You're still reading!? Fantasic! Why are you still putting up with me, though?
Chapter 7: Logbook
I heard the obnoxious ringing of my alarm clock and groaned. It was the start of another day. I pushed myself out of my bed and pulled my glasses on. I had promised Ulrich and Odd that I'd meet them before breakfast. I pulled on my usual ensemble of a generic red shirt, a pair of jeans, my gray Pokemon jacket, and my black tennis shoes before heading out the door and down to meet the others. I walked down tge stairs to the boys floor, and found Odd standing outside the room, and Ulrich searching for something inside.
"Hey Ulrich, what're you looking for? I'm hungry." Odd asked.
"Odd, I swear your brain is in your stomach." I said, rolling my eyes as I approached them.
"You guys go on and have breakfast." Ulrich said. "There's something important I have to find."
"Ok." We walked out of the room and left the dorm building.
"What do you think he's looking for anyways?" I asked. Odd shrugged.
"Who knows?" Was all he said. We entered the lunchroom and grabbed our trays. We were surprised to find Jeremy already there.
"Hey, Einstein. What's new?" I asked as we sat down.
"Not much." He replied. As soon as Odd sat down, he went to town on his food. i was used to it by this, but it still wasn't a joy to watch. When he was done, he looked over at Jeremy.
"Eight slices of toast and three bananas, not bad." He said. "Hey, are you skipping Jim class again?"
"Yup, it gives me time to work on Aelitas materialization." Jeremy replied.
"Y'know, one of these days, we're going to drag you to gym class, whether you want to go or not." I said with a grin. Jeremy laughed.
"I'll be sure to keep that in mind." He said.
After Breakfast
Yumi walked over to us after the bell rang.
"Hi Yumi." Odd said.
"Hello." She greeted. Her eyes widened when she looked past the tree we were around. "Hey look over there! It's Ulrich!" We turned around to find... Ulrich talking with Sissi!?
"Ok... Something isn't right here." I noted.
"What's he doing with Sissi?" Odd asked in disbelief. "Hey, Ulrich!" Odd called, waving to get his attention.
"So?" Sissi said to Ulrich.
"Hey! That's blackmail!" Ulrich argued. "Why do you expect me to give into that!?"
"First of all, because it's hard to say no to a pretty girl like me, and second of all , I'm not going to give you any choice." She said. She then pulled on his hand, making him walk with her to class.
We were all stunned and confused.
"What just happened!?" I asked, but only got confused looks as a response.
History Class
Sissi was even making Ulrich sit next to her in class. She was staring at him longingly the whole time.
"Hey what's going on with them? I must be seeing things!" Odd whispered. "Ulrich and Sissi, that's weird. On the brighter side, check out how jealous Herb is!"
"Odd!" The teacher said. "Are you listening to me, Odd ?" Odd sheepishly grinned and scratched the back if his head.
When the bell rang, Odd somehow managed to pull Sissi off of Ulrich, by saying "We have some important things to talk about Sissi, come with me." Despite her protests, Odd dragged her off, giving Jeremy and me time to figure out what exactly was going on.
"Mind explaining?" I asked. We led him to under the arches to get some answers.
"Ok, here it goes: I'm in a jam, big time. For years I've uh, been keeping a diary." He began.
"A what?" Jeremy asked
"A diary!" He repeated, a little louder. "And Sissi found it, and now she's blackmailing me!" He explained. "I have to go out with her. If she thinks she'll win me over tthat way, she's wrong." He said, looking over at the witch herself.
"Hold on a second, in this diary, did you mention XANA, or Lyoko?" Jeremy asked.
"Well, yeah. And if I don't do what she says, she's gonna telk everybody! I don't know what to do!"
"Don't worry, Ulrich." Jeremy reassured him. "While you're all at the pool, Yumi and I will look around. We'll find your diary." Ulrich gave us a faint smile.
"No, for the last time I did not have a nose job!" Sissi shouted angrily. "So stop asking!"
"Cut it out, Odd." Ulrich said, walking over to them. "Leave her alone, will ya?" He put his arm around hers, and walked off. Odd gave us a confused look.
"It's nothing, I'll explain." Jeremy said. "Ulrich's been keeping a journal, and it unfortunately contains some information about XANA and Lyoko. Sissi found it, and is now using it against him."
"So she's blackmailing him... I knew Sissi could stoop low, but not this low." Odd growled.
"I hate it too, Odd." I admitted. "But we'd better get going. Must I remind you that we're going to the pool today?"
Front of the School
Odd and I made our way to the front of the school to find Jim standing outside the bus.
"Take a look, Odd! Not bad, huh? This bus is the latest in modern technology! It's electricity driven, so it's nonpolluting but powerful too!" Jim boasted.
"Electric and powerful too? I'll bet you this thing gies about as fast as a snail." Odd joked. I laughed and followed Odd to a three person seat towards the back. As soon as we sat down, I immediately whipped out my phone and started playing Pokemon. "When Emily's here, you know her video games are nearby." He said with a laugh.
"Hey, if you had my phone, you'd do the same!" I argued. He grinned.
"True, I can't deny that."
We failed to notice a black shadow enter the bus. As Ulrich entered, sparks began emitting from the wheel, and the meters on the dashboard were going nuts. Jim entered the bus.
"Ok, what's the prob?" The driver tapped on the dash twice, and was shocked when a black shadow leaped from it, making everyone stand up to get a better look "What is that!?" Jim asked.
"I have no idea!" The driver tapped the dash again, but nothing happened. Jim turnes around with an annoyed look in his face.
"Sit back down and stay there till we get to the pool!" The door closed, and we were off. Odd and I exchanged worried looks.
"Do you think it's XANA?" Odd asked.
"I have no idea, Odd." I said. "But if it was, then we're in for one crazy ride."
Jeremy's Room
Yumi punched Jeremy's poster of Einstein in anger.
"Sissi is blackmailing him!?" She growled.
"Yeah, incredible, huh?" Jeremy said. "But what matters now is that we find Ulrich's diary before she starts blabbing about Lyoko!"
"I'll go through her room, and I'll call you if I need any help." Yumi said.
"I'll be at the factory." The two of them exited the room.
"Good luck." They said to each other, then ran off in opposite directions.
Jeremy easily made his way to the factory through the boiler room, and swung down to the elevator and went down to the lab.
"Jeremy here, Aelita. Do you copy?"
"I'm here Jeremy." Aelita replied. "I was waiting for you to call. In the meantime, I was studying your world a little more." Her face appeared on the screen. "There are so many strange things to discover." Then, Odd called.
"Odd, what's up? Something strange? What bus?"
"We're zipping along at two miles an hour, and Emily's pretty sure the guy has it floored." Odd replied.
"Ok, I'll launch a scan in Lyoko, I'll tell you if I find something." Jeremy said, activating the scan.
"Ok, gotcha."
Sissi's Room
Yumi successfully managed to pick the lock into Sissi's room. She then began looking in every place she could think of that Ulrich's diary might've been. She looked high and low, but couldn't find it anywhere. Frustrated, she laid down on the bed, putting her head on a heart shaped pillow. She felt something inside of it, and lifted her head up. She picked the pillow up and turned it around to find a zipper. She unzipped it, and found a book inside.
"Bingo!" She said, but then took a look inside of it. "Oh, no... This is not Ulrich's handwriting." She gasped in realization of who it belonged to. "It's Sissi's!"
"I'm tired of him acting as if I don't even exist. I can't stand watching him pay so much attention to Yumi. So, while he was in the lunchroom, I went looking around. I only wanted a picture of him, but I found much better than that. Now, he can't possibly turn me down! I know what I'm doing isn't very nice, but it's the only way I can get him to stop ignoring me." Yumi shut the book in anger.
"Of all the nasty tricks!" She said, then left the room. She called Jeremy as she went down the stairs.
"Yumi! Did you find Ulrich's diary?"
"No, but guess what? I found Sissi's." Yumi informed him. "You were right, she knows about Lyoko. She doesn't really understand what it is, but she's ready to use what she knows."
"Rats!" Jeremy exclaimed. "Look, you've got to find Ulrich's diary before they come back from the pool!" Jeremy urged.
"Don't worry, I know how to get hold of it."
Bus
You know your bus is going slow when a guy riding his bike casually is outrunning you.
"Hey, what if I ask my father if we can go to a movie tonight? That'd be cool, huh?" Sissi asked.
"Huh?" Ulrich replied, not really paying attention.
"Huh!?" She repeated. "I'm being nice to you right now, but if you keep ignoring me, it might just not last, you hear!? A little friendly advice: Pay attention to me or the whole school is going to read your diary."
"Ok, ok. You don't have to threaten me, I know exactly what I'm risking." Ulrich stated.
"Oh yeah? You really think so Ulrich?" Then, Sissi's phone rang. "Hello? Oh, Yumi. What do you want?" I grinned, realizing that another one of my favorite conversations was starting up.
"Well uh, I just wanted to really tell you, I like your style." Yumi began. "I ran into that dipstick Jim today, what an idiot he looks like in that sweaty gym suit of his." Yumi read in her best Sissi impression.
"Ok ok! What do you want!?" Sissi exclaimed.
"Tell me where you've got Ulrich's diary hidden." Yumi demanded. "And hurry up, otherwise all your nasty little secrets will be on page one of the school paper!"
"Ok! If you go in the girls bathroom, it's in the third stall on top of the water tank, you got that!?"
"Ok, go and check." Yumi said.
"Wait! What about my diary!? What're you-" It was too late for Sissi, as Yumi had hung up.
"Thanks a lot Yumi!" Ulrich said, leaning back with his head in his hands. "There, you see? It's good to have real friends, isn't it?" I slid over one seat and patted the seat next to me. Ulrich got up from his seat and sat down next to us, and Herb went over to Sissi.
"Welcome back to Team Lyoko." I said.
"Good to be back." We sat in silence for a few minutes.
"What's going on now!? This is weird!" The driver exclaimed. We looked up and saw sparks once again emitting from the wheel, and then the bus sped up in its own! Sime students screamed as we looked at one another and nodded. The three of us stood up and made our way to the front of the bus.
"Hey! Get back in your seats!" Jim yelled at us, but we ignored him.
"What's going on with this bus?" Ulrich asked.
"God kid, I wish I knew!" The driver admitted. "All I know it it's out of control!"
"Everything was working before you recharged the batteries, right?" Ulrich asked.
"Yeah! Everything was just fine!" I put my hands in the wheel to try and stop it, but I ended up getting electrocuted.
"Emily!" Odd exclaimed, and he and Ulrich pulled me away. I shook my head in a daze.
"Admittedly, that was a dumb idea." I said, using the seats as supports for me to stand. Ulrich pulled out his phone and dialed Jeremy's number.
"Ulrich, what's happening, huh?" Jeremy asked.
"We're in trouble. XANA has taken complete control of the bus." Ulrich explained.
"Ok, gimmie a sec." Jeremy said, and began typing. "I wonder what XANA's trying to do... Where are you?"
"At the corner of Washington Street, and Franklin Avenue." Ulrich replied.
"I'll call you back as soon as I can localize you."
"We're in for a rough ride." Ulrich said.
"And Aelita's gonna need a hand on Lyoko. We've gotta go." Odd said.
"Then you go. Emily and I will stay here."
"Hey, why do I have to stay!?" I asked.
"You really jump off a bus after getting electrocuted?" Ulrich asked. I folded my arms.
"Point taken." Odd nodded at us, and walked up to the front of the bus, where the driver and Jim were trying to stop the bus by stopping the wheel (which had stopped emitting sparks by this point.) He opened the door, and took a leap if faith outside. After he was gone, XANA sped the bus up even more.
"Take off your backpacks and use then as air bags!" Ulrich shouted. Everyone did what he said as we crashed into two cars.
"Now hurry up and get your seat belts fastened!" Jim yelled. Ulrich pulled out his phone and called Jeremy again.
"We've just gone past the Constellation Intersection."
"It's ok, Ulrich, I've got you spotted now. But I still don't get what XANA is trying to do." Jeremy admitted.
Lyoko
Aelita was running through the Desert Sector, trying to find the activated tower. She stopped when she saw in the distance.
"I see it, Jeremy. I've got a virtual image of the activated tower!" Aelita exclaimed.
"Well done, Aelita. Stay where you are, Yumi is on her way." Minutes later, the elevator opened up to the scanner room. "Hurry up! The situation is getting worse!" Jeremy urged. Yumi quickly ran into one of the scanners. "Transfer, Yumi. Scanner, Yumi. VIRTUALIZATION!"
Yumi landed in the desert sector, and quickly found Aelita. She ran over to her, and they began their trek to the tower.
Back in the lab, Jeremy was figuring out what the most likely path XANA was taking. He gasped in realization where they were heading.
"Ulrich! XANA is launching the bus on the Petro Chemical Complex!" Jeremy shouted.
Bus
"He's what!?" Ulrich and I shouted at once. Suddenly, the lights went out, as Jim had tried to stop the bus by cutting the cables.
"How do you like that, huh!?" Jim's grin faded when he realize the bus was still moving. He fell to his knees. "There's no way to stop this infernal thing." He realized.
"We don't have any other choice: we have to jump." The driver said, and hit the button to open the door, but nothing happened. He tried again, but it still didn't work. "Now look at what you've done! By cutting the cables, you blocked the door!" They failed to notice me walking up to them.
"Jim, Jeremy thinks we're heading straight for the Petro Chemical Plant." I informed him.
"You mind telling me how he knows that!?" He asked.
"If we had more time, I'd explain, but now isn't the best time." I said. "For now, you'll just have to trust him, he can help us." Jim stood up and reluctantly agreed.
"Um, Ulrich?" Sissi asked, walking over to him. "Well, I'm really sorry about your diary, it was wrong to take it. Please forgive, can I help in anyway?" Ulrich handed her his phone.
"Here, you can be the go between for Jeremy and me." She nodded, and put the phone up to her ear.
Lyoko
"Yumi, Aelita, the tower is real close now." Jeremy said. Aelita and Yumi slid down a rock. They hadn't run into any trouble or resistance yet. Yumi stopped Aelita from moving any closer to the tower.
"No, wait. Coming all this way and not even one monster? There'a gotta be a trap." Yumi's suspicions were confirmed when a tornado began to form behind them. The girls gasped at the forming storm.
"A sandstorm!" Aelita shouted.
"It's a tornado!" The girls ran as fast as they could in the opposite direction. "Jeremy, we've got a problem here!"
"Make that two. There's a minster behind you!" Jeremy exclaimed.
Bus
"In ten seconds, the bus should bear left!" Jeremy said.
"He says we're gonna turn left!" Sissi exclaimed.
"Everybody over here with us!" Ulrich shouted, standing on the left side. Everyone complied, realizing that it was for the best.
"Maybe... We should jump off the bus. What do you think?" Jim suggested. "It might just be the best idea. That way, at least we won't go crashing into the Petro Chemical Plant."
"At this speed there's no way we could survive!" Sissi pointed out.
"Gimmie that." Ulrich said, extending his hand for his mobile. "Jeremy, how are things going back on Lyoko?"
"Aelita and Yumi are almost at the tower, except that they're caught in a sandstorm." Jeremy explained.
"Ok, we'll wait a little longer." I gave a worried look at the road in front of us.
Lyoko
"Yumi, be careful at the ridge, if Aelita falls into the Digital Sea, she'll be lost forever!" Jeremy exclaimed. "Yumi! Careful, in front of you! It's a Megatank!" The Megatank fired its laser, forcing Yumi to push Aelita out of the way.
"Get up! Hurry!" Yumi exclaimed, and continued running forward. She stopped when the ground began to spilt in front of her. The sandstorm had cleared, but they were stuck. "XANA really set a trap for us." Aelita fell to her knees and began to sing, forming a rock bridge to the plateau with the tower on it.
"Good work Aelita!" Jeremy complimented. Yumi and Aelita both ran over the bridge and continued running forward. In the lab, Odd had finally arrived.
Unknown to Yumi, the Megatank was ready to strike again. It charged its laser, and fired once again. It was a straight hit.
"Yumi!" Aelita shouted. Yumi looked up, only to see the Megatank fire again, devirtualizing her.
"Hide Aelita! And don't move until Odd is there with you!" Jeremy frantically yelled! "Transfer, Odd. Scanner, Odd. VIRTUALIZATION!"
Odd landed near the tower and Aelita in the desert sector.
"Welcome to our world." Aelita greeted, and began walking over to him, failing to notice the cracks forming beneath her feet. Odd ran over to her and pulled her away from it, saving her from falling.
"Ok, let's go to work, Aelita."
"Thank you Odd."
"We only have four minutes left till we reach the complex, how's it going on Lyoko?" Ulrich asked.
"Ok, Aelita and Odd are handling it." He continued typing. "Careful, there's a ridge!"
Odd and Aelita watched was the ground split once again. Then, Odd heard the Megatank rolling up behind them. He prepared to fire, but then got a crazy idea.
"I have an idea, follow me!" Odd grabbed Aelitas hand and began to run at the Megatank, and then at the ridge.
"Odd, you're out of your mind!" Aelita shouted. Odd then swung her around and threw her across the ridge, before jumping over himself. The Megatank fell into the Digital Sea below, instantly devirtualizing it. Jeremy let out a low whistle.
"Hurry up now, Aelita!" Aelita entered the tower.
Bus
Jim grabbed the hammer to break the window. However, XANA turned the bus in a harsh way, making Jim nearly fall out of the bus.
"What's the matter, don't you like it here, Jim?" Ulrich asked, pulling our gym teacher back up with the help if Heidi. Sissi and I watched as the complex grew bearer and nearer.
"Oh no, we're gonna crash!" Sissi shouted. I bit my lower lip to keep it from quivering.
"It's all over for us. It's too late!" Ulrich exclaimed. Then, we crashed through the gates.
"Hurry up, Aelita!" I thought. We kept on getting closer and closer to the plant. I shut my eyes, not wanting to watch. Then, everything stopped. We stopped about maybe an inch away from the plant. I let out a sigh of relief. Then, a white light engulfed us.
Earlier
Yumi ran into the girls bathroom, and grabbed Ulrichs diary off of the water tank. She then ran to the arches, and extended the book to Ulrich.
"Here, I didn't read it, I swear." She said. Ulrich grabbed the book with ine of his hands, and looked at her.
"I'll tell you about it one day." He promised.
"I'd like that." Yumi said. Ulrich put his other hand on the book.
"I'd better go." He said. "I wouldn't want to miss Sissi." He turned, but then looked at Yumi again, and was about to say something, but decided against it. He ran off.
When he got to his dorm, he of course found Sissi leaning against the wall again.
"Sissi, were you waiting for me? Looking for something?" Sissi gasped when she saw his diary with him.
"Um, no. I was just passing by so..." Unable to come up with a reasonable excuse, she ran off. Ulrich smirked and walked into the room, holding up his diary. Jeremy and I clapped, while Odd jumped in the air. The secret of Lyoko was safe once more.
Meh, this chapter is ok. I found the episode itself only decent itself. The attack was fine, but the Lyoko scenes aren't that exciting, and also kind of confusing.