Disclaimer: Code Lyoko is copyright material of someone else other than me…
Ok, here's the next chapter. I found this chapter hard to write, not because of some crazy plot twist, though there is one major twist, but because I found it a bit hard to really advance the plot without writing at least twenty-five pages. However, I did manage to do that, even though, I'd like to have gotten farther. Anyways, action-y and minor-ly romantic. With a twist.
Rarely do I laugh at a joke I put in one of my stories (usually I leave that to my readers), but the crack that was made about Jim's cologne makes me laugh every time read over it! Also, the "oh, snap…" Hilarious!
Poor Odd, so neglected…
Code: Lyoko
Mirror, Mirror
Part VIII: Training and Trial
Dod grits his teeth and extends his claws. He leaps up off the rock he was perched on and lands on top of the Krab. He jams his claws down into the Eye on the back of the Krab and leaps off it's back just before it staggers around and explodes. Dod lands gracefully and retracts his claws.
H'cirlu sighs with boredom at him and frowns. "You do realize that wasn't what Master X.A.N.A. told you to do," he says. Dod stands and eyes him defiantly. "I don't need you to remind me of what Master X.A.N.A.'s told me! Mind your own business!" Dod retorts gruffly. Imuy glances up from her tessen fan and frowns. "Gee, someone got up on the wrong side of his pod," she says and crosses her arms.
Dod snorts at her but doesn't reply. Then, another Krab virtualizes in front of Dod.
Dod, pay attention to me and do what I say. I want you to develop your absorption technique. I do not want to have to tell you again.
Dod averts his angry gaze from Imuy to the new Krab before him. The Krab begins to charge a laser blast and Dod extends his hands towards the Krab. "Absorption!" he shouts and a red aura forms around him. The Krab fires and the laser blast hits the aura, instantly absorbing into Dod's body. He feels the new energy begin to flow through his body and he smiles confidently.
The red aura begins to fade from around him and Imuy receives an order from her Master. She opens her fan and holds it across her body. The fan begins to glow with power and she gives Dod a devious grin when she sees that he hasn't seen her yet. "Energy wave!" she yells suddenly and swings the fan in front of her. A white wave of energy instantly flies outward from the path she swung the fan and it streaks towards Dod.
He turns to see the energy wave heading straight for him. He grows wide-eyed and yells instinctively, "Absorption!" The red aura begins to return just as the wave hits him, knocking him over. Dod groans as he sits up, rubbing his chest.
That was better. Your reaction time has improved, but you still need to work on getting the absorption aura around you faster.
Dod stands and grunts disapprovingly. "Why is it always me that needs to work on something?" he whines quietly. "Why not them?"
Because they have already became fluent with their new techniques. You have not. I do not want to hear you complain or whine about anything again, understood?
Dod presses his lips together and replies, "Yes, Master. I understand."
Now, this time I want you to absorb the energy from both Imuy and the Krab. Both will attack you at their leisure. Focus on keeping the aura around you longer so you do not have to keep calling it up over and over again.
Dod nods and watches Imuy pull out her second fan. She opens it and begins to walk around him slowly, looking for any weakness in Dod's technique. The Krab lumbers toward him carefully as Dod shifts his stance so he can watch both of his opponents simultaneously. "Bring it…." he taunts in a deep, confident voice.
An evil twinkle flashes in Imuy's eye as she smirks at the size of Dod's ego. She unleashes two Energy Waves at him as the Krab fires several times. He stretches his arms out to the side and shouts "Absorption!" mere seconds before the energy attacks hits him. He feels the absorbed energy course through his body and an evil smile forms on his face as he glances between the Krab and Imuy.
"Is that all you got?" Dod taunts and Imuy snorts in defiance. "You think you can handle what I got?" she retorts sharply. "Keep the innuendo to a minimum, Imuy! It doesn't distract me like it does H'cirlu!" Dod returns without missing a beat. H'cirlu raises an eyebrow and frowns. Imuy rolls her eyes at Dod and replies, "Oh, please. I'd never be desperate enough to hit on you! I just don't think you can take all that you say or think you can take!" Dod snorts gruffly at her and begins to focus on keeping his absorbent aura around him. "I mean, you're already straining to keep that aura around you! All I have to do is wait until you are unable to keep it up any longer, then I'll strike!" she continues, slashing her fan menacingly through the air.
Imuy, that is not the plan. Do what you are told.
Imuy gets a guilty look on her face then nods obediently. "Triple Energy Fans!" she yells and a total of six fans streak towards Dod. The Krab fires and hits him in the back as he tries to dodge the two real fans. He manages to dodge only one of the real fans and catches the other. Then, Dod braces himself as the remaining four fans close in.
The first one slams into him and he manages to stay standing. The second finds it's mark and Dod has to take a step backward to keep from falling over. The third lands squarely in his gut and he doubles over briefly. Then, his aura gives out and Dod grows wide-eyed as he sees the fourth homes in. "BARRIER!" Dod yells and an energy bubble envelops him. The last energy fan slams into the barrier and Dod exhales heavily with relief. He lets his barrier fade away and begins to breath heavily while watching Imuy and the Krab carefully. Imuy smiles and giggles deviously as she begins to charge her remaining fan. Dod glances at the fan in his hand then tosses it at the Krab, nailing it directly in the Eye on it's back. Imuy psychokinetically brings the fan back to her as the Krab explodes. Dod inhales deeply and forces his breathing to slow back to normal. "Let's go again!" he says, adopting a fighting stance.
Lunchtime at Kadic. Atilea smiles happily as she sees all her friends, including Odd's friend Sam, walking up the path towards the Hermitage. She hops up from the porch steps and runs to meet them, giving her sister a hug. "Hi! Glad to see all of you came today!" Atilea says cheerfully. Sam gives the house and her a curious look and nudges Yumi's shoulder. "I thought you said she was staying at a hotel.," she says.
"Um," Yumi starts. "My flight was cancelled and the next one going out is in a couple of days. Aelita was nice enough to put me up in her, uh, house since I didn't have the money to stay in the hotel another night," Atilea interjects quickly, seeing Yumi struggle with an explanation. "Isn't my sister great?" she adds, giving Aelita another hug.
Sam nods slowly but shifts her nod into a confused shake. "You people make me question my sanity," she says giving the group a dubious frown. Odd grins big and replies, "Well, if it makes you feel any better, we question our own sanity from time to time!" "Speak for yourself, Odd. Most of us just question your sanity!" jibes Ulrich. Odd gives him a proud smile as snickers come from the rest of the group.
"Hope you guys are hungry… oh wait. I hope everyone else other than Odd is hungry. I have lots of food to go around!" Atilea says. The group starts heading around the corner of the Hermitage to the picnic table and the see a folding table setup with various sandwich stuff and different kinds of chips with three different kinds of cookies for dessert.
"Um, you…got all that for us?" Jeremie asks Atilea, stunned. She smiles happily and replies, "Yep! You guys have been so good to me, it's the least I could do for you!" Ulrich leans close to her and whispers, "May I ask where you got the money for all that?" She turns and gives him a strained smile. "No, you can't. Ask my sister," she whispers back. He leans back, shocked and looks over at Aelita, who blushes slightly when she sees him staring at her. "I didn't steal it, if that's what you're worried about," she whispers and pats his shoulder reassuringly. Atilea then turns to the rest of the group and says, "Well, dig in everyone! Odd, leave more than you take." Odd gives her a stunned look and asks innocently, "What?" Sam elbows him and he gets a pouting look on his face.
"Have a seat. Ulrich, could you give me a hand carrying a couple more chairs out here, please?" Atilea asks nicely, but the look in her eye tells him that she only said that so she can talk to him privately. Ulrich nods and follows her into the Hermitage. Once inside, she turns and gives him a pained and hurt look. "What's the matter?" he whispers to her. "Do you still trust me, Ulrich?" she asks him. Ulrich is taken aback slightly by her question.
"Well, yeah, I'd like to think I still have a reason to. Why?" he asks, getting a nervous look on his face. "Well, when you asked me about the money, I got the feeling you thought I… you know, slipped back into my old self. I would never do anything to jeopardize the things I love… including you--r trust. Aelita gave me a little money yesterday evening so I could go and experience what is was like to shopping for the first time. I went into town this morning and bought lunch for everyone. Then I dropped by Aelita's room and left a note telling her to get everyone together and come here for lunch. I did this all for you!" she says and pauses after her last sentence. "Um, that last sentence didn't come out right… Not just for you, but all of you!"
Ulrich smiles and lays a hand gently on her shoulder. "I believe you. Aelita obviously told us about this or we wouldn't have come here. I didn't mean to sound like I was accusing you of anything. I'm sorry, Atilea," he replies. She smiles quickly and looks away, trying to keep her smile genuine. Ulrich notices that her smile is hiding something else. "There's something else bothering you, isn't there?" he asks. She closes her eyes and frowns as she turns away from him. She nods and he hears her try to hold back a sob.
"I've been having….nightmares? Is that what you call it when you have a dream that scares you?" Atilea says looking down at the floor. "Yeah, that's what they're called. You want to talk about it?" he asks caringly. She begins shaking her head quickly. "No, not now. Maybe some other time," Atilea replies and glances over her shoulder at him. Ulrich nods slightly and says, "Ok. Just let me know if you do. Or Aelita or Yumi. Somebody." He gently pats her shoulder comfortingly, and turns to pick up a nearby chair.
"They're still alive, Ulrich," he hears her say. Ulrich turns and looks at her curiously. "What? Who's still alive?" Atilea breathes deeply and replies without turning to face him, "The others. They're still alive on Lyoko." He blinks and gives her a inquisitive look. "How do you know?" he asks quietly. "I don't know. I can just…feel it on the inside of me. They're still there, alive and well, despite what we did to them," she replies and turns around to face him. He takes a step towards her and smiles comfortingly. "Well, if they are and they try anything, we'll face'em together, ok?" he consoles. "It's going to be ok. Promise. Now, come on. The other's are waiting for us. And if we wait too long, Odd's gonna eat all the food!" Atilea smiles as he chuckles. He turns and carries the chair outside. She smiles and wipes her cheeks with her fingers. She didn't know what it was about him, but she always felt better after talking to him. Atilea grabs another chair and carries it outside to the others, smiling warmly at her friends as they begin to laugh and joke amongst themselves. Aelita looks up at her as she carries the chair and waves happily, motioning for her to join them.
Lyoko. Dod leans against a rock and pants heavily as the three H'cirlus smiles in dominance at him. Imuy turns her head and frowns as she sees that Dod has lost the match. "What's the matter, Dod? Not having a good day?" the H'cirlus taunt simultaneously. "You know, I would have had you if you didn't get all scared and split into three people! Seems like that's your only real defense!" Dod retorts. "Oh, please. I just split like this to be merciful and end our match quickly!" snaps the left H'cirlu. "You're fighting style is so lame, it's no wonder you lost to Atilea!"
Imuy frowns and steps between them and states, "Just leave him alone, H'cirlu. He's had a rough day." The H'cirlus rejoin and eyes her in mild shock. "And why do you care?" H'cirlu snorts. "Because I can. Look, I'm tired and I want to get some rest," she replies and waves off his question with a flick of her hand. "You can't be tired! You hardly put out any effort!" H'cirlu exclaims. "Physically, no, I'm not tired, but mentally, yes," Imuy replies glancing at him. "Well, I didn't ask for your sympathy," Dod says to her. "It's not whether you asked or not, it's whether you need it or not," Imuy replies. H'cirlu gets a stunned look on his face and Dod eyes her in mild confusion. "I think your little trip to the real world messed with your head!" Dod says. Imuy snorts and crosses her arms. "Whatever! My head's just fine, thank you very much!" she replies. "Yeah, well, you haven't exactly been yourself ever since you came back. You were really ruthless before you left, but now, you seem more…reserved at times," H'cirlu notes.
Imuy frowns and stares at the ground. "Or are you planning to betray us like that harlot Atilea?" Dod accuses, giving her a disgusted look. She shoots him an angry look and opens her fan. "How dare you question my loyalty! I should kill you where you stand!" Imuy exclaims angrily and raises her fan to throw it at him.
Stop bickering amongst yourselves! You were given life to destroy the humans, not each other.
Imuy and Dod relax in look away from each other and Imuy closes her fan.
No more training for today. Return to your pods. I will awaken you when the time is right for us to strike!
Dod and H'cirlu nod and bow respectfully, then turns to leave. Imuy waits until they are gone before addressing her master.
"Master?"
Yes, my lovely daughter?
"What about Atilea?"
There is a brief pause before an answer comes. Her fate will be the same as that of the humans.
Imuy closes her eyes and tries not to let her feelings change.
I know what is going on in your heart, my daughter, so stop trying to hide it from me. You should not have any feelings of sympathy or concern for Atilea. Remember, she betrayed you, but mostly, she betrayed me. She has brought this fate upon herself.
"What if I, um, could get her back? Would you spare her life?"
Another pause. You can try, but with what I felt in her heart when she returned, I do not believe that she could be converted. But, if you did manage to get her to turn back to me, then, yes, I would spare her life, but she would be denied any further power from me.
Imuy nods and heads toward her pod in the forest sector. Minutes later, she arrives at her pod and stops to run her hand over the outer shell of the pod. "Master, do you…love me?" she almost whispers. Then, a familiar warmth begins to creep over her entire body and causes her to smile.
Of course I do, Imuy. Why do you question me on that matter? Do I not exhibit it enough for you?
She begins to feel a strange, but oddly calming tingling in her abdomen. "Yes, Master, I just wanted to…." She starts but the tingling causes her to almost collapse on top of her pod with a strange emotion that she has not experienced before and can't quite describe.
I know. You wanted to hear it verbally.
"Master, this feeling….it feels…good…"
It represents my love for you, Imuy, my daughter. Now, get into your pod and rest your mind.
The Hermitage, that night. Atilea sits on the porch steps in her pajamas and stares up at the bright full moon hanging in the sky. She smiles and sighs relaxingly. Then a figure approaches the house and she squints to see through the dark to see who it is. Then, Ulrich and Aelita step into the moonlight where she can see them. Atilea smiles and stands to greet them.
"I'm glad you came. I was beginning to think that you couldn't find a way to get here," Atilea says, hugging her sister. Ulrich smiles. "Well, it wasn't easy. Jim's sleeping habits are a bit crazy," he says. "We can't stay too long. I'm not sure how long Odd and Jeremie can cover for me." Ulrich then turns to Aelita and comments, "I'm still not sure how you managed to get Sissi to cover for you." Aelita giggles and replies, "Well, you know Sissi. She'll do almost anything for a chance to go and see the SubSonics!"
Ulrich gives her a stunned look. "You had tickets to go see the SubSonics!" She smiles and nods. "Yes, I did. I was going to try and get Jeremie to go with me this weekend, but he has already hinted around that he wants to finish the Second Seal and work on his hydro-electric science project. So, I gave one to Sissi to get her to cover for me. I told her she would get the second after I got back," Aelita replies.
"You certainly drive a hard bargain. Remind me to never make a deal with you!" Ulrich jokes and Aelita giggles. "Yeah, I wonder which side of the family you got that from?" Atilea says. Aelita gives her a curious look. "Oh, wait, I know that already! Odd's side of the family!" Atilea continues and Aelita smiles slowly and gently smacks her sister's arm. "You know we're not really related!" Aelita says. Atilea smiles and replies, "Yes, I know! But you have to admit that some of Odd's quirkiness has rubbed off on you!"
"Maybe…" Aelita says giving her a playful pouting look. Atilea giggles and the three walk inside, then she turns to her sister. "Hey, um, Sis? Can I talk to him alone, please?" she asks, trying to cover up her nervousness. Aelita raises an eyebrow and glances at Ulrich. He shrugs slightly, not knowing how to respond. "Don't worry. I'm not going to try and kill him. I don't think I could handle having Yumi's wrath poured out on me!" she mildly jokes. "Something tells me that her wrath would be a hundred times more than what yours was, Sis!"
"I don't think it would be a very good idea, Atilea, especially in your pajamas. If someone who didn't know you like we do saw the two of you alone, they might think that the two of you are…" Aelita says and Atilea realizes what she is implying and gasps. "Oh, no! I would NEVER try and…and…you know! I'd rather die than do that, especially since he and Yumi are together! That'd be worse than killing him! Believe me, that is the last thing on my mind!" Atilea exclaims and steps back, holding her hands up defensively. "Um, no offense, Ulrich." He presses his lips together and blushes. "None taken…" he replies softly, shoving his hands into his pockets.
Atilea frowns at herself and sits down on a chair, looking remorseful. Aelita sits down next to her and wraps an arm around her. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to…" Atilea starts. "It's ok. You didn't know. But there are some things that are considered a social no-no. Like being with someone else's boyfriend, alone and in your pajamas. That's why Ulrich asked me to come along. He didn't want people to get the wrong idea," Aelita explains caringly. Atilea nods and leans her head against her sister's head gently.
Ulrich sighs and looks around the room for a place to sit. He finds a chair that was used for the picnic and drags it closer to them. He sits down and Aelita scoots away from her sister as Atilea grabs a nearby cushion and holds it close to her chest.
"Um, now that we've gotten that out of the way, you wanted to talk about your dream?" Ulrich asks, trying to break the sudden tension in the room. Atilea blinks and nods as she grips the cushion tightly. "Yes, I did. It's actually kinda long, but I'll try to give you the short version," she replies.
After she tells them her dream, the trio sits in silence, absorbing the information and possible meaning of it. "I'm scared…" Atilea says and beings to tremble. "What if I do betray you? What if I let you all die? What if I am the one responsible for your deaths?" she asks with a scared look on her face.
After a brief pause, Ulrich breaks the silence. "Do you think you are capable of doing that?" he asks. Atilea looks up at him. "Yes…" she whispers. Her voice then raises in volume before she continues. "After all, I was originally created to destroy you."
"But, you've changed your heart. Doesn't that mean anything?" Ulrich asks.
"Yes, but I still have that link to X.A.N.A. He could take me over and then…."
"Jeremie has been working on that," Aelita interjects.
Atilea turns to look at her. "He…has?"
"Yes, he has. Besides, after what X.A.N.A. did to you when he realized you turned on him, I don't think he'll try to take you over. It looked more like he wanted to kill you," Aelita replies.
"Also, you have to remember, whatever X.A.N.A. does, whatever he throws at you, or whatever he tries to do to you, you aren't facing it alone. All five, er, six of us are one big team. We help each other out when we need it. Just ask anybody in the team. Better yet, ask Aelita. She knows that fact better than any of us because, well, she was once fighting X.A.N.A. alone. But then we came along and helped her out," Ulrich says comfortingly.
Atilea ponders their statements and feels her fear begin to subside. "Is it wrong to doubt yourself?" she asks finally. "No. Once or twice is ok, but it's bad when you do it almost constantly," Ulrich replies. "You should always strive to be confident in all that you do," Aelita chimes in. "And I'm saying that not just to you, but to myself." Aelita glances up at Ulrich and continues, "You see, I'm taking martial arts lessons from Ulrich and I'm finding that it's a lot of work. I have to make sure that I at least look confident in what I'm doing. Of course, Ulrich is a great teacher and encourages me a lot." Ulrich smiles and says, "Yeah, and sometimes I have to 'encourage' you in ways that isn't verbal." Aelita's smile disappears and a look of school-child guilt forms on her face. "Like when I see that you're slacking off!" he finishes with an 'I found you out' look on his face. "Let's not go there, shall we?" Aelita asks, slightly embarrassed.
Ulrich raises an eyebrow. "Oh, yes, let's! You see, Aelita works the hardest and is the most confident when she's mad because I kick her literally in the rear to get her to move!" he says giving Aelita a hard stare. Atilea turns her head and looks at a blushing and pouting Aelita. She giggles and Aelita smacks her with another cushion. "Hey!" Atilea squeaks as she begins to laugh harder. "It wasn't the kick to the rear that bothered me, it was the fact that you did it while Jeremie was watching me!" Aelita protests to Ulrich and brandishes her cushion at him. "He teased me the rest of the day about that!"
Ulrich laughs and scoots his chair away from her as she tries to hit him with the cushion in playful frustration. She then throws it at him but he catches it easily and returns it almost instantly, hitting her in the chest. Aelita gives him a stunned look and Atilea bursts out laughing. Aelita turns to her and looks at her in playful annoyance. "What are you laughing at?" she asks and whacks Atilea with the cushion. "That's not nice!" Atilea replies as she bops Aelita with her cushion. Aelita tries to hit Atilea again but their cushions collide midair.
Ulrich leans back in his chair and smiles as he watches the two sisters pelt each other with the cushions. "All I need is some popcorn and a large drink, then I'll be set! This is the best show ever!" he says and the two pause in mid-swing. They turn and look at him with deviousness in their eyes. "Enjoying yourself?" Aelita asks and raises an eyebrow. Ulrich's eyebrows shoot up and smiles innocently. "Didn't we tell you that it's audience participation night?" Atilea asks and flings her cushion at him, hitting him squarely in the face. He topples over backwards and hits the floor with a loud thud.
The two girls leap up and rush to his side, trying not to laugh. "Are you ok?" Atilea asks as she kneels down next to him. Ulrich blinks and lets out a grunt. "I thought you were going to catch it!" she exclaims, trying to hold back a laugh. "Ow! I didn't think you'd hit me!" he replies and rolls over onto his side. Atilea gives him a shocked look. "What's that supposed to mean? You don't think I can hit my target?" she asks, raising her eyebrows. Ulrich rubs the back of his head and chuckles. "In the face. I didn't think you'd hit me in the face!" he states turning his head toward her.
"Aww, playing a little too rough, are we?" Atilea asks mockingly. He starts to reply, but she bops him again in the face with the cushion. He instinctively turns his head to the floor and hears her giggle. "You're a mean girl, you know that?" he states, holding up his hand to protect the side of his head. Atilea smiles and bonks him on the top of his head with the cushion and replies, "Thank you!"
"This isn't fair! I'm unarmed!" Ulrich protests but is met with a cushion from his other side, dealt by a giggling Aelita. "Well, from what I can see, you still have two arms attached to your body!" jokes Atilea and laughs. Ulrich presses his lips together as another cushion collides with his head. "That's not what I meant…" he says. Atilea giggles and replies, "I know, but it's so fun messing with you! I learned that from watching Yumi!"
Ulrich blinks as this revelation sinks in. "Oh, really?" he asks getting a determined look on is face. He snatches the cushion from Atilea's hands and bops her in the head, catching her by surprise and she rolls onto her side. Aelita squeaks and holds her cushion in front of her face to protect herself, but he reaches over the top of it and conks her on the top of the head. She lifts it to the top of her head and he bops her lightly in the face. She falls gently backwards, laughing as he turns to see Atilea grab the final cushion and swing it at him. He blocks it and hits her ribs, causing her to drop her arms to protect them. Ulrich takes advantage of this and smacks her in the head twice, sending her to the floor on her back. Atilea laughs as he stands and gently puts his foot on her stomach. She curls up and tries to shove his foot off her, but her laughing hinders her coordination and her hands just slip off his foot.
"Ha! Victory!" Ulrich exclaims and smiles proudly down at her. Atilea forces herself to stop laughing long enough to see him drop his cushion on her face. She knocks it away and glares in playful anger up at him. "Aelita! Help!" she calls but sees that her sister is too incapacitated with laughter to do anything. "You're useless when you laugh," she says to Aelita and looks up at Ulrich with a cute, begging look on her face. "Can I get up now?" she asks sweetly.
"Not unless you promise not to hit me in the face with a cushion."
Atilea gives him a pouting look and reluctantly agrees. He lifts his foot and she rolls out from under it. Ulrich turns to see Aelita wiping the laughter tears from her eyes. "We'd better get back, Aelita. If Jim catches us, he and the principal will have our heads!" he says. Aelita takes a deep breath to force herself to stop laughing. Atilea crawls over to her and helps him stand her up.
After straightening the cushions and chairs, Ulrich and Aelita say good bye to Atilea and head towards the door when Ulrich cell phone buzzes in his pocket. Then, Aelita's phone rings and Atilea gets an ashen look on her face. Ulrich answers his phone and steps outside onto the porch.
"Hello?"
"Ulrich, we've got trouble. X.A.N.A.'s awake and has activated a tower! Jeremie and Odd are heading towards the factory now!" comes Yumi's frantic voice.
"Ok, I'm on my way. See you there!" he answers and hangs up the phone, cursing X.A.N.A.'s bad timing.
Aelita and Atilea join him outside and he can tell that they knew already what was happening. "Are you two ready?" he asks and Aelita nods solemnly. Atilea perks up and runs back into the Hermitage. "Wait a sec! Let me get my shoes!" they hear her say as she reaches the stairs. She returns a minute later and the three heads around the house to the cellar door.
Jeremie slides into the computer chair and puts on the headset. Odd watches the screen expectantly as Jeremie begins checking to see if his little ruse was broken. Then, Yumi exits the elevator and walks over to them as Jeremie smiles, relieved the fake security he setup is still intact. "Well, what's happening?" she asks and glances at the computer screens. Jeremie shakes his head and shrugs. "I don't know, but we'll wait for Ulrich and Aelita to get here before you head to Lyoko," he replies and starts to type in the commands to run a scan. Then a voice crackles in the headset, startling him.
"Attention, humans! I demand to speak to the one called Jeremie!" crackles a voice similar to Odd's.
Odd notices that Jeremie freezes and gets a scared look on his face. Jeremie swallows nervously and answers, "I am Jeremie. Wh—what do you want?"
"Is all of your human friends there with you?"
"Hold on, let me put you on the loud speaker…." Jeremie states and presses a couple of buttons. "Ok, there. Now, why do you want to know if everyone is here?"
There is an annoyed grunt and the voice continues. "Because I want for all of you to hear what I have to say! Now, tell me, are they all there or not?"
Then, a sarcastic female voice echoes from the background. "Ooh, such people skills!"
"Shut up! I'm the one talking to them and I'll talk to them any way I choose!" barks the male voice.
Jeremie blinks in confusion and looks at the monitor in disbelief. "Um, if you are through arguing…." He says.
"Huh? Oh, yeah, what is it?" comes the slightly distracted reply.
"Not all of us are here. We're waiting on a few others to arrive," Jeremie answers.
"You know, this would be funny if I didn't know that it was our evil twins on the other end," Odd quips and crosses his arms.
"Oh, yeah? Well, you wouldn't know humor if it reached up and bit you in the face, Odd!" retorts Dod.
"Oh, yeah, that's telling'em! Real threatening!" jibes H'cirlu in the background.
"Please tell me we weren't that argumentative and incompetent when we first got together," Odd says shaking his head.
"No, but your wacky sense of humor was hard to get used to," replies Yumi.
"Hey! We can hear you, you know!" snaps Dod.
"Look, just open a communications channel when the others get there! Then, we'll discuss what, um, we need to discuss…" Imuy states, faltering on her words, realizing she began to make no sense.
"Such an eloquent speaker! Can you teach me how to give a speech like that?" asks Dod sarcastically.
"Um, sure…" Jeremie replies and closes the channel. "That has to qualify as one of the weirdest conversations I've ever had."
Then, the elevator doors open and Ulrich, Aelita, and Atilea step out into the room. "We got here as soon as we could! What did we miss?" he asks quickly. Jeremie, Yumi, and Odd turn to look at them and Jeremie starts to reply but then stops upon seeing Atilea's garb.
"What?" Ulrich asks, not realizing what Jeremie is staring at. Yumi raises an eyebrow and glances over at Ulrich. Odd covers his face and turns away, knowing that it could get ugly. "Would somebody please say something?" Ulrich asks, getting a little worried and impatient.
"Why do you have a red mark on your forehead?" Yumi asks bluntly. Ulrich gives her a confused look and then he realizes what she is asking about. "Oh, yeah. That's what happens when someone hits you in the face with a cushion," he replies and frowns, slightly embarrassed. Yumi gives him a dubious look and he notices she is glancing between him and Atilea. Aelita steps towards Jeremie and smiles. "Why did you get hit with a cushion?" Yumi asks Ulrich as he walks towards her and she places her hands on her hips. He pauses and replies, "Because I didn't catch it." Yumi frowns at his answer. "Stop being cryptic. Just tell me!" she says almost demandingly. He sighs and answers, "Because Atilea threw it at me."
Atilea's eyes widen and she gets an 'innocent by-stander' look on her face as Yumi looks over at her. "And why did she have to throw a cushion at you?" Yumi asks with a slight hint of accusation in her voice. "Because she's mean! I wasn't doing anything!" he replies defensively. Atilea gets a shocked look on her face and exclaims, "Oh, whatever! You deserved it, Ulrich!" He turns and gives her an equally shocked look. "Oh, no I didn't! I was just sitting there innocently! You can ask Aelita! It was you who started it by throwing the cushion at me first!" Ulrich exclaims. Aelita turns a shade of red as she sees Jeremie give her a questionable look.
"Well, he is right. You did start it," Aelita replies and gives her a strained smile. Atilea gives her a hurt look. "Whose side are you on, Sis? And for your information, it was actually YOU who started it!" Atilea exclaims. Odd cringes and shudders as a bad mental image runs through his head. Yumi gets wide-eyed and bites her lower lip. "Please tell me that there is a simple, rational explanation because the ones I have are bad and scary! Especially the way Atilea is dressed!" Yumi states, glancing at the three. Atilea gets a confused look on her face and glances down a herself, then realizes she is still in her pajamas. She blushes a bright red and crosses her arms in front of her.
Ulrich sighs and replies, "A pillow fight. We had a pillow fight, except with cushions. Aelita started it by hitting Atilea first, but I ended it after Atilea hit me in the face. Nothing bad happened. Promise." Yumi relaxes a bit and tries to decide if he's telling the truth.
Odd turns and glances at them. "A pillow fight? You didn't tell me you were going to have a pillow fight!" he says. "I didn't plan on having a pillow fight, er, cushion fight, rather. It just sorta happened," Ulrich replies, shrugging.
Jeremie sighs and rubs his eyes. "Hey, we have a more pressing matter to deal with. Save your chitty-chat for later," he says sternly, catching everyone's attention. "The twins wanted me to contact them when everyone got here. I would appreciate it if you weren't goofing off when I call them." And with that, he turns to the keyboard and begins typing.
"It must be serious if Jeremie isn't having any fun playing on that computer," Atilea whispers to herself. Jeremie taps the final key and clears his throat quietly.
"Imuy, are you there?" Jeremie asks.
"Yes, I'm here. I assume everyone is there now?" comes her reply.
There is a sound in the background behind Imuy that sounds like someone throwing a fit but Jeremie answers, "Yes, we are. Now, what do you want?"
"Well, first of all, it may surprise you that, at this particular moment in time, we don't want to take over the real world."
Jeremie snorts in disbelief. "I find that hard to believe," he says.
"And that is your right. However, it still doesn't change the fact that we've temporarily put that on hold," Imuy replies, followed by an angry shout in the background. Then, Dod's voice echoes from some indeterminate distance away from her. "Imuy, that is MY job! Let go of me, H'cirlu!" he yells.
"Fine. Say that I believe you. What do you want?" Jeremie inquires.
"Not much. We have to deal with a matter of internal security," Imuy replies.
"Oh? Am I right to assume that Dod is not the subject of the inquiry?" Jeremie asks putting his hands together thoughtfully.
"Correct. If Dod were, rest assured that we would not be contacting you."
"May I ask as to what this security matter concerns?"
"Only that it is a matter of high treason by a certain former member of our party."
Atilea gasps as she realizes they are talking about her. Aelita looks up to she her back away from the group to the wall and begin to tremble. Jeremie gets a concerned look on his face.
"We require that Atilea be extradited to Lyoko to stand trial for her crimes," Imuy continues firmly.
Atilea begins to shake her head "no" wildly and Aelita walks over to her, wrapping her arms around Atilea comfortingly.
"You know, I really don't think that she'll get a fair trial if we turn her over to you," Jeremie replies.
"Humph. Don't be hasty. We are willing to offer you a three week reprieve from attack, a cease fire, if you will, if you turn her over to us."
Jeremie stares at the screen, appalled. "Three weeks! That's it? You are offering us three weeks of peace if we turn over Atilea to you?" he exclaims.
"Yes," Imuy replies simply.
The room grows silent and Atilea buries her head in Aelita's shoulder. Then, Imuy's voice penetrates the silence.
"You have one hour to comply."
Jeremie tries to force his words to come out his mouth, but fails. Ulrich grits his teeth and Yumi looks at a sobbing Atilea. Odd shifts uncomfortably and Aelita mouths to Jeremie, "Don't let them have my sister."
Jeremie finally turns back to the screen. "What if we decline your offer?"
"That's not an offer, Jeremie!" Ulrich blurts out angrily. "It's signing her death certificate!"
"Call it what you want, Ulrich, but know this, if you decline our generous offer or you let the allotted time expire, then Atilea and all that harbor her will be executed on sight if they set foot on Lyoko!" Imuy snaps back.
"So that's why you wanted us all here for this. You didn't want to leave anyone out from under the deal," Jeremie states.
"That is correct, Jeremie. No wonder they call you 'Einstein'."
"Well, I hate to spoil your fun, but you can't really hang death over our heads! We have faced death so many times, it isn't funny! Besides, that's not what I call a 'generous' deal!" Odd suddenly exclaims.
"Yeah! Three weeks is nothing! You'd have to give us three thousand YEARS before we even consider letting the thought of turning her over to you enter our minds!" Jeremie states sternly.
"Humph. Normally, I would consider that your final answer, but I'm going to give you a chance to think it over. The deal is as stands. No grace period, no compromises. Take it or leave it," Imuy states blandly. "I will contact you in one hour from now." And with that, Imuy terminates the connection before anyone has a chance to say anything.
Jeremie stares at the screen in a stunned silence as Aelita looks up at him with a look of desperation. Ulrich feels Yumi wrap her arms around him and feels her squeeze him. Odd watches Atilea and Aelita as they hold each other, seeing that they genuinely care for each other. Then, there is a long, silent, and tense pause before anyone dares to speak.
"We are not turning her over to them. There is nothing to discuss, or consider, or even give thought to. They will kill her the minute their so-called trial is over, if they even have one. I do not want have the knowledge that I sent someone to their death just for a measly three weeks of peace on my conscious," Ulrich states firmly.
"None of us wants that on our conscious, Ulrich. And we are not going to give Atilea to them. Instead, for the next hour, I suggest we get a plan together on what our next move is going to be," says Jeremie, turning to look at his friend.
"Yeah, I agree with Jeremie," Odd says. "I guess she's kinda grown on me. I couldn't just turn her over."
Atilea raises her head off Aelita's shoulder and looks at him in mild shock. "Really?" she asks meekly. He smiles slightly at her and nods. She lets go of her sister, walks over to him, and gives him a hug that takes him slightly aback. "You don't know how much that means to me to hear you say that!" Atilea whispers to him. Odd stammers, trying to reply, but only strange noises escape his lips. Atilea releases him and gives him a warm smile then walks back over to Aelita. Odd stands there, paralyzed slightly from the sudden the hug.
Jeremie hops out the chair and joins the rest. "Ok, does anybody have any ideas on what to do next?" he asks as Aelita slides over to him and wraps her arm around his waist, giving him a gentle hug.
One hour later.
Jeremie frowns and crosses his arms. "You know, there is still a billion things that could go wrong with this," he says but the determined look on all of his friend's faces tells him that they have made up their minds. "Stop being so pessimistic, Jeremie. That's Ulrich's job!" Odd jokes and receives a frown from Ulrich. Jeremie sighs and drops his arms. "Fine. I concede, but I still…" he starts but Aelita steps up to him and places a finger gently on his lips. "We know, Sweetheart, and we do value your opinion. It's just that you've been telling us your opinion over and over and over. I love you, but sometimes you can be so unnecessarily redundant," she says, half-smiling at him. He gives her a sigh of defeat and slides an arm around her waist. She removes her finger from his lips and replaces it with a kiss.
Atilea half-smiles at them and then turns to look at Yumi and Ulrich, who are also hugging each other. She then glances at Odd and then down to the floor. "The hour is almost up. Imuy should be calling anytime now," Atilea states with a bit of nervousness. The two couples separate and turn to look at her as she stands from her seat on the floor. "Are you sure about this?" Yumi asks as she and Ulrich stand also. Atilea sighs and presses her lips together. "No, I'm not, but that doesn't mean I won't give it a try. Now, I want to reiterate the fact that X.A.N.A. has most likely infused them with the last bit of power to allow them to be completely self-sufficient, which also means that they are more dangerous," she replies, sliding her feet back into her flip-flops.
"Don't worry. We know that you'll give one hundred and ten percent, Sis!" encourages Aelita smiling at her. "That sounds so funky!" Odd states. Everyone turns to look at him curiously. "What does?" asks Ulrich. "Um, well, Aelita and Atilea calling each other 'sis' and 'sister' and so on. I just can't seem to get used to it," Odd replies, giving them a slight uncomfortable frown. "It's still a bit strange to me as well. After all, I've never had a sister before," Aelita says. "Even before I was taken to Lyoko that first time long ago." Atilea blushes and hangs her head humbly. "Thanks, Aelita," she says, smiling.
"Ok, one last time, let's just stick to the plan and hopefully we can pull this off!" Ulrich says and glances around the room. "Everyone remember what they need to do?" Odd stands at attention and salutes him. "Sir, yes, sir!" he exclaims confidently. Everyone else nods as they chuckle at Odd's flamboyant enthusiasm. Ulrich nods with satisfaction and Yumi gives him a kiss on the cheek and a wink. "Ok, Jeremie, let's do this!" Ulrich states and takes Yumi's hand. Jeremie gives him a confused look. "But they haven't called yet…" he states.
Ulrich smiles and nods. "I know. They will be expecting us to wait for their call before making a move. This will throw them off their game plan," he replies. Jeremie nods, partially seeing Ulrich's point of view and takes his seat at the computer. "Alright, I'll start to virtualization process," he says and begins typing on the keyboard rapidly. The rest of the group enters the elevator and Yumi presses the down button. The doors close and Jeremie sees Odd give him a goofy grin and a thumbs up. Jeremie chuckles to himself and continues to work.
Yumi, Odd, and Aelita step into the scanner pods first and the doors close on each of them. "Ok, guys, the twins are in the mountain region. I'm sending you there!" Jeremie's voice echoes from the speakers hidden in the room. As the virtualization process commences, Ulrich and Atilea wait for their turn anxiously. Then, Atilea turns to Ulrich nervously. "Um, Ulrich?" "Yes, Atilea, what is it?" She cautiously steps towards him and replies nervously, "I may not get a chance to do this ever again, but I have to show you how much I really care for you." He turns and looks at her, unsure what she means. "Please, I hope you and Yumi can forgive me for what I'm about to do," she continues and he starts to say something but she steps very close to him and kisses him on the lips. His eyes widen in shock and his body seizes up and stiffens. She finally withdraws and turns away from him instantly as the doors to the scanner pods open. Ulrich stands frozen with shock as Atilea steps into the scanner pod.
"Ok, Ulrich, Atilea, you're up!" echoes Jeremie's voice. She looks up at him and gives him a smile through the tears that have begun to stream down her face. "Hey, Ulrich, what's going on down there? We have a time-table to keep! Get into the scanner!" Jeremie's voice rings. Atilea closes her eyes and hangs her head as Ulrich forces his body to respond. He turns slowly and steps into the scanner. He turns and the doors close on him as he gently touches his lips, still in shock from the kiss.
Yumi peeks nervously around the lip of the cave that she, Odd, and Aelita have taken refuge in. "Where are they?" she asks and feels a hand touch her shoulder gently. "Relax, Yumi. They'll be here," consoles Aelita, softy patting her shoulder. Then, Yumi sees Atilea virtualize out in the open and Ulrich virtualize in behind a large rock. He lands roughly and stands shakily. "Hey, Jeremie, is something wrong? Ulrich just landed kinda badly," Yumi asks. Jeremie scans the screen and shrugs. "No. Everything's fine. I guess he just didn't land right. His life-points are fine, so it probably wasn't anything to worry about," Jeremie replies. "Hey, relax, Yumi. He could have slipped on a rock or something when he landed," Odd says to Yumi. Yumi frowns and replies, "Ulrich doesn't slip on rocks. Something's wrong." "Well, worry about it later. Right now, we have a job to do," Jeremie states firmly. Yumi sighs and nods, knowing that he is right.
Ulrich glances over at Atilea, still shaken from her sudden kiss. Then his ears pick up several footsteps nearing the two of them. He sees Atilea tense up and clinch her fists. Though he cannot see who it is, he knows that it is the twins walking towards her. "Well, well, well. I guess they decided to let you go, huh?" Dod's voice echoes across the terrain. Ulrich's mind finally switches to battle-mode and he silently grips his katana, waiting for the right moment.
"You know, I really expected them to break the deal. Huh. Guess they don't care about you as much as you thought," Dod jibes coldly. Atilea presses her lips together and says nothing, staring blankly back at him. "What's the matter? They cut your tongue out?" he asks, crossing his arms. "Knock it off. Let's just get her to her pod. Master X.A.N.A. will extract any information from her later," Imuy states gruffly. Dod smiles devilishly at Atilea and chuckles. "That might be hard to do, Imuy," he says without turning to look at her. Imuy gives him a curious look. "What's that supposed to mean?" she asks. He chuckles evilly and a demonic grin forms on his lips as he turns to look at her. Imuy returns his strange gaze with a worried one.
"Just tell me one thing, Dod," Atilea says finally. Dod turns his head and shrugs. "I guess. If you make it your last request," he replies. "Fine. Whatever. Tell me how you three survived. We all saw you disintegrate," Atilea states. Dod gazes at her superiorly and replies, "You mean, you don't know?" Atilea crosses her arms and frowns. "If I did, I wouldn't have asked, you moron," she says coldly. Dod raises an eyebrow in shock. Imuy steps past him and answers her question. "All I know is that after I 'died', there was a blackness that surrounded me, then I woke up in my pod. Master X.A.N.A. then explained that he designed us so that in the event that one of us 'died', our bodies would be transferred back to the pods to be revitalized."
Dod grins big and adds, "Thus, we were rebirthed!" H'cirlu groans at his poor choice in words, especially since he used a word that did not exist. "It's 'reborn', you dolt! Get it right! You make yourself sound like an idiot every time you screw up like that!" he chides sternly. Dod frowns and glowers at him out of the corner of his eye. "Yeah, well, you should know by now that he's not bright one of the group, H'cirlu," Atilea retorts. Dod shoots her an angry glance. "Shut up, you traitorous witch!" Atilea snorts and blows off his insult with a twitch of her nose.
Imuy frowns at Dod and continues, "Ignoring Dod's useless commentary, yes, we in a sense get reborn if we die here on Lyoko." Dod suddenly gets a demonic gleam in his eyes and begins chuckling evilly. "Well, all of us, except you, that is!" he says. Imuy, H'cirlu, and Atilea give him a confused look. "And why is that?" Imuy asks. Dod turns and the evil gleam in his eyes causes fear to stab her in the heart.
"Because I took the liberty of destroying her pod!" he states coldly.
Atilea gasps in shock and a look of terror forms on her face. Ulrich grows wide-eyed when the words hit his ears. Imuy gives Dod an appalled look. "Who told you to do that!" she asks, nearly hysterical. A devilish laugh resounds from his throat and gets a prideful look on his face.
"No one. I did it all on my own!" he replies, grinning proudly.
Imuy's mouth drops open and H'cirlu leans up from the rock he was leaning on, equally shocked. "She doesn't deserve to be reborn like us, the Children of X.A.N.A.! She betrayed her own kind and lost her birthright! Now, when she dies here, SHE STAYS DEAD!" Dod exclaims with a wild look in his eyes, then he suddenly calms down before continuing. "But, before she dies, she will know what suffering is! She owes me a lot of pain after what she did to me!" Imuy stands shocked and watches as he turns to a frightened Atilea, raising his right arm and cocking his laser arrow launcher. "I am so gonna enjoy torturing you, Hussy!" Dod says, narrowing his eyes and taking aim at her face. "Charged Laser Arrow!" he yells.
The shot rings out, and Atilea watches helplessly as it streaks towards her, seemingly in slow motion. Her eyes are locked onto the brilliantly glowing ball, unable to take them off the projectile. Suddenly, a brown blur moves between her and the projectile, but the movement is so fast that her eyes barely register it. Then, her mind deciphers the information fed in by her eyes and she realizes what the blur is. "Ulrich…" she whispers to herself, feeling her fears being drained away by his presence and a slight smile creeps across her lips.
Ulrich slashes his katana, connecting with the projectile, and sends it right back where it came from. Dod's eyes finally catch up to Ulrich's movements and sees his shot returning back to him, but at a faster speed than when it left. Dod barely has time to yelp when the shot slams into his chest, full force, sending him flying backwards. Imuy's eyes catch a brown blur rocketing toward her from in front of Atilea and attempts to reach for her fans, but suddenly feels a sharp pain in her hand.
Ulrich glances around after slicing the back of Imuy's hand and notices that everyone appears to moving in slow motion, but his attention is drawn back to Imuy when her cry of pain fills his ears. He spins around and slices her cheek, cutting off her cry. Then he slices down in an "x" pattern on her torso. Imuy stops making noises and a stunned look overtakes her face. Ulrich spins again, kicking her in the side of the head, sending her through the air on a collision course with a massive boulder. H'cirlu flinches when he sees Ulrich leap into the air at him. He manages to pull out a long needle-like shuriken and blocks Ulrich's katana mere centimeters from his face. H'cirlu's eyes widen in shock as Ulrich suddenly drops to the ground. Then, he feels his legs disappear out from underneath him. Again, Ulrich notices that everyone is apparently moving in slow motion and once again takes advantage of it. He slices H'cirlu three times and then leaps into the air, kicking out toward the still airborne H'cirlu. His foot connects with H'cirlu's ribs and he flies through the air.
Atilea's eyes manage to catch up with the blurs and she realizes that H'cirlu's body is flying straight for her. She instantly squats down and covers her head with her hands as H'cirlu's flailing body passes over her head. Then, she hears the thud of Dod's body hitting the ground some distance away, then Imuy's painful grunt as she collides with the boulder, finally hearing H'cirlu skid across the ground for a few seconds.
Yumi sees the dust plume from where H'cirlu struck the ground and exclaims, "There's our cue!" Odd and Aelita nods and follows her out of the cave in full sprint, trying to keep up with her. Yumi opens her fans and tosses at H'cirlu as he tries to sit up. Odd fires several rounds at him also. Aelita hangs back a bit, trying to see if her sister is alright.
Atilea raises her eyes to look at Ulrich and sees him standing where H'cirlu once stood, gritting his teeth and gripping his katana tightly. "Ulrich?" she whispers, but realizes her voice wasn't nearly loud enough for him to hear her. She stands slowly, keeping her eyes on him. She stares at him in total amazement, unsure if what she just witnessed him doing was real or a figment of her imagination. Ulrich relaxes a bit and his eyes move to look at her. He blinks as his mind begins to comprehend what he just did and then it begins to try to wander back to the kiss she gave him.
"Whoa, that was…wow…unbelievable…" Atilea manages to say as he begins to feel uncomfortable being near her. "You were moving so fast, I could hardly keep up with you!" she continues, still in awe of him. His uncomfortable-ness subsides and he nods slowly, giving her a slight smile. Then, a groan from behind him catches his attention and he turns to see Dod try to sit up. "Oh, no you don't!" Ulrich tells him and charges towards him.
Yumi dashes up next to a still amazed Atilea and glances curiously at her. Odd rushes past the two girls and follows Ulrich as he knocks Dod backwards again. Aelita jogs up to them and gently touches her sister's shoulder. "Atilea? Are you ok?" Aelita asks looking at her concerned. Atilea blinks in amazement and replies, "You should have seen it! Ulrich was moving so fast, I could barely keep up with his movements! I've never seen him move so fast! Wow, he was amazing!" Yumi gives her a questionable look and turns to see Ulrich and Odd returning. She notices that Odd is dragging an unconscious Dod behind him by the tail, smiling triumphantly. Yumi notices that Ulrich is sullen and isn't making eye contact with anyone, not even her.
"Where's H'cirlu? Has anybody checked to make sure he's still unconscious?" Ulrich asks with a mild gruffness in his voice that catches Yumi off guard. "Um, he's back there…" Aelita replies. "Fine. Odd, you can let go of Dod. He's not going anywhere anytime soon. I need you to go over to H'cirlu and make sure he doesn't wander off." Odd drops Dod's tail and seems oblivious to Ulrich's change in manner. He grins and salutes Ulrich. "Yes, Sir! Right away, Sir!" Odd says cheerfully. "Just go. Now, Imuy should be unconscious for a while," Ulrich says and Odd takes off. "Atilea, I need you to bind her and Dod to that boulder she is laying against. Yumi, Aelita, head to the activated tower and deactivate it."
Yumi gives him a worried look, causing him to stop. "What?" he asks. "Um, the tower deactivated by itself once you two arrived," Aelita replies, eyeing him concernedly. "Ulrich, something's bothering you. What is it?" Yumi asks, growing more concerned for her boyfriend. Atilea drops her eyes to the ground, knowing that it is her fault he is acting this way. Ulrich looks at Yumi blankly and pauses for a second before replying. "Nothing. I'm fine," he states blandly and glances down at Dod. He reaches down and grabs Dod's tail and drags him to the boulder.
Yumi gets an exasperated look on her face and follows him. "Ulrich, please, please, don't lie to me! It would break my heart if you did! Tell me what's wrong! I want to help!" she pleads. He pauses for a second then resumes. Aelita notices her sister begins to tremble and looks at her concerned. "Atilea, you know something about his change in behavior. What is it?" Aelita asks her. Yumi turns to look at Atilea, hearing Aelita's question. Ulrich stands up after he finished propping Dod and Imuy up against the boulder, and walks past Yumi. Atilea turns her head away from Aelita's and Yumi's gaze. Yumi sees Ulrich walk on and reaches out and grabs his arm. She spins him around and stares into his brown eyes.
"Ulrich Stern, tell me what is going on, please! I have to know!" she pleads, her voice shaking with worry and pain. He blinks and looks back at her, wanting to tell her. "N—not now, Yumi. We have too much to do before we can talk about it," he replies gently. Yumi releases him and a pain hits her heart, fearing what he may have to say. Atilea shakes her head. "No, Ulrich! I have to tell her now! I can't take the two of you fighting like this!" she blurts out. Yumi looks up at her and gives her a questionable look. "It's all my fault, Yumi! Ulrich is innocent! I…." Atilea starts, looking up at her remorsefully, but is cut off by a frantic yell from Odd.
"Ulrich! We have a problem! A BIG problem!" Odd bellows and the group turns to look at him. Ulrich sees him jogging towards them and asks, "What are you doing? I asked you to watch H'cirlu!" "That's just it! H'cirlu's gone! I was watching him and then he opened his eyes, then poof! He vanished!" Odd replies. Ulrich's face turns ashen and he grits his teeth. "Oh, no… He used his teleport technique to escape. Crap. I forgot about that ability. I should have realized. Sorry," Ulrich says, calming down. He runs his hands down his face and turns to Yumi. He gives her a remorseful look and then continues, "We need to find him. And quickly!" Atilea looks up at him nervously and slightly shamefully. "Do…you think you can keep up with his speed again?" she asks.
Ulrich glances at her quickly and replies, "No, I don't. I think it was a fluke that I did in the first place." He hangs his head and shakes it, closing his eyes and frowning at himself. "I feel like I've screwed everything up," he states and rests his head in his right hand. Yumi cautiously walks up to him and slides an arm around his waist, giving him a gentle hug. "No, you haven't, Ulrich. From what I see, you've done a great job. You managed to knock out two out of the three twins," she says comfortingly, then she leans close to his ear and whispers into it. "And whatever is, bothering you, I promise I'll be there with you through it. I love you, Ulrich, and I'm sorry if I pressed you too hard to tell me what's wrong," she whispers and gently kisses his cheek.
Ulrich feels a load lift off his shoulders and pulls Yumi closer to him, then plants a big kiss on her lips. "I love you too, Yumi, and I'm sorry for being snappy with you and everyone else," he says apologetically. Yumi smiles at him and nods, following up with a hug.
"Aww, isn't that sweet?" comes a sarcastic voice from behind them. The group whirls around to see H'cirlu standing on a boulder some distance away with the still unconscious Dod and Imuy sitting next to him. "Oh, snap…" Aelita says. Yumi turns slowly to look at her and asks, "Where'd you pick that up from?" Aelita shrugs and answers, "TV?" H'cirlu raises an eyebrow and frowns. Ulrich shakes his head and curses himself for not paying close enough attention to the other two twins.
"You did a good job, Ulrich. You actually impressed me. No body ever impresses me. However, since you did attack us, and during the one hour given to you by us to consider our offer, the deal is off. You will be exterminated. All of you! Though, most of you will end up back in the real world, however, Atilea will just die!" H'cirlu declares.
Ulrich glances at Atilea out of the corner of his eye and replies, "That's not entirely true." "Oh? Care to enlighten me an that subject?" H'cirlu asks, raising a dubious eyebrow. Ulrich smiles and says, "You see, since she's based on Aelita's DNA, she has the same properties as Aelita. Now, ever since Aelita gained all her memories, even the ones X.A.N.A. stole to keep her tied to Lyoko and to himself, she's been able to de-virtualize similar to us. If I'm not mistaken, your lousy master copied our DNA to create you after that time when Aelita became whole again! Therefore, Atilea is capable of going the same way! Oh, and FYI, it has been proven to work like that!"
Odd gives Ulrich a stunned look. "Whoa! For a second there, I thought Jeremie had taken your place! Dude, you sounded way too smart to be yourself!" he exclaims.
H'cirlu narrows his eyes and frowns, snorting in disinterest. "Whatever. I don't care. Just know that you will die here today!" he states, pulling out a rather large object from behind him. He holds it out at arms length to the side and smiles. Ulrich studies this strange new weapon and sees that it appears to have four blades attached to a center ring, but the blades are stacked on top of each other. H'cirlu twirls the object once around and grabs the ring tightly, but the stack of blades continue to spin around on the ring, with each blade locking into place at four equidistant points on the ring, creating a large, four bladed fan-like shuriken.
"Oh, I have a bad feeling about this…" Odd states, staring at the oversized shuriken. H'cirlu smiles and says, "You're right to have a bad feeling about this!" Then, the blades of the shuriken begin to spin on their own as H'cirlu stares at the stunned group below him. "DEMON WIND SHURIKEN! TORNADO-BLAST!" he yells at throws the shuriken at them. The groups watches as the shuriken streaks towards them, stunned. Suddenly, a massive tornado begins forming around the shuriken, growing bigger every second.
"Jeremie, we need the vehicles, NOW!" Yumi exclaims as the group suddenly turns and runs away from the rapidly closing in tornado. Jeremie frantically types on the keyboard and replies, "I'm working on it! Head for the cave you were in!" Atilea glances behind her and sees that the tornado is closing in faster. Then, she looks at Ulrich and feels a strange feeling in her heart. She presses her lips together as she feels the love for him rise up again inside her. She stops running, knowing what she must do. Atilea turns toward the tornado as the rest of the group dashes into the cave. Aelita gasps as she sees her sister standing in the path of the coming onslaught.
"ATILEA!" Aelita yells above the torrential noise of the tornado. The rest turn and sees Atilea raising her hands toward the tornado. "What is she doing!" exclaims Ulrich and starts to super-sprint out of the cave to get her, but Yumi and Odd grabs his arms to stop him. "Ulrich! Stop! You can't help her!" Odd exclaims, straining to keep him of him. Suddenly, a foot slams into his chest, knocking him backwards. Before Yumi can comprehend what just happened to Odd, she feels Ulrich rip his arm out of her grip and sees him sprint out into the nearing storm.
Atilea grits her teeth, trying to build up enough energy fast enough to release. Then, she hears something behind her and glances back. Her eyes widen as she sees Ulrich streaking towards her. "No! Go back!" she shouts at him, causing him to stop midway to her. She returns her attention to the tornado, which is almost on top of her. "Atilea! You can't! You'll be killed!" Ulrich pleads. She painfully ignores his words and forces herself to remain focused.
Suddenly, Ulrich feels something grab his collar and yank him upward. He glances up to see Odd on his Overboard and blinks in mild shock. He looks back down to see Atilea with a golden glow around her body.
Atilea strains against the force of the tornado that threatens to suck her into it. "Just….a …. few…. seconds…more!" she says through gritted teeth. H'cirlu watches in confidence safely from his perch behind the tornado, waiting to hear the screams of terror from the humans and the traitor. Atilea feels her body begin to slide forward toward the tornado. She narrows her eyes determinedly and finally gathers the last bit of required energy. Then, she suddenly lets out a yell at the top of her lungs and the golden glow around her erupts into a fiery flame. Then, a massive tornado of her own forms around her. H'cirlu gets a look of shock on his face as the second tornado appears, seemingly out of nowhere. Odd accidentally drops Ulrich on the floor of the cave hard as they stare in awe at the sight. Jeremie stares at his screen in confusion until he realizes what Atilea is trying to do. "She's trying to create a counter-acting tornado! It would be brilliant if it weren't so dangerous! Gotta do something to help!" he whispers and begins to tap on the keyboard.
The two counter-twisting tornados collide and a sudden out-rush of wind tosses huge boulders around like leaves in a breeze. A massive amount of dust and dirt shoot in all directions, lowering visibility to nearly zero. The force of the wind knocks everyone in the cave to the ground and H'cirlu manages to catch the returning shuriken before he takes refuge behind a small ledge. Then, the roar of the wind suddenly subsides and the dust and dirt in the air begins to settle. H'cirlu begins to cough, then grabs his two comrades, and teleports away, feeling very angry and enraged that his plan failed. Yumi sits up and shakes her head. She sees Ulrich stand up and wipe the dirt off his face. He stares out into the settling dust, straining to see anything that proves Atilea is alive still. Aelita suddenly rushes past him into the dust cloud. "ATILEA! ATILEA! WHERE ARE YOU!" she shouts frantically. Odd brushes the dirt off him and sees Yumi chase after Ulrich as he runs out the cave entrance. Odd frowns as he realizes he's the last one in the cave. "Oh, don't mind me! I'm fine! Thanks for caring, guys!" he says sarcastically and jogs out of the cave.
Aelita runs into Ulrich accidentally and nearly falls, but he catches her. "Ulrich! Where is my sister! Where is she!" she asks him frantically. She lays her head on his chest as Yumi catches up with him. "I don't know. Visibility is too low still," he replies and gently pats her back. Ulrich sees Yumi and shakes his head, indicating that there is no hope Atilea survived. Yumi's shoulders sag in sorrow and Odd jogs up to them, coughing. "Man, this stuff chokes a guy worse than Jim's cologne!" he says frowning. Aelita lifts her head and stares into Ulrich's eyes. "Find her. Find my sister. Please!" she says sternly, despite her trembling. He glances at Yumi and nods, but says nothing. He hands Aelita over to Yumi and sprints off into the dust cloud. He notices that visibility is returning and scans the area. Then, he sees a dirt covered figure on the ground a ways off. "Jeremie, I need my Overbike, please," he says softly. Jeremie nods and the bike virtualizes next to Ulrich. Ulrich hops on the bike and speeds off toward the figure. Yumi holds a sobbing Aelita and gently rubs her back soothingly. "Please, let her be alive! I don't want to be an orphan again!" Aelita sobs loudly, causing Yumi and Odd to look at each other, remembering the last time she called herself that.
Ulrich stops the Overbike and climbs off it. He walks slowly over to the figure on the ground, knowing full well that it is Atilea, despite that it is covered in a thick layer of dust. He kneels down and gingerly touches the form and feels bare skin. He brushes some dust off the form, revealing a black with red trim shirt. Ulrich realizes she's face down and gently rolls her motionless body over onto her back. He feels himself begin to tremble as he tries to find a pulse in her neck, but gives up when is hand begins to tremble too much to get an accurate feel. "Atilea…wake up! Please, wake up!" he whispers and brushes a strand of her pink hair out of her face. He cradles her upper body in his lap as the sound of the others coming over to him fills his ears. Aelita leaps off the Overwing before Yumi has a chance to land and runs toward him. She stops short of him as she sees her sister lying motionless. "No…" Aelita manages to get out before she drops to her knees, crying. Ulrich watches her crawl over to him and he hands Atilea to her. He backs away and stands, letting her cradle her sister's body. Ulrich walks slowly over to Yumi and she wraps her arms around him.
"I wasn't fast enough…. I should have saved her…." he whispers and she gently rubs her hands over his back comfortingly. "You did your best, Ulrich, and she knew what she was doing," she consoles, even though she knows it doesn't lessen the pain. Aelita sobs and clutches her sister's body tightly. "No…don't leave me, Sis! I don't wanna be alone again!" she pleads softly.
"I'd….never leave….you alone…..Sis," comes a weak voice. Aelita jumps, startled by the sudden voice, and sees Atilea's eyes flit open slightly. Aelita squeals with glee and relief as a small smile forms on Atilea's lips. "You're alive….YOU'RE ALIVE!" Aelita exclaims and hugs her sister tightly, but loosens her grip as she hears Atilea cough a couple of times. Yumi smiles and hugs Ulrich tightly as she feels Odd's hand pat her on the shoulder. Aelita helps Atilea sit up and brushes the dust off her shirt and face. Then the two sister's embrace again. "Don't you ever scare me like that again!" Aelita commands. Atilea chuckles and replies, "I wouldn't dream of it…"
Meanwhile, Dod opens his eyes and blinks, trying to get them to focus properly. Suddenly, he sits up quickly and glances around wildly. "Wha—what happened? Where am I?" he asks. Then, he realizes he is in the forest sector. "What am I doing here?" He turns and sees a frowning H'cirlu with Imuy leaning against him. "And what's with you two? That's scary and rather…gross," Dod finishes as he stands. "We were beaten again," H'cirlu states angrily. "And for your information, what is between us is none of your business. We have too much to do to dwell on small things. Or have you forgotten that?" Dod blinks as the memories of a brown blur hitting him fills his mind. Then, an angry frown appears on his face as he realizes H'cirlu is right.
"Are they still on Lyoko?" Dod asks, turning away from the two. "Yes," comes the reply from H'cirlu. "Good. It's payback time," Dod states coldly and cracks his knuckles. "We can hit them when they least expect it!"