Title: 22Shadowy Red Eyes…

Summary: 15 years later, XANA is destroyed, Aelita materialized. Each of the lyoko team's lives have taken a turn for the worst. Ulrich is working as a deadly assassin, Odd is a drugged-up comedian, and Jeremie is working with Ulrich as the greatest hacker the world has ever seen, and the pink-haired Aelita as his wife.Yumi has mysteriously disappeared and hasn't been seen since she was in early high school. Everything is good Until Ulrich finds out who the next person he has to whack is… (this story has matrix-like characters in it)

Ulrich flicked on his dark black sunglasses as her walked down the street casually. His black trench coat billowed eerily as he walked. This was too easy. In the hollow blackness of the night, Dr. Keller sat alone on his porch, sipping a cup of coffee. Yup. Way too easy. Ulrich concealed himself behind a tree and checked for witnesses. None, not even an open window. It was like it had been perfectly set up, easy and convenient. Ulrich confidently pulled out his custom made, silenced shotgun, and aimed between the leaves.

'So long, Dr. Keller, see you in hell.' Ulrich thought to himself. With a slightly muted bang, Dr. Keller fell clean out of his chair, over the porch railing, and into the bushes that lined the patio. Ulrich smirked mercilessly, and blew the smoke away from his gun. Simply simple. So simple in fact, Ulrich yearned for another job. He would apply for one tomorrow night, as he worked the nightshift. Holstering his gun, Ulrich walked away with poise back to his apartment.

Meanwhile, a close friend and co-worker of Ulrich tapped like mad at his laptop keyboard. He was perfecting his new spy ware program. This type of spy ware recorded every keystroke which was typed on the victim's computer, and sent directly back to him in an e-mail. It was great for getting top secret passwords and URLs. He worked on making it invisible to firewalls and Norton Antivirus at the moment. Without warning, there was a knock on the door.

"Just a minute!" he said, closing his programs, making it look as if he was playing solitaire the entire time. The door opened and a skinny girl with short, pink hair leaned against the doorway.

"Solitaire again, Jeremie?" she said in her mature, angelic voice. Jeremie turned around and raised a blonde eyebrow.

"Yup." He said simply. He loved it when she wore that outfit: A black leather miniskirt and her pink tube top. She strolled over to him "Tsk tsking" the entire way.

"You're going to damage your eyes, Jeremie. You know what the doctor said." She said, wrapping her thin arms around he neck and shoulders. Jeremie touched her hand.

"Yeah I know, but as long as I can see you I'll be fine." He said smoothly. Aelita snickered.

"What do you want from the Chinese food place? We're getting take out. " She said.

"Sweet and sour chicken w/ rice, please." He said, his eyes not moving from the laptop screen.

"Kay…" she said casually, strolling out of the room. Jeremie breathed a sight of relief and ran his spy ware again. Then he remembered that he was supposed to call Ulrich. He picked up his cell phone and used the speed dial to call Ulrich.

Back in his apartment, watching Saturday night football, Ulrich was comfortably seated on the couch. The phone rang suddenly, shocking Ulrich for a few split seconds. Then he recollected himself and answered it.

"Talk to me." He said in his "gangster" voice.

"You know that sounds completely retarded, right?" Jeremie's voice said on the other end of the line. Ulrich grunted playfully.

"What'd you call me for?" he asked in a relaxed tone, stretching out on the couch once more.

"Are you sure this line is clean?" Jeremie asked suspiciously.

"Yeah, of course I'm sure. I check it myself." Ulrich replied.

"Okay then. Did you whack Dr. Keller Yet?"

"Yup. Got im' just a half hour ago. " Ulrich replied again.

"Great job. I got another one for you. " Jeremie said, searching through their business' database for Ulrich's next job.

"Good. I was planning on being bored this weekend." Ulrich said smirking.

"Got it. Your next job is a woman, 28-30 years or so, short black hair, of Japanese origins. She lives in, your apartment complex, apparently. Apartment # 303. Labeled armed and dangerous by the secret service. Name: not listed."

"Cool. That saves me a lot of walking time." Ulrich added, his attention being drawn back to the television.

"Don't go being careless, Ulrich. I know how you are." Jeremie badgered.

"Relax, I'll be fine. I can handle one little girl." Ulrich said confidently. Jeremie shrugged

"Whatever… bye" Jeremie said, with a worry about Ulrich still in his mind.

"See ya." Ulrich said, pressing the 'off' button and tossing the phone into a nearby chair. Why was Jeremie so worried about him? He'd finished off people labeled "armed and dangerous" ever since he'd been in the business. And she was a girl too! This was gonna be so easy.

Ulrich awoke the next morning on the couch, tightly tangled in his black trench coat. Apparently, he'd fallen asleep watching football last night. He untangled himself from his trench coat and sat up. Stretching his arms and cracking his knuckles, he wondered what he was going to do that day, until he'd have to go whack the mysterious apartment lady. He entered his bathroom, and looked himself over in the mirror. He rather liked his untidy image. His skin had tanned nicely, and his hair had gotten darker, and he had an adventurous scar stretching from his chin to the right corner of his mouth. Ulrich liked the scar, it was a thin line of white, making him original among all the earth's others. After combing and styling his hair, Ulrich thought of things he could do before that night. When he got to brushing his teeth, Ulrich decided he would go get a drink at Odd's comedy joint, and visit his old friend again. Ulrich snatched his sunglasses off the table before locking his apartment door behind him.

Odd knotted his purple tie, smirking at himself in the mirror. He liked the way he looked, especially his cone-shaped hairdo, dotted with a single spot of purple hair coloring. If anyone ever made fun of Odd's hair, he gave then the finger. Odd's Comedy Joint was a place for "mature" humor. Admiring himself vainly in the mirror, Odd straightened his tie, which was an emphasis against his full-black suit. Strolling out the door, he was instantly joined by a group of ditzy, giggling women.

"Hello, ladies." He said, with the voice of a wealthy person. They giggled like the ditzes they were. Odd took a seat at the bar and looked over his plush, expensive club. It was surprisingly empty this morning, only one or two people watching one of the novice comedians. Odd, himself would perform when it was late in the night. Odd grinned at himself. He was living out every man's dream. The wealth, the fame, and a group of women to follow him wherever he went. Life was good.

As Odd began lighting a cigar, the front door opened and a black boot sole vas visible on the plush, red carpet.

"Ulrich, Buddy! Good to see you!" Odd shouted joyfully, and leapt up to greet his old friend.

"Morning, Odd." Ulrich replied, following Odd back to the bar.

"How you doing? Can I get you anything? Cigar?" Odd asked, with a smile. Ulrich smiled and shook his head.

"Nah, I'll be fine." He said in an informal way. Odd grinned and ordered two ice cold beers. They caught up on all the news together, sipping on beer and laughing occasionally. Odd was still the same from when Ulrich had known him, all through school. They had been best friends ever since they'd met, and they still were.

"How's it been going round' here?" Ulrich asked earnestly. Odd smiled his trademark smirk.

"Not too bad, Business is booming. What do you do for a living? Seems like you never get out anymore." Odd replied.

"Heh," Ulrich laughed. "busy, you know. I work for a software company." Ulrich answered.

"Yeah, I know what you mean," Odd started. "have you seen Jeremie lately? Is he still with Aelita?"

"Oh, Old Jer? He's working in the same company I am. And he and Aelita are married, Odd. I expected you would know that, since you went to their wedding." Ulrich added. Odd raised an eyebrow.

"Yes I know, I was just checking." Odd said, obviously defending himself.

"Odd you are exactly the same…" Ulrich said, laughing.

Time passed so quickly, it went from morning to evening so fast Ulrich thought he might have sped up time, by accident. He and Odd were very close. It was 7:23 when Ulrich finally looked at his watch.

"Sweet Jesus!" Ulrich yelled. Odd looked up in confusion

"What?" He asked.

"I have to go. I have to… meet someone." Ulrich said, hoping he wasn't covering up his real job too obviously.

"Ooh... I see, hey, good luck with her, yeah?" Odd joked, twiddling his eyebrows. Ulrich laughed.

"Heh, so long. Nice seeing you again." Ulrich said.

"Same here, Ulrich. Same here." Odd said, taking a long puff on a fresh cigar and nodding his head in salutation.

(completely cut out this part )

Ulrich arrived home. It was time to go, whether the mysterious apartment woman wanted to die or not. He ran up the stairs, two at a time. He knew he was late, and he was being irresponsible. He could get fired, so his only choice was to run. When he reached the door, he fumbled with the key, almost dropping it, but luckily making it inside with enough time to get ready. He rushed to the bedroom, and flung open the closet, immediately grabbing a billowing black trench coat that wasn't near as dirty. He also grabbed another pair of sunglasses, that were not dark and black, but reflective like tiny mirrors. With that, he went to his dresser drawers. In a secret compartment, he hid his specialized gun. His faithful companion, perfected to his preferred style, scientifically silenced and spray painted a cold hearted black. He opened another hidden compartment and withdrew a box of ammunition. With the skill of someone who'd done it a thousand times, which he had, he popped each bullet carefully into the holes. Apartment woman's time was up. This was gonna be a night for some real action. Ulrich sneered the sneer of a killer. This was the end.

Jeremie tapped at the keyboard. He was looking for some information on Ulrich's new hit. It definitely wasn't coincidence that the Secret Service had no name information on her. After 3 hours of searching without anything, Jeremie's eyes had begun to burn painfully. Just when he thought the search was fruitless and useless, he came upon the New York City Police Department database. Jeremie knew this had to be it. If the woman Ulrich had to kill had a criminal record, this was the perfect place to find it. Jeremie began searching. He first used the URL code from the picture in Jeremie's own files. Finally, a match popped up and he went to the NYCPD records to find a name. He clicked, it opened, and he had access to tons of information on the mysterious woman. He read down the files, and instantaneously, he fell into shock.

"Oh my God… " He whispered to himself. He had to get into contact with Ulrich before he did what Jeremie hoped he hadn't already done. Jeremie snatched the phone and pressed the speed dial. 'beep…..beep…..beep' it rang.

"Come on… come ON!" Jeremie whispered to himself. The ringing continued. There was no chance. Ulrich wasn't home.

"No… no…NO" Jeremie yelled, cursing under his breath. This was not good. Not good at all.

Ulrich walked silently through the hall, making his way to the elevator. His boots made no noise since, like his gun, they were custom made to be quiet. He continued walking, and thinking. Why had he gotten into the business of killing for a living? He supposed he would never know. It wasn't something he decided, really, it just drifted into happening. He reached the elevator and pressed the button. What floor was she on? Third floor, since her room number was 303. The elevator made a melodious 'ding' as it reached his floor. The silver doors opened, and Ulrich stepped inside. He pressed the number 3 button and leaned casually against the elevator wall. Now was the time to conceal his gun. There was a secret holster built into the back of his jacket that could easily conceal his gun from the public. He did just that. The elevator 'dinged' again, and Ulrich stepped out of the elevator. There was no turning back now. Wait, why was he thinking these things? Normally he was so over confident that he felt no stress or guilt at all. There was something about this girl. He walked down the hall, quietly and slowly, each room passing before his eyes.

"307, 306, 305" Ulrich read aloud as he passed. "304, 303." He stopped. Mysterious apartment woman lurked somewhere inside. He knew because he could hear a slight scuffling inside. Unable to see inside, he would have to enter with plain brute force, and fire before his victim had time to identify him. Little did he know how wrong he was.

Ulrich drew his gun. It was cold and dark, freezing cold, just like his heart. Ulrich held the gun in front of him, ready to strike instantaneously. There was no more time to think. It was time for her to die. Gritting his teeth, Ulrich ground the sole of his left boot into the carpet. He drew his right boot back, and kicked with all the power he could muster. BANG the door fell down, sending wooden splinters flying in every direction. He looked at the woman, aimed and… stopped. He couldn't move his finger. He couldn't force it to press the trigger. It was so easy, it was right there. The woman stood in complete shell shock, a sitting duck for someone as good with a gun as Ulrich. But there was something about her, something oddly familiar about her. Just then, he knew. He knew who she was. He knew everything about her. He was about to speak, but the woman did it for him.

"Ulrich?"

"Yumi!"

The gun dropped to the floor. It was Yumi. After all these years of believing she was dead and gone, she stood there before him, in shell shock, but she was there. Oh, she was there. Ulrich himself fell into shell shock. He had to do something, anything. Dropping all ways of reason and common sense, he made his way toward her. He was going to do it. The one thing he had waited too late to do. The only thing he wanted to do.

Ulrich's boots made a dull clunk on the tiles as walked toward her. Step, step, step, step, stop. He was right in front of her. He could sense her mind pulsating with fear, but he willed her mentally to calm down. He had no intent on harming her anymore. She stood silently, and yet she called to him. 'Ulrich… Ulrich… Ulrich…' her body screamed his name.

And that was the moment he did it. Encircling her waist with one arm, lovingly placing his hand on the back of her head, he pulled her into a kiss; a kiss of so much power, so much love, so much lust, that all of Ulrich's evil ways drained from him. For the first time in his entire life, Ulrich felt no hate of any sort in his mind. And she didn't pull away!

He now knew why he had resorted to killing for a living. Yumi's absence made his heart grow mean. Cold and dead, like a stone.