(A/N) I know this is terrible news for you all, but please hear me out. This'll be the last time I post this week. That is mostly because I haven't yet typed up the next chapter. So please forgive me. I'll try my absolute best to post sometime before the week is out, but I'm making no promises.

Last Words

It was small: such a minor link that its existence was almost unknown. It was a single matrix whose size paled in comparison to the infinite numbers of the other matrices of the program. A matrix so subtle that no one could've known it would play such a vital role. It was this matrix that held his body, mind, and spirit in junction in the computer program.

And silently, it waited…

-

"Let's finish this," X-Odd suggested, feeling impulsive. "This is getting boring."

The copies looked amongst themselves and then at their victim. With a silent agreement and smirks, they approached each other. X-Odd and X-Aelita knelt down next to one another, facing Ulrich. X-Yumi and X-Ulrich stood next each other directly behind the kneeling pair. They reached forward, palms out and facing their intended victim. Placing their hands together into the rough shape of a circle, they grinned wickedly. This was their special and most favorite group attack.

"Hey, Ulrich?" X-Odd called. "I'd start screaming if I were you."

He didn't even hear him.

"Are you even awake?"

Ulrich was staring at them, but without seeing. In his mind played the words that Yumi had spoken to him. His shock was in full swing.

"Ulrich!" X-Yumi shouted. "If you're even still there, hear this! Your time is up!"

The sound of a familiar voice finally entered his conscious and was processed. The voice was Yumi; but it wasn't. Then who was—?

A bright red ball of energy formed in front of the gathered palms of the copies. Laughing hysterically, they shot the laser beam. The mass of the beam was unbelievable; the laser's that Xana's original monsters shot were little more than the size of pencils when compared to it.

The glare of red on his face finally brought Ulrich back to reality. If he'd been upset before, he was definitely angry now. Time seemed to slow to a crawl for him.

Throwing his head, he let out a hoarse scream. He threw everything he had into breaking free. But he couldn't do it. The pain was immense, but Ulrich knew he should have been able to deal with it. This infuriated him even more as the laser quickly closed the distance.

He had to dig deeper, reach further. Searching, Ulrich focused inward, reaching for some unknown strength reservoir… There…he found it. He could feel it…He tried to bring it, but it wouldn't come. His willpower wasn't quite enough. Ulrich pushed himself harder, reaching deeper, and forced himself to draw it out. It was coming. He felt strength inside him rising, but almost lost control. He fought for it, used every bit of his willpower to hold on. It was coming. He could feel it. It was…it…

-

An icon flashed to life on the screen. Without Jeremy even moving to examine it, it activated itself.

Matrix W75976g836L: Status Active

"What the?" Jeremy said as he tried to bring up data on it. But the supercomputer wouldn't response. It was like the mouse was paralyzed.

"What is it?" Odd asked.

"I'm not sure," he answered. "I've never seen this before."

-

Then something happened…

A blindingly bright—but very brief—flash of light.

The rock that held him shattered.

Time jumped back into its correct proportions. The laser raced at him as he ducked back so ridiculously low to the ground that he could've been lying down. The laser shot harmlessly over him, incinerating the remains of the rock, and shooting off across the landscape.

To say that the copies were surprised would've been an incredibly absurd understatement. What just happened? How could he have possibly mustered the strength to break loose in time?

Rolling over from his position on the ground, he heard Yumi's words in his head again. It was like they were determined to either drive him insane or to constantly remind him. He felt his anger rise again. Then his hands began to glow with a strange, but weak yellow light. Ulrich flexed his fingers experimentally; the light didn't hinder his movement one bit. As his anger dissipated, so did the light.

He understood; though how, he'd never know.

Climbing wearily to his feet, Ulrich glanced out across the landscape before him. The laser that the copies had shot had left a lasting impression on whatever it made contact with.

Completely ignoring his enemies to his back, he looked to sky and the screen. His friends were just as surprised as their copies.

"I know you're there, Yumi," Ulrich said. He fought to control his anger again as it began to rise. As he continued, his voice grew in strength and volume despite his conscious effort. "I know you can hear me. So, you listen to me and listen good!"

With a shout, Ulrich released a portion of his anger. His body suddenly seemed to ignite with the same light that had enshrouded his hands. Taking a deep breath, he screamed at the top of his lungs, "I'M! —NO!—COWARD!"

The light around his body brightened until it was almost blinding. Everyone who was watching him, whether in Lyoko or on Earth, had to partially squint. But the kids saw something that the copies already knew.

Turning back to the copies, Ulrich's glare intensified. His words were slow and deliberate. Venom was ever present in his words as he spoke.

"You guys have just made one BIG mistake."

The copies smirked at that, despite their relative unease. Even with his attack and defense stats at their peak, he was still nowhere strong enough to defeat one of them, much less four. However, his strange light show baffled them.

"And just what is that suppose to mean?" X-Odd asked cockily.

"Youhave just PISSED ME OFF!" As he screamed, the light enshrouding him flared yet again. This time, the onlookers had to cover their eyes.

-

Jeremy winced and quickly threw his headset from his ears. When Ulrich's first scream sounded, it was positively deafening. His next two screams were even louder than the previous.

Now, during his current scream, the ground began to tremble.

-

It was like an earthquake that the entire world felt. The Richter scale registered it as a one-point-seven. Waves that were larger than normal were formed from the sudden earthquake and pummeled the coastal areas.

Clouds formed, encompassing the planet. Lightning leapt from the cloud cover continuously. All electronic devices sparked and had tiny static jumping from them as well. The winds picked up speed, forming tornadoes and hurricanes in certain random areas.

All the volcanoes on the planet, whether active or dormant, erupted in one violent display of force. It was a display that shouldn't be forgotten for many millennia to come.

-

The copies took several steps back in surprise. This boy…this creature was incredible…but bent on their destruction. A strange sensation enveloped them for the first time in their existence: fear. Quickly, their fear was replaced by anger for their own weakness. They were the greatest achievements of Xana itself. They were the ultimate power: second only to Xana. This weakness could not stand.

Ulrich was walking forward slowly. Taking careful, deliberate steps. His eyes never left them as he approached. His was stoic but his glare betrayed his true feelings. He was furious. He was furious with them, with Xana, with Yumi, and especially with himself. He was sick of it. And he was going to end it…right NOW!

X-Aelita and X-Yumi dashed forward but stopped several paces away. Raising her arms, X-Aelita created a pair of rock hands like the previous one on either side of Ulrich's approaching form. He continued to walk forward, unconcerned. The hands jerked down and grabbed him as he passed between them. Their grip was even stronger than the previous one that had held him. X-Yumi focused her telekinetic powers and began to slightly glow herself. The grip of the rock hands tightened drastically.

Ulrich didn't even feel it.

After a moment, he let out a brief cry. His aura brightened drastically around his body, forming almost a shell. A sudden sharp jab at her consciousness caused X-Yumi to loose her grip. The control she had over the hands was crushed. The effort to try to maintain her control was so great that she found herself on her knees unwillingly.

Taking another breath, Ulrich screamed as his aura became blinding again. The sheer and unbelievable amount of strength that flowed from him obliterated the rocky structures.

Recovering within seconds, X-Aelita and X-Yumi rushed him at different angles at their top speed. X-Yumi dashed around behind while X-Aelita struck from slightly off to the side. But he was far from being blind.

As X-Yumi closed the distance, Ulrich threw his arm back. His fist connected solidly with her Xana symbol. She only had a second's notice to scream, and then erupted into flame and shrapnel.

X-Aelita faltered in her attack to watch her sister program be deleted. Thus she didn't see Ulrich's spinning kick to her face until it was much too late. She exploded before he even landed, without a word.

Returning his attention his and Odd's copy, he continued walking forward. The entire fight scene lasted less than a few seconds. It left the remaining copies furious. They had to win, no matter what the cost.

X-Odd ran forward slightly. Then he knelt down and took aim. Ulrich stopped his walking. Placing one hand behind his back, he held his other up ready. This action was greeted with a smirk from his enemy who promptly shot the rest of his remaining Laser Arrows.

They couldn't even see him move for it was much too fast. One second he was standing there waiting for the arrows. The next he was holding his fist toward them. Opening it slowly, all the arrows that X-Odd had fired fell to the ground. Upon impact the darts let off tiny explosions and scorched the computer code landscape, which promptly repaired itself. Ulrich started walking again, but a little faster.

"Wait!" X-Odd cried. He now held his hands up as if to ward off an attack. "Wait! Wait!"

Vanishing momentarily, Ulrich reappeared next to X-Odd. One punch ended the copy's life instantly. Turning to his own copy, he glared at it menacingly.

Scrawling, X-Ulrich looked down at the ground for a second. It didn't make any sense to him. He was the spitting image of this boy, and his superior in all ways. How was it that if Ulrich was so scary powerful, he couldn't do it himself?

Looking up at his 'parent,' the copy's eyes clouded over. It was like he was having a daydream. Ulrich, for all his disgust, waited patiently; he wanted to end this as fairly as possible.

Snapping back from his reverie within moments, X-Ulrich smirked. Then, strangely enough, he laughed. Holding out his hands in front of his chest, the copy formed an energy ball similar to the earlier one but smaller. Jumping high into the air, he launched the beam straight Ulrich.

He didn't even try to move.

As the flame and shrapnel cleared, the copy was beheld a shocking sight. The landscape where it struck Ulrich now had a large crater. But Ulrich remained completely unharmed. The bit of ground that he had been standing on was the only untouched landscape within the immediate crater.

"What the!"

Dropping to the ground, X-Ulrich shouted, "I WILL KILL YOU!"

Launching himself into a charge, X-Ulrich let out a battle cry. Ulrich dashed forward as well. Almost upon one another, they leapt high into the air with their fists at the ready.

-

Odd was the first to talk since Ulrich's sudden revival. "How is he doing that?" he asked. "How is what he's doing on Lyoko affecting Earth?"

"I don't know," Jeremy said quietly.

Program ULRICH: status --Capable Attack--Capable Defense--Life Points

The fight was unbelievable. They were having a very tough time keeping track of what was transpiring in the computer realm. So when two bodies suddenly collided directly in front of the screen in the Lyoko, it took all of them by surprise. From the headset that lay on the keyboard, a resounding smash exploded forth.

The red body was bent at an odd angle. This was due to the golden fist that had connected to its torso. Then, for a brief moment, Ulrich's face filled the monitor. Aside from the look of pure hatred for his foe and the yellow aura surrounding him, he looked almost normal.

Then he vanished momentarily, only to reappear on the surface of Lyoko, standing proud. His copy was clutching the spot where Ulrich had hit him, growling in pain.

"You!" X-Ulrich stuttered. "Why—you! That really—h-hurt!"

Forcing himself to stand tall, X-Ulrich unsheathed both of his katana for the first time. Spreading them apart, he gathered laser energy into the blades. The laser energy shining from the pair of katana was an impressive sight, despite who was creating it.

"Any last words before you die?" he demanded as he forced as much energy as he could into the blades.

Ulrich raised his chin slightly.

"Actually, virus," he growled. "There are three words that come to mind." He crouched down, preparing to charge forward. His aura flared as brightly as ever.

Not waiting for his enemy to finish, X-Ulrich swung his katana forward with all his might. Two gleaming arcs of pure, evil energy lashed forward.

"TIME—TO—DIE!" Ulrich screamed as he dashed forward.

Time slowed to almost a halt. He didn't bother trying to get out of the way of the arcs. He ran right through them without even noticing. His copy was moving in slow motion compared to him. It had only enough time to look startled before Ulrich's fist slammed into its Xana symbol. With a final cry, X-Ulrich exploded with a great flash of red that rivaled Ulrich's aura.

Yumi's smile was large and knowing. I was right, she thought smugly. Ooh! I'm so good!

(A/N) Well, what do you think? I hope you all loved it! It was great fun to write this part. Needless to say that I've been planning to write this part from long before I even posted my first chapter!

I know that certain items in this chapter aren't very original. For those of you who didn't appreciate those things, I'm sorry. But this is about the extent of how far I'm willing to not be original.☻

Please do this one thing for yours truly: Review! Review! Review! If ever there was a chapter I wanted to be reviewed on, it's this one.

Next chapter coming up in The Weak Link: A Strange Presence

P.S. For those of you who are confused: this symbol—  —is suppose to mean'infinite.'