A World Without Danger Chapter 8
Chapter 8: Crash Course“So… they’ve figured out the virtualization process.”X.A.N.A. narrowed his eyes as he looked down at Aelita and Odd from his view on a tree branch. This… was something he had hoped would’ve taken Jeremy longer to figure out.Now Aelita isn’t alone anymore… This certainly complicates things. A growl escaped his throat. No matter. I can easily correct this. Besides… it might just be the thing to lure him out.X.A.N.A. vanished in a puff of smoke, heading towards a tower. Besides… I like a good game.oooooo “And then here we are.” Ulrich rubbed the back of his neck as he finished retelling his and Odd’s story. “It’s certainly been a crazy night.”“No kidding.” Jeremy brought his bandaged hand to his chin. “But to think you both got messages from Franz Hopper himself.”“Well, we know he’s alive. That’s cool.” Patrick commented. “Though I wonder why he wanted them here.”“That is the million dollar question… I wonder if the encrypted message I got has anything to do with it.” Jeremy said, opening up the window from earlier. “My laptop should be finished translating it by now.”There was a beep, before a new window opened, a clearly written out message displaying on the screen. “Jeremy Belpois, I congratulate you on turning the supercomputer back on. I’m grateful that someone has come in my time of need… but I am also in fear for your safety along with your cousin. Lyoko itself was supposed to be a true world without danger but… sadly, that idea was dashed away by a program of my own creation. I implore you, once you have the virtualization process figured out, please, send in people of your choosing to be Lyoko Warriors and protect my dear Aelita so she can perform her duties as the Guardian of Lyoko. Only she can neutralize the threat that is on the horizon with the reawakening of the supercomputer. I’d say more but I’m short on time. Please… Whatever you do. Do not trust X.A.N.A.Your world and Lyoko are all at risk because of him.Stay strong.- Franz Hopper”“X.A.N.A… Isn’t that the thing Aelita said she ran into earlier?” Patrick asked.“Yeah… So, I guess her gut was right.” Jeremy narrowed his eyes. “But… how can our world be at risk as well?”“Don’t know…” Ulrich crossed his arms. “But now I don’t think I like the idea of just Odd being on Lyoko. Sounds like it would be better if another person was with him.”“But I… I don’t know how to get people back yet.” Jeremy frowned. “I’m not sure if sending in more right now is a good idea.”“Then I’ll just deal.” Ulrich uncrossed his arms. “Send me to Lyoko.”Patrick’s eyes widened.“Dude, you sure? You have no idea what might be waiting in there.”“Like I said, I’ll deal. I don’t want Odd to be alone with Aelita… and if it is dangerous, better to have security in numbers.”Jeremy sighed.“... I know you. You won’t take no for an answer. Get in the scanner. I’ll send you in.”“Cool.” Ulrich waved as he headed for the ladder. “See you on the flip side.”Jeremy lowered his head. “Patrick… I feel like I just opened a Pandora’s box with this whole thing.”Patrick frowned, giving one of his cousin’s shoulders a squeeze.“It’ll all work out, Jeremy. It’s overwhelming, I know, but you got this.”“I hope so, Patrick.”Jeremy lifted his head back up, eyes narrowing in focus.“I hope so.”oooooo Aelita and Odd were currently hanging around an area with a large lake that was surrounded by a dense number of trees.Aelita was seated on a tree stump, sitting in a cross legged position, meditating while Odd laid down by the lake. Odd had to admit, the situation he was in was strange… but awesome at the same time. Never thought I’d get to experience something like this. Wait till I tell Sam about this. She’ll flip!Odd frowned as he thought of his girlfriend. I hope it doesn’t take too long to get me out of here. I don’t want to worry her. He held up one of his gloved hands, examining it. Looks like the only means of defense I have are claws… Lame. “Odd? Aelita?” Jeremy called out. “I’m sending Ulrich in to join you.”Odd instantly sat up, eyes wide.“Really? Wouldn’t you want to wait till you know how to get us out?”“That was my thought process as well but with something we learned we’re doing this to be safe.”There was a humming sound that drew Aelita and Odd’s attention. They looked up, seeing the framework of a person appearing in the air not too far from them. Soon, the framework became solid, Ulrich appearing in full. He was adorned in the garb of a samurai that was various shades of green and brown, twin swords strapped to his back.He flailed as he fell from the sky, landing on his back.“Ow!”Odd winced.“I really hope that’s not gonna be a regular thing that happens every time we get virtualized.”Aelita hurried over to Ulrich, helping him up.“Are you okay?”“Yeah.” Ulrich rubbed the back of his head before getting a better look at Aelita. “Pleasure to meet you in person, Princess.”Aelita giggled, bowing her head.“Pleasure to meet you too.”Ulrich looked over to Odd, seeing the young man had an unamused look on his face as he crossed his arms.“What? Not happy to see me?”Odd grumbled something under his breath.“Come again?”“Not fair.” Odd glared. “How come you get to be a samurai!?”Aelita brought a hand over her mouth, stifling a laugh as Ulrich smirked.“Cause I’m not a conspiracy theorist like you are.”Odd growled, narrowing his eyes.“That’s podcaster you wannabe Power Ranger!”“HEY-”“Girls, you’re both lovely.” Jeremy chimed in. “But could you please save your quarrel for the dorms? You have a job to do.”Odd huffed, giving him the “I’m watching you motion” to Ulrich.“We’ll settle this over a round of Smash Brothers.”“Better watch your back then, Cat Boy.”Jeremy groaned, bringing a hand to his face.“It’s like they don’t hear me.”Patrick rubbed the back of his head.“Jeremy, it's Odd and Ulrich, they are the very embodiment of the term “bone head.”Beep beep beep!Jeremy perked up as he looked at his radar window, seeing two red icons approaching towards the icons that represented Aelita, Ulrich and Odd.“Uh… Guys? You got some things coming your way.”Ulrich raised an eyebrow.“Define “things.”“I don’t know.” Jeremy squinted his eyes at the labels on his radar. “Kankrelat…” His eyes widened as he recognized the name. “Oh no… Guys, be careful. I read up on these in the journal I found. They’re dangerous.”Odd and Ulrich perked up as they heard the sound of mechanical legs moving quickly towards them. Soon, some bug-like creatures came into view, their maybe “eye” being pointed at them. Odd grinned, laughing a bit.“Those things? Dangerous? You’re kidding, right?”“Odd, I’m not kidding! Keep those things far away from Aelita!”“Ah don’t worry, I’ll just find a big shoe and-”Odd was knocked over as one of the kankrelats fired a red energy beam. It hit Odd square in the chest, causing him to cry out, part of his digital form dissipating for a moment. “Augh… Okay. Got it. They’re armed.”The kankrelats started shooting more beams, Aelita running for cover while Ulrich drew out his swords, using them to deflect the beams. Odd got up, growling at the kanrelats. “Ugh… I’ll make you pay for this!”He shook a fist at one of them… a series of claw shaped arrows shooting from his glove and nailing one of the kanrelats in its eyes, causing it to explode.Ulrich looked at Odd, stunned. “What was that?”Odd looked at his gloves, noting on the top part of his hand was an attachment that had holes in it.“Guess I’m loaded too.” Odd grinned. “I like this. I like this a lot.”He fired another round of arrows, trying to nail the kankrelat that was still firing at Ulrich, but sadly missed.“I need a crosshair or something. It would make aiming this easier.”The kankrelat whirled around, firing directly at Odd.He yelped, diving out of the way.“Okay, is it mocking me!?”“I… I think it is…” Ulrich grimaced.“Great. The angry potato bug is mocking me.”Ulrich decided to cease this moment, seeing if he could rush forward to get a hit in. To his surprise, he moved at an amazing speed, jabbing his sword right into the eye of the kankrelat. Just like what happened before with the one Odd shot at, it exploded into pieces before disappearing entirely.“Dude!! That was sick!” Odd cheered. “You moved lighting fast! How did you do that!?”“Not sure… But it’ll definitely come in handy.”“That was… incredible to watch.” Jeremy said, his eyes wide with wonder. “You guys have super powers. That’s… That’s so cool!”“Well maybe.” Odd crossed his arms. “I currently only seem to be a furry with arrow hands.”Ulrich patted his shoulder, a broad grin on his face.“It’s okay, Odd. We still like you.”“Power Ranger.”“Cat Man.”Aelita came out of her hiding spot, staring the two young men down. Her eyes trembled a bit as another memory flashed across her mind. “Daddy! Daddy look!”Aelita grinned as she looked down at Franz, a huge smile on his face.“What lovely wings. Just like the ones your mother has. Brilliantly done, Aelita!’Aelita brought a hand to her head, wincing. “Hey, what's up, Princess?” Odd asked, moving closer to her. “You’re not looking too good.”“I-I’m alright just… remembered something.” Aelita shook her head, standing tall. “Thank you both for protecting me.” She bowed. “I am very grateful.”Odd smiled. “Anytime.”Ulrich frowned, looking around them.“We need to get you somewhere safe. Hey, Genius! Where do we go from here?!”“I would recommend getting to a tower. I know for fact those are safe zones.”“Then let’s do that.” Ulrich looked at Aelita. “Know where the closest one is?”Aelita nodded.“Right this way.”Just as the group turned to leave, the sound of mechanical legs was heard again. However, unlike the kankrelats, it was much louder… and there was more weight to the steps.“Uh… Jeremy?” Ulrich looked around, trying to find the source of the sound. “Is something coming our way?”Jeremy’s eyes darted to his radar, swallowing hard as he looked at the name that came up on it. “Krab. Guys. Run. NOW.”Ulrich didn’t waste a second to rush forward, scooping Aelita into his arms and taking off at top speed. “Just point where to go, Princess!” Ulrich instructed, keeping up his speed. “Hey! Wait for me!” Odd called after, trying to keep up. The mechanical footsteps grew louder, causing Odd to look behind him.Approaching at a rapid pace was a large crab like creature. Though unlike an actual crab, it only had four legs and its body was disk shaped, with what appeared to be six eyes.“Oh… crab…” Odd swallowed hard. “Uh… Jeremy, how dangerous is this thing?”“Very. Do NOT engage! Just run!”Odd ducked as the krab shot out a powerful energy beam from its eyes, the beam only barely missing him.“Noted!”Odd picked up his pace, trying to catch up with Ulrich. The krab continued its pursuit, firing more shots, managing to nail both Odd and Urlich in their legs.Odd and Ulrich rolled to the ground, groaning in pain. Aelita flew out of Ulrich’s arms, coming to a rolling stop at a tree stump.Jeremy’s eyes were wide with horror as he looked at one of the windows on his screen beeped in alarm. He hadn’t really paid much mind to them but with everything going on he couldn’t ignore them anymore. They were charts that tracked the vital signs of the three individuals on Lyoko. He wasn’t entirely sure how things worked in Lyoko but seeing a number for something referred to as “Life Points” drop to lower digits was making his heart race.Ulrich and Odd got up weakly, staring the krab down as it readied another shot.Ulrich drew out his swords, growling. “Alright, you wanna play dirty? Fine.”“Ulrich! Don’t!” Jeremy cried out. Ulrich charged forward, aiming to cut off the monster’s legs. However, the krab reacted quickly, firing a quick series of shots, hitting Ulrich right in the chest. Ulrich cried out as he was flung back by the force of the blasts. He began to fade away, his body breaking apart into white squares, revealing the grid underneath. “ULRICH!” Odd shouted, running to his friend to catch him… only to catch nothing as Ulrich disappeared entirely. Ulrich’s chart went gray on Jeremy’s screen, the word “devirtualized” appearing over it. “Devirutalized…?” Jeremy whispered before quickly turning his head towards Patrick. “Patrick, go check the scanners and see if Ulrich is there.”Patrick gave a salute.“You got it, Cuz.”Odd growled at the krab, his eyes burning with anger. “You’re gonna pay for that!”Odd charged forward at the krab. The krab fired more shots, Odd dodging with ease as he continued to build up his speed. Soon as he was close enough, he leaped into the air, landing on top of the krab, digging his claws in. The krab shrieked in agony, trying to buck Odd off but to no avail. “This is for Ulrich!” He cried out, shooting a round of arrows into the eye symbol on the shell.He jumped off, the krab exploding into pieces as it let out one last shriek.He landed, panting. “Seems they all got that eye symbol on them… Guess that’s their weak point.”Aelita hurried over to Odd, looking him over.“Are you alright?”“Yeah… Though…” He lowered his head. “I wish I could say the same for Ulrich…” Odd looked up. “Hey, Einstein… Please tell me that Ulrich isn’t… ya know…”“About to find out.”Jeremy watched his camera feed of the scanner room intently.Patrick stood before one of the cabins, his body shaking with anticipation. There was a humming noise before it opened, mist pouring out of it and Urlich falling right out. Patrick caught him, helping the young man stand. “I gotcha, bud.” Patrick let out a sigh of relief, giving Ulrich a gentle hug. “Man, you scared us.”Ulrich returned the embrace, his entire body shaking. He shook his head, trying to clear it of the cobwebs.“No kidding… I thought for a second I was done for.” He grimaced. “I… I'm so sorry, I wasn’t thinking.”“Just… be more careful eh?”“I’ll try.”Jeremy sighed in relief at seeing this.“He’s alive… Thank heavens…”Odd smiled at hearing this, looking at Aelita.“Guess I should get you to safety now.”Aelita nodded, looking around, making sure that nothing else was coming for them. “Yeah… I think we’ve seen enough today.”
BlueSky-Writer