Episode 56: Common Interest
Authors note
Well I've been having plans for this one for near 2 years so I'm gonna enjoy this one, so enjoy
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It was the crack of dawn and the sky was still orange from the night before, the only thing people could feel was the dry heat,
"This is Greyhound one to trap one, over" said a military captain into his radio as he sat in the front seat of a prison transport truck, he was in field gear and had a Famas Assault rifle with suppressor to his right, he was in his 40's, he had a clean shave and a short head of hair, on his right was Winter who was smoking, and to the Captains left a young corporal driving, "Trap one here, where is your current location over" said a voice over the radio, the prison van was a part of a convoy, there cargo, one Peter Duncan, described at his trial as a monster on earth, he'd killed his military commander whilst off duty when his CO tried to stop Duncan from raping a woman, after that he'd been on the run, and in due course had robbed numerous banks and caused millions in property damage, "Corporal Peter Francis Duncan, man will I be happy to see this SOB behind bars" said the driver but the Captain signalled for him to be quiet, "Trap one, our ETA is 4 hours, Over" he said as he waited for a response, Winter handed him a smoke, "I don't see why we need a top dog such as yourself from the government here" said the captain as Winter lit him up, "because it's my job, besides I'm on attachment to your Unit" said Winter as he threw his butt out the window, "Roger Greyhound one, over" said the voice on the radio, ahead of the prison truck was a military range rover with 4 soldiers in it each in battle dress and armed the same as the Captain, and ahead of that two motorcycles as escorts, behind the van was a fully loaded Military transport van, "I know I'm not meant to question orders sir" said the Corporal as he changed gears "but isn't this a bit much for one prisoner" he asked, the captain laughed and asked "whats your name son", the driver became nervous "Corporal Clive sir" he said as he remained focused on the road, "well son, I agree with you, but they say that this guy we're transporting never revealed anything, for all we know he could have people out to free him" said the Captain as he slid open the hatch and looked back at a bolding man with hair around his head and spectacle glasses, his face was covered in a full beard, "Isn't that right Duncan" added the captain, but Duncan wasn't very talkative as he had three soldiers all pointing Assault rifles at him, "I don't talk to you people" he said as he went to spit at the captain but had a riffle barrel pointed in his face, "how nice" said the Captain as he closed the hatch, up ahead in the convoy the two bikers were thrown forward, suddenly they heard a voice shout over the radio "THIS IS GREYHOUND 2 FULL STOP", suddenly all of the vehicles pulled up and stopped, all but the driver of the ranger rover stepped out of the car and looked at the bikers, "I'm fine" said one as he hobbled onto the grass, "whats going on Sergeant" asked the captain as he and Winter moved towards them, "someone laid a wire across the road" said one of the Privates as he pulled out his knife and cut it, then he collapsed "what" said Winter as he looked around, suddenly the driver of the jeep collapsed onto the horn, "ENENMY FIRE" shouted the captain, everyone who heard quickly passed on to those that didn't, suddenly the radio in the prison van sparked, and XANA's slime moved through the hatch and towards Duncan "WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT" shouted a solider as he pointed his gun at it, but Duncan only saw it a second too late as it touched him, Duncan screamed and collapsed forward, whilst outside on of the privates moved the jeep driver off the horn, "he's been darted sir, Tranquilized" said the Private, then Winter heard banging from inside the van, "Sir, it's Duncan, he's collapsed I think he's dead" said one of the soldiers, then more of the Soldiers were darted, many of them from inside the troop transport, "RETURN FIRE" shouted the Captain as those still able to flicked the safety on their weapons and fired into the woods, suddenly inside the prison van, Duncan looked up shocking the soldiers, he grinned at the soldier seated next to him before snapping his hand cuffs and grabbing his riffle, the other two soldiers opened fire at him, but the bullets passed through him like nothing and made holes in the side of the Van, "Jesus Christ" said the corporal as he ducked down next to a window, "Whats going on in there" said the Captain as he grabbed his riffle, "Private Arnold, Private James, Private John, answer me" said the captain as he aimed the door with one hand, but he was met with the rifle butt of a Famas, Duncan grinned as he walked out, "THE PRISONERS ESCAPING" shouted the Sergeant suddenly the soldiers turned their attention and began to shoot Duncan, but the bullets passed through him like nothing, Duncan laughed as he walked towards the woods, the remaining soldiers moved and opened fire at him in a vain attempt to stop him, but each were darted and fell down unconscious, suddenly the faint suppressed gun fire fell silent, until all that was left was silence, the Damage was done, the bikes were damaged, the Van had numerous smoking holes in the side, the only people still standing were Corporal Clive, Winter and one of the Bikers, "sir forgive the profanity, but what the actual fuck just happened" asked Clive, Winter handed him a smoke and said "I have no idea", whilst in the woods Duncan looked at all the smoking bullet holes in the trees before laughing "right on time" he said as he noticed Adam and Evelyn dressed in black and carrying sniper rifles loaded with Tranquilizers, "no problem" said Evelyn as they walked away, "Phase one down" said Adam as looked back making sure they weren't followed.
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At Kadic the mood was more cheerful as the Military hadn't announced the Attack on the convoy that had taken place earlier that day, Odd, Aelita, Ulrich and Yumi were standing outside the Vending machines,
"I'm telling it'd be awesome" said Odd laughing, Ulrich punched him in the arm, "hey what was that for" he said rubbing it, "we're not calling the baby Odd if it's a boy" said Ulrich, Yumi laughed as Odd rolled his eyes, then Dallas and Jeremie walked over "bad news guys" said Jeremie as he looked around making sure no one could here, "what is" asked Yumi, Dallas looked towards them and whispered, "I was monitoring a military communication channel, and apparently that big criminal Peter Duncan escaped" he said the others were shocked, "I thought he was being transported by the military" said Aelita as she became worried "yeah he still managed to do it" replied Dallas, then Yumi asked the question on everyone's mind "XANA" she said, Jeremie shook his head, "nope the super scan shows no activated towers" he said then Aelita grabbed her forehead and closed her eyes dropping her bag in some pain, "you okay Aelita" asked Yumi as she moved towards her, "yeah I just didn't sleep very well last night" she said, Jeremie smiled and said "don't forget we have a math test" causing Dallas, Odd and Ulrich to either roll their eyes or face palm, "you gonna be all right" he asked Aelita, "no problem" she replied.
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Nearby from the ambush sight Duncan, Adam and Evelyn walked through the woods towards the Nuclear power plant that XANA had tried crashing a bus into, Evelyn smiled and said
"Please tell me we're gonna blow it up", Adam smiled and said "nope", he quickly went prone and aimed down his sniper scope, whilst Evelyn looked at Duncan, "any patrols" asked Duncan his voice was distorted like an electronic effect was placed over it, "nope, I doubt they'd expect an escaping criminal to attack a power plant immediately" said Adam as he moved from the scope, "so we're gonna attack it" said Evelyn as she smiled ecstatically, "fill her in" said Duncan as he moved towards a tree to sit down, "we've a much more important job" started Adam.
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"as you know the exam is multiple division, I hope you studied hard" said the teacher as she handed out the test sheets, Odd looked at it with fear, "hey Ulrich, whats the last digit of the number divisible by two" he whispered, "Zero" said the teacher as she arrived back at his desk, "oh thanks great job ma'am" he said to her as he wrote that down, "no that's going to be your score if you don't stop cheating" she said as she walked down the aisles as the test began, everyone put their heads down, the teacher smiled satisfied with everyone's progress and attempts, when she stopped at Jeremie, he appeared to be doing nothing, as he sat back in his chair, "Well Jeremie, is there a problem" she asked, the aforementioned smiled and said "no ma'am, I've finished", the teacher picked up his test paper and quickly read through it, "I see, good work, excellent in fact Jeremie" she said causing everyone else to look up at him, there was a very brief faint mumbling, whilst outside the power plant Duncan grabbed his head and began to scream in pain, at this exact moment in class Aelita grabbed her head, "Aelita are you okay" asked Jeremie as he looked at her, the teacher stood up concerned, whilst at the same time despite being miles away both Duncan and Aelita collapsed, "Aelita" said Jeremie as he moved out of his chair and knelt down to her, Dallas rushed over and took off his jacket and folded it before placing it under her head, "stay back give her some air" said Dallas his voice getting deeper along with his accent, whilst in the forest Evelyn rushed over to Duncan, but Adam grabbed her arm "what're you doing you idiot, XANA's control is failing" she said trying to break free, but Adam wouldn't let go so she punched him in the face, he let go as she kneelt down to Duncan, "XANA knows what it's doing, it's a calculated risk we have to take" said Adam angrily, Evelyn looked back and stood up, "you better be right otherwise we may have compromised everything" she said as she moved back towards the hillside.
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An ambulance had arrived as soon as possible to help Aelita, everyone was panicking and the test had been put on hold, Yumi and Odd had clambered in the back to keep an eye on her, whilst following behind the ambulance Dallas had Jeremie on the back of his bike and was speeding after it, Ulrich had super sprinted and was standing next to the hospital,
"She should be alright Einstein" said Dallas as he turned into the hospital car park, "I hope" he added as the rushed towards the entrance, a doctor ran out to look at Aelita, "okay what've we got" he asked as he placed his stethoscope to her chest, "15 years old, unconscious, faint heartbeat and slow pulse" said the orderly as he helped place her on a stretcher "put her in room 78" said the Doctor as he followed them into the hospital, the others clambered out with Odd helping Yumi, Jeremie tried running after Aelita, but Dallas grabbed him, "no this is their job" said Ulrich trying to calm him down, Yumi shook her head "seems like every other week we're here" she said worried to death, whilst inside the hospital Aelita was hook up to a heartbeat monitor "she's gone into fibrillation" said the Doctor, the orderly grabbed a syringe "10MM of…" he started then Aelita's heartbeat stopped altogether "heart failing" he said, he quickly grabbed the defibrillator, "Clear" said the doctor as he shocked Aelita, she suddenly flat lined, "Clear" he said as she shocked her again, it remained flat, whilst in the woods Duncan's Eyes suddenly shot open, and in the hospital Aelita's heartbeat suddenly started again, "calculated risk" said Adam, Evelyn looked at him and shook her head, "that kids got a real guardian angel that's for sure" said the doctor as he stepped away with the biggest sigh of relief he'd ever had, Aelita barely opened her eyes.
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Outside in the waiting area beyond the reception the others sat down by a water cooler, Jeremie was unable to stop shaking with fear, Yumi was becoming more worried and was starting to feel queasy, Dallas just cracked his fingers with his thumb in an attempt to keep calm,
"How is she" said Jeremie as he stood up towards the doctor, "she's fine and she'll be alright, but it's an Extraordinary case" he said, Yumi stood up and asked "can we see her", the Doctor recognized her from her previous visits, "I don't see why not, but please not too much noise, she need to rest" said the Doctor as he walked towards the office, "don't worry doc, everyone knows I'm quiet and calm" said Odd, Ulrich rolled his eyes at the clear lie.
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"How are your test results" asked Yumi as she sat bedside holding Aelita's hand "absolutely normal" replied Aelita, but what should have been calming only served to worry everyone more, "what if it's to do with the fact that you're not really human" asked Ulrich, but no one wanted to think that, "or it's the virus XANA implanted in me" said Aelita, Dallas shook his head, "I doubt XANA would do that deliberately" he said as Yumi looked towards Jeremie sitting with his laptop out "you find anything" she asked him, but Jeremie shook his head and replied "dead calm as far as XANA's concerned, no activated towers, but the super scan seems to be resetting itself, I'm not getting the right results" said Jeremie, Odd laughed and said "kinda like me guess it didn't study either" in an attempt to lighten the mood, Jeremie shut off his laptop, "I'm heading to the factory to check it out" he said, Ulrich placed his arm around Odd and said "we'll go with you", Dallas smiled and said "I'll stay here on security detail", Yumi smiled as she looked at Aelita, "I'll stay here me and Aelita can have a girl to girl talk" she said to which Dallas said "I'll be outside" comically, he heard Aelita say "be careful of your chest" as he left.
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Back at the hillside Evelyn noticed that a van was exiting the gates of the power plant, she handed the sniper scope to Duncan, he grinned as he said
"Begin Phase two", Adam nodded and moved towards the edge of the forest, the van turned left, onto the main road, Adam lined up a shot and pulled the trigger, the front right tire on the van popped causing the driver to pull over "Son of a bitch" said the driver as he stepped out to inspect the damage, "what the fuck" he said but he fell forward as Evelyn tranquilized him, there was a banging from inside the van "hey why have we stopped" said a muffled voice, Duncan moved behind the van, he raised the Famas and pointed at the door, Evelyn moved from the tree line and opened the doors, two soldiers stood inside, each was carrying a suppressed Famas and noticed Duncan holding the gun "Drop them" said Duncan, the soldiers didn't listen and knowing they had him out gunned two to one they started shooting at him whilst moving forward, Duncan only laughed at what felt like he was being tickled, the soldiers were confussed "whats with this guy" said one the soldiers when he fell over unconscious, "hey what the" said the other before he befell the same fate, Adam radioed forward "all three are down", he moved from the tree line as Duncan handed his weapon to Evelyn and said "Phase two" as he grabbed a container with a radioactive isotope inside, "complete" he added as he walked away, with Evelyn behind him.
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Jeremie sat down at the computer screen he quickly loaded every needed program but it took a bit longer than usual to load,
"Just what I was afraid of, the super scan fucked up" he said quickly typing, "I'll find out why in a minute" he added, Odd smiled and asked "the real question is can you fix it", Jeremie turned and faced him, "normally yeah, but the debugging phase takes time, and I don't know if it's a minor bug or something more serious" said Jeremie, Odd rolled his eyes and said "if the shit head's activated a tower, we'll find the bloody thing if we head straight to Lyoko, coming Ulrich" as he walked towards the elevator, "wouldn't miss it" said Ulrich as he followed, Odd hit the button and the elevator descended, as soon as it opened they entered a scanner each, "Transfer Ulrich, Transfer Odd" said Jeremie as the scanners closed, "Scanner Ulrich, Scanner Odd" he added as he selected their ID cards "Virtualization" he said as they felt the blast of air, they quickly dropped to the ground in the ice sector, Ulrich turned and looked behind them, "all clear in this area" he said then he looked at Odd before adding "we're gonna have to search everywhere manually", Jeremie quickly typed and said "no problem I'm calling in your vehicles guys", the Over-Bike and the Over-Board spawned to which the two mounted, they quickly shot off going at a fast but cruising speed, "Jeremie any luck with the super scan" asked Odd, but Jeremie wasn't having any luck "Not too great" he said as the computer was being unresponsive, "well any way might as well forget it we found it" said Odd as he and Ulrich turned towards the tower, "weird it's undefended" said Ulrich as he climbed off his bike, "right got it, 25 degrees north-northeast" said Jeremie as he locked in the location, "nice job guys" he added as he loaded the devirtulization program, "now all we gotta do is bring Aelita here to deactivate it, "way ahead…" started Jeremie but then everything went blank the window went blank and the holo map shut off, "that's just great now whats wrong" said Jeremie as he smashed his fists into the arm rests, "can you hear me" asked Jeremie but he got no answer back, "Ulrich, Odd" he said in a further attempt at getting an answer, but they couldn't hear him, "Jeremie not that we're in a rush but uh…" started Ulrich but then he realised that Jeremie couldn't hear them "Jeremie" he asked but there was no response, "taking your time there" he added but still there was no response, "must have forgotten to pay his phone bill" said Odd.
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Back at the hospital the mood was lighter, Aelita had asked Yumi a question one that was best asked when it was just the two of them,
"It hurts a lot at first but after that it's enjoyable" answered Yumi, and Aelita was intrigued suddenly there was a loud beeping as Aelita's heart slowed to a crawl, Dallas who heard the noise rushed in "what happened" he asked as he placed his head to Aelita's chest, "nothing she just…" started Yumi, but Dallas already started to preform CPR, suddenly her heart beat stopped altogether, "Shit" said Dallas as he quickly sped up, whilst in the woods Duncan collapsed to the ground, Adam quickly grabbed the tube stopping it from smashing, "you call this calculated risk" asked Evelyn as she looked around, "no this wasn't planned" he said, then it hit him, "we had enough power, Jeremie or one of the others must have used the super computer" he said angrily, whilst at the factory Jeremie entered the elevator saying "whats wrong with this fucking super computer", the doors opened and Jeremie instantly felt the cold blast of air, the supercomputer arose from the liquid nitrogen it was held in, whilst on Lyoko Ulrich and Odd had become impatient from the waiting, "Jeremie are you gonna bring us in or not" said Odd, Ulrich however was sick of waiting and drew his Katanna, "We'll have to manage without him" he said as he pointed it towards Odd, the latter nodded and raised his arm, "one" said Odd as he prepared to fire, "two" said Ulrich as he raised the Katanna for a swing, "Three" said the both of them as they took action Ulrich swing at Odd as he fired an arrow at him they stuck each other at the same time, but were thrown back by the blows, both rolled in pain, Ulrich quickly stood up and hobbled to his Katanna picking it up and sheathing it, "we can't be devirtulized" said Odd as he felt his side, "the scanners must be offline again, what the actual shit is going on around here anyway" said Ulrich, Odd shook his head and said "no idea but we gotta real problem", back in the super computer room Jeremie walked towards the machine and looked for signs of damage, finding he none he grabbed the start-up lever and pulled down on it, nothing happened, "this isn't good" said Jeremie, whilst on Lyoko Odd and Ulrich noticed something in the distance, "whats that" said Ulrich as he backed away towards the Over-bike, Odd followed suit and said "how about a gigantic invisible eraser", but in actuality Lyoko was erasing itself there was no power left to sustain itself, the Plato was disappearing "let's get out of here" said Ulrich as he mounted the Over-Bike "Jeremie do something fast" he said as Odd clambered onto the Over-board, the two quickly started to move away, but Ulrich realised he was gonna run out of ground and flicked the flight switch and became airborne, the Plato disappeared and along with it the activated tower, "come on start-up" said Jeremie as he kept pulling down on the lever trying to jumpstart the mainframe, "Jeremie can you hear us, we have a big bug here" said Odd in vain, then he noticed the Over-board was becoming infected by the power drain and disappeared from below Ulrich, the latter screamed as he fell towards the digital sea, but Odd flew below him and grabbed him before he could get anywhere near it, "thanks" said Ulrich out of breath from fear, but before they could celebrate the Over-Board became infected and the two dropped towards the Digital Sea causing both to scream, whilst back in the Hospital the Doctors had rushed in and Aelita had been connected to a drip, Dallas was holding back the scared Yumi, whilst suddenly Jeremie finally jump started the mainframe, "finally" he said with a sigh of relief, on Lyoko the Plato began to reappear and Ulrich and Odd landed with a thud onto the surface, Ulrich turned his head to see the Plato reforming and said "looks like Lyoko has recharged it's batteries" whilst in the hospital room Aelita's heartbeat returned leaving the doctor amazed and relieved at the same time, "In all my years as a Doctor I've only seen this once" he said, Aelita opened her eyes, whilst in the woods Duncan opened his prompting Evelyn to say "finally".
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The warriors regrouped at the hospital, whilst Aelita was resting in her bed the others were in the hall,
"The Supercomputers powered by a uranium battery, and it's almost dead, in fact sending Odd and Ulrich to Lyoko may have weekend the battery further" said Jeremie, the warriors knew what this meant but Jeremie spelt it out, "that's why the super computer keeps failing and pretty soon it'll turn off altogether" he added, Odd didn't entirely understand though, "oh is that all, in that case all we have to do is change the battery" he said, but Jeremie shook his head "a supercomputer isn't the same as a game boy Odd, you can't just go to any corner store and buy Uranium" said Jeremie, this killed Odd's cheerful nature, "isn't there any kind of emergency backup Battery" asked Ulrich, Jeremie shook his head, Dallas spoke up, "the only option we'd have is I break into a power plant and steal one, but even then we don't know if the Supercomputer will keep the battery if did a jump back in time, because I don't feel like being public enemy number fucking one" said Dallas, Jeremie then said what no one wanted to hear, "once the battery dies so does Aelita, all on account of that miserable virus" he said but little did he know was Aelita could over hear him, "I'm gonna get something to drink" said Jeremie as he walked off, then Ulrich noticed Dallas's attire, "whats that" he asked, Dallas realised that he'd noticed the police issue gun holster "don't worry they think I'm undercover" he said rolling his eyes and was surprised that it'd worked, "I think it's a risk" said Yumi, whilst down stairs Jeremie grabbed a soda from the vending machine when suddenly he noticed the room was empty, then he was grabbed by Duncan from behind and was silence, "You two Take Jeremie to the factory I'll neutralize Dallas and grab Aelita" said Duncan as he walked off down the corridor.
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The warriors entered Aelita's room, she wasn't in the mood for talking,
"Hey princess is the best TV set they could find" said Odd in an attempt to lighten the mood but she turned away from him, "don't bother, I heard what you said" she replied, then Yumi screamed and the others moved to the window, "Its Jeremie" said Yumi as she noticed Adam and Evelyn dragging him away, "what the fuck are they doing" said Dallas, as he walked towards the door, "you're staying here" said Yumi, Dallas turned and asked "what", the others moved towards him and out of the door, "you're not in any condition to fight either of them" said Yumi, "what are you my mother, it's not like you are" he said angrily but she shut the door and followed Odd and Ulrich down the corridor after Jeremie, "great" he said, then the door opened and Dallas was hit over the head by Duncan, but Aelita went to scream but was silence by Duncan.
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Dallas woke up finding himself in a dark room, he tried moving but found himself tied to a chair,
"Don't even try it, that trick won't work" said Duncan as he looked at the rope, Dallas had one hand tied to his front whilst the other behind his back, "great, what do you want with Jeremie" asked Dallas as Duncan peered towards him holding his gun, "I need Jeremie to change the Supercomputer Battery" said Duncan, Dallas was confussed and asked "Why not have Tweedle Dee or Tweedle dumb do it", Duncan smiled and punched him around the face "because the computer room is shielded, neither can enter" said Duncan then he walked out leaving Dallas alone, he nodded and realising that Duncan had tied his right hand to his front, he reached his arm around and grabbed his jacket pocket and began to rummage around in it, when he found what he needed "thank you Adam" he said as he pulled out Adam's lighter and began sparking it, "come on" he said then he burnt his finger, the sudden shock caused him to drop it, "fuck" he said under his breath as he realised that it was still light and on the carpet in the room, he quickly blew at it in an attempt to extinguish it but it spread and soon the rug was a blaze, "no, no, no, no, no" he said as he tried moving away, but the chair caught fire and he fell into the small blaze, it burnt the ropes but soon spread up the wall, "oh no" he said.
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Back at the factory Jeremie was awakened in the elevator to see Adam and Evelyn,
"Don't try and run from us, we're here to help" said Evelyn, Jeremie spat at them "how by kidnapping me" he asked Adam laughed and said "it was a nessecery, we need you to change the battery", Jeremie was confussed then he noticed the canister in front of him, back at the Hospital Dallas burst out of the burning room, the fire alarm had sounded and everyone was being rushed out, and in the confusion no one noticed Duncan, "everyone on this floor is clear, except for one Aelita" said a doctor as he noticed Duncan and panicked forgetting Aelita was there, Dallas rushed towards Duncan and grabbed him throwing him towards the blaze, "you think you can stop me in that weak state" said Duncan laughing, Dallas then realised where he was standing, he grabbed his G17 and fired at a cylinder knocking the valve off and releasing Gas, "you missed" said Duncan, Dallas grabbed Adam's lighter and said "Yippee Ki yay" and sparked it throwing it towards the gas, Duncan only noticed at the last second, but it was too late suddenly there was a massive explosion and Duncan was incinerated and Dallas was blown backwards.
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Jeremie stepped into the room with the battery, and quickly pressed the button opening the hatch to the Battery, he wiped his head as he pulled the dead one from the device, suddenly in the hospital Aelita flat lined again, the noise awoke Dallas,
"Aelita" he said as he coughed in the fumes, he quickly kicked open her door, "Aelita no" he said as he picked her up, suddenly she opened her eyes again, Jeremie had replaced the battery, he turned back and noticed Adam and Evelyn moved towards an open circuit in the elevator and suddenly they sparked and were absorbed by it, "what the hell" he said, then he heard his phone ring, "Jeremie are you okay" said Odd as Jeremie answered it, "yeah I'm fine is Aelita okay" he asked, Odd looked back looking at the massive fire that illuminated the night sky, "I'd hope so" he said, whilst inside the Hospital Aelita was still weak and Dallas was carrying her on his shoulders, he heard fire engines outside, and moved towards the corridor, but the roof gave way in front and blocked his exit, "fuck" he said before shouting "HOLD ON AELITA" and turning back, outside the situation was getting worse, "sir the buildings too hot we can't get anyone up there" said one of the fire officers as the ladder from one of the vehicles was propped on the roof, the chief turned to the head of staff, "is there anyone in there" he asked, the doctor looked at him and said "we got almost everyone out, just one patient and a visitor are trapped", a massive crowd had formed looking at the blazing inferno, suddenly someone shouted "LOOK", everyone turned their attention as Dallas emerged onto the roof and looked down, he noticed the ladder and with Aelita still on his shoulders climbed on saying "hold on", everyone below watched the spectacle as it unfolded, the ladder had heated up and was burning Dallas's hands causing visible smoke, "don't look down" he said to Aelita, suddenly he lost his footing and Aelita fell, but he turned backward and locking his foot in a step, he grabbed Aelita's hand, the crowd gasped at the life or death situation, Aelita screamed in fear, "HANG ON" shouted Dallas as he grabbed her with his other hand and pulled her upwards, she grabbed onto his shoulders and held on as Dallas grabbed the rungs on the ladder and let go of his feet balancing himself out again, "don't let go" he said as he continued his descent, the fireman and the crowd were left speechless and motionless as Dallas reached the bottom of the ladder, Aelita clambered off his shoulders as Dallas nearly collapsed, the crowd erupted into a row of cheering and clapping at the event that had unfolded.
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"Jeremie we're on our way to the factory now, we're about 5 minutes away, is there any trouble" asked Odd as they turned towards the factory road, "No, Adam and Evelyn they're gone" said Jeremie in amazement as he ascended to the computer room, "the batteries been changed but I need to check if everything's working, you need to get Aelita" said Jeremie, Odd was about to reply, but then he noticed Aelita's phone ringing on the screen, "Aelita are you okay" asked Jeremie concerned, "yeah Dallas got me out of the building before I was burnt alive" she said breathing heavily, "burnt alive" he asked but the phone was taken away from Aelita by a police officer, "I've got some questions to ask you and your friend" he said as he nudged Aelita towards Dallas who was having his hands bandaged, "is this yours" asked the chief as he held out Dallas's G17, "yes thanks" he said as he tried to grab it, "You've got some explaining to do" said the chief, Dallas looked behind him at the fire truck, "that fire was started by Peter Duncan, who was being controlled by an Artificial intelligence" said Dallas, the chief was baffled and looked at Aelita "is this true" he asked, but being as she was still exhausted she nodded, "yeah and Steve McQueen, and you're under arrest" he said, but Dallas quickly grabbed his gun and blasted him backwards using eagle sense, "come on" he said grabbing Aelita by the hand and pushing her into the fire truck, he clambered in and started the heavy vehicle before gunning the engine and driving off, the police chief stood up and drew his service revolver and opened fire but the bullets missed the tires, "WHATS THE IDIOT DOING THE LADDERS LOOSE" shouted one of the fire officers, the police quickly gave pursuit, whilst ahead in the fire truck Dallas looked at Aelita, "are you okay" he asked, Aelita nodded and then turned on the sirens, "I wanted to do that for some reason" she said, Dallas then noticed the police in pursuit, "I'm gonna take care of them, do you know the way to the factory" he said, Aelita was scared and confussed "yeah but I don't know how to drive" she said, Dallas opened the door, "turn the wheel, left is accelerate, right is break" he said as he clambered out onto the side of the fire truck, "whats that guy doing" asked one of the police officers in pursuit, Dallas climbed onto the roof, he turned and was almost surfing the fire truck, he moved towards the back and drew his gun ready to shoot some tires, but in a blind panic one of the police officers put his foot down and rammed the back of the fire truck, Aelita yelped as she attempted to retain control, but Dallas was thrown off the back, "oh my god" said one of the police officers as Dallas was hanging off the back of the fire truck via the ladder, "CONFUCUMAS" he yelled as he scraped his head on the road, one of the police cars moved behind with the passenger leaning out and yelling, "for god sakes man climb onto the bonnet" Dallas didn't listen and he looked at his right arm, Duncan didn't remove it, he quickly extended his new hook blade and it clipped into the rung of the ladder, Dallas began dragging his feet, "this guy's got a death wish" said one of the officers, Dallas looked at the 6 police cars in pursuit he drew his G17 and opened fire, he hit the tires causing the cars to slow to a halt, "the suspect is armed" yelled a voice down one of the radios, "I'm gonna try and ram him free" said one of the drivers as he moved the squad car behind the fire truck, Dallas looked at his gun, "empty" he said as he sheathed it, "fuck it" he said as he mustered up eagle sense and in a split second placed his foot on the ground and propelled himself off the ground throwing him and the ladder into the air, he landed on top of the fire trick whilst the ladder skidded on the road slowing down the police, "there's a foot hold" said Dallas as he moved back towards the cab, "AH FUCK" he yelled as he grabbed one of the stacks, "are you okay" asked Aelita, Dallas looked at her as he shut the door, "just a few skid marks" he said.
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Jeremie turned and looked at the others
"What did Aelita mean by burnt alive" he asked them, they didn't know how to reply, "the hospital caught fire, Dallas must have saved her" said Yumi as she felt bad about relegating him to security again, "well knowing Dallas he got her out of there in time" said Ulrich, then they heard the phone ring, "Aelita, Dallas are you okay" asked Jeremie, Aelita was the one who answered, "yeah we're fine, Dallas has a few scrapes but he's okay" she said, Jeremie sighed then asked "what happened to Duncan", Dallas replied "he's a handful of ash", Jeremie's eyebrow raised as he heard that, "Jeremie we'll be coming up to the factory in about 5 minutes" said Aelita, Dallas grabbed the phone and said "make that 10 I gotta ditch this fire truck", Jeremie was shocked at the events he was hearing, "fire truck" he asked, the others were either shocked or were laughing.
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Dallas and Aelita eventually arrived and the first thing that happened was Jeremie running to and hugging Aelita, Dallas feel forward onto the floor exhausted,
"let's return to the past" he said ready to fall asleep, Jeremie kneelt down to him, "we can't the towers disabling the program, Dallas stood up saying "fucking hell" as he, Aelita, Yumi, Odd and Ulrich entered the elevator, "you just can't catch a break can you" said Aelita, Dallas wasn't amused by the comment, the doors opened and they walked towards a scanner each, "get ready guys" said Jeremie, they stepped in as Jeremie said "Scanner Dallas, Scanner Yumi, Scanner Ulrich, Scanner Odd, Scanner Aelita", he hit enter causing the scanners to shut, "Transfer Dallas, Transfer Yumi, Scanner Ulrich, Transfer Odd, Transfer Aelita" he added as they began to spin and rise, "Virtualization" said Jeremie as they felt the blast of air sending them to Lyoko, their blue squared outlines appeared and gained detail before dropping to the ground, "let's get this done" said Ulrich, then they heard Jeremie say "Towers Dead ahead" as they noticed the tower, "behind us" said Aelita pointing towards Numerous Kankrelots aiming at them, Dallas pulled up his hood and drew his crossbow, Odd stood alongside him and raised his arm, "Aelita get moving" said Odd as Jeremie hit enter, the Over-Wing, the Over-board and the Over-Bike appeared, "better hurry up" said Jeremie, Yumi and Aelita got onto the Over-Wing, whilst Ulrich onto the Over-Bike, "you coming" said Ulrich as Yumi and Aelita moved off ahead, "we'll be fine, Make sure they're safe" said Dallas, as he pulled his trigger and a bolt destroyed a Kankrelot, Ulrich quickly shot off after Aelita and Yumi, suddenly Adam and Evelyn shot past them each on a bike, "son of a bitch" said Odd, then he looked at Dallas, "you go after them" said Odd, Dallas turned and dived forward pulling the Baton apart and rocketing after Adam and Evelyn, "Odd be careful there's about six of them" said Jeremie, Odd simply smiled and jumped onto the Over-Board and flew towards them, "Laser arrow" he said as he fired numerous arrows at the creatures although he only hit two as he dodged lasers, "shit Jeremie reload me" he said as he circled around.
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Yumi and Aelita were getting closer to the tower when Ulrich moved up alongside them,
"Stay behind me, I don't want either of you hurt" said Ulrich as he moved in front of them, then they noticed the towers guards, "Tarantulas" said Aelita as Yumi swerved avoiding their lasers, Ulrich however carried on, "Careful Ulrich" said Jeremie, but the Tarantulas ceased fire, "what the" he said, when suddenly he was struck by a lightning burst, the Over-Bike was destroyed and Ulrich was thrown forward, Adam looked at Evelyn and said "go after them, I'll take care of Him", Evelyn quickly turned and gave pursuit to the girls, Adam flew towards Ulrich as he stood up, Adam extended his leg and Kicked Ulrich in the face knocking him down, Adam laughed as he got off his bike and walked towards Ulrich, "you'll never win" said Ulrich defiantly as he tried standing up, Adam didn't respond as he kicked him back down, suddenly Ulrich heard a voice in his ear, "drop now" Ulrich didn't know what the message meant but as Adam went to swing his sword Ulrich dived to the ground, Adam looked up as Dallas flew past, in this instant Dallas flicked on of the switches and suddenly numerous flairs launched from the back of the Over-Rider, Adam was blinded and screamed at the flicking light, Ulrich jumped to his feet and turned away facing Adam, but he jumped and extended his left leg backwards and kicked Adam in the Stomach knocking him down, Dallas pulled up alongside the two and dismounted from the Over-Rider, he grabbed his crossbow and smacked it into Adam's face, "Dallas I'll take care of him, Yumi and Aelita need help", Dallas handed Ulrich his crossbow and mounted the Over-Rider, "make sure he's hurt" said Dallas as he shot off, Adam got on his knees wiping his eyes, "what's going on" he said then he noticed the crossbow in his face, "oh shit" he said as Ulrich pulled the trigger, the bolt pierced his head and devirtulized him.
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Odd circled around looking for a blind spot in the Kankrelots fire,
"Okay Odd you got a fresh set of arrows" said Jeremie as he hit enter, Odd smiled and dive bombed towards the creatures, he raised both arms yelling "LASER ARROW" he managed to hit three creatures they exploded as Odd smiled, "nice shooting Odd" said Jeremie, Odd quickly circled back and headed towards the tower, "one isn't any danger" he said as he accelerated, "there're two Tarantulas at the Tower, think you can handle them" said Jeremie, Odd simply laughed whilst up ahead Evelyn had caught up to Yumi and Aelita, Yumi however was swerving between rocks, Evelyn was becoming increasingly frustrated at the manoeuvre, her bike was too fast to be able to make the same manoeuvres, "get back here" she screamed as she drew her musket in a rage filled attempt to get a clear shot, "Yumi" said Aelita as she noticed, "Hang on Aelita" said Yumi as she hit the brakes, Yumi was thrown into the handle bar with Aelita behind her, Evelyn shot ahead of them and quickly circled around, but Yumi had already turned and shot off as fast as she could, "you won't get away for long" said Evelyn as she got closer and tried grabbing Aelita, "YUMI" screamed Aelita, then she noticed a massive cloud that looked like a dust cloud but made from Ice, "he's not is he" she asked, Yumi smiled and said "Oh he is" then as Evelyn reached her arm out to grab Aelita, Yumi swerved to the side, suddenly there was a loud roar followed by a silver and blue streak and Evelyn was knocked off balance and crashed, she screamed as she noticed that her arm was missing, Dallas pulled up to her and drew his Tomahawk…
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"LASER ARROW" shouted Odd as he fired numerous arrows at the Tarantulas, he missed due to the speed "switch" said Odd as he quickly flipped the board, Ulrich was standing on the back and was deflecting the lasers from the creatures, Jeremie was intrigued by the ingenuity of the two, "switch" said Ulrich, the board turned around again and Odd quickly fired numerous Laser arrows striking one of the Tarantulas, it exploded as the other increased its fire rate, Suddenly Yumi threw her fans towards the creature, the front of its head section slowly slid downwards before falling off altogether, the creature exploded as Yumi pulled up, Aelita jumped off and ran into the tower, "well that was slightly disturbing" said Ulrich as he walked over, then they heard the roar of the Over-Rider, Dallas returned it to the baton, "fuck me I'll be happy with some rest" he said, whilst inside the tower Aelita floated to the top platform and placed her hand on the Screen the word AELITA followed by Code Lyoko appeared and the blue screens descended into the black void, and the return to the past began…
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That Morning the warriors gathered at a radio in Jeremie's and Dallas's room,
"War Criminal Peter Reece Duncan was found dead in his holding cell today, whilst the authorities have released his cause of death as heart failure, there is much speculation as if this is a cover up", Dallas turned off the radio, "well that's that taken care off" said Jeremie before realising that they'd actually killed someone, "was it right that you did it" asked Ulrich, everyone turned their attention towards Dallas, he looked down before saying, "had there been another way, I would have gone for it, but he was due a death sentence for his crimes" said Dallas trying to justify the action not only to the others but himself, "I think you did the right thing" said Yumi patting him on the shoulder, Dallas however had doubts about it.
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Numerous Military officers took photographs of the holding cell, whilst a corona team moved Duncan's body away in a bag, however oddly his bag was labelled as a john doe, Winter zipped up the bag,
"Captain George" he said as he turned away from the body and light a smoke, "Yes sir" said the Captain as he moved away from the cell, "is heart failure really what we're going with" asked Winter as he handed the captain a smoke, but was refused, "yeah I mean that's what happened we have no reason to lie about it" he said as used his cap to clear the air of the smoke, "I find it weird, I've seen people die of heart problems usually there's a sign of pain on their face, Duncan however he looked as calm as if he was being set free" said Winter as he followed the corona, "what're you going to do sir" asked the captain "we're gonna do an autopsy, and find out what really killed him" said Winter as he shut the door of the corridor, "that file you requested sir" said a soldier as he handed it to winter and saluted before moving off, he slipped off the black wrapping and pulled out the file, it read Project Carthage, Winter shook his head and said "but they're all dead".
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Authors note
Thanks for reading, yeah I may have deviated from the source heavily on this one to the point I'd say about 30% is left and that's scraping it, like I said I've had plans for this one for about 2 years, so hope you enjoyed please leave a review or if you're confussed about anything just ask I should respond quickly enough.