They started running, Xana led the way. They weaved through the Ninjas, killing only those that were directly in their path. Once they'd made it far enough, Xana whistled to the monsters. With slightly confused looks on their, um, faces, they followed Xana and the kids.
Fleeing the scene into a cave, the Ninjas clue in and start the chase. The monsters rush around the bends, following their master into another big area.
"Stay here!" He barked, and kept running. The monsters and the kids stopped, except for the pink haired one.
"I said stay here!" He yelled.
"No way." Aelita had decided.
Xana didn't look too pleased but he knew it would take longer to argue. He ran out another opening and waited until they were both on board before activating it's levitation.
At top speed, the dark brown platform flew through the sector, just barely avoiding some of the constantly erupting volcanoes, until they reached a place Aelita had never seen before. In a blink they seemed to be floating through a sea of Lyoko towers surrounded by bright red smoke.
Aelita gaped at the scene. "W-where are we?"
"My core," Xana replied sounding a bit impatient.
"Your core?" She asked. What was that supposed to mean?
"It doesn't matter. We're here," He hopped off and started towards another cave. Aelita quickly followed him inside where they found a long corridor. It was scarcely lit except for the one source of light at the end of the hall. Aelita didn't have to get up close to know what it was.
She took a step forwards, but Xana pulled her back just in time. The floor tile infront of her was instantly engulfed in flaming lava which spewed upwards, from a volcano under the path, and by the looks of it that wasn't the only one down there. Xana didn't look too happy to have his sector turned against him.
Aelita looked at him with a worried glance. "What are we gonna do?"
Xana didn't reply. He held out a hand towards the light and after a moment of focus, the source code levitated right to him. With his free hand he grabbed Aelita. "Let's go."
When they turned around, the door was no longer accessible, instead they came face to face with another screen, with the same menacing face.
"Ah ah ah, where do you think you're going?" Tyron's threats wouldn't be very believable with those tell-tale furrowed eyebrows.
"What's wrong? Playing puppet master from behind the computer screen not working for you anymore?" Xana taunted.
"Don't worry Xana, I still pull the strings," Tyron assured, his face becoming more calm, but not completely. "You're not leaving here."
"Want to bet?" The virus smirked. "How are the ninjas doing? Oh wait, that's right, there aren't anymore because my monsters defeated them all!"
"If you think you can keep us here you've got another thing coming." Aelita scoffed.
"Oh I don't think so little girl. You see, even if you did manage to escape, you still wouldn't have enough time to renter the source code and you and your friends would all end up permanently virtual. Forever." The edges of his mouth curled up into a sinister smile at the thought.
"We found a way around that once, and we can do it again," Aelita challenged. "We never give up!"
"Oh how sweet. Well it looks like your mantra is going to be put to the test," Tyron leaned over and pressed a button on his keyboard.
Aelita could suddenly hear crackles running through the walls of the cave. What probably gave it away was the pebbles dislodging themselves from the ceiling and raining down on them. Then came a larger rock, tumbling down and nearly hitting Aelita.
"Come on!" Xana wrenched on her wrist and kicked down what must have been the door, practically dragging her behind him.
"Get their attention." Xana told Aelita. "We've got to get out of here."
"And you?" she asked.
"I'll get the monsters—"
"Don't start without me," she replied before turning around and calling commands at her pals.
Xana mumbled more to himself then in responce. "I won't."
~END~
A/N:
Sorry sorry sorry! I feel like I've ignored everything writing-wise for like a week, even though I really should be knee-deep in these things. I've got like 3 fanfics to work on, 2 on top of this one which are already on hiatus, and then one of my free-time stories, and also an entry I still need to scribble down for a writing contest. Uuurgh! Summer vacation is so ironically busy! Hope you liked the chapter tho...