Authors Note
Okay so I'm gonna try and get this one out quicker than 6 months, and I do like this chapter more than the last as this explores the characters more than anything else.
So almost a year later and things have gone to shit, me and my ex broke up and I'm spiralling a bit but I hope you guys enjoy this, I'm gonna try and get back into the swing of things.
(=======================================================================)
Episode 68: Vertigo
(=======================================================================)
The transport sphere opened into sector 5 and as Yumi knelt forward feeling ill from the short trip, the other warriors got ready drawing their weapons quickly getting ready for any monster that would be on the other side of the wall when it opened,
"Keep it close" said the leather clad Dallas as he held his Sawn-off in his right hand and his crowbar in his right, but Ulrich moved in front of him, "Stay in the middle of the party, you get devirtulized" said Ulrich before doing a neck slicing motion with his Thumb, in the Computer lab Jeremie sat watching the screen and hearing the arguments and bickering as the Other Dallas stood beside leaning on the chair, "Power struggle me thinks" he said looking down at Jeremie, the latter shook his head briefly, "Okay guys Holo-sphere system connected" said Jeremie as the map at the centre of the room changed, "the Wall's gonna open any second now" said Yumi as she moved between Dallas and Ulrich making sure they didn't start a fight, William made sure to move behind the Former for defensive reasons, suddenly the rotation of the room slowed down before stopping completely and the wall sliding downwards opening up to sector 5, the 6 quickly rushed outwards and across the bridge causing the timer to start "3 minutes to find the key" said Jeremie as he watched the timer window, moving as fast as they could the warriors made their way down a set of stairs in the ever changing sector, they stopped as they entered a large almost empty room when suddenly the door behind them was sealed off but the floor rising leaving no indication there was ever a passage way, around the room another three arches followed the same pattern "Uh oh the doors are in the wrong place" exclaimed Odd, then suddenly the room became less empty as moving from behind cover numerous Creepers began to swarm the room, "Dallas, Aelita get back" said William as he held his sword forward and his arm extended to stop them from moving forward, "Remember guys the clock is running" said Jeremie, Dallas took this as a call to arms and moved Williams arm and pull the trigger of the Sawn Off, one of the Creepers exploded as the Warriors scattered and ducked for cover, Jeremie upon nearly being deafened by the gunshot began typing to try and locate the key, "Let's see" he said as he typed so fast that Dallas was barely able to register his fingers, "I've found the key directly behind you" added Jeremie, William and Aelita Looked up from behind cover, Ulrich looked up "looks like a job for a cat" he retorted, Aelita panicked as she saw another Creeper above her on the platform, Dallas raised and fired the other shell striking the Creeper and destroying it, "William, you and Yumi distract those ugly Bastards whilst Odd you make your way to the key" ordered Ulrich, "Right" exclaimed the three, Ulrich quickly moved from cover deflecting every shot from the Creepers he could, Yumi and William also moved making a small push in an attempt to stand their ground, the Cat like Odd smiled as he began to move and scale the wall using every non smooth section possible, Yumi quickly moved and Back flipped out of the way of a few shots and then held herself over the edge of the platform they were standing on by her hands, this allowed the Creeper to move forward for a kill shot, however the creature was interrupted by William swinging his sword above his head and moving for a kill, Odd was making progress the initial ruse had distracted the monsters long enough for him to get closer to the key, The Creeper that was menacing Yumi turned around and fired at William knocking him backwards and causing him to stumble, dropping his sword from his hand he curled his fist and punched the creature in the head, Dallas quickly fired another shot from his Sawn Off striking the creature causing it to explode, Ulrich was angered by this action and moved back towards Dallas as Aelita had changed cover positions and was now hiding with him, "What the fuck do you think you're doing, you're shooting too close to the others" asked Ulrich as he Knelt down, "what does it look like I'm taking out those ugly son of a bitches" responded Dallas as he replaced the spent shell, "whilst on Lyoko I'm field leader okay" Said Ulrich angrily, but Dallas didn't seem to notice as another Creeper had gotten closer, but it seemingly ignored them as it aimed up and fired towards Odd, Dallas grabbed it and pulled it down before beating it's upper section with his Crowbar, Aelita moved away from Dallas slightly scared by his sudden aggression, Jeremie looked at the Dallas next to him and asked "What's gotten into him".
(=======================================================================)
William moved to pick up his sword but another Creeper moved in an attempt to get the drop on him,
"Not so fast dummy" said Yumi as she climbed back onto the ledge and threw her fan slicing through the creatures head causing it to explode, Odd meanwhile was getting closer to the key, however several Creepers who'd held back from advancing fired upwards and struck him numerous times nearly causing him to fall from his great height, "Odd you're running out of life points" said Jeremie monitoring his ID card, Odd quickly dug his claws into the wall and leant back taking a quick view of below, Yumi threw her fan towards one of the Creepers as it turned its attention away from Odd, it flew upwards slicing it's throat causing an explosion, Odd used this time to get level with the key, "Odd" said Aelita hoping she heard him as she spotted another Creeper that and slid up the wall to flank him, Odd had no time to turn and fight instead he leapt forward jumping with his left arm extended to touch the key, but the Creeper fired striking him in the back causing him to devirtulize, but the shot pushed him forward giving him just enough momentum to touch the key causing the timer to cease, "Nice one" said Jeremie as the timer paused and closed, the remaining Creepers retreated having failed, as they disappeared from vision a section of the wall at the far end of the room descended revealing the next passage way, "Okay let's move" said Ulrich as he led the remaining warriors forward with William holding back to make sure Dallas wasn't bringing up the rear, they quickly slowed down and holstered their weapons as they reached the exit of the inner sphere, they looked down as Ulrich suddenly exclaimed now, the 5 jumped off and landed on the elevating platform, back in the computer lab Odd exited the elevator stretching his arms, "How're you feeling" asked Dallas as Jeremie remained fixated on the screen "better than the way your other half is acting" said Odd as he looked at the screen, "don't look at me, right now me and him are two separate people" responded Dallas, back on Lyoko the moving platform began to grind to a holt before a new passage way opened allowing the group onto the exterior of the outer sphere, Aelita moved towards the end of the platform and the screen opened, quickly moving her hands she began the data transfer, "I'm Connected Jeremie" she said with delight, the others looked around at the numerous blue screens entering the Data tunnels, Dallas reloaded his Sawn-off with Ulrich looking back at him, William looked over his shoulder, "What's with him today" he said to Yumi who was standing closest to him "No idea he's been like this for a month now, he's been aggressive towards me and Ulrich" she said, Jeremie looked at the screen and was getting frustrated by the slow data transfer, "Come on Aelita we need to get the data before the flying mantas hatch" he said as Dallas and Odd looked at each other "speak of the devil" said Odd as he noticed the radar, "The Mantas are about to hatch" said Jeremie, the warriors looked around not seeing anything, "5, 4, 3, 2, 1" counted Jeremie but nothing changed "NOW" shouted Jeremie, but again nothing had changed, "Jeremie I don't see any flying Mantas" said Yumi, suddenly they heard an explosion, they all turned as William had destroyed a Creeper that had tried sneaking up on them, "we're clear" said William, suddenly there was a loud noise and Yumi was thrown from the platform and devirtulized in the process "YUMI" Shouted Ulrich, then they looked up and saw Adam and Evelyn leading a small swarm on Mantas "okay everyone stay on the defe…" but before Ulrich could finish his command, Dallas drew his Sawn Off and fired in an attempt to hit any of the attacking party, whilst having missed he also fired next to Ulrich's Ear, the aforementioned fell to the ground covering his ear in agony "son of a" he screamed in pain, William moved to help him, but Dallas quickly jumped over the edge pulling the baton apart and launching the Over-Rider and launching into pursuit, "You gonna be okay" asked William as he helped Ulrich up, "I dunno I can't hear in my left ear" responded Ulrich, Aelita looked back at him "I'm done Jeremie, you can take over again" she said as the window closed and she finished the data transfer, "You better get us a ride out of here" said William looking at Ulrich who was still covering his ear "Ulrich is in no condition to fight" he added, Jeremie quickly typed saying "I'm programing the Over-Bike and the Over-Board" the two vehicles spawned, "Aelita go with William no use in me getting you killed" said Ulrich as he mounted his bike, William stepped onto the Over-Board "uh Aelita do you know how to drive this thing" asked William as he struggled to maintain his balance correctly.
(=======================================================================)
Adam and Evelyn were moving around the Sphere getting ready for their second attack,
"one down two to go" said Evelyn, Adam looked at her and smiled as the two accelerated with the Mantas behind them, suddenly they moved apart as the Over-Rider shot between them "Jesus that guys gone suicidal" said Adam as he looked back, Dallas turned around and began to gain altitude, "What's he doing" asked Evelyn as they neared the other warriors, Ulrich was leading the two vehicles whilst Aelita decided it was best to control the Over-Board, "Do you know what you're doing" asked a nervous William, "Let's take them out and capture the Target" said Evelyn, the two agents began to lower their altitude as they got closer, "watch out guys 4 O'clock" said Jeremie as he noticed their signatures appear getting closer, Ulrich looked up and before he could move to intercept he noticed Dallas, "what the fuck" he asked himself, suddenly Dallas disabled the Over-Rider and returned it to the baton, he quickly dropped into an Eagle dive and angled himself towards the attacking party, as Adam and Evelyn drew closer, the former caught a glimpse of Ulrich's line of vision and turning his head he found himself too late to move as Dallas dropped past missing just enough to grab the back end of Adam's Bike and pulling it down causing the altitude lock to break and for him to spin wildly, letting go Dallas extend the Baton again and flew away as Adam was thrown from his bike and smashed into the surface of the Sphere devirtulizing on impact, Evelyn watched the events giving William and Aelita enough time to get a running start, however the Mantas had not been distracted and were already in pursuit, "Hurry Einstein" said Odd as Jeremie was typing to open one of the data tunnels, "Okay, the passage is open" he said upon hitting enter, the data flow suddenly ceased leaving the tunnel open, "Jeremie we've got a problem" said Ulrich as he watched the Mantas move in front of the Over-Board, Aelita let out a small cry as the Mantas began to drop what appeared to be small eggs but upon exploding there threat became apparent, the explosion waves nearly toppling over the Over-Board "JESUS H CHRIST" screamed William as Aelita maneuvererd out of the way of the explosions, "they're hatching flying mines" she said, Ulrich moved into a position where he could strike the Mantas, but Evelyn moved alongside him and drew her musket ready to fire at Ulrich, because he'd been deafened he didn't hear her move alongside him, suddenly Dallas flew upwards and using Ulrich as a brief cover drew his Sawn off and fired again, just Missing Ulrich causing him to scream the shot struck Evelyn in the head and threw her from the bike, Ulrich in a state of shock looked at Dallas and yelled "WHAT'RE YOU DOING THAT COULD HAVE HIT ME" but Dallas seemingly ignored him again and shot forward towards the Mantas, however there wasn't much need as Aelita quickly turned and got herself and William into the Tunnel, the Mantas went to turn but Ulrich and Dallas followed through before they could finish their turn, the creatures let out a yell having been left leaderless and with a victim.
(=======================================================================)
All but Ulrich and Dallas gathered around the computer screen as Jeremie began to try and decipher the data that they'd recovered, they were waiting in anticipation, Yumi was sitting down as her pregnancy was now entering 5 months, she looked over at Dallas and Ulrich who were standing in a more brightly lit section of the room,
"Hold still" said Dallas as Ulrich was fidgeting, "it's my ear okay I keep hearing a ringing" he replied as Dallas held a Otoscope inside, "how does it look" asked Yumi from across the room, "he needs to clean his ears" replied Dallas sarcastically, Ulrich rolled his eyes as Yumi let out a small giggle, "well that's not good" said Dallas as he moved the instrument "if you make another joke about my ear I swear" started Ulrich but Dallas cut him off, "Your ear drum is perforated or torn, basically the gun shot was pretty loud and whilst on Lyoko it deafened you, I guess that absorbed most of the blow, however the tear means you're gonna hear that ringing for the rest of your life" said Dallas, Ulrich looked at him as he stuck his finger in his ear to clear it a bit, "what do you mean" asked Yumi as she slid over, "he's got tinnitus, I have… or my actual body has it in both ears, once had a gunshot go off close to me, didn't lose my hearing just had the same as him" he replied as he put the instrument back in the medical box, over at the screen whilst Jeremie was hard at work with the code William pulled the others aside for a moment "is it me or is the Dallas on Lyoko, going a bit you know crazy" asked William as he looked at the other Dallas, Odd nodded slightly, "typical Jeremie gets over the robot body and the one of Lyoko starts going haywire" he added as he folded his arms, "I dunno he's been fine towards me and as far as I can tell you two, but towards Yumi and Ulrich it's like he ignores them" she said, William looked at her saying "I wonder what changed maybe he's gone stir crazy from being on Lyoko nonstop these past 4 months", suddenly their conversation was cut short as Jeremie said "well could be worse" the two groups moved towards him "What's up Einstein" said Odd, Jeremie shook his head "turns out most of the information and data we recovered today is either useless or we already know" he said sinking into his chair, suddenly his tone changed as he noticed a line of coding that he'd not previously spotted "wait a second" he said as he began typing away, "this one looks like the source code to a virus, I might be able to use it" said Jeremie with joy, Aelita folded her arms and looked at him "if the virus inside you is anything like this one" added Jeremie, this caused Aelita to smile at the prospect of being free, "you mean like soon" she asked, Jeremie smiled in response, realising this was getting too technical Odd decided to speak up "Okay we're outta here, there's a big climbing competition tonight, gotta practice" said Odd as he grabbed Ulrich's arm, the latter was less enthusiastic, "I already told you I'm not doing it" he said coldly pulling his arm away, William and Yumi walked over "really why not" asked Yumi hoping she could get through to him, but Ulrich was too proud to admit anything, "cause" he said hoping to end it there, "really at least come and watch me and William" said Odd as Yumi and William placed their arms around Ulrich's shoulders, "yeah get to see some men in action" said William with a small chuckle, watching from the other side of the room Dallas noticed Odd's complexion change slightly and it was clear Ulrich wasn't keen on it, "come on Ulrich, for once Odd's found a sport where being scrawny is a plus" said Yumi laughing as they walked towards the elevator, "I am not Scrawny, I'm svelte" responded Odd as he followed after them, Ulrich hit the button allowing the elevator to rise, "please tell me I'm not the only one that noticed it" said Dallas putting away the medical kit, "noticed what" asked Aelita, Dallas just rolled his eyes.
(=======================================================================)
A few hours passed and the school had set up a competitive climbing wall in the Gym, and who better than Jim to watch over the participants, Yumi for more than obvious reasons was not partaking, whilst Ulrich chose to sit with her, Odd and Herb were currently on the wall, Odd had the obvious advantage of being slightly more athletically fit than the academically brilliant Herb,
"Come on Odd" said William from the side with Ulrich and Yumi, "Get your arse in gear" said Adam as he shouted up to Herb with the rest of Sissi's group, the ring leader in her latest attempt to acquire Ulrich's attention had tied her hair back and was wearing yoga pants and a sports bra that did nothing but suffocate her to make her look attractive, it was failing as Ulrich either looked up at Odd or would rest his head on Yumi's shoulder, "You should have left your zits down there Herb" said Odd taking the lead via his taunting method, "You're too heavy" he added, Herb lost his calm and pointed at him, "Della-robbia I'm gonna…" he started but having removed one hand he lost grip with his second hand and fell backwards the only things breaking his fall was the crash matt and the harness rope, Odd stood atop looking down at Herb who was filled with anger as he dangled a foot off the ground "I'm the king of the world" said Odd with pure joy, Adam looked at the swinging Herb as Nicholas tried untying him, "Pathetic" he said as he grabbed his smokes and walked towards the door, "where are you going" asked Sissi as she turned over and looked at him "just to light one up" he said as he walked towards Ulrich, William and Yumi, he sparked one and stood in front of them, "hey no smoking around Yumi" said Ulrich standing up to him, but even with William beside him the two knew it was useless Adam was a stubborn bastard, "I'll stop if you get on that wall and face me" said Adam, William stepped forward and attempted to take the bullet "okay then you prick lets go" he said, this just caused Adam to chuckle as Evelyn walked over, "you, don't make me laugh" he said as Evelyn smiled folding her arms, Ulrich looked over his shoulder at Yumi, "its fine you don't have to" she said but Ulrich was already in a funny mood and barged past Adam making sure to hit his shoulder and causing him to drop his smoke, "Good boy" he said in a mocking tone handing his box to Evelyn, "want me to keep an eye on her" she asked but Adam shook his head as he followed Ulrich to the wall, Odd descended having watched the events, "are you sure about this" asked Odd as he removed his harness gear, Nicholas moved to help Adam put on the harness but he raised his arm, "No need" he responded smugly as he removed his shirt revealing his body, "let's do this" he said in an aggressively mocking tone, Ulrich fixed his own harness "Uhh, be careful" said Jim watching the events unfold not knowing what else to say, Jim despite his worries blew his whistle, Ulrich began climbing from the bottom slowly, but Adam was quick to establish that he was going to be the alpha and jumped at the wall starting at almost 2 feet off the ground, Ulrich wasn't deterred by this more by how high he currently was being 6 feet off the ground he was beginning to get dizzy, "I fight monsters all the god damn time…" he said to himself under his breath so no one could hear, "what's the matter light headed" taunted Adam as he neared the top, Ulrich was starting to lose his cool as he felt his hands become slippery and his grip loosen, Adam watched as Ulrich's hands finally lost all grip and he slipped from the wall falling only being caught by the harness from hitting the crash mats, Adam laughed as he grabbed the rope that was supporting Ulrich and slid down it standing on his chest as he was in mid-air and as Jim blew his whistle at Adam for his conduct he looked down at Ulrich "remember you and that rabble you call your friends are nothing against us" said Adam with a smirk as he grabbed the rope and kicked the buckle dropping Ulrich a foot onto the crash mat, despite its presence he was still winded and coughed heavily as Yumi, Odd and William moved to him, the latter looked up at Adam as he let go of the rope, he moved towards Sissi and her group grabbing his box of cigarettes from his sister and was about to light up another but Jim grabbed his shoulder "Come with me" he said.
(=======================================================================)
"Ready Aelita" said Jeremie as he loaded the test program window, Dallas stood to his other side cracking his fingers, Aelita nodded as Jeremie hit enter, the test window opened with the wire figure of Aelita, it began to scan over her as it implanted a test version of Jeremie's code, "Yes" he said excitedly and proud of himself "the test worked" he added jumping out of his chair with joy "We did it we got the antivirus" said Aelita with tears of joy, "that's one out of two things done then" added Dallas with a smile, Aelita was ecstatic at the thought of being free she was barely able to hold it together "Jeremie what if… what if you injected me right now, we could surprise the others" she said with excitement, despite his confidence Jeremie was sceptical "isn't that a little risky" he responded, but Aelita didn't care "it'll be just as risky in two hours or two days" she said without a single care, "we'd have to check to make sure the scanners hardware is working correctly" said Dallas speaking up, Jeremie looked back at him and begrudgingly agreeing with him "he's right let us run a diagnostic first" said Jeremie, it was clear he was caught between being nervous about the procedure and excited for the first step towards XANA's end.
(=======================================================================)
Jim had taken Adam to Delmas's office for his unruly actions towards Ulrich, and Delmas had been lenient only putting him in detention, something that Adam had no intention of ever attending,
"Sometimes I wonder what goes through that young man's head" said Delmas as he turned his attention back to his paper work "I wouldn't know, he seems more physical gifted than anything else, I mean he's the number 2 athlete at the school" said Jim as he sat down opposite Delmas, "Speaking of which I'm working out the upcoming school tournament" he said as he looked at the schools and their candidates, "I know Marshal and Scylla are top athletes but… this military academy run by a Colonel Gamorov, he's running a duo against one" he added as he took a gulp of his coffee, "Gamorov that name… it's almost familiar" said Jim as he rubbed his face just below his plaster, "remember anything" said Delmas as he looked at his friend, but Jim quietly shook his head "If I know Scylla he'll probably get too cocky, but Marshal maybe" he said instead, Delmas chuckled at the thought, "Make sure that Mr Scylla goes to his detention" said Delmas as Jim stood and walked towards the door, "Gamorov" he said to himself unable to remember where he knew the name.
(=======================================================================)
Having quickly made sure that the super computer was ready for the procedure Dallas and Jeremie had borrow the battery from the interceptor to give the power a needed boost for safety reasons
"Ready" said Jeremie as he loaded the new program, he and Dallas exchanged concerned looks as they heard Aelita respond "Yes do it", Jeremie pressed enter and the scanner closed initially the program began running smoothly suddenly there was a power surge and the car battery burst into flames, "Aelita" said Jeremie as he moved from his chair, "Take the Crowbar from the toolbox" said Dallas as he began to fan and dampen the flames of the battery, accidently setting his hand alight, not caring he carried on fighting the flames, Jeremie quickly grabbed the tool and made his way down the ladder and towards the scanner attempting to wedge the end into the scanner doors, managing to get a hold he forced them open blinding him temporarily, Aelita suddenly fell out into his arms she appeared to be unconscious "Aelita… How do you feel… say something" said Jeremie worried with concern, she leaned forward and with a smile said "Something", Jeremie was too relieved to laugh, "If you can make jokes as bad as Odd you must be okay" he said with a small chuckle, meanwhile in the computer room Dallas had extinguished the flames from the Battery "sodding thing" he said as he threw the wrecked battery across the room, suddenly he noticed something on the screen, "what the…" he said as he sat down and inspected the window the words, Error missing file, he pressed down on the keyboard "Jeremie is Aelita okay" he asked, Jeremie looked up as he helped Aelita to her feet "yeah I think so why" he asked, but Dallas didn't respond, he pressed and opened the contact window "Jesus in black leather" he said in a slightly mocking tone, the second Dallas appeared on the other tone "what" he asked in his detached way "Did anything unusual happen just now" asked Dallas as he looked at the screen, Jeremie and Aelita entered the room "what's going on" she asked as she walked over "I dunno something happened when we injected the code, then there was this error message as if something vanished" said Dallas as he sank back into the seat, the two looked at Aelita "she seems healthy" said Jeremie, Aelita smiled "I feel better than ever" she responded.
(=======================================================================)
Odd and William helped carry Ulrich to his and odd's room, he was still winded and could barely breath, since their clothing was light Yumi was able to carry that, she always hated being looked at weakly and she wasn't going to let her pregnancy change that,
"Come on buddy" said Odd as he and William laid Ulrich onto his bed, "thanks… guys" he said with a cough, Yumi sat down next to him and ran her hand through his hair "how're you feeling" she asked with a smile, "I can hardly breath, I looked like an arse in front of the school and my ear is ringing" he said in response but managed to crack a smile, he rolled over trying to get off his injury, "Days like this I wish I could heal like Dallas" he said breathing heavily, looking towards Yumi he rubbed her belly, she quivered "Jesus your hands are freezing" she said with a laugh, this in turn caused him to laugh followed by Odd remarking "get a room" this earned him a pillow to the face from Yumi.
(=======================================================================)
"What the fuck do you think you're doing" screamed Adam as Jim dragged him by his collar towards the classroom where he was to be serving his detention, "You know the rules, break them and this is where you'll spend your free time" said Jim as he stopped and let go of Adam, as the later sorted out his messy clothes Jim extended his hand "I hope you're not expecting a tip" said Adam sarcastically but Jim wasn't having it "Your cigarettes, usually we don't mind you or other students smoking but you've broken the rules so we're confiscating them" he responded, Adam was about to reach for his Anaconda, but realising the next plan he instead handed over his box and sarcastically smiled before entering the room, looking around he noticed the regulars Mikes, Theo, James and a few other faces who were in for smaller violations, "great" he said as he sat down watching Jim sit at the desk and keeping an eye on them.
(=======================================================================)
Odd and William exited the former and Ulrich's room, he and Yumi had snuggled up together and neither wanted to disturb them,
"Do you think they'll name their kid after me" said Odd in a half serious half joking tone, "yeah if they want it to be bullied all its life" William responded trying not to break up into laughter, suddenly they spotted Jeremie and Aelita, the former walking whilst the latter was practically skipping with Joy, "We've got great news" said Aelita unable to stop smiling, "We've found the anti-virus, and we've already given it to Aelita" added Jeremie as the two stood in front of them, "You're kidding" asked William, he was still new to all this and didn't really understand it entirely, but he chose never to try to, "we're planning to shut off the super computer, as soon as we can remerge Dallas, he's at the factory now" said Jeremie, the mood suddenly seemed to change, whilst they were close to finally being done and moving on with their lives, it felt like a massive section would be missing, "I'm gonna make the final log then we're gonna get to work" said Jeremie as he moved towards his room.
(=======================================================================)
Ulrich and Yumi were in the woods, He felt like being alone with her after the incident and simply decided to rest were he knew they wouldn't be disturbed and that was outside the Hermitage, he strangely felt attracted to the place, but he was unable to put his finger on it,
"How're you feeling" asked Yumi as he rubbed her hair, "Better" he replied as she began to purr slightly, he loved hearing that and wanted to hear it more often, suddenly they heard a strange howl through the trees, "what was that" asked Ulrich as he looked towards the leaves, suddenly William and Odd appeared, William was heavily panting "I am never doing that… Again" he said as he hunched over, Odd looked at him and patted his back, "there, there, you'll get used to it" he said with a look of disagreement with what he just said, "How many jumps" asked Yumi, Odd didn't want to admit how many as Ulrich was usually hard to find when it came to any of them except Dallas who had the tracking skills, "we've got some news" said William before he promptly threw up, "that'll also pass" said Odd, Ulrich stood up helping Yumi up "what's the news though" she asked, Odd and William smiled, "Jeremie's found the anti-virus and we might be done with this soon" said Odd, Ulrich and Yumi smiled and the latter felt her belly "so soon, I don't think I could have imagined" said Ulrich, suddenly the howl started again, "what was that" asked Odd, but none of them knew.
(=======================================================================)
"I don't believe it, I'm actually writing the final log in the Lyoko travel log book, can you imagine" said Jeremie to himself as he typed into his computer, he smiled and turned around but his smile soon disappeared as he saw Aelita hunching over with her hand to her forehead, "Aelita" he said, his voice caused her to refocus "are you okay" he added she looked towards him "I… I…" she couldn't get the words out "do you think it's the anti-virus" he asked, but Aelita didn't want to admit that, "no it's just an energy slump I'll go and lie down in my room for a minute or too" she said as she stood up and walked to the door, Jeremie was less than satisfied and grabbed his phone, Aelita began to stumble down the hallway, the pain in her head was getting increasingly worse, she grabbed her face, when suddenly she noticed her hands began to blur and become transparent, she began to pant when and was about to scream when her left hand disappeared altogether, she let out a whimper, when Sissi turned the corner, "oh Aelita I didn't even see you there, but that's hardly surprising, you're such a wallflower, how can you expect a guy to notice you some day, I'm not talking about Jeremie of course, he's already married to a computer chip, I mean a real guy you know, look at me for instance" she said bragging, but Aelita struggled to do so as her right hand followed suit and vanished "I'm really pretty and attractive, and when Ulrich is done with his side project, he'll also learn how funny, intelligent and sweet…" she said but failed to notice Aelita completely vanish "and of course really attentive to others" she finished completely failing to notice what had happened to Aelita, "Hmm just what I said, she's completely unnoticeable you don't even know when she's gone" added Sissi as she flicked her hair and walked away, Aelita was shaking and couldn't let out a single shriek, unable to see herself she moved back towards Jeremie's room, "Oh No" said Jeremie as he looked at his screen in horror, then his door opened "Jeremie this is awful" said Aelita with a cry, Jeremie turned around saying "It sure is XANA is attacking" but was caught off guard at the lack of anyone in the room, "Aelita" he asked confused above anything else "I'm right here" she said, but this didn't help Jeremie as he was still unable "You are" he asked scratching his head "where" he added, Aelita was starting to panic, "I'm right… I'm in front of you but I'm invisible" she said, Jeremie was starting to understand but he was struggling to follow "you're what" he asked reaching forward but withdrew his hands quickly as Aelita responded "Hey", this left Jeremie red in the face, "could this be XANA's attack" she asked trying to break the tension, "it could be to the factory" Jeremie responded as he turned off his screen and the two moved towards the door, the invisible Aelita quickly ran through the corridor trying to avoid hitting anyone so as she didn't draw suspicion.
(=======================================================================)
In the woods the other warriors made their way towards the manhole cover, Ulrich and Odd were helping William along as he was still feeling weak, he'd not had a lot of time to train his skills and was suffering cause of it, then they heard the ominous howl again but it seemed louder and as Ulrich realised it was in fact closer,
"Guys" he said as he used his good ear to listen and trace the sound something Dallas had taught him, then they noticed a wolf move from behind a tree and into the clearing, "Nice little doggy I hope" said Odd, but they all knew this was not going to be the case, its eyes bore the distinctive mark of XANA, the group backed away slowly but more appeared from the shadowed tree line, "uh… when you're faced with a pack of wolves… what do you do" Asked Odd, then he and Yumi looked at William, who was still pretty faint "William now would be a good time" she said, William grabbed Yumi's and Odds shoulders, Taking a deep breath he tried to teleport but he could barely muster the super smoke before he fell to his knees, "RUN" shouted Ulrich as he dashed forward and grabbed William, this gave Odd and Yumi enough time to dart ahead, but the wolves knowing of Ulrich's ability darted forward and the lead wolf wrapped its sharp teeth around his ankle and bit down, Ulrich fell forward screaming, William hit the floor and looking back, he saw the wolf biting down, and he using his energy kicked the wolf in the face knocking it backwards, William then grabbed Ulrich with enough strength he tried to move them away, "Come on" said William, but the wolfs were catching up, toying with the two like a rat in a trap, then as the lead wolf jumped ready to attack again, it suddenly fell back, William looked back to see that a small arrow had entered the animals eye, "ODD" screamed Ulrich with joy as he saw Odd rush back his sleeve rolled up and his arrow launched fresh out of ammo, the small boy quickly helped William and grabbed Ulrich as the two carried him as quick as they could.
(=======================================================================)
Aelita and Jeremie moved through the sewers, if anyone was to watch it would have appeared that a scooter was moving on its own, Jeremie had his phone to his ear and was trying to phone the others, but them being bogged down with their own trouble he couldn't get an answer,
"Damn it what's holding them up" said Jeremie as he and Aelita reached the Ladder, "Call Dallas he might help" she said as she moved up, the wolf pack had gained speed, except for the main one which was howling in pain at its damaged eye, then its howling stopped, Evelyn had walked up beside the creature and pulled the trigger on her silenced USP.45 quickly putting the gun away, "Useless creature" she said as she moved on the party, she didn't need to run they were moving too slow, she gave a chuckle as she heard Odd yell "ARE YOU TAKING THE PISS", the group of 4 had found themselves against a cliff face, "What do we do" asked Yumi, they knew it was dire, only Odd was in any suitable condition to climb, William would collapse halfway up, Yumi was pregnant and Ulrich's ankle was in taters, "Odd start climbing" said Yumi, Odd looked at her "DO IT" she screamed, Odd not wanting to get on her bad side started climbing, "William how much strength have you got" asked Ulrich, William looked down at him, "Maybe enough for one jump, but taking both of you would be risky" he said as he looked back, "give me your…" he started but Ulrich moved out of his arms barely able to move "TAKE HER NOW" he shouted at his colleague, "Ulrich we're not leaving…" but before Yumi could finish she found herself looking down at Ulrich, William collapsed almost throwing up from the exhaustion he was feeling, Odd reached the top and climbed up to join the others, "Odd do you have any other bolts" asked Yumi as she turned to him, he reached into a holster aback of his belt "about 4, but I can't hit anything at long range" said Odd as he loaded his blade.
(=======================================================================)
At the Factory, Dallas looked as Jeremie ran in to the computer terminal, he quickly began typing as the elevator descended to the scanner room,
"What's going on" asked Dallas as he wrapped up his hand, "something's gone wrong" said Jeremie beginning to panic, Dallas moved over to him "Aelita's invisible and I can't raise the others" he said, Dallas grabbed him "It'll be okay, send her to Lyoko, I'll help her there, and I'll go find the others" he said as he moved towards the exit, Jeremie began typing again setting up the scanners, "Im here Jeremie" said Aelita as she entered the scanner, Jeremie quickly typed in her details "Scanner Aelita" he said as she began to spin and rise "It isn't XANA" he said holding his head in his hands "It's a bug in the antivirus" he said feeling guilty for the entire mess, "I have to deactivate it, but it's gonna take a little while", Aelita knew what needed doing and took a deep breath, "What about the activated tower, what's the attack" she asked confused, Jeremie began typing "I have no idea" he said as the phone window opened and Jeremie finally had a hold of the others "Yumi" he said in a panicked state, "We've got a big problem Jeremie, We're in the forest, Williams down for the count, and Ulrich's cornered with a busted ankle" she said as she looked down at him as he tried standing up to stand his ground but fell over again trying not to scream, "hes below us at the bottom of the cliff face, I may have to use…" she started but Jeremie cut her off as quick as he could "No, you can't, it'll danger the baby's health and we can't risk it" he said as he looked at the super scan, "It's a pack of wolves, they're possessed" added Yumi, she was trying not think about what the violent animals would do to Ulrich "Shit… Aelita can't deactivate the tower by herself, even with the other Dallas, he's too unpredictable" Said Jeremie, Yumi looked down at Ulrich she wanted to scream but it would distract him too much "We'll do our best keep us posted" she said as she hung up, Jeremie was really beginning to panic and was starting to shake when he heard Aelita's voice "Jeremie virtualize me on Lyoko so I can deactivate the tower" she said, this did little to calm Jeremie down, "no way, we have to wait" he said trying to be reasonable, Aelita wasn't accepting it "Wait for what, them to be devoured, we have no choice" she said almost angry at Jeremie's inaction, it wasn't helped by Jeremie almost shocked into silence with fear of the outcome.
(=======================================================================)
Yumi and Odd looked down at Ulrich, his ankle was bleeding heavily and he was pretty faint but he knew passing out was going to be the end of him, in desperation Yumi turned towards William,
"Can you make a jump" she said, William shook his head "I can't I can barely breath, every time I teleport I can't breathe and it clears my lungs of air" he said as he moved towards the cliff edge, "We've got company" he said as he noticed Evelyn along with the wolves, they were moving in formation to surrounded Ulrich, they all looked starved and blood thirsty, Ulrich looked at them and stood up putting pressure on his injury he almost screamed in pain but didn't give in, Evelyn smiled and clapped her hands, "Bravo, Bravo" she said mockingly before signalling to the hounds "After the others he's mine" she said, the wolves then moved past Ulrich and began to scale the cliff face towards the others, "We've got to get moving" said Odd as he grabbed William and helped him up "NO I'M NOT LEAVING HIM" screamed Yumi, Evelyn moved towards Ulrich and laughed "not much good with that ankle" she said but Ulrich wasn't going down easy and as she drew closer and went to draw her USP he swung his fist out catching her off guard, his legs were useless but his arms weren't, he swung his other arm out catching her in the head and he quickly followed it up by smacking his elbow into her cheekbone, she hunched over in pain but using the opportunity she smacked Ulrich's leg, he collapsed and screamed as he hit the ground his ankle was now dislocated and the blood loss was getting increasingly worse, "ULRICH" screamed Yumi as she reached her hand out but Odd grabbed her arm stopping her from using Telekinesis, the first wolf made it up but was shot down by Odds bolt, falling down it took out another wolf halving the pack, Evelyn was annoyed but was more focused on Ulrich "You prick, XANA wants you alive, but I don't care anymore" she said as she drew her hand gun and pointed it at him, she went to squeeze the trigger, Ulrich winced his face ready for the inevitable and then there was a loud gunshot, Evelyn's hand exploded leaving her screaming and holding her bloody stump, Ulrich turned his head to see Dallas holding the smoking Sawn-off, "Nice shooting" said Ulrich as he sighed in relief, Dallas walked forward breaking the gun and reloading the spent shells, "we'll I missed her head so I'd say no" he said as Evelyn moved up to attack him but he knocked her down with his elbow which unlike Ulrich's was metal and it resulted in a bloody nose and her looking down the business end of the gun, still screaming from the pain Dallas looked at Ulrich, "are you okay" he asked as he finished reloading, "Yeah I'm fine, Would you stop screaming" he said getting angry at Evelyn, Dallas chuckled and said "I did just shoot her hand off that is gonna sting a little", Evelyn rolled her eyes "you're like the other half, you can't control your anger, you're a violent creature that's not gonna…" she said as she started to try and taunt Dallas, but she was cut off by a loud bang and her head exploding leaving her body twitching, "Come on" said Dallas as he grabbed Ulrich and helped him up, "Thanks that could've ended with a hole in my head" said Ulrich as the next wolf fell with Odds bolt sticking out the back of its throat, "I'm sure it wouldn't have damaged the tiny brain" said Dallas in response as he began to climb the cliff face.
(=======================================================================)
Adam looked around the other serial offenders in detention and was getting bored off missing out on the action, Jim was keeping a keen eye on everyone and he knew that openly attacking Jim and the others would be a bad idea,
"Jim can take a beating but the students too weak" he thought to himself, then he looked at a plug socket and smiled he moved his hand towards it shooting a small amount of electricity into it, the lights in the room began to flicker, Jim stood up and looked at them, "What the" he said then Adam fired a bigger blast, all the lights in the room exploded showering everyone with small pieces of glass, no one was seriously hurt as they hurried out of the room screaming in panic, Adam quickly zapped himself into the electricity supply making his escape in the confusion.
(=======================================================================)
Aelita quickly materialized on Lyoko in the arctic sector and looking around the area seemed empty,
"Jeremie I'm here" she said happy that she could see herself at last "It's good to be visible again" she said stretching her arms, noticing a small cloud of ice building up, she started to panic before Dallas pulled up on the Over-Rider and stepped off, "The activated tower shouldn't be far" said Jeremie, Dallas looked up and then around to make sure the coast was clear, "okay we go" he said as the two mounted the bike and shot off, "No Scyphozoa or any monster insight Jeremie" said Aelita as Dallas drove dangerously towards the tower, "Anyway be careful" said a now calmer Jeremie as he monitored the radar, then Dallas came to a halt, the tower was located inside a small ice structure, a small lake was next to the sole pathway inside with a waterfall pouring down obscuring the entrance, the tower itself was located in the centre of a small pond with floating platforms in front of it usable as a means to get towards the tower, but there were no monsters guarding it, Dallas grabbed his binoculars and peered through them, "Come on what are we waiting…" started Aelita getting impatient, Dallas raised his hand signalling for her to be quiet, "ah" he said adding to his signal, he lowered his binoculars, "that's bait" he said, he then slowly drove forward making sure that nothing was around before moving onto the path way, Aelita dismounted and moved onto the floating path and as she prepared to enter the tower she banged her head, "What" she said, she wasn't passing through "What's going on" she said beginning to panic she placed her hand against it to feel it was as solid as a wall, "Jeremie" she said, Dallas looked towards her "We've got a problem" she added.
(=======================================================================)
Atop of the cliff Dallas and Yumi tended to Ulrich's ankle whilst William laid back trying to regain his strength, Odd reloaded the shot gun for Dallas,
"Are you okay" asked Dallas as he wrapped his bandages around Ulrich's leg, "yeah I'm shaken up but I'm glad you got here in time" she said ready to hug him, "they're not fresh but they're clean" said Dallas as he finished on Ulrich's ankle, he grabbed his Sawn off, "something Tells me that isn't XANA's only attack today" he said, Odd looked at him before helping William up, "Half of us are crippled and I can't exactly defend myself" said Yumi as she rubbed her belly, "she's got a point" said Odd as he looked at the beaten down group, the impasse was clear, then they heard Williams phone ringing, he answered it "Jeremie" he said with a cough before placing it on loud speaker "Where are you guys we've got a problem" he said, Ulrich looked towards the phone "We've a got a few of our own here Einstein" he said a little dozy from his injury, "the anti-virus has modified Aelita's code, she can't enter the tower" he said typing as fast as he could to work on disabling the anti-virus, "you mean she can't disable them anymore" said a shocked Yumi, Jeremie was beginning to panic again "Exactly" he responded trying not to break his focus, "has she got Dallas with her" asked Odd, Jeremie knew that was barely any help "yeah for now" responded Jeremie, William stood up his breathing had slowed down "We'll be right there" he said as he hung up, "William you're…" started Yumi, But William cut her off "it's about time I carried my weight in this group" he said as he walked off slowly towards the factory, "Odd go with him" said Ulrich, Odd looked at the two lovers, "I'll be back as soon as possible" he said as he rushed off after William, Ulrich looked at Dallas and Yumi, "we should be safe" said Dallas as he removed his Jacket and place it over Yumi's Shoulders.
(=======================================================================)
Things were going from bad to worse as Adam appeared on Lyoko he looked around to see the Tower location,
"This'll be easy" he said with a smirk and as he was joined by the Scyphozoa and a couple of the armoured warriors they slowly made their way towards Dallas and Aelita for an ambush, "Stay close they can't escape" said Adam as he drew his sword and musket, quickly moving past the waterfall the group were shocked, aside from the Over-Rider the cavern was empty, it had been a perfect ambush, the warriors looked around "WHAT THE FUCK" Shouted Adam he looked around and still couldn't see any of them, "You guard the entrance" he said pointing at one of his underlings, "you come with me" he said pointing at the squid creature as they moved out of the Cavern, the trick had played off, the ice water was too shiny and reflective and as such looking down you'd only see your own reflection, but from beneath the surface you could see clearly, Dallas had his hand over Aelita's mouth and had his finger over his own to tell her to be quiet, he drew his sawn off and broke the surface of the water checking the coast, he dove back under and pulled Aelita up slowly and carefully "No noise" he said as he climbed onto the surface and slowly made his way toward the Warrior, he drew his crowbar ready to strike when suddenly with a flash he was knocked back into the water completely submerged, Adam had fired his musket and caught him in the shoulder, Aelita screamed and dove under swimming with the current, "Follow this river" said Adam as he moved towards the tower, the warriors followed the current to locate the two, but what they hadn't realised was Aelita had pulled another trick using what time she could she'd used her power to create a small dome beneath the water and was using it to cover up herself and the now unconscious Dallas "Aelita" said Jeremie his voice was muffled by the water, "Aelita can you hear me" said Jeremie in another attempt to contact her "I'm safe Jeremie, Dallas is… he's unconscious" she said worried but happy she was safe, "Good, Help is on its way, how much though I'm uncertain" said Jeremie as he typed furiously.
(=======================================================================)
Half an hour passed Aelita looked at Dallas as he was still dazed from his wound, he was turning slightly, Aelita knew what he was going through having been more or less trapped on Lyoko herself
"Jeremie any updates" she said looking up, Jeremie was almost too calm considering he was close to melting down, "nothing yet I'm still…" he suddenly stopped "that's it I've done it" he said with a sigh of relief, I've disabled my anti-virus" he said with joy, Aelita Smiled and said "That's wonderful, now all we need is…" but she was cut off a small hole erupted in her dome, "Keep looking" said Adam as he looked around the lake, Wasps had appeared and were firing downwards to try and locate the two under water, another hole appeared flooding water onto Dallas causing him to shoot forward "Dallas" said Aelita hugging him, back in the factory the elevator door opened to reveal William and Odd, "About time" said Jeremie as he saw them, "Head to the scanner room, Aelita's in trouble" he said as he turned back in a small panic "Roger Einstein" said William as the doors closed and the metal crate descended, "Did Jeremie seem a little weird to you" asked William, Odd looked at him "not really he's the same old mad Genius" said Odd as the door opened and the two made their way towards the scanners "Get ready to transfer" said Jeremie, whilst on Lyoko more holes were filling the dome, "Deep breath" said Dallas as he drew his gun and then his crowbar, he used his blunt instrument to crack the dome, the water flooded in, and he quickly raised and pulled the trigger, he had aimed at Adam but a wasp had moved and had taken the blow "Shit" said Dallas as Adam now knew where they were "DOWN THERE" he screamed the two warriors moved into position to capture as the hornets rained down their lasers, suddenly Adams hat was blown off of his head, "YOU'RE A SHIT SHOT" shouted William as he jumped swinging his sword down at Adam who dodged and drew his own blade "And you're two slow" he said as he moved to slash into William but the later let go of the sword and superman punched Adam knocking him towards the edge of the ice near the lake the armoured warriors moved to attack, Adam was ready to move again but with a yell comparable to that of a roar Dallas erupted from the water and grabbed Adam pulling him down under the water, Aelita emerged and ran towards Odd who was aiming at and destroying the remaining wasps, but in her panic she'd forgotten about the Scyphozoa which grabbed her, "AELITA" screamed Jeremie in panic as the window emerged showing her memory being stolen, the two warriors swung their swords at William who managed to block the staggering strike but he was knocked off balance, "Come on then" he said as he swung back, "William, Odd, you need to free Aelita" said Jeremie calmly unlike his usual panic, William looked over, this was nearly a fatal decision as he was nearly impaled by one of the warriors, meanwhile under water Adam and Dallas were exchanging blows as fast as they good fighting the current as well as each other, the two surfaced for air, where Dallas using his crowbar swung as Adam, but only clipping his face he accidently lodged the tool into the ice, Adam grabbed him and pushed him under water again, William looked at the two warriors and shouted "ODD, BLINDING ATTACK", Odd was confused but then realised what he meant, he raised his arm and yelled "Laser Arrow" and fired four shots in rapid succession whilst two missed, the other two struck one of the warriors and its was blinded as they'd entered its eyes, it violently screamed and swung its sword around missing William and accidently attacking its aide, "Guys" said Jeremie, William then ran and jumped swinging its sword and severing the squids appendages, the transfer stopped and Aelita fell to the ground, she sat forward dazed at the experience Odd rushed over, "William can you cover us" said Odd, William smiled and looked back nodding "pulling my own weight" he said as he held his sword ready to fight, Odd and Aelita rushed towards the tower, whilst underwater Adam was choking Dallas, despite XANA causing Adam an immense amount of pain, "He'll die we need him for the plan" XANA transmitted to Adam, but he refused to listen, Dallas was struggling to hold onto life, Aelita entered the tower and moved towards the centre of the platform levitating upwards to the upper platform "Aelita hurry Dallas can't hold out" said Jeremie, William blocked another blow from the warriors, before he dropped down and swung his sword cutting one of them in half causing it to explode, "Nice" he said as he watched the blinded one swing its sword wildly, meanwhile Aelita placed her hand on the blue screen the word AELITA typed out followed by CODE LYOKO, and the blue screens descended "Tower Deactivated" she said as the return to the past started, as it ended Adam looked in his now empty hands as he sat in his room and screamed "NOOOOO THAT'S NOT FAIR" his pray had escaped.
(=======================================================================)
The warriors sat around in the gym as they watched Ulrich climb the mountain range again this time filled with more confidence than before,
"How're you all feeling" asked Aelita out of pure worry "It was a little stressful but I think we handled it" said William, the others chuckled knowing that he was riding the high of being a hero for once, Ulrich looked over to see Adam preparing to pull the same stunt as he had the last time, but this time he was prepared, as Adam jumped to do it, Ulrich kicked off the wall, Adam missed and fell onto the crash matt causing everyone else to laugh including Jim who had to restrain himself as he helped the injured student.
(=======================================================================)
Authors note
So this has been over a year since I last published sorry about the wait luckily I haven't forgotten anything I was working on plot line wise.