Attack of the Robot Canines
A Code Lyoko story, refurbishing the awesomely-written episode "Canine Conundrum". Umbra possesses Jeremie's robot, the Kiwi-2, and turns it into a self-replicating robotic attack dog to harm the Little Gryphons.
Chapter 1—Remembering the Canine Robot
The Kiwi 2 prototype had been a failure, but Jeramie kept it to remind him every invention he made couldn't be a success. It was all part of learning. He would have to work on the initial functionality of the robot, including its ability to use logic and act much like a dog would. The box in which the robot was kept was located on a bookshelf in his room, with a label on the outside that read KIWI 2 on it just so no one would think it was an empty box, or worse, rubbish to be thrown away.
There was an alert on Jeramie's computer. XANA's sign had appeared on the monitor and ominous dark smoke emanated from it. The black tendrils crept inside of the box holding Kiwi 2 and engaged the robot within. Unlike the typical start-up mode, Kiwi 2's eyes were red, indicating that an evil force had it in its grasp. Unfortunately, none of the Warriors had caught their alerts on the communicators since they had them set to 'silent' during classes.
Chapter 2—A Sudden Disruption
Jim was teaching a rather large Pencak Silat class, demonstrating that one had to have a mind of serenity and balance while executing Silat moves. Anger would disrupt that very core of well-being and throw everything off balance. Jim himself had learned well from his master, Timothy Biggs who learned the art from a high master in Burma.
Jim often wondered about his Grand Master and whether he was alive or not. The last Timothy or Jim saw of him was when they had gone to Burma to train before they were deployed in Vietnam. The Grand Master would have to be very old by now, but he had a feeling he was alive and active as ever.
Every movement, every step, Jim had recalled as if it were yesterday and he was meeting his best friend for the first time. As he watched the students practice, he corrected them if their stances were exact or if they seemed to be moving aggressively. He hoped one day he could enter one or more of these students in the upcoming Malaysian Pencat Tournament, though it would cost Kadic quite a bit of money to participate. Even if that dream never came to fruition, simply having a martial arts course available to students gave him pleasure.
Yumi and Ulrich were late to Pencak class and found that Kiwi, or rather, Kiwi 2 was operational.
"I thought Kiwi 2 had been shut down after it had all those problems and bugs to be worked out of it.", Ulrich mentioned to Yumi.
"So did I…", she thought. Suddenly, the robot sprang up from the grass and leapt toward her arm, snarling, fangs sharp as daggers. Before the robot could bite her, Ulrich executed an expert kick to the robot's metal body, sending him flying.
"Come on, we can't look back…Kiwi 2's under XANA's control now.", Ulrich said, taking his girlfriend's hand and leading her inside of the gym.
"Why are you two so late ? I was worried you were sick.", Jim said, reprovingly.
"Sorry, Jim.", Yumi stated, apologetically bowing. There was a strange noise outside that concerned Jim and his stomach felt like it was knotting. Something didn't feel right, and he wasn't certain of what it was or why he felt the way he did.
"Keep practicing everyone, I'll be watching.", he said, opening the doors and seeing Kiwi 2s replicating rapidly.
"XANA…", he thought, eyebrows furrowing. He would have to protect his students with the help of the Warriors presently taking his class. Fortunately for him, he had an extra student in his class. Frieda, Sissi's Icelandic pen-pal, had come all the way from her affluent school just to take Pencak at Kadic. Kadic was one of the few academies that actually offered a martial art, and she wasn't about to let her athletic talents go to waste.
Chapter 3—Battles on Both Planes
XANA, still under Umbra's command, had been ordered to take possession of Jeremie's robotic prototype and make it into a self-replicating robotic attack dog to injure the children. He felt terrible for having to submit to Umbra's control again, but he couldn't help himself. He had become vulnerable after becoming overconfident and Umbra found a mechanism he could use like an on/off switch in his mind. With this option, Umbra could use XANA to whatever means necessary. This plan was flawless, unless the Warriors found a way to destroy the switch for good. But seeing that the Warriors had no knowledge of this switch within XANA's psyche, it seemed that XANA was beyond help.
XANA could temporarily disable Umbra's control momentarily and knew that the key could be found within a certain song. What song exactly, wasn't known at the time, but at least he knew the hold Umbra held on him wasn't permanent. It wasn't known when he would 'go rogue' on the team but at least for the time being, he could try to help them disable the vicious Kiwi 2 units rampaging about the school.
Jeramie had called half of the team to Lyoko and soon they had summoned themselves there through the translating ability of the communicators. They had been upgraded thanks to Susanne's updated technology and Jeramie's suggestions. Once "Warrior Team Alpha" met up with XANA they still weren't certain they could trust him or not, but Emily was doing her best to start searching for the musical key that would dismantle the toggle in XANA's mind for good. Thus far, she wasn't having any luck. She searched through Puccini, Bartok, Bach, Mozart, Handel, Wagner, Pachabel, Brahms, on down the line she went. She looked through modern composers and every genre of music available, but didn't cease in her search. The others fought Umbra's creatures while she continued looking for the symphony that would free XANA for good this time.
On Earth, Sissi and the others, though transformed, were having difficulty holding back the modified Kiwi 2 units. Not only did they seem to adapt and reassemble after being destroyed. Many of the robots developed lasers that were shot from the eyes in quick sequence. These lasers were deadly and could result in mass destruction of everything in their path. Jim, taking command, did his best to hold off what robots he could with the help of the other Warriors. Hiroki, following the advice of his beloved Millie, kept going in the opposite direction, away from danger. What they didn't realize was robots were beginning to surround the grounds of Kadic and were becoming harder and harder to destroy, despite the Warriors' best efforts.
Chapter 4—Phoenix Rising
Aelita finally came up with an answer that made perfect sense. When her mother had protected her so many times against XANA while he was a puppet of Umbra, she had seen her mother take the form of a Phoenix. She then recalled Stravinsky's Firebird Suite, which Franz had played many times on the CD player during their dinners and how he likened it to Antea, his loving, beautiful wife and bride. She was exactly like that firebird, resilient, majestic, mysterious, strikingly stunning and ethereal.
"Emily, it's the Firebird Suite ! That's the key ! Search for that now ! We're so close to a tower, too…", Aelita said, as she soared rapidly to sanctuary and Emily executed the search successfully. Suddenly, the symphony was played through speakers in Emily's belt and XANA heard the melody. Instantly, he shut his eyes and was lost in the ecstasy that was Stravinsky. Freed forever from Umbra's hold, XANA turned against his master and fought back. Once he realized he had the same abilities as the other Warriors, he knew that Umbra had no grasp on him. He too was protected by Queen Antea, who somehow had been reborn through the music of Stravinsky.
On Earth…
A sharp shriek had been heard as soon as the steel doors to the gym had been cut in half by the alpha robot. Jim continued holding them off with lightning attacks, which seemed to do greater good with other elemental attacks combined with it. The dogs continued repairing themselves the team couldn't possibly hold them back. Although they were getting attacked and the others, who thought they would be safer taking ladders to escape the dogs, the menacing mechanical destroyers appeared to have the ability to defy gravity and meet the children right where they were most vulnerable. Before the robots could fire their lasers, there was a sudden burst of light and a wash of indescribable warmth. And then, as if nothing happened, all was quiet, and all but the Warriors hadn't forgot what had happened. The rest of the children went about their activities, without missing a beat.
Chapter 5—Relaxing After the Battle
Not only did Aelita get to have family restored into her life, but XANA finally had his freedom restored. Lyoko was still under the thumb of Umbra but with XANA's Shadow powers perhaps the Warriors held the promise that Umbra would be defeated for good this time. The answers lay mingled in the winds of hope of the future, but for the time being, the Warriors had a positive feeling that somehow everything would work out for the good of all parties involved, even if the road toward peace would be paved with grief and pain.
Epilogue
It had been a long, tiring day, and after cooling down in Jim's class, the group went out to enjoy the evening sunset and the dazzling colors of the leaves. Kiwi, Kumquat and Obelisk were walked by their owners, for the most part, minding their owners. Obelisk was the type to be sidetracked by other dogs but Jim quickly was able to gently remind him to stay nearby. Obelisk happily obeyed, following along with the others. They walked casually along the track around Kadic's field. Before long the evening had closed in and everyone said their goodbyes. They would see each other in the days ahead, but they would never forget the experiences they had shared and the little moments that made life worthwhile. These would sustain them in the final battle to come against Umbra, but despite their deepest, darkest fears, they would be bound together by their friendship and the fact that nothing would ever separate them.
The End