Warning

The XANA Games is rated T, for now. Will be switched to M if things get out of hand. There will be death and the Characters will take on different personalities than those known in Code Lyoko. If you can't handle this, then don't read and don't flame.

THE XANA GAMES:

Sector 1 (The Lab): People in this sector are brain heads and provide the other sectors with technology. Selected for the XANA Games: Aelita & Jeremy

Sector 2 (The Forest): People in this sector are Wild. The people in this sector also produce food for the other sectors, except the ice sector, due to the amount of fertile soil and the high population of animals in the forest. Selected for the XANA Games: Odd & Sam

Sector 3 (The Desert): People in this sector are wealthy because a diamond mine sits under their land. Selected for the XANA Games: Sissy & Percy

Sector 4 (The Mountains): People in this sector are fighters. The members of this sector live high in the mountains and need to fend for themselves due to it. Selected for the XANA Games: Yumi & Ulrich

Sector 5 (The Ice Sector): People in this sector are accustomed to being fisherman/woman due to the amount of water on their land. People in this sector are also tough because of the rough living conditions they experience since it is always cold and snowy. Selected for the XANA Games: Rita & Michael

Sector X (Kadic): The Royal XANA family lives within this sector. Unlike the other sectors, people are marked to partake in the XANA Games without randomly being chosen. Because of this, they are better trained and almost always win. (This is a fixed system by the King so his sector almost always wins). Selected for the XANA Games: Rose & William

The Land of Lyoko has been ruled by the XANA family for hundreds of years. Twenty years ago Lyoko rebelled against the XANA family, but the people were no match for the royal army. As punishment, the land was separated into six sectors and the XANA Games were established. Each Sector within Lyoko must give up a female and male participant between the ages of 16-19 to partake in the XANA Games once a year. The participants fight to the death until one soul remains.

Chapter 1: Random Selection

"Wake up, Hiroki!" Yumi yelled to her 16 year old brother as she knocked on his bedroom door. "You need to wash up before the selection this afternoon."

It was the first time Hiroki would partake in a selection. Yumi, who was 19, would be free from it after this year.

"Where are you going, young lady?" Yumi's mom, Mrs Ishiyama, demanded.

"I am going to meet Ulrich for a little practicing before the Selection." Yumi replied as she hooked the latches on her leather boots. She grabbed a fresh apple from the basket on the counter and took a bite out of it before walking back over to the bottom of the stairs. "Hiroki, I will be back within two hours. Make sure you are ready by then!"

"You too…Yumi." Their mom added as she laid out a black dress.

Yumi looked at the lacy black dress with hurt in her eyes. She hated dresses, but she hated this one more than anything else. She had worn this dress to her father's funeral two years ago. It was also the same dress that she had worn to her friend's funeral when she was only 15. Her friend, Jacky, had been selected for the XANA Games when she was 16, the first year her name was entered for Selection.

"Do I have to wear that one?" Yumi asked as she picked it up in her hands.

Yumi's mother sighed as she walked over to her daughter and placed a hand on her shoulder. "It's the only formal thing you own right now that isn't full of holes or dirty."

Yumi looked up at her mother and understood. It was hard enough to come up with money to buy Hiroki something nice to wear to this year's Selection. Her family was poor because they didn't have a steady income after her father has passed away.

"Am I interrupting something?" A familiar voice asked coming from the doorway.

Yumi looked up at her friend, Ulrich, happy to see him. He walked over and put a bag of fresh fruit that was just delivered from the Forest Sector on their table. Ulrich was the son of the Sector's leader. Unlike Yumi, he didn't have to worry about money. It was thanks to him that her family was able to survive.

"I'll be back later, mom." Yumi said as she placed the dress back down on the chair.

The two walked in silence to their spot on the mountains. Ulrich took guard as Yumi crawled under the fence that marked the boundary lines for their sector. After Yumi had made it across she ran up the hill and hid behind a boulder so no one would see her. Ulrich looked around once more to make sure the coast was clear before crawling under the fence himself to join Yumi. Together the two climbed the rock wall of the cliff and entered the small forest area that was part of their mountain, but forbidden to visit by the people of their sector. The two collapsed next to each other after the climb. They have done it so many times before, but it still wore them out regardless.

Yumi dug at the dirt with her bare hands before uncovering a small bad that had a box in it. She opened the box and took out a variety of small daggers that once belonged her to father. Like Yumi, Ulrich also went and found his weapon, a long sword that he kept hidden in the trees. Since weapons were illegal in the sectors, they had to hide them in the forest.

Yumi sighed as she began to sharpen one of her daggers with a rock, and then flipped it in her hand, which sent it flying into a tree. "Bulls eye" she said complimenting herself without much enthusiasm.

Ulrich looked over at his friend and sighed. Ever since she lost her friend so many years ago, she became depressed on Selection day. Fortunately, Ulrich has never been close to anyone that was selected since Yumi was his only true friend.

"I challenge you to a duel." Ulrich grinned trying to cheer Yumi up. The two were both talented with the art of blades. Yumi preferred tiny daggers while Ulrich liked his long sword that was a gift from his grandfather.

"You're on." Yumi said accepting the challenge from her friend as she took out another dagger from the case.

The two stood up leaving all of their belongings, except their weapons of choice, and walked over to an area of dirt that they called their "training area". Yumi and Ulrich wrapped their weapons with cloth that they kept hidden under rocks in the training area. Covering their blades with cloth became a tradition whenever they practiced because Yumi had accidently cut Ulrich's leg two summers ago.

"Don't go easy on me." Yumi smiled as she took a crouching pose with her daggers held out in front of her.

"Oh, I won't." Ulrich chuckled as he placed his sword in a blocking position.

Ulrich swung his sword at her side, but Yumi blocked it with her tiny dagger while lashing out with the other. Ulrich's reflexes were just as fast as hers and he moved the sword in time to block it. This continued for what seemed to be forever until Ulrich went to strike her shoulder, which was his downfall. She made an X shape with her daggers and caught the sword then twisted the sword out of his hand, which caused it to go flying across the dirt area. Yumi then did a front flip and landed on top of him, then stopped once they both fell on the ground with Yumi's daggers at his neck.

"I told you to not go easy on me." Yumi said amused.

"Well, it isn't fair that you are good at gymnastics and more flexible that me." Ulrich teased looking into her eyes as he moved the daggers away from his neck. The two stayed in that position, staring at one another until they heard an air ship fly by.

Yumi rolled over onto the ground then helped Ulrich up. "Shit!" She cursed. "How long have we been out here? We got to hurry back before they notice we are gone." Yumi said panicked as she ran down the hill to her belongings, repacked her daggers then threw them back in the hole. She kicked dirt over her possessions then jumped to run back to the fence, with Ulrich right behind her.

"I'll see you tonight, maybe?" Ulrich asked as Yumi entered her house.

"Sure." Yumi replied empty minded as she hugged her friend before closing the door.

She ran up the steps and jumped in the bath that her mother had prepared for her. She dried off, brushed out her hair, and slipped on the black lace dress that she was being forced to wear. When she left the bathroom she saw Hiroki waiting for her in the hallway. He was wearing a shite pullover shirt and brown dress pants and dress shoes.

"I'm scared, sis." Hiroki said trying not to cry.

Yumi tried to hold tears of her own back as she bent down to hug him. "It will be fine." She said repeating the same exact words her friend Jacky had told her before her first Selection.

"You better get going." Their mother said who was now standing behind them. Her face was very pale and she was scrunching a towel in her hands trying to calm her nerves.

Yumi and Hiroki both hugged their mother before walking down the steps to go outside where they would join all the other 16-19 year olds in their Sector.

Yumi saw Ulrich in the line that was for the males and waved to him. "Go stand in that line where Ulrich is and I will see you once this is all over tonight." Yumi hugged her brother before parting ways with him.

Yumi took her place in the female line and had her finger pricked with some weird mechanism used for registration that was created by the Lab Sector. She then took her spot with the other 19 year old females.

An hour passed by then everyone suddenly fell silent as a lady wearing high heels walked across the stage.

"Welcome to the 20th XANA Games Selection." The lady, known as Martha, proclaimed. Everyone clapped, but only because they would get in trouble if they do as they were told.

A short video which explained why the XANA Games took place played on huge screens which were set up throughout the Sector. After another speech, it was time to select the male and female who would represent the Mountain Sector.

"First, the boys." Martha said as she walked over to the plastic container in which held the male names. She put her hand in the container and mixed the papers with her hand before grabbing a hold of one that was on the very bottom. She walked back over to the microphone and read the name out loud. "Hiroki Ishiyama."

Yumi felt like someone had stabbed her heart with a knife. She frantically looked over to where her brother was and was trying not to puke. Tears watered in her eyes as she watched him walking out of the crowd towards the stage. Memories of Jacky flashed back into her mind and she balled her fists before pushing everyone in front of her out of the way. She was being stopped by guards and saw one raise a gun at her. Before he could shoot she screamed.

"I VOLUNTEER IN MY BROTHER'S PLACE!"

Everyone gasped as Martha stood confused. She consulted some tall man standing next to her then spoke. "Very well then…. Let Hiroki go and bring up the girl."

The guards let go of Yumi as she hugged her brother. "Go to mom." She told him before being forced to the stage.

"Well then, this is something new." Martha looked at Yumi quite impressed. "And what is your name?"

Yumi looked out at the crowd and locked eyes with Ulrich, who stared back at her.

"Yumi Ishiyama" Yumi's voice echoed throughout the sector.

Ulrich's POV

Ulrich didn't dare break his eye contact with Yumi. He had a lot of respect for her after what she just did, but it pained him knowing that he would never get to see her again. All of their adventures would just be memories now. He knew Yumi was tough, but there was no way she could beat the tributes from Sector X. The last time someone other than Sector X won was five years ago when Earl, from the Ice Sector won. The temperatures unexpectedly dropped during that XANA Game, and Earl was better suited for the cold than someone from Sector X.

"Well then, since we have a female who volunteered, it looks like we need to pick another male." Martha cooed into the microphone. This time she didn't even mix the entries in the plastic container. She simply plucked the one laying on top of the pile and walked back over clicking her heels on the wooden stage.

Ulrich was somewhere distant when the next name was called. Everything was fuzzy and he just kept staring at Yumi blocking everything out. Suddenly he felt the person standing next to him hit his arm, which brought him back into focus.

"Ulrich Stern!" Martha said for the third time into the microphone getting annoyed.

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