Heyy everyone! I know it's been... a long time since i last posted,.. I truly feel horrible for leaving everyone like that... I had so many things going on and then summer came along. Usually i can work a lot in the summer on stories but... this summer wasn't allowing me to do that. I really apologise for the wait... the really long wait... Hope you all enjoy the chapter!
Chapter 13: Flashback
I couldn't breathe. I couldn't have just heard what I think I heard. That can't be true, can it?
"Jeremie, can you repeat that?" I asked to the sky, peering up at it, waiting for the answer I feared the most.
"Yumi, your DNA is scrambled. I can't devirtualize you easily and quickly," the voice from the sky spoke, and I could tell that he was hesitant.
"Jeremie what do you have to do to unscramble it?" my savior, and best friend, who now clung on to me literally preventing my horrific fall into the deep seas below spoke. I stared at his chocolate eyes for a moment, and couldn't help but smile. Even if I fell into the dark depths below, and wandered among the digital sea forever, I would be happy, knowing that I had a great friend, one who is trying his best to save me in a terrifying situation.
Ulrich smiled, and his grip tightened around my hand. "I won't let you go, Yumi," he spoke in his melodic voice.
"I know."
"Ulrich, Yumi," the voice from the sky bellowed downward, echoing all around.
"Yes, Jeremie?" Ulrich and I said in unison, staring up at the blue sky.
"It's going to be difficult to get her DNA unscrambled. Really difficult. I have to alter the program I have right now, because it's outdated. I really never thought to update it, I was sure that no one's DNA would end up scrambled again. I'm really sorry, Yumi."
"It's alright, Jeremie. I know your trying your hardest. How's Aelita and Odd doing with the monsters?" I said, changing the subject.
"Odd's improving a lot, but Aelita's got the most accuracy. They actually only have two hornets – wait, no make that one, Aelita just hit one with an energy field. I'll send them over to protect you two when they're done, I see two Krabbes heading towards you slowly."
I lowered my head, thinking. I saw Ulrich do the same, and simultaneously, his eyebrows rose, as if he was thinking really hard. With the hand that wasn't holding on to me, he strummed his fingers against his chin. He gazed back at the sky, and spoke. "Jeremie, why are they moving slowly?"
I pondered the same thing. Why were they moving slowly? If XANA knew we were as vulnerable as we were at this moment, why wasn't he taking advantage of it and attacking us? Surely he knew that if he attacked Ulrich, I would fall into the depths of the Digital Sea below, and be virtualized forever. So why wasn't he sending a swarm of Hornets or a handful of Megatanks to ambush us? I couldn't find the logic in sending just two Krabbes.
"It makes no sense, why is he only sending two?" I asked to no one in particular.
Jeremie hesitated. "I'm not sure, to be truthful. It's unusual. I'm not sure if it's just because he thinks he can get rid of you two easily, so easily that he just needs two Krabbes."
"That makes more sense, but still, it's a bit weird. You'd think he'd want to send an immense amount of monsters. Then he could just go and surprise Aelita and Odd. Well, XANA's not all that predictable sometimes. We'll just have to wait and see," Ulrich said, looking at Yumi.
He frowned slightly, wanting to get her out of that hole. He knew that he could try to pull her up, but he also knew that one bad, accidental move could send her plunging to an eternity of virtualization. He couldn't do that to her, no matter how hard he wanted to have her safely on the digital grass next to him. It bothered him so much that she was literally hanging on for her life, and that all he was doing was crouching there, hanging on to her.
I really never realized how strong Ulrich was. He seemed like he wasn't having any trouble hanging on to me. I wasn't surprised he wasn't trying to pull me up. I knew very well that if he tried to get me back on solid ground, he would slip, and both of us would come tumbling down to the sea below.
"Jer, how's your program updates coming?" I questioned again.
"Alright, I edited the program and now I'm just installing some new things to help it run smooth, because otherwise I might de-virtualize you and you might be missing a limb, and we wouldn't want you to have only one arm or leg, would we?" Jeremie kidded, and Ulrich chuckled. I smirked and joined in with the laughter. "It's about thirteen percent done, and I'm sending Odd and Aelita over now, they destroyed the last hornet a while ago, but our favorite computer virus sent over a whole herd of Kankrelats. Can you two hang on for a few more minutes, no pun intended?"
Ulrich sighed and looked at the light blue sky. "Jeremie, don't rush the program. If I fall, I fall. It wouldn't be anyone's fault but my own."
"Yumi! Don't say that! If you fall, it would be my fault, because I'm the one who's holding on to you right now."
I paused, and then opened my mouth to speak. Closing it, I realized I should hold my tongue right now. I was going to argue my side of the disagreement, but I figured I should put that aside until I was on flat ground again.
Two patterns of footsteps approached. One was a normal two-footed pattern, the other, a four-limbed pattern. "Whoa, I'm gettin' better at this whole running-with-four-paws deal, it's a lot faster than only on two feet," I heard Odd say.
"How are you guys holding up?" Aelita questioned in her soft voice.
"Alright, but speaking of that, Yumi, let's try to switch hands. I can imagine your arm is starting to ache. You've been down in that hole for eight minutes now," Ulrich said, reaching his right arm to me. He tightened his grip on my right hand, and I grasped his right hand with my own.
"Got it," I confirmed. We simultaneously let go of each other's left hand, and now I was suspended only by my right. I didn't realize it until now that my shoulder was aching. I rolled my shoulder around a few times, and flexed my arm. "That feels better, thanks."
"I figured it must have – "
"Heads up, Aelita and Odd, two Krabbes approaching from the West," Jeremie warned. Aelita opened and closed her hands a few times, and Odd checked his wrists to make sure he had ammo left.
"All set, Jeremie. Bring it on, XANA," Odd said with a grin.
Aelita leapt to the side, as the spot where she was just standing flashed, it was hit with a shot from the Krabbe. As it came around the corner, Odd took aim, and shot a laser arrow. It bounced off of the head, not quite hitting in the right spot.
"Dang, and I thought I was doing so much better," he said, disappointed. Aelita charged an energy field, and Odd tried another round of laser arrows on the Krabbe. With his accuracy a sliver better, he hit spot-on, and the Krabbe flashed, before disappearing.
I smiled. Jeremie was right, Odd was getting much better. Hopefully though, his memory would return fully very soon. "Nice job, Odd!" I said, holding up a thumbs-up so that he could see it.
"Yeah, great job," Ulrich said, less enthusiastic than I. He still wasn't happy about his friend betraying him by looking in his personal letters.
"The program's at forty-three percent complete," Jeremie announced.
Aelita shot her energy field at the last remaining Krabbe now. It hit, but wasn't powerful enough to destroy it. Ulrich suddenly fell to the side, and skidded along the ground. The impact of the ground loosened our grip, and I struggled to hang on. Holding on by only my fingertips, I tried not to panic. Ulrich had been hit in the side by the Krabbe, and Aelita ran to protect him as he strained to get back up, but I knew that losing over half of your life points in a few shots takes a toll on you, and he was still recovering. I prayed that I wouldn't lose hold of his hand.
"Sixty-seven percent," Jeremie proclaimed.
Ulrich steadied himself; balancing on one knee, watching all around. Ulrich had a solemn face, and I could tell that he was unsure of what he should do. He's always trying to act heroically, especially when I'm involved, (or, at least that's what Aelita hinted to me). He was running out of energy, fast. His face seemed to become paler, if that's possible while being virtual, and he looked like he could collapse any second. I prayed that he'd be able to hold on, selfishly indeed. I knew that as soon as he let me go, I'd be gone.
"The program's entering the speedy portion of the process; it should be ready to devirtualize Yumi in a few minutes, tops."
"A few minutes?!" Aelita cried. Jeremie, Ulrich's almost ready to drop, and Odd and I are trying our best, but XANA's sending out loads of Hornets! Can't you speed it up a bit?"
A huff could be heard echoing through the digital sky, and then a sigh followed.
"Aww, it's okay, he's trying his best," I spoke.
"Yeah, but Aelita's right, there's got to be a way for this to speed up, but the risk of me playing around with it without doing research is risky, it might corrupt the program."
Ulrich closed his eyes, and seemed to be in thought for a few seconds. "That's okay, Jeremie, don't try to speed it up. I think I'm able to hold through for a while," the chocolate-eyed boy said. He looked at my face, and smiled.
Just as Aelita and Odd were finishing off a group of Hornets, XANA sent in another handful in, and they went from fighting one to the other right after the last one was destroyed in the first group. A laser arrow shot one way, an Energy Field the other. Hornets were being taken down one by one, as quickly as they could.
Then, off in the distance, I think I could hear the rumbling of an approaching monster. The noise resembled a rolling toy, gliding across the ground making up this sector.
"Uhh, guys I think I hear a Megatank," I warned.
"Really?" Aelita questioned, looking in my direction.
"Yeah, it sounds like one."
"I agree, now that you mention it, I do hear a rolling noise," Ulrich commented.
Just as soon as he said that, the Megatank I heard rolled out into the view of the others, and Aelita gasped.
"Heads up guys, XANA's bringing out the heavy artillery," Jeremie warned, as four Krabbes, another swarm of Hornets, and three Bloks came into view along with Megatank.
Odd looked at Aelita with a questioned look, and then looked at the Megatank. "How are we supposed to kill that thing? It doesn't have a sign like the others!" With that said the Megatank proved Odd wrong, by opening up and shooting at him. He jumped to the side out of instinct, and just missed the blast that would have been enough to devirtualize him.
"Good jump, Odd," Aelita commented.
"Thanks," Odd said, huffing. He caught his breath and stood up again, with the help of Aelita's outstretched hand.
"How close to done is the program updates, Jer?" Ulrich asked. I just sighed; he was too pushy with things like this.
"About eighty-seven percent, it will take only about three minutes more, at the most. Then we'll be good to launch it and devirtualize Yumi safely and soundly."
"That's great Jeremie" Aelita said.
The fight against XANA carried on, with Aelita and Odd conquering monster after monster.
Two and a half minutes later, everyone sighed with relief as Jeremie announced what they had all wanted to hear. The program updates were complete and he was able to launch the devirtualization process. Ulrich looked down at me and we smiled in unison. Holding my hand, he gave it a gentle reassuring squeeze. Then, I faded from his grip. I could feel him watching me devirtualize successfully, and digital bits disappear among the digital air.
The terrifying flash back of Valentine's day had ended, and I was returning home, to safety.
"Thanks, Jeremie," Ulrich said, standing up.
"No problem. Now wrap up that trip, everyone."
Soooooooo? What are your thoughts? Should i have changed it...? Made it more dramatic? More suspenseful? I'm not sure if this is how i liked it to go exactly... Anyways... Review! Please!
