Legacy of Lyoko

by s.joann.c

The gang is in their teens, but the problems don't stop. Romance, drama, XANA... this year will be full of surprises. This is the first series in a trilogy with the same name.

2. Part 2

Part Two: Kadic High School

Chapter Eight: Nothing Changes

"Hey, Ulrich!" Odd yelled as he ran from the gate to where his best friend had just gotten out of the parking lot.

Ulrich stopped and smiled at his best friend. "Gee, Odd, you don't have to be so loud. I'm right here."

Odd looked his friend over cheerfully. "You've been in such a good mood lately, but I can't figure it out. Well, whatever's your secret, you better share it with Sissy."

Just then, the diva of the school, Sissy Delmas, walked by prissily. She harrumphed at Odd's little antics, flipped her hair behind her shoulder, and walked on. Ulrich and Odd shared a good laugh at her expense. Odd lifted one of Ulrich's bags onto his shoulder. "Come on, Ulrich! We have to go make fun of Jeremie now!"

Chapter Nine: Girl from another World

Yumi was helping Aelita unpack in her dormitory when there was a delicate knock on the door. Aelita looked at Yumi, wondering if her companion was expecting any visitors, and the knock came once more.

Aelita cleared her throat. "Who is it?"

"Can I come in? No one's changing or anything, right?" the female voice responded hurriedly in an accent Aelita had never heard before.

Aelita smiled. "Not that I'm aware of." She opened the door to see a girl about her age struggling with two heavy duffel bags and a backpack at the door. Aelita quickly helped by putting a duffel bag on the bed across from hers.

The new girl, who had long blonde hair and a petite skinny frame, blushed when she saw Yumi. "Oh, am I in the wrong room?"

Yumi chuckled. "No, I'm just a friend of Aelita's. I do believe that's your bed."

The girl relaxed and sat down on her bed. "I'm embarrassed, but you can call me Therese." Aelita laughed heartily at the girl's humor. It reminded her so much of Odd.

"Hey, Therese. I'm Yumi, and that's Aelita. And these are socks," Yumi held up a pair of freshly folded white socks. Therese and Aelita were both giggling so hard they had to hold their sides.

After that little laugh fest, Therese started to unpack. "I'm actually from England, but my parents were born near here. They both went to school here, so they wanted me to go too."

Yumi went over to Therese's bed and helped her unpack while Aelita hung the last of her skirts in the closet. "Sounds like a real treat, Therese. Both Aelita and I are not from around here either. I'm from Japan, and she's from…"

"Holland!" Aelita interjected. "Good country. Lots of tulips," she added quickly.

Yumi murmured to her pink-haired friend, "Nice save. Thanks a bunch." And louder to Therese, "So, are you a senior or a junior?"

"I'm just a junior. Nothing special." She paused and looked at Aelita. "I like what you did with your hair. Are you an artist or something?"

Aelita shook her head. "I just like the color pink."

"My favorite color is purple. I don't know why. It's just a really cool color!" Therese added perkily.

Yumi narrowed her eyes and smiled mischievously. "One of my best friends who goes here has a lot in common with you. You'll get to meet him during dinner tonight."

"Oh, that's so cool! I need friends." Therese blushed. "Well, I have you two, but more would be cool, too."

Aelita chuckled as she hung up a robe on the nearest coat rack. "I felt the same way when I came here. Don't worry, you'll really like him."

Chapter Ten: In Jeremie's Room

"You know, Jeremie, you could really lighten up. It was just a joke," Odd responded as cool as he could.

Jeremie was fuming. "I got away from you for this entire summer, and you repay me by unleashing your hyperactive, slobbery, peeing dog all over me and my computer! That's not exactly a funny joke!"

"I thought it was," Ulrich piped up, laughing. His laughing died when Jeremie glared at him evilly. "Shutting up…"

Odd thought it would cheer Jeremie up to see the two buddies, but it didn't go exactly as planned.

The blonde boy grabbed Kiwi (who was getting rather old) and raced down the hall to Jeremie's room. Ulrich was in close pursuit because he was excited to see Jeremie after a XANA-free summer. Odd excitedly knocked on the door. "Jeremie! Jeremie! Open up! It's us!"

Jeremie was thrilled to see them both, but as soon as he opened the door, Kiwi instantly began peeing all over the place. Odd yelped and threw the dog forward, which ended up being at Jeremie. Jeremie was surprised too, and he dropped Kiwi.

Kiwi went to investigate the new computer and proceeded to slobber all over it. Odd, knowing that Kiwi was a destructive dog, raced back to his room and put the old dog in his kennel.

Ulrich just slipped into Jeremie's room while the computer wizard tried his best to clean off the keyboard using only his sleeve. However, Jeremie ended up changing his shirt due to the fact that the slobber was just too much for the shirt to handle.

Odd came back wearing a new shirt as well. "Sorry, Jeremie," he smiled. "I didn't mean too."

But Jeremie was wondering if Odd really valued their friendship. Ever since Odd joined the LYOKO gang, Odd was forever undermining Jeremie's authority. And Odd was so full of himself!

Ulrich brought Jeremie back into reality. "Guys, it's time for dinner. I'm starving! Let's go!" Odd didn't look in Jeremie's direction as he ran out right behind Ulrich. Jeremie scowled and followed behind the two scoundrels at a slower pace.

Chapter Eleven: Dinner

"Hi, Rosa!" Yumi smiled and waved at the familiar lunch lady. "Did you have a good summer?"

Rosa shrugged and gave an extra helping of ice cream to Yumi as she replied, "It was alright. Have a good dinner!" Yumi waited while Aelita and Therese received their extra helpings of ice cream as well. It was good to be friends with the staff at Kadic.

Yumi found where the three boys were sitting and beckoned the two younger girls to follow her. She got to the table first.

"Hey guys! Long time, no see, eh?" She sat down as Aelita got to the table next.

"We have a lovely lady for you to meet, Odd." At that moment, Therese appeared, looking lovelier to Odd than anything in the entire world.

Yumi finished Aelita's statement. "This is Therese. She's Aelita's roommate- and she's from England! How cool is that?" Aelita and Therese chuckled.

Therese didn't look at anybody else until after she had finished her first helping of green beans. There was Yumi across from her, what a real pal! Therese loved Yumi's strong headedness as well as her quirky sense of humor.

Pink-haired and shy Aelita sat to her right. Aelita and Therese had so much in common; the blonde hoped to get to know Aelita a bit better.

To her right, although she could hardly see his face, saw a blonde-haired boy with glasses. He seemed intelligent, like the leader of the group.

And then the brown-haired lad sitting next to Yumi, he seemed like the sporty-type. He was wearing a black tee, making him seem like the rebel of the group. There was something about those wondrous eyes that she couldn't stop looking at…

To the right of the brown-haired boy sat a scrawny blonde with a dashing smile and bright green eyes. He seemed out of place here, with his purple shirt and- was this the one boy that Yumi and Aelita had mentioned in the dormitory?

Therese winked at him, wondering if he caught the message. He blushed and smiled. "Hi, hi, hi…" the boy stuttered as Therese giggled.

Ulrich nudged him. "Say, my name is Odd," his friend urged him on.

Odd seemed to be too nervous to say anything but, "Odd, Odd, Odd…"

Yumi laughed. "That's the one we were talking about. He actually can make coherent sentences-" she paused as she watched Ulrich shake Odd out of his stutter, "-but he's too much in love with you. May I take a message?" Even Jeremie, who was in a bad mood, had to laugh at Yumi's poking fun at Odd.

Therese asked Aelita, "Where do I put the tray when I'm done?" and Aelita showed the new girl by leading her over to the trash can.

Meanwhile, Ulrich punched Odd in the arm. "You like her, don't you?"

Odd nodded solemnly, then cracked a smile and put two thumbs up in approval. Yumi sighed at her friend.

Therese smiled at Odd. "You seem like a nice fellow. Would you like to show me where my classes are for tomorrow? I'd hate to be lost."

Odd was instantly up in his chair, but he knocked the table and spilled his water all over the front of his blue jeans. "Oh, darn it," he muttered.

"I think they look better," Therese mused as she looked at the abstract water stain on her new companion's jeans.

He straightened up and held out his hand. "Why thank you, Mademoiselle, I designed them myself. Would you care to join me for an evening excursion around the high school?"

Therese, in an equally formal manner, replied, "Oh, how kind of you to ask! I would love to go on an excursion with you!"

The rest of the gang laughed as Odd and Therese waltzed out the cafeteria door in their own little world.

"That's so cute, isn't it?" Yumi sighed as she stared dreamily at the door. "Maybe he found true love."

Aelita sniffled and it caught the attention of the others. "What's wrong, Aelita?" asked a concern Jeremie.

"It's nothing, okay?" she stormed off.

Jeremie looked puzzled at her. "Yumi, is she moody because she's a girl or because she's sad that Therese left her?"
Yumi shrugged. "Not sure. But I'll find out." She raced off after her friend.

Ulrich sighed as he and Jeremie silently took their trays (as well as Odd's and Yumi's) to the trash can. Then, they headed up to their rooms for a restful nights sleep.

Chapter Twelve: True Love

Odd and Therese were walking around the campus, figuring out the distance between Science and Math, when Therese stopped and looked straight up.

"It's such a perfect night out, isn't it?" she gleamed.

Odd looked up also. "How did you figure that out?"

She giggled and met his eyes. "The stars, the moon, the friends, you."

Odd blushed and adjusted his purple shirt. "Oh, come on…"

"It's true! I've never felt this way before. I've never felt so…"

"Complete?" he finished her sentence. "Same here." He slipped his hand into hers, and her face flushed.

Therese started to run, dragging Odd behind her. She was laughing, and Odd was beginning to think that she was a maniac. Or maybe she was such a carefree spirit, she needed to run.

Just like Aelita, he thought.

Therese stopped under a weeping willow and giggled. There were fireflies dancing around her head, and Odd watched as she picked a wildflower and put it behind her ear.

Next thing he knew, he found himself kissing the blonde and forgetting all about the girl from another world.

Chapter Thirteen: A Broken Heart

"Aelita?"

Yumi knocked softly on the door, but entered anyway. Some rules needed to be broken in order to comfort friends in desperate need. "Aelita, don't cry."

Aelita didn't listen and cried even harder. The poor girl was curled up on her bed, not even in her pajamas, sobbing so pitifully, it tugged at the strings of Yumi's heart.

Yumi sat down next to her and patted her side. "Aelita, what's wrong?"

"Nothing, go away!" she whispered loudly.

A few minutes rolled by as Aelita's tears became more and more quiet. She sat up slowly and hugged her knees to her chest.

"Aelita, you can tell me what's the matter, you know that," Yumi spoke gently and softly. "I'm sure you'll feel better once you do."

Aelita peered at her angrily through red-rimmed eyes. "You're just being nosy."

Yumi sighed. "I'm not being nosy, Aelita. I want to know what's wrong so I can help you feel better. Admit it, it's not fun being sad." Aelita shook her head.

"When I was with Odd this summer, I don't know-"

"Come on, you can tell me."

"I felt, I felt… I was so happy with him. He treated me so kindly, so much more than a friend. He was so amazing, and he told me… things."

After a long silence, Yumi asked, "What kind of things?"

"He told me that the one thing he really wanted was to have true love. And the way he looked at me when he said it, I could have sworn it was about me!" Aelita began to sob again.

Yumi finally saw what was going on. Aelita was falling for Odd, but Odd, even if he was at that time falling for Aelita, found a new interest in Therese. Aelita probably wasn't jealous, but she was clearly upset for not becoming Odd's true love icon.

"But what about Jeremie?"

Aelita wiped her eyes. "I don't feel the same way I used to feel when we first started battling XANA." Then, a pause. "I don't love him, Yumi."

Yumi hugged Aelita. "Things will work themselves out; don't you fret."

Chapter Fourteen: Can't Get Much Worse

"Some things never change," sighed Ulrich with a laugh. "You, Jeremie, and I have the same schedule- again."

Odd nodded as he stuffed an entire piece of toast in his mouth. "It's too bad I don't have Therese in any of my classes."

Ulrich shrugged as he finished his orange juice. "I can't wait for math," he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Oh joy."

"It can't be that bad, can it?"

Ulrich rolled his eyes.

"Welcome, class!" the beautiful, young teacher cheerfully greeted her attentive students. "I'm Professor Roanoke! I hope you had a nice summer." She searched her class. "How about you, dear? Did anything fun happen over the summer?"

Ulrich was amazed she was pointing at him. "Um, no not really."

"Oh, there must be something that happened!"

He bit his lip and muttered, "Well, my mom died."

Professor Roanoke gasped. "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean-"

Ulrich shrugged. "Things happen."

The entire span of the class, the teacher was flustered because of Ulrich's unexpected answer. She probably was new to the teaching system because of her skittish nature. While she was reviewing some algebra terms, Jeremie nudged Ulrich in the side.

"Hey, Ulrich," he whispered. "You're not mad at her, are you?"

He shook his head. "Eh, I don't care. I just wish she didn't remind me, that's all."

Odd, who was sitting on Ulrich's left, whispered, "You know how I said 'It can't be that bad' during breakfast? I lied." He pointed in front of them. "There's Sissy!"

"I know that's Sissy! I'm not blind!" Ulrich said not so much in anger as in annoyance.

Sissy turned around at the mention of her name. "I'm sorry about the loss of your mother, Ulrich, dear. I'm also sorry about the loss of your I.Q. whenever you hang around Odd."

Odd began to fume. "At least Ulrich has friends and looks- unlike you!"

"Class!" Professor Roanoke snapped. "If you aren't going to pay attention, at least please be quiet."

Ulrich hissed at Sissy's back and hardly paid attention at whatever it was the teacher was writing on the board.

Chapter 15: In a Trance

Aelita was the first to speak. "How was everyone's first day?"

Ulrich sighed. "Great, just great."

"I hate the first few weeks because it's just review!" Yumi griped.

Odd and Therese were talking at the end of the table, lost in their own little world. Aelita sighed and stared at Odd, sad and despondent.

Jeremie noticed that she was staring at them. "Are you okay, Aelita?"

Aelita didn't respond. Her eyes had stopped blinking altogether.

"Aelita?" Jeremie asked once more. "Aelita!"

She snapped out of her daydream-like trance. "What is it?" she asked calmly.

"You were staring at Therese…" and a bit more slowly, "…and Odd…"

Aelita didn't say anything. She looked at Yumi with a "see-what-I-mean?" glance. Yumi cleared her throat.

"I heard some interesting news today. We're having an Autumn Dance at the end of the month," she said hurriedly.

"Oh, I just love dances!" exclaimed Aelita.

Ulrich smiled at his friend's innocence. She didn't go the dance last year because of the "incident", because of Jeremie's paranoia. "Me too. I think I'm the only guy in Kadic that likes going to dances."

Yumi laughed. "I wonder if Odd is going to DJ it for us. Or maybe you will, Aelita."

Aelita shook her head. "I want to actually dance and enjoy the music- not DJ! That is, if someone asks me to dance," she stared off at Odd again.

Ulrich looked at Yumi. "Do you want to go to the dance with me?"

Yumi frowned at him. "I don't know yet… I have to see…" And with that, she took her tray and left him sitting dumbfounded at the table.

Aelita followed her in close pursuit. Jeremie's jaw dropped in wonder. "I will never understand girls, Ulrich, never ever!"

"I don't think anyone has, Jeremie, good buddy," Ulrich replied solemnly as he watched Yumi go out of the cafeteria. "I don't think anyone can."

Chapter Sixteen: Back to Work

Jeremie sat alone in his room the next evening, staring at the blank computer screen. Years ago, Aelita would have kept him company for hours into the night. Now, he had nobody.

Suddenly, two small beeps came from Jeremie's computer. "That's odd. I wonder if my program is holding up." He was referring to EVE-10, a program developed for the sole purpose of preventing XANA attacks before they became out of hand (a.k.a. on Earth).

Jeremie clicked a few keys and brought up the database. "Interesting. Apparently, XANA has taken my EVE-10 hostage somewhere. But where?"

The scanner located an activated tower, somewhere in the mountain region. "Well, guys, it looks like we're back to work after all!"

Chapter Seventeen: Naked

Aelita was busy trying to solve her chemistry homework when her mobile rang. "Hello?" she murmured.

"Aelita! It's Jeremie. There's an activated tower- and my program's been taken hostage!"

The pink-haired pixie clicked her tongue humorously. "And there's my chemistry homework to finish. Do we need to go to the factory now?"

"Yes, no questions asked."

"Is XANA harming our world in any way right now?" Behind her, she heard a gasp. Oh no! Therese was still in the room. "Uh, I'll be right there. See you."

She hung up the phone and got up to leave. Therese looked confused. "Who is this- XANA guy?"

Aelita coughed. "I can't say right now. It's a secret, er, code. See you later, Therese!" With that, Aelita ran out of the room.

"You know, Jeremie, you always manage to call when I'm naked!" Yumi laughed.

Jeremie blushed on the other line. Girls, to him, were like foreign artifacts: look, but don't touch- and whatever you do, don't let them get in harm's way. "I guess XANA's inconvenient like that," he chuckled. "I'll see you at the factory!"

Yumi sighed and slipped on her underwear. It was a shame, even after she just took a shower, she'd have to come back home and take another one. LYOKO was a sweaty business.

Ulrich was reading in his room when he got the call on his mobile. "I'll be there in a few." He looked at Odd who was dancing to whatever was playing in his CD player and trying to read Don Quixote at the same time.

"ODD!" Ulrich screamed. "Jeremie wants us to go to the factory!" But as hard as he tried, Ulrich could not get Odd's attention. "ODD!"

Odd did a little twist and turned the page. Ulrich sighed with a smile. He began to undress… first the black tee, then unbuttoning his pants ever so slowly, trying so hard not to laugh.

His roommate turned in his direction to see Ulrich giving Odd a little show. Just as Ulrich was about to drop his pants to show his boxers, Odd screamed, "What the hell?"

Ulrich pulled up his pants and started to laugh uncontrollably. Odd tore off his headphones while still in a loud voice, "You didn't have to strip to get my attention!"

Just then the door swung open. Sissy, that ever-loving brat, gasped. There was her precious Ulrich, in all of his glorious splendor- and he wasn't wearing a shirt! But he was in the process of buttoning his pants, making Sissy wonder what they were screaming about.

"Hi, Sissy!" Odd exclaimed cheerfully. "We were, uh-"

"Why is Ulrich almost naked? And why were you screaming?" she demanded with the stomp of her foot.

Ulrich glanced at Odd who was at a loss for what to say. "Um, I was acting out a scene from Odd's book because… he… doesn't get it."

Sissy eyed him. "He doesn't get anything, Ulrich, dear." And with that she huffed and stomped away.

Odd was ready to lunge and strangle her. "Why I oughtta…"

"It's not worth it, trust me," Ulrich growled as the intruder left the room.

Chapter Eighteen: The Hooded Figure

Aelita was running from the school to the factory when she heard footsteps behind her. She stopped for a moment at the foot of the bridge that led to the factory.

Ever since the incident, the gang hadn't gone back to the factory. People knew that the factory was a dangerous place, not meant for four teenagers or their little antics. Jeremie had instilled a bit of paranoia in all of them, but Aelita was the most affected.

Even when Aelita stopped, the footsteps kept coming closer. Yes, those were indeed footsteps, she convinced herself. "Please, don't let it be the principal or Jim…" she muttered under her breath.

There it was, the small figure in a hooded sweatshirt, still running closer and closer to her. "Is that you, Yumi?" she ventured a guess, figuring it was probably her more than anyone else.

The figure came closer and removed the hood. "Therese!" Aelita gasped. "What are you doing here?"

The blonde shrugged. "I want to know why you're not doing your homework and especially why you aren't in our room at this hour."

Aelita frowned. What could she possibly say to the nosy girl? Absolutely nothing was the conclusion, and so Aelita bolted for the factory doors.

Aelita dared not to look behind her as she got into the elevator. "I want an explanation- now!" Therese commanded. Therese had gotten to the elevator before Aelita did, so Aelita had no choice.

The elevator closed and opened momentarily. "Finally!" muttered Jeremie. "Aelita-"

Aelita stomped out of the elevator. "I swear- she followed me all the way here!"

"Therese!" Odd's voice held a note of confusion, but it was mostly of a pleasant surprise.

Jeremie cleared his throat. "Yumi and Ulrich are already in the scanners. You two better get going."

Aelita took the hint and jumped back in the elevator. Odd, however, seemed to be captivated by Therese- no matter what Jeremie was saying. Aelita rolled her eyes and went to the scanners by herself.

Chapter Nineteen: Mixed Signals

Yumi, Ulrich, and Aelita were standing around in the mountain region, a sector favored mostly by Odd- who wasn't there.

"Hey, Jeremie," Ulrich called out, annoyed. "Where's Odd?"

Jeremie sighed. "Look, all you guys need to do is get back my EVE-10 and deactivate the tower. We don't need him." He turned around to see Odd and Therese locked in a lover's gaze.

Ulrich glanced at Yumi, who returned his puzzled gaze. "Do you think we can get along okay without him?" was the girl's reply.

Aelita, who was further up ahead, turned around and glared at them. "Let's just go, all right?"

Jeremie had their vehicles ready shortly afterwards. "Okay, the activated tower is somewhere north of here…" The virtualized members of the gang heard Jeremie mildly cursing in the background.

"Jeremie? What's going on?" asked Aelita as she jumped on the back of Yumi's over-wing. Even if she didn't love him anymore, she still cared about him.

"EVE-10! It's nowhere on the map!" A sigh. "Look, just deactivate the tower, and I'll keep looking for that program."

Yumi lingered over Ulrich, watching out for any tricky signs that could potentially come their way. Aelita pointed to the distance, far, far off and sort of to the right. "I think the tower is over there! I can feel the pulsations!"

The geisha-costumed girl sped up her over-wing and raced past Ulrich's over-bike. Ulrich got the message that they had spotted the tower from their higher up position. "Jeremie, I think Yumi and Aelita spotted the tower!"

"Ulrich, wait!" Yumi halted her over-wing and jolted Aelita in the process.

"What is it, Jeremie?" asked Yumi, getting impatient. She was tired from a long school day and did not feel like wasting any time in LYOKO.

"Yeah, Jeremie, what's the hold up now?" Ulrich could see the fog rolling in from above, which was not a good sign.

Jeremie rubbed his temples. "Look, EVE-10 is being held hostage somewhere by XANA; I just know it! But-"

"Then how do you know that your little program isn't in the tower, Jeremie?" reasoned Yumi.

"That would be too easy; and besides, I think XANA wants to lose us, not let us win," was the irritated reply.

Ulrich revved up his over-bike. "Look, do you want us to deactivate the tower or not?"

Yumi zoomed past him, yelling, "You know what, Jeremie? I'm going to deactivate that tower before things get out of hand like last time!" Ulrich heard Jeremie groan before he decided to follow Yumi to the activated tower.

Chapter Twenty: The Expected and the Unexpected

Ulrich hung back while Yumi hurled her metal fans at the two blocks obstructing the path to the tower. Because there were no other monsters, Aelita thusly raced inside the tower.

Yumi, still on her over-wing, joined Ulrich. "Isn't it just a bit too quiet around here?" she asked him.

"Shhh!" he hissed. He held perfectly still, with both eyes closed and ears seemingly perked up. Yumi dared not to move either.

It was just the noise he was looking for: swish-swish-pause…swish-swish-swish-swish-pause…

"Yumi." His whisper was barely audible; he didn't move his lips. "Behind you- don't look! There's a tarantula right there."

She didn't dare ask how he knew; she assumed that's what exactly he was listening for. "I wish we had Odd to use his arrows," she muttered to Ulrich.

"Shut up!" replied Ulrich in the same manner as before. "Okay, on the count of three… one… two…"

"Three!" Yumi shrieked as she turned around and whipped both fans at the menacing tarantula. It was hardly a scratch, but somehow the monster became destroyed.

Yumi turned and smiled at Ulrich, who appeared to be in shock. "I'm impressed, Yumi. How long have you been using that weapon?" he teased her.

She chuckled. "Only a couple of years at the most." Getting serious, she mused, "How long do you think Aelita will take in the tower?"

Aelita rose up to the computer room and was about to deactivate the tower when Jeremie spoke to her.

"Aelita, please tell me, why on Earth are you deactivating the tower?"

She stopped. "I was given explicit orders to rescue the program and deactivate the tower- by you."

"But- I need EVE-10!"

"You don't need EVE-10 right now. Besides, I can't even find it on the computer." She continued searching the computer screen to prove a point.

Jeremie was silent. Aelita began to deactivate the tower when she had that feeling again. It was when Therese was following her to the factory- that irrepressible feeling when something just isn't right, when someone is following you, when someone is-

"Jeremie!" she gasped. Behind her was a large, dark, and menacing pile like she had never seen before in LYOKO.

"What? What!"

"XANA left his dirty laundry in the tower!" As she scooted closer and closer to the intruder, she saw that the mound more and more resembled something she would find in a gothic boy's dorm rooms.

Odd overheard this and began to laugh. "Wow, a pile of dirty laundry activating towers. What will XANA come up with next?"

Jeremie was surprised himself. "What is dirty laundry doing inside LYOKO?"

Aelita didn't hear him. She approached the mound warily and without so much as a sound. The heap, at the sign of her almost contact, yelped and assembled itself into the most curious of objects.

"Hello," smiled Aelita. The object cooed and jumped into the moving cyber walls of the tower.

"What just happened, Aelita?"

"Well, there was this pile of what appeared to be clothes or sheets or something… but when I was about to touch it, it made itself almost human-like… I can't describe it. And it disappeared into the tower walls!"

Jeremie chuckled. "That was EVE-10, just probably charging itself in the nearest tower. Unfortunately, it was the activated one. Go on, deactivate the tower, Aelita- what are you waiting for?"

The pink-haired girl was exasperated at Jeremie's lack of focus. She quickly deactivated the tower and sent all three heroes back to the factory as Jeremie shouted, "Return to the past, now!"