Disclaimer: I do not own Code: Lyoko. But I am currently finishing a deal with them: I don't attack them and I won't own Code: Lyoko...hey, wait a minute...
A/N: Here we are, at the end of the second string of chapters and...yeah, um...yeah. I still don't have a single review. I've even allowed anonymous reviews three chapters ago once I figured out that, no...um, yeah. Shut up!! I'm still new to this. Anyway, some of you are going to hate the plot twist at the end, but it closes up any questions you might have had about Damon's nightmare. Especially its changing. Please R&R, I finally managed to rebribe the army of hippies. They might even still be sober enough to still kind of know whats going on while they freak you out if you don't...AGAIN!!!
Damon and Yumi were walking to school, talking about the latest XANA attack. "When will XANA realize that he can never truly beat us. We kick his ass at every turn, even a computer virus should realize that something is wrong by now," Yumi proclaimed.
"Yeah, but something just seemed off about the whole thing," Damon stated.
"What do you mean," Yumi inquired, she was usually amazed at the insight that Damon had in a variety of situations.
"What I mean is that every time a monster exploded there was a silvered sheen in the middle. From what you guys have told me, XANA's monsters are supposed to just explode red. Nothing but red, yet there is a slight hint of silver hidden in the middle of every one," Damon explained with his brow furrowed.
"That does seem very unusual," Yumi stated, thinking back and realizing that there had indeed been a silver sheen in the middle of every monsters explosion. She tried to trace back when the change had occurred, but just couldn't place it.
"What's more, the objective of the attacks has changed from just trying to get rid of the only people standing in his way. Now the attacks try to cause as much damage to as many people as possible. The only exception being the more recent of the two cafeteria monsters," Damon continued.
"You might be on to something," Yumi declared, "but let's talk to Jeremie before we come to any conclusions."
"A little bit late on my end," Damon admitted, "My nightmare recently changed, and it has become most disconcerting."
"How so," Yumi inquired.
"Now instead of there being just floating faces, there are three orbs. Where there was once the silver-haired girl, there is now a silver orb. Where Erethyr was, now there is a green orb. As for XANA, he has changed into a red orb. Now I'm even seeing them being created, three separate strands of data, originating from the same starting point. Last night, the orbs even decided to reveal their natures to me," Damon explained.
"What happened," Yumi asked, starting to worry about her friend.
"Well, the silver orb was attacking me while the green orb was trying to save me. The red orb was just floating on its own, however, just trying to tell me something. All I heard was 'Enemy' and 'I will come for you someday.' I felt as though there was more to the message, but I just couldn't understand it. I just know that I have to hear the entire message. Then more will become clear to me," Damon answered.
Yumi was almost ready to declare Damon officially crazy. She bit her tongue, however, because Damon was usually right about a great number of things. They walked the rest of the way to school in silence and soon reached the front gates. Their friends were waiting for them.
"Good news," Jeremie declared, "It took me a couple of weeks, but I finally managed to finish analyzing the silver orb that is now circling the Core of Lyoko."
"What is it," Erethyr asked.
"Or better yet," Ulrich asked, getting straight to the point, "Who made it?"
"It seems to be part of a set of three orbs with varying abilities. This one seems to have the ability to cause wide-scale destruction, so we're going to have to keep an eye on it," Jeremie explained, "As for the question of who made it, that would be Dr. Gina Aurum-a brilliant computer programmer from the United States. I frequently read her work, it was actually thanks to reading her literature that I came up with the Code: Earth program."
"Why would she have created a virtual world of her own and put that orb there," Aelia asked.
"I don't know," Jeremie stated, "but on a hunch I checked your father's diary. He actually mentions that she is among the three computer techs that splintered off of Project Carthage. He and a Professor Artemis Lerath were the other two." Damon and Erethyr both gasped at this news.
"My grampa," Damon whispered.
"My creator," Erethyr whispered.
"This has to be more than just a coincidence," said Ulrich.
"It is," Erethyr responded, "Professor Lerath kept in contact with Doctor Hopper. Hopper said something about creating a program named XANA. Just before they lost touch, he said that XANA had gone rogue and that he had to deactivate it. Then nothing. He never mentioned Doctor Aurum though."
"Well, there's one mystery solved. But that only raises many more questions," Jeremie stated.
"Wouldn't it be weird if they each created their own A.I's but Erethyr was was the only one that wasn't evil in any way," Odd joked.
"Next time we have a mystery on our hands, let's just turn to Detective Odd," Yumi joked, getting laughs from the entire group. Damon's laughs quickly turned into a puzzled look, however.
"What is it Damon," Erethyr asked.
"This just reminds me of the most recent version of my nightmare. That actually makes a lot of the pieces of the puzzle fit, but there are still too many missing to get the whole picture," Damon responded before telling the rest of his friends what he told Yumi. Before any further speculation could occur, the bell rang signaling for the students to get to their classes.
"Lucky us," Ulrich declared, "We got gym first today."
"I'm not quite so lucky, I've got a French exam today," Yumi groaned.
"Good luck," said Aelita.
"Thanks," Yumi responded, "I'm gonna need it." The group headed off to their respective classes, rushing so that they wouldn't be tardy.
"Alright, today we will be playing dodgeball. The rules are simple: get hit by a ball from the opposing team and you're out. Somebody catches a ball, the person that threw it is out and you get to bring a player that is out back into the game. Remember the five D's of dodgeball: dodge, dip, dive, duck, and…dodge," Jim proclaimed, unnecessarily explaining the rules of the game, "I have already determined the two team captains. They will be Ulrich and Odd. A coin flip will determine who picks first."
Jim pulled out a quarter while Ulrich and Odd walked towards him. "Call it in the air."
Jim flipped the coin and Odd said, "Heads." Jim caught the coin and slapped it onto his wrist. He lifted his hand and showed it to the two team captains. Ulrich immediately groaned while Odd yelled, "Yes! Damon, you're on my team."
Damon walked over to Odd's side of the gym. Ulrich said, "Erethyr, you're with me." Damon's heart skipped a beat; he was actually going to have to go up against his girlfriend.
"This is going to get difficult," Damon muttered.
"I guess you're over here, Nicolas," Odd groaned. He had been hoping to get Erethyr on his team too.
Aelita was kind of put off that she hadn't been chosen by Odd when Ulrich grinned and said, "C'mon over here Aelita." She happily walked over to Ulrich's side of the gym.
The teams continued to get picked until Jeremie was the last one. The teams were already even, however, so Jim said, "Why don't you just sit this one out, we don't want one team to have more people than the other one."
"Sure, Jim. No problem," Jeremie responded and sat down on the rock climbing platform.
"Now, I want a clean game kids. Nobody starts until I blow my whistle," Jim declared as he walked over to the rock climbing platform. He blew his whistle and all hell broke loose.
Within the first five minutes, about half of the class was out. There were a few players that were excelling though. Damon and Erethyr had yet to be hit, and were actually diverting balls towards themselves so that their teams would have more ammo. Ulrich and Odd were easily taking out the most players. Aelita and Damon were also catching thrown balls occasionally to bring back in the best off the fallen teammates.
The game continued for another fifteen minutes until only Aelit, Odd, Ulrich, Damon, and Erethyr were left. "Just give up, Odd. You'll never win, we have more good players," Ulrich shouted.
"Never," Odd shouted back, dodging a ball thrown by Aelita, "I've got the best dodger here. Even Erethyr has been hit a couple of times"
To emphasize his point Damon gracefully dodged the next three balls that were thrown at him. He even added insult to grace by holding his arms out to the side and making a circle while a ball passed right through the middle of it. Odd laughed at Damon's antics and immediately got hit in the chest by a ball thrown by Aelita.
"Crud," was the only thing that Damon could say as he started a new intense wave of dodging. He even went so far as to make it look like a dance, getting many oohs and ahs from the crowd of students, Odd included. He then turned the tide of battle by catching a ball thrown by Ulrich and then throwing it in turn hitting Aelita in the butt. His throw had enough force behind it to make her move forward about six inches before crumpling on the ground.
"Sorry about that," Damon yelled dodging a ball thrown by Erethyr as Odd came back in. Ulrich helped Aelita back up and had her lean on him all the way to the rock climbing platform.
Odd and Damon looked at each other and nodded as they each picked up a ball. Odd moved behind Damon and stayed there, even moving with him as he was dodging Erethyr's shots. Damon threw his ball at Erethyr and immediately bent over, allowing Odd a clear shot. "Peek-a-boo," Odd yelled as he threw his ball. Erethyr narrowly dodged both balls, even making it look like she was in the Matrix.
"Crap, that move worked in Dodgeball," Odd groaned as he got hit in the head by Erethyr's projectile. The entire class winced as Odd spun, his face looking comical, before he fell to the ground. Damon picked him up and put him on the rock climbing platform with everyone else, all the while dodging everything that was thrown his way-that didn't stop Odd from getting hit in the nuts, however. He got out of his daze just long enough to grab himself and groan.
Damon returned to the middle of the gym and had a classic western standoff against Erethyr. Neither one moved a muscle for about two minutes. Then, as if by some common understanding, they both moved into motion. Erethyr ran and scooped up two balls and threw them at Damon. Damon dived around them, spinning, as he grabbed a ball of his own. While in his spinning dive, he threw his ball, narrowly missing hitting Erethyr in the chest. When he hit the ground with his right arm, he quickly turned it into a cartwheel, dodging another shot from Erethyr.
"Show offs," Sissi muttered, crossing her arms in disdain.
"Shh, this is getting good," both Ulrich and Odd hissed at her, watching intently.
After their flurry of motion, they just stood there, looking at each other and panting. Erethyr only had one ball on her side of the court and Damon had landed right next to five balls. Neither one dared to think that this was over yet. They both knew that it wasn't winner couldn't be decided until one of them got out. The entire class had held their breath through that entire exchange. It had looked like something right out of a John Woo movie, except with dodgeballs instead of bullets.
"One last move," Erethyr stated.
"That is all that it takes," Damon declared. He bent over to pick up one ball in his right hand. Erethyr just grinned and walked over to the only ball on her side of the court. Erethyr knew that she had to close in so that she could hit him. If she was more than five feet away, he could dodge her projectile with ease. He also knew that he had to get close, but if he got too close he wouldn't have very much time to dodge her shot.
Erethyr, after a long pause, decided to rush in for one last attack. When she got within five feet she threw her ball. Damon had already seen this one coming and had started a double front flip as she threw her ball. Damon watched it pass under him, as though it was going in slow-motion. Damon gripped the ball with his other hand as he ended the first part of his double front flip. When he was at the apex of his maneuver he had his ball held behind his head with both hands and threw it with all of his strength. The ball hit her in the chest full force as he landed his flip. Her feet actually left the ground from the force of his throw. She flew about four feet before landing limply.
Ulrich, Odd, Aelita, Jeremie, and even Jim all scribbled numbers down on pieces of paper and held them up as the class cheered. Odd's paper said '10.' Ulrich's said '9.6.' Aelita's said '8.4' as she was also rubbing her ass. She knew how much his throws hurt, and Erethyr had flown farther than she had. Jeremie's said '9.2.' And Jim's said '9.4.' Damon didn't notice though. He was already running towards her, cursing himself for using so much strength.
Erethyr's eyes werent't open when he got over there. "Erethyr, are you alright. Erethyr. Erethyr, please say something," Damon was pleading, shaking her gently. Jim decided to walk over there. The rest of the class was whispering about what had just happened.
Jim said, "Why don't you take her to the infirmary. She took quite a hit."
"Thanks, Jim. You don't know how much this means to me," Damon said gratefully.
"Oh, I think that I have an idea," Jim said as Damon gently picked Erethyr up and rushed her over to the infirmary.
When he got there, Nurse Yolanda asked him what had happened. Damon proceeded to explain exactly what had happened in that final bout in the gym. Yolanda nodded her head and said, "Why don't you just put her on the bed and wait outside. I call for you when I'm done."
"Thank you," Damon said and went outside to sit in the chair just outside of her door until she got through in there.
"Let's see just how much damage was caused," Nurse Yolanda said to herself as she took off Erethyr's shirt, revealing her black bra. She saw a big red circle on Erethyr's chest and whistled. She checked to see just how extensive the damage was before putting Erethyr's shirt back on her. "Who knew that he had that much strength in him," she muttered as she called Damon back in.
"So how bad is it," Damon inquired, pleadingly.
"Nothing too serious, you managed to bruise her sternum," she said, Damon's face fell at this news, "Don't worry though. You managed to knock her out, but she is otherwise fine. She should be up and around in a few hours. I'll tell her teachers that she won't be able to make it in to class today. Now, why don't you just head back down to gym. They're probably worried down there."
"Alright, I will. Thanks," Damon grimaced and trudged back to the gym.
When he got there his friends asked him what happened. "I hit her with enough force to knock her out. Nurse Yolanda says that she should be up and around in a few hours," Damon responded.
"Damn!! You had to hit her pretty damn hard to knock her out," Ulrich stated, kind of awestruck by Damon's words.
"Well, she did go flying a few feet," Aelita added-rubbing her ass again-realizing just how easy she had got it, "I do have to tell you, though. You throw pretty fucking hard!"
"Sorry, I got caught in the moment," Damon apologized, "That's how Erethyr got hurt so bad." He hung his head in shame.
"But you made it look so cool. Just like something out of a John Woo movie," Odd commented.
"Yeah," Ulrich added, "After seeing that I can actually hold my head up high after losing." Those words coming from him held a lot more weight to them then they would have if they had come from anybody else.
"Guys, he's probably heard enough," Jeremie stated, taking a good look at Damon's face and seeing tears streaming down his face.
"Thanks, Jer," Damon muttered.
"Do you want us to leave you alone for a little bit," Aelita asked concernedly.
"Yeah, maybe for a little while," Damon admitted weakly.
"Alright, come talk to us when you're ready," Ulrich stated, letting Damon wallow in his own misery over what he had done to the girl that he loved.
At lunch, the group was getting concerned for their friends. Damon hadn't said a word since he had knocked Erethyr out while she had yet to get out of the infirmary. Yumi had asked Aelita what had happened and she described the dodgeball game in gym to her. Yumi gasped and looked at Damon, who promptly gave his tray to Odd and walked out of the cafeteria to walk to his next class.
"He didn't even touch his food," Odd declared, "Now I'm getting seriously worried about him."
"He's probably beating himself up really hard about this," Yumi said and didn't even notice that Erethyr had managed to get into the cafeteria, get her food, and sit down at the table.
"Yeah, he did hit me pretty damn hard," Erethyr declared, making the entire group jump out of their seats. She laughed about this, then she thought better of it rubbing where Damon had hit her.
"Did you see Damon on your way here," Aelita asked, still sounding surprised that Erethyr had snuck up on them so well.
"Yeah, he was just entering history class when I got out of the infirmary," Erethyr responded.
"And he didn't even notice you," Ulrich said incredulously.
"He seemed pretty oblivious to the world," Erethyr stated.
"Maybe if he wasn't such a baby about things, he wouldn't be crying about this," a familiar voice jeered.
"Fuck, not her of all people," Ulrich groaned.
Erethyr abruptly stood up, knocking her seat to the ground. "What did you just call him," Erethyr asked venomously.
"I called him a big fat crybaby," Sissi responded, daring her to come at her. She was immediately rewarded with a quick punch to the gut, making her double over in pain and surprise. Nobody had seen her close the six foot distance in between them or throw the punch.
"Take it back," Erethyr threatened.
"Calm down," Yumi proclaimed, trying to get Erethyr to settle down.
"Stay out of this," Erethyr shouted, turning around to glare at Yumi. Yumi was taken aback by the ferocity in her eyes. Jim walked up at that moment.
"What is the meaning of this," he asked, trying to break up this fight.
"She insulted Damon for beating himself up about what happened during gym," Erethyr stated coldly.
"Elizabeth is this true," Jim asked as she recovered from being hit.
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Sissi lied through her teeth, "She just hit me for no reason."
"You lying bitch," Erethyr shouted, taking another swing at Sissi. Jim got in between them and grabbed Erethyr by her shirt.
"Did any of you see what happened," Jim asked Erethyr's friends.
"Yeah," Ulrich responded, "Sissi insulted Damon, so Erethyr asked her what she said. She repeated it, adding more to the insult and Erethyr lunged at her. She told her to take it back. Yumi tried to get her to calm down, but she was just too pissed to listen. Then you showed up."
"Is this true," Jim asked.
"Yep," Odd agreed.
"Sure is," Aelita assented.
"Sissi did start it," Jeremie stated. Yumi just nodded, still put back by the look that Erethyr had given her.
"Both of you are coming with me to the principal's office this minute," Jim proclaimed, dragging both Sissi and Erethyr with him.
"This cannot end well," Ulrich declared.
"Think of it this way," Odd said between mouthfuls of food, "At least Sissi's going to get into just as much trouble for provoking Erethyr."
"I wonder how Damon's going to take this," Aelita thought out loud.
"I'll tell him," Jeremie stated.
"No, you have a tendency to drop bombshells, Einstein," Odd responded.
"I'll tell him," Yumi declared, "It's on the way to my science class anyway."
"Alright, we all appreciate it Yumi," Ulrich stated, speaking for the entire group.
"Wish me luck," Yumi said as she headed out the door.
About ten minutes later, Yumi had not only found Damon just sitting in an otherwise empty classroom but also told him what had happened right after he left the cafeteria.
"She did WHAT," Damon shouted, outraged at both Sissi and Erethyr. At the same time he was relieved that Erethyr was indeed alright.
"You heard me. Erethyr got in trouble defending you from Sissi," Yumi responded, "But Sissi should be getting into just as much trouble for provoking her though. At least that's some good news."
"Thanks for telling me this Yumi. I really was in a deep melancholy over gym this morning," Damon stated.
"What are you going to do now," Yumi asked hesitantly.
"Anything that I do to Sissi or Erethyr at this point would be superfluous," Damon stated.
"That," Yumi commented, "and you'd get into another three weeks of detention for being so merciless towards Sissi again."
"That too," Damon responded, "The only thing that I'm going to do is apologize to Erethyr for hitting her so hard and hope that she will forgive me."
"I'm sure she will," Yumi declared, "She knows how you can get sometimes."
"Yeah, well I'd just feel better if I apologized to her," Damon proclaimed.
"You do that," Yumi said, "As for me, I've got to go to my science class. See you after classes."
"See you there," Damon stated cheerfully. Yumi walked out of the classroom, but Damon just sat there and waited for class to start in about five more minutes.
Damon apologized to Erethyr the first chance that he got and found out how she and Sissi were getting punished. They had both gotten a month of detention for the fight. Jeremie's laptop started beeping, revealing that a tower had just activated in the mountain region. Erethyr, Aelita, and Ulrich all said that they had to go to the infirmary while their friends offered to help them get there safely. Instead of heading to the infirmary they bolted towards the factory. Ulrich called Yumi but she said that she couldn't get out of class this time, so they went on without her.
At the factory, Jeremie quickly virtualized everybody. When they reached Lyoko, they were caught completely off guard by what they saw. XANA was actually fighting against all of these monsters. He was even defending himself against William with his bow.
"As much as I love seeing those two duke it out," Damon said, "It looks like XANA could use our help."
"No way," Ulrich proclaimed, "This has to be a trap."
"And what if it's not," Damon argued, "Then if XANA loses, we'll never find out what the fucks going on here." Ulrich had to bend to Damon's logic.
"I'm not going to like this," Ulrich stated.
"I'm not asking you to," Damon declared, "All I'm saying is that the enemy of our enemy is our friend."
"But what if he is also your enemy," Odd joked.
Damon laughed a little bit and said, "Then you're fucked." This got some laughs as the five warriors joined the fray. Ulrich, Odd, Erethyr, and Aelita all took on the monsters while Damon helped XANA out.
"About time you got here," XANA stated impatiently, "I don't know how much longer I could have held out."
"We may not trust you, but even we can realize when something is up and you're not the cause of it," Damon declared as he hit William's sword, almost disarming him.
"After this, I'll tell you what is going on here," XANA promised as he fired a shot at William's sword, knocking it from his grasp.
"I'll keep you to that," Damon proclaimed as he hit William in the head, making visible ripples in the air from where he hit.
William was staggered for long enough for XANA to shoot him in the chest with his one of his red arrows, instantly making him explode exactly as he had been of late. Damon and XANA took one look at each other and nodded as they helped the others with their battles. It was over in a matter of minutes.
They all turned to XANA, but only Damon wasn't looking as though he wanted a piece of XANA. "Guys he told me that he would reveal what was going on. Let's at least here him out first," Damon stated. His friends uneasily put away their weapons.
XANA gave his bow to Damon and said, "To emphasize my point." Everyone was surprised about this, but took it as a sign that XANA meant business.
"Okay, what's the deal," Ulrich asked.
"I am not your real enemy anymore," XANA stated, getting looks of disbelief from everyone present, "I know that I have tried to kill you in the past, but after the Core of Lyoko was destroyed, my programming was cleaned. I no longer had the desire to kill any of you. But the one that took control of William does. Her name is SAI. Like I was created by Franz Hopper and Erethyr was created by Artemis Lerath, SAI was created by Gina Aurum." The group gasped at this.
"Why should we believe you," Aelita stated.
"Because it is the truth," XANA stated matter-of-factly.
"Tell us this," Damon stated, "Does SAI have long silver hair and black eyes that seem to draw you in?"
XANA was taken aback by Damon's comment. He had never told them what she looked like so he said, "Yes, she does. But how did you know that?"
"It's a little human thing called a dream, or more precisely a nightmare. I believe him guys. It was the biggest missing piece to my nightmare," Damon declared.
"What do you mean," Odd asked, in disbelief.
"The three streams of data that came from a single point making three orbs. That had to be Hopper, Gramps, and Aurum coming from Project Carthage and making XANA, Erethyr, and SAI. SAI is the silver orb that is trying to hurt. Erethyr is the green orb that is trying to help. So that means that XANA is the red orb that is trying to inform," Damon explained.
"When you think about it that way," Erethyr stated, "It does make sense. All of it does. But I'm just wondering two things: one, why did you kidnap Damon about two months ago; and two, what the fuck happened here."
XANA started to explain himself, "As to the answer of your first question the answer is simple. I took Damon because I was trying to get to you so that I could get some assistance. When I couldn't get you I gave Damon his Lyoko form and set the seeds that would allow me to get the help that I needed. As for the answer to your second question, I was getting over-whelmed trying to beat all of these minions of SAI. I remembered that every time I activated a tower, all of you would come running. So, I activated that tower and hoped that you would answer my call for…help."
"But weren't you getting more powerful from each return to the past," Jeremie asked from his keyboard.
"Yes, I was. But once the Core of Lyoko was destroyed, SAI was awakened and most of my power was drained, forcing me to coalesce into this human form here on Lyoko," XANA responded.
"I don't know," Ulrich stated, "I still don't trust you."
"After how many times I attempted to kill you, I don't expect you to trust me. But I am willing to try to earn your trust," XANA responded.
"That is going to take more time than you think," Odd stated.
"I trust you," Damon declared, shocking everybody, even XANA.
"Why? How? WHAT," Erethyr shouted.
"If I were in his shoes I would have done the exact same thing," Damon stated simply, "And it takes a lot of courage to ask those that you have tried to killed or wronged numerous times in the past for help. I trust him." To emphasize his point he handed XANA back his bow, shocking everyone further.
"What are you doing," Aelita yelled.
"I know that you can be pretty insightful sometimes, but this is just plain crazy," Ulrich proclaimed.
"I think that I speak for all of us when I say that I agree with Ulrich," Odd declared, getting nods from everyone.
"Guys, the tower was just deactivated," Jeremie said.
"Yes, I deactivated it. There was no need for it to be activated any longer than it already had been," XANA stated simply.
"I still don't trust you," Aelita said coldly.
"And I don't expect you to, for I have committed the most wrongs against you," XANA stated, "But realize, I would not have come forth and given you all of this information if I thought that there wasn't a slim chance that amends could be made."
"Let us think it over for a while, then we'll get back to you," Jeremie stated.
"I will be waiting here on Lyoko until you return," XANA declared, bowing.
Jeremie materialized all of his friends and they quickly made their way back to school. After their classes they told Yumi what had happened and she was just as distrustful as the rest of the group, save for Damon, were.
"I don't know, he just can't be trusted," Yumi stated.
"Well either way, we aren't going to just welcome him with open arms," Erethyr declared.
"I know this," Damon said, "But I also know that he is honestly at wits end and needs our help."
"Maybe, but we still don't trust him," Aelita said for everybody.
"He will have access to many things already, so if things actually end up obviously changing in our favor, that could be his way of trying to make amends," Erethyr stated.
"We'll just have to wait and see if he can be trusted," Jeremie said.
"Agreed," Yumi nodded.
With that said the group of friends talked about other things before heading home to rest and think over everything that had happened this day.