Chapter 13
The Never Dimming Sun
"Kirito!" Alice called out as she closed in on the black swordsman's position atop her trusted dragon Amayori. As Alice approached Kirito who was struggling to get up onto his knees. It was a most pleasing sight to X.A.N.A who started snickering before kicking Kirito's hands out from under him causing the black swordsman to kiss the dirt. This scene infuriated The Priestess of Light she wasn't about to let anyone treat the one she loved like a dog. Without skipping a beat the Blonde drew her sword and unleashed her swarm of flowers down upon X.A.N.A who was either to focused on what he was doing to notice or just didn't care, either way though Alice's attack made its mark knocking the A.I. down pleasing the blonde; who wasted no time in leaping down from the back of Amayori and landing just over an arms length from Kirito who was once again struggling to get back up.
"Glad to see you Alice." Kirito said with a sincere smile and slight blush. Invoking the same gesture from the blonde as she extends a hand to her love who takes it after which she pulled him up to his feet before hugging him hard.
"Thank Stacia you're alright." Alice exclaimed as she buried her face into Kirito's shoulder as he returned her embrace.
"Yeah I'm alright now Alice and, I'm happy you're okay." After hearing this Alice reluctantly pulled back and, she could tell she was crying but not because she was sad in fact quite the opposite. They were tears of joy.
As the lovers had their moment time was moving slowly and they also weren't paying attention to X.A.N.A who was coming back to life.
"So you are ALICE aye!" The AI exclaimed as he got back to his feet; Causing the pair to shift their attention to him.
"You're going to be my ticket to freedom!" X.A.N.A added; This sent a shiver down Alice's spine as Kirito stepped in front of her. Normally it'd be seen as a sweet gesture but, Alice knew that Kirito was in no shape for a fight as she stepped back around Kirito...
"Kirito you can't fight now you're hurt let me handle this! The blonde proclaimed surprising him but ultimately agreed with a nod as Alice grasped the hilt of her sword.
X.A.N.A. smirked at this as he reached for his weapon; "excellent once I beat you I can use your program and body to escape this prison."
"Over my dead body." Alice exclaimed as the two raced towards one another swords drawn.
"That can be arranged" X.A.N.A. responded with a crackle of Red lightning illuminated The sky as he charged towards Alice Their two blades continued constantly striking each other. As Alice and X.A.N.A. matched each other again and again.
"He's strong" Alice remarked in her mind as she continued to fight the A.I a realization began creeping into the blonde's mind; "I may not be able to win, NO I CAN'T THINK THAT WAY! Kirito... Yuji... They need me..."
"Admit it you're overwhelmed." X.A.N.A. remarked stoically as he now had Alice on the back foot. the comment snapped the knight out of her thoughts and back to the battle but when it came to brute strength she was slightly outmatched...
"Ultimate A.I. my foot; don't worry I'll fix that when I take you over such a shame because I'll be honest I've grown rather used to this form it suits me. It's more intimidating.. terrifying and says I'm going to enslave the human race before I slaughter them all like idiotic cattle!" X.A.N.A. remarked confident he'd defeat Alice handily but he couldn't be too rough on her by killing her as Alice was his ticket to freedom.
What he didn't know though was while he was distracted Kirito had gotten back up and was charging at him full speed...
"Ahhh..." Kirito shouted as he slashed X.A.N.A on his side severing his arm and forcing him down as blood started pouring from his missing arms socket.
"Kirito..." Alice remarked stunned that Kirito was able to do that so quick...
"That won't keep him down for long he'll quickly regenerate we should get back to the others there is strength in numbers." Kirito remarked to Alice as he took her hand causing the blonde to start blushing profusely as Kirito led her over to Amayori who was quickly approaching the ground. In just a couple of minutes the two were on Amayori's back and speeding towards the others as XANA got back to his feet.
"I won't be defeated that easily; super-smoke" XANA proclaimed as his form turned into a black mist streaking across the terrain in hot pursuit of Kirito and Alice who were heading back towards the rest of the battle.
Meanwhile with the Knight's:
Burning husks and smoking metal were covering the ground to the point where no one could spot a speck of dirt aside from the crator Alice made with her initial attack since then the army that seemed to be limitless on manpower was down to just two droids left but they were quickly mopped up by the coalition of forces opposing them it was over the Knight's, Imperial Army and, Lyoko Warriors aided by Revolver had won. As the group looked up to see Amayori descending in front of them.
"There they are!" Eydis exclaimed excitedly as the Lyoko Warriors looked at each other in amazement and wondering that if they're here does that mean XANA was defeated although that'd be their wish they all knew that being was one persistent entity that just refuses to die.
It was as that thought collectively went through the minds of the Lyoko Warriors a torrent of red lightning illuminated The sky before striking the ground as XANA emerged from his super-smoke upon the ground his missing arm still dripping blood onto his droids that lay at his feet ...
"He really is dramatic isn't he?" Fanatio asked as William nods...
"He just won't quit!" Kirito remarked as the gang looked upon the A.I. unsure of his next move.
Aelita however used the moment to open an secure comm to Jeremy and Rath aboard ocean turtle...
"Jeremy can you hear me?" Aelita called out in what would normally be called telepathy but in reality it was just a secure secret way to communicate with the other side...
Meanwhile aboard Ocean Turtle:
"We hear and see you Aelita." Jeremy assured his partner how are you doing?
"I've been better; please tell me you've got the anti-xana program ready!" It's been ready all you have to do is keep him down long enough for the program to run... Jeremy assured her
"I don't know if we can we're exhausted Jeremy..."
"Ask Kirito Alice and Revolver to do it if you're uncertain that's what they're there for..." Jeremy assured her...
"We'll do what we can just be ready..."
"Okay just keep telling yourself that this will work..." Jeremy responded
"I hate doing the false hope thing and you know that..." Aelita scolded
"Sorry..."
Meanwhile back in Underworld:
Aelita broke her comm-link and told the group their plan of attack...
"This is it Kirito... Alice... Revolver... We need you to hit XANA with all you've got we need to disarm him long enough for Rath to destroy him..." Aelita said stoically as XANA smirked.
"If you think you can defeat me then bring it on." XANA responded confidently.
At this Kirito and Alice Raised their swords as Revolver pointed his arm towards the sky and proclaimed;
"If we're going to go all out than perhaps it's time to call upon the legendary Illusionary beasts I beseech thee..."
With that three Gigantic beasts one red one blue and one yellow two took on the appearance of dragons while the blue beast took on the form of a gigantic humanoid almost as big as the Kollasus...
"What is this?" XANA questioned not one ounce of genuine concern in his voice however.
"Allow me to introduce you to the illusionary beasts; Obelisk's Giant Soldier, The Saint Dragon Osiris and, The Winged Dragon of Ra..."
XANA looked back down at the humans in front of him with a slight look of nervousness on the A.I's face.
"Ready Alice?" Kirito asked the blonde...
"Ready Kirito..." The blonde responded
"Ready Revolver?" Kirito asked the Knight of Hanoi leader...
"Ready to go.." Revolver responded as the Illusionary beasts roared behind him.
With that Kirito and Alice Raised their swords which began glowing gold and black respectfully as a swarm of flowers and black lightning streaked across the sky and connected upon XANA...
"Illusionary beasts attack; Thunder bomb, Blaze Cannon and, Crushing fist!" Revolver commanded to which the illusionary beasts responded by blasting three beams of light one red one yellow and one blue which combined with Alice and Kirito's attacks on contact. Resulting in the ground shaking violently and smoke billowing skyward.
"Jeremy... Higa... Now..." Aelita signaled to Rath and upon hearing the signal Jeremy hit a key on the control panel aboard ocean turtle while everyone else watched on anxious to see if this would really work...
After a few moments a chime echoed in the control room aboard ocean turtle at the same time the smoke that surrounded XANA started dissipating giving way back to the terrain of the Dark Territory.
Upon it's fading the group gazed upon nothing but a crater where XANA once was...
"HE'S Gone" everyone exclaimed in unison...
"It could be a trap though guys!" ODD was quick to remind everyone who was celebrating...
"Jeremy can you give confirmation is he gone?"
However; this time it was Higa who responded. "Nothing is showing up on the scans..."
"Aelita; I can confirm the purge of XANA from underworld succeeded he has been destroyed!"
The confirmation brought the group to celebration but, at the same time so many questions remained to everyone who was not in the loop.
Before any of those questions could be addressed however a second dragon began descending from the sky as the Illusionary Beasts released themselves fading away clearing the skies once more as the skies of the Dark Territory returned to their normal appearance as a wave of easiness goes far and wide. Once the dragon landed Yumi smiled as she realized it was her friend Tiese who had tears rolling down her face but attention quickly shifted from that to what was behind the red head; behind her were three skeletons two of which were wearing Integrity Knight armor which didn't take long for the group to ascertain that these were the remains of Desulbert, Scheta and, Ishkhan. With that realization the mood grew somber especially upon the Integrity Knights.
"All of this for nothing!?" Eydis exclaimed as she appeared to be taken the loss the hardest.
"Maybe not" Revolver answered as he placed his hand on his hip his response confusing everyone as the leader of The Knights of Hanoi without speaking another word snapped his fingers causing a blue light to go skyward taking the shape of an Ankh...
As this was going on the three corpse's behind Tiese began to the impossible; "regenerate" and with just a few moments the trio who had long since perished in the initial confrontation with XANA had been revived much to the amazement of everyone. As the group turned there attention to the enigmatic being that had allied with them.
"Who are you... What are you!? Fanatio proclaimed as she was taken aback by this almost act of witchcraft."
"You residents of underworld would know me as The Divine Dragon Knight... But to anyone else from where I come from I am just a criminal trying to right a grave wrong..."
However; there are other things that need addressed. Alice... Kirito... There is another Genocidal A.I. on a rampage the true threat is Lightning the rogue Ignis he has manifested into the real world and has already taken Asuna and Rinko hostage...
"WHAT!?" The two asked in unison...
"Lightning has Rinko and Asuna and is demanding Yuji or Alice as the cost to get them back; This why I am in underworld we're running out of time and XANA was an unexpected "speed bump" thus why myself and the Lyoko Warriors are here we had to stop XANA and get you two... I'm sorry you three back to the real world a rescue mission has already been mobilized but we'll need your help to make sure we get as good of an outcome as possible..."
After hearing this Kirito looked at Alice no words were spoken they just looked at each other and exchanged a nod before turning back to Revolver...
"Let's get back to the citadel there Rath can perform the extraction." Revolver told the pair as they followed by the Lyoko Warriors headed to some wagons to hitch a ride back but not before a couple of exchanges were made;
"Yumi... Will I ever see you again?" Tiese asked the tall dark haired girl who smiled and assured Tiese that they would see each other again although Yumi couldn't guarantee that Tiese didn't need to know that. That brought a smile to the red heads face as she waved goodbye...
"Fanatio will you oversee things here while I'm gone Kirito asked the knight commander who nodded yes; Leave it to me...
The final exchange was between Alice and Eydis as the silver haired girl grabbed Alice's shoulder surprising her;
"Eydis!?"
"You've got to tell me what the secret is I'm like a sister to you and I know something is up!"
Alice smiled with a slight blush on her face leaned in and whispered to Eydis what the big secret was this brought a gushing smile to Eydis face.
"Don't tell anyone Eydis or else!" Alice lightly threatened...
"As long as you guys come for visits with his Auntie Eydis you're secret is safe..." Eydis assured the Knight as her Kirito, Alice, Revolver and, The Lyoko Warriors climbed into the back of the wagon and set off to Ishkahn's citadel as fast as they could...
To Be Continued: