Author's Note: This is it. This is the final chapter. Well almost. There is an epilogue coming up after this.
sss
Jeremie fumble through a list of programs. He pressed buttons, keyed in commands. All he could get was a bunch of error messages. The system wasn't letting him through. He slammed his fist against the chair. Of all the times for him to be cut off of Lyoko, it had to be now. He looked at the screen. He could see what was going on, but his voice wasn't getting to them. Something was blocking him.
He searched through, frantically trying to find the cause of the problem. So far, everything was showing up as normal. The supercomputer was indicating there were no issues. He knew this was wrong, not to mention contradictory with how the supercomputer wasn't allowing his voice to get through to Lyoko.
They were running out of time. He looked up at the screen. Aelita was still in the tower. He had no idea if she was close to cracking the code or not. And Odd, he was still danging over the cliff, being pulled down by Therizino. He was relieved that Yumi had gotten to him, but he was still worried. Therizino could pull them both over.
He gritted his teeth. They should have planned this better. They should have thought about back up strategies. They should have not underestimated Therizino's capabilities. Now all he can do is stare at the screen helplessly as he watched the events on Lyoko unfold. He felt so useless.
He heard the door behind him open. He turned around to see Ulrich, looking a little tired, walking up to him. Ulrich joined Jeremie in watching what was happening on Lyoko.
"Gah! I can't believe I let myself get devirtualized!" Ulrich said as he watched the signatures indicating Odd and Yumi being dragged down by Therizino. "I should be there helping them..."
"You can't go back." Jeremie said sadly.
"Yeah I know." Ulrich admitted. "Did you fix the interference?"
Jeremie shook his head. "I'm afraid not. I don't know if it was Therizino or XANA, but I'm completely cut off. Nothing is letting me through. I can see but they cannot hear me. And I cannot hear them." He leaned forward and started typing again. "Maybe if I try to..."
Ulrich took a step closer. "We don't have time for that!"
"Ulrich, it will take time! If you let me work, I'll be done soon!" Jeremie said, even though he had doubts he could pull it off.
And Ulrich seemed to sense his doubt. "It will take too long!"
With that, Ulrich walked away. Jeremie frowned at him and turned back to the monitor. Seconds later, he heard footsteps heading back in his direction. He turned around. He opened his mouth to speak, but his eyes widened when he saw what Ulrich was carrying.
"U-Ulrich?! W-What are you d-doing with that?!" Jeremie gripped the computer chair tightly and pressed himself back, as if to get away.
Ulrich wielded a long metal bar. He had it held off to the side in a striking pose. He moved slowly towards Jeremie. "I am going to do things my way!"
"Are you insane?!" Jeremie cried, covering his head as if to shield himself. "Don't! Get away!"
Ulrich didn't listen. He rushed forwards. He let out a yell as he raised the iron bar over his head. When he got close enough, he struck down. Jeremie screamed and shut his eyes. The iron bar made impact with the top of the central monitor. There were a few sparks of electricity, but otherwise the monitor was in tact.
It took Jeremie a few seconds to recover from what happened. He placed his hand on his chest and sighed in relief that there wasn't more extensive damage. He shot a harsh glare at Ulrich.
"What were you thinking? You were lucky you didn't..." Jeremie growled softly. "Oh I can't believe you just did that! You could have...!"
He didn't have time to finish the sentence. There was a beep on the computer screen. He turned to look at it. His eyes widened as he saw a message flashing across the screen. He had access again to speak to Lyoko. He slowly turned his head to Ulrich, stunned.
Ulrich gave a small smile. "I guess my idea wasn't so stupid after all."
sss
Yumi hung onto Odd tightly, gripping his hand with hers. She pulled back, step by step. Her feet kept slipping forward. Although she had extra endurance on Lyoko, it wasn't doing much to help her situation. She could hear Therizino's laughter in her mind as they continued to move towards the edge. Yumi wanted to attack Therizino, but if she let go of Odd, even just one hand, he could slip from her and fall to his death.
Odd tried to pull himself up with his left hand, trying to assist Yumi. He scraped the ledge with his feet. They couldn't get a grip. He tried kicking at Therizino's face. It was useless. He couldn't reach her. He could feel a splitting pain in his head. He had to fight the urge to grab his head, fought to ignore the pain. Therizino turned the dial up on the threshold of the attack, and by now Odd had a hard time concentrating on what was going on.
"Odd?" Jeremie's voice said.
Odd craned his head up. "Jeremie? You fixed the interference?"
"Yeah, with a little...unorthodox help." Jeremie said. "Listen, Odd, Aelita is in the tower. Can you hold on for a while longer?"
Odd yelped when Yumi slipped further towards the edge. "I don't know. It's not a piece of cake here. Therizino won't let me go! I don't know how long Yumi and I can hold on!"
Yumi grunted in exhaustion. "Please Jeremie. Isn't there something you can do?"
Odd's eyes lit up. While his plan as bait didn't go exactly as planned, after all he did not expect Therizino to push him this far away from the others nor did he expect all these monsters here, Therizino had slipped up somewhere. And now she was going to pay for it. An eerie grin spread across his face. Yumi and even Therizino were confused by this.
"Jeremie, I think I know how to get rid of Therizino without deleting her profile." Odd called out.
'What?!' Therizino hissed. 'You're mad! You can't possibly have...'
Odd chuckled. "You might think you have the upper hand. You might think you are so clever. But you see, you aren't the only one who can get a step ahead in the game." Therizino's eyes widened quickly. Odd turned his attention towards the sky. "The spheres on her tail, Jeremie! Those are her true weak points!"
"Oh I see." Jeremie said, his voice filled with realization. "I will go inform Aelita. Thanks, Odd!"
Therizino couldn't believe what had transpired. She glared up at Odd. Her eyes glowed intensely. 'You...' She grabbed Odd's ankles with her paws. The sudden shift almost caused them to go over right then and there. 'This is the end of the line for you!'
Before Odd could react, Therizino released her grip on his tail and clamped her jaws on his side. He cried out in pain as she sank her teeth into his body.
sss
After getting word from Jeremie, Aelita immediately changed tactics. She stopped trying to hack the entire profile and instead focused on just one spot in particular. She shuffled through the windows and entered different commands. Jeremie sent her a program to help, and help it did. With it, she managed to gain access to one small part of Therizino.
"Aelita, did you get through?" Jeremie asked.
She replied, "Yes, Jeremie. I have access, but it won't last long." Aelita zoomed in on one window in particular, seeing a strand of code on it. Her fingers hovered over a button. "Shall I?"
"Yes. Do it." Jeremie said.
Aelita pressed the button. The portion of code glowed in front of her. Then it suddenly broke apart. A bunch of error screens filled the console now. The whole of Therizino's profile was covered with red exclaimation points. This time instead of bringing fear, it brought a smile to Aelita's face.
"It is done, Jeremie." She said softly.
sss
The spheres on Therizino's tail glowed. Lines started cracking through them, purple light shining out of them. The lines spread throughout all three of the spheres before there was a sudden crack. Therizino's eyes shot open. In seconds, the spheres shattered, pieces flying everywhere.
Black goo poured out of the tips of her tails. The tails waggled around like a wild animal writhing in agony. Now no longer contained, the purple electricity shot through her body. Therizino struggled in pain, her eyes shut tightly. The electricity stretched up to Odd and Yumi, who screamed as well. Electricity from Odd's eye sparked as well, sending wide archs in rapid succession all over the place.
The electricity dances over them all, engulfing them in purple light. Odd's right eye had a lot of electrical concentration on it. He gritted his teeth and tried not to scream. Suddenly, something inside his right eye snapped and his eyes widened bigger than Yumi had ever seen them. A black goo dripped from Odd's right eye.
Therizino couldn't take it anymore. She let go of Odd and let out an agonizing roar. She lost her grip on the boy. She started falling down. In seconds, the electricity stopped around Odd and Yumi. But on Therizino it continued, causing her screams to fill the Lyoko air, fading slowly as she fell towards the Digital Sea below.
Therizino's release caused Yumi to fall back, pulling Odd upwards. He landed on top of her. The pair, though shaken up by the electricity, managed to get back to their feet. They peered over the edge and watched the red monster fall down and finally hit the Digital Sea.
There was no pillar of light indicating deletion. Instead, Therizino's head popped out of the liquid-like data. Electricity covered her body. Her eyes were wide and darkened, the light sucked out of them. Black goo formed around her. She let out one final agonizing roar as she sank below the Digital Sea. As she went below, a few purple flashes were seen before it became quiet.
Yumi and Odd stared in shock. They took in deep breaths, comprehending what had happened. They looked at each other and, after a minute, smiled. They had won.
sss
"She was all wham! And I was all is that all you got? And I gave her a piece of my mind!" Odd said excitedly.
Jeremie watched and rubbed his head in annoyance. Odd was telling the tale of what happened, his style. That was just like Odd, to face death-defying danger only to come out all excited when he completely conquers that threat, even if he had help.
But he and the others didn't mind too much. They were glad that Odd was back to his usual self again. They'd rather have the bragger than the sick, nearly killed person that used to be before them.
Odd raised his arm. "And then I...!"
Ulrich put a hand on his shoulder. "Odd, we should head back to the school. You can tell me all about your adventures when we're back in our dorm, okay?"
Odd signed in disappointment. "Aww but I was getting to the best part!"
"Now Odd, Ulrich is right. It is getting late. We all could use some rest after what happened." Aelita said with a smile on her face. "You can save your heroic stories for later."
Odd couldn't really argue with that. He was feeling a little tired himself. He stretched his arms behind his back. "Well okay, Aelita, I guess you are right.
The group started walking back to the school. Through the sewers they went until they reached the forest.
Odd said, "I bet Kiwi misses me. He always knows when I'll be back and if I'm not there when he expects me, he goes nuts."
"He's not that smart, Odd." Ulrich commented. "He doesn't know his head from his tail."
"You take that back!" Odd shouted as the others started laughing.
