Hey everyone! Welcome to the sequel to Hero's Destiny: Questions and Answers. I was gonna wait until April to publish this, but several of you guys have been really excited about this. So here's a gift: me publishing it early!
...It may also be because I have no life and I'm still in a Code Lyoko kind of mood. Anyways...
Now we're into season 2, which is the best season of Code Lyoko. It added so much without losing it's original concept. New Order is a great episode in my opinion, and fun fact: the only episode I ever saw on TV.
I was 7 when Code Lyoko ended back in 2007. I recognized the show because my oldest brother would watch it when I was 4 or 5. I have a particular memory of seeing the intro for season 1. While browsing what was on a few months into 08, I noticed that there was a rerun of Code Lyoko airing. The episode in question? Episode 27, New Order.
I had seen bits and pieces of the show, but I don't recall if I had ever made it through a full episode. I recorded and watched the episode, and fell in complete love with the characters, Lyoko, and all the action that happened. I even drew a shitty picture of all the characters, and that's saying something, cause I never did stuff like that. I looked all the time on the TV guide after that, but I never saw another rerun of the show again.
New Order holds an extremely special place in my heart because of that. Let's get started, shall we?
Chapter 1: New Order
I let out a groan when I heard my phone ring. I turned over and reached down to grab my phone. I didn't bother to look at the caller ID. Even if I didn't know exactly who it was, it was going to be one of four people.
"Hello...?" I said groggily.
"Emily! Where are you? Breakfast is almost over and today's the day!" Odd's cheerful voice told me. I shot up from my bed.
"It's today?!" I looked over at my calendar and gasped. The day was circled in a bright red marker. Two things were written in it. The first said "Field Trip", and the other? Well... It simply read 'Aelita'. "Oh man! I'll be down there as quick as I can," I quickly hung up and threw myself out of my bed.
I quickly changed out of my pajamas, pulling on my usual red shirt and gray Pokemon jacket. I reached down on my nightstand and pulled my glasses on. I looked around the room again. I quickly went around, making sure everything was in place. I pulled the covers of my bed back up in an admittedly half-assed attempt to make my bed. I turned to my door. I did one last scan over the room before exiting.
I ran as fast as I could to the outside of the cafeteria. I found Ulrich, Odd, and Yumi all waiting for me. "There you are." Yumi said in a playful tone. "I was beginning to think we'd have to go on without you!"
"I forgot today was the day," I sheepishly admitted. I suddenly saw a croissant held in front of me. Looking up, Ulrich was holding it out to me.
"Here, I saved you something," Ulrich said. I took the croissant and quietly thanked him. I bit into it as we walked into the park.
"Man," I started in between swallows. "I can't wait to see the look on Aelita's face. She's gonna be so excited!"
"It's gonna be great," Odd agreed, nodding his head. We reached the manhole cover as I finished the croissant. "Personally though, I'm most pumped to see my Overboard in all it's glory!"
"My Overbike will make your Overboard eat dust," Ulrich said. There was a playful look on his face.
"Oh, you are so ON!" Odd declared. I laughed as I unfolded my scooter.
"You should have a race when when we get on Lyoko. It'll be a good way to test the vehicles out, don't you think?" I suggested. They gave one another a competitive smirk.
We reached the factory quickly. We climbed up onto the bridge and ran to the entrance. We swung down on the ropes, then entered the elevator. I hit the button, and we went down to the lab.
Jeremy looked over at us when the doors opened. "Ah, there you! I was starting to think you guys had forgotten about us!" He motioned with his head to Aelita, who was on screen.
"Hello, Aelita!" I greeted. She nodded her head at us. "And uh, sorry about our tardiness. That was on an account of me," I admitted.
"What matters is that we're here now... And that I'm going to beat Ulrich in our race!" Odd cheered. Jeremy rolled his eyes, but the smile was still plain on his face.
"Get down to the scanners. Aelita is already waiting." Jeremy instructed. I hit the button again and we went down to the scanners. Ulrich, Odd, and Yumi all went first. Then I stepped inside one of them opened up. "Transfer, Emily. Scanner, Emily. VIRTUALIZATION!"
Lyoko
I landed behind the others in the Desert Sector. Odd tapped his foot in anticipation.
"Ok, we're all here, Einstein! Where are the vehicles?" He asked impatiently. I let out a small laugh at the sight. He was SO excited. He hadn't shut up about the vehicles since Jeremy informed us he was making them. And two weeks of hearing Odd yak about them is quite awhile.
"Give him some time, Odd. He did only finish them yesterday," I reminded him. Jeremy had been working nonstop in the past two and a half weeks. He not only had been working on Aelita's antivirus, but he also decided that if the fight against XANA was going to continue, we needed better equipment.
"By the way, Emily, you'll be interested to know that Jeremy and I managed to give you a new ability." Aelita informed me. I looked over at her, surprised.
"Ability? What kind?" I asked, curiosity painting my tone.
"I gave you a shield of sorts. It's in your cape, and it can stand up to 30 like points worth of damage." Jeremy explained. I looked down at my cloak. I grabbed the edge and threw it in front of my body. It was long enough to cover most the areas one of XANA's monsters could hit.
"Hey, cool!" I exclaimed. "Thanks, Einstein!"
"You're welcome. And I think I've just about got it!" Jeremy said. Four outlines appeared in front of us. The colors filled in shortly after, and they became our vehicles.
Odd had the Overboard, which was a pink and purple board with a cat like face etched onto its front.
Ulrich, had the Overbike. It was a one wheeled motorcycle that was black and had a sleek design.
Yumi's vehicle was the Overwing, a large purple, almost scooter like vehicle. Aelita didn't have a specific vehicle, as she would just ride with whoever.
I had to grin when I finally saw my vehicle. It was a small go kart, looking similar in design to the Standard M Karts from Mario Kart Wii. It's main color was red. My vehicle was the Overkart, and was ecstatic to finally see it.
"Wow..." We all said. Ulrich and Odd gave one another a knowing look. They made a mad dash for their respective vehicles and took off.
"Well, this is surely going to end well." I said, hopping in my Overkart.
"Does that mean you're going to go join them?" Yumi asked. I grinned.
"You read my mind!" I pushed down on the pedal and sped away. It was an amazing feeling to see Lyoko's Desert Sector fly by me as I zoomed across it. I caught up with Ulrich and Odd in record time. "I'm joining on the shenanigans for once!" I informed them.
"You're on!" They both shouted in unison. Our race continued on through the sector. I could see Yumi and Aelita riding the Overwing in the distance, following us.
"You really did a great job, Jeremy! XANA better behave himself now that we've got these things! Whoa!' Odd exclaimed in elation. We drove through the rocks in the sector. I went past Ulrich, but Odd was still ahead of me.
"Be careful all the same." Jeremy advised him.
"Don't worry Einstein, I know how to ride! There's no way I'm gonna let Ulrich or Emily beat me!" Odd exclaimed, then sped up some more. I gripped my wheel tightly and looked over at Ulrich.
"Oh no you don't." Ulrich calmly said, then revved his bike up. We continued along into a path surrounded by walls. Odd positioned the Overboard so that he was riding alongside the walls, and then overtook the both of us.
"Ha ha!" He exclaimed.
Ulrich and I both rolled out eyes at him.
"Odd! I didn't have time to perfect the program that calculates trajectory!" Jeremy warned him. Odd didn't seem to take the warning to heart though. Ahead of us was a rock that would be perfect for a ramp. But y'know, I wasn't gonna push my luck with the trajectory.
Odd decided to try his luck and use that rock as a ramp. "Yeah! Huh?!" Odd exclaimed. He went off the ramp just fine, but unfortunately for him, there was a rock sitting atop a pillar of sorts. His Overboard crashed into the large rock, making him tumble to the ground.
Of course, since he was a cat, he landed on his feet. Ulrich let out a laugh as he went across the ramp. I followed, landing just a few inches away from the pillar Odd had run into. I got out of my kart as Yumi an Aelita neared. Aelita hopped down and helped Odd steady himself as he got up.
"Are you ok?" She asked in concern. Odd dusted himself off and nodded at her.
"Oh yeah. There's still some work to do on the Overboard, Jeremy." Odd said, sending an annoyed look at the sky.
"Maybe it's the rider who needs a little work, Odd." Jeremy told him. I had to laugh at that. Odd folded his arms at the remark.
"He did warn you, Odd." I reminded him. He let out a small 'humph' and ignored me.
"What's the matter Odd? You miss a step?" Ulrich laughed.
"Very funny. I'd like to see you on an Overboard." Odd said sharply.
"I guess surfing's not my thing." Ulrich remarked, making a wavy motion with his arm.
"Uh, sorry to interupt your fascinating conversation, but it looks like XANA has spotted you. Something's coming your way!" Jeremy warned us.
I tilted my head at his vague description. "Er, what exactly is on it's way?" I asked.
"It's... That's really weird! I can't tell what it is?" Jeremy suddenly exclaimed.
"Hey, what's that?!" Yumi asked, pointing off into the distance. It was a little difficult to see, considering it was kicking up dust, but it was obvious it was a new monster. It let out an agitated cry as it approached us. It's limbs were long, and it could move pretty quickly.
I reached down and gripped my staff tightly. "No idea, but it can't be good." I said.
"It looks like trouble. Big time." Ulrich agreed. We all looked over at Aelita.
"I've never seen a monster like that one before. XANA must have just created it." She deduced.
"In any case, it says here that's it's got more life points than the others." Jeremy said. The new monster finally stopped its trek to us. We looked at each other warily as the monster then picked up it's arms and pointed them at us. They were lasers!
"Ok, this is going to prove to be interesting." I noted, charging my staff.
"Jeremy! How about reprogramming our vehicles?!" Yumi suggested. I heard Jeremy let out a noise of affirmation.
"I'm on it already! But's going to take time." Jeremy said. We didn't even need to motion for Aelita to know it was time to hightail it out of there. Ulrich stepped forward to take the open spot she had left.
"On my signal." he declared.
"I'll go first." Yumi said.
"And I'm gonna keep it busy." Odd decided.
"Let's take this thing down!" I encouraged.
"NOW!" Ulrich yelled. He pulled out his saber. The momster began to fire at the four of us. Ulrich used his sword the deflect the blasts. I rolled to the sode and aimed my staff at it.
"Magic Blast!" I exclaimed. The white ball of energy sailed through the air but ultimately missed its target. Yumi launched herself over the monster. It stopped firing at the rest of us to turn to face her. She threw her fan, but it wasn't quick enough. The monster shot it down.
"Hey you overgrown spider, looking for me?" Odd shouted. The monster turned to face and fired at him. Odd got on all fours and vaulted himself onto the pillar he had hit earlier. He began climbing up, managing to get all the way to the top. He perched himself there and lofted his armcin preparation to fire. The monster kept firing though, eventually hitting the base of the rock on top. The rock fell forward, making the cat jump into the air, which made him a prime target to get hit.
"Odd! You just lost 20 life points!" Jeremy exclaimed. "It's got a powerful laser."
Odd looked back over at the new monster woth a look of disdain. "What does it take to destroy this thing?" He wondered. I ran over to him and gave him a hand.
"Evidentally, more than we're dishing out." I remarked. I gasped when I saw the monster fire at us again. I grabbed Odd, put him behind me, then grabbed the edge of my cloak and threw it in front of me. "Cloak Guard!" The laser hit a blue barrier, rather than me. I gave an impressed look at my cape. At least I knew it worked.
Ulrich then whistled to get the monsters attention. It turned to look at the brunette, then fired a few blasts. Ulrich deflected them all. He prepared to retaliate, but he made the mistake of looking over at Aelita. She was running towards a deactivated tower to get out of the sector. Ulrich then looked back in tome to see lasers coming his way. He couldn't react in time and was devirtualized.
"Vehicles ready," Jeremy announced. The outlines of the Overwing, Overboard, and Overkart all appeared.
"Well it's about time!" I quipped.
"C'mon! I'm doing my best!" Jeremy argued. I ran over and got into my Overkart. Yumi and Odd both hopped onto their vehicles as well.
"Let me go first." Odd ordered. Yumi and I nodded.
"Go on, we'll be watching you." Yumi said. Odd then took off into the air. He moved his body back and forth to try and dodge the lasers, which seemed to work well enough for him. He began spinning in circles while upside down. How he managed to stay ON the board was beyond me. "Laser Arrows!" He cried. Every shot missed, making the blond growl. He hit the nose of the monster with his Overboard as he went over it.
Yumi and I then joined him. I sped ahead of them and went after the monster myself. I pulled my staff out and tried to bang it against one of its arms. It didn't work, and my staff actually ended up flying out of my hand. I looked behind me and saw it lying on the ground. I pulled up on my controls and did a midair u-turn of sorts, but the monster had other ideas.
It shot me out of the air, making me land roughly on the ground. "Emily!" I heard Yumi exclaimed. I shook my head as I pulled myself up on my hands and knees. I then saw a shadow looming over me. It was the monster. It lifted its arm above its head.
I understood the motive. "Oh sh-" The arm slammed into my side, devirtualizing me.
Scanner Room
I gripped my side as I fell out of my scanner. I groaned and put a hand to my head. I felt a headache coming on. Ulrich rushed over to me and helped support me as I stood up.
"Thanks," I managed. He nodded his head. Moments later, Yumi, Odd, and Aelita all stepped out of the scanners as well. "You guys ok?" I asked Yumi and Odd.
"Stupid monster..." I heard Odd mutter.
"I think this calls for a group meeting, don't you?" Jeremy said, not really leaving any room for argument, though I doubt any of us were disagreeing with him. The five of us entered the elevator and went up to the lab.
"That thing was a nightmare, Jeremy." I said as we entered. He turned the chair to face us as we all took a seat somewhere in the lab. Jeremy folded his hands with a concerned expression.
"If XANA's gonna start programing new monsters, that means out troubles, guys, have only just begun." He said. I frowned at that, then rubbed my head slightly. The headache was annoying me more than it should have.
"Anyway Einstein, one thing is sure. You're going to have to program our vehicles faster. Otherwise, we don't stand against those Tarantulas!" Odd said, making a strange wriggling movement with his hand.
Yumi cocked a brow. "Your aunt what?" She questioned.
"Tarantulas, the new monsters. I like to give my enemies a name," Odd explained. I shrugged. The name worked with me.
"What bugs me though, is that XANA seems to have gotten more powerful." I said.
"He seems to have a found a way to increase his power." Jeremy agreed.
"Do you think he's still evolving?" Ulrich asked.
Jeremy gave him an unsure look. "Maybe so. In any case, from now on we have to be ready for anything and everything,"
Aelita stood up upon hearing this. "Maybe I better get back to Lyoko. If Xana activates a tower, I'd better be there." She was about to turn to go to the elevator. Jeremy looked at us with knowing look. He was trying his best to hide the grin on his face.
"Uh, should we tell her?" He asked. Aelita turned back at this.
"Well of course we should tell her! Why keep good news like that a secret?" Yumi pointed out. At this point, Aelita had a lost look on her face.
"Keep what a secret? Will someone please tell me what's going on?" She asked. I grinned and looked to Jeremy to explain.
"Over the past couple weeks, I've spent all my time developing the vehicles and an antivirus to free you from XANA." He paused, looking at all of us. "But I also pefected a whole new program for detecting activated towers."
"A super scanner. Much more accurate than the old one," Odd elaborated.
"And the best feature? It's got instant detection." I added.
"Which means that you don't have to stay on Lyoko all the time!" Jeremy finished. The look of shock on Aelita's face was absolutely priceless. Her eyes were wide and her jaw had dropped slightly.
"So, I'm gonna live..?" She trailed off, a smile on her face.
"Here, with us." Ulrich confirmed with a nod. "We've already enrolled you as a boarder at the school."
"Everything's all set up. We wanted to surprise you." Yumi explained, putting her arm around Aelita. The pink haired girl looked at all of us, still shocked.
"But—I—this is so wonderful, I can't believe it."
I looked at my phone and pretended to grimace. "Well, I'd love to stick around and help you get settled in, Aelita, but I've got some stuff I need to grab before the field trip today." She nodded in understanding. As we entered the elevator together, I winked at the boys. They grinned back at me. We had one more surprise in store for Aelita, and I had a feeling she was going to like it a lot.
My Dorm
I raced back to my room as fast as my legs could carry me. I knew my time was limited, so I bid the other a temporary farewell and wasted no time in getting there. I checked over my room again. Nothing seemed too out of place. I nodded, then sat on my bed and waited. I rubbed my head again. The headache hadn't gotten any worse, but it was still there, annoying me.
A few minutes later, I heard Jim's booming voice in the hall, explaining the where the halls led to in the dorm building. I snapped my head up and grinned when I heard him. I shook my headache off temporarily, and stood in the middle of the room with a grin on my face.
"...And this will be your room. You'll be rooming with-" Then the door opened, revealing Jeremy, Ulrich, Odd, and Aelita standing outside the door.
Aelita's eyes went wide when she saw me. I grinned at her with my hands in my pockets. "Emily!" She practically squealed, running up to me and enveloping me in a hug.
"Surprise!" I whispered.
"Ah, I see you two already know each other." Jim noted, scratching his chin. I nodded at him.
"We've been pen pals for awhile now." I quickly lied. Luckily, I'd prepared that lie in advance. Jim seemed satisfied with that answer.
"Well, I'm sure you'll like it here, Miss um..."
"Stones. Aelita Stones, like the rock group. I'm Odd's cousin from Canada." Aelita said politely.
"Ah. So Aelita, breakfast starts at 7 AM, and dinner is served at 7 PM. It's against the rules to be in your room between 8 AM and 4:30 PM." Jim listed off. "You can ask you friends Della Robbia, Stern, Belpois, and Carroll to fill you in on the rest of them... that is, if they can remember them." Jim gave us all a harsh look when he said that. After he walked away, we all grinned at her.
She looked at us all gratefully. "I can't even begin to thank you all for this," She said.
"Eh, what are friends for, right?" Odd said, throwing his arms around Ulrich and Jeremy's shoulder.
"We thought it might be easier for you to settle in if you had a roommate, and Emily was the obvious choice in that front." Jeremy said, motioning to me with his hand.
"And I'm more than happy to room with you." I said. I then felt a sharp pain in my head and winced. The grins on everyone's face faltered.
"You ok, Emily?" Ulrich asked. I moved the hand I had brought to my head and nodded, my eyes closed.
"Yeah. Just... just a headache." I said. "Don't worry about it, guys. You guys go get your stuff for the trip today, and I'll help Aelita with her stuff." The boys all nodded and left, closing the door. "Alright, I get you don't have a lot of stuff, but let's get it put away anyways."
Later
As I thought, it hardly took any time to get Aelita's things put away. After we were done, we made our way down the stairs and out into the main part of campus. Ms. Hertz was standing there, surrounded by almost everyone in the 8th and 9th grade. Milly and Tamiya were walking away with disappointed looks on their faces as they walked away from Ms. Hertz.
"Ah, there's Jeremy." I said, pointing at him. Aelita nodded and walked ahead of me. I was going to follow, but someone bumped into me, knocking me to the ground.
"Oh! I'm sorry, I didn't see you there." The person said.
"It's cool. It happens." I waved it off. He stuck his hand up to help me. I looked up at him, and I had to keep my eyes from going wide. He wore a dark shirt over a red shirt and a pair of jeans. It was hard not to recognize him.
"I'm William. William Dunbar." William introduced himself.
"Nice to meet you, William. I'm Emily Carroll." I introduced. I winced a little bit when I felt my headache acting up again.
William didn't seem to notice it. "I just transferred here. Have you seen Yumi Ishiyama around anywhere?" He asked, looking around the campus.
"No, but if I'll tell her you're looking for her if I see her." I told him.
"Ok. Thanks a lot. See you around, Emily!" William walked past me. I waved to him then continued on to see Jeremy and Aelita.
"..What's this field trip everyone's talking about?" I heard Aelita ask.
"We're going to make a biodiversity scrapbook. Ms. Hertz wants us to take pictures to draw plants, and flowers. That kind of thing. You and I have been paired up to work together," Jeremy replied with a smile.
"And me," I reminded him with a stern glance.
"And Emily," he added quickly.
"Great" Aelita said to us.
I looked over at Odd and couldn't help but laugh. He was struggling to keep his backpack still. The reason for that? Kiwi was wiggling around trying to get a look at all the people. I could see the mutts cone shaped nose poking out of his bag.
"Yep, that's not suspicious at all Odd. Any reason in particular you're smuggling Kiwi in your bag?" I asked. He quickly put a finger to my lip and looked around nervously.
"You know exactly why! This is perfect time for him to finally be able to run around without worrying about any of the teachers." He then looked around again. "By the way, have any of you guys seen Ulrich?"
"He's under the arches. I think he's waiting for Yumi." Aelita answered. Odd quickly thanked her and took off to get him.
I looked forward to see Ms. Hertz waving for us all. "Looks like it's time to go."
Path to Forest
You'd think being paired up with two of the smartest students at school would make things great, as long as you do your fair share of work of course. But the pair of Jeremy and Aelita were making my headache worse.
"Did you know that trees grow new branches from one year to the next according to an exponential ratio of 1.6?" Jeremy asked Aelita.
"1.618 to be exact. It's the golden ratio." Aelita replied cheerfully. "Say, do you think nature obeys nonlinear equation systems?"
I groaned and rubbed my head. "You two are killin' me.' I said. I heard them both laugh at my misery. Their laughter stopped when I suddenly took a sharp breath as my headache worsened again.
They gave each other a worried look before looking back at me. "Emily, are you sure you don't want us to take you to the infirmary?" Jeremy asked. "And I really do mean the infirmary. Not Lyoko."
I smiled at his joke. "I-I'm fine. If it gets that bad, I promise I'll tell you guys." I assured them. I don't think that really convinced them, but we continued on. "Man, maybe I really should've gone to the infirmary. Hope I'm not getting sick..."
"Nah, there aren't any monsters in these woods." Jeremy said. I must've missed whatever brought that topic up. "That only happens in fairytales or in silly horror pictures."
"Or Lyoko. Happens there too." I threw out. I could practically hear he eyeroll Jeremy gave me.
"You don't like horror films?" Aelita inquired.
"I find them inaccurate, scientifically speaking." Jeremy replied.
"Eh, I just personally like to make fun of them." I said with a shrug. hen, in my best old lady impression, I said, "Would you mind getting inside the oven to clean it for me?" Seeing the confused looks on Jeremy and Aelita's faces made me laugh.
"Anyways, I don't have time to go to the movies. I've got my work cut out for me with XANA." Jeremy reached into his bag, then gasped in horror. "Oh no, I don't believe it! I left my laptop in my room. What if XANA attack?"
"Run back and get it. Emily and I can continue by ourselves.' Aelita assured him.
"And I bet with the work we've already gotten done, we're bound for an A." I said, though the grade seemed to be the last thing on his mind.
"Yeah. Be right back!" He ran of, leaving the two of us alone.
We continued along again. I rubbed my head again, trying my best to keep Aelita's worrying to a minimum.
She didn't really seem to notice my pain though. She was tensed up and holding her notepad close to her chest. "Monsters only exist in fairytales, monsters only exist in fairytales," She muttered to herself.
"Aelita, it's fine. This isn't like Lyoko. Th- argh!" I gripped my head tightly and cried out in pain. The level of pain was worse than the whole Amnesia incident, and that was bad.
I could vaguely hear Aelita say something, then heard her scream. I saw her figure run away. I had fallen to my knees and tried to stand up, but I fell flat on my face. My ears were ringing as I reached out to try and stop the pink haired girl, but it was no use. I felt my vision becoming black.
Yep. Definetely should've gone to the infirmary.
Unknown Area
I groaned as I opened my eyes. I became very alarmed quickly. I wasn't in the forest anymore. I quickly sat up and was surprised to find myself in little to no pain. But I had bigger things to worry about.
I was in something LIKE the forest, but it was different. And I'm not talking about plants or something of that nature (pun unintentional for once). The entire area I was in had some strange sort of grayscale effect on it. I frowned.
"Well, if this is a XANA attack, it's certainly the most interesting one I've ever seen." I decided. I then turned to find another huge surprise. A gigantic door was behind me, blocking whatever was past it. It was just a gray as everything else. Looking to the sides, the door seemed to stretch across the entire area. I pressed my hand to the door.
It felt like a normal wooden door. But it didn't make any sense. What was a door doing there? Then, I heard a voice echo around me.
"This path will open to you soon. The Key to your real journey is somewhere near.
I made a face at the completion of the message. "Real journey? Key? What?"
"...ly!... o... hear me?" I looked around in confusion at the sudden voice. It wasn't like the last one. This one was familiar.
"...ake up! Emily! Wake up!" The world around me faded to black, as did my mind.
Forest
I felt a hand on my shoulder as I opened my eyes. My vision was blurry, and I could tell my glasses weren't on my face. As my vision slowly cleared, I saw Ulrich and Odd kneeled next to me. I groaned. My head hurt, but not like it had before. My headache was completely gone.
"Emily! Are you ok!?" Odd asked. Ulrich handed my glasses back to me.
"Yeah... I think so." I answered. I looked at my arms. There was a hole in my jackets elbow where I had skinned my elbow. I had a few more cuts on my arm, and one on my face. Nothing deep, but they hurt. I was covered in dirt as well.
"Did XANA attack you? Where's Aelita?" Ulrich asked. He and Odd slowly helped me to my feet. I moved my eyes away from them. I wasn't sure I should tell them what I'd seen. I was still trying to figure out what it meant. I finally shook my head.
"No, I don't think it was XANA. My head just hurt really badly was all. And I don't know." I closed my eyes to try and remember what happened. "Last I remember, I was trying to tell her that this wasn't like Lyoko's Forest Sector." I said. I saw them both grimace.
"XANA's launched an attack. Jeremy told us he'd tried calling you, but you never picked up. He sent us to find you two." Odd explained. I looked at my phone. Four missed calls.
I looked over to see Kiwi sniffing at the notepad Aelita had been using. "Hey, Kiwi might be able to pick up her scent." I noted.
"Let's follow him. He may be a little dumb, but he does have a good nose." Odd agreed. We heard a rustling sound behind us, which Ulrich decided to react to by trying to kick it. Fortunately, he ended up stopping just short of Yumi's face. She gave him a slightly amused look.
"Hey, nervous aren't we? What a warm welcome; nice." She said. Ulrich gave her a blank look, then turned from her to walk with Odd and I.
"Yumi, we can't find Aelita!" Odd told her.
Hermitage
Aelita looked up nervously at the house in front of her. The sign on the fence had said it was called the. Hermitage. She was beginning to wish she'd not run away, but it was too late now. She asked if anyone was home and received no answer. She entered the home, sending dust everywhere.
The house had been abandoned, she was almost positive of that, possibly ransacked as well. The furniture of all the rooms was overturned, and various items were scattered across the floor. The floor was covered in dirt, and several of the walls had holes in them.
She let her fingers travel across the dusty wooden shelves as she walked through the main hall. There was something... off, about this house to her, but she couldn't pinpoint what it was exactly. She entered what appeared to have once been a family room. It was in the same condition as the rest of the house. She looked over at where a broken mirror was.
A sharp pain went through her mind. She stumbled forward and grabbed the mantle shelf, closing her eyes tightly. She could faintly hear something. A melody, a song. It was being played on a piano, she was sure of that. It was so recognizable to her for whatever reason.
She swore she could see the person playing it as well. In a flash, she could see the house, not looking nearly as run down, but an actual livable space. She could see a tall man with gray hair wearing a lab coat playing the melody. The man paused and looked at. Her grip on the shelf tightened.
She opened her eyes, and the house looked no different. It was still run down, old, and dusty.
She heard a noise behind her, then let out a scream.
Forest Path
Yumi looked at my slightly scratched face and frowned. "What happened to you?" She asked.
"I uh... passed out..." I admitted, looking down sheepishly. "I'm fine now though!" I quickly added. She seemed unsure. We continued walking behind Kiwi until we saw a large, slightly decrepit looking house. I gulped.
The Hermitage. I knew this house well. There was a sign that had it's name on the front fence, looking just as worn out as the building itself.
Odd had pulled his phone out and was speaking with Jeremy. "Don't tell me you guys haven't found either one of them yet!? What have you guys been doing?! They could be in big danger!" I heard Jeremy berate. I was half tempted to snatch the phone out of Odd's hand to yell back at him.
"Hey chill, Jeremy, we're doing all we can. We found Emily already. She had passed out in the forest."
"Wait, she passed out!? Is she-"
"I'm fine, and can we move on?" I said loudly. I was admittedly embarrassed about the whole situation. I folded my arms and looked down while gripping my sleeves.
"Anyways, maybe Aelita went back to school already. Kiwi led us to an old house in the woods. We're gonna check it out. We'll call you back if we have any news." Odd slipped the phone into his moved to enter the house.
"Aelita?" Ulrich called out. The door slammed behind us, locking us inside. Odd tried to handle, but it wouldn't budge.
"It's locked!"
"No signal." I then said, looking at my phone.
A desk then began to slide quickly towards us. "Look out!" Yumi pointed at it. Odd quickly dove to his right and Ulrich pulled me out of its path. It crashed into the door, sending what remained of the glass window flying out. The desk itself had become only tiny pieces of wood.
"That way!" Ulrich pointed. We ran over to a table and stopped to catch our breath. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
"XANA' Yumi affirmed.
"Unless I suddenly became trapped in the world of Paranormal Activity rather than this one, it's XANA for sure." I agreed sarcastically.
"And that must mean Aelita is nearby." Odd deduced. I nodded, then gasped. A box of cutlery fell off the shelf it was on and came flying our way! I pushed the others down to avoid the knives. We sent dust flying everywhere when we hit the ground.
We ran out of the room only to be met by a lamp and its cohorts: dishware.
"Hey, Odd! Watch out!" Ulrich exclaimed. Odd ducked in the nick of time to avoid the lamp crashing into him. Looking around frantically, we ran down the stairs next to us.
"Looks like XANA's trying to lead us somewhere." Yumi noticed. We looked around again. At the end of the hall was an unconscious Aelita. She looked like she was in a boiler room of sorts.
"Aelita!" We all exclaimed, then ran over to her. Odd and I stayed outside of the room. Ulrich and Yumi helped her up as she woke up.
"Don't worry, Princess, we're here." Ulrich told her.
"Ulrich, it's a trap! XANA, he's going to-" The door suddenly slid close...
Or at least it would've, had Odd not managed to stop it with his body. He was struggling to hold the door up with his foot. "Get Aelita out!" He urged. I quickly grabbed ahold of the door handle to try and ease the load. Aelita crawled under Odd's leg as quickly as possible. Yumi tried to follow, but it was too late. Odd fell backwards as the door finally closed. Ulrich and Yumi were trapped inside.
I gasped when I saw the temperature gauge beginning to rise. "You'll be cooked alive if we don't get you out of there!" We all grabbed the handle again to try and open the door. I grabbed the handle, then put my feet on the wall to give myself a bit more of a push, but it was no use. The door wouldn't budge.
"Odd, Emily, run to the factory with Aelita. Deactivate the tower. It's our only hope." Ulrich told us. Odd and I nodded.
"C'mon!" Odd grabbed Aelita's hand and ran forward. There was another door at the end of the hall. I grabbed the handle and tried it, but it was locked.
"Damn it! XANA's thought of everything." I looked back at Odd and Aelita. "We'll have to go- look out!" Another desk was skidding our way. Odd pushed Aelita and I out of the way, then leapt over desk, allowing it to crash into the door. When the dust cleared, it revealed that the door had been broken by the desk. Kiwi was standing at the door, wagging his little tail.
"Kiwi!" Odd exclaimed. The mutt leapt into Odd's arms.
"Great, now we just have to find a way to get to the factory in a timely manner." I said half dejectedly. Odd and I were about to go forward, but Aelita stopped us by grabbing my arm. "Aelita?"
"There's a passage over there. I... I think it leads to the sewers." She said. Odd gave her an unamused glance.
"This is no time for jokes, Aelita."
"I'm not joking, Odd. I'm sure." She countered.
I shrugged. "I'm all for trying it at this point." I said. I opened the door, Odd and Aelita following behind me. I wasn't surprised at all to find the passage. Odd on the other hand, was astounded.
"Wow, incredible! How did know about this?" Odd asked. Aelita opened her mouth to respond, but then had a troubled look on her face.
"I'm... I'm not really sure." She answered honestly. Odd lifted an eyebrow upon hearing that
"We can worry about that later. For now, we need to get to Lyoko before Yumi and Ulrich become well-done steaks." I reminded them.
We, of course, hightailed it to the factory. The elevator opened to the lab, revealing a very stressed looking Jeremy.
"Aelita! I was really worried!" Jeremy said. Odd out a hand up to stop him from continuing.
"No time to lose, Einstein. Otherwise, Ulrich and Yumi will end up like dim sum," Odd explained. Jeremy was hardly surprised by that. Comes woth the job after having it for so long I guess.
"Ok, head for the scanners. I'll start the process." I hit the button and sent us down. I entered the scanner, and its doors soon closed around me. "Transfer, Aelita. Transfer, Odd. Transfer, Emily. Scanner, Aelita. Scanner, Odd. Scanner, Emily. VIRTUALIZATION!"
Lyoko
We found ourselves landing in the Ice Sector. The Overboard, Overwing, and Overkart all appeared in front of us.
"Aelita, the Overwing is for you," Jeremy said above us. Odd looked at us with a grin on his face.
"Our taxis are waiting for us," he hopped onto his board and sped forward, with Aelita and me following shortly after. It was hard to miss the tower as we sped across the icy path.
"Tower dead ahead," I reproted to Jeremy.
"Be careful! You've got three Tarantulas guarding it." Jeremy cautioned us. The three of us stopped behind a large mass of ice. It gave us a good view of the playing field.
"There's no way we can take out three of those horrors!" Odd exclaimed. Aelita looked at the new monsters and put a finger to her chin in thought.
"They can't be invincible, Odd. We're gonna have to push our way through." I closed my eyes and thought back to ournprevious encounter. "They can't move and shoot at the same time. We need to use that to our advantage."
"Maybe I can lure away one of them," Aelita then suggested.
"Oh," Odd and I gave each other a mischevious look.
"Aelita, what are you planning on doing?" Jeremy asked suspiciously.
"She's gonna steal the show!" Odd answered cryptically. Aslota then grabbed hold of the Overwings controls and went off ahead of us. Odd meanwhile, flew over to the edge of the area and positioned himself underneath the sector.
I sped forward towards the tower with the intention of taking out another Tarantula. They began to open fire as they saw me speeding towards them, but I was able to dodge them a bit more easily since I was on the ground.
As I nearered closer and closer to one of the Tarantulas, I braced myself. When I was only about a foot away, I leapt out of my vehicle and rolled to the side. The Overkart smashed into the monster, leaving it atunned. I then wuickly stood up and fired a Magic Blast. I killed it instantly with it.
"That's for earlier, asshole!" I yelled. I looked over at Odd and Aelita.
Odd had just killed the Tarantula that had gone after Aelita. "They're not all that invincible." He said somewhat smugly. He then looked at his hands nervously. "Uh oh. Jeremy, I'm out of ammo."
My attention was snapped back to the Tarantula near me when it fired at me. It hit me in the back. "Oh, playing dirty are we?" I growled at it. "Cloak Guard!" I pulled my cape around me and grunted. The second laser broke through it, costing me 10 more life points.
"Emily, you're point loss rate is too high. Odd's on his way to give a hand, but I've got to reload his arrows." Jeremy told me.
"Hey, I'm trying my best out here!" I reminded him. Soon enough, Odd was flying in with his Overboard. He was leaning side to side to avoid the laser blasts, and even circled around the tower to avoid getting shot.
"Odd, you're fully loaded!"
"Great! I'm breaking off! Hop on, Emily!" Odd lowered himself to allow me to hop aboard. I grabbed onto his shoulders to keep myself balanced. We raced towards the edge of the area, then made a sharp turn back. The Tarantula fired at the both of us and Odd fired back. "Aelita! Now!" Odd shouted.
I could see Aelita emerge from her hiding spot and begancto dash to the tower. I then jumped off of the Overboard seconds before it met its demise. Odd crashed to the ground.
"Magic Blast!" I fired another spell, but this on missed the target. Didn't really matter though. Aelita made it inside safe and sound.
"Yeah!" Odd cheered. The Tarantula looked back at the tower and let out a wail.
"Return to the past, now!" Jeremy's voice echoed. The world was then engulfed in white.
Kadic Main Campus
"Yes, Jeremy, my headache is gone and I'm fine. Now can we please drop the subject?" I said for what seemed like the umpteenth time. Neither he or Aelita seemed completely happy with my answer, but they finally let it go.
Ulrich and Odd approached us shortly afterwards. "Did you two manage to get any drawings done this time?" Jeremy asked.
"Yeah, but I had to drag Ulrich far away from Yumi and William. Going back in time didn't change anything there." Odd whispered back to us. I could see Ulrich practically glaring at William as he said goodbye to Yumi.
"I went to check out that house, the Hermitage; nothing to report. It's gone back to being a normal house. Abandoned, but normal." Jeremy said as Yumi arrived.
Aelita looked back towards the woods "It's so weird, all those visions I had there." She noted.
"Not to mention the underground passage that you knew about," Odd said.
"It's as if I'd already seen that house. In a dream." Aelita elaborated.
"A new mystery to solve for us." Yumi noted, looking at Ulrich.
"That alongside why Emily passed ou-"
"DELLA ROBBIA, DROP IT!" I seethed. Ulrich, Odd, and Yumi had a surprised look at my outburst. I took a calming breath. "Sorry. Look, I just don't think there's a 'mystery' to solve. Maybe I accidentally locked my knees. Wouldn't be the first time," I said somewhat bitterly.
"How exactly do you accidentally lock your knees?" Ulrich asked.
"Happens more often than you'd think in band." Was all I answered with. I wasn't ready to tell them what I'd seen. Maybe later, but now was not the time. "I guess I'll have my own mystery to solve. I'll let the other in on it eventually... When I've learned more,"
"By the way, Aelita, this is for you." Jeremy handed a small wrapped box to her. She took it with surprise. "It's to keep us one step ahead of XANA."
"For me?" She pulled the paper off of the box to reveal a pink cellphone.
"This way, we can always stay in touch. I thought that pink would suit you." Jeremy explained. She pulled the phone out of the box and stared at it.
Odd had to laugh. "Hey, it matches your hair!" He joked. "You're like a regular school kid now!"
"Thank you, Jeremy!" Aelita gave the blond a hug as we all laughed.
Uh... I may have gone a tad overboard with the chapter. I mean, they're gonna be longer in general I'd imagine, but this was a bit ridiculous.
Please keep in mind what I said in Hero's Destiny: why I'm there will not overtake the main plot. Yeah yeah, maybe you don't like that desicion, but it's not up to you.
Also, notice the shiny T rating. I bumped it up mostly so that I could let my foul mouth run around. I'm a person that swears a lot, so might as well include it.
See you guys next time for Uncharted Territory!