Chapter 28 Fighting For a Friend (Mister Puck)
A.N. – This chapter will switch between A and Aelita during the Lyoko scene due to A having a special role during the attack. Besides that, nothing else changes.
Short Summary – After having a reoccurring nightmare, Aelita and everyone else return to the Hermitage only to discover a toy Aelita knows the name of, but no memory. But this toy also holds the deep secrets of Lyoko that Xana must prevent them from finding out.
Disclaimer – I do not own Code Lyoko or the story idea. I am just a fan of the show, and the idea was submitted by James Marshall.
Flashback
A was enrolled with Jeremy, Odd, Yumi, Ulrich, and William into a martial arts program. Jeremy suggested that they all improve their fighting skills due to a chance of Xana returning. They knew if he were to return, he would come back more powerful, and they would be much weaker. So, to keep them fresh, all five of them took a private class to make sure nothing or nobody could defeat them.
Within 4 years of training, they all picked up on the material pretty fast, they all became black belts. They were ready for Xana's return or anything that would arise. Their lives were anything but normal.
Present Time
A was walking the streets of Paris at night. She knew that with Xana's ever-increasing power, he would develop more dangerous abilities as well as the ones he already had. He already showed that with his possession of Sissi a week ago that he possessed superhuman strength and agility. These possessed people would be the toughest test for the warriors. She was passing by an alleyway when she heard what sounded like rustling. But it is different than the ones rats make, so she decided to investigate. When she turned the corner, she saw a man mugging a woman.
"No one can hear you, and no one knows you're here! Now give me your money!" The mugger said holding up a knife.
"Hey! Leave her alone!" A said as she approached.
"Hey, stay out of this! This doesn't concern you!"
"It does when the scum of the planet, like you, attack innocent people like her!"
"Last chance, leave or get fucked up!"
"Come and get me…"
The mugger charged her, but she quickly dodged and avoided the swing of knife blade. She then grabbed his wrist and started twisting it, making him drop the blade. She then broke his arm.
"Who are you?" He asked in fear.
"Your worst nightmare" A said before knocking him out. Her skills in the martial arts from the future were equipped to deal with the abilities of Xana, so a normal human was no challenge for her.
"Thank you," The woman said. "Here, take this." She tried to offer A a reward.
"Don't mention it. Just try to be a little more careful. Buy some mace, a taser, or a small pistol. Something for self-defense."
The woman ran off as A left and returned to her walk.
A went to the courtyard to talk to the group. "So, how did everyone sleep?"
"Fine" They all replied.
"Terrible" Aelita replied.
"Reason?" A asks.
"Aelita has been having these visions that turn quickly into a nightmare. Wolves chasing an elf" Jeremy explains to here.
A remembered these visions as well, but she couldn't tell Aelita that it's a clue or the wolves relate to her past. She is always conflicted with knowing how events are gonna play out, but these visions are the key to unlocking the secrets to the past.
"These visions started happening around the Hermitage. Maybe you should go back there" Jeremy suggests.
"I don't want to go back there. That place scares me" Aelita says.
"Just do it one more time. If nothing happens, you can call it quits" A suggests.
"Yeah, and we'll all be with you" Jeremy says patting her hand.
Later, all of them arrive at the house. "My legs are shaking. What's happening to me?" Aelita asks.
"Your scared. It's natural" Odd responds.
"It's your body's response to fear" A adds.
All of them head inside to find it just a normal abandoned house, with no Xana activity. Aelita starts to wonder, and she heads upstairs. They all follow her as she enters a room. When a enters she starts having flashbacks and Aelita starts screaming. A is having a flashback of the day the government came after her and her father. When their vision returns, they are both being looked at by Yumi.
"Are you two okay?" Yumi asks them.
"I am, right now" A says.
"Me too, but I had another vision. A longer one this time. An elf hiding in hole in the tree," Aelita says as she looks at the poster. "Like this one." She tears the poster sown and finds a doll in a hole in the wall. Aelita grabs it. "Mister Puck…" she mutters.
Aelita's Point of View
"Apparently Aelita's never seen this toy, but she knows it's name is Mister Puck" Jeremy says.
"But what's with A collapsing. It's like a repeat after we tried shutting down the supercomputer" Odd says.
"Maybe Aelita and A are related or it's just a weird coincidence."
"Well, whatever the reason this whole story is paranormal" Odd says as Sissi snatches the toy.
"So Aelita, still playing with dolls?" Sissi says, teasing her.
"Sissi, give that back!" Jermey tells her.
"Fetch" she tosses it to Nicolas.
"Hey! A bit of advice, give me that toy" Ulrich warns him.
"What toy?" He says as Herb has it now.
"Herb! I dare you to take your glasses off!" Odd says charging to him.
Herb throws it to Sissi, but both her and Aelita catch it. They start fighting over it, when Aelita is able to pull out of Sissi's grasp and a key falls. Sissi tries to go for it, but Ulrich puts his foot over it.
"Uh uh" Ulrich says with a smile. The teacher comes in as Sissi tries to move Ulrich's foot but gives up.
"Fine you can have it! But only because it's you" Sissi tells him as Ulrich hands the key to Jeremy.
A's Point of View
A was relaxing, waiting for when Xana was gonna move. Either he has run out of ideas, or he had no good reason to attack. Aelita knew that if they found what the doll hid, Xana would be all over them.
"A, it's Jeremy. Meet us at the train station. We have a mystery to uncover" Jeremy tells her.
"Okay Jeremy, I'll be right there." A exited her home and then exited Lyoko through her Lyoko door. She made it to the train station and found the group at the lockers. "So, what are we here for?"
"This key, which should open this locker" Jeremy hands Aelita the key and she opens the locker to find a briefcase with the letters FH on it.
"FH, what does that stand for?" Ulrich wonders.
"Fuzzy hands? Fifty cent hotdog? Fried egg?" Odd throws suggestions.
"Egg doesn't start with an H."
"Plus, none of those things would relate to Lyoko or the Hermitage" A reminds him.
They open the briefcase to find it filled with CD's. "Oh cool, music" Odd says.
"I don't think so" Jeremy says as he inserts a disc into his laptop. "Franz Hopper's diary."
"Great, maybe we'll find out more about Hermitage's mysterious owner" Yumi wonders.
"Yeah, but not right now. The diary's encrypted."
"Maybe to keep Xana out. He must have some kind of connection to Lyoko with all the stuff related to the factory and sector five around his house" A responds, still not knowing why the diary was encrypted from the past.
"How much time do you need? One or two hours?" Ulrich asks.
"More like one or two years. This encryption is really sophisticated. Not even Xana could hack this" Jeremy responds.
"Maybe it will provide us insight for you and me," Aelita says facing A. "Sister…"
When A returns to Lyoko, Xana appears before her. "We have a serious problem" Xana tells her.
"You saw?" A asks.
"Yes, and now we will have to shift plans."
"The diary is heavily encrypted. For Jeremy to decode it, he would need processing power than you."
"The risk is still to high. Tomorrow, I will tie up a loose end from the past, with or without your permission."
A knew that he couldn't risk killing her father, but he was gonna make sure the Lyoko Warriors weren't gonna keep the diary.
The next day came, and A was resting, preparing for what Xana was preparing, when Yumi suddenly came over the intercom. "A, are you there? It's me Yumi."
"Yumi, what's happening? Where's Jeremy?" A asks.
"Possessed by Xana. The activated tower is in the ice sector."
"You get there as fast as possible. I'll try to stop Jeremy."
"How are you gonna do that?"
"I got my ways."
A immediately exited and headed back to Earth to finally see how tough Xana's specters were. She was always captured by them, but she never fought one unless she was teleported from the skid. A appeared on the main floor of the factory and saw Ulrich and Odd get easily defeated by Jeremy. He was about to finish them when A came in and immobilized him for a short while by hitting him on the back of the neck.
"Thanks A" Odd says.
"Go, I just bought you a minute," A says as they all enter the elevator and Jeremy gets up. "Come on Xana, let's play."
"I keep warning time and again A, so I guess I'll show you no mercy" Xana said as Jeremy.
"I wouldn't have it any other way."
Aelita's Point of View
Aelita is at the interface preparing a self-delayed virtualization. "How are you doing Aelita? Think you can manage it?" Yumi asks from the scanners.
"I'm not as good as Jeremy. I'll virtualize you three and then I'll do myself," Aelita tells them as she virtualizes her three friends. She then sets a self-delayed virtualization for herself. She steps in just as the timer hits zero and she is virtualized by her friends. "Look there!" Aelita says pointing to the tower. They run along the path.
A's Point of View
A is holding her own against Jeremy. He goes to punch her, and she holds his fist, but moves out of the way before losing her grip. She was surprised by the strength that Xana's ghost has. He tries to punch her again, but she avoids and sweeps his legs. Jeremy lands on his back but is able to do the same to her. A sees Jeremy trying to pound her into the ground, but she rolls out of the way. She rebounds with a right hook sending Jeremy into a post. He just growls with anger in response.
Aelita's Point of View
The four run across the path, not knowing where Xana's gonna ambush them from. Without Jeremy to warn them, Xana can pull anything on them. Suddenly, the ice around them starts to crack and four bloks emerging from the cracks.
"Bloks!" Yumi says.
With no way out, the three surround Aelita to protect her and ready for battle.
A's Point of View
Jeremy's hands electrocute as he tries to punch A again. All she could do was dodge as she couldn't risk getting electrocuted. She grabs a pipe and tries to hit him with it, but he grabs it, and the electric shock sends her flying. Jeremy approaches her with a zapping pipe, hopping to finish her. She uses a chain to tie up his legs. "Not so clever now are you." She quickly ties him to a pole, hoping that would keep him busy enough to find something to defend herself. Unfortunately for her, everything was metal. She was in a field to Xana's advantage. "Great. A metal playing field."
Aelita's Point of View
One of the bloks fire and All three of them blok as the others fire as well. "Yumi, Odd, protect Aelita. I'll take care of the bloks," Ulrich tells them. "Triplicate." He splits into three to fight tow of the bloks and now it's two on three. One of the clones is destroyed but one of the bloks is also defeated. "Fusion!"
A's Point of View
A was up on the second level. Jeremy jumps up to her. "Oh, so you can fly now huh?" She asks rhetorically.
"I've wasted enough time with you!" Xana says as Jeremy. He fires lightning at her, and she goes flying and clearly incapacitated for a brief time.
Aelita's Point of View
Yumi, Odd, and Aelita try to make a run for the tower, but a blok hits Yumi in the arm. She eyes the two bloks approaching. "Odd, protect Aelita. I'll take care of these two." She throws her fan and destroys one. The last blok fires and she backflips towards Ulrich. "Let's finish this." Ulrich nods in response.
Yumi's blok fires orange rings at her and she flips through them. She throws her fan and destroys the blok before it can fire again. But after that happens she suddenly rematerializes.
Odd runs towards the tower with Aelita. Two more bloks block their path. "Aelita, hide somewhere. I'll take care of them." As Aelita waits for Odd to clear her path, the Scyphozoa appears and grabs her.
A's Point of View
A wakes up from her ordeal with Jeremy. She jumps down and calls the elevator. "I'm not done yet Xana." When the door opens, A grabs Jeremy from behind and stars to try to choke him out. Time to put you into submission." Jeremy grabs her arm and quickly electrocutes her. He picks her up by her shirt.
Aelita's Point of View
Aelita suddenly regains consciousness in Ulrich's arms. She sees the Scyphozoa slowly backing away. "Thanks Ulrich."
"No problem. Now head for the tower" Ulrich tells her.
She sees that Odd has cleared the path for her. "Princess' tower awaits" Odd gestures to it.
She enters and deactivates it in time to save A.
A's Point of View
"Time to finish you off for good" Jeremy says as he prepares an electrical storm to finish off A. Suddenly, he drops as the tower deactivates and lands on top of A. She blushes a little at this. "I know you like me Jeremy, but you and me are twenty years apart."
Yumi comes up to see the knocked-out Jeremy on top of A. "Am I interrupting something here?"
"No, you just missed his grand finale that came up short."
Jeremy wakes up eventually surrounded by everybody. "What happened?"
"You played the role of the puppet" Ulrich says.
"Not only that, but Xana also made you destroy all of Franz Hopper's CD's. Looks like we'll never know the secrets behind Lyoko and Xana" Aelita mentions.
"I had a feeling Xana would attempt to destroy them, so I made backups on a restricted access part of the supercomputer. One that only I can access. Xana shouldn't be able to touch them now" Jeremy says, getting a sigh of relief from the group.
"At least we still have the means to find out more about Xana and Lyoko" Ulrich says.
"Yeah, but still no way to decode the diaries" A adds.
"Eventually we'll find a method that will allow us to decode these diaries. Until then, our plan remains the same. Protect Aelita and try to free her and A from Lyoko and Xana" Jeremy explains.
"Hold on there Frankenstein. How come Xana had no problem possessing you but couldn't me or Ulrich?" Odd asks.
"Maybe us fighting on Lyoko gives us some kind of resistance to Xana" Yumi answers.
Jeremy knows there's only one choice. He reluctantly goes to Lyoko, but after one trip refuses to go back.
"That is the last time I set foot on Lyoko!" Jeremy exclaims on his way back.
"What? Because of a few megatanks?" Ulrich asks.
"I'll stick to running the show from my computer. I just got to watch out for ghosts from now on."
"So, what did he look like on Lyoko?" Aelita asks.
"He was, how do I put this?" Odd starts.
"Ridiculous" Ulrich finishes.
"That's it"
Everyone but Jeremy laughs as the doors close.
A returns to be only confronted by a disappointed Xana. "Disappointing. I know you stand with the warriors in some cases, but just like me, we need the keys."
"I don't know what came over me. Maybe I just wanted to see how tough you really are" A responds.
"I highly recommend never trying that again. My powers will continue to grow, as well as my abilities. And next time, you may not be so lucky to survive."
A knew she had an advantage over Xana, but she couldn't risk telling him that. Xana also knew that she was a formidable fighter, and he would consider this in the future. As A laid down on the couch, she began to wonder if the woman she saved earlier would have any impact on the future. She didn't know the fate of the woman in the original timeline, but all she hoped for was not another devastating result.
A.N. – Another chapter ends that shows A's fighting style. Next time, love is in the air as Saint Valentine's Day descends upon Kadic, and Xana has a special girl in mind for a trap. PM me with story ideas if you have any! Don't forget to review with questions or comments! I will respond! As always, till next time! See ya! -lyokowarrior97