Hello once again, people of the internet. Today we're getting into one of the better episodes (at least in my opinion) of season one. I'm also still debating about the character addition.

In other news... I'm officially a high school freshman!

Chapter 9: Cruel Dilemma

Yumi, Ulrich, and Odd were all near the soccer field, listening to one of Mr. Delmas' announcements. They were staring at a pair of bulldozers in front of them.

"Dear students, this stadium is being built in close cooperation with the board of education. Soon, you will be enjoying the latest sports equipment, and I personally am delighted since my duties to provide you with the most excellent working conditions possible, both intellectually and physically." Odd yawned as the principal kept on talking.

"Wow can he talk. Do we really have to listen to all this?" He asked.

"Not really. You could've stayed with Jeremy and the Mistress of Magic if you wanted to." Ulrich replied.

"What're they up to anyways?" Yumi asked, looking at them both.

"Emily's not into sports, and Jeremy's glued to his computer screen in another cyber conversation with his dawling Aelita." Odd said.

Jeremy's Room

Jeremy was once again hard at work on his materialization program for Aelita. I was with him, snacking on some candy he had on his desk.

"Just a couple more calculations to go, and the devirtualization program should be completed." Jeremy said.

"And, do you really think it's going to work, Jeremy? Do I finally have a chance of being materialized in your world a d being somebody... somebody like you?" Aelita asked.

"I sure hope so." Jeremy said, swallowing the piece of candy he was eating. "Anyways, one thing is for sure: I've never been as close to the answer as I am now."

"Oh, honestly Jeremy, it's so hard to imagine." Aelita admitted. "We could be face to face in the same room, we could touch each other, even kiss!" I nearly choked on the candy I was eating from laughter after hearing that last one. Jeremy's face turned red as sent a glare in my direction.

"Uh, yeah. That'd be interesting, I mean, well I guess." Jeremy stuttered. I grinned, wiping a tear from my eye. "Now, get ready. I'm starting the test program." Jeremy hit the enter key and gritted his teeth. I didn't quite understand what was going on on his monitor, but the big red exclamation point didn't seem like a good thing. Jeremy let his head rest in his hands. "I don't get it..." I put my hand on his shoulder with a sympathetic expression on my face.

"It's not the end of the world." Aelita said. "I'm sure on day Jeremy, that you'll succeed."

"Aelita... I'm beginning to wonder if I'm up for the job; if I'm good enough for such a complicated program." Jeremy admitted. "Sorry... I'm just tired and jumpy is all. I'd better go and stretch my legs. See you later." He cut the connection with Aelita.

"Don't worry Jeremy, you'll get it eventually." I assured him. He gave me a faint smile.

"You really think so?" He asked.

"Nah, I know so." I said, which was actually true. We walked out of the room. However, a bit later, a certain purple clad cat walked into the room.

"Jeremy, Emily?" He walked further into the toom, sitting down at Jeremy's desk. "What's this?" He looked at the monitor closer. "Another one of Aelita's materialization programs. Oh wow, candy!" He exclaimed, grabbing the bag and popping a piece in his mouth.

"Odd!" Jeremy angrily exclaimed. The shout surprised Odd, making him spill the bag if candy, which hit multiple keys on the keyboard. "How many times have I told you NOT to touch my computer when I'm not here?!" There are months of work in there!"

"Way to go, catboy, way to go." I said sarcastically, noticing the candy on the keyboard.

"Relax!" Odd exclaimed, putting his hands up defensively. "I didn't hurt your little toy!" Jeremy then noticed the spilled candy, and shot another glare at Odd.

"You're such a cosmic creep, now look at what you've done!" He motioned at the candy. "Those keys are incredibly sensitive!" Odd hummer with disinterest.

"Ok, a little candy's not gonna wreck you're keyboard." He said as Jeremy brushed off the candy. He looked up at his monitor and let out a noise of surprise.

"What? But that's totally crazy! This is really mega insane!" Odd and I looked at each other with confusion as our resident genius typed away. He started up Aelita's materialization program, watching his screen intently. What shocked all of us though, was that the trial was successful! "Yes! It worked!" Jeremy cheered. "Odd you're a genius, you know that?"

"Hey, make up your mind! Am I a creep, or a genius?"

"You're a creepy genius!" Odd looked slightly offended by that remark. "You didn't do it on purpose, but by dropping the candies on the keyboard, you modified and relaunched my program!"

"Wait a sec, you mean this thing will materialize Aelita for sure now?" I asked in disbelief. Jeremy sent an excited nod my way.

"I don't exactly know what happened, but it worked! Thanks, Odd!"

"Who's an Einstein now? Are you gonna materialize Aelita?" Odd asked.

"Well, yeah. The only problem is that only get one try and that's all. I dion't know what the candy typed in." Jeremy said nervously.

"So?" Odd asked, shrugging his shoulders nonchalantly. "There's only one Aelita." Jeremy smirked and put on his earpiece.

"Go and tell the others; I'll announce the good news to Aelita!"

Later

Yumi shook her head while making a sound of disapproval. She disagreed with Jeremy's plan to materialize Aelita immediately.

"It's now or never, Yumi! We may not get a second chance!" Jeremy said impatiently. "What if there's some kind of bug? I may never be able to set up the program again!"

"Listen, you just materialize Aelita just like that; not without making preparations." Yumi pointed out. Jeremy, however, took this the wrong way.

"I've boosted the scans. I've got the program going. Everything's ready!" I let out a sigh.

"That isn't what we mean, Jeremy." He sent a confused look my way. "I lucked out with Ulrich finding me in the woods and setting me up as his cousin. That same luck isn't going to be with us here, not without some kind of preparations."

"W-what do you mean?" Jeremy asked.

"Try coming back to Earth, Jeremy. Aelita hasn't got any parents, and she doesn't have a birth certificate! What's more, she's not enrolled in any school! Ok, that's no biggie, but all that together means she doesn't exist in out world!" Ulrich explained.

"Imagine, 'Hello, I'm Aelita. I just got here from a virtual reality.' That's a one way ticket to the nuthouse." Odd said. Jeremy said nothing as looked at his computer screen.

"You know Jeremy, it doesn't have to be today. I can wait." Aelita assured him. Jeremy looked up at the ceiling in annoyance.

"Well what do we do now!?"

"I could try putting her up at my house. My folks wouldn't mind." Yumi suggested.

"And you could plug into the city hall computers and create a phony identity for her." Ulrich said. I gave him a bewildered look.

"Isn't that A: Supposed to be hard, and B: Oh I dunno, ILLEGAL!?" I asked, throwing in my two cents.

"Well, yeah, but he could do it with the supercomputer. We don't exactly have much choice." I crossed my arms, not entirely agreeing with the idea.

"Then, you just have enroll her at our school!" Odd exclaimed. "And try to put her in our class, that's be really cool." Jeremy remained silent, still staring at the monitor. He looked back at the four of us sitting on his bed, then back at Aelita before sighing in defeat.

"Ok... We'll get started first thing tomorrow." He decided.

That night...

After a long day of classes, you know what I like to do? Sleep. You know what I don't like? Being interrupted while sleeping by a loud roaring sound.

I rubbed my eyes and pulled my glasses back on as I sat up. "What's going on?" I questioned, and decided to take a peak out the window. I gasped at what I saw: the bulldozers that were to be used were moving... Without drivers. I jumped off of the chair I was standing on, pulled on my jacket and shoes, stuffed my phone in my pajama pants pocket, and bolted to the boys floor.

I heard Jeremy before I saw him, as he was shouting at Ulrich and Odd to wake up. I ran into the room and started shushing Jeremy.

"Are you trying to get us caught, Einstein!?" I whispered harshly. "Pipe down!" He and I walked out of the room to allow Ulrich and Odd to get dressed.

"Glad to see you dressed up for the occasion." Jeremy teased. I rolled my eyes.

"I thought getting to the factory was more important than getting dressed. Forgive me, oh great one." The door opened once nore, revealing a dressed Ulrich and Odd.

"Let's move out!" Ulrich said. We ran out of the dorm building as fast as our legs could carry us, and found exactly what we had been looking for: the rebel construction equipment. We all gasped in astonishment.

"No need to look any further, guys. XANA picked a real winner this time! Nice going, XANA, how subtle can you get?" Odd said, staring at the bulldozers in awe.

"But here's our million dollar question: Why?" I asked. "And I get the feeling that the reason isn't good."

"Jeremy, you and Emily go to the lab and contact Yumi. Odd and I will try and stop these monsters." Ulrich said, to which we nodded at and took off.

Jeremy and I grabbed our scooters once we were underground, Jeremy taking iut his cellphone and dialing Yumi.

"C'mon Yumi, get up! We really need you!" He exclaimed.

"...Do you realize what time it is?"

"XANA has taken over the bulldozers!"

"Bulldozers..? What bulldozers?" Yumi asked sleepily.

"The ones the were going to be used for school construction! Ulrich and Odd are trying to stop them!"

"What!? I'm on my way." She hung up as we reached the end of the tunnel. We climbed up, swung down, and entered the elevator. When it opened to the lab, he rushed to his chair and put on his earpiece. Aelita had been running through the Forest Sector, following the pulsations.

"Be careful, Aelita! You never know where monsters are hiding!" Jeremy warned.

"Don't worry, Jeremy. No enemy in sight for the moment." Aelita assured him. "But the pulse beats are getting stronger, the activated tower can't be too far away!" The elevator door then opened up to reveal Odd standing in it.

"Don't worry Aelita, Emily and Odd will be there with you soon. Now let's hope that Yumi and Ulrich are one there way." Odd gave the blond genius a confused look.

"Ulrich? He's on the bulldozer trying to find out what XANA's up to." Jeremy began dialing Ulrich's mobile with a concerned look on his face.

"Ulrich, do you read me?"

"Bad news, guys: I'm on the river bed, and I'm afraid XANA's target is the factory!" Ulrich informed us. Jeremy gulped as he realized how much sense it made.

"That's gotta be it!" He exclaimed. "If he manages to destroy the factory, we can say goodbye to our equipment!"

"No supercomputer access equals no more communication with Aelita!" I realized.

"Don't forget about the scanners! Without those, we have no way to get onto Lyoko, meaning XANA wins!" Odd pointed out. Odd and I looked at one another, then ran to the elevator.

"Ulrich, listen, Odd and Emily are about to dive in by themselves, so if you don't mind, hurry up!"

"I'll do my best, but I can't promise you a graceful entrance!" Ulrich replied, then hung up.

Odd and I each entered a scanner. "Transfer, Odd, transfer, Emily. Scanner, Odd, scanned Emily. VIRTUALIZATION!"

The two of us landed in the Forest Sector, Odd seeming to be very tense. He held up his arm as if he were about to fire, then did a flip and roll and did it again.

"Oh, hello Odd. You're looking rather stressed." Aelita noted as she approached us.

"Oh, I'm fine, Aelita. It's just I never know what I'm gonna find when I come here." Odd replied.

"Well there's killer cockroaches, giant evil bowling balls, deadly crabs, and the Rubik's cube of death." I said, counting each monster that we had encountered with my gloved fingers. Aelita let out a small smile.

"Come with me, you two, the activated tower is this way."

"Ok, lets go and check it out." Odd said, then we began running forward until we came to a crossroad. Aelita looked down at ground and watched as the pulsations went to our left.

"That way." She said while pointing. I began running that direction, only to be stopped by a red laser whizzing past me.

"Talk about a reception committee." Odd remarked. I growled at our monster pals.

"Oh great, I just had to say something about the killer cockroaches, didn't I?"

"Roachsters usually travel in groups of five." Aelita said as we heard a shuffling noise behind us. A single Roachster was approaching from the way we came, along with four more from the other paths.

"Wow, and it looks like the committee is at full strength." Odd said, readying himself to fire his Laser Arrows when needed. I pulled out my gold staff and held it out in a defensive manner. Well well Roachsters, which one of you wants to be first?" His question was almost instantly answered as on began charging its laser.

"Step right up, monsters of all shapes and sizes! Watch as I make these monsters, disappear!" I exclaimed. I fired a Magic Blast as Odd avoided the lasers fired. Try as he might though, he was still hit in the chest, and Aelita got hit on her leg. Odd fired a few Laser Arrows as I sent out another Magic Blast. I missed, and proceeded to get hit by two lasers as Odd was once again his in the chest.

"Hey, would you two cool it!? Your mission is to protect Aelita, remember!?" Jeremy scolded us. Odd glared at the sky and grunted with annoyance.

"You wanna trade places Jeremy?" Odd asked. That shut him up. I finally decided to ditch the projectiles and go for the stabbing method. I ran up to one of the Roachsters, and stabbed it with my staff's blade, killing it. "Odd, you've used up four of your ten arrows!" Jeremy shouted. Doing a flip, Odd said,

"Here comes three more!" A fired three more arrows while upside down, managing to destroy the pest blocking our path. We ran forward, still having to dodge the lasers of our remaining buddies.

Lab

Jeremy bit his lip nervously as he watched Odd, Emily, and Aelita run on his screen. He was not only worried about them, but for Yumi and Ulrich as well.

"Hey, Jeremy!" A worried Yumi said. "Do you mind giving me a hand?" Jeremy looked around the room for a few seconds before finding her, carrying a limp Ulrich, above him. Jeremy gasped and ran over to the ladder.

"What about the bulldozers?" He asked.

"It's a mess up there." Yumi responded, handing part of Ulrich off to him.

"I wish it were only up there." Jeremy said, a touch of humor in his voice. More pieces of the ceiling fell down around them. The two of them managed to bring Ulrich down the ladder.

"How's Odd and Emily doing?" Yumi asked. Jeremy opened his mouth to respond, but was quickly interupted.

"Jeremy, Emily and are starting to get a little lonely out here!" Odd sang.

"Yeah!" Emily joined in. "I'm sick of doing a duet. Can we please try a trio?" Smiling, Jeremy looked back over at Yumi.

"That answer your question?" He asked, making Yumi smile back.

"Gotcha." She said with a slight chuckle. She then ran to the elevator to go down to the scanner room.

"Ok guys, Yumi's on her way. As for Ulrich..." Jeremy looked back at the passed iut brunette. "Well let's just say he's fast asleep."

"He is? Well that must be tough. I mean without his earplugs." Both Jeremy and Emily let out a small laugh. Jeremy began typing to start up the virtualization process once more.

"Transfer, Yumi. Scanner, Yumi. VIRTUALIZATION!"

Lyoko

"Odd and Emily! Figure out a way to slow down the Roachsters! You guys are way ahead of Yumi!" Jeremy exclaimed. Odd and I looked at one another.

"You take Aelita to the tower! I'll handle the Roachsters!" Odd slid away from is behind a tree for cover as we ran off. "Let's see what the score is... Three Roachsters and only three Laser Arrows left. Odd! This is no time to miss your targets!" He turned and fired one arrow, hitting it directly on target. The other two Roachsters took this as a sign to take cover, and hid behind two narrow trees. Odd ran forward to get intoca better position, but was hit in the chest once again. "Jeremy! How many Life Points do I have left?"

"Ten! But hang on, Yumi's on her way!" Odd decided to taunt another Roachster by waving his tail at it and whistling. Once he caught it's attention, he fired his second to last arrow at it.

"That's it for you! Now, where's your buddy hiding!" He suddenly had a far off look in his eyes that lasted a few seconds. "Emily..." He muttered, then saw a Roachster charging it's laser in front of him. "Uh-oh..." He was devirtualized just as Yumi approached.

"No!" She shouted, then threw her fan at the killer cockroach. "Jeremy, I didn't make it in time. It's game over for Odd. I'll go and back up Emily and Aelita in case they need help."

Aelita and I had been running the entire time Odd's battle had taken place.

"I don't mean to stress you out or anything, but if the scans are destroyed, you guys are on a one way trip." Odd pulled himself out of the scanner room on the ladder, worry written all over his face.

"No problem. I'll hurry." I said. "Besides, I wouldn't mind a little nap before class."

"Jeremy!" Odd exclaimed. "It isn't the scanners Emily needs to worry about! I had a vision on Lyoko... A vision of Emily falling into the Digital Sea!" I stopped dead in my tracks.

"No." I thought. "It's supposed to happen to Yumi, not me!"

"Devirtualized forever!?" Jeremy gave Odd a look of disbelief, but knew that he wasn't joking. "Emily!"

"I heard." I said, my voice trembling. "I'll be careful."

Lab

"I'll go and help her." Ulrich said weaky, holding his head.

"Ulrich, take a look at yourself! In the shape your in, it'd be totally crazy!" Ulrich ignored Jeremy's advice, and oulled himself up by using the ladder.

"Odd, help me." Odd did just as he was asked to.

Lyoko

Aelita and I ran across the tree bridge, leading us one step forward to the tower, which was dead ahead of us. Also in front of us, however, was a Megatank. I pulled out my staff and started charging a Magic Blast.

"Give me a visual." Jeremy said. Odd bit his lip when he saw the location.

"That's it. That's exatly where I saw Emily fall." He informed us. Aelita looked at me with a face of worry.

"Aelita, whatever happens to doesn't matter. Go and deactivate the tower." She reluctanty took off, causing the Megatank to start charging it's laser. It fired, and it almost hit Aelita, but she was quicker. She ducked for cover behind a tree. I fired a Magic Blast at our bowling ball friend, but it closed it's shell, negating the effects. I growled in anger at it.

"You're a coward!" I shouted at it. A fan whizzed by the top of the Megatank, then returned to it's owner. "Glad you could show up, albeit a little late."

"Ever heard of being fashionably late?" She asked. The Megatank rolled over to get a better position for hitting Aelita. It fired once more, but Yumi blocked it with her body, taking the brunt of the blast. The Megatank fired once more, devirtualizing the Japanese girl. I gulped.

"I guess I really am the once to fall today." I thought nervously. Aelita barely dodged another blast as she ran to another tree for cover. Aelita then took off once more, but where she was running to had no more places to hide, so I took action. As the Megatank fired it's laser, I pushed it out of the way, knocking it into the hole in the middle of the area. However, I was now dangling on the ledge, the same spot Yumi had been in in the actual episode. My grip on the ledge was quickly failing.

"Jeremy! I can't hold on much longer!"

"Aelita's in the tower now! Just a little longer!" I gritted my teeth as I heard fast footsteps approaching. Ulrich was on his way, but we wouldn't be able to save me.

"Emily! I'm coming!" He stopped as quickly as he could and extended his hand, but I had already fallen. "No!" He exclaimed. I closed my eyes, resigning myself to my fate, and fell into the Digital Sea.

Unknown Location

I woke up in a place that seemed to be pure white light. I looked around finding nothing but that color. I was still in my Lyoko gear, but my staff was gone.

Looking around, I soon found that even if I willed my legs to move, I wasn't going anywhere. I very quickly I found myself sitting on the 'ground', hugging my knees as I realized that my fate was sealed. However, I also felt... off. I looked around once more, but found nothing. Brushing it off as just my nerves, I turned back to face the fro t, only to be met by a shadowy face.

I flinched and fell onto my back in surprise, even letting out a tiny yelp. The face looked exactly like mine, glasses and everything, with the key difference being the entire body and clothes being black or a variation of gray. The mark of XANA could be faintly seen glowing on it's forehead, making me realize exactly who I was dealing with. The malevolent virus smirked at seeing my fear, but only faintly.

"XANA." I said, clenching my fists as I stood up. "I see you've wasted no time in hunting me down." XANA said nothing as he began walking around me, almost as if he was inspecting me. "What are you doing?"

"As if I would tell you of my plans. That would be something only a simple human like yourself would do." XANA said, voice a distorted and digitized version of my own. "Still, I find it rather... Peculiar how you ended up here out of the blue, don't you?" My eyes widened at that statement.

"So that means XANA didn't send me here, right?" I then lowered my head in thought. "But... I guess he could maybe be foreshadowing something without him knowing. I can't be sure of anything he says."

"Regardless, your reason for being here cannot be good for my plans. One less person, one less pest to deal with in the future ." A staff appeared in his hands. He charged an attack.

Lab

The entire atmosphere of the factory after the return to the past was a melancholy one. Ulrich was looking especially down, as he felt responsible for the loss of their friend.

"I never thought it was possible..." Jeremy said, breaking their long silence. "For one of us to become..." Jeremy trailed off, the others knowing what he meant.

"It's all my fault. If I had been faster, Emily would still be here." Ulrich said in a shaky voice. He closed his eyes as he felt tears starting to form.

"Well, there is one solution, and Jeremy knows it." Aelita informed them. All eyes went straight to Jeremy.

"The materialization program. It's operational, but Aelita has to give up her place for Emily." The three reaming Lyoko warriors looked at one another.

"Can you... Bring Emily back here?" Yumi asked.

"Yes, but I can only materialize one person... One and only one." He explained. Aelita look between her friends, who nodded at her.

"Then choose Emily." Aelita decided. "She may not be from your world, but she still had friends in another, not to mention in yours." She saw the disappointed look on Jeremy's face, but also one of understanding. "It's ok, I can wait a little longer."

"Ok, Aelita. First of all, I need to track down Emily in the Digital Sea."

Scanner Room

Before XANA could fire off any attacks, I found myself in a dark enclosed area, feeling exhausted. The doors in front of me opened, revealing Ulrich, Odd, and Yumi standing in front of the scanner. I fell forward, only to be caught by the boys.

"It's ok, Emily. You're gonna be ok." Ulrich said.

"Welcome home. Well, sorta." Odd said. I look up at the three of them with a confused look.

"How did you guys bring me back?" I asked.

"We had to use the materialization program. Aelita gave up her spot for you." Yumi explained. I looked down at the ground as they helped me stand upright.

"Man, now I feel bad." I admitted. Odd slung and arm around my shoulders.

"Hey, think about it this way: You save Aelita's life with a heroic sacrifice."

"I guess that's a way to put it..." We climbed into the elevator to find a sad looking Jeremy. We remained silent until we reached the sewers, but I admittedly wasn't paying much attention to the conversation. I had too much on my mind.

"So... If XANA didn't send me here, then what exactly did?"

Hopefully that's a better version of the Digital Sea conversation. I'm a little happier with this version.