We open at Kadic where we see two young girls video taping a setup for a dance. One with short red hair and the other with long brown hair.
"Are we rolling?" the redhead asked.
"Yeah." the other one said.
"Good morning, students of Kadic Academy. Your ace reporters Milly and Tamiya here with today's school news and it's really big, since I'm pretty sure you already know, tonight is the big night, the night of our annual school prom. Unfortunately, our cameras were not authorized to film the site where the festivities will take place, but I can make out from where I'm speaking, the girl who might crowned our beauty queen tonight, just as she was last year, I mean of course our principal's daughter, Sissi. Let's see whether she'll answer a few questions." she said.
Sissi herself then came out.
"Well, Sissi? How about a few words for our TV audience before the big night?" Milly asked.
"Sorry, munchkins. I only talk to real pro reporters. I have no time to waste on a couple of nerds." Sissi said.
The camera then turned off after that.
"But it's for the school news program. What about freedom of the press?" Milly asked.
"Oh, Milly. Little dipsticks your age have no freedom. Anyway, who needs your dumb reporting? What do you know? Besides, you've got a problem. Don't forget you need a date and I can't think of anyone who would want to go with a dork like you. Even them. I bet if you asked them, they'd run like scared rabbits." Sissi said pointing to her group.
"Who needs them? There are lots of other boys." Milly said.
"What are you waiting for them? Try and find one." Sissi said.
Milly looked around before eyeing the heroes inside, setting up for the event.
"Ulrich? Will you be my date tonight?" Milly asked.
"I'm sorry Milly. It wouldn't be such a good idea. I'm too old for you and I already promised to go with Yumi." Ulrich said.
"You see? What did I tell you? But don't worry, I'm sure you'll find a boy for the sandbox dance. Meanwhile, why don't you go play with your dolls?" Sissi said.
Milly then started tearing up as she ran out with her friend Tamiya following after her.
"You didn't have to be rude about it." Genis said.
"She's just a little girl for crying out loud." Dan said.
"Calm down, Ulrich isn't the one who went and goaded her on." Pit said looking at Sissi who walked off.
"Do you think we should go and try to make Milly feel better?" Frisk asked.
"It's probably best if we just leave her alone for awhile. Girls can be complicated like that." Pit said.
Meanwhile….
"Aelita? Jexi? Anyone there?" Jeremie asked on the computer.
"I'm here. How are you?" Aelita asked.
"How about you?" Jeremie asked.
"I'm okay. I haven't seen anything unusual about the towers. It seems quiet... well for the moment." Aelita said.
"Well, im making progress on my research so you can come live with us." Jeremie mentioned.
"The key to materialization?" Aelita asked.
"Well I haven't found it yet, but I'm working on it. It's only a matter of time." Jeremie said.
At that same time in Milly and Tamiya's room…
"Don't cry. We'll go to the dance. You'll see. Jim, Vector and Franky said it would be okay. We have until nine o'clock." Tamiya said.
"You better just face the facts, Tamiya. They don't care about us or the news. I hate them, all of them." Milly said gripping her teddy bear, both unaware of the XANA logo appearing on the computer screen in their room.
"Come on. You don't mean that. Thought Ulrich could have been a little nicer." Tamiya said as Milly ran out with her following.
Back in the Gymnasium…
"Don't look so gloomy, Ulrich, is this because of Milly?" Yumi asked. "You could've said yes, you know me and dances."
"I know. But Sissi really came on strong. If meanness is a quality of becoming a beauty queen then she has this in the bag." Ulrich said.
"That may be true, but good luck explaining that to Miss World." Pit said.
"I think you mean miss innerworld." Odd said.
Meanwhile in the supply shed, Milly sat inside with her teddy bear.
"At least you don't care how old I am, do you? We always understand each other! We're not like those dumb older kids that love to run things. They think that just because we're young that we don't count at all. And if for once we were older than them, they wouldn't laugh at us now would they?" Milly said.
"Milly? Are you in there? Are you finished sulking? Hurry! We have work to do." Tamiya said.
"Okay. I'm coming." Milly said before hiding the bear by a crate. "You stay right here till I get back." she said running out just as a black smoke emerged from the lights and went into the teddy bear with the eye of XANA appearing inside its glass eye.
Later, in Sissi's Room…
"A bunch of babies at our dance? They've got to be kidding. And that other freak who had the nerve to invite Ulrich! If anyone is to go with Ulrich, it's me! I'm the star, the diva of this school." Sissi said.
As Sissi was ready to beautify herself, something else was also in her room. Noticing it, Sissi was in panic as tons of products were knocked over.
It wasn't until later on, Sissi was escorted out by her father as the students were watching.
"Move along. Back to your dorms. There's nothing to see here." Delmas said.
"Why don't we check to make sure our old friend Xana isn't up to anything." Odd asked.
"Good idea, Odd." Mark responded.
Soon enough, the group searched Sissi's room, with Jeremie inspecting a wall outlet.
"Too many appliances plugged in. Just a short circuit." Jeremie said.
"Hey guys, look at this cool helmet." Luffy said picking up a familiar piece of headgear before Dan took it and smashed it.
"No, we are not going through that bit again." Dan said.
"Still...not like anyone broke in. She was here alone in her room." Fuyuhiko said.
At the Garden Shed, Milly went back to fetch her teddy bear, only to discover it was missing.
"My Teddy Bear, it's gone!" Milly cried.
"Ha! Caught ya!" Jim said arriving with Vector and Franky.
"You know the rules. No students allowed in the garden shed. All these rusty tools could have poked your eye out." Vector said.
"It's off limits." Franky said.
"With you three, everything's off limits." Milly said.
"Hey, I'd watch that tone if I were you, little girl." Jim said.
"Little girl! Okay, I'm young, so what? It's only big kids who can say what they think, huh?" Milly shouted.
"Oh...you think you're grown up huh? Well, here's one thing most grown ups learn...disappointment. News report or not. You guys are grounded for tonight in your room." Vector said.
"Great, no dance." Tamiya said as she left with Milly.
"Hey...something up, girls?" Usopp asked.
"Someone stole her teddy bear." Tamiya said.
"I'm sure one of the older kids just took it to spite me." Milly said.
"You might be right, look!" Tamiya said pointing to a teddy bear in the photo of Sissi's ruined room. "That's Sissi's room!"
"My bear!" Milly said.
"Oh boy. Uh...I...gotta go." Usopp said running off.
"You think XANA's possessed a teddy bear?" Izuku asked.
"I know it sounds crazy but all of this usually is." Usopp said.
"And we've seen crazier before." Fuyuhiko said. "It's a longshot, but I'm thinking XANA's actually behind this if he's willing to make Milly's bear go after everybody that's upset her."
"Look, I think you guys are making too big a deal of this. It's just one tiny teddy bear. Just trap it under a trash can and we're good." Kaminari said before they heard shouting as they saw Jim, Vector and Franky being tossed around easily outside. They ran out to see a few trees knocked down. "Might need a bigger trash can."
"Hmm. Looks like teddy's doing a bit of growing." Miles said. "Probably won't be too long before he's big enough to demolish a building...maybe even a city."
"We'll have to stop this thing now. A small team will head to Lyoko while the rest of us try to fight off that bear." Mayumi said.
"Don't sweat it. I can lead a team in there." Odd said.
"Okay. We need two more to go with him just to be safe." Kazuichi said. "Hey, who went with him first time around?" he whispered.
"I think it was Marucho and Sanji. But since Marucho isn't here…" Dan muttered.
"We'll have to go with someone else. Odd, go with Jeremie to the factory and we'll get Sanji and someone else to meet you there." Fuyuhiko said.
"I'll go with him." Miles said. "It's the perfect chance to test my latest creation."
"Wait, did you actually manage to bring an Animech here with you?" Fuyuhiko asked.
"I had a few pieces I was working on in my bag. Plus the school has a lot of materials for me to work with." Miles said.
"All right, we'll leave it all to you then." Natsu said.
Odd, Jeremie and Miles then headed to the Factory. When they arrived, Sanji was there waiting for them.
"Okay...here we go." Jeremie said as the three entered the scanners. "Aelita, tower activity?"
"Yes. In the Desert. But it's surrounded by monsters." Aelita said.
"Backup is on its way." Jeremie said. Transfer Odd. Transfer Miles. Transfer Sanji. Scanner, Odd. Scanner Miles. Scanner Sanji. Virtualization." he said as they arrived.
"Lyoko...so this is what it's like." Miles said wearing clothing with many different animals on it.
"Let's get going." Sanji said as they hurried off to where Aelita was.
On the outside, the group searched the campus before finding a demolished wall.
"Wow...looks like teddy isn't so little anymore. But why did it go towards the city?" Pit pondered.
"It could be after anyone. Even it's own worst enemy." Usopp said.
"But it's already taken down everyone except...Yumi!" Ulrich realized.
"Oh, you've got to be kidding…" Mark said. "We have to get to Yumi before that bear does!" at that, the group ran down the street to Yumi's House.
"Whoa...you guys…" Ochako said as they saw a gigantic teddy bear marching down the street.
"I've heard of growth spurts, but this is ridiculous! How'd that bear get so big so quickly?!" Fuyuhiko asked.
"XANA must be doing something to increase its size. It's like Teddygodzilla now." Kaminari said.
"Good one." Ochako said.
"Don't worry. I called Yumi. She should be out by now and...wait, where's big teddy going?" Lucy asked.
"It's...turning back to the school!" Jesse said.
"This is bad. The prom is tonight. We need to get those people out of there, now!" David said.
As the group rushed back to the school, the Lyoko team was busy with problems of their own in the Desert Sector, fighting their way through monsters.
"Guys, you have to move, Teddy's getting really angry. But stay sharp, I'm picking up something that isn't related to XANA up ahead." Jeremie said.
"Where? I don't see anything." Miles said before something grazed his cheek and hit the ground. "A sniper bullet?!"
"Wow...that was really close." said a figure on top of the tower. "Missed him by a small amount."
"Who the heck is this guy?" Odd asked.
"I recognize him. He's an infamous sniper who was involved with a number of mysterious sniper shots...Scope Linz." Miles said. "It was also rumored he was a member of the infamous Lost Thieves."
"Yeah...still a member." Scope said firing another shot, this time scoring a hit off Sanji. "One down, three to go." he said aiming at Aelita. "Nighty night, princess." he said firing before Miles went to take the bullet. "Not bad for...huh?" he said seeing Miles now dressed in scaly armor with sharp edges and claws.
"Sorry but bullets won't pierce this hide. Animech number 56: Armored Pangolin!" Miles said.
"Amazing. This...Animech is actually a suit of armor that protects you." Aelita said.
"Yeah. Pangolins are armored mammals that life in Africa and are born with scaly armored bodies. Even more durable and powerful than an armadillo." Miles said.
"Big deal. So I can't take you out with bullets. I can still pick of your friends." Scope said.
"I don't think so." Miles said curling into a ball and started spinning. "Full charge. Pangolin...Shot Counter!" he shouted shooting high into the air before colliding with Scope, knocking him clean off the tower and crashing into the ground, incapacitating him in the process. "Yeah...don't doubt the animals."
"Good work, Miles." Jeremie said.
"Thanks." Miles said as Aelita made her way into the tower. She soon entered the code inside the console and deactivated the tower just as the giant teddy had gotten into the school to attack. The RTTP was soon launched not soon after that. The day soon restarted where they were setting up.
"Ulrich, would you be my date tonight?" Milly asked.
"Be glad to Milly." Ulrich said.
"Really?" Milly asked.
"You aren't too upset, are you Yumi?" Ulrich asked.
"Nah. I can always go with my secret admirer. Right, Odd?" Yumi said.
"You're going with that silly baby?" Sissi said.
"You bet he is. And don't worry. Once your brain gets another neuron, maybe he'd consider you too." Genis said.
"Ugh!" Sissi said leaving in aggravation.
"You got that right, Tamiya?" Milly asked.
"Are you kidding? This is a scoop." Tamiya said.
"A super scoop." Milly said.
Fuyuhiko then turned to David. "I still can't believe we were able to take care of that giant bear."
"Yeah. It was tough, but we pulled through." David said. "There are still a few unanswered questions, though. Most importantly, why Mammon dumped us in this Redux, and why the Lost Thieves are here."
"That's a good question. If Mammon wanted us dead, he could have sent us to any place where we had a major disadvantage like the Realm of Exploration or Pit's world." Dan said.
"As for the thieves...they could have found a stone like we did." Yaoyorozu said. "And Flux is in their ranks now."
"I think the further we go, the more light that will get shed on this mystery." Shuichi said.
"Yeah...just what is going on here?" Hope said.