Hurray I'm back!
Right now I'm forcing myself to write at least the first scene or two in this chapter. (I write chapters over long spans of time so the author's notes at the beginning and end of the chapter are normally written on different days.) Anyway, this story is almost finished!!
Disclaimer: I do not own Code Lyoko, I own Nikki and the plot, and that's about all you'll find that's mine in this chapter.
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After the gang got back from the train station and Nikki had her stuff unpacked, they all gathered in Odd and Ulrich's room. Odd and Nikki were on Odd's bed (Nikki was playing with Kiwi), Jeremy was sitting in the desk chair, Aelita and Yumi were sitting on Ulrich's bed and Ulrich was on the floor leaning against his bed.
"So did you really find a way for us to defeat Xana?" Yumi asked cautiously, so that no one outside the room could overhear.
"Of course not," Nikki said sarcastically, "Jeremy just wanted to fake us all out," she finished with a joking grin on her face.
"Actually, Nikki is kind of right, in a way," Jeremy stated, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose.
"Well that's a first," Nikki hit Odd over the head with his pillow as a response to his comment.
While the others laughed, Ulrich rolled his eyes and said, "Ignoring the bickering old married couple; how was Nikki right?"
Jeremy decided to overlook the glares Ulrich was receiving from the 'bickering old married couple' to explain.
"Nikki was right by saying that I haven't spent all this time looking for a way to defeat Xana. We already know how to do that, just flip the switch to the supercomputer and we're done. And we can do that since Aelita's virus is gone. What I was trying to do, was pin down Franz Hopper's location on Lyoko. Once I did that, I was trying to reboot the same materialization program that we used to bring Aelita to earth for the first time."
"But didn't you need DNA for that program to work?" Yumi inquired, being the only one who remembered that DNA was needed.
Aelita smiled and took a glass test tube with a silver hair in it out of her bag. "We found this the last time Jeremy and I went to the hermitage. It was on one of his old shirts."
"Sounds good to me. So when are we going to put Xana back in his place for good?" Odd asked, holding his fists in the air like he was about to start boxing with someone.
"It's a long weekend so we can do it tomorrow without having to make any excuses for missing class. We won't have to worry about any other students wondering where we are either, since everyone's at home."
That group conversed over a few more details before heading down to dinner.
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The Next Morning:
Yumi walked up to Nikki's door to find that it was slightly ajar. She opened it more to reveal Aelita sitting on the bed watching Nikki digging through a drawer, throwing the contents over her shoulder and onto the floor.
The Japanese girl cleared her throat and Aelita looked up at her and smiled, "Good morning Yumi."
"Hey Yumi," Nikki uttered into her drawer.
"Morning," Yumi flopped onto the bed next to Aelita and dropped her bag by her feet.
"What's going on Yumi?" Nikki inquired, moving onto a different drawer.
The raven haired girl furrowed her brow, "What are you talking about?"
"Don't give me that crap, I know you. You sound preoccupied so what's on your mind?" It was more of a demand than a question the way she said it.
"It has something to do with Ulrich, doesn't it?" Aelita questioned. The pink haired girl wasn't sure if she was right, but there was that part of her that told her she was.
"Nothing gets past you two, does it?" Yumi muttered to herself before continuing, "Yes, it does have something to do with Ulrich."
"And what about Ulrich has you so spaced out?" Nikki asked. She didn't want to have to squeeze all the answers out of her friend but since Yumi wasn't talking, it was kind of necessary.
"He asked me out on a date," Yumi said quietly, avoiding her friends' shocked and thrilled faces.
"And did you say yes?!" Aelita asked eagerly
"He gave me time to think about it, but I'm gonna turn him down," Yumi mumbled, fully expecting the reaction she would get.
"WHAT?!" Both of the other girls shouted in unison. Nikki had temporarily abandoned her digging and she and Aelita were both staring at Yumi.
Aelita was the one to speak first, "Why would you do that?! We all know that you love him so why would you turn him down?!"
"Because I'm not ready to love someone else! I still haven't gotten over the last time," Yumi spat.
"Well that's a bad reason," Nikki stated. She was instantly being glared at by her friends so she decided to rephrase while she went back to searching. "Don't get me wrong, I know where you're coming from and everything but seriously, if you keep that attitude any longer you're never gonna be able to date anyone ever again! We've all been waiting for you two to get together for too long for you to turn him down over this! Trust me, if you say no to him you're only going to be hurting yourself more. And I don't think that he'll be overly thrilled either."
"Wow," Aelita said after a moment's silence, "Who knew Nikki of all people could be that deep."
"Eh, I have my moments," Nikki grinned as she replied.
"As shocking as it is, Nikki's right," Yumi stated, "I owe it to Ulrich and myself to at least give him a chance."
"She's finally seen the light," Nikki joked.
While Yumi and Aelita laughed, Nikki found what she was looking for (her cell phone and a necklace she got for her birthday that she wore all the time) and cheered, falling backwards in the process.
"If you've got everything, we should start heading towards the factory now," Yumi said one the trio's laughter died down.
Nikki stood up and swung her messenger bag over her shoulder, "I'll race ya!"
With that the three bolted out of the room, running as fast as they could towards the forest.
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On the way to the factory, the girls stopped racing and ran into the elevator together. They were too busy catching their breath to talk during the elevator's descent.
"You're late," Was the first teasing comment Aelita, Yumi, and Nikki received when the elevator door opened.
"Actually Odd, we never specified an exact meeting time so technically, we couldn't be late," Nikki retorted without hesitation.
Odd gave Nikki a playful glare and she smirked at him while the others laughed. All except for Jeremy who was still typing away at the computer. "Enough joking around, this is serious! Now can we please get started already?"
"Chill out, Einstein. This is the last time we're going to Lyoko to fight Xana, try and enjoy yourself a little," Despite his comments, Ulrich and the others started towards the elevator. While Odd and Nikki were cheering and discussing plans for a party, Yumi gave Aelita a meaningful glance. Understanding perfectly, Aelita sighed, stepped out of the elevator, and said, "You four go ahead, I'll meet you on Lyoko."
Yumi gave her a reassuring smile as the elevator closed.
Jeremy turned around with worry in his eyes. "Is there something wrong Aelita?" He inquired.
She didn't say anything for a while, Aelita could tell that Jeremy was becoming anxious but he couldn't figure out where to start…
On the way to the factory:
"So why did you break up with Brad exactly?" Nikki asked after Aelita told her the news. the pink haired girl froze at her friend's question. (a/n: remember, Nikki wasn't at Kadic when Aelita broke up with him.)
"I fell in love with Jeremy instead," She replied hesitantly.
Nikki didn't have to think about her next question. "So you're gonna tell him before you go to Lyoko today right?"
"What?! Of course not! Why would I do that?" Aelita exclaimed. She knew that Nikki could be a bit eccentric at times but she never thought she'd say something like that!
"She's right, Aelita," Yumi told her, "Better to tell him sooner than later, and now is the perfect opportunity since the rest of us will be on Lyoko."
After a moment Aelita finally gave in, "Fine."
"Ha! And you're going to tell Ulrich yes now, right?" Nikki asked, you could tell that she was on the verge of cracking up for no particular reason.
Yumi rejected the idea quickly, "Nope, I wasn't planning on it."
Nikki frowned at her but didn't press the matter further. It was in her best interest not to anger her Japanese friend too much.
-End flashback-
Finally, the pink haired girl took a deep breath and looked up at her favorite blonde genius. "Do you want to know the real reason I broke up with Brad?"
Jeremy had been braced for a serious life altering problem so he was both relieved and baffled by Aelita's question. Despite his confusion, he replied, "Um, sure?"
Aelita stepped forward until she was standing in front of Jeremy as she stated simple, "I fell in love with someone else."
Before Jeremy could stop himself, he blurted out, "Who?" He could feel the heat rushing to his cheeks but he didn't really know why. He may be a genius, but when it came to love, he was clueless. Wait, did he just say love?!
The pink haired girl placed her hands on the armrests of the chair and stood on her toes. In a quiet and somewhat timid voice, she whispered, "You."
And then she kissed him. It was a quick peck, but still sweet and loving. Both of their faces were pink when Jeremy asked in a shaky voice, "Does this mean we're dating now?"
"I hope so!" Aelita exclaimed, giggling.
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Just before the scanners closed, Nikki grabbed Odd by the wrist and pulled him out of the scanner.
As soon as Odd was outside the scanner, Nikki let go of his wrist and sat down in the middle of the room. Her nails were digging into the palm of her hand to keep it from shaking.
"What the hell was that for?!" He demanded, taking a seat next to her.
Nikki looked up at him and grinned, "I thought we should give them a little alone time."
Realization finally dawned on Odd and he didn't say anything afterwards. Nikki remained silent too. She was hoping to avoid bringing up their fight. She wouldn't ignore it forever, just until they were rid of Xana for good. Which, hopefully, would be today.
Odd smoothed out Nikki's clenched fist and entwined his fingers with her. Odd couldn't help but smile to himself at the fact that Nikki didn't flinch when he did so. When she had first come to Kadic, Nikki would cringe whenever someone came to close. It came from being beaten up too many times at her old school (see Nikki's history on my profile). He was happy to see that that reflex was gone.
Odd was about to bring up their fight when a blushing Aelita came down the ladder.
"You two ready to go?" She asked, heading towards an empty scanner.
Odd and Nikki cheered as they entered the two remaining scanners.
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Yumi and Ulrich appeared in the desert sector to find that Odd wasn't there.
"So you think something went wrong with the virtualization process?" Yumi asked, worried for her friend.
"Nah," Ulrich replied almost automatically, "I saw Nikki pull him out of the canner at the last minute."
Judging by the look on Ulrich's face, Yumi could tell that he thought Nikki was trying to sort out everything between her and Odd. But much to Yumi's displeasure, she knew that Nikki was playing matchmaker for her and Ulrich.
"So Yumi, have you thought anymore about my question?" Ulrich asked hesitantly, proving Yumi's theory correct.
The Japanese girl wanted nothing more than tell him that she loved him but the words died inside her mouth. Instead she did exactly what Nikki didn't want her to do and said, "I have, but I'll tell you later. Now isn't the best time for this."
The boy beside her looked slightly hurt at this but Yumi could tell that he understood her reasoning. Then, as if on cue, Aelita, Odd, and Nikki appeared to break the silence.
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"I think Xana's taking a sick day you guys; I haven't seen a single sign of his goons since we got here," Nikki commented. Her breathing was slightly heavy from running, as was the others'.
Jeremy's disembodied voice replied to her. "That's because Xana didn't expect us to show up today. But don't let your guard down anyway; you never know what Xana could have up his sleeve."
Everyone already knew not to let their guard down but they heeded Jeremy's warning nonetheless.
That's when Ulrich noticed something on his right that caused him to skid to a halt. This in turn, caused Odd to ram into him and nearly knock Ulrich to the ground.
"What is that?" He asked over the girls' laughter.
"What's what where?" The blonde demanded, rubbing his nose where it had collided with the back of his friend's head.
Ulrich pointed wordlessly to the edge of the expansive plateau they were on. The others followed his gaze to find a glowing white orb about the size of a soccer ball floating a few feet above the ground where they normally went to get to sector five.
"Whatever it is," Yumi said, resting her hands on her hips, "There's no doubt in my mind that it's one of Xana's tricks."
"Only one way to find out," Odd shouted cheerfully. He grabbed one of Nikki's arrows and started to jog towards the illuminated ball.
"What do you think you're doing Odd? That thing could be dangerous!" Aelita yelled so that the blonde could hear her. Irritation and anxiety were evident in her voice. As answer to Aelita's rhetorical question, Odd jabbed the orb with the arrow he had "borrowed" from Nikki.
"ODD!!" The others (including Jeremy) hollered at the top of their lungs.
Odd grinned at them sheepishly but his glee faded when the orb sucked the arrow in and began to expand.
Everyone cursed under their breath as the ball continued to grow rapidly until it seemed it would burst. When it did finally implode, a blinding white light swept over a vast majority of the desert sector, including the Lyoko warriors.
After the light subsided, everyone released a breathe they didn't realized they were holding and looked around at each other.
"Is everyone alright?" Jeremy's voice came from the cloudless orange sky.
"I don't feel any different, do you guys?" When the others shook their heads, Nikki looked up and replied, "We're all okay down here Jeremy. Has anything change on your end?"
"Not from what I cant tell. Oh wait, there's an army of blocks coming from behind you. It'll take to long to fight them off, so I'll program your vehicles." seconds later, their rides appeared in front of them and they were off.
They hadn't been moving for long when the blocks came into view and the barrage of lasers began. the Lyoko warriors were doing pretty well at dodging them until one hit Odd on the back of his shoulder. The impact sent him hurtling towards the ground in a nosedive. Luckily, just before he hit the ground, Nikki grabbed him by the wrist and hoisted him onto her board.
When they were out of the blocks' range, Nikki asked, "Are you alright?" over her shoulder. When Odd didn't answer, Nikki stopped and kneeled down facing him as he was on his hands and knees. Nikki placed her hand gingerly on the spot on Odd's left shoulder where he had hit. When the girl felt something warm, she pulled her hand back and saw that her palm was covered with crimson blood.
"Oh my god, Odd you're bleeding!" Nikki exclaimed. Panic was clawing at her insides and she could tell the others felt the same way by looking at their faces.
"Xana must have done something to you guys with that orb," Jeremy said in a tight voice above them, "Be careful, every time you guys get hit, it becomes a real wound. You won't lose life points and be devirtualized; you'll be stuck on here until you die."
Everyone looked at Odd, worried about his condition.
"I'm fine," He finally gasped, struggling to his feet, "Just keep going."
Nikki stayed on her knees, staring up at him warily as if she was expecting him to collapse. After a while, she stood up and turned around. As the overboard started moving again, Odd flashed her one of his trademark grins and placed his hands on her waist for support.
A few minutes later, Yumi called out, "are we almost there Jeremy? The blocks are gaining on us!"
Aelita's grip on Ulrich tightened when she heard that and it didn't slacken until the genius replied, "You'll find Franz Hopper on the platform coming up on your left."
The Lyoko warriors followed his directions. However, when they stopped on said platform, the only thing that was there was a round hole filled with water. You couldn't tell how deep it was because the pond reflected the orange sky above them.
"Hey Einstein, are you sure you didn't mess up that program? The only thing here is a pond," Ulrich said, sounding slightly confused.
"I'm positive Ulrich," Jeremy retorted, "Franz Hopper is right where that pond is."
Aelita thought silently for a moment before bursting out, "That pond must lead somewhere! That's happened before, hasn't it?"
"And that somewhere must be where your dad is," Nikki concluded.
The gang didn't have any time to think things over because the army of blocks had come back into range. As they left their vehicles behind and jumped into the water, Aelita created a thick stone dome around the pond to prevent the blocks from following them.
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Aelita, Odd, Yumi, Ulrich, and Nikki hit the ground with simultaneous thuds. Looking around there was an inactivated tower and a large, floating ball, illuminated with all sorts of different colors. From what they could tell, the platform they were standing on was directly underneath the one they had just come from.
"Daddy?" Aelita asked hopefully to the mass of swirling light.
As if to say 'yes' the light made a humming noise that sounded like music.
"Aelita, go with him into the tower," Jeremy ordered, "I need you to help run the materialization program from the inside."
Just then, eight crabs appeared out of thin air. Except these ones were different; instead of the usual sandy red color, the crabs were metallic silver, like metal.
"Aelita, you go with your dad into the tower; we can take these guys," Ulrich commanded.
Aelita stared at her friends in hesitation. They all stood in defensive stances between her and the crabs. Before taking off for the tower, the pink haired girl said to her friends, "Good luck," and then to her father, "Come on Daddy."
The orb soon disappeared into the tower along with Aelita.
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As Jeremy and Aelita were hard at work on getting the program running, the others realized their task wasn't going to be completed as easily as they had expected. Every attack they had used against the silver crabs had bounced right off. The crabs didn't have a scratch on them while the Lyoko warriors were bloody and on the verge of collapsing. To top it all off, Nikki and Odd's arrows were gone and Yumi and Ulrich's weapons were lying on the ground somewhere.
Then, just as another crab was about to hit Yumi from behind, Ulrich dove in between her and the crab and took three lasers to the chest. He hit the ground hard and unconscious.
Yumi bent over him, screaming his name until she herself was hit with another laser, causing her to collapse on top of a bloody Ulrich.
Odd and Nikki saw what had happened to their friends but were shot down before they could do anything about it.
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The program was a success! The glowing ball took on the silhouette of Franz Hopper and was materialized. Aelita's father was safely on earth without a hitch.
Coming out of the tower, Aelita was mortified. All of her friends lay in bloody heaps on the ground.
"Jeremy!" Aelita cried out, "You have to bring the others back now!"
"Alright, but you first," Jeremy replied. Without being able to see what had happened, the genius had now idea how severe the damage was. Before Aelita could protest, her body began dissolving and her friends disappeared from view.
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Yumi, Nikki, Odd, and Ulrich awoke in a row on the icy cold factory floor. They were extremely sore, but otherwise completely unharmed.
That was when they noticed the three people staring at them. The first two where Jeremy and Aelita, holding hands and looking incredibly relieved that their friends were okay. The third was a bespectacled man who was none other than Franz Hopper.
Odd jumped up and shouted "HOORAY! WE'RE ALIVE!!"
"And it looks like Jeremy's program worked!" Ulrich added with pleasure.
Nikki jumped up and pointed at Jeremy and Aelita, "Oh my god, they're finally together!!"
"Well, now that you're all feeling better, I believe we can shut down the supercomputer," Jeremy said, smiling. Aelita was laughing at her friends' enthusiasm.
Franz Hopper interrupted for the first time. "Shut it down, are you mad?!"
"If we don't, Xana will attack again," Yumi argued.
"Nonsense, come with me," The man replied, climbing up the ladder.
The others shrugged and followed him up. When everyone was in the room, Franz Hopper was already typing away at the supercomputer.
"While I was stuck on Lyoko, I created an antivirus to destroy Xana," He explained as quickly as he was typing, "The only problem was that I couldn't activate it unless I was where I was where I am right at this moment. So now I can rid the world of Xana and you can still go on Lyoko whenever you like.
As he said this, Franz Hopper hit the enter key. The gang watched in amazement as any trace of Xana was wiped out. They were all silent for a moment. Aelita's father was finally free and Xana was gone for good.
When the victorious Lyoko warriors were finished taking in the information, they started celebrating.
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Ha!! It's done, just like I said it would be!! Aren't you so proud that I can actually meet the deadlines I set up?? Anyway, if you are reading this, this is the second to last chapter. I might put an epilogue on there and I might not, that all depends on the ideas you guys give me in your reviews. But I WILL add something extra on the end no matter what, but that's a surprise!
Read and review people!!
spirit