1-5: It's Missing

I really can't describe her the way I see her, but trust me here. She's a cute half-animal in a skimpy costume and that's pretty much all that matters.

(((-5-)))

"Whoa," Odd said. "How did you get a virtual character like that?"

Janika looked like a cross between a person and a cheetah. She had the legs and tail of a spotted cat, but her hands and arms were normal (if you discount the tan fur) and she wore a pale cross-halter top and a short skirt as well as matching boots. Her hair was the right color, but the huge cat-ears poking up through it made her look a bit...weird. She bent down to pick up the weapons she'd thrown at the Hornets.

"I based it on you. All I had to do was combine one of my computer drawings with info on the scanner. It was a bit difficult since I wasn't sure what to expect, but it worked like a charm. See these? They're shurikens, and I have some ninja stars too. Pretty neat, huh? I used them to climb up the trees. It was easy to spy on you from up there, too."

She held up her hand to show them three 'stars' between her fingers and then reattached them to her belt. "This is so cool! Why don't you guys have anyone else who plays this game? I demolished several of those big bugs and some weird-looking boxes with legs earlier."

Ulrich's face was growing graver every second until he detonated. "What are you doing here?!"

Suddenly Janika looked ashamed. "I...uh...I just wanted to play."

"What were you thinking?!" he yelled. "This is not a game!"

She started back as though slapped. "But...the cards and the life points and those monsters... I thought this was just some kind of... Sorry."

Aelita stepped past Ulrich who was rigid with rage and placed her hand on Janika's arm. "We are in trouble. Someone is trying to destroy us and I need to stop him. Help us or you will have to leave."

(V)

Jeremy sighed. He hated to do this. The girl would wake up and remember nothing as soon as Aelita fixed the Tower. She had managed to get herself into Lyoko (no easy feat) and even destroyed some of X.A.N.A.'s monsters in the last few minutes. She really was powerful, but that might also spell destructive.

She could crash the whole system if she felt like it. A hacker who wasn't exactly one of the gang might not have much patience for what they did. She might not like them and be bitter about the whole episode. After all, Janika stole first and didn't bother asking questions. She was just plain trouble for them.

His phone rang. "Yumi?"

"Where are you guys? I've been waiting for fifteen minutes!" She sounded really ticked off.

"Sorry. We found that girl who stole files from my computer. She's in Lyoko right now, but X.A.N.A. activated a Tower at the same time. You think you can make it?"

"She did what?"

"I'll explain later. Just get over here and I'll get you there."

"I'm on my way. It would be nice to get a head's up next time, though."

Jeremy heaved a large sigh as he hung up and turned around. "Huh? What the—" He looked at the empty spot where the laptop should have been. "I could have sworn I left it right here. It couldn't have walked off by itself."

A thought occurred to him.

The screen showed his friends drawing close to the loco Tower. Jeremy was frantic. "Guys! X.A.N.A. may have stolen Janika's laptop. I don't know where it went, but it can't be a good thing."

"Stole her laptop?" Odd sounded confused. "What for? And how? It's not like laptops have legs."

(V)

Yumi stomped into the factory and pressed the button for the elevator. They could have at least called. Boys. Always thinking they could handle everything without any help.

She stepped into the lift and entered the code. It started moving. And what was X.A.N.A. up to? Something was fishy. She just didn't know exactly what.

Yumi pitched to her knees as the elevator ground to a shuddering halt. Her suspicions were aroused and she called Jeremy again. He answered on the first ring. "Yeah?"

"The elevator stopped on me."

"Well, Janika's laptop is missing."

"Whose laptop?"

"Our resident hacker's. The point is that I don't know where it went or what X.A.N.A. wants with it."

"He might have tapped into the electrical system."

"No. I entered protective codes into it so he couldn't do anything from the inside out, which means he must have found a way to mess with it from the outside in. Yumi, get out of there! If the elevator's stuck, that means he's after you!"

"I'm leaving right now!"

She scrambled up the side and managed to grab the emergency exit's handle. With a little more strength, the girl finally hoisted herself out of the elevator and grabbed the ladder rung. A thought occurred to Yumi: what if X.A.N.A. was trying to prevent her from getting to Lyoko? In which case that meant Jeremy was in trouble, not her!