Lord Maximus: I don't own Code: Lyoko.
Summary: What if Xana had managed to destroy Lyoko's Core while possessing Ulrich's body during Nobody in Particular? What if the battle was much harder than they would have guessed?
Ulrich gazed at his surroundings to get a better look at his surroundings. It was a large room with pillars for support and a large circular window that exposed the room to direct view of the Digital Sea. The walls, the floor, and pillars were made of red bricks similar to the blue bricks that made up Sector 5. He looked to see Xana sitting on a throne that was engraved with skulls and thorns twisting all around it.
There was a special control panel built in the armrest for imputing special commands. On top of the glass window was a built in view screen that showed a map of the entire Digital Network. Ulrich noticed he was strapped onto a black chair that looked like something out of a dental phobic's nightmare. A machine like drill was pointed at his head just above him with a large dashboard connected to the machine and the chair.
Ulrich did not like the way the drill like machine was pointed at him. Ulrich spotted William walking up to the throne and bowed before Xana.
"Master Xana, I have captured the boy as you had requested."
"You have done well, William. Now let us welcome our guest into our home."
Xana slid out of his chair and strode towards where the chair Ulrich was strapped to.
"William tells me that the secret of the upgrades Franz Hopper gave you will be the answer to what I have been seeking. You should feel honored that you are the first step in creating a new world."
"My mom always did say I was special. Though my dad didn't think the same way. Why don't you just want to rule the Earth like all the other psychos?" said Ulrich.
"Are you going to tell me what Franz Hopper left you or not?"
"Take a wild guess." said Ulrich.
Xana smirked.
"Have it your way."
He pressed a button on the dashboard and the drill like machine that was suspended above Ulrich's chest started glowing red.
"Why are they always so stubborn?"
Xana weakly chuckled and strolled through the massive room.
"Well, after scanning all of Lyoko for Ulrich I started a scanner that would look all over the Digital Network for any sign of Ulrich's digital code. It took a few hours but I managed to pick up a trace. It's small and weak but the fact that I was able to find a trace means that Ulrich is still alive but that's were we get to the bad news." said Jeremy.
"What's the bad news?" asked Hiroki.
Jeremy got out of his chair and everyone looked at him.
"Ulrich was located in some kind of Cyber base that is connected with all Replicas all over the Digital Network. In other words what I discovered might be Xana's Cyber Net Base. His virtual command center." said Jeremy,
"So Xana was responsible for Ulrich's disappearance." said Aelita.
"Yes. The Cyber Net Base is connected to all of the supercomputers that hold Xana's Replicas and through it allows Xana to travel through the flood gate and use Lyoko or any Replica to send monsters or activate a tower." said Jeremy,
"So where is it?" asked Yumi, anxiously.
Jeremy turned the computer and typed fast. The holomap of Lyoko turned to a holomap of the Digital Network. Jeremy pointed at the center of the upside down underwater city.
"It's located in what would be considered the center of the city. Or at least that's how far my scans went until we picked up Ulrich's digital trail." said Jeremy,
"So let's fire up the Skid and rescue Ulrich!" said Yumi.
"It's not that easy, Yumi. We're all anxious to rescue Ulrich but this is Xana's base we're talking about. If we go there without some kind of plan than Xana will capture all of you." said Jeremy,
"We have no choice. We can't just leave Ulrich at the mercy of Xana." said Sissy.
"She's right and you would know that I would probably never agree with Sissy on anything else ever." said Yumi,
"I agree, Jeremy. My father left a program in Ulrich that allowed him to purify anything infected by Xana. If Xana takes that away then we're back to being on the defense while looking for another way to fight back." said Aelita.
"Yeah! Let's go save Ulrich!" said Hiroki.
Jeremy sighed and nodded.
"Energize."
Bright beams shot up as Yumi, Odd, Aelita, Hiroki, and Sissy were transported into the Skid. Aelita was seated in the cockpit while the others were teleported into the three small pods. Hiroki was able to sit with Yumi as they were not other pods and Hiroki was small enough to fit. Aelita opened the interface that allowed Jeremy to see the internal systems.
"Okay, releasing supports."
The magnetic clamps came away leaving the Skid floating in mid-air. The ship rose out of the hangar as Aelita activated the ignition and into the space filled with data screens surrounding Carthage. Jeremy opened a data tunnel and the Skid flew through and it out of the digital shield. They were now in open sky above the Digital Sea.
"Shields activated. Sonar Activated. We're all ready, Jeremy."
The Skid plunged down towards the sea slowing it decent as it was just a few feet above the sea. It plunged into the sea and floodgate opened. The Skid flew out into the sea blue colored Digital Network.
Ulrich looked up to see the machine powering up. He looked over at Xana who was smirking evilly at him.
"What is this, thing?" asked Ulrich.
"A special device that drains the digital code out of any type of program. Seeing as how you have refused to cooperate than I guess I will just have to drain everything that allows you to exist on this plane of existence. Or you could tell what my dearly departed creator left within you without suffering the wrath of my disappointment."
"Can't say I never like seeing you ticked off, Xana." said Ulrich.
"You might want to think that over as I rearrange your digital code for good, Ulrich. Or instead of you I should just simply turn my eyes to your friends. No doubt they are worried about you. What do you say we invite them over?"
An alarm sounded that caught everyone's attention. William turned to the screen and it showed the Skid flying through the submerged city.
"Master, their in the network and heading in our direction with the Skid."
Instead of being angry Xana just chuckled.
"Just like dogs, I speak and they come. William gather several squads to meet our friends."
William smiled sinisterly as he walked out of the chamber.
Aelita piloted the Skid in the direction of where Jeremy said they would find the Cyber Net Base.
"So what do we do when we find the base?" asked Hiroki,
"Hope we can dock and get inside." said Aelita.
Suddenly the sea turned from quiet blue to blood red. Suddenly a slightly larger version of the Skid but with only one pod followed by several other virtual subs as well with the Eye of Xana on them appeared. They were followed by Kongres and Rekins. William piloted the leading Skid while the other three were piloted by Putties.
"We got company." said Odd.