Franz Hopper's Free!

Karen

White and Pink-Gold flew towards the school caves, and White waited outside. Then they flew to the factory and...blue.

Later, they were talking with the principal and Big Brown, and another large bronze was in the room.

I stretched out on the grass below the dorm windows. This would be interesting. I guessed that the new bronze dragon meant my little idea worked?

"How's it going, Karen?" I looked up. Aelita had poked her head out the window.

Just fine. My idea of bringing your father out of the computer will work.

Aelita looked extremely happy after that.

I flew above her head, high enough to be out of sight, as she went to her first class. Aelita called up, "You know, Karen: that was a very special treat last night."

You mean the kiss? I grinned. Yeah, I figured that Yumi might as well ditch her pride and admit her love for Ulrich.

Aelita suddenly stopped. I circled around. What is it?

"Karen…do you love William?"

I stopped flapping and set up a small glide. What brought that up?

"Just…you seemed very preoccupied after we destroyed the supercomputer on the space station, when you said that William had tried to say something."

Well, I won't deny that I liked that kiss. Was my dragon blushing? Could it blush? But actually loving him? I don't know.

Well, after school we all went to the factory. Jeremie asked, "How many warriors do you think we'll need on this trip, Karen?"

If Xana was going to leave us alone, I'd say just Aelita and me. But since we'll be doing exactly what Xana wants us to do in part, we'd better bring along at least two others.

Odd asked, "So what will you be doing?"

I looked at him. Why don't you come along and find out?

Jeremie took mercy on him. "Karen's going to bring Franz Hopper out of the computer. The only way to do that is to get him out of the Digital Sea, and the only way to do that is to knock Aelita in."

Ulrich's eyes widened. "You're going along with this, Aelita?"

"I trust Karen. And I trust my father."

"Then I'm going."

"So am I," Odd chimed in.

"All right, you guys, get down to the scanner room."

We appeared on Lyoko in the Ice Sector, practically right on the edge. I straightened up and looked around. It was all clear…for now.

"All right, Aelita. You realize it must seem like an accident, right?"

She nodded.

"Good." And with that, I snapped my wing open, knocking her right off the platform. She hit the Digital Sea and I waited.

After about a minute, the glowing ball that was Franz Hopper came up. And that's when the trouble began. William came up with two Mantas, which started shooting at the ball!

Franz floated over to us and dropped Aelita off. I yelled, "Odd, keep them busy! Ulrich, parry those shots!" Then I took off and flew for the ball.

I could hear my friends complying with my orders. I landed squarely on top of the ball and thought as hard as I could, not sure if he could hear me, Franz, you have to trust me.

And then I…I guess "pushed" was the only way to describe it. I pushed some of my strength into the ball, focusing on all the images of Franz Hopper that I had seen, focusing on the scanner opening and Aelita's father stepping out.

I didn't have to do that very long before suddenly Franz Hopper disappeared from below me simultaneously with the two Mantas exploding! I hit the ground hard and let out some kind of snarl.

Odd looked up. "Jeremie, did it work?"

Silence for a moment. Then, "Yes, Odd! Franz Hopper is safe on Earth!"

William yelled, "No!" And then he made short work of Odd and Aelita. Ulrich started for me, but William's sword tore through him before he reached me. I started flying, yelling out, "Jeremie, bring me in!"

We all rested from our exertions in the principal's office. Mr. Delmas offered for Franz Hopper to stay with him and he accepted. Then Jim, who was with us at the time, asked, "So is that it, Karen?"

I knew he wouldn't hear my telepathy, so I looked at Aelita. Tell him that we still have to rescue William and destroy Xana.

Aelita looked at them and said, "Xana is still a threat, sir, and he still has William. Until Xana's destroyed and William's back, we must fight."

Franz Hopper rubbed my head. I guess he was thanking me for getting him out of there. I didn't say it, but I figured I knew how to rescue William and destroy Xana.

Jeremie commented as we left, "I thought that would fix your problem, Karen."

I answered, That didn't take much power. My problem is some kind of a power overload, and I didn't get much of it out.

"So…" Odd asked, "how do we get the rest of the power out?"

I grinned. By destroying Xana and rescuing William.