Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to the Salt Factory, AKA Routine. If you're wondering why I call it that, it's a joke I picked up over the summer during a rewatch of Code Lyoko.

Routine was an episode I always enjoyed. Not my favorite, but it'd likely be on my top 10 list.

Chapter 25: Routine

"It's now or never!" Jeremy announced above us.

The four of us were all in Lyokos Forest Sector. As Yumi likes to say sometimes, 'Just another day in the life of a Lyoko Warrior'. Our opponents this time? Three Bloks and a Megatank.

We were all looking from a good distance away from the tower, using the trees as our cover. Ulrich and I were the furthest out.

He and I looked at each other and nodded. Ulrich looked back at the other three and made a gesture with his hand. Odd took off to his right and Yumi to her left. I then motioned for Aelita to move as well. She nodded and ran over to go with Yumi. Ulrich and I nodded at one another again before moving forward ourselves.

Odd took cover behind another tree as Yumi and Aelita did the same on the path next to his. He made a waving motion with his hand. Yumi pulled out one of her fans before leaping out and throwing at a Blok. It hit dead on.

Right as Yumi was about to get hit by a laser from the second Blok, Ulrich jumped in front of her to deflect the blast. "Go on, Aelita! Go!" He urged the pink elf. Aelita quickly turned and took off towards the tower. Ulrich then jumped up on top of the Blok and stabbed it. "Impact!"

"Odd is on his way, Aelita," Jeremy informed her.

I then leapt out from the tree I had been hiding behind. "Magic Blast!" I exclaimed. I fired at the third and last Blok, taking it out in one shot. I smirked and spun my staff in my hand. "That takes care of the Rubiks Cubes. Now, how's Odd doing with the giant bowling ball?" We all looked over to see Odd dodge the Megatanks laser. He then jumped into the air and landed on the monster.

"Laser Arrow!" He shouted as he fired. The ball went rolling away before it crashed into a tree and exploded. Odd gave us a thumbs up while Aelita ran into the tower.

"It's ok. Aelita's in the tower," Ulrich said.

"As usual guys, great job!" Jeremy complimented.

"As the song goes, 'another one bites the dust'," I said, tucking my staff away.

"That's right. Another XANA attack chopped off, another tower gone," Odd said with a nod.

"Ok, get ready for the return trip to the past," Jeremy informed us. The usual white light filled the virtual world.

Science Class

"And so this equation, which you weren't able to solve, would've enabled you to-" The bell rang, sparing us from Ms. Hertz's droning. She sighed. "Class dismissed. And don't forget your chemistry exercise for tomorrow!"

Ulrich, Odd, Jeremy, and I quickly left the room and exited the science building. We found Yumi sitting on one of the benches on campus. She smiled as we approached.

"Well guys, how was class today with Ms. Hertz? Was it fun?" She asked, which I had to roll my eyes at.

"Oh yes, a complete party involving the same lesson we learned before the return trip," I said sarcastically. "She should take more consideration to us heroes and time travelers," I said with my arms folded.

"Oh yeah? You wanna be the one to explain that to her?" Ulrich asked with an amused expression.

I shrugged. "Oh, I'm sure it'll go over well enough. By which of course I mean her sending us all to the nuthouse." I said casually.

"Anyways, it doesn't matter how many times you hear the lesson. Once, twice, you and Ulrich will never be any good in physics anyway," Jeremy said, breaking our conversation.

I sent him an annoyed look. "Well aren't you Mr. Encouraging today," I sarcastically retorted.

Odd then looked over behind us. "Well if it isn't Sissi," he said as she was approaching us. "Hello, Ulrich dear. Can we talk for a minute?" Odd said in a mocking tone, bringing his facd close to Ulrich's. Yumi, Jeremy, and I tried to hide our smiles at his antics.

"Hello, Ulrich dear. Can we talk for a minute?" Sissi then asked. We looked over at Odd, who giggled madly with a grin on his face.

"First of all, I'm not your 'Ulrich dear'. Second of all, I will not go to your room to explain exercise B page 52." Ulrich said with an annoyed look.

"B-but... How did you know that I..?" Sissi let out in confusion. She then let out a huffy breath and stormed away.

"A Sissi attack is almost as bad as a XANA attack and ten times more boring," Yumi noted.

"That's for sure," Ulrich agreed. The rest of us nodded.

Later

The five of us found ourselves walking near the gates of Kadic. "So, anyone feel like sneaking out and going into town for awhile?" Ulrich asked.

"Count me out. I've got a heavy date with my pillow," Odd said with a laugh.

"And I'm gonna work on my program for matarializing Aelita. One of these days I'm gonna do it!" Jeremy said enthusiastically.

"What about you, Yumi? Wanna go into town and have an ice cream?" Ulrich asked. Ah, so that was his goal.

"No, not tonight. I'm way behind thanks to all these XANA attacks. See you tomorrow." Yumi answered as she left the gates. Odd and Jeremy left as well, leaving only me and Ulrich. The brunette looked down at the ground and let out a sigh.

"Another exciting evening," he muttered.

He looked up at me when I put my hand on his shoulder. "I know I'm not Yumi, but if the offer's still up, I'll go out into town with you,"

He gave me a small smile before walking out of the gates. I followed behind him quickly.

"Hey Emily?" I looked over at Ulrich as we drew further from Kadic. "Do you ever wanna... I don't know, just stop with all this Lyoko business?"

"Well, I'd be lying if I said I didn't want it to EVENTUALLY stop. I mean, I've gotta find a way to get back to my world some how, right?" I said. When Ulrich's expression didn't change, I tilted my head. "Is something wrong, Ulrich?"

He shrugged an uncaring shrug. "I don't know. It's just... I guess I'm sick of it all. We live the same day over and over again, and I don't mean the return trips," Ulrich said glumly. "We go to school, then Lyoko, then back to school and then back to Lyoko again."

I nodded my head. "I guess I can understand that. It certainly doesn't help that that was the fifth XANA attack this week."

"Yeah..." He muttered. He shoved his hands further into his pockets, something I didn't even know he could do.

"Is... there something else on your mind?" I asked hesitantly.

"I kinda don't wanna talk about it," He told me. He then stopped and looked at the door we were next to. "This is the ice cream place I mentioned,"

"Ok, cool," I said, deciding not to press the issue. I gave him one laat worried look as we walked in before deciding that he would tell me if he really wanted me to know.

The Next Day

"Morning you guys," I said as I approached Jeremy and Odd. The two of them waved at me. "Hey, where's Ulrich?"

"Over there," Odd said, pointing at the arches. Looking over, I saw Ulrich and Emilee laughing together.

"Huh..." I let out, slightly surprised. "Well, it's nice to see him smiling after yesterday."

"Yeah, I agree," Jeremy said with a nod.

"Hello," Yumi then said as she approached us. Her eyes were glued to Ulrich and Emilee. "What kind of game does he's playing?"

"Game?" I questioned in a confused tone.

"He's just talking to her. What, are you jealous?" Odd asked.

Yumi sent him a glare. "What!? Me jealous of Emilee? You've gotta be kidding!"

"Y'know, while I know you're talking about her, it isn't exactly nice to hear you have such a distaste for my name," I said, frowning slightly.

"Well if you know I'm not talking about you, then there's no problem!" Yumi quickly stated. "And besides, she's a year older than him, and that's a lot," she began digging around her bag and pulled out a pencil.

Odd, Jeremy, I were giving each other the same expression. "Guess what? You're also a year older than him. I guess you just forgot," Jeremy told Yumi.

"Yeah? Well, it's not the same thing! I'm Ulrich's girlfriend- I mean good friend!" She was quick to correct herself, but her cheeks were red.

"Y'know Yumi, Ulrich's been a little down in the dumps lately. If talking to Emilee is able to pull him out of it, then maybe you shouldn't make a mountain out of a molehill," I said calmly.

"Who says that I am!?" Yumi shouted at me. I fliched at the sound and rubbed my ears.

"My disdain for loud noises comes back to haunt me once again," I muttered to myself. Soon enough, the bell rang, pulling Ulrich away from Emilee as the four of us went to class.

Park

Jeremy pulled out his laptop when he heard it beep. As he opened it, Aelita popped up almost instantly.

"Jeremy! XANA's launched another attack!" Aelita exclaimed.

I let out a groan as I pulled my glasses off. "Another one!? That's the sixth one this week!" I massaged the bridge of my nose.

"Are you feeling pulsations?" Jeremy asked.

"Yes, in the Desert Sector. They're really strong," Aelita reported.

"I've never seen him as active as he's been now," Jeremy noted, then looked back at Odd, Yumi, and me. "Sorry guys, but you've gotta go back, and right away too,"

"Well, as they say, 'when you gotta go, you gotta go," Odd said nonchalantly, standing up from the bench. I pulled out my phone and dialed Ulrich's number. I frowned when I was sent straight to his voicemail.

"Well that's weird... Ulrich's not responding," I noted, putting my phone back into my pocket. "I hope that's not a bad sign,"

Yumi rolled her eyes and gave us all a slightly miffed look. "He's probably much too busy with Emilee," She said, obviously annoyed. "Hang on, I'll go and get him," Yumi ran off before any of us could even protest.

"Yumi no! Wait!" Jeremy exclaimed, but if she heard him, he was ignored. "Just great..."

"They'll have to catch up with us later," I said as Jeremy stood up.

"That's not what I'm worried about, Emily," Jeremy explained, "I'm more concerned over Yumi's behavior today. She's been giving Ulrich glares all morning after seeing him with Emilee. Er, well, not you but... Ah you get what I mean,"

"That's a bridge we'll have to cross later. Right now, we have a possible threat to both Earth and Aelita to worry about!" Odd pointed out. Jeremy sent the path Yumi had run off on one last worried glance before joining Odd and I to our dash for the manhole cover.

The trek into the sewers was mostly silent, but it seemed to take little time to get there. I guess since we make the trip so often, it didn't seem very long. When we did finally reach the lab, it was quiet. And I don't mean a lack of conversation, but a lack of evil virus trying to kill us.

"Emily, would you mind calling Yumi and seeing if she has Ulrich?" Jeremy suddenly requested, pulling me out of my thoughts.

I nodded and dialed her number. "Ulrich?!" Yumi asked as soon as she answered. Her voice seemed to be filled with hope.

I frowned. "Uh, no. It's Emily," I answered. Yumi made a noise of disappointment at the revelation. "Er... did you let Ulrich know what's up?"

"Yeah. He's on his way there"

"And you?"

"Yeah, I'll be right there." She hung up after that.

"They're both on their way," I reported to Jeremy. He gave a hum of acknowledgment, not bothering to glance at me. I folded my arms and looked at the labs metal floors. "Why do I have a bad feeling about what's going to happen next,"

That's when it hit me

"What do you mean, 'go on'?" Yumi exclaimed suddenly, grabbing Ulrich's arm

"Cool it, Yumi!" Ulrich said back, obviously surprised by the outburst.

"Ok, I'll cool it. First, tell me what's going on between you and Emilee!" Yumi demanded.

Ulrich sent her a baffled look He pulled his shoulder out of her grasp. "Nothing's going on. I like her. We get along really well, and I don't understand what you're problem with it is." His expression suddenly became a bit smug. "Unless that BOTHERS you?"

I blinked as the opening of the elevator snapped me out of my recollections. Ulrich and Yumi both stepped out of the elevator, and both of them seemed rather pissed off at one another. I bit my lip and fought back at the urge to groan. "Just what we needed: a pair of lovestruck and pissed off Lyoko Warriors," I muttered to myself.

"Jeremy! How are things on your end?" Aelita then asked, her face popping up on the screen. "Anything suspicious?"

"No, everything's quiet here," Jeremy reported. He sent a glance at Yumi and Ulrich before continuing. "No short circuits, no giant bug invasions, no earthquakes-"

"Jeremy, please don't give XANA ideas. He hasn't done an earthquake yet," I couldn't help but interrupt him in an attempt to lighten the atmosphere. I expected Jeremy's somewhat peeved look, but Ulrich and Yumi were giving me and annoyed glare as well. My smile faltered and I sat back down. "Shutting up..." I muttered quietly.

"Well, I'm almost at the activated tower, but none of XANA's monsters have appeared yet. If not for the pulsations, there's no other sign that XANA's woken up," Aelita promptly disappeared from the screen again when she was finished speaking.

Jeremy tapped the arm of his chair and let out a worried hum. "I wonder if this is a new tactic of his..." Jeremy mused.

"What, the 'let's not send any monsters or resistance and activate a tower for no reason' tactic? Yeah, that's not seeming very effective," I said with an eyeroll.

"What if the attack is aimed at us directly? For example, this argument between Yumi and Ulrich. Suppose that XANA is using Emilee to mess with our heads?" Odd threw out.

"Better idea: he's using your ridiculous theories to distract us," Ulrich uttered bitterly.

"Hey, what's the matter with you? I was just trying to help!"

"Odd, why don't you take a page out of Emily's book and just stop talking for now." Yumi said.

"You wanna run that by me again?" I asked angrily, clenching my fists. I glared at her. That comment by her was completely unnecessary!

"Hey, stay calm. I think one of you should do a little reconnaissance on Lyoko." Jeremy said passively. He looked back at the four of us. "Well? Who wants be first? No one answered. "Don't all of you answer at once," Jeremy sighed.

"Send Ulrich, Jeremy, he needs to be entertained. He'd LOVE to go to Lyoko," Yumi spat, glaring at the brunette.

"Ladies first; get her out of our hair" Ulrich scoffed.

"Can you two both cool it? You're not helping anyon-"

"Stay out of it, Emily!" They both shouted at me. I flinched and rubbed my ears again.

"Look, I'm getting tired of all this quarreling!" Jeremy finally snapped, slamming his arm on the chair's armrest. "Aelita needs us, and that it what I'd call an emergency! All four of you are going to Lyoko!" His tone of voice left no room for argument. Odd and I looked at one another worriedly before we silently went to the elevator.

Yumi, Ulrich, and Odd all went first. I could see Ulrich and Yumi glaring at one another still as the scanners closed. "I'm transferring you to the Desert Sector. Don't forget, you four, that you have to protect Aelita." The scanner doors opened again and I stepped inside. "Transfer, Emily. Scanner, Emily. VIRTUALIZATION!"

Lyoko

I heard Jeremy cry out in surprise as I landed next to the others. I shook my head when I saw Ulrich and Yumi still wouldn't look at one another without a scowl adorning their faces.

"Hi!" Aelita greeted us. I waved back at her.

"Hello, Aelita," Odd greeted back, though with a touch less enthusiasm.

"Aelita! There was a bug that popped up as soon as I transfered Emily! It's affecting all four of them! Are they all-"

"Don't worry! Everyone is accounted for. Safe and sound and ready to go," Aelita quickly assured him.

"Still... that's more than a little bit concerning that there was a bug. That's kind of an important program." I said, rubbing the back of my neck.

"I agree. I'm launching a scan right now." Jeremy said above us. I could hear the clicking of his keyboard as he spoke. We wasted no more time and set off towards the tower. Jeremy piped up again after several minutes of silence from his end. "Aelita! I think the supercomputer's been infected with a virus! So that's the XANA attack..."

"But that's crazy! Why would XANA want to infect himself?"Odd asked.

"Well, you never know what XANA's got in his head until it's done," Jeremy replied.

"Unless he's using it to modify a program that he doesn't have access to. But which one..." Aelita thought aloud.

"Einstein? How many programs does XANA not have access to? And how many are important?" I asked nervously.

"At this point, I done know. But one thing's for sure: XANA wants to change the rules on Lyoko." Jeremy answered. I fidgeted with my staff, gripping it tightly with my left hand.

"I've got a funny feeling about this..." Ulrich admitted.

"We've gotta take a closer look into this. There's a deactivated tower not far from you," Jeremy informed us. Indeed, it was true. We traveled for barely even two minutes before finding the tower he mentioned.

Aelita paused to look back at us before she entered the tower. "I hope you're not gonna kill each other if I leave you two alone," She said with a wink. While Ulrich, Yumi, and possibly Odd were all unamused by the comment, I had to try and hide my smirk.

"It's official: she's been spending too much time around Odd and me." After she entered the tower, the four of us sat on and around a rock. I bounced my knee as we waited for Jeremy to update us or for Aelita to come out. We were all silent, and they were all rather still. I was bouncing my leg, a habit I have when I'm nervous.

Suddenly, we heard a scuttling sound. Looking up, I saw a lone Roachster traveling towards us. I rolled my eyes. "XANA must've done a number on himself when he infected himself. This is just pathetic," I said.

"You go, you're the closest," Ulrich said to me. I fought back the urge to give him a snarky comment and stood up, holding my staff.

Right as I was about to fire, Jeremy interrupted my concentration. "Emily! Watch out for lasers! This monster could kill you for good!"

"Huh?! Magic Blast!" I fired just as it did. I was hit squarely in the chest. And it hurt a lot more than usual. I cried out in pain and gripped where I was shot as the others approached.

"What's going on!?" Ulrich demanded.

"XANA's monsters can prove fatal to you!" Jeremy shouted.

My eyes widened in realization as I sat up. "He sabotaged the devirtualization program..."

"Oh no! Emily's lost 50 life points already!" I heard Jeremy gasp in horror.

"Calm down Jeremy! Emily's still here with us." Odd pointed out to him.

"But you don't understand! She was just hit by a laser! That means she's only got-"

"Listen! Aelita takes the same risks all the time! We have to be more careful, that's all!" Ulrich explained to him firmly.

"And can you please stop making it sound like I'm dead, cause I'm not," I said. Yumi and Odd both helped my up to my feet.

"One thing's for sure: XANA's really trapped us, so we'd better not make a mistake this time." Yumi noted.

Odd gained a grin on his face. "It'll make the fight a lot more exciting." He noted happily. We looked over when we heard Aelita's strained breathing as she ran towards us.

"I've got to deactivate the tower fast! Before XANA has a chance to concentrate all his strength on..." She trailed off, her expression grim.

"That's the safest solution." Jeremy agreed. We took that as our cue to head out once more. "Hurry, but watch out for monsters!"

We took that warning to heart as we ran. Everyone stayed close to one another, and we each had a hand on our weapons in preparation. "The tower! It's there" Aelita exclaimed. She pointed at it, and boy was it guarded. Two Krabs and two Megatanks.

"And of course, XANA brought the big guns. I really should've expected this," I said wistfully.

Yumi frowned at us. "It's all over. If we try to get through all this, we're done for!"

I gave her a stern expression. "And if we don't try at all, we're also done for! We have to try!" I urged.

Ulrich nodded in agreement. "We'll have to hang on until Aelita enters the code.

"It's 'Yoo-hoo! It's us' time!" Odd cheered excitedly.

"Yumi and Emily, take down the Krabs. Odd and I will take on the Megatanks. Oh, and Emily?" I tilted my head at him. "Be careful. You're down more life points than all of us."

"I promise. Now, run Aelita!" I took off with Yumi soon joining me. I dove behind a rock alongside the Japanese girl.

"You have a specific plan in mind?" She asked me. I gulped when I saw the Krabs shadow loom over us.

"Uh, yeah. It's called, 'Don't die'! " We quickly split up. I ducked as a laser went over my head. "I can't say I've ever had crab. Wonder what it tastes like. Fireball!" I let the spell loose from my staff. It just barely missed the eye. I rolled out of the way behind another rock to avoid a laser. "Oh, so THAT's how it's gonna be. Well, I'm sorry to inform you, Mr. Krabs, but no piece of seafood has beaten me yet! FIREBALL!" I leaped onto the rock and jumped above the Krab's shell. The spell hit dead on this time. I smirked as it exploded. "Ah, cooked to perfection."

"Augh!" I heard Yumi cry out. She had been shot in the arm. The Krab then took an interest in Odd, who had just destroyed the second Megatank.

"Guys!" Odd shrieked, ducking down as the Krab passed over him.

"I'm coming!" Yumi and I both said. Unfortunately, the Krab had found Aelita. Yumi was running on top of some rocks while I ran with Aelita."Come on, Aelita! Almost there!" Yumi then jumped down and threw her fan at the Krab. The Krab fired it's laser and hit her at the same time, however, and she was knocked back.

She screamed as it seemed like she was about to fall into the Digital Seas. Ulrich had reacted quickly though, and he managed to grab her hand just in time. I smiled bitterly at them. "Oh, so he gets to HER in time. I see how it is, Stern," I of course, wasn't really mad at him. I watched as Aelita entered the tower.

I couldn't really make out the words the two of them were sharing, but it was more what HAPPENED that mattered than what was said.

I saw the two of them lean closer to each each other, both with their eyes closed. I smirked, realizing what was going to happen. But then... I was surprised.

They drew nearer and nearer to each other...

Until their lips finally met.

Any immediate reaction I may have had was canceled out by the white light filling the world.

Kadic. 3rd person POV

Yumi couldn't help but smile to herself when she found herself staring at Ulrich and Emilee laughing. What exactly she had been upset about earlier, she didn't really know. After all, what was there to be jealous of?

"Quite a romance, don't you think? Two months already. That's not bad." Sissi then said to her, pulling her out of her thoughts.

Rather than get angry, she smiled at Sissi this time. "Really? Two months? That long?" She played along. If she could've paid someone to take a picture of Sissi's face at that point, she would've forked over every dollar she had. Ulrich then seemed to notice Yumi and bid Emilee farewell.

"Hi. I was waiting for you." Ulrich greeted happily.

"So was I. Two months is a pretty long time, but Sissi was here to keep me company." Yumi replied. Sissi had a completely stunned expression. She hadn't been expecting that kind of reaction.

"Thanks." Ulrich said as Sissi walked off. The pair shared a laugh before looking at one another again. "Yumi? About what happened on Lyoko..." His faced heated up at the mention o it.

"Oh uh... Now that you mention it, I think it's better if we kept this between ourselves, don't you think? At least... not right away," Yumi replied, also blushing.

"I agree. Not a word." Ulrich said with a nod. They smiled at each other again.

They were allowed to keep their own secrets now and again, weren't they?

I know, I know! I'm garbage when it comes to romantic crap, but you gotta understand! I'm a person with ZERO interest in that kind of stuff. How exactly am I supposed to write what I don't know?

But hey! I let them kiss! You've gotta give me credit on that, right?

...

Ok. Shutting up