Counter-Offensive

Chapter 4

Endgame – Ulrich

I sighed as Mrs. Hertz droned on – for the fifth time in a row, from my perspective – about the use of trigonometry in measuring vectors. This was the fifth time this week I had to listen to this same exact lecture, as the teacher seemed to either not remember what she taught or X.A.N.A. seemed to attack.

We had been put on the defensive once again, and the war seemed to get more violent with each attack. Something would have to give, that we knew.

And that something did give.

A loud, piercing blast punctuated the teacher's lecture and smoke rose.

My cell phone began to vibrate – it was an attack.

Immediately, I rose and ran out the door, Odd and Jeremie close behind me. No one would notice our disappearance; everyone had rushed to the window to identify the source of the blast, though I felt sure that it was a car bomb driven by a clone. They had been getting more aggressive lately, now that X.A.N.A. was not limited in numbers – he had approximately a million of them, most of them slaves.

We hid behind the garden shed, and Jeremie set up a command computer. This was his newest idea – since we might need a scout to check the situation in the school, Jeremie devised a solution by which he could use the Lyoko supercomputer without leaving the school. Besides, he could just set up in the library if an attack occurred during free period, which would allow him to check the properties of anything that could be used in the attack – which may have been unnecessary, since he did seem to be a walking encyclopedia. However, a dialog box appeared on the computer.

"Hey, guys." Came Yumi's voice. Silently, I smiled, and acknowledged her presence.

"Hey, Yumi. You heard the blast, right? Jeremie's set up the command computer; Odd and I are heading to the factory." I replied.

"Yeah, I heard and saw. It's terrible – looks like a clone slammed into the dorms. X.A.N.A. probably wanted to kill us in the dorms, but we weren't there."

"Good point. Head to the factory quickly; Odd and I'll go to the factory."

"Will do, Ulrich." Yumi smiled then, one that made my heart pound.

Then I took off, Odd trailing behind me, and Jeremie now behind me, as well. He'd finished his check, unable to find anything.

The run through the forest was wild, as I had to dodge trees, bushes, everything. Sirens rang out in the distance; the police and fire department had finally arrived. Suddenly, I felt a burst of pain in the back of my neck, causing me to slow down. Simultaneously, a large sense of pain spread through my skull – it felt like it was being torn apart, though that didn't seem to be the case, as no blood was visible.

I collapsed, rolling off the side of the road into some bushes. My head looked up at the sky, and I saw Odd and Jeremie run past, oblivious to my disappearance. The shadows from the trees provided camouflage, and I felt myself weakening from the pain. There was a strong temptation to scream, but I found that I couldn't. Something was really wrong here.

The sounds seemed to get fainter with every minute, and I felt minute movements of my hands, ones that I didn't even try. Then it hit me.

I was becoming one of X.A.N.A.'s clones.

A/N: Sorry for the short chapter and the delay, but I felt that this would be a good way to end the chapter. I think the story's winding down; there's only one final attack, and I promise it'll be real explosive (hint, hint).