9-8: Memorabilia
This must be one of my shortest chapters ever, but there's nothing I could really add to it w/out seeming overzealous. Just end it quick like this.
(((-8-)))
The Krab went coasting downhill, gathering speed. Yumi knew if Talia hit the Digital Sea she was done for. When they went back in time there would be no Talia to inhabit her own body!
Her scream of terror attracted Aelita's attention and the A.I. turned around. She saw Talia sliding toward oblivion on her back, three legs waving crazily in the air and one dragging along as she dropped. She fell to her knees, raising her hands together in a prayer-like gesture.
As she sang, her Synthezation warped the mountainside, shifting it. Suddenly protrusions of rock exploded out, catching the monstrous black Krab before she could slide any farther toward her doom. She came to a jerking halt, still upside-down but seemingly all right.
"Shoot!" Janika's voice came over as a very feline growl. "X.A.N.A. just virtualized four Krabs between Aelita and the Tower! Watch it!"
"Aelita, look out!" Odd cried out as he launched a few laser arrows. They came so close to her that one nearly grazed her cheek. The Krabs avoided them, though, and she dropped to the ground to avoid their attacks as they advanced on her.
Ulrich sped past her, using his super-speed to the greatest advantage to dispatch his enemies. He absorbed the laser of the foremost Krab with his sword, leaping on top and striking the symbol on its shell, vaulting from that one to the next, both of them detonating in rapid succession.
The third came after Odd as he challenged it with a barrage of laser arrows. Angrily, it fired several quick blasts that he avoided easily enough, landing on his knees. Tail swinging side to side almost cockily, he aimed a sure hit at the Krab, firing just as the one he hadn't been watching fired at him. He was devirtualized in seconds, but his kamikaze arrow vanquished the one he had been facing.
Yumi interposed herself between the pink-haired girl where she knelt helplessly on the mountain path. She blocked the first and second shots, but not the last that threw her back off the edge of the platform, devirtualizing her before she fell far.
Aelita hid her face, whimpering as it moved forward, but then reared suddenly as someone landed on top of it. With a shout, Ulrich drove his sword deep into its inner workings, jamming the machine's gears. He leaped clear of the blast and sheathed his weapon.
"Better get in there, Aelita," the teenage samurai said. "Who knows what Krelle could be doing to Jeremy by now. Hurry up!"
Throwing a grateful smile his way, she dashed toward the red-rimmed spire just ahead.
(V)
Dan looked at Janika as she almost collapsed from sudden relief. "She made it to the Tower! Everything will be fine."
"Oh really? And what about that freaky girl's little explosions at the zoo? Not to mention the fact that she just kidnapped one of your friends. That's fine?" he asked incredulously.
The screen flashed as Aelita deactivated the Tower and the girl at the console smiled at him comfortingly. "It will be, believe me. Too bad you won't remember any of this. You were really a good sport about the whole thing."
She finished punching in the coordinates for the return trip and hit Enter when Dan grabbed her unexpectedly, turning Janika around. The machine whirred, powering up to send them back in time as she stared into his pure blue eyes. Time seemed to freeze as he spoke.
"This has all ceased to amaze me. Maybe I won't remember, but do me a favor: don't forget me." Abruptly he pulled her close, pressing his lips against hers in a deep kiss. Surprised, she didn't say anything, only closing her eyes.
(V)
When she opened them again, the grotesque mask of an African idol in the museum was glaring at her. She gazed vacantly at it, her mind racing a mile a minute. Odd dragged her over to the gang as they gathered to talk quietly with each other. Jeremy appeared very ticked off about something.
"Do you guys have any idea what was happening to me while you were taking your sweet time on Lyoko? I was being squeezed like a lemon!" he blustered.
Aelita patted him on the back to calm him down and luckily it seemed to be working. Talia came towards them and he flinched, but was otherwise brave about his traumatic experience.
Yumi and Ulrich wandered away from the others, intent on spending more time with each other without any spectators. And as they left, Odd turned to speak with Janika…only she wasn't there.
(V)
Janika wandered through the zoo, looking into pens and cages at the assortment of Earth's more exotic animals. But the dark-haired girl ignored the wild beasts. She was searching for something, or rather someone. Finally she caught sight of him, recognizing Dan by the hideous dragon on his shirt.
She wanted to ask him why he'd kissed her, but she knew it was impossible since he wouldn't even know anything about it. Knotting her braid nervously around her wrist, Janika gathered enough courage to go over, just to be close one last time.
She shuffled over to the tiger pen near Dan, his aunt, and what had to be his younger cousins (or else they were a pack of uncaged wild animals). He was rubbing his temples as Janika bent over the edge of the large pen beside him, pretending not to be watching him. As his weary eyes slid over her, they snapped back again,eyebrows creasing.
"Have we met? I'm getting the weirdest feeling of déjà vu."
She smiled up at Dan and shrugged, disguising her surprise. "You never know. Been saving the world lately?"
He laughed aloud at that. "I recycled some cans yesterday. Does that count?"
She couldn't help laughing with him, but then sobered suddenly. "Hey, do me a favor: don't forget me." The dark-haired girl turned on her heel to leave, but he caught her in a soft grip.
"That would be easier if I knew your name."
"Janika. Goodbye Dan."
She melted into a large noisy crowd before he could demand how she knew his name. Maybe he wouldn't remember everything, but he had recognized her, and now she was sure that he would never forget her…because she would never forget Dan's kiss.
(sigh) Don't you just love those happy endings. Or bittersweet. Or whatever. Just forget me and my pathetic romantic sensibilities. I'm pitiful, I know. One more possessing story to go. Guess who! No poll this time, but don't forget to review. I'll sue anyone who doesn't (except for that really annoying brat who keeps cussing me out for some sorry reason; you can rot)