Back Together, Once Again

A blue Dodge Viper pulled up to the gates of Kadic Academy and into the school parking lot. As Alex got out of the driver's seat, he stared at his school. This was his junior year and he was ready. He had a good summer with his uncle and he picked up boxing as a new way to let out his aggression. He even negotiated with Delmas over the phone and got a winter boxing league started up.

Alex pulled his bag out of his car's backseat and walked into the dorms. He located his old room and reached above the doorpost, after grabbing his key he continued inside. While he was unpacking he came across a letter he had received from Aelita over the summer while he was in Greece. He only read it once but was heartbroken at what it said.

As he reread it Jeremy walked in behind him "Whatcha got there Alex?" he asked. Alex just handed it over "Go ahead and read it man." Jeremy read aloud "Dear Alex, Things between us have been rough lately, I don't think our relationship is going to work out. It's just better if we stay friends and fellow Lyoko Warriors. You have my permission to go date any girl you want, this is it. Your friend- Aelita"

"Now you know what the low point of my summer was. Let's go downstairs and grab our schedules." Alex said. They went down to the offices, grabbed their schedules and returned to their room. As Alex unpacked the last of his things, he pulled out his boxing gear. Jeremy looked at each item Alex hung up in his closet. A pair of blue boxing gloves, blue and black shorts, a pair of black low-tops, and a black and metallic blue hooded boxer's robe. On the robes back it read Alex "The Canvas Assassin" Clelland.

"What's with the nickname on the back of the robe?" Jeremy asked. Alex smiled and explained "Over summer break back in Greece my uncle Ano signed me up for boxing lessons and tournaments. I beat a few undefeated fighters and might have sent them to the hospital. Because of my speed and timing I became known as The Canvas Assassin.

That's when a voice from the hall spoke "Dude, that's awesome!" it was Odd. He and Ulrich had been listening in. The guys slapped a few high fives and went down stairs to hang out in the recess yard.

The first 3 weeks of school went by before XANA reawakened. Alex was in the rec room playing ping pong with a new girl at school. Her name was Kryszian; she was a girl that came up to Alex's shoulders, and was the only other member of Alex's recently formed gamers' club. Alex and Kryszian had just finished their third game when Alex's phone rang. He stepped out into the recess yard and answered.

"Hey Jeremy, what's up?"

"Code XANA, dark tower, desert, defcon 1. Get to the factory."

"I'm on my way."

Alex took off running, unknownst to him, Kryszian was right behind him. She followed Alex all the way to the sewer. She stayed hidden as Alex disappeared into the sewer, then she followed him all the way to the factory. Kryszian got in the elevator and rode down to the lab. She saw Jeremy at the supercomputer mainframe and he saw her.

"What are you doing here?" Jeremy asked, removing his headset.

"I followed Alex here. What is this place?"

"It's a kind of particle physics lab, but way cooler." Jeremy said

Kryszian was a little confused "Well what is it that you do here?"

"We're trying to prevent a rogue multi-agent computer program from ending the world."

"Well, I wanna help out. Let me help you stop this virus." Kryszian demanded

Jeremy put his headset back on "Hey Alex, there's a girl in the lab that said she followed you here from school. She wants to help us out."

Alex's audio card lit up "I trust her Jeremy, Kryszian isn't one you want to anger. Send her in. We're down 3 fighters, and we're outnumbered." Jeremy turned to Kryszian and said "Get in the elevator and go down one floor. You'll see 3 scanners in front of you. Get in one and I'll start the process."

Kryszian nodded and got back in the elevator and rode down one floor. She stepped passed Odd, and Ulrich before stepping into a scanner. "Ok Jeremy, I'm ready to go."

Up in the lab, Jeremy pulled two levers and his hands flew across the keyboard "Commencing virtualization procedure. Transfer Kryszian… scanner… virtualization!"

On Lyoko Alex and the others were pinned down by four tarantulas and a megatank when Kryszian arrived. She dropped down between William and Yumi. Kryszian's face was wearing a dark purple hooded robe; on her belt was the assassin's symbol from Assassin's Creed. Alex's only comment was "Dang, she looks like Ezio from Assassin's Creed II… awesome, welcome to Lyoko."

Aelita stepped forward to explain what was going on and took a hit that devirtualized her. Alex drew his rapier and looked to his friends. "Come on Chandler, let's rock. Kryszian, you stay here with William and Yumi." He said, and he took off running into the laser fire. For Alex, time slowed down, he and Chandler juked to avoid getting hit by the megatank's blast. Alex quickly drew his main gauche dagger and sped up. He ran right be by the megatank, slashed his dagger across the target and Chandler shot at it causing the monster to explode.

Alex followed up by super sprinting behind the tarantulas, dropping a grenade, and ran off with Chandler following him close behind. The grenade exploded, taking out the tarantulas. Alex looked behind him to see a repulse wave fast approaching. He grabbed Chandler and hit the dirt. The two stood up and turned back towards the now unguarded dark tower. Alex smiled and ran in to deactivate it while the others were brought back.

In the scanner room Alex told the whole group how he and Chandler were the opening musical cover group at Kanniel's Under 21 Club. Odd's fist shot into the air "Boo yah! We're going to Kanniel's tonight." The group left the factory to get ready to go. They met at Yumi's with Chandler's 2013 Fiat 500 and Alex's Viper. Everyone but Kryszian was present; Alex asked Yumi where Kryszian lived. Yumi giggled and said "2115 Cherry Street. She's my next door neighbor Alex, she lives with her aunt. I'll go get her." She walked off and Odd hopped shotgun in Alex's car.

"Sweet ride Alex, can I see under the hood?" Odd asked. Alex opened the hood to reveal a V-10 engine rumbling and purring. "The only modifications I've made under the hood are an improved clutch plate, new pistons and pulse plugs in the engine, and a better intake. The rest is visible on the exterior or the interior." Alex closed the hood as Kryszian and Yumi arrived.

They piled into the vehicles and drove off. In minutes they were at Kanniel's. Chandler grabbed a case from his car and they went inside. A man stepped onto the stage and said "Alright ladies and gentlemen. Are you ready to jam?" The crowd cheered as the band grabbed their instruments and the man continued "The band here will give you musical backup, vocals are all up to you. All songs are allowed, first up are two students from Kadic Academy. Everyone welcome Alex Clelland and Chandler Fonseca.

Alex and Chandler took the stage and Alex grabbed a microphone. The band readied and the song began. "Hey Chandler," Alex said "Can we go thrift shopping?"

Chandler: What, what, what, what... [x7]

Alex: Bada, badada, badada, bada... [x9]

Chandler:
I'm gonna pop some tags
Only got twenty dollars in my pocket
I - I - I'm hunting, looking for a come-up
This is fucking awesome

Alex:
Nah, Walk up to the club like, "What up, I got a big cock!"
I'm so pumped about some shit from the thrift shop
Ice on the fringe, it's so damn frosty
That people like,

Chandler: "Damn! That's a cold ass honkey."
Alex: Rollin' in, hella deep, headin' to the mezzanine,
Dressed in all pink, 'cept my gator shoes, those are green
Draped in a leopard mink, girls standin' next to me
Probably shoulda washed this, smells like R. Kelly's sheets
(Piiisssssss)
But shit, it was ninety-nine cents! (Bag it)
Coppin' it, washin' it, 'bout to go and get some compliments
Passin' up on those moccasins someone else's been walkin' in
But me and grungy fuckin it man
I am stuntin' and flossin' and
Savin' my money and I'm hella happy that's a bargain, bitch
I'ma take your grandpa's style, I'ma take your grandpa's style,
No for real - ask your grandpa - can I have his hand-me-downs? (Thank you)
Velour jumpsuit and some house slippers
Dookie brown leather jacket that I found diggin'
They had a broken keyboard, I bought a broken keyboard
I bought a skeet blanket, then I bought a kneeboard
Hello, hello, my ace man, my Mello
John Wayne ain't got nothing on my fringe game, hell no
I could take some Pro Wings, make them cool, sell those
The sneaker heads would be like "Aw, he got the Velcros"

Chandler:

I'm gonna pop some tags
Only got twenty dollars in my pocket
I - I - I'm hunting, looking for a come-up
This is fucking awesome

I'm gonna pop some tags
Only got twenty dollars in my pocket
I - I - I'm hunting, looking for a come-up
This is fucking awesome

Alex:
What you know about rockin' a wolf on your noggin?
What you knowin' about wearin' a fur fox skin?
I'm digging, I'm digging, I'm searching right through that luggage
One man's trash, that's another man's come-up
Thank your granddad for donating that plaid button-up shirt
'Cause right now I'm up in here stuntin'
I'm at the Goodwill, you can find me in the (Uptons)
I'm not, I'm not sick of searchin' in that section (Uptons)
Your grammy, your aunty, your momma, your mammy
I'll take those flannel zebra jammies, second-hand, I rock that motherfucker
The built-in onesie with the socks on that motherfucker
I hit the party and they stop in that motherfucker
They be like, "Oh, that Gucci - that's hella tight."
I'm like, "Yo - that's fifty dollars for a T-shirt."
Limited edition, let's do some simple addition
Fifty dollars for a T-shirt - that's just some ignorant bitch (shit)
I call that getting swindled and pimped (shit)
I call that getting tricked by a business
That shirt's hella dough
And having the same one as six other people in this club is a hella don't
Peep game, come take a look through my telescope
Trying to get girls from a brand? Man you hella won't
Man you hella won't

Chandler: (Goodwill... poppin' tags... yeah!)

Alex:
I'm gonna pop some tags
Only got twenty dollars in my pocket
I - I - I'm hunting, looking for a come-up
This is fucking awesome

Chandler:
I'll wear your granddad's clothes
I look incredible
I'm in this big ass coat
From that thrift shop down the road

I wear your granddad's clothes
I look incredible
I'm in this big ass coat
From that thrift shop down the road

Alex:
I'm gonna pop some tags
Only got twenty dollars in my pocket
I - I - I'm hunting, looking for a come-up
This is fucking awesome

Chandler: Hey Alex? Is that your grandma's coat?

Alex: Shut up fool!

Alex set his microphone down and stepped off stage. Chandler followed him. The whole club was applauding and after the other acts were done, amateur night was over. All performers were given a participation trophy and a $50 gift card to the business of their choice. Alex and his friends left after that, they needed to get back to the school anyway.

Yumi got out at her house, and Alex walked Kryszian up to her front door. "Thanks for bringing me along Alex" Kryszian said, and then she stretched up a bit and kissed Alex before she went inside. Alex got back in his car and turned to Odd. "Ready for something awesome?" He asked. He nodded and Alex flipped a few switches on his center console. The car's blue neon came to life and after Alex strapped himself into his racing seat the guys pulled away, followed by Chandler's Fiat.