Ah, Christmas time is upon us. Y'know, I'll be perfectly honest...I really don't care for the holidays. True fact. Most people want to go out and see the world or whatever, me, I just see it as the greatest opportunity to do absolutely nothing. Honestly, the holiday I truly support is Thanksgiving. It worships being a glutton!
Which would've made that date a far better one to get this chapter out...
Then again, six months may be a large gap, but oooooh boy is it better than three entire years! Yes, yes, your eyes do not deceive you, the last update was not some anomalous event worthy of being in the SCP Foundation or Analog Horror series, we're back on...relative course!
Unfortunately, as you can see from the title and decimal, this chapter was complex enough that the length was going to be too nightmarish even for me! Was getting harder and harder to keep track and details and ensure continuity (So, quick game at my expense, re-read the fic and ask about any inconsistencies you notice! Should be loads of fun!), and thus, it had to be split...TWICE! The second part, which will hopefully come out BEFORE New Years, will mark the end of File 6.3, before we finish up this multi-part mini-arc with File 6.4 and finally end up in File 7 territory! (Yes, File 7 WILL be a thing, and I can finally break the curse of my sixth chapter/File being the one that slows down to a crawl in my stories).
So, get comfy, and for a brief moment before you settle in front of a Christmas Tree, indulge yourselves on a bit of action, nightmares, and violence, courtesy of moi!
And if you don't like the version, I'll be leaving the AO3 Link right here for anyone who prefers that: /works/25046056/chapters/89517868
...Really need to better organize my works on here. Disgraceful to be so sloppy...
Anyways, Code Lyoko isn't owned by me, there are people who could make better copyright jokes, refer to the first chapter for the specific owners, yada-yada-yada, let's GO!
Garage Kids
File 6.31 - The Evolving Evil I
"AHHHHH!" Odd and Sebastian screamed in unison as the massive dark serpent breathed a blast of black smoke at them, only to find themselves, along with Jeremie, flying through the air alongside Yumi, whose forehead was beginning to sweat, as the girl used her telekinesis to pull them all away from the attack.
Ulrich, of course, had already run out of the danger zone and was now keeping behind Yumi, in order to make sure she was still stable after using her powers to such an extent after already keeping the terrible thing at bay.
But there was no time to rest. For now, the group had to retreat as the giant serpent and its army of living statues began marching near them.
"RUN!" Jeremie ordered.
It wasn't an order they exactly needed...but having the word 'Run' reinforced did wonders to their motivation as they ran out of the labyrinth, into the rest of the Cult Zone.
The desperate journey became somewhat long as they had escaped, refusing to look back. They hadn't exactly been looking where they were going either, and after what they would later learn was around fifteen minutes of running, eventually found themselves sitting inside an abandoned restaurant, where the kitchen seemed to have been replaced with, of all things, a power substation.
"Okay, now that we're all sitting down…" Odd heaved. "Just what the hell was that?!"
"Obviously, a Xanadu attack." Yumi replied with a scowl, pulling out a bottle of water and immediately downing the contents.
"Oh gee, really? I thought it was just an invasion of evil snake people from the underworld!" Sebastian spat derisively, glaring at Jeremie. "Speaking of which, Belpois, I thought you wrote up some detection program to keep track of those things so they WOULDN'T be able to make another giant monster! The teddy bear was bad enough, but this giant basilisk takes the cake! If it breathes that smoke-stuff on us, we get turned into statues, and oh right, the statues are STILL ALIVE and can move like zombies!"
Now it was Odd's turn to glare at Jeremie. "Wait, yeah, he's right! What about that tracking program?! Didn't I see you finish that thing up earlier this week, Einstein?! Why didn't it tell us that Kaa was gonna pay us a visit?"
With those words now said, everyone was glaring at Jeremie, who by this point had huddled himself in a corner, having pulled out his laptop, frantically typing away at it, trying to figure out what had happened. He seemed to have blocked out everyone's screams and complaints, but that might have been because he was completely out of breath, lacking the physical coordination of the virtual fighters and even their guide, and so did not have the energy to spare a response. The fact that he had made it this far was a miracle in itself...but of course didn't change the situation.
After a few minutes, Sebastian and Ulrich seemed just about ready to march up to Jeremie to get him to talk, when the computer genius let out an enormous gasp of air, leaning against the wall, his face showing incredible exhaustion matching his fellows, his eyes showing a level of exhaustion that no-one had seen in the boy for quite some time, if ever.
"This is not good." He groaned.
The fact that Jeremie of all people was saying that, and in a way that had none of his curiosity or intrigue...that alone was enough to raise alarm bells in everyone's heads.
"...Is it that bad?" Ulrich ventured.
"Extremely." Jeremie sighed, taking off his glasses and wiping his brow on his sleeves. "The Specters...they managed to delete my detection program...the Superscan is completely disabled."
Odd blinked. "Um, wait, didn't you say they did that before?"
"Yes, yes they did, but that seemed to be by accident." Jeremie answered. "I was really hoping that that update would have solved everything...but it looks like our worst fears are coming true after all…"
Everyone looked at each other, remembering the different times when Jeremie had given a certain warning. For Ulrich and Yumi, it had been when Odd's arrival seemed imminent at first, and later when it came time to train their new ally in fighting Specters. For Sebastian, it had been when Jeremie had given him a briefing on the Xanadu situation and the importance of the mission they were to go on. Finally, for Odd, it had been a vague mention, something about the Specters having time to get stronger or something.
But while the warning was still registering in their heads, Jeremie's next words cemented what they should have known deep down.
"The Specters are starting to evolve…" The bespectacled boy said at last, his voice filled with dread. "This disabling of the Super-scan...I think they managed to do it deliberately. Last time the scan and my personal firewalls were bugged up thanks to their impacts on the Towers destabilizing overall program integrity...but right now, all of my personal systems are up...all except the Superscan."
"H-how can you tell?" Odd croaked, not sure if he would like the answer, whether because the enemy was becoming more powerful, or because a long answer from Jeremie might threaten to put the transfer student to sleep, and thus become vulnerable to getting turned into a statue zombie.
Jeremie put his glasses back on, and coughed. "In my research on how the Specters work, I've been able to figure out a difference between how the system works when they're properly settled into a Tower vs. how when they just collide into it. That's how I was able to create the Superscan in the first place. A simple collision damages program stability all around. Every program gets damaged and glitched because of it. The former though? It was as obvious as when someone deletes an icon or application from your desktop. Deliberate sabotage. The program was removed from within Xanadu."
"So...basically...last time this happened, the enemy was too stupid to realize they damaged your security system...but now they've figured out how to do a deliberate precision strike?" Sebastian weakly croaked.
Jeremie's only response was a curt nod.
"Welp, that's it, it's over, they're getting smarter, they're getting stronger, all hope is lost, we're dead, get ready to auction me off to some rich snob after we're all turned into statues!" Sebastian moaned, throwing his arms up into the air and curling down on the floor in defeat.
To be perfectly honest, Odd was rather tempted to join him, but then Yumi spoke up.
"Okay, before we go into 'Give-up Mode', which, by the way, I don't plan on, let's try to get organized and figure out what to do next, okay? Jeremie, did you at least manage to get the data from those stupid cults?"
"Ah, yes, actually!" Jeremie beamed, pulling up a CD-ROM. "Before the attack hit, I decrypted the initial protections on that 'Compass' Zip File, downloaded everything it had to offer in here, and then replaced it with encrypted filler data that won't give those cultists anything worth in value! Disregarding the attack in progress, our mission here is complete!"
"So at least that wasn't a waste of time." Yumi snorted. "All that's left is to make a plan about what to do with the attack…"
"What plan?" Ulrich asked. "Let's just go to the Factory and kill all of the Specters. The giant snake monster goes away, and either the weirdos go back to normal or they all disappear with it. Problem solved."
"Hopefully the latter." Yumi muttered to herself, before she shook her head. "That's all well and good, Ulrich, but you're kinda forgetting what kind of damage this thing might be able to do by the time we're done fighting in Xanadu." She then looked at the sulking Sebastian. "Back when 'Teddy' was a thing, what exactly do you recall him doing?"
At first, the Street Kid was silent, only for Yumi to cough, causing him to turn his head to face her. "...Oh, you're talking to me…" Sebastian realized when he noticed that no-one else had responded to Yumi's question, slowly sitting back up before recounting the first traumatic assault. "He used these metal wires to turn the school forest into a claustrophobic hunting ground and tried to kill us. Also maybe had some other weird power or something to make sure the adults couldn't hear us screaming our lungs out while he was trying to kill us." He then shuddered as he remembered the next part. "Oh, plus he brainwashed Solovieff and tried to get her to brainwash Diop with some kind of creepy hug. Trust me, Diop told me all about that part…" Sebastian stared at Yumi with an exhausted expression. "How's that relevant right now?"
Now it was Odd's turn to chip in as he remembered the adrenaline-filled escape from the underground lair. "Uh, didn't you ask if that thing already turned everyone in town to stone?"
The Street Kid glanced at Odd. "Yeah, and you said you didn't have any vision of it. What, do you have one to share with us now?"
"Well, before Larry King chips in with his latest question, no," Odd replied, fiercely shaking his head, "but uh...I mean, it turned everyone down there into a statue and it just tried to do the same to us, sooooo…"
"It might try doing the same to people who don't deserve it." Yumi finished. "We can't just go to the Factory. If we do, that thing might get out of the Cult Zone and try turning as many other people into statue zombies as it can. If it was made by the Specters, it probably knows where the Factory is too, and we all know just how many victims it would probably get on its way there."
"Thus we either lose outright, or have a mess on our hands we might not be able to clean up thanks to the collateral damage." Jeremie sighed. "If it's the latter scenario, I doubt we'll find a way to explain any future attack from here on out...let alone this one."
"Maybe there's something in that Compass thing that'll help us?" Ulrich asked half-heartedly.
Odd's throat tightened as everything around him was covered in static, with not a single change before him...until he managed to regain his bearings and stand back up. Looking at everyone, they were too focused on Jeremie to have noticed him, so whatever had happened, it hadn't lasted that long in real-time. Even so, he still registered everything that had been said. The Warriors needed an actual plan, or they might still have to deal with the cultists even after dealing with their new, temporary masters.
So, stepping forward to the window, he looked outside.
He saw no sign of the smoke, the snake that had formed from it, or any moving statue zombies, only seeing instead more of the haphazard, chaotic construction of the cult zone. While the streets were clear in this particular part of town, that was only for a certain way, as looking to the left only saw the street end in a dead end leading to a large brick wall that seemed more akin to a dam. The buildings on the other side of the street were all abandoned, at least, those that were finished, as a slew of house frames in a large, sandy complex dominated the side of the street closer to the restaurant, going to a corner before stopping. As Odd looked closer, the end of that construction zone was rather empty, making for a rather large field to go through…
Meanwhile, Yumi was brainstorming a means to escape. "Alright, first things first, Jeremie, can you pinpoint where we are?" she asked.
The computer operator was already looking down at his laptop, "Already on it."
"Ulrich, Sebastian, keep an eye out for the enemy." The telekinetic instructed.
Ulrich simply nodded, while Sebastian got up, saluted, and both boys went to opposite sides of the building, searching for the enemy.
Then Yumi looked at Odd, who was still looking at the open area. "Have you found anything?" she asked.
"Think maybe an escape route…" Odd muttered as he kept looking at that particular spot…
They had been on watch for...Odd checked the time on his phone, eight minutes. But as he peered into the distance, the boy noticed that the streets seemed dirtier...and that the wind seemed to be picking up. He thought nothing of it at first, but then the dirt seemed to become thicker. Then he heard the heavy sounds of footsteps. He looked back. Ulrich had taken a spot to Odd's right, while Sebastian had been behind, looking at a gap in-between the power station. Yumi had been conversing with Jeremie...whose back was turned to the left wall, which suddenly crumbled as stone hands began to invade the building.
And before Odd Della Robbia could scream, so did the enormous serpent from before rise up, its smoky black tongue flicking briefly before it breathed a blast of smoke through the open windows, causing Odd to gasp as the rock covering began to creep up his skin.
"AHHHH! HELP!" He cried. But Yumi was too busy fighting off the zombies. Sebastian had already been overwhelmed as more smoke came into the building. Ulrich was rushing to join in to try to protect Jeremie.
There wasn't anything they could do for Odd in this situation, and soon, more and more of his body turned to stone. The boy tried to scream again, but his face was already being petrified.
First he lost his hearing. Then he lost his voice. Then he lost his sight. Smell was next, and touch followed. As for intuition, Odd tried to think of something, anything…
But all he could sense was the command of many voices, united in a single, calm, matter-of-fact phrase, as if urging Odd to join them as he tried to shut out their voices, yet found himself failing, hearing that terrible phrase on constant loop, refusing to end no matter much he screamed silently for it to stop...
'All for the Will of the World'
Odd jolted, feeling like he had been woken up from a dream. Immediately he turned around and looked at the time. One minute had passed since he last checked his phone. Okay, that was far better than the other option...even though the time was still low.
"Okay, I don't want to rush anyone, but uh, I just had a vision," he announced. "In like...uh...seven minutes from now, those things are gonna find us."
Yumi's eyes widened. "No time to lose then. Jeremie, I don't need the precise location, but how long is it to the Factory?"
Jeremie pushed his glasses into place and reviewed the program maps. Annoyingly, their phones' GPS functions did not work in the Cult Zone, which probably contributed to why it was so difficult to find anything in the area and why it had been allowed to grow and fester in the city in the first place. It was a conundrum he would've liked to look into more, but he had to prioritize. He would solve that problem later, anyways.
"If we go at a fast pace, it'll take us about an hour to get there on foot." He confirmed.
"What about me? I could get there faster than that." Ulrich commented.
"But I can't." Jeremie huffed. "And since none of you know how to operate the supercomputer, anyone getting there before me, well..."
"Yeah, yeah we get it Einstein…" Odd grumbled.
"Then there's no choice, we'll just have to work with that time." Yumi said grimly.
"Uh, and what about the collateral?" Sebastian asked. "If we ain't careful, Medusa's long-lost brother's gonna turn everyone in town into stone, and unless there's a hidden redo button in that Factory of yours, the news media's gonna make hay with it!"
Yumi sighed. She really didn't want to have to do this...but…on the other hand...perhaps there was a silver lining in the situation...
"Someone has to stay behind." she declared. "Someone needs to be able to distract them. I'll do it. Ulrich, Odd, Jeremie, you go to the Factory. Sebastian, run home, this is our fight now."
The jaws of all of the guys in the room dropped. It was no exaggeration either, all of them dropped, even Jeremie's, and gazing at the stunned group got to a point where it made the girl feel uncomfortable.
"What?"
Ulrich was the first to resettle himself...even though his next words hardly seemed like the words of a boy who was comforted. "No, no way, I'm not leaving you here. Out of the question."
"I mean...her power is best suited to blocking off the attack…" Jeremie ventured, yet despite the fact that logical justification was usually his element, even the computer genius found his voice weak and wavering. "But...uh…"
"Yeah, leave everything to the guys while the girls die in some 'heroic sacrifice'." Sebastian deadpanned. "Great idea Ishiyama, I'll send your story up to some video game developer so he can make it the plot of his next RPG! Maybe I'll get lucky and get some compensation for it!"
"Why would you want to stay here?!" Odd gaped. "I just saw that thing kill all of us together like that!" He accentuated the point by snapping his fingers, indicating how final that kind of defeat was. "If we leave you here, you'll get...ugh...I don't even want to think about it!"
Odd was glad for that detail remaining a private thought of his, because the idea of leaving Yumi alone in this area in the vicinity of William's uncle or any of the cultists, after that disgusting extended vision from yesterday, was something he did not wish to entertain. Not just because Ulrich would kill him for having a perverted vision of the girl that the martial artist was crushing on, but because it was just nauseating to Odd overall. He had already had one day full of degenerate horrors and wasn't keen on a consecutive one.
"I have to stay here. I have to fend them off." Yumi said curtly. "There's no other choice, and we don't have time to argue. I'll take care of them."
"Yeah, we don't have time to talk about this." Ulrich said, voice far too calm for the situation at hand. "That's why I'm staying here with you."
"Odd won't be able to handle what's going on in Xanadu by himself." Yumi warned.
"Then let Jeremie virtualize Sebastian and have both of them handle it."
If Sebastian had been drinking anything, he would have spat it out right there. "What part of 'I don't trust the mad scientist's eldritch invention' didn't register to you guys yesterday?!"
"I don't care!" Ulrich snapped, his eyes focused on the Japanese girl. "Yumi, I'm not going to let you stay here and kill yourself!"
"And I don't want you dying thinking I'm worth protecting!" Yumi shot back. "Go on! You at least have people who don't view you as trash or some exotic lust object!"
Ulrich stepped back, as if Yumi had used her telekinesis to push him away. The other three boys merely looked away, not sure what to say about Yumi's declaration, and not knowing what was going through Ulrich's head. What could they say? What could, or what would Ulrich say in response?
"...In that case, you go ahead and I'll stay here."
That was his response.
"Ulrich, you can't!" Yumi argued.
"You can push that stuff out, but I can run from it." he said. "I can make the monster go after me while the rest of you escape." His eyes then turned to Odd, who gulped. "Unless whatever Odd saw makes it pointless."
If they weren't in a hurry, Odd would have been resistant to sharing the details of a vision near Jeremie, but he blurted it out anyway. "I mean, it basically snuck up on us in like...three minutes from now...so I don't really think it would've mattered."
"Then let's move out of here, shall we?" Jeremie asked. "We can plan as we move."
"The split-up option's still gonna be a thing though…" Sebastian groaned. His heart was pounding, but after seeing someone so willing to let themselves die for a number of factors he didn't want to think about...there was really only one assured way they would all survive this. "Okay, Stern, you're not gonna be able to hold that stuff off on your own...so when we split, I'm staying with you."
Odd was halfway out the door when he heard that. "Uh, pardon?"
"You heard me." Sebastian sighed, morose acceptance evident in his voice. "I'm not planning on dying anytime soon...but let's be honest, even if I did go into that virtual hellscape, there ain't no guarantee I'd come out as anything useful. And if Belpois says these things are evolving, then you just threw a Level 1 character into a field full of Level 20 or so monsters. I'd probably die on my first playthrough. You'd be better having a veteran helping you out, Della Robbia, and your options there are either Stern or Ishiyama."
Ulrich looked at Sebastian. Normally, he would consider the idea of working 'solo' with the Street Kid to be mildly/highly unpleasant, especially after yesterday's events...but if it would keep Yumi out of trouble, the martial artist was endlessly thankful for the Street Kid's suggestion.
"Sebastian, you don't have any powers, you'll get killed out there." Yumi said flatly.
"Technically, this stuff just makes you a zombie...and while I ain't keen on that, it doesn't mean I'm going to die. I can be a decoy with Stern. I've got plenty of street smarts, and I'm not the heaviest guy around. Pretty certain I'm only heavier than Della Robbia because of my height. Besides, I survived that freaky teddy bear. I can survive a giant rock snake." He then proceeded to showcase his backpack. "Besides, this time I've got tools."
"You really think you can make it?" Yumi asked.
"Hell no!" Sebastian cried, tears pouring out of his eyes like a fountain. "I'm half-convinced this is the mission in one of those stories where a member of the team suddenly dies and this is the start of the chain of events leading to disaster, death, and despair!" Then he coughed, blinked, and composed himself, sliding over to walk next to Ulrich. "But...we don't have a choice do we? Go on, Ishiyama. You and Della Robbia kill those things. We can hold out for an hour."
Sebastian's little breakdown wasn't convincing for Yumi, but both Jeremie and Odd gripped her wrists, dragging her away before she could protest any further.
"Then there's no more time to talk. Good luck to you two." Jeremie said.
"I saw an escape route over here, come on!" Odd urged.
Before Yumi could get another word in edgewise, Sebastian was hoisted atop Ulrich's shoulders, not even making the martial artist flinch from any weight, and the samurai sped off with the Street Kid in tow.
"Come on! We got like a minute before that stuff comes back and I'm not in the mood for another vision!"
"He's right, Yumi, we have to get out of here." Jeremie warned.
Yumi fought back tears. Why was Ulrich trying to sacrifice himself for her like this? He at least wasn't being attacked or oppressed every moment he lived in this horrible country. He had so much more to live for right now than her. But...it wasn't like she had been planning on dying. Under the thrall of Xanadu, those cultists were no longer human, even if they hadn't been acting like it. Perhaps they would've survived her attacks, but at least she would be able to dispense justice… or at least feel like she was dispensing justice. Yet now, that seemed unlikely...and the one person she'd found truly...interesting, that was the word, yes...seemed likely to kill himself when there was something of far greater importance to do.
"Yumi," Jeremie tried to urge, "the faster we get to the Factory, the sooner any danger to Ulrich will go away."
"He can handle himself fine!" Odd yelled. "Sebastian, IDK. Still, though, c'mon!"
"You'd better come back alive, Ulrich…" Yumi said to herself as she followed Jeremie and Odd.
They had gone on for several hundred meters, Ulrich keeping his eyes focused on the nooks and crannies of the twisted area of town, searching for activity. When finding none, he came to an area akin to a cul-de-sac but instead of houses or apartments adorning the streets, all of the buildings were a collection of public restrooms and small storage spaces arranged in a hexagon, and let Sebastian off his back. The sight of Ulrich carrying the Street Kid in the first place would've been comical back at school, but in this situation, neither of the two boys were particularly interested in societal judgement.
Plus, it wasn't like they considered the culture of this particular part of town anything worth heeding.
Ulrich turned to look at Sebastian, who seemed to be analyzing their surroundings. "Hey, uh, I just want to say-"
"Why did I do that?" Sebastian groaned, crashing on his hands and knees. "I've just signed my death and/or assimilation-into-a-Lovecraftian-hive-mind warrant!"
"You know what...never mind." Ulrich facepalmed. "Maybe I should've brought Odd with me instead and had Yumi give you a crash course in Xanadu…"
Sebastian looked up at the martial artist wearily. "I don't know if you're joking or not, but I'd hardly say the concept even fits you to begin with, Stern."
"And just when I think about saying 'thanks' for helping Yumi, you lie on the ground and start whining like a baby."
Sebastian looked at the ground. "Look dude, I have no idea why I volunteered myself. I'm pretty much a peripheral normie! I shouldn't be getting involved in this to begin with!"
"We didn't think Odd should get involved, and now he is." Ulrich countered, folding his arms. "Can't really see the problem here, especially since both of you act like brats. He whined about needing to get his powers under control, and now you're whining about helping us."
"...The fact that you're comparing me to Della Robbia deeply disturbs and insults me." The Street Kid groaned, getting up. "But I said before, and I'll say it again, if this ends up killing me, I'm not gonna be surprised."
"Okay, I don't wanna waste time arguing with you about this, so just spit out why you think you're gonna die." The samurai sighed, looking around for signs of smoke and/or zombies. "We're gonna have our work cut out for us, so make it fast."
The Street Kid shivered. "Just trying to psych myself up...but I've seen all kinds of shows and read all kinds of books and comics where a character suddenly dies at the start or middle of the story out of nowhere. Hell, that damn teddy bear nearly gored out all of my guts last time, so if the giant snake eats me or the zombies smash me to a pulp...well...I'm trying (and failing) to keep myself ready for it...oi vey."
"...Dude, you think going into Xanadu's any easier?" Ulrich snapped, not bothering to question Sebastian's morbid tastes in entertainment. "We have to fight the source of these attacks, and we risk our lives every time. If it wasn't for the fact that the stupid supercomputer being shut off would destroy the universe or whatever, we'd have shut the place down the day we found it."
Sebastian opened his mouth, as if to retort...but considering everything that had been discussed, as well as his own thoughts on the matter...he really couldn't fault Ulrich's reasoning. Of course, the idea that they were stuck between a rock and a hard place was hardly of any comfort to the Street Kid as consolation...but, well, he HAD volunteered to help out, and he'd honestly vented out the core of his anxieties already. Panicking about unseen events wouldn't solve anything, he had to calm himself down somehow...leading to another subject might help...especially considering the reason WHY he'd volunteered to help Ulrich despite having no powers, nor interest in gaining powers even in a situation such as this.
"Okay...fair point." the Street Kid breathed. "So...yeah...the reason I came along…"
"Finally." Ulrich grunted. "Seriously, thanks for doing this, Sebastian. I appreciate it."
Sebastian sighed, Yumi's frightening behavior prior in the day quite obviously very fresh in his own mind. "Yeah, I know why you volunteered...you're worried about Ishiyama, right?"
Ulrich didn't say anything, but he gave a curt nod. He didn't need to say anything for this, so Sebastian continued to speak.
"I mean, besides the fact that I don't enjoy getting hit with the Force and you clearly do…"
"Watch it…" Ulrich growled.
Sebastian coughed, then continued. "But...yeah, despite what I said, Ishiyama wasn't REALLY going to come down here to sacrifice herself like in some bad video game story, wasn't she? You, me, Della Robbia, even Belpois knew what she was REALLY going to do."
Ulrich couldn't help but shiver. "Yeah...she wasn't going to sacrifice herself to let us get away...she was going to kill them all."
"Granted, the world would be better off without them." Sebastian remarked, before folding his arms behind his head in crossed thoughts. "But...there's that feeling, y'know? Like if Ishiyama went through with it, something about her was going to change, and considering our luck, probably for the worst."
Ulrich sighed. The Street Kid had hit the nail on the head. Ulrich had no doubt in his mind that Yumi, with her powerful telekinesis, could easily deal with the stone zombies and the massive serpent that had created them. As Jeremie himself had said, her power was the best suited to dealing with them. Anticipation might net a person good future sight, but while Odd so far had shown decent capability in averting the terrible visions he'd seen so far, Ulrich wondered if this might finally cause the Italian transfer student to meet his match. The samurai's own power was honestly best suited to draw away the monsters, not directly fight them, and Ulrich knew that his regular up-and-personal fighting style would turn him into a living statue for sure. Only Yumi had enough firepower on her own to drive the monsters back.
However, the people possessed and influenced by Xanadu this time weren't like Milly, a young, vulnerable girl who only wanted to hold on to something precious from her family memories (something that Ulrich envied, if he was to be honest with himself). They were insane, evil technology-using cultists who had taken advantage of the world after the mysterious Billancourt Panic, seeming to work with the ever-so-suspicious Professor in strange and disgusting schemes for domination, profit, and in the case of one, 'pleasure'. Suffice to say, Ulrich found their current predicament grimly cathartic.
But like Sebastian said, while Ulrich certainly wouldn't shed a tear for them if they died, the idea that Yumi would directly cause those deaths, and have no concern for herself...something about it rubbed Ulrich the wrong way. If Yumi survived, that would be wonderful...but Ulrich knew deep down that something inside of her would just snap, and she would become something else entirely.
He couldn't let that happen. He wouldn't let that happen.
And that was why he and a kid with some street smarts and film knowledge were going to fight in her stead, to protect their friend from herself.
Any further thoughts Ulrich might have had on the matter, however, were halted when he heard the heavy sound of footsteps approaching. Footsteps that were far heavier than the average human being or Jim.
"They're coming." Sebastian gulped.
Ulrich smiled grimly. "That means our plan worked. Get ready."
"I cannot wait to get out of here." Odd said with a small sigh of relief as he, Jeremie, and Yumi returned to the familiar route that had led them deeper into the Cult Zone after zigzagging through more of the unfamiliar terrain in uncomfortable silence. "Have I mentioned how much I hate this place?"
"Not directly, but I don't need you to tell me that." Jeremie groaned, trying to keep up with his much faster and limber companions.
"Well, I'll say it properly, and say this too; good-bye Cult Zone!" Odd cheered. "I hope we don't have to come back here like, ever!"
Yet despite their banter, Yumi was still sullen and silent. The girl had ultimately taken the lead of the trio, with Odd in the middle, and Jeremie trailing behind both of them. Just in case, all three had kept their eyes peeled for any signs of danger. Smoke sneaking on the ground, serpentine shapes hanging in the shadows, people wandering around that were covered in a stone layer.
But aside from some drug addicts who they immediately steered away from, no such signs had been seen. For now, they had to assume that the decoy plan of Ulrich and Sebastian had worked.
Of course, this was hardly comforting to Yumi, whose long strides were ensuring that both Odd and Jeremie, more so the latter than the former, were getting further and further behind.
The computer genius pulled out his phone, checking the map of the town he had saved there. True, the GPS function was not working, but if the routes were adding up from his observation, he was confident that he knew where they were. "We'll be out of the Cult Zone soon."
"WHOOO!" Odd cheered.
Indeed, as the spiky-haired boy looked around, the buildings and streets seemed to shift back to a given definition of normal. The construction of the buildings became more orderly and the roads straightened out. Originally, he and the others had not seen much of a difference between the 'border' of the Cult Zone and the rest of town, but after spending a few hours in the place, Odd felt a twisting sensation in his chest straighten out and disappear, as if he was out of a world that, for all intents and purposes, felt wrong. Everything around him seemed to be making sense...or at least as much as they did in a place like Boulogne Billancourt.
"Okay, we're out." Jeremie declared, before stopping to take a breath, his lack of athleticism and fitness showing. "L-let's take a breath. I, whoo...I know there's a route that'll get us to the Factory quicker from here that I saved. Give...just give me a moment to find it."
"'Least I can breathe a bit easier." Odd sighed, happy to catch his breath himself as he recognized the 'Point of No Return' that so far, three of their group had returned from.
Yumi however, was much further along, and turned to glare darkly at the two boys. "Hurry up already! I'm not leaving Ulrich behind there!"
"J-just give me a few more minutes, please." Jeremie gasped.
"We don't have a few minutes!" Yumi hissed. "Ulrich's trapped in that nightmare zone with only a stupid overly-cynical film nerd as his backup! If we don't hurry up, those things are going to turn him into a statue, and then they'll spread to the rest of the city!"
"If we didn't have a few minutes, we wouldn't have even gotten this far." Jeremie breathed, finally feeling his heartbeat settle down. "But...well, you've got a point that we do need to speed things up. Now, this probably is going to sound like a wrong time to ask something-"
"Oh, NOW you finally figure out the right and wrong times to ask people about stuff." Odd sniped.
Jeremie ignored the future-seeing Chesire cat and continued. "But, if you guys have any money left, we might need it for bus fare."
Odd blinked, then groaned. "Yeah...uh...sorry, I don't have anything with me right now…What about you?"
Jeremie coughed, blushing in embarrassment. "Well, uh…"
"You didn't bother to bring a reserve fund in case we needed faster transportation." Yumi said emotionlessly. "How we ever decided to put our lives in your hands I'll never know."
Odd would've loved to chime in with a 'Burn' comment, but the looming threat of rock zombies and giant rock snakes stopped him…
As well as the fact that Yumi pulled out a decent amount of euros out of her pocket. "Didn't see anything worth buying at the shopping district, so I suppose this will work."
"Wooo!" Odd cheered. "Maybe it was good we brought you, uh...here…"
Yumi's hair was waving fiercely in tandem with her telekinetic aura, silently telling Odd to shut up with his comments before he said something wrong and made her decide to hurt him.
"Good or not, this is just what we needed. Follow me, we'll find a bus stop not too far from where we are." Jeremie ordered, turning to his left.
A spark of curiosity flamed up in Odd's mind, and before he could stop himself, he was already asking a question. "Actually, that's a good question, where are we exactly again? Sebastian wasn't really keen on explaining anything on our way here since, y'know…" He pointed to the street leading to the Cult Zone. "And how far away from home are we, exactly?"
"Not a bad question, actually." Jeremie replied, causing Odd to recognize that he'd triggered the computer genius' tendency to explain things again.
"Uh, actually-" the Italian boy tried, but it was too late.
"Currently, we're due South from the Factory, about two miles away, in Meudon. According to my studies of the districts with Sebastian yesterday, we're out of the Cult Zone, and in one of the three Neutral Areas of Paris."
"...I'm gonna guess that a 'Neutral Area' means that's a safe zone with nothing spectacular about it?" Odd asked in a begging tone, praying that he wouldn't get swamped with information.
"Essentially." Jeremie nodded in confirmation. "There's a bit of an above-average crime rate, but compared to the Cult Zone, it's nothing. Though, I would like to point out that earlier we were in the so-called 'Storm Eye' area of that place, part of the reason why we weren't getting mobbed at every turn. It's the part of the Cult Zone where all of the cults and their business partners engage in deals with one another, so by the standards of that place, it's relatively safe. Let's be lucky we haven't had to go to the other parts of the Cult Zone."
Odd's face fell. "There's WORSE in that place? I, uh, why-I-ugh, okay, no, not falling down that rabbit hole…"
Yumi did not verbally contribute, her eyes simply narrowed.
"In the end, the Storm Eye's still ultimately part of the Cult Zone, so calling it a truly safe and neutral area is...incorrect." Jeremie continued. "Where we're heading is significantly safer, safe enough that we can snag ourselves a bus ride to get back home and head right for the Factory. We should be able to shave off at least ten minutes in terms of travel time, and in the case of you two, preserve your stamina. I get the feeling that you'll need as much strength and energy as possible for what's up ahead."
Odd braced himself for a vision...but just like before when Jeremie had prepared one of his extreme measures to get the group out of class, no visions of the future appeared to act as a preview for whatever new horrors were lurking in Xanadu. It wasn't like recently, where things had turned black and/or become filled with static...his power simply didn't activate.
...Now that he thought about it, what was up with those recent non-visions? Why were some visions literally coming up blank while others showcased events as usual?
Considering everything else going on right now, Odd buried that thought away. He could deal with it later.
The trio now exited the alleyways they had gotten accustomed to, stepping forward into a more open street. The buildings here, as Odd noted, returned to the same architectural style and monochrome shade of grey as the ones from around Kadic, a far cry from the more colorful and attractive buildings from where Sebastian's uncle set up shop. Even though it was still fairly early in the afternoon, the sky seemed to be a dull shade of green rather than blue, and the sun barely seemed to lighten up the group's surroundings, even though they were out of the constricted alleyways where barely any light got through to begin with.
Odd then recalled having come across some information about Meudon, as one tends to when looking up research and finding some other tidbits of information. As one of the closer communes to Boulogne Billancourt, it had received its fair share of damage from the Billancourt Panic. All of the historic monuments that the suburb was famous for had either been destroyed beyond repair or relocated to private facilities in the aftermath of the disaster, leaving behind an area that was completely repurposed for real estate development...or considering Jeremie's words, cult development as well.
Speaking of Jeremie, the computer genius quickly looked around, and then snapped his fingers in satisfaction as he looked to his right. "There's a bus stop over there, c'mon!" He called, running over to an enclosed bench.
"And where's the bus?" Odd asked.
His question was answered by a white-and-black lined bus rolling up the street, its speed slowing as it came to a stop.
"What are you waiting for? Move it!" Yumi barked, rushing forward. Odd yelped and quickly followed.
Getting on board was a simple matter. The three children climbed into the bus, with Jeremie asking the driver a question of how long it would take to get to Boulogne Billancourt. If traffic was good, a mere ten minutes was the average-looking man's answer.
Considering they were on a tight schedule where every minute counted, the trio found this acceptable. Yumi paid the driver the fee, and the three children settled down in the nearest seats they could find. The bus was not too crowded, only having seven other people, so the three were able to sit down in an empty row of seats. Odd sat in the window seat, Jeremie in the middle, and Yumi right next to the exit aisle.
"That should shave off twenty or thirty minutes." Jeremie muttered to himself. "Rest up you two...I really can't say for sure what you're going to find over there this time around."
"Great, no pressure then." Odd sighed, looking out the window.
Of course, the Italian boy was being sarcastic. Not wanting to immediately focus on his current troubles, the boy went back to thinking about their recent journey throughout Paris. From Kadic to a coffee shop, to a shopping district lifted from another country, to an urban labyrinth of nightmares, and finally to a place that looked like it had been stripped of everything that had given it its identity...it had been a rather wild day. Suffice to say, after a whole week in Paris, he had to say that the city had been nothing like he had thought or hoped it would be, especially after a whole weekend of traversing and exploring area after area lifted from a dystopian sci-fi movie. Perhaps it hadn't been such a good idea to just skim over the...redecoration aspect of the city after all.
...In hindsight, he probably shouldn't have been surprised that Louise had been so supportive of him after his initial proposal of the idea…
Shuddering at remembering the trials needed to even get to this point, now Odd decided to spare a glance at his companions and, as much as he did not want to, follow Jeremie's advice to psych himself up.
The computer genius seemed...infuriatingly and annoyingly calm on the outside as usual, despite his words of warning previously. The one upside Odd noticed was that Jeremie seemed focused, his expression grim. At least it meant he was taking it seriously...which now that Odd thought about was rather quite worrying. Saying that Jeremie was goofing off with Xanadu the way Odd might goof off with a game console would be a comparison even the transfer student wouldn't make, but there was no doubt that Jeremie approached Xanadu and all related topics with a sense of legitimate curiosity, even with all of his prior warnings, and all too evident with how he'd handled today's mission. It was quite frankly a miracle neither Odd nor Yumi (Or anyone else really) had tried to beat Jeremie to a bloody pulp up 'till now.
But now that Jeremie seemed...focused, and in a way that showcased calculating concern rather than curiosity, Odd really did not look forward to what terrible monstrosities awaited him and Yumi in Xanadu today.
It was then that Odd realized that this was going to be the first time he would be fighting in the virtual world with only one partner. Before, he'd always gone into Xanadu accompanying both Ulrich and Yumi, but now it was just with Yumi. True, it had only been the two of them while fighting the ghosts from a training exercise turned-actual battle earlier that week, but Ulrich had been the one to mow down the other half of the enemy forces and deactivate the Tower all the way on the other side of Xanadu when said enemy forces had been forced to split to fight the group. Now it was just going to be one Cheshire Cat and one Geisha vs. something truly nasty, awful, and completely unknown…
Odd tried thinking of something, anything for a vision...but still nothing came. No black or static false-visions either. His power clearly did not find this something concerning enough to activate about.
Looking further to his side, Odd spotted Yumi, and almost wished he hadn't.
What popped up in his head now was not a vision...but rather a memory of a vision. The vision where, what seemed to be Yumi, completely broken after the Shangri-La cultists succeeded in capturing and 'inducting' her, accepting the offer of that terrible, hooded being, before raining death upon her tormentors in revenge for what they had done to her.
Odd looked away, praying that Yumi had not seen him stare. He couldn't help remembering that while his visions while awake had an orange filter over them, and his dreams had a grey one...he could somehow make out that one detail of color that had stood out, for whatever reason. Not that he really wanted to know the reason…
Regardless, just looking at Yumi filled the boy with dread, but that was hardly a surprise. In the space of two days, Yumi had been threatened with organized gang-rape and behavior modification, before being insulted by a racist construction worker, endured Odd and Sebastian's arguing, sat through Jeremie's amoral curiosity, encountered the leader of the evil rape cult that had tried to make Yumi one of their slaves, and finally had to abandon the boy that Odd was certain she was into to a desperate situation that he might not come back out of alive...or emerge as a statue zombie.
It was probably pretty selfish of him, but Odd was glad he was not in Yumi's shoes.
Still...being near her the way she was...it made Odd feel incredibly uncomfortable, setting his nerves ablaze with dread. He kept thinking back to the detail of Yumi's red eyes from the vision he had had earlier. Maybe it didn't mean anything. According to everyone else, his own eyes turned cat-like and orange while having visions, so maybe Yumi having red eyes was a sign of her own power-up?
...Yeah, he was having a hard time convincing himself that that was the right answer.
Honestly, Odd had no idea how to comfort Yumi, or if comforting the girl would even work. After the day she'd had, it was doubtful that anyone could really say anything to Yumi without setting her off. And considering that Odd had felt legitimate, murderous intent from the telekinetic during their time in the cultists' hideout...getting on her bad side was the last thing anyone would have wanted.
So that was that. Taking a deep breath, Odd looked out the window, trying to calm down. Ten minutes from now, he would be in the most difficult fight he'd been in so far. True he'd only had two other battles in Xanadu to compare, but hey, still noteworthy. He just had to be ready and give it his best…
Or, well...die.
"Hey, Stern?"
"Yeah?"
Sebastian took a deep breath as the army of shambling rock zombies came closer and closer as they moved down the street, then breathed out his nose calmly. "...I think we picked the wrong spot to catch our breath and have an introspection with each other."
"Why's that?" Ulrich asked dismissively, flexing his knees to warm up for the battle ahead.
"BECAUSE WE TOOK SHELTER IN A CUL-DE-SAC, AKA A FANCY CORNER!" Sebastian screamed. arms flailing wildly as he pointed at the various buildings and their configuration.
Ulrich looked around the area, barely blinking an eye. "Huh...we did, didn't we?"
"Your calmness astounds me." Sebastian deadpanned. "Well, at least the boss monster isn't here yet…"
"Actually-"
But before Ulrich could finish, a low hissing filled the air, causing both boys to look up behind them, seeing the massive smokey snake monster rise up atop the roofs of the buildings of the cul-de-sac, its three eyes glaring darkly at them.
So now, the zombies were coming down from one end and their master had ambushed the samurai and his travel companion from behind. And of course, the petrifying smoke that had created the zombies and what was being emanated from the giant snake surrounded them all, all but acting as an impenetrable barrier to those who specialized in melee combat.
"Alright, great, the boss showed up." Ulrich smirked. "Guess that means the plan's working."
Sebastian opened his mouth to protest, but remembered that the whole point of the plan was to act as a decoy so that Ishiyama and Della Robbia, along with Belpois, could get to their Factory and fight the computer virus' source without any complications. So he shut his mouth and instead tried to think about how to get out of their current predicament. Unfortunately…
"Okay, great, now if you have any ideas, Stern, I'd love to hear 'em!" Sebastian yelled. "Because right now, I have nothing!"
No movement from Ulrich. Sebastian feared that some of the smoke had snuck up from the side, but it was still confined to the zombies and the snake, so the martial artist wasn't frozen because of them.
"Well?!"
Finally Ulrich spoke, still in his battle stance, his face as stoic as ever, and with his tone being a mix of complete seriousness and totally nonchalant. "Yeah, same."
Which was hardly encouraging. In hindsight, Sebastian probably shouldn't have been surprised. True, Ulrich had displayed enough street smarts to dodge prospective questions...but actual strategy wasn't really his strong suit, and his grades seemed to reflect that. It seemed that increased intelligence was NOT a universal boost from being inside a computer after all.
Which was a real shame, because if neither of them came up with something, they might as well have just asked the giant snake and its thralls to take them now. At least the snake wasn't making any sudden movements...which probably meant it was waiting for them to do something and then it would make a sudden movement.
Just a few seconds passed, and then right on cue, that sudden movement came as the giant three-eyed basilisk rose its ugly head, breathing in the petrifying dust that the two boys realized had likely surrounded the area. But that was the only thought that Sebastian was able to have before the creature launched its attack, breathing another blast of smokey darkness at them. Ulrich however, was a different story, for the moment he recognized the dust moving towards the monster's maw, he grabbed Sebastian by the collar and sped to the side, barely avoiding the attack.
"GAAAH!" Sebastian screamed as he felt himself slam into the pavement. "Stern, watch it, damn it, or you-uh...ohhhh…"
At least the Street Kid had his priorities straight. Both he and Ulrich could see the smoke spreading from the center of the cul-de-sac. In a few minutes, the zombies wouldn't even need to enter. They just needed to stand guard in the street while the smoke covered the hexagon and petrified the two boys, freeing them to attack the rest of the group...and the city, while they were at it.
"Okay, yeah, we need a plan, ASAP." Ulrich grumbled. "Have you come up with anything yet?"
"Uh, um…" Sebastian stammered, before reaching into his backpack, desperately trying to find something, anything that could be helpful, in lieu of him lacking any special abilities. There had to be some tool in there that could work, but nothing looked capable of stopping a mass of dark dust that would…
Wait, dust…
"Please be there, please be in there…" The Street Kid muttered rapidly, before pulling out, in triumph…
A lighter.
"Alright!" he beamed, then his face fell again when he realized a fallacy with his plan. "GOD-DAMN IT!"
"What? What is it?" Ulrich asked, his eyes still looking up at the giant serpent which seemed more focused on the spreading essence than them.
"Well, I came up with a way for us to skedaddle out of here." Sebastian replied. "Bad news though...it'll probably kill us."
The samurai looked at Sebastian, raising an eyebrow, then pointed at the smoke. "Say it and make it fast."
"Okay, my idea is that I'll use the lighter to make a dust explosion. Problem is, the shockwave might kill us. And that's if the explosion even goes off in the first place."
Ulrich was silent for just a split second, only long enough for Sebastian to register that the martial artist already had an answer to the problem that should've been obvious. "Dude, I can run at superhuman speed. You throw the lighter, I'll grab you, and then we jump out of here. I can see a bunch of escape routes if you can get rid of all the smoke."
Sebastian opened his mouth, considered it, and nodded in agreement. "No idea how this'll affect the sickos, but I just want out of here already. Are you ready?"
Ulrich looked up, first at the serpent, then forward at the cultist-statue-zombies, then darted his eyes back and forth on each side of the hexagon, finding what he considered their best bet.
"Grab on, and let's go."
The smoke was only a few meters away, so Sebastian decided that was enough of an answer, and grabbed on tight to Ulrich's shoulders.
"...I am so glad no-one is here to comment on this…" the Street Kid gagged.
Ulrich rolled his eyes, got into a ready position, or at least as much as one as he could with someone on his back, then dashed along the sidewalk. Sebastian screamed as Ulrich sped up, the martial artist's feet slamming onto a wheelchair ramp, giving him the momentum to start running along the walls of the buildings, jumping from any fixture or feature that jutted out to keep building momentum, until both he and the Street Kid stood atop the rooftops.
Sebastian looked back, and saw the giant snake hiss in anger, swiftly striding into the cul-de-sac, gathering up smoke, and then building up a blast of darkness far larger than the previous one.
"It's attacking again!" he screamed.
"Blow it up, already!" Ulrich barked.
Yelping, Sebastian's fingers sparked along the lighter, until a single flame lit up. Not wasting any time, Sebastian chucked the lighter at the snake, just as it fired the blast of dark dust. The lighter fell into the rushing column, and then, the effect was instantaneous.
Sebastian screamed in panic as Ulrich rushed away, as the beam of smokey dust paused, and then began to explode midway, before the combustion spread throughout the entire cul-de-sac, setting all of the dust ablaze as a massive explosion burst within. Ulrich ran faster and faster to avoid the shockwave that Sebastian warned about, and he could still feel the tremors even as he jumped into a nearby open street and just kept running, tuning out Sebastian's screams of panic. For a moment, he almost felt himself tripping over his own feet, but he managed to recover in time to jump backwards, Sebastian still clinging on for dear life, sliding as Ulrich saw a plume of smoke rising from the distance...that faded away instead of maintaining its form.
Their plan, it seemed, had worked.
Panting, Ulrich fell onto the ground, with Sebastian's own grip giving way as he sprawled onto the empty street.
"D-did we…?" the Street Kid asked weakly.
"Yeah, we got 'em." Ulrich said. "Don't think that's gonna hold them off forever, but it'll definitely weaken 'em and focus on us."
"Yay…" Sebastian groaned. "I don't know if I have anything else to light up a spark, Stern...especially for however THAT worked. Belpois' gonna have a field day with how the science of what we just did went down…"
"At least we're in the clear, for now." Ulrich said. "Let's keep moving."
"Preferably in a more open environment, please." Sebastian begged.
Ulrich snorted. "You know I can't promise that."
Sebastian sighed. No, he really couldn't. And so, keeping their eyes on the sky for now, they continued to plunge into the Cult Zone, needing to prepare for the next round, knowing that another confrontation was imminent.
Such basic foresight was going to serve them well...
Had they stuck around (not that that would've been viable or recommended in the first place), they would've seen the confirmation of the damage. The cul-de-sac was devastated, with cracks in the road and everything flammable burnt to a crisp. Unusable ash was plastered everywhere, and at first, it seemed that the impromptu dust explosion that probably could never have happened in normal conditions had succeeded in destroying the monster, as it was nowhere to be found.
But the creature's thralls, though collapsed on the ground, were ultimately no worse for the wear. Slowly but surely, they picked themselves up, not a scratch of damage on them, the glow in their eyes becoming more intense as they registered what had happened. Their eyes focused again on the center, and a new column of billowing smoke began to rise out of the cracks of the ground. Their master, reforming, seemed to writhe and pulse, turning wildly to try to find the enemy, but seeing nothing.
Avatar and Guide...they are acting against us…We will...destroy them first...we will not leave until they are confirmed as part of the army.
Destroy them.
Destroy them.
Destroy them.
The servants paused to hear the words of the master...and thus they obeyed, turning and wandering back into the streets.
Destroy them for the Will of the World.
The bus ride, as Jeremie predicted, was only ten minutes long. Much as Odd worried, there were no further incidents. The vehicle crossed the bridge over the Seine and the trio got off on the stop as close to the Factory as possible without seeming suspicious. They said nothing to one another as they backtracked through more familiar territory (For Jeremie and Yumi at least), until the Factory came into view.
"I see it!" Odd called.
Jeremie and Yumi stayed silent, but their pace became less desperate as they all went down the road, and crossed the bridge. Immediately, Odd and Yumi pried the heavy doors of the Factory open, and after a few moments to catch his breath, Jeremie ran into the depths of the complex, the two virtual fighters running close behind, before they ascended the stairs leading to the scanners.
Seating himself into his chair, Jeremie slid over to the monitor, and typing in the commands, the scanner doors opened.
Yumi and Odd stepped inside, and the doors closed.
"Transfer Yumi, Transfer Odd."
The scanners began to charge, and the two shut their eyes, knowing what would come next.
"Scanning, Yumi, Scanning, Odd."
The energy began to build…
"Virtualization!"
And the air rushed past them at full strength, immersing them in the virtual world.
Within the forests of Xanadu, two pillars of blue light flashed into existence, then faded just as quickly, to reveal the forms of a Geisha and a humanoid Cheshire Cat.
Odd stretched. "Okay Einstein, we're here. Got any info on what we're up against?"
"Right now, I'm focused on solving the problem with the Superscan. Don't worry about your weapons, I've already charged them. But thanks to the Superscan being disabled, I don't know which Tower to point you two at."
"Oh come on, this place isn't THAT big!" Odd protested.
"Then do you see anything?" Jeremie asked in a legitimately deadpan voice.
Odd and Yumi both looked around their surroundings. They were in the middle of a large clearing, surrounded by dense trees and hills, while a river snaked by next to them, the water flowing downward. Both of them realized that they were higher up on the mountain slope, giving them a decent view of the lower areas further down in the distance. They both saw the four Towers in the center of Xanadu's main hills from their vantage point, but the quartet was clear of any Specter influence. They could see the tallest Tower, looming over them at the highest point in Xanadu, pointing towards the sky uphill from where they were, but as usual, it too was clean. The forest, other hills, and the mountainside blocked off any immediate view of the remaining five Towers, leaving the two at a loss for where to go.
It was only now that Odd registered that while Xanadu might have been the size of an island...said island was still pretty big, despite his disbelieving protests. Only the sizes of the giant Towers added anything regarding distance, but considering their own size, the realization that without super-speed or a vehicle of any kind, it would still take a long time to get there, was rather intimidating to Odd.
That also didn't take into account the geography of the place. Xanadu's primary features were trees and grassland mixed with mountains. Navigating through those would be a nightmare in itself.
"Uh...well...no…" Odd muttered, his voice deflating.
"Do you have any visions right now?" Yumi asked curtly.
Odd tried to focus, actually hoping for a vision of the future...but got nothing. He shook his head.
"Damn it…" she hissed, glaring down at the Towers below, as if hoping to draw out any Specters in hiding. "We can't be wasting time like this!"
From the monitor, Jeremie noticed movement, and was quick to shout out a warning.
"2 o'clock! Specters!"
Quick as a whip, Yumi screamed, launching a tessen fan in the direction the computer genius had pointed them towards.
A hissing sort of whisper echoed through the clearing as the fan hit its mark. A creeping Specter had been inching its way towards the duo, but was now being sawn in half by Yumi's weapon. It seemed to moan a ghostly groan as it perished, before the fan returned to Yumi's hand. The geisha was unaffected, but Odd was spooked.
"Hey uh, since when did they make that kind of noise?" he squeaked. "Or when were they ever that loud?"
More hissings and echoes rumbled through the environment, and before Odd could even think of his question being answered, a swarm of Specters emerged from the trees.
The second major difference compared to their last encounter wasn't just in the improved quality of their ghostly wails, but also their size variance. Of course, none of them were any smaller than from the first time Odd, or Yumi, had been to Xanadu, but while none of them quite reached the size of the large phantom from just a few days ago, their respective masses volumes now had greater difference from one another. While there were several of the same size each, Odd could see Specters twice as, three times, or even half a size larger, than the basic type he was used to. The number was also fairly high, he counted at least twenty Specters right off the bat.
All of the recently gathered members of the army of darkness hissed and moaned ghoulishly, creating a haunted cacophony that sent shivers down Odd's spine.
The boy gulped. "O-okay, if this is all they've upgraded themselves into, we should be golden, right?"
Neither Jeremie nor Yumi responded.
"Yeah…" Odd sighed. "I thought so."
"Get ready!" Yumi barked. "Here they come!"
Scattering into six groups no less than five each, the Specters charged.
Yumi immediately performed several backflips, throwing one tessen for each of her first two before landing on her feet and throwing her hand forward to more comfortably channel her telekinesis. Jeremie, who was watching from the computer terminal, could see that the girl was glad to have something to kill that no-one would try calling her out on for doing so. Flying forward at high speeds, the two tessen cut through the smaller Specters like butter, before sawing into one of the larger ones with such speed and force, it crashed into one of its fellows, throwing it off-course. The Specter screamed in ethereal agony as the fans dug even deeper into its body, before they burst out and slammed into a Specter that had managed to slip away and get closer to Yumi.
Satisfied with the impromptu delivery, Yumi jumped forward, grabbed the fans, before throwing one of them at the wounded monster, finishing it off. She did not stay still however, there were far too many enemies to take that risk, and so she kept moving, her eyes on the swarm of enemies, some of whom seemed to pause in their attack, as if recognizing that the Geisha Avatar was in a...different state than usual.
Meanwhile, Odd wasn't wasting any time. The moment the Specters began moving, he was shooting Laser Arrows at them without any hesitation.
"Take this, you Pac-Man wannabes!" he cried.
The explosions inherent to the Laser Arrows were proving useful, first piercing the foe before bursting, which immediately killed the smaller ones. The larger ones too, were having trouble. Unlike what Odd dubbed in his head as 'Monstro the Whale', these creatures were getting stunned and destabilized, even if the blows were not fatal. It was satisfying to start getting a good handle on things, but Odd failed to remember a certain weakness with his arsenal, for while his accuracy was improving, not all of his shots were landing, and it wasn't long before Jeremie was yelling words that were sure to become more of a nuisance with time.
"Odd, keep count of your arrows!" Jeremie scolded. "You've just used up all but five of them in each arm!"
"Then reload me, Einstein!" Odd shot back, starting to run now that his main weapon was running low on ammo.
"I'm working on it! Just try to keep track! The better you conserve, the faster I can give you a restrock!"
"Ugghhh…" Odd groaned, turning and firing an arrow at a larger Specter that had been previously wounded.
It could not hold itself any longer, and crumbled as it tried and failed to regenerate itself.
"Well, scary as they are, 'least we put a good dent in 'em."
The catboy wasn't wrong, though perhaps 'good dent' was a bit mild in putting it. During the time he had been preoccupied with firing as many Laser Arrows as possible, he'd managed to destroy more than half of the Specters that had attacked him. Looking over at Yumi's fight, she was in a similar position as her telekinetically-guided fans sawed through the enemies, grinding them up as they flew about in a manner that emphasized simultaneous offense and defense. In fact, all of the Specters that could be taken out in one or two blows had all been destroyed, leaving only the largest and most durable to continue the assault. Odd could even count them now at being exactly five.
It was good to get rid of most of the mooks, but while he wasn't having any visions yet, Odd's instincts told him to be careful...because for some reason...he felt that it was too easy. Odd wondered if Yumi and Jeremie were having the same thoughts.
"...Be careful, I'm getting a bad feeling about how things are going…"
"Just keep doing what you're doing, and we'll keep doing what we're doing." Yumi muttered, her voice low and dripping with suspicion.
Yup, they were.
The Specters floated high into the air, flying at erratic speeds and patterns, preventing both Odd and Yumi from getting any clean shots. Odd tried to fire several rounds, but all of them missed.
"Only two arrows left in each wrist! Odd, stop wasting ammo!"
"I'd like to see you down here!" the Cheshire Cat shot back.
Seeming to not pay any attention to the boys' conversation, Yumi, holding both fans, saw one of the Specters lunging down towards her. She responded by jumping forward, propelled by her telekinesis. With a powerful throw, she launched one of the fans right into the Specter, near point-blank. The creature hissed in pain, and then in shock as Yumi mounted it, jamming her second fan into its body. The creature's size was enough to stop the rotation of the weapons, but they still remained jammed within it, allowing Yumi to grab onto them as it flew high into the air, desperately trying to shake Yumi off as she held tight, her eyes focused and precise, having not a shred of mercy for the monster.
The Specter, now seeming to cry, tried to loop around to throw Yumi off, but like a bear's jaws on its prey, the Geisha clung to her fans, refusing to let go.
Odd watched as the Specter tried to throw Yumi off, but to no avail. For a moment, all seemed well, but then a red shot of energy flew from the forest and hit Yumi square in the back, stunning the Geisha and enabling the Specter to shake her off right into the aerial pathway of its fellows, allowing them to swarm around her like sharks, before opening their shadowy maws and tearing into Yumi's body, killing her right before Odd's eyes.
As colors beyond monochrome shades of orange returned to his sight, Odd was already screaming his lungs out in warning.
"YUMI! BEHIND YOU! LOOK OUT!"
Flinching, Yumi found herself driving her fans deeper into the Specter, causing it to change course...and just a few centimeters away from her face, Yumi saw a bright red ball of liquid-energy fly past her before it burst into the air, setting off several pulses, akin to the nebula of a star, in its wake...but thankfully the energy dispersion made no contact with her.
Wasting no more time, Yumi let her inner power flow through her body, subjecting the flying monster to her telekinesis. It screamed as it felt like it was being crushed by her power, before Yumi forced her fans upwards, tearing through the monster's body, causing it to scream as she jumped off of it, both fans unfolded, her body twirling around as if she was dancing. Odd saw the miniature tornado in action as several more shots of red energy orbs were shot at Yumi, but were deflected or absorbed by her fans. The geisha, flying down like a propeller, slipped into the trees, out of Odd's sight…
But not Jeremie's as he got a good view of the creature that had attempted to snipe at Yumi.
A creature that all but confirmed his worst suspicions as his eyes took in the details of the terrible beast.
This was nothing like the ghosts that the Warriors had ever dealt with before, that was for certain. Unlike them, this creature was colored a monochrome shade of dark grey as opposed to black. It was clearly more solid as well, having an actually defined body that was completely identical to the microscopic creature known as a Tardigrade, also known as Water Bears. But most tardigrades were hardly the size of a land bear, had claws rivaling such land bears, or had porcupine-esque spines covering the segments of their bodies, while their suction cup mouths were also adorned with sharp teeth and drooled a substance that seemed akin to glowing blood.
And as Yumi dropped in front of the monster, it also clearly had a roar to match, as it let loose a noise that seemed to mix a land bear's growl with the hissing of a snake. It then charged forward, the spines on the forward segment extending slightly, barely missing Yumi as she threw one of her tessen at the creature. The fan carved itself into the body and returned to her hand...but the wound, much to her shock, was nowhere near as deep as it had been with the previous Specter.
From where he stood, Odd watched as the ghost that Yumi had carved up like a turkey cried out in what seemed like despair, before its body crumbled into black digital dust.
But then he heard more roaring and hissing, far more animalistic than the groans and wails of the phantoms above him.
"Jeremie, what's going on?" he ventured.
"Duck!" the computer genius commanded.
Luckily for Odd, he found himself obeying as opposed to a snarky comment. He was glad that he did, as another blast of red energy collided into the ground several meters away from him, the plasma shockwave just barely failing to reach him.
Immediately, he got up, turned, and fired his last four Laser Arrows, trying to warn off his attackers. Unfortunately, none of the hits landed, much to Odd's displeasure as three disgusting dark-grey creatures lumbered into view.
"Ugh, what the hell are those things?" He gagged. "Giant living gravel boogers?"
"Tardigrades, actually." Jeremie put in. "They seem more like giant Tardigrades."
Odd coughed. "Eh, don't know what those are. But, uh...why are they here?"
"Isn't it obvious? I said it before, the Specters are evolving! Looks like it's more than just disabling my programs, they're starting to make new monsters too."
Odd's mouth dropped in horror, though his eyes stayed focused on the lumbering Tardigrades as they roared at him in a manner akin to a challenge. "...Guess Sebastian was right on the money after all? No-way a newbie could beat those guys...let alone look at them, BLECH!" He said in an attempt for humor, but even someone like Jeremie could tell he was forcing it.
Nevertheless, the computer genius rolled his eyes, and typed in the commands to finish reloading Odd's Laser Arrows. Looking at the statistics on Yumi's fans, she still had plenty of throws left...but then Jeremie's eyes widened in alarm as the number of available throws seemed to decrease rapidly.
"Rookie or veteran, I don't care! Be careful! They're going to be a lot tougher than the monsters you've fought so far!"
As if eager to prove Jeremie's point, the Tardigrades attacking Odd roared at once, before firing several plasma blasts at the Cheshire Cat.
Odd yelled in panic, running around on all fours, trying his best to avoid the attacks, but much to his terror, the energy projectiles were a tad faster than the regular ghosts, and exploded on contact when hitting the ground, releasing pulses of red energy shockwaves that made dodging them even trickier. Even worse, he was getting further and further away from them, making it harder to aim...if their volley of attacks would even make aiming at them in the first place possible.
"Odd, in front of you!" Jeremie warned.
Looking ahead, Odd's pupils shrank in horror as two more Tardigrades lumbered out of the trees, growling before they began firing their own volley of attacks at him.
The cat-boy changed course, but now found himself having to dodge five monster blasts as opposed to three. The intensity and quantity was getting higher and higher...and he didn't need future sight to know that sooner or later, one of these attacks was going to hit him.
Neither did Jeremie for that matter. He could tell that Odd needed backup, and fast.
"Yumi, hurry up! Odd's going to get killed at this rate!" Jeremie cried out in alarm.
"You're telling me…" Yumi muttered. "I've got two problems of my own to deal with."
To say that the terrain was not to her advantage on this occasion was an understatement. Yumi still had failed to destroy the first Tardigrade, and though it was wounded, it had now been joined by a second that had pushed her deeper into the forest, making it harder for her to know where she was. The thicket of trees constricted her freedom to throw her fans or even guide them, while the Tardigrades had the freedom to snipe her from their hidden positions, using either their energy blasts or the spikes on their back, though the latter mainly happened whenever she seemed to get too close to them. Her attempts to defend herself were, to her shame, more than a bit desperate, and with each instinctive grasp on her fans whenever she could retrieve them, her ability to re-use them was reduced more and more.
It was...troublesome, to say the least.
"They've really raised the bar…" she murmured to herself.
For now, she seemed to have lost them, but she could still hear their heavy footsteps and their bestial, yet otherworldly breathing. She could tell which was which from how heavy the breathing was; the heavier they breathed, the more wounded they were. Still, she was annoyed by how they refused to die compared to their fellows. They suffered wounds, but did not collapse as easily. It was...troublesome to be sure, however...
"...Doesn't matter how durable you all are…" she whispered to herself, quietly enough that even Jeremie could not hear her. "I'll kill you anyways."
Of course, while the monsters probably couldn't hear her, their growling just moments after those words left her lips felt like a retort. Like a challenge. A taunt.
Something she was more than happy to respond to. Still, without a strategy or plan, those chances did seem rather slim. She had thought of using her telekinesis to just force the trees down on them to pin them down, but remembered that the only methods that seemed capable of hurting the monsters were their weapons. And expending so much energy too soon would not be a good idea. She was tempted to, of course...and if they'd jumped into Xanadu the moment they'd exited those horrible alleyways, Yumi would've loved to test using her telekinesis to crush the specters by force…and she had to admit the temptation was still there.
But she'd had some time to breathe after making it out of that horrible cult zone. Time to...focus her anger…Into something...more precise. Yes, that was it. No-one would complain if she used monster-killing methods on creatures that looked like monsters on the outside and were monsters on the inside.
Granted there were...applications of her power she'd yet to reach, despite desiring them but still.
And she suspected that it wouldn't be a good idea to waste all of her power on what was probably the first wave.
Back to those applications, she had long-since learned how to incorporate her power with her weapons, guiding them in a way that technically enabled her to avoid those annoying throwing limits, something she still hoped Jeremie would get rid of soon. Gazing at one of her folded tessen, perhaps Jeremie could also figure out how to armor the frames so she would have a decent close-range option if her usual mid-to-long range throws wouldn't work.
Because thanks to the thick greenery, she wasn't exactly in a position to have any decent or reliable throws.
However, she was also fairly confident that in any other situation, she wouldn't have been able to have this long to strategize, ironically because of this very forest providing her enough cover to give her time to regroup and refocus herself.
And to be honest, the time she'd had thinking of how to get over that problem and kill her prey...and the impending satisfaction of this strategy working...it sent a rush through her.
The breathing and growling became deeper and louder. The low, yet measured rumble of multiple footsteps told her that they were coming.
Yumi held her right kimono sleeve to her face, pulling it up just enough to unveil the details of the one thing from the real world that had stayed with her in the virtual one: The prayer beads she'd kept in her pocket, now worn on her right wrist. Well, they weren't quite a match, taking on a purple tint and being adorned with a small red tassel versus the plain black ones.
She knew, by her own instinct, that in the virtual world, they held no real combat worth (and for obvious reasons in the real world, their capability as projectiles was all but sealed), but seeing them adorn her wrist, bringing back old memories that her current situation reminded her of...helped steel herself. Slowly, she kneeled down to the ground, her breathing synchronized with that of the monsters coming towards her, as she sensed them coming.
To her left was the wounded Tardigrade. To her right, its companion.
Her right hand slid a fan into her sleeve. Her left hand kept gripping the other folded fan, ready to be drawn.
"One chance…" she murmured softly. "...But I won't miss…"
She couldn't miss.
She couldn't fail Ulrich...the way she'd failed her little brother and his friend.
For a moment, the world seemed to turn red. Perhaps it was that flash of anger that kept haunting Yumi…
Or maybe it was just because the Tardigrades had found the geisha and were launching their crimson plasma blasts at her.
"Yumi! Look out!" Jeremie warned.
The geisha couldn't help but think that it was a miracle no-one in the group had even smacked Jeremie upside the head for his penchant to state the obvious.
Jumping up into the air and grabbing onto a tree branch, Yumi found herself swing upwards until she stood on her hands, her legs supported by the other branches, dodging the burst. Not wasting any time, she threw herself downwards, somersaulting onto the ground. Her timing was impeccable as the spines of the Tardigrades were lodged in the tree branch.
The fan in her left hand unfolded, its blue light glowing in the relative shade of the trees. But instead of just throwing it, Yumi let the fan drop, then applied her telekinesis on it, forcing it open and causing the razor-sharp disc to spin. But it was too slow for what she wanted. Narrowing her eyes, and forcing her fingers to contort into a claw shape, she urged the fan to spin faster and faster.
This had all happened in the space of three or four seconds.
But combat tends to be measured even faster than that. While the Tardigrade on her left, her target, was slower on the draw thanks to its injuries, the one on the right, uninjured, had already charged up its next plasma blast.
She was too focused on the fan to try to deflect the attack, but she knew it was coming. But she also knew that if she moved, she might lose sight of her targets...and thus she would be the one who would die.
Her instincts in this battle had caused her to keep grabbing at her fans, ostensibly to keep her from losing them in the forest.
So when the right Tardigrade fired, her right arm unveiled the hidden tessen and unfolded it.
For a moment as she looked into the blue binary, Yumi thought she had made a critical mistake. What use could her fan have in blocking the attack?
Then the ball of crimson plasma slammed into the blue data...and dissipated its energy outwards...away from Yumi. Not one particle of energy even made contact with her body. The fan itself glowed so bright Yumi thought it had turned white for a brief moment.
The glowing light lasted only a second. But that had bought Yumi all the time she needed.
"YIIII-YAAAAHHHH!" She cried, launching the left fan at the left Tardigrade.
It was partly luck that the weapon slammed into a previous wound. It made her attempt at digging through and cutting the monster much easier. The creature screamed as the tessen dug deeper and deeper into its body, cutting into internal parts that, while more durable than the basic phantoms'...were still fairly vulnerable. The Tardigrade moaned in pain, then collapsed, the tessen bursting out of its body, causing the monster to crumble into ash.
Now standing upright, the lights of her weapon and the monsters now more focused...Yumi had a clear shot at her enemy. She wouldn't bother with the first fan, this next one had to be aimed perfectly.
The remaining Tardigrade charged its main weapon, as if not calculating or comprehending that its attack had been blocked and that it should've tried using the spines.
It was a fatal mistake.
Yumi's right hand launched the second tessen, aiming it squarely at the monster's glowing maw.
As it turned out, the mouth was far more vulnerable than the rest of the body. The tessen ground its way into the soft maw, and the gathered energy, unable to properly focus itself, was now disrupted and burst out the only way it could.
Through the body of the creature trying to fire it. A massive explosion ensued, and Yumi found herself dodging shrapnel from the trees, plants, and the spines on the Tardigrade's body. She was mostly successful, but she could feel a cutting sort of pain and something warm and wet on her painted cheek.
Blood. Her blood.
Well, it may have been her first real combat injury in Xanadu, but overall, it wasn't the first time she'd been hurt fighting evil altogether. It probably wouldn't be the last, either. And honestly, a cut on the cheek was a small price to pay for killing the Tardigrade.
"Yumi! You just lost one fan!" Jeremie's voice broke in, distressed.
"Can you recreate it?" Yumi asked, her voice dismissive as she levitated the intact fan over to her...until it collapsed, leaving only a frame, much to her annoyance. Perhaps forcing it open the way she did used up more throws compared to just using telekinesis to guide it?
There was an audible sigh, but the geisha could sense relief in it.
"Yes, and I'll reload your other one. But get out of there! There's no time to rest! Odd's outnumbered!"
Outnumbered was right.
The Chesire Cat had not had anywhere near as much success as Yumi had in coming up with a plan or fighting off the five monsters who were trying to kill him. And considering how many Specters were usually made by Xanadu, who knew where more were lurking about? At most, all he'd been able to see were visions of where the monsters were aiming, enabling him to dodge their attacks, which was a fairly easy feat considering how much more open space he had compared to Yumi.
But any shots he managed to fire missed, while his attempts at others ended in a desperate attempt to dodge the enemy's own long-range assault.
"Help would be appreciated! Please!" Odd yelled, still running on all fours as he was bombarded with plasma orbs. "PLEASE!"
But while he had hoped for immediate backup, no-one came.
"Yumi's on her way, Odd!" Jeremie tried to reassure. "Just hold out for another minute!"
"Another minute?!" The Cheshire Cat complained indignantly, ducking from another plasma orb, before dashing forward on all fours to avoid the shockwave. "You might as well ask me to hold out for another lifetime!"
The computer genius didn't reply, not that anything he could say would really matter right now.
All Jeremie could do was keep an eye on Odd's Laser Arrow supply and reload him whenever it was empty. Odd's emphasis on dodging rather than attacking meant that he still had a fair load of ammo, 2/3rds to be exact. He also kept a close eye on the screen, praying that another Tardigrade was not hiding in wait to snipe at Odd before Yumi could get there.
"Gyaaahhh!" Odd yelped, barely jumping out of the way of two plasma balls. He attempted to get into an attack position, but then found himself having to dodge another laser blast. "Oh come on! Can't you guys let me shoot you?!"
The Tardigrades responded by shooting at Odd with higher intensity, much to the cat-boy's growing sense of panic. "Okay, okay, I won't shoot you! Stop firing!"
Odd then saw a dark shadow seeming to come over him, slowly increasing in circumference, when he happened to look up at the maw of an approaching Ghost, roaring in what sounded like hunger.
"OH COME ON! YOU GUYS WERE STILL HERE?!" He screamed, firing blindly at the Specter, repelling its attack until it groaned from the assault and collapsed into black dust…
And then in its place was a bright red ball of plasma, its velocity too great for Odd to dodge at that distance.
He would've loved to have a quip at the ready, but it really was too fast for words. The world turned orange, but that was only for an instant. Not every bad future could be avoided after all…
Only the instinct of avoiding a direct blow to the chest saved Odd from what would have been a fatal blow. He put his arms forward, crossing them to try to cushion the attack. If he had been expecting any greater defense from that, his expectations were wholly subverted as the ball of energy slammed into him, throwing him several meters back as the electric shock surged through his body.
"G-GAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!"
Of all the injuries Odd had ever endured in his life, this would, for that moment at least, take its place as the most painful thing that had ever happened to him.
The electric shock felt tingly at first...then it felt like burning, as if every part of his body was on fire. Everything felt like it was vibrating, as if his body would tear itself apart, starting from his arms and working its way up. His paws and forearms felt like they'd been dipped in lava, while his legs could do nothing to protect him from the impact of falling on the ground. That actually felt dull at first, until his back flared up in pain as the numbing feeling went away, and his body was assaulted with a new wave of tearing pain, as if someone had taken a needle and stitched it through his limbs and all of his muscles. He violently convulsed, desperately holding back the urge to throw up.
"ODD!" Jeremie wailed, standing up from his chair in horror at what he had seen.
An idle thought of that being the greatest display of emotion ever heard from Jeremie struck Odd as he lay on the ground dazed. Ironically, being sprawled on his back, flat against the ground, and thankfully sent down an incline gave him the greatest natural defense from further enemy fire.
Unfortunately, hovering above him like vultures, were the remaining three Ghosts, eager to fly down and munch on his corpse.
Well, technically he wasn't dead yet...but still.
The Specters seized the opportunity. They dove down together, their maws opening, roaring in what honestly sounded like triumph. If there was any hope in blocking them off, it wasn't there. Time seemed to slow for Odd as he took into account the approaching void...and realizing that there was nothing he could do, he lay on the ground...waiting to die.
And of course...die he did. The Specters attacked him like sharks, ripping him to pieces and devouring the chunks of his body, still chewing as Yumi emerged from the woods, a few seconds too late…
At least help was on the way. Shame he wasn't going to make it…
There was a lot Odd had been hoping to get done, a sentence that would've made his sisters and old principal roar in laughter. After all, 'he's as lazy as the day is long' was a pretty accurate summary back during his last academic review in Palermo, and it wasn't like Odd wasn't going to completely debate that.
Shame he was stuck in a place where being lazy would cause him to get killed in one of many brutal ways…
He was tired. He had never had such an active week before, not to mention he had that semester-long art project hanging over him. Would anyone blame him?
Yeah...it'd be nice to rest.
And leave Kiwi all alone. Never have that skating rematch with Sam. Never know what it was like to have a life outside of his old...home. Yeah, it was true that Jeremie was weird, but at least Yumi and Ulrich seemed on the level. Sebastian too, in his own way. Amare seemed like the epitome of chill, and yeah, Milly and Tamiya were annoying, but at least they weren't brat-levels of annoying like another duo he knew. Hugo...okay that guy was a dick, but with all the secrets being kept, Odd couldn't blame the dude that much.
Yeah, he'd learned that his new home was...crazy, but...it wasn't so bad he wanted out, weird as that seemed.
He let that thought simmer in his mind.
"I don't want to die…" Odd muttered.
To an observer like Jeremie, it took all but a few seconds. To Odd, it seemed to stretch out for an eternity as the vision of his impending death took hold.
"I don't want to die…" he said again, seeing the Specters seize the opportunity and attack.
They were attacking. A burst of adrenaline rushed through his body as it registered.
"I DON'T WANT TO DIE!"
He summoned as much strength as he could, even as his body tingled and his muscles tightened, eyes watering with tears from the pain and panic. Just in time, Odd rolled out of the way and fired a long barrage of Laser Arrows. Thankfully for him, the Specters may have been big, but thankfully that size would prove to be their undoing as all three were right in the path of every single remaining Laser Arrow in Odd's ammo stock. They wailed in pain from the rapid explosions, their large bodies at first absorbing the impact, until the arrows dug deeper and made them more and more unstable.
Just as the last Laser Arrow hit, it happened. The three Ghosts groaned, then collapsed onto the ground, crumbling into digital dust.
The Tardigrades roared in anger at the death of their comrades. Not that Odd really cared, even as he saw the red light building in their fanged suction cup-esque maws. Of course, that was mainly because he knew who was coming.
"Heh...yeah...do your worst...or not! Get 'em Yumi!"
Right on cue, the geisha jumped from the forest, throwing her recharged/restored fans at the barrage of attacks. To Odd's surprise, Yumi's weapons absorbed the blasts that would've certainly hit him, while the remainder slammed the ground a few meters away, the shockwaves thankfully not touching the Cheshire Cat.
He was much less surprised when Yumi slammed her foot onto his head. If it wasn't for the ringing already in his ears and the pain he was already in, Odd would have been very indignant.
"Don't call out to me like I'm some kind of guard animal." She snapped.
"Yes ma'am." Odd coughed, managing to crack half a smile before Yumi proceeded to help him up to his feet, her eyes on the Tardigrades as she used her telekinesis to guide the fans towards them, forcing the monsters to dodge and reorient themselves, giving the two Warriors some much-needed breathing time, helped by the fans orbiting around them like floating shields through Yumi's telekinesis.
"Jeremie, how is he?" Yumi asked.
"H-how much HP do I have left, Einstein?" Odd croaked, trying to control his breathing.
"HP?" Jeremie's voice echoed. "Xanadu doesn't have any kind of life point system, if that's what you're thinking. When you're virtualized, it completely translates your body and the impact it would take in the real world based on those injuries and how much your own stamina in your current state would affect that. In other words, no health system. I can tell you how much of your body was damaged though and...well...normally I'd give a full diagnostic report, but we don't have time for that. Just...try not to take any more hits is all I can say."
Odd didn't say anything, owing to the blast he'd taken, but if there were still any thoughts of Xanadu being a pure video game left in his mind, this injury cut them out immediately.
Of course, the fact that there weren't any convenient healing items should've been a sign of it already.
"Odd." Yumi said, causing the boy to look at her.
"Yeah?"
"I'll draw their fire away. If you still have arrows left, use them. My fans need more time to cut into them than the usual monsters, but the shockwaves of your weapon should do more effective damage."
"Do I even still have any?" Odd wondered out loud, feeling exhaustion and more than a bit of delirium.
"I've...just reloaded you." Jeremie said, his voice surprisingly quiet and serious. "Follow Yumi's plan."
A week ago, Odd would've loved to argue, but standing a few feet away from Death's door seemed to shock him into not wanting to protest any kind of plan. He nodded to Yumi, then crouched down.
Yumi then proceeded to grab her fans and charge at the Tardigrades, who had recovered and reorganized themselves. The two groups had now joined into a single unit, with two in front and three at the back, firing at the duo with as great an intensity as they could manage. Or at least, tried to fire at the duo, but true to her word, Yumi proved an excellent decoy. Two of the Tardigrades focused their fire on her, but now that she was in an open space, she found dodging and blocking their attacks easy, taking care not to rely on the latter as she didn't know how attack absorption factored into her weapon's limits.
The other three Tardigrades fired at Odd, trying to finish him off, but now that he'd had time to settle down, coupled with the monsters stepping into a more vulnerable position, the cat-boy found it easier to attack. Rolling on the ground, staying as low as he could, Odd focused on the center Tardigrade and fired.
It was now that he noticed that while the laser blasts of the Tardigrades were fast...his arrows were in fact faster.
And right at the front, this time, the laser arrow connected and exploded, forcing the Tardigrade back and causing it to scream, which also caused the other two to fall out of line, shocked.
"Aw yeah! Payback time!" Odd cried, standing up, fighting back the pain still wrecking himself and firing at the center monster again.
Just as Yumi had surmised, Odd's laser arrows proved a better match against the Tardigrades. Their focused precision and explosive impact were far better at stunning them...and also better at penetrating their defenses. The first arrow hit the creature's side, causing it to roar at Odd, only to expose its front to three more shots, each of which broke further and further into the monster.
Finally, a fifth shot caused a definite wound, and a sixth shot flew into the monster's soft insides, destroying it right and then in a pulse of azure energy.
With the monster fire now lowered, and their superiority shaken, causing them to pause, stunned in surprise, Odd didn't waste any time and held both arms out. Willing himself to keep pushing forward, the Cheshire Cat unloaded all of the ammo in his arms, not caring if he ran out of arrows.
He needn't have worried. Now standing still, the slower speed of the Tardigrades compared to the Ghosts caught up to them. Without the massive suppressive fire and the element of surprise, even a wounded Warrior was capable of fighting back. Both Tardigrades roared in pain as the barrage of arrows impacted them, but the attacks wore them down just as it had done their fellow, and both finally collapsed on the ground, giving a weak hiss before their bodies broke down.
Yumi meanwhile was taking advantage of what she had learned from her more personal combat, aiming her fans at the creature's mouths, which seemed more vulnerable than their hides. Of course, their rapid firing made it a bit hard to aim, but the lack of cover made dodging easy, and the moment Yumi saw the opportunity, she launched her fans simultaneously.
Unlike last time, the fans weren't meant to grind into the body. This time, Yumi just wanted to damage the mouths, wondering if doing so would have a greater impact.
She was right on the money.
As soon as the fans rushed by, they sliced the Tardigrades' mouths open. Seconds later, their attempt to fire instead caused the energy in their maws to leak out uncontrollably...and widen the wounds they had been given. Refusing to give up, they attempted to charge...and for a moment, it seemed like they might succeed…
But the wounds merely worsened thanks to the energy forcing them open, and the resulting imbalance caused the gathered energy to instead explode on them.
Yumi was disappointed that they did not die, but now their innards were exposed. Black, gooey stuff that she didn't want to look at any further. She threw her fans once again, and this time they carved the Tardigrades open, slicing them vertically.
No longer able to fight, the monsters seemed to give a final weak hiss...before their bodies collapsed into black dust.
And with that...the round was over. The Warriors, for now, had won.
"Please don't tell me there's any more right now…" Odd wheezed, trying to flex his muscles, still feeling them tighten and spasm uncomfortably.
"None on my screen right now...but there's bound to be more on the way to the Tower, or they're all guarding it."
"And of course we can never catch a break." Odd sighed, taking several deep breaths of air.
Yumi walked forward, flexing her own arms in satisfaction, the sleeves of her kimono fluttering. "At least they're dead. Be happy for that. Jeremie, do you have any idea where the activated Tower is? We don't have time to run around in circles."
"With the superscan disabled, I can't. Sorry. It was designed to lock on to any Tower, and then I could either give a route or just give you the directions since the Towers are large enough to act as landmarks most of the time."
"Yeah, large enough." Odd snorted, beating his paws against his chest. "I can see a bunch of 'em down from here and that really tall one, but none of them have any black stuff floating around! It's gonna take us forever to find it, and-"
There it stood. It had been hidden by the trees and the High Tower itself, but now they had found it. The other Tower on the tallest hill. Unfortunately for them, the place was guarded. Not just by the swarming circle of Ghosts at the top, but also three large creatures that looked like mixes between UFOs and giant squids. Plus, the Tower was situated on an incline. Not a steep one, but the various small hills and rocks would make fighting rather tricky. Once they left the safety of the trees...there would be no turning back.
Odd blinked.
"Huh...never mind...I just had a vision of it."
Yumi nodded in understanding. "Where? Which one?"
"Uh...the one on the same hill as the really tall Tower."
"There's two of those, Odd." Jeremie clarified. "One closer to the center of the hill, and the one closer to the edge. The latter is the one we deactivated during the last attack, thanks to Ulrich."
"The uh, the one closer to the center!" Odd blurted. "It should be that one!"
"Then that's where we're going." Yumi said grimly, her eyes becoming cold upon hearing Ulrich's name. Then she turned to Odd, still clutching his side, and for a moment, the cold thawed from concern. "Can you make it?"
Odd tried jumping up and down, and thankfully did not fall over. He kept feeling a need to do stretches however, and his hands still felt rather scratchy and burned compared to the rest of his body. He did a few squats, and kept track of his breathing. Nothing too painful, but he didn't feel like doing anything too strenuous.
"As long as we don't have to fight anything for the next ten minutes and don't run too fast, yeah...Yeah I can make it."
"Then let's go." Yumi said, immediately turning in the direction of the High Tower and despite not having Supersprint, she was still striding forward fast enough to leave Odd behind.
"H-hey, wait up!" The Cheshire Cat called, following her as fast as his body would allow, with him still breathing in and out and shaking his arms. "Still injured here!"
His cries did cause Yumi to slow a bit, but only enough to let Odd catch up with her. As far as she was concerned, there were more important things to worry about.
Specifically, more important things to kill.
Back in the real world, Jeremie sighed, glad for a chance to have some calm amidst all of the action and chaos. It gave him time to think amidst all of the new developments.
But first, there was a minor function he had noticed, but never found reason to use until now. It wasn't that complicated or worth mentioning, merely him discovering the settings for communicating with anyone virtualized from his end. It was good to know such settings were already present, but until today, he'd thought it functionally useless. Of course, the day had also been full of surprises.
Once Jeremie saw that Yumi and Odd were walking at a consistent pace, the computer genius immediately muted himself from his end. He didn't want anything invading his personal thoughts, and it sometimes felt good just to verbalize those thoughts.
"What to do, what to do now?" he murmured to himself. "New monsters, new information, and not enough time to go over it all…"
He should've felt more satisfied, but with the current pressing issue of the attack, the only words that did come to mind were-
"Damn it all!"
He was very glad Odd and Yumi hadn't heard that. Jeremie had never been known for swearing, and he himself had always viewed it as a bit crass, but with their current situation, he felt he deserved to say something simple to relieve his stress.
And now that he had, he felt his mind clearing up, able to absorb the events of the day. He listed everything that had been part of their mission priorities. He had his robot supplies, and on the side had obtained a custom drawing tablet for Odd that he would still need to tinker with. Usually such items were fun curiosities, but considering the Italian's art skills combined with his visions, it would certainly prove legitimately useful in the future. Most critically however, he had obtained the set of programs known as the Compass, which would serve to further uncover the mysteries of Xanadu.
The only obstacle right now then, was the attack.
Having long since learned of the correlation between time, the magnitude of an attack, and the evolutionary pattern of the Specters, it was no mystery to Jeremie as to why this one was so powerful.
The only unknown factor then, was how much the Specters had evolved for this particular fight. Something he had so many questions for, but until he had cold, hard data from every battle today, he could only speculate. Looking at Yumi's Avatar data, where she needed an entirely new replacement fan instead of a simple recharge, he also wondered how much this evolution would impact the systems and rules that had already been pre-installed.
Knowing that he had work up ahead did help him focus as he immediately thought of his priorities.
"Okay, first, program in a new fan for Yumi, and as for the Tower, I need to see how much of my personal programs I can salvage or rework…"
Then, another thought struck him, which he realized might also be important.
"But first," he sighed, snapping his fingers. "I should probably call Ulrich. Need to see if he and Sebastian are still alive and to give a status update…"
Always was important to get your priorities straight, after all.
Lord, I really need to get these lengths under control. Then again, action scenes always are tricky. If anyone has any legitimate criticisms about how combat flowed in this chapter, I'd actually like to hear them. Because I have tried watching Evolution for battle scene inspirations and oh GOD that series is awful with combat. Too fluid and slow for my tastes.
(That's also definitely not spoilers for later, no sir-ye)
But that does give a nice lead-in to a QOTC, so here we go:
Question 1: What was your favorite ORIGINAL element added by CLE?
Question 2: What was your least favorite element that was SUBTRACTED from CLE that didn't make the transition from the original series?
Let me see your answers, criticisms, notes about where I screwed up in writing my own story, and general observations (Yes, even parody notes from Donjusticia, hope you enjoy the not-so-secret cameo of one of your characters in this chapter) in the reviews! If you wanna leave them, it's all up to you. PleasedoIreallyappreciatethem.
-Epsilon Tarantula-
