Odd:
I woke up. Looking around I realized that we had all fallen asleep. It was a dangerous thing to do with a megatank right out side our door. Carefully I moved to see if it was still there. I found it still in the same place, 'looking' in at us. It hadn't moved at all, which was bad for us...
I looked around and saw that the rain had washed away some of the rubble. The area just outside the shelter was almost clean of the dust and dirt that had been there before. I could see the concrete that was on the ground and realized that we were still on the road. Just a little way from the center I saw that a building had been standing there. We were probably in the commercial district of the city.
I moved back inside and saw that the others were beginning to wake up, all of them but Yumi, who was still in a deep sleep. I watched as they wiped the sleep out of their eyes. Slowly they stretched and began moving around. It had been our first night out and none of us were used to sleeping on rubble. We had tried to make beds but we hadn't managed very well.
Once they were all up we got out the food that we had picked up. There wasn't that much, and what of it there was wouldn't last very long without refrigeration. We picked out some bread and a few small slices of meet to eat for breakfast. Sissi and Sam sat down and began focusing on making a fire. The rest of us looked a little more carefully at what we had picked up last night. There were some bandages, along with some various medicines, a few toothbrushes and toothpaste, some batteries, a flashlight or two and some other things...
I stopped counting when I heard a small explosion and saw a flash of light. The girls had managed to make the fire. We all huddled around it for warmth and suddenly I realized that it was much colder than it had been the night before. I could see the breath from the others and my own as we breathed out. I could also see the steam from the fire and cooking food as it rose up into the air. This wasn't good. Xanadu was really going all out to get rid of us. Not only was he creating monsters of every type but he was also changing the weather. If this was what he could do now... I didn't dare imagine what he would be able to do as time went on.
"Food's ready." I said as I finished cooking it.
"Thanks Odd." Ulrich said.
The others came over and grabbed their share of the food. I watched as everyone sat down and began eating, but I suddenly realized that Jeremie and Aelita were still standing by the barrier looking out.
"Hey, you two, foods gonna get cold." I called over to them.
They walked over and grabbed the two remaining pieces, I hadn't cooked for Yumi since she was still out cold, and sat down eating.
"So, what were you two doing?" Ulrich asked.
"We were trying to triangulate the location of the pulsations." Jeremie said. "They have weakened quite a bit and I think the source might have moved..."
"Is that possible?" Sam gasped.
"Apparently," Jeremie said. "In any case the dark clouds are still hanging over head so either Xanadu has managed to spread his 'influence' or he is still close enough to have an effect on our area."
"Do you have any idea where he might be?" Sissi asked.
"About one earth mile from our current location." Aelita said. "And he isn't moving any further, as far as we can tell..."
"You were able to figure that out within the last few minutes?" Ulrich asked stunned.
"Well, we had help..." Jeremie said holding up the disfigured cell phone. "The armed forces have begun reporting fighting against an unknown force. They are calling them monsters, and I believe that they are talking about the Lyoko monsters..."
"Wouldn't the shadow demons be more effective?" I asked.
"Probably... But imagine what five or six of those things could do to a normal tank..." Jeremie said pointing at the megatank. "I don't know enough about the shadows to make any good assumptions, so on that matter I am stumped."
"So what are we going to do now?" Sam asked. "If Xanadu is that far away it would take us days to get to him, with the monsters attacking us and everything."
"True, and I am sure that Xanadu is still after us, we are really the only things that can stop him after all." Sissi said. "I say that we stay here and wait for him to return."
"For now I am going to agree with Sissi, we will stay and prepare ourselves better for what ever Xanadu can throw at us." Ulrich said. "But first, now that we are all done eating... we need to get rid of our unwelcome guest."
We slowly began standing up and readied ourselves for battle. We slowly walked around the barrier to the back and Jeremie got us out. We crept our way around and under the dark of the blacked out sky we snuck up on the megatank. I readied myself for a few shots at it as I snuck up behind it. I knew that the others were doing the same from what ever direction they were coming from. As I came up behind it I saw a brief flash of Ulrich moving a short distance from its front. The megatank apparently saw him as well because it opened up and began preparing an attack. I immediately shot three arrows into its casing and got a direct hit behind its X.A.N.A. mark. I saw some oddly colored blood drip from its wounds and it quickly closed up. It began to spin around and turn at me, it opened up and Ulrich appeared slicing it down the center. A cut appeared along where Ulrich had sliced and it fell apart leaving the two sides and a mess...
"Well, that was easy..." I said.
"A little too easy." Ulrich replied. "Where are the others?"
"Over here." I heard Jeremie whisper. "Come take a look."
We climbed over a small hill of rubble and took a look at what he was looking at. From a distance we were able to see small explosions and the sound of machinegun fire reached our ears. I suddenly realized what we were looking at; the war between Xanadu's monsters and humanity had begun.
"What should we do?" I asked.
"Duck!" Jeremie yelped as a laser came flying at him.
We all looked up and saw that a swarm of hornets was flying overhead. They had spotted us and were shooting their weapons at us. Lasers began flying everywhere as their aim got better. We quickly scrambled back to the barrier and Ulrich got an idea. "Jeremie get into the barrier and pull in who ever gets shot at. Sissi join him just in case someone gets hit. The rest of us will take the offensive out here."
We readied ourselves and I took aim. Quickly I began shooting a spread of arrows at the hornets. Some of the arrows missed but others hit and where they hit I saw blood begin dripping out. The hornets that I hit began to act different and as they slowed they fell one by one. I began aiming at the parts that I had hit before: head, wings, lower body, and mid-upper body.
As I shot my arrows at the hornets I saw Ulrich slide by them and come from behind. He slashed two in half and the bodies dropped to the ground. Sam was practicing magic as she began lifting the shell of the dead megatank and slapped it onto one of the hornets trapping it inside. We could hear it panic and begin shooting around wildly, but it didn't penetrate the shell... suddenly this gave me an idea. If the shells of the megatanks were hard enough to withstand an enemy assault of lasers, we could use the shells as armor.
"Sam," I yelled. "When you are done with it, keep the shell..."
"Why?" she yelled back, but then it dawned on her as she blocked an attack. "Oh, got it."
There were only a few hornets left including the one still in the shell. Sam opened the shell just enough for Ulrich to get his sword through it. When that one was dead she caught two that were flying next to each other. We heard a squish and when she opened it the two were dead. There was one left and I got it with an arrow just as Ulrich sliced it in half.
"Well that was a bloody mess." He said as he walked back drenched in blood. "How am I going to get clean?"
"I found a water pipe." Jeremie said. "And it just happens to be running through the barrier. If we were able to prop it up we could create a kind of shower or bath... These could help." He said looking at the two halves of the megatank shell. "But we would have to clean it out first."
I looked in and wished I hadn't. The remains of various hornets and the megatank were still in it. I stepped back and felt like I was going to throw up. Sissi walked over and took a look, she turned a light shade of green and turned to Sam. "Well, we could burn through it..." she said.
"True..." Sam agreed.
"Wait, before you do I want to get out the electronic components. Aelita and I might be able to use them..." Jeremie said.
"Feel free." Ulrich nodded. "Tell them when you are done... the sooner we can get rid of the smell the better."
It didn't take Jeremie long. There wasn't much electronic about the megatank, though there wasn't much left at all... when he was done he took Sam and Sissi a little ways out of the barrier and they finished off what was left of its organics. I saw the flames from here and sighed with relief. It would be bad enough to have a part of X.A.N.A. in here with us, but if it still had... well, never mind.
They dragged the remains back in and Jeremie pulled the pipe out of the ground. With help he manipulated it enough so that the water would run into the bowl that half of the megatank shell made. Once that was done he opened the pipe, which had luckily been broken at a valve... but no water came out.
"Oh, wait, I can help." Aelita said. "Remember my ability is manipulation of our surroundings..." she focused on the pipe for a moment and water began coming out.
"Aelita, you're a genius." Jeremie said. "How did you do it?"
"I simply moved the source a little higher than the pipe." She said. "Besides, the source is the river, which is naturally running anyway..."
Ulrich walked over and saw that the water was filling the bowl. He congratulated the two and put his arm in it. He instantly pulled it out and shivered. Sam walked over and created a small fire under the bowl and the water began to heat up. A little wile later we had a working bath, with a curtain up over it... When Ulrich was done we each took our turn in the hot bath, dumping the water out into the edge of the barrier.
"Well, what now captain?" I asked.
"Well, we don't have much left to do but wait... We can't do anything against Xanadu until Yumi wakes up. And I can't think of anything else we need right now..." Ulrich said and began to think. "Unless Einstein here can think of something..."
"What, me?" Jeremie asked. "Well, I could work on a radio system so that we can keep in communication... or I could work on the radio we already have..."
"Well, I'm good with that." Ulrich said. "If anyone else thinks of something I am going to be in the shelter..."
He walked off into the darkness of the shelter and disappeared. We turned to Jeremie for further instructions. It seemed that we would be having a slow day today. I just hoped that it would stay like this and not end up for the worse... but that just might be asking for to much.
A little more chaos awaits the children as most of the others leave with Jeremie to help him bring back 'stuff'. The only three who remain are Sissi, Ulrich and Yumi. Ulrich confides in an unconscious Yumi about his troubles with leading the group as a cautious Sissi listens in. Sissi tries to comfort Ulrich and helps... a little. More is told about the growing military presence in Paris. Sissi finds a surprise, and the song returns in the next chapter "A Little More off the Top; Sewers".