AN: I know I just updated the story, but I had this chapter finished just after finishing up Jeremie's chapter, and I couldn't wait to upload it. Now we're finally getting the ball rolling with the plot, and it's only getting better from here! I hope you guys like this one!

Chapter Four: The Hand Bitten

Things can be so unfair
You were taken away
Before your time
Now we're all sitting here,
Nothing left for us to say
Don't want to leave you behind

- Earlyrise, "Memories"

Ulrich was quick to leave the Yumi clone's side as soon as the elevator door opened, revealing Aelita and Odd who were gathered at the computer's interface.

"Well?" he asked, shoving both his hands into his pockets as he strutted towards them. "Odd said that it's possible to fix the clone."

Aelita faced him and nodded her head. "Yes that's right. Now we can hope that the clone is less dependent."

"We'll still need to hang around it though," said Odd. "Y'know, so no one gets suspicious on what Yumi's doing by her lonesome."

Ulrich did not appreciate his friend's joke, and made it clear by glaring at him.

Odd held his hands up in surrender. "Sorry, sorry, thought you could use a laugh, that's all!"

"Guys, please..." sighed Aelita, not wanting a fight to break out if that was the intent.

Turning away from his roommate to make a quick glance at the stationary clone, Ulrich asked, "So what do we have to do so that it gets the upgrade?"

"Okay, well first you'll have to put her into one of the scanners. That way I can download the information. I'll have to activate a tower to do so though."

"Whoa Princess, you think you can do that?" asked Odd.

"I...I think so. I hope I can."

"Just think about it - if you can do that, then we won't even need to go to Lyoko anymore. Just override Xana's towers and bam! Mission accomplished!"

Aelita could not resist stifling a chuckle at Odd's optimism. "I wish it was that simple, Odd. No, we'll still need to go to Lyoko. I can't override Xana's programs permanently. Sooner than later he would just repossess the tower."

"Aw bummer. I guess that was just wishful thinking, huh?"

"Anyways," said Ulrich impatiently, "so we take the clone down to the scanner room..."

"And then you can leave the rest to me," said Aelita. "It shouldn't take too long to update the software of the clone."

Nodding his head in satisfaction, Ulrich turned to return to the elevator when he felt a hand on his shoulder stop him. "Hey, why don't you let me take the Yumi clone downstairs?" asked Odd, a sympathetic look on his face.

Ulrich brushed his hand off. "Thanks Odd, but I told you that I'll be fine."

"You always say that, but you're never fine." Then, before Ulrich could reply, Odd slipped around him and leapt into the elevator, hitting the Down button before his sullen roommate had a chance to react. Ulrich could literally hear the smile in Odd's voice as he called out, "It's for your own good!"

"Relax Ulrich," said Aelita, who took her eyes away from the computer screen momentarily. "She's in good hands."

"You call Odd's hands good?" Ulrich shrugged. "Okay, whatever."

"All right Princess, we're ready!" Odd called from the scanner room.

"Okay, I'm starting the procedure now."

Ulrich returned to Aelita's side, watching with curious eyes as the program downloaded itself into the clone. He didn't understand the tech mumbo-jumbo of the Supercomputer, but it looked like the program itself was running successfully.

Aelita seemed to confirm so as she typed it several codes. "Okay, so far the Yumi clone is processing the updates well..."

"Was there any doubt?"

"Well, a little."

"Don't worry Princess, you're doing a great-" He shouldn't have tempted their good luck. No sooner than those words left his mouth that several windows popped up - one was a red exclamation point, and another contained the scan of the towers on Lyoko.

Aelita frantically typed in several keys. "Oh no, not now! I have to stop the update! I think Xana planted a bug in the program."

Ulrich's shoulders sank. "That's just great. And an activated tower to boot. Will the other scanners be okay, Aelita?"

She nodded her head. "They should be. I'll tell Odd. Odd, do you hear me?"

"Roger, Princess! What's going on? Why did the scanner stop scanning?"

"I'm afraid Xana has woken up. There's an activated tower in the forest region."

"Well what about the Yumi clone?"

"One of us should stay behind," said Ulrich.

"You stay, Ulrich. You'll need to operate the Supercomputer while I'm gone, and besides you've gotten better at it." Aelita gave him a friendly wink.

Her words did not go unnoticed by Odd, however. "Hey, I've been improving too!"

Aelita passed the headset to Ulrich, who took her seat at the computer. "We'll send the clone back up to you."

"Don't be gone too long," he said, forcing a small smile.

"If Xana doesn't give us any trouble," she replied back, disappearing behind the elevator's moving doors.

Once she arrived in the scanner room, they led the Yumi clone, who otherwise appeared unfazed by the activity that occurred with the downloading process, to the elevator and sent her back up Ulrich's way. Then Aelita and Odd took to their respective scanners, awaiting the virtualization process.

"Okay guys, ready?" Ulrich's voice said clearly over the intercom.

"We're ready, Ulrich," said Aelita.

"Do your thing buddy! It's time to kick some Xana butt!" cheered Odd.

"Okay. Transfer Aelita. Transfer Odd. Scanner Aelita. Scanner Odd. Virtualization."

The sensation of being transferred from one world to the next was not a pleasant one. It was a pulling force, nearly jerking you off your feet. When Aelita was re-transferred to Lyoko after being materialized, the sensation of the transfer left her feeling a bit ill, before and after. She felt quite alone when she found out that neither Odd nor Ulrich shared her sentiments when they recalled their first transfer.

Also, having to suddenly land on your feet once the configuration of the avatar was completed was another less than welcomed gesture, but one that Aelita quickly got used to after a few visits.

Opposite of her, her purple-clad protector was gazing about the forest, almost just daring Xana to bring one of his monsters to the party. "Well Princess?" he asked, flashing her a smirk. "Shall we go?"

"You guys made it there okay?" came Ulrich's distorted voice.

"Yes Ulrich, we made it here okay," said Aelita. "You do fine when you transfer us here. You should relax a little."

"Yeah, and if you mess up we will let you know loud and clear!" added Odd.

"Thanks Odd. Okay it says the tower is due north-east of your position. No monsters in sight."

Though it wasn't unusual to not be greeted by Xana's welcoming party of whatever monster he wanted to send for that day, something about the lack of presence from Xana unnerved Aelita.

Odd seemed to pick up on her suspicions and laid a hand on her shoulder. "Relax, don't tell me you want us to show up in the middle of Xana's welcoming committee?"

Aelita smiled. "No I guess you're right. It's a little silly to be thinking about it."

"It's more than silly. It's a little insane." Odd winked. "But hey, I'm not here to judge. Ready to go?"

She nodded her head and the pair raced off in the direction Ulrich had directed them. Odd led the pair, his head occasionally moving about to scan the area. Though Aelita's materialization had been successful and she could not be erased forever when de-virtualized, she still lacked any significant modifications of power besides Creativity as her ability. Therefore, she still needed the extra protection as before or otherwise a tower would never be deactivated. More than once Aelita had considered looking into doing something about that, by giving Odd and Ulrich the ability to deactivate the towers on their own without needing her, but the process, especially with the concerns over Yumi being everyone's priority, had been slow, if non-existent.

Aelita's concerns in that moment, however, were not about Yumi or modifying the deactivation codes exclusive to her avatar only, however. She quickly realized why she was so unnerved - it was too silent in the forest sector. Xana was sending none of his soldiers to stop them from ceasing his assault. No Roachsters, no Bloks, not even a Megatank to make things more dangerous. It was just her and Odd in an empty area.

Odd came to realize Aelita's concerns and began to have his own doubts as well once they reached the red tower. "Hang on Aelita, something isn't right," he said, narrowing his eyes. "This was too easy. Hey Ulrich, any monsters running about?"

"Uhh, no actually. It's pretty dead in the forest."

"So we've noticed."

"This could be a trap by Xana," said Aelita. "None of this seems right. It's like he wants us to stop him."

Odd gave her a look of confusion. "But why? Isn't the whole point of this being us trying to deactivate the tower and him stopping us? What gives this time?"

Aelita shrugged. "I don't know, Odd. None of this is normal for Xana."

There was a bit of static before Ulrich's voice returned. "Uh guys? I think the tower just deactivated itself?"

"What!" both exclaimed as they turned to look at the tower. Indeed, the red aura that was Xana's symbol of attack faded back to its neutral blue state.

"I don't believe it!" exclaimed Odd, who slowly and cautiously began to approach the tower. "This doesn't make sense! Why'd Xana throw in the towel?"

"Wait Odd!" cried Aelita, refusing to move further from her spot. "We shouldn't get closer to it!"

"Why not? We're not in danger anymore, right? Xana's called off his attack."

"I know but... this seems like a trap."

"How perceptive of you."

Neither could believe who it was who stood in front of them in that moment. If you were to have told them earlier in the day that something like this would've happened, they would've laughed and told you that you were crazy. Aelita even felt weak in the knees, and she was sure that Odd was having the same reaction as her.

Because there was no way Aelita was believing that the Yumi that was standing in front of them at that present moment was not a figment of her imagination. Or, if anything, something created by Xana to represent a friend no longer present in their lives. If that was the case, Aelita would have to give it to Xana that he was increasingly becoming more proficient about screwing around with their minds.

Yet Yumi looked so real; she was even donning her Geisha outfit. Aelita felt like she could just reach out and touch her...

"No way..." whispered Odd, shaking his head.

"What's going on?!" Ulrich sounded increasingly alarmed, and Aelita could not blame him. "There's a monster right in front of you! Why aren't you attacking?"

"Ulrich, this is no monster," said Aelita, unable to decide whether she should approach Yumi or not.

"What are you talking about, Aelita? It says so on the screen!"

"Ulrich, it's Yumi," Odd said loudly and clearly for the brown-haired boy to understand. It must've worked because there was immediate silence on Ulrich's end.

Yumi tilted her head up to Lyoko's skies and said, "It's been a while, hasn't it?"

Ulrich's voice returned to them, but he sounded he was on the verge of tears. "Y-Yumi? Is that you?"

"The one and only." Yumi returned her attention to Odd and Aelita.

Regaining himself, Odd was the first to approach Yumi, sprinting into a run towards her with his hands held out. Clearly he was going for a hug. "Wow Yumi, it's really-" He never completed his run.

It had been so quick that Aelita thought she blinked without knowing. In a split second of him coming within close range of Yumi, Odd was de-virtualized, his avatar disappearing instantly. And Aelita saw, though she could not believe it, Yumi's tessen fan soaring through the air before returning to its master's hand.

Had she really saw what she thought she saw?

"What's going on?!" Ulrich shouted. "Odd just got de-virtualized! You guys better get out of there!"

Ulrich's words finally brought movement to Aelita's legs as she took a step forward towards Yumi. "Yumi, I don't... did you do that?"

Yumi slowly turned in Aelita's direction. Aelita likened Yumi's movements to Odd on one of his bad days where he was lethargic and uninterested. But that was what Odd was like on a bad day. This was Yumi, their Yumi, and it felt totally uncharacteristic of her.

"Yumi?" Aelita pressed.

Yumi held out her hand, holding her fan tightly. She smiled. "It's good to see you, Aelita." She flicked her wrist in Aelita's direction, and the fan soared with startling speed. It clipped Aelita's shoulder before ascending into the air.

Aelita's eyes widened. "What?" she asked softly, feeling the impact of Yumi's fan in her backside and her body dissolving with the loss of all her life points. The last sight she saw was of Yumi watching her with a solemn look on her face.