#96: Heroes of Old and New
Chapter 1
Rated T for swearing, lots of gore, and violence.
I do not own Code Lyoko or any character or element mentioned in this fic. This was made purely for the fanbase's enjoyment.
"Odd's vlog, day 52. No power, no heat, no water or food, and no. Way. Out. Ulrich's gone out to find more food and water, the rest of us are stuck here in the art room... as usual. Jeremy never came back and we have no word from Yumi. Gee... I hope they're okay. William and Aelita are keeping a close eye on them. There's got to be a way to the factory. I mean, they're just Xana's lackeys, but still. This is serious. Xana may have won this time. If none of us make it out alive, I just want to get everything about Xana off my back, but not now. When Ulrich comes back."
"Are you really going to tell everyone about Xana and Lyoko?" Aelita looked at Odd like he was insane.
"Only if I have to." Odd turned off his video camera. He moved to the only window and gazed out. "There's Ulrich!"
William knew the drill. He picked up the blade from the old paper cutter that broke and carefully opened the door. Nothing in sight. He met Ulrich halfway and helped him in.
Wait, wait, wait, wait... I'm getting ahead of myself. Let me start over, from the beginning.
'Twas a normal day at Kadic Academy. Sun shining, students enjoying themselves, teachers sentencing said kids to four hours of detention in the library... one of those kids was William Dunbar, who was late for geometry again. He didn't try to miss because Yumi Ishiyama was in that class, his little crush. It just kind of... happened.
"Y'know, I used to be a troublemaker like yourself, Dunbar. Always skipping class, throwing paper airplanes when the teacher wasn't looking..." Jim Morales looked up from his magazine.
"Really? You don't seem like the kind of guy to do that," William lifted his head off the desk.
"Yep, but I'd rather not talk about it."
William rolled his eyes and closed them again. Of course he'd rather not talk about it. It was Jim Morales, for Pete's sake! He didn't talk about anything about his past. Although he did offer a commando camp for anyone interested. But William Dunbar wasn't the kind of kid who wanted military training from a guy who never talked about it. No, he'd rather play Galactic Battle or ping pong in the newish rec room.
William was lost in his thoughts when he finally drifted off. Dreamt about another world, he did. Another world called Lyoko. He tried to dream about it whenever he could. He loved Lyoko. William never knew where he would end up, in the mountains, Antarctica, a forest... But this time he dreamt about this place in Lyoko he'd never seen before. It was blue and white and had this floating ball protected by two cubes in it. He knew there was something special about this place. William knew.
In this particular dream, William was standing in front of this ball, and he knew instantly that it was the core of Lyoko. How? William didn't know. All he knew was that he had to destroy it. It made him angry looking at it. He hated that core, but he loved Lyoko. So... why would he hate its very center?
"Attack!" William ordered. For some reason, this seemed so familiar. The first cube blew, leaving only one cube and the sphere. Pretty soon the second cube blew and William advanced on the sphere. He had a wild, crazy, insane, what-have-you look in his eyes as he exclaimed, "for Xana!"
Then he plunged his big sword into a target on the sphere. A smile that matched his eyes slowly spread across his lips as the whole room was lit up. "Victory!"
The farther William pushed his sword in, the brighter and hotter everything became until it was so intense that... that... William woke up.
"Wake up, Dunbar!" Jim shook his shoulders as William rubbed his eyes.
"Hmm?"
"Time to go. What were you dreamin' about, anyway?" the overweight gym teacher put his hands on his hips.
"Oh, nothing." the boy stood and gathered his books. "Just... nothing."
"You okay? You look a little shaken."
"Nah, I'm fine. Just a nightmare, is all. But it was weird, like it was real." William looked at Jim carefully. "Guess I'm just serious about dreams, huh?"
"I used to be like that, but I grew out of it." Jim ushered William out the door. "You know, some people say that dreams are memories."
Lost in his thoughts, William kept his head down and concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other, as slowly as he dared to go. Mindlessly, he arrived at the rec room, completely aware of the people looking at him. He always headed straight for the ping pong table, but this time he set his stuff down by the TV. That was when he noticed Odd Della-Robia giving him the weirdest look.
"What?"
"Nevermind."
William stared at his feet for a while, debating on telling a real Lyoko warrior about his dream or not. Oh, yes, he knew that Odd was a regular on Lyoko, and so was Yumi. He also knew how to defuse a bomb. Yep.
"Hey, William! How 'bout a round?" a girl called from the ping pong table.
"You're on!" William smiled.
That boy was a demon at ping pong. The other girl didn't see what hit her! I mean, yeah, she was good, but not good enough for William Dunbar, Kadic Pong Monster! If the ball had been flying any faster, it literally would have been on fire.
"How do you do it!"
"I... don't really know," William prepared another serve. "It just happens, I guess."
"Teach me!" the girl begged as she swung the paddle and nailed the little white ball. It flew between them and everyone was locked on their intense battle. Everyone watching knew who was going to win, but even the best get beaten sometimes.
"There's nothing I can teach you; it just takes practice." William backhanded and the paddle flung out of his hand. The window behind the girl shattered, sending glass everywhere. The boy stared wide-eyed after it, then took off running toward his room.
"DUNBAR!" Jim Morales yelled at the top of his lungs.
I don't really have anything to say other than that the title of "Pong Monster" belongs to me. So... yeah, don't use it.
BYEZ GUYZ!