looked away. What a terrible notion, to think that, had Bob not turned up at her ill-fated wedding, she might by now be joined forever in matrimony to this man... And worse. “I’m glad it never came to that,” she whispered.

She then gasped as she felt his fingers beneath her chin, and he tilted her head up to face his.

“I must have been a convincing actor, to fool the perceptive Ms. Matrix into believing I was her precious Guardian,” he sneered.

Dot tore her head from his grasp and gave him a look of disgust. “Don’t flatter yourself…”

He smirked again. “Oh just think of what might have been…”

Dot scowled at him, but she still couldn’t quite escape the true magnitude of the matter; what if the real Bob hadn’t turned up? When would Megabyte have revealed himself? How would she have reacted then? She looked down and exhaled deeply, unable to quite get her head round it all, and unable to shake entirely all her feelings of guilt toward the real Bob...

“You know, it was quite an experience, being part of your lives for a while,” Megabyte went on, his brow arching slightly as he gave her another charming smile. “I’ve certainly learned a lot. And to be loved for once…” He glanced at the ceiling. “Yes, that was intriguing.”

“‘Intriguing’?” Dot spat. “Is that all you can call your sick charade?”

He lowered his head and his eyes met hers once more.

“You’ve done many things to me, Megabyte,” Dot continued, feeling an angry tear wend its way down her face. “You’ve, on countless occasions, kidnapped and attacked my brother; you’ve taken Bob to Hell and back; you’ve repressed citizens that should be allowed freedom; you’ve done so much… And now, to top it all off, you insult and hurt me worse than ever by stepping into the guise of the man I love and pretending to be him! And trying to marry me!” She shook her head at him. “I don’t know how you live with yourself.”

The virus cocked his head slightly to one side. “I am a virus,” he said simply. “I cannot go against my code.”

“Can’t you?” she asked. “So holding me in your arms and kissing me doesn’t go against your code? Loving someone doesn’t go against your code?”

He gave her an intense stare, looking through her eyes rather than into them, but he didn’t say anything.

“Call off your hunt, Megabyte,” Dot implored. “Go home. Just be a virus again and build up your little empire and let things go back to normal. I don’t like this side of you, and I don’t think you do, either.”

“Ah,” he said with a nod, “But which side are we talking about?”

“The shape-shifter,” she hissed. “The con-artist. The low-life. Even you’re better than that.”

He gave her another long look. “I repeat, I am a virus, Ms. Matrix - I cannot change that - and I am a vengeful virus at present. The ends justify the means.”

“And you certainly deserve all that has come to you - but why can’t you leave the innocent and the law-abiding alone?”

“Hmm. I’m sure you would see things that way. You are a proud sprite, and a narrow-minded one.”

“‘Narrow-minded’?” she scoffed. “You’ve got some nerve!”

“Yes, I have.” He flexed his fingers out and gave them a casual glance. “But enough of this. We have been stood here talking for far too long.”

“Yes. I think it’s time for you to leave.”

“And maybe I shall,” he went on, turning his eyes back on hers. “But I am now rather curious. Were you under the impression that I loved you?”

She hesitated and felt her stomach churn.

“I’ll rephrase that,” he said. “As Guardian Bob, were you under the impression that I loved you?”

“Yes,” she said plainly. “As Bob, yes.”

Megabyte nodded and extended his hand, and Dot shuddered, but didn’t flinch, as she felt his knuckles stroke her cheek. “You know where to find me,” he said softly.

Dot felt both afraid and captivated as she stood there, fixated by his stare, until the moment passed and, before she knew it, the virus had gone. She barely noticed this until the door behind her gave way, though, and she fell onto the floor beyond with a thud. Hack and Slash were then suddenly looming over her and jabbering allsorts of panicky nonsense into her face.

“Oh, Ms Matrix!”

“Ma’am!”

“Are you all right?”

“Okay?”

“Fully-functional?”

“Not hurt?”

“Guys, please!” she said once she‘d collected herself, “It’s all right.” She got to her feet and brushed herself off a little. “Don’t fuss. He’s gone…”