A/N: Sorry for the late update! I was at my grandma's house for the weekend and there's no Internet there. ( -_-*)

I've been noticing that Aaren's been getting a little more mature over the course of my chapter. (^_^) =(^_^)=(^_^)=(^_^)

I love emoticons! XD

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Chapter 54

Caleb grunted as he was thrown to the ground. Damn! A XANA-possessed Jace was worse than Kevin in bad mood! The blonde got to his feet quickly and blocked another punch from Jace. He grabbed her arm and flipped her onto her back. She did a Chinese get-up and proceeded to hit him with a roundhouse to the stomach.

"Ugh!" he grounded out.

That freaking hurt! Jace raised her hand to him and a bolt of lightning shot out of her hand. Caleb ran to the side and managed to dodge the attack by a hair breadth. He straightened himself. He knew that he was a mess. Bruised, battered and bleeding...he was not a pretty picture. He dodged another bolt of lightning and hid behind a tree.

From the looks of it, running was his only option.

"Damn," he cursed, taking off into the woods.

Jace was hot on his tail.

Mina waited for the feeling of darkness, of nothingness that came with falling into the digital sea...but it never came. She opened her eyes and realized that she was in Aaren's arms while he stood behind Kevin as he deflected the Hornet's lasers. She stared at the boy looking down at her. He looked – for lack of a better word – freaked out.

He teleported and managed to catch me before I fell into the Digital Sea, she suddenly realized.

Aaren placed her down on her feet.

"Are you alright?" he asked her.

She nodded. He grinned.

"Good."

All of a sudden, his grin turned into a frown as his eyes focused on Kevin.

"You god damn idiot! You almost threw Mina into the Digital Sea!" he shouted at his friend.

"Oh, shut up. I knew you'd catch her," he retorted.

Aaren looked like he was about to strangle his best friend when said friend started doing back flips to avoid the Hornet's lasers. He flipped past Aaren and the blonde got hit by a laser, causing himself to be devirtualized.

A loud hiss was heard as the doors to the scanner opened. Aaren stumbled out.

"God, sometimes, I really hate that dude."

Kevin blocked another laser. His eyebrow twitched.

"This is getting annoying," he said and used the biggest spike on his gloves to deflect the laser at the Hornet.

It hit it's Eye and it exploded.

"Well, that takes care of everything. Get to the tower," said Mina.

"Roger that," Kevin mumbled, running towards the tower.

Annie watched helplessly as Jasper tried to dodge Angelo's punches. He was at the point where he was in dire need of medical attention. The pinkette seriously didn't know how Jasper had refrained from fainting from blood loss. He blocked Angelo's punch with his forearm and jumped backwards about five feet. He bent down on one knee, coughing into his hand. Blood spewed out in little droplets and he wiped them on his shirt which was already stained with blood.

Jasper rose and winced from the pain that one action evoked. His breathing was heavy. If something didn't happen, he knew that he wouldn't last long. He didn't think that this Angelo boy wasn't above killing him. He was working for XANA, his hands were probably already tainted. The redhead gritted his teeth and resumed his fighting position.

Angelo frowned at the action but acknowledged it nevertheless.

"If this is how you want it, then I'll have no choice but to kill you," he told Jasper.

The red-haired boy stared him down.

"I don't think you have enough time for that," he muttered, lunging at Angelo.

Kyo sighed and placed his hand on his hip tiredly.

Ugh. How did I end up fighting monsters and trying to save the world. I'm a criminal, not a superhero!

The two Kankrelats rested as his feet, broken and dead.

"How troublesome," he mumbled to himself.

"Hey, you!" shouted a voice from behind him.

Kyo turned around and looked down at the dwarf-like figure in front of him. He recognized the man to be the principle of Kadic. He stared at him lazily.

"Jesus, more nuisances. What do you want?" he asked, annoyed.

Mr. Delmas raised an eyebrow.

"I just wanted to thank you for killing those things. They were wrecking havoc on this school. However, my only concern is...why do you have a gun?" he questioned.

Kyo smirked.

"That's none of your concern. I've got to go, anyways, so goodbye, Mr. Delmas," he said, turning his back on the principle.

Tch. How annoying.

Kevin ran to the middle of the platform and was levitated up to the second. The screen appeared in from of him and he placed his hand on it.

KEVIN

CODE:

L-Y-O-K-O

"Tower deactivated," he announced.

Emma nodded and pressed several buttons before pressing ENTER.

"Return to the Past now."

Caleb flew backwards, blood spurting out of his mouth as his back hit the trunk of a tree. The Jace before raised her hand to deliver the final shot when she stopped. The grayish-black smoke came out through her mouth and nose before disappearing completely. She fell to the ground in front of him, twitching.

Caleb sighed in relief as the white light engulfed him.

Jasper collapsed, blood leaking down from his mouth and a cut on his cheek. He stared up at the pinkette caged in front of him. That sight pained him in ways unknown.

"I love you," he mouthed at her as he finally blacked out.

"Jasper!" she shouted.

All thoughts were stopped when the light from the Return to the Past took over.

Birds singing. Leaves brushing against leaves. Everything felt just a little more peaceful. Annie heard a knock on her door, snapping her out of her daydream. Her head turned to the entrance of her room and she jumped off of her bed.

"Guys, seriously. I just wanna be al-" she stopped when she realized who was at the door.

The red-haired boy in front of her stared at her, an unfathomable expression on his face.

"Jasper," she choked out.

He nodded in acknowledgement.

"Hey, Annie," he greeted her.

She looked at him, her mind totally blank. He shifted uncomfortably.

"May I come in?" he asked.

She snapped out of her trance and nodded, moving so that he could enter. He stood in front of her computer, staring at the screen. She sat down on her bed, looking at him carefully.

"Jasper, I-" she started out but was interrupted.

"May I speak first?" he requested.

She closed her mouth and nodded, staring at the floor. He moved away from her computer and sat down next to her, staring forward. She wondered what he wanted to say.

"Look, I just wanted to tell you that everything I said in the forest...was the truth. I wanted to tell you that day but you went missing. I can't find the words to express how much it pained me when I found out that you were kidnapped. Just the thought of you being manhandled by some guy like that made me so...angry. I couldn't defend myself well enough, I couldn't fight well enough, to help you and I'm sorry for that. I don't know what else to say, just that I feel so guilty for letting you down. When it came down to it...I couldn't protect you," he told her sadly.

She placed a hand on his shoulder. He looked like he was in so much pain.

"Jasper. I don't blame you for not being able to fight off that Angelo guy. He was just stronger. You need to learn from past mistakes and use them to make you a better person whether it's in fighting or in life. I understand, Jazz. Don't you know how bad I felt, seeing you there...bleeding and bruised. I thought that you were going to die and just that thought made me feel like my heart was going to explode from the pain."

She grabbed his face and turned his head so that he could look at her.

"It's too early for 'I love you'. I'm not the kind of girl to let myself fall in love so easily...but I do care about you, Jasper. I hope you understand that," she told him.

He nodded and stood up to leave.

"Where are you going?" she asked.

"I figured the atmosphere was too awkward for you," he answered, placing his hand on the door knob.

Annie sighed and walked up to him. She turned him around and wrapped her arms around his body, burying her face in his chest. His eyes softened at her and his arms rose up and wrapped themselves around her as he hugged her back. Her voice was slightly muffled as she spoke but he heard her words clearly.

"I really do like you, Jazz. I'm just not sure if I'm in love with you. Love is a pretty strong emotion. It can make you strong but it can hurt you, too," she told him quietly.

"I'll never hurt you, Annie," he told her, stroking her pink hair.

She sighed and pulled away, smiling slightly.

"Yeah, I know."

The group had gathered around their usual spot in the courtyard of Kadic. The scene looked pretty peaceful but their conversation was anything but peaceful. Mina sighed quietly as she heard Caleb's side of the story.

"So, Jace was being controlled?" she asked him.

He nodded.

"Well, that doesn't excuse her for joining his side. She still fought against Caleb before she was controlled," Emma pointed out.

"But she held back," he told them.

The navy-haired girl looked at him, exasperated and unsure.

"You sure?" she asked.

"Positive."

Mina sighed.

"Our plan isn't working out very well. We need to find a way to speed up our progression," said Annie.

"And this 'Angelo' dude? Doesn't seem like he and Jace would get along at all. He's a lot more loyal to XANA than anyone would be," Aaren said.

"He's definitely dangerous," Kevin muttered.

The group became silent. Emma looked up at all of them.

"So what do we do?" she asked.

Aaren shrugged.

"Do what we have to do. If we manage to even see Jace, we don't stop until we catch her or she knocks us out. She's near Kadic, that's for sure. Keep an eye out," he said.

He looked like he was about to continue when annoying voice popped up.

"Kevin, can I speak with you?"

Kevin sighed and massaged his temples, nearly cringing at the sound of Stephanie's voice.

"Why the hell is it always me?" he mumbled tiredly, deciding to just follow her and get it over with.

Jace burst into the laboratory and saw the same XANA talking to Angelo and Katerina. He turned around when he heard the noise and frowned at her.

"Jasmine," he acknowledged.

"How dare you? Taking control of me? I was doing fine all by myself!" she shouted at him.

XANA shot her a glare.

"You were taking to long to kill him. Unlike Angelo, you hesitated and toyed with the young Belpois boy. You should've been smart and snapped his neck. Instead, you held back when you knew you could've done it. I also know that you are still in love with that idiot, Kevin Stern. Jasmine, you are the strongest young woman I have ever met but you are also the most stubborn. That is why I am giving you a choice," he told her.

Jace raised an eyebrow.

"What choice?" she grounded out.

He stared into her eyes, all business. She held his gaze with one of her own, unable to look away.

"Either follow my orders and do what you know I'd want you to do without question or hesitation...or I remove the virus from you and kill you right now," he told her.

Jace's eyes widened. Angelo's face remained emotionless but Katerina shot XANA a fearful look. They all had the same thought running through their heads.

Would he really follow through with that threat?

"B-but I'm your leverage. Kevin will not think twice about sacrificing his life if it meant that you'd die," she told him, fear and shock leaking out of her voice.

XANA shrugged boredly.

"So I'll just transfer the virus into another one of his friends. I don't care. You're becoming less of an asset to me and more of a nuisance. I'm telling you this once...only once. Become my loyal servant and end your relationship with the Stern boy or die," he told her in a harsh tone.

A/N: Wow...isn't it weird that I put both a love confession and an ultimatum in one. Review for Jace's answer!

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