Here it is...the battle between Morgan and Taelia. I can't believe I'm finally at this point again. Morgan's pov, enjoy!
I looked Taelia over. I had seen the Lyoko Warriors escape. Was that her plan? To distract me while they got away? But...she did know I could just find them later, right? Then did she just want a fight? Well, I was ready. Honestly, I'd been hoping for a rematch after she so thoroughly defeated me on my home turf.
"Do you have your gun?" I asked.
"No."
I didn't believe her. I held out my right hand and created a strong magnetic field. If there was anything metal on her it would come to me. The only thing that happened was the button of her jeans tugged away slightly. I let it go. So she really didn't have the gun. That was slightly disappointing. I was hoping I could get my hands on that infernal gun. It was the only weapon I had come across so far that could actually kill me. It was actually designed to kill me. As long as it was still out there, it was a threat to me.
And Taelia probably knew that, and that is exactly why she did not bring it. She did not want to risk me getting my hands on it. Clever girl.
Why was she just standing there? Probably for the same reason I was. If we were going to fight, I wanted it to be a fair fight. I wanted to destroy her while we were on equal ground. That way I would prove that it wasn't my powers that made me better. I was just more skilled.
"I propose unarmed combat with Spectre abilities, which I will provide." I siphoned exactly half of my power and made a new spectre out of it. It floated above my hand, looking like a black mist. This was the easiest way to even the playing field. Taelia looked at the spectre, mesmerized for a moment. It seemed like she was looking at some forbidden object. As if she wondered if she dared use that sort of power.
"I accept."
I guess she dared. Very well. I gave the spectre very strict orders: begin the possession procedure but leave any part of the brain having to do with free will alone. It would do no good to have a fight as a test of skills if she did not have the ability to think and act of her own free will. The spectre flew into Taelia. She hunched over and closed her eyes as it entered through her chest. It overlapped her in space. It surrounded her but was also inside of her. It made this sort of gray static overlay to her as the two merged. Taelia's body twitched. At first, the human body always rejected the spectre, but they always merged in the end.
Now that I thought about it for a second, I couldn't have possessed her mind, even if I wanted to. She had been virtualized and devirtualized multiple times, so she no doubt had the immunity. The electrical impulses in her brain were slightly strong than that of a normal human's because of a slight miscalculation in the scanner system. If I tried to take control of her body by overriding the body's natural electrical impulses in the brain with my artificial ones, the strength of the shock would be to much, and start to damage the brain. If the brain was damaged, nerves wouldn't fire correctly. And since firing certain nerves was the method of control spectres used, misfiring nerves would make the whole thing useless. What use was there in a puppet that didn't control properly? That was why we couldn't possess the Lyoko Warriors.
After a few seconds, Taelia stopped twitching, straightened up, and opened her eyes.
"I've never felt so alive..." Taelia said, smirking. Both her voice and the specters deep static undertone were talking to make that demonic possession effect.
"Everybody says that." I responded. "You should have the knowledge of how to use all your powers. And the double voice act has been overplayed. You can just use your normal voice. Now, whenever you're ready. On your mark." I stood there, waiting. She stood a second, probably getting accustomed to the spectre, speed reading the instructions I left, or...recalling them. I put them in her memory. A moment later, it seemed she was ready.
"En guarde."
Still, I just stood there. I wanted to see her first move, really, I did. She had about a million chances to completely destroy me except she was treating me with the same kind of respect in battle I was treating her with. This was the first time I got a good look at her face. It looked like mine, and it looked tired. She looked a lot like me. She acted a lot like me. Why was this?
She charged an orb of electricity in her hand with some effort. It was big and not terribly fast by my standards. I easily dodged it.
"Very nice, but I like to do it more like this." I held up both hands, small charges of electricity were on each of my fingers. I shot them rapid fire at her. She doubled over, stunned. Perfect, now-
Something struck me from behind and I fell to the ground. Taelia's hand plunged in my back and I could tell. She was doing damage. She was...trying to overload me.
"I'm better at this than you think." Taelia grunted. I had shot at an image she left behind, much like Ulrich's Triplicate. I should have listened for her. As a Spectre she was incredibly quiet, but as a Spactre I had impeccable hearing. Oh well, this was hardly the time to reflect on what I should have done. This was when my training was put to the test. I turned into a cloud of smoke and got out of her grasp. Then I reformed and punched her square in the jaw.
We engaged in hand to hand combat. She punched, she elbowed, she got at me from any angle she could. I blocked. I parried. I countered. I could turn 360 degrees while keeping my feet firmly in place. Physics of the human body did not apply to either of us. I had to agree with Taelia, this made me feel alive, more alive than I had been for the past 3 weeks. This reminded me of sparring with William. Back when we were both living on NegaCarthage. We trained together when we weren't training to our individual strengths and weaknesses. It made me feel like I knew people...more than I did...when fighting like this.
"Are you...playing...around...?" Taelia breathed between punches.
"Yes." I blocked, sounding much calmer than she did. "Aren't you?"
I dissipated and blended into the shadows. This was the psychological portion of the fight. I was actually having a good time. I almost didn't want this to end. I saw Taelia glance around quickly. Of course she could not find me. I knew how to hide myself. She realized she would not be able to hit me and sighed.
"Really, Morgan? Are we really doing this."
I made no response. Taelia glanced around a bit more, and then walked away. Well, she tried to walk away She came up against my electric barrier. It was visible enough, translucent red. She reached her hand out and touched the barrier. She immediately pulled it back and shook her hand, like a human burned. He hand looked fuzzy, as if the lines had blurred. After a few seconds her hand reformed to it's original shape. The barrier would disrupt the electro-magnetic field that held both of us together. I had given her my strengths, but I had given her my weakness, too. She could not get out, and neither could I.
She realized she couldn't get out and so stood there with her back to the barrier and crossed her arms.
Hm...I was hoping she would stand in the middle of the clearing. Things would be so much more fun that way. This way, I could only come at her from one direction. Clever...clever and boring. Where was the fun in that. Taelia was always ruining my plans. I had moments planned out in my head...visuals, scenarios that would be amazing, that would be...art. And Taelia would ruin them. I reformed in the middle of the clearing.
"You're a real killjoy, you know that?" I asked.
"Been ruining fun since 1968, and boutta ruin yours." She pointed at me with both hands. Then she sent a beam of electricity at me, and I sent a beam back. They clashed together, blue and red lighting clashing together with a blinding light. Sparks flew and some of the trees caught fire. Animals fled if they had not already. The barrier did not impede their escape. It was a fantastic light show. The lightning did not waver one way or the other. We were evenly matched. I saw my chance.
I ducked under the beam of electricity, rushed up to her, and popped up. The sudden lack of opposition caused Taelia to lurch forward.
"THERE CAN ONLY BE ONE!" I cried, as I swung a lightning punch at her. She grabbed my hands and used my momentum to push me into the barrier face first.
Ah! That feeling! That burning! I hated it...I felt myself...blurring...frizzing at the edges. It was the same feeling as the multiagent. It was the feel of death. I couldn't die here...I couldn't. Xana was so close to revival, so close. I had used Taelia's memory to repair all of the damage done to Xana. He could be revived, all I had to do was supply a jolt of energy...
And what better energy than the life energy of the one causing me so many problems.
With my mind set on that idea, I completely forgot the honor, the fair fight, the game. None of that mattered right now. All that mattered was that I survive and get my father back. Then everything would be ok again.
I ordered the spectre inside Taelia's body to paralyze all her major muscle groups.
The force pushing me into the barrier suddenly went limp. I stepped away from the barrier and the burning stopped. I took down the barrier. There was no longer any need for it. This was checkmate. I lay Taelia down on her stomach. She made noises like she was struggling to move.
"What did you do?!" She demanded.
"I paralyzed you with the spectre. I don't care if I damage you."
"Wh...what happened to a fair fight?" Taelia struggled, but it was useless.
"You actually believed me? You are a fool. You are a dried up, old, fool who's only remaining purpose is to give me your energy. Xana will be reborn from your ashes." I grinned, and without further delay I plunged my hand into Taelia's back and started to absorb her energy. I started by getting the spectre back, but I did not stop there. I took and took, draining all of the energy from her. I could feel her get weaker and weaker. She wouldn't ruin my plans again! She screamed, she moaned, her voice became hoarse and failed her. And her famous last words?
"I'm sorry...Franz..."
Finally her breath stopped, her pulse stopped. I let her go. Her head hit the floor, and she did not movi
The Lyoko Warriors could wait for now. I left Taelia's body in the clearing and headed for the factory.
They never did find the body.
I went to the Factory, absolutely giddy. I won! I did it! And now I had victory in my grasp! My father would return. Everything I did so far was leading up to this. He would know what to do. He would know how to take over and make sure this didn't happen again. I would be able to relax. I would be able to get William back and together we could kill the Lyoko Warriors and be happy together. Nobody would get in my way. There was nothing in my way anymore!
I almost couldn't believe it. I got there as fast as possible. I had to go through the Supercomputer, into the Digital Sea, onto the Network, NegaCarthage, and then the room I built where I'd been spending much of my time reconstructing Xana. I wouldn't have to go to school anymore. I hated it there. It was so incredibly boring.
I brought up the screen that controlled the room and a thought came to mind. What if...it did not work? If, even after all this, it did not work...then nothing would. If this did not work there was not anything else she could possibly do. It would mean he was beyond repair.
I had to believe this would work. I did not do all of this work for nothing.
I pumped Taelia's energy into the containment field, and started the procedure to re-attach the broken pieces of Xana.
If Morgan failed to revive Xana, continue on to the next chapter.
If Morgan Succeeded in reviving Xana, go to chapter one of Code Betrayal, which will be on my profile soon.
Time elapsed since last chapter: an hour if that
Time elapsed since chapter one: 2 weeks one day
Ok, friends, here's how this works. Over the years I've worked on these characters and this story, two very different storylines have come about. One in which Xana is dead, and one in which Xana is alive. I will be uploading them in an alternating pattern from now on, starting with chapter one of Code Betrayal. I ask you please to read both if you like this story. It will show a very different story arc for Morgan and there are things you can only learn in one arc or the other.
Thank you to all my readers for keeping with me so long, I love you all. If you'd like to leave a review, a fav, or a follow that would mean an awful lot to me. And as always guys, have an awesome day.