| abstract
| - The Web War is over and Bob is gone. The Viral Wars are just beginning. The ABCs are shooting the CPUs out of the sky. Hexadecimal has recharged the Hardware, uses it against the Principal Office. Inside the War Room, Dot is shaken by the magnitude of their losses. She commands the remaining nine CPU ships to take vector "niner seven zero one" and to fly single file. She wants to lure Megabyte's Armored Binome Carriers into a trap. Specky looks to Phong, but that ancient sprite tells the little binome he better do as Dot says, Phong believes his military advisor has a plan. The Mainframers reject Megabyte's demand for unconditional surrender. A binome guides the CPUs along heading 1138 down the skyscraper canyons in single file. The ABCs oblige by lining up on either side in a classic crossfire formation, making them sitting ducks for the Principal Offices' guns. They open fire and obliterate the ABCs. One ABC bursts into flames and crashes into the Principal Office shield generators. The CPUs dock and Dot orders the shields raised, but the Principal Office's shield generators are damaged and remain down. Megabyte figures he has won, but Hexadecimal wants to destroy the Principal Office, even though destroying its core would wipe out Hex and Megabyte as well. Megabyte tries to stop her but she easily flings him away like a bug. Luckily her shot is blocked when Mouse diverts Core energy to raise a partial wall. After an emotional moment thinking of Bob, Mouse and Dot switched into battle gear. They head out on Zip Boards, just in time to see the big gun being bisected by an incoming Game Cube, zapping Hex with excess energy. Enzo can't help but follow the Guardian protocols and races to the game with AndrAIa at his side. But the girl, being a Game Sprite, will leave when the game leaves, which is why Mouse holds her back. The inside of the game cube is a foggy cemetery with interesting headstones. They're on the final level of Malicious Corpses, and they have to find the Manual of Mortality before dawn. The scenery includes a wooden truss bridge, a cabin in the woods. There is also a headstone with the inscription "Here Lies The MAINFRAME JOINT VENTURE, An Unholy Alliance". Frisket reboots into a hell-hound, Enzo into the red suited zombie, and Dot receives a goth-like, very tight, long black dress. The black sheath dress has to be ripped before she can move. The binomes don't like taking orders from Enzo, saying that he's just a boy, not a real Guardian. This sentiment is echoed outside the Game Cube by a female Sheriff in a TV interview. Dot and Enzo watch as the User's avatar - a lantern-jawed man with a chainsaw in place of one hand, and a shotgun in the other, wipes out a small platoon of skeleton game sprites with gunfire. When told that the zombies on the next level have flesh on their bones, the appalled Dot asks what kind of creature would derive enjoyment from a game of that sort. Meanwhile, Herr Doktor, Bunnyfoot, and a small group of viral binomes pick up the scorched husk of Hexadecimal and strap her into a containment ring. They take her back to the Silicon Tor. The User collects the last page from an evil tree, needing only The Book to win. Frisket tries to take down the User by brute force, but is stopped dead by a shotgun blast. Enzo is horrified and tries to help his friend until Dot reminds him the only way to help Frisket now is to win the Game. Hiding in the cabin doesn't work, as the User comes through the wall with the chain saw. Enzo uses some dance moves to use up the User's ammo. The piano wires stop the chain saw, Frisket crawls in to trip the User, and Enzo uses the tape from a Welman tape recorder to tie him up. They toss the User into the cellar, producing a swirling cloud, and a statement of "I'm Dead Before Dawn!". Game over. Back in the Principal Office, the young Guardian is bowled over by an enthusiastic AndrAIa. Phong praises Mouse's abilities, then turns noticeably red when she returns the compliment. Enzo promises to locate Bob and bring him back home. Mouse and AndrAIa say they have a surprise. They went to the remains of Dot's Diner and brought back Cecil, hanging from a Zip Board. Dot is over joyed and hugs Cecil and tells him she thought they'd lost him to.
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