The main characters of this story are based on characters from the cartoon 'Code Lyoko.' I do not own, nor do I claim, any copyright to these characters.
Aelita was horrified by what she saw. Jeremie was suspended in mid air being twisted about by her father. Every now and then he would scream, and Franz's face would light up like a kid's at Christmas. Franz then did something, and Jeremie started folding in upon himself. His arms and legs knotted together like rope. Jeremie screamed again.
"What are you doing to him!" she screamed at him.
"Topology, dear," Franz replied, "I'm not actually doing anything to him at all, topologically speaking. I can bend him, twist him, fold him any way I want and not actually affect him. Of course, his nerve endings don't realize that."
Aelita charged him, all set to strike him, when he pointed at her. She was suddenly encased in a block of ice, the look of anger and determination frozen on her face.
"You need a time out, young lady," he told her.
Franz continued with his torture for some time, but eventually grew tired of the sport. He stopped what he was doing, then slammed Jeremie into the ground. The boy was once again stretched out spread eagle on the ground and pressed down. Franz then waived his hand, and three Hornets appeared. The Hornets proceeded to circle and fire into Jeremie's body. The boy jerked and groaned with each hit.
"Well, I guess that's the downside of having so many life points," Franz called to the boy, "they'll be quite a while bringing your count down enough for things to get really interesting. I think I'll go and examine your procedure while they're having their fun."
An eternity later, Franz Hopper emerged from the tower. He did a quick check of Jeremie's life points, and found he was down to 10,360. He sent a thought out to the Hornets, and they withdrew a short distance.
He walked up to the boy. A body in Lyoko couldn't bleed or bruise, but Jeremie looked like he was doing both. The boy's eyes were sightless in agony, his head rocking about. Every now and then a moan of Aelita would escape his lips. Franz Hopper looked at his work and was pleased.
"I had a chance to look at the logs you supplied," he told the boy, "and it looks good. I think I'll take you up on your offer, then erase you bit by bit after it's done. That just about ought to repay the bill you ran up."
"I find this to be an interesting contrast," came a voice from behind Franz. He quickly turned around and saw Zoe standing there, looking at the scene.
"On one hand, I see the noble Franz Hopper, the abused victim, standing and gloating over the suffering of a child, his rescuer. And I see a child, accused of being evil incarnate, broken, tortured and abused. Tell me, Franz Hopper, how much of a fight did your opponent put up? Was it an epic battle, worthy of great songs and stories? How many died to lay your enemy low at your feet? Where are your wounds? Was he not able to land one blow?"
"And I see you found a perfect spot for your daughter. Now she can be just as you always imagined her to be. You'll never have to worry about her disagreeing with you, arguing with you, or leaving you."
Zoe walked up to, then all around the block Aelita was encased in.
"Hm, this doesn't seem to be the adoring daughter you had, does it? That look certainly doesn't come from a girl in love with her father. It looks more like a lover protecting her love. Tell me, did you punish her alot before you came to Lyoko? I have no experience with children to judge whether or not this is commonplace."
"What right do you have to judge me?" Franz spat, "this 'boy' you refer to locked me away here, then turned my daughter against me! I know I can win her back eventually, but I will not let his treachery go unanswered."
Zoe said, "I do not judge you at all, I merely observe and learn. I am confused, however. I thought that a monster attacked and abused the innocent, those who couldn't or wouldn't protect themselves. What you seem to be showing me is that the monster is the one who cannot protect itself, and the victim is the one that abuses. Am I correct?"
Franz Hopper stopped. He looked around at Aelita and Jeremie. "You're wrong," he said, "he has attacked me."
"When? Certainly not recently. I have been observing the whole time Jeremie has been here, and he did not raise a hand against you. He did not even defend himself when you attacked him. He could have, futile as it would have been, but he didn't. So, when did he attach you?"
"When he ripped my mind from my body!" Franz shouted, "he opened me up like a can of tuna, drained my memories out and put them away for his amusement! He has tortured me for years, ever since I came here! He stole my daughter away from me and abused her, making her think she was a mere program! He has done this all along, using one face or another, and now I've got him!"
"That is not XANA lying there, Franz Hopper," Zoe said, "if there is any creature on Lyoko close to being XANA, it is the one I am addressing."
Franz Hopper stared at Zoe in disbelief.
"I was originally instantiated as a Scyphozoa," she went on, "you know that. What you may not know is I was the one who drained Aelita's memories from her in Carthage Sector. XANA instantiated me, personally, each and every time it hunted your daughter, and I did its bidding. I say this to establish myself as a credible expert on the subject of XANA. Jeremie Belpois, the boy you have tortured and abused, is not XANA, or an incarnation or tool of XANA. You are the only thing on Lyoko that acts as XANA did. Tell me, Franz Hopper, did XANA truly escape from Lyoko, or are you some elaborate hoax concocted by XANA to ultimately free it?"
"Of course I'm not XANA! You were the one that put me in this body, a fact I haven't forgotten. You know who I am!"
"All I know about you is what I was told, that your memory was stored in a certain location. I took what was there, whatever was there, and transferred it into that container. For all I know, you are some kind of tool of XANA's and Franz Hopper has been dead all these years. Prove to me that you are who you say you are."
"I created Lyoko! I built the computer! I have extensive knowledge of the workings of both! That should be proof enough!"
"And you also said that XANA regularly probed Franz Hopper's memories, searching for what it needed or wanted. Nothing you can say will prove your identity. Only action will do that. And your actions prove to me that you are XANA."
"I AM NOT XANA!" Franz Hopper screamed.
"You protest too loudly, XANA. I have already said words will not prove who you are. And it is not I you must convince. It will be your daughter, her friends, your brother, and the whole world you must convince. Kill that child and no one will ever believe you or trust you. You might inhabit Jeremie Belpois' body in their world, but no one will accept you as him. You may well be persecuted there, locked away and treated until you are 'cured,' who's to say? Prove that you are Franz Hopper. What would he have done? Would he abuse a child? Would he torment his daughter, slowly take her life away? Would he take pleasure in petty revenge?"
Franz looked at Aelita, still trapped in that block. To his eyes, she looked fine, but when he brought up other sensors, he found that she was almost out of life points, there were only five left. He quickly removed the block, and she fell to the ground, gasping.
"I didn't know!" he exclaimed to Zoe.
"Didn't know, or didn't care," came the response.
Aelita had rolled over, looking up to him from the ground. "Please, Papa, if you love me, don't hurt him any more! I'll do anything! I'll stay with you, be your little girl forever! I beg you, stop what you are doing!"
"Would Aelita beg for XANA's life?" Zoe asked, "would she try to save the one being that has been trying to destroy her for so long, the one other person in existence that has suffered at XANA's hands as much as you have?
Aelita was crying uncontrollably now, crawling to him, literally groveling at his feet, saying over and over, "please don't hurt him!"
Franz Hopper looked down at his daughter, his most precious possession, broken. Ruined at his hands. He saw her groveling, her abject begging for the boy's life, and realized that he had done this to her. He had given her gifts he had never intended to, never wanted to give her. Suffering. Hatred. And worse of all, Fear, fear of him. He saw the suffering in her eyes, brought about by his blind hatred, as well as the fear, the fear of what he might do next, fear of what he had become. Her pain, her tears finally broke the madness that had engulfed him.
"I am a monster."
It was early Sunday morning. Desmond Hopper was still sitting at the console, waiting for any sign that Jeremie's plan had succeeded. He had fallen asleep sitting up.
Yumi's mother left late Saturday evening, after bringing the group dinner. She still had a family at home that needed her, and she was just a fifth wheel here.
The rest of the gang had fallen asleep in each other's arms. Their dreams weren't filled with happy playtime, or even more adult passion, but with fitful unrest and concern for their friends.
Finally, a window opened up on the console, and the image of Zoe resolved in it.
"Desmond Hopper," Zoe called out.
Desmond startled awake, reoriented himself to his surroundings, then noticed Zoe on the console.
"Where's Jeremie?" he asked the image, "what about Aelita and Franz?"
"The situation is still in flux," Zoe replied, "for now, Franz has reestablished access to your world from Lyoko, that is how I am able to communicate with you. As things stand now, Jeremie has been severely injured, and Aelita has lost almost all of her life points. Franz Hopper has let them enter his tower to regenerate. Beyond that, the situation is not yet resolved."
By this time, the others had awakened and heard Zoe's report.
"Is there anything we can do to help?" Desmond asked.
"I asked that very question to Jeremie once we had him inside the tower. He used a word I am unfamiliar with. He said, 'pray.'"