A/N: Hey guys! How's everyone enjoying 'An Odd Arc' so far? I decided to give you all a nice early chapter for Memorial Day in honor of those who fought and died for America. Of course, for those of you who aren't American, it's just another day, but hey, new chapter!
I'm sure you're all just dying to know who our new recruit is, and this chapter you'll find out! I'm really hoping everything goes well with introducing a new Lyoko Warrior so be sure to review and let me know what you think. If anything can be improved be sure to tell me :)
Also, a super big thank you to ObsessedwReading for her really nice reviews, I'm so glad you're enjoying the fanfic so far.
Enjoy, my lovelies!
After Xana's most recent attack on Jeremie's brain, the boy genius was trying to figure out how to make Kiwi useful. But when on Lyoko, Kiwi did nothing but run around and bark.
"William, Ulrich, this experiment is over." Jeremie brought the two, plus Kiwi, back while Aelita watched at his side.
-( ( • ) )-
The two warriors plus dog came up on the elevator a moment later, and Kiwi bounded out, curled up in a corner, and closed his eyes.
"What do you think?" William raised his eyebrows.
"Kiwi is useless." Jeremie stated flatly.
"He is not." Ulrich stared at him.
"He can't be controlled. Only Odd could control him, and even then, he's a dog. He's too stupid to help us."
"He is not stupid, Jeremie." Aelita looked over at Kiwi. "He's just worried about Odd, and when he's on Lyoko, he smells Odd but can't find him. You can't find him either. I guess that makes you both stupid."
"Aelita, I'm trying. You haven't found him, that doesn't make you stupid."
"I haven't tried to find him, nor do I have to. I am not stupid unless proven guilty." Aelita crossed her legs as she sat on the rim of the Holomap.
"You could try anyway, you know."
"Why should I? I didn't lose Odd." She blinked her eyes rapidly.
"You couldn't devirtualize him either."
"I missed him with my Energy Fields, but I tried. You just sat there whining about nonexistent errors." With this remark she flipped her hand dismissively.
"Those errors were there earlier, I was trying then, and I am still trying to bring him back! And I am not stupid."
"Well, trying isn't good enough! That clone is stupid too, and you made it. Why can't you make it better?" She pointed an accusing finger toward the empty elevator.
"I tried with the William clone, and it didn't work. If I had some help, maybe I could work on that, but I've been trying to find a way to make Kiwi be useful. I can't do everything on my own."
"You don't care if I help or not anyway. You said so yourself. You snuck behind my back to recruit a replacement for Odd!" Aelita waved a hand at the person across the room.
"Aelita, I was mad when I said that. I didn't mean it. I need help." There was a pregnant silence for a few seconds in which Aelita glared at him while the other Lyoko Warriors stood around staring as they had been for the duration of the argument. "Fine."
"Come on, Kiwi." Ulrich went over to Kiwi and picked him up. "I locked the clone up in the room, but who knows what he will do." Ulrich got on the elevator and waited for the others. Yumi and William got on after him. Yumi went to push the button but Aelita ran on before she could, then the new member boarded.
-( ( • ) )-
The next day, Ulrich was playing with Kiwi outside, when heard Jim. "Come on, Kiwi." He picked Kiwi up and tucked him inside of his shirt. He went into the woods to hide from Jim. "Hey," He felt Kiwi against his stomach. "When Odd first took you to Lyoko, he did it like this. He was in control, but so were you." Ulrich whispered. He had an idea. He'd have to wait to call Jeremie, though, as Jim was too close by to make noise.
After Jim walked away, Ulrich ran back to the dorm building. He started to run to Jeremie's room, but Jeremie wasn't there. He got his cell phone out and called Jeremie. "Jeremie, I have an idea."
"Is it any better than your Kiwi idea?"
"Even better. So here's what I'm thinking."
-( ( • ) )-
"That is absolutely insane."
"Yeah, but what do you think?"
"It might work, but who would be the one to merge with Kiwi? Are you willing to do it?" Jeremie asked.
"I...maybe."
"Call the others. We need to have a meeting." Jeremie decided.
"I'll call Aelita." Ulrich offered.
"Thank you." Ulrich hung up then called the others.
-( ( • ) )-
The Lyoko Warriors met in the Control Room. "Ulrich has another idea." Jeremie began. Yumi rolled her eyes.
"I hope it's better than your last one." she quipped.
"It is." Ulrich held up Kiwi. "Odd took Kiwi to Lyoko once. They were merged. They were a weird combination but Odd was in control but had some of Kiwi's stuff. If we did that again we could have Kiwi's sense of smell but a Warrior's control."
"Do you volunteer?" Aelita raised an eyebrow at Ulrich.
"I, well, I might."
"I'll do it." Everyone turned to the other side of the room.
"Really?" Ulrich was suspicious.
"Yep. I've never been to Lyoko, only been Scanned. I can fight really well on Earth, but I don't know what it's like on Lyoko. I somewhat know what a Nav Skid is like, but only because Ulrich compared it to a game. I've never actually piloted one. If I go merged with Kiwi, I can do something useful that won't slow you guys down."
"It's dangerous. It took me some time to figure out how to separate the two. It'll be faster this time, but still dangerous, and you can't be devirtualized by a monster or you'll be stuck fused. Are you sure?" Jeremie asked.
"It's dangerous. It took me some time to figure out how to separate the two. It'll be faster this time, but still dangerous, and you can't be devirtualized by a monster or you'll be stuck fused. Are you sure?" Jeremie asked.
"I trust you, Jeremie." The soon-to-be warrior's lips curled into a smile.
"And if you get stuck together, Ulrich or Aelita can walk you." William laughed, but the others didn't. "If Odd said that you would have laughed."
"Maybe." Ulrich looked at Yumi, wondering what she thought. He should have volunteered. She might have thought he was a coward because he hadn't.
"When can we do this? Tomorrow is Saturday, we'll have all day. I can't wait to see Lyoko." the newest member cut in.
"Sounds good to me." Yumi nodded.
"I'll be here." Aelita concurred.
"This is really brave of you, Alex. But if any monsters attack, do not engage them if you can help it. If you get devirtualized you won't like what happens." Jeremie warned. With an affirmative nod from Alex, the group, minus Jeremie, got on the elevator and left the Factory.
-( ( • ) )-
On the way back, Ulrich held Kiwi. The group plus Alex and Kiwi saw Jim by the garden shed almost immediately. "I have to hide him." Ulrich looked frantically for a place to put Kiwi.
"Hi Jim!" William sprinted over to the large teacher. "Hey, I was wondering something." William circled the gym teacher, getting him to turn his back to Ulrich, Yumi, Aelita and Alex.
"What is it?" Jim eyed the teen before him suspiciously as the four plus Kiwi snuck by.
"The others told me you had a boot camp and trained them and stuff. I'm real jealous. Did you really fight a beaver in Newfoundland?"
"It was Alberta, but yes. But I'd rather not talk about it."
"Why?"
"The nightmares. Those razor sharp teeth coming for my jugular. Why, if I hadn't…" The others began to run while William listened to his story.
-( ( • ) )-
On Saturday, the group was ready. Alex was obviously nervous, holding Kiwi against his gray shirt in the middle Scanner.
"Please don't pee on my pants..." he quietly begged the dog, and looked up. "If this goes wrong, I'll chase anyone who makes fun of me up a tree." He tried to joke, and forced a smile. Aelita gave a genuine smile at his joke, and he relaxed a bit. The Scanner doors closed around him.
"Transfer Alexàndre." He felt a small skyward draft blowing, pushing up anything that was relatively lightweight and loose, like his baggy pants and his hair. Rays and flecks of light accompanied the wind, and he squinted his eyes shut, as did Kiwi. The ID Card that Jeremie had used to Scan him earlier on began to fill with color.
"Transfer Aelita, Transfer Yumi. Scanner Alexàndre." His feet lifted off the ground, startling him slightly. A metallic ring inside the Scanner projected a strange band of light onto him, and he began to rotate as he floated upwards. His hands tightened around Kiwi. On Jeremie's screen, a wireframe formed from his features and filled in with green color.
"Scanner Aelita, Scanner Yumi. Virtualization." Wind and light from the Transfer phase burst back into the Scanner, stronger than before, flooding Alex's senses of hearing, sight and touch. Kiwi seemed to disappear from his arms as he reformed on Lyoko as a wireframe in a T-pose, several meters above the Desert Sector's ground.
The three senses that had been so assaulted in the Scanner, Alex felt return to him as the wireframe filled in with his features. He looked out over the Desert Sector and gasped in awe...then began to fall. He yelped in surprise and promptly landed on his rear.
"Did it work?" Jeremie asked cautiously.
"Ow, my ass..." Alex winced as he crawled back up. "That was really weird. It didn't really hurt, just kind of felt weird."
"That's Lyoko for you." Yumi gave a supportive smile. Now Alex opened his eyes and looked around the Desert Sector with astonishment.
"This is Lyoko? It's insane..." He looked at Yumi and Aelita. "You guys look like superheroes with your outfits."
"Your outfit is pretty slick too. Makes you look very handsome." Aelita complimented, looking to the sky with a 'take that' sort of expression.
"Excuse me?" Jeremie's voice filled Lyoko's air as Alex looked down at his own body.
His Lyoko clothes consisted of a form-fitting sleeveless black bodysuit, which showed his finely-built muscles nicely, with two green lines that started from his shoulders and converged on his chest in a ring with a green lightning bolt inside, going in one line straight down from the bottom of the ring. He had a slate-gray sash along his waist, like Ulrich's or Odd's on their upgrade, with a gray buckle on the left with blue edges and a green ring design on it. The sides of the suit were a dark green, going all the way down to his feet, with a blue line level with his kneecap that circled the knee and went down the middle of his leg. His shoes were black combat boots with green markings. His face looked pretty much the same, and his hair was still spiked up and out, but with a thin black headband over his forehead. His shoulders bore metallic green shoulder pads, and his hands completed the look with bright green bands around the wrists, black fingerless gloves with blue pads on the dorsum of his hand, and miniature gray tesla coils between his knuckles.
"I said his outfit makes him look handsome." Aelita repeated, her voice dripping venom.
"Thank you. You don't look so bad yourself." Alex raised his eyebrows playfully.
"Can you two please stop flirting and look for Odd? I swear, Aelita, this is so unlike you..."
"What are you going to do about it? Are you going to get jealous of Alex and throw him into the Digital Sea too? Just because you think I said something out of character?" Aelita growled.
"I can't believe you're still mad about that! I thought you were over it. And last I checked you hated the idea of Alex coming along." Jeremie threw his hands in the air in protest. As Ulrich and William's wireframes appeared and filled in, Alex noted the way they landed perfectly, keeping their balance. "Anyway, can you smell Odd?"
"I can try." Alex suddenly froze, his green-blue eyes wide. He sniffed the air, and ran at top speed to where Odd was knocked over.
"It worked, Jeremie, but it looks like Alex just lost control." William pulled his Zweihander from silver-black mist. "Should we send him back?"
"Wait." Alex shook his head. "Sorry. Got lost for a minute." He walked away from the edge, but looked back multiple times.
"Do you smell Odd?" Aelita was even more nervous than Alex was.
"Strangely...yes. Yeah, that's Odd. I think Kiwi wants to find him." Alex almost dropped to his hands and knees, but stopped himself. "I hear this weird creaking, like joints on a machine."
"That means that monsters are coming." Aelita explained.
"Then I better send the transporter to Sector 5." Jeremie entered code SCIPIO and the transporter appeared. Alex looked up at it in fearful awe and took a step back, flinching as the sphere engulfed the him and the other Warriors and whisked them off to Sector 5.
-( ( • ) )-
In Sector 5's arena, the Transporter arrived and dropped its contents off. Alex looked around with wonder as the room spun and slowly came to a stop, revealing the passage that would lead the Lyoko Warriors into the Core Zone.
"This way! The Skid isn't too far into Sector 5." ordered Aelita as she ran into the passage.
Alex looked around Sector 5 with astonishment. "There's five sectors? More than this crazy place and the desert? Damn..." As they ran to the elevator that would take them to the Skid, he tried to make conversation. "So you guys all have weapons? What could mine be?"
"We can't know anything you don't." Yumi pointed out. "You might have a weapon that you can't just pull out. You'll have to conjure it, sort of."
"I have energy fields which I create by cupping my hands, spreading my fingers and concentrating. And you saw William making his sword appear." Aelita explained.
"I wonder if I have something similar." Alex, while running, held his hands before him and concentrated. Green bolts of energy danced from the coils between his knuckles to his fingertips, and then between hands with an electric whir and crackle. "Whoa, awesome! Electrokinesis."
"That looks like more of a power than a weapon. See," Yumi pulled her fans out. "I have telekinesis as a power, but these tessen fans are my weapon. They work like boomerangs and can block lasers."
"Maybe I have a similar weapon." He let the electricity stop crackling and reached behind him. As his hands moved to his back, they brushed something along his sides. He pulled them out. "Whoa, pistols?" They were slender and dark gray blasters, with a rectangular shape. The front vertical bar of the 'rectangle' was a large handle-sized trigger that Alex could pull to fire a bullet from the end of the topmost horizontal bar. They looked as though they could be connected at the triggers.
"That means you have a projectile weapon like me and Odd." Yumi put in.
"You don't all use projectiles?"
"I use dual sabers." Ulrich answered. "You already saw William's Zweihander."
-( ( • ) )-
When they arrived at the Skidbladnir elevator, Alex was the first to get off at the top. "Kiwi knows this thing will take us to Odd." He was obviously anxious to get in, for he bit his lip and stared at the digital submarine.
"Hold on." Aelita asked politely as the others came up from behind.
"You have to stand on that pedestal right there, the one on the far left." Ulrich recalled getting Kiwi to lay down on that pedestal. Alex obeyed much easier than the dog had.
"Energize." Each Warrior disappeared and reformed in a Nav Skid, except for Aelita, who was in the cockpit. Alex gasped a bit as he reformed, looking around his Nav Skid with fright. Aelita piloted the Skid out of Sector 5 and soon they were in the Digital Sea. She piloted the Skid to the hub and dove in. "Alex, do you smell anything?"
"Whoa!" Alex was overwhelmed with all the smells as well as the beauty of the upside-down city that was the Digital Sea. "It's amazing here! This is the internet?"
"You bet." Jeremie answered.
Alex and Kiwi had a hard time picking out Odd's scent. "Move right a little, okay?"
"Alright." Aelita piloted the Skid in the direction Alex told her. "Where to from here?" Alex wasn't sure and made a confused face.
"Kiwi smells Odd, but there are so many other scents, it's hard to figure out where his goes." Alex concentrated on Odd's scent. "Go forward and stop when I say so." Aelita piloted the Skid as Alex gave her directions.
-( ( • ) )-
The group was absolutely lost. Odd's scent seemed to go on forever. "Can you hear me?" Jeremie called out to them.
"Barely. Alex, are you sure this is Odd's scent?" Aelita checked.
"Absolutely. Kiwi knows it's his scent." Alex got worried the further out they went, but Kiwi's excitement at following Odd's scent kept him going. "Left." Aelita started to turn the Skid when the area faded to red.
"Oh boy, what does that mean?" Alex asked as he tensed up.
"Xana's attacking." Ulrich prepared some torpedoes.
"I smell fish." Alex shook his head and cautiously grasped the controls.
"I'm ready." William affirmed.
"Be careful guys, you're really far away from Lyoko." Jeremie worried as Aelita detached all but one of the Nav Skids, the one being Odd's empty Nav Skid. "Don't get hit, Alex, if your Nav Skid's shields die you'll be lost just like Odd. And I don't know what'll happen if you're fused with Kiwi and get lost."Six Sharks appeared and fired torpedoes. The Nav Skids scurried about in the 'water' and dodged the torpedoes.
Alex looked around his Nav Skid for the right button and fired a torpedo of his own when a Kongre appeared near him. "It's not attacking?" The Kongre seemed to be motioning to him to follow. "Odd! His scent is a lot stronger now." The Kongre swam away and Alex followed it against his will, for Kiwi's instincts took control.
"What is he doing?!" Ulrich saw Alex follow a Kongre, but not attack it. "Guys, I think Alex turned on us."
"He did not, Ulrich, why would he? Kiwi probably took over. Kiwi likes to chase things." Yumi looked for Alex's Nav Skid but couldn't see it.
"We have to take out these Sharks!" William dodged a torpedo, turned sharply, and fired one back, hitting a Shark.
-( ( • ) )-
Alex followed the Kongre, trying to fight back for control, but Kiwi smelled Odd getting closer and closer and wouldn't let the young man take over. The Kongre stopped and Alex-Kiwi passed it. Now the Kongre was following them.
-( ( • ) )-
"Got it!" Ulrich fired a torpedo and destroyed a Shark. "If Alex were helping this would be easier!" Ulrich did a barrel roll to avoid a torpedo.
"Maybe the Kiwi part of him got scared." Yumi dodged a torpedo and fired one of her own. "Or he smelled Odd and took over." She did a semi-circle, turned, and fired a torpedo, destroying the Shark that was following her.
"Maybe you're right." William fired a torpedo, missing the Shark.
-( ( • ) )-
Alex was basically gone. Kiwi had taken over and was following Odd's scent. The Kongre behind him was is joined by two more, still following Alex-Kiwi. "Ruff, ruff!" Alex-Kiwi barked as he neared a conically shaped object with ridges like a conch shell. The scent was coming from there! Alex-Kiwi almost crashed the Nav Skid into it when it moved. It turned to reveal two engines in what would be the opening of the conch. It tried to escape as the Kongres swam out from behind Alex-Kiwi's Nav Skid and started shooting. Alex-Kiwi chased after it, the Kiwi half knowing Odd was on that ship and wanted to see him.
-( ( • ) )-
"Watch out!" Ulrich screamed as a torpedo barely missed Yumi.
"I got it! Watch your own Nav Skid!" Yumi sharply turned, hit a tunnel and bounced off. The Shark took aim.
"No!" William fired and hit the Shark before it could destroy Yumi's Nav Skid. "I can't lose you." he whispered under his breath.
"Thanks, William." Yumi looked around for more. "I know there were more Sharks when we started."
"You're right." Ulrich looked around, but didn't see them.
-( ( • ) )-
The Kongres were joined by the last two Sharks. The conch-like craft tried to speed away but the monsters were blasting it with a barrage of lasers and torpedoes. Alex-Kiwi flew around it, as Kiwi stayed in control. "Alexàndre." a calm voice echoed. The Nav Skid almost slammed into a pillar.
"Huh? Wait, what happened?" The Alex side of Alex-Kiwi resurfaced.
"Help us. I can't move fast enough." Alex shook his head. The voice was echoing through the Nav Skid, and it occurred to him that it might be the ship's pilot.
"I, okay, whoever you are." Alex turned the Nav Skid and fired a torpedo. He destroyed a Kongre. The other two Kongres split from the Sharks and attacked Alex.
If you want to save Odd, you have to let me keep control. Alex mentally fought against Kiwi's impulse to chase Odd as he sensed the cat boy's aroma drifting away.
-( ( • ) )-
"I found him." Jeremie used the control panel to pick up Alex's signal. "Go east, you should find him."
"I wonder what he's doing." Yumi piloted her Nav Skid in the direction Jeremie said to.
"Joining Xana, just like the last time we had a new recruit." Ulrich sighed as he followed.
"Give him a chance, Ulrich, maybe he smelled Odd." William also chased after Alex-Kiwi.
-( ( • ) )-
Alex dodged lasers clumsily and fired a torpedo. It hit a Kongre, leaving one left. "Come on! I have to go back and destroy those Sharks." He entered into a deadly battle with the remaining Kongre.
-( ( • ) )-
Yumi, William and Ulrich moved with finesse through the internet. "You're almost there." Jeremie watched on the screen.
"I see him!" Yumi pushed the accelerator. "He's fighting a Kongre." Yumi took aim and fired.
"Hey, they made it." Alex saw Yumi, then Ulrich, then William. "Guys! This way!" He took off after the conch-shaped craft and the other three followed.
Aelita moved slowly, but still attempted to chase after the others. "I'm defenseless here!" She pounded on the control panel. "Slow down!" They were too far ahead and couldn't hear.
"There it is!" Alex saw the cone shaped craft and the Sharks. They were near a server. If the craft made it there, it could escape the Sharks, hopefully. "Come on, stay still." Alex aimed at a Shark, his aim still not practiced and, as such, quite shaky.
"What do you think it is?" Yumi was in awe of the craft. It was larger than the Skidbladnir and its shape was awkward but it still moved elegantly through the internet.
"I don't know, but Xana wants to destroy it." Ulrich took aim and fired at a Shark. It dodged the torpedo.
"Then we need to protect it." William managed to blast one Shark with a torpedo.
"We have to help it." Alex fired and clipped a Shark's fin, sending it spiraling.
"Thank you, Alexàndre." The cone shaped craft made it to the server. The Sharks fired torpedoes at the same time, but the craft disappeared into the swirling hub.
"Now!" Yumi fired and hit the crippled Shark.
"Got it." Alex fired and hit the last Shark. "The scent, it was Odd's scent. Kiwi knew it was him."
"But, how? Whose ship was that?" Ulrich wondered.
"Someone Xana doesn't want alive." William noted. "Odd must be on there."
"What happened?" Aelita finally caught up to the others. "What did I miss?" She saw nothing but the four Nav Skids.
"There was another craft. Xana was trying to destroy it. They saved it and it got away in the server." Jeremie explained.
"But, who, no one else could have a ship here except for my father." Aelita's eyes went wide as the others, minus Alex, realized who it must be.
"Franz Hopper!"
A/N: Le gasp! The plot thickens, and Aelita is being such a cat to Jeremie over losing Odd, hm? Looks like her mean streak from Evolution is showing. So what do you guys think of Alex? He doesn't seem to have much character so far...Hm...I'll have to do something about that, won't I? :) But fear not, I don't plan on making every episode focus on him. Quite to the contrary, actually, if you're wondering, most of his development comes toward the end of Book 1 and in a subplot of Book 2. Hehe, you'll have to keep reading to see how he (and the others!) develops, and see just what happens to Franz Hopper and his super seashell ship.