7-8: Millie

Krabs win by a landslide of 3 to 2 versus Megatanks! Personally I like Hornets just b/c they can fly, but who's gonna be picky about that? Man, this is the longest story I've ever written!

(((-8-)))

Odd dove behind the shelter of the ice structure as lasers rained down on them from the gathering of Blocks on top of the wall. He was struck twice and fell, doubled over. Janika grabbed his arm and pulled him back.

"Quit trying to act like a hero! Oh no! That black Block is coming!" the cheetah-warrior gasped as the huge dark monster stepped out of the wall, focusing on them. "Jeremy, what are we supposed to do?!"

Before the computer's operator could reply, Aelita dropped down to her knees, hands together and eyes closed. She hummed a single note that resonated through the air and a thick barrier of clear ice rose up and encased the Block in response.

"That won't hold it for long, Aelita," Odd said. "How do we get way up there?"

Jeremy finally spoke, "My sensors show the wall extends all the way to the edge of the platform in both directions. There doesn't seem to be a way up."

"I've never been to this Tower before," the digital girl admitted reluctantly. "It's possible that X.A.N.A. destroyed the path."

"Aelita…" Jeremy sounded confused. "Do you hear someone…um…"

"Jer, pay attention!" Janika snapped. "We have a Tower we can't get to and a giant Block that will get out of that prison in less than a minute. We need some ideas about now without you getting distracted!"

"Sorry." He seemed to pause as though confused. "Just hang on for a second. I have to check something out."

(V)

Ulrich felt himself hauled roughly to his feet and tried not to yell when the Pawn grabbed his bad arm, still bleeding. She glared at him, her eyes a misty azure shade glowing with an unearthly light.

"Your fellow is a coward, Warrior," she snarled. "Thanks to her inaction, I will make certain that you suffer greatly as you die."

The brown-haired boy could hardly struggle, but as she tightened her grip on him, he lost the remaining feeling in his hand. The numbing sensation spread quickly up his arm and into his chest, then downward toward his feet.

At first it was a relief not to feel the tremendous pain, but after everything had nearly been encompassed, a second wave of cold so strong that it felt more like fire swept through his veins.

Ulrich fell to his knees as they ceased to support him. His entire body felt like it was burning! He looked at his hand and saw his fingers turning from pale gray to a frozen purple. He saw them swelling at an alarming rate and tried to cry out, but his lips were iced over.

Bloktra bent over him, her cold breath putrid. "My master will reward me greatly for this conquest. But I want you to suffer just a bit more before you die."

The pain doubled.

(V)

Jeremy stopped his calculations and paused. Where was that crying coming from? He took the headphones off and looked around.

"Hello?"

The crying continued, unabated. It was a girl. She was weeping and whispering through her tears, "Please stop it…I don't like this place…"

"Hello?" he called more insistently.

"Who are you? Make it go away! I can't breathe… I wanna go home!"

Then the sounds descended into bawling again. Her voice was echoing inside his head, like earlier, before the dance.

"Millie? Is that you?"

"Who is it?" she sniffled from no place. "Jeremy?"

Of course! X.A.N.A. had forced her out of her own body, so she must have been placed somewhere else. Why not Lyoko? She was probably trapped in some kind of a virtual setting, maybe the activated Tower.

"Millie, where are you? Can you see anything?"

"Jeremy, what's happening? Where am I? I can't move!"

"Tell me what you see."

She paused, trying to calm herself down. "Ice everywhere. It's all cold. There are some things that were attacking me and put me inside this cage. I hate small places, Jeremy! I want out!"

The realization of where Millie was came all too slowly to him. "Millie, what kind of a body do you have?"

"I don't know, but I can look around in all directions at the same time and I can use lasers or something."

"You're the Block!" he gaped at the screen.

(V)

Yumi watched as her date slowly turned blue, his head lolling back. Finally she snapped out of her lethargy and ran for the firetruck again. A lot of other kids were still running so that she didn't look very inconspicuous and the sky was turning dark, the only illumination coming from streetlights around the park.

The Japanese girl noticed the water was still slightly pumping out of the hose as she tried to open the door to the cab, but the metal had frozen solid. With a few high kicks, she whacked it until it came loose. Now which button activated the sirens?

Ulrich had lapsed into unconsciousness. Bloktra's face had just contorted into an expression of triumph when the loud, piercing noise split the eerie silence of the evening.

Irresistibly drawn toward it, she let go of her prisoner and began walking dazedly toward the source of the strange, soothing, melodious sound, unaware that Yumi was waiting for her.

As soon as she approached the truck, the black-haired girl screamed a war cry, leaping out of the shadows to attack her nemesis with a wrench. Bloktra took the blow to the back of her head and collapsed.

Fearing the worst, Yumi ran to her friend, noticing that the ice all around was melting. His skin was deathly cold, and his fingers were disfigured from frostbite.

"Ulrich! Oh, please don't be dead!" she wept.

One eye slid open, seeing nothing, but at least it was a sign that he was still alive. Drying her eyes and pulling him up, she looped his good arm over her shoulder and carried him away.

Impossibly, Bloktra rose to her feet, hardly fazed by the pounding of her skull. The sirens were gone and so were both Warriors. With a snarl, she caught up the fire hose and aimed it at the windows of the dormitories, where all the kids had run to escape, and then pulled the lever back to put it on full blast.

Okay, tell me what you think and then answer the new poll. What would you say about this pairing: Theo/Aelita (and please keep the flames low)