It's Never Easy

She carefully examined Odd at his words the most out of any of them - she narrowed her eyes a bit once more, allowing her irises to twinkle and shimmer; she could tell what he was up to, and could tell they were all after stalling on her time as long as possible so that little shit in Lyoko could figure out a solution. Her brows furrowed as she thought, visibly; Jeremie had probably found refuge in a Tower by now, which meant these three had their forms for as long as he wanted. She looked from William to Ulrich, letting out a quiet little grumble.

If Jeremie was taken out, these three would vanish and be returned to Lyoko to await proper devirtualization. That couldn't happen.

So what exactly did he send them here for, she had to wonder. Why did he risk running himself into a second death from depleting all of his energy...? What exactly was that little bastard up to?

"Names are something humans use, I'm assuming," she broke free of her own musings, putting her skeletal fingers on her hips and adjusting her posture; thrusting her chest forward, tensing her legs. "For identification; my knowledge is only approximate of you little rats. You're Ulrich. Odd. William. You've all been in our world before and wrecked our plans before. I know you all well enough, but you've never met me in person.

During the time Lyoko was shut down, files degraded, systems were lacking power; despite being off, Lyoko still evolved and rotted like any corpse left alone." Hate dripped off of her words. "As you no doubt saw, the sectors are falling apart, growing like fungus. Files are no exception. XANA was no exception. Then when the power was returned to the computer, XANA's fragments morphed and spun into physical manifestations."

Well. You wanted talk and stalling... you got it. She smirked and lifted a hand to move her hair from her face, opening her eyes much wider to reveal there was much more going on than just her bright irises - her actual eye was black as void, golden streaks of binary wrapping around her iris area.

"I'm one of those manifestations. My file name is XAKIN_556. You can call me Fief, if you require a more basic label. My file was the first to break off of XANA's root and the first to materialize out of Lyoko the moment I could. As far as what I want, though, that's much simpler than who I am and where I hail."

She pointed at the three of them rather dramatically.

"I need you three out of the way. As we speak I have a seizure squad going out for your Asian friend; within hopes you'll all be under one roof within the hour - you and your band of 'heroes' have done quite enough to cause XANA trouble and harm. However I played my cards differently and I'll soon have the entire government under my control; there's literally nothing you little monsters can do to us, now."

A manifestation of XANA, huh? That meant she was as dangerous as any of her armed thugs. This situation was just getting worse and worse. Still, she seemed to want them alive...if he could just get her to move them to somewhere more open, or even just keep telling them more about her plans...the cold, calculating look in her eyes suggested she would not be easily manipulated, but she also seemed arrogant, overconfident. Let her think she had them pinned (not an inaccurate assessment at the moment, but all they needed was one opportunity to turn it around), that they had no moves left. If they kept calm...waited her out...they could use that to slip through her defenses.

And then she mentioned their "Asian friend".

Ulrich thought his heart was going to stop. Waiting was no longer an option, at least not for much longer. He knew now more than ever he couldn't lose his cool, but dammitall he needed an opening. "You say you want to take us out," he said tersely, mind racing and only one desperate, all-or-nothing move coming to mind. "But before, you talked as if you wanted something from us."

He took a bold step toward Fief, staring her down. Those glimmering eyes were unnerving indeed, especially up close. "And if you wanted us dead, you would've had your goons shoot us up the minute they came in here," he continued. "So what's your game here? What's this plan to get the whole government under your control?"

Even as he spoke, he made hand-gestures to Odd and William from behind. Pointing to the pipes that ran along the boiler room walls...pipes filled with high, pressurized steam. If they were punctured at the right moment....

Odd blinked a bit. He wasnt sure what to do anymore. He only hoped he could buy enough time for Einestine. He looked strangely at the woman as she explained everything. He put his fingers to his temples in confusion. He wasn't looking forward to processing all this information. Then he heard what Fief said about Yumi, he looked back and forth from Ulrich of William. He wondered what they were thinking, how worried they both were. He growled a bit in his throat, he began to get worried himself. He didn't know what do do, but he made a slight nod to Ulrich. He put his "paw" on the other, in a defensive yet offensive manner.

William froze at the mention of Yumi, he didn't know how much she had changed but there was no denying he was still madly in love with the woman, or at least his memory of her. He looked to Ulrich and then back to the Fief, doing something stupid like cutting her head off was growing more tempting by the second...

Fief tilted her head a bit, smiling at the sudden spark of anger in Ulrich and William's eyes, the spark of worry in Odd's. She seemed smug with the development that she had roused them - though her brows furrowed as she heard the question of what exactly she wanted. That was another topic entirely; she didn't know the answer but she refused to let these mortals know that much.

"I want to be unopposed. XANA wants revenge on the human race. I suppose I am the same." She muttered, her bright eyes clouding. "She wants you all dead. I was you enslaved; my way is far less painless and far more productive - I'd be getting you out of my way and keeping you out of my way as I do what XANA could not - the government is ours already, Ulrich Stern; why do you think they've changed their ways?" She smirks toothily, revealing a keen set of fangs. "However I can see you, at least, have combat in mind," she looked at Ulrich coldly, then to William. "I am done playing questions-answers, boys."

Her form rippled, two more eyes opening from the flesh under her current ones, even another pair opening above her brow, the skin opening like eyelids. Her teeth lengthened and sharpened, her main set of eyes rounding out like an insect's. Her fingers lengthened and popped into long, viscious looking points, legs snapping before spreading apart into two legs of their own, allowing her to sit on four - from her dress's sides erupted two large spider-like arms which flexed as they reached towards the ceiling. Another eye opened on her sternum while the eighth opened between her shoulder-blades; she easily rose eight feet into the air, her skin turning black as night, emitting a small layer of black-orange mist.

"If you won't join me peacefully, I will have to take the approach I was designed for," she hisses, her voice echoing as if it's coming out of more than one place on her mangled form - she was a bipedal arachnid, of sorts, at the sum of her parts. Her eyes narrowed - the two guards behind her quickly underwent the same transformation, dropping to their newfound legs to serve their master. "NOW DIE!"

She didn't hesitate.

Her legs stuck the ground in front of the gang, cracking the metal and rooting her in place as she swung one of her massive, clawed arms at them, letting out a near deafening, banshee-like scream, each eye wide and fierce, sending glares in all directions.

Well crap. So much for a quick escape, then. Leaping back from the towering monster Fief had morphed into and avoiding her crushing swipe, Triplicating along the way, he drew both swords and turned to Odd and William. "I'm thinking we want to take this fight somewhere we actually stand a chance!" he told them. "My Triplicates will hold her off as long as they can, we need to get out of here!"

As ordered, the two Triplicate Ulrichs charged at full speed. One went for Fief, swiftly zig-zagging along the corridor and slashing aggressively at any bit of the beast it got close enough to. The other ran interference against her minions, blocking them as best it could from going after the others.

All the while, Ulrich tried to lead Odd and William out of the boiler room.

Odd nodded softly, waiting for Ulrich's said triplicates to begin trying to hold them off. Odd inhaled deeply, waiting for a chance to find an escape route out of the room. He crouched down in a cat like position, thinking, hoping, he began to hatch a plan, well at least a way out, it it worked. He ran towards her suddenly, he saw his chance. He slid down to the ground and slid under her. He didn't know how well it was going to work, but it was the only thing he had.

William decided to take a simpilar route when following Odd and Ulrich's examples. He had always been the type to plan ahead but he was never one for finesse. The dark haired man ran around Fief, holding his sword to his side to block any attacks as well as cut her along the side. The cut wasn't deep but it might help them escape.

The monster let out a rather foul, ear-piercing cry as William's sword bit into its flank - gross, thick gas leaked out of the wound, clouding itself in the man's face in retaliation; unfortunately for Odd below, Fief lifted her legs and pounded them into the ground wildly in pain, still screaming with a deafening power. The eyes on the beast widened into perfect orbs as she tried to regain her bearings, her wounds closing; one eye locked onto one of Ulrich's triplications, finally ceasing her awful scream as she attempted to drive one of her massive claws right through the mirror image.

"I'm tired of you three..." Fief seems to moan, her fingers balling into fists. "Foolish, unorganized, disgusting children you were... and haven't changed a bit..." Her voice dripped with malice as she unrooted herself from the ground, dropping to all eight limbs - she didn't wait to act. Her legs quickly scrambled in a furious tandem, charging for the real Ulrich. "Death isn't so bad, once you get there! Just ask your friend Yumi!" The beast cried, claws beginning to hack and slash around her rapidly.

It was difficult to keep focused with that abhorrent shrieking echoing through the boiler room, but Ulrich refused to be shaken as he and the others gradually worked their way through Fief's assaults. His Triplicates continued to pester her and her peers, but when she threatened Yumi again...? "Not a chance!" he roared angrily.

The doorway out was close. Dodging out of the way of her blows, he sent his Triplicates down the hall, both working to clear the way for William and Odd to escape. Ulrich, however, had reached his limit. Time to let loose and get reckless!!!

Super-sprinting up the wall, he jumped toward Fief, aiming for her open eye, and stabbing with full force. "NOT A CHANCE!!!" he shouted again, violently stabbing downward...!

Odd winced in pain as he felt the woman's heel hit his shoulder. He let out a yelp and as he watched Ulrich run up the wall, he did the only thing he could think of. He spun around, trying to knock the woman off her feet. Luckily, he was pretty good at knocking people over, but it didn't mean it would work. He quickly made his way to the other side of the room by William.He moved his hand from his shoulder to see a good amount of blood and a nice gash. He grimaced at the sight of it, and then looked over at Ulrich, hoping he got over safe.

William coughed at the gas and leaned against the wall trying to regain his bearings. He felt some relief when Odd joined him but he could hear Fief and Ulrich talking and it was appearant Ulrich had finally let his anger get the best of him. Though noticing that didn't really help since Odd was injured and William couldn't quite see and if he helped now he might end up cutting Ulrich's head off instead

"I hate being useless" He muttered

Regret wasn't an emotion Fief was programmed for, but seeing the look in Ulrich's eyes made her eye shrink - she made to dodge the assault but even for all her eyes it was nigh impossible to see Odd under her - he successfully knocked her balance. The beast let out a scream as Ulrich's sword made impact; Fief's claws all straightened and rolled back like a rearing scorpion, emitting yet another loud scream.

She sent her extended claws forward, crashing them down for Ulrich; her form shuddered and bucked before erupting into smog, silencing her scream - the two guards at her side, who had proved useless entirely, simply vanished in the same way. The smog centralized, forming the humanoid form of Fief; her dress ripped, heels of her boots snapped, gloves made fingerless; she shuddered and trembled as her pieces locked into place, a large, smoking wound over her left eye.

Despite her disposition, she smiles at Ulrich in-particular before looking over her shoulder at the other two in question, smirking, letting out a little giggle, her voice sounding a bit broken by the fight; she rolls her shoulders, joints popping.

"Well that was fun," she says quietly, locking her jaw into place, putting her hand on her scarred hip, smog emitting from it from William's blow. "I think I learned a lot today," she mutters. "Not to sound cliche, but this won't be the last time I see the three of you. You've proven to be more interesting than history can muster.

"Now if you'll excuse me... I have an appointment... elsewhere." She sneers, stumbling as she takes a step towards Ulrich, giving him a little smile, loaded with some kind of blooming plot. "You take care of your pets while I'm gone."

Fief's form buckles and shudders once more before she finally vanishes entirely, leaving nothing behind her but one of the small topazes that lined her dress on the floor with a little clack.

Ulrich smiled triumphantly as his blade made contact. "That's what you get for threatening Yumi...." he thought as Fief roared in pain.

Jumping back as her form began to shift back to its human shape, he nonetheless remained on the defensive, even as it became clear Fief had been seriously injured by their fight, both swords still drawn and ready if she tried anything. His Triplicates kept their eyes and weapons trained on Fief as well as she approached Ulrich. He did not know what she meant about her "appointment", and he visibly tensed as she mentioned "his pets"; even as he did not grasp fully what either statement meant, the implications left him uneasy at best.

Still, once she and her minions vanished, his swords sheathed and his Triplicates absorbed, Ulrich set that feeling aside. After picking up and pocketing the topaz Fief had dropped (Jer could analyze it later), he approached Odd and William with open, extended hands. "Good job, both of you," he said, smiling at Odd and nodding respectfully to William. "I know it's been a while, but I think we showed this 'Fief' we've still got what it takes."

He wanted to give the two a breather, but was also eager to finally leave the boiler room; pragmatically, to make sure Fief had taken ALL her minions with her when she left, but personally because he REALLY didn't like the room.

Odd winced more in pain as he tried to raise his arm to give a thumbs up to his friend. He removed his hand again to take a better look at his shoulder, it was still bleeding, and it hurt like hell. "I have to admit, those were some sharp stilettos.." He laughed loudly at his lame joke, and then looked towards his friends."Well..Now what?"He needed to get his arm fixed up a bit, but it could wait, it's not like it was hanging by a thread or anything. He leaned back against the wall as he let the others think of what they should do. All he knew is that he wanted to get as far away from the boiler room as possible.

"We've got to find Yumi before they do" William said hoping for once Ulrich would agree with him. After all they had finished their mission of chasing off the guards and judging by how strong Fief was there was no telling what Yumi was up against.

It would take a few minutes before the group would have their silence broken.

"Uh, nice job," Jeremie commented from a nearby speaker. "I have my sights on Aelita, though - Yumi is alright. I think Fief was just bluffing to get under your skin. I had enough time listening to her talk to mimic her voice - I issued an order for the soldiers to clear the area and I'm going to ask that you three scout the factory for anyone - don't split up, though, just in case." The sound of typing before it paused for a moment. "... Ulrich, I'm going to ask you head for my apartment. Odd, William - you two stay and make sure the soldiers have all... vacated; once you're sure I'll pull you back into Lyoko." He sounded a bit shaken before there was a crack indicating he ended the transmission.

Ulrich took in the new orders easily enough, glad to hear Yumi and Aelita were likely safe. He was also a little impressed Jeremie could fake Fief's voice effectively enough to do their job for them, but he wasn't about to look that gift horse in the mouth. "I'm on the way now, Jeremie," Ulrich said as Jeremie finished giving out the orders, thankful he still remembered Jeremie's address from the e-mail he'd sent a few weeks back. "I'll get there as fast as I can."

He looked to Odd and William. "Good luck on your end, you two," he told them, "Keep out of trouble, alright? I've had MORE than enough excitement for one day."

And with that, he Super-Sprinted away, happy to finally be out of the boiler room.

Odd nodded slightly, holding his shoulder in pain. He hoped there wasn't many left, and if there was, he hoped they weren't in a group. He didn't know how much help he would be in this condition. He huffed, and agreed. "Good luck Ulrich, keep safe okay?" he looked at William as his friend super-sprinted away. He turned towards William, "so, where should we start?" he smiled at the man, and turned to leave the boiler room.

William frowned, not quite convinced that Yumi was really safe. On the her hand from past experiences she could probably handle herself not to mention she had Aelita with her who was still in her Lyoko form. That would be enough to ease his worries for now, but William had always had trouble focusing on something when something else was on his mind-not that he really needed his wits about him just to check the factory. He turned to Odd thinking about his question, where would the guards be if they where still here?

"We should check the Super computer room, the lab, and the scanner room first. Just in case they decide to wreck the equipment" He replied leaving without waiting for a response, he hated it in that boiler room and he just wanted out.

((Sorry for the lack of posting...things are kind of complicated right now but I'll post more from now on))

[[ @Dunbar: S'all good! If you ever have a problem, you can talk to us if you need someone ^^ ]]

[[ Also Jeremie's turn will be the last in this thread - I'll post a link to the new one when it's up. We're moving into a 'Character Development' thread which means no real action occurs - it's the 'down time' between arcs. While Gojira and I iron out the new arc we'll all be pingponging in CD. ]]

The two remaining would spend an hour combing through the factory before Jeremie would devirtualize them, dropping them in the scanner room, deeming it safe - he didn't say much and in fact seemed to be in one hell of a dreadful hurry or under a lot of stress; perhaps recovering from having to puppet them all for so long.

A few words were clear enough, though.

"Meet Aelita, Yumi and Ulrich outside my apartment. You should probably reacquaint yourselves with the area. I need to rest so Aelita won't have her Lyoko envelope and neither will Ulrich - be on guard, alright? If anything happens here, I'll let you know. If you need me, tell Aelita to contact me - hopefully she knows how by now." He invisibly rubbed his temple, sighing. "Thanks. For everything, guys, really." He followed his words up with a sincere tone before the familiar crackle sounded and the connection was severed, leaving the two to their own devices.