Chapter 25

I ran the materialization program to bring my friends home. Then I rushed down to the Scanners to make sure that they were ok. When they woke up, they each got a big hug.

"You had me really worried there for a minute!" I said in a relieved tone.

"Ah come off it, Einstein, we weren't in any danger!" Tennent told me with his trademark smile.

"Moron," Brittany said. "That wasn't it at all!"

We exchanged stories.

Then together we walked back to the dorms, and fell asleep.

The next day was a dismal day. A thin drizzle soaked everything outside, and the clouds blocked out the sun's light, giving everything a gloomy feel.

Despite this, I was in a very good mood. We had beaten ANAX at his own game.

Looking out the window, I saw the trees and the flowers. Even though it was rainy, it was beautiful. I started noticing things that I hadn't previously noticed. Nearly losing my friends had made me value everything more.

When I was done thinking, I got ready for school. Throughout the day, I made plans for getting myself a scooter. On Saturday, classes ended at noon, so I would have some time on my hands. I could use it to make some progress on the Info Orb program.

When school was over, Sean headed over to his Martial Arts class. He passed Sammy, and he said that he was going to town to get a scooter. Sean nodded to show that he understood.

Before he reached the gym, Brittany joined him, wearing workout clothes.

"What's with your clothes?" He asked her.

"I'm gonna try out martial arts with you," She said. "I figure it could help if I know how to fight, y'know, with ANAX and everything."

"Sounds good," Sean said with a smirk.

"What's with the look?"

"You'll see when we get there," He said mysteriously.

When they did reach the gym, class started. Prior to today, Sean had been the only student.

Jim greeted them, and they bowed in. After saluting the flag, Jim started the routine, which Brittany did not know.

"What is the purpose of our training?" Jim asked in a drill sergeant voice.

"To develop character!" Sean replied.

"What are we dedicated to?" Jim went on.

"Citizenship, education, and service!"

"How far can you go?" Jim demanded.

"As far as I want to!" Sean said.

"Begin!" Jim said. "Warm up! 50 Jumping-Jacks, 30 push-ups, 4 laps, and then stretch."

"Sean, I know you can handle it yourself, I'll help Miss Stern here," he finished.

After that was finished, Jim started drilling them on exercises. Different types of punches and kicks were the majority of it. The class went a little slower than usual, as Jim had to stop and help Brittany out some.

Nearer to the end, Jim set up a sparring match between the two Lyoko Warriors.

Seeing the grin back on Sean's face, Brittany guessed what was up. She was ready though.

As soon as Jim started the session, Sean threw an immediate roundhouse kick. Expecting something of this sort, Brittany dropped to the ground, rolled forward, and kicked Sean's leg out from underneath him. He crashed onto the mat.

When he rose, he had a confused look on his face.

"What?" Brittany asked. "You thought I'd be an easier challenge?"

After hearing that, Sean's grin came back.

This time, he tried a low kick, and followed it up with a jump kick from the other leg.

Stepping nimbly out of the way, Brittany simply grabbed his leg, and fell to the ground again.

"Nice move, Stern," Jim complemented from the sidelines. Brittany smiled.

The fight continued. In the end Sean won, but he was very surprised at how good of a fight Brittany had put up. Her reputation increased in his eyes.

When class was over, Jim closed by reciting the Warriors Creed with Sean.

"Wherever I walk, everyone is a little safer because I am there. Wherever I am, anyone in need has a friend. Whenever I return home, everyone is happy I am there."

With that, they bowed out, and went back to their dorms. Brittany went to talk with Sean in his room.

"Good fight," he complemented her.

"Thanks," she said.

"The coolest part was the end though," she told him. "That Warriors Creed sounds a lot like what we do."

"I guess," Sean said, unenthused.

"Well it is!" Brittany intoned. "We protect Earth from ANAX and XANA, so that covers the first part of the Creed. The second part isn't hard; we try to be friends with people. And the third part..." Brittany stopped.

She realized that she didn't know anything about how Sean's family life was. She though a bit before continuing.

"Shouldn't number three be true is well?" She asked him.

Sean went over and sat on his bed. Smudge jumped into his lap and began to purr as Sean petted him.

"That's just is," Sean said. "It should be, but it's not."

"My parents and I never had gotten along well. In fact, I think that's one of the reasons why I'm here at a boarding school."

Brittany waited for him to continue. He didn't.

"And...?" She prompted.

"My dad has never been happy with my grades, and my response to him didn't help anything," Sean began explaining. Seeing an opportunity, he explained all the problems he had had with his family.

When he had finished, Brittany sat beside him. "Don't worry," She comforted. "It'll work out."

That said, she went back to her room. She was glad that Sean had told her, and she hoped that since he had talked about it, it would help.

Brittany didn't know it, but even Tennent didn't know as much as she did now about Sean's family life.

On my computer screen, lines and lines of code flashed upwards. I quickly typed away, trying a new idea.

I had tried to increase the power earlier, and it had worked, but not to a fabulous degree. It didn't really help us out much. I figured what we really needed was the ability to move around while the energy was compiling.

So I set to work.

Tennent was out trying Sammy's new scooter. It was the Vortex 3000, the latest and greatest scooter. Tennent was dying to try it out, so Sammy had relented.

There was a skate park near the school, and despite the rain, Tennent wanted to play with it.

The scooter had a wide base with four narrow wheels. The scooter was designed to perform many special tricks, most of which Tennent tried out.

Before long, most of the other kids (There weren't many, due to the rain) were watching Tennent shred and grind his way through the park.

There is a reason why rain drives people away from skate parks though. Some places can get slippery. Very slippery.

On his way down from a half-pipe, he hit a patch of water, and he skidded onto the pavement.

He was going very fast, and balance was already off. One set of wheels caught the edge of another ramp, vaulting him into the air. When he slammed into the ground, some sort of instinct overtook his body.

He let go of the scooter, and it fell away. No damage was done, it was built strong.

Tennent angled himself so that he would hit the ground feet first, but he knew that he would hit too hard, and possibly break his feet. So the instant that his toes touched the ground he jumped forward, converting his downward momentum. He then rolled, and came up in a fighting position.

He dropped his hands to his sides, astounded. He grabbed the scooter, and started riding for home.