Chapter 27: Not wise

"Yumi, no!" This was the second time in five days time one of her friends shared their opinion with her, which was by accident a 'no' for both boys, telling her they disagreed with whatever she was about to do. This time, however, she didn't go to Jeremy – if she were to tell him, he would most certainly forbid her from participating – because she thought Odd would be more reasonable, and might even tag along. But his answer made her know what he really thought of it.

"But why not?" she wanted to know. The two were in the well-known scanner room, because Yumi didn't want anyone to listen along. That's why she chose that room – only the Lyoko Warriors were allowed down there to prevent accidents from happening. Odd was leaning against one of those scanners.

"Because I think this plan might turn out differently than first expected. Who made that plan again?" he asked.

"Jim did."

"Oh. Well, it explains a lot." he said as if he didn't care. Because he couldn't care less. The plan, which was explained to Odd by Yumi, would be executed that night. Yumi had thought Odd would be interested, but apparently, he wasn't.

"There's another reason," Yumi told him, "why you don't want to participate. You can tell me. Everything that's said here, won't be repeated ever again." For a minute, it looked like they were holding a staring competition, but eventually, Odd sighed and gave in.

"Fine. First of all, I don't want to lose my life, thank you very much. Secondly, it really is interesting to try and kick XANA's but and all, but I'd rather not do it in the middle of the night with half-trained people with no experience against an army who could wipe them out in one second. How much I'd like to go with you to make sure you'll make it out, it is and will always be not wise to do. I'm sorry, Yumi. I also promised Jeremy to help him remember XANA, which I can't do if I tag along." So that was what was keeping him from participating: Jeremy. Why Odd had said 'yes' to him, didn't really interested her right now and she'd never get a second chance to ask. She nodded.

"Okay then," she said, "If you might change your mind, even when we're about to leave, I'll hear it."

"Funny. You're thinking I'll actually change my mind." A long silence hung between the two friends, before Yumi eventually left Odd all alone in the scanner room. She'd rather have him participate, but his tip on the back entrance was already useful information. She sighed when the elevator brought her back up, and she felt she would make the difference.

Whatever was to happen that night, it certainly was a turning point for both XANA and any human currently residing in the quite uncomfortable factory.

Later that night…

It was a little before midnight. Everybody who wanted to come along, all with their improvised weapons in their hands. They were standing in the open air, waiting for the few people who had to carry the rafts t the water. After Jim had heard about Odd's arrival through the back, Jim made a plan to cross this river at the backside of the factory with self-made rafts without getting wet. A bit further, there was another bridge which they could cross and try to surprise the A.I. Who attacked the earth already for half a year. The only one who actually touched the water was Jim, who swam to the other side and back, to bind a rope so the rafts wouldn't be taken away with the current.

He could see how Yumi and the others let down the rafts in the cold water. He quickly slid with his eyes over the heads of everyone in this group, but he didn't see the person he had hoped to see. He turned to Yumi. "Isn't Odd coming?" he asked, even though he already knew the answer.

"No, he's not. Apparently, he'd rather stay with Jeremy," she answered, and Jim nodded. He looked around, and found nothing that looked suspicious (read: xanafied). Then, he shrugged.

"Well, we won't wait for him. Let's move!" with this, he gave the signal for the rafts to leave, one by one, and by following the rope they reached the other side within ten to fifteen minutes. The small group of 32 people (it would have been 33 if Damian hadn't perished) stood quickly at the other side, waiting for their orders from leader Jim.

"Okay then," he didn't start a speech to the women, men and children participating, but went straight to the part where he explained one last time what everybody had to do, "Here we are, ready to show the world those rusty machines are not our bosses. If nobody has further questions, get ready to leave." everybody stood in position, ready to teach XANA a lesson he wouldn't forget soon.

The only one who was at least a tiny bit worried, was Yumi. That was possible thanks to the fact that she was the only one who comes along and has knowledge about XANA's abilities and machines from before the invasion. She knew he would not give up soon, he would rather use the big guys, he would do much – if not give everything – to make sure the group was separated to take them down one by one. For the bigger groups, that was his tactic: divide and conquer. That night, there would be no difference. So, yeah, Yumi was worried, but the others were convinced this attack would be a success. How big this success would be, was something that could not be foreseen.

While they were walking to that bridge they would cross to go to the main entrance of the factory, Yumi felt someone – or something – was staring at her. She suddenly turned her head, and saw that it was just Walt. She remembered this was the young man who had been possessed, and she felt sorry for him. It never was nice to be possessed. She now walked closer to him. "Do you want to talk about it?" She didn't even need to tell what he wanted to talk about, since they both knew what she was talking about. Walt nodded before he started to talk.

"How did you know? I mean, about me getting… you know…" Yumi shrugged.

"I guess it was just instinct. I have seen this happen before, a lot of times, enough to know if it is going to happen. And it just isn't normal if some black some enters a body," she said.

"I remember everything," Walt said, starting to talk more to himself in the process, "I didn't want to shoot, but I had no power to stop it from happening. And Damian…" This is where he trailed off. Yumi put a hand on his shoulder.

"You could do nothing about it. You should be happy XANA decided to let you go. He doesn't really like releasing people." Walt closed his eyes and shook his head. When he opened his eyes again, Yumi saw a hardened expression in them, and they looked at her coldly.

"You don't understand," the recruit said, "Thanks for warning the others, but for the rest, you don't understand."

"If you don't tell me, I never will." Walt sighed.

"Even if I tell you, you will never really understand. But okay… No, I'm sure you won't understand! Or did you ever have to shoot down your cousin?" Yumi put her hand in front of her mouth when he heard that. So, XANA took away family of Walt, too, now, and also from a lot of families. But there were few who could say XANA made them kill their family, even if the virus didn't even know it was family, or what sort of relationship they had. Yumi sighed.

"I do understand your situation."

"How?"

"Because he has my little brother," Yumi said. "A friend and I wanted to rescue him from Kadic. We almost succeeded. They killed a friend of my brother… and my brother himself either dead or a mindless slave of XANA's." Now, the expression in the recruit's eyes changed to a merciful one, an understanding look. He said nothing else, and neither did Yumi. They walked together in silence for the next few minutes, until that bridge was quite close. Right now, the only problem was crossing it without being seen, or else there wouldn't be a surprise attack anymore.

"Yumi, help!" That voice… it couldn't be… Rather shocked than surprised, Yumi turned to the source of her little brother's voice and the others also looked around, as to try to find out what was going on, since they were going to be the surprise, not the surprised. They didn't need to move before Yumi saw the familiar face of Hiroki. Advantage: luckily, he was still alive. Disadvantage: William was standing next to him and they both still wore XANA's symbol in their eyes. XANA gratefully used the shock and disturbance by grinning because of the weak, broken Lyoko Warrior.

"Attack!" William's distorted voice shouted out XANA's order, and suddenly the surprise attack turned on an entire new leaf. While they had wanted to surprised, they were just surprised by XANA's troops. Walt was the first to react: he grabbed his gun and started to shoot down the monsters who already came too close to the group of 32. the others reacted a bit later, but number two and three were taken by Yumi and Jim.

Within ten seconds, the calm road they had just walked on turned into a battlefield. And soon, Yumi was ready to take down the next target of XANA's endless supporting troops, until she realized she was standing face to face with the other Ishiyama. And her brother held the gun he was given on his first day aimed at his big sister.

And... cut! Man, that cliffhanger! I can't even wait to write the next part! Who do you think will win the battle, and how are Odd and Jeremy supposed to react, regardless whether they win or lose? And when will XANA decide he'd better wipe out the population in the factory, or rather Jeremy, Odd and Aelita? Okay, next one on the 10th of July, hopefully answering all your questions and making you feel all emotional. (I am terrible at humor, but apparently good at darker plotlines). And let's make time for that one review.

Bluedog197 (Yeah, you're right as you read that in this chapter. And about not having an account, it's okay. I just hope you liked this chapter and the next three, and again thanks for reviewing.)

See ya next time, and a happy early Fourth of July!

-Dutchwriters2

P.S. go check out my Code Lyoko one-shot "Twisted" (shameless self-promotion)