Chapter 49 Destruction & Rebirth (The Pretender & The Secret)

A.N. – So, the next two chapters will be combos and William's first official mission begins in the next chapter. For now, we got these two.


Short Summary – After Xana's latest attack leaves one of the warriors severely injured, A has a choice to save Lyoko or save one of their own.

Short Summary – William starts to feel left out of being a Lyoko Warrior and starts to inject himself into the Lyoko Warriors secret lives in order to get himself a full time position.


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 Pretender

A was enjoying her time in the park waiting for a break from classes. She notices a crow land next to her. The crow seemed a little off to her. She suddenly noticed a whole flock of them emerge around her. She eyed one and saw the eye of Xana. "So, I see you still remember me." The crow called out in response. Suddenly all the crows took off. "I better go warn the others." A took off to the courtyard, knowing Xana was headed after them.

As A arrived in the courtyard she already saw the crows have arrived. "Hey guys, have you noticed all the birds? It's kind of bizarre…" Ulrich says.

"It reminds me of a film. A dumb flick where birds attack the heroes. It wasn't even scary" Odd replies.

"Guys! The birds are possessed by Xana!" A cries out.

"What!?" Jeremy replies as a bird attacks him with its electric beak. "I saw the sign. It's Xana alright."

The other birds start to fly to the group. "Hurry, they'll peck away at us until there's nothing left" Odd says.

"Get to the passage in the park. There is no birds there," A says. They starts running and A notices Yumi is missing. "Where's Yumi?"

"I think she's trying to ditch Johnny. Either that or she's just enjoying sometime off" Ulrich replies.

"Why would Johnny be around Yumi?"

"I kind of told him to follow her all day. He has a crush on her."

"Dumb move. Not only does Yumi hate being followed but now he's in as much danger as her."

"What do we do? Save Yumi or deactivate the tower?"

"Deactivate the tower. It will stop the crows, as long as they don't attack Yumi" Aelita replies.

They pull the grate off the sewer entrance and close it before the crows can attack them again. "Incredible. I forget to check the superscan for a few hours and bang. A Xana attack!" Jeremy says.

"How did you figure out about the birds A?" Aelita says.

"One landed next to me and I saw the sign and a whole flock. I didn't check my superscan" A responds.


Ulrich walks up the ladder and sees a crow walk past. Surprisingly, the crows don't attack. "Why aren't they attacking?" Aelita asks.

"Take a guess. Xana needs you to destroy the surface sectors. Regardless of the outcome, he's gonna try to destroy whatever sector the tower is activated in" A replies.

"It's almost surreal. We don't want to lose Lyoko, but we can't ignore this threat" Jeremy says.

"Yeah, walking right into the lion's den."

The five slowly walk past the crows. Aelita leads them and as soon as she makes it to the ropes, the birds start flying. "Any martial art moves A?" Odd asks.

"Not for birds" A replies.

"Is there any other option?" Ulrich asks.

"Yeah, run!"

The three take off and get into the factory corridor and elevator before the birds arrive. They're beaks peak at the door as the elevator descends. The elevator stops at the lab and A and Jeremy get off. "Not coming with us A?" Odd asks.

"I gotta defend Jeremy. Those crows won't stay away. This lab has another entrance" She points to the roof entrance.

"You're the one who suggested we run?" Ulrich says.

"And I got a cheat-cheat" she flashes her Lyoko band. "The birds won't stand a chance."

The elevator goes down and A transforms into her Lyoko avatar. Jeremy also calls Yumi and the principal picks up. "Hello?"

"Mr. Delmas, is that you?" Jeremy asks.

"Yes, it's me."

"Do you know where Yumi is?"

"Yes, she's here in the tool shed. And she's been hurt. Listen Belpois, I can't talk now. I've got to call an ambulance so hang up please."

"I'm going to get her to a hospital" A says.

"In this form?"

"It would be no different if we can't save Yumi. If she perishes, a return won't save her."

"Okay go but be careful."

She heads to elevator. "Tell the others to step on it. Those birds won't be far behind."


A flies above the city and lands in front of the administration. "Give her to me. I can get her to the hospital faster."

"And who exactly are you?" Jim questions.

"Someone who knows the severity of the situation."

"Let her go" William appears. "I trust her enough, just like she trusts me."

The principal and the paramedic step aside. A picks up Yumi and flies up. "Hang in there Yumi" A says.

"A? what are you doing?" Yumi asks weakly.

"Trying to save you. Just save your strength."

"Thank you." Yumi passes out.

A lands in front of the emergency room and goes inside, Yumi in her arms. "I need a doctor, urgently!" A doctor and a bed is rolled out to her. A carefully places Yumi in the bed.

Yumi is wheeled into a room, A by her side watching her stabilize. "Jeremy, please tell me the tower is almost deactivated."

"Yeah, about that. The tower is not the issue no more. Aelita is now possessed by Xana" Jeremy replies.

"Great. Please tell me you got a plan B?"

"Ulrich's on top of it. Problem is his sword is not with him."

"I leave to go help Yumi and everything's falling apart." Yumi's vitals start to slow down. "Jeremy, launch a return now!"

"I can't!" He replies quickly.

"Can't or won't?"

"Both. As long as Aelita is controlled by Xana, launching a return might keep her that way."

"Well tell Ulrich to step on it! Yumi's vitals are starting to drop."

"Well, you won't have to wait any longer. Aelita made it to the way tower. I'm launching a return but first I got bring Ulrich and Aelita in."

A grabs Yumi's hand. "Don't die, not yet." A closes her eyes and the return happens.


A waited by the gate and saw Yumi approaching. "What are you doing here?" Yumi asks.

"Just making sure you're okay. You started to die on me back there" A replied.

"I know. I tried to hold on, but when Xana attacked me, he drained all my energy and just surviving, trying to hold on…"

"I understand. I never was in a near death situation like you, but it's nothing you have to explain." The two walked into school together. A was happy that Yumi was alright.


The Secret

Yumi's Point of View

It was late at night as Yumi's phone rings. She picks it up and it's Jeremy on the other side. "Yumi emergency. Xana's on the move. We're on our way and A's waiting on Lyoko."

"Ok Jeremy, I'm on my way" Yumi replies as she gets changed and heads out, but someone approaches on a skateboard.

"Hey," the person said who was William. "Sneaking out late at night? Going to see someone?"

"If it's what you're thinking, no."

"So, it's Xana then?" Yumi stops. "When are you gonna let me have a chance at the action. I'm dependable, you know that. Apparently A trusts me, or she wouldn't have taken me to Lyoko."

"Maybe she did that to take you down a few notches Mr. Action Hero. Xana is a much bigger threat that I don't think you're ready for yet."

"And the others? What do they think?" Yumi remains silent. "You never asked them did you." Yumi still remains silent. "I'd let you think it over Yumi, but one of these days I'm gonna save you and your friends and you're gonna wish you had me as an ally." He takes off and Yumi heads off to the factory.

A's Point of View

A was waiting in the scanner room, having been blown away by a surprise monster attack by Xana. Yumi arrives in the elevator. "You're late" A comments.

"We're you timing me?" Yumi asks.

"No, but Aelita was nearing the tower when I got devirtualized and Jeremy started rematerializing so they should be appearing right…" She pauses for a moment. "Now." The scanners open as she says that.

"Hey Yumi, what happened to you?" Ulrich asks.

"William happened" Yumi responds as she shoot s a glance to A. A knows exactly what her problem was.


Yumi's Point of View

Yumi was at the front gates, waiting for Jim to finish taking attendance. William's conversation from last night still ran on repeat in her head. She knew that he would never give away their secret, but was he dependable on Lyoko? "So, did you talk to your friends about letting me join fully?" William asks.

"No, that something that we need to do as a group, including you."

"Yeah, sure. You just don't want me to join, is that it?"

"Maybe I do, maybe I don't. This ain't the time or place!" Yumi said quietly.

Jim was calling William's name, and he was a little irritated which triggered his response. "Ok, ok. I'm not deaf! You can see I'm here can't you!?"

"Dunbar! To the library, out of my sight! No swimming for you today!" Jim demands.

"Don't feel threatened Yumi. I'm a valuable asset and I'm gonna prove it."

"A valuable asset to Xana, not to us" Yumi says quietly.


A's Point of View

A, Aelita, and Jeremy were finalizing Jeremy and Aelita's report on World War I. "Don't worry Jeremy. With A's help, I'm sure our report is gonna be good" Aelita says.

"With my knowledge, I'm sure I helped you get all the major points you needed" A said.

"It feels like cheating though" Jeremy says.

"I didn't do the report or the slideshow. I just steered you in the right direction. Luckily, Xana didn't sidetrack us too much."

The superscan comes on at this time. "Oh great. Perfect time for a Xana attack. And what's more me and Aelita can't miss class" Jeremy says.

"Do your report. I'll go to the factory with the guys and virtualize them. And then you virtualize Aelita when you're done."

"Guess we got no other choice. Let's go Aelita" Jeremy says as they head to class.

The three were in the forest and Ulrich was trying to contact Yumi. "She's not answering. What did she mean 'William happened' yesterday?" He asked A.

"My guess, William was pestering her about becoming a full time warrior" A responds.

"We can trust him, so why not?" Odd asks.

"Because Yumi won't allow it. I don't why, but William becoming one of us is not something she's fond of" Ulrich responds. The three descend into the sewers, unaware that William just heard everything.


A was in the lab, preparing for Odd and Ulrich's virtualization. "No sign of Xana activity on Earth. Hopefully, Jeremy and Aelita's report doesn't give Xana enough time to do anything. Get ready, I'm gonna virtualize you two" A says.

"You mean us three" William says climbing down the ladder.

"Let me guess, you want to prove yourself?"

"Yeah, but I wish Yumi was here. She's the one I want to impress so she can change her opinion on me."

"You know where she is?" Ulrich asks.

"Yeah, at the pool. I was supposed to be there, but Yumi kinda of rubbed me the wrong way."

Jeremy and Aelita just arrived at this time. "Where's Yumi?" Jeremy asks.

"At the pool" Ulrich responds.

"I'll go grab her" William responds as he leaves in the elevator.

"Why is he going to grab her?"

"He wants to impress her."


Yumi's Point of View

Yumi was doing her synchronized swimming exercise. When she was under she slightly heard William. "Emergency Yumi. X is the move" Yumi losses her focus. She knew who this x was. Obviously, William did it so Jim wouldn't start questioning who Xana is.

"Dunbar! What are you doing here? Didn't I tell you no swimming?" Jim asks.

"Sorry Jim. William heard of a family emergency of mine. I have to go" Yumi responds, getting out of the pool.

"Ok go. Get him out of my sight."

"Did the others send you?"

"No, I volunteered. I want to impress you so I can get you to change your opinion on me."


Yumi and William run across the bridge and come face to face with someone possessed by Xana. "Let me guess, Xana" William asks.

"Yeah, which means he is trying to stall us from getting to Lyoko" Yumi responds.

The possessed person starts to charge them, throwing punches. Yumi is dodging. "Hey pal!" William says running trying to throw a punch. He garbs William's fist. "Uh oh." The guy tosses William over his head and near the beam. He then turns his attention to Yumi and does the same to her, throwing her next to William.

The two got up and lost balance, falling over the edge, William holding onto her waist.

"Uh Yumi, I know this is a little inconvenient, but I can't swim" William says to her.

"Then this probably won't be a pleasant experience" Yumi says as the guy lifts his foot to push them in. The man suddenly passes out on the bridge. Yumi climbs up and dials Jeremy. William goes over to inspect the guy. "Nice going Jeremy. You did it just in time."

"Everything okay on your side?" Jermey asks.

"We're good, but it was a close call."

"We're not out of the woods yet" William says.

"What do you mean?"

"Seems like this guy works for Explobat, a company that specializes in demolition and explosives. Xana probably set up a plan B to have factory go up in smoke."

"That's not the reason. Xana wants to stop us from tracking him on the net, so he probably set up explosives to destroy the supercomputer, thus destroying Lyoko."

"Yeah, and any chance of continuing your fight."

"Jeremy we got a problem in the factory."

"Well, we got a problem on Lyoko. The Scyphozoa just showed up and I bet this Xana's plan C, destroy the ice sector. You got to get here fast."

"Ok, I'm on my way."


A's Point of View

A arrives with Ulrich and Odd to help William with finding the bomb. Odd calls out from abeam. "I found it!" The others come over.

"No, that's just one of the charges. You want the detonator to stop all the charges from blowing up" William says.

"How do you know this?" Ulrich asks.

"His uncle works in construction" A responds.

"How do you know that?"

"I'm Aelita from the future, take a guess."

"Oh yeah right."

"So where would this detonator be?" Ulrich asks.

"Hold on, if I remember this correctly, Jeremy told me it was up high, but he never said where. So start looking up. If Xana wants to blow this place up, most likely place is the catwalk. It's really high up, hard to reach and hidden." The four rush over to the catwalk. They get on top and see the detonator counting down.

William observes it. "I can defuse this, but I'm not sure if it will work. So, I'd hightail it."

"No, we'll stay" A responds.

"Are you sure? If this doesn't work, we'll be obliterated in a couple seconds."

"I'm still here and went through the same attack in my timeline. I have faith in you."

William starts to work on the detonator. With seconds left, William uses a makeshift shunt inside the detonator and when the timer hits zero, the detonator stops. All of them breath a sigh of relief. They also didn't know that Yumi saved the ice sector from destruction as well.


"I told you Yumi. I would save you and all your friends" William says.

"Fine, yes, you're the big hero today, but that's only one attack. There are plenty more to come" Yumi adds.

"Exactly, which is why we should make William a full-time warrior. Especially with Xana trying new tricks, there more knowledge we have against him the better" Jeremy explains.

Everyone looks at Yumi as she's the only one who isn't onboard. "What?"

"Well, you're the only one who doesn't agree with us, so what do you think?" Odd asks.

"Ok, we'll give him a shot. But if he screws us, we boot him, agreed?"

"Ok" they say in unison.

"Don't worry. Your secret and anything related to Lyoko will never get revealed" William says.

"Well since today was pretty chaotic, I'd say a return in time is needed" Jeremy says as he prepares the program and hits enter. "Return to the past now!"


Aelita's Point of View

Jeremy and Aelita were in Jeremy's room having a conversation about their new recruit. "I can't believe that a surprise recruit by A became a full warrior" Jeremy says.

"It's weird though. I don't think A would take the risk of bringing someone random, like William, to Lyoko unless it happened in her timeline as well" Aelita adds.

"But what happened in the original and what does A plan to do by having William join now?"

"She had him become much earlier. Maybe she was prepping him for his eventual joining."

"But something really bad had to happen in the original for her to do that. And since we don't know what that is, we need to keep a close eye on William on Lyoko from now on. We need to make sure Xana doesn't go after him."

"I think she did what she did as what was best for her and for him."


A.N. – This is another situation like Tidal Wave and False Lead where one episode didn't have enough content, but the second one did. Next time, William will be part of the group and before you ask, no this will not be a reskinning of my Brother and Sister story. There is a reason this is happening that will be revealed in Final Round. PM with story ideas! Review with questions or comments! I will respond! As always, till next time! See ya! -lyokowarrior97