In the streets of South Paris, Sarrazin and his men were making their way to the next free outpost. They had lost a lot of ground, and a lot of men, after the bombers stepped up their firepower. To make matters worse, they were now being tailed by the ground troops, leaving them besieged on both foot and by air.
"So this, then, is how the world ends." Sarrazin said. "At least we went out fighting, and on the right side."
"Don't count yourself out!" They heard a voice shout. They looked up and saw Sharpshooter jump out from one of the buildings. "You can't leave me out, can you?"
"Sharpshooter!" Sarrazin exclaimed.
"Get to the outpost." Sharpshooter commanded. "I'll deal with these guys."
He then faced the soldiers.
"Hey, Chingados! Remember who you came for!"
Sharpshooter then took out a handful of gunpowder and blew it into the eyes of the commander. He just collapsed in pain as Sharpshooter led the remaining squad members inside one of the many buildings. Running up several flights of stairs, neither Sharpshooter nor the soldiers showed any signs of tiring as they proceeded up the building. Once they reached the roof, Sharpshooter knew he had no other options at this point.
"Where you gonna run to now?" One of the soldiers asked.
"Here's one body you're not gonna claim." Sharpshooter said drawing a pistol and placing it to his forehead.
He then pulled the trigger. Once the bullet left his brain, he collapsed and fell off the building. Just then, several young men popped out from hidden panels on the roof and fired large automatic weapons, killing each and every troop. The momentum was beginning to shift.
On Lyoko, Isaac was hooked up and ready to jump out to grab the core. Once the door opened, Olivia gave a few words of warning.
"I don't know how long until XANA spots us, so make every attempt count." She said.
Isaac just nodded. Not looking back, he immediately jumped out and positioned himself towards the core. However, he fell short as the bungee pulled him back. Isaac then went back on the platform.
"No dice." Isaac said.
"XANA just spotted us." Olivia said motioning toward the radar. "Make this count."
"On it." Isaac said jumping out.
This time, he was much closer. However, his fingertips only brushed against the surface of the core. As he bounced back, he felt a sharp blast hit his shoulder. XANA had them locked in.
"No time to hesitate. Go now!" Olivia exclaimed.
Isaac, with all his strength, made a single accurate leap. Stretching out as far as he could, he was able to wrap his hands around the core and keep it safe and secure as he bounced back and dropped down on the deck.
"Made it." Isaac sighed. Just then another blast rocked the ship.
"Alright, let's get back to the portal!" Olivia said closing the hatch. "Let's hope Caleb is having better luck."
With that, the two made their way out of the chamber with XANA hot on their tail.
Back on the Artemis, Theo was still staring down the prisoners. Now fearful of what was to come next, the lead prisoner had no choice but to negotiate.
"You don't have to do this." The lead prisoner said. "You hate the regime just as much as us, as much as my daughter. Now's your chance to do the right thing."
Theo just turned to his fellow soldiers and then back to the prisoners.
"Why not just take the escape shuttles?" Theo said opening a secret entrance behind a wall. "It's much quicker."
"God bless you." The lead prisoner said as he, the others and Theo made their way to the escape craft.
Back at the outposts, Sarrazin heard his communicator go off. He answered it only to be greeted by Theo's visage.
"General Sarrazin, the prisoners have escaped." Theo said. "You may fire when ready."
"Thanks Theo. I knew I could count on you." Sarrazin said. He then turned to his fellow gunner. "You heard the chief. Concentrate all fire on the flagship."
"Yes sir." The gunner said.
After signaling the gunners in the other outposts, they began firing large rounds of energy directly at the hull of the Artemis.
"Sir, we lost our port stabilizers!" One of the bridge commanders said.
"Lock all weapons on the heavy artillery outposts, I want this ship under immediate repair." Mackie instructed.
"Steady now…" Sarrazin said as the outpost gunner aimed directly at the bridge.
"Commence fire on the first line!" Mackie commanded.
"Fire!" Sarrazin shouted as the outpost gunner let loose a heavily charged round.
"Look out!" Mackie's lieutenant said noticing the beam approaching them.
"Hit the deck!" Mackie said as they both jumped down just as the beam pierced straight through the bridge of the ship.
With the bridge set ablaze, the Artemis began to lose control as it slowly dove down towards The Wall. The gunners just cheered as Sarrazin just collapsed in relief.
Meanwhile, Will and the messenger boy were still fighting as the messenger boy noticed the large frigate collapsing and ran off. Confused, Will immediately turned around and noticed the ship heading straight for him. He then ran to the side, hopefully being able to avoid the debris. Once the ship crashed, a large section of The Wall was destroyed, a giant shockwave blasted forward for many kilometers, far enough to knock back and shred the many statues and propagandistic posters in the city center of the Eternal Patriarch himself. The bombers then lost control and fell to the ground and finally the Grand Army soldiers went limp and shut down. Now outclassed, the North Parisian troops could only retreat as the citizens of the South held up their arms and cheered.
The Artemis was destroyed. The heart of the regime was now but a pile of corpses and airship rubble.
Once the smoke settled, the messenger boy managed to get up and patrol the area. He wanted to make sure that Will was no more. The Artemis may be gone, but Will could still have an undying influence on the remaining troops. Just as he thought the worst was over, Will ran up and pounced on the defenseless boy.
"You think I've given up so soon?" Will asked pinning him down by his neck with his sword. "The armies of XANA are on their way as we speak. The Artemis means nothing to me. Still think you have the strength to stop me?"
"Maybe not, but I do!" Said a voice from the distance. Just then, a bullet flew towards Will and hit him square in the shoulder. Momentarily distracted, the messenger boy just kicked his adversary off, causing him to stumble and fall into a nearby elevator shaft.
Clinging on to one of the rungs, Will looked up as he saw who fired the shot.
"Theo…" Will said. "I should've known you'd betray your own kind."
Will only paused as he heard the rung begin to crumble and buckle under his weight.
"Don't worry." Theo said reaching down and yanking off Will's wrist computer "Yours will be over soon enough."
"Theo, what are you…?" Will said before the rung began to give way some more. "No…NO!"
The rung then broke off. Will could only scream as he fell to his doom, only to be forever silenced by one fatal snap. Theo's expression remained unchanged as the messenger boy grimaced in disgust.
"Now let see here…" Theo said turning on the wrist computer and accessing the Zoltan files.
Back on Lyoko, Caleb and Zoltan were still fighting on the transport as Isaac and Olivia flew past them with XANA still trailing them. They were on the home stretch, but they were far from safe. Just then, Zoltan began to sheathe his blades as he faced away from Caleb and stared at the ships of XANA and his remaining wingman.
"I will defend…" Zoltan spoke.
He then threw one blade towards the wingman, destroying the ship, and threw himself at the cockpit of XANA's ship, pulling him out and grappling with him. XANA just unsheathed another blade and plunged it in Zoltan's chest. Breaking free, XANA just sprouted long, shadowy, wing-like tendrils and continued to pursue the trio.
The moment had come. Caleb, Isaac and Olivia stared out into the bright abyss and into the portal below. They were just one step away from destroying Lyoko and saving the world, but now they saw the flaw in their plan.
"What now, genius?" Isaac asked.
"Even if we die, Lyoko dies with us." Caleb said.
"Not if I kill you first!" They heard a voice shout. Dropping between them and the portal was XANA himself.
"It's over, XANA!" Caleb shouted. "I have the core."
"You think it's that simple?" XANA shouted. "No human would go through the sacrifice. The glory is too much to ignore!"
"You're right about one thing, sacrifice is easier said than done. But it's not about glory." Caleb said. "After death is unknown and the unknown is what we as humanity fear most. But for every scared human, there's always one who is indifferent. For every head on a coin flip, there is always tails. I am that opposite result. I am that indifference. And I will be the one to fall for humanity."
XANA just gave a confused look.
"I'm sorry, William."
XANA just screamed as he charged towards Caleb, sword drawn.
"Caleb, no!" Isaac said jumping in in the way and taking the hit. XANA pulled out the sword as Isaac collapsed.
"Nooo!" Caleb said running towards XANA and landing punch after punch, square on his face. However, XANA soon got the upper hand and threw Caleb to the ground.
"Isaac…" Olivia said running over to her dying friend.
"Take the core and run." Isaac said weakly. "Hurry…"
As Olivia grabbed the core, she looked up and noticed the whole world of Lyoko approaching, alongside several other similar looking virtual worlds heading down the 'spokes' of the transport hub.
With no time to lose, Olivia slid underneath XANA's legs, core in hand, before XANA had a chance to react. They then stared at the portal below.
"Ready for this?" Olivia asked Caleb, holding his hand.
Caleb then turned to Isaac, who could only give a thumbs-up, wishing him luck.
"Ready." Caleb said.
XANA then ran towards them, but was too late as the two fell off the ledge and out the portal. Once past the barrier, the orb suddenly shattered. A blinding light shot out engulfing the two and blasting XANA, who could only let out a blood-curdling scream as he was torn apart bit by bit. After which, the hub was destroyed, Lyoko was destroyed and everything else was destroyed, leaving only a calm, empty void.
Only this and nothing more…
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