Chapter 52
AN:Sorry about the time it took to make, but I have realized that the longer I take, the better the chapters tend to be.
To Olyrik: I don't want to do the friendly Kankrolot idea, because then there wouldn't be a reason for someone to stay behind and protect Jeremie and, therefore, all of the Lyoko warriors would be on Lyoko and it wouldn't be a good weakness to the group. As for your attack ideas, I'll think about them. :)
(William third person)
William walked down the boys' dorm hall and reached for his doorknob.
"William!" a familiar, yet undistinguishable, voice. He turned and looked down the hall in the direction of the voice. "William!" it called again. He crept down the hall. "William!" He opened the door at the end of the dorm hall. "William!" The voice was slightly more distinguishable, and William was able to identify the caller as female. The voice rang from the hall below. He walked down the stairs and opened the girls' dorm hall. "William!" He walked to the door that he could hear the voice coming and put his ear against it. "William!" He slammed through the door and tumbled out in the boys' dorm hall. He turned and looked at the door that he had just came through and watched the light coming from the girls' dorm hall start to wither away as the door closed. In the last of the light, he watched someone run by, but they were just a shadow of a figure. He ran back and opened the door again, but, instead of looking at the girls' dorm hall, he looked at the staircase. "William!" He ran down the stairs and opened the girls' dorm hall door. He looked at a shady figure run into the same door he had heard the voice come earlier. He ran inside before the door could close. He looked at Yumi who stood next to Ulrich who was grabbing her by the shoulders. "William!" she said in a final plea for help before Ulrich kissed her on the lips.
William jumped awake and looked over at Peter who now had earplugs sticking a centimeter out of his ear. He rolled over and went back to bed.
(Jeremie third person)
Jeremie woke up to Angel slapping him in the face.
"You- killed- my dad-" she said sobbing. She sobbed in Peter's arm and he comforted her. "Why- didn't you- tell me?" she asked.
Jeremie was going to respond with what seemed would flow naturally as if he had said it before, but his bed fell out from beneath him. He fell into pitch black darkness. He hit a very hard surface very suddenly. He rolled over and noticed the floor was a white circle. he crawled to the edge and felt down, and it was a straight down drop. Black smoke flew down from above and landed in front of him. He jumped back and began crawling back with his hands. The smoke turned to Angel. Smoke continued to fly down from above until it was a circle of eight smoke puffs and Angel. They each took turns taking the form of one of his friends. They each began pointing at him and whispering to each other. Jeremie moved to a fetal position as the whispers of accusation turned to yells of conviction.
Jeremie jumped awake and looked over at Alex. He had one earplug out and was using his pinky finger in a fashion to clean out his ear, showing that Jeremie had been yelling in his sleep surprisingly loud. Both of them rolled over and went back to bed.
(Alex first person)
I woke up and got out of bed. Jeremie was putting on his glasses. It was six days after the Valentine's day ordeal. We walked down to the cafeteria. All of the others were sitting there.
(Third person omniscient)
Alex and Jeremie sat down at the table with their food.
"What's the schedule today, Einstein?" Odd asked.
"The scan discovered a Replika," he told them. "We're taking it out after math."
"Where's it at?" Peter asked.
"Northern Afghanistan."
"Who's going?" Crystal asked. "Because I've been wanting to go to another. I've only done the one."
"Okay," Jeremie said.
"I wouldn't mind going," Ulrich said.
"It's decided," Jeremie said.
"Be careful," Yumi said kissing him on the cheek and wrapping her arm under his.
This isn't right, William's subconscious told him. She's yours, not his. William rubbed his temple where a vein was pulsing. She's yours! She's yours! Yours!
"Stop hurting her!" William yelled standing up. Everyone, not only the people at our table, turned and looked at him.
"William, what are you talking about?" Yumi asked him quietly as she was trying to avoid a scene.
"She's mine!" William continued ranting at Ulrich. "I loved her!" William picked up his tray, food flying all over the people at the table behind them, and prepared to bring it down on Ulrich's head, but Alex stood up and hit him back against the wall, holding him there with one arm under his throat.
(Alex first person)
William continued to kick at me, looking at Ulrich out of the corner of his eyes, as I held him. His arms were held in a position as if to try to choke Ulrich from a distance.
"What are you doing!?" I asked.
"Fight, fight, fight, fight," the room sung in chorus. I looked around at them all, forming a barbaric circle and moving their arms in chants. William continued to kick and twist, trying his hardest to get to Ulrich. I turned and delivered a strong hit to his right temple, knocking him unconscious. He slouched and fell to the floor. The crowd filled with yells and applause. Ulrich and Odd stood up parted the crowd and I picked up William and walked through.
"What was that all about?" Jeremie asked when we arrived at the dorm.
"I don't know," Ulrich said.
"Do you think he finally just snapped?" Odd asked. "I have money riding on your answer."
"You were betting on how long it would take for him to snap from XANA?" Peter asked.
"What do we do about him?" I asked.
"If it's XANA's doing, we can't kick him out of the group," Crystal said.
"We can't leave him at the school if he's going to be having another breakdown like that," Yumi said.
"So what do we do, tie him up and leave him in his dorm?" Ulrich asked.
"That's inhumane," Peter argued.
"Well, we don't have many choices," Jeremie said.
"What if he tries to call for help?" Aelita asked.
"What if we didn't leave him in his dorm?" Crystal asked.
"Where else would we hide him?" Ulrich asked.
"Are you guys seriously debating where to leave him tied up?" Peter asked.
"We could leave him at the factory," Odd suggested going over Peter's response. Everyone looked at each other with agreement, save Peter who was baffled.
"I'll take him," I said. "Cover me with the teachers." I picked up William and walked down the hall.
I sat him down in the control room and started the object materialization program. I teleported down to the scanner room and pulled out the rope, then I teleported back. I began tying William's hands, then his feet. William began to stir. He reached for his head before he realized that his hands were tied together. I sat down in the chair as he came to realization.
"Wha- what's going on!? What's happening!?" He looked at me.
"Just a precaution," I said.
"Listen..." He began breathing fast. "Listen, Alex, what happened earlier, that was just- that was just- stress! Yeah, stress."
"William, we just need to have time to think of what to do about what happened." I stood up and walked towards the elevator.
"Wait, wait, are you going to leave me here?" I walked over and took his phone out of his pocket. I sat it on his lap.
"In case of emergencies." I took the elevator back up.
I walked into math a few minutes late, able to cut the time by several minutes by teleporting into the hall.
"Alex! Why are you late?" she asked.
"I had a headache, so I went to the nurse," I lied.
"Very well," she said. "Take your seat." I sat down next to Crystal. "So, as you see, the formula for a circle is x minus h, squared, plus, y minus k, squared, equals, r, where h is-"
"Hey," Peter whispered from two tables behind me, "is he still unconscious?"
"No, he woke up," I said. Though I couldn't see him, I had a distinct feeling that he was shaking his head in disapproval.
We walked out of math an hour and a half later. We walked outside and towards the woods. Peter branched off from the group as we passed the vending machines. Everyone stopped and waited. There was a sound of the machine releasing something, but, when he walked out, he wasn't carrying anything. I looked at Jeremie, and he shrugged back before we continued walking. Ulrich opened the man hole and we climbed down inside. We picked up our skateboards and scooters and rode through the sewers. We climbed up the ladder at the other end and to the factory. We slid down the ropes and walked into the elevator. Jeremie and Angel walked out of the elevator, but Peter tapped Angel's shoulder.
"Take my seat," he told her switching spots with her.
"Mission time?" William asked.
"For us," Jeremie said. The elevator door closed.
(Third person omniscient)
[The Lab]
"Here," Peter said. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a chocolate bar. "You missed breakfast." Peter unwrapped it and placed it between William's tied hands.
"Why are you the only one being nice to me?" William asked.
"I'm being nice for the same reason they tied you up and are holding you here. We all believe it was XANA. The others are just worried that you might do it again."
"What makes you so sure I won't?" Peter sighed.
"I didn't say I believe you won't, I just believe it wasn't you. They know it wasn't you, but they're worried XANA could use you to attack us. I, however, believe that, with a bit of practice, you could control it." William looked up at Peter and, when he was unsure what to say, took a bite out of his chocolate bar.
[Lyoko]
Alex led the way to the circular platforms and everyone was transported to the inside of the Skid. Aelita piloted it out and down to the digital sea.
"Diving," she said. There was a cold silence for a moment. "Do you think we were a bit hard on William?" she asked breaking the silence, but the conversation seemed to be just as cold, if not colder.
"He had a mental breakdown in the middle of the cafeteria, what were we supposed to do?" Odd asked.
"I'd prefer what happened to taking a tray to my head," Ulrich said.
"I didn't want to sit through French with him," Yumi said.
"It's better that he's tied up than strangling someone," Alex said.
"And at least we didn't gag him," Crystal said. Angel didn't chime in, which was weird because being on Lyoko was a surefire way, and the only way unless asked directly, for her to give an opinion.
"There's the network port," Crystal said. Aelita flew next to it and the body of the Skid straightened up. The Skid suddenly plunged inside and came out at another point in the network. The body of the Skid straightened again as it closed in on the Replika's access gate.
"Hacking secure encryption," Aelita said. The gate opened up and Aelita piloted inside. The Skid floated to the edge of the forest sector. The Skid docked on the closest tower. Everyone but Ulrich and Crystal was transported out.
"Virtualizing Peter," Jeremie said. "Teleporting."
[Valley in the Samangan Province, Afghanistan]
Ulrich and Crystal arrived on a rocky, dusty side of a steep slope.
"Where's it at, Jeremie?" Ulrich asked.
"Farther up the cliff there is hole in the ground," Jeremie responded.
[Lyoko]
Peter climbed up a tree and sat on the branch with his bow laid across his lap. Alex stood his staff up and sat down on the top, meditating and watching the horizon. Aelita flew to another branch on the tree Peter was sitting on. Odd climbed up another tree and hung upside down by his knees. Angel sat on the ground, back propped against a rock. Yumi sat on a fallen over tree trunk.
[Valley in the Samangan Province, Afghanistan]
Ulrich and Crystal reached a hole that was a meter apart with a ladder going straight down. Crystal slipped in first and began climbing down ahead of Ulrich.
[Lyoko]
Peter shot an arrow from his tree.
"Company's arrived," he said. Peter continued shooting arrows until the monsters were in sight of the others. Odd shot three laser arrows before flipping down from the tree and landing on his feet. A laser was shot at Alex's head. Alex grabbed his staff and stood on his hands; the laser passed between his arms. Alex flipped down to the ground and shot a laser out of the tip of his staff. Aelita stood on her branch and dived off, picking up from her fall just before impacting the ground. Lasers hit in a line across the log Yumi was sitting on, each one hitting closer to her. She flipped over one that would have hit where she was sitting, pulled out both fans as she was in the air, and deflected the next three shots when she landed. Angel deflected several shots as she ran towards the monsters.
[The Lab]
"The tower's getting attacked, isn't it?" William asked hopefully.
"Yes, but, right now, that isn't something you need to worry about," Jeremie responded.
[Valley in the Samangan Province, Afghanistan]
Ulrich and Crystal reached the bottom of the ladder. The only light in the room was coming from above. The floor had water built up about two inches from where it had rained and was unable to leak out. There was a large door with a large, five-point handle. Ulrich grabbed on to the bottom one and tugged as hard as he could in both directions.
"It won't budge," he said. Crystal jumped and caught one of the higher ones and pulled down as Ulrich pulled left. The door creaked and squeaked. Crystal dropped back to the ground.
"This isn't getting us anywhere," she said. She observed the back of the handle. "It's rusted." She pulled out both knives and pried them into the crease between the door and the handle. She wiggled them up and down as Ulrich tried to pull the door open. The door continued to groan as the handle loosened. The handle gave way and Ulrich slipped backwards. Crystal forced the door open after she pulled her knives out, then she helped Ulrich up. There was a long corridor with dim flood lights every few meters, some of them flickering. The ceiling was made of twenty-by-twenty square foam panels.
"We're inside, Jeremie," Ulrich said.
[Lyoko]
Peter jumped down from the tree and shot another arrow at the monsters, hitting Tarantula through the body. Odd flipped over a Krab to shoot it in the head, but was, instead, hit in the shoulder by a Tarantula. He turned around on the ground and shot three laser arrows at it. Alex ran at a Blok. It shot a series of lasers at him, but he slid across the ground and cut off its legs as he passed. He jumped up and stabbed it. Aelita circled above the monsters in the air, lasers hitting all around her. She dove and released two energy fields, hitting a Krab and a Blok. Yumi deflected two shots from a Tarantula before throwing one fan and continuing to block the lasers that were already fired until her fan cut of the Tarantula's head. Angel slid on the ground and grabbed a Tarantula's leg between her feet. It pulled up the other leg and aimed at her head. She twisted the leg she had and the laser hit beside her head. She cut the leg that shot at her off then stabbed it through the throat.
[Valley in the Samangan Province, Afghanistan]
Ulrich and Crystal continued down the hall, their footsteps echoing.
"What are we looking for?" Ulrich asked. There was a small device on the wall. Crystal walked over to it without answering Ulrich.
"What do you think that is?" Crystal asked.
"Think what is?" Ulrich asked walking past it. The door behind them slammed shut. Each of the flood lights turned red.
"Unauthorized personnel," a female computer voice rang through alarms. "Activating emergency defense systems." Several ceiling panels opened up and turrets hung down. There were only two in sight, but they could hear several more falling down in the adjacent halls. Ulrich and Crystal pulled out their blades.
"Stay where you are until security officials arrive," a male, more hostile computer voice said.
"How long do you think it'll take for that to happen?" Ulrich asked Crystal.
"If this place is really abandoned, it could take a week before anyone takes an emergency alert seriously."
"So what do we do?" Ulrich asked. Crystal slowly put one knife back in its sheath and slid a throwing knife into her hand.
[Lyoko]
Peter split his bow apart and put them in an X across a Tarantula's neck and cut it off. Odd jumped on a Tarantula, wrapped his feet around its neck, and shot it three times before back flipping off. Alex hit a leg out from under a Krab. He ran up it and back flipped as a laser from a Blok hit it in the eye. He turned and ran at the Blok that fired it. It spun around and fired laser rings. Alex dove through one, flipped through the next, and vaulted on his staff through the last. He stabbed his staff into the Blok's eye. Aelita dove at a Krab, one hand extended with an energy field in her hand. The Krab shot Aelita's wing. She fell straight down. In her down-spiral, she shot an energy field and devirtualized the Krab. Yumi drop-kicked a Blok backwards and, as she was in the air, threw a fan through its eye. Angel jumped on to a Krab and stabbed it downwards, it trying to kick her off as she twisted the blade around inside it.
[Valley in the Samangan Province, Afghanistan]
"Ready?" Crystal asked.
"Ready. Supersprint!" Ulrich ran up a wall towards the turrets. They both turned and aimed at him. He cut one off at its stand and ran back to the ground. The other one shot a laser. He blocked it and Crystal threw a throwing knife at it.
"Let's go," Crystal said. They ran left into the next hall to find two more turrets. Crystal slid under a laser fired by one and Ulrich jumped over a laser fired by the other. Crystal laid back on her back with her feet in the air. Ulrich jumped off them and cut one of the turrets in half. Crystal jumped off of Ulrich's back when he landed and stabbed her knife into the other turret.
[Lyoko]
Peter kicked the leg out from under a Tarantula and stabbed both scimitars down into its head. Odd ran along a log dodging lasers. He dove and turned sideways in the air to shoot the Blok that was firing. Alex was blocking lasers from three Tarantula's, moving his arms quickly to deflect all of the lasers. He slowly advanced, his staff moving like lightning. He changed his tip to laser while it was still spinning. He stopped just long enough to shoot a laser before blocking again. Yumi was doing cart wheels to dodge lasers from a Krab. She flipped in the air and threw a fan at it, but it missed. It shot her in the arm as she landed, knocking her on her back. Angel kicked both arms of a Tarantula away as it tried to shoot, then she kicked it in the head backwards. She ran and kicked it to the ground. She dove on it and stabbed it in the neck. Aelita shot an energy field at a Tarantula. Dark smoke flew in front of it and batted the energy field back after it solidified into Dark William. She ducked to dodge it. He put the sword on his shoulder and ran at her. She shot several energy fields at him, but he swung his sword and hit absorbed them all.
"Hel-" Aelita started, but she was cut off when he shot black smoke out of his hand, choking her into silence and out of consciousness.
"Alex!" Jeremie yelled. "Aelita was captured by Dark William!"
"I got him," he said. He shortened his staff and teleported between the two Tarantulas that he was fighting. He switched both ends to bladed tip and lengthened it, stabbing into both of their heads. He teleported again, this time next to Dark William. He swung his staff at his feet and he tripped. He slammed his staff down on the ground but, instead, it sliced through smoke and hit the ground. Dark William appeared in air with his blade held high above him, falling with his sword aimed at Alex's head. Alex teleported behind him and the sword hit the ground instead. Dark William swung the massive sword around him, but Alex blocked it sideways. Alex stood on the staff and kicked his opponent backwards. Dark William fell on his back. Alex jumped and swung his staff down, but Dark William blocked it. He put his feet to Alex's stomach and rolled back to send him over him. Alex rolled across the ground and landed crouched with his staff in his hand held behind his back. He switched one end to laser and the other to blade.
"This ought to be fun," he said.
[Valley in the Samangan Province, Afghanistan]
"Jeremie, we could use some directions!" Crystal yelled. She and Ulrich stood back to back deflecting two turrets a piece in a particularly long hallway.
"You guys are in the right hall, but it's at the other end," Jeremie said.
"How do you suggest we get past these?" Ulrich asked.
"You can run, can't you?" Crystal asked.
"Are you suggesting that I leave you here?"
"Don't be stupid, when you turn to run the two on your side will turn to try to shoot you. When they do, we will both just have to fight on one side of the enemy. That way, neither of us have to worry about being shot in the back."
"That's actually a pretty good strategy," Ulrich said. "Supersprint!" He ran down to the other end of the hall. He turned and began deflecting shots from the two turrets that were focused on him. He jumped and cut a turret in half, but the other one shot him in the shoulder and he fell back against the ground, one sword flying out of his hand. He continued to block with one sword. Crystal slid two throwing knives into her hand and threw them at the two turrets focused on her simultaneously. She ran at the turret that was shooting at Ulrich, jumped off the wall, and stabbed it with one knife. She picked up Ulrich's sword on her way over to him. She handed it to him and put her hand on his shoulder.
"Heal," she said, but nothing happened. "Heal," she said more clearly.
"Maybe that doesn't work here," Ulrich said. "I don't think life points are the same here."
"Let's just go," Crystal said. They ran down the remainder of the hall. The door was large with several steel bars running through brackets and into the wall holding the door in position. There was a large slash from corner to corner where the door divided. There was a pin code box at the right of it, but the screen was flashing red.
"How do we get in?" Ulrich asked. Crystal pulled out one knife and hit in against one of the bars holding the door, but her hand bounced back.
"That isn't going to give," she said.
"Can you hack that security panel?" She walked over to it.
"No, it's on secure lockdown."
"How do you shut down the security?"
"I could try cutting off its connection to the security system."
"Good, what do you need to do?" She backed up to the other wall.
"Give me a boost." She charged at him. He put his hands together and kneed down. Crystal stepped into his hands and jumped up to the wall, then she kicked off and grabbed inside of a ceiling panel.
"What does it look like?"
"A bunch of wires."
[Lyoko]
Alex twisted his staff around and shot a laser. Dark William blocked it. Alex slid between his legs and shot a laser up, but his adversary had turned to smoke just long enough for the laser to travel through him, then he reappeared with his sword above his shoulder. Alex swung his staff around and the blade hit him in the thigh. Dark William swung his sword down at Alex but he teleported behind him. He hit his legs out from below him, his sword falling out of his hands, and dove on him with the blade inches from his neck, but Dark William grabbed the staff with both hands.
"Why do you even try?" Dark William asked in a voice that sounded exactly like William's. "XANA has already defeated you, scum." Alex was taken aback by hearing William's voice in Dark William's body. Dark William kicked Alex back, rolled over to grab his sword, supersmoked into the air, and brought down his sword on his head. Angel ran in from the side and kicked him in the face. Peter ran up behind him and put his bow against his neck to hold him in a head lock with the handle. Angel ran up and sliced her blade down towards his head, but he parried it. He hit her in the side of the head with her hilt and kicked her back. Peter tightened his grip with his bow and twisted him to the ground. He twisted his bow apart and held it high above his head. Dark William gripped his sword and turned to smoke, slipping out from beneath him. He reappeared and ran at him with his sword out to his side. Peter reached up with his scimitars and caught his sword between them. Angel jumped over Peter and kicked Dark William in the face. His sword remained between Peter's scimitars, but he flew backwards. Angel rolled and landed on him. She put her elbow blades to his neck. He grabbed her by the wrists and rolled over on top of her. He pinned her arms down.
"You! The one who joined them for a boy," Dark William said in William's voice. "Such a pity."
"Peter isn't just a boy," she spat back. "And he isn't the only reason I joined. Now I have friends, people that care about me. I didn't have that before, and I don't regret it for a second." Peter ran at his back with both scimitars raised. Dark William stood on his hands on Angel's hands and kicked Peter in the face. One scimitar left his hand and flipped in the air. Dark William back flipped and hit the scimitar on its handle. The blade went straight into Peter's skull. Dark William ran for his sword as Angel gathered to her feet.
[Valley in the Samangan Province, Afghanistan]
"You find anything yet?" Ulrich asked.
"I'm trying to figure out which of these is the right one," Crystal said.
"Why don't you just cut them all?" Ulrich asked.
"One of them could be the power cord to the room and, if we do that, we won't be able to get information from the computer and we would just be sent back 'cause the computer would die."
"Is there any way to find out?"
"Yeah, tell me if this does something," she said. She pulled out her knife and cut one at random. The panel in front of Ulrich flashed the word 'ERROR' then died.
"It worked," Ulrich said amazed. Crystal hung from the ceiling tile spot then dropped to the ground. The metal bars holding the door slid out to the wall. The crack in the door split and the door spiraled slowly until it was open.
The room was large and open with several desks with a monitor, keyboard, and mouse on each one. At the front was a larger monitor with a map of the world on it. Several places were highlighted on the map with a number next to it. One of them highlighted France, but was instead marked with a 'W'.
"What do you think it means?" Ulrich asked pointing to the one that stood out.
"What do you think any of it means?" Crystal asked rhetorically sitting at one of the desks. "I'm sending the data, Jeremie." The computer beeped a few seconds later with the message 'Hard drive data transfer complete'.
"How do we destroy it?" Ulrich asked.
"You can't yet," Jeremie said. "I can't devirtualize Aelita and she was captured by Dark William."
"What!? What do we do?" Ulrich asked.
"You guys are just going to have to wait."
[Lyoko]
Dark William picked up his sword and scratched it against the ground menacingly.
"I could use some backup," Angel called.
"I'm kinda busy," Yumi called back. She flipped over a wall of Bloks. She turned around and threw one fan. She was shot in the shoulder as she went to pull out her other fan.
"Odd," Angel called hopefully as Dark William walked around her with his blade scraping the ground.
"Sorry," he yelled back. He was using his shield to block a team of three Krabs and two Tarantulas.
"How does it feel?" Dark William asked. "How does it feel to have given up your normal life for friends? Friends that wouldn't help you out when you're facing your worst fear?"
"I'm not afraid of you!" Angel yelled. Her left hand blade turned to water and flowed down her arm and solidified to an elbow pad. She stuck her hand out and closed her eyes. Her body was lined with an orange aura. A Tarantula turned and looked at them in the distance. The tip of its nose turned blue and turned into a way that traveled all the way down its body. It turned and ran as fast as its legs would allow it. Angel's elbow blade flowed back into her hand. Dark William charged and sliced down at Angel's head. She blocked with an arm spin and the blade hit the ground. She took her other blade and dug it into Dark William's shoulder. The Tarantula kneeled and shot several lasers. Dark William turned to smoke and the lasers went straight through. Dark William flew behind Angel and grabbed her. The Tarantula shot a laser aimed at Dark William's head, but he jerked Angle in front of it and it hit her face, instead. The Tarantula slowly turned back to its ordinary colors and headed back for the battlefield. Dark William turned and ran for the edge of the sector with Aelita floating at his side.
"Odd!" Jeremie yelled through the headset.
"I'll do my best, Einstein," Odd said. He shot three shots around his shield and they hit all of the Krabs in the face. He dove left to dodge a few shots, then he rolled and shot the two Bloks with two laser arrows a piece. He can ran towards Dark William. He stopped and faced Odd with his sword ready. Odd pounced. Dark William put his sword up. Odd landed on it and back flipped off, shooting several laser arrows as he fell back to the ground.
[The Lab]
"Come on, Odd," Alex muttered watching the screen. He, Angel, and Peter were crowded around beside Jeremie. William wormed around trying to see the screen but was entirely blocked. He stopped squirming and laid his head back against the wall.
[Lyoko]
Odd ran up a tree and hung upside down by one of the limbs. He shot two laser arrows, which were easily deflected. Dark William put his sword on his shoulder and swung it at the air. An electric wave flew through the air and hit him in the face, knocking him into a spiral on the way down.
"Yumi!" Yumi heard coming from everyone in the lab. She threw her fan and it went through the remaining two Bloks, through one side of one and out the other side of the other. She jumped and grabbed her fan, then she ran through the digital pixels left from the devirualized Bloks. Yumi ran and threw her fan. It hit one of his ankles, and he tripped. Yumi jumped into the air with her fan prepared to cut his face, but he swung his sword and it hit her in the cheek.
[The Lab]
"No!" Alex yelled. "No, no, no!" He turned and looked at William as if to blame him for everything. He walked towards him, pulling a pocket knife out of his pocket. William began squirming, but Alex hit him hard against the wall. He put the knife to William's throat. "Ten life points," he said. "Ten life points away from winning." Alex applied a bit of pressure to the knife. "If she doesn't come back, you're next." He took the knife and, in one slice, cut the rope cutting William's hands and his feet.
[Lyoko]
William was virtualized next to the Skid and turned to smoke before he hit the ground. He solidified and rolled across the ground when he reached Dark William who was already standing next to the edge. He smirked.
"You. The one that can't follow orders. The one that is in this mess because he wouldn't listen to someone try to save his life."
"They're trying to help, in spite of my disobedience."
"You don't get it, do you? You were tied up and left in a cold, dark factory with no chance of anyone helping you."
"They did it because I almost hurt Ulrich."
"Maybe so, but what about all the times that they treated you like filth. When it comes right down to it, you aren't on Lyoko because they want you to be, you are here because they need you here."
William thought back to that morning. Peter was laying in bed with ear plugs in, tired of listening to William scream and keep him up. William became dejected. Then he thought back to all the other mornings.
[Flashback]
It was the first night Peter had slept in his new dorm. William screamed, jerking Peter awake. Peter walked across the room, gripping and ungripping his hands nervously. He grabbed William's shoulders and shook them a bit. William jumped up, his eyes filled with terror. William went on to explain how he was ripped limb from limb by XANA's specters. Peter looked back with sympathy.
"Yeah," he said, "I have nightmares, too. You know what I do?" William shook his head. Peter walked over to his bed and pulled out a box from beneath it. He reached into the box and pulled out a chocolate bar. He tossed it to William then pulled out one for himself. William smiled and opened the wrapper. "Jeremie said that you're going to be having these types of nightmares a lot, right?" William nodded. "Then help yourself to chocolate when you do. You know where it is now."
"Thanks," William said.
"No problem, were friends... right?"
"Yeah," William said grinning, "we're friends."
[Lyoko]
"You're lying," William said.
"Are you sure? Can you honestly say that they want you there?"
"They're my friends." Dark William grimaced.
"It doesn't matter, you're too late anyways." He put his hand out to his side and Aelita was dropped from the edge. William charged and slammed his sword down at Dark William. He leaned back and swung his sword sideways. William turned to smoke and appeared behind his foe. Dark William's sword continued around, but was parried down by William. William punched Dark William in the nose, knocking him back.
Franz Hopper floated to the surface and dropped Aelita on the ground softly. Dark William growled and jumped into the air with his sword over his head, aiming his sword at the large ball of energy. William supersmoked in between them and caught Dark William's sword with his. He held Dark William's sword against the ground and Aelita shot him in the head with an energy field.
[Valley in the Samangan Province, Afghanistan]
"Destroy it!" Jeremie yelled.
"Got it," Crystal said who was sitting in the ceiling where she deactivated the security system. She swung her knife down and it sliced through all of the bundle of cords. Ulrich and Crystal faded out of the world.
(Alex first person)
"So... do you guys forgive me?" William asked. We all looked at each other.
"We can't hardly hold it against you since it was, after all, XANA's fault," Jeremie said. William smiled.
"Why did Dark William have William's voice?" I asked.
"Maybe it has something to do with the bio-data he's been collecting," Crystal suggested. Jeremie, Aelita, and I looked at each other.
"That's as good of a reason as any," Aelita said.
"I'm adding the data to the sorting program," Jeremie said. "Who knows what we'll find."
