Sup readers! Glad about the response I got about Clash With the Titans. Really appreciate it. It'll be a thing eventually... I'm just not sure when is all.
And uh, sorry about the wait. Junior year is finally winding down. Since I took AP classes, I don't have finals in most of my classes, so it'll be mostly smooth sailing from here. I hope to be at least halfway done with with by the time summer ends, but as per usual, that's not a promise. Senior year shouldn't be as taxing though on my time, so lets just hope for that.
Ah, Missing Link. Kinda a weird one, probably not in my top ten for season 2, but enjoyable. Really, there's very few episodes I DON'T enjoy in Seasons 2 and 3.
Of course, next time is one of them, but we'll get to that later.
Chapter 9: Missing Link
It was a Sunday morning, Ulrich, Odd, Aelita, and I were all waiting in the scanner room with Jeremy in his place at the computer. We were almost ready to go, but something was off. And that was...
"What could Yumi be doing? We have to get some data out of Sector 5." Jeremy pondered. I could hear him tapping his fingers against the arm of his chair impatiently.
"It's not like her to be late," Ulrich noted, glancing at the time.
"Maybe she's with William," Odd suggested.
"Hm?" Ulrich hummed, giving Odd a sour look. I gave our resident cat a look and elbowed his side. He jumped at pulled away from me and went closer to Aelita.
"Hey, I said maybe." Odd said innocently, rubbing his side. Aelita looked at them and shook her head before focussing her attention toward the ceiling.
"By the way, Jeremy, have you made any headway on the antivirus recently?" she asked, deciding to move onto more serious matters. I stopped myself from frowning.
"It's a shame Jeremy's throwing so much work into something that won't even matter in the end..." I mused. Of course, I couldn't tell him that. It would raise too many questions, and I didn't feel like trying to explain to them about how they were a part of a cartoon I obsessed over as a child, and even in more recent years before my arrival.
Jeremy let out a noise in thought. "Well, actually it's going kind of slow. I'm missing a lot of important codes," he admitted. The hopeful expression on Aelita's face deflated. It was kind of disheartening to be honest.
Odd seemed to agree, as he put his hands on her shoulder and looked at her with a determined face. "With a little luck, we'll find them today," he encouraged her. Ulrich nodded.
"And then it'll be ciao, XANA," he added.
"And we'll finally be able to shut down the supercomputer," I said. Aelita smiled at us all again, nodding with a renewed energy.
"You're right. Thank you," Aelita thanked. I flashed her a grin and thumbs up.
"We'd better forget about Yumi. Ulrich and Odd, you're up first," Jeremy finally decided. We all nodded. I stepped out of the way to allow Odd to enter the scanner behind me. Soon, the scanner doors opened, and it mine and Aelita's turn.
"Transfer, Emily. Transfer, Aelita. Scanner, Emily. Scanner, Aelita. VIRTUALIZATION!"
Forest Sector
Aelita and I landed next where Ulrich and Odd were standing. XANA's monsters were nowhere in sight, which I decided to take as a positive sign.
"Now head for the edge of the sector, ok?" Jeremy ordered. All four of us nodded, but before we could take off, Jeremy came back and said, "Wait a minute, Yumi just got here. I'm sending her in,"
"Understood," I called back. I glanced back at the others, particularly Ulrich. He had his arms crossed and was looking toward one of the towers in the distance. Odd's comment must've really gotten to him.
Seconds later, Yumi landed and joined the fun.
"A little longer and we would've started the party without you," Odd said.
"Where were you?" Ulrich asked forcefully. Yumi turned from his intense stare.
"I had something to do," she responded cryptically. Ulrich was hardly satisfied with that.
"Yeah right, like being with William," Ulrich scoffed. Aelita and I shared a concerned glance at each other. This was not going to end well.
"Huh? Hey, don't you get tired of being jealous all the time?" Yumi retorted.
"Aha! I knew it! You were with him!" Ulrich accused back. Odd looked at the two as they squabbled and rolled his eyes. I sent him a looked that read, 'you started this'.
Yumi looked at him with a mixture of disappointment and anger and shook her head. "You can believe whatever you want. Be jerk if you want too,"
"You must think I'm really dumb," Ulrich retorted. The grip on his saber was tight. The two were at a standoff, glaring at each other.
I let out a sigh and stepped between them. "Enough, both of you," I looked more at Ulrich though while saying that. "What matters now is that Yumi's here, and we need to get to Sector 5, otherwise this will have just been a huge waste of time,"
The two of them glanced at each other for a moment, but then Ulrich let out a 'hmph' and turned away from Yumi. Yumi made a surprised face, but then rolled her eyes and folded her arms across her chest.
I let out an annoyed groan. "Why is it always me playing peacekeeper with these two?" I muttered.
"Careful, you have visitors!" Jeremy suddenly warned us. We all looked ahead at the path in front of us. A small group of Kankrelats was fast approaching us.
"Settle this later, ok?" Odd advised, glancing back at them. He looked back at the approaching monsters and readied his arrows. "I'm gonna give them a little Odd acupuncture!"
"Aelita, take cover," Ulrich instructed her. She nodded and ran towards a tree nearby. Far enough from the battle, but close enough that we could get to her if the Scyphozoa showed up. Yumi, Ulrich, and I all unsheathed our weapons. The match began with a bang as the Kankrelats began their assault us. I dived down to avoid a few blasts.
"Laser Arrow!" Odd fired off an arrow that hit its target with ease. He grinned, impressed with himself. "One down! Great way to start off the morning,"
"Yeah, well, try to keep it up," I said. I focused on one of the Kankrelats closest to me. "Magic Blast!" Another dead on hit from Team Lyoko. Yumi on the other hand, leapt over me and missed with her fan. She did a few backflips to avoid the ensuing laser blasts, while Ulrich deflected some with his saber.
"Watch it! More Kankrelats at five o'clock!" Jeremy shouted. Odd and I glanced behind us. The little cockroaches somehow managed to approach us without our notice. They fired at us both and hit me in the leg and Odd the torso. Noticing this, Ulrich ran over and blocked another laser from striking us, then slashed at one of them. As expected, it exploded. The other Kankrelat focussed its attention on the brunette and shot him in the shoulder.
"What's with the army today?" I asked as I rolled behind a tree. "I get we're kinda invading XANA's house, but he's never really cared this much before. Ack!" I leapt out of the way once more to narrowly avoid a laser to the face. I charged up a Magic Blast and left a burn mark where it once stood. I looked back as a Laser Arrow flew past me to see Odd landing from a flip shot he'd done to kill another Kankrelat that was approaching me.
"It's a pretty interesting welcoming committee, that's for certain," Odd agreed as Ulrich approached. The samurai nodded.
"What do you expect? XANA's never exactly been the kindest to us when we invite ourselves in," Jeremy pointed out. I had to give him that at least.
That was when I heard a sound from behind us. Looking back revealed the Scyphozoa approaching Yumi as she tried to catch up to us. I gripped my staff tightly as I prepared for what I was about to do. While Ulrich and Odd took care of the approaching Kankrelats, I ran towards Yumi.
"YUMI! LOOK OUT!" I yelled, then shoved her out of the way before the Scyphozoa could grab her. Instead, the slimy monster settled on me. My staff fell from my grip and I let out a gasp of surprise as I was hoisted into the air.
I was completely and utterly paralyzed and could do nothing put watch as it placed the tip of its tentacles on my forehead. The feeling of it taking what belonged to me was extremely unpleasant, to say the least. I would've shuttered, had I been able to wiggle even a bit.
Now I understand why Aelita was so terrified of this thing.
After what felt like an eternity later, I finally dropped to the ground. My vision was slightly blurry, but I could make out Ulrich standing near me and the Scyphozoa backing away with severed tentacles. I let out a painful groan as I sat up with a hand to my head. There was something... off, about how I was feeling, and a part of me was thankful I knew what that was already.
"Emily, are you alright," Ulrich asked. Yumi was staring at me with an awed expression. I turned from her gaze.
"I'm... not sure. I feel a little strange," I admitted. Aelita approached from behind the her tree cover.
"Well anyway, it seems to have scared the Kankrelats away," Odd noted as the little monsters scurried off.
"Why would they go after you?" Jeremy wondered. "We'll abort the mission." Aelita and Odd took off for a nearby deactivated tower, leaving Yumi, Ulrich, and me in each others presence.
"Emily, why...?" Yumi began, but she seemed unable to form the question she wanted to ask.
"I... just reacted," I settled on that explanation. Yumi closed her mouth, but wore a strange expression.
"I'm bringing you in. Materialization, Aelita. Materialization, Odd. Materialization, Emily." I frowned when I remained where I stood. Yumi and Ulrich did as well.
"Jeremy? Is something wrong" Yumi questioned.
"N-no! I just... must've made a mistake! I'll reboot the program." Jeremy assured me. I did my best to keep my expression neutral. "Materialization, Yumi. Materialization, Ulrich. Materialization, Emily.' Once again, I remained where I was, but now I was all alone. With no one left to look at my face, I didn't bother trying to hide the worry that had been creeping into my expressions.
"I can't believe it. Emily, I don't know what's going on, I can't devirtualize you!" Jeremy explained to me. His tone was a complete panic, and I could only imagine the thoughts running through his head.
"What?" I asked.
"Go hide in a tower while I figure this out! Direction south, southeast!" Jeremy ordered. I let out a noise of affirmation and took off towards the closest tower.
Real World, 3rd Person POV
The rest of the group watched with great trepidation as Emily entered the tower. "Ok, Jeremy, I've made it. Any idea what's going on?"
"I... no. I don't," Jeremy admitted, sighing deeply. "But don't worry! I'll find the bug! You're safe in the tower,"
"...Ok, Jeremy." Emily replied after a moment.
"All I know is that Emily just saved you, big time," Odd said, looking over at Yumi.
Jeremy gave a confused look. "Huh? What do you mean?"
"If the Scyphozoa had gotten to her, she'd miss the 9th grade class picture, and that's a one way trip to a one day suspension if she'd missed that," Odd explained.
"A suspension? For missing a class picture? That's harsh," Emily commented from inside the computer.
"In any case, thank you for that," Yumi said gratefully. "But what's going to happen to her now?"
"I'm not sure, but I'll figure something out, I swear." Jeremy looked back at the others. "If the rest of you have something better to do, I'm not obligating you to stick around. This is going to take some time to figure out." Ulrich, Odd, and Yumi were all making their way towards the elevator before Jeremy even finished.
"I'll stay here. We may figure it out faster if we work on it together," Aelita decided. Jeremy gave her a small, appreciative smile.
The elevator closed around the others. Ulrich and Yumi stood in opposite corners, both with their arms folded over their chests. Ulrich gave a glance toward Yumi before letting out a sigh. "Yumi, just answer me: were you or were you not with William?"
"Would it matter if I had been?" Yumi replied curtly, giving him a sharp look. Ulrich looked back at her with a frown and let out an annoyed growl, but otherwise said nothing. She shook her head at his inability to respond. When the elevator doors opened, she was the first to exit. Ulrich let out a groan and slapped his head in frustration before taking off as well, and Odd merely let out a sigh as he trailed behind him.
Lyoko
I paced around the tower as I listened to Jeremy's rhythmic typing. It was difficult to hold still, even with the knowledge of what was going on.
I looked up. "Theories, Jeremy. You have any?"
"In my opinion, when the Scyphozoa attacked you, he gave you some kind of bug, Emily," Jeremy theorized.
"Or taken something from me... Though what exactly I'm not sure. Memory, perhaps?" I threw out.
"That would be strange. It's my memory that XANA seems to be after," Aelita pointed out. I made a weird 'eh' kind of noise in concession.
"If we're basing this on the idea that XANA took something from you, then it'd have to be something else. Stand still. I'm launching a digital analysis."
"Gotcha, chief," I answered. I moved over to the middle of the platform. I won't lie, the feeling of rising in the air was a tad weird, but the actual scanning was surprisingly alright. Though, frankly almost ANYTHING feels better than the hold of the Scyphozoa.
"Oh no! I don't believe it!" Jeremy suddenly exclaimed.
"Jeremy?"
"The Scyphozoa stole the sequence code for your human DNA," Jeremy said grimly.
"Ok, XANA plus human DNA is not mixture I like." I bit the edge of my thumb anxiously. "And that is...?"
"Well, when you're virtualized, you keep your DNA sequence code. You can't do without it. It defines your molecular structure and-"
"Jeremy, unless there's a quiz, I don't need the fluff. Get to the point," I urged. I heard him take a deep breath before continuing.
"No DNA, no way to get back to Earth," Jeremy summarized. I heard Aelita let out a gasp at the revelation.
"That's... oh god," I let out. I sat down, my legs unable to support me. Even knowing it was coming, the news was still a world shaker. Held my head in my hands and shook it. "God, Jeremy, I... I can't do that. I have a life here now, hell I almost consider this place more home than where I'm from at this point!" If crying was possible in Lyoko, I would've been. Even though Yumi had gotten out of her situation, there was no guarantee for me. I've no regrets about saving her, but I'd changed the structure of the 'plot' so to say.
And I wasn't lying about their world feeling more home than my own. I missed my friends and family very dearly, but between the constant threat of XANA and the bonds I'd formed with those fighting him with me, it was hard to find time to dwell on them. I'd settled into a nice sort of routine at Kadic, and there were admittedly some days that I forgot that I wasn't originally from there.
"Don't panic, Emily. I'm going to do everything I can to find a solution," Jeremy said calmly.
"What if..." I heard Aelita mutter.
"You have an idea?" Jeremy inquired.
"I think so," she affirmed. "Send me to Lyoko."
"What're you gonna do?"
"Just... trust me this time," Aelita answered vaguely.
"Alright. I'll bring you up close to the tower," Jeremy said, unsure.
Kadic
Yumi walked silently towards the bench where the picture was to take place. She was trying (and mostly failing) to keep a frown from creeping back up on her face, as it had done the entirety of her trek back to school. The scowl was mostly on account of her thoughts on Ulrich. So she had been a little late this morning, fine, be a little upset about that. But then Ulrich had to make assumptions and accusations that were completely unwarranted and unjustified.
What would've been so bad about being with William anyways? She of course, hadn't been. She'd been late on account of some terrible luck and internet connection, but really, she couldn't think of any legitimate reason that Ulrich could possibly have to be mad about that.
She sighed. Other than Ulrich being Ulrich, that is.
She liked Ulrich, possibly even more than a friend (not that she was ready to admit that to the others yet, and especially not Ulrich himself) but he could be so infuriating at times. He could get jealous at the drop of a hat when it came to William, and he often sulked to an annoying degree if things didn't go his way.
And somehow, she still really liked him. Just... not very much the moment.
And Ulrich wasn't the only thing on her mind either. That stunt Emily pulled... it was almost unbelievable the speed that she'd reacted with.
She smiled a little as William waved to her from his place behind the bench. "Hey, Yumi!"
"Hi, William,"
"I thought we'd have to make do without you," William said jokingly. Yumi's smile faltered for a moment, but she quickly regained it. "Something happen this morning?"
"Eh, the others needed my help with something is all," she answered ambigously. William frowned.
"Even so, you seem kinda... upset. Something happen?" William asked.
"I..." Yumi bit the edge of her thumb unsurely. How William "It was just a... misunderstanding, is all." Really, her biggest surprise was that William was able to figure that out so quickly.
His gaze suddenly became more intense. "Was it Ulrich?"
"Uh... I-I um... can we not talk about this?" Yumi then requested. She wanted some time to cool off from dealing with the brunette, and talking about it wasn't helping her much. William said nothing in return, which Yumi decided to take as an acceptance of her request.
"Hm... Anyways, suspension seems kinda rough for missing a picture, don't you think?" William asked, changing the subject. Yumi smirked at him.
"Oh, I don't know. It's no worse than getting expelled for pasting posters everywhere," she joked.
"I still object to you calling them that. They were-"
"Love letters, yes, I know, loverboy," Yumi laughed, and William grinned at her.
"Now you're getting it!" He laughed with her. "But I guess you've got me there,"
"Ahem, children." The chattering amongst students ceased. Mr. Delmas had arrived and was standing next to the photographer with a stern expression on his face. "Yes, well, let's get this over as quickly as possible, shall we?"
Lyoko
I looked over and stopped my pacing as Aelita entered the tower. I stepped out of her way as she walked to the middle of the tower and pulled open an interface, similar to that in Sector 5. She began tapping on it, moving various panels of code around. I rubbed the back of my head in bewilderment. I'll never understand how she can sift through it all so effortlessly.
"Aelita, please tell me what you're up to," Jeremy was practically begging by this point. She continued to ignore him as she made one final adjustment.
"There, process launched," she informed me, looking at me with a smile. I returned it with a confused look.
"Uh, what process?"
"The process of transferring my DNA sequence code over to your virtual structure," Aelita answered. I let out a gasp.
"What!?" Jeremy cried from above us. "Are you crazy!?"
"Jeremy, Emily's place is on Earth. If anyone should stay on Lyoko until we find a solution it's me," Aelita said in explanation. I gave the interface that was to run the program a troubled look.
"I don't agree with that! Aelita, stop it right-" Aelita tapped a button on the interface to mute Jeremy. She looked back at me with a kind of sad smile. "I knew he was going to say that,"
"Have... have you thought about the possible repercussions of this? Aside from Jeremy being mega pissed off at you?" I asked with a slight joking in my tone.
"...If it will help you, then I want to do this," she responded. She wouldn't meet my gaze. I took a deep breath before responding.
"Alright, Aelita." I smiled as she looked back to the terminal. "I really do appreciate this, really. Especially since this Earth technically isn't my own," I gave a sheepish look as I rubbed the back of my head.
"It's still your current home, and you deserve to live on it as much as anyone else,"
"So do you..." I refrained from voicing that thought. SHe tapped on the screen to begin the process and nodded at me. I lened down so that our heads were inches apart. A white beam formed between us. "I hope she's thought this through..."
Ulrich and Odd's Dorm
"I don't see why you're making a huge deal about this," Odd commented as his roommate opened the door. He'd made the comment in jest, he didn't expect him to take this so seriously.
"It's just... ugh," Ulrich groaned and sat on his bed. Kiwi popped up from his little drawer and trotted over to him. Ulrich smiled at him a little and scratched under the mutt's chin before continuing. "What does William have that I don't?"
"Well, he's got all three parts of the phrase, 'tall, dark, and handsome', he doesn't get insanely jealous when someone else looks at Yumi, he doesn't dig deeper than he needs to in her personal life, need I go on?" Odd listed off. Ulrich glowered at him.
"Not. Helping." he said. He did have to inwardly wince at his last point though. While he wasn't regretting asking about it, he was regretting being so aggressive about the topic. He jumped to conclusions and let his emotions cloud his judgement, which got him into this situation.
He really should apologize when he got a chance, he mused.
"Oh come on, Ulrich. Everyone knows that Yumi's crazy about you. Well, except for you, it seems," Odd said with a shrug. When Kiwi found that Ulrich wouldn't give him anymore attention, he ran over to Odd and yipped at him until he was picked up.
Ulrich turned from him and laid back on his bed. He stared at the ceiling intensely. Sure, it seemed so simple to Odd, but he couldn't be certain. Yumi's supposed feelings for him didn't shine through in his eyes. Yeah, she seemed to like his company most days, but so did the others in the group. That was nothing special.
And then there was that kiss they shared on Lyoko. They'd never spoke about it to anyone else, but they also hadn't really discussed it between each other either. Not long after that, he thought he was getting close to being finally able to tell her his feelings and take her reaction for what it would be, but then William stepped into the picture, and he made absolutely no attempts to hide his feelings for Yumi. And that frustrated Ulrich to no end.
He was pulled out of his thoughts when he heard his phone ringing. He answered it. "Hello?"
"Ulrich, listen to me! You guys have got to get back here ASAP!" Jeremy exclaimed. That got Ulrich's attention.
"Did you find the bug?" Odd glanced over at him as he spoke.
"Well, yes, but that's not the point! Aelita is transferring her DNA sequence code over to Emily," Jeremy explained. Ulrich made a blank face upon hearing that.
"Uh, so what? You mean that's not a good idea?" He asked. He really needed to talk to Jeremy about his techno babbling habits.
"No. Aelita doesn't know that when she transfers her code over, her memory will be exposed!" Jeremy elaborated. Understanding washed over Ulrich as he listened.
"So you mean that XANA will just be able to steal it at will?!" Ulrich asked.
"That's right. I'm sure that's why the Scyphozoa attacked Emily. Another one of XANA's evil schemes," Jeremy growled out.
"Then warn Aelita, tell her to stop." Ulrich suggested. If it was that dangerous then he was sure Aelita would listen to reason. Especially if it was Jeremy telling her.
"I can't. Aelita's cut off all communication with the tower, so you've got to get to Lyoko fast! I'll warn Yumi, but please hurry!"
Kadic Campus
As soon as the picture was over, the entire 9th grade class began to disperse. Yumi looked at her phone for a moment, silently wishing for an update on the situation when William's hand landed on her shoulder.
"So uh, I was wondering if you were doing anything this afternoon?" William asked. When she offered no reply other than a surprised stare, he continued with, "There's this great place nearby that has some of the best ice cream."
"Uh, well..." Yumi started awkwardly. She was saved the trouble of thinking of whether or not to accept when her phone started ringing. "Er, hold that thought. Hello, Jeremy?"
"Yumi! We've got an emergency!" Jeremy exclaimed.
"What's wrong?" she asked, frowning. She did her best to ignore the worried look William had flashed her.
"Aelita is trying to transfer her human DNA sequence code to Emily, but what she doesn't know is that if he does that, XANA will be able to take her memory right there and then," Jeremy explained rapidly. Yumi blinked for a moment in surprise.
"Ok, so why don't you tell her-"
"She cut off the towers communication. I can't. I need you and the others to get here ASAP. The transfer only has 8 minutes left to go!" Jeremy instructed. "Ulrich and Odd are already on there way." Yumi gave a nod.
"Ok, I'll meet you there in a few." She stuffed her phone back into her pocket and looked apologetically towards William. "Sorry, but something's come up."
"Is everything alright? It sounded urgent," William inquiered.
"It's uh, nothing that major, but Emily... she needs my help with something," Yumi nodded, satisfied with her quick lie. "Yeah, she needs my help with a math problem. I gotta run, bye!" She quickly darted off before he could stop her. He could faintly hear him mutter an 'Oh, ok. See you," before she was in the forest.
"Girls! You leave them alone for five minutes and it's mess, after mess, after mess!" She heard Odd shout nearby. She rolled her eyes as she sprinted towards them.
"What was that Odd?" She asked from behind him. He flinched at her voice and turned to face her nervously.
"Oh, well, not you but uh..." The purple clad boy made the wise decision to stop talking and pushed open the manhole. Ulrich gave her a quick glance, but said nothing to her. She returned the treatment back, making the trek to the factory a silent one.
Once finally reaching the elevator and heading down, they each ran into a scanner. "Jeremy, let's go," Ulrich said.
"Transfer, Ulrich. Transfer, Odd. Transfer, Yumi. Scanner, Ulrich. Scanner, Odd. Scanner, Yumi. VIRTUALIZATION!"
Lyoko, 1st Person POV
With barely any time left before the final transfer process, Odd, Ulrich, and Yumi, all burst into the tower as fast as they could possibly run.
"Aelita! Stop right now!" Odd shouted.
"If the transfer takes place, XANA will be able to steal all of your memory!" Ulrich exclaimed. My eyes widened at that.
"Aelita, you've got to stop the transfer! Now!" Yumi urged. Aelita quickly ended the process. She also reestablished communication with the tower, as Jeremy's voice rang out only seconds later.
"Aelita, you're so stubborn! That was a silly thing to do!" Jeremy said sharply. She looked down at the floor before looking at the rest of us.
"I'm sorry," she apologized to me. "But I thought I was doing the right thing," she explained.
I shrugged. "Hey, it's not like I knew either. And I appreciate the attempt."
Odd flashed her his signature grin. "You're turning into a real human being." We all quirked a brow him before he continued. "You're beginning to confuse generosity with stupidity,"
"Anyway," Ulrich said, eyeroll included, "we still have no idea how to save Emily,"
"Don't bet on that. I just happen to have a brilliant idea!" Jeremy proclaimed.
"Alright, what is it?" Yumi asked with a piqued look.
"XANA has stolen Emily's DNA code sequence, so it must be in his memory. And how do we get access to XANA's memory...?"
The answer dawned on us all immediately.
"Sector 5!" We all chorused.
"I guess we get that mission in after all. Even if it's a different purpose," I mused.
"Ok, let's move out. If we're fast enough, we might be able to beat XANA before he sends him monsters out." Yumi said.
"Aw, but I wanted to give a little more Odd Acupuncture. I could always use the practice!" Odd whined.
"Lord knows that's true..." I muttered. Ulrich snickered from behind me.
"Hey! That was ONE time!" Odd protested.
"Once is all it takes, Della Robbia!"
Sector 5
One quick trip to the edge of the sector later, and we found ourselves exiting the transporter.
"Ogh, it's a good thing I didn't eat breakfast this morning," Odd groaned. He put a hand on his stomach in a seemingly vain attempt to calm it. We looked around as we waited for the wall to open.
"Er, by the way, Emily, just a small detail: without your human DNA sequence code, you're just as vulnerable as Aelita. If you get hit, you'll disappear forever," Jeremy explained quickly. I rubbed my hand on my face.
"Fantastic..." I muttered. "I've had enough of the whole 'disappearing forever' thing after the incident in the Digital Sea." I said as the wall started to open.
"We've got you covered. Don't worry about it too much." Yumi tried to assure me. "Come on, let's go." We took off, pausing only to allow the wall to open in front of us. This time, it opened to reveal a wide corridor that bent to the right.
"The countdown has started. You have three minutes to get out of the core zone," Jeremy informed us.
"First, we have to find the key," Yumi reminded us all.
"Check at the end of the corridor! I've spotted the mechanism at the end of the room!" Jeremy relayed. I grunted in acknowledgement.
We approached said room quickly. A glance around revealed that this room had one narrow bit of flooring to the key. The rest of the room was nothing but wide open space and blue blocks stacked haphazardly in the distance.
"Yes, I see it over there." Aelita pointed to the key. It rested on the wall directly across from us. I looked around cautiously.
"There's nothing around. I smell a trap," I noted. Without words, it was quickly decided that I absolutely couldn't take the risk of grabbing the mechanism. Odd stepped forward.
"You're probably right, but when you gotta go, you gotta go," Odd said. The cat boy stepped off onto the platform, causing a loud noise to ring out above us. Ulrich gasped as he looked up. A giant column was threatening to crash down onto Odd!
"Odd!"Ulrich cried, and used his Super Sprint to dash forward and push him out of the way.
"Watch out!" Aelita exclaimed as another column started to descend on them. They quickly did a flip out of the way and looked back at the three of us.
"The whole ceiling is a trap! Beat it!" I yelled through cupped hands. The duo wasted no time in following that advice. They ducked and weaved through the columns raining down on them, with each encounter being closer than the last I clutched my sleeve in anticipation.
"Faster guys! You've only got one minute left to turn the key!" Jeremy boomed. I bit my lip as Odd narrowly dodged getting flattened. He backed up from the pillar and kept moving forward. "Move it!"
Odd looked up at a pillar that was going to crush Ulrich and moved instantly. "Timber!" He shoved the samurai out of the way. He was crushed instead, and let out a garbled gasp as he it fell down on him.
"Odd!" Ulrich looked at the spot where Odd was in shock. He didn't have long to dwell on it though, as another pillar came down upon him. He jumped out of the way with a flip, then pushed the key open. "Ok," he looked back at the three of us.
"Good work, Ulrich," Jeremy complimented. The pillars started to rise back up again, allowing the rest of us passage. We ran up and joined Ulrich in the spot he was waiting for us at.
"After you, ladies," Ulrich made a motion to the door and waited for us to pass before following. We stopped in front on the elevator platform.
"Here comes the taxi," I said, prepping myself to jump.
"We'd better not miss it," Aelita noted, looking down in anticipation. "Now!" We all leapt as soon as it whipped by.
We ran forward when the elevator came to a stop at the door to the Celestial Dome. Aelita ran for the terminal, Ulrich and Yumi ran for her sides, and I remained closer to the door. We gazed around, paying careful attention to the walls. Aelita began her work of sifting through the data on screen,
"Aelita, do you know where to find Emily's human DNA sequence code?" Jeremy asked. Aelita's brow furrowed in concentration.
"Not really," she admitted, "but I'll manage somehow."
"That's encouraging," I deadpanned. I gave a peek behind me. The last thing I wanted was for a Creeper to sneak up on me and kill me. I sucked in some breath at the sight of a slight bulge on the wall. "We're running out of time: The Flying Manta nest is going to hatch real soon!"
Ulrich took a small break from his vigilance and glanced back at Yumi with a softer expression. "Um, Yumi? I wanted to apologize for this morning." Yumi looked back at him, but he'd turned around again. "It was none of my business you'd been doing,"
"That's true," Yumi agreed with a nod, "But I'll tell you anyway. I was buying two tickets for the Subsonics concert. And it wasn't easy, bad internet connection," she explained. Ulrich turned back to look at her again. They smiled at each other, causing me to roll my eyes.
"I swear, it's always the same with these two," A gasp from me brought the two back to our predicament. I pointed to the approaching Mantas when they looked back at me. "Incoming!"
Three Mantas had hatched from the nest. Ulrich stayed near Aelita, and Yumi near me. Both had their weapons at the ready. I pulled out my staff and kept one hand on my cloak. I had one free hit before I would be out, and I didn't intend to make it so easy for XANA. Yumi threw a fan and managed to kill the closest Manta.
"How's it going, Aelita?" I heard Jeremy ask in between the laser fire.
"Nothing yet," she reported. Ulrich deflected a few shots with his saber before he was struck by a shot from behind. As Yumi ducked under a Manta, I noticed the other charging up a shot at me.
"Cloak Guard!" I screeched, throwing up my shield just in time. I heard it shatter. Ulrich rushed to me to deflect a second shot from hitting me.
"That's it! I've got it! I'm transmitting it to you now Jeremy!" Aelita exclaimed frantically.
"I've got it, Emily! I'll download it back to you in a second!" Jeremy began to type as fast as he could. I let out a breath of relief.
"Thank god! I swear to god if XANA ever pulls shit like this again I'm gonna-" I cut myself off when I felt a cool sensation throughout my body.
Then I realized that was because I'd been hit by a Manta laser and was bursting into a series of pixels.
"Emily!"
My world went dark.
Real World
I found myself on the floor of the scanner room when I opened my eyes. I had to blink a few times for the world to come into focus, but I could make out the shapes of the others around me.
I looked at the others for a moment before letting my head hit the floor again. I let out a laugh, not because anything was funny, but because of how relieved I was. I was still alive, able to fight another day.
"How many times am I gonna pass out while devirtualizing?" I asked, still laughing. Ulrich extended his hand to me, which I gladly took. I pulled the three with me, Ulrich, Yumi, and Aelita, into a hug, which caught them off guard. "Thank you..."
Kadic, 3rd Person POV
The group eventually found ourselves near the vending machine, with Odd debating on what he midday snack would be.
"Hm... I could... no, I had those yesterday," he looked towards Emily and huffed. "How do they expect me to pay money for this if it's the same thing everyday?"
Emily rolled her eyes at him. "Odd, it's a vending machine, not a buffet. They don't have to change it's contents out all the time," she said, looking up from a copy of the Kadic News. Odd stuck his tongue out at her. She raised a brow at him, then leaned forward and hit a random button.
"Hey!" Odd frowned when upon seeing what the random choice was. "A bag of peanuts is hardly a snack!"
"Then you should've picked something instead of whining to me about it," Emily countered back.
"As much as I'd love to hear you two squabble, I've got to get going," Yumi said, stretching. "Some of us have plans for later tonight," she said, looking towards Ulrich. The brunette let out a nervous laugh and scratched the back of his head.
Feeling his face turn red, he quickly stood up and said, "Want me to walk with you to the gate?"
"I think I'd like that," Yumi accepted. The two began to walk away from the rest of the group, causing the others to roll their eyes.
"Those two are so blind sometimes it hurts," Jeremy commented as soon as the pair was out of earshot. Everyone nodded in agreement with that.
"Sounds strikingly similar to another pair I know," Emily noted, glancing up at Jeremy and Aelita. The two looked at each other, blushed, and looked away again, muttering about how they had, 'no idea what she meant,", which only made her smirk.
The smile that had been on Yumi's face vanished as they neared the gate. Ulrich looked up at her and frowned. "Something wrong?"
"Ulrich..." she hesitated for a moment. "Have you noticed anything... off, about Emily?"
He raised a brow at her. "...Are you asking me if I find Emily weird? Cause the answer to that is yes," Ulrich joked. Yumi shook her head.
"No, I mean... well, like today." She tried to explain. Ulrich gave her a lost look.
"How do you mean?"
"Well... she shoved me out of the way when the Scyphozoa showed up," Yumi started, "And know that anyone would've done that, at least in our group but... she wasn't near me when it showed up. She was closer to you and Odd." The Japanese girl gave Ulrich a worried look. "The Scyphozoa barely made a sound before she ran over to me. It was almost like..."
"Like what?" Ulrich wasn't sure he liked where this conversation was headed.
Yumi's gaze became intense for a moment as the thought came to her. "...It was almost like she knew it was going to happen," Yumi closed her eyes for a moment. "And this isn't the first time she's done that either. Remember when she shouted out Scipio?"
The two stopped at the idea. "Yumi, do you think she's hiding something from us?" Ulrich asked.
Yumi paused for a moment, considering the idea. She couldn't remember ever being lied to by the girl, and Yumi knew she was a self proclaimed 'terrible liar', but she couldn't rule out her keeping something larger from them. She finally let out a sigh and looked forward at the gate. "I don't know, Ulrich. I just don't know..."
So, before anyone tries to behead me for changing the structure of the episode, I did really think about it before going through with it!
While creating original attacks is fun for you as readers, and me for being able to prove that I can do more original things, it takes more work. And having the episodes as they are with maybe minor differences every time is kind of boring. So, I changed it, and decided to have Yumi notice that this change occurred. It gave me a chance to practice more with these characters without the use of their canon dialogue, and changing the way episodes work
And I should warn you: this will be happening more eventually. I can't say how much in this season, but it will be happening more. If you don't like it, either give me advice on how to do it better, or leave.
I debated on whether or not to go through with this, as I really liked Sissi's story through this, but I ultimately decided that, since Sissi never really showed the qualities she had in this episode ever again, it wasn't a major mishap to change the episode. I also decided to focus more on Ulrich and Yumi being mad at one another rather than have them be ok after they get back onto Lyoko.
Please review. You guys' words always inspire me to keep going.
Next time we have The Chips Are Down, my least favorite episode of season 2.
