The blue colouring of the digital sea was tinted red around the forcefield that held the Skidbladnir captive.

"What is that thing?" Yumi wondered aloud.

"More importantly; where did it come from?" Said Jeremie.

Inside the cockpit, Aelita checked all of her instruments.

"Everything's working fine, Jeremie. Propulsion, sonar, shields -"

"That's it! The shields!" Jeremie slapped his forehead in realization. "How could I have been so stupid!"

"Hey Jeremie, what is it?" Asked Yumi.

"Xana's attack on the Skid; it wasn't to damage it. It was to hide a digital code inside the shields' signal! That's why I couldn't find anything wrong with it. I was looking at all the energy outputs and data processes in the internal systems and never thought to analyse the shields' digital signal."

"Don't beat yourself up, Jeremie." Said Aelita. "You probably wouldn't have spotted it anyway, with the system's fluctuating power read-out."

"Uh guys," Ulrich spoke up. "We're gonna need you to start speaking in Dummy Talk."

"Sorry, Ulrich." Replied Jeremie. "What's happened is that the Scyphozoa downloaded a digital code into the Skid's shields, so when Aelita activated them it set off the code."

"And trapped us in this... whatever it is." Yumi finished for him.

"Great, so how do we get out of it?" Ulrich asked.

"I'm scanning the sub-sonic digital output and transmitting it to Jeremie." Aelita said as her fingers danced over the controls.

Jeremie cupped his chin in his hand as a wireframe diagram of his friends' prison appeared on the computer screen. On closer inspection, it was actually more of a dodecahedron than a sphere. He scanned the read-outs at each point and his eyes widened when he spotted something.

"Guys, I think I may have found a weak spot."

Everyone in the Skid brightened up at Jeremie's news.

"There's a point directly behind the Skid where the prison is at it's weakest. A couple of torpedoes from a Navskid should create a hole." Jeremie typed at the keyboard bringing up a simulation of his plan.

"Well, alright then." Ulrich grabbed hold of his controls. "Let's blast it and get out of here."

"Wait. There's one problem." Everyone gave a small groan at this. "According to my calculations, the hole will only be big enough for a Navskid to fit through. And, it will only be open long enough for a single one to escape. After that, the energies will realign and reinforce themselves."

"So, in other words, once one of us leaves; the door gets locked behind us." Yumi paraphrased.

"To put it bluntly; yes."

"Well, if only one of us gets to go, it should be Aelita." Said Ulrich. "She's the only one who can do anything about this from the outside."

"If I can get to the hanger, I should be able to manually access the Skid's systems from the interface and deactivate the prison." Aelita said in confirmation.

"Jeremie, is there any way Aelita can get into one of the Navskids?" Yumi asked.

"Hmm, I suppose I could try rerouting the teleporter signal and -"

"Jeremie..." Three voices uttered wearily.

"Okay, okay; I'll skip the explanation."

A few moments passed as the boy genius worked at the keyboard. Once he was sure everything was ready, he spoke into his headpiece.

"Okay Aelita, I'm going to transport you into Odd's Navskid."

"I'm ready." She replied with confidence.

The final button was tapped and the pink-haired girl disappeared from the cockpit, only to reappear in the empty Navskid.

"It worked, Jeremie."

"Great. Now wait while I transport Yumi into the cockpit."

"Say what?" The Japanese girl looked up in alarm.

"Well, somebody's got to release Aelita from the Skid; and we'll need you to pilot the ship back after she's deactivated the prison."

"Looks like you've been made co-pilot, Yumi." Ulrich said jokingly. "How does it feel?"

"Oh great. You know me. I just love computers."

"It's not that different from steering your Navskid, Yumi." Said Aelita. "I'm sure you'll do fine."

Jeremie reactivated the teleporter and transferred Yumi to the cockpit. Following Aelita's instructions, she was able to release the Navskid with no problem.

"Don't worry, guys. I'll get you out of this thing." Aelita said to her friends.

"Don't worry about us, Aelita." Said Ulrich. "You're probably the one in real danger."

"He's right." Added Yumi. "I'll bet this was Xana's plan; to trap the three of us here , leaving you to go back to the hanger alone. He's probably going to send a welcoming party once you get there."

"Well good thing for us, he didn't count on Odd's crazy love-life." Jeremie said with a grin. "I'll give him a call and send him to give Aelita back-up."

"Okay then, here I go."

Aelita fired two torpedoes at the point Jeremie had guided her to. The resulting explosion cleared to reveal a small hole in the glowing wall.

"Hurry Aelita, before it closes up."

Activating the Navskid's thrusters, Aelita flew through the opening. Almost immediately afterwards it sealed itself, the entire prison now glowing with a stronger light than before.

"Okay guys, I'm going to have to focus on Aelita and Odd for now." Jeremie addressed Ulrich and Yumi. "I'll contact you with any changes in the situation."

"Say Jeremie," Ulrich spoke up before the communication was broken. "When Aelita deactivates the prison, it won't do any damage to the Skid will it?"

"Well, theoretically, the Skid should escape in one piece. I've got to go now." And with that, Jeremie's voice was gone.

"Why is it whenever he uses the word 'theoretically' I get a cold feeling of dread?" Yumi said with a resigned sigh.

"Experience." Ulrich replied brusquely.

--

Aelita's Navskid approached the entry chute. It obediently opened as she got closer.

"Jeremie, are you sure I can fly the Navskid all the way to the hanger?" Aelita asked.

"Well, it does basically have the same functions of the Skid, albeit on a smaller scale. If you have the engines on full power, you should be able to make it to the hanger."

Aelita didn't really like that 'should' but kept quiet. The choice was to either risk it, or stay stranded in the digital sea forever. She'd spent enough years as nothing but data.

Hitting the thrusters, Aelita sped up the chute and burst out of the digital sea, zooming back towards Sector 5. The small ship entered the tunnel leading into the spherical structure. She could see the entrance to the hanger, just as her instruments signalled that the thrusters were starting to run out of power.

The Navskid spiralled up into an arc and then dived down into the hanger. Aelita managed to bring it upright just as the thrusters cut out. The ship fell the last few feet, jolting Aelita in her seat.

"Aelita, is everything okay?" Jeremie asked.

"Just fine. I'm back in the hanger."

"Okay, I'll get you out of there."

Jeremie activated the teleporter and transferred Aelita to the circular platform. Once she'd reappeared, the elfin girl ran to the end of the runway she was on. There was seemingly nothing there, but she swept her hand through the air and a small screen appeared before her. Aelita immediately set to work, pressing and moving different mini screens as she searched for the alien code in the Skid's shield systems.

Suddenly, a cloud of black smoke formed at her feet. Noticing this this, Aelita let out a yelp and jumped back as William sprang up in front of her. A sinister smile adorned his face as he held his arm out and his sword formed in his hand. As he advanced, Aelita began to back away.

"Jeremie, looks like we were right about Xana's intentions. William's here."

"And he's not the only one. Aelita, look out behind you!"

At Jeremie's warning, Aelita turned to see four creepers crawling along the path towards her.

"Aelita, get out of there!" Jeremie tightly gripped the armrests of his chair. "Try to lose them in the passageways."

Aelita ducked a sword swing from William and ran towards the creepers, swiping her hand across the star-shaped bracelet on her right wrist. Her wings sprang out of her back and she flew over the monsters' heads, weaving to avoid their laser fire.

William pointed at the retreating figure with his sword.

"After her." He said in his digitized voice.

As the creepers left to obey his orders, he turned his attention to the interface Aelita had been working on. The baleful smile returned to his face as he raised a hand over it. Black bolts of electricity left his fingertips and entered the transparent screen. A wireframe image of the Skidbladnir appeared with the prison surrounding it. The image was overshadowed by Xana's logo flashing red.

--

"Hahahaha! No way!" Ulrich laughed and leant his head back against his seat. His body was shaking with mirth. He and Yumi had decided to pass the time by telling funny stories.

"Yes way." Yumi replied amid her own giggles. "My dad had no idea that Hiroki had dropped the worms into his bowl. And, of course, Hiroki wasn't going to tell him. The best part was; after he'd finished eating, he said to my mother, 'Those noodles were delicious. Did you use a different flavouring?'"

The two teens howled with laughter. Yumi was about to tell Ulrich that it was his turn, when the instruments in front of her began beeping.

"Hey, what's going on?" Asked Ulrich.

"I don't know." Yumi replied. "Jeremie, are you there? We've got a situation."

"I'll say." Ulrich cut in. "Look at the prison."

The glowing forcefield wobbled as black electricity began to run over its' surface. It then convulsed and, from its' captives point of view, seemed to contract slightly.

"Jeremie, can you hear me?" Yumi tried again. "It looks like the prison is shrinking!"

Back in the lab, Jeremie had brought up the prison's image on his computer screen.

"That's only because... it is. And if it continues, the Skid will be crushed."

Ulrich and Yumi both blanched at this news.

"How long do we have?" Ulrich asked.

"I'd say, about twenty minutes; maybe less."

"How's Aelita doing?" Said Yumi.

"Bad. William and a bunch of creepers have shown up. She can't even get near the interface." Jeremie could feel panic starting to rise in his chest. He quickly fought it away and took a deep breath. "Just hang on guys. I'm going to keep trying to reach Odd."

As Jeremie's voice disappeared again, Ulrich and Yumi were left to watch the walls of the prison gradually closing in on them.

"I don't know about you Yumi, but I could sure use a good laugh right about now. Got any more funny stories?"

Jeremie called up Odd's mobile number but, just as before, there was no answer.

"Come on Odd, pick up!" The boy genius gritted his teeth in frustration. "How long does it take to break up with a girl?"

--

"Please give it back, Sophie. That call could be important." Odd tried to reach up and take his mobile phone back from Sophie, but the taller girl was easily holding him back with a hand on his forehead.

"Nice try, Odd." She said, pushing him back. "But I know you've got one of your friends calling with an "emergency" so you'll have an excuse to run off, like you always do."

Odd's shoulders slumped.

'Oh, just great. There's probably some big catastrophe on Lyoko that's going to put the world in mortal danger – and I'm missing it!'

He mentally stamped his foot.

"Odd! Are you even listening to me?" He snapped out of his reverie at Sophie's raised voice. "Why did you tell everyone on the cheerleader team that I had some contagious hand condition?!"

"I didn't! I only told Sissi!" He backed up to the wall as Sophie seemed to tower over him.

"And why did you say that me and Tamiya were in on it?" Milly added. She and Sophie both held up the posters in their hands.

"Look, I had nothing to do with those posters. It must've been Sissi, so go talk to her."

Odd dashed between Milly and Tamiya, and headed straight for the door. He pushed them open but then skidded to a halt at what he saw. A group of maybe thirty girls were standing in the campus yard. They were all glaring at him. Out of the throng, Sissi walked towards him. Her hands were casually behind her back and a satisfied smile was on her face.

"Hello, Odd. I was thinking; while you were explaining your actions to Sophie, Milly and Tamiya, I might as well bring along some other girls who would also like a few words with you. Say hello to every girl you've ever dated." She then leaned in close so that only Odd could hear her. "Don't ever play a player. I have school yard spite down to an art."

Odd looked out at all the angry female faces and gulped.

"Heh heh, hi ladies. How's everyone been?"

Claire Girard stepped forward to answer.

"Oh, we've been fine. In fact, all the times you've made fools of us has given us all something to talk about."

Seemingly as one, the crowd took a step forward. Odd stepped back, only to find his rear covered by Sophie, Milly and Tamiya.

"Do you think it's funny to mess with girls all the time?" Jeanne Le Bihan called out. "Are you trying to see how many you can trick into liking you before school's out?"

There were affirmative sounds coming from the girls surrounding her. Odd held his hands up.

"No! It's nothing like that! I have nothing but the utmost respect for girls. It's just that, when it comes to actually dating you, I tend to make some pretty stupid decisions."

"Oh really?" A blonde spoke out. She was leaning on a crutch with her left leg bandaged up. "Like when you decided it would be a good idea to get a closer look at the javelin throwers on Sports Day?"

"Oh Christine, I didn't know you were back in school." Odd rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "I really am sorry about that. I guess our first date didn't go as smoothly as I'd planned."

"You know what?" Sorya Abulabbas held up a hand to get everyone's attention. "All this yelling and finger-pointing isn't doing anyone any good."

"Yes! Thank you!" Odd smiled gratefully at her.

"What we need," Sorya continued. "Is to dish out some punishment. Then we'll all have closure and can get on with our lives."

Odd's eyes widened as every girl reached into her bag or pockets and pulled out scissors, combs and cans of hair spray. They really did carry that stuff everywhere they went. He looked over at Sissi, who shrugged and said,

"Why let a good idea go to waste?"

"Now, now ladies!" Odd began to sweat as the pack moved in for the kill. "Is this really necessary? Isn't there anything else I could do?"

"Well, I can think of one thing." said Sissi, holding up a hand to halt the advancing girls. "You could tell us how this all started."

"Oh, okay." Odd stood up straight and addressed the crowd. "Well you see, I grew up with five older sisters who all liked to tease me, so naturally I find girls a little intimidating -"

"Not that!" Sissi interrupted. "I'm talking about today. With this whole 'Fish Fingeritis' thing! First you tell Nicholas that it's me who has it, then you tell me it's Sophie -"

"And then you tell the entire female student body!" Odd shot back, pointing at the crowd before them.

"I just want to know, why did you start this rumour in the first place?"

Curious murmurs rang out from the assorted girls. They were all watching Odd expectantly. He finally sighed and shrugged his shoulders.

"Well... the truth is, I made this promise to somebody."

"Oh boy, another girlfriend?" Someone called out from the crowd.

"No, it's nothing like that. But they do mean a lot to me, and I promised I'd keep a secret for them. When Nicholas started bugging me, I made up this whole 'Fish Fingeritis' thing which, by the way, I think is a very clever name. What do you say, huh?" A sea of blank faces stared back at him. He cleared his throat. "Ahem. So anyway, I guess I owe an apology to Sophie, Millly and Tamiya."

He turned to face the three named girls.

"Sorry I pulled you into this." He then turned to Sissi. "I'm also sorry to you, Sissi. I know I like to pull pranks on you but - this time - you hadn't done anything to deserve it."

Finally, he faced the girls gathered before him.

"And, sorry to every girl I've ever dated. I can't remember all the different reasons we broke up, but I'm pretty sure they were my fault." He ran the toe of his shoe along the ground in front of him. "You probably all agree that I'm not good boyfriend material... but you still think I'm cute and funny, right?"

He flashed his biggest, toothiest grin at the girls. Some of them laughed. The overall aggression seemed to due down. Even Sissi didn't seem so mad anymore.

"Well Odd, the fact that you'd go to all this trouble just to keep a promise to a friend, shows that you're not such a bad guy."

Odd smiled and rubbed his hands together.

"Well, I'm glad we had this talk. It's good to get these feelings out in the open. Now, if you'll excuse me ladies, I really should get going."

"Not so fast, scrawny." Sissi's hand landed hard on his shoulder. "You said I had flaky hands. For that, you will be punished. But, considering your reasons, we won't go cutting any of your hair off."

She turned to the assembled crowd.

"Combs and hairspray only, girls."

Odd was about to protest, but then just sighed and said,

"Well, please make it quick. There's somewhere I have to be."

As the mob closed in, Milly turned to Tamiya.

"Please tell me you have your camera."

--