Aelita: Scanner. Transfer. Virtualization.

Four in the morning at the cabin

Odd stands up from his position against the door of the room he is in. He looks around the room and takes a deep breath. He walks over to the nightstand and pulls out a notepad and a pen. He scrawls on it for a minute before placing it down on the nightstand and walks out of the room.

He walks out of the house and off the porch. He turns back and looks at the cabin. After a moment of hesitation he turns away and walks back toward the dorms.

A few hours later

Aelita wakes up feeling better than she did last night. She slowly gets out of bed. She leaves her room and heads to the only other bedroom in the house. She tries the handle and is surprised to find it unlocked, but even more so when she finds it empty. She walks slowly and looks around. Her eyes finally rest on the note Odd left.

She picks it up and starts to read it.

Hey. I know your not gonna understand this right now but I can't be with you. I'm sorry. I need sometime to figure things out. I understand if you hate me.

Tears spring to her eyes as she reads it again and again. She backs into the wall behind her and slides to the floor as the first sob escapes. The first person she ever really connected with, the person she cared about most just abandoned her. She sits there not know what to do now.

Kadic. Girls dorms

Izzy wakes up with a start. She is shaking and covered in sweat, while clutching her chest. Her dream had felt so real. That boy had been hurting so bad. She could almost feel it herself. She slowly gets herself out of bed, still recovering from the night terror.

She starts to get dressed and her mind starts to wonder. She thinks back to last night and what had happened.

"I don't care Sissi. I really don't. You did not mean to hurt that girl. The way you are now, I can tell you did not mean to. Please don't hate yourself." She says. Sissi buries her head in Izzy's shoulder and cries, albeit more softly.

She was a little surprised with the conviction in her statement. She had only known Sissi a short while but already felt like she could trust her. Although she felt a lot more than just that for the slightly older girl. Her face turns red as she thinks again of last night.

She collapses but Izzy is already there to catch her and hold her. She slowly lowers herself with Sissi in her lap, crying uncontrolled now. Izzy starts stroking her hair and whispering to her to try and calm her down. Eventually Sissi stops sobbing and regains the ability to speak.

"I'm a monster. I hurt that poor girl so bad and I-" she is cut off as Izzy kisses her. Sissi freezes and a second later Izzy pulls away. Sissi stares at her.

She knew that there was a very small chance of Sissi being gay and that made her very worried about what the girl would think of her now. Izzy realise she was gay when she was eleven. Ever since then she had been teased and ostracized even more for it. But every time Izzy thought about the kiss with Sissi she could not help but smile.

Her watermelon chapstick had mingled well with the taste of Sissis mouth. While this was not her first kiss, it was the first time she had even been the one to kiss the other person.

She shook her head to clear her thoughts so she could continue to get as she was putting a shirt on she heard a knock at her door. When she opened it she was pleasantly surprised to find Sissi standing there.

"Good morning Izzy." She said cheerfully, obviously having recovered from last night. Izzy smiles back up at her.

"Good morning Sissi." She says back. "What brings you to my dorm this early in the morning."

"Actually I wanted to talk. Can I come in?" She asks, her smile dropping along with her gaze. She now refuses to look Izzy in the eyes. Izzys heart speeds up a little with fear but she smiles and nods as she steps aside to let Sissi in.

Sissi walks into the room and gives it a small look over before sitting down on Izzy's bed. Izzy closes the door and walks by Sissi. She stops at her desk and starts to fill her bookbag with what she will need for class for the day.

"So I wanted to thank you for last night. I kinda broke down and you stayed with me and that means a lot." Sissi says, still not meeting Izzy's eyes when she looks at her.

"Your welcome. It wasn't really a big deal. You needed a friend so I was happy to help you." She says, her heart calming down since Sissi had not brought up the kiss.

"But you don't get it. It was a big deal, at least is was to me. You showed me a kindness I had only ever gotten from my father. He is the only one that has ever tried to comfort me when I cried until now." She tells Izzy finally meeting her eyes. Izzys heart melts as she looks into Sissi's light teal eyes. She walks over to her bed and sits down next to Sissi.

"No one's ever comforted me when I cry other than my mother, so i know how you feel. When i saw you start to break down I thought about how easy it would be fore me t break down and wanted to help you through it." Izzys says with a blush now firmly on her face. She tenses for a moment when Sissi hugs her before relaxing and finally hugging her back. They let go and sit back a bit.

Sissi looks over at Izzy and smiles.

"Thanks for helping me Izzy. now let's go get breakfast before classes start." She says as she starts to stand up. Izzy quickly follows her out of the room grabbing her book bag along the way.

Ishiyama household

Yumi wakes up to silence in her home. She slowly sits up and stains her hearing. She can barely hear her mother snore in the master bedroom next to hers. She gets up and gets dressed for the day before grabbing her backpack. As she walks by her parents room she peeks into find only her mother in there.

She quietly heads down stairs to find the living room empty as well. She sneaks out of the house silently.

Xanadu. ? ? ?

The creator looks over William as he trains. He is stuck in a small arena with three Phantoms and no sword. William runs at one of the Phantoms and gets electrocuted. He falls to one knee as they start to advance on him. One sprints at him and barely misses stabbing him when he rolls to the side.

He jumps up to his feet and lunges at one. When he connects he brings it to the ground. He starts to pound on it but he can't do much damage with only his fists. He is suddenly grabbed from behind and flung to the side. He hits the ground hard and rolls. For the first time in Xanadu he can feel pain from the attacks and he yells out as he hits the ground. He slowly gets to one knee as the phantoms surround him. All three of them raise there spear arms and attempt to stab him.

His mind consumed with the fear of death he lets out a furious scream and throws his hands out to the side. A shock wave emitted from him sending all three phantoms are thrown into the walls of the arena. He slowly stands up and watches as two of the Phantoms recover and start to advance on him again. The third just watches and waits for an opening. One charges him and he grabs it's spear arm. He lifts the Phantom up and slams him into the ground with all his force, shattering the Phantom in to pixels.

The second Phantom slams into him sending William into a wall. He hits the wall with a lot of force but seems unfazed by it. He lands on his feet and charges the Phantom. He grabs it by the head and arm and throws it into the wall as hard as he can. As the second Phantom shatters william turns to the third on. It starts to build up electricity when William seems to vanish for a moment.

He reappears with his fist connecting with the final Phantoms chest. The Phantom slams into the wall with enough force to crack the wall and easily shatter the Phantom. After a second his breathing slows and he feels sluggish. He turns to the Creator. He opens his mouth to speak just before passing out. The Creator turns to Electrode.

"He is doing far better than you expected." He says to the Phantom. Electrode glows blue with annoyance before turn to walk away.

"It does not matter. He is still human, and that makes him as weak as the rest of them." He says before walking away. The creator raspily chuckles at the Phantom before order two ghouls to return William to his room.

Kadic. Cafeteria

Sissi and Izzy are sitting down eating breakfast when a group of three enter the cafeteria. Sissi eyes follow every movement of as they get there breakfast and sit down five tables away. After a minute Izzy finally breaks the silence.

"So I know you and Yumi don't get along and I don't think you're into nerds, so you must be looking at Ulrich." She says. Sissi face goes bright red as she immediately looks down. Izzy feels a small pang in her chest at the obvious denial of her friend.

"N...n….no. It not like that. I was not staring at him." She says. Izzy laughs at this and Sissi glares at her.

"You know it's perfectly fine to have a crush on someone." She tells her. Sissi looks down again. When she answers it's just a mumble.

"That's not it. He hates me." She says. Izzy had to strain her hearing to catch it. She looks at her friend concerned.

"Why would you think that?" She asks hoping to find a way to make her friend feel better.

"Because he told me so. Near the end of the year last year he told me he did not like me and that he was actually try to work up the courage to ask Yumi out. I got angry and attacked Yumi the next day." She says. Tears start to form in Sissi's eyes and Izzy grabs her hand.

"Yumi told me you and her got in a fight but not why." She says, not knowing what else to say. Sissi looks up at her.

"I attacked her but I only got one punch in. After that she kicked my ass. When it was all over Ulrich came over and yelled at me. He said he hated me and that he never wanted to talk to me again. It broke my heart." She says trying her best to keep her tears back and a sob out of her voice. Izzys feels her chest hurt again but ignores it and grips Sissi's hand a little tighter.

"Hey Sissi. You wanna go get some ice cream after school? It always makes me feel better when I am sad." She says to her friend. Sissi look up at her with a smile and nods once. "Good. it's a date then. Now we should probably get to class."

Both girls get up and dump there trays before heading off to class.

Ulrich glances around the cafeteria before pulling the note out of his pocket. Yumi and Jeremy lean in closer to see. Both get shocked expressions as they read it.

When you read this I will already be gone. I won't be gone long. I just need some time to myself. I am struggling with myself and feel I may be dangerous to myself and others. Please don't hate me.

Jeremy sits back and looks down at the table feeling guilty while Yumi just looks concerned. Ulrich takes a moment to think before speaking.

"Don't worry about him guys." He tells them. They looks up at him confused and he smiles as he stands up from the table. "He can take care of himself and i trust him. If he says he will come back then I believe him. We just need to stay strong and wait for him to come back for us. Now let's go check up on Aelita."

He turns around and walks off to dump his tray. Jeremy looks at him impressed with his attitude while Yumi looks at him with disbelief, trying to figure out when he became so mature.

Cabin

Aelita is awakened with a start as someone pounds on her door. She groggily gets up and opens her bedroom door to find Ulrich standing there. She opens the door the rest of the way before sitting back down on her bed. Ulrich walks over and sits next to her.

"Did he leave you a note to?" He asks her. Her breath is a single shaky word.

"Yes" He turns to her as she speaks and can't help but be a little angry at Odd. He could have at least told her in person.

"Don't worry. He will be back." he tells her with a smile. She glares at him.

"I hope he never comes back." She says with a ferocity he had never seen her use before. She refuses to look Ulrich in the eyes after saying it and he just sighs.

"You don't mean that." He tells her. She jumps to her feet and glares at him.

"You don't know that. You barely know me." She almost yells at him. He stands up and looks at her like she were a small child and she flinches slightly.

"Except that I know exactly what your going through. Your angry and want to break something and need to vent. You feel like your insides are burning up and you need to let it out before you explode. You want to scream and yell at him and tell him how stupid he is and let him know how much you hate him."

When he finishes all her angry is just gone. He had seen right through her and cut to the heart of the matter. She was unbelievably angry and wanted to just get it all out. But his words seemed to cut clean through her, emptying her rage and leaving her empty and hurting. He steps forward and wraps her in a hug and she hugs him back immediately.

"I know Aelita. I know how that feels. It sucks so much and you feel like you'll never recover. But trust me it's so much worse when you yell at some. When you hurt someone you care for." he tells her. She tears slowly start to streak down her face. "I have felt like that to many times."

After a few minutes she has gained control of her emotions and they head into the living room, where Yumi and Jeremy await them. Aelita sits down in a chair while Ulrich joins Yumi on the couch.

"I know the last couple days have sucked. We lost William and now Odd has run off.

There are new monsters and Electrode is back. It sucks and we were caught off guard and lost a battle." He says. He then stands up and walks by them before turning around to look at all of them.

"But this is not the end. Yeah, we got knocked down but now it's time to get back up. We have to keep fighting. Odd will come back. But until he does, we have to stay strong for him and keep fighting. We owe it to him. He has done so much. He killed electrode twice and save Aelita more time than I can count. He was always at the front of the battle trying to take on as much as possible. He fought harder than any of us.

"But he is now not her to protect us. Now we must protect ourselves. We must push ourselves and show him that we will always be there when he needs us."

When he finishes he looks over his friends and sees a new determination in their eyes. Now they just need something to do.

"Jeremy. I need you to try and find a way to find and save William. Aelita, I need you to start looking through all the data we have on Kenji Hayashi and see if we can find anything useful. Yumi, you and I will just have to wait for a Xanadu attack." Just then Jeremys phone goes off. He pulls it out and sees a flashing red symbol.

"Looks like you won't need to wait." He says.