Code: Apocalypse- Chapter 8
"Trust"
July 12, 6:10 AM
The sky was bathed in the fiery color of the sun- a mix of blood red, fierce yellow, and vibrant orange mixed together to announce the sun's inevitable rising. It was nothing less of beautiful, especially when the sun was rising through the space between two mountains. Morning was approaching, and the light shone down upon a rain-covered black van parked on the dew covered grass of a valley. Behind the van was the skeleton of a house, the wet wooden framing plainly visible to those who cared to look at it. In the front of the home were several logs that were being shaped into the basic parts of a home. Nobody was in the gutted house at the moment, its former occupants as well as several others sleeping in the van than be exposed to the weather.
The driver was in the back of the van, staking claim to a corner as his resting spot. He had switched places with Jeremie, who had driven the rest of the trip to the former mountain cabin after picking up Akihito. The latter was currently resting with his parents, the dark colored hair covering his eyes making it difficult to tell if he was awake or not. Near Aelita and Jeremie's childrens' legs lay three medium-sized bundles of fur, which Jeremie had to pick up after Antea and Waldo had started to complain and didn't want to leave them behind. It was a minor inconvenience to turn around and pick them up, but it didn't really matter- the countryside didn't have much traffic anyway, and the roads and vehicles had developed enough so that the traffic wouldn't be that horrible than it was about 15 years ago. Some parts of France were especially notorious for the large amounts of traffic it
Above, in the sky, fighter planes and drones roared ahead, scouting for the fugitives the government had recently taken interest in. They searched high and low over France to look for a pink-haired female that was described to be in her late 40's, and an aging scientist that was supposedly around in his later 50's or 60's. The fully unmanned planes roared on, heading towards the sunlight as it returned to base for repairs and for refueling. On their way there, however, their controls sparked a little with electricity before the lit control panels turned bright red momentarily. XANA's symbol flashed on the infected machinery before disappearing- the planes returning to normal in the process. XANA's virus within the planes would lie dormant until it would need them. Until then, it would have to remain as inconspicuous as possible.
[Page Break]
Simmons rubbed his head wearily in exhaustion as he tossed the manila folders on the table. It puzzled him that there were no reports on either Antea or Waldo Schaeffer. With a small sigh, he got up and looked through the files, pulling out the one that read "Aelita Rose Schaeffer", and began to sift through the files. There was nothing very helpful, though there were notes that both she and her father had moved from their mountainous region to a location near Paris. An old and slightly tattered map fell out of the file with red permanent-pen markings, and Simmons picked it up in curiosity. There was a general map of Boulogne-Billancourt, with an area circled by red marker near a forested area. A note read "Possibly here", which probably meant it was the location they had disappeared to after the government had spent several years trying to track them down. His interest waxing, he continued to read the files, slightly frowning as he reached the end of the reports.
Apparently, she had disappeared along with the mysterious scientist in 1994, but they had no idea where she was at the moment. The last entry marked was a report on the disappearance of both of them, stamped over with large red lettering that said "Unknown Location". With a grunt of annoyance, he tossed the folder onto the table and continued looking; raising his eyebrows in surprise when he came across a folder tab marked "Aelita Stones/Belpois". 'Surely there cannot be many people named Aelita' he thought as he pulled the file free and scanned it for any information that might help in the case. A recent picture of said female greeted him as he opened the file, and Simmons pulled it free from the paperclip holding it to the manila folder, inspecting it for a few minutes before putting it back in place and reading the description below it.
Current Name: Aelita Belpois
Maiden Name: Aelita Stones
Married to: Jeremie Belpois
Children Antea and Waldo Belpois
Occupation: Mixed, mainly works as a Computer Technician/Coordinator
Schools Attended: Home-schooling provided by orphanage, Kadic Academy (8th grade and Secondary School), Université de technologie de Belfort-Montbéliard (College)
Parents: Unknown, subject is an orphan from Canada
Date of Birth: 9/21/95
Hair Color: Pink (Natural Hair Color)
Eye Color: Green
Ht: Approximately 170.18 cm (5 ft, 7 inches)
Diseases/Abnormalities: None, slight genetic difference which gives hair its strange color.
Simmons stopped reading, and nearly dropped the folder when he saw the hair color. 'How could I have not noticed this much sooner!' he mentally shouted in realization. He continued to read the medical lab report and dropped it onto the table as he was finished. Unclipping the medical reports from both Aelita folders, he compared them and nodded in confirmation to his suspicions as both medical files matched each other. He had just closed the files and shoved them into his laptop case before he heard the sound of a door opening.
"Sir?" he greeted the older agent coming in through the door and instantly hid his suspicion on why a field agent would be here in the file room.
"Simmons, I thought I'd find you here" O'Reilly replied with a hearty chuckle before he composed himself, his face back to its vaguely threatening expression. "Any information yet on the Schaeffers- I mean Hoppers… or … whatever they are called?" O'Reilly asked in a gruffer voice, XANA-eye pupils pulsing momentarily behind his dark glasses. "The computer files have long been deleted, and I cannot find a way to bring them back. I figured I would look in the archives here, and ask you if you found anything yet."
'That still does not answer my question on why you are here' Simmons thought before replying. "No, the files here aren't offering much. It's basically very vague background information and just detailing their mysterious disappearances on both Mr. and Ms. Schaeffer. For Mrs. Schaeffer, however, her files describe a small fraction of the part she supposedly plays in Project: CARTHAGE, and her recent escape from this building."
"Is there anything else or information relatively helpful to us, Simmons?"
"No, sir, there is nothing at all" Simmons replied as he made a deep frown, hoping it would appear that he was severely disappointed.
The XANA-possessed O'Reilly frowned, eyebrows creasing downwards in response to Simmons's statement and left without another word, shutting the door behind him. Simmons sighed in relief and continued to pick through the files on Jeremie Belpois and his children, deciding not to put it in the bag with the other files before he had a good look at them. Simmons was glad he did not feel like sharing the details of his findings yet, and he had felt that there was something strange about O'Reilly that he didn't quite know how to put it. Normally, his behavior would be as cold as ice, and would hardly say anything to anybody. If spoken to when he did not want to be bothered, he would give them a glare that Simmons was sure that it could even intimidate the highest ranking official of the marines.
Sitting down in an office chair, he opened their files, and gently smiled as he saw the pictures of Jeremie and Aelita's children. Pondering on why the government would keep extensive records of people of interest instead of tracking them like the usual government process, he banished this thought and began to read the file on Jeremie Belpois. Perhaps he could find some information on this fellow, and ask him a few questions if he could. Simmons adjusted his glasses and started reading, chewing a pen lightly as he went along.
[Page Break]
It was cold where the clone was now- a winter of sorts, perhaps. The coldness engulfed her completely, and small breezes of wind blew past her every so often, causing the clone to shiver and curled up into a small ball from her prone position to try to retain some heat. When she opened its eyes, all she saw was a wintery wasteland, the snowflakes lightly drifting downwards the only interesting thing in the otherwise gloomy landscape. All she could see for miles was snow in every direction- there seemed to be no end of it. She knew she was sleeping at the moment; her mind was just somewhere else within the subconscious. If this was a dream then, why did she retain her senses for this particular dream?
It was then as she moved slightly that she realized that she was in completely different clothing; it was as if somebody took the second Lyoko avatar she had years ago and modified it to her adult body. There were still the elbow length gloves- though the glove was colored white instead of the dark purple of her previous Lyoko avatar, and instead of being fingerless gloves, it was completely whole. Instead of a dark and light pink form-fitting body suit, there was a light pink colored dress that went down to her ankles. Dark pink and white coloring highlighted the dress, and there was a light blue colored eye-of-XANA on her chest. However, XANA's insignia was turned upside down, and it did not seem to appear malevolent, compared to when it was right-side up and in a bright crimson red.
She stood up, and looked around, her footwear making the snow underfoot make light muffled crunching noises that, in the process, echoed slightly in this otherwise silent world. Her elfin ears twitched slightly as they registered another sound. It vaguely reminded her of the low rumbling of an avalanche, which puzzled her since there were no hills in or around the area that she was in. She gasped as she turned around to the source of the noise and saw a large darkness over the horizon coming closer and closer over the wintery landscape. The clone panicked, and started fleeing; her footsteps becoming slower before she was rendered unable to move as the dark substance was enveloping them. A loud animalistic roar echoed throughout the landscape, forcing her to clasp her hands on her sensitive ears.
Looking up after seeing that there was nothing else around her, she gasped as she registered that a large black mass in the form of a flying bear/bull hybrid was coming towards her, claws outstretched. It had a large red Eye-of-XANA mark on its chest, which shone brightly as it bore down towards its prey. The clone could only watch and silently pray that somehow she would live the encounter as her body started to lose all feeling as her mind became increasingly numb. The hands cupping around her ears fell to the side as she found that she was unable to keep them up there for a longer time. The edges of her vision started to darken as black edged around it, and she knew that she was going to die a horrible and a very painful death alone.
"CLONE!" XANA screeched, his form's jaws opening to reveal numerous shark-like teeth and a long tongue.
The clone only groaned and fell to her knees, knowing that the deletion of her programming had begun, and it was slowly sapping her strength in the process. XANA's incarnation tucked its wings close to its body and began falling towards her faster, wanting to finally dig his claws into her "flesh" and rip the rest of her incarnation to pieces in the clone's mind, as well as her body in the physical world. The damage he was going to do to her here in her mind would be reflected to her body in the real world. It would have been like her body in the physical world was being slashed and torn by some invisible, malignant force.
The clone was now in a prone position on the icy ground, and could only look up with the limited vision she had as she saw XANA coming closer and closer to her location. She closed her eyes and waited for the end. The beating of XANA's wings continued to grow louder and louder. Just before the clone was about to slip into total unconsciousness, a bright light and XANA's screech of surprise and pain jolted her awake again.
In one of the beast's wings was a deeply embedded arrow that made it immediately drift it off-course as it continued to shriek in pain. It crashed into the snow, and it got up, eyes flashing red in its anger. The clone looked around and finally located the source of her savoir, but shielded her eyes at the bright light that emanated from her. The incarnation of the good Aelita stood over protectively of the clone, battle armor and all, and watched as XANA regained his footing and began his raging charge at the two.
"Energy Pulse" the incarnation merely whispered, and a beam of extremely bright light shot out of her outstretched hand, catching XANA in the chest.
The beam cut through XANA's form with ease, revealing a black goo-like substance that was dripping all over the place to where it was injured, healing the wound. XANA spread out its gigantic bat-wings again and unleashed another roar of fury. XANA tilted its head back, jaw slightly ajar to reveal a rapidly gathering mass of dark energy before his head thrust forward and his jaw opened, the ball of dark energy flying out of its mouth to catch the incarnation directly in her chest. She was pushed back several yards, both of her feet digging into the ground to gain some traction.
XANA raised its claws and was about to dig them into the weakened clone's form, had not the incarnation tackled him and forced him into the air with a kick. XANA snarled, and the incarnation merely smirked and waved her hand over the star bracelet from her Lyoko form, revealing large, light pink wings. She too, uttered a warrior's cry, and the two began their aerial battle together. It was a dance of death- dark and bright beams flying back and forth, fire and water clashing against each other.
The incarnation suddenly flew in towards XANA in a close-combat maneuver, enduring the numerous amounts of damage she received from XANA, and pulled her hand back. A brilliant white light shone on that hand as energy rapidly gathered there. She trusted her energy-covered hand through his chest, XANA screeching in pain. His form arched its back in pain, and his eyes widened in realization before his form shattered into pixels, a black mass twisting and turning as it escaped from the scene. The clone could only stare in awe as the incarnation landed next to her, gazing at the clone with a mixture of emotions- understanding and pity.
"Hello darkness, my old friend… I've come to talk with you again." The incarnation whispered almost silently, waving her hand once to dissipate the dark substance entrapping the clone's body.
"Who… who are you?" The clone asked, glad that her strength and vision were slowly returning.
"Your good side, I suppose. I told you we'll talk later." The incarnation replied, nodding her head.
"… I have a good side?"
"Doesn't everyone?"
"XANA doesn't, as you can see."
"Point taken, I suppose. When Aelita was split up into two people- you as the clone, and Aelita in her own body- part of me basically transferred to your side. So, I guess I'm your little conscience."
"How… How… How am I still alive?"
"You can thank Jeremie for that. It was he that noticed your twitching and your form flickering in and out of existence in the real world. I have just merely protected damage XANA would have done to your mind- basically rendering you to something like a loose cannon with no sense of morality, or a person incapable of functioning properly."
The sky began to clear- the snow stopped falling and the clouds began to move away from the area. The clone relaxed as she felt her mind become at ease and sat up straight. She gazed at the warrior-like Aelita, the artificial sun glinting off of the polished metal. A bright light then obscured her vision, and when she was finally able to open her eyes, she found that she was gazing at several curious faces looking down at her.
"I'll be fine…" she groaned, trying to get up but giving up and remaining on her back. "I'll get up in a few minutes. …but thank you, Jeremie, for saving my life."
[Page Break]
July 12, 13:25 (1:25 PM)
"Where are we going? I thought we were out to kick XANA's tail! What are we doing-?" Odd complained, waving his hands for emphasis.
"We are Odd, just be patient." Jeremie interrupted as he made a left turn into the city, hoping his answer was enough to calm Odd down from his semi-hyper state.
"You didn't answer my question on where we were going."
"It's a surprise! Mr. Schaeffer had found some software that is compatible with the supercomputer's current software." Jeremie smiled.
"I don't like it when you're smiling after something technology related… it means that something that is possibly dangerous is going to happen."
"What did I do that was potentially dangerous?"
"Oh let's see now." Odd began counting off with his fingers. "The Marabounta incident, my teleportation power, and the "anti-virus" thing you administered to Aelita that one time…"
"How was I supposed to know it wasn't going to work properly?" Jeremie complained. "I didn't know that it wasn't even a virus at all?"
"… The robots you made before we were friends that Ulrich mentioned that one time…" Odd continued as if he didn't hear Jeremie.
"Alright, fine! I get it!" Jeremie yelled, now fully annoyed. "You have to trust me this time though! I Worked with Mr. Schaeffer on this, so it must not be that fully dangerous."
"… Fine… but I still don't like where this is going…" Odd stopped as an impatient hand waved him away from leaning too far into Jeremie's personal space from his position on the passenger's seat.
"Don't. Distract. The driver. Ever." Jeremie growled through his gritted teeth.
The van continued on its south-bound path down the city towards the Boulogne-Billancourt area. The rest of the group gasped in surprise as they looked through the windows of the vehicle, familiar sights greeting them as they passed by- the Kadic school area, the local swimming pool nearby, the Hermitage- to which Waldo discretely shed a small tear or two as they drove by it- the Red Trail, and especially the factory, as it loomed over the bridge like an ominous figure before its shadow. The van stopped short of the bridge, and Jeremie took out the key for the van, earning several questioning looks from its inhabitants.
"I'm not sure if the bridge is still stable enough to hold a vehicle that weighs several tons." Jeremie explained, taking his first steps across the bridge in a long time. "Our best bet is to walk across it, and hope that it doesn't collapse and plunge us all into the Seine River. Leave the dogs with the driver… he does not have business in this place… I don't want the kids to be in danger too… so… I think we should-"
"Daddy, can we come too?" Antea asked, giving her father the best puppy dog-eyed impression she could muster, knowing fully well that her dad never said no whenever she did it.
"Ante-" Jeremie was flustered. "… I don't think…"
"Please, daddy? Waldo wants to go too!"
"… But… but… but!"
"Please?"
"Oh… alright…" Jeremie relented as he sighed. "Come along then, but be careful there!"
Yumi rested a hand on the aging bridge, her eyes trailing up and down the bridge's supports, slightly frowning at the growing amount of rust. Hearing footsteps pad behind her, she nodded at Akihito looked up at her with a questioning look, his darkly colored eyes shining with curiosity. Ulrich gently laid a hand on the boy's shoulder, and the two walked across the bridge with Yumi following them. The driver gave a 'humph' in response to being denied access to a potentially interesting discovery and sat on the bumper, leaning against the closed van doors.
"Creepy as ever…" Odd dryly remarked, as he was covering his nose with his shirt as a musty odor invaded his nostrils. "… and disgusting too…" Odd added as he came to a stop at the ledge leading to the factory floor.
Jeremie wrinkled his nose as the odor invaded his sense of smell and gazed at the derelict factory floor. A fine layer of dust coated everything in the factory, hinting that nobody had walked in this building for a very long time. Although Jeremie was sure that nothing living was within the factory anymore, as there wasn't any food source nearby, he could swear that he felt a presence around him and within the factory- an ominous feeling that was set upon him the moment he stepped through the factory's entrance. The light played tricks with his eyes- the metal pieces lying discarded around them had a sinister look to them. He felt several hands clutch his shirt. Looking down, he noticed that his children were slightly hiding behind him, gazing at the factory around them with apprehension.
Waldo was by himself as he surveyed the factory around him. Mixed emotions ran inside of him, though his face remained in its set expression of a perfectly calm and professional-looking man. Jeremie's hand reached forward, grasped a rope, and firmly tugged on it. The rope tightened before dislodging from the ceiling and dropping loosely over Jeremie's hand. Jeremie frowned and dropped the now useless piece of rope onto the ground. He reached out once more and grasped on another rope, hoping that it would not share the same fate as the other.
It held, much to his relief. A few more tugs to make sure it was firmly secure in the ceiling, and he bravely volunteered to go first. He slid down the rope gingerly, breathing a large sign of relief when his feet touched the ground for what had seemed like an eternity. One by one, the adults slid down, Clone Aelita, Yumi, and Antea each carrying a child on their backs. Nodding to each other in response to the silent question if they were alright, they headed towards the corridor, wary of the elevator's functioning after about 10 years of disuse. It was still there, waiting at the factory floor level to be used once again by someone, exactly where the Lyoko Warriors had left it all those years ago.
The light that was able to pour through the dust-covered windows created a strange effect on the machines as they passed by them in the corridor- the metal dully reflected the available light, making the machinery seem more malevolent than normal. The group repressed shivers as they moved past- the factory was cold due to no heating available, and the décor available wasn't helping their nerves. Most of the adults were in the front, and the children were following behind them. A loud crunching sound echoed around the room, and as Waldo passed by, one of the machines used to shape cars dislodged from its holding place and was about to crush the small child, had not a pink blur shot out, held him close to her body, and tumble several times a few meters away from their previous location. Waldo shrieked in surprise and response from the near-death accident, the adults in the front turning in surprise in response to the loud clanging sound behind them.
"Waldo!" Jeremie yelled, holding the frightened child close to him. Waldo's response was to clutch both his father and Clone Aelita tightly.
"Einstein!" Odd called, instantly getting Jeremie's attention. "Do you think XANA can try to use the factory to try to get rid of us, like he did one time, long ago?"
"Possibly… though he'd use it more like deathtraps… death by objects falling from the ceiling, to be more precise."
"Let's move then… I don't feel like being impaled at the moment…" Yumi suggested, helping a slightly stumbling Jeremie to his feet.
The group weaved in and out through the lanes of obsolete machinery and through the maze of pipes in the boiling room adjacent to the industrial level.
"I feel awfully like a rat scurrying through passages." William bluntly stated as they were lead through a near endless maze of corridors, sometimes coming to a dead-end. "Don't you have a map of the factory?" He asked the aging scientist.
"Son, if I had a map or arrows pointing in the right direction, everyone passing through here would have found the supercomputer easily. I found that memorizing it does not have many repercussions."
"So do you-"
"I would have led you to the supercomputer a while ago today. Do you think I would remember my way through this place after 20 years?"
"Well, I suppose-"
"The only way I found my way out of here was by wandering for hours." the professor snapped, clearly annoyed.
William scowled slightly, and continued to follow the group. It was by a stroke of luck that Yumi suddenly started to wander off, muttering to herself a bit. Curious, the group followed her, Yumi's muttering increasing both in frequency and in volume.
"I remember now!" She yelled happily, startling the group.
With Yumi now leading the group, it took only a few minutes before the group stopped and admired an aerial view of the Supercomputer Lab Room. There was an eerie glow from the panels- they were lit up with a bright purplish light. Blue-colored electricity moved across the keyboard, and the screens flickered red before returning to their purplish coloring again. Jeremie climbed down the ladder and frowned at the discovery of the new problem, approaching the interface warily. A sudden burst of electricity shot out from the interface in his direction, and Jeremie leapt backwards in reaction.
"XANA, you are more evil than I thought."
"What should we do?" Ulrich whispered as Jeremie inched backwards towards them.
"Mr. and Mrs. Schaeffer." Jeremie whispered, hoping the volume was low enough not to be picked up by the system. "Can you sneak downstairs to the main supercomputer, and rearrange panels D-24 to F-15? I think if you can re-sequence them, I can momentarily get a hold of the supercomputer from XANA, and then transfer the power to my reserves instead of XANA's?"
"Will do. How can we communicate with each other, and inform the other of our progress?"
"Use these…" Jeremie reached into his pocket. "I found these lying around in Waldo's room after he and Antea pulled a prank on me. Put them in your ear." He gave one to Mr. Schaeffer, and the other one to Mrs. Schaeffer. "Just speak into them, and I will hear you. I…" He tapped his left ear. "I already have one in use."
"Can you provide us a distraction?" Mrs. Schaeffer asked, placing the small, blue device into her ear as her husband did the same.
"Leave it to me." Odd replied with a cheeky grin.
"I hope you know what you're doing…" Ulrich muttered as Odd walked closer to the supercomputer's interface.
"Hey XANA, want to play a game of tag?" Odd called, casually leaning to the side to avoid a bolt of electricity. "Guess so." Odd reached down. "Well then…" His hand grabbed something. "I guess this means…" He brought it up to his chest level and brought it backwards a little. "Tag!" He threw it at his target. "You're it!" The shoe bounced off of the supercomputer and landed on the floor nearby.
Bolts of electricity flew freely from the supercomputer now, and the group threw themselves on the ground to avoid getting hit directly, though some of the electricity traveled through the metal and shocked them, slightly stunning them in the process. Odd merely smiled, and began to nimbly dodge the deadly electrical bursts of energy. He whooped in exhilaration, and rolled and tumbled across the room, clearly enjoying the thrill of the game of life and death.
"What are you waiting for, professorhead?" he called over to Waldo.
Waldo didn't need to be told twice. Crawling on the floor in a prone position, both he and his wife made it to the elevator and punched a button to get the elevator door opened. The golden-colored doors unlocked and started to slowly open to reveal a dark hole that led downwards into the unknown. Nimble as an elf dancing in the forest, Odd continued to easily evade the shots without getting hit at all. However, he was fatiguing quickly due to exerting too much energy in springing from place to place.
"Go!" Odd yelled, and Waldo descended the stairs in the elevator shaft.
A loud screeching pierced the air around them, and the electricity stopped shooting out for several seconds. The group looked around in time just to see that the panels on the supercomputer were lighting bright enough to put a Christmas tree to shame. The panels coloring changed rapidly from bright purple to dark red, and blue electricity covered the interface throughout. A black ink-like substance was slowly oozing out of the supercomputer, and pooled onto the ground. It wavered slightly, and seemingly leapt towards the escaping couple. Odd tried to stop it by placing his body between it and the retreating Schaeffers, but was knocked out of the way by the blob's brute force.
"No!" Jeremie moaned in despair as it approached the two, scrambling to get back on his feet.
"Hi-yah!" Ulrich yelled as he popped out of nowhere and tackled the polymorph. "Thought I'd let you steal the spotlight and have it all for yourself?" He jokingly called to Odd.
Odd childishly rolled his eyes and grinned. The last visible parts of Mrs. Schaeffer's head disappeared, and the polymorph rounded on the group in anger. It had half a mind to go after the two meddlesome adults and stop them from beginning or completing their jobs, but XANA felt that he had some unfinished business to deal with before he would kill his creators. Yumi cracked her knuckles and smiled confidently as she got up.
"Just like old times…"
The specter's form wavered again, and it shot up, becoming thinner and taller like a tree growing in fast forward, limbs shooting out like branches, molding itself into the form of a government agent. Its form flickered in and out of existence momentarily before it solidified again. It flexed its knuckles before it curled them up into a fist, and charged at Yumi. Yumi patiently waited for it, never moving from her spot until it was close enough.
"Yumi!" Ulrich screamed. "Move!"
Yumi ignored him and kept waiting, her eyes never leaving the polymorph coming at her with the force of a train. Just when it seemed as if she was surely going to be pummeled into mush, she ducked under the polymorph's lunging fist, and slid between its legs. The polymorph's fist hit the metal with a deafening clang that resounded throughout the mostly closed space of the lab. The polymorph screeched in surprise and anger, and tried to pull out its fist, which was now deeply embedded into the metal.
"Now!" Yumi yelled, and began her barrage of punches and kicks on the specter.
With a rallying cry, the group charged towards it, but stopped short as bolts of electricity were fired from the specter's hand to deter them from coming closer and attacking. With a wrenching noise, it pulled its fist free from the metal, and backhanded Yumi with its newly freed hand, who flew backwards from the force in response. Her back hit the wall, and she lay there in a sitting-up position, stunned from the force of her body against a solid metal wall. The other adults in the group shoved the children behind them with little thought of their own safety, and took up defensive positions.
"Jeremie! Jeremie, do you read me?" Waldo's voice crackled in Jeremie's ear through the communications device.
"I read you loud and clear." Jeremie responded, touching his left ear with one hand.
"Jeremie, we have reached the door that leads to the supercomputer, but I cannot open it! XANA must have changed the codes to delay us!"
"Try to crack them!" Jeremie yelled in response. "We'll keep the polymorph distracted!"
"I… trying… but… there's a slight… not get shocked!"
"You're breaking up! I can't hear you!"
The polymorphic specter, as if hearing the conversation that went on between Waldo and Jeremie, grinned evilly, his mouth stretching widely into something not made for a human's facial features. It looked at the floor below it, eyeing it hungrily, as if looking for something. With one fist shooting electricity to separate the group into two, he used the other fist to bring a thundering blow to the lab's floor. Electricity shot everywhere as wires were severed from the sharp metal of the broken lab floor, and a loud creaking noise came from the elevator shaft. With a loud crunching noise, the elevator stops disengaged, and with a mighty groan, the elevator was dislodged from its holding place, ambling down the shaft slowly, but rapidly gaining speed.
With a whoosh as it sped down, the Lyoko Warriors grimaced as they felt the passing wind of the falling elevator through the open door leading to the shaft. Instinctively, Jeremie pressed against his headset, and shouted out the words that he could only hope that Waldo and Antea Schaeffer could hear them before they would get hit by the runaway elevator and crushed under the tremendous force it was gathering as it sped downwards.
"Waldo! Antea! Get out of there, now!"
There was no response. The clanging of the elevator grew louder as it rumbled down the shaft, though the sound was unmatched by the polymorph's mad cackling. Screams of fear and surprise echoed from below the lab level rose to their position before a deafening crash was heard. William clutched his hand into a fist in anger.
"Waldo! Antea! Can you hear me!" Jeremie yelled into the headset.
There was no response- all was deathly silent, save for the horrible laughter of the specter slowly dying down. The specter mock-tilted his head towards the open doors leading to the empty elevator shaft, and gave a dark chuckle when no sound of anything living or struggling to survive came back from the dark elevator shaft after about two minutes. Suddenly, it went on its knees and started to screech in unbearable agony. It raised one hand, and looked in horror as it started de-pixalizing into nothing more than digital dust. Wisps of black smoke rose from the disintegrating arm, and it screeched in agony once more before it looked at the group with pure hate.
With an animalistic cry that sent shivers down the group's spines, it lunged towards them and knocked them aside with one swipe of its super-human-strength-improved arm. It picked up the first person it could get its hands on and walked to the edge of the elevator shaft and prepared to throw her. Yumi, adrenaline coursing through her veins, leapt up and clutched the back of the specter, using her weight to try to topple the specter over backwards and get the child to safety. However, the specter was not in the mood for games, as it knew that its time was rapidly coming to a close, and threw Yumi over his disintegrating form into group, knocking them down once more. The specter lurched backwards, and then forwards, throwing the child towards her doom. It let out one last cruel laugh as its torso disintegrated, then its head in mere seconds.
"Antea!" the group cried as it rushed to save her, recovered from the force of Yumi being thrown against them.
She was gripping the edge of the shaft with her small hands, her knuckles turning white as her grip tightened.
"Hold on!" Yumi cried, reaching out to grasp the child's hand, but moaned in sorrow as disaster struck.
Antea, being a small child and using up most of her physical strength just trying to hold onto the edge, cried out in terror as her grip failed her, and she plunged towards her death. Her eyes widened in her terror, Antea gave one last scream as her body plunged towards the seemingly endless void of the elevator shaft. Jeremie screamed out purely in anger at the loss of his child, and dropped to his knees, sobbing. William, Odd, Ulrich, Yumi, and Clone Aelita dipped their heads in respect, and said nothing to fill the silence.
"…She can't be gone…" Waldo said in disbelief. "…Who will I…? Who will I play with? Who will I take care of as an older brother?"
Jeremie said nothing, and closed his eyes in exhaustion after he looked down into the shaft and saw nothing. Odd did not try to make a joke to try to cheer him up- he knew what it meant to have lost a child.
"Emily…" he whispered, looking back on his life. "Why did you have to go…Why did little Millie have to go too?"
Just when all seemed lost, a pink-haired head popped up, grunting as she made her way to the rest of the group. She clambered onto the floor and panted in exhaustion, little Antea asleep on her back. Antea gently pulled the child off of the piggy-back position on her back, and placed the child onto the floor.
"We thought you could use some help from us." Antea remarked, rubbing her bare feet. "I lost my shoes- the ones that I had been working on for several hours- during the dodge Waldo and I had to do to avoid being crushed to death, but otherwise, I am fine. Waldo is in good condition, but he has a few scratches from the death-trap elevator's raining rubble."
William grinned and visibly relaxed, giving a small punch to Jeremie's shoulder, which Odd replicated. However, Odd had put in a little too much of his enthusiasm, and he received a scowl from the said genius instead of a relieved smile. The group lay back onto the floor, avoiding the hole where the specter had punched, as it was still crackling with energy, and sighed in relief. They had avoided danger and were still alive and well… for now.
[Page Break]
"Okay, the scanners should be fully operational." Waldo declared as he wiped off the sweat from his forehead. "It's your show now, Jeremie."
"Okay guys, get into the scanner room, except for Antea, Waldo, Waldo, Antea, Akihito, and Clone Aelita, obviously."
"How, Einstein? In case you haven't noticed, we haven't got an elevator anymore, and there's no way I'm climbing down that creepy shaft."
Jeremie's features changed into a slightly annoyed expression, and he pointed to the back of the Lab room, where a sliding trap door revealed a direct access bypass to the scanner room. Odd mock-sighed and chuckled heartily, climbing down the ladder rungs built into the metal wall, followed by the other Lyoko Warriors.
"Hey, mister." Akihito asked as he tugged on Jeremie's shirt. "What's Lyoko?"
"It's a secret virtual world that my father-in-law built a long time ago. It was meant to be a safe haven for him and his daughter, but things turned bad because an evil program wanted to rule the world."
"Oh…" Akihito sighed, still not satisfied with the explanation.
"Hey, I'm surprised that you didn't think of me." Antea jokingly told her husband.
"I did, honey! That's why there are three scanners. I made one for each of us."
"Grandma! Grandpa!" Antea and Waldo called, hugging their grandparents.
"…I feel old…" Waldo muttered as he hugged them back.
"You feel old." Antea teased back. "I had to wait over twenty years before I saw you again! You got 20 years of no aging, so be happy."
"We're ready, Jeremie." William called from below, and Jeremie nodded, inserting a CD into the CD-ROM drive.
"Okay, William, Ulrich, and Odd go first. Transfer William, transfer Ulrich, and transfer Odd. Scanner, and virtualization!"
The three landed on the hard ground of the Forest Sector, dropping ungracefully onto the ground as they were caught off guard by the virtualization process.
"Man... I haven't done this in a long time." Ulrich remarked as he picked himself off of the ground.
"You said it." came Odd's muffled reply.
"... Nice outfits." William said, biting back a snicker at Odd's new outfit.
Odd sat up and 'spat' out the virtual grass, glaring at William. A few seconds later, and Yumi virtualized, dropping onto the ground less haphazardly than the guys.
"That doesn't look bad on you, Ulrich." Yumi commented, and Ulrich grinned in pride.
Their outfits were like the ones they had when they were about 15 years old, though Jeremie had modified it to fit their adult bodies. Though most of their outfits had remained the same from 10 years ago, when Jeremie had to modify to their newer form-fitting outfits due to XANA's increasing power, there were definite changes made to each of their outfits. In the place of Yumi's outfit, there was a traditional Japanese dress with her two trademark fans retaining their power of being whipped out at Yumi's will, rather than being physically stored somewhere. William's outfit was a dark blue and white outfit, with electric-blue colored markings as highlights. He retained his giant sword, though it was stored in a carrying case on his back that slightly resembled Ulrich's, for easier carrying and drawing/withdrawing of the said weapon. Ulrich's outfit was the traditional yellow and brown outfit, though his avatar's outfit had the muscles he had been developing over time show- as a form to impress people with, and to reflect his strength both physically, and spiritually, in a fighting spirit sort of way. On his back remained his saber carrying-case, which held his usual dual sabers he had come to appreciate. Odd's outfit was a bright and dark colored purple outfit that outlined his form, though it kept his trademark cat-boy look with the purple ears, light purple and white-marked tail, and the dark-colored claws that protruded from the tips of his purple arrow-shooting gloves. However, no matter how silly their outfits looked the first time, the group came to recognize that their outfits complimented their features whether it was in strength or intelligence.
"Hey, this isn't a fashion show, people. We have to move. There is a Way Tower about North by Northwest about a kilometer from your position. Now, move it!" Jeremie snapped, getting impatient.
"We're going, we're going..." William grumbled as they started off in the direction indicated. "It's not easy when you're carrying a sword that weighs at least 100 kilograms..."
"Hey, most rules of physics don't apply to Lyoko, son." Waldo snapped back from the Lab room.
William only snorted in response and ran alongside of two of the other Lyoko Warriors- Ulrich having used his super-sprint ability to move ahead of the rest of the group. When they reached the white-glowing Way Tower, they found Ulrich waiting at the base of the tower, smiling slightly with one eyebrow raised.
"It took you long enough to get here."
"No thanks to you, Ulrich. If you knew how hard it is to run the whole way here without any assistance from our powers, well..." Odd started but Yumi cut him off.
"Thanks for waiting, Ulrich." she said, sarcastically.
"Anytime, Yumi." Ulrich chuckled as he mock-bowed.
"Guys, enough fooling around. XANA is bound to send monsters onto Lyoko, or at least attack the factory again."
"Ten-four, sir. Alright, you maggots, we're going to infiltrate November Whiskey Tango, and then we're going to... we're gonna... I don't know what we're going to do, actually."
"Where'd you learn the American military alphabet, Odd?"
"Television."
"Figures. Anyway, proceed into the Way Tower, and I'll start up the program."
"What sort of program?" William asked.
"It's a surprise... It wouldn't be a surprise if I told you." came the response.
"I don't like where this is going..." William muttered, but complied.
All four of the warriors on Lyoko entered the tower, and waited in the middle of the white glowing Eye-of-XANA. Jeremie typed a few controls into the supercomputer interface, and hit enter. Almost immediately, a green ring surrounded each of the warriors present in the tower, and moved from their feet upward, as if scanning them. As if recognizing their digital signatures, the bands changed color appropriate to the Lyoko Warrior it had finished scanning, and moved onto their wrist. The energy solidified, and became part of their suit- a bracelet type object that had an Eye-of-XANA color-colored to their user.
"Energize..." Jeremie said, and typed in a completely new set of commands. The Lyoko Warrior's forms fizzled shortly before all four of them de-pixalized, reappearing in the factory in their Lyoko outfits. "Like them? The bracelets on your wrists allows you to retain your Lyoko forms."
"If you ask me, Jeremie" Odd said, plucking at his suit. "You should have made me more muscular."
"Why? Because you're still scrawny?" Ulrich jokingly replied.
"Why you-"
"Stop fighting, you guys. We're not going to make any headway if we're going to keep on going like this. Now... Mr. Schaeffer, I believe it is my turn. Virtualize me."
"Huh? You're going to be virtualized onto Lyoko?" Odd asked, completely taken aback. "Well... this should be hilarious, like the time when we saw his Lyoko form."
"What did he look like?" Yumi questioned, wanting to know what the private joke behind this was.
"... I'll show you what I look like... take the controls, Waldo." and with that, he slid open the hatch leading downstairs and climbed down into the scanner room. "Alright, Waldo, start up the process."
"Hold up, son. I need to remember how these controls work... now... letsee... Fn... and ... F6... and... let's go." With that, he pressed the correct buttons, and the transfer window opened. "Transfer Jeremie, Scanner Jeremie... Virtualization!"
A tense moment passed before Jeremie finally sounded out that he had landed safely in the Forest Sector, though a bit father than where he had sent the other Lyoko Warriors. It took only a few minutes before Jeremie entered the tower and Waldo activated the program Jeremie had used mere moments ago. With a low hum, the machine accessed the files again, and Jeremie felt himself being pulled from the world he was in once more...
... and land with a thump into the real world. He gazed at his friends with an air of pride to him. Instead of his glasses, he had a targeting visor- his virtual eyes had no use for glasses. He wore a suit that was a basic dark blue suit with a belt and a black cape. Within the folds of the inner part of the cape held numerous knives and other throw-able items for his use for defending himself. Strapped to his back was a powerful laser rifle that was deathly accurate with a trained hand, and an empty holster and various pockets for dual pistols and ammunition.
"Nice outfit." He smirked at Odd, who immediately scowled.
"Hey! You cheated!" Odd retorted. "Now they don't have a chance to have a good laugh..."
"Cool rifle, Jeremie... did you program that?" William asked, resisting the urge to try out Jeremie's new toy.
"Actually, it came from playing 40 straight hours of a video game Waldo challenged me to play with him. I had never played a shooting game before. ... Don't touch, William. It's sensitive to touch, and could easily go off and take someone's brain out."
William frowned in response and withdrew his hand.
"... but I can still use it to take out XANA, right?"
"Of course. What makes you think I'll say no?"
[Page Break]
"... Looks like Halloween came early this year." The driver said as he gazed upon the five Lyoko-Warrior-Outfit-clad adults. "Don't you think you're too old for trick or treating?"
"Shut up, Francis." William growled. "We have important business to attend to."
"Easy, buddy. I just thought we were getting invaded by weirdos from outer space. ...I hate aliens."
"That's nice, Francis." William retorted, rolling his eyes. "Listen, here's our plan... I spent all day trying to devise this commando-type tactics"
[Page Break]
"I can't endanger the children!" Jeremie yelled. "I nearly lost them today, and I don't want to lose them again!" Jeremie scowled and sat on the van floor, crossing his arms.
"What choice do we have, Jeremie?" Clone Aelita yelled back. "Where can we send them that isn't reachable by technology? XANA would have found them easily in any case. We have to stick together!"
"I... just don't want to let them go... I don't want to be a bad father..."
"It's okay Jeremie..." Clone Aelita sighed, patting Jeremie in a comforting manner. "I too care for you guys, even though I was not originally programmed to have these feelings..."
"Thank you... Clone Aelita... I mean, Aelita."
"You're Welcome, Jeremie." Clone Aelita responded, pulling the blanket over Jeremie's form in the van.
Chapter 8 ½- Animal I have Become II
July 13th, 12:52 PM
She paced, back and forth like a caged animal, snarling and swiping at nothing in particular every few minutes. Something was obviously bothering her, but she could not place her finger on what was troubling her. Was it that the clones were too weak for XANA's high standards? No, they were working perfectly, with the few exceptions of some clones with defects- they obviously had to be removed from XANA's army. Her hands were balled into fists, clenching and unclenching several times before she stopped, a wicked grin spread out across her face. Walking on all fours, each movement precise and skilled, she made her way over to an electronic panel, to which she placed her hand on. She did not flinch, nor show any discernible expression when she felt a dark presence gathering behind her.
"They're coming… and soon." She bluntly stated- her voice altered from growling in an animalistic manner almost constantly in frustration and not using words for so long, knowing that XANA already knew who "they" were when she referred to them.
"I see…" he replied thoughtfully. "I regret to inform you that your clone 'sister' is no longer under my control, though I do not see how this could be a problem. She is leading them right to my trap…"
Aelita nodded, and continued on working on whatever she was doing- tracking the group's movements. Slightly annoyed that XANA had dismissed Waldo as a low threat to his plans, she continued tracking their movements, puzzling on why they had suddenly changed direction, going South instead of Northward to XANA's current base of operations.
"They seem to have a change of plans… this is not an act of cowardice, this is an act of brilliance…" XANA muttered to himself before straightening up suddenly. "Get ready for their arrival when they finally arrive. Set up an ambush, and wait for them before attacking."
Aelita nodded and went back on all fours again, stalking out of the room, though the endless maze of corridors and sub-buildings, and finally to the outside world. She growled as the light hit her eyes, which were unaccustomed to it for so long and sought shelter underneath a group of trees, grateful for the shade they provided from the blinding and unforgiving sun. From there, she climbed to the canopy after her eyes adjusted to the light, and started to wait, eyes and ears alert for any sound of their arrival.
Like a predator that stalks its prey before the chase and the kill, Aelita considered herself to be hunting for her enemies that were once her friends. Being under XANA's control, she had patience in waiting for them, though slightly irritated at their speed of travel at times. Bored after an hour of waiting with nothing occurring, her ears slightly twitched at the sound of some rustling below. Finding a small animal separated from the rest of its group, Aelita did not think twice before adjusting her body to a more comfortable position and tensing her muscles before leaping from her perch and pouncing on the small animal, digging her claws and fangs into its back and neck respectively.
It soon died from the assault and later attack, and Aelita wasted no time in devouring it and burying the remains. Wanting to get the taste of blood out of her mouth, Aelita climbed back onto the trees, and started searching for a river, or a body of water to where she could wash out the taste. Finding one after a few minutes of searching, she leapt back down to the ground and began to drink at the water, slightly annoyed at the aquatic life and the warm and the taste and appearance of the murky water itself.
A cawing of a bird immediately caught her attention, her reaction being her head to suddenly jerk upwards and to snarl at the bird as it flew over an open space between the trees. Done with her drink and not wanting to be caught off guard from any dangers any longer, stalked along the edge of the pond to a fallen log that was partially submerged in the more swampy area of the forest area. She tested the log before walking on it, keeping her body close to the log while her alert senses were concentrating on any other life form that could be considered dangerous to her well-being.
She stopped midway on the log, interested in a reflection she saw in the clearer parts of the water. It showed a young woman with messy pink hair, claws, and fangs in a red and black body suit. Under the mane of messy pink/slightly-reddish hair lay two wild eyes with a fire to them- green with a tint of red and a gleam of animal intelligence and malicious intent. She raised her clawed hand, and was startled that the reflection raised its hand as well. Realizing that it was her own reflection, it gave her an uneasy feeling that made her lean closer towards the water's edge to take a better look in her curiosity.
She lost her footing, and with a screech of surprise in the short moment she realized what was about to happen, she fell into the water with a loud splash. The air bubbles rapidly rose to the surface before they slowed, stopping altogether after a few moments. Just when the swampy lands were regaining some of their quiet peace, Aelita burst out of the muddy water with a mighty roar, landing roughly on the ground nearby. Growling slightly at her current state, she started to shake off the filth from her outfit. Dirtying a nearby tree in the process of rubbing off the muck, she stopped once she heard the distant sounds of an automobile coming closer towards the location of the base.
Grinning evilly, she abandoned her efforts of cleaning herself from the grime and took off towards the sound of the automobile on all fours. Leaping expertly from tree to tree, as if she had been doing it all her life, she came to a stop on a branch overlooking a path cleared by humans a long time ago before the abandonment of the buildings which now made XANA's base of operations. Turning her head slightly she saw a black van coming towards her location. Her muscles tensed and readied for the action she was about to perform, and with a loud screech and a powerful push-off from her perch, she landed with a loud thump onto the moving vehicle.
Smirking at the van's occupants' sudden cries of terror, she stalked towards a nearby window. The van swerved suddenly several times and would have thrown her off had she not dug her claws into the metal of the van to hold on. Loudly growling at their attempts to get rid of her, she began her climb towards a nearby window again. The van begun to go in a straight path again, and she was perched over a side window. A low tree branch that hung low over the path forced her to close her eyes and duck until it had completely passed by. When she righted herself and opened her eyes again, she found herself looking into a muzzle of a gun positioned between her eyes.
End of Chapter 8
A.N. So far, so good. I plan to make the next chapter about 5,000 words, which should wrap it up quite nicely. An explanation for the whole series should appear after I finish this. The description of their outfits were meant to be not as detailed- I just wanted to move on, and not spend 1,000 words describing about each of their outfits. Besides, you can use your imagination.