I'm uploading again because I can't keep you guys in suspense for too long :)

Thanks to:

LyokoWarrior - I always treat my favorite characters or OCs this way. lol I don't know why. Guess I'm just weird that way. Thanks for reviewing!

melcho - I'm glad you think so! .:smiles:. Here is an update and thanks for reviewing!

Lyokogal7503 - I still do. I feel bad that I made him get possessed instead of another character but really I couldn't do that or it just wouldn't have worked. Thanks for the review!

katfishxX - Ack! I forgot to thank you again! I'm getting so bad at that.

Thanks everyone. Now, onto the next chapter!

Chapter 12: How Long?

"Transfer Odd. Transfer Aelita."

Odd turned as the scanner door closed, leaving him enclosed in the small area..

"Scanner Odd. Scanner Aelita."

Aelita felt herself rise into the air as the scanner read every microscopic detail it could.

"Virtualization!"

A large gust of wind blew at both of them. Odd and Aelita felt every part of their bodies being reconfigured as they traveled down a large tunnel. When they came to the end, they each got the final sensation of falling to the ground.

Odd and Aelita both stood and glanced around the Forest Sector, looking for any of XANA's monsters. Upon not seeing any, they glanced at each other, each a bit apprehensive.

Jeremie looked at the monitor on the super calculator. "No monsters in sight for the moment." he said as if reading their minds. "Here comes the vehicles. Aelita, I'm programming the Overwing for you."

Even as he said this, the two vehicles were virtualized in front of the two passengers.

"What's the matter, Jeremie?" Odd teased as he hopped on the Overboard. "You afraid to have Aelita ride with me?"

Jeremie shook his head and rolled his eyes. "No. It's just that Ulrich still hasn't found Yumi and if Ulrich's right, Aelita needs to deactivate that tower as soon as possible. Who knows what XANA has in store for us and I'd rather we didn't find out."

"Fair enough." Odd replied as he glanced over at Aelita. "Let's go, Princess."

"Meanwhile, I'm going to see what went wrong with the return to the past." Jeremie muttered more to himself than to the two virtualized teens. He typed in a few commands and immediately the files for the return popped up. "Doesn't look like anything's amiss with the files."

"Keep searching Jeremie." Aelita replied. "XANA is very devious with these sort of things. There may be only a piece of a file that was messed with."

"And searching though all the files to locate a tiny flaw may take weeks!" Jeremie exclaimed, exasperated.

"Should we go into Sector 5?" Aelita asked.

"No." Jeremie replied. "It would take just as long. Besides, you need to get that tower deactivated. Worry about that. I'll handle this."

Odd took a quick look at Aelita before concentrating on where he was heading. "Don't worry. We'll get to that tower in time."

"You'd better." Jeremie informed. "If not who knows what kind of mess we'll be in!"

"Yeah, we know." Odd replied, scanning for any sign of XANA's monsters. He saw none. "XANA really needs to work on his hospitality!"

"Don't worry Odd. His reception committee is on the way." Jeremie warned. "Three kankrelots heading your way!"

Odd rubbed his gloved paws together. "So, XANA's sending the kanker-creeps, huh? Great! I always get a kick out of them."

He glanced around, looking for the small, dumb monster that he was referring to, but saw none. "Where are they Jeremie? I don't see them."

"There!" Aelita pointed from the Overwing toward her right. Odd glanced over Aelita's head and noticed three little monsters striding down the path there.

"Ah, there you are." Odd commented cheerfully. "Go on Aelita. I'll handle them."

Aelita nodded in response before zooming away, dodging the occasional laser fire that the small monsters shot at her. Odd watched her for a moment before turning his attention back to the Kankrelots.

"Laser Arrow!" he shouted as he shot his own weapon at the three. He missed and one of the monsters returned the favor.

"Odd, you just lost 10 life points." Jeremie warned. "Be careful. I don't know when or if Ulrich's coming. If you get devirtualized then Aelita will be all alone with the Schyphizoa!"

"Don't worry Jeremie!" Odd replied calmly. "I don't plan on getting hit anymore."

Back at the factory, Jeremie rolled his eyes. I swear his overconfidence is going to get us all killed one day!

"Just be careful!" he said instead.

"Jeremie, how's the return to the past coming?" Aelita asked.

"So far no luck." Jeremie responded, typing away furiously at the keyboard. "But in any case you're closing in on the activated tower."

"Any word from Ulrich?"

"No. And I'm getting really worried. I tried calling his mobile but he wouldn't answer." An alarm caught Jeremie's attention. "Odd! You just lost another 20 life points!"

"Thanks Jeremie." Odd replied sarcastically.

"I thought you said you weren't going to get hit again." Jeremie remarked.

"So I lied!" Odd responded, speeding away from the laser fire of the two remaining Kankrelots. "Sue me!"

Before another word could be made, one of the Kankrelots fired and hit the Overboard. Odd jumped off onto one of the numerous trees the lined the region. Climbing down he ran toward the two small monsters, using his cat-like agility to avoid all the laser fire.

"Laser Arrow!" he shouted as he aimed his arm toward one of them. Immediately, an arrow shot out of his glove and sped toward the Kankrelot, striking it smack dab in the middle of XANA's mark. The monster exploded on contact. "One left." Odd stated to himself as he ran toward the remaining creature.

"Aelita, your getting close to the tower, but watch out. I'm sure the Schyphizoa is slinking around somewhere." Jeremie warned as he watched Aelita's progress on the monitor as well as fiddling with the return's files.

Aelita glanced around her at her surroundings. "Well, it's not in sight for the moment."

"That doesn't mean that XANA hasn't already sent it after you." Jeremie warned. "Just be careful. You're pretty far away from Odd."

Aelita continued maneuvering the Overwing down the path. "Stop worrying so much, Jeremie. I'll be just fine!"

xXxXx

It didn't take Ulrich very long to make his way through town. The thoughts of what could possibly happen to Yumi gave him the strength and energy he needed to continue sprinting toward the factory as fast as his legs could possibly carry him. The bridge soon came into view as well as two figures next to the pillars.

Without warning, one of the figures was shoved forward. Ulrich knew that it had to be Yumi and urged his tired legs forward, praying that they would not give out on him. He was close enough to see Yumi and William and yet too far away to do anything about what was happening.

"Please Yumi," he urged her as if she could hear his quiet plea. "Hang on."

xXxXx

Yumi could hear nothing as her head was submerged under the water except for the sound of her heartbeat thundering in her ears. Her lungs burned from lack of oxygen but she dared not open her mouth. She would certainly drown then.

Someone, please help me! She prayed in her mind. She knew that she wouldn't be able to hold out much longer.

The grip that held her underneath never once relaxed and, by this time, she had ceased struggling against him. It was no use. While William was under XANA's control, he was hundreds of times stronger than she was.

Yumi's lungs continued to cry out against the harsh treatment, but she could do nothing to free herself. Her vision became clouded as she fought to remain conscious.

She suddenly felt William's arms jerk as if he were taking his attention off her and to something else.

Please, Yumi prayed. Please let it be one of the others.

Without warning, she felt herself being jerked backward, out of the water. As soon as her head was free, she inhaled deeply. Yumi continued to fall backward until she felt William's arms release her. She scrambled onto her hands and knees, coughing and sputtering violently. She took in large breaths which only made her cough more, but she didn't care. She was grateful to finally be able to get air into her lungs.

Once she nearly had her breath back, she listened to hear who her rescuer was and immediately realized that it was Ulrich. But now, by the sounds of it, he wasn't doing too well against William. She heard him cry out and smack into something hard, but what that was she couldn't quite tell.

"Ulrich!"

She couldn't hear him make any sounds and feared that he had been knocked out. Her fears were confirmed when she heard William walking toward her again. As quickly as she could manage, she scrambled to her feet. She felt his hand brush against her arm and quickly drew back. In her mind, she calculated about where he was standing. Hoping that she was right, she lashed out with her foot.

Yumi felt her foot come into contact with his stomach and heard him fall back. She felt victorious, but only momentarily as she heard William get back to his feet and make his way toward her.

However, before he got close enough to hurt her, she heard him yell and a loud splash followed after.

"Yumi!" Ulrich exclaimed in relief. "Yumi, are you alright?"

"I am now." she replied, pushing her wet hair out of her face.

"Come on, let's get into the factory before he comes to." Ulrich remarked after grabbing Yumi's arm. Yumi nodded in response as she allowed herself to be pulled away from the spot that she nearly lost her life.

xXxXx

As soon as Jeremie heard the hiss of the elevator door, he spun around in his chair, expecting the worst. Instead he was relieved to see Ulrich standing inside the elevator helping a soggy Yumi inside the control room.

"Yumi!" Jeremie exclaimed. "What happened?"

"Let's just say that William tried to convince me to take a swim before heading over here." Yumi commented slyly.

"How's Odd and Aelita doing?"

Before Jeremie could answer Ulrich's question, a fast beeping sound came from the computer. Hurriedly, Jeremie turned back to the monitor.

"Aelita!" he cried out. "Three of XANA's monsters are around!"

Aelita looked around. "Where? I don't see them."

"They're there!" Jeremie warned. "Look out!"

Aelita continued to scan through the virtual trees but saw no sign of the monsters Jeremie warned her of. "Are you sure?"

"They're showing up on the holo-map."

"I'll keep on the look out." Aelita reassured as she continued to make her way toward the activated tower on the Overwing. Her eyes kept scanning her surroundings, but other than the pulsations, she found it to be quite quiet. "Jeremie, how far-"

Before she had a chance to complete her question, an unexpected blast hit the Overwing and the vehicle began to devirtualized. The next thing she knew, she fell hard on the ground. "Ow." she whimpered as she rubbed her back, but quickly stood and turned toward the direction the blast had come from.

"Jeremie!" she cried. "I found them!"

She stood in frozen shock as she watched a Block make its way toward her as quick as it could, it's laser charging. Aelita regained her wits. She turned from the monster and fled as fast as she could only to find that the other end of the path was blocked by another Block.

In a desperate attempt to get away, she spied another plateau that was in jumping distance. She backed up in order to get more speed but stopped dead in her tracks when she saw that yet another Block blocked that path.

"Jeremie! I'm trapped!"

xXxXx

"Odd, hurry up! XANA's lured Aelita into a trap and I'm sure the Schyphizoa is heading that way!"

The last Kankrelot exploded as Odd's arrow struck it on it's mark. Odd stood up straight and glanced up to the sky. "I would Jeremie, but it would help if I had a ride."

"Coming right up."

Almost immediately, another Overboard appeared at Odd's feet. As he was about to hop on, he stood rigid as a bright light invaded his sense of sight. Immediately following, a sepia-tone scene followed:

Aelita, virtualized, standing on a path in the Forest Region. Three Blocks surrounded her with the only way to get away was an opening off to the right of her. That was not much of an escape seeing as there was no path anywhere near it and a jump off would result in plummeting down into the Digital Void.

A familiar noise caused Aelita to look toward her left. Dangling tentacles danced around her. She gasped in fright as she backed away, trying to get away from the monster that petrified her…the Schyphizoa.

Suddenly she felt her foot slip. She shrieked when she looked down to see that one foot no longer stood soundly on the path but rather hung over the Void. She circled her arms frantically in an attempt to regain her balance, but it was no use. She could only yell as she tumbled down toward the emptiness below her…

Odd stood in the same spot a moment, speechless as the last remnants of his vision faded.

"Odd!" came Jeremie's scolded voice, snapping him back to attention.

"Jeremie, I just had a vision! Aelita is going to try to get away from the Schyphizoa and end up falling into the Digital Void! Warn her and I'll be there in no time!"

Without waiting for Jeremie's answer, Odd flipped onto the Overboard and sped away as fast as he could, trying to beat the Schyphizoa in the race to Aelita.

xXxXx

Too worried that Odd's vision would come true, Jeremie ceased work on the return's files and instead went to biting his lip, praying that Odd would make it to Aelita in time. Behind him, Yumi and Ulrich were doing about the same. Jeremie had warned Aelita about the contents of Odd's vision and there was nothing more that they could do.

Nobody dared to move…not even to blink as if by not doing so would help things. Yet the moments of stillness did not last as the three of them heard the hiss of the elevator doors opening. Ulrich and Jeremie spun around just in time to see William rushing out of the elevator and toward the three of them…or more specifically Ulrich who did not realize that he was the object of XANA's assault until it was too late.

All the oxygen was expelled from his lungs when William's fist made contact with the softest part of Ulrich's stomach. He sputtered a moment before recovering from the attack and lashing out with his own counterattack. William, however, blocked the attack. With Ulrich's fist securely in his hand, a jolt of electricity passed from the possessed William to Ulrich who had no defense against the assault. Using this to his advantage, William threw him into the wall of the room.

"Ulrich!" Yumi called out, desperately trying to figure out exactly what was going on. "Jeremie!"

"Yumi! He's coming after you!"

Yumi frantically tried to back away but she could not tell which direction William was coming from…all the noises were echoing throughout the small enclosure making it nearly impossible to tell which direction the sound had originated. She also knew that she could not just turn around and flee from him; there were too many wires and other things that she could easily trip over.

Panicked, she lashed out again with her foot, hoping to keep him away as she did before, but this time she was unsuccessful. He easily dodged her counterattack and continued toward her. She slowly backed away, trying to keep as much distance between them as possible, but even she knew that the amount of distance really didn't matter. If XANA wanted, he would get to her easily. As this realization came about her, she felt her back hit one of the walls of the room.

Yumi knew at that moment what a trapped animal must feel like…and she didn't like it; not one single bit. She knew she was helpless against him and hated the feeling passionately.

"Get away from her!" she suddenly heard Ulrich shout. She let out a relieved sigh as she scooted out of the way. Moments later the sickening sound of bone hitting metal was heard and Yumi feared that XANA had taken care of Ulrich for good this time. She heard someone take steps toward her but she wasn't sure who it was.

"That's two you owe me." came Ulrich's teasing voice. Yumi breathed a sigh of relief, but then felt apprehensive. Ulrich had stopped XANA from killing them this time, but how long could that possibly last?

xXxXx

Since Odd never got to use his power inside Lyoko during Season 2, I just had to write it into the story. Poor Odd..