BOB RETURNS

"No…!" Dot said, shaking her head. "No… it can’t be!!" she gasped as she looked at the figure before her. Her gun fell to the floor with a clatter.

"Turn off the lightsssss!!" He hissed as he closed his eyes. "It hurtssssss!!" The Creature’s voice! It was… frightening…. and distorted!

Dot was still dumbfounded, "What in the Net…? What HAPPENED to you?!!" She stared at the creature in front of her. The right side of his face was completely blackened with scars! On that same side, his hair had grown down to his shoulders. The left side of his hair and face were normal.

Despite this violent break in symmetry, the creature before her was frighteningly beautiful! Except… his eyes! His eyes were just simply frightening! They were black and gold. And, as she looked closer, they seemed to glow slightly. She shivered. His eyes were the COLDEST eyes she had ever seen!

"The lightssssssss!!" The creature hissed. He didn’t wait for her to comply. He rushed into the room, and shut off the lights.

She was alone in the dark… with.. this… creature! This creature… who bore the face of the Guardian she loved!

"Bob…!" She gasped. "What happened to you?!" She could still see part of his face from the light coming through her window. The part that still looked like Bob.

The creature looked at her, "Bob?!" He seemed confused for a moment, "Yes.. the Guardian! Part of him is here…!"

"Part of him…??!" Dot asked.

"We want your files!" Snapped the creature.

"We?!" Dot repeated.

"Show us your filesssss!! Bob knows you have an organizer with all the files on Mainframe! Give it to usssss!!" The creature hissed.

Dot’s eyes widened as a realization came to her, "NO!! You… He… merged!" she gasped, "You’ve merged with a WEB CREATURE??!"

"We are one! Yes… we are better now!" he said. "We did what we had to in order to survive!!!"

"To survive??! He merged with a WEB CREATURE to SURVIVE???!!!" Dot gasped in shock.

The creature glared at her angrily, "You did not help the Guardian when Megabyte threw him through the portal! What else was he supposed to do?!" he hissed.

"I.. I TRIED!! I couldn’t get up on time.…!" Dot began as a tear ran down her cheek. "But… to choose to merge… !!" She was interrupted by the creature.

"We did not say he CHOSE to! Your Guardian came into the Web and merged with a web creature to survive. It was not his choice… for he had no choice! But nonetheless… we are the end result!!" He said coldly. "Now.. GIVE US YOUR FILES… or we shall DELETE you.. AND your friends!"

"Bob would never do that!" Dot said.

The creature grabbed her, "We are not only BOB! We are COMBINED! The Guardian was not strong enough to dominate this body and mind. It is the web creature that is dominant. Now.. GIVE US YOUR FILES!"

"ALL RIGHT!!" Dot shouted, ".. Just… don’t hurt my friends!" Dot said.

"We will not harm your friends if you comply with usssss!" he replied.

Dot looked at the creature, and nodded. Bob was still a part of this creature.. and Bob never broke a promise. She motioned for him to follow her and turned on a small light as she headed into her study.

The creature blinked for a moment… and backed away from the light, "OFFF!! Turn it OFFF!!"

"I need to see where I’m going!!" Dot snapped.

The creature understood this, "Very well!! But… this is the only light that stays on!! It is dim enough for us to tolerate..."

They finally entered the study, and the light from the hall sneaked in through the doorway.

Dot picked up the organizer from her table, and the creature grabbed it from her. He opened it up.. and attempted to gain access.

"What are you looking for….?" Dot asked.

"Your password! What is it?!" The creature snapped as he looked at her.

"My password…? It’s…" she swallowed hard, "Guardian.." she whispered.

The creature turned back to the organizer... and stopped. "Guardian..?" he said softly. And for a moment, Dot could’ve sworn she heard the old Bob in his voice.

A memory came to him, "To mend and defend…" There was a time when he lived by that code. "Guardian…" he repeated. He turned back to the sprite. He remembered her name. ‘Dot…‘ a voice said in the back of his head.

The female sprite looked at him, and he noticed the hall light reflecting off the water on her cheeks. Where did the water come from?? ‘Tears… she’s crying.. because of me..! ‘ That voice was in his mind again.

The creature shook his head, and the voice disappeared. He quickly returned to the organizer, and began going through the files.