"OK, Jeremy, I'll see you in a minute!" Aelita said cheerfully as she stepped into the scanner. Jeremie began the virtualization process. A few seconds later, Odd, Ulrich, and Yumi joined Aelita on Lyoko. Jeremie entered "SCIPIO" and the white orb transported them to Carthage. The ensemble entered the main chamber. Odd spotted the key, located several yards above them. He began climbing the walls. Suddenly, four creepers virtualized. They fired. Ulrich flashed his sword and a flurry of red lasers mixed with the twirling digital steel. One made its mark, and Ulrich fell to the ground, clasping his shoulder. This allowed another creeper to fire the final burst, and Ulrich's body disappeared into a pixilated web of lines. Aelita gasped. Yumi threw a fan and it struck a creeper right on its weak spot. The creature howled, if you could call it a howl, and collapsed. The other three creepers advanced, but they were cut short by a fan and about six laser arrows. Aelita breathed a sigh of relief. Odd pushed in the key. Nothing happened.
"It's a trap!" yelled Yumi, as several bands of creepers appeared. Odd leaped down and fired a burst. One creeper was annihilated by the digital arrow. Yumi rushed one of the monsters and distracted it. Confused, it fired lasers until one bounced off a wall and destroyed it. Yumi grinned, and Odd continued to fight the remaining monsters. However, A mysterious black shape appeared and enveloped Odd. He screamed, a scream of mortal terror, as the shape squeezed him. Odd devirtualized. Yumi ran and guarded Aelita. Jeremie's voice came over the room.
"Yumi, make sure Aelita stays safe. Remember, she has to access the supercomputer in order to modify the program!" Yumi offered a reply of reassurance, but her words were cut short as she was stricken in the torso by an orange laser.
"What? I've never seen something like this!" she said out loud. The black shape seemed to be instructing the creepers. They disappeared into the walls. Then the horrible shape advanced on Yumi. She drew her fans. Violently, she yelled as she hurled the fans at the shape. They struck the thing, but did no damage. Then two black tentacles reached out and squeezed her. Yumi screamed, and dissolved into blue sparks. Then the shape retreated, leaving Aelita alone. Jeremie's countenance grew urgent.
"Aelita! I'm sending you the over wing! Get out of there and start the program." Soon the others joined him at the console. A red blip appeared on the screen. "No. No! Not now! Aelita! Scyphozoa at two o'clock! NO! Watch out! Abandon the mission! I repeat! Get out of there now! I'm devirtual-" His plea stopped in mid-sentence. The red blip and Aelita's blip converged on the screen. The Scyphozoa activated, pumping her memories from her brain. "NO! AELITA!" he screamed, pounding the keyboard, tears streaming down his cheeks. Her frame collapsed, unmoving, on the blue floor. "Aelita! Answer me!" His breath grew frantic. He drew heavy breaths. The others just stared in shock. "She's…gone! Forever! AND IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT! You abandoned her, you sorry assholes! And now she's dead! A victim of XANA!" He rose to his feet. "How could you? Leave. And don't expect to be associating with me. I don't ever want to speak to any of you again. Just leave me alone." He collapsed on the floor, sobbing uncontrollably. Ulrich and Yumi left, casting a mournful look at the monitors. Odd stayed behind. He knelt down.
"Einstein, it's OK. You'll figure out a way to bring her back. I know you will." He turned and left. Jeremie lay there on the ground for a long time. He solemnly got up and proceeded to the super calculator room. The black-handled lever moved with his hand into the off position. The computer hummed, and then slowly the processor shut down. Back at the console, he gathered up his things. Memories etched in the paper of his journal. A stack of CDs labeled "LYOKO" A small vial encasing a small pink strand of hair.
"The only thing I have left of her…" he said sadly. He packed these things into his messenger bag and left.
Back at the campus, Jeremie lay facedown on his bed. The computer on his desk lay untouched since his return to his room. The CPU silent. Then came a knock on the door. "Go away…" he moaned.
"Jeremie, it's me, Yumi!" came the voice from the other side of the door.
"I said go away!" He heard the shuffling of feet. When he was satisfied that she was gone, he went back to his bed. Then another knock. Jeremie rose to his feet, annoyed. "What do you want?"
"It's Odd, and hurry up, it's meatball night!"
Jeremy sighed. This boy never stopped thinking about food. He opened the door. Odd entered.
"I just wanted to let you know, I'm going to help you figure out how to solve this and bring Aelita back." Odd said.
"She cannot come back. She's gone." Jeremie said. "You can go ahead and have my dinner. I'm not hungry."
Odd left. Jeremie booted up his computer. He had to type his English paper. Upon starting, he opened up his document folder. Tears came to his eyes. He saw a file marked "aelitaandme.doc". It was a photo album of him and Aelita. Would the memories keep haunting his mind forever? He closed the file and began typing. Hr couldn't bring himself to type. He sobbed, collapsing on the bed.
A/N: I know this chapter seems rushed. If you think so, please tell me, and I will edit it. Thanks for taking the time to read this. Lyokoaddict, over and out.