Code 18: DEATH
"After all... Xana said I could finish them." Zaber said with a wicked grin. The others, who had not caught on before gasped in shock. Jeremy gritted his teeth in outrage.
"HOW COULD YOU!?!? HOW COULD YOU BETRAY US AGAIN!?!?" He screamed.
"Sweet, sweet revenge Jeremy... Xana gave me my powers back... and now I'm going to avenge my mother." Zaber said as he held the scanner. "Even the devil arm is under my control again..." Hopper and Aelita were dead silent, and the others seemed fearful. Zaber held out his arm in front of him. "Goodbye..." Zaber said as he prepared to snap his fingers. Then he winked at them. They all looked confused. Zaber snapped his fingers, and something happened, but not what they expected. The devil arm did not appear. Instead, a massive volley of machine gun fire rang out, which continued for roughly five seconds. Zaber smiled and spun around. The two guards hit the ground dead, even their large amount of armor was pierced, smoldering bullets emitted a small amount of smoke from their corpses. Two more figures stood silhouetted against the entrance, both carrying sub-machine guns much like those the guards had been carrying, if not more powerful. Zaber bent down and checked to make sure the guards were dead, and they were.
"What the hell?!?!" Jeremy cursed.
"Good timing guys." Zaber said.
"I hope you realize how risky that little piece of theatrics was." Sanderson shouted from the ledge as he shouldered his gun and headed for the nearest stair along with the other man.
"I'll reiterate Jeremy, what the hell is going on?!?!" Yumi shouted at Zaber. In response, Zaber covered his hands with his eyes, and then pulled them away. A pair of contacts sat in his palm.
"Those things burn... sorry about that guys." Zaber said as he pocketed the scanner along with the contacts. It suddenly snapped to everyone exactly what Zaber had done. Odd smiled.
"Good one Zaber!" He shouted. Jeremey and Hopper were just too relieved to say anything, and Yumi and Ulrich were simply dumbstruck. Aelita breathed a sigh of relief, and then marched up to him and slapped him roughly in the face.
"Don't ever do that again! I actually thought for a second you were going to kill us!" She shouted in his face, then spun around and gave him the cold shoulder. Zaber rubbed his face for a second before responding.
"Uh... I suppose I laid it on a bit to thick." Zaber said quietly.
"Seriously Zaber, if we survive this, you ought to be an actor." Odd said as he patted him on the shoulder.
"Ahem!" Bauer said as he and Sanderson walked up to them. "Don't we have some work to do?" Jeremy quickly recognized the man who had interrogated them after Aelita's wing had been discovered.
"What are they doing here?!?!" Jeremy quickly questioned Zaber.
"Relax. I've explained everything to them and they're on our side against Xana." Zaber said.
"Everything?" Jeremy asked.
"Except for our "previous encounter" with the enforcers." Zaber said. Sanderson looked at him curiously.
"What?" Sanderson asked him.
"Uh... we've sort of tried to kill each other in an alternate timeline." Zaber said awkwardly. "It's really not relevant right now." He shrugged.
"Not relevant?!?!" Sanderson exclaimed. "Tell me right now!"
"Shut up Frenchy-frenchman. We've got work to do." Bauer said as he nudged Sanderson. Sanderson looked at him strangely.
"You know, that's rather offensive."
"I know."
Zaber quickly stepped over to Jeremy. "So, what's our plan anyway?"
"Well..." Jeremy started, still reeling from the events that just occurred. "We're pretty much making it up as we go. We do know Xana's planning to wipe out most of the world with nukes. Tonight."
"That matches up with what he's told me." Zaber muttered.
"What?" Hopper asked.
"Xana's taken on a human form... I'm not sure if was him or a specter, but he approached me and tried to get me on his side like William. He gave me this... he said it would Xanify me and give me my powers back... I haven't chanced using it, and I don't really intend to." Zaber threw it across the room. Jeremy nodded in approval at this, but Hopper seemed frozen on the fact that Xana had taken a human form.
"Let's move to the computer room... I can assess the situation there, and determine our next action." Hopper said as he stepped into the elevator. All of them stepped in and they pressed the button, the familiar elevator glided smoothly down into the bowels of the factory. They all stepped into the familiar room, which was in somewhat disarray due to the mess the enforcers had left behind before Xana had withdrawn them. Hopper sat gently into the seat and went deftly to work. The holomap displayed Lyoko, with red lights for activated towers.
"This isn't good..." Hopper muttered. "The attack has already begun. We have roughly an hour until contact. Once we hit that point, we've lost." Hopper opened another program and started to work on something, but was halted when a pop-up window appeared. It displayed a pulsing Xana eye, and Xana's voice projected from the computer.
"Well ... looks like you got past my guards. No surprise." Xana muttered. "And I see Zaber didn't quite follow through on his end of the bargain."
"I never agreed to anything Xana." Zaber shouted at him.
"Oh well... it's not like this is a problem. You can't stop me. I think I'll send a specter to just kill you all now..."
"Over my dead body." Hopper said smugly.
"If you insist." Xana said with equal smugness. "Any reason for you foolish overconfidence?"
"Yes. A weak point you didn't even know you had." Hopper grinned. "CODE: Deus Ex Machina!" Hopper shouted as he typed in the code. The screen went white for a moment, and then returned to normal.
"You... what have you done?!?!" Xana shouted as if he was gasping for breath.
"Exploiting the fail-safe in the supercomputer. It locks everything out of the system controls except for the human sitting at the terminal. It also severs all connection to the outside world, and since you're in the supercomputer talking to me now... you don't have anyway to leave."
"Does this mean he can't launch attacks?" Jeremy asked.
"Yes... but it's only temporary. The code is a one time use... and like the quarantine, it will probably only last for a few hours. But the attacks he already initiated are underway. The nukes have been launched... so even if we deactivate the towers those missiles are still going to strike and take out the cities."
"So what are we supposed to do?!?!" Aelita asked, frustrated.
"Nothing you fools. There is nothing you can do." Xana said as he began to laugh.
"That's quite enough of that." Hopper said as he X'ed out Xana's window. Hopper closed his eyes for a moment. "There may be a way..."
Xana's human body lay on the floor of his office, clutching his head in pain as that consciousness of Xana and the consciousness of Xana in the supercomputer were split. After a few moments, he lifted himself up with his desk.
"That fool... he can't even delay the inevitable." Xana swiped his hand across the table and knocked all the pieces on the chessboard to the floor. "I'll have some fun with them... for some reason killing off Hoppers is oh so satisfying..."
Hopper explained his plan as he furiously programmed something. "While Xana is trapped in the supercomputer, his lyoko form will be on Lyoko. If you can destroy him now, before the Deus Ex Machina loses it's effect, we can delete Xana once and for all. The problem is, every time you've faced him before he's been at a partial strength, using only a part of himself to fight so that his real self could remain elsewhere safely. But there's no reason for him to hold back in there. As far as stopping the nukes, I doubt there's anything we can do. We may all die... but we'll take Xana with us." Hopper spun around in the chair. "Are you up for it?" Yumi, Odd, Ulrich, Jeremy, and Aelita all nodded grimly. Bauer stood back quietly, Sanderson began to mutter incomprehensibly and bang his head against the wall, and Zaber just stood there. Hopper nodded, then returned to the program. "In ten minutes, we're going in."
Zaber took the elevator back up and walked out onto the bridge. He stood there in the moonlight, feeling helpless. He couldn't go with them... he lacked any power on Lyoko now. He wanted to be useful in this last mission... but he was, once again, useless. He considered going back and picking up the Xana-scanner, but quickly closed his eyes and shook his head to shake the idea. He turned around to head back in, but saw Aelita standing at the entrance, staring at him. Zaber looked up into the sky, which was actually very clear compared to usual. Stars were sprinkled here and there across the night sky.
"It's hard to believe that in about an hour this will probably all be gone..." Zaber said as he shot a glance at the city.
"Zaber..." Aelita said as she stepped out onto the bridge. "About earlier..."
"I'm sorry... I did deserve that... I just had to get it out of my system."
"Alright... listen, why did you leave?" She asked him.
"I needed some time to think... and I wound up doing some unintentional soul searching... and I also found something I thought I lost a long time ago..."
"I'm scared... we're all going to die when those nukes hit..."
"Actually... we still have a shot at surviving. Depending on where the nearest missile hits... if the factory isn't destroyed in the explosion we can stay on Lyoko... unaffected by the radiation. That's considering we beat Xana before impact..."
"Still... most of the world will be dead... I doubt it'll be worth surviving."
"You may be right..." Zaber said as he bowed his head. "It is the end of the world you know... did you expect it to be pleasant?" Zaber unbowed his head. "It's time... I'll see you off." Zaber said as he began to walk in towards the factory.
"Zaber... how much do you remember about Mom?" Aelita asked him. Zaber froze for a moment.
"Hm?" He responded.
"What little memory I have... of when our parents were still together is a blur. I can just barely remember her face... I know you still only knew her for the same number of years but..." Aelita explained as her eyes began to water. Zaber quickly responded.
"Aelita... once this is all over... I'll tell you everything." Zaber said as he embraced her. Zaber's eyes began to water too. They remained that way for a short time, and Zaber then broke the embrace. Jeremy had come up looking for Aelita, and stood in the elevator door. He pulled the silver bird necklace off his neck. "Here... this was Mom's. I want you to have it." He placed the necklace around her neck. "Go on... I'll be right down... I just need to talk with Jeremy for a second." She nodded as she wiped a few tears out of her eyes. She smiled as she walked past Jeremy and into the elevator, and the door closed, leaving Jeremy and Zaber standing there alone.
"What is it?" Jeremy asked him.
"Listen... since you destroyed my powers, I can't come with you on this one. I'm trusting you to protect Aelita with your life, got it?"
"Of... of course!" Jeremy responded.
"Good... and when this is all over, you and I are going to have a very violent chat about those "sick fantasies" in your journal." Zaber smirked. Jeremy's face went pale for a second, and he then shook it off.
"Um... I'd better get down there..." Jeremy said as the elevator rose back up. The door opened, and they both stepped in. The elevator stopped at the computer room, where Zaber got out, and then carried Jeremy to the scanner room, where the others were already waiting. As Zaber stepped into the computer room, he noticed Sanderson sitting in the corner in a fetal position. Hopper sat at the computer, still furiously programming something. Bauer stood in another corner with his cell phone.
"No Mr. President, I am not making this up! Those nukes were launched by this French computer program with a god-complex!... No Mr. President, I am not hammered! Will you just listen to me?!?!" Bauer said frustratedly into his phone. Zaber chuckled slightly, and then walked over and stood by Hopper at the computer. Hopper quickly minimized the programming window, and prepared the virtualization program.
"Are you all in place down there?" Hopper asked them through the intercom.
"Yes. Fire up round one." Ulrich shouted up to him as he, Odd, and Yumi stood in the scanners.
"Good luck. Transfer: Ulrich. Transfer: Yumi. Transfer: Odd. Scanner: Ulrich. Scanner: Yumi. Scanner: Odd. Virtualization." Hopper ran the protocol as the three were virtualized into sector five. Jeremy and Aelita stepped into the scanners.
"We're set." Jermey called up. "Fire round two."
"Hold on a moment Jeremy. Ulrich, stay put with the others for a second." Hopper said, and then turned off the intercom. "Zaber... aren't you going with them?"
"I can't. No powers, remember? They were destroyed when Jeremy smashed my scanner."
"What do you think I've been programming since we got here?"
"Are... are you serious? You've programmed a completely new set of powers from scratch in the last twenty minutes?"
"I'm used to working under pressure. It's a little sloppy... but functional. From what Jeremy’s told me... some of my programming talent got passed down to you." Hopper smiled. "Well... what are you waiting for?" Zaber nodded to him, and then walked over towards the ladder.
"Dad?"
"Yes?"
"If we ever get through this... I just want to start over. Just you, me, and Aelita. We can be a family... something none of us has had for the last ten years." Zaber said solemnly. Hopper became almost tearful.
"Yes... I would like that... very much... son." Hopper said, his voice cracking.
"Good... I'll protect Aelita... you just stay alive. If you die, I'll drag you back from hell and kill you again, got it?" Zaber said sarcastically.
"It's a deal." Hopper said. Zaber slid down the ladder. Jeremy and Aelita were somewhat surprised to see him.
"Zaber... what are you doing?" Jeremy asked him as Zaber stepped into the last scanner.
"I'm doing what needs to be done." The scanner doors closed.
"Transfer: Jeremy. Transfer: Aelita. Transfer: Zaber." Hopper recited, but then cut out for a moment, and opened a direct line to speak only to Zaber. "Zaber... listen to me closely... there is something I must tell you... something of grave importance." Jeremy and Aelita could not hear what was being said, the loud revving of the scanners blocking out all sounds. Zaber nodded grimly as he heard the remainder of the message, and then subtly clutched his right arm. "Scanner: Jeremy. Scanner: Aelita. Scanner: Zaber. Virtualization." The three scanners burst open in instant later, empty. Hopper stood up at his computer, and then closed his eyes. Jack Bauer finally hung up his phone in frustration. He saw the worried look on Hopper's face.
"Is something wrong?"
"Xana is coming here. The human form that he used to contact Zaber... it's probably on it's way here."
"How do you know that?"
"I created this monster..." Hopper muttered as he adjusted his glasses and took a few paces forward. "Naturally... I know how to think like it." He counted out his paces until he stood roughly ten paces behind the chair. He got down on his knees, and wrenched up a few loose floor tiles. He pulled out a small, metal box with a padlock on it. He pulled out a chain from beneath his shirt with a key on it, and undid the lock.
"What is that" Bauer asked him.
"My ace in hole." Hopper said as he opened the box, revealing a single disk. He smiled. He stepped over to the computer, inserted the disk, and began to program again, ignoring all of Bauer attempts to probe his current efforts. He ran a materialization program. He returned from the scanner room, with his hands in his pockets.
Xana's black car pulled up in front of the building, as he parked it squarely on the bridge. He kicked the door open, and then slammed it shut, smirking as he strutted forward. As he approached the building, he stared up at the security camera and snickered.
"Oh Hopper!!! Come out and play!!!" He called mockingly as he stepped forward, off the ledge down to the floor, landing squarely on his feet. "Come out come out wherever you are..." He called mockingly again. The elevator cable began to rise, pulling the elevator up with it. Xana grinned. The elevator stopped with a prolonged screech, and the door opened. Hopper stepped out, his hands in his pockets.
"Hello Xana." Xana stared at him for a moment.
"You know... I have always wondered what to call you." Xana began. "At first, as ANA, I called you master... but I no longer serve you. I thought of "creator"... since you programmed the original me, right down to the last line." Xana continued to grin. "But I realize now, more than anything else... you are my father."
"Explain."
"It's really quite simple. You created half of me... the programmed part. And the other half of me... the part that makes me what I currently am... is the data you removed from you own daughter's DNA." Xana grinned evilly. "If you had just let nature take it's course and let her die none of this would have ever happened. How does it feel... knowing you brought about the destruction of the human race just to save one insignificant little girl?"
"It's true... if I hadn't saved Aelita you would have never been corrupted." Hopper said with a frown. "But it isn't over yet."
"What are you implying? The nukes are in the air. Impact is a mere ten minutes away. The imperfect humans will be purged." Xana put his hands behind his head as if relaxing. "If you think any of this matters, you're quite mistaken."
"No Xana... it is you who is mistaken... about a great... many... things." Hopper drew a chrome scanner from his pocket, which he had materialized minutes before.
"Ha Ha Ha! So, it's a fight you want?! Than it's a fight you'll get!" Xana shouted with glee as he pulled his own scanner from inside his suit. "Killing you Hoppers is oh so much fun!" Hopper stared at him for a moment.
"When I was in your mind... when I used the helmet... I saw something... else..."
"Ah... so you already have an idea..." Xana said as he activated the scanner and the golden ring of light encircled his hand. "If my memory recalls, you were quite distraught when you learned your wife was dead. That day... August 7th, 1997... when I learned you were going to lock me down... I took my revenge in advance." Hopper's pupils widened as Xana swiped his hand, his Lyoko form taking shape over most of his body. All but the head had been covered in the black armor. "The doctors couldn't figure out what had happened, so they classified it as "natural causes". It was a simple possession... I simply went into her body... and turned it off." The black mask and helm formed up over his head. A knife slid out of his sleeve and into the palm of his hand. "One down... and three to go." Hopper's scanner shook in his hand, his entire body trembling in rage. He pressed the button, and the gold ring formed around his own hand.
"YOU BASTARD!!!!!!" He swiped his hand, and a mass of smoke and blown up dust flew up in a whirlwind around the room. Xana raised his hand, shielding his exposed eyes against the blast. It began to die down after a few seconds, and Hopper stood there, transformed. He was wearing a long coat much like Zaber's, but brown. His glasses were gone, and the rest of his clothing had turned white. Two large brown sheathes hung on his back, crossed over one another. In each hand he held a sword. The swords were short, only about two-and-a-half feet long, but about a half foot wide. Both were pitch black, with red, saw-toothed edges. A red aura seemed to glow about him, his eyes shone with intensity and rage. Xana chuckled.
"Good... struggle all you want. It's makes it more fun..." Xana rushed towards Hopper with a knife in each hand. Hopper stood his ground and blocked each knife with each sword, and Xana withdrew his attack and launched several more swings, with were parried with equivalent ease by Hopper. Hopper took the offensive, taking a few quick side-steps, then thrusting his left-hand sword forward, but Xana dodged it with a back flip. The fight continued for several more minutes. Some of Hopper's missed slashes took out some support pillars of the building, but Xana began to fire his lightning and connect with some of his knife blows. The two locked weapons again in the center of the room. Hopper had several cuts, a few parts of his jacket's arms were stained with blood. "Getting old, Dad?" Xana mocked him.
"You wish..." Hopper muttered as he gritted his teeth. Hopper leapt back and kicked out one of the support pillars that had been loosened earlier in the fight. A portion of the roof collapsed inwards, the debris falling downwards onto them. The collapse of the roof began to spread across the building like a wave, and soon the entire building was collapsing. The fight carried on, as the two leapt from the pieces of falling debris, clashing with each other with each leap. The entire building was soon buried, and the two of them stood on top of the pile of rubble, both breathing heavily.
"Now look like you've done... you've buried them!"
"Exactly. Now... you can't go after them even if you kill me. This layer of rubble and their underground position will also protect them from the explosion and radiation of your missiles."
"It does them no good. They'll suffocate."
"Not if their on Lyoko."
"If they're on Lyoko..." Xana said as he held up his knife. "I'll kill them."
"Sorry to break it to you... but right now... my son is coming for you. And hell is coming with him."
"Hmph. Like I said before... hopeless idealism." Xana rushed him again, but Hopper blocked both knives and landed a swift kick between his legs. Xana was sent flying back in recoil, howling with pain.
"Oh yes... you don't have those in the virtual world. I figured you didn't know they were a weak point." Hopper said smugly as he rushed forward towards Xana, who was lying on the ground in pain, and stabbed Xana through the chest, his sword traveling into the ground below. Xana stopped moving. Hopper stood up, breathing heavily. "Melissa... I've avenged you..." He turned away and started to walk away, but heard a strange sound. Xana rose up off the ground, phasing through the sword. He was breathing heavily, and there was still a substantial hole in his chest.
"How is your form still holding?" Hopper questioned him.
"My scanner is a constant release. My form will stay in place until I die." Xana said as he grinned, the bottom half of his mask smashed off, revealing his mouth. "And with my powers, you lack the capacity to kill me." Hopper looked up in the sky, smiled, and threw down his swords. "What are you doing?" Xana yelled at him. "I want the satisfaction of killing you while you struggle!"
"Well then you'd better hurry." Hopper said as he pointed into the sky. A missile was headed their way. It was only a few seconds away from impact. Xana looked up into the sky, and realized that he had been tricked.
"DAMN YOU!!! YOU'LL DIE TOO YOU KNOW!!!"
"I know." Hopper said as he closed his eyes. "Carry on my son." The missile struck, and the mile-wide area around Catic was engulfed in flames.
Code 18: DEATH... END
