Code Lyoko: Digital Destiny [[Started // Not Accepting]]

[Vector Nightmare]

Cursing softly, Basil hurried after Estelle. It was not indecision that had held his feet, but caution. If XANA had taken advantage of the group's division to attack them, then there might be another group of monsters coming at them now, when their attention was diverted. However, it seemed the supercomputer was only after Aelita - or, if not that, it was only interested in halting the process of the group that had taken that path. Either way, there was little point in thinking it through. Holding his firearm as well as he could while in motion, he sped after Estelle, who was running surprisingly fast.

Soon enough, the battlefield came into view. Alistair seemed to have flown into a rage, forcefully wielding his weapon against the pack of enemies. Basil did not stop to count. He merely dropped on one knee, carefully steadying the rifle on his shoulder and, taking care not to aim too close to Alistair, shot a volley of the purple-colored energy bolts his weapon seemed to produce at the small blocks that were swarming him.

[Saiba Aisu]

Basil and Estelle arrived not a moment too soon—as Alistair's furious Piercing Armorious attack connected with the first of the Bloks and destroyed it, the second of the two monsters had already opened fire upon the stone barrier Aelita had created. As each red laser struck its surface, the wall trembled violently, cracks spreading across its smooth purple surface. Basil did not waste any time; dropping to one knee, he quickly delivered a barrage of purple-colored projectiles, two of which struck the Blok directly in the eye-portion of its rear face. With a brief whine and low rumble, the remaining Blok burst into shards which soon dissipated, leaving the stone walkway deserted save for the four warriors.

"It's alright now, Aelita," Dominic's voice came from around the group, sounding relieved that they had managed to avoid danger for the moment. "You can come out now, XANA's monsters are all gone." There was only the briefest of pauses, and then the purple stone barrier trembled in earnest. As the wall crumbled into dust and blew away, the group could make out the crouched, tense figure of Aelita, who appeared shaken but otherwise unharmed from the ambush. At the sight of Alistair, Estelle, and Basil, she relaxed slightly and got to her feet, taking a few slow steps forward.

"Thank you," she breathed to the two boys, an earnest expression of gratitude shining in her brilliant green eyes. "If it weren't for you, XANA would have..." The girl's voice trailed away, but her intimation was clear—if not for the timely action on the part of her protectors, she would have been killed and XANA's victory would have been made complete. "We can save the formalities for later, everyone," Dominic chimed in, "so for now you should get moving!" He sounded much more like his old confident self. "I've rebooted the system," he explained to them, "meaning that if XANA thinks he'll be able to fool my scanners again, he's dreaming."

The group breathed sighs of relief as the thick clouds of mist around them dissipated, sinking downwards until they swirled a fair distance below the stone walkway they stood upon. With the air much clearer and visibility improved, they could now make out the path that Basil and Estelle had taken, winding through the air to a circular stone island, where the red-lit structure of the activated Tower was visible.

[Vector Nightmare]

"So this attack was only meant to throw us off." Basil said to noone in particular, replacing his rifle across his shoulder. He did not have complete confidence in Dominic's omniscience in this world, but he could feel that the danger had passed. For now. If XANA had been able to take them by surprise so easily, especially with a feint, then they were far from ready for more serious combat. It had not escaped Basil's attention that the attack had caused some damage to both Aelita and Alistair.

"Let me take the front." He asked, but without really waiting, he started walking ahead of the others towards the direction of the tower. He unsheathed his sword - even the hilt felt cold to the touch, and the gleaming blueish blade emanated a strong chill. If they were caught in another ambush, it was best to spread out the damage they would take - and either way, Basil could probably anticipate and react to an attack better than Alistair.

[Yang Xiao-Long]

The battle over, Alistair was able to reagin his senses and calm down after the momentary fit of rage.
[i]This is unlike me, to fall into a rage like that so quickly...[/i] he thought to himself as Dominic's voice rebounded around him.
"Let me take the front," he heard Basil say. "Alright, Basil," he replied. Alistair didn't mind; after all, he felt utterly exhausted, and he had barely managed to defeat two Bloks by himself, and almost at the cost of Aelita's life.

The team, now reunited, ran back down the path they had come from, only this time they took the other path; the one Basil and Estelle had taken before the ambush. As they ran down the path, Alistair felt a strange feeling in his head, as if a cloud was surrounding his senses. He couldn't think straight, and his head ached. Augmenting his Armorius back into the default blade and sheathing it, which felt like hours, he soon fell onto his hands and knees in the middle of the path. He felt as if he had no energy left at all. "It must have been the size differentiation between the dagger and Armorius forms. I must not have felt the after-effects until my blood cooled down. I feel like I can't even move. Remember Cerce and Devine; hurry up and go." Forcing himself into a sitting position, he waved the others off with one hand while holding his head with the other.

All he could think of as he saw the others go was, "Good thing this return-to-the-past thing will get rid of this splitting headache."
He waited a few moments, and the next thing he knew, he saw a flash.

[encapturer]

((Right now, I'm assuming everyone saw the flash...))

Estelle didn't even have time to aim her weapon; Basil had deftly defeated the Bloks that were attacking Alistair and Aelita. She was a little disappointed that she did not get to fight, but it seemed like Aelita was in extreme danger, and Basil did what was needed to be done. And there was no reason why she could hold a grudge against someone for doing the [I]right[/I] thing...

The path that the group needed to take was the opposite path; the path that Estelle and Basil were originally on. Basil took the lead, so Estelle decided to take the rear, giving the exhausted Alistair a small rest. Alistair said something that surprised her, something about Cerce and Devine, and the way that he said it implied that they were in some sort of danger. They weren't here, so where were they?

After a few moments of walking, Estelle decided to ask Alistair what he meant about their companions; it embarrassed her that she knew little about her allies besides Alistair, and that's only because he's willingly divulging information to her. "Alistair," she said, now walking alongside him, "What did you mean about Cerce and Devine?" she asked. Her voice was quiet; she may be the only one out of the loop, and she didn't want to draw attention to that if that was the case. Before she could get any reaction, however, a bright flash appeared before her eyes, practically blinding her...

[Vector Nightmare]

"Dominic." Basil addressed their unseen coordinator upon seeing Alistair collapse. "Perhaps it would be a good idea to get this guy out of here - he seems to - " No longer had he spoken, than a bright flash of light illuminated the area in the distance. "What was that?!" He exclaimed, shielding his eyes while trying to regain his bearings.