A/N: Thanks to EVERYONE for getting me to 200 REVIEWS! Thanks to Tsunamix for being my 200th reviewer! As I've said before, go check out his story, Code Lyoko: Project Scipio – the inspiration for the story I'm writing right now! ^_^
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Chapter 36
"So she just left?" Aaren asked incredulously.
"Didn't you try to stop her?" asked Emma.
Kevin nearly growled at them.
"Yes to both your questions but I wasn't going to tie her to a freaking pole or anything like that!" he retorted.
Annie sighed.
"Guys, stop it. Kevin tried his best. We all know how Jace can be when she sets her mind to something, she can't be stopped," she told the rest of them.
Aaren grumbled and slumped into his seat. At that moment, Lizzy walked up to their group.
"So where's Jace? Haven't seen her since the dance. What? Did she decide that she didn't want to hang around you losers and leave to find some other people to hang with?" she asked snidely.
"Yes," Kevin muttered, getting up and leaving.
Lizzy smirked as he left.
"I'm taking it that he's not taking her departure very well," she said to Aaren.
"What do you think, Liz?" her brother retorted.
"I think that she made the right decision in dumping that loser. Seriously, that guy's, like, a freaking ice cube and a total moron when it comes to romance," she told them as she left.
"Go to hell, Liz!" Aaren called after her.
She didn't look back, choosing instead to show the middle finger over her shoulder. Aaren glared at her departing figure.
"I swear. I'm gonna kill her one of these days," he told his friends.
"I'll help you. Accessory to murder," muttered Emma.
Annie shook her head and pulled out her laptop. She clicked a few buttons and instantly her face brightened.
"Well, even though Jace being gone is a total slap to the face, on the bright side, we might not need to fight XANA anymore," said the pinkette.
The whole group looked up at her.
"Are you serious?" they all asked in unison.
She nodded.
"I finished Jasper's program which will delete the virus in him. That way, we can shut down the super computer without hurting Jasper," she told them.
"Are you sure that it will work?" asked Jasper.
Annie nodded.
"Positive. Call Kevin and tell him to meet us at the factory. I don't want him to miss this," she told Aaren.
The blonde nodded and pulled out his cell phone.
"Too bad Mina couldn't be here," he said, dialing Kevin's cell.
"And Jace," muttered Emma.
Caleb nodded while Jasper and Annie talked about the program and how it worked.
…
"Alright Jasper, get into the scanner and I will run the program," said Annie.
The red head nodded and got into the first scanner. An image of Jasper's body came onto the screen as Annie launched the anti-virus program.
"So he just goes in and comes out virus-free?" asked Aaren.
Annie nodded as she clicked several buttons at a very fast rate.
"Cool," he said.
Jasper closed his eyes as he felt air whooshing up through the vents at the bottom of the scanner and felt the halo that was used to scan him, move up and down the scanner, deleting the virus. When it was done, the doors opened and Jasper came out, feeling better than normal. It was like a burden had been lifted off of his shoulders. The whole gang ran down to meet him.
"So how do you feel?" asked Annie.
"Good. I feel good," he answered.
"So it's time to shut down the super computer?" asked Caleb.
Annie nodded and they all shuffled down to the room that held the core of the super computer. They all stood to one side, staring at the big heap of metal.
"Time to say 'goodbye', XANA. This time, for real," said Annie as she pulled the the switch.
All eyes went to Jasper but he just stood there, smiling. They were all about to start cheering when Kevin let out an agonized bellow of pain. They all turned to him as he fell to the ground, clutching his chest.
"Ahh! It hurts! Ugh! I can't...breathe..." he trailed off, his eyes beginning to roll backwards.
"Turn it back on!" screamed Emma and Annie switched the super computer back on.
They all rushed to Kevin's side as he laid on the floor, twitching every once in a while.
"What happened?" asked Annie.
Caleb looked at his face before turning to them.
"Call an ambulance! NOW! We need to bring him out of here! Away from the factory," he told them, throwing Kevin's arm around his shoulder. Jasper moved to help him as Aaren called an ambulance.
"Tell them to meet us at the back of Kadic. I think we can get there in time so that they don't see us at the factory," said Caleb, running off with Jasper and Kevin.
The rest of them ran after them. Aaren called the hospital as they ran through the sewers and up the ladder.
"Hello," came a woman's voice.
"I need an ambulance at the back of Kadic Academy," he told the woman as they neared the school.
"Okay, sir. What is the nature of your emergency?" asked the woman.
Aaren looked up at Caleb.
"Hey, Caleb. What happened to Kevin?" he asked.
Caleb glanced back at him.
"Tell them that he just had a heart attack."
…
Katerina laid Jace down on the bed and checked her vital signs. They were fine and the woman saw Jace's eyes flutter open, signaling that she was coming to. The young girl looked around and tried to rise but the pain in her chest prevented her from that. She clutched at her chest.
"What the hell was that?" she asked, looking around the room.
It was small, white and clean but it wasn't small enough to make her claustrophobic. It looked like a hospital room but more...homey. Jace stared at Katerina. The woman sighed and adjusted the I.V. Tube in her arm.
"You had a heart attack," she replied in a heavy Italian accent.
"You speak English," realized Jace.
"Yes, but I prefer to speak in my native tongue. However, since you are not fluent in Italian, I shall speak in English when speaking with you," she told her.
Jace nodded.
"I had a heart attack? Why?" she asked.
"Those children must have tried to shut down the super computer. Idiots. The virus that XANA implanted in both you and that boy, Kevin, keeps you both linked to him. It keeps your hearts beating evenly but when XANA dies, an artery in your heart becomes inactive, cutting off oxygen and sending you into a heart attack. When XANA was brought back to life, the artery opened again and stopped the attack. However, I just want to make sure that you were alright, so I set these up to check your heart rate and the conditions of your arteries. The only flaw in XANA's virus is that it works both ways. If either you or Kevin dies, all of you die," Katerina told her in a serious tone.
Jace nodded and pulled herself out of the bed.
"Thanks but I'll be fine. I need to do what I came here to do anyway," she told Katerina.
The red-haired woman nodded.
"I shall begin by teaching you everything I know. Then, we will carry out XANA's orders," she told Jace.
The girl nodded and stood on her feet, leaning slightly against the desk that was placed right next to the bed. Katerina moved to help her but Jace declined.
"I can do it," she said, straightening up and breathing deeply.
The woman gave her a worried look but Jace just gritted her teeth reached for the gauntlet on the desk. She secured it around her arm and hand. The gauntlet was dark purple and black mixed together. It was long and metallic, like a glove but with the fingertips cut off and the part that covered the underside of her arm and her palms were missing. She made sure it was on correctly then started walking across the room. She opened the door and looked down to see a long line of stairs going down to the basement. Jace looked over her shoulder at Katerina, her face hardened.
"You coming?"
…
Kevin squeezed his eyes shut before opening them and looking around.
"Oh, thank God, you're alright!" came a worried voice.
The boy looked to his right and was instantly pulled into a tight embrace by his mother, Yumi. Kevin grunted because her touch was causing him pain. Yumi seemed to realize this and pulled away from her son.
"Sorry, Kevin. I was just so worried about you!" she told him.
The boy looked up at his mother. She looked like she had been crying. He tilted his head and saw his dad and siblings walking into the room, followed by his friends. Ulrich walked up to his son and patted his shoulder.
"How are you doing, Kev?" he asked, taking a seat.
"I'm fine. Just a little pain. What happened?" he asked, turning towards Annie and the rest of his friends.
"Doctors said that you had a heart attack. One of your arteries just stopped working and it cut off your oxygen supply. That's why you felt the pain and why you couldn't breathe," said the pinkette.
"But you're all better, now," said the doctor as he walked into the room.
He was tall, had short, brown hair and was wearing a lab coat. The kids parted so that he could walk through.
"I just want to do a quick examination to see if there are any side-effects. His heart seemed to just start working again and it seems healthy so we might just let him out in a day or two but I'd like to see for myself if he is, indeed, ready. May I ask you all to leave the room?" he asked.
They all nodded and left. Yumi kissed his forehead once before leaving the room. The doctor smiled at her as she left. He closed the door after her before turning around, locking it. Kevin looked up at the doctor with narrowed eyes. The doctor grinned and walked up to him.
"So you now know what will happen if you try to shut me down," said the doctor, his eyes glitching.
Kevin glared at him.
"How did you plant a virus in me? I never went anywhere near you. Not in the real world and not on Lyoko," he said.
XANA chuckled.
"But you did come into contact with a Miss Jasmine Della Robbia," he replied, looking down at the chart in his hands.
Kevin's eyes widened.
"How could she transfer a virus into me?" he asked.
"When she kissed you," said XANA, looking up at Kevin. "You opened your mouth to her and she used that opportunity to slip a virus-filled micro-chip into your body which grabbed onto the nearest blood cell and infected it, proceeding to infect other blood cells until your entire body was filled with the virus."
The dark-haired boy stared at XANA in disgust. Then he thought of something. He turned to the desk next to his bed and slammed his hand into it. Pain raked through his palm but he managed to turn to the XANA-host and see him clutch his hand in pain. Kevin pulled his hand to his chest.
"Apparently, it works both ways," he answered.
XANA smirked at him.
"Don't be getting any ideas, boy. Killing or injuring yourself may affect me as well but I wouldn't try anything if I were you," he said.
"And why not?" asked Kevin.
The doctor chuckled and got to his feet, staring down at Kevin. He leaned towards him until their faces were level.
"Go ahead. Kill yourself, hurt yourself. Because by hurting yourself, you are hurting her, too," he told him, turning to leave.
"Hurting who?" Kevin asked.
XANA turned back to him.
"Did you think I was stupid not to find a way to keep you and your friends under my control? You hurt yourself, you hurt me. But you are also hurting the girl you love, Miss Della Robbia."
…
A/N: Is it me or have I been writing longer chapters lately? Oh, well! Review if you want to know what happens next! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW!