A/N: To Naruto Sakura Uzumaki: I can't wait to see what you have :)
Enjoy, everyone, and please review! I love hearing what you guys think.
Aelita was in the library with Milly and Tamiya. They had kept annoying her for an interview, so finally, she caved in. "So, um, what do you want to know?" Aelita smiled at the camera.
"What is with you and Odd? Or Jeremie? Which is it? Aren't you and Odd cousins? Reports say you've been kissing him." Milly demanded, shoving the microphone in Aelita's face.
"That...I thought you two wanted to know about my music and concerts." Aelita frowned nervously.
"Later, but as long as we have you, we can fill our local section." Tamiya explained as she adjusted the lens a bit.
"Like when you filled it with that picture of Yumi?" Aelita accused, to which Milly and Tamiya nodded carelessly, still grinning. "That wasn't very nice, you shouldn't be smiling."
"A story is a story. Now, are you dating Odd or Jeremie?"
"Jeremie, I, I've never dated Odd nor will I ever. He's my cousin." Aelita blurted, wanting to get away from anything so...personal. "Want to hear about the back area of a concert? All the roadies setting things up and the food or something?"
"But we've gotten several sources who claim you've kissed Odd. One or two people we might be able to deny, but that poor girl what's-her-face broke up with Odd because of it. If you didn't kiss him then why did she go and-"
Aelita cut the two off. "Want to know why the Subdigitals changed their name?"
"What? No one knows why they changed their name." Tamiya squinted at Aelita suspiciously.
"Oh, really? Not even, say, a DJ that the leader of the band says is the future of music?" Aelita smiled as Milly fumbled to get a notepad from her cardigan pocket and began to write.
"He really said that you're the future of music?" Milly stammered, to which Aelita nodded. "Wow, um, the name change, though. Why did they change their name?"
"It's simple, really. But I don't know if I should tell you."
"Please? We'll do anything you want!" Milly pleaded. She and Tamiya both began to beg.
"Please? This is a huge scoop!" Tamiya clasped her hands together, throwing the angle of her small camera with its strap around her hand off.
"Well, you'll be the first ones to report this. You might get a lot of attention from other media."
"We'll keep our source a secret. We always do."
"Well, the reason they changed their name was they were doing music for a TV show. When the show was going to be aired in my home country, Canada, there was a band already named the SubSonics. So they had to change their name to allow the TV show to air in Canada."
"Wow, that's a super scoop!" Tamiya exclaimed with a grin as she realigned the camera.
"No, Tamiya, that's an epic scoop!"
"And if you want stuff for the local section, did you know Jim used to be a roadie for the Subdigitals when they were first starting out?" Alex said in a hushed tone behind the two, causing the reporters to whip around, startled.
"Really?" Both reporters leaned in, and Milly once again shoved the microphone up to someone's mouth, this time Alex.
"Really. He helped carry their equipment in his truck and even found them a manager before moving on to another job when the road life got too hard."
"Wow. What else did he do?"
"You'd have to ask Jim. But I bet there's lot of juicy stuff on Chris, Ben and Nico. If you find Jim, you might be able to do a whole paper on just his stories from before the Subdigitals became famous and you could upload the interviews to the school website." Milly and Tamiya sprinted away to find the teacher, and Alex leaned back against the wall with a grin. "That should keep them busy for a few weeks."
"Thanks." Aelita giggled.
-( ( • ) ) -
Jeremie was working alone in the Factory. He and Aelita had a schedule, and made it so one would work while the other dealt with school. Then they would switch, so they wouldn't fall behind, or at least not too far, on homework and other school projects.
"This should work. But we'll need the Skid." Jeremie entered a final line of code, then saved the program. "It's dangerous. If I mess this up, I might lose a friend."
"Einstein, talking to yourself isn't a good thing." Jeremie turned to see Odd holding four bags with a stylized M on the front, and four drinks.
"I didn't hear the elevator."
"I didn't take it. Wanted to see what you did for us." Odd set the food down. "And give you a break."
"I just finished a program."
"Well, is there anything I can do?"
"It's okay, Odd. Thanks for the food, but I can't eat all of this." Jeremie looked disdainfully at the food, but Odd laughed. "What?"
"Of course not. I'm eating with you." Odd pulled three of the bags towards himself possessively.
"Wow. As if one McDonalds meal wasn't unhealthy enough." Jeremie pulled out a burger and took a bite as he watched Odd down two burgers within twenty seconds.
-( ( • ) ) -
Later that day, Odd and Jeremie called the others to the Factory. "Aelita and I have been working on a way to Translate you to places without being at a Replika."
William raised his hand. "Why?"
"So you can get parts to build another Super Computer and to save Aelita's mother. The next step is finding a way to Translate you without going to Lyoko. It'd be helpful if you could activate your Lyoko form while on Earth to fight Xana's attacks off." Jeremie loaded up the new program. "We still need the Skidbladnir but this is just a step away from what our goal is."
"Okay, and?" Sissi prompted him to continue.
"We need a volunteer."
"I'll do it!" Odd jumped forward.
"Not you, Odd." Jeremie shook his head. "You, Alex and Aelita will be needed on Lyoko to deactivate any Towers, and Sissi has to come with you to heal Aelita if she gets hurt. The others who don't go will stay and protect the Skid."
"Then I'll do it." William stepped forward. "I'm still the weakest warrior on Lyoko with the least experience. I'm new and I'm not upgraded."
"You're not weak." Yumi put a hand on his shoulder, then pulled it away, shaking her head. She whispered something to herself, but nobody heard it.
"It is dangerous, William. If something bugs, up we might not be able to fix you, or you may be stuck between Lyoko and Earth in limbo. And if it does work, it might be hard to explain your outfit at school if we can't send you back."
"Just create a clone." Alex glanced at the monitor, but Jeremie shook his head.
"One clone is one too many. We can't keep making clones. If Xana were to possess one, or both, we'd be in even more trouble."
"Then I'll say it's a new fashion trend." William smiled just thinking about it.
"At any rate, we need to test this out as soon as possible. If nothing goes wrong, I'll keep working on it so the Skid isn't needed, and eventually, so the Scanners aren't needed."
"I'm ready." Odd jumped to the elevator.
"What if Xana attacks? Or Ulrich does?" Yumi watched the map of Lyoko rotate, trying to keep the desolation out of her voice.
"Then you have to fight him." Jeremie said simply, obviously not understanding Yumi's dilemma. "But once William is back, you can all go back to Kadic." Jeremie turned to the control panel as the rest piled into the elevator.
"Don't worry, Yumi, we'll deal with him." Alex put a supportive hand on her shoulder when he noticed her shake.
"You don't have to go." Odd tried to soothe her.
"I have to. I'm a Lyoko Warrior. It's what I told him in Australia." Yumi whispered.
-( ( • ) ) -
The elevator stopped and the Warriors stepped off and went to the Scanners, one by one. "Transfer Yumi, Transfer Aelita, Transfer Odd. Scanner Yumi, Scanner Aelita, Scanner Odd. Virtualization." They landed in Sector 5 near the Skid. "Transfer William, Transfer Alex, Transfer Sissi. Scanner William, Scanner Alex, Scanner Sissi. Virtualization." The next three landed near the first. "Once you're in the Skid, you'll have to fly to the Forest Sector and link to the Way Tower there."
"Okay, Jeremie." Aelita and the others stepped on the platforms, leaving Ulrich's pedestal empty. Soon they Energized into the Skid, and Aelita took the controls and flew out of the hangar. She piloted the craft to the nearest tunnel and waited for Jeremie to open it.
"The Mantas are hatching." Yumi watched the Mantas begin to push through the binary walls of Sector 5 with a sickening crunching sound.
"Jeremie, can we go through?" Aelita hovered near the tunnel opening anxiously as lasers began to pummel the Skid's shields.
"In three, two, and one." The tunnel opened and Aelita flew the Skidbladnir through, where the stream of data once flowed. The tunnel closed, trapping the Dark Mantas in Sector 5.
-( ( • ) ) -
Jim sat at a computer in the computer lab. "Franz, Franz, Franz. Nothing past 1995. What happened?" He began to read some newspaper headlines. "Schaeffer? Wait, Antea Schaeffer disappears, husband suspected? His last name was Hopper."
"Jim?" Milly tapped Jim's shoulder. He was so enthralled with his research, he never heard Milly and Tamiya come into the lab.
"Uh, what is it?" Jim closed the screen and turned in his chair.
"Is it true you were a roadie for the Subdigitals before they became famous?" Milly held the microphone to his face and Tamiya inched closer with her camera.
Jim covered the lens with his hand. "I'd rather not talk about it. I'm busy right now, you two need to go play elsewhere. Except the garden shed. I know you like to break into there, so don't."
"Come on, Jim! Everyone loves the Subdigitals! Anything about them is big news! We could dedicate an entire paper to you!" Milly shoved the microphone ever closer. "Please?"
"I, well, this was a long time ago, you two. Before anybody ever knew about them. Why, I remember a time we were setting up in some dive bar for an amateur night. Well, I don't know if you want to hear about it, 'cause like I said, it's way before they became famous."
"That makes it even juicer!" Milly shrieked, refusing to leave Jim alone.
"Tell us Jim!" Tamiya begged.
"Well, I have time, I guess. One time…"
-( ( • ) ) -
Aelita soon came to the Way Tower, recognizing it by its pale blue aura, and flew the Skidbladnir up next to it. When she docked with it, Jeremie sent everyone but William to the Forest Sector below.
"Okay, William, are you sure you're ready? You don't have to do this." Jeremie was clearly nervous. If this worked, it was probably only a few days' worth of work to make it work without the Skidbladnir anywhere in the world. If it bugged up, William could be hurt, or even killed.
"I'm ready. Where are you sending me?"
"Here. But like with the Replika, you probably won't land right on top of us." Jeremie explained as he loaded the program.
William disappeared from the Skidbladnir. "William?" Jeremie recieved no response. "William, can you hear me?" Jeremie checked the program. "Nothing bugged up. It worked. William, can you hear me?"
"Wow." William's voice finally came through, prompting Jeremie to sigh with relief.
"Where are you?"
"On the bridge." William looked down at himself. "I look cool." He pulled his Zweihander out from a puff of silvery smoke. "I could probably get the parts just by waving this around and asking for them." He swung it twice, then allowed it to dissipate again.
"Jeremie, pulsations." Aelita's warning came mere seconds before the Super Scan appeared with the activated Tower.
"Be careful. Xana may be trying to destroy the Skid." Jeremie looked at the screen. "Yumi, stay at the Skid. Odd, Alex, Sissi and Aelita, head for the Tower." Jeremie ordered as the vehicles formed. Odd hopped on the Overboard as Aelita climbed onto the upgraded Overbike and Alex onto the Overcycle, with Sissi on the Overwing.
The new Overbike was relatively the same as the old save for the new sleek black coloring with thin white tubing around the wheel, exhaust and windshield. As the other vehicles did, when Aelita stepped on, a sleek onyx helmet formed around her head with pink accentuation, and matching pink energy flowed through the white tubing.
"Where is it?" Aelita breathed.
"Go north, y'can't miss it."
"I hate it when Einstein says that." Odd sent the Overboard speeding forward with Aelita, Sissi and Alex behind him.
-( ( • ) ) -
William looked into the Factory. "Jeremie, I could help them if you brought me back." He eyed the Factory floor, wondering if he'd be devirtualized, or detranslated, if he jumped down, or have Lyoko physics on Earth and land painlessly.
"Okay, wait, no!" A red exclamation point came up on Jeremie's screen. "Bugs. William, hang in there."
"Don't have anything else to do." William glanced around, but didn't notice a black mist appearing behind him on the bridge. He also didn't notice it form into his old rival.
"Hello, William." the old rival sneered. William turned around to see Ulrich.
"Jeremie, we have a friend here." William warned cautiously.
"Friend?" Ulrich smiled wickedly. "I don't know if you'd consider me a friend. After all, we were fighting for the same girl." Ulrich stepped forward and William took a step back, almost going over the edge.
"I, it...it wasn't a fight. I never stood a chance. Yumi still..." William stopped. "She still doesn't hate you."
"Of course not. She's a girl and I have power over any girl." Ulrich sparked with energy. "But Yumi wouldn't have been as much fun as Sissi. Sissi already wanted to be with me. She was like putty in my hands. I could have her do anything I wanted without having to use my powers much."
"You mean Yumi was too strong willed for you to affect." Silver and black mist began to form around William's hand.
"Do you think you're fast enough?" Ulrich sneered, and William froze.
"No, but I have to try." William backflipped over the edge and formed his Zweihander as he fell, landing on his feet.
"Clever." Ulrich pulled his own sabers out and leapt off the edge after William. "But it won't do you much good."
William pulled his Zweihander up and blocked Ulrich's slices. He spun and swung his Zweihander like a bat, but Ulrich leapt away. "You're too slow, William. I could destroy you before you blinked."
"But you haven't, so I'm calling your bluff." William held the blade in front of him and it began to glow a variety of blue, purple, white and black.
"Bluff? No, Triplicate." Ulrich split apart. "You're dead. Triangulate!" The three Ulrichs ran around William in a triangle pattern, trying to confuse him.
"I'll take you with me." William continued charging his Zweihander, ignoring Ulrich and his clones.
-( ( • ) ) -
On Lyoko, the quartet soon made it to the activated Tower and the Dark Angel.
"No Ulrich? I hope he isn't going after Yumi." Odd murmured.
"She'll have to deal with it, Odd." Alex stated flatly, causing Sissi to frown. Though she wouldn't say it, she certainly would rather Ulrich go after Yumi than herself.
"As hard as it is for her." Aelita added while looking around for any other monsters.
"Stay back, Princesses. We'll deal with this pest." Odd dove on the Overboard at the Dark Angel. "Laser Arrow!" He fired them at the Dark Angel, which reflected them easily with his blades.
"Lightspeed!" Alex sprung from the Overcycle and dashed past the Dark Angel in a loop, firing a spray of bullets before remounting his vehicle. Though many hit, none managed to hit the Eye of Xana, so the monster lived. When Odd was close enough, he sprung from the Overboard, which continued on its path like a missile. Unfortunately for him, the Dark Angel clapped its hands together and caught the Overboard between them.
"Did you think that would work?" the monster sneered.
"I was kind of hoping it would." Odd landed near the Dark Angel. "Could I have it back and try again?"
"I think not." The Dark Angel flipped itself onto the Overboard, laying on its stomach, and took off into the air, hovering after Aelita, flapping its wings for added speed.
"Laser Arrow!" Odd fired at the Dark Angel, missing with each shot.
"Get back here!" Alex snarled, aiming carefully and destroying the Overboard with a well-placed bullet.
"You killed my baby!" Odd whined as he continued to try to shoot the monster, still flying though at a slower pace, down.
"Got any more babies?" Alex said in a low, venomous tone and a small smirk. As the board dematerialized, the Dark Angel dove at Aelita, using its wings to continue flying, though at a slower rate.
"Princess!" Odd cried.
"Energy Field!" Aelita threw the plasma orb, but missed the Dark Angel. She leapt off of the Overbike and passed her hand over her bracelet to make her wings appear.
"Drain!" Sissi shrieked, flinging herself off of the Overwing and latching onto the Dark Angel. Though she managed to take a good chunk of Life Points, she was soon devirtualized.
-( ( • ) ) -
On Earth, William glared at Ulrich, his blade shining intensely, much more so than before. "Ulrich, you played too long."
"Why is that?" Ulrich sneered.
"Azalea Blade! Rosetta!" William's response was accompanied by his swinging of his charged Zweihander, but not at Ulrich; Ulrich was too fast for him. The ceiling, however, could not dodge. When the energy blade hit the ceiling, it started to collapse.
"What have you done!?" Ulrich and his clones began to panic, screeching to a halt and looking around in terror.
"I'll be back in the Skid, what about you?" William said sardonically and waved goodbye as a large piece of the ceiling collapsed directly on top of him.
"William?" Jeremie saw his ID Card flash. "William? What was that?" He could feel the Factory shake, and Sissi, who was looking over his shoulder, let out a squeal. "William!"
-( ( • ) ) -
On Lyoko, Aelita was flying towards the activated Tower when the Dark Angel leapt in front of her. "Energy Field!" The Dark Angel dodged it.
"Laser Arrow!" Odd fired at the Dark Angel and it dodged again. "Come on, fight me hand to hand, why don't ya?"
"I will destroy you."
"Then prove it." Odd took a fighting stance.
"As you wish." The Dark Angel lunged at Odd, claws outstretched.
"Shield!" Odd let himself fall backwards and used the shield to bounce the Dark Angel near the edge of the Sector.
"Not good enough." The Dark Angel had just begun to pull itself back up when Alex on the Overcycle ran over it, destroying it.
"Never seen roadkill explode before." Alex muttered. With that, Aelita flew to the activated Tower and entered it.
-( ( • ) ) -
Yumi held her fans out, ready for any monsters to kill. When she heard a knocking noise, she looked up at the Skidbladnir to see William waving at her. "William's back?" Then William pointed at something behind her, eyes wide. When she turned around, she found Ulrich walking towards her.
"Hello, Yumi."
"Ulrich, stay back." Yumi held her fans in front of her as she backed away.
"I'm not here to fight you." Ulrich pulled his swords out, then flung them to either side of him, where they stuck in trees. "I'm here to bring you to the winning side."
"No, I won't join you." Yumi pulled back her arms to throw her fans.
"I will find a way to convince you." Ulrich continued to walk towards Yumi. A type of energy began to radiate from him, barely visible as a simple wave slightly distorting the area. It wasn't energy from Xana, but a different kind, and Yumi could feel it start to affect her.
"No, stop it, Ulrich." Yumi threw a fan, but Ulrich simply swatted it away.
"Why? It makes you feel good, doesn't it? This is the power I feel all the time, but a million times over. You could have it."
"I don't want it."
"Want it? I could make you want it, want me. When I was on Earth, do you know how easy it would have been for me? I could have made you do anything I wanted, and made you think you wanted to do it." Ulrich's smile sent chills into Yumi. "I bet your energy would feel different."
"Shut up, Ulrich." Yumi backed away, throwing her remaining, but he deflected it with a swat of his hand.
"Jeremie!" William pounded his fists on the glass, wanting to protect Yumi. "Send me out there!"
"William, what happened?"
"I destroyed the Factory to destroy Ulrich, launch a return or something! Just hurry!" William panicked as he continued to hit the glass.
"Got it." Jeremie began to type on the control panel. "Return to the past now!" The white bubble expanded out, reversing time.
-( ( • ) ) -
William stood at the gate to Yumi's house with his backpack on his shoulder. "Yumi?" He could see her in the window, but she wasn't facing him. He pulled out his phone to call her, but she didn't pick up. "Come on, Yumi." He opened the gate and walked to the door. After knocking it, Hiroki opened it.
"Who are you?" Hiroki demanded, squinting at him suspiciously.
"A friend of your sister's. She wanted to do some homework together." William pulled a math textbook from his bag as proof.
"Well, she's in her room." Hiroki stepped aside, letting William in. "Wait, take your shoes off." And take them off William did, leaving him in his socks.
"Thanks for reminding me." William said with a nod. He quietly approached the stairs and stepped over to Yumi's room. "Yumi?" He knocked lightly.
"Go away."
"No, Yumi, sorry." He opened the door slowly. "Yumi, are you okay?" She ignored him for a few seconds, her back turned to him as she sat on her bed, which was on the floor.
"Go away."
"No, Yumi." William sat on her bed next to her. "I don't know what to say to make you feel better. But I know what Ulrich is going through." He put an arm around Yumi's shoulder. "He doesn't want to be Xana's puppet."
"But, he, he said it was his choice." Yumi's lip quivered.
"Xana said that. When I was his puppet, I wasn't in control. Anything I said or did was Xana's will. I'm sure Ulrich wants nothing more than to be in my place right now." He hugged her. "We'll save him like you saved me."
"I...we used to be really good friends and now he's our enemy. I, I can't fight him. Every time I see him, I can't move."
"You could fight me when I was a puppet."
"I, I know."
"So imagine he's me." William smiled. "Imagine it's me annoying you at home when you want to be left alone."
"Dork." Yumi smiled. "I...thanks, William. You're a good friend."
"I try. Have to make up for all I did when under Xana's control."
"That's why you volunteer to do all the dangerous things, isn't it?" William nodded. "No matter how dangerous it is. Like letting Jeremie Translate you or doing all those risky maneuvers on the Cortex and Lyoko."
"Well, I guess I have to do something. I'm still the weakest warrior on Lyoko so if I can do anything else it helps. I mean, Sissi can heal and Alex got upgrades to give him his battle skills and knowledge, so even though they have less time on Lyoko, I'm still pretty weak compared to them."
"You're not weak, William. You're a warrior just like the rest of us." Yumi kissed him on the cheek.
"Thanks." William climbed too his feet. "I, uh, have homework and stuff."
"So do I, want to do it together?"
"Um, if you want me to stay, sure."
"I do."