Chapter 12; Ivo Returns

The rest of the school year dragged on for what seemed to be eternity until finally, the last day of the school year came to a close.

"So long Ninth grade!" Odd chuckled as he and all of his friends begun heading for Keifer's mansion, where they had all planned to stay for the summer.

"Just you wait" William begun as they got off Kadic grounds and headed into the city. "Tenth grade was the equivalent of hell being frozen over"

"LANGUAGE!" Yumi said angrily, slapping him across the face. He apologized and everyone laughed, even William himself couldn't suppress a chuckle. "But he's right; Tenth grade is horrible"

"Well, we've got nearly a full month of relaxing before we've gotta worry about it" Keifer said with a smile.

"Unless XANA bears his ugly head, or for that matter, Tyron" Jeremie said, reminding them of their enemy.

"The only way we can stop XANA now is to stop Tyron and Jade as well" Aelita sighed as they got to the mansion to be greeted by her mother.

"Good afternoon everyone" Athena said with a smile as she brought them a tray of various snacks. She hugged Aelita before returning to the kitchen.

"Look at it like this though, we have two speed demons on our side" Ulrich joked as he grabbed a handful of chips from the tray. As if on cue from hearing their voices, Metal stepped into the room. His voice didn't boom anymore as Keifer's uncle and Franz had built a voice synthesizer at the request of the robot himself.

"Your uncle says the surprise is finished" Metal Sonic said to him. "He says bring your friends" he added. Keifer nodded and they followed Metal to the basement, which had been turned into a lab of sorts filled with technology and a large table covered with things in the center.

"Hey sonny boy, I thought you wouldn't get here in time" his Uncle said to him with his hearty chuckle. "I want you and your friends to head up to the fountain out back" he said to him.

"And we just got here" Odd whined as they went back up stairs and out the back door to the large yard, which now was a blooming flower garden with a large, fully restored marble fountain in the center. "What's tak-" Odd didn't finish his sentence as the fountain begun glowing brightly, and a golden ring, the size of Keifer's bursted out into the air with a splash, and he jumped up and caught it.

"Whoa, no way!" Keifer said, holding it up as Franz and Chuck walked outside, each with a smile.

"We decided to take the power ring and restore it to it's original form" Franz begun explaining to them.

"The Power Stone" Chuck begun, continuing from what Franz said. "Is what the Power Ring was. But now, we've changed it slightly"

"How so?" Keifer asked him, seeing no difference in the ring.

"Every twenty-four hours, the Power stone makes a new ring. These ones aren't like yours and sue a lot less energy, causing them to fade out after about five minutes of use" Franz explained to him.

"But that's not all" Chuck said, sounding very giddy. "Any of you youngsters can use the new Power Rings!"

"Wait a minute, WHAT?" Odd asked, bewildered by this revelation. He then grabbed the ring from Keifer and held it up. "How does it - WHOA!" he begun feeling a surge of power in his body as a gold infinity symbol streaked with purple flashed around him before fading.

"It has a different effect on everyone" Franz spoke. "But it should be the same for Keifer, nonetheless"

"Hey Odd, hit me with your hardest and best shot" Keifer said to him, standing next to the fountain, wide open. Odd nodded, and surged forward like a XANA-fied person would. He balled his fist and hit Keifer with a punch so hard, that the force alone blew him back into a large tree, his back smacking it hard before he fell to the ground.

"Oh god!" he cried out. He surged forward to see his friend, who was struggling to get up.

"I'll be fine" Keifer reassured him as he stood up. "At least we know what Odd's powers are like now" he joked as the ring poofed into a small shower of gold, the power within it being depleted.

"Perhaps it has to do with the time I activated that tower so he could fight Yolanda" Jeremie theorized. "That would explain why that power seemed so similar"

"Well needless to say, XANA better watch out now, because we're gonna bite back twice as hard" Peter said, making a fist in triumph as they walked back inside, Keifer still slightly dazed.

"Speaking of which, we believe that Tyron is charging power to do something" Franz said to the children as they all sat down in the living room. "After dinner tonight, I'll be sending you all into the Replika so we can find out what he's up to"

"Sounds fine to me" Keifer said, booting on a game console and passing a controller to his friends before they played a free-for-all fighting game. "After all, we'll have Metal Sonic on our side!"

"I can't return to the digital world" the Robot spoke to him, his voice sounding firm.

"Why not?" Yumi asked the robot with slight concern as Ulrich knocked her off the map, causing her to lose a life.

"If Tyron were to run his kill-switch program with me there, it would restore my kill function" the robot informed. "I have no wish to bestow harm on any of you no more" he concluded.

"Can you still come to the factory though?" Jeremie asked him.

"Yes, I can do that, in case Tyron sends XANA our way. I will be able to protect Franz" he stated, cocking his head a little. He then returned to the kitchen to help Athena as Odd destroyed them in the video game they were playing, winning instantly.

"Ha!" he said, fist pumping. "I knew I hadn't lost my touch!"

"Bet we could beat you in another game" Peter said as they were about to start another round.

"Dinner!" Athena called out. Dumbfoundedly, Keifer looked at his watch along with the others as they realized how much time had actually past. So, they shut the game off and went in to the dining room as Metal Sonic brought out their plates and sat them on the table. It was a combine of steak and potatoes, along with a few sides.

"It smells wonderful dear" Franz said to Athena as she joined them. "And tastes amazing!" he added, taking a large bite and savoring the flavor. Just then, there was a loud banging at the door.

"I'll get it" Keifer said. "And just as a precaution, I'll bring Metal Sonic with me" he looked over to the robot that was oiling itself, and somehow drinking some of it. Metal put the oil canister down and followed him. As they reached the door, there was still loud banging, and when they opened it, there were three men in black. "Metal, enter Defense mode, NOW!" Keifer cried, tackling one of them down,

"DEFENSE MODE; ACTIVATED" Metal droned before slamming into the other two as Chuck walked into the hallway.

"What in blazes - Oh not again!" he quickly pulled something from his pocket and pressed a button on it as a white beam of light was fired at the three grounded men. The machine broke in his hands and he sighed a little.

"Wait - where are we?" one of them asked. Then, out of no where, Keifer tossed on a hat that was on the rack and a large trench coat. He then begun speaking fluent English.

"Hello, are you here for the party?" this baffled them and then they made gestures apologizing before leaving. Keifer sighed and put the clothing up before everyone returned to the table.

"Tyron isn't going to be too pleased" Odd said as Keifer told them about what happened as dinner resumed. Metal still seemed on edge, but calmed down instantly when he downed half a canister of motor oil. "But what was that hing?" he asked Chuck, who was eating in silence.

"A memory wiper" he said plainly. "The only one I ever built. It wouldn't have broke had it not been for the power crystal breaking from being so old" he explained this to them as they all finished up their meal.

"What's a Power Crystal?" Aelita asked him as her mother and Metal Sonic cleared everyone's plates.

"A Power Crystal is a very small piece of the Power Stone, which, when used right, can power very deadly weapons or objects like this. Luckily, there is only one weapon in existence that has a Power Crystal in it" he said, his mood going dark. "That weapon, being the one that nearly killed me"

"The Cell Splitter..." Keifer whispered, putting a hand over his mouth.

"Me and Charles created it to test the Power Crystals, and it had three settings being kill, teleport, and memory wipe" he explained to them. "But, however, when teleport it used, it can make a fake of another person lasting twenty-four hours, and if a person has a strong mind, kill mode can't work" Franz explained to them. "But Tyron stole it from us" he added darkly.

"It's a good thing you've got that big head of yours" Ulrich joked to Odd, and everyone including him laughed at that.

"We all ready to go?" Franz asked them.

"You bet" Jeremie said. "I can hook up to the Super Computer and in no time flat, I'm sure we'll be able to find what XANA is up to" he said with a smile. "Along with Tyron" he added.

"Stay safe!" Athena called as they opened the door.

"And good luck!" Chuck said to them as Metal closed the door behind them all.

"There is a sewer entrance that we can use up ahead to get to the factory" Franz said to them as hey walked in the starry night sky, the cool summer air wafting around them.

"Is this it?" Aelita asked her father after they had been walking for a while. And sure enough, with a nod, Franz confirmed that it was. One by one, they all climbed down, except for Keifer, who just jumped and Metal, who flew down.

"Man, I can't see a thing!" Peter said as they closed the entrance. As if on cue, Metal's eyes lit up very brightly revealing a path behind them and in front of them.

"If I'm remembering right, we just need to go right on the third entrance and make a left on the fourth, and we'll be there" Franz old them as they begun walking.

"So Metal, what exactly caused you to revert to normal mode?" Keifer asked the robot, who was in front of everyone.

"When you beat me and the Power Ring and Chaos Emeralds left my body, my will was free" he explained to him. "When I was first created, Tyron used a small piece of the Cell Splitter's Power Crystal, which he had corrupted somehow, and put it in my body. The sudden loss of my power somehow fixed the shard, and restored me to my normal state" he concluded. "And along with your blood infused with the energy of the Chaos Emeralds, it sustains me and can fix me from even the worst destruction"

"So am I invincible too?" Keifer asked him as they made their right turn.

"I don't think it works that way" Aelita spoke up. "Metal Sonic is made of steel and titanium. He doesn't have any physical matter like we do, hence, why he can be rebuilt"

"And it probably has to do with the Power Shard" Yumi added.

"Makes sense" Keifer said. "I'm just glad you're on our side now Metal Sonic" Keifer said with a smile as they made their left turn, and the familiar ladder to the bridge was in sight.

"So am I" the robot said as they reached their destination and begun climbing. "Before you stopped me, I could see everything I was doing, but because my will was locked up, I couldn't control myself" he said as hey all ascended the ladder and found themselves on the bridge to the factory. They all ran in, and everyone jumped on the ropes, except for Keifer, Metal, and Franz. Keifer jumped down while Metal flew Franz down.

"Alright, so me, Metal, and Jeremie will stay here to guide you and run our scans. We'll send you to the Fifth Sector and from there you can board the Skid and get to Tyron's Replika" Franz said to them as he. Metal, and Jeremie stepped out of the elevator and watched it descend down a few more levels.

-Keifer's P.O.V - First Person (A/N; We're gonna start looking at the story from other points of view now)

Every time we went down the elevator to the scanners, I always felt prepared. Even if we didn't know what we'd be up against, I still felt we'd always emerge victorious, no matter what. Then, the elevator opened and the rest of us guys watched as they went first, William and Ulrich second, then me, Peter, and Odd went third.

"Boy am I glad we don't have to use the transport orb anymore!" Odd said happily as we landed on Sector Five, the doorway ahead of us opening.

"Go on now, you're safe to head to the Skid" Franz told us as we all took off. Every time we ran, I had to remind myself to slow down because not everyone could run as fast as me, and to top that, the few times I could run fast were only bad times.

"Wanna race?" Ulrich asked me as we got to the elevator and went down, a few more corridors to go before we got to the docking station of the Skid.

"You're on!" I yell to him as we take off. I had never noticed how fast Ulrich's Super Sprint was, so I smiled as I let him over-take me for a second, only to peel out ahead of him moments later with a smirk.

-Third person P.O.V

As everyone caught up to Ulrich and Keifer, they were already on their spots, waiting to be energized into the Skid. The Skid itself now had six mini-pods and the main pod at the top, operated by Aelita.

"Took you long enough" Both Keifer and Ulrich said in unison. The others just rolled their eyes jokingly as they got on their spots and Franz sent them all into the Skidbladnir.

"Guys, there's an activated Tower on the Replika, so when you get there, connect to the one closest to it. We'll send in Keifer, Peter, William and Odd, while the rest of you get the tower" Jeremie said to them as the group entered the Digital Sea.

"So how does all of this work exactly?" Keifer asked, seeing all of the different buttons in his pod.

"Don't worry, I'll explain it to you if things go downhill" Franz said to him as the Skid approached the Replika. The group entered and they saw the activated tower. But not from it was a deactivated one.

"We're hooking up to the tower Jeremie" Aelita said as they did just that. A few moments later, Keifer found himself standing in the real world again alongside William, Odd and Peter, and they weren't far from Tyron's lab.

"I think you might need to find another way in - Tyron is probably expecting you to use the vents" Franz told them as they neared the lab. And sure enough, the vent was sealed with steel.

"Maybe if we just snuck in from a Window?" William suggested as they did a lap around the large, hidden building. And sue enough, they found an open window that led into a deserted Kitchen.

"Alright, try and get to Tyron's Super Computer" Franz told them. "From there, I can instruct you on some code you can send me so we can find out what he's up to"

"Yumi, watch out!" Ulrich called to her as he jumped over her and slashed through a Blok, destroying it with one hit. A few more walked up as they got closer to the tower. Aelita hit one with an energy field and Yumi threw her fans as Metal begun speaking.

"SPECTER DETECTED. ENTERING; DEFENSE MODE!" Metal Sonic droned as one of XANA's specters took the form of a man in black. Before it could fire it's purple electricity at Jeremie and Franz, Metal Sonic lunged at it, throwing it at the wall far from the Super Computer.

"Hurry with the tower!" Franz warned as heard the fight behind him. "I'm not sure how much longer Metal Sonic can hold the Specter back!"

"Don't worry, Aelita just got in there now!" Ulrich said as Jade begun virtualizing in front of them.

"Miss me?" she asked them darkly, summoning her weapon before lunging at them.

"Defense Mode disabled" Metal Sonic said as the specter faded.

"Franz, we made it to Tyron's Super Computer" Keifer said through his ear-piece as the warriors walked into the room.

"Alright, get to the keyboard and I'll tell you what to do" he said as he watched a visual of Keifer and his friends while Yumi, Aelita, and Ulrich were all fighting Jade, who was,needless to say, beating them back hard.

"HEYAH!" Ulrich yelled as he sprinted behind Jade and impaled her with his sword. She gasped as she was devirtualized in a cloud of red pixels. Keifer's group gasped as a large, grey metallic pad in the center of the room begun lighting up.

"Hide!" Franz grimaced as the light begun to die down, revealing a slightly exhausted Jade. Keifer and his friends all hid under the desk as they watched Jade leave the room, looking like she was in a hurry.

"I'll follow her, you guys get the data for Franz!" Keifer said, running off after her, only to be jumped right outside the door.

"Gotcha!" she said evilly, stabbing him in the side with something. Keifer howled in pain as he clutched his side, a fire-like agony spreading through his body. "Catch me if you can!" Jade laughed evilly. Keifer yelled with anger and tried to run after her, feeling himself going much slower than normal. He then realized the pain was still in his body and thought that it was affecting his speed. Wih a scream, he pulled the weird needle-like object out and stopped at an open door to a large room, almost the size of three classrooms. There were several scientists at work on many high-tech computers and at the center of the room was...

"Jade!" Keifer yelled in anger. "But more importantly, Tyron!"

"Such a shame you expelled Ivo from our world" Tyron said to him with an evil grin. "But no longer!" he yelled as he slammed a red button on a panel in front of him. A blinding light hit the room before fading. And in the center of the room, stood Ivo Kintobor, Keifer's arch nemesis.

"Oh it feels so good to be back!" Ivo laughed evilly, walking over to Tyron before seeing Keifer. "Oh oh oh, I've got a surprise for you!" from behind him, a person slightly taller than Keifer stepped out, almost shocking him. He had jet black hair and like Keifer, quills and spines, but his were black and some had shades of red.

"Sorry, but I don't have time to deal with impostors!" Keifer said. He closed his eyes and felt the Power bracelets charge him up. Before he could take off, the impostor zoomed forward and drop kicked him. He then ripped the Power bracelets off of Keifer's wrists and put them on his own.

"I thought this would be harder" he said as he looked at Keifer, who was struggling to get up. He then pulled a wicked looking pistol out. "Sweet dreams" he said, shooting him right between the eyes, causing him to de-energize and reappear in the Skid, completely past out.

"Okay, we're sending it over right now!" William said to Franz, hitting enter on the keyboard of the Super Computer as the impostor walked in. "What did you do to yourself Keifer?" Odd asked, believing it was their friend.

"Don't call me that faker!" he said, shooting Odd as William and Peter watched in shock as Odd crumpled to the floor as he was de-energizing. Peter was shocked next and William manged to speak, but his voice was quivering, knowing that he was next.

"Who ARE you?" he asked as the other boy walked up to him.

"Zach, Zach Kintobor" he said, firing his gun. As William de-energized, Zach looked at Tyron's computer and had a dark thought. He begun kicking it and bashing it in.

"Guys, get out of there, the Replika is falling apart!" Jeremie warned them as everyone was finally back in the skid, even if half of them were unconscious.

"Don't worry, we're leaving" Aelita reassured him as they dropped into the Digital Sea and out of the Replika as it exploded completely, not a trace of it left.

"So... that's what getting shot feels like" Keifer muttered, coming to as the gang re-entered Sector Five and dismounted from the Skid, all of them being virtualized one-by-one. He was trying to ignore the fact that Ivo was back and with... whoever that was, but was hit by the reality of it when Franz told them that is what Tyron had been doing this whole time.

"That's not good" Yumi said as they were all walking back to the mansion. "If he's back, then he'll be hunting down Keifer again"

"Then we've gotta beat him, XANA, Tyron, and Jade once and for all" Keifer said, a new determination flaring in his eyes. Everyone silently agreed with him. After all, they couldn't keep on winning forever.