Project: MASK - Viral Revenge

Has nothing to do with Magical world we rp in. XD
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An explosion roared as debris rained from the heavens and onto the desolate streets; a dust cloud billowed and marred the sky, marking the location of where it took place. A figure leaped on top of a car, denting the roof as he looked impassively toward a destroyed storefront. He ignored the crumbling buildings of the ruined section of the city, he didn't care about the people that raced away, screaming in terror. The figure kept his focus on the storefront, waiting for a sign, a movement.

A second figure stumbled out, coughing; his green hoodie ragged, torn and dirty, same with his jeans and shoes. He coughed again, sending the first a sharp glare through the eye-holes of his slightly cracked poker faced mask as he readjusted it correctly on his face. Wind rushed through and blew the dust away, ruffling the second figure's brown hair as green electricity crackled around his forearms. The first figure's lips curved into a dark smirk behind a frighteningly similar mask, chuckling as blue electrical energy sparked and snaked around his body. “You must be joking, correct?” the figure asked, voice distorting while stepping off the car. "You're still going to defy me, Cryaotic?”

“Damn straight I am, Virus.” the YouTuber hissed, the electricity on his arms whipping the air before shifting and taking the form of twin blades. “I'm not going to just sit back and let you take over my body!”

“Heh, is that right?  Well, we have plenty of time to change your mind.”

The gamer growled  then charged forward with a battle-cry as the viral double met him halfway with swords of his own. Both swung at the same time, blades clashing and locking each other in a battle of strength. Distorted laughter left Virus' mouth as he leaned toward Cry's face and purred. “Tsk tsk, Cry... did you forget I am you? I know every move you make, you can't win.” Cry cringed, suppressing the urge to shudder at hearing his own voice warp, like an audio file from one of his videos just corrupted on him. But then that's what Virus was... a collection of corrupted data. Right? The virus grinned further at seeing the YouTuber struggle against him. “Not only will I take your body, but I will take everything you have. Every. Single. Thing. After all, you and I are one and the same.”

“The hell we are!”

Ignoring his outburst, Virus continued. “And I think I'll start...” the double's haunting electric blue eyes flashed brightly in excitement as his mask's jagged smile grew, glancing off to the side to a crumpled form a fair distance from them. “...with our friend over there.” Cry's own blue eyes widen in horror, glancing over to his friend. Taking advantage of his distraction, the virus knocked the young man's blades aside, throwing him off balance before he slammed his palm into Cry's stomach. The virus smirked then clicked his tongue mockingly. “So easily distracted.” His smirk turned into a sharp grin as electrical energy gathered to his palm. “That's going to cost you, friend.”

The brunet shrieked in agony as a powerful shock coursed through his body for a few seconds before Virus backhanded him, sending him flying to the side. Cry yelped and cried out in pain as he skipped across the pavement and slid to a stop near his unconscious friend. He coughed and groaned as he struggled to prop himself up off the street, closing his eyes briefly to cope with the pain.

The gamer panted then stiffened as a pair of converse shoes stood in his field of vision, bits of circuitry shown here and there on them. Growling, Cry lifted his gaze to glare at Virus, who gazed down at him with a superior glint in his eyes. “You lose.” The virus smirked and turned to glance at the unconscious figure then slid his vision back to the YouTuber, looking down at him through the corner of his eyes. “And now you get to lay there and watch me claim one of my many prizes.” With that the malevolent program turned on his heel and slowly walked to his future host's defenseless friend, purposely stretching the time to further break him.

“No...” Cry growled softly, managing to get onto his hands and knees, watching his viral counterpart get closer to one of his friends. As he watched Virus hold out his hand to claim his victim, the gamer's mind flashed back to how this started.


*~*~*~*~*~Flashback~*~*~*~*~*~*


Cry laughed as he watched as Pewdiepie once again attempted to solve the maze of buzz saws, spiked balls and other various deadly traps to join him on the finish line. And failed. Horribly. The Swede made a sound mixed between a whine and a frustrated growl as the little red cat exploded like a bloody balloon, showering the stage with crimson liquid. “Pewds... should I-?” the masked gamer began then bit back a laugh as his friend cut him off with a halfhearted glare at his own computer screen.

“Nooo~! I got it.” Pewdie whined through the Skype call as he once again moved the little feline across the stage. After a few narrow close calls, the blonde looked happy at finally getting to the finish line... only to be crushed by a stone fist that dropped in from a hidden spot at the last stretch of the path. The Swede groaned in frustration and dismay as he dropped his head on his desk, pouting as the American giggled uncontrollably at the event. “Not funny, Cry.” he grumbled with a small smile.

“S-sorry, I couldn't help it.” the brunet chuckled then took a breath to stop himself. “So.. should I go on ahead?”

Pewdie grinned and readjusted his headset, “Sure, can't leave the Bros hanging.”

Cry nodded then moved his green little feline character into the next stage and the two of them proceeded to attempt the stage. Several minutes flew by as they fell into giggle fits as they tried and failed many times trying to complete the stage via jumping on top of each other, falling into the lava pit, shot at or smashed by hidden evil bro fists. As they went for another try, the red cat stopped moving and suddenly vanished with the text reading:

/Pewdiepie has left the game./

Confused by the abrupt disappearance, the masked gamer called out to his friend through their Skype Call, but only silence answered back. Did the call get dropped? He didn't hear the sound of someone leaving the call. He hovered his mouse over the Skype icon on his task bar and brought it up, raising a brow at the strangeness that showed him. Pewdie was shown to still be on call but no sound was coming from it. He figured that the game crashed on the Swede but it was unnerving to not hear his friend complain about it.

“I'm sure it's nothing big, I'll wait.” Cry said, tightening the string on his mask to secure it better. He was betting that the Swedish YouTuber was complaining but had accidentally put himself on mute. It wasn't the first time it had happened. As he waited, he fiddle around in the game, making his little cat character run around and jump, ducking down in a show of him dancing as he mumbled to himself. He half wondered if Pewdie would keep his little dance up again in the video like last time, if he sent him the missing footage? He grinned to himself. Ah, what's the harm? Pewdie's fans would enjoy seeing his little cat dance around for several empty minutes.

After several moments of silence, Cry frowned. Shouldn't Pewdie have finished rebooting the game by now? It only takes a couple of minutes right? “Pewds?” He stopped the recording for a moment, calling to his friend through Skype once more. The window holding Bloody Trapland suddenly closed on the gamer as he clicked back onto it. "Hey! Man, I hope we don't have to start all over- what the hell?" All three of his screens then went black, making the American growl and slam his fists on his desk. "Oh, come on! Don't tell me my entire network crashed!"

/No, it hasn't./

"What?" Startled, Cry blinked at the typing that just appeared on his screen, jerking his hands away from the keyboard. Did he just type that to answer himself? No... he couldn't have, he would have noticed himself typing it. What the hell was going on? Did someone hijack his network? He frowned at the thought. 'No, I'm pretty damn sure no one got through the firewalls. The programs would've alerted me if someone had pinged me and tried anything, but nothing happened. So then... how did they hear-' The mic from his headset bumped against his mouth as if to remind him it was there. 'Oh.'

/I can tell from the look in your eyes that you're obviously confused./ Cry froze at the words on his screen. They could see him? But how?! He didn't have a webcam or anything of the sort to record or stream his face! The typing went on as if not bothered by his growing alarm. /Yes, in a way someone, or rather I, hijacked your network. I would have thought it would be much harder.. but then again it is OUR network./

"Ours?"

/Yes, ours. Did I stutter?/

Cry's head slightly tilted to the side in confusion. Just who the fuck was this to say his private network was shared?

/*sigh* Rather dense are you? Just who is the only one that can work the system and bypass the securities without alarming them? Other than yourself?/

The gamer frowned at the typing. He didn't like being toyed with but he couldn't help be a little curious about this. Though, he'd more in a riddle solving mood if his computer wasn't in the hands of some random punk that had the gall to fuck with him. As he quickly thought about the half assed riddle, he wished he could reach through the vastness of the world wide web and punch the fucker in the face. He couldn't think of anyone outside of his friends of the Late Night Crew but they didn't know his passwords or the like. No way it could be them. There was Pewdiepie as he once worked with computers, but even then, he didn't dare breach his friendship or trust with the American for some prank. But what about Cry himself? Well, he's awake and aware, so it couldn't be himself. Unless this was one hell of a nightmare. Mad could... if he bothered to care long enough to do any hacking but he would rather beat the computer to 'make it work' for the lulz. So that left...

He froze.

/That's right, Cryaotic... Me./

The typing burst into bits of code, swirled on the black screen and reformed into that of a mirror image of the gamer. Brown hair, green hoodie and a white mask that sat snug on the image's face. An exact replica of Cry with a few key differences in appearance. Cry's hands curled into fists as he glared at the screen, gritting his teeth at the return of Virus, who watched him on his screen. Not good... not good. Even he prayed it was just a nightmare, the gamer decided to see if this was real. "Shouldn't you be dead?" he asked the image, not bothering to hide his irritation.

"Deleted." Virus corrected, staring at the young man with eyes of a much lighter shade of blue compared to the human's normal hue, "To you I should be, considering how I was deleted." He closed his eyes in remembrance as he lightly fingered the jagged edge of where his right eye should be covered by the mask. Instead that portion of the mask was missing; small fine cracks webbing from the edge and the jagged line for a mouth almost seemed to stretch just a tad. Then Virus' eyes opened and narrowed them at Cry. "And I appreciate it if you could tell our dear friend, Snake, to not shoot me in the face next time. Deletion may just be an inconvenience for me, but being shot in the face isn't a thrilling experience."

"If it was that much of a pain, then why didn't you just stay deleted?" Cry grumbled under his breath, propping his cheek on his fist, glad for something to focus on other than his unease at the digital copy's presence. He still couldn't get used to hearing his own voice speaking to him in a warped sound and tone. Creeped him the fuck out every time he heard him.

"Silly boy, I'm a virus. It should be obvious that you can't delete a virus so easily. Kill one, another appears."

"And a pain in the ass that is" the American muttered as he thought of ways to get rid of the virus and continue the rest of his day in peace. Or whatever amount of peace he could get. Wonder if any of the Late Night Crew were awake at this hour?

"All the more pleasing to me." He grinned behind his broken mask. "But enough idle chatter... I have something of yours that I know you would want back very eagerly."

Cry rose a brow to that declaration then glanced at the tower of his computer. What exactly could be in there that he wouldn't want to lose so much? Games? Music? Video files? His recent recordings? He sighed, eyes flicking back to his digital duplicate. "My recordings? As annoying as it would be to lose those, I can re-record them just as easily-"

"No, not those."

The YouTuber blinked, "Huh?" That wasn't it? What else could he have..? He narrowed his eyes as he focused on Virus' face. He had a look of seriousness but the glint in his eye, the glow they gave out as a smug grin formed. Last time, Cry learned that the virus' eyes often glowed whenever he was excited, upset, was up to something, or made them glow at will to intimidate others. A gut feeling warned Cry that the program was up to something... and it wasn't his usual tricks either. There was something more... dangerous about him now.

"Its not the recordings... or anything in you precious hard drive. Data is easily replaced, I know that far better than you or any of your damn Crew." Virus replied, his smirk turning devious and allowed himself a chuckle. "No, its something much more important. Or should I say 'someone'? Oh the things you learn in cyber space."

The gamer stiffed at the wording and tone, thoughts racing in trying to figure out what he meant. 'What could he possibly mean by that?! Who does he have?! HOW could he have gotten them! There's no way he could...' He paused then sighed, relaxing himself, his breath a little shaky as he ran a hand through his messy hair. It was a bluff, a tactic to shake him up and force him to make a deal with the program. But everyone was safe and sound, away from the realm of cyber space. "Aha, nice try, Virus, but there's no way you can get anyone." The brunet said, tapping his fingers on the desk, "The only way you could get anyone is if we slipped on the virtual reality helmets. And we're not keen in doing THAT again." He smiled in victory at seeing through the program's lie and shot him the smile to get him to confess that he was lying.

But Virus' smirk didn't falter.

Instead, he merely lifted his arm and pointed toward the left most screen of Cry's set up. A window bloomed from the tip of his index finger and went into full screen mode, playing a video file. Cry stiffened and sucked in his breath sharply as he stared at it.

On it showed Pewdiepie scowling at his computer, clicking on his mouse on several things. 'Was that when we were playing Bloody Trapland but had crashed on him?' Cry stayed silent as he watched as the Swede sigh in frustration, running a hand through his sandy blonde hair and knocking the headset to hang around his neck. He then gave the screen a withering glare and flipped it off seconds before looking startled and jumping to his feet, hands slamming down on the desk. He shook visibly, swearing at what had scared him in his native tongue. It then quickly escalated to his famous high pitched shriek of fear as a hand shot out of the screen before him and gripped his forearm tightly. He babbled incoherently as he pulled at his arm wildly, trying to break the grip and escape.

Cry pulled his lips back in a snarl as he watched in silent rage as the blonde continued to struggle to free himself. He had never seen his friend shake and tremble in absolute fear before and he loathed the look in the Swede's eyes. He was far too bright and happy go lucky to have that instilled onto him. The struggle only lasted a few minutes before electricity sparked and gathered around the hand that stayed clamped around the blonde's wrist which apparently Pewdie didn't notice, too preoccupied with swearing and trying to free himself to see it. After a few seconds, the energy was released and the Swede's famous scream of terror instantly switched to a shriek of pain as the electrical shock coursed through his body. The shock stopped and Pewdie's bright eyes dulled, indicating he had passed out as his knees buckled and he collapsed onto his chair. The hand tugged at his arm and the gamer fell forward onto his desk with a thud, a groan of pain escaping past his lips. The hand held him a moment longer then quickly swiped open a window in mid-air, typing in a command.

/Pewdiepie.EXE now uploading/

The hand then grabbed onto the unconscious man's wrist again if only for a moment, just long enough to allow a series of glowing lines of digital code to spread out along the body. The hand let go and pulled back into the screen and Cry watched in horror as the lines of code swirled around the Swede's body then slither its way into the screen. He then noticed that Pewdie was beginning to look less solid, fading away along with the code as he was uploaded until he completely vanished.

/Pewdiepie.EXE upload complete/

The video ended abruptly as a fist smashed against the LCD screen, cracks webbing from the center and the monitor flickered before failing to display anything. Cry breathed harshly, his fist still pressed to the broken screen, his eyes unfocused on the object in front him, instead his vision kept replaying the same scene over and over. Pewdie, his best friend, screaming in terror then pain, the sight of him being electrocuted then disappearing. All while, he was sitting in his room, playing Bloody Trapland, completely unaware of his friend's plight. The rage he felt bubbled and churned within him, he simply tightened his fists.

Virus simply whistled at the display of emotion he was seeing with then the calm and mostly laid back gamer. "Ooh... someone's mad." His tone, though distorted by the audio corruption that made his voice, was that of teasing, and didn't flinch in the slightest when the brunet snapped his head toward the center monitor where the virus was. "Was that really a necessary action? You'll have to replace that, you know."

"Don't start with me, Virus." Cry spat, turning fully to face the program and ignoring the pain that was pulsing in his fist. He didn't give a shit about the monitor. "That had better be a fucking prank!"

"If it was, dear Cry, then you destroyed an expensive piece of equipment for nothing." the virus returned coolly, still holding the smirk, "You didn't honestly think I'd be here wasting my time just to tease you with some half-ass PhotoShopped video just to have you smash a monitor?"

"Then..?"

"It's very much real, Cryaotic." Virus leaned forward, a look of seriousness replacing his smirk, "This isn't some joke to merely scare you for shits and giggles. I have Pewdiepie and he's in good health, I assure you... For now."

Cry shot up from his chair and glowered down at the computer screen that displayed his digital counterpart, visibly shaking. It took everything he had to not just slam his fist into the screen in an attempt to punch the viral program. The YouTuber shoved his anger aside and thought quickly. 'This is beyond bad, if Virus is telling the truth and he has Pewds... there's no telling what he could do to him!' Cry glared at the display, gritting his teeth, 'That's exactly what he wants... to give myself up for Pewds but then there's no telling what would really happen anyway. In fact, this could still be just bluff to get to me.' "How exactly do I know you're telling the truth? You could be saying all of this just to get me to surrender, Virus. How do I know you really have Pewds?"

Virus only smiled, flicking his wrist to the right most monitor. "Try not destroying the screen this time. You don't have the money to replace them at this rate." Another window popped open, playing another video. The gamer growled and made to turn away and ignore the file until his eyes caught the letters 'LIVE FEED' displayed on the file's title bar. His eyes widen and watched as it showed the Swede sleeping on a translucent floor, lines of digital code sped across the floor, faint in sight but still there nonetheless. Along with those, were lines of circuitry, glowing softly and pulsed small lights that zipped along the lines tracing random designs on the floor. The blonde groaned as his eyes fluttered open, laying still as his brain went through a system's check, making sure that everything was working properly.

The brunet gamer let out a sigh of relief as Pewdie's eyes went from dull to bright as he became more aware of himself. The Swedish YouTuber groaned again as he tested each of his limbs then pulled himself to his hand and knees, the other hand pressed to his head. After a few minutes, Pewdie climbed unsteadily to his feet, looking around in confusion and wariness. He seemed to mumble something then began to wander off screen. Then the video feed ended.

"That doesn't prove anything, y'know." Cry answered, feeling relief flood through at seeing his friend was fine. Though he prayed it wasn't real.

"Then don't do anything about it if you're that confident I'm lying." Virus challenged, snapping his fingers at the window on screen, causing it to disappear. In its place the entire monitor glowed softly, showing the same kind of area Pewdie was held, same dark background and floor.

Cry went ridged at the thought, eyes wide. Would he really take that chance? Risk losing a very good friend to Virus because he refused to take it seriously? Would he abandon Pewdie for the sake calling a bluff? The gamer flinched at seeing his counterpart to stare at him through his visible eye, seeing the devious glint and the cold smirk he knew was hiding behind the broken mask. His confidence in thinking it was all a big lie wavered and faltered at the idea that he could very well leave the blonde to whatever horrors the viral copy could have in store. Cry inwardly swore at the situation, glaring darkly in nothing in particular. 'Shit, he had me from the get go. This is what he wants and I played right into it.'

"Where does that portal lead to?" he asked, jerking his thumb to the glowing right computer screen. He touched it lightly as curiosity got the better of him for a moment, watching the screen ripple under his finger tip before he pulled his hand away.

"Cyber Space, genius. Same place where Pewdiepie is, of course IF you believe that." the virus replied with a casual shrug, "But if you do believe me, then you remember exactly what I want, right?"

"Yes, as creepy and unnerving as that is. But you do remember that I don't plan on just rolling over for you."

"You already are, friend. Don't worry, I didn't forget you're a fighter, but that's fine. I prefer giving you a sporting chance."

"This isn't a game."

"I never said it was, Cryaotic. The stakes are high, a life hangs in the balance... and we're playing for keeps." The virus grinned icily, "I'll leave you to your thoughts... but don't take too long on deciding. Poor Pewds may come across a nasty infection." He didn't laugh or chuckle, just kept that col smile and vanished in a burst of data, returning the control of the network to Cry and leaving him alone in the darkness of his room.

Cry growled and slammed his fist against his desk, blinking back tears as he bared his teeth behind his own mask. "Pewds... You really crossed the line with me, Virus..."

Cry spent the last few minutes pacing his room in a foul mood before he realized that he needed fresh air. Being in the room of where he just learned how dire things were going wasn't doing a damn thing in calming him down. He sighed, removed his mask, tossing it onto his desk and left the house as quietly as he could. Once outside, a cooling breeze blew gently at his face and Cry inhaled deeply, almost instantly feeling better. That was what he needed, a quick walk to clear his head, otherwise he can't help the Swede. He started off on a walk, planning only to go around the block as he let his thoughts race through his mind.

Anger and fear still churned within him as he walked, thoughts of Pewdie lost and confused in Cyber Space with a malevolent virus possibly stalking him was unnerving. How could Virus do this? Dragging the blonde into a mess that was solely between themselves? Was it only because the timing was convenient or was it something more? He could've gone after any of the Late Night Crew but had targeted Pewdie for some reason. Cry furrowed his brows as he went into a light jog, letting the cool air soothe him as his mind shifted to a more questioning mindset. How was Virus able to get Pewdie anyway if Virus is only confined to Cyber Space? It should be impossible for him to kidnap anyone. The  brunet sighed again and filed the questions away for later and focused on calming himself before returning to his house.

After his jog, Cry sent messages to various members of the Late Night Crew of what had happened, even though he had the feeling that Virus knew he would do that. The gamer's finger had hovered over the delete key multiple times as he was typing the message, often wondering if he should get the others involved. Half of him wanted to keep them safe so not telling them would be best, on the other hand, he was going to need help in keeping Pewdie safe so he had to tell them. Maybe they could figure out a way to get them both out once he was in and kept Virus busy. Once the messages were sent,  Cry placed his famous mask back on his face and turned to the portal that waited for him. The monitor glowed innocently, allowing him to see a small window of the vast realm that lay beyond his screen, the territory of his enemy; Cyber Space. The glow and what laid beyond practically begged him to jump in and damn the consequences to explore the world of the internet.

But Cry knew better than that.

Still, he had to go in to save Pewdiepie. The masked gamer placed his hand against the screen, twitching at the tingling feel of the ripples that appeared around his palm. It moved like water but felt a little squishy like gel, yet offered little resistance as he pressed against it. Cry took a deep breath, exhaled slowly and plunged his hand into the digital portal.

/Cryaotic.EXE now uploading/

At once lines of code and glowing circuitry took to him with his acceptance of entering Cyber Space. The tiny ones and zeroes circled up his arm and spiraled around him in a translucent ribbon of green, keeping a few inches from making contact with his body. Cry felt slightly disconnected with the world around him, a sensation of floating in the air when he was obviously standing still with his feet still on the floor. He supposed that was purpose of the ribbon of code, to prepare him for transportation  by disconnecting him from his original world. "Oh, this feels weird... Funny but weird." Next, were the glowing lines of circuitry traveling up his arm and leaving behind branches that sped elsewhere along his frame.

The YouTuber was at slight awe as he watched himself break down into digital data and seep into the portal little by little. He stared down at his half missing arm and shuddered slightly. "Okay, now this tops my 'Most Disturbing Things' list hands down." he muttered, grimacing at the broken digital stub of an arm. It was pretty frightening at seeing his own limb disappear before his eyes and get sucked into a computer screen. He closed his eyes at the nauseating flip of his stomach as he felt more of himself disassemble and stream away from him at much more rapid rate. His consciousness faded as the digital breakup reached his shoulders. The final pieces of data quickly fell in step with the rest and streamed into the portal; and in a flash of light Cry vanished from his room.

/Cryaotic.EXE upload complete/

====================

Cry ran as fast as he could, calling out Pewdie's name in hopes of finding him before Virus could, but everywhere he turned or the direction he ran in, it all looked the same. Darkness stretched as far as the eye could see, making the world look like eternal night; as strands code and data streamed through the sky. Crystalline-like shards hovered in the air, gathering the streaming data within glowing spheres at various points, both in the air and platforms, to be distributed elsewhere in Cyber Space. To him it looked like rivers and flying ribbons that twisted this way and that above and below the main floor he ran on. The platforms and floors that were scattered in all ranges were transparent like colored glass; held within them were chains of binary code that moved rapidly to send commands to keep the place together. Lines of circuitry and the pulses of light that carried information and instructions back and forth between each other gave it it all a dreamy, ethereal glow. It was all that lit his way as he ran and jumped onto platforms in search of his friend. From where he ran, Cry could see towers of light, the vortexes of data that stabbed through the blanket of black that made the sky.

Its otherworldly beauty would have made him stare in awe and appealed to him more if he wasn't in such a hurry to find the kidnapped blonde. "PEWDIE!" He shouted out, leaping over another gap between a floating platform and a stretch of floor. The brunet didn't keep himself quiet, he didn't care who or what heard him besides the Swede. There wasn't a point, he was invited by the virus after all so he already knew he was there anyway. "Jesus Christ, how big is this place?" the gamer griped, ignoring the branching paths as he continued to race on. He deadpanned at the question and resisted the urge to facepalm. "Pretty fucking big considering this is the internet." He scolded himself for asking a stupid question but dropped it in favor of calling the Swedish gamer's name again. He slowed down to catch his breath, looking around in hopes of spotting Pewdie somewhere close by. "Come on, where are you buddy? Can't possibly be anywhere else in this place."

"Are you absolutely certain of that, friend?"

Cry spun around in surprise and looked around warily. Only one person scared him with his own voice from the audio corruption and god how much he hated hearing it. Leaning against the side of a pillar that had ribbons of data flowing to and from it was Virus, but was looking out into the darkness were distant vortexes stood. The masked YouTuber watched him suspiciously but noticed that the virus seemed to have this peaceful air about him. "This place holds a serene beauty, doesn't it?"

The question caught the young man off guard. So much so, he could only stare at him with a brow raised. "What?" he finally asked, confused by the situation. Since when did his viral counterpart give a damn about scenery?

Not looking away from where he stood, Virus gestured out to the horizon. Keeping his brow raised, Cry cautiously turned to look at where the virus pointed, taking in the scene. Lights streaked and flashed through the sky, making their way to the vortex that looked like a cyclone of green, blue and white ribbon, the glow of the circuitry illuminated the lower levels and distance like city lights. Though the lights and circuitry pulsed to follow a rhythm of music only they knew of, it was an amazing sight and did hold a unique tranquility all its own. Cry didn't want to admit it but Virus was right.

"Wow," The gamer breathed, watching the lights dance everywhere they went. Being caught up by the sight and keeping his guard up, Cry never noticed the proud look or soft smile that crossed Virus' face for a split second.

"Well that's enough of that," Virus pushed away from the wall, shattering the silence and snapping Cry back to reality. He turned back to him, puzzled by the changing of tones and waiting for a second for his brain to switch gears. The air around Virus was no longer peaceful but back being cold and malicious behind a fake smile. "You're not here for the backdrop anyway." He grinned at Cry, hands in the pockets of the hoodie, "Besides, you didn't answer my question... are you certain that Pewdie is here? At least close enough to where you are?"

"He better be," The brunet growled, suddenly feeling tricked and didn't want to be trapped by the virus that stood before him. He sighed at the annoyed look the copy gave him. "I know what you mean, damnit. The internet is like a giant pool, while we enter the same pool, we still come in from two different of many points since we're on opposite sides of the planet."

"Give the boy a prize." The double clapped his hands mockingly, smirking at Cry's sour reaction, "But yes, that's true, I did drag him into Cyber Space while there was a link between you two with playing a game and using Skype, but no real guarantee that he was placed here."

"Are you fucking kid-"

Virus cut him off, gesturing to the horizon again. "He could be as far as those vortexes are, probably even further than that. Or..." What Cry could see of Virus' face betrayed no expression... but it was his eyes that did. They glowed against the shadows of his hair and mask, "he could be standing right behind you..."

Cry went still at realizing the sudden presence behind him. "Wha-?!" He spun around...

*~*~*~*End Flashback*~*~*~*

And this is what I have for Chapter 4... or an extended portion of chapter 3... I have like two ways to write chapter 4 which is the way I'm doing it now... or have a flashback again extending from where chapter 3 left off but in Pewdie's POV (still 3rd person).
-----------------------------------

The gamer snapped out his memories in time to see Virus lift Pewdie up from the floor by the collar of his shirt, the rest of the lanky frame sagged in his grip. The virus's eyes glowed in apparently victory, only to jerk in surprise as Cry bull rushed him and ripped him away from the blonde. "Get the fuck away from him, damnit!" Cry snarled as both of them tumbled to the ground, letting his fists fly in a flurry of punches at the virus. The program hissed in pain and struggled, warding off blows with his forearms and firing his own punches to force the other off.

But the brunet refused to budge, taking the hits and only kept adding more of his own, his anger fueling the strength behind the blows. Catching Cry's fist, the virus' eyes glowing brightly in rage. "Get off of me!" Virus snarled, glitching out from under the gamer, leaving him there in surprise at the disruption of his brash attack. Virus re-glitched behind him and slammed his foot against Cry's back hard, earning a cry of pain before the human crumpled beneath his shoe. The virus didn't grin or soak in the fact that his target lay whimpering beneath him; he only breathed hard and growled, eyes flashing. "You don't know when to give up, do you, Cry?"

Cry only moaned and whimpered, trembling at Virus' foot pressing painfully against his back. He panted harshly as he tried to cope with the pain and grunted in response, glaring at him from the corner of his mask the sat askew on his face. Gathering his strength, the gamer pushed himself slowly up, only to feel Virus press his foot back against him, even though a strange expression crossed the virus' face. "Why even bother getting up? The more you struggle, the more painful it will be. Just lay there and accept the fact you lost."

The brunet let out a bark of a laugh as he still struggled to his hands and knees. "'Why bother getting up', you ask?" He snarked, panting and turned his head again to grin at his digital copy. "Because fuck you, that's why." The grin was short lived before another cry of pain tore through his throat as the virus growled and slammed his foot against his back again, making the American gamer collapse back against the pavement.

"Just. Accept. It. You. Lost!" Virus snapped, punctuating each word with a stomp against his creator's spine. He felt nothing for the cries and yells of pain as he stomped the YouTuber over and over for a minute. Then pressed his foot painfully against Cry's back, pressing him against the pavement, as if to crush him into the asphalt and spat his words angrily. "For the last fucking time, stay down! Pewdie's reinfection will only last a minute then I'll come for you and take control of your body."

"Fuck you, sir!"

Virus bristled, lifted his leg and brought it back down for another stomp but didn't anticipate Cry's reflexes. Even though he was crawling with pain, the brunet was quick to flip over onto his back, and braced his arms for impact as he caught the virus' stomp. "Pysch, you mother fucker!" He gave a quick grin at the program's startled expression as his hand lashed out and gripped the other's leg. His grin only grew wider as green electricity raced up his arm and jumped into the virus' body in a harsh shock.

Virus screamed, his body going ridged from pain and the electricity's paralyzing effect. The data maintaining his form jumped from the shock and his form flickered in corruption as his voice warped further and grew in volume. Cry winced in being so close to the shrieking but didn't break his grip on the virus, sending another pulse of electricity into him. The screaming pitched higher, the pain too intense for copy to maintain the background illusion and the scene from The Last of Us shattered, revealing Cyber Space once more. At last, Virus managed glitch away from Cry and hurriedly hurled himself a fair distance from both humans. He doubled over in pain, partly paralyzed as he struggled to minimize the damage done to his coding and to keep his image from twitching and flickering as badly.

Both combatants left each other alone, using the time to recuperate and regain strength as fast as they could. The two of them glared at each other from where they were, panting before Virus looked away first, closing his eyes to focus on repairing himself, trembling and twitching as electricity sparked and jumped from him. He growled at the feeling of being paralyzed and quickly used his own to try to neutralize Cry's. The gamer, on the other hand, reveled in letting his back be soothed by the coolness of the transparent floor, letting his body cope and recover from the blows. Just as he was to close his eyes to relax his body some, a shadow fell over him.

"Holy shit! What happened to you, Cry?!"

"Gaah~!" Cry screamed and jolted in place, staring up at a familiar sandy blonde that blinked quizzically at him. "Pewds?! Oh my god Pewds, are you okay?!" The Swede grimaced as he rubbed the side of his head from where he had been struck unconscious. The brunet flinched at seeing the cracked ear piece of Pewdie's iconic headset, proving just how hard Cry had struck to protect himself. The guilt of that still weighed on him.

"I'm fine, but damn you hit hard..." Pewdie answered, catching the other man's flinch then gave him a half-hearted glare, "I'm fine, really. Don't worry about it, Cry." He then grimaced again while looking over Cry's roughed up look. "You should worry about yourself, you look worse than I do. What the hell hit you? The Bro?" His face scrunched up in a comical scowl. "The barrels?"

Cry snerked at his friend's face and suppressed his giggles, "I wished. But..." He pushed aside his mirth and grasped the blonde's offered hand and pulled himself up, flicking a wrist over to the virus that stood a little ways from them. "I was actually getting my ass kicked by that asshole."

Looking in the direction the masked gamer had pointed out, Pewdie saw the viral twin of his best friend, glare at them in rage. The green electricity still sparked around him briefly before being dispersed by his own electric charge and repair system. He was not in a happy mood. "And this asshole is going to keep kicking your ass!" the virus spat, dashing forward and unfortunately for the two they were lined up nicely to both being tackled. Virus slammed shoulder against Cry's chest and kept charging; forcing the gamer to collide into the equally startled Swede and sent them both flying with a powerful shock. The two friends tumbled to the ground in a tangle, yelping in pain and shock as Virus glitched away, leaving Cry to look around wildly.

"Oh shit, where did he go?" The brunet shifted his gaze, trying to locate the digital double and avoid another attack. "Pewdie... do you see him?"

"No... but that fucking hurt." Pewdie muttered, "What the hell has Virus been eating to hit that hard?" He then happened to look up and paled at the oncoming attack, "Ah... Cry! Get off of me! Incoming!"

"What? Ahh~!" Cry glanced up, yelped and the two friends shoved each other away. They hurled themselves aside as Virus dropped down, spearing the swords into the spot on the floor they had just been on. Twisting his face in frustration, the virus ripped his weapons out, causing the glassy floor in that one area to shatter from the damage. And in that time, Cry was already on the move, bringing out his own twin swords and slashing at the virus, who smirked and dodged the attacks. "Seriously, I'm getting sick of your shit, Virus. You're not getting my body, you're not taking over my life and I sure as hell am not going to be stuck in this hell hole! Let me delete you so Pewds and I can leave!"

Virus only smirked at his counterpart, idly wondering if he should mention that one very important thing. But he figured it was much more fun to let him keep thinking he'd win against him. A flicker of movement came from his side and he reacted instantly. The virus brought one sword up to block Cry's overhead slash, catching both blades and held them back surprisingly easy. His other sword went up and he threw it at an oncoming fist. Pewdie yelped in surprise as the digital Brofist was struck then shattered as the electric sword exploded within it, corrupting the coding and causing it to fizzle out.