Chapter 23
By The Way
The four warriors entered the tower. Ulrich was still carrying Yumi while Odd and Aelita followed close behind them. Ulrich laid Yumi on the floor of the tower so that her life points would replenish. He sat down next to her as Aelita prepared to install the upgrades into the others' virtual forms.
"Ok Odd, you're first," Aelita said as she opened the holo panel. From the lab, Jeremy typed in several commands as he prepared to install the upgrade. He selected ice shot, homing missile, and wave curl for Odd's arm cannon. He also installed a second upgrade for Odd, the charge shield: a different type of shield in which every time it absorbed a shot, the energy from the shot was stored inside one of Odd's Wave Curl shots, making it stronger and cause more damage.
"Ready to rock and ruin?" Jeremy asked.
"Ready on my end," Aelita said as a purple ring formed around Odd.
"Uh… I feel kind of strange here guys," Odd said as he looked around him. Ulrich watched as Yumi continued to lay there on the floor unconscious
.
"Inserting program into virtual envelope," Aelita announced as Odd yipped a little. "Hey I felt that!"
"Upgrading virtual spectrum," Jeremy announced as the purple ring began to move up and down; it moved faster and faster as Odd winced a little from the sight.
"Counting down," Aelita announced. "3... 2… 1!!!" Both Aelita and Jeremy said at the same time as Odd's virtual form flickered and disappeared, replaced with a green wire frame and a purple orb, his virtual soul. Suddenly several pixels formed back into place, revealing a big eyed purple cat with tall spiky hair. The purple light disappeared as he slowly began to move his head around.
There was a eerie silence as Odd finally began to move. He noticed that on his hand was a plus sign with several symbols on it. One looked like a piece of ice while another looked like a wave. The third looked like a picture of Kiwi, and the fourth had what looked like a anime picture of Odd smiling widely.
"Odd, meet your new arm cannon," Jeremy said as Odd looked around it. His hand now had a metallic looking piece on the area where his arrows shot out of, making it look like a small cannon.
"So this means I get to fire like… missiles and stuff?" Odd asked, to which Aelita nodded.
"Cool!!"
Odd touched one of the buttons on his wrist. He pressed the one with the ice picture on it. His hand glowed for a second as it turned blue. He pointed it over towards the wall and fired. A shot of blue liquid hit the wall causing it to shatter into a crystalline icy formation. Ulrich and Aelita whistled in awe as Odd's arm whistled from firing the Ice shot.
"I would wait and fire the other upgrades outside the tower. Those can be a little dangerous to fire inside the tower," Jeremy said as he prepared to upgrade Aelita's energy wave.
Aelita walked over to the center of the tower as the holo panel began to run by itself, a clear indication that Jeremy was running things from his end of the computer. Jeremy uploaded two upgrades for Aelita.
The lights around Aelita began to glow as Jeremy began to count down again. Finally he reached three as Aelita's virtual form shattered, revealing her virtual soul.
Ulrich noticed something different about her Virtual soul then Odd's. It glowed more then Odd's. Of course, hers was a nice girly pink color. But it shimmered a little more then Odd's.
Several pixels began to form out of nowhere as a young pink haired girl appeared. She slowly opened her eyes as she looked around herself; that's when she noticed the bracelet next to her star bracelet. It was silver and had a blue glasslike orb in the center.
"Jeremy? What's this?" Aelita asked, "It's a pretty bracelet and all but I'm not a jewelry girl."
"Sorry but that's an upgrade I never got around to finishing. I just finished it a minute ago. It's called the team heal. When you use your charge beam you have two options. One is to use it in the gamma beam; the second is to use the energy to heal the others. I figured since you guys were going against several super warriors, you guys would need to heal fast instead of merely wasting the energy you build up and your life points."
"Well we should try it out first chance we get. Was that all the upgrades?" Odd asked.
"We fully upgraded Ulrich because the plan was for him to fight William; no offense William," Aelita said.
"None taken," William replied.
"The only one left is Yumi. Her life points have recovered, and I think I found what that Air Spider was doing," Jeremy replied. "I think it was trying to completely drain her of her life points and transmit them to Aether. But in order to do so, it had to null her virtual envelope. In essence what would have happened was you would have taken her into the tower, and he would have fought you guys while Yumi's constant healing through the tower would have healed him. The null effect should be wearing off soon though," Jeremy said.
"So should we just leave her in here?" Aelita asked.
"We can't, what if one of those monsters tries to attack her?" Ulrich asked.
"She will be fine Ulrich, if any monster tries to attack her then I'll pull her back and devirtualize her," Jeremy said.
"Wait wait wait! I can't just leave her in here all by herself. What if you can't?" Ulrich protested.
"Don't worry about it Ulrich, Einstein will watch her," Odd said as he tried to reassure him.
"No I can't do this, I can't. I won't leave her here by herself," Ulrich said.
"Ulrich what about Aelita and Odd, they will need some help getting her to the pyramid," Jeremy said. "I know she is your girlfriend and you two are in love. But the mission has to come first."
Ulrich paused as his face showed his emotion. Anger. He was entirely angry with what Jeremy just said. "So Yumi and I are nothing compared to the mission? After all that?" Ulrich said in a loud voice.
"I'm not saying that Ulrich, all I'm saying is that…," Jeremy was cut off by a yelling Ulrich.
"I WON'T LEAVE HER HERE JEREMY, SO DON'T TRY TO ASK ME TO DO THAT," Ulrich said.
"Hey!! Don't yell at Jeremy like that!" Aelita protested back.
"So you're going to leave her here with the monsters and let them take her?" Ulrich asked. "I can't lose her guys. She is all I have that matters right now!" Ulrich said
"Wait what do you mean? What about your parents? Don't they matter?" Odd asked.
Ulrich suddenly froze up. He realized he had completely lost control. He knew Jeremy would take care of Yumi, but he was still scared. And due to his fear, he had hinted on the one secret he was trying to hide.
"I'm sorry guys. I'm just scared for Yumi's sake," Ulrich admitted as he looked over at his girlfriend, lying on her side. "I'm sorry Jeremy, Aelita."
"It's ok Ulrich, I felt that way with Aelita before. But what do you mean she is all you have?" Jeremy asked.
Ulrich looked down at his feet; he basically just froze up from fear of revealing the one thing that was giving him trouble from the start. Only Yumi knew about his parents divorce. And what was worse; it was giving the family issues. His father had been arrested for hitting Ulrich's mother. And Ulrich was unable to voice his opinion in the matter.
"Ok guys… you all have told me secrets; I should tell you mine. I have been keeping secret for a while now. Only Yumi knows…. My parents are getting a divorce," Ulrich said.
Odd looked at Ulrich with a look of shock on his face. Aelita gasped as she covered her mouth. In the lab Jeremy and William both shared the same expression. Guilt and surprise. Aelita ran over and hugged Ulrich.
"I'm so sorry Ulrich," Aelita said
"So… is that why you have been so moody lately?" Odd asked. Ulrich nodded.
"Why are they getting a divorce? I know your father doesn't like us but why are they getting a divorce?" Jeremy asked over the microphone.
"I'd rather not say guys. I'm sorry. I'm still having a hard time coping with it," Ulrich said.
"Well I hate to break all this up but we got some bad guys to fight, a super villain to beat, and a pyramid asking for the next best thing to Indiana Jones to show up," Odd said.
"What about Yumi?" Ulrich asked as he looked at Aelita.
"If anything happens Ulrich, I will devirtualize her and bring her back safely. In the meantime I can upgrade her while she rests, You have my word she will be safe." Jeremy assured.
"Ok so now we make a run for the Pyramid. And we need to look out for those Air Spiders. They came out of nowhere and struck Yumi in the back. Plus it's hard telling exactly what else Xervix has for us in store," Ulrich said.
Odd and Aelita stepped out of the tower as Ulrich followed them out. He paused before he stepped out of the tower and turned around. Yumi laid on her back. She had such an innocent look about her. Ulrich walked over and sat her head up. He held her hand as he spoke to her.
"Please… be safe Yumi," Ulrich whispered as he kissed her on the lips. He laid her head back down as he turned and walked out of the tower. In the lab, Jeremy began to prepare the upgrades to Yumi as she rested.
Ulrich finally emerged from the tower as Aelita and Odd watched him. Aelita had a look of worry on her face. Ulrich was like an older brother to her. After her father's death, Ulrich started inviting Aelita to join him and Yumi when they went out. He also gave advice to Aelita on what to do with Jeremy when she couldn't understand what to do when he was either in a foul mood or a depressed mood.
To Odd, Ulrich was his best friend. He had hardly any friends before he came to Kadic. In elementary school students went in different directions after they graduated. When he arrived at Kadic, Ulrich at first hated him, but then he started to get to know Odd and began to like him.
"Ok guys. Let's go do this. Let's show Xervix what he is dealing with," Ulrich said.
Odd and Aelita nodded as Jeremy virtualized their vehicles. Odd's OverBoard, and Ulrich's OverBike. Aelita merely waved her hand over her bracelet. White heavenly wings materialized out of her back. She jumped into the air as her wings began to flap.
"The Pyramid should be just beyond the crystal field and past the riverside, which leads into a lake. The monsters are going to be on you all the way. The good news is that I have scanned the entire area and there is no sign of any of the Titans or Xervix. Just a whole bunch of monsters. So in essence, it should be a walk through the park," Jeremy said.
Ulrich revved up his bike as the three warriors sped off towards the end of the crystal field. Aelita flew overhead as she kept an eye on any possible danger. Odd hovered close to the ground as Ulrich followed behind. He glanced around the crystal area; he saw reflections of himself and reflections of the others in the crystal mirrors. He looked at himself as he wondered about what had happened the last few weeks. First his mother has his father arrested. Then they file for divorce. And once more, there was nothing he could do to stop it. He had tried.
Ulrich sat on his bed; he was alone in his room. The others where at dinner. He held out his cell phone. His phone was set to speed dial. His mother's name was highlighted in the phone. His thumb was on the button that would dial the number. He breathed heavily as he pushed the button and placed the phone to his ear. It rang a couple of times. Finally he heard the other line pick up, followed by the sound of his mother's voice.
"Hello? Ulrich?" the voice on the other end of the phone said.
"Hi mom, how are you?" Ulrich asked in a nervous voice.
"I'm surviving honey. How are you?" Ulrich's mother asked.
"Same here. Have you spoken to Dad yet?"
Ulrich paused as he tried to think of his answer. "No I haven't. I don't think I should talk to Dad. Have you?" Ulrich asked
"No I haven't. Your uncle Hugo tried the other day but he shut him out. I think rehab is going bad on your father."
"Have you guys decided… on things?" Ulrich asked.
"What do you mean? We haven't gotten that far," Ulrich's mother asked.
"I meant did you? Decide on me?" Ulrich asked.
There was a long pause on the phone as Ulrich only heard his mother's breathing. It seemed as if a lifetime had passed until she finally spoke.
"I'm sorry dear. We haven't discussed it yet," Ulrich's mother said.
Ulrich felt depressed about what she had just said. He lowered the phone as he tried to place why it was he was feeling like this.
"I got to go Mom. Bye," Ulrich said as he hung up the phone. Ulrich heard a knock at the door; he ignored it the first time then heard a second knock, followed by the voice of a young Asian girl.
"Ulrich, are you in there?" Yumi said.
Ulrich got up and opened the door. He saw the face of his girlfriend, giving him the same warm smile she had always given him when they got together. Ulrich however didn't have the same warm smile Yumi had. Yumi noticed this as her smile was replaced with her look of concern.
"What's wrong?" Yumi asked as she entered the room.
"Nothing's wrong," Ulrich murmured.
"Come on don't, don't shut me out like this. I'm your girlfriend, that means you need to tell me because I need to help you," Yumi insisted.
"Just... just leave me alone," Ulrich said.
"In the past I would have and just walked off all pissed off, but I'm not going to this time because I know what it's most likely about… your parents' divorce."
Ulrich nodded lightly. "They haven't decided what's going to happen to me yet. And I know why. It's because my father is busy trying to clean himself up. But my mother is enjoying life."
Yumi paused for a minute as she looked at Ulrich. "What do you mean?" Yumi asked.
"My mother doesn't need my father's permission to do anything anymore. She can just go out and do it as she pleases. And because of that she has had no time to try and save her marriage or talk about the divorce. And because of that, my fate's undecided," Ulrich said.
Yumi sat down next to him and hugged him. He hugged her back. They stayed there for a few minutes until Yumi moved away to look Ulrich in the eye.
"Maybe this is something they need to figure out on their own. Let her have her time because it will help her to deal with the stress. And if worst come to worst. I'm sure your uncle would take you in. He seemed like a nice guy when I met him a few months ago," Yumi said.
"Uncle Conrad is a good guy. I'm surprised you liked him with the whole mechanic type he is," Ulrich said.
"He's funny too. Like his joke about the rat and the beer can. I couldn't stop laughing," Yumi giggled. "And if worst comes to worst. You could stay with us. Only I'm sure my dad would be a little strict at first."
"Like he isn't strict when I visit anyway. The one time we were watching TV and he got mad because you were leaning on me. I thought he was going to get his samurai suit and kill me," Ulrich said as both Yumi and himself laughed a little.
"Thanks Yumi. I needed some cheering up," Ulrich said.
"It's what girlfriends are for Ulrich," she said as she kissed him on the lips.
Ulrich's mind snapped back to the sound of a roaring engine from his Overbike. He looked up to see Aelita flying overhead and Odd on his Overboard. They left the crystal field and came to a large moss like structure overlaying the river. It looked like a large thick glowing tree, only it was extremely thin and small.
Ulrich noticed up on the hill the floating Pyramid. It was shiny and really smooth. It was jet black, almost crystalline. And the top piece of it floated off the base of the pyramid, while the rest floated off the ground with a white stream of light under it. The pyramid sat on a large cliff overlooking the entire area. It looked almost as if the entire sector was built around it.
Ulrich hit the brake on his bike. Aelita landed and Odd jumped off his board as they noticed what was up on the cliff looking down on them.
"Uhh guys. Tell me I'm not seeing this!" Odd said.
"You're seeing it," Aelita said.
Sitting on top of the pyramid was a large bird like monster. The Phoenix . And below it next to the pyramid was the group of monsters. Krabs, Sentries, Defenders, Blocks and Kankrelats. And Tarantulas. Dozens of them standing in a row. But there was also something on the bottom of the cliff. Sitting at the bottom was a pair of Megatanks.
"Well… there they are… I bet I get more than you with my new weapons," Odd joked as he pumped his fist, causing it to make a clicking noise.
"You're on," Ulrich said as he pulled out his swords. Aelita held out her hand as a pink orb formed in her palm. She noticed how it looked different. It looked like it had a white center instead of a regular pink center.
She heard a loud noise as the pair of Megatanks began to roll towards them, followed by the Blocks and Kankrelats.
Ulrich ran towards them as Aelita jumped into the air. Odd ran close behind Ulrich with both arms firing. Odd managed to hit a block and a Kankrelat as they exploded into pieces. But the other Kankrelats fired a simultaneous volley of lasers. Odd jumped high into the air as he flipped high over the laser fire. He landed on his hands and vaulted himself forward. As he passed through the air, he fired two arrow shots at the firing monsters. One arrow collided in midair while the other struck a Block, causing it to fall over from the impact and explode. Ulrich slid under the laser fire as he leapt to his feet. Aelita flew overhead and fired several laser shots. She managed to wipe out the remaining Kankrelats. She heard a roaring noise as a swarm of Hornets appeared out of nowhere. They fired several shots as Aelita weaved back and forth, avoiding the laser shots. She formed several Energy orbs in her hands as she fired three different shots. She took out one Hornet but the other two fired at the same time. Aelita dodged one but the other hit her in the wing. Aelita began to fall in a downward spiral; the whole sky was spinning as she screamed the whole way down. Aelita waved her hand over her bracelet as her wings disappeared.
"Odd, Ulrich, it's Aelita. Help her!!!!" Jeremy said frantically. Odd whistled his fingers as the overboard flew down behind him. He jumped into the air and landed on the board as he flew upwards towards her location.
"Laser arrow!!!" Odd shouted as he fired two Arrows at the hornets. One arrow hit a hornet while the other hornet swerved to the left. Odd leveled out his Overboard. Aelita landed on the board. At first she felt like she landed on there perfectly. But then she felt gravity take hold and she began to lean to the left. Aelita yelled as she suddenly felt her footing slip as she fell off the board. She began to fall when she felt Odd's hand grab her. However what he saw wasn't a pretty sight.
As Aelita began to fall, Odd had attempted to reach for her but also lost his footing as well. He was however able to grab his Overboard with his tail. He was holding on to Aelita with one hand while he was attempting to grab his board with the other.
"Odd!!! Look out!" Jeremy shouted as the last Hornet made its way towards them. Odd tried to hurry but the Hornet was gaining speed. Its stinger glowed as Aelita cried out a little. Odd reached for his board and touched it. His fingers slipped and caused him to loose his tail's grasp on the board. He almost let totally go, but managed to grab a hold at the last minute. Aelita let go with one of her hands and held on to Odd with the other as she tried to fire a energy field at the Hornet, but her aim was off due to the shaking from Odd's attempt to pull himself back on the board. The Hornet stopped short of the board. Aelita tried hard to aim at the Hornet but was unable to get a clear shot.
Suddenly there was a distinct slicing noise. The Hornet split into two pieces as it exploded. Behind the former Hornet was a familiar Ninja girl smiling in its place.
"YUMI!!!!" Odd and Aelita said at the same time.
"Thank god" Ulrich thought as he sliced a Tarantula's cannon off.
"Did you guys miss me?" Yumi said as she held her hands up to her head. A faint white glow appeared. Both Aelita and Odd found themselves bathed in the white light as they were placed back on the board.
"Did you get your upgrade?" Aelita asked.
Yumi held up her new fan. It looked much like her old one, only there was something different.
"Watch this," Yumi said as she used her telekinesis again. The fans were covered in white once again as the fan suddenly separated into several sharp blades. She moved a few to show exactly what it was that the upgrade had given them.
"Way cool. It's like controllable shrapnel now," Odd said.
"HEY GUYS!!!!" Ulrich yelled at the group of fascinated teens. The trio looked down to see a group of Sentries and Tarantulas fighting one single yellow coated teen. Ulrich cut one Tarantula in half down the middle as he responded to the others.
"AM I INTERUPTING ANYTHING!!!!!???"
Yumi flew the Overwing down and jumped off it, landing right behind her boyfriend. Ulrich stabbed a Sentry right in the chest and kicked it away as Yumi threw one of her fans towards one of the Megatanks. The Megatank closed its outer shell as it blocked the fan.
"I was worried about you. I didn't want to leave you in the tower alone," Ulrich said as he blocked a laser shot.
"I appreciate the concern but you know I can…," Yumi paused as she tossed a fan that destroyed the final Kankrelats. "Hold my own."
Odd fired several rounds of laser arrows into the monster column. He missed every one though.
"Man this is hard," Odd said as Aelita used her energy orb to block a shot. Aelita watched as the laser turned blue, entered her arm and into the white oval bracelet.
"Try your upgrades then," Aelita said.
Odd looked down at his arm and looked at the small screen that was on his arm. "Let's try this wave looking one," Odd said as he pressed it. His hand glowed orange as the upgrade activated. When the glow cleared the result was a small round tube with a metal ball on the end. He looked puzzled.
"Jeremy? Why do I have a small radio antenna on my arm?"
"It's a wave burst. It shoots a large wave of electricity towards your targets. It doesn't do much damage but when more waves hit, it entangles the target with the other wave shots and destroys it."
"Kind of like the Needler on Halo… cool," Odd said. Odd aimed the Wave Burst at a Defender that was standing behind a Megatank, issuing orders. The Waves scattered around the Defender; some missed while others hit the Defender. The Waves connected inside the Defender's body and sliced it in half.
"WOW!!! AWSOME!!!"
The remaining Defender pointed towards the sky and grunted loudly as the two Krabs pointed towards the sky and fired at the Overboard. Odd swerved in and out, but realized he was off balance. He had to loose some weight.
"Aelita I need to drop you off with Ulrich and Yumi. I can't maneuver too well with the extra weight in the back," Odd said. Aelita nodded in agreement. Odd flew down to the ground as Aelita jumped off. As she landed on the ground she rolled up and rolled along the ground. She immediately stood up and ran towards Ulrich and Yumi, firing Energy orbs at the two Megatanks that were rolling towards Yumi and Ulrich.
"Welcome to the party," Ulrich said.
"Well there is only two Krabs, a Sentry, a pair of Megatanks, a Defender and… Big bird," Jeremy said as the Phoenix fluttered its wings a little as it watched.
"What do you think its doing?" Aelita said.
"I'm not sure; I'll keep an eye on it," Jeremy said.
"I really can't wait to get out of this sector. I miss the Desert sector," Yumi said.
"At least we don't have Xervix or those damn Titan guys here," Ulrich said.
Yumi watched the Megatank as it rolled towards them. Ulrich and Aelita watched as well. The Tank opened up revealing the soft insides and the main firing cannon. The cannon hummed louder and louder until a large crystalline wave fired from it. The wave was like a laser except it was solid and extremely dangerous. The impact from the crystal was enough to deal a massive amount of damage from one hard hit.
"Incoming!!!" Yumi yelled. The Megatank fired a red shot at the trio. They quickly jumped out of the way.
Yumi slid to the left as she watched the red glass like shot slide past her. It retracted back and into the Megatank. Yumi heard another pulsating noise from her left side.
"Look out!!" Aelita yelled as she tackled Yumi. The second Megatank fired a shot sideways. The Megatank fired from its side so that the blast radius fired in a large spread.
Ulrich saw the shot coming towards him and used his sword to block it. The shot continued to push him backwards, as Ulrich pushed more to try and fight the shot from hitting him.
Yumi threw her fan at the Megatank's open center. The fan sliced into the eye socket, causing the Monster to explode. Odd swooped down and fired another wave buster shot at the Defender. The Defender flipped in the air as it tried to avoid Odd's weapons fire.
Odd looked at his wrist and looked at the other symbols. "Let's try this one," Odd said as he touched the one with the Ice symbol on it. His hand glowed blue, then it looked liked it was covered in ice. Odd moved his hand as he stared in awe at the sight.
"Now that's cool as Ice," Odd said.
"Odd please… no jokes," Jeremy said over the mic.
Odd aimed his hand at the final Defender. The Defender fired a few orb shots at Odd. Odd weaved back and forth. Odd fired a large icy orb. The orb hit the ground next to the
Defender. The ice spread around the general area, grabbing the Defender's leg. The Defender tried to move, but was unable to; its leg was incased in a sheet of ice.
The Defender looked up in time to see Odd flying back down again. Odd fired another ice shot; this one hit the Defender and incased it in a large ice crystal. Odd lowered the OverBoard low enough to plow right through the Defender's frozen body.
"AWSOME, AWSOME, AWSOME!!!!!!" Odd said as he pounded his chest. "I AM AWSOME!!!"
Suddenly there was a loud noise from below; a shot from the Megatank hit the Overboard, causing the purple feline to fall to the ground and skid to a halt. Odd landed with his rear in the air and his head on the ground.
"So are you still Awesome Odd?" Aelita asked.
"That dang Megatank ruined my moment of Awesomeness," Odd said as he jumped in the air and fired an ice shot at the tank. However the shot ricochet off the shell of the tank as it closed itself again.
The four warriors surrounded the final Megatank as it spun around quickly, trying to keep track of the other warriors.
"Uh guys," Jeremy said.
"Not now. We're finally almost done," Odd joked.
"Guys," Jeremy said again.
"Not now can it wait?" Ulrich asked.
Suddenly a large foot came crashing down, destroying the Megatank and causing the gang to fall over. The dust that was kicked up from the impact blinded Ulrich for a few minutes, until he saw a faint glow coming from the area of the impact. He slowly looked up to see the huge form of the Phoenix staring down at him.
"I tried to tell you guys," Jeremy said.
The Phoenix let loose a low bellow, similar to a whale singing. It suddenly looked down towards Aelita. Its mouth opened into a tri beak. Fire started to glow from its mouth. Aelita stood up in time for Ulrich to tackle her. As he grabbed her the phoenix let loose a large pillar of digital fire. The area where Aelita was standing was completely destroyed.
"Ok so now what do we do?" Odd asked.
"We still need to get Aelita to the pyramid. But don't worry. The Upgrades should help. Odd, your upgrades that I added will help lower the Phoenix 's life points. Ulrich should get Aelita to the Pyramid while Odd and Yumi deal with the Phoenix . If Odd can hit the fire's point of origin, it will cause the phoenix's fire to go out and leave it open to attack," Jeremy said.
"Wait… how could there be fire on a virtual world?" Odd asked.
"Well I could have told you the real reason but I figured that you would understand it better this way," Jeremy said.
"Point taken," Odd said. Odd switched to his normal arrow as Yumi pulled out both of her fans. Ulrich pulled out his swords as Aelita stood ready to run. The phoenix looked down at the group of heroes. It opened its mouth as it roared in defiance of the challengers that stood in its way. It looked down and fired a fireball straight at the group. Odd and Yumi jumped out of the way while Ulrich and Aelita ran towards the steps of the Pyramid. The Phoenix jumped into the air as Yumi ran towards a wall. The Phoenix jumped into the air as Odd ran underneath it. He fired a few laser arrows, only to see them explode before they hit the giant bird.
"Duhh! Bird's on fire. Arrows won't hurt it," Odd said. Odd whistled as his Overboard flew down in front of him. He jumped on it and hit the accelerator button. Yumi ran towards the wall as she jumped on to it. She ran up the side of the rock cliff as the phoenix approached. She jumped off and threw one of her fans at the Phoenix while she landed on a stalactite.
The fan exploded on contact as it caught the Phoenix 's attention. The bird turned around and fired a second fireball towards Yumi. The female ninja jumped out of the way as the fireball exploded.
"You guys need to aim for the opening in the Phoenix 's fire. The fire is acting like a shield generator. Anything gets near it, the fire will destroy it. You need to hit it with one of Odd's ice arrows. The weak point to the phoenix's armor is based in the back of the neck. You will need to get up there and get it done. Meanwhile Ulrich, get Aelita into the Pyramid. And see what is in there," Jeremy said.
Ulrich and Aelita finally reached the entrance to the pyramid. It was smooth as glass and looked like it was made of some type of liquid substance. Ulrich ran his hands over it as it rippled from the effect. Suddenly one of the ripples turned white, revealing an entrance. The entrance was similar to the entrance to a tower. Aelita slowly made her way through as Ulrich followed.
Yumi ran along the ground as Odd flew down close to the ground. Yumi jumped on board as the Overboard accelerated into the air, with the Phoenix close behind. Odd looked behind him to see the beak of the monster was close to his tail. Odd yipped a little as he accelerated harder in an attempt to save himself and Yumi.
The Overboard flew in between a pair of rocks. Yumi looked behind her in time to see the Phoenix fly through the same opening of rocks. Odd weaved in and out of a pair of rocks only for the Phoenix to crash straight through them.
"What are you doing?" Yumi asked as Odd flew in a straight line.
"I got an idea," Odd said as he grabbed hold of Yumi by the waist. Odd jumped off the Overboard as a fireball from the Phoenix hit it, causing it to explode into several tiny pieces. Odd jumped high enough that he was near a stalactite. He flipped upside down as Yumi screamed.
Yumi closed her eyes as she prepared for a long drop. Suddenly she felt herself stop moving. She opened her eyes to see Odd using his tail to hold on to the stalactite.
"Ahh yes. Silly me," Yumi said.
Odd watched as the phoenix fly by, then he noticed a red crystal floating on its back. It was a small ruby which was generating the fire. "Well that's not a hidden weapon," Odd said as he fired an ice arrow at the crystal. The crystal froze to a block of ice and shattered. The Phoenix screamed as the fire wrapping around its body dissipated. Odd let go of the stalactite as the two warriors jumped down onto the Phoenix .
"Now it's my turn," Yumi said. She held out her last fan and used her telekinesis to control it. Suddenly her eyes went white as the fan shattered into several sharp pieces. She then threw her hands forward as the shards swirled around the Phoenix . The shards sliced into the Phoenix 's skin. The beast roared in pain as one shard hit it straight in the Xana symbol. Yumi and Odd ran to the end of the bird's tail feathers as they jumped off in time for the Phoenix 's body to fall apart and explode. Odd and Yumi fell for a few feet until Odd grabbed hold of Yumi's arm and grabbed a rock face. Odd helped Yumi as she climbed up the ledge. As she stood up, Odd's hand slipped.
"Yumi help," Odd said. Yumi tried to reach for the purple feline. Odd felt a sudden tug on his lower half. He looked up to see Yumi had grabbed hold of his tail.
"OH this is giving me a virtual wedgie," Odd said as Yumi started to pull him up.
"Well it was either that or let you fall," Yumi said as Odd pulled himself up.
"So," Yumi said as she looked around. "How do we get down?"
Aelita and Ulrich entered the Pyramid. It looked like a tower only… bigger. There was a tube of what looked like white fluid flowing through the center. There was also a pair of holo panels and several wires standing in front of the Tube. On the wall next to the Holo Panels was a large holographic layout of the entire sector. The Pyramid was at the very center of the sector.
Ulrich whistled in amazement as he glanced around. "Can this Computer get any weirder?" Ulrich asked.
Aelita slowly made her way to the two Holo panels. She ran her fingers across one as the panel came to life; it showed her everything about the sector.
"This is weird. It says here these run on sectors act as backup sectors. And the Pyramids help to control everything in the sectors, from their design to their function. The Pyramids are all connected to the central data hub in sector 5. And can only be accessed from this Pyramid," Aelita said.
"So then this is the entire control system for the sector?" Jeremy asked.
"Right and no doubt the other new sectors would have something similar. And it also shows the location of the other Pyramids in the older sectors. It also looks as if the Pyramid is keeping something," Aelita said, to which Ulrich looked at her in confusion.
"What does it look like?" Jeremy asked.
"Some kind of file similar to my f… Franz Hopper's diary. Let me see if I can find it," Aelita said. The small pink haired girl flipped through several screens until she came to a screen that looked weird. It showed a bar above it and a download screen. On the other screen, a hand print scanner appeared. Aelita placed her hand on the screen as the hand print scanner scanned her hand.
The screen then displayed, "Identified… AELITA… CODE: CARTHAGE "
The white tube then turned blue as the fluid raced through the tube. The symbols on the wall raced in several different colors. Outside the Pyramid, Yumi and Odd watched from the Pyramid's base as a bluish white light shot out from the top of the pyramid and into the ceiling. Inside the pyramid, the screen showed a small fragmented code. Aelita and Ulrich looked on in disbelief as they watched what happened.
Back in the lab, the Computer monitors flashed as a file was downloaded onto the monitor screen. It showed a set of numbers and figures as it downloaded. Jeremy and William watched in a combination of panic and wonder. When the download was finished the screen came back on, with a strange symbol on it. When Jeremy clicked on it, it displayed a number.
"What the hell is this?" Jeremy said.
Back in the Pyramid, Aelita came out from behind a battle ready Ulrich. Yumi and Odd entered the Pyramid as Aelita walked to the terminal. The terminal read, "Download complete. Key 1/5 complete."
"What the hell does it mean a key?" Odd asked.
"I'm bringing you guys back to the lab. I think… that this is what Xervix was talking about. This might have something to do with Aelita's … Legacy," Jeremy said.
The four warriors disappeared in a cluster of bluish white pixels.
The three Cylinders hissed open as Yumi, Ulrich, and Aelita appeared. As Yumi stepped out of the scanner, it closed and opened again to reveal Odd. Yumi stood out and stretched as Ulrich tried to loosen his head. Odd stumbled out as his legs felt as if they were asleep. Aelita merely walked to the elevator and stood inside it. The other three looked at her; she acted like she was perfectly ok.
"What are you guys waiting for?" Aelita asked. The trio of heroes looked at her both impressed and confused. Eventually all three walked to the elevator as the door closed. The elevator rose slowly up to the top floor of the lab where Jeremy and William were standing at the computer screen. Ulrich, Yumi, and Odd slowly made their way over while Aelita walked right past them. She walked over and stood next to Jeremy. The trio merely stopped and looked at her. Usually she would be like them, walking a little slow and tired looking. But she seemed more chipper and awake now.
"Are you… feeling ok?" Yumi asked.
"I feel great. Honestly I'm not sure why I feel so good. But I'm not complaining," Aelita responded. "So what did you find?" Aelita asked as she looked at Jeremy.
"Well… I think it's a… coded text. It's kind of like a code that when linked together with the other pieces of the main code, will form the main code. But what it is I'm not sure. But what I did notice is that the map downloaded just like how Aelita can shut down activated towers. She can only download the code. Aelita and no one else," Jeremy said.
"So that's why Xervix wanted to capture Aelita. He must be after the code," William said. To which Jeremie nodded.
"Do you think this has something to do with the System thing?" Ulrich asked.
"Most definitely. For right now I think it's safe to say we need to access the rest of the Pyramids as soon as possible," Jeremy said.
"Not tonight man…. We just fought big bird, Tarter sauce and Athlete's foot," Odd said.
"Don't worry Odd. It's going on 9 o'clock. I think it's safe to say you guys have done enough fighting," Jeremy said as he got up out of the lab chair.
"Want to go hit a burger joint before we sneak back to school?" Odd suggested.
The others agreed as they made their way to the elevator. Aelita noticed Jeremy had gotten back in the computer chair and was looking at something. Aelita turned around and walked over to the chair.
"Come on Jeremy. This code thing can wait," Aelita said.
"You guys go ahead… I'll be right behind…,"Jeremy attempted to say until Aelita shut off the monitor. Jeremy turned to see a small pink haired girl with her arms folded and a stern look on her face.
"Then again it could wait till tomorrow," Jeremy finally admitted. Aelita responded with her usual smile as Jeremy walked alongside of her to the elevator.
"Does Yumi do that to you a lot?" Odd asked Ulrich.
"A lot."
The night sky was crisp and clear. The heat was starting to come back. As the group left the factory, they simultaneously moaned from the humidity. Yumi and Ulrich left the entrance holding hands while Odd and William followed behind.
"You shot me," William said.
"What? Oh come on… dark evil you moved and made me shot you," Odd remarked.
"You still shot me though," William replied. All the while Yumi and Ulrich had stopped to wait for Aelita and Jeremy. As Odd and William passed by, the couple let out a slight chuckle.
"There they are," Ulrich pointed out. The blonde boy and the pink girl stood in the doorway of the factory.
"Come on Jeremy let's go," Aelita said.
"Hang on Aelita. There… there is something I have to ask you," Jeremy said.
Yumi and Ulrich heard what Jeremy said. They both looked at each other with a look of excitement.
"Did you hear that?" Yumi said. Ulrich nodded.
"Well actually there is something I need to ask you too," Aelita said.
"You first," they both said at the same time.
"Well… we have been best friends for quite some time now. And we have enjoyed a lot of things," Jeremy said.
"Yeah… the Subdigitals… good movies…," Aelita said.
"My mom's cooking…," Jeremy added.
"And all the jokes about Jim," Aelita added as they laughed at the same time.
"I also owe you a lot Jeremy. If it hadn't been for you… I would have died a long time ago; in fact many times before. If it wasn't for you… I would be an orphan on the streets with nowhere to live or go. And if it wasn't for you and your parents… I wouldn't have a home outside of the school," Aelita said as she took a hold of Jeremy's hand.
"Aelita?" Jeremy asked.
"Here they go!!!" Ulrich said as they stayed far enough that Aelita and Jeremy wouldn't think they were listening.
"Yes Jeremy?" Aelita said as her face looked a little red.
"I'm going to win," Yumi said as Ulrich gently hit her in the shoulder.
"Would… Would… Would…," Jeremy began to ask as he started to sweat.
"OHHHH he's going to seize up," Yumi said.
"Would you… Would… Wo…," Jeremy continued until Aelita put a finger on his lips.
"Jeremy… would you like to go out sometime? Just the two of us?" Aelita asked in a calm voice.
William and Odd turned around when they heard it. Yumi and Ulrich froze when they heard it. The bugs, frogs, and crickets in the area suddenly stopped making their usual night music. It seemed as if the whole world froze when the words finally came out of one of their mouths.
"…Yes," Jeremy said in a calm voice. Aelita smiled and giggled at the news as Jeremy smiled and wiped his forehead.
"YES!!!!!" Odd said loudly as he suddenly hugged William. William tried to pry himself from the frantic boy.
Yumi did a strange victory dance where she shaked her hips and cheerd in celebration. Ulrich laughed in joy as he watched both Jeremy and Aelita and Odd and William. And then realized why it was Yumi was dancing.
"How long have you four been standing there?" Aelita asked.
"Long enough," Yumi said with a smile.
"Mr. and Ms. Einstein. It's about damn time. Hell I figured you two would get together before Yumi and Ulrich did," Odd said.
As Aelita and Jeremy walked down towards the bridge, the others began to head off to get something to eat as well. As Yumi and Ulrich put their hands on each others hips, Yumi leaned over and whispered into Ulrich's ear.
"Your gonna help me clean my room first thing in the mourning"