An ear-splitting crash cracked throughout the stunned silence in the Kadic gym. Everybody looked up fearfully to the groaning ceiling, which looked as if it was going to give in any moment. Ominous cracks had appeared in it and the bulging walls, it was as if they were being squeezed, tighter and tighter.
The time for screaming and chaos had passed – instead people sobbed quietly, holding each other while wondering whether they would ever live to see the sun again.
PARAGRAPH BREAK
Sissi shrieked as she saw the black stream of smoke emerge from the digital sea and make a direct beeline for her cloud. She cowered behind Odd, who rolled his eyes.
'Hey, William,' greeted Odd cheerfully, shifting over to make room for the smoke. Sissi stared at him in amazement, and then at the stream of smoke.
'W-William?' she stuttered, her voice still squeaky. The stream of smoke paused, and slowly built up until it was roughly her height and weight. Then it solidified into William Dunbar.
'Hi Odd,' William returned drily. 'Long time no see.'
'Mm. Pity that,' said Odd, grinning. Meanwhile, around him, the shocked silence was dispersing.
'William!' Yumi cried out, throwing herself at him and hugging him tightly, much to Ulrich's discomfort. She felt so relieved, as if a weight had been lifted off her. William was back, XANA would be defeated and all would be well.
'Yumi!' William hugged back with equal enthusiasm, whereupon Yumi carefully disengaged herself, settling back into her former position next to Ulrich.
Ulrich arranged his face in what he hoped was a pleasant expression. 'So Aelita cured you?'
'Yep. She and Jeremie are having a "private moment",' he replied, winking at Yumi and moving back to slip an arm around her waist. She grinned, twisting away before he could get a proper grip. Still the same William.
Ulrich misinterpreted the grin, scowling and turning away. 'They'd better hurry – Lyoko is about to disintegrate! With us in it,' he added for emphasis.
'Relax! We'll just devirtualise each other and then we'll beat XANA up on Earth,' William told him simply, still not able to believe that he was in complete control of himself again. Even though he didn't remember anything about being possessed – the last thing he remembered was the Scyphozoa floating ominously behind him in Sector 5.
Ulrich scowled, and opened his mouth. Fortunately, at that moment, Aelita, looking blissfully happy, rose out of the digital sea with barely a ripple, wings beating and holding in her arms…
Jeremie. Jeremie Belpois in the flesh (A/N Close enough, anyway), the reason that had kept them all fighting for all those dreary months… Jeremie was surveying them with a look of disbelief on his face. Then his face broke into a brilliant smile. Everybody beamed fondly, arms instinctively reaching out to him.
Sissi cut in before he could get a word out. 'We can exchange niceties when we're all safe on Earth, thank you very much!' Her voice was high pitched with anxiety.
'Good point,' Jeremie said, dazed.
'I'll go first,' Yumi volunteered. 'Aelita…'
Aelita was still gazing at Jeremie. Yumi coughed politely.
'Aelita?'
Without warning, Aelita's arm flicked up, palm facing outward toward Yumi's chest while her face still gazed intently into Jeremie's.
The pink energy slammed into her, sending electricity jolting through. She gasped for air, and opened her eyes.
She was still on Lyoko. 'Hit me again,' she said urgently.
In response, Odd spun around and fired a laser arrow into William. The latter winced, rubbing his arm. 'Ouch,' he said mildly.
'What's wrong?' Ulrich asked, with a dawning horror at what was happening.
Aelita finally tore her eyes away from Jeremie's, her face had paled. 'I should have seen this.'
'Seen what?' Ulrich asked impatiently, confused.
'XANA cut off the scanners.'
'What?' Sissi said, her voice gradually growing in volume and pitch.
'We're doomed,' Aelita said blankly, hardly daring to believe her own words.
'No! It can't be! I can't die!' Sissi wailed, clutching Odd. She sobbed dramatically. Odd was too shocked to swat her away.
Yumi stared blankly at Aelita, processing the words but not understanding them. 'We're… going to die,' she repeated dully.
Aelita nodded, turning her freshly tear-streaked face into Jeremie's shoulder, burying it there.
They were together for such a short time – was this how it was going to end? XANA would win, and they would perish on Lyoko, all their efforts gone to waste…
As she thought those terrifyingly final thoughts, Lyoko began to vibrate.
'What's happening?' Sissi shrieked anew.
'Lyoko's breaking up,' Aelita murmured.
'So what do we do?' Sissi wailed.
'We wait,' Aelita said as calmly as she could.
'Wait for what?' Sissi persisted.
'Death,' Aelita said simply, hugging Jeremie closer to her, closing the conversation. Sissi was rendered speechless, and turned around, appealing to the others for salvation from this terrible fate.
She was met with blank stares, devoid of hope. She gave one last great wail, and sank to her knees, sobbing lustily, and waiting for the inevitable.
'Don't cry, little friend of Aelita's,' a deep voice murmured. Everybody's head jerked up, eyes flaring in wild hope.
Franz Hopper was rising out of the ground as the great white bubble of essence. Her glowed powerfully, shimmering, a beacon of hope.
There was no time to lose – a black void was fast swallowing up the horizon. 'What do we do?' asked Aelita urgently.
The bubble hesitated. 'I have a way out.'
'What?' Sissi turned her face to him, giving him her undivided attention now.
'I always leave myself a back door,' Franz admitted. 'And now, it seems, is the time to use it.'
'So take us through!' William said, unable to grasp why Franz had not already done so.
Franz Hopper hesitated again. 'It is not that simple. I designed it only for myself - I-I can only take one, or two of you at the most,' he said gently. Everybody froze.
'So, five of us have to be left on Lyoko to die?' Aelita said, trembling at the thought.
'Yes.'
Aelita moaned, before she noticed everybody staring at her and Jeremie. 'What?' she asked self-consciously, already knowing the answer, and dreading it.
'You two have to go,' Ulrich said tonelessly.
Horror welled in Aelita's body. 'No!' she burst out, at precisely the same time as Jeremie, unable to make the terrible choice.
'Aelita.' Yumi spoke kindly, holding the smaller girl's gaze with hers. 'You have to go. You and Jeremie are the only ones who will know how to defeat XANA.'
'But… but I can't!' Aelita cried out, torn apart inside, knowing that she couldn't argue against the logic.
'Aelita, you must.'
'No! I won't! I can't…' Aelita's voice trailed off into a sob.
'Aelita. Come. Your friends have made their sacrifice, you cannot afford to waste it.' Franz Hopper intervened gently. Aelita ignored him, her arms outstretched toward her friends, appealing to them.
Odd stepped forward, shoving Aelita and Jeremie firmly toward the white bubble. The black void was rushing ever closer.
'Go on,' he said, for once without a sparkle of merriness dancing in his eyes. But then, who could blame him? In a daze, Aelita stumbled forward, helped by a silent, shocked Jeremie. Aelita turned a tearful face to her friends, for the last time.
'Aelita?' Yumi asked quietly, moving closer to Ulrich.
'Yes?' Aelita's voice trembled.
'Tell… Hiroki and the rest I love them,' Yumi whispered, closing her eyes. Without a word, Ulrich held her, his face still carefully expressionless.
Aelita was in anguish. This was not the way it was meant to be. 'I will find a way to see you again! You won't die! I promise!' Aelita called, trying her utmost to believe herself. The white bubble was swirling anxiously around her, wanting to be off.
'Aelita, you must hurry.'
Jeremie spoke now, his voice hollow. 'I'm sorry, everybody. For being such a bad friend.'
Yumi smiled weakly, her eyes still closed, tears gathering at the corners. 'Don't worry. You weren't.'
Aelita turned back to Franz Hopper, unable to bear it any more, wanting to be off before her resolve failed her.
'Let's go,' she whispered blankly, her mind unable to accept that she was leaving five of her very best friends to their deaths. Tears filled her eyes anew.
She took one last glance at her friends. She saw Ulrich bury his face into Yumi's hair, and whisper something. She saw Yumi's body stiffen, then relax as she whispered something back, and they held each other even closer, for their last moments of life.
She saw Sissi and Odd, struck dumb, but strangely peaceful at the same time. She saw William, shocked and silent – how cruel it was, to tear away his life when it had only just restarted.
She saw them all, she loved them all. And now they were all going to die. But, as she reached out to them, she was engulfed in a white light, and was borne back to Earth, unable to hold back one last scream of anguish.
Yay dead people…
Anyway, review pretty please!