Author's note: Sorry this took so long... I'm afraid my original copy of this chapter got deleted, so I had to rewrite it. Anyway, here's the update that is LOOONG overdue. :D
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Chapter 2: The REAL Drama Begins...
William, Odd, and Aelita fell to the ground in Sector 5. They stood up slowly as the walls spun around them.
"Okay, guys, I'm sending Ulrich and Yumi now!" Jeremy exclaimed. "Hold on until they get there, and then hurry and get the key!" Seconds later, as the passage opened and the countdown began, the two dropped from the sky. The group started making their way through the interior of Sector 5 as Jeremy began to speak, his voice uncharacteristically worried.
"Hang on, Yumi; I think something happened during the transfer!" Yumi got scared as she and Ulrich slowed to a stop. "I got some readings during the transfer; hold on just a second while I run some test, okay?" Ulrich and Yumi looked at each other worriedly.
"Bad readings, Jeremy?" she inquired.
"Probably not, it looks to me like it's just some numbers that aren't what they should be, mostly your mass and weight; they're a little higher than what the scanner normally registers for you. I just wanted to run some tests to be sure. You can keep going now, everything looks good." Yumi let out a barely audible sigh of relief as she ran forward with Ulrich. As they arrived in the room, they saw the Scyphozoa release Aelita just before William hit the key to stop the countdown. XANA-Aelita sank through the floor to the room below. The group ran through the newly opened door, knowing exactly what was going on. They jumped onto the elevator and made their way into the celestial dome, where their vehicles where waiting. They hopped on their vehicles and headed for the access to the core of Lyoko. As they landed in front of the key that would activate the stairs, they heard Jeremy's voice from overhead.
"Guys, the first shield layer is about to blow! XANA is pouring a lot of power into Aelita's weapon and making her energy fields much larger and much more powerful than usual! Three hits will destroy a shield layer!" Yumi hit the key and they started running up the stairs to where XANA-Aelita stood making a large plasma ball, an evil grin spreading across her face as she prepared to discharge the ball.
"NO!" Yumi shouted as the ball was released and the first shield layer blew. The possessed girl turned her head toward them, her face suddenly twisting into a scowl. She began to charge up a blackish-grey colored energy ball.
"Jeremy, what the heck is that?" Ulrich exclaimed as the ball grew larger.
"Um… I don't know for sure… OH NO! It looks like… she's creating an- an antimatter charge!" he yelled in fear and horror. "If those blasts collide with matter, there will be an explosion and I don't know what it will do if the blast hits one of you directly!"
"Well then," Yumi said, "change of plans. Odd, run up the stairs and start firing when you have a clear shot at her. Ulrich, William, and I will do the best we can down here! Go!"
They all broke off according to Yumi's plan. The three left at the bottom managed to dodge the first ball, but they did get hit a little by the resulting explosion and they each lost a few lifepoints. XANA-Aelita assumed that Odd had been devirtualized when he was no longer visible. She charged up another blast, aiming straight at the floor near the three comrades. "NO!" Yumi screamed, clearly fearful. She realized that the blast XANA-Aelita was big enough and powerful enough that if it hit the floor, it could destroy Sector 5, and in doing so, would destroy the core.
The next minute passed in slow motion for Ulrich as he watched his beloved Yumi start to run at the instant Aelita discharged the blast. As the blast came continually closer to the point where it would obliterate the entire sector and, in doing so, destroy all of Lyoko as well…
Yumi jumped. She jumped off the ground and took the blast.
At first it didn't really hurt, but after a second the pain flared up as the ball encompassed her. The antimatter seemed to eat away at her substance and she screamed in pain as Odd managed to get to Aelita and devirtualize her. Odd and William crowded around Yumi, who was being held in Ulrich's arms.
"Ulrich…" she choked out.
"Yes, Yumi, I'm right here," he said softly, tears pouring from his eyes. "I'll never leave you!"
"Ulrich… make sure… Ae…li…ta… reads… the… letter," she managed. "I… love… you."
Ulrich couldn't contain his tears as he leaned down and kissed her. "I love you, too, Yumi. I'll never stop loving you."
Yumi smiled softly, though her smile was filled with pain. Then Ulrich watched as the pixels began to flake away from her body as she devirtualized and his arms suddenly became empty.
"Come on, Ulrich, let's go back to Earth," Odd said gently. "Jeremy, it's done! Bring us in!"
"All right. Materialization Odd! Materialization Ulrich! Materialization William!"
Ulrich suddenly found himself in the scanner back on Earth. As the doors parted, he saw Yumi lying on the ground with a much more normal Aelita frantically attempting CPR on her.
"Yumi! Yumi, please wake up!" she was saying, tears pouring from her eyes.
Ulrich immediately rushed over and knelt down by the two girls. "Yumi! Aelita, what's going on?!"
Aelita looked up at him sadly. "Ulrich," she replied in a tight, choked voice, "Yumi's heart stopped."
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Don't forget to review... the more reviews, the more encouragement I'll get to rewrite the other chapters!