Amy sits up in her bed, sweat beaming down on her forehead. She can't sleep, not tonight. It's 3:34 in the morning at Kadic. She'd been up since it was time for sleep.
"I can't do this," She whispers, biting her lip.
She couldn't tell the one she liked how she felt, so now she has to hide behind the computer to do it. She'd been Odd's 'internet girlfriend' for a few days now, sending him poems from books. It wasn't from the heart, but they got the point across.
Every day so far had been the same, she'd give him a poem, but she wouldn't say who she was, simply let Odd know it was for him. But it's been harder, he's fallen for 'her,' which is almost destroying Amy's heart. Lying to him felt just as bad as hiding behind a computer.
He was thinking that they were from someone else, but it was Amy.
Today, however, things would be different. Later on, she'd tell him.
"I can do this," She whispers to herself. She prepares to text Odd.
So, where do you go to school?
She takes a deep breath and a few minutes later, a ping comes from her phone.
Kadic Academy. I have the greatest friends there, especially Amy. What about you?
"Okay, ease into it, Amy..." She takes a deep breath.
I go to Kadic Academy, too.
Cool!
Aelita opened the door to the Hermitage, paper being flown to the side. The place was still as empty and creepy as ever. She walked forward, touching the dresser. It emitted dust and she stopped, seeing three black-suited men.
Amy walked up to her from behind, confused on how she got there. "Aelita?"
"Amy..." The men walked forward and they both screamed.
Aelita sits up in bed, surprising Amy. She turns on her lamp. "...Another vision?"
"Yes, but this time...you were there."
"Me?!" Amy asks in shock, wondering what exactly that meant...
"So, I appeared in the Hermitage with you, and then it ended there?" Amy asks as Aelita is washing her face in the bathroom. Sissi walks in and Amy scowls at her.
"Was that you screaming, huh?" She narrows her eyes in annoyance.
"It's, uh," Aelita starts crying as she remembers what happened. Amy hugs Aelita, glaring at Sissi.
"I think that's the least of your problems, Sissi!"
Sissi looks at her in surprise. "Sissi, what's all this about?" Jim arrives at the door.
"It's Aelita Stones, Jim. She isn't feeling well," Sissi answers, not wanting to cause more trouble.
"What about you? You're not sleeping," He walks up to the girls.
"Me? Uh, well...uh, she woke me up."
Amy gets a vision of a man in black and grows a bit pale.
Jim escorts the girls past Jeremy's door and the boy opens it. "Aelita, Amy, what's going on?"
"It's, uh...nothing," Aelita immediately denies, not wanting others to hear. The doors down the hall open, people peeking out in concern.
"Okay, go back to bed, everybody, go on," Jim tells them and the students do so.
The same morning, Aelita has told the others about her nightmare. "It was daytime. There were these men in black, coming after us. It was horrible."
"You must've had a nightmare," Yumi assumes, smiling a bit. "You shouldn't get worked up, it happens to everyone."
"Yeah, that's right," Odd is leaning his arm on Ulrich's shoulder. "Happens to me all the time. One night, I dreamt I was on a date with Sissi. Can you think of a worse dream?"
"Ew," Amy scrunches up her nose in disgust. "Don't remind me of her. Last night she was all bitter because Aelita woke her up. But why would I appear? That's never happened before," Amy thinks to herself.
"Speaking of which, how's your internet dating going, Odd?" Yumi wonders and Amy cringes to herself.
"Great. There's this fantastic girl that I've really flipped over, too. And I just found out that she's a student right here at Kadic Academy! It's totally crazy," He looks away, wondering just who it is. Amy scratches her cheek at how smitten he seems to be. Way different than any other girl, not even Sam has that same effect on him.
Ulrich, Jeremy, and Yumi notice Amy's silence, looking to each other. She doesn't seem to bothered by it, unlike with other girls. In fact, it's almost as if she knows this girl.
"I see her every day, and I have no idea who she is!"
"And what's worse, he stayed up all night exchanging chat messages with her. I didn't sleep at all thanks to him," Ulrich jerks a thumb at Odd. He then notices the bags under Amy's eyes. She looks like she hadn't slept either.
"She sends me these messages that are so romantic. I mean, like poems. Listen to this," Odd looks at his phone. "Love is not looking at one another-"
"It's looking together in the same direction, huh?" Jeremy guesses in amusement.
"Hey, how do you know that?" Odd looks down at him.
"It's a poem by the guy who wrote The Little Prince. She may be romantic, but she's not very original!"
"Ha ha," Amy mutters under her breath. Poetry was not something she was an expert in, so she just took the random book from her bookshelf and went from there.
"Okay, it's time to get wet. Are you gonna cut swimming again, Einstein, huh?" Ulrich asks. Jeremy has been cutting swimming for a while. Anything athletic he would cut.
"No, I can't," Jeremy answers reluctantly. Just like with gym, he would usually avoid it and do something else that involves Lyoko. "Jim has already warned me. 'No more dumb excuses, ya hear?' "
"Great, we finally get to see that buff athletic body of yours. I can't wait!" Odd teases him.
"You may be surprised," Jeremy gives him a thumbs up.
"I gotta text my girl that there's not much to see," Odd whispers to the others, walking away. As soon as he's gone, Ulrich raises a brow at Amy.
"Hey, you wouldn't happen to know this girl, would you, Amy?"
"No," She immediately denies, trying to keep a straight face.
"Then why do you look so tired? What kept you up all night?" Yumi leans in closer and Amy stands up.
"I was...studying."
"We don't have a test," Aelita replies in confusion.
"I'm not studying for a test, I'm studying for, uh...uh, it's not important," She walks off to her room, the others eyeing her suspiciously.
Until Amy came up with a solid alibi, they were going to keep a close eye on her and her electronics...
At the pool, Jim stands in front of them, giving a lecture. "The human body is made of 90 percent water, and that is why it floats. Because, contrary to what you might think, water floats. Don't forget Archimedes principle. Any body plunged into a liquid and...wait, is uh...a, uh..."
"Comes out wet?" Odd jokes, glancing at Amy. She has a green one piece swimsuit with a butterfly logo where her chest is. Her hair is in a high bun. He blushes, trying to keep himself calm about her legs...and her hair...
But then his internet girl comes to mind and the images go away for now...
"Uh, yeah right. No, that's not it." Jim grunts in frustration. "Now, no one has to be scared of the water. Unless of course you're lost at sea somewhere in the middle of the Indian Ocean. In that case, you would certainly have the right to say 'wow, that's a lot of water!' "
"Tanya?" Odd murmurs to himself, trying to guess who his internet girl could be. "No...I know who it is! Yeah, sure, it's Sophie! She kind of fits the profile of all those chat messages."
"What makes you think it's a girl in our class?" Ulrich whispers to him. "It might just as easily be Milly or Tamiya."
"Which reminds me of when I was a salvage diver!" Jim paces in front of them.
"You used to be a salvage diver, Jim?" Nicolas raises a brow.
"I'd rather not talk about it," Jim glances at the blonde.
"Azra? No...no way, she's not a first-year student, either. I forgot," Odd looks to Ulrich.
"Maybe she's in Yumi's class," Ulrich chuckles at the thought. "And what if it's Anais Fiquet? To her, you're a real shrimp!"
Amy rolls her eyes in amusement at how clueless they are.
"Stern and Della Robbia!" Jim points to them accusingly. "Uh, I'm sorry if I'm boring you. Alright, on deck. Let's see what you can do."
Aelita holds her head as it's pounding. Amy rubs a temple, getting the same feeling. Jeremy glances at Aelita. "You okay?"
Aelita opens her eyes, not answering. "You too?" Jeremy notices Amy's state.
Odd and Ulrich step up to the platform, and Amy tries to pay attention, but she couldn't. Her head is just not letting her concentrate all of a sudden. Jim blows the whistle and the two jump, diving in. Aelita holds her head again, squeezing her eyes shut. She sees the men in black again and so does Amy. They run away, Amy taking the lead. She grabs Aelita's hand and they run down the stairs to another hall. They see something and run the other way, the men chasing after them.
The two suddenly get up and fall into the pool, sinking towards the bottom.
"Aelita!" Jeremy shouts, pinching his nose and jumping in. Odd sees Amy falling and swims towards her. Jeremy swims towards Aelita. He wraps an arm around her neck, swimming towards the top. Odd grabs Amy's waist and swims to the surface.
"This time it was much more detailed," Aelita explains once they're in their room. "There was still the men in black, but it was at the Hermitage with Amy again."
Odd is chatting with his online girlfriend. Amy is underneath her blanket, hiding herself from them.
"The doctor said you two passed out from the cold," Yumi explains.
"That may be, but...what about the visions? Where are they coming from, Jeremy? And now Amy's appearing in them?"
"I haven't the slightest idea. Although, I'm sure that it's no big deal. The best thing is for you to get some rest now. We'll talk about it later," Jeremy suggests.
"Right," Yumi looks at her phone for the time. "I've gotta go. I'm already late."
"Us too," Jeremy looks at his watch. "Ms. Hertz is gonna kill us!"
"Wait a minute," Odd calls out. "I'm just about to find out who she is."
"Come on, Odd," Ulrich closes the laptop. "You can talk to your cyber girlfriend after class."
"Take the computer with you," Jeremy offers.
"Thanks," Odd walks past him.
"See you two in a bit, girls. Odd and I will come back again and check on you after science," Jeremy closes the door, Aelita waving to them. Amy sighs in relief as she lifts the blanket off of her.
"So," Amy yelps to herself as Aelita is smirking. "You're the mystery girl Odd is flipped over?"
"Oh no..." Amy murmurs, placing a hand to her head. She's such an idiot, why did she make it so obvious? "...Well, you've caught me. Yes, it's me."
"So you finally admit you have feelings for him?" She asks in surprise, sitting up happily. "Oh, that's so great! I thought Yumi and I would have to create an intervention sooner or later."
"Heh...yeah..." Amy looks at her phone nervously.
"But why do you have to hide it?" Aelita wonders, tilting her head. "Why not just tell him?"
"I'll get to telling him eventually, Aelita, it's just...complicated. What if he's angry that I tricked him?" Amy frowns at the thought. Odd was already mad at her once, she couldn't go through with that again if he never wanted to speak to her next time.
"Come on, you know that's not true, Amy. I can tell he likes you too, and not just because you're talking to him online."
"...Do you think..." Amy looks up at her roommate. "Do you think that he'll be happy it's me?"
"I'm sure of it. Why wouldn't he like you? You're a great friend to him and a sweet, fun girl. Any guy would be lucky to have you," Aelita smiles at her and Amy smiles back at the praise.
"...Just not Jeremy or Ulrich," Amy chuckles at the thought.
"Agreed," Aelita smiles a bit and she gets up outta bed. "Now come on."
"What?" Amy asks in confusion. "Aelita, what are you doing?"
"The only way to make sense of these visions is go to the source. I know you're curious about them too, Amy, and I wanna find out what's going on. Aren't you wondering how you play a part in this too?"
"Of course, Aelita," Amy closes her eyes. "I've been asking myself how it's possible for a while now, but...we need to rest. We could've drowned if it weren't for Odd and Jeremy. Maybe we should hold off on it."
"I'm going with or without you, Amy," Aelita narrows her eyes. "I need to find out the truth."
Amy sighs at her argument. If she didn't, Jeremy might blame her...well, he'd blame her regardless of her decision. And...she has been wondering about this mystery for as long as she can remember. Ever since Aelita was brought to Earth, she's been having the same visions as her...and she still doesn't know why. The Scyphozoa attack on Sector Five, the effects she had when the supercomputer was breaking down...
She doesn't have the virus. That, she's sure of. But the connection to Lyoko was clear. She had something to do with Sector Five, and Aelita was obviously involved too. How, she had no idea.
So, her final answer?
"Okay. I'll go. But only because I wanna know too, and someone needs to look after you. Every time you go off alone anywhere, you can never escape trouble."
Aelita giggles in amusement and they change clothes to head off into the forest.
Science class is starting as Sissi takes out her books. Odd bumps into her. "Hey. Can't you look where you're going, you clumsy dork?"
"Oh, sorry, Sissi. I mistook you for a door post," He chuckles, walking to his desk behind Jeremy. He puts down the laptop and opens it. He starts chatting with his internet lover again. "Hey, she's in our class. She said that she's not here, but she's scheduled for science now with Ms. Hertz."
"That's weird, why wouldn't she come?" Ulrich raises a brow. "Most of the time, everyone's here." Come to think of it, the only ones not here are Aelita and Amy, making the suspect list very small now. But that couldn't be possible, Aelita doesn't internet date...
So that left only Amy. Though, unless she figured out how to chat message from a phone, there's no way it could be her...
"Odd, pass me the computer," Jeremy snatches it back to Odd's protest. He was just about to ask why she wasn't here...! "I forgot to check something."
Ms. Hertz slams down the stick on her desk. "Settle down and be quiet, please! Open your books to page 99."
To Jeremy's worry, there's an activated tower. "Oh no! An activated tower."
"Huh?" Ulrich asks in surprise. Jeremy raises a finger.
"Ma'am, can I go to the bathroom?"
"Uh, me too?" Ulrich also raises a finger.
"Uh, me too!" Odd chimes in.
"No, no, you don't. It's always the same with you three. You should have gone before class!" Ms. Hertz scolds. "And put that computer away before I take it away!"
Aelita and Amy walk into the forest together, heading to only one destination. Amy sighs slowly at her phone as Odd has logged off. She figured out how to direct chat messages to her phone since she only has a desktop computer and not a laptop. It was like clockwork.
Aelita has her eyes closed as she sees the men in black again. She then sees the Hermitage and they see the old house in their sights.
"...I can't believe you talked me into this," Amy turns to Aelita.
"You just say yes to me too often," Aelita winks at her.
"Mercury freezes at 38 degrees below zero Celsius," Ms. Hertz draws diagrams and formulas. "At room temperature, it is therefore in a liquid state. We use it in certain devices such as thermometers for instance, because it expands with heat."
Jeremy glares down at his watch, silently hoping for the end of class. With the time advantage, XANA could do anything he wanted to...
The two girls approach the stairs, walking up to the entrance. Aelita peeks through the upper window before Amy opens the door. They glance around the messy entryway, suddenly envisioning how it used to be...
They glance at each other before continuing on. All of a sudden, Amy somehow knows what this old house used to look like. But that shouldn't be possible, because she's never been here before...
Not that she knew of, anyway.
They walk forward and stumble upon the kitchen. The two stare at it, wondering why it all looks so familiar...
They walk up to the living room.
Franz Hopper played Twinkle Twinkle Little Star from the piano. Amy and Aelita walked up to him, noticing his fingers moving eloquently.
Amy shakes her head, snapping out of it. "Calm down, Aelita..."
"You saw that too, right?" Amy murmurs at her, Aelita nodding.
"Also, a very heavy metal, which means what?" Ms. Hertz turns around to her class. "Sissi?"
She draws a heart, looking up. "Um...uh...it means...that a pound of metal weighs, uh, nearly a ton?"
The class laughs, Ms. Hertz giving a look of unamusement. The bell rings and Jeremy immediately stands up, rushing out of the room.
"Warn Yumi," He tells Odd and Ulrich once they're out of there. "I'll go get the girls. We'll meet up at the factory."
Ulrich dials the Japanese girl, waiting for her to answer.
The two walk out of the living room, walking up the stairs now. They look down the hall, gasping to see two rooms right next to each other. One of them is pink, with childhood toys. They then see the room back in its original state, looking around. Aelita holds her head, Amy placing a hand on her shoulder.
"Calm down..."
Amy walks out and sees the other room, which is slightly larger and seems to be fit for an older girl. She tilts her head at it in confusion.
"Aelita," Jeremy knocks on their door. "Amy." He opens it to see Mr. Puck left behind on Aelita's pillow, with Amy's family photo from the Hermitage laying on her bed. He dials Aelita to see where they went.
Her phone ringing snaps Aelita out of her thoughts. She picks it up. "Jeremy?"
"Aelita, where are you? And Amy's gone too, is she with you?"
"We're at the Hermitage," She explains in worry.
"But you two should be resting!"
"These visions are haunting us. We've gotta know where they're coming from," She tells him, Amy re-entering the room.
"Right, anyway, listen. You both oughta know that XANA's on the offensive. The others are already at the factory. Don't move, I'll come and get you both."
"We're big enough to make it to the factory ourselves," Aelita defends, Amy crossing her arms. She didn't need an escort. "Amy can look after me, she's old enough."
"Okay, but hurry."
She hangs up and she turns to her roommate. "XANA's launched an attack. We've gotta get to-" She looks back outside and envisions the men again, yelping. She backs away in horror and Amy raises a brow, looking outside. She sees them too, covering her mouth in fear.
"Aelita? Amy?"
They gasp at the voice, turning around to Franz Hopper. "Come, quickly." He then disappears and Amy rubs her eyes.
They look to each other silently. "Hello? Is anyone there?" They walk out of the room, descending down the dusty stairs. When they reach the bottom, their eyes widen as they see the men in black again.
"Oh my god. Move!" Amy grabs Aelita's hand, rushing down the stairs with her. The men advance towards them and they appear in the same hall that they saw in their visions. They run down to the end, opening the door. Amy points to the secret entrance, seeing Franz waving them over.
"This way."
To Amy, these visions are getting more and more confusing. Nevertheless, she runs with Aelita inside, looking down at the stairs that lead to the sewers.
"Just 30 seconds more and you can head for the scanners," Jeremy tells the others. Amy and Aelita hadn't arrived yet.
The girls jump, holding onto the ropes. The elevator opens and they land safely. Amy pushes the button and they descend down to the lab.
"What are Amy and Aelita up to?" Ulrich asks curiously.
"They said they'd be right over. I should've gone to pick them up," Jeremy explains and the door opens as soon as he finishes his sentence.
"Ah, there you two are at last. Hey Cinderella, we said midnight on the dot."
"Funny," Amy snorts quietly at him.
"Girls," Jeremy notices their troubled states. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah," Aelita and Amy walk up to them. "We had some more visions. Um, we saw a man, and it was-"
"Who?" Jeremy interrupts Aelita.
"Franz Hopper," the two say in unison.
"Huh? Are you sure?" Yumi questions them.
"We know it sounds crazy...but we're sure it was him," Aelita replies, Amy nodding.
"We're not lying. It was him for sure."
"What if this is XANA's offensive?" Odd suggests.
"What?" Aelita turns to him, a little hurt that they don't seem to believe them.
"I mean, these strange visions."
"Exactly," Jeremy points to him, Amy only staring in hurt. "XANA is perfectly capable of stimulating your cerebral cortex, through the virus that links Aelita to him. Not sure how it can affect Amy, but maybe it's part of his attack on her. And from that, he can paradoxically simulate an artificial sleep, and the involuntary psychic activity that goes with it."
"In short, you mean XANA is showing you free movies," Odd glances at the others.
"Does it look like we're sleeping?!" Amy asks them in disbelief.
"But why?" Ulrich asks Odd, ignoring Amy.
"Let's not hang around to find out. Let's go deactivate the tower," Odd walks forward and Amy grabs his arm.
"Odd, please. I'm not crazy. I was there with Aelita, and...and it's not because of XANA. I can feel it. Please, you have to believe me..." She whispers softly and his eyes soften at her tone. He stares at her in the eyes and he can tell that she's genuinely curious about why this is happening.
"Okay," He whispers back. "I believe you two."
"Thanks," She murmurs as they enter the scanner room.
"Ulrich and Odd first."
Odd rushes towards a scanner, stepping into one. He's closed in as Ulrich steps in front of the opening scanner. "Transfer Odd. Transfer Ulrich." Jeremy presses enter. "Scanner Odd. Scanner Ulrich. Virtualization."
They land in the desert sector, landing safely to wait for the girls. "The activated tower is due south. Here come your vehicles."
All four vehicles appear behind the boys.
Yumi, Amy, and Aelita step in next. "Virtualization."
The three virtualize in front of the boys. "Okay, you're all there now. Don't waste any time."
They land softly with a thump, the four jumping onto their vehicles. Aelita still looks unsure as she watches Odd, Amy, and Ulrich going up ahead. "Coming, Aelita?" Yumi offers and she snaps out of it, jumping behind the geisha.
Ulrich zooms over to the tower, Odd swerving back and forth in front of Amy. Yumi follows after them. "XANA's monsters up ahead. See them?"
"We'd have to be as nearsighted as you not to see them," Odd replies as there's two Bloks and one Tarantula standing guard.
"Odd, Amy, you both handle the Bloks. Yumi and I will take care of the Tarantula," Ulrich orders and the two take off.
"You got it."
"Uh huh," Amy salutes as Aelita jumps off the Overwing. She glances at the edge, turning back to the others. They charge straight at the monsters.
"Ground and air attack," Yumi tells them. Ulrich and Yumi jump off their rides, Amy flying her racecar over. Odd fires rapidly at a Blok, only hitting the top. Amy throws her spear, but misses. They fly around the tower, the Tarantula standing up as it fires at the two. Ulrich blocks the shots away from Yumi as the Tarantula gets back down. They nod to each other, charging forward.
The Bloks fire at Amy and Odd, who swerve to avoid them. Odd gets rid of one Blok. "Piece of cake."
"Easy for you to say. His friend doesn't look too happy," Amy points to the second Blok, who fires at her. She makes her racecar jump above it.
Ulrich runs around the Tarantula, blocking stray lasers. Yumi frontflips while the monster is distracted, landing inside the triangle. She throws her fan, hitting the symbol dead on and destroying the Tarantula. Aelita steps closer on the platform.
"What's going on?" Jeremy asks in confusion.
"Hm?" Amy looks up as Aelita is nearing the edge of the sector. "Aelita?" Amy backflips out of her racecar. She starts walking up to her, seeing the transporter arrive, confusing the fairy. "What...?"
"The transporter. But I didn't call it up!" Jeremy says, equally confused as Amy. "Aelita, what are you doing?!"
"Sorry, Jeremy...but I want some answers. I have to find out where these visions are coming from."
"Aelita, don't do it, it's a trap!" Jeremy tries to warn her.
"Aelita!" Amy calls out, running up just as she disappears into the transporter.
Odd flies around the tower as they're dealing with the last Blok. It turns to Amy and fires straight at her as Yumi lands on top of it. She throws her fan downwards and backflips just as it explodes.
"Way to go, Yumi," Ulrich praises, Odd looking around for Amy. He gasps once he sees her.
"Amy, move!" Odd shouts as he realizes that Amy is standing right above the Digital Sea. Before she can turn around, the laser hits her. He can only watch as she falls off the platform. Jeremy sees Amy's dot disappear right off his screen.
"NOOOOOOOO!" Odd screams as he looks at the Digital Sea, no sign of Amy anywhere.
"Amy!" Ulrich calls out.
"Oh no!" Yumi tries not to cry.
"What happened?" Jeremy asks as Odd sobs.
"Ames...she fell into the Digital Sea!" Odd's knees sink to the ground, watching the spot where he saw her...saw her disappear...
"Oh no!" Jeremy tries to search for the girl as quick as he can. "That's just what we needed! And XANA's succeeded. Aelita's gone to Sector Five."
"Jeremy, you have to do something about Amy!" Odd pleads and Jeremy notices his serious tone, which is almost unheard of.
"Okay, okay," Jeremy tries to calm down. "I think I can bring her back, but I would need data from Sector Five for the program. So you're gonna have to go there fast, find Aelita, and get it."
"Without Amy?" Yumi asks in disbelief.
"I'm sorry, but...but you'll have to leave her there. Without that data...I don't have a chance of bringing her back."
Odd clenches a fist, narrowing his eyes. He didn't want to leave Amy all alone, but he didn't have much of a choice. His friends needed his help...Amy needed his help...
"Let's go," He walks up to the edge of the sector. Amy was everything to him, and he should've realized that sooner...he was going to meet his computer girlfriend, to tell her that he likes someone else. That no one else was for him besides Amy...He hopes that he can see her again, and tell her that in person.
Ulrich and Yumi glance at the edge sadly, then look at Odd. It hurt to see him look so dejected. Jeremy frowns to himself. They had no choice. It was the only way.
Jeremy enters the password dejectedly. The transporter arrives and the three look one last time at the Digital Sea before they're gone. The transporter takes them all the way across to the center, where they're met with walls of code. Inside the Celestial Dome, the Arena room spins around.
"Holosphere system connected," Jeremy stares at the map. The transporter drops the three off, Odd feeling sick already. He takes a deep breath to snap out of it. This was for Amy...he had to see this through.
Yumi turns around as the wall opens and they run through it. The wall opens up. "The corridor's still there!"
"That's because the countdown is still ticking, hurry!" Jeremy urges to them. Aelita has already been captured by the Scyphozoa, who proceeds to start stealing her memory. Jeremy's mouth opens in shock. "Oh no! Aelita! The Scyphozoa has taken over Aelita's memory!"
"We're almost there," Ulrich reports as he's using his Super Sprint. They come to a stop as they're in a room full of pillars.
"Great. A leap frog contest," Odd comments, frowning to himself. If Amy were here, she'd laugh...
Across the room is where Aelita and the jellyfish are. They can just faintly see them. "There's only one way. One," Ulrich backs up a bit. "Two. Three!" He super sprints forward, shocking Odd and Yumi. He lands on top of a pillar. Yumi backs up, realizing what to do. She jumps and her hands catch the edge of a pillar.
Ulrich jumps across, Odd doing the same.
Aelita's memory is almost gone. "Hurry up," Jeremy says in worry. Ulrich backflips onto another one.
"You think this is easy?" He retorts back. Yumi flips and lands on a pillar.
"At this rate, we'll never make it in time!"
Odd looks across the room to see an opening across from him. He concentrates his aim. "Odd, mind telling me what you're doing?" Jeremy asks in confusion.
"Saving the day," He whispers to himself, firing one arrow. It flies across the room, hitting the jellyfish on the head. It drops Aelita and she lands on her butt.
"Yes!" Jeremy cheers and Odd gets devirtualized when he's crushed between two pillars.
"Odd!" Yumi cries out. She knew how much he wanted to help Amy out.
"Odd, are you okay?" Jeremy asks once the scanner opens.
"Oh!" He groans to himself, "Sector Five is even worse than Ms. Hertz's class!" He steps out, deciding to wait in the scanner room. All he could think about was Amy...was she suffering? In pain? Does she even know what happened to her...?
Ulrich jumps across pillars as the Scyphozoa isn't gone yet. He lands in front of Aelita and slices tentacles off. The monster then leaves the room.
"Only ten seconds before the end of the countdown."
Yumi flips onto a pillar, launching herself onto another one. She spots the key and presses it with her foot. All the pillars are lowered to the ground, making it flat.
"Let's go, princess," Ulrich replies as they start running to the elevator. It starts up as soon as they walk into the room.
"Here comes the elevator. Now." They jump off and are taken to the Celestial Dome entrance. They run up to the wall.
"As soon as you get to the Celestial Dome and get the information needed to bring Amy back, get out of Sector Five and head for the desert sector, fast. Okay, Aelita?"
"Get Amy back?" Aelita asks slowly in fear. "W-What...What happened to her?"
Yumi glances at Ulrich, silently telling him that she would break the news. "...She fell into the Digital Sea...when she was wondering why you took off."
"Oh no...! Amy...!" Aelita whispers in horror. This was her fault. If she hadn't insisted on going to the Hermitage with Amy, she would've never fell into the Digital Sea...
They run through the door, where the vehicles are waiting. Aelita walks up to the interface to find the program that would bring Amy back. She soon finds it, but she stays on there a little longer than she usually would.
"Aelita! What did I tell you? We're not getting any data except for the materialization program!"
She doesn't listen and keeps going.
"You have to deactivate the tower!"
"Aelita," Ulrich tries to tell her to get on, but she ignores them.
"This will only take a few seconds. I've already found the program," She insists to them.
"It's one of XANA's traps, Aelita! He created these visions to lure you over to Sector Five and to make Amy fall into the Digital Sea! Give me the controls!"
Yumi and Ulrich look around for the Flying Mantas, who hadn't arrived. "Do you hear me? Aelita! Ulrich, Yumi, drag her out of there by force!"
The two did not feel like doing that, and they don't have time to think about it as the Flying Mantas arrive. "What do you want us to do? Knock her out?" Yumi asks sarcastically.
"It won't be necessary," Aelita tells them. "I'm sure I'll find I'm looking for, and for Amy too! She's my best friend and I can't leave her with these haunting visions like mine when we bring her back."
The two glance at each other, deciding to trust her. They nod in unison as they could sense Aelita's guilt for what happened to the fairy. They take off to deal with the Flying Mantas. The three monsters fly around.
"Aelita," Jeremy tries to reason with her. "Even if you do find the origin of these visions, what's the point if XANA takes your memory away from you? And what about Amy? The next time, she might not be so lucky. What if he does something worse?"
She says nothing and continues looking.
Yumi pulls out her fan and throws it, hitting one symbol in a straight line. The Manta explodes into thin air.
A laser narrowly missies Ulrich and he glances back at the Manta. He drives up ahead, only to see that the Manta is releasing flying mines.
Jeremy gasps, holding his head. He wasn't sure how much longer he could take Aelita's stubbornness. "I'm almost there," She doesn't see the Scyphozoa right behind her.
"Yumi, Ulrich! We've got trouble. The Scyphozoa's got Aelita."
Ulrich looks behind him to see a mine following after him. He swerves to the right, but the mine follows his movement. He speeds up, but it still persists. "We gotta deal with the Flying Mantas first."
He looks up at the Manta flying above him and he sees a mine...right behind Yumi. He gasps and he speeds up, Yumi flying right in front of the Manta. The mine following her hits the Manta on its belly, destroying it.
"Yeah!" Ulrich cheers for her. He sees the mine still following him and three more appear. He narrowly avoids them and tries to get rid of two more.
"Hurry up, Aelita's about to lose all her memory!" Jeremy tells them.
"What about the program to bring back Amy?" Yumi asks him.
"I'm working on it," Jeremy tells her as he gets to work.
Yumi dodges a laser from the last Manta, flying past the Scyphozoa. She turns around, only for the Manta to hit her Overwing. She struggles to hold on as the Manta comes back, firing at her. She holds out her fan, but gets hit in the stomach, letting go of her vehicle.
Ulrich looks up and sees her falling. He speeds up and catches her, riding back to Aelita. Yumi glances back at the mine and Ulrich drives above the jellyfish, the mines hitting the monster. It drops Aelita and he grins, Yumi jumping off to tend to Aelita.
"You okay, Aelita?"
"It's time you deactivated the tower," Yumi tells her as she jumps onto the Overbike. Ulrich takes off and Jeremy opens one of the tunnels.
"The tunnel's open. And I'm almost done with the program to bring back Amy."
The tunnel to the desert sector opens and Ulrich drives through it.
Aelita walks through the tower once she's returned. She flies to the top, doing a flip before she lands at the top. She walks up and signs in.
Aelita
Code
Lyoko
"Tower deactivated."
Jeremy sighs in relief.
"I'm starting the program," Jeremy says once the others have returned. "I just hope it works..."
"It has to," Odd whispers as he's staring at one of the scanners. Jeremy starts it up, crossing his fingers as the others gather around Odd. They wait in anticipation as the scanner starts up and it opens, Amy falling into Odd's arms. "Amy!" He pulls her up into a sitting position.
"Is she...?" Aelita didn't want to finish the question. Slowly, Amy opens her eyes to see her friends.
"Hey guys."
Odd throws his arms around her, tears streaming down his face. She...she was so close to...
Amy looks shocked for a moment before hugging him back tenderly. Ulrich, Aelita, and Yumi all smile at the pair.
"I...I thought you were gone forever. You gave me a heart attack!" Odd exclaims in fear. Thank god...she's still right here...with me...
"I'm okay," She pats his back, "I'm okay, Odd..." They continue to embrace, Odd clinging onto her with shaken arms.
"We thought you were a goner," Ulrich chuckles at the two.
"I'm not going anywhere," Amy smiles up at them.
"Jeremy, it worked! Amy's back!" Yumi cheers, Jeremy smiling in relief.
They return back to school as Aelita walks up to them alone. Odd is on his laptop. "Hi Aelita. Well, any more visions?"
"Gone," She sits down.
"You see? It was just a trap made in XANA," Jeremy replies knowingly.
"I guess..." She doesn't seem too sure. "But I still would really like to know where those memories came from."
"I think that XANA must've made the whole thing up," Ulrich theorizes.
"Or maybe the memories came from someone else," Yumi suggests, "Implanted in you by XANA in order to scare you and Amy."
"That could be it," Jeremy agrees with her.
"It's very strange, though," Aelita speaks up, "I was really under the impression that I was reliving the events that I was seeing," She closes her eyes. "And by the look on Amy's face, she was going through the same thing too..."
"That, however, can't be," Jeremy denies.
"Yes, I know."
"Hey, where is Amy, anyway?" Yumi glances around for the girl.
"She was gone by the time I left," Aelita tells her.
"So Odd, how's your cyber sweetheart?" Ulrich leans in with a grin.
"She is too cool. I've really got it bad this time, guys," Odd smiles at them, Yumi's mouth open in shock. She never thought she'd see the day where Odd has actually fallen for a girl. Aelita winks at them, leaving the other three confused. "I'm gonna meet her."
"When?"
"Now, at the vending machines," Odd takes the computer. "Later!"
Aelita smiles to herself. Looks like Amy finally got the courage after all.
Odd walks up to the vending machines, and what he sees shocks him to his core.
Amy is hugging her phone, twiddling her feet. She doesn't have to look up to know that it's him. "I don't...what...Amy...?"
Ulrich catches up to him, his mouth open in shock. "It was her?!"
"Oh, how embarrassing!" Sissi just happens to be there, her, Herb, and Nicolas laughing at her. Amy frowns, looking up at Odd, who's confused. "Odd's cyber girlfriend is his own best friend. How pathetic!"
"Ames...it was you...?"
No, I can't do this. I have to be anywhere but here.
She backs away slowly towards the park and Odd realizes what she's doing.
"Amy, no!"
She runs off into the forest without looking back. Odd and Ulrich stare after her, shocked.
"Amy..."
Amy leans against a tree in the forest, hugging a leg to her chest. She breaks apart a stick, letting it fall in front of her feet. How could she do that? She should've never suggested that they meet...how was she going to face him in class? On Lyoko? What if he's mad that she technically tricked him?
"Ugh," Amy covers her face with her hands. She wished her life could be normal. Instead all she had were fighting parents, attacks from a demonic computer program, and now she just embarrassed herself in front of the boy she liked...
What was she going to say about this when she returned back? She already knew she had to return; she wasn't skipping school for the rest of her life, no matter how much she wanted to.
But to see his face...and for Sissi to laugh...
"Hey."
She gasps at the voice, looking up to see Odd. Her heart beats a bit faster when she sees he has a rose in his hand.
Biting her lip, she watches as Odd walks up, sitting next to her. "Hey."
They fall into an uncomfortable silence after the quiet greetings until Odd breaks it.
"Ames...about what happened...why didn't you just tell me? You didn't have to hide it."
"W-Well...because..." Amy blushes at his question. "Because I thought that you wouldn't feel the same way...we've been friends for over a year, Odd. I didn't think you'd ever...have those kind of feelings. Especially since you were trying to date every girl at school...so I didn't think you'd want me. I...did it because I wanted to get your attention..."
She looks away, trying to focus on another tree when he gets up all of a sudden, sitting in front of her. He smiles widely as he leans forward, resting his arms on his legs. She freezes, blushing at him.
"You're adorable," He grins and her face turns into a tomato again. He holds out the rose.
"Odd, what are you doing?"
"Well I have to get you to look at me somehow. It's driving me crazy. I wanna talk to you and I've always wanted to make you like me, but from what happened, I already know you do," He chuckles and she plays with the necklace that he gave her for Valentine's Day.
She hadn't taken it off since then.
"Will you stop that?" Her face gets redder as he gets even closer.
"Stop what?" He asks innocently.
"Making me blush."
He laughs at how embarrassed she is. "Okay, how about this?" He covers his eyes. "Better?"
"A little..."
"Good, now I can properly ask you out. Although, I hope you don't blush all the time. If you do, I refuse to be blindfolded for the rest of my life," He says with a grin.
Her heart flutters and she wonders if she'll even make it back to her room without melting.
"You...wanna ask me out? But why?"
He laughs at her. "I meant what I said when I was talking about my internet girl—well, you. I don't know...I just...fell in love with that girl kind of. You're the first girl I really felt a connection with when we met for the first time. And when I saw that it was you, I was really happy because I've had feelings for you for a while now. When you fell into the Digital Sea...I realized just how much you mean to me, and how much I don't want to lose you like that ever again. Not to mention you're all kinds of beautiful. So...can I take you out this Saturday? I promise we can just start over and be us," He blushes, peeking through his fingers.
She's too breathless to speak even though she wants to answer.
He uncovers his eyes and studies her expression, smiling bashfully. "So...is that a yes?" He smiles at her genuinely, holding out the rose again.
"Well...I...am a bit concerned about all those other girls that you wanted to date." She takes the flower into her hands, sniffing it. "When we go to 9th grade...are you going to keep doing that? If that's the case, I wouldn't want to stand in your way."
"Listen Ames," He drops his hands. "I've been thinking about that lately. The reason why I was dating all those girls was because I was looking for something. But when I met you I realized that I wasn't looking for something. I was looking for someONE. I was looking, for you. And now that I've found you, I promise I'll never go looking again."
"You better not, because my answer is yes," She grins at him with a wink.
Odd smiles again, blushing. "Great! We can go to the movies."
"Yeah..." Amy beams at him and he stands up, offering his hand.
"Well, better get back before we get caught by Jim."
She smiles at the offer and takes his hand. Together, they take their time walking back to the school, talking about anything they wanted to. She was...shocked, but happy.
Maybe now she could have just a slice of normal life with Odd by her side...