Chapter 1

"A Meeting of Tyrants"

Yumi Ishiyama studied her reflection in the large, ornately framed mirror before her with a satisfied smile. She struck another sultry pose, admiring the black satin dress that hugged her figure. It was not often she dressed in such flashy attire, but tonight was a special occasion. Tonight she was to have a very important guest over for dinner, and she had to look her best.

She turned to the young raven haired girl who was knelt attentively beside the wall nearby. "My dear do you think this dress suites me? Be honest. I want to look my best for when my darling Ulrich sees me at dinner tonight."

The girl gave a submissive nod and put on a perfunctory smile. "You look absolutely radiant Mistress Yumi. The dress looks perfect on you."

Yumi's smile vanished in an instant, melting into a dark frown, and her eyes locked upon the girl with a cold, foreboding glare. "Don't you mean I look perfect in the dress?"

Fear flashed in the girl's eyes and she sank lower to the floor. "Of course Mistress Yumi. That's what I had meant to say."

Yumi abandoned her mirror and approached the younger girl, black heels clicking with ominous purpose. She looked down on her in disgust. "Get up!" She commanded fiercely.

The servant did as she was told, rising slowly until her face was level with Yumi's. She kept her eyes lowered towards the floor, too afraid to face the piercing glare that her master was giving her.

"And look at me when I'm speaking to you," Yumi seized the girl by the chin and jerked her face up towards her own, forcing the girl's eyes to meet her piercing stare so that she could see clearly into the wide, dark pupils. She could feel the girl trembling in her grasp. She smiled wickedly and thrust her face away. "Honestly Sissi, a servant should know better than to disrespect her master."

"I'm s-sorry Mistress Yumi. It will never happen again," The servant girl Sissi gave a deep bow, doing her best to steady her trembling frame.

"And speaking of happenings..." Yumi turned her back to her servant and began to pace slowly across the room, "There is a little matter that I've been wanting to discuss with you. I noticed the other day in my darling's chambers you were looking quite fondly at my dear Ulrich, were you not?" Yumi paused for a moment, then turned to face Sissi, a firm look set upon her face.

Sissi's eyes went wide and she shook her head vehemently. "No Mistress Yumi. It was only a glance, but it was nothing more. I swear."

Yumi strode towards the other girl with slow, easy steps, her expression neutral, unreadable, almost calm. She stopped only inches from her, fixing her gaze into her light brown eyes. When she spoke her voice was even, conversational. "So, it was only a glance you say?"

"Y-Yes Mistress Yumi. It was nothing more. I swear."

Yumi smiled a little too sweetly, gave a nod signifying her apparent satisfaction. She turned her back to Sissi, making as if to resume her pacing, only to spin around in a flash to strike her hard across the cheek with a fierce backhand. The other girl staggered backwards, nearly thrown off her feet by the force of the blow. Yumi's eyes now blazed with wild fury. "I don't like being lied to Sissi, especially by a lowly servant like yourself." Her voice boomed against the walls of the room as she bellowed at the top of her lungs. "Now I will ask you again. Did you, or did you not make eyes at my Ulrich?"

Sissi fought back the tears that wanted so badly to spill fourth, knowing better than to show such emotion in front of Yumi. She clutched the fiery spot on her cheek and forced her eyes to make contact with those of her mistress. In a weak voice, almost a whisper, she responded, "Yes Mistress Yumi."

At once the anger vanished from Yumi's face and an amused smile played across her lips. She calmly resumed her pacing. "See? That wasn't so hard, was it? I'm really quite an understanding girl, you know. I mean, Ulrich is a very handsome gentleman and it is only natural that you would want to admire him, perhaps even fantasize about him romantically, intimately." At this she fixed Sissy briefly with a playful look. "There's certainly no shame in that. But there is just one thing you need to remember..." Yumi's expression darkened again and she locked eyes with Sissi once more, taking a tall, domineering posture as she loomed over her servant. "Ulrich is mine and mine alone, and I certainly don't appreciate it when others get it in their heads that they can ogle my darling like he's some prize up for grabs. Now I can let your little error slide this time, but I warn you. If I ever catch you gazing at my Ulrich in such a manner again I will have those baby browns of yours gouged out of your skull, understand?"

Sissi gave a jerky nod. "Y-Yes M-Mistress Yumi. P-Perfectly."

"Good. Come now. We have a dinner to attend, and I don't want to keep my darling waiting." With that Yumi spun on her heels and swiftly exited the room with long, sweeping strides, the clicking of her heels punctuating each step. Sissi obediently followed her master, having to move at a double pace to keep up.

The pair moved through an opulent stretch of corridor, the floor a black marble polished to a mirror finish and spiral fluted columns rising up to meet the ceiling on either side, flanking vaulted alcoves where sat all manner of valuable artifacts on display for their beauty and rarity. Elaborate carvings trimmed the walls above the alcoves and told an epic story that unfolded down the length of the hall and beyond. Yumi had spared no expense in the building of her palace. It truly was a vision of grace, of beauty, of power. She had the command of armies of slaves and used it well to her advantage. She did deserve it, after all.

They eventually came to pass beneath a tall archway that led into a vast, luxurious dining hall. At the center stood a large, ornately carved table of lavish hardwood, clearly prepared for a meal to take place. Only three places were set, one at each end of the lengthy table, and one at the corner near the foremost seat, and a fancy spread of fine wares and dining utensils adorned each place. Standing behind the corner seat was a boy dressed in formal attire, a dark suit and tie with a white shirt tucked beneath, his dusty brown hair combed back neatly atop his head. His eyes were like stone, and his mouth was creased into a grim scowl. On either side of him stood two tall, powerful looking men in fine tuxedos and short, slicked hair, each with one firm hand placed on the boy's shoulders, holding him securely in place. Their eyes stared ahead vacantly, unresponsive to the activity of the dining hall. Neither of them blinked.

Yumi spotted the boy and smiled seductively. She strode gracefully towards him while Sissi moved to the foremost chair to make it ready for her mistress. "My my, don't we look handsome tonight." She cooed, and she trailed a finger down the length of his jacket. The boy simply eyed her with the same cold glare, his frown deepening even further. "I see we're still in a sour mood, aren't we my dear Ulrich. You should be happy. Tonight we celebrate a new beginning." She drew her face closer to his and tousled his hair playfully between her fingertips. "You have no chance of escaping my darling so you might as well relax and go with the flow. Besides, you have so much more to gain than you think." She leaned gently forward to kiss Ulrich on his lips, but he recoiled sharply, his face full of contempt. She only smiled fondly and slid her fingertips gently across his cheek, reveling in the way he trembled at the touch. "So that's how it is? Fine! You'll come around eventually."

With a delicate wave of her hand the two men guarding Ulrich bowed before dissolving into an oily black smoke and vanishing completely in an instant. Yumi moved to her own seat and Sissy pulled out the chair and offered it to her with a flourish of submission. Yumi took her seat without a second glance and snapped her fingers, a sound that echoed crisply through the hall, sending a collective flinch through the bodies of all who were in the room. One of them, a short redheaded girl, came trotting to her side. Yumi addressed her offhandedly. "Tell me Milly, has our guest arrived yet?"

"Yes Mistress Yumi. He is being entertained in the guest hall. Tamiya has already gone to bring him in."

"Good." Yumi waved the girl off and she gave another bow before returning to her duties. She then turned her attention back to Ulrich who was still standing behind his chair. "Take a seat my dear. It is far more comfortable than standing, I can assure you, and you won't be able to eat otherwise." At those words the chair slid away from the table on its own power to accommodate him.

Ulrich didn't respond, but instead remained unmoving, staring blankly at the wall ahead of him, refusing even an acknowledging glance.

"I insist that you take a seat," Yumi said again, her now tone taking on a dangerous edge.

In that moment Ulrich suddenly felt his body lurch forward on its own accord as if he were being possessed. He fought against the pull with all his might, but his legs moved against his will, carrying him towards the table in jerky steps despite all his efforts to resist. Only when his body sat itself down hard into the chair, which promptly slid itself back towards the table, did he feel control return to him again. He threw a murderous glare in Yumi's direction. She simply flashed him a devilish smile.

"You really should try to be more compliant my dear. It would be a lot easier on yourself if you did, not that I mind. It's so much fun to see you resist. Ah, look! Here comes Tamiya with our guest. Now why don't you try and behave yourself."

A small, dark skinned girl emerged through the archway followed by a tall man neatly dressed in a dark suit and tie. He was impossibly handsome, his face long and beautifully sculpted. His body was lean and slender, but at the same time well built and perfectly proportioned. His neatly trimmed jet black hair was smoothed just so against his scalp. His dark eyes were intense and captivating. He moved with flawless grace and balance in his steps, an unmistakable air of absolute power radiating from him. When he saw the others at the table he smiled, an easy, pleasant smile. Perfect teeth flashed from between his thin lips.

The girl approached the table and gave a low bow. "Mistress Yumi, I present to you Lord Xana of Lyoko." With a flourish she indicated the man behind her, gave another bow and stepped aside, waiting in place for further orders. The man approached his seat and slowly traced a finger across the ornate woodwork of the chair, seemingly captivated by the elaborate carvings. Ulrich glared at him with a look of utmost loathing.

"Mistress Yumi is it now? I see you have done well for yourself." The man's voice was a rich tenor, smooth and sensual, almost seductive. He finally looked up at the rest of the company with his dark eyes. Up close dark irises swirled with crimson webbing ringed darker pupils.

"Indeed I have. Take a seat my friend. We have much to discuss." Yumi waved her hand dismissively and the servant Tamiya still standing at attention obediently took her leave of the hall.

Xana sat himself before his place at the table, his easy smile still on his face. "I like the accommodations. A fitting place for your new seat of power. Tell me, how long did is take you to build?"

"Well, they say Rome wasn't built in a day, but you'd be surprised what a city's worth of slaves can accomplish in only a few short months. But you didn't come here to discuss decor, now did you? You have good news for me, I presume?"

"Oh, indeed I have." Xana's eyes flashed playfully, like a child about to share a closely guarded secret. "As we speak my minions construct new towers all across the country. Our worlds are merging seamlessly and once my global network is complete, our worlds will become one. As you well know, Lyoko is a nexus of unfathomable power, bestowing upon those who are able to tap into it the ability to shape the very fabric of reality itself. With the connection to Lyoko that you and I both possess, such limitless power is ours to control. We will literally be gods in this world and our rule will be absolute."

"I must say Xana, I had my doubts as to your ability to reach such an ambitious goal as world dominion given our history and all, but you've pleasantly surprised me. You literally have the entire country at its knees, the way you were able to seize control of the nation's entire military foundation and flawlessly nullify any and all resistance before anyone could even realize what was happening. Suffice it to say, I'm impressed."

"I could not have done it without your assistance of course, my dear, tricking your friends into helping you to free me from Lyoko's core, giving me access to city mainframe. Once there it was mere child's play to infect every critical network in the entire country."

"And now with the towers you've built you can summon monsters to this word at will, whole armies manifested from simple strands of computer code. Armies that can be replicate as many times as you like without limit. How could anyone hope stand up to such military force?"

As the two tyrants shared their pleasantries, servants were busy filling the table with all manners of elaborate dishes. Ulrich looked on with disgust as former classmates and teachers from the Kadic boarding school worked feverishly to serve Yumi for fear of their lives. He spotted Sissi, feverishly coordinating with other servants, some he recognized and some he didn't. She was a trembling mess, completely unlike her old self. Months of abuse will do that to a person. Sure, she was never the nicest girl in the world, but here she was living like a dog under Yumi's heel. Nobody deserved to be treated like that. He wished that he could somehow do something, anything to free them all from Yumi's tyranny, but he knew there was nothing he could do. Yumi was far too powerful for him to stop alone. It would take a miracle to escape this prison on his own, let alone free everybody else under Yumi's control.

"Ulrich dear, you haven't touched your food."

Ulrich snapped out of his thoughts to see Yumi inspecting him with a look of lighthearted amusement.

"You know you really should try this. It is quite good." She took a forkful from her plate and bit into it, her face melting into an expression of pure ecstasy. "Mmm, exquisite. Go ahead. Try some."

Ulrich folded his arms in defiance and leaned back in his seat, cementing his scowl as he eyed Yumi contemptuously. He refused to entertain her sick humor by participating in her self indulgent rituals. Yumi's lips curled into a sinister grin, and he felt his skin crawl. It was a look that Ulrich had learned to hate since the first days of his imprisonment.

"Sissi! Come here. Now!"

It was a testament to the iron command Yumi had over her servants, the way Sissi had, in an instant, abandoned all she was doing to race to Yumi's side without the least perceptible delay. With a delicate motion Yumi plucked her knife from the table between thumb and forefinger and presented it to Sissi. Her gaze remained cooly focused on Ulrich as she addressed her servant, her voice deadly calm, all smooth and sugary sweet, still wearing that awful smile.

"It seems Ulrich is having a little trouble with his meal. Perhaps we can motivate him. I don't think you need all your fingers, do you? Why don't you cut one off for me."

Horror flashed across Sissi's face and a high, strangled noise rose up from her throat. There was a long moment where she simply stared at the knife in Yumi's hand with wide eyes, torn between the threat of disobeying her master and the horror of what she was being ordered to do. Finally she spoke, "I... I can't. Please, Mistress Yumi. Please don't make me do this."

The glare Yumi pinned her with was deadly, though her voice stayed calm and sweet, her face still smiling. "Either you cut off one finger or I'll cut off all of them. Your choice."

Tears trailed down Sissi's cheeks as she obediently reached out for the knife with a trembling hand, face ashen and naked terror written in her face. Ulrich's eye's widened in horror as watched her fingers closed around the handle, watched her take the knife from Yumi's outstretched hand. He lurched violently in his seat, a failed attempt to stand. That same unseen force that had sat him there before now held him firmly in place, impossible to break free of no matter that it was all his strength that he threw against it. He opened his mouth to shout to her, to beg her to stop, but his throat immediately seized up as if a fist had clenched itself tightly around his vocal chords and all that escaped was a choking, rasping sound. He continued to buck and spasm against his restraint as Sissi laid her left hand against the smooth surface of the table, poised the knife over her pinky finger, the sounds of her sobs filling the dining hall, though none of the other servants dared look in her direction or hesitate in their duties even in the slightest. Slowly, as if carving through the air itself, she brought the knife down to meet her finger. The blade pressed a thin line into the soft flesh. A bead of red blossomed under the razor edge.

Ulrich suddenly felt his throat release and his hoarse cry filled the room. "STOP IT! I'LL EAT THE FUCKING FOOD! JUST STOP! PLEASE!" Yumi raised a hand in a halting gesture and Sissi froze, though she didn't dare pull the knife away. All at once Ulrich felt his body release from its phantom hold. It took him several moments to regain control over his violently trembling limbs, but he eventually took up his fork and stabbed it into his food. He brought utensil to his lips and jammed the food unceremoniously into his mouth and chewed it slowly through a venomous scowl.

"Oh, never mind," Yumi cooed. "It seems my dear has found his appetite after all." With that she casually waved Sissi off with a flick of her wrist. The knife dropped from her hand and hit the table with a clatter. Sissi sobbed heavily with relief and shame, and quickly escaped from Yumi's presence.

"Now, as I was saying…" Yumi returned her attention to her conversation with the man sitting across from her as if nothing had happened. "We have accomplished much over these past several months. The capital is ours and the rest of the country is powerless to stop us. It is only a matter of time before we've seized the whole of Europe in our stranglehold, and then the rest of the world will be only just a step away. But… just one problem remains though."

The man nodded his understanding. "The Resistance."

"Lyoko gave them powers as well, and it seems that as our worlds merge they can use their abilities on earth just as we can. My old friends work desperately to stop us from achieving our goal of world domination. They are the biggest threat to us, and if we do not stop them soon they may actually find a way to hurt us."

"Their Lyokian powers continue to increase. Even with the improvements to my monsters they prove to be very difficult to extinguish. They continue to evade capture and I still can't seem to find out where their main base of operations is located."

"Yes, I believe we owe that to Jeremie." Yumi rapped her fingers against the table rhythmically as she fell into deep contemplation. "He's smart… far to smart for his own good. He is the very heart of the resistance and the force that drives them in their endless siege against us. If only we could just kill him, then the others would fall all too easily, but old habits die hard and it seems our friend likes to play in the shadows. We need to drive him out into the open. The question is how?"

The conversation came to an abrupt end when a large explosion rocked the palace walls, sending a shiver through the entire dining hall. A cloud of smoke came spewing into the room through the archway behind Xana along with the gruesome remains of a creature that was half flesh, half machine.

Xana leapt up from his seat and a tendril of black mist seeped from his hand and formed into a black blade, long and thin and wickedly curved. "It's the Resistance. They've come."

"They've come for my dear Ulrich," Yumi said flatly, her expression deadly calm. "Well they won't get very far. They've just made a costly mistake. There is no way in hell I'm going to let them get out of here alive."