Chapter 7:
New Skills; New Stories
"Alright. I'll let off a few blocks. Ulrich, you can go first." Jeremy typed into the computer and three blocks appeared in front of Ulrich. Yumi and Odd were standing back and Carl and Aelita were on earth with Jeremy.
Ulrich drew his blade. "Hey, Carl. How do I use this new ability?"
"You just do," he shrugged. "I'm not sure how I do some of the stuff I can do, but I know that I can."
"Thanks for the help," Odd smirked.
Ulrich took a deep breathe. Then the shots started flying. Ulrich deflected most of the easily and dodged the rest. But one slipped through and caught his arm. He crouched under a few more shots and clenched his teeth. He pulled up his sword and stood. Suddenly, everything began to slow. The bolts, the blocks, even his sword. His mind raced. "I can see where they're going." He spun his sword, catching three bolts consecutively. He didn't even stop moving as he twisted and ducked. Even in his slowed state, he could time his swings perfectly.
Back in real time, Ulrich was a blur. "That's new," Odd commented.
"His brain activity has spiked," Jeremy discovered. "To him, everything is moving in slow motion." Then he looked at His life points. They were dropping, fast. "Ulrich! Stop!"
Ulrich caught it. It was slow and drawn out, but it was there. He relaxed, and everything sped back up. "Triplicate." He split into three bodies and charged, stabbing each block simultaneously. He refused and put away his sword. "That was awesome!"
"Ulrich, your life points went from 100 to 50 in only seconds," Jeremy scolded.
Carl stepped closer. "It's a drainer. As long as you stay in that trance you'll lose life points."
Ulrich nodded. "Got ya. Well, you're up Yumi."
"Try your telekinesis first," Jeremy said as he typed. "I've got a feeling that it's changed somehow."
A large boulder appeared over Yumi's head and started falling. She pulled one hand to her temple and held the other straight out. The rock froze as her body began glowing. With a flick, the rock flew off into the distance. "Enhanced telekinesis. Nice."
"Watch your back," Ulrich said as he finally joined Odd.
Yumi spun to find three blocks running her way and one was charging to shoot. Yumi put both hands to her temple and closed her eyes; her body glowed brighter. She opened her mouth and let out a blood-curdling scream. But Ulrich and Odd heard more, it was like a thousand voices screaming inside their heads. They clamped their ears, trying to block it out, but it was still there. The blocks also started going frantic as Yumi continued screaming. They shook and rocked until they finally exploded. Yumi calmed and the aura faded. "Woe."
"Man, that was like some kind of sci-fi," Odd said as he shook his head.
"It must have been some kind of psychic attack. Your life points dropped by 40." Jeremy thought for a moment. "We'll save this for a last-resort attack." Yumi nodded. "Odd, the blocks are behind you."
He turned and Ulrich backed away. The blocks stopped and started firing. Odd ducked and dodged and let arrows fly. He quickly took two of the blocks out, but couldn't feel anything new. He got ready to fire another arrow when an image of energy flashed through his mind. "Straight behind, chest height." He dropped to the ground and an energy bolt flew over his back.
"What was that?" Jeremy asked. "His brain waves jumped for a split second."
"I don't know," Ulrich answered. "But there is no way he could have done that before."
Odd launched an arrow, dispatching the block, and had another flash image go through his head. He rolled over, just dodging another bolt. He stopped on his back and shot the block that had come from behind. He rocked back on his hands and kicked himself up. "That was easy. Hey, Einstein, can't you get anything better?"
Jeremy laughed. "No, but these will come in handy. Brad just sent me a message. They're waiting to start the fusion. Head to the edge of the sector and I'll send you to Sector 5. Carl and Aelita will meet you."
They gang arrived just as Carl and Aelita touched down. "Hey, Carl, what did you get after beating your clone?" Ulrich asked.
"Mine was the shurikan. Evan got the ability to split his dodgballs and Brad got a shield. You'll see them later if this works." Just then the large eye descended, collected the large group, and flew them towards the center of Lyoko.
They were soon deposited on the floor of the fast rotating room. Odd was clutching his stomach. "Oh, man. I hate taking that trip."
Carl laughed. "Evan feels the same way."
"Get ready, everyone," Jeremy called. "The wall's about to stop."
Just then, three vague images ran towards and through the wall. It was the other team. "It looks like the others beat us here," Yumi said.
The large wall slowed to a stop and the big door opened. "Countdown started. I think the trigger's close," Jeremy said. "One room forward and one room to the left."
The group ran off. They ran along the wall of the first room, skirting a large abyss. As they entered the next area, Odd was first through the door, and something flashed through his mind. He turned and shot two arrows. One exploded an oncoming energy bolt and another flew upwards into a crawler's head. Everyone watched as it exploded as well. Finally curious, Ulrich asked, "Ok, how did you do that?"
"There it is," Carl interrupted and pointed towards the ceiling. He vanished in a puff of black smoke.
Odd turned around. "It's like a get one of my visions, but it's only for a second and very specific. Like just now, I saw the crawler and a bolt coming at my head."
"Sounds like something from Star Wars," Ulrich said, still a little confused.
"Or a cat's natural senses," Yumi added.
Carl appeared behind them. "Alright, you need to get to the external interface," Jeremy told them. "Go three rooms north and use the elevator." They all headed off and got outside without any trouble. Aelita pulled up a holographic screen as everyone else prepared for the imminent space rays. "You'll have to activate the program with the other one and our activation programs exactly. I'll tell you when. Kreilin and the others are at the other interface." He opened another box on his screen. "Are you ready Zen?"
She nodded. "Let's do it."
"Get ready Aelita."
"I'm ready."
"O.k., everyone. 3…2…1…GO." They all hit the activation button simultaneously.
A sudden beam erupted from the tip of the balcony the group was standing on. It shot to the far wall and started to open, slowly coating the wall in a bright white wall of light and energy. They all turned and saw another white energy wall slowly creep on the wall to there left. A similar one, but not as bright, was working on the right. And directly opposite them was another. They were all awestruck. The large circular areas of light expanded until they all began to overlap. Soon, the entire outer sphere was pure white. The beams coming from below their feet popped and shot back towards Sector 5's core. Everyone watched as the light began to fade from the walls into the center of the large sphere. Then, without warning, it convulsed, and a blinding light exploded and filled the room. Everyone shut there eyes as hard as they could.
Jeremy watched his screen in wonder. Suddenly, Ulrich, Odd, Yumi, and Carl vanished from Carthage, right out of the light. A screen opened to show the three scanners open, with the friends lying on the floors, unconscious. A message popped up on the screen. "INITIALIZING REBOOT." Jeremy pulled off his headset and ran to the elevator.
By the time he arrived, everyone was starting to wake up. There were only three scanners, so Yumi found herself on top of Ulrich. She blushed and quickly stood; hoping he hadn't realized it was her on him. "What are we doing here?" she asked as everyone else stood up.
"The system's rebooting," Jeremy explained. "It should be on in a few minutes."
They all went back up to the computer and waited. As they did, Carl opened a connection the Zen to make sure everyone else was all right. They were.
Another message appeared on the screen. "REBOOT COMPLETE. NEW FILES FOUND." A documents folder opened to show two files. Perplexed, Jeremy minimized the screen and tried to contact Aelita, who for some reason was still in Lyoko. "Aelita, are you there?"
Aelita appeared onscreen, a green matrix-type background behind her. "I'm here, Jeremy. What happened?"
"Oh, thank goodness," he sighed, wiping sweat off his face. "I was kind of worried about you. The system did a reboot. It looks like you're in an ice region tower?"
"Yes, I am."
"Hold on. I'm going to materialize you." He entered the code, but only got a large, red ERROR. "Oh, no! The materialization didn't work!"
"What?" everyone gasped as they huddled around.
"The fusion must have done something to the program. I'll have to adjust it."
"That's o.k., Jeremy," Aelita said with a smile. "I'll be fine here, for now." Jeremy smiled back.
An image of Evan popped up. "Hey guys, do you have those videos?"
"What videos?" Carl asked.
"Some new files that the computer found or something. You should probably check 'em out if you've got 'em too." The image vanished.
"Oh, yeah," Jeremy exclaimed as he pulled up the folder. "Aelita, you should be able to see these, too."
"Alright."
The two documents were videos. One was marked "History 1" and the other "History 2." Jeremy clicked the first one.
A picture of Hopper came up and Jeremy hit "Play." "Hello. My name is France Hopper, scientist and current father of Aelita Hopper. If you are watching this, then you have successfully fused Lyoko and Regalis to create Virtua. I must commend you on your work. But you must be wondering why or how I created these worlds. Well, it all started back in America. I was researching virtual reality programs and human brain waves, when the US Army drafted me to create a new training program for them. I wasn't interested, but they threatened to take Aelita if I refused to help. I had no choice. For years, I worked to create Regalis before their unrealistic deadline. When it finally came, it wasn't ready. I tried to explain to them that the safety protocols weren't finished. They didn't listen and tested it anyway. Two cadets were sent into Regalis, but Xana was able to cross over into the real world. He destroyed half of the underground complex. The generals had no choice but to shut the program down, leaving the cadets stuck in Regalis. Blaming me, I and my daughter were banished from the country.
"We came to France, trying to start a new life. But the thoughts of Regalis were burned into my mind. I wanted to create another world, proving to those fools that it could be done right if I were given enough time. So, I began to create Lyoko. But, I guess all generals are greedy, no matter where they are from. The French Army discovered what I was doing as well as what it could do. They allowed me to continue, but again used Aelita as a threat. So I strive to complete Lyoko to save her. But, they are getting more and more 'persuasive,' as they say. I don't know how long I can tolerate this." Then, the video ended and closed. Jeremy, completely fascinated, opened the second document, hoping to find out more.
This time, some American whom Jeremy had never seen before came onscreen. He hit "Play."
"This is Thomas Ford, apprentice to Dr. France Hopper. There has been a great tragedy. I was asked by Hopper to remain in America and finish the Regalis system. There was not much to be done. I simply had to install a safety program. Since Xana escaping to earth was inevitable, we used "towers" in Lyoko to control Xana's power on earth. If he does manage to get across, a human team will simply need to go into Regalis and shut it down. But then it got a little out of hand. Soon, I was constructing some kind of time machine. I didn't understand some of the things he wanted me to do, but I did what he said. A few days ago, I got a strange e-mail from Hopper. It merely contained a few instructions. Finish all previous work, connect the two worlds, Regalis and the one that he was working on, hide some files, and do a few other tasks. That wasn't very strange, but at the end, he added lines that read, 'I must do one last thing. It is the only way to escape their greed and abuse. Farewell.'
"Yesterday, France Hopper went into Lyoko with his daughter, Aelita. I looked at the system, but France had forgotten to finalize the protection protocols. The French Secret Service shut Lyoko down, trapping Hopper and Aelita in Lyoko, just like the two cadets here in America. One of the orders he gave me was to 'finish anything left undone.' So I completed the safety features just this morning. This video is his last request. He asked me to say, 'For you who are using Virtua, enjoy, but remember your duty.' And, 'Exit is limited by entry,' whatever that means. Well, I guess that's it. Just one more thing." The man leaned in close. "Don't let our work go to waste." The screen blanked and closed.
Everyone stood silently for a while and let everything they heard sink in. Even Aelita was speechless. "Well," Jeremy finally said, "This explains quite a bit." He let out a yawn. "What time is it?"
Yumi looked at her watch. "Ten of midnight." She also let out a tired yawn.
"Well, I'm off to bed," Odd said as he walked off and yawned. The tiredness was contagious.
"Hold on," Aelita interjected. Everyone gave her their attention. "If I'm stuck here, what will happen at school tomorrow?"
"Oh, that's right. We'll have to come up with an excuse for her absence," Jeremy said, thinking.
"That's easy," Odd said. "Just write a letter to the principal telling him Aelita left to attend her aunt's funeral. Leave a number for him to call that Jeremy can fake." He smiled boldly.
Everyone stared at him. "Is it me, or did he come up with that a little too quickly?" Ulrich asked.
"What can I say? I'm a natural."
With that little joke, everyone decided to retire.
