Author's Note: Yay! New chapter! Also to the four of you who reviewed thank you! Jim will! AND I REPEAT WILL! Be play a role sometimes in the throughout the chapters. But not for the reasons you think. Jim has lost his memories… Or has he? STAY TUNED!
'Thoughts'
Transitions/Important
'Memories'
Chapter 6: Ulrich's trial and New order
A few weeks had passed since Michael and Aelita had their little moment. Aelita had been settling down in Yumi's place. While her parents did question where Michael was, Yumi convinced them that Michael was on campus and Aelita's process was taking longer. They were skeptical at first, but Michael did show up from time to time to reassure them that campus life was good.
Aelita had also learned the virtualization process and did visit Michael almost every day. She would tell him about the classes and how boring they were: To how great that the gang was and how the earth was. Michael smiled every time that she would rant about that stuff. It was like a little kid learning how to ride a bike. Once they did, they couldn't stop ranting about it. While Aelita did feel guilty every time, Michael reassured her that it was okay.
Michael sat in the tower of Lyoko, reading through some old files and reading more on the board game of shogi. Ever since Michael discovered it, he played it every day on his access panel. It passed the time nicely. He liked the strategy behind it, and it showed during the Lyoko missions they had. He decided to step outside the tower and play around a little. He was surprised when he saw Ulrich in front of him in the desert sector.
"Ulrich! What can I do for you? And more importantly, Um..how did you get here?" Michael was curious as to what Ulrich would possibly need from him.
"Aelita showed all of us how to get here, in case that Jeremie was to get attacked." Ulrich sheepishly said. Michael thought about it and it made sense that the others would learn how to use the supercomputer. Jeremie wouldn't be there for them all the time.
"Okay. So what do you need then?"
"Um… I wanted to… Ask you for some advice." Ulrich seemed nervous all of a sudden.
"Oh? On what?" Michael now curious
"On Yu-" Ulrich stopped his statement.
"Oh, Yu-? I can't understand you, Ulrich."
"On... your awesome techniques! Yeah, that's it! I want to learn a new technique! Show me how I can learn one! After all, you did right?" Ulrich shouted triumphantly. Michael didn't look convinced but gave in.
"Hmm… Well okay then. Follow me then, I know a good spot for you." Michael lead them deeper in the desert sector and led them out to a very heavy rock formation. The rocks were all in different sizes, surfaces, to put it bluntly, no rock was the same.
"Ulrich your techniques are super sprint, triplicate, and triangulate right?" Ulrich nodded. "Hmm… Why not trying making a 4th clone?" Michael snapped his fingers.
"A 4th clone?" Ulrich looked curiously.
"Yeah, with a 4th clone you would be able to make more options for attacks. Additionally, you would be able to cut someone's escape route much more easily. You would be able to expand your triangle into a square. It would work out for you." Michael explained.
"Wow. That's a lot of insight." Ulrich was beyond shocked that Michael had come up with all of that.
"Yeah. Shogi gives you a better analytical mind. I always thought that it would be best for you. So that's why we are out here. You are going to be running on these different surfaces and gain some stamina first." Michael explained as he began running on the rocks and jumping from them.
"But, if I am just going to be running, then why not in the mountain sector or ice sector? These sectors had the flattest of plains and ice would have been hard to run on, while the mountains would have provided hard surfaces." Ulrich said as he began running.
"You will learn it pretty soon Ulrich!" Michael cried out.
BEEP! Michael looked over to see he was being contacted.
"Oh! Aelita! What's going on?" Michael looked through his little screen and saw her. Aelita was in Jeremie's room. Apparently, Jeremie was needed for some science project so he wasn't there at the moment.
"Hi, Michael. Have you seen Ulrich? He said that he was going to do something and I haven't seen him around." Aelita looked concerned. Michael simply grinned and pointed his screen towards Ulrich who tried to make a jump between rocks and lost speed causing him to fall. "I see…"
"Does he need to be back soon? I could easily take him out with a wind blast." Aelita laughed a little at the statement.
"No, he doesn't. The rest of the day is free time so he doesn't need to be back till later." Michael sighed. "What's wrong Michael? Something bothering you?"
"Nah, it's just this feeling. I am worrying too much." Michael brushed it off and Aelita didn't look convinced.
"Michael, usually when you feel something, it's usually right. What's going on?" Aelita's insight. Michael swore that it was going to be the death of him.
"Over the past few days, XANA hasn't done anything. No towers, no attacks, not even one monster for me to play with. Not to mention on the last few missions not even once did the Scyphozoa show up. It makes me feel that XANA is up to something. I just don't know what." The two simply looked at each other. Both trying to think of a possible explanation but ended up not finding one. "On another good note, though, the vehicles are almost done."
"You mean the ones that Jeremie and I sent you? What did you think of them?" Aelita now curious as to how they were doing.
"Well, the specs seem fine. The overall power shouldn't affect the computer that much and not too many resources are needed. The only problem is…" Michael had dark eyes.
"The only problem is what?" Aelita now concerned with an issue with the programming.
"WHERE THE HECK IS MINE?" Michael screamed and Aelita could have sworn the entire boy's floor could have heard him. "I know that my sprinting is better than Ulrich's and I could outrun this thing but come on!"
"Sorry, Jeremie didn't think you would need one with your abilities. I didn't create them, I checked them." Aelita had a cheeky grin on her face. Michael was obviously joking and although he would have liked one, in truth he knew he could run circles around those things. Of course, it would cost him some life points slowly over time.
"Why don't we have them come in tomorrow? We can give them a test run then. After that, we can see the results and data and go from there."
"Sure thing. I will let Jeremie know once he comes back." Aelita told him.
"Alright. See you soon Strawberry head." Aelita shook her head over the nickname.
"You too Wolf." Michael followed her suit. The connection broke off and Michael looked to see Ulrich panting heavily.
"These rocks make your body do irregular motions that you aren't used to. Additionally, you have to bend your legs more and get more power in your stride to make certain jumps. That's why you failed that last jump. Honestly, Odd could easily beat you despite your speed." Ulrich was going to retaliate, but he realized he was right. He was always running in a straight line and only could dodge to the left or right. "Your moves are easy to predict. That's why XANA has had a bit of an edge on you. In that last mission, that block was able to freeze you because you stood in the back of your clones. If you could make your movement more unique or unpredictable, then it would allow you to ascend to your next clone." Michael looked at Ulrich and all he could see was one thing.
Determination. (This will be important later).
Sometimes, the technique isn't good enough. You have to be willing to train no matter how long it takes to get results. Even if you only got 1% there one day, you would have to continue and continue relentlessly. Michael knew that Ulrich needed that in order to keep up with XANA's activities.
"Now then, let's get you back home. You have done enough for one day. This fourth clone will only come if you are willing to make it so. So it's up to you for your training menu. After all, I spent a long time before I could upgrade my dragon draw." Michael helped Ulrich up and pulled out his Katana. "Oh, by the way, Ulrich, if you need advice for Yumi, then you should have said so from the start."
"What? How did-" STAB! Ulrich didn't finish the statement.
The next day…
"WAHOOO!" Odd cried out on his new overboard. In the desert sector, Michael, Odd and Ulrich were racing across. Michael had a silver aura around him with his sprint, while Ulrich had his overbike and Odd had the overboard. Michael currently in the middle observing the work.
"So far so good Jeremie! Speed and power are both looking good! The bike is running smooth and the board is about how I expected it!" Michael knew that Odd could be crazy with his new toys. So he had taken off the program that calculates the trajectory for flight. He laughed internally as they came across a cave. "Alright, you two! I need full speed here!" The two grinned as big as they could before taking off. Michael was sprinting behind them observing the power and seeing in anything needs fixing. He decided that it wouldn't be fun if he wasn't going all out. Michael upped his aura and began sprinting much faster.
"Hey! Come back here!/You asked for it now Michael." Odd and Ulrich both said at the same time truly pushing their vehicles to the limit.
"Odd! I didn't have time-" Jeremie got cut off really quick.
"Jeremie! SH!" Michael held a finger to his mouth. Jeremie immediately understood and said nothing. You could feel Jeremie and Michael's grin.
They twisted and turned before they came to the end and Michael held a V up for his victory. He went off a ramp and jumped as high as he could before skidding across. Odd went off the same ramp and ended up crashing his board, while Ulrich grinned and laughed at his purple friend. Yumi and Aelita came over on the overwing and looked at him.
"Odd!" Yumi cried out. Aelita got off to make sure he was okay.
"Yeah, I am good. The overboard still needs more work, Jeremie."
"Maybe it's the rider. I mean how else could I trust you with that thing? I thought maybe that you could do without a program for trajectory. Perhaps I need to have Jeremie program it all over again for you." Michael with his sarcastic voice. Everyone laughed at his antics and Odd looked annoyed but knew he was joking.
"Ha ha very funny! I would like to see you two on an overboard!" Odd shot back.
"I guess surfing just isn't my thing." Ulrich waving his hands in a surfing motion.
"As much as I would love too, I can still outrun you with my legs. So I am good for now." Michael pointing out.
"Sorry to interrupt your fascinating conversation but XANA has spotted you," Jeremie said as the screen began beeping. "But… That's really weird… I don't know what it is." He began typing seriously to find the source.
"Hey, what's that?!" Yumi pointed towards the strange creature. The gang observed the 4 legged monster coming through to them in the smoke.
"I don't know, but it looks like trouble big time," Ulrich said reaching for his Katana.
'No way! My bad feeling…' Michael gripped his hands and energy began pouring into them unconsciously.
"Michael…" Aelita knew how Michael was feeling. Yet again, he felt this coming and couldn't do anything about it. To him, he felt useless. It was a fortune teller saying your future yet you could do anything about it.
"In any case, it says here that it has more life points than the others!" Jeremie exclaimed looking at the screen. The creature appeared in front of them and pointed it's two guns at them. Michael shook out of his trance.
" This is no time for sleeping on the job! Okay. Strategy Time." The space around Michael seemed to freeze and everyone seemed still. "Odd could distract it while Ulrich uses his speed to surround it. Yumi could go behind it while it's encased and Odd could provide covering fire. The damage might not be a lot but it will diverge him from the real problem it will have. An all out assault. I can disable one leg right away with one Dragon Draw thanks to the data Jeremie gave us. Okay, let's do it." The time around Michael went back to normal.
"Ulrich! Surround it with a triangulate when I say! Odd, blast away on the rocks! Yumi get outside of the triangulated and try to take some shots at it! Aelita you might want to run away. When I say, we all strike with everything!" Michael gave his command and everyone agreed. Michael pulled his Katana out and pooled his energy into it.
"Dragon Draw!" Michael with incredible speed and power slashed across the creature and sure enough only one of legs fell off while the rest remained intact. "Now Ulrich!"
"Triangulate!" The three clones began to surround the creature and confuse him heavily. He couldn't worry about it too much as he began taking fire from above on a rock formation that Odd positioned himself in. The lasers hit the laser arrows, but Odd was going gung-ho and making sure that he fired to keep the creature on its toes. He began to fire at Odd who eventually had to jump off and got hit right in the chest.
"Odd, you just lost 20 life points! It's got a powerful laser!" Jeremie exclaimed.
"YAH!" Yumi threw her fans inside the triangulated to get to the creature. One fan hit while the other was deflected away. Michael was on the outside of the triangulated smiling.
"CALL IT!" Michael yelled out.
"TOP! BODY! LEGS!" Ulrich, Odd, and Yumi all called at the same time.
"NOW!" Michael yelled out. Ulrich's triangulate disappeared in an instant and the creature saw Yumi and Odd. Odd took his arrows and began firing until he ran out. Yumi threw her fans at the one leg and it got sliced off. Ulrich with his three clones in the air dropped down on top of the XANA symbol at the creature's head.
"Triple IMPACT!" The creature cried from all the damage. Michael threw his sword at the XANA symbol and it blew up. Ulrich fused back together.
"Nice job. You guys were slow on the reaction, though. You guys have a long way to go." The group slowly was adjusting to Michael's strategies. At first, it sounded insane, but they were able to find their bearings and adjust. They still had a long way to go before being perfect, though.
"Oh come on! We were good that time right?" Ulrich looked at the others.
"Jeremie? Was the timer on right? What did they get?" Michael smirked.
"Approximately four minutes, eight seconds, and fifty-six milliseconds," Jeremie replied.
"Despite that being a new monster, that was still one of the lowest times yet. We need to coordinate better." Michael stood there for a minute before laughing.
"Hey Jeremie, how about calling us some taxis?" Odd cried out.
"It's on the way!" Jeremie began typing on his computer for the vehicles.
"Later!" Michael began sprinting away and seeing Aelita on the way. He picked her up without breaking his stride.
"I am assuming since you are here, the creature was defeated?" Aelita had that oh so innocent smile.
"Come on you know the answer already." Michael grinned. Michael ran across the sector and the tower was close.
"How did they do to your standards?" Aelita asked.
"Honestly, they weren't bad. The movements are getting better, but I can still see a delay. They have a long way to go." Michael looked before Aelita started giggling. "What's so funny?! You are the one that told me to do this!" Ever since Michael had learned Shogi, his strategies were out of this world. He could read the gang like it was nothing and could see the next best move for them. Aelita suggested during one mission to have him try and formulate a plan. It was sloppy as all heck, but the gang liked it. Ever since then, Michael had been their general and Jeremie had been the eyes. Jeremie was at first against the idea, but he realized that Michael was a better strategy person and he was on the ground with them.
The two sat there bantering about other things before the rest of the gang caught up. This caused an argument of who would go first, and Michael let the two ladies go and then the three guys were virtualized. They went upstairs to the computer lab.
"If XANA is starting to create new monsters, it means that our troubles have only just begun guys." Jeremie was in his chair concerned.
"One thing is for sure Einstein, you need to reprogram our vehicles faster. Otherwise, we don't stand a chance against those tarantulas!" Odd had his hand in the claw motion.
"Your aunt what?" Yumi asked.
"Tarantulas, the new monsters. I like giving my enemies a name." Odd expressed.
"What worries me is that XANA has obviously found a way to increase his power." Michael cringed a little at the statement. Obviously, he didn't know for sure if he was the cause. But, that recent vision didn't help him.
"You think he is still evolving?" Ulrich asked.
"These past few days might have something to do with it." Michael brought himself into the conversation. "The last few days, I got no pulsations or no monsters. Perhaps XANA was pooling everything into the one monster he sent us." The gang looked and for the most part thought it was a fair assumption.
"That would make the most sense." Jeremie looked at his computer. Michael looked around and saw that the conversation was over.
"Well, I am going to enjoy my limited time here. I think I will go enjoy the weather before going back to Lyoko." Michael was going to leave when the group began to snicker. "What? Did I miss something?"
"Should we tell him?" Jeremie asked.
"Well, of course, we should! Why keep good news like that a secret?" Yumi told Jeremie.
"Okay, I'll bite… What's this news you have?" Michael for the first time in a while looking confused.
"Over the past few weeks, I've spent all my time developing the vehicles and trying to find an antivirus to free you two from XANA's grasp. And I've perfected a whole new program for detecting activated towers." Jeremie explained.
"A Super Scanner. Much more accurate than the old one." Odd putting his thought in.
"With instant detection which means…" Jeremie was interrupted.
"You don't have to stay on Lyoko all the time!" Aelita said with joy. Michael stood there shell-shocked.
"No way! Am I going live here on earth? That's amazing!" Michael said with joy. He gave Odd a high five, Ulrich a fist bump, Yumi a slight hug and Jeremie with a nod. He looked at Aelita who seemed to be interested in the ceiling and whistling. "You little sneak. You knew all along, didn't you? That's why you have been staying with Yumi hasn't it?" Michael looked at Aelita.
"I have no idea what you are talking about." Aelita again having that innocent look.
"Come on, let's you two to the dorms. Aelita is already packed and she helped pack your stuff at the house already." Yumi said.
Kadic Academy.
"And this is your room." Jim showing Aelita her room. Michael was behind with the bag that Aelita and Yumi packed for him. "It's not very big, but you'll like it here Ms. um..."
"Stones. Aelita Stones. Like the rock group." Aelita had the biggest smile on her face. "I'm Odd's cousin from Canada."
"So is this your brother?" Jim pointed towards Michael.
"No, I am a friend of Yumi. We used to have family that had gone way back and I have been staying with her." Michael explained.
"I see. Well, Aelita, breakfast starts at seven AM, and dinner's at seven PM. It's against the rules to be in your room between eight AM and four thirty PM. You can ask your friends Della-Robbia, Stern, and Belpois to fill you in on the rest of the rules. That is if they can remember them!" Jim exclaimed turning towards the three. Jim then turned to Michael and asked if he could remember all of it. He simply nodded at the gesture.
"Good. Now, if you'll follow me, I'll show you to your room." Jim walked out of Aelita's room and down the hall.
"So far so good." Michael sighed a little before following Jim.
"So exactly how did you meet Yumi?" Jim asked Michael.
"When her family visited Korea. We have had a lot of emails and letters towards each other. I heard that she moved to France and due to circumstances, I asked her if I could come here. I honestly am glad, though. It's really such a nice country."
"Well, I hope you enjoy your time here," Jim told Michael. "This is your room. You heard the explanation so hopefully, I don't have to do it again. You can unpack or you don't have to at all." Jim walked out of the room. The room itself was similar to Jeremie's bedroom. It was quite big having a nice amount of space. Michael decided to unpack his clothes and throw them in a drawer. He got out his Shogi books and laid them on a bookshelf nearby. He also felt something that he never felt before. He reached in and couldn't help but smile.
'Those guys…' For a hidden surprise, the gang got him his very own Shogi board. Michael always played Yumi and her father whenever he went over, as well as online through the tower. He was happy to have his own. He set it down on the table. He heard a knock at the door and he told them to come in.
"I see you like the board they got you." Jeremy looked into the room.
"Yeah. It's nice to have people that would do so much for you." Michael began setting up the board.
"Well in a way, you did save yourself and Aelita." Jeremie looked disappointed. Michael walked over and put a hand on his shoulder.
"Hey, I only did what you started. Besides given more time, I am sure that you would have figured it out. I lived in Lyoko for who knows how long. If not for you Aelita and I wouldn't even be here." Jeremie had that smile and Michael nodded.
"Come on. Let's get to the others, they are preparing for the upcoming field trip." Jeremie and Michael left the room and made it to the main courtyard. Michael saw Odd handling something in his bag.
"Odd, what is that?" Michael pointed to the bag as he and Jeremie went up to him.
"Oh, this is my dog. His name is Kiwi." Odd showed Kiwi to Michael and he couldn't help but smile. The dog named Kiwi settled down once he saw Michael. "Well, would you look at that? I think he likes you." Michael patted the dog on the head and it was super calm and happy.
"Hey, Aelita! Is everything okay? Are you all settled in?"
"Yes I am and I love my new room. How about you Michael?" Aelita asked.
"It's a nice size. Thanks again by the way for the board." Michael looked to see that Aelita had a little blush.
"It's not a problem. Hey, what's the field trip everyone is talking about?" Aelita looked to the group.
"We are going to be making a biodiversity scrapbook. Mrs. Hertz wants us to draw plants and flowers. That kind of thing. You, me and Michael will be together."
"Sounds good." Aelita looked to see that Ulrich wasn't to be found. He then was seen walking to the group with his camera.
"Hey, you guys ready to go?" Ulrich with his camera and looking through the film.
"Aren't you going with Yumi?" Odd looked curious.
"She has her own partner already. Besides, you might actually get a good grade with me here." The entire group laughed while Odd had his little moment. Michael was glad to see whatever was bothering him about Yumi was over now.
"Come on, let's get going." Jeremie and the others followed the class. Jeremie and Aelita began talking about plants while Michael listened in from time to time. It's not like he was ignoring them, but it was rather that he enjoyed nature more than talking about it. They eventually found a nice spot and settled down. Michael having no real knowledge of the art, began just sketching what he saw in front of him. He moved his pencil around and was trying his best to draw the daisies in front of him.
"Wow, I didn't know you were an artist." Aelita now looking at Michael's drawing. She thought that it was basically a carbon copy of the one in front of them.
"I don't think it's that good." Michael ripping the page out of the notebook and about to crumble it when Aelita stopped him and showed Jeremie.
"Wow! That's amazing Michael! It's basically the same thing." Jeremie exclaimed. Michael simply scratched his head and the group began moving through the woods again being done with their business.
"Are you sure there aren't monsters in these woods?" Aelita now trailing behind Michael and Jeremie.
"There aren't any monsters in these woods. Those only exist in fairy tales or in horror films: The kind that Odd likes." Jeremie said.
"You don't like horror films?" Aelita now curious.
"I find them extremely inaccurate. Anyways I don't have time for all of that, I have plenty to deal with XANA." Jeremie began to check his bag and find that his computer was missing. He began panicking when Michael slugged his arm.
"Don't worry about it. Just go get it then. Aelita and I will see more of the woods while you get your laptop." Jeremie nodded and it was just the two. They began to walk around a little before they started hearing the rustling of leaves. Aelita was beginning to get extremely nervous and Michael could tell.
"Hey." Michael put a hand on her shoulder. "It's alright. Nothing is going to hurt you here. Remember what Jeremie said? Monsters don't exist here." Aelita calmed down from the statement but her face wasn't convinced. Little ways down they both heard the cry of some animal.
"Aelita." Michael tried again to calm her down. "It's okay. Come on I am your wolf right?" Michael jokingly said. That cheered Aelita up and she seemed calm again.
THUMP!
"AGH!" Michael gripped his head hard. His head felt like a baseball bat just broke his skull open. He fell on both knees.
"Michael!" Aelita's voice barely reached him as he began seeing visions again.
'Hey! What happened to welcome back huh?'
'Well, let's just say that this time the wolf has become the prey.'
Michael began gripping his head harder and crying in pain.
"Michael! Michael! If this is a joke it isn't funny!" Aelita tried her best to wake him up.
'Good night Wolf!'
'Night Strawberry head.'
Odd and Ulrich got the call from Jeremie to find Aelita and Michael, who were left on the red trail.
"Do you have any idea where they could be?" Odd asked while running along the trail.
"There! Michael!" Ulrich pointed to Michael who's face was flat on the ground. They went over to him to see if he was okay. "Michael? Michael!" Michael's face began to twitch and he had woken up.
"What?" Michael's voice was a bit groggy. "What's going on? What are you two doing here?"
"XANA's attacking." That made Michael get out of whatever trance he was in. "We were here to get you and Aelita. Any idea where she went?"
"No… All I remember was some strange visions and then pouf!" Michael honestly tried to remember but had a lot of trouble. He then saw Kiwi begin to sniff him. "What's he doing Odd?"
"He is trying to get a scent from you. It looks like he found one!" Odd yelled as they were chasing Kiwi down the paths. They saw Yumi along they way and explained the situation to her. They ended up finding an abandoned house and decided to check it out.
They went through the front and Michael couldn't help but feeling they were being watched. As they went in through the front door, Michael began to stir.
THUMP!
"Agh!" Michael's head began to scream in pain. In Michael's head, he began to hear a medley of twinkle twinkle little star.
"Michael!" The group all looked at his face and could see how much pain he was going through. All of a sudden the door slammed shut. Before they could react Michael pushed the three away from the approaching cabinet.
CRASH!
"MICHAEL!" The three cried out. As the smoke cleared away they saw their friend lying on the ground holding his shoulder.
"Damn… My shoulder!" Michael gripped his shoulder and tried to move without it. Throughout the house, they dodged knives, plates and all sorts of things. They went to the basement and saw that Aelita was lying down in some room. Michael stood outside gripping his shoulder as the group went in for Aelita. When she came conscious she saw Michael and then Ulrich.
"Ulrich! It's a trap! XANA is going to-" The thought was never finished as the door quickly began to shut. Odd being on the outside kept it open for them with his entire body. Michael ran over and tried to offer assistance but his shoulder wouldn't let him. Aelita was able to crawl out, but Yumi and Ulrich were trapped as the door pushed Odd out of the way.
"You will be cooked alive if we don't get you out!" Odd and Aelita tried the door while Yumi and Ulrich also tried.
"It's no use you guys!" The group looked towards Michael. "That door will not move an inch. The best option we have right now is to get to Lyoko and deactivate the tower." Everyone looked shocked but Yumi and Ulrich agreed.
"He is right! You guys get to the tower and deactivate the tower." Ulrich yelled from the room as it began to rise in temperature. The group of Odd, Aelita, and Michael began running before reaching a door that wouldn't open. They began to turn around when they saw another cabinet.
'You have got to be kidding me!' Michael got out of the way and Odd moved Aelita as Odd jumped over the cabinet and it collided with the door. On the other side, Kiwi was standing there as happy as could be.
Outside there wasn't much there. There were a door and some remnants of a wood log. Out of the corner of Michael's eye, he saw a blade that looked dull but he ignored it for the time being.
THUMP!
Michael and Aelita both saw the doorway leading down towards the sewers. However, Aelita spoke her vision first.
"Odd! Michael! I think this pathway leads to the sewers!" Aelita exclaimed pointing at it.
"This is no time for jokes Aelita!" Odd seriously questioning her. Michael was calm and tried his best to convince him otherwise.
"Trust her Odd. What's the harm in checking?" Michael already knew, but he had a completely different thought. For now, it was time to save Ulrich and Yumi from getting heat stroke.
The gang made it to the laboratory and explained where Yumi and Ulrich were. They made their way to the scanners. Michael's shoulder was still hurting, but he thought Lyoko would make it better.
"Transfer Aelita! Transfer Odd! Transfer Michael!"
"Scanner Aelita! Scanner Odd! Scanner Michael!"
"Virtualization!"
The three were back once again in the ice sector. (Author's Note: Not to sound rude or anything, but TWO episodes with the ice sector in a row? With Odd, Michael, and Aelita again? Granted that Ulrich and Yumi aren't helping this time. No no no we are changing this.)
The three now landed in the mountain sector. (Why? Because it's lonely.)
"Ah! Mountain sector!" Michael moved his shoulder and it still felt stiff, but much better now.
"I don't know… I think considering the condition that Ulrich and Yumi are in, we should be in the ice sector." For some reason, the ground around Odd began shaking. "Or… YAY! Mountain sector!" That stopped the shaking. Jeremie produced Aelita and Odd two vehicles.
"Aelita, the overwing is for you."
"Our taxis are waiting for us. Let's go." Odd jumped on his overboard while Aelita jumped on the overwing. Michael simply sprinted across the sector with his silver aura.
"Tower dead ahead." Odd pointed to the tower.
"Be careful! You got two Tarantulas and a crab guarding it!" Jeremie saw on his screen.
The tower was located on a flat plain almost. It had very few rocks and a lot of open space. They took cover around 30 ft before stopping.
"I will never be able to take on two those horrors! Add the Crab and it's a seafood mess!" Odd complaining.
"Maybe I can lure away one of them." Aelita had that guilty and self-confident look in her eyes. Michael couldn't help himself and started to laugh.
"Oh man, I got to hear this one." Michael quickly listened to Aelita's plan.
"Aelita? What do you plan on doing?" You could feel Jeremie's concern through his voice.
"She is going to steal the show." Michael and Odd said at the same time.
Aelita began her approach on the monsters on her overwing as they were preparing to fire.
"Well, my little monster friends…" Aelita waved to them. "Did you miss me?" Aelita gave a wink and the Tarantulas communicated. The Crab and one Tarantula followed while one stayed behind. As they were chasing Aelita they began opening fire on her vehicle. Aelita tried her best to dodge but ended up getting blasted by a Crab laser. She was on foot and began to move across the sector. She passed by two rocks and so did the creatures until they reached the edge of the sector. Aelita began backing away as the Tarantula and the Crab took aim.
"You-who!" Odd came from below the sector. "Surprise!" Odd opened fire on the Tarantula and eventually couldn't take all the damage and blew up. The Crab now looking at Odd began charging it's laser.
"That's not good… That's not good at all…" The crab looked behind to see a full charged wind blast hit him directly and knocking him off into the digital sea. "You should really watch your back next time. I was just behind those two rocks."
"Looks like they aren't that invincible." Odd began checking his ammo and realized he was out. "Uh-oh. Jeremie, I am all out of ammo."
"Okay I will reload you, but it's going to take some time." Jeremie began typing for the reloading process. Michael looked at Odd and Aelita.
"With one left, I could handle it on my own. But I want to see how you two would attack this." Odd and Aelita grinned. He was testing them.
"Okay. Why don't I keep it distracted while I am getting reloaded?" Odd told Aelita. "I will let you know when I am good to go."
"Gotcha." Odd took off on the board. Michael offered his back to Aelita.
"Just because I am not helping you, doesn't mean you have to run all on your own." Aelita simply shook her head and they began to take off.
Odd circled the tower and was waiting patiently to be reloaded. He saw Aelita and Michael running and hiding behind a rock formation.
"Done! You are fully loaded!"
"Aelita! Now!" Odd began his descent towards the tarantula. Aelita then popped out and used her creativity song to trap the tarantula. She formed a rock formation around it leaving only the roof open area. The tarantula's legs were trapped and Odd unloaded everything he had. It eventually was destroyed as well.
"Not bad. Not bad at all. I am impressed with your creativity Aelita. Although Odd's aim could use some work." Michael laughed a little. Aelita entered the tower and they were engulfed in a white light.
"Michael? Are you sure that you were the one who drew this? You didn't steal a painting or copy from something right?" Mrs. Hertz was in shock. After seeing Michael's drawings, she couldn't help but be in disbelief. The pictures were perfect images of all the flowers and plants.
"Yes, ma'am. I am sure that these are my drawings." Michael simply couldn't believe that his teacher was in shock from it all. After all, it was something that he just decided to sketch.
"Well then, a 100 for you and your group. Excellent job." With that, Michael walked away and heard Sissi make some comment about him being another Einstein. It was ignored as he went over to his group of friends. They were talking about Ulrich and Yumi as well as the drawings they got done.
"I went to check out that house the Hermitage, it's gone back to being a normal house. Empty but normal." Jeremie said.
"It's so weird, all those visions I had there." Aelita now wondering what exactly happened.
"Not to mention that underground passage that you knew about." Odd inquired.
"It's as if I had seen that house before." Aelita now saying. Aelita though didn't know that a silver-haired figure was thinking the same thing.
"How is your shoulder doing Michael?" Yumi asking him. He moved it around to show that it was alright.
"It's alright. Just a bit stiff. Nothing a bit of exercise can't do."
"Speaking of which, you were on the ground when we last saw you, Michael. What happened out there?" Ulrich looking at him. Michael felt all eyes on him and simply sighed.
"Sorry. I guess I have been just not getting a lot of rest. Before I knew it I was on the ground. That's why you found me like that. It must have been just dreams." Michael knew that he was lying, but honestly, he wasn't sure about anything that had just happened.
"Come on guys, it's only his first day and earth and a lot has happened." Aelita now trying to appease to the group. "Let's give him a rest."
The gang now agreeing with Aelita let the topic drop. For now anyways… Michael and Aelita both got phones and then headed back to their respective dorms.
Author's Note: So it was a little different than the Cannon. By the way, there is signfigance here if anyone saw it, to the title. The next chapter will have it as well. Till then!