Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners, particularly the characters taken from the animated series, Code Lyoko and the television series Star Trek. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
Suzanne Hertz was standing at the table, watching Jim be assimilated. She watched as one of the other drones took the probe containing the control and interlink module in its tip, and prepared to insert it into his nostril, heading for his brain. The woman trapped behind the wall that the Borg had confined her behind screamed in frustration and rage, No! Spare Him!
Suddenly a new thought entered her mind, music. It was the sound of a cavalry charge from an old American Western. Intermixed with it came a voice that told her, help is coming, so be ready to move!
Just as the probe was about to enter Jim's nose, something blocked it, some kind of energy barrier. The drone holding the probe was confused, so it tried again, and was blocked again. Suddenly, there was a sharp pain in her head, and the wall that had confined Suzanne was ripped away. She had control of herself again!
She grabbed the arm holding the probe and yanked it away from Jim. Though she didn't realize it, the moment she touched the arm of the drone, nanoprobes invaded it and began disrupting its control systems. It easily broke free of Suzanne's grip, but staggered back and away from the table as the nanoprobes began their work.
She quickly undid the restraints holding Jim down. As she did, his eyes snapped open, and he raised his head up.
"Suzie, what's going on?" he said confused, "I mean, I know you wanted to come to this factory, but I never realized..."
"Jim, be quiet!" she snapped, "I wasn't in control of myself before. Something's going on and we need to get out of here, right now!"
She helped him stand up, then turned around to see every other person in the room advancing on them, including Odd Della Robbia.
"Odd! What is the meaning of this!" Suzanne shouted in her sternest Science Teacher Voice.
He responded by raising his right arm. The devices that had replaced his forearms and hands suddenly sprouted very sharp looking claws, each about 30 centimeters in length.
"If you will not be assimilated, then you will be destroyed," everyone in the room said to the couple.
When Janeway said 'now,' Jeremie, Ulrich, Aelita and Yumi all vanished, along with Dr. Janeway. When they reappeared, the kids were standing in the assembly room of the factory. It was an assembly room alright, but not the one they had seen in the past.
The conveyor belt was gone, replaced by tables where people were strapped down, in various stages of assimilation. The floor around the tables was red with blood from past procedures. In one corner, there was a dumpster full of what looked like body parts, unnecessary tissue that would be recycled and reused.
At the other end of the room, Mrs. Hertz and Jim Moralés were standing, surrounded by all of the other assimilated people in the room, one of which was Odd. They were closing in on the couple, and the gang heard what the Borg had told their victims.
This wasn't Lyoko. This wasn't a game. No one would be devirtualized and spill out of a scanner when their Life Points dropped to zero. If anyone was hurt, it would be for real and for live. If someone died, it truly was Game Over.
The four Lyoko Warriors raised their arms as one, each selecting a different area of the room to fire upon. They spoke with one voice, with one resolve.
"Fire!"
Energy bursts erupted from their hands, followed by nanoprobe shot. Every drone in the room was hit by the bursts, except for Odd. Two of the energy bursts had clipped him, but his Lyoko trained instincts kicked in and he rolled away from the other blasts.
When the fire erupted, Jim and Suzanne hit the floor. The other drones dropped or scattered, then turned, deployed weapons of their own, and returned fire.
The return fire came in the form of high powered laser beams, hot enough to burn through feet of steel. When one of the beams would touch one of the gang, a shield instantly sprang into existence and disbursed the energy. Aelita had been caught in a crossfire of three drones, but their beams just dissipated harmlessly against her shields. She responded with remarkable calm, sighting each target, then returning fire and hitting each one.
Yumi broke left and started after the drones on that side of the room. Jeremie ran up to Jim and Suzanne to cover them. Ulrich went after his friend, Odd.
"Well, Jim, you're going to have quite a tale to tell, I see," Jeremie said.
It wasn't until then that Jim realized that he was naked.
"Explanations will have to wait until we're out of here alive," Suzanne quickly said. She then darted out and grabbed Jim's pants, then ducked back and gave them to him.
"But the last thing I need at this moment is a distraction," she added. He smiled and nodded as he put the pants on.
Meanwhile, Ulrich was chasing Odd around the room, trying to hit him. It seemed like at the very last instant, Odd would just duck out of the way of his shots. And what was worse, the other surviving drones were beginning to pick up on Odd's abilities, and copying his moves.
"Odd, stay still! We're trying to save you!" he hollered at his friend.
"I'm already saved," Odd replied, "and my Salvation and Immortality are infinitely more concrete than anything you can offer."
Dr. Janeway, we've got trouble! Jeremie sent, Somehow, Odd is avoiding our attacks, and the others are catching on!
It's the training and experience he has from Lyoko, Jeremie, came the reply, and since the interlink is still up and running, the others can access his skills. Just hold out a little longer; their link is just about compromised.
Yumi and Aelita were now in dire straights. All of the other drones were concentrating their fire on the two girls, forcing them under cover. Jeremie was pinned under the table with Jim and Suzanne, and Ulrich was fighting Odd.
When Janeway materialized on the roof, he made his way into the Borg ship. He quickly found the drone alcoves and interfaced himself in. Immediately, his nanoprobes went out and started overriding all of the command protocols the ship contained, using the Queen's Command Override Protocol from this era. The ship quickly came under Janeway's control, and he added his own Stand Down Command to the disruption being caused by the nanoprobes Kiwi had deposited.
Down on the assembly room floor, every drone in the room stopped. Ulrich and Odd were in close quarters combat at that point, Ulrich desperately trying to dodge the claws that Odd kept swiping him with. When the other drones stopped, it startled Ulrich for an instant, just long enough for Odd to complete the final commands given to him.
Ulrich's abdomen erupted in fire as Odd's claws raked across him deeply, sending blood and viscera spraying out. Odd let the momentum of his blow carry him in a complete circle. When he came back around, he changed the direction of his next blow into a vicious uppercut that caught Ulrich again in his gut. But this time, the talons raked upwards, shredding his stomach and shattering his ribs, his lungs, his heart. The path of the claws ripped up his throat, finally exiting out under his jaw and chin.
It had only taken a fraction of a second; Odd finally received the Stand Down order and stood back, his eyes wide as he suddenly got back control of himself. He stood there in shock and horror at what he had just done, what he had been made to do to his best friend in the world.
Ulrich stood there a moment, his mind overwhelmed by the pain his body was attempting to process. Blood and guts poured out of his wounds, making sick wet sounds as they hit the factory floor. Finally, nearly drained, Ulrich fell backwards.
Across the room, Yumi had seen the final blows and what had happened to Ulrich. She jumped up, heedless of any danger that may still lurk, and stared unbelieving at him. The agony of his passing hit her, hit them all, really, along with his final words, forgive him.
