I'm so excited! I have recently discovered that, as of January of this year, the makers of Code: Lyoko have been broadcasting a fifth season/sequel entitled Code Lyoko Evolution. The good news is that this discovery has rekindled my desire to write an awesome Code Lyoko fanfic. The bad news is that while I have not seen any episodes yet, I do not feel confident that I can create an awesome plot that can match it; but that doesn't mean I'm not going to try! And this time, I'll be getting it right. Bear in mind, this will be a lower priority than my other upcoming fanfics, so it will be awhile before you see anything.
In order to give you an idea of what my new Lyoko fanfic will be like, I will address one of the several mistakes I made in New Lyoko. I realize now that I was trying too hard to give the kids flashy super-powers based on their subconscious. Code Lyoko is all about technology and computer programming, and the powers I had created somehow moved the story away from that. It also lessened the importance of Jeremy, who is, after all, the heart and soul of the team. From now on, Jeremy will personally design all of the team's special powers. I will also favor a more "quantity over quality" approach and create a wide, versatile array of special abilities rather than just a few that are needlessly overpowered.
To give you an idea of what the warriors' new special-abilities will be like, here is a hypothetical excerpt from my story:
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"Alright everybody, raise your left arm so that the palm-side is facing you at eye level," Jeremy instructed. When everyone did so, a layer of transparent film covered their arms, displaying several unique icons.
"Alright, this is kind of cool," said Odd.
"It's a new program I created. I call it the Holster," said Jeremy. "With this, I won't have to pre-program your special-powers into your virtual forms. Now I can simply upload and remove them in a matter of seconds while you guys are on Lyoko. Right now, they can only hold a maximum of two or three, but with time, I should be able to increase that number.
"Now, to use your new powers, simply touch the corresponding icon on your Holster. Ulrich, in addition to your old Super Sprint, I've given you two more powers called Mega Blade and Iron Mode. Try them out."
Ulrich tapped an icon that looked like a knife blade. Immediately, his swords began to glow red. When he swung one of them experimentally, it grew to approximately ten meters in length, slicing a boulder in half before returning to normal.
"Sweet," Ulrich whispered, returning his swords to his belt. "What does the other one do?"
Tapping an icon resembling an octagon-shaped piece of metal, Ulrich's entire body was covered in a thin layer of metal. Punching a boulder experimentally, he shattered it with ease.
"OK, now that's totally awesome!" he said.
"I know, right?" said Jeremy. "Now Yumi, I've given you two powers called Binding and Shrink. Go ahead and try them."
Touching an icon shaped like a knot, Yumi's right hand began to glow blue. Holding her arm out straight, Yumi began to concentrate; a blue bolt of light shot from the palm of her hand, hitting William square in the chest. Immediately, several ropes made of blue light formed and wrapped themselves around William, tightly restraining his arms and legs.
"Hey! What gives," William cried. Teetering back and forth for a moment, he fell flat on his back, struggling futilely against his bonds.
Yumi chuckled. "Nice, what else can I do?"
Touching an icon shaped like a miniature human figure inside a slightly larger one, Yumi's hand started sparkling this time. Aiming her palm at William again, Yumi fired a stream of glittering lights that covered him from head to toe. Both William and his bindings then shrunk down until he was about the size of a mouse. After a moment of stunned silence, Ulrich burst out laughing. Soon everyone joined in, unable to control themselves as the miniaturized and still bound William raged helplessly.
"Oh yeah, real funny you guys," William shouted, his voice taking on a high-pitched tone like so many a cartoon character in the same predicament as him. "Fix this right now!"
"Okay, okay, how do I do that, Jeremy?" Yumi asked between chuckles.
"Just say 'Delete,' and name the power you want to reverse," said Jeremy.
"Delete: Binding and Minimization," said Yumi. Instantly, William returned to his regular size and his bindings disappeared.
"So what can I do?" Odd asked eagerly. Touching an icon shaped like an eye, his eyes began to glow like a pair of flashlights. "Whoa, I can see through everything!" he exclaimed, turning his head left and right.
"I call that power X-Ray Vision, of course" said Jeremy.
"Sweet," said Odd, grinning. Turning to Yumi, his grin grew wider, and he began to make a weird laugh. Yumi looked confused for a moment before her expression turned angry. Drawing back her fist, she delivered a vicious upper-cut to Odd's jaw that sent him flying three feet into the air before landing hard on his back.
"Odd, you just lost two Life Points, what happened?" said Jeremy.
"Don't ask," Odd said weakly, rubbing his jaw. Yumi simply fumed, refusing to even look at him.
"So how about me?" asked William as he wrung his hands. Ulrich could tell he was dying to try his new power out right away, but was sticking to his promise not to act without permission.
"William, for you, I've created Blaze Wave and Devastation," said Jeremy. "Go ahead and try them."
Touching an icon shaped like a flame, William's hands began to glow orange. Thrusting them forward, he unleashed a stream of fire which melted several rocks in less than ten seconds. Grinning, William touched his second icon. At first, it seemed like nothing happened, until Ulrich realized that William's sword was emitting a faint humming sound; when William drew his sword, its blade split in two straight down the middle, the tips curving in on each other. An electric spark surged between them, growing into a small ball of light. Swinging his sword, William launched the sphere into the air. Everyone watched as it sailed away before falling quietly to the ground.
"Well that was a whole lot of…" Ulrich started, but he was interrupted by a massive explosion that knocked everyone off their feet. When they got back up, they saw a large crater where a stretch of ground used to be.
"That was freaking awesome!" Odd cheered. "William, did you see what you just…William?"
For some strange reason, William was still lying on the ground, his body seemingly frozen in the throwing position from before. At first Ulrich thought he was just faking, but after some poking and prodding and even a little kicking with no response, he started to worry. "Jeremy, I think something's wrong with William, he won't move or talk or anything."
"Don't worry," said Jeremy. "He just used up all of his digital charge is all."
"Sorry, his what?" asked Yumi.
"That's right, I never told you guys about that did I? A digital charge is basically what allows your virtual bodies to function. Think of it like how your physical bodies require energy in order to survive, except instead of needed to consume food for fuel, your virtual bodies simply absorb and convert energy from your environment. It's a bit like how plants use sunlight to produce their own food. Anyways, all your abilities are powered by your digital charge as well. It's just that they were never strong enough to require a significant amount until now. Unfortunately, it seems that William's new powers consume so much digital charge that performing two attacks so close together has drained him dry, effectively paralyzing him. He should be ok in a minute."
Indeed, William was already beginning to stir, his movements slow and stiff at first, but rapidly gaining in mobility.
"I guess I'm going to have to be careful with that," rubbing the back of his head.
"We all will," said Yumi. "It'd be a disaster if any of us froze up like that in the middle of a battle."
"You've got that right," said Jeremy. "Which is why, once I bring you guys back, I want to show you my latest creation-the Battle Dome!"
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That's all for now folks! I hope this wets your appetites for great fanfics. It will be a while before I start working on this story in earnest, as I am currently working on another big story, so I hope all of you will be patient with me. Keep on reading!