Code: Lyoko
Casualty Part 2
Previously on Code: Lyoko, the others were upset that Ulrich decided to show Maggie the lab after they agreed to continue keeping it a secret. Yumi was especially upset at Ulrich for breaking the promise. The leader of the Invaders appeared and Maggie got a crash course in virtualizing. She handled herself quite well for a beginner. But by the time Yumi and Odd arrived to assist Ulrich, Aelita, and Xana, it was too little too late. The tower had turned into an Obelisk and the Invader had launched an attack on the real world. The target of this attack was none other than the supercomputer itself. Maggie was able to save Jeremie but not before taking an electric blast directly.
Ulrich, Yumi, Odd, and Aelita quickly exited the scanners. They went up to the control room. Jeremie had Maggie laid out on the side of the room, covered with a blanket he found in a storage closet.
"Jeremie, what happened?" Ulrich asked.
"Maggie took a shock of electricity directly," Jeremie said. "The Invader's attack must be designed to disrupt computer systems and assault anyone in the vicinity. Maggie pushed me out of the way, she saved my life."
Even Yumi was struck speechless by that revelation.
"But it's strange," Jeremie continued. "When I used the supercomputer to analyze the electricity being generated, the shock only registered as 50 volts, hardly enough to cause the seizure I saw Maggie exhibit."
"That's… my fault," Maggie said. The others were not even aware that she was awake.
"Maggie, you have to save your strength," Ulrich said.
"No, you all have a right to know. You see, I too have been keeping some secrets. But… Ulrich considers me his friend… and you are all friends with Ulrich, so… I feel obligated to tell you." She looked up at the ceiling. "My real last name is Rising Star."
"Rising Star, huh? Sounds like a Native American name," Odd commented.
"It is. My grandparents were stationed here during World War II. I was… I had a weak heart ever since I was a baby. The slightest acceleration of heart beat would trigger an epileptic seizure. As such, my parents forbade me to go out alone and home schooled me."
"So you really don't go to public school?" Ulrich asked.
"Yes, and it also explains why I didn't have any friends. One day I decided to defy my parents' wishes and venture out. I thought that as long as I didn't travel far, I would be fine. That was the day Ulrich saved my life."
"But there are medical procedures that can cure this type of ailment," Jeremie pointed out. "Surely your parents…"
"Don't have the money for it," Maggie interrupted. "They thought it would be easier and cheaper if they prevented any exposure to situations that might cause me
"So does your father really work for the ADF?" Aelita asked.
"Yes, he did, that I did not make up. I only wanted to fit in so I made some stuff up and changed some facts about me." She looked away from them. "I'm sorry I kept the truth from you all."
"Considering how you saved my life, I'm willing to forgive you this time," Jeremie said with a smile.
"Yeah, you're part of Team Lyoko now whether anybody likes it or not. And teammates always look out for one another," Odd added.
Yumi got down on one knee, "I'm sorry, Maggie, I was mad at Ulrich but taking it out on you and that was wrong of me. Can you forgive me?"
"Of course… your Ulrich's friend, aren't you?"
Yumi didn't respond to that.
"Please, go save Lyoko, don't worry about me," Maggie said.
"Relax," Odd assured her. "All we have to do is jump back in time and you'll be good as new."
"Go ahead and get down to the scanners," Jeremie instructed. The others nodded and took off.
The gang was re-virtualized and went to the recently transformed Obelisk.
"Is it just me or has that maze gotten larger than when we left."
"The Invaders are sparing no expenses," Jeremie reported. "Something important is at the center of that Obelisk and they don't want us anywhere near it."
"Let's go," Aelita said. "The sooner we can return that Obelisk to its original form, the better it will be for everyone."
"I'm having trouble pinpointing a direct path," Jeremie said. "You guys will have to split up."
"Cool," Odd commented. "Last one there has to pay for lunch."
"But Odd, you don't have to pay for cafeteria food," Aelita pointed out.
"Meaning that it won't be a problem for me if I lose."
"Odd," the others groaned. They all split up taking different paths. About five minutes into the task, Xana appeared and started his own trek through.
"I hope it won't take them too long," Jeremie said. "Who knows when the Obelisk will make another attack."
"Jeremie," Maggie called. Jeremie turned towards her. She was panting heavily. "The supercomputer, when you go back in time, does it keep the files made during the mission?"
"Well yeah, it's a supercomputer so of course it retains the same capabilities even through the jump back in time."
"Could you… do me a favor?"
"I'll try."
Odd used his claws to destroy another Skeleton. "And another one bites the dust."
"I don't get it," Ulrich said as he slashed through a horde of Blow Fish. "Why are they protecting this Obelisk? They never treated the other ones like this."
"They must be beginning to realize that we're a threat," Aelita said. "Yumi, watch out behind you!"
Yumi back-flipped behind an approaching Skeleton and fired her disk launchers destroying it. "Thanks, Aelita." The others looked at Xana who was towards the head beating down a Skeleton. As it turned out, the separate paths each one of them took eventually combined into one. "Looks like the coast is clear!"
"Then let's get to it." Everyone proceeded deeper into the maze.
As they reached a rotunda in the maze, a large bipedal animal descended from the sky. It was glowing green but its skin was rock brown. It had no eyes but a mouth that was in three sections. When it roared, the three sections opened revealing row after row of sharp teeth.
The pre-battle screen came on: Ulrich, Yumi, Aelita, Odd, Xana vs. Kaizer Sauri.
"Energy Wave!"
"Laser Crescent!" Yumi joined in this three-pronged attack by firing her Disk Launchers. The Kaizer Sauri closed its mouths and took the combined attacks. As the attacks subsided, the monster opened its mouth and gripped Aelita in it, putting pressure on the girl's mid-section. Aelita screamed and Xana collapsed to his knees.
"Aelita!" The other three warriors cried out.
"Let her go, gruesome," Odd said slashing at it with his claws. But no matter how much the kids tried beating it, the Kaizer Sauri wouldn't let go of Aelita and it continued crushing the girl's chest.
"Aelita's down to 40 life points," Jeremie cried. "Somebody do something!"
"Razor Axe!" A burning wheel flew through the air and sliced at the mouth. The monster dropped Aelita to the ground. Aelita dropped to the ground, gasping for breath.
The Phantom Player slowly approached them.
"Great, out of the frying pan and into the fire," Odd moaned.
The Phantom Player went up to the Kaizer Sauri It separated its axes and crossed them. "Time to send this dog back to the pound. Mega Demi Flare!" The axes formed an energy cross which struck the Kaizer Sauri. The monster screamed out and collapsed.
"It's weak," Jeremie announced. "Hurry and destroy it before it recovers!"
"Crescent Barrage!"
"Energy Wave!"
Xana and Yumi threw their weapons. All of the attacks struck it dead on and disintegrated the monster.
"Why did they put a Mega Monster in the middle of the maze?" Odd asked.
"They did it to wear down your life points," the Phantom Player explained. "So you won't be strong enough to beat whatever's inside the Obelisk."
"And you would know this how?" Yumi asked suspiciously.
"I'm surprised you didn't see it immediately," the Phantom Player retorted.
"Uh… guys, you can discuss tactics later," Jeremie said. "Right now, we need to shut down that Obelisk."
"Looks like you'll have to wait until later to eliminate us," Odd commented. The Phantom Player went up to Aelita.
"Hold still," he said and laid the flat end of his axe blade on Aelita's shoulder. A blue energy transferred from the axe blade into Aelita. She gasped and stood up.
"I… what happened?" Aelita asked.
"Point to point transfer," the Phantom Player explained. "I transferred some of my life points to you. I only transferred 40 of them."
"But what about…"
"I could survive even on ten life points." Aelita had a feeling that the Phantom Player, whoever he was, was smirking.
"Let's go," Ulrich said. Everyone took off through the maze.
"Hey Jeremie," Ulrich called after a while. "How's Maggie?"
"She's sleeping right now, Ulrich. She was shivering a few minutes ago but now she calmed down."
"That's a relief."
"Don't worry, man," Odd assured him. "Once we go back in time, she'll be right as rain."
"Yeah," Ulrich said though his tone didn't sound convincing.
A ground shaking caught the group by surprise. "Now what?" Aelita asked.
They turned around and saw a giant boulder rolling their way.
"You've got to be kidding me," Odd moaned as they all started running. Up ahead of them, a Skeleton appeared. Xana held up his hand and three hornets flew down. The hornets performed suicide runs but it paid off because they destroyed the Skeleton allowing the others to proceed unchallenged.
"That boulder is going to hound us all the way to the Obelisk," Ulrich said.
"I have an idea," Odd said. "Yumi, can you jack up my powers like you did Ulrich's?"
"Okay," Yumi said uncertainly. "Mystic Aura… empower!"
Odd's claws started to glow. "Drill Claw!" Odd went into a spin and hit the boulder head-on. The two forces were pushing upon each other, neither giving up. Suddenly the boulder started to crack and then shattered. "Oh yeah, I'm the bomb!"
Another boulder came around the corner. "You were saying?" The Phantom Player cracked. They took off running again.
Finally they came to the entrance of the Obelisk. Without even pausing, they ran inside. Everyone turned around expecting to see the boulder but it did not come in after them.
"Well I'm glad that's over," Ulrich said.
"Me too," Yumi agreed.
A low hum came from all around them. "Is it just me or is the Obelisk vibrating?" Aelita asked.
An emergency transmission came on Jeremie's side screen. "The city's power grid has gone out of control. Everything from traffic lights to ATMs are malfunctioning. The chaos has caused over 1,000 fender benders. All citizens are asked to stay in doors or get out of the street."
"It's started," Jeremie said solemnly. "The Obelisk is causing electrical systems to go haywire. You guys better shut it down quickly before the supercomputer gets damaged and prevents you from returning to Earth!" Electricity danced from the keyboard. Jeremie jumped back.
"Okay, Aelita, this is your show," Odd said.
"Right." But before Aelita could ascend, a Polar Claw, Rhinorex, Setor, and Cyberus appeared.
"Oh great, we can barely handled them one at a time," Ulrich said. "How can we handle them when they're all here at once?"
But then, something unusual happened. The monsters began to meld into one. The new creation had the body of Polar Claw but the color of Rhinorex and three serpentine heads.
The pre-battle screen showed: Ulrich, Yumi, Odd, Aelita, Xana vs. The Ultimate.
"Here we go," Ulrich said. He dashed forward and took several swipes with his sword. A green barrier appeared where his swords made marks. "No good, it has some sort of barrier shield on it."
"Can't you use that mega demi thing like you did on the last monster?" Odd asked.
"No, I can only perform the Mega Demi Flare once every time I log in. After that, it won't work."
"Swell." Odd and the Phantom Player each attacked it with their weapons but only ended up hitting up the barrier.
The Ultimate swung one of its heads and knocked both Aelita and Xana into a wall. Yumi and Ulrich jumped out of the way before they could be end up like that.
"It's smart," Jeremie commented. "It knows Aelita and Xana are the keys to returning the Tower to normal."
"Tell us something useful, Jeremie," Ulrich commented
"Okay, the shield seems to be concentrated on stopping one attack, so if you stagger your attacks, you might be able to break through it."
"Sounds like a lousy plan," the Phantom Player commented.
"Well if you have a better one, lay it on us," Odd retorted. The Phantom Player didn't respond.
The Ultimate lifted up Ulrich in its center mouth and began biting down on him.
"Ulrich!" Yumi cried forgetting for a minute that she was mad at him. She watched in horror as Ulrich disappeared. "NO!" Yumi launched into hand-to-hand combat with the Ultimate but only ended up hitting its shield.
Xana leapt up behind it and drove his spear into the shield. Odd noticed it was flickering a little. Jeremie was right, if they all kept attacking it, the shield should eventually break. He leapt up and pushed off from the Ultimate's body onto the wall of the Obelisk, and then pushed off from that so he was now above the Ultimate. "Crescent Barrage!" He launched a series of laser crescents at its top.
"Razor Axe!" The Phantom Player threw his own weapon which tried to cut the shield in front of it.
"Digital Void, Gravity Bind!" Aelita combined her attacks and tried to force it under.
"Keep it up, guys, you're almost there," Jeremie cheered.
Ulrich appeared in the freight elevator. He went up to Maggie, "How are you?"
She smiled at him, "Okay but… you failed."
He smiled back, "Don't worry, we've been doing this a long time. Someone will eventually beat that thing." He took her hand and gently squeezed it. "You should smile more often."
"I rarely had a reason to smile, but now that I have you and the others for friends, I'm… happy."
Jeremie stared at the two concerned.
The constant attacks were straining the Ultimate's shield. Finally, it shattered like a mirror.
"Its shield is down," Odd announced. "Okay, guys, let's go in there and win one for Ulrich and Maggie!" He leapt up and slashed at the Ultimate's hide with his claws. The Phantom Player followed with his axes and then Xana attacked with his spear. Aelita formed a column underneath her to raise her above the Ultimate. She then leapt off and used her wand to take a chunk of the pillar and hurl it at the Ultimate. Yumi used her aura to empower her bladed disks and fire them right at the Ultimate. The attacks finally overwhelmed the giant monster and it collapsed dissolving into digital bits.
"Yahoo, score another one for us," Odd cheered.
"I'll take care of the Tower," Aelita said. She levitated herself to the top level and began to input the code.
As Jeremie got ready to initiate the time jump, Maggie took Ulrich's hand in both of hers. "Ulrich… I'm sorry, good-bye my friend."
"Return to the past now!" The time jump started before Ulrich could ask what Maggie meant.
"Now I'm really confused," Odd said as they sat around Ulrich's and Odd's room. "Whose side is that Phantom Player on?"
"It seems that he means no harm towards Lyoko," Jeremie commented. "But he's rather insistent about making sure Aelita and Xana are the only two beings in Lyoko, like it was before we all met."
"Well at least all the damage done by the Invader has now been undone," Aelita said.
"But I wonder, do you think the Invaders are doing this for a reason?" Yumi asked.
"Not sure," Ulrich replied. "But they definitely…"
Jim came bursting in through the door causing Odd to slam Kiwi's drawer shut. "Uh… we can explain this, Jim."
Jim just looked at Ulrich and said four words: "Ulrich, principal's office, now."
"Uh-oh, I wonder what I did this time around," Ulrich moaned.
Jeremie, Aelita, Odd, and Yumi waited outside the principal's office. They haven't heard any yelling so they wondered if Ulrich was really in danger, or if the principal was using the stare into confession tactics he normally uses.
The door opened and the others could hear Ulrich's voice, "So it's okay?"
"Yes, I'll be sending Sissi and Jim too so you'll be well-chaperoned. I'm sorry it had to come to this."
"Thank you, sir," Ulrich said and left.
"Well, what's the damage?" Odd asked.
Ulrich's head was lowered and he looked like he was on the verge of crying. "Guys… Maggie passed away last night."
Everyone gasped. "That can't be," Odd said shaking his head. "We went back in time; she should be good as new."
"You guys remember what she said back at the Factory," Jeremie said. "She's had a bad heart ever since she was a baby. My guess is that it couldn't handle the time jump."
"This is horrible," Aelita said her own eyes tearing up. "I liked her."
"We all did," Yumi said. "Even me to a certain extent."
"The principal's allowing us to attend the funeral along with Jim and Sissi," Ulrich explained. "It's two days from tomorrow."
"I'll let you borrow one of my dresses, Aelita," Yumi said.
"Thank you."
"I wonder if we didn't go back in time, would this still happen?" Odd asked.
"It probably would," Aelita said. "She probably would've died right there in the Factory." She noticed Ulrich's tears. "Oh, I'm sorry, Ulrich, I didn't mean…"
"No, its okay, Aelita, and you're right; it probably wouldn't have made a difference whether or not we went back in time."
"All right, all of you back to your rooms, you still have to attend classes tomorrow," Jim said. But his voice didn't contain its usual harshness. He was probably affected by it too.
As the others left, Jeremie tugged on Ulrich's shirt, "I have something to show you," he said.
Jeremie took Ulrich to the Factory. "Maggie had a feeling that she wouldn't be able to survive the jump back through time so she had me make this and save it on the supercomputer so that it would survive the time jump." Jeremie brought up a picture of Maggie in the Factory.
She was smiling.
Jeremie printed out the picture and handed it to Ulrich. "She said it's so you would always remember her and be happy."
The tears were now coming full force. Ulrich did his best to wipe them. When he looked up, Jeremie saw a determined look on his friend's face. "Jeremie, can you contact Xana? I need him to do something for me."
The red sports car with white bar running down the hood and a red stripe in the middle of that sped down the city street. The driver was laughing hysterically and having the time of his life. Suddenly a strange eye symbol appeared on his GPS navigation screen. Seemingly on its own power, the car turned a corner and started to slow down. The driver tried to speed up but the gas pedal wasn't responding. Finally, the car came to a dead stop.
Right in front of the police station.
The driver's side door was yanked open and the driver dragged from it and put in cuffs.
"Is he the one?" He heard a police officer asked.
"Yeah, he matches the description."
"You're under arrest for reckless driving and endangering the public at large."
As it turned out, the driver was an ex-con who was originally sent to prison for, of all things, speeding. The driver later found out that a group of kids told on him. They also said he killed someone but the trial never got any evidence to convict him of that.
It was a bright and warm day. The church tried to look as homely as possible. But that didn't excuse the fact that there was a funeral taking place that day. A child-sized casket was stationed near the altar.
The service was almost done. Ulrich stood towards the back along with Yumi, Odd, Aelita, Jeremie, Jim, Sissi, and Herb. It was overwhelming for Ulrich because he never really attended a funeral before and especially not the funeral of a good friend.
Yumi was next to him. She patted his hand hoping to offer some comfort but it wasn't enough to catch Ulrich's attention. She hated herself, she thought she was above things like jealousy but she was jealous of Ulrich and Maggie. But in the end, Maggie turned out to be a true friend in every sense of the word, including giving her life to protect the people she cared about. Yumi only hoped that Maggie would forgive her for being so rude.
The service nearing its end, the casket was rolled to the entrance of the church. As it passed by Ulrich, he watched it. Maggie, you were a true friend, I'll never forget you.
In Ulrich's room on a bulletin board were three photographs. One was of Ulrich along with Yumi, Odd, Jeremie, and Aelita. A second was of Ulrich and Yumi. And the third, the one that flanked the group photo was of a smiling dark-skinned girl with gentle eyes.