Code Lyoko

"Life Or Death Situation"

Yumi opened her eyes. She didn't know where she was. It was pitch black.

"Ulrich?" she called.

There was no answer.

"Jeremie? Aelita? Odd?"

There was still no answer.

"Your friends can't hear you." A dark voice said.

She looked around nervously.

"Who's there?"

"You should know who I am. I've known you and your friends for a long time."

"My friends? Where are they?"

"They're all around you. But calling to them won't work, they can't hear you."

"Where? I can't see them!"

"Of course you can't. That wouldn't be any fun."

"Ulrich! Where are you! Aelita! Jeremie! Odd! Answer me!"

"They can not hear you. Especially not Ulrich."

"What did you do to him!"

"See for yourself."

A bright light came on.

She looked all around the room. She saw four tubes that kind of looked like see through scanners. Her friends were all in them. Their eyes were shut and they weren't moving, but they were standing up.

Yumi ran over to one of the tubes. Ulrich was inside of it.

"Ulrich! Ulrich! Can you hear me! Wake up!"

She pounded her fists on the glass, but he didn't move.

"It's no use. He can't hear you or see you."

"Why are you doing this? And who are you?"

"You still haven't figured it out? Well I'm heart broken. After all the time we spent together on Lyoko."

"Xana!"

"Exactly."

"Why are you doing this to them? And why aren't I in a tube?"

"You have to make an important decision. You have to decide which one of them you want to save. Will it be your best friends Aelita? Or Jeremie, the one who sends you to Lyoko to defeat me? The funny one, Odd? Or will it be your beloved Ulrich?"

"I can't make that choice! I'll save them all!"

"You can't. Water will slowly begin to fill the tubes. As soon as it does, they will wake up. After you save one of them, the water in the others will fill up more quickly. And if you try to save another one of them, the water will keep picking up speed. Either way, three of your friends are going to die."

"You would let Aelita die? But you need her memory to become human."

"I don't need her memory for that. Stealing it is the only way to kill her. Then I can activate all the towers and take over the world. You and your friends won't be able to go back to Lyoko and she won't be able to deactivate the towers. That is why I need her memory."

"You evil-!"

"Now, now Yumi. The water is beginning to fill the tanks."

She looked back at Ulrich, the water started pouring into the bottom of the tubes. All four of their eyes opened.

"Yumi?" Ulrich asked.

"Where are we? Why are we in these tubes?" Odd asked.

"Ah! Waters coming in!" Aelita screamed.

"What's going on Yumi?" Jeremie asked.

"It's Xana! He trapped you guys in here! I can only save one of you! And the other three will die! But I can't make such a hard decision!"

"Save Jeremie. He can send you to Lyoko." Odd said.

"No. It's better if you save Aelita. She's the only one who can deactivate the towers and she can also get you both to Lyoko." Jeremie said.

She looked at the three of them, then she turned to Ulrich.

"Do it Yumi. Save Aelita. If you hurry, maybe you two can get to the factory and deactivate the tower. Then we could have a chance of surviving."

"That won't work. We have no idea where we are and there doesn't seem to be a way out." Jeremie said.

"So what are you going to do Yumi?" Odd asked.

Yumi thought for a minute.

"I guess I should save Aelita." She said.

She looked over at Ulrich and tears slid down her face.

"It's okay Yumi." He said.

She walked over to the tank Aelita was in. She studied it for a minute.

"I don't know how to open it." She said.

"At the top." Aelita said, pointing.

Yumi pulled a metal square over to the tank and stood on it. She unhooked the top then lifted it off. She reached down and pulled Aelita up.

They both climbed back down.

The water in the other three tanks moved faster.

She looked at Ulrich again, still crying.

"Yumi lets go." Aelita said.

She didn't move.

Then she grabbed the box and put it by Ulrich's tank. She climbed up on it again. She unhooked the top and pulled it off. He climbed out and jumped down.

The water in the other two poured out extremely fast.

"What are you doing?" Xana's voice boomed through the room.

"Ulrich help me with Odd and Jeremie!" she yelled.

She carried the box over to Jeremie's tank and Ulrich carried one over to Odd's.

She climbed on top of the tank and pulled the top off. She grabbed Jeremie's

hands and pulled him out. The water in Odd's tank picked up speed again. It was almost over his head.

Yumi was about to climb back down from the top of the tank. A black fog went by her and pushed her. She screamed as she fell. Before she hit the ground, someone caught her. She opened her eyes and saw Ulrich.

Odd, Jeremie, and Aelita, were already running for the exit.

Ulrich didn't take the time to put Yumi down. He ran with her still in his arms.

When they all got out of the room, they realized they were in the factory.

Jeremie ran to the super computer and the other four of them stepped on the elevator.

Ulrich put Yumi down on the elevators floor.

She looked at him and blushed a little.

"That was awesome Yumi!" Odd said.

"I can't believe you did it!" Aelita said.

"I couldn't just leave you guys there. It wouldn't be as much fun with just the two of us. Besides, what would we tell the school?" she asked.

"You were amazing back there though." Odd said.

"You really were." Ulrich added.

She looked at him and blushed again.

The elevator doors opened and they ran to the scanners.

"Transfer, Odd. Transfer, Aelita. Transfer, Ulrich. Transfer, Yumi. Scanner,

Odd. Scanner, Aelita. Scanner, Ulrich. Scanner Yumi. Virtualization!"

The four of them fell to the ground on Lyoko.

There were three blocks and two crabs waiting for them. They were in the forest region so Aelita hid behind a tree.

Odd kneeled on one knee and held his right arm with his left one, out toward a block.

"Laser arrow!" he yelled.

A small bronze arrow flew out of his wrist and hit the eyes like target in the center of the block.

Ulrich pulled out his sword and pushed it deep inside one of the blocks. Yumi threw her fan at the last block. All that was left was the crabs.

Odd kept shooting at one of the crabs, while Ulrich blocked its lasers.

Yumi was fighting against the other crab. It was shooting too fast, so she couldn't get a chance to throw her fan. She kept backing up to try and get away.

She felt the back of her shoe go over the edge a bit so she jumped through the air to safety. The crab turned around and started shooting at her again.

Then it took one leg and picked her up.

Xana's sinister voice came from it.

"You'll pay for what you did. If I can't have three of you, I'll at least take the one that ruined my plans."

It took her back over to the edge and dropped her. She just barely caught the edge. She looked down at the digital void beneath her.

The crab raised a leg and was about to hit her hand free. Ulrich jumped on top of it and cut through the target.

He grabbed Yumi's hand just as it slipped. She reached her other hand up and he took it. He pulled as hard as he could to get her up. He had to get down on his knees when he caught her. He pulled hard and she came up with such force that they both fell to the ground. She was lying on top of him. They looked at each other and blushed.

They heard Jeremie's words come from nowhere.

"Return to the past now."

The next thing they knew, they were at the schools gate departing with Yumi.

"I'll see you guys tomorrow." She said.

"Bye Yumi." Aelita said.

The four of them waved to her as she walked down the street.

Aelita and Odd both stood on either side of Ulrich.

"Why don't you walk Yumi home?" Aelita asked.

"I think she'll be fine on her own." Ulrich said.

"We saw you on Lyoko Ulrich. Don't you want to finish your little scene?" Odd asked.

Ulrich's face turned deep red with blush.

They both gave him a push forward.

"What happened on Lyoko?" Jeremie asked.

"Oh the usual. Yumi almost falls into the digital void, Ulrich saves her, they have a moment that's cut short by the return to the past." Odd said.

Ulrich ran after her.

"Yumi!" he called.

She stopped and turned around.

"Yeah Ulrich?" she asked.

"Well I, uh, thought I'd walk you home."

"Sure."

She smiled and they both started walking.

Without meaning to, Ulrich grabbed Yumi's hand. They both blushed but neither of them pulled away.

They got to Yumi's house and were standing on the doorstep. They still hadn't let go of each other's hands.

"Good night Ulrich. I'll see you at school tomorrow." She said softly.

"Yeah. See you then. Good night."

She kissed him on the cheek then walked inside.

He stood there and blushed.