Disclaimer: I do not own Code Lyoko.
Summary: Jeremie's gone missing and no one has any idea why. When XANA launches an attack, who will work the super computer? Will they have to result to someone else? And will they ever find Jeremie again?
Author's Note: A bit of a longer chapter than my others. But that won't be a problem, will it? Because I know you all just love reading my stories. ;-) It also has a weird ending, but I had to stop it somewhere.
Reviewers: Princess Aelita Lyoko
Missing
Chapter Three
It was Saturday afternoon, which meant no class for any students. Odd, Yumi, and Ulrich were sitting on some benches in the courtyard. Odd had his head in his hands.
"First Jeremie and now Kiwi!" he exclaimed. "Pretty soon the whole school will be missing!"
"Come on, Odd," Ulrich assured. "You said he went back with you to bed, right? Maybe he's just wandering the hallways."
"But then Jim will find him!" Odd shouted. He placed his head in his hands again.
Rose was walking by the benches when she spotted Odd. She remembered Kiwi and walked over to him.
"Hey Odd," Rose greeted. Odd looked up and smiled.
"Now here's one good thing that's happened today," Odd laughed. "How are you, Rose?" She started to answer, but realized why he was asking this. She remembered Jeremie was missing and why she was so sad the night before.
"Oh, I-I'm fine," she replied. Rose quickly changed the subject. "I've been meaning to tell you that Kiwi's in my room." Odd smiled broadly.
"He is? Really!" he exclaimed. Rose nodded and giggled.
"He was outside my room when I came back from the park," she explained. "He wouldn't go back to your room, so he stayed with me." Odd jumped up from the bench and hugged Rose tightly.
"Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!" he yelled. Rose laughed as Odd let go and blushed.
"Come by my room to get him," she invited. Rose turned to Yumi and Ulrich. "You're welcome to come by, too. If you have nothing better to do, that is." They both nodded and followed Rose and Odd.
When Rose opened the door to her room, Kiwi bounded over and jumped in her arms. She pet his head and held him out to Odd.
"Look who's here to get you, Kiwi," she said as she placed Kiwi in Odd's arms. He pet his dog on the head and hugged him. Odd had the biggest smile on his face.
"Thanks again, Rose," Odd smiled. "I almost thought we had another missing person to find!" Rose smiled, but felt her heart ache.
Ulrich and Yumi sat down on her bed, looking around her room. They noticed a laptop on a desk, along with some other technical equipment.
"Nice laptop," Ulrich complimented. Rose looked over at it and smiled.
"Thanks," she said. "I've had it a while and am very fond of it."
"Haha!" Odd laughed. "I told you she was a female Jeremie!" Rose blushed.
Just then, someone screamed outside. Everyone rushed to the window to see what was going on.
A pack of squirrels had surrounded a few of the girls in the courtyard. They were all following one particular squirrel, who was the closest to the girls. Rose gasped and put a hand over her mouth.
"That's the squirrel I saw last night in the park!" she exclaimed. Odd, Ulrich, and Yumi turned to her.
"What do you mean?" Ulrich questioned. Rose pointed out the window.
"That squirrel in the middle," she said. "That one almost attacked me last night in the park!"
"Was there anything special about it?" Yumi asked. Rose raised an eyebrow.
"Yes, the eyes!" she replied. "They were red and-and had a strange symbol in them. Why, is that anything special?" Ulrich, Odd, and Yumi faced each other and were thinking the same thing. XANA.
"Guys, huddle," Yumi commanded. Everyone but Rose, who stayed by the window, walked over near the door. They turned their backs to Rose to talk.
"We knew this was going to happen sooner or later," Yumi said. "With Jeremie gone, XANA knows we can't deactivate a tower."
"So he decided to take the opportunity," Ulrich added. Yumi nodded.
"So here's the question," Yumi started.
"Who can we get to control the super computer?" Odd finished. They all thought hard.
"How about Herb?" Yumi suggested. "He's good with computers."
"Come on, Yumi," Ulrich said. "It's not like he'll actually help us."
"He has before," Yumi replied, narrowing her eyes. Odd pushed them both.
"Stop arguing, guys," he said. "Besides, let's just get Rose to do it. Like I have been saying, she's like a female Jeremie!" Ulrich looked at Yumi, as to ask if it was alright with her. She closed her eyes.
"I guess we have no choice," she sighed. Odd nodded and walked over to Rose, who had sat down in her computer chair, still looking out the window. He placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Want to know why that squirrel was acting so strangely?" Odd asked. Rose looked up at him and nodded.
"Because he was being controlled." Rose's eyes widened.
"By what?" she asked.
"XANA," Ulrich answered.
x0x
Ulrich, Odd, Yumi, and Rose had gotten past the squirrels and ran into the forest.
"So you're telling me that this artificial being XANA can take over anything he wants?" Rose asked between pants.
"Yeah, and it's no picnic for us to try to stop him," Odd answered.
"But if XANA's so bad, why don't you just turn off the virtual world?" she questioned, while everyone else stopped around a manhole cover.
"Because the virtual world doesn't just contain evil things," Ulrich answered. Yumi bent down and pulled off the cover to show a ladder.
"It's also home to our friend, Aelita," Yumi added, while slipping herself into the hole. Rose looked into the hole to watch Ulrich and Yumi climb down. Odd bowed over and held his hand out.
"Ladies first," he said politely. Rose smiled and climbed down the hole.
When Odd jumped off the ladder, Rose looked around.
"Is this the sewer?" she questioned.
"Yup!" Odd laughed. "Nice, isn't it?" Rose smiled.
Ulrich, Yumi, and Odd grabbed the skateboards laid against the sewer wall. Odd snatched up the scooter and handed it to Rose. She took it.
"Thanks, but what's this for?" she questioned.
"To ride down to the factory," Odd smiled. Rose examined it and snapped it open.
"Handle that with care," Odd warned, as Ulrich and Yumi started down the tunnel. "That was Jeremie's." Rose grinned and looked at the scooter again. Odd headed down the tunnel, waving his hand for Rose to follow. She placed her foot on the metal contraption and pushed off.
Once they were at the end of the tunnel, they laid the skateboards and scooter against the wall. Rose saw another ladder to climb up.
"You guys sure go through a big obstacle course to save the world," she said. They laughed.
"You get used to it," Yumi replied. They all headed up the ladder and were standing on a bridge. Rose looked over the railing.
"What a beautiful view," she said. Odd pulled her arm.
"Come on, we can look at the view later," he instructed. "We have to get to the factory now." He let go of Rose's arm and ran down to the entrance of the building. Rose followed. They stopped when they ran out of floor to walk on. There were four long ropes tied to the high ceiling. Rose gulped.
"I'm, uh, not so good with swinging on ropes," she said, taking a few steps back. Yumi let go of her rope and walked over to Rose.
"You could go on my back, if you'd like," Yumi suggested. Rose didn't look too keen on it. "Or clumsy Odd could always carry you." The girls looked over at Odd, who had almost fallen over the edge of the building. He put a hand behind his head and smiled sheepishly. Rose smiled at Yumi.
"I think I'll take up your offer, Yumi," she said. Yumi smiled.
"I thought so," she replied.
Odd and Ulrich went ahead and swung down while Yumi grabbed her rope. She held her hand out to Rose.
"You ready?" she asked, waiting for Rose to take her hand.
"As ready as I'll ever be, I guess," she said, taking Yumi's hand. Yumi wrapped Rose's hands around her neck and held her back tightly. Yumi jumped off the ledge and carefully lowered them to the ground. Rose held on tightly and closed her eyes. Yumi's feet touched the floor and she let go of the rope.
"Okay," Yumi said as she let go of Rose. She sighed.
"Thanks Yumi," she smiled. Odd, Ulrich, Yumi, and Rose ran into the elevator and Ulrich pushed the down button. The elevator jolted to life and headed down. Rose looked around the big elevator, astonished. The group smiled.
The doors opened to a huge room, with thousands of wires, a strange platform in the middle, and a very large computer. Rose's mouth fell open as she took in her surroundings.
"Amazing," she said, astounded. "Simply amazing." She walked over to the super computer and brushed her hand along the high-tech keyboard. The others walked over as well.
"Okay, now here's the thing Rose," Yumi started. "Jeremie left none of his manuals as to how to work the super computer. You need to first turn it on, but this is a different computer. Do you think you can?" Rose smiled and sat down in the chair that had spun over to them.
"I think I can manage," she winked.