Chapter 2
Just Another Mission
"RUN!" Carl screamed, turning quickly and pulling Yumi as he sprinted away. Charles, the gateman, came after them.
Yumi, with much strain, tried to match Carl's pace. "We have to get him away from the school."
"Yah, I kn…." He panted.
"What?" Yumi asked back between breaths.
"Never mind," he said quietly.
They quickly ran into the trees and hid. They took a moment to catch their breaths. Carl took a peek around a tree. "He's gone," he said in a slight shock.
"What," Yumi asked, slightly startled as well. She also turned to catch a glance. "There," she pointed. Charles was just turning a corner…toward the school.
"Argh." Carl ran off in the same direction.
"Wait," Yumi screamed. When she saw that he wouldn't, she ran after him. When she also turned the corner, she saw Carl running straight toward Charles' back.
With a swift soccer slide, Carl took the man's feet out from under him. With a small roll, he stood. "That's why they call me 'shin splitter'," he said as he charged again.
Jeremy stepped into the main computer room. "Get to the scanners. I'll contact Yumi and see where she is."
"You got it," Odd replied.
Jeremy took his place, a large hologram of Lyoko popping up in the center of the room. "I've found the tower," he spoke into a headset.
Down below, Odd, Ulrich, and Aelita stepped into the scanners. "You're heading for the dessert region," Jeremy's voice boomed over the sound system.
Jeremy fired up the virtualization process and ran through the steps. As the very last command, he hit Enter. "Virtualization."
Their bodies appeared on a large plateau. "Your vehicles should be appearing now," Jeremy said. As the Overbike and the Overboard appeared, Jeremy chimed in again. "The activated tower is at forty-two degrees west."
"Thanks," Odd said, Aelita stepping onto the Overboard with him.
Jeremy dialed up Yumi's cell. It took a moment to answer. "I hope you guys are busy right now," she said.
"The rest of the gang is already on their way to the tower. I suppose you've found Xana?"
"Yah, and we're keeping him busy." Yumi turned towards Carl, who was still trading blows with Charles. Carl wasn't able to land any hits, but Charles wasn't doing very well either.
"Try and keep it up," Jeremy said. "We'll try and finish this up quickly." With that he cut the connection. A low beep erupted from the computer. A red ring appeared in the direction of the three greens. "Careful, guys. You have incoming. One megatank."
"I see it," Ulrich said. Up ahead, a large, black ball was rolling toward them. It stopped and split in half to reveal a large yellow eye in the shape of Xana's symbol. It glowed red as energy started being absorbed.
"Separate," Ulrich said. A large red energy blast erupted from the tank, running directly front and back. Ulrich and Odd were able to split, dodging the attack.
Odd leveled his wrist with the eye. Three arrows shot forward, but were caught on the tanks hard, closed shell.
Ulrich jumped off his bike and land in a cloud of dust close to the megatank. "Triplicate." In a flash, his body split into three separate people. The tank turned in his direction.
Focusing on the center, it opened and started to charge. Ulrich didn't move. "Hello." Odd swooped out of the air and blasted an arrow square in the eye. The tank quickly shut before exploding.
Odd hovered down in front of Ulrich. "Well, that was eas…" He didn't have time to finish. An energy bolt struck him in the chest, throwing him from his board. A large four legged tarantula was kneeling close by, its front two arms aiming toward Ulrich.
He quickly struck a defensive pose, just in time to deflect several more shots. When the creature finally took a pause, Ulrich hurled his sword. It was much too high, and he knew it. "Super sprint," he cried. In an instant, he was behind the tarantula in mid-air. With a flip, he grabbed his sword and drove it into the beast's skull. Ulrich jumped to safety before the wound took its toll.
"That was stylish," Odd remarked.
"Well," Ulrich said, "I couldn't let you have all the fun."
"Great job. Now get going. You're almost at the tower." Jeremy pulled up Yumi's phone number again.
"Hey," Yumi answered. "How are things on Lyoko?"
"Great. How are you doing?" he asked back.
"Pretty good, but you might want to hurry. Carl and I can't hold this up forever."
"Wait, that new kid? He's with you?"
"Yah, and he's a great fighter. It's almost like he's done this sort of thing before," she said a little thoughtfully.
"No casualties, I hope."
"No, but we've had a few close calls."
"Alright, just try and keep going for as long as you can."
"Don't worry. We will." Yumi ended the conversation. She hadn't completely lied, but they were fighting a lost battle. Carl was fighting well, but it was not the usual style she had seen. He conserved his energy, and tended to strike strategically instead of powerfully. He was still going, but she did not know for how long; his face and chest were covered in sweat. So far, she was on her third rest. They would be lucky if they lasted a few more minutes.
"There's the tower," Aelita cried.
"Yah, but it's blocked by another tarantula," Ulrich stated. Since he had ditched his bike, he was running on the ground. He looked up at Odd. "I'll distract it while you take Aelita go around to the back."
"You got it." Odd turned his board over the lip of the plateau and out of sight.
Ulrich charged. The big bug lifted its shooting arms and opened fire. Ulrich turned slightly to one side, and then ran right in front, slashing at the thing's chest. It would not do much, except get its attention. He ran off. The tarantula came after him.
Odd let the board down directly in front of the tower. He held his hand out to Aelita. "My lady," he said with a bow.
"Thank you," she exclaimed with a bit of a blush. She stepped off and walked into the tower. Odd turned around, but was not fast enough to see the blast that struck him square in the chest. Odd's body flew back and vanished.
Carl's chest hurt. He had almost no feeling in his arms. He didn't care. He kept fighting. Some of his punches and jabs hit, but there was no sign of pain for any of them. So far, Carl had accumulated several bruises and a few cuts.
A small crowd had gathered inside of the nearby buildings, watching. None of them were brave enough to help. Yumi, who was too exhausted to fight any more, helped those who may have been caught in the crossfire get to safety. She was still trying to walk, but was quickly running low on energy.
Carl charged again. Charles held up his hand, a blue wad of energy pulsating in his palm. There was a large flash as Carl was thrown back. "No," Yumi tried to scream, but her battery simply ran out. She collapsed in the dirt.
Xana walked across and stood over Carl. He held up his hand again with the same blue energy.
Aelita landed lightly on the top platform. She slowly walked into the center as a holo-screen appeared before her. She placed her hand over it and entered the code.
Charles stood still for a moment. Carl's eyes were a mix of anger and fear. Suddenly, the eyes that were Xana flickered and faded. Charles' body fell limp. With a breath of relief, Carl stood and walked over to Yumi. He placed his hand under her head. "You all right?" he asked softly.
Her eyes were slightly open, and all she could manage was a slight nod.
Carl looked around. "With something this major, there's going to have to be a return-to-the-past."
Yumi's eyes shot open.
He looked back down at her. "We'll talk later."
Jeremy pressed the final key. "Return to the past, now."
As the light engulfed the school, Yumi's only expression was one of pure shock.
Surprised? I hope so. Next chapter will explain Carl's strange comment.
