Disclaimer: Code Lyoko is copyrighted by Moonscoop.

This chapter was written by me and edited by Blackcat8539. It was also edited by AeroJester203.

I only own Lila. Mary is owned by AeroJester203.

Sorry for the long wait, things have been pretty busy! Enjoy!

Cold War

Inside Lila and Aelita's room

POV Lila's

I'm typing on MB's laptop just before class time, entering another combination on it only for nothing to happen again. Writing down the combination on my notebook, I sigh heavily and close it to store in the second drawer next to the copy of my father's laptop. I open the first drawer and I put my notebook in it, along with my pen. I close that drawer and I stare at the second drawer, looking at the laptop for a moment, thinking, Last night, I thought I heard the laptop going off, like it detected a tower or something. I sincerely hope that's not the case. I should probably go meet Jeremy and Aelita in his room.

I close the drawer.

Inside Jeremy's room

Opening Jeremy's door, I pause at the sight of Odd frantically searching for something throughout the whole room. Ulrich is sitting on Jeremy's bed while Jeremy and Aelita are by his computer.

"Hey, guys," I greet. "What's up?"

"Odd's looking for a film of his," Ulrich replies, watching the whole scene with an air of disinterest.

"Ah," I say, now understanding why he's making such a mess of Jeremy's room. Closing the door, I go to Jeremy's bed and put my backpack beside me as I sit down. "So, what film did you lose, Odd?"

"It's called 'I guess, I guess, it's a ghost'," Odd replies.

Ulrich and I watch as Jeremy gets more and more annoyed at the mess Odd is creating.

Completely oblivious to this, he adds, "If you want me to become rich and famous, I absolutely have to give it to TV."

"Who's TV?" Aelita and I ask in unison. Looking at each other, we laugh a little.

Odd takes what looks like a trash can with paper in it and pushes it to the middle of the room. Upending it and scattering the rubbish all over the floor, he continues his search while answering.

"His real name is Thomas Vincent, but everybody calls him TV because he's the famous news reporter on TV." He then kicks the trash can to the side as he jokes, "TV, get it?"

"Yeah, yeah I get it," I reply with a roll of my eyes. "Something tells me I'm not going to like this Thomas Vincent guy."

Our attention is drawn to the door when Yumi and Sissi enter.

"TV is going to be here in five minutes!" Yumi informs us.

Sissi is holding a CD case with a disc in it, calling, "Hurry up, Della Robbia!"

"My career is nipped in the bud!" Odd exclaims dramatically, dropping his face into his hands. He walks over to Jeremy's desk and puts his head on it, beginning to whimper.

Then, he suddenly stops.

"Yes!" Odd shouts in victory. He picks up a CD case of his own that was sitting by Jeremy's equipment and gives it a kiss, "Fame, fortune, and glory are mine!"

"Odd, you are a strange person," I comment.

Odd gives an uncaring shrug with a smile, "If you say so."

Turning to Jeremy and Aelita, I remember why I'd come in the first place and ask, "Say, Jeremy, did your Super Scan program go off in the middle of the night by any chance?"

Jeremy nods before speaking, "Yeah, it did. That's why I'm checking it now, but I can't seem to confirm the tower's location. Why, did yours?"

"I thought it did? I'm not entirely sure…" I trail off as I second guess myself.

Then again, I haven't used my dad's laptop for a while, I think. Maybe I just imagined the beeping last night.

"How bizarre, what do you think the problem is Jeremy?" Aelita asks him.

"I'm not sure, might be a bug. I hope not, otherwise, I'll need to rework the Super Scan's design," he replies before checking his watch. "Anyways, we should all get going to class."

"Alright! TV, here I come!" Odd exclaims, picking up his backpack. He runs out and Sissi practically chases after him.

"No, you don't, Della Robbia!" she calls. "I'm giving my CD to TV first!"

Yumi watches them leave and then looks at us as we leave the room, "You guys, I've been wondering about something. Do you think Sissi is starting to crush on Odd?"

I snort in amusement, "No way! What makes you think that?"

"I don't know, just a feeling," Yumi replies.

Inside Mrs. Hertz's classroom

Sitting with Sissi, as I have been lately, all of us but Yumi are in Mrs. Hertz class. I'm sitting by an open window since it's a bit nicer out today. Odd is sitting with one of the other students, which is a bit strange, but he probably wants to be further in the front. He's repeatedly clicking his pen as he eagerly waits for TV.

"After our field trip last week, I asked you to calculate the yield of the field of corn that we visited. Now, who can give me the answer?" Mrs. Hertz asks the room. Upon hearing the sound of snoring in the back, she calls on the sleeping student,

"Poliakoff?"

Nicholas snorts as he startles awake and hurriedly answers, "1,527 tons."

Ugh… wrong. Why bother going to class if you're not going to pay attention? I think, annoyed.

"Really, Nicholas?" Mrs. Hertz asks before starting to clap sarcastically. "Well done, you've solved the problem of world hunger."

All of us laugh at him, even Sissi and Herb.

"Quiet down," Mrs. Hertz requests.

As we do so, the door opens up. A guy who has brown hair with some gray mixed in with glasses on his face enters the room holding a microphone. If I'm not mistaken, it's got to be TV himself with a camerawoman following behind.

Uh-oh! No one told me there were going to be cameras! I think. Opening my notebook, I bury myself in the pages so that it covers my face.

Mrs. Hertz questions the intruder, "Yes?"

"Give me a camera shot of the kids," TV instructs the woman behind him instead of answering.

"Ahem, can I help you?" Mrs. Hertz asks pointedly.

He rudely dismisses her, "Yes, get out of the shot."

This guy sounds like a jerk, I think.

"Do our schools provide a future for our youth?" he asks dramatically, I assume, in front of the camera. "Faced with the teachers' relaxed attitudes, we have reason to doubt. To see how bad it's become, all you need to do is pick out a student at random and ask him his grade point average."

Abruptly approaching Jeremy, I peek and see he's holding the microphone in his hand, but that's all I can see. He inquires, "You, what's your grade point average?"

"99.87 out of 100," Jeremy answers.

TV blinks in surprise, "Huh?"

Ha… Bad move, TV. Jeremy's a genius, I mentally snicker.

I can't resist the urge to see his stunned expression and peek completely, over the top of my textbook. Unfortunately, TV notices the movement and starts moving towards me.

I try to bury my face back in the book, but he continues to my desk and asks, "Miss, what about your GPA?"

"Thomas, she seems camera shy," the camerawoman observes.

"Yes, but she also has red hair, which is a common trait of delinquents," TV says.

I slam my notebook down in anger, "Says who?"

"Most psychologists," he replies, a pleased smile on his face. I grit my teeth as I realize that I've played right into his hands. And mentioning that it's dyed probably won't help my case. Then I get an idea.

"Very well, may I see that microphone, so I can speak clearly into it?" I ask.

TV looks at me warily but nods and hands me the device. Taking it, I immediately throw it out the open window. The camerawoman decides to turn the camera off at this point and TV's eyes widen as some of the kids start laughing hysterically.

"Lila!" Mrs. Hertz exclaims disappointingly. She then addresses the class and orders, "Everyone settle down, right now! Lila you'll need to leave for the principal's office right this instant!"

"I second that!" TV yells while crossing his arms. "You're going to pay for that!"

Inside the principal's office

Sitting in a chair in the principal's office, Mr. Delmas looks at me as Jim stands next to him.

"I want her to pay for breaking my equipment!" TV demands.

"Ms. Smith, what do you have to say for yourself?" Mr. Delmas asks me calmly, clearly not enjoying the whole situation.

I just can't find it in myself to regret my actions and firmly reply, "I am not sorry, but I will pay for the damage done to the microphone."

"There you have it then, Mr. Vincent," Mr. Delmas says, clearly relieved that the situation could be resolved quickly.

"What?!" TV shouts. "You're not going to give her detention?!"

"From what I understand, Ms. Smith felt uncomfortable being in front of a camera," Mr. Delmas calmly replies. "Yet you continued to film her which caused her to throw the microphone out the window, thus breaking your equipment. To make matters worse you called her a delinquent because of the color of her hair. In the future Mr. Vincent, please get the students' permission ahead of time for those who would like to be filmed."

"Fine!" TV growls before storming out of the room.

The camerawoman turns and speaks to me, "I'm Edna, by the way. Don't tell him I told you this, but what you did was very brave. He's not the best boss in the world."

Looking at her, I tilt my head and nod once, "Yeah, I noticed that."

Smiling, Edna takes her camera and opens the door. She leaves the room and closes it behind her.

I turn back to Mr. Delmas, "So, am I really not in trouble?"

He turns to Jim, "Well, Jim? What do you think?"

"Well, Mr. Delmas, sir, I don't think Lila should get detention—not for a reason like this. I had my fair share of detentions as a kid for far worse reasons," he comments dryly.

"Really?" I ask, intrigued. "You have?"

Mr. Delmas looks at Jim curiously.

"Yes, but, uh, I'd rather not talk about it," the gym teacher quickly replies.

Mr. Delmas turns to me, "Before you go, Ms. Smith, there is still the matter of the bill. I'll need to inform your mother about this; do you have her contact information?"

"I do…" I say as I think quickly, "but unfortunately she may not answer right away, as she's currently out of the country and traveling on one of her business trips."

I'll need to use the voice synthesizer on the copy of my father's laptop, I think.

"Very well, if you can please give me her information you may then leave," Mr. Delmas says.

I quickly give him all the details, including my number as "Mary's", that he needs and then exit the office.

Afterwards

Inside Lila and Aelita's room

Going to mine and Aelita's room, I enter and close the door behind me. Putting my backpack down, I go over to the second drawer of my desk and take out the copy of my father's laptop.

Ever since Aelita and I became roommates I haven't had the time to fully look through this laptop. I've gone through a few video diaries, but they didn't have any useful information in them.

Still, I better do this quickly, otherwise, she might come back from classes soon and see me with the copy of my father's laptop, I think while looking at the door. She knows Jeremy is my father, but if she thinks there's information on this laptop that will help us defeat Xana she might want to use it. I need to make sure that doesn't happen so that the order of events doesn't continue to change too drastically. After all, this timeline already has one terrible future… better not mess with time further.

Putting the laptop on my desk, I open it and boot it up. Letting it load, I go to the opened closet to get a USB cable. I head back with the cord in hand and see that the laptop has started up and now shows the home screen.

I connect the phone to the laptop with the cable and type on the keyboard after it accepts the connection. Searching for my father's program, I open it and then sync it to the cell phone, something else Mary fixed up when she was here a while back.

This version of the voice synthesizer program is different from the one my father created, able to record and save the settings to reproduce voices instead of being purely constructed. I'm not sure when it was updated though, sometime during my father's later years I would imagine. After the devices are synchronized, I search for Mary's voice sample. Finding it with her picture next to the sound file, I click on it and an audio feedback window appears beside the image.

"This is Mary Smith, Lila's mother," I say, her voice playing back on the program.

It's a good thing Mary had recorded her voice way back when Aelita was still living on Lyoko so the program would be able to do this. She knew how to plan for an emergency… I can't help but wonder if she felt like she wouldn't be here one day. I look down sadly for a moment, I do miss her voice… her real voice…

My cell phone starts to ring. Collecting myself, I let it go a few times before I finally answer it. Mr. Delmas's picture comes up on the laptop.

"Hello, this is Mary Smith speaking," I say, the program playing her voice through the phone as I speak.

Mr. Delmas answers, "Ah, Mrs. Smith. This is Principal Delmas."

I refrain from giggling.

"Principal Delmas, how are you?" I ask.

"I'm fine. Thank you, but I'm afraid I have a bit of unpleasant news. Earlier today, your daughter got herself into a bit of a predicament. While she does not have detention, she does have to pay for damages."

"Damages? Whatever for?" I ask. I check the audio feedback, and it continues to playback Mary's voice.

"Lila damaged some equipment belonging to a man named Thomas Vincent," he explains. "She was well within her rights to do so, as Mr. Vincent completely ignored her wish to be kept off-camera. Then, to make matters worse, Mr. Vincent called her a delinquent due to the color of her hair, after which she promptly threw the microphone out a window in retaliation."

"I see, I see. How much is the bill?" I ask, getting right to the point. I don't trust myself not to start ranting about how justified my actions were.

"400 euros, Mrs. Smith," Mr. Delmas replies reluctantly.

My eyes widen.

"400 Euros? For a microphone?" I ask, trying not to make it sound like a complaint. "Seems… a bit much."

Mr. Delmas clears his throat before explaining in a sympathetic voice, "It was a very expensive piece of equipment. I've posted the bill on Lila's school account. I'm afraid it will have to be paid today."

"That's doable I suppose. I apologize for not answering right away, I'm juggling quite a bit between being a businesswoman and a single parent," I explain. "I'm currently out of the country on a business trip. You've caught me at a good time, it's a little after 6:00 PM where I am."

"Yes, Lila mentioned you traveled," he says. "We're both busy people."

"That we are, Mr. Delmas. I'll see to it that the bill is paid for immediately."

"Thank you, Mrs. Smith. Take care," Mr. Delmas says in farewell. He ends the phone call and his picture on the laptop disappears.

Looking at my cell phone, I end the call and the screen goes to the digital clock. I exit the program, Mary's picture and the audio feedback disappearing from my view. I go online and to the school's website getting on the parent's account page. Letting it load, I enter Mary's information in.

Opening the first drawer where my diary and its key are, along with my notebooks and pens, I see my debit card. Grabbing it, I click on the bill and enter Mary's debit info. After the site accepts the information and payment, I close the copy of my father's laptop.

It's a good thing that this card is also linked to a checking account where the money is in Mary's name. This way, even if I put Mary's name on the bill, Mr. Delmas can't know that it's me using the card, I think.

Putting the copy of my father's laptop back in the second drawer, I close it and then grab the USB cable to put back on the top shelf inside my closet.

Going to the door, I grab my backpack and head out, locking the door behind me as I head to the cafeteria for lunch.

Inside the cafeteria

Getting to the lunchroom, I see that Odd, Ulrich, Sissi, and Yumi are already at our usual table. I take a tray at the start of the line and walk up to Rosa the cafeteria lady.

"What's for lunch today, Rosa?" I ask her.

She frowns apologetically, "Sorry, Lila, but I'm afraid I'm almost completely emptied out of my meatballs. I do have a few mashed potatoes leftover and some bread. I might have a few extra carrots if you'd like that too." Rosa replies apologetically.

"Aww… The one time I actually wouldn't mind meatballs. Okay, sure thing, Rosa," I say.

Nodding, Rosa scoops up some mash potatoes and puts it on my plate. She then grabs me a small roll of bread and a bag of carrots.

"Your usual tea?" Rosa asks.

I nod with a smile, "Yes, please."

Rosa leaves for a moment before coming back to put the cup on my tray. I thank her with a cheery grin.

"You're welcome, dear," she says.

Taking the tray, I go to the table to sit down with the others. I sit down on the chair next to Odd.

"What kept you?" he asks. "Did Delmas give you detention?"

"No, no. Not detention. Though I should try to restrain myself around Vincent. Apparently, the bill cost 400 euros!" I complain, perhaps a bit too dramatically.

"What?" Sissi asks incredulously. "For that stupid microphone, you threw out the window?"

"Yup, the very same," I say and take a bite out of my bread roll.

"I still can't believe you did that. It would have been funnier to see it from what Sissi and Odd told me," Yumi says with a hint of admiration in her voice.

Swallowing my mouthful, I look at her and shrug, "Eh, it's no biggie. That Vincent guy is a real jerk anyway."

I look at Odd's tray, it has a lot fewer meatballs than usual today.

"Odd, what's with your tray?" I ask in surprise.

"TV took all the meatballs Rosa had left…" Odd trails off with a pout.

I roll my eyes, "Ah, that explains it."

"Hey, look outside!" one of the students exclaims.

Looking outside, the five us see that it's starting to snow. My eyes widen.

Snow? But it's only the beginning of April! I think. Then again… Awesome! Snow! I can't remember the last time I saw snow!

Getting up without eating any of my food, I'm the first one to run outside the cafeteria. Almost everyone else – including Ulrich, Odd, Yumi, and Sissi – start to make their way outside as well.

As I exit the cafeteria, and with the first bit of snow I reach, I make a snowball. Holding it in my hands, I let my breath out and notice how cold it is. For some reason, despite wearing my jacket, I don't seem to be bothered by the temperature.

A lot of students are outside now, playing with their friends. Finding Odd, I run up to him and throw my snowball at him catching him by surprise as it hits him in the face.

"Hey! Not cool!" Odd exclaims, wiping the snow off. Laughing, Yumi and Ulrich start throwing snowballs at one another.

"That's enough now, everyone inside!" Jim calls.

I spot Mr. Delmas picking up a snowball and throwing it at Jim's face, Sissi laughing at the sight and cheering on her father. I look away with a giggle and see that Herb, Nicholas, and Emily are also throwing snowballs at each other.

Sissi throws a snowball at Odd, who gets frustrated again. Picking up the snow, he makes his own snowball and he tosses it back at her. She gets hit by it but isn't that upset. In fact, she laughs it off and starts making more snowballs to throw back at him.

Hmm… maybe Sissi really is into Odd, I muse. I mean, she's in the group now; it makes sense that they would enjoy spending their time together. And I suppose Odd doesn't have to marry Samantha Knight if he doesn't want to in this timeline. Though Ulrich and Yumi… they've had feelings for each other since the day they met. They just need a push in the right direction. That's kind of why I'm worried about Jeremy and Aelita… If they ever figure out I'm their daughter I'm not sure if that would help them develop a relationship.

Suddenly, it starts getting windy and the temperature begins to drop rapidly. The snow starts falling in thicker waves and a lot of us run back inside. Some of the younger kids start crying. I look behind to see Jim and Mr. Delmas helping a few of the younger students that are still outside.

Looking at Herb, Nicholas, and Emily, I call out to them, "You guys, hurry up and follow us!"

Nodding, they run up to us and we head to the dormitory stairwell.

Inside the dormitory stairwell

Getting inside, Milly and Tamiya are now with us. They go over by the steps with their classmates. Herb, Nicholas, and Emily go to the stairs to take care of the younger students. There's a whole lot of us here, including TV and Edna. I sigh, trying to ignore them.

Yumi whispers, "We have to get to Lyoko."

"Yeah, you're right. I bet the weather is better there," Odd jokes.

Yumi takes her phone out and dials a number. Entering it, she makes a call.

"Jeremy, we're stuck at school because of the blizzard," she informs him.

Jim and Mr. Delmas walk down the stairs, handing out winter jackets, hats and mittens, as well as some scarves. I'm given a grey winter jacket and navy mittens along with a black hat, but I shake my head to the scarf. The two of them move on to the others. I put on the winter jacket first, then the hat, and finally the gloves.

After what seems like more than a couple minutes, I look around and see Mr. Delmas on the phone.

"Very good Mrs. Hertz, you did well to take the children safely to the basement of the science building," he says.

Jim is in a light-yellow winter jacket and he shows Mr. Delmas a small device, "Look, Mr. Delmas, I found a weather station. I got this free with my Sumo Mags subscription. Out there it shows the temperature outside; it's 4 degrees below zero. And in here, it's 20 degrees Celsius."

"20 degrees?" Mr. Delmas repeats with a worried frown. "Come on, let's go down to the boiler room."

Jim raises his voice, "Okay, everyone! We'll be heading down to the boiler room, so please follow us!"

Getting up, all of us start following behind them.

This is really weird… This can't be a normal blizzard; it's got to be Xana, I think.

Reaching the boiler room, the five of us sit together.

Ulrich whispers, "Did you hear that? Just 20 degrees in here. And there's no reason for Xana to stop there."

"Yeah, I know. This is bad," I say worriedly.

Odd shakes his head, "The only solution is to deactivate the tower on Lyoko."

"But how are we going to do that, if we're all slowly freezing to death?" Sissi asks.

"We'll need to split up," Yumi decides. "Odd, Sissi, if you two need to stay here, you can. Make sure nothing happens to the others."

"Right," Odd agrees with a nod.

"Ditto," Sissi adds. "Don't worry Yumi, you can count on us."

"Okay, and what about us? It's not like Delmas and Jim will just let us walk out of here," I point out.

"We'll need a distraction," Ulrich admits.

Sissi thinks for a moment and then smiles, "I have an idea. Odd, follow my lead." She winks at him when giving the order.

"Okay," Odd nods, a confused but amused expression on his face.

He gets up and Sissi offers her hand for him to take. I raise my eyebrow as they walk hand in hand towards Mr. Delmas and Jim.

"Umm, daddy…" Sissi says, playing the part of a shy daughter perfectly. "There's something you should know. Odd and I… we're dating."

Mr. Delmas eyes widen in shock, and he seems speechless for a moment.

Meanwhile, Jim asks incredulously, "You're dating Della Robbia?"

"Uh-huh," she says innocently before continuing to address her dad. "I mean, I get that this isn't the best time to tell you. But you see, daddy dearest, I really like him."

Despite the strong desire to stay and watch how Mr. Delmas reacted to it, Ulrich, Yumi and I all make our way to the stairs.

In the woods

Reaching the woods, we run despite feeling so cold.

When Yumi, Ulrich and I finally reach the grate, it's covered in snow that's starting to freeze over.

"If the three of us pull the grate off together, we should be able to get down there," I suggest.

"R-right," Ulrich stammers, the cold making his teeth chatter.

We each take a side of the grate. Pulling on it, we grunt as it slowly lifts. The movement starts breaking the ice that's frozen over part of it. After all the ice breaks, we toss the metal cover to the side and start climbing down the ladder. Not even bothering to put it back, we continue on.

After reaching the ground Yumi, Ulrich and I grab our riding equipment. We ride through the sewer tunnel system. Finally reaching the end of it, we put our equipment to the side and start towards the ladder. Yumi goes first and tries to pull the grate open.

"It's stuck!" she exclaims in frustration.

"Let me try," I suggest from the bottom of the ladder.

"Okay."

Climbing down, Yumi stands next to Ulrich who isn't looking too good.

"Ulrich, you okay?" I ask him, concerned.

He starts shivering, "I-I'm fine! J-j-just cold!"

Yumi wraps an arm around his shoulders. Her eyes widen.

"Ulrich! You're freezing!" she exclaims. Looking to me she says, "Can you tell Jeremy that we're in here? If I know Aelita, she's probably already on Lyoko by now. Try to get there; I'm not sure if Ulrich is going to last much longer in this cold."

"What about you?" I ask, worried.

"I'll be fine," she replies with grim determination. "I'll try and hold out a little longer."

"Okay," I agree.

Climbing all the way up I wrap one arm around a rung in the ladder and brace my shoulder against the metal grate. After a few solid rams against it pops off, letting the freezing winds in.

"Try to get somewhere a little warmer," I instruct the two below. "The tunnel system should have a good spot where the cold won't get to you."

"Okay, thanks, Lila," Yumi smiles slightly.

Climbing out, I start running down the snow-covered bridge to the factory.

Inside the lab

Finally reaching the lab, I pant heavily as the freight elevator doors open. Jeremy looks at me from his chair.

"Thank goodness! But where are the others?" Jeremy inquires, concerned.

"Sissi and Odd are keeping an eye out for everyone at the school. Ulrich started to get very cold; I think he's getting hypothermia and Yumi is looking after him," I explain. Looking around, I don't see Aelita. "Where's Aelita?"

"She's already on Lyoko. Ice Sector," Jeremy explains reluctantly.

"Sounds cold," I say grumpily. I hit the elevator button, the freight elevator's doors start closing. They close and I head down to the scanners.

Lyoko's Ice Sector

Opening my eyes, I see that I'm falling, and I soon land safely on the ice in a crouched position. Getting up, my broomstick materializes next to me. I get onto it and kick off into the air.

Urging my broomstick to go faster, it does so and I see the Scyphozoa has already wrapped its red glowing tentacles around Aelita, capturing her in its clutches. Two tentacles attached to Aelita's head. I urge my broomstick to go faster again and take my hunter's knife from its sleeve.

Generating electricity to my gauntlets, I let it flow into the blade. My weapon is engulfed in electricity and my lightning bolt amulet lights up, letting me know I'm fully charged up. I internally command my broomstick to hang back, and I jump off it, keeping my powers flowing at the same time.

Gripping my hunter's knife in both hands I run at the Scyphozoa. I slice the tentacles one by one, shocking them as I continue to let electricity flow through me. The Scyphozoa screeches in pain and it drops Aelita before fleeing.

Too far from her, I command my broomstick to fly down to her. It does so and catches her just in time. She falls flat on the broomstick a bit roughly, but it carries her over to me gently. I disperse my electricity and put my hunter's knife in its sleeve.

"Aelita are you okay?" I ask her, running up to her and my broomstick. She groans in pain slightly, given the position she's in, and fixes herself to the back of the broomstick.

"I'll be okay – where are the others?" she asks as I get onto the front of the broomstick.

"Still at the school," I answer. "Ulrich and Yumi are in the sewers, too. We need to step on it."

I kick my broomstick into the air again, and Aelita yelps at the sudden burst of speed, wrapping her arms around my waist for support.

"Look out behind you!" Jeremy exclaims.

Several lasers come from behind and nearly hit us. Looking back, my eyes widen to see three Mantas chasing us.

"Mantas?! What are Mantas doing here on Lyoko?!" I exclaim, surprised.

"I had a run-in with them earlier, just before the Scyphozoa got me," Aelita explains, and I urge my broomstick to go faster as we make our way for the activated tower.

I dive lower to dodge three more lasers. I have to make several different maneuvers and all the while Aelita is holding onto me for dear life.

These Mantas are persistent! I think, annoyed as I try and dodge several more lasers with my broomstick.

The Mantas stop firing their lasers and fly past us, screeching. They release hovering mines as they fly to the activated tower, surrounding our path and part of the activated tower in a field of them.

"Another field of flying mines!" Jeremy exclaims, worried.

I look at Aelita, "Aelita, I'm really sorry about this, but hang on!"

"O-okay!" Aelita exclaims unsurely, gripping my waist harder.

Broomstick, step on it! I think.

Letting my broomstick take control, we start passing through the minefield. We continue flying through the bombs, but the same Mantas that created it have snuck their way behind us and are firing their lasers at us again.

Aelita looks back as the shots barely miss us, "Lila, the Flying Mantas are behind us!"

"I know," I say, and urge my broomstick to dive so we can dodge the lasers. The broomstick plummets all the way down and we nearly getting hit by a laser. I pull up at the last second, now flying low enough to get under the minefield. One of the Mantas hits the ice hard, just missing us as it crashes and explodes. Thrown slightly off course, we fly back up higher and into the minefield in hopes of using their own weapons against them.

However, one of the Mantas had split off and is now in front of us. It fires a laser at us, but I steer out of the way. It tries firing at us but can't seem to get a good shot.

"Perfect timing, you annoying pest," I say.

Letting the broomstick resume control in flying, I take my bow off its hook. A bit difficult to do with Aelita hanging onto me, but I manage. I take an arrow from my quiver and nock it. Raising my hands a little higher so I don't hurt Aelita, I pull the drawstring back and release the arrow. It flies directly at the Manta and pierces its side, making it screech. It starts falling and lands on its own minefield.

The explosives start detonating one by one in a chain reaction as I fly the broomstick higher to get out of the blast zone. The ones surrounding the tower begin going off as well, but not all of them. Still, there's a visible gap by the time the explosions stop.

"Yes, there's an opened passage!" Jeremy cheers.

"Let's go!" I exclaim. We fly down while some of the mines are starting to disappear. Aelita quickly gets off my broomstick to get into the tower.

"I'll cover you, don't worry," I say.

I fly my broomstick toward the last Manta and take my hunter's knife out of its sleeve. The Manta fires off several lasers at me, but I use my blade to block each one. I'm about to charge my electricity, but it fires another barrage and manages to hit me three times, knocking me off my broomstick in the process. I scream on my way down as I devirtualize in a cloud of pixels.

Inside the scanner room

The scanner doors open and I drop to my knees. With no one to catch me, I try to get up, but now I can feel that the cold has gotten worse. It penetrates through the winter gear and makes me feel like I'm freezing.

Hurry, Aelita! I think.

I try to get up, but it's no good. I'm at my limit but then everything disappears a blinding light white.

Earlier

Inside Lila and Aelita's room

I realize I'm back in my room, standing by the door. Looking at myself, I see I'm already wearing my backpack.

Thank goodness I don't need to trick Delmas again, I think. Heading out the door, I make sure to lock it behind me.

I make my way to the cafeteria.

Inside the cafeteria

There's no line again in the cafeteria. Getting to it, I take a tray and walk up to Rosa.

"What's for lunch today Rosa?" I ask her, despite already knowing.

She smiles, "I've got plenty of mashed potatoes and meatballs."

"Really? You do? But… I heard that TV really liked meatballs," I say, trying to figure out what changed.

"Let's just say there's extra today," Rosa mentions.

"Awesome," I say with a smile. Taking the tray, Rosa gives me a good helping of mashed potatoes and meatballs. "Thanks."

"You're welcome. Oh, and good job for standing up for yourself by throwing out Vincent's microphone," she whispers. "That reminds me!"

Rosa lets me take the tray and goes to her fridge in her kitchen. Opening it, she grabs something and brings it to me. It's a much larger piece of bread this time. She also grabs a cup of tea that's already made.

"Here you go," she says merrily and puts the bread on my tray, as well as the tea.

I thank her and turn to the table to see the others. Even Jeremy and Aelita are at the table this time. Walking to the table, I reach it and sit down. They greet me and Odd regales me with the "extra helping" he'd convinced Rosa to give TV.

I laugh at the mental image of the man with meatballs and sauce dribbling down his head. Turning to Odd, I say, "Nice job with Vincent, Odd. I take it you're not going to be looking up to him anymore?"

"Nah, and besides, he's kind of a jerk," he replies. "I also mentioned what you did to Vincent's microphone this time, figured you should get some extra portions."

I chuckle at that, "Thanks. Appreciate it." I then turn to Sissi, "So, um, are you two really dating?"

She looks at me, then Odd, who shrugs.

"Not really. But if we ever do date, don't let it surprise you," Sissi replies with a mischievous smirk.

"Well, hopefully, Delmas will realize TV isn't all that great and will make him leave the school," Jeremy suggests.

"That would be nice," I agree.

"I don't want to see snow again," Ulrich admits. "Not for a while… That was pretty bad."

"Tell me about it. I was so worried about you Ulrich. After I collapsed from the cold… I wasn't sure either of us were going to make it," Yumi mentions.

"But we succeeded. No matter what you guys, we'll always succeed to defeat Xana," I say. They nod.

And I'll be here every step of the way to help, I think.

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LyokoWarrior1994