Code Lyoko: The Lizard and the Scorpion
By Thunder Raptor
I was inspired to write this when the urge to write a Lyoko fanfic struck and an old idea came up of a giant monster battle in Code Lyoko. Also inspired by the episode, "Nobody in Particular"
Summary: X.A.N.A.'s latest attack is deadly. Ulrich has a truth that surprises him. Is he the only one who can stop the attack, or could it all end in mass destruction...(Oneshot)
Ulrich sat beneath a tree in the woods. He was thinking over what he had been told recently. His father had come over to the dorm and asked to speak with him alone. At first, Ulrich was terrified that his dad would yell at him about his grades; what he said had shaken him to his very core.
*****a few hours earlier*****
"You are not human." his dad said.
"What do you mean 'I'm not human'!" Ulrich demanded.
"You are not of this earth." his dad replied softly. Ulrich had shaken his head in frustration.
"I don't understand!" he cried.
"What's there to not understand," he dad replied, "You are an alien."
"Are you saying I'm some sort of probing alien?" he said, trying to restrain tears. His dad rolled his eyes.
"Where do you people get that idea where all aliens want to probe people's a..."
"Dad!" he said laughing, before remembering the situation and turning dark again."But if I'm an alien, why do I do so badly in school? Am I a dysfunctional alien or something?"
"Oh no, you are very gifted, just with what I was unsure of before last night."
"What? How?" was all Ulrich could say.
"Well," his dad said, "With our species, every so often, a child with special powers besides the normal ones: increased reflexes, speed, strength, and intelligence;" that last one made Ulrich shake his head. "Anyway, the child is usually sent off to special camps, but since our world was destroyed..."
"Our world was destroyed!" Ulrich cried, "HOW!"
His dad sighed. "It was the combined effect of a black hole and a meteor." he replied. "Anyway, since our world was destroyed, we can't send you, but we can still find out what power you have." his dad continued.
"How?" Ulrich asked.
"At some point during this time in life, the father will receive a dream about the power; it's sort of like a psychic connection."
"Interesting." Ulrich said.
"Now you sound interested." his dad said with a smirk. "But anyway, I'm here to tell you your power."
"What is it?" asked Ulrich.
"Well, it's a little tricky to understand, the native word for it has slipped my mind, but basically you have the power to enter animals, put them under your control, and modify them. Do you get it so far?"
"Uh, a little I guess." Ulrich replied.
"Here, let me put it in simpler terms: you can switch minds with other species of creatures and change their appearance, for example: you could switch minds with a jaguar and make it the size of an ant and give it bigger fangs and claws." explained his dad. Ulrich nodded with this, he got it now.
"Now I should be going." his dad suddenly said and got up and started for the door.
"Wait!" Ulrich cried, "Aren't you going to teach me how to use my power?" His dad looked at him.
"No need." and with that, his dad left. Odd entered the room as soon as his dad left.
"Well, that was certainly awkward, what did your dad say?"
"Nothing." and with that, he lie on his bed and fell asleep.
Later that night, Ulrich had gone out in the woods to practice it. He was upset that his dad hadn't told him how to use it, but decided not to make a big deal out of it. He had to focus and learn how to use this power. So he began.
First, he looked for an animal to work on. He looked and eventually found an ant hill.
"Good enough, now how do I do this." he looked and saw an ant away from the hill. He thought about being the ant. Nothing happened. He stared at the ant. Nothing happened. He held his hand out at the ant. Nothing happened. "What the hell?" he yelled, "Why won't this work!" and smashes the ant.
Suddenly, he had an idea. He looked around for another ant and saw a praying mantis. He slowly put his finger out and touched it. He focused on it and closed his eyes. When he opened them, he saw everything was much bigger. He moved and found he was very light. He looked at his hands to see they weren't hands anymore: they were mantis claws.
"Sweet." he thought. He then decided to see if he could morph the mantis' body. He thought about increasing his size. He pictured himself the size of a human. Slowly, he felt his body stretch until he was about the size of Jim. "Awesome!" But then he saw where his body had gone.
His body lay in the ground, lifeless. "Shit." he tried to say, but instead all that came out was a series of clicks. He walked over to his body, touched it, closed his eyes, and imagined being back in his original form. He opened his eyes to see him staring up at the trees. He slowly got up to see a normal mantis staring at him in the grass.
"So that's how it works." he said. He was eager to try it again, but suddenly he felt drained of energy. "Takes a lot of energy, not surprising." he muttered and walked back to his dorm.
When he got back, he found Odd petting Kiwi on his bed.
"Where the hell have you been?" Odd asked.
"Out." Ulrich replied.
"Where?"
"Just out."
"Whatever." Odd raised an eyebrow before nodding and putting Kiwi down and going to sleep. Ulrich followed suit, thinking about how much practice he had to do.
Ulrich spent all the time he could after school practicing his power. He learned that whatever damage he took while in animal form would come back to him in his normal form and that the more changes he made to the animal, the more energy he used and the more tired he would be. Plus he found that if he tried it on an empty stomach, it was a very unpleasant experience, the feeling of being hungry hit him like a wall so he always remembered to eat before he practiced.
But this truth about himself was eating at him every day. He wanted so bad to tell his friends about himself, but he knew that he couldn't. He felt they would reject him, call him a freak and abandon him. It would tear his remaining life to bits. So in order to stop this fear, he avoided the gang, especially Odd and Yumi, at all costs. They all noticed this, and Odd and Yumi, to his frustration, were the most concerned.
"Comon Ulrich, what's up with you?" Odd had asked one day in their dorm, "Ever since your dad visited you've been all weird. What's up?"
"Nothing." he had growled back and covered his ears with headphones to block out anymore questions.
Later that day, Yumi confronted him about his seclusion.
"Not now Yumi, please." he said.
"What the hell's wrong with you Ulrich!" she yelled, "Is it something we've done? What?"
"Yumi, you're making a scene." he said flatly, and sure enough, everyone was staring at them.
"I'm not done with you yet Stern." Yumi growled before walking away. He sighed as he recalled this memory.
"When was anybody done with him." he muttered to himself, now resting under a tree in the forest. He thought this over and then finally fell asleep to the sounds of nature.
In the Mountain Region, a tower begins to glow red.
In the regular world, a black mist starts emerging from an electric socket in the science room at Kadic. It crosses the room and then enters the cage of the class pet, a black scorpion. The mist enters the scorpion. The eye of X.A.N.A. appears on the scorpion's eyes. Slowly, the scorpion begins to grow...
Ulrich's phone began ringing right in the middle of his nap.
"What the hell?" he yawned. He grabbed his phone out of his pocket; it was Jeremy.
"What is it?" he said sleepily into the phone.
"WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?" Jeremy yelled at him.
"I'm in the woods, why?"
"X.A.N.A.'s attacking again."
"Shit, what's happening!"
"The scorpion that used to be our science class pet is now rampaging through the school. And did I mention it's now about the size of an elephant?"
Ulrich was silent for a second before replying. He could hear yelling and destruction on the other end. Then, an idea hit him. "Can you guys get to the factory?"
"No, that scorpion is blocking the way."
Ulrich smiled. This was his chance.
"Ulrich, what are you up to?" Jeremy asked.
"See yah later."
"Ulrich what..." that last part was cut off as Ulrich closed his phone.
"Now to find something that can beat a giant scorpion." Ulrich said and scouted the area for something to change into. He looked around as fast as he could, nothing was around, not even an ant. He swore silently and began looking more and more franticly. Suddenly, he saw a small lizard on a tree trunk. "A lizard, are you f****** serious." Ulrich growled, but it was better than nothing. He reached forward and touched it slowly with two fingers, but also pinned it down so it couldn't move. He slowly began to switch minds.
Ulrich closed his eyes and imagined becoming the lizard. He opened his eyes to see himself staring out of the small reptile's eyes. He looked around to see if his body was okay. It was lying on its back on the ground, unmoving.
"Now it's time to make some adjustments." Ulrich began imagining the lizard the size of a rhinoceros hollow spikes and large armor piercing fangs. He knew he needed the right weapons to take down a giant scorpion. Also, he shifted his pelvic joints and center of balance, allowing him to stand upright if needed. He was now ready. "Ok, time to rumble." he said and dashed off.
"What did he say Jeremy?" Yumi yelled at the blonde from behind the overturned table.
"He's going to make some kind of distraction to allow us to get to the factory." Jeremy replied.
"Our lives depend on Ulrich, what a better situation to be in." Odd joked.
"Shut up, at least it's better than you."
"Really guys, now's not the time." Aelita hissed. They all were hiding behind overturned tables in the cafeteria. The giant scorpion was rampaging outside. It had cut all the power lines, so they couldn't call for help. They now had been waiting for over 5 minutes and that scorpion wasn't going anywhere.
"I can't wait any longer!" Yumi cried after another minute passed and burst out the door.
"Yumi wait!" Jeremy yelled but it was too late.
"Hey ugly, over here!" Yumi yelled at the scorpion. It turned around at looked at her with its multiple eyes. It uses to look creepy when it was small, now it was downright horrifying mega sized. It snapped one of its pincers at her, but she dodged it. "Is that all you got!" she yelled. The scorpion quickly smashed its tail into the ground, missing her by inches. "Close one." she muttered. Yumi could see her friends out of the corner of her eye sneaking away to the factory to de-activate the tower. But she lost her focus. The scorpion slammed one of its pincers against her, sending Yumi flying.
"Yumi!" she heard people yell, but she couldn't respond. The blow had knocked the air out of her. She tried to get up, but a sudden pain in her leg stopped her. Her leg was broken. She tried to get up again, but the pain was too intense, she fell back down. The scorpion shambled towards her, snapping its pincers when suddenly a roar spit the air.
[A/N- Before you read the next section, start playing the most epic tune you know and if you don't know any, make one up. it helps with visualizing the scene]
Yumi turned to see a giant lizard, with over sized spikes and fangs slowly came out of the forest growling at the Scorpion. It suddenly stood up on two legs and roared at the scorpion. It walked over Yumi and started growling.
"What the?" Yumi wondered, was this another X.A.N.A. attack, or was it... "Ulrich?" she asked, it apparently didn't hear her. The scorpion leaped at the lizard out of the blue, the lizard easily side stepped, wheeled around and latched on to one of the scorpion's legs with its teeth and dragged it back. The scorpion hissed in pain and then yanked its leg free. It turned around and this time the lizard charged first. It leaped at the scorpion's tail, planning on ripping it off, but the scorpion caught the lizard's tail and flung it back, throwing the reptile on its back. The Scorpion brought its tail forward, and tried to land a sting, but the lizard kept swatting it away.
"Go whatever you are!" Yumi yelled at the lizard. The scorpion heard this unfortunately, and turned around and tried to stab her with one of its pincers, but the lizard dashed forward and grabbed it in its mouth. It pushed the scorpion fell back with a thud, immobilizing it temporarily. The lizard then turned around and looked directly at her. It blinked and nudged her. It looked at her with curiosity. "What?" she demanded, "It broke my leg. It's not that hard to understand." The lizard bared its teeth and hissed at her. Yumi flinched. It opened its mouth when suddenly; a loud rumble can from behind. The scorpion had gotten back up. "Look out!" she yelled at lizard. It turned around and hissed at its opponent. The scorpion swung its pincer forward and snapped it on the lizard's leg. There was a sickening crack. The lizard roared in pain. Yumi covered her ears as the roar shattered all the glass on the surrounding buildings. "The lizard, Ulrich, whatever it is, is going to lose." she thought and slowly began dragging herself to one of the buildings to get to safety. But the scorpion had other plans. With its free pincer, it snatched Yumi up with a single movement.
"Let me go!" she yelled and started banging her fists on the pincer to no avail. The lizard hearing this swiveled around and clamped down on the scorpion's head. The teeth passed clean though. The scorpion screeched in pain and dropped Yumi. "Ow!" she cried. The scorpion ignored her that time. It took its pincer and drove it into the lizard's side, almost entirely impaling it. The lizard roared in pain and dropped to the ground, letting go of the scorpion's head. Blood is pouring over the scorpion's face, but it's unfazed. It starts hitting it in the face with its pincers. It was taunting it. "Leave him alone!" Yumi cried with tears in her eyes. This reptile had saved her life, and here it was being tortured while dying. The scorpion took no notice of her and slowly backed up, readying its tail to strike.
"No!" she cried. The scorpion reared it tail high then...froze, just froze. Suddenly, the eye of X.A.N.A disappeared and it fell down, slowly shrinking back to normal size. As students and teachers rushed outside, Yumi crawled over to the giant, and rubbed its head. Suddenly, it spoke.
"Yumi..." was all it said before its eyes closed and a white light enveloped them.
[A/N- Ok you can stop listening to the epic tune now]
Ulrich's eyes shot open. He was alive. He checked his side; there was no cut. He looked at the calendar to see it was Saturday.
"I'm alive!" he yelled and accidentally woke a sleeping Odd, who fell out of bed.
"WHAT THE F*** ULRICH?" he cried.
"Sorry." he apologizes then got up and put his clothes on and headed to breakfast.
"Wait up!" he heard Odd say as he walked down the hall. He waited until the blonde caught up. As they arrived at the cafeteria, they found Yumi waiting at the entrance.
"Shit." Ulrich muttered.
"Ulrich," Yumi said in a stone-cold voice, "Can I have a word in private for a second?"
"Can this wait?"
"No."
"Fine." he said as he followed over to a bench under a tree.
"See ya." Odd said as he rushed inside.
"Thanks for the support." Ulrich growled. As he sat down, he expected to be chewed out, but suddenly, she pulled him forward and kissed him. They stayed there for a few seconds before breaking.
"That's for saving my life." Yumi cooed, and just as Ulrich could respond to her, she slapped him across the face, hard.
"OW!" he cried in pain.
"And that's for keeping a secret like that from us and scaring the shit out of me for almost dying." she said. Ulrich rubbed his cheek.
"So you figured out the lizard was me." Ulrich stated flatly.
"Yeah, so why would you keep a secret that you have the power to turning into a f****** big lizard."
"I'm sorry, it's just that I was afraid that you guys would shun me or turn me into the authorities or something." Ulrich explained.
"Why the hell would we do that? You're now an extremely valuable asset to stopping X.A.N.A, more than you were before that is, and why would we turn over our best friend?"
"Again, I'm sorry, I was just paranoid, and by the way, there's more to that ability than meets the eye." Ulrich said. Yumi sighed.
"Apology accepted," she said, "Now let's get some breakfast before Odd eats it all, and by the way, when were you planning on explaining it to the others."
"All in good time."
"You mean today." she stated.
"Eh close enough." They laughed before getting up to go to the cafeteria, only to meet a creature who in their minds, was a thousand times worse than a giant scorpion.
"Oh Ulrich dear!"
"Go away Sissy!" They both yelled.
[A/N-(again) just for clarification, Ulrich is from a star system in the Draco galaxy, his planet was struck by a meteorite and basicly slammed into a black hole. He and his parents escaped and by luck,land on earth, a safehaven for their kind. the reason Ulrich doesn't remember he's an alien is because he was too young to remeber his home.]
Please tell me what you think, and tell me if i should make a sequel. Anyway, thanks for reading, see yah!