BOB RETURNS

Within seconds, Dot and the creature arrived at the principle office. The doors opened, revealing Phong. He took one look at the creature, and froze in his tracks. "Is that… BOB?!" he gasped.

Dot looked at the creature, then back at Phong, "Sometimes…" she replied dryly.

"Enough talk… we are WAITING!!" The creature spoke.

Phong was startled by the harsh voice, "This is bad, child… very bad..!" he whispered to Dot. "Are you sure we should do this?"

"I’m not sure of ANYTHING anymore, Phong.." Dot replied with a sigh.

Finally, they reached the main control room of the principle office… and were greeted with a startled scream from Mouse, who was at the tactical station. "OH!! Bob, honey!! What in the Net happened to ya?!"

"I told you, Mouse…aaaaaaahhhh!!" Dot shouted as the creature grabbed her.

He pulled her back against him, and held her tightly, "Give us the access… or she will be hurt!" he hissed.

Mouse pulled out the katana sword she kept in her boot, and held it out threateningly, "Now, honey.. didn’t anyone tell ya it ain’t nice to grab girls like that?! You let the girl go, and we’ll comply with ya…!"

Dot felt the creature ease his grip, "Put the sword back, Mouse…" it was Bob’s voice again!

Mouse looked at him, eyes wide, "Bob…?!"

The creature tightened his grip on Dot again, and his voice changed once more. "Put the sword away, sprite! Or your friend will be hurt… and that WOULD be a shame since we’ve grown sooooo fond of her!"

Dot felt a churning in the pit of her stomach. His words, and tone of voice, sent a cold chill down her spine. She didn’t like it. She didn’t like it one bit! "Sorry, guy.. but I HAVEN’T grown very fond of YOU!" she muttered, and tried to get away from him. As before, it was useless.

"Now… give us access..!" The creature demanded.

Phong reluctantly lead the creature and Dot to the memory vaults of the principle office.

"Open says me…" Phong said, and the door opened.

The creature went in, dragging Dot behind him. He quickly released her, and went to the consoles. He began calling up information. "Yes.. this will do fine! Now… it is time!" He punched in a few more numbers… and within microseconds, there was a reply.

"Portal opening in 10 seconds…" the automated voice said. "9… 8… 7…"

Phong looked at Dot, "I thought you said Bob had a plan!"

Dot looked frightened, "I… I thought he DID!!" She looked at the creature… but there was NO sign of Bob.

"I told you the Guardian had no plan!" The creature grabbed Dot, and headed outside. Phong, Mouse, and the others in the principle office followed.

"6… 5… 4… 3…" the auto voice continued. Outside, the creature looked up to the sky… and waited. "..2 …1… portal opened!" the auto voice finished.

A large, glowing portal began to open up in the sky… and a sudden energy vortex surrounded the creature, "WHAT IS THIS?!" he shouted.

Mouse, Phong, and the others stepped away and covered their eyes from the blinding light.

Dot watched, eyes wide. Bob had somehow managed to trick the web creature into creating a portal that pulled things OUT of Mainframe, rather then allow them IN. "NOOOOOOOO!!" She shouted, knowing that if the web creature was sucked back into the web, Bob would go with him.

It was Bob’s eyes that looked at Dot through the energy surrounding him, "This is the only way…" he said.

"NO!!" Dot shouted again. She ran towards the energy vortex, and grabbed him.

"Dot.. please! LET GO!" He shouted over the loud crackling of energy.

"I won’t.. I won’t let you go! NOT AGAIN!!" She cried. She tried to pull him out of the vortex. "I already lost you once!!"

"Dot.. STOP!! IT’S NO USE!!!" Bob shouted.

"I WON’T LET YOU GO!" She replied.

Suddenly, a loud screeching sound emerged from Bob… a hideous screech – worse then the one she heard in her apartment. From his body, a large black energy form escaped. The energy seemed to have tentacles. It was the Web Creature! The screech continued as the creature was caught up in the vortex. As the creature was pulled towards the portal, the sound faded. Finally the sound, and the creature, were gone.

The portal quickly closed, and the energy vortex disappeared. Bob was thrown forward, landing with a thump on top of Dot. He looked down at her, "Um.. er.. Sorry..!" he said, and quickly stood up. He helped Dot to her feet.

She looked at him. The right side of his face still remained the same. It was still scarred.. and his hair was still wild. "Are you… YOU?!" She asked nervously.

"Um… I THINK so…" Bob replied. "But.. I’ve got a MAJOR headache!" Dot smiled as a tear fell down her face. She quickly grabbed Bob and hugged him. "WOAH!!" Bob shouted in surprise, but soon he hugged her back.

She pulled away from him, and smiled when she saw the bright purple colour of his face. She laughed, "You’re blushing! This is the second time I’ve made you blush…!"

"What?? When was the FIRST?!" Bob asked.

"When I sang that song at…" she stopped, and her smile quickly faded as she remembered.

Bob remembered too, "Oh…" he said quietly. "Enzo’s birthday…"

Dot nodded, and closed her eyes, "I can’t believe my little brother is…" she couldn’t finish the sentence.

"This is all my fault! If I hadn’t trusted Megabyte… If I hadn’t turned my back on him at that moment… I would have BEEN here..!! I could’ve STOPPED him!" Bob said.

Dot shook her head, "No… it’s not your fault… I was the one who was supposed to protect him… it was ME!"

"Why ya’ll are actin’ like a bunch ‘o sourpusses?!" Mouse asked. "Dot, honey… I fiddled with AndrAIa and Enzo’s ICONS! They probably left with the game.. even if they DID lose, they’d still be ALIVE!"

Dot’s eyes went wide, "WHAAAAT?!!" she said, "You changed their ICONS?!"

"Why… ah thought ya knew, honey!" Mouse replied.

"NO.. I DIDN’T!!" Dot raised her voice. "YOU DIDN’T TELL ME THAT!" She grabbed Mouse’s shoulders, and shook her, "ARE YOU TELLING ME MY LITTLE BROTHER IS STILL ALIVE SOMEWHERE?!!!"

"YES!! And ease up on the Caps Lock, honey!! You’re makin’ us all deaf!" Mouse replied, and pulled away from Dot. "The little Guardian is probably just lost… and tryin’ to find his way home!"

"Mouse! YOU’RE THE BEST!!" Dot shouted happily, and hugged Mouse.

"Woah.. hey, honey! Save that for Bob!" Mouse said, and pushed Dot away. Both Bob and Dot blushed. Mouse smirked, then became serious. "Remember, though.. game time is different.. when Enzo finally DOES come home, he’ll be all grown up!"

Dot felt sad for a moment, but smiled again. At least he’d be ALIVE!! She looked up at the sky of Mainframe, "I hope you’re safe out there, little bro! Come home soon! I miss you!"

She felt a hand on her shoulder. It was Bob, "If AndrAIa’s with him, I’m SURE he’ll be ok!" he said.

Dot smiled at him, "Heh… AndrAIa’s a tough little girl …" Her face became serious again, "Thank you…" She felt relieved. Everything was going to be fine! Bob was back.. and Enzo would be back too! Now all that was left was the WAITING! And perhaps THAT would be the hardest thing of all.