11-2: Unearthed
Now obviously this episode is going to take a little more thought than usual, so don't be surprised if it takes me more than 2 months to get it out there. I'm workin' here! But once again, I move fast b/c I make these things about as long as a regular episode. Gotta cram it all into about 23 minutes show-time.
(((-2-)))
Nothing had ever been simple for them. Throughout the terrors visited upon them by X.A.N.A., Aelita had done everything she could to prevent him from getting more powerful and ruining their lives. But ultimately they had failed. No, she had failed.
It was her fault they had turned Lyoko on and left it active. They always tried to tell her otherwise, but she knew better. If not for her, there would be no danger.
Trying not to appear depressed, Aelita activated a new scan she'd reconfigured for the supercomputer. It was the fourth one she'd done by herself. She had her head down and was listening to the constant hum of the machinery as it automatically scanned the Sectors.
The alerting beep made her jerk upright so fast that she knocked her head against the back of her chair. Rubbing the sore spot, she brought up the correct window on the monitor and stared dumbly at it for half a minute before running over to Jeremy where he had sacked out on the makeshift hammock in the corner.
"Jeremy, I found something!" she kept repeating so fast that it sounded like gibberish.
He slipped his glasses on as she dragged him over and when he saw the screen, all traces of fatigue washed from his features. "It's her! It's got to be her! Aelita, I can't do anything from here. I'll send a text message to the others, but I don't know if they'll answer. You may have to go alone. We don't know how long she'll be there before she vanishes or whatever."
Excited now, the pink-haired girl raced downstairs to the scanners and stepped inside the one that opened for her. Within thirty seconds she landed on a barren stretch of ice in the Polar Region, luckily without a welcoming committee.
(V)
The darkness scared Yumi, hiding so many deadly secrets and dangers. Why couldn't things be the way they used to be, back when the worst thing she had to worry about was whether or not Hiroki would embarrass her in front of Ulrich? Nothing was ever simple or safe anymore and she missed it.
She heard her phone vibrate from its spot on her table and couldn't seem to make sense of the noise. Yumi hid her face in the striped cat's plushy stomach to escape.
Leave me alone! I don't want to lose my kitty! X.A.N.A. will take everything away from me, I know it…she thought to herself before lapsing into a troubled sleep full of friends with twisted expressions and glowing eyes.
(V)
A small lamp on the desk was the only thing that kept the encroaching shadows back, and Ulrich wasn't quite sure he wanted to turn it off. For some reason that blackness had become an enemy, disguising whatever may or may not lurk there.
Ulrich slammed his book shut as his phone went off. What was the point of Chemistry anyway? He saw Jeremy's text message and gaped. Fingers fumbled as he tried to call his friend.
"Yes, Ulrich. We found her, or at least something I really hope is her," the blonde informed his friend before he even had the chance to ask the question. "The signal's a bit distorted, so it's hard to find out anything definite right now."
"Y-you're not pulling m-m-my leg?" Ulrich stammered.
"Do I sound like Odd?" came Jeremy's rhetoric reply.
"I'm coming, Jer!"
(V)
Following Jeremy's directions, the girl with her strawberry-colored hair traveled the icy waste until she came to a dead end. Waterfalls churned the water between her and the walls so that it was almost impossible to see anything besides the froth, but it was clear that there were no caves hidden behind the falling streams of water. (A/N: This is the spot where Odd and Ulrich were practicing in "Amnesia")
"Jeremy, where is she?" Aelita wondered, staring at the impasse before her.
"You're standing right on top of her. It looks to me as if she's in frozen in suspended animation…literally! Do what you can to get her out of there. Ulrich will be here soon."
The A.I. dropped down and rubbed the ice with her hand until the thin layer of white crust on top cleared, allowing her to look through it. There was a dark figure beneath, its features indistinct and cloudy. She couldn't tell who it was.
Despite her misgivings, Aelita closed her eyes, placed her hands together and accessed Synthization with her voice. The area of ice in front of her began to melt until there was nothing but water left at the very tip of the finger of land. Stepping as close as she could without falling, the girl reached in and felt for the shadowy figure. Her fingers closed on something long and soft, despite being wet and somewhat stiff from the cold.
Anxious now, she pulled, straining at the weight. When her hands broke the surface, she knew she had the right person: she was holding onto Janika's braid.
No sooner had she hauled her friend out of the water than Jeremy's voice came over frantically. "Get away from that thing! As soon as you brought it out, X.A.N.A.'s signal appeared on its profile!"
The girl glanced down at the creature that looked like Janika and had to admit something was different about her. But she ignored Jeremy's warning and began to drag her to the closest Tower. He argued with his friend, but she continued to disregard him stubbornly. She pulled her burden through the side and breathed a sigh of relief when the Tower's defense didn't force her out.
"There, you see? She is Janika!"
Jeremy started a scan now that she was in a place where he could access her. After a few moments he had to agree. "This isn't a trick. It really is her. I told you she was alive!"
(V)
The reflection of the city lights wavered before Odd's eyes. No one ever turned them off. Why not? Were people really so afraid of the dark? He couldn't remember the last time he'd seen the stars without most of them blocked out by those glaring lights.
The blonde boy heard his phone ring. It was probably Ulrich again. He didn't care. No wait, that ring was different. It was a text message from…Jeremy?
Dragged down by the continuous lethargy he had undergone over the past few days, Odd laboriously took it out of his pocket and stared at the little screen. At first he couldn't read it, but then: J…A…N—
He surged to his feet and nearly fell over into the swampy sewer water as all the blood rushed to his brain. After a few minutes gathering his strength, he managed to climb the ladder slowly and cross the bridge. The blonde was too weak to take the rope and get to the elevator without losing his grip and eating cement, so he stumbled down the stairs.
The lift came at his request and Odd felt the familiar sensation of slight thrill and mischievousness that he always got when he entered the factory. He pressed his palm against the familiar button before it went too far and entered the code for the lab floor.
Weird. He could hardly remember it.
Jeremy turned as the doors opened to reveal a haggard Odd leaning heavily against the side of the elevator. Concerned, the computer whiz jogged over and helped support his friend across the room.
"Whoa, you really let yourself go to the dogs," he commented sympathetically. "Ulrich told me you were taking this whole thing hard, but I would have gone looking for you if I'd known you had been like this."
"It wouldn't have been that hard to find me," Odd croaked back. "I was in the sewer exit across the bridge."
Jeremy winced. "I guess I haven't really been wandering around all that much lately. Me and Aelita were taking shifts scanning Lyoko for Janika. She's in a Tower right now, but she's not responding to anything."
"Send me there."
It was a command, not a plea. Jeremy started to object but the other boy seized his shoulders with a strength that seemed incredible, especially after his three-day fast. Odd's eyes glinted with a fierceness that scared his teammate.
"I thought she was dead, Jeremy. You're not going to keep me from her. Do you understand?"
I always wondered why towns and cities were so full of light. It always made me think city-folks were babies b/c they couldn't stand a little darkness. Anyway, I guess you'll find out next time if that really is Janika or not. Mwahahaha! Now, how would you respond to a stranger who grabs your lunch and walks off eating it? (I'd probably laugh and call after them "That's a good idea if you want AIDS!" Not that I do, but I'd love to see their face when they hear that)