Chapter 51 Duel of Fate (Nobody in Particular)
A.N. – Nothing new in this one except the battle in the core. You will see.
Josh Xana – Glad to see you are enjoying this story!
Short Summary – After Jeremy's failed virtualization experiment splits Ulrich in two, Xana takes advantage to have a warrior destroy the core, but someone stands in his way.
Disclaimer – I do not own Code Lyoko or the story idea. I am just a fan of the show, and the idea was submitted by James Marshall.
The group is all in the cafeteria, discussing Ulrich's situation. "Don't worry. It'll work out fine" Odd says.
"Doubt it. Hertz is gonna do everything she can to have me transferred to ninth grade remedial" Ulrich responds.
"They wouldn't do that in the middle of the year" Yumi says.
"With my rotten grades? Don't bet on it. My parents are gonna kill me and finding time to fight Xana is gonna be a nightmare. A, do you remember what my fate was?"
"It was twenty years ago for me. I know you still fought by us so there is some hope" A responds.
"Speaking of transfer," Jeremy speaks up. "I think I finally found a way to virtualize you into sector five. By interpreting the source codes in Planek's quantum space, we can get around the Eisenberg uncertainty theory. The only risk is coming up with a mathematical singularity."
"In other words, Jeremy has a method but no way to know if its effective" A simplifies.
"Right, so I need a…"
"A guinea pig" Odd says.
"Right. Any volunteers?"
No one wanted to become Jeremy's lab rat to test that they weren't sure where they were gonna end up. Odd comes up with a solution. "The shortest string bean is it." Everyone draws one and Ulrich is the unlucky winner.
"Guess today is not my lucky day" Ulrich says.
"We'll run the test tonight at eight" Jeremy says.
The group arrives in sector five via the transporter. The group then awaits Ulrich. Jeremy does the procedure, but Ulrich doesn't arrive. "Jeremy, did you accidentally send Ulrich to the mountain sector?' A asks.
"No, he should've arrived in sector five in the arena with you guys" Jeremy responds.
"Well, unless he's invisible, he's not here" Odd says.
"I don't understand. The transfer went through. Oh no! Ulrich doesn't appear on my scanners. It's as if he's vanished completely!"
"Think Xana has something to do with this? He's messed with our virtualizations before" A suggests.
"No, I made a bunch of firewalls to prevent Xana from doing anything on the outside. Xana has nothing to do with this."
A remains in the mountain sector but can't feel him. "Nothing is in Lyoko Jeremy. I can't detect him. It's like he fell in the digital sea."
"The thing is though there was no record of him falling into the network, nor the void. He's somewhere between Lyoko and the real world, without a possibility of returning."
"I'll stay here and continue to search. If I sense him, I'll inform you immediately."
A does another scan the next day but can't find him. "A, you there?" Jeremy contacts her.
"New developments?"
"We sort of found Ulrich. Listen, can you try to search for his body? I'll explain later."
A does a search. "He's on sector five. But something's not right."
"What is it?"
"His body is moving, and I can feel someone else's presence within him. Better get to the lab fast."
A awaits the arrival of only Yumi, William, and Aelita as Ulrich and Odd are trapped at the academic review. Once they arrive they all take off towards the edge of the sector. Jeremy types in the code and the transporter arrives and takes them to the fifth sector. They arrive in the arena and the wall opens. They reach a room with a platform that leads to the key.
"The key is over there, just across the other side" Aelita says.
"It's a trap. No monsters and a single platform. Unless Xana is having an off day, he's probably trying to kill us" A says.
"No matter what, we have to stop the countdown to find Ulrich's body" Yumi says as she moves, and a pillar comes crashing down.
"Like I said, a trap."
"Yeah, cat and mouse style" William adds.
Yumi moves as more platforms come crashing down. She activates the key, and the pillars rise. The others run across. "Come on. Ulrich needs saving," Yumi urges the others. They all arrive in another room to see the body of Ulrich moving. "Ulrich?"
He turns around and sees the eye of Xana in his eyes. "Xana was the other presence I felt in him" A says.
"Super sprint!" Xana says as he takes off in a run. They chase after him.
"He's closing in on the hall of the core of Lyoko! You got to try to stop him!" Jeremy informs them.
"Do you know how fast he is?" Yumi replies, knowing they can't catch him at this pace.
A activates her wings and takes flight. She knew she was just as fast as Ulrich when she flew. A was about to catch Ulrich when he went through a wall. A is unable to stop, and slams face first into it. "That was a ten life point hit you just took. What happened?"
"He went through the wall, like a ghost" A responds.
"Xana must have opened a passage directly to the core. We got move quick. Use the access through the celestial dome."
She runs as the others show up. "Where are you going? Ulrich went that way" Yumi points.
"Xana opened a passage to the core through the wall. We have to go through the celestial dome" A responds.
The others all arrive at the elevator and exit into the celestial dome with their vehicles waiting. "Hurry up. The first shield layer just took a thirty life point hit!" Jeremy tells them. They all head to the south entrance and fly into the chamber. William hits the key, and the stairs appear. They all climb up to see Xana attacking the core.
"Energy field!" Aelita says as she fires towards Xana. Flying mantas arrive to stall them. Aelita fires another one and is able to destroy a manta. Xana continues to attack the core and is able to destroy the first shield layer. Aelita fires another orb but misses this time. Yumi is having problems with a third one she is dealing with. Aelita doesn't notice the manta coming back and devirtualizes her.
Yumi tries to destroy her manta. She flips and is also devirtualized. Xana fires another beam and is hit by A. He stumbles back as A appears in front of him. "Don't think you're getting a free win today." She lands on the same platform. A manta appears behind her.
"Leave her. She's mine" Xana commands it.
"Leave Ulrich's body alone. He's not yours" A says.
"I like this body though. You know I do need something to help me finish taking over the world. I think this will do wonders."
"You won't destroy the core and you won't take his body."
"I beg to differ. This body, with my enhancements, is unstoppable."
"You want it, you'll have to go through me."
"With pleasure. I've been waiting to even the score with you for ages, after what you did to me."
"You still got what you needed because of me."
"But what I had to go through to achieve it. I know a lot about you A. You're not here to assist me are you? You're here to help usher something in. Something terrible."
A clutches her fist. "You don't know anything about me, or my life."
"Yeah, something terrible. Something heartbreaking. Something that affected your life to this very day. Was it your friends, your boyfriend…" Xana pauses. "Or your father."
A shows signs of visible anger. "You stay away from my father!" Aelita uses her creativity to make a sword for herself and points it at Xana. It glows a bright blue.
"Your father huh? Weak old man but had what I needed to succeed. If you only knew what he did before he virtualized you, you'd think differently of him."
"This ends today!"
Xana holds his sword in his hands as it glows a bright red. The two then engage in a sword fight and sparks fly as they clash swords. Ulrich tries a simple attack and A blocks. She is able to kick him and push him back. She quickly gets up on her feet. She rushes at him. Xana blocks all her with Ulrich's super agility. He quickly sweeps her feet and A lands on her back. He tries another straightforward attack and A blocks, but barely holding on.
"A formidable opponent I must say, but you cannot defeat me."
"I know more than you think." She sweeps his one leg and Xana loses balance before falling. "Back in my time, I took a martial art class with my friends to be ready in case of your return."
"No matter what fighting experience you have, it doesn't help you in the slightest."
"If you think you're so powerful, then prove it." Xana charges at her but A dodges out of the way and elbows him in the back. "Fighting moves, courtesy of the real Ulrich."
Xana runs at her, and A prepares to defend herself, but he suddenly super sprints and pushes her over the edge. She screams as she falls. Odd and William see her fall. Xana aims his saber at the shield just as Odd and William finish off the mantas. The second shield explodes, and Xana takes aim. "Not this time," A says as she quickly throws her saber and devirtualizes Xana. "Jeremy, fuse Ulrich, now!"
Odd and William join A at the top. "Where did you learn those moves?" Odd asks.
"My Ulrich from my time taught me how to fight. Not all of my fighting experience is martial arts."
Jeremy rematerializes them and the mission ends.
A was beginning to worry that Xana now has the knowledge on how to hurt her, mentally. She knows that in order for everything to fall into place, Xana must win, but she must have it happen at the right time or Xana will never die.
A.N. – Sorry if this was a little on the shorter end. I thought this would be longer but since I cut out half the episode, it just happens. Next one will make up for it as it will be two episodes and final combo chapter of season 3 before we reach the finale which will set the stage for the final season, which in my opinion, will be the most interesting to write. PM me with story ideas! Review with questions or comments! I will respond! As always, till next time! See ya! -lyokowarrior97