Winner Take All by Ransomed Heart
I do not own Code Lyoko
"Winning isn't everything."
"Yeah. It's just the only thing that matters."
Raven and Robin, respectively (Teen Titans episode #22)
Chapter One: Let the Games Begin
Yumi tapped her fingers on the desk impatiently, using the other arm as a prop for her head as she listened to her English teacher drone on about Edgar Allan Poe. Well, she wasn't droning, there was quite a bit of expression in her voice, but poetry really wasn't Yumi's thing and she couldn't care less about a raven that says 'Nevermore.' At any rate, this was her most boring class of the day, but she refrained from sleeping for the sake of her grades. Unlike Odd, Yumi actually cared what her grades were.
That would be why she jumped a foot into the air when her cell phone started to vibrate in her back pocket. It's not the kind of thing you would expect during an English class. Making sure the teacher couldn't see her, Yumi slipped it out and put it to her ear. "What is it," she hissed in a low voice.
"Yumi? It's Jeremie. We have a major problem! X.A.N.A. has launched an attack on my gym class!" Alright, now even Jeremie would admit how utterly lame that sounded later, but at the moment he was in a panic. "We were hitting baseballs out of that stupid portable machine thing, and all of a sudden it went crazy and started shooting balls everywhere! Odd and Ulrich are both knocked out. I need to contact Aelita. Meet me in the park, a.s.a.p!" He hung up, leaving Yumi to find her own excuse out of English.
"I'm sorry sir!" Why make excuses when one can just leave? It's not like he'd remember it anyway. Grabbing her backpack, Yumi rushed out the door, leaving the class in a state of semi-shock. As she was bolting down the hall, the principle's voice came over the speakers.
"Attention everyone! Please report immediately back to your dorms. Day students will please return home. The gym's ball machines have gone rogue, so teachers, please escort the students away from the classrooms."
'Great. Jeremie said 'machine', not 'machines'.' That was more of a force to reckon with. The machines were hooked up to super-long extension cords to give them freedom to move, not to mention the wheels they rolled around on. "Those stupid things could be anywhere," Yumi muttered.
Emerging into the sunlight she spotted Jeremie sitting on a bench and typing like mad into his laptop, with which he seemed to be having a conversation. Sliding next to him Yumi focused on the computer screen.
"Hello, Yumi," Aelita said, managing a smile. Yumi could see the stress on her face.
"Hey, Aelita," the older girl responded. "What's the situation in Lyoko?"
"Bad," Jeremie answered for her. "She's trapped in a tower in the forest region. X.A.N.A. has monsters everywhere. Swarms of them! I don't know if you can do it solo, Yumi."
Standing up, Yumi looked past him and to the field where Ulrich and Odd were probably still lying. She felt a pang in her chest at the thought of Ulrich lying there. It was a harsh thought, so Yumi pushed it back down and turned back to Jeremie. "We can't just stand aside and let X.A.N.A. pick us off one by one!"
"We may not have a choice. I won't send you to Lyoko if it's a suicide mission. There are way too many monsters, you'll be killed before you can even get close to Aelita." Beneath the glasses Yumi could see the despair in his eyes. "Without Ulrich and Odd, we may be doomed."
It crossed her mind that he seemed to be implying that she was not a capable fighter by herself. A part of Yumi wanted to be insulted, but she bit back the urge to tell him so. Now was not the best time to start a war within the group, what remained of it anyway. Suddenly Yumi saw her out of the corner of her eye.
"I have an idea," She voiced slowly, eyes locked on the one person who could help them. "But you won't like it."
The younger boy followed her gaze, eyes widening as he came to the same epiphany Yumi had moments before. "You're right, I don't like it," he said. But after a moment's pause he added, "Go get her. She's the only one who's ever known about Lyoko besides us. It has to be Sissy." Nodding swiftly at him, Yumi took off at a dead sprint after Sissy. "Meet me at the factory!" He called after her.
"Sissy? Isn't that the girl that's always causing trouble for Yumi and Ulrich?" Jeremie looked down at Aelita and answered.
"Yes, it is Aelita," Jeremie said gravely. "And I have a feeling we're going to regret this decision later on. Sending those two to Lyoko together would be like...like..," he searched for an analogy the computer being could relate to. "Like baking soda and vinegar."
"Ah," she cooed. "Explosive."
Yumi caught up to Sissy just as she was entering the dorm building. She was not overly fond of the younger girl as of late, mainly because of Sissy's increased interest in Ulrich. Every day a new tactic was employed to win his heart, and Yumi found herself resisting the urge to inflict physical damage on the principle's daughter for invading Yumi's territory.
"Yumi! What are you doing here?" The older girl grabbed her wrist and stated hauling her towards the park entrance to the factory, ignoring her questions. No sense in answering them, Sissy would find out soon enough anyway.
"You have to come with me," Yumi told her as she dragged her into the trees.
"No way! I'm supposed to go to the dorm!" Yumi felt her start pulling back, though it did her little good. All that training she'd done with Ulrich had paid off, and Sissy was no match for Yumi strength-wise. Time for a new tactic.
"You want to know about Lyoko, right? Come with me and you'll get all the answers you'll need, but I really don't have time to debate the issue with you!" With smug satisfaction Yumi felt her stop resisting and run along with her.
When they reached the pothole Yumi stopped. Casting a suspicious look around, she raised the lid and gestured down to the darkness. "Go ahead."
Sissy looked at Yumi like she would have liked to have argued, but took a deep breath and stepped down the ladder, her footsteps making hollow metallic sounds as they hit the rungs. Yumi followed her down, pulling the cover back over the hole as she went. Three lone skateboards leaned against the sewer wall, a testament to the constant travel through the tunnel. Jeremie's scooter was missing. Yumi snatched up her own board, and gestured to Odd's. Taking the hint, Sissy picked it up.
"Can you ride it," Yumi asked. Sissy gave her a skeptical look that Yumi took as a 'yes.' Sighing, she ran forward, launching herself onto the skateboard and flying off down the tunnel. Behind her, she could hear the sound of the other skateboard as proof that Sissy had done likewise.
Moments later they reached the second ladder that led up to the bridge. Yumi hopped off her skateboard and started up. She heard Sissy's footsteps behind her. Yumi waited for her to emerge from the hole and pushed the cover back over it. "Follow me!" Yumi raced towards the factory with Sissy at her heels.
Both girls froze dead at the entrance. Yumi grabbed one of the cables that hung from the ceiling and Sissy did the same. The older girl took a deep breath; she was still scared of heights, despite the fact that she made this leap on a regular basis. Launching herself forward, Yumi felt the air rush around her before she landed neatly on the floor in front of the elevator. Sissy came after her with a slight squeal of fright. She made it though, and Yumi was slightly impressed. Once they were both in the elevator, she pushed the button. The hatch-like doors closed and the elevator hummed to life.
"What's this about," Sissy questioned impatiently. "Why are we here?"
"That attack on the school for one thing," Yumi said casually. "We're here to stop it. You have to help me, because if you don't Ulrich and Odd are doomed."
"Where are they?"
"At the moment, unconscious on the soccer field. Apparently the ball shooters attacked them. I presume they are looking for me and Jeremie as we speak." The elevator doors hissed open and Yumi led Sissy out. Jeremie glanced up from the massive computer.
"Hey, Yumi. I see you've managed to get her here." He turned to the screen. "Help is on the way, Aelita!"
"What is this place," Sissy demanded. "And who is Aelita?"
"Hello, you must be Sissy." The confused girl focused on the screen, where a beaming Aelita was pictured. "I am Aelita. I've heard a lot about you."
"No time for introductions, Aelita." Jeremie turned to look fully at Yumi and Sissy, and they caught sight of a massive bruise forming on his right cheek. "You two have to get to Lyoko!"
Sissy was focused on his face. "Your cheek," she said slowly. Jeremie reached up and touched it gently.
"Ah, yes, an unfortunate encounter with a baseball on my way here. Now go you two!" Yumi grabbed Sissy's arm and directed her back towards the elevator. The doors closed and they were taken to yet another level.
"What is this place," Sissy breathed as they entered the room.
"Get into one of those tubes." Yumi pointed at the scanners. "Jeremie with transport us to Lyoko."
"Lyoko?"
"It's a virtual world that co-exists with our own. We are going there to fight off the monsters created by an evil supercomputer called X.A.N.A. that is attempting to destroy the world. When you are virtualized you will be given a power and a weapon that are best suited to you. Anything else you need to know?"
Sissy shook her head numbly. Yumi guided her into a scanner and let the doors shut before stepping into one herself.
Jeremie watched as the character cards came up before him on the screen. His fingers began moving across the keyboard.
"Scanner, Yumi! Scanner, Sissy!" Within the scanners, the girls began to rise.
"Transfer, Yumi! Transfer, Sissy!" The air began to swirl around them. Sissy closed her eyes tightly.
"Virtualization!"
The girls felt an odd rush of air around them. Sissy opened her eyes just in time to land promptly on her rear in Lyoko's forest region. Beside her, Yumi landed in a crouching position.
"Interesting weapon," Yumi mused aloud as she surveyed Sissy, who was picking herself up. The younger girl appeared to be a kunoichi, a female ninja, and her weapon was a kusarigama, a sickle on a long chain. Sissy's hair had been pulled up into a ponytail, and her outfit was green. (AN: For an idea of what it looks like, find a picture of Misao from Rurouni Kenshin) "Do you think you can use it?"
Sissy looked like she was about ot give a haughty answer when Jeremie's disembodied voice cut in. "Probably not, but unfortunately you don't have time to teach her, Yumi. Sissy, you'll just have to figure it out."
Now up on her feet, Sissy was glaring at the scenery around her, obviously looking for Jeremie. "Hold on! Why do I even need a weapon?"
"To fight the monsters sent by X.A.N.A.," Yumi informed her primly. "Which way, Jeremie?"
"The path to you right. Hurry girls, I don't know how much longer Aelita can hold out."
Wordlessly, Yumi started running down the winding path. Sissy followed, keeping an even pace with the older girl. "So what do we do when we get to where we're going?"
"There will be monsters, probably Megatanks or Crabs if they're trying to take out a tower. Other monsters include Hornets, Blocks, and Roaches. To destroy them, you hit the symbol on them that looks kind of like an eye. Oh, and don't fall over the edge of anything." Yumi paused, but decided to continue. "Don't worry too much about killing them though, you have less experience than the rest of us, so I doubt you'll get too far. Jeremie just didn't want me to go solo." The statement wasn't a challenge, but Sissy took it as one.
"So, you don't think I can do this! I am just as good as you or Ulrich or Odd or whoever this Aelita person is! I'll prove it to you!"
Yumi chuckled lowly. "No one's that good their first time."
Sissy gave her a manipulative smile. "Want to make a game of it then?"
Yumi sensed the bait and knew she shouldn't, but took it anyway. "Fine. What does the winner get?"
Sissy's grin broadened substantially. "If you win, I step off and let you have Ulrich. If I win, you do the same for me."
Yumi felt the topsy-turvy feeling in her gut that she got when she knew what she was doing wasn't totally right. Pushing it down, she glanced at Sissy. "Deal. Winner gets the guy, loser hits the road."
