I apologize for the long wait. Hopefully this will begin to make it up to you. I had to rewrite this chapter three times because I couldn't get it to work right and I still don't know if I nailed it or not. Either way, this is the best as I think it's going to get and I hope you enjoy it. The songs for this chapter are Time to Cry by the Subdigitals, Rumors by Lindsey Lohan, Sherlock by SHINee, and Energetic by BoA. Odd combination of songs, but I thought them to be fitting. For those who think the one is a little out of place, Sherlock is the song Sam is listening to in one of the scenes. Check out the music video if you get the chance because I thought it was cool.

The week passed quickly. Throughout the week, the LYOKO warriors dropped subtle hints about LYOKO to the Team. They weren't sure the hints were getting through to the young heroes, but they were making an effort.

Eva spent the better part of her nights checking on her family and guarding the factory from the men in black. Since the incident with the men in black at Kayla's house they had not seen them.

The going away party was prepared and ready for Friday night.

"Do you think they're getting the hints?" William asked in English.

They were all in the cafeteria Friday afternoon and speaking English was the best way for their conversation to stay private. The young heroes weren't there at the moment.

"If they're not, they're denser than Odd," said Ulrich.

Odd huffed. "Hey! If they don't get it, I don't know what will. I've practically screamed that I go to a virtual world and helped defeat an evil artificial intelligence that tried to destroy the world."

Ulrich jabbed his finger in Odd's direction. "He has a point."

"Thank you," said Odd with a smile.

Jeremy looked at Aelita. "Are you ready, Aelita?"

"Yes, Jeremy," said Aelita. "I'm so happy this is going to end tonight."

"Finally!" Yumi sighed.

Kayla looked over at Eva. Eva stood up and left the cafeteria.

"Where's she going?" asked Sissi.

Kayla got up and followed Eva.

"Where's she going?" Sissi asked again, this time referring to Kayla.

"Eva!"

Eva turned to see Kayla following her. It came as no surprise to her that her best friend noticed there was something wrong.

"What is it?" Kayla asked.

"It's nothing," Eva answered.

Kayla didn't believe her. "There's something. Are you having second thoughts?"

Eva was quiet for a moment. "In a sense. What if they won't take us seriously?"

"They're here, aren't they?" asked Kayla.

"That's not it," said Eva. "What if they think it's just a computer program?"

Kayla touched Eva's upper arm. "You're doubting yourself. This isn't like you."

"Is it?" asked Eva.

"Eva, I've known you for three years, going on four," said Kayla. "I've bandaged you, stitched you up, and given you CPR. If that tells me anything, it means you're the type of person who will act on an impulse and make the outcome what you want."

"Just because you don't see it, doesn't mean that I don't doubt myself. There are times when I don't have time to doubt and only act." Eva sighed. "I guess I'm just preparing myself for the worst."

Kayla smiled and nodded. "So am I."

"You don't look like it," said Eva.

Kayla arched an eyebrow. "Did you hear a word you just said?"

Eva gave a soft chuckle. "This is really happening."

Kayla frowned in confusion. "You don't believe it?"

"It seems like a dream," Eva said. "I don't know what I'm going to do after this."

"You'll go on living," Kayla said with a laugh. "What makes you think you won't?"

"Kayla, there's always been some conflict for me," said Eva. "Before the men in black, it was LYOKO. Before LYOKO, it was sneaking around to stay in Kadic. Before Kadic, it was putting up with my parents. Before just putting up with my parents, it was Mackenzie. There's always been something."

Kayla put her arms around Eva. "It'll be the end. You'll finally have some peace of mind."

"I'm not going to know what to do with myself," said Eva.

Kayla laughed. "Sleep, for starters. You're starting to look like your LYOKO form when you don't have makeup on."

Eva chuckled again.

Kayla put her hands on Eva's shoulders, careful not to touch the scars on her left and put too much weight on the right. "We're not leaving you. Even when this is over, we'll all still be here."

Eva smiled and gave a nod.

Nicolas left the cafeteria to find Eva. There was no doubt that Kayla would be with her, but since he was technically her boyfriend, Nicolas felt like he should help Eva with whatever she was going through.

"Looking for your girlfriend?"

Nicolas looked at a girl standing by a tree. She had a grin plastered on her face. Nicolas knew her as Sissi's replacement in all things miserable. He didn't know her name and just referred to her as SR.

"If you mean Eva, then yeah," replied Nicolas.

"She's probably with that exchange student in the library," SR said. "I doubt they're doing much studying though."

Nicolas glared. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I'm just saying," SR said, putting her hands up. "He's quite good looking."

"Eva wouldn't do that," Nicolas spat.

"No? Well then, do you know where she is?" SR asked with a smile.

Nicolas stormed off before he did something he would regret. His relationship with Eva was no one's business. Yes, it was much different than the usual boyfriend/girlfriend relationship, but they made it work and they were happy. So what if Eva wasn't the type of girl for public displays of affection? She wasn't much of a kisser either and she wasn't the kind of girl who got excited over flowers and candies. She liked going fishing with him in the middle of the night and sharing poetry. Eva had a way of speaking her heart and making her raw emotions come through when she rapped.

Nicolas found Eva with the exchange student. He also saw Kayla walking off to her next class. Nicolas walked over to Eva and the exchange student. He remembered this one didn't speak any French.

"I need to talk to you," Nicolas said to Eva.

"In a minute," Eva said.

"No, now," Nicolas insisted. "Both of you."

"What is it about?" the exchange student asked.

It took a moment for Nicolas to remember his name. "Someone's spreading rumors, Kal."

"About what?" asked Eva.

Nicolas winced. "You and him."

Eva's dark eyes flashed dangerously. "Who?"

"That girl who makes Sissi look like a saint," Nicolas replied. "I know none of it is true. You're not like that at all."

"I'll take care of it," said Eva.

Nicolas nodded. "Okay."

"And Kal, you don't worry about it," said Eva. She walked away.

Sam was sitting in Aelita's dorm room using his computer to do a last minute mix for the party. She had her own computer with the software she needed at home, but thanks to a computer crash, she couldn't work on it. Aelita had similar software and it would do for Sam needed it for. While she was working, she had a different song playing in the background.

"Hey, Aelita," Jeremy said without bothering to knock.

Sam jumped. "Jeremy! Don't you know how to knock? What if Aelita was in her and wasn't decent?"

Jeremy blushed at the thought. "Sorry. I wasn't thinking. What are you doing in here anyway?"

"My computer at home crashed and I needed to edit a song for tonight," Sam replied. "Aelita has similar software and she said I could use her computer."

"Oh. Do you know where Aelita is?" asked Jeremy.

"No, did you need something?" Sam asked.

Jeremy sighed. "I just wanted to talk to her. Actually I want to talk to somebody."

Sam saved the file she was working on and turned around in the chair. "You can talk to me. I'm not as smart as Aelita and I'm not your girlfriend, but maybe I can help."

"I'm just nervous," said Jeremy.

"LYOKO's a big part of your life," said Sam. "I've only been on it to spar with the others, but you original warriors fought to save the world. That's a lot of pressure. I'm not surprised that you're attached to LYOKO."

"That's true," said Jeremy.

Sam offered a smile. "I don't know what you're going through, but everything will be okay."

Jeremy smiled. "I think that's just what I needed to hear. Thanks, Sam."

"No problem," said Sam.

Jeremy took a second to listen to the song playing in the background. "What are you listening to?"

"K-pop," Sam replied. "I thought I would expand my music listening selection to get some ideas for future songs."

"Whatever you like," said Jeremy.

The Team went back to their hotel before they went to the party.

Robin sat on the bed with his legs crossed and was looking at his holo-computer. He had the list of clues the Progressive Warriors had been dropping over the week. Robin was sure it was intentional. The clues he had to work with were Carthage, Schaeffer, supercomputer, A.I., and top secret government project.

So far it was all information Robin and the Team already knew. The only one that was standing out was the A.I. clue. The original Project: Carthage was not an A.I. from what Robin could tell from the files he hacked. It had to be part of this Code: LYOKO.

"Reprogram," muttered Robin.

"What'd you say, Rob?" Wally asked.

"I'm trying to figure out the clues the Progressive Warriors gave us," said Robin. "We knew what most of them were, but this A.I. was giving problems. What if the A.I. is Code: LYOKO? All this is is a computer program that was able to destroy Project: Carthage. It's possible that it's capable to wiping out entire computer systems. I think they have something that could knock us back to the Stone Age."

"So it's just a computer program?" said Wally. "Shouldn't be too hard to get it then."

"It may be," said Robin. "It would take a supercomputer to run it and they know where it is. We either need to find the supercomputer or find Waldo Schaeffer."

Wally looked at his watch. "Well, we have tonight to figure out where they are."

"Our best chance is to talk to Aelita," said Robin. "Schaeffer's her father. She would know where he is."

"Sounds easy enough," said Wally.

"What about the music video?"

Wally was startled and Robin just smirked at Wally when Conner made his presence known. He was standing in the doorway of their room. Behind him was the rest of the Team.

"Why go through all the trouble to create such an elaborate music video if they were only trying to tell us about a simple computer program?" Kaldur asked.

"There's nothing simple about this program," said Robin. "This could cripple the world if it got into the wrong hands."

"And the government wants it to replace Project: Carthage," said Artemis.

"Exactly," said Robin. "We have to get Aelita to tell us where the supercomputer holding LYOKO is or where her father is hiding. We have to get that computer program."

"Kaldur is right about the music video," said Wally. "Why go through the trouble? Something like that is probably expensive to make."

"Is there a clue in it that we missed?" Megan asked.

Robin pulled up the music video and let it play.

"Do you -? No, you'll think it's crazy," said Artemis.

"What?" asked Wally.

"What if there is an actually virtual world they can go to?" Artemis said.

"That does sound kinda crazy," said Wally.

Artemis glared. "You asked!"

"Well, Aelita's our age when she should be in her twenties," said Robin. "Maybe there is something to it."

"We will learn what it is tonight," said Kaldur.

"How should we do this?" asked Megan. "We can't tell them to tell us where the program is, can we?"

"We will confront them openly as a last resort," said Kaldur.

Robin cackled. "I think they already know who we are. I think if we ask nicely, they'll tell us."

"Perhaps," said Kaldur. "But we should let them come to us. After all, they contacted the League in the first place. It seems wrong to come in and take over a situation they know more than us about."

"Then why call us at all if they don't want us to take over?" asked Conner.

"We need their trust," said Robin. He looked at the time. "And we have to leave soon. We can't be late for our own party."

The party was in full swing when the Team walked into the gymnasium. Aelita was at the turntables. The rest of the stage was set up for a performance from the Progressive Warriors.

"This is great," said Megan. "We're going to have fun. Come on, Conner!" She grabbed his arm and pulled him to the dance floor.

Wally looked at Artemis. "Wanna dance, babe?"

"Yeah," replied Artemis.

Wally's face brightened.

Artemis walked passed him. "But not with you."

Wally's face fell.

Robin laughed. "Burn."

The rest of the LYOKO warriors were enjoying themselves before they had to go on stage. The party was casual dress, but there was one person in a suit jacket and fedora. Long brown hair was pulled back in a ponytail.

Kayla had on a gold sleeveless top with short matching skirt and yellow leggings that stopped just above her knees. She walked over to the teen in the suit jacket and fedora.

"She's eying you up again," Kayla said.

Dark eyes peered up from below the brim of the fedora. "Just like before," Eva commented.

Kayla smiled. She looked over at the girl they were talking about. Kayla's rival from dance class, Aria, had transferred to Kadic this year. She had effectively taken Sissi's place as the most annoying, snobbish girl in the school. No one really liked her and Aria had a special place in Eva's book after she yelled at Aelita for having nightmares and screaming in her sleep. Sissi had saved Eva some trouble that night when she told Aria off.

Odd came over with his camera.

"Taking up journalism, Odd?" asked Kayla.

"No. I just wanted some shots of my own." Odd panned the camera across the dance floor.

Eva looked at Aria again out of the corner of her eye. "Keep recording, Odd. I have a feeling you're going to get a good shot soon."

Odd wandered off.

Eva and Kayla started dancing.

"How many people realize you're Eva?" Kayla asked.

"After seeing 'Phantom Angel,' probably most of them," Eva replied.

"Do you think she does?" Kayla gave a small nod in Aria's direction.

The corners of Eva's mouth twitched. "Why do you think I told Odd to keep recording?"

Kayla stifled a laugh.

Kaldur looked around the gymnasium. He felt out of place here.

"Hey."

Kaldur turned to see Ulrich. He was holding a drink cup in his hand.

"You don't look like you're enjoying the party," Ulrich said.

"I do not know anyone here," Kaldur said. "I do not speak French, so conversation is a bit difficult."

Ulrich gave a smile. "I'm speaking English and so do my friends. You can come over with us until we have to get on stage."

"That is generous of you," Kaldur said.

Ulrich led Kaldur over to where Yumi and William were.

"Where's Odd?" asked Yumi, speaking in English out of respect for Kal.

"Probably wearing out the batteries in his camera," replied Ulrich. "He tore our room apart looking for this afternoon."

"We're set up for our set," said William. "Aelita's going to be done in the next fifteen minutes."

Jeremy joined them. He was wearing a nice shirt and pants.

Ulrich smiled. "Look who got all dressed up."

Jeremy looked at the floor. "I thought it would be nice."

"Wait until Aelita gets a look at you," said Yumi.

Eva and Kayla were continuing their dance.

"She did what?" Kayla whispered when Eva told her about what Nicolas said to her earlier. "You and Nicolas are something special. Why would Aria do something like that?"

"She doesn't like me," Eva replied. "You know how she is. If she doesn't get her way, she makes everyone miserable."

Kayla nodded. She lost count of how many times Aria tried to hurt her for being better than she was.

A hand was placed on Eva's right shoulder. "May I cut in?" asked Aria. She had a sickening sweet smile on her face.

Kayla glared. "No, you may not."

"I didn't ask you," Aria sneered.

"She speaks for both of us," Eva said, keeping her voice in Ricky's persona.

Eva and Kayla tried to continue their dance. Aria pushed her way between the two. She put her arms around Eva's shoulders.

"Aria, let go," Eva said.

"Not until you see things my way," Aria said with a smile.

Eva reached up and removed Aria's hands from her shoulders. She then reached up and took off her hat with one hand and pulled her ponytail out with the other. Aria took a step back in shock.

"Eva?" Aria whispered, horrified.

"Yeah," Eva said, dropping the act.

"But Ricky," Aria stuttered.

"Is me."

"But I kissed you," said Aria.

"And I called you a slovenly cow."

Aria let out a scream and ran for the door. The students around Eva and Kayla saw what happened and laughter followed Aria out as she ran.

"I got it on camera!" Odd yelled, jumping up and down with his camera held high.

Aelita finished up her set.

"I guess that means we're on," said Kayla.

Eva nodded.

The Progressive Warriors got up on stage and took their places. They opened with "Color Wheel", then moved onto "Mystery Girl," "We'll Carry On," "Un Monde Sans Danger," and "Madness is True" from L'Elfe et le Fantasme days. They ended it with "Phantom Angel."

Aelita got ready to do another set at the turntables. When they were in the middle of "Un Monde Sans Danger" she started to feel sick.

"Aelita, are you okay?" asked Ulrich.

"Why wouldn't I be?" she asked.

The others gathered around.

"You don't look so good," Yumi commented.

"I can take the next set for you," Sam volunteered.

Aelita nodded. "Thank you."

Eva took Aelita's arm. "I'll take her up to her room. You guys get the sidekicks. We'll start telling them."

"What about me?" asked Sam. "I'll be here."

"We won't take them to the factory without you," said Odd. "Don't worry."

Eva escorted Aelita out the gymnasium and to the dorms.

Wally saw the other Progressive Warriors minus Sam coming over to the Team. "What happened? Where are Eva and Aelita going?"

"Aelita's sick," said Jeremy. "Eva's taking her up to her room."

"It's not serious, is it?" asked Megan.

"She's probably tired," said Kayla.

Jeremy knew it was now or never. "We have something to tell you, but we can't do it here."

Robin nodded like he knew what they were talking about. "Can you meet us at our hotel at midnight?"

"We can do that," said Jeremy.

"We'll see you then," said Robin.

They went their separate ways.

"Do you think this is a good idea?" Herb asked Jeremy.

"All of us need to be there," Jeremy replied. "This concerns all of us."

The Team was having the same thoughts.

"Can we trust them?" Artemis asked.

"Yeah," said Robin. He turned to Kaldur. "I didn't mean to go over your head."

"It is all right, my friend," said Kaldur. "I would have handled it the same way."

You fans of the entire series probably were wondering if Aria was ever going to find out that Eva was Ricky. I thought I would do something with her as some sort of comedy relief since everything has been so serious with the LYOKO warrriors. Hope you got a good laugh out of it.