A/N: Sorry for the longer wait; I got an internship at a law firm at the end of January, so that's been keeping me real busy. It might end up being the norm, though I won't stop working on the fic! I hope everyone's staying healthy with the Corona virus going around!
In his tent, Hannibal nursed his broken wrist with a glass of fine red wine and nostalgia. His silk jacket was crumpled on the floor, the hat that hid his emerging bald spot abandoned beside it. Melancholy was unusual for him, introspection an antithesis. And yet, robbed of all his usual activities, he found his mind returning to the well-worn pathways of memory.
When the men in black had learned of Hopper's planned treachery, Hannibal had been on the team sent to collect him and his family. It had thrilled him beyond words. He'd already been plotting to spirit away the man and his work for himself; to be handed the opportunity was golden.
For what he'd had to throw together on short notice, his plan had been grand. Hannibal smiled remembering it. That job was when he'd first hired Grigory; the man's performance had made him decide to change their contract into full-time. Hannibal had been assigned to neutralize Anthea; instead, while they were en route, he'd had Grigory get to the house and kidnap her. The timing had been essential-too much, and Hopper or his daughter would discover her absence and flee. Too little, and Grigory wouldn't have time to escape before the men in black got there.
He'd pulled it off beautifully.
While the rest of his squad were wrestling with Hopper and the screaming four-year-old, Mago had slipped off to the master bedroom. Grigory was already gone, but there was a woman waiting. She, and those who were supposed to verify Anthea's identity, had been heavily bribed. A sack over her head would fool the rest of the base. No one would know the real Anthea was gone until it was too late.
And no one had. Hannibal brought her in, sent Steinback an anonymous tip about what happened to Hopper (after all, what good was a hostage when her husband was locked up?), and slipped away. That was that.
Even now, Hannibal considered that plan to be his magnum opus. Anthea hadn't just been valuable as a hostage, but a skilled programmer in her own right. Her help had been extracted slowly, painfully, dragged out by force and other methods of persuasion, but in the end she had assisted his rise to a criminal kingpin.
And look at him now. A slave to a mere program. His empire was going to fall. His enemies would all converge on him and devour his corpse. It had only taken one unforeseen circumstance to put him in this situation-who knew how many more were out there, and what dooms they'd bring?
Sighing, he threw back the rest of his glass and rose to refill it.
"There's been an incident," came the cool, feminine voice he utterly despised.
Startled and-he hated to admit it-embarrassed to be seen in this state, Hannibal put his glass down. He turned to see the thing staring at him. "An incident?" he repeated, trying to cover up his moment of weakness with a disdainful tone and a curl of his lip.
"The men in black attacked and took the Hermitage," the thing said. "They've sent the Lyoko Warriors into the First City. I will deal with them. You will deal with the humans."
During a blizzard? Hannibal shook himself. If the men in black could do it, he could too. Still... "Why not just send her?" he challenged, jerking his chin to indicate XANA's current form.
"This girl will be more useful to me in the First City."
Hannibal drummed his fingers against his thigh, letting the pleasing clinking of his rings both soothe him and stimulate his mind. Even if XANA spoke the truth, why send Hannibal's men at all? He knew XANA was capable of terrible things with the Carthage and the towers. It should easily be able to handle a group of mere humans. So why not just do so?
Memory stirred. What was it the thing said when it first took over? Something about prioritizing quantum energy?
Hannibal's fingers stilled as a realization hit him:
It's been bluffing.
Well, not really. It still held all his assets in its digital hands, and that girl was easily capable of killing him. But it wasn't all-powerful. It had limited resources, a limited amount of energy it could expend for use in the real world. And most or all of that energy was tied up with the blizzard.
He didn't let his epiphany show on his face. Instead, he cast his eyes down in mock-defeat and muttered, "Fine."
But inside, his heart was racing.
He had thought, when the time to upload the materialization program came, he would have to sacrifice his entire army to buy time. Even he balked at the thought of losing that many resources. But if that girl was in the First City, and its energy was spent holding up the blizzard...
The thing disappeared. Hannibal put his hat back on, picked up his crumpled jacket, folded it, and went to grab a replacement. He ran his free hand over it, smoothing out any wrinkles. Then he checked his image in the floor-length mirror next to his bed. He smiled.
XANA wouldn't be able to stop them when they uploaded the virus. All they were waiting on was for its completion.
So if I modify the string here...and add zero to the list of variables for that string there...
Jeremie chewed the inside of his lip and squinted at the screen. Part of him hoped one of his allotted five-minute bathroom breaks was coming up soon; his legs cramped terribly and a tension headache throbbed in his skull. Another part of him hoped it would be a while before someone fetched him, because he was this close to fixing this run-time error and interruptions would break his concentration.
One of the first things he'd done when he'd begun this project was run a check on the anti-XANA program to confirm what had caused it to need so much energy. The answer, unfortunately, lay with the artificial intelligence. It was a more complicated version of the Marabounta-stronger, smarter, with any semblance of will or sentience smashed out and with a built-in self-destruct button so it wouldn't linger once its job was done. It had seemed like a good idea at the time, but all the modifications had added up and, in the end, made it too taxing for the supercomputer to run without a drain elsewhere. And what could he drain? Defenses? As if. Towers? XANA would laugh at him from the safety of the Internet. The virtualization process? God, he didn't want to think about what could happen to his friends if he tampered with that while they were still on Lyoko.
But soon enough, Jeremie had found his inspiration. Back in the war, he'd kept a copy of every program he'd ever designed on his laptop-you never knew if you might need it in another shape or form-and out of sheer habit, had never deleted them. The materialization program he'd created for Aelita was among them; he'd whooped in joy when he'd dug it out.
So now, days later, he was-hopefully-finalizing the process of crossing it with his anti-XANA program. He'd stripped away the artificial intelligence except the bare minimum necessary to 'catch' and infect XANA. His goal was to make it less of an independent program, but an extension of the virtualization system. If it could grab just one bit of XANA, he hoped, it would be able to reel the rest in and force him to be materialized.
At which point, Mago…
Cold sweat broke out on his forehead. Jeremie swallowed.
One time, for a class assignment, Professor Keningston had them read a portion of Crime and Punishment. It was during their last few months of fighting XANA, when Jeremie was so consumed with work that even attending school was a distasteful distraction. He'd done the assignment without really thinking about it. But now, all of a sudden, he could remember everything, stark as ink on snow:
The main character had murdered his landlady because she was exploiting her clients, and Professor Keningston had them participate in a class discussion on the ethics of it.
Now, class, he couldn't help imagining her saying, is it murder to shoot someone who has a gun trained on you?
No, professor. It's self-defense.
Now imagine this scenario. Someone has a gun trained on Jeremie Belpois. He takes the gun away and incapacitates his attacker. Then another person shoots the first person. Jeremie knew this would happen.
Is that murder, and if so, has he helped commit it?
His laptop beeped. Jeremie jumped. He'd blindly held down the same button, and now an unneeded line of parentheses marred his code. With a sigh, he fixed the error.
He didn't want these kinds of ethical questions weighing on him. They were uncomfortable and distracting. And yet, it seemed that the more he tried to avoid thinking about what would actually happen after XANA was materialized, the more it insisted on his attention.
Even now, even as he tried to push the images back, they swam to the front of his mind. The blizzard would drop, but Mago would have the supercomputer and all its power. Any help Dido sent would be swatted away. Jeremie's only chance of defeating the Green Phoenix was to fire up a Return to the Past-if it could go back more than a day or two.
If he could get a few moments alone with the supercomputer.
If Mago hadn't found out about Return to the Past and implemented some kind of countermeasure.
If, if, if.
He groaned and rubbed his temples, where that persistent ache was. Get a grip, Jeremie! Your friends are relying on you! Everyone is relying on you!
Wrong thing to think. The anxiety flared up again, stronger than before, a rapid current that was sucking him under. For a heart-stopping moment, he felt as if he was in a river, flailing as water flooded his mouth…
The door banged open, bringing him back to reality. For just a moment, Jeremie was grateful for Grigory Nictopalous. At least his unpleasant presence forced Jeremie to pay attention to something other than what was buzzing in his head.
Then the man spoke. "The golden opportunity's here, runt. The rest of your friends have moved into the First City. XANA's focus has shifted over there, but we don't know how long that'll last. Is it ready?"
The gratitude disappeared. Panic replaced it. His mind was torn between two thoughts of no, not yet! and everyone else is there? What happened? Are they alright? "A-Almost," he said, so shaken he stuttered. "I just need to smooth out a few-"
"It doesn't matter if XANA comes out as a functional human," Nictapolous interrupted, scowling. "It can be a drooling retard for all we care, as long as it's here."
"That's what I'm trying to do," Jeremie snapped back, pushing down the useless revulsion that rose up, "fix any errors involved in the 'catch' process. But since I can't take the program out for a test drive, I have to go over it with a fine-toothed comb to make sure I don't miss anything!"
Nictapolous made a disgusted noise. "Tch. Alright, runt, but remember this."
He crouched. Jeremie resisted the urge to shrink away. The man's eyes were utterly snake-like. "We have your friends' lives in the palms of our hands, we know where your parents live, and we may not get another chance like this again. And if we miss it because of your slowness…"
Nictapolous let the sentence trail off. Jeremie didn't dare breathe or even blink. Not until the hitman smirked at him, rose, and left. Only then did the boy genius turn back to his work, his shoulders hunched under the ever-mounting pressure and fear.
Message received.
Consciousness returned slowly, and Aelita wished it hadn't. Her head felt like someone was taking a hammer to it. Her mouth and throat were dry and sore, the lingering taste of smoke too strong on her tongue. Her eyeballs throbbed as if she'd been squinting at a computer screen for too long.
She groaned softly, trying to remember where she was and how this happened. But it was hard to hear herself think, much less find specific information.
Voices pierced the haze around her. Arguing, angry voices. She felt like she should recognize them...
"...be awake by now?"
"She will. Any moment."
"She'd better. If something happens to her because of you-"
"As if I'd ever let anything happen to Aelita."
"Oh yeah, besides all the times you tried to kill her and kidnap her and-"
And just like that, her memories clicked into place. "Stop fighting," she mumbled.
The voices ceased. Bodies shuffled. Grunting, Aelita forced her eyes open. Her vision swam. She held her breath, waiting for the blurs to clear. After a few seconds, four faces came into focus-wait, four?
"Princess!" Odd beamed. "Welcome back!"
"How do you feel?" William asked.
"A little dizzy, but...I'm fine. Is that you, Sissi?" The others stepped back to give her space as Aelita sat up. Her stomach protested at the movement, but not too violently.
She rubbed her eyes and looked again. Yes, that was Sissi. She was wearing a sky blue tunic, with dark blue leggings and long sleeves underneath. She had a white chestpiece, similar to Aelita's, as well as white bracers and knee-high boots. Her black hair was tied into a high ponytail and a crown rested on her head.
Her friend shifted her weight from foot to foot, looking equally nervous and proud. "What, like I was gonna let you guys have all the fun without me again?"
XANA rolled his eyes. "Yes, because that's what matters. You feeling left out of the 'fun'."
"At least I'm not going to attack us when this is all over," Sissi shot back.
Aelita sucked in a pained breath. XANA glanced over. His haughty expression faded somewhat. For a heartbeat, it was like they were staring at each other from across a chasm.
But if he was going to say anything, it was cut off by the familiar crackle in Aelita's ear. "Aelita! You're awake! Are you alright?"
Sissi jumped about a mile. The moment broke. Aelita turned away. "Yes, J-Mr. Belpois," she said, catching herself just in time.
God. Jeremie.
For whatever reason-maybe because she'd been awake for it-her memories of this possession were crystal clear. She could still smell the burned, dead technicians. Like cooked pork. Just thinking that made her want to throw up.
She could still recall the iron tang of her own blood. The adrenaline coursing through her veins, stronger than it had ever been. Moving so fast the ground seemed to disappear under her-their-feet.
She could remember the information that XANA and the men in black had curtly traded, as they moved to the secret room.
Jeremie had been kidnapped.
Was he ok, she wondered? Had the Green Phoenix hurt him? What if they'd taken him far away just like they'd taken Mommy? What if the last time they ever talked was when she'd said she was going to stay with XANA?
What must Jeremie think of her? He'd been kidnapped because of her. And what about all they'd gone through before this? How many times had he been put in danger? He'd been dragged into the mess of her life, and when they'd buried it, she'd dug it up and pushed him back in.
And then-and then!-she'd cozied up with his sworn enemy. Even now, even as fear and worry soured her mouth and choked her heart, a part of her still couldn't stop hoping XANA would go back to the way he used to. It surely wasn't wrong to not want to fight XANA again, but to miss him?
Jeremie would be disgusted. Ashamed. Furious. Hell, all of her friends would be, and rightly so.
What is wrong with me?
"...updated on the situation. I'll guide them to a point en route to the castle, where you all can rendezvous."
Word filtered through the veil of her self-hatred. Aelita blinked. The memory of their situation reasserted itself-this was no time to be emotional. She hastily tuned back into the conversation, just in time to catch William's protest of "You're leaving us with him?"
Mr. Belpois's sigh was a burst of static. "Ulrich and Yumi don't have anyone to guide them through the city. But I'll keep an eye on your progress as well. If XANA steers you wrong, I'll chime in."
"I won't," XANA sneered. "It serves no purpose to undermine our shared mission."
"You'll understand if I reserve judgment." And then Mr. Belpois was gone.
Aelita took a moment to look around. They'd been virtualized in a more congested area of the city, where buildings pressed up against each other, advertisements flashed in neon lights, and skyscrapers raced to see which could be the tallest. In the real world, this would have been overflowing with people, but here the streets were empty, giving the area an uncomfortably ghost-like feel.
Their group was taking shelter in the shadows under a bridge. Aelita crept out a few inches, slowly taking in the sight of her childhood hideout. Her heart clenched. From a distance, it seemed unchanged-the roads winding through the sky, the spires standing proud-but a closer inspection revealed wear and tear. Over here, the road and sidewalk were overgrown with weeds. Over there, that sign had lost the glow of half its neon letters. Those windows were cracked and broken. These lampposts had rust crawling up their skeletons.
"I neglected it when I escaped the supercomputer," XANA said, stepping up and following her gaze. "I'm remedying that now."
What was that supposed to mean? That he was trying to consolidate his hold on this city? Honor the memories they'd once made in it? Or did it mean nothing at all? Why couldn't she stop analyzing every little detail? Aelita sighed, suddenly tired of feelings and possibilities.
"How long was I out?" she asked.
"Not long. A few minutes at most." XANA scanned the skies again, then turned to their party. "The Mantas haven't found us...yet. We should get going; cover as much ground as we can."
"And what about when they do find us?" William's voice was naked with hostility. "Do you expect us to rely on you for protection?"
XANA closed his eyes. A startled yelp from behind Aelita turned her head. William was staring at his XANA-era zweihander, which was most certainly not there when she last looked. Odd, tilting his head like a cat, examined his arrow launcher before taking aim at the nearby pillar supporting the bridge. A single Laser Arrow flew out.
"I'm locked in a hacking war with the other me even as we speak, so I can't lift the weapons restriction...but he can't stop me from programming some pieces of myself into weapon form."
William dropped the sword like it was a venomous snake. "I'm not wielding you, either."
"So you won't leave your protection to me, but you also won't lift a weapon in your defense? Make up your mind." Before her outraged friend could respond, XANA turned to Sissi. "What weapon do you think you'd be good with?"
She twirled the end of her ponytail around her fingers and shifted her weight from side to side. "Um…a baton?"
XANA pondered that for a moment before decisively saying, "I'll do even better."
Smoke swirled through Sissi's fingers, shaping and solidifying into a baton. It was polished silver and had a button engraved with the Eye at the base. XANA pointed at it. "Press that."
She did, and the baton extended into a full bo staff. "Whoa," she breathed.
"Man, think of the mind games you can play with a weapon that changes length!" Odd exclaimed. "Then again most of XANA's monsters are mindless…hey, why is that, anyway?"
"They're simple, like those weapons. Unthinking, unfeeling, and easier to mass-produce."
Aelita glanced at her still-empty hands and waited. When XANA didn't ask what weapon she wanted, she spoke up. There was no way he would leave her defenseless, so… "You didn't give me a weapon. Does that mean I'll be able to use my powers here?"
XANA blinked in mild surprise. "Of course. Why wouldn't you?"
"Well, William's report said he couldn't use Super Smoke…"
"Ah, that time he used the scanner in Brussels, correct? That was likely a byproduct of their second-rate virtualization. Powers have never been affected by the weapons restriction; one of Hopper's rare oversights."
Sissi, who had been listening closely, asked, "Powers?"
Odd perked up. "Everyone's got one or two on Lyoko, and they're all unique! Well, except for me, Einstein programmed it out. But I never needed powers to be awesome anyway! Aelita here can shape the landscape of Lyoko and throw these things called Energy Fields. Ulrich can Triplicate-make two clones of himself-and Super Sprint-which does what you think it does. Yumi has telekinetics."
The other girl turned to William. "And yours is...Super Smoke?"
"Technically, it's one of mine," XANA said. "I reconstructed his avatar when I possessed him."
Sissi looked at her hands. "So...I probably have a power too? How do I know what it is?"
Aelita grimaced. "Well-you won't be able to know until you do use it. I'm sorry, I know that's frustrating."
"And how do I do that?"
"Reach inside yourself," William told her. "Just try and feel it, and pull it out."
Sissi scrunched up her nose in concentration. They waited, but after a few moments, she shook her head. "I can't...I mean, I know it's there, but I can't get it to work."
"Maybe it's like mine was," Odd suggested. "Uncontrollable."
XANA scowled at that. "Yes, because that's just what we need. An untested newcomer with an unknown power she can't control."
Aelita opened her mouth, and noticed William doing the same, but Sissi beat them to the punch. "Oh, don't worry," she said, sweet as sugar, "if I accidentally fire lasers from my eyes or something, I'll aim at you."
"No…" Yumi breathed.
Ulrich would have said the same, had he not been at a loss for words. Just now, the pair of them had heard a voice over the mic-but not the voice they'd expected. And the things Mr. Belpois had said...
Jeremie's been kidnapped? XANA put up a blizzard? The men in black are fighting the Green Phoenix for the Hermitage? We're working with XANA to defeat XANA? Ulrich felt like his head was spinning; he scarcely had any idea of what to focus on first.
Yumi, however, narrowed in on one particular point. "XANA can't be trusted."
"None of us trust him, Yumi-" Mr. Belpois began.
"Aelita seems to! How could she?"
"-but working with him is our only choice. XANA has complete control over the First City. If the other XANA wills it, he can trap you in a loop of endless roads. You need this XANA with you to counteract that."
Yumi's lips were a thin white line. Her clenched fists trembled at her side. Ulrich knew she was practical enough to see the sense in a temporary alliance with XANA-but also that she had a special kind of hatred for him. Unlike the rest of the Lyoko Warriors, her family lived in Paris, where they were frequently-and unbeknownst to them-endangered by XANA's attacks.
He couldn't begin to imagine the terror Yumi must have felt.
As Ulrich mulled over what to say to her, a new voice came over the mic: "Michel, move over-let me-thank you! Yumi? Can you hear me?"
She inhaled sharply. "...Dad."
"Yumi, honey, oh thank goodness you're alright! I've been so worried-"
"Dad-I'm fine. I've done this a lot of times. But I-I'm glad to hear from you. What about Mom? Is she there too?"
Mr. Ishiyama's voice became choked. "Yumi…"
Ulrich shifted, feeling awkward, wishing he could duck out. This was clearly supposed to be a private conversation. But he couldn't turn off the mic. Fleetingly, he wondered whether Walter would-no, of course he won't. Don't be ridiculous. And stop caring!
To give father and daughter some semblance of privacy, Ulrich turned away, pretending to study his tire iron and golf club. His mind, inadvertently, returned to recent revelations.
We'll get you out of this, Jeremie, he vowed privately, though he had no idea how. And as for XANA...
Ulrich grimaced. While he was hardly going to shake hands with the AI, he could still remember how XANA had protected Aelita, Odd, and Yumi when Jeremie's Marabounta went rogue-when he, Ulrich, had been too busy sulking to protect them. That had left a strange feeling of...not indebtedness, really, but begrudging gratitude.
In short, if he had to team up with one of their enemies…better the devil you know.
"Ulrich?"
He looked up. Yumi was standing before him, eyes a little wet. "I'm done," she said, swallowing. "Thank you for...you know."
He smiled at her. "No problem." Then Ulrich glanced up. "Mr. Belpois, what do you need us to do? How can we help?"
"I materialized Aelita's group as close to the castle as I could. They're heading northeast-if you two go straight north, there's a point your paths should intersect. I'd like you to rendezvous with them."
"The castle? Why there?"
"According to XANA, it's like the waytowers on Lyoko. If you step into it, you can exit into any section of the First City."
"Meaning we can head to the gate, and from there get Aelita to the activated tower!" Yumi exclaimed.
"Exactly. The only problem-besides XANA, that is-is Carthage. While it's at the heart of the castle, we can't say for certain that its presence hasn't had ramifications on the rest. So be cautious."
A chill ran up Ulrich's spine. Carthage had infected XANA-didn't that mean, in some way, it was similar to him? Or was it the other way around…? "We will," he promised. Yumi echoed him.
"Good. Now...there are still a few Mantas in your area, but most of them are swinging away. Looks like they're searching for the main group. I think now's your best chance to sneak out."
Nodding, the two teens scooped up their weapons-the tire iron and golf club for Ulrich, the knives and 2x4 for Yumi-and carefully made their way to the warehouse entrance. Ulrich eyed the Ants with trepidation, but they kept going about their business, not even reacting when Yumi almost stepped on one.
They stepped out of the warehouse and into the street. Ulrich looked up and immediately noticed that Mr. Belpois was right. The Mantas that had been keeping an eye on them were gone. That doesn't mean there aren't more around, though.
"What do you think?" he asked Yumi. "Flying or running?"
She pursed her lips, evidently turning the viability of both in her head. "Flying," she finally said. "We'll have less cover, but we'll travel faster. Mr. Belpois can tell us if any Mantas are in the area."
Ulrich nodded, and the two took to the air.
Adventure wasn't what Sissi expected.
Then again, she wasn't sure what she had expected. Lots of action, drama, and death-defying moments had colored William and Odds' accounts, but all that was absent right now. Instead, the air was tense as they slipped through the city, darting from cover to cover. No one spoke. Occasionally, the buildings or street would ripple or shift, but XANA would glance at them and they would settle down.
Thanks to XANA, they'd traveled unmolested for the past...however many minutes, she had no idea how to tell time here. But, looking up, she could see more and more of those flying things-Mantas, right?-crossing the sky. It was only a matter of time before they found them, and then…
She swallowed. Her mouth felt very dry.
You can do this, she told herself. It's just the fate of the world. No biggie.
They followed XANA as he ducked into a restaurant, left through the back exit, and stepped into a subway station. After travelling underground for an indeterminate amount of time, they emerged back into the city. Sissi paused in the exit-slash-entrance; the red glow that had been on the horizon was much larger now.
That was all she had time to think before a strange, high-pitched sound reached her ears. XANA and Aelita moved in a blur, and suddenly two barriers-one red, one pink-curved over the group's heads, meeting in the middle to create a gradient dome. It rippled strangely, like stones had been thrown into it.
"Nice job, HAL-9000," Odd mocked. "You led us right into an ambush! Or was that your plan all along?"
Aelita started to say, "Odd, he wouldn't-"
And at the same time, XANA retorted, "If I wanted to get rid of you, I could just let the City do it."
Then Sissi saw the group of eight Mantas overhead and, like an idiot, thought oh, we've been attacked. William, who had been last in line, stepped out from behind her. He frowned at the sight that greeted him. "That's not good."
"They're coming back," Aelita fretted, watching as the Mantas did, indeed, circle around. "I know my barrier can hold up against another round...XANA?"
He was studying the dome, visibly calculating. "Mine can too, but not forever. Hiding only gives reinforcements time to arrive. After the next attack, we should drop the dome and go on the offensive."
Odd flexed his claws. "Now you're speaking my language!"
William leaned in towards Sissi. "Stay close to me."
Ordinarily, Sissi might have snarked something about damsels in distress, but right now her heart was trying to pump its way out of her chest. Nausea, fear and uncertainty fought for dominance. So all she did was nod and tighten her grip around her baton-staff.
The Mantas faltered when they passed over XANA and Aelita, as if uncertain, but only for a moment. In the next instance, the dome was shaking and trembling under a barrage of laser fire. Sissi tensed, but after several nail-biting seconds of this, the assault stopped. The dome still held.
"Now!" Aelita said as the Mantas wheeled away. The barrier dropped-she and XANA threw Energy Fields-Odd fired Laser Arrows-William threw some kind of sword beam-four of the Mantas writhed in the air-
The ones Aelita, XANA, and William hit exploded.
And then chaos erupted. The rest of the pack turned on a dime and dove for them. XANA disappeared into smoke and peeled off to the left, while Aelita activated a pair of pink wings and flew right. Sissi tried, she really did, to stay near William, but in all the confusion she lost sight of him, and Odd too. In what seemed like an instant, she was alone.
Her heart worked double-time as she darted through the battlefield like a rabbit fleeing a fox. Red lasers and strange white objects fall from the sky-she didn't know what the latter were, but some instinct told her to avoid them. She skirted a field of them and almost got hit by a laser, only just leaning back in time. Forget fighting back-it felt like it took everything she had just to stay alive!
A shadow fell over her. She looked up into the blank face of a Manta as it dove down. Its tail swung down, red light gathering at the tip. Sissi yelped and jumped to the side-not a second too soon! A laser slammed into the ground. She looked around frantically-where was everyone?! William, you jerk, you tell me to stay by you, then you run off?
In the time it took Sissi to fumble into some kind of fighting stance, another Manta joined its friend. She gulped, watching them swing around and fly back to her. "Hey, power? If you wanna do something, now'd be a good time."
Nothing happened. Typical.
The Mantas fired, and somehow Sissi managed to block them both with her weapon. For a heartbeat, she felt proud-and then they kept firing, circling in the air so that she had to rotate to keep up with the lasers. Panic started to set in. I can't keep this up forever!
But then, smoke flew by her. When it passed the Mantas, it turned back into William, who yelled as he brought that big-ass sword down. It sliced right through one of the Manta's heads, and the creature exploded. Its friend turned tail and ran.
William didn't chase it right away, hovering in the air as he glanced down at her. "Sorry I'm late. Reinforcements did, in fact, show up-right on top of me and Odd."
She felt ashamed of her unkind thoughts earlier. It wasn't William's job to bodyguard her, and she should be capable of taking care of herself. "How do I get up there?" she yelled.
He looked amused. "We can fly here."
Oh. Right.
Face burning, she jumped straight up-and yep, this was flying. And...this was how you hovered, okay. Okay!
William pointed after the fleeing Manta. "You wanna handle that one? I'll make sure nothing else interferes."
Determined to prove herself, Sissi nodded. They flew off in pursuit; flying was strange, but in a few moments she felt she had the hang of it. She even dared to grin-it was kinda fun!
Realizing it was in trouble, the Manta dropped some of the white things. "Bombs!" William called.
I knew they weren't good! Sissi angled her body, diving under the small minefield. William simply turned into smoke and flew through it. The Manta was forced to dive as well to avoid him-right into Sissi's path.
She swerved in time to avoid crashing. The Manta keened, maybe in surprise. Recovering quickly, Sissi grabbed its tail, swung on it like a rope, let go at the apex, and did a backwards somersault to land on top of it. She stumbled.
The stupid thing immediately tried to barrel roll, and Sissi barely managed to grab its wings in time to avoid falling off. Irritation spiked. "I am so done with you!" she spat, and in a burst of daring she didn't know she had, let go with one of her hands-the one with her weapon. She brought down the baton-staff on its head once-twice-a third time!-
And the Manta exploded.
Sissi fell through the air for a few heart-stopping seconds before she figured out how to spin to a halt. She hovered there, grinning, bursting with pride. "I got one!"
"Nice, kid!" Odd yelled as he chased a Manta, firing bursts of Laser Arrows into its back. With a low crooning sound, his opponent burst into pieces. "But don't get cocky!"
Kid?! We're the same age!
"Nice job."
She turned and saw William hovering nearby. He was smiling at her, and Sissi felt a little glow inside. She smiled back. "Thanks."
In the lull, she looked around. Aelita was weaving through the air, throwing pink energy blasts. She hit two Mantas, who immediately exploded. Another Manta came up behind Aelita, but before Sissi or William could do or say anything, a smoke trail coiled underneath it. XANA shifted back, raised a red scimitar, stuck it into the Manta's belly, and dragged it all the way down the underside of its body. Sissi shuddered. The Manta screamed and died.
Aelita glanced back. "Thanks!"
Sissi looked around for more Mantas, but the skies were empty. Everyone was flying towards her and William, grouping up. She tightened her grip around her weapon, disbelieving. It's over? It didn't feel like it was over. Adrenaline was still pumping through her veins; her vision felt extra sharp; her heart-
She jumped as Odd slapped her on the shoulder. "Still alive, huh? Not bad! We'll make a Lyoko Warrior out of you yet!"
For some reason, Aelita frowned at that. Sissi swallowed. Maybe she thinks I'm not cut out for it.
"Well that's not in question. I mean, they somehow made one out of you." She said instead, not wanting to let any of her doubts show.
William laughed. Aelita ducked her head to hide a smile. Even XANA snickered. Odd shot the last one a glare-Sissi couldn't tell what parts, if any, were mocking or genuine. "Hey, I don't need to put up with this from you of all people!"
Sissi barked out a laugh, a tad hysterically. She couldn't help it. Everything had been so intense the past few days and they'd just been in battle and she could have died-not really but still-and this was...this was normal. A relief.
Odd threw his hands in the air, but he was smiling. The last of Sissi's post-battle stress melted away as the five of them chuckled together. For just a moment, there was camaraderie.
But when the laughter faded, they all remembered who they were with and what they were there for. Guilt panged Sissi for having fun at this time; she glanced down. Willaim slammed his mouth shut, looking quietly furious at himself. Odd's jovial expression lessened, hardened. Aelita's face fell.
XANA's became closed off. "The rendezvous point isn't too far. We should hurry; now that they've found us once, the attacks are only going to increase."
