Sorry for the drama before, but I just wanted more reviews, and it was extremely selfish of me. Anyway, I didn't have writers block, and I couldn't help but continue writing. I thank futurehottie and LyokoWarrior12 for their reviews.

ON WITH THE STORY!

Look Before You Seek

Chapter 21

Odd and Ulrich were silent as they ran towards the factory. Ulrich seemed to be too frustrated to talk, and Odd didn't really want to get on his bad side at this point. Odd had another reason to be silent, though, as he had his own problems to think about, concerning Aelita. He had liked Aelita for quite a long time now, but he didn't know what to do about it. He had never had any problems with girls before, but Aelita was different. There was the fact that she and Jeremie had a thing, and that was obvious. Also, he and Aelita had been through a lot more than he had been through with any other girl he was interested in.

As they rode through the sewer, they were both so deep in thought that they didn't even notice the overpowering stench of the sewer. It was an unusually strong smell, even for the sewer.

By the time they got to the elevator, they had both snapped out of their thought bubbles, and had come back down to earth. They both cringed at the sound of the rusty elevator screeching down to the super computer.

"Finally, you're here," Jeremie exclaimed out of breath, as though he had just ran all the way to the factory. "I've been waiting a long time!"

"So what's going on?" Ulrich asked, sounding casual despite knowing the situation was anything but casual.

"Well, Aelita and Minnie are trapped, but they're okay. Aelita's awake, but Minnie appears to be unconscious." Jeremie paused, turning towards his computer to type in a few coded computer messages. "I've been working on materializing them, but I don't know how they got there. Aelita doesn't either."

Ulrich walked over to the super computer, but Odd stayed where he was, near the elevator. "So, what can we do?" Odd asked, sounding a bit smug, although he didn't mean to.

"Well," Jeremie began, but he was interrupted by Aelita.

"Jeremie," Aelita called from Lyoko. "I think Minnie is waking up!" She sounded panicky and vulnerable.

"Don't worry, Aelita," Jeremie said back to her. "I'm sending Ulrich and Odd to help you." He then turned to Odd and Ulrich, "Get down to the scanners, and quickly. I don't know what will happen to her if she stays in Lyoko much longer without protection."

"Don't worry, Einstein, X.A.N.A. isn't in Lyoko anymore." Odd still sounded smug.

"But we don't know if he'll come back. He could hurt Aelita," Jeremie said, looking at Odd, surprised he was taking this so casually, as if these sorts of thing happened everyday. "I don't think you understand how much danger she could be in. Lyoko could be unstable now that XA.N.A. has left. You'll need to go to sector 5, so I can have a better look at things," he added, turning back towards his computer.

Odd and Ulrich went down to the scanners. Odd seemed slightly agitated because of his conversation with Jeremie. It seemed to him that Aelita was much more reliant on Jeremie, but he wasn't surprised. Jeremie knew what he was doing when it came to computers, and he seemed to have the super computer down pat. She obviously felt safe with him in control; who wouldn't? Odd was still thinking all this as he stepped into his scanner.

"Transfer, Ulrich!"

" Transfer, Odd!"

"Scanner, Ulrich!"

"Scanner, Odd!"

"Virtualization!"

They landed in the Ice sector, both feeling the cold seep through to their skin. Even though it was only a computer programme, it felt so real it was scary. As Odd straightened up, he felt his toes gong numb with cold.

"Aelita is in a tower, about 600 feet south-west of you current location. You'll have to get both her and Minnie out before I can transfer you to the 5 sector." Jeremie sounded anxious. Ulrich and Odd started running in the direction Jeremie told them the tower was in, Odd lacking behind Ulrich slightly, as he wasn't as fast as Ulrich was.

They made it to the tower with no interruptions, which was strange, as it had never been so quiet before. They entered the tower quickly. They had only ever done this to change sectors, and it felt strange stepping on solid ground inside the tower.

"Aelita?" Odd called as soon as he had entered the tower. She stuck he head over the edge of the platform at the top of the tower.

"Up here!" She called, sounding scared. They both looked up at her anxious face.

"How do we gat up there?" Ulrich asked Odd, who could only shrug.

"Can you come down?" Odd called up to Aelita.

"I don't know," Aelita called back down, looking behind her before continuing. "Minnie's still not awake, and I can't carry her."

"Jeremie," Ulrich called out. "What do we do now?"

"I'm not sure," Jeremie said into the little microphone that was attached to his headphones. "Try jumping?" He added, trying to be helpful.

"Jumping!" Odd called out sarcastically, outstretching his hands as a helpless gesture. To his surprise, this gesture was very helpful, as he found himself being lifted of the floor of the tower, and towards the top platform of the tower. He landed gracefully on the tower in front of a kneeling Aelita, too astounded to say anything. Ulrich was quick to follow, reaching the top platform soon after Odd. He said nothing,he just walked straight to Minnie, lifting her from the floor. She moaned softly, but she didn't wake.

"How do we get down?" He asked Aelita.

"I'm not sure," she said, her voice shaking. "I've never needed to do it before."

"Jeremie," Ulrich called impatiently. "How do we get down?"

"Umm… I think you should just be able to jump down." Upon hearing this, Ulrich wasted no time. He walked straight to the edge, jumping off and landing on the ground, unharmed.

Odd turned to Aelita, and offered her his paw. She took it, standing up, gazing intensely into his eyes. Both sets of eyes saw something else in the other set, but this bond was broken quickly. They both looked down at the platform below and, still holding hands, jumped down to it, falling slowly.

They both landed gracefully, and walked out of the tower to where Ulrich was waiting for them. They were all then swept away by the Transport Orb that Jeremie sent, Ulrich still holding Minnie, Odd and Aelita still holding hands, heading off to sector 5.