CODE: X.A.N.A
Code:
X.A.N.A
Chapter One
3 Months Later...
Midnight,
Kadic College. In one of the dorms a computer turns itself on. A red
eye
appears on the screen. It disappears and is replaced by black
mist tendrils that ooze out of the screen.
Slowly they move into
the room. Two beds, both occupied, lie before them.
They veer
left, zeroing in on the sleeping form. The person moves a little in
their sleep, dreaming. Carefully, cautiously, the tendrils encircle
her, so that it look like a insect in a cocoon. The cocoon swirled
with motion, rippled then dissolved.
On the bed the sleeper
murmured softly, then became quit again.
"So
this is a 'Cafe'" Aelita said as she and Jeremy walking in.
"Do
humans always come to places like this?" she asked, sitting down
at the table.
"Sure" Jeremy replied, sitting down
opposite her. "Here you can just relax and enjoy people's
company."
"So I see" she said, looking to one of
the window tables. Jeremy looked as well, and smiled. Ulrich and Yumi
were sitting there, sharing a drink and staring into each others
eyes, holding hands and smiling.
They had finally admitted their
love for each other and had been dating solid for the last month
now.
Yumi saw them and waved. "Hey guys, why don't you come
join us?"
She moved over and sat down next to Ulrich. Jeremy
and Aelita came over and sat down next to them.
"Having a
nice trip to Earth so far, Aelita?" Yumi asked.
"Yes,
Jeremy's been showing my some of the city today. I didn't know so
many people could live together in one spot".
As the girls
chatted about stuff, Jeremy asked Ulrich were Odd was.
"Didn't
you know?" Ulrich asked. Jeremy shook his head.
"He's
been going out with this girl for the last few weeks. He's really
serious about her."
"Odd? Our Odd?" Jeremy said,
amazed. "Wasn't he still going out with Sam?"
"No,
he broke up with her a while ago. Then he started dating almost all
the girls in school. Or tried too."
"Hey, that reminds
me" Yumi said. "He said he was going to bring her to the
cafe today so we could meet her."
The cafe door's bell rang
and they heard Odd say "Hey guys, I'm here!".
They all
look over to the door and their mouths dropped open.
"Her?"
Yumi gasped.
"Oh boy" said Ulrich.
"Who is she,
Jeremy?" Aelita asked, staring wide eyed at the familiar
face.
Jeremy gulped.
"It's Taliea"
Chapter 2
Aelita
stared at Taliea.
Taliea stared at Aelita.
Everyone else just
looked at both of them.
"You remember Taliea, right?"
Odd said, breaking the silence. Pointing from left to right he
introduced her to the rest of them. "Taliea, meet Yumi, Ulrich,
Jeremy and
Aelita."
She was still staring at Aelita, eyes
wide in shock. "You look like me" they both said.
"Uh
Odd, we need to talk!" Jeremy said, grabbing his arm. As he and
Ulrich pulled him away Odd said "Get better acquainted, Ladies!
We'll be right back!".
They pulled him to the counter and sat
him on one of the seats.
"What were you thinking Odd!"
Jeremy asked angrily.
"What? What's the problem?" Odd
asked innocently.
"You knew how much she looks like Aelita.
Didn't you once think about what would happen if they met?"
"It
did cross my mind once, but I didn't think there'd be any worries"
he said sheepishly.
"That's right! You didn't think-"
"That's
enough Jeremy" Ulrich said, grabbing his shoulder. "Calm
down before you say something you'll regret."
"You're
right. Sorry Odd" Jeremy said.
"Apology accepted"
Odd, putting his arm around Jeremy's shoulder. "Besides, what's
the worst thing that could have happened? They would disappear just
from being in the same room?" he smirked.
They walked back to
the table, then stopped in shock. Yumi was sitting alone, Aelita and
Taliea gone.
"Yumi! Where's Aelita?" Jeremy asked, his
face white with fear.
"And Taliea? Don't tell she's
disappeared into thin air!" Odd moaned.
"Not too worry
guys" Yumi smiled, "They just went into the bathroom for a
minute"
"We're back!" Taliea and Aelita said as
they walked up to the table.
"It's amazing Jeremy! We even
have the same black dot on our -" Aelita began.
"Ahem!"
Taliea coughed, blushing slightly.
They all sat back down and
within minutes were talking and drinking like friends.
"See
Jeremy?" Odd said, nudging him. "Nothing to worry about
right?"
Chapter 3
They
spent most of the day in the cafe, and by the time they left the sun
was already going down. "Time for me to go home" Yumi said.
"I'll walk you home" Ulrich said. Hand in hand they
walked away.
"Don't get back to late!" Odd teased.
Ulrich
shot at him.
Laughing, Odd put his arm around Taliea. "See
back at school Jeremy" he said.
"Yeah, I just need to
take Aelita 'home'" he said.
The two girls hugged. "See
you soon?" Taliea asked. "Sure" Aelita smiled.
She
and Jeremy walked away, heading towards the factory.
"C'mon.
We don't want to worry Jim" Odd said, starting for the
college.
"Thanks for introducing me to your friends Odd. They
were really nice, especially Aelita. I can't believe how much we look
alike" she said.
"Hey, maybe you guys can pretend your
twins or something and scare Sissi!"
"Oh Odd!"
Neither
one of them saw the shadow of someone spying on them pull back into
the alleyway.
Kadic
College. The same dorm as before. The computer switched on again, the
red eye glowing on the screen. The red light it cast centred on the
bed on the left.
The figure sat up, the light too diffused to
allow their features to be seen.
"All is going as planned.
Soon all will be yours, master" the figure whispered.
With a
click the light shut off and the person fell back, fast asleep.
Chapter 4
"No,
no, no Odd!" Jeremy said angrily. "But why?" Odd
asked.
They were in the factory's computer room. Jeremy was busy
working on the anti-virus program for Aelita when Odd had asked him
the question.
"Why! Odd, did you think about it at all?
About what could happen if two Aelita's were in Lyoko?"
"Ah,
come on Jeremy, Taliea just looks like Aelita. They're not twins or
anything."
"The super calculator might not think so"
Jeremy said.
Odd snorted and stood up. "I can't believe. I'm
just asking for one day, and you won't even allow that. Some friend
you are."
"Now hold on-" Jeremy started when Aelita
popped up on the screen.
"Do I have a say in this?" she
asked. "Uh, of course Aelita" Jeremy said.
"I'd
like Taliea to come to Lyoko, Jeremy. The anti-virus will be ready
tomorrow, so let her come here for one day, since we'll be
deactivating it at the end of tomorrow."
"But your so
alike in appearance. Won't that cause a problem?" Jeremy asked
concerned. "Not if you reprogram the super calculator slightly.
Don't worry, I'll help." Jeremy looked at Odd and Aelita's
determined faces, sighed and said:
"All right, I give. She
can go"
"Yeah! Thanks Aelita, Jeremy. Oh, this is going
to be so great!" Odd shouted, heading for the elevator. "I
hope so" Jeremy muttered to himself.
Odd
ran out of the factory, fairly bouncing with joy. He made his way
back to the school and up to his dorm room. "Oh yeah!" he
shouted, bursting into the room.
"ODD!" Yumi and Ulrich
cried out, pulling apart from their kiss.
"Oops" Odd
said. "Knock next time" Ulrich said. "Yeah yeah"
Odd said, smiling again. He started dancing around the room,
completely ignoring them.
"I take it Jeremy said yes?"
Ulrich asked, grinning at Odd. Odd just grinned back and kept on
doing his victory dance.
Yumi stood up, kissed Ulrich once more
and headed for the door. "Time I got home" she said, "Call
me tonight?". "You have to ask?" Ulrich said,
smiling.
Yumi left the room and started for the stairs when
suddenly someone called out her name. She turned around and saw a
brown haired girl running towards her.
"Can I help you?"
she asked. "Um, I, I need to talk to you. But not here, it's not
safe. Can I come to your house tomorrow?" she asked, looking
around furtively.
"Not safe? What do you mean?" Yumi
asked. "Please, I don't have time to explain. Just trust me,
please?" she asked desperately, tears in her eyes.
"Um,
OK, tomorrow my house" Yumi said. "Thanks, but please don't
tell Odd you spoke to me" she said.
"Why?" Yumi
asked, but the girl was already running away.
'Weird' Yumi
thought, and headed home.
Ulrich rang her later that night and
told her why Odd had been so happy.
"So Taliea is going to
Lyoko tomorrow, and Aelita's going to leave it? Sounds like it's
going to be a nice day tomorrow" she said, lying on her
bed.
"Yeah" Ulrich said, Odd shouts of glee still in the
background. "See you tomorrow at the factory?"
"I'll
be there. Just need to handle something first though"
"Need
my help?"
"No, it's fine. I'll be over as soon as
possible. Night Ulrich"
"Night Yumi" click
She
turned over onto her back and looked up to the ceiling.
"Will
I be OK?" she wondered, picturing the frightened girl's face
again.
Chapter 5
"Come
on already Jeremy, let's get going!" Odd said, practically
jumping up and down from excitement. "OK, OK, just let me get
all my stuff ready" Jeremy said, grabbing his disks from his
desk and putting them in his backpack.
"Next stop, Lyoko!"
Ding
dong
"Yumi, door!" Yumi's mum shouted up the
stairs.
"Coming Mom!"
Yumi walked downstairs and
opened the door.
"Um hello" the girl said. Nervously she
shifted from foot to foot, occasionally looking behind her. Yumi saw
how red her eyes were, and wondered when last the poor kid had gotten
any sleep. "Come in" Yumi said, opening the door.
At
the factory Jeremy was busy uploading the information he and Aelita
had created for Taliea's trip to Lyoko. "Everything looks OK."
he said, "I'll send you guys into Lyoko first, then join you as
soon as Yumi arrives."
"Hopefully she'll be here soon"
Ulrich said.
He, Odd and Taliea took the elevator down to the
scanners. "Oh wow" Taliea said, staring wide eyed at the
big machines. "If you think they look cool, wait till you see me
in Lyoko" Odd said. "Oh brother" Ulrich
groaned.
Taliea eyed the scanner nervously. "Are you sure
this is safe?" she asked.
Odd took her hand and said "Trust
me, nothing bad's going to happen"
She smiled at him and
climbed in. "See you there" Odd said. He and Ulrich climbed
into the other two. With a soft hiss the doors slid close.
"Transfer
Ulrich, Transfer Odd, Transfer Taliea!" Jeremy said.
Light
started flowing over them.
"Scanner Ulrich, Scanner Odd,
Scanner Taliea!"
The light started moving faster, swirling
over them.
"Virtualisation!"
"Thank
you" the girl said, taking the cup of tea from Yumi. She took a
small sip, and smiled. "This is really good." "My Mom
makes it" Yumi said.
She sat down on her bed next to the
girl. "So exactly what is it you wanted to talk to me
about?"
The sad look returned to her face, and a small tear
ran down her cheek.
"My name is Elizabeth. I was, am, Odd's
girlfriend".
"But
Odd's been going out with Taliea" Yumi said
Elizabeth shook
her head. "Not always. I met him here a while ago. It was love
at first sight. We were inseparably. Until a few weeks ago when he
suddenly just went for Taliea. I asked him why, but he never could
answer me."
"Taliea couldn't understand it either. At
first she was mad at Odd for leaving me, but now it's like it never
happened, like they've always been together.
Funny thing though,
she never liked him in the first place. I just couldn't get
it..."
Her shoulders started shaking as more tears fell.
Yumi hugged her close as her body was racked with sobs. "Better?"
she asked as Elizabeth's crying stopped.
"Yeah, thanks"
she sniffed. Yumi offered her a tissue. Elizabeth thanked her again,
blew her nose and continued.
"I just couldn't figure it out
until one night. I woke up late one night because someone was
talking. I turned around and saw Elizabeth sitting upright,
whispering while a strange red light was all around. The light was
coming from the computer and when she had stopped talking it just
disappeared and she went back to sleep."
Yumi felt a cold
chill grip her chest. "Did this red light sometimes show an
eye?"
Elizabeth nodded. "And Taliea kept talking to it
for weeks, always at night. And always about you guys"
"Thank
you" Taliea said. She, Odd, Ulrich and Aelita were in the forest
region.
She looked around amazed, Odd standing next to her,
holding her hand.
"My pleasure" he said. "I wonder
what's taking Yumi so long?" Ulrich wondered
"Yeah me
too. I don't want her to miss out on all the fun" Taliea said,
her eyes becoming xana symbols for a second.
Chapter 6
"Come
on, come on, answer Jeremy" Yumi gasped as she ran down the
street.
Her cell phone rang for a few minutes, then Jeremy picked
up.
"Yumi? Where are you? Everyone's on Lyoko except you and
me!"
"No time to explain. I'm heading for the factory
now."
She hung up and looked back. "You holding up
Elizabeth?"
"I'm fine" Elizabeth said, running
slightly behind her.
"Good. I just hope were not too late"
Yumi said.
"Hey,
what's that thing?" Taliea asked Odd. "That's a tower"
Odd said.
"Cool. Are we going to go in it?"
"Sure.
Just as soon as Einstein and Yumi get here"
"Hope they
don't take too long" Taliea said, her eyes glowing black for a
second.
"Yumi!
Finally!" Jeremy said as he heard the elevator door
opening.
"Come on, everyone's wait- Hey, whose this?" he
asked, staring at Elizabeth.
"She's a friend. Listen Jeremy,
we've got a problem. Taliea's under Xana's control.
I think she's
trying to lure all of us into trap on Lyoko."
"We've got
to warn the others" Jeremy said, reaching for his earpiece.
"No
wait!" Yumi said, grabbing his arm. "If she knows were on
to her she might spring the trap at once and hurt Ulrich, Odd and
Aelita"
"So what's the plan?" Jeremy asked.
"The
three of us will try and stop her. Since she doesn't know we know we
can get up close to her and take her out."
"All right,
but she'll have to remain out of sight until we get Taliea"
Jeremy said, nodding to Elizabeth, "Otherwise she'll realise
we're on to her"
They headed down towards the scanners.
Elizabeth stared at the machines, shaking slightly. "Hey"
Yumi said, putting her arm around her, "It's going to be
OK"
Elizabeth smiled at Yumi and climbed in. Yumi and Jeremy
climbed into theirs.
The doors closed, the scanners glowed white
for a instant, and they were gone.
On
Lyoko, Aelita suddenly sensed something. She stood up and looked
around.
"Anything wrong?" Ulrich asked. Aelita stared at
space for a few seconds then smiled. "It's Jeremy! He's here!"
she said, pointing at him and Yumi approaching.
"It's about
time" Taliea muttered under her breath.
"Come on, let's
go meet him" she said, taking Odd's her hand in her own.
"Hey
guys, sorry we took so long" Jeremy said, hugging Aelita.
"I'm
just glad your here" Aelita said. "You and me both"
Taliea thought to herself.
"Hey Ulrich" Yumi said. "Hi
Yumi, glad you could make it."
"Me too" she said.
She turned towards Odd and Taliea. "Hi you two. How've you liked
it here so far Taliea?" she asked.
"It's so amazing
here. Too bad it has to be destroyed" Taliea said.
Yumi
suddenly stumbled, falling forward. She hit Taliea and they both went
down.
"What are you doing?" Taliea shouted as Yumi
grabbed her arm and pulled it behind her back, pinning her to the
ground.
"Drop the act, we're on to you to you." Yumi
said, putting more pressure on her grip. "Let her go!" Odd
growled, lunging forward. Jeremy grabbed him from behind and dragged
him back. "Ulrich, a little help?" he said, struggling with
Odd.
"What's going on?" Aelita asked.
"Taliea
here's under Xana's control, and has been for weeks" Yumi
said.
"Ridiculous!" Odd shouted, straining against
Ulrich and Jeremy.
"Oh yeah? Tell that to her" Yumi
said, looking behind Odd.
"Odd?" Elizabeth said, walking
up to them.
"E-Elizabeth!" Odd said, staring wide eyed
at her. "What are you doing here?"
"I,I came to
help you. It's true what Yumi said Odd. I've heard her talk to that
virus thing for nights. I was so worried about you." she said,
tears forming at her eyes. She stood in front of him and put her hand
on his cheek.
"Don't you remember how we were? How you felt
about me?"
"I-I.." Odd stammered, looking into her
eyes.
A soft low laugh interrupted them. Everyone looked down at
Taliea, still underneath Yumi. She started to laugh louder, and
louder.
"What's so funny?" Yumi asked, bending her arm a
bit more.
"You" Taliea whispered. A wave of black energy
surged up around her, flinging Yumi clear off her. Taliea lay on the
ground for a few seconds, still laughing.
Slowly she started to
float up into the air, black energy crackling like flames around her.
The flames enveloped her completely, and when they disappeared she
hung in the air before them, changed. Black armour covered her
forearms, shin and chest. Dark blue shirt and leggings covered her
body. She opened her eyes, pitch black holes with white xana signs in
the center.
"Hey Odd" she said, grinning wickedly,
"Remember how you promised nothing bad was going to happen?
Well, I seem to disagree with that. Looks like your in for a world of
trouble."
Chapter 7
"Heads
up!" Taliea shouted. She pulled her arms back, cupped her palms
together. A black pearl formed between her hands. She grinned
wickedly and shot it down towards them. "Look out!" Yumi
said, grabbing Elizabeth and ducking for cover.
Everyone were
flung off their feet as the sphere struck the ground and
exploded.
Odd hit the ground hard. He sat up, coughing, a confused
look in his eyes.
"Why Taliea? Why are you doing this?"
"Oh
poor Odd" she teased, clasping her hands together. "You
still don't get it, do you. All this time I've been using you to get
what I wanted, and the best thing is, thanks to XANA, you were so
busy falling over me you didn't even realise anything was wrong until
it was too late."
"What?" Odd said, stunned.
"That's right" she smirked, "It was all fake. I was
using hormones and pheromones to make you fall in love with me.
Silly, silly boy, I would never go for someone as stupid as you,
never"
"N,no it can't be..." he muttered, looking
down at the ground.
"Don't worry, I'll put you out of your
misery" Taliea said, forming another black ball. "Leave him
alone!" Yumi shouted, throwing her fan at Taliea.
Taliea
laughed, ducking away from it and flying straight into Jeremy's black
staff.
Crack! the pole connected with her head, sending her
spinning into the ground.
"OK, that's it. No more ms. nice
girl" she snarled, teeth clenched.
"Yaaah!" she
shouted, putting both hands flat on the ground. The entire level
surged upward as a wave of energy travelled towards them. "See
ya losers!" she said. Suddenly she heard singing and watched as
a wall materialised in front of the wave, stopping it completely.
"Nice move Sister" she said.
"Good
job Aelita" Jeremy said.
"Thanks Jeremy. Are you OK?".
"Yeah, just a few bumps and bruises. I'm more worried about Odd
though" he said, looking over at his friend.
Odd was still
sitting there on his knees, staring at the ground. Ulrich and Yumi
walked up to him. "Hey Odd, are you OK?" Ulrich asked,
kneeling down next to him. Odd just sat there. "Come on Odd,
answer me!" Ulrich said, shaking him.
"Ulrich". He
looked up at Yumi. "Stop it. You can't help him"
"We
can't leave him like this" Ulrich said. Yumi shook her head.
"There's nothing you can do. But there's something she can do"
she said, looking over at Elizabeth.
Elizabeth looked at her,
confused. Yumi gave her a knowing look. Elizabeth's eyes grew wide as
she realised what Yumi meant. She nodded and walked up to Odd as Yumi
led Ulrich away. "Odd? Can you hear me?" she said, sitting
down next to him.
Odd didn't reply. "Odd it's Elizabeth. You
remember right?" she asked, touching his shoulder. Silence. "Odd
please answer me!" she said, lifting up his head.
They looked
at each other, their faces mirroring the pain and lost they had
experienced. She stared into his eyes and said "Think back Odd,
think back to when we were together. Think of all we did". Tears
started to fall down her face.
"That wasn't fake, there
wasn't any pretence. We really loved each other"
Odd stared
at her, confused, different emotions and memories clashing in
him.
"Odd please, come back to me!" she sobbed, hugging
him to her, crying in his chest. "E-liz-abeth?" She looked
up. "Odd?" He looked down at her, raised his hand and wiped
off her tears. "I remember" he said. They smiled at each
other and leaned forward to kiss.
BOOM! the wall exploded to
pieces, a large dust cloud rolling out.
Elizabeth floated in. "So
sorry to break up this touching scene, but romance really makes me
want to puke." She held her hands at her sides. A small black
sphere appeared at every finger. "You might be able to dodge
one, but lets see how you handle ten!" she shouted, preparing to
fling them.
Suddenly she stiffened and tilted her head, listening
to something.
"Rats" she growled. The pearls disappeared
from her fingertips.
"Oh well, so much for my fun. XANA can
be such a party pooper. But don't worry, here's a little parting gift
for you". She closed her eyes and sang.
The ground cracked in
a perfect circle around them. They watched in amazement as the land
behind the circle moved away, leaving a massive gap all
around.
"There, that should keep you busy" she said. She
blew them a kiss, waved and sped off into the sky.
"This is
not good" Jeremy said.
Chapter 8
Jeremie
stared out over the gap. "Well Aelita, do think you can make a
bridge to the over side for us?" he asked.
"I'll try,
but it might take some time" she said.
"Better get
started then" Jeremie said.
He turned around and headed back
to the gang.
"All right Jeremie, what's the plan?"
Ulrich asked.
"This isn't going to be easy" Jeremy said.
"Xana's made Taliea very powerful"
"Yeah, but last
time we were unprepared. This time we're ready"
"So will
she"
"Jeremy" Yumi asked, "just how exactly
did she do that stunt with the land?
I thought only Aelita could
do something like that"
"She didn't. It's all thanks to
Xana. You should actually asked what she's planning to do." "OK,
what's she going to do?" Yumi asked.
"I don't know"
Jeremy said.
"It's doesn't matter" Odd said. Ulrich,
Jeremie and Yumi looked at him.
"We know what she can do. Now
we just need to stop her"
"Are you sure your going to be
up for this?" Jeremie asked.
Odd looked at Elizabeth. "Yeah,
I'll be fine" he smiled. "It's she whose going to have to
watch it". Elizabeth smiled back at him, still holding his
hand.
"Glad to have you back Odd" Ulrich said. Odd
grinned back at him.
"Done!" Aelita said. She slumped
slightly from exhausted, the bridge spanning almost 60 feet
long.
"Great job" Jeremie said, helping her up.
"All
right gang let's go"
They
ran through the forest, heading towards the tower. Pulsations raced
out in front of them. "The activated tower is close" Ulrich
said.
"There!" Aelita said, pointing. They stopped in
their tracks, breathing hard.
In front of them loomed the tower,
the red glow visible at it's peak. And there, sitting in front of it,
eyes closed, was Taliea.
"Well, you sure took your time"
she said, eyes still closed.
"You did leave us stranded in
the middle of nowhere" Yumi said, readying her fans.
Ulrich
pulled out his sword, Odd prepared his arrows and Jeremy got his
staff.
"Yeah, that was fun" Taliea smiled. She sat
there, in a meditative pose, her eyes still closed. "Now to have
some more"
Her black void eyes snapped open, and the gang
screamed as an intense pain shot through their heads. "Oops, did
I do that?" she said, putting on an innocent look.
"You-!"
Odd snarled. He aimed and fired 3 arrows at her.
Taliea smirked,
winked at him and flew straight up.
"Miss me, miss me, now
you gotta kiss me!" she teased, laughing.
"Yahh!"
Yumi shouted, throwing a fan at her. Taliea easily dodged it, shaking
her head. Yumi smiled at her and looked behind her.
"Huh?"
Taliea looked back and saw the fan flying towards her.
"Why
you-" she said, zooming off. Yumi sent the fan after her chasing
her threw the trees. "Oh no, no!" Taliea said as the fan
got closer.
The fan hit, slicing straight threw her. Unfortunately
the other two Talieas destroyed the fan, smashing it to bits.
"What?"
Odd and Yumi said,
.
"She's
using Triplicate" Ulrich said, stunned. "Yep" The
Talieas said, launching black spheres down at the gang. "Laser
Arrows!" Odd shouted.
He destroyed the black balls and
managed to hit the other Taliea, leaving only one.
"Aw, and
just when we were getting to know each other" she sulked.
"Here,
let me put you out of your misery" Odd said, shooting at
her.
His arrows hit her dead centre, knocking her back.
She
struck the tower, energy surging up and shocking her.
She dropped
to the ground, smoking slightly. "Ow" she muttered.
"Hey
Jeremie, what happened?" Ulrich asked.
"Of course. The
tower!" Jeremie said. Everyone looked at him.
"Xana
can't get in the tower. Since Taliea's apart of him, he can't
either.
If we pulled her in, the tower will erase him out of her
completely, maybe even destroy him."
"Let's do it"
Ulrich said. They ran towards the still stunned Taliea, grabbed her
arms and pulled her towards the tower. "Hurry" Jeremy said.
He and Aelita entered first, followed by Yumi and Ulrich dragging
Taliea and then Odd and Elizabeth. "OK, now what do we do?"
Yumi asked.
"Get lost" Taliea said, shocking them with
energy. She grabbed them and tossed them out of the tower. "Raarh!"
Odd jumped at her. "Pfft!" she snorted, grabbing him with
one hand and then casually throwing him out over her shoulder,
closely followed by Elizabeth. She dusted off her hands and walked
towards Aelita and Jeremie. "Get back!" Jeremy said,
swinging his staff at her.
Taliea grabbed it and snapped it. "Good
night, hero boy" she said, knocking him out with one punch.
"Well sister," she said, turning to Aelita "It's just
you and me"
"Why do you keep calling me sister?"
Aelita asked.
"Let me show you" Taliea said, grabbing
her and flying up to the top platform.
They landed, the screen
lighting up.
"Watch" Taliea whispered, putting her hand
on the screen.
'Aelita' the screen confirmed. Aelita stared at
Taliea in wide eyed shock.
'Code X.A.N.A' the screen flashed
"Now
the fun really begins" Taliea said as the tower started shaking.
Chapter 9: Endgame p.1
"Why
do you keep calling me sister?" Aelita asked.
"Let me
show you" Taliea said, grabbing her and flying up to the top
platform.
They landed, the screen lighting up.
"Watch"
Taliea whispered, putting her hand on the screen.
'Aelita' the
screen confirmed. Aelita stared at Taliea in wide eyed shock.
'Code
X.A.N.A' the screen flashed
"Now the fun really begins"
Taliea said as the tower started shaking.
"What - what's
happening?" Aelita asked as tower interior started to change
from blue to red.
"Victory" Taliea said.
On
the outside the gang watched as the tower's glow started to intensify
until it seemed to be burning. "Well that's new" Odd
said.
"Look!" Elisabeth gasped, pointing up to the
sky.
In the air they could see lots of hazy ghostly objects
starting to materialise.
"What is that?" Yumi asked,
squinting.
"Not sure" Ulrich said.
The objects came
closer, massive square shapes with little oblong shapes floating
around them. The group gaped as they realised what they were looking
at.
Buildings, cars, people. All sucked in from the real world
into Lyoko, all frozen and under xana's control.
"Oh God no.
No!" Yumi sobbed as she saw her parents and brother float by,
they blank gazes staring out into nothing, the only movement coming
the xana symbol pulsing on their forehead. Ulrich's face went white
when he saw his.
"Odd, my mom! my dad! what's happened to
them?" Elisabeth asked, holding tight on his arm. "They're
all under Xana's control. Everyone is. But how?" Odd said,
trying hard not too cry.
"That would my doing" Taliea's
cheerful voice said.
They looked around, trying to see where her
voice was coming from.
A whistling noise drew their eyes up to the
top of the tower. Taliea floated there, a satisfied look on her face.
"Oh what's the matter? You all look so sad" she said,
making a pouting face.
"Die!" Odd roared, firing off
arrow after arrow at her. Taliea yawned as the arrows were deflected
away from her. "Oops, so sorry. I'd love to play some more with
you, but unfortunately I've got things to do, places to enslave, a
world to virtualise. Later".
She wiggled her fingers at them
and shot up into the sky.
"That b-" Odd swore, hitting
his fist against a tree.
"Odd, forget about her. We've got
bigger things to worry about" Jeremie said as he and Aelita
walked out of the tower.
"Jeremie, are you Ok?" Yumi
asked.
"Yeah, just a sore all over"
"So what's
the story Jeremie? How's Xana doing this?"
"It's not
Xana that did this. It's Taliea" Aelita said. "Somehow she
was able to access Lyoko like I do and then gave Xana full control.
It recognised her as me.
How? and why does she keep on calling me
sister?"
"I don't know. I do know that this" he
pointed at the floating scenery above him "Isn't over, not by a
long shot"
"How do you figure that? He already has the
world here, what more does he want?" Odd asked.
Jeremie shook
his head. "No Odd, this isn't the world, just our part of it.
He'll need to activate all or most of the Towers to control all the
world."
"And with Taliea able to fly so fast it won't
take to long" Ulrich said.
"Yes, but there's still one
last stop she'll have to make. The same place we have to go to get
some answers."
"Where?" Ulrich asked.
"The
Fifth Region" Aelita and Jeremie said.
Chapter 10: Endgame p.2
"And
just how do you suggest we do that?" Odd asked.
Jeremie
didn't answer. Instead he looked to Aelita.
"I, I don't know
if I can Jeremie" she said.
"Try Aelita. I think you
can. We all do" Jeremie said, holding her hand.
Aelita looked
into his eyes, then looked at the faces of her friends, seeing the
trust they all held for her. "OK" she said. Jeremie gave
her hand a reassuring squeeze then stepped back.
Aelita closed her
eyes and took a deep breath. Her face furrowed under concentration.
'Come on Aelita, you can do it' Jeremie silently thought.
Suddenly
her eyes flew open and she held her hands up. A familiar shining Orb
appeared in the sky and floated down. "You did!" Jeremie
said, hugging her.
She blushed and hugged him back.
"Good
job Aelita. Now let's get going" Odd said, climbing into the
orb.
When they were all inside the orb closed over them and
vanished.
It disappeared, and they found themselves standing deep
within the sphere of the Fifth Region. "Huh, that's strange.
Usually the walls and ceiling start moving once we get here" Odd
said.
"It's probably because of Xana's messing with the
programming of Lyoko." Jeremie said. "Come on. We need to
get to the centre of the sphere before it's too late."
In
the polar region Taliea dropped down from the sky unto the tower. She
sinked down through the roof and landed on the platform.
The
screen appeared. She placed her hand on it. "Aelita - Code Xana"
it flashed.
She walked out and watched as another part of the
world manifested into Lyoko.
"Hmm, I do believe that's the
Statue of Liberty. It's not so big" she said.
She tilted her
head and listened to something. "On it" she said.
Taliea
grinned and started to rise up into the air.
"Ready or not
sister, here I come"
"See,
I knew getting in like that was too easy!" Odd shouted over the
hail of lasers flying at them. Wave after wave of Kankrelat and
Creepers were standing between them and the central section. Odd
jumped out from behind his covering, shot a few down and ducked back.
"This is insane. How are we suppose to get past them?" he
asked.
"I don't - Aelita, what's wrong?" Jeremie
asked.
Aelita was holding her head between her hands, eyes
closed.
"It's Taliea, she's coming"
"Oh great,
just great" Odd groaned. "Now what do we do?"
Aelita
looked at Yumi. "Yumi, I think I've got a plan but I need your
help"
"Sure. What do you need?"
"Give me
your hand"
Yumi held out her hand. Aelita grabbed it, stood
up and focused.
The rest watched in amazement as every monster
rose up into the air and was crushed. Aelita let go of Yumi's hand,
breathing hard.
"How did you do that?" Yumi asked. "I,
I don't know" Aelita said.
"Who cares how she did it,
she just did. Let's go" Jeremie said.
As the gang moved out
he walked up to Aelita. "You OK?" he asked.
"Yeah,
it just took a lot out of me. But Jeremie, I don't know how I did
that. It just came to me"
"It's OK. Look, there's the
panel. All you worry about is getting that info. Leave the rest to us
OK?"
Aelita smiled at him, nodded and ran to the panel. She
accessed it and started moving through the files. "Jeremie I
think I've found something"
"What?" he asked,
walking up to the screen. He started reading, his eyes growing bigger
by the minute. "Aelita, do you know what this is?"
"Yes"
she said "these are my memories"
She pressed enter. And
remembered.
Her father and mother, both scientist working for the
government.
Their house, her room, her doll.
The vacation they
took. The walk through the forest she took.
The wolf attacking
her.
Her dad chasing it away. Too late.
Her Father, Franz
Hopper. Everything will be fine he says.
The Scanner,
bright light, Lyoko. No pain, happiness.
Xana, infected,
attacking.
Two Aelita's.
"I remember" she said.
"Well
good for you" Taliea said.
Chapter 11: Endgame pt.3
"Well,
well, well. Looks like the gang's all here" Taliea sneered as
she floated down.
She landed on the platform and grinned at
Aelita.
"Hello Sister. My, haven't you been a busy bee"
"I
am not your sister" Aelita growled, balling her fists.
"Are
you sure? We look the same, sound the same, have the same abilities.
In my book that makes us even, just like twin sisters"
"Stop
it. Leave her alone" Jeremie said, stepping up to Aelita.
"Oh
no. A hero. I'm sooo scared." Taliea snorted "Not"
Suddenly
a flash struck her in the side. Snarling she turned around.
"What
about now?" Odd asked, readying his arrows. Yumi stood on his
left, both fans unfurled, Ulrich to his right, blade held in attack
mode.
"As much as I'd like to pull you apart right now, I've
got other stuff to deal with.
However, I will leave you with some
playmates." She put her hands together.
A red glow enveloped
them. She pulled them apart and three round black orbs drifted down
in front of the three heroes.
The balls turned into black goo that
transformed into three exact copies of them.
"Big deal"
Odd said. "We've taken on shape shifters before. They're not so
tough"
"Oh?" Taliea said, feigning surprise. "And
what about now?"
Behind the clones three monsters
materialised. Behind the Odd Clone a Tarantula, behind Ulrich Clone a
Krabe and behind Yumi Clone a Megatank.
The clones turned and
became goo again, flowing over the monsters. The beast disappeared
under the black wave, melting and changing. The dark liquid reformed,
revealing the clones's new upgraded forms.
The Odd clone sported
two of the Tarantula's cannons where his hands use to be. His face
looked like the tarantula's, six eyed with no mouth.
Ulrich
clone's one arm had been replaced by the Krabe's claw while the three
main lasers could be seen on his normal forearm. Krabe armour covered
his left shoulder as well as his chest. Between his eyes a big Xana
symbol pulsed.
Yumi clone had the two black shells on her
forearms, the massive epiliptical laser eyes visible on both. Similar
black armour covered her arms and lower part of her face with one of
the outer eyes covering her one eye.
"You have fun now, and
play nice, OK?" Taliea grinned, walking towards Aelita and
Jeremie.
With
out a word the clones surged forward, aiming for their
counterparts.
"Laser Arrows!" Odd shouted, jumping
back.
"Laser Blast!" His copy said, shooting red bolts
from his cannons
The two Ulrichs battled with blades, the clone's
articulated arm proving quite capable of deflecting any of Ulrich's
lunges.
"Yah!" Yumi cried out, throwing a fan at her
double. "Right back at you" her reflection said, forming a
laser fan from the eye on her arm and throwing it at the incoming
weapon.
"Now
then, time to settle a little sibling rivalry" Taliea said,
strolling up to Jeremie and Aelita. "Aelita, get behind me"
Jeremie said, jumping in front of her.
"You know, this
heroism thing is really, really getting boring" Taliea
said.
She rushed up to him, and before he could act slapped him
off his feet.
"Jeremie!" Aelita cried out as he hit the
ground.
She started to move to him when Taliea grabbed her
arm.
"Uh uh uh. You're not going anywhere" she said,
squeezing hard.
"Aargh!" Aelita gasped, going down on
one knee.
"Oh, poor Aelita. It must be so frustrating being
so weak" Taliea said.
Aelita muttered something.
"I'm
sorry. What did you?" Taliea said in sing song voice, squeezing
a bit more.
"Let... Me... Go!" Aelita roared, eyes
glowing white. She reared up and delivered a massive uppercut to
Taliea's face. Taken by surprise Taliea was flung back.
She flew
through the air, striking the wall of the Fifth Region's dome,
cracking it.
Everyone, even the clones, stopped and stared at the
hole left in her wake.
Dust flew out in a cloud as she erupted out
of it, eyes blazing darkness.
She roared and dived at Aelita.
Aelita soared up to meet her, light streaming from her eyes. They
struck in mid air, punching, grappling, trying to beat the other
down.
Taliea threw a fast punch, but Aelita ducked under it. She
flew up behind her and grabbed in an arm lock before flying up and
out threw an opening in the roof.
The moment they were gone the
other battle started up again.
"Hey, you're not half bad"
Odd said, shooting off another volley of arrows at his clone.
"Thanks. Can't say the same about you" the clone
replied.
"Triangulate!" Ulrich said as he formed a
triangle around his double.
"Not this time" the double
grinned, and spun in a circle, shooting lasers from his forearm. He
took out the two copies, the real Ulrich diving out of trouble.
Yumi
somersaulted back, the energy fan missing her barely.
"Missed
again" she said. "Not for long" her duplicate said,
powering up another fan.
Yumi ducked away from it and landed next
to Ulrich.
"Any idea how we take them out?" Yumi
asked.
"Not yet" Ulrich said.
Chapter 12: Endgame pt.4
High above the Fifth Region sphere, among the floating people and buildings Aelita and Taliea fought. Throwing beams of darkness and light to and fro, flying at each other in head on collisions, punching, kicking. There seemed to be no end to it.
Ulrich
and Yumi stood back to back, watching as their clones came closer
step by step. "Ready to be destroyed?" Ulrich clone said,
powering up his laser cannons.
"Don't worry, we promise it'll
be painful" Yumi cloned said, forming her power fans.
"Die!"
They shouted, firing their weapons at their helpless victims.
"Now!"
Ulrich said, holding Yumi tight to him. She closed her eyes, body
glowing, and telekinetically pulled them up into the air.
"What!"
the two clones stared up in amazement. Big mistake.
With a crack
their energy blast struck each other, smashing them to bits.
Yumi
and Ulrich floated down. They landed, and Yumi pitch forward, totally
exhausted. Ulrich grabbed her and gently carried her down to the
ground.
"Rest Yumi. You did great" he said, holding her
in his arms.
"Ah, isn't that great?" Odd said, dodging
the last clone's laser bolts.
"Hold still!" Odd clone
growled, growing angrier by the minute.
Suddenly Odd tripped and
fell flat on his face.
"Hah! Got you now!" The clone
smirked, running up to finish him off, cannons charged.
"Oops"
Odd said, sweeping his leg underneath the clone's.
The clone fell
forward. Instinctively he held out his hands to stop his
fall.
Unfortunately he didn't have any. "Ugh!" he
grunted as the cannons went off, shooting him into the air. He spun
around in mid air and found himself looking into Odd laser arrow
shooter. "Laser Arrows" Odd said, shooting at point blank
range.
"Whew, these guys weren't have bad" he said,
walking up to Ulrich.
Ulrich.
"Odd!" Elizabeth ran up and hugged him fiercely.
"Oh
Odd, thank goodness you're all right" she said.
"Hey,
we're the good guys. And the good guys always win right?" He
grinned at her. "Odd, could you and Elizabeth go and see if
Jeremie's OK?" Ulrich asked.
As they walked off he looked
down at Yumi's sleeping face.
A suddenly flash of light made him
look up. The sky above him seemed like the 4th of July, blast and
explosions peppering it left and right.
"Aelita" Ulrich
said, wondering how she was doing
"Give
it up 'little' sister, you know you can't win" Taliea said,
firing a black sphere at Aelita. Aelita formed her own white one. The
two impacted, exploding.
Aelita flew thru the smoke and hit Taliea
in the stomach with a two fisted punch.
Taliea was flung back into
a nearby floating building. Aelita formed a sphere between her hands,
but before she could throw it the entire side of the building
cracked
and shattered. Taliea floated out, hair flying all around her face,
black flames flowing around her body. "Rargh!" she roared,
pointing at Aelita.
Some of the blackness shot from her, engulfing
some of the floating debris.
With a whistling sound the debris
flew at Aelita.
Taliea laughed as the concrete blocks slammed
together.
"Told ya" she said, sticking out her
tongue.
Frack! The stones cracked apart, turning into dust.
Aelita floated there as though nothing had happened, white flames
flowing around her body, hair behaving like it had a life of its
own.
"Why won't you die?" Taliea screamed. The flames
around her seemed to feed of her rage, flaring higher. She gave a
guttural roar and flew at Aelita.
Aelita's flames intensified as
well as she flew towards Taliea.
Like to blazing comets they
seemed as they rushed towards each other.
They struck, hands
clasped, jaws clenched, trying to push the other down into
submission. The dark and light around them fought as well, swirling
in and out of each other, flaring out behind them like tails.
On
the ground the gang watched the battle raging.
"Go Aelita
go, you can do it" Jeremie said.
Inside the raging bubble of
light and dark the two sisters were still locked in their grip,
neither one giving in. "Why? Why don't you give up?" Taliea
snarled, her face a mask of rage. Aelita looked her in the eyes. "For
my friends" she said, suddenly flipping backwards, her grip on
Taliea's hands dragging her forward and into Aelita's knee. "Ngh"
she grunted, her head snapping back.
"For my home"
Aelita said, hitting her on the back of her head with both
fists.
"For everyone in the world. That's why" she said,
firing a massive beam of energy at Taliea's falling form.
"NNOOO!"
Taliea screamed as the beam forced her down. With a boom she was
smashed into the ground. The gang walked to the smoking crater as
Aelita floated down. Taliea lay in the center, eyes glazed, twitching
slightly.
"Aelita, are you all right?" Jeremie
asked
Aelita looked at him and smiled. "Yes" she
said.
"So, what now?" Odd asked, his arm around
Elizabeth.
ROOAAARGH! something monstrous bellowed.
"You
had to ask" Ulrich said.
In
the centre floated the Scipiozoa. Around it appeared 3 Tarantulas, 4
hornets,
1 megatank, 2 blocks, 4 mantas, 4 creepers and 6
kankrelats.
They shattered into bits.
"Uh, what are they
doing?" Odd asked.
Before he got an answer the individual
bits and pieces started moving, floating.
They started to connect
together like pieces of puzzle, forming one huge being.
"It's
Xana" Aelita said.
Finished, the machine demon roared. It's
lower body was one long tail, made up from the creepers and mantas.
The upper part had the circle body of the megatank with the scipiozoa
in the centre, two tarantula arms ending in blocks with three krabe
legs as claws. For a head it had the three tarantulas heads merged as
one.
It turned it's gaze down, glaring at it's hated enemies. With
a muffled whoomp it fired the epiliptical cannon on it's chest in a
horizontal beam.
"Get back!" Odd shouted, pushing
Elizabeth out of harms way.
"Elizabeth, go hide in the
tunnel. We'll take care of this"
"OK. Be carefull"
she said, kissing him.
"Only if you promise me another kiss
when I get back" he grinned, running to catch up to his
friends.
"Well guys, this looks like it's going to be a dozy
of a fight" Odd said.
"Scared Odd?" Yumi
asked.
"Pfft, in your dreams" Odd said.
"Right,
so what's the plan?" Jeremie asked. "Hit him high, hit him
low?" Odd asked.
"Works for me" Ulrich said.
"I've
got one" Aelita said. She closed her eyes and held out her
hands.
A white glow flowed from her palms and covered each of
them.
"There, that should do it" she said.
"Do
what?" Odd asked. "You'll see" Aelita smiled.
"Ok
guys, ready for the fight of your lives?" Jeremie said.
"Yaaah!"
they charged forward, shadowy after-images floating behind
them.
"Laser Arrows" Odd shot off a couple of volleys at
Xana's chest.
"Wow" he said as they exploded in big
blasts of fire.
Yumi threw her fans at the Scipiozoa on Xana's
back. The beast used tentacles to bash them aside then reached out to
grab her.
"Get back!" Yumi cried out, instinctively
throwing out her hands. The tentacles shattered as her telekinesis
blew them apart.
Ulrich used triplicate and found himself with
four duplicates instead of two.
Together they attack Xana head on,
hoping to distract him and give the others a chance to find a weak
point.
"Black Beam!" Jeremie shouted, swinging his
weapon down on Xana's head.
The impact was so strong it actually
smashed his head down into the ground.
With a roar Xana
retaliated. Laser fire shot from the creepers on his tail, freeze
beams criss crossed from his hands, energy waves surged from his
chest.
The gang bobbed and weaved, dodging one blast then
another.
"Aargh!" Yumi cried out as Xana's claws wrapped
around her.
"Leave her alone!" Ulrich shouted, slicing
the clawed hand off at the wrist.
He pulled Yumi free and dragged
her away.
Odd jumped past him, peppering Xana's chest, arms and
face with explosions.
Jeremie's staff had managed to crack his
armour in several places.
Still Xana didn't stop fighting.
Odd
and Jeremie stood side by side, panting. "Ok, Aelita's telling
me it's almost time. When I say now, jump."
"Ready"
Odd said.
In front of them Xana hissed, dragging itself together
for another assault.
"Now!" Jeremie said. He and Odd
turned and ran.
Xana stood there, confused when a bright light
started to shine down on him.
He looked up and saw Aelita floating
high in the air, a giant orb hovering in front of her. She opened her
eyes and flung her hands down. The orb started moving slowly, picking
up speed bit by bit.
Xana seemed scared. With a squeal it turned,
trying to find an exit.
Aelita held him back with bursts of power.
The orb fell on Xana and everyone held theirs ears in pain as the
monster roared. They could see his silhouette through the glowing
ball until it vanished. The orb changed shape, growing oblong and
tall.
The base grew out roots, adhering to the ground. The top
flattened out, and as the glow faded the gang found themselves
staring at a tower.
It was white top to bottom, glowing a solid
blue all over.
Their heard Xana roar one more time, trapped
forever within a tower with no escape.
Code X.A.N.A: Epilogue
Aelita
and Jereme were walking down the street back to school.
After
they'd defeated Xana Aelita used the Towers to put everything back
the way it was. She also used the return trip to erase everyone's
memories of what had happened.
Well, not everyone.
"Hi
Aelita, hi Jeremie" Elizabeth waved at them, walking hand in
hand with Odd.
Aelita smiled and waved back. They walked up to the
school and met up with Ulrich and Yumi in Jeremie's room.
"I
can't believe it's over" Yumi said.
"Not quite"
Aelita said. "There's still one more thing you need to know"
and
she told them:
"My name's Aelita Hopper. My parents were
Franz and Amelia Hopper. My dad was a scientist working for the
government on Project: Carthage, the program that developed and
created Lyoko.
We moved here because of their work. Thanks to my
dad they were able to create a stable virtual environment that people
could go to. The military wanted to use it as a training ground, one
that was challenging yet safe, no injuries or death.
Xana was
created as a guardian, made to protect Lyoko against anyone who would
harm it. One day my parents and I went on a picnic in the forest.
I
decided to go exploring so I grab a beef sandwich and went off.
A
little way I ran into a wolf looking for food. I should have dropped
the sandwich and ran but I was too afraid. The wolf thought I was
keeping it away from it's food and attack.
My Dad heard my
screams and rescued me, but it was too late, even for a hospital.
So
he took me to Lyoko. Since I was virtual he was able to heal me in
one of the towers. I had to stay there until I was fully healed.
After a long time I was Ok, and it was decide that I could be
devirtualised
But then everything went wrong. Xana became out of
control, infected with a virus that warped it's protector protocol.
It began attacking everyone. The devirtualisation was interrupted
which caused Taliea to be born and me still stuck on Lyoko.
Before
I lost contact with my dad he told me to turn the super calculator
off, so I used my power and turned everything off."
"And
then we found you" Jeremie said.
"Yes. But because off
the shut down I couldn't remember anything, only my name."
"And
of course Xana got woke up. And he did remember everything"
Jeremie said.
"Well, at least it's all over now. Any one feel
like pizza to celebrate?" Odd said.
Everyone groaned and
laughed.
Aelita smiled and looked down at the picture of her
parents she had gotten from the memory file on the Fifth Region.
Meanwhile,
in a mental institute just outside the city, the latest admittance
was having a strange conversation.
"Don't worry, I'll get it
done"
"It might not be easy, but just leave everything
to me"
The patient shuffled to the window, the straight
jacket's sleeves dragging.
"I'll set you and me free soon
Xana" Taliea said, looking up at the sky.
"Soon"
--THE END--
(for now)
