Hey there! I took a short break, but I'm back! Here's the next chapter! I have to say, season 3 is definitely exceeding my expectations so far. I love it! And the buildup for the finale and season four is immense! I can't wait!
Anyway, I have a slim chance of finishing this before season three ends, because it's already more than half-over.
The story is going into overdrive now, just to let you know. Lots of stuff in a little time. The end is near!
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Chapter 21 – The Final Battle Begins
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Eric stared at the cyclone. "It's now or never," he whispered as he plunged in. He was caught in the whirling winds and tossed around like a rag doll. He curled up into a ball so he was less likely to be hit by flying debris, and concentrated hard.
He fought as hard as he could to gain control of the tornado. He figured that if he could just unwind the winds, the cyclone would dissipate. Unfortunately, he couldn't gain control of the tornado. He looked around and saw the dust carried by the wind forming XANA symbols all around him. XANA's control was just too strong.
"If I can't stop it, I just have to put it somewhere else!" he yelled. His voice was lost in the immense noise as he closed his eyes. His body began to glow like a yellow sun.
Then he opened the floodgates and invited the cyclone's power in.
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John was thrown up into the air by the quake for what seemed like the millionth time. He had tried to do what Eric was doing with the cyclone, but he couldn't remain in contact with the ground long enough.
Finally, he had an idea.
"This is going to hurt," he muttered as he concentrated. When he fell to the ground, he sank through it until he was completely submerged.
The underground was more chaotic that above ground, if that is possible. He quickly opened up to the quake. If he waited to long, the shifting ground would tear him apart.
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Nina gasped as she watched the cyclone. It had been shrinking for several seconds when it suddenly stopped and started growing again. She looked at its base to see that it had reached the water and was sucking it up. It became a massive waterspout and increased in size until it was even bigger than before!
"AMY! LOOK!" Nina yelled at the top of her lungs. Amy heard her and turned from where she had just seen John go underground. The moment she noticed the waterspout, she was gone, speeding towards it as fast as she could.
Now it's my turn.
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Eric was dead tired. He had exhausted everything, and still the tornado had beaten him. Not only that, but it was now a waterspout! He was way out of his league.
As he whirled around the waterspout, he felt a hand grab his own. He opened his eyes to see Amy holding on to him for dear life.
Sis? he thought, too tired to speak.
"LET'S WORK TOGETHER!" she screamed as loud as she could.
He barely had the energy to nod. Together, they opened themselves up to the waterspout, sensing it, almost becoming part of it.
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Kirsten swore as she jumped out of her car. Odd jumped out the other side and they both ran to meet the other four on the side of the gridlocked highway. The cyclone and the earthquake weren't helping matters.
"We really should live closer," Kirsten said. "This is getting ridiculous."
"Well, there's only one way to get there," Ulrich said.
The others nodded and called up their vehicles.
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When they arrived at the factory, they sprinted for the elevator. The factory floor was beginning to catch fire for some reason. They didn't stop to see what was wrong, instead deciding to close the elevator door. As the door closed, everything outside of the elevator went black, but those in the elevator decided to ignore it and get on Lyoko as fast as possible.
Jeremie got out at the lab floor, and the rest went down to the scanners. He immediately sat down in his chair at the terminal. Before he started the virtualization process, he noticed a block of meaningless text on the screen.
Cqn overy bntcfa vb enrayl fgne. Pf cf cqn tfan. Cqnan, lfd jvyy oveu cqn necaretn cf Bntcfa Mnaf, cqn cadn tfan fo Ylfxf. Ryy cjnyin zdbc fgne cqn uffa, reu ryy cjnyin zdbc pf cqafdpq vc. V jvyy jrvc fe cqn fcqna bvun. Qdaal, V treefc jrvc ofa yfep. Uf efc cal cf unrtcvircn r cfjna, rb KRER qrb uvbrsynu ryy fo cqnz rbvun oafz cqn fenb ve cqn cadn tfan.
-Oarem Qfggna
He shrugged and minimized it, determined to take a look at it after his friends were virtualized..
"Transfer Ulrich!" he began.
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Dan and Rena stopped as they saw the factory. Or rather, they saw where the factory used to be. Instead, it was just a black void, a hemisphere of darkness surrounding the factory.
Dan thought fast and ran into the darkness. Instead of fading out, the moment he crossed the line he disappeared in the darkness.
"The factory's still there!" she heard Dan yell faintly.
"Dan!" Rena yelled. She was about to go in after him when she saw that the darkness was beginning to become distorted. It shrank and spiraled into Dan to reveal the factory.
They ran inside and saw a massive fire covering the entire factory floor.
"Holy crap!" Rena said. Without a second thought, she jumped into the inferno.
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Once the gang was virtualized, Jeremie told them where the tower was and began to decode the message. It was difficult, as it seemed to use some sort of letter-replacement cipher, but in no recognizable order.
"KRER…that probably means XANA…" he mumbled to himself as he worked out the code.
Finally he had it. He displayed the finished code on the screen and began to read it.
The final sector is nearly open. Go to the core. There, you will find the entrance to Sector Zero, the true core of Lyoko. All twelve must open the door, and all twelve must go through it. I will wait on the other side. Hurry, I cannot wait for long. Do not try to deactivate a tower, as XANA has disabled all of them aside from the ones in the true core.
-Franz Hopper
He smiled. Finally! Something helpful!
He switched back to the map screen and located his friends next to the tower in the Forest Sector.
"We have a change of plans."
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In Lyoko, Ulrich looked up at the forest sky partially obscured by CG trees. "No, really? I never would have thought so. I mean, the tower just deactivated on its own, and now it's not even glowing at all!"
"Yes," Jeremie said. "All of the towers in the four sectors are disabled. XANA is attacking from somewhere else. Go to the edge of the sector so you can go to Carthage. I'll let you know what to do once you get there.
"Roger that," Kirsten said, grabbing the overglider. "We're off!"
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Sorry guys, but that's it for now. I'll have more soon.
Not much to say except REVIEW!
Also, even though I'm working on three new fics, I'm mainly working on one, called The Darkest Power. It's not a Code Lyoko fic. It's actually based on a book series by Eoin Colfer called Artemis Fowl. It's a really good series. If you haven't read it, go read it!
That's it for now! See you soon.