Angel: Sorry for the late update, but the carpet is getting ripped out in my house...all of it -_- I had to clean my room before they started moving stuff. Man, I HATE wooden floors, and because my parents decided not to tell me, I don't have a choice but to deal with the floors since they bought the materials...
I've had a really bad upbringing because of this outbreak: I can't see my friends from school, I'm out of a job because the restaurant where I work had to close indefinitely, and NOW I have to deal with wooden floors...
It's breakfast time in the cafeteria as the students are either eating or talking to each other. Jeremy and Aelita are in line, and once they step out, they walk over to their friends. Odd puts down his croissant, Ulrich putting down his bowl of soup. Amy looks up at them, sipping her hot chocolate.
"What's the big news? We can't wait to hear it," Odd speaks up, Aelita sitting to his right. Jeremy sits across from Amy.
"I found it, at last!" He declares to the three.
"What, how to build up your muscles without any exercising?"
Amy stifles a laugh, some of her cocoa going back into her cup from her mouth.
"Funny," Jeremy replies in annoyance towards them both. "No, I figured out how to materialize you onto Earth from the network!" He takes a hold of his croissant. "Actually, it was much easier than I thought it would be. I applied the synchronicity principle to the supercomputer's apparatus, and then I used it to develop a kind of energizing projection." He takes a bite out of his treat. "In other words-"
"In English, then, that means you now know how to send us somewhere directly on Earth from inside the network, right?" Odd asks casually.
"Exactly."
"You understood Einstein's babble?" Ulrich wonders in surprise.
"Well, yeah. After all this time, I'm finally starting to get the hang of quantum physics!" He brags boastfully.
Jeremy blinks at him. "Okay, what is going on here? How did you understand that?"
"He memorized the words I've been giving him, and I helped him study just to freak you out," Amy laughs, pointing at their faces. Aelita is slightly impressed while the boys are baffled.
Ulrich turns to Jeremy. "Hold it, that means that now you can bring us up anywhere from the Skid?"
"Not anywhere at all, but I can do it in the vicinity of a supercomputer generating a copy. It's what I call teleportation," Jeremy takes a sip of his soup. "Hey, maybe we'll run into one of the supercomputers that Jackson supervised."
"Ha. Doubtful. He's not allowed to talk about it to me. Classified information," Amy states as she wipes her mouth with a napkin.
"Could he have known about our father?" Aelita turns to her.
"It's possible. With his excellent fact-finding skills, he might already know by now. It's why he was hired in the first place, so that he could get inside information about former competitors," She rolls her eyes. "After all, he knew about Lyoko before he even met Odd or Yumi...but he probably couldn't tell me if he knew about Franz being my biological father," She shakes her head. "Which I'm not mad at him for, at all. He probably wanted me to figure it out for myself."
"Why'd he quit a job like that?" Ulrich raises a brow.
"I don't really know. I heard it was because of his family," She shrugs at him. "But I was too young by the time he quit to understand the reason, in his opinion."
"Or...it could have been that the supercomputer he was helping supervise was dangerous," Aelita speaks up.
Jeremy opens the door to the cafeteria as he and Aelita leave. Yumi walks up to them, having just arrived. "Hi guys, what's up?"
"Are you ready to go and blow up a supercomputer?" Aelita wonders casually.
"You can get us to the real world from the network?" Yumi asks with a smile towards Jeremy.
"Yeah. We're all meeting at the factory tonight to try it out, okay?"
"You got it," She waves to them as she watches them leave.
"Bye," Aelita calls out to her as Ulrich approaches.
"Uh, Yumi, I wanted to ask you something."
She simply ignores him and walks away.
"Wow!" Odd comments while he and Amy are sitting on the stairs behind him. "Now that was about as cold as the North Pole! What did you do to deserve that?"
"I have no idea," He looks over his shoulder. "The cold shoulder started day before yesterday."
"You did a bad thing, that's why!" Amy crosses her arms at him.
"That's weird, her birthday was the day before yesterday," Odd reveals to him.
"IT WAS?!" He screeches in shock. "I don't believe it, you're kidding!"
"Uh uh. I hope you wished her a happy birthday. You know how important things like that are to her."
"Oh no, I totally forgot! Man, I bet now she's gonna hate me for weeks!" He holds his hair, turning to Amy. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because that day, you were late for lunch. Kiwi had chewed your shoes, and you ended up skipping to go find Odd. Aelita and I took her for a girls' day out afterwards. And after all that insistence of you two being 'good friends and that's all', she really is gonna hate you."
"Probably, unless you go and buy her a nice present to make up for it," Odd suggests.
"I'll go now! Oh well, I would if I could..."
"Stern!" Jim held up a fish in the cafeteria, having stopped Ulrich before he left. "How many times do I have to tell you, that a flounder is not a flying fish! So there's no reason to throw it out the window! Especially when the window is open, and when I happen to be there! So I've got one word for you, and that's 2 hours of study hall!"
"You're making a mistake, I swear to you, Jim!"
"Well, Stern, you're right," He leaned in with a smirk. "This time, I did make a mistake. It's not 2 hours, but 4 hours of study hall! And if you keep baiting me, I'll make sure that you don't get off the hook for 8 hours!"
"Thanks to Jim, I've got 4 hours of detention!" Odd is just smiling with a raised brow. "And then we have Chardin's class, and-"
"No sweat! We've gotta go get a few things for our dogs, and while we're out, we'll pick up a little present for Yumi!"
"Really?" Ulrich asks gratefully. "You'd do that for me? I thought you were mad at me, Amy."
"Of course I am! Guys aren't supposed to forget that, it shows that they don't care. But I happen to know what Yumi would like anyway," Amy gestures to herself. "And I'll do you one better, I'll pay for it myself. Yumi was already mad at her brother, I don't need a repeat of that. And our dogs won't touch it this time."
"Sure we will. Besides, I owe you one. In case you didn't know, the flying fish thing was me," Odd rubs his neck.
"IT WAS?!" Ulrich grips the front of his sweater. "And you let me take the blame?!"
"I-I was laughing too hard to tell Jim!" Odd stammers nervously.
"Oh Odd, you know I oughta-" Thankfully, the bell rings and Ulrich releases him reluctantly.
"Odd, you jerk," Amy looks at him in slight anger.
"I'm getting him the present as an apology, aren't I?" He smiles anxiously at his girlfriend.
"Yeah, but I'm no longer paying for it. You are!"
He cringes as she walks away. He waves to Ulrich as he takes his leave as well. Ulrich just sighs slowly.
Later that night, they run across the bridge. The girls and Jeremy slide down the ropes, the boys walking up to them. Odd digs into his bag.
"Hey, would you stop hating me for a minute, Ulrich? Here," He holds out a nicely wrapped box. "This should get you on the good side of your platonic friend."
"Hey, thanks Odd. But what is it?"
"A surprise," Odd gives him an okay sign. "Yumi's really gonna go for it, don't worry."
"Hey you guys, hello! You don't mind keeping up with the rest of us, I hope," Jeremy calls out from the main floor. "Do I have to remind you that we have a really important mission?"
"Okay, okay, we're not factory workers!" Odd retorts back.
"Well, technically we are."
The two jump and land in front of the elevator. Ulrich stands next to Yumi, who ignores him and turns towards the girls.
"How did your classes go today?"
"Not bad, how about you?" Aelita asks back nicely.
"Fine."
Amy sighs at this.
"You guys ready?" Jeremy asks, typing away. "Energize."
The five teleport into their places one by one. "Standing by for liftoff?"
"Standing by," Aelita reports to him.
"Supports away!"
They move away from the ship. "Ignition. Powering vertical."
The Skid lifts up. "Liftoff!"
They exit their hangar and into the Celestial Dome. The ship flies away and Aelita goes through the open tunnel. She moves the levers forward out into the Digital Sea. "Okay, shields, activated. Sonar, activated. Stabilizers, online and checked. Primary axis, clear. Laser generators, online. Ready to dive!"
The ship swoops down towards the water.
"I'm entering the coordinates of the replica," Jeremy tells them as they all go into the Digital Sea. "Holo web system online," He taps a button. "Okay, you're looking for a hub at zero four five."
"Gotcha, Jeremy. Course heading set. I'm powering up the turboprops and auxiliary engines." The Skid goes forward, having already turned horizontal.
"Replica, here we go again!" Odd states to Ulrich's ire.
"Can't somebody shut him up?"
"Why? He's nice at least," Yumi retorts back.
"And besides, I like his jokes," Amy defends, crossing her arms, her hair already pink.
"Incredible. They're talking to each other," Odd comments at this.
"Shut up, Odd!" The two exclaim in unison.
"Some people just can't handle it," Amy shakes her head.
Aelita swerves a little to the left in the network as they approach the hub. "Get ready. Broadband acceleration. In 3, 2, 1, zero!"
The Skid disappears into the portal, and then they arrive at the new area. "Reverse thrust. We're clear, Jeremy."
"Yeah, I know," He eyes the hub they just exited. "You guys oughta be able to see the replica now."
"Yes, it's right in front of us!" Aelita gasps a little as they can see the orb. "We're heading for the entry portal."
Aelita presses her palm to the scanner. "Digital cube activated." The front of the Skid connects to the entrance. "I'm sending you the signal, Jeremy."
She does so and he types, seeing the entrance on his screen. "Roger. I'm about to open it up."
The connection disappears, and the door slowly opens. The ship goes inside, and they end up in the forest sector replica. The ship spins around as it lifts up, stopping above all the land. "Uh oh. There's an activated tower on the replica."
"That means that XANA is up to no good somewhere on Earth, not far from the supercomputer we're looking for," Aelita states knowingly. "But what?"
"If you wanna know, we gotta-"
"Hey Einstein, what if we gave your teleportation thing a try," Ulrich interrupts to Jeremy's annoyance, "Just to be sure once and for all."
"That's what I was thinking. But first, you're gonna have to moor the Skid to a tower. There's one nearby, at 3 o'clock," Jeremy tells them.
"I see it, Jeremy. It looks good. I should be able to secure the Skid to it," Aelita says while moving the ship.
"Gently, though. A little to the left. Be careful!" He guides her.
"Backseat driving again. Better cut it out!" Odd jokes with a teasing smile.
"Oh, sorry, Aelita. I know you can do it without me."
"It's less distracting too," Amy murmurs to herself. Aelita moves the ship behind the tower.
"Ready to moor," She taps the button where she usually puts her hand, connecting the ship to the way tower. "Skid secured."
"Nice one, princess!"
"Good job!" Jeremy compliments her. "Now just give me a minute to activate the tower four our own use."
A few seconds later, the tower turns green. "Well, we're all set. Okay guys, it's time. Ready for teleportation?"
"Ready to go, Einstein!" Ulrich reports and Jeremy starts up the process.
"Teleportation."
Aelita, Odd, and Amy only disappear, but Ulrich does not. "It didn't work, Jeremy. I'm still here," Ulrich looks around.
"That's normal. I forgot to tell you, that this time I decided to energize only Aelita, Amy, and Odd. I'd rather you stay with Yumi to protect the Skid. If it's anything like our last experiment, XANA will be sending you a welcoming committee in no time flat."
"If you'd have told us before, we could have chosen sides ourselves!" Ulrich says furiously.
"Great, you really sound happy to be with me," Yumi hisses, looking away.
"That wasn't what I meant!" He shrugs towards her.
"Okay, you guys know the procedure. I'll put you ashore while I get a little work done. Aelita, Odd, Amy, do you read me? Uh, Aelita? Amy? Odd?" He taps a button, putting his microphone to his mouth. "...Aelita! Amy! Odd! I wish I knew what was happening!"
"COOL EINSTEIN!" Odd shouts a few seconds later. "IT WORKS!"
"Ah! Glad to hear it, but that's no reason to blow out my eardrum! Okay, where are you?"
"You're not gonna believe this, but we're in the jungle!"
"An actual one!" Amy exclaims in excitement.
"And it's daytime here!" Aelita adds in.
"I get it, you're in a different time zone," He quickly locates them. "You're in the Amazon region, it seems."
"Wow, that's exciting!" Aelita says, and all of them have their Lyoko avatars still on them. Amy has her wings and spear on her back.
"But we're dressed like on Lyoko, how come?" Odd wonders as Aelita examines herself.
"And why do I still have my pink hair like in the Digital Sea? I thought it was supposed to be brown in replicas," Amy brings her long hair over her shoulder to look at it.
"Because the teleportation isn't a real devirtualization," He explains as Aelita gracefully jumps onto a rock, spinning around like a ballerina. Amy bends down to the water, looking at her reflection. "Those aren't your real human forms that I materialized onto Earth, but-"
"Whoa, whoa, slow down, Frankenstein," Odd interrupts, staring at Amy. "You trying to tell us that we're not really us?"
"Yes, you're you, but those aren't your real bodies. More like some kind of specters in the image of your virtual manifestation. Which, in Amy's case, was with the pink hair in the network." Aelita slides down to Odd.
"Aelita, Ames, and I have become specters?!" Odd asks in surprise.
"In fact, you're more like polymorphic specters that-"
"Wow, pretty impressive!"
"It feels weird," Amy pats herself. "But pretty cool." She raises a hand towards her wings, lightly touching it. It felt like she actually had wings instead of being retractable like on Lyoko.
"I dunno, I like your pink hair. It makes you look even cuter," Odd pokes her nose and she giggles.
"If you say so, guys. It doesn't matter. For now, hurry up and find the supercomputer. The teleportation won't last forever," Jeremy explains to the trio.
"How long have we got?" Aelita asks curiously.
"Uhh, 52...no, 26...no, uh, 13. 13 minutes!" He looks at the timer above the three's pictures.
"The guy's a comedian! And just where does he expect us to find a supercomputer, behind a tree?!"
Aelita sees something in the distance and smiles. "Good guess, Odd," She places a hand on her hip as she sees a building up ahead.
"Yumi," Ulrich pleads with her back at the Skid. "Wait!" They've since gotten off the Skid, and now he's chasing after her. "Can't we make up, huh? You know, if someone forgot my birthday, I wouldn't make a big thing out of it!"
"That's because I never ever forget it," She retorts back, storming off once again. He sighs wearily, rubbing his chin.
"You know, ah!" He groans in frustration. "Okay, I...not you, but I mean somebody...you know-"
"Look," She grits her teeth at him. "Quit while you're ahead. You're just making things worse!"
"Yumi, Ulrich," Jeremy thankfully cut in before it got worse. "Odd, Amy, and Aelita have found a laboratory. My theory was right. They're trying to locate the supercomputer. Everything okay on your side?"
"A little chilly, but..." A laser suddenly flies past his face, and they flip out of the way. He pulls out a sword as she pulls out her fans. A Tarantula is walking towards them, firing from its arms. It goes back to crawling...but on another path is William riding a Tarantula.
"Faster!"
And on a third path is another Tarantula. "Jeremy, XANA's on the move again!" Yumi looks at all three directions.
"Okay Yumi," He looks at a map of the replica. "Two vehicles coming right up."
The Overbike and Overwing materialize side-by-side. Ulrich and Yumi jump onto their respective rides. "I'll take care of handsome!" He looks over to her.
"Yeah, right," She mutters, flying forward.
"Be careful, if the Skid gets disconnected from the tower, it's mission over for Amy, Aelita, and Odd," Jeremy explains to the duo.
"We'll try to make life miserable for the enemy, don't worry," Yumi replies while flying straight for a Tarantula.
Meanwhile, Ulrich drives straight for William. "Fighting William should put me in a better mood," He murmurs to himself, pulling out a sword. He increases speed as William leaps off the Tarantula. He heads straight for Ulrich, who cringes up at his opponent. He thankfully dodges out of the way as William stabs the ground, spinning to a stop. The Tarantula fires at Ulrich, who jumps off his vehicle and throws the sword at the target. The Tarantula explodes and his sword falls as he slides to a stop. He sighs in relief to himself, looking towards William.
Odd scooches next to the wall, Aelita on the opposite side. Amy flies downwards, looking at the door below. Odd looks to the girls, who both nod at him. He opens the door.
"It's open."
They step inside, walking down the hallway. Amy looks to Odd's tail, looking away with a blush. He peeks around the corner, Amy flying to the ceiling. Aelita looks to her right.
"Right or left?"
"Through there," Odd jerks a thumb behind him.
"How can you be so sure?"
"Cuz my sense of direction is infallible," He tells her and she shrugs.
"No offense, but men don't do so well with sense of direction," Amy whispers, but goes along with it anyway. Aelita takes a look around as they continue walking, stopping the two. In front of them is a glass wall with someone doing something inside. He turns around to reveal himself having XANA symbols in his eyes. However, they're no longer there. He looks out for a few seconds before leaving back to his desk. The trio are hiding in the space underneath the pane, Odd pointing to his right. They crawl on the floor to get past.
William approaches Ulrich, who spins his bike around and charges towards him. William runs towards him, and he swerves, grabbing his weapon back. He drags it across the grass for a few seconds before pointing it towards William. Once they meet, he goes for the possessed boy's head, who ducks. He hits the Overbike, Ulrich going back a few feet. He jumps into the air, sacrificing his bike in the process. He lands on the edge, barely managing to catch himself.
He looks at the unforgiving Digital Sea down below, glaring at William.
Yumi dodges a laser with her fan as she's speeding towards the Tarantula. It continues to fire at her, and she spins around the monster. She tosses a fan, and ends up destroying it. She maneuvers around the trees, going in the opposite direction.
Odd slowly stops, the girls behind him. They're now at an intersection, Aelita peeking around the corner. Odd steps up first, pressing his back against the wall. He wraps his tail around Amy as they look the end of the hall. Someone is walking around and Aelita grabs their arms.
"Hurry up! This way!" She ushers them into a room, a scientist walking past. Odd presses his ear against the door, both of them turning to a room with computers, whiteboards, and something big in the center.
"What's this, huh? A supermarket display for office plants? Uh oh, guess not."
Aelita steps up to whatever is in the glass compartment to see giant spiders crawling around inside. Amy shudders at the sight.
"I am really creeped out right about now," She turns around and Odd hugs her in comfort, patting the back of her hair.
"Amy, Aelita, Odd, hurry up and find the supercomputer. Yumi and Ulrich are busy fighting off a bunch of Tarantulas!" Jeremy's voice speaks up.
"Funny, their cousins are right here," Odd looks to the big spiders.
"What are you talking about?"
"Uh, nothing, Jeremy. Aelita, Ames, what do you make of these souped-up spiders?" He turns to the two.
"I'd say that XANA wants to transform these tropical tarantulas," Aelita stares at them.
"Try saying that five times fast," Amy snorts, letting go of Odd.
"But for what? Spiders don't attack unless you sit on them." A spider touches the glass, causing Odd and Amy to scream, recoiling back. Aelita shushes them both.
"Okay, okay, don't look at me in that tone of voice! Anyway, I'm sure nobody heard anything."
The door suddenly opens to reveal the scientist from outside the hall they were just in. The three gasp and he growls, holding out a hand.
"Laser arrow!" Odd fires three times, but misses. "Anyone teach you how to play fair?"
Amy flings her spear, but the man simply ducks his head as it spins back to the brunette. He fires the arrows back at Odd, hitting him in the shoulder.
"Odd! No," Amy bends down to him in concern as he holds his shoulder.
"Hey, that thing really stings!" His shoulder is glitching in purple.
"Are you okay?" His girlfriend asks him and he simply looks towards a crowbar, looking up at her.
"Energy field!" Aelita fires her orb, which ends up orange instead of the usual pink. The possessed scientist ducks again and retaliates with an energy beam. Amy whips around and her hands glow yellow, a shield forming around her sister. Aelita tries to hold the beam back as much as she can, but the shield drops and it hits her, knocking in her in front of the spider cage.
"Aelita!" Amy glares up at the scientist, slowly lifting up her hands and clenching her fists. A field of darts appear behind her, pointed right at the possessed man. They fire rapidly, but he ducks from each and every one. Then he fires a beam at her, hitting her side and knocking her onto the ground.
Ulrich and William clash weapons, William smirking behind the sparks of light. Ulrich twists the sword around and it lands on the ground.
"You've lost, William!" He declares, getting an intense look from the possessed boy. He stands with his swords ready. William holds out his hand, his sword disappearing into smoke. Ulrich rushes over just as William gets his sword back.
"Oh no..." He murmurs as the sword touches him and he's devirtualized, William chuckling.
"What an idiot!" Ulrich mutters about himself.
Meanwhile, the Tarantula is firing at the Skid, turning around to fire at Yumi who's flying right towards the monster. He hits the Overwing and Yumi lands safely, pulling out her fans. She throws them swiftly, and destroys the monster. Her fans fly back into her hands, and she smiles.
Suddenly, she can hear a sword being dragged against the ground, and she turns around to see her new opponent. She looks on in disgust towards William, who rushes towards her.
"Not so fast, pretty boy!" Yumi throws her fans again, but he simply ducks his head. She takes a breath, closes her eyes, and presses her fingers to her head. Her fans fly back around, William stabbing the ground with his weapon. He catches both of her fans...and completely destroys them in his hands. She's now completely weaponless as he takes his sword back.
"It's over, Yumi."
"Jeremy! Mayday, SOS, I need two more fans, like right now!" She informs urgently.
"Uh oh. Right now is a pretty tall order, Yumi. But okay, let me see what I can come up with!"
Aelita stops flickering, looking up to see the XANA-possessed scientist holding out a hand towards her. He's preparing to fire another attack right at her. Suddenly, Odd swings the crowbar, having gotten up. He catches it like it was nothing, throwing the cat-boy away. Amy sprints in front of him, brightening him with Heat Wave. Aelita hits him from behind while he's distracted, knocking him out of the room and into a wall. Odd looks at him flickering, and steps through another door.
He looks behind his shoulder, dragging the man away. "Here we go, back in your cage now."
However, the scientist wakes up and kicks him across the room.
"Hey you!"
"Get away from him!"
Both sisters attack at the same time, knocking him into the room. Odd presses a button to lock him in, rubbing his chin.
"You're great specters!"
"You really think so?" Aelita asks curiously.
"Well, no medals just yet, princess and Ames. We still have to find the supercomputer."
"Mm..." Amy looks down the hall, wondering just where they'll find it.
William leaps into the air, swinging towards Yumi. She flips away from him as he swings towards her, but she dodges each attempt. She jumps above his sword, barely avoiding another attack. He swings again, but she backs up.
"Jeremy!" She cries out.
"It's okay, I'm nearly there."
The doors to the elevator open and Ulrich steps into the lab, slightly winded by the hit. He touches the back of the chair once he reaches Jeremy.
"Well?"
"You wouldn't have a rabbit's foot, a four-leaf clover, or a horseshoe on you, would ya?" Jeremy suddenly asks while typing.
"Is it as bad as all that?" Ulrich turns to the screen.
He doesn't answer...
The girls and Odd run down the hall. "Infallible sense of direction, huh Odd?" Aelita asks sarcastically, hands on her hips. "I was positive that we should have gone in the other direction!"
She's about to do just that when Odd grabs her arm, stopping her. "Hold on a minute!" He eyes the glass pane on the door in front of them, and inside is a supercomputer. "Bingo!"
"See, he was right after all," Amy smirks in amusement. Aelita smiles as she approaches the door.
"Jeremy, we found the supercomputer."
He gasps towards Ulrich. "Great! You'd better destroy it right away, because Yumi can't hold on much longer."
Odd taps some buttons, and the interface beeps, glowing red. "Oh no, an entry code! Why not a couple of guard dogs too?"
"We've already seen those spiders, I don't wanna think about what they have for guard dogs," Amy rubs her temples.
"Let me handle it," Aelita steps forward, holding out a hand. She closes her eyes and manages to get access inside, smiling. However, this also opens up the door that the scientist was trapped in...he steps out into the hall, the symbol in his eyes flashing.
The trio have already stepped inside the room, taking in their surroundings.
"Now we've gotta get rid of this thing for good," Aelita stares up ahead at the supercomputer.
"Let me handle this one. Laser arrow!" He fires one, and it hits the center, but nothing significant happens. "I don't believe this!" He looks towards the girls.
"That's just what we needed..." Amy frowns at this.
"Jeremy, we've got a problem. The supercomputer has an energy field around it!"
"You've gotta find out where the shield is getting its energy from. I can't do anything from here. Do whatever you have to, but hurry up!"
Yumi ducks her head again as William continues to attack her. She jumps until she lands at the tower.
"Jeremy, it's now or never!"
He finally taps a button and makes the fans appear in her hands. She smiles in relief, but it's too late as William devirtualizes her with one swing. He steps inside the tower.
"Oh..." Yumi gasps as she steps out of the scanner. "Jeremy, I'm really sorry!"
His mouth is open in slight horror as he had seen the dot disappear...
Aelita finds the energy source for the forcefield. "There! That must be the lens that's projecting the energy field! If we destroy it, there's a good chance we'll deactivate the shield!"
"You could have found me a little bigger target," Odd laments at the tiny hole. "No one could possibly hit from this distance. That is...except me."
"Beggars can't be choosers," Amy rolls her eyes. Suddenly, the door opens to reveal more possessed scientists, including the one they had fought earlier.
"Go ahead, you two. I'll take care of them," Aelita tells the couple. They fire straight for her, and she shields herself from being hit.
Unbeknownst to the trio, William has gotten to the top of the tower that the Skid is mounted to.
"Laser Arrow!" Odd fires as Amy fires a slash with her spear. Both of them hit the target, and this deactivates the shield. "Yeah! Adios, amigos!"
William steps up to the interface and presses his hand against it.
William
Code
XANA
The tower turns red, disrupting everything, including the teleportation. The trio disappear into thin air.
"Odd, Amy, Aelita, come in, please."
The three reappear in their respective spots, Odd awaking in alarm. "What is this? What's going on now?"
"What happened?" Amy rubs her head.
"XANA has taken over control of the tower, you guys." Yumi hugs herself in self-blame for letting it happen. "Your teleportation has stopped. We've gotta abort the mission. You might as well come back home...wake up, Aelita!"
"I know that we're working on bringing William home and all, but sometimes he can be really annoying," Amy grits her teeth.
"Aelita, let's get out of here. Spiderman and company have just arrived!"
"Okay," She taps a button after looking outside the window. "Let's go!" She drives the Skid away, the Tarantula firing at the ship. Because of the shields, it has no significant effect on the Skid, which flies back into the Digital Sea.
"There's no sense dissing ourselves," Ulrich states once the three have returned back. "After all, we did our best."
"Maybe, but we've still gotta find out what XANA's planning to do with those cybernetic spiders," Aelita speaks up.
"Those things were so huge, blegh," Amy shudders at the memory.
"Right, we'll have to go back onto the replica, teleport you back in, and destroy that supercomputer," Jeremy declares, and Odd lets out a yawn.
"That's fine, but until then, anyone mind if I sleep for a few years?"
"Okay, we get the message," Yumi replies playfully. "We could all use a little sleep."
They walk across the bridge to head back to Kadic. "Uh, Yumi," Ulrich calls out as he lags behind, the other four up ahead.
"What now?" She asks in annoyance, looking over her shoulder.
"Here, a little birthday gift," He holds out the present to her and she smiles, taking it.
"Oh, thanks Ulrich, that's very sweet." She leans in and kisses his cheek, causing him to blush.
"Aren't you gonna open it?"
"In Japan, you never open a present in front of the person who gave it to you," She explains to the boy.
"Well that's fine with me."
Jeremy and Aelita stare at them. "I bet you're thinking about your own birthday..."
"Well yeah," She turns to him. "But it's one of those things I still don't remember...I wish Amy was around longer at the Hermitage to be able to tell me. I haven't any idea when I was born..."
"No problem! All you have to do is make up a date, Aelita."
"Why don't you choose one for me, then?" She asks as he approaches her.
"Okay!"
"Well?" She steps up closer. "Go on."
"Uh uh," He crosses his arms. "I'm not telling, it'll be a surprise!"
"Hey, you guys coming or not? Hurry up before I fall asleep on Ames," Odd calls out.
"Ahh, no, not that. Anything but that again," She sweats nervously. The last time he did that, he cuddled her so hard, that the others had to carry them back to his room.
"Yeah, we're coming, no need to wake the whole town up!" Ulrich retorts back, walking past Yumi. She smiles and follows after him.
Kiwi barks at Odd, who waves something in his hand. "Who's the pretty present for, huh? Who's it for, my little diggity dog!"
"Hey Odd, thanks again for Yumi, and Amy too. You really saved me this time," Ulrich says gratefully as he just watches.
"Mm," Odd opens up the present, seeing the dog bone for Kiwi.
"Pretty classic to stick to," Ulrich snorts at it.
Yumi opens up her present that the couple bought, which is a necklace. Odd had switched them on accident, and thankfully Amy noticed and switched them back before they gave it to Ulrich.
"Aww, you like your new toys?" Amy coos at her dog, who has a bunch of plushies and tennis balls from Odd. He decided to buy her some while the two were out getting things for their dogs. "Well, you can give Odd a big lick as a thank you when you see him."
"I can't believe he forgot Yumi's birthday," Aelita frowns a little, sitting on her bed.
"Yeah, but we saved him from further injury...emotionally and physically," Amy cringes at the thought of what could've happened had she and Odd not stepped in to help. "Odd would never do that to me. Not that I'm thinking about it..."
"It is only a few weeks away," Aelita reveals with a smile. "Anything special?"
"Knowing my friends, most likely," She smirks in amusement. "I'm not sure about Odd...I mean, he's always throwing surprises at me, and I haven't been disappointed yet," She reaches her hand to her dog, patting her on the head. Kiki wags her tail happily while biting a chew toy plush.
"Amy...do you remember the last time I spoke with your mother?"
"My mom?" Amy blinks, rubbing her chin. "The last time was when...I think that was when she came for a visit with her ex. But that was over a year ago. She's been really busy ever since she got everything in the finalized divorce."
"I was wondering...if it's okay with the both of you, that we could go out for lunch sometime. I wanna get to know her better...I know that she's your mother, and I'm not really related to her, but..."
"But you want the experience of having a mother," Amy hums, nodding in understanding. As far as they knew, there hasn't been any sign of Aelita's mother anywhere. Not in Franz's diary, and definitely not from Amy's mother herself...since they don't know what happened to her, all Aelita really has for a family right now is Amy and Ms. Smith. "I'm sure she'd love that."
"Really?" Aelita asks hopefully. "She won't think it's too weird?"
"While knowing about a virtual world, a supercomputer, and a computer virus that's bent on destroying us?" Amy snorts, closing her eyes. "I think she won't mind someone who just wants a parental figure. If anything, she's happy that I have a sibling. She wanted to give me one, but she decided to avoid the drama and headaches that come with it."
"Is Mr. Smith really that deep in?" Aelita tilts her head.
"I don't know, and I personally wouldn't look into it. I know where I stand with him, and I don't regret my decision," The brunette opens her eyes. "I'm happy where I am right now."
Aelita smiles at her.
