I know that there aren't a lot of people reading this but sorry this took so long to update! I got writers block and when ever I sit down to write this, I either get kicked off my laptop or I get distracted by something else. Also, I'm sure you would've noticed by now that I have changed the title and cover of the story to 'Skyfall'. Anyway, enjoy Chapter 2!
The bell rang, signalling students to head to their class. In Ulrich and Jeremy's case, Science with Mrs Hertz. (Yippee...)
"Where are they?" Ulrich muttered to himself, looking around the mess of students that was his classmates for Odd and Aelita. They both haven't come back and he was starting to get worried. His phone beeped and he looked at the screen to find Odd's username pop up along with a text message.
Odd_Ball: aelita wants 2 go 2 the factory 2 check if the SC is on. we're not going 2 turn it on. don't tell jeremy btw. b back soon.
Wasn't planning on it Odd. Ulrich glanced at Jeremy while slipping his phone back in his pocket. Jeremy stood at the back of the line of students waiting to go into Science. Ulrich felt sorry for him for a second but that was quickly replaced with anger. How dare he accuses us of not doing our job right. We fought XANA for almost three years! Besides, that was rich coming from him because he never set foot on Lyoko himself! He glanced up to find Mrs Hertz unlocking the classroom door. He groaned as his classmates filed into the classroom while trying to come up with an excuse to cover Odd and Aelita.
"OK, I told Ulrich, let's go," Odd says pocketing his phone. Aelita nods in response and the two leave the room.
Odd and Aelita went back down stairs and out the back door. Thankfully the passage way leading to the sewers was still visible through the tangled mess of ivy. Odd didn't need have a lot of trouble opening the door and the two went down and ran through the underground maze, both lost in their own thoughts.
Aelita knew she was going to regret this but she really needed to know. The nightmares have been getting worse with each night that passes and she couldn't take them any longer. If Aelita had it her way, she would turn the super computer back on and virtualise herself into Sector 5. But she promised Odd that she wouldn't do anything but check that the super computer was still off. It can't be true, can it?
Odd wasn't sure how he should feel about the situation. He was angry at Jeremy for bringing up Lyoko after a year of not having to constantly looking behind their shoulders in fear, sorry for Aelita for everything she has suffered but he also felt extremely guilty as well, for going behind everyone else's back and going back to the factory after so long. The last time Odd and Aelita did this, XANA had set a trap for the other Warriors in the Mountain Sector while he attacked the Core of Lyoko at ease but he didn't notice the two stowaways that was already in Sector 5.
Soon the duo reached the ladder leading up to the bridge and they went up, one after the other. Aelita was greeted with the sea breeze that blew around the factory on the lake below as she repeated the same mantra in her head. I can do this, I can do this, I can do this… Odd had climbed up and the two ran across the bridge into the factory, swinging down on the four ropes hanging from the metal beams above.
"OK Aelita, promise me," Odd says as they walk into the elevator, "We are only going down to the super computer room and heading straight back to school, not a word to the others about this. Promise?"
"Promise." She nodded, pressing the button, the elevator coming back to life and descending.
"And that was when the steam engine was invented during the Industrial Revolution. It's really interesting because..."
At that point, Yumi had zoned out, not only because her history teacher's lecture was incredibly boring but she had a lot on her mind at the moment. She was still trying to decide whether to drop the 'friends and that's all' with Ulrich and become a couple or not. She also couldn't stop thinking about Lyoko and the horrors that took place in that world. We nearly DIED in that world how many times and Jeremy wants us to go back in again? No, not happening in a million years. I hope that Aelita is alright after this morning. Yumi decided to look back up but immediately regretted it because the teacher had written 'Pop Quiz' in big letters on the white board. Aw crap… when was the steam engine invented again?
The lift stops and the doors open slowly and Odd and Aelita gasp at the sight in front of them. The room was lit brightly and a tall machine in the centre of the room was lit up and glowing with golden light. The super computer was turned itself back on.
"Bu-bu-but how is this possible?!" Aelita stutters as run towards the super computer and open the hatch revealing the switch which has been moved. No, no no no no! This can't be happening!
"Do you want to start considering that theory of yours Aelita?" Odd calls from the elevator, sounding concerned. She nods silently. On the way down, Aelita had come up with a weird theory that the supercomputer might have turned itself back on. Odd had asked if that was even possible but didn't ask any more questions.
"Well, why don't we head up to the lab to see what's going on?" She nods again in response and heads back to the elevator.
It was complete silence between the duo for the lift ride and soon the elevator stopped and the doors opened, revealing the lab. It thankfully hasn't changed since last year.
"So Aelita, are you going to virtualise us to check things out?" Odd asks as she sits down on the chair at the computer screen.
"No. Just a sec…" Aelita murmurs, fingers flying across the key board. A window popped up showing the security footage over the past year. When it was all over, Jeremy had put up security cameras disguised as random objects in front of the elevator, in the elevator, in the computer lab and in the console room.
"It looks clean," she reports swinging the chair around to face Odd.
"Alright," Odd says, "let's turn it off again and head back to school. We've already missed Science and if you can come up with an excuse, I'll forget that we came back here."
Aelita nods again and slid of the chair. The computer screen lights up again and the super scan window opens up and it flashes before an image of a tower appears, flashing red.
"No… it can't be…"
Odd looked at the screen with a very grim expression and pulled out his phone again.
"I'll call the others."
The bell rang back at Kadic and all the students quickly stuffed their stuff in their bags and left for their next class, barely picking up their homework over the chatter. Ulrich and Jeremy left the classroom and began heading to towards the gymnasium, for Jeremy's least favourite subject.
"What sort of crap is Jim gonna teach us today?" Jeremy muttered as they walked through the courtyard.
"I dunno, probably something along the lines of high jump and leaping cows," Ulrich joked, hands in his pockets.
The two chuckled and Ulrich realised something. Maybe I was being too hard on Jeremy, but he did bring up our worst nightmare.
A sharp ring interrupted their fun and Ulrich fumbled through his pocket to get his phone back out.
"Odd?" he answered after glancing at the caller ID and at Jeremy, "Where are you? You and Aelita have already missed Science and we're about to start Gym. What the hell are you guys doing?"
"Listen, Aelita and I have a huge problem. Is Jeremy with you?"
"Uh yeah, why?" Ulrich glanced at his friend again.
"Good, he really needs to hear this. Go somewhere quiet and put the phone on speaker." Ulrich nudged Jeremy and pointed to the Cafeteria and began pulling him with him.
"What are you-" Jeremy was quickly silenced as the two made their way behind the cafeteria. He was about to say something again but the look Ulrich gave him told him to keep it down and listen.
Ulrich put his phone on speaker. "Odd, I have Jeremy, now spill; what the hell is going on?"
They can hear an audible sigh on the other side. "Jeremy, please don't be mad but," Odd sighed again before swallowing and preceding, "Aelita and I are at the factory now."
"WHAT?!" Jeremy shrieked.
"Hey keep it down will you?" Ulrich hissed, "We don't want Rosa to find us now do we?"
"What the hell are you two doing at the factory?" Jeremy demanded, ignoring Ulrich.
"Listen, I'm really sorry but Aelita got really desperate after what you said this morning. I tracked her down at the Hermitage and she wanted to go back to check that the supercomputer is still off. That's all! I made her promise to not turn it back on if it isn't so she can't virtualise herself onto Lyoko again."
"Then why are you calling us? The supercomputer should still be off," Jeremy asked in a much calmer and quieter voice. It is all my fault… "I've been monitoring the factory daily and no one has been near the elevator or the other entrance."
"Yeah, that was the problem I wanted to tell to you about…" Odd said nervously. Dread filled Ulrich and Jeremy's hearts.
"Odd, what's the problem?" Ulrich asked cautiously, knowing that he wouldn't like his answer.
He couldn't be any more accurate about that. There was silence on Odd's end before he finally answered in a meek voice.
"The supercomputer was already back on long before Aelita and I got there."
"WHAT!? HOW!?" Ulrich and Jeremy shouted at once, already forgetting about any possible witnesses through their shock.
"I don't know!" Odd began panic, "Aelita even had this little theory that the supercomputer might have turned itself back on. She went through the security cameras and it looks clean." More sighing can be heard. "I really didn't want to be the bringer of bad news but unfortunately I have more."
"Oh great. What could be worse than this?" Ulrich muttered, still trying to wrap his head around the bad news. This can't be happening… Jeremy, on the other hand, decided to take it and ask, "What is it Odd?" He immediately regretted asking when he got his answer.
"We have an activated tower."
"Shit!"
"Jeremy! Be quiet or we'll get caught! And keep the swearing to the minimum while you're at it." Jeremy took deep breaths before taking out his phone.
"I'll call Yumi. Ulrich, keep Odd on the line." He nodded and watch Jeremy choose Yumi's contact number. He lay his phone on the ground next to Ulrich's and put it on speaker as well.
"Jeremy?" Yumi whispered, "Why are you calling me now? Shouldn't you be in class?" On reflex, Ulrich snapped his head towards the classrooms to find the corridors empty and the classroom doors closed.
"Oops…" he whispered to himself, glancing over to Jeremy.
"Well, forget about that. Anyway we have a huge problem. Can you duck outside of class for a moment?"
"Can't, I'm stuck in double history and we just started a pop quiz. Besides, my teacher wouldn't let me out anyway."
"Oh yeah, you have boring Mr Eldridge. Sucks to be you," Ulrich piped up causing Yumi to stifle a giggle. But a glare for Jeremy quickly silenced him and Yumi seemingly got the message as well because she stopped.
"OK," Jeremy's voice was wavering between forcing himself to be calm and trying not to freak out at the situation at hand. "Yumi, I have really bad news. Before you ask, promise me you won't freak out as you're still in class with what I'm about to say."
"OK," Yumi answered, sounding unsure. Jeremy took a deep breath. Now he knew how stressed out Odd was when he had to break the news to them.
"The super computer is back on and we have an activated tower." There was gasp on the other end.
In Yumi's classroom, she had dropped her pen and it landed on the floor with a clank. Everyone else in the classroom turned to look and her and she had to quickly drop her phone into her bag which was sitting wide open next to the chair. Thankfully no one noticed the soft thud the phone made when it landed onto her jumper. When everyone else had finally turned back to their books and the teacher looked away after briefly glancing at Yumi, she bent down to pick the phone up and put it back up to her ear.
"How is it possible? And how do you know this?" Yumi asked.
"Never mind that," Jeremy quickly answered, he didn't want Yumi to create another scene in class, "I was going to ask if you can get out so we can sort this out but you've got Mr Eldridge. And we all know he won't let you out even if you really need to go to the loo. For now, just sit tight and head straight to the factory when class is over. Ulrich and I will head there now and meet Aelita and Odd there."
"Wait, where are Odd and Aelita?"
"I'll explain everything later! Remember, just sit tight and head straight to the factory when class is over, got it?"
"Got it, see ya Jeremy." The line went dead and Jeremy quickly pocketed his phone and turned to Ulrich. He nodded and turned back to his still active phone.
"Odd, are you still there?"
"Read you loud and clear, chief."
"Yumi can't make it 'cause she's doing a pop quiz. Jeremy and I will head over now."
"Gotcha. I think Aelita will virtualise us now to get a head start before XANA starts his attack."
"Mmhmm. We'll see you soon."
"Right."
The line went dead.
"Well?" Ulrich prompted.
"We have to get to the factory and deactivate the tower before XANA starts his attack," Jeremy answered.
"Just like old times, huh?"
"Yeah." He took a deep breath but quickly realised that the air tasted weird. He then sniffed the air and it smelled like… smoke?
"Hey, do you smell that?" Jeremy turned to Ulrich.
"Yeah, I do," he answered after taking a whiff. Something bright caught Ulrich's eye.
"Look!" he exclaims, pointing the little fire that just appeared. But before he and Jeremy could do anything, the small flame became two and more flames followed after it after a barrier of fire had surrounded the whole school.
Both Ulrich and Jeremy gulped.
"Oh crap…"
"Ulrich and Jeremy are on their way," Odd reported, "Yumi can't make it because she's doing a pop quiz."
"Alright, tower located in the Desert Sector, south-east," Aelita piped up. Her fingers flew across the keyboard again as she opened up the virtualisation window.
"OK, I started up the virtualisation process. We have to deactivate the tower before XANA starts his attack." Aelita bit her lip nervously, holding her finger above the enter key. It was just like old times again. The fear, the rush of adrenalin, can she do it again? Another hand had rested onto hers and she looked up to Odd's bright amber eyes. He gave her an encouraging smile and she smiled back.
"Come on, let's get this over and done before the attack comes." He presses the enter button, firing up the virtualisation process. 1:00 Aelita got up from the seat and the two head to the elevator and it closes. 0:50 The elevator descends to the next floor, where the scanners are. 0:30 The doors opens and the two bolt to the three scanners and step inside one each. 0:15 Aelita began to clench her fist nervously. Am I ready to face XANA again?
"Ready Princess?" Odd asks from the scanner across from her. 0:10 I can do this. She takes one last deep breath and faces Odd, now looking more determined.
"See you later Odd," 0:00 The doors close in front of and them and the virtualisation process starts.
Transfer. A blast of air blows their hair upwards from underneath them, the scanners lighting up and coming back to life.
Scanner. They're now lifted off their feet and start spinning around slowly, the glowing ring inside scanning their bodies and DNA. On the computer screen above, Odd and Aelita's ID cards flash, indicating that the computer has recognised them and their avatars have been loaded.
Virtualisation. One last strong gust of wind hits Odd and Aelita and with a blinding light, the feline and angel are no longer on Earth anymore.
Nothing had changed in the scenery as the girl continued to wander through the Desert Sector. It's almost been an hour and she still hasn't found a tower.
"Come on, where is it?" she muttered irritated. She wanted to get back to the Cloud Sector as soon as possible so XANA doesn't get her again. She sighed and looked up at the orange sky above her.
"I wander… will she still remember me after all this time?" she asked herself. Something tall and white caught her eye. Standing about two hundred meters away from her on her right, was a tower.
"At last!" she gasped, relieved and began running towards the tower. Suddenly, a red laser hit the ground a couple meters in front of her. She looked up to find three hornets flying behind her, approaching very quickly. She sped up and began to run faster for the tower, the hornets still firing lasers at her. I've got to take out those hornets now!
She twirled around charged up a ball of blue energy, cackling with electricity and fired it at the left hornet. The ball hit its target, causing the hornet to explode. The two remain hornets kept on firing at her. A single laser hit the girl on her right arm and she put her left hand up to her arm where the laser hit it. She turned around again and charged up another energy ball in her right hand and threw it at the hornets, narrowly missing.
The tower was much closer and she sped up again and bolted for the entrance. But the moment she reached it, the tower pulsed red and she ran through the wall. As soon as she slowed down, she collapsed onto the glowing floor, breathing heavily.
"That was close…" she panted, taking in deep breaths, "Too close…"
The walls of the tower began to blaring red.
"What the-" The girl ran to the centre of the tower and began to rise up the tower to the floating platform. She landed and ran to the centre where the interface waited. She placed her hand on it and her name flashed on the screen. A window immediately popped up after that.
"An activated tower!" she gasped after reading it very quickly, "Wait, oh god, it this the activated tower?!" Oh crap, I can't deactivate it, I don't know the code! And I can't go back outside because the two hornets would still be there, ready to shoot me! She took a deep breath. OK, calm down, they will come to deactivate the tower, I'm sure of it. She put her hands to her chest.
"Please, help me…"
WOW! That chapter without the ANs was 3251 words. It look a lot longer to write this not only because I had writers block but here was so much I had to mention. An update will come (hopefully) soon. Please favourite, follow and leave a review!
- LyokoLover15
