A/N: Hello there one and all, the Crow returns once again! I decided I loved this story too much to let it go. This new chapter is set years in the future after the Super Computer was shut down in the previous chapter. The original Lyoko gang's ages will be off and I apologize for that, it was just really difficult to make everything work out with cannon ages. So, now everyone (except William, he is still 14) is between 35 and 40. The OC's are as follows; Legend is Ulirch and Yumi's only son, he is 15 years old. Koen is Odd and Addilyn's only child, he is 13. Jeremy and Aelita have two children, Lillith is the oldest at 15, and Quentin is 12.
A dark haired teen groggily sat up and rubbed the sleep from his tired eyes. He couldn't see, he couldn't think or even remember. Panic started to set in as he felt blindly around the brightly lit room, slowly his vision began to adjust to the brilliant rays assaulting his retinas. Memories came flooding back to him as he struggled unsteadily to his feet. His name was William Dunbar, and he shouldn't be alive.
Elsewhere
"So, this is Lyoko," A young man scoffed as he ran a gloved hand through his chocolate brown hair, so far he wasn't impressed with the virtual world he was standing in. Beside him a redhaired teen rolled her eyes at the older boy's criticism, it was just like Legend to immediately start complaining.
"I dunno, it looks pretty cool to me," a younger blonde boy commented as he looked around at the virtual world in awe. Legend immediately gave him a stink eye before drawing one of his weapons that virtualized with him.
"You might be right, Koen," the brunette chuckled as he ran a hand along the razor sharp edge of his battleaxe.
"Guys, stop fooling around and get out of there, I don't want dad to find out I turned this thing on," a disembodied voice pleaded from inside the group's head.
"C'mon Quentin, don't be such a wimp," Legend teased as he swung his axe in a wide arc over his head.
Not Far Away
William slowly emerged from a neutral tower and scanned the barren wasteland that was the desert sector, he could just barely make out a group of people standing in the open. A grimace spread across his face as he drew his massive Zweihander, he didn't recognize them.
"Let's go explore this stupid place," Legend grumbled as he turned and started to walk further into the desert until he caught sight of William sprinting towards them.
"Hell yeah, so this is like a video game," the dark haired teen declared letting a grin spread across his lips.
Suddenly William disappeared into a cloud of smoke mid stride, seconds later he materialized behind Legend.
"What the hell was that?" The brunette roared as he spun on his heel trying to find his assailant. Before Legend could react he caught a vicious kick from William sending him stumbling back.
"I won't let you control me again Xana!" William bellowed bringing his Zweihander down in a brutal strike aimed straight at the fallen warrior. Suddenly pain tore through the dark haired teen's shoulder causing his attack to rip into the arid desert floor, he grunted and yanked an arrow from his arm.
"Get back Legend, he's dangerous," Lilith ordered notching another arrow in her bow. William growled in anger and sprinted towards the redhead in a blind rage. He swung his Zweihander in a savage arc catching the teen in the stomach with the blunt edge of his sword sending her skidding across the ground. The redhead landed in a painful heap, she didn't move as the dust settled around her.
"Lilith!" Legend roared in anger as he rushed forward and swung his battleaxe. Before the blow landed William flicked his wrist and a plume of dark smoke slammed the brunette into the ground before dissipating into thin air. Seeing his friend in danger Koen ran forward to defend the fallen brunette but was simply tossed aside by a flick of William's wrist.
Legend blinked weakly and stared up at the assailant standing over him, he sighed and closed his eyes, this was it for him.
"Laser arrow!"
William grimaced as a sharp pain shot up his arm, it had been awhile since he had that feeling, he missed it. A twisted grin spread across the teen's face as he leveled his blade at the purple clad warrior that stood in front of him.
A mixture of confusion and shock rippled across Odd's face as he stared into William's cold, brown eyes. Seeing the blonde's hesitation William darted forward and swung his sword in a mighty arc, aiming directly for his enemy's head.
"William, what the hell are you doing!?" Odd bellowed as he skillfully dodged the ferocious swing.
"Shut up Xana! I won't let you torture me anymore!" William roared before charging forward for another swing.
Suddenly the dark haired teen let out a pained gasp and collapsed in a heap on the dusty ground.
"Did that stop him?" Jeremy questioned, his voice echoing across the empty expanse of desert. All eyes fell on the crumpled pile that was a very pissed William a few seconds ago.
"Yeah, I think you got him Einstein," Odd grunted in reply.
The world swirled by, everything blending together as sound and time slowed to a stop.
"You failed them, you will always fail. You're useless, a complete failure,"
A dark haired teen opened his eyes and stared blanky around at his surroundings, he was alone… always alone.
"They hate you, you're not one of them"
"Stop," the teen pleaded as the voices grew louder.
"You can't stop us, we are you. Surrender to us, give into your hate,"
"GET OUT OF MY HEAD!" William roared. Suddenly the world shattered into a thousand pieces, tearing through the dark haired teen's body.
A loud hiss reverberated across the scanner room as one of the large tanks slid open revealing William slumped against the metallic wall. The first one at his side was a very concerned Yumi, she was quickly joined by the rest of her friends.
"Is he still breathing?" Aelita asked, her hands clasping together tightly. Ulrich silently placed his head on the dark haired teen's chest, straining his ears trying to detect a heartbeat.
"He's alive, but I can barely hear his heartbeat. We need to get him to a hospital," Ulrich announced moving his head away from William's chest.
"Get him to a hospital? This asshole tried to kill us!" Legend yelled from his spot leaning against the far wall.
"He wouldn't be here if you guys hadn't of turned on the supercomputer," Jeremy retorted crossing his arms, he was clearly still angry over the whole incident. He turned his disapproving gaze on his son Quentin, who was staring down at his sneakers trying to avoid his father's eyes.
"But how is he here? He should of been deleted when Lyoko was destroyed," Aelita whispered to herself. Even though the pink haired woman was the first to say it, everyone had the same thought on their minds.
"We shouldn't worry about this now, we need to get him some help," Odd announced, breaking the silence that had fallen over the cramped room. He moved to lift William off of the steel floor but jumped back when the teen snapped to life.
"Get away from me, I won't let you trick me Xana!" William roared as he kicked away Odd's hand. Sweat beaded the young teen's forehead as he looked around wildly looking much like a caged animal. His vision was blurry and sounds were mixing together, all he could make out was a blob of purple.
"It's okay William, you're safe, Xana can't hurt you anymore," Aelita cried, tears streaming from her face. She couldn't stand to see her friends suffer at the hands of the program that her father had created. Hearing the pink haired woman's voice William stopped struggling and stared off into the empty space that his vision formed.
"A-Aelita?" The William stuttered in confusion, nothing was making sense to him.
"Yes, it's me. You're safe, I promise," the pink haired woman cooed as she scooted closer to the distressed teen. Taking a deep breath she reached out and placed a hand on the boy's shoulder. William sighed as he felt the warmth of Aelita's touch flow over his skin, he was finally home.
Suddenly the room was filled with the screeches of an alarm sounding from the room above causing everyone to jump in shock.
"That's the supercomputer, there's a activated tower!" Jeremy exclaimed as he rushed to the ladder that sat in one side of the small room. A pit formed in the blonde's stomach as he hoisted himself up the metal rungs, he was afraid.
"Get ready to virtualize me, I'll take care of it," Ulrich called after the man as he disappeared into the access hatch in the metal roof. Turing around the man caught his wife's gaze apprehensively, she was climbing into a scanner.
"What? You think I'd really let you have all the fun?" Yumi teased as she playfully stuck her tongue out at her husband as the scanner doors slowly slid shut.
"Virtualize Ulrich!"
"Virtualize Yumi!"
"You go with them princess, I'll take care of William," Odd grunted as he placed a hand on the stunned teenager's shoulder. Aelita nodded quietly and moved quickly to the closest open scanner, she took a deep breath as it closed around her.
"Virtualize Aelita!"
The second Aelita hit the virtual ground of Lyoko's desert region she knew they were in trouble, Xana had already sent his monsters. Lasers ripped through the air as Ulrich and Yumi did their best to hold back a pair of tarantula's that had been waiting to ambush them.
"We're going to need Odd in here now!" Aelita yelled as she summoned a energy shield to block an incoming laser.
Seconds later a man in a striped purple cat suit fell from the sky and landed gracefully beside her. He gave a playful wink before firing a pair of laser arrows into the closest Tarantula destroying it instantly.
"I was already in the scanner princess," Odd teased as Ulrich rushed forward and sliced the remaining enemy in half. A smile crossed the pink haired woman as her mind wandered back to past when they did this charade on the daily. In fact all of the Lyoko warriors were filled with a feeling of nostalgia as they dashed through the barren desert.
Suddenly a laser tore past the group scorching a rock to their right, seconds later the second one caught Ulrich on the shoulder.
"Einstein, what happened to those monster updates?" Ulrich demanded as a formation of hornets buzzed past.
"I'm trying, the monsters aren't showing up on my radar, it looks like my program is too old," Jeremy's disembodied voice replied, echoing through everyone's head. Odd opened his mouth to reply with a sarcastic response but was silenced when a laser blast from a Megatank disintegrated him into pixels.
"Aeltia, run!" Yumi ordered as she gracefully hurled one of her fans at the Megatank hoping for a lucky shot. Not in a position to argue Aelita turned and sprinted away from the remaining Lyoko warriors leaving them to fend off Xana's monsters.
"Keep running straight, the tower is around that rock face," Jeremy announced urging Aelita along as she sprinted across the dusty ground that was the desert sector.
"Don't stop, Ulrich and Yumi just got devirtualized!" The blonde man cried as he read off the lines of text that flashed by like lightning on his screen. Aelita nodded grimly as she sprinted around the aforementioned rock face, it was all up to her now.
Suddenly Aelita stopped running, her dark green eyes growing wide with fear as the tentacled form of the Scyphozoa glided into view from it's hiding place somewhere in the rocks. The pink haired woman turned to run but was yanked back by the monster's vise like grip, desperation caught in the woman's throat as she was lifted effortlessly off the ground. Within seconds she felt a tug on her mind as her memories where slowly torn from her.
Jeremy watched in stunned horror as his wife's memories were slowly drained away. Desperation flashed across the blonde man's face as he realized that he was completely helpless, there was nothing he could do but watch. Suddenly a text box popped up on one of his many computer screens drawing his eyes to it.
"Virtualize William?" He questioned, reading the text aloud.
Fear ran rampant through Aelita's body, she couldn't hold on any longer, her mind was starting to fade. Her vision blurred as his eyes began to drift shut, she had lost.
Suddenly the Scyphozoa roared out in pain as it's tentacles were slice open, causing it to drop Aelita. The monster whirled around only to come face to face with a very angry William.
"Hey there ugly, did you miss me?" The dark haired teen growled, leveling his sword at the monster. In response the Scyphozoa screeched and turned to flee, a evil smile crossed William's face as he prepared to make the finishing blow.
Before the warrior could swing his sword he caught a laser blast in the chest forcing him to his knees. A barbaric roar tore from William's throat as he swung his sword in a mighty arc in an attempt to devirtualize Aelita before he was hit by a barrage of deadly lasers.
A grim smile broke the teen's face as he watched the pink haired woman disappear into a flurry of pixels. He had done it.
Aelita woke in a panic, her dark green eyes scanning the room in confusion. Her vision was blurry causing the room to mold together, she could barely make out a older man with gray hair standing with his back to her.
"W-who are you?" Aelita questioned as she slowly sat up in the small bed she was laying in.
"You'll remember me in due time, for now you must remember yourself," the man whispered, his back still to the pink haired woman.
"What do you mean? Nothing make sense right now" Aelita cried out panic catching in her throat.
"Goodbye my dear Aelita," the man muttered sadly as he removed a pair of round spectacles and turned to look at the pink haired woman.
"Guys, she's waking up!" Odd exclaimed as he rushed to Aelita's bedside. The pink haired woman groaned and slowly sat up trying her best to not upset her head splitting migraine. The woman's caution soon proved to be useless when she was suddenly pulled into a crushing hug by the blonde man.
"You gave us a scare princess," Odd whispered as he held the woman tightly, tears dripping down his puffy cheeks. A sad smile graced Aelita's face as she wrapped her arms around Odd's slim form. The pair held their embrace for a few more seconds before they broke apart.
"Are you okay Odd?" Aelita questioned, her eyes growing wide with concern. The blonde teen nodded quietly despite his badly disheveled appearance. His cheeks were red and swollen from hours of crying, and his eyes were bloodshot from him constantly rubbing at them.
"I just didn't want to lose you too," Odd whispered diverting his gaze from his companion's. It was a simple sentence, but Aelita could hear all the pain in the man's words. Odd's wife, Addilyn, had died from cancer around six years ago. The blonde haired man rarely let it show but he was broken inside after losing her.
"Hey, I'm not going anywhere, that's a promise," Aelita declared reassuringly as she took Odd's hands in her own. Suddenly a thought dawned on her as she glanced around the empty room.
"Where's Jeremy?" Aelita asked, tilting her head questioningly. Odd's face fell as he jerked his head at the wooden door to the room.
"He's at the SuperComputer, been there since you came out of the scanners," he replied sourly. It was clear by the man's tone that he was upset with his friend.
Aelita was about to open her mouth to reply when a scream tore through the room.
A/N: All done! So, what did you think? If you liked it then it would be amazing if you followed/ favorited to show that I have readers! And as always comment and tell me how I'm doing or to leave suggestions!
~Sincerely the Crow~