This is the ninth installment of my Light and Shadow series. I do not own Code: LYOKO, but Eva Maverick-Morales and Kayla Olson are mine. This takes place after Bad Connection. Part of this story takes place during Episodes 92 and 93. I have seen the episodes, but I don't remember all of them. These first couple chapters take place in the space between Episodes 91 and 92. If you are just coming across these stories right now and wish to read the others, check out my profile page — I have a list of them (since someone sent a message saying they couldn't find what the others were and what order they went in — thank you for bringing that to my attention). Please enjoy and review.
Kayla walked to school and thought about what all had happened in the time since she came to Kadic Academy. It was quite a lot. And even before that things were anything but normal. But now things were becoming more intense, more dangerous. Recently Kayla was shown how quickly things can change in an instant. She almost lost her best friend to LYOKO, to Child's Services, and to strange bouts of pain that's origin was more unknown than XANA's next attack. Now something was being revealed to Kayla that she should have seen long already.
She was useless.
Not in the sense of not being at all helpful. She had helped Eva with many of her injuries and some of the others when they got hurt. And she was of some help on LYOKO with her super strength and her ability to switch places with Aelita. But she felt like she could do more. But what could a smart high school medic/dancer do?
Kayla found her friends waiting for her at a tree. It was only Jeremy, Odd, Ulrich, and Aelita. Yumi probably was right behind Kayla, but where was Eva?
"Hey," said Kayla.
"Good morning, Sunshine!" beamed Odd.
"Where's Eva?" asked Kayla, looking around.
"That's a good question," said Jeremy.
"I haven't seen her all morning," said Aelita. "I checked her room before breakfast, but it was empty."
"And none of us saw her in the lunchroom," said Ulrich.
"You don't think she had another one of her headaches, do you?" asked Jeremy.
"She might have," said Kayla. She pulled out her mobile and dialed Eva's number. Kayla hung up and shook her head. "Straight to voice mail."
"If her mobile's turned off, she may be with the principal," said Aelita.
"What could Delmas want with her now?" asked Odd.
The school bell rang and they started off to their first classes. Kayla reached out and touched Ulrich's arm.
"Could you help me out with something, Ulrich?" she asked shyly.
"Sure, Kayla. What is it?"
Kayla bit her lip. "Could you teach me how to fight?" she asked.
Ulrich frowned. "You mean like martial arts?"
Kayla nodded.
"If I may ask — why?"
Kayla sighed. "All of you know some form of self-defense. You and Yumi have Penchat Silat, Odd's got a little boxing, you've taught Aelita a few moves, and Eva's got capoeira. I don't have anything in my background except the tango and ballet. I would like to learn something."
"Sure," said Ulrich. "Meet me at the gym after class. Bring sweat pants."
"I don't own any," said Kayla.
Ulrich gave her a funny look. "Borrow some from Eva."
Kayla stood there with a stunned look before hurrying off to class.
First and second periods went by and no one saw Eva. They did notice that the teachers weren't marking her absent and no one was concerned that she was missing.
"They probably don't know that she's gone," Odd whispered to Ulrich when he said something about it. "You know how quiet our phantasm can be."
It was at gym class when the first learned something.
"Hey, Jim!" called Odd. "Where's Eva? Is she sick?"
"No," said Jim. "Not sick. She's been in a meeting with Mr. Delmas since early this morning."
"About what?" asked Jeremy.
"That's none of your business," said Jim. He leaned forward. "But to be honest, it's about her future at Kadic." He straightened. "Now let's get to stretching!" he boomed.
"You don't think she's getting expelled, do you?" asked Ulrich as they did jumping jacks.
"Doubt it," said Kayla. "Jim didn't seem too concerned about it. You would think if it was something that serious that he would be more than a little agitated."
"It's Jim," panted Jeremy. "When isn't he agitated about something?"
"I don't think we should worry," said Aelita. "It's probably nothing."
"'Probably nothing'? Since when does 'probably nothing' take all morning?" asked Odd.
After gym they had lunch. Eva was already in the lunchroom when they got there. She was tucking into a plate of what looked like spaghetti stacked high.
"What do you have?" asked Odd, his eyes wide.
"Spaghetti pie," replied Eva. "Ask Rosa for a piece."
Odd went to Rosa and asked to sample it. The rest of them got their food and sat down with Eva.
"I didn't even see that on the menu," said Jeremy. "How did you get it?"
"Yeah, I practically had to beg Rosa for a small portion," pouted Odd, looking at his tiny piece of spaghetti pie.
"Teachers get different meals," replied Eva. "And this is something new."
"Looks like being a teacher's kid has its perks," said Ulrich. He looked over at Sissi. "I wonder why Sissi never gets the good stuff."
"Sissi's a student," said Eva. "That's why."
"So are you," said Yumi. "What makes you so special?"
Eva put her fork down and wiped her mouth. She looked up at them, her dark eyes sparkling with excitement. Kayla couldn't remember Eva's eyes ever sparkling.
"I have an announcement," said Eva. "I just got out of a meeting with Mr. Delmas, Dr. Klotz — Mr. Simone, whatever his name is — and the school superintendent. Remember that aptitude test I took for Mrs. Hertz the other day?"
"Yeah," replied Jeremy.
"It was about that," said Eva.
Kayla's jaw dropped. "You didn't flunk it, did you?" she asked in disbelief.
Eva shook her head. "I passed it."
"What a relief," said Aelita.
"I thought they might kick you out if you flunked," said Ulrich.
"So you're staying with us?" asked Yumi.
"Of course I'm staying with you," said Eva. She smirked. "But I'm not a student anymore."
"What?" asked Kayla.
Eva's smirk broadened. "You're looking at the freshly graduated and new teaching assistant to one Jim Morales."
"Graduated?" asked Aelita.
"How did you manage that?" asked Ulrich.
"I did so well on my test that I was given a test that would decide if I had the knowledge to pass the senior grade," said Eva. "I passed. Technically I won't graduate until this year's seniors do, but I don't have to go to class anymore."
"But when they tried to do that with me, they tried to send me to a special school for the gifted," said Jeremy in shock.
"So I heard," said Eva. "Dr. Klotz doesn't think it's a good idea for me to leave a stable environment given the previous circumstances I lived with. He thinks it's better for me to stay here with my brothers and sisters and new father."
"Aren't you going to be bored with staying in your room all day?" asked Yumi with a smile.
"We're already working on that," said Eva. "Mr. Delmas wants to start a new student tutoring program. Older students will help the younger students with their homework during free periods. I'm the head tutor."
"So how come you get the good food?" whined Odd.
"I'm teaching assistant," said Eva. "I get to eat with the teachers if I want. And get the teachers' food."
"You better share some of that with me!" Odd said, jabbing his fork threateningly in Eva's direction.
Eva chuckled.
Kayla smiled. "I am so happy for you," she said. "But couldn't you have told us something before hand?"
"How could I? I didn't even know," said Eva. She tilted her head questioningly. "What's wrong, Kayla?"
"You scared me when you didn't show up this morning and didn't answer your mobile," replied Kayla. "I thought you have one of your headache fits again."
Eva shook her head. "They're gone now," she said. "I haven't had one since Odd's parents came to visit. I think it was just a once and done deal."
"That's a relief," said Yumi.
"Yes, we don't want them interfering on LYOKO or during a XANA attack," said Jeremy.
"It also explains why you are so much happier," said Aelita.
"You think?" asked Eva.
"Of course," said Jeremy. "I can't remember you smiling so much. Actually, I don't think any of us ever heard you laugh, either."
"Jim is really having an influence on you," said Kayla.
"You, too," said Eva. "You're always cheerful."
Odd narrowed his eyes. "Wait. You can't be Eva. You're a polymorph!"
Eva reached across the table and whacked Odd up alongside the head.
"No, that's definitely Eva," said Ulrich.
They all laughed.
In the desert sector, a white tower turned red.
A specter came through an outlet in the teacher's lounge where all the teachers were eating. It attacked each on of them. They growled, their eyes reflecting XANA's mark.
Back at the lunchroom, the bell rang signaling the end of the lunch period.
"I'll see you guys later," said Eva. "I'm going to the library. I have some reading to catch up on."
"Hey, guys," said Odd. "I'm going to run to my room and check on Kiwi. Tell Ms. Kensington that I'm in the bathroom."
"Okay," said Jeremy.
"I better go, too," said Kayla. "We have a test today and I don't want to have to go in the middle of a question."
"Oh, that's right!" groaned Yumi. "I forgot all about it. Hopefully it's not too hard. Mrs. Hertz is known to throw a few curve balls at us."
"Good luck, you two," said Ulrich.
The others went to their next class.
"Aelita," said Mrs. Meyer, the math teacher. "You are to go see Mr. Delmas right away."
"Now?" asked Aelita.
"Now," said Mrs. Meyer.
Aelita left and class got started.
"Oh, rats," said Jeremy as Mrs. Meyer began the lesson. "I was supposed to tell her that Odd was going to be late."
"He can explain himself," whispered Ulrich.
They began to take down the notes on the board.
"Attention everyone," came Mr. Delmas' voice over the intercom. "We have an intruder on the grounds. All students go to a classroom immediately. We are going into lock down."
"Lock down?" whispered Jeremy. He frowned and discreetly took his laptop out of his backpack. "An activated tower," he said to Ulrich.
"What are we going to do?" asked Ulrich.
Mrs. Meyer looked out the door before closing it and turning off the lights. "Everyone, line up against the wall."
Ulrich took out his mobile and dialed Yumi.
Yumi was sitting against a wall in Mrs. Hertz's class. The lights were already off. She had her mobile tucked up her sleeve. "I'm locked in, too. I can't get to the factory."
"Aelita's with Delmas," said Ulrich. "We think XANA's up to something."
"Eva's in the library," said Yumi. "Maybe she hasn't been locked in."
Ulrich tapped Jeremy. "Call Eva."
Jeremy took out his mobile and called her.
"What about Kayla?" asked Ulrich.
"She's not back from the bathroom," said Yumi. "What about Odd?"
"He never came back either," said Ulrich.
"Do you think XANA got to them?"
"Doubt it," replied Ulrich. "We have to tell them."
"I'll take Kayla," said Yumi.
"And I'll take Odd." Ulrich hung up and quickly sent a text to Odd.
Jeremy was just getting off the phone with Eva. "Eva's on the move. No one saw her go into the library, so they don't know she's there. She's going to find Aelita and go to the factory. Any news with the others?"
"Yumi's stuck in class," said Ulrich. "Kayla never came back from the bathroom. I just sent a text to Odd telling him about XANA."
Jeremy nodded. "Let's hope he gets it."
Odd and Kayla heard the message over the loudspeakers that they were in lock down. They met outside of the bathrooms.
"What's going on?" asked Kayla.
Odd shrugged. His mobile started going off and he checked it. His was not the only one. Kayla's was going off as well. Both had received the same text message.
S.O.S. XANA
"Let's get to the factory," said Odd.
They took two steps before seeing the music teacher coming up to them.
"What are you two doing out here?" he asked. "We're in lock down. You were told to get to a classroom."
"Sorry, sir," said Kayla.
Odd and Kayla saw it at the same time. There was a brief moment where XANA's mark was visible in the teacher's eyes. They both turned around and started off for a classroom. They then sprinted around a corner and disappeared. The music teacher looked around, confused. Without finding them, he walked away.
Odd and Kayla were flat against the stair wall of the arches. It was uncomfortable with the steps digging into their sides, but it worked.
Getting up, Odd looked around. "Cool."
Kayla straightened her clothes. "You hang around Eva long enough, something's bound to rub off on you."
Kayla's mobile rang. "Hello?" she answered.
Eva was hiding in the trees, moving silently when her target moved. "Delmas has kidnapped Aelita. He's heading for the factory."
"Delmas, too?" asked Kayla, leaning over so Odd could hear as well. "We just had a close call with the music teacher."
"Looks like XANA's using all the teachers," said Odd.
"Where are the others?" asked Eva.
"Jeremy and Ulrich are in math and Yumi's in science," said Kayla. "The school's in lock down; they can't get out."
"See if you can get them out of class," said Eva. "If XANA's plan to get Aelita fails, it'll go after them. Right now, they're sitting ducks."
"What do you want us to do?" asked Kayla.
"Distract the teachers," said Eva. "Give them time to get out of class."
"Okay," said Kayla. She hung up. "Come on, Odd. I'm going to need an extra set of hands."
They started off for the classrooms.
Eva continued to follow Mr. Delmas until he reached the sewer.
"I know where you're going," she mumbled, taking off through the woods. "I don't need to follow you."
Kayla and Odd ran to the science rooms. There was a lab that was not in use. Kayla opened the door and began to grab things off the shelves.
Odd watched, fascinated. "What are you doing?" he asked.
Kayla put her supplies and beginning to pour and mix into separate beakers and flasks. "Making explosives," she replied.
"Oh, okay," said Odd. His eyes widened. "How do you know how to make explosives?"
"Chemistry is one of the things I'm good at," said Kayla, not looking up from what she was doing. "Get me a pair of goggles and gloves. And a mask. Get some for yourself, too."
Odd got what she needed and helped her put them on. "How much of this stuff do we need?"
"Not much," replied Kayla, returning to her work. "Just enough to make a distraction."
"Is there something I can do to help?" asked Odd.
Kayla thought for a moment. "Get the liquid soap they use to clean the beakers and instruments. It should be in a gallon jug."
Odd went under the sink and pulled out the soap. It was a full gallon jug. "Got it. Now what?"
"Pour some of it at the door," said Kayla. "That way, if anyone comes in, they'll find that we turned this place into a slip 'n' slide."
Odd did what he was told as Kayla mixed the chemicals.
Eva did not beat Mr. Delmas to the factory. He was just getting onto the elevator when she got there. Panting, Eva headed for the corridor, picking up a piece of pipe as she ran. Mr. Delmas was still in the scanner room. She waited until Mr. Delmas came up to start the virtualization program. Eva climbed down the ladder silently.
"Scanner Aelita," said Mr. Delmas. "Virtualization."
Aelita was virtualized, falling hard on the desert terrain.
Mr. Delmas heard something behind him. He turned in the chair just in time to have a pipe slammed into his face. He fell unconscious.
Eva stood over him, holding the pipe against one shoulder, her other hand on her hip. "Take that, XANA."
Eva sat in the chair and put the headset on. "Aelita?"
Aelita got to her feet and looked up. "Eva? Is that you?"
"Yes."
"Thank goodness," said Aelita. "XANA possessed Mr. Delmas and locked down the school. Where are the others?"
"Odd and Kayla are okay from what I know," said Eva. "The rest are trapped in class. Kayla is trying to get them out."
"How?" asked Aelita.
"I really don't know, but knowing Kayla, it's going to work," said Eva. "I haven't seen her fail yet."
Aelita looked around. "I don't see any monsters, but some will come soon. They must know I'm here."
"Give me a minute to get Delmas squared away and I'll join you," said Eva.
Eva yanked off the headset and climbed down to the scanner room. She remembered there being a winch stashed behind the scanners so they could use it to fix the hardware of LYOKO one floor below. The cable was more than strong enough to hold a XANAfied person if tied correctly.
Kayla and Odd were still working on creating their distraction.
"Let's hope this works," said Kayla, dividing her concoction up into smaller beakers and placing rubber gloves over them to keep them sealed. "I think I have my proportions correct."
"And if you don't?" asked Odd.
"This won't end well," replied Kayla. "None of us have lost any fingers so far, so we should be fine. Now all we have to do is make our distraction." She looked around the room. "I need something that can be used for fuses. And we'll need a shovel."
Odd picked up the liquid soap. "I'll bring this with. You don't know what we might need it for." He looked at the beakers that Kayla was packing into two large basins for transport. "I gotta ask — how stable is that stuff?"
"As long as there isn't any sort of flame or spark, we're fine," said Kayla. She found some string and a bottle labeled C2H5OH.
"What's that?" asked Odd, pointing to the bottle.
"Ethyl alcohol," replied Kayla. She remembered something. "Matches."
Odd grabbed a book of matches off the teacher's counter. He grinned as he held them up.
Kayla smiled satisfactorily. "Wouldn't work if we didn't have an ignition source."
The two of them walked out of the laboratory with their distraction-making items. Jim was waiting by the stairs for them. He grinned evilly at them as he made his way up the stairs. Odd threw the gallon jug of soap at the stairs, coating them liberally in its slipperiness. Jim took one step and went flying back, tumbling down the steps.
"Other stairway," said Odd, leading Kayla.
Eva left Mr. Delmas in a corner and started up the automated virtualization program. She hurried down to the scanners and stepped in. The doors closed and she was soon falling to the ground of the desert sector.
"Which way to the tower?" asked Eva.
"I can't see it," said Aelita. "But I can feel pulsations."
"Pulsations?" asked Eva.
Just then it felt like there was an earthquake on LYOKO. It was quick and the ground pulsed with light at some places, leaving a trail.
"Yes, this is how I used to find activated towers," said Aelita. "It's just as reliable. Come on."
They began following the pulsations.
"I wonder where the monsters are," said Eva. "This is unusual."
"I don't think XANA had time to send them," said Aelita. "I think it's taking its time. It thinks all of you are stuck in class."
"Well, sooner or later the students are going to get suspicious and want to see if there really is a threat," said Eva. "I'm concerned about what will happen when they go against the teachers."
Aelita nodded. "I'm worried, too."
Ulrich and Jeremy sat quietly. The other students were getting antsy. They wanted to get up and have class. There was no danger that they could see or hear.
"Let's err on the side of caution, class," said Mrs. Meyer.
Yumi was having the same problem in her class as well. Some were standing up and walking around. Mrs. Hertz would shout at them to sit down. They would reluctantly sit, but some were becoming bold with the notion that this was all a hoax.
Then the three of them got a text message from Odd. They read the same thing.
On our signal.
"What signal?" whispered Ulrich.
There was a loud bang outside. Several students jumped. Then there was another one much closer to the building.
Mrs. Hertz walked over to the window.
Yumi moved quickly to the door, opened it, and was gone before anyone had a chance to say anything.
"There's our signal," muttered Jeremy.
He and Ulrich were out the door as well as soon as Mrs. Meyer was distracted.
The three of them met up in the woods and were soon joined by Kayla and Odd.
"What was that?" asked Jeremy.
"Oh, you know," said Odd casually. "Just a few explosions to get the teachers' attention. Apparently, XANA doesn't like it when you play dirty like it."
"But what caused the explosions?" asked Yumi.
"It seems Sunshine here knows enough about chemistry to make bombs," replied Odd.
"You made a bomb?" asked Jeremy.
"Several," replied Kayla. "I'm not proud of it, but I couldn't think of anything else. I made sure the blasts were directed up and away from everything."
They got the factory and saw that Aelita and Eva were already on LYOKO. Mr. Delmas was tied up in the corner with a thick cable.
"Get down there," Jeremy said, putting on the headset and starting up the necessary programs. "Aelita, can you hear me?"
"Loud and clear, Jeremy," replied Aelita. "We're almost at the tower."
Jeremy looked at his screen. "What tower? There's no tower on my screen."
"What? That can't be right," said Aelita. "We've been feeling pulsations and been following them. They keep getting stronger."
"Aelita, I'm telling you, you're nowhere near the activated tower," said Jeremy.
"Jeremy, what's going on?" Yumi called up to him. "Are we going to LYOKO or not?"
"The activated tower is east of where you are," said Jeremy. "Far east. You've been running the wrong way."
"What?" growled Eva. She let out an exasperated sound. "Send me the overboard. We'll be back there before you can virtualize everyone."
"Coming up," said Jeremy, activating the program. "Okay, everyone, get ready to go. Ladies and Odd first."
Odd bowed to Kayla. "After you, Sunshine."
"Thank you," said Kayla, walking passed him and stepping into a scanner.
Back on LYOKO, Eva had the throttle opened wide on her overboard. Aelita was hanging on tightly to Eva's waist, keeping her head down.
"Must you go so fast?" she asked.
"I want to get there today," replied Eva. "I do not like being deceived. Especially by XANA. Oh, when I get my hands on it and its monsters, I'm going to tear them virtual limb from virtual limb."
Just when Aelita thought Eva couldn't make that board go any faster, she did. Aelita looked over a black skull shoulder pad and pointed. "There!"
Eva saw where Aelita was pointing and stopped the overboard at the rest of the group.
"What kept you?" asked Kayla.
Eva simply looked ahead. The tower was in sight now. There were four megatanks guarding it. "This is going to be tough," she said, nodding in the tower's direction.
Odd snickered. "Anyone up for a game of ball?"
"I am," replied Eva.
"Let's go," said Yumi.
They came from the front. The megatanks lined up in attack formation. They fired. The LYOKO warriors jumped out of the way. Kayla ran up, used her super jump technique, and brought her mace down. The megatank closed up, but that did not stop the blow. With Kayla's great strength, the mace went through the armor and hit the weak point. Kayla jumped out of the way.
Ulrich was busy blocking a blast with both sabers. Odd came around and fired a laser arrow. The megatank exploded.
"Thanks," said Ulrich.
"Any time," said Odd.
Yumi and Eva were taking the third. Yumi drew its attention to her and Eva came around and possessed it. The possessed megatank closed up and rolled onto its side.
"Down!" shouted Yumi.
Everyone dropped as Eva opened up and let out a horizontal attack. The attack wasn't enough to destroy the remaining megatank, but it pushed it over the edge of the sector and it fell into the digital sea. Eva jumped out of the megatank she possessed and it exploded behind her.
"Aelita, go," said Kayla.
Aelita ran into the tower and made her way to the top. The interface screen appeared and she put her hand on it.
Aelita.
Code: LYOKO.
"Tower deactivated," she announced.
Jeremy hit the return key on his keyboard. "Return to the past now."
It was afternoon and class had just left out. Eva, Yumi, Jeremy, Aelita, and Odd were standing by a tree.
"So how was your first day of being a teaching assistant?" asked Yumi.
"Which first day?" asked Eva.
They chuckled.
"Is this going to be a reoccurring thing?" asked Jeremy.
"Yeah, you making jokes is so out of character," said Odd.
Aelita laughed. "You should have heard her when she found out that XANA trick us."
"I don't know," said Eva. "I'm just going to take it one day at a time."
"We'll be here for you, phantasm," said Odd, putting his hand on her shoulder.
"I wonder where Kayla and Ulrich went to," said Jeremy.
In the gymnasium, Kayla was trying to stay on her feet as Ulrich sparred with her. He caught her in the ribs with his foot.
"Sorry!" he said as Kayla crumpled to the ground.
She groaned. "Maybe this wasn't such a good idea."
"You'll get the hang of it," said Ulrich. "We just need to find something you're good at."
Kayla nodded and allowed Ulrich to pull her to her feet.
"Ready for Round Two?" he asked.
Kayla nodded. "Ready."