Disclaimer: I own nuthin'…especially NOT the Village People…

There really isn't much to say about this chapter, except that it's a knock-down, drag-out free-for-all! Action lovers enjoy! However, prepare yourselves for a BIG turn of events at the end…hence the title.

Code: Lyoko

Mirror, Mirror

Part IX: From Bad to Worse

Odd finds himself in a serious situation. Shortly after Atilea woke up from her little nap following her awesome tornado creation thing, and also following the subsequent argument on who was the most awesome fighter, Ulrich with his super-"you look like you're in slow motion"-speed or Atilea with her "stop right there" tornado, the twins decided to spring a surprise attack. Odd leaps up and off a rock just as one of Imuy's fans zips beneath him. He fires, but Imuy simply blocks his shots with her other fan. "Energy Wave!" she yells and swipes her fan, releasing a wave towards him. Odd leaps over the wave just as she launches another one. "Shield!" he says, crossing his arms in front of him. The wave collides with the shield, protecting him from the blow, but not from the inertia. It knocks him backwards onto the ground and he realizes that he is once again trapped in the corner of the small outcropping. Odd backs against the rock face and frantically tries to figure out a way to escape.

Ulrich desperately defends Aelita from Dod's constant barrage of laser arrows as Yumi and a weakened Atilea fend off a relentless triple take of H'cirlu. Dod extends his claws, taking a swipe at Ulrich, but Ulrich dodges the attack, then deflects another following close behind it. Aelita crouches behind him, trying to find an opening where she can run to the nearby cave. Two of the three H'cirlus sprint in different directions and Yumi tosses a fan at each one as Atilea blocks a shuriken thrown from the third H'cirlu.

"I can't keep this up forever! I'm gonna give out soon!" Atilea whispers to Yumi as they back up against each other's back. "I may be strong, but I used a heck of a lot of power pulling off that tornado." Yumi nods and catches her fans. "I know what you mean. I'm not even sure how long I can last either. Ulrich, however, seems to have the easiest one out of all the twins!" Yumi says and deflects a shuriken. "Who, Dod? He's not that weak. The only thing that really makes him weak is his anger, which even then, is dangerous. One, when he gets angry, he gets sloppy in his fighting and starts making mistakes, but two, he gets very ruthless," replies Atilea. Yumi frowns as her tossed fan gets knocked away. "I need to create a weapon for my sister, Yumi. Do you think you can cover me long enough to do it?" asks Atilea. Yumi glances from one copy of H'cirlu to another. "Possibly. How long will it take?" she asks. "Creating the staff is the easy part. Getting it into Aelita's hands is another thing. Really depends on if they try to stop her from getting it or not," Atilea replies as she sees one of the H'cirlu copies make a taunting face at her. "Do you have the energy left to create a staff?" Yumi asks as she blocks another shuriken. "Geez, how many of those things does he have?" Atilea frowns and turns her head slightly to look at Yumi. "I don't know if I do or not, but it's a risk I'm willing to take!" she says and deflects a shuriken. "Well, just don't die or pass out before you have a chance to tell me what was, or is, wrong with Ulrich, ok?" Yumi replies, glancing back at her. Atilea nods and says, "Don't worry. I'll tell you, if you promise me one thing." Yumi pauses for a second then answers, "Ok, what is it?" "Promise me that you will NOT blame Ulrich, that you won't get mad at him, or accuse him of anything," Atilea states. "Just know that it was all my fault, not his." Yumi gives her a questionable look and frowns slightly, wondering just how bad this thing is. "Ok, I promise. I…trust you. I just hope you don't break that trust." Atilea smiles slightly. "Believe me, the last thing I want to do is get on your bad side. That's one of the reasons I want to tell you what I did. I don't you to have to find out about it second, third, or even fourth hand. You're a good friend, Yumi, and I don't want to loose that." Yumi feels a bit of weight lift off her mind and returns her smile with one of her own, relieved that Atilea is willing to talk about it. "Ok, I'll cover you! Get to work, Tornado-Girl!"

Ulrich slowly goes down to his knee under the pressure of Dod's claw attack, while straining to keep the attack at bay. "What's the matter, Ulrich? Can't handle the pressure?" Dod retorts, shoving his clawed hand downward, causing Ulrich to go lower to the ground. Ulrich grunts as he tries to shove his katana upwards, but Dod's strength holds it in place. "Don't give up now! It would be a shame for you to crack under it all!" Ulrich raises his eyes to look at Dod. "Geez, your…jokes are…almost as bad as…Odd's!" he says, straining to get the words out. Dod snorts, finding Ulrich's jibe funny. "Oh, and like you're the one who's joke-master, Mr. Pessimistic!" Ulrich sees that Dod is distracted by his put-downs and swings a leg to trip him.

Dod feels his legs fly out from under him and tries to catch himself, but a kick from Ulrich prevents him. Dod lands with a thud and Ulrich stabs down toward him with his katana. Dod rolls out of the way just in time and fires at Ulrich. Ulrich leaps back and deflects the laser arrow as Dod stands. Aelita yelps in surprise as on of Dod's arrows gets past Ulrich's defense and zings by her left ear. Then, her eye catches something coming towards her. She turns to look and sees that Atilea has tossed her a staff. She smiles and reaches for it, but Dod fires and knocks it way just before she can grab it. Ulrich super sprints towards Dod, trying to buy Aelita enough time to get the staff. Dod swipes a clawed hand at Ulrich, but Ulrich leaps up and over him. Dod turns and attacks as Aelita dashes to the staff and picks it up. She smiles and twirls it, getting the feel for it.

Odd fires at Imuy, but she back-flips away from him, avoiding his laser arrows. He charges her and leaps into the air as she starts another back-flip. He kicks out and times the hit as she exits the back-flip. Imuy gasps as she sees his foot mere inches from her face. She has no time to react and the kick sends her stumbling backwards. Odd charges again and as Imuy starts to regain her balance, Odd punches her in the face. She yelps in pain and one of the H'cirlus turn instantly to see her fall to the ground and Odd pounce on her chest, pinning her shoulders to the ground. He grits his teeth in anger and phases away. Yumi sees this and yells, "Odd, look out!" Odd pauses and hears him phase in behind him. Odd ducks a kick, falling very close to Imuy's face. She stares at him, unable to move or say anything. Imuy feels Odd's breath against her cheek and a strange sensation begins to rise up in her. Then, Odd leaps straight up, avoiding another attack, and fires at the H'cirlu copy. Imuy lays there, motionless, wondering what this strange feeling is until H'cirlu's voice distracts her. "Don't you touch her!" he bellows and swings his sword at Odd. She blinks and sits up, watching Odd duck and dodge H'cirlu's attacks. "Gee, I didn't think guys cared that much about each other!" Odd says and glances at Imuy. Imuy stands and calls out to H'cirlu, "Leave him alone! He's mine!" H'cirlu stops and turns to look at her questionably. "What?" he asks her. "He's mine! I will deal with him myself, H'cirlu! I don't need your help…on this one," Imuy replies. H'cirlu blinks in confusion but then concedes to her request. "Fine. I'll remember this the next time you ask me for help," he says and phases away. Odd blinks in his own confusion and eyes Imuy questionably. "What was that all about? Having a little lover's quarrel?" Odd asks her. Imuy frowns and blushes slightly. "None of your business, Odd!" she replies and tosses a fan at him. He smiles to himself as he shoots the fan away.

Aelita deflects several shots from Dod as Ulrich stands after being knocked to the ground. Dod growls as his rage begins to grow. Aelita sees Dod charge her and gets ready for whatever he tries. Ulrich sprints up behind him, catching him off guard, and slices Dod's back, causing him to stop dead in his tracks. Aelita smiles and attacks, hitting Dod first in the ribs, then on the side of his thigh, causing both his knees to buckle, then finally hits him in the face, sending him to the ground. Ulrich looks up at her and raises his eyebrows in amazement. "Wow, you've gotten a whole lot better, Aelita!" he complements and she smiles humbly at him.

Yumi and Atilea manage to get two of the copies to meld back together, leaving only two H'cirlus to deal with. Both copies frown in anger at the two girls as they stand ready before them. "You were lucky. Don't think it was anything but that," snorts both H'cirlus. Yumi smirks and opens her fans as Atilea turns her escrima sticks into tonfas. Then, both of the H'cirlu copies pull out a Demon Wind Shuriken. Yumi and Atilea both get wide-eyed and tense up. "Oh, boy. This is bad…" Yumi whispers to Atilea. "There's no way I can counter-act another tornado, much less two!" Atilea whispers back to her. "I was also seriously hoping that we'd seen the last of that thing," Yumi replies back. "Hopefully one of them is fake and that he doesn't have two real ones!" Atilea whispers, trying to sound positive. A confident laugh comes from both H'cirlus as the two girls braces themselves. "One of these shuriken is the real Demon Wind Shuriken. You have to figure out which one of them it is before you and the rest of your pitiful little band gets swept away into the Digital Sea!" "You do realize that if you throw that here and now, everyone including your 'little band' will end up in the Digital Sea?" Yumi asks, hoping to stall him long enough to figure out which is the real shuriken. H'cirlu raises an eyebrow and replies, "Hmph, nice try, Yumi, but trying to get me to stall isn't going to work. I'm not worried about Imuy and Dod. Imuy, I know can handle herself. Dod, well, I'm sure he can escape, but only if he wants to. Sometimes he can be a bit bull headed and go after something so relentlessly, even if he gets hurt in the process." Yumi frowns as her plan fails before take-off and Atilea leans her head toward her. "What now?" she asks. Yumi thinks for a minute before replying. "We attack both shuriken at the same time. If we hit them hard enough, maybe we can stop the formation of any tornados. We just have to wait until gets ready to throw them, then we hit the shuriken with all we got!" Atilea nods, agreeing with Yumi's plan.

Imuy yells in anger as Odd leaps up after knocking her down again. "Energy Wave!" she shouts and lets loose a wave towards Odd. "Shield!" Odd shouts and crosses his arms. The wave collides with the shield and Odd slides backwards, straining against the force of the blow. Suddenly he finds himself in trouble as Imuy charges him. He manages to dodge her first attack and block the second, but her third swipe of her fan catches him across the chest. Odd falls backward, clutching his chest. "Odd! Get out of there! That one hit took sixty-five life points out of you!" Jeremie exclaims. Odd sits up painfully and winces. "Ok, note to self, do not let fans hit body again. Thanks, Jeremie," he replies. Imuy steps a foot over him and he freezes as she kneels down, pushing him back down to the ground with her knee pressing against his chest. She opens her fan and gently brings it down to his neck. "Well, so much for my note to self. Hi, Imuy!" She smiles demonstratively at him and replies, "Well, this is a change of scenery. Before, you were the one pinning me down! Now, it's my turn to do the pinning! Any last words?" Odd blinks and gives her a strained smile. "Um, how about giving me a five minute hand start before dealing the final blow?" he asks. Imuy snickers and shakes her head. "Four minutes? Three? Two? One? Ok, thirty seconds! How's that?" She can't help but chuckle at his desperation and he puts on a pouting face that causes her to pause. He sticks out his bottom lip, causing her to giggle. "Better pull that lip back in before I cut it off!" Imuy states.

Then, a noise catches their attention. Imuy and Odd turns their heads to see Dod getting hit simultaneously by Ulrich and Aelita. He flies backward and lands hard on the ground. "Dude, Dod's getting thrashed…" Odd states and Imuy frowns at Dod as he scrambles to stand up before Ulrich or Aelita can do anything else to him. "Yeah, he is. And the only reason he is getting thrashed, is because he lets his anger cloud is mind. He starts making mistakes. Ooh, like that one…" Imuy says just as Dod lets his arms drop, giving Ulrich a perfect opening for attack. Ulrich slashes at Dod, connecting with his head, sending him to the ground once again. "That's gotta hurt," Odd says and Imuy nods in agreement. She looks back down at Odd and asks, "Enjoying yourself down there?" Odd looks up at her and replies, "Um, no offense, but no, not really. My arms are pinned to my sides with your legs and you're sitting on my chest. Can't exactly defend myself like this." Imuy giggles and a devious gleam appears in her eye that makes him nervous.

Then a yell from Yumi and Atilea catches everyone's attention. Yumi throws her fans at the same time Atilea instantly creates a large rock and hurls it. Both the rock and the fans collide with both copies of the Demon Wind Shuriken head on. A look of surprise crosses both H'cirlu's faces as the fake and real Demon Wind Shuriken break up on impact. "Well, that worked better than I thought!" Yumi says, looking at the broken pieces lying on the ground. She catches her fans and eyes the still stunned H'cirlus. Atilea leans against her, trying to fight her exhaustion and smiles. "Yeah, wonder which one was the real one?" she says, with obvious signs of tiredness in her voice. Yumi glances at her, then wraps an arm around her waist to help her stay standing. "Who cares? They're both destroyed, which means the real one was destroyed," Yumi replies as Atilea wraps an arm around her to help support her weight as well. The H'cirlus glare at the two girls and grit their teeth. "Rejoin," H'cirlu states and the copy slides over and melds into him, leaving only one H'cirlu.

"He doesn't look too happy," Odd says. Imuy frowns slightly and replies, "He never looks happy unless he's winning a fight." She pauses and whispers, "Well, there was that night he and I snuck out of our pods…." Odd gasps and gives her a disgusted look. "Whoa! TMI, Imuy! I really don't want to hear about that!" Odd exclaims and she glances down at him, blushing. He frowns at her and continues, "You know if you are going to finish me off, just do it! Having you sit on my chest is getting, um, disconcerting, especially after that little bit of insight into your private life!" Imuy blinks and tilts her head slightly, than a slight smile crosses her lips and she shrugs. "Ok, why not? Bye, Odd!" she replies and kisses the air at him. He gets a horrified look on his face at her gesture, then sees her raise the fan to strike. Suddenly, something smacks her across the face, sending her flying backwards off him. Odd blinks in shock, then turns his head to see Aelita standing over him, watching Imuy roll over onto her stomach.

"Oh! Aelita! Nice to see you!" Odd chirps happily and leaps up off the ground promptly. She glances at him and smiles, then returns her gaze back to Imuy. "That was way too close for comfort!" he says as the two see Imuy flip up to her feet. She eyes them angrily and opens her fan, then begins to charge it up.

Meanwhile, Ulrich smiles as Dod ends up on the ground again. Dod's face scrunches with pain for a second, then he glares at Ulrich as Ulrich raises his katana to strike. Ulrich swings down, but his attack stops short suddenly. He blinks in confusion, then sees the Dod has caught his katana. Dod growls in anger and forces himself up while shoving Ulrich backwards. "Did you really think that I'd be that easy to beat?" Dod asks and rips the katana out of Ulrich's hands. Ulrich backs way from the advancing Dod as Dod tosses the katana over the edge of the cliff. "Oh, geez, I'm in trouble…" Ulrich whispers to himself. "Triangulate!" Ulrich shouts and super-sprints around Dod. Dod blinks unamused as the yellow triangle forms around him with a copy of Ulrich in each corner. "Oh, please, you really think I'm just a brainless brute that can be tricked by such a simple optical illusion?" Dod asks frowning in tedium. He closes his eyes and begins to focus on the movements of Ulrich. Then, he opens his eyes and Ulrich sees that they are glowing. Dod then begins to follow him perfectly. "I see you!" Dod says and fires. Ulrich leaps up as the laser arrow flies by. Then, Dod quickly fires two more shots, destroying the Ulrich copies easily. Ulrich stops sprinting behind a rock as Dod turns to walk toward him. "Shotgun!" Dod yells and fires, blowing a chuck of the rock away. Ulrich gasps and scrunches down behind the rock, trying to think of a way to escape. Three more shots ring out and Ulrich's cover gets whittled down even more.

Aelita frantically dodges and blocks Imuy's swipes of her fans. Odd fires several times, but Imuy acrobatically avoids them. She tosses a fan at him and Odd raises his shield to protect himself. Aelita swings her staff at Imuy's head but it gets blocked. Then, Aelita feels Imuy's foot slam into her stomach. She falls backward and Imuy leaps into the air, tossing her fan down at her. Aelita gasps and frantically tries to block the fan. Then, a shot from Odd knocks it away. Imuy grunts and psychokinetically brings her fans back to her. Aelita stands as Imuy tosses a fan at the two of them. Odd dodges the fan but feels Imuy's foot meet the side of his head. Aelita rushes to help him but Imuy grabs a returning fan and swipes at her. Aelita blocks the attack and tries to hold her ground, but Imuy's relentless attacks cause her to take steps backwards. "Energy Wave!" Imuy suddenly shouts and Aelita turns her staff vertical to stop the oncoming wave. The wave collides with the staff and Aelita tries to hold it back, but she finds herself being shoved backwards by the power of the wave. Then, she hears her staff crack under the pressure and frantically looks around for a way out. Aelita then gets an idea and plants the end of the staff in the ground and pole-vaults over the wave. She lands and sighs in relief. Imuy grunts in anger as she sees Aelita has managed to avoid her attack. Odd stands shakily and sees Imuy attack Aelita again, with Aelita desperately blocking her attacks. He fires several shots, but Imuy blocks them all.

Atilea slumps to the ground in exhaustion, unable to even lift a tonfa in her defense. Yumi steps between her and H'cirlu, trying to figure out a way to save the both of them. "I'm…sorry, Yumi. I can't go on…" Atilea says apologetically. "It's ok. You did your best, Atilea. Jeremie, can you get her out of here?" Yumi replies. "Yes, but it may take a couple of minutes. Oh, no! Ulrich, look out!" Jeremie says as the rock Ulrich is hiding behind turns into rumble by a swipe of Dod's claws. Yumi glances over at Ulrich and sees him super-sprint away at the last second. She sighs in relief that he escaped, then returns her attention to H'cirlu. He regards her in anger as she tosses her fans at him. H'cirlu uses his sword to deflect the fans and super-sprints toward her. Yumi gasps and finds her feet unable to respond quick enough. He slashes her across the middle, knocking her backwards, over a ducking Atilea. She lands hard and sees him raise the sword to stab a defenseless Atilea. She grabs the nearest thing to her hand and throws it at him. A look of surprise forms on his face as he sees a needle-like shuriken flying towards him. He leaps back and deflects it away as Yumi leaps up and runs to Atilea's defense. "Yumi, you can't get hit again! You've got ten life points left!" Jeremie advises firmly. She grits her teeth upon hearing the news. "Fine! Get Atilea out of here first! I'll try to hold him off long enough!" Yumi states and psychokinetically brings one of her fans back to her. She opens it and swipes at H'cirlu. "Hang on, Atilea! I'll get you home!" Jeremie says, encouragingly. "What about my sister? Can you get her home safely too?" Atilea asks and tries to sit up. "Yeah, I can. Just rest. You'll be home in a minute," Jeremie replies.

Odd feels Imuy tighten the grip on his neck as she picks him up off the ground. He fights against her grip but she tightens her grip again. Aelita swings a part of her now broken staff at Imuy, trying to distract her enough so that her grip loosens on Odd's neck, but Imuy catches the staff and rips it away from Aelita. Then she smacks Aelita with it, sending her to the ground. Odd wraps a leg around Imuy's arm and pries his neck out of her grip, and flips down to the ground, but is met by a swift kick to the gut. Imuy quickly produces a fan and throws it at him just as he crashes to the ground. It hits him squarely in the chest and he de-virtualizes. "No! Odd!" Aelita exclaims as the last of him fades away. "Don't worry, I got him! He's safe!" Jeremie tells her. Imuy turns to Aelita and grimaces.

"Ulrich! Watch out!" Jeremie shouts and Ulrich turns to see Dod fire. Ulrich super-sprints away just as the blast of laser arrows creates a hole in the rock face. Dod grits his teeth and says, "Full auto! Give up, Ulrich! You have no hope of winning!" Ulrich sprints away with Dod's laser arrow spray following his every turn and jump. Dod begins to laugh manically and follows Ulrich as he sprints across the landscape.

Atilea gasps as Yumi gets punched to the ground. "Jeremie, what's taking so long? You should have had Atilea out of here by now!" Yumi exclaims and stands. "I'm doing my best! I'm having a little difficulty getting the program to stay loaded! Give me another minute to free up more resources!" Jeremie replies, typing frantically on the keyboard. Atilea groans and replies, "She can't last another minute, Jeremie! Forget me. Get the other's out of here first!" Yumi turns and glares at her. "No! Not a chance! Jeremie, focus on getting her out of here first! She's in more danger of not getting back than I am!" Yumi states sternly. Atilea grunts in disappointment. "Hey, let me handle that, Yumi! I can get everyone back, don't worry about that!" Jeremie replies, equally stern. Yumi sighs and relents, turning back to H'cirlu.

Aelita runs behind a boulder as Imuy throws a fan at her. The fan bounces off the boulder and she brings it back to her mentally. She eyes the boulder and sees Aelita's pink head peek around the edge. Imuy smiles and raises a hand toward the boulder and begins to lift it psychokinetically. Aelita gasps as her hiding spot begins to disappear. Then, a crazy idea pops into her pink-haired head. "It might just work," Aelita whispers and leaps up on the rising boulder, clinging to it desperately. A confused look forms on Imuy's face as Aelita is nowhere to be seen as the boulder rises up enough to see behind it. "Where'd she go?" Imuy muses and then an impressed smile forms on her lips as she realizes there is only one place Aelita can be. "Very clever, Aelita," she says and begins to swing the boulder around in a circle. Aelita hangs on for dear life as Imuy speeds up the boulder's swing. Then, Imuy lets the boulder loose and it flies straight for a mountain. Aelita grows wide-eyed as the mountain rapidly grows bigger in her view. Then, at the last second, Aelita leaps off the boulder and lands, looking up to watch it crash into the side of the mountain. She sees rubble begin to fall towards her and she sprints away as large chunks of the boulder crash down all around her.

Dod chases Ulrich as he runs across the landscape, desperately trying to avoid Dod's six round bursts. Then he sees H'cirlu a little ways away and an idea pops into his head. Ulrich glances back quickly and sees the enraged Dod still following him. He veers towards H'cirlu, slowing down enough to keep Dod firing and within distance. C'mon, Dod, keep following me! Just a little farther! Ulrich thinks as he keeps tabs on where Dod is behind him. "Hope this works," he says as they near a still oblivious H'cirlu.

H'cirlu grimaces angrily as Yumi once again acrobatically avoids his attack. "Hold still, you nimble minx!" he says snidely. Yumi gives him a quick glance before noticing Ulrich leading an oblivious and enraged Dod toward H'cirlu. She instantly reads what he's planning and turns to taunt and distract H'cirlu. "You know, the real Ulrich would have beaten me by now! Guess you're not really more powerful than him!" she states provokingly. H'cirlu pauses in shock, then growls in anger at her. He draws his sword again and prepares to attack. Suddenly, a gust of wind whooshes behind him, then feels several hits from what felt like laser arrows. As he turns, a surprised Dod crashes headlong into him, sending the both of them tumbling to the ground. Ulrich sprints back around and snatches H'cirlu's sword that he lost in the collision, then darts beside Yumi. She jumps slightly at his sudden appearance, then gives him a big warm smile. The two tangled twins roll across the ground before separating. Dod leaps up, fuming at H'cirlu. H'cirlu stands and glares back at him. "Watch where you're going, H'cirlu!" Dod fires off at him. H'cirlu gives him a shocked look. "What? Are you crazy? You were the one that ran into me! If anyone should watch where they're going, it's you!" he bellows back. Dod steps closer to him and gets in his face. "I was watching where I was going, you big oaf! You stepped right in my way!" Dod replies harshly. H'cirlu narrows his eyes and glares deep into Dod's eyes. "You better back off, Kitten-Boy, or I'll tear you into a million pieces!" H'cirlu threatens.

Imuy hears the argument and turns to see what is going on. "Oh, geez, there they go again…" she whispers gruffly and starts to walk over to them. Suddenly, a large rock smashes into her side. Aelita exhales deeply and smiles at her successful attack.

"Kitten-Boy! Watch who you're calling names, pal. And, at least I don't look like a reject from the Village People!" Dod retorts coldly. H'cirlu jabs a finger into Dod's chest. "You better shut that mouth of yours before it ends up killing you," H'cirlu states. Dod narrows his eyes and growls. "Get your finger off me, H'cirlu," he says and slaps H'cirlu's hand away. Anger flares up in H'cirlu's eyes and he grabs Dod by the collar with both hands. "Don't you ever touch me again, boy…" H'cirlu says. Yumi leans over to Ulrich and whispers to him, "Who're the Village People?" He shrugs and shakes his head. "I don't know. Sounds like some band from the seventies," Ulrich whispers back. "Get your grubby hands off me!" Dod says and grabs H'cirlu's arms. Suddenly, H'cirlu screams in pain and lets Dod go. Dod releases him, revealing that he extended his claws into H'cirlu's arms. H'cirlu clutches his arms and takes a couple of steps backwards. "How….how…dare you! I'll kill you!" he stammers and produces a second sword. He quickly shakes his arms to get the feeling back in them and glowers at Dod. Then, he super-sprints away and Dod snorts in anger. Dod closes his eyes and concentrates for a couple of seconds before reopening them. His eyes begin to glow again and he scans the area for H'cirlu.

Yumi blinks in amazement. "Whoa, the glowing eyes thing is different," she whispers. Suddenly, Ulrich and Yumi feel a grip on each of their shoulders and turns to see Atilea pull herself up to them. She drapes an arm around each of their shoulders to hold herself up and then leans her head toward Ulrich's head. "Hi, Ulrich!" she says sweetly, then leans her head toward Yumi. "Hi, Yumi!" she says, equally sweetly. "Mind if I hang here for a little while?" Ulrich turns and replies, "Whoa, Atilea, you don't look so good. Are you ok?" Atilea smiles and says, "Mostly. I could use a nap, though." "What happened?" Ulrich asks Yumi. "I used most of my energy to stop the tornado…." Atilea starts but gets cut off by Yumi. "She kept using her creativity, despite knowing that she could, um," Yumi says, then pauses. "Ah, I get it. Why didn't you have Jeremie get her back to the factory?" Ulrich asks. "She did, Ulrich, but Jeremie's having some trouble with the materialization program. We need to buy him more time," Atilea replies. "Where's my sister?" Ulrich glances over to a pile of rock and sees Aelita wave to them with a smile on her face. "Did… did she create

all those?" he asks as Yumi turns to see Aelita also. Atilea strains to see her sister and gets an amazed look on her face. "If she did, that'd be awesome! And I'm guessing Imuy is underneath all those rocks," Atilea says. "Hey, Ulrich, Yumi, I have an idea that could buy us some more time," Jeremie pipes up. "What is it, Jeremie?" Yumi asks.

Dod stares straight ahead and waits patiently for the right time to come. Then, he shuffles to the left and back fists, catching H'cirlu off guard as he sprints by. H'cirlu's feet and lower torso keeps going as his face and upper body gets stopped instantly by Dod's fist. "Not matter how fast you run, not matter where you phase in at, I can always see where you'll end up and adjust accordingly!" Dod exclaims proudly as H'cirlu crashes to the ground and skids across the ground. He hops up and faces Dod. "You're not following me as I run! You're using your premonition abilities to see into the future to find out where I'll be!" H'cirlu returns. Dod smiles proudly as H'cirlu gets an angry glare in his eyes. "But can you see two things happening at the same time?" he exclaims. He throws a shuriken at Dod at the same time he phases away. "I don't have to," Dod replies simply. "BARRIER!" Instantly, an energy dome forms around Dod and the shuriken and H'cirlu's attack collide with it. H'cirlu gets a look of surprise as he realizes his plan failed. "What are you going to do now? You can't attack me, but I can attack you!" Dod states and reaches his right arm over his left shoulder, pointing to where H'cirlu stands, then fires a six-round burst. H'cirlu sprints away just in time. "I didn't know he could fire through that thing!" he whispers to himself. Then, he pauses for a second. "I wonder…"

"Fine, we'll do it Jeremie. Just get Atilea home first," Ulrich says as he gently sets Atilea down on the ground. Yumi sneaks behind a rock, trying to make her way over to Aelita without being spotted by either of the two warring twins. Atilea adverts her eyes from Ulrich and blushes slightly. "Ulrich, you're not listening! I can't right now! Something is taking up too many resources from the computer!" Jeremie exclaims. "Can you fix it?" Ulrich asks. "As I said before, yes I can, but I need time! You three will have to take her with you until I get the mess over here straightened out!" Jeremie replies. Yumi returns with Aelita and glances at Ulrich and Atilea. "What did Jeremie say?" she asks him. "He needs more time. She'll have to go with us until he fixes the computer," Ulrich replies as Aelita and Atilea give each other a quick hug. "Glad you're ok, Sis," Atilea says smiling. "You too," Aelita replies, returning her smile. "Are we ready?" Yumi asks. "Yeah, I just hope we can sneak away without either of those two noticing we're gone. How well did you bury Imuy in those rocks?" Ulrich asks Aelita. She smiles and replies, "Pretty well. She'll get out, but it will take her a while." Ulrich nods and motions in the direction they should go. "Let's go. Stay low," he says and the four begins to covertly leave the area.

Several minutes later, Dod and H'cirlu lock arms, trying to subdue each other. "Give up, Dod, and save yourself the humiliation!" H'cirlu says. Dod shakes his head. "Not a chance! I will beat you! Once and for all!" he replies. "Your strength is beginning to wane. That special eyesight of yours is taking its toll on you!" H'cirlu states. "And yet, I still am able to match you! What does that tell you?" Dod answers confidently. "That you're gonna burn out real soon! Then, you'll be put back in your place—just under me!" H'cirlu claims.

A primal rage explodes inside Dod. His vision blurs and a sudden rush of energy fills his body. At the same time, Ulrich finishes destroying a pod in the Ice Sector. Yumi, with Atilea and Aelita, finishes destroying the pod in the desert sector. "Good job, guys. Now, move on to the last one in the Forest Sector," Jeremie praises. Atilea looks at the ground in silence and Aelita gives her a curious look. "What is it? Is that where your pod is?" she asks. Atilea shakes her head. "No. Mine was in the Mountain sector, and it's gone already. Dod destroyed it," Atilea replies. "I just can't shake the feeling that…something terrible is going to happen." Aelita gives her sister a comforting smile and hug. "Don't worry. By the time they realize what's happening, it'll be too late," Yumi says encouraging. "Let's go. Ulrich will be waiting for us in the Forest Sector," Aelita says and helps Yumi lift the still weakened Atilea off the ground.

Meanwhile, Dod begins to pry H'cirlu's arms away from his, much to H'cirlu's surprise. H'cirlu sees the glow in Dod's eyes turn red as Dod manages to free an arm. H'cirlu stares in shock as Dod extends his claws on that hand. Imuy manages to dig her way out of the rock pile and staggers around trying to get her bearings. Ulrich and Yumi hug and kiss each other in celebration of the destruction of the last pod. Atilea smiles as she is helped up by Aelita and Yumi. "Let's go back and surprise our twins with the news!" Ulrich suggests and Yumi and Aelita nods in agreement, but Atilea's smile fades as the feeling that something bad is going to happen grows.

H'cirlu strains against Dod's sudden increase in strength, as Imuy watches them in shock and awe. Her attempts to calm Dod failed, instead made him even angrier. Then, she hears several sets of footsteps behind her go from a run to a jog, then to a slow walk, finally to nothing. She turns to see Ulrich, Yumi, Aelita, and Atilea stand in awe of Dod's power. "What the…?" Ulrich starts but the rest of his words die in his throat.

DOD! STOP! WHAT ARE YOU DOING! bellows a voice from all around the group.

"SHUT UP!" returns an enraged Dod. Imuy gasps at his reaction to her Master's inquiry.

NOO! YOU MUST STOP HIM BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE!

Imuy finds herself frozen in shock and unable to make her body move. Ulrich, a Yumi, Aelita, and Atilea just stare as Dod lets out a yell that shakes them to the core.

Dod then plunges his claws into H'cirlu's stomach, causing him to double over. Imuy's scream dies in her mouth as she sees H'cirlu's eyes almost instantly go blank. The rest, save Dod, gasp at this and Atilea feels terror grip her heart.

No…. it is too late now… You should not have destroyed the pods, Humans…. All is lost…

X.A.N.A.'s tone takes Ulrich by surprise, but doesn't have time to contemplate what he meant, as now, H'cirlu's body begins to dissipate into the same glowing energy balls as before. Dod's eyes flash greedily as he utters a single word through his gritted teeth.

"Absorption!"