Code: Lyoko
Who You Are
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Guys, let me just say thank you for all of the praise that you've given me regarding this series. To tell
the truth, I'm surprised that I was able to get such a reaction regarding a series that I don't know a whole
lot about. But also, I'd welcome any suggestions you guys have that I could do to make it better, whether add
something or change something. Fanfic writing is like professional writing, it's all about what the readers want
to read. So if there's something you want, please tell me, or at the very least, tell me what you like about it.
With that said, France is owned by Canal... oh, sorry, I meant to say Code: Lyoko is owned by Antefilms and Canalt
J and france 3. Personally, I think it should be in the normal cartoon category since the animators and artists
who put it on are French and not Japanese, but like I said in chapter 2, to me, Code: Lyoko is the French trying
to be Japanese for the Americans.
Abstract: Aelita adjusts to human life and the Invaders make an open attack on Earth.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Previously on Code: Lyoko, the gang had to face challenges both physically and mentally. The physical challenges
were learning to use their new powers and defeat two Skeletons. The mental challenges was figuring out if Xana
could be trusted as an ally. That querry was put to rest as Xana used his body to defend Yumi against an attack
by the deadly Skeletons even though he knew doing so would weaken his life force.
Xana has proved his worth to them, but now it's Aelita's turn to do some proving.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Aelita looked around the room she was given. It was a normal single room much like Jeremie's. But it was empty of
any personal possessions. That was because the only possessions Aelita had were (literally) the clothes on her
back, and even those were actually Yumi's. Even her bed only had a thin sheet and a pillow as provided by the
school. For the past few days, she had been staying at Yumi's, at least until Jeremie and Xana did some hacking to
try to give cause as to why Aelita had next to no belongings and rarely talked about her parents as well as
register her so she could go to the same school as Jeremie, Aelita, Yumi, and Ulrich.
She didn't have class for another half-hour and she had nothing to do. This must be what Odd calls boredom.
Aelita heard a knock on her door and opened it for Jeremie.
"Hi, Jeremie."
"Hi, Aelita." Jeremie turned behind him, "Okay, guys, bring it in." Behind him was Ulrich and Odd carrying a
huge box.
"Hey, remind me again why we're doing this and not you?" Odd grunted.
"I offered you guys my help and you said you could handle it."
"I had to open my big mouth," Odd muttered as they gently placed the box down by Aelita's desk. Jeremie lifted
a flat-screen computer monitor out of the box and began setting it up.
"Jeremie, is this..." Aelita began.
"Yup, this is my computer. I think you could use it more than I could."
"But what about..."
"Don't worry, I still have my laptop plus I backed-up all the Lyoko programs."
Ulrich and Odd lifted the tower out of the box which Jeremie began to set up. As they were working, there was
another knock on the door. Aelita opened up to see Yumi with a basket of clothes and other random items.
"Well, I can see that I wasn't the only one with the idea," Yumi said seeing Ulrich, Odd, and Jeremie.
"Yumi, what's..."
"My parents were going to throw all this away but I convinced them that there's somebody at school who could use
them more."
"I can't believe this. You guys..." Aelita felt her eyes tear up. "You guys have been so nice to me."
"After all the times you helped us save our world, Aelita, this is the least we could do," Ulrich replied.
Aelita was overcome with joy at the show of support her friends were giving her. She embraced Jeremie tight
making the bespectacled boy blush profusely. "Thank you, Jeremie, thank you, all."
"Ahem!" Everybody turned to see Sissi standing in the doorway. Aelita forgot to shut it after letting Yumi in.
"Well, isn't this the cozy bunch."
"Leave us alone, Sissi," Ulrich said.
"Yeah, we're just helping Aelita move in," Odd explained.
"Oooh, you're just helping Aelita move in," Sissi mocked. "What's wrong, can't Aelita move herself in?"
Sissi stared down at Aelita.
"We're just helping," Yumi said fiercely. "If you want to help, then go ahead. Otherwise make like an egg and
beat it." Yumi accented her statement by pointing towards the door.
Sissi snubbed Yumi. "Well, if you ask me, if Aelita was any descent human, she would exhibit more independence
and lose the damsel in distress routine. She seems like a weak little baby to me."
Ulrich said, "Sissi, either leave or I'll kick you out. And you've seen me at soccer games so you know I can
kick with the best of them."
Sissi turned and walked out of the room like a Princess returning to her chambers after paying a visit to her
subjects.
"Man, no matter how many times I see her, she still gets my goat," Ulrich commented.
"Hey, I have an idea," Odd said. "Let's hang her underware on the school's antenna."
"No thanks," Ulrich came back. "I'm afraid touching Sissi's underware might curse me."
"Good point. I should've known you wouldn't like going anywhere near Sissi's underware." They then noticed
Aelita with her head down.
Jeremie placed a hand on Aelita's shoulder. "Don't let her get to you, Aelita," he advised. "She just loves
putting us down."
"Jeremie's right," Yumi agreed. "You don't know how many times she tried verbally stomping on me. Just let it
bounce off you, like you're Xana's Mega-Tank and she's one of Odd's Laser Arrows."
"You just had to bring that up, didn't you?" Odd asked Yumi. Yumi shrugged.
"No... it's okay, guys, I don't care what she says." But that wasn't true, everybody could see that Sissi's words
did affect Aelita, especially the comment about her not being human.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In Lyoko, one of the towers in the Desert Region started to glow. But this wasn't the red-glow that signified
being activated, this was a strange green color. The entire plateau that it was on transformed into some sort of
maze. But this strange transformation didn't go unnoticed. A stone block sitting on top of a cliff suddenly
sprouted legs and scampered off.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Aelita stared at the meat loaf on her plate. Ulrich and Odd were making jokes about how it looked like one of their
science experiments (or something Kiwi left on Jim's shoe one time).
"What's wrong, Aelita?" Yumi asked. "Aren't you hungry?"
"Um... no," Aelita replied. "I'm not. Is that bad?"
"No, of course not," Jeremie replied from next to her. "Sometimes people just aren't hungry."
"Unless you're like Odd in which case you're a bottomless pit," Ulrich cracked.
"Oh, like you're one to talk," Odd retorted.
Aelita pushed her tray away. "I'm sorry, everyone. Please, excuse me." Aelita got up and started to walk towards
the door. But Yumi caught her arm.
"Aelita... is this about what Sissi said earlier?"
"Um..."
"Sissi doesn't know the true story," Jeremie said. "That's why she said what she said."
"Yeah, don't worry about it," Odd threw in. "I don't think she'd believe us if we told her where you came from
anyway."
"Either that or she would tell her father who would probably call some people to take Aelita away and turn her into
a science experiment," Ulrich said in a casual manner.
Aelita decided it was try to exert some independence like what Sissi suggested. To everyone's surprise, she yanked
her arm away and ran outside.
Yumi and Jeremie stared at Ulrich. "Nice going, Ulrich, why not just call her an alien while you're at it?" Yumi
snapped.
Ulrich lowered his head in shame. "Sorry, I didn't realize what I was saying."
"I'll go and talk to her," Jeremie decided. As he got up, Yumi grabbed his arm. "Yumi?"
"Jeremie, I think it's best if we leave Aelita to figure things out by herself," Yumi suggested.
"Why?" Jeremie asked.
"My father always says that you must look inside yourself to figure out who you are. That's what Aelita needs to
do."
"But Aelita's different! She wouldn't fall under that philosophy!"
"Wasn't that the whole point of all this?" Odd asked. "So she could be like us?"
For once, Jeremie was at a lost for words.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Xana and some of his monsters landed in front of what was once a tower. Now it looked like a huge obelisk with a
maze all around it. An iron gate covered the entranceway of the maze. Xana ordered a hornet to fly over it, but
when it tried, it hit a forcefield and fell to the ground. Xana ordered a Mega-Tank to destroy the gate. The
Mega-Tank fired a steady stream of energy at the gate. At first, it looked like nothing happened, then the gate
began to buckle and then popped out.
Xana ordered two Blocks to enter the maze. No sooner have they done then a one of the walls rammed them into the
opposite wall and destroyed them. Xana's symbol glowed. He could see that this'll be trouble.
Then the obelisk began doing something that Xana knew only too well. After all, he did it hundreds of times to
the towers.
It started to glow.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There was a military base just outside of town. The tanks there suddenly came alive and started destroying
everything. They made their way to the city limits.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Xana didn't like what was happening. He knew it was hypocritical since he did it so many times, but he still
didn't like it. Because unlike past times, he had absolutely no control over what's going on. He would have to
get help on this.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Aelita felt... anxious. She didn't know why, she just had this need to move around a lot. She remembered Odd
call it "being antsy." As she headed for the gate, Jim blocked her way.
"Hold it there, kid, just where do you think you're going?"
"Do you think I'm not human too?" Aelita asked not looking at the P.E. coach.
"No, what I think is that you shouldn't wonder outside the school grounds by yourself."
"But... I can act independent," Aelita protested.
"I'm sure you can, but it's dangerous to wander around outside. Night's approaching and lots of weird people come
out then."
"Oh." Aelita turned and started to walk towards the track field.
"Hey," Jim called. Aelita turned and looked at him. He pointed his thumb at himself. "The name's Jim, don't be
afraid to ask for help."
"You too," Aelita muttered. Jim gave her a confused look but Aelita didn't catch on it. She just continued her
walk away.
Aelita sat down on one of the bleachers.
"This seat's taken," a low-tone voice said. Aelita turned and saw William LeChon laying across the bleacher,
apparently trying to sleep.
"Oh, sorry... um... William, wasn't it?" Without opening his eyes, William nodded. "Oh, well, I'm Aelita Lyoko."
"I know," he said. "I heard you talking to those other four."
"Oh. Sorry if I'm disturbing you. I'll leave if you want me to."
"Do whatever you want," William said like it was no big deal. Aelita decided to stay. The two just remained in
those positions for a bit, neither saying anything."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ulrich and Odd had just returned to their room when Ulrich's cell phone went off. When Ulrich checked it, he gasped at
what appeared on the screen. "Odd, come look at this." Ulrich showed that his cell phone was flashing the Lyoko symbol.
"Is that from Xana?" Odd asked.
"Bet on it. I don't think Xana would do this unless something was up with Lyoko. Odd, call Yumi. I'll get Jeremie."
"What about Aelita?"
"I'll get her after I get Jeremie. Let's meet at the factory." Ulrich ran to Jeremie's room and pounded on the door.
"Jeremie, open up! It's an emergency!" Jeremie opened his door. The kid's eyes look worried. Ulrich figured he was
worried about Aelita. "There's an emergency in Lyoko."
"I know," Jeremie said as he showed Ulrich his cell phone. The Lyoko symbol was flashing on it too.
"Aelita doesn't have a cell phone," Ulrich pointed out.
"True, but the warning should appear on the computer in her room."
"Okay, let's get down to the factory. If Aelita did get the signal, she would already be heading there."
"Right. Jim's about so we should take the back route." The two ran down to the sewers and took their respective
vehicles to the factory. Yumi and Odd were already there, but not Aelita.
"Where's Aelita?" Yumi asked.
"Wasn't she with you?" Ulrich asked back.
"You said you were going to get her," Odd threw in.
"We have to go look for her," Jeremie said, worried for her. She looked really down when he last saw her, he hoped
she was all right. He turned to leave the factory but Ulrich caught his hand.
"There's no time. If Xana's sending us an S.O.S. from Lyoko, it means that something bad has happened. And don't
forget, if Xana dies, so does Aelita." Jeremie's look still showed that he wanted to look for Aelita. "Jeremie,
the best thing we can do for Aelita is protect Xana and Lyoko. I'm sure Aelita would want us to do that!"
"All right," Jeremie gave in. They ran into the elevator. Jeremie set himself up in the control room while the others
rode down to the scanner room. "Yumi, Ulrich, the fourth scanner is still under construction. Could you two double-up?"
Ulrich looked at Yumi. She still had some reservations about this whole scanner-sharing thing, but right now wasn't the
time to express them. "Sure."
"I want one to be ready for Aelita when she arrives," Jeremie said almost hopefully. Yumi and Ulrich didn't reply to that,
but just went into the scanner. "Transfer, Odd. Transfer, Ulrich. Transfer, Yumi." Jeremie accessed their avatars and
readied the upload program for their weapons. "Scanner, Odd. Scanner, Ulrich and Yumi. Virtualization."
The three appeared in the desert region. They immediately spotted the Obelisk. Xana was standing by it. "What in Lyoko
is that?" Yumi asked.
Jeremie received an instant message from Xana and relayed it to the others. "Xana says that it used to be a tower but
something changed it."
"Dollars to doughnuts it was the Invaders," Odd guessed.
"That's what Xana believes too. He tried to get in but..."
"Didn't work out, huh?" Ulrich finished looking at the destroyed Blocks. "All right, Jeremie, upload our weapons now!"
"Right. Upload: Twin Kitanas! Upload: Disk Launchers! Upload: Wrist Claws!" Their weapons appeared on them. "All
right, ready, guys?" Yumi and Odd nodded. "Then let's go."
"Wait, guys," Jeremie said as they entered the maze. "Xana says that the entrance way houses a..." It was too late, the
moving wall slammed them to the other end of a hallway. "Trap," Jeremie finished. "Quickly, get out of the way, Xana
says that it's going to slam you again!" The three dove into a side hallway just as the moving wall hit the opposite end.
"You couldn't have told us about that earlier?" Odd asked.
"I tried, but you guys jumped the gun," Jeremie pointed out. "I'll try to extrapolate a path to the center."
"Also, start a scan to find out what the Obelisk is affecting in our world," Ulrich instructed.
"Already on it," Jeremie confirmed.
"Okay, guys, let's go. And stay alert for more traps."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Aelita cast a side glance at William. She wanted to ask him something but was afraid how he would react to her disturbing
his sleep. After a while of this tennis match of thought, she decided to take the plunge. "William, may I ask you a
question?"
William just let out a grunt. At least he wasn't asleep when she asked but Aelita didn't know if that was a yes or a no.
She decided to go forward. "Do... do I look human?"
William opened one brown eye which he used to stare at her before closing it again. "You look human to me," he replied.
"Do you think I act human?"
"Don't know."
"Why don't you know?"
"Well A, I don't know you well enough."
"Oh."
"And B, us humans have so many different personalities that it's hard to form a fixed one."
"What about independence? Is that a common human trait?"
William blew a raspberry. "If it was, this whole darn planet would be in chaos."
"You mean... I don't have to act independent to act human?"
William cast a side glance at Aelita. "Don't have to if you don't want to."
Aelita felt a heavy burden lifted off of her. Before, she was afraid that she would have to live as a human alone. But
when she tried to act independent, she didn't like it very much. "I now know that being human doesn't mean you have to
be alone. It is very different from simply being independent." She stood up. "Thank you, William, you helped me out so
much!"
"Yeah, whatever," he replied. Aelita didn't understand his tone but before she could ask him what that tone meant, the
ground rumbled and there was a loud explosion. Aelita and William saw the front gate fly across the field with Jim
following. Jim crashed half-way across the athletic field.
"Jim!" Aelita cried as she and William ran to check on him. Fortunately he was only dazed. "What happened?"
"A tank is what happened," Jim moaned. "There's been several of them running along streets shooting at anything and
anyone."
"Crazy," William commented. "The drivers of those tanks must be nuts."
Aelita felt a small tingle in the back of her head. She chalked it up to what Odd calls a bad feeling. What if
this wasn't the work of humans, what if the Invaders had something to do with it. She had to go check. She ran
to the front entranceway.
Jim's explanation was right on target, the tank that had just blow the front gate in was turning a corner. But before
it did, Aelita noticed something strange. It was glowing and there seemed to be some sort of energy flowing to it from
the sky.
It did have something to do with Lyoko. If that was so, then Jeremie and the others would need her help.
"William, look after Jim!" Aelita instructed as she ran off for the dorms.
William gave her back a lop-sided smile. "Off to save the world again," he muttered.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Everyone, listen up," Jeremie called. "Xana and I have been going over the problem and we think we have a way to return
it to normal."
"Cool. Lay it on us, Big-J," Odd said as he galloped through a corridor.
"The Obelisk is actually an infected Tower which means that it can be shut down just like any normal Tower. If you guys
can clear the way, Xana can shut down the Tower. Shutting it down should return it to its normal shape."
"I get it," Ulrich said. "Just like how Aelita used to shut down a Tower that Xana infected."
"Not just, Ulrich, exactly," Jeremie said. Speaking of Aelita... Jeremy looked towards the door. Where was she?
Was she really so depressed that she would ignore a call for help from Lyoko? "Aelita, I hope you're all right."
"Did you say something, Jeremie?" Yumi asked.
"Uh... I said get ready for a possible fight."
"Oh." Yumi knew what Jeremy really said but she felt no need to embarrass the poor boy. She turned a corner and saw
a black marble wall at the other end of the hall. "Good news, Jeremie. I found the path leading up to the Obelisk."
"Good work, Yumi. Odd, Ulrich, stand your ground. Beginning extrapolation."
Suddenly a Skeleton materialized in Yumi's way. It roared and two Blow Fish appeared with it. Two more Skeletons
materialized where Ulrich and Odd were.
"Jeremy, cancel the extrapolation," Yumi instructed. "There are obsticles in our way." The Blow Fish rushed her but
Yumi flipped over them. She made her symbol. "Mystic Aura... Freeze!" And just like that, the Blow Fish froze in place.
Yumi smiled at her handywork but didn't notice the Skeleton coming up behind her until it slashed her back. Yumi cried out
in pain.
"Yumi!" Jeremy cried. "You're down to 65 life points!"
"That doesn't make any sense," Yumi said as she fired her Disk Launchers. "How could I lose over thirty life points?"
"Twenty must be from when the wall crashed into you," Jeremy deduced, then gasped. "Ulrich, Odd, be careful, you guys
lost over twenty life points from that wall hit."
"Wow, these guys hit a lot tougher than Xana's monsters used to," Odd said as fired off a Laser Crescent.
Jeremie tried to figure out how to help them. His pondering was interrupted as one of the side monitors activated a live
television feed.
"This is an Emergency News Broadcast," a bodiless announcer said. "Four of the army's new computerized tanks have come
alive and have started shooting up the city. The army reports that there are no humans in them and have no explanation as
to the cause. Already, casualties have gone up to 30 and that number continues to grow by the hour." Jeremy looked
from the news broadcast to the Obelisk.
It clicked.
"Oh my God! That's what they're doing with the Obelisk. They're controlling tanks!"
"Say again, Jeremie," Odd requested as he finally finished off the Skeleton. "They're controlling tanks."
"Remember when Xana took control of those bulldozers and tried to destroy the factory? Well the Invaders are taking it
one step further and using tanks to destroy everything. The casualties are piling up higher than the uneaten trays
during Beef Strogenov day at the cafeteria." He could feel the shock that the others were going through upon hearing
that news. "Don't worry guys, there is a way to stop this. The past revert program. But the tower has to be shut down
and for that, we need Aelita."
{Aelita, where are you?} Jeremie thought.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Jeremie, I..." Aelita began as she burst through the door to his room. She found it empty. "Huh? Where'd he go."
Aelita tried Ulrich and Odd's room but it was locked. Aelita pounded on it with her shoulder until the door opened and
she fell into the room. To her surprise, it was Kiwi who opened the door. "Kiwi, where's Odd. Please take me to where
Odd and the others are." Kiwi seemed to understand because he sniffed around on the ground before moving out the door.
His bark prompted Aelita to follow him. He lead her to the manhole cover where he started barking.
{Of course,} Aelita thought. {Why didn't I realize it sooner? If they know there's a problem in Lyoko, obviously they
would be there.} Aelita opened the manhole cover and climbed down with Kiwi. The two ran through the sewers until they
came up on the exit near the factory. She entered it and rode the elevator down to the control room.
Jeremie whipped his head around as the motors to the elevator began working. He was hoping for Aelita but his logic told
him to be prepared for anything.
So he was relieved when Aelita and Kiwi appeared. "Aelita!" He ran up to her and hugged her.
"Jeremie, I'm so sorry for..."
"Apologize later. Right now, we have an emergency."
"I know," Aelita agreed as Jeremie lead her to the control panel. "Tanks have come to life..."
"We already know about that," Jeremie interrupted again. "The Invaders have transformed a Tower into an Obelisk and
maze. Yumi, Ulrich, and Odd are pinned down. Xana and I figured that the only way to stop all this is to return the
Tower back to its normal state and use the past revert program."
"Yes, that could work," Aelita agreed. "I'm heading down to the scanner. I'll need you to lead me through the maze."
"You got it, Aelita." Aelita got into the empty scanner. "Transfer, Aelita. Scanner... virtualization!"
Aelita appeared right next to Xana. Jeremie warned her about the trap. "I'll just have to move quickly." Aelita
ran into the entrance way and as the wall started to move, Aelita ran to the other end and rolled through the exit
as the wall struck nothing. "Made it," she informed to Jeremie.
"Good. I'll lead you to the center. Upload: Lyoko Wand!" Aelita's staff appeared and Jeremie lead her to the center.
By this time, Yumi had defeated the Skeleton thanks to some quick firing from her Disk Launchers. She decided to scout
ahead. She entered the Obelisk. Inside was nothing but a dark room and a circular floor. There was no indication that
this was once a Tower.
A large monster came down in front of her. It looked like a dinosaur with a horn on its snout.
A pre-battle screen came on: Yumi vs. Rhinorex. "Yumi, get away from there!" Jeremie ordered. "Your life points are
too low and it's incredibly powerful." Yumi found that out the hard way as the Rhinorex stabbed her with his horn.
Yumi vanished only to reappear outside the Obelisk.
"Huh? How'd I get out here?" She wondered. "Jeremie, what's my life points?"
"Ten. Better stay away from there, Yumi. Next time you might not be so lucky. Aelita's on her way."
"Aelita?" No sooner had she said that then Aelita appeared. "Aelita, are you all right?"
"I'm fine now, Yumi."
"Careful, there's a really powerful monster in there."
"Hey Jeremie," Odd called. "Tell Aelita that if she defeats the monster, she can return the Tower to normal?"
"How do you know that, Odd?"
"Well it always works in video games."
Aelita smiled. "I will, Odd." She walked into the Obelisk. The Rhinorex was already waiting for her. Before it could
chomp her, Aelita rolled forward and dove in between its legs. It tried to turn around but it was too slow. Aelita saw
her chance. She aimed her staff at the monster and concentrated with all her strength. The Rhinorex began rising into
the air. It's body began to curl up into a ball until it was like a large scaly soccerball. Aelita was straining but
she opened up a vortex to a digital void and threw the monster in there. She then closed it and collapsed to her knees.
Her staff disappeared. The room suddenly changed to the bottom level of a Tower.
Outside, Ulrich and Odd had met up with Yumi just in time to see the Obelisk turn back into a Tower and the maze
disappear.
"She did it!" Yumi cried as they all cheered.
"Hey Jeremie, something's been bothering me," Ulrich said. "How do we know that when we return to the past, we don't go
back to battling Xana's monsters instead of the Invaders. You know that without Aelita's upgrade, she'll be stuck in
Lyoko again."
"More importantly, how do we know that returning to the past will undo the deaths done by the tanks?" Yumi added.
"Xana's been trying to upgrade the program but there's no guarantee it'll work."
"Swell," Ulrich muttered.
Aelita arrived at the top level of the tower. She walked to the center and activated a screen. She watched her name
appear as well as the Code screen.
L-Y-O-K-O
The code was accepted. The assembled view screens began descending.
"Return to the past now," Jeremie commanded as he hit the enter button.
Everything was consumed in white light.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
When Aelita opened the door, she discovered Jeremie, Yumi, Ulrich, and Odd standing there with boxes and bags of items.
"Surprise!" They all said.
"Oh wow, guys, this is incredible!" Aelita said as they came in and began setting up. "Thank you so much!"
"Hey, after all the times you helped us save our world, Aelita, this is the least we can do," Ulrich said. Aelita
was overcome with emotion at the support of her friends. She embraced Jeremie making the bespectacled boy's face grow
red.
"Thank you, Jeremie. Thank you all."
"Ahem!" Everybody turned to see Sissi standing in the doorway. Aelita forgot to shut it. "Well isn't this the
cozy bunch."
"Leave us alone, Sissi," Ulrich said.
"Yeah, we're just helping Aelita move in," Odd explained.
"Oooh, you're just helping Aelita move in," Sissi mocked. "What's wrong, can't Aelita move herself in?"
Sissi stared down at Aelita.
"We're just helping," Yumi said fiercely. "If you want to help, then..." Aelita stepped forward and faced Sissi.
"What do you want?" Sissi asked.
"They're helping because I asked them," Aelita said firmly. "You got a problem with that?"
Sissi wasn't expecting this girl to act so forceful. "Uh... well..."
"Look, Sissi, before you say it, I don't care if I'm acting independent or not! I rely on my friends and they rely
on me. So if you ever attempt to harrass my friends again, you'll have to deal with me! And I don't want to be
your enemy any more than you want to be mine."
"Now wait just a minute, I won't have any lip coming from a little baby like you!"
"If you don't have anything nice to say, then get out!" Aelita pushed Sissi out of her room.
Sissi looked up at Aelita. She looked like she was ready to go all out. And since Ulrich and Yumi were close
behind her,she could see that they were ready to tag-in in case something bad happened to Aelita. Sissi got up and
dusted herself off. "Well, I never..." And she stormed away.
Aelita turned to look at the others. They all had bewildered expressions.
"Aelita, that was incredible!" Ulrich exclaimed.
"Phew, remind me never to get on your bad side, Aelita," Odd said.
"I hoped I didn't do anything to get her in trouble," Aelita said.
"I think Sissi had it coming," Yumi said placing a hand on her shoulder.
Aelita nodded. A passing shadow caught her eye. "Um... guys, could you start. I'll join you in a minute."
"Make sure you leave the toilet seat down," Odd called out. Ulrich, Yumi, and Jeremie scowled at him. "What? It's
what my Dad always says when I leave the room."
The shadow that Aelita saw was William. "William, wait up!" William turned to face Aelita. "I just wanted to
thank you for what you said. I think, because of your words, I can survive being human."
"Huh?" He said. Aelita just smiled at him and ran back. When she was out of ear shot, he said, "You're
welcome, Aelita."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Someone besides Jeremie has a crush on Aelita. And you won't believe who it is. Odd also has a crush, and you won't
believe who it is. You probably won't believe the entire chapter.
Who You Are
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Guys, let me just say thank you for all of the praise that you've given me regarding this series. To tell
the truth, I'm surprised that I was able to get such a reaction regarding a series that I don't know a whole
lot about. But also, I'd welcome any suggestions you guys have that I could do to make it better, whether add
something or change something. Fanfic writing is like professional writing, it's all about what the readers want
to read. So if there's something you want, please tell me, or at the very least, tell me what you like about it.
With that said, France is owned by Canal... oh, sorry, I meant to say Code: Lyoko is owned by Antefilms and Canalt
J and france 3. Personally, I think it should be in the normal cartoon category since the animators and artists
who put it on are French and not Japanese, but like I said in chapter 2, to me, Code: Lyoko is the French trying
to be Japanese for the Americans.
Abstract: Aelita adjusts to human life and the Invaders make an open attack on Earth.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Previously on Code: Lyoko, the gang had to face challenges both physically and mentally. The physical challenges
were learning to use their new powers and defeat two Skeletons. The mental challenges was figuring out if Xana
could be trusted as an ally. That querry was put to rest as Xana used his body to defend Yumi against an attack
by the deadly Skeletons even though he knew doing so would weaken his life force.
Xana has proved his worth to them, but now it's Aelita's turn to do some proving.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Aelita looked around the room she was given. It was a normal single room much like Jeremie's. But it was empty of
any personal possessions. That was because the only possessions Aelita had were (literally) the clothes on her
back, and even those were actually Yumi's. Even her bed only had a thin sheet and a pillow as provided by the
school. For the past few days, she had been staying at Yumi's, at least until Jeremie and Xana did some hacking to
try to give cause as to why Aelita had next to no belongings and rarely talked about her parents as well as
register her so she could go to the same school as Jeremie, Aelita, Yumi, and Ulrich.
She didn't have class for another half-hour and she had nothing to do. This must be what Odd calls boredom.
Aelita heard a knock on her door and opened it for Jeremie.
"Hi, Jeremie."
"Hi, Aelita." Jeremie turned behind him, "Okay, guys, bring it in." Behind him was Ulrich and Odd carrying a
huge box.
"Hey, remind me again why we're doing this and not you?" Odd grunted.
"I offered you guys my help and you said you could handle it."
"I had to open my big mouth," Odd muttered as they gently placed the box down by Aelita's desk. Jeremie lifted
a flat-screen computer monitor out of the box and began setting it up.
"Jeremie, is this..." Aelita began.
"Yup, this is my computer. I think you could use it more than I could."
"But what about..."
"Don't worry, I still have my laptop plus I backed-up all the Lyoko programs."
Ulrich and Odd lifted the tower out of the box which Jeremie began to set up. As they were working, there was
another knock on the door. Aelita opened up to see Yumi with a basket of clothes and other random items.
"Well, I can see that I wasn't the only one with the idea," Yumi said seeing Ulrich, Odd, and Jeremie.
"Yumi, what's..."
"My parents were going to throw all this away but I convinced them that there's somebody at school who could use
them more."
"I can't believe this. You guys..." Aelita felt her eyes tear up. "You guys have been so nice to me."
"After all the times you helped us save our world, Aelita, this is the least we could do," Ulrich replied.
Aelita was overcome with joy at the show of support her friends were giving her. She embraced Jeremie tight
making the bespectacled boy blush profusely. "Thank you, Jeremie, thank you, all."
"Ahem!" Everybody turned to see Sissi standing in the doorway. Aelita forgot to shut it after letting Yumi in.
"Well, isn't this the cozy bunch."
"Leave us alone, Sissi," Ulrich said.
"Yeah, we're just helping Aelita move in," Odd explained.
"Oooh, you're just helping Aelita move in," Sissi mocked. "What's wrong, can't Aelita move herself in?"
Sissi stared down at Aelita.
"We're just helping," Yumi said fiercely. "If you want to help, then go ahead. Otherwise make like an egg and
beat it." Yumi accented her statement by pointing towards the door.
Sissi snubbed Yumi. "Well, if you ask me, if Aelita was any descent human, she would exhibit more independence
and lose the damsel in distress routine. She seems like a weak little baby to me."
Ulrich said, "Sissi, either leave or I'll kick you out. And you've seen me at soccer games so you know I can
kick with the best of them."
Sissi turned and walked out of the room like a Princess returning to her chambers after paying a visit to her
subjects.
"Man, no matter how many times I see her, she still gets my goat," Ulrich commented.
"Hey, I have an idea," Odd said. "Let's hang her underware on the school's antenna."
"No thanks," Ulrich came back. "I'm afraid touching Sissi's underware might curse me."
"Good point. I should've known you wouldn't like going anywhere near Sissi's underware." They then noticed
Aelita with her head down.
Jeremie placed a hand on Aelita's shoulder. "Don't let her get to you, Aelita," he advised. "She just loves
putting us down."
"Jeremie's right," Yumi agreed. "You don't know how many times she tried verbally stomping on me. Just let it
bounce off you, like you're Xana's Mega-Tank and she's one of Odd's Laser Arrows."
"You just had to bring that up, didn't you?" Odd asked Yumi. Yumi shrugged.
"No... it's okay, guys, I don't care what she says." But that wasn't true, everybody could see that Sissi's words
did affect Aelita, especially the comment about her not being human.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In Lyoko, one of the towers in the Desert Region started to glow. But this wasn't the red-glow that signified
being activated, this was a strange green color. The entire plateau that it was on transformed into some sort of
maze. But this strange transformation didn't go unnoticed. A stone block sitting on top of a cliff suddenly
sprouted legs and scampered off.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Aelita stared at the meat loaf on her plate. Ulrich and Odd were making jokes about how it looked like one of their
science experiments (or something Kiwi left on Jim's shoe one time).
"What's wrong, Aelita?" Yumi asked. "Aren't you hungry?"
"Um... no," Aelita replied. "I'm not. Is that bad?"
"No, of course not," Jeremie replied from next to her. "Sometimes people just aren't hungry."
"Unless you're like Odd in which case you're a bottomless pit," Ulrich cracked.
"Oh, like you're one to talk," Odd retorted.
Aelita pushed her tray away. "I'm sorry, everyone. Please, excuse me." Aelita got up and started to walk towards
the door. But Yumi caught her arm.
"Aelita... is this about what Sissi said earlier?"
"Um..."
"Sissi doesn't know the true story," Jeremie said. "That's why she said what she said."
"Yeah, don't worry about it," Odd threw in. "I don't think she'd believe us if we told her where you came from
anyway."
"Either that or she would tell her father who would probably call some people to take Aelita away and turn her into
a science experiment," Ulrich said in a casual manner.
Aelita decided it was try to exert some independence like what Sissi suggested. To everyone's surprise, she yanked
her arm away and ran outside.
Yumi and Jeremie stared at Ulrich. "Nice going, Ulrich, why not just call her an alien while you're at it?" Yumi
snapped.
Ulrich lowered his head in shame. "Sorry, I didn't realize what I was saying."
"I'll go and talk to her," Jeremie decided. As he got up, Yumi grabbed his arm. "Yumi?"
"Jeremie, I think it's best if we leave Aelita to figure things out by herself," Yumi suggested.
"Why?" Jeremie asked.
"My father always says that you must look inside yourself to figure out who you are. That's what Aelita needs to
do."
"But Aelita's different! She wouldn't fall under that philosophy!"
"Wasn't that the whole point of all this?" Odd asked. "So she could be like us?"
For once, Jeremie was at a lost for words.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Xana and some of his monsters landed in front of what was once a tower. Now it looked like a huge obelisk with a
maze all around it. An iron gate covered the entranceway of the maze. Xana ordered a hornet to fly over it, but
when it tried, it hit a forcefield and fell to the ground. Xana ordered a Mega-Tank to destroy the gate. The
Mega-Tank fired a steady stream of energy at the gate. At first, it looked like nothing happened, then the gate
began to buckle and then popped out.
Xana ordered two Blocks to enter the maze. No sooner have they done then a one of the walls rammed them into the
opposite wall and destroyed them. Xana's symbol glowed. He could see that this'll be trouble.
Then the obelisk began doing something that Xana knew only too well. After all, he did it hundreds of times to
the towers.
It started to glow.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There was a military base just outside of town. The tanks there suddenly came alive and started destroying
everything. They made their way to the city limits.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Xana didn't like what was happening. He knew it was hypocritical since he did it so many times, but he still
didn't like it. Because unlike past times, he had absolutely no control over what's going on. He would have to
get help on this.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Aelita felt... anxious. She didn't know why, she just had this need to move around a lot. She remembered Odd
call it "being antsy." As she headed for the gate, Jim blocked her way.
"Hold it there, kid, just where do you think you're going?"
"Do you think I'm not human too?" Aelita asked not looking at the P.E. coach.
"No, what I think is that you shouldn't wonder outside the school grounds by yourself."
"But... I can act independent," Aelita protested.
"I'm sure you can, but it's dangerous to wander around outside. Night's approaching and lots of weird people come
out then."
"Oh." Aelita turned and started to walk towards the track field.
"Hey," Jim called. Aelita turned and looked at him. He pointed his thumb at himself. "The name's Jim, don't be
afraid to ask for help."
"You too," Aelita muttered. Jim gave her a confused look but Aelita didn't catch on it. She just continued her
walk away.
Aelita sat down on one of the bleachers.
"This seat's taken," a low-tone voice said. Aelita turned and saw William LeChon laying across the bleacher,
apparently trying to sleep.
"Oh, sorry... um... William, wasn't it?" Without opening his eyes, William nodded. "Oh, well, I'm Aelita Lyoko."
"I know," he said. "I heard you talking to those other four."
"Oh. Sorry if I'm disturbing you. I'll leave if you want me to."
"Do whatever you want," William said like it was no big deal. Aelita decided to stay. The two just remained in
those positions for a bit, neither saying anything."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ulrich and Odd had just returned to their room when Ulrich's cell phone went off. When Ulrich checked it, he gasped at
what appeared on the screen. "Odd, come look at this." Ulrich showed that his cell phone was flashing the Lyoko symbol.
"Is that from Xana?" Odd asked.
"Bet on it. I don't think Xana would do this unless something was up with Lyoko. Odd, call Yumi. I'll get Jeremie."
"What about Aelita?"
"I'll get her after I get Jeremie. Let's meet at the factory." Ulrich ran to Jeremie's room and pounded on the door.
"Jeremie, open up! It's an emergency!" Jeremie opened his door. The kid's eyes look worried. Ulrich figured he was
worried about Aelita. "There's an emergency in Lyoko."
"I know," Jeremie said as he showed Ulrich his cell phone. The Lyoko symbol was flashing on it too.
"Aelita doesn't have a cell phone," Ulrich pointed out.
"True, but the warning should appear on the computer in her room."
"Okay, let's get down to the factory. If Aelita did get the signal, she would already be heading there."
"Right. Jim's about so we should take the back route." The two ran down to the sewers and took their respective
vehicles to the factory. Yumi and Odd were already there, but not Aelita.
"Where's Aelita?" Yumi asked.
"Wasn't she with you?" Ulrich asked back.
"You said you were going to get her," Odd threw in.
"We have to go look for her," Jeremie said, worried for her. She looked really down when he last saw her, he hoped
she was all right. He turned to leave the factory but Ulrich caught his hand.
"There's no time. If Xana's sending us an S.O.S. from Lyoko, it means that something bad has happened. And don't
forget, if Xana dies, so does Aelita." Jeremie's look still showed that he wanted to look for Aelita. "Jeremie,
the best thing we can do for Aelita is protect Xana and Lyoko. I'm sure Aelita would want us to do that!"
"All right," Jeremie gave in. They ran into the elevator. Jeremie set himself up in the control room while the others
rode down to the scanner room. "Yumi, Ulrich, the fourth scanner is still under construction. Could you two double-up?"
Ulrich looked at Yumi. She still had some reservations about this whole scanner-sharing thing, but right now wasn't the
time to express them. "Sure."
"I want one to be ready for Aelita when she arrives," Jeremie said almost hopefully. Yumi and Ulrich didn't reply to that,
but just went into the scanner. "Transfer, Odd. Transfer, Ulrich. Transfer, Yumi." Jeremie accessed their avatars and
readied the upload program for their weapons. "Scanner, Odd. Scanner, Ulrich and Yumi. Virtualization."
The three appeared in the desert region. They immediately spotted the Obelisk. Xana was standing by it. "What in Lyoko
is that?" Yumi asked.
Jeremie received an instant message from Xana and relayed it to the others. "Xana says that it used to be a tower but
something changed it."
"Dollars to doughnuts it was the Invaders," Odd guessed.
"That's what Xana believes too. He tried to get in but..."
"Didn't work out, huh?" Ulrich finished looking at the destroyed Blocks. "All right, Jeremie, upload our weapons now!"
"Right. Upload: Twin Kitanas! Upload: Disk Launchers! Upload: Wrist Claws!" Their weapons appeared on them. "All
right, ready, guys?" Yumi and Odd nodded. "Then let's go."
"Wait, guys," Jeremie said as they entered the maze. "Xana says that the entrance way houses a..." It was too late, the
moving wall slammed them to the other end of a hallway. "Trap," Jeremie finished. "Quickly, get out of the way, Xana
says that it's going to slam you again!" The three dove into a side hallway just as the moving wall hit the opposite end.
"You couldn't have told us about that earlier?" Odd asked.
"I tried, but you guys jumped the gun," Jeremie pointed out. "I'll try to extrapolate a path to the center."
"Also, start a scan to find out what the Obelisk is affecting in our world," Ulrich instructed.
"Already on it," Jeremie confirmed.
"Okay, guys, let's go. And stay alert for more traps."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Aelita cast a side glance at William. She wanted to ask him something but was afraid how he would react to her disturbing
his sleep. After a while of this tennis match of thought, she decided to take the plunge. "William, may I ask you a
question?"
William just let out a grunt. At least he wasn't asleep when she asked but Aelita didn't know if that was a yes or a no.
She decided to go forward. "Do... do I look human?"
William opened one brown eye which he used to stare at her before closing it again. "You look human to me," he replied.
"Do you think I act human?"
"Don't know."
"Why don't you know?"
"Well A, I don't know you well enough."
"Oh."
"And B, us humans have so many different personalities that it's hard to form a fixed one."
"What about independence? Is that a common human trait?"
William blew a raspberry. "If it was, this whole darn planet would be in chaos."
"You mean... I don't have to act independent to act human?"
William cast a side glance at Aelita. "Don't have to if you don't want to."
Aelita felt a heavy burden lifted off of her. Before, she was afraid that she would have to live as a human alone. But
when she tried to act independent, she didn't like it very much. "I now know that being human doesn't mean you have to
be alone. It is very different from simply being independent." She stood up. "Thank you, William, you helped me out so
much!"
"Yeah, whatever," he replied. Aelita didn't understand his tone but before she could ask him what that tone meant, the
ground rumbled and there was a loud explosion. Aelita and William saw the front gate fly across the field with Jim
following. Jim crashed half-way across the athletic field.
"Jim!" Aelita cried as she and William ran to check on him. Fortunately he was only dazed. "What happened?"
"A tank is what happened," Jim moaned. "There's been several of them running along streets shooting at anything and
anyone."
"Crazy," William commented. "The drivers of those tanks must be nuts."
Aelita felt a small tingle in the back of her head. She chalked it up to what Odd calls a bad feeling. What if
this wasn't the work of humans, what if the Invaders had something to do with it. She had to go check. She ran
to the front entranceway.
Jim's explanation was right on target, the tank that had just blow the front gate in was turning a corner. But before
it did, Aelita noticed something strange. It was glowing and there seemed to be some sort of energy flowing to it from
the sky.
It did have something to do with Lyoko. If that was so, then Jeremie and the others would need her help.
"William, look after Jim!" Aelita instructed as she ran off for the dorms.
William gave her back a lop-sided smile. "Off to save the world again," he muttered.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Everyone, listen up," Jeremie called. "Xana and I have been going over the problem and we think we have a way to return
it to normal."
"Cool. Lay it on us, Big-J," Odd said as he galloped through a corridor.
"The Obelisk is actually an infected Tower which means that it can be shut down just like any normal Tower. If you guys
can clear the way, Xana can shut down the Tower. Shutting it down should return it to its normal shape."
"I get it," Ulrich said. "Just like how Aelita used to shut down a Tower that Xana infected."
"Not just, Ulrich, exactly," Jeremie said. Speaking of Aelita... Jeremy looked towards the door. Where was she?
Was she really so depressed that she would ignore a call for help from Lyoko? "Aelita, I hope you're all right."
"Did you say something, Jeremie?" Yumi asked.
"Uh... I said get ready for a possible fight."
"Oh." Yumi knew what Jeremy really said but she felt no need to embarrass the poor boy. She turned a corner and saw
a black marble wall at the other end of the hall. "Good news, Jeremie. I found the path leading up to the Obelisk."
"Good work, Yumi. Odd, Ulrich, stand your ground. Beginning extrapolation."
Suddenly a Skeleton materialized in Yumi's way. It roared and two Blow Fish appeared with it. Two more Skeletons
materialized where Ulrich and Odd were.
"Jeremy, cancel the extrapolation," Yumi instructed. "There are obsticles in our way." The Blow Fish rushed her but
Yumi flipped over them. She made her symbol. "Mystic Aura... Freeze!" And just like that, the Blow Fish froze in place.
Yumi smiled at her handywork but didn't notice the Skeleton coming up behind her until it slashed her back. Yumi cried out
in pain.
"Yumi!" Jeremy cried. "You're down to 65 life points!"
"That doesn't make any sense," Yumi said as she fired her Disk Launchers. "How could I lose over thirty life points?"
"Twenty must be from when the wall crashed into you," Jeremy deduced, then gasped. "Ulrich, Odd, be careful, you guys
lost over twenty life points from that wall hit."
"Wow, these guys hit a lot tougher than Xana's monsters used to," Odd said as fired off a Laser Crescent.
Jeremie tried to figure out how to help them. His pondering was interrupted as one of the side monitors activated a live
television feed.
"This is an Emergency News Broadcast," a bodiless announcer said. "Four of the army's new computerized tanks have come
alive and have started shooting up the city. The army reports that there are no humans in them and have no explanation as
to the cause. Already, casualties have gone up to 30 and that number continues to grow by the hour." Jeremy looked
from the news broadcast to the Obelisk.
It clicked.
"Oh my God! That's what they're doing with the Obelisk. They're controlling tanks!"
"Say again, Jeremie," Odd requested as he finally finished off the Skeleton. "They're controlling tanks."
"Remember when Xana took control of those bulldozers and tried to destroy the factory? Well the Invaders are taking it
one step further and using tanks to destroy everything. The casualties are piling up higher than the uneaten trays
during Beef Strogenov day at the cafeteria." He could feel the shock that the others were going through upon hearing
that news. "Don't worry guys, there is a way to stop this. The past revert program. But the tower has to be shut down
and for that, we need Aelita."
{Aelita, where are you?} Jeremie thought.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Jeremie, I..." Aelita began as she burst through the door to his room. She found it empty. "Huh? Where'd he go."
Aelita tried Ulrich and Odd's room but it was locked. Aelita pounded on it with her shoulder until the door opened and
she fell into the room. To her surprise, it was Kiwi who opened the door. "Kiwi, where's Odd. Please take me to where
Odd and the others are." Kiwi seemed to understand because he sniffed around on the ground before moving out the door.
His bark prompted Aelita to follow him. He lead her to the manhole cover where he started barking.
{Of course,} Aelita thought. {Why didn't I realize it sooner? If they know there's a problem in Lyoko, obviously they
would be there.} Aelita opened the manhole cover and climbed down with Kiwi. The two ran through the sewers until they
came up on the exit near the factory. She entered it and rode the elevator down to the control room.
Jeremie whipped his head around as the motors to the elevator began working. He was hoping for Aelita but his logic told
him to be prepared for anything.
So he was relieved when Aelita and Kiwi appeared. "Aelita!" He ran up to her and hugged her.
"Jeremie, I'm so sorry for..."
"Apologize later. Right now, we have an emergency."
"I know," Aelita agreed as Jeremie lead her to the control panel. "Tanks have come to life..."
"We already know about that," Jeremie interrupted again. "The Invaders have transformed a Tower into an Obelisk and
maze. Yumi, Ulrich, and Odd are pinned down. Xana and I figured that the only way to stop all this is to return the
Tower back to its normal state and use the past revert program."
"Yes, that could work," Aelita agreed. "I'm heading down to the scanner. I'll need you to lead me through the maze."
"You got it, Aelita." Aelita got into the empty scanner. "Transfer, Aelita. Scanner... virtualization!"
Aelita appeared right next to Xana. Jeremie warned her about the trap. "I'll just have to move quickly." Aelita
ran into the entrance way and as the wall started to move, Aelita ran to the other end and rolled through the exit
as the wall struck nothing. "Made it," she informed to Jeremie.
"Good. I'll lead you to the center. Upload: Lyoko Wand!" Aelita's staff appeared and Jeremie lead her to the center.
By this time, Yumi had defeated the Skeleton thanks to some quick firing from her Disk Launchers. She decided to scout
ahead. She entered the Obelisk. Inside was nothing but a dark room and a circular floor. There was no indication that
this was once a Tower.
A large monster came down in front of her. It looked like a dinosaur with a horn on its snout.
A pre-battle screen came on: Yumi vs. Rhinorex. "Yumi, get away from there!" Jeremie ordered. "Your life points are
too low and it's incredibly powerful." Yumi found that out the hard way as the Rhinorex stabbed her with his horn.
Yumi vanished only to reappear outside the Obelisk.
"Huh? How'd I get out here?" She wondered. "Jeremie, what's my life points?"
"Ten. Better stay away from there, Yumi. Next time you might not be so lucky. Aelita's on her way."
"Aelita?" No sooner had she said that then Aelita appeared. "Aelita, are you all right?"
"I'm fine now, Yumi."
"Careful, there's a really powerful monster in there."
"Hey Jeremie," Odd called. "Tell Aelita that if she defeats the monster, she can return the Tower to normal?"
"How do you know that, Odd?"
"Well it always works in video games."
Aelita smiled. "I will, Odd." She walked into the Obelisk. The Rhinorex was already waiting for her. Before it could
chomp her, Aelita rolled forward and dove in between its legs. It tried to turn around but it was too slow. Aelita saw
her chance. She aimed her staff at the monster and concentrated with all her strength. The Rhinorex began rising into
the air. It's body began to curl up into a ball until it was like a large scaly soccerball. Aelita was straining but
she opened up a vortex to a digital void and threw the monster in there. She then closed it and collapsed to her knees.
Her staff disappeared. The room suddenly changed to the bottom level of a Tower.
Outside, Ulrich and Odd had met up with Yumi just in time to see the Obelisk turn back into a Tower and the maze
disappear.
"She did it!" Yumi cried as they all cheered.
"Hey Jeremie, something's been bothering me," Ulrich said. "How do we know that when we return to the past, we don't go
back to battling Xana's monsters instead of the Invaders. You know that without Aelita's upgrade, she'll be stuck in
Lyoko again."
"More importantly, how do we know that returning to the past will undo the deaths done by the tanks?" Yumi added.
"Xana's been trying to upgrade the program but there's no guarantee it'll work."
"Swell," Ulrich muttered.
Aelita arrived at the top level of the tower. She walked to the center and activated a screen. She watched her name
appear as well as the Code screen.
L-Y-O-K-O
The code was accepted. The assembled view screens began descending.
"Return to the past now," Jeremie commanded as he hit the enter button.
Everything was consumed in white light.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
When Aelita opened the door, she discovered Jeremie, Yumi, Ulrich, and Odd standing there with boxes and bags of items.
"Surprise!" They all said.
"Oh wow, guys, this is incredible!" Aelita said as they came in and began setting up. "Thank you so much!"
"Hey, after all the times you helped us save our world, Aelita, this is the least we can do," Ulrich said. Aelita
was overcome with emotion at the support of her friends. She embraced Jeremie making the bespectacled boy's face grow
red.
"Thank you, Jeremie. Thank you all."
"Ahem!" Everybody turned to see Sissi standing in the doorway. Aelita forgot to shut it. "Well isn't this the
cozy bunch."
"Leave us alone, Sissi," Ulrich said.
"Yeah, we're just helping Aelita move in," Odd explained.
"Oooh, you're just helping Aelita move in," Sissi mocked. "What's wrong, can't Aelita move herself in?"
Sissi stared down at Aelita.
"We're just helping," Yumi said fiercely. "If you want to help, then..." Aelita stepped forward and faced Sissi.
"What do you want?" Sissi asked.
"They're helping because I asked them," Aelita said firmly. "You got a problem with that?"
Sissi wasn't expecting this girl to act so forceful. "Uh... well..."
"Look, Sissi, before you say it, I don't care if I'm acting independent or not! I rely on my friends and they rely
on me. So if you ever attempt to harrass my friends again, you'll have to deal with me! And I don't want to be
your enemy any more than you want to be mine."
"Now wait just a minute, I won't have any lip coming from a little baby like you!"
"If you don't have anything nice to say, then get out!" Aelita pushed Sissi out of her room.
Sissi looked up at Aelita. She looked like she was ready to go all out. And since Ulrich and Yumi were close
behind her,she could see that they were ready to tag-in in case something bad happened to Aelita. Sissi got up and
dusted herself off. "Well, I never..." And she stormed away.
Aelita turned to look at the others. They all had bewildered expressions.
"Aelita, that was incredible!" Ulrich exclaimed.
"Phew, remind me never to get on your bad side, Aelita," Odd said.
"I hoped I didn't do anything to get her in trouble," Aelita said.
"I think Sissi had it coming," Yumi said placing a hand on her shoulder.
Aelita nodded. A passing shadow caught her eye. "Um... guys, could you start. I'll join you in a minute."
"Make sure you leave the toilet seat down," Odd called out. Ulrich, Yumi, and Jeremie scowled at him. "What? It's
what my Dad always says when I leave the room."
The shadow that Aelita saw was William. "William, wait up!" William turned to face Aelita. "I just wanted to
thank you for what you said. I think, because of your words, I can survive being human."
"Huh?" He said. Aelita just smiled at him and ran back. When she was out of ear shot, he said, "You're
welcome, Aelita."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Someone besides Jeremie has a crush on Aelita. And you won't believe who it is. Odd also has a crush, and you won't
believe who it is. You probably won't believe the entire chapter.