Disclaimer: Code Lyoko is copyrighted by Moonscoop.
I only own Lila and Mia. Mary is owned by AeroJester203.
This chapter was written by me. It was edited by AeroJester203.
Enjoy!
Wreck Room
Inside the cafeteria
POV Lila's
All of us are at our usual table. Mary is sitting next to me today and she hasn't given Odd or William her portion yet. Makes sense considering that Jeremy isn't here yet. She was probably saving it for Jeremy since she didn't really need to eat save for burning the food for energy inside her. Aelita and Ulrich are sitting next to each other across from us with William and Odd beside them. Sissi is sitting on the right side of Mary.
Odd had already taken Jeremy's portion, nearly done eating his extra helping of food. At that moment, Jeremy finally comes over to us with just a cup of water on his tray. He sits down next to Odd at the end, clearly in a hurry.
"Well done," Ulrich dryly remarks. "No sleep, no meal—nothing like living a healthy life." Aelita smiles slightly while Jeremy levels an annoyed look at Odd.
He's eating his banana when he notices Jeremy's glare, "What's wrong? Ulrich told me you were skipping breakfast; it would have been a pity to waste a good meal."
Odd looks at the already half-eaten banana and offers it to Jeremy.
"Do you want half of my banana?"
Jeremy holds up his hand, "No thanks. I've lost my appetite."
Aelita giggles slightly and William looks at Mary's portion. She sighs and slides the tray over to William who smiles.
"You know, you guys can't deny that you pig out all the time," Aelita comments while still giggling.
"It's not exactly pigging out; it's more like survival instinct," Odd says.
"Survival instinct?" William asks, not even bothering to deny or justify his eating habits.
"What are you talking about?"
"Yeah, I've got to store food reserves in case potatoes get contaminated. Like in the nightmare I had last night," Odd replies with a swallow.
Aelita, Ulrich, Sissi, and I can't help but laugh slightly.
"Your attention, please, boys and girls," Mr. Delmas says, causing us to look at him. "I have an important announcement to make."
Odd puts his hands on his head gripping it as if bracing himself, "That's it; my nightmare has come true. Goodbye forever, potatoes."
"Odd, shush," Sissi lightly scolds, causing him to put his hands down again.
"This afternoon after class, there will be the grand opening of the recreation room you've all been waiting for," he reveals.
"There's no epidemic? French fries, woo-hoo!" Odd exclaims, getting up and cheering. Everyone in the cafeteria is confused by his outburst and Sissi just slouches down in her chair, clearly embarrassed.
"Odd, sit down," Mary tells him.
After he does, Mr. Delmas clears his throat, "This recreation room for boarding students was designed for relaxation. You will have at your disposal a foosball table, in addition to a table for ping-pong, and a television set."
A lot of students start cheering and clapping until Mr. Delmas puts his hands up, "Alright, quiet down, please. Remember that with privileges come responsibility and responsibilities mean taking care of your rec room. That responsibility begins today with the election of a monitor to supervise its use."
Afterwards
Outside the cafeteria
All of us are grouped up for the election of the rec room monitor. A lot of students are talking amongst themselves.
"Hi, everybody," Yumi greets, walking up to us. "What's happening?"
"We have to elect a monitor for the new rec room," I reply.
Jeremy is checking his bag when he seems to realize something and says, "Oh no! I left my computer upstairs; I'll see you later."
"We'll be here," Aelita says. He nods and takes off.
William turns to Sissi, "So, who do you think is the right choice to be the monitor?"
"Well, normally I would be all for it," Sissi replies. "Plus, being the principal's daughter would make me an obvious choice. But in all honesty, I'm not that person anymore."
"No, you aren't," Odd agrees with a nod. "And besides we need a rec room where we can have a little fun."
"Then who would you pick?" Emily asks while walking up to us. "Yourself?"
"And why not me?" Odd challenges while crossing his arms stubbornly. "If I wanted to, I could have been class rep if Kayori hadn't won."
Herb and Nicholas arrive at Emily's side as she puts her hands on her hips, "It probably wouldn't work out for you since it seems you never have enough time."
Yumi leans close to Odd, whispering, "She's right, Odd. Xana's not going to give you the time to supervise anything."
"It's none of your business, Yumi; you're a day student," Emily tells her, likely assuming she's whispering some instruction to Odd. "Of course, if Odd is elected, you and your little gang will take over the rec room."
Some students start agreeing with her, causing some arguments to spring up among the two sides. Jim walks over to us since he's probably heard the commotion.
"Okay, what's going on?" he asks in a raised voice over the din. Everybody quiets down when they see him, and Jim continues, "It's time to go to class. Go on, now."
Milly goes up to him and lifts her finger to explain, "But we're trying to elect the rec room monitor, Jim, and- Eep!"
Jim getting in her face causes her to yelp, "You call all of this screaming an election?"
He pulls away and stands up straight to proclaim, "We're going to do this demographical- democracking…ly…" Jim visibly struggles with trying to find the right word. "Uh… We're going to vote, okay?!" he exclaims before pointing to Odd.
"You," he says, and then points to Sissi, "You. Over there." Jim points to the side next to him, and Sissi and Odd walk together hand-in-hand to the designated area. They then let go of each other's hands since they've apparently been nominated as separate candidates.
"Now let's see… Fiquet, LeDuc, Dunbar," Jim lists, pointing next to him. William, Anais, and Emily all walk over to join Odd and Sissi.
The five students form a semicircle, and Jim crosses his arms with a nod in satisfaction before taking a notepad and pencil out of his pocket.
"Now, whoever wants to vote for Anais Fiquet, hands up now," he tells us.
This should be interesting, I think.
Afterwards
Jim is tallying the votes, "With two more votes than Elisabeth Delmas, the winner is…" Jim looks at Emily and she smiles, surprised, "Leduc."
Everyone looks at Emily who exclaims, "Alright, I won!"
Well… good for her, I suppose, I think. All of us look at her since it's too bad Mary couldn't run without risking her disguise. She'd be good.
"Now, everyone, break ranks," Jim says. "I'll tell the principal who won the election."
Milly gets her notepad out and pencil while Tamiya holds their camera through its strap, filming Emily.
"Emily, some of the kids think you were elected because you're really nice to others. Do you think it's a victory for democracy?" she asks with Tamiya focusing the camera.
"Of course," Emily replies. She looks over at us, "And I'm only nice to others who haven't done anything to annoy me."
Yup… She still hates us for making Cameron leave, I sigh internally.
Afterwards
Mrs. Meyer's class
Jeremy and Ulrich are sitting together, Sissi and Odd are sitting with each other too, Mary is by herself, and Aelita and I are sitting in a row together. Mrs. Meyer is giving a lecture as she writes on the board while we all take notes.
I guess Emily won't ever really forgive us for what happened to Cameron, I muse. I wonder if Kayori ever learned anything about those two? If they got together or not…
Afterwards
Under the arches
All of us are running out the door, excited about the new rec room. A lot of other students are excited too and probably heading there now. We meet up with Yumi, who is waiting for us.
"Well, I'll run over to the factory and start the recovery program and-" Jeremy starts to say but Aelita puts her hand on his shoulder.
"I'll go with you. That way we can both welcome Mia home," she says.
"Count me in too," William adds. "She and I have some things to talk about."
Jeremy nods, "Yeah, why not?"
"We'll go to the rec room so that six of us are here at school, just in case Xana tries something," Ulrich decides. Yumi looks at him with a nod, seeming to agree with his plan.
"Make that the five of you; I'm going to the lab too," I say. They nod.
Afterwards
Inside the lab
Jeremy has his program open as he types on the keyboard. Looking at the computer screen, I can't help but be curious about this recovery program.
"So how are you going to do this, exactly?" William asks.
Jeremy continues typing as he explains, "We have to locate Mia's DNA, which won't be easy."
"Why's that?" William asks.
"He needs to find Mia's DNA by looking in the digital sea to trace it because it isn't stored in a tower like yours is," Aelita explains.
"Ah," William nods, understanding.
I look up at the monitor as the program runs, "I just hope you can find it."
POV Sissi's
Inside the Rec Room
A lot of students are inside the Rec Room. I'm sitting on the couch with Mary, who is reading a book from one of the shelves around the room. Herb, Emily and Nicholas are talking in the booth that's behind us.
The foosball table is something I'm sure Odd, myself, and the others will be playing with a lot. Jim comes in, probably to make sure there's no trouble, and checks the ping-pong table out. There's a chalkboard next to it to keep score.
"Wow, ping-pong—my favorite game!" Jim exclaims happily, admiring the table. He picks up one of the rackets, "Who wants to play a game? Della Robbia!"
Odd, Ulrich, and Yumi were about to start a foosball game, but looks over at Jim's call.
"Yeah, Jim?" Odd asks.
"Best of three sets. Are you ready?" Jim asks, tapping the racket against the table.
He shrugs and goes over to the table, picking the racket up while Jim readies the ball.
"0 serving 0," he announces and lets the ball drop before hitting it with the racket.
Afterwards
"20 - 1, match point," Jim declares and lets the ball drop again. He hits it and Odd misses the ball. He seems pretty tired from trying to keep up, too.
Who'd have thought Jim would be so good at a sport like ping-pong? I think, somewhat impressed.
"Ha-ha! 21, you lose," Jim says victoriously. "I was interstate champion while I was young. Why don't I tell you why I used to be called the 'killer racquet'?"
Odd puts the racket down on the table, "Thanks, Jim, maybe some other time."
Jim holds his hands up with a sigh, "For once I would rather have talked about it."
He shrugs it off, though, and points to Mary who is still reading her book, "Bedard, don't just sit there and read. Come on, it's your turn."
Mary closes her book and hands it over to me.
"Sure thing, Jim," Mary replies, walking over to him.
Odd sits down next to me and whispers, "Can she even play?"
"I guess we'll find out," I reply while putting the book beside me on the couch. Mary takes the racket from the table and gets into position. There are students who have resumed talking but a few of them are curious about "Mia's" skills.
"Your move, Jim," Mary says. Jim takes the ball and lets it drop, hitting it towards Mary. It bounces towards her after clearing the net, but Mary is able to hit the ball back to Jim without going out of bounds, something Odd had trouble with. Jim's surprised by this, but concentrates again as the two begin hitting the ball back and forth.
Inside the lab
POV Lila's
The super scan program pops up on the computer's screen. It starts going through a list of towers.
"Oh no, just what we need," I groan. It blinks and confirms an activated tower in the Desert Sector.
"No, not now!" Jeremy exclaims. "The recovery program is just nearly completed! You three head to the scanners. I'll start the virtualization."
"Right. We'll take care of that tower of yours," William replies as we go towards the elevator.
Afterwards
Lyoko's Desert Sector
With my vision returning as I virtualize, William, Aelita and I drop to land in a crouched position on the virtual ground. Standing back up, we get ready to move out towards the activated tower.
POV Sissi's
Jim lets his racket drop in defeat. A lot of students are surprised he lost to "Mia."
"Wow… that was incredible, Bedard," Jim compliments sportingly. "Good game."
"Thank you, sir," Mary says. "Rematch?"
Hesitating, he replies, "Of course. I'll, uh, need to take a break to regain my strength as the 'killer racquet,'" if that's okay with you."
"Sure thing," Mary replies.
Jim leaves the table and starts walking towards the door, leaving the room. A lot of the students go over to "Mia" to talk to her about her victory, Milly and Tamiya among them. Suddenly the door swings back open, and we turn to see that it's Jim again. He looks a bit more… serious than before. Is it his game face?
"That was fast," Ulrich comments bemusedly.
Yumi notices his expression too and asks, "Ready for that rematch, Jim?"
Jim grunts and then his eyes start pulsing with Xana's symbol.
"Oh no," I whisper.
He speeds over our way, causing the students to freak out at the sight of him blurring and leaving afterimages. They scatter to get away as the possessed Jim attacks Mary, who is caught off guard. Odd and I get up to run over to her, Ulrich and Yumi moving to help too.
POV Lila's
Three Tarantulas continue firing at us from the other side of the boulder we're hiding behind, giving us no breathing room to get out and fight back.
"Jeremy, we're going to need our vehicles," Aelita requests.
"I'm materializing them now!"
Jeremy materializes Yumi's Overwing for Aelita, William's Overdrive, and my broomstick.
The two of them board their vehicles, and William says in a low voice, "I'll draw their fire first, you two back me up once they stop firing on the boulder."
I get onto the saddle of my broomstick as he readies a fireball and urges the Overdrive to go up by tilting his weight. Shortly after he emerges, throwing his fireball along the way and drawing the Tarantulas' attention, I kick my broomstick into the air, taking off with Aelita.
POV Sissi's
Odd and I are thrown back against a bookshelf from trying to make Jim let go of Mary. Ulrich grabs a chair he found and swings it at him, making Xana release his grip on Mary who catches her breath. Jim goes down, his possessed body pixelating a bit with a gray outline as the spectre inside apparently tries to fix the damage to keep him moving.
Ulrich, Mary, and Yumi run over to us, the three of them helping us up. I rub my shoulder a bit since the impact with the shelf hurt me a bit.
"Let's go, come on!" Ulrich urges.
All of us start running out of the Rec Room. We get out, and a few students who stayed behind are paralyzed with fear. Luckily, Xana's mainly after us, but I hope that the spectre doesn't jump to another host with Jim injured.
Once we reach a divide in the hallway, Yumi suggests, "Let's split up, that way at least one or two of us will get to the factory."
"Okay," All of us agree, including Mary. Odd and I take the left turn, Ulrich and Yumi go straight while Mary takes the right turn.
Once Odd and I pass an exit outside, he stops us and says, "Go outside and cut across the courtyard to the park! Xana will probably search the building first."
Not liking it, but knowing that Odd won't bend on getting me out first, I hug him for a moment and reply, "Stay safe, Odd."
Turning away, I leave the building and start running to the factory. Along the way, I start dialing on my phone.
POV Lila's
We continue dodging the Tarantulas' lasers, with William throwing a fireball at a Tarantula. He misses and the flames spread across the ground.
"I can't get a steady aim!" he exclaims.
Aelita summons her Energy Field from the palm of her hand. As we're circling the activated tower, she launches her attack at a Tarantula. It flies at the monster, hitting the target eye and causing it to explode.
"One down! How's it going Jeremy?" Aelita asks.
"I just got a call from Sissi; Jim has been possessed by Xana. But hey, wait…" Jeremy trails off. "Yeah! Aelita, William, Lila. The recovery program found Mia!"
"Really, it has?" I ask. "Where is she?"
"Bearing your position, 300 meters south from where you are," he answers.
"Let's go and greet her," Aelita says.
William looks at the two remaining Tarantulas, "But what about these guys?"
"You can deal with them while we meet with Mia," I reply. "I'm sure she'll be happy to see you afterwards."
"Okay, go!" William urges while taking out his double-edged sword and getting ready to jump.
Aelita and I speed our vehicles southward, hearing William shout as he dives down at the monsters.
Afterwards
We continue flying in the direction Jeremy told us and soon see Mia in the distance being chased by three Krabs who are firing lasers at her.
"There!" I exclaim, pointing towards her.
"It's…" Aelita trails off.
"Mia," Jeremy finishes. "Yeah, it's her."
As we're getting closer, we see Mia is still in her dark possessed outfit.
Why… hasn't she changed back to her old outfit? I think in confusion as I instinctively grip the handle of my broomstick to be ready to stop or turn.
Mia is running and dodging the lasers from the Krabs chasing her. She looks back at them before performing a high jump backwards, landing on top of one of the monsters. She balances herself as it stops and tries to rock her off, using her dark smoke ability to conjure two kunai in her hands. Mia draws one back and then plunges the blade into the Krab's target eye. Jumping off as the Krab lurches before exploding into pieces, she continues running from the two remaining monsters, still armed with her kunai.
Aelita and I pause in the air when we're about to intercept.
"Fantastic, the program worked!" Aelita exclaims.
"We'll go help her. Tell William to meet us when we're done here," I say, and we resume in our flight towards her.
"No, wait you two," Jeremy warns. "It could be a trap."
A trap… maybe that would explain the powers and outfit, I think.
I mentally command my broomstick to let it head towards Mia while lowering my left hand to the hoister of my hunter knife just in case it really is a trap.
"But what if the program really worked?" Aelita protests. "This could be our only chance to bring back Mia."
"Well, go on then. But be careful, you two."
"Okay," Aelita and I say in unison. We continue heading towards Mia.
POV William's
I've been dodging and blocking the Tarantulas' lasers for a while now, trying to get close enough to carve them up. But they've been relentless! I haven't been able to make much progress on getting closer. The only bright side is that they can't move while firing with their front legs.
"Jeremy, how're Lila and Aelita doing?" I ask.
"They're meeting up with Mia now," he answers. "It seems the recovery program has worked but head over there if you can, they might need backup."
"Right." I sheathe my double-edged sword and ready two large bursts of fire, "Afterburner!"
Unleashing the blasts towards the ground propels me into the air where my Overdrive is still hovering where I left it. The Tarantulas attempt to readjust their legs to aim at me, but I land on the disk as the flame jets go out. Stretching my hands behind me, I let two more blasts of fire out to give the Overdrive a boost when it takes off.
Hang on, you two. I'll be there, I mentally promise.
POV Mary's
Dormitory
Emily has been with me since Jim spotted us earlier. I open a door to the dormitory, closing it behind us.
"Stay back, Emily," I tell her. She nods, and I grasp the handle before crushing it to make it inoperable while Emily gasps in surprise.
"That should hopefully buy us a couple of minutes," I say while turning to look at the main staircase. "Let's go."
She continues gawking at the mangled doorknob until I take her hand to pull her along as she asks, "But… how did you do that, Mia?"
"I'll explain later," I reply. We start running up the staircase.
Let's hope you're right, Future Xana tells me. Jim is hardly a weak man, and with him possessed his strength is most likely doubled at the least. You may have a shorter amount of time than you think.
You may be right. I'll deal with him when the time comes. Right now, getting Emily to safety is all that matters, I mentally reply.
POV Lila's
The Krabs are still firing at Mia. One of them shoots a laser and manages to knock a kunai out of her hand. The other Krab manages to blast the second away a moment after. She falls to the ground and the two kunai clatter to the ground a distance away.
Mia reaches for one of the kunai, but a Krab's leg gets in front of her, the monster practically standing over her as it lets out a mechanical drone like a growl. Mia stares in apparent fear, but Aelita and I manage to arrive before the Krab can fire. Aelita summons her Energy Field and launches it at the Krab. It's shocked by the attack and starts stumbling backwards, giving Mia room as it explodes into pieces and they disappear like any other monster.
Mia looks up at us as Aelita and I drift lower to stop directly in front of her.
"Need a little help?" Aelita asks.
A Krab fires a laser almost hitting her, but I say, "I've got it."
I let my broomstick take control and it flies over to the Krab while I take my hunter's knife out of its holster and balance myself on the saddle. I jump off it and the Krab tries to fire at me but just barely misses. Landing on the Krab's wide body, I draw my blade back and plunge it into the eye of Xana. Light shines from within the new opening, and I jump off while shielding myself as the Krab explodes.
Mia runs over to retrieve her kunai, the two of us meeting up with her. She makes her kunai disappear in another rush of dark smoke.
"You're back at last," Aelita says in relief. "That's great."
"Yeah, we have a lot to talk about," I add.
Mia smiles at us and we smile back as she opens her mouth to speak.
"It's really good to see you two again," Mia says happily, Xana's influence gone from her voice. But then a chill goes down my spine when she smirks and continues, "Aelita… Lila."
"Oh no, Jeremy!" Aelita exclaims.
I run at Mia, but she uses both of her hands to shoot dark smoke and force Aelita off her Overwing. She focuses on me next and uses smoke to restrain my movement while she summons one of her kunai again.
"Super Smoke!" Mia exclaims and disappears into dark smoke. I regain mobility again only for Mia to reappear behind me. She plunges her kunai into my stomach, and I drop my hunter's knife as I start devirtualizing in a cloud of pixels.
Inside the lab
POV Sissi's
The freight elevator's door opens. Ulrich, Odd, Yumi and I walk over to Jeremy at his chair. I was relieved to see that everyone else got away since Mary could at least fight Jim on even ground.
"Mary's not with you?" Jeremy asks.
I shake my head, "I think she's dealing with Jim."
"Rats! Hurry, guys, get into the scanner room, now," Jeremy urges.
"Okay, let's go," Ulrich says.
We nod and start making our way back to the freight elevator.
POV William's
I'm catching up to Mia on my Overdrive as she's using the Overwing to carry Aelita on.
"William, catch up to Mia!" Jeremy frantically exclaims. "Don't let her toss Aelita into the digital sea!"
"I know, but I'm going at top speed, Jeremy!" I exclaim, shooting out more flames as my last shots run out of power. I look closer and see that Aelita has regained consciousness.
"Aelita, get a move on. William is right behind you. try to get to him! Otherwise you'll be devirtualized for good!" Jeremy exclaims.
Aelita tumbles off the Overwing and rolls across the desert ground to lessen the impact of her fall. I cut off the flames and lower the Overdrive to meet her before jumping down. I land on the ground as Aelita stops tumbling, her body almost hitting me.
"I've got you, Princess," I reassure her while helping her to her feet.
Aelita looks up at me and nods, "Thank you, William." We turn forward to see that Mia has taken a turn to circle back and is flying the Overwing towards us.
"Don't thank me yet," I say while taking my sword out and getting into a protective stance in front of Aelita. "We still have a little reunion to get through."
POV Mary's
Emily and I have gotten to the top of the dormitory with the possessed Jim not too far behind us. As I close the roof access door, I discreetly use some electricity to partially weld it shut, trying to buy more time.
With that done, I go to Emily and start moving her along towards the other side of the roof, "You have to get to safety."
"But Mia-" Emily starts to say. But I sigh, realizing I'll have to drop the charade to convince her. I change into my white smoke form, which makes Emily gasp with her eyes widened as I return to my first human form.
"I'm not Mia, just a very concerned adult," I tell her.
Emily can hardly stammer out her questions, "M-Mrs. Smith? Lila's, Mia's and Aelita's mother? But how?!"
"It's a long story," I reply hurriedly as a bang sounds from the metal door with Jim's growls audible on the other side. More blows rain down on the access as I urgently move her along,
"Now please find somewhere else that's safe! I'll handle Jim."
"O-okay!" Emily exclaims unsurely. She starts treading the roof of the dormitory carefully and away from me.
The door finally gives under the powerful assault and takes part of the doorway with it as Jim comes out from inside the building and he steps firmly onto the roof. He looks at me, his eyes pulsing with Xana's symbol.
Remember to stall him. Do your best not to harm him too much, Future Xana reminds me.
"Right!" I exclaim. I start channeling yellow electricity in my hands.
POV William's
Mia is attacking both Aelita and I with her kunai. We continue dodging her attacks, making her grunt in frustration. But a large desert rock is levitated with a pink glow, causing us to stop fighting momentarily.
Odd flies his Overboard to Aelita while Sissi drives over to me with her Overbike.
"Let's go, William," Sissi says.
"And hop aboard, Princess," Odd adds.
Aelita and I get onto our friends' vehicles. The floating rock flies at Mia, who quickly vanishes using her Super Smoke ability and the rock crumbles against the ground from the impact.
We continue away from Mia, Sissi and Odd pushing their vehicles faster, Sissi's Overbike revving to the point where it starts flying too. I look back at Mia, who just reappeared from the ground in a cloud of dark smoke. Yumi and Ulrich, who must have hung back, are ready to face off with her. She clenches a fist while leveling a frustrated glare past the two of them at us.
Sorry, kiddo… another time, I think, turning to face forward as Sissi continues driving.
Afterwards
At the activated tower
Getting to the activated tower where the two Tarantulas are still waiting.
Jeremy informs, "You guys have got to make quick work on those Tarantulas! Mia is heading over to you!"
"We're on it," Sissi replies.
"Two groups; each takes one Tarantula," Aelita decides. "William, with me."
She waves a hand over her star bracelet to summon her angel wings and leaps off the Overboard to fly. I jump off the Overbike and land on the ground in a three-point crouch with a hand on my sword hilt while Odd and Sissi drive their vehicles higher to circle the tower.
I might be afraid of spiders, but thankfully these guys don't really resemble actual tarantulas that much. They're more like grasshoppers, I think while drawing my sword.
The Tarantula that we've chosen focuses its lasers on us, sending a volley of blasts. Aelita flies in the air to maneuver around the shots while I have to dodge and block. The other Tarantula is focusing on Odd and Sissi, firing at them while they circle the tower.
"Mia is nearly there…" Jeremy warns.
"No, not now," I grumble.
I'm a sitting duck without my Overdrive to dodge, and I need two hands to guard with my sword, so I can't shoot fireballs without leaving myself open! I think. If only I had a good aim; I could throw my sword like a spear!
Odd and Sissi drive their vehicles down and past the Tarantula that was attacking them.
"You need your eye checked," Odd taunts.
Sissi waves cheekily, "Catch us if you can!"
The Tarantula puts its front legs on the ground and starts chasing after them. We hear more firing from the monster further away.
"William, on my signal, throw your sword," Aelita tells me while she dodges more lasers. The Tarantula focuses on me again and I fall to the ground just in time to evade a laser. I get back up a moment later.
"Now, William!" Aelita exclaims.
I jump into the air and heave my sword up before letting it fly. It heads towards the Tarantula and soon hits the weak point. The Tarantula screeches and explodes, sending my sword to slide across the ground after a short flight.
Aelita flies down to me and hovering with her angelic wings, she smiles, "Nice timing."
"Thanks!" I reply with a nod. "Now, get to that tower."
Aelita nods and starts flying to the activated tower. I see black smoke in the ground and Mia reappears, her feet surfacing last before touching down. I look back at Aelita as she lands and phases into the tower.
"Sorry, kiddo," I say and look at Mia with a smirk. "But you're a bit late."
Mia shouts in rage and summons two kunai with her smoke.
POV Mary's
On the roof of the dormitory
I've been fighting possessed Jim on the roof by myself, keeping ahead of his physical blows, which would be insubstantial at best, and countering his electricity with my own. I hear footsteps heading towards us and I'm surprised to see it's Emily who has returned with an iron bar-like tool as a weapon.
"What are you doing here?!" I exclaim. "You'll just put yourself in danger!"
"No way was I going to leave you here by yourself!" Emily shouts back. She grips the tool and starts running at Jim who backs away from me and turns to her.
POV Lila's
The scanner's doors open to reveal William leaning against the back wall to catch his breath. Ulrich and Yumi had gone up earlier, but I wanted to wait for anybody else who might be devirtualized. He sighs, and I offer my hand to help him out.
"You think we'll really be able to free her?" William asks as he takes my hand to stand up straight.
"Yeah. It's only a matter of time," I reply.
Knowing that Aelita got to the tower, I mentally add, I just hope we save Mary and anybody she's with in time.
POV Mary's
Possessed Jim has grabbed Emily, forcing her to release the tool she had gotten. He tosses her off the rooftop without a second thought.
"Emily!" I exclaim.
I start running to the edge as she's screaming and jump off. Even if I can't fully possess her to help her catch herself, I should be able to slow down her fall with my smoke-like spectre form. I tuck my arms in to fall faster than her and Emily holds her hand out. I reach out when I'm close and I'm just barely able to touch her fingers when the return to the past bubble engulfs everything, sending us back in time.
Earlier
Outside the cafeteria
POV Lila's
All of us are back outside trying to decide again who the monitor should be when Mary speaks up.
"I know I'm a day student and all, but I think Emily would be perfect for the job," she mentions. I'm a bit surprised by this. The other students agree with "Mia" too, even Jeremy and the others, but I suppose it makes sense.
"Really, Mia?" Emily asks. Mary nods in reply.
Jim comes over and tells us, "Come on, it's time to go back to class now."
"We were just electing Emily as our monitor of the Rec Room," Ulrich says.
"Really? You did?" Jim asks. He looks around at the students that are here, "Well, I thought you would choose someone more like Dunbar."
"Not my style, Jim," William replies.
"Well, alright. If you're all in agreement, then I'll go tell the principal the results," Jim decides.
We nod, and I can't help but look at Mary. Something must have happened between her and Emily. Milly and Tamiya go over to Emily like the first time around, while some other students do the same to listen in on the interview. The rest of us head over to our classes, Yumi and William included.
Well, Mia… like I told William, it's only a matter of time before we free you, I mentally promise. I just hope we'll be able to talk things out about Mary and me. We never really did get a chance to do that before you were taken. I just hope your decision to take William's place won't end up haunting you.
Author's Note: Well everyone, I hope you liked that chapter! Due to the Coronavirus, I will now be increasing our scheduled updates from every two weeks to every week! That way, we can get through the story a lot faster!
Stay safe and healthy everyone,
Don't forget to review!
LyokoWarrior1994