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!