A/N: Yay! Over 300 reviews! You guys make me so happy!

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Chapter 53

Jasper and Caleb walked past a large, brown tree when they heard some rustling come from the bushes. They quickly hid down to see who was coming. To their immense surprise, Jace stepped out. She looked beaten and battered but still, in a way, powerful. The girl looked around as if she was angry, like someone had just told her that she was stupid and ugly. The pair watched her closely. Jace turned around they way she had come, looking like she was staring back at something in the distance. When an angry huff, she started walking back in the direction she had been going. When she left Jasper and Caleb came out, still staring at her retreating back.

"One of us should follow her," said the blonde.

"You go. She looked like she was checking back on something, like there was something behind her that she wanted to remain hidden. It might be where she hid Annie," suggested Jasper.

"You go that way and I'll follow Jace, got it?" he asked in a hushed tone.

The redhead nodded.

"Go."

Jasper ran in the direction he figured Jace was coming from. After running for about ten minutes, he was going to give up when he heard voices. He stopped and leaned towards them, trying to make out their words.

"Why did you bring me here?" asked Annie.

"Because I need to help XANA. I need to please my master," he answered.

"XANA can't be your 'master'! People aren't meant to have 'masters'! We're meant to be free!" she retorted, slapping the metal bars as if to emphasize her point.

Angelo just shook his head.

"That's not the way I was raised," he told her, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

Annie stared at him with a questioning look on her face.

"How exactly were you raised?" she asked.

He glanced at her.

"I was born a slave. I was raised as a slave would be raised. Obey your master. Please your master. Do whatever it takes to take care of you master for you owe him everything. Even your own life," he told her solemnly.

Annie frowned.

"XANA doesn't deserve a human life!" she argued.

Angelo raised an eyebrow.

"I was sentenced to death for defending a young girl from a disgusting police officer. If XANA had not intervened, I would not be standing here right now. In clean clothes. Healthy," he said, looking up at her.

"Well, the way you're going no one's gonna be alive much longer," came a voice from behind him. Angelo turned around to see a red-haired boy stepping out of the brush. Annie's face lit up.
"Jasper!" she said in relief.

He nodded in recognition, keeping his eyes focused on the green-haired boy in front of him. Angelo took up a defensive position, placing his fists in front of him as if he was expecting a fight. Jasper held his hands out in front of him.

"I don't want to fight," he told the boy.

Angelo raised an eyebrow and steeled his expression.

"Well, then. Today is not your lucky day," he said, lunging forward.

Jace heard foot steps behind her and turned around, catching a glimpse of a tuft of dirty blonde hair darting into the bushes. She smirked.

"Come out, Caleb," she said.

The blonde came out and faced her, an annoyed expression on his face. She grinned.

"Hmph. It's official," she said.

"What's official?" he asked, crossing his arms across his chest.

"You suck at sneaking around," she said in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Shut up!" he snapped.

"Watch the language," she told him.

"Who are you to tell me that? You're younger than me," he grounded out.

Jace rolled her eyes at the statement.

"Age doesn't matter," she said.

Caleb huffed at her and changed into a fighting position, placing his legs apart from each other and rolling his hands into fists.

"Enough chit-chat. I need to bring you back and that's what I'm going to do," he said in a confident voice.

"Cocky, much?" she laughed out.

He raised an eyebrow.

"Don't think I won't hold back just because you're a girl," he told her.

Jace smirked and bounced lightly from side-to-side.

"Don't think I'll go easy on you just because you're a boy," she retorted, balling her fists.

Caleb frowned at her but kept quiet. He couldn't afford to be distracted, right now.

Kevin walked out of the counselor's office feeling thoroughly annoyed when a laser came out of nowhere. He ducked and it went over his head. He looked around and his eyes narrowed in on three Kankrelats standing in front of his.

"Tch. Now he's bringing his monsters to the real world?" he asked himself.

He grabbed the thing nearest to him – which happed to be the pencil in his hand – and threw at the first Kankrelat, hitting it's Eye. The other two charged forward and Kevin started running, pulling out his cell phone. He dialed Aaren's number. He picked up after the second ring.

"You've reached the phone of Aaren Della Robbia! Please leave a message after the-"

"Aaren! XANA's attacking! He's sent monsters to attack the school. He chose a really bad time to do it, actually. Everyone's in their dorms. Any luck with Annie?" he asked.

"Shit! No. It seems that Caleb and Jasper are missing, too. What do we do?" Aaren asked.

Kevin thought for a moment.

"Do you have Caleb's bag?" he asked.

"Yeah, why?"

"The manual about Lyoko should probably still be in there. Check it," he ordered.

Kevin heard the sound of a zipper open and listened as Aaren went through Caleb's things.

"Found it," said Aaren.

"Give it to Emma. She can understand it. Get to Lyoko, I'll be there in a few minutes. If you can't get a hold of Jasper or Caleb then I'll take care of the tower. First, I need to take care of these monsters," he said, hanging up.

Dodging left into the hallways, Kevin was surprised when he bumped into someone. He backed up a step and looked upwards at the man's face. It was Kyo.

"What's up, otouto?" he asked.

"XANA's attacking. He's brought monsters into the school."

His declaration was soon followed by a loud scream. Kyo's head snapped in the direction of the sound. He nodded and stared down at Kevin.

"You have a job to do in Lyoko. I'll take care of the mess here," he said, rushing off.

"How are you going to take care of the monsters?" asked Kevin.

Kyo turned around with smirk and pulled a gun out of his pocket.

"I'm not in the Yakuza for nothing, y'know."

Caleb was getting frustrated. Jace was just playing with him. Every time he would attack, she'd just dodge it. When it was her turn to retaliate, she just jumped in and out of his personal space, landing a couple of punches here and there. He frowned at her.

"I thought you said that you weren't going to hold back!" he shouted at her.

She grinned and looked like she was about to retort when she fell to the ground, gripping her head tightly in her hands. Her face twisted in pain, looking as if she was trying to to scream.

"Jace?" he questioned quietly.

A puff of purple-gray came out from the gauntlet on her hand. It went into her mouth and up her nostrils. She shook slightly as the virus overtook her before opening her eyes. Caleb gaped at the symbol burned black into her eyes. She opened her mouth to speak and her voice was distorted.

"Now, I will no longer hold back."

A flash of lightning flew out of her hand, causing him to dodge left.

Kevin managed to get to the factory just as Aaren and Mina finished their virtualizations. He saw Emma working the super computer.

"I take it you're doing alright," he guessed as he headed to the scanner room.

"Yeah. The tower's in the Polar Sector. Mina and Aaren are dealing with the monsters," she said.

He nodded and ran into the first scanner. Emma started up the virtualization process.

"Transfer Kevin. Scanner Kevin. Virtualization."

Kevin landed lightly on his feet and looked up ahead. Mina and Aaren were currently blocking attacks coming from two Krabes. He ran forward.

"Duplicate!"

He made a clone of himself and ran to the first Krabe. He got shot once but his clone managed to get there, sinking his spikes into it. The clone was instantly de-virtualized from the explosion. Kevin jumped next to Mina.

"Nice of you to stop by," she commented, using her blades to block the Krabe's laser.

"You couldn't have gotten here earlier? I just got the crap kicked out of me and now I'm down to forty life points," Aaren told him.

Kevin shrugged.

"Guys, XANA's sending more monsters," Emma told them.

Three Kankrelats and three Hornets appeared in front of them.
"Aw, no. Not these three stooges," Aaren complained, motioning towards the Kankrelats.

"Well, another two copies of those stooges are running a muck back in Kadic. Kyo's handling them but I don't know how he'll fair," said Kevin.

Aaren teleported towards the first Hornet. He managed to de-virtualize it but got hit by another Hornet. He hit the ground with a loud thump.

"Ouch," he muttered.

"Twenty life points, Aaren," said Emma.

Mina ran forward, dodging lasers and cut through two of the Kankrelats with her swords before jumping up and landing on top of the Krabe. It tried to shake her off so she had to try and balance herself. It's laser charged up and shot out, hit Kevin's shoulder.

"Sixty life points," said Emma.

"Yeah, I know."

Mina finally found her balance and dug her sword into the Krabe's Eye before getting hit by one of the Hornets. She flew off of the Krabe before it exploded and landed on her back. Getting up, she was hit by a shot from the last Kankrelat. Kevin took care of that one pretty easily.

"Now there are just two Hornets left," said Aaren.

Kevin turned to Mina.

"I'm going to throw you in the air. Think you can manage to hit, at least, one of them?" he asked her.

"Let's give it a shot," she answered.

Kevin placed his hands on her waist before throwing her at the Hornets. They flew sideways to avoid her but she managed to throw one of her swords at one of the Hornets. It hit the Eye of XANA and was instantly devirtualized. Mina screamed as she fell, realizing where she was headed.

To the Digital Sea.

Jasper dodged left, dodged right. He had no formal training other than what Aaren and Kevin had taught him and it looked like Angelo was a lot better at fighting than he was. Jasper grunted as Angelo punched him hard on the face, causing him to fly backwards. He hit the ground hard.

"Oomph!"

Angelo stared at the boy in front of him. He was pretty sure that the boy couldn't take many more hits. Jasper surprised him by sitting up, trying to keep himself steady with his arm. He wiped away the blood that had leaked out from his mouth. The green-haired boy glared angrily at him.

"Why don't you just give up?" he shouted at Jasper.

The redhead rose shakily to his feet. Annie pushed forward against the metal cage.

"Jasper, just give up! At this rate, you'll get seriously injured!" she told him.

He shook his head. Angelo frowned.

"Why are you so stubborn?" he asked angrily.

Jasper's gaze focused on the pinkette standing inside the cage. She did not belong there. She shouldn't be locked up in a cage. He reverted his eyes back to Angelo.

"I know it may not make much sense to you but...I love her. And no matter what, I am going to fight for her."

...

A/N: That was okay, I think.

I'm thinking of ending this story in about 10-15 chapters. Maybe up to 20. Whatya think? Might even put a sequel up. Check my profile for a few details.

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