FanFiction.Net - unleash your imagination 
mobile edition
G-Force 4
Author of 6 Stories |
No cash, no payoff. Please go somewhere else for your paychecks Antefilms.
Special Thanks:
To all my readers who made this all possible.
Hello there, my name is Jin Ishiyama. I'm fourteen years old and am a student of Kadic Junior High. I'm a pretty average student with a close knit circle of friends that my twin sister help introduce me to them, but that's not what I'm here to talk about today.
You see, I'm about to die.
No, I'm not some drama causing, angst loving teenager that's about to commit suicide. Ok, maybe I should be more specific so I can eliminate all the confusion.
I'm about to be killed.
That's a lot better, well maybe explanation wise but not situation. You know how they say that right before you die, you see your entire life flash before you're eyes? Well looks like my parents forgot to pay for that plan cause I can only remember the events before this. So why am I telling you this, I don't know. I just thought that maybe you would like to listen. Now this story that I'm going to tell you may seem a little strange, heck you might even think I'm crazy. I can either inform you or entertain you depending if you think I'm telling the truth or not. Honestly, I don't give a damn if you shelve my story in either the autobiography section or the fiction area I'm going to die here so I don't really care about what you think as long as I get my story out. If you must know, I'm dangling off the side of a manhole cover and I am about to plummet to my immediate death. Now I'll try my best to recall the events of the day that lead me here so yeah this will be one giant flashback. Believe me, the flashback is not my favorite medium to tell a story but then again I don't have a choice here now do I? If I had my way, I'd type my story out and post it on some sort of story website but that doesn't matter now since I'm going to die. Forgive my rambling, but it is hard to keep your concentration when you are trying your best not to lose your grip with your arch enemy hanging on one of your legs. Don't believe, go piss some random stranger off and have him hold onto your leg while you dangle over a ledge. Well that's not importat now is it? Might as well start from the beginning.
"So that's why your lip was bleeding when you came into Jeremie's room. Man Aniki I think your fighting abilities are getting rusty."
"Rusty? Me rusty? You must be joking. Haven't you seen me fight? It's like poetry in motion."
"More like a disaster waiting to happen."
Soon the two siblings saw Odd and Ulrich at their usual meeting spot. While Yumi waved to them hello, Jin decided to cut the formalities and cut right to the chase.
"YOU!" Jin yelled out as he pointed at Ulrich and walked over to him.
"Yes?" Ulrich said confused not knowing what Jin was accusing him of.
"WHY DID YOU HAVE TO TEACH ODD THAT KICK?"
"Oh yeah, that's a pretty coolmove huh?" Ulrich said nonchalantly. "Odd told me about the match you two had a week ago. Jin, I think you're getting rusty."
"I AM NOT RUSTY!"
Odd couldn't help but laugh at Jin's plight as his fighting abilities were being picked apart.
"Hey guys, don't pick apart Jin like that. Remember, he's developing his own fighting style." Odd said in his defense.
"Thank you!" Jin said loudly seeing how he now had an ally in this discussion.
"And what style would that be?" Ulrich asked, sensing that his best friend would crack a joke any minute now.
"Falling On Your Face Fu" Ulrich and Yumi soon joined in with Odd and together, the three friends produced a giant roar of laughter.
"Yeah Odd I agree with you full-heartedly." Yumi said while looking at her brother. "If that was a real fighting style, Jin would be the grandmaster by age ten."
Jin was being a good sport about the whole thing. He wasn't planning on getting his revenge at Odd or thinking of his own way to humiliate his friends. In fact, he too was laughing at the all the jokes being cracked about him. This soon got some strange stares from his friends.
"Dude Jin what gives? Why are you laughing? You're the one being insulted."
"Cause I know it's true. Look guys if you can't make fun of yourself, then you'll never understand true comedy."
"So what's on the agenda today?" Jin asked seeing how the group just got their recommended dose of laughter for the day.
"Nothing much, just school as usual." Ulrich replied.
"In this day and age Ulrich, that could be considered as a blessing." Yumi said thinking about her time spent in the virtual abyss.
"Tell me about it" Jin commented. "Minus the electrical build-up incident and the bus. I've been seriously wounded in almost all the previous attacks."
"Just like how you got wounded right after I kicked you?" Odd said jokingly once more.
"Aw man, now you're just taking a cheep shot."
"So Aelita you said that you had something to tell me." Jeremie said after establishing his connection with the girl.
"Jeremie, XANA is doing something strange with a tower in the polar region."
"Is he activating it?" Jeremei asked automatically assuming the worst.
"No he's not, but it's still worrying me. There are two blocks near it."
Jeremie still didn't see what the problem was. "You know that monster's frequently inhabit Lyoko that doesn't sound so unusual."
"Yes that is true, but these two blocks have been circling the tower nonstop as if they were guarding something."
"Let me check it out Aelita."
Jeremie brought up a display of the tower that Aelita was mentioning and began scanning it himself.
"Incase your interested, I'm near the tower right now but the monsters don't know that I'm nearby, so what do you see?" Aelita asked, curious of Jeremie's findings.
Jeremie brought up the display of the tower and saw two red marks patrolling the nearby area around the tower.
"Now this is strange indeed. The tower is not activated but why are those two blocks near it?"
"Do you think XANA is trying something new with a maneuver like this?"
"I really don't know Aelita but this might spell potential trouble in the long run. We better get the rest of the team informed. I don't like the looks of this at all."
Jeremie left the display of the suspicious tower on his computer and pulled out his cell phone to contact the rest of his friends.
"But there's something I just don't get," Odd said thinking out loud. "I didn't kick you that hard and yet you did walk away slightly injured. What gives?"
"The answer is simple Odd. Ever looked at your shoes?"
"What's wrong with my shoes?"
"WHY DO YOUR SHOES HAVE TO BE SO DAMN HEAVY! YOU ALMOST TOOK MY JAW OUT WITH THAT KICK!"
Well almost quiet.
Odd finally realized where that extra strength for his kick really came from. "Oh yeah, momentum. Did I really kick you that hard?"
"I WAS BLEEDING WASN'T I?"
Fortunately for Jin Yumi's cell phone rang and thus prevented any attempts to reenact the infamous match between Jin and Odd.
"What's that Jeremie?" The group watched her nod not knowing what she was talking about. "Ok, we'll be right there," Yumi turned off her cell phone before placing it in her backpack to get it out of the way.
"Jeremie called, he says he wants to speak to us."
"Is it urgent?" Jin asked knowing full well if Jeremie decided to call a meeting, the reason for it would not be good.
"That's the strange thing Aniki. It's not. Jeremie just wanted to speak to us."
"Well I'm going, sure beats standing outside here all day and having my fighting style being made fun of."
"And now Ulrich, for a trip to the Swiss Alps and A BRAND NEW CAR! What is the subject of today's meeting?" Odd's voice came in as he used his best game show announcer voice.
"Great Odd, not only did you steal my entrance when XANA flooded the school with gas but now you're going to take some of my material too? Aiya!" Jin's voice soon followed after venting his grief on Odd's lack of creativity. "I swear to God, if I find a copy of The Art of War in your room I'm going think that you're out to steal my identity."
Odd carefully chose his counter to Jin's statement while he opened the door to Jeremie's room.
"If that's the case, let's just take it one step further." He said as he stepped into the dorm.
"And how are you going to do that Odd?" Yumi asked. "You got most of his personality quirks down to a science. What else are you missing?"
"This," Odd pretended to fall face first on the floor and caused another roar of laughter from the entire group, Jin included.
Jeremie waited for everything to settle down before he reported his findings. "Ok guys I've called you here so you can see this." Jeremie drew everyone's attention towards his computer which displayed the tower."
"Yes Jeremie that's a tower," Jin said sarcastically, " We know what it looks like, we can identify our objects. We all passed kindergarten, I hope."
"Ok Jin if you're so smart, tell us why there are two blocks guarding the area when XANA has yet to activate it?"
Jin was at a loss for an answer, "Ummm...maybe XANA wanted a nice seat by the ocean and those blocks are holding his spot for him?"
"I'd give you a eight on creativity and humor but a zero on actual correctness."
"HEY!" Jin said slightly offended. "Only an eight in humor and a...a...what number was my correctness rated again?"
Jeremie let out a small sigh knowing that humoring Jin was not the most ideal way he could think of to pass the time. He had to get his message across to the team. "Ok guys look, to tell you the truth, I don't know what XANA is up to right now."
"HA! Then maybe my answer could be the correct one!" Jin yelled in triumph.
"JIN!" The rest of the group yelled back hoping that he could take the hint that he should be quiet.
"So what's the big deal here Jeremie?" Ulrich asked now concerned with the sight before him.
"XANA is obviously guarding something that's rather important. Aelita says she's near the tower in question and I think we should gather more information on this."
"Well we should head to class now." Jin said calmly. "We don't want to raise anymore suspicion on what's going on. If those blocks are still there, then will discuss further course of action during our lunch hour."
"Wow Jin, that was the first logical thing you said all day," Odd said in amazement. "Don't let it get to your head."
"Aiya"
"This doesn't make any sense," Jeremie thought to himself. "Why would XANA go through all this trouble to guard one tower?" Jeremie's thoughts were cut off as the school bell rang signaling the end of class and the beginning of lunch.
"So Jeremie, are those blocks still there?" Ulrich asked quietly as not to raise any suspicion from the likes of Sissi and her group, or even worse Dirk and Clayton.
"Yes they are Ulrich and for the entire period of time that I was watching them, they haven't stopped once."Jeremie asked, not surprised by the boy's sudden entrance.
"Kinda reminds me of when Kiwi chases his own tail. That dog can keep itself entertained hours on end."
"Well we should meet with the others now. Looks like we have to take action."
"Glad you can make it," Yumi said cheerfully. Jin noticed his friends standing in front of his sister and removed his headphones allowing him to listen to the conversation.
"Ok Jeremie, what's the situation at the polar region?" Jin asked still maintaining the clam demeanor he previously had when they were in Jeremie's room.
Jeremie soon sat down along with Odd and Ulrich at their table Jeremie cleared his throat and began his answer but Odd beat him to it.
"Tower's off, blocks still walking."
"Thanks for the abridged version. Now what do we do?"
"Well Aelita mentioned that she was near the tower. I'm was thinking about having her check what's inside."
"Then let's get going then." Odd said ready for action.
"Wait!" Jeremie said sharply to quell his friend's enthusiasm. "Let's look at the facts first. Obviously, if XANA has posted two only two blocks there, then the area is lightly guarded."
"What if he's setting us up for an ambush?" Jin asked thinking of all the possible tactics XANA could pull.
"I've already taken that into consideration, According to Aelita and the scans I ran across a few minutes ago, those blocks are the only two enemies there."
"Then let's go in there and take them out!" Odd said excitedly just itching for another trip to Lyoko.
"Look Odd, if we all go in at once, we will draw too much attention to ourselves and he'll send in reinforcements. That's why I suggest performing a solo mission to escort Aelita to the tower."
The group's jaws all dropped once they heard the plan that Jeremie was suggesting.
"Hold it Jeremie. Didn't you say yourself that solo missions on Lyoko were dangerous?" Ulrich asked remembering a previous statement he made when XANA took control of Milly's teddybear.
"If we all go in Lyoko, we are more likely to alert XANA of our intentions and we'll never find out what's in that tower. That's why we need to execute this plan flawlessly."
"Go on Jeremie. I'm listening."
"Ok first off, one of us gets virtualized and meets up with Aelita. After they dispatch the blocks, Aelita enters the tower and sees what's inside of it. Since the tower is deactivated, Aelita could then stay in there and I'll devirtualize the person from Lyoko once we know that she is safe."
"I don't know Jeremie," Jin said worryingly. "The plan sounds simple enough but I still got a bad feeling about this. "
"We all do Jin, this will be the first time we willing make the choice to just send one person down to Lyoko. So who's it going to be?"
"Why don't we just run through the list and see who's best suited for this?" Yumi suggested.
"Fine we will. Ok who's the first one on the chopping block? How about Odd?" Jeremie first proposed.
"Odd in Lyoko by himself?" Ulrich said slightly shocked. "Let's just say that he's a little too loud and rowdy for this mission."
"Yeah Jeremie," Odd said in agreement. "As much as I love going into Lyoko, usually I'm there to raise trouble. I don't think I could keep things under wraps."
"Ok Odd's out. How about Jin?" Jeremie continued.
"Yeah, Jin would be an excellent choice. All he has to do in stand back, wait, pull the trigger on his rifle twice and poof no more monsters."
"Sorry Odd, no can do." Jin said quietly. "My rifle makes too much noise for a stealth mission such as this. By the time I finish my first shot, I'll probably alert XANA of my presence and he'll send enemies my way and everyone here knows that is not a good thing for both me and Aelita. Not to mention, the only way I could really take both the blocks out at once is if they were near each other and standing still and that's never going to happn."
"Ok so that eliminates Jin. Now its down to Yumi and Ulrich."
"I'll go," Yumi said as she slowly stood up.
"Are you volunteering yourself to go to Lyoko?" Jeremie asked confused.
"Are you crazy sis?" Jin said still riled up of the fact he almost lost Yumi to the digital void.
"Don't worry Jin. I'll be safe. Jeremie's plan sounds pretty solid plus I have a little surprise in store for those blocks once I get there."
That uneasy feeling came back to Jin once more as he watched his sister walk away with Jeremie. He suddenly chased after the two and baraged through the cafeteria's double doors to say a few last words to his sister.
"YUMI!" Jin called out, hoping to catch her attention. "Take care of yourself and good luck!"
"I will Aniki!"
Something just felt off that day when I watched her walk away Some people have told me that I watch out for others a lot more than I watch out for myself which is absolutely true. Hey if I was a selfish jerk, I would be living a peaceful life in America without a care in the world. I hate that kind of life, it lacks a purpose. Now I don't have a death wish nor do I write suicide notes all day long. I just value other people's lives a little more than my own. I promised myself that I would not let another person get hurt, injured or even killed while I'm around. I've spent a good part of my life fighting and clawing my way out of the hole that I was thrown into and I am not going to sit back and let others suffer in my place. Not now. Not after the personal Hell I went through two years ago.
Jeremie looked over the display that showed the program's status and everything seemed fine. Seeing that everything was in order, Jeremie hit the return key to begin the plan.
"Virtualization"
"Hello Yumi, Jeremie has informed me of all the details, looks like it will be just us two this for right now," Aelita said in her usual cheery tone of voice.
"Us and the two blocks near the tower," Yumi added readying herself forthe upcoming fight. She looked towards the tower and was surprised to see that it was devoid of any life.
"Aelita, I thought you and Jeremie said that there were two blocks patrolling the area."
"There were. They must have left while you guys were going to the scanner room."
"Ok, let's just use this break that XANA has given us and just check the tower, ok guys?" Jeremie said making a last minute adjustment to their plan.
"Ok" the two girls responded back simultaneously.
She found nothing.
"Man this place is cold," Yumi thought to herself. The was the first time she paid a visit to the polar region on Lyoko and she was not enjoying the experience one iota. Yumi approached the tower and began to wonder what Aelita was doing inside when she heard a strange noise behind her. Her battle instinctsallowed her to react by drawing her fan as she turned around to face the noise but she saw nothing.
Nothing except a giant wall of fire charging toward her.
"I did Jeremie, this tower hasn't even been touched by XANA. It's just a regular tower in Lyoko."
"No why would XANA's blocks circle it like that then. He MUST have been guarding something."
"Well I'm now safe in this tower Jeremie. You should devirtuailize Yumi right now since she doesn't need to be in Lyoko anymore."
It was then they heard a scream. This was not a battle cry or a scream of pain. This was a scream to terror. Pure, unhindered fright.
"Jeremie, what's wrong with Yumi?" Aelita asked wanting to know how her friend was doing.
Jeremie brought up Yumi's character card and saw his next unusual sight of the day. According to his computer, Yumi had all her lifepoints. If she was undamaged, then why would she scream? Yumi wasn't the sort of person to joke around while in Lyoko. She and Jin had the strongest sense of duty and would rarely goof around so why would she start now?
"I don't know what's going on with Yumi but I'm going to devirtulize her anyway."
Jeremie fingers quickly danced around the keys and began the process of brining Yumi back home. He stared at the 3D profile of her character and saw it drain of its color showing that devirtulization was a successful. He soon road the elevator down to the scanners and found Yumi lying unconscious in the tall cylinder.
"What's going on here?" Jeremie said as he looked at the motionless body and dialed his cell phone to call for help.
"Man Ulrich, I am so stressed out right now," Jin said as he watched Odd place his money inside the machine.
Ulrich looked at the haggard expression Jin wore. He was beyond worried right now. Ever since his sister left to go on the solo mission with Jeremie, Jin has been a lot more fidgety and tense but then again who could blame him. Jin would always put his sister's needs in front of his own without having her ask him to do so. Not to mention he was an emotional wreak when Yumi was almost virtulized forever. He literally broke down and cried in front of everyone for all to see.
"Don't worry Jin," Ulrich said trying his best to calm him down. "Yumi is a tough girl. She can handle a lot of things."
Ulrich saw that his words had little effect on Jin's psychological state and he decided to leave him alone right now so that he could think things over. He walked over to Odd to see what he was doing at the current moment.
"So Odd, what did you choose to drink this time?" Ulrich asked to try to stir up a conversation with his friend.
"The hot chocolate but don't buy it. It taste like dirty socks and an old pair of sneakers!"
"And you know how those taste like how?" Jin said dropping in on the conversation in his usual fashion. By some divine intervention, he had managed to re-collect himself and was acting in his usual demeanor. "Did you find a pair of dirty socks and an old pair of sneakers and go, "Man I wonder what this stuff taste like?" And when you drank the hot chocolate you were instantly recognized the taste based off of your past experiences?"
Ulrich let a small chuckle out before turning to Odd. "Looks like Jin got you back for all those falling down jokes you made about him earlier."
"Ok you got me good there Jin, I guess we're even now?"
"Maybe"
Suddenly the group's discussion was stopped by a female voice growing louder by the second. "Oh Ulrich dear!" Sissi called out as she ran towards him.
"Well look, it's your fan club," Odd said while backing away from Ulrich.
"Man I gotta see this!" Jin exclaimed following suit.
"Oh dear Ulrich," Sissi said faking a concerned look. "I see that your darling Yumi has deserted you."
"Yeah, just like your brain. It deserted you a long time ago."
"OOOOOHHH!" Odd and Jin howled in Ulrich's support. Seeing that their business was done here, the three of them left the company of the vending machines to go outside.
Odd turned his neck and saw Sissi place a series of coins in the vending machine and idea soon entered his mind, "Try the hot chocolate Sissi. Take my word for it"
Odd slowly walked away and listened to Sissi behind him to see if she would take his "advice".
"YUCK! WHAT IS THIS GARBAGE?"
"Score" Odd said silently to himself as he pumped his fist into the air. He resumed his normal walking pace and saw Ulrich and Jin near a bench underneath a tree. Three distinct rings were then heard as the boys picked up their cell phones and saw that they all received a text message from Jeremie.
J.
Whatever composer Jin had managed to build up was quickly lost as he read the message to himself. All of the emotions that he was bottling up to remain calm came out in two words.
"Oh God," he said quietly. Just before he fainted.
"Looks like he took the news better than I expected. Should we take Jin to the infirmary as well?"Odd asked staring at Jin to see if he was alright.
"Jin's just burnt out that's all. His mind has been on overload and I guess he couldn't take the shock. I'll go get Yumi, you stay behind and make sure Jin is alright."
"You better get going then. We don't have a lot of time to waste."
Odd watched Ulrich run off towards the manhole cover leaving him alone with Jin. Odd lifted Jin up and propped him up against the bench to make it look like he was sleeping right before he stood guard over the unconscious boy.
"Oh dear, Yumi! Is she alright?" Dorothy asked, she would immediately take concern for all her patients that came her way and would always promise herself to provide them with the best care she could provide. "Ok you two, set her down on the bed but be gentle with her."
Jeremie couldn't really tell the good nurse the real truth of what happened for that would reveal the location of the factory and Lyoko. "Ummm..she passed out."
"Do you know why?" The nurse asked, trying to find a cause for her condition.
"Not really, we were just eating lunch together and she just blacked out."
"Now that sounds strange." Dorothy said not knowing what to make of Yumi's present state.
"That's not the only strange thing that's been happening today" Jeremie muttered underneath his breath just before the infirmary's doors where thrown wide open.
"YUMI!" Jin called out wanting to see for himself how his sister was doing.
"Jin? What are you doing here? Shouldn't you spend more time recovering from your panic attack?"
"That's what I told him" Odd said as he finally caught up and stood in the doorway slightly panting. "But he wouldn't listen. He just got up and started running over here."
"I'm not going to let something like that keep me from seeing my sister!" Jin said with a newfound sense of determination in his voice.
"Well there she is Jin" Nurse Dorothy said as she lead him to Yumi's sleeping form on the infirmary bed.
Jin took one good look at his sister before saying anything.
"Oh God" Jin said quietly once more before fainting for a second time.
Dorothy soon pulled out her first-aid kit and removed a strange vile before standing in front of Jin's body.
"Ulrich, you said that he fainted once before?" Dorothy asked trying to find the cause of Jin's suffering.
"Yes he did a few minutes ago."
"Sounds like your friend is too stressed out for his own good. Has there been something going on in his life that's been causing him to feel this way?"
"It's all the homework he gets" Odd said, crafting his own explanation. "Jin's been studying too hard and it looks like he's been paying the consequences. By the way Dorothy, what's with the vial that you got there?"
"These smelling saltswill help revive your friend here." Dorothy opened the small vile and held it under Jin's nose. Soon enough, Jin's eyes opened as he regained conscience. She saw a burning look in his eyes as he tried to stand up.
"I must see..if..Yumi is alright!" Jin said weakly as he stood up on both legs. Only to have them buckle underneath all the weight he placed on them sending him crashing to the floor once more.
Dorothy watched as Jin try to claw his way closer to his sister, struggling with every single inch he moved.
"It appears that seeing his sister in this present condition is triggering another panic attack. If he stays here anylonger, he might just black out again. You should get him out of here and make sure he doesn't encounter anymore surprises for today until he can finally relax."
Ulrich and Odd lifted Jin to his feet and slung his arms over his shoulders to help him keep his balance. Ulrich looked at Yumi as she laid on the bed and began to wonder about her health. "And what about Yumi?"
"Well it only looks like she blacked out. I'll give her some time to rest before I release her."
"What should we do about Jin?" Ulrich asked wondering how he should care for Yumi's brother.
"Just get him to relax." Jin lifted his head and watched Dorothy walk closer to him and spoke in a sweet reassuring tone of voice. "Don't worry Jin. I can see that you care for your sister deeply but don't worry. You'll be leaving her in good hands. I will make sure that Yumi will recover from this incident and be good as new."
Jin still required Odd and Ulrich's aid as all four of them exited the room to leave Yumi alone with the nurse.
Yumi only responded by trying to sit upright.
"Don't get up Yumi" she said softly. "You still need your rest."
Yumi did not listen.
This time Dorothy was more forceful with her speech. "Yumi, as your medical caretaker I strongly advise you to stay here until you are feeling better." She placed her hand on Yumi's shoulder to send the message that she should not move. Yumi grabbed Dorothy's wrist before she glared at the woman.
No on was nearby to hear her scream.
"Thanks mother" Jin whispered to himself before placing the thermos back inside.
"So Jeremie, what was so special about that tower?" Ulrich asked, wanting to know the results of the mission.
"Well when Aelita went to inspect the tower, she found nothing. It was just a regular tower Ulrich, but what surprised me more was that Yumi passed out after the devirtualization process. Usually it's a smooth ride and doesn't cause too many problems.
"That's what you think" Odd said butting into the conversation. "You ever try coming back to Earth after a rousing battle on Lyoko? Let me tell you its no walk in the park."
Jin turned his head and saw his sister walking towards an undisclosed location before calling out her name.
"Hey Yumi, it's great to see that you're ok!" Jin ran over to his sister, still slightly dizzy after his previous two faints, and gave her a hug. However, Yumi did not kindly return the sign of affection. Instead of wrapping her arms around her brother, Yumi's body became rigid as if she was frighted by the gesture. Jin soon backed away from her after noticing this.
"What's wrong sis?" Jin asked still holding her shoulders.
"I'm fine Jin." Yumi responded coldly as she pulled herself free from his grasp.
"Still must be shaken about her trip in Lyoko." Jin thought to himself as he made a mental note of the event.
"So how was your time in Lyoko?" Odd asked as he caught up to the girl.
Yumi said nothing and continued walking towards the cafeteria. Odd looked back at the rest of his friends and shrugged his shoulders. For as long as he has known her, Yumi was not the type of person to just brush someone off without having a good reason to. This was just bizarre.
"Can this day get any weirder" Jeremie said as he followed Yumi into the cafeteria.
"Hello Dorothy, just stopping by to..."
Jim soon saw that the entire infirmary was in disarray. Tables were knocked over. Drawers laid on ground with their contents spilled. All the indications of a violent struggle. But most horrific of all, was that Dorothy was still in the room and was unconscious. Jim rushed to her side and placed his middle and index finger over her wrist to check for signs of life as was relieved to find a plus. Jim's first thought was that random thugs came into the office and attacked the poor woman but discarded that thought when she saw that Dorothy was still holding onto her clipboard.
"Hmm, she must have been treating a patient if she had her this out." Jim thought to himself while he gently removed the documents from her clutches. "If she was treating a patient, then that person should still be here. They couldn't have just walked away without receiving the proper care." Jim knew that this situation was too big for him to handle alone. He walked over to the infirmary's phone and dialed for help.
"Hello there, I need to speak to the principal." Jim paused for a minute to allow the principal to be contacted on the other end. "Sir, I'm at the infirmary and things are looking bad. Somebody has attacked Nurse Dorothy and as left the room in a complete mess. She was in the middle of treating someone but that person has left also."
Jim waited as he heard the principal ask him a question. "What's that sir? Who was the last person under her care? Well according to the records that Dorothy keeps it's..."
Jim squinted his eyes and looked at the last name on the list and was riddled with disbelief.
"Yumi Ishiyama?"
Odd was the first to begin the round of questioning. "So Yumi, what exactly happened back there? I know being virtualized is rough on the system but I've never seen you black out in the scanner before."
"I don't remember anything" Yumi said flatly. "I just blacked out."
"You don't remember anything" Ulrich repeated..
Yumi wasn't exactly doing a good job with answering the questions that were being thrown her way, Odd then decided to turn to Jeremie to get a more in depth report.
"So Jeremie, what exactly did happen?"
"Well I virtulaized Yumi and she arrived on the polar region safe and sound. She then met up with Aelita and established contact with me to confirm the meeting. It was then we made our first discovery there."
"Which was?"
"The blocks guarding the tower were no longer there."
"Why the heck would XANA do that?"
"That's what I was wondering too. Well since the guards were gone, we decided to proceed with the investigation and inspect the tower anyway."
"So what did you guys find?" Ulrich asked totally enthraled in the conversation.
"I'm getting to that part, just wait. Yumi escorted Aelita to the tower and she goes inside of it only to find nothing."
"NOTHING!" The other three boys said in unison.
"Yep, no fancy programs, no key information, no intent to activate. This was just a ho-hum run of the mill Lyoko tower. It was at that moment I heard Yumi scream."
Jeremie saw Jin's eyes start to widen while his breath became more labored.
"The strange thing was that I saw no monsters on the holomap but I devirtualized her anyway just to be safe and that's when I called you guys to help carry her to the infirmary."
"Are you saying that after all that planning and what happened to Yumi, we got nothing." Ulrich said slightly angry.
"Regrettably, yes."
Odd was not entirely convinced that Yumi's venture into Lyoko was done in vain. Monsters don't normally stick in one area unless they're guarding something or lying in ambush. There had to be a reason for all of this. Odd was trying his best to piece together the gigantic puzzle that XANA had given the group. The only problem was that they only had a few pieces and no point of reference to start from and Odd needed more answers.
"Do you think XANA was setting a trap for us?"
"If he did, that would have been a perfect opportunity for him to do so but I saw no monsters near the tower. Yumi still had all of her lifepoints when she came back which meant that she suffered no damages during her stay there."
Jin tried to think of his own answers and soon found his heart racing again.
"Oh no, this is not looking good." Odd said to Ulrich as he saw Jin's breathing quicken once while his eyes were wide open.
"I wonder why he's so worked up. Just this morning, he was laughing and joking as if nothing happened?" Ulrich asked wondering why Jin was so stressed out in the first place.
"Jin is just overwhelmed by what's going on." said Jeremie as he provided his own explanation. "It's still obvious that he's still shaken from the time Yumi fell into the digital void and he has yet to recover himself emotionally from the event. Now with the treat of another XANA attack hanging over our heads, Jin is just worrying about too many things at once. We should really get him out of here so he could get a chance to lie down."
Jin was going to be getting his rest a lot sooner than Jeremie expected.
Sissi stepped into the cafeteria for the shade it provided and was closely followed by Herb and Nicholas. She scanned the room for familiar faces and came across five of them all sitting neatly in one neat little bunch in the corner of the room andslipped past the many occupants of the cafeteria to get to her goal.
"Oh hello Ulrich dear its nice to see you again."
"It's you again Sissi. What do you want?"
"Oh I just wanted to talk to you, is that a crime? You know many boys would kill to be in your position right now, talking to the most beautiful girl in school."
"And I'm sure that these "most boys" that you're talking about spend a great deal of their time in a padded cell with their arms strapped to their bodies."
Sissi heard the muffled laughter coming from Odd and Jeremie as they held their hands up to their lips to prevent their laughs from being too loud. Even Jin was able to release a small chuckle once he was able to comprehend what was going on around him.
Yumi watched the whole exchange between Ulrich and Sissi and wanted it to end the sooner the better. Such useless banter proved useless to her and she wanted to see the whole conversation end quickly.
"Oh be quiet Ulrich" Yumi's hostile voice snapped out. "Why don't you just go on a date with her. Obviously she's very pretty and I'm sure that you two would make such a great couple around here."
Herb and Nicholas choose that exact moment to finally catch up with Sissi and were able to hear every single word of what Yumi said to her. Nicholas's mouth hung loosely from his in jaw in shock as Herb tried his best not to show the burning rage he was experiencing as of now. Sissi too was surprised. This was her chance to win over Ulrich's heart, her own worst enemy has just raised the right flag and declared her the winner. This was truly one of the best days in her life.
"Well in that case meet me in the font of the library after school so we can talk. See you later Ulrich dear."
Ulrich was speechless. Why would Yumi say such a thing? She would NEVER yeild to her enemies like that, especially to the likes of Sissi. Jin too was riled with surprise and was only able to say two words before the whole situation phyiscally overwhelmed him.
"Oh God" Jin's eyes glazed over and he soon faited once again causing his body to fall off of the bench he was sitting on.
"I wonder if any other unexpected anomolies will come our way?" Jeremie asked himself as his day progressively got weirder and weirder.
"Ms. Isiyama" came a stern elderly voice behind him. Jeremie turned his head towards the speaker and saw the school principal standing tall and looking Yumi straight in the eye. "I wish to speak to you in my office now. Please follow me."
Yumi said nothing and slowly got up and tailed the principal as they both walked out of the cafeteria.
Jin soon woke up and was rubbing his forehead to trying to eliminate the dizziness he was feeling.
"Jin you should really get some rest" Ulrich said out of concern for his friend. "This is the third time you blacked out. You are REALLY stressed out."
Odd looked at Ulrich before extending his gesture of kindness. "Yeah if you want, you could rest in our room since you're a day student and all."
"No can do guys. Something is up with Yumi and I'm going to see exactly what it is." Jin looked around the table and realized that his sister's presence was missing from it. "Speaking of which, do you guys know where she is?"
"The principal came by and wanted to talk to her and they both walked over to his office."
"Well then I better head over there and wait for her." Jin grabbed his backpack and placed his headphones over his ears."
"Just try to ease up a bit" Odd told Jin, in a statement that had a strange blend of advice, concern and humor. "You don't want to lose whatever sanity you have left."
"Thanks" Odd watched Jin walk away and disappear into the crowd.
"Well I'm going to talk to Aelita. I just have to find out why XANA was guarding that empty tower."
"Well good luck" Jeremie soon left the table to go to his room.
Ulrich turned towards Odd and spoke once more. "Hey Odd, I want to talk to you about something but we got to get out of here."
"How come?"
"Well it concerns Yumi and other private matters and I think this cafeteria is too crowded for my taste."
"Alright then, where to?"
"How about the soccer field. Not too many people show up there."
Odd and Ulrich walked out of the door unaware of the set of angry eyes that were watching him. The figure readjusted his glasses to fit his head and patiently waited for the right moment to follow them.
"I assume you know why you're here." The principal said stroking his chin.
Yumi stared directly ahead and didn't even bother to look at him straight in the eye.
"Ok allow me to remind you then since it seems that you have forgotten what happened." The principal removed Dorothy's clipboard from underneath his desk and slid it over to Yumi. "Now Nurse Dorothy was attacked while she was caring for you. We sent her to the hospital and she has yet to regain consciences. You obviously saw the attacker and fled the room to avoid injury so please, will you help us?"
Yumi continued to gaze past the principal.
"Yumi, as principal of this school, I must know what happened." The principal's voice was less strict and more caring this time. "I can't let these individuals go unpunished or else they will attack another innocent victim. Please Yumi, help me end the madness."
But Yumi said nothing still.
Now the principal was getting frustrated with uncooperative girl. "Yumi, might I inform you that you're showing defiance to a school official which is a punishable offence. If you didn't see anything just tell me but if you continue with your silence then I'll have to give you two weeks detention and I will inform your parents about this infraction."
Yumi did not answer.
"Fine then, you left me with no choice.
The principal slowly stood up and walked towards his telephone if he were to turn around at that moment, he would have seen the angry glare the girl was giving him, along with an odd symbol that was on her forehead.
"Yumi, what is the meaning of this?"
"Do not call my parents" she answered back coldly still keeping her hold on the principal.
"I will not! Unhand me this instant!"
Yumi then shifted her focus to the phone and began to wrestle it from the principal's grasp. He was surprised to see how strong the girl was and was using all of his strength to reclaim possession of the phone once more. With one final tug Yumi ripped the receiver free from the man's hands and raised it high into the air.
The principal didn't even have a chance to scream as the girl smashed the blunt object across his forehead knocking him out instantly. She dropped the phone and walked out of the room, quietly closing the door behind her as not to alert anymore people of her crimes.
"I was wondering when you would come out"a male voice said behind her. Yumi spun around and saw Jin patiently leaning against a nearby wall.
"Oh it's you Jin" Yumi said indifferently.
"So what did he have to say to you?"
"That is inconsequential" Yumi continued to speak with apathy in her voice. She watched Jin walk up to her and the two began to walk towards the exit side by side.
"What do you mean it's inconsequential. I'm your brother here!" Jin exclaimed not knowing why his sister was acting so differently today.
"This does not concern you Jin!" Yumi's staid voice instantly changed to downright hostility.
Jin wisely backed away from the subject to avoid provoking his sister anymore but maintained contact with her by placing his hand on her shoulder.
"Yumi, you've been acting differently as of lately." Jin watched Yumi react to his touch with fear and withdrawal rather than warmth and sincerity.
"I'm fine Jin" Yumi said while removing the boy's hand from her shoulder.
"Ok sis whatever you say. Now come one let's head back to the cafeteria to meet with the others. We'll cut through the soccer field, it's faster that way."
Ulrich blushed after hearing Odd's assumption. "Well you're only half right, I do want to talk about Yumi but not in that way."
Odd shrugged his shoulders and wondered when his best friend would just reveal the feelings he has for the girl. Heck even Jin knew what was going on and he's oblivious to a lot of things.
"So what is it?"
"Ever noticed that Yumi has been a little "off" ever since she came back from Lyoko?"
"Yeah I noticed. She's been acting weird as of lately. It's almost like she was controlled by an evil robot or something." Once again Odd did not know how close to the truth he came to.
"Do you know why? I'm getting pretty worried about her."
"We all are, especially Jin. Man I bet you by the end of the day, he's going to be sporting a few gray hairs on his head if he keeps stressing out like that."
Odd's joke provided some much needed relief in the conversation as the two boys laughed at the remark.
"HEY ULRICH!" Came an angry voice nearby. Ulrich turned his head to see who was speaking and was in for a little shock. Marching over his way was a very angry looking Nicholas and Herb.
"What do you want Herb?"
"How dare you go on a date with Sissi. You're not good enough for her!" Herb spat with venom in his voice.
"Hey it's not like I wanted to. She paretically threw me into it. Believe me, I was just as surprised as you are when Yumi gave her that suggestion."
"Oh you want to talk about surprises huh? How's this for one!" Herb allowed his rage cloud his better judgement and threw a clumsy right cross at Ulrich's head to try to extract some physical pain from the boy to compensate the emotional suffering he had bottled up inside.
Ulrich simply turned his head to the side and watched Herb's fist fly harmlessly through the air.
"I don't think Sissi would be too pleased to see one of her friends fighting." Ulrich said jokingly. He couldn't believe his eyes, Herb was trying to start a brawl with him. The sight was almost comical, if not pathetic.
"SHUT UP!" Herb threw his left fist out this time and watched Ulrich catch it with ease using his hand only to let go of it undamaged. Herb was beside himself with anger. Ulrich was just toying with his emotions right now and that only fueled his hatred even more.
"Nicholas, help me take this guy out!"
Nicholas charged reckless at Ulrich, only to find himself face down in the ground. He looked up and saw Odd smiling at him with his foot slightly extended.
"Can't have you hurting my best friend, now can I?"
"Look you two, we don't want to fight you guys right now. You both know that if we fight back, you're not going to like the outcome of the exchange, so let's be reasonable about this and just walk away." Ulrich tried his best to talk some sense into his angry opponents but his words went in though one ear and out the other. If he didn't stop this fight soon, this could escalate into something much worse.
"I see a simple two on two fight." Clayton said pointing out the obvious.
"Where you see a fight, I see an opportunity."
"What do you mean?"
"Well we can clearly see that Herb and Nicholas are not the most competent fighters in the world but I think with the aid of some "outside sources" they can still win this small skirmish."
Clayton got the idea that Dirk was hinting at. "But wouldn't that get us in trouble with the principal."
"It could, but there is a way out."
"Huh?"
"Herb and Nicholas would gladly help us with their testimony. All we'll say is that Odd and Ulrich threw the first punch and we came in to save them."
"But I clearly saw Herb make the first move" Clayton said not clearly grasping Dirk's plan.
"I did too, but do you think Herb would admit that? All we have to say is they hit first and since there's four of us and only two of them, they have to believe our story no matter how fake it is."
"I'm really liking this plan Dirk" Clayton said rubbing his hands together.
"Me too. Now let's turn this two on two into a two on four."
"This looks bad!" Odd said out loud for Ulrich to hear.
Ulrich looked back at Odd and was in for a shock. Ulrich saw a slender person dressed in all black run up to Odd and grabbed his arm with his left arm and wrapped his right hand around the back of Odd's neck. Before Odd could break free from the hold, his attacker placed his right foot in between Odd's legs and drew it backwards, kicking out his left leg in the process and slamming his victim to the ground.
"ODD!" Ulrich screamed out just before he turned to his side only to see a gigantic arm come at him. The arm plowed through his head and sent him crashing towards the floor next to his fallen friend..
Clayton finished his clothesline and watched Dirk walk over to his side.
"Mind if we crash the fight?" He asked the two laying figures.
Dirk calmly looked down at Ulrich and smiled. "You know what Ulrich? You have a lot of people who would just love to stick a knife behind you so you better start watching your back for know on. I appologize that I didn't share this tibit of adivce with you sooner."
Ulrich noticed the familiarity of Dirk's statement as he used the same words during their fight on the rooftop that time Sissi stole his diary.
Herb and Nicholas stood behind Dirk and Clayton dumbfounded. The couldn't believe that those two actually came to help them.
"Why are you doing this?" Herb asked slightly frightened.
Dirk turned around and spoke "Because I got a grudge against Ulrich and Odd so you can either take our help or maybe I should turn around and start rubbing your face into the dirt as well."
Herb did not like the prospects of working with Dirk. Making a deal with him was like making a deal with the Devil himself. Oh sure, you'll get what you need done, but he'll leave behind a trail of destruction as a reminder of his services. Herb just nodded his head fearfully.
"That's what I thought" Dirk said as he focused his attention back to Odd and Ulrich.
The two boys struggled to get up but lacked the strength to do so. Dirk and Clayton's surprise attack took a lot out of them and they now barely had any energy to stand up.
"So Ulrich, four on two. We can still win."
"This isn't the movies Odd. It's really hard to fight a bunch of people at once."
"This doesn't look good." Odd said quietly as Dirk, Clayton, Herb and Nicholas loomed over them.
"Come on Yumi! Let's teach those four bastards a lesson!"
Yumi just watched the whole scene before her and did not move an inch.
"What the hell are you waiting for? COME ON!"
"We should not get involved Jin." She replied flatly.
"What's gotten into you? OUR FRIENDS ARE IN DANGER!"
Jin cracked his knuckles and ran towards the fight to lend his assistance and looked back at his sister. If he didn't know better, he could have sworn he saw her smiling.
"Sorry I'm late!" came a nearby voice. Dirk looked up and saw Jin running toward them at breakneck speed.
Jin jumped over Odd and Ulrich and aimed his body directly at Dirk and Clayton angling it downwards until it was almost perfectly perpendicular to the ground. He then extended both of his legs sideways and delivered a powerful kick on both sides, striking Dirk and Clayton knocking them away from the fight. Jin then tucked his head in and rolled out of his dive to avoid damaging his neck before he stood up.
Herb quickly charged at Jin before he could prepare himself for another attack. Herb rammed his shoulder into Jin and only succeeded to knock him back a few steps. Nicholas capitalized onthe opening his friend created and threw a hard elbow at Jin's chest sending himstumbling once moreinto the clutches of Dirk and Clayton allowing them to perpetuate the abuse he was experiencing.
Clayton watched Jin stagger backwards before hitting him in the back of his head with his arm, knocking him down face-first into the floor. Dirk calmly lifted Jin up from the ground and looked at him straight in the eye.
"Pathetic"
Dirk turned his back towards Odd and Ulrich and threw Jin over his shoulder sending him flying through the air. He soon landed on the ground in a loud thud, his body coming to a skidding halt, stopping right in-between Odd and Ulrich. Odd saw the vicious four-man beating that Jin suffered and knew that there was absolute no way he could continue to fight on. He looked behind him and saw Yumi, still patiently standing in the same spot that Jin had left here with her arms dangling by her sides.
"Hey Yumi!" Odd called out to get her attention. "If you want to make a dramatic entrance then now is a really good time! We're getting slaughtered here!"
Herb laid on his back gasping for air after having the wind knocked out of him. Nicholas was sprawled out on the field face first and struggled to rise to his feet. Clayton laid on his side sill dizzy after receiving such a powerful blow to the head. Dirk was the last one capable of fighting and slowly got up on all fours desperately trying to defeat the opponent before him.
"What did you just do?" Dirk spat at the black haired girl who had single-handedly defeated the four opponents in her way.
"This" She said quietly as she placed her boot on Dirk's back and stomped down, pressing him into the grass below him.
Ulrich could not believe his own eyes. Yumi was able to lay waste to those people and did not even break a sweat. He knew she was good but this was beyond being a good fighter. Yumi fought as if she was possessed by a demon. Never did he see her fight which such tenacity and Even Jin was in shock by the whole sight not knowing what to make of it.
"I advise that we go to the scanners now." Yumi said in her all too familiar emotionless tone of voice.
Odd was the first one to stand up and was taken back by the request."Go to the scanners, now? Why do you want to go to the scanners right now?"
"I wish to see if they are operational incase XANA attacks soon."
Ulrich got up shortly after and helped Jin to his feet in the process. "Maybe later Yumi, Odd and I are going to our rooms for the remainder of the period so we can rest. Dirk and Clayton really worked a good number on us. But we should really get Jin to the infirmary, I don't think its healthy for him to continue at this strenuous pace after all the panic attacks he suffered coupled with the pummeling he suffered through."
"I'm fine" Jin grunted as checked himself over to see if he sustained any serious injuries.
"I can't believe your still standing!" Odd exclaimed as he saw Jin dust himself off. "You took a pounding from FOUR people and yet you're ok! How do you do it?"
"When you get into as many accidents as I do, you would be able to take something of that magnitude."
"So when will we go to the scanners?" Yumi asked once more, totally ignoring the other boy's fatigue and Jin's potential injuries.
"Maybe a little later, I don't think I can last the trip over there." Ulrich replied placing his palm on his forehead.
Never intervene humans with their petty conflicts, you'll get nothing in the end. It had overestimated the reward it would receive for its participation for it did not draw it one step closer to its intended destination. The being pondered its next move, it would try to "persuade" the remaining individual who always stayed in contact with Aelita.
Why?
Why would XANA guard a tower? Why was the tower empty? Why did Yumi scream when she sill had all her lifepoints?
The answer it seemed, lie in a giant orb of fire nestled on the top of a nearby mountain.
"That wasn't there before" Aelita uttered to herself, perplexed by the orb's sudden appearance in Lyoko. Her curiosity got the better of her and she soon found herself creeping along the mountain's side to try to get a closer look.
Two roachsters posted on the top of the mountain saw the pink-haired girl and began to open fire.
Aelita pressed herself against the mountain and narrowly dodged the lasers. She watched the thin red beams of light hit the icy surface of the polar region and heard their high pitch wails to further intimidate her. Aelita pressed on with her climb, undaunted by the roachster's threats of death, determined to find out the significance of the ball of fire. The roachsters were fed up with playing snipers on the mountain top and made their way down the slope to dispose of the bothersome intruder once and for all. Aelita heard the mechanical clicking noise her pursuers made and wisely ducked behind a rock to hide from them. Her hunters scurried past her unaware of her presence and began to search the bottom of the mountain leaving her free to inspect the top to her heart's content. Quietly she tip-toed towards the ball and gazed towards it to try to find out what was inside.
"A guardian" Aelita gasped once she recognized the ball's true identity. She knew that guardians only appeared on Lyoko, whenever they captured something, so why would it be in the polar region right now? She was only able to see a rough outline of the object inside before the roachsters returned to their original posts and opened fired at her. Aelita once again found herself on the receiving end of another hailstorm of lasers as she dove off the cliff side landing gracefully at the base of the mountain.
"I need to tell this to Jeremie!" Aelita said to herself as she disappeared into the tower once more.
"And after that I contacted you." Aelita said thus concluding her story.
"You shouldn't have left the tower like that Aelita. You could have gotten yourself killed out there." Jeremie spoke to the girl in a voice that was more worried than scolding.
"I know, but this whole situation with the tower has been troubling me and when I saw that guardian on top of the mountain I thought that it could lend some answers to all of our questions."
"This whole thing has been bugging me too. Look, we'll call the others and we'll investigate this thing when we have the chance."
"Thank you Jeremie"
"Don't mention it." The two friends shared a warm smile between them before Jeremie disconnected from Aelita and resumed work on his materialization program. He dutiful labor was interrupted by the opening of his door. Jeremie first assumed it was Odd and Jin making yet another game show inspried entrance.
"Ok guys, what prize do you have in store for you contestants this time? A trip to Paris, Rome, Germany?" Jeremie swivelled his chair to face the two wannabe game show hosts only to see a single black-clad girl. "Oh Yumi it's you. I thought that you were Odd and Jin just a second ago. Guess I was wrong."
Jeremie laughed at his slight case of mistake identity. "So, what can I help you with?"
"Can we go to the scanners now?" Yumi's icy cold voice asked.
"How so Yumi, there's no emergency that would require us to do so." Jeremie answered back not knowing why Yumi was suddenly interested in the machinery in the factory.
"Please Jeremie, I think it would be best for us to go there now."
"Not now Yumi, we'll all go later once class is over."
"Stay still Jeremie" Yumi's voice was soft and soothing and put the boy at a state of uneas as he began to ponder what she was doing.
Yumi reached over to the sides of his head and gently removed his glasses. She was still close enough for him to see her. A deceivingly innocent smile could be seen on her lips. Her eyes look soothing as the rays of the sun revealed her dark brown eyes. Yumi the gently caressed Jeremie's cheek and leaned in closer with her lips puckered.
The whole scene before him overloaded Jeremie's mind. Never in his life did he expect to be this close to a girl, let alone Yumi. He couldn't help but blush at the sight but he knew that he couldn't return the kiss. He was Ulrich's friend and he did not want to do anything that could destroy their everlasting friendship. Jeremie leaned back as far as he could in his chair and tried his best to snap Yumi out of the "affectionate"mood she was in.
"Um...maybe you should go home Yumi and take a bath. No wait, even better a shower! A really cold shower very, very, very, very cold. To calm you down." Jeremie was relieved to see that he was able to get his suggestion out despite his mind being overwhelmed at the moment but his troubles were far from over. For one, Yumi was not listening to him and was inching closer to him and he was about to expect company.
"Hey Jeremie, you still in there? We gotta get to class now." Came Ulrich's voice on the other side of the door.
"Oh no" Jeremie thought to himself as he heard the door open revealing his three remaining friends.
Ulrich saw Yumi hovering over his friend and Jeremie with a embarrassed look on his face. He put two and two together and soon stormed out of the room in a fit of anger.
Jin's reaction was just as extreme. "Oh God" he said before falling over backwards and landing on the floor.
"Took the words out of my mouth Jin" Odd said not bothering to look at his fallen companion but instead focused on Jeremie and his little "meeting" with Yumi.
"It's not what you think Odd!" Jeremie blurted trying his best to defend himself.
"Well this doesn't exactly look like the idea way for you to work on your materialization program, now is it." Odd soon left for class disgusted that his friend would stoop so low but not before nudging Jin with his foot so that he would wake up.
"Odd wait up!" Jeremie called out as he left his room and closed the door around behind him making sure not to step on Jin during his frantic chase.
"Oh, it's you Jin."
"I'm fine Jin"
"That does not concern you Jin"
"We should not get involved Jin"
This was not thr Yumi he knew and loved.
The differences were too great. This "new Yumi" was doing things that Jin would never expect which could not easily be explained by her being a "rebellious teenager". He had to find Ulrich and the others to tell them what's going on.
RING!
Jin didn't even wait for the teacher to dismiss him as he quickly ran out of the classroom to search for his friends.
"No wonder why she's been acting so strange as of lately. It's because she was going out with Jeremie. That explains everything. She was so willing to go on a solo mission on Lyoko that way she could be alone with him!" Ulrich thought to himself. "Why didn't she tell me? Was I strung along with her for the ride? It only makes sense, it was because of him that she's still with us. I can't believe Jeremie would do such a thing!" Ulrich shut his eyes closed tight as he fists began to ball up.
RING!
Ulrich left the room and wanted to confront Jeremie face to face.
Jeremie stood in front of a very irate Ulrich. "Please Ulrich, let me explain."
"There's nothing to explain here Jeremie! I hope you two have a long and happy relationship together." Ulrich walked past Jeremie and could feel a small tear begin to form in his eye. There were so many emotions he was feeling right now, anger, sadness, despair and of course jealousy. His walk was soon halted once he felt a hand being placed on his chest.
"I need to talk to you guys, especially you Ulrich." Jin said confidently.
"What's there to talk about? Yumi and Jeremie are going out, case closed. Why should I probe this subject anymore when the answer is so painfully obvious!"
"Yumi gave you the benefit of the doubt when she saw you with Sissi during the incident with your diary. The LEAST you could do as her friend is to show her the same level of trust."
Jin's words spoke volumes of truth. How could he be so selfish?
"Ok Jin, what do you want?"
"Head back and get Odd and Jeremie and meet me at the entrance to the dorms. I'm calling a team meeting."
"So what's so special about this team meeting?" Odd asked placing his hands into his pockets.
"Something is up with Yumi" Jin replied.
"Well duh, everyone knows that she's been a little off" Odd replied not knowing where Jin was going with this meeting.
"No Odd, this is much worse than a "little off". In the span of one day, Yumi has done some things that she's never done before in her entire life."
"Explain"
"Well there's the incident in the cafeteria for one. How many times has Yumi admit defeat to her opponent?"
"Well maybe she just said that so she could get me away from her since she wanted Jeremie so badly." Ulrich glared back at the boy in question who was a little uneasy with being the subject of Ulrich's anger.
"That's what I thought at first until I remembered two details that just grabbed me at the throat and forced me to come up with another solution."
"And those details are." Odd gestured with his hands to show Jin that he anxiously awaited for his answer.
"First off there's the fight we got into and how she was able to defeat Dirk, Clayton, Herb and Nicholas all by herself."
"What about the fight?"
"Yumi used an ENTIRELY different fighting style than what she normally uses."
"Maybe she was trying some new stuff out." Odd said providing his own counter argument.
"You don't try new stuff out when you're fighting FOUR people Odd." Jin turned his head towards Ulrich. "Come on Ulrich, think back to the fight."
Ulrich closed his eyes and thought back to the brawl that he participated in during lunch and how Yumi single-handedly won.
Yumi then focused her attention towards Nicholas who stood his ground and was unafraid of the girl. Yumi grabbed the boy's head with both of her hands and delivered a fierce knee, striking him in the forehead and knocking him out instantly.
Clayton was more aggressive then her previous two opponents. He recklessly charged her only to see the girl lock both of her fist together and swing both of her arms at the larger boy. Her two hands collided with Clayton's head and sent him spiraling towards the Earth where he landed on his side.
Dirk too ran at the girl but was greeted with a power snap kick aimed at his jaw. He was launched straight into the air and landed on his back gazing at the sky wondering what on Earth hit him.
Ulrich began to see what was in front of him all this time. How could be so blind, when the answers were so painfully obvious.
"So what's the second detail that you have for us?" Odd asked.
"Ok guys now think back. Ever since Yumi came back from her trip to Lyoko and started acting all weird, how many times has she called me Aniki?"
Odd, Ulrich and Jeremie's open wide once they saw Jin's second observation.
"Let's head to my room and talk to Aelita" Jeremie said prompting an almost instantaneous response from his friends.
"MY COMPUTER!" Jeremie ran over to the heap of electronic wreckage and held his keyboard with his arms.
"Oh God" Jin said to himself quietly.
Ulrich, Odd and Jeremie recognized that cue and turned their headsin his direction expecting to see him on the floor any second now but were to surprised to see that he was still standing.
"You didn't faint" Odd said commenting on his standing position.
"That's because now I know what's going on."
"Who would do such a thing?" Jeremie said still clutching his keyboard.
Ulrich named his first suspect. "Sissi and her gang maybe. We did rough them up pretty badly at the soccer field."
Jeremie shook his head in disapproval. "This was not a Sissi attack. If she was the mastermind behind this then she would have been looking a whole lot happier in class and if I recall, she looked pretty glum when I last saw her."
"What about Dirk and Clayton."
It was Jin's turn to shake his head. "Negative Ulrich. It's not their style to be destroying other people's property without a "fair warning". Besides, Dirk would love to fight us again and breaking a computer would not satisfy his appetite for revenge."
"Ok guys think, who was the last person here?" Odd said trying to come up with his own answer.
Ulrich was the first one to come across it. "Yumi! No way!"
"This obviously has to be XANA's doing." Jeremie said out loud.
"Jeremie, I'm sorry for acting like the way I did back there." Ulrich apologized seeing how Jeremie was innocent all along.
"Thanks Ulrich but now we gotta make sure that we don't tip Yumi off. Act like everything is normal with her. We'll have to head to the factory to get a better picture of what's going on around here."
Yumi's silhouette could be seen in the doorway as she stared at her friends.
"So are we going to the scanners now?"
Jeremie looked down at his computer before fixing his gaze on Yumi. "Looks like we have no other choice."
"Ok guys we got a little problem here."
"Yeah we know Einstein. Four fighters three scanners one of us has to stay behind and wait." Odd replied from the scanner room.
"I'll stay behind for now" Yumi said which drew some suspicious stares from the rest of the group. It was then that Jin got an idea. He couldn't leave Yumi alone in the scanner room, he had to keep an eye one her as long as she could.
"Jeremie, send Odd and Ulrich into Lyoko first. Then Yumi and I will catch up. That way no one is going in alone."
"Good idea Jin" Jeremei said over the factory's speakers. "Ok Odd and Ulrich, we're ready to begin."
The two boys complied by stepping into the scanners.
"Ok, here we go. Transfer Odd. Transfer Ulrich"
Yumi let a small smile show on her lips as she watched the scanners hum and buzz revealing that they were indeed working.
"Scanner Odd. Scanner Ulrich"
Yumi's eyes darted around the room as if she was searching for something.
"Virtualization!"
"Glad you can make it. Where is Yumi and her brother?" Aelita asked wondering why there were only two people in front of her.
"Jin wanted to be transferred a little later so he could keep an eye on Yumi. She's been acting differently as of lately."
"Well I think the guardian that's nearby can provide us with some much needed clues."
"Guardian?" Odd asked unfamiliar with the enemy Aelita mentioned.
"It's up on the top of that mountain" Aelita pointed to the large ball of fire that had remain motionless this whole time."
"Ok, once our backup gets here, we'll storm the place" Odd said smiling while readying his wrist for the upcoming battle.
"Ok Jeremie, we're ready." Jin said right before the doors closed on him.
"Transfer Yumi. Transfer Jin."
Yumi watched the bright lights in the scanner light up and prepared to make her exit.
"Scanner Yumi. Scanner Jin."
Yumi grabbed onto the scanner's doors and began to force them open.
"Virtuaization!"
The being threw the doors of its small prison wide open and stepped out into the room. It was like a kid in a candy store able to do what it wanted and was uncontested. It quickly reached over to a series of large wires and began to pull at them.
Odd heard a loud scream and a thud behind him. He turned his body around as saw Jin lying face down in the ice.
"I though you mastered your landing already?"
"I did, but I thought it would be a good change of pace for me to land on my face since I fainted so many times before and yes I know I'm a strange individual." Jin said, preempting Odd's next comment.
"Wow, he's good" Odd said to Ulrich who responded by drawing his sword.
"Roachsters, dead ahead!"
Odd changed his focus and saw three roasters make their way towards the group and saw them open fire at Aelita.
"Nooo!" Aelita screamed out right before Jin grabbed her and spun her around, using his own body as a shield and absorbed all three lasers into his back.
"Laser Arrow!" Odd fired the small yellow dart and struck one of the roaches in the center. He then saw Ulrich run past him with his sword drawn and stabbed a nearby roach right in its weak point. The third roach then opened fired on Odd and struck him in the chest.
"Pesky little creatures aren't they?"
Before Odd could fire another arrow at the roach, he saw it flinch interrupting its next laser charge. The roach recovered and tried to attack again, but the second bullet finished it off turning it into a pile of scrap metal.
"Now who's getting rusty around here?" Jin asked holding his pistol which was still smoking.
"Don't let it go to your head."
"Come on you two." Ulrich commanded, let's head up that mountain and see what's with that guardian. He then noticed that Jin arrived by himself and that Yumi was absent from the battle.
"I though you said you would keep an eye on Yumi?"
"I saw her walk into the scanner and...oh no! Do you think she could have stepped out before she was virtualized?" Jin asked alarmed.
"Well we better deactivate the tower then or else we'll find out the hard way!" Ulrich said, "Now let's go. We don't have any time to waste!"
The party made their way up the mountain and saw the Guardian in all its glory along with a lone roachster standing by its side. The enemy charged its laser and sent it flying towards Ulrich's direction but was not expecting the warrior's next move.
"HIYA!"
Ulrich lifted his sword into the air and blocked the incoming beam. The laser reflected off of the blade's surface and flew into the mountain's side which served as a mirror since the beam was once again redirected towards the roachster thus ending its existence. Ulrich sheath his weapon and approached the Guardian to inspect it's captive. It only took him two seconds to recognize who it really was.
"YUMI!" Ulrich drew his trusty sword once more and began to hack at the outer layer of the red menace before him. "Don't worry, I'll get you out in no time!"
Yumi gripped the power cords attached to the machines and attempted to rip them apart. Sparks flew from the wires releasing a brilliant electrical shower. Yumi's reign of destruction was interrupted as the elevator's doors opened revealing Jeremie standing inside.
"Yumi, what are you doing?" The blond-haired boy asked.
Yumi was caught red-handed. Seeing no way out, she figured out that she would have to neutralize this threat in a similar fashion in the way she disposed of the principal.
The last thing Jeremie saw before the darkness overcame him was Yumi drawing her fist back.
Jin was the first to point out the futility of his efforts. "Ulrich, you've swung that thing for over fifty times and still that thing is still standing. Do you think it will just keel over and die after the next fifty blows you give it?"
"Do you have a better idea Jin?"
Aelita was then hit with a flash of genius. "No but I do." Aelita knelt by the Guardian and began to sing to the heavens. Soon a near perfect replica of Yumi was formed right beside the heroes.
"Yumi" Ulrich said quietly as he reached over to touch her only to see his hand pass through her body.
"It's just a holographic decoy Ulrich. This is not real."
"Then what is it supposed to do if it can't fight?" Odd asked wondering if Aelita really did have a plan.
"Just wait Odd and you'll soon see."
The Guardian saw the holographic Yumi in front of it and became confused. For all this time, he thought he imprisoned the target but it looks like that was not true. Sensing the individual held captive was still a potential threat, the guardian tried its best to stretch out to capture its target while at the same time keeping its current hostage prisoner. This exercise in multi-tasking proved to be too much for it as it shattered into a million pieces and leaving Yumi behind in a slight daze.
"Where, where am I?" The Japanese girl said looking while looking around the mountain top only to have her question answered by a firm hug.
"SIS!" Jin couldn't contain his excitement. His real sister was safe and sound, his suffering had ended.
"Aniki, it's good to see you too." Yumi replied a little uneasy wondering why her brother was so happy to see her.
"Man I've been looking forward to hearing that name all day. Thanks sis."
"You're welcome. Ok Ulrich, what's going on?"
"Well ever since you came back from Lyoko, you've been acting really strange but now we know why."
"And what would that reason be?"
"XANA has made an evil copy of you."
Aelit quickly tried to get Jeremie's attention. "Jeremie, stay away from Yumi! Jeremie, are you there? Jeremie? JEREMIE!" Aelita assumed the worst when Jeremie did not respond to her calls of distress.
"Well let's just deactivate this tower or else things will get a lot worse than they are." Ulrich said, focusing the group's attention towards their mission.
"You three should go on a head. I don't know how many lifepoints I have left after being trapped inside that thing so I might just get in your way. Besides, with Jeremie out of the picture the factory is virtually defenseless from my counterpart.
"Hey Ulrich, you're armed aren't you?"
Ulrich looked uneasily at his sword and knew what Yumi was suggesting. "You want me to..." He could not complete his answer for Yumi's request made him a little uneasy.
Jin too saw what his sister wanted and stepped in front of her with his gun drawn aimed at her head.
"I'll make this quick" Jin's said with a determined look in his eyes.
Yumi looked at her brother and saw that despite his stone-cold demeanor, his gun was shaking what seemed like an eternity, Jin dropped his weapon andlooked at the icy cold floor with downcast eyes.
"I can't do it Yumi! I don't care if it's only virtual. I just can't do it!"
Ulrich calmly walked over to the girl and drew her into a warm embrace.
"Sorry" He whispered into her ear before stabbing his sword through abdomen. As Yumi's body faded from Lyoko, she flashed Ulrich a small smile letting him know that everything was going to be alright.
"That was one of the hardest things I had to do in my life" Ulrich said to himself fighting back the tears that were forming in his eyes.
"It's ok man" Odd said placing his hand on his friends shoulder to comfort him. "You had to do it. It was what she wanted. Now let's deactivate that tower and get out of here."
Jin looked solemnly over the mountain side and gazed at the tower and the roaches guarding it. Once again his sister was going to do battle with unspeakable evil alone. He almost lost her once and he was not going to let that happen again.
"Ok guys listen up, I got a plan."
Odd and Ulrich turned their heads and faced their gunner and tactician to better listen to what he was saying.
"You guys head to the bottom of the mountain and hide behind that rock. I'll stay up here and distract the enemies for you. Then you come out and pick up the scraps once I'm done."
Jin watched his friends hide behind the boulder as planned and let an evil grin spread on his lips.
Jin got on one knee to recover the pisitol he dropped before he clutched in thightly in his hand.
"Not this time XANA. I'll be there, just you wait."
"You look like me on a bad day." The real Yumi taunted the false one before getting into her battle stance her evil counterpart responded kindly.
The imposter was the first to attack. She ran up to the girl and delivered a high kick to her face which struck her with pinpoint accuracy. Yumi skidded on the ground and her movements only ceased once her body collided with the scanner.
"Can't give up now. I gotta fight on" Yumi thought to herself as she watched her twin walk closer to her.
"Hey Ulrich, did you notice something wrong with Jin's stratagy?"
"What do you mean? Jin is supposed to be the distraction, that's his character's role."
"Yeah but look, Jin is still on the mountain and he has his pistols out."
"You're right Odd. That vantage point is better suited for his sniper rifle but what is he planning to do then."
Soon enough, Ulrich's question was answered. He watched Jin jump off the side on the cliff and began to slide down the mountain's side.
"YOU WANT SOME OF THIS! LET'S ROCK!" The gunfighter yelled out.
Jin released a hailstorm of bullets on the unsuspecting targets as they rained down from all over. The remaining roaches trained their lasers at Jin who made himself an easy target and shot at the sliding person.
"That's right you roachsters, shoot me. Drain me of all my lifepoints" Jin said as he watched the lasers come at him. He was able to squeeze off two more rounds which struck a nearby roachster before the lasers impacted upon his body reducing his lifepoint count to zero. Jin's body collapsed on the mountain side as both devirtualized and continued its downward decent.
"JIN!" Ulrich saw the boy'a body vaporize into thin air leaving him alone with Odd and Aelita to finish what he started.
"Thought you might need some help."
"How did you know that I'm the real Yumi?" The girl asked wondering what motivated her brother's decision.
"When I first looked in your eyes, they looked back at me full of hope and not resentment."
"You intentionally got yourself devirtualized didn't you?"
"Can't let you take this on by yourself. Plus I think I deserve a little payback for all the trouble our little friend XANA caused here."
"Aniki, that thing isn't XANA."
"I know, but it's pretty damn close to the original." Jin turned around a pointed his finger at the phoney Yumi who now displayed XANA's mark on her forehead. "Listen up because I'm going to say this once. You are not my sister! You have given me enough grief all day. You made me suffer though an emotional meUlrich and Oddto get a beating from Dirk, Clayton, Herb and Nicholas AND you almost broke up our group of friends. XANA you messed with the wrong two people and we will take you down! Right sis?" Jin got into his battle stance and braced himself for the fight of his life.
"Right Aniki!" Yumi got into a different stance and stared down her imposter.
XANA reckless charged the duo and threw her right fist in the air. Jin sidestepped the attack while Yumi caught the offending hand and locked it in place. Jin then stepped in-between the gap that his sister created and delivered a vicious backhand which knocked XANA free from Yumi's hold.
Jin cracked his knuckles and stared at the girl. "You know I don't normally hit girlsbut then again, I don't even consider you human!" Jin spat out.
It was now Yumi's turn to take the offensive as she rushed her double with a series of well placed punches and chops. XANA couldn't keep up with Yumi's ferocious barrage of attacks as it tried its best to defend itself. Just then, Yumi stepped to the side and gave XANA an opportunity to counterattack but before that moment was taken, Jin entered its field of vision as he jumped into the air and launched a powerful dragon kick.
XANA was knocked backwards after receiving the kick in its face but was still willing to fight. Jin took his sister's place on the front line and began to attack XANA with his patented set of lightening-quick kicks with his right leg. Once again, XANA had no choice but to defend himself and soon saw its attacker sidestep out of the way. The being looked straight up and saw Yumi leap into the air and delivered a powerful chop to its neck. XANA felt the girl's body howl in pain as it grabbed the painful area out of instinct leaving himself open for another attack. Jin seized the moment and spun counterclockwise and struck XANA in the face with the back of his heel knocking his opponent to the floor.
Jin and Yumi watched the body for any signs of life. That fight proved to be a little too easy. The evil twin stood up once again and a grim realization hit the two Ishiyama siblings.
Despite their prowess in the realm of fighting, this was not a fight that they were going to win.
Their opponent could endure a lot of abuse and eventually their bodies would tire will XANA's would still be just as good as new. Now they were fighting to buy the others time on Lyoko.
Jin quickly took the offensive once again and threw another roundhouse kick at XANA which was quickly blocked. Jin then launched a sharp middle kick to its side but that found an arm there baring its path. XANA fired two quick punches at Jin's shoulders stunning him right before kneeing him in the stomach. Jin eye's almost bulged out his head as he keeled over making himself a perfect target for his opponent's next move.
"NO!" Yumi screamed out as she saw her twin boot Jin in the face. Her brother was sent flying through the air as hisback collided against the scanners while the rest of his body slumped to the floor in a tired heap.
And then there was one.
"How many lifepoints do you have left Odd?"
"I think I have twenty left, so one more direct hit and its bye, bye me"
The two roachsters that served as the last guards for the remaining tower opened fired at Aelita. Odd quickly dove in front of the girl and took the brunt of the attack. He quickly placed his hands on the area he was hit and noticed that he was still virtualized.
"Hmm, looks like I had more lifepoints that I originally thought"
"You werealways a wash out in mathOdd" Ulrich said jokingly.
"Well thanks to you Ulrich, I can now count to three."
"ANIKI!" She yelled as she desperately shook him.
Jin let out a small cough before speaking his voice sounded weak as this was the second beating he took today. "Yumi...watch...out behind...you"
Yumi turned around and saw XANA deliver a side kick at her. Yumi jumped to the side while Jin rolled out of its path and rested against a nearby wall. Yumi was able to catch the leg and threw XANA against the scanners as retribution for what he did to her brother. Her opponent bounced off the object and came staggering toward her. Yumi quickly grabbed hold of the imposter and kneed her in the stomach right before she grabbed the other combatant in the back of the head and slammed her face into the floor. Yumi was running one pure adrenaline right now. She watched in horror and XANA willed the body to stand once more and appeared to have not a scratch on him.
"XANA took no damage? That blow could have KILLED an average human!" She thought to herself alarmed by the sight.
But then again Yumi's wasn't fighting an average human being here.
Yumi went for another throw. She grabbed XANA's arm with both hands and went into a baseball slide, kicking its leg out while still mataining her grip. XANA flipped forward and landed on its back and was slightly dizzy after being thrown to the ground twice. Before Yumi could prepare herself for another attack, XANA quickly closed in the gap between him and and girl and fired an uppercut at Yumi's chin knocking her straight into the air similar to how she defeated Dirk a couple of hours ago. XANA slowly walked over to Yumi and raised its boot with the full intention of brining it down on her face but stopped. XANA had a more devious way to end the life of one of its mortal enemies. It walked to the center of the room and ripped the manhole cover free from the hole and carried over to the fallen girl. XANA then had the evil Yumi raise the large object over her head to that it could be used to bludgeoned her to death.
"NO!" Jeremie screamed out as he shoved the girl out of Yumi's way causing the evil clone to fall into the open manhole.
"FUSION!" Ulrich called back his surviving clone and turned towards Aelita. "Ok, do your stuff."
Aelita wasted no time and was already at the tower's control screen.
AELITA
I lived a good life there was no use continuing it.
"ANIKI!" Yumi said looking down on his brother before grabbing his hand to pull him up.
My sister came to save me, how sweet.
Yumi pulled for all that she was worth but found herself losing the tug of war as she too came dangerously close to the hole.
Why am I still sinking? I know, it's this damn pest that's hanging on my leg. She's adding in all the extra weight.
Despite her losing battle, Yumi continued to pull and did not let go of Jin's arm as she was dragged closer and closer to her own death.
What is she doing? If she keeps this up, she'll be dead too! I can't let my sister die but there's something I need to do before I leave this world.
"Yumi!"
"What is it Jin?"
"I want to say thanks. Thank you sis for giving me another chance in life and allowing me to experience this all for myself. "
Yumi did not like the tone of voice that Jin was using. "Aniki, stop saying that. It sounds like the last words of a dead man. Just hang on!"
"You know as well as I do that you can't pull me up. Yumi please, this is for the better."
"STOP SAYING THAT! EVERYTHING WILL WORK OUT! DON'T LEAVE ME JIN!" Tears began to form in Yumi's eyes as she began to see what her brother had in store for her,
"Yumi remember this. I will always love you and will be by your side no matter what happens to you."
And that's when I said my last farewells.
"Goodby Yumi"
Jin intentionally let go of Yumi's hand and allowed himself to fall into the black abyss below.
"ANIKI!"
Now all I have to do is to just wait and brace myself for impact. I hope your proud of me Ghai.
Looks like I'm not going to die after all.
"Well that was a very interesting day." Jin said nonchalantly ignoring the fact that he had yet another brush with death.
"Yeah I can't believe that XANA actually made a clone of Yumi" Ulrich said surprised at how capable of a foe the computer really was.
"And don't forget, he was able to lure us into his trap." Yumi added as to remind the others of her own suffering. "Well least we now know that materialization is indeed possible so get cracking Jeremie."
"Well I knew that Yumi was fake when she started flirting with me."
"What makes you so sure that I'm the real Yumi?" The girl illustrated her question by walking over Jeremie and removing the boy's glasses causing him to blush once again.
"Ok Yumi, that's enough of that" Ulrich said sternly as he wanted the girl to stop with her antics.
"What's the matter Ulrich, jealous?"
Odd and Jin both looked at each other and saw a prime joke opportunity in their reach.
"Ulrich, jealous?" Odd asked faking being shocked.
"Oh God" the two jokers said simultaneouslybefore they both fell backwards mimicking a faint.
Jeremie and Yumi both began to laugh much to Ulrich's dismay.
"Not funny" The boy said with a glum expression on his face.
"Ah lighten up" The group said in unison which once again prompted another long session of laughter.
END
I really don't have much to say here but to thank everyone for their continuing support. I would also like to announce two more miles stones that the Retelling Series has accomplished. First off, the website has reached over one-hundred hits but most importantly, over fifty reviews have been submitted. Ok everyone pat yourselves on the back for a job well done. Now how about some outtakes to celebrate your hard work.
Jin was thrown in between Odd and Ulrich while their opponents looked over them.
"Is there any way we can win?" Odd asked
"There is one way guys, but its going to be a little unorthodox." Jin said as an idea entered him mind.
"If it involves us winning, then I'm pretty much open for any suggestion." Ulrich said out of fear for his life.
"Well take them on...RPG STYLE!"
Loud orchestrated music began to blare in the background as Odd, Jin and Ulrich stood up.
Odd
HP 80/100
MP 50/50
Ulrich
HP 110/130
MP 35/35
Jin
HP 76/132
MP 60/60
Jin turned and face his comrads. "Ok lets take them out!"
The battle was over in a matter of minutes. Suddenly a blue menu appeared in front of the two boys.
EXP 150
Odd leveled up!
Learned: Break Dance
Ulrich leveled up!
Learned: Soccer kick
Jin leveled up!
Learned: Moonwalker Magic
Items None
Jin held his fist and spoke to the imposter.
"Now I don't hit girls"
"Wait a minute you hit little Susie when you were four just because she wouldn't share her juice box."
"Ok, I don't hit normally hit girls NOW"
"No wait, there was the time you..."
"DON'T START WITH ME YUMI!'
Suddenly, Jin was surrounded by countless fans fed up with his treatment of the opposite sex.
"Ah crap. This can't be good.
"Let's take him out!"
"But how Aniki?"
"With plan SF"
"Oh yeah!"
"What's plan SF?" XANA asked.
"This" Jin removed a red bandanna from his pocket and wrapped it around his head while Yumi began to tie her hair into two buns.
Jin placed his wrists together and aimed his palms at his opponents. "HADOKEN!" Soon a blue fireball errupts from his hands and strikes XANA in the chest.
"OUCH!" XANA then took the offensive and went for a jumping attack but Jin was waiting for him.
"SHORYUKEN!" Jin jumped straight into the air and extended his fist which knocked XANA senseless. XANA hit the ground hard and saw Yumi prepare for her attack.
"SPINNING BIRD KICK!"Yumi sprung off the floor and using her palms and spun in the air like a top and floated towards her victim.
"Of all the kids I had to fight. Why did I get the two avid Street Fighter players?" XANA grumbled to himself as he awaited for his immediate butt kicking.
"How's that?" Odd yelled at Jin expecting him to give up after being hit by such a hard strike, but unprepared for the sight: Jin's body was still standing in front of him, but his head was lying a good fifteen feet away. If this had been an anime instead of a french cartoon, you would have a big sweatdrop on his head. "Huh, I think I overdid it."
"Nice kick" He said as his mood began to darken. "Now it's my turn." Jin's body went on all four and started to reach around for its head. "Once I get myself together that is."
At this point, Odd thought it would be a better choice to run away, and he did just that.
"Odd!" Jin yelled. "I'm going to kill you if you don't help me! Well, I'm going to kill you no matter what, so come back here!"
His rant was interrupted when his own body knocked him over, sending his head tumbling face first in the mud.
"This is going to be a LONG day."
His rant was interrupted by a very unwelcome voice.
"Well, what have we here?"
Looking to the side as much as he could when one cannot turn their neck, Jin saw Dirk and Clayton approaching.
"So, what shall play? Soccer or basketball?" Dirk asked while Clayton smirked.
There was no advice on how to deal with this situation in The Art of War, so Jin did the only thing he could do. "HELP!" he screamed.
Wow, three fights within the span of two episodes, I must be spoiling you guys rotten. Just to infrom you, the throw that Dirk perfomred is a common throw used in Judo. I've been looking forward to writing the fight between Yumi and XANA's Yumi and with Jin thrown into the mix, the fight was that much sweeter. I wanted to show that the two of them had this "twin sense" where they're able to syncronize their attacks without even talking to each other. I especially love writing team fights since the moves you can use are almost endless, especially considering the different styles Yumi and Jin used.
Oh yeah, hope there are some Dirk fans out there that are happy that he came back in this episode. That guy is really evil huh?
Well that was VERY different from the original episode. Incase you were wondering, Jin was NOT narrating the story. This was an experiment with me as I tried to tell three stories at once. The first was the regular story presented by the episode. Next was Jin's confession while he was hanging for his life and finally there was XANA's search to get into the scanner rooms. Then what I did was have all three stories run into each other when they all confronted each other in the scanner room and when Yumi tried to rescue Jin. Never before did I combine so many different elements into one episode. This chapter had a lot of humor, action, suspense and little bit of mystery.
Ok with Jin's confession, my intention was NOT to have the reader see what Jin was thinking but for them to see HOW he thought. I wanted to get the feeling that the reader can see what was going on in Jin's head and to get a slightly clearer picture of the character's unique thought patteren.
I tried my best to explain why Yumi was in Lyoko by herself and the events leading up to her grand unveiling as Jin found out who she really was. Sorry if I made you guys think that Jin would also be captured by the guardian but hey you think what you think. Well that's all I have to say. Please leave a review and don't forget to check out my site in my profile. Thanks again.
|
Review this Chapter |
