Code: Lyoko
Sins of the Father (Pt. 2)
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Review Response:
Midnight Insanity: Well, Yumi will be kicking bad guy butt, but it won't be the bad guys you think it is.
Summer Wings: Yes, there is a reason I titled it "Sins of the Father" and you're about to find out why I titled
it that.
Possessed Angel (& Others): There's something you should know about me: I do not like bloody deaths (yes, I know
that those are the only deaths out there). I don't like tragedies, I'm only a little fan of angst stories. So
don't worry about Ulrich. Everything I write happens for a reason.
Chibi-Suiko: I apologize too. I wasn't aware of how you intended that to be. Thank you.
Abstract: As Jeremie and Aelita dig even deeper into the mystery of Ulrich's disappearance, Ulrich finds himself
the target of a trigger-happy thug who has no qualms about shooting people that make him upset.
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Previously on Code: Lyoko, while celebrating the completion of the fourth scanner, Ulrich receives a frantic phone
call from his father ordering him to return to the dorms. Ulrich left without telling anybody, even Yumi, about it.
When Ulrich hadn't been seen for two days, the team sets out to find him. Their investigation is stalled even
further as Yumi becomes a suspect because of what she did to Ulrich while under Xana's control. Yumi and Odd rescued
Xana from the Invaders and then Jeremie and Aelita snuck into the school's security center to obtain the tapes they
need to discover what really happened to Ulrich.
But time is rapidly running out for Ulrich unless the others can get to him in time.
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Ulrich looked around at his surroundings. He was in a warehouse in who-knows-where being surrounded by three guards.
Not to mention his brain felt like someone hit him with a Bacchi Ball. Who were these guys? Where was he? What
did they want? And why does his mouth feel like he swallowed the Sahara Desert?
"Where am I? Who are you?" Ulrich asked backing up against the wall.
"Take it easy there, mate," one of the guards said with an Australian accent. "You're safe... for now."
"You don't need to know our names," a dark-skinned woman assured him. "At any rate, soon all this will be behind
us."
The third guard called to someone outside. "Hey Boss, he's awake."
"Is that so?" A man's voice came. A side door opened and a short, pudgy, balding man in an expensive-looking
trench coat walked in. "So this is the boy?"
"You bet, Boss," the third guard confirmed. "No doubt about it." Pudgy Man went up to Ulrich and turned his head.
"Yup, he's the one all right. You're the spitting image of your father."
"My father? What does he have to do with this?"
"All in good time, lad, all in good time. In the mean time, why don't you make yourself at home, we'll all be here
for a while." He tossed a canteen to Ulrich which the boy drunk greedily. "Oh yes, no doubt about it, you are your
father's son." That tone sounded almost sarcastic. Ulrich started to reach for his cell phone when he realized he
no longer had it.
{I should've known it wouldn't be that easy,} Ulrich thought. {I just wish there was a way I could contact someone.
Yumi, Jeremie, Odd, Aelita, heck, even Xana if it meant letting someone outside this building know where I was.}
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Jeremie and Aelita rode their scooters through the tunnels, coming to a stop at the manhole that lead to the
factory. Jeremie had to wait a full day until the hype from the break-in at the security center died down. Yumi
had been right in saying that the guard she knocked out couldn't remember anything about who attacked him or if
there was anyone in the security center that night. And his partner said that he was knocked out by a male, although
he couldn't make out any features (Jeremie still wondered who also had a grudge against security guards).
Fortunately, they hid the CD-ROM at the factory so there was no chance anyone besides them would see it. Once they
arrived at the factory, they rode down to the lab.
"I put each camera's footidge into a separate movie," Aelita explained. "To make things more easier."
"That's good, now we need to look over each of them and see if Ulrich's on any of them." Jeremie took off his
glasses and rubbed his eyes. "Looks like we'll be here a while."
"Maybe not," Aelita said. "We know that Ulrich was leaving the factory so all we need to do is look at the footige
from the cameras guarding those exits."
"Good idea, Aelita!" Jeremie congratulated causing Aelita to blush a little. The two entered the lab. Aelita sat
at the main terminal while Jeremie set up his laptop on the floor projector that normally displays Lyoko. "Aelita,
you monitor the camera guarding the sewer entrance, I'll take the shed." The two began their tasks. After what
felt like hours (it actually had only been forty-five minutes), Jeremie's eyes were beginning to droop.
"Jeremie, I think I found something!" Aelita called waking Jeremie up. He leaned over Aelita's shoulder to see
that she froze the picture at the manhole being lifted.
"Aelita, you might be right. Play it." Aelita hit the play button. The two watched as the manhole cover was lifted
and Ulrich climbed out. "It's Ulrich!" The two continued to watch as Ulrich replaced the manhole cover and looked
around. He then took a step back in what looked like surprise. Someone wearing a trenchcoat walked up to him.
His or her back was to the camera. There seemed to be a brief conversation between the mysterious person and Ulrich.
Suddenly someone else, this one clearly a woman, snuck up behind him with a metal bar.
"Ulrich, look out!" Aelita cried forgetting that it already happened. The woman smashed a stick (or maybe it was a
bar, since the picture was in black and white, it was hard to tell the difference) against the back of Ulrich's head.
Aelita and Jeremie gasped as Ulrich fell over. The woman picked up Ulrich, draped him over her shoulder and she and
her companion left. "Oh no, I hope he's all right."
"So do I, Aelita, so do I. Back up to the beginning, I want to see the time span." Jeremie looked at the time bar
in the lower-right hand corner. "Yeah, that's pretty much right after he left the factory."
"So what do we do now?" Aelita asked.
"Let's see if we can find any clues as to who the kidnappers are." Jeremie and Aelita watched the scene again and
again. But they still had no clues. Jeremie was about to give up when he suddenly thought of something.
"Aelita... run that scene one more time." Aelita complied. "Stop!" Aelita hit the pause button. Jeremie leaned
over and began typing commands. The movie had froze just after the woman struck Ulrich. As she lowered her blunt
instrument, Jeremie zoomed in on her shoulder. There was some sort of logo on it.
"I don't recognize that symbol," Aelita said.
"I don't either," Jeremie agreed. "But right now, it's our only clue."
"And I think I know someone who can help us," Aelita commented.
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Ulrich's head still hurt. Fortunately, it didn't look like he was bleeding. He looked around for some sign of
where he exactly was.
"Where am I?" He asked the Aussie.
"Don't ya' watch movies, mate? You're in a warehouse, where the bad guys always take their captive."
"I wish it was the factory," Ulrich muttered. "Okay, what warehouse am I in?"
"That knowledge is not your concern," the woman said.
"Can you at least tell me what you have planned for me?" Ulrich's grilling wasn't doing much to help find out
where he was or who they were, but maybe he could at least find out why he was taken.
"Just shut up, kid," the third person snapped. He patted his gun. "Unless you WANT to start eating through a hole
in your stomach."
"Marrin, that's enough," the woman said. "We need him alive. Once we get what we want, then we'll have no need
for the boy."
{Okay, the other two are too intelligent, but maybe I can use this Marrin guy to find out where I am and what they
want with me.}
"If you want something, maybe I can help you."
"I doubt it," the Aussie said. "What we're getting from our boss is much more than you could provide."
"And what are you getting from your boss?"
"I thought I said to shut your trap, kid!" Marrin shouted.
"Marrin, please calm down," the woman said evenly. "I believe there is no harm in telling him this." She turned
towards Ulrich and smirked. "The answer is simple, boy, we're getting money, lots of money."
"Aye, that's right," the Aussie confirmed. "That's why I said it's much more than you could provide."
{Okay, so they're getting money for doing this,} Ulrich thought. {They must be getting it from their boss, but
where's their boss getting it? Even if he does look rich, I doubt that he could pay the fee for these guys to
kidnap a kid. Ransom! I bet they're going to ransome my Dad! But... why him? I mean he's well-to-do but he's
not a millionaire.} Ulrich looked around for something he could use as a weapon to combat these three, but nothing.
They were holding all the cards.
"Ya' look tired, mate," the Aussie observed. "You should rest."
"I've been resting for three days, thank you very much," Ulrich said acidly.
"You're really treading on thin ice, Ulrich!" Marrin shouted reaching for his gun.
"So how do you know my name?" Ulrich asked. "I didn't tell you."
"Why you..." Marrin drew his gun but before he could bring it to aim, the woman stopped him.
"Marrin, that's enough!" She scolded.
"But Leena, this kid's asking for it."
"Marrin, don't make me upset..." Marrin sighed and put away his gun.
"I'd be wise to stay away from him, kid," the Aussie advised. "He's got an itchy trigger finger, that he does."
Ulrich sighed and sat back down.
The Aussie's phone rang. After listening at the other end, he told Leena, "The boss wants to see us."
Leena nodded and told Marrin, "Marrin, try to control your temper. We won't get anything if he's dead. At any
rate, we might be dead if he gets killed."
"All right, all right, Leena, I understand."
"Good. Let's go, Terry." Terry and Leena left the room. Ulrich leaned back and looked at Marrin. He definitely
seemed high-strung.
"You can relax, you know," Ulrich said. "I couldn't try anything even if I wanted to."
"You're not in any position to suggest things to me, twerp," Marrin said evily.
"Suit yourself." Ulrich closed his eyes and pretended to nap.
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"Xana's cruising through cyberspace right now looking for anything that resembles the symbol we found," Jeremie told
Aelita in his room.
Aelita nodded. "He would definitely be able to find things a lot quicker than you... I mean us humans can."
Aelita was still having some difficulty accepting the fact that she was as human as Jeremie. It seemed almost
unreal. "At any rate, we should wait until he comes back with something."
"Hey Aelita, what do you think this means for our situation in Lyoko?"
"Huh? I don't understand, Jeremie."
"Well... Ulrich was the first of us to undergo Xana's upgrades. And from the battles I've seen him fight in, he's
definitely the strongest of all of you. You saw what happened at the tower. You got ejected from Lyoko and Yumi
and Odd came close to doing the same thing. Perhaps if Ulrich was here, we wouldn't have had so hard a time
freeing Xana and defeating that giant snake monster."
"Don't forget, Jeremie, with Xana captured, I was weakened too. Even if Ulrich was here, I don't know if that
would change anything. Anyway, we shouldn't worry about what happened in the past, we should just concentrate on
the present, which means finding Ulrich."
"Hey guys!" Odd called running into Jeremie's room. "Have you taken a look outside lately?" Jeremie and Aelita's
faces had questions on them. Odd rolled his eyes. "Right, forgot who I was talking to. Well, Sissi formed her
own Anti-Yumi Campaign."
"You're kidding!" Jeremie gasped. Odd passed them a piece of paper. It had Yumi's face with a red circle-slash
through it. The paper basically explained how Yumi had a hand in Ulrich's disappearance and calls the students to
protest for the school's administration to bring her in for questioning. It gave pretty convincing evidence
including Jim's testimony that he saw Yumi with an unconscious Ulrich. "Whoa, I guess you're not."
"She works fast," Odd commented. "Remember how she organized that rally after we got our cell phones taken away?"
"I don't understand why humans feel the need to protest every little thing," Aelita said.
"It's not most humans, just Sissi," Jeremie cracked.
"That's nothing. Look outside." The three went to the window and looked out to see Sissi with a small crowd of
students all holding signs with Yumi's face with a red circle and a slash on it.
"Oh geez. Come on, guys, we have to stop it before it gets out of hand!" Jeremie, Aelita, and Odd ran outside.
"Sissi, what the heck are you doing?"
Sissi gave them a snide glare. "Well, if it ain't the traitors."
"Traitors?" Odd echoed.
"Yeah, conspiring with the kidnapper."
"But Yumi didn't kidnapp Ulrich!" Aelita protested. "I was with her the whole time!"
"So you admit you're an accomplice?" Aelita gasped.
"Look," Jeremie snapped. "Instead of complaining about it, why don't you find some evidence that Yumi is
guilty!"
"Yeah! Let's go!" And the crowd began to move away.
"Jeremie, why did you do that?" Odd asked.
"I'm sorry, guys, I just got so upset. I wasn't thinking."
"I thought I heard a noise," the principal said as he came out. "Was there a crowd out here earlier?"
"Sir, your daughter's heading a campaign to blame Yumi for the kidnapping of Ulrich!" Aelita said.
The principal sighed. "I was afraid of this."
"Sir, you have to believe us, Yumi's innocent!" Jeremie argued.
"I believe it, Jeremie, trust me, I believe it. But the evidence doesn't look good for her."
"What do you mean?"
"Well... when I interviewed Yumi, she said that she was the last one to see Ulrich. That really doesn't help
her case. I'm afraid that if Ulrich isn't found by tomorrow, the police will have to place her under arrest.
I'm sorry, guys, I know how much you like Yumi, but there isn't anything I can do."
"Where is Yumi now?" Odd asked.
"I had to suspend her from school and send her home. Good thing she's a day student otherwise she would
already be in a juvenile detention center." The three turned and ran off.
"This isn't good," Jeremie said. "Now we're working against the clock. It's all up to Xana now."
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When Ulrich opened his eyes, he noticed that Marron had not moved from his place. He didn't have a watch so he
didn't know how long he had been asleep. Actually, he hadn't meant to be sleeping at all, but he still must have a
small concussion from where he was hit in the head. The ball of Marron's foot was leaning up against the wall,
making his leg twitch rapidly.
"You still here?" Ulrich asked.
"You're a real smart-alec for someone who's a prisoner," Marron commented.
Ulrich decided to play a little game with him. Maybe he could gleen some information in the process. He leaned
back and smiled at the thug. "I'll have you know that I'm an important person around some parts."
Marron smirked for the first time since Ulrich first regained consciousness. "That's what we're counting on, kid,
that your pops thinks you're important enough to give in to our demands." So they were after him because of his
father. That explains it somewhat.
Ulrich also smirked. "Actually, I'm really the hero of a virtual world and must use a super computer to fight
computer viruses and monsterous invaders."
Marron laughed. "Ha! Yeah, right. Next thing you'll be telling me is that you can make girls pop out of
computers."
"Well, not me, but a friend of mine can," Ulrich said enjoying the joke.
The scowl returned. "Look, punk, this is a fun game, but don't forget you're a prisoner here. And I've got
enough rounds to make five of you if you know what I mean. So just sit down and shut up."
"I'm not worried," Ulrich lied. "I'm sure my friends are already on their way to rescue me."
Marron's eyebrow twitched. "I doubt it, we left no evidence. We even threw away that cell phone of yours."
"You know, they're friends with a real-life sentient computer virus," Ulrich said conversely. "And you know
that super computer I was talking about? Well I'm sure that they can use it to locate you guys easily. So
you see, I'm not worried at all."
"You stupid punk!" Marron reached for his gun. "The only way you're going free is if we let you go, and
don't think that'll happen any time soon."
"I doubt it, you should see what my friends can do. One of them can create stuff out of nothing, another has
claws that make Wolverine's look childish and the third can do almost anything with her energy. Plus don't
forget that sentient computer virus I mentioned."
Marron screamed in anger and pulled his gun out. He ran up to Ulrich and aimed it at his gun. "You're a
selfish little monster, just like your old man! Thanks to him, I lost everything!"
{Jackpot,} Ulrich thought. "Well, look, when I get out of here, I'll convince my Dad to give you anything
you want. And he won't even press charges."
"The only way you're getting out of here is in a body bag."
"Your boss said you wanted me alive," Ulrich reminded him.
"I'll just tell them that you tried to grab my gun and it went off. No amount of money is worth this much
lip from a rat half my age!"
Ulrich started to panic. He realized that he pushed him a little too far and now he was going to pay for it!
"You're dead!" Marron anounced.
"Yumi, I'm sorry," he muttered.
The trigger was pulled.
A shot rang out.
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["I'll see you guys later."]
["Don't worry about it."]
["I'll see you later, Yumi."]
["See you later, Yumi."]
["Later, Yumi."]
Yumi gasped and shot up from her bed. She had a bad feeling. Something bad must've happened to Ulrich. Her
feeling came from a dream, or more like a nightmare, she had. She saw Ulrich, just as he was when she last saw him.
He turned, gave her one of his smiles, and walked into a bright light. And no matter how fast Yumi ran, she could
never catch up with him.
{Ulrich, I hope you're all right,} she thought. {I couldn't stand living with myself if something ever happened
to you. Please, come back to me.} Yumi remembered using those same words when Xana encased Ulrich in a crystalline
structure during his upgrade. At the time, Yumi thought Xana was putting Ulrich away from good, but as it turned
out, he was helping Ulrich get stronger, strong enough to battle the Invaders.
Yumi got up and went into the bathroom. She splashed some water on her face. As she was drying, she heard her
mother say, "Oh, Yumi, you have a visitor."
"Who is it?" Yumi asked weary.
"He didn't say. He outside on the front porch." After Yumi spent the night in Aelita's room, the principal
agreed to release her into the custody of her parents providing that they never let her go out alone without
accompaniment. Since then, she had pretty much stayed in her room.
Yumi went downstairs and found Ulrich's father, Omero, standing there.
"Um... excuse me, Ms. Yumi, but I would just like to apologize for my behavior a few days ago. I was worried about
my son but that's no excuse to do what I did to you."
Yumi wasn't really expecting this. She was expecting another interrogation, not an apology. She joineed him outside.
The police officer who was undercover as a phone worker eyed them but a signal from Omero told her it was all right.
"Um... it's all right,sir. And you being worried about your son is understandable. The truth is... I'm... worried
about him too."
"I'm not surprised," Omero said casually which gave Yumi a shock. "Whenever Ulrich writes home, he always has
good things to say about you. In fact, I owe you an explanation as to why Ulrich left that day. You see... I was
the one who called him."
"What?"
"Maybe I better back up and explain from the very beginning."
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{So I'm really dead,} Ulrich thought. {Dad always told me that my mouth would get me in trouble someday. Stupid me
for not listening. Man, just look at me, my heart's still beating rapidly from... hold the phone, I can still feel my
heart beating. Dead people aren't suppose to have heartbeats. I'm breathing too! Dead people aren't suppose to be
breathing. So if I still have a heartbeat and still breathing, then that would mean...}
Ulrich slowly opened his eyes and looked down at him. Nothing, no blood, no organ splatter, not even a hole in his
shirt. The only evidence that a shot had even been fired was the smoking gun barrel and a smoking hole in the floor.
Marrin's gun arm was being restrained by Leena. Terry and the Boss were also with them.
"I knew it was a mistake leaving those two alone," the Boss was saying.
"But Boss!" Marrin protested. "He was giving me lip and..."
"Marrin, I don't want to hear of it. Terry, Leena, please take Marrin into the next room. I'll deal with the boy."
"Boss!" But Marrin's two companions were already dragging him away.
"Please excuse Marrin. His anger's mis-placed, but justified." Behind the Boss, Ulrich saw a familiar black smoke
rising out of the outlet near the door. A slight gesture from Ulrich (not picked up by the Boss) told Xana not to
do anything right now. The smoke retracted back into the outlet.
Ulrich was right, his friends already knew where he was. Now all he had to do was stall until someone could get to
him in time. "I want to know why I'm here," he requested.
"You're very demanding, just like your father. Very well then." The Boss pulled up a chair and sat down. "As
you've probably already figured out, your father's the reason why we kidnapped you, you see..."
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"Jeremie? Jeremie!" Jeremie opened his eyes and his body jumped from Aelita's call. Jeremie looked around to
refresh himself why he was here. He was in Aelita's room waiting for Xana to return from his search. "Oh, sorry,
Aelita, I must've dozed off."
"You've been staring at the screen for almost two hours now," Aelita commented. "Maybe you should get some sleep."
"No, no, I'm fine," Jeremie insisted.
Aelita was worried about her friend. "Jeremie, you've gotten little, if any, sleep since Ulrich first went missing.
I'm worried about you."
Jeremie gave her a weary smile. "Hey, remember when I stayed up all those late nights trying to work on your
materialization program?"
"Still, you're not going to help Ulrich or Yumi if you're half-dead! Look, I can set up the same sleeping bag that
Yumi used..." Jeremie refused the offer. Aelita laid a hand on his shoulder. "Jeremie, I'm really worried about
you," Aelita repeated.
Jeremie turned around and embraced Aelita. "Thanks, Aelita."
Aelita didn't know what to do so she just returned it. As she did, she caught a glimpse of the computer screen.
"Jeremie, look!" Jeremie turned and saw the Lyoko symbol blinking mutely in the upper-right corner of the screen.
"Xana's back!" Jeremie exclaimed. "And it looks like he has something!" He and Aelita read Xana's findings.
"Apparently, the symbol is that of Core-Tech Enterprises, a software company that went out of business almost
twelve years ago..."
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Ulrich was getting the same story, but a different version. "It was bought out by Apex Industries, a much larger
company. The leader of this takeover was none other than your father..."
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Yumi was also getting the story from Omero. "My employers asked me to head a buy-out of Core-Tech Enterprises.
They said that doing so would help us send our company international. Something like that was just too tempting
to pass out plus they said it would mean a big promotion for me. So I did."
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"But there was just one problem. A majority of Core-Tech's staff and employees were laid off including their CEO,
Ernie Merriman."
"And that's you, isn't it?" Ulrich asked. "You're Mister Merriman."
"Guilty as charged. My three associates whom you've already met all had their jobs taken away from them because
of the takeover."
"So that's what Marrin meant when he said that my father took everything away from him." Merriman nodded.
"So why did you choose to do this instead of trying to buy back the company?" Ulrich asked.
"I tried that," Merriman explained.
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"Jeremie, if Core-Tech was that upset, then why didn't they try to stop the takeover?" Aelita asked.
"My guess is that they did, but the price was just too high," Jeremie answered.
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"The price they were offering was too low," Omero said. "And the price we were asking for was too high.
There couldn't be a compromise."
"So maybe Ulrich was kidnapped by those Core-Tech guys in retaliation for the takeover," Yumi concluded.
Omero nodded. "But what I can't understand is why wait until now to make their move?"
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"Have you ever heard of the expression 'the sins of the father are often reflected in the son'?"
"I've heard the first part but not the second part," Ulrich replied.
"Well, we wouldn't be satisfied until we took care of the man who took it away from us in the first place.
But it was just too hard to find a time and place to capture him. So..."
"You settled for me instead," Ulrich finished. "You're making my Dad suffer by kidnapping me so he could suffer
the same anguish as you all have, maybe even more. An eye for an eye."
Ernie nodded again and got up from his chair.
"As long as your father complies with our demands, you will not be harmed," Merriman assured Ulrich. "And don't
worry, you won't be here for very longer. I'm about to make the ransom call to your father. And you're going to
help." Ernie knocked on the door and Terry walked in. "Terry, tie the boy up and then bring him in."
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"Xana's written more," Jeremie noticed. "He knows where Ulrich is!"
"Where?" Aelita asked.
"He says that he's in an abandoned Core-Tech warehouse where they stored surplus equipment and merchandise. He has
the address and everything!"
"Jeremie, let's go rescue him! I don't think anyone would believe us if we told them."
"Right, Aelita. I'll print out a map to it and..."
The Lyoko symbol flashed again but this time there was a siren accompanying it. "Oh no, not now," Jeremie whined.
But it was true, the Invaders have been spotted in Lyoko.
"Jeremie, you have to call Yumi and Odd."
"But Ulrich's still missing. If we don't find him soon, Yumi could be in serious trouble."
"So what do we do?"
"Aelita, call Yumi and Odd. We'll have to send them into Lyoko alone."
"Why?"
"You and I are going to rescue Ulrich!"
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"Do the police know about this?" Yumi asked.
Omero nodded. "They do, but without evidence, there's no way to connect the kidnapping with the remaining Core-Tech
employees.."
Yumi's cell phone rang. "Hello? Aelita, what's wrong?... I see... you know I can't, right now... yes, I know
it's an emergency but... are you sure... I know, but I can't be there..."
Omero took the cell phone from her and spoke into it. "She'll be there," he said and disconnected the call.
"Huh? Why did you do that?"
"Stay right there." Omero ran to talk to the police officer. The police officer spoke into his communicator.
After about a minute, he nodded his head and Omero returned to Yumi. "Come on."
"But what about..."
"I just told them that I'm taking you to show me around places where Ulrich might hang out. I said I would take
full responsibility if something were to happen to you."
"Thank you, sir," Yumi said. The two ran to Omero's car and Yumi gave directions to the factory. "Sir, I do have
one question, why are you doing this for me?"
"Because I know it has to do with this little Lyoko club of yours." Yumi gasped. "I stole a peak at Ulrich's
journal. He mentions this Lyoko place a lot even though he doesn't go into much detail. All I do know is that
it's really important to you kids."
"Does Ulrich know you know?"
Omero shook his head. "No. Because we all have our little skeletons in the closet." Omero pulled up to the bridge
that ran to the island the factory was on. "Here we are."
"Thank you, sir," Yumi said as she got out.
"Yumi," Omero called. "In his journal, Ulrich talks very highly of you. I now know his praises are well-justified."
Yumi blushed a little and nodded a thanks and ran inside the factory. Omero took off but soon, his own cell phone
rang. "Omero."
"Dad?"
"Ulrich! Where are you, are you all right?"
"I'm fine, Dad, they haven't hurt me." Omero could tell that Ulrich's lines were scripted. "Dad, the kidnappers
told me to tell you that they want two million transferred to an overseas account or they'll kill me."
"Okay, I understand, Ulrich. Tell them that they'll have it in the account by tomorrow at the latest."
"Thanks, Dad."
"Ulrich, stay strong, I promise, everything will be all right."
"I'm sure of it, Dad." The line was disconnected.
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Leena took the phone away from Ulrich. Ulrich told Merriman, "He says you'll have it by tomorrow at the latest."
"Well done, Ulrich," Merriman congratulated.
"You said that I would be freed once you get the money," Ulrich reminded him.
"That's right, I did," Merriman admitted. "And you will be. Once the money is deposited into our account, you can
leave whenever you want. You would no longer be a hostige."
Ulrich took a sigh of relief until he realized something. If he was no longer a hostige, then he would out-live his
usefulness to them which means that they wouldn't care what happened to him, even if he was killed by one of them.
Ulrich cast a side-glance at Marrin. Apparently he was thinking the same thing because he smiled evily at him.
{I better think of something soon,} Ulrich thought. {Because as soon as they get their money, I'll really be dead.}
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The last three people you would expect team-up to save Ulrich from Merriman as two of the Lyoko warriors find
themselves against a seemingly unstoppable foe. All this plus an action by Aelita you would not believe in in the
next chapter.
Sins of the Father (Pt. 2)
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Review Response:
Midnight Insanity: Well, Yumi will be kicking bad guy butt, but it won't be the bad guys you think it is.
Summer Wings: Yes, there is a reason I titled it "Sins of the Father" and you're about to find out why I titled
it that.
Possessed Angel (& Others): There's something you should know about me: I do not like bloody deaths (yes, I know
that those are the only deaths out there). I don't like tragedies, I'm only a little fan of angst stories. So
don't worry about Ulrich. Everything I write happens for a reason.
Chibi-Suiko: I apologize too. I wasn't aware of how you intended that to be. Thank you.
Abstract: As Jeremie and Aelita dig even deeper into the mystery of Ulrich's disappearance, Ulrich finds himself
the target of a trigger-happy thug who has no qualms about shooting people that make him upset.
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Previously on Code: Lyoko, while celebrating the completion of the fourth scanner, Ulrich receives a frantic phone
call from his father ordering him to return to the dorms. Ulrich left without telling anybody, even Yumi, about it.
When Ulrich hadn't been seen for two days, the team sets out to find him. Their investigation is stalled even
further as Yumi becomes a suspect because of what she did to Ulrich while under Xana's control. Yumi and Odd rescued
Xana from the Invaders and then Jeremie and Aelita snuck into the school's security center to obtain the tapes they
need to discover what really happened to Ulrich.
But time is rapidly running out for Ulrich unless the others can get to him in time.
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Ulrich looked around at his surroundings. He was in a warehouse in who-knows-where being surrounded by three guards.
Not to mention his brain felt like someone hit him with a Bacchi Ball. Who were these guys? Where was he? What
did they want? And why does his mouth feel like he swallowed the Sahara Desert?
"Where am I? Who are you?" Ulrich asked backing up against the wall.
"Take it easy there, mate," one of the guards said with an Australian accent. "You're safe... for now."
"You don't need to know our names," a dark-skinned woman assured him. "At any rate, soon all this will be behind
us."
The third guard called to someone outside. "Hey Boss, he's awake."
"Is that so?" A man's voice came. A side door opened and a short, pudgy, balding man in an expensive-looking
trench coat walked in. "So this is the boy?"
"You bet, Boss," the third guard confirmed. "No doubt about it." Pudgy Man went up to Ulrich and turned his head.
"Yup, he's the one all right. You're the spitting image of your father."
"My father? What does he have to do with this?"
"All in good time, lad, all in good time. In the mean time, why don't you make yourself at home, we'll all be here
for a while." He tossed a canteen to Ulrich which the boy drunk greedily. "Oh yes, no doubt about it, you are your
father's son." That tone sounded almost sarcastic. Ulrich started to reach for his cell phone when he realized he
no longer had it.
{I should've known it wouldn't be that easy,} Ulrich thought. {I just wish there was a way I could contact someone.
Yumi, Jeremie, Odd, Aelita, heck, even Xana if it meant letting someone outside this building know where I was.}
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Jeremie and Aelita rode their scooters through the tunnels, coming to a stop at the manhole that lead to the
factory. Jeremie had to wait a full day until the hype from the break-in at the security center died down. Yumi
had been right in saying that the guard she knocked out couldn't remember anything about who attacked him or if
there was anyone in the security center that night. And his partner said that he was knocked out by a male, although
he couldn't make out any features (Jeremie still wondered who also had a grudge against security guards).
Fortunately, they hid the CD-ROM at the factory so there was no chance anyone besides them would see it. Once they
arrived at the factory, they rode down to the lab.
"I put each camera's footidge into a separate movie," Aelita explained. "To make things more easier."
"That's good, now we need to look over each of them and see if Ulrich's on any of them." Jeremie took off his
glasses and rubbed his eyes. "Looks like we'll be here a while."
"Maybe not," Aelita said. "We know that Ulrich was leaving the factory so all we need to do is look at the footige
from the cameras guarding those exits."
"Good idea, Aelita!" Jeremie congratulated causing Aelita to blush a little. The two entered the lab. Aelita sat
at the main terminal while Jeremie set up his laptop on the floor projector that normally displays Lyoko. "Aelita,
you monitor the camera guarding the sewer entrance, I'll take the shed." The two began their tasks. After what
felt like hours (it actually had only been forty-five minutes), Jeremie's eyes were beginning to droop.
"Jeremie, I think I found something!" Aelita called waking Jeremie up. He leaned over Aelita's shoulder to see
that she froze the picture at the manhole being lifted.
"Aelita, you might be right. Play it." Aelita hit the play button. The two watched as the manhole cover was lifted
and Ulrich climbed out. "It's Ulrich!" The two continued to watch as Ulrich replaced the manhole cover and looked
around. He then took a step back in what looked like surprise. Someone wearing a trenchcoat walked up to him.
His or her back was to the camera. There seemed to be a brief conversation between the mysterious person and Ulrich.
Suddenly someone else, this one clearly a woman, snuck up behind him with a metal bar.
"Ulrich, look out!" Aelita cried forgetting that it already happened. The woman smashed a stick (or maybe it was a
bar, since the picture was in black and white, it was hard to tell the difference) against the back of Ulrich's head.
Aelita and Jeremie gasped as Ulrich fell over. The woman picked up Ulrich, draped him over her shoulder and she and
her companion left. "Oh no, I hope he's all right."
"So do I, Aelita, so do I. Back up to the beginning, I want to see the time span." Jeremie looked at the time bar
in the lower-right hand corner. "Yeah, that's pretty much right after he left the factory."
"So what do we do now?" Aelita asked.
"Let's see if we can find any clues as to who the kidnappers are." Jeremie and Aelita watched the scene again and
again. But they still had no clues. Jeremie was about to give up when he suddenly thought of something.
"Aelita... run that scene one more time." Aelita complied. "Stop!" Aelita hit the pause button. Jeremie leaned
over and began typing commands. The movie had froze just after the woman struck Ulrich. As she lowered her blunt
instrument, Jeremie zoomed in on her shoulder. There was some sort of logo on it.
"I don't recognize that symbol," Aelita said.
"I don't either," Jeremie agreed. "But right now, it's our only clue."
"And I think I know someone who can help us," Aelita commented.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ulrich's head still hurt. Fortunately, it didn't look like he was bleeding. He looked around for some sign of
where he exactly was.
"Where am I?" He asked the Aussie.
"Don't ya' watch movies, mate? You're in a warehouse, where the bad guys always take their captive."
"I wish it was the factory," Ulrich muttered. "Okay, what warehouse am I in?"
"That knowledge is not your concern," the woman said.
"Can you at least tell me what you have planned for me?" Ulrich's grilling wasn't doing much to help find out
where he was or who they were, but maybe he could at least find out why he was taken.
"Just shut up, kid," the third person snapped. He patted his gun. "Unless you WANT to start eating through a hole
in your stomach."
"Marrin, that's enough," the woman said. "We need him alive. Once we get what we want, then we'll have no need
for the boy."
{Okay, the other two are too intelligent, but maybe I can use this Marrin guy to find out where I am and what they
want with me.}
"If you want something, maybe I can help you."
"I doubt it," the Aussie said. "What we're getting from our boss is much more than you could provide."
"And what are you getting from your boss?"
"I thought I said to shut your trap, kid!" Marrin shouted.
"Marrin, please calm down," the woman said evenly. "I believe there is no harm in telling him this." She turned
towards Ulrich and smirked. "The answer is simple, boy, we're getting money, lots of money."
"Aye, that's right," the Aussie confirmed. "That's why I said it's much more than you could provide."
{Okay, so they're getting money for doing this,} Ulrich thought. {They must be getting it from their boss, but
where's their boss getting it? Even if he does look rich, I doubt that he could pay the fee for these guys to
kidnap a kid. Ransom! I bet they're going to ransome my Dad! But... why him? I mean he's well-to-do but he's
not a millionaire.} Ulrich looked around for something he could use as a weapon to combat these three, but nothing.
They were holding all the cards.
"Ya' look tired, mate," the Aussie observed. "You should rest."
"I've been resting for three days, thank you very much," Ulrich said acidly.
"You're really treading on thin ice, Ulrich!" Marrin shouted reaching for his gun.
"So how do you know my name?" Ulrich asked. "I didn't tell you."
"Why you..." Marrin drew his gun but before he could bring it to aim, the woman stopped him.
"Marrin, that's enough!" She scolded.
"But Leena, this kid's asking for it."
"Marrin, don't make me upset..." Marrin sighed and put away his gun.
"I'd be wise to stay away from him, kid," the Aussie advised. "He's got an itchy trigger finger, that he does."
Ulrich sighed and sat back down.
The Aussie's phone rang. After listening at the other end, he told Leena, "The boss wants to see us."
Leena nodded and told Marrin, "Marrin, try to control your temper. We won't get anything if he's dead. At any
rate, we might be dead if he gets killed."
"All right, all right, Leena, I understand."
"Good. Let's go, Terry." Terry and Leena left the room. Ulrich leaned back and looked at Marrin. He definitely
seemed high-strung.
"You can relax, you know," Ulrich said. "I couldn't try anything even if I wanted to."
"You're not in any position to suggest things to me, twerp," Marrin said evily.
"Suit yourself." Ulrich closed his eyes and pretended to nap.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Xana's cruising through cyberspace right now looking for anything that resembles the symbol we found," Jeremie told
Aelita in his room.
Aelita nodded. "He would definitely be able to find things a lot quicker than you... I mean us humans can."
Aelita was still having some difficulty accepting the fact that she was as human as Jeremie. It seemed almost
unreal. "At any rate, we should wait until he comes back with something."
"Hey Aelita, what do you think this means for our situation in Lyoko?"
"Huh? I don't understand, Jeremie."
"Well... Ulrich was the first of us to undergo Xana's upgrades. And from the battles I've seen him fight in, he's
definitely the strongest of all of you. You saw what happened at the tower. You got ejected from Lyoko and Yumi
and Odd came close to doing the same thing. Perhaps if Ulrich was here, we wouldn't have had so hard a time
freeing Xana and defeating that giant snake monster."
"Don't forget, Jeremie, with Xana captured, I was weakened too. Even if Ulrich was here, I don't know if that
would change anything. Anyway, we shouldn't worry about what happened in the past, we should just concentrate on
the present, which means finding Ulrich."
"Hey guys!" Odd called running into Jeremie's room. "Have you taken a look outside lately?" Jeremie and Aelita's
faces had questions on them. Odd rolled his eyes. "Right, forgot who I was talking to. Well, Sissi formed her
own Anti-Yumi Campaign."
"You're kidding!" Jeremie gasped. Odd passed them a piece of paper. It had Yumi's face with a red circle-slash
through it. The paper basically explained how Yumi had a hand in Ulrich's disappearance and calls the students to
protest for the school's administration to bring her in for questioning. It gave pretty convincing evidence
including Jim's testimony that he saw Yumi with an unconscious Ulrich. "Whoa, I guess you're not."
"She works fast," Odd commented. "Remember how she organized that rally after we got our cell phones taken away?"
"I don't understand why humans feel the need to protest every little thing," Aelita said.
"It's not most humans, just Sissi," Jeremie cracked.
"That's nothing. Look outside." The three went to the window and looked out to see Sissi with a small crowd of
students all holding signs with Yumi's face with a red circle and a slash on it.
"Oh geez. Come on, guys, we have to stop it before it gets out of hand!" Jeremie, Aelita, and Odd ran outside.
"Sissi, what the heck are you doing?"
Sissi gave them a snide glare. "Well, if it ain't the traitors."
"Traitors?" Odd echoed.
"Yeah, conspiring with the kidnapper."
"But Yumi didn't kidnapp Ulrich!" Aelita protested. "I was with her the whole time!"
"So you admit you're an accomplice?" Aelita gasped.
"Look," Jeremie snapped. "Instead of complaining about it, why don't you find some evidence that Yumi is
guilty!"
"Yeah! Let's go!" And the crowd began to move away.
"Jeremie, why did you do that?" Odd asked.
"I'm sorry, guys, I just got so upset. I wasn't thinking."
"I thought I heard a noise," the principal said as he came out. "Was there a crowd out here earlier?"
"Sir, your daughter's heading a campaign to blame Yumi for the kidnapping of Ulrich!" Aelita said.
The principal sighed. "I was afraid of this."
"Sir, you have to believe us, Yumi's innocent!" Jeremie argued.
"I believe it, Jeremie, trust me, I believe it. But the evidence doesn't look good for her."
"What do you mean?"
"Well... when I interviewed Yumi, she said that she was the last one to see Ulrich. That really doesn't help
her case. I'm afraid that if Ulrich isn't found by tomorrow, the police will have to place her under arrest.
I'm sorry, guys, I know how much you like Yumi, but there isn't anything I can do."
"Where is Yumi now?" Odd asked.
"I had to suspend her from school and send her home. Good thing she's a day student otherwise she would
already be in a juvenile detention center." The three turned and ran off.
"This isn't good," Jeremie said. "Now we're working against the clock. It's all up to Xana now."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
When Ulrich opened his eyes, he noticed that Marron had not moved from his place. He didn't have a watch so he
didn't know how long he had been asleep. Actually, he hadn't meant to be sleeping at all, but he still must have a
small concussion from where he was hit in the head. The ball of Marron's foot was leaning up against the wall,
making his leg twitch rapidly.
"You still here?" Ulrich asked.
"You're a real smart-alec for someone who's a prisoner," Marron commented.
Ulrich decided to play a little game with him. Maybe he could gleen some information in the process. He leaned
back and smiled at the thug. "I'll have you know that I'm an important person around some parts."
Marron smirked for the first time since Ulrich first regained consciousness. "That's what we're counting on, kid,
that your pops thinks you're important enough to give in to our demands." So they were after him because of his
father. That explains it somewhat.
Ulrich also smirked. "Actually, I'm really the hero of a virtual world and must use a super computer to fight
computer viruses and monsterous invaders."
Marron laughed. "Ha! Yeah, right. Next thing you'll be telling me is that you can make girls pop out of
computers."
"Well, not me, but a friend of mine can," Ulrich said enjoying the joke.
The scowl returned. "Look, punk, this is a fun game, but don't forget you're a prisoner here. And I've got
enough rounds to make five of you if you know what I mean. So just sit down and shut up."
"I'm not worried," Ulrich lied. "I'm sure my friends are already on their way to rescue me."
Marron's eyebrow twitched. "I doubt it, we left no evidence. We even threw away that cell phone of yours."
"You know, they're friends with a real-life sentient computer virus," Ulrich said conversely. "And you know
that super computer I was talking about? Well I'm sure that they can use it to locate you guys easily. So
you see, I'm not worried at all."
"You stupid punk!" Marron reached for his gun. "The only way you're going free is if we let you go, and
don't think that'll happen any time soon."
"I doubt it, you should see what my friends can do. One of them can create stuff out of nothing, another has
claws that make Wolverine's look childish and the third can do almost anything with her energy. Plus don't
forget that sentient computer virus I mentioned."
Marron screamed in anger and pulled his gun out. He ran up to Ulrich and aimed it at his gun. "You're a
selfish little monster, just like your old man! Thanks to him, I lost everything!"
{Jackpot,} Ulrich thought. "Well, look, when I get out of here, I'll convince my Dad to give you anything
you want. And he won't even press charges."
"The only way you're getting out of here is in a body bag."
"Your boss said you wanted me alive," Ulrich reminded him.
"I'll just tell them that you tried to grab my gun and it went off. No amount of money is worth this much
lip from a rat half my age!"
Ulrich started to panic. He realized that he pushed him a little too far and now he was going to pay for it!
"You're dead!" Marron anounced.
"Yumi, I'm sorry," he muttered.
The trigger was pulled.
A shot rang out.
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["I'll see you guys later."]
["Don't worry about it."]
["I'll see you later, Yumi."]
["See you later, Yumi."]
["Later, Yumi."]
Yumi gasped and shot up from her bed. She had a bad feeling. Something bad must've happened to Ulrich. Her
feeling came from a dream, or more like a nightmare, she had. She saw Ulrich, just as he was when she last saw him.
He turned, gave her one of his smiles, and walked into a bright light. And no matter how fast Yumi ran, she could
never catch up with him.
{Ulrich, I hope you're all right,} she thought. {I couldn't stand living with myself if something ever happened
to you. Please, come back to me.} Yumi remembered using those same words when Xana encased Ulrich in a crystalline
structure during his upgrade. At the time, Yumi thought Xana was putting Ulrich away from good, but as it turned
out, he was helping Ulrich get stronger, strong enough to battle the Invaders.
Yumi got up and went into the bathroom. She splashed some water on her face. As she was drying, she heard her
mother say, "Oh, Yumi, you have a visitor."
"Who is it?" Yumi asked weary.
"He didn't say. He outside on the front porch." After Yumi spent the night in Aelita's room, the principal
agreed to release her into the custody of her parents providing that they never let her go out alone without
accompaniment. Since then, she had pretty much stayed in her room.
Yumi went downstairs and found Ulrich's father, Omero, standing there.
"Um... excuse me, Ms. Yumi, but I would just like to apologize for my behavior a few days ago. I was worried about
my son but that's no excuse to do what I did to you."
Yumi wasn't really expecting this. She was expecting another interrogation, not an apology. She joineed him outside.
The police officer who was undercover as a phone worker eyed them but a signal from Omero told her it was all right.
"Um... it's all right,sir. And you being worried about your son is understandable. The truth is... I'm... worried
about him too."
"I'm not surprised," Omero said casually which gave Yumi a shock. "Whenever Ulrich writes home, he always has
good things to say about you. In fact, I owe you an explanation as to why Ulrich left that day. You see... I was
the one who called him."
"What?"
"Maybe I better back up and explain from the very beginning."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
{So I'm really dead,} Ulrich thought. {Dad always told me that my mouth would get me in trouble someday. Stupid me
for not listening. Man, just look at me, my heart's still beating rapidly from... hold the phone, I can still feel my
heart beating. Dead people aren't suppose to have heartbeats. I'm breathing too! Dead people aren't suppose to be
breathing. So if I still have a heartbeat and still breathing, then that would mean...}
Ulrich slowly opened his eyes and looked down at him. Nothing, no blood, no organ splatter, not even a hole in his
shirt. The only evidence that a shot had even been fired was the smoking gun barrel and a smoking hole in the floor.
Marrin's gun arm was being restrained by Leena. Terry and the Boss were also with them.
"I knew it was a mistake leaving those two alone," the Boss was saying.
"But Boss!" Marrin protested. "He was giving me lip and..."
"Marrin, I don't want to hear of it. Terry, Leena, please take Marrin into the next room. I'll deal with the boy."
"Boss!" But Marrin's two companions were already dragging him away.
"Please excuse Marrin. His anger's mis-placed, but justified." Behind the Boss, Ulrich saw a familiar black smoke
rising out of the outlet near the door. A slight gesture from Ulrich (not picked up by the Boss) told Xana not to
do anything right now. The smoke retracted back into the outlet.
Ulrich was right, his friends already knew where he was. Now all he had to do was stall until someone could get to
him in time. "I want to know why I'm here," he requested.
"You're very demanding, just like your father. Very well then." The Boss pulled up a chair and sat down. "As
you've probably already figured out, your father's the reason why we kidnapped you, you see..."
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"Jeremie? Jeremie!" Jeremie opened his eyes and his body jumped from Aelita's call. Jeremie looked around to
refresh himself why he was here. He was in Aelita's room waiting for Xana to return from his search. "Oh, sorry,
Aelita, I must've dozed off."
"You've been staring at the screen for almost two hours now," Aelita commented. "Maybe you should get some sleep."
"No, no, I'm fine," Jeremie insisted.
Aelita was worried about her friend. "Jeremie, you've gotten little, if any, sleep since Ulrich first went missing.
I'm worried about you."
Jeremie gave her a weary smile. "Hey, remember when I stayed up all those late nights trying to work on your
materialization program?"
"Still, you're not going to help Ulrich or Yumi if you're half-dead! Look, I can set up the same sleeping bag that
Yumi used..." Jeremie refused the offer. Aelita laid a hand on his shoulder. "Jeremie, I'm really worried about
you," Aelita repeated.
Jeremie turned around and embraced Aelita. "Thanks, Aelita."
Aelita didn't know what to do so she just returned it. As she did, she caught a glimpse of the computer screen.
"Jeremie, look!" Jeremie turned and saw the Lyoko symbol blinking mutely in the upper-right corner of the screen.
"Xana's back!" Jeremie exclaimed. "And it looks like he has something!" He and Aelita read Xana's findings.
"Apparently, the symbol is that of Core-Tech Enterprises, a software company that went out of business almost
twelve years ago..."
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Ulrich was getting the same story, but a different version. "It was bought out by Apex Industries, a much larger
company. The leader of this takeover was none other than your father..."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yumi was also getting the story from Omero. "My employers asked me to head a buy-out of Core-Tech Enterprises.
They said that doing so would help us send our company international. Something like that was just too tempting
to pass out plus they said it would mean a big promotion for me. So I did."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"But there was just one problem. A majority of Core-Tech's staff and employees were laid off including their CEO,
Ernie Merriman."
"And that's you, isn't it?" Ulrich asked. "You're Mister Merriman."
"Guilty as charged. My three associates whom you've already met all had their jobs taken away from them because
of the takeover."
"So that's what Marrin meant when he said that my father took everything away from him." Merriman nodded.
"So why did you choose to do this instead of trying to buy back the company?" Ulrich asked.
"I tried that," Merriman explained.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Jeremie, if Core-Tech was that upset, then why didn't they try to stop the takeover?" Aelita asked.
"My guess is that they did, but the price was just too high," Jeremie answered.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"The price they were offering was too low," Omero said. "And the price we were asking for was too high.
There couldn't be a compromise."
"So maybe Ulrich was kidnapped by those Core-Tech guys in retaliation for the takeover," Yumi concluded.
Omero nodded. "But what I can't understand is why wait until now to make their move?"
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Have you ever heard of the expression 'the sins of the father are often reflected in the son'?"
"I've heard the first part but not the second part," Ulrich replied.
"Well, we wouldn't be satisfied until we took care of the man who took it away from us in the first place.
But it was just too hard to find a time and place to capture him. So..."
"You settled for me instead," Ulrich finished. "You're making my Dad suffer by kidnapping me so he could suffer
the same anguish as you all have, maybe even more. An eye for an eye."
Ernie nodded again and got up from his chair.
"As long as your father complies with our demands, you will not be harmed," Merriman assured Ulrich. "And don't
worry, you won't be here for very longer. I'm about to make the ransom call to your father. And you're going to
help." Ernie knocked on the door and Terry walked in. "Terry, tie the boy up and then bring him in."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Xana's written more," Jeremie noticed. "He knows where Ulrich is!"
"Where?" Aelita asked.
"He says that he's in an abandoned Core-Tech warehouse where they stored surplus equipment and merchandise. He has
the address and everything!"
"Jeremie, let's go rescue him! I don't think anyone would believe us if we told them."
"Right, Aelita. I'll print out a map to it and..."
The Lyoko symbol flashed again but this time there was a siren accompanying it. "Oh no, not now," Jeremie whined.
But it was true, the Invaders have been spotted in Lyoko.
"Jeremie, you have to call Yumi and Odd."
"But Ulrich's still missing. If we don't find him soon, Yumi could be in serious trouble."
"So what do we do?"
"Aelita, call Yumi and Odd. We'll have to send them into Lyoko alone."
"Why?"
"You and I are going to rescue Ulrich!"
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Do the police know about this?" Yumi asked.
Omero nodded. "They do, but without evidence, there's no way to connect the kidnapping with the remaining Core-Tech
employees.."
Yumi's cell phone rang. "Hello? Aelita, what's wrong?... I see... you know I can't, right now... yes, I know
it's an emergency but... are you sure... I know, but I can't be there..."
Omero took the cell phone from her and spoke into it. "She'll be there," he said and disconnected the call.
"Huh? Why did you do that?"
"Stay right there." Omero ran to talk to the police officer. The police officer spoke into his communicator.
After about a minute, he nodded his head and Omero returned to Yumi. "Come on."
"But what about..."
"I just told them that I'm taking you to show me around places where Ulrich might hang out. I said I would take
full responsibility if something were to happen to you."
"Thank you, sir," Yumi said. The two ran to Omero's car and Yumi gave directions to the factory. "Sir, I do have
one question, why are you doing this for me?"
"Because I know it has to do with this little Lyoko club of yours." Yumi gasped. "I stole a peak at Ulrich's
journal. He mentions this Lyoko place a lot even though he doesn't go into much detail. All I do know is that
it's really important to you kids."
"Does Ulrich know you know?"
Omero shook his head. "No. Because we all have our little skeletons in the closet." Omero pulled up to the bridge
that ran to the island the factory was on. "Here we are."
"Thank you, sir," Yumi said as she got out.
"Yumi," Omero called. "In his journal, Ulrich talks very highly of you. I now know his praises are well-justified."
Yumi blushed a little and nodded a thanks and ran inside the factory. Omero took off but soon, his own cell phone
rang. "Omero."
"Dad?"
"Ulrich! Where are you, are you all right?"
"I'm fine, Dad, they haven't hurt me." Omero could tell that Ulrich's lines were scripted. "Dad, the kidnappers
told me to tell you that they want two million transferred to an overseas account or they'll kill me."
"Okay, I understand, Ulrich. Tell them that they'll have it in the account by tomorrow at the latest."
"Thanks, Dad."
"Ulrich, stay strong, I promise, everything will be all right."
"I'm sure of it, Dad." The line was disconnected.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Leena took the phone away from Ulrich. Ulrich told Merriman, "He says you'll have it by tomorrow at the latest."
"Well done, Ulrich," Merriman congratulated.
"You said that I would be freed once you get the money," Ulrich reminded him.
"That's right, I did," Merriman admitted. "And you will be. Once the money is deposited into our account, you can
leave whenever you want. You would no longer be a hostige."
Ulrich took a sigh of relief until he realized something. If he was no longer a hostige, then he would out-live his
usefulness to them which means that they wouldn't care what happened to him, even if he was killed by one of them.
Ulrich cast a side-glance at Marrin. Apparently he was thinking the same thing because he smiled evily at him.
{I better think of something soon,} Ulrich thought. {Because as soon as they get their money, I'll really be dead.}
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The last three people you would expect team-up to save Ulrich from Merriman as two of the Lyoko warriors find
themselves against a seemingly unstoppable foe. All this plus an action by Aelita you would not believe in in the
next chapter.