William was sitting alone on a bench, drinking a can of soda. He just wanted to be alone for awhile. He'd kept his cell phone off so that he wouldn't be disturbed as he sulked in peace.
He was hurting, as you could plainly see as both Yumi and Ulrich had finally hooked up. It hadn't hurt at first but it must've festered over time. He hadn't met up with the group for awhile and ignored Yumi whenever they were in class together. It was like his old school all over again.
William sighed as leaned back on his bench and stared dumbly at the sky. Then someone's head blocked the sun.
"Hey, William," Leo greeted as he looked down on his fellow Lyoko Warrior. William jumped in shock as Leo backed away. Today he was wearing a yellow hoodie and black t-shirt combo with yellow Japanese writing on it. It would translate to "My strength shall make you cry!" On the back was a picture of a napkin and the Japanese words that translated to, "Wipe your tears with this".
"Leo!" William exclaimed. "You scared me."
"Didn't mean to," Leo said. He then added, "We haven't seen you around as much and you kinda ignored us all week. Care to talk about it?" William looked away.
"No," he muttered. "Now leave me alone."
Leo sighed. He wasn't going to leave William alone, fearing he would do something he'd regret. He decided to sit down next to William, who glared at him in response.
"Didn't I tell you to leave me alone?" William asked.
"Yeah, but I decided not to comply," Leo said as he unwrapped a piece of candy and popped it into his mouth. He offered some to William who waved his hand to decline. "Suit yourself." Leo started to chew, "So, tell me, why are you on your own like this?"
"None of your business," William glowered.
"It's about Yumi and Ulrich, isn't it?" Leo asked and he received a growl in response. "I thought so." William then got up.
"Why don't you butt out, huh!?" William yelled at the red haired boy before walking away with his hands in his pocket. Leo sighed. He had thought of William as a friend, along with the rest of the warriors, but it seemed that now William didn't want anything to do with them. This thing with Yumi and Ulrich was bothering him and he was in denial. That wasn't necessarily healthy.
William had purposely avoided going on missions to Lyoko. When he was called, he wouldn't turn up, and when asked he would avoid the question. This wasn't right. He was as much as part of the team as the rest of them.
Leo may have been new to their group, but he knew what it looked like when someone was hurting. He had made it his mission to try to fix this before William did something too drastic. He snapped his fingers and grinned. He had an idea but he needed help. In the meantime, he checked his watch to see the time. "Crud, I'm late!" he said before running towards the mail building. His package must've arrived by now.
William was walking along, not really sure where he was going. "Women troubles?" asked a voice.
William turned to see a young man who wore faded black jeans and a black t-shirt that had the name of the band "Black Sabbath" on it. He sat there strumming a guitar. He had slicked back black hair and navy blue eyes. He had an armband on his left arm that read 'A7X'. "How did you know?" William asked.
"Never underestimate the powers of observation, my friend. That and I saw you glaring at that Ulrich guy at breakfast the other day." He then asked, "You like Yumi?"
"How did you know?" said William.
"Did you forget that we're in the same class? Hunter, remember?" said the man, now known as Hunter.
"Oh yeah, you sit in the back right?"
"Yep."
"So what, you going to give me some advice too?" said William in an annoyed tone.
"Nope" said Hunter, bluntly. "Love's not really my specialty. So, sorry, but you're on your own with that one." Hunter then sat up. "See ya around, William." Hunter then went on his way, strumming his guitar.
Leo was running towards his room with a box in hand. He nearly bumped into Jim but luckily for him he was able to swiftly maneuver himself around the teacher gracefully and apologized by saying, "Sorry, Jimbo!"
"Hey, no running in the dorms!" Jim warned. "Darn kids," he muttered. "Always in a hurry."
"Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy!!" Leo cheered. "They're here!" He was obviously referring to the box in his hand. Suddenly, he bumped into Odd and they tumbled. The box was sent flying up into the air as it lid came off and cards rained down on the two.
"Odd!" Leo shouted, "Oh, sorry, dude! I'm so clumsy!"
"Hey, no harm done," Odd said, grinning at his friend. He then looked around them, "But we better get this clean up before Jim catches us."
"Oh, right!" Leo agreed as he began picking up cards and putting them back into the box. Odd picked one up and his eyes widened with recognition.
"Hey, these are Duel Monsters cards," Odd said as he looked at one, a Battle Ox. "You collect them?" he asked Leo as he passed the boy his card.
"Sure do!" Leo said. "Got my deck in my room and asked my parents to mail the rest over. I haven't had the chance to play against someone."
"Well, look no further," Odd said, grinning. "I got a deck too and a few cards stashed away."
"Really!" Leo said, smiling widely. "Wow! It's my lucky day. Wanna duel?"
"Maybe after dinner," Odd said. "And maybe trade too."
"It's a deal!" Leo shook Odd's hand. The cards had all been returned to the box before Leo put the lid back on. "See you at dinner!"
Meanwhile, back on Lyoko, in the ice sector, a lone tower began to glow an ominous purple color. The AI had just made its move, but what was it planning?
Leo entered his room and put the box down on his bed. He went to his desk and pulled out a drawer where his deck was. He picked up the leather case and snapped it open before pulling out his cards and spreading them out.
"OK, guys, time for another duel," Leo said as he grinned down on the Monster cards. If he'd been paying attention, he would've noticed his webcam focusing on him. Suddenly, a strange symbol flickered on his screen. A purple vapor started to trail from his webcam and began slithering like a predatory snake in search of its pray. It moved slowly, not wanting to alarm Leo before…it struck!
"Ugh!" Leo grunted as he felt a shock run up his spine. He then passed out on the floor, dropping his cards and causing them to scatter all over the floor. Several seconds later, he pushed himself back up to his feet, seemingly fine.
Seemingly fine, for right now a purple emblem resembling a demonic skull appeared on his forehead for a split second before vanishing.
Jeremie and Aelita were both in his room, just talking, when all of a sudden his computer turned on by itself. Alarmed, he examined the screen. The super scanner program was currently running and found something alarming.
"There's an activated tower on Lyoko, in the ice sector," Jeremie said, seriously. "We better gather the others."
"I'm already messaging them," Aelita said as she dialed her phone.
Odd was on his way to Leo's room with his deck in hand when his phone rang. Digging into his pocket, he picked it up to see the ever familiar message of 'S.O.S. LYOKO' on the screen. Sighing, he decided to get Leo.
"Might as well go get him," Odd muttered to himself as he walked over to the door and knocked. "Hey, buddy, you in there?" He received no answer. "Hey, Leo! Einstein needs us at the factory!" He knocked again. "Hey, Le-OWCH!" Odd yelped as the door slammed into him as it suddenly swung open, causing him to fall on his rear. "Ow…" he groaned as his cards were scattered around him. "Hey, man, what's the big idea?" He looked up to see Leo with a far away look on his face before noticing Odd.
"Oh, sorry, Odd," Leo said apologetically. "Here, let me help you up." He reached over to Odd and the boy grabbed his arm before pulling himself up. They then gathered up all the scattered cards.
"Now, come on!" Odd said, pocketing his deck, "We got to get going!" Odd then ran out the dorm. Leo followed behind, a strange smile on his face.
Yumi and Ulrich were just in town having ice cream as they walked by her house. They just had fun, hanging out, but as a couple. Though Yumi was being teased relentlessly by Hiroki, she felt it was totally worth it knowing that she was with Ulrich, finally, after going around an emotional circle.
"I had fun today," Yumi smiled before kissing Ulrich. The German boy would not be getting tired of those.
"Yeah, me too," Ulrich smiled as he turned to leave for Kadic when their cell phones began to rang. They shared a look before digging into their pockets and taking them out.
S.O.S. LYOKO.
Both knew immediately what that meant. Throwing away the remainder of their ice cream, they then made their way, hastily, towards the factory.
William was in his room, lying idly on his bed as he sighed dejectedly. When his cell phone rang, he knew what it was about. He glanced at the message for a second before shutting off his phone.
"Sorry, guys," he muttered, "Not in the mood today."
Jeremie, Odd, Ulrich, Yumi, Aelita and Leo all met up in the woods behind the school, standing over the manhole cover.
"Where's William?" Ulrich asked.
"He's not answering his cell phone," Aelita reported.
"Come on, we don't have time to waste," said Leo as he lifted up the lid.
"Leo's right," Jeremie agreed. "Time is of the essence."
All of them went down the ladder leading down to the sewer. Leo was the last to enter as he slid the lid over the hole.
They grabbed their boards, scooter for Jeremie, as they sped down the sewers towards the manhole at the bridge. There, they would go up the ladder before rushing into the factory. They rushed into the elevator and Leo pressed the button for them to go down. Jeremie exited first in the computer control room before the others went down further to the scanner room. All this was routine for them.
"The tower is in the ice sector guys," Jeremie spoke into the microphone. "Deactivate it before anything starts happening."
There were only three scanners so Aelita, Yumi and Ulrich entered them first.
"You got it, Jeremie," Aelita said as the chamber closed. Yumi and Ulrich's scanners started to close too.
"Transfer: Aelita. Transfer: Ulrich. Transfer: Yumi," Jeremie said as he began the process. "Scanner: Aelita. Scanner: Ulrich. Scanner: Yumi," Jeremie continued. He finished as he pressed Enter, "Virtualization!" He then said, "Odd, Leo, when they're in Lyoko, you're going in next."
"Gotcha, Einstein!" Odd said, giving a thumb's up. Leo was oddly silent.
Two of the scanners opened up before the two boys entered. "Good luck, buddy!" Odd said but Leo didn't give a response. Odd blinked as Leo acted cold. "OK, was it something I said?"
The two scanners closed.
"Transfer: Odd. Transfer: Leo," Jeremie said as he began the process again, "Scanner: Odd. Scanner: Leo." He then finished by pressing the Enter key, "Virtualization!"
A wireframe of both Odd and Leo appeared in midair before they filled up and then they landed on their feet on the icy ground of the ice sector.
"And this is the ice sector!" Odd exclaimed, "Also known as the arctic region." He then joked, "Try not to get cold feet."
No response.
"O…kay…" Odd said as Leo walked by him to join with the others.
"Is that the tower?" Leo asked and Jeremie replied.
"Yep, and I'm detecting several Krabes, Tarantulas, Hornets and…" he paused suddenly.
"What's wrong, Jeremie?" Aelita ask.
"There's a Scyphozoa!" Jeremie shouted, causing the group to become surprised.
"A Scyphozao?" Ulrich asked, "But why?"
"What's a Scyphozoa?" Leo asked, clearly not familiar with the term.
"Imagine big jellyfish and you pretty much get it," Odd said.
"It can also paralyze you before stealing your memories," Aelita shuddered. She'd had her memories stolen several times. Wasn't a pleasant experience.
"So, we better avoid it," Yumi said. "We don't know what our new friends want with a Scyphozoa out there."
'I do,' Leo thought sinisterly as he glanced at Aelita.
"Alright, let's go!" Ulrich said as he hopped onto the Overbike with Leo mounting behind him. Yumi and Aelita boarded the Overwing as Odd got on the Overboard. The vehicles then sped towards the tower.
"I'll try to figure out what our new friend is planning," Jeremie said. "Good luck, you guys."
The Tarantulas and Krabes noticed the group and began firing on them. Ulrich swerved out of the lasers path, barely missing him, as he drew one of his swords.
"Get ready to jump!" Ulrich commanded and Leo nodded before heading towards a Krabe. "Now!" Leo leapt up over the Krabe as Ulrich sped under it. "Impact!" Ulrich shouted as he stabbed his sword under the Krabe.
"Rider Punch!" Leo shouted as he smashed his fist into the Krabe's shell. It was destroyed instantly as Leo landed next to Ulrich. More Krabes began firing on them as they dodged out of the way.
"Laser Arrow!" Odd called as he fired at the Hornets. The insectoid monsters flew out of the way before firing with their stingers. Odd took cover behind a block of ice before firing again. "Come on, you bugs!"
Yumi threw her fans at the Tarantula's slicing the emblem on their heads, resulting in their demise. Aelita backed her up by firing her energy fields at them. The Scyohozoa hovered stationary as it watched the Warriors fight.
"Hah, is this all they got?" Ulrich asked as he just destroyed a Krabe. Leo was armed with his Sword Gasher and deflecting the lasers. As soon as Ulrich's back was turned, Leo leapt out of the way of a laser that shot into Ulrich, much to his surprise. Wasn't Leo supposed to watch his back? He then devirtualised instantly.
"Ulrich!" Yumi yelled as she ran towards the Krabe that had devirtualised Ulrich. She threw her fans at it but then Leo swung his sword and batted them away. Yumi gasped in shock but then realized what was going on.
"Leo, you're pos-" she didn't get to finish the sentence before he had his sword stuck in her chest. She looked at him and then devirtualised.
The two scanners opened as steam came out along with Yumi and Ulrich. Yumi decided to tell him what she'd just discovered, "Leo! He's possessed!"
"What?" Ulrich responded, shocked, but then realized that maybe Yumi was on to something. Leo just let him get shot. "We better warn Odd and Aelita. They're in trouble."
Odd and Aelita had just seen Leo devirtualize Yumi and realized that they had just been double-crossed. Leo looked at the them both, the symbol flickering on his forehead before he made a mad dash towards Odd.
"Oh, no you don't!" Odd shouted. Now he knew why Leo had been acting strange this entire time. "Laser Arrow!" He fired several shots at his possessed friend.
"Clock Up!" Leo shouted before vanishing from sight.
"Huh!?" Odd yelped. "Where'd he go!? Einstein, where is he!?"
Jeremie shouted, "He's behind you!"
Odd could hear the words, "Clock Over," before a sword protruded out of his chest. He then vanished as he was devirtualised. "And Game Over."
Odd reappeared back in the scanner room, upset. His friend just stabbed him in the back, literally. Now, Aelita was all alone on Lyoko.
Aelita was surrounded by Krabes, Tarantulas and Hornets as she fought against them. Now, Leo was possessed and joining the army as the Scyphozoa floated towards her, its tentacles pointed at her. She tried to summon an Energy Field, but then Leo grabbed both her arms. Frightened, she watched as the Scyphozoa came closer, and closer…
"Leo!" Aelita shouted, "Please, let me go! This is not you! You have to fight it! Fight it!"
Leo was starting to shudder at her words as the symbol on his forehead flickered on and off. "Ae…Lita…?" he questioned as he loosed his grip. That was all Aelita needed before blasting him with an energy field. Her wings then spread open before she took to the air.
"Get her!" Leo shouted, once again under the AI's control. The Hornets flew after the girl, attempting to shoot her down for the Scyphozoa. Leo just watched, slightly angry that his 'master's' target had just gotten away.
"Someone has to go there to help her!" Jeremie shouted. He turned to the others. No way could he send them back into Lyoko without the risk of killing them from shock. Their only chance now was to find someone to go into Lyoko and keep Leo's attention away from Aelita so she could deactivate the tower. William was still not answering his phone. Things looked bleak.
"I'll go find William," Yumi said crossly.
"I'll come with you," Ulrich volunteered but she stopped him.
"No," Yumi shook her head. "I need to speak with him, alone."
"But-"
"Trust me."
Ulrich hesitated and said, reluctantly, "Oh, alright." She smiled before entering the elevator and going up. "Please, hurry."
The shadowy figure was watching everything unfold on a computer screen. "Wow," he whistled. "They're getting creamed out there. Better go help… as much as I hate saving the prey…" He slashed a card through his wrist computer. "Digitize!"
William sighed in his room. Maybe he should've gone. Then again, that would mean seeing Yumi and Ulrich together. Besides, why did they need him anyway? They've handled themselves before and now they had Leo. They didn't need him
Suddenly, the door to his room slammed open and he sat up in surprise to see Yumi there, standing, huffing like she'd been running a marathon or something. She didn't look happy as she stomped forwards and grabbed him by the front of his shirt.
"Hey!" he exclaimed.
"I'm taking you to the factory, now!" she said, tugging but he gripped her wrist and forced her to let go.
"Thanks, but no thanks," he remarked. "I'm not going back."
"We need your help!" Yumi shouted.
"Why not get Leo to help you?" he retorted.
"Leo is why we need your help!" Yumi shouted. "He's possessed!"
"What?" William responded, surprised. "He's possessed."
"Yeah, so stop moping and let's go."
"I…can't."
Yumi froze. And then she turned to glare at him with the iciest, coldest, stare she could muster. "What was that?"
"I can't, Yumi," William said. "I'm sorry."
"Now listen here, buster!" she yelled, "You've been ignoring us for awhile now and refusing to answer your phone and I want to know why!"
"You know why!" he snapped. "You got together with Ulrich!"
Yumi blinked.
"That's it? You're refusing to help us because you got your heart broken?" she sneered. "Oh, grow up!"
"Just leave me alone," he said.
SLAP!
William looked at her as she'd just smacked him in the face.
"William, the world doesn't revolve around your problems," she growled. Her expression then softened, "And you could've talked to us about this. We're your friends."
"Some friends," he grumbled.
"Yeah, we're your friends, the same friends who risked everything to save you from XANA," Yumi reminded. "No matter what, we saved you. Now, please, help us?"
William thought for a moment.
"I never thought you'd be moping around on your ass," Yumi said. "I thought you were a man of action. Maybe I thought wrong."
William got up. "Alright, what's the situation?"
"Leo's been possessed," Yumi answered, smiling that he finally agreed to help. "He devirtualised everyone and now Aelita's alone with him. I don't know what's going to happen to her. Please."
"Then what are we waiting for?" William smirked before they ran out of his dorm. He was back!
Meanwhile, back on Lyoko, the Scyphozoa was getting closer towards Aelita, reaching with its tentacles. She was surrounded from all sides. Leo stood there, smiling, under the evil AI's control.
Suddenly, a laser shot blew up one of the Krabes, surprising Leo. "What!?" he shouted out. Rippling into view was the Predator. The monsters decided to attack the Predator. However, even though they outnumbered him, he outmatched them as he attacked them precisely, destroying most of them in seconds.
Leo said to the Scyphozoa, "Hold her!" before running towards the Predator. The Predator slashed at Leo who blocked with his Sword Gasher before he punched the Predator in the mask. Sparks flew as they struck at each other.
Aelita backed away from the Scyphozoa as it advanced on her. She was near the edge which led down to the digital sea. What could she do? She didn't have enough energy to generate her wings or Energy Fields. In a way, she was totally screwed. The Scyphozoa reached towards her, ready to take her memories.
Suddenly, William fell between the Predator and Leo before swinging his large sword at the possessed Lyoko Warrior. Leo snarled as he got ready to slice William in half before the Predator stood in front of William, blocking Leo with his forearm. "Go save the girl. This one's my prey," the Predator said. William, not feeling like arguing about the matter, ran off to save Aelita. The Predator looked back at Leo. "Just know that I take no pleasure in this. If I'm going to hunt, I want it to at least a good hunt." He kicked Leo back and readied himself. He reached behind him and pulled out a Combi-stick, a staff like weapon that appeared in the Predator movies. It extended and the Predator prepared for battle. Leo prepared his blade and the two warriors charged at each other. Leo slashed down with the Gasher as Predator swung up with his Combi stick.
The Scyphozoa already had its tentacles around Aelita, ready to drain her of her memories, when suddenly someone jumped in between the two and then slashed at the tentacles with his large sword.
"William!" Aelita exclaimed, happy to see him. William smiled at her.
"Hey, Aelita. Sorry I was late," William nodded before glaring at the Scyphozoa, "You and I have a score to settle." He saw that Leo and the Predator were still fighting and said to Aelita, "Go deactivate the tower!"
"Just be careful!" Aelita shouted before running towards the purple glowing tower. The Scyphozoa chased after her but received a vicious slash to its back. It turned to face William.
"Sorry, squiddy, but I'm your playmate," William said.
Meanwhile, Leo and the Predator were still fighting. It would appear that they were evenly matched. Leo then turned to see Aelita headed for the tower. "No!" he shouted as he took his eyes away from the Predator for just a second before the Predator got in close and placed the tip of his wrist against Leo's chest. His wrist blade extended and went straight through Leo. Leo, at the same time, impaled the Predator with his Gasher. Leo devirtualized soon after as the Predator fell backward. He looked around as the various creatures surrounded him. "Pauk…" he muttered. He weakly reached up and pressed a few buttons on his wrist computer. It began beeping as the creatures closed in on him. The beeping became faster and faster. The Predator began to laugh. Soon the beeping stopped and turned into one long beep. All became silent for a moment.
BOOM!!
A large explosion expanded from the wrist computer, destroying all the surrounding creatures and devirtualizing the Predator.
Now devirtualised, Leo would be the others' problem now.
Odd, Yumi and Ulrich all stood in the scanner room, ready for anything that Leo might have since he was still possessed by the evil AI.
The door opened wide before their possessed teammate stumbled through. A hateful glare was on his face.
"Too chaotic," he growled, the symbol glowing on his head. "Uncontrollable. Must be destroyed!"
"Oh man," Odd gulped. "That AI really messed with his head."
"Just keep an eye on him," Ulrich frowned.
Leo let out a low growl before he lunged at the trio who dared to stand against his master.
Aelita phased through the walls of the tower before heaving a sigh of relief. She looked up and allowed herself to hover towards the terminal in the tower. She reached forward and let her palm be scanned to allow her access.
AELITA
A screen with her name appeared in front of her before she began putting the information required for deactivation.
Leo was tackled to the ground by Odd and Ulrich. The possessed boy was thrashing wildly and sounding like a caged animal. Yumi kept herself planted at the door just incase Leo broke loose.
"How's a scrawny guy like him get so strong?" Odd grunted as he tried to hold Leo down.
"Keep him down!" Ulrich groaned as Leo's strength kept pounding against him.
"Hurry up, guys," Yumi fretted. She hated seeing her friends and boyfriend fighting like this.
Aelita brought up another screen which she would punch in the next command that she would need.
CODE
LYOKO
Immediately, the screens began shifting and flying to the bottom of the tower. There, white energy began to build up.
"Tower, deactivated," she said to Jeremie through their connection.
Leo was about to slug Odd before his eyes suddenly turned dull and the symbol vanished. With a soft groan, he collapsed to the ground out cold.
"Whew," Odd panted as he began to get up. "I guess they did it."
"About time," Ulrich commented. "I can't believe that we couldn't tell the difference."
"Well, XANA did trick us with William," Yumi commented. "This new AI is just as good."
"Yeah," Ulrich sighed. He hated getting tricked and this would be the second time a computer managed to fool him.
Jeremie watched the computer calm down as Aelita completed the shutdown sequence for the tower.
"Alright, Aelita, William, I'm bringing you back in," he smiled as he activated the command.
"Jeremie, I'm nearly done here! Hey, the Scyphozoa's running away! Come back!" he heard William yell.
Leo groaned as his eyes fluttered open. The first thing he saw was his friends hovering over him. "Ugh…what happened?"
"Well, you were just possessed by our new friend," Odd said, bluntly and truthfully.
"Did I do anything wrong?" Leo asked. He hoped that he hadn't done anything wrong while under the influence of the enemy AI.
"Well, you tried to deliver Aelita to the Scyphozoa," Jeremie replied. Leo slapped himself in the forehead.
"Aw, man! Sorry, guys," Leo said, apologizing. These people took him into their confidence about Lyoko and he goes and tries to hurt them. Some friend he was.
"It wasn't your fault, Leo," said William, "Believe me when I say some of us have been down that road."
"Hey, you came," Leo smiled at William. "Good to see you out of your funk, finally."
"Well, I had my senses slapped back into me," William said, casting a glance at Yumi.
"Are you sure you're feeling okay, Leo?" Ulrich asked.
"Well, aside from having a pounding headache knowing someone used me for a meat puppet, I'm just dandy," Leo grumbled a bit.
"Why did the Scyphozoa want Aelita?" Odd asked.
"The AI must want information on her," Jeremie said, logically, "I mean, Aelita does have the ability to deactivate the towers so maybe it wants her data to find a way to counter it."
"Great…" Yumi rolled her eyes. "XANA never thought of that before and now we have an AI who wants that."
"Obviously this one is smarter than XANA," Ulrich sighed. "Just what we need."
Leo was rubbing his temples, groaning. Odd asked, "Hey, man, what's up?"
"When I was possessed, I heard a name…" Leo said. "It was really faint, but I could still hear it all the while I was possessed."
"A name?" Jeremie asked.
"The name of our newfriend," Leo explained. He now had the rapt attention of all the Lyoko Warriors. "Its name…is KAI."
The Lyoko Warriors now have a name. But what is KAI and what does it want? For more answers, read on, OK? Thanx also to Ten Faced Paladin and Shadow Element 13 for helping me with this short chap.
