Ana's POV

Everyone seemed shocked, except for Gem.

We took our conversation to my room, where no one else (Rose, Eva, Lucas, ect.) could hear.

Axl was frowning, obviously regretting telling us.

Gem had a super angry look on her face.

Lilly had a bewildered look on her face.

I was just surprised.

Lilly was the first to talk, once we reached my room. "Okay…" she said, frowning slightly. "I'll admit it… I never thought Jace was like that."

Axl frowned at this. "She's not."

Gem glared. "It wasn't her fault!"

My eyes grew wide. "So she was- she was-raped?"

Axl shook his head quickly, but before he could talk, Lilly cut in.

"I didn't mean that. I meant I didn't think Jace liked guys."

This was met with an awkward silence.

Gem turned on Lilly. "How did you find out? Did you force it out of her? Did you somehow find something?"

Lilly shook her head. "Pipe down," she said. "I've always had keen observation on relationships." She gave a small smile, which, for once, had no sarcasm on it. "It's pretty obvious the way you two eye each other."

Gem glanced angrily at us.

"I don't care," I assured her, not knowing what else to say.

Just then the boys burst in. "Uh, hey," Hutch said, glancing around, his eyes alighting on Axl. "We saw you girls head off with some random guy, and…"

"Eh, this is Jace's brother," I said, slowly, before gesturing to the bundle containing Jace's son. "And this is-"

Gem cut me off with a glare.

Lilly rolled her eyes. "For God's sake, Gem. Is this gonna be some huge secret? That just makes things awkward!"

Gem's eyes flashed. "If you guys knew what Jace and I suffered because of this, you'd stop trying to make it a small deal!"

Lilly didn't miss a beat. "No, it is a small deal. It's how people react that's a big deal. People who are stupid, freak about this, but you know what? It's not a big deal. Like who you want! I don't care, it just means less competition. Ana doesn't care. And the guys aren't gonna care either."

Gem glared. "Don't speak for them." She turned on the boys. "What're your opinions?"

Ertugrul glanced at Hutch. "Opinions about what?"

There was an awkward pause.

Lilly sighed. "Gem and Jace."

The way she said it clued Ertugrul in. Hutch looked a little confused, before finally getting.

"Pft," he rolled his eyes. "Less girls after me the better."

Ertugrul was a little more considerate, but agreed, "Seriously, though. We don't care. Who you like doesn't make who you are."

Gem still looked steamed, but Axl finally spoke up. "I really have to go." He seemed really uncomfortable. "Jace was supposed to pick James up for the afternoon. But I haven't heard from her for the last few days, and…"

Gem sighed. "We'll take care of him. Jace has just stepped out for a minute, she's been really busy with her extra classes."

He looked nervous. "I'm already really running late. Will she be here in a few minutes?"

A slight pause, before I said, casually, "about fifteen minutes. Can you stay?" It was a bit of a risk, because if he could stay, then we were sunk. Luckily, he couldn't.

"I'm already ten minutes late for a job interview, and I need this job, to support Jace and James." He glanced at Gem, hesitantly.

She held out her arms. "Really, we'll take him."

He handed the small bundle over to her. "I'll be back by nine. Tell Jacey to call me when she comes back."

After he left, Lilly gave the boys a really quick (and slightly inconsiderate) version of what just happened.

I glanced over at Gem, who was still steaming.

Lilly rolled her eyes. "What's wrong, Gem? Look, I'm not making light of any problems you've had in the past because of your sexuality. Really. Do you want me to hate you for who you like? Would you rather we step around you like you two are made of glass? Really, I'd have thought you would have preferred us to act like nothing's changed."

Gem's head snapped her head up. "Look!" She snapped. "My father freakin beat me because of this! Jace's parents pressured her into loveless relationships, which ended with her getting a baby. Then they kicked her out! Our lives have been hell! We've been picked on, beaten…" She bit her lip. "I'm not worried about me. You try that crap with me, and I'll shove it back where it came. But Jace-"

"Look," I cut in. "We hear you. We're not going to be able to fully understand what you went through. But no one is going to treat you guys poorly. None of us, anyways. We'll keep it a secret from the rest of the school if you want, but none of us are going to act any differently."

Lilly opened her mouth to say something, but closed it after Ertugrul and I shot her a glance.

Gem bit her lip, glancing down at James, who was stirring. His eyes opened, blinking up at her.

"He needs his mother," she whispered. She looked at Ertugrul, eyes shining. "You get her back."

Ertugrul's POV

I spent the rest of the evening frantically typing.

I had just been able to use the tracking program to find Jace, and the program needed only about fifteen minutes to run before it would find her.

Then there was a tower activated.

I gave the others a quick text to meet at the factory.

Then I heard a fire alarm outside.

"Alright, everyone, to your stations. This is not a drill," a voice came over the speaker.

I stood up and headed out. It would be easy to escape once we were outside.

I ran into Gem on her way out. She had James wrapped in a bundle over her shoulder.

"He's gonna wake up," she whispered frantically, as people filed past us.

"Take him to the factory," I whispered. We started to make our way down the hall.

Then, the hall was engulfed in flames…

Lilly's POV

I had just gotten out when I heard screaming. Behind us, the dorms burst into flames.

Buildings all around began doing so.

"Quick, head to the cafeteria," a voice whispered.

I turned to see Eva, looking terrified.

I shook my head. "People are still in the dorms," I said, frantically. Ana, Gem, Hutch, Ertugrul, James, all of them.

"Really, you can't help them-" she paused, glancing around. "Wait, are all your friends in there?" I nodded. She sighed. "Alright, go in."

I nodded again, bolting for the door.

"They're going into the dorms!" Eva called, but I ignored her, as I ran in.

Rose's POV

"No, Eva, you're supposed to herd them into the cafeteria," I hissed.

She shrugged. "Well, they're in the dorms. Make of it what you will."

I shook my head. "Too many innocents are in there. We only want the Lyoko Warriors."

Something flashed across her face, before it was replaced. She shrugged. "I'm going to their factory with Jay Jay and Ty." She turned and ran.

I sighed, and turned to the buildings. More buildings were igniting all over the place, and I felt a twinge of regret.

"Lucas," I said into the cell phone, "change the target from the cafeteria. Target the dorms."

Hutch's POV

The place was in flames, but I was able to find Gem and Ertugrul.

"Keep him covered," I yelled to Gem. I wasn't sure, but it couldn't be good for an infant to inhale too much smoke. "Everyone!" I called to the crowds in general. "Make your way to the doors. Stay close to the ground. Get yourselves out of here!"

I began pulling Gem out of there, struggling through the panic and inferno.

"Lilly! Ana!" We called.

James had awoken by now, and was crying.

Ana burst around a corner, her hair smoking. She looked freaked. "Guys, where's-" Her eyes landed on Gem and James. "Oh thank God."

The four of reached a little known about door, one that people weren't crushing to get out of. After fiddling with the handle a little (and of course, making sure the other side wasn't on fire) we were out.

Lilly's POV

I found a door leading into the dorms, but it was locked. This really didn't make sense, but I didn't waste time to find out why, I just pulled the lock, and opened it.

As the crush of people began piling out, screaming, smoking, flaming, I realized that trying to get in would be impossible.

So I ran around to another door, which was blocked by debris in front of the door.

I pulled on some of the pieces of wood jamming the door closed. Soon I had moved enough stuff, and more people began pushing out.

I was able to cram myself in this time, and was about to go find the others, when I was stopped by a cry.

Partway up the stairs, a sixth grader had tripped and fallen. Her ankle was hurt bad.

The heat was getting sweltering, and parts of the ceiling were falling in. I wanted nothing more than to find the others and get out.

But the girl kept getting kicked by the people, fighting to get out. It wouldn't be possible for her to get out on her own…

I took a deep breath, to steady myself. "Part of being a Lyoko Warrior is running in when others run out."

I ran to the bottom of the stairs, and pushed my way to where she was.

"Come on," I yelled, pulling her up, and leading her to the exit. "Get to the forest, that's where our safe stations are."

I then got a text from Hutch.

We're almost out. Get out.

I breathed a sigh of relief.

The crowds were thinning out, but the inferno was getting much worse.

I waited for everyone at the door to be out, before leaving.

I ran to where my group was supposed to meet. The last thing we needed was to be counted missing, and have people die trying to rescue us.

"39, 40," the math teacher counted. "All are here and accounted for," she said, into her walkie-talkie.

More relief washed over me, as the same call was echoed by the teachers, through the walkie-talkie.

"Miss Thayson," I told the math teacher. "I'm here. I'm not in the building. Remember that."

She nodded distractedly.

Good, I thought. Now even if we were found missing, hopefully they wouldn't check anywhere on fire.

I slipped away, and ran toward the forest.

Behind me, I heard an explosion.

Gem's POV

After being counted as "here and accounted for", the rest of us grouped up and ran to the forest.

Hutch wanted to text Lilly again, but he had dropped his phone. Mine was in my dorm, Ertugrul's was out of battery, and Ana had lost hers, so we just hoped that Lilly was okay.

Ana glanced back as we heard an Earth shattering explosion.

I think someone screamed. It was either Ana or me. James definitely did too. He was hysterical. I was close to as well.

"Oh my GOD!" Ana screamed, tears streaming down her face. "What if people were still inside!"

"Inside" was a reference to the dorm building. Or what was the dorm building. It now resembled a two inch pile of flaming ash.

I shook my head, trying to stay level headed, even though I knew there were tears in my eyes too. I could handle X.A.N.A. attacks that targeted us, but this widespread attack targeted so many innocents…

"Don't think about that. Just run. We need to get to the factory, Ana."

We were almost there now…

Lilly's POV

My phone rang. I picked up, hoping to God that it was one of my friends.

Instead I got Lucas.

Just be glad he's alive. I told myself.

"Hey, Lilly," his voice said.

"Uh, hey," I said. If he started questioning me on why I wasn't in my group, I'd hang up.

"Oh thank God. I thought you were in the dorms."

"No, I made it out. Everyone else did, too, according to the teachers."

There was a pause, before the phone hung up.

I tried to convince myself that it wasn't because the phone was destroyed. It was just because a teacher told him to hang up.

Yeah, that was it.

I didn't need to worry about Lucas and his little gang now.

Ana's POV

No one was in there. No one was in there. No one was in there. No one was in there.

I tried to convince myself. There would be time for cold hard facts after the tower was deactivated.

Then I smelt smoke. I glanced behind me, and saw that the fire seemed to be getting brighter.

"Damnit!" Hutch yelled. "The forest is on fire! We have to hurry, guys."

We quickened our pace.

Rose's POV

I watched from a distance, as the smoke herded the groups deeper into the forest.

The bombing hadn't worked, they had gotten out in time. It was time to move on to plan B.

The fire was rigged to send them to the Lyoko Factory. This wasn't particularly good, but it would work.

We'd be able to burn down the Lyoko Factory and the Lyoko Warriors in one blast.

I texted Jay Jay, Ty, and Eva to clear out of the factory.

Dorm bombing failed to acquire goal. Evacuate the factory ASAP. They are coming

Hutch's POV

We ran until we reached the factory, and bolted for the elevator.

When we reached the bottom, Ana and I ran for the scanners. Gem gave James to Ertugrul, and followed us. We were in Lyoko a second later.

The tower wasn't heavily protected, which seemed strange, but I paid it no mind.

Ertugrul's POV

"There aren't too many monsters. That's good. Head for the tower."

I tried to sound sincere, but it was hard. It wasn't difficult to infer that the lack of monsters on Lyoko was due to the fact that X.A.N.A. had planned to kill us in the fire.

Something about that was disconcerting.

Just then, I receive a message on my computer.

It reported that the search for Jace was successful, but it needed a certain chip to run the retrieval program.

I knew the chip was in a certain place in the factory above, so I scooped up James, and bolted into the elevator.

I nearly ran into Lilly, as the elevator came to a halt, and the door opened.

"Oh my God," she breathed, when she saw me. "You're alright."

I nodded. "The others are in Lyoko. I need to find something. Are the people in the dorms alright?" My sentences came in short, breathless sentences.

"Do they need my help? Do you need my help? Everyone was evacuated in time. There are people coming. The forest fires are herding them here."

"They're fine on Lyoko. I don't really need too much help, I just need to find a chip. Relieved to hear it. Can you make sure that the people who get here are safe?"

She nodded. "I'll take James," she said. "There's a better chance you'll find it, and you don't need to be weighed down."

I nodded my thanks, before heading out. I climbed the staircase to the second floor, and turned into a room, which held a pile of boxes.

I combed through the box I knew the chip was.

"Come on come on come on come on," I hissed. I couldn't find it. It HAD to be here, but a few more minutes of searching confirmed my fear.

It wasn't here.

I shook my head, and headed back to the elevator. I'd find it later, when so many lives weren't at stake.

Ana's POV

My head wasn't about me. I should have focused, but all I could see were the faces of my dorm mates, some of which I feared may have died. A small part of me thanked God that I had sent Sita out. I knew she could take care of herself.

But I was still very worried…

"Damnit, Ana!" Gem yelled, as an arrow of hers zipped past my head. "There may not be a lot of monsters, but there are enough to kill you if you don't pay attention!"

I blasted a shot, but it didn't come close to its target. I began running, but my head wasn't on my shoulders.

"Ana, look out!" Hutch yelled. "Megatank coming your-"

The next thing I knew, I was in the scanner. I had been devirtualized.

I froze for a moment, as the realization sunk in. It hit with a force harder than anything. The school was on fire. With me out of Lyoko, X.A.N.A. could wipe out the planet with these flames.

We were defenseless to stop him.

I was shaking all over, trying to wrap my head around it. Then I was sick on the factory floor, as I dissolved into tears.

We had lost.

I was gonna finish up this attack, but decided it was better to leave it here. Because I'm evil. Mwahahaha!

Anyways, I hope I didn't do too much POV switching. It just worked better for this chapter.

I had to handle a few things in the earlier part of this chapter. Not sure how well I did, but I hope that no one is offended, and that it's satisfactory.

To AlwaysRoshuki, I hope I did Jace's brother well enough. Not sure what age he's supposed to be, but I just needed to move the plot a little.

To Invader Tyleana, don't worry, Ana will get to deactivate a tower! It may seem like I'm not letting her do anything, but it's just as the plot needs it.

Please review! To those who own the OCs I'm using, tell me how I'm doing!