107: The Guardian – Part 2

Back in the lab, Jeremie was almost finished with the antivirus. He heard the elevator door open, but was so intent on his work that he didn’t look up. “You took your time, Odd,” Jeremie commented.

There was a growl in response. Sissi screamed, and Jeremie looked up to see her flying across the room and land on the ground, purple sparks still flying off of her. He turned to the elevator door to see Mr. Delmas walking toward him, his hands glittering purple with electricity.

“Oh…hello, sir,” Jeremie said nervously, getting out of his chair and cautiously backing away as Mr. Delmas approached him. “If I’d known you were coming, I would have tried to…tidy up the place…”

The hatch under the ladder attached to the wall opened, and Jeremie heard a familiar voice. “Hey Einstein, is something wrong with the–” Odd broke off as he saw Mr. Delmas.

“Hello, sir,” Odd said, taking a fighting stance. “I didn’t know that you were interested in computers; all you seem to like about computers is your Penguin game.”

Mr. Delmas growled. Before Odd could stop him, Mr. Delmas had grabbed Jeremie by the neck, electrocuted him with his purple electricity and flung him across the room. Jeremie hit the opposite wall with a clunk.

“Jeremie!” shouted Odd, but Jeremie had already passed out. Odd glanced back to see an enraged and Xanafied Mr. Delmas sprinting towards him, and wondered if it would have been safer to stay on Lyoko.

---

Ulrich blocked another Energy Field, and it exploded on his saber. “Sorry, Princess, but you’re not getting any chivalry from me,” he replied.

Aelita smiled. “Too bad I don’t need it,” she replied, and Ulrich jumped aside as she threw a large Energy Field at him. Just as Ulrich got up again, he heard smoke flying through the air.

“Oh no…” groaned Ulrich as a clump of black-and-purple smoke flew up onto the plateau and stopped in front of him. William jumped out of the smoke, swinging his sword dangerously.

Ulrich brought his sabers up for a double block, and he back flipped as William brought his sword down with inhuman strength. “Einstein, we have a problem over here. Einstein?”

“Something must be wrong at the lab!” Yumi shouted, blocking more shots from her Hornets. “Maybe one of us should go back to Earth.”

“And risk Aelita throwing herself into the Sea?” Ulrich replied, dodging another fierce blow. “I don’t think we can risk that! Which reminds me…” Ulrich sighed as he saw Aelita walking toward the edge of the plateau.

The sound of metal slicing through air brought Ulrich’s attention back to William. An idea popped into his mind, and he sprinted away from William and stopped in front of Aelita, blocking her way.

Aelita’s glare hardened, and she charged an Energy Field and cast it at him. Ulrich quickly crossed his sabers to block the shot, but he was still pushed backward from the force of the shot. As William ran towards him, Ulrich shouted “Triplicate!” Two clones of Ulrich appeared on either side of him, and they ran toward the oncoming William.

Odd ran over to Sissi, who was lying on the floor. “Sissi, are you okay?” he said, trying to shake her awake. “Come on, please wake up!”

Sissi lazily opened her eyes. “What…what happened?” she said, as Odd helped her to stand up.

Odd grimly pointed to Mr. Delmas, who was advancing on the pair of them, purple sparks rippling across his entire body.

Sissi frowned. “Ah, I remember.”

Odd gave Sissi a slight push toward Jeremie. “Please, go and help Jeremie,” Odd said. “He’s more important than me right now.”

Sissi nodded, and ran over to Jeremie and tried to shake him awake as Odd and Mr. Delmas engaged in combat. “Jeremie, now’s not the time to take a nap!” she said into his ear, shaking his unconscious body. “Please get up! Your friends need you!”

Jeremie’s eyes slowly opened, and he gave a start as he realized what was going on. “…Thanks,” he said shakily, running back to the computer and putting on the headset. “Ulrich, how’s it going over there?”

“Not so great,” Ulrich replied, ducking from an Energy Field. “Our Prince Charming just returned, and his Princess is putting up a fight as well. What should I do? Do I devirtualize her, or what?”

“Just keep them busy for just one more minute!” Jeremie said, resuming typing and reloading the antivirus. “The antivirus is almost ready!”

“I could’ve sworn that you’ve said that five times already,” Ulrich replied. “And that’s a tall order right now.”

Suddenly, in one swift slash, William destroyed both of the clones with his large sword and started running toward Ulrich. Ulrich turned away from Aelita and brought his sabers up just in time to block a powerful blow. Out of the corner of his eye, Ulrich saw Yumi destroy the last Hornet and start running toward him.

Yumi’s expression changed from bad to worse, and she shouted, “Aelita, no!” Ulrich turned and saw Aelita a meter away from the edge, still and unmoving.

Yumi threw both of her fans, but she was too late. With a cry of triumph, the Xanafied Aelita jumped off the edge of the plateau. A blue line of energy blasted upward as she fell into the Digital Sea.

“NO!” Ulrich and Yumi shouted together, staring disbelievingly at the spot where Aelita had been a few seconds ago. Ulrich heard a sword slashing through the air, and too late, realized that William was still there. Ulrich groaned as he was devirtualized.

“No…” Jeremie moaned. His eyes stared in shock at the radar screen, not believing what he saw. Aelita’s virtual card powered down, and it flashed as she entered the Digital Sea for good.

“Einstein, what’s going on?” Odd called, jumping aside from a bolt of electricity.

“Aelita just jumped into the Digital Sea…” Jeremie choked.

Odd froze. “What?” he shouted. “No, it can’t be!” He was so distracted, he didn’t even give a shout of pain as Mr. Delmas smote him with the thick purple electricity. Odd crumpled and fell to the ground.

“Odd, no!” Sissi shouted, running from the computer to Odd’s side. She tried to shake him awake, but had forgotten about her father. Mr. Delmas grabbed her by the neck and began to electrocute her.

“Sissi!” Jeremie cried. He ran toward Mr. Delmas, but as he neared him, Mr. Delmas threw Sissi aside. Jeremie, now the only one still conscious in the room aside from the mad teacher, was grabbed by the neck and electrocuted himself. The eyes of Xana glared at him from both of Mr. Delmas’ eyes. He didn’t see the Super Scan window refocus to see a tower blink from red to white.

Yumi drew her fans as William walked toward her, smirking at his triumph. “You’ve lost,” William said.

“No, we haven’t!” Yumi shouted desperately, throwing both her fans toward him at once. William deflected both, and ran at her. “Jeremie will find a way to save Aelita,” Yumi said almost hysterically as she dodged William’s blows, “and then we’ll defeat you, Xana!”

“I don’t think so,” William replied, smiling contemptuously as two Mantas and his Black Manta rose to hover behind him above the plateau. “It’s over.”

Suddenly, a sound distracted all of them. William and Yumi both turned to look at the tower as its aura turned from red to white.

William’s smile dropped off his face, and he froze. “What the… No, it can’t be!” he shouted into the air. Yumi used the momentary distraction to trip William, and he fell to the ground, his expression set with shocked disbelief.

Back at the Factory, the eyes of Xana suddenly disappeared from Mr. Delmas’ eyes, and his black pupils returned. He groaned and dropped to the ground, as did Jeremie. Jeremie slowly got up and saw Odd and Sissi walking toward him, supporting each other.

“What happened, Einstein?” Odd asked. “Why did our headmaster just drop to the ground faster than a Hornet with its wings cut off?”

Jeremie strode over to the computer. As he sat down, he saw four red markings, a thicker red dot and a green dot on the radar screen. Then something caught his eye. A white sphere had appeared, rising up from the Digital Sea to the plateau.

Jeremie froze, and slowly opened a program to check if it was true. “It can’t be…” he gasped, his theory confirmed.

A sparkle caught Yumi’s eye, and she turned as a light blue sphere of light edged in pink rose gracefully onto the plateau. As it moved across the plateau, a pink-haired girl appeared out of it and dropped to the ground.

Yumi ran over to Aelita as fast as her legs could carry her. “Aelita, are you all right?” she said, shaking her awake.

Aelita slowly opened her eyes, and Yumi was relieved to see that they were dark green once again. “Yes, I think so,” Aelita said feebly as Yumi helped her up. Yumi noticed that she had a slight smile upon her face, and that she somehow knew it was her father by instinct.

“Jeremie…” Yumi called to the sky. “Is it really him? Is that really Franz Hopper?”
“I’m as surprised as you guys are, but so far, all the tests are returning positive,” Jeremie said, bewildered. “But I still don’t get how Franz Hopper came back to life!”

William was now standing, still staring at the glowing sphere in awe and disbelief. Suddenly, his eyebrows came down in a menacing glare, and he signaled to the Mantas. The three Mantas began to attack Franz Hopper.

“Forget that for now, my father’s in trouble!” Aelita said as she started to run to her father, who was trying to dodge laser shots but was unable to move quickly enough. As she ran with Yumi in her wake, Aelita started to shout to her father.

“Daddy, get out of here!” Aelita called desperately. She threw Energy Fields at the Mantas, and Yumi threw her fans as well.

A swishing sound from in front of them brought the girls to a halt, and they prepared to attack as William jumped out of the smoke in front of them.

“Go help your father,” Yumi told Aelita, assuming a fighting position. “I’ll hold him off.” Aelita nodded gratefully, and activated her wings to intercept the Mantas in an air battle.

“Jeremie, why isn’t my father going to the Digital Sea?” Aelita shouted, throwing Energy Fields at one of the Mantas. “Is he sending you something?”

“As a matter of fact, he is,” Jeremie replied, as Ulrich walked into the room and joined Odd and Sissi, who were watching the screen in silent awe.

Jeremie glanced at the processing window again. “The problem is that he can’t move while he’s transmitting information. You’re going to have to hold off those Mantas until he’s finished.”

“But…” Aelita dodged another laser shot, and she managed to destroy one of the Mantas. “But what if my father’s destroyed before he can finish? Is the information so important that he has to sacrifice himself for it? Again?”

Jeremie clenched his teeth grimly. “Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that,” he replied.

Yumi cart wheeled to the side as William brought his massive sword down in a powerful downward slam. Managing to land on her feet, Yumi administered a side kick to William. He lost his balance and fell to the ground, and Yumi drew a fan and prepared to deliver the devirtualizing blow.

“Yumi, watch out! Behind you!” Jeremie warned.

Yumi heard two things land behind her, but before she could turn around to throw a fan, the Krabes had already shot their lasers at her. Yumi fell backwards, groaning as she disappeared.

“No!” shouted Aelita, still flying in the air. Aelita quickly summoned two Energy Fields as the blue Manta shot at her, while the Black Manta continued to fire at her father. Avoiding another shot, Aelita threw an Energy Field at the Manta, and it exploded.

There was a beep from the computer. “Hurry, Aelita,” Jeremie said desperately. “Your father’s done transmitting the data, but he’s about to be devirtualized for good!”

Panic making her bold, Aelita flew in front of the Black Manta and threw two Energy Fields at once. The Black Manta squawked as both made contact, and it flew backward, fizzing pink before it was destroyed.

A shot to her side, and Aelita’s wings folded and disappeared. Aelita gave a cry of alarm as she dropped out of the air and hit the ground. Lying on the ground, she glanced up to see William and the two Krabes approaching her father.

“NO!” Aelita shouted. As she started to get up, she knew that she was already too late.

Aelita saw a thin flash of red light fly across her field of vision and hit her father. As her father was pushed backward from the force of the shot, shards of light began to fizz around in his form. With a resounding blast, the brightly-lit bubble burst apart and exploded.

Aelita’s wordless scream could not express the sorrow that was overtaking her being, but her sorrow began to grow deeper with anger. Turning and seeing William wearing a sneeringly triumphant grin, Aelita’s expression hardened like ice.

Two Energy Fields were all it took to destroy the Krabes, and the last Energy Field was used as the focal point for Aelita’s anger. Summoning every last ounce of energy in her reserves, Aelita charged and threw the largest Energy Field she had ever summoned. Ironically, the only other Energy Field that had been comparable in size had also been thrown at William, but the difference was that this one was out of raw emotion.

William cried out as he fell backwards, his body turning into red and black smoke. Aelita managed to hold her composure until he disappeared, and then fell to the ground, shaking.

It was a few seconds before Jeremie spoke. “Aelita, I’ll bring you in,” he said gently into the microphone. He hesitated, and then added, “I’m sorry.”

Aelita acknowledged his voice, but was too caught up in sadness to reply.

---

The warm of the scanners sounded as Ulrich and Jeremie joined Yumi in the scanner room. Yumi sent Ulrich a questioning glance, and he returned it with a sad nod. Their arms wrapped around each other in a hug.

The scanner door opened. Aelita walked slowly out of the steam, her face down. She had only gone a step before she fell into Jeremie’s arms, sobbing. No words were spoken, for no one knew what to say.

The four Lyoko Warriors joined Odd and Sissi back in the lab. As Ulrich and Yumi walked into the room, Sissi watched the two of them passively. She had assuaged her feelings for Ulrich long ago, knowing that they had been out of jealousy. But now new feelings were beginning to sprout from the burned ground, and she wasn’t sure what to do with them.

“I’ll launch a Return to the Past,” Jeremie said quietly. He walked over to the computer, pressed a few keys and hit the enter button.

---

Jeremie led Aelita back into his room. As the door opened, Ulrich, Yumi and Odd didn’t even bother to shout, “Surprise!” They were too worried.

As Aelita sat down silently on the end of Jeremie’s bed near the computer, Jeremie pulled his computer chair over to sit next to her. Ulrich and Yumi sat down and leaned against Jeremie’s cupboard, while Odd leaned against the computer table.

“So…” Odd said, attempting to break the silence. “Jeremie, would you mind telling us how Franz Hopper managed to come back? Because we’d all like to know.”

With a glance at Aelita, Jeremie cleared his throat. “Franz Hopper didn't really die when Xana devirtualized him; he was spread out over the Network, and he was able to recompile himself after he was destroyed. But unfortunately, it’s really rather unlikely that he’ll be able to recompile himself again, because the recompilation took almost all of his strength, and now that he’s been devirtualized again…”

Aelita unexpectedly straightened, courage glaring in her eyes. Everyone turned to look at her. “I know you guys are sad for me, and I really appreciate it,” Aelita said. “But this is something that I need to get out of on my own, and I don’t want you guys wasting all of your time trying to make me feel better. I really appreciate it, though.”

Jeremie gave her a hug, and the others smiled slightly, glad that their friend at least wasn’t suicidal.

Ulrich shifted. “Jeremie, what was it that Franz Hopper sent you? I mean, if it can be useful in any way, now’s the time to do it.”

“Well, Franz Hopper sent me something that could prove to be very useful in the future,” Jeremie replied, holding Aelita in his arms. “But I’m not going to tell you yet, partially because I still need to do more research myself. Franz also managed to give Aelita an antivirus when he brought her back; I confirmed that.”

“At least for the time being, Xana won’t be plaguing us,” Yumi said grimly. “But Franz Hopper gave himself up for all of us, and we should make sure his sacrifice wasn’t in vain.”

The others nodded. Odd turned around and began unwrapping the cake. “Well, we still have a cake, and for once I don’t want to be the one to eat it up,” Odd said.

“We might as well,” Ulrich said, winking at Aelita. “We wouldn’t want you to sacrifice your stomach and health for us by finishing it yourself.”

Aelita managed a smile. “What’s more, I think it must have happened by chance, but I believe today’s my real birthday.”

Jeremie stared at her incredulously. “Really?” he asked.

Aelita nodded. “When my father brought me back, he de-Xanafied me, but he also helped to clear up the rest of my memories. Unfortunately…I still can’t remember anything about my mother.”

Jeremie patted her hand. “We’ll keep searching until we find her,” he said to her.

Aelita nodded, holding a small smile. As the others got their cake, Aelita mused over something that had been bugging her ever since she had come back. She suspected that her father had also given her something else, but couldn’t decide what it was. But she had a feeling that it would prove to be very useful in the near future. Her father had been her guardian to the very end, and he would hold that position forevermore.