Enter the Warrior of Wind

Note: A Code Lyoko fan fiction pairing the two episodes "Space Oddity" and "Cousins Once Removed" Jeramie's cousin, Patric is intrigued about Jeramie's group of friends and wonders what this "Umbra" is they keep talking about with hushed tones. He is mistaken for XANA by Umbra, and virtualized into space with Yumi and Odd. He discovers his abilities soon by helping Yumi and Odd out. Jeremie is impressed, and wonders if it would offset the balance to have another member in the team.

Chapter 1—Patric Belpois

Only recently had Jeramie gotten word from his father about his cousin, Patric. Jeramie saw his cousin during family reunions, and if then, very infrequently. He and Patric were good friends, even though they were from the same family. Patric was always the "cool" type, had a lot of friends, a bit of a rebel, but he meant well. He reminded him of John Travolta or Fonzie from Happy Days, only more modern and up-to-date with the latest trends. Jeramie looked forward to seeing Patric again. He had a lot to catch up with and he wouldn't spare one detail from him. But he would keep Lyoko a secret. Unfortunately, with the way Jeramie's friends were, Patric would soon be asking questions that Jeramie would inevitably have to answer. He couldn't think about such matters at this time since exams were just around the corner. As usual, he secluded himself to the library to study. If his friends needed them, they knew were to find them and if they needed his help (and it was more than likely they would), he would assist them with their problems and help them prepare for the upcoming stress of exams while keeping them all calm and collected.

Chapter 2—What Does It All Mean ?

Soon, after Jeremie exited the library, he went to his room. Jean-Pierre Delmas was there.

"Hello, Sir.", Jeramie stated politely, bowing a bit to show respect.

"I was just informed that Patric will be sharing a room with you. I hope you don't mind.", Jean stated. He wondered if Patric had any say in this decision, but had a feeling he and Patric would be terrific roommates.

"When will he be moving in ?", Jeramie asked, curiously.

"Later on this evening. I just wanted to let you know so there were no surprises.", Jean-Pierre answered, smiling pleasantly. It was awfully courteous of him to look out for the students in this way, but it seemed that Jean had a soft spot for Jeramie. Perhaps that was because when Jean was younger, he was almost exactly like him, particularly in his adoration of books.

"Thank you so much, Sir. I appreciate your time, and I'll try to make Patric feel as comfortable as possible.", Jeramie said. Then he looked at his watch, and panicked slightly. He would be late to Physics if he didn't hurry. He excused himself politely and ran past Jean, which elicited a jovial chuckle from the Principal.

"Be careful, and don't run so fast !", the principal reproved gently, sounding fatherly as he sometimes did. Jeramie heeded the warning and instead power walked down the hall and rapidly out of the building. Fortunately for him, Physics class wasn't that far away from the dormitories.

Later on, at lunch, the gang was telling stories about their stupendous trip to the lodge in the mountains to Patric.

"Man, all of you are so fortunate. I hardly ever get to do anything cool like that.", he said, slightly envious of his new friends.

"Hey, don't let it get to you, Pat. I'm sure next year, they'll let you come along with us.", Odd stated, positively, patting Patric on the back. Patric was elated with his new friends, and the stories they had to tell him about their past experiences as well as how much they loved the Academy. Already, he knew he didn't have much adjusting to do, and looked forward to being Jeramie's roommate for the rest of the year.

After lunch, despite Jeramie's best efforts to keep Lyoko a secret, loose-lipped Odd had been talking about how strange it had been that Umbra had been remaining so quiet and XANA had been safe on Earth from his influence. XANA had found a cover as, appropriately enough, a retail salesperson in a local electronics store. He was one of the computer repairmen. He had to have someone else drive him to customer's houses since he had no license yet. Like a can of worms ready to squirm everywhere, Patric spoke up, inquisitive for knowledge.

"You must tell me. This is bigger than all of us !", Patric begged. Frustrated but understanding, Jeramie and the others told him everything they knew.

Chapter 3—Umbra's Eyes Deceive Him

From the Nightmare Sector, Umbra gestured a hematite globe to approach him. It hovered in front of him, waiting for his command.

"Show me where my minion is.", he asked. The globe, not having a more specific target, gave him the image of Patric and Umbra's frown had turned into a sadistic grin, followed by a sardonic chuckle.

"Pathetic, XANA. You thought you had the upper hand. Pity, really. I believed you would be more of a challenge to locate.", Umbra thought, with a wolf-like smirk on his face. His long, skeletal finger caressed the hematite orb momentarily before he began plotting on his next course of action, his eerie red eyes reflected in its smooth surface as the only light in that forsaken, profane place.

The next day, Umbra had initiated an attack quite unexpectedly and the Warriors virtualized from a secret location to meet the problem head on. Strangely enough, it seemed as though Patric had been virtualized with them. He was on a space shuttle with Yumi and Odd.

"Oh my gosh ! The view from here is unbelievable. This is wickedly COOL !", Patric exclaimed almost breathlessly. Odd was worried about Kiwi back on Earth, and Yumi couldn't fathom why.

"Odd, we're miles and miles above the Earth, seeing the most spectacular sight that only few ever get to witness, and all you can think about is your dog ? Really, sometimes I don't understand you.", she said, slightly chidingly. Odd took the remark as praise, and chuckled.

"It is a miraculous view, but why is Pat here with us ?", Odd stated, only currently noticing Patric was with them.

"Who cares ! This is awesome !", Patric said, spinning somersaults in the air spontaneously and then doing a backstroke in zero-G. The computers then displayed Umbra's sign, without Yumi and Odd noticing. Patric, seeing the sign had pointed it out, but the other two were distracted by the spectacular view of Earth.

"This might be the last time we see this sensational sight…", he said, pointing at the spiked orbs that were following them. They were armed with lasers, spikes that fired, and designed to detonate after a duration of 10 seconds. The Warriors were careful not to get hit, but Patric was hurt by a spike that cut his arm. Inexplicably, he deterred the following orbs with an ability he never knew he had.

"What was THAT ?!", he questioned, in disbelief. Even Yumi and Odd were surprised.

"I believe…you are one of us now.", she said, with a smile and a slight yank to his hand to avoid another mine.

"How ?", Patric questioned.

"We'll answer that question later, Patric. Right now, we are up to our necks in orbs…", Odd said as the orbs began replicating. This was not turning out to be fair or favorable in the Warriors' perspective.

Chapter 4—XANA's Unlikely Heroism

As the other Warriors fought in Lyoko against Umbra's freakishly devilish creatures, Odd, Yumi and Patric had their own ordeals in space. In zero-G, it made it difficult to fight. They would be in trouble if they accidentally hit an air lock and were sucked into the void of space. In that case, they would die from suffocation since they had no space-suits to help them survive. XANA, sensing that his friends were in trouble, superimposed himself in front of the orbs. Right on cue, the orbs exploded, sending him back into earth thanks to his HP hitting zero. Already having sustained all the damage he could, and lacking any reserve power or MP to make up for HP lost, XANA was confined to the physical 2D realm. XANA cursed silently under his breath, feeling helpless to assist his friends, but he did everything humanly possible to save Patric and the others from being hurt too much.

Jeramie didn't want to initiate a return to the past, and he had already lost some members to unexplained giant mines that blindsided the Warriors when they least expected it. Umbra's techniques were evolving in nanoseconds and the Warriors just couldn't keep up. A safe-tower was only a few miles away. With wings, Aelita could arrive there easier, but Warriors were still falling thanks to the flash mines.

"Don't look back, Aelita, just go !", Jeramie said, as he and the Warriors that were left continued to fight Umbra's creations.

Jeramie hated to implement a return to the past, but he knew the others were in trouble, particularly his cousin. He wasn't certain why he felt this immanent danger, but there was no other way. Aelita entered the code, and the return began. A blinding white light overshadowed them all, and before they knew it, they were back at Kadic, and Patric was safe.

"What just happened ? Why am I unharmed ?", Patric asked. Apparently he had many more questions that would have to be answered, but everyone was more than happy to explain. The only mystery that remained was Umbra's ultimate defeat.

Chapter 5—Umbra Strikes Again

Umbra sat angrily at his throne in the Nightmare Sector. He clawed fiercely at the hematite chair, grumbling.

"I nearly had one of those blasted Warriors too, but they keep eluding my grasp…It's a shame too, I so wanted to see bloodshed.", he thought as his talons squealed across the hard surface. He was affected by the battle beforehand by losing some of his most prized creatures, but he could always make more, easily. Just a little code manipulation and viola: instant weapons of mass destruction. He had completely forgotten about the return to the past. In the real world, the lag in time was caused by the Internet catching up to the rest of the event itself. These lags didn't happen often, but when they did, they could be irritating. The phenomenon occurred when too many people were online flooding the system. At long last though, Umbra had the extra boost he needed and he could start rehearsing new ideas in his twisted mind for the eventual downfall of the Warriors and the world along with it.

The others had returned to Earth safely, and Jeremie christened his cousin the Wind Warrior. After processing everything he had just underwent, Patric sighed and slumped back on the couch in the recreation room.

"This is unbelievable. How long have you been doing this ?", Patric questioned.

"It's probably about 4 years now. Sometimes, wars can last hundreds of years, and this is no different, we're just facing a very clever AI.", Aelita answered him, honestly.

"With Patric on our team, we'll persevere, and we'll win.", Ulrich said, enthusiastically, patting his friend on the back. Patric grinned. Ulrich owed Patric so much because he had been altruistic, which was a tremendous quality. All of them were relieved the fight was through for now, and relaxed for the remainder of the day in the recreation room.

Umbra knew that attacking at night strengthened his power at night and thought attacking at this time would benefit him in his insidious plot. He had enough power to infect every electrical device on the campus, and overtake the super computer. With that power at his command, all the technology that Kadic had would be at his fingertips and soon, the Warriors would no longer be an issue to his master plan.

One by one, the Warriors fell prey to the electric wires that entangled them. Against their will, they were digitized into Lyoko and felt the wires continue to tighten. Death by suffocation seemed a rather gruesome way to die and the Warriors fear was apparent on their faces. He had forgotten to tie their hands, because the Elemental Warriors could still attack them with their spells, but with their oxygen restricted, it would be difficult for them to exert any energy to cast them. Despite that, the Elementals began to fight. Taelia was the first to break the chords that bound her. With a fluid, graceful motion, she landed a scissor kick upside Umbra's head, causing him to loose his balance. The rest of them, being able to break free from the wires that held them back. What ensued was a melee for the ages, and both sides were equally matched.

Chapter 6—It's Not Over Yet

After breaking free, the other Warriors readied their weapons. All at once, they began firing until Umbra unexpectedly lost his footing. They heard a shrill scream as he plummeted until he hit a spire, and instantly expired upon the spot. But, none of them celebrated.

"I doubt that's the last we've seen of him.", Patric said, catching his breath. All of their MP was dangerously low, and each Warrior had suffered sufficient damage from the battle they had partaken in. They breathed in gathering what strength they had left in their bodies. With what little they could exert, they de-virtualized themselves and returned home to Kadic without incident or suspicion that they had been gone. Thus far, there had been no signal from Lyoko as if anything changed or not. This wasn't such a good indication that Umbra was finally destroyed, but even if he was regenerating himself, the Warriors would be prepared in the future for his ingenuity and his adaptability. They would pace themselves as always readying themselves for the unknown.

Epilogue

Students had been busier than ever because of tournaments both academically and physically, and in spite of this the Warriors were still listening for signs of Umbra's return. Aelita could trace a small ounce of his digital signal. He could still reincarnate even after dying so viciously, but when he would do so was a question that would have to remain unanswered for the time being. At least presently, the friends could train their newest recruit and continue honing their skills for the battles that lay ahead, if indeed they were any, but knowing Umbra, there would be.

The End