Ok, time for nifty little monster story update for Code Manga Lyoko, and just in time for Halloween!
Enjoy!
The Night Beast pt.1
It
sniffed the ground, searching for the scent of its prey.
There!
Its nose twitched, picking up the scent of its blood.
Its
eyes picked out the glint of moonlight on the drops of blood on the
ground.
The
prey had to be close. It knew the injury it had done to the prey had
been severe.
A
sudden rustle in the bushes ahead, a leap followed by a
scream...
"Hey
Odd, get up!" Ulrich said, shaking Odd by the shoulder.
"Ugh..."
Odd grunted and rolled over.
With
a Whap! one of Ulrich's pillows smacked him hard on the head.
"Wha'?"
Odd sat up straight, staring around blearily.
"Get
a move on Odd. School starts in 10 minutes"
"What!
Then why didn't you wake me up?" Odd moaned, jumping out of bed.
His feet got tangled in the sheets and dropped him flat on his face.
Ulrich
looked up with an exasperated look, shook his head and left.
"Did
you guys hear about the attack last night?" Yumi asked them as
they stood at the school vending machine during lunch.
"No.
Was it serious?" Ulrich asked.
"No,
just weird. Apparently something attacked and killed a young deer in
the city zoo. According to the paper it had been torn to bits and
eaten on the spot."
"Thanks
Yumi, I was enjoying lunch" Odd said, grimacing.
"I
wonder what kind of animal could have done it?" Yumi wondered.
"Maybe
it wasn't an animal. You do get pretty sick people out there"
Ulrich replied.
"Hello,
didn't you hear what I just said?" Odd moaned.
Ulrich
grinned at Yumi, looked around and asked: "Do you guys know
where Jeremie and Aelita are?"
"I
do" Yumi said, smiling slyly. "Jeremie hasn't been feeling
very well so Aelita's gone to see how he's doing"
Night
time, at the city zoo. The nocturnal animals were up and about while
the rest were asleep. Suddenly a roar was heard from one of the
enclosures followed by terrified bleating.
"Quickly!
It's coming from the goat pen!" One of the park security
officers called, running towards the sounds of fear. He pulled out
his flashlight and scanned the inside of the enclosure. "See
anything?" his partner asked, running up to his side.
"No,
just a bunch of panicky- Wait! What's that?"
A
large dark shape rushed up to them and leapt. For a second all they
saw were two glowing eyes, like a cat's, before it barrelled through
them.
"What
was that?" the one guard gasped, pushing himself up from the
ground.
"I'm
not sure, but I think we've found our mystery killer" the second
guard said, pointing his flashlight at the dismembered remains of two
goats.
The
next morning everyone was talking about the new attack at the Zoo.
All
morning long, on both TV and Radio there had been reports on the
strange beast and its rampage.
"The
Police are still unsure if this is some sort of escaped wild animal
or if it's a large predator that's moved in. However, until they've
caught it, they advise everyone to take extreme caution, and to not
go out at night unless absolutely necessary" Yumi read to the
gang as they stood underneath a tree outside the school.
"Wow,
just think. There's some kinda monster cat on the loose, no one can
catch. It's after flesh, and soon it might be coming after you!"
Odd roared, jumping at Aelita and growling.
"Oh,
it's too early to deal with you" Aelita groaned, shoving her
hand against Odd's face and holding him at arms length.
"Tell
me about it. At least you don't have him as a roommate. The stuff I
could tell you..." Ulrich said, leaning against the tree.
"I
don't think I want to know" Aelita grimaced, trying to shut off
her imagination.
"Hey,
you guys don't think that Xana's behind this, do you?" Jeremie
asked.
"He
might be. It could be one of his minions, trying to cause as much
trouble as usual"
"Guess
that means the get to take a trip to the Zoo. At night!" Odd
said, roar-jumping at Aelita again. Aelita rolled her eyes and sighed
before punching Odd in the arm.
Just
then Mr Delmas's voice came in over the speakers.
"All
students please report to the assembly hall. Please head immediately
for the assembly hall for an emergency school assembly"
"As
of today, we'll be implementing a curfew. Only students that live
outside the school are allowed to leave after school is finished. All
other pupils will remain here in the dorms until this threat of the
animal is over"
"But
sir, I live outside school!" Odd shouted, "I just like
living here more!"
"Very
funny" Delmas said, glaring over his glasses at Odd.
"But
my decision remains. Until they've caught this animal, all dorm
living pupils will remain in their rooms. That is all"
"Well,
this just makes getting out more interesting, right?" Odd said.
"Pretend
you don't know him" Ulrich whispered.
"Who?"
Yumi grinned.
"Hah
hah" Odd said.
"Sssh!
Here he comes!" Odd hissed.
Everyone
froze and hugged the wall, listening intently to the approaching
crunches of Jim's footsteps.
Through
the thin line of shrubbery in front of them they saw the periodic
flashes of his flashlight as he swung it to and fro.
A
few minutes later his steps dwindled and vanished, and the gang let
out the breath they had been holding.
Odd
took a step forward.
Crack!
a branch went off under his foot.
Everyone
stopped dead and stood stock still, waiting breathlessly for signs
that Jim had heard it, before
slowly, quietly
they crawled out from the bushes and ran towards the school gates.
"I
told you getting out would've been much easier if we'd just
transformed" Odd said as they started to climb over the gate.
"Too
much of a chance that Jim might see us" Ulrich replied.
"Not
if you'd have allowed me to knock him out" Odd said.
"Odd,
sometimes you scare me" Ulrich grinned, before jumping down to
the sidewalk, Odd landing next to him.
They
waited for Aelita and Yumi to join them before heading off down the
dark streets towards the city zoo and its new attraction.
They
skulked to the back of the zoo's fenced wall, hiding behind the
bushes and trees. "Ok, we've only got a few minutes to check it
out before Jim starts doing his hall patrols. Ready?" Ulrich
said, holding up his watch device.
Everyone
nodded, holding up theirs.
"Scanner
Ulrich!"
"Scanner
Odd!"
"Scanner
Yumi!"
"Scanner
Aelita!"
"Virtualisation!"
One
of the guards saw a white-blue glow flash near one of the enclosures.
He
walking over and shined his flashlight around. "Hmmm..."
he muttered, glancing about before walking off towards the main
building for his break.
From
behind the rocks five feet from where he had been standing Odd,
Aelita, Ulrich and Yumi glanced out.
"Whew!
That was close" Yumi sighed.
"Yeah"
Ulrich agreed, blushing slightly from being so close to Yumi.
"Come
on, let's go before time runs out"
They
snuck down the enclosures until they reached the scene of the
previous nights attack.
"We'd
better spread out and look around" Aelita said.
She
activated her watch and scanned the area. "Hm, no portal. I
think it's save to say it's not one of Xana's beasts."
"You
mean I won't get any butt to kick?" Odd asked, fake
disappointment in his voice. "Aw, that's not fair!"
They
started to move around the enclosure, making sure not to step in the
bloodstained earth or disturb any of the animals inside.
Yumi
was wondering just what they were looking for when the moon came out,
bathing the area in white and showing her a large clawed footprint
right next to her. "Hey guys, come check this out!"
"Wow"
Aelita gasped, staring down at the large paw print.
"Still
think it's not one of Xana's creatures?" Ulrich asked.
Aelita
scanned the print and shook her head. "Yes. It doesn't read like
a digital monster. It very different from them, more organic then
energy"
"Hey,
where's Odd?" Yumi asked.
"I
don't know, but I think right now we've got bigger problems"
Ulrich said.
Aelita
and Yumi followed his gaze up rock next to him, and saw the large
feline form with glowing yellow eyes look down at them, fangs
glinting in the moonlight.
With
a deep throated roar it pounced, claws extended.
Aelita's
reflexes acted faster then her, throwing up a shield above her and
her friends. With a shuddering Twack! the beast smacked the shield
hard, bouncing of it and striking a time. It must've hurt itself,
because it gave a howl of pain as it landed on the ground. Before it
could recover Yumi slammed it with one of her telekinetic blasts,
flinging it away from them and into the bushes.
They
waited, weapons ready, staring at the bushes.
After
a few minutes they started looking at one another and walked forward
together. Peering through the bushes they found patches of scratched
earth, a few spots of blood and nothing else.
"Now
that was a big kitty" Ulrich said, sheathing his sword.
Suddenly
Yumi's eyes went wide. "Oh no. I think it's heading Odd's way!"
They
ran through the enclosure, following the trail on the ground.
Around
a large stone they found a dead end, a wall and...
"Odd!"
they shouted, running up to the unconscious boy.
His
clothing was ripped, one eye was blue and a thin line of blood ran
down his pale face from his nose.
"Odd,
come on, wake up. Wake up!" Ulrich shook him.
"Ul...Ulrich?
That you?"
"Yeah,
it's me buddy" Ulrich said, smiling in relief. "What
happened?"
"I
don't know" Odd said, sitting up. "I remember looking for
clues, hearing something, feeling something hit me. Then nothing"
"I
think the beast must've knocked him over while escaping" Aelita
said, pointing at the claw marks running up the wall.
"Come
on pal, let's get you back to school" Ulrich said, lifting him
up and supporting him.
"Aw,
but I don't wanna" Odd said wearily as they walked out towards
the zoo exit.
Yumi,
Ulrich, Aelita and Jeremie discussing the events of the night after
they had left the tuckered out Odd to sleep in his room.
"It
was fast, very fast" Ulrich said, "If Aelita hadn't thrown
her shield up I don't think we would have made it"
Aelita
nodded, thinking again of those claws flashing down to shred them.
"Whatever
it is, it isn't one of Xana's beasts. All my scans were... weird.
It
does have a slight digital field, but it's definitely more organic
then artificial"
"We've
also got something else to worry about" Yumi said.
"How
long do we have before it starts attacking people?"
To Be Continued Next!
