I do not own Code Lyoko
Code: Memory
New Order
Cameron sat cross legged on one of the Desert Sector's rocky spires. Odd and Ulrich were racing through the canyons to his left, and he watched Yumi and Aelita riding around in front of him, getting used to the Overwing. An alarmed shout caught his attention as Odd crashed the Overboard, and Cameron chuckled as the cat boy landed, "Trouble Odd?" He pushed himself off of the spire, rolling and popping to his feet as he reached the ground.
Odd pushed himself to his feet and dusted himself off, "The Overboard could use a little work." He glanced around, "By the way, where's your ride?"
Cameron shrugged, "I still have a little work to do on it. Should have it ready by tomorrow though."
Yumi and Aelita arrived as Ulrich came off of a rocky ramp, landing smoothly and coming around in an arc, "What happened Odd, you miss a step?"
Odd frowned, "I'd like to see you on an Overboard Ulrich."
The samurai shrugged, "I guess surfing isn't my thing."
Aelita shook her head and hopped off of the Overwing as it vanished, "Are you alright Odd?"
The boy shrugged, "I'm fine." He raised his voice and looked at the sky, "There's still some work to be done on the Overboard Jeremie!"
The genius' voice came drifting down from the sky, "Maybe it's the rider who needs the work Odd." There was a slight pause, "By the way, it looks like Xana has finally realized you guys are there. Something's coming your way! Hmm, strange, I can't see what it is."
The group turned, looking around for the attack. Yumi frowned, "Hey . . . do any of you recognize that?"
The rest of the group followed her gaze, and Cameron frowned, "Nope." His coin caught the light as it flipped, coming down as a seven-foot long, pointy weapon of stabbyness. Ulrich's sword came free of his sheath as Odd prepared his own weapons, and Cameron spun the Javelin, dropping into a slight crouch. Ulrich took a step forward, "On my signal."
Yumi crouched, "I'll go first."
Odd and Cameron exchanged glances, "We'll keep it busy."
The monster dropped onto a knee and held its two front legs towards them, exposing twin laser cannons. Aelita immediately turned and started to run as Jeremie directed her to a tower, and Ulrich readied his saber, "Now!"
As if it had been waiting for an invitation, the monster opened fire, blasting at the group. The lasers ran into Ulrich's sword as Yumi flipped around the creature, pulling out a fan and hurling it at the thing. For a moment, it appeared the fight was over, but then a laser blast sent the fan spinning away. Odd ran for one of the rock spires as Cameron darted forward, jumping over the monster and stabbing down at its eye. It ducked away at the last moment and clubbed him with one of its legs, sending the boy sprawling in the dust. Cameron rolled away as it began shooting at him, then pushed himself to his feet as Odd grabbed its attention from the top of his spire. It fired at the rock Odd was perched on, which quickly began to sway and fall, forcing the other three to distract the monster while the cat boy recovered from his unexpected dive. Ulrich yelped as a set of lasers hit him in the chest, sending him flying back and dissolving into virtual particles. Jeremie's voice echoed over the plain, alerting them to the virtualization of their vehicles. Odd and Yumi instantly jumped onto theirs, and Cameron jumped onto the Overwing behind Yumi, "Fly over it and I'll jump on its back!"
Yumi nodded affirmative, but was distracted just long enough for the monster to fire a concentrated blast at them, destroying the Overwing and sending its two riders tumbling to the ground. Cameron groaned and flipped to his feet, jumping to the side as the monster fired at him. His javelin spun, deflecting a couple of lasers, and he threw himself into a backflip, arching through the air and landing in a somewhat ungraceful crouch, "What is this thing made of, adamantium?" He muttered. Then he dove forward under a barrage of lasers and came up on a knee, drawing an arm back and hurling his javelin while the monster was distracted with Odd.
Cameron's weapon flew straight at the monster, just as Yumi's fan curved down in a deadly arc.
The side of Cameron's mouth rose in a smirk, Checkmate.
Then the monster ducked under Yumi's fan. and the weapons hit each other, sending both to the ground. Cameron's eyes widened as the monster blasted Odd, then caught Yumi as she was cartwheeling towards cover. He started to jump behind a rock, but a barrage of lasers slammed into his chest, and he saw little blue squares trail behind him as he flew over the desert landscape.
()()()()
Three loud hisses sounded from the scanners as the Lyoko Warriors were devirtualized. As the scanner doors opened, the three stumbled out, gasping for breath. Cameron's chest throbbed where he'd been shot as they rose to the lab, "Well . . . that was embarrassing. One monster, four of us, and we lose without even hitting it."
The doors hissed open, and the three people in the Lab looked towards them. Jeremie frowned, "You guys alright? That monster looked tough."
Cameron sighed, "No Jeremie, we let it devirtualize us because we felt like coming home and we feel fine."He smiled to take the sting out of the sarcasm as the group shared a laugh, and Cameron sat down on the Holosphere dome, "Ah well, it's been a while since things were this interesting on Lyoko. If Xana wants to mix things up for us, I say let him. It will keep things fun."
Yumi shook her head, "Your definition of 'fun' is a little different from ours, Cameron."
The boy shrugged, and Aelita stood up, "Well, fun or not, I should get back to Lyoko." She said, "If Xana is going to start changing the rules, then we need to be ready."
Jeremie glanced at the rest of the group, "Should we tell her?"
Cameron snorted and leaned back against the holosphere, "I'm not even sure why you already haven't."
Yumi and the others grinned, "Of course we should! Why keep news like that secret?"
Aelita looked from one member of the gang to another, "What? Tell me what?"
Jeremie cleared his throat and swiveled back to his computer, "Well, over the last few weeks, I've been working almost nonstop on your antivirus, as well as the vehicles. But, I've also made time to work on something else."
Odd decided to intervene before Jeremie went into Techno-babble the way he had when he'd explained it to the rest of the group,
"A superscanner, way more accurate than the last one."
Jeremie nodded, "One that will instantly detect any tower that Xana activates. And it alerts me the moment it finds one. Which means you don't have to stay on Lyoko anymore!"
Aelita's eyes went wide, "So you mean I-I'm going to live . . ."
Ulrich smiled, "Here, on Earth with us. We've already got everything set up and you're going to be enrolled in school with us."
Cameron smiled, "You'll be going as my cousin this time, so there might be a slightly higher standard than when people thought you were related to Odd. But honestly, I'm worried that you're going to raise the bar for me!"
Aelita laughed, "I'll try not to show you up."
()()()()
Jim led the way down the hallway to Aelita's room, talking nonstop about different rules of the school. Jeremie leaned back slightly as they followed at a safe distance, "Did Jim say all the same stuff when he showed you guys to your rooms?"
Odd and Cameron shared a brief laugh, "Oh totally," The brunett said, "When he showed me to your room, he was a bit more laid back, because he expected you to be able to keep me in line. But I heard him when he was showing Odd around, and man, he didn't stop talking one second." Cameron glanced at Ulrich, "Almost like he didn't expect you to know the rules Ulrich."
Ulrich shrugged, "No comment."
Jim made a sudden stop, and opened a door to his left, "And this is your room. It's not very big, but you'll like it here, uh . . ."
Aelita took the hint, "Stones. Aelita Stones. Like the rock group. I'm Cameron's cousin from Canada."
Jim raised an eyebrow and glanced back at the boy, "Okay Ms. Stones, well, breakfast is at seven am, and dinner is at seven pm. It's against the rules to be in your room between eight am and four-thirty pm. You can ask your friends, Stern, Dellarobia and Belpois about the rest of the rules." He turned towards the four boys, "That is assuming they can remember them!"
He walked out slowly, "Hopper, a word for a moment please?"
Cameron followed Jim to the end of the hallway, "Problem Jim?"
Jim jerked a thumb back towards Aelita's room, "I thought your family was all gone? Where'd she come from, and why didn't you just go to live with her?"
Cameron smiled thinly, "Thank you Jim, for the reminder. Aelita was orphaned around the same time I was, according to the letter she arrived with. Since neither of us had parents to speak of, it wasn't exactly as if either government was about to send us to live with the other's family. She's my cousin on my mother's side, since my original father's last name was Jones, but Franz had my last name changed to Hopper. Don't ask me why he didn't leave it, because I don't know. It may have to do with the fact that I was so young that I don't remember their faces, much less their names. She showed up a month or two ago with a letter from the Canadian government telling me who she was and one from her foster parents. I don't know what happened to them and frankly, I don't care. I also don't really get why it was so important that they sent her over here, but she's the only family I have and I don't plan on losing her. Any more questions? Or can I go now?"
Jim blinked twice, then stepped aside, "Uh, sure, go ahead. Does the principal know about this?"
Cameron nodded, "Of course he does, he asked me pretty much the same question when she showed up to enroll here. Now, can I go please?"
Jim waved a hand, and Cameron hurried down the hallway to help his 'cousin' unpack. He waited until he was almost to her door before he let the triumphant smirk cross his face.
Jeremie glanced over from where he was setting up the computer they'd bought her, "What did Jim want?"
Cameron waved an idle hand and set to work, "Oh not much. Mainly he wanted to know why an orphan suddenly had a cousin. I gave him the story we agreed on."
There was a thump and then a few muffled words as Jeremie tried to nod and hit his head on the bottom of Aelita's desk, "That's good. Hey Odd, could you tell me which wire I'm pulling on?"
Odd glanced at it, "The red one."
A slight sigh, "If that's all you can tell me, this is gonna take a long time."
()()()()
Eventually, they managed to finish unpacking Aelita's things, many of which were the result of a shopping trip in which Yumi and Jeremie 'borrowed' their parent's credit cards. According to Jeremie, his father had been quite willing to help out. Yumi had needed to enlist Hiroki's help, and so was now doomed to doing his homework for a month and a half. Her computer was humming on her desk, she'd borrowed a few posters from Yumi to make it look like she had a life, and while her closet was not nearly as full as Sissi's, she did have plenty of clothes to choose from. The group made their way towards the lunchroom, and Odd tried to describe the food on the menu for the day to Aelita. Cameron shook his head and tuned the hair spike out, "So, Aelita, you ready for the field trip?"
Aelita frowned slightly, "Uh, field trip? What field trip?"
Cameron chuckled, "I forgot, you haven't been around a lot." He shook his head, "The students in our grade are going on a field trip to the forest, to take a draw pictures of plants we find there. We can work solo or in pairs, and I think Jeremie wanted to work with you." He glanced sideways at her, "You might want to check with him, just in case."
Aelita turned slightly red, then her face cleared, "Who are you working with?"
Cameron laughed, "No one. I'm gonna work by myself on this one, I find that company in the forest isn't really my style." He shrugged, "Of course, if you feel like talking to someone besides Jeremie, you can come find me." He grinned, "Though from your . . . particular, feelings about him, I doubt that you'll get tired of being alone with him."
Aelita looked confused, "What do you mean?"
Cameron cleared his throat and looked away with a slight smile, "Oh, nothing."
They reached the vending machines, and the others came to a stop around them. A familiar head poked its way out of Odd's bag to sniff the world, and Odd grabbed the bag, trying to force him back in, "Kiwi! Stop wiggling around! A few more minutes and you can run around to your heart's content!"
Cameron snickered slightly, "Sure he won't run right into the road Odd?"
The boy under the spike of hair glared at him, "Kiwi isn't stupid Cameron. He knows where he shouldn't go."
"Is that why he goes into Jim's room every chance he gets?"
Odd gave a short huff and crossed his arms, looking around for the missing members of their group, "Where did Ulrich and Yumi go?"
Cameron didn't remark on the change in topic, "I don't know about Yumi, but Ulrich was right behind us a minute ago."
Aelita turned away from Jeremie to point back towards the dorms, "I think Ulrich is waiting for Yumi under the arches. Something he wanted to talk to her about?"
Cameron and Odd exchanged glances, "If Ulrich is ready to admit, then I won't stop him." Cameron said, leaning back against the wall and looking to the sky.
Odd turned towards the arches, "I'm gonna go check on them, it's almost time to go."
As he hurried off, Ms. Hertz called for order so she could take roll. Once everyone was accounted for, the class set off for the forest, amid mutters and quiet conversations. Cameron walked alongside Aelita and Jeremie, though tuned out of their fascinating conversation about tree growth. He pulled his sketchbook out and began to draw up a picture of the forest and some of the plants he knew would be within. Getting the common ones out of the way would give him more time to get to the ones that were less obvious and more difficult to find.
The class moved into the forest, and Cameron quickly lost himself among the many trails branching through the trees. He could still catch occasional glimpses through the trees of the other students, but for the most part he was alone.
Eventually, he found himself sketching a picture of a white flower he hadn't seen in the forest before. He snapped a picture of the flower in the clearing for proof, then stood, adding a finishing touch to the shading on one of the leaves. His book snapped shut in his hand, and he glanced around, spotting a flash of pink a few yards away through the trees.
Aelita gasped and spun as his hand fell onto her shoulder, and Cameron grinned, "Sorry to startle you. Where's Jeremie?"
Aelita cleared her throat and smiled, "Oh, he had to run back and grab his computer. Not much point in having a superscan if it isn't with him to alert him."
Cameron nodded, "Of course." He glanced to the notebook in her hand, "Did you guys get a lot of drawings done?"
Aelita nodded, "Oh yeah. I think we might have the high score, to be honest. We ran out of room in the sketchbook."
Cameron raised an eyebrow, "Well then I'd better get to work. Can't have my cousin outdo me on her first day can I?" They shared a brief laugh as he started for the edge of the trail, "See ya."
Aelita gave a small wave, "See you."
()()()()
A few minutes later, a shrill scream resulted in a long, dark mark being scratched across the picture Cameron was currently working on. His head snapped towards the source, and he was on his feet and moving towards it in a heartbeat. He almost tripped as he came out onto the crossroads, and he noticed Aelita's sketchbook lying abandoned on the ground. His eyes darted around, catching a glimpse of pink between the trees, and he sprinted after it, ducking under branches and (occasionally) spitting out leaves when one caught him in the face.
When he finally caught up to Aelita, she was standing as if frozen, outside of a house that he knew very well. Aelita moved towards the Hermitage gate as if in a trance, and he hurried to catch her arm, "Aelita? Aelita!" He shook her arm hard, forcing her to turn and look at him.
Aelita blinked, "Cameron? What are you doing here?" She glanced around, "And where is here?"
Cameron frowned, "Firstly, what happened to you? I heard you scream, and then you ran hard to get here. What happened?"
Aelita shook her head, "I . . . I thought I saw a wolf, and then it was chasing me, so I ran."
Cameron frowned, "Wolves don't live in this park Aelita. Whatever you saw, it was probably just a result of Xana's virus." He put his hands on her shoulders, "This isn't Lyoko. You're safe here."
Aelita closed her eyes and took a deep breath, then let it out slowly. Her eyes flicked back open and she smiled, "Thank you Cameron." She turned towards the Hermitage, "So, do you know what this house is? If the wolf that chased me here was really a figment of my imagination caused by Xana, then he wants me here for something, right?"
Cameron drew back slightly, "Well, yes, and that's exactly why we should get out of here and back to the others. We don't want to walk into a trap."
Aelita started into the house anyway, "It's strange, I feel . . . I feel like I know this house from somewhere." She turned back just in time to see the look of shock spread across Cameron's face before he hurriedly hid it beneath his normal poker face, "Cameron? Are you alright?"
Cameron nodded, "Yeah . . . yeah I'm fine. I just," sighing, he moved forwards to stand next to her at the gate, "This is my house." He pulled a key out of his pocket and unlocked the gate, leading her inside, "Alright, if Xana has something planned for us in here, then we'd best figure out what it is and get it over with quickly, then head to the factory."
He led the way up the stairs and into the house, holding the door before closing it behind her as she stepped inside after him. Aelita looked around, "This is your house? I thought you stayed in Jeremie's room?"
Cameron nodded, "I do, I only inherited the Hermitage after I arrived at Kadic. Well, I suppose I technically inherited it ten years ago, but I only found the will leaving it to me a few months back." He swept an arm towards the house, "Well? You're the one Xana wants here Aelita. Where do you want to go?"
As if in a trance, Aelita started towards the living room. The old fireplace and piano sat together on the far side of the room, and Aelita swept a finger along a bookshelf next to her, "You take pretty good care of this place, don't you?"
Cameron nodded, "Yeah. I was coming here long before I knew that it was mine, just to keep it in living conditions. Dust the place off, tidy up some, I got the water and electricity working a little after I learned it was mine, and started to really work on cleaning things up." He gestured to the room, "When I first started coming back, I was only about seven years old. You wouldn't recognize it now, things were scattered everywhere. Books, papers, bits of debris, I barely knew where to start." He sighed, "Now then, where to next?"
Aelita turned towards him and opened her mouth to speak, but instead her eyes widened and a scream tore from her lips as blackness overcame Cameron's vision.
()()()()
A hand shaking his shoulder made Cameron groan. His eyes fluttered open and a stabbing pain assaulted his head, "Wha- what's going on?"
Ulrich, Odd and Yumi gradually became clearer as his vision slowly came into focus. He sat bolt upright and looked around, "What happened? Where's Aelita?"
Odd blinked, "We were about to ask you that. We found Aelita's journal on the crossroads near yours, and Kiwi followed her scent from there. Your turn."
Cameron placed a hand against his head, "I . . . I heard Aelita scream, ran to where I'd last seen her, spotted her through the trees and followed her here. She asked about the Hermitage, and so I started to show her around. Then . . . nothing. I think she screamed again, but I was already going down."
The other three exchanged looks, then Odd helped Cameron to his feet, "Alright, well, if you know the place, do you know where she might be? Where Xana might have put her to trap us?"
A bolt of dread shot through Cameron, and he nodded, "Oh yeah, I think I know where she is." He led the way quickly downstairs, stumbling slightly on the last step. Odd caught his shoulder before he hit the ground, and Cameron's head snapped up as Ulrich and Yumi stepped past him. He and Odd followed quickly after them, and Cameron leaned against the doorframe as the two of them gingerly helped Aelita up. The pink haired girl looked at them, "No! Xana, he - It's a trap!"
Cameron felt the door start to slide forwards, and his hands wrapped around it. Odd's foot slammed against it and it pushed the blond back against the other side of the frame, "Get Aelita out!" he cried, straining against the door. Cameron heaved back on the door, trying to help Odd keep it open long enough for their friends to get out.
As Aelita crawled through the gap, the door seemed to grow heavier and push harder against them. Ulrich yanked his head back from where he'd been trying to get through as Odd gave a quick 'sorry' and fell away from the door, tumbling to the floor next to Aelita. Cameron snatched his hands away from the edge of the door as it slammed shut, then grabbed the handle with Odd and Aelita, trying to pull the door open again. A sharp click told him that it was locked, and he grudgingly drew away, "We have to go. That door isn't opening unless we return to the past." He started to move away, "I'll go and cut the power, then meet you at the factory. It should buy us some time."
Odd and Aelita nodded and headed for the nearest door while Cameron ran up the stairs, ducking under the bits of furniture and the occasional knife that Xana threw at him. He threw open a door and slipped into a closet, slamming the door behind him, then gave a yelp as a knife punched partway through the solid wood. He reached up and flipped on a light, then moved cautiously past the quivering edge of metal and opening the power panel on the wall. His hands moved among the wires, disconnecting one here, yanking one out of place there, then reached into his pocket to pull out a pocketknife. He looked down at the edged metal for a moment, then sighed, "Oh, this isn't gonna feel good."
He plucked a final wire up from where is was resting among the rest. He set the knife carefully against the rubber casing, then screwed his eyes shut and yanked the knife sharply through it. The resulting jolt of electricity was more intense than it should have been, probably thanks to Xana. Cameron was thrown to the other side of the closet, slicing his upper arm on the edge of the knife embedded in the door. A howl of pain leapt from his mouth and he clamped an arm over the wound, then pushed the door to the closet open and moved quickly to the kitchen. He snatched a towel from one of the drawers and tied it tightly around his arm, hissing as a jolt of pain lanced through his arm.
Cameron hurried quickly outside, heading around the house to the sewer passage near the back door. It was already open, and he could hear Aelita and Odd's footsteps as he hurried down the stairs. He ran after them, calling for them to wait up as he rounded a corner.
The two of them turned back towards him, and Aelita's eyes widened as she spotted the towel around his arm, "What happened?"
Cameron waved it off, "What, this? I've had worse, it's just a little cut. I should have bought some time for Ulrich and Yumi by cutting the house's power, but Xana will find a way around it sooner or later. So, we should get going, yeah?"
The others nodded, and the three of them ran for the Factory.
()()()()
Jeremie turned in the chair as the elevator doors opened, and his eyebrow rose as he took in their beleaguered state, "What happened?"
Odd raised a hand, "Cameron introduced his arm to a knife, but that's not our problem. If we don't hurry, Ulrich and Yumi are gonna end up like Dim Sum!*"
Jeremie nodded as Aelita pushed the button to descend to the scanners.
The trio descended to the Scanner room, and Odd glanced over at Cameron, "So, your vehicle, what's it like?"
Cameron smiled slightly, "You'll see in a moment. I finished it last night, so it should be ready to go." The doors hissed open and they hurried towards the scanners. Cameron stepped into one and turned to face the room as the others found their own scanners, "See you on Lyoko."
The doors closed.
Transfer.
The Scanner doors closed and the machine began to hum.
Scanner.
The interior began to glow and Cameron let his eyes fall shut as something pulled at his senses.
Virtualization!
Cameron was yanked between two points infinitely far from each other.
()()()()
Cold air assaulted Cameron as the three of them appeared over the Ice Sector, and he landed in a crouch alongside Odd as Aelita learned that she would need to take a few courses in falling and landing correctly. Cameron helped the girl to her feet, then looked to the sky, "Jeremie! Our rides ready yet?"
In a response, three wireframes appeared in front of them, and the Overwing and Overboard materialized. A moment later, Jeremie spoke, "One second Cameron, yours is taking a little longer to load."
Cameron nodded, then tapped his foot slightly. Aelita rubbed her arms and shivered, "No smells, no wind, I miss the real world already."
Cameron shrugged, "You'll get used to it Aelita. Let's just finish this up and get back home before our feet turn to popsicles."
"Cameron. Your vehicle is ready." Jeremie's voice echoed over the expanse of ice as Cameron's ride finally finished materializing.
A flat disk several inches thick hovered above the ice. Four feet in diameter, the center was a small black dot, surrounded by a wider ring of gradually lightening grey. Around the diameter of the disk was a band of red a few inches across. Cameron grinned, "Odd, Aelita, I give you; The OverRide."
Odd raised an eyebrow, "So, is it a combination of the OverBoard and OverWing then?"
Cameron frowned and his face turned slightly red, "Of course not, I didn't even see your vehicles before you guys did." He stepped onto the OverRide, and his heels clicked slightly as a magnetic pull anchored him to it, "Besides, there are some perks to designing your own vehicle that Jeremie didn't have time to load onto yours. You'll see in a bit. Now, shall we be off?"
The other two nodded, and jumped aboard their own vehicles. Aelita glanced back, "I think your vehicle looks cool Cameron, for what its worth."
Cameron smiled, "Thanks!"
()()()()
The three of them came to a stop at a icy ledge in front of the tower, and Odd peered over it for a moment. Then he dropped back down to them, "Two of the Tarantulas. No way that we can get through two of those monsters when the four of us couldn't beat one."
Cameron's lips pursed, "Which is exactly why Xana chose to leave two of them guarding the tower." He said. Then he pulled his coin out and used its edge to scratch a bit of a map on the ice. He leaned back after a moment, "Okay, so we're here, behind this ledge," he tapped a line on the map, "and we have two tarantulas over here, near the tower." He tapped a small collection of dots, "And all we have to do is distract them long enough for Aelita to get to the tower. So, any ideas? Because I've got nothing."
Aelita raised a hand, "Maybe I can lure one of them away? Lead them towards you and the two of you can ambush it?"
Cameron glanced at Odd, and the cat boy nodded, "Sound idea Aelita. One minor modification. Odd goes to ambush whichever one you lure away. If there's one left at the tower, I'll fight it. If both go after you, I'll come around from behind and hit them from there. A pretty simple flanking maneuver, but it's served armies in the past, it should work for us now."
Aelita and Odd nodded, and Odd jumped back on the OverBoard, speeding off into the distance. Aelita and Cameron watched him go, then Cameron turned to the girl, "Be careful, okay?" He grinned, "I would hate to have to tell Delmas that my cousin got devirtualized in an alternate reality and so she can't attend classes."
Aelita smiled, then nodded as she jumped onto the OverWing, "Got it." She rose above the ledge and shot towards the tower, making a smooth turn towards the edge of the plateau where Odd lay in wait for anything the could lure away.
For a moment, it appeared as though neither tarantula would go after her, but then the two monsters turned towards each other, nodded, and the one nearest Aelita began to give chase. Cameron grinned and jumped back onto the OverRide, his coin flashing in the air before falling back down in the form of an elegant bow. His quiver materialized on his back and he nocked an arrow before leaning forward slightly to command his vehicle forwards.
The tarantula noticed him quickly, sitting back on its hind legs and raising its cannons to fire at him. The OverRide responded to the slight leans Cameron made, swerving smoothly out of the path of the lasers. Cameron leaned back, ordering the disk into the air before peaking and shooting towards the ground. He raised his bow and drew the arrow back to his jaw, firing and sweeping around the Tarantula before making a quick arc back to fire a second arrow. The tarantula ducked under the shots and turned to fire at him again, forcing him to abandon a third shot to avoid losing his vehicle. He rose back into the air as the tarantula charged a pair of shots, then twisted so that the OverRide was between him and the tarantula. His hand slammed into the grey disk as the tarantula fired, "Guardian!"
His silver aura blossomed around his body before flowing down his arm and spreading out across the disk. The volley of lasers made the OverRide tilt dangerously, but it did not vanish, allowing him to regain control. Almost as soon as he had righted the disk, he grunted as a laser caught him in the chest, knocking him off of his vehicle and sending him crashing to the ground. Jeremie's voice echoed across the icy field, "Cameron, you just lost forty life points! Two more shots and you're done!"
Cameron groaned and pushed himself back to his feet, "What gives?! Xana can't have made a normal laser that powerful!"
He could almost hear Jeremie rolling his eyes, "Yeah well, he didn't expect you to fall fifty feet after getting hit. That's what cost you the extra twenty."
Cameron sighed and threw himself into the air, landing safely on the OverRide as it zoomed underneath him. His feet re-anchored themselves as he raced over the ice towards his opponent, and the grip on his bow tightened as he spotted Aelita running for the tower, "Fine then, I'll just have to see if it's working properly." His right foot pivoted, and a slight click was audible as blades popped out of the sides of the OverRide and began to spin, turning the disk into a giant saw. Cameron knelt on the vehicle as he neared the Tarantula in front of the tower, leaning from side to side to direct his vehicle's path. When he was close enough, he disengaged the magnetic lock holding him onto the OverRide and threw himself into the air, landing hard on the ice as the OverRide careened towards the Tarantula.
Cameron grinned, but his triumphant look faded when the OverRide slammed into the ground right in front of the tarantula. His mouth hung open for a moment, then, "What?! How did I miss?!" He drew another arrow and fired, diving to the side as the Tarantula returned a volley of lasers. His next arrow caught the tarantula in the chest, and the one after that slammed into one of its laser cannons, rendering it useless. Cameron blinked as he saw the Tarantula's leg blow up, "Huh. Okay, need to keep that in mind for future- Ow!"
The last word was drawn out by a second laser hitting him in the chest, knocking him on his butt and making him lose his grip on his bow. He pushed himself halfway up, then sighed as another laser raced across the ice towards him, "Hypercounter!"
The laser approached, and then froze as the world turned slightly gray. Cameron shot forward, swerving around the frozen laser as he reached for a pair of arrows, flipping them around in his hands to hold them just behind the tips. He jumped up as he neared the tarantula, then came down on its back, twisting and slamming the arrows into the target on its face. He threw himself off of the monster before it blew up, skidding to a halt as the world returned to normal.
His chest heaved as he sucked in air, and he tilted his head back, breathing out a stream of reddish-gold energy. He caught his breath and made an elegant bow, sweeping an arm towards the Tower as Aelita drew near, "Your tower awaits Princess."
Aelita smiled and hurried towards the tower, vanishing inside. A yawn escaped him and he let himself flop back onto the ice, making a snow angel. A whirring sound caught his attention and he looked over to see Odd fly up. The boy tilted his head quizzically at Cameron, "Whatcha doing?"
Cameron shrugged and went back to making his snow angel, "Waiting to go back to Earth. I'm bored already." He let loose a long sigh, "Fighting monsters is fun, but waiting just sucks."
"You have a deranged sense of 'fun' Cameron. Has anyone ever told you that?"
Cameron nodded, "Several times, over the last few weeks especially. And once or twelve times over the last couple of days in particular." He pushed himself to his feet, "Well, if Jeremie isn't going to materialize us, how about we take things into our own hands? I probably only have about ten life points left."
Odd pointed to the tower, "We can't. Aelita can't be devirtualized, and if we leave, who knows what else might happen?"
"A lot of bad things Odd." Jeremie's voice echoed over the sector, "Sorry, I was bringing Aelita in while you guys were talking. I'll materialize you now. Well, you know what I mean."
Cameron and Odd spoke in unison as Jeremie's voice rolled over Lyoko, "Return to the past now!"
()()()()
Cameron leaned against the pillar as Ms. Hertz graded Sissi's notebook. Aelita and Jeremie had outdone him by a few points to claim a hundred percent, and he was sitting in second at ninety-eight. He glanced over at where Ulrich was waiting for Yumi to finish saying goodbye to William and smirked, "So, did Ulrich spend all day spying on them again? Or did you guys actually manage to work this time?"
Odd shrugged, "Oh, we managed once I dragged him away from Yumi and William. Going back in time didn't change anything there."
Jeremie and Aelita walked up at the same time Ulrich did, and Jeremi pushed his glasses up slightly, "So, I went back to check on that house you guys found, and it seems to be back to normal. Empty, but normal."
Cameron scoffed, "I could have told you that. It's my house after all." He glanced over at Jeremie, "did I forget to mention that?"
Ulrich cleared his throat, "Well, you never showed it to us before, so of course we didn't recognize it."
Aelita glanced away, "It's so weird. The vision of the wolf that chased me there, and then when I was inside, I could hear music, like a piano. It felt . . . it felt like I had been there before, in a dream or something."
Odd leaned forward, "Not to mention the underground passage that you knew about!"
Yumi laughed, "Yet another mystery for us to solve!"
Cameron frowned slightly, "But why would it feel familiar? You've always been on Lyoko, haven't you?" He shook his head, "Whatever, like Yumi said, it's just another mystery for us to solve."
Jeremie cleared his throat and pulled a brightly wrapped package out of his bag, "By the way Aelita, this is for you. It's to keep us one step ahead of Xana." Aelita unwrapped the phone and grinned as Jeremie continued, "We thought pink would suit you."
Odd laughed, "Nice phone! It matches your hair! You'll be just like everyone else now!"
Cameron smiled slightly and leaned back against the pillar, his brow creasing in thought. What did Aelita have to do with the Hermitage? Too many coincidences were surrounding Lyoko, and her. She just happened to look exactly like Franz Hopper's daughter, she just happened to be the same age that Aelita had been when she'd disappeared, and she just happened to feel like the Hermitage was familiar. He straightened and said goodbye, heading to his room. There were a few things that he wanted to know, about Lyoko, where it came from, and how the Hoppers were tied into it.
End of Chapter One
So . . . yeah, I hope you liked it! The sequel to Code: Cameron starts now!
*For people who don't know, Dim Sum is a Cantonese food usually served with tea.
Keep Writing, Keep Rocking!
Undeadmonkey8
