Chapter 2: Prologue Plus One (Part 2)
Author's Note Part 1: Hey guys, here's the second edited chapter of this story, and I should hopefully be able to get out at least one more tonight. However, no promises.
John POV
Jeremie and I are currently in our room talking with Maya. "Unfortunately, you're not like Odd or Ulrich. You can't be de-virtualized if you lose all your life points." Jeremie tells her, referencing how Odd and Ulrich had gone into Lyoko the night before, and when they had been "killed" by the monsters there, they'd been kicked back into the real world.
"That's too bad. But at least now I know how to change sectors." Maya replies. I stare in surprise at the way they're talking about this.
Too bad? Too bad?! From the way you're explaining it Jeremie, it sounds like if she loses all her life points, she loses her life! I think to myself, but before I can voice anything, Jeremie continues.
"Yes. And I've found out what the towers are for. They're "portals" between the real world, and the virtual world. And when they're red, it means they're activated." Jeremie explains.
"Are you sure?" Maya and I ask at the same time, and then share a glance before chuckling at the situation. Though for me, it's a bit less joyful since I still feel a bit of pain when I look at her.
"Just about." He replies. "And they just might be a way to materialize you on earth." He tells her, gaining a gasp in surprise. "I know right? I can't wait to tell the others." I just stand there with a large smile on my face at how this is turning out, though I still think about how they're completely blowing off the fact that it's possible for Maya to die. "Well, I guess I'll go do that now." He tells her. She nods in response, before Jeremie turns off his computer. "Shall we?" He asks, turning around in his swivel chair. I nod, and we make our way out of the room, and towards the cafeteria. Seeing as it's time for breakfast, the rest of our small group from the night before would most likely be there.
"So you actually think that you can materialize Maya here by getting her to a red tower?" I finally ask Jeremie as we walk out of the dorms building, gaining a shrug in response.
"It's the best idea I have right now. And it makes sense as well." He tells me. I nod in response as we walk into the cafeteria. We make our way over to the table that we see Ulrich, Odd and, ugh, Sissi sitting at.
"Hey guys. Mind if we talk for a minute?" I ask them.
"Sure. What about?" Odd asks after swallowing his third banana by the look of banana skins littered on his tray.
"It's about you-know-who and you-know-where." I reply, motioning that we should exit the crowded room and head towards a bench that was situated outside said room in the courtyard of the school, away from listening ears. The trio nods, before getting up, throwing away their trash, and following us outside to the bench I motioned towards. Jeremie explains the situation to the others, and needless to say, they're surprised by what he's suggesting.
"So, you want us to go back into Lyoko to get Maya into a red tower?" Ulrich asks. I nod as Jeremie explains in greater detail.
"Like I said, I'm sure that's the only way to get her into the real world. Pretty wild huh?" He asks them.
"Pretty dangerous you mean. We could have all been wiped out for good last night." Odd argues, referencing to the living wire that knocked me out, and would have killed Ulrich and Jeremie, had Odd not used the same metal plate that Jeremie used as a shield to cut said wire in half. The others had explained what happened after I passed out to me when I woke up.
"Odd's right, we would be better off just shutting down the super-computer. Too bad for Maya since she'll still be stuck in there, but still, it's not like she's human." He tells us. I freeze up when he says this, as Jeremie tries to talk to them about it.
"But, she's still-" He's cut off as I place a hand on his shoulder, and then turn to look at Ulrich with a stern glare… No pun intended.
"You know Ulrich. I have a question for you." I ask in a quiet voice, getting the trio's attention. "How would you feel if you were in Maya's position? Hm? So what if she's not human. She's still a "living" being. She has emotions like we do, and a sort of "life", because she can actually die in Lyoko unlike us. So I ask you again. How would you feel if your roles were reversed?" I ask him. At this, none of them have an answer to my question. And Ulrich seems to have a guilty look on his face.
"Ehem." Jeremie coughs into his hand, breaking the awkward silence that followed. "All I'm asking you to do is go back there one more time. Then we can free Maya, and shut down the super-computer for good." Jeremie tells them. Only for Odd to argue yet again, despite what I'd said a minute ago.
"But we can't even get past the monsters. We'll probably get ourselves blown away in a heartbeat." Odd tells him.
"If only there were at least three of us. But Sissi's too scared." Ulrich tells us.
"What? No I'm not. I really do want to go to Lyoko with you guys but when cheerleading practice is over." She tells us, and then I put my hands over my heart in a fake hurt manner.
"Ulrich. How could you forget about me?" I ask him in mock hurt, before falling onto my back, grabbing a nearby flower, and holding it to my chest in both hands, acting as if I were dead. Odd bursts out laughing, falling off the bench and clutching his stomach, as everyone else but Sissi chuckles at my antics. She instead just wrinkles her nose at my act. The awkwardness from the asked question disappearing.
"Thanks Sissi, John. So here's the scoop. As soon as Maya's materialized into the real world, I give you my word that we can shut down the super-computer. Meanwhile, we have to keep this a secret." Jeremie tells us.
"Promise." Ulrich says, raising a hand.
"I swear." Odd puts in.
"Eh, I don't really have anyone else to tell anyways." I say with a shrug as I jump to my feet in a matter of seconds. Don't ask me why, but for some reason anime logic seems to apply to those around me, including myself.
"Ditto." Sissi says. Before placing a hand on Ulrich's shoulder. "I can't wait to see what I look like in Lyoko." She says, as Ulrich just slightly glares at nothing in particular from her unending flirtation. I feel bad for him in that regard… I really do.
"Me too." Odd agrees, raising his hand. "With any luck, I won't be the dumbest looking one in the group." Odd says, earning a chuckle from us, and a slight glare from Sissi, before Ulrich gets off of the bench and starts walking away.
"Ulrich, where are you going?" Sissi asks him. "Don't you want to come see my cheerleading routine?" She asks.
"Nah, I've got something important to take care of." He tells us, continuing to walk away. Sissi gives off an annoyed huff, while the rest of us just shrug our shoulders. Then, we break off and go off. Sissi going to her practice, and Jeremie, Odd and I going to work on our homework.
"It's true that at first I thought Sissi was a babe, but the more I get to know her, the more I realize she's more of a… How can I put this tactfully?" Odd asks us as we walk down one of the many paths on campus.
"Diva?" I offer.
"Turkey?" Jeremie replies. I laugh at this as Odd nods.
"Exactly." He replies, before laughing along with me. Jeremie joins in as we walk into the library building, before we walk into the actual library and have to quiet down. We sit down at one of the tables, and Jeremie and I pull out our respective laptops. Odd pulls out some headphones and listens to music, Jeremie works on whatever, and I boot up COD WaW seeing as I'd already finished my homework. After about half an hour passes, Jeremie starts talking. During this time, I'd been playing one of the many custom zombie maps on solo, and only pause it when he starts talking.
"Aha. Got it." He says, typing in a final line of… Whatever he was typing. "Last night, I dug up a new program on the super computer called "Return to the past" and I just figured out how to activate it." He tells us. Ah, so that's what he was working on. Odd just nods in response, before looking up from the homework that he'd started working on five minutes beforehand.
"That's great Einstein, but do you think you could give me a hint on my electrochemistry report?" He asks.
"Hey Odd, are you planning on calling me Einstein forever?" Jeremie asks, looking at the other blond haired boy in question out of the corner of his eyes.
"Eh, why not?" He asks. "So, what about my report?" He prompts.
"I've gotta admit. The nickname definitely fits you, Einstein." I tell Jeremie with a smirk. He gives me a slight glare, before turning and giving Odd an answer. In his way. And by that, I mean he completely confused the hell out of me, and probably Odd, with how he explains it in an… Einstein, sort of way. Before Jeremie can confuse us any further by giving Odd examples, two boys walk by talking about… Sissi?
"So yeah, Jim ended up taking Sissi to the infirmary." One tells the other.
"What'd she do? Pull a muscle in her brain trying to add two plus two?" The other asks, and if Sissi wasn't actually in the infirmary, I probably would have busted out laughing at that.
"Nah man, I heard she got electrocuted." The first one replies. Me and Odd share a look, before turning to look at Jeremie.
"I'm sensing a trend here." I tell them, getting nods in response. We quickly pack up our things, before rushing off to the infirmary. When we arrive, Nicholas is explaining to the principle, also known as Sissi's father, that Sissi was attacked by "an electricity monster that jumped from her coat hanger". At this, the three of us share another look, before rushing off towards the entrance to the sewers that Jeremie found in the forest. On the way, I dial Ulrich. I hear it ring a couple times before he picks up.
"John?" he asks.
"Ulrich. Great, we kinda need you right now. Something attacked Sissi and according to eyewitnesses, it was some kind of-" I'm cut off by Ulrich.
"Electric thing?" He asks, I stumble a bit on nothing when he says this, before finding my footing and catch up to the other two.
"Ah great. Don't tell me the thing went after you." I say in exasperation through the phone.
"Yeah, it just did in the gymnasium. This is getting crazier by the minute. You and your guy's stupid super-computer." He says in an annoyed and slightly panicked voice. Not that I can blame him.
"That's all the more reason to hurry up and materialize Maya here on Earth so that we can shut it down for good. Hurry up and meet us at the factory so that we can get her to the red tower." I tell him. "If it works, we can shut it down for good tonight, and not have to worry about it anymore." I say as the three of us finally arrive at the manhole cover. "We'll meet you in the sewer, or the factory. Whichever one we end up at first." I tell him, before cutting the connection, and following after Odd and Jeremie, closing the manhole cover behind me so that no one knows about where we are. When we reach the pathway next to the sewage stream, we start running in the direction of the factory. And coincidentally, the entrance from the gymnasium happens to be on the way, which we reach at the same time Ulrich jumps out. Along with someone else. This someone happens to be the same girl that I'd seen the day before, right before Jeremie got electrocuted by the vending machine.
"Hey, who's the girl?" Jeremie asks, to which I'm wondering the same thing. Though I probably wouldn't have phrased it like that, since it sounded a little rude the way it came out.
"This is Yumi. She was there when I was attacked and she can fight so I figured-" He's cut off by Jeremie.
"Okay, okay. Explain later. Right now, we need to get to the factory." Jeremie says, before everyone takes off. Leaving Yumi and me behind. I turn to face her.
"Nice to meet you. By the end of this, I'd probably say that you'll be added to our little band of misfits. So welcome aboard." I tell her, before running off after the others, Yumi following shortly thereafter. Soon, we've reached the factory and Jeremie and Odd swing down the ropes to ground level. Leaving Yumi, me, and Ulrich up at the top.
"Don't tell me you're scared." Yumi teases. Ulrich responds with a slight glare, while I shrug my shoulders.
"Nope. There are just two ropes." I reply with a small smirk, before leaping towards the one Jeremie used as it swings back towards us. At the same time, Yumi leaps towards the one Odd used. When everyone makes it to the elevator, Jeremie activates it and we descend. The elevator reaches the computer room, and Yumi turns to us.
"So who's the Maya?" She asks. Since Ulrich told us she was with him when he was attacked, I guess she was there when I called him as well, meaning that she heard our little conversation over the phone. Jeremie turns to her with a slight smile.
"You're about to meet her." He replies. "Go downstairs to the scanner room and get ready for the big plunge." Jeremie tells us as he walks to the main computer when the door opens.
"Big plunge? But I don't have a bathing suit." Yumi tells us.
"Don't worry, you won't be needing one." Odd replies. I facepalm at the double meaning that his sentence could have, before turning to Yumi and explaining the situation to her as we descend so that she doesn't take it the wrong way. Odd and Ulrich explaining some of their adventure in Lyoko to her as the doors open and we walk into the scanner room. When we finish our story, she looks around at the scanners before turning back to the three of us.
"This story of yours is pure science fiction." She tells us, to which I roll my eyes.
"And Ulrich said the same thing. Until he went into Lyoko that is." I respond, gesturing to the scanners for emphasis. She just glares slightly at me, and I throw up my hands in mock surrender. "Alright, alright. Don't believe me. But you're missing out." I tell her in a sing-song voice as Ulrich and Odd make their way to the scanners.
"Can you guys hear me? I'm starting up the procedure." Jeremie tells them. "Transfer: Odd. Transfer: Ulrich." Jeremie begins, Ulrich grinning as he looks at Yumi as the doors to the scanner close.
"Don't tell me you're scared." He teases, using the same words she'd said earlier to him.
"Oh, he got you there." I tell her with my own smirk. She sends a slight glare at me, before turning around and getting into the scanner behind us.
"Wait, I'm coming too." She announces. Jeremie is slightly surprised by this.
"O-okay. Transfer: Yumi. Scanner: Yumi. Scanner: Odd. Scanner: Ulrich. Virtualization!" A few seconds after he says that, the scanners open again, and I step into the one Ulrich used.
"Alright Jeremie, my turn." I announce.
"Okay. Transfer: John. Scanner: John. Virtualization!" I hear Jeremie announce as the scanner powers up, I feel wind blowing from underneath me, and then the feeling of being stretched between two points far apart hits. The next thing I know is blackness.
"Huh?" I ask when I'm hit by sudden light. Then, I feel the sensation of gravity pulling me down. Because of my parkour training around town, I sub-consciously move so that my feet will hit the ground first. They do, and I lessen the shockwaves by rolling into a kneeling position. But when I do, I feel something shift on my back.
"No fair. How come John doesn't fall onto his back the first time he gets here like the rest of us?" I hear Odd ask. "And why is it that he has the coolest outfit?! Great. I'm still the only one that looks like a nitwit on Lyoko." I get up, and notice Odd and Ulrich standing in front of me. But Odd looks like a big purple cat, and Ulrich is wearing some kind of samurai outfit. Then I realize that these were their Lyoko outfits. I look around, and see Yumi. But she's completely different. Now on Lyoko, she was garbed in a Japanese outfit. Although I feel my face heat up a bit when I see her, I want to know what I look like on Lyoko. So I look down, and freeze at my outfit.
Instead of a samurai, cat, dog, ninja, or some kind of Japanese outfit, instead it was pretty modern. For footwear, I was wearing black combat boots that went up to my mid-calf area, and covered part of the dark blue jeans I was wearing. Looped around the jeans was a black belt with a silver buckle on the front that had a skull symbol. I had on a red T-shirt that read "Keep Calm and Kill Zombies" with a chainsaw with a skull and cross-bones above the words, and on top of it was a black leather jacket. This was just like how I imagined myself if I were to be in a zombie apocalypse. Guess Jeremie was right, the computer does read into your subconscious for your outfit. Across my chest from my left shoulder down to the right of my waist was a black strap. But before I can check just what is strapped onto me, Yumi speaks up. "Um, mind telling me where we are?" She asks us. I dust the imaginary dust off my shoulders from rolling before I turn to look at her.
"The Virtual World. Welcome to Lyoko, population: us." I respond with a smile. Then Jeremie's voice sounds from everywhere at once.
"Move it. Maya needs you. She's in danger." He tells us. Ulrich and Odd turn around, and start to run off.
"Alright, here we go!" Odd calls out, leaving me and Yumi behind. Again. I just sigh at this, before turning back to Yumi and fighting down the red that I'm sure is present in my cheeks when I see again just how she looks.
"Come on. They probably won't wait for us anyways." I tell her, turning and running after them with Yumi following a few seconds later. As we run after the duo, I look slightly over my shoulder, trying to see what's strapped onto my back. But I can't get a good look at it. Oh well. Guess I'll just have to wait until we reach Maya to be able to tell what it is. I think to myself. Soon after, me and Yumi catch up with the other two, just in time to see Ulrich has destroyed one of the monsters, and Odd is trying to flirt with Maya. Yeah. Like that's gonna work. I think to myself as I mentally roll my eyes. Yumi catches up, and looks around.
"Hey, I don't have a weapon." She tells us. Before something sticks out of the yellow kimono wrapped around her waist. When she unfolds it, it's shown to be, "A fan? That's all?" She asks in confusion. She may be confused, but my mind goes to the pictures and videos I've seen where Japanese women used fans with sharp edges to cut through bone. The main person I think of? Kitana from Mortal Kombat.
"Try throwing it. You never know." Odd suggests, possibly having the same thought process as me. Yumi follows his suggestion, and jumps into the air before throwing the fan at one of the monsters.
"Hi~~~ya!" She yells out as she throws it, the fan letting of a sound like a chainsaw, and succeeds in destroying not one, but the remaining two monsters before she catches the fan as it acts like a boomerang and returns to her hand.
"Not bad." I compliment with a smirk.
"Wow, I think I'll keep it." She tells us, walking over to join the small group as I walk with her.
"Nice work." Jeremie's voice echoes through the world. "Now bring Maya to the red tower so we can materialize her." We nod to each other, before taking off in the direction of said tower. As we run, Odd looks over at me.
"So John, how does it feel to have a sniper rifle strapped across your back?" He asks. At that, I falter in running, before running regularly again.
"You're telling me I have a freaking sniper as my weapon?" I ask in confusion, as well as excitement. In response, Odd nods. "Ye-he-hes!" I exclaim with a large grin, jumping into the air with a fist pump before I land and continue running. But before we can get any further into the conversation, Jeremie's voice echoes through Lyoko again.
"Hey Odd. I think I have a nice life size example for your electrochemistry report." He tells the blond haired teen running next to me.
"Oh yeah? What?" Odd asks. Although I have a pretty good guess as to what Jeremie's hinting at.
"A nice electricity monster." He tells us, proving my thought process correct. "Where are you guys?" He asks us.
A~~~nd I was right. Great. I think to myself sarcastically. "We're nearing the red tower Jeremie. We should be there within a couple minutes." I tell him.
"Well hurry up then. Things are about to start jumping over here." He tells us. Seeing as the electricity monster seems to be going after our small group members, I would have to guess that it's at the factory looking for us. After a minute, we hear Jeremie speak up again. "Watch it guys. There are some more monsters coming your way." He warns us. Sure enough, two giant four legged crabs come out from behind two of the ice glaciers on either side of our group, and start towards us. We all stop running, but Odd stops a little later than the rest of us.
"Great, crabs. Who's got the tartar sauce?" He quips as he rubs his stomach, before turning around with the rest of us and running away. Odd and Ulrich break away from the group a few seconds later, and try to flank the crabs. Only for said crabs to turn their attention to them and try to attack. While this is going on, Yumi and I each try to help them as Maya hides behind a different ice glacier. Yumi goes off to help Odd, who's climbed up a glacier and is shooting his arrows at his crab, while I go off to try and help Ulrich. I see Ulrich manage to deflect a laser blast with his sword, almost like it was a lightsaber in Star Wars, before he turns around and starts running again. I run to his side and glance back at the giant crab.
"So, need a lift?" I ask, to which Ulrich nods. He goes running ahead slightly while I slide along the ground, holding my sniper in my hands in front of my chest so that it doesn't drag along the ground. Then he turns around, leaps off the ground, and uses my feet as a springboard to leap on top of the crab, and slam his sword down through the top of it where I assume the symbol is, seeing as hitting the monsters there seems to be the only way to "kill" them. Off to the side, I notice Yumi try to throw her fan at the crab that's chasing after her, taking the time to also notice that Odd's no longer with us, before she's shot in the leg and falls to the ground.
"Yumi!" I exclaim, before rushing the crab with Ulrich, since he's already taken care of his. Ulrich tries to jump on top of it, but the crab just throws him off to the side. While this is happening, I take Yumi and help her to her feet. Hoping that Ulrich had managed to distract the thing. When I look over, I notice that Ulrich isn't there, and Maya is kneeling on the ground as if she were praying. The crab standing in front of her with its laser primed. "Maya!" I yell out in fear, thinking that she was about to get shot. Then I hear music, and a wall begins to grow out of the ice in front of her. Blocking the crab's lasers from reaching her when it fires. Yumi and I run over to check on her.
"Did you do this?" Yumi asks in surprise, gesturing to the wall.
"Yes, I think so." Maya replies, obviously just as surprised as us. But I manage to shake it off and get back to the task at hand.
"While this is all quite fascinating, you need to get to the tower. Hurry!" I tell her, pointing at the tower in question.
"Okay." She replies with a nod, before she goes running off in the direction of said tower, the giant crab not noticing her disappearance as if the wall were one sided, as it continues to try and blast through to us. Then, Yumi starts to talk to Jeremie.
"Jeremie. It's okay. Maya is-"
"Look out!" I exclaim as I notice the giant crack in the ice wall, cutting Yumi off as I push her to the side just as the crab finally manages to break apart said ice wall. Succeeding in de-virtualizing me with the shrapnel created.
As I open my eyes, I let out a groan of pain and notice Ulrich and Odd standing in front of the scanner looking down at me. "Remind me to try harder not to get de-virtualized." I groan out as they help me to my feet. The pain slowly going away.
"So how'd you get de-virtualized?" Odd asks.
"I got blown up when the last crab finally managed to shoot through an ice wall Maya created to protect herself along with Yumi and me." I reply.
"Well, why isn't Yumi here then?" Odd asks.
"I managed to push her out of the way right before the wall blew up." I tell them, the only pain left being a slight headache.
"So you protected her and not yourself. Hm, I'm sensing something here." Odd tells me in a sing-song voice. My response is to glare at him, before socking him in the shoulder. "Ouch." He yelps in pain. Then I turn to Ulrich, who's giving me a smirk.
"And not a word from you either. It's called being chivalrous. You could learn about it Odd." I say, ignoring the blond haired boy's indignant, "Hey!", and pointing an accusing finger at Ulrich, even though I'm sure that I'm blushing, if the heat in my cheeks is anything to go by. The smirk stays on his face as he holds up his hands in an "I surrender" fashion. Then, we climb up the ladder that leads to the computer room… Only to find Sissi is standing there with the principal and Jim.
"Oh Ulrich!" She exclaims, rushing forwards to try and hug him. Only for him to lean away from her.
"I thought you said you wouldn't tell anyone." Ulrich says with annoyance and anger in his voice, while me and Odd just glare at her from behind him, thinking the same thing.
"What? But I came here to save you." She tells him. Before the conversation can get any worse, Jeremie speaks up.
"What about Maya? Is she here?" He asks us. Odd and I look away slightly as Ulrich looks at Jeremie with sad eyes.
"No. Sorry Jeremie, it didn't work. She didn't materialize." Ulrich tells him. Jeremie looks at us sadly, before the principal speaks up.
"Alright that's enough Belpois. I order you to shut this down now. And then you can explain to me exactly what this is about." He tells Jeremie, placing his hands on his waist.
"I think we ought to report this to the authorities right away." Jim tells us, speaking for the first time since me, Ulrich and Odd came up the ladder to see them standing there.
"Me too Jim. It's much too dangerous. Told you so didn't I?" Sissi agrees, much to our annoyance and anger.
"You're nothing but a rotten traitor. You're like a modern, female version of Benedict Arnold." I tell her with narrow eyes.
"Who?" She asks in confusion. I mentally face palm.
Of course. Why would I think that Sissi of all people would know who Benedict Arnold is? The only thing she cares about is fashion, Ulrich, and popularity. I think to myself as the principal places a hand on Jeremie's shoulder.
"Let's go Belpois. Kill this thing and follow me immediately." He tells Jeremie.
We're not even on campus. He can't tell us what to- Oh wait, it's still technically school hours. Damn. I think to myself, realizing that we were now in even deeper shit seeing as we should all technically be at the academy at the moment.
"No." Jeremie responds after a few seconds, before typing away at the computer. I look over my shoulder when I hear a noise, to see Yumi making her way up the ladder behind us.
Guess the crab claimed another victim. I think, realizing that the crab was still on Lyoko after I had pushed Yumi out of the way of the wall, and had probably de-virtualized her after Maya made it to the tower.
"What are you doing?" Jim asks in suspicion.
"I'm launching a new program. With a little luck, it'll work." He announces as Yumi makes it up to our level, and stand up. We all look at him in confusion when he says this.
"What kind of program?" Ulrich asks Jeremie just as he finishes typing in whatever program it is.
"Return to the past now!" He exclaims. Everyone looks away as a white beam shoots out of the hologram projector in the middle of the room, before it spreads out to cover us all. My vision going completely white, before all I can see is blackness.
As the blackness fades away, it's replaced by a familiar scene. I was standing in the little alcove right outside the school, with the vending machine, and Ulrich and Odd are standing across from me. The latter having his hair down like it was before he went into Lyoko. I also notice that Yumi was just grabbing her drink and turned around to face us. "Woah. What happened? What are we doing here?" Ulrich asks as me and Odd scratch our heads in confusion.
"But… We were doing this yesterday. You don't think…" Yumi trails off, right as Jeremie comes walking in. As he places a coin in and presses a button, Odd speaks up. I take the time to notice that this time, Jeremie doesn't get shocked like he did the last time.
"Einstein, you're a genius. Your return to the past? It works." Odd tells Jeremie. Jeremie just stares at the machine.
"What's that? What are you talking about?" Jeremie asks, making us all stare at him in confusion.
"You haven't forgotten about the super-computer? And Lyoko? And my big purple cat costume, have you?" Odd asks him. Jeremie looks at us in surprise.
"You know about Lyoko? But how? John, did you tell them?" Jeremie asks me in confusion. I shake my head as Yumi speaks up.
"That's weird, it seems like the return in time didn't work on him." She says as Ulrich throws away his drink, and starts to lead Jeremie away.
"Come on, we're gonna fill you in." He tells Jeremie, as the rest of the group follows after him. I take a look at my drink, before shrugging, grabbing Jeremie's, and following after them. I'm pretty much getting two Sprites for the price of one because of this. And might as well grab Jeremie's instead of letting it just sit there for someone else. Finally, we get to Jeremie's room, and explain everything that had happened after that point yesterday… Today… Argh! Time travel is so confusing! Let's say we explained everything that got "erased" from everyone else's memories. By the time we've finished, its night time.
"But why wouldn't I remember anything?" Jeremie asks us, sitting in front of his computer, where Maya has been listening in on the conversation.
"Maybe it's because you didn't go to Lyoko." Yumi suggests. Jeremie taps his chin and nods at that.
"Yes, maybe. Well, first thing tomorrow morning, I'm heading to the factory, and scanning myself." He declares. Only for Maya to hold up a hand in protest.
"No Jeremie, we have to shut down the super-computer and you know it." She tells him. "It's too dangerous." Jeremie leans in.
"But, Maya-" He's cut off by said girl.
"Aelita." She tells him with a wink, making me freeze up when I hear the name. "When I went into the tower I… I remembered my name." She tells him with a smile.
"Aelita… that's better than Maya." He says with a glance in my direction." But what about bringing you in? I promised." He turns around to face us, but at this point, I'm just listening in with wide eyes. "Give me one more night to work it out. I'll find a way." He says desperately. The rest of them share a glance, before Ulrich responds.
"Okay."
"Thanks guys." Jeremie says with a grin.
"We'll meet up in the computer lab tomorrow morning to see how you're doing." Ulrich continues with his hands in his pockets, as the others walk away. I follow with them out into the hallway after muttering to Jeremie I was gonna take a walk, not listening for a response as my mind starts going over what I just heard. Until a new voice breaks the silence.
"Ulrich!" I turn my head slightly to see Sissi standing there in a dress just like when she showed up at the factory the first night… Tonight… Forget it… Man, is this how the Doctor feels? That's probably just another thing to add to the long list of things that suck for him. "What are you doing here? I've been waiting for you for an hour. I've never been stood up like this before." She says in annoyance.
"Well there's a first time for everything. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm with my friends." Ulrich tells her as we walk away, me slowly breaking out of my surprise from Aelita's announcement as Sissi yells down the hall after us.
"I have a bad feeling about this girl, Sissi. I have a feeling that she's gonna cause us a lot of grief." Odd tells us. Before we all share a chuckle as mind continues going over what was just said in mine and Jeremie's room, but not with as much shock as before.
Aelita… But could that mean that you're… I mean, you lost your memories, and she's been gone for ten years… It could be possible. And- No! I won't allow hope to cloud my judgment. It will only bring heartache. Heartache and sorrow if I'm wrong about it. So I can't hope. But… I trail off as I steal a small glance at Yumi out of the corner of my eye, my face heating up slightly again. Does that mean that I can't be happy in a different aspect of my life? I ask, debating whether to risk heartache or not for someone else.
"Hi." Jeremie greets us as we walk into the computer lab the next morning. Myself having not yet decided on the matter I thought of the night before. And it would probably take a while for me to do so.
"Well? Find anything?" Yumi asks Jeremie.
"Yes. Xana." He tells us.
"Xana? What's that?" Odd asks, questioning what was on all our minds. Aelita is the one to answer the question.
"A super dangerous program. Sort of like a virus. It can control electricity, and it activates towers on Lyoko to gain access to your world." She tells us.
"So, the red tower, the electricity monster, the weird symbol, the monsters on Lyoko? All of that was Xana?" I ask in surprise. Great, just what we need, a freaking electro-kinetic monster that can also create an unlimited army in the virtual world that we need to face… Wonderful.
"Yes. Only Aelita can counter it by de-activating the towers that it uses for access to the real world." Jeremie tells us.
"That's great." Ulrich says sarcastically. "And what about materializing Aelita?" He asks.
"I could do it, but I need more time." Jeremie tells us, looking down at the keyboard of the computer. "It's dangerous. Xana could attack at any moment." Jeremie tells us, before Aelita speaks up again.
"Be reasonable Jeremie. We better just shut this thing down." Everyone gets sad expressions on their faces, until Ulrich looks up again.
"Listen, now that we know how to neutralize Xana, we just need to get Aelita to the activated tower." He says, Jeremie nodding in agreement.
"We can take care of the attacks while Einstein figures out how to bring Aelita to Earth, right?" Odd asks, before him and Ulrich turn to Yumi and I. In response to their questioning looks, I smile.
"I'm in." I tell them, eager to materialize Aelita here on earth, as well as try out my sniper on Lyoko. Which I only just now realize I didn't take the chance to look at when Ulrich was taking care of the giant ass crab on Lyoko.
"I think we should. We are Lyoko Warriors after all, aren't we?" Yumi asks, to which me, Odd and Ulrich fist bump.
"Yeah!" The three of us exclaim in agreement. Aelita looks on with a smile.
"You really think you can do it?" She asks Jeremie.
"They don't call me Einstein for nothing." He replies with a smirk, finally accepting the nickname we'd given him. "In a few weeks, I'll have it figured out. Meanwhile, let's not forget about our pact, huh?" He asks.
"Hey relax, we all know how to keep a secret." Yumi responds, to which I smirk.
"Yeah, we're not Sissi." I tell him. Everyone laughs at that, our small group ready to take on this new threat, and help Aelita live out her life here on earth.
Author's Note Part 2: Alright, so this shall be an OCxYumi fanfiction, with Ulrich being paired with another girl. But she will only be mentioned, and maybe show up one or two times. She will not be a major character, nor will she join in with the group. The reason for this is that I already have one OC I need to take care of, and I don't need more. Also, the reason this is OC x Yumi is because I haven't seen that many, and so mine will be one of the few. Note that because of this, it will change things in the story line. Especially when William comes in. But no spoilers, and if you dislike this, I have a simple solution for you… Don't read it.
Anyways, thanks for those of you who stuck with me until this point, and I hope to continue to keep you wanting more. Until next time, thanks for taking the time out of your day to read this!
(Updated: Jan. 10th, 2015:
Alright, so this is the second chapter that I updated, and the first that I've re-uploaded. It's also the last one to be updated today. The third, and possibly more, will be out tomorrow. So, I hope that you all like them, and I look forwards to hearing what you guys think about all this! Thanks for taking the time out of your day to read this, and I'll see you all next time!)
