Code 15: CHOICE
"I've finally found you... Dad." Zaber said, all too pleased at having finally tracked down the object of his obsession.
"Zaber?" Hopper said as he nearly squinted. Between the outfit and the change in hair caused by Zaber's lyoko form, he couldn't see any resemblance.
"That's right." Zaber said, as he waved Styx gently at Aelita and Jeremy. "Get out in the hall you two. I don't want you to have to see this." He gestured to the door behind him.
"Zaber, hold on..." Jeremy shouted at him, trying to talk him out of it long enough for them to explain the situation.
"Don't even think about it Jeremy. You're just wasting your breath." Zaber said as he quickly pointed Styx at Jeremy long enough for Jeremy to tense up, and then quickly pointed it back at Hopper.
"Zaber, please listen..." Hopper urged him.
"SHUT UP!" Zaber shouted as the gun clicked. "Now get out of here you two." Zaber ordered them. Aelita, who had been paralyzed in fear since Zaber's arrival, lunged at him defiantly, knocking him to the ground and sending Styx spiraling out the door and into the hall.
"Aelita!" Jermey shouted as he rushed to her aid.
"What are you doing?!?!" Zaber shouted at her as she tried to pin him to the ground. Jeremy joined her in trying to keep Zaber down, but he broke free of them and pulled Lethe, brandishing it back and forth as they were forced to back off. "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!?!"
"You can't kill him!" Aelita screamed at him as she stepped between Zaber and Hopper.
"Aelita! Get out the way!" Zaber shouted across the room.
"No! You've got it all wrong! He didn't do it!" Aelita pleaded with him as she spread her arms, established herself as a shield.
"YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT HE'S DONE! Stop protecting him!" Zaber scowled.
"No! I won't let you kill him!" Aeltia screamed at him. Jeremy felt a horrifying bout of Deja vu as he snuck behind Zaber into the hall, and grabbed Styx, and went behind Zaber's back.
"I won't let it happen! Not like in the visions!" Jeremy shouted as he tightened his grip on the trigger and touched the barrel to the back of Zaber's head. Zaber's froze when he felt the cold chill of the steel, and for a few seconds, no one moved or spoke. Zaber closed his eyes. Jeremy felt his feet swept up from beneath him, as Zaber used his blossom speed to knock him to the ground. Styx flew across the room when Jeremy released his grip. Jeremy hit the ground on his back. His head slammed on the ground, and when it bounced back up in the recoil it met the barrel of Lethe. Zaber stood over him, with Lethe aimed at his face.
"Traitor..." Zaber said with a gasp as his eyes stopped glowing.
"ENOUGH!" Hopper screamed, having grabbed Styx when it flew across the room. He now had it pointed at Zaber. Zaber looked up at him at this point, and Jermey wrenched Lethe free of his grasp and managed to get up, backing up slowly towards Hopper. Zaber quickly drew Cocystus and Phlegytheon, and aimed them at Jeremy and Hopper respectively, his arms crossed over one another. Jeremy aimed Lethe at Zaber. Hopper aimed Styx at Zaber. They had unintentionally formed a triangle. And Aelita stood in the center of it. All three of them were silent. Beads of sweat rolled down Jeremy and Zaber's faces, but Hopper was calm in comparison.
"So... I was afraid it would come to this." Zaber said. "Jeremy... listen to me closely... maybe you could understand why this man must die. How would you feel... if he had killed Aelita?" Jeremy shook slightly. The disturbing part was, he may have done so already.
"Everyone just put down your weapons and listen to me!" Aelita urged them, but to little avail.
"You have a choice to make Jeremy. You don't have to help me... just don't get in my way. Just take her... and go." Zaber said. "And if you don't... I'll just have to kill you too."
"Zaber... enough of this. What would your mother say now if..." Hopper chastised him, but was cut off as Zaber fired. A blast from Cocystus shot across the room, and froze Lethe and Jeremy's hand in a malformed block of ice. A fireball from Phlegytheon hit Hopper, and he toppled backwards, dropping Styx. He had been struck in the arm, and his sleeve had been singed off, accompanied by a severe second degree-burn.
"How... dare you..." Zaber said as he slammed Hopper upside the head with the handle of Cocystus, "Try and act like a parent after what you've done. She killed herself because you killed her daughter! My sister!" Zaber screamed as he aimed Phlegytheon at Hopper again.
"WAIT! Melissa is dead?!?!" Hopper exclaimed
"Yeah... and it's all your fault!" Zaber said as he kept Phlegytheon aimed at him steadily as Hopper began to break down. He began to sob.
"Alright... You can kill me..." Hopper said sorrowfully as he threw Styx to the floor, "But I have one thing left to say... for every choice... there is consequence. Before you kill me... think about it. What will killing accomplish? And will you be able to stop Xana without my help?" Zaber stared at him with pity for a moment.
"We probably can't beat Xana, even with you. But that phrase really speaks to me. And you know what it says? It says... you made your choice ten years ago. Now here's the consequence!" Zaber fired.
Or rather, tried to fire, but he found Phlegytheon knocked out his hand by an orb of pink energy. Aelita had used her scanner, and now fired energy fields at him with the speed of a machine gun. Zaber was pinned up against the wall and repeatedly hammered by the blasts, so much so that an impression into the wall began to form. Aelita grew tired and stopped firing. He had been struck almost a dozen times, and collapsed to the floor, coughing up blood. Aelita stepped in front of her father again, and Jeremy assumed his lyoko form and stood beside her, ready to wield his staff if the need arose. Zaber stood up, panting heavily, as he wiped the blood dripping from the side of his mouth.
"So... you're all... traitors..." Zaber said as he held his final gun, Cocystus, in one hand. His Lyoko form was barely holding together. A cat could have devirtualized him at this point.
"Just give up Zaber! We don't want to have to hurt you anymore!" Jeremy urged him.
"You may have betrayed me... but you're still my... friends. I'll give you... one last chance to get out of the way..." Zaber said, as he aimed Cocystus at Hopper. "You can get out now... or die with him." Zaber said, and Jeremy recalled that line from one of the visions, and he knew what was coming next.
"ZABER! NOOOO!!!" Jeremy shouted but it was too late. Zaber snapped his fingers.
"DEVIL ARM!" Zaber screamed as his arm turned black and the cannon formed over his hand and gun. But the weapon was even more mutated than usual. Black spikes formed along his forearm and wrist. The black cannon expanded, to nearly five times the size of his regular arm, roughly a meter wide. Black feathers burst from his shoulder at the border between his skin and the arm. The weapons began to charge. And once the Devil Arm was triggered, there was no way to recall it. Jeremy quickly realized how serious this was. Not only were they dead if the arm hit them, but aiming horizontally at this low altitude, he would level half the city with the blast. "NOW GO!" Zaber shouted to them as he writhed in pain, something else the arm had never done before, the changes brought on by the count being low.
"Come on!" Jeremy said as he tried to drag Hopper to his feet, but he could not move with his injuries. Aelita stared at Zaber tearfully. After a few seconds, Jeremy gave up on trying to more Hopper and grabbed Aelita and tried to drag her away. "Come on Aelita!" Jeremy shouted as he tugged at her arm.
"I'm not leaving without them!" Aelita said.
"We don't have any choice! I'm sorry!" Jeremy urged her. The blast nearly finished charging. Aelita looked at Jeremy, then at her father, and lastly her brother. She ran from Jeremy and got between Zaber and Hopper.
"ZABER! HE DIDN'T KILL YOUR SISTER! I AM YOU SISTER! MY REAL NAME IS AELITA HOPPER!" Aelita finally revealed the truth to him. Zaber mentally snapped. He could not explain how he knew it to be true... but he knew that is was. But he could not recall the blast.
Using every ounce of willpower he had left, he lifted the massive arm straight upwards, the barrel aimed at the ceiling. It fired, and the roof dissolved like flour. They had already been on the top floor, and the blast flew straight upwards, missing the surrounding buildings entirely. People around the city shrieked with fear and fled when they saw the huge pillar of light projecting from the small apartment building. The blast emitted for several seconds, and then stopped. The arms faded out like a ghost as Zaber fell face first to the ground, unconscious. His lyoko form broke before he hit the ground. The count struck III, and a figure stood over him, readying a weapon.
Ulrich, Odd, and Yumi were seconds away from the building when the blast had been fired.
"We're too late!" Yumi said quietly as they saw the blast. None of them wanted to be the first to go into the building. They were afraid at what they might see when they went inside.
"You lead Ulrich!" Odd said.
"No! You're going in first Odd!" Ulrich said as he shoved him forward. Before their argument could continue, a transporter orb that rose out of the ground beneath them swept them up. Yumi had spawned it using her scanner, and they rose up to the top floor, with Yumi at the controls.
"Fight later you two!" Yumi chided them as they zoomed above the building with a burst of speed just as the blast ended. The cloud of smoke and dust blown up in the blast obscured their vision. "What's going on down there?!?!" Yumi vented her confusion. The dust began to clear, and they could faintly begin to see the outlines of the figures a few dozen feet below them.
"I have a feeling it's not good..." Odd said musically.
Aelita and Hopper were huddled together close against the ground as they narrowly escaped the blast. Aelita shut her eyes to keep out the smoke and dust, and she felt pain like hundreds of pinpricks as piece of debris struck her wings, which had folded over her body in a natural reflex. After she felt the pulsating air currents slow, her eyes snapped open. Her father was still next to her; he was lying on his stomach with his hands over his head, but he was fine. She looked to her other side, towards the source of the pulsations. She could not see Jeremy anywhere. The pulsing air was beginning to swirl into a vortex in the area where Zaber had been standing. It continued to spiral into a whirlwind, obscuring it's interior from view. The surrounding area was now completely clear, but Aelita could not see him anywhere. Then, without warning, the whirlwind broke. In the span of a second, the dust and debris dissolved, revealing the inside. Zaber lay unconscious, in his human form, facedown. His scanner had skidded a few feet to his right, and lay face-up; the kanji on the screen flickered and faded in and out. But the tip of a sharp metal rod was pressed against his back. Aelita looked upwards and saw Jeremy standing over him, holding his rod, the sharp pointed end he had formed glowed a fierce shade of gold. Jeremy breathed heavily; several nicks and cuts from flying debris riddled his face. He stared down the shaft of his weapon, trying to find a place to deliver a fatal blow. He found the exact area of the heart, and raised his rod back a bit.
"I trusted you! And you tried to kill us! I won't make the same mistake twice!" Jeremy screamed as he drew his arm back.
"Stop! Jeremy, don't!" Aelita yelled to him just before he could thrust, and Jeremy froze his attack mid thrust, the point inches from his back. Jeremy's head whipped around, as he saw the terrified look on Aelita's face.
"Aelita... he..." Jeremy tried to justify himself.
"Jeremy... no..." Aelita simply urged him not to.
"But he... he's too dangerous to be left alive!"
"He's still my brother!" Aelita screamed at him with tears. Jeremy's head jerked back towards Zaber. If he let Zaber live... he would just try and take revenge again. Perhaps he simply couldn't handle the truth. By letting him live... he was putting them all at risk. But... if he did kill him... Aelita would never forgive him. He could not decide which was more important... Aelita's love or Aelita's safety. Hopper stood up behind Aelita, and removed his glasses. The same green piercing green eyes of both Zaber and Aelita stared at him intensely.
"For every choice... there is consequence." Hopper repeated. And Jeremy could not think of any time that it was truer. His heart pounded as he searched for his conclusion. Everyone was silent. The rod shook in Jeremy's hand, as well as his whole body. In his mind he saw two paths... and both led to darkness. He heard a cackling sound as Zaber's scanner sputtered and flickered. And from the faint light of the scanner's screen... he saw a third path. He thrust the rod downwards.
A puff of red smoke shot up from the scanner with a muffled sound. Jeremy's rod pierced through the screen of the device, now cracked in a dozen places, and traveled an inch or so into the floor panel, which was cracked in half. The device sputtered and the device began to emit a large amount of red smoke. Jeremy shifted the rod slightly and the device's casing broke in half, and revealing the circuits within smoldering.
"He can't hurt us... if he doesn't have his powers..." Jeremy said with a sigh and yanked his rod upwards, pulling it out and resting it on his shoulder. He glanced at Aelita, who had a look of sheer relief on her face. Hopper nodded to him approvingly. Jeremy reached down and rummaged through Zaber's jacket, and pulled out Zaber's one normal gun, and threw it off the side of the building. It landed with a muffled crash thirteen stories below. Yumi landed the transporter, which promptly disintegrated. Odd rushed over and checked Zaber. He was alive... but he was completely KO'd. Yumi checked to make sure Aelita was OK, and then glanced at Hopper confusedly. Ulrich walked over to Jeremy, who now stood separate from the rest, trying to steady himself. Ulrich placed his hand on Jeremy's shoulder.
"Jeremy... what happened?"
"I'll explain later... but we need to get out of here first..." Jeremy said as he closed his eyes and his lyoko form faded away to his normal clothing. Aelita did the same. "Can you fly? I'll explain on the way." Jeremy asked him.
Two hours later, the transporter was blasting back across the Atlantic. The transporter was larger than normal, due to an incredibly high occupancy. Zaber lay on the floor, and Hopper kneeled next to him. Ulrich was still piloting the transporter. Aelita lay on the floor opposite Hopper and Zaber, trying to rest. Yumi and Odd sat next to Ulrich, and Jeremy sat in front of them, explaining everything that had happened, with Aelita and Hopper jumping in on occasion to correct him. He finally finished his explanation, and a stunned look was prominent on their faces.
"Whoa..." Yumi muttered.
"That's stone cold nuts." Odd said. Ulrich remained silent, but stared at Hopper suspiciously. No one spoke for several minutes. Aelita finally got up and walked over to Hopper, and kneeled down opposite him in front of Zaber.
"How are we going to explain this to him?" Aelita asked.
"The same way I just explained it to you." Hopper responded.
"Are you sure? I don't think he'll be able to handle it."
"If I hold back any of the truth the first time... he'll never believe me the second time. He'll always think I'm holding the truth back."
"But what if he doesn't except it? What if he still wants to kill you?"
"Then he will. I have to live with what I've done. And he'll have to do the same."
"Where are we going anyways, Franz?" Ulrich said to him from over his shoulder.
"Just keep on track for France. I know one more safe hiding place." He said as he stood up, leaving Aelita and Zaber alone. Jeremy quickly took Hopper's place. Jeremy glanced rapidly between Zaber and Aelita, and then tried to talk to Aelita for the first time since they left.
"Aelita... I'm sorry about earlier..."
"It's alright Jeremy... you were just caught up... I know you only wanted to protect all of us... but you found a way to do that without killing him. I'm grateful for that." Aelita said quietly and then kissed him. And for the first time, Jeremy did not blush.
They arrived in France in the dead of the night. Hopper took the controls and guided them to his "hiding place". It was in Paris, it was a small town house, and there were already lights on. Ulrich and Odd collectively carried Zaber as they landed in the backyard and the transporter broke down. Ulrich rushed up to the back door and knocked in a sequence. The beats were set to a tune, but not one any of the other's recognized. They saw one of the curtains move, and then the door swung inwards. An old woman stood at the door. She was a little older than Hopper, and her hair was in the process of going from blonde to white. She appeared almost sickly, and wore a set of white sleep clothes.
"Well well well... Franz Hopper. This is a surprise. Come in, I'll put some breakfast on..." She said, and then noticed the small crowd behind him. "Though I may not have enough eggs..." She turned and led them inside.
"This is Amalia Elric. She's the widow of Andrew Elric, my former partner. She is a friend." Hopper explained. Ulrich and Odd dumped Zaber onto the couch, and Aelita rushed forward and embraced Amalia.
"Aelita? Is that you dear?" Amalia said as she looked confused.
"I remember you! You would always visit us at the Hermitage!" Aelita said.
"But... it's been ten years! You don't look live you've aged more than three!" Amalia exclaimed. "I'm guessing this is you're doing?" She said as she looked at Hopper quizzically.
"Partially me... but mostly Andrew. You remember his scanners, right?" Hopper responded casually.
"Hmpf. I never really approved of it's use on humans... except for that first time. But I suppose he must have given you the blueprints for some good reason. If I had gotten them, it would have been right into the nearest fireplace." Amalia said before turning to the stove. "So... I'm guessing the blasts have to do with you too? And what are you doing here?"
"Well... one of the blasts in New York destroyed my home. And were all sort of fugitives. Hope you don't mind."
"Mind you I'm only doing it because it's what Andrew would have done." Amalia said as she dumped a bag of frozen hashbrowns into a frying pan. "Make yourselves comfortable."
Aelita sat with Jeremy in the living room, talking out how exactly they should talk of Zaber when he awoke. The first point was obvious. Keep him away from Hopper until they had explained the story and he had calmed down.
"So what else should we do?" Aelita asked.
"Well... even if he can except the whole clone thing... it doesn't change the fact that your mother committed suicide. He won't forgive Hopper for that anytime soon." Jeremy muttered as he put his hands on his head. "We need to be ready for ANYTHING." Jeremy stared intently at Zaber, who was now breathing deeply. It was then that Zaber stirred.
Zaber's face appeared contorted for a few seconds, and then his eyes snapped open as he sat upright. He quickly surveyed the room, which he found completely unfamiliar. He breathed quickly for a second, but his breathing slowed when he saw Aelita and Jeremy sitting there.
"Did I get him?" He asked them slowly.
"What's the last thing you remember?" Jeremy asked him.
"I... I think I used the Devil Arm. I don't remember anything after that. I'm glad you guys made it OK." Zaber said.
"Zaber... we need to talk." Aelita said.
"I'm going to explain everything to you. If you can accept the truth... we MIGHT let you back into the group." Jeremy said.
"Since when was I OUT of the group?" Zaber said quickly as he sprung out of his seat.
"After you used the Devil Arm... you tried to kill us." Jeremy responded.
"What..." Zaber said as he dropped back into his seat. He strained his brain trying to remember, placing his hand on his forehead.
"The story begins about 30 years ago..." Jeremy began to retell the story, with Zaber jumping up every few minutes with a question, and other time crying out in outrage. Jeremy and Aelita managed to keep it sated, and Yumi, Odd, and Ulrich had arrived within a few minutes, ultimately surrounding him. Jeremy finally reached his conclusion... where he explained everything that had happened after Zaber's memory had blacked. By the end, both Zaber and Aelita were in tears. They stared at each other for almost a full minute, and then awkwardly embraced each other as brother and sister. But Zaber broke away after a few moments.
"What's wrong?" Aelita asked him.
"Why... why did no one tell me?!?!" Zaber said angrily as he brushed past Odd and Ulrich and stepped into an empty room and shut the door. He leaned himself up against the door as he sat down, to prevent anyone from opening it. Aelita walked over to the door and talked to him thought it.
"We... we didn't know any of this until we met Hopper. Or rather... we didn't know if it was true or not. We're sorry." She said quietly to him and walked away. Zaber sighed, closed his eyes and tried to think. He searched through his jacket, but found both his gun and scanner missing. "Shit." He muttered. He began to probe his mind for answers. Everything Jeremy had explained was perfectly logical. The pieces fit perfectly, and they didn't fit together in any other way. And he had certainly lost control. He touched his arm, and felt a chill run down his spine. He couldn't use the arm anymore. He couldn't do anything anymore. He was just a burden to them without his powers. The data that had been in his scanner was the ACTUAL data, not a copy. Now that it was gone, even if he went onto Lyoko he would have no powers. The devil arm was gone too. "So where do I go from here..." Zaber said to himself. He had just finished wasting ten years of his life in a crazed quest for revenge. He'd also probably shaved another thirty years off the tail-end of his life by using the arm. The one he had been seeking was two rooms away, and he could do nothing. And he wasn't as guilty as he had thought. He still blamed him for his mother's death. He was sure that if she hadn't gone through the trauma she would be alive today... and he would be a completely different person. He needed more time to think. And he needed to do his thinking somewhere else. It was nearly dusk. He snuck out of his room and made his way to the attached garage. He closed the door behind him and flipped on a light. He found a car, but it was wheel-locked, and he lacked a key to start it anyway. The only other thing in the garage was draped in a dust cloth. Zaber yanked it off to reveal an old motorcycle. It was at least 25 years old. A helmet sat on the seat, and it seemed to still be in good working order. He bent down beneath the bike and began to try to wire it to start without the key. As he reached for the first wire, the door opened slowly, and Zaber sprung up. Hopper stepped through the door and closed it behind him. Zaber glared at him slightly, but tried to ignore him.
"Hello son." Hopper said slowly.
"Shut up." Zaber said as he turned back to the wires.
"What are you doing?"
"Getting the hell out of here." Zaber replied without looking at him. Hopper sighed and sat down on a stool a few feet from Zaber and watched him for a few minutes. Zaber could not figure it out.
"You know, I have the key." Hopper said as he reached into his pocket. "Andrew left me it in his inheritance. I've just kept it here, since I had no use for it." Zaber looked up from the bike.
"And your point is?" He said quickly and sarcastically. It took every ounce of his will not to spring up and try to strangle him while they were alone. Hopper sighed.
"Listen... Zaber... I don't know the exact circumstances surrounding your mother's death... I didn't even know she was dead until you said it yesterday. And if the grief caused by my actions were even partially to blame for her passing... than maybe I do deserve death."
"That can be arranged, old man!" Zaber said angrily. He could barely stand it any longer. "All you had to do was tell her your plan before hand! With the enforcers off your trail, we could have been a family!"
"I had to make sure that NO ONE knew we were still alive. Even Amalia thought I was dead until this morning. If the enforcers had come after your mother and you afterwards, if you both thought we were dead you wouldn't have to lie and they wouldn't hurt you. I did it to protect her... you... and Aelita. But things clearly didn't go as planned. I can't say I'm sorry enough."
"I'm sorry doesn't change anything." Zaber replied coldly.
"Here." Hopper said as he dropped the key on the floor next to Zaber. "It's yours now."
"If you think this makes up for what you've done, you're stupider than I took you for."
"No... I can never make up for what I've done." Hopper said. "But I can try." Hopper stood up and turned to leave. "But... why do you want to leave?"
"I'm useless. I'd only be slowing them down. Chances are were all dead anyways... I'm gonna enjoy the time I have left." Zaber said as he mounted the bike and strapped on the helmet. He pressed a button on the wall and the garage door pulled up into the roof. "Anything else you wanna say, old man?" Zaber asked him over his shoulder. Hopper remained silent for a moment and closed his eyes.
"No. We all have choices to make. I won't stop you from carrying out yours."
"Yeah, yeah... choices. You're a broken record." Zaber said as he gripped the handlebars and looked forwards. "Tell Aelita... I'm sorry." He punched the throttle and the bike shot out of the garage, as he took a sharp right turn and went down the road. He threw his phone over his shoulder and it shattered on the concrete behind him. He disappeared from sight far down the road, as Hopper stood at the end of the driveway, watching him.
Code 15: CHOICE... END
