Ah, finally done with that crappy episode. What's next? Plagued? AWESOME! One of my personal favorite episodes of season 1.

I've also determined something: The world hates me. Season 1 of Code Lyoko is currently off of Amazon Prime, making my job even harder! Thanks guys!

Chapter 14: Plagued

All five of us were in library, generally having a good time. We were SUPPOSED to be studying, but lets be honest: that's boring. So, Ulrich and Odd came up with a game to play instead with their papers. Jeremy was also talking to Aelita.

"But I can't speak any louder. I'm in a library." Jeremy told her. She tilted her head slightly at that.

"What's a library, Jeremy." He put a finger to his chin to think of a way to describe it in a way she'd understand.

"It's a databank where everything is printed on paper. And, where you can't make any noise." She nodded her head, understanding.

"Oh, because I guess you need silence to concentrate on what you're studying." At this, our genius grinned.

"Yeah, and so is not to miss the match point." He turned his attention to Ulrich and Odd. I grinned at both of them as they prepared to play what I can only describe as paper tennis with your hands instead of racquets.

"I play winner!" I called as they stared one another down. Odd then sent the paper ball his way, and the game began. We all watched as they struck the ball back and forth. The sound caused Jim to tell us to quiet down, but that didn't stop us. Ulrich eventually smacked the ball upwards, giving Odd the idea to spike it back, but with the crafty leaning back in your chair method, Ulrich sent it back and won.

"Game, set, and match." Yumi said. Odd let let a disappointed groan as Ulrich lifted his arms in celebration. However, this caused him to lose his balance, making him in his chair fall to the ground as Jim approached.

"Ulrich! Is this what you call studying?" Ulrich only offered a big smile in response as Yumi covered her face, though it was so she wouldn't laugh more than anything. "In case no one told you, THIS," He gestured to the entire library, "is not the school yard. You are here to work! And work means SILENCE!" Jim shouted, which kind of defeated his entire speech. He looked at the lot of us as we all smiled in attempts to stifle our laughter. "And no more games!" He directly stated that one to Ulrich and Odd. Behind him, the door opened revealing Mr. Delmas in walking towards us, but Jim was still in his "mode". "Oh, if that's the way you want to play, then I can play just as hard as you can, my little friends." Jim did a quick turn and grabbed Mr. Delmas' ear. "You! Two hours detention!" He quickly let go however, realizing exactly who he was just screaming at. "Um, sorry about that sir. I uh..."

We could no longer contain our laughter, and began giggling like little girls at our table. We managed to collect ourselves as the principal approached, Jeremy and I reading our books we had brought. He cleared his throat as he stopped in front of us.

"Ahem, hello Jeremy, and Emily as well. Would you two come to my office now? I want to talk to you, it's very important." Jeremy and I looked at one another with a worrying glance. What exactly was going on?

Later

I couldn't believe it. I didn't WANT to believe it, but I couldn't deny what had just been told to me. Jeremy was rather quiet too as we walked out. The others were waiting for us and called out our names, but we were too depressed to answer. Yumi was the first to actually approach us as we walked.

"What's going on?" She asked. I tried to answer myself, but I found my old shy tendencies coming back and making my tongue feel like lead in my mouth. Noticing this, Jeremy decided to answer for us both.

"Well, you know the principal, he went on and on. He says the school psychologist gas been observing us for a long time, and he thinks that we're overly gifted students." He explained.

"Is that all?" Odd asked. "We were scared that the principal had found out about the lab. Big deal." Odd said. At this point, I was fighting back tears.

"It's worse than you think, Odd." Jeremy began. "The shrink's decided that we have to take all sorts of tests tonight, to determine what our IQ's are."

"Yeah, so?" Ulrich urged.

"If the tests show that we have a really high IQ, the guy is going to see to it that we both get sent to another school." At this the others stopped at gasped, while I could fight my tears no longer as the subject was brought up again.

"Are you saying he's gonna send you to a school for like, future Einsteins?!" Odd exclaimed, to which we only nodded at.

"That is serious." Yumi remarked. "If you're not here, we can never go to Lyoko again, and XANA will be able to do what he wants!"

"It's not just that, guys. I don't want to leave here because of you all. You're my friends." Jeremy said. At this point, I was clutching my head and sitting against a tree. Seeing this, Yumi went over to me and wrapped her arm around my shoulder, sending a worried look to Ulrich and Odd.

"Hold on, cool it! Don't panic!" Odd said. "They can't force you guys to change schools!" Odd pointed out. We started moving again, but I still wouldn't talk.

"It's not that easy." Jeremy said. "The psychologist creep couldn't wait to talk to my parents. He told them that at kind of school, I'd be entitled to a big scholarship. My folks aren't going to pass up a great chance like that." Jeremy then looked at me. "And Emily's worried about them discovering she isn't from this world. They couldn't get into contact with you uncle, Ulrich, but if they do, we're going to have some major complications." I stared at the ground once again before running away from the group.

"Emily, wait!" I heard them call, but I ignored them. I didn't think I was worth being in their presence. I couldn't bring myself to be around them at that point in time.

That Evening

Our classes had practically zoomed that day, and it was all a blur to me. I had finally worked up the courage to be around the others again (after avoiding them all day out of some fear I had), and I was at least mumbling to myself.

You see, I was always a very shy person, and having to take ADHD medication for most of my elementary and middle school life didn't exactly make me any better at socializing. Since I've stopped taking it, I've become happier and more social, but I can still be rather timid in situations, and get stressed out easily. I also have a bad habit of not talking when I'm upset, as people usually didn't listen as I was too quiet. The others didn't know that, as I never told them, so they had been trying to get me to talk all day, but to no avail.

"What's the big problem? You guys mess up on the test, then they'll think you're total morons. Nobody will ever know, and you'll be home free."

"Sure, I thought of that, only there's a problem." Tests like that are full of all kinds of trick questions and if you really want to mess up and make mistakes, you've gotta be very clever."

"But that's great, since you two are some of the cleverest people we know!" Yumi commented.

"Says you..." I muttered, not even catching the attention of them it was that quiet. Jeremy looked up at her with a solemn look.

"Ok. We'll do our best to flunk." We began walking away. "But I can't promise anything." Yumi looked at the time, then back at Ulrich and Odd.

"I'll see you guys later. Keep me posted, ok?" The boys nodded at her.

Jeremy and I both walked into the library, and met up with the creepy psychologist. He nodded at bother of us, his hands behind his back.

"Ah, hello Jeremy. Emily." He said with a nod in my direction. "Do you recognize me? I'm Mr. Simone, the school psychologist." He introduced himself.

"Of course I do!" Jeremy said in a rather upbeat tone. I couldn't help but give him a look that said 'What are you doing?' "Is it really true that you're planning to get me transferred to a school for gifted children? That 's great! My parents are gonna be so glad." I just kinda stared at him for a few seconds as he talked and gestured with his hands.

"...Maybe I should watch season one more." I thought, noting just how bizarre it was compared to what I knew of the other three seasons.

"Well, that's what we're here tonight to find out." Mr. Simone said with a slight chuckle. "Now, Emily, I'm going to have to ask you to wait outside the room. I know you aren't known for cheating, it's just my policy." He explained. Nodding, I walked out of the room and sat in a chair right outside the door. I let out a sigh as I let my head rest in my hands, and began wondering what would happen if I somehow managed to pass the test.

At one point or another, the power went out, making me groan. "Just fantastic..." I muttered. I then let out a yelp when I felt a sharp pain in my right arm. I looked down as a felt a few more, and to my horror, multiple rats had bit into my arm. I noticed the red eye of XANA, and gasped in realization. "Plagued!" I exclaimed, and bolted into the library, tripping, and closing the door with my foot.

"Emily? Is there a problem?" Mr. Simone asked. "If not then I'll have to ask you to go back outside." At that point, being polite was the last of my concerns.

"Oh yeah sure. Don't mind me, the girl who was bitten and bleeding from the arm." Mr. Simone stood up when I said that and looked at me. I had pressed my jacket sleeve against my wound, and was using it as a makeshift bandage. I knew the return trip would be used, so I figured my survival was more important than the jacket.

"Jeremy, finish up your tests. Let me grab my first aid kit." He reached into his bag and pulled out said kit.

Cafeteria

The lights had gone out in the entire school, including the cafeteria. Multiple students were messing around, trying to sound like ghosts. Jim was trying his best go get everyone to settle down, but was failing miserably. Eventually, everyone started banging on their tables, including Odd. Ulrich, however, did not join in, as he heard a strange noise.

"Shh!" He extended his arms, quieting everyone down. "Everyone, listen." A rather strange sound could be heard above. Jim looked up on confusion, and stood up on a table to look into the ceiling. He let out a yell as he fell backward, surprising everyone. The real shocker happened, however, when the panels containing rats fell from the ceiling. Ulrich and Odd looked at one anther in shock. "We'd better get out of here." They flinched as a panel fell on their table and the rats looked at them menacingly. They ran across the tables, leading their peers to the door. Ulrich was about to open said door, but there were hundreds of rats outside.

"Uh-oh."

"We're trapped." Ulrich punched the door in anger.

"Nice going, XANA." Odd commented. "The rats all waited for nighttime, and tjey attacked us as soon as we were all in the cafeteria!" A few students pressed up against them as they tried to avoid the rats. Ulrich barely had room to pull out his mobile and call Yumi for help.

"Is that you, Ulrich?" She asked.

"Yumi! XANA possessed a bunch of rats, and now they're attacking us!"

"What!?"

Library

I was now sporting a bandage wrapped around my arm. I was poking at it when I heard Jeremy's phone go off. He was about to reach for it when the psychologist put his hand on the phone.

"But-"

"After the test you can make all the phone calls you like." He said, and denied the call.

Cafeteria

"Oh, why doesn't he answer!?" Ulrich asked, stuffing his phone back into his pocket. Odd looked over at Jim with an annoyed look.

"The extinguishers Jim! Hurry up!" Jim was too terrified to move, however, and another student had to step forward and run for them. He passed them to the two Lyoko Warriors, who then proceeded to lead everyone outside while clearing a path with the extinguishers. "There are way too many of them! We'll never be able to hold them back all night!" Odd pointed out.

"Help! Help! Over here!" Sissi then cried, drawing attention to herself. She was over by the entrance to the dorms. Many of the rats turned their heads to her.

"Sissi!? What's she doing here anyway?" Ulrich asked.

"We have to help her or she's going to be eaten alive!"

Library

We all of sudden heard a strange sound coming from the door. I clutched my arm, knowing all to well what was going on.

"That noise is unbearable." Mr. Simone got up and went to open the door... Which for him, was a huge mistake. "Listen, this racket has got to- huh!?" He was shocked and terrified to find several rats at the door. They lunged at him as he backed up, but Jeremy was quick enough to slam the door shut. "R-rats! Like a whole army of them."

"XANA." Jeremy and I muttered. We backed away from the door as we heard a chewing sound.

"They must be hungry, they're trying to eat through the door." I noted, taking Jeremy by surprise. "We've gotta barricade it if we want to buy us time, Jeremy." He nodded, and we both ran for the book shelves.

Outside Cafeteria

A bike bell could be heard in the distance, catching several people's attention. As it came closer, it was revealed that if was Yumi riding her way on a bike.

"Ah, here she comes!" Ulrich exclaimed, as she then proceeded to ride through the rats with no hesitation, coming to a stop in front of Sissi. She patted the back part of the bike.

"Your carriage, Cinderella." Sissi offered no arguments and hopped on the bike, with Yumi then carrying them both to the circle in front of the cafeteria. She skidded to a stop and looked at Odd, who offered a small smile to her.

"Welcome to the rat pack." He lightly joked.

Library

We had used a ton of books to barricade the door rather well. "Keep going alone, sir." Jeremy said, and ran over to grab his laptop. "Let's just hope it'll hold them back long enough... Aelita?"

"XANA has activated a tower, Jeremy. I've spotted where it is. I'm on my way there now. I'll try to get a closer look, ok?" Aelita disappeared just as quickly as we contacted her. Jeremy let out a groan, but grabbed his phone and dialed Yumi.

"Hello, Jeremy."

"XANA's attacking! He's sent rats out!"

"Yes, we know. The rats have already attacked us."

"Emily and I are going to try and get out of here, but we'll need you there too."

"Ok, we'll meet you at the lab." Yumi hung up. Jeremy looked over at a window to see we could escape there, but they were bunched up on the windowsill.

"Oh, this time we're the rats in a trap, and I don't like it at all." He commented.

"I don't either, but we need to at least get you out of here. You're the only one who can transfer us." I looked out the window at the army of rats as Mr. Simone went on about his fear of rats. Jeremy then looked at the window the flashlight was pointing at, and noticed that not a single rat was on it. He grabbed the flashlight, and shined it at another window, making the rats fall.

"Bingo!" He exclaimed. "I'll be right back. I've got to get something from the photo lab!" He ran off, but quickly came back, holding something in his hands. He ran over to a window, and made the bulb flash, causing the rats to fall he let out a small cheer as he handed one to Mr. Simone. "If they get in, use this. Sorry, Emily. I don't have any for you."

"It's fine. After all, I do have this." I pulled out my phone and turned on the flashlight, scaring some rats. Mr. Simone begged us not to leave, but we had to, and jumped out the window. "XANA probably got everywhere via the sewers, so we should probably skip that."

"Right." We ran as fast as we could, scaring off the XANAfied rats as we went forward. Then, Jeremy got a call from Yumi. We were mostly in the clear, but I kept my light on in front of us just to be safe. She was asking about virtualizing Ulrich and Odd. "Ok, listen up now." He began spouting out technobabble, but one thing caught my attention. "No! I said 79 degrees west! 79 degrees west! Listen, Yumi, the rats have invaded the city, you hear?" Unfortunately, she hung up on him. "Oh no..."

"What?"

"Aelita is in big trouble. Yumi misheard me and entered the wrong coordinates." Jeremy explained. I looked at the ground before looking forward once again.

"Then we have absolutely no time to lose. Let's move out!" We ran once again until we found ourselves on the bridge, which was swarming with rats. Jeremy and I smirked ar one another as we raised our lights and made them scatter into the water.

Lyoko

Ulrich and Odd had been running for a little bit in their search for Aelita. "Do you see her now?" Yumi asked as the two skidded to a stop. In the distance, they could see their pink haired friend running from a plater of seafood.

"Yeah, I see her!" Odd said, pointing. "She's here. The only problem is, she's not alone."

"Be careful." Yumi warned. Aelita soon went over to the two boys in the form of sliding on her knees to get there.

"Hello, Princess." Ulrich greeted, lowering down to her.

"That was close." She noted. "I was just barely able to get away." Ulrich smirked at her.

"Your two knights in shining armor have come to protect you." Ulrich assured her, at which she smiled at him for. Aelita stood up and went behind the duo as they walked forward, still being cautious. The Krabs suddenly dug their legs into the ground, which then began to tilt vertically. Noticing this, Odd commented:

"Hey, this is kinda weird."

"Ulrich? Odd? What's going on?" Yumi asked.

"That's a good question." Ulrich said, but was one he was unable to answer. The group was now forced to lay on their stomachs to keep a grip on the ground.

"I-I don't understand! It could've been my mistake, although..." Yumi traild off, not exactly wanting to finish what she was saying.

"It's XANA!" Aelita then realized. "He's changing the slope of the plateau, better hang on tight!" However, right as she said that, They were no longer able to hand on. Thinking fast as they plummeted closer to the Digital Sea, Aelita used her creativity powers to creat a series of rocks jutting from the now vertical ground. They all landed on one large platform, Odd letting out a sigh of relief.

"Wow... Well done, Aelita!" He praised, then flinched as a laser came close to hitting his head. The Krabs we walking just fine on the vertical land, and were aiming straight at Aelita. Ulrich ran over in front of her, taking a series of blasts to his chest. He let out a grunt of pain, but stood there until the barrage stopped. The group went over to hug the wall, that being the safest place. Odd looked over at the series of smaller rocks that Aelita had created. "Ulrich, cover Aelita. She's lost too many life points. I'll try and attract their attention."

He the proceeded to leap to one of the rocks, and pulled himself on top of it, still being wary of the lasers. He jumped up higher on rock at a time until he attracted the attention of one of the Krabs. It fired several laser, but the feline warrior fired his own ammunition back, destroying the lasers, and ultimately, the Krab itself. The other Krab then turned as well, but didn't hold back anything, firing another barrage of lasers, one hitting Odd's abdomen.

"No, Odd! Get out of there now!" Ulrich cried as Odd was hit several more times. Odd jumped over a rock, and leaped up to another, but it was shot before he could grab it. "ODD! NO!" Odd screamed as he fell, knowing what touching the Digital Sea would mean for him. Luckily, he was devirtualized by the Krab just in time.

"Never thought I'd be thinking this, but thank you, XANA." Ulrich thought, as he and Aelita both sighed in relief. But they were quickly reminded of the battle at hand. Ulrich unsheathed his saber and began deflecting shots as fast as he could, but was hit a few more time. The Krab had Finally reached them, and this was their final stand. Ulrich stabbed the Krab where it fired it's lasers, but was devirtualized in the process, leaving Aelita alone with the Krab. She stared up at it as he raised it's leg, about to stab her... When a metallic fan sliced it off.

Looking up, Aelita found Yumi standing on top of the wall, holding the fan she had just thrown. She then dove down, throwing the fan again, and killed the Krab. She landed and smiled at Aelita, who smiled back gratefully.

In the real world, both Jeremy and I yelled in celebration. As Yumi lead Aelita to the tower (after Jeremy corrected the ground, of course.). And of course, in order to save everyone, it was time for a return trip.

"Do your magic, Einstein." I said. He nodded and typed on his computer.

"Return to the past, now!" We were engulfed in a white bubble.

We returned to the library earlier in the morning. Yumi smiled at both of us.

"So, did you two figure out a way to fail the test?" She asked, more so looking at Jeremy.

"Well, maybe he did, but he'll have to share his tricks with me. I was a little busy taking care of my rat bitten arm to look." The others seemed surprised. I gave them a confused look. "What?"

"You're talking again." Ulrich said.

"Yeah. Your point is?" I smiled at them. "My anxious tendencies were kicking in then. XANA's attack let me clear my head a little."

"Either way, good to see you back to normal." Yumi said, which earned a nod from all of the other Lyoko Warriors. "Now, your method?"

"Easy: I'll just get all my answers from Odd!" Jeremy explained, making Yumi, Ulrich and me all snicker.

"Yeah yeah, go on, laugh away, but who knows, you might be in for a big surprise!" Odd commented.

"Quiet." Jim called. Theb, I came up with a brilliant way for me to fail.

"Then I'll get all my answers from Sissi!" I giggled as I spoke, which then caused the others to burst out laughing.

"QUIET!" Jim shouted.

Plagued was always an episode I enjoyed. I just thought I was a unique episode in a strange way.

I've also been planning things out more, and here's what I've realized: The plot of why I'm there will never overtake the main plot.

What I want to do it focus on what would happen if I was there, not WHY. It'll still have it's own plot, just not overtaking the main plot.

ALSO! I'm getting surgery this Thursday. It's nothing relating to bad health, it's just dental stuff. I just figured I'd give you a heads up, as that may be when my burst of energy for this story will wear out.