A girl walked slowly on a cement bridge. Her dainty olive green shoes taking one slow yet heart-racing step at a time. Her breath was hard and heavy and she stared straight ahead of her as if in a trance.
She got towards the end of the bridge were an old decrepit factory lay hidden by piles of rubble. There was a huge opening in the building. She walked towards the edge and realized she had two choices. Jump and break every bone in her body, or jump and grab onto the rope and swing down.
She chose option 2 and continued in her trance like state until she reached the floor. She was glad to be on the ground now. She looked to the left and right and saw no one. Right in front of her, however, was a big elevator. She walked in and pushed the red button on the side. All of the sudden the elevator kicked into action and the young girl began to descend.
When she reached the bottom her muscles tingled. The door opened and a huge burst of warm air rushed upon her skin. She took a few steps out of the elevator and saw a young blonde haired boy talking into a microphone.
"Are you guys alright? How's Aelita? Guys? Where are you?" He was practically shouting into the microphone now. He never seemed to look over at her. As if she were invisibly staring at him.
"Odd you have only 5 lifepoints left. Get out of the…" The genius said in a futile attempt to warn his comrade. She watched the screen blink slightly and then stop. She wasn't quite sure what she was looking at and she really didn't care. But, it got her blood running.
"Got you!" said someone as they grabbed the blonde girl and struggled to keep her down.
"What are you doing here huh? Did Sissi send you? Well answer me huh?" Said they boy. The girl tried to answer but she was still trying not to look at the boy's random streak of purple in his naturally blonde hair.
"Hey Jeremy! Did you ever think of looking over here? We kind of have an intruder!" said the boy half smiling, as he held the girl tight.
"What? Oh sorry Odd I was busy trying to help Yumi, Ulrich, and Aelita. I kind of don't have time to watch who comes in and out you hear?" said the genius half laughing as Odd looked at the girl.
"Um… excuse me but who's Sissi? And I don't even know where here is!" said the girl a little confused by her current position. Odd looked at her in a state of confusion as well.
"A… I … Sissi is a monster that you don't want to meet. Mind telling us what you're doing here?" said Odd. He was puzzled who was this girl? How did she find them? How did she not know about Lyoko? If not possessed by Xana, how did she find the factory?
"I'm Roxanne," said the girl, "Who are you?" she asked as the boy began to loosen his grip.
"Hold that thought…"said Jeremy as he punched in a few buttons. "You know what this is?" he asked hopefully.
"It's the supercalculator." Said the girl surprised by her own answer. "I think I've seen one before… but I'm pretty sure I haven't. I don't know how I know but I have a vague memory of being here before."
"Perfect. Yumi and Ulrich might need your help. Odd show Roxanne where the scanners are. I think she might have been here before too." Said Jeremy still typing.
"Jeremy that's crazy. If she gets into the scanners who knows what might happen! What if she doesn't even get passed the transfer?"
"Can't I have a say in this?" Roxanne asked.
"Why not?" Said Jeremy hopefully.
"I'll go. I don't care what happens as long as I can help." She said smiling as she gracefully walked towards the elevator. She didn't know how but she almost knew her way around the deserted place.
"You're crazy you know that?" said Odd jokingly. And he walked into the elevator to take her to the scanner room. On the way down, Odd didn't stop staring at Roxanne. He was wondering what had drawn her to the factory. But his thoughts were soon interrupted by the abrupt stop of the elevator.
"Here you go. I'd take the one on the left. The right one's Ulrich's and the one in the middle is typically Yumi's. But you can use mine." Said Odd smiling. The girl walked into the hollow tube and she suddenly was able to hear Jeremy's voice.
"Transfer Roxanne." He said as she walked in. "Scanner Roxanne." The neon yellow light flushed over her body. "Virtualiztion!"
In a pixel form, Roxanne disappeared from the scanner. Odd looked a little frightened, but in hindsight he knew it was best. Roxanne began to virtualize in Lyoko. Her olive green jacket, white shirt, and cream-colored miniskirt disappeared. Instead a cream-colored top and open skirt lay on her bare skin. She had a slightly protective cape dangling toward her waist.
"What? Where am I? My clothes the…" Roxanne began before she was abruptly thrown to the ground.
"Who are you? Did Xana send you to try and get Aelita?" Said a manly voice. As the boy pinned her to the ground, a small lock of hair fell in front of Roxanne's eyes. She tried to blow it up and out of the way with no prevail.
"Ulrich! Get off of her she's here to help! Her name's Roxanne. I sent her to the scanners and Lyoko!" Cried Jeremy. He was practically screaming into the microphone as Odd let out a faint giggle.
"Um what am I suppose to do?" Asked Roxanne as Ulrich slowly let her up. Roxanne clutched the scepter that she held in her hand.
"What do you want me to do?" Asked Roxanne again as she got to her feet and looked around. They were in some sort of forest. She saw some creatures that looked a lot like crabs.
"And what are those?" She said pointing to the crab-like monsters. All of the sudden a pale fan came out of nowhere and killed one of the monsters.
"Those would be krabes. Nasty things! You have to kill them by hitting their eye-looking thing on its head." Said Ulrich. He quickly drew his sword. Roxanne looked at the eye. She suddenly had the urge to concentrate on the image. When she did this she gave a quick spin and then a green bolt of light came flying out of the middle of the orb on her scepter.
"So that's what I'm supposed to do." Roxanne said as the krabe was killed. She looked at the others and smiled. The girl with black hair walked up to her as did the girl with pink hair.
"I'm Yumi. Who are you?" Said the dark haired girl. Holding out her hand she smiled.
"I… I'm Roxanne… unless my name changes here too…" said Roxanne staring at the pink haired girl.
"I'm Aelita. I'd stay here and talk to you but I have to go deactivate the tower." She said as she took off running. Roxanne looked around. She thought about how lame it must be to have to run that whole way. As soon as she saw Yumi and Aelita get half way to the giant glowing tower, she was transported right in front of the tower.
"How did I get…?" She looked around puzzled. She saw two other monsters that looked more like spiders. She took one look at them she started to spin. She started to float slightly as a distraction as Yumi and Aelita came closer.
"What is she doing?" Yumi said as she looked in awe. She realized that she was avoiding all of the Turantula's shots. Yumi threw her fan and hit one of them dead on. She looked slightly puzzled as Roxanne shot another bolt of green light. The tarantula dodged the bolt and started to shoot at Aelita.
"No! Aelita!" Roxanne said it as if she knew all the stakes. She immediately disappeared and reappeared right in front of Aelita to protect her. Ulrich jumped out of nowhere and got the tarantula. Aelita ran for the tower.
"Roxanne? How did you know to do? How did you know about Aelita? How did you…" Jeremy asked still confused. Roxanne was confused as well. She stood looking at the tower while Odd, Yumi, and Ulrich stood gaping.
Aelita deactivated the tower. The world went back in time, and unbeknownst to Yumi, Ulrich, Odd, Jeremy, and Aelita, Roxanne still knew what happened. She walked over to the group at school.
"I? Did that? Could that? Was I really in that place? With Aelita and the monsters?" Asked Roxanne still dazed and confused. They looked at her, as if she was Aelita in person.
"You? You remember what happened? Roxanne? How do you?" Jeremy looked at the rest of the group. "Of course! You've been to Lyoko. You now have the ability to remember past the return trip!"
"What? I guess I just remember… and by the way thanks for letting me go to Lyoko. It was fun!" Roxanne said as the group stared in awe. They thought she had forgotten everything. But she hadn't. Out of nowhere, Odd came flying from the trees. He attacked Ulrich then tackled him to the ground. The others try to pull him off without prevail. Roxanne stared at him in amazement! She didn't tell anyone but she thought she knew why he was acting like this. She didn't help. She ran. Far into the forest. As far as she could get. Her affect on Odd could have been the problem. Or it could be the way she went to Lyoko. She left a digital scar that might possibly have been left on Odd.
Her powers were very strong, but at a price. She left a encoding upon one of the programs. It deeply affected her emotions, however it affected Odd more. The digital program that enabled her to teleport and to float momentarily all came at a risk. Odd had gotten a direct link to her inner emotions. Any time she got to close the program malfunctioned. Her deepest emotions kicked up not inside her, but within Odd. She was now directly linked forever to Odd, emotionally, physically, and mentally.
She was all too afraid that Jeremy would find the data trail. She slowly ran toward the factory. She knew what she had to do. The only way to save Odd was to dispose of her self. She was going to enter the virtual sea.
"Hey! Guys what are you doing? It's just me?" Odd said as if nothing had happened. He got up and looked around. He brushed the dust off his pants.
"Where's Roxanne?" Odd asked slowly.
"Roxanne! Where did she go!" Jeremy said. They all got a little worried and then as if it hit them all at the same time, they ran off to the factory. Yumi reached the manhole first, once she got there she realized it was wide open. Once the others got there they realized that Roxanne had already gone through to the factory. She had probably gotten to the bridge by now. They also realized, she had an access code, she knew how to virtualize herself.
Odd practically fell down the manhole, he started out by grabbing his skateboard. He was going at two times the speed and with each and every step Roxanne took, he got more and more nervous. He knew something was wrong but he knew he had to save her. He reached the ladder. The others will still getting down the manhole, while Odd quickened his steps toward the ropes. He jumped and yelled.
"Roxanne are you here? Where are you?" he asked half yelling half traumatized by the state of Roxanne's health. He ran to the elevator, pushed the button, and waited impatiently as he tapped his toes. He stared at the wall of the elevator. It seemed like it took an eternity to open. As soon as he reached the super calculator he froze. He felt slightly woozy.
Roxanne had successfully transferred herself to Lyoko. She was on her way in the desert region. She was looking for an open crevice but Xana just wanted her to fail. He would not open any new crevices. He wanted Odd to suffer. He wanted her to suffer.
Odd tried to talk to Aelita. She came up and started out friendly. He didn't want to stop and chat. He wanted to go to the desert region. She would have to transfer him. She did so and he was sent to the desert region. He felt weak but he had to help her. He knew he was on his own to find her, and he knew that he had to. She was now a part of him.
Odd looked across the plains. He didn't want Aelita to find him. If she saw how weak he was she would get the others. They wouldn't understand his problems, her problems. He saw her running towards the outskirts of a plateau he ran swiftly after her. He was fast but weak. His feet began to slip and his knees began to knock, he was almost there. His heart ached, 20 yards. His eyes were squinting, 10 yards. His heart thumped and skipped a beat, 5 yards.
"Roxanne! No!" He reached out. He caught her he pulled her back up, he looked at her with fear in her eyes. She cried. His shoulder caught the salty tears as she burst out with sobs of joy and pain.
"You don't understand. If I stay here you'll be free. You attacked Ulrich because of me. We're linked by a data trace that my program left. You can live with out worry, fear, or anguish. You won't attack your friends. It's all my fault." She managed to say in between sobs.
The others began to look on the screen, they heard the two talk and Yumi and Ulrich began to walk to the scanner room. They knew that they should go help Aelita. She was being trapped by two bloks. They knew she needed to be saved, but they were almost afraid to interrupt anything.
Odd cradled Roxanne. He watched her as she cried. He felt her inner pain. He knew how she felt about him… he couldn't help but wonder did he himself feel the same? He didn't know. Having a piece of someone inside him made him think. He watched as she continually looked at his eyes. She saw the freedom they possessed.
"You are not what I am captured by. Other than your beauty I can't help but feel free in front of you. You're here with me now. I…" Odd looked at her with caring eyes.
"You don't understand. You haven't known me long enough to know what will happen. I barely know. And I only know about Lyoko because…" Roxanne said right before she started sobbing. She knew how she got there. But she knew that they wouldn't want her in their group anymore. She knew she had to do it. She needed to get into the virtual sea.
"How do you know about Lyoko? You don't need to hide anything. You are one of us now." Odd said tenderly as he looked at her. She scared herself thinking about what could happen to the rest of them if she didn't tell them where she was from.
"If I tell you. You won't like me any more." She said and she continued to sob. She wasn't doing this for dramatic effect. She wasn't doing it to impress anyone. She broke away from Odd. She pulled off the anklet that hung tight around her leg. Odd didn't know what was happening.
"What are you doing? You can't pull that off, then part of your genetic code will be missing!" Odd said as she tore it off. He looked at what was underneath it.
"No! It can't be. You can't be! This is impossible." Odd said in obvious disbelief. He stared at the small circles on her ankle. They weren't just some tattoo. They weren't a fashion statement. They were the symbol of Xana. His plan had worked but only to a point. She had thwarted him out before he destroyed the group. She saved Odd, but at a cost. She had to be forgotten, she ran towards the edge of the plateau she nearly jumped, but she couldn't. She ran back.
"You need to be able to forget me. I can't jump without that. Xana programmed that into me, I'm not a program though. But he has total control over me except for my spirit. He brought me here to torture you. So please just forget I was ever here. You have to." Roxanne said. She looked at Odd. By now the others had found them… Yumi stared at her. Roxanne turned to show them her symbol. They looked at her.
"Roxanne, how? How could you? We trusted you! We thought…" Ulrich started. He looked at her. Aelita's eyes were transfixed upon Roxanne's face. She knew it other than from Lyoko.
"Jeremy bring Roxanne's card up. What's the last name?" Aelita asked impatiently.
"It… it doesn't say. Xana must have…" Jeremy began.
"Xana didn't do anything to her last name Jeremy. She isn't a program to destroy us. She's a part of all of us. She belongs there with the rest of you," Aelita said, "Roxanne focus on your energy. Let it rush from every fiber of your being. Transfer the rage, the pure fire-born rage on me. Your energy can become one with Lyoko. You can be free."
At these words Roxanne looked up, she felt her blood rushing through her body. She was focusing. The others were watching in total confusion. Roxanne's rage was bottled up for so long. Xana had become her rage. Roxanne had become a part of Xana. She focused hard, her eyes were closed shut. They began to quiver; she was raised slightly into the air. Her feet dangled as she began to glow with a bright yellow light. Aelita was able to channel the energy from Roxanne into Lyoko. The two became one. Roxanne looked down upon the rest of them and fell swiftly from the skies of Lyoko. Odd reached out and caught her. She opened her eyes slightly to see him. Jeremy looked at his screen in suspense. He didn't know what would happen to her.
"Roxanne? Are you ok? Say something huh?" Odd asked slightly worried. He looked at her. She looked back at him, "Hehe… did you ever notice that when you're floating in mid-air, your feet don't touch the ground?" She said half in hysterics. The two laughed. Roxanne looked down at her leg as she stood back up.
She gasped, "It's… It's gone! It's finally gone and…Aelita! Are you ok?" Roxanne looked at the elf-like girl. She was on the ground.
"Yes. I'm fine. It just takes some time for me to get used to the extra energy." Aelita said smiling back. She looked at Roxanne, she seemed to have a healthy glow about her. She had conquered Xana with the help of her friends, so she had hoped. She looked out across the plateau and noticed quite a few monsters. They weren't after Aelita, Odd, or Yumi. They weren't after Ulrich, or even the tower. They were bent on destroying Roxanne. She had betrayed Xana, though he had helped her.
Roxanne looked at the rest of them. She was one with this land and she knew how to control the monsters with any luck. She turned to them and ran. She wouldn't take any risk of hurting Odd again. Jeremy stared at his screen. Who would be crazy enough to run straight at fifteen krabes! Roxanne looked at them.
"Jeremy as soon as I start my attack you need to get the others out of here. I think I know what I can do. But you have to promise to go with it. If you don't there could be some major consequences." The blonde said, still running at full speed.
"Are you crazy! There are fifteen of them you'll never survive! Roxanne what are you doing?" Jeremy yelled.
"Jeremy trust me! If you don't then everyone else will get hurt! Aelita take cover!" Roxanne yelled.
Jeremy started to devirtualize the group as Roxanne jumped at one of the krabes. The others were gone and Roxanne had plunged her staff right into one of the krabes. As soon as she did this she began to glow softly. Aelita watched in amazement from behind a big rock. Roxanne began to float slightly again. She pulled her arms out at both sides. She closed her eyes shut and then turned her fisted hands flat. She now had the first five krabes under her control. They turned a light blue as Roxanne continued to use her control. She now had fourteen krabes and she was still going. The last one was difficult but all she needed was to keep everyone else away from her. She closed her eyes as the last krabe fell under the control of Roxanne.
Roxanne hadn't taken control of them though. She had simply taken the evil of them and given it to herself. Roxanne focused she pulled herself up higher. She let out a tiny yell and a red cloud began to ascend through the skies. The cloud began to take the shape of a disturbed ghost, when Jeremy realized it was Xana.
"Roxanne, abort the mission! You need to get out of there! Aelita! Are you ok?" Jeremy asked as Aelita stood staring straight at Roxanne. The two were now linked once more but only for a few moments. Roxanne looked at Aelita one last time before the specter of Xana struck right through Roxanne and she was instantly devirtualized.
"OH-No! Roxanne! I'm going to the scanner room. You all stay here." Odd said. He flew to the elevator and instantly pushed the button.
"Careful Odd, it might be Xana's trap!" Jeremy cried before the steal doors closed. Odd nodded and continued on his journey to get Roxanne. When the elevator finally got to her level Odd burst out of the elevator doors. He saw her first lying on the floor, she was lying face down on the cold floors.
"Roxanne… Roxanne! Wake up please!" Odd said gently shaking her. She was breathing softly when Odd held her in his arms. Her eyes squinted open slightly, as Odd gazed into her sullen eyes. Odd looked at her with hesitation. She looked at him with ambition and desire.
Odd leaned in and closed his eyes, Roxanne did the same. The kissed momentarily, just a simple peck. But soon that peck turned more intimate. Odd looked at her, as he pulled away.
"I like, no I love you Roxanne. You came into my life at an awkward time, but I have always thought you were beautiful. You are cunning too, and willing to risk a lot for us all." Odd said looking deeply into his loves eyes.
"I…I." Roxanne started, "I don't think we want the others to hear us."
"Good point." Odd said as he helped his Roxanne up. The only reason he was afraid was that neither of them knew what would happen.
"You two don't dare try to sneak away. Come up here right now." Jeremy yelled. He sounded serious. So, like obedient puppies, the two lovebirds followed Jeremy's orders. They looked at each other with a longing feeling in their eyes… they didn't want to see Jeremy, Yumi, or Ulrich. In fact, they barely were able to walk over to the group.
"How could you do that? You could take control of the krabes? That's much too risky! How could you put Aelita at stake like that?" Jeremy said frantically. Roxanne turned away. She didn't want anyone to see the tears falling from her eyes. She though she had done something good for once.
"Jeremy! Give her a break huh? I don't see you going in to save Aelita she was doing everything she could to protect Aelita and what do you do? YOU YELLED AT HER!" Odd said quickly coming to Roxanne's defense. He kept yelling at Jeremy and Roxanne took to the floor. Her body just collapsed. She fell to the floor with a clunk, which shook up the gang.
"Oh no Roxanne!" Yumi said she check the girl's pulse. Her heart was hardly beating. Her free spirit may have been strong but her problem was her heart itself. She had practically no energy left.
"She needs to get back to the school. She needs to see Dorothy. She will know what to do!" Odd said as gently picked the girl up. "Yumi you wanna give me some help here?"
Yumi and Odd carried the girl back to the school. She would be fine. But the group wasn't as sure. They left Odd with Roxanne. When she woke up he stared at her.
"I wasn't sure you were going to wake up. I got really scared." Odd said.
"I…What? Where am I?" Roxanne asked afraid it was all just a dream. No, hoping it was all just a dream.
Odd pushed a finger to her lips. "I have to tell you something. I saw you first when you walked into the lab. I knew you were intruding and so I jumped upon you. Not for vengeance though. I didn't know what else to do. Also I just wanted to tell you, I love you. Your smile captivates me more than the full moon. Your beauty is only surpassed by your giant heart. I was wondering, could we maybe go out sometime." Odd said stuttering along the way.
Roxanne looked in his eyes. She giggled a bit. Odd that she was laughing at him. He turned away. She stopped laughing and looked at him seriously.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to laugh. I would love to go out with you. There isn't anything else I would rather do." Roxanne said. They held hands. As Roxanne leaned up to hug Odd, the sun began to set. There journeys ended with the bright yellow sun lighting up their worlds.
