Time for a new chapter. Things are gonna heat up now so let's not wait anymore!
Chapter 7
The Lyoko warriors were in the forest sector practicing some new abilities Jeremy had programmed. They stood in a clearing waiting patiently for Jeremy to start the programs.
"So, any idea what new abilities Jeremy has for us?" asked Ulrich.
"I dunno," said Odd. "But I hope they'll help us kick some more ass out of XANA's monsters."
"Give me a minute guys, I'm almost done," Jeremy said. "This wasn't easy to program you know."
"Yeah, yeah, skip all the science-y talk will ya'? I'm not in the mood for a nap."
Yumi stood by herself staring up at the digital sky. William was busy stretching his arms, and Shawn was practicing different stances with his sword. He swung his sword at invisible targets, moving with speed to cover all his angles.
"Alright, I'm done now. Let me give you guys a run through one at a time. Who wants to go first?" said Jeremy.
"Me first!" screamed Odd like a little child.
"Alright then. Give me a second…done! Okay, first off, I gave you an ability that will allow you to camouflage yourself temporary."
"Cool! Let me try it now." Odd closed his eyes and began concentrating. After a few seconds, he disappeared from view. Well, almost. While he was hard to spot, he was not completely camouflaged. Concentrate hard enough, and you will see a moving figure. Odd took that moment to run over and steal Shawn's sword. Shawn followed the floating blade and tackled the air, knocking Odd down just as he came into view.
"Never steal my sword again Odd," Shawn said. "That wasn't funny."
"If you two are done, I'd like to continue," scoffed Jeremy. "Now Odd, I made an upgrade to your laser arrows. Now you have the ability to fire several arrows at once in a spread formation; much like a shotgun. Give it a try."
At that moment, several Kankrelats materialized in front of Odd. They were frozen in place, and they were colored blue and missing the eye of XANA. Odd held up his arms, jerking them back suddenly like guns, and fired at the targets. The arrows spreaded out and hit the targets.
"Cool! Anything else under the tree?"
"Yep, I made an improvement on your shield. By placing your hands on the ground, you'll be able to form a barrier and even expand it outward to knock enemies off balance."
A circle of Kankrelats materialized around Odd. He crouched down and a purple dome formed around him. It shot outward, knocking the Krankrelat targets off their feet.
"Interesting abilities there Odd," commented William. "What'd ya' have for me Jeremy?"
"I've found a way to improve your Zweihandler. I improved your earthquake ability, and now, by striking the ground with your sword, you can send out shockwaves. Give it a shot."
William tried out his new moves; which worked perfectly. He was very satisfied.
Ulrich's new abilities consisted of firing sword beams, as well as strengthen it to penetrate defenses, and an improvement to his clones, allowing them to take three hits before disappearing. Yumi is now able to create shockwaves with her quarterstaff and her telekinesis has improved. Aelita' creativity ability is faster and her energy fields create splashes like an explosion.
Shawn earned a hefty sum of new abilities. Jeremy programmed his sword to pierce defenses as well as extend his blade's reach, and granted him a couple for his guns. Shawn tried them out; he can now use his silver eyes to lock onto targets like a scope, and unleash a storm of bullets unto his enemies with his revolvers. Not only that, Shawn got his own signature move; an ability that will allow him to unleash devastating flames with his sword at his command, much like a dragon. Shawn decided to call it his Dragon's Breath.
They all practiced their new found abilities for an hour or so until Jeremy materialized them back into the factory. As everyone headed home, they all glossed over their moves as well as congratulating Jeremy on his impressive work. The only problem that they've discovered was that Shawn's flames were able to harm them much like the monsters. Jeremy admitted that it was an error on his part; he could not find a way to fix it, so Shawn has to exercise caution.
-The next day, in the afternoon—
It was lunchtime; everyone was filling their stuffing themselves like pigs after a few long tests in class. Of course, Odd was filling himself up enough to explode, even though he did not need enough energy like the others since he fails his tests. Shawn was telling everyone about how he once got in trouble with the police back in Italy when he stormed into a construction site while performing parkour. Aelita snuggled up to him, listening attentively; it was clear the two of them were becoming intimate. Odd was still stuffing his face, Ulrich darted his gaze from Shawn and Yumi multiple times; Yumi the same, William had a look that said he was absolutely enthralled with Shawn's story, and Jeremy was typing something on his laptop.
As Jeremy finished typing a personal reminder, a message window popped up, making a beeping sound. He read the message over, his eyes widen in shock at what he read. "G-Guys," he stuttered. "We need to get to Lyoko now. I just received a message from Franz Hopper. He's on Lyoko right now." Everyone set their gaze on him, all shocked the same. Aelita put her hands over her mouth.
"He's on Lyoko? What does he want?" she whispered.
"I dunno, but he said to come immediately."
At that, the gang did not waste a moment. They all rushed out the cafeteria and sprinted for the forest. When they reached the factory, Jeremy relayed a message to Lyoko.
"Come in, Franz Hopper. Where are you?"
A message window appeared onscreen. "He's in the mountain sector; twenty-six degrees north, seventeen degrees west. Head down now, and I'll start up the automatic transfer." The others nodded and rushed down to the scanners. There, they hopped in, sending them all into Lyoko. When they were virtualized, they dropped into a large clearing in the mountains, with a large glowing sphere of energy floating nearby.
The warriors rushed to the sphere where it began glowing. In the lab, Jeremy received a voice message from Franz. "Guys, Franz had just informed me that he might've found a way to destroy XANA forever. This is amazing!"
"But it doesn't make sense," said Aelita. "I thought my father sacrificed himself to finish the anti-agent program before. How is he alive?"
Jeremy rubbed his chin as Franz sent him another message. "That's it! Franz divided himself into two on Lyoko. He did sacrifice himself, but the other half is here with us, alive and well."
"You think you can materialize him into the factory or something?" Ulrich asked.
"I'm not sure. I can try, but we'll need some time and we need him to download his plan into the supercomputer first. Protect Franz at all costs, we need that data."
The warriors drew their weapons and poised themselves ready for action. Franz began downloading the data into the supercomputer as Jeremy started extracting the data. Right then, many monsters virtualized from the sky. Tarantulas, Krabs, Hornets, Ghosts, Megatanks, and a figure were among them. XANA came to lead this squad this time, looking the same as he did before, save a black and blood red katana hanging on his back. XANA smiled at the youngsters and gave the order to attack.
Aelita flew overhead, firing her energy blasts onto their attackers, defeating a Tarantula and a few Krabs. Yumi and Odd fired their weapons at the megatanks, taking out two of them only to be replaced with Hornets. William charged after a Ghost armed with a Zweihandler like him. Ulrich struck down two Tarantulas with his blades to be met with XANA himself. Ulrich rushed at him, firing off sword beams as he drew closer. XANA brushed the beams aside with his katana and clashed with Ulrich.
Elsewhere, Shawn was taking out Hornets with his Dead Eye, picking them off like ducks in the sky. After they were gone, Shawn looked to see a Crusher scrapping his hooves against the ground, and charged. The monster knocked aside a Krab and Megatank, devirtualizing them in the process. Shawn drew his sword and focused his power into it, granting it a long, white glow. "This is a stupid move." He thought. As the Crusher drew closer, Shawn swung his blade in a wide arch, slashing through the creature's durable mask, devirtualizing it. "Wow, it worked."
Odd and Yumi were busy fighting a couple of Megatanks; one normal and one reversed. Exactly that, the reverse fires in a horizontal formation. Yumi ducked under the reverse as Odd jumped and fired a few arrow spreads into its eye. Sad part was, he also got caught in the blast and was devirtualized. Yumi took out the regular with little trouble.
At the moment, XANA had a defenseless Ulrich in his grasp. "You were foolish to try to face me," whispered XANA and plunged his blade through Ulrich.
"Jeremy, how much longer do you need?" yelled Shawn. "We just lost Ulrich and Odd and there's only a few Ghosts and Tarantulas left."
"Just a few seconds. We almost have all the data; hold them off!" replied Jeremy.
"Yeah, easy for you to say." William finished off his Ghost, but XANA decided to jump in the ring in its place. William raised his sword, gritting his teeth. XANA met him in a clash, and would've had the upper hand if Yumi didn't strike him with her fans. XANA pushed William off and turned to Yumi, striking her down with an energy blast from his hand. William struck the ground, causing several shockwaves in XANA's direction. XANA jumped over them with ease and landed on William, sliding his blade through his chest. He looked up to see Shawn and Aelita still fighting the last of his minions; a Ghost and two Tarantulas. He smiled and calmed walked his way toward them, taking his time.
"Guys! I got the data! I'm starting the materialization process now," exclaimed Jeremy.
"Well hurry up! This ain't exactly a tea party here!" said Aelita. She flew down and took cover behind Shawn, firing energy blasts alongside his slingers. One of the Tarantulas went down; another came from the sky. "Damnit! How many are there?"
Right there, the Tarantulas and Ghost stopped fighting, as did Shawn and Aelita, perplexed by all this. It all made sense however, as XANA came before them, his hand raised to silence his minions. Shawn drew his blade and a revolver in each hand, Aelita did the same with her weapons. Franz Hopper's sphere rapidly changed colors; Shawn could sense the fear in the sphere much like his own.
"What do you want XANA?" Shawn demanded. "What kind of game are you playing at?"
XANA chuckled. "Oh this is no game, Shawn Davidson. I am always serious with you children." He smiled as he raised his sword. In a flash, XANA aimed to strike Shawn, but was met with Aelita's sword instead. Aelita pushed him away, giving Shawn a quick glance, telling him to protect her father before engaging in combat with her mortal enemy. Sensing what was happening; the Ghost brandished its blade and engaged with Shawn.
Shawn and his foe swiped and blocked the other's moves. The Ghost took a leap over Shawn's swing and would've struck if Shawn didn't duck underneath. Shawn whispered "Dragon's Breath", and his blade erupted into flames. He twirled his blade around his body, setting patches of the ground ablaze. Shawn and the Ghost fought to a stand still, but Shawn got an idea. He grabbed his burning blade with his free hand, dribbling away some life points in the process, setting his hand on fire. He pressed his palm against his foe, forcing it to break the clash allowing Shawn to strike it down.
Shawn saw Aelita starting to weaken in her battle. He rushed as fast as he could to her. "I'm coming Aelita!" But it was too late. XANA stole her sword and stabbed with both blades, devirtualizing her. Shawn gripped his sword in both hands and rushed screaming onto XANA.
The two clashed blades. Shawn felt his anger bursting inside him while XANA relished in it. Shawn sweep kicked XANA, but he rolled away before Shawn could finish him. XANA halted Shawn's blade and took it. He wheeled around to stab it in his back, but was met with one of his guns taking the hit. He rolled away and fired his guns at XANA, who deflected them all. Shawn reloaded and slapped XANA's blade away with a pistol and followed up with three rounds to the chest. XANA kicked Shawn in the chest, knocking him to the ground. A killing blow would have followed but Shawn swung his leg into XANA's face, forcing him to drop Shawn's sword. Shawn recovered his blade and activated his Dragon's Breath. He swung his blade, sending a few fireballs in XANA's direction. XANA absorbed them with his blade, fueling its power. Shawn went for a slash, but XANA knocked his blade from his hand. He slashed him across the chest and kicked him to the ground. Shawn tried to grab one of his revolvers, but XANA grasped his hand and plunged his own flaming sword into it, pinning him to the ground.
Shawn felt a burning sensation throughout his body. XANA sat down on Shawn's back. "You are very strong for one so young; even more so than your friends. But don't think you are stronger than I." Shawn winched from the pain. "Now, watch as I destroy your confidence. You are weak, and you will realize it now." XANA took up his katana and raised it forward. The Tarantulas raised their heads and began firing onto the sphere of Franz Hopper. Franz attempted to run, but XANA threw out energy chains, tethering the sphere to the ground. Shawn tried to pull the blade out, but XANA fixed that by stabbing a dagger into his left hand.
Back in the lab, everyone crowded around the supercomputer as Jeremy tried desperately to finish the materialization process. He was at seventy-eight percent completion. Just a little more time. Shawn could only watch as XANA approached the sphere, his blade in hand. XANA ordered the monsters to dismiss. "At last, your time has come Hopper. Your death is coming!" he yelled and plunged his blade into the sphere. The sphere burst in an explosion of pixels and data. Shawn could not look at what happened. Everyone was stunned. Franz Hopper was dead.
XANA went to Shawn for a last time. "I could dump you into the Digital Sea and be done with you, but then, it wouldn't be much of a challenge when I get around to killing you little Lyoko warriors." With that, he plunged his blade into Shawn, devirtualizing him.
Back in the lab, Shawn just came out of the elevator to find everyone wearing sad faces. Jeremy sat silently in his seat while Aelita was sobbing in her hands. Shawn pressed his head against a wall.
"It's my entire fault," he muttered. "I wasn't strong enough to defeat XANA this time. I'm so weak and there's nothing I can do about it."
"That's not true Shawn," Jeremy proclaimed. "You did your best, all of you did. At least we have the data plan Franz gave us. I looked over it; if we install it directly into XANA inside Tyron's supercomputer, then we'll be able to create a virus strong enough to destroy him for good this time."
"Does it matter? My father's dead," Aelita whimpered. "I trusted you Shawn. Why couldn't you protect my father? He's dead now!" Aelita got up and started beating up Shawn, punching him in the face multiple times. Shawn did nothing to stop her either. Yumi grabbed her hand, forcing her to stop. Aelita burrowed her head in her friend. Shawn rubbed his face, which was bruised a little.
"Look, let's just go back to Kadic. I'll look over the Franz's program some more; you guys just try to get some rest later tonight."
Everyone agreed and started the trek back to the academy. Shawn kept to himself and Aelita wouldn't even talk to him. When they returned, they were caught by Jim. Odd came up with an excuse for their absence, but he didn't buy it. They all got hit with nightly detention with Jim that day. At nine o' clock, when detention was over, they all went home for the night.
While everyone went to bed, Shawn decided to sit on a bench in Kadic's square. He stared up at the crescent moon, admiring its beautiful glow. There he sat, talking to the moon.
"I was so weak. I couldn't do anything but watch." Shawn leaned back in his seat and sighed. "Now, Aelita hates me. I don't blame her; I let her father die while I did nothing to save him. At least you're still here to keep me company when I'm down."
"Um, Shawn? Who're you talking to?" said a voice. Shawn looked behind to see Odd standing there staring at him.
"I wasn't talking to anyone."
"Yeah, nice try. I heard you plain as day. Sulking about what happened today. Tell me, who were you talking to?"
"Well, I was talking to my mother."
Odd continued to stare at him. "Isn't your mother dead though?"
Shawn nodded. "Yeah, well, it started just before she died. I was young; I couldn't bear the thought of growing up without my mother. I remember sitting by her death bed, and she told me that she will always be watching over me; making sure I was never alone. She told me that she will become the moon and watch me every night. I suppose you think I'm crazy, don't you?"
"Nope, not at all. We all have our own forms of coping. Aelita always holds her Mr. Puck doll every night she's down. Trust me, if you're upset about Lyoko today, then it's best if you get over it." Odd shuffled over to the vending machines and grabbed a soda. "Believe me, you're at your weakest when you've got a dark cloud over your head. You should've seen Ulrich at times before you showed up. He'd always go off to sulk when we needed him on Lyoko."
"Suppose you're right. What should I do about Aelita?"
Odd hummed to himself. "My advice, wait for an opportunity to save her skin, then she'll be back in your arms. That's the best I've got. I'm not the best at fixing relationships really."
"Well, thanks." Shawn got up and headed for his room. There he changed and crawled into bed, falling into a deep slumber. He'll figure something out sooner or later.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Remember to leave a review, it really helps. And check out my other fanfictions and I'll see you next time.
