Angel: Remember guys, Wednesday I have to update later because I have exams that morning, so please don't be concerned if I don't update early like I usually do.
At the factory, the others are waiting on one missing person. "What could Yumi be doing?" Jeremy looks at his watch. "We have to get some data out of Sector Five."
"It's not like her to be late," Ulrich says as him, Odd, and Aelita are standing in front of the scanners. Amy is already on Lyoko waiting for them.
"Maybe she's with William," Odd suggests to Ulrich's disdain as he gives a jealous hmm. "I said maybe!"
"By the way, Jeremy, have you made any headway on the antivirus recently?" Aelita wonders, to which Jeremy looks unconfident about.
"Well...actually, it's going kind of slow. I'm missing a lot of important codes."
Aelita frowns a bit, crossing her arms. She knows that Jeremy is doing his best, but she'd like to see a little bit more progress. She couldn't spend her whole life trying to find data for this virus of hers.
"But with a little luck, we'll find them today," Odd tries to assure her.
"And then it's ciao, XANA. We'll finally be able to shut down the supercomputer," Ulrich adds. He couldn't wait for that day to happen so his life could go back to somewhat normal. XANA wasn't lenient on any day, and he could really use the extra time to catch up on schoolwork.
"What's the hold-up, Jeremy?" Amy asks, leaning against a tree.
"Yumi still hasn't arrived yet."
The already-late aforementioned girl is running down the sewer tunnel, skateboard in hand.
"We better forget about Yumi," Jeremy looks at his watch again as it's already late, and they had to get back to school before they missed class in the morning. "I'm transferring you."
Yumi skates down the tunnels as Jeremy starts up the virtualization process. "Hang on, Amy. I'm sending the others right now."
"Yumi hasn't shown up, huh? Well, at least I won't be bored anymore. It's getting a little lonesome. I almost wish some monsters showed up."
Jeremy chuckles a bit as the others enter the scanners.
Yumi crawls onto the bridge, running as fast as she can.
The scanners close the three in. "Transfer Odd. Transfer Aelita. Transfer Ulrich. Scanner Odd. Scanner Ulrich. Scanner Aelita."
Yumi descends down using the elevator, but it's already too late as the three have been virtualized. "Virtualization."
They land in the forest sector in front of Amy.
"Missed us?" Odd winks at Amy. She giggles at his playful tone and when she looks away, he rubs his neck sheepishly. He still had those...lingering thoughts of her. He didn't understand it, why wasn't he able to get Amy out of his mind? He couldn't even sleep without her appearing in his head. Her smile, her laugh, her energy...everything about her was enchanting.
But he knew that it had to go away sometime. Right, they would go away and he would stop thinking about his best friend in that way.
"Now head for the edge of the sector, okay?"
The doors open and just when they're about to leave, Jeremy turns around to see the late member. "Oh, there you are."
"Hi Jeremy. Sorry, I..."
"Hurry up. I'll tell them to wait for you," He says quickly and she presses the button, closing the doors. She descends down into the scanner room, walking up to one and turning around. "Virtualization."
Yumi lands on the grass, surrounded by all her friends. "A little longer and we would've started the party without you," Odd jokes, Amy shaking her head at him.
"Where were you?" Ulrich asks and she turns her back to him.
"Had something to do," She gives a vague answer.
Ulrich remembers Odd's prediction, scoffing. "Yeah right, like being with William."
"Huh?" She places her hands on her hips. "Hey, don't you get tired of being jealous all the time?"
"Ah ha, I knew it, you were with him!"
"You can believe whatever you want. Be a jerk if you want, too."
"What's this about William?" Amy whispers in confusion, Aelita pointing to Odd. She crosses her arms at him and he holds up his hands in defense.
"Hey, I only said maybe."
"You must think I'm really dumb," Ulrich retorts as they don't see three monsters approaching.
"Careful, you have visitors," Jeremy's voice snaps then out of it.
"Hey, settle this later, okay?" Odd asks as three Kankerlots approach. "I'm gonna give 'em a little Odd acupuncture," He readies his arrows.
"Aelita, take cover," Ulrich orders and she silently goes to hide behind a tree. He pulls out his sword, Yumi pulling out her fans as Aelita runs past her. One of the Kankerlots fire and Odd narrowly misses it. Amy flips over the projectile that was coming towards her.
"Laser Arrow!" He fires straight at one, defeating it. "One down. Great way to start off the morning."
Yumi jumps into the air, throwing a fan but missing. The Kankerlot fires and she backflips to behind Ulrich, who's deflecting lasers with his sword.
Odd fires another Arrow, but has to backflip again. "Watch it! More Kankerlots at five o clock!"
Odd turns to two more of them, getting hit in the stomach once. Ulrich speeds over to help, deflecting a laser before stabbing a Kankerlot in the eye. It explodes behind him and a Kankerlot fires at Amy. She pulls out her spear, spinning it around and deflecting it. The monster turns around and fires at Ulrich next who gets hit in the shoulder.
Yumi spins her fan as she throws it, hitting a Kankerlot from behind and catching it.
Odd runs as a Kankerlot is firing at him, jumping and firing straight at it, watching the monster get destroyed. He lands near Ulrich, who's backing away from a Kankerlot. It prepares to fire, but Ulrich backflips, slicing it with his katana.
"Green Luxuriant Ivy," Amy holds up her hand, watching the Kankerlot in front of her get captured by vines. The Kankerlot tries to get free, wiggling around as it sees Amy walking away. It fires at her, but she holds up her spear, deflecting the shot and hitting the monster as she continues walking towards the others.
"Pretty interesting welcoming committee," Odd comments as two more Kankerlots arrive.
"What do you expect? XANA hates it when we go fishing in Sector Five."
Ulrich glances back at Yumi only for a second, seeing the Kankerlots. "Two more." He doesn't notice the Scyphozoa heading straight for the geisha.
As Odd and Ulrich are distracted by the Kankerlots, Amy opens her wings, flying over the Kankerlots as a diversion. "Laser Arrow!" Odd jumps off a tree and fires twice, defeating a Kankerlot.
"Oh no! The Scyphozoa!" Jeremy holds his head. The three look behind them as Yumi drops her fans, the Scyphoozoa doing something.
"Yumi!" Ulrich dashes to her and slices off the tentacles. Yumi falls in front of him. "Yumi, are you okay?"
"I don't know," She sits up, holding her head. "I feel kind of funny."
"Well, anyway, it seems to have scared the Kankerlots away," Odd looks at the leaving monsters.
"This is so weird," Amy murmurs, glancing to where the Scyphozoa left.
"Why would they go after you? We'll abort the mission. Materialization Yumi. Materialization Odd. Materialization Amy."
Odd and Amy step out the scanners, but when Yumi's opens, she's not inside. "You must have tripped on your fingers, Einstein. Yumi isn't here," Odd tells him, Jeremy looking at the computer in confusion.
"J-Jeremy?" Yumi stammers as she's still in the forest sector with Aelita and Ulrich. "Is something wrong?"
"Uh...no, I must've made a mistake," Jeremy tries again, even though he didn't make a mistake. "I'll reboot the program. Materialization Ulrich. Materialization Aelita." He notices that while Ulrich and Aelita's ID cards are disappearing like they should during this process, Yumi's is not. "Materialization Yumi." Hers does start to deplete, but when Ulrich and Aelita come in, Jeremy starts to grow nervous.
They four watch as the scanner opens up, but with no Yumi again. "Missed again."
Aelita and Ulrich gasp in shock, growing worried. Jeremy holds his head in guilt. "I can't believe it! Yumi, I don't know what's going on, I can't devirtualize you!"
"What?" She asks in confusion.
"Go and hide in the tower while I figure this out. Direction south southeast."
The four have gathered around Jeremy in the lab. "I'll find the bug. You're safe in the tower."
"It's not XANA I'm worried about, Jeremy, it's the principal."
"Huh?" He murmurs, wondering if Yumi was in trouble with him.
"Oh no, I almost forgot," Ulrich realizes what she's talking about. "Today's the class picture!"
"What class picture?" Jeremy turns back to the screen.
"Hello, the 9th grade picture. It's this morning. One day suspension for any unjustified absence. Thanks a lot, Delmas," Odd complains, Amy sighing.
"It's not something worth missing, Jeremy. That goes on your record."
"Can you just picture my parents' faces if...if I get suspended?"
"I'll do all I can, Yumi, I promise," Jeremy did not want to be responsible for getting his friend suspended.
"Hey, I have an idea. You know what a great actor I am, right? With a wig, dress, and little makeup, I can take your place in the photo and bam! Signed, sealed, and delivered," Odd offers, Amy rolling her eyes at his dumb plan. Odd, for one, was a boy. And second, he and Yumi were dangerously great in height.
"Signed, sealed, and suspended is more like it," Yumi replies from inside the tower. "No way."
"Hang on a second, huh?" Ulrich walks up to the screen. "That's not a bad idea."
"There, you see? Ulrich finally admits that I'm a great actor," Odd smiles at his friend happily.
"You? You stink," Ulrich corrects, making Amy laugh. Odd pouts at him as he can hear the brunette. "I know a really great actress."
Sissi is in the girls' bathroom, adjusting the skin on her forehead. She hears a knock and opens the door, glancing to her left.
"Hi Sissi," Ulrich greets as he, Amy, and Odd are standing there. "C-Can I talk to you for a second?"
"Uh, well, yeah, of course," She closes the door behind her. Amy raises an eyebrow as Sissi doesn't sound like her usual bratty self.
"I have something really important to ask you," Ulrich rubs his neck, not sure of how Sissi would interpret his words. He was expecting her to be flirty.
"Oh, me?"
"And in exchange, I'm ready to do whatever you want," He offers, as with Sissi, nothing was free.
"Anything?"
"Well, almost anything." He wasn't going to kiss her again.
"In my opinion, when the Scyphozoa attacked you, he gave you some kind of bug, Yumi," Jeremy explains as Aelita is standing next to him.
"Could it have stolen some of my memory?"
"That's strange," Aelita looks to Jeremy at Yumi's suggestion. "It's my memory that XANA seems to be after."
"If you ask me, the Scyphozoa took something else from you. Stand still. I'm launching a digital analysis," Jeremy types in some keys, a screen of Yumi's silhouette appearing, scanning her body while she's in the tower. Eventually, one of the strands come back wrong.
"Oh no! I don't believe it!"
"What's the matter?" Yumi asks in concern as she lands back on the pad. Given Jeremy's worried tone, it didn't sound good at all.
"The Scyphozoa stole the sequence code for your human DNA."
"Oh, what's that?" She had no idea what that was.
"Well, when you're virtualized, you keep your human DNA sequence code. You can't do without it. It defines your molecular structure which is-"
"Okay, okay, just get to the point," Yumi interrupts in worry.
"...No DNA, no way to get back to Earth."
Aelita gasps in horror.
"Oh no!" Yumi gasps, and if she was able to cry, she would've...
"I'm listening," Sissi crosses her arms, waiting for Ulrich to speak.
"Well, since Yumi can't be here this morning, I'd like you to stand in for her, um, in the ninth grade class photo," He smiles sheepishly at her. Sissi was the only girl he knew with natural black hair, and probably the only one who was Yumi's height. He really hoped that he could pull this off and not get Yumi into trouble.
Sissi stares at them for a few seconds, smiling softly. "Okay."
"Huh?" The three turn to each other in confusion at her kind tone and because she actually agreed to do something for Yumi. The same girl that she dislikes because of Ulrich. "Y-You'll do it? And, um, what do you want in exchange?"
"Oh, what do you think I am? I don't want anything at all. Just call it a personal favor to you and that's that." And with that, she walks off with a hum, Amy's mouth wide open.
"...Are we sure that was Sissi?"
"Oh, this can't be true," Yumi paces around, "What about my parents and school and my brother? You have to find a solution, Jeremy. My whole life is on Earth!"
"Don't panic, Yumi. I'll do everything I can."
"What...if..."
"You have an idea?" Jeremy glances to Aelita.
"I think so. Send me to Lyoko."
"What are you gonna do?"
"Just trust me this time." If she told him, he would never allow her to do it. And she really wanted to help Yumi. She can't stand one of her best friends being so sad...
"Alright. I'll bring you up close to the tower."
"A quarter of an hour to put on a dress and a wig," Ulrich puts a hand to his forehead as they're waiting outside Sissi's room. "Unbelievable."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Amy raises an eyebrow at him.
"Uh, well, I mean-"
The door suddenly opens and Sissi is wearing a chin-length wig, with a blue long-sleeved dress that shows her knees and brown boots. The collar of the dress is cut off, along with fabric that would cover her shoulders. "There we go. What do you think?" She smiles, walking past them.
"Not bad," Odd says after a few seconds. "The hair looks like Yumi's."
"Yeah, but she doesn't dress like that. She always wears black, and her dresses are longer and less..."
"Less sexy?" Sissi smiles in amusement, Amy snickering. "Well why don't you bring me one of her dresses?"
"Right, good idea, we'll try," He says as she reenters her room.
"Should've thought of that earlier," Amy mutters as Odd turns to them.
"Sissi's being...strangely helpful."
"Yeah, I suppose. Weird, huh?"
"I guess some people are full of surprises," Amy shrugs slowly.
Aelita steps in the scanner, turning around fully for the scanners to close her in. She's transferred, scanned and then virtualized.
Ulrich approaches one of the doors of the Ishiyama house, pulling it open. "Cool, it's open, I'm in," He turns to Odd and Amy on the grass, who would be his lookout. "Piece of cake. Warn me if you see anyone coming."
"We read you loud and clear, general," Odd salutes with a smile. Ulrich smiles back at his response and goes inside. He silently closes the door behind him, glancing around the house.
Now, if he were an Ishiyama, where would his room be...?
Aelita lands on an Overboard and flies down the path.
"Okay, Aelita, the tower is nearby at ten o'clock," Jeremy reports, seeing Yumi's dot there. While she's flying, Aelita hopes that she can help her friend...
No matter what she had to sacrifice.
"I'll have another Shiro. You did a very good job on the white bean paste." Ulrich hears Mr. Ishiyama's voice, quietly sneaking past the door. He suddenly hears a game sound and looks down to see one of Hiroki's game systems he left lying around.
"You know, Takeo, I've been feeling depressed lately," Mrs. Ishiyama confides in her husband. He looks up, wondering if Yumi knew about this. "You don't pay any attention to me, it's almost as if you never listen to me anymore."
"Mmm, delicious," He hums at his meal, Ulrich moving slowly to another door. "Oh, sorry, what were you saying?"
Ulrich quietly opens the door to the hall and closes it, smiling in amusement.
Aelita is zooming to the tower, but not all is quiet. "Watch out for monsters! Aelita, now will you tell me what your idea is?"
"No!" She denies as she makes a sharp turn, Jeremy looking annoyed. She said to trust her, but right now, her vague demeanor is making him a little skeptical.
Ulrich sees the stairs in front of him, tiptoeing over. "It's always the same thing. My mother warned me not to marry a man from Tokyo!" Mrs. Ishiyama laments. Ulrich reaches the top of the stairs and opens the door to Yumi's room. He eyes the stuffed plush in the corner, chuckling at it. Never would he think that Yumi would have that in her room.
Aelita enters the way tower where Yumi is.
Ulrich looks to the wardrobe and opens it to find her clothes. "Bingo!" He chuckles as he takes one of her regular outfits.
Aelita is using the interface to commence her plan. "Aelita, please tell me what you're up to."
"There," She ignores Jeremy, turning to Yumi. "Process launched."
"What process?" Yumi asks her.
"The process of transferring my DNA sequence code to your virtual structure," She finally reveals, Yumi gasping in shock.
"What?!" Jeremy exclaims in surprise. "Are you crazy?!"
"Jeremy, Yumi's place is on Earth," Aelita speaks seriously, staring at Yumi. "If anyone should stay on Lyoko until we find a solution, it's me." She didn't care if anyone disagreed, she didn't want Yumi to be stuck here like she previously was. Not being able to live...not being able to see her family again...she just couldn't let that happen.
"I don't agree with that. Aelita, stop it-" She presses a button to cut him off.
"I knew he was gonna say that."
"You know you're making a big sacrifice, Aelita," Yumi tells her.
"Call it whatever you want to."
"Aelita, do you hear me?" Jeremy calls out, but there's no answer.
Aelita closes her eyes, Yumi leaning forward. A blue ray comes from Aelita's forehead, connecting with Yumi's.
"Aelita! I can't believe this!" A pop up shows Aelita's DNA sequence code depleting. "I don't even know how that kind of transfer works!" He tries to do something, anything, to stop the process. "Oh no! This is unbelievable!"
While Odd and Amy are standing outside, Ulrich stuffs Yumi's clothes underneath his stomach. "Okay." He leaves the room.
"I'll go and wait for Hiroki."
Ulrich gasps as Mrs. Ishiyama sounds close, quickly closing the door. Mrs. Ishiyama reaches the top of the stairs just as Ulrich's phone rings from his pocket, pulling it out to see a message from Jeremy. "Huh? Yumi?" Mrs. Ishiyama walks up to the door, thinking that Yumi left her phone at home. She looks inside to see no one, Ulrich's phone lying on Yumi's bed.
"Darling? Have you seen Yumi?" Mr. Ishiyama calls out and she closes the door shut.
"No, she must've left for school already." Ulrich moves away from his hiding spot behind the dresser. "She forgot her cellphone."
Ulrich picks up his phone slowly, looking to the window...
Odd's playing a game on his Gameboy, cheering as he won. "Odd Della Robbia takes first place! He's the king of the world!"
Amy rolls her eyes. "Fine, you beat me. But I'm only giving you this win because you're my friend."
"Thanks, Ames," He turns to look at her, immediately blushing as he sees how close they are to each other. Her face is so close...she's so beautiful. Wait, why am I still having these thoughts?! She's my best friend! I can't like her like that.
And yet he so badly wanted to know what her lips tasted like. Amy stares into his eyes and they lean in, their lips about to touch from a few inches.
This is it. We're about to kiss.
"Amy..." He murmurs huskily and she blushes at how he said her name like that.
"Odd..."
"Odd!"
Just when they were about to kiss, Ulrich had to go and interrupt it. "Huh?" They realize what they were doing and quickly move away, looking up to see Ulrich crawling down to them using the pipes from the gutters.
"Guys, is that how you stand guard?"
Odd quickly looks around, anywhere away from Amy. Ulrich jumps and lands behind his friends. "W-We didn't see anyone go by."
"Did you, um, get the dress?" Amy rubs her neck, wondering how much Ulrich saw. He simply holds up his shirt, revealing Yumi's clothes. His phone rings from his pocket again and this time, he answers it.
"Jeremy, sorry. I didn't mean to hang up on you, but it was either that or getting caught by Yumi's mom."
"Listen to me. Aelita is on Lyoko transferring her DNA sequence code over to Yumi."
"Uh, so what?" Ulrich asks in confusion, glancing at an awkward Odd and Amy. "You mean that's not a good idea?"
"No. Aelita doesn't know that when she transfers her code over, her memory will be exposed."
"What? Are you saying that XANA will just be able to steal it at will?" Ulrich wonders, Odd moving past him.
"I'm sure that's why the Scyphozoa attacked Yumi. It's another one of XANA's little evil schemes!"
"Then warn Aelita, tell her to stop," Ulrich suggests, Amy looking at the dress.
"I can't. She's cut off all communication with the tower, so you've gotta get to Lyoko fast!"
"Okay," Sissi looks at Yumi's clothes once the trio has given it to her. "I wouldn't exactly call it glamorous, but it'll do. You can count on me."
"Thanks, Sissi. I owe you one."
She smiles at him, watching the three leave. Ulrich catches up with a silent Amy and Odd. "Hey, so what happened outside Yumi's house?"
"Nothing," They say in unison, confusing him.
They're acting so weird...
"Only ten more minutes before the transfer," Aelita informs Yumi, determined to do the right thing. "Everything will be just fine."
"Girls. You leave 'em alone for five minutes and it's a mess after mess," Odd comments, glancing at Amy who stays silent. What was I thinking trying to kiss her? I don't wanna ruin our friendship. But it felt so nice being close to her...and my heart was pounding so fast...
"Jeremy," Ulrich dials the genius, "Warm up the scanners, we're on our way."
Amy pulls back the cover and climbs down first, followed by Odd. They skate down the tunnels, skidding off the railing at the stairs. They run across the bridge and enter the elevator, Ulrich pushing the button.
Sissi walks up to the 9th grade class, sitting in front of William.
"Transfer Amy. Transfer Ulrich. Transfer Odd. Scanner Amy. Scanner Ulrich. Scanner Odd. Virtualization."
William places a hand on Sissi's shoulder. "Hey Yumi. I was looking for you in the school yard this morning," He smiles at her before noticing that Yumi's cheeks are bare, unlike Sissi's. "Hey, wait. Who are you?"
"That's the principal's daughter," Matthias notices her cheeks. "It's Elizabeth. Too weird."
"Uh, listen, first of all, the name is Sissi, and second of all, just shut up, okay?" She wanted to get this over with before she got in trouble.
"Okay, Elizabeth," He says with a teasing tone, William closing his eyes as Sissi slaps Matthias. The other students laugh at him. "Ow, that hurt."
"You should be able to spot the tower now," Jeremy says as the three are riding their vehicles.
"There! There it is. We'll be there in a minute."
"Just one more minute," Aelita says to Yumi, her DNA sequence dropping faster and faster.
"Hurry up, hurry up!" Jeremy urges to the three. Just when Aelita is almost finished, someone stops her.
"Aelita, stop right now!" The trio comes to a stop in front of them.
"If the transfer takes place, XANA will steal all of your memory!" Ulrich explains next.
"Aelita, stop this. Please, we're telling the truth," Amy pleads and she turns to the interface, stopping the process and giving communication back to Jeremy. The genius sighs in relief.
"Jeremy?"
"Aelita, you're so stubborn, that was a silly thing to do!" He scolds as soon as he hears her voice.
"I'm sorry. But I thought I was doing the right thing."
"I understand, and I appreciate it too," Yumi smiles softly at how much Aelita was willing to sacrifice for her.
"You're turning into a real human being," The girls turn to Odd. "You're beginning to confuse generosity with stupidity."
Amy rolls her eyes at Odd's words. "I'm proud of you, Aelita. You were willing to give up your life on Earth for a friend...even if that wasn't the wisest solution," She chuckles a bit.
"Thank you," Aelita smiles at her. Amy was like a mentor to her, and she was glad that Amy saw this in a positive way.
"Anyway, we still have no idea how to save Yumi," Ulrich changes the subject.
"Don't bet on that. I just happen to have a brilliant idea," Jeremy leans back in the chair. "XANA has stolen Yumi's DNA code sequence, so it must be in his memory. And how do we get access to XANA's memory?"
"Sector Five!" The five say in realization.
The photographer stares at Sissi, knowing that she's not a 9th grader. "Why are you dressed up to look like Yumi?" William asks curiously.
"It's none of your business," Sissi narrows her eyes, crossing her arms and hoping to just ignore them.
"Anyway, that dumb haircut of yours is really old-fashioned," Matthias tells her, causing her to glare.
"I never look old-fashioned, understand?" She stands up, "Everything looks fashionable on me!"
He whimpers, not wanting another slap.
The five Lyoko Warriors reach Sector Five, the transporter dropping them off into the Arena. Odd holds his stomach, feeling that same sick feeling again.
"Ugh, it's a good thing I didn't eat breakfast this morning..."
"Quiet down!" The photographer shouts to the 9th grade class as they're laughing.
"He's right, shut up, will ya?!" Sissi yells and her father just happens to hear her nearby. He was talking to Mr. Chardin.
"What's all this noise about?!"
Sissi's eyes widen at her dad as he walks over. "Yumi? Is anything wrong? Yumi, I'm speaking to you."
She tries to get away, but he grabs her arm and he sees her face. "Sissi?"
"Ah, I can explain everything, Daddy darling."
"Daddy darling," The others tease, "Daddy darling." The photo is taken, to Sissi's embarrassment.
"That's enough!"
"By the way, Yumi, just a little detail. Without your human DNA sequence code, you're just as vulnerable as Aelita. If you get hit, you'll disappear forever," Jeremy informs as the five are waiting for the wall to open.
"Great," Yumi mutters under her breath.
"Nice timing, Einstein. That makes things so much better," Amy deadpans as she looks up, hearing Jeremy laugh in embarrassment.
"Sorry!"
"Come on, let's go," Yumi takes the lead out of the Arena, stopping at another wall. It changes into a long hallway and they make their way to the Core Zone.
"The countdown has started," Jeremy looks at the 3 minute time limit. "You have 3 minutes to get out of the Core Zone."
"First, we have to find the key," Yumi reminds him.
"Check at the end of the corridor. I spotted the mechanism on the wall at the end of the room," he checks the room for confirmation and they reach the Core Zone.
"Yes, I see it over there," Aelita points to the key that's all the way across from them.
"Looks like a trap to me, but when you gotta go, you gotta go," Odd starts running to go push it, not noticing a pillar from the ceiling heading right towards him. Ulrich gasps and uses his Super Sprint to dash over there.
"Odd!" He pushes Odd out of the way and they land on the platform, the girls gasping. Another one comes for the boys.
"Watch out!" Aelita warns and they look up to see the pillar descending above their heads. They flip out of the way, Odd glancing at Ulrich.
"The whole ceiling is booby-trapped! Move it!" Yumi calls out to them. They start moving and immediately the pillars try to crush them. One hit, and they'd be devirtualized. Jeremy eyes the countdown as it's now two minutes.
"Faster, guys. You've got one minute left to turn the key!"
Odd and Ulrich jump to avoid the pillars, moving left and right. Odd comes to a stop as a pillar was right in front of him. Ulrich keeps on running as Odd follows him.
"Move it!"
Odd sees a pillar coming down for Ulrich. "Timber!" He pushes his friend out of the way, allowing himself to be crushed and devirtualized.
"Odd!" Ulrich exclaims in shock. Odd figured it was time to return the favor. He looks up to see another pillar and jumps out of the way, finally reaching the key. He pushes it just in time.
"Odd, are you okay?" Jeremy asks as Odd steps out of the scanner.
"Well..." He pants, falling to the ground in exhaustion. Being crushed in Sector Five for the first time took a toll on him.
"Okay," Ulrich turns to the opposite side of the room, watching the pillars rise.
"Good work, Ulrich."
The girls run across the room to Ulrich, gesturing to the door that just opened. "After you, ladies." He follows after them once they pass through.
The elevator starts up, falling towards them as they enter. "Here comes our taxi."
The mechanism then goes up, Aelita looking down at it. "We'd better not miss it. Now!"
The four jump, landing on the elevator and heading towards the Celestial Dome. The elevator rolls downwards before coming to a stop. They run up to the closed door and wait for it to open. Aelita goes through first and stops at the edge.
"Aelita, do you know where to find Yumi's DNA sequence code?" Jeremy wonders.
"Not really, but I'll manage somehow," She starts to search when Ulrich notices the outer sphere moving.
"The Flying Mantas' nest is about to hatch, we don't have much time left." He hears someone clear his throat and he looks to see Amy. She jerks her head to Yumi, signaling that he should talk to her about their small argument. He nods slowly in understanding and turns to the geisha. "Uh, Yumi, I wanted to apologize for this morning. It was none of my business what you've been doing."
"That's true, but I'll tell you anyway," She says, appreciating his sincerity. "I was buying two tickets for the Subsonics concert. And it wasn't easy. Bad internet connection."
He smiles to himself before she points up. "Look out, the nest has hatched!"
Three Mantas come into the Celestial Dome, soaring over to them. Amy, Yumi, and Ulrich pull out their weapons as one of the Mantas fire. Ulrich absorbs the laser from his sword, Yumi spinning around and throwing her fan. She destroys one of them. Amy throws her spear, but the Manta hits it with a laser, deflecting the weapon back at Amy. She backs up as the spear lands in front of her feet.
"How's it going, Aelita?"
"Nothing yet."
Amy runs forward and picks up her spear while Ulrich is distracted long enough to be hit from behind. Jeremy gasps at how much that hit took and Aelita continues looking, Yumi ducking from a Manta. Ulrich sees a laser coming for Yumi and speeds behind her, deflecting that shot as well.
"That's it!" Aelita suddenly gasps, "I've got it! I'm sending it to you now, Jeremy!"
Ulrich smiles slightly at Yumi, Aelita giving control back to Jeremy.
"Oh. I've got it, Yumi. I'll download back to you in a second."
"I'm gonna be really happy to go ho-" A laser from a Manta hits Yumi, devirtualizing her.
"Yumi!"
"Oh no," Amy murmurs, wondering if it worked as Ulrich jumps onto a Manta's back, stabbing it with his sword. He jumps back to the platform as Amy dodges a laser by holding her spear in front of her. She throws it, destroying the last one.
"Did you have time to reinsert her code?" Aelita asks in worry.
"I sure hope so. You three, get out of there!" He materializes the OverRunner and the Overbike to their right. Ulrich jumps onto the Overbike while Amy and Aelita get into the OverRunner. They start up their rides. "The North tunnel, it's open!"
They boost into the open tunnel, a Manta giving up and leaving.
The three are then materialized as they step out of the scanners, Yumi laying down in front of the scanner that Amy was in.
"Yumi?" Ulrich jumps to her.
"It's okay, don't worry. She's out cold, but she's here with us," Aelita smiles softly. Yumi opens her eyes to see Ulrich smiling down at her. Yumi smiles back.
"How bout you, Odd?" Jeremy looks behind him. "How are you feeling?"
"Ever been flattened by a steamroller?" Odd leans against the wall.
"No."
"It's simple, just get yourself devirtualized in Sector Five."
Jeremy chuckles a bit.
"Your father caught you?" Ulrich asks Sissi once they've returned back.
"Oh, am I gonna get suspended?" Yumi worries and Sissi smiles.
"Don't worry, I saved your day. I'll get punished, but not you. Anyway, I know how to talk to my father. Here," Sissi holds out Yumi's clothes. "Here's your dress back."
"That's a...that was really nice of you, Sissi," Yumi says as she takes it.
"Yeah, she's right. Thank you."
"I told you you could count on me," She smiles again. "See you later." She walks off, Yumi glancing at Ulrich, wondering if she wasn't dreaming either. She also wanted to do something to show her appreciation. Ulrich nods at her.
"Sissi, wait," Yumi places a hand on the girl's shoulder. "How would you like to go see the Subsonics with Ulrich?"
"Are you kidding?" Sissi gasps in excitement as she takes the ticket. "Great!" She smiles happily, the others watching from the vending machines.
"Something's really fishy about the way Sissi's behaving..." Odd says suspiciously.
"Maybe deep down, she's a very nice person," They watch Sissi walk off with the ticket.
"Or she's really crazy about Ulrich," Jeremy adds in.
"What a mess," Odd puts a hand to his forehead.
"Oh come on, it's not that unbelievable...I don't think," Amy crosses her arms.
"Exactly. Some people are just full of surprises," Aelita smiles at Amy, Jeremy noticing that Odd and Amy hadn't spoken to one another for a while now. In fact, when they were walking back from the factory, they avoided each other.
"Hey, what's going on with you two?" Jeremy asks, Amy and Odd glancing away. She didn't want to look at him out of embarrassment, and she knew that he felt the same way.
"Nothing."
"It's not nothing if you're avoiding each other. Come on, out with it," Aelita encourages, Amy walking away.
"I'm going to go feed Kiki. See you guys later."
"Odd?" Jeremy turns to the other blonde for an explanation.
"Amy and I...almost kissed," Odd whispers, the other two glancing to each other in shock.
"You what? But why didn't you kiss her?" Aelita asks him, narrowing her eyes. "Did you say something to her?"
"No, no," Odd waves his hands rapidly. "I didn't turn her down, we just got interrupted by Ulrich."
"So...do you have feelings for her now?" Jeremy is silently wondering if he's lost the bet.
"No...I don't know. Even if I do, it's just a simple crush, right? She's my best friend. I can't...fall for her."
"Odd, there's nothing bad about falling in love," Aelita smiles in amusement. "I think you two are great for each other."
"Yeah..." Odd murmurs, his eyes widening at what Aelita said. He sharply turns back to them. "I-I'm not in love with her! Just wait, this will all go away and things can go back to normal," He storms off, Aelita and Jeremy watching him. As he's walking, he looks towards the ground.
I'm so confused. I wish I had an explanation as to why I feel so weird around her...