The 8th grade science class is watching an ant farm. "Ants are social insects like termites or like bees. A single individual is incapable of any personal initiative. All of the decisions are made by the colony. Ants receive a few simple orders such as search for food, mark the path leading to the food, and follow a marked path. As a result, we might have the impression that each ant is rather clever, and in fact, this has more to do with a collective intelligence."
"You mean an army of Sissis could be intelligent?" Odd laughs at the thought. "I don't believe it."
Everyone laughs except the aforementioned girl herself. "Very funny. Shut up, bird brain."
"Settle down, please," Ms. Hertz orders, turning back to the glass cage. "As I was saying, thanks to their numbers, they manage to accomplish some fairly difficult tasks such as finding food or defending themselves against an attacker. It would seem that ants even waged full-scales wars between different colonies."
Her explanation gives Jeremy an idea, one that would be beneficial in their fight against XANA.
"What about killer ants?" Ulrich holds up a finger. "Do they exist?"
"Well, yes," She chuckles a bit, "Maybe in movies, Ulrich."
The class laughs at him instead of Sissi, making him huff. "But there are in fact army ants, that destroy everything in their path. And it's true that you'd best stay out of their way."
"And, uh, do any of those filthy bugs live around here?" Sissi wonders.
"No, fortunately. They live in South America. Down there the phenomenon is called Marabounta."
"Phew! I'm glad I live in a country where there's no danger," Sissi comments, to which Odd, Amy, and Ulrich smile at. Oh, the irony. The bell rings and they leave the classroom, Jeremy still looking at the ants, intrigued. One of them moves its tentacles and he smiles a bit.
They sit together at lunch, Odd taking bites out of Jeremy's food. Jeremy watches the walking stomach stuff himself. "Saturday's my favorite day. No school in the afternoon."
"I like Sundays better. No school at all."
"Hmm," Odd hums in agreement.
"You seem worried, Jeremy," Aelita notices that Jeremy had barely said a word, not even when Odd took his food from him. "What's on your mind?"
"Franz Hopper's notes, Aelita," He explains his concerns, "Last night I decoded a really interesting part on a multi-agent system. It's a computer application that follows the principle of an anthill. What happens is-"
"Oh no, Mrs. Hertz is already bored us to tears with all that ant stuff. Don't you start now," Odd warns, the others laughing except Aelita.
"I think I speak for all of us when I say to not bring class to this table," Amy puts a finger to the table, taking a bite out of her mini potato.
"Seriously, this time I might've found a way to weaken XANA. Let's meet up at the factory after lunch, I'll explain everything."
Aelita stands up. "Well normally I'd love to, but I have to finish my Italian homework. Amy, you're good in Italian, right?"
"Si, princessa. Sono uno con l'italiano," Amy winks at her and Aelita giggles.
"What did that mean?"
"I am at one with Italian," Amy presses her hands together, bowing her head. Odd laughs at her, finding her Italian really intriguing.
"Meet me in our room when you're done. See ya," She walks off, Jeremy looking at Odd.
"Uh, no, I have to practice for a skateboard competition," Odd stammers, picking up his tray. "Ames, when you're done with Aelita, meet me in the gym."
"Okay," Amy waves at him as he leaves, Jeremy pouting. He really thought Amy would help, but not only is she busy, she's doing two things in one afternoon. "Sorry Jeremy," She gulps down the rest of her drink and leaves the cafeteria.
"Yumi?" Jeremy glances up at her.
"Sorry, I've got swimming after school," She smiles softly, hoping he'd understand. "Bye bye."
Ulrich watches her leave, frowning to himself. Don't William and Yumi have the same class? That means he would be there too...trying to make moves on Yumi. And that was the last thing that Ulrich wanted; to give William an advantage. He doesn't have plans, but he does now.
"What about you, Ulrich? Are you doing anything later?" Jeremy asks as the boy's attention is on William, who was waiting near the cafeteria doors.
"Yeah, I've gotta be somewhere..."
"Oh yeah? Where?"
"The swimming pool," Ulrich stands up, picking up his tray and walking past Sissi, who watches him.
"Right, well, since everyone else has better things to do," Jeremy takes a sip of his water. "I'll just deal with it myself."
At the factory, Jeremy cracks his fingers, sitting in the lab chair. "Okay, here we go." He gets to work on his plan, with a few magazines nearby on ants sitting on the floor, for inspiration.
Amy hums as she opens the door to her room, seeing Aelita with a pencil in her hand. "I'm here."
Kiki barks, wagging her tail as she walks up to her owner. Amy smiles, bending down and petting her dog on the head.
"I'm really stuck on this one phrase, Amy," Aelita holds out the worksheet. Amy takes it from her, sitting on Aelita's bed and examining it briefly.
"Hmm. Mmhm. Oh, I see what you did. It's a trick question; there's more than one way to say this one," Amy points to Aelita's answer.
"There is?" Aelita asks in confusion as she peeks over Amy's shoulder.
"Well, yeah. Sometimes verbs can have more than one word but mean the same thing," Amy shrugs at her. "No biggie, as long as you remember, then you should be fine."
"Hm," Aelita picks up a pencil, glancing at the girl. "Soooo...how are things going with Odd?"
"What do you mean how are things going with Odd? They're fine. We still hang out and sit in class together. Sometimes our dogs have a playdate."
"No, I mean romantically," Aelita smiles widely, Amy's eyes widening as a deep blush is on her face.
"They're...not."
"Oh come on. There's nothing going on?"
"No, Aelita," Amy sighs slowly that she has to explain this, putting a hand to her forehead. "And I'd prefer it if they'd stay that way."
"Is it really that bad to just see what it would be like?" Aelita asks curiously, putting a finger to her chin. "It wouldn't change that much since you two are really close."
"It IS a major change, Aelita," Amy stands up, crossing her arms. "He's my best friend, and this is Odd we're talking about. He is trying to date every single girl in our grade."
"Odd would do anything for you, Amy. Even change that part of his life."
"Just because it's a possibility doesn't mean I should do anything about it," Amy whispers softly, glancing at Kiki. "Think about it. My relationships and grades are the only thing I can control in my life. All this other stuff with XANA just happened like it was nothing, but my love life I have a say in."
"That's not true," Aelita shakes her head. It didn't feel like XANA was just thrusted into her. Most of her life was living on Lyoko.
"That's how it feels," Amy replies back. "Having to go through the same day again...having to deal with everyone like I should be friendly and happy all the time. Sometimes it just takes a toll on me."
Aelita closes her eyes in sympathy.
"But...I do it because I was lonely. And I'm glad that I met you guys," Amy smiles softly, Aelita returning the gesture. "Thanks for listening."
"That's what roommates do!" Aelita says in Amy's usual tone with a wink, both of them laughing at their new inside roommate joke.
Meanwhile, William walks onto the diving board, wearing only black swimming trunks with red stripes on the sides. His hair is slightly messy as he glances at Yumi sitting on a bench near him. She's wearing a black one-piece bathing suit and he smiles, jumping off and diving into the water. Ulrich has a scowl on his face as he crosses his arms, a blue towel around his neck. His trunks are black with green stripes on the sides.
Hearing clapping, he turns to a smiling Yumi, William leaning on the edge. Ulrich bravely walks up to the diving board, Sissi stepping out in a two piece bikini. Ulrich glances at William and Yumi, climbing up to the diving board.
Sissi looks around for Ulrich until she looks up, seeing him at the diving board. She continues to watch as Ulrich glances at Yumi. William can sense him watching and looks up.
"What do you know? Isn't that Ulrich Stern about to dive?"
Yumi looks up, surprised to see him. He looks away from her gaze and holds out his arms, everyone else watching. Yumi can only watch as he jumps off, but his foot trips as he's landing, causing him to fall headfirst.
"Ulrich!" Yumi exclaims in worry as he body-plants into the water. Sissi gasps in shock and William comes to Ulrich's rescue, pulling him out and dragging him to the surface.
"Out of the way! Let me through!" Sissi tries pushing past the others as they run up to the two boys, Yumi helping William pull Ulrich onto the ground. Jim hears the commotion and turns around to see Ulrich on the ground.
"Is he okay?"
"Is he breathing? Is he hurt?"
"Oh, call somebody, he looks like he's..."
"He needs mouth-to-mouth!" Ulrich hears as he slightly opens his eyes. Sissi pushes past the two girls.
"Get out of the way!"
Yumi looks like she's about to give Ulrich CPR, Sissi glaring. If she knew how to do it, she would've stepped up. But if it was to help Ulrich, then she'd say nothing. Ulrich opens his eyes again, seeing Yumi getting closer.
"Let me through," Jim pushes past the crowd. "I've got a first aid certificate."
Ulrich hears breathing, glancing at Jim, Yumi giggling in amusement. Jim pinches the boy's nose and sees Jim taking a deep breath, giving Ulrich air. Sissi looks away in disgust and Jim pulls away.
"There you go." Ulrich coughs, sitting up. "Good thing I was here, huh?"
"Are you okay?" Yumi asks him.
No, he wasn't. He just embarrassed himself not only in front of Yumi, but in front of a lot of students. It didn't help that William had to save him, the last thing he wanted. And Jim...what else could he say? He gets up and storms off, Yumi looking away in sympathy.
"Now for the moment of truth," Jeremy tests the program. A screen pops up as circles duplicate in one group. "Everything seems to be working. "Transfer prototype," He presses enter and the prototype is transferred to one of the scanners. Like with his friends, this program had to be scanned first before it could work. "Scanner. Virtualization."
In the forest sector, a black-liquid orb appears, Jeremy humming in delight. "Come on." The black orb then grows bigger, making it a group. It seeps into the grass, one of the orbs lifting into the air.
"YES!" Jeremy cheers at his success. "Franz Hopper, you're a genius! And so am I. XANA and his monsters better watch out now!" He smiles happily at the thought of it.
Ulrich hears barking and looks up to see Odd and Amy entering with their dogs. Odd has his skateboard underneath his arm.
"Oh, hey Ulrich," Amy waves at him. "Didn't know you were back."
"What's the matter?" Odd notices Ulrich's disappointed stance.
"Nothing," He denies thinly, Amy glancing at Odd. He pushes his skateboard into the room, his phone ringing.
"Jeremy?" Odd answers as Amy notices Ulrich's brooding look.
"I have something amazing to show you guys! Can you meet me at the factory?"
"Okay, soon as possible," Odd glances at Ulrich. He silently wonders what happened to make him so upset.
"Great, don't forget to go and pick up Aelita."
"Okay," Odd hangs up, turning to Ulrich. "Jeremy's called a meeting at the factory. You coming?"
He didn't feel like seeing Yumi right now after the pool incident. "I'm not in the mood. I'd rather be by myself," He denies sourly.
"Come on," Odd walks up to the door. "If you don't come, he'll get mad."
"You know how Einstein gets when one of us isn't there," Amy crosses her arms. "And it sounds really important, Ulrich."
"Leave me alone."
"Okay, suit yourself," Odd places his hands on his hips. "Both of you can stay here."
"Both of us?"
"Yeah. You and your bad mood!"
"Listen Ulrich, I don't know what happened, and I'm not going to ask, but you need a reality check," Amy tells him, closing the door behind her as the two leave with their pets. They didn't want their dogs to be affected too.
They arrive with Aelita, the two holding onto their dogs. "Ah, there you are. But...where's Ulrich?"
"He's sulking," Odd walks up to him. "I don't know what his problem is."
"Whatever it is, he can keep it to himself with that attitude," Amy rolls her eyes. However, she knows that it had to do with one thing: Yumi. Whenever he was sulking, she was always involved in it. After all, that's what he did when William came into the picture. She was silently hoping that they didn't get into a fight again.
Aelita eyes the screen, confused. "What's this program?"
"It's...Marabounta, my own creation," Jeremy explains, Amy snickering a bit. Not really his own if he had to steal the name from their science lesson this morning...
"And what does it do exactly?" Odd asks curiously.
"It's a multi-agent system that functions according to the same principle as an anthill," Jeremy smiles at his inspiration he got from Ms. Hertz. "But instead of ants, we have these little spheres whose mission is to search and destroy XANA's monsters."
Kiwi and Kiki walk up to his ant magazines, sniffing them.
"I get it," Odd smiles in realization, "While the monsters are getting wiped out by your ants, XANA leaves us alone on Lyoko, is that it?"
"You guessed it!"
"Huh. Practical, and simple," Amy comments, smiling at Odd in amusement.
"Hey, that's great," Odd replies, but Aelita looks a little skeptical.
"But...what if there's a real bug in the program?" With Jeremy putting up a program in a day, there was bound to be a lot of doubt. She didn't doubt Jeremy, he was really smart. But even new programs could go wrong on his watch.
"Impossible. Remember, Franz Hopper was a genius," Jeremy smiles at the name.
"Yeah, that's right. What do you say we go to Lyoko to check it out? If this thing really works, nothing can happen to us!"
"Hey, yeah. I'd like to see this in action," Amy nods at the program.
Aelita glances at them, silently agreeing, but she still didn't trust it.
"You read my mind, Odd. Go to the scanner room. I'll transfer you." He sees Aelita with her eyes closed as she's thinking about the risks. She had no idea how it would affect her and her friends, which is a risk in itself. "If there's the slightest problem, I'll pull the plug. Promise."
Aelita looks away in uncertainty, running to the elevator. She just hoped that she could trust Jeremy on this.
Amy, Aelita, and Odd enter a scanner, Jeremy pressing enter. "Transfer Aelita. Transfer Amy. Transfer Odd. Scanner Odd. Scanner Aelita. Scanner Amy. Virtualization."
They all land on a path not too far away from the Marabounta. "You guys are south of the Marabounta. Take the path to your right. Sorry, but you'll have to go without vehicles. I don't have enough machine resources to bring 'em up. And watch out for the bad guys! XANA may have his hands full, but you never know."
"Roger, general," Odd replies as Amy opens her wings.
"See why I'm glad to have two types of transportation?" She winks, flying above them. Amy watches Odd and Aelita run down the path, flying after them.
"A Krab at two o'clock!"
They slowly come to a stop, seeing it up ahead. "Follow it. It's headed in the right direction."
The Krab does not stop to attack, which is already concerning. Also, it seems to be going very fast for a Krab. They race after it, deciding not to question its sudden speed.
Sissi sits on a bench, taking her break from the water. Someone jumps in as William walks up, sitting next to her. She plays with her left foot as they sit in silence for a little bit. He knows that Sissi likes Ulrich. It was obvious from how she was front and center for everything out of concern for him.
"Have you been crazy about Ulrich for a long time?"
"Have you been crazy about Yumi for a long time?" She asks back. William looks up to see Yumi diving.
"Forever..."
"You've only been here for a few months," She dismisses the fact that William has liked Yumi for that long.
"Don't you believe in destiny with a capital D? Two people who've never met, but who are made for each other?" That's how he felt for Yumi. He was an optimist; eventually Yumi would start falling for him.
"No, I'm not really into fairy tales or cheap magazine style romance stories. I've had a crush on Ulrich since elementary school. I wanna go out with him. That's all there is to it." She wouldn't normally tell other people this, but with William, she could understand how love could be. "If it weren't for that stuck-up Yumi, I..."
Yumi takes a breath of air, swimming to the surface. "If it wasn't for that big shot Ulrich, I..."
Sissi and William glance at each other, noticing just how similar their perspectives were. They both giggle to each other, Yumi standing in front of them.
"Shall we go? I'm getting cold." He stands up and she walks after him, Sissi looking away in thought. William just might understand after all...
But she still thought Yumi was stuck-up.
"Target dead ahead!" Jeremy announces.
"Jeremy, I've got it! I can see the Marabounta!" Odd replies back.
"Well? What's it like?"
"Well...what's the phrase I'm looking for to describe this?" Amy starts off as they see the spheres surrounding the Krab, shocked at the power it has. The Krab tries to move, but then it gets covered in black.
"Pretty scary," Odd finishes for Amy.
"That's it," Amy snaps her fingers and points to Odd for the correct wording. The Krab then disappears into the black mess. A Tarantula tries firing at it to get the Marabounta away, but it eventually engulfs its leg. Four Hornets circle around a pillar of spheres, firing at it to get it away. It explodes into a volcano of goo, destroying all the Hornets in one move. A Megatank opens up in half, firing its big laser. It has no effect on the Marabounta, engulfing the Megatank fully and taking it inside the goo, making it explode.
"I never thought I'd ever say it, but I really feel sorry for XANA," Odd comments to the girls.
"I'll uplink you a visual, Jeremy." Aelita pulls up a video feed of the Marabounta crawling away.
"It's working even better than I thought it would," Jeremy says, impressed.
"If you want my opinion, Einstein, you've invented yourself a nasty piece of work," Odd tells him.
"Nasty is right. It looks like black acid," Amy comments in disgust. "But, effective."
Jeremy smiles at the praise.
A Tarantula is swallowed up by the black/grey ooze. "Jeremy, I've...seen enough. I wanna come in," Aelita glances nervously at the ooze.
"Yeah, okay, Aelita. I'll bring you back. Head southwest. There's a tower nearby."
"Got it," Odd takes the lead, Amy putting a hand on Aelita's shoulder.
"Come on, Aelita." They're about to move when the ooze surrounds their feet.
"ODD!" They both call out. "Look!"
He turns around at their voices, seeing their dilemma. "Odd, Amy, Aelita, what's going on? Answer me!"
Odd doesn't answer as he fires his laser arrow at the Marabounta. He clears a path for them and they run away from the ooze. The Marabounta chases after them, Odd pointing his arm at it while he's running.
"Laser Arrow!" He fires twice at it.
"Odd, Amy, say something!" Jeremy urges to know what is going on.
"Your Marabounta seems to have it in for us!"
"Yeah, and I don't like it!"
"This isn't the time for jokes, I programmed it to attack XANA's monsters only!" He replies back, and he doesn't even see their dots on the screen.
"Well, could you program some eye glasses for it, then?"
"We're not joking, Jeremy. Why do you think we're running AWAY from it?"
"This can't be right," Jeremy says in disbelief. "Did you do something special?"
"No, except for firing a few laser arrows." He can now see the three dots as the Marabounta is seeping towards them.
"That wasn't the smartest thing to do," Jeremy silently rolls his eyes.
"Jeremy, Odd didn't have a choice. The Marabounta was coming after Amy and me," Aelita defends Odd.
"Oh, how can that be?" Jeremy gasps in shock, deciding to check something. "Unless...oh Jeremy, idiot! It's my fault. It's the virus implanted in Aelita. The Marabounta thinks she's one of XANA's monsters."
"But why would it attack me?" Amy asks, looking up. "I don't have the virus."
"I wish I knew."
"Great, nice work, Frankenstein. I thought we had nothing to worry about," Odd retorts. Some of the ooze catapults forward, hitting Amy's wings and absorbing them.
"Oh no!" She shouts as her wings completely disappear, making her fall to the ground. Odd and Aelita help her up and she continues to run in pace with them.
"I was wrong. Okay, head for the tower. I'll kill the program." The Marabounta is dangerously close behind the trio as Jeremy taps enter...but nothing happens. "Oh no! Oh no. Oh, no, no, no!"
"Whenever you're ready, Jeremy."
"I'd really like it if it could leave now!" Amy exclaims urgently.
"I can't deactivate the program. It seems that the Marabounta doesn't wanna die! The Marabounta's become autonomous. It'll submerge everything and everyone in its path. I'll brief Yumi and Ulrich."
He calls Ulrich, but he doesn't pick up. "Come on, Ulrich, what are you doing? Will you pick up?"
Ulrich allows his phone to ring, glancing at it. He's lying down on his bed, hands behind his back. He didn't feel like talking to anyone right now, so he doesn't bother to get up. "Boy, that guy can really pick the right day to sit and sulk," He then calls Yumi, who's back in her room at home reading a book. She picks up her mobile and puts it to her ear.
"Jeremy?" She puts down the book as she listens to him. "Huh? What are you talking about? What do you mean a Chattanooga?"
"Marabounta," He corrects her, "I can't explain now. Just get here ASAP. Amy, Odd, and Aelita are in big trouble. Ulrich's at school, but I can't reach him. I don't know what's going on with him!"
"I do. I'll get him and we'll be right over," She stands up, wondering if Ulrich would even listen. She hoped so, their friends were in danger given Jeremy's tone.
Odd comes to a stop as they see something up ahead. "Hey, Jeremy, I think we lost your monster, but now we're kinda lost ourselves."
"I, um, sorry, guys." Jeremy's so distracted by the situation that he forgot to guide his friends to the way tower. "Take off in the direction, uh, due west. The Marabounta hasn't hit that sector yet. In the meantime, I'll find a way to stop it, and hopefully find out why it went after Amy, which is really weird..."
"Don't blow it, okay? I don't wanna end up as chewing gum!" Odd exclaims, the three running off. "And Ames, you be careful around that thing. I don't plan on losing my best friend anytime soon!"
"Right," Amy murmurs, glancing at Aelita, who smiles a bit, winking at her. Amy rolls her eyes and continues running.
Yumi enters the boys' dormitory and knocks on Ulrich's door. There's no answer and she closes her eyes, knowing that Ulrich was still upset. But their friends' lives are on the line and they needed all the help they can get. She opens the door, hands on her hips.
"I was sure I'd find you here."
"What I need is for everybody to leave me alone, especially you."
She looks surprised by his tone directed at her. All she had done was watch him attempt a dive. She didn't make him do that. "Hey, if you wanna make a fool of yourself in front of everyone, don't blame me. No one asked you to spy on me at the pool."
"Spy on you?!" He had no idea how she knew his real reason, but he didn't care. He couldn't obviously let her know that he was only there so that he could watch her and William. "You've gotta be kidding. I just happened to be there, okay?"
"Oh yeah right. What an incredible coincidence," She replies sarcastically. "Anyway, do you mind shelving your ego for a minute? Odd, Aelita, and Amy need us on Lyoko," She shuts the door and he scoffs. He really didn't feel like going anywhere, but his friends needed him...
Odd, Amy, and Aelita stop again, gasping in shock. Unfortunately, the Marabounta is blocking their path to the tower.
"Jeremy, bad news. The Marabounta got here first. And without Amy's wings, the tower is unreachable."
Aelita gasps, backing away.
"This won't take me long. I'll find a way to stop it, I promise," Jeremy informs them. If he didn't, it was bye bye to his friends...and also Aelita... "And Ulrich and Yumi are on the way! At least, I hope they are."
Yumi lifts off the manhole cover, grabbing her skateboard once she's reached the bottom. She throws it onto the ground, skating down the tunnel.
"Oh!" Jeremy gasps, stopping for a second. "No, it can't be! Hopper, help me out a little," He begs to himself, hoping that something from Franz Hopper's diary had some solutions.
The Marabounta advances towards them, Odd firing his arrows. Amy had no idea what to do. None of her powers would work to deflect it. The vines from her Green Luxuriant Ivy wouldn't be able to do anything and the Venus Gobbler would be swallowed in an instant. In this sector, she doesn't have anything that would fire rapidly at it. Nevertheless, she decides to try her spear, swinging at it to get it away from her feet. Odd backs away as he fires from both hands. Aelita glances around as it was getting closer, Odd and Amy running up to her. Odd fires his arrows, Amy swinging her spear back and forth.
"If this goes on any longer, all of Lyoko will be destroyed!" Jeremy says, Aelita and Amy surrounded by the Marabounta near a tree. Amy continues swinging, but it does nothing to stop the monster. It surrounds the tree and Amy pulls Aelita away from it. "Careful. XANA's sending a monster."
"Not the time!" Amy exclaims as a Krab virtualizes in front of them. She stands in front of Aelita, ready to protect her if needed, but the Krab shocks both of them by kneeling towards them. "What...?"
They hold onto its legs, Amy feeling awkward that she's touching it like this. The Krab thrusts its legs so that they fly, landing towards Odd. Odd gasps, looking back to see the Krab that helped him, sacrificing itself to the Marabounta.
"That's crazy! That Krab just sacrificed itself for you two!" Odd exclaims at what he just saw. "I don't get it."
"That's weird. I-I think I understand," Jeremy stammers as two Bloks arrive. "XANA knows he can't let Aelita die. He needs her memory. But Amy...why would they help her?"
Odd is about to fire at the Bloks and three Kankerlots, but they don't attack. Instead, they fire in the other direction. "Hey, what's the matter with them?"
"They're...protecting us," Aelita says slowly.
"Aelita's right. Use them as allies to defeat the Marabounta."
"But why me too? I'm not special to XANA," Amy murmurs to herself. She got the feeling that XANA knows something that she doesn't. What it was, she couldn't begin to imagine.
Yumi finally arrives at the lab. "Ah, at last! But...where's Ulrich?"
"Alone with his pride. Wanna tell me what's going on?"
"No time, go straight there. Amy, Odd, Aelita, hang in there. Cavalry's coming." Odd continues firing with the monsters as Yumi steps into the scanner.
"Laser Arrow!" Odd fires another, trying to get the Marabounta as far away as possible. A Kankerlot fires a huge laser, their group now turning into 7. Aelita smiles that they're helping them for a change. Yumi virtualizes right in front of a Blok. She quickly pulls out her fan and destroys it.
"No, Yumi. Not them," Aelita waves her hands. Yumi catches her fan, turning to the girls.
"The real danger is the Marabounta over there," Amy points the ooze. Yumi turns around and sees the black gunk, shouting in disgust.
"What is that horrible thing?"
"One of Jeremy's bright ideas," Odd turns his head to look at her. "Luckily, XANA's here to give us a hand."
"Weird, huh?" Amy shrugs at Yumi.
"The world has turned upside down!" She comments, running up and throwing her fan at the ooze. She catches it in her hand.
A knock is at Ulrich's door. "Yeah?"
It's William this time. "Hi. I came to see how you were."
"Yeah right," Ulrich sits up. "When you have a good chance to humiliate the competition, you might as well go for it."
"Uh, I miss something here? What's your problem?" William asks in confusion. While he didn't love Ulrich, he also didn't want to get between his friendship with Yumi. And, he did save Ulrich's life. He wasn't expecting him to be grateful, but he also didn't expect this kind of attitude from him.
"You're my problem!" Ulrich points at him.
"Uh, no, that'd be too easy, Ulrich," William places his hands on his hips. "Let me tell you what's wrong around here. My being around Yumi forces you to ask yourself a question. A tough question that you can't answer. Here's a piece of friendly advice. Go and talk to Yumi, from the heart. Or else, one day, I will. And then I really will be your problem." He shuts the door and Ulrich sighs, looking away.
As much as he didn't want to admit it...William was right. Not that he'd ever say that out loud.
"How you doing, Jeremy?" Aelita asks as she's next to a Krab.
"I'll never make it. I'm really the biggest loser to walk the face of the Earth!" Jeremy hides his head between his arms.
"You couldn't have known that my virus would be a problem," Aelita says gently.
"Your virus! Virus! What if...? Yeah, well...that oughta work!" He begins typing, Amy looking up.
"You wanna fill us in, Einstein?" She gets no answer and rolls her eyes, swinging her spear at the Marabounta again. Yumi throws both her fans, making it slide on the ooze.
Ulrich rushes into the park, entering the sewers as quickly as he could. He just hoped that he's not too late.
Odd fires, backing away as Kankerlots fire back, but the Marabounta makes it hard for them to fight back. As it gets closer, the Bloks back away.
Ulrich jumps using his skateboard, sliding off the railing in the process.
"Whatever you do, don't let it make any headway. It'll attack from the rear," Odd warns the monsters as Amy backs away slightly.
"You're a really good combat general, Odd," Yumi compliments.
"It takes strategy, you know? The only thing stupider than a Blok is two Bloks!" He jokes, Yumi throwing a fan.
"Ha ha," Amy shakes her head at him.
"Jeremy, move it. Things are getting a bit out of hand."
"Hey, I'm doing my best, guys."
"We know. We just want you to do it faster," Amy winks as two Kankerlots are engulfed into the ooze and destroyed.
"I think I found a way to destroy the Marabounta," Jeremy says while the three have their backs to each other. "Odd, I inserted a code for a deadly virus in one of your arrows. If you hit a sphere with it, the whole colony will be infected. But-"
"No sweat," Odd is about to fire.
"Wait! It'll only work if you hit the first sphere, the one I transferred to Lyoko that created all the others. It's at the heart of the Marabounta."
"Great, so how am I supposed to reach the heart of the Marabounta? On a camel's back?" Odd wonders as with the ooze covering almost everything, it's impossible to get there without being devirtualized. He hear a noise and turns around to see a Krab offering its back.
"Odd, it's the only way."
Odd gets on top of the Krab's back. "Charge!"
Amy giggles at him. "Good luck, Odd."
"I won't need it, but since it's coming from you, I appreciate it!" He winks at her, letting the Krab lead the way. Amy blushes slightly, Yumi and Aelita grinning to each other behind her back. "Jeremy, would you mind telling how to find the right sphere in all this mess?"
"I'll guide you."
Odd feels a little uneasy as the Krab starts to shake, the Marabounta right underneath it.
Aelita backs away, watching Amy and Yumi helping the Bloks. A part of the Marabounta captures her leg. She screams, making the girls turn around.
"Aelita!"
Yumi runs over, throwing her fan and getting Aelita free. She runs over to Amy as Yumi goes to the other side. Aelita looks down at the Marabounta in worry, looking back behind her.
"Yumi!"
Yumi is covered in the Marabounta before she's gone. "Oh no," Amy murmurs as she's alone now to help Aelita. Yumi groans as she lies down in the scanner.
Amy steps in front of Aelita, swinging her spear. It gets closer and she places an arm in front of Aelita, both of them backing away. "Jeremy."
Suddenly, someone else arrives: Ulrich! He lands on a Blok, slicing away at the Marabounta. Amy helps him and he slices with more force.
Odd is almost there, but the Krab starts slowing down as some ooze is on its legs. "You're almost there, Odd. I'll give you the exact location of the first sphere." He looks down nervously at the partially-covered Krab, looking up and aiming his arm.
"It's okay, I think I found it." He sees one sphere above all the mess floating there.
Aelita looks back at the ooze, hoping that Odd's reached the main sphere.
Odd readies his arrow as the Marabounta is at his legs. "You've only got one shot." He focuses his aim and fires, hitting the sphere.
"Yeah," He cheers, a fire ball overshadowing the Marabounta. Odd is now standing on regular grass, turning to the Bloks. Ulrich glances around at the monsters while Aelita smiles in relief.
"Thank goodness," Amy murmurs to herself. The Blok, Kankerlot, Tarantula, and Krab gather together, simply staring at them. Ulrich and Amy silently prepare their weapons in case the monsters would attack them, but they simply bow to them.
"Look."
"Don't buy it, Aelita," Ulrich warns her.
"Ulrich's right. The Marabounta is gone, but XANA and his monsters are still our worst enemy."
The monsters leave. "He wants your memory at all costs."
Odd joins them, staring after the departing enemies. "That was really weird that the Marabounta targeted you. And that the monsters helped you too," He looks at Amy. "Why?"
"I have no clue...but no matter what, I'll figure it out," Amy narrows her eyes, definitely sure that there's something that she doesn't know. But XANA does. What he would do with that information?
She hoped she wouldn't find out.
"Next time you wanna play being a mad scientist," Odd walks up to Jeremy as they exit the sewers. "Clue us in a little more first, okay?"
"Well, I really tried to, but you all had better things to do," Jeremy points out, "But you're right, Odd, cuz this time I was a big zero from start to finish."
"You found a way out of it, Jeremy. That's what counts," Aelita tells him, smiling. She was just glad it was over.
"I don't get it," Jeremy turns to Amy. "The scans showed you're normal. Why did it go after you?"
"Eh, we'll know eventually," Amy takes the lead back to school.
When they get back to the courtyard, Sissi sees them, turning her eyes away from her magazine. "Well, if it isn't the whole crew."
"Well, if it isn't the brainless frog face."
"Ha ha ha, you crack me up," Sissi retorts to Odd. "By the way, Ulrich, are you feeling better after what happened at the pool?"
"Cool it, Sissi," Ulrich grits his teeth.
"So what happened at the pool, Ulrich?" Odd asks as they're walking up the stairs to Jeremy's room. "Come on, out with it."
"Nothing!" Yumi and Ulrich say in unison. They'd rather not embarrass Ulrich.
"What?" Odd is confused as the two walk up the stairs. He smiles, grinning widely. He might have a good idea of what happened after all.