.:/AN/:. Hello! I'm back, again! Stop groaning! It's not good for your throat. At least, that's what my doctor says, since I was doing it since the begining of time. Or more like, school. Groan! I bet you're thinking, "Right.... whatever... are we sure that this person shouldn't be in a padded cell with IV's dripping tranqlizers?" Sorry to say this, but, yeah, I'm not there. THough I have heard that those rooms are very comfy. Anyway, you guys were here to read the next chapter, so I guess I should stop stalling. Here you go!

Chapter 16: Lance

Yumi's POV:

I was fighting off four Roachers and Crabs. A lot? I know. Too much? As if. At least... that's what I thought.

I had defeated what I thought was the last Roacher, but before I could turn around, I heard the voice that was always able to make my heart race.

"IMPACT!"

I completed my 180-degree turn and found Ulrich posed in his fighting stance. He slowly brought himself up from his kneeling position as I walked quickly over to him. At first, I wanted to hug him, for I had missed his comforting embrace. Then, I wanted to smack him, just to see the look on his face. Then, I wanted to shout at him, yelling out how horrible he made me feel and how I regretted every cursed day that he wasn't with us. But, I decided on doing something that I had found very easy to do for a while, now.

"It's about frikin' time you decided to show up!" I screamed frantically, hiding my relief of his appearance.

"Hey, your lucky I even did show up!" he yelled back. I would've been hurt, but I knew that he didn't mean it. That's what I thought, at least.

We stood there facing each other, ignoring the raging battle around us. I had to really fight to not loose myself in his deep, chocolate brown eyes... but they were luring me, taunting me... it was a difficult thing to fight. Luckily for me, Odd's cry tore me away from our staring contest.

"Odd is down to 25 life points! Will you two stop staring at each other and help him out, or will he have to do it all on his own and kill himself in the process?!" Jeremie's voice rang throughout Lyoko.

"Right," Ulrich and I said in unison.

"So, how many do we have left?" Ulrich asked me, taking command like usual.

"There is now a total of six..." an explosion came from Odd's direction. "...five Crabs left and a couple of Cubes at least," I said, correcting myself.

"That's all?" he asked me, looking confused.

"Yeah," I said nodding. "Odd took care of most of the Cubes, the Hornets are history, and I destroyed all of the Roachers."

"I think you missed some," he said, looking over my shoulder.

I turned around to see four Roachers standing on the snowy ground.

"But I could've sworn that I..." I started to say, but was cut off by Ulrich.

"I'll take care of these guys. You help Odd with the Crabs, 'kay? Don't look at me like that, it's been awhile, and I need some action. Go on!" He nudged me out of the way. I would've stayed, but another cry from Odd was enough for me.

"You're down to 15, Odd. I guess I spoke too soon about you taking this seriously."

"Ha, ha, very funny."

"Odd, duck!" I yelled, running towards him.

Without a question (surprise, surprise), Odd jumped out of the way as a laser from one of the Crabs shot the area he was just seconds ago occupying.

"Thanks, Yumi! Oh, hey, Ulrich! How nice of you do join us, today!" he said in a friendly manner while shooting some arrows at the offending Crab.

"Actually," Ulrich yelled back, "It's night time, now!"

"Really?"

"Yeah, you guys were taking so damn long, so I decided to come and help!"

"Oh, I was wondering what the hell you were doing here!" He turned to me. "So, you were able to get him to come, eh?" he stated so that only I could hear.

"Yeah, he just couldn't stay away," I replied with a smile.

There were a lot of explosions coming from Ulrich's area, but I didn't get a chance to even glance in his direction. Odd and I were busying ourselves with the rest of the Crabs. I could only pray that he was the one causing the explosions, not the other way around.

In a short matter of time, we were able to destroy all of the monsters X.A.N.A. sent out for us. Odd got two of the Crabs and was at a grand total of 10 life points. I got the other three and managed to stay at 65 life points. Ulrich, however, was amazing: he took out the rest of the Roachers and the Cubes and was able to stay at 85 life points. Pretty good for someone who was 'supposedly' a 'little rusty'.

"Wow, Ulrich, you haven't changed have you?" Odd spoke in a casual tone.

"Nor have you, Odd. Still playing the target, I see?"

"Well, you'd have to blame my good looks and charm."

"So is that how you get yourself through life? Y'know, Odd, it's not a good idea to get into bad habits, like lying."

"You shouldn't be talking, Ulrich, you've managed to lie ever since you've met Yumi. I mean, you even told me..." his sentence was cut off my Ulrich's hand. It looked like Odd one that little witty contest.

"Will you shut it, Odd? You're like one of those drive-in boxes: you try to serve, but you do it the wrong way."

"Hee, hee. Sorry, I didn't notice that she was there."

"Uh, guys, I'd hate to disrupt this very interesting conversation you two seem to be having, but shouldn't we tell Aelita that she can come out, now?" I asked them, trying desperately to fight off my burning cheeks.

"Oops," they both said.

I sighed. I walked over to the snowy mound that I knew Aelita was hiding under. I knocked softly.

"Uh, Aelita?" I asked quietly. "You came come out, now. It's over."

"It is?" she said, the mound disappearing into data. "Thank god! I thought that it would go on for hours!" She paused and stared at me funny. "Yumi? Why is your face all red?"

I knew my cheeks were really burning, now. And I failed to hide it.

"Um... I'll tell you later," I mumbled softly. "Uh, why don't you head over to the tower now, so that we can start over?" I asked her a little louder. She started to nod, but-

"I'm afraid that I cannot allow that," a mysterious, yet familiar voice said. It was coming from the direction of the activated tower.

We all simultaneously turned slowly to the tower. A tall figure stood in front, wearing a black, yellow, and silver ninja suit, with a long sword tied to its back. Its belt was lined with star-spikes and knifes, perfect for throwing at enemies. Its grass-like silver hair ruffled in the virtual wind.

"Lance," we all said, voiced with our own variety of fury.

.:/AN/:. Okay, Ulrich is mad at Lance because he practically stole his life from him, Yumi is probably mad at him because he manipulated her, Jeremie is mad because he put Aelita in danger and all that fluffy crap, Odd is mad because he never got his signed CD, and Aelita is mad because she feels left out of all the fury! It all works! Sorry... but it is funny! So, right. R&R on your way out. I'm sorry to say, this story is rapidly coming to an end. I'm begining to wish that I had waited longer between updates, but prolonging the enevitable is pointless, I guess. I'm thinking up some ideas that I've had, which could have some potential. By the way, codelyoko2004, you haven't gotten back to me about those ideas I gave you. I need to know what you think! Later, my air that I need to breath! You're what makes me go on! Cheezy? Sorry.