Chapter 21
Ghost of Yesterday
The three Sentries fired at the cluster of rocks at the tower's base. Odd crouched behind a rock as he glanced up at the laser shots firing above his head. Aelita glanced around, looking for a way to escape into the air. Jeremy told her that Ulrich and Yumi were still in trouble with this new "Aether" creature, as it called itself. And so far Yumi had been caught by a Scyphozoa and Ulrich had his hands full with Aether. So they needed all the help they could get.
"Incoming Hornets," Jeremy spoke over the loud speaker; Aelita looked up to see three Hornets making a dive at them.
"Jeremy, I'm out of Arrows," Odd said. Aelita fired two orbs at the flying bugs, but they easily maneuvered around them. William stood up and looked at the three bugs. Odd heard both his arms shuffle as Jeremy reloaded his guns.
"Let me try," William said. His sword glowed white as a blue bolt of electricity flowed through his sword. He slashed his sword into the air, releasing a large clear blue shockwave; the wave hit all three Hornets as they exploded in mid air. William turned around smiling; Odd and Aelita had shocked looks on their faces.
"I remember that Xana would force me to do that every once in a while against you guys."
"Oh yeah. When you destroyed Sector 5," Aelita said as she snapped her fingers
A large laser shot hit the rock Odd was hiding behind, causing him to squeal in surprise.
"We need to hold the monsters off so that Aelita can go to help Ulrich and Yumi," Odd said.
Odd poked his arm around the corner and fired off a series of shots towards the Sentries. Aelita fired an energy orb towards one of the last Tarantulas. Now all that remained were the three Sentries, the Defender, a Scyphozoa, and this hooded figure, which was just standing back and watching.
"Do you guys think you'll be ok with all these things? We have the same issue they have as well," Aelita asked.
"We'll take care of the squid; you go and help the newlyweds," William said as he blocked a couple of shots with his sword. His sword glowed white from the shots it had took.
"Ok. Be careful guys," Aelita said.
Odd crouched behind the nearest rock towards the three Sentries. William crouched behind him.
"I'LL take care of the Sentries, you get the Squid," William said. Odd nodded.
William vanished in a white poof of smoke and flew towards the three drones. He materialized out of the air and sliced the first Sentry in half. Odd came out from behind the rock and fired three shots at the Scyphozoa. The first hit one of its tentacles, the second and third hit its large bulbous head.
Aelita waved her hand over her watch as she jumped into the air; her white angel wings appeared out of her back as several laser shots fired in her direction.
William sliced the arm off the second Sentry, as it jerked and shorted from the injury; it fired its gun sporadically. William jumped behind the Sentry and pointed its arm cannon towards the third and final Sentry. The laser rounds pierced into its body as the Sentry exploded. William tossed the body of the second Sentry to the ground and threw his sword into its chest. The Sentry exploded into pieces.
"Having fun?" Odd asked as he jumped into the air to avoid the Defenders' green bomb shot.
"Yes," Will replied as he held his sword with two hands. "Watch this." William's sword glowed white again as it shimmered; a blue bolt of electricity coursed though his sword as he stared at the Scyphozoa. He sliced his sword into the air as a large shockwave fired out of his sword and towards the Scyphozoa. William watched as it came closer and closer to the squid. Suddenly the Defender flew into the air in front of the shockwave and took the impact of the slash.
William was in shock. He looked towards Odd who was just standing there, also trying to contemplate what just happened.
"Did you do that?" William yelled.
"No, I didn't," Odd said.
"I did it."
William looked over at the man in the black robe. He had opened his robe, revealing a black armor chest piece with a Xana Symbol. It was white with hints of red wrapped around it. To Odd and William, it looked familiar. The face was covered with a hood, so William couldn't see who it was.
Now there was just Odd, William, the Scyphozoa, and the man in the hood. The Scyphozoa just floated there, not moving or anything. Finally Odd broke the silence.
"So who are you?" Odd asked.
The stranger slowly pointed towards William. "I was once human; maybe a mere shell of what humanity was, but I could feel, I could smell and taste. So many colors surrounded me. And in the blink of an instance, I was reduced to nothing but a file once more," the figure said as he walked around clenching his fists, his metal gauntlets clanking.
"Have you ever wondered why people never… 'freaked out' when you came back to earth, William?"
Odd slowly lowered his hand as he realized what it was talking about. In the lab Jeremy's jaw slowly dropped as he suddenly realized what was talking.
"Muffin II," Jeremie gasped.
"Who?" William asked, "Who the hell is this?"
"I told him he should have let me decide on the codename...," Odd muttered.
"When you were captured by Xana, I created a program to imitate you so no one would get suspicious. When you came back, I deleted it. I can't believe Xervix found it," Jeremy said as he ran a bio scan over it. Muffin II's stats were exactly the same as William's.
"When it came time for you to go back to earth, I was cast aside. Like a useless tool. That fool Jeremy referred to me as an item, not a being. He tossed me aside and left me here. Now I have a second chance. Xervix has given me the chance to get revenge on you. I will replace you and once Xervix is finished with the boy and girl, we will seal you in this computer. And you will finally see what it's like to be a tool. Merely tossed aside to rot."
Odd pointed both of his arms at the monster; William walked over to his side and held his sword firmly in place.
"Ok then Muffin. Let's do this then," William said.
"Oh it's not Muffin anymore," the figure said as he opened his robe, revealing his full outfit. He had the same outfit William had when he was under Xana's control.
"It's Tartarus."
Tartarus leapt into the air and aimed for William. William stepped to the side in time to see a familiar large sword with a Xana symbol in the center, lined with large thick black veins, slam to the ground next to him. Odd aimed at Tartarus, then grabbed his chest after a precise kick from the former clone. Tartarus delivered a swift and hard Uppercut to Odd as he flew back a few yards. William dropkicked Tartarus in the back. Tartarus fell to the ground. He flipped on his back and did a hand spring into the air. William jumped backwards as Tartarus landed near his sword.
Odd fired both of the guns in his arms as Tartarus deflected them one at a time. William ran towards Tartarus at full force, ready to strike.
In the lab, Jeremy was trying to figure out what was going on. First there was this Aether and Tartarus guy. And now there were two Scyphozoas attacking. The first one had taken turns capturing Ulrich and Yumi, and the second one was just hovering there next to where William, Odd, and Tartarus were fighting. But what was the plan? The Scyphozoa hadn't removed any of Ulrich and Yumi's DNA. Nor had it removed any of their memories. Ulrich and Yumi were fine. Then Jeremy thought of something. Where had Aether and Tartarus came from? Tartarus was a corrupted version of Muffin II that Xervix had taken control of. But what about Aether? He ran a complete Bio scan on Aether and noticed a small thing. He had a similar DNA based signature as Aelita. It wasn't Aelita's DNA. So it wasn't a clone. But it was an A.I. using a copied base code of her DNA to create a human like structure. That's when it hit him.
"If there is a version for William and Aelita… OH NO!!!!!" Jeremy quickly tapped the mic and spoke towards William and Odd.
"Odd!!! William!!! Watch out for the squid! I know what these two are doing," Jeremy said, "They're getting base codes of Yumi, Ulrich, and Odd's DNA to create three more A.I. creatures like Aether and Tartarus. So far they have Yumi and Ulrich's, but if they get Odd's then we're in trouble."
Tartarus turned around and swung his sword toward William. Their swords clashed in midair. A loud clang rang out as William spun around and tried to hit Tartarus from the other side. Tartarus swung his sword around and blocked William's second strike. William tried to swing straight at the legs of Tartarus. The blade flew downward; Tartarus jumped into the air and threw his sword at William's head. William bent backwards and did a flip, landing on his back and rolling out of the way of Tartarus's strike. William lunged at Tartarus and aimed straight for his chest. Tartarus disappeared into a puff of black smoke. William was startled by the sudden disappearance as Tartarus reappeared behind William. Tartarus swung at William's backside. William attempted to block it, but his sword was knocked out of his hands as Tartarus nailed him in the chin with the hilt of his sword. William fell to the ground as he rubbed his jaw. Tartarus picked up William's sword and slowly rubbed the two blades together, making a screeching noise. He slowly approached William and raised both swords over his head.
"You are inferior. Good bye," Tartarus said.
The blades came crashing down as William closed his eyes. He heard the swords hit something. He opened his eyes to see Odd standing between him and Tartarus. His purple shield was deployed and was holding off the swords.
"Please tell me that with all the 'I'm better then you' talk, you didn't forget I was still here, did you? I mean seriously. Pay attention."
Odd pushed the shield hard, causing Tartarus to stumble backwards. Odd fired four shots at Tartarus. He deflected two, but the other two hit him square in his shoulder. Odd ran up and punched William's sword out of Tartarus left hand. William disappeared into smoke and flew over towards his sword. While it was still in midair, William materialized and grabbed it. Meanwhile, Odd used the paws on his hands to scratch at Tartarus. Tartarus jumped backwards, only to be met with two more Laser Arrows. Tartarus blocked them both as his sword glowed bright red from the impact. Tartarus charged Odd and prepared to strike. However before he could reach the purple cat boy, William jumped in front of him and blocked his blade. As the two pushed on each other, Odd jumped over William's shoulder and landed behind Tartarus. He fired two rounds into Tartarus's back. Tartarus yelled in pain as William hit him in the face with the hilt of his sword and smacked him in the head with the flat, broad side of his blade, sending his opponent sliding several yards. Odd and William stood next to each other and did a sudden Flex for their victory dance.
Back in the lab, Jeremy saw the pose and placed his hand over his face, yet he was glad they were winning.
"Had enough there, Bub?" Odd asked.
Tartarus slowly stood up; his eye burned with the hatred of the embarrassment he was just given. Tartarus turned around and looked towards his two opponents. Then he looked toward the Scyphozoa, which had been sitting back and observing the whole show. Tartarus grunted as he breathed heavily, he motioned for it to come out of hiding.
"You know. This is between me and you William, let's let the kitty cat sit this out," Tartarus replied as he held out his left hand. His eye glowed bright red.
A plume of black smoke enveloped Odd as he tried to struggle. William turned to Odd as he tried to think how he could save him, only to feel something wrap its tentacle around him and lift him in the air; he looked to see that it was the Scyphozoa. It threw him towards the base of the tower. William skidded on the ground until he hit the base of the tower hard.
Odd tried to fight off the Scyphozoa's tentacles. Eventually though it wrapped its arms around his head and began the process. Tartarus smirked at the sight he now saw as he turned his attention towards William.
"Jeremy, is Odd…." William was unable to finish as Tartarus charged towards him. He swung his sword in William's general direction. William blocked it with his; as soon as he blocked it though, Tartarus jabbed near William's stomach. William moved out of the way a little and flung his sword at Tartarus. Tartarus jumped into the air and landed on William's sword. He had landed on William's sword and was standing on it. He ran towards William and side kicked him in the head, sending William reeling towards the edge. Just below the cliff they were fighting on was the digital river, next to a large forest of mushrooms and moss. William attempted to regain his footing, only to have Tartarus tackle him, knocking his sword out of his hands. William landed on the ground. He flipped over on his back to see Tartarus standing over him. Tartarus jabbed his sword at William's head; William moved his head to the left, and Tartarus stabbed him again. William moved his head the right. He brought his feet up and pulled them up and over Tartarus's legs. Tartarus hit the ground, knocking his sword out of his hands. William landed on top of Tartarus and began to wildly punch Tartarus in the face. He growled loudly as he punched Tartarus. Finally after a while he stopped. He looked down at Tartarus. He wasn't moving.
Suddenly Tartarus's eyes opened. "Is that all you got?"
Tartarus shoved William of him with his dark smoke. Tartarus jumped up and grabbed his sword. William grabbed his. They both charged each other; William's sword whistled in the air as he ran; Tartarus dragged his on the ground to the point where it made a screeching noise. They both jumped in the air and wildly swung at each other; their swords hit so many times and knocked them around with so much force that they stayed airborne for five minutes.
Finally William kicked Tartarus to the ground. Tartarus landed on his feet; so did William. The White Knight and Dark Knight stared at each other for a minute. Finally Tartarus disappeared in a puff of black smoke; William rolled out of the way as Tartarus materialized right behind him and slashed the air behind him. William disappeared into a puff of smoke. Tartarus watched as the smoke cloud raced to his left. Tartarus grabbed at the cloud; he felt something in his grasp. The smoke materialized to reveal William; Tartarus had him by the neck. William felt a lot of pressure applied to his neck; it was getting tighter and tighter. His face winced as he tried to free himself. Tartarus put his sword away as he put his other hand on William's neck; he squeezed harder, slowly draining away William's life points.
Back in the lab Jeremy breathed heavy as William's life points slowly dropped. He noted the Scyphozoa had finished scanning Odd's DNA. Odd would be up again but he didn't know how long it would take. And William was going to be devirtualized any minute now.
William tried to force Tartarus off him. But Tartarus shook him hard every time he tried to free himself.
"This is not the end William. Every time you come here, everywhere you go, I will find you. You cannot outrun me; I will remove your arrogance from the world. After all, I am your past. And you cannot escape your past," Tartarus said as he picked William up and threw him to the ground. William felt disoriented from the chocking moment, a clear sign he was low on life points. Tartarus walked slowly towards William with his sword in his hand. He whistled quietly as William tried his best to reach his sword. The sword sat between William and Tartarus. William wrapped one of his fingers around the hilt of the sword. He tried to slide it towards him but Tartarus stepped on it. William looked up, fear on his face.
"You are not meant for either world," Tartarus said. He held his blade up towards his face.
Jeremy saw the whole thing about to transpire. Then he noticed Odd was finally awake.
"Odd, hurry. William is going to be devirtualized by Tartarus," Jeremy said.
Odd looked towards Tartarus. He stood up and slowly pointed one of his arms at Tartarus's back. Jeremy watched as Odd aimed for Tartarus. That's when he noticed Tartarus wasn't looking straight at William. He was looking at his sword. Jeremy suddenly put two and two together and realized what was happening.
"Odd, wait, NO!!!!"
Before Odd could respond he fired a series of Laser Arrows at Tartarus. Tartarus saw the shots fired from the reflection of his sword and stepped out of the way. The shots hit William, who disappeared in a cluster of pixels. Odd gasped in shock as Tartarus turned around and looked at Odd.
"Now… it's time to take out another embarrassment," Tartarus said.
The cemetery was silent and still. Various tombstones and monuments stood in rows, all surrounded by a black metal fence. A young girl and her father walked up to one of the grave stones. The father laid a bundle of roses next to the grave. On the tombstone it read Vanessa Christina Delmas. 1973-1998 Beloved wife of Jean Pierre Delmas and proud mother of Elizabeth Katharine Delmas. On the bottom of the tombstone was a small dove holding a banner which read we have all the time in the world.
Sissi was wearing a grey women's dress with a white top. She looked at the grave as she held her silence. Mr. Delmas was holding her hand as they talked to the grave.
"I've tried Vanessa. I have tried so hard to make you proud. I have raised our daughter well. She is so much like you," Delmas said as his eyes became wet with tears, "I remember the day the doctors told you that we were going to have a child. You were so happy that on that very day, you cleared out a room in the house for Elizabeth . When you were pregnant, you were the happiest person I had ever met. Then the day came: you went into labor and gave birth, and nothing happened. We took her home and spent the next few days with her. And then the day came when you went and got the groceries. Sissi was at school and I had just gotten the job as the administrator to Kadic. It was snowing. Then I got the call about what had happened. I ran to the hospital, and by the time I got there… you were gone."
Sissi's eyes were swollen with tears. She sniffled as she cried.
"I never got to say goodbye to her, daddy," Sissi cried.
Delmas squatted down and looked her in the eye.
"Do you know what it was like when you were born? After you were born… the nurses gasped at the sight of you. They said you were smiling; they said babies don't smile like that. Then they gave you to your mother and she said 'Hello Elizabeth . I'm your mommy.'"
Sissi hugged her father as she cried.
"I know I have been too busy for you Elizabeth. I haven't been the kind of father you deserve. I've neglected you. But I'm trying. I'm trying so hard to give you what you need."
Sissi stood back and wiped the tears from her eyes. "Daddy. You have. You have. You're a good man. I'm proud to have you as a father."
Both daughter and father said their goodbyes to the grave as they walked off. They walked up to their car and opened their doors. As Mr. Delmas started the car, Sissi began to wonder what the banner on the tombstone meant.
"Hey, daddy. What's the quote from her tombstone?"
"That's a quote we heard from one of her favorite movies. For Your Eyes Only. A James Bond Movie. She always said it whenever we had issues. It was her way of saying everything would be all right.
The Delmas car pulled up to a stop light as it turned red. Sissi looked outside and saw a mother walking with her two children. She watched as the youngest child skipped around the mother. She was singing as she skipped. The oldest child was only six. He seemed a little annoyed at the sight of her sister skipping merrily. The mother was a young blonde woman in her late 20's. She was smiling the whole time the children were playing and arguing. It reminded Sissi of how she used to play with her mother, and how fun it always was to go out and enjoy the day with her. Sissi looked in a mirror and stared at the reflection.
"Daddy. Am I a good person?"
Jean Pierre looked at Sissi for a minute. "What do you mean?"
"Am I a good person? Tell me I'm a good person."
Jean Pierre started to drive a little before pulling into a parking lot to a book store. He placed the car in park and turned to look at Sissi. He put his hands on her shoulders as he thought of what he was about to say.
"Sissi. I know that in the past you had problems. You had issues with fellow students, and I had to give you detention several times for some things I never understood… such as the time you pretended to be Yumi in the ninth grade class photo last year. But then there were the times I saw you for who you really were. You helped your classmates out as many times as possible; you always hid from people so that you wouldn't receive any recognition for your deeds. You were exactly what your mother and I wanted. You are a guardian to anyone and everyone you meet. And I know that your mother watches you every day, and I know she is very proud of you. You were the best thing that ever happened to us. And I thank god for you every day."
Sissi hugged her father as she started to tear up from what she had just heard. She never got to spend a lot of time with her father. Maybe that was the reason why she was such a jerk. But she wanted to change, she would change. She would become the person her parents had always wanted her to be.
Xervix watched from his throne in the volcano sector as William was devirtualized, Odd started fighting Tartarus, and Yumi battled Aether. He glanced back and forth from hollow screen to hollow screen. The Scyphozoa with Odd's replicated DNA arrived in the throne room. Xervix stood up and walked towards the center of the room.
"It will take me a while to figure out what to create with this DNA copy. But in the meantime I can acquire one piece of the cartographer," Xervix said as the screens all switched to Aelita, flying over the mushroom forest towards Yumi and Ulrich. In a few minutes, Jeremy would tell the pink elf that Odd was all alone and that she would need to head back and help him. That would be the best opportunity to strike.
A Hornet and a Manta materialized in the room. Xervix looked at the two creatures and held out his hand. An orange mist shot out and wrapped around the two monsters. The monsters shook and rippled. The Manta suddenly grew feathers; a pair of wings sprouted from its side. Its head split in two as large boney beak pierced through it. The Xana symbol appeared on its beak. The Hornet began to writher and shake violently. Its skin changed black as its wings changed into a dark yellow color. Its head split open, revealing two large marble like eyes. A large pair of claws tore out of the Hornet's sides. And its stinger on the end extended to the shape of a tail. Xervix stood back and looked in satisfaction.
"Now to finish this battle and claim a piece of the cartographer," Xervix said as he clenched his orange glowing fist.
Aelita flew over the mushroom forest as she scanned the skies for any sign of additional trouble. She also took in the sight of the towering fungus like structures that she flew past. She was about to clear the forest when Jeremy spoke to her.
"Aelita. We have a problem. Odd and William were ambushed by another… thing. William's been devirtualized. You need to head back and give Odd a hand."
"Got you Jeremy. Did William come back ok?" Aelita asked.
"I'll go and check," Jeremy said as he got out of the chair and made his way down to the scanner room. The elevator door opened to reveal that one of the scanners had opened. Inside the cylinder, William stood rubbing his back. He had a look of pain on his face.
"Are you ok?" Jeremy asked as he walked.
William rubbed his chest, where Odd had accidentally shot William. "Ever been hit in the chest with a baseball? It feels kinda like that."
William and Jeremy stepped out of the elevator and into the lab as William pulled up one of the chairs that Odd had bought at the yard sale. It smelled like it had been in the bottom of a lake for years. But it felt good to sit down.
Jeremy sat in the main chair in time to hear a loud bleeping noise. He glanced at the screen to see that there were a swarm of Hornets and Mantas heading towards Aelita's location.
"Aelita be careful. Xervix sent some... turbulence your way. A group of Hornets and Mantas."
Aelita glanced around a little as she flew over the mushroom forest. Her wings flapped harder as she tried to make her way to Odd's location faster. Then she heard it. A high pitched squeal like a monkey's squeal. She looked behind her to see a wave of ten Hornets and four Mantas flying behind her. They were flying towards her fast. Mantas were whitefish blue and shaped like a normal manta ray. They usually stayed around Sector 5 but every once in a while managed to find their way out of Sector 5 and into other areas. The Hornets looked like something out of a video game. They had three wings on each side, and each had a large mosquito like proboscis on its front. They tended to fire mostly lasers but occasionally used acid.
Aelita fired two of her energy orbs at the squadron of monsters. The monsters scattered as one of the orbs hit the front Hornet. Aelita turned around and fired several shots towards the monsters. The Hornets took up positions in front of the Mantas as they began firing a volley of laser shots. Aelita zigzagged back and forth as she tried to avoid the laser fire. Aelita nearly took a hit to the face as she zipped to the right in time to see a bright bolt of energy flash right beside her face. For a second she thought she could feel the heat from the laser bolt as it zipped by.
Aelita could tell that with her flying made her a wide open target. She looked down at the mushroom forest. Could I pull it off? She thought. A second laser firing right below her convinced her. But she would need help.
"Jeremy. I'm going to need your help," Aelita said as her voice sounded like she was low on breath.
"Ok. What do you need?" Jeremy asked
"You can see where all the monsters are on the map with the radar monitor. I need you to tell me exactly where they are. I'm going to fly though the forest," Aelita said as she winced at what Jeremy would say in response.
Jeremy first wanted to ask if she was nuts. But after he looked at the map and saw all the monsters chasing after her he knew she was right. If she was to help Odd, she needed to avoid the Hornets as much as possible.
"Ok. But please be careful. If you hit one of those, lord knows what it will do to you."
Aelita nodded and looked for an opening in the forest. She saw a hole and flew through it. As she entered the hole the swarm fired a large barrage of lasers towards her location. Six Hornets flew in after her while the Mantas and a pair of Hornets flew overhead. The Mantas began dropping mines on the forest as they tried to drive Aelita out.
Aelita squealed and squawked a couple of times as she raced through the forest. She weaved in and out of the tunnels and the fungusy timber as the Hornets tried their best to keep up. Aelita looked behind her for a moment and turned again to look in front of her; she screamed as she narrowly avoided a large root branch. Three of the Hornets missed it while one hit the branch head on, causing it to explode. The explosion of pixels blinded a second Hornet as it bounced off the walls of the trees and smashed into a large fungus trunk.
Aelita noticed a large opening and swung through it. The Hornets looked around frantically as they realized they had lost her. The Hornets flew in a single file line as they scanned for their target.
"I have them to your left; looks like they're about to split up. Wait until they do, and then I would suggest firing at them." Jeremy said as Aelita flew in a fungus path just a few yards to the left of the Hornet squadron. Aelita flew quietly as she flapped her wings only a few times, giving her a type of coasting flight.
The four Hornets split up into two groups of two. Two Hornets flew into an alternate path, while the other two stayed on the same path that they started on. Aelita quickly flew into the same path the first pair entered. She fired two energy orbs. Both Hornets were unable to maneuver in the tight conditions, and they were both destroyed.
Suddenly Aelita heard a loud explosion in the path she just left. The Mantas were just overhead; they began to drop mines near the area she had been flying in and were now correcting their path and heading straight towards her. The mines began to fall around Aelita, behind her, in front of her, everywhere. Aelita squawked a little with every explosion.
In the Lab, Jeremy sweated enough to fill a lake. William stood behind him and watched as he expected a mine to catch Aelita and devirtualize her.
The Mantas continued their barrage as Aelita desperately flew faster; she tried to think of a possible way out of her predicament. Then she saw it. An opening in front of her, a few yards up.
"Jeremy. Time the next mine from drop to discharge, then how long it takes for another to fall."
Jeremy counted as one mine droped to the next mine. It took him a couple times. But eventually he timed it correctly.
"There's about a four second delay in the drop," Jeremy said. "I know what you're planning, but do you know that it has to be perfect right? And that there is a possibility that a mine might drop in that hole, don't you?" Jeremy asked
"Do you have a better suggestion?" Aelita asked.
Jeremy was silent as he thought. "No, I don't. Ok, it's coming up, get ready," Jeremy said as Aelita approached the hole. Aelita powered up two energy orbs in her hands as she prepared to fly though the hole.
"One," Jeremy said as his fingers grasped the chair. William held his breath.
"Two… ...THREE!!!" Aelita shouted as she closed her eyes and flew towards the hole. She suddenly felt something bounce off her back, followed by a mine detonating right under her. She screamed as she flew through the whole. She opened her eyes and saw that the monsters were in front of her. She flew up next to a Hornet as she prepared to strike.
In the Lab, Jeremy let out a sigh of relief as William put his hand on his chest.
"Doesn't she ever give you a heart attack from all these stunts?" William asked.
"A lot," Jeremy said.
The Hornet followed the Mantas, patrolling the area around it. Suddenly a shadow fell upon it. It turned its head as far as it could to see Aelita flying next to it. Aelita flew forward as she landed on the nearest Manta. It faulted with the added weight as she leapt into the air. She fired several energy orbs as the two rear Hornets shattered into several pixels. She blasted the Manta as it tumbled and exploded. A third Hornet slowed down and let Aelita pass it before it started to fly again. Aelita noticed it and made a fist with her hand. Her hand glowed pink as she flew towards the Hornet. The monster fired several shots at her, but she punched the Hornet in the side. The punch released the energy from the orb as it caused the Hornet to tumble and crash into a mushroom. Aelita saw a Manta flying towards her from the front. She made another energy field with both of her hands as she held her hands out in front of her. She hit the Manta head on as it exploded. She felt several laser blasts hit her in her sides. She tumbled and went into a barrel roll as she dropped in altitude. The last Hornet and last two Mantas sped up as she opened her wings wide. They flew right past her. She kicked the last Hornet as it flew into a stalagmite. She looked forwards as the last two Mantas began dropping mines. She then realized something.
"Gasoline," she thought. She fired a pair of energy orbs. More and more mines dropped as she fired repeatedly. Finally one orb hit one of the mines as it caused it to explode. The explosion caused a massive chain reaction which led to the producers of the mines: the Mantas. Both Mantas exploded into a massive digital blast. Aelita landed on one of the mushroom tops and placed her hands on her hips, as she took in exactly what she did.
"Aelita… you're the best," Jeremy said. William agreed.
"Well actually… I kind of had my eyes closed the whole time I did that," Aelita said, as she winced at what Jeremy's reaction would be.
"WHAT!!!!" Jeremy said as his heart skipped a beat.