Trapped

By SpaceWonder368

The chapter's title is supposed to mean a complex situation, and that this chapter is quite complex. Prepare for a good old smackdown.


Chapter 6: Mare's Nest


Yumi soars her crystals over at the double, who deflects easily with its fans. She kept going and going til' she's all out of them. The clone grins wickedly, sensing how the warrior is slowly being drained out by using too much of her telekinesis. No matter, though. It could use that to its sickening advantage.

As stones charge at the shapeshifter, it twirls around, blocking the minerals and shattering them into tiny pieces. Some fly at the two warriors, which attempt dodging with their own weapons.

"You just won't quit, now will ya?"

A swipe swerves right into the other's direction; a katana easily bouncing back from a fan. Of course, that wouldn't work. Try harder. Always try harder. There could be a way to stop this…

He meets face to face with his own saber.

..Dammit.

Just like old times, ain't it, Xana?

Funny. He thought he'd seen the last of that clone. Not even close. Not even frickin' close.

Yumi blinks upon seeing what form the Morpher had chosen. Surely enough, it had to be him. It had to be. The monster already has his speed, why not his form?

Dawning in a black and golden suit, with gray skin and a Cheshire grin, the shapeshifter holds out twin katanas, ramming them into Ulrich. The samurai ricochets the incoming crystals in front of him, darting to the edge of the Overwing. Yes, he could fall, but it wouldn't have mattered. He would get caught anyway.

Memories flash right before his very eyes, recalling how he fought a clone of himself before. This would either be a piece of cake or a catwalk of torture. The world of Lyoko can't promise anything for that matter.

In an orange blur, blades stick together like glue against the Lyoko swordmaster's sword. His intentions are to attack the thing from pelvis to skull, but who could the say his lovely doppelganger had a trick under its sleeve? After all, it could change into anything.

His sword whips at the hilt of the other ones, nearly knocking them askew… But what did come being knocked over was him.

The sector is nothing but a whiplash of colors into his perspective of vision. Orange, pink, and purple rush into his field of sight. He has to act quickly. Zipping from crystal to crystal, he lands on the desert-like ground, forming a dust cloud.

Great, now he has no idea where he's at.

Grime engulfs around him, trapping him within this murky, murky earth powder. Good thing he isn't on Earth, or his lungs would be filled with it right now.

Now… Where did it go?

His hand stung from reverberation. Man, did he hurt the clone's sabers that hard?

His optics scrunch in aversion. In anticipation. In trepidation. Seconds pass, and soon it'll be minutes. He can feel butterflies in his stomach.

Where the Hell is it?

A shriek rings his ears… Along with slicing and blasting. His eyes squint to the sound.

Guys…?

Before he could apprehend it, a pink figure bumps straight into him. Well, at least there's Aelita.

"...Princess?"

Aelita holds out her palms, crackling with energy. She knew what could happen next. There's no way out of it. Since the thing has the ability to shift, it'll do so.

"...Shh!" she warns in phobia.

"Incoming!"

A surge of tiny, small arrows hit against them, only to be restricted by Ulrich's sword. The brunette grits his teeth.

"Odd, what the hell was that for?"

"It wasn't me, I swear! It was Mr. Ugly over there… But he does have a good look as me."

"Now's not the time to compliment it, now is the time to-"

A crystallized tail blows at them, and if you squint, there could be blue squares coming out of them.

"No!"

A roaring racket comes from a certain vehicle, and in a short span of seconds, and without warning, the Overwing bangs straight into the creature.

The dust storm clears by the princess's creativity. Consequently, that didn't stop from what had happened. They lost too many life points. They could die. They could die. Devirtualization may have been nothing in the past, but… But now the possibilities are warming up.

"Are you okay?"

"That hurts like Hell…. And that's saying something for being here in Lyoko…" the yellow-clad warrior complains, watching as parts of his digital skeleton are shown at his ankles... Spilling out pixels.

Funny, he thought that wouldn't happen. If they couldn't go back to the factory, then disappearing into digital specs would be their death.

"It could give us harm… More than the other monsters," Aelita mumbles, glaring in concentration. No monster could be able to hurt them like that before… Why now? Oh, right… This isn't their ordinary monster.

"...I'm…. I'm not sure how many life points we have left… Jeremie?"

"...You have a fair amount left… About thirty life points. However, it matters how much damage the shapeshifter did to you two…"

Jeremie knew he couldn't say much, to begin with. First, his friends are trapped. Then, they're trapped with this hideous monster. Now, they're trapped with this hideous monster in a sector and could die if devirtualized.

….What a pickle they're in.

His cerulean pupils view the ladder where it leads to the scanners. Materialized… The thing in Lyoko causing so much trouble could easily come out of the scanner… And stir mayhem for the academy…. Especially the students.

Then… The glitching sound fills his headset. He could hear the others' worried screams as he types on the keyboard. It's been confirmed that the teen with the sword disappeared.

This can't be happening. This can't be happening. There's no way one of them could have been killed off already. There's no way.

He tried and tried and tried to prevent it from happening.

He immediately launches a Code: Earth, and by that simple action, the action took its course.

The warriors in the virtual world become baffled. The shapeshifter is still there… But someone isn't.

"Jeremie…. Wh-where is…."

Yumi. She couldn't believe it. No. No, she couldn't believe it. After all those many times, she lost him to that. To that thing!

Jeremie grips aggressively on his keyboard. It had to be done. It just had to be done.

"...There was nothing else I could have done…"

"...Jer?"

He blinks. That voice. Then…. If he's back at the scanner then that means….

He types again. Nope, he still can't send them back to the scanner room. If he can't do that, then why does everyone sound so panicked?

"Uhhh…. Einstein, we have a problem…."

Shaky hands watch the screen with unease. His ears vibrate as the clamor of the scanner is heard. Not from one scanner, but two.

He's just relieved to listen to the samurai's voice again.

"...What is it, Ulrich? I know you're back at the scanner room so why do you sound so-"

"I have no time for your bullcrap, Jer!"

He never snapped at him like that.

What could be the issue here?

Wait a minute… There were two scanners that opened. Two. If the other three are still in the Crystal Sector, then that could only mean one thing.

His skin turns ghostly white.

"Be careful!" he shrieks.

"Yeah, thanks for the help!" Mocks the other sarcastically.

The trio stand with their open-ranged weapons, evoked with rage. How dare this creature devirtualize their friend like that? At first, they were stuck here because of Xana's dastardly plans, but now… Now they understand why they're here.

They prevented devirtualization so that this thing wouldn't materialize on Earth.

Well, that didn't turn out so well… Now didn't it?

"...It's okay, he's back at the scanner room…" Jeremie explains to them, anxiously watching them duke out against the creature.

"What's the bad news?" The catlike comrade questions.

Jeremie swallows a lump in his throat.

"The bad news…. We got another fish to fry…."

Black, clawed hands grasp at the edges of the scanner. Purple ooze drips on the floor… And the brunette holds on a metal bar, sneering at the beast before him.

The shapeshifter finally succeeded on what it wanted to do.