It was the perfect plan.

I don't know how long I drifted through the Web, motionless; the wheels in my head still turning, circling in disbelief around why I had been booted out of my system, defeated in my conquest.

Oh, the agony; the slow, burning pain that circled around me and twisted into my bruised bones. It scorched my skin and made me cry out until my throat was hoarse, and my voice nearly gone.

I was alone in the Web; there was no one else. I suffered by myself. Every second I cursed the sprites that had damned me to this Web, until I lost count of the seconds I drifted alone.

At one point, I thought I had lost awareness. Blackness clouded my vision regularly, and soon I lost feeling. Then, one second in the unknown amount of time I had spent here, I felt something strike my back, then I settled. I was splayed out on a hard, iron surface.

Twisted, unfamiliar faces appeared above my head. They spoke in a strange, clicking language that I could not understand. Soon, they lifted me up and carried me away.

More nightmares haunted me, until I awoke in the Web Riders' base. They had taken care of me, and helped me regain my strength. They were kind to me, and I knew I should reward them. I would give them the highest ranks in my new infection.

When a Rider came to check on me, I leapt up, my energy refreshed, and infected the deformed sprite. I was surprised and pleased to find that, though my skin had been mutated, it was five times tougher, and my claws had grown fully from my knuckles. I speared the sprite with my stronger knuckles and let my infection ravage his code. When the next Rider entered, I performed the same motions.

I made my way through the base, taking all the Riders under my control and deleting a few for good measure. As the last sprite bowed to my hand, I admired my renewed power. If I had had this strength and these new skills, I would have enjoyed deleting those sprites, slowly and agonizingly — but especially Bob.

As I watched, the hand with the dark, leathery skin and jagged claws shifted and changed, until I found myself staring at a smooth, soft, pale blue hand belonging to a sprite. I tried to scream, but the surprised cry emerged in the light voice of a sprite — of Bob!

I rushed to the window and gazed aghast at my reflection. Bob stood before me, and there was no doubt it wasn't him: the silver hair, the pale skin, the Guardian uniform. What was going on here? I wondered anxiously. I had just been thinking about deleting Bob, and suddenly —

I squeezed my eyes shut. Anxiously, I cleared my mind, then filled it with thoughts of me, Megabyte. I reopened my eyes and found my own face staring back at me from the glass. I sighed in relief; but once my initial shock had faded, my mind began to coldly calculate this new discovery.

Could I have somehow developed an ability beyond my normal viral powers? From what I had just experienced, I might be able to — shift my form. I brought thoughts of Bob back to my mind, and again I was he.

Rather than change back, I studied myself in this form. I looked just like Bob, before I had shot him into the Web. The real Bob was different now — more ragged-looking, and he wore some sort of silver suit — but I was still him. I looked just like Bob.

The thought made me laugh out loud like I hadn't in a long time. Instantly, I knew what I could do with this ability. It was the perfect plan; return to Mainframe and plot my enemies' demise.

When the Web Surfr, whom I had never met before and I wasn't sure if Bob had either, appeared at the Web Riders' base, I had to act surprised and uncertain of what was going on. I had rehearsed my story with my slaves several times; and they were infected, so they acted just as I told them to. I told the Surfr that I had awoken here, in this base, with no memory of anything past the Web World War against Megabyte. He must have been too surprised to argue, and he took me with him, back to Mainframe.

On the way, the Surfr asked me if I remembered anything, if I knew who he was or anyone else he mentioned. Of course I "remembered" the other sprites in Mainframe; but I knew nothing of the one he mentioned, Daemon. As we flew towards Mainframe -- I, the perfect Trojan Horse -- I saw red lights flash past us, and I could have sworn I heard my sister's insane cackling. What a strange thing to think.

I arrived in Mainframe at just the right time, and I saw the perfect situation there. I knew that, with all the confusion going on after this Daemon person, my plan could come into action. I would insinuate myself into their lives and cause mass chaos. Once I had gained their trust, I would rip their lives away from them and regain my place as leader of Megaframe. The sprites that had pushed me into the Web would pay, and my revenge would taste sweet.

It was the perfect plan.