Chapter 15.
Heroes Redemption
Xervix stood up straight and stared at William. Behind him he saw Aelita was still out cold. Xervix's eyes glowed bright red with anger as he turned his attention to William. His predecessor's apprentice, his tool, now stood between him and his goal. William was once Xana's proudest instrument. Time and time again it would send William into battle against the gang. The only time William was defeated was when he was outnumbered. William was really the strongest of the whole group. He wasn't the most agile, or knew any kind of martial arts. But what he lacked in skill, he made up for in power. When William hit someone, he hit like a train. He was a powerhouse on Lyoko, and now it appeared that he was against him.
"I was wondering whose side you would choose. I guess now my questions been answered." Xervix said as he folded his arms.
William held his sword close to him, ready to fight, ready to extract his revenge on the creature that ruined his life. It caught him when his guard was down. And for several months, he was its puppet, just a small worthless puppet. And when he came back to earth, Yumi left him, and his parents were angered by his somewhat recent attitude. He felt some what guilty for what happened to Aelita. And for a few months, he himself fell into a deep depression. And now he was prepared to take his revenge on the creature that ruined his life.
"You know, William. I can forgive your recent blasphemy, and offer you a chance." Xervix said as he stared down at William. "There's still a good chance for you to come out of this unscathed and successful."
William slowly lowered his sword as he thought about what Xervix just said. "What do you mean?"
Xervix slowly started to walk around William in a circle. He constantly kept his eyes locked on William.
"I kept you for months. In the time I had you I learned everything about you. You are in love with that Yumi girl; keep her. You want to make your parents proud of you; they will be. You want to try and fix the world of its dangerous future; by joining me you will. All I ask is that you rejoin me once again."
"My parents are proud of me!!!" William shouted as he turned to face Xervix.
"Are they? Are they truly proud of you? They constantly look for you to succeed in great things. Wonderful things. But instead, you constantly let them down. As you do with all the other people you know and care for. You always let them down."
"That's not true Xervix. William came to help us, he didn't let us down." Jeremy said.
"Yes that's true. But for how long will it take before he lets you down again?" Xervix said. "He did once, he'll do it again. After all, history always repeats itself."
William slowly lowered his sword and stabbed it into the ground. He stared at the ground as he thought about what Xervix was saying.
"I can give it all to you William. Yumi, your pride… and I'll give you more. All you have to do is serve me."
William slowly looked behind him as he Aelita slowly started to regain consciousness. He thought about how it would feel to date Yumi again, to regain her respect. And to finally please his parent who had for so long wanted something to be proud of William for.
"Jeremy... I'm sorry." William murmured as he stepped away from his sword.
"William! No, don't!!!" Jeremy said back in the lab as the elevator door revealed a tired and worn out Odd. "Please William, don't listen to him"
"A wise choice my friend." Xervix said as he slowly made his way towards Aelita, "A wise choice indeed."
Aelita shook her head as she looked up in time to see Xervix standing over her. She tried to get up, but she was too weak and light headed to run. This usually happened after the Scyphozoa released her. She moaned a little as Xervix reached down and grabbed her by the neck. He slowly raised her up to her face and gazed into her eyes. She winced in fear as she tried to bring up her hand to fire an energy field. Xervix grabbed her wrist and squeezed, forcing Aelita to loose the power to fire her shot.
In the lab, Jeremy gasped in fear as he watched Xervix grab Aelita. Tears of fear formed in his eyes as he watched his best friend, once again in the hands of a monster. Odd sat in the corner, exhausted and tired. He listened as anger and sorrow raced through his body for his friends. He was powerless to do anything. Yumi and Ulrich were still in the hands of the Guardians. And Aelita was too weak to do anything. And now William had betrayed them again.
"Jeremy." William said. "I'm sorry for what I did. I hope you can forgive me. For what I'm about to do!!!!!!" William yelled as he grabbed his sword and swiped at Xervix. The blade scratched Xervix in the back as he screamed in pain. Xervix dropped Aelita as she hit the ground. Xervix turned to face William as he took another swipe at him. Xervix brought up his scythe as he blocked William's large sword.
"You pathetic peon. How dare you strike at me?!" Xervix screamed as he jumped back.
"I wanted so bad to do that to you. After all you did." William yelled as he leaped into the air and raised his sword above his head. He fell next to Xervix and slammed his sword at him. Xervix stepped to the left as the sword barely missed him. Xervix threw his fist at William, catching him in the jaw and launching him several feet. William landed on his back and skidded to a halt as Xervix raised his right hand. A pure black glow resonated from his hand as he prepared to fire.
"Fine then, my old friend. You are my new enemy." Xervix yelled as he fired a black beam at William.
"SUPER SMOKE!!!" William yelled as he vanished into a white mist. The mist flew toward Xervix as Xervix fired several shots at the mist. William rematerialized underneath Xervix and caught him with an uppercut. Xervix stumbled a few inches before William ran up to him and drop kicked him, causing Xervix to fall on his back. Xervix swung his foot around and caught William in the knee, forcing him to drop to his knees. Xervix pulled his feet up and catapulted himself. His feet caught William in the face as Xervix landed on his feet. Xervix brought his foot up and slammed it in William's face. William rolled out of the way before Xervix could slam his foot on his face. William ran towards Xervix and kicked him square in the chest. Xervix bent down as William punched Xervix in his jaw. Xervix growled as William attempted to kick Xervix. Xervix caught William's foot and grabbed his ankle. Xervix stood up and twirled William around like a doll, slamming William to the ground.
"You were always weak, William" Xervix said as he held out his hand, balled into a fist. A black mist appeared as he prepared to fire.
"You always did like to show off too much!" William said as he slammed his fist into Xervix's hand. The black beam fired and hit a nearby rock. William squirmed his way away from Xervix and leaped into the air. He landed behind Xervix as he turned around and grabbed Xervix's chin. He then placed his knees into Xervix's back as he pulled all his weight towards him. Xervix fell on his back and landed on Williams knees. Xervix flopped to the ground as William stood up quickly.
William ran over to his sword and picked it up. He turned to face Xervix, as he struggled to stand up.
"William. I know you want revenge, but you need to get Aelita to a tower so she can recover and free Ulrich and Yumi" Jeremy said from the lab.
"But why worry now, I can finish this guy off." William said as he sliced his sword at Xervix. His sword knocked Xervix's Scythe out of his hand. William brought his sword up and prepared to bring it down. Only this time, Xervix caught the sword before it hit him. Xervix grabbed the sword and tossed William to the side.
"But what if you can't, William? What if you get devirtualized or something? Then this will have all been for nothing." Jeremy pleaded. William thought for a few seconds and ran towards Xervix.
"WILLIAM PLEASE!!" Jeremy yelled.
"Trust me Belpois." William said as he stabbed the ground right in front of Xervix. He then lifted himself in the air while holding onto the swords handle and jumped over Xervix. William landed right behind Xervix and rolled in time to miss a blast from Xervix's dark beam. William ran over and grabbed the still unconscious Aelita. William and Aelita vanished into a cloud of smoke as Xervix stabbed the ground where they once stood at. Xervix threw his scythe to the ground as he roared into the air.
Back in the lab Jeremy and watched in amazement as William and Aelita flew towards the nearest tower. In the corner, Odd was still out cold from the trip back. And on Lyoko, Ulrich and Yumi were captured by two Guardians. And Aelita was low on life points and was phasing in and out of consciousness, so his only hope for now was William, who was running for not just his life, but the lives of his friends as well.
William started to feel a little slower. He felt like he had run quite the distance in a minute. He slowly materialized just a few feet from the tower. He was still holding Aelita, who was still unconscious. He slowly began to jog a little when a sudden laser blast fired next to his feet. He slowly turned to see a group of Sentries standing to his left. They slowly separated as a taller, dark gray creature slowly made its way towards William. It was a few feet taller than the Sentries, and was dark gray. It had a larger cylinder like tube on its left arm, and sported a pair of blades on its right arm. Its head was pointed and very sharp looking. Almost like a blade. The Xana Symbol was located on its shoulder and was glowing red.
"Uh hey, Belpois? There's a kinda... defender looking guy here." Will said as he slowly laid Aelita down.
"You got to get Aelita in the tower. If you two get devirtualized, it's over for Ulrich and Yumi." Jeremy said as he ran a scan of the newer, larger monster.
William looked at Aelita. Hope this works. He thought as he held out his hand. A small puff of smoke left his hand and wrapped itself around Aelita. Slowly the smoke raised her into the air and took her into the Tower.
Inside the tower, the walls were blue with several graphics and symbols floating on the wall. The smoke slowly sat Aelita on the ground as she laid there in a dead sleep, her life points slowly recovering.
The "Smoke Float," as William called it, had drained him a little. But after a minute he felt a little better. He raised his sword and slung it over his shoulder.
"Who dies first?" William said with a smile on his face.
"William. That Defender like monster has double the life points as those Sentries. Looks like the weak points in the chest area. Watch out. It's got a sword as well." Jeremy said over the intercom.
"Well. At least one of these monsters has sense to bring a knife to a knife fight." William said.
The Defender made a loud grunting noise as it held out its hand and pointed towards William. The Sentries raised their guns and fired at William. William held his sword out and reflected some of the shots. Unlike Ulrich, he couldn't throw the laser shots back at the monsters like Ulrich could at times. But he could still deflect the laser shots. William materialized into smoke and flew behind the trio of Sentries. He came up behind the group as he sliced through all three of the monsters. The monsters split in half as they fell to the floor and exploded. William turned to face the Defender. It had its gun pointed at him as it glowed green. William rolled to the left as a large green ball left the Defender's gun and hit the very area William was standing at. The ball exploded in a green flash as pieces of the ground spread over the entire area.
William looked at the explosion with a sign of worry on his face. "Oh, great. Not only are they bigger, but now they're louder." Will grunted as he stood up and held his sword next to his face.
The Defender turned and lowered the gun. It raised its right hand, the pair of blades on its right hand flipped outward and around its hand, forming a sword. The Defender took a defensive step and prepared to strike William down. William held his sword behind him as he prepared for the Defender to attack.
The Defender sprinted towards William. It threw its sword in front as it attempted to stab him. William side stepped and brought his sword down towards the Defender's head. The monster quickly jumped back a few feet and ran to the left. William ran to the right as the two ran in a circle of each other. The Defender brought up its gun and fired another shot at William. William jumped out of the way as the green orb exploded right behind him. William landed on his feet and darted towards the defender. The defender pulled its sword to its right as it prepared to jab William in the chest. William jumped over the Defender. As William descended he sliced the defenders back, leaving a white scar on its back. William landed on his knees as the Defender stumbled a little.
"Careful William. He still has a few life points left." Jeremy said as Odd stood behind him watching.
"How many do I have?" William asked. "Uhh not much. Better finish him off." Jeremy replied.
"SHOW THAT FREAKY MONSTER WHO'S IN CHARGE, WILL." Odd cheered in the background.
William held his sword with one hand as the Defender prepared for a second attack. It suddenly raised its gun again and fired a 3rd time. This time the ball exploded next to William. The force knocked William off his feet. William landed on his side. He felt his head bounce off the ground as he landed. William's sword slid a few feet from him as the Defender approached William.
William glanced up in time to see the Defender stab the ground next to him. William moved his head to the left as he ducked in time to see his reflection in the blade of the sword. The Defender then brought its gun up and pointed it at William's head. The gun's barrel glowed green as a green orb appeared in it. William grabbed the barrel of the gun as he attempted to free himself from the monster's grasp. At the last second, William super smoked into the ground as the sentry shot the ground where William last laid. The Defender watched as the smoke trail ran up to its sword and materialized next to it. The Defender raised its gun as it prepared to fire another shot, only to notice that its barrel was burnt and damaged. The Defender grunted in curiosity as it looked back at William.
"Wow. Sucks to be you." William joked.
"William. It's now or never. I lost Xervix on the map. But I still have Yumi and Ulrich, but that doesn't mean they're safe. Hurry up and end it." Jeremy said.
"Got ya, Belpois." William said as he prepared for one final attack. The Defender stood with its back toward the tower. It stood completely still as it contemplated its possibilities. A quiet silence filled the area around the tower. William squinted his eyes in anger as he prepared to strike. The Defender growled a ferociously violent growl as it prepared to attack. The Defender ran towards William as William ran towards him. William sliced at the Defender as The Defender sliced back.
A pink orb hit the Defender, causing it to explode into pieces. William skidded to a stop as he passed through the cloud of what was once a Monster. William looked around as he tried to figure out what happened. He slowly turned to the tower to see a small pink haired girl standing there with a smile on her face.
"I never thought I would see you here on Lyoko, William." Aelita said with her hands on her hips.
"Well you know. I always help my friends out. By the way, that's two you and Jeremy owe me." William said.
Aelita smiled as she led William into the tower to replenish his life points.
William stood towards the entrance as Aelita sat in the middle. She regained consciousness but still didn't replenish her life points all the way. She still had a ways to go. William actually felt more and more alive the longer he stood there.
"So this thing, this Xervix guy. He claims to be a clone of Xana?" William asked.
"That's the story. I heard it myself before I called you. And Aelita realized it when she was talking to it." Jeremy said in the lab.
"It was like talking to a demon. He spoke about wanting to purge the world of its sins and building a kind of new empire on earth." Aelita said.
"I've been going over most of the stuff he downloaded. I have no idea what it is." Jeremy replied.
"I thought you knew the supercomputer down to the last little bolt." Odd said.
"Well it appears that there are some things on the super computer that were locked away in a type of hidden file. The only one who could access the file was the one who had a special access code to that file. So since then, it's been on the Super computer as a type of junk data. It was hidden from us, and Xana. I still don't know what it is. Only Xervix knows and from what he said, whatever the file contained isn't good." Jeremy said.
"I know what it is." Aelita said as she sat on the floor, she slowly curled up her legs so that her knees were touching her chin. "He called it my family legacy. My father built Lyoko to protect it, and to hide it from me. He said the key to finding it is hidden in Lyoko and Carthage . And that I am the key to using it."
"Using what?" William said.
"I don't know. I can't understand what it is that Xervix wants with me." Aelita said as she closed her eyes and rested her forehead on her knees. "And now because of it, Yumi and Ulrich are in trouble, and there is another monster out to try and kill us. I didn't want this. I wanted to put my past and Lyoko behind me. I wanted to move on with my life and look to the future, but now it seems I can't even leave my past behind."
Jeremy closed his eyes as he heard the words come out of Aelita's mouth. He started to feel his eyes water up as he realized that she was right. Aelita deserved to start a fresh new life. She deserved to forget Lyoko and move on. But now she was dragged into it again, dragged back into her past.
"Hey come on. We killed Xana once. And we can stop this copy of him as well." Odd said in an attempt to cheer everyone up. "Once you stop one freaked out program, you feel like you can stop another. All we gotta do is zap it the same way we did Xana."
"I don't think another multi agent program would work. It could alter its code in order to avoid it. And even then I don't think I would want to, especially after the last one I made." Jeremy said.
"Well you know, we could sit here and talk about how we can kill this guy. Or we could go out there, get Yumi and Ulrich and Then!! …figure out what we can do about this thing." William said as he walked over to Aelita and held out his hand. Aelita looked up and slowly reached for his hand. William pulled her up and slowly made his way towards the exit. Aelita followed close behind.
As the two left the tower they stepped outside to see that there was no sign of Xervix or his army. "Jeremy do you still have Ulrich and Yumi on the map?" William asked.
"Yeah, they're still at the same place where they were captured. But it looks like Xervix and a couple of Sentries and Defenders are standing guard around the area. It looks like they're guessing that you're gonna try and rescue Ulrich and Yumi. They must have guessed right." Jeremy said as he flipped the map back to William and Aelita's position.
"Have you got an idea on how to free those two?" William asked.
"I can create a copy of Ulrich and Yumi, we did the same thing when Yumi and I were captured by a Guardian." Aelita said.
"What's it like in that thing?" Odd asked.
"Well it was more like a deep sleep. Once it absorbs you, you start to feel extremely drowsy and soon, you're out cold. It's also kinda painful, and you loose a lot of life points once it grabs you. Once someone pulls you out of it, you're completely drained of both your life points and physically drained as well." Aelita explained.
There was a sudden buzzing noise. The over board and the over bike virtualized to their left. William mounted the over bike while Aelita got on the over board.
The two spread off in the direction of Ulrich and Yumi. After a few minutes of riding, the two got off the vehicles and slowly snuck behind a rock. William poked his head out from behind the rock to see Xervix standing in between the pair of Guardians. He was leaning on his scythe with his eyes closed as the Sentries and Defenders stood watch. Off in the distance, there stood three blocks, their heads flipping around in search of their targets. A large Krabe came into view. It stood behind the blocks and faced the opposite direction. The place was crawling with Xervix's monsters.
William noticed that Xervix wasn't moving at all. He looked like he was asleep. "Jeremy. It looks like Xervix is... sleeping. He isn't moving much either." William said.
Jeremy ran a bio scan on Xervix and discovered a startling fact. "He does have a weakness." Jeremy said out loud.
"What is it?" Odd asked.
"He is losing strength. The longer he fights, the more strength he losses. It's a side effect from the hack. Part of him must have been downloaded into the mainframe of the super computer. That explains how he can control the monsters." Jeremy explained.
Aelita slowly poked her head out from behind William's head. She saw that with all the monsters, it would be impossible to try and free Ulrich and Yumi. Slowly she started to devise a plan on how to free her friends.
"Jeremy? Do you think you could materialize the Over-Wing?" Aelita kindly asked.
"Got an idea already? OK what is it?" Jeremy asked.
"Well first virtualize the Over-Wing. Then I'll tell you." Aelita said. There was a loud buzzing noise as the Over-Wing virtualized next to the Over-Bike.
"Now can you tell me?"
"I don't think I should. You'll freak out if I tell you." Aelita said. She slowly leaned over to William as she whispered the plan of attack. Williams face slowly turned from wonder to a sinister smile as Aelita detailed the plan. "Oh I like that idea." William said.
Minutes later, William and Aelita flew from behind the rock riding on the Over-Wing and Over-Bike. William drove past Xervix as he side stepped to avoid getting hit. William pulled out his sword and sliced through two of the Blocks and ran over a Sentry. The remaining Block turned and fired at William, who was able to block the shots with his sword. Aelita flew slowly overhead as Xervix finally located his target. He spread his raven like wings as he took to the air.
"Back for more are we child?" Xervix said as he gave chase to the Over-Wing.
"Aelita, what are you doing? Ulrich and Yumi are in the other direction." Jeremy said in a surprised voice.
Aelita didn't answer. She looked behind her to see that Xervix was in fact in hot pursuit. She accelerated as she fled for her life from the monster.
William quickly came to a stop as he turned to face the two remaining Sentries and the Block, which was firing at him. He revved up the bike and quickly shot towards the Sentries. He quickly jumped off the bike as it slammed into the Sentries. As he landed, he threw his sword at the top of the Krabe, causing it to explode in a loud deafening explosion. He turned in time to see the Defender fire a green orb at him. He quickly materialized into smoke and flew toward his sword. He materialized in time to grab his sword and turn to face the Defender. The Defender prepared another shot as William dodged several shoots from the Block. William remembered how hard it was to fight the Defender by itself. But now it had back up. He was in trouble.
Xervix slowly caught up with Aelita as he held out his hand and prepared to strike. He fired a black ray from his arm. The beam hit the back of the Over-Wing. The hovercraft started to shake and flutter back in forth as the craft began to fall to the ground. The craft suddenly turned transparent as it slowly faded away. Aelita managed to jump off before the Over-Wing devirtualized. She landed one the ground and broke into a sprint. Xervix quickly turned around and flew towards her. Aelita darted back and forth as she tried to loose her pursuer. Xervix quickly flew near her and reached for her head. Aelita squealed as she ducked down in time to see Xervix fly past her. Aelita held out her hand, but before she could, Xervix turned and fired another black beam at her. The beam knocked her off her feet as she fell to the ground. Aelita just laid there as Xervix walked up to her. His victory was so close that he could see it.
"Aelita get up!!! AELITA!!!" Jeremy said as he stood up out of the chair in a panic. Odd gripped the armrest of the chair so hard that the leather was actually starting to tear. "What's wrong with her? Why doesn't she get up???" Odd asked.
"Aelita, please get up. William, help her please!!" Jeremy yelled into the ear piece. William stayed in the same place as he fought the Defender.
"This is where you belong, child. Beneath my feet." Xervix said as he reached down and picked her up. Aelita's face was calm and peaceful. It almost looked like she was sleeping. Xervix stared at her for a second. He reached out to touch her face when suddenly her eyes opened up.
"You say you're nothing like Xana. Well that means we can trick you the same way we did him. Just like this." Aelita said as she suddenly flashed a static like look on her face and fazed out like a burned out light bulb. Xervix suddenly realized he was tricked. "A DECOY!!!" Xervix yelled. He attempted to spread his wings and fly off, but he was too tired from chasing the clone. He then decided to try and sprint to the fight scene. He had to hurry or he would lose this moment.
William jumped back in time to avoid another shot from the Defender's gun. The Defender slowly lowered its cannon once more as it prepared to fire. Suddenly there was a whistle. The Defender turned to see Aelita standing next to Ulrich's Guardian.
"You know, I could shoot it." Aelita said.
Williams sword suddenly burst through the Defender as it exploded. "But I wanted to trash this one." William said. Aelita chuckled a little as she walked over to the Guardians.
"Sorry Jeremy, but I didn't want Xervix to find out about our plan." Aelita said sympathetically.
"Just next time give me a hint. I mean stuff like that's gonna give me an anxiety attack, and I think I'm too young for one of those." Jeremy replied with a slight joke.
"I knew she was faking all along." Odd said.
"But you were literally tearing up the seat. Look at these marks." Jeremy said as he pointed at some scratch marks on the chair.
"You can't prove that was me." Odd said.
"Okay guys, let's free Ulrich and Yumi before Xervix comes back." Jeremy said as he flipped up a few screens so he could view Ulrich and Yumi's health stats.
"So how does this work. Do we just slice at the blob things or what?" William asked.
Aelita bent down on her knees and placed the tips of her fingers together as she suddenly started to sing an almost angelic song. William had never heard anything like it before, it was in his mind, beautiful. Almost like a song from heaven. Suddenly to the left of Ulrich's Guardian, a copy of Ulrich appeared. The Guardian suddenly started to flutter and fluctuate as it threw out Ulrich and attempted to capture the copy. Ulrich laid there on his back, he was unconscious and unresponsive. But all in all, he was alive.
"OK. Destroying the copy." Jeremy said over the intercom.
The Ulrich copy glowed inside as the Guardian suddenly exploded. Aelita ran over to Yumi's Guardian as she started to sing the same song again. William walked over towards Ulrich. Ulrich was starting to sit up slowly. He felt sore from the confinement inside the Guardian. Ulrich opened his eyes in time to see William standing over him. Ulrich panicked. He jumped on his hands and flipped into William. William fell backwards as Ulrich took up a defensive stance.
"Hey, wait a minute you idiot, I'm here to help you." William shouted.
Ulrich suddenly realized that William wasn't in the Xanafied outfit from when he was serving Xana. Ulrich slowly calmed down as he walked over towards William and held out his hand.
"Sorry. Old habits and all." Ulrich explained.
"Well, can't say I don't blame you." William responded as he stood up. William stood up in time to see the second Guardian explode. Ulrich ran over to the area where the Guardian exploded. He walked past Aelita as she was starting to stand up and saw Yumi, lying on the ground. He kneeled down and lifted her head up. He took his hand and slowly stroked her face.
"Wake up there sleeping beauty." Ulrich said. William and Aelita watched as Yumi slowly started to open her eyes. Her head hurt and her vision was still blurred. Her vision slowly started to return as she glanced into Ulrich's eyes. Even on Lyoko, his eyes always made her feel special.
"You're okay!" Yumi said in a relieved tone. She glanced over to see Aelita standing behind Ulrich. That's when she noticed William. He had a faint smile on his face as he watched the pair share a moment.
"William?" Yumi gasped in wonder. "What are you doing here?"
"William helped save us from Xervix. If it wasn't for him, we probably would all be dead by now." Aelita said as she walked towards William and leaned on his shoulder in a friendly way.
"Who called him?" Ulrich asked.
"I did. I didn't have much of a choice. It was that or watch you guys die." Jeremy explained.
"You guys... don't want me here do you?" William asked as he turned his back to hide his face. "I understand. I know why you two don't like me. I know why none of you trust me." William said as he laid his sword on the ground. He looked at the sky as he started to wonder what it was exactly he was doing. He saw the events of seven months flash back in his mind; he remembered everything about what happened.
"I didn't want this; I didn't want any of this. I know I've said sorry before. And I know that it can't fix the past. But I'm different now, I'm trying to change, I want to change. I wanna learn from my mistakes. I wanna better myself. I want to change. And I'm trying real hard." William said in a low almost mourning voice.
Suddenly a black beam hit Yumi in the back as she devirtualzed. Ulrich and stood up in time to see Xervix kick him in the face. William tried to grab his sword but was blasted in the leg by another black beam. William fell on his back, as Ulrich tried to get up, but noticed one of his katanas lying next to him. It was the sword Yumi held onto when the Guardian captured her. He reached for it. Suddenly he felt a large crushing feeling on his leg. He turned around in time to see Xervix place a large rock on his leg. He then turned to William and slammed another rock on his leg. Both boys where incapacitated.
"Now the threat still stands. If you save her, one of them will die." Xervix yelled at Jeremy. "Do you think the smoke and mirrors would have held me for long?" Xervix said as he pulled out his scythe. Aelita started to panic as she fired two energy balls at Xervix. Xervix blocked them with his scythe. He slowly approached Aelita.
Ulrich almost had a hold of his sword. He could feel his fingertips touching it. Finally he grabbed it and yelled at William. William looked in time to see Ulrich slide the sword towards him. William grabbed the sword and vaporized into smoke as he flew towards Aelita. He materialized in time to stand in between Xervix and Aelita.
"Sorry Aelita." William said as he stabbed her in the stomach, devirtualizing her on the spot. Xervix yelled in anger as he tried to shoot William. William vaporized into smoke again as he flew towards Ulrich and stabbed him as well. Ulrich devirtalized into a distortion of pixels and polygons.
William turned to Xervix and knew there was only one thing to do. He charged toward the monster with the katana in hand. Xervix picked up his scythe and swung at William. The blade hit William square in his chest and sent him flying off into the distance as he devirtualized. Xervix stood for a few seconds, and came to a conclusion.
"The test went well. I will need some... help." Xervix said as he looked around the area.
The scanner doors opened as William stumble out. He forgot just how hard the return trips were. His vision was a little blurred. He could barely make out figures and shapes and colors of the other people in the room. His hearing was also having problems. All he heard was a high pitched squeal, he couldn't hear or see anything. As his vision began to return, he felt someone grab his shoulder. He struggled to free himself till he heard someone call his name. He looked at the source of the voice, only to see a purple blob standing above him. His vision rapidly began to return as he could make out a face. It was Odd. William also began to notice Ulrich was lying next to a scanner. Inside the scanner he was laying next to, he saw Yumi sitting up inside the scanner. He saw Jeremy come into view as he helped Aelita step out of her scanner, she had one arm tossed around his neck and was slowly dragging her feet. She was having a little trouble, but she was managing. Odd put his arm around William as he helped him stand up. William's hearing also began to return as he started to notice Odd was talking to him.
"Hey are you OK there big guy?" Odd asked.
"I'm… OK." William said as his strength returned to him. He pushed away from Odd as he slowly stumbled his way out of the scanner.
Jeremy slowly sat Aelita down next to the wall. She was breathing heavily and was starting to regain consciousness. Her eyes fluttered a few seconds as she slowly began to move her legs and arms. She felt weak and tired, the floor was hard and cold, but it didn't matter to her, it felt good to sit down. The room was spinning slowly as she started to try and sit up. She felt light headed and sore. A usual sign that she had spent a few hours on Lyoko, and that she had been fighting for her life.
"I thought I lost you." Aelita said as she looked into Jeremy's eyes. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you about the plan. I didn't want you to worry."
"You scared the life out of me but... I'm just glad you're safe." Jeremy said as he leaned Aelita up and hugged her. He held her tightly, he didn't want to let go for fear that Xervix might come from nowhere and steal her away from him. He tried hard to hide his fear. If there was one thing Jeremy Belpois hated, it was to show his fear in public, especially for the thought of losing Aelita forever. Aelita slowly wrapped her arms around his back. She tried to keep them in place, but she was still weak. She felt tired and sore.
Ulrich started to attempt to stand up. His legs felt like jell-o; he couldn't balance himself enough to stand up straight. He slowly made his way around to face the Scanner. He knelt down and looked at Yumi. She was trying to move herself, but like Ulrich, couldn't find the strength to move. She noticed Ulrich on his hands and knees trying to make his way towards her.
"Don't push yourself. I'm fine." Yumi said as she tried to stop him from going any farther. "Are you okay?"
Ulrich crawled inside the scanner. It felt warm from the heat that it gave off when someone was either virtualized or devirtualized. He sat next to her as he attempted to catch his breath. Yumi laid her head on his shoulder as she rested. She saw William, limping towards the elevator door. He didn't look at anyone but the elevator. Yumi tried to get his attention but couldn't find the strength to speak any louder. Odd ran up to William as he tried to get him to stop. William didn't listen as he walked to the elevator and pushed the button to open the door. He slowly walked in and pressed the button to send the elevator up. Odd ran inside the elevator just in time for the door to close behind him.
"Why are you leaving, William?" Odd asked.
"I think its best that I did." William said with his back towards Odd. "You saw the way they acted when they realized I was there. I have tired time and time again to move on, but every time I do, they are always there to remind me in some way, state, or form."
"But William..."
The elevator door opened as it revealed the night sky. The air was cool and crisp; it was perhaps the coldest night they had since the weather started to heat up so badly.
"See you later Odd. If you guys ever need me, just call." William said as he slowly started to walk off into the distance. He still felt a little weak, but he had enough strength to get him back to the dorms. Odd watched as William slowly disappeared into the dark streets of the city.
William sat on his bed after his shower. He felt a little better after his shower, but was still a little tired. His room was still a mess from the argument he had with himself earlier. He looked at the pieces of broken mirror on the floor. He thought in his head, I forgot about that.
As he started to pick up his room, he heard a knock on the door. He walked over to the door and opened it. He was surprised to see Yumi and Ulrich both standing there. They still looked a little tired from a full day of fighting on Lyoko, but they were trying hard to hide the fact that they were also a little sore and worn.
"Can we come in?" Yumi said.
"Uhh yeah come on in." William said. He slowly walked backwards as Ulrich and Yumi both walked into the room.
William walked towards his desk as Ulrich and Yumi stood near the door. Ulrich put his hands in his pockets as Yumi tried to find the right words to say to start off with.
"So how are you feeling?" Ulrich said, trying to buy Yumi some time.
"Uh yeah, I still feel a little woozy but I'm OK." William said, tying to clean the room up a bit. "Where are the others?"
"Odd's in his room, and Jeremy and Aelita stayed at the factory to try and figure out what exactly is going on. And since tomorrow is Sunday, we took them a cot so one of them can sleep on it, which will most likely be Aelita. So more than likely, Jeremy will stay up trying to figure out what happened." Ulrich said.
Yumi looked towards Ulrich, a clear sign that she was ready to speak her mind on the subject at hand.
"Umm. About earlier. The things I said in the lounge, I'm sorry. I really shouldn't have said those things. And what happened seven months ago wasn't your fault. It was your first time, and we didn't really have time to train you. So for everything I said, and for what I might have made you think on Lyoko, and the past six months. I'm sorry." Yumi said in an apologetic tone.
"And, I'm sorry for anything I might have done in the past few months as well. I think maybe its time that the three of us put the past behind us and move on. Today, you actually risked your own life to try and save us. And we never got the chance to thank you for it. So from the bottom of my heart. And I'm sure Yumi is thinking the same way. Thank you for what you did."
"No it's OK. I understand. In fact, I never got the chance to thank you guys for freeing me seven months ago." William said.
"Consider us even then, for today." Yumi said with a smile. "Sooo. Friends?" She said as she held out her hand for a high five.
"Friends." William said as he slapped her hand. Ulrich also held out his hand as William slapped his hand as well.
Ulrich turned to face the door when he noticed the broken glass on the floor.
"What happened here?" He asked as he shifted his foot through the glass.
"A bug." William said.
"A bug???" Yumi asked in response.
"Yeah a, uh, spider." William murmured.
"A spider?" Ulrich questioned.
"Yeah, a big hairy one. Like the big ones from King Kong."