Chapter 11: Too Late To Save Her

My schedule changed, so now I can do a short story on Mondays and Fridays.

…You already know the disclaimer.

Odd's POV:

After William threw Carter into the tower, he tried to destroy her in there. No idea why there of all places. But Ulrich got there in time and knocked William away from the entrance, getting some of his life points in the process. While the bad guy was getting up, he took one look at the tower, scowled, and ran towards Ulrich, Zweihander already in his hands. From the look of things, he wanted to end this quickly.

On my hover board, I zoomed to where Yumi and Aelita were. They were having some trouble with the tarantulas and krabs, but with the help of yours truly, the crabs were gone faster than you can say "Odd is awesome."

Just as I was about to lay into the tarantulas with my laser arrows, we heard a terrible scream coming from the tower.

"Carter!" The good guys screamed, and we all ran towards the tower. Since Ulrich was closest, he tried to get in there to help her. But William wasn't done with him yet; one slash with Zweihander and Ulrich was instantly devirtualized.

"Ulrich!" Yumi called out to her "friend"-*cough boyfriend cough*- but she couldn't help him.

"Look at the tower!" Aelita told us. I looked to where she was pointing. My jaw dropped in shock.

The tower was no longer XANA's red, or neutral white, or Jeremy's green color.

It was purple. A beautiful, violent purple.

Immediately, the sky began to darken. There was no sun on Lyoko, not according to Jeremy, so this was really freaky. The forest seemed dim and gray, and the trees loomed over us and seemed even more menacing than usual.

And that wasn't even the freakiest part, which was hard to believe. The tarantulas that were about to vaporize Aelita and Yumi suddenly froze in their places. Nothing could shake them out of it, not even one of Aelita's energy blasts. And then they suddenly pixilated and were gone. Just… gone.

And you know what really sucks? So did my hover board, the over board, and the over wing. They just pixilated and vanished, with me plummeting to the ground. Thank God I was a cat, or that fall would have hurt.

I looked over at William. He was backing away from the tower with a look of pure terror on his face. I had no idea why. Didn't he intentionally throw Carter into the tower?

And then the beautiful girl who had been haunting my dreams slowly came out of the tower. There was something… off about her. She walked with hesitation, and slowly blinked her eyes, as if she was just waking up from a long sleep.

She looked at her hands, and then her outfit. Then she looked up with a surprised look on her face. And then I knew what was wrong with her.

Carter's eyes were a violent purple, as if a manic fire were burning in them. She took one look at William and her surprised expression changed to determination. She drew her daggers and advanced.

William, in a panic, tried to deflect, but was met with a huge force. Carter's daggers were crossed, blocking William's attack in its tracks. Normally, Zweihander's power, along with XANA's and William's strength, would knock a strong person away, like Ulrich (but don't tell him I said that). But Carter matched him with equal strength, eventually pushing William ten feet away from where he was standing.

"You never should have awakened me," Carter said, but it wasn't in her voice. I mean, it was her voice, but it had a deeper undertone, like someone else was talking for her. It was way too creepy.

XANA was just standing there in William's body, literally shaking like a leaf. He tried to attack with an energy blast from his hand, only to have it pixilated and disappear.

And then William tried to run away.

The three of us just stood there, completely in shock about what just happened. XANA was running? From Carter? True, this Carter was way more scary than the real one, but still…

And then Carter stole Ulrich's super speed move and was in front of William, a dagger pointed at his neck. "You never reveal your back to the enemy, XANA," Carter said in that creepy voice of hers, and even creepier smile spreading on her face.

"For that, you will pay," she said before slicing William's neck. Electricity shot out of the wound like blood normally would have, and William screamed in pain. Grabbing his throat, he turned into black smoke and escaped. Carter didn't try to stop him.

Carter put away her dagger and turned to Aelita, who, like the rest of us, stared at her in pure fear. "Go and deactivate the tower." Aelita was still standing there, the words incomprehensible to her ears. "Now!" Carter ordered more fiercely, and Aelita ran to the tower, not daring to look back.

And then Carter turned towards the forest and said, "The soldier has awakened. Reveal the door to the next world." The ground then shook like a magnum five earthquake, and two of the largest doors I've ever seen appeared.

They were made out of purple mist, and in the dark gloom, they looked gloomy and scary. They had a crossed sword design on it, and when they creaked open, the largest moan escaped out of the hinges, like they hadn't been used in a long time.

Carter stepped back to give the doors some room. When they were fully open, a blinding white light flashed before my eyes, making me cover my eyes with my paws. I knew Carter was going to step through that. "Carter, wait! Don't go!" I screamed out to her, but I don't think she heard me. The doors slammed shut and disappeared, along with my friend.

I dropped to my knees and put my head in my hands. "Don't go, Carter. Don't leave us," I muttered. I heard Yumi say my name softly, put it didn't do any good. Why hadn't I stopped her? Why did I just stand there and stare like an idiot?

"Guys." For the first time, I heard Jeremy's voice. "Carter's disappeared." "What do you mean she's disappeared?" Yumi said rather hysterically.

"When she walked through those doors, she was devirtualized, but she's not in any of the scanners. Ulrich's still done there, just staring at empty pods!"

Just then, Aelita deactivated the tower, returning the forest sector to its unearthly light, and the tower back to white. "Can't you do a return to the past or something?" Yumi asked.

"I'm trying… I don't believe it!" Jeremy cried. "The super computer won't let me use the return to the past!" "Why not?" Yumi demanded to know.

"I have no idea! Maybe it had something to do with that soldier thing Carter mentioned." I could hear Einstein typing away at the keyboard. "I'm devirtualizing you guys right now. Hopefully we can figure this out before it's too late."

It's already too late. Carter's gone, I thought sadly as I was devirtualized.

I did say this chapter would be short. Don't worry, I'll explain everything that's happening to Carter in the next chapter. I do feel bad for Odd, though. I mean, the girl of his dreams just disappeared right before his eyes. Who wouldn't be sad?

…Dear God, I'm feeling sorry for cartoon characters. What is wrong with me?