Author's Notes -- Wow, such wonderful and encouraging feedback for my first chapter. Thank you to everyone who reviewed, I really appreciate it, especially since this is my first venture into Code Lyoko fanfiction writing, and I've seen less than half the series. I wanted to mention briefly that I use the French names for some of Xana's monsters; I looked them up once on a French site, before I knew what they were really called in English, and that's what I've stuck with. The Kankrelat are Roachsters (Odd mentioned them in the first chapter) and Frolions are Wasps. The other monsters are basically the same, I think.
: Chapter Two :
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Aelita crouched in the familiar surroundings of the tower, her eyes closed to the pale, soothing blue lights. Her small hands were held delicately against one another, her feet folded lightly beneath her figure as she remained in meditation.
Lyoko swirled around her, its essence resonating through her being as she opened the connection that land and humanoid shared. Aelita let her mind flow, focusing and releasing, feeling her home through the sights and sounds that she knew by heart. The silence of cloud and mountain, the warmth of heavy trees and moss, the light that encompassed dust and sand, and the smooth evening reflected in ice. And beneath it all, the eternal shimmer of a shifting void that echoed restlessly as it caught the falling pulse…
A pulse?In the next instant that her eyes blinked open, the lighted wave of sound had already faded. Aelita remained motionless, her pointed ears almost quivering as she waited, wondering if the passing whisper had been real.
Nothing touched her senses save the pale blue silence.
"Aelita?"
The voice startled her out of her meditative frame of mind, bringing her focus back to reality.
"Aelita, are you there?"
"Of course I am." Releasing her body from the disciplined position, she turned with a grin to open a window screen in midair, watching as Jeremie's familiar face emerged. "Hello, Jeremie!"
He grinned back at her, adjusting the microphone around his head a little awkwardly. "Hi. Am I bothering you? You seem kind of surprised to see me."
"You never bother me, Jeremie." Aelita gave a genuine smile. "I was just meditating, that's all. And I wasn't expecting you to be back from classes so soon."
"Oh, all right." He began to type, his eyes darting rapidly from computer codes to Aelita's window as he began the multi-tasking process of programming and carrying out a conversation, something he was well practiced in. "Well, classes are over for the day, so I wanted to work more on the extra sequences." The lines of code and programming reflected on the lenses of his glasses, slipping through the mirror image in reverse. Then, through the glass and reflections, Jeremie's eyes narrowed as they skimmed the information, spotting something odd. He glanced at her as he inquired, "Hey, Aelita? Have you made any recent changes to your materialization program?"
She blinked at him from the screen. "No, why?"
Jeremie's brow furrowed. "It's just not the way I left it. Like it's been expanded some." He rubbed at his forehead. "Maybe I just don't remember doing it."
From the monitor, Aelita looked surprised. "Your memory is malfunctioning? Is it because of your lack of regeneration?"
He had to give a grin at that. "I guess I have been losing a lot of sleep over it lately. You're right, that's probably all it is. I must have been too tired when I worked on it last." Then remembrance lit his features and the smile faded slightly. "Oh, by the way, Yumi and Ulrich were a little worried this morning that Xana might be up to something. You haven't sensed anything inside Lyoko, have you?"
The humanoid blinked. "Actually, I thought I heard one of Xana's pulses just a minute ago. It was so faint though, I wasn't sure."
"Huh," Jeremie looked thoughtful. "Well, we can never be too careful with Xana. I guess we should double check, just to make sure."
Aelita nodded in agreement. "All right. I'll start looking for any signs of an activated tower."
"I'm heading for the factory," Jeremie stated as he began to type a shutdown sequence into his own computer. "I'll contact you again once I'm there, and we'll scan for anything out of the ordinary." He gave a quick wave of departure as the window closed and their connection severed. Pulling the headset off, Jeremie placed it next to the keyboard and turned to leave, heading outside and towards the underground tunnel that would lead him to the factory.
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Aelita exited the tower, her body moving easily through the apparent solid wall. Once outside, she cast a glance, scanning her surroundings with sight and sound for any signs of hostile activity. The mountainscape that greeted her was stark and bold in its silence, the cloud forms whispering transparently against the looming shadows of stone.
For several minutes Aelita remained motionless, her senses honing into the reality of her world. When nothing touched her senses save the tranquility, she turned. There was nothing in this region of Lyoko.
She re-entered the tower to transport to the forest region, and when she emerged again, she had phased into the brighter, less spacious realm. The thick, green carpeting of grass and moss was firm beneath her feet, and from it the stoic trees extended their trunks, stretching to meet the leafy canopy above. Shafts of sunlight filtered their way through the air, their gold hue tinged with pale green, casting a warm glow throughout the region.
Aelita took a few steps forward, again extending the range of her senses and tapping into the essence that was Lyoko. Almost immediately a faint ripple of light and sound struck her, and she knew what it was. Jeremie was right—Xana had activated a tower somewhere nearby.
Aelita broke into a light run, following the echoing waves as they pulsed through Lyoko with an unusual regularity. She proceeded cautiously but quickly, often moving behind the shelter of trees as the pulses became louder and more frequent. Many times she had pursued Xana, following his trail towards a tower, only to be ambushed by his monsters. So far this time she was lucky—nothing emerged to block her progress.
Then she spotted it, on the near horizon, the sunset glow of the activated tower contrasting the dark greens and browns that made its surroundings. Aelita could just make out its summit between the tree trunks and canopies.
And then her luck ran out.
With an involuntary gasp, Aelita turned and ran back the way she had come, hoping that her presence had not been detected. Calling out softly, she desperately hoped that Jeremie was at the factory and able to hear her…
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Jeremie heard Aelita calling from the computer speakers as the elevator doors opened. Surprised that she was looking for him, he crossed the room quickly, jumping into his seat and snapping the headset over his ear, his hands darting immediately to the keyboard as he began to type furiously. "Aelita?"
"Jeremie! Thank goodness you're there." her familiar voice tinged with uncertainty and desperation as it sounded over the headset, and her usual image window didn't come up automatically on the screen.
"I just got here," he explained. "What's wrong?"
"I found the tower, but Xana's monsters are everywhere! I've never seen so many!"
Eyes widening, Jeremie pulled open a grid on his screen, scanning for information. "Aelita, where are you?"
"I'm in one of the deactivated towers on the other side of the Forests. I was going to meet you near the infected tower like we usually do, but I couldn't even get close, there were so many—"
"Don't worry about it, Aelita." Jeremie reassured her and began accessing communications. "Stay where you are, I'm going to call the others."
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The elevator made its distinct whirring sound of activation, the doors grating slightly as they opened. Yumi, Ulrich, and Odd stepped into the computer room, moving towards Jeremie as he gestured to them from his chair.
"Okay, what's the problem?" Odd asked, taking a stand behind Jeremie's shoulder, peering at the screen.
"Xana, what else?" Jeremie pointed at the screen. "Aelita found the activated tower, but there's a ton of monsters around it." He glanced at his friends. "And I'm not exaggerating."
"Whoa…" Ulrich's mouth dropped as he stared at the statistics on the screen. "Twelve Krabes, three Megatanks and fifteen Kankrelat…"
"Say what?" Odd exclaimed in disbelief.
Jeremie nodded grimly. "There are thirty monsters guarding that tower."
Yumi leaned over him, glaring at the screen. "You can't be serious!"
"I wish I wasn't," Jeremie muttered darkly. "This is going to be difficult…"
"I don't get it," Ulrich folded his arms, his brow furrowing. "Nothing's happening! Xana's protecting a tower with thirty monsters, but there isn't even a disaster going on that we need to prevent?"
"Unless you count the email he sent to Sissi. That could have been a disaster. For you, anyway." Odd put in.
Jeremie turned to face his companions seriously. "If Xana has pulled out this many monsters for one tower, he must be planning something huge. I say we stop him before he has the chance to get started on this one." He turned back to the computer to begin typing and prepare for transportation. "You three head down to the scanner room and get ready for virtualization. I'll materialize you near the deactivated tower; Aelita will meet you there."
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Aelita emerged from the safety of the tower as three familiar figures solidified in midair, dropping the short distance to the ground before her.
Odd gave a grin and twitched his tail as he readied the arrow launcher on his wrist. "Okay Aelita, lead the way!"
The humanoid shook her head at his eagerness to fight. "I'm not sure if we'll be able to get close to the tower. There are so many monsters defending it…"
"So what do you suggest?" Ulrich raised an eyebrow, one hand resting on the hilt of his katana.
Aelita looked worried. "I don't know. Xana's never done anything like this. Even the pulsations aren't normal."
Yumi turned. "What do you mean?"
"They've been steady and rather weak," the humanoid blinked in response. "It almost feels like Xana is biding his time."
Ulrich gave a scrutinizing look at their surroundings, as though they were being watched. "What would he be waiting for?"
"For us to show up and give him a good thrashing, like always!" Odd was unperturbed. "I say we don't disappoint him."
"He's right," Ulrich agreed reluctantly. "There's not much else we can do, so we'd better not waste any time."
Aelita nodded grimly. "All right then, it's this way." She turned at a brisk jog down the pathway that would lead them to the infected tower.
The small group moved at a quick pace, covering a considerable distance without encountering any obstacles or resistance.
Odd glanced around as they ran. "This is weird…it's so quiet. Usually we're attacked right off. Where are all those monsters that you saw?"
"I told you, they're all gathered right around the tower," Aelita answered, pointing up ahead. "There!"
Her three companions slowed their pace involuntarily.
Sure enough, thirty of Xana's monsters milled about before the tower, the Kankrelat scuttling like lookouts while larger Megatanks rolled slowly back and forth like massive sentinels, occasionally opening to cast glances with their hidden eyes. Spindly Krabes strode through the apparent disorder, shifting on their gangly appendages.
Odd came to a standstill, gaping slightly. "Whoa…"
As though it had heard him, a Kankrelat scout turned its eye in their direction. It stood motionless for a moment, then began scuttling towards them at full speed, charging a laser. In the same instant, all the other monsters swiveled in their direction, alerted to their presence as one, as though linked by a hive mind.
"They've seen us!" Aelita shouted.
The group sprang into action as the first laser blast sailed towards them.
Yumi dashed out of the way, coming to a halt beside Ulrich. "We need a plan!"
"We're going to have to make it up as we go," Ulrich pulled out his katana, the blade ringing as it left the sheath. "Aelita, stay behind us until we can clear a way to the tower."
The humanoid nodded and backed out of range as the laser fire began in earnest.
Ulrich twisted his blade rapidly, moving it defensively up, across, and down to the side, reflecting a laser beam each time. Keeping the sword moving, he deflected two more blasts and dodged out of the way of a third. The monsters were too far off—all he could do for now was defend himself.
Yumi was having better luck with retaliation. Fan open in her grasp, she blocked two incoming lasers, then rolled evasively to one side, flinging the weapon with a twist of her wrist in the same motion. The fan whirled towards the line of monsters, sliding through a Kankrelat with a thin explosion. It continued its humming flight in a wide circle, clipping one of the legs out from under a Krabe. All this happened in an instant, and as Yumi came out of her evasive roll in a neat crouch, she raised a hand and caught the weapon solidly as it returned.
Odd side-jumped a laser, then slid on his knees beneath another. Back up on his feet in the next instant, he back flipped, ricocheted off the side of a tree and launched an arrow towards a Kankrelat in mid-flight. He landed in time to watch the explosion.
Ulrich deflected another blast and got lucky as it ricocheted into a nearby Kankrelat, striking one of the metal legs and causing the small monster to topple over. An instant later, Yumi's fan whirled towards the helpless target and finished the job.
There was the sound of lasers and a surprised cry of dismay from behind, and Ulrich whirled to see Aelita cornered against a tree by three Kankrelat, her right arm sparking from a hit. Forgetting the horde of monsters in front of the tower, Ulrich dashed towards Aelita. He leapt over the nearest Kankrelat from behind, simultaneously swinging his sword down through the virtual being in a strange, lethal version of leapfrog.
Ulrich landed easily and twisted on his heels, swinging the blade in a wide arc and shattering the second monster. Following through with the motion, Ulrich brought the momentum of the swing up and over his head, gripping the hilt with both hands and stabbing downward violently with the point at the remaining Kankrelat.
The sword impacted and a laser released in the same instant. Ulrich went flying backward from a direct hit to the chest as the Kankrelat exploded.
"Nnnggghh!" Ulrich landed hard on his back, his torso sparking from the hit.
Aelita stood over him, looking concerned. "Are you all right?"
He nodded and got to his feet, brow furrowed. "I'm fine, but how did those monsters get behind us?"
"I don't know," the humanoid shook her head. "They must have been hiding, waiting for us to get closer to the tower so they could attack from behind." Her features fell with worry. "Maybe there are more than we thought."
"Great," Ulrich rolled his eyes. "Just what we need."
Any further conversation was interrupted as Yumi's voice shouted at them, almost nagging in quality. "Ulrich!" she yelled, "A little help?"
Ulrich turned and ran back towards the tower to help Yumi and Odd, calling over his shoulder as he left, "Aelita, stay hidden until we can find a way to get through to the tower!"
Yumi fell to one knee as a laser blast struck her right leg. She grit her teeth and launched her fan viciously at the Krabe that had hit her. The weapon skimmed through the air in a graceful arc, curving too wide to strike its target. Yumi swore under her breath and dove to the ground as another laser fired at her head. Then she moved into a quick somersault that brought her back to her feet as her fan returned from its flight.
She pulled her arm back, ready to fling the weapon again, when a streak of bright gold skimmed across the corner of her eye. Ulrich sped past, using the momentum of his extra speed to launch himself into a high leap. He landed hard on the domed head of the Krabe, sword first. The being shattered beneath his feet, and he fell through the shards of scattered code back to the ground.
Unexpectedly, the group of monsters began to split as nearly half of them moved away from the tower. Within moments, Odd was surrounded by a dozen monsters, completely cut off from the path to the tower and his teammates.
"What's going on?" Ulrich shouted.
"I don't know!" Yumi ducked a laser blast and sent her fan flying, but the targeted Kankrelat scuttled nimbly out of the way. "It looks like they're going after Odd for some reason!"
Now virtually surrounded, Odd desperately tried to keep up with dodging the laser fire that was coming at him from all directions. He leapt upward, evading a volley from several Kankrelat, only to put himself in the line of fire from two of the Krabes. Both lasers impacted while he was still in midair, the force from the blasts knocking him backward several feet. He landed heavily, leaving a small skid mark. Before his figure had even stopped sparking from the damage, Odd was back on his feet and dodging away from more enemy fire.
Seeing a Kankrelat shift to aim at his head, Odd ducked and fell forward into a slide. The laser streaked overhead, missing by several inches. Odd twisted his body and came to a halt in a semi-kneeling position, leveling his wrist as the Kankrelat in question turned to follow his movement. "Heads up," he called to it sarcastically, releasing the arrow. He allowed himself a satisfied grin at the resulting explosion.
A jolt to his knee reminded him that he was still the target of a dozen hostile monsters.
Then Jeremie's voice filtered through Lyoko. "Odd, Xana's monsters seem to be focusing on you. Be careful!""Understatement of the year, Jeremie." Odd answered, then muttered to himself, "This is crazy! I don't have enough arrows to take out all of them!" Odd muttered. Then an idea struck him, and he gave a tiny smirk. "If I can't get them all, maybe I can get them to hit each other instead…"
Dashing out from behind the safety of the tree, he gave a leap, landing on top of the nearest Krabe before it had a chance to fire at him. Balancing himself on the moving creature, he turned to give a wave at the Megatank. "Yoo-hoo! Over here, stupid! Hit the nekko, win a prize!"
The Megatank turned and opened, glaring its eye in his direction. The energy began to build up, heightening to crimson fury as it pulsed and threatened to release at any moment.
The Krabe that Odd was clinging to shook and swayed on its legs, searching for a way to dislodge its occupant.
The Megatank fired.
Odd gave a leap, kicking himself away from the Krabe and flipping agilely through the air to land neatly several yards away.
Behind him, the Krabe found itself left alone in the unfortunate position of being in the Megatank's line of fire.
The Krabe exploded.
Odd turned on his heels, grinning as he aimed a wrist at the still-exposed symbol on the Megatank before it had a chance to recharge. "Ooh, sorry, you missed the target. But thanks for playing, here's a nice consolation prize…" The arrow flew and the Megatank exploded.
"Two monsters and only one arrow!" Odd grinned as he did another leap over a laser beam. "Did you see that, Jeremie?"
"Odd, just concentrate on staying alive!"-------------------------