Part 9: Recoil

Another figure appeared from the shadows of a nearby tree. His face resembled XANA from their previous encounter but something was so different about him. Aelita ducked behind "Night and said "Oh no XANA." "I'm not XANA" said the mysterious figure conversing from a far "I'm Night, the same Night that you stand behind of, but instead in an exact copy of him more like his brother, neigh his clone created form XANA at the very last second to take after his death if anything were to ever go a miss in the grand plan to devastate the human race. How rude of me I didn't introduce myself, my name is Damien, but you can just call me Day" said as Day walked around Night and Aelita who stood there with a rough look on their faces. "So XANA finally brought out the big guns, huh," said Night. Day extended his hands outward until the very edge of his wrist causing a small tremor. Day moved his arms to his side facing the exact opposite direction of Night and Aelita. Night didn't just stand around as his evil counterpart prepared so Night followed his example and drew himself into the same position as Day who stood across from him. "Aelita run now" screamed Night. "Right" said Aelita running back away from the Night. A bright light appeared in each of Day's and Night's hand it swirled into a ball of light that could barley be kept with in the grip of their hands. They both thruster their hands forward and in one earth shattering blast the area around them was instantly broken down into small floating asteroids of dead earth. Aelita, who was still so close by, was hurled into the air by the devastating blast. She hit the ground with a hard thumping noise echoing throughout her head. Day, and Night, stood facing each other, each on a different platform. "Night you may put on a good fight but you and me very well know that if we continue to fight each other at this rate then we wont ever finish this battle ever so ill just hit you were it hurts the most". "What" said Night? Day bolted to the right and headed straight for Aelita. Night followed him with just as fast speed but in no time Day got to Aelita before Night. Night still charged with faster speed each second. Day picked Aelita up by the stomach and but a dagger that was pulsing with the same code as Night's dagger did. As Night approached further with every second a smile grew on his evil counterparts' face. "Now feel the pain of loss such as I have before when you destroyed my father, Night," said Day as he raised his dagger into the air preparing for what Night couldn't bare to have happened so that it would have an effect in the future. Day took a small second to prepare; Aelita looked up at the face of her executioner and screamed out with a cry for help. "Aelita, NO" SHOUT Jeremie holding his head in the real world dropping his computer down to the floor without a care. Sweat began to pour out of Jeremie's face with Aelita's life on the line. Day struck without hesitation in his mind and with anger and turmoil for his alter ego, Night. Aelita fell slowly downward with her eyes opened as wide as they could have been. Her eyes slowly closed shut now with a peaceful look on her face. Night extended his hands forward trying to catch her but it was to no surprise to him that as soon as he touched her she disappeared into bits of data and was permanently destroyed. Night lost all train of though as he kept his arms in a position as if he was holding Aelita still in his arms. All of the color escaped from the grasp of his eyes until he appeared to be nothing more than a shell of his outer form. His arms slowly dropped to his side of his body. "It hurts doesn't it Night. It always does to lose the ones we love and cherish the most. Please savor this pain as it will be what you will be feeling for eternity when I rule the world." Night dropped to the floor dropping all guard around him, leaving Day with a perfect chance to put his other half out of commission permanently. Day started to rush forward running with one foot in front of the other towards his brother still on the floor. He exposed his hands with a dagger on the top of each one of them that were extending with every second. "Get ready to die" screamed out Day jumping into the air. He came down with as much force as he could throw into a final hit for his nemesis. When he came within a yard of Night, a dome of energy came out and protected him from the impact of his brother and snapped Day's daggers in half. Day was repelled back and far away from Night. "What the" said Day shielding himself with his hands from the light of the shield still surrounding Night protecting him from his attacks. Night started to levitate above the floor he kneeled upon. The entire realm started to quiver with an eerie noise echoing throughout Lyoko and the real world. The sky inside of Lyoko became as black as it could ever get. Bolts of lightning came crashing down from every direction striking Night with every bit of energy that it could give him. Jeremie's screen began to flash with text on the screen saying "Corruption project activated". Night began to send out a large amount of light into every single direction covering the entire field with light. Day's arm began to feel strange as he stood their watching his brother. He looked down and saw that his data was beginning to delete itself. A large hole developed on his arm exposing the data that made up his entire being. Day knew what would have happed if he stayed there so he ran off in the opposite direction hoping to escape the wrath of the light. But nothing could escape it as in mere seconds it caught up with him and erased every inch of him off the world. Night's eyes grew white and filled with zeros and ones. He shouted "Aelita" with a scream that could have been heard for miles. The screen, that everyone was watching, began to crack and shards of it broke of and disappeared, since it was only a hologram. Night bled to death on screen with the background disappearing until everything around him disappeared into nothing. The scanners that were hocked up to XANA's body opened up and shoot out a light just like the light within Lyoko at the same time. It covered the world with a light sending the world back into the past before XANA came back as a watch.

Back in what's left of Lyoko. Aelita opens her eyes to Night who was still in a state of being shocked by the lightning that came from all around him. Aelita looked at herself and saw that she was wearing a tight skin suit. Aelita approached Night who barley could even see her. She came directly in front of him where he could hear her. She said "Night". At that very moment Night stopped conducting electricity and his eyes regained their complexion and beautiful eye color. He fell to the side where Aelita waited to catch him when he stopped falling. Night fell facing backwards when Aelita caught him. She wrapped her arms around his chest holding him still so he wouldn't fall any further to the floor. "Aelita" said Night as he opened his eyes. "Night" said Aelita as Night shook as if he had a quick seizure. "I will die now Aelita. I'm very tired. So please just allow me to die" said Night. "I only wish that I could spend more time with you in the time we had together, but I'm glad that I met you. And now I am sure that my life is meaning less and I have no purpose" said Night gasping for air as tears of blood came from his eyes. "No Night, your life isn't meaningless you had a purpose, the purpose is to save me form XANA and protect me from anything that could hurt me. You've made me very happy Night, that now I can be with Jeremie for the rest of my life." Aelita said still holding on to Night. If I can make a final request if I can. I want to be left when I die right next to where my father used to be in the factory" said Night. "Aelita" said Night in a small voice. "Yes" said Aelita. "I have kept my feelings hidden all my life and I regret even a second of doing it. But now I have nothing left, nothing to gain, nothing to lose. So now I say with my last breath of life" Said Night as he struggled to keep alive. "I love you" said Night as Aelita listened to ever last breath that came from him. Night's body became cold and quiet as his words stopped. "Night. Night… Niiiggghht" said Aelita in a loud shriek. The floor underneath them shattered and they were thrown into darkness.

Aelita woke up with Night in her arms with his eyes closed and his body still so cold from dieing. Aelita rubbed Night's cheek thinking sweet thoughts of Night, how he came from the future, saved her and reunited her with Jeremie. He gave his life for her, the women he loved right from the start, and he will never be forgotten in Aelita's mind.

Aelita laid Night's body onto the floor placing his hands on his chest and went off to the school in order to reach Jeremie and the others. When she reached she reached school it was back to normal and the sky was at day break. She looked forward at the school as everyone else slept peacefully in their rooms. "Jeremie" said Aelita. "Aelita" said a voice from a far. She looked to her right and there stood Jeremie and everyone else with a smile on their faces. Aelita rushed as fast as she could trying to reach Jeremie. Jeremie opened his arms out to Aelita as she entered his arms hand they hugged twirling around. They stop and look into each others eyes. "Jeremie I thought I would never see you again" said Aelita as she looks down at Jeremie's chest. Jeremie points her head upward until they make eye contact and says "Aelita, you won't ever have to worry ever again. Ill protect you from anything that might even try to hurt you, even at the cost of my own life" said Jeremie in a serious face. Aelita hugs Jeremie even tighter and embraces him placing her head sideways on his chest. Jeremie placed his head on the back of her head and took a deep breath. Yumi stepped forward and said "wait a minute where is Night he should be here with us". Aelita repelled herself form Jeremie and said "I almost forgot about him. He's in the forest. Something happened to him. Hurry please" everyone headed into the woods following Aelita as she rushed for Night's body. They arrived there not to long after. When they reached there they noticed Night's body on the ground just as Aelita said he would be, with his arms on his chest. Night had forest creatures surrounding him with a light shinning down from the top. Everyone approached him with caution as the animals kept an eye on them. Yumi stepped up to Night and took his wrist and checked his pulse. Yumi couldn't believe it what had happened. She placed his hand back on his chest and rose from where she was kneeling down from. "What's wrong Yumi" said Ulrich. "Yumi" said Ulrich once again. "He's dead Ulrich" said Yumi with tears in her eyes. Everyone stood around Night in a small radius looking down at their fallen friend. Aelita then remembered that before she woke up that she was told by Night that he wanted to be placed in the factory along side his fathers grave. Aelita told them of what Night said before his death that made everyone start to whimper in small drips of tears. "Come on guys lets take him to the factory its what he would have wanted" said Jeremie still looking down at Night. Ulrich and Yumi lifted up Night's fallen body and walked over to the factory without being seen by anyone. They entered the building and took the elevator down to the final level of the factory where XANA's old body was still sitting collecting dust. They slowly and carefully placed Night's body lying in the same position that they found it in the wood. Everyone stood there with a sad look on their face at the boy who came from the future and had such an impact on their present. Aelita walked over and kneeled down right next to Night facing his face. "Night I know that you feel that you were so alone in the end. How your entire family is dead and no one cared about you, but I did. You saved me from sleeping forever and never seeing Jeremie ever again and I hope that in the afterlife you can be with someone that you love" said Aelita. She came down to Night's face and kissed his cold lips that still had some color. She lifted her head up a bit and said "good bye, Night Wing". She stood up and walked back over to Jeremie leaving in the opposite direction of Night into the elevator along with Yumi, Ulrich and Odd. Odd pressed the button for the elevator and it slowly went upward exiting the room. It reached the top floor and they all left the elevator heading for the large door entrance to the factory taking one last look around before they leave forever. The thought of Night's body so still echoed their minds.

The next day everyone ventured back into the factory to see Night's body one last time but as soon as they reached the room where Night's body was, they noticed that his body was completely gone from where they left. But the words "Free" remained on the floor written in scrapes over where Night's body use to be. Everyone smiled happily at each other. A tear rolled down Aelita's cheek as now she knows that Night is ok and that he can finally be happy. Everyone exited the factory and saw Night across the bridge in spiritual form smiling and waving for them. His image disappeared from their sight permanently. The sound of speech came over the wind in Night's voice saying "Aelita. The vast possibilities of our future will become realities only if we make ourselves responsible for that future."