(A/N)I hope you enjoy this chapter even more than the last two. Trillinka once said I seemed to have a flair for fight scenes, especially with weapons. Well, after writing these last couple of chapters, I'm forced to agree.
A Warrior Beyond Ulrich
The boy reappeared back where Ulrich had been. He looked around himself at the thousands of monsters. The copies of the Lyoko kids looked surprised and shocked at him.
"Who are you?" the X-Yumi demanded.
"The tool of your deletion, virus!" he snapped.
"That's big talk for a little midget like you," an X-Odd called.
"Midget huh?" the boy grasped his bo and dropped into an aggressive stance. "Well, why don't you get over here and we'll see who's the 'midget.'"
The X-Odd that spoke grinned. "A pleasure!"
The copy dashed forward with a considerable burst of speed. Its arm was outstretched as it prepared to land a powerful punch to the boy's cranium. Then the boy's image wavered and disappeared just as X-Odd was about to hit him. The Odd copy skidded to a stop and looked around.
"Where'd he go!"
"Up here," said a voice above him.
He looked up in time to see a descending blur. The bo smashed into his Xana symbol. X-Odd exploded instantly, spraying flames and shrapnel into the boy's face. Standing up, the boy faced the rest of Xana's army, completely unscathed.
"Care to try again?" he called with a smug grin.
"Oh, we most certainly shall," all the copies shouted together.
As one force, all the monsters rushed forward. The boy only grinned. He didn't bother trying to dodge away. The monsters closed the distance very quickly. When they were nearly on top of him, he threw back his head and arms. Screaming loudly, a blinding flash of blue-green flared from his body. Violent shockwaves sent the monsters flying in all directions away from the powerful storm that was the boy. Many of the monsters tumbled uncontrollably into the digital void.
Looking back around him, the boy smirked at his handiwork as his aura vanished. Less than half of the army remained to challenge him.
Of the thousands of monsters that had been, there were less than two hundred left. Then, before the boy's eyes, the remaining monsters that weren't copies of the kids were transformed. Their bodies were engulfed with the signature graphic design of the computer code. Their bodies dissolved into a mass of slime for a brief moment. Then the slime rose up and took a humanoid form.
As the graphs faded, colors rushed into newly transformed monsters. All wore the same furious glare as their human counterparts would. Then, as if the idea came to them all at once, they moved. Forming random groups of fours to sixes, they prepared for a group laser blast.
Smirking, the boy twirled his bo playfully. "You guys really need to get some new attacks. What makes you think that that'll work on me, if it didn't work on Ulrich?"
"Because we greatly outnumber you, boy!"
"It's quality, not quantity, virus," he said, switching his grip to hold the bo like a club.
With a bright smile, he called out, "Ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to the first ever Lyoko Championship Baseball Tournament. And tonight's game is Team Xana against Team Lyoko. So far, Team Xana has been throwing its weight around. But thanks to the incredible plays of the legendary Ulrich Stern and Team Lyoko's latest member, Team Lyoko may still have a chance!
It's the bottom of the Ninth, bases are loaded, and all hope depends on whether our mysterious new player will strike a homerun."
One group of the copies suddenly launched their combined laser blast. The boy seemed to sense it approaching and turned to face it.
"The pitch!"
Just as the blast was about to strike him, he swung his bo with as much force as he could. The laser blast struck the staff and bounced off like it actually was a baseball. It shot back to the group that launched it far faster than they could dodge. It struck them head-on and an explosion tore the copies apart.
"And it's a good!" the boy cried, acting as if he had actually struck a homerun. "Yeah! Oh, yeah! It's good!"
The copies watched his antics as he danced around. It was obvious he was either doing just as he was acting, playing around with them, or that he was mentally disturbed. But his playfulness quickly wore on the nerves of several of them.
-
"He's strange," Aelita said quietly, suppressing a smile.
"But look at him go!" Odd said. "I'd almost swear he's been taking lessons from me."
"Who is he, Jeremy?" Yumi asked. She couldn't peel her eyes from the mystery boy. He seemed so familiar to her that it was scary.
"I don't know," he said. "I don't have any data on him. He doesn't seem to have any status chart or…even a connection to one of the scanners."
"No connection?" Yumi gasped. "Then how is he there? Is he a new program or something?"
"Like I said," Jeremy repeated. "I don't know. Unless…"
"Unless?"
"Unless he's somehow hiding the information from us or, rather, them."
"Whoa!" Odd said. "Look at that!"
-
Five X-Ulrich rushed him. Brandishing their katana high, a furious war cry escaped their lips. The boy only seemed to notice their presence when they were only a few paces away. Swinging his bo about his body, he created a space around himself which none of the copies dared enter.
"Oh?" he sneered through his zeal. "You guys wanna play too?" Laughing loudly, he suddenly rushed them. He brought his bo down with punishing force on one X-Ulrich, smashing the symbol. As the copy exploded, he joyfully yelled, "Strike one! —" Smash! "Strike two! —" Smack! "You're outta there!" Jumping up, he swung his legs in two successive kicks that destroyed the last two. "I love that game!"
"Next?" he called, replacing his bo back onto his back.
In his cockiness, the next attack caught him by surprise. An X-Aelita rushed his back as he watched the dozens of others in front of him approach. Her kick sent him careening head-over-heels across the landscape. He couldn't stop himself from flying off the edge and falling toward the digital void.
A small group of the copies gathered over where he'd fallen. They couldn't help but hope that he'd died somehow. The X-Aelita that he kicked him gave a self-loving smile. Then there came a subtle snap behind her.
"You," growled a voice dangerously. Turning around, she found herself face-to-face with an extremely pissed off warrior. "You, bitch! You shouldn't have done that!"
His blue-green aura suddenly flared to life. The light blinded her and she was forced her to cover her eyes. A powerful punch to her stomach set her flying into the group that had gathered at the edge. Colliding with them, all fell over the edge and into the void.
Facing the remaining copies, they almost flinched at what they saw. The happy-go-lucky boy that had beaten little more than a dozen of them was now replaced with a furious young teenager.
Throwing back his head and arms, he screamed loudly as his aura erupted again. Instead of effecting Earth, Lyoko shook. Blue and red lightning raced across the landscape as clouds darkened the sky. The only light that could be seen was that that the boy was giving off. When he stopped his screaming, he glared at them. Then they finally sensed his stats.
Program HOPE: Status: ——Capable Attack/——Capable Defense/——Capable Speed/——Life Points
He closed the distance with them with far greater speeds than Ulrich ever could have. In his hands, the staff was barely a recognizable blur. They couldn't even track his movements as he dashed in amongst their ranks. His bo and limbs lashed out with deadly accuracy.
He didn't stop; he just kept running through them. When he reached the end of them, he skidded to stop and dashed back in. The ones that he hit previously quickly exploded in a fast succession. He was leaving a trail flame and shrapnel behind him.
-
Rising to the second platform, Ulrich staggered over to the screen that was already opened. Typing as fast as he could, he entered: Master Code: XANA
The Tower visibly trembled as it processed the data. The computer codes that were raining down the sides changed from a blue-white to a bloody red. Lightning lashed out from the walls in random locations.
Then, it stopped.
Looking below him, Ulrich glimpsed a familiar sight for sore eyes. It was a blinding red light that consumed everything in its path.
-
Skidding to a stop, he watched, along with all the remaining copies, as the light fast approached. Casting aside his bo, he teleported up on to a high rock ledge and spread his hands.
As the light engulfed him, the boy threw back his head and laughed. If he'd been on Earth, tears would've been falling from his eyes. Finally…he'd succeeded…and the Lyoko Guardians would live… all of them.
(A/N)Well, what do you think? That pretty resolves the major the conflict of The Weak Link. However, I'm positive that many questions have arisen thanks to this chapter. I just ask you to be patient. Only a handful more chapters left. So please enjoy!