Warning: Rated for language, violence and adult behavior.
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.
This story also uses characters from the graphic novel 'Sin City' by Frank Miller. I do not own, nor do I claim, any copyright to these characters.
This story also uses characters from the movie 'Wasabi', directed by Luc Besson. I do not own, nor do I claim, any copyright to these characters.
References to 'The Goon' in this story do not refer to the character of 'The Goon' by Eric Powell.
"Marv, the reason more people don't like you is because you don't talk to them," Aelita told the hulking man. They were sitting on a bench at the athletic field, watching Sissi, Herve and Nicholas pull weeds.
"The reason most people don't talk to me is because I'm so ugly, Pinkie," Marv replied.
Aelita grimaced at her new nickname, but continued, "but look at the people who have talked to you, me, Milly and Tamiya, Principal Delmas, Mrs. Hertz..."
"Look, I've only talked to Mr. Delmas and Mrs. Hertz in passing, as the job required it," Marv said, "and you kids just don't know any better. And when I say ugly, I don't just mean my mug."
"I guess I don't understand then," Aelita said.
"And that's one of the things I like about you, Aelita," Marv replied, "you really don't understand. Now, how's things coming along with that boyfriend of yours?"
Aelita blushed and the conversation continued.
As Aelita was talking to her new friend, XANA activated a tower in Lyoko. It extended its probes out, looking for something to use to pull Aelita into its grasp. It spotted its target, sitting on a bench and talking to an new individual, one XANA had never seen before. It examined the new specimen as closely as it could, and what it saw was impressive. If the individual were closer to an access point, XANA would have used him as its tool, especially since its target was sitting right next to him. Unfortunately, they both were too far away from an electrical source for XANA to attack.
XANA searched about for another tool to use, one close enough to intercept its target, and close enough to take control of. It quickly found its tool, a familiar one.
Jim Moralés was walking out of his workout room in the basement, when a black cloud emanated from an electrical socket. It enveloped the gym teacher, taking him over. The XANA-fied Jim turned to the athletic field and smiled. There would be no problems securing the target now.
Aelita and Marv were still talking when Jim walked up. Aelita was only able to say, "hi, Jim," when Jim fired an electrical burst from his hand, stunning the girl. The last thing she heard before she passed out was Marv shouting, "what the hell!"
XANA/Jim was bending over to retrieve the unconscious girl, when Marv grabbed Jim's arm. Jim turned and punched Marv in the face, then got the surprise of his/its life when pain shot up the fist he used, shot up both the man's arm and the ghost's form.
Marv just smiled, an ugly smile. "Well now, why didn't you tell me you wanted to play, Jimbo?"
With that, Marv pulled his massive fist back and punched Jim in the face. Jim was launched into the air, and landed eight feet away from where he stood seconds before. He raised his head up, shook it, and marveled at the power of the huge man. The only thing that saved Jim's face from being shattered was XANA's protection.
"I never took you for liking little girls," Marv said as he walked up to the hapless gym teacher, "but even a dunce like me knows that's wrong. And you being a kid's gym teacher and all, shocking!"
Aelita woke up just as Marv picked Jim up from the ground. She heard him say, "now I'm going to see to it you never hurt little girls again."
"Marv, wait!" Aelita called out. Marv turned to her and was clobbered by Jim, who fell from his grasp. Jim then turned and ran into the park by the school.
"Marv, don't hurt him! He's not in control of himself!" Aelita called as she got up and ran over to him.
"Look, Pinkie, sometimes a girl gets confused by things like this," Marv said, trying to be patient, "maybe you think you're responsible, but you're not. He's..."
"No, it's not what you think!" Aelita interrupted, "I can't explain it all now, but we have to catch him and you can't hurt him!"
Aelita then pulled out her cell phone and dialed. "Jeremie, it's me. XANA's attacked. Yes, I'm okay, but it's possessed Jim. And we have to be real careful, Marv saw him try and abduct me, and was going to kill Jim. Yes, get everyone together, I'll stay with Marv."
Aelita ended the call, then looked up to find Marv gone. How such a large man could disappear so fast was something she didn't understand. But she knew generally which way he was going, so she set off into the park.
Aelita walked down one of the pathways in the park, looking for signs of either Jim or Marv. She had to find Marv before he found Jim and did something the gang couldn't fix. There was no way Aelita could put a better face on what happened just now, Marv acted like a dunce, but he had a keener mind than most people realized. But in this case, Marv drew the wrong conclusion, and if they didn't do a Return To The Past, Marv would kill Jim the first chance he got.
Aelita was looking in the wrong direction when Jim jumped her. She screamed, but Jim just grabbed her and started running to the factory, Lyoko and the Scyphozoa.
Marv was four seconds behind Jim in breaking out of the brush and onto the path. He saw Jim carrying the screaming girl over his shoulder. He set off after them.
Marv's departure was witnessed by Yumi and Ulrich. Yumi got out her cell phone and called Jeremie to warn him that Jim, Aelita and Marv were on their way to the factory.
Jim was running across the bridge to the factory, Aelita still struggling in his grasp. He reached the edge of the platform that overlooked the main level and jumped, landing below with ease. He walked over to the elevator and called it up, confident in his victory.
Just as the elevator door opened, Aelita screamed, "Marv, don't!" and Jim was struck in the back by something. Marv had caught up with them and used one of the ropes to swing down. He let go about two thirds of the way through the arc, landing feet first in the middle of Jim's back. The impact threw Aelita from Jim's grasp and into the elevator. The momentum from the impact also drove both Marv and Jim in too.
Aelita quickly pressed the down button, then quickly shrank back into the corner. Jim had managed to get up, and he and Marv were in a desperate fight. Desperate for Jim, that is. The XANA-fied gym teacher tried every thing he could, super powered strikes, electrical bursts, everything, but Marv couldn't be stopped. He would only say, "that the best you got, pansy?" and press his attack even harder.
Aelita had never seen close quarters fighting before, and certainly never anything so vicious. Marv was actually injuring Jim, despite the protection and enhancement XANA's ghost gave him. But it was the look on Marv's face was what surprised Aelita the most. He was enjoying what he was doing, enjoying the pain he inflicted on Jim.
Aelita finally understood what Marv meant by being ugly.
The elevator reached the computer lab level and stopped. Aelita worked her way around the two fighters and entered the access code on the keypad, opening the door. Marv and Jim spilled out and onto the computer lab floor.
"Marv, don't kill him! Just hold him for a moment!" Aelita shouted at the big man as she ran over to the console.
Just as the pink haired girl sat down, she saw the worst thing she ever wanted to see. The ghost that had possessed Jim was now leaving the gym teacher's body. After it was free, it quickly enveloped Marv, entering his body.
"Oh, no!"
Jeremie and Odd met up with Ulrich and Yumi in the sewers just before the factory.
"Anybody hear from Aelita?" Jeremie asked.
"No," was the consensus reply.
The crew quickly mounted the ladder up to the bridge. When they were all up, Jeremie called Aelita on her cell phone. There was no answer. They quickly made their way into the factory, down the ropes and to the elevator. The elevator was already down so they had to wait for it to return.
"Maybe that's a good sign," Odd said, "maybe Aelita's here and safe."
"But what about Marv and Jim," Jeremie said, "Aelita said Marv was going to kill him. If she really meant that, and Marv really did, we won't be able to recover Jim."
"We'll just have to hope Marv didn't do anything," Ulrich said as the elevator arrived.
When the door opened, the group gasped. The inside of the car was battered, with streaks of blood almost everywhere.
"I think we're fresh outta hope," Odd said. They got in and went down.
On the journey down, they tried not thinking about what they would find. They didn't know Marv all that well, he seemed to be Aelita's friend. But from just looking at the man, none of them relished the thought of tangling with him. The streaks on the elevator wall made that prospect even less appealing.
The elevator finally stopped at the computer lab level. Jeremie entered the access code and the door opened to their worst nightmare.
Off to one side, crumpled on the floor, lay the battered and bloody body of Jim Moralés. He was still breathing, but barely. Marv stood a few steps away from Jim, not moving, looking at Aelita. Aelita was sitting at the console, a look of horror on her face. When she saw the door opened, she shouted a warning to her friends.
"Watch Out! Marv has been possessed by XANA!"
