A.N: So, you guys may have noticed that this is a second version of The Lyoko Superheroes. This is because I didn't like how the first one was going, and therefore this is a revamp of that first story. Enjoy!
Sceaux, France_
01:25_
It was a quiet night.
Darkness enveloped the city, save for the pinpricks of light breaking through where the street lamps and cars were. The Specialist tapped on his cuff, and the black metal became backlit with a blue screen.
"Artificial Intelligence, scan the city," he whispered.
A white line started to slowly scroll down the screen, going over the darker blue squares that represented buildings. Only four dots of light showed up, coloured purple, green, yellow and cyan. The Specialist allowed himself a grin. No villains had popped up or attacked anything yet, and his partners were all patrolling their respective areas. He thought about it for a second and checked the purple light again.
Just as expected, the Cat was hanging around a 24-hour convenience store. He slapped himself mentally. Where else would that black hole of a person be?
The Specialist shook his head and tapped a rhythm on the screen. The screen immediately was filled with three circles - purple, green and yellow - and a text box saying 'calling' appeared.
The green circle was the first to become a live feed of the represented person. A face framed with a yellow headband and brown hair appeared in its place, eyes hooded and mouth set in a line. It quickly followed by the purple circle, which showed a face with amber eyes and spiked hair.
"What's up?" The teenager who was represented by the green circle had a deadpan voice, and his face matched it perfectly - hidden behind a yellow mask as it was. Specialist nearly sighed - Warrior was always like this on his patrol. He would act like himself in the morning.
"Nothing, just checking up on all of you."
"No need to check up on us, Einstein!" came a chirpy voice from the boy with spiked hair and a full-face mask.
"Cat, you're just at 7-11. You've been there for the past five minutes," Specialist replied. "You're lucky nothing's happening tonight."
"'Nothing' seems to include Aphrodite," the Warrior commented, his eyes darting to the left where the yellow circle still had a loading screen. Specialist let out his sigh, and Cat just shrugged.
"She's always like that," Cat commented. "She should change her name to Sleeping Beauty - oh, wait."
The loading screen finally disappeared, and in it's place appeared a teenage girl with a gold mask. Her eyes were hooded as well, though the cause was probably not the lack of sleep. Knowing her, Warrior thought. Definitely not.
"Everything okay?" Specialist asked.
"Yeah, everything's fine." Aphrodite rolled her eyes, and her stance seemed to change such that she was leaning on her left. "Nothing's happening, can we go back now?"
"Not for a few more minutes," came the reply - Warrior wondered how the Specialist could be patient with the self-proclaimed goddess. "Aphrodite, you do know that we have to complete at least ten rounds before letting the others do their job."
A huff was her comeback, and Cat fought the urge to let out a more haughty one.
"We'll check the place again," Warrior said.
"Good."
"One more check, and then we hit the hay!" Cat proclaimed cheerfully. The Specialist grinned and tapped the 'end call' button, causing the screen to blank out once more. Then, he waved over the cuff, which switched off the screen altogether. He made his helmet's visor reflective by tapping its side, and strode down the street.
His steps made little noise, despite the heavy-looking black boots. The wire-like details on his suit were not glowing at the moment for it would make him the brightest target in the entire city. The city had gotten even quieter. It was that time of the night when nothing moved, when nothing was on the roads except for the few odd people. The thirteenth hour, he thought.
Footsteps suddenly broke through the fog of silence. The Specialist's eyes widened in surprise, but he quickly ran down an alley to the source's left. Darkness cloaked him, and he pressed up against the corner in-between a dead end and a wall. The footsteps got louder. The steps came one after another at a fast pace, but the heavy steps suggested confidence. The Specialist's eyes narrowed. His head tilted up and he breathed through his mouth.
Louder steps.
Suddenly, he saw a tall, gangly man run past, accompanied by a animatronic of a curious design. Both were in white and dark grey, a target-like symbol on their heads. The man was fast, but the spider-like machine was quicker. His screen lit up, though darker than before, and text appeared on the screen.
Tarantula detected.
3 Megatanks detected.
Unknown person detected.
The Specialist nearly screamed. This was the fourth time that this group had bypassed his sensor's 15 metre radius of warning. He settled for gritting his teeth instead. He made a motion to step out of the alley, with all intentions of following the monster and the human. However, a larger and heavier sound made him retreat back into the alley. It definitely wasn't footsteps - the sound was similar to a never-ending construction drill. Megatanks, the Specialist realised. And at least three of them. The mission that the man was on must be a deal. After the rolling went past, he waited for twenty seconds and stalked out of the alley, keeping to the walls. He tapped his cuff thrice, and a small light on the side blinked red three times.
His partners' cuffs had the same red light blink thrice immediately after.
The Specialist followed the group down many roads, many of them less well-travelled than the usual. He sneaked through alleyways, hid behind walls and one time had to lie flat on the floor to avoid being detected. Then they stopped, and the Specialist squeezed behind a decorative wall. He checked the artificial intelligence, confirming that he was hidden. The cuff was tapped twice, causing the other cuffs to blink red once. The man sat down on a box and waited. He raised his hand to stroke the Tarantula's head when it started to fidget. The Megatanks were just standing, and waiting with the man. Nothing happened for the next minute, and the Specialist was just beginning to think that the man merely wanted fresh air.
Suddenly, a boy dressed in pure white ran in, followed by a lady in a ombre pink-to-blue flowing dress and translucent sleeves. Both wore white ballet slippers and a necklace with a dark blue crystal. The lady quickly caught up to her charge, and she put her hands on his shoulders to stop him. The boy started to whine, but she put a finger to his lips. The man stood up, and the Tarantula's head perked up as well.
"Is this the Eye?" the man harshly whispered. He looked down at the boy, his arms crossing and eyebrows narrowing. The lady rolled her eyes, lifting her right hand in a fist. It bobbed up and down, and she put it back on the boy's shoulder. The boy did not seem to be affected by the man - he didn't even flinch when the man looked over him with a dangerous glint in his eyes.
The boy wasn't scared, the Specialist thought. Either that, or he didn't know what was going on.
"Good. Scyphozoa, are you following?"
The woman merely leaned against the wall. Somehow, although she was a head shorter than the man, she managed to glare down at him. The man stepped back a little, but quickly went back to his original position.
"Come with me."
He turned and went into an alley, the monsters following closely behind. The woman tapped the boy's shoulder and made a walking motion with her hand. The boy nodded, grabbed said hand, and ran down the alleyway after their contact. The only thing that he saw was a flash of white, and they were gone.
Then someone tapped him on the shoulder.
The Specialist spun around, leaning back on the balls of his feet. His hand lit up with electricity, and he went in for a right hook. The hand hit nothing, and he spun around again only to duck to avoid an elbow to the face.
"Thought ya could get 'ta spy, huh?" The man sneered, his voice scraping.
The Specialist's fists clenched, and electricity burst out from his gloves.
"We don't need to fight," he said, his helmet distorting his voice far beyond recognition. "Just tell me what that was, and I'll leave you alone." The Specialist shifted to his right, towards the main road.
"As if."
The man launched himself at Specialist, who quickly rolled away. His artificial intelligence launched into a description of the villain in his visor. Hands that produced heat, huh?
Specialist quickly drew out a tranquilliser from his right pocket. He dodged to the left as a kick came at his face. Quickly, he drew his left fist back and punched the man in his face. The man flew back. His face was contorting into unnatural expressions. Specialist quickly jabbed the tranquilliser in his neck, and injected it. The man struggled for a few seconds, then fell asleep.
"Nice work," Warrior commented. The Specialist turned around to see his partners walking into the street.
"Aw, none for me?" Cat grinned. "Jeez, we know you're improving, but you don't have to deprive me of this!"
"There's only one person, empty-head," Aphrodite scoffed.
"Can-" The Specialist rubbed his eyes. "Can you guys just carry him to the nearest police station? His group's up to something again."
"Sure thing, boss!" Cat held his hand up to his forehead and saluted the Specialist. He even went as far as to click his heels together. The Specialist's hand went from rubbing his eyes to pinching the bridge of his nose.
"Cat," he sighed. "I'm not the boss."
"Yeah, it's not like you put together the damned group or anything."
Kadic Academy, Sceaux, France_
15:30_
"GET YOUR KADIC NEWS HERE!"
Ulrich and Jeremie quickly moved away from their spot near Milly and Tamiya, who were parading the school newspaper around. Odd's face lit up, and he got up to join the crowd. He came back quickly enough, and sat down beside his friends. The newspaper was flipped open, and Odd quickly scanned through the newspaper. "Ah, here it is!"
"What is it now, Odd?" Ulrich asked, lifting an eyebrow in amusement.
"Something Sissi dear would kill me for," he grinned. "You know that one time she sent in a picture of me tangled in that wire? I think that was last month."
Jeremie looked up from his laptop, glancing at Odd. He went back to his laptop for a short while before realising what Odd had said. His head shot up to face Odd again, and was met with the proudest face he had ever seen.
"Odd." Jeremie's voice was low, but the other boy didn't react to that except by widening his eyes and smiling like a newborn baby.
"Yes?"
"Odd, what did you do?"
"Oh, you know. Nothing."
Odd grinned even wider when he saw Jeremie's "I'm not taking that bullshit" face.
"I may have sent in a picture of her stuck in that tree a few months back. Bird poop and all."
"...ODD!"
The boy started chuckling, and avoided a half-hearted attempt at a hit from Jeremie. Ulrich looked between the two, holding in his laughter. He looked around, looking for the principal's daughter, but to no avail. However, he did see many people laughing over the last page of the newspaper, where the picture just so happened to be. Then, he saw a flash of pink from the corner of his eye.
"Here comes trouble," Ulrich commented. He quickly smothered the laughter and the grin that was forming on his face. No one really wanted to face Sissi's wrath, although it seemed very likely that Odd would have to do that sooner or later.
Sissi Delmas was, as usual, flanked by Herve and Nicholas. Her eyes roamed quickly over the crowds, and she grinned when she spotted Ulrich. The boy noticed this, and he retreated further into the bench. Sissi didn't seem to mind. She waved her hand at Herve and Nicholas before heading straight for the boys' bench. Herve and Nicholas looked at each other, shrugged, and made a beeline for the newspaper.
"Hi, Ulrich dear~" Sissi's voice was high and sweet, but at the same time Ulrich detected a hint of squeaking that he found annoying.
"Hey, Sissi," Ulrich replied.
"What's up with the newspaper today? Those two brats don't have good enough material for a decent article - ever since I left it's become so much worse!"
Ulrich merely shrugged his shoulders in response. Odd's face took on a poker face - a good one, thanks to years of card games with his sisters - and Jeremie didn't respond. While Sissi could be nice at times, most of the time she was unbearable. Ulrich had known her in kindergarten, and she had been way nicer back then. It was literally the only reason why she was in their group of friends now.
She's changed a lot since then, Ulrich thought. Popularity must've gotten her badly.
"Oh, nothing much," Odd said, a shit-eating grin on his face. "There's something about us in there, though."
"Maybe a menu with a cold main dish," Jeremie muttered. He was smiling a little, but he was hunched forward and his eyes were glued to his screen.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Sissi asked, her eyebrows raised. Her eyes fell over the copy in Odd's hands, now closed. "Give me that!"
She snatched the newspaper from him, ignoring Odd's sudden burst of snickering. Quickly, she flipped through the newspaper.
"Wait a minute - WHO PUT THIS HERE?" Sissi looked around quickly. She stalked off towards Milly and Tamiya. Odd's snickering died down as he slowly got up.
"Ulrich, cover me."
Ulrich scowled, thinking of Sissi's rage on him. "Hell no."
"Awww, please?"
"...if you keep Kiwi away from my desk for a week, and if you give me ten bucks if he still gets onto it."
"Deal!" Odd fist-bumped Ulrich. He sprinted off towards the dorm rooms just as Sissi came back towards them. "Ulrich, darling-"
"Don't call me 'darling', Sissi," Ulrich growled. He was going to shout at her, but he decided that it would be too rude, even for Sissi Delmas.
"Ulrich," Sissi amended, though she still looked like a tomato, "Do you happen to know who sent that picture in?"
Ulrich hesitated, glancing to his left and then at Jeremie. "No, didn't Milly tell you?"
Sissi huffed, flipping her fringe away from her face. "She didn't even hint at it! 'Breach of contract', my foot! Although the superhero story was very interesting..."
Jeremie looked like he was glaring at his screen, Ulrich noticed. He typed in some more letters (codes, Ulrich assumed) and nearly slammed down the 'enter' key. His back then straightened, and his foot stopped tapping. Jeremie closed the laptop. After telling the two that he was going back to his dorm, he stood up and marched back towards the dormitory block.
This would've left Ulrich alone with Sissi, but he was thankfully saved by the beeping of his watch. "Uh, hey, I'll have to go now."
"Don't you want to talk some more? About yesterday night's attack?" Sissi asked.
"Uh, I would," Ulrich said, feeling slightly bad for his former friend. "But I need to go off to practice."
Sissi rolled her eyes, and placed her hand on his shoulder. "I can train with you."
Ulrich brushed off her hand as he got up to leave. "You'll need another partner, Sissi. You know there's already two in the group."
Then, he ran off towards the gym as fast as his legs could take him. He missed his suit, and he wanted to use his super-sprint ability so badly.
Oh well. You win some, you lose some.
Ulrich loved the gym. It was where he could take out his anger, his stress, and most importantly, his adrenaline from his nightly patrols. It was also where he could stay away from most of his friends if he wanted some solitude. The gym during practice time was not exactly a perfect time for him to mull over his thoughts, but it was definitely where he could get said thoughts together and to actually work.
He was early. Mr. Morales, or Jim, wasn't there yet, and neither was his sparring partner. Honestly, he was looking forward to seeing her, but even she was not ten minutes early at the very least. She was, at the most, five minutes early. He groaned when he realised what he was thinking about. It was bad enough thinking about this person during patrols. He didn't want to let it get into his everyday life. Admittedly, he did practice everyday, but it would have been a little too much for thoughts like that to invade his mind, would it? He slapped his forehead and headed towards the skipping ropes to warm up.
A few minutes later - Ulrich assumed it to be eight minutes later - he heard the door open as he was kicking the punching bag from the ceiling. He paid the entrance no mind, and went in for a roundhouse kick. The sound echoed around the gym, and it was music to his ears.
"Hey, you're early," came a girl's voice.
Never mind the sound of a perfect roundhouse kick, Yumi's voice was even better than that. He shook his head to clear that thought, and turned to face his sparring partner. As usual, she was dressed in a hoodie and trackpants, and Ulrich wondered once more how she didn't melt in the sweltering heat. Then again, she didn't attend Kadic full-time, so she might have had enjoyed the air-conditioning back at her house.
"Yeah, well," he replied, shrugging his shoulders. "Sissi was bothering me again, and the others left me alone to deal with her."
Yumi grinned at the thought of Ulrich having to 'suffer' through Sissi's constant rambling. She knew that he was not a patient person, and that Sissi's tendency for long speeched would have bored him to death. "That'd suck."
"Indeed."
Ulrich Stern smiled, and he felt himself relax once more.