He Who Calls
Chapter 43
"This is the final battle," said Odd. "We win here, we win today, and Xana is gone forever. The threat that looms over us is gone. We can be normal kids again; we can do anything we want. Xana may have tried to ruin our lives, but we fought and we will beat him today. Are we ready to go?"
"We are," said Jeremy. "I'm sending you now." In a minute they were on 6Base. The walls were clear blue, a blue that seemed heavenly. But no one stood to oppose them. They walked slowly down the hall, wondering how this had happened. Then a boy walked out of the Fragment Room when they arrived. He had black hair, black eyes. He looked stained.
"Lyoko Warriors," he said in a cold voice. It seemed to echo, though there was no way it could have. "I wanted to meet you face to face before you tried to kill me."
"You… You try to look like a normal human," said Aelita with contempt. "You fool no one. You're a murderer. You're a deceiver. You're a demon." The boy looked right at her. His eyes were very sad. "You're Xana."
"I am Xana," the boy said. "And I regret that."
"You knew what you were trying to do to us," said Milo. "Don't play the innocent."
"I am not. I wish you to kill me for my sins at the end of this conversation. I just want to say I apologize for what has made me. And to make you aware that something has. There is a traitor in your midst. The man who calls himself Franz Hopper."
"What do you mean?" asked Aelita.
"Franz Hopper died. A long time ago. The thing you rescued was a horrible monster. That was what created me. I turned on him, and imprisoned him. And then came the most horrible misunderstanding of all time. I thought you to be trying to bring him back to take over the world. So I tried to kill you and stop you. I knew that a few deaths would be nothing compared to having the Imprisoned One on Earth again."
"But… Then we can't kill you."
"No, no, you can. You see, I am a malfunction in Xana. I am called Xanite. Xana remains faithful to the Imprisoned One. I was trying to kill you. But he was also, just for malice. Xana and the Imprisoned One. I, Xanite, had nothing to do with anything except that I knew I had to tell you this before I died with Xana. Xana is evil He must be destroyed. If the boy called Xanite dies with him, it is just too bad."
"Xanite," said Milo. "We can virtualize you. On Earth. Cut your link to Xana."
"I have cleared the way," said Xanite. "Your friend Yumi can arrive. She is coming. And then you must shut down Xana."
"And what of you?"
"I was a functioning part of Xana for too long. I am still a part of him, just the part that feels compassion. I am dysfunctional. I want to die. Please. Let me sleep. Let me leave this horrid world."
"All right," said Milo. "With Yumi we will destroy Xana. I wish you luck, Xanite." Xanite smiled.
"I will be waiting." He vanished. Yumi appeared where he had been standing.
"Is Xanite gone?" she asked.
"You knew about him?"
"Only learned when I was trapped. Let's shut down this thing and kill the Imprisoned One. Shutting Xana down should do both. Jeremy, did you get all this?" Jeremy said nothing. But someone else did.
"Jeremy is dead. And you will not pass through that door." Everyone recognized the voice as Franz Hopper's. The ran in the doorway of the Fragment Room as the most horrible monsters anyone had ever seen appeared behind them. In the yellow Eye of Xana, there was a notch for each of their weapons. They plugged their weapons in and watched as it turned blue.
"I know who the blue stands for," said Milo as Xana shut down.
"Who?" asked Aelita, weeping with misery and joy.
"It stands for Xanite."