Chapter 11
Perilous Journey
It was dark. She appeared to be outside. Yumi looked around and saw the school. She was standing outside for some reason. Several lights were on, illuminating the area around her. She looked around and saw someone move through the bushes nearby. "Hello?" she called. Ulrich stepped out into view. "Oh, it's just you. What are you doing here?"
"I need to talk to you." His voice was very shaky. "I've had feelings for you for so long. Why don't you just ask me?"
Yumi wasn't surprised at all about his words and asked herself why. "Oh, Ulrich, I've felt the same way."
She stepped towards him. He stepped towards her. "Yumi," he whispered.
"Yes?" she asked back.
Ulrich took her hand. "Yumi." His voice seamed to become urgent. He leaned toward her. She leaned forward as well, hoping he would kiss her. She licked her suddenly dry lips. He came close enough for their lips to touch.
At the last second, he dropped his head and pulled back, shaking his head. Yumi just stared after him. He slowly brought his head up to look at her. "I'm sorry, but it's too late." Ulrich slowly started vanishing, as if slowly leaving this dimension for another.
Yumi stepped forward, scared, and tried to grab him. "ULRICH, WAIT!"
"YUMI!" She bolted out of her slumber, nearly hitting her head against the steel wall. Ulrich was crouching beside her on the cooler Odd had brought. Her hair was slightly damp and she was breathing deep and quickly. "You're sweating," he said, concerned. "Bad dreams?"
She slowed her breathing and brushed her hair back, feeling several beads of sweat of her forehead. "Yeah," she answered. "I'm fine."
"Good," he said as he stood. "I was starting to worry when you yelled my name."
Yumi sat for another moment. "My mind must be trying to tell me something." She laid her head back against the wall. "What am I going to do?"
Odd, Carl, and Aelita walked out of the tower. "You're going to need your vehicles here," Jeremy said as he sent them down. "It's a long trip."
The vehicles formed a few meters away. Just then, about twelve hornets flew around from the other side of the tower. Carl heard them and turned to see them. "Xana didn't waist any time here. Odd, take Aelita."
"Ok, but should we fight the hornets or go for the tower?"
Carl stepped onto the glider. "Both." He drew one sword and held onto the bar with his free hand. "Let's kick the tires and light the fires." He floored the accelerator and dug one wing into the ground, spinning the glider into a 180, and pointing it back at the tower. He pulled up and shot upwards through a barrage of fire. He barely slipped through and slashed a hornet as he passed.
Odd and Aelita immediately hopped onto the Overboard and zoomed off. "The tower is thirty degrees right and forty klicks ahead." Odd turned off into the woods. They would have to be careful over the digital void.
Odd looked back over his shoulder. Five of the hornets had split off and were chasing him through the trees. Carl was being chased by the other 5 a little ways overhead. A bolt flew in front of Odd's face, pulling his attention back to his flying.
Carl blasted ahead and turned around, flying straight for Odd. "Odd, duck!" Odd dipped a little to let Carl pass overhead. As he did so, Odd also let out a volley of arrows into the swarm of hornets ahead of him. He heard some explosions behind him. When Carl and the hornets passed, he looked back to see a lone hornet following him. "Carl must have taken out the rest," he thought. Aelita was still hugging him tightly.
The tower appeared up ahead. "Hey, Jeremy, why is the ground moving?" The area around the tower seemed to be wiggling.
Jeremy did a scan. "Monsters. They look like snakes."
"Oh, great. I hate snakes." Odd was hit from behind, and both he and Aelita went airborne. "WOOOO!"
"AELITA!" Carl swooped in and grabbed Aelita's outstretched hand, pulling her in. Odd landed on the path leading to the tower. From ground level, he could see the snakes better. They were long and green. Carl flew by slowly. "Odd, see if you can get those snakes away from the tower."
"You got it." Odd aimed his wrist. After a few seconds, he couldn't distinguish one snake from another. They were too close together. He fired a blind shot, hitting a snake on complete luck. All of the snakes turned and started to slowly slither towards him. "Oh, man. Why did I agree to this?"
Carl pulled the glider around a tree, the hornets in hot pursuit. "Ok, Aelita. We're going to have to hit the ground running."
She nodded her head slowly. "Are you sure this will work?"
"No." He turned the glider to the platform. The snakes were slightly cleared out. Carl threw his shurikan, which impacted and created a clearing in front of the tower.
"You're coming in too hot!" Jeremy called.
Carl and Aelita jump just before impact and tumbled into the tower as the glider crashed into the ground. Odd saw them enter out of the top of his peripheral vision. "Hey, what about me?" The snakes closed in. There were too many. One bit him from the right and others joined in. Soon there was nothing but a wriggling mass of snakes.
Aelita and Carl stopped their roll in the center of the tower. Carl propped himself onto one arm. "Ouch. Hey, Jeremy, what's the status on our life points?" Aelita stood and started upward for the upper level.
"We're good with Aelita. The tower will give her her life points back. But you're down to ten because of that fall. Odd was taken out by the snakes."
"Great. Get the next guys ready. And start a twelve hour countdown."
"Already on it," Jeremy replied.
"By the way, thanks for holding those snakes off, Odd."
"And thanks for leaving me for dead," he called from the scanner room.
Jeremy turned around in his seat. "Who's next?" Having rested, Yumi volunteered. "OK. We're sending Yumi. What about you?" he asked Zen.
"I suggest Evan."
"Start up the scanners. The destination is the desert region."
Yumi passed Odd going into the elevator. "Watch out for Carl," he said. "He'll leave you behind if you're not careful."
Yumi just nodded and headed down.
Carl waited on the lower platform for Aelita to deactivate the tower. After she did so, she jumped down, past him, and into the energy stream. Carl jumped in after her. They stepped out into the desert with Yumi and Evan already waiting for them. "You two take point. My life points are low and I need to be careful."
Just then, an energy beam flashed across the desert and hit Carl in the chest. He flew back and vanished into the air. Everyone started looking around, trying to find the source of the shot. "Cover!" yelled Evan, already moving. Yumi and Aelita moved behind a rock formation and Evan moved behind another. Several more shots flew through the space between them every few seconds.
Yumi peaked out, only to get forced back behind cover. "Jeremy. What's shooting us?"
"I don't know. I can't see anything on my radar."
"Try zooming out and focusing around the tower," Carl suggested as he stepped out of the transfer pod. Jeremy did so. Around the tower were seven monsters. Four of them were blocks; the others were another new variety. "Great," Carl sighed. "Evan, there are three sniper pyramids around the tower guarded by four blocks."
"What?" Evan smacked his forehead. "If that's the case, we're done out in this open territory."
"Snipers? As in they shoot at us from a distance?" Yumi asked.
"VERY long distance. And if we make a break for it here with no cover, they'll just pick us off like crazy."
"Maybe we can make some cover," Yumi said before turning to Aelita. "Aelita, can you make one of those tall, dark slabs for me?"
Aelita nodded and dropped to her knees. She focused an image in her mind of what Yumi wanted and concentrated. She unconsciously opened her mouth and emitted a soft note. Between them and the tower, a large stone slab materialized out of the ground. When it completely solidified, Yumi held one hand to her temple and held the other straight out. She glowed red and the slab lifted out of the ground. She jumped behind it and began to walk forward, pushing the slab with her. Several bolts peppered the rock, but it held solid. "Get behind me," she told the others.
They obeyed and were soon clustered in a group, protected by the floating rock. "Great thinking, Yumi," Jeremy complemented.
They progressed slowly, forced into a light jog because of Yumi having to hold up the slab. But within a few minutes, they were only a few football lengths from the tower. Yumi threw the slab, which crashed onto the ground. Three small explosions showed that three monsters were down. Three blocks and a single yellow pyramid-shaped monster stood in a line in front of the tower. The pyramid looked like the blocks other than its shape. It also had a single eye on each of its three top surfaces.
Evan sent his two Ukemis flying, but the blocks he was targeting spun to deflect them. Yumi let off both fans. One of them sliced the pyramids eye while the other flew past a block and turned to pierce the eye in the back.
Two blocks were left. One of them turned and was about to fire on Aelita when Evan jumped into its firing path. "Bet you can't get me," he hollered mockingly. The block spun and charged its ice beam. Evan flew into the air. Several shots were let off, but none of them hit. He landed onto the ground and the block aimed and fired. Even quickly sidestepped, letting the beam go past him and into the other block. As the beam past, he pushed an Ukemi into flowing ice, causing it to freeze solid. He immediately threw the ice ball. It hit the block's eye, but also pushed through, leaving a gaping hole which lasted just long enough for them to see before the block exploded. Yumi sliced the eye of the frozen block. Another sector was cleared. Aelita entered the tower and deactivated it. "This is too easy," Evan said with a laugh.
