Opening Moves

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A/N: Now, it's back into the usual routine for this story. I may end this part of the series with a Jeremie-centric chapter, but that's for later. By the way, if the wording seems a little harsh, it's because I'm not in the best of moods right now (then again, that's the way it was when I wrote the first chapter of "Broken Heart", except for a different reason.)

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Chapter 7

The Battle on the Bridge: Yumi

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"Guys, watch out! There's a group of Hornets breaking off!" Jeremie yelled. I instinctively turned around and threw my fan at one, which dodged it. The swarm headed for our left flank.

I caught a flash of something moving in the corner of my eye. Turning, horrified, I saw Ulrich fall down, apparently tripping over a rock. A laser hit me, but it sent me closer to Ulrich. I saw the three Hornets that had broken away begin to charge lasers. Meanwhile, a Megatank was charging up it's laser. I realized that they were all aiming for Ulrich, and if they hit him, it's game over for him, this time permanently.

Immediately, I jumped in front of Ulrich protectively, and let both my fans fly. One fan cut through all the Hornets. The other caught the Megatank in the X.A.N.A. symbol. Both exploded into pieces.

I then reached down and grabbed Ulrich's hand, pulling him up. "You okay?" I asked, and I knew that I was blushing slightly.

"Yeah..." Ulrich said faintly. I was unsure if it was because I was holding his hand, or if it was something bad from the sniper attack.

"Um, hey, lovebirds! I'd hate to break it up, but we still have to worry about getting to the tower!" I heard Odd say, and then a loud "oomph." Odd was hit.

"Odd, be careful! You only have 60 life points left!" Jeremie shouted.

I spotted a Crab heading toward Ulrich, so I threw a fan at it. It's top exploded, and then the legs fell down.

"That's plenty! Laser arrow!" Odd yelled, shooting an arrow at a Block, destroying it.

I heard Ulrich gasp in pain. I tried to find the culprit, but all the monsters were shooting at Odd's end of the line. However, I noticed that Ulrich was on the ground, clutching his shoulder.

"Ulrich, what's wrong? You just... stopped!" Jeremie said, and I noticed a tinge of some unidentifiable emotion.

"I don't know! I just felt a sharp stab of pain!" Ulrich gasped, panicked apparently.

"Something's wrong. There's no way a small fall can do that!" Jeremie shouted.

"Odd, carry Aelita. I've got Ulrich. We're going to make a break for the tower. I think it may have to do with the sniper attack." I said, business-like.

"But, Yumi, the nurse said he was healed!" Odd said.

"Anyway, we'll just get slaughtered if we stay here." I said.

"Yumi's got a point, Odd. Head for the tower fast. Watch your footing, but don't stop or slow down. Move in an unpredictable fashion." Jeremie said matter-of-factly.

I picked Ulrich up, trying my best not to faint. I was sure that, in the real world, my heart would be beating faster. When I finished picking him up, I caught a flash of Odd picking Aelita up. I realized that now was not the time, so I began running, Odd running alongside me. I saw the laser bolts of the monsters flying by me, striking the tower so hard I was afraid that it would fall. Then we entered the tower, and emerged in what looked like another world. If I had not been in a tower that's in Lyoko before, I would've fainted from shock. I saw Odd put Aelita down on the tower's platform gently, and I put Ulrich down next to Aelita, instantly regretting it because of a pang of jealousy.

I realized that there were no bangs outside. The monsters had apparently stopped firing. They probably had something else in mind, but I wasn't sure that I cared about what they were doing. I looked back at where Aelita and Ulrich were, and I noticed that Ulrich had stood up weakly. But he fell right down and closed his eyes.

"Hey, Yumi. What's wrong?" Odd asked, startling me out of my silent reverie.

"I'm worried..." I began, but Odd interrupted me.

"About Ulrich?" he asked in an all-knowing tone.

"Yes. It's just that this whole situation is getting me very nervous. I mean, Ulrich's a strong person. What could do this to him?" I asked, worried.

"This is X.A.N.A. we're talking about. He has powers that we don't have. And, don't forget, he controls Lyoko. I'm not sure if even he realizes the amount of control he has, Yumi." Odd said soothingly.

"You're right, Odd." I said.

I saw Aelita walk up to us. She has come to, since the towers seemed to nourish her. But Ulrich still lay there, and I seriously hoped that he wasn't going to devirtualize. I didn't want to think about that.

"I need help, you two. I need to access the Lyoko database to find the exact reason for Ulrich lying there unconscious, but I don't have enough strength to access the computer logs yet. And we have to hurry, because I can feel that Ulrich doesn't have much time left before he is devirtualized. That would happen even if he does come to." Aelita said.

"Okay, we'll do that. Tell us what to do." I said fiercely. There was no way I would let X.A.N.A. win and take Ulrich from us for good. I saw Odd nod silently, indicating his agreement.

"Okay. Walk to the center of the platform." Aelita said, and we did. Suddenly, what looked like a computer window appeared in front of us. "Okay. Type my name in. Because you aren't recognized, you need that. It now works just like a normal computer program would."

We immediately searched through the logs back toward the moment that we were virtualized. That's when we noticed something strange. One-fourth of Ulrich's scanned DNA was missing.

"Aelita, you better come look!" I called. The pink-haired computer girl ran up to me.

"What is it, Yumi?" asked Aelita.

"Look at Ulrich's scanned data. It's missing one-fourth of what should be, at least compared to the usual stored data." I said.

"Jeremie, did you notice anything strange occur during Ulrich's transfer, besides the failed statement?" Aelita asked.

"Umm... No, there wasn't anything else." Jeremie said.

"Hmm... Jeremie, can you check if there was anything in the scanner program that would cause one-fourth of the data to not be scanned if there was an abnormality in... The brain function, perhaps?" Aelita asked.

"I can check, but it'll take a while. There's no compiler on the supercalculator, only a decompiler, but that won't generate the program. I'll need to get my laptop and upload the data onto it, then use the compiler to generate code." Jeremie said.

"Okay. Hurry. Ulrich's running out of time, fading away." I said nervously.

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A/N: Sorry for the cliffhanger, but I found this to be a good place to end this chapter.

Sorry for the delay in posting, but school is hectic and each school day ends with me being either exhausted or so angry that I'm afraid that I'll mess up the story. But this weekend seemed to be the perfect time, as there was little homework for Monday.