Author's Note: I do not own Code Lyoko, etc.

Chapter Eleven – Girls will be Girls, Part 1

The train pulled into the station. The girls rose from their seats and walked toward the small crowd of people who waited for the doors to open. The small ding chimed through the speakers and the doors opened. The crowd walked into the station as the girls became part of the crowd.

They followed their crowd toward the mall as the other crowd was heading toward the train. It was as if two rivers of people were flowing in opposite directions. The tunnel leading to the mall was getting closer and closer to the exit. When they walked passed it, they were hit with a huge wave of light. They raised their forearms to shield themselves from the light until their eyes can readjust.

It was only a few seconds before they could see again. They lowered their arms and looked out toward the mall. In their excitement, they walked close to the railing to get a better view of everything.

Story after story, they looked up at the daunting height. It seemed the floors stretched to infinity. They continued looking up until they saw a sun roof that beamed down the sunlight that illuminated the mall. Then their gaze turned downward and saw the same number of floors heading down and another sun roof at the very bottom.

"This place doesn't seem to have over three thousand stores."

Aelita looked around and saw a 3D holo-projection system like the one Trickster was using before they left. Sam and Yumi were still looking at all the wonders the mall had and the countless races that they've never seen before, so Aelita quietly walked over to the large hologram having a pretty good idea what it was.

It was a large 3D question mark rotating around slowly. She touched it and it became the mall directory. Seeing all the options she had, she typed in her query.

"Wow, this is amazing."

"You can say that again, Sam. What do you think, Aelita?"

Yumi turned to see her friend wasn't she was last she looked.

She began to panic, "Aelita! Aelita, where are you?"

She looked around and saw her friend thumbing through the mall directory. Tapping Sam on the shoulder to get her attention, they worked their way through the crowd toward Aelita. Yumi was bumping shoulders and she didn't apologize, she allowed Sam to have that honor.

When she was in reach, Yumi gripped Aelita's arm and turned her, so they could face each other. Yumi held her friend's shoulders firmly in hand.

"Aelita, you scared me. Please don't do that again."

"Yumi…I didn't mean to scare you. You two were so amazed about what you were seeing, I…didn't want to bother you." She looked toward the floor.

After looking at her friend's disappointment, Yumi gave her a reassuring smile.

"Don't worry about it. Next time though, please tell us where you're going. I think the boys would have liked us to stick together after all we've been through."

Aelita shrugged away, "Please, don't mention them."

"Why? You were the one who wanted to keep living for them."

"Just not today, please…" Aelita looked into her eyes as tears began to form.

It took a few seconds, but she realized why she was about to cry, "Oh my god, its today, isn't it? Jeremy's birthday."

Aelita wiped away a tear and nodded, "Yes, it is today."

"I am so sorry, Aelita. I had completely forgotten."

"Its okay. Here I am getting sad when we are in a place like this."

"That's fine, Aelita. You can feel sad if you want."

Aelita shrugged her head, "No, I should be all right now."

"You sure?"

Aelita nodded, "Yes, I needed to get that out of my system."

"Well, where do you want to go?"

"We haven't had anything to eat in a while."

"Okay, let's find the food court." Yumi fingered through the directory and noticed Aelita's query.

"Wow."

Sam walked up to them, "Well, the aliens you bumped into are pissed, but they are moving away from us now."

"Aelita, I think Trickster hasn't been here in a long while."

Sam waved her hand, "Hello? Am I air or something?"

"Sorry, Sam. But according to this data, the mall has nearly seven thousand stores. There are six hundred floors, which have ten to twelve stores per floor. The food court is 275 floors up, near the top."

"Awesome. Once we had lunch, we can plan out what we want to do next."

"Sounds like a plan."

Trickster stood inside a plain room. This was the second in his long line of defenses, but he had nothing to fear because he designed these after all. He moved through the three rooms without effort. After his small maze was traversed, he entered into the living room of his apartment.

It was a brick walled room furnished with a large holo-TV, a leather couch, some posters of Tech conventions, a few tables, and other assorted knick-knacks and furniture that made this place feel like home.

"Where did I put that damn thing?" He rubbed his chin as he made his way to the fridge. He opened the door and saw the beers in there.

"Yep, no one has gotten passed my door. Still seventeen beers…" He pulled one out, "…now sixteen."

He pulled a bottle opener from the drawer and popped of the top off. Taking a quick swig, he began looking around the apartment trying to remember where he put the thing he was looking.

The ash and dust swirled around the destroyed city. Great stone buildings reduced to ruins, the last remnants of their former glory. The girls ran over a cracked fountain and made their way through the street to find some cover.

They kept their backs against the wall. Smoke drifted from the destroyed vehicles parked in the streets. The sounds of battle could be heard in the distance.

Their clothes have also been changed.

Yumi was wearing a black tank top with a katana sheathed and strapped to her back. Her black pants were covered with a thin metal plating down the sides. Her boots had the same plating and an additional attachment. She wore red gloves that fit perfectly over her hands. A transparent plastic visor covered her eyes.

Sam was wearing a gray tank top and camouflage pants. Black military boots graced her feet and she wore the same visor over her eyes. Her hands were covered with black leather gloves. A gun was strapped on both sides of her hips.

Aelita was wearing full plate that covered her top and over her right shoulder down to her forearm. She also had metal bracers and white gloves. She wore hip hugging white pants and exposed her mid-drift. Her two final accessories were white boots and the same visor as her two friends. She didn't have a weapon, but a large shield. Three semtex charges were strapped to her back.

Sam pressed the radio piece in her ear, "The commander says the Psi-slave beacon is in visual range. Their position is being overwhelmed by the converted forces. We have about four minutes until they are taken. So we have three minutes until they are forced to use lethal methods to ensure their survival."

Yumi peered around the corner, "I see the beacon. But it is well-guarded."

They carefully looked around the corner with her. The beacon was a large tower that pulsated a large purple ring over the sky. Five brute-like aliens in large armored suits, their eyes were sewn shut and their large mouths growled as their bloodlust was quaking with the far distant sounds of battle. Three were standing watch along the street and two were personally guarding the beacon. Each was equipped with a large two-handed energy gun.

The girls went back into hiding.

"We have to hurry. Aelita, let's treat this like a tower run. Try to stay close to any place you can find shelter. Sam, you give me cover fire as I run in with my blade. Ready?" She grabbed the hilt of her katana.

Aelita and Sam nodded.

"Go!" Yumi shouted and they ran around the corner.

The first alien was taken aback by their battle cry. Yumi unsheathed her blade and sliced him down in two strokes. The second alien, who was ten feet away, aimed his gun for Yumi and began to fire. She deflected the slow bolts with her blade and dodged them to keep her pattern elusive.

Sam pulled out her two guns and gave her friend the cover she needed. Bullets riddled into him and he fell down dead. They continued to run as their objective was getting closer.

The three remaining aliens opened fire on the trio. Aelita was zigzagging to different places she could hide behind with her shield up, so had little risk of getting hit. Yumi took a bolt into her side and she crouched down as she held the wound.

"Yumi!" Sam yelled and reloaded her gun. A few bolts came her way and she was forced to take cover behind a building. Yumi sat up and winced in pain, but she still had to fight to protect her friends. She flexed her toes making the jetpacks in her boots ignite. She flew through the air and quickly closed the gap between her and the third alien.

The jetpacks stopped, but she continued to fly. Bringing his blade in front her, she stabbed him through before landing on her feet. Using the momentum, she remove her blade, spun around, and sliced him in half. However heroic this move was, she was open for punishment.

The remaining two guards fired and she took two bolts in the chest. Her breath was short and rapid as she looked down at her exposed organs. Then she collapsed and died.

"Yumi!" Aelita shouted and went from behind her cover, but a few shots made her fall back behind it.

Sam shouted, "We've got one minute, Aelita. Prepare to run!"

She emerged from behind her cover and ran toward the beacon. She weaved back and forth before opening fire. Aelita knew she couldn't take them on alone, so she walked over to one of the alien corpses and began to pry the gun from its hands.

Sam fired away and killed another alien. But as she was reloading, the last enemy took this opening in her guard and fired one last bolt. It hit her just below the neck and she looked disbelieving that she had been killed, but joined her friend on the ground. The alien approached her corpse and tapped it with the end of his gun to make sure she was dead.

After he was reassured, he failed to notice Aelita holding the gun unwieldy, but managed to fire a bolt that blew up the alien's head. With the last enemy gone, she ran to the beacon and placed the semtex charges at its base. After the charges were armed, she ran as fast as she could away from the beacon.

She only hoped there was still time. The blast sent her flying a few feet over the ground before rolling across it. As she coughed from the new wave of smoke that drifted over the area, she looked at the beacon falling into destruction.

As she stood up, the entire world seemed to stop. Then floating digital text read:

Scenario 3128a CLEARED!

"The Siege of Nanterre", Normal Mode

Aelita-31245

Sam -12053

Yumi- 6003

The girls were devirtualized and sent back to the real world.

"Here it is!" Trickster shouted as he removed a cylindral stone etched with runes from under his bed.

"I forgot I put it under the bed."

He placed it in his vest and walked toward the door. He gripped the handle as a thought hit him.

"It seems a little too early to end their fun. Besides it is rare to find me here, so maybe a movie before I go to get them."

He walked over to his chair and slouched into it. He picked the remote from the table, turned on the TV, and began to play the movie.

In the small room they played their game. It was one of the many rooms in a holo-arcade, they were three plastic bubbles each attached in a top and a base. On the other wall was a couch to rest on. In the middle of the room was a console and a holo-screen for selecting scenarios and displaying scores.

Yumi and Sam were nearly unconscious on the couch as Aelita was working on the console.

"This is strange isn't it, girls." Aelita said, but as she turned to the others, they did not feel like speaking.

"Sorry, I forgot that you two died in the simulation."

Yumi opened her eyes a crack, "Thanks…Aelita."

"They say that you two should be back to normal in a few minutes. Kind of strange that their method of virtualization is different than Lyoko's, the mind is sent in while the body floats in one of the bubbles and moves just like normal."

Knowing she wouldn't get a response, Aelita continued to go through the system and look at all the scenarios. In a few minutes, Yumi and Sam walked up next to her feeling better.

"So what are our scores?" Yumi asked.

"Well, you are not going to like it." She printed the scores on the screen.

Yumi's eyes widened, "Why am I in third place?"

"Your score gets penalized if you die first. This is why Sam's score stayed what it is."

"Then why did you get a high score?"

"Because I completed the scenario and was alive at the end. Those two achievements gave me ten thousand points each."

Yumi sighed, "So, what do you want to do now?"

"I don't know. The holo-arcade is fun, but dying is killer."

"Okay, then we can go somewhere else."

They walked over to a directory and fingered through the stores.

"Well, the holo-arcade was Aelita's turn. Now it is mine." Yumi said as she looked through. "Oh, we have to do this." She pointed at a store.

"Really? I thought that would be too…girly for you to suggest."

"Since we are in the future, we might as well try it out."

With a nod of their heads, the girls walked to the elevator and went down a couple dozen floors. They were going to go to a great place for them to relax and unwind, Francis Sequas's Spa and Fashion Boutique.

Trickster walked out the black door and it locked into place. He was feeling rather good after the movie he just watched, but that was all about to change.

"Trickster!" Said a rough voice through the dark.

"Oh no, not you." Trickster said unenthusiastically.

The creature that approached him stood three heads higher than Trickster. Its large arms sloped down as it hobbled on all fours. Its head was shaped like a lizard's with a frog's large throat. Its large ears hung down and his small beading eyes pierced into Trickster's gaze. He is a Bagolan, but not just any…

"Kerdva…"

"Trickster, you and I have a score to settle."

"Not about that Pordara Sail Race again? That was four years ago and I told you to check your rotor. If you did, then you might have won instead of floating in space for three days."

"No…I am not here about that."

"It's not about that fight we had a year and a half ago? How many more times do I have to kick your ass?"

The Bagolan grabbed Trickster by the collar, "Not anymore, today I am done with you!"

He wheeled his arm back and threw Trickster across the air. The strength that a Bagolan has is not to be taken lightly as the Human was sent high up. He must have flown over a few city blocks by now. He spun him the best he could to see where he was going and soon caught the sight of a large building approaching fast.

"Crap."

Next Chapter, Trickster and Kerdva have their battle as the girls enjoy themselves. Also, there is a surprise.