Iridescence

by CzarBetchimov

The anticipated sequel to Rising Light - Much has changed across Paris as the remaining Lyoko warriors continue their fight for survival, reluctantly enlisted into the liberating army. After too many brushes with death though, the warriors find themselves fighting for a much bigger goal - End the war, and Xana, once and for all. Rated M for language, violence, and lemony sex! (4/4)

1. Iridescence

Part 4/4 of the Dark Future series. Enjoy!

(P.S., feel free to look up every location and street name on Google maps you read in here - The entire story can be triangulated geographically for more fun. :P )

---

Some time after Rising Light...

Aelita stood still, holding Odd's hand, amongst several men positioned in different spots up in the observation post of the Eiffel Tower.

They watched, and listened intently as the air above Paris was filled with the chopped beats of rotor blades, and the roar of jet engines from utter air superiority.

Cargo helicopters, carrying infantry, weapons and the occasional vehicle, were landing, dropping off their loads, and then taking off again, all under the watchful eye of gunships patrolling the streets, and several sorties of fighter jets that would soar overhead on occasion.

Paris, Orleans, and several other French cities were liberated, and became the staging grounds of an incredible joint effort by the Americas, Russia, India, Australia, and several smaller countries in Eurasia, to regain control of Europe, eliminate all traces of the xeno machine incursion, and any other rebellious factions that remained in the aftermath.

Much had changed, in just a few months.

Even the Eiffel tower itself, had been brought back to usefulness, serving as the perfect place of observation over the whole city. The elevators inside, and most importantly, the radio antenna on it, were fully functional, and even one of the restaurants within was brought back to service for important personnel.

On the grass below, hundreds of tents and several depots of supplies lined the strips of green, providing an open space for helicopters to land, and vehicles to move amongst it all in the middle.

Odd looked back when his shoulder was tapped, and after a nod of acknowledgment, the man stepped back, and Odd rubbed his thumb across the top of Aelita's hand.

She quietly looked at him, and then, after another glance out at the city, she turned around alongside him.

With a switch of held hands, they both walked to the elevator car, accompanied by two other men, and stepped inside.

---

Minutes later, the four of them stepped out of one of the Eiffel tower's lattice legs onto the grassy field, and as the two guards walked away, another figure approached them both.

"Your transport is inbound in..."

The man hesitated, and looked up behind him as a very large, dual rotor helicopter descended loudly just behind him, scattering dust, a few papers, and several men as it touched down with a subtle thump, blowing wind in all directions.

"...Now!"

The three of them hustled over, heads ducked low, towards the open door on the side, and with a moment's farewell, Aelita was helped aboard just behind Odd, and the door slammed shut, just moments before the great machine lifted off into the sky.

With haste, the pair sat down together, and buckled seat belts securely. It was a large helicopter, but luxury was not exactly available to them.

Aelita was then drawn irresistibly to the window, and for minutes on end, stared at the city below - Paris - as it drifted by underneath. Silent and dusty, but not empty anymore.

The helicopter turned in a bank, and the Eiffel tower, standing proud as always, came back into view, with signs of movement and life radiating from the ground it stood upon.

A sigh escaped her lips, and she leaned her head against Odd's, her eyes then wandering around the interior of the aircraft that was taking them both to their next assignment.

Them, and several other soldiers on the helicopter, seated nearby and armed to the teeth...

---

Aelita woke out of a doze, and lifted her head.

The hum of the two engines above had quickly lulled her into a nap.

She looked at Odd, and without a word spoken, he nodded.

"Just a few minutes from Reims."

As if to defy his statement, everyone's heads rose when the helicopter suddenly began to descend.

The co-pilot's voice crackled over the speaker, and after a pause...

"Hang on everyone. Gotta fly low for a bit."

Aelita clutched her seat tightly, and then stared out the window at the scene that was unfolding below them.

Reims, unlike Paris, was a war zone. Gunfire rippled constantly on the streets below, countered by laser fire from the occasional Lyoko monster amongst smoke, fire, and debris.

The roar of a fighter jet overhead rattled the windows for a moment, and the aircraft in question screamed into the distance, watched by several through small windows until it vanished into the horizon.

"What a mess..."

The helicopter suddenly sank lower, descending into the middle of an empty intersection and bouncing onto the pavement below on its landing gear.

Aelita, startled and scared, looked at Odd wide eyed, before someone started yelling for everyone to get off the aircraft as soon as possible.

It wasn't their first assignment, but there was always the thought of it suddenly becoming their last...

Undoing seat belts and straps, both of them sprang to their feet and retrieved their weapons strapped to the floor amongst the hustle of the other soldiers.

After a few seconds, everyone that wasn't flying the helicopter was rushing out of the opened door on the side, and scattering onto the roadway.

Aelita, armed with her ever-dutiful .50 caliber rifle and SPAS 12 shotgun, ran out alongside Odd, who was laden with the other SPAS 12, and his AK47.

The pair met up with the rapidly forming group of soldiers as the helicopter took off behind, and weapons were quickly loaded.

"Alright team six... You've all been hand picked for this assignment. Our task is to make our way up Rue Libergier, and then clean out and occupy the cathedral."

"Cathedral... You mean Notre Dame?"

The commanding officer nodded his head.

"Yes, Reim's Notre Dame. She's still standing, but so are the rebels hiding inside. We're probably going to encounter plenty of resistance, so don't be afraid to shoot back."

He then looked at Aelita, and eyed her rifle for a moment.

"Schaeffer... Find a rooftop and a good view, but keep your head down. When we get up to the front, cover us as we get in."

She nodded, and the officer eyed his team as a whole.

"This one's not going to be easy. Stay frosty, and don't burn through ammo unless we find plenty lying around."

A team salute later, and the group - All twenty of them - Turned and began a hasty hustle to the street that ran straight to Notre Dame's doorstep:

Rue Libergier.

---

The team moved swiftly up the street, ducking from vehicle to vehicle as cover. Within moments, under the distant noise of a nearby battle, they moved several hundred feet closer to Notre Dame, stopping a stone's throw away from the main entryway of the cathedral.

Finger gestures were traded, keeping radio chatter silent, and Odd eyed Aelita as she unstrapped her rifle, bringing it to her shoulder as the blonde grabbed a monocular off his belt.

Among the eerie silence, four people looked through scopes at numerous windows and the roof line, spotting several heads, and their weapons.

"Guesses?"

"Ten, twelve... Probably double inside."

The pair ducked back down, and Odd relayed another message with his fingers to the other soldiers several yards away.

"Once we clear the entrance, move in behind me. If everything goes smoothly, I can cover you while we make our way to the roof."

"None of these missions ever go smoothly..." Aelita sighed.

"Regardless... You stay safe, Princess."

Eyes sadly met each other, and their hands clasped together for a moment.

"You too." She swallowed.

*CLANG*

A sudden piercing ricochet followed the report of a nearby rifle, and all members of the team ducked closer to their cover.

"Shit." Aelita hissed, clicking the safety on her rifle off.

"Popping smoke, get ready..." Odd breathed.

Several eyes watched three cans sail through the air ahead.

"Someone has a bead on us." Aelita warned.

"Three seconds."

The pops and hisses of canisters ahead, gave way to billowing clouds of smoke.

"Someone has a rifle up in one of those towers!"

*CLANG*

Another closer ricochet, and Aelita's face twisted into a scowl.

"Odd, we're pinned by a fucking sn-."

He held her face with both of his hands.

"I know. As soon as we move, he'll shoot at us. When he does that..."

He eyed her contently, sharing her blush.

"...Take him the fuck out. Right in the head."

Her frustrations subsided as he pressed his lips up against hers for a fleeting moment.

Then, seconds later, he ducked around her, AK47 in hand.

"Ready?"

"Mhm."

Then, their radios crackled to life.

"Engage."

In a flash, nineteen men vanished into the smoke cloud, followed seconds later by a riot of gunfire.

Aelita sprung upright, heart racing as flashes of gunfire appeared from numerous windows and along the twin towers of the cathedral.

Where is this... Asshole...

Quickly peering through the scope of her rifle, the figure in question was visibly working the bolt of his rifle, training his eye on targets below.

Busted.

Bringing her foot up onto a higher perch, she lined up the crosshairs on the man, slowly bringing it up to his head.

Pausing, and slowly waiting as the last of the smoke drifted by her, she steeled herself.

*BANG*

Among the sudden, brief silence, she inhaled sharply as the target, and likely several others, turned their weapons towards the culprit.

Watching the sniper's hand wrap around the trigger, barrel pointed at her, it was too late.

For him.

*BANG*

A fifty-caliber bullet, fired by a much quicker woman, shredded the distant sniper's head, joined by the resumption of further gunfire, just inside the cathedral's doorway.

A whistle pierced the air, and upon spotting the blonde, Aelita hopped over the vehicle in an instant, running like hell across the open space as several gunshots peppered the ground behind her.

Seconds later, she ground to a sudden halt, embracing Odd as they ducked into a corner, safely out of sight.

"That was close... Once we get inside, we're gonna find our way into the tower behind us and clear it out, all the way to the roof. I believe the others will secure the main hall in the meantime, and join us to secure the other tower."

Aelita rolled her eyes.

"Assuming it goes that easily..."

"Right. You're gonna want your shotgun. We'll cover each other when someone reloads. Clockwork, all the way up."

Brandishing matching SPAS 12s, Aelita confirmed his plan with a tug on the pump, loading the weapon.

"Go."

In seconds, the pair slipped inside the middle doorway, ducking low as bullets actively flew in several directions. Their comrades in the distance were actively fighting numerous men as they huddled around the massive organ in the distance, ducking under benches and seats for cover.

High above, the large stained glass windows illuminated the dim interior with ghostly colored shafts of light from the low sun, while flashes from gunfire constantly flickered among the echoing racket.

Pausing briefly by the foot of the stairwell, Odd looked over the high ceiling, and various places of the structure's interior.

"Now I can say I've been here... Must've been nice years ago."

"Now its shot to shit. Like everything else." Aelita huffed, blinking as a buzz of static came over their radios.

'Della Robbia, Schaeffer... In position at the stairwell?'

"Yes sir."

'Clean 'em out. We'll mop up behind. Stay in position up top and watch who you shoot!'

"Confirmed, commencing clean-out."

The blonde eyed Aelita as she unfolded the stock on her shotgun, and held it upright by the pump.

"...Clean-out?"

He shrugged, and she leaned up close to him.

"How about, commencing a hell-raising death purge."

Before he could respond, she pressed him into a quick kiss, sucking his bottom lip as she slowly pulled away.

"I like it." He whispered.

"Mmm me too." She purred, watching him raise his weapon up to his shoulder, pointed up the stairs.

"Let's rock and roll."

---

Seconds up the stairs, the first victim blundered into them.

*BANG*

Aelita watched the body fall limply onto its own spray of blood behind, and then watched a smoking shell pop out of Odd's shotgun with a tug on the pump.

Shouts echoed from above, and hurried footsteps on the stone stairs drew closer.

"Yours." Odd breathed.

"What's the pattern?"

"Alternate. First four shots, you reload, and I'll use up mine. If there's a bunch..."

One man appeared, only to suddenly recoil in alarm.

*BANG*

Aelita then ducked low against the center column of the stairwell, ejecting the spent shell.

"Behind me."

Odd stepped over and pressed up against her back, gun held just above hers, as more footsteps stumbled near, and in rapid succession, bodies and weapons were blasted point-blank with buckshot as several faction members rand blindly down the circular stairwell to their deaths.

Seconds later, Aelita stuffed more shells from a pouch into the shotgun, and Odd stood guard, waiting and listening, eying a trickle of blood creeping from the pile of bodies in front of them.

"Right out of a video game."

"Nobody ever said your enemy is always smart."

Then, a metal canister casually bounced down the stairs past them, and Odd blinked, recognizing the color as it landed a few yards away.

"Flashbang!" He screamed down the stairs, ducking down in front of Aelita and covering her ears with his gloves.

"Shut your eyes!"

In an instant, she slapped her own hands over his ears in return, and squeezed her eyelids shut just before a bright flash turned her vision red for a moment, followed by the the loud concussion of the grenade, reduced to a muffled snap through Odd's hands.

Eyes opened, and arms lowered.

"Fucking damn that was close."

Retrieving their dropped weapons, Odd exhaled as they stood to their feet.

"You're quick as lighting Aelita. How do you do it?"

"It's just how I am, babe."

He grinned, helping her over the various limbs and bodies, and continuing up the stairwell.

"Alright... Purge this tower, secure the cathedral... And finish this thing up. The sooner we get back to Eiffel Alpha..."

"The sooner I can crawl into bed. And not get shot at."

"A bed sounds fantastic."

"Especially if you're in it." She purred.

His eyebrow rose.

"Oh yeah?"

"Mhmm."

---

Moments later, the pair grew increasingly suspicious from the lack of further enemies, and the lack of friendly radio chatter.

Bursting up into the top room of the tower, guns drawn, they looked around, met with no life among the bodies near the tall rectangular windows.

"I expected a tougher fight."

"What happened to the guy that threw the flashbang?"

"He's up here. Dead."

Aelita frowned, walking up to one of the windows as Odd perused the bodies for useful items.

Rue Libergier... Empty.

Anyone in the opposite tower?

Moving to a different window, she took in a breath of the breeze that swirled in through the window.

"...Alright, got a few magazines. Funny part about AKs, they're everywhere."

"Funny part about fifty caliber rounds, they aren't."

Trading expressions, Odd adjusted his belt, watching as Aelita returned to the previous window.

"Tower's clear, so now we get to the other one."

"Which is empty. Hopefully that means the team already..."

She paused, watching with alarm as a burst of distant laser fire reduced someone below into red mush.

"Was that-."

"Yes." She growled, swiftly swapping weapons as Odd stepped up beside her.

"Krabes."

"Four. One just got inside."

He quickly fumbled for his radio.

"Della Robbia to team... What's your status?"

After nothing but silence, Aelita sighed.

"Engaging."

"Repeat, can anyone confirm their status?"

*BANG*

"One down." She whispered.

"We're taking care of robot hostiles, Is anyone -."

*BANG*

"Two."

"Aelita."

"No responses?"

"I think... They're all dead."

"Well, these krabes came out of nowhere. Normally they're few and far between these days."

"I don't like this."

*BANG*

"Last one down. Let's get out of here."

"There's still one inside."

She looked at him, walking towards the stairwell.

"I know. We're gonna kill it, and get the hell out of here."

Odd swiftly followed her down the stairs.

"Should we abort the mission?"

"If everyone's dead, then what's the point? We try and hold this place, and we'll die too."

---

At the foot of the stairs, the pair paused, just out of sight of the aforementioned Krabe as it ominously scanned the now-silent interior of the cathedral.

Several familiar bodies were strewn near the doorway, charred and dismembered by laser, and one unfortunate man was stuck, speared partway up the monster's pointed leg.

"Poor guy."

Then, a small group of kankrelats pattered inside through the doorway, their shadows cast from the fading sunlight outside.

Moving around bodies, the small machines actively searched for life, peering into low places the bigger Krabe could not see into.

One in particular seemed interested in the area near the stairwell, eying various objects strewn among the floor, uncomfortably close to the pair silently observing it.

Aelita turned to Odd, cupping her mouth with her hand, next to his ear.

"Once we magically slip out of here, report in to Eiffel Alpha, and tell them to get us the fuck out of this place."

He nodded.

"Mission is a failure."

"Because these idiots all fucking died. We followed orders, it can't be our fault." She hissed.

"Regardless, we need to find a way out, and not die."

"Ideas?"

"No rifle, and no grenades."

"Sooo... Shotguns." Aelita drawled.

"And my AK. We'll pick off the kanker-creeps first."

"And how do we dispatch the Krabe? Spraying buckshot against featureless armor?"

His mouth moved, listening to the aforementioned monster tromp around.

"There's one more shot in the mag, in my rifle."

"So we kill the Krabe first, and draw the little ones to us."

Aelita plucked one of the smoke grenades off the blonde's belt.

"Pop smoke by the door, shoot the nearest Kanks, and run."

Envisioning the course of action, Odd slowly nodded.

"Alright. For the love of everything good and not dead, please don't miss."

She rolled her eyes, handing the grenade back to him and bringing the .50 caliber rifle to her hands.

Peering around the corner together in the musty darkness, he then tucked his arms around her waist in an embrace, pressing a kiss into her cheek.

She closed her eyes for a fleeting moment, and then peered through the scope.

Her ears perked from the faint metallic click of the grenade's ring being pulled out.

"Ready." He breathed, his right arm lifting away from her side.

The distant Krabe turned briefly, waiting as two of the Kankrelats passed underneath.

"Now."

The hollow clang of a metal canister bouncing along the floor, caused all of the machines to stop and pause, allowing a moment of pure silence.

*BANG*

The Krabe buckled as a gash of shredded metal ripped along its head, and after sparking repeatedly, simply fell forward with a mighty crash. Then, a cloud of smoke burst from the can, and two readily loaded weapons opened fire, blasting Kankrelats near and far to bits.

With the smoke quickly obscuring vision, Aelita grasped Odd's hand, and the pair doggedly ran through the cloud, bursting into the open air outside seconds later.

After a mere moment's pause though, Odd suddenly opened fire, striking a huge spherical object rolling towards them with several rounds from the AK47.

Aelita stared at the thing as it halted before them, and an old, terrifying memory flashed before her eyes.

Megatank.

"Aelita!"

Her mouth opened in a great inhale, and she drug the blonde into a terrified run.

"That's a FUCKING MEGATANK!"

---

Slinging guns back over their shoulders, the pair listened in fear as the unfortunately familiar giant began to roll after them in pursuit, as they ran away in abject terror.

"Aelita, how do we kill that thing?!"

Jumping and climbing over various vehicles and debris, she looked up and down the sides of the street with fervor as they neared the canal ahead.

"Right now, we just - need - to hide!"

"Where?!"

Spotting an open hole in a nearby building, she thrust her hand at it.

"There!"

Seconds later, they darted over, ducking inside and taking a spare few seconds to eye the interior, before haphazardly clawing up a damaged stairwell.

*SMASH*

The hole in the ground floor was suddenly enlarged when the Megatank burst through the wall, and a fury of expletives escaped Aelita's mouth as the wood stairwell collapsed partially behind her.

Ducking into a vacant room on the second floor, the pair caught their breath, listening as several things broke and crunched on the floor below.

"Aelita... I've seen many of Xana's monsters."

She looked at him gravely.

"But the last time I saw a Megatank... Was years ago on Lyoko."

"They're... Rare." She spoke, head turning as a distinctive laser noise began, repeating as if being charged up.

The floor suddenly shook from an impact, followed by a strange buzzing noise, and then silence.

Another blast later, the buzzing resumed, and Aelita narrowed her eyes, only to watch as a smoldering, glowing orange line appeared beneath them in the darkness.

"Is that..."

A small flame bloomed, only to be stomped out, and the line grew brighter.

"Uh, hallway now!"

Diving out of the room, a wall of orange laser burst through the floor in the room, and moments later, through the wood floor of the hallway several feet away.

"Its focusing that laser, burning through the wood."

Odd glanced around the interior again.

"There's wood all over. If this place goes up in flames..."

The laser suddenly retracted, and Aelita jumped into motion, running to the next set of stairs.

"It'll take time for it to get up higher. Get out that radio and holler for help!"

Watching a new orange line appear along the hallway seconds later, Odd hurriedly followed her, fumbling for the device and extending the antenna as they scrambled up the stairs, eventually reaching the top floor.

"Okay. Requesting pickup, and some kind of big gun to blow up the bowling ball downstairs!"

Switching channels on the radio, Odd preperatively inhaled, watching as Aelita surveyed the street outside through a window, and then frowning when the building shook underneath several times.

"Odd... Whatever battle we flew into earlier, is long gone."

"Eiffel Alpha, soldier Odd Della Robbia, team L6... Requesting permission to abort assignment."

'Copy that, Della Robbia, where is your commanding officer? Confirm current location and status.'

Trading expressions, he sighed.

"Commander Danforth is dead... As is most of team L6. Soldier Schaeffer is alive and with me now. Robot hostiles stormed the objective as we were securing the area, and killed damn near everybody."

'...Della Robbia, permission granted. What is your location?'

"Down the road from the Reims cathedral, on Libergier. We're pinned up on a roof with a large hostile on the bottom floor."

Something audibly collapsed below their feet, and Aelita hunkered down with a scowl.

'Alright, Della Robbia and Schaeffer, Hang tight. Transport will be en route soon.'

"The hostile is a big one... And its trying to blast the building apart. Bring a big gun if you can!"

'Confirmed. ETA is 20 minutes after refueling. Hang in there.'

Odd slipped the radio back onto his belt, and Aelita shook her head.

"Twenty fucking minutes."

"This building won't last that long."

After another shudder, several large timbers creaked and snapped below, and an ominous, steady procession of breaking wood and falling debris joined the blasts of laser below.

"So what the hell do we do when it goes?"

"Climb. Head for the roof next door. If this place goes, the Megatank will bury itself in rubble."

Aelita shook her head with reluctance, slumping down against the wall.

---

After a suspicious period of silence from below, Odd sighed.

"I'll take a look."

"Don't die." Aelita huffed.

Taking reserved steps into the hallway, the blonde warily approached a diagonal hole in the floor. He then sunk down to his knees, and withdrew his pistol from its holster, creeping towards the charred, straight edges burned through the wood.

Small wisps of smoke filled his nose with various burned scents, and he slowly peered over the edge.

A pile of burnt timber, scorched with numerous lines and effectively cut and broken in various lengths, lay below a haphazard mess of several floors, seemingly hacked apart by the laser from below.

In the relative darkness, the two halves of the Megatank sat still among the debris, causing the blonde to bring the pistol over the edge, pointed at the machine below.

Something small fell on a floor below, and the blonde froze, when the eye of the machine suddenly rotated upward, looking right at him.

Shit.

Sitting perfectly still, both opponents watched the other, waiting in an unnerving deadlock.

Odd's heart raced with fear.

I bet the damn thing recognizes me.

His finger slowly tightened around the trigger, and he lined up the iron sights on the pistol, watching as the Megatank seemingly narrowed its eye.

Don't look at me like that you...

*Click-click*

The hammer of the pistol released, striking nothing in the chamber, and Odd's body grew cold.

Ohhh shit.

Quickly jerking the slide of the pistol back, he watched as orange circles of energy began drawing into the Megatank's center eye, and decided fleeing was a better idea.

The buzzing whine of energy heard earlier grew much louder, and the charging continued seconds longer than before, and just seconds after Odd dove back into the room, the energy was released in a thunderous, piercing blast, rattling the building beyond its remaining integrity.

Eyes grew wide as a cascade of new debris fell, slowly accelerating into a stream of falling metal, stone and breaking wood. The roof above groaned, sagging and splitting open in the hallway, revealing the orange sky of the evening as the room was suddenly lit up.

"Odd, its starting to go..." She warned, her voice wavering in seriousness as a nearby door fell off its hinges with several additional snaps of wooden beams, tumbling down into the mess below.

The blonde peeked out into the hallway, eying the gaping hole in the roof, and then a fallen bookcase nearby with several books littered in a disheveled heap underneath.

Ladder.

"Aelita!"

She peeked around the doorway, blinking at the scene of rapidly increasing structural failure.

"Help me drag this bookcase... If the shelves hold, we can get onto the roof."

Exhaling with adrenaline, both of them stumbled over debris and stepped over a crevice in the floor, grappling the bookshelf, and dragging it along, spilling wood chunks, a broken chair, and one of the shelves over the edge of the hallway-turned canyon.

Heaving it up and over, they propped it diagonally inside the frame of the doorway, and the blonde unstrapped his AK47, unloaded the magazine and gripped the assault rifle backwards.

*Whack*

*WHACK*

*Crunch*

With several hits of the stock against already broken wood and tiles, he cleared a small space onto the roof, and then slung the rifle over his shoulder, climbing awkwardly onto the bookshelf, and gingerly stepping upward.

Aelita watched as he brought himself up onto the roof with great care, pulling himself free, and then turning around and eying her.

"Your turn!"

Hearing another groan and buckle of something underneath, her eyes grew wide as she cautiously stepped up onto the shelves, feeling the bookcase wobble slightly.

Several steps upward, Odd securely wrapped his arms around her chest, slowly helping her further upward and leaning backwards.

"I'm right here, princess."

Her feet reached the top shelf, only for it to snap weakly, causing her to pedal in alarm for a moment until her boots found purchase, and clawed their way up onto the rooftop.

Pushing the blonde completely over onto his backside, they sat still as something sizable snapped, and a large object tumbled down several stories, joining the rest of the debris with a great big smash.

A moment of silence later, ended with an eerie, loud *POP* of a pane of glass shattering, and a persistent creaking.

Aelita clutched Odd as he pushed her back upright, only to blink when they realized the roof they sat upon... Was slowly sinking down.

A traded look of alarm, and both of them sprung upright to their feet and quickly ran across the remainder of the rooftop as it began to sag even lower, hopping across a low wall, and halting safely on an adjacent building's roof.

Turning around, they collided in a weary hug, and held the other tightly as the entire wall of the former building slowly began to lean away from them.

Then, in a tumble of debris and dust, the wall crashed into the middle of what remained of the wooden floors, jerking the streetside wall outward while pulling the other two walls inward from the impact.

Within moments, all walls of the building crumbled and collapsed into a great, final heap of destroyed debris, cascading out into the nearby street.

Their eyes pored over the scene as a cloud of dust rose into the air, and they sat down together, breathing a great exhale.

Somewhere underneath lay a confused, immobile megatank, neutralized for now.

---

Aelita leaned back against Odd, her head of messy, sweaty, dusty red hair tucked just under his unshaven chin. His arms wrapped around her midriff, keeping her safe inside a protective embrace.

"Transport should be here at any time."

She shut her eyes for a moment.

"I think I'm gonna sleep for a week after today."

A smile greeted Odd's mouth.

"Me too."

Their ears perked from the faint hum of rotor blades, and after looking into the distance, they both stood upright and began waving their arms at the pair of helicopters approaching.

"Bout god damn time!"

Their radios crackled briefly.

'Soldiers Della Robbia and Schaeffer, we have a visual on you, over.'

"Likewise. Good to see you guys."

The air grew heavy with the chopping of rotor blades and thunderous engines as the two large aircraft drew to a slow halt over the street.

Odd then pointed at the ruined building next to them as the further one turned to the side, revealing a sizable cannon mounted inside.

The nearer helicopter carefully descended towards the roof of the building, and a door slid open, revealing a rope ladder as it fell from inside.

"Let's get the hell out of here." He spoke, waiting as Aelita grabbed the ladder, and pulled herself up inside.

Turning around, she then reached her arm out, watching Odd climb up and then grasping his hand and helping him up.

Another soldier inside quickly tugged the ladder back up, and slammed the door shut afterward, and the helicopter turned and rose higher into the sky.

"Thunderbird five, over. We've got a visual on the hostile."

Hearing the radio statement, both Odd and Aelita clambered up to the cockpit, peering down through the windshield as the the monster below repeatedly attempted to force its way out from underneath debris.

"Blow that fucking thing up." Aelita huffed.

"Thunderbird five, you are cleared to engage."

The pair shared a smile as they and the crew witnessed the sudden blasts of anti-tank fire from the other helicopter, blasting the monster below repeatedly into several large chunks, buried by debris flying from the explosions.

"That's the best thing I've seen all day."

"Hostile destroyed."

"Redhawk Eleven, soldiers are with us, over."

"Copy that. Let's head home."

Both helicopters turned and rose higher into the evening sky, moving swiftly across the city.

Aelita then sank into a seat, joined by Odd seconds later.

"What a fucked up day."

"Yeah." he sighed.

"Sure glad its over."

She then shut her eyes, leaning against him and letting several silent minutes go by.

At least you're still with me though...

---

Awaking sometime later to Odd unstrapping her seat belt, Aelita plucked her rifle off the floor of the helicopter.

"Welcome home."

Another door slid open, and Aelita followed Odd out of the helicopter, watching the hustle of Eiffel Alpha around her for a moment.

Solid ground... Thank god.

"Schaeffer! Della Robbia!"

Their attentions went to the approaching captain, and salutes were offered.

"Captain Kensing, sir!"

"Follow me to my office straight away - Both of you!"

"Debriefing, sir?"

"You could call it that!"

---

Minutes later, both Odd and Aelita faced the captain at his desk.

"What happened today?"

The pair traded looks.

"Team L6 flew to Reims to secure the Notre Dame."

"Right. And not only was the target not secured, we nearly lost an entire platoon of men."

"Sir, the objective was-."

"Let me ask you again, Della Robbia. What HAPPENED today?"

The blonde remained firm.

"Commander Danforth led us to the front of the Cathedral. Soldier Schaeffer eliminated a rooftop sniper, smoke was thrown, we moved inside. L6 found itself being shot to pieces inside the main hall of the cathedral, and just before, Danforth told Schaeffer and I to move up and clear one of the towers so the other could be secured for a good vantage point."

The captain nodded for him to continue.

"We fight our way up, eliminate all rebels, secure the tower. Then Schaeffer observed four large red machines storming the cathedral below. She eliminated three out of four, and one went inside."

"There was no radio chatter after securing the first tower. No confirmation from anyone." Aelita huffed. "So we go back down, and the place is silent. Everybody but us is dead, and several of the monster robots are inside. The big one, and a few small ones that appeared later."

"You two were the only ones alive?"

"Yes sir. Danforth died with the rest. It's not our fault, we were -."

"What happened next?"

Both of them sighed.

"We eliminated the machines. Most of them. Then we went outside, and found ourselves facing a big one out of nowhere."

"The spherical one."

The captain eyed Aelita, and she narrowed her eyes right back.

"I've only seen one once before in my life."

"And I've never seen a real one. Only heard about them."

"And that's the one that required the gunship?"

"Yes sir. Bulletproof exterior. It pursued us away from the cathedral and into a building down the street. Actively destroyed it below us until the building finally started to fail. That's when we radioed in for help, and made for the roof."

"So you two abandoned the objective, and got cornered by one of the robots."

Sensing the captain's tone, Odd narrowed his eyes.

"Sir, if we had remained at the cathedral, we would have surely died with the others."

"You still abandoned orders, and aborted the objective!"

Odd paused, and Aelita moved in.

"It wasn't our fault that Danforth got himself killed. We followed his orders to secure part of the Cathedral. It was his actions that g-."

"Soldier Schaeffer, enough! You two are on suspension until further notice. Today's mission was a complete failure, and clearly I need to send twice as many men to take the god damn cathedral!"

"...Sir?"

The captain simply pointed at the door, and after a contemplative moment, Odd and Aelita silently walked out.

---

Weaving through tents and small buildings under the night sky, both of them brooded unhappily.

"Fucking asshole. Maybe he shouldn't have sent incompetent men on a mission like that."

"Probably thinks we bailed to save our asses... Which we did, after everybody else got slaughtered."

They traded a look, and then eyed the Eiffel tower rising in the distance.

"Should've sent the captain on today's mission. Then he'd understand."

"Or would be dead."

"Either's fine with me."

Touching her stomach, she then looked around.

"Starving. Let's get to the mess hall."

"Gotta drop the guns first."

She rolled her eyes.

"You know, the bright side about this suspension means we won't be going anywhere for a few days."

Odd nodded.

"The less I can get shot at, the better."

"I'll say."

---

Twenty minutes later, the pair sat together downing a meal in the brightly-lit mess hall.

Devoid of weaponry and armor, both of them sat in standard issue light clothing - light T shirts and sweatpants.

"Once we shower, its cuddle time."

"Oh yeah?"

Aelita eyed her partner's curiosity with a nod.

"Yes. Today was horrific, and I want some together time."

"Then I might just have to oblige."

A smile grew on her lips.

"Mmmm I think you should."

Odd put another scoop of food in his mouth.

"Alright, princess."

She blushed for a moment.

"Shhhh."

"Noone heard me."

"Still!" She grinned. "Only you can know that name."

"The secret weapon." Odd mumbled, humored.

Aelita's eyebrows waggled for a moment, her hand sinking beneath the table.

"Nooo. The secret weapon, is something else entirely."

He watched her cautiously as her hand slid up along his leg.

"Careful."

Her mouth opened, and hearts beat with excitement.

"Boom." She whispered, poking him.

His following expression quickly forced a grin onto her face as her hand retracted, and she resumed eating.

---

Two showers later, the pair walked side-by-side through the darkness, breathing in the cool night breeze as it swirled through the air.

Stepping over a cluster of cables on the grass below, Odd then turned to their tent's flap, unzipping it, and pulling it open.

"Here we are. Two-seventeen."

Aelita slipped inside, instantly drawn to the bed as she tossed her shoes aside onto the canvas floor.

Flopping forward onto the sheets, she breathed in the scent of clean linen, and then rolled over as Odd zipped the tent door shut again.

In the darkness, he wandered around, and then clicked on a small propane lamp, turning it down to a low light. He then reached down and slipped the T shirt off himself.

Looking over at Aelita, he paused from her expression.

"...Yes?"

She pushed herself upright.

"You look good without that shirt."

His eyebrow rose.

"Yeah?"

"Mhmm." She purred.

He crossed his arms with a smile.

"I bet you do too."

She tilted her head with interest.

"Oh yeah?"

He nodded in reply.

Her finger tugged at the collar of her shirt, becoming entwined as she twisted it.

"Why don't you come over here and take it off then."

His eyes flickered with excitement, and Aelita watched with delight as he stepped over in front of her and ran his hands under her shirt.

She then lifted her arms, and within seconds, he tugged the shirt up and off of her, tossing it aside.

Taking her in for a moment, he watched as she knelt upright in front of him, touching his chest daintily with her hands.

"Told you." He whispered.

Pressing her bosom and stomach up against him in a sudden embrace, she exhaled as his hands ran down along her back, squeezing her rear. Her lips drug up along his neck to his chin, and he pulled her waist up tight against his, making his arousal quite clear.

"Mmmm." She murmured, fingers dragging down along his abdomen.

"Kiss me." He whispered.

With just a second's pause, she pushed her lips up against his, and his arm rose up and wrapped around her back as several passionate kisses turned into a brief makeout session. Amidst the kisses, Aelita's hand slipped down into the blonde's pants, her fingers curling around his stiff cock.

Their lips separated as she squeezed it, and both of them looked down as she slowly caressed it.

"Ohh shit."

Hearing the blonde's exhale, she then pushed both of her hands into the sides of his pants, pushing them down along his legs, until they slid to the floor on their own.

Her hands then found his crotch again, and she eyed him with a cheeky expression as she slowly ran her fingers along his member below.

After just a few moments of this though, he collected her hands, and in a swift move, crawled up onto the bed and pushed her down onto the mattress underneath himself.

Finding herself in a sudden position of domination, her mouth opened with delight as he kissed and nipped her neck, slowly working his way down past her collarbone to her breasts.

Her head flopped to the side as he kissed and sucked each nipple individually, and she watched as his kisses still moved further down, giggling briefly as he kissed her stomach. She then waited with curiosity as his hands drug down along her skin, caressing her breasts, and then moving further and tugging her own pants down along her legs.

Running his hands along her legs, he then walked his finger along the bare skin, setting his hand upon her labia.

His fingers swirled in several gentle motions, and he moved himself back up next to her, rolling her onto her side. His finger then pushed deeper inside, and she exhaled, arching back in a low groan as he began fingering her.

Her breaths became shorter, and he grinned from her various expressions.

"You like that?"

"Uh huh." She breathed.

"You sure?"

"Yeeessssss." She groaned, her jaw then quivering as he suddenly sped up the motions.

"Ohh yeah?"

"Yes!"

"Yeeaaahhhh you fucking love it." He growled

Her arms curled around his backside as her legs squirmed, and their lips pressed together in lingering kisses as Odd slowed down, massaging her with swirls of his fingers.

Moments later, she rolled over and pulled him back on top of herself, pushing her fingers between his as he slowly rubbed his body back and forth against hers. She then thrust his hands up above her head with her arms, feeling him pressing between her legs below.

"Pin me down." She whispered, her lips up next to his ear as he sucked on her neck.

"Yeah?"

Her legs shifted, and she grinned.

"Yes babe... Fucking pin me down."

He pushed her arms together and shoved them down onto the mattress with his weight.

"Ooooh."

"You've been a bad girl."

Her mouth opened with delight.

"Yeesss. And you've been a naughty boy."

"I'm nowhere near as naughty as you."

"Oh ho is that sooo?"

"Yes." He breathed, inhaling the sweet scent of her hair

After a pause of excited heartbeats, she rolled her eyes.

"Well since i'm such a naughty girl, you'd better just fuck me senseless."

She then watched with a blush as he released one of her hands, and within seconds, penetrated her pussy.

Her mouth opened in an inhale.

"Ohhhh my shit I forgot how... Ohhhh fuck Odd. Fuck. Hahahoooh god damn fuck."

She laughed and blushed and moaned with pleasure and mirth as Odd got busy, smiling from the various sounds and obscenities drifting from her mouth - Like usual.

---

Mere minutes later, Aelita shoved his arms forward, curling hers around his chest as she wrestled him onto his side. A laugh escaped his mouth as he fought her efforts for a moment, only to give in as she pushed him down onto his backside, eying him with a victorious, tooth clenched smirk as she straddled him.

"I'm in charge now." She grunted, settling upon him, and reaching down as his hands curled onto her sides.

The warm breath upon his collarbone, and the squeezing of his fingers that followed, confirmed the connection as she propped herself onto her lower arms, eying Odd as she steadily rocked back and forth along him.

For a fleeting moment they traded sweet, goofy expressions, and then she pushed herself upright, running her free hand through her hair as she rode him, and then shutting her eyes as he squeezed her breasts.

"Ohhh god Odd. We almost died today."

"Almost." He echoed, watching the regular undulation of her chest with fascination.

"If we hadn't blown those monsters to fffffucking smithereens, we wouldn't have been able to come..."

The word she paused on forced a grin onto both of their mouths.

"Come... back here?" He offered.

"Yeah." She laughed, her hands resting upon her haunches. "Come back here and..."

Her jaw clenched shut, and her hands slid up along his warm chest as she sunk back down onto him again, gyrating her rear up and down.

A deep, hot breath left Odd's mouth, and she smiled from his expression.

"Fucking... Bang the shit out of each other."

"Ohh god yes."

She touched his chin with her hand, pausing as she pressed her lips up against his, tasting his tongue briefly, and feeling their hearts beat together in their chests.

Detaching from a kiss, she looked into Odd's eyes, brimming with desire.

"I needed this."

"I needed you."

The following smiles gave way into further kissing, and her arms tucked behind his shoulders, one hand running into his hair as they rolled to the side, locked together in sweet passion.

---

Gripping his hands, a laugh mixed with a moan as it seeped out of Aelita's lips, and the toes on her feet spread out as she tensed up from Odd's re-entry.

"Nnnngh every time you do that its sooo..."

Her faced cracked up in another laugh, only to turn into a yelp as he started working harder.

His cocked eyebrow begged for her to continue talking, forcing her eyebrows to furrow in a combination of confusion and pleasure.

"I see somebody's got energyyy." She remarked, releasing one hand from his and gripping a tuft of her red hair.

"What, are you tired?"

She stuck her tongue out at him.

"Hoho fuck no. I could fuck your cock all god damn night if I want."

"I like the sound of that."

Her head flopped from side to side.

Ohh god. If suspension from duty gives us free time...

She grinned, stretching her legs.

I'm gonna fuckin enjoy it.

---

Aelita squirmed from the rushing feeling building up in her body, tensing up as creeped up through her chest, speeding up her heart.

"Odd."

"Aelita."

She shut her eyes, arms folding onto herself as she squeezed her shoulders.

"Odddddd..."

He watched with amusement as she writhed with pleasure, looking up at him with her mouth simply stuck open.

Labored breaths puffed in and out of her chest, and seconds later, an explosion of sweet release rippled through her senses.

Grasping the blonde, she pulled him down onto herself, and her legs curled around his as her breathing relaxed, smiling as he pressed light kisses onto her cheek and neck.

"...That looked amazing." He exhaled.

Her chest shook with a sweet, simple laugh as she pulled his lips up to hers in a momentary kiss.

Her thumb drifted along the hair of his goatee, and her eyes focused on him with anticipation as his finger twisted inside a lock of messy, red hair.

"Your turn."

His eyebrow rose with interest.

"Bring it."

---

One spree of energy later, Aelita pushed herself up, forcing Odd to stop as she curled her legs around his hips. Reaching for his upper arms, she then found herself being pulled upright, clutching her hands together behind his back.

Quite literally being held up against him, she began a quick kiss, but instead found herself deeply exhaling.

Looking down, she moved one of her legs slightly, fascinated by the slow, deep rhythm, and began matching his speed with her own body, blushing from the sight of his resultant expressions.

Their bodies glistened with sweat from the effort, and Aelita set her forehead against his, inhaling his heavy, working breath, grinning as his eyes focused on hers.

"Ohhho god Odd... I'm gonna make you fucking explode and I can't wait."

His eyes widened from her statement, and she released her arms from around him, flopping back down onto the bed.

With zero invitation necessary, he pushed himself back inside her, and swiftly resumed intercourse, her words swirling around excitedly inside his head.

---

A particularly distinct feeling began creeping into Odd's groin, and despite the fleeting temptation, he slowed to a stop, and pulled out, straddling her hips.

Exhales left both of their mouths, and Aelita's curled into a smirk.

"All done, huh?"

He eyed her carefully.

"Almost."

Her head tilted, and her hand moved over, fingers delicately touching his tip.

"Hope you don't mind if I... Finish."

His heart raced from the purr of her words.

"After all, you worked so hard... For this."

Her fingers gently surrounded his cock and began stroking it, causing his eyes to shut from the undeniable pleasure.

Deep, calm breaths left his lungs, and Aelita watched his eyebrows furrow, still smirking, as she focused on the head.

That thing must be crazy sensitive...

Running her hand along its entirety, she waited patiently as his legs made brief movements, and then, his eyes peeped open again.

A quiet groan left his lips, and she started moving her hand faster.

"Ohh I think somebody's about to cum..."

"Yeesss." He breathed, tensing up.

"Fucking cum all over mmm... Ohhhh shit."

Her eyes met his, grinning with surprise as she jerked a powerful, sticky orgasm out of him, spreading along her chest with several spurts.

"Fuck."

He looked down, and then back up at her, prompting a moment of laughter as they surveyed the scene.

"I did explode."

"Told you."

She then stretched her arms back, and eyed him adorably.

"Odd..."

His eyebrow rose.

"I love you."

He chuckled, admiring her.

"I love you too"

After a moment of silence, Odd sighed.

"Let's, uhh, clean up and cuddle."

Eying the mess on her already sweat-soaked skin, she grunted.

"Sounds perfect."

"Just like you."

She countered his statement by sticking her tongue out, and lay still as he hopped off the bed.

Damn.

That was fun.

---

Aelita's eyebrows furrowed as she lay on the now-sheetless bed, tucked in Odd's protective embrace.

With a moment of clear, post-sex thinking, her mouth opened.

"Oh fuck."

Her head turned, facing him.

"Do you know what I just realized, Odd?"

"What?" He breathed.

"All this time, these military forces have been waging war... Destroying Xana's monsters, and costing so many lives."

"There's fewer of them than there used to be... We're starting to win."

"Right, but they're still appearing. Maybe not nearly as great in number but... Why?"

He paused for a moment, and then both of them shared a wicked realization.

"The supercomputer."

"Its still sitting there, on. Lyoko's still on. Xana..."

The blonde's mouth opened.

"Oh my god. And all this time..."

"That's why they keep coming. The computer has its own power, and Lyoko is the source of the monsters."

They stared at each other, confirming the same thought.

"We need to get to the factory."

"And shut down the supercomputer."

---

Both Odd and Aelita sat quietly in the mess hall the next morning. The clipboard on their tent, normally with an order stuck to it, remained empty.

"I think the hardest part will be getting out of here unnoticed." She whispered.

"Armed, and stealing some kind of explosives." Odd added.

Her head turned.

"Explosives?"

"Just in case the supercomputer decides to not shut down... We'll destroy it."

"Okay... That's going to make the escape twice as hard."

"We know where the munitions dump is... One of us distracts the guards, and the other can grab a brick of plastic and some ammunition."

"Oh we'd might as well be stealing candy if its that easy." She blinked.

"There should be troop movements at night. Once we can add a little more to our stash, we'll head for the Seine, and make our way to the factory.

She shook her head.

"So, assuming this works, and we get to the river... We'll be on our own, heading TO the dragon's den."

"Right. Be prepared to fight anything Xana sends our way. We'll be making our way through the streets, just like we used to."

Aelita's heart raced, partially from grim nostalgia, and partially from fear.

"This is insane... When should we do it?"

"As soon as possible... Maybe even tonight. We're on suspension, so we'll just play it cool and hang around base, pretending to be bored."

Her eyes focused on the platter of food in front of her.

"We've got an entire day available."

"Exactly."

She blew a breath from between her lips.

"I guess we can only hope for the best."

"But expect the worst, even if we get out."

---

Standing at attention outside their tent for the afternoon roll call, excitement churned inside the pair, waiting as an officer walked along, calling names, and marking the responses.

"Della Robbia!"

"Present!"

"Schaeffer!"

"Present!"

Shooting them a glance from the note on his clipboard, he grunted.

"Suspension?"

"Botched mission sir, we barely escaped alive."

"Then good luck to you next time... Davis!"

"Present!"

The pair traded expressions, and then calmly turned and reentered their tent.

After waiting for a moment and listening, the officer's voice grew increasingly faint, and Odd zipped the tent shut, storming over to the small dresser as Aelita pulled the mattress up off the bed.

Shelves were pulled open hastily, and the cover to the bed's box spring was torn off, revealing several long lines of ammunition duct-taped to the wooden frame's slats.

In a nearly identical manner, Odd tore a row of shotgun shells, and an entire magazine for his AK from the inside of the dresser, and began sifting through the clothing in the shelves, sourcing even more ammunition rolled up into socks and pants, and one lone M-84 flashbang grenade.

Both of their old backpacks, dating from their tenure in the Eiffel tower before the military occupation, were drug out from underneath the bed, and the stockpile was split evenly between their packs, followed by an extra set of clothing, and a small number of rations jammed in with the rest.

Trading increasing smiles as they shoved the bags under the bed, they swiftly reset the dresser and bed to their original appearances, and then sat side by side on the bed.

Odd pushed the flashbang under a pillow, and then rubbed his hands together.

"When nightfall comes, we'll change into dark clothing and make our way to the depot. You wait near it, and once I'm in position, I'll chuck this thing. Wait for it to go off, and if the guards move, sneak in and grab the stuff. Should be sitting under one of the tables. Semtex or something."

Turning to him, she pressed into a hug, sighing as he rubbed her back.

"If anything goes awry, come back here."

"I will."

"If all goes well, I'll meet you back here, and we'll load up and get the hell out of here."

"We won't have any armor."

"Too much to carry this time. We'll manage."

She rolled her eyes.

"God I hope so..."

---

Dinner hour ticked by painfully slow, and not a single word passed between the pair as they jammed food into their faces.

Odd's finger then began tracing something invisibly on the table, and Aelita watched with curiosity. A square, followed by E-T, and then a long rectangle, with a circle somewhere in the middle.

He swallowed, and then tapped his finger several times.

"We'll head for the trees. West. Then we go go go and make some distance along the river."

Picturing the general layout of Eiffel Alpha and its acres of tents, she exhaled with a nod, spinning a fork in her fingers.

He then set his head onto his arm, looking at the clock on the far wall impatiently.

"Hurry up, god dammit."

---

Another uneasy round of showering later, their fingers mingled, suspended between them as they walked among the rows of tents under the dark of dusk.

"Funny. Twenty four hours ago, we fucked."

"Yeah we did." She smiled dreamily.

"Now, twenty four hours later..."

They stopped next to their tent, 217, and uneasy exhales left their lungs.

"We might really be fucked." He whispered.

Slipping calmly inside, they plucked their guns off the small wood rack against the tent's canvas wall, and set all four onto the mattress.

Two SPAS 12 shotguns, Odd's AK47 assault rifle, and Aelita's AS50 rifle lay loaded, awaiting use, as the flashbang was retrieved from under the pillow, and hooked onto Odd's belt as they both changed into cargo pants, and pulled on light black jackets.

Stepping over to the flap of the tent, Aelita touched his chin, and suddenly found herself in a kiss.

"You know the drill. Wait for the ruckus to start."

They pushed through the canvas, and entered the cool night air, surveying their dimly lit surroundings after zipping the tent shut again.

His finger pointed to the side for a moment, and with preparative breaths, Aelita tucked the hood of the jacket up over her red hair for concealment, and they began walking, slowly splitting apart with each passing tent.

Then, many yards later, he suddenly slipped between tents, and vanished into the darkness, prompting Aelita to do the same as a larger, timber supported structure slowly faded into view ahead, partially shaded by a large tree.

Nature was here first, thankfully...

Stepping silently through the moonlight of another aisle, she hunkered down low, creeping into the darkness of the surrounding greenbelt, and slowly approaching the supply shed.

Two men, one smoking a cigarette just outside, stood guard, obviously armed, and a third unseen man talked to another.

Okay. Three idiots in my way.

She drew to a halt behind the trunk of another tree, staring at the tables and crates sitting within the structure.

Semtex. Right. Any time you're ready, Odd...

---

Standing still, grenade in hand, Odd exhaled.

He looked at the device in his palm, and then pulled the ring out, squeezing the spoon against the cylinder.

Whoever's in the tents near this thing... My bad.

With a quiet grunt, the grenade sailed into the air, vanishing into the darkness.

No turning back now...

Stepping back out in the alley, he slowly walked away in the opposite direction, heartbeats filling the silence.

---

*BANG*

Aelita jumped as a concussion ripped through the night air, and several screams and shouts arose in the distance.

"What the hell was that?"

"Fuckin explosion over there!"

Radio chatter crackled in a fury, and then, unexpectedly, machine gun fire rippled through the air, causing Aelita's skin to grow cold.

"All units, Section B, we've got a hostile inside Alpha perimeter - Engage if possible!"

Aelita stood upright, hearing distinct blasts of laser fire right after the transmission, and several expletives left the mouths of the guards as men rushed past in the distance, causing them to load their weapons and join the chase.

Wide eyed, she burst forward through the foliage and clambered up and over a wood railing, stumbling inside the supply shed. With haste, she perused through several piles and crates of ammunition, greedily eying cases filled with bullets, but searching explicitly for -

"Ah ha." She breathed, lifting a metal lid open, and discovering numerous grenades, and a stack of grey rectangular blocks lined with plastic wrapping.

Pulling one out, her eyes pored over the words printed on the side.

1LB SEMTEX 1A PLASTIC EXPLOSIVE

Pulling out a bundled coil of wire, with a small metal tube on one end, she grinned.

Pyrotechnic fuse... Where's a lighter?

Shutting the box and standing up, she spotted a pack of cigarettes, and plucked the accompanying lighter off the table next to them, only to freeze as shouting arose nearby, and several reports of a pistol went off.

Shit.

Heavy, pointed footsteps drew closer, followed by another burst of laser fire, and she glanced over her shoulder.

That must be a Krabe... So much for getting ammo!

She gripped the spoils and hopped back over the fencing, shoving the objects into the pockets of her pants and jacket, and then burst into a run through the shadows, storming past several men hurrying towards the invading monster.

Fuck I hope Odd's okay...

The hood flopped down from her head, and she weaved back through several tents, startled by the sudden wail of a siren in the distance.

Must be more than one...

She continued in a jog, biting her tongue as another group of armed men hurried past, and then halted next to tent 217, heart racing as the door flap hung open.

Ducking inside, she instantly made for the bed, spotting only her beloved rifle, and one of the shotguns laying together.

Reaching down underneath, one backpack greeted her fingers, and she exhaled as she pulled it out, shaking it briefly, and confirming the jingle of ammunition inside.

"Alright Odd, I'm right behind you." She whispered, pulling the backpack on and slinging the .50 caliber rifle over her shoulder, and then gripping the SPAS 12 in her hands.

Turning and pausing by the door, old survival instincts flooded back into her senses as she tugged the pump back on the weapon, loading the chamber with a shell of buckshot, and then pushed it forward.

Let's roll.

Bursting out of the tent, she looked into the distance at the Eiffel tower's silhouette towering into the night sky above, and then turned the corner around the tent, dragging her hand along the canvas as a farewell, before sauntering across the open grass, and weaving through more tents, into the trees just beyond.

---

Gunshots echoed among wailing siren, and Aelita moved swiftly and silently through the grass, hopping over several concrete paths as she headed towards a group of buildings flanking the river.

Pausing at the corner of one, she peered around, but not a soul was visible. One large helicopter sat parked in the sports field across the street, but no soldiers...

She hurried around the corner, and quickly jogged down Avenue De Suffren, passing a few storefronts and two abandoned cars, and then hurried across the intersection, slowing to a halt on the concrete stairs that led down to the river just beyond.

Watching the moonlight reflect on the slowly flowing water, she sighed.

Ah, Seine, how I missed you...

With quiet footfall, she wandered down to the parking lot along the concrete riverbank, and leaned against a weathered sedan with a flat tire.

Footsteps registered in her ears, and she quickly turned her head, sighing as Odd walked up to her.

"Well, we got out."

"And I got the Semtex you wanted.

She handed the brick and cable to him, and he eyed it with a nod before stowing it inside his backpack.

"I guess my flashbang attracted a Krabe and a swarm of Kankrelats. Sure caused a mess."

"Now we need to make some distance."

"Right. Let's get going."

---

Walking silently along the riverbank, the pair eyed several capsized and sunken boats still attached to their moorings as they went.

"Factory shouldn't be too far... Couple kilometers." He whispered.

Her head turned as the siren's blaring stopped, and an eerie silence replaced it.

"Someone's gonna do a head count eventually... Realize we're missing."

"Oh well. Wouldn't be the first time people vanish."

In light of their words, they both sped up into a jog, passing under the shadow of a pair of bridges across the river.

Up ahead, the silhouette of a railway bridge curving across the river, led to a long, narrow park that rose uphill in front of them, causing Odd to stop and observe the surroundings.

"Must be the Metro... Let's find our way up onto that bridge and cross the river."

"Is there a station up there?"

"Might be. Let's go this way and look for a stairwell up."

His finger pointed to the left of the park, and Aelita squinted at a sign in the dim moonlight.

"De Grenelle."

"Lets go."

Wandering diagonally through the empty intersection, the pair stepped over a pair of arrows painted on the road, wandering past a line of overgrown trees lining the sidewalk.

A concrete wall slowly rose in height alongside the road, and a stairwell suddenly appeared in view, causing Odd to hustle up it out of curiosity.

Up top though, he paused, craning his neck.

"Still the same park... No platforms though. Let's keep going along the road."

Coming back down the steps and turning around, he met up with Aelita as she resumed walking.

"Maybe's there's an access further up..."

---

Several minutes later, just beyond a curiously small observation deck from the park above, the catenary masts of the Metro appeared above the wall.

"Here's the track... Where's the station?"

"I don't think there is one."

Footsteps later, a new sidewalk began at an intersection, and moments after passing, Aelita's arm rose.

"There."

Both of them hustled towards a second stairwell just beyond, diverting off the pavement and jogging up the steps.

Greeted by a small open field, and low fencing just beyond, they hustled over towards a small gate, leading directly to the right of way just beyond. Two swift bounds up and over it, their boots crunched into the gravel ballast of the railway track.

Stepping along the ties under the rails, they began crossing the viaduct, eying the river flowing just below.

"Why'd we take a railway bridge instead of a road bridge?"

Odd looked back at her from the query, stumbling for a moment.

"Just in case there's a patrol. They can't exactly get up here onto the line... We'd be sitting ducks in the middle of a road bridge."

She shrugged. Makes sense.

A minute later, the shadow of truss girders above shrouded them in darkness, and Aelita stepped up onto one of the rails, attempting to walk upon it, largely without success.

Up ahead, the track curved gently to the right, and numerous glass panes on a distant canopy over the tracks reflected the stars of the sky just beyond.

"There's your station."

---

Stepping under the roof, the pair climbed off the tracks onto the paralleling platform. Their fingers gripped their firearms tightly as they continued into the increasingly dark station, entering through an open door.

Stepping through pitch black darkness towards a pair of windows, various objects met their boots, with several skittering across the floor.

Awkwardly working around what felt like a bench, Aelita suddenly halted when a small red lens illuminated in front of her.

Rotating upward, the small circle stared back at her, and for a moment, five eyes evaluated each other.

A small, electronic whirring sound began, but Odd stomped forward and kicked the thing aside, watching as a burst of laser flew from it, striking the wall.

In the split second illumination, the object revealed itself to be a kankrelat, now sitting on its side, helplessly moving its legs.

"Piece of shit."

"Should I shoot it?"

"No. Waste of ammo, and we're still too close to Eiffel Alpha."

Aelita furrowed her eyebrows, but continued along behind Odd's dark silhouette as he pushed open the doorway, leading to a stairwell down.

Numerous careful footsteps later, the pair reached the door to the street outside - Which happened to be locked, and surrounded by a thick stone wall.

"Of course."

Aelita slumped back against the wall behind, and Odd looked over the door, tapping the glass window with his knuckles.

"Can't be very thick..."

Unloading his AK47, and handing the magazine to Aelita, he then turned the weapon around, and thrust the butt against the glass, watching as a web of cracks appeared.

Another hit, and the cracks grew, causing him to curl his fist and hit the pane, to no effect.

"Probably one more-."

*SMASH*

The glass shattered from the third impact, and he chuckled, breaking leftover bits off of the edges, before handing the assault rifle to Aelita as she stood behind him.

"I'll crawl through, and hold your guns as you follow."

With a nod, she stuffed the curved magazine back into the weapon, and watched as he carefully crawled through.

Turning around, she handed the AK through the door, before unstrapping her scoped rifle, and handing it to him as well.

Climbing through, she then grasped his hand and hopped out, retrieving her rifle as broken glass crunched under her boots.

Their eyes then rose up to the massive curved building just across the street, and Odd put a hand to his hip.

"We're next to that Radio France place. Ever been in there?"

Shaking her head, Odd sighed.

"I did once. Field trip long ago..."

Eying her, he then sighed.

"Let's get back to the river."

---

Walking under the roof of a dilapidated Agip petrol station, and hearing the clatter of something fall nearby, the pair hurried their pace away from the fuel pumps, spooked and wary of a possible firefight that could turn into an explosion with a single misplaced shot.

Then, moments later, the ripple of rotor blades slowly approached from the distance, and after a trade of glances, the pair burst into a run down the road paralleling the river, moving underneath a long roof next to the road, and slowing to a walk in under the dark shadow, listening as the helicopter drew ominously closer.

"You don't think they know..." Aelita began.

Odd held his finger to his lips, and led her along under the roof, passing two pairs of pumps from another gas station, and then pausing as the wall moved back out along the road.

The aircraft, somewhere above, seemed to be moving slowly, and Odd exhaled, weighing the choice of staying put, or moving under the concrete bridge just ahead.

Cautiously stepping out into the moonlight, he looked into the sky, but the helicopter wasn't visible.

"Over there - Lets go!" He spoke in a hush.

Both of them burst into a sprint down the road, hurrying into the safe shadow of the road bridge just beyond and screeching to a halt in the darkness, moments before ripples of air blew trash and dust around, and a large gunship slowly rumbled directly overhead, drifting towards Eiffel Alpha.

Odd worriedly ran his hand through his hair.

"That was too close."

"Looks like its just on patrol."

"Regardless. We've still got a ways to go. Can't get caught now..."

---

Two perfectly straight kilometers later, Aelita yawned and held her shotgun with both hands, stretching her arms into the air.

With mild amusement, Odd responded with a yawn of his own.

"Think we should make camp somewhere?"

Looking towards the river, several barges and various piles of goods and material were scattered along a freight dock.

"Yes. I don't know where, but we will. Not right now."

Pushing through the branches of a fallen tree along the road, another dark bridge loomed ahead as they walked.

"There?"

"Looks too open. Thinking a building or a tunnel or something."

Moments after walking underneath, Odd shook his head as a confirmation, and Aelita grunted, eying a mangled pileup of cars smashed against several small concrete poles.

"Well I want to rest my feet at some point."

"Me too."

Their eyes rose up along a prominent circular glass tower ahead, sporting 'TFI' on several large signs near the roof.

Trading expressions, Aelita rolled her eyes as they continued along the street.

"The more headway we make now... The sooner we might finally stop Xana once and for all."

"I know... I'm just hungry too."

"We'll find a place. I'll know when we get to it."

Several minutes further, the road split into several on and off ramps, leading up to a bridge slightly smaller than the highway behind.

Stepping over the median, Odd peered at the dark hole of a tunnel ahead.

"Let's go through there."

"You sure?"

He nodded, raising his shotgun up as their footsteps echoed off the walls around them.

"Would rather be underground than out in the open."

Unfolding the stock on her Shotgun, Aelita squinted into the darkness uneasily as she brought the weapon up against her shoulder, walking alongside Odd.

A mess of cars jammed inside forced them to begin climbing over the wrecked vehicles, startling both of them as a mirror was accidentally broken off, falling to the ground with a tinkle of breaking glass.

Looking along the tunnel walls as a musty, decayed smell filled their senses, dark smears began appearing on the concrete, among bullet holes and eerily familiar scorched impacts from laser fire.

"Must've been a firefight in here."

Several heavy footsteps and creaks of sheet metal later, something smashed and clawed over a car nearby, and the pair aimed their shotguns into the distance, watching as the silhouette of something four-legged scurried into the distant darkness.

"What the hell was that?"

"An animal. Dog, raccoon... Something."

Aelita looked at Odd warily, and he sighed, collecting himself, and continuing on through the tunnel.

Passing one particularly rancid smelling spot near an overturned bus, the pair dared not to look to the side as they hopped over several more hoods, and jogged back out into the moonlight along the road.

"That was a little fuckin' freaky."

"Yeah."

Continuing further down the road, a tall, bare stone wall flanked the road, with massive overgrown hedges inside.

Curiosity getting the better of both of them, they hustled over to a van parked on the shoulder, and Odd helped her up onto the cab, and then the roof of the vehicle.

Her face quickly turned into a spooked frown, and she quietly climbed back down and off the vehicle, much to Odd's surprise.

"What is it?"

"A huge graveyard."

Looking behind at the earlier tunnel, she shook her head.

"I want to get the hell out of here. This whole area is freaking me out."

Odd stepped over and pulled her into a hug, kissing her neck.

"Alright. We'll find a place to crash soon."

---

One somber, silent walk later, the pair happened upon a large brick apartment complex, and hopes of encampment were dashed by high, small, and often blocked windows and locked doors.

"Dammit."

Aelita sighed.

"Why don't we just sleep in a car? There's a million of them around."

Odd blinked, and then nodded as they moved through an empty intersection.

"Okay... Then we just need to find one that's unlocked."

"Nobody locks their car when they're fleeing a war zone."

Trading interesting looks, they moved along the road as it slowly split into additional lanes.

Spotting a dusty orange sedan sitting on the road's divider, Odd reached out and pulled the door handle, but it didn't budge.

Looking at Aelita, a smile helplessly bloomed on her face as he tried the next passenger door, with the same result.

"Clearly this guy did."

"Oops."

Briefly scanning for another vehicle, a second sedan, dark blue, sat with a blown tire up ahead.

Hustling over to the vehicle, Odd's hand paused by the door handle, and then grasped it, pulling the door open with a victorious squeal of a hinge.

"Here we go."

Something clattered in the distance, and their eyes fell upon another tunnel just down the road.

Several clicks pattered along the pavement, and the glow of a white, circular face appeared in the darkness.

Trading silent, frozen looks, the pair watched as the white face drew into the moonlight, and a distant, square object slowly clicked and whirred along, coming up the road towards them.

"Uhh... That's a Blok." Odd breathed.

Ducking down behind the open car door, the pair held their guns and breaths readily, lying in wait as the now-confirmed monster drew closer.

Skin crawled as numerous pattering steps grew louder, and for a moment, there was silence.

Stealing a glance, Odd eyed Aelita's stern, ready-to-kill expression.

She's sexy when she's pissed.

Sometimes.

Looking forward, his back grew cold as the Blok wandered haplessly past right in front of them, only to suddenly stop.

Its head rotated 90 degrees, and two sets of iron sights were lined up on identical shotguns.

*BANG*

*BANG*

Strange metallic monster innards clattered onto the pavement beyond, and a now-hollow Blok slumped over onto its side, neutralized.

Ejecting spent shells, the pair stood up, and looked over the dead monster laying in front of them.

"I keep forgetting how ugly these things are."

Aelita leaned back against the sedan, but then a distinct, unnatural growl turned their heads once more.

"Was that -."

A crash echoed, and then a smashed hulk of a car slid up along the pavement, sparks flying as it drew to a halt against one of the walls.

Heavy metallic clinks, and several crunches of metal and glass, revealed the presence of something large and formidable inside the tunnel, and the pair ducked back down next to the car.

"I think that's a Tarantula."

Aelita rolled her eyes worriedly, recalling past encounters with them.

"Do we kill it?"

"I think we have to."

"Then how can we kill it?"

"By filling its face full of lead."

She exhaled, and swapped weapons, bringing her hefty AS50 rifle to her hands.

"Done that before."

"Me too. Let's wreck the fucker."

Peering their weapons up over the hood of the car, they both waited patiently in the newly-realized silence.

A minute of zero noise besides the flowing water nearby, and Odd shook his head, swapping weapons and standing up.

"Hey, monster!"

Four heavy steps echoed from inside, and a small symbol glowed in the darkness, like before.

"Guess what?!"

Two large, metal capped legs, and then a body stepped out into the moonlight, and Odd's heart raced as he looked down the sights on his AK47, and Aelita lined up the cross hair on the scope of her rifle just behind.

"FUCK YOU!"

Squeezing the trigger repeatedly, several bullets struck and ricocheted off the monster, damaging it and swiftly angering it as it started stomping closer, only to stop and crouch down on its rear legs.

Realizing what was coming next, Odd began to sink down in alarm, but his eyes fell upon Aelita as she sat perfectly still, poised with the rifle.

Looking ahead, its arms lowered, and his eyes widened -

And then, a thunderous, ear-splitting blast emitted from the rifle, forcing him back up to his feet as the sharp whistle of an impact tore a huge gash along the monster's white face.

The legs dropped, and then the ruined head and torso fell forward, dropping flat onto the ground in front of them.

Strapping the rifles around their shoulders, the pair walked up to the dead tarantula, and Aelita eyed the same dark liquid that slowly dribbled out of its head, slowly coursing down the road towards the tunnel.

"You think they heard our gunfire?"

Looking back into the sky, and hearing nothing but silence, Odd sighed.

"Probably... They might be on lockdown with the incursion that happened earlier though."

"Yeah. Maybe we shouldn't stay in that car."

"There might be another one in the tunnel we can camp in."

Aelita shook her head, but they both were already walking towards the dark tunnel entrance.

"Should've thought about a flashlight."

"No. That's the quickest way to get attention."

Peering inside, a path through wrecked and overturned vehicles was barely visible, and one light colored SUV sat in the distance on its own.

Pushing through the initial mess, Odd hurried into a run towards the vehicle, tripping over something and then halting, and pulling one of the doors open.

Peering inside as Aelita caught up to him, he swiftly folded the rear seats down, and crawled inside, perusing the empty interior - aside from a blanket and a large wrench.

"Come on in."

Aelita crawled up inside, tugging the door shut behind her, and Odd sat down inside the interior, locking the passenger doors manually as she unstrapped her weapons, setting them across the front seats.

Following suit with his own, Odd then took off his backpack and set it aside, helping pull Aelita's boots off before his own, and then spreading the blanket out as she took off and unzipped her backpack.

"Told you. I knew where to camp when I saw it."

Sticking her tongue out at him, she then pulled out a bag of rations, and swiftly tore open a can, stuffing food in her mouth.

Setting two water canteens between them, Odd then lay down on the blanket, stretching his arms and legs inside the surprisingly spacious vehicle.

"Once you're done there, its time for cuddles and sleep."

A smile grew among her chewing, and she leaned back against the interior of the SUV, eying the blonde as he shut his eyes for a moment.

Yes. Sure could use both of those...

---

Hours later...

Aelita stirred, eying the strange grey ceiling above.

Turning her head, car windows appeared, and next to her, Odd lay silent, sleeping.

Rubbing her eyes, her hand flopped back, greeted with steel of their firearms, and she stretched her legs, rolling onto her side.

Contemplating the dozing blonde next to her, she daintily set her hand onto his stomach, pushing her fingers under his shirt, and running her palms up along his chest.

His eyelids moved, and a smile bloomed on her face as she pushed herself up, and suspended herself over him.

Her legs then straddled his hips, and she gently descended down onto him, watching his face with delightful patience.

One, and then both eyes tiredly peeped open, and he took in and released a great breath, blinking as his vision revealed Aelita's messy red hair, and then her adorable expression.

"Morning."

A blush touched her cheeks.

"Morning."

The sweet purr of her voice forced a smile between his lips, and he stretched his limbs with a groan.

"Ready to go out and... Finish the job today?"

She shook her head.

"Not yet."

She gently slid her body down along him, bringing sighs of pleasure out of both of them as they ended up face to face.

She touched his nose with hers briefly, short breaths moving back and forth between them, and then he reached up and curled his arm around her backside.

After a fleeting moment of admiration, her lips pressed against his as she relaxed, and a round of slow, intimate morning kisses began, in an abandoned SUV somewhere along the Seine river.

---

A minimal breakfast later, the pair rearmed themselves and slipped out of the vehicle, looking towards the daylight shining onto the road beyond.

"If we're lucky... This could be the day."

Trading glances, their eyes brimmed with hope, but it was just as likely that they could fail. Face capture and arrest. Or death.

Stepping out into the sunlight, Aelita rubbed her eyes with her free hand as Odd squinted at several bullet holes in the pavement below, growing steadily in number the further along they walked.

Cresting the uphill slope from the tunnel, numerous dead carcasses of monsters lay scattered along the road, giving the pair an uneasy feeling as they moved, gripping their rifles.

"Someone's kicked some ass around here."

Eying numerous blast marks scattered across a nearby building, Aelita paused.

Dozens of balconies...

"I think someone's here."

Odd halted instantly.

"Where?"

"I haven't seen... But there's no bullet casings anywhere out here."

His eyes sank to the street, confirming her statement.

"Sniper?"

Her expression hardened as her eyes pored over the structure.

"I don't know."

Taking several steps further, Odd exhaled uneasily.

Then, something clicked faintly nearby, and the pair froze, turning and raising their weapons towards the sound.

Something moved, and their guns followed, pointed at a figure as it moved into the sunlight.

Human.

Three different weapons pointed at each other in a brief standoff, but the unknown person pointed his rifle into the sky, and his other hand pulled a cloth down from his face, before raising up towards them.

"Don't shoot, please."

Odd's skin crawled from the vaguely familiar voice, but his AK47 sank down towards the ground, followed by Aelita's shotgun.

Their stares remained, but the person moved closer to them, and after pulling his helmet and bandana off, emotions quickly reversed with two gasps.

"What the fuck." Odd whispered, on the verge of tears.

The brunette standing before them swallowed hard with disbelief.

"Odd... Aelita... My god you're both alive."

A sob burst out of her mouth from his speaking of her name.

"Ulrich!"

Stepping forward, tears streaming down her face, she latched her arms around the brunette, and Odd stepped over, joining in the impossible reunion.

"I can't believe you guys are alive..."

He then looked at Odd.

"My friend, we've got a lot to talk about."

"Where do we even start." The blonde laughed sadly.

Ulrich's head turned towards the building behind.

"Follow me."

The trio began moving towards the apartment building, and slipped inside, moving swiftly up a stairwell, and down a hallway, into an empty room with furniture piled up and barricaded around the windows.

Faint sunlight dimly illuminated the center of the room, and Ulrich set his rifle aside, sitting on one of several chairs, and offering two to his newly rediscovered friends.

Arranging the three seats in a circle, Odd and Aelita slumped down on them, setting their weaponry onto the floor by their feet.

Heavy sighs left their mouths, and the three of them eyed each other, allowing several moments of silence.

Ulrich's hand then touched his face.

"I just can't believe you're both alive and well."

"I didn't know what to think after leaving Düsseldorf." Odd began.

Ulrich's eyes rose from the name.

"You headed home... And I after a couple weeks, I realized I should have come with."

Odd sighed.

"You told me Germany was your home."

"Its where I was born. But Paris is my home. So I headed west. Didn't know if we'd meet again."

Odd shut his eyes, only to open as Ulrich moved his leg, eying Aelita.

"Where were you all this time?"

She breathed.

"Here. Paris. Since day one."

Ulrich's head turned shamefully.

"And to think I left you behind at the factory..."

Odd's attention perked from the sensitive subject.

"...We came later, but you were gone."

Aelita's hands gripped her pants, and the blonde stared at the floor, envisioning the exact moments being described.

"I was abducted, and brought into some group of criminals driving around and raising hell. Milieu idiots."

Both boys eyed her.

"...At least they taught me a few things before I ended up on my own."

Odd nodded.

"She found her way to the Eiffel tower after getting that rifle."

Ulrich eyed the AS50 laying peacefully by her feet, blinking.

"Is that where you found her?"

"Yeah. Figured the tower would make a good camp. But she beat me to it long before I even thought about it."

"So you two have been together?"

Aelita eyed Odd, and they shared a brief moment of fluttering hearts.

"Ever since I found her. We lived up in the tower for a while until the armies arrived and secured Paris."

Ulrich sat upright.

"We were evicted, but allowed to enlist in the ranks. Got food, shelter, protection... As long as we cooperated and did what they ordered."

"So you became soldiers?"

Aelita shook her head.

"We kept getting sent on wasteful missions. Stupid shit that nearly got us killed."

Ulrich allowed a pause.

"So why are you both heading this way?"

Odd leaned forward.

"We deserted last night. We're heading for the factory."

Ulrich's eyes narrowed.

"That's what I thought. Xana's monsters keep coming from it cause Lyoko's still inside... Place is infested."

"That's what we just figured out."

Aelita's mouth opened.

"You've been inside?"

"Sort of. Going in there by yourself is a death wish."

Odd sighed from his friend's statement.

"Then its good there's three of us now. We're going to shut down the supercomputer."

A faint smile appeared on Ulrich's face.

"Alright. Getting in is going to be the hard part though."

"Is that why you're here?"

The brunette eyed Aelita with a nod.

"Set up camp here a while ago, but getting in there alone can't be done. Been waiting to see if the local forces have the brains to realize where the monsters are coming from."

"They don't. Which is why this war's still going."

"Right. All this time, Xana's been humming and cranking out more of his minions, and everybody's been blindly battling them, when all they had to do years ago was turn the damn nozzle off."

"But we're the only people that know that." Aelita concluded sadly.

Ulrich looked at Odd.

"In case we make it in, what's to say the stupid computer doesn't want to turn off?"

Odd nodded and dug through his backpack for a moment.

"Then we blow the fucker up."

He tossed the plastic brick of Semtex to Ulrich, who looked it over with a nod.

"Where the hell did you get this?"

"Stole it. Aelita did."

Eying her, he tossed the brick of explosive back to Odd.

"I've been waiting for a moment like this forever."

"I just can't believe we didn't realize the solution until yesterday... We were just too afraid of the idea of entering the dragon's den."

A light, pained laugh left Aelita's mouth.

"Too afraid to do it... So we've just kept letting Xana taken so much away."

Three pairs of eyes shut sadly.

"Well, he's had his fun. And we're still alive, right?"

"Right."

Odd held his hands out.

"So lets go make sure he rots in hell. For all he's done, and everyone he's killed."

Aelita and Ulrich reached out, and the three of them held hands together.

"...Together. We're going to stop him, once and for all."

"Together." Aelita whispered.

Faces sunk, and several tears dripped to the floor.

A long awaited reckoning, was finally at hand.

---

Eating a combination of rations, the trio sat in silence, minds drifting back several years to their youth.

"To think the thing I used to fear most, was explaining my poor grades."

"I used to fear I'd never find the right girl."

The boys looked over at Aelita.

"I feared this kind of nightmare would happen. And it did."

Her eyes rose to them.

"I feared Xana would lash out. People would die, and we'd be helpless to stop him."

All three mouths stopped chewing.

"Other than that... I feared I'd never find my parents."

"I feared I'd never find my real purpose."

"I feared I'd never call Yumi my own."

"I feared that we'd drift apart as friends... And that I'd lose my only family."

The three of them sat in contemplation from her statement.

"Aelita... If a full scale war can't break us apart... Nothing will."

Odd smiled and pulled both of them closer with his arms.

"The Lyoko warriors are family. And families can survive anything."

A blush touched her cheeks, and Odd kissed her cheek as Ulrich looked on with a smile.

Oh Yumi, if only you could be with us right now...

---

Fed, relieved, and brimming with new determination, the trio swiftly stepped back out onto the street, moving along under the shadows of the trees lining the road. Their weapons, fully loaded, reflected their eager desires for revenge.

Minutes later, rounding a curve in the road, the massive dilapidated factory slowly drifted into view, sitting in the middle of the Seine river.

Odd and Aelita's skin crawled, having not been this close to the factory since the outbreak many years before.

"As soon as we get close to the bridge, Xana's going to notice we're here."

"How do we get across the river?" Odd spoke in a hush, eying the the ruined bridge, and a group of monsters sitting on both sides.

"Remember that old raft we used years ago?"

"Its still around?"

"Yeah. But I almost died finding it."

Aelita stayed gravely silent, staring at the bridge that they slowly approached.

An ominous collection of metal footsteps filled their ears, and the three of them hunkered down when both a Krabe and a Tarantula stepped onto the street ahead, followed by three Kankrelats

"Call your shots." Ulrich whispered.

"Tarantula." Aelita spoke, quickly bringing her rifle to her shoulder.

"I'll get the kanker-creeps." Odd breathed.

Ulrich chuckled, peering into the small scope of his Steyr AUG.

"Krabe is mine."

A moment of silence passed, and then, all at once...

*BANG*

*BANG*

*BANG*

*BANG*

*BANG*

Five shots of three calibers and velocities rippled through the air, downing all five monsters in surprisingly quick succession.

With grins of excitement, the three of them sprinted forward along the street, slowing several times to pick off several newly appearing monsters attracted by the ruckus of gunfire, before turning onto the remaining portion of the bridge.

An alarming number of monsters began firing lasers towards them from the opposite bank of the factory's island, and Odd and Aelita ducked down, returning fire against a group of Bloks and Krabs as Ulrich quickly yanked the manhole in front of them open.

"Its down below on the river!" He shouted, quickly adding to the gunfire as a laser burst struck the pavement next to him, helping blast the Bloks into pieces as Aelita's rifle delivered a powerful hit to the remaining Krabe.

Sinking down onto the ladder, Ulrich poked his rifle down with one arm, shooting two kankrelats below, and Odd turned around, gasping as a white hot laser blast grazed his thigh, before downing three more Kankrelats and another Blok, and feeling his wound.

"Fuck." He growled, watching Aelita down another Blok with her rifle, and as the casing bounced to the ground in front of him, he inhaled.

"Aelita! Follow Ulrich!"

Strapping her rifle over her shoulder and hustling down into the manhole without hesitation, she quickly worked down the ladder, pausing with alarm as a laser burst struck the metal ladder's rung above her head.

Odd appeared seconds later above, and the pair quickly descended the ladder, jumping over by Ulrich's side as he reloaded his assault rifle, and returning fire, pausing to hop down onto the dingy raft awaiting in front of them.

"We might end up swimming!"

"Would rather not!"

"Then make sure we don't get sunk!"

Odd stuffed a fresh magazine into his AK, and lined up the sights on the destroyed bridge above as Ulrich untied the rope from the raft and kicked the craft away from the concrete shore.

In a bizarre moment of silence, they slowly drifted across the river, hunkering down low under the shadow of the bridge for a moment.

Bouncing off an unseen chunk of concrete in the water, they drifted into the sunlight, and their weapons rose up, beginning another round of fire, striking several monsters peering over the edge, and sending one Blok toppling off the bridge into the water, pushing the raft along in a surprisingly large splash.

Aelita's AS50 delivered one more ear-splitting shot, but it was a complete miss from the motion.

"Damn." She spoke, pulling the magazine from the rifle, and opening the backpack.

"We're getting close to the shore." Ulrich confirmed, keeping the distant monsters at bay with the occasional shot as they moved along the river's current.

"You might want your shotgun, Aelita."

Hastily stuffing five fifty-caliber rounds into the magazine, she sighed, shoving it into the rifle, and then clicking on the safety as she swapped it for the SPAS 12.

"I think Xana knows we're out to get him."

The three of them watched as the dingy slowly drifted towards the concrete and earth shore, and two pairs of hands reached out, attempting a grip on the surface, and slowing the raft to a halt.

Aelita quickly clawed her way out, and outstretched a hand to Odd, who then helped tug Ulrich up onto the bank.

They then watched reluctantly as the small boat slowly drifted away with the current, and traded expressions.

"We're this far, aren't we?"

Two nods confirmed Odd's statement, and they turned and hustled along the bank, heading towards a large freight door that sat open.

Peering inside, their eyes adjusted to the dim interior, and in the distance, the massive erecting hall opened up before their eyes, with the elevator shaft sitting just beyond.

"Oh man."

Trading looks, they slowly stepped inside.

"The elevator... Its right up there."

"I don't know if it works... But we're going to find out."

The trio crept along in the dim light, winding through the steel pillars holding the factory up, and an eerie feeling crept over them from the ghostly emptiness.

Eying their surroundings, Aelita shook her head as they crept closer to the truss work of of the elevator shaft.

With unnerving apprehension, they stepped around to the front, and then inside the open elevator car, and Ulrich slowly lifted his hand towards the dusty red buttons.

"Wait." Odd spoke, grabbing his arm.

He then turned his AK47 backwards, and pressed the wooden stock of the rifle against the button, resulting in a familiar click.

And then nothing.

"Shit."

"Doesn't it need a code?"

"I think. But I don't remember what it was."

The boys looked at Aelita, and she squinted at the keypad.

"It started with a seven."

Their heads turned from the crash of something in the distance, and Odd peered outside, face changing into an expression of alarm.

"We've got a whole mess of monsters headed our way."

"Aelita!"

Her hand rose, and she blinked, her finger rising hesitantly to the keypad.

"Yes. Seven, three, five..."

The keypad lit from the press of the buttons, and Odd and Ulrich both pointed their guns towards the corner of the car, realizing their trapped position.

"Nine... One."

The keypad beeped in confirmation, and three breaths were exhaled as the corrugated door began unrolling, sliding down in front of them.

Several dents smashed inward, and one large hole was punched through the metal just before the elevator started sliding down the shaft.

The trio eyed the glowing, torn metal as the elevator's light flickered briefly, and several groans of age and fatigue echoed from above.

A musty smell of underground steel and earth filled their senses, and Ulrich pushed the down button several times.

"The computer itself is all the way down... Let's just get there quickly."

---

Breaths were held and released as they sunk deeper and deeper into the earth, and eyes grew wide as the car shuddered to a slow halt moments later.

The door's lock slowly twisted and opened, and the doors drew apart, bringing dim light into the dark cold room before them.

Mere footsteps into the room, several small arcs of electricity appeared from the center of the room, and a low whirring sound began as the supercomputer began rising from the floor from their presence.

Light flooded the ceiling and illuminated the room as the massive circular tower surpassed their height, and liquid coolant began streaming off of the machine as it glowed with ominous energy.

Taking apprehensive steps closer, Odd unstrapped his backpack, and Ulrich put his hand to his side.

"All this time..."

Turning and watching as Odd stuck the fuse into the brick of plastic explosive, he waited until Odd eyed him.

"Should we try turning it off?"

Eying Aelita, who stared at the computer with a mix of dread and hatred, Odd sighed.

"Go ahead."

Stepping over next to the supercomputer, Ulrich reached up and pushed a small button, and two small doors slid open, revealing a large power switch.

Exhaling, Ulrich gripped the lever, and pushed it down, but instead of a shutdown, he found himself greeted by a sudden current of electricity rippling up his arm, forcing a scream out of him.

"What the shiiiii-AUGH!"

The brunette was flung backwards away from the computer and sprawled onto the floor, and several expletives left Odd and Aelita's mouth as they ran over to him, helping him upright again.

"You alright?"

"Yeah... Haven't been shocked like that in forever."

Helping him upright, Odd then glared at the computer.

"Plan B it is."

He then offered the explosive to Aelita beside him.

"You up for it?"

After a moment of consideration, she shook her head no, helping Ulrich towards the elevator instead.

"Alright."

Odd stepped carefully over, and after a moment, pressed the Semtex block against the computer tower, mashing it down with his fist, and making sure the fuse sat securely inside the material.

Fishing the lighter out of one of his pockets, he turned around, eying his friends in the elevator behind.

"Get ready."

With several clicks of the device, a small flame bloomed, and Odd watched the fire for a moment, before putting it to the fuse, and watching with wide eyes as it the flame slowly began creeping along it.

Turning around with haste, he ran back towards the elevator, jumping inside as Ulrich pressed the up button repeatedly.

"We've got less than a minute."

Six eyes stared at the tower just beyond, until the large door slid together and locked shut again, concealing it from view.

The car jerked upwards, and tears streamed from Aelita's eyes in the somber silence.

"Be ready for anything up above."

---

Fingers gripped their trusty firearms, and they pressed against the sides of the elevator car as it slowed to a halt, the same mangled sheet metal appearing in front of them.

Rolling upwards, however, the door jammed partway up from the damage, and the trio ducked down, peering out from underneath.

Nothing in the immediate area...

Shuffling out from underneath, and standing to their feet however, a hail of laser fire erupted from a literal line of monsters standing in the distance.

"RUN!" Ulrich screamed.

Starting into motion and ducking behind the hall's steel pillars, the trio hurried away from the now-rapidly approaching gang of Xana's monsters, and the futility of their escape swiftly became quite clear.

Firing off retaliatory gunfire at their pursuers while running, the three of them traded fleeting expressions as ammunition began dwindling, and they found themselves running out of places for cover.

Then -

*KA-BOOM*

Startled from the surprisingly loud concussion below, the three of them watched as the pursuing monsters quite literally stumbled and crashed to the floor in lifeless defeat.

Looking up into the distance, one large glass pane fell out of the roof, and exploded onto the concrete floor in a tremendous shattering, and a thin layer of dust floated down.

Mouths hung open, and hearts raced as they traded expressions.

"Oh my god."

Exhales left their lungs.

"I guess Lyoko's gone." Odd spoke.

"And Xana. Those things just fell flat onto their faces."

Aelita pushed the safety on her shotgun, and her hand wiped her brow.

"I think every monster on the continent just stopped moving."

The trio stood in silence from the weight of her words.

"I bet a lot of people are cheering, and scratching their heads at the same time."

Ulrich then furrowed his eyebrows.

"Wait... That nuclear battery in the supercomputer just got destroyed too... Did we just irradiate the place?"

Aelita looked at the brunette, and then at the elevator shaft, squinting as she thought hard about his statement.

"No... I remember. Its Lead-210. Even if it gets into the water, its weak."

Both men looked at her, and her eyes moved up along the glass panes and steel truss work of the factory's ceiling above.

"...It'll be gone in twenty years, give or take."

"How do you remember that, Aelita?"

She paused, and her head sank.

"Years ago, when Xana stole it... Lets just say, an old friend noticed the isotope printed onto the canister as he was replacing it."

Several expressions and hard sighs were traded.

Then, three voices whispered the same name.

"Jeremy."

---

Five months later...

Odd lay with Aelita on a couch, silently cuddling under a blanket.

Ulrich, sat in an aged armchair, staring out of the window as the sunlight faded outside.

Memories filtered through their minds, having watched the afternoon news earlier on their small television set, inside their small row home, tucked into Boulogne-Billancourt.

The war, invasion, nightmare, as it was known, was over. Every last one of Xana's monsters one day simply shut off. The cause, just like their origin, remained unknown, but after reportedly six years of war against the machines, and various rebellious human groups, the sudden defeat was expectedly celebrated, with swift reclamations and liberation following in numerous waves across mainland Europe.

All at once, within the course of a week, the conflict drew to a close. Estimates of loss rose to a staggering eleven million military and civilian casualties, and countless billions of dollars and euros in physical and economic damage.

Amidst the loss, relief organizations united in a herculanean effort as millions of refugees and citizens flooded across the continent to their homes. Twelve million people returned to Paris alone, which transformed into twelve million newly and re-employed workers helping to clean up and rebuild the war-torn capitol.

Three of which, were the only people to know the terrible truth behind the horrific conflict. Wracked with nightmares of battle and survival, and sad memories of a happier past and a bittersweet future. Living silently, unable to tell the real story, for the sake of their own safe being - Just like before.

Odd's eyes drifted up to the wood and glass display cabinet he and Ulrich built in the living room, with all of their firearms sitting inside. Aelita's AS50 rifle, Odd's AK47, both of their SPAS 12 shotguns, and Ulrich's Steyr AUG, rested in silence on separate shelves.

Hopefully, we won't need to use these again.

Aelita moved slightly, and he shut his eyes for a moment as his fingers ran through her hair, bringing a gentle smile to her lips in her slumber.

At least we won't have to live through Xana's terror again. Destroying that damn supercomputer was long overdue...

A long sigh drifted out of his nostrils, and then his head tilted back, looking at Ulrich as he stared emptily down the hallway.

Poor guy. All he can think about is Yumi, and all the hell he's been through.

The brunette's eyes flitted over to Odd's, and his expression softened.

"You gonna be okay for work tomorrow, good buddy?"

He grimaced, and then nodded.

"Yeah. God knows how many more windows have to be replaced across the city."

Odd nodded, still upside down.

"Heard they want to tear down the Montparnasse tower."

"Still too tall?"

"Too unstable."

"Tell them to save the glass first. Make our jobs easier."

Aelita roused awake, eying Odd, and then Ulrich, who smiled as she stretched.

"I camped in that building a long time ago."

"Really?"

"First winter into the war. Was there when some fucktard blew the roof off the place."

Both men eyed her with curiosity.

"...Watched a big chunk of it fall down into the street. Made sure to leave pretty quickly after that."

Her head settled back down onto Odd's chest.

"Eiffel tower was a better spot anyway..."

Her following yawn forced additional yawns out of the boys, and Ulrich spun his chair around in a circle with his foot, thinking.

Aelita watched his face as invisible memories reflected upon his features, and he slid his head down onto his arm, staring into the distance again.

Odd's finger tucked a lock of her red hair back along her ear, and she rested her chin onto his chest as his fingers ran along her scalp, forcing a deep breath out of her lungs.

Well, Xana, after everything, here we are. Three warriors that fought back, and ended you and your bloodshed and terror once and for all.

You took a lot away from us, and destroyed so much. But you failed, and humanity finally succeeded.

Her eyebrows furrowed.

I hope you burn in hell forever.

Her head flopped to the side, and her eyes drifted along the display case, looking over the weaponry inside, before peering out of the nearby window.

The narrow silhouette of a construction crane rose into the horizon, and she squeezed her arms tighter around Odd's chest.

Now, our beautiful home Paris once again shines over her nation. A brilliant, iridescent beacon of hope. Slowly, day by day, proving to the rest if the world that, even after all we've been through in this dark future, we can survive. We can rebuild.

And maybe, one day, we can live in a world without danger.

---

END.

Thanks for reading! This one's the last story of the series and stuff escalated pretty quickly. I'm leaving it a little open ended on purpose... Hope you all enjoyed it anyway!

~SMPG394