Disclaimer: Ugh, if this wasn't necessary, I'd skip it, but there are those wacko people out there….oh, and copyright laws….sigh I don't own any of Code: Lyoko… but if I did…(devious grin)
Ok, this is pretty much all action. A little mushy stuff between the couples and a bit of humor, but I realized that writing action scenes can be quite lengthy. So don't get to upset that this chapter is long. (How do you guys feel about the long chapters? Drop me an email w/ your opinions or include w/ review!) Also, if you like to listen to music while reading, I suggest POD - Boom!
And, no, this ISN'T the last chapter. Want to clarify that up front before I start getting things asking that question. Yes, there is more to come! Enjoy, yo!
Code: Lyoko
Mirror, Mirror
Part VI: Small Victories
Something is wrong. Terribly wrong. What has happened?
Atilea finishes sealing Imuy in ice up to her neck. Ulrich gives Atilea a thumbs up and a big grin.
"Aarghh! Get me out of this! Now!", screams Imuy in rage.
"Aahh! Why don't you just seal her mouth up as well?" Odd suggests irritatedly. "It would make things a lot quieter around here!"
Imuy shoots him an angry glance as best as she can, being trapped in ice and only about to turn her head a few inches.
"It's tempting, but I think this is a much better prison. Able to talk all the smack she wants, but unable to do anything! Hee, hee!" Atilea replies.
"You're almost as cruel as Yumi. I'm glad you're on our side now!" Ulrich states. Yumi glances at him with a commanding smile.
"You guys had better get going! Despite being on Lyoko and only being digital, that ice still obeys some laws of physics. If you haven't noticed, you are smack dab in the middle of the Desert Sector! Atilea's ice isn't going to hold her for very long!" pipes up Jeremie.
"We hear ya, Einstein! But how about giving us a mode of transportation?" Odd replies.
Jeremie sighs and continues to type at the keyboard. "The vehicles are on their way! Be patient, Odd!"
"Patient? Ha! I think you're getting slow in your old age!" jokes Odd, watching his Overboard materialize at his feet.
"Um, you do realize that Jeremie is a year younger than us and two years younger than Yumi?" Ulrich asks him.
"Well, if you're referring to linear age, he's actually way older than me! After all, I'm only, what, a day or two old." Atilea chimes in.
"If you're through goofing off…." Jeremie starts, irritatedly.
"Ok, ok! We're going! Sheesh!" Odd says crossing his arms. Ulrich and Yumi hop onto their vehicles and Aelita steps onto the Overwing with Yumi. Atilea glances between Ulrich and Odd, trying to decide who to ride with. She sees Ulrich wave for her to come ride with him, then glances at Yumi to seek permission. Yumi nods and she climbs onto the Overbike with Ulrich. Then, the group takes off across the desert, leaving a protesting and frozen Imuy behind.
This cannot be! It is impossible! My calculations were perfect! How! How did those meddling humans do it? How did they turn one of my children! HOW!
H'cirlu glances over at the still sulking Dod and frowns. "You're pathetic, you know that?" he jibes at him.
No response.
"And you're such a baby! If you can't have it your way, then you throw a fit, go off by yourself, and sulk! You're worse than Atilea!" H'cirlu jibes again.
Still nothing.
"Humph. I don't know why I even bother talking to you. I get better conversation out of a rock!" H'cirlu states blandly and turns to the nearest rock. "Hello, rock! How are you?"
H'cirlu, Dod! There has been a change of plan, but I must warn you….
"Hello, boys! Did ya miss me?" comes Atilea's voice, almost out of nowhere. H'cirlu turns in time to see a rather large rock a mere two inches from his head. Dod looks up surprised to see his own rock a couple of inches away from his head also. The rocks collide with their intended targets with full force, sending them sprawling across the terrain several yards.
Dod starts to pick himself up and turns to see a purple fist slam into his face. He rolls across the ground a few more feet and ends up face down in the virtual dirt.
H'cirlu starts to roll over, but a foot to the side of the head sends him right back where he came from. He frowns and spins on the ground, then hops up, but is met by a black boot to his face. He falls backwards and bounces a couple of times on the ground.
"How's that for payback!" shouts Odd defiantly at his twin, who is now picking himself up off the ground and rubbing is cheek with the back of his left hand. Dod turns his eyes and stares at Odd in shock.
Aelita steps closer to Odd and whispers, "You've been waiting to do that for a while, haven't you?" Odd smiles and replies, "You have no idea how good that felt, Aelita!"
H'cirlu stands and squints through only one eye to see Yumi lower her foot slowly to the ground from where it hung in the air after she kicked him in the face. He stares at the two, shocked that they are here.
"Good job, Yumi! Nice kick!" Ulrich praises and gives her an approving smile. "Well, I did have a great teacher!" Yumi replies and winks at him.
Then, Dod and H'cirlu see Atilea standing with the four. Dod's jaw drops and stares at her in disbelief. H'cirlu blinks in utter incomprehension. Atilea gives them a defiant smile and crosses her arms. "What's the matter? You two act as is you've never seen me before!" she remarks.
Dod shakes his head to help his mind come back to reality. "Atilea! Wha—what are you doing!" he stammers. "Yeah! Why did you attack us?" chimes in an equally befuddled H'cirlu.
Atilea's smile turns to a frown and narrows her eyes at the pair. "I'm doing what I know is right. Not what X.A.N.A. tells me is right!"
Then an audible voice booms from overhead, startling everyone except a strangely confident Atilea.
Why have you forsaken me, my Child?
Atilea looks skyward and replies, "You mean you don't know? What's the matter? Can't you look into my mind and find out?" There is a pause before the reply resounds across the terrain.
I gave you life, my Beloved. Is this how you thank me?
"You may have created this body, but it was the five people I was told to hate that showed me what real life is," she replies without missing a beat. "And furthermore, I'm not your Beloved anymore! Or your child! I have a real family that truly cares for me!"
Do they really? What do you have as proof, other than their word, that they 'care' for you, My Beloved? Has any of them expressed in action that they do? If so, what have you done to deserve such treatment? Are you really deserving of their so-called kindness?
Atilea feels her confidence start to falter. "I…uh," She closes her eyes tightly, running the memories of her, Ulrich, and Yumi at the Hermitage and ledge, trying to keep herself from doubting her stance and herself. Then she feels a hand gently rest on her shoulder. She turns to see a smiling Aelita give her a reassuring nod. Atilea smiles back at her big sister and feels her confidence return.
"I've declared that I will defend the real world from you, X.A.N.A.! I won't let you destroy the thing that I have come to cherish and adore!" Atilea exclaims boldly. Then, the voice becomes more sinister.
Need I remind you that you bare my symbol, you impetuous and impudent child?
Suddenly, Atilea grows wide-eyed just before she screams in pain and falls to the ground, clutching her chest. Yumi and Aelita instantly move to her side and see X.A.N.A.'s symbol glowing brightly from underneath her shirt as she reaches up to clutch her head. Atilea screams again and curls up into a ball.
I OWN you! There is no defying me! You WILL obey me or you will suffer! You have NO freedom outside what I dictate!
"Jeremie! Can you do anything?" Yumi asks quickly.
Jeremie types frantically and grits his teeth. "I'm trying! But X.A.N.A.'s link to her is… well, deeply ingrained in her digital DNA! I don't know if I can do anything! You'll have to distract him away from her!"
Odd shifts uneasily, watching both Atilea and his now angry twin. "Serves you right, Atilea! I hope you suffer immensely!" Dod bellows. Then, Odd gets an idea. "Hey, Jeremie! What's the one thing X.A.N.A. hates us doing?"
Jeremie pauses and looks at the screen in confusion. "Um, everything?" he replies quizzically. "Well, I can't argue with that, but I was looking for something a little more specific. Let me narrow it down for you. What thing out of all X.A.N.A.'s toys does he hate us messing with the most?" Odd states, forming a grin on his face.
Jeremie pauses in thought but then it hits him. "The towers! Of course! Great idea, Odd!" Jeremie exclaims. Ulrich glances over at Odd and smiles. "Wow, Odd actually had a good idea!" he jokes.
H'cirlu, Dod, stop them. I will handle the one that is trying to activate a tower, X.A.N.A. commands and releases Atilea. She buries her face in Yumi's chest, sobbing. "Odd, get ready! Yumi, we could use you!" Ulrich says clutching his katana firmly and watching his twin reach and pull out his short sword.
Dod turns to look at Odd and frowns. "Humph. I guess I'm stuck with the scrawny and weak version of me." Odd frowns and replies, "I'm not scrawny! Svelte! I'm svelte! Get it right!"
Yumi gets Atilea to calm down and hands her to Aelita, then stands. "Well, this didn't go as planned…" she grumbles. "Maybe not totally. Atilea's sneak attack idea did work, even if didn't last long," Aelita remarks. "Thanks, Sis," Atilea states gratefully and tries to sit up, but stops due to a sudden pang in her chest. "Take it easy. You took quite a shock," Aelita says gently helping her sit up.
"Odd, get ready for 'Mr. Switch'!" Ulrich says. H'cirlu gives Ulrich a quizzical look. That name wasn't in Ulrich's memories, so who could that be? Odd glances over at Ulrich and nods once. Yumi sees this and wonders what the two are doing. Please don't let them do anything stupid! she thinks to herself.
Jeremie finishes activating a tower in the Mountain Sector and smiles as he sees X.A.N.A. try to take it over. "Well, at least I can count on X.A.N.A. being as predicable as always!" he says to himself. "Let's see if I can make this more of a challenge for you, X.A.N.A!" Jeremie says and begins to type away at the keyboard.
Yumi watches intensely as the two pairs of boys stand-off against each other. She grips her tessen fans, ready to throw them at a moment's notice. Then she sees a flick of movement out of the corner of her eye. Suddenly, a large tessen fan flies in toward Ulrich's head, but Yumi tosses her own and knocks it off it's flight path. Yumi's fan returns to her and she turns to see a charging Imuy coming straight for them.
"Look who decided to join us!" Yumi says, readying herself. Atilea frowns and clinches her fists. "Dang. The ice didn't last as long as I hoped!" she states disappointedly. "Well, it did buy us some time," Aelita informs, gently patting her shoulder. "Don't be too hard on yourself." Atilea smiles at her and replies, "I guess it did. Thanks." She begins to stand slowly and Aelita watches her carefully, ready to catch her if she fell.
Imuy tosses her other fan as she psychokinetically brings her first fan back to her hand. Yumi dodges the fan and tosses her own. Imuy deflects the incoming fan and catches her returning fan.
"MR. SWITCH!" yells Ulrich suddenly, causing everyone except him and Odd to pause in wonder. Odd suddenly turns and fires three laser arrows at Imuy, hitting her stunned form squarely in the chest. She stumbles backwards and falls to the ground. "That was for Kiwi!" he yells at her and sprints towards her. Yumi looks baffled at him and sees Ulrich slam a foot into Dod's side. "So that's what he meant by Mr. Switch!" she whispers to herself and smiles slightly. "Good job, Babe!" She turns to face H'cirlu and raises her fans. H'cirlu looks at her blankly and then narrows his eyes.
Imuy stands, clutching her chest with one hand and looks up in time to block four more of Odd's laser arrows. "Why you…!" she growls at him. She tosses her fan at him but he dodges it and fires two more times. Imuy acrobatically jumps to dodge the arrows and lands, catching her returning fan at the same time.
Ulrich deflects two swipes of Dod's claws and super-sprints around behind him. "Hold still!" Dod growls angrily. He fires two shots of his own laser arrows at Ulrich but the laser arrows get blocked easily. Ulrich smirks as Dod clinches his fists in frustration. Dod suddenly fires several successive laser arrows which Ulrich blocks again with little effort.
"You know, I figured you would have known that Odd is not much of a match for me, since you have his memories and all, " Ulrich taunts. Dod frowns and realizes Ulrich is right. "Fine. You are right about Odd not being much of a match for you, but I'm not Odd! I'm better than Odd!" Dod replies and holds up a fist in front of him. He points it at Ulrich and narrows his eyes evilly. "Shotgun!" Dod yells and fires, sending several laser arrows simultaneously in a cluster. Ulrich's eyes bulge and he super-sprints out of the way of the projectiles. "Whoa! That's new!" he whispers to himself.
"Double barrel shotgun!" Dod shouts and fires both of his laser arrow launchers at the same time, sending double the number of laser arrows. "Oh, geez!" Ulrich exclaims and dives behind a boulder. He hears most of the arrows slam into the opposite side of the boulder and hears the rest whiz by, missing the boulder. "Ok, there's another new ability. Wonder what else he's got?" Ulrich muses.
"Come out, Ulrich! What's the matter? Finding me not so much of a weakling?" Dod taunts trying to draw Ulrich out. "Why don't you come here instead?" Ulrich replies. Dod smiles and cocks both his laser arrow launchers. "You'd love that, wouldn't you? Well, too bad, Ulrich! That boulder won't protect you for much longer, so it really doesn't matter what you do! If you won't move from the boulder, then I'll move the boulder from you!" Dod says as he takes aim. Ulrich wonders what he means by that and peeks around the edge of the boulder.
"FULL AUTO!" Dod shouts and fires. Suddenly, a constant stream of laser arrows shoots from both of Dod's launchers. Ulrich notices that his cover is being steadily whittled away and super-sprints away, with Dod following his movements, still firing his laser arrows on full auto. Ulrich desperately tries to stay ahead of the laser arrows as Dod begins to laugh maniacally.
Meanwhile, Yumi finds that H'cirlu has pulled out one of his own tricks. She blocks a strike from his sword and dodges a kick. He swings for her again and she blocks it, but then he disappears. "Wha--?" she starts but suddenly hears something behind her. She turns in just enough time to back flip away from an incoming shuriken. H'cirlu leaps toward her kicking and she blocks his foot but then he disappears again. Yumi whirls around, frantically looking to see where he went. "Yumi! Look out! Above you!" exclaims Jeremie. Yumi looks up in time to jump out of the way. H'cirlu lands right where she once stood, slamming his sword into the ground. He stands as a he pulls the sword out of the ground and charges her. She blocks his two attacks but then he disappears again. "Not again!" she says looking around. "Yoo-hoo…!" she hears and ducks just as his sword swings toward her head from behind her. "How did he--? No way he's that fast!" Yumi exclaims.
H'cirlu throws another shuriken and she back flips twice, watching the shuriken fly mere inches past her face. Suddenly, in the middle of a third back flip, a foot slams into the middle of her back, causing her to stop instantly. Then, a foot to the side of her head sends her head first to the ground hard. Yumi bounces a couple of times before ending up face down in the dirt.
"You're not really that tough. No wonder Ulrich stopped training you," states H'cirlu coldly, looking down at her. Yumi stirs and gets on all fours. "Yeah? Well, FYI, your memories that you stole are outdated!" she retorts and stands shakily. "And just so you know, I'm not going to fall for any of your memory games!" H'cirlu smirks and crosses his arms. "Humph. Well, I admire your spirit, but I don't really blame you for not wanting to face the truth about Ulrich."
Yumi frowns and opens her fans. "Maybe you need to clean out your ears! I said I'm not going to fall for any memory games! You're not going to shake my trust in Ulrich!" He shrugs and replies, "How very loyal of you, sticking by him, even when you willingly blind yourself to all that he has done. Now, I'm sure that you're going to say that there is nothing hidden between the two of you, and for the most part, you are right. But I wonder if he's told you everything. Oh, wait—I can answer that: no he hasn't! For example, there is something he did with Sissi quite a while back…"
Suddenly, H'cirlu sees a tessen fan flying towards his head. He instantly pulls out a needle-like shuriken and deflects it. Then, he sees a foot coming at him from the corner of his left eye. He instantly raises his arms to block the kick. Yumi's leg slams into H'cirlu's arms full force and he slides backward several feet due to the inertia of the kick.
"SHUT UP!" Yumi yells and charges him. H'cirlu peeks over his raised arms and smiles slyly. "That got her angry!" he whispers, satisfied. Yumi swipes an open fan at his head and he dodges it. Then, he disappears again right in front of her. Yumi stops in shock at his disappearance. She turns to see him falling towards her, ready to plunge his sword into her. She freezes at the sight. Suddenly a large rock smacks into him and the rock and H'cirlu crashes to the ground several feet away. Yumi turns and looks to see Atilea smile at her and give her a thumbs up. Yumi returns the smile and thanks her silently.
Ulrich reaches another boulder and ducks behind it. Dod finally stops firing and watches the boulder, curious to see what Ulrich will do next. After a brief pause, three Ulrichs step cautiously out from behind the boulder, two on the opposite sides of the boulder and the third from over the top of the boulder. Dod smiles wickedly, enjoying himself thoroughly. "You know, I'm glad you decided to do something different. I was really hoping that you weren't going to just run around all day!" Dod says, watching the Ulrichs carefully, waiting for them to make the first move. "Now tell me, what do you hope to accomplish by using your Triplicate technique?"
The three Ulrichs frown and unsheathe their katanas simultaneously, but remain silent. Dod eyes each one, studying each thoroughly. "Wonder which one of you is the real one? Hmm…" Dod ponders out loud.
"Why don't you come on over here and find out?" taunts the left Ulrich. "Yeah? Why don't ya? You're not afraid, are you?" joins in the right Ulrich without missing a beat.
Dod's blank face turns into a scowl and he raises both arms, pointing them in the direction of the Ulrichs. "Afraid? Me, afraid? Never!" he growls detestful. "Double barrel oomph!" Dod starts but is cut off by a rock smacking him in the back of the head. He falls forward face-first onto the ground. All three Ulrichs looks past Dod surprised and sees Atilea do a victory jump. He chuckles at her and gives her a thumbs up. Then, the three Ulrichs charge Dod as he begins to pick himself up, groaning.
Atilea turns to Aelita, smiling big. Aelita nods to her approvingly and turns to see Odd dodge one of Imuy's fans. He fires twice but the shots are blocked. "Odd looks like he could use a little help too," Aelita notes and Atilea nods in agreement.
Odd hops up on the side of a boulder and fires a laser arrow at Imuy. She leaps up towards him as she deflects the arrow. Odd leaps up and off the boulder just as Imuy swipes her fan at him. He fires twice and nails her in the head as he flies over her. Imuy smacks into the face of the boulder from the laser arrows and falls to the ground hard. Odd lands a few feet away from her and sees her begin to pick herself up. He takes aim and Imuy opens a fan and reaches to her opposite side. Then, her fan begins to glow white and gather energy. Odd watches curiously as the fan grows brighter.
"Triple Energy Fan!" Imuy shouts suddenly and throws the fan at him. Suddenly, two energy copies of the fan trail behind the first, original fan. "Oh, crap!" Odd exclaims and ducks out of the way. The original fan flies past him, but Odd notices the two energy copies have diverted their course towards him. "Oh, boy! They're homing in on me!" Odd states and scrambles to get out of the way. He leaps up just as the first energy copy slams into the ground. He lands and rolls away, then turns to see the second turn to follow him. "Now this isn't fair!" he says turning and running towards a boulder. Then an idea pops into his mind.
Odd suddenly veers towards Imuy and begins repeatedly firing at her, letting her be distracted by blocking his shots. My only hope is she is angry enough not to figure out what I'm doing! Odd thinks to himself as he sprints towards her. Just a few more steps! Imuy grits her teeth in anger, oblivious to what Odd is doing. She continues to block his shots and frantically tries to find an opening in his attack so she can launch another fan at him. Suddenly, Odd leaps up and Imuy realizes what he was doing. She yelps in surprise as the energy fan suddenly appears where Odd once stood. She has no time to block or dodge the energy fan and it slams into her full force. She screams and flies backwards into the boulder. She bounces off the boulder and lands face down on the ground.
Odd lands and looks up to see her lay on the ground motionless. "Whew! That was close!" he states wiping his brow. Then, Imuy groans and her head begins to move. "Aw, come on! What's it take to put'em down?" Odd exclaims, mildly exasperated. "Well, uh, according to my calculations, they have roughly triple the amount of life-points you have," Jeremie states, slightly depressed.
Yumi gasps in awe. "You're kidding!" she utters. "Afraid not, Yumi. X.A.N.A. designed them to be durable," Jeremie replies. Ulrich frowns and watches Dod carefully as he begins to rub his head. "So basically we can take a lickin' and keep on tickin', as the saying goes!" pipes up Atilea. "However, at this point, we are not fully powered up to our maximum. We're roughly 75 percent," she continues, glancing over at H'cirlu. Then Atilea's smile turns into a frown. "But, for me, this is going to be my maximum. Since I've changed sides in this war, X.A.N.A. won't impart in me the last twenty-five percent. I won't be able to keep up with them. I'm sorry," she says sadly and hangs her head slightly.
Aelita places a hand on her sister's shoulder and Atilea turns her head to look at her. "Well, personally, I'd rather have you on our side at seventy-five percent than at one hundred percent on X.A.N.A.'s side," Aelita says reassuringly. "Yeah, besides, on our side, you have a guarantee of a future. With X.A.N.A., who knows?" Ulrich chimes in.
"Um, guys, I hate to break up this little pep-o-rally, but X.A.N.A.'s about to take over the tower I activated!" Jeremie informs. "Aelita, I'll need you to de-activate it when he does. Can you guys take care of the twins quickly so Aelita won't have to go alone?"
"Well, that really depends on them, Jeremie. I'm sure we could if they stayed unconscious long enough, but they have a nasty habit of waking up quickly!" Odd quips sarcastically. Ulrich frowns at Odd and replies, "We'll try, Jeremie. What are their current life-points?"
Jeremie types quickly and the requested information pops up on the screen. "Imuy has 195, H'cirlu has a sizable 245, and Dod has 220 left," he replies. Odd winces and states, "Great. All of them have over half of their life-points left. Wonderful."
Atilea glances at Aelita and then around to the rest of the group. She curls her hands into fists and places them side by side and touching. Then, she concentrates as she moves them away from each other in a straight line, careful not to let her hands move vertically at all. She stretches her hands out as far as she can and a long pole forms the full length between them. She grasps the pole and smiles satisfied at it. Atilea then turns to Aelita and hands her the pole. "Here, Sis, take this. It'll help you out," she says. Aelita eyes the pole, nervously. "Well, I—I don't really know how to use it…" Aelita starts but then the temptation to take it overcomes her. She takes the pole from Atilea and swings it a couple of times. "Try using it the same way Ulrich uses his bo staff when he trains," Yumi suggests.
Aelita looks up at her and frowns. "But I've only see him use his bo staff only once!" she says. "And that was when we were still looking for the data for the First Seal! Besides, I'm not really comfortable using weapons." Atilea sighs and replies, "You've used Yumi's fans before. And you even punched me in the face! You're telling me you're not comfortable using weapons? Somehow, I don't believe that, Sis. Sorry."
Aelita looks at her and realizes she is right. "Ok, you win. I'll give it a try. But if I don't like it, then I'm dropping it!" she informs firmly. Atilea smiles and gently pats Aelita's shoulder.
Suddenly Imuy lunges at Odd and he instantly whirls around firing. His shots strike Imuy head-on and she falls to the ground, clutching her chest in pain. She picks herself up slowly and gets ready to toss a fan at him when H'cirlu yells at her. "Imuy! Stop! Don't attack him!" She stops and looks at him curiously.
"Why?" she asks wondering why he stopped her. Dod raises an eyebrow and sees H'cirlu point in the general direction of Aelita and Atilea. He begins to chuckle. "Ah, I see where you're going with this," Dod states and cocks his laser arrow launchers. H'cirlu turns his head to look at him and smiles deviously. "On three," H'cirlu tells him and Dod nods.
The three Ulrichs shift uneasily and watches them intently. "Be careful! I think they are going for Aelita!" the center Ulrich states. Odd narrows his eyes and keeps Imuy in his sights. Yumi growls in anger and opens her fans, ready to throw them. Atilea moves closer to her sister and forms two short poles about a foot and a half long each in each hand. "Stay behind me, Aelita!" she says and grits her teeth, ready to take on anyone who tries to hurt Aelita. Aelita nods and watches the twins carefully.
"One…" H'cirlu says.
Odd's tail begins to twitch faster with anticipation, similar to a cat's tail when the cat is ready to pounce on its prey.
"Two…"
Yumi sets her sights on H'cirlu and prepares to launch her fans at him.
"Three!" H'cirlu shouts and suddenly disappears, causing Yumi to freeze for a second.
Atilea hears something to her left and turns to see H'cirlu land slightly behind her and smiles at her evilly. Then she feels a kick to her middle that sends her flying backwards. Aelita gasps as she realizes what just happened. H'cirlu vanishes again and appears above the airborne Atilea.
The three Ulrichs instantly super-sprint after his twin and Odd tries to hit H'cirlu with a couple of laser arrows, but misses badly. Yumi runs to Aelita and sees Dod and Imuy take off after Atilea.
H'cirlu back fists Atilea and she crashes into the ground. She skids along the ground and Dod fires his "shotgun" laser arrow twice, striking her both times. Imuy launches a fan and hits her, causing her to veer off and smack into a boulder. Atilea tries to stand, but a swipe of Dod's claws sends her right back to the ground, screaming in pain.
"We've got to help her!" Yumi exclaims to Aelita and takes off toward the mob of twins. Aelita hesitates for a second before her mind finally gets her body to obey, then takes off behind Yumi.
H'cirlu jabs a shuriken into Atilea's collar and she screams. He knees her in the stomach and she doubles over. Then he grabs her arm and swings her around to the opposite side of him, slamming her face into the boulder. "Three round burst!" Dod shouts and a quick succession of three laser arrows fire towards Atilea's back. They find their mark and she yelps. H'cirlu smiles and raises another needlelike shuriken, ready to plunge it into the back of her neck.
Suddenly, Dod feels three strikes of a sword across his back. He freezes in pain and sees two Ulrichs suddenly appear before him. Then, Odd appears and fires directly into his face. Dod yelps and falls backwards. Imuy suddenly finds herself unarmed and staring down a very angry Ulrich. "Fusion," he commands and she sees two copies of Ulrich suddenly whiz past her and meld with him. He frowns and narrows his eyes. Suddenly, Imuy has the sensation of flying and realizes that she is airborne. She tries to maneuver around so she can see Ulrich but realizes that he is next to her. Then she feels his katana strike her across her midsection. Imuy yells in pain and crashes to the ground. H'cirlu, seeing his comrades being attacked, pauses for a second but then snaps back and thrusts the shuriken toward Atilea's neck. Suddenly, the shuriken stops short of its target. He blinks in confusion and sees Yumi's fan blocking the path. He turns in surprise to see her straining against his strength as she protects Atilea's neck. Then she smiles and he freezes, baffled by her sudden change in attitude.
Then, H'cirlu feels something smash into the side of his head. He smacks into the boulder and lets Atilea go, allowing her to slump to the ground crying. He stumbles around, holding his head and trying to regain his balance. Then, the same something hits him again in the other side of the head. He rolls a couple of times along the boulder before reaching the end of the boulder and falling to the ground. He starts to pick himself up but feels something hit him in the face, sending him flipping completely over, causing him to land on his back hard. H'cirlu manages to open his eyes and sees, much to his dismay, Aelita holding some sort of staff above him. She frowns angrily down at him and jabs the end of her pole onto his chest.
Jeremie nearly falls out of his seat after witnessing this amazing battle. He then sees X.A.N.A. give up on taking over the tower he activated. "Now where are you going?" Jeremie mumbles and starts typing once again.
Yumi takes Atilea's limp, crying form in her arms and cradles her as Atilea continues to sob in pain. Atilea turns and buries her face in Yumi's chest and causes the shuriken that is still in her collar to poke Yumi. Yumi yips and gently turns Atilea onto her back and Atilea opens her eyes to look up at Yumi thankfully.
"This thing's gotta come out," Yumi states pointing at the shuriken. Atilea glances down at it and winces, but nods. Ulrich walks over to them and sees Yumi having a difficult time getting herself to pull out the shuriken. "Something wrong, Yumi?" he asks as Odd steps up behind him and peers over his shoulder.
Yumi glances up at him. "I, uh…" she starts and looks back down at Atilea. "I'm having trouble actually trying to pull this thing out!" she finally continues pointing at the shuriken. "It's not that I think blood is going to come gushing out, because we don't have blood here, but I'm just… don't want to cause her anymore pain…."
"Want me to do it?" Ulrich asks kneeling down next to Atilea. Yumi nods and takes Atilea's hand. "Now, just squeeze when it hurts…" Yumi says to her and Atilea nods as Ulrich reaches over to take hold of the shuriken. "I'm not going to lie. This will hurt," he says to Atilea. She nods and closes her eyes tightly. Then, in one quick jerk, Ulrich yanks out the offending shuriken. Atilea yelps and Yumi grits her teeth in pain as Atilea squeezes her hand hard. Finally, the pain subsides a little in Atilea's shoulder and lets go of Yumi's hand. Yumi shakes her hand and mouths "ouch", causing Ulrich to chuckle slightly at her.
Ulrich looks at the shuriken curiously and then at Atilea. Yumi helps her sit up and receives a hug from her. Ulrich rolls the shuriken around in between his thumb and forefinger, examining it thoroughly. "Thank you, Ulrich. I feel better now that thing is out of me," he hears Atilea say thankfully and he smiles at her. Then he tosses the shuriken on the ground and stands.
Aelita glances up at Ulrich and Odd as they step over to her. "Looks live we've got a live one, Cap'n!" Odd says to Ulrich in a heavy fake Scottish accent. Ulrich gives him a baffled look chooses not to say anything to him. "Um, Yumi, what about the other two?" he asks her, talking past Odd and his chuckling. Yumi helps Atilea stand, letting her lean against her for support. "They're taking a little nap. They shouldn't be any trouble for a while," Yumi replies and carefully helps Atilea walk over to them.
Ulrich nods and then kneels down to H'cirlu. H'cirlu looks up at him and frowns. "You won't be able to keep me here for very long!" he says defiantly. Aelita presses her staff down onto H'cirlu's chest, causing him to flinch in pain. "Behave," she states authoritatively. Odd kneels down next to Ulrich and grins at H'cirlu. "Dang! Aelita put the smack down on you!" Odd says chuckling. H'cirlu growls at him and Ulrich gently shoves him away. "Ok, that's enough, Odd. I'm sure he knows that," Ulrich says.
Jeremie finally catches up to X.A.N.A. and sees him activate a tower. "Hey, guys, I'm not sure what you are doing, but hurry it up. X.A.N.A. just activated a tower on the other side of the sector!" he says. "Thanks, Jeremie. Aelita, we have to get you to the tower! Jeremie needs you to deactivate it," informs Yumi. Aelita glances at her quickly and purses her lips. "What about him?" she asks indicating H'cirlu.
"Don't worry. I'll watch'em," Ulrich says smiling. "Yumi and Odd can get you there just fine. Atilea can stay here as well, if she wants." Atilea looks at him and then at Yumi. Yumi frowns and sighs, but reluctantly agrees. Ulrich draws his katana as Aelita removes her staff from H'cirlu's chest. Ulrich lays the sharp edge of his katana on H'cirlu's neck gently to keep him lying down. Yumi turns to Atilea and asks, "Well, coming or staying?" Atilea ponders for a second, then answers, "I'll stay. If H'cirlu gets unruly, Ulrich may need what ever help I can give." Yumi nods and turns to Odd and Aelita. "Ready you two?" she asks and the pair nod.
"The tower's on the other side of the sector! You'll have to hurry before X.A.N.A. has time to do anything," Jeremie instructs. "But to help you get there, here comes the vehicles!" They turn to see the Overboard and Overwing pilot up to them, both surrounded by a green glow, The glow fades away once the vehicles have stopped. "Whoa, did you do that, Jeremie?" Odd asks, impressed.
Jeremie smiles and replies, "Yes, it was me! I partially figured out how to take control over things. Granted, at this point, it's only the vehicles, but it is a start!" Odd hops onto his Overboard and grins ear to ear. "Too cool, Jeremie! You rock!" he replies. Yumi and Aelita hop onto the Overwing and the trio takes off across the desert, leaving Ulrich, Atilea, and a temporarily immobile H'cirlu behind. Ulrich watches them leave out of the corner of his eye and silently tells Yumi to be careful.
Atilea slowly slumps to the ground and leans against the boulder, watching H'cirlu. Ulrich frowns at his twin and begins wondering what to do next. H'cirlu looks up at him, then gets a wily grin on his face that makes Ulrich take notice. "So, you've gotten me under the knife, of sorts. What now?" he asks. Ulrich just sates blankly back at him.
"You know, Yumi got really upset when I mentioned Sissi to her," H'cirlu continues. "So? That's not surprising. Sissi can be a big pain," Ulrich replies dryly. H'cirlu chuckles and says, "Oh, well, yes, but maybe I should rephrase that. Maybe I should have said that Yumi got upset when I mentioned YOU and Sissi." Ulrich frowns and replies, "There's nothing between Sissi and me." H'cirlu smiles deviously. "Except one little thing you haven't told Yumi." Ulrich blinks in mild confusion.
"What are you talking about?"
"Oh, come on now! Don't tell me you've forgotten!"
"Forgotten what? Tell me!"
Atilea realizes H'cirlu is messing with Ulrich's mind and is winning. She painfully starts to get on all fours.
H'cirlu smiles devilishly and chuckles. "Heh, you really have forgot what you and her did, haven't you?"
Ulrich gives him a shocked look. "I've never done anything with Sissi!"
"Oh? Then tell me why you haven't told Yumi about the little sleepover thing you had?"
Ulrich grows angry and begins to press down on the blade of the katana. "I have NEVER slept with Sissi!" he bellows at him. "NEVER have, NEVER will!"
H'cirlu strains against the pain in his neck from where the katana slowly digs into him. "Oh? Was it really that bad of an experience that your mind shoved it out of your conscious thought?"
Ulrich leans down closer to his twin's face. "I'm not going to listen to your lies! All you are doing is taking some of my memories and twisting them into something that never happened!" Ulrich barks at him.
"You'd love to believe that, wouldn't you?" H'cirlu replies. "Oh, well. One of these days, maybe you'll come to terms with what you did! Just imagine how Yumi would feel when she finds out! Better yet, what would your father think if he ever found out?"
Ulrich almost shoves the blade into H'cirlu's neck but suddenly hears a voice from beside him. "Ulrich! Listen to me! He is playing with your mind! Just ignore him!" Atilea says firmly to him. Ulrich turns suddenly to see her sitting next to him, looking at him caringly. He blinks several times and exhales heavily, feeling the weight of the situation lift from his shoulders.
"Thanks, Atilea. I was beginning to loose it for a moment there," Ulrich says to her thankfully. She smiles and gently touches his shoulder warmly. H'cirlu frowns in disgust as he sees his plan fall apart in front of him. Then he sees an opportunity to escape when Ulrich watches Atilea begin to crawl away from his side.
Ulrich suddenly feels something hit him in the head and he falls backwards. H'cirlu smiles as he quickly flips up onto his feet. "Not too bad, don't ya think? Kneeing you in the head after seeing you being distracted by that traitor! It was just classic! You know, I thought you'd pay better attention than that!" H'cirlu states grinning.
Ulrich frowns and stands, raising his katana. H'cirlu draws his short sword and another needlelike shuriken. "Are you ready for round two, Ulrich?" H'cirlu says smirking. "Don't think that you'll take me out as easily as last time! I've seen all your tricks and I'm ready for anything you throw at me!" Ulrich replies confidently. "Triplicate!" he yells and two copies form on either side of him. H'cirlu smirks and chuckles slightly. "Oh really? You've seen all my tricks, huh? Well, it's good thing that I saved the best for last!"
H'cirlu then hides the shuriken and sheathes his sword. He stretches his hands across his body and shapes his first two fingers on each hand in a claw like form. Ulrich watches him as a red glow forms around his body. "TRI-FORM!" H'cirlu yells and suddenly two copies of himself slides outward from him, as if they were standing there all the time. Then the three H'cirlus drop their hands and all smile evilly at him.
The center H'cirlu glances at the H'cirlu one either side of him. "Well, fancy meeting me and me here!" he says chuckling. The right one turns and chuckles. "Likewise," he says crossing his arms. The left one points his thumb at Ulrich and says, "Hey, look, another set of triplets! I betcha I could take them all out by myself!" "What? And not let us have any fun?" the center one asks raising an eyebrow. "Well, we still have her," replies the right one, motioning towards Atilea. She perks up and looks at them nervously. "Hmm, maybe you're right. Three of us, one of her. She's a traitor that is weak," the center H'cirlu states thoughtfully, rubbing his chin. " And vulnerable! We could have fun with her in more than one way!" Atilea gets a scared look on her face and slides away until she runs into the boulder. "Dude, no. That's bad. We should just take her out and be done with it," the left H'cirlu replies frowning in disgust.
"You know, I'm standing right here," Ulrich pipes up. The three H'cirlus turn and regard him uninterestedly. "Yeah, and?" the center H'cirlu asks blandly. "It's not like you can really do anything to us. We outclass you in this form." Atilea realizes he is right and stands, then moves next to the leftmost Ulrich. "Maybe on his own , but with me on his side, you are the one that is outclassed!" she says confidently as she forms two escrima sticks in her hands. The three Ulrichs turn and smile at her, then they adopt fighting stances.
The three H'cirlus frown in annoyance. "Humph. Bold words for such a little girl," the left H'cirlu says coldly. Then, Atilea notices that something is different about them. She studies them and sees that X.A.N.A.'s symbol has appeared on their chest and is pulsating. "Oh, no…." she says, realizing what is going on.
"What's wrong?" the Ulrich nearest to her asks. "X.A.N.A. I think he's infusing him with last twenty-five percent of power!" she replies. "So that's why they haven't attacked yet!" the center Ulrich says. "We can't let the process finish!" the right Ulrich chimes in. Suddenly, the three Ulrichs super-sprint away in different directions.
The center H'cirlu growls in frustration. "Crud. I was hoping they wouldn't figure it out! Fine, we'll wait till later to finish the transfer. Split up, take each of the Ulrich copies on one at a time!" he commands and the other two nod.
Atilea watches in amazement at the incredible display of speed and skill of all six fighters. "I gotta figure out a way to help Ulrich. There's no way I can move at those speeds, especially since H'cirlu can teleport! Maybe, I can slow H'cirlu up a bit…" she ponders and tries to concentrate on one of the H'cirlu copies.
One of the H'cirlu copies blocks an attack from the Ulrich copy. Then, he jabs it with a small knife, causing the Ulrich copy to fade away. "One down, two to go," he says and searches for another copy to attack.
Meanwhile, Dod begins to stir on the ground, not too far away. "Ugh, my head…." he states wearily and gets up on all fours. Then he spots five dark blurs fighting each other. "Geez. What did I miss?" he asks himself and stands slowly. Then, he sees Atilea near the scene and narrows his eyes in anger. A noise from behind him catches his attention and he turns to see an unsteady Imuy stand, using a rock to help her up.
Atilea sees an opening and raises her hand. Suddenly, one of the H'cirlu copies finds his feet incased in rock. He falls forward and smacks into the ground. A copy of Ulrich sprints over and stabs it in the back. The H'cirlu copy yells in pain and then swings his arm, knocking the Ulrich clone of his feet. The Ulrich clone looks confused and wonders why the H'cirlu copy didn't fade away. Suddenly, a foot slams into the H'cirlu clone that sends him flying towards another clone. The two collide, knocking the two to the ground. The two clones meld together into one being and it sits up, confused about what just happened.
"Why don't you pull yourself together, H'cirlu? You're looking kinda spread thin!" Atilea jibes as the Ulrich copy stands and blinks in confusion. The remaining two H'cirlus turn and look at her angrily. "Stay out of this, Wench! You'll time will come soon enough!" states the closest H'cirlu. "No, let's let those two deal with her. We'll take care of Ulrich ourselves," interjects the other H'cirlu, nodding towards Dod and Imuy.
Atilea turns to see Dod and Imuy up and walking around. Ulrich sees them also and frowns. "I thought for sure they were down for good! Guess we didn't do as much damage to their life points as we thought," Ulrich grumbles and then glances at Atilea. She turns and raises her escrima sticks. "Don't worry about me, Ulrich. I can take these two, no problem!" she optimistically says to him. Ulrich gives her a skeptical look. "Are you sure? You really took a beating…" he states. "True, but I've sparred against these two at the same time before by myself, and won. I can handle'em!" Atilea replies confidently and winks at him.
Dod snorts in disbelief at Atilea's claim. "I let you win. There's no way you can really beat me!" he jibes. Atilea fleers at him and twirls her escrima sticks a couple of times. "Really? Why don't ya come over here and find out, big boy?" she taunts. "You are really that eager to die, aren't you?" Imuy remarks. "Nah, just dyin' to get a little payback!" Atilea replies. "Fine. Let's get it on, Chickie!" Imuy states and charges her.
Atilea deflects two shots from Dod as she blocks Imuy's first attack. She drops to the ground and sweeps Imuy off her feet and lands a hit on the side of Imuy's head. She stands and deflects several shots from Dod before he becomes enraged and charges her. He swipes at her with his claws, but she side-steps to avoid the attack and grabs his wrist. He gets a look of surprise as she swings him around, causing him to collide with a partially standing Imuy.
Ulrich smiles as he watches her, impressed with her skill. Then, he redirects his attention back to the pair of H'cirlus before him. So, if I can get the two of them to collide with each other, then they'll meld back together into one person. Sounds simple enough, he reviews in his mind. Yeah, easier said than done…
Then, Ulrich and his copy super-sprints towards the two H'cirlu copies. The left copy tosses a shuriken and phases away, but the Ulrich copy deflects the shuriken, sending in the direction that the copy is phasing back in. The copy gives a look of surprise as he sees the shuriken mere inches from him. It hits him with a solid thunk and he instantly becomes paralyzed. Then, the two Ulrichs attack the final H'cirlu simultaneously.
Meanwhile, Atilea acrobatically flips over Dod's back and lands two hits on Imuy, one on her collar and the other on her neck. Imuy hits the ground in a crumpled heap and lays there motionless. Dod turns and gets kicked in the face. He staggers backwards and fires wildly at Atilea, but the shots miss her drastically. Atilea walks up to him as he drops his hands and begins to sway.
"This is for Odd," Atilea says sternly.
Dod doesn't have the time or energy to react to her attack. She swings twice, one in an downward motion, causing him to bend over and the last strike comes from underneath, straightening him back up. Dod's body lifts up off the ground and he falls back wards, then lands hard on the ground. Atilea looks at his body and sees that he isn't going to get back up. Then, she sees his eyes go completely blank, as if he had no irises or pupils. Atilea's brow crinkles with perplexity, then turns to look at Imuy's eyes and sees that her eyes have done the same. Atilea begins to speculate what this could be, then gets distracted as she hears Ulrich grunt in frustration.
Ulrich slashes at both H'cirlus but they just leap out of the way. "Having trouble are we, Ulrich? Funny how you're not as confident as you were before, especially now that your last copy of yourself has went the way of the Dodo!" quips the right H'cirlu, grinning fiendishly. Ulrich grunts in aggravation and wishes that they would shut up. "Jeremie, what are their life points?" he asks, hoping for some good news.
Jeremie looks up to another window on the screen and replies, "Well, since these clones on his seemingly shares a portion of the original amount of life-points, they both have the equal amount of fifty life points left. You, on the other hand…" "Yes, Jeremie, I get it. Fifty life points each. Thanks," Ulrich interrupts and sees them charge him. Suddenly, the right H'cirlu trips and falls on his face as his feet becomes incased in stone. The other glances back to see what happened, then states, "Oh, geez, not again…." He turns to see Ulrich in the middle of a flying sidekick. The kick lands squarely in his chest and his flies backward, crashing into his other copy. The two meld together and becomes one being once more.
H'cirlu slams a fist onto the ground in frustration. Then he looks up to see Ulrich raise his katana, ready to deal the final blow. He tries to sling a shuriken at him but his hands suddenly becomes incased in ice. H'cirlu looks frantically around, trying to find something he can use to escape with, but all he sees is Atilea walking up next to Ulrich and resting her right arm on his left shoulder, smiling confidently. She drops her arm as Ulrich steps forward and swings the katana.
Atilea kneels down to H'cirlu's motionless body and watches his eyes become blank like Dod's and Imuy's eyes. She frowns and shakes her head, unable to come up with any answer to what this is or what it means. Ulrich kneels down next to her and examines the body, also wondering what has happened to H'cirlu's eyes.
"Imuy's and Dod's eyes did the same thing. I don't know what this means," Atilea states. "I'm sorry I don't have an answer for you, Ulrich."
He waves her apology off with a flick of his hand. "Don't worry about it. The important thing is that we won this round." He turns to look at her. "Are you ok? They didn't hurt you, did they?"
She smiles and slides an arm across his shoulders. "Nah, but they did try. Thanks for caring, Ulrich." She drops her arm and stands, then walks over to where Imuy and Dod lie. Ulrich sighs and stands. "Hey, Jeremie, how's Yumi, Aelita, and Odd doing?" he asks.
Jeremie smiles and replies, "Heh, just great! Aelita has just finished deactivating the tower. They're on their way back to you now. When they get there, I'll start bringing you guys home! Great job, everyone!"
A little while later, Yumi, Aelita, and Odd arrive, waving to Ulrich and Atilea. Yumi and Aelita hop off the Overwing and Odd skids to a stop on his Overboard. Yumi and Ulrich run to each other and collide into a hug. Odd hops off his Overboard and gives Ulrich a huge smile and a thumbs up. Aelita is met by a huge hug from Atilea and nearly looses her balance. She giggles and pats her sister on the back. Then, Odd spots the three motionless bodies of the twins.
"Whoa, what happened here?" he asks walking towards the bodies.
Ulrich and Yumi separate from each other and Ulrich turns to follow him. "Well, I'm not completely sure, but I do know that Atilea and I finally beat them. Then the strangest thing happened," Ulrich says, catching up to him. The two reach the bodies, with the girls following close behind, and they kneel down to Dod's body.
"I wish I were here to see him finally put down," Odd states with a bit of vengefulness in his voice.
"Well, you can ask Atilea all about how he went down. In fact, she took down both Dod and Imuy! Me, well, I just barely took down H'cirlu. Even then, I couldn't have finished the job if she hadn't immobilized his hands and feet," Ulrich replies.
Atilea blushes and smiles modestly as Yumi, Aelita, and Odd turn to look at her in amazement. "I was just backing up the promise I made to you guys, that's all," she says simply.
Then, the three bodies begin to glow a yellowish, golden color and the group instantly moves away from them. "What's going on? What is this?" asks Yumi as the glow slowly becomes brighter.
"I don't know! I've never seen anything like it!" exclaims Aelita in awe. "Neither have I!" adds Jeremie and begins to run an analysis. Aelita turns to Atilea and asks, "And you? Have you seen this before?" All Atilea can do is shake her head "no" as she stares in wonder and awe at the glow.
Suddenly, the bodies begin to disintegrate into tiny glowing balls and begin to float up and away into the Lyokan sky. The group just stares in awe and wonder at this strange and somewhat beautiful sight as the glowing balls float high above their heads until the last glowing ball disappears into the distance.
"Whoa, I couldn't tell whether that was an awesome thing or a bad thing," Odd states, still in a bit of awe. "Or, maybe it was an awesomely bad thing!"
"Whatever it was, it's over now. I don't know about you guys, but I'm ready to go home," Ulrich says, with an obvious hint of mental and physical exhaustion in his voice.
Yumi walks over to him and wraps her arms around his shoulder from behind him, then kisses his cheek. "Me, too. Jeremie, I think we're ready," she agrees and leans her head against his.
"Wait, what about Atilea? We can't leave her here. When X.A.N.A. wakes up, he'll probably attack her again," Aelita pipes up.
"Jeremie, do you think you can materialize her too?" Yumi asks. Jeremie ponders her question for a moment. "Well, I believe so. I have analyzed her digital DNA enough to send her there, I suppose I could use it again to bring her back," he replies. "Ok, then, let's all go home!" Yumi says and smiles at an obviously relieved Atilea.
Once back in the control room with Jeremie, Aelita nearly tackles him to the ground as she gives him a massive hug and kiss. "Wow, you really missed me that much?" he asks her as he braces himself against the computer chair. She gives him a gleeful giggle and replies, "Of course! Why wouldn't I?"
Yumi and Ulrich, with arms wrapped around each other, interchange experiences, when the team split up after X.A.N.A. activated the tower, with Odd. "So, how much resistance did you guys have going to the tower?" Ulrich asks. "Well, let me tell you, five Krabs and three Mega-tanks is a walk in the park compared to what we've been through here lately!" Odd replies chuckling. Yumi leans her head against Ulrich's and a few strands falls into his mouth, causing him to instinctively spit them out. "Aak! Yumi!" he sputters as she leans up, laughing at him.
"You know Yumi, I love you and your soft hair and the way your hair smells, but I don't love it enough to eat it!" he states jokingly as he pulls a lone strand off his tongue. "It may smell like green apple but it certainly doesn't taste like it!" Yumi laughs and brushes her hair behind her ears with her fingers. "Sorry, Babe! I didn't mean to get it in your mouth!" she apologizes and then nuzzles his neck with her nose and lips. He tries to hold back a giggle to prevent Yumi from realizing she just found a tickle spot on him. Then, Yumi's cell phone rings and she leans up to answer it.
Odd cautiously walks over to Atilea, who has been standing a little bit away from the rest of the group. She sees him coming towards her and tenses up noticeably. He gives her a nervous smile and says, "Relax. I just came over to ask about how Dod was finally beaten." She smiles and relaxes a bit, then begins to retell what she did.
After Atilea finishes, Odd sighs and feels a bit of weight lift off his shoulders. "Thanks, Atilea. I guess you really do mean what you said about helping us fight X.A.N.A."
Atilea smiles at him and replies, "You're welcome, Odd. I hope someday that I will be able to fully enjoy this world like you do."
Odd chuckles. "Well, not all of it is enjoyable. Just wait until you meet Jim and Sissi for real!" he jokes and the two share a laugh together.
"Oh! I gotta make a phone call!" Odd exclaims and pulls out his phone. He turns and walks away as he dials the phone.
Yumi hangs up her phone and gives Ulrich a big grin. "Who was that?" he asks. Yumi gives him a slightly aroused smile and replies, "That was my parents. They are stuck at their hotel for another night!" Ulrich blinks in mild amazement. "Wow. What happened?"
"Well, apparently the new shipment of jet fuel the airport received was tainted. So, all the flights have been grounded for about twenty hours until another shipment comes in!" she replies. "So, I get the house to myself for another night! We should all get together and watch a movie!" Yumi kisses her boyfriend excitedly and squeezes him.
"Sounds like a great idea, Yumi!" agrees Aelita and turns to look at Jeremie who has started to object. He sees her give him a puppy-dog look and caves in. "Uh, sure, why not? After a day like today, I guess we could use a bit of relaxation," he states rubbing his neck. Aelita giggles excitedly and hugs him tightly.
"Odd? What about you?" Ulrich asks. Odd glances up at him, still on the phone with Sam and holds up a finger. "Ok, Sam! Bye!" he says before hanging up. "Well?" Ulrich asks. Odd shrugs and replies, "Um, well, I promised that I would help Sam with a new music video tonight. Maybe next time."
"Are you sure? You can bring her with you if you want," Yumi says. Odd reluctantly shakes his head "no." "Sorry, I promised to help her and this new video has a long ways to go before it is done. She's been anxious to get it done."
"Oh, ok. I'm sure the two of you will get a lot of work done tonight, alone together, un-chaperoned!" Yumi teases and Odd blushes. "No! It's not gong to be like that! I mean, yeah we're going to work on it together alone, but we're not gong to do anything else! I would never do anything to her, without her permission first!"
The room fills with chuckling and Ulrich replies, "We know that, Odd. We're just giving you a hard time like you give us." Odd presses his lips together and says, "I know. I guess I'm just a little to protective of her, especially after what nearly happened to…" Odd cuts off his sentence and the room grows quiet.
"We understand Odd. And the invitation is going to be open all night if the two of you decide to come later on, ok?" Yumi says sympathetically. Odd smiles slightly at her and nods.
"Well, it can't be all night, Dear. Tomorrow's a school day and you know how Jim gets," Ulrich points out.
Yumi gets a pout-y look on her face and asks, "Why did you have to bring that up?" "Sorry," he says apologetically.
"Speaking of which, what are we…. um, where is Atilea going to stay? She can't exactly go to the dorms or stay here," Jeremie notes. Yumi turns and ponders the situation. "Well, she can stay at my house tonight, until my parents get home." Atilea thinks for a moment, then comes up with an idea. "What about the Hermitage? I could stay there when Yumi's parents arrive. Besides, Ulrich said you guys wanted to try and clean up the place. I could start doing that, if you wanted, you know, as sort of a rent fee type deal."
Aelita ponders her idea for a moment, then nods. "I don't have a problem with that. After all, my dad left it to me and I can do whatever I choose to do with it." "Technically, your dad did leave it for you, but you don't really take true ownership until you graduate from Kadic…" Jeremie starts but is interrupted by Aelita jamming an elbow into his stomach. "Hey! What was that for?" he asks innocently. She frowns at him and he obediently shuts up.
"You can stay in the Hermitage, Atilea, just be careful. There's a lot of fragile things in there," Aelita says turning to Atilea. Atilea smiles and nods understandingly. "Yeah, and especially watch out for those extremely dangerous termites!" Ulrich jokes. Atilea shoots him an embarrassed and angry glance. "That's not funny! Bugs are gross!" "Yeah! Leave my little sister alone, Ulrich! Or I'll get Yumi to tell us why you got embarrassed earlier today!" threatens Aelita playfully. Ulrich clams up instantly and blushes. He had almost forgotten about that.
"Hey, guys, I'll catch you later! I'm heading over to Sam's place!" Odd says and heads toward the elevator, but then stops. "Hey, is the elevator fixed yet?"
Jeremie shrugs. "I don't know. Try it and see."
The door opens obediently after Odd presses the door button. He smiles and steps in. The group sees him pull his phone out again and begin to dial it as the doors close.
Jeremie slides out of Aelita's hug gently and seats himself back in the computer chair. "Let me finish this before we go." Aelita gives him a skeptical look. "Define 'this' and give me a timeframe until it's done," she says in mild authority. He glances at her as strained giggles resound from behind her. "This, being my plan, and a timeframe is in a couple of minutes. Is that ok?" Aelita glances at the screen and finally nods.
"So what was your plan, Jeremie?" Ulrich asks. Jeremie finishes the line of code and glances at him quickly. "I managed to trick the computer into thinking that the scanners are in a security lock-down mode due to a sudden drop in power. No one in or out of Lyoko. Not even a manual override, except, of course, me!" Atilea walks over and says confusedly, "Wait, the scanners don't have a security lock-down mode…" Jeremie turns and gives her a devious smile. "True, but the computer doesn't know that!" he replies and finishes the program. "There. All done. We can go now."
The group reaches the sewer exit in the forest and climbs out into the afternoon sun. Ulrich takes Yumi's hand and helps her out of the manhole. Then, Jeremie climbs out and assists Aelita in the same manner. Atilea climbs out and waves Ulrich's offer to help off. He shrugs and watches her climb out by herself.
"She needs some new clothes. Those aren't going to last long," he says to Yumi. Yumi nods and replies, "Yeah, I'll see what I can find in my closet." Atilea glances down at her clothes curiously. "Um, ok. I guess these aren't exactly inconspicuous. And they are kinda flimsy," she states indicating a small rip in her skirt tail. "Tough as nails on Lyoko, but weak as a dried leaf here." The group chuckles and begins walking down the path toward town.
"So, what do you guys want to watch tonight?" Yumi asks.
"How about The Sixth Day with Arnold Schwarzenegger?" Ulrich suggests.
Aelita and Jeremie start laughing and Atilea looks at him inquisitively. Yumi ponders his suggestion and slowly nods. "I guess that's kinda appropriate, considering what we've just been through," she answers.
"What's it about?" asks Atilea.
Ulrich gives her a sly smile. "You'll just have to wait and find out!" he answers her and the rest of the group laughs again, leaving her confused and slightly worried. Aelita slides her free arm around her sister and hugs her reassuringly. "Don't worry, it's a good movie! You'll like it," she says.
"Yes, despite it not being exactly scientifically accurate…." Jeremie starts but stops when Aelita pinches his ribs. "Ow! Hey! What was that for?"
"Being too scientific," Aelita replies blandly. "There is a time and place for that, but now isn't the time."
Jeremie gives her a playful hurt look and kisses her. She giggles and squeezes him gently with the arm that is around his waist.
Then, the group continues on towards town, enjoying a well earned victory.
One that won't last long….