Disclaimer: I do not own Code: Lyoko. But I shall soon own…THE WORLD! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!
A/N: I love the smell of a new week of chapters. It is a beautiful smell. I know that the length of the last chapter was uncharacteristically short for me. Hell, I haven't written chapters that short since way back at the beginning, before all of the plot twists. I know that the story has had a lot of ups and downs…okay mostly downs. But that is besides the point. The point is that I'm still writing for all of you, my semi-faithful fans. I hope that you liked chapter nineteen, because this is going to be a semi-repeat of that. As I indicated in the last chapter, the heroes are still getting used to their powers on Earth. The only ones that have their unhindered usages are the mental users, Yumi and Xavier. SAI is going to be as subtle as she possibly can be in an attempt to break Erethyr's spirit. But now I'm blathering. Please R&R, I will give all of you atomic sit-ups unless you comply with my demands.
Ulrich, William, and Odd have all gotten their last check-ups. They now have the go ahead to use their powers on Earth. Odd was so happy at the news that he teleported himself on top of Ulrich's head. Aelita and Jeremie haven't gone in yet, due to the complexity of both of their powers; they both thought it might be a good idea to wait a little bit longer. They have visited Erethyr in the hospital; she's doing a lot better now that she has started eating again, but she's still feeling pretty weak. The entirety of the active group members have all agreed that they need training sessions in order to get a handle on their powers while they're on Earth.
"I still can't believe how helpful Jim's being," Odd said.
"Yeah," Ulrich added, "It must be because we are national heroes now."
"It sucks that Erethyr is still to weak to leave the hospital room," Yumi stated.
"Well, at least she's in the same room as Damon," Xavier stated, "That must be part of the reason why she is recovering so quickly."
"Who called it," William boasted.
"No need to get so cocky William," Ulrich declared, "Sure, you did call it. That is still no reason to think that you are better than us."
"I know, most of you have been at this longer than I have," William admitted, "But I think that I'm doing pretty good for a late comer."
"We will give you that much, William," Yumi laughed.
"Let's suit up," Xavier declared. All five of them pixilated and expanded outward. When their molecules came back together they were in their Lyoko forms.
"Now let's get some serious training done," Ulrich declared.
The five young heroes pulled out their various weapons, and Jim set up some training dummies. "I hope that these will stand up to you five," Jim proclaimed.
"Thanks, Jim," Xavier said as he shot an arrow into one of the dummies. The dummy withstood it without any problems.
"Wow, these are really sturdy," William declared as he did an overhead swing into another dummy. This dummy stood up just as well as Xavier's had.
"I used only the finest materials," Jim stated proudly, puffing his chest out.
"It looks like it's made out of dehydrated mystery meat," Ulrich said, inspecting the dummy closely.
"No wonder they're standing up so well. That shit is practically indestructible," Odd declared.
"Probably why SAI had some of it on her metal monster a couple of months back," Yumi quipped.
"Exactly," Odd declared as he teleported all around the dummy, firing his laser arrows.
"Who knew that all of you would become superheroes someday," Jim thought out loud.
"Well, we already were; but until recently, it didn't become public knowledge," Yumi declared.
"I just can't wait until Erethyr and Damon are all better," William stated.
"Yeah, then our training sessions can get really intense," Ulrich commented.
"Oh Ulrich dear," came a familiar voice.
"Shit, not her; not now," Ulrich moaned.
"You should be happy that you have your own little fan club, Ulrich dear," Odd joked.
"Just as long as she isn't the president of it," Ulrich declared, "I could care less."
As Sissi drew closer, Ulrich split himself into three. "Which one of you is the real Ulrich," asked a confused Sissi.
"Gotta catch us to figure that one out," one of the Ulrichs declared as they raced up to the top of the building at high speeds.
"HEY!!! No fair," Sissi cried. The entire group, even Jim was laughing at Sissi's predicament.
SAI's Orb
"Alright, I will start my next attack now. I'm depending on you to fulfill your part of the plan," SAI declared.
"Of course, Lady SAI," the newest Cid clone replied.
"Ooh, I just LOVE that name," SAI said, shuddering with rapture.
"You better go before she jizzes her panties," Cid proclaimed sarcastically. SAI just smirked at him as both she and his clone left the orb.
The scyphozoa just floated over to the corner and began to look like it was crying again. Cid just rolled his eyes and tried to figure out some way to inform the rest of the group as to his location. Then it struck him.
"Hey, scyphy," Cid shouted. The scyphozoa turned towards him. Cid just nodded him over; the scyphozoa hesitantly floated over to him.
"You don't really like SAI, do you," Cid inquired. The scyphozoa shook its body.
"Well, I have a plan that will solve both of our problems. What I want you to do is…" Cid stated as he started to explain his plan to the scyphozoa. After he was done, the scyphozoa used one of its tentacles to give Cid a high five. The plan was in place, now just for the right moment to use it.
The Hospital Room
The agents were keeping a close watch on the electrical sockets. They had been recently debriefed as to one of the various attack methods of their primary enemy. That is when they saw the silver smoke coming out of the socket. What they hadn't debriefed on was how to exterminate the specters. One of the agents decided to give Aelita a call.
"Yes, what is it," Aelita asked.
"We've got an emergency here. SAI has just decided to attack…Erethyr. You kids might want to head over to the factory ASAP," the agent declared.
"Thanks for the update, agent. Thanks to you, we might even head off the attack before the damage becomes as great as Damon's," Aelita stated as she hung up the phone.
"Now all we can do is wait," the agent proclaimed.
The Factory
The entire group had been rounded up in a matter of minutes and had convened at the factory. Ulrich gave Xavier his skateboard now that he had his super sprint on Earth. Jim even decided to tag along to see their battle unfold on Lyoko.
The entire group was virtualized onto the frozen wasteland of the ice sector. "I'm programming your vehicles. The activated tower is due northeast of your current position," Franz declared.
"Have I ever mentioned that I don't like how cold it is in this sector," Odd stated.
"Only about a million times," Ulrich commented, rolling his eyes.
"Be careful, I'm detecting the scyphozoa en route to your location…wait, that's strange," Franz declared.
"What's strange," William asked.
"The scyphozoa isn't showing itself as red. It's actually white on the scan this time," Franz replied, sounding confused.
The scyphozoa floated up to the group and took Aelita in its tentacles. She floated off of the ground and was receiving data from the creature. "Aelita," Jeremie shouted, charging up his energy attack.
"It's alright, Jeremie," Aelita said, confusing the group, "It's just trying to communicate with me."
"WHAT?! That seems pretty iffy if you ask me," Yumi declared, pulling out her fans. The scyphozoa stopped sending data to Aelita and released her. Aelita nodded to the scyphozoa and it took off.
"What was that all about," Xavier asked.
"It had a message from Cid," Aelita declared, getting shocked expressions from the entire group.
"What does he have to say," William inquired warily.
"He said that SAI has been holding him captive and sending clones to attack us. She has been performing experiments on his DNA to give her an edge on us. She has him held captive in her orb," Aelita explained.
"That seems pretty dodgy to me," Odd said, "How could he be held captive in one of those orbs?"
"Actually, the program that the orb was created for has free access to it," Xavier explained, "And that is actually a very ingenious thing to do."
"What," Jeremie asked, "Hiding him in her orb, or using the scyphozoa to send a message to us?"
"Both, in all actuality. What else did he have to say," Xavier inquired, now intrigued.
"He saw into Damon's mind when she attacked him," Aelita proclaimed hesitantly, "But now isn't the time to go into that. We've got a tower to deactivate." The group realized that she was right and raced off to the activated tower at top speed to make up for lost time.
Erethyr's Mind
Erethyr and Damon were walking in a beautiful meadow, holding hands. They looked at each other and went for a warm embrace. Erethyr didn't notice the silver mist enter Damon's body.
They reluctantly pulled away from each other's embrace. Erethyr said, "Let's change the scenery a little bit, Damon." The scenery changed to the mountain sector on Lyoko.
"You know, this does look beautiful and all, but I have a confession to make," Damon sighed.
Erethyr looked at him quizzically. "This is supposed to be a dream. Why is it that I don't know what he's going to say next," Erethyr thought to herself.
"I don't really love you," Damon declared, looking at her sympathetically.
It was like Erethyr had just had her heart yanked out of her chest. "Then who do you love," she asked shakily, tears streaming down her cheeks.
Damon grinned sheepishly before saying, "SAI."
Erethyr started to lose control over her dream at that point. It was becoming a nightmare. The ground opened up underneath her, belching flame. SAI popped out of the ground and locked lips with Damon. Erethyr was bawling at this point. "Why…how could you? I loved you. I was willing to give it all for you. Why have you forsaken me," Erethyr asked hysterically.
"Because he has always loved me, from the first time that he saw me in his nightmares. Isn't that right, honey," SAI stated as she rubbed his chest. Damon could only nod slowly. He was completely entranced by SAI.
Erethyr was now heartbroken. She pulled back her fist and decked Damon. He held himself in pain. SAI gave an expression of shock and disappeared, escaping from Erethyr's mind and leaving Cid behind within Damon. "That's what these clones are for-cannon fodder," SAI thought to herself as she went back to the super computer.
Lyoko
The group had just arrived at the tower when SAI appeared. "What have you done to Erethyr," Yumi demanded.
"I only planted the seed of dissension. I left it entirely up to her if she would let it grow," SAI replied with a grin.
"You really are an evil bitch, you know that," Xavier declared.
"What," SAI said almost seductively, "You know that I've been way better at attacking someone's psyche than you ever were."
"You didn't," Xavier stated incredulously.
SAI giggled, "Yes, I did; and you know what the only thing stopping me from attacking you like I have Damon and Erethyr is." She deactivated the tower before disappearing in a puff of silver mist.
"What did she mean," Yumi asked.
"I'll tell you when we get out of here," Xavier stated. Franz took his hint and started to devirtualize the group.
The Computer Lab
"First off, before I explain what SAI meant, let's hear what Cid saw in Damon's mind," Xavier declared, trying to avoid the subject for as long as possible.
Aelita noticed this, but continued on anyway, "SAI and the Cid clone of the day went into Damon's mind and interrupted one of his usually prophetic dreams. They were in an unfamiliar city. Cid revealed to Damon where he was being held, through his image of me, before proceeding to kill us all. Between him and SAI, they killed everybody but Erethyr in the first attack. He was confused by why Yumi and William weren't present at the time, however. That was when Damon went ballistic and transformed into a demon. He obliterated the clone with only one claw and a look into his eyes. SAI took it too far by killing Erethyr. That is when the entire scenery changed. The city turned into a desolate wasteland, with crumbling remains of buildings on fire. The ground looked like it was molten and the sky was red. It was even raining blood. SAI started to run away, but Damon flew up and caught her. He stabbed both claws into either side of her face and gazed into her eyes. He showed her death to her, being ripped apart molecule by molecule. She was turned into a statue of ash and he flew over to Erethyr's body. He turned back into his human form and wept for Erethyr. That was all that he saw before SAI closed the connection into his mind." The entire group, Jim and Franz included, shuddered at the description of what had happened in Damon's head.
"…No, wonder she held of on her attacks for a while," Jeremie stated.
"Yeah, that could seriously shake up anybody," William stated.
"We have to go into his mind and fix what SAI did to him," Yumi declared with conviction.
"Yeah," Odd stated, "His mind was fucked up enough after what had happened to him previously, but this just went over the edge."
"But now the question is," Aelita stated, trying to get the conversation back to Xavier, "what did SAI mean on Lyoko, Xavier?"
Xavier winced, there was no way to avoid it any more. He hesitantly said, "Way back in the day, before the super calculator was activated, SAI and I were lovers…"
"WHAT?! No fucking way," was the entire group statement.
"You mean that you two were…how does that work out," Jim asked.
"You see, up until a few months ago," Xavier explained, "I was also a computer program…and I was trying to kill the others. That all changed when I found out what SAI was really up to. She took all the power that I had gained fighting the Lyoko warriors. I tried to get them to help me, but it was thanks to Damon that they accepted me. I owe Damon a lot, and I'm willing to do whatever it takes to help him."
"That is really touching, but if SAI thinks that she can pull apart our group with her words alone," Ulrich declared, putting his hand on Xavier's shoulder, "She's very mistaken."
Xavier looked up to Ulrich in astonishment. "Yeah, she may be clever, but we trust you," Yumi said as she too put her hand on Xavier's shoulder. He looked around to all of his friends. They were all nodding in agreement.
A tear rolled down Xavier's cheek as he said, "Thanks, that means a lot to me."
"What are friends for," William declared.
Erethyr's Mind
Erethyr had beaten the shit out of Damon. He was now just a bloody mess on the ground. Erethyr looked as though she had been crying, "Why…why have you forsaken me…"