Episode 16 guys! Only 10 left in season 1! I'm so excited!

Claustrophobia... Well, really most of the episode since The Trap until Ghost Channel are kinda meh. There are a view exceptions, of course. There's only one I don't particularly like, but it's not The Girl of the Dreams bad, not that much can get on that level of bad.

Still, I hope to finish season 1 by the time my sophomore year of high school begins, so I'm going to try and update more often. Season 2 is my favorite season, and I'll finally be able to really dig deeper in to my own plot (though again, it's not going to take over the main plot. I just want to make that clear).

Chapter 19: Claustrophobia

I had been sitting in my dorm room, enjoying my free time by playing some Animal Crossing on my 3DS. I had been collecting fossils to finally complete that section of the museum. I looked over at my door when there was a knock at it.

"Yes?" I asked. The door opened to reveal Odd and Ulrich in front of it. "Oh, hi guys. Is something up?"

"Yeah! We're playing soccer against Nicholas and Herb and need a goalie!" Odd exclaimed, grabbing my wrist with excitment. I quickly pulled it back and gave the blond a bewildered look.

"Odd! Last time we played soccer I kept ducking away from the ball! Ask Jeremy, not me!" I told him.

"We already asked him. He's not interested." Ulrich said, closing my DS. I sent him an annoyed look for doing so. "Besides, it's Nicholas and Herb. You'll be lucky if they get the ball over to you." I looked at their gazes and sighed.

"Fine." I muttered begrudginly. Odd and Ulrich let out a laugh of succsess and high fived. "Not like you were going to give me much choice anyways."

"Nope!"

Field

Odd gave the ball a good kick into the air (though it thankfully didn't hit anyone this time). As it landed, Ulrich began dribbling it towards the goal for Sissi's team.

"Hey, Ulrich! Pass it over here!" Odd called as the brunette stopped in front of Herb.

"You won't get by me!" Herb declared, giving Ulrich the best glare he could muster. Ulrich smirked and began playing with the ball using his feet. He kicked it up to his shoulder and let it sit there for a moment, then let it roll off and began bouncing it on his knee. He bounced it high into the air, making Sissi, who was watching from the bleachers with Yumi, visibly worried. Ulrich then did a rather fancy trick by kicking the ball forward with his back turned.

"Oh, I don't believe it! No!" Sissi exclaimed. The ball started descending, with Odd and Herb rushing to hit it. Odd jumped into the air and hit it with his head towards the goal. Herb tried to do the same, but was unable to jump high enough, and despite the goalies best effort, the ball went in for another point for Team Lyoko. "Oh no!" Sissi cried.

"Another goal!" Odd cheered with his arms raised. "7-1! This is turning into a route!" Odd said as he helped Ulrich up.

"It sure is." Ulrich agreed. They looked over at me and I just gave them a thumbs up. Yumi closed her book.

"Ok guys, it's getting late. I've gotta head for home." She said as she stood up.

"Ok, so long Yumi. See you tomorrow." Ulrich said with a smile. They stared at one another for a moment before she left. Nicholas kicked the ball away in frustration.

"You guys are so bad!" Sissi chastised her cronies. "What a couple of losers!" She picked up the ball and threw it away from her. The ball kept rolling, until it was stopped by an unfamiliar face. We all looked over at him.

"You guys need a little help?" He asked.

"Who are,you, huh?" Nicholas asked, looking over the new person.

"Theo. I'm new around here. I just moved into town." Theo introduced. Sissi walked over to him, making Theo's face brighten. "Wow! I like this school already!" Sissi, who had not expected that, blushed. Odd, Ulrich, and I gave each other a smirk.

"Hi, my name is Sissi." Sissi introduced herself. Theo nodded with a smile. "And these two friends of mine are Herb and Nicholas, the soccer players you ever saw!"

"Nice to meet you." Theo stuck his hand out, but no one took it, prompting him to lower it. Odd approached Theo from behind.

"Odd's the name. And that's Ulrich and Emily." He said, pointing at us both.

"Hi Theo, welcome." Ulrich said.

"Yeah, welcome to Kadic." I said.

"So, you play?" Odd asked, seemingly trying to steal the ball from him as he spoke.

"Sure do! Let's go!" Theo said excitedly. "Which team should I play with?" He then asked, running with the ball away from Odd. He bounced it on his knee and chest as Nicholas gave him an annoyed look.

"We don't need you, ok!?" He said. Theo gave him a confused look.

"I thought you guys were down 7-1?" Nicholas' expression didn't change. Deciding he was getting nowhere there, he turned to face Sissi. "What do you think, Sissi?"

"Why not? Yeah, ok!" She said without hesitation. "It sure can't get any worse." She figured. I started running back to the goal.

"My only request, Theo, is that you don'y bust my face and or glasses." I said. He laughed as he kicked the ball.

Later

Theo was amazing at soccer, on par, and maybe even better than Ulrich! The game ended 9-7, and all of those goals were scored by Theo. I tried blocking them, but uh, jumping at fast flying objects isn't exactly my thing. Ulrich stopped the ball with his foot.

"Alright guys, we've gotta stop. It's time for dinner." He said. Theo looked at Sissi with a proud smirk.

"9-7, we beat em'. What do you think of that, Princess?" He asked her. Odd grinned as I approached them.

"Theo saved you guys from humiliation." He teased. Herb sent us all a scowl.

"Who cares about soccer? It's a dumb game!" He whined as he walked off.

"You know, while I'm probably the least qualified person to say this, it looks like Herb has it in for Theo." I said. Ulrich and Odd shrugged an uncaring shrug at that. As the sky began to darken, we walked towards the cafeteria. Odd let out a groan.

"Great, peas and carrots for the umpteenth time." He whined.

"I'm actually inclined to side with you, Odd." I said. We grabbed our trays and say down at our usual table. "It may just be my lack of sports skills, but I was really impressed by Theo." I admitted.

"Yeah, he's really good. I wonder where he came from." Ulrich thought aloud.

"Speaking of which, look who it is!" Odd said. He raised his fork to point at Theo, who was sending Herb a confused look. "Hey, why don't you eat with us, champ?"

"Thanks a lot, but I can't abandon my team!" He grinned at Sissi, who couldn't help but giggle.

"Hey, of this works out, Ulrich, Sissi may stop hunting you all the time." I whispered to him.

"I wouldn't bet on it." Ulrich replied, shaking his head. Herb sent their newcomer a cross look.

"Hey, stop trying to worm your way in! You're not in our group, so go take a hike!"

"Well, yeah I know, Herb, but I'd love to join your group. Or should I say, Sissi's group? Is that it?" He asked, looking over at Sissi. "What do I have to do?"

"Well, you gotta pass out initiation test, and they're really dangerous and hard!" Herb shouted. "Much too hard for you." Theo gave him a curious look.

"Initiation test? Tell me a little about them." He requested, once again looking at Sissi.

"Test number one: uh, you have to clean all the toilets with a toothbrush!" Herb growled. Theo's look of curiosity faded into one of boredom very quickly at that.

"That sounds like a pretty dumb test. It's like the kind they give to 10 years olds at summer camp, so I'll pass on that one."

"Ok! Since you refuse to pass our test, ciao!" Herb smiled, seeming to believe that he had just succeeded in removing his problem.

"Hey!" Sissi exclaimed at Herb. "Since when do you decide on the tests?" Herb let out a frustrated sigh and sat down. "I'll tell you what you have to do, you're going to mummify the skeleton we use in the science room." Theo's face once again morphed, this time into excitment.

"Ok, now that sounds cool!" Theo argreed.

Jeremy's Room

"Jeremy, did you manage to gather all the data?" Aelita asked. Ulrich, Odd, and I had joined then two after dinner. Odd was scratching Kiwi's belly.

"I did, but it won't do any good. Not unless I can pirate the acsess codes to the scanner programs."

"But that's almost impossible!" Jeremy shook his head.

"No, Aelita, I think it can be done." He began typing away. As he did so, Ulrich got up and peeked out the door. From where I was sitting on the ground, I could see Herb and Nicholas running forward out of there door with something in their hands. Ulrich looked back at Odd.

"Ok, they've left their rooms." He reported. Odd nodded, then pulled the pillow case off one of the pillows. Picking up Kiwi, Odd bounced off of the bed and made a sprint for the door with a mischevious grin on his face.

"We'll tell you all about operation Theo later!" He promised us. Ulrich gave us a two finger salute before he followed his roomate, closing the door behind him. Jeremy and Aelita looked over at me.

"What, you're not joining their shenanigans?" Jeremy asked with a small smile. I rolled my eyes.

"They already dragged me into soccer today, there was no way I was joining them for this little escapade." I explained. I stood up and stretched. "Anyways, I'll leave you two to your work. Animal Crossing is calling my name." Aelita had to tilt her head at that one.

"Animal Crossing? What's that?"

"It's a life simulation game. You play as a character moving into a new town." I said, giving a basic summary.

"But aren't you already living life?" She asked curiously.

"Yes, well," I folded arms. "how about this? When you've been materialized, I'll show it to you. Maybe I'll be able explain my enjoyment of it better that way." She put a finger to her chin, then nodded.

"Ok! I can't wait!" I smiled at both her and Jeremy before I finally exited the room.

Lunch, the next day

Classes had gone by pretty smoothly the next day. Nothing really worth noting. We were all enjoying our lunch as I was telling the group about more stories with my friends.

"So, then, me being the random person I am, shout 'BANANA PHONE!' as I throw the bowling ball, and I accidentally drop it! And then it just starts slowly rolling all the way down into the gutter, very, slowly." I said, making a circle motion with my hands and saying the last two words slower. The others all laughed as I grinned. "Caleb's family and I were just dying at the sight! It was great!" Yumi then accidentally dropped her fork. As she bent to pick it up, she noticed Sissi's table.

"Hey, things look serious between Sissi and Theo." She noted.

"Yeah, they sure do." Odd agreed with a nod.

"You finished lunch already?" Ulrich then asked Jeremy, who had suddeny stood up with his tray in hand.

"No, but I want to see Aelita for awhile before class." Yumi stood up as well.

"I wouldn't mind either. We'll go together." She looked over at me. "You wanna come, Emily?" I shook my head as I took a sip of water.

"Nah. I'm not done eating yet." I said.

"Leave your trays! It's a waste to let good desert go to waste." Odd requested. They both rolled their eyes, but complied and set their trays back down.

"Odd, don't you ever stop eating?" Jeremy asked. Odd ignored the question, however, as he haplily slid Jeremy's tray towards him. I laughed as I took a bite out of my own desert.

"Y'know, this kinda reminds me of how in elementary school, we'd get small ice cream cups around holidays. Everyone always called me crazy because I gave mind away." Odd sent me a horrified look.

"Emily! If your school gives you ive cream, you should eat it!" He protested.

"I prefer candy to ice cream. And besides, I typically could ask for a tube of mini M&M's or a Kit Kat Bar any time we went to the store, so it's not like I never had anything." Odd had stopped listening however, and had set his concentration on eating the extra deserts. Just to mess with him, I poked my fork into Yumi's and took a piece. Odd hissed at me and pulled the tray away. "Jesus, maybe you ARE cat!" Ulrich laughed, then watched as the blond continued.

"Odd, you're gonna explode if you keep this up." He joked. Odd pulled up his cup and let out a 'meh' sound. I laughed as I ate, though I then nearly choked when an actual explosion took my by surprise.

"Hey!" Ulrich exclaimed, looking around. "You alright?" He then asked, looking at me. I nodded in response while coughing.

"The hell was that?" I finally asked in between coughs. Odd looked down at his stomach, then back up at us and shrugged. I then saw smoke emerging from one of the electrical outlets. "Um, what?" I asked, pointing at them. Odd bent down to inspect them, being careful not to touch it. He looked back at the two of us with a grimace. This was not a good sign at all.

"XANA?" He asked, though really I think we knew the answer. Regardless, Ulrich pulled his cell phone out of his pocket.

"I'll call Jeremy." He put the phone up to his ear. "Jeremy! Weird things are happening in the lunchroom. Could be XANA's doing."

"Why? What's the problem?" Jeremy asked.

"There are short circuits everywhere." He slipped the mobile back into his pocket. I looked up as electricity enveloped the lights of the room.

"Let's get out of here!" Odd suggested. He ran over to the door and put his hand on the handle. However, he was then being electrocuted!

"ODD!" Ulrich and I shouted. The brunette ran up and tackled him away from the door. He fell to the ground, unresponsive. I pulled out my phone and called Jeremy.

"Ok, Jeremy, we've got a big problem. XANA has electrified the entire building. We can't get out. Yumi's gonna have to save out butts this time." I told him.

"Ok, the scan's almost picked up the tower. As soon as it or Aelita finds it, we'll deactivate it as quickly as possible." He hung up. I looked over at Odd, who was being helped up by Ulrich and Theo.

"You ok?" He gave me a thumbs up. We then saw Jim, Mr. Delmas, and Ms. Hertz approach the building. Jim put his hand on the door, a bad call. He was sent backwards from the electricity into the other building. Mr. Delmas and Ms. Hertz approached him with shocked expressions, pun unintended for once, then began shiuting at one other about what to do.

"Did you see that!?" Ulrich gasped. I gulped and nodded. Ulrich then looked over at one of the chairs and picked it up. "I've got an idea. Stand back everyone!" He ordered. All of the other terrified kids backed up to the other end of the lunchroom along with Odd and myself. Sissi pulled out her phone as her father called her.

"Hello? Is that you dad?" She asked fearfully. "We don't know what happened! There's electricity everywhere! We're trying to break a window to get out!" Ulrich threw the chair as hard as he could at the window, but it was a futile attempt. The chair literally bounced off and landed on one of the tables towards us. Theo and I ducked beneath a nearby table as others screamed.

"I wanna get out!" Milly cried, cowering under said table. Tamiya tried her best to assure her, but even she was looking terrified. Ulrich pulled out his mobile once again to update Einstein.

"Ulrich! What's going on!?" Jeremy shouted.

"We're prisoners here in the cafeteria, Jeremy!"

"I'll send Yumi to Lyoko."

"We'll do out best over here." Sissi held her phone close to her ear.

"My father says they just called the firemen." I bit my lip.

"XANA's really planned this out this time. No escape, and it's all up to Yumi." I muttered. Herb let out a quivering breath, catching the attention of Theo.

"We'll get outta this, don't worry Herb."

"Lemme go!" Herb angrily shouted, pulling his shoulder away from him.

"Everything'll be ok." Tamiya tried to assure Milly, who was bawling in her arms.

"Help is on the way." Sissi then told her.

Odd looked up at the roof. "We could try the roof." He suggested.

Theo shook his head." It's probably the same."

Odd shrugged. "It's worth trying." He grabbed another chair, then chuckled it up to the ceiling. It had the same effect as it had on the window, only the chair exploded when it hit the table. Once again, I ducked along with several others to avoid the pieces.

"It's like a prison," Theo muttered. Ulrich pulled his phone again and began conversing with Jeremy.

"But how come XANA set his sights on the cafeteria, it makes no sense at all! He can't gain access to the city through the school..."

"He probably has other ideas."

"Wait... I think I understand! It's the five of us he's after!" Jeremy exclaimed.

"Us? You're sure?" Ulrich asked, placing his hand on the electrified window and quickly regretted it.

"Yumi and I left lunch before desert! If not, we'd have all been there! He wanted to catch us all together!" Ulrich winced as he tried to shake the pain out of his hand.

"XANA's hasn't missed a trick this time. We're never gonna get out of here."

"You've gotta play for time! Yumi's going it alone; she's going to need every second she can to protect Aelita." Jeremy said.

"We'll try our best." I looked up at the ceiling when I heard a creaking sound. I could feel myself becoming pale at the sight.

"Um, guys?" I said in a panic, pointing at the ceiling. "We may wanna address this." The ceiling was beginning to dip inwards, causing Milly to cry out once again. Theo grabbed a chair and looked at us all.

"Quick, if we can make a pillar of sorts, we may be alright until we get out of here!" He exclaimed. We each grabbed a table of chair to help.

Lyoko

Yumi landed right next to Aelita. They didn't have time to chat, however. After all, lives were at stake.

"The pulsations radiate in two directions." Aelita explained, looking dead ahead. Just as she had said, there were two separate paths in front of them, each with their own set of pulsations.

"Jeremy, any news?" Yumi then asked.

"Give me a little time to analyze the terrain." Jeremy reported. A few moments passed by, then a grow of irritation was let out. "I'm getting contradictory signals. Impossible to tell which path is the right one!"

"Well then we have no choice. " Yumi decided. She looked over at Aelita. "Each of us will explore one path. We'll stay in contact via Jeremy." She ordered. "Come on, lets go!" Both she and Aelita then took off. Aelita went to the left, Yumi to the right. Aelita stopped for a moment and looked at the cable radiating with electricity. She gave it a worried expression, but continued.

Several moments passed by in silence. The only sign of activity in the sector was the constant droning sound of the pulsations guiding them.

Finally, Yumi, though out of breath, asked, "Jeremy, how are things going with Aelita?"

"Nothing to report for now, and no monsters in sight." Jeremy said. "It's really strange. It's too easy." He then murmured.

Aelita continued steadily along her path. There were indeed no monsters, making the trek easy, but it was certainly suspicious. She stopped right in front of a large gap in the path. It was shaped in a sort of circle.

"Should I go on?" Aelita then asked towards the sky.

"I'll call you back in 30 seconds." Jeremy promised, then turned his attention to elsewhere. "Quick analysis of the surroundings," He muttered to himself.

Cafeteria

Things were still dangerous at the cafeteria. While we were successful in creating a pillar, the roof was still caving in fast. Not to mention multiple objects had exploded towards us earlier quite literally. Ulrich and Odd had pulled me out of the way of an angry gang of silverware just before they cut up my face for an early dinner. Everyone around us was still terrified too, and I couldn't really blame them.

"I gotta get out!" Herb suddenly exclaimed. He started running towards the door, repeating the same thing over and over again.

"Wait!" Theo shouted. "Don't, Herb! The electricity! It's alive!" Theo grabbed Herbs hand right before it made contact with the door. Herb sent a scowl towards him for doing so.

"Leave me alone!" He screeched, pulling his hand away.

"Take it easy, Herb! Calm down." Sissi then said, walking over to join them. "You've got to, you understand?" She pleaded. Herb, seeming unable to stay mad in the presence of Sissi, allowed his fist to relax as she grabbed it. He took a deep breath an nodded. I looked over at Ulrich with a worried expression.

"How ARE we going to get out of here?" I asked, keeping my voice down so I didn't care anyone further. He bit his lip as he turned his gaze towards me.

"Aelita has always pulled through in the past. She will this time too." He said. "We just gotta have faith in Yumi and her."

I looked at the electricity encasing thw window. "I hope so, Ulrich. I really hope so."

Lyoko

Yumi had been following the pulsations exactly where they told her to go, just as she knew to. Unfortunately, she was in the wrong path, and found herself at a dead end that lead only to the Digital Sea, a place that she didn't want to end up. Emily had told them nothing on what it was like, and Yumi had no interest in finding out what it looked like.

"I'm stuck." She quickly realized. She turned to go back, but then noticed a hollow log next to her. She let out a noise of interest and looked inside of it. "This tunnel has got to lead somewhere."

"It going to lead to the path that Aelita took." Jeremy confirmed for her. Yumi then nodded.

"Then here I go." She said as she climbed inside.

"Jeremy?" Aelita then asked with a worried tone.

"Hold on, Aelita." Jeremy assured her as he typed. "Aelita! Two monsters are on the way! You're surrounded by two Krabs!" Jeremy shouted in alarm. "RUN!"

Aelita looked all around the area, both in front of her and behind her, but found no such luck in places to run. "It's impossible, Jeremy!" Jeremy gritted his teeth as Ulrich called.

"Have you go anything new, Jeremy?" He asked.

"I'm trying, Ulrich." He said desperately.

"That's not what I wanted to hear." He heard Emily say in the background. "Excuse me while I go curl up in a ball."

Yumi had exited the tunnel and was now searching for the pinkette. "Aelita, can you hear me?" She called out. She continued to move forward when she got no response. She then let out an, "Oh no!" When she saw a Krab approaching her.

"Stay out of sight, Aelita! Yumi's almost there!" Jeremy cried. Aelita, however, seemed to have a different idea. As the Krabs approached her, she used her creativity powers to create a log in the center of the area. She then used them to levitate herself onto the log.

"Yumi will get here in time. I know she will." Aelita said as she closed her eyes. "I have faith in you Jeremy." She spread her arms out.

"Oh no!" Jeremy exclaimed. He could only watch as the Krabs approached Aelita and prepared to fire at her. He gripped his chairs arms tightly.

"I have faith in you." Aelita repeated. Then, just as the Krabs fired, Yumi jumped in and tacked Aelita. This action both saved Aelita and killed the Krabs, due to their lasers hitting one another. As they exploded, Yumi grinned at Aelita.

"Now that's what I call getting carried away." She joked. Both Jeremy and Aelita got a chuckle out of that one.

"Who taught you that one? Odd or Emily?" Jeremy asked.

"Neither. Came up with it all on my own." Yumi beamed. "Though I'm sure they'll be proud to hear it."

"Well, lets make sure they're still around to hear it first." Jeremy said. "You should be able to see the tower. Go deactivate it, then we can discuss your joke grade."

"Right. We're off," Yumi reported, then began running forward with Aelita in tow. They approached another of split paths. "There's gotta be a passage that leads to the path that goes to the tower."

"There." Aelita then decided, pointing at a wooden bridge.

"Watch it! A third Krab is on the way!" Jeremy announced. The two girls looked back at the Krab. Yumi took out her fan in preparation for battle. Aelita attempted to step towards it, but was blocked by Yumi.

"Go on now, hurry! Don't worry about me." Yumi told her. Aelita nodded and took off in the direction of the tower as fast as her legs allowed her. Now sure that Aelita would be alright, the Japanese girl ran forward and threw her fan out with a cry while jumping in the air. The fan, while it did hit, missed the mark of XANA.

"Nice shot, Yumi, but its only damaged." Jeremy informed her as she blocked a laser. "You took 20 Life Points from him. One more shot and he'll be done for." Yumi said nothing in response to that, as she was busy dodging two more lasers by jumping away from them. She then took cover behind a tree. She noticed Aelita drawing closer to the tower, then took aim at the Krab once more.

"She's entering the tower!" Jeremy said. Yumi let her fan fly one last time, this time though, it killed the Krab.

Cafeteria

We were all cowering underneath our makeshift pillar. All attempts the firemen made didn't at all work. XANA had planned ahead for all of roof wasn't going to hold much longer either. I practically dug my nails into my knees as I waited with trepidation for Aelita to rescue us.

Right when it seemed that the roof was about to cave, it all stopped. Everyone let out a breath of relief, myself included. I looked at the others with a small smile. "Who's ready to travel back in time?" Odd and Ulrich raised their hand, though others were confused.

"Time travel? What do you mean time travel?" Theo asked.

"Don't worry about it, Theo. You won't remember this ever happened." A white light engulfed the cafeteria before Theo, or anyone else for that matter, could question what Odd meant.

Field

We were back at the field, right before our seventh goal.

"Hey, Ulrich! Pass it over here!" Odd called once again.

"You won't get by me!" Herb shouted. Once again, Ulrich preformed his fancy foot work and sent the ball into air, allowing Odd to head it into the goal. Sissi cried out in disdain again.

"GOAL!" Odd cheered, and ran towards us with his arms up.

"Oh, unbelievable! You losers!" Sissi wailed as she tossed the soccer ball away from her. However, unlike before, Yumi stopped the ball this time.

"Ok guys, I gotta head for home." She announced. Ulrich stood up and looked over at her.

"If you want, I could walk you ho-"

"No! I'll go!" Theo then shouted, taking both Ulrich and me by surprise. "So long, Odd, and thanks." The blond in question looked back at saw Nicholas and Herb laughing, as well as a ticked off Ulrich.

"What's wrong?" Odd asked innocently. "It's a lot better than having to get up tonight to scare Herb, right?" He sent a pleading look towards me. "C'mon, Emily! Back me up here!" I shook my head and took a few steps back.

"Nope. Not getting pulled into any more of your shenanigans today." I asserted.

"Come on!"

"You're toast dude." Ulrich deadpanned.

"You're never satisfied! You got a better idea? Well neither do I!" I just simply laughed as we walked off the field.

Ah, the smell of finishing both Freshmen year of high school and a chapter. Only took me forever to finish this... Sorry.

And yeah, this one is a little awkward but... Well a personal favorite of mine is next, and I think I have an idea for an original attack.