A/N: Rowan sent me a message a few days ago about my AN last chapter. It's good to know some people actually pay attention to me!
Anyway... here's the newest installment of the final battle!
P.S. I don't own Code Lyoko, or else we'd be reading the comics in English.
Chapter 19 – The Fourth Cobra War, Part V
"What do you mean, 'Kirk Fromm is here,' Mr. President?" Prime Minister François Lux asked President Keller.
The members of the French Presidential cabinet had jumped to their feet in shock when the Jeremy's message of Kirk Fromm's impending attack on the Élysée Palace blared over the private line for all of the members to hear. The justices and the legislators looked panicked, but the president's demeanor was trying to calm them all down.
"I meant what I said, Mr. Prime Minister," Keller replied calmly. "Captain Jeremy contacted me saying that the intel they extracted from Danzkhi before he died showed that Kirk was flying in an airship 10 kilos over our heads, preparing to dive bomb into this building. Jeremy's on his way now, but we don't have much time." He turned to the other members of the cabinet. "We need to calmly get to safety at once. There is a shelter built under this building that should be sufficient for protection against anything that would head our way, even from a nuclear attack. As I am the only one who knows the way, please quickly and yet calmly follow me."
"Oui, Monsieur le Président," they all replied, and lined up behind Keller as opened the door of the conference room. Seven Secret Service agents entered and joined the group, and President Keller ordered them to close and cover the windows. Once they did, he pressed a button on his desk, and the Great Seal on the floor in front of them opened up to reveal a hidden passageway. He motioned for the others to follow, and they did with the agents covering them from the front and the back.
The president led them down a long, winding series of tunnels until they reached a solid steel door. Twin security cameras were rigged on the top and bottom corners of the door. Keller then knocked on the left adjacent stone wall three times, and the wall now showed a series of locks. He pressed his thumb to one, he pressed his whole hand to another, he looked into a third, and the final one took a photo scan of his entire face. Once it finished, a methodic beeping noise was heard, followed by a quiet ding, and the door hissed and creaked open.
"Welcome, Mr. President," a computer voice rang out.
Once the cabinet stepped inside the room, they could see that the room was not only a very well-built shelter, but was a small command station, with television screens showing what was happening in hundreds of different locations all over Paris. Two agents stood at the door while the other five took positions all over the rest of the relatively small space. Keller sat down in one of the chairs facing the massive number of television screens, and put on a set of headphones.
"President Keller," Chief Justice Marc Eleanor asked, "what kind of place is this?"
"It's a backup communications and surveillance room," the president replied. "It has footage of cameras that are streaming data from all over the city, in case we had to use the equipment at the Gendarme Nationalé headquarters an emergency."
"And this would certainly qualify as an emergency," François added.
"I see," Marc said.
"Has everyone been ordered to evacuate to the safety zones, Prime Minister?" Keller asked.
"Affirmative, Mr. President," he replied.
"Then all that's left for us to do is what has been most difficult for me," Keller said, leaning back in the chair and sighing heavily.
"What's that, sir?" Marc asked.
"Waiting," the president replied, staring blankly at the screens.
The other cabinet members took a look at what the President was looking at, and they saw swarms of the Black Cobra's human soldiers and XANA's monsters overrunning the city. Some of the men, who had never seen this before, were taken aback by this, but the president and the prime minister looked like they were just waiting for it to all come to an end. After a while, Keller knit his hands together and closed his eyes.
Please lend Your strength to Jeremy, Lord, the president thought.
If anyone needs it now, it's him.
The crewman heaved heavily as he climbed the stairway to the command room. It wasn't because he was faint of muscle or because he was in an airship, but because he had narrowly missed being brutally killed by the strange powers that those three children possessed. After another few seconds of climbing, he reached the door at the top and he knocked – or rather banged – on it.
"Enter," an aged voice called out from behind the door.
The soldier opened the door, and stiffened up, clicking his boots and thrusting his right hand up and out in the Nazi salute before finishing with a normal salute and nearly collapsing on the spot. In front of him sat Kirk Fromm, seated in a very ornate high-backed chair.
"Danzkhi is dead, sir," the man said. "The children are on their way here as we speak. I barely managed to escape from them with my life."
"That you have, soldier," Kirk Fromm. "But not for long."
"What do you-" Before the soldier could say any more, Fromm raised his hand. As the man realized what this meant, he cried out in fear before a bolt of purple lightning shot through his body. A stream of red energy traveled from the man's body to Kirk Fromm, and when it was done, Kirk lowered his hand and the man slumped to the ground, dead.
"A true soldier dies on the battlefield like a hero," he said coldly. "Anyone who lives by running away is worse than the enemy. When you abandon the battle, you abandon your honor as well." He turned in his chair and gazed out the window at the city of Paris beneath him.
"It's taken sixty long years," he smiled, "but at last our grand dream will be fulfilled."
"Auf Wiedersehen, RepublikFrankreich."
"I always wondered what the Élysée Palace would look like outside of political activity," Aelita said, looking at the empty scene before her eyes. "I just never imagined seeing it in the middle of a war."
The gang had managed to arrive at the Presidential Palace before Kirk's airship had even been spotted, and they were awaiting the final showdown between them and the enigmatic founder of the criminal cult. Though they could not warp to the palace, they were able to speed up their vehicles to arrive before Kirk. Jeremy, Aelita, Ulrich, Yumi, Odd, William, Sissi, Waldo, and Anthea stood in front of the doors to the palace, with their weapons drawn, ready to intercept Kirk's incoming army. They had been waiting only for a minute or two, but it felt like an eternity had passed, wondering where, when, and how hard Kirk would strike.
"Are you sure that you can't find him?" Sissi asked. "I'm sure you would have been able to easily detect him if he's using some kind of cloaking technology."
"If he was," Yumi said, "we'd still be able to find him with our Lyoko scanners. Either he must be really high up, or else he knows something that we don't about making aircraft."
"I believe it's both," Anthea said.
"What do you mean, Mom?" Aelita asked.
"We're looking out for a ship," Anthea said, "when we should also be looking out for a monster."
"You mean like one of XANA's monsters?" William asked.
"Exactly," Anthea replied, "and I believe you will see Kirk and that monster in about five seconds."
"What?" Ulrich gasped "He's here?"
"Take a look for yourself and see," Anthea said, pointing to the clouds above them.
As soon as they looked, the clouds parted almost too quickly, and a towering winged behemoth swooped down from behind the clouds. It was, as Aelita said, in the shape of a dragon. Its skin was mottled gray and black, with a few gold stripes running here and there. It had piercing red eyes, twin ivory horns poking straight out from behind its dark gray head. It also had orange veins of molten lava running up and down its long gray arms and legs, which had circular orange crystals on its elbow sockets and knees. It also had another circular orange crystal on its forehead and a hexagon crystal on its chest. Both crystals were as large as one of the Lyoko Warriors and they each bore the Eye of XANA on them. Its claws – both on its hands and on its feet – were the same ivory white as its horns and were straight and polished so brightly that the sun, which peeked out from the clouds, reflected off of them.
"That thing is huge!" Ulrich gasped.
"No joke!" Odd added.
It took one look at the Lyoko Warriors on the ground and gave out a mighty roar. The sound was so intense, that they all clamped their hands over their ears and squeezed their eyes shut. After the deafening noise subsided, they looked up at the tremendous beast that was still flying high up in the sky.
"Well, if I didn't go deaf from that," William sneered, "its ugly mug will sure as hell put me of my lunch."
"That's not all!" Anthea said, pointing up again. "Take another look behind the beast!"
The gang looked up again, and they saw another large object behind the towering dragon. As it came closer, they realized that the huge flying object was a German-style airship. It was a LZ – Luftschiff Zeppelin, or Zeppelin Airship – with the words "Herr Kobra Zeppelin II" written in large blackletter font.
"Lord Cobra Airship II!" Jeremy shouted. "Kirk Fromm is on that airship! I know it!"
"But what about the Bahamuth?" Odd asked.
"Bahamuth?" Yumi asked. "You named it already?"
"Hey, I work fast when I want to." Odd said. "I mixed Bahamut and Behemoth and came up with this. It actually would be pretty cool if it weren't trying to kill us, you know."
"Would you quit clowning around, Odd?" Sissi groaned. "We've got a huge dragon to deal with on one half, and we've still got Kirk Fromm to deal with on the other hand!"
"You guys take the Bahamuth," Jeremy said. "I'll take on Fromm alone."
"Jeremy, you can't!" Aelita protested. "He's the leader of the Black Cobras! You are strong, but he is extremely dangerous! If XANA gave him powers that rival yours, think of what he may do to you!"
Aelita grabbed Jeremy's shoulder, and he turned to face her. Her eyes were about to water in worry, but she could also see that Jeremy's eyes were fixed on her and portrayed seriousness in his decision and the courage about him that she had loved since she met him. After a while of staring at each other, her eyes stopped watering and his hard expression grew softer.
"Aelita," Jeremy said, "there's something you don't know about Kirk Fromm. That thing is the reason your dad, my dad, and everyone else's fought in the Second Cobra War."
"What do you mean?" she asked silently.
"When your grandfather, Roderich Schaeffer, fought Kirk Fromm with my grandfather, Matthew Belpois, they were also fighting with a woman named Elizabeta Moldovetta," Jeremy answered, "and she had been married to Roderich for seventeen years. Four of those years were before World War II began."
"You mean that..." Aelita started.
"Your grandmother was in the First Cobra War," Jeremy finished. "Elizabeta Moldovetta Schaeffer, a true war hero. She was as strong a warrior, as beautiful a woman, and as strong a Catholic as the Germans came. Seven years prior to the First Cobra War, she became pregnant with Roderich's first son. That son was you father, Waldo. He was born on July 31, 1944."
"That was the day the Allies won the victory in Operation Cobra," Aelita said.
"Exactly," Jeremy said. "That's another reason the Black Cobras are called the Black Cobras. I told you that the First Cobra War went down in 1952. The Second Cobra War happened in 1972. However, during the First Cobra War, there was an unexpected and gruesome tragedy."
"What was that?" Aelita asked.
Jeremy paused for a while, unsure if he should say what he was trying to say. But after looking at Aelita for a while, he decided that he couldn't keep anything from her ever again. He took a big sigh, and gave her an intense look.
"Roderich Schaeffer was murdered by Kirk Fromm in the final battle."
"What?" Aelita gasped. "Kirk Fromm killed my grandfather? How?"
"While his soldiers were being kept at bay thanks to my grandfather and your grandmother, your grandfather was fighting by himself to get to Kirk Fromm and he used that to his advantage. While he was occupied with shooting through flank after flank of soldiers, Kirk jumped out from nowhere and shot him right through his heart. Elizabeta saw this and tore soldiers apart to get to him in his last moments. She whispered a prayer over him and kissed his cheek, at which he smiled and kissed her back right before he died. When they brought his body back, they awarded him with all sorts of honor medals. However, Elizabeta was given a book by Roderich right before he died that she was supposed to give to Waldo when he was twelve. It was on his twelfth birthday in 1954 when he received the book, detailing who the Black Cobras were, the history of Kirk Fromm, what kind of weapons the Cobras used in the war, everything he needed to know about the man who killed his father and about his subordinates."
"How old was daddy when he fought in the Second Cobra War?" Aelita asked.
"He was twenty-eight when he fought with our dads in that war," Jeremy answered, "he was twenty-nine when he married Anthea, and he was thirty when he got involved with Project Carthage. I don't need to tell you anything else. Now you know why your dad and all of our dads bear a grudge against Fromm."
"Because he killed my grandfather," Aelita nodded blankly.
"Waldo said that it's up to me to end this," Jeremy said. "You may have your own grudges against this man, but he struck my home and me first. Also, he needs to see what the power he claims to have really looks like. He needs to see the source for himself. I need to kill Kirk Fromm myself."
"Why do you always have to push yourself so much?" Aelita cried. "You always have to take everything on yourself! Why do you torture yourself like this?"
"Do you really need to ask that?"
She gasped, and Jeremy looked her in the eyes with a look that she could not decipher.
"You're the reason, Aelita," he said boldly. "If I didn't train myself like I did, I felt I wouldn't be able to protect you if something happened. I worked day and night to find the way to bring you to Earth. Can you imagine how overjoyed I was when you finally came? When XANA stole the keys to Lyoko, I almost went insane at the thought of your death. I realized over time that it was because... I love you, Aelita Schaeffer."
She gasped and blushed profusely, but then smiled broadly.
"I love you too, Jeremy Belpois," she said.
As she said this, he kissed her.
Aelita's eyes bulged and she remained motionless for a few minutes, and then she wrapped her arms around him and kissed him back. After a few minutes, but it may as well have been forever to them, the two separated their lips and Aelita then gave Jeremy a warm smile.
"Be careful out there, Einstein."
"Don't worry about a thing, Princess," he chuckled.
They took one last look at each other, and turned their backs to each other. Jeremy now faced Kirk's airship, and Aelita now faced her friends and the Bahamuth. They both narrowed their eyes and rushed towards their enemies.
"Commencing upload, Scipio 02 – Power limitation at 90 percent confirmed!"
"Commencing upload, Scipio 04 – Power limitation at 90 percent confirmed!"
Aelita soared to the dragon's face, slicing her plasma sword through one of its eyes. The monster roared in pain and anger, and lashed out one of its clawed hands at her. But she was too quick, and deftly dodged just far enough away to fire an enormous plasma beam at the jewel on its forehead. Another roar of anguish and fury erupted, and she saw William fly up beside her, transformed as well.
"Nice of you to join us, Valkyrie," William said in his eerie voice. "But where is Kresnik?"
"He has gone to face Fromm himself," Aelita replied. "He will not be alone, though."
"How is that?" William asked.
"He has tamed Hannibal to fight with him," she responded. "He'll want his strength Fromm took from him back."
"So he should," William grinned, brandishing his huge sword. "Then let us defeat this beast so that the present danger will be no more."
"Agreed," Aelita said, raising her weapons as well.
The gang saw this from below, and charged into the fight as well. Ulrich leapt onto the Bahamuth's left leg, and slashed at the crystal on the monster's kneecap. Yumi did likewise with the beast's right leg. Odd and Sissi flew up to the beast's arms on the Overboard and Sissi smashed the crystals on its left elbow, while Odd shot the one on its right elbow. Once more, the beast was staggering back, injured and infuriated. It slashed out at the Warriors, and succeeded in knocking the ones on its body off of it. It then shot breaths of lava in their directions, but the gang quickly avoided them.
William and Aelita, remarking the beast's fits of turmoil at this approach, decided to put their final plan into effect. They both brought their hands together, and Aelita produced a sphere of light, while William produced a sphere of darkness. They both nodded, and both spheres shot out as twin beams of light and darkness, and blasted themselves deep in to the XANA-eyed crystal on the Bahamuth's chest. After the blast faded, the Bahamuth gave the loudest and most agonizing roar it had given yet, staggered forward, and collapsed in front of them, twitching for a minute before its eyes went dark. After a while of nothingness, the beast's body disintegrated in front of their eyes. After the dust blew away, Aelita and William landed next to the Warriors and reverted to their original forms.
"Well, I guess that fight's over," Sissi said.
"Where's Einstein?" Odd asked.
Aelita was silent, but looked into the sky.
"He's fighting Fromm by himself," she said.
"What?" Ulrich gasped.
"Why does he have to do everything alone?" Yumi asked angrily.
"He's not alone, Yumi," Aelita interjected. "He has all of us in spirit, and he has the true form of weapon they claim to have.
"He has me and XANA. That's why he won't lose."
A/N: I hope I wasn't too drawn-out or too fluffy (you know what I mean) in this chapter. The FINAL final battle is in the next chapter for real! READ IT WHEN IT COMES OUT, PLEASE! THE RADIOACTIVE RUBBER PANTS COMMAND YOU TO READ AND ME TO WRITE!
-JeremyX signing off!