Disclaimer: Code Lyoko is copyrighted by Moonscoop.
I only own Lila and Mia. Mary is owned by AeroJester203. Kayori Avalon is owned by decode9.
Author's Note: This chapter will switch between POVs. Please read further ahead to find out what Mary's reaction was after the cliffhanger of the last chapter was revealed.
Temporary Insanity
Sector Five
Celestial Dome
POV Kayori's
I'm driving my Overdrive in the Celestial Dome. Thankfully, Aelita uploaded my materialization code just a few minutes ago. She's working on the interface with Lila, Ulrich, and Odd guarding her. Sissi was devirtualized earlier by a few of the Xana Bots. Mia took those out, then a Xana Bot took her out, and then I took that one out.
I narrowly dodge a Manta's laser by diving on my Overdrive. When I regain my equilibrium, I pull out a throwing knife and nail the Manta right in the target eye. I look away as it explodes, and in my periphery I see Yumi falling. A Manta must have hit her Overwing. I dive once again to intercept her, urging my Overdrive to its top speed.
Yumi falls but keeps her cool and takes her Tessen Fans out. She twirls on her way down, spinning she shouts.
"Hiya!" She throws her Tessen fans and they do a sort of U-turn and slice through the Manta. The force of its explosion causes Yumi to fall even faster, and I swoop down to catch her. She lands on the back of my Overdrive, stands, and puts her hand on my shoulder to steady herself.
"What took you so long? I almost didn't wait," she says.
"Sorry, I'm still getting used to this thing," I reply.
"Laser Arrows!" Odd exclaims from the bridge, firing several Laser Arrows at a flying Manta. It dodges them.
"Darn it, Lucienne!" he exclaims. Ulrich and Lila look at Odd confused.
Lucienne? Is he naming his monsters or something? Is that a thing? I think.
"Lucienne" decides to shift its focus to us. It fires its laser and hits the Overdrive, causing Yumi and I to lose our balance. Taking another throwing knife from my pouch, I pull it back, keeping in mind not to hit Yumi by accident, and throw. The throwing knife flies at the Manta, and hits the target eye. Light shines from within the Manta and explodes. We drive closer to the bridge.
"Aelita, I'm trying to collect more data on Franz Hopper, but I can't access the sub systems. Be careful, flying Mantas coming your way at ten o'clock!" Jeremy informs. Aelita stops using the interface and looks up at the incoming Mantas. I put my hand in my pocket to grab another throwing knife. Three flying Mantas fly towards Ulrich, Odd, and Lila who just nocked an arrow on her bow. Lila's about to pull the drawstring, but the Mantas fire at Aelita.
Ulrich uses his super sprint, shielding Aelita and Lila, taking a few of the lasers.
"Jeremy, how's everything going, because around here things are kind of-" Yumi starts to say but is interrupted by an incoming laser. The laser hits Yumi and devirtualizes her. I nearly lose my balance on the Overdrive.
"Woah!" I exclaim. Taking my hand out of the pouch, I redirect my Overdrive and start driving towards a flying Manta. I urge it to go faster. Hopefully I can hit the Manta before it hits me, because it's charging up.
"Not great. For now, I don't have any data that will help me locate Franz Hopper, I'm afraid. You'll have to hold out a little longer," Jeremy informs.
"Easy for you to say!" Ulrich exclaims, dodging the lasers.
"We'll do what we can," Lila says as she puts her bow on her hook. I jump off my Overdrive, into the air. The Manta fires a laser at me. My ability allows me to leap into the air, high above the laser - almost like low gravity on the moon - and I land on the Manta. I take my sword out of its sheath and plunge it into the target eye, light shines from within. I use the Manta as a guide and make it fly me back to the others. Taking my sword out of the Manta, I jump off it. I land on the bridge and the Manta flies pass us, then explodes.
"Nice one," Lila compliments.
"Thanks, I-" I start to say but then two of the Mantas fire their lasers at me, no one is quick enough to save me, including myself, and I'm hit by the lasers. I devirtualize.
POV Lila's
Kayori is devirtualized, and I take another arrow out of my quiver. I can tell I'm running low, probably two left. It's the first time I've really ever come so close to running out of arrows.
"Not cool!" I exclaim, and look to Aelita who is still using the interface terminal.
"Anything yet, Aelita?" I ask her.
"I'm almost there, I'm about ready to access the sub systems," she replies.
Odd cocks his paw and fires off his Laser Arrows at the two Mantas. They fly over the arrows and pass us in the process. I follow the Mantas, and pulling my drawstring back, I launch an arrow at them.
"How many life points do we have left?" Odd asks. The arrow misses them and they make a u-turn, flying towards us again. They pass us on the bridge and do another turn, then start charging their lasers.
"Not many, if you get hit it'll be game over," he replies. "And the same goes for you, Ulrich. You too, Lila."
"Apple, Evette you two come back here right now!" Odd exclaims. I notice the Mantas have a peculiar red aura around them.
"Odd, cut it out with the names, huh?" Ulrich asks, and the Mantas fire their lasers at us. Odd is hit by a single laser, so are Ulrich and I. The lasers pass right through us and our bodies start glowing red. My eyes widen.
"What's going on here?" I ask, looking at myself. I realize we haven't devirtualized yet, despite being hit.
"Yeah, why aren't we devirtualized?" Ulrich asks.
The Mantas return to normal and Odd cocks his paw.
"Laser Arrows!" he exclaims, firing off several Laser Arrows underneath the Mantas. The Mantas are hit and they explode.
"This is really weird," I comment, noticing the aura has still not disappeared.
"It is, what is that?' Aelita asks, finally done with the interface terminal.
"Beats me. You saw, they shot at us and this is what happened," Ulrich explains, the red aura still glowing around him and Odd. Suddenly the three of us start devirtualizing without warning.
"Woah!" we exclaim and completely devirtualize.
Back in the scanner room
The scanners' doors open. Ulrich checks himself out in the scanner to make sure everything is where it should be. I follow suit.
"You guys okay? All in one piece, I hope?" Jeremy asks, his hands in his pockets. Yumi, Sissi, Kayori, and Mia looks at us with concern.
"Yeah, I think so," Ulrich replies.
"Same here," I reply and step out of the scanner. Odd's scanner opens.
"Two great legs, a svelte torso, two little arms, and a good looking head. No, nothing missing," he smiles. My scanner's doors close behind me and reopens with Aelita in it.
"Jeremy, what happened back there?" Aelita asks.
"I wish I knew, I have to look back at the quantum sequence to track any abnormalities in the access data," Jeremy answers. Ulrich steps out of his scanner.
"Translation, Jeremy?" Kayori asks. Odd steps out of his scanner too.
Aelita chuckles lightly, replying, "He has to carry on a full check."
Lowering his sleeve, Odd checks his watch.
"There's no time! We've got rehearsal in exactly five minutes!" he exclaims.
Jeremy deadpans, "Rehearsal? Oh no I completely forgot about it! Chardin is going to kill us."
"We'd better hurry then, looks like you'll have to run your full check later," Yumi says.
"I'm so glad I don't have to be in this play. Chardin was accommodating to my anxiety with crowds," I sigh in relief. The others nod and they start walking to freight elevator, I walk by Kayori's side. I'm glad she's a lyoko warrior.
Afterwards
In the gym
The gym is set up as an auditorium with an old set from Romeo and Juliet on stage. The others are rehearsing Cyrano de Bergerac. There certainly is a crowd tonight, but thankfully I'm not on stage. Having stage freight certainly isn't fun, but I think I've developed that for not wanting my face in front of any cameras, It really never occurred to me until I found the others had to rehearse for this play and I knew I didn't want to rehearse.
Never really read this play before class, I think. Nicholas is chanting "we want our money back," for some strange reason. I'm sitting opposite to them, thankfully, with Kayori by my side and Sissi sitting next to her. Mia is sitting next to Sissi.
I wonder if Mary's heard of this play? She never read it to me when she was pretending to be my father. After the other night… I wonder if she'd want to read this to me one day. She was pretty upset with me…
Flashback
"What did you just say?" she asked, her eyes widened.
"I died, Mary. Cameron killed me in the timeline Future Aelita came from."
Mary's arm rested on the chair, it started to spark with white electricity.
"No…" she trailed off. I could tell she was really upset and her other arm started sparking with white electricity.
"Mary?" I asked in concern.
"She can't be dead," she replied. "My Lila can't be dead!" she wailed. I got up from the chair, and rushed over to her. I hugged her, gripping her tightly. I cradled her head.
"Mary, I'm here," I said. She gasped a bit, and I let go of her she looked at herself.
"My powers… they feel… normal..." she trailed off, dispersing her white electricity. She looked at me.
"Why… why didn't you tell me this sooner?"
"I knew… I knew it would break your heart."
End of Flashback
Snapping back to reality, I see Chardin and Jim have already sat down. The others are about to perform. Jeremy uses a large stick, tapping the floor with it. Ulrich's holding a stick too, and he calls out to Yumi.
"Roxanne," he announces. Yumi comes out from the balcony. I watch with anticipation.
"Who calls me?" she asks.
"It is I, Christian," Ulrich replies.
"Today your words are hesitant," Yumi says.
"Night has come, in the dusk they grope their way to find your ear," Odd says, hiding by a cut out bush.
"But my words find no such impediment," Yumi says.
"They find their way once? Oh! Such small wonder that, it is within my heart they find their home," Odd says. Ulrich crosses the stick over his heart.
"You think how large my heart, how small your ear," Odd continues. I look at Sissi and see that she's smiling at Odd's acting. Suddenly, I start feeling a small but sharp pain in my head.
POV Kayori's
"And from their fair heights descending, words fall fast, but mine must mount, Madame!" Odd exclaims. I look at Lila, she seems to be in pain.
"Lila?" I whisper, concerned.
"They need more—LASER ARROWS!" Odd exclaims suddenly, cocking his fist as if he were on Lyoko. Sissi, Mia, and I look at him in shock. Some of the students start murmuring.
"No, I've got it!" Lila shouts, she gets up from her chair and runs onto the stage. Now people are gasping, and Jeremy looks at them stunned.
Lila gets on stage, and I turn to Sissi. "Is this, um, normal behavior for you guys?" I ask.
"No," she replies.
"Definitely not," Mia says. Lila turns to the front of the stage and holds her hand out as if she's summoning her electricity powers. Odd follows Lila's actions. Some of the students think this is a joke, so they laugh.
Could… this have happened because of those lasers they told us about? I think. Aelita comes out from behind the curtain and goes to Jeremy, she looks at them with concern.
"Me thinks your last words have learned to climb," Yumi says, trying to salvage the scene. That seems to snap the two of them out of it, because Odd lowers his arm. Lila seems surprised that she's on stage. Odd folds his hands behind him, and Lila puts her hand down.
"With practice, such gymnastic grows less hard! In truth, I seem to speak from distant heights!" Odd exclaims. Lila remains silent with her head hung, embarrassed.
"Two Kankerlats, dead ahead!" Ulrich exclaims, using his stick as if it were his katana blade.
"Two, for above such a height… oh, okay, I'll get them!" Odd exclaims, cocking his fist again.
"No way, let me. I'm all charged up now!" Lila exclaims, holding out her hand again as if she's about to unleash an electricity blast. Delmas stands up.
"Stern, Della Robbia, Smith! What are you babbling about?" he asks, but Chardin stands too and interrupts,
"Please, sir, keep it down. Don't you know cutting-edge theater when you see it? It's a modern approach, somewhere between a bold soprano and a deadly karate match," Mr. Chardin tries to explain. Odd jumps off the stage and aims his hand at Nicholas, Herb, and Emily who are shocked. Some of the students are yelling now, as confused as they are concerned. Odd, lacking the physical ability he typically has on Lyoko, lands hard on the floor.
"Ulrich, Lila! I'm hit!" he exclaims. Some of the students surround him and Chardin walks up to him.
"Bravo," Chardin compliments. Herb, Nicholas, and Emily stare at him.
"Super Sprint!" Ulrich exclaims, he runs off the stage and, holding his stick, he starts to swing at Emily. Sissi runs over to Ulrich and Odd, Yumi gets in between Ulrich and Emily. Aelita and Jeremy, are trying to get Lila to snap back to reality, but she is making gestures as if she's using her bow and arrow. I get up, and run over to her.
"Cut it out! Your gag is not funny it's lame!" Yumi exclaims, running up to them.
"Yumi, what are you doing? You made miss miss the Megatank," Ulrich says.
"Odd, are you okay? What's gotten into you?" Sissi asks.
"Lila, come on, this isn't funny," I say, reaching her.
"Kayori, move! You and Aelita are blocking my aim! The Tarantula is going to get you!" she exclaims. More murmurs amongst the crowds.
"Out of the way, Sissi, I can't see the Krab!" Odd exclaims.
"This time you have gone too far. One more word out of you, and it's the disciplinary committee, you hear?" Delmas threatens. Mia and I get ahold of Lila and bring her off stage, over to Delmas.
"Please wait, Mr. Delmas, there's something wrong," Jeremy says. "Odd isn't himself."
Odd looks up as if he hears Jeremy on the intercom.
"Jeremy?" he asks.
"Does Xana have a broken hard drive disk, or what? The Krab sounds a lot like Delmas." More students gasp as Odd mentions that, and Ulrich is trying to get passed Yumi.
"Odd, Lila! Watch out! A Blok at four o'clock!" he exclaims, looking at Jim. Lila's trying to attack Jim, but Mia and I are able to keep her back.
"A block? You're the blockhead, Stern!" Jim exclaims. Ulrich manages to push through Yumi and screams at Jim as he rushes him, wielding the stick. Jim dodges, gets behind Ulrich, and picks him up, restraining Ulrich with one arm.
"Quick! Someone call an ambulance! Stern, Della Robbia, and Smith have totally lost it!" Jim exclaims. This causes some of the students to scream, not out of fear but for concern for their fellow classmates.
Afterwards
Outside by the administration building
Delmas and Jim brought all of us outside the administration building. There are two ambulances, one of them has Odd and Ulrich constrained inside… the other one has Lila, who is also constrained.
"Jeremy reload me! Two Tarantulas are getting the better of us!" Odd exclaims from inside the ambulance.
"Me too! I'm on my last arrow here!" Lila exclaims from inside her ambulance.
"We're stuck inside another one of Xana's traps!" Ulrich exclaims. The paramedics start the ambulances, the sirens on, and take off. I can't help but feel… useless as my girlfriend is being taken away. As if she were insane… but she's not.
I think Ulrich is right, this has to be Xana, I think.
"Yumi do something!" Odd screams as the ambulance speeds away.
Yumi has her arms crossed. Jeremy, Aelita, Sissi, Mia, and I watch our friends being taken away. Sissi is pretty quiet…
"Rehearsal is over!" Mr. Delmas announces.
"Ulrich is right, they are stuck in another one of Xana's traps," Aelita says.
"Go follow them to the hospital, I'll see if I can find out what's happening in the meantime," Jeremy says.
"What about… Lila's mom? Shouldn't we tell her?" Sissi asks strangely. I raise my eyebrow.
"I can do that. After all, she lives close by. You should be with Odd," Mia replies.
"Right… thanks," Sissi says. Aelita looks at me, she can tell I'm concerned.
"Don't worry, Kayori, we'll figure this out. We always do," she says.
"Okay," I say.
Afterwards
POV Mia's
Reaching Mary's house within ten minutes, I knock on the door rapidly. It takes a minute for Mary to answer, but she does.
"Mia… what's wrong?" she asks.
"Xana's launched an attack. Somehow… he's affected the way Ulrich, Odd, and Lila are looking at reality," I explain.
"He's… affected their perception? Is… is Lila okay?"
I shake my head.
"She, Ulrich and Odd, are en route to the hospital... I think we may need you," I say.
"Let me get my things," Mary says.
Afterwards
At the hospital
POV Kayori's
Yumi, Aelita, Sissi, and I have just arrived at the hospital. We're still waiting for Mia and Mary to show up. Yumi's phone starts ringing, she looks at the ID and answers it.
"Yes, Jeremy?" she asks. There's a short pause.
"You mean we have to spring them from the hospital?" she asks.
Um… isn't that, well, illegal? I think.
Yumi sighs and hangs up her phone, she puts the phone in her pocket.
"What should we do?" Sissi asks.
"We need to improvise," Yumi replies. We hear panting from close by, and turn to see Mia with an older woman. I think it's Lila's mom.
"There you are, sorry for the wait," Mrs. Smith says.
"It's okay, Mary. Jeremy just called and said we need to get Lila, Ulrich, and Odd out of the hospital and onto Lyoko to fix all of this," Yumi relays.
"I understand," Mary says. She looks at me.
"I take it you're Lila's girlfriend? Kayori?" she asks. I nod.
"I wish we were meeting under better circumstances. Now all of you, with me," Mary says. We nod and she starts walking to the entrance. We follow her.
Inside the hospital
A woman is reading a sumo magazine, flipping through the pages. Mary takes out what appears to be her ID.
"Hello," she introduces. "I'm here to see my daughter, Lila Smith," she says. The woman lowers her magazine down, she checks Mary's ID for a moment, then continues reading.
"Sorry ma'am, your daughter is under observation. No visitors allowed, you'll need to wait until tomorrow to see her," she says.
Mary looks like she's about to object when Sissi interrupts her.
"What about Odd Della Robbia and Ulrich Stern? Can we at least see them?" Sissi asks.
The woman stops reading and lowers her magazine again.
"Again, no visitors allowed. They're under observation," she says, and resumes reading her magazine. Mary puts her ID away and sighs.
"What do we do now?" Aelita whispers. A nurse and two doctors start talking nearby.
"Quiet, listen," Yumi urges.
All of us listen in on the conversation. There's a nurse with long black hair talking with two doctors.
"The two young men in 217 and the young woman in 218 are fighting imaginary enemies they call Bloks, Megatanks, and Xana," she informs the doctors. One of the doctors laughs, he's young, caucasian, and has a beard.
"Where do they get such crazy names from? What do you think Professor Hornnet?" The doctor asks a shorter, older gentleman.
"Typical of today's youth," Professor Hornnet says.
"Now we know what rooms they're in," Yumi says. Mary is pretty quiet. I can't help but wonder why she isn't demanding the woman behind the window let her see her daughter. She looks at the nurse in an interesting way, I can't really put my finger on it. Mia notices this too, and then Mary nods.
"Let's go then," Mia says.
Afterwards
In the hallway of the hospital
We're walking towards the rooms, when we spot a tall blond orderly man in the hallway. He notices us.
"Are all of you lost?" he asks. Mary smiles innocently and walks up to him. Mia and I raise our eyebrows, Sissi's eyes widen.
"She's not going to do what I think she's going to do? Is she?" Sissi whispers to Yumi and Aelita. They nod.
"I think so," Aelita replies.
She sort of stares at him for a second before putting her hand on his shoulder and shocks him unconscious with white electricity. As he falls to the ground, she takes on his form.
"I know you both have a lot of questions right now, but it's not the time for that. Let's get to Ulrich, Odd, and Lila. Once they're back to normal, you can ask any questions you want," she says, looking at Mia and me.
"Sissi hold my purse, if we run into any of the staff members they may question why an orderly man is holding a purse."
"Um, right," Sissi says, still a little, for lack of a better term, shocked.
"You knew about this Yumi, Aelita?" Mia asks, almost disappointed.
"We did, but like Mary said, let's get the others better first," Aelita says as Sissi takes Mary's purse.
Room 218
Yumi, Sissi, and Aelita are in Odd and Ulrich's room, hopefully getting them out. Lila is strapped to bed. She notices me and Mia as we enter the room. Mary is keeping watch for us outside, still posing as the orderly man.
"Kayori, Mia behind you! A Krab!" Lila exclaims.
"I've got this," Mia says, playing along. She pretends to take out her whip, while I run over to Lila. Mia pretends to whip the Krab and then open her pouch. She pretends to throw one of her ninja tools while I undo Lila's restraints. Mary knocks on the door behind her, giving us the signal.
"Got it, now let's get to that activated tower," Mia says, trying to keep up the illusion.
"Right! I can't wait to go back to Earth… I really need to see Mary. Explain why I kept my secret from her," Lila says. I raise my eyebrow and look over at Mary who... disappears into white smoke? My jaw drops slightly.
I thought she might have had abilities or something… but she just disappeared… like a ghost? No, wait… didn't they explain they deal with Xana's spectres sometimes? Is Mary similar to that? And what's this secret Lila mentioned? I think, slightly dumbfounded.
Afterwards
In the hallway
We all regroup in the hallway, all except Mary. Seems she needed to go on ahead.
"Great, now that the three of you are here, we can head to the activated to tower," Aelita winks.
"Right, let's go," I say, playing along.
Near the front entrance
We pass the orderly who was unconscious earlier, but he's now starting to wake up. We continue running and we're passing the nurse and the younger doctor who are both holding a drink. The eight of us continue to quietly walk pass them. We start walking a bit faster to the entrance, but someone drops their drink.
"Huh?!" the nurse exclaims. We turn to look at the nurse.
"Where do you think you're going?" she asks.
"The Blok's caught up with us!" Odd exclaims, cocking his hand and readying it like it's a Laser Arrow.
"No time!" Aelita exclaims, putting her hand on Odd's shoulder. She starts running and Odd does too, so do the rest of us.
"Come on, move it!" Sissi exclaims, urging us to run faster. We continue running further, passing by an orderly nurse.
"Out of my way!" the nurse exclaims from behind us.
Mary, we could use you right now! Where did you go? I think.
We run faster, with the nurse pursuing from behind us. We soon reach the front entrance and the doors slide open. We manage to get away from the hospital, and keep running until we spot a stairwell. We run over to it and catch our breaths. Ulrich walks up the steps.
Afterwards
After catching our breaths, Yumi's phone starts ringing. Checking the ID, she answers it.
"Yeah, Jeremy?" she asks. There's a short pause.
"Okay, we're on our way," Yumi says, hanging up.
"Xana's attacking the core of Lyoko," she informs.
"Then let's go!" Mia exclaims. We nod.
Afterwards
"Just a little further," Aelita says, leading us down the street. "The tower's not far now."
"Right!" Lila exclaims. We start hearing sirens, and stop walking.
"Oh man, this cannot be good…" I trail off, seeing the approaching police car driving down the road.
"What do we do now?" Sissi asks.
"That way!" Yumi exclaims, pointing over to a nearby stairwell that goes down. Ulrich starts walking towards the police car,
"Go ahead, I'll take care of the Megatank," he says, determinedly.
"Ulrich, no!" Yumi exclaims.
"Come back, it's way too dangerous!" Mia exclaims.
He doesn't listen and rushes the police car head-on. He jumps in the air and flies towards the police car, getting ready to kick through the windshield. The policemen see his incoming attack and swerve to the left side of the road, so Ulrich doesn't get hurt. The police car's tires drag across the road, and come to a halt as another car almost hits it. I sigh in relief, and Ulrich lands on the ground safely. He starts making his way towards us.
Afterwards
Inside the lab
The freight elevator's doors open, revealing Jeremy and, surprisingly, Mary. There's beeping coming from the computer.
"Ah, there you are, Mary told me you were on your way. It's about time," he says, walking into the freight elevator with us. Mary stays behind.
"Only one more shield left protecting the core of Lyoko, Mary get ready to start the transfers," Jeremy says, and Yumi presses the red button to go down.
"If it's all the same to you Jeremy, you should start them when you get back," Mary says.
"Okay, I will," Jeremy says.
The freight elevator's doors close, it starts heading down to the scanner room.
Odd looks up at the ceiling of the freight elevator, Lila does too.
"Jeremy, would you mind sending me the Overboard? Because I'm tired of running around," Odd says.
"And my broomstick would be good too," Lila adds.
Inside the scanner room
Reaching the scanner room, Aelita asks:
"Any idea how to get them into the scanners?"
"Leave it to me, Aelita," Jeremy replies.
The scanners' doors open. Ulrich, Odd, and Lila walk to them. Jeremy stays behind in the freight elevator.
"Okay, you three, you made it there. Now head for that way tower," Jeremy says.
"Right," Ulrich says. Ulrich takes the scanner closest to him, Odd takes the middle scanner, and Lila takes the left hand scanner. The scanners doors close, leaving Ulrich with a confused look before the doors shut on his scanner.
Jeremy presses the red button to go up and the freight elevator's doors begin closing.
"Nice one, Jeremy," Aelita compliments.
"He really did it," I sigh in relief.
"It's not over yet, Kayori. We still need to get them to a way tower," Sissi reminds me.
"Right," I say. "So who's going in first?" I ask.
"I think it'll be best if you, Sissi, and Mia head to the scanners first," Aelita decides.
"Okay," I nod. The scanners doors reopen. Mia takes the middle scanner, and I take the right hand scanner. Sissi takes the left hand scanner.
The scanners doors close, and I close my eyes, shielding my eyes from the intense light as Jeremy begins the virtualization process.
Lyoko's Ice Sector
Opening my eyes, Mia, Sissi, and I land safely on the ice. Odd, Ulrich, and Lila look at their surroundings, confused.
"What's wrong, you three?" I ask.
"It's empty out here, not a kid in sight," Odd replies, putting his hand on his hip.
"Oh, don't tell me," Mia groans.
"They think they're at the school, don't they?" Sissi asks, sighing.
"Perfect," she mumbles.
"And Virtualization!" Jeremy finishes. Looking up, we see Aelita and Yumi virtualize. They land on the ice in a crouch position, they get up.
"I guess they're all in the lunchroom," Ulrich shrugs.
"Well, it is lunch time," Lila says, agreeing with them.
"Uh… yeah," Yumi says. Yumi turns to Aelita.
"This is getting worse and worse. Now they think they're at the academy," Yumi says. "Listen, Aelita, you and Kayori head to the way tower. Mia, Sissi, and I will head to the core of Lyoko," she decides.
"Got it," Aelita says.
"Thanks, Yumi," I say, smiling. Yumi nods. Aelita and I run up to Odd, Ulrich, and Lila.
"Let's go to the...um.." Aelita trails off.
"Lunchroom," I say, finishing her sentence.
"Yeah! Lunchroom, let's go there," Aelita says.
"I'm starving!" Odd exclaims.
"You always are!" Lila disses. I can't help but chuckle lightly, and we start running.
"Welcoming committee straight ahead. Be careful you two."
Running passed Ulrich, Odd, and Lila, we see the Tarantula, accompanied by two Kankrelats ahead. The Tarantula makes a strange noise. Odd, Ulrich, and Lila walk over to us, passing us by.
"No," Aelita utters. Opening my pouch, I quickly get a throwing knife out.
"I don't believe it," she sighs.
"I think I can handle the Tarantula," I tell her. "But make sure you can get the Kankerlats."
"Hang on, I've got a better idea," Aelita says. Odd hums as he's walking, the Tarantula kneels down and raises its front legs, readying its lasers.
"Hey, Emily, you in a bad mood? Did you break a nail this morning?" Odd jokes.
Aelita raises her hand, she starts singing and creates an ice wall. The monsters unleash their lasers, but all they hit is the ice wall. Aelita smiles in relief.
"Nice one," I compliment, gripping my throwing knife just in case. Odd bumps into the ice wall, followed by Ulrich, and Lila too. The ice starts cracking as the monsters lasers hit the ice one by one. They put their hands on the wall like they can't see it.
"You think Emily and her pals made a display case, or what?" Odd asks.
"Doubt it. A display case like this would be too expensive, for one, Delmas would never allow something like this on campus, even as a joke," Lila replies.
The monsters continue firing their lasers causing the cracks in the ice to worsen. In a glance, we know what we have to do. Aelita and I run over to Ulrich, Odd, and Lila and tackle them to the ground just as the monsters break through the wall. The lasers just narrowly miss our friends.
"Who's the dork that pushed me into Emily's arms?" Ulrich asks.
"Talk about your worst nightmare," Lila shudders.
We get up. Aelita holds up her hand, summoning her energy field. Thankfully I didn't lose my throwing lnife just now when we tackled our friends to save them.
"Energy field!" she exclaims. I release my throwing knife. Our attacks fly at the monsters. Aelita's energy field hits a Kankerlat and it explodes. My throwing knife plunges into the target eye of the other Kankerat, short circuiting it, and then explodes.
"Energy field," Aelita whispers, summoning her energy field in the palm of her hand again. She launches it at the Tarantula, but misses for some reason.
"Energy field? You think we're on Lyoko or something?" Odd asks. Aelita summons two energy fields, connecting their energies together. I'm about to take a leap in the air, to throw throw another knife at the Tarantula but it stands up on both legs. Using its front legs it continues firing at us. A laser manages to hit Aelita's leg, causing her energy fields to dispel. It fires a laser at my leg, too, and I drop my throwing knife, groaning. Both of our legs shock. There's no physical pain. It's hard to describe, it's as if the impact of the laser was hard enough to make me feel physical pain without actually having it.
One of the lasers hits Ulrich's shoulder and Lila's shoulder too. Their shoulders shock.
"Ow! Something just stung me!" Ulrich exclaims, rubbing his shoulder.
"Me too, I really hope that wasn't a bee. I have no idea if I'm allergic," Lila says. The shocking in all of us soon stops.
She doesn't know her own allergies? That's… really weird, I think. The Tarantula continues to shoot at us, and we are tasked with not only defending ourselves, but defending Odd, Ulrich, and Lila. There's no telling what might happen if they get devirtualized here.
Aelita starts singing. She puts one hand on the temple of her head, and raises her other hand. My eyes widen in surprise as the ice underneath the Tarantula disappears. It screeches on its way down to the digital sea. Opening my pouch, I put my throwing knife back in, and then close it. Aelita points straight ahead.
"That way," Aelita says. "Hurry up,"
"No, the lunch room is that way," Odd says, pointing in the direction we just came from. Aelita sighs, obviously frustrated, and puts her hand to her head.
"Look, you three, Aelita and I really need you to listen to us," I say, somewhat annoyed by this temporary insanity.
Honestly this is just getting frustrating, I think.
"Like Kayori said, listen to us. You've got to do exactly as we say and no questions. You got that?" she asks with a ferocity and authority that cannot be ignored.
Odd rubs the back of his head, Ulrich looks down at the ice. Lila sort of looks away from us.
"Okay," Ulrich says.
"Okay," Odd agrees.
"Sure…" Lila trails off.
Afterwards
We finally reach the way tower at the end of the enclosed path. Aelita points to the way tower.
"Now get in there, that's an order!" Aelita exclaims. Odd and Ulrich salute Aelita like she's a general.
"Ma'am, yes ma'am!" Odd and Ulrich exclaim.
Lila doesn't seem too convinced. Sighing I walk over to her and cup her hands into mine. She looks at me, surprised.
"Do you trust us?" I ask. She looks at me for a second and nods.
"Of course I do," she replies. I smile.
"Then go with them," I say. Lila nods. She, Odd, and Ulrich walk to the way tower. They phase in its "doorway."
"Let's hope this works!" Jeremy exclaims, determined to get this over with.
"It has to, I'm sure it will," Mary says, as if it's a matter of fact. Aelita and I look at each other. There's something I noticed about Aelita and Lila's outfit. They are the only ones equipped with jewelry, since Aelita has a pink earring on her right ear. We nod and walk slowly into the way tower, phasing into its "doorway."
Inside the way tower
Getting inside the way tower, the platform is lit up.
"Now let's see if this program is operational," Jeremy says. Aelita and I watch as Ulrich's, Odd's, and Lila's bodies start to glow red. The glow then turns green and disappears.
"How do you guys feel?" Aelita asks.
POV Lila's
I look at Aelita and Kayori, for some reason we appear to be in a way tower, and the pain in my head from earlier has completely disappeared.
What on Earth? Why are we back on Lyoko? What happened with Chardin's play? I think, confused. Odd and Ulrich look confused too.
"Fine, but what are we doing inside a way tower?" Ulrich asks.
"I don't get it," Odd shakes his head. "Shouldn't we be in the lunch room?" he asks. I guess he's confused for some reason, but I know for a fact we should be in the gym.
"We'll explain later," Kayori says.
"I'm just relieved to hear you're all back to normal now," Mary says.
"Mary… you're in the lab?" I ask. I look at Kayori.
"Do you know that she's a-" I start to say but Kayori nods.
"Yeah, I do," she says.
"Oh man…" I trail off. Aelita looks up.
"Jeremy, did you get that? It worked," she says.
"I did, but the core is still in danger. Yumi, Sissi, and Mia are doing the best that they can," Jeremy informs.
"Right, we're on our way," Aelita says and looks at us. We nod.
Sector Five
Arena Room
The Transporter Orb opens and drops us off into the spinning room.
"Hurry up, the others need your help," Jeremy informs. The room slows down and the walls align. The door opens.
We run through the doorway and reach the walls. The walls open up one by one, revealing a staircase. We start running down the staircase and Ulrich runs ahead of us, not using his Super Sprint. Odd is using both his paws and feet to run on the stairs.
Afterwards
Core Chamber of Lyoko
Reaching the Core Chamber of Lyoko, Jeremy informs:
"Yumi, Sissi, Mia! The last protective shield is about ready to go!"
Looking up, we can't hear what Yumi, Sissi, and Mia are saying. But we see that they're doing their best against two flying Mantas and two Xana Bots. As we run up the stairs, the flying Manta charges its laser and fires at Yumi who blocks the laser with her Tessen Fan. She throws that Tessen Fan back at the flying Manta.
A blue light from Sissi's bracer blares, and she launches three spades at the two Xana Bots. It seems she'd already activated her Lady Luck ability earlier. The Tessen Fan connects, and so does one of the spades, but the other Xana Bot dodges the other two spades. Mia is about to use her whip to paralyze that remaining Xana Bot, but Mia, Yumi, and Sissi are bombarded with lasers from both the flying Manta and the Xana Bot. They're hit by the monsters and fly off the stairs, devirtualized in a cloud of pixels.
The remaining flying Manta flies up, and the Xana Bot stays, leaving the Manta and the other Xana Bot attacking the Sphere, to finish it. Getting high enough on the stairs, Odd cocks his paw and fires off a Laser Arrow at the Manta Yumi was dealing with. Getting my bow out, I nock my arrow. I pull the drawstring and release the arrow at the Xana Bot. The Xana Bot explodes and I put my bow back on its hook.
"Yahoo!" Odd exclaims. Channeling electricity to the soles of my feet, my lightning necklace glows. I use the extra juice to give me a boost to run up the stairs. Ulrich uses his Super Sprint.
"Be careful! All of the core's shields are gone. One more hit and the core is a goner, and you guys along with it," Jeremy informs.
"Oh great," Ulrich groans, stopping on a step. Aelita passes by him, and so does Kayori. I'm just behind them, but they run up to the highest step. Seeing the remaining flying Manta, Kayori opens her pouch and takes her throwing knife out. The Flying Manta starts charging its laser. Aelita runs and jumps in front of the Manta's laser, using her body to shield the core. Kayori throws the knife at the flying Manta at the same time the laser hits Aelita, devirtualizing her. Light shines from within and the Manta explodes. Kayori lands on the step safely. Odd and I meet up with Ulrich on the step he stopped on.
"Nice one, you guys. Time to bring you back in. Good timing, Kayori," Jeremy compliments.
"Thanks," Kayori smiles.
Afterwards
Back inside the scanner room
Imside the scanner
The scanners doors open, Kayori was materialized first, followed by Ulrich, Odd, and myself. Getting up, Kayori looks at me, concerned.
"Well… how do you feel?" Yumi asks Ulrich from his scanner.
"Are you feeling okay, Lila?" Kayori asks. I smile.
"Well what? Laser Arrow!" Odd exclaims, cocking his hand and aiming his arm as if it were a Laser Arrow. Kayori looks at Odd, shocked, Sissi, Yumi, Mia, and Aelita do too. I know he's joking though, because I'm back to normal.
"Ha, just kidding, ladies!" Odd exclaims.
"Very funny," Aelita, Yumi, Mia, and Sissi say in unison. Although, looking at Sissi, she seems like she wants to slap Odd in the head for that. Kayori just looks relieved. Ulrich steps out of his scanner and I follow suit.
"Right, while it's a good thing some people are clowning around, others keep working. Okay?" Jeremy asks, "Return to the past, now!" he exclaims.
A big white bubble engulfs all of us, sending us back in time.
Earlier the same day
Inside the lab
The others decided to go to rehearsal. Since Kayori, Mia, and myself, aren't technically in rehearsal, Mary and I thought it might be best to use this time to answer a few of their questions. Kayori rubs her arm.
"So, I'll start… you're Lila's mom but you're a spectre? How is that possible?" she asks.
Mary looks at her. "I'm not her mother, and I'm a spectre because…" she looks at me for permission, I sigh internally but nod approvingly.
"I'm a spectre because I was designed that way, by… Xana himself," she reveals.
"What?!" Mia exclaims, angrily. "You told me in the beginning you were designed by her father," she reminds her.
"Her father, who's your father?" Kayori asks.
"Jeremy is… from the future at least," I reply. Kayori blinks incredulously.
"Huh?" she asks.
"I can explain that part. You see, Kayori, Lila and I come from the future. We both led difficult lives, and returning to the past was our only means of escaping those difficult lives. It sounds crazy, I know," Mia replies.
"Okay…" Kayori trails off.
"What I want to know is, why didn't you ever tell me you were a spectre, Mary? One made by Xana himself?" Mia asks.
"Your history with him was difficult, I felt it was best to keep the truth from you for that reason alone," Mary replies.
"Right… makes sense," Mia says. "I guess."
"But how could Xana have made you in the future Mary?" Kayori asks.
"It's a long complicated story. If I were to tell you and Mia… the others can't know. Not now at least. But it all started because a part of Xana had total dominance of my future world," I explain.
"Oh man…" Kayori trails off, she looks at my necklace. "Then… the necklace?"
I nod. "I keep it hidden… because it's a time machine necklace. Designed by father but later on eventually completed by Mary and Xana," I explain.
"That… that makes sense. That's why you're always hiding it, and why you wouldn't let me in. All of this sounds… crazy, no offense, but given Xana's attack from today… I believe you," Kayori says.
"Just one question… when you were temporarily insane, you mentioned you needed to talk to Mary about a secret?" she asks.
"I did?" I ask. "I think I know what it was that I meant but…" I look to Mary.
"She talked to me about it already. It's been handled," Mary says.
"That's good," Kayori nods. "Then… can we see this time machine of yours?" she asks. I nod.
"Yeah, I think it's time you finally saw my time machine. After all… you are my girlfriend, and Mia you lived in the same future world I did. Both of you deserve this."
Kayori smiles but Mia smiles slightly. It seems forced. Mary nods approvingly.
Later
Inside Kayori and Emily's room
POV Kayori's
Opening the door to mine and Emily's room, I close it behind me. Lila's time machine… was breathtaking. I'll never forget that glow. Knowing everything that Lila went through… and all because of a plan made by Future Xana, only for the plan to backfire on him… and eventually becoming humanized. Her life… it was difficult. She lost someone she truly cared about at a young age… and lost others afterwards. It saddens me she has to deal with all of that pain of losing the ones she cared about. She's been so strong handling all of this. If anything, I'm happy at least that she has Mary to look out for her.
Emily is on her bed, which means rehearsal must have ended already. I didn't realize we took so long. She's laying down and rocking out to some tunes. I plop down on my bed. I look at the desk drawers that are next to each other. I want to write about my day, but I can't have Emily be too curious. She sees me on the bed, and takes her headphones out.
"How was your day?" she asks.
"Fin," I reply nonchalantly. "In all honesty… it was a pretty normal day, nothing out of the ordinary."
Emily shrugs and puts her headphones back into her ears. I smile, all the secrets I have… she'll never find them out and I'll never betray Lila, or my friends.
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LyokoWarrior1994