Authors note
I'm excited for this chapter and I know a few of you are as well
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Despite the great weather for the time of year and the usual cheerful nature of the warriors, today that nature was baron, Dallas, Yumi, Aelita, Odd and Jeremie stood away from everyone else in the corner, Ulrich had overslept after a night of studying, and had barely gotten up in time, he walked towards the others upon noticing them,
"hey everybody" he said, but oddly no one seemed to notice him, "Wow that's a tough break" said Jeremie, Yumi looked down she was almost crying, "yeah no kidding" she replied holding back the water works, "but unfortunately I'm not" she added, Ulrich was confussed and asked "whats going on here", but again he was ignored, "I wish I could do something Yumi" said Aelita, Yumi smiled at the comment, "that's really nice of you Aelita" she said, Ulrich was becoming frustrated at the fact they were ignoring him, "will somebody tell me whats going on" he asked, but as he did the bell rang and everyone started heading to their respective classes, "look we'll talk about it after class okay" said Jeremie as they started to walk away, "don't mind me" said Ulrich but he was still ignored by them.
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Having quickly moved to their English class, the warriors sat at the back and Ulrich had been told what was up with Yumi,
"Say that again" said Ulrich quietly, Odd leaned back towards him and Jeremie, "Yumi's father lost his job, they're thinking off going back to japan to find work" said Odd, Ulrich was heartbroken, "you gotta be kidding" he said leaning forward, Jeremie leaned towards him, "it's not for sure yet, don't panic" said Jeremie, Ulrich however couldn't help but do that, "what Yumi's leaving and we may never see her again and I shouldn't panic" said Ulrich, Dallas leaned towards them, "Ulrich you're blowing this out of proportion, it'll be fine" said Dallas, Ulrich looked back at him, "how are you so calm" he asked angrily, Dallas realised Yumi still hadn't told him, "you know what, there is an easy solution" said Odd, Ulrich looked towards him and asked "oh yeah what", Odd looked back and said "well you see if you marry Yumi, then she'll get a green card", Ulrich was angered by the comment, "very funny" he said, Odd turned forward and said "I'm just trying to lighten things up", Ulrich didn't feel any better, he may never get to see the woman he loved again, he stood up "excuse me" he said, the teacher turned and looked at him as he asked "can I go to the infirmary", the others looked at each other and Dallas rolled his eyes.
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Ulrich quickly moved across campus and towards Yumi's class room and looked through her window towards her, she noticed him and smiled at him,
"Moby dick is a character in which novel" asked her teacher but Yumi quickly spoke up and said "excuse me ma'am" she asked the teacher looked at her, "yes Yumi" she asked, "can I please go to the infirmary" asked Yumi, the teacher was about to say know then she remembered what Delmas had told her and said "yes of course, go straight ahead, Ulrich's eyes shot open he didn't anticipate Yumi doing that.
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The two walked around the back of the main building somewhere no one would see them,
"why can't you stay at the school as a border, and go to Japan at summer vacation" Asked Ulrich as he went through ideas so he didn't lose her, "are you kidding my parents would never go for that idea, besides…" she said but Ulrich cut her off, "there must be something we can do" he asked, Yumi looked down and decided it wasn't a good time, "Ulrich it's nice off you to try but nothing has been set in stone" she said, Ulrich was still jumpy about it however, "I know why don't we write to our congressman and ask for help" he said not thinking straight, "yeah why not the prime minster" said Yumi sarcastically as she walked into the main building actually needing the infirmary now, Ulrich however didn't see the sarcasm and said "great idea".
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Night fell and Ulrich hadn't been able to anything all day, he was too focused on Yumi,
"You ready for dinner" asked Odd, Ulrich signalled for him to go ahead, "you go on, I'll catch up later" he said not fully paying attention to him, Odd shut the door behind him, Ulrich looked at the black page in front of him, but he couldn't think of what to write,
"for fuck sake, I don't want to lose her" he said almost crying as he smashed his fists onto the table, then an image of Yumi flashed in his head, he knocked everything off his desk in frustration, then he noticed the radio and was prepared to smash it when something peaked his interest, "… remember folks this week's super jackpot is 30 million euro" said the announcer, Ulrich quickly grabbed a piece of paper and wrote down the numbers as they were read out, 6, 22, 10, 47, 13, 37, "and now that big bonus number, 79" said the announcer, Ulrich turned off the radio and began to contemplate his decision, but the announcers words played through his head alongside the image of Yumi, "no I couldn't do that" he said to himself but he realised this was his only choice, he turned off his light and stood up.
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The mood was worse at the Ishiyama residence, they were sitting around the main table it had been silent up until this point, but Yumi's mother broke the silence,
"It you go down to the temp agency today" she asked, her father put down his bowl of noodles "too bad, there might have been work available, I mean to tie us over until we return to Kyoto" said her mother, her Father was frustrated by the statement "there's nothing out there, there are too many people in my field, you know that very well" he said, however Yumi's mum was being stubborn, "well if you don't look you certainly won't find anything" she said, her father slammed his fists into the table, "what about you did you go to the temp agency's today" he said angrily scaring Hiroki, her Mother stood up not putting up with his violent behaviour.
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Back at Kadic Jeremie, Aelita, Odd and Dallas, where in Jeremie's and Dallas's room, they were also taking the possible departure of Yumi hard but not as badly as Ulrich,
"he's not in our room I don't know where he is" said Odd as he laid down on Dallas's bed "I get the feeling that Ulrich is taking the situation way harder than we are" said Aelita, Odd looked at her and said "well they have been dating for over a year", Dallas moved away from the window, "To be Honest I don't know if he knew if it'd make him feel better or worse" he said as he clicked his fingers, he turned back around, "Well it's something that he's gonna have to know either way" said Jeremie, Dallas looked up before shouting "WHAT THE FUCK" as they were suddenly engulfed by a white flash.
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The previous day the warriors were in there prior positions, Dallas looked around expecting trouble,
"wait what just happened" asked Aelita, Jeremie quickly sat down at a bench and grabbed his laptop "why did we return to the past" added Aelita, Jeremie was just as confussed as the others gathered around him, "could XANA have taken control of the program again" asked Yumi trying to come up with an explanation, "no way, I deadlocked it after last time" said Jeremie as he looked for an activated tower, "the super scan doesn't show any active towers" said Jeremie, Dallas handed his crossbow to Odd, "where are you going" he asked, Dallas clicked his neck, "to get some answers" he said back at them, "I'm gonna go to the factory after class and check it out".
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Dallas quickly kicked Adam's door in,
"do you have an appointment" he asked as he looked at his cracked frame, "that's the least of your troubles, Why did you or Evelyn active the return to the past" he growled at him, Adam tilted his head, "we didn't, I thought Jeremie did" replied Adam, Dallas was confussed, "what do you mean" he asked as he extended his left blade, "I don't know how to operate the return to the past, and XANA won't tell me" said Adam, Dallas looked at him before retracting his blade, "you're a bastard but I know there's no reason you have to lie considering we're not under a trap like last time" said Dallas as he walked away, "I'LL BILL THE DOOR TO YOU" shouted Adam, whilst on a street corner Ulrich filled out a Lotto ticket with the winning numbers
"Here you go" he said to the vender, the vender was in his thirties and had dark red hair tied back, he was sceptical ,"I'm not sure you're old enough to play young man" he said, Ulrich quickly thought of something, "it's for my mum, she asked me to buy it for her, she's currently bed ridden" said Ulrich, the vender fell for it and took pity on him, "oh in that case" he said before handing Ulrich the ticket.
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The Warriors entered their English class, Jeremie was still confussed about the return to the past considering that Adam had denied any involvement,
"Ulrich we're gonna head to the factory after class, you coming" asked Jeremie, Dallas suddenly noticed Ulrich was suddenly calmer as he said "no I have to uh… I have to study for chemistry", Odd looked at him and said "mind if I join you, I'm really struggling with the periodic table", Ulrich however denied the request, "I'd rather study by myself" he said, a few hours later Ulrich left Kadic and headed to the Ishiyama residence when Yumi wasn't there he knocked on the door, and both Takeho and Akiko opened, "oh Ulrich isn't it" asked Akiko, Ulrich nodded, she was confussed by his presence, "I'm afraid Yumi isn't here at the moment" she said, "yeah she's at school where I'm certain you should be" said Takeho, Ulrich smiled and said "I'm on a free period, but that's not why I'm here" he took a deep breath, "Yumi told me that you lost your job so I decided that even though it might not be much, to buy you a lotto ticket" he said as he handed it to Takeho, he was nervous and was scared this story wouldn't hold up, Takeho laughed and said "I'm sorry Ulrich, but the odds of winning are astronomical to say the least, but I can understand why you did this, you and Yumi are good friends and you have a good heart", Ulrich smiled unsure if he should have or not, "well you've made me laugh" he said "something I need these days" he added, Ulrich nodded and said "also please don't tell Yumi I gave it to you", he then walked away as fast as he could, smiling knowing that Yumi wasn't leaving.
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A few hours passed and Yumi's mother was doing the dishes as her father sat down reading the newspaper,
"that Ulrich is such a sweetheart for trying, especially for someone who isn't Japanese" she said, her father chuckled and said "yeah but I don't think he understands that we have a 1 in 14 million chance of winning", then they listened to the radio, "and todays winning numbers are, 6, 22, 10, 47, 13, 37 and the bonus number is 78" said the announcer, her mother and father were shocked as his glasses nearly fell from his head, "I can't believe it" he spat out unsure of what to say, "hey there whats going on" said Yumi as she entered the kitchen, "this is" started her mother but she needed to clear her throat, "this is the winning ticket" she finally managed to say, Yumi was confussed "the jackpot" she added as she handed it to her partner "whats a jackpot" asked Hiroki but he got no response, "it's incredible" her father said as he pulled on his tie loosening it, "you played the lotto, but I thought you were firmly against gambling" asked Yumi, her father coughed but her mother spilled the beans, "actually it was your friend Ulrich who played, and he gave us the ticket" she said, her father looked at her and said "he didn't want you to know", Yumi was angered by Ulrich's actions and was visibly so.
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Meanwhile at the factory, Jeremie, Aelita and Dallas were in the computer room, whilst Jeremie and Aelita stood at the screen Dallas had been tearing the room apart checking every circuit, he moved from the structure atop of the room,
"That's it I've check every fucking circuit, every fucking one of them, it wasn't a hardware glitch" he said as he grabbed his tool belt and dropped down to the others, "I don't get it, XANA had nothing to do with it, and if it's not a Hardware glitch" he said confussed, "it's as if someone set off the return to the past from here, but I'm the only one who knows how to do it" he added as Dallas walked towards the two, "don't look at me, the last time I used this thing, I nearly killed you" said Dallas, then it occurred to Aelita, "what if someone read your manual" she suggested, Dallas and Jeremie looked at her, "what makes you say that" asked Jeremie, then they heard the computer phone ring.
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The next day the warriors were standing by a tree as Ulrich walked over,
"Hi" he said, but instead of a verbal response, Dallas grabbed him and smashed him into the tree pinning him at the neck with his elbow and extending his blade, "okay what the fuck is going on" asked Ulrich as he began to sweet, "I'm really impressed with your computer skills and your ability to decipher my code" said Jeremie, Ulrich's eyes darted towards him, "well you did enter the code for the return to the past without my supervision" said Jeremie, Ulrich knew he was in trouble but in his panic he tried to bluff his way out of it, "What are you talking about" he said, Dallas suddenly shouted "YOU KNOW FULL FUCKING WELL WHAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT", Ulrich began to get scared, he managed to turn his head towards and Yumi and said "Yumi I did it for you, I don't want you to leave", unlike the others however Yumi wasn't angry or disappointed she was upset and nearly crying, "Dallas release him" she said as she stepped towards him, Dallas gruffed as he moved his arm, Ulrich quickly gasped, "Yumi" said Ulrich, but Yumi grabbed his hand, "what're you doing" he asked but his question was answered by her placing it on her stomach, "whats going on" he asked confussed but his question was returned with another question as she said "even if my family has to return to Japan I can't leave", Ulrich was confussed and asked "okay whats the excuse as to not to go" he asked, Yumi started crying as he didn't understand, "BECAUSE I'M PREGANT WITH YOUR CHILD YOU FUCKING IDIOT" she shouted before she ran off leaving a trail of tears, Ulrich fell to his knees with shock, he wasn't angry that the others seemed to already know, in fact all of the anger and fear he had left his body, Dallas went to grab him having vented some of his anger, but Aelita moved her arm and he didn't, Ulrich simply asked "why didn't she tell me", Aelita dropped to him being the only one who wasn't angry with him, "she tried so many times, but something always stopped her" said Aelita, the others started to walk away and Aelita stood up, "for now you're out of the group until we can make the decision on what will happen" said Jeremie, Dallas stopped and looked back at Ulrich, "I'm not agreeing with your methods Ulrich, but I understand and agree with why" said Dallas as he followed after the others leaving Ulrich on his knees.
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Adam and Evelyn watched from affair, Adam was laughing at Ulrich who still hadn't moved from his spot,
"oh XANA never did say that it was gonna be this funny to watch it all unfold" he said, Evelyn shook her head at him "I don't find it funny, he may be our enemy but it's clearly hurting him more than we ever could" she said, Adam stood up and laughed "symphonising with the enemy, better hope XANA doesn't find out" he said as he walked away, Evelyn followed shaking her head.
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On Lyoko numerous vibrations moved towards the newly activated tower, but following them was a swarm of Krabs that were marching towards it, whilst back at the school, Nicholas was in the men's room rushing some water in his face, he was tied after playing video games all night, suddenly he heard a noise and looked up to see the light sparking, suddenly the black ooze of XANA dropped and engulfed him, he didn't have time to let out a scream as he fell to his knees in agony, but suddenly he stopped and stood up as the Logo of XANA flashed in his eyes.
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The bell rang and everyone went off to their classes, Yumi had gone to the library still upset at Ulrich and didn't really want to see anyone else, whilst the others had gone to their geography class,
"Numerous rural villages in Africa are affected to an even greater extent" said their teacher, Ulrich was sitting in the corner furthest from the window away from the others, Odd and Aelita sat in front of Dallas and Jeremie, the latter had his laptop in front him on his lap so as the teacher couldn't see it, "only half of these rural areas have access to water, and even less to a clean supply" said the teacher, Odd looked back at Jeremie and Dallas, "wow, I didn't think Ulrich would find out like that, I mean I can only imagine how he feels" said Odd, Dallas looked towards him and simply said "my best guess, is like shit", Jeremie looked as the super scan located the activated tower, "XANA has launched an attack" said Jeremie, Aelita looked at the rest of the class, "no Adam, so we can assume he and Evelyn are on Lyoko waiting" she said, "we have less than a minute left of class, as soon as the bell rings we'll get Yumi and head to the factory" said Jeremie, then they noticed the elephant in the room as Dallas, Aelita and Odd looked at Ulrich, "without Ulrich" said Jeremie, the bell rang and the warriors quickly stood up and moved out of the class room, unbeknownst to them Nicholas was watching them, Aelita pulled out her phone and called Yumi, the latter was still in the library crying when she heard her phone ring, "Aelita I don't really feel like talking right now" she said, then she was shocked as Aelita replied "I'm sorry but XANA's activated a tower, and we need your help", Yumi stood up and wiped her eyes "okay hopefully it'll take my mind off things" she said as she hung up.
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Ulrich sat down at one of the benches and looked through his note book and looked at what he'd spent his time in class doing, he kept thinking back to what Yumi had said, a single tear shed his eye as he thought about his mistake, his drawing was basic and was off an eagle something he'd managed to keep on his mind in focus, below it read, I'm sorry for what I did, he then began to cry, but stopped as he heard a voice,
"being a cry-baby again", Ulrich suddenly lost all sadness and it turned to anger, "what the fuck do you want" asked Ulrich, William stood behind him laughing at him, "you must have done something to piss Yumi off, otherwise she wouldn't be crying" he said, Ulrich was getting more and more agitated by his presence, "just leave me be" said Ulrich, William decided to push Ulrich's buttons, "like Yumi did with you" he said as he began to laugh, Ulrich was about to shout the truth in Yumi's face, but this could have back fired on him, he simply curled his fist and swung, William was caught off guard and was a taken back by the sudden strike in his nose, "that was a good one I'll give you that" he said as he grabbed Ulrich and pulled him off the bench and to the floor, "can you follow it up though" said William as kicked Ulrich in the face, he then shook his head and walked away, Ulrich didn't get up he simply spat out the blood of his mouth as others looked at him, he didn't care what they thought.
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Yumi quickly met up with the others at the factory but she knew Ulrich wasn't going to be there,
"Where's Dallas" she asked, then Jeremie looked behind him, "what, he was with us when we left" he said surprised at his absence, but they thought nothing of it as they entered the elevator, it descended and stopped at the computer room and Jeremie rushed towards the computer screen, "Yumi are you going to be okay" asked Jeremie as he put on the head piece, Yumi looked up and barely said "I hope so", Jeremie then loaded the program as the other exited the elevator and entered a scanner each, "Transfer Aelita, Transfer Yumi, Transfer Odd" said Jeremie as he selected each of their ID cards, "Scanner Aelita, Scanner Yumi, Scanner Odd" he said as they felt themselves rise and spin, their ID cards filled up as Jeremie said "Virtualization" they then felt the blast of air and were sent to Lyoko, there blue squared outlines appeared and dropped to the ground, they looked around the dessert sector, "here come your vehicles" said Jeremie as the Over-Board and the Over-Wing's appeared, "Madam" said Odd as he bowed towards Aelita, "would you do me the humble honour of climbing aboard my… board?" he said, Aelita smiled and hoped on the back of the Over-Board, "The activated tower is located two platos north" said Jeremie as the three shot off with Aelita holding onto Odd's waist, back in the computer room Nicholas had entered via the service tunnel and was crawling above Jeremie, "no monsters on the horizon for the time being" said Jeremie, Yumi looked down rubbed her stomach saying "it's not XANA I'm worried about", Jeremie looked down feeling guilty about what he said to Ulrich, "well it's best we deactivate the tower before we find out what it has in store for us this time" said Jeremie then he heard a thud, "there you are Dallas" he said as he turned around but was greeted with the grinning face of Nicholas, he was suddenly pulled away from the chair and thrown across the room landing on a pile of cables Dallas had forgotten to put back, Nicholas grinned and sat down in the chair and began typing, "as you request XANA" he said as the window began to glitch out.
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Back on Lyoko Aelita noticed the moving swarm of Krabs alongside them; strangely they didn't seem to pay much if any attention to the three,
"look over there" she said pointing towards them, Jeremie and Yumi looked as the seemingly never-ending swarm of the creatures moved parallel to them, "are my eyes playing tricks on me or are there at least twenty of them" said Yumi, Aelita looked towards her and replied "there are no mirages on Lyoko", Yumi became worried as the monster finally paid some attention towards them, "by the way, thanks for warning us Jeremie" said Odd sarcastically, but there was no response, "Jeremie?" asked Odd, but Jeremie was out cold on the pile of cables, "now your wounds will become fatal" said Nicholas before he began to laugh, "Jeremie was that you" asked Yumi but again there was no response, "answer us will you" she said, but Odd knew what was happening, "that isn't Jeremie, I'd recognise that laugh anywhere" he said as he quickly moved the Over-Board away from the creatures, "it's Nicholas" he said, Yumi was confussed "Nicholas?" she asked, she wasn't buying it, "are you sure" she asked, Odd was almost certain off it, "positive, no one else has a laugh that dumb in the whole universe" he said, then suddenly two the of the creatures moved behind the warriors "Watch out the Krabs" said Aelita, Odd looked behind them and yelled "we'd better get out of here fast", the vehicles shot forward as they attempted to out run there pursuers, the creatures suddenly opened fire on them, one of the numerous lasers fired hit Yumi in the shoulder, she screamed at the immense pain she felt and was sent off course and she spun out of control before crashing on the ground, "YUMI" shouted Odd as he circled round to her, suddenly the Krab that had shot her blew up as Adam flew overhead shouting "MISGUIDED PIECE OF SHIT, YOUR ORDERS WERE TO FIRE AT ODD", he quickly moved away again without giving chase to the warriors, Odd and Aelita quickly jumped off the Over-Board and moved Yumi onto it, "are you okay" asked Odd, Yumi was clearly in a bad way, "I don't understand, why does it hurt so much shouldn't I just loose some life points" she said as she seemed to faint from the pain, "something's wrong at the factory" said Odd as he took charge, "Odd, the Krabs we're gonna have to take cover" said Aelita, they then quickly moved towards the small hill structure that was towards them, "we're fucked" said Aelita causing Odd to look at her.
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Not knowing what to think anymore Ulrich retreated to the gym, he'd changed into his gear and was using one of the punching bags, he couldn't even look straight, Yumi kept flashing through his head and the last words she'd muttered to him,
"Why" he asked to himself as he stopped punching the bag, "WHY" he screamed as he resumed the anger he had to take out on the bag, he stopped again as he looked at his bloodied knuckles, "Believe me she didn't want you to find out that way" said a voice, Ulrich turned to see Dallas in his own Gym gear, except unlike usual he was wearing a grey shirt and his tags, "What do you want" asked Ulrich as he returned to the bag, Dallas walked towards him and grabbed him on the shoulder, "I ain't taking sides in this conflict, both of you are going the wrong way about it" said Dallas as he let go of Ulrich's shoulder, the latter used the opportunity and turned to punch Dallas but his arm was grabbed and before he could use his other Dallas reached and grabbed his tags holding them up, "what're you doing" asked Ulrich angrily, then he looked and read what the old tags read, "Stay your blade from the flesh of an innocent" he said, Dallas lowered his arm letting go of Ulrich's, "if you want to strike me go ahead I won't stop you, but you won't because you know I don't deserve it" he said, Ulrich lowered his own arm, Ulrich's eyes darted between the tags and Dallas, "it's what I stand for" he said as he stepped away "why are you here" asked Ulrich as he returned his attention to the bag, "XANA's launched an attack" said Dallas, Ulrich chuckled and replied "like Yumi or any of you want me there, fuck, she couldn't even tell me that she's pregnant with my kid" said Ulrich but he found himself moved from his spot as Dallas turned and grabbed him, "she tried telling you, something always seemed to stop, I found out by accident, she wanted you to know before any of us, now get your head out of your ass and man the fuck up" said Dallas as he let go off Ulrich and began walking away, but he stopped as Ulrich asked "you think I can do right by her and the baby" Dallas turned his head back and replied "only you can make that decision", he smiled as he heard Ulrich follow him.
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Back on Lyoko Aelita had moved to help Yumi, she was still in considerable pain and emotional stress, Odd looked at them before looking at the hill,
"I'm gonna go check it out" he said as he moved away from them, he looked over to see the swarm of Krabs moving towards them, one opened fire followed by a barrage of lasers from the others, "we'd better move or" said Odd but he was cut down by a laser that struck him in the shoulder, usually Lyoko didn't cause any damage except now they were feeling the effects, Odd felt his shoulder knocked out of socket, he fell backwards towards the ground, "shit… that really does hurt" said Odd as he felt his shoulder, Yumi quickly moved as she watched Aelita climb the structure, "my turn" said Aelita to herself, Aelita fell to her knees and began to use her power, suddenly a massive wall of never ending sand began to appear between them and the Krabs were blocked off, one of them tried ascending but it was caught in the falling stream and was knocked on its back letting out a scream, "won't take them long to advance" said Aelita as she slid down the structure back to the others, meanwhile from a distance Adam and Evelyn watched, Adam was smiling and stroking his chin, "so whats XANA hoping to accomplish" she asked as she looked at her little brother, "well he's seeing how far they're willing to go to protect Yumi" said Adam, Evelyn was confussed causing Adam to roll his eyes, "XANA doesn't have complete data, he only knows the basic events not actions" said Adam as he mounted his bike, "so this is a test" she asked, Adam nodded as he rode off.
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Back in the factory the elevator opened, Dallas and Ulrich ran over to him, neither had changed, Dallas placed his head to Jeremie's chest,
"He's still breathing" said Dallas as he moved away, Ulrich looked up, "MAYBE I'M THE ONE YOU'RE LOOKING FOR" Shouted Nicholas as he crawled along the wall before jumping towards Dallas and Ulrich, the latter jumped out of the way, but Dallas decided to go head on, he ran and jumped extending his left leg and trying to curve his right underneath but again he couldn't and he missed as Nicholas moved past him, Nicholas looked back and jumped like a frog towards them, "wow since when have you become an athlete I don't believe it" said Ulrich in disbelief, Dallas looked at the inhuman movement, "XANA's been busy" he said as Nicholas dropped from the ceiling towards Ulrich, the Latter jumped swinging his leg in a bicycle kick, but the kick phased through Nicholas, "son of a bitch" said Ulrich, as the two watched as the section of Nicholas reformed, he then quickly jumped knocking Ulrich away before he turned his attention to Dallas, he quickly threw a wide punch, Dallas quickly ducked before returning with one of his own, Nicholas then threw a succession of punches each was dodged as Dallas again ducked, Dallas threw another but missed as Nicholas threw another few, but instead of dodging Dallas raised his arms with his hands extended causing Nicholas to strike his elbows, there was a cracking sound as Nicholas knuckles broke from the pressure, Ulrich watched in amazement at the skill involved, Dallas quickly knocked Nicholas to his knees as XANA was fixing the damaged knuckles, but Dallas had found his entry point and jumped spinning away from Nicholas but on his turn around his raised his left leg over his head before smacking his right foot into Nicholas's face, Dallas landed on his back in some pain of the metal floor, Nicholas was on his side, "open the elevator" said Dallas as he felt his back, Ulrich quickly rushed over as quick as he could and pressed the button, Nicholas's eyes opened as Dallas grabbed him and went towards the elevator, "when I say now hit the button" he said, Ulrich nodded as Dallas threw Nicholas into the metal container, "now" he said Ulrich hit the button, but Nicholas had another trick up his sleeve and jumped towards Dallas who turned and raised his leg in a high kick knocking his attacker in the jaw and sending him into the elevator as it closed, "ouch" said Ulrich as he removed a service panel and unplugged some cables causing the elevator to stop between floors, Dallas fell against the wall in some pain, whilst Ulrich rushed to Jeremie, "Jeremie you gotta wake up" said Ulrich rocking him awake, "hey… hi Ulrich, how are you" he asked in a delusional state, "Jeremie pull yourself together I need your help" said Ulrich, but Jeremie was still delusional, "I'm not feeling so great" he added before he passed out leaving Ulrich and Dallas in the lurch.
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Back on Lyoko the Krabs were continuing their push against the send wall with barely any success, suddenly they heard a voice,
"Odd, Yumi, Aelita, Can you hear me, answer me will ya" said Ulrich, the others looked up happy, but it was clear Yumi was the most happy, "Ulrich" she said with joy, Ulrich knew this wasn't a good time to apologise, but he sighed anyway, "thank god all four of you are alive" he said, Yumi smiled at the comment, "yeah but half of us, aren't in great shape" said Odd, Aelita was concerned "what about Jeremie" she asked scared for the worst, "he's in pretty bad shape, Dallas is tryn'a bring him around" said Ulrich as Dallas waved a small stick under Jeremie's nose, "cover your nose this stuff stinks" said Dallas, Ulrich resisted tempting fate and looked back at the screen, "I don't get it there's nothing on the screens" said Ulrich, Yumi was scared and moved to the structure, "that must be why the fire from XANA's monsters hurt us for real" she said, suddenly there was a scraping noise and the warriors looked over the hill, "what was that" asked Odd, suddenly one of the Krabs broke through the sand wall and it disappeared, "just what I was afraid off" said Aelita, Odd pushed her and Yumi down, "you two go ahead I'll hold em off, I'm more expendable" said Odd, suddenly Jeremie came to coughing wildly at the smell of the stick, "oh Christ, what the fuck is that shit" he screamed as he moved away from Dallas, "smelling salts" he said as he threw the stick away, "whats going on" asked Jeremie, whilst back on Lyoko Odd looked at the advancing Krabs and raised his good arm as the two girls ran away, "Okay this is no time to drag your feet" he said as he watched the advancing creature, Jeremie placed the mike in as he quickly began typing, "Nicholas has deactivated the scanners I should be able to fix them" he said, Ulrich scratched the back of his head and said "Jeremie I wanted to tell you…" but Jeremie cut him off "it's not me you should be apologising to" he said before looking at him, "you and Dallas head to the scanners" he added as the two rushed to the hatch.
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Back on Lyoko Odd had begun running trying to get enough distance between him and the swarm so as he'd have enough time to take a few of them out,
"Come on" Said Jeremie as he franticly typed trying to reactive the scanners, suddenly one of the lasers struck Yumi in the leg sending her flying forward, but as quickly as it happened Jeremie hit enter and Yumi using all her new found strength managed to flip on her hands and onto her feet, "EUREKA" shouted Jeremie as Yumi began running again feeling queasy from the jump, "yeah we're invincible again" said Odd as they carried on running with Aelita ahead of them, whilst in the scanner room Dallas and Ulrich stepped into a scanner each, "Hold on I'm sending the others" said Jeremie, but suddenly the pursing swarm broke off pursuit, leaving only a few behind them, "Jeremie" said Aelita as she noticed what was in front of them, "Transfer Ulrich, Transfer Dallas" said Jeremie as he selected their ID cards causing the scanners to shut, "Scanner Ulrich, Scanner Dallas" he added as the two began to spin and rise, whilst on Lyoko Odd jumped and fired at one of the remaining Krabs, "laser arrow" he said as he flipped through the air, suddenly the Krab exploded as one of the arrows pierced the creature, "virtualization" said Jeremie as Ulrich's and Dallas's blue squared outline appeared and dropped to the ground, however they were both hit by a laser knocking them down, "a hello would have been enough" said Dallas as he curled his legs forward and jumped on his feet grabbing his Tomahawk, Ulrich quickly stood up grabbing his Katanna and blocking numerous lasers, "Hi guys didn't miss me too much did you" asked Ulrich as he moved between Odd and Yumi, Yumi simply responded by slapping him, "you can take that as a sort of" she said, Odd quickly jumped out of the way, "yeah but those guys aren't going to miss us, if we keep sticking around" said Odd as the already heavy fire from the Krabs increased, suddenly the Krabs stopped firing, "that doesn't look good" said Dallas as the creatures moved around them and formed a wall of three by six blocking the tower, "you're vehicles are on the way, they could come in handy" said Jeremie as he hit enter and each of the vehicles materialized, "Yumi, Aelita hold back" said Dallas as he ran and dived forward spreading the baton, the Over-Rider spawned below him and he shot forward, "I'll give them something to shoot at" he said into his ear piece, "great now all we have to do is cross that line" said Odd, then he looked at Ulrich, "you go over the top" he said, Yumi was confussed by this plan, "what about you" she asked, Odd smiled and front flipped onto the Over-Board, "I'll do what I do best, chiefs surprise" he said, before looking back at Aelita "come on, we haven't got much time" he said as she stepped on, then they shot off, Odd then quickly manoeuvred between the Krabs, he smiled before he noticed that a light began to shine below the creatures and a laser fired from the base of the creatures, "That's new" said Jeremie as he gulped, Odd quickly dodged between the lasers as each new Krab fired down at them, "he's really lost it this time" said Ulrich, Yumi grabbed him on the shoulder, "No more than you have, we'll talk about it when we get back okay" she said, Ulrich nodded and stepped onto the Over-Bike, then the two shot forward towards the Krabs, Dallas quickly circled around to Odd and Aelita, "fuck there's more" said Dallas, before he shot forward, the Krabs began firing at him but couldn't get a hit, he quickly pressed a button and began firing flares at the Krabs blinding them, whilst behind them Ulrich and Yumi were moving towards the first wave, the Latter quickly rode up a rock and flew over the Krabs bouncing across the first few, suddenly the wheel raised and he entered hover mode, he drew his Katanna and began stabbing down at each creature he could, causing many of them to explode as soon as he got clear, Yumi flew up high above them, suddenly as she was out of there range she threw down her fans which then violently sliced through most of the remaining Krabs, whilst up ahead Dallas's flare deployment had scrambled the Vision of the Krabs and they couldn't see straight, "hang on" said Odd as they quickly flew underneath the Krabs legs and avoided the downwards shots, "stop moving around so much, how do you expect me to help you" said Ulrich as he flew above the Krabs, Dallas moved alongside him, "cut me some slack okay, I'm just trying to avoid getting hit" said Odd, Dallas looked down before grabbing his crossbow "oh this is a bad idea" he kept repeating to himself as he began to fire down at the creatures, Ulrich jumped down onto one and stabbed his Katanna clean into it causing it to explode, "NOW" shouted Ulrich as Odd and Aelita flew through the gap towards the tower, "you guys are the greatest" said Jeremie as he smiled, but suddenly he was pulled from the computer by Nicholas who began to choke him, whilst inside the tower Aelita walked towards the centre and began to arise towards the top platform, she quickly placed her hand on the screen it registered her as she said "tower deactivated" suddenly Nicholas passed out as Jeremie scrambled to the floor getting as much air as possible.
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Sometime later, Dallas and Odd carried Nicholas into the infirmary, he former had changed back into his usual attire, the nurse and Jim looked down at Nicholas, the former was taking his pulse,
"You say this was how he was when you found him" asked Jim concerned for Nicholas wellbeing, "yeah in the middle of the campus" said Odd, Jim scratched his chin in concern, "that's very strange he must have fainted" said the nurse, "nothing serious in any case" she added.
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Odd and Ulrich joined the others in a secluded area, they were all silent but Dallas knew what needed to be said,
"Well I hate to be the one to point out the elephant in the room" he said, Ulrich looked at down at Yumi as she lay across his lap, "what are you gonna do" he asked her, she smiled and said "what are we gonna do" she corrected him, he smiled, "well it is your choice" said Ulrich, Jeremie signalled for the others to step back, "well I'm not exactly in favour of abortion" said Yumi, Ulrich smiled at the stance on it, "I don't think I could live with myself if we got rid of the little fella" added Ulrich as he rubbed her stomach, "so what're you doing then" asked Aelita confussed, Yumi smiled and looked at Ulrich, he simply nodded to her, she sat forward "we're going to keep it" she said with nothing but joy as they quickly moved into a group hug with Dallas quipping "I love a happy ending…"
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Authors note
Yes, you can stop asking me now, you know who you are, don't think it came out of nowhere, I'll be taking questions just leave in the reviews and I'll eventually get around to answering them, small warning for the next chapter, expect it to be very different from the usual episode format or even style to that matter.