Code Lyoko: Heart of Ice
Yumi woke up and walked to the front room. Her mother and father were making breakfast, but Yumi did not care, she barely registered their glances. She ate in silence, not even speaking to her brother Hiroki. She was by all accounts, broken from years of fighting XANA. Now thrust back into a normal life, she found it impossible to cope. Lyoko represented freedom but also fear and terror. Every night she went to sleep in a cold sweat, screaming into her pillow, tormented by four years of pain and helplessness. She thought back to when she first met Ulrich and saw the factory. It seemed so fun, so surreal. She thought back to the many times
she fought with Ulrich, the times she nearly died in the Digital Sea, and the many events that nearly killed her parents. For once in her life, Yumi had complete
freedom but didn't know what to do with it. Her pain rose to the surface one day during breakfast
"What is it Yumi?" asked her mother. Yumi was silent, her spoon clinking against the bowl in front of her. She refused to speak; she couldn't speak. Her heart was now cold as ice from the ordeal. Every night was spent in a cold sweat, and every day was a nightmare. Her relationship with Ulrich suffered and eventually, they broke up.
"Yumi's got a boyfriend," said Hiroki. Yumi stared at her brother with cold malice.
He narrowly managed to dodge a knife thrown in his direction
"SHUT UP YOU LITTLE SHIT!"
Hiroki became silent like the grave and her mother and father looked at her in shock.
"What the fuck is wrong with you! Hiroki go to your room!"
Hiroki left in a hurry as Yumi sat down, her mind a thousand miles away
"WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT!" her father yelled
Yumi didn't answer, she was lost in thought.
"LOOK AT ME!" he yelled louder
Yumi looked up, smirked, and looked back down
All those times she refused to acknowledge her relationship with Ulrich, the constant attacks, It was all too much for her.
Yumi, I have to tell you something...I love you
Ulrich...I can't...I'm sorry. It's not you it's just...I don't think it's the right time.
Yumi...
"LOOK AT ME! YUMI!"
She glared at her father, silent
"What is wrong with you? Why did you attack your brother?
Yumi shrugged and continued to stare into blank space.
"We feed you, we clothe you and this is how you repay us? I wish I had a son instead. At least he would listen"
Yumi shed a single tear and left the table. She went to Kadic and attended her classes. Nothing registered to her anymore. Odd and Jeremy visited her at lunch and
noticed she was distant. They both exchanged worried looks but sat down anyway. Yumi was a mess. Her hair was in tatters, and she refused to acknowledge her
friends.
Ever since Yumi had nearly lost her life to the digital sea, she had developed a nervous breakdown. Sissi took every opportunity to taunt her. She faced sexual harassment, snapshots of her naked body being circulated, and relentless taunting. When she reported it, Delmas stood by his daughter. She took to self-harming, cutting deep gashes in her torso. Therapy did nothing and Delmas eventually was forced to acknowledge what his daughter did. He refused to believe Yumi. Enraged, Yumi took a knife and used it to violate Sissi numerous times. Her lower body was cut so badly that the doctors needed to graft new skin onto her. Delmas repeatedly punished Yumi for harming his daughter.
Finally, the nurse spoke up.
"Sir, Yumi is the victim here. Your daughter is the problem. How can you defend this? Yumi's potassium level is at 3 and she's losing blood. Do you even care?"
Delmas paused and gave it thought.
"I see...Take Yumi to the ER. Sissi will get a week's probation"
Edna refused.
"No! Sissi needs to be locked up. Her behavior is out of control. Yumi needs- Yumi?"
She had left for the cafeteria.
"Yumi...Are you ok?" asked Jeremy. Yumi didn't respond, she put her head into her arms and wept silently, releasing four years of pent-up anger and grief. Her face was beet red from crying. Jeremy lifted her shirt and stood in shock. Her body was covered in bloody knife wounds.
"XANA took my life from me, the life I could've had. I can't take it anymore! I haven't been able to sleep or relax, I'm having constant nightmares. I just want it to end!"
Jeremy told one of the kids to get the nurse immediately
"You don't mean that" he said, sitting with her.
Yumi looked up and stared into his eyes
"I can't go on like this...Just leave me alone"
She buried her head into her arms and wept again. The wounds were more serious than he realized. Her entire torso was one bloody gash.
"You've been self-harming. How long has it been?" asked Jeremy
"A year now. At least I can feel something. I don't care if I die"
Ulrich and Aelita showed up and sat down without a word. The group sat in complete silence, showing nothing but support.
Sissi walked over and mocked her, earning her a death glare from all present. The bullying had been going on for four years and Yumi had taken her anger out on her body. The nurse walked over to the lunch room but not before Sissi screwed up.
"Oh poor Yumi, nobody loves me. Poor me, I stay home with parents that don't care. Poor me, I'm pretty but nobody gives a sh-"
Before she could finish, Yumi smashed the glass in her hand and held it to Sissi's throat, her face contorted in a twisted rage-fueled grimace. Yumi stabbed her in the legs, then tore open her tendons.
"You are MINE!"
Sissi was dragged screaming into the garden shed and beaten to near death by an enraged Yumi. Her clothes were torn off and she was videotaped and photographed. Yumi did many questionable things to her and tossed her out of the shed with her hair full of blood. At this point, Yumi had a hacksaw.
"Run to your father, go on, run little cunt. Run like the bitch you are!" she screamed, half-crazed with anger, then the realization hit her and she fell to her knees screaming as the pain and rage hit her like a ton of bricks.
Sissi's face went white with fear, and she ran out. Yumi got up. dusted herself off and went to the factory. With her eyes now rendered Charcoal black from weeping, she nonchalantly started the scanner process and virtualized herself. She began walking to the edge of the ice sector, Carving a path through XANA's mooks without a care in the world.
"Ms Ishiyama? Yumi Ishiyama? Absent" said her Italian teacher.
Aelita barged into Sissi's room and demanded to know about Yumi
"WHERE IS SHE!"
Sissi was panic-stricken, blood all over her bed. She was rocking back and forth.
"Tell me or so help me I will do what she couldn't!"
Sissi went white as a ghost and said she was going somewhere called the Ice Sector.
The others immediately went to the factory and watched in horror as Yumi approached the Digital Sea.
"But we turned off the supercomputer," said Odd. Jeremy checked and indeed Yumi had turned it back on.
"Nobody will miss me when I'm gone," she said, as she slowly walked towards the edge of the sector, At peace with her choice.
"YUMI!" cried Ulrich, immediately sending himself to Lyoko. He appeared in the ice sector and watched horrified as Yumi neared the edge.
"Super Sprint!" he cried. Yumi turned and smiled at him, tears falling from her face.
"Goodbye Ulrich, I can't go back there. I have nothing left. Don't you see, XANA broke me. It's better if I die here, At least I die happy. Tell Delmas, Tell him what she did to me over the years. Tell him about the factory, tell him that It didn't have to be this way. I had to do it, Sissi just wouldn't STOP! I HAD TO! I-I enjoyed it"
Ulrich took a step back.
"What?" he said, realizing the reality of the situation.
"XANA TOOK EVERYTHING FROM ME!" Yumi screamed, stepping closer to the edge.
"Please! Yumi! YUMI DON'T!"
"WHY?" Yumi screamed; "WHY GO BACK? WHY GO BACK TO THAT BITCH! DELMAS NEVER CARED! I HAVE NO ONE! NO ONE!"
Ulrich pleaded with her, his eyes full of tears.
"Yumi, we WILL get you to help! Do you remember when we first came to Lyoko? Do you remember when we kissed? That was real, My feelings for you were REAL! PLEASE!
It was no use.
"Ulrich, I desire peace, not vengeance. Tell the world what happened!"
She took out a knife and cut open her femoral artery, gagging on her blood, and fell backward.
Yumi hit the sea and her signal went dead. She was gone, there was no trace of her.
Ulrich went catatonic and lay on the ground a mess. Tears eventually soaked into the ice and he came back to the factory a broken man.
The others were shocked and said nothing the next day. Aelita was in denial, Odd was rocking back and forth while Ulrich and Jeremy were silently screaming.
Sissi came over again and did what she did as usual
"I..is Yumi dead?"
Ulrich looked at her with a blank expression
"I-I'm sorry for this, I never meant to hurt her.
Ulrich was silent but he was quivering with rage. Sissi tried again.
" I'm sorry, truly. Ulrich pl-"
She couldn't finish, A punch sent her flying towards the door. She got up with a broken tooth and a bloody lip. Ulrich was deathly calm and walked towards her, only to grab her by the collar and smash her face with his fists again and again. She weakly managed to crawl to a table and pick herself up. Ulrich undid his belt and choked her to near death, while Jeremy and Aelita frantically tried to get him to stop. Sissi went purple from the lack of Oxygen and Ulrich was only stopped when Jim came running in, wrestled Ulrich to the ground, and told Sissi to run and get her father.
"YOU KILLED HER!" yelled Ulrich, his face beet red from anger.
Sissi backed against the wall and fell to her knees sobbing from fear
"YOU'RE FUCKING DEAD!" cried Ulrich, his eyes had dried from crying.
Jim rushed in and restrained him.
"GET OFF OF ME!" cried Ulrich as Jim held him down.
The others were silent. Aelita walked over to him and held him. Ulrich's emotions came pouring out like a waterfall. Aelita only held him tighter. telling him it would all be ok.
He had loved Yumi ever since he met her, and his hesitation had cost him dearly. He was heartsick and angry. He went into the bathroom and smashed the mirrors
You really know how to cheer a girl up
Again, he hit the mirror
You're name is Yuri right?
You're Yuri, right?
It's Yumi"
His fist hit the glass again, drawing blood as tears fell down like ice. He didn't care anymore.
"FUCK! WHY! WHY!"
His screams could be heard three doors down. Aelita put her head between her legs and went silent
"Father. please look out for him"
Meanwhile, Sissi ran into her dad's office. She was as white as a sheet and bleeding from the beatdown. Worse than her words were her appearance. She was bleeding from the scalp and her eyes were swollen. She could barely stand up.
"D-Daddy?"
Sissi collapsed in a heap
"Sissi, what's wrong?" asked Delmas, terrified
"Daddy, Ulrich tried to Kill me!" she whined before vomiting blood
"When?" asked Delmas
"Just now, Daddy, this is my fault"
"Relax now, I'm getting you to help, stay with me, baby!"
Delmas called the police.
"We need Paramedics here NOW! My daughter has been assaulted. Get the police here immediately!"
Ulrich was headed to class when a cop car siren stopped him.
"Ulrich Stern, freeze and put your hands up!"
He stopped in confusion and was cuffed/
Ulrich was in the process of being hauled to a car when the police officer stopped and questioned Delmas. Sissi had lost consciousness and was wheeled away on a gurney. Ulrich was too amped on adrenaline and anger to care about the fact that he had nearly murdered Sissi. The officer first took Ulrich's statement. He gave up everything.
"Sir, did you have anything to do with this? Ulrich says your daughter was complicit in a severe bullying case. Mr. Delmas, if this is true then under French law, you and your daughter will get three years imprisonment or worse"
Delmas said no, earning him a death glare from Yolanda/
"I see...I'll be asking Yumi for her perspective. If it turns out you're lying, you will be arrested. If she is found to have come to harm, you will be barred from teaching and your daughter will be sent to a psych ward. You are to remain here for the time being until we can...hey kid, are you alright?"
Ulrich could contain it no longer and screamed out the truth.
"SHE IS DEAD AND DELMAS KILLED HER! DELMAS AND HIS DAUGHTER!"
Ulrich procured the tape Yumi had given him before her death (Jeremy had added in a patch that allowed physical media to work in Lyoko's space)
As the video played, The officer grew pale, seeing Yumi's progressing anger and finally her death in the digital sea.
Unable to control himself, the now-livid officer shot Delmas a look of pure unfiltered rage and ordered the others to drag him away.
"You are never getting out of prison, ever! You've lied to the police, you've covered up a murder suspect and we have proof! You will be in jail for life, you and your daughter!"
Delmas turned to Ulrich, his face seething, a look of utter hatred on his face. The officer ordered him to get into the car as he cursed Ulrich.
"You're dead to me stern, DEAD!"
The officer simply jotted down the offense. "Intent to commit murder..."
He recoiled as Ulrich stared into his soul with cold eyes. He showed no emotion as he spoke. "You first Delmas"
Delmas's body went white as a sheet as he saw Yumi's ghost, her eyes a mix of fire and lightning, staring into his soul.
Delmas was forced into the car but Ulrich had the last word: "Bundle warmly sir, they say that Hell freezes over"
Delmas felt a shiver of fear run down his spine yet again.
Sissi remained in the ICU for about a year as doctors worked around the clock to save her life. She nearly died several times and her heart stopped twice. The police were informed of what really happened and after she had spent another year in the ICU, the doctors cleared her. She arrived (under strict supervision as befitting her punishment) at school after healing but things had changed. Everyone knew about Yumi and hated her for it. Herb and Nicholas left her, her popularity plummeted and when Ulrich saw her, he dragged her to the side with a look of pure rage. He was grabbed and taken away from her but Ulrich yelled nonetheless:
"I gave you fair warning, I told your father to stay away. This is on you!"
Sissi went to find her father who was packing his things in his office.
"Daddy, I'm here," said Sissi, still in her cast. She was limping. There were tears in her eyes. Her father was being processed for prison transfer.
Delmas's eyes went wide with fear as Sissi looked at him with shock.
"Elizabeth, you need to leave now! Go home!"
Delmas was crying, begging her to leave.
"Please tell me you didn't do this! PLEASE TELL ME I WAS WRONG!"
Sissi hung her head.
"I did"
Delmas was taken outside and shoved into a waiting plane.
Sissi left her father and went to class. As class ended, she went into the Girl's restroom to freshen up but was knocked out and dragged to the factory. She woke up and found herself stuck in the scanner.
"What's going on?" she said, terrified. She couldn't see anything. It began to get hot, so hot that she began to boil! Eventually, all the water in her body dried up and her kidneys began to spasm.
"HELP ME!" she screamed. Outside, she could hear Ulrich and Aelita but despite banging on the doors, there was no response.
"It's set, let's get to Lyoko"
"Jeremy...she doesn't deserve this. I'm not going through with this"
Aelita tried to make for the scanner but Odd stopped her.
Sissi tried in vain to open the doors but they were locked and it was getting progressively hotter. Ulrich, his eyes cold, walked up to Jeremy.
"Increase the temperature...more!" Ulrich demanded. Jeremy refused and stopped the scanner from overheating.
"Ulrich, your desire for revenge is going to get all of us killed! Yumi wouldn't want this!"
Ulrich ignored him and went to touch the button only for Aelita to break his arm.
"STOP!" she yelled. Sissi could be heard screaming as the flesh began to peel from her bones. Sinew, muscle, and organs dropped to the floor as her nerves melted to nothing.
"START THE VENTING PROCEDURE!" yelled Aelita. Jeremy did so but it was too late.
Jeremy ran to the console and quickly punched in the codes needed. Sissi began banging on the door and finally fell out as smoke filled the area. She was nothing but a pile of melted flesh at this point, a screaming skeleton. Jeremy horrified, turned to Odd and Aelita and spoke:
"Aelita, as of now, Ulrich is no longer part of the group. Send for a squad car and have them arrest him. I'm not sorry Ulrich"
Suddenly, Jeremy fell as if dead as Yumi appeared before him. She was in the same state as Sissi. Odd screamed.
"Yumi?" Aelita gasped. Somehow she was able to see her ghost.
Yumi looked enraged. She turned towards her former lover. Ulrich tried to cover his eyes but she forced him to look at her.
"LOOK AT ME!" she screamed.
"DO YOU SEE WHAT YOU DID?
"You have forsaken me and the school for vengeance. I told you to tell the world what happened to me. I did NOT ask you to murder anyone!"
Ulrich began to speak
"Yumi I-"
Yumi's eyes shot into him
"SHUT IT! You should be in the scanner with her! Did you think that killing her would bring me back? Did you think to set off the reactor, that it would allow God to give you a safe quarter, to somehow reset the world? You are a fucking disgrace! Was it all a lie? Did you ever truly love me? Let me go, Ulrich, stop clinging Ulrich, STOP CLINGING ULRICH! STOP CLINGING AND LET ME GO!
Ulrich pleaded and begged.
"LET...ME...GOOOOO!"
Ulrich was kicked and Yumi left.
Ulrich fell to the ground sobbing as the vision faded. Jeremy and Aelita pushed him into the elevator. The cops were waiting when he got out.
Epilogue
Ulrich returned to Kadic years later. The once proud gates were now rusty hinges. The school grounds were all but spent. As Ulrich went to the factory, he tried to set the virtualization sequence only to get an error and a recorded diary:
"Ulrich, if you are reading this, then Aelita and I have gone to Lyoko. The factory is now off-limits to you. You can no longer go to Lyoko and will die a bitter old man for what you did all those years ago. As a small mercy, please open the second diary in the seventh row, dated 4/18/23"
Ulrich did so and accessed the Diary. The air in the factory was bitterly cold and stuffy. Ulrich zipped up his jacket.
"Dear Ulrich. This is Yumi. I hope it was worth it. Sissi's extended family is out for your blood. Delmas is barred from teaching. If you come to Lyoko you will be under Jeremy's jurisdiction and he's not happy to see you. Aelita hates your guts and Odd had to be talked out of killing you. You have two options: Head to Lyoko and be imprisoned in Sector Five with a reprogrammed Tarantula as a Warden or remain on Earth and face imprisonment as well. I loved you Ulrich, I always loved you and it broke me to see what you did. Even dead, I got no peace. Farewell, my love. The code is 4311"
Ulrich input the code and was sent to Lyoko. He was immediately locked up and sent to Sector 5. Jeremy walked up to him, emblazoned on his chest was a golden chest plate with a lightning symbol. He looked angry.
"You are to remain her for the rest of your existence. The factory computer will remain powered for the extent of our time here but you will never leave. You could have stopped, you should have stopped. If you break out, then you will find miles of nothing but the digital sea. This is goodbye, Ulrich. Eventually, the supercomputer will die. Your only savior now is the woman you disgraced. Goodbye, old friend."
Ulrich decided to sleep off his sentence. This was a mistake as he was sucked into a bloody wormhole. As he opened his eyes, he found himself back in bed. Was this a dream?
"Ulrich, Ulrich wake up!"
Ulrich shot out of bed. He was in Kadic. Everyone was alright. He moved to touch Sissi but recoiled when she turned and he saw Yumi's enraged face. He went to the factory and checked the logs. Nothing. He tried to enter Lyoko and found he could not. The others entered and though Ulrich tried to get their attention, he found that they just passed through him. He nonetheless tried to jump into the scanner. He bounced off as the others went to Lyoko. The scenery around him changed and he saw a wall of dead Sissi clones, all boiled to death. He shut his eyes to stop the screams.
"Ulrich Wake up!"
He woke up again and did the same thing. He saw the same face, the same event at the factory, and the same loop. Eventually, he tried to blow his brains out, only to wake up again. Yumi popped into his hell loop and asked if he was ready to face judgment. Ulrich said yes but Yumi left. What felt like months passed and Yumi showed up again. Ulrich was at this point broken and begged her to forgive him. Yumi smiled and knelt down.
"I already have, but you will not leave just yet. You have visitors. People that you screwed over when you killed Sissi. Delmas is in his own hell and will never leave but this is for you. You have one last chance at redemption but he will suffer for eternity."
She left again as Ulrich saw Delmas and Sissi, Delmas was inside out, on hooks made of bronze, and Sissi was being eaten alive by spiders the size of dogs. They came out of her mouth, out of her ears, and out of sacs in her skin. Ulrich vomited as the visions faded, but it was about to get worse, much worse.
Ulrich felt himself being pulled into Sissi's body and felt every blow, every bit of pain. He saw himself in the scanner and began howling with pain as the heat burned bloody gashes into his body. He was carved with a hacksaw, violently penetrated with a piece of wood, and smacked across the face. He hit the grass and his hair began turning a bloody crimson. He felt his strength give out and fell as if dead. Again Yumi appeared and knelt down, her eyes now a glowing white light, she had wings upon her.
"The turmoil of the soul is one of great sorrow. You still have yet to see the full extent of your rampage beloved", she cautioned, as she left again.
Ulrich saw Delmas's relatives reacting to the news with great sorrow. Without his job, they were on welfare. With food now over one hundred and eight euros due to the Covid-19 epidemic, they were left starving and slowly wasted away on 1000 calories a day, consisting of bread and soup. Sissi could not be buried, there was too much missing. Ulrich was thrown back into his body as demonic jeers and screams echoed in his ears. He begged Yumi for help. Everything went silent
"Now you know Ulrich. I have spoken to the others. Time is about to be rewound to the exact moment you nearly killed Sissi. You have one last chance, Beloved."
Ulrich raced to the scanner and pushed open the doors as the others vented the scanner. Sissi's body was hot to the touch as the others got a towel and water. Ulrich found his other self and beat it into submission, finally tearing out its spine, causing the time loop to collapse. Everyone violently exploded as time was rewound to the exact moment Sissi was about to confront Yumi.
Sissi walked up to Yumi to badger her but Delmas, thanks to Ulrich and Odd exposing her with said DVD, whirled her around and slapped her hard across the face, saying that he was horrified at her actions. He called the police and she was sent to jail. Yumi was immediately rushed to the ER and was promptly sent to surgery. It was a close call as the self-harm had gotten to the point where Yumi had severe wounds all over her back that were quickly becoming gangrenous. The surgeons had to act fast or she would die in 5 minutes! Over the course of six hours, they attempted to keep Yumi alive, trying to keep her heart pumping.
"She's seizing, Ativan stat!"
Yumi stabilized as Surgeons extracted bit after bit of razor fragments from her back and torso. One had very nearly pierced her heart and great care was taken to extract it.
"Sutures, clamp there. hold it...done"
The wound was closed and Yumi was eventually released from the hospital under strict observation. She came back to the factory to find everyone gone.
Yumi checked the supercomputer and found a message that stopped her heart:
"Odd, Aelita, Ulrich, Jeremy: Alive, status: In hiding."
As Yumi pondered who could've done this, she was knocked out. She woke up three hours later to the sound of explosions. She saw another log:
"Gone to Lyoko...Yumi, if you get this, RUN!"
Something jumped out of the shadows and Yumi ran into the scanner.
The factory was now abandoned. A wormhole opened, the sky went blood red and blackness engulfed the area
"This is Kadic, something's coming out of the skies. Hold up... Monstres! Et c'est le goth et le marqueur! Waite... Cousu! Armure, obtenir alors des chars ici pas. Il est toujours vivant! Tous les Skuods, régénérateur de Is You New Target. L'enfer de l'oignon!"
Bombs hit the factory and it all went black.
Yumi opened her eyes. Somehow, there were two versions of her. It took a moment for her to look around. She was dead.
The others confirmed it. Their earthly bodies were destroyed. The Alt Yumi went to bed, exactly a day before the end. Yumi closed her eyes as bright light took her.