Disclaimer: I do not own Code: Lyoko, Danny Phantom, Alan Hopper, or Cassie.

A/N: Hey there party peoples of the fanfiction community! But seriously, I know that I haven't been updating this story anywhere near as much as I used to, but I'm having a much harder time beating the latest fight that I've had with writer's block this time around. I know what quite a few of you like from me so, get ready for a huge action scene. It probably won't be the best action scene that I have ever done (that title goes to chapter 16 of this story alone) but it should be enough to keep you readers out there interested until I can come up with something different to do before the next big action scene in this story. Anyway, I know that all of you don't want to read me drag this on, so on to the chapter! Please R&R, or I'm going to have to do something so horrible that I will be immortalized for it!

The group was virtualized into the volcano sector of Nysis. They were on the very edge of the sector, where ocean meets volcanic rock. In the distance quite a few volcanoes could be seen spewing lava everywhere and the smell of sulfur was suffocating. They didn't know what kind of monsters would inhabit this sector, but given its previous owner, they had to be mean.

"Hey Tucker, how's the holomap coming along," Jeremy called out to the man at the monitor.

"Well, since you guys have officially been to every registered sector, it will actually show the world map now," Tucker replied, "And apparently the world of Nysis is a lot like a planet, but with much wider divisions between the ecosystems. Unfortunately, it won't show the exact location of the gate, probably because of it's constantly changing location and the fact that we still don't have a direct link to the Core of Nysis. If there's a central sector like you guys have said there is on Lyoko, then it would have to be at the core of the virtual planet that you're on right now. You'll just have to see it when you come back, because I think that there might be more sectors that we just haven't been able to uncover yet; judging from the amount of open space on the holomap."

"Thanks Tucker," Alan declared, "But we're going to have to go on radio silence for now. Today's the day that GEVI has to make it back by if she wants to be able to come back to Nysis, and the gate is in this sector according to Raymundo."

"Alright guys, Tucker out."

"Well, we're going to have to fan out in order to cover this whole rock," Erethyr sighed.

"This whole molten rock," Odd chimed in.

"Okay, let's discuss the teams. We're going to need to split off into well-rounded teams so that we won't be a huge disadvantage in case of an emergency," Xavier declared, "We all have our own character classes. Jeremy, Aelita, Cassandra, and Danny are our heavy-hitter long range people; Cid, Odd, and I are our rapid fire long range members; Sam and Ulrich are the fastest out of us; Sahra is most definitely our best mid-range combatant; and Alan, Raymundo, and Erethyr are the heavy hitter melee fighters of the group. I suggest that we split up into three teams of four. Aelita, Jeremy, Odd, and Ulrich: you guys will be Team Alpha since you have had the most experience fighting as a group and know each other's strengths and weakness the best. Erethyr, Alan, Sam, and I will make up Team Chess as the tactical team. Danny, Cid, Sahra, and Raymundo: you'll make up Team Ghost and will be the heaviest hitters of the three teams. Any questions?"

"Why aren't we splitting up the geniuses into each group for better balance," Odd inquired.

"Actually, each group has there own respective genius in their own field and their own respective dunce as a nice contrast," Xavier explained, "I can understand your reasoning with Team Chess having more brainiacs per capita, but everybody in each group has there own separate abilities. But since we don't have time to waste on such explanations, I think we should fan out now and radio in when the gate is found. This way we can work in waves in order to whittle down GEVI's defenses for an easier victory. Now let's go!" With that, the three teams split up to cover more distance and try to stop GEVI from reaching the evil goals she doubtless had planned.

Team Ghost had searched for about ten minutes before Raymundo decided to ask a question that had been bothering him. "Hey guys, I'm just wondering…why are we called Team Ghost?"

"I actually know the answer to this one," Sahra chuckled, "It's because of stuff that has happened to us. Danny's half ghost, Cid and I have both died and then been reformed around our soul gems, and you are but a mere ghost of our former friend."

"Why am I 'but a mere ghost of your former friend'," Raymundo inquired, "What's so wrong about Damon anyway, it's actually thanks to him that I broke free from GEVI's control."

"Well, you see, you look exactly like Damon did before he committed virtual suicide," Cid explained, "I laughed a little bit at the time, but it's thanks to him doing that that I was eventually set free from Sahra's control while she was under the influence of GEVI's viral strain. And I still hold a grudge against you by the way!"

"Guys, let's stop fighting and do what we came here to do," Danny shouted grumpily, "I swear, I'd rather listen to Vlad's monologue about why I'm going to become his son right about now, sheesh."

"No need to compare us to your arch-nemesis Danny, god," Cid commented despondently.

"Wait, what did you mean when you thanked Damon for setting you free from GEVI's control," Danny suddenly inquired, finally doing a double-take.

"Just what I said," Raymundo responded, "While we were both working for GEVI, he reminisced about his life with you guys. He really did miss you all, but he felt betrayed by all of you for not using Code: Earth on him…except Danny, Sam, and Tucker of course, they had no way of knowing about it yet. He was also using GEVI as a means to get stronger so that he wouldn't have to rely on his Crystal Ice Armor in every fight."

"It's not that we decided not to use Code: Earth on him, it's that we couldn't without all of the pieces of his soul gem being put back together again," Sahra explained, "We need all of them before we can make him completely human again."

"Wait, if Achatka and Fierus had to die in order for him to get back those pieces of his soul gem and activate the Key to Nysis…wouldn't that mean that Moonflower and Raymundo would have to die too," Danny inquired hesitantly.

"Unfortunately, yes," Raymundo grimaced.

"So what, if Damon becomes whole again, will he go back to the way that he was before his dip into the virtual sea," Cid asked his silver-haired friend.

"Well…no. His body has had enough time to acclimate to the genetic modifications that I had performed on him. There's no way for him to regain his rage powers anymore. If he wants to get an enraged power boost, he's going to have to do it the hard way now," Sahra explained.

"Do we have any idea what's going to happen to Damon if he becomes whole again," Danny asked the two tech experts of the group.

"All we know for certain is that he's probably going to have a massive migraine from it all," Raymundo sighed, "And judging from his reaction to regaining half of the missing pieces, he's probably going to go through another costume change."

"Wow, how droll," Cid stated monotonously.

"Hey guys, we've got a little problem," Tucker's voice rang out.

"What is it, Tuck," Danny asked, sounding rather worried.

"Team Alpha found the gate…but they're not alone," Tucker responded, "They're about three miles north-northwest from your current position.

"Thanks Tucker," Sahra called out as they booked it to where Tucker had told them to go. Cid decided to turn into a rhino and have Sahra and Raymundo jump on for a ride in order to save time. Danny, on the other hand, just jetted off, flying through the air, hoping that he could make it in time to help out his friends.

With Team Alpha, Five Minutes Ago

"Are we there yet," Odd whined. The group has decided go north from their starting place, towards the heart of the sector. Odd, in classic Odd fashion, had decided to lighten up the overly-serious mood. Ulrich, for his part, was trying to play along but was getting increasingly agitated at the blonde's antics.

"No, now stop asking or I'm turning this team around this instant," Ulrich snapped, a scowl crossing his features.

"Sorry," Odd stated sarcastically, "So, what exactly are we looking for again?" There was an audible sigh at Odd's question.

"We're looking for a giant black glowing gate with intricate carvings on it," Jeremy explained to the other blonde.

"You mean like that over there," Odd asked, pointing to his left at the object in question.

"…Odd, how do you keep on doing that without your flash vision power," Aelita inquired.

"Just lucky, I guess," Odd replied, rubbing the back of his head. The team let out another audible sigh before running towards the gate. When they got to it, Jeremy noticed that it was glowing just as brightly as it was when GEVI had walked through it.

"Guys, I think that it might be a good idea to call for help," Jeremy declared, "I think that we're about to have some very unwelcome company."

"Tucker, can you hear us," Aelita called out into the air.

"Yeah, what's up guys," Tucker replied.

"We found the gate and Jeremy thinks that GEVI could come out of it any second," Ulrich declared, "Think you could get a fix on our location and relay it to the other teams?"

"Sure guys, no problem," Tucker replied as he turned to look at the holomap, "Alright I got your location…uh oh."

"Uh oh is never a good sign," Odd groaned.

"What is it Tucker," Jeremy inquired, thinking along the same lines as Odd.

"The holomap is picking up something moving towards your location…I can't get a fix on what it is, but you better keep your guard up," Tucker replied before starting to contact the other teams.

"Okay, now I know how it feels to be on the receiving end of that," Jeremy stated exasperatedly, "How in the hell did you guys keep putting up with that for so long?"

"Easy, you at least gave us some heads up on what to expect. Once you got a lot more experience behind the console you could actually tell us what was coming. Tucker just needs a little while to get used to the controls before he'll be as good as you, Einstein," Ulrich replied with a slight smirk.

"If I didn't know you better, I'd be getting creeped out by that smirk, Ulrich," Jeremy sighed, visibly holding back a shiver.

"That's not stopping me," Odd proclaimed loudly as he performed a full-body shiver in a very comical fashion. Aelita just giggled at the boys' current antics.

"Let's just get to the gateway and wait for everybody else to get there," Ulrich stated, putting his hands on his katanas. Everybody else nodded in agreement as they prepared their various weaponry and strolled over to the gate looming nearby. When they got there, they didn't have a very long wait as the gate suddenly shone very brightly.

"Jeremy, what's happening," Aelita cried out in shock.

"Somebody's coming through, it's the only explanation," Jeremy grimaced. They heard a motorcycle revving its engine and dove out of the way as said motorcycle came flying out of the archway with two unfamiliar riders. One of them slid off her seat and bowed as a very familiar and unwanted face came out of the gateway next.

"Evening novices," GEVI smirked as she set foot onto the molten ground and the light from the gate died just as suddenly as it had come to life, "And welcome to the last day of your virtual lives!" GEVI cackled maniacally as the person riding the motorcycle stretched out his hand and made a buster blade appear out of smoke. Then the female that had jumped off of the motorcycle made twin spiked fans appear in her hands in a flash of corrupted data. The group gasped as they recognized how the twin warriors weapons were summoned; they only knew of two people that wielded weapons like those, but didn't want to think about what their presence here must mean. "Rider, why don't you take care of the cat and the samurai; and Geisha, why don't you take on the two orb wielders."

"As you wish, my mistress," the tow warriors replied as they went off to their assigned duties, each giving their own signs of resistance against GEVI's command. 'Rider' was obviously tensing his muscles in ways that could broadcast his resistance to the control he was under to a seasoned warrior, such as Ulrich. 'Geisha', on the other hand, let a single tear slide down her cheek as she obeyed her mistress's commands dutifully.

"You're forgetting about me," a familiar voice called from high in the air, "BONZAI, MOTHERFUCKER!" A blast of super-cooled air hit the ground in the space that GEVI had just been occupying mere moments ago, creating a pillar of ice that the white clad figure grabbed and slid down while balefully glaring at his former mistress.

"Ah, Ymir, I'm glad you're here," GEVI chuckled, "Why don't you help your fellow minions destroy these pesky humans."

"You're forgetting about two things: one, my names is Damon, not Ymir; and two, I don't serve you, psycho-bitch!"

"Do I have to remind you that you promised to serve me until deletion do you part," GEVI sighed.

"Since you already deleted a part of me, I'll consider that a breach of contract," Damon shouted as he fired another frozen blast at GEVI, who quickly dodged the incoming frozen projectile and brandished her whip at Damon. Damon backflipped out of the way as a red energy arrow pinned GEVI's whip to the ground. He smirked knowing just who had fired that godsend.

"Mind if we join the party," Xavier called out as his team rushed down the hill to a surprised GEVI, and a smirking Damon.

"Hey, Xavier! Why don't you four tackle GEVI; I've got a rude awakening for our motorcycle riding friend over here," Damon shouted at the red-headed archer.

"Sounds fair, just realize that this doesn't mean that we're willing to trust you yet," Xavier shouted back.

"Wouldn't expect you too," Damon muttered under his breath as he rushed off to help Odd and Ulrich.

Jeremy and Aelita's Battle

Geisha charged at Jeremy and Aelita, throwing her fans at the two warriors. They dived in opposite directions in an attempt to avoid the deadly objects only for them to glow a dark, tainted green and turn a sharp corner, coming right back at them. Jeremy jumped into the air as Aelita ducked in order to avoid this second attack, only to have them come right back at them once again. The two jumped right back to each other with their backs facing each other to avoid any attacks from their blind spots. The fans then spun around them at high speeds, creating a wall of air around them.

"Shit, we just fell into a trap," Jeremy cursed under his breath, "She has us right where she wants us!"

"Maybe not, have you been working on improving your ability with your power Jeremy," Aelita asked her blonde counterpart.

"Yeah, and I've got a few new usages, but they haven't been properly fine tuned yet," Jeremy replied, not seeing what she was getting at.

"Think that you might be able to direct your teleportation circle after you form it," Aelita inquired with a smirk. Recognition dawned on the blonde genius's face as he saw what was going on in her mind. He raised his hand to his head and made it glow like he would if he were using an energy field before swinging it into a wide circle, making a rift in the digital space-time continuum with the other end being in the underwater sector. He then grabbed the edge of it and swung it into the wall of air. Jeremy smirked as he saw one of the deadly projectiles go into the portal, effectively destroying the wall of air. He then closed the portal before it could come back through it, but not before a familiar purple-haired girl was able to slip through it.

Moonflower blinked and looked at her surroundings before seeing the battles going on around her and the giant gate that led out of Nysis. "You guys look like you could use some help," Moonflower offered with a smile as she pulled water molecules out of the air thanks to Damon's earlier entry.

"Why are you offering to help us out," Aelita asked with suspicion in her voice.

"Wasn't it a human that said, 'The enemy of my enemy is my friend,'" Moonflower replied as the water coalesced into a quarterstaff that she used to deflect the incoming fan.

"Sorry if I'm sounding like Odd here," Jeremy cut in, "but that's what you call hard water." His joke was met with an unceremonious smack to the back of his head from Aelita.

"I doubt that even Odd would make a joke that tasteless," Aelita sighed as her hands started glowing with pink energy. "Why aren't you making your energy fields Jeremy?"

"I can't for a few minutes," Jeremy responded as he got into a ready stance to dodge any more projectiles from the enemy, "The way that my teleportation circle works, it depletes all of the power cells that I have in my costume at once, leaving me helpless until they can recharge."

"So you've spent some of your spare time figuring out the limits of your power," Aelita declared as she dodged Geisha's fan again, "It may seem really over-powered, but the drawbacks are really brutal!"

"Why do you think that I don't use it that often," Jeremy replied as he rolled under Geisha's fan yet again, the blue lines on his outfit slowly starting to come back to life.

"Um, I think that we should really be spending more time worrying about the enemy in front of us than Jeremy's powers," Moonflower chimed in as she batted away Geisha's fan for what felt like the millionth time. Jeremy and Aelita blushed as they turned back towards Geisha to see black ichor dribbling down her arm into her hand before it coalesced into another fan.

"Did you really think that the mistress wouldn't give me a way to recover lost weapons," Geisha inquired rhetorically as she launched the new projectile at the three warriors. She then started making more of the ichor go down into her hands, hinting at what she had planned.

"This has bad news written all over it," Jeremy groaned as his suit finally came back up to full power, "But at least the cloud does have a silver lining." Jeremy accentuated this comment by forming a ball of blue energy into his hand and holding it out towards Aelita. She responded quickly by making her pink energy field and pressing it into Jeremy's.

"POLARITY," they yelled in unison as they launched the purple ball of energy at their enemy. She simply smirked as she used her freshly formed fans to block the attack before deflecting it right back at them. Aelita was able to dodge quickly, but Jeremy wasn't so fortunate. The purple ball hit him square in the chest, covering him in a purple aura before he collapsed in upon himself, leaving only a slightly smoking crater as proof that he had ever been there at all.

"But how," Aelita inquired, surprised at the fan-wielding enemy's counterattack.

"Don't you remember, these fans can reflect energy attacks…such as your polarity attack," Geisha smirked. Aelita gasped as realization dawned upon her. These weren't just any servants of GEVI; they were her friends Yumi and William. "Recognize me now, don't you."

"Yumi, we can help you; you don't have to do this," Aelita pleaded with her former ally.

"No, I just choose to serve my mistress," Yumi deadpanned as she threw her two fans and had all four of her fans encircle the two warriors in a wall of deadly wind.

"I think that, as you humans say, the map says we're fucked," Moonflower grimaced as she tried to think of a way out of the situation they were in.

"I think you're right," Aelita replied, trying to mull over what had happened thus far.

Ulrich and Odd's Battle

"Laser Arrow," Odd shouted as he fired five of his arrows at Rider. He simply held up his large sword to block the incoming projectiles and turned his head to follow Ulrich getting behind him using his Super Sprint.

"Arc Blades," Ulrich called out as he started slashing his swords rapidly, unleashing yellow blades of energy with each slash. Rider simply smirked behind his helmet and started spinning himself around, unleashing four blue energy blades that stayed connected to him as they continued to spiral outward. His spiraling energy blades slashed through all of Ulrich's attacks easily as he spun in Odd's direction.

"Why is it that all of GEVI's minions just love to come after me," Odd groaned as he back flipped out of the way, firing more Laser Arrows as he dodged the spinning blades of doom. Ulrich saw a chance to attack and used his Super Sprint to build up speed before jumping over the energy blades and tackling Rider to the ground, ending his assault.

Ulrich put his katanas to Rider's chest before declaring, "Tell me one good reason why I shouldn't just kill you now!" Rider just let the visor to his helmet slide up, making Ulrich gasp in surprise.

"Because if you do that while I'm infected by the viral bitch, there's a good chance that I won't be coming back to Earth," William responded, "Besides, you'll lose a good source of inside information as to what GEVI's planning."

"Why should I trust you," Ulrich hissed vehemently.

"Ask Xavier and Sahra about that one, they'll understand it way better than I do," William responded, "Now let's put on a show for GEVI so that she doesn't start realizing that something's up." William then kicked Ulrich off of him before sliding the visor back down to cover his face. He stabbed his blade at Odd, making an energy blade erupt from the tip of his sword. Odd, being caught completely off guard, simply waved as he was devirtualized by the attack.

"Where's Yumi," Ulrich inquired as he clashed blades with William.

"She's right over there fighting Jeremy, Aelita, and Moonflower," William responded as he broke away from their clash and rushed to clash again. "She put up one hell of a fight to stop herself from being infected, but GEVI just pumped a lot of her purest viral strain into her system to eventually overcome her. She was almost wiped from doing it, but now Yumi is her lead general."

Ulrich jumped back and unleash a couple of arc blades before jumping back into the fray with his infected ally. "Why weren't you so easily infected then," Ulrich growled.

"I dunno, maybe because I've already been infected by a similar strain twice," William offered, seemingly unsure of his answer himself. He cursed his luck as he saw Damon running at him.

"Hey asshole, why don't you just run back under GEVI's skirt, I'm sure she'll protect you," Damon shouted as he jumped into the fray and started throwing vicious kicks and punches at the black clad warrior.

"The name's William, Frosty," he smirked in response as he used Super Smoke to retreat a few feet away from their tag team attacks.

"Why are you helping us out," Ulrich asked the white-clad fighter beside him.

"Because I got used and tossed aside by GEVI. Besides, the enemy of my enemy is my friend," Damon replied with a shrug as he fired arctic blasts at the enemy in front of him.

"You know that you're going to have a long fight ahead of you to build our trust back up," Ulrich stated as he fired his arc blades at William, putting him on the defensive.

"And I'm willing to try, since I'm no longer being influenced by the other me," Damon replied as he dodged William's energy stab.

"Other me," Ulrich gasped, sounding very confused. William took advantage of this hesitation and knocked Ulrich's katanas away with a blast of Super Smoke. He then sheathed his huge blade, making a silent challenge to fight the both of them in hand to hand combat.

"Now, this is going to be fun," Damon grinned as he charged at William, fist reared back and ready to strike.

Team Chess's Battle

GEVI was chuckling as she dodged all of the red arrows being fired at her. "I thought that you were better than this XANA…I guess that you weren't immune to the effect of living with human scum after all. Oh well, it's a pity really," GEVI mused, pissing off Xavier in the process making him fire his arrows more rapidly and less accurately.

"Do you ever shut up, you BITCH," Xavier shouted with sweat beading on his virtual brow.

"Why don't you stand still and FIGHT," Erethyr shouted as she slid in between her rage forms, settling on her second one for now. She ran at a smirking GEVI, trying to engage her in close combat. Sam used her Super Sprint and was running around GEVI, throwing shuriken at random intervals in an attempt to throw her off guard. GEVI merely yawned as she snatched the shuriken out of the air and threw them at Xavier while blocking Erethyr's attacks.

"What's the matter Erethyr? To afraid to enter you final rage form, or are you just incapable of it," GEVI smirked flippantly, causing Erethyr's face to flush with anger.

"I'll show you who's afraid to go all out," Erethyr replied as her aura started to sink into her skin. GEVI just shook her head at the enraged maiden taking the bait so easily and cracked her whip, wrapping it around Erethyr's neck.

"If the bait is obvious, weakling, don't take it," GEVI declared with a bored tone as she quickly electrocuted Erethyr, devirtualizing her.

"Crap, we're fighting a losing battle here and I've yet to do a single thing," Alan thought to himself as he raised his hands and clicked his daggers together, forming his now glowing golden bracelet. "I just hope that the others get here soon…DATA DRAIN," he shouted as a golden beam of light shot towards GEVI. A black ichor bubbled out of her back and dropped in front of the beam, forming a clone just before it hit. GEVI thought nothing of it and turned her attention back towards Sam. It wasn't until she heard a shriek of agonizing pain and felt her clone disintegrate that she became worried about her adversary.

"What the hell was that," GEVI shouted as she turned around to face Alan, swatting a shuriken out of the air as she did so. Alan's golden bracelet was emitting steam from the runes on it as it started to glow again. GEVI looked down at where her clone previously was and grimaced at the bubbling black smear on the ground that hadn't been there moments earlier. "I think that I may have to actually try in order to stop you…Alan, wasn't it?"

"Wow, what an honor," Alan drawled, lacing his voice with as much sarcasm as possible, "The 'Great Almighty GEVI' remembers my name just after she avoided getting reformatted. I think that I'm going to have to remedy this situation…DATA DRAIN!" Another golden beam of light shot out from Alan's weapon, but this time GEVI was prepared for it. She waited until she could see a shadow creeping up behind her and ducked beneath the deadly light. Unfortunately for Sam, she was right in the path of it.

"AAHHHH," Sam shouted in pain as the searing beam of golden light hit her.

"Crap, let's just reformat your life points to zero so there won't be any lasting damage," Alan thought to himself as he slightly adjusted his attack to make the damage far less permanent than what he had been planning for GEVI.

"And I thought that I was the only traitorous one here," GEVI smirked in her crouched position, "But even with your ability, I bore of this. Geisha! Rider! Finish off your battles quickly! We're leaving for the Core Processor!"

"Yes, my mistress," Yumi said with glee as she closed her razor-edged wind wall on Aelita and Moonflower. Aelita was immediately devirtualized while Moonflower was heavily wounded, laying on the ground and slowly becoming wireframe.

"Yes…my mistress," William replied through gritted teeth. He winked before putting the visor to his helmet back down and appearing to be trying to hold himself back again. He shot his smoke blasts at Damon and Ulrich, knocking them back several feet nearby Moonflower, before summoning his motorcycle from more of his smoke. The engine roared to life as he pulled up nearby Yumi and GEVI, allowing them to get on.

"Until we meet again weaklings…and Alan," GEVI purred as the motorcycle was steered away from the remaining group before dissipating into smoke, riders and all. It was after a few moments that Damon remembered seeing Moonflower start to dissolve.

"Moonflower," Damon whispered as he closed the remaining distance between himself and his sister born from his subconscious. "Please, don't leave me…you're the only one left that I can trust!"

"Don't worry, Damon," Moonflower choked out as she slowly felt herself depixelating, "I will always remain by your side, in one form or another." She winced as the depixelization process sped up. She placed her hand on Damon's shoulder before whispering, "I've heard about you humans kissing as an expression of your emotions, and I'd like to experience this strange ritual before I lose my form altogether."

"Moonflower," Damon shouted as he gave in to her dying wish, "Please, don't go!"

As they drew closer, Moonflower started glowing a light violet hue and pushed the piece that made her alive into Damon, causing the pixels to suddenly fly to Damon, fusing with his outfit. "Silly, I'm not going anywhere. Even though you won't see this form anymore, my presence will always cling to you." With a smile the last part of Moonflower fell apart and was absorbed into Damon's costume. In a bright flash, Damon's costume changed into a white copy of his original jumpsuit. The only trace of color anywhere on it was the faint outline of a grey Celtic star emblazoned on the circle on his chest.

"MOONFLOWER," Damon cried out to the heavens, now feeling truly alone in this and any other world. Just then, Team Ghost climbed over the lip in the depression in the rocky terrain and saw the damage that had been caused by the battles and Damon kneeling on the ground shouting the name of the female AI.

"And then there were two," Raymundo breathed in a tone so low that only Sahra heard him. She grimaced at the thought of losing a friend, but at the sight of Damon, she realized that there was still hope for his salvation; and she for one, was willing to give him that chance.

Core Processor, Nysis

"I never realized just how useful you humans could be," GEVI purred, looking at her minions, "I must gather more of your kind and turn them into my slaves."

"What do you wish of me, my mistress," Yumi questioned without hesitation.

"I want you to 'recruit' more humans for my army," GEVI said with an evil smirk, "While I focus on making Rider here more obedient to our cause."

"As you wish my mistress, I'll make preparations to go to the human realm at once," Yumi replied as she walked out of the antechamber.

"How much more loyalty do you wish of me, my mistress," William gritted out.

"I wish for you to stop resisting my strain," GEVI stated, no room for arguments being left behind, "I'm surprised that you're still offering resistance with how much of my strain has been pumped into your system. Some day you will make a fine general in my bid to destroy and conquer the wretched humans. Until that day, you shall not leave my sight."

"Great," William thought to himself, "That's going to make my spy work just that much harder.