Ulrich's POV

He looked around at the rubble and ash that used to be his home. How could this had happened? It looked as if a nuke had hit, and Ulrich wondered if that was what had happened. Then his mind went to the person in front of him. Himself actually, but he looked older. He was in his Lyoko clothes, but he looked different. He was taller, and his hair fell down in front of his eyes. His clothes were the same, mostly. His boots, gloves, and shoulder pads had fin like extentions on them.(think of the spikes on batman's gauntlets but instead of three spikes it's just one fin shaped spike running up his arms and the side of his boots) Around his head was a yellow headband with a silver wolfhead on the front. The most interesting thing that was different about him was the giant sword on his back. It was a few feet shorter than Williams and was straight instead of curved. It was a double sided black blade. The handle was twohanded and wrapped in black cord. Above the handle were two small curved blades that came out on each side and formed a crosspiece. At the base of the blade was another silver wolfhead.

He was brought out of his train of thought as everyone started walking out of the destroyed building they were in. He noted that they were headed towards the woods. Probably to the old sewer hatch they used to get to the factory. As everyone fell in behind his older self and older Aelita he stepped beside Yumi in the back.

"You ok?" he asked her.

"I'm fine." she said. "Hopefully Xana's drug will wear off completely soon, but for now I can walk on my own." No sooner had she said those words did her legs give out beneath her. She stumbled to her knees using her hands to stop her fall. Ulrich was immediately down by her side on one knee.

"I guess the drug hasn't worn off as much as you thought." he said with a smile. She looked up at him and smiled in return. She blushed as he slipped his arms under her knees and neck picking her up bridal style. A giggle escaped her lips as she laced her fingers behind his neck. She leaned her head onto his shoulder; closing her eyes she whispered,

"I love you Ulrich." Ulrich just held her tighter placing a light kiss on her forehead. She just snuggled into his chest even more. Ulrich started walking again catching up with the others who had reached the sewer hatch as he had predicted. It took some effort, but he eventually was able to lower her and himself down into the sewer along with the others.

Aelita's POV

It was around then that Aelita was tired of waiting. Aelita walked up in front of her and his older self stopping them from continuing.

"Ok. We've been patient with you both about all this, but now we want answers. What happened to the city? Why are we here? Where are we going?" she asked them. They just looked at her. Then Aelita's older self spoke.

"Aelita. I know you all have plenty of questions right now and we'll explain everything soon, but first we have to get somewhere safe." old Aelita said. But Aelita wasn't going to give up that easily.

"Safe from who? Xana?" she asked. Old Ulrich stepped forward to look at Aelita.

"Safe from HIM." he said.

"Who's HIM?" Aelita asked.

"HE is the one who destroyed the city. He is the one who we have been fighting for over seven years. HE is the one who we cannot beat without your help. That's why you're here. Because we need your help to stop him. And as for where we're going; we're headed to the factory, or at least what is left of it. Any other questions will have to wait until we're all safe. HE would have sensed us traveling through time, and sent his minions to kill us, so lets move shall we." Old Ulrich said pushing past her. Aelita was taken aback by the tone in Ulrich's voice. Normally Ulrich's voice was neutral, but his older self seemed to be filled with rage, and she wondered what had happened to make him like that. Judging from what they saw of the city back on the surface she could take a guess. Xana must have done a lot. They all started walking down the tunnel again following Old Ulrich. Aelita wasn't the only one that was shocked with how Ulrich had behaved. Everyone was. Especially Ulrich and Yumi. Yumi loved Ulrich, and she had always known him to be gentle and kind with the others. But Ulrich was the most shocked. HE knew himself better than anyone, but he just couldn't see how he had changed so much. Even with all that had happened to the city he couldn't figure out why.

They reached the sewer hatch that opened up on the bridge that lead to the factory. They climbed up the hatch coming out on the bridge. They took the short walk across the bridge to the edge where it dropped off about thirty feet into the factory. The ropes were gone leaving them no way down without falling. And none of them were to keen on that idea. They were about to ask how they would get down, but before they could they all stared in shock as Sissi flew up from the factory floor hovering in front of them. Sissi's was wearing a green skin tight suit. Her thighs were covered in a light green material her knees along with the outside of her thighs were a darker green, and her feet and shins were light green with purple on the toes and bottom of her feet. At the part where her legs met the waist were two strips of purple. Her chest and waist were covered with light green with her ribs covered in purple. On her chest was a yellow design with a point pointing down, and three more pointing up. Her shoulders were dark green with her forearms light green. Her hands were covered in dark green gloves with open fingers. Her hair was in the same style we always had, but was held in place by a tiara in the same shape of the design on her chest. Green energy emanated from her hands and feet. They all stared in shock as Sissi remained floating in the air looking to each of them in turn.

"So I guess you managed to find them and bring them here." Sissi said. She raised her hands out in front of her glowing green, and a flat green disc that glowed slightly appeared out of thin air. Old Ulrich and Aelita motioned for them to step on it. They hesitantly took a few steps onto the disc. It held there weight, and they didn't fall through like they were afraid they would. They waited for the Old Ulrich to join them, but he just jumped down to the ground landing with a loud thump. They all looked in awe as he wasn't even fazed by the drop and started walking towards the elevator. Sissi flew down and landed on the ground following him with the disc they were on followed her. They all stepped into the elevator taking it down to the supercomputer room. As the door opened they all stared in shock of what had become of it as they walked into the room. There were cracks and holes in the walls. Wreckage everywhere scattered on the ground. A few of the supports on the ceiling hung down. the ladder that led to the scanners below was in pieces. But the thing that shocked them the most was the big hulking destroyed mass in the middle of the room that was the supercomputer. It was nothing but a pile of metal and garbage now. They stared at the room that they had all spent so much time in. They had all become friends in this room. It's where their crusade had begun. Where everything started, and looking at the destroyed room they felt a sense of loss.

They were brought out of their thoughts when a figure stepped forward into the light. It was Odd. Odd's outfit was the least different. The inside of his legs was light purple with the outside dark purple. His knee caps her covered in a light purple knee guard. He had a white sash around his waist like a belt. His chest was light purple except for the dark purple on his ribs. He had white shoulder guards. His forearms were covered with light purple, and he had on black metal gloves covering his hands. His knuckles had white circles on them and his fingers were covered in purple with his claws sticking out. His purple tail was waving around behind him, but the biggest difference was his hair. Instead of the usual spiky hairdo he always wore his hair had grown out and down his back reaching his waist.(think of goku's hair from dragon ball Z, but instead of going up it does down his back.) It was styled in a spiky style still, but was still completely different. His cat ears poked out of the top of his hair, and his purple spot of hair was on display in the front.

He walked forward as Old Aelita stepped forward wrapping her arms around Odds neck. When they separated Aelita, Odd, and Sissi walked up in front of them looking at each of them in turn. Ulrich notice that his older self didn't join them, but walked across the room and sat down not looking at them. Then Aelita spoke.

"Ok. We're here now, and you all probably have hundreds of questions, and I promised you answers. So ask away." she said looking at them. They all looked at her waiting. Aelita spoke up.

"Why'd you bring us here? To the future." she asked.

Her older self looked at her and said. "We need your help. You obviously saw the destruction on the surface, and the destroyed factory. The person responsible has been fighting us for seven years, and we can't win without help. HE is too powerful." she answered. Yumi stepped forward.

"Why couldn't you tell us all this earlier? You said we had to get somewhere safe. Safe from what?" she said.

"If we had stayed out in the open to long then HE would come find us. Traveling through time to bring you here would not go unnoticed by HIM. We had to leave before he showed up to kill us." Old Aelita said. And then Jeremy stepped forward to ask the question all of them were afraid to ask.

"Who's HE." Jeremy asked. Old Aelita suddenly had a pained expression on her face, as if an old memory had appeared in her mind and she didn't like it. She seemed to be hiding something. But before she could say anything old Odd stepped forward.

"It isn't Xana if that what you're thinking. We already destroyed Xana years ago, but we didn't see the new threat before it was too late." he said. They all looked at one another.

"So who is it?" Odd asked.

"Omega." Their attention was drawn across the room to old Ulrich who had turned to look at them. He reached into his pocket pulling out the radar disc they used. Dropping it on the ground he kicked it across the floor where it slide to a stop in front of them. A hologram appeared in the air above it. It blinked a few times before it stopped so that they could make out what it was. It seemed to be some kind of security camera in a science lab. They recognized it as one of the labs in the city. It was empty except for a single man. The man held a vile of some kind of liquid. Ulrich's older self continued talking. "He was a scientist. A man who wanted to change the human race for the better. He created a formula. One that would turn people into a kind of superhuman. It would give who ever had it abilities that people shouldn't have." as he said this he raised his hand up and blue fire flared up from his fingers igniting his hand. He closed his hand and the fire disappeared. They all stared in utter shock. They couldn't believe this. Superpowers? And then Ulrich spoke again. "Mocked and slandered for his ideas the scientist became an outcast. Everyone thought he was either stupid or insane." as Ulrich said this their attention was drawn back to the hologram as the scientist began to move. He brought the vile of liquid to his lips and drank it all. "So when he finally finished the serum he tested it on himself. But as he drank it all the hate and anger at the people who had mocked him for his work came to the surface. The serum amplified that hate into something so evil and so putrid that he became a monster. The serum changed his body until he became the very monster he was on the inside." They continued to watch the hologram move. After he drank the serum he suddenly hunched over in pain, one hand landing on the table next to him. The scientist cried out in pain, and groaning, stumbled forward. The lab coat he wore was shredded to pieces as his body and skin began to change. His skin hardened into a scale like plating. His shoulders broadened out and he grew taller. Spikes came out of his shoulders knees and the top of his head. His hair fell from his head. His shoes and clothes were reduced to shreds replaced by scale like armored plating covering his entire body. His arms and legs thickened bulging out into muscle. Claws came out of his fingers, and he was now about nine feet tall. The only thing left of his clothing was his pants. His back was to the camera. They hadn't seen his face yet, and Aelita couldn't shake the feeling that the scientist had been familiar somehow. She wished she had been able to see his face before his body changed. She may have known him. The lights in the lab went out and the scientist rose to his feet towering over everything else. His head turned until you could just see the left side of his face, but without the lights all they saw was his glowing white eyes. Then he spoke.

"I...Am...OMEGA." And as the scientist said it he turned leaping forward onto the wall until his face was right in front of the camera. And in that split second the camera was destroyed.

They all stood there their eyes wide in shock and fear. The hologram ended. No one spoke. Then when they had calmed down old Aelita said. "Omega is to powerful for us alone. We can't beat him without your help." she said the last part a little reluctantly. "Will you help us?"

They all looked at each other. Gradually the fear in their eyes died down to fierce determination. They all nodded to each other, and then to old Aelita. A small smile appeared on her lips. She nodded back.

"Before we tell you anything else though, do any of you have anymore questions?" she asked looking at them. Ulrich stepped forward when he noticed something missing. Old Aelita knew what he was about to ask, but that didn't stop the pain on her face when he did.

"Where's Yumi? And Jeremy and William for that matter." he asked. Aelita's smile dropped from her face. Old Odd and Sissi looked away, and Old Ulrich visibly flinched when he mentioned Yumi's name. Old Aelita looked back up at Ulrich and said,

"Before Omega showed up Jeremy got sick. We took him to the hospital and found out there was something wrong with his heart. He died." she said the last words almost to quiet to hear. Everyone's eyes widened, and they looked at Jeremy. His expression was full of shock. Old Aelita continued. "As for Yumi, well." Old Aelita looked over at Old Ulrich. He looked away. "She left." Everyone shouted, "What?"

"She couldn't stand fighting Omega anymore, and she didn't want to live like this anymore, so one day she just left. We never saw her again." Old Aelita said. Yumi looked over at old Ulrich noticing something she hadn't before. On his finger were two wedding rings. Her eyes widened. Her and Ulrich had been married, and she still left him and the others. She couldn't believe it. No one spoke for some time after that. And then.

"What about William?" Jeremy asked. Old Aelita wouldn't look up. She obviously was still shaken up from everything, so old Odd spoke up.

"He was brainwashed by Omega, and now serves as his right hand man." he said. They all processed the information that they had been given. No one spoke for several minutes, until suddenly the whole room began to shake as if an earthquake had started. It stopped and then began again. This time accompanied by a loud booming sound as if something had slammed into the factory above. Old Odd yelled,

"It's Omega! He must have found out where we went." Old Aelita stumbled forward.

"He'll destroy the entire building if we don't stop him!" she shouted. They all rushed into the elevator, but before Ulrich stepped in he looked back at his older self. He hadn't moved from where he sat.

"Aren't you coming?" he shouted walking back. Yumi shout from the elevator as another tremor started.

"Ulrich get in." But Ulrich just kept looking at his older self. Old Aelita pressed the button as the elevator shook from another tremor.

"No time. We have to get up there before the elevator collapses." she said. The elevator doors closed as Yumi shouted,

"Ulrich!" But the doors closed and the elevator started up. Ulrich looked at his older self again.

"Well. Are you coming or not?" he said.

"No." he said.

"What?" Ulrich said. "Why not?"

"I stopped fighting Omega years ago. There isn't any hope of beating him, and all this brings is death and suffering." he said. Ulrich was speechless. Had Yumi leaving him really cause him to loose all hope. To stop fighting. To give up. His older self just stood up walking across the room placing his hands on a table. Anger flared in Ulrich. He walked forward towards the table.

"You mean to tell me that after everything we went through with Xana. After everything that happened you gave up hope just because Yumi left you." Ulrich said shouting now. He older self didn't look at him.

"You don't understand Ulrich." he said. Ulrich's anger rose at those words.

"I don't." he said. "I'm you. I'm the one person who can understand, the only difference between us right now is that if Yumi left me I'd keep fighting." Ulrich shouted. His older self whipped around getting face to face with Ulrich.

"You want to understand? FINE! Yumi didn't leave, she's dead! Omega Murdered her!" he said. Ulrich froze. He looked at himself in shock.

"But Aelita?" Ulrich said.

"Aelita said what I told her. I didn't want to tell them about it so I said she left." he said turning away. "You understand now? I saw Omega kill the woman I loved. I can hardly go on living let alone fight back." Ulrich's anger faded away replaced by pain. Yumi's dead? Omega killed her. And when that thought came into his mind rage filled his thoughts again. But not at his older self, at Omega. He turned towards his older self.

"You now what? I don't understand." he said causing his older self to look up. "I get that you're sad and hurt about Yumi's death, but I wouldn't stop fighting. I wouldn't give in. I'd try as hard as I could to make Omega pay for what he did. Don't you see? By giving up hope and refusing to fight you're dishonoring Yumi's memory." Ulrich said. His older self didn't turn around or look at him. Ulrich's anger came back. He turned and walked away towards the elevator. Before he entered it he turned to look back. His older self still didn't move.

"I'm going up there to fight. To help the others. And I'm going to do what you can't." Ulrich said. His older self turned to look at him. "I'm going to kill Omega."

As Ulrich stepped out of the elevator he saw everyone fighting hundreds of creatures that slightly resembled Xana's minions. He dashed forward into the fray destroying creature after creature. He fought his way to the others stepping beside Yumi.

"Bout time you showed up." she said. "We're in trouble here. There's to many to fight. We can't beat them all. Ulrich and Yumi then fell into perfect synchronization. If one moved the other moved. If one attacked the other attacked. They moved as one person. Each knowing the others move before it was made. They fought for about ten minutes before things changed. At first it seemed as if Yumi had been wrong, and they would win. But then the creatures suddenly surrounded them cutting them off entirely. Out of the mass of minions came a man like creature covered in scales and spikes. His eyes glowed white and he had on armored plating. Ulrich knew who it was.

"Omega." he said hate in his eyes. This was the man that killed Yumi. the man that would destroy their home. Omega looked from one person to the next until his gaze rested on Ulrich noticing the fury in his eyes.

"So that's what you were doing. You brought your younger selves here." he said. Omega waved his hand at the creatures surrounding them and they all flew out of the factory leaving only Omega and them.

"That's your plan?" he asked them. "You're going to fight me with people weaker than you." A smirk appearing on his face. "Why don't you just face facts already. Ulrich was the only one who even stood a chance against me. He was the one with the same powers as me. The one with all the skills needed to beat me. And I broke his spirit. I made him give up." he said with a smile. Old Aelita stepped forward.

"You didn't break Ulrich's spirit. Yumi did when she left." she told him. He just laughed at her.

"Is that what he told you. That she left him. Oh no Aelita. She didn't leave." he said in a mocking tone. "I killed her." he said. No one moved. Everyone reacted in surprise and shock, save Ulrich. A fact that didn't go unnoticed by Omega. He looked at him raising an eyebrow.

"Not even one reaction, Ulrich? You're not surprised at all? Did you already know, or do you just not care?" he asked. "I'm pretty sure you care so I'm going to say you already knew."

He looked around at each of them. Omega could see the pain and anger on their faces from what they'd heard. He smiled.

"So. Who wants to die first?" He said, his eyes glowing. Seconds passed. And then old Odd started running to the side firing laser arrows the whole time. Young Odd going in the opposite direction doing the same. Sissi's hands lit up with green energy and bolt of energy shot from her hands. Old and young Aelita fired energy fields at Omega. And Jeremy shot a ball of blue electricity at him. But not one hit him. Omega held his arms out and the laser arrows, energy bolts, and energy fields stopped in mid air. Omega smiled. He sent them flying back at their owners hitting both Odds, both Aelita's, and Sissi. A stray laser arrow managed to hit William.

Each of them fell to their knees as pain erupted all over their bodies. Ulrich and Yumi quickly found they were all that was left. Obviously projectiles wouldn't work against him, so they both charged him and went melee. They ended up on either side of him both pushing themselves to their limits as they fought to defeat him. But no matter what they tried they couldn't even touch him. He was to fast. Too powerful. After about five minutes of fighting Omega kicked Ulrich in the chest sending him flying about ten feet. He could barely move. He looked up at Omega. When Yumi saw Ulrich go flying she had leapt onto Omega's back wrapping her arms around his neck in a choke hold. Omega grabbed Yumi by her neck and pulled her off his back. He held her up of the ground, and began to choke her. Yumi tried to call out, but she couldn't. She kicked Omega in the face, but he just tightened his grip on her throat. She kicked her feet grabbing onto his wrists. His grip was like iron. She couldn't get free. Her eyes began to close, and she was barely moving now.

Ulrich looked up at Omega. He saw him choking Yumi. Saw Yumi beginning to fade. He tried to get up but found he couldn't. He could hardly move. He looked back at Omega. Yumi wasn't moving anymore. The only sign that she was still alive was her gasps. Rage filled Ulrich. Omega had killed Yumi once already. And now he would do it again. No! He wouldn't let that happen. Something changed in Ulrich. He felt stronger, faster, more agile. His senses were heightened. He felt like a wild animal that had just been released into the forest. It was as if he had suddenly turned feral. But Ulrich didn't care. All he knew was that Omega was trying to kill Yumi, and he had to stop him. Ulrich suddenly had the strength to stand, and he rushed at Omega. Omega didn't see him until it was to late. Ulrich's sword slipped between his plated armor and scales and into the flesh below. Omega cried out in pain dropping Yumi. She fell to the ground gasping for air. Everyone stared in utter shock. Ulrich had stabbed him. Not one of them had managed to even touch Omega, and here he was with a sword in his stomach. Omega's shock and surprise turned to rage. He grabbed Ulrich and threw him to the ground. Ulrich couldn't move. It was as if his previous strength had all but vanished. Omega pulled the sword from his stomach holding it in a reverse grip. He stood over Ulrich.

"You...Ignorant...Unworthy...little WHELP!" Omega shouted the last words as he raised the sword intent on killing Ulrich right there. He was about to thrust the sword down when he heard a shout.

"Jeremy!" Everyone turned to see Ulrich's older self standing in front of the elevator, giant sword in hand. "JE-RE-MM-YYY" he shouted rushing forward. But he wasn't looking at Jeremy. He was looking at Omega. Jeremy looked at Omega.

"Why would Ulrich-?" The blood froze in Jeremy's veins. There was only one reason Ulrich would call Omega Jeremy. His heart leapt into his throat as he saw the familiar features on Omega's face underneath his scales.

"That's...Me?" Jeremy said barely containing his horror. Everyone looked at Jeremy as Ulrich and Omega launched themselves at each other.