Franz Hopper
A couple of nights after that incident, Sissi yawned as the team stumbled down the factory elevator. "Five towers activated. Doesn't XANA have bedtime?" Odd asked.
"We have to be on our toes guys," Jeremie said.
"This is probably some kind of trap. The Earth would have been shaking by now if XANA really used all five towers," Sissi grumbled. As the door opened, there, to everyone's surprise, was a man at the computer interface chair, typing. Sissi and Jeremie looked at each other speechless. The man turned his head back. He had gray hair and a beard, a little longer than Sissi's father's beard. His round-rimmed glasses made his eyes hard to see under the artificial light. He wore a white lab coat with a dark red turtleneck and black pants. "Um... what are you doing here?" Sissi asked.
"I'm deactivating the towers," the man replied.
"Without going to Lyoko? But how?" Jeremie exclaimed.
"Oh, that XANA always leaves some holes."
"But... who are you?" Aelita asked. The man turned to her, furrowing his bushy eyebrows.
"Haven't you figured it out? I'm Franz Hopper."
What?!" the gang shouted.
"I'm the creator of Lyoko and XANA. But... that pesky XANA managed to get out of control and wreak havoc on the world. It was originally supposed to counteract a military program through a multi-agent system."
Sissi crossed her arms, playing with her cane through her fingers. "And where have you been all these years."
"I've been a kinda prisoner of XANA, but I managed to escape," Franz said.
"And me," Aelita asked. "Why did you create me?"
"I created you to fight against XANA, but I never thought I would see you here on Earth. I have this young boy to thank for that, I guess," Franz said, patting Jeremie on the shoulder. Aelita and Jeremie smiled. Hopper turned to Sissi. Her face was neutral, devoid of any emotion whatsoever. Hopper's eyebrows furrowed, "What's that matter Sissi?"
"Nothing, my head just hurts for some reason," Sissi gently rubbed her cranium.
"That accident you had with the computer could have damaged your brain. Tomorrow, we'll run some tests."
The next day, Jeremie got a phone call from his dad. "Hello, Dad?"
"Hey, big guy. You know why I'm calling right?"
"Uh... no?" Jeremie said. His room door silently opened. The blonde turned and Sissi, Yumi, Aelita, Odd, and Ulrich all shouted,
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY EINSTEIN!" The team ransacked him with love and affection while Jeremie struggled to keep on the phone with his dad.
"By the way," His dad continued, "You should call your mother more. She's been worried about you. Jeremie?"
"Uh, yeah dad! I'll call you more. I love you, bye!" Jeremie sighed and smiled. Odd presented a big wrapped box to the genius blonde. Opening it, Jeremie pulled out a hand-drawn picture of the whole team.
"Ya like it? I drew it all from memory. Pretty good, huh?" Odd smiled.
"I still think you made my nose too big," Sissi griped, leaning her back against the wall. Odd stuck out his tongue as did Sissi.
"Thanks, guys. This was amazing! And to end it, let's get to the factory and end XANA once and for all.
"Right," Odd smiled. As everyone walked out of the door, Sissi silently gazed at the floor. "What's wrong, your Highness? Is your headache still hurting you?"
She took a while to answer, "Yes... it is." She said, almost unsure of her answer. "Don't worry, I'll just take some migraine pills later on. You guys go on ahead. I'm going to get some stuff from my room," She smiled. Raising an eyebrow and Giving a brief stare, Odd shrugged and closed the door behind him. After they left, Sissi jumped to Jeremie's computer and logged onto Lyoko. Her eyes narrowed as she sighed before getting off the computer. "Okay, I get it now." She ran after the gang and joined up with them in the factory.
"Sissi, are you okay? Where were you?" Odd asked.
"I told you. I had to get some stuff ready," Sissi smiled widely. The blonde frowned. "What?"
"You know, I've gotten better at figuring out when you're lying." With a glare and a growl, Sissi smacked the back of his head.
"Am I lying now?" She growled out.
"Uh nope, never mind." Everyone laughed.
Later on, they briefed Franz Hopper about their adventures on Lyoko, but one particular thing seemed to worry him. "You used the scanners to virtualize human beings?"
"Uhh yeah. It's the only way to get onto Lyoko," Jeremie said.
Hopper took his time responding, "The virtualization process wasn't perfected and can be extremely dangerous. We'll need to runs some tests to make sure that you weren't hurt. And we should run some tests on you, Sissi. That accident with the reactor could have left you with some brain injury." Sissi nodded with a plain face. Jeremie and Aelita stood with Franz at the computer as the others were in the scanners. "Ulrich and Odd all seem fine." Then his voice lowered, "but Yumi and Sissi." A red beeping rang out from the computer.
"What! Oh no!" Jeremie exclaimed.
Yumi shut her eyes as she sat on the school bench, dropping her head into her hands. "Real nice, Jeremie. You make Frankenstein look sane. Not only is Yumi in big trouble but now Sissi probably has something worse going on in her head!"
"I... I couldn't have known! I'm... I'm sorry," Jeremie sighed.
"Sorry? Sorry isn't going to fix this," Ulrich fired back.
"I'll find a way to fix it. I promise!"
"We don't even know what it is!"
"Yumi I-"
Yumi quickly stood up. She wouldn't even face him. "Please, leave me alone, Jeremie. I have a lot on my mind." She left with Ulrich and Odd in tow. Aelita quietly stood with Jeremie, resting her hand on his shoulder. The dreary minutes passed like hours until dinner time came. Jeremie and Aelita sat on the same side, facing Odd and Ulrich. Sissi was next to the window on Jeremie's side... with her legs casually crossed over each other, unhurriedly eating her dinner.
"I know I can fix this. If you just give me a chance I'll-"
"I think you've been doing too much experimenting," Ulrich replied.
"What do you mean? That everything is my fault from the very beginning?" Jeremie asked.
"You're the brains of this group, Einstein," Ulrich uttered venomously.
"Not only that, but you scanned Sissi before and you couldn't have found the problem in her brain," Odd snapped.
"Odd and Ulrich would you two clowns shut up for a moment! You're making it hard to eat," Sissi shouted. Silence. "Jeremie, why don't you go to bed? Aelita, go with him. I can tell that the two idiots here need some space." Jeremie and Aelita did so, exchanging nasty glares at the two boys. "Geez, it seems like the more I'm with you Ulrich, the more I'm glad the crush is gone," She grinned.
"Why are you so okay with this, Sissi?" Odd asked. "You could... you know... tomorrow for all we know!"
"Relax, dog for brains. Everything will turn out fine," Sissi smiled.
"How do you know?"
"Because if they don't, it doesn't matter. I knew what I was signing up for when I joined you guys. I'll go to my grave knowing I did my best to save humanity. I can deal with that," she sighed, resting her arms behind her head. "I did my best. That's all that matters. And I know it's not Jeremie's fault." Her tone suddenly turned venomous. "Besides, you're probably more guilty than he is Ulrich."
"What? Why?" He questioned.
"Jeremie didn't know anything about the scanners' danger. But time and time again, he would put his life on the line to make sure you guys came back safely at the end of the day." She planted her feet to the ground and slammed her hands to the table, shooting up. "Meanwhile, you're still guilty of that little stunt you pulled with the Return to the Past, just so you can keep Yumi near you!"
"What?! I-"
"Can cheat the lottery system and use the supercomputer just to get a girl but can't give Jeremie one ounce of mercy for an honest mistake?"
Ulrich shot up too. "So you're not responsible? How do we know that the scanners weren't altered when you went back in time! For all we know, you could have messed up things from the very beginning!" He charged. Sissi's eyes widened, and her eyebrows surged together. Her teeth gritted together, and a vein popped out of her temple. Odd rested his hand on Ulrich's shoulder.
"Guys calm down. It's-" Before he could finish, Sissi got a phone call.
"Yeah?"
"Head to the factory. Franz called us," Yumi said.
"On it. Looks like we're nearing the finale," Sissi smirked. The smirk gave Odd chills as an angry Ulrich walked out of the lunchroom. Sissi stood up and walked out with Odd by her side.
"He didn't mean that. He's just-"
"Don't worry about it, Odd. I'm not going to kill him," She quickly whispered. All the edge and rage in her voice seemed to vanish. "When we get to the factory, keep your guard up."
"Huh, why?"
"Just... be careful."
When everyone finally got to the computer room, Franz caught them up to speed. "I managed to locate the data in Sector 5 that's needed for Aelita's Anti-virus. We'll be able to finish XANA permanently."
"That's amazing! Aelita, you'll finally have a normal life!" Ulrich celebrated. Aelita smiled widely. Sissi, who stood next to Jeremie, was quiet.
"I thought the scanners were dangerous?" Jeremie asked.
"If we're to end XANA, we have to take that chance," Hopper replied.
"What about me? What do I do?"
"If I were you, I would just stay out of the way."
"That's not fair! Everyone blames me for everything, and after all, we all turned the supercomputer on together!" Jeremie shouted. Hopper spun the chair around.
"Perhaps, but you were the one who played the sorcerer's apprentice, you're the one who put your friends' lives at risk, and you're the one who let XANA destroy my diaries!" Hopper turned back around to the computer.
"And none of you have anything else to say?" Sissi calmly asked. Ulrich and Yumi turned back to the computer screen while Odd linger a bit before sighing and sadly turning around. Sissi lifted her head a bit and slowly nodded. "I understand."
"Fine, I get it." Jeremie turned to the elevator along with Sissi and pressed the button.
"Jeremie!" Aelita cried out, but the door closed. Something bumped against her foot. It was Sissi's cane.
"I can't believe those-"
"Hit the down button," Sissi interrupted Jeremie.
"What?"
"Hit the down button." Jeremie did so. They walked into the reactor room. "Good, we have to wait here for a moment."
"What do you mean? What's going on?" Jeremie asked. Sissi pressed her finger to her lips. She whispered,
"Let go of your anger for a moment, okay?" Jeremie breathed in and out and then nodded. "Think. He said you let XANA destroy his diaries."
"Y... yeah, how would he know that?"
"You were possessed by XANA, remember? Who else would have known about the records except us?"
Jeremie's eyes widened then squinted back. "XANA."
"There we go," Sissi smiled slyly and messed his hair up with her hand. She dug into her pocket and took out the arm brace. Jeremie narrowed his eyes at her. "Don't worry, I modified it. We should be able to throw his electrical balls back. Put it on, quick."
"Scanning, Yumi. Scanning, Odd. Scanning, Ulrich," Franz said over the intercom.
"Alright, that leaves Aelita. Come on," Sissi said. They climbed up the stairs and saw Aelita. They silenced her before she could say a word.
While Odd, Yumi, and Ulrich were fighting off some creepers in Sector Five, Aelita was stranded on the Desert Sector. "Hopper, what's going on? Where's Aelita," Yumi asked.
"Don't worry, a minor bug in the program. I'll get it fixed momentarily," Hopper replied.
"Keep your guard up guys," Odd muttered.
"Why?"Ulrich asked.
"Because things are about to get ugly. Just like Sissi knew they would," He said heavily.
Jeremie and Sissi came back up to the computer room. "Sissi, Jeremie. What are you two doing here?"
"Oh, I just forgot my cane. You know, can't really do anything without it," Sissi said, grabbing it from the floor as Jeremie walked over to the other side of Hopper.
"And what are you doing here?"
Jeremie smirked, "I wanted to know how you're doing, XANA!" Hopper's eyes flashed XANA's sign as he growled,
"GRRRRRR!" He made a move, but-
Click!
"Ah, ah, ah, ahhh!" Sissi sang and aimed her cane at its head. She gave a wide cocksure smile. "You don't want to fizz now do you?" She smiled. Jeremie poised his finger-webbed weapon on the opposite side.
The fake Hopper sat back. "You two are very clever, but it won't work. My plan is already in progress. Your friends can't rematerialize and now they don't have their weapons."
"Good," Sissi said. Even fake Hopper looked shocked. "It will teach them to trust their friends instead of you." She pressed the shock button, and Hopper buzzed out of the chair. Sissi quickly hopped in and typed to fix the rematerialization process. "Just in time. The Schypoza's about to take all of Aelita's memories." The fake Hopper reformed behind her with buzzing hands. "Jeremie! Take care of that!"
"On it!" Jeremie shouted, punching Hopper in the face. The specter fizzed and dropped to the ground. Sissi frantically typed away, but the countdown for Aelita's memories ran faster and faster.
"You're too late," The Fake Hopper digitally said.
"I don't think so," Jeremie smirked. Hopper looked at the screen. When the Scyphozoa finished downloading Aelita's memories, it rang up "error" on the screen. The Scyphozoa buzzed and flailed around.
"What is the meaning of this!" The specter shouted.
"A decoy," Jeremie smirked. Aelita actually hadn't entered the scanner. She quickly typed on Jeremie's laptop which was connected to the big tube.
"NO!" The specter screamed as it deformed and disappeared into thin air. Just then, Ulrich got de-virtualized.
"No, Ulrich!"
"Come on, relax. Don't you trust me?" Jeremie said while Sissi tapped away.
"Jeremie!" Yumi said.
"Yeah, Sissi and I are back!"
"I managed to put the code back in for the re-materialization program just in time. And here are your weapons back. Okay, Aelita? It's your turn," Sissi said. "Transfer, Aelita. Scanner, Aelita. Virtualization!" Aelita dropped on the Forest Sector and then used its edge to get into Sector Five. Jeremie and Sissi switched seats. The Dragon Queen went downstairs to the scanners where Ulrich was. The brown-headed teen laid on the floor, rubbing his shoulder. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, thanks," Ulrich sighed.
"Good," She suddenly punched him in his other shoulder. "That's for the mean things you said."
"Yep! I deserve that," Ulrich grunted.
"Come on, let's make sure Jeremie's okay." They climbed up the stairs and saw Jeremie gasping for air on the floor. "Jeremie!" Sissi shouted.
"Jeremie?! What's going on?" Aelita called out. Sissi left Jeremie to Ulrich's care and quickly typed away.
"Aelita, you have to deactivate the tower quickly. Jeremie doesn't have much time," Sissi replied. Aelita ran at top speed, passing Odd and Yumi who were fighting off mantas.
"Jeremie's in trouble. WHOA!" The gap between the floor and the tower was too wide. Aelita backed up, waited for a manta to fly by, and ran. She jumped, hopped onto the manta, and then dove into the tower.
"Can't we just shock XANA out?" Ulrich asked.
"It'll make him pass out, and then XANA could actually kill him!" Sissi said. "Come on, Einstein! If you die, I'm letting Odd marry Aelita so you better stay in there," Sissi shouted back over her shoulder. Whether or not that actually helped, Sissi never really figured out. For whatever reason, it seemed like XANA's hold over his throat loosened just a bit to allow more air.
At last, Aelita turned off the tower, and the specter keeping Jeremie's throat captive disappeared. Jeremie gasped hard and started breathing normally. "It's okay, buddy. Everything's okay now," Ulrich sighed.
"Whew," Sissi sighed.
Continued...