Falling

Ulrich was conflicted. Stay here on Earth and see things get worse or go where the voice wanted him to go. He didn't want to go to the unknown, though. He didn't know what was in store if he did decide to do the latter. Honestly, there was no way to know what was in store for either option.

He was glad that Odd wasn't in the room for once. Okay, they were avoiding him, but he had the peace and quiet of not having Odd around.

It was then that a knock sounded on the door. It was only just loud enough that he was able to hear it and when he opened the door Odd stood there out of breath and motioned for Ulrich to follow him.

Ulrich did as Odd said, just to see if he'd find out why Odd and the others hadn't been talking to him at all.

It wasn't too much later that they arrived at the Factory, with Jeremie working frantically at the computer. "I've sent Aelita and Yumi over and things are alright, but be careful. Xana's done something to the scanner program and I don't know what kind of effect it will have on you guys. I'm at the ready in case you start feeling like something's wrong, so just let me know."

Ulrich was angry, but he bit that back. He knew he needed to help Aelita and the others because it wasn't just their lives at stake.

(*)(*)(*)(*) Lyoko (*)(*)(*)(*)

"The fighting isn't too far from your position you two. Just go in carefully and you might be able to sneak up behind them and get some monsters out before they notice you've arrived," Jeremie told the two as they appeared on Lyoko.

"Yeah, yeah, Einstein. I think me and Ulrich can handle a few monsters, right buddy?" Odd asked, looking over to see that Ulrich was already running ahead of him.

Anger boiled inside him. He'd never felt angry like this before. They ignore and neglect him and now they're pretending that nothing ever changed.

Yes, let your anger consume you and fight. Use that anger to give yourself power.

For once, he agreed with the voice whole heartedly. He ran faster and began killing monsters one-by-one.

(*)(*)(*)(*) Unknown (*)(*)(*)(*)

A ghostly looking figured grinned as it watched the battle of the Lyoko Warriors and Xana's monsters play out. Things were going just the way they needed to go for things to work in his favor. Now, to keep pushing the boy farther….

-Ulrich-

Once the monsters were gone he looked around and saw a new monster appear. This one had a wide open mouth that looked black, red eyes with a small Xana symbol in them, and four tentacle like arms.

"I'll handle it! You get Aelita to the tower!" Ulrich shouted to them as he ran at the monster.

"Be careful, Ulrich," Jeremie told him.

Ulrich rolled his eyes and approached the monster. Too late for him, though. Once Ulrich got close to the arms they wrapped themselves around the brunet and dragged him closer to it. Struggling did nothing as the monster forced him to look into its eyes….

Rain fell around him and washed the blood from his clothing and skin. All around him people he knew and had talked to were lying dead near his feet. Ghostly pale, eyes wide open in terror….

He closed his eyes and wished them away, hoping that this wasn't real….

You should be proud that you've come this far….You are the best out of all of them and for that I commend you. You have served the Lyoko Warriors well, Ulrich.

No…. This couldn't be happening…. Was that Jeremie's voice in his head just now…?

Have you forgotten? We got rid of Xana, hoped to make the world a better place…. Yumi rebelled. She didn't want to mess with things more than was necessary. You eliminated her and we continued to get rid of the evil's of the world. Don't you see? The world is so much better off without those nasty people ruining it….

Ulrich shot forward, disoriented. Looking around he realized that he was in his bed and Odd was lying asleep in the other bed.

Helping them no longer benefits you, young samurai…. They will bring about the destruction of the Earth…. You will be at the head of this destruction…. You will slaughter people that stand in the way of Jeremie's regime…. You will be the figure-head of misery, pain, and suffering for people around the world as Jeremie's Lyoko Warriors eliminate any and all who stand in the way…. Join me, Samurai, and you will stop that from happening. You will change the future for the better…. The Lyoko Warriors are wrong, child. Jeremie wishes for power and control…. Those who stand in his way be damned. I want to stop his evil from spreading…. Help me, Samurai, and you will be a hero….

Ulrich didn't know about any of this…. His friends wouldn't do something like that, would they?

They can and will. Have you not noticed how they've avoided you and treated you as if you didn't exist? Jeremie thinks you know. He has that much control over the others. He lies and schemes to get them against you and then he plans for you to come crawling back to him. That's just the way Jeremie Belpois works…. He sits and waits for you to crawl back, knowing that you will.

I'm the only one that can stop Jeremie…. Ulrich thought, getting up from his bed as silently as possible and moving toward the door. If he woke up Odd he was done for. Odd would ask all these questions about what happened and if he was okay and then he'd alert the others….

No one can know….

Ulrich agreed and went on his way. Sneaking out of his and Odd's dorm had been the hard part. Sneaking around the school and out to the Factory was easy. He didn't need to worry about waking anyone up or falling down, because it didn't matter. What mattered was stopping Jeremie before it became too late. It came down to the fact that none of his friends had been there for him and had teased and poked fun at him for no reason. He was having a few bad days and they were leaving him so that Jeremie could have more control.

When he got into the Factory he set a timed virtualization and sent himself off to Carthage. Xana had a Scyphazoa ready and waiting for him. Staying confident was the key. He wasn't going to back down no matter what anything said. His mind was pulling him in two directions. One lead to the Scyphazoa and the other lead as far as possible from the creature, but he stepped closer and closer to the monster. He would help Xana in any possible way so that he wouldn't end up destroying the world….

-Jeremie-

He bolted up in bed and quickly placed his glasses on his face, twisting around to look at his computer screen and the blond genius couldn't believe his eyes. Red text sat on his screen. It read: The game has only just begun…. And you, young genius, haven't even realized the fall has already begun….

A/N: Deal. I decided to make Xana be ominous. XD Honestly, I have no idea how long this story is gonna be. XD I do want to show more deterioration on Ulrich's part, but I don't see this story being very long, though I've surprised myself before. xD

Also, like I've stated before, MS Word doesn't work on my laptop so I'm going to try and use our desktop to write, though I can't promise good results it will be better than nothing and I will be trying to stick to my updating everyday, though it may be later than normal. I'm hoping to write daily to every other day. =3

Read and review!

~MoonlitxAngel