Chapter 8:

"I knew there was something strange about you." Ulrich continued loudly as he glared at Jonas with all the fire of a sun, while the rest of his friends turned to face the other specters surrounding them. "You work for Xana, don't you?" He bellowed in anger, only to receive a loud sigh in return as Jonas moved to stand at his full height again and turned to face his enemies.

"So much for subtle." He complained before reaching up to touch the face of his watch ever so slightly and charged into battle as his form morphed into something else entirely, leaving the Lyoko Warriors to watch in astonishment as he fought off the specters one after the other.

The first one in the group didn't stand a chance as Jonas simply grabbed one of its swords and shoved it through the creature's stomach, causing it to dissipate a moment later as it fell to the floor, leaving the guy to continue with his war and level another one into the ground by grabbing its face – or the strange blob of black that appeared to be its face – and pushed it straight off its feet to crush the body into the concrete.

As it too disappeared, Jonas turned to find one trying to sneak up on him but quickly used the sword he had commandeered from the first to slice through its abdomen, sending it to oblivion as well, before throwing the tip of the sword into the ground and used it to swing himself around and kick another one in the chest so hard that it was sent flying across the room.

He kept up this pace for the last two as well and eventually all was quiet again as the black forms of specters dissipated into nothing, leaving them alone once more.

"Whoa!" Yumi broke the tense silence that followed as she and her friends looked around in shock.

In truth, the Lyoko Warriors really hadn't expected that kind of turn out, considering the specters they had always encountered in the past had been more or less invincible. To watch them fall and not get up, not to mention walk around in specter-form without the need of a possessed person, who could likely be hurt or worse from an attack, was – surprising.

"Remind me not to get on his bad side." Odd added mutely.

"I don't think that'll be a problem." Jeremy added as he took a step toward Jonas, who hadn't moved since dispatching the last enemy, instead just stood where he was, looking at the ground as if resigning himself to his fate.

However, the younger teenagers didn't appear interested in berating him further for the apparent betrayal, or even yell at him for keeping such a secret. Instead they just slowly circled the man as they continued to take in the new form he displayed, becoming more and more convinced of just who was standing in front of them.

Eventually when they were staring each other down like statues frozen in shock, Jonas turned to finally meat their eyes.

"Don't look so startled." He joked dryly. "I would think that after Xana nothing would surprise you anymore."

"Yeah well – this is a little – bigger than Xana." Yumi admitted, still staring at him in complete astonishment, before Aelita finally proved to be the first one capable of moving again and approached him.

Taking in his new digital form, she realized immediately that it wasn't his original avatar; instead it was a slimmer kind of jumpsuit that still obviously held the unique personality of its owner, while also appearing more mature and battle-hardened.

Looking up at his face again Aelita finally came to understand why those eyes were so familiar, and why the smile he gave her felt so right. And it was this new realization that at last gave her the voice to connect a true name with the person in front of her.

"Odd?"

Illestkid has earned kudos for being the "first" to guess that Jonas was Odd.

And The Boy Who Could Is Me also gets props for pointing out many of the little hidden details that were there to help you all figure it out.

You are both very perceptive, Go You! ;)

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