A/N: It's been a long-time coming, but I finally have the next chapter updated. Not only that, but I have finished the rest of the story within my absence these past few months! I will be posting the remaining three chapters throughout the next couple of weeks; so keep your eyes peeled!
So, is William's plan going to work? Will destroying the forest and ice sectors truly set Sissi and Ulrich free from XANA's control? It's time that you all find out!
Disclaimer:Code Lyoko is a popular French cartoon series that was created by Tania Palumbo and Thomas Romain, written by Sophie Decroisette, and directed by Jerome Mouscadet. I do not own any of the show's characters. I am simply borrowing the characters for the purpose of this fan-based story. I am the sole creator of the storyline used during this plot. So please, do not use any aspects of my story without my permission. Please, and thank you.
"My Sacrifice"
Aelita and William were silent as they rode through the Forest Sector listening to the humming of the Over Bike and Over Board's engines as they rounded a corner. William spared a glance towards his pink-haired friend and watched as her brow knit tightly together. She was deep in thought as she stared straight ahead and he had a pretty good idea about what was troubling the girl.
"Aelita, I hope you know this is the only way." He called out to her. She jumped, startled by him suddenly speaking, and turned to give him a sad smile.
"I know William."
"Try not to worry so much. We're going to get to the tower, you'll destroy the sector, and then we can head off to the ice sector. Sissi and Ulrich need or help."
"That's not what I'm worried about." She said as her shoulder slumped. "None of this would have happened if it weren't for me. I should have left the Super Computer alone and maybe then, XANA wouldn't have revived. My selfishness could have cost us our friends. Why was I so stupid?"
Aelita, William, the Hiatus Tower should be within sight. My sensors indicate that it's being heavily guarded. Remember, neither of you have enough life points to handle your usual dosage of monsters, so try and evade their lasers at any cost.
Aelita nodded at William before focusing on the path ahead of them, her eyes narrowing in concentration. She growled angrily at the sight of XANA's monsters standing guard outside the tower. The Tarantulas were on the ground, their laser canons aimed right at them while four Megatanx and a swarm of Hornet waited patiently behind them.
"I can count a total of sixteen monsters." William said as nervousness filled the pit of his stomach. "We have to find a way around them. Even if we had all our life points, we wouldn't stand a chance. There's too many of them."
"William, look!" Aelita said as she pointed at XANA's fleet. The monsters slowly began moving to the side, creating a pathway for the two warriors to cross. The warriors hit their breaks, skidding to a stop just in front of the cleared pathway. The Megatanx closed their shells while the other monsters lowered their weapons, conveying that they weren't a threat to William and Aelita in any way.
"They aren't going to attack us?" William asked, surprised on his face.
Aelita shook her head before leaning forward, accelerating towards the tower. "This is what XANA has wanted all along William. With the sectors destroyed, we would have no choice but to materialize ourselves straight into the core of Lyoko just like the last time. He wants to make things harder on us by making them easier."
When they reached the tower, Aelita hopped off the Over Board and headed inside while William waited patiently on the Over Bike. He spared a glance behind him and raised an eyebrow as XANA's monsters slowly disappeared from the pathway, retreating before the sector's destruction would begin.
"Jeremy, what do we do once Aelita has destroyed the tower?" William asked as he spared a glance towards the orange sky overhead.
Once the code has been entered, the tower will disappear and the sector right along with it. I estimate that you and Aelita will have about forty seconds to reach the Way Tower before the sector is completely destroyed, which means the two of you will have to work fast.
William nodded and turned back towards the tower. His eyes widened in shock as slowly, it began to disappear, fading away quickly like an image being erased from a marker board in one swipe. Aelita let out a surprised yelp and William revved the Over Bike's Engine as he moved to catch her as she fell from the sky. Aelita landed awkwardly the back of the bike and William ordered her to hang on tight. Aelita nodded frantically before repositioning herself and wrapping her arms around his torso. William began speeding down the path, occasionally glancing behind him to watch as the path was slowly being deleted. Jeremy began shouting directions and William obeyed as he made a sharp turn around a corner and began speeding down a new path.
Aelita gasped and noticed that the deletion process was beginning to quicken. She began pounding her fists against Williams back, begging him to go faster. If they fell into the digital sea, their mission would have all been for nothing. Jeremy shouted for William to make another turn and the Over Bike began to wobble as its wheel strained under the force of the turn.
"William, hurry!" Aelita screeched.
William narrowed his eyes as the Way Tower came into view. He was so close to reaching the tower, but the sector was so close to being destroyed. He had to find a way to gain speed or he and Aelita would be finished for sure. Suddenly, an idea dawned on him.
"Aelita, I need you to take the wheel." He said as he kept his hand on the gas and stood up, prepared to switch their positions.
"What are you, insane? William, we don't have time for this!"
"Just do what I say, now!" William roared.
Aelita stared at him nervously and nodded. When William jumped off the bike, she quickly slid forward and took control before speeding towards the tower. William then summoned his Super Smoke abilities and attached himself to the back of the bike. Aelita gasped as the bike began moving towards the Way Tower at an alarming speed. She looked over her shoulder realizing that they were moving towards the tower a lot faster than the sector was being deleted. With a smile, she revved the engine and flew into the tower and over the platform edge. William rematerialized on the bike and wrapped his arms around her petite waist as they traveled through the digital sea.
"I can't believe that actually worked." Aelita said with a smile. "William, you're a genius."
"What would you do without me?" he said with a grin as they emerged in a different tower and out into the Ice Sector.
Meanwhile while William and Aelita made their way towards the second Hiatus Tower, Odd and Yumi were working hurriedly to tie Ulrich and Sissi together. Thankfully, when they'd been divirtualized, XANA's puppets were unconscious, giving Odd plenty of time to run and find a rope. Yumi's hands were shaking nervously as she tied them together, fearful of whether or not they were going to wake up and resume their attack. They were no longer on Lyoko and life points were a thing of the past. Should Sissi or Ulrich get the upper hand on her here, it would all be over.
"I think that's tight enough." Odd said as he took the rope from her shaking hands and gave it one final tug before leaning Sissi and Ulrich against the metal drain pipe in the center of the scanner room. "Let's hope that this holds them long enough for William and Aelita to take care of the towers."
Yumi nodded before tugging at the hem of her halter top to help cover her exposed tummy. "William's plan had better work. I don't think I could handle another battle with Ulrich and Sissi."
"I know. It's so weird that they're on the same side. That should have clued me in that something was wrong the minute they started dating."
Yumi couldn't help but to smile as Odd's face twisted up in disgust.
"Come on Odd, it isn't all that bad." Ulrich's voice suddenly came from behind them.
Yumi and Ulrich spun around quickly and gasped at the sight of Ulrich and Sissi staring at them with feral looks in their eyes. Yumi and Odd began to back away slowly as the puppets began struggling against their restraints.
"Try all you want, you aren't going to break free." Yumi said as she and Odd continued to back away. She was immediately proven wrong as Sissi used her specter abilities and phased through the rope, allowing Ulrich plenty of free room to stand up on his own.
"Oh God." Odd said nervously as XANA's two puppets stood to their feet and charged towards them.
Sissi ran straight for Odd and wound up her fist to strike, but she missed and hit the metal wall behind Odd as he ducked out of the way and rolled across the floor. Deciding to use her gifts from XANA once more, Sissi held her hands out in front of her, palms outstretched, and began firing lightning attacks. Odd yelled in surprise as he did his best to roll out of the way and keep her blasts away from the scanners, but they were in a small, closed in space and it wouldn't take her long to strike him down.
While Sissi dealt with their scrawny friend, Ulrich made a run for Yumi. She quickly ran onto the opened elevator and closed the door just in time for Ulrich to miss her. She took a shaky breath before backing away from the door, her back resting against the rear wall of the elevator as she rode up towards the top floor.
Suddenly, elevator came to an abrupt halt and Yumi could feel the cabin trembling around her, the lights flashing from the force of the shaking. Yumi was knocked off her feet and moved into a fetal position, her arms covering her head, as she did her best to protect herself from the horrors happening around her. The shaking lasted for a few seconds more before coming to an abrupt stop.
Yumi looked around the darkened elevator, the red emergency light having flipped on, filling her stomach with fear. She jumped to her feet and ran to the access hatch before slamming her hand on the red button. It made no sound and the door was showing no signs of opening. Yumi began to mentally panic as she slammed her hand against the button repeatedly.
With tears stinging her eyes, she backed away from the door slowly and leaned against the back wall before sliding down to sit on the elevator floor. She hugged herself tight and began to sob as she begged for someone to save her from her prison.
Jeremy sat at the Super Computer, his elbows propped up on the keyboard and his chin resting against his folded hands. He watched in silence as William and Aelita's avatar's moved across the screen. He looked up when a notification appeared, revealing that the Forest Sector had successfully been destroyed, but oddly enough, a code box shot up on screen immediately afterwards.
The blonde-haired genius raised an eyebrow before opening another screen on the monitor. He gasped at the realization that Sissi was still being controlled in spite of the tower being deleted. Jeremy looked back and forth between the code box and the information he had opened and sighed.
"XANA, you've really outdone yourself this time. Hey Aelita, William, we have a problem."
What is it Jeremy? Aelita's voice floated through the computer speakers.
"It would appear that destroying the Forest Sector only completed half the job. XANA has a backup plan to keep Sissi and Ulrich under his control a little longer. It would seem that I have to crack a six-lettered code in order to sever their ties with XANA."
A code, are you sure? Aelita asked. What do you want us to do? Should we abandon the mission?
"No, keep going. Even if you stop your pursuit of the next tower, I will still have a code to crack. I'll see what I can do from here. Maybe there's something useful in the information William gathered from the tower."
Aelita sighed before sparing a glance at William over her shoulder. His eyebrows were narrowed and he looked as though he were about to explode. Aelita patted his leg comfortingly before turning around and revving the Over Bike's engine. She smiled when she spied the second Hiatus Tower being guarded by XANA's monsters.
"Okay, once we take care of this tower, we can head back to earth and help Jeremy crack that code." Aelita exclaimed, but just as she sped towards the group of monsters, they began open firing on the two of them.
"What the hell?" William shouted, suddenly confused by the monsters attacking them. "Why are they shooting at us? They let us pass in the Forest Sector."
Suddenly, a Megatanx rolled into view and opened its shell. Aelita screeched for William to jump and the two of them leaped off the Over Bike as the Megatanx laser wall rushed towards them. The wall slammed into the Over Bike, destroying it and just barely missing the two warriors.
"Why are they attacking us?" William demanded to know as he summoned his sword.
"XANA doesn't want us to free Ulrich." Aelita said. "Sissi is expendable to him, she was only pulled into this mission to bring me here. Ulrich has been under his possession for months and XANA loves having one of us in his pocket to use willingly. He wouldn't care if he lost Sissi, just Ulrich."
"Well we didn't come this far to leave Ulrich behind."
Aelita nodded. "Let's go William."
William held his sword high in the air and began charging towards the fleet of monsters while Aelita summoned her wings and flew overhead. William's blade sliced through the chest of two tarantulas, destroying them. He spun around quickly and thrust his sword outward, destroying another two. Meanwhile, Aelita handled the air fleet and began firing Energy Fields at the hornets that were buzzing noisily around her. She managed to take out five of them before diving towards the ground as another group began shooting at her blindly. The lasers missed Aelita as she began to dodge their blasts, but she managed to get hit in the back by a surprise blast and was sent hurtling towards the ground. She slammed into the icy pavement with a thud, her wings disappearing on impact.
"Aelita!" William shouted as he ran towards her, slicing through two Blocks along the way.
Aelita lifted her head slowly and grunted in pain before pushing herself up into a standing position. She watched as William materialized into Super Smoke and knocked two more blocks over the edge and into the Digital Sea. When he rematerialized, Aelita gave him a thumbs up before raising her palms towards the sky and sending a few Energy Fields towards the remaining hornets. She smirked in satisfaction as they were destroyed. Just then, she froze as the sound of something rolling across the ground reached her ear. Turning around slowly Aelita gasped at the sight of a Megatanx right beside her, ready to fire.
She knew she wouldn't have enough time to get out of the way and screamed. William looked over his shoulder and his eyes widened at the sight of the Megatanx getting ready to fire. Thinking quickly, he materialized into Super Smoke once more and hurriedly made his way towards Aelita.
Everything began to happen in slow motion at that point. Aelita began to run away from the laser wall, her little legs moving as quickly as they could; but before she could be hit, William rematerialized and slammed all his body weight against the Megatanx shell. The impact was so great that the Megatanx rolled over the edge of the Ice Sector. Aelita looked up, a smile of relief on her face, but her relief quickly melted into a look of horror when she spied William toppling over the edge of the sector behind it.
William's name tore through her body, starting at the base of her spine and bursting through her parted lips as tears burned in her eyes. Time began moving at a normal pace and Aelita summoned her wings before flying after William. Her mind kept encouraging her to speed up as she spied both William and the Megatanx plummeting towards the blue sea bellow them, but no matter how hard she tried to speed up, she just couldn't seem to reach him.
"Just go Aelita!" William shouted as he neared the water's surface. "Please, you have to save Ulrich!"
Aelita stopped her pursuit as William and the Megatanx splashed through the surface of the sea, disappearing from her sight. Aelita began to cry.
"No, no, no!" she sobbed.
Aelita, William knew the risk he was taking by slamming into that Megatanx. You have to be strong now. Ulrich and Sissi are depending on you.
"If I hadn't been so selfish and turned the Super Computer on, Ulrich and Sissi would have never been possessed and William…"
Stop it Aelita. Look, I know you're upset, but you can't focus on your grief right now. William knew the risk he would be taking by knocking the Megatank over the sector edge. In the end, he knew that you had to be the one whose life was spared because you are the only one who can deactivate the tower. I know this is hard on you. It's hard on all of us, but you have to stay strong Aelita. Please, I'm begging you. Don't give up!
Aelita's wings continued to flutter as she stared down at the blue sea below her, her eyes blurred by her tears. For years, XANA had been tormenting her and her friends, threatening their lives and the lives of everyone on earth in the process. XANA was hell bent on destroying the earth and he could care less who stood in his way. Franz Hopper may be responsible for creating the possessive artificial intelligence, but he was also responsible for giving his only child the keys to destroying the crazy program.
Suddenly filled with a newfound sense of determination, Aelita floated back up to the pathway and began open firing on the remaining monsters standing guard outside the tower. The monsters were surprised by her sudden reappearance and tried to fire back, but Aelita's energy fields had already hit their mark and destroyed the few monsters left in the fleet. The pixie landed on the ground before running into the tower.
"Jeremy, be prepared to rematerialize me as soon as possible." Aelita spoke as she levitated up to the second platform. "We can't afford to lose me to."
That's my girl.
Yumi cried out in frustration as she struggled to pull the metal sliding door of the elevator open, but it wouldn't budge. Her hands suddenly slipped out from underneath the door and she bit back a curse as the metal scraped across her tender skin. With a sigh, she rested her head against the cool metal of the door as her thoughts drifted to the last time she had been trapped on the same elevator.
She remembered how Sissi had followed her and Ulrich to the factory after they received an S.O.S. from Jeremy and how the elevator suddenly stopped, trapping them inside. In spite of having a broken arm, Ulrich pushed Yumi out of the emergency door as he put his faith in her to go and get help. Ulrich stayed behind with Sissi as the elevator cabin was slowly filled with water. He was willing to stay behind at the risk of her being free. He had faith in her. He trusted her. He had helped her.
Yumi's eyes filled with tears once more as she thought of the boy she had grown to love. Suddenly, the elevator gave another violent shake and Yumi screamed as she braced herself against the wall. Just then, the emergency door was blasted off its hinges. Yumi looked up and gasped as a possessed Ulrich dropped into the elevator from overhead, his eyes maniacal as he gave her a sinister grin.
Ulrich wasted no time going after Yumi and she did her best to fend off his punches, but he managed to tackle her to the ground, pinning her to the floor as he straddled her stomach. Yumi's eyes were wide with horror as his hands clamped tightly around her throat. She did her best to pry his hands free but they wouldn't budge as they slowly cut off her ability to breathe.
"Give up Yumi, you can't win." He taunted her. "Stop fighting and accept your fate."
"I-I will never stop f-fighting you…" she said in a gasp.
Ulrich growled angrily as he slammed her head against the metal floor. "Why the hell not?"
Yumi stopped struggling as her hands fell from his. She looked up at Ulrich, tears falling from her eyes as she stared into his.
"Because I love you Ulrich."
Ulrich's eyes widened and for a brief moment, Yumi saw them soften as their usual brown hue returned. The relief was short lived however as Ulrich growled angrily. Yumi screamed as she was lifted up off the floor before being tossed across the elevator cabin and into the adjacent wall. Yumi's head slammed against the light fixture, knocking her out cold.
Ulrich stared at her as she lied in a crumpled heap on the floor. "No one can save you now."
A/N: And so ends another chapter. I really hope you guys enjoyed it. So, leave me a review to let me know what you thought of this chapter or what you think of the story in general. The next update is coming a lot sooner than you think!
-KairiAngel13
