((A/N: Greetings. Success! Again!! Chapter 3! Thanks to Lyoko-MiNts, William's Fight for Yumi, peter van pickle, and JokerAlchemist24 for the reviews! They make me feel warm and fuzzy inside! So please feel free to review, and give me the joy of knowing exactly what you think of my story!))
((Disclaimer: Code Lyoko is awesome, but I certainly don't own it.))
Chapter 3: Reawakening
"God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference."—Reinhold Niebuhr
I awoke feeling refreshed and wide-awake, which was strange, because it was only 2:30 in the morning, and I'd only slept for about four hours. I sighed deeply, thinking back to the dream I'd just had. Or rather, the not-dream. Because I now felt certain that what I'd seen was real, and I had every intention of doing exactly what my Daddy had told me too.
Silently, so as not to wake Aelita, I slipped out of my bed and pulled on my jacket. If my father was to be believed, it wouldn't take too long. Without a word, I crept from our dorm room in my pajamas and down the hall to the stairs. I saw no one, fortunately, and easily made my way to the park, watching the ground carefully for the manhole that my father had told me about. It was rather easy to locate, and when I did, I struggled to remove the heavy metal cover. Panting, I climbed down the ladder into the dark sewers.
Looking around, I saw two scooters and three skateboards leaning against the grimy walls, looking old and forlorn. I ignored the rusty scooters and skateboards and just walked down the sewer path, following the path exactly that Daddy had told me to take, though once or twice I almost fell into the dirty water, and I did get lost once. Finally, I reached another ladder, climbing up it and emerging into the fresh air above. I breathed it in deeply for a minute, taking in my surroundings. I was standing at the end of a long bridge that led into a big factory. I went inside, sliding gracefully down one of the ropes that I found near the entrance and landing on the floor with a soft patter. I went directly across from where I landed to the elevator, punching in the access code Daddy had told me. A minute later, I'd gone all the way down. The elevator doors opened to a large, bare room, and the lights came on as I stepped out. However, a split second after the lights came on, the floor started glowing, suddenly opening in front of my feet.
I gasped and took a step back as something big came out of the ground. It was a dark metal contraption, obviously very techy. I wouldn't have known what to do with it if my father hadn't told me. Even as I approached it, a small slot opened, revealing a lever. I stepped forward and gripped it, hesitating only momentarily before I pulled it up. Then I turned around and went back to Kadic, returning to my bed and to my sleep.
~$**$~
It was almost easy for me to slip into a routine as the week passed. Almost.
I say almost because Aelita's friends, now with Odd as the exception, seemed awfully persistent about having me as a part of their group. They even managed to drag me off campus for a while, to some movie and a snack stop. Odd continued to be exceedingly mean to me, and I did the same to him; I still had no idea why he was so upset with me in the first place (and I mean before I nailed him with that dodgeball). Ulrich and Jeremie, sometimes joined by Aelita and Yumi, insisted that I eat my meals with them, though when I did Odd was sure to be extra insulting.
But I tried to be alone as much as possible. When I got the chance, I snuck off to the factory to see if anything had happened since I'd started up what I'd figured out was a giant computer. But nothing ever did. No Daddy, no signs, no nothing. Daddy told me, when I was sleeping, that I needed to be patient. A lot of files had been erased when the computer had been shut down, and he needed time to restore them. He said that the time was coming when he would need my help again, but he refused to say how or why.
When I wasn't at the factory, I frequented the library, which I had noticed that Odd didn't usually use, though I did see Jeremie and Aelita in there a bit. I had a sneaking suspicion that they weren't using the books, but I certainly didn't explore the matter further. If I wasn't in the library, I was in my dorm room, and if I wasn't in my dorm room, I was in the park. My father had instilled in me a great value of exercise: running, abs, you name it. He'd always kept me in shape, and I was gaining weight because I hadn't had a good exercise since he'd died. I mean, uh, been sucked into a computer. Or whatever. In any case, I spent time running the paths in the small park on Kadic's campus, sometimes using the track as well. Anyways, I needed something to do in order to avoid the gang.
It wasn't until the end of the week that something happened that I wasn't prepared for.
~$**$~
"I don't get it," I told Aelita glumly as she reclined in her desk chair. "Why does y equal two-thousand thirty-six?"
"Because you have to divide by pi after you subtract the angle of rotation."
"But why?" I asked, leaning back in my own chair while I rested my bare feet on my bed.
Aelita laughed. "Weren't you listening? Ms. Hertz explained it in class."
"Well, yeah, but I was busy drawing Odd dying in gruesome ways."
"Well, if you want to be mean and spiteful, that's your fault, isn't it?" she said, though she was smiling in amusement. She proceeded to explain my physics problem to me, then said, "I really think you ought to come with us tonight; it'll be fun."
I shook my head at my notebook. "No, it won't. And besides," I reminded her, waving my notebook her way, "I've got, like, three sections to learn so I can catch up to you Kadic kids. I'm way behind." Aelita looked disappointed so I added a small, "Maybe next time," to cheer her up. She sighed and shrugged, spinning her chair around to look at her closet.
"Hmm... Let's see. Which clothes should I wear?"
"Oh, please don't involve me in this, please? It always reminds me of when I had to go to fancy parties dressed in those big poofy gowns. And besides, I'm not that great with fashion. Maybe you should have Jeremie help you pick," I said smugly, grinning at Aelita's back.
"Hey! You know, if I let Jeremie pick, how will he think it's effortless being beautiful? Besides, you're fashion sense is just fine! So maybe that shade of green doesn't exactly flatter your orange hair..."
"That's kind of the point," I muttered under my breath; luckily, Aelita didn't hear me. She was busy pulling outfits out of her closet.
"What do you think of this one?"
"Too slutty."
"This?"
"Too stuffy. It's warm tonight."
"How about this?" She held out a short, light pink shirt with spaghetti straps and two black lines that crisscrossed right under the bust, and a black miniskirt. I looked at them thoughtfully, then nodded.
"That's it. Though you should wear some spandex or something under that skirt, it's awfully short." Aelita nodded.
"Black boots or pink?"
"Uh, oh, hell, go black. It's sexier."
Within minutes (during which I was doing my homework, of course!), Aelita was changed, definitely looking ready to go dancing with her friends. I whistled and she rolled her eyes at me.
"You can still come, you know. I bet the others would like it."
I shook my head again. "And I would like to finish my homework. Not all of us are geniuses, Aelita."
"Okay, okay. But that means I have to listen to Odd picking up girls all night," she said mournfully. I gave her a skeptical look.
"What, you'd rather hear me and him arguing instead?"
"Yes," she answered immediately, folding her arms stubbornly. "And I know you'd have fun, even though you'd be snapping at Odd the whole time. You should—"
"Aelita!"
"Right then, Gabby," she said with a pout, "I'll see you when we get back then..."
"Don't stay out too late," I said jokingly as she headed out the door. I considered following her: not to dance, but just to go for a nice walk. But, no. I really was behind the Kadic students in Physics, and in Pre-Calculus and English and my languages too. I had a lot of work to do to catch up, so instead of taking a break, I turned back to my Physics book, already getting a headache.
~$*ODD*$~
Odd tapped his yellow-orange dancing shoes on the pavement impatiently as he waited for the rest of the group to show up. He was always the first one there, no matter what. It was something that had changed since eighth grade. But it was getting old. Maybe he'd try being late again. He was getting tired of having to wait for his friends all the time.
Speaking of his friends, they were coming towards him now, all looking wonderfully trendy in their dancing clothes.
"It's about time," he said as they reached him, scowling at the two couples. "You guys were all probably making out somewhere, huh?"
Ulrich and Yumi snickered. "What's wrong, Odd? Jealous?" Ulrich teased. Odd blushed.
"No! I just get tired of waiting for you while you're all off making out."
"I think you ought to find a nice girl and settle down, Odd," Yumi said, laughing. "Then you wouldn't have to wait around for us because you'd be making out with someone too!"
"Oh, so you admit, then."
"You know, if you weren't so mean to her—" Aelita started, but Odd knew what she was going to say.
"Don't even talk to me about Gabby, I—"
"You like her, though! And if you stopped being so rude—"
"No! I don't like her! Besides, there are plenty of girls in the world, I don't need Gabby. Now let's go!" He ignored the exasperated looks that he received and marched proudly down the street. His friends all sighed and shook their heads.
~$*AELITA*$~
"Do you think they'll ever get together?" Aelita asked Jeremie half an hour later. They were dancing to a slow song, their bodies pressed close together as they whirled around the floor.
"Odd and Gabby?" Jeremie looked around at Odd thoughtfully. Odd was currently dancing with a blonde girl in a green dress; they were also very close, and Odd seemed to be whispering things in her ear, probably flirting. Aelita frowned at them disapprovingly. "I don't know. If they do, I don't know how long they'll last. It would probably be just the same as all the rest of Odd's 'relationships.' And anyways, Gabby and Odd are both so stubborn, they'd never admit to liking each other."
"Yeah. It would be nice though. Gabby's a great girl. I think they'd be cute together." Aelita smiled happily at the thought of Odd and Gabby together. Then her smile fell. "But you're probably right. They are both extremely stubborn..."
"Exactly. We should stay out of it; Aelita, if they want to be together, they'll get together on their own."
"I guess..."
"Aelita!"
"All right, all right, I'll stay out of it. Jeez, Jeremie, it's not like it's dangerous."
"Yeah, but—hey, do you hear that?"
"Hmm?" Aelita asked as they stopped dancing. Now that he mentioned it, she could hear a faint buzzing noise. Other people were starting to notice it too, and soon everyone was looking around for the source. Yumi and Ulrich joined Aelita and Jeremie.
"What do you think that is?" Yumi asked, but she needn't have bothered. Even as she spoke, sparks erupted near the DJ. There were screams and the crowd stepped back as one.
"A malfunction?" Jeremie wondered aloud. He looked at the other four.
"I didn't think malfunctions did that!" Yumi said, pointed to the ceiling.
The cords were writhing like snakes, all lights were turning to the gang, and the DJ was running, screaming, as his setup (for some reason built in a robot theme) came to life around him.
"But—but it's impossible!" Jeremie stuttered, staring at the monster.
"Obviously not," Ulrich said, "as it's the only explanation! Hey, move!" he shouted as the monster lunged toward Jeremie and Aelita. They screamed, but Odd got there just in time to throw all three of them to the ground.
"It's a good thing I'm always on time now, or you two would be pancakes right now!"
"Thank you, Odd," Aelita said as Jeremie and Odd helped her up.
"We've got to get out of here," Yumi said wisely as the monster recovered from its miss and turned towards the group again. "It's obvious that this thing's after us, and whether its X.A.N.A. or not, I'd rather not die!"
The other four nodded and they sprinted out of the club as one.
"We have to get to the factory!" Jeremie yelled as they ran. "If it is X.A.N.A., we know how to stop it!"
"Definitely!" Ulrich shouted. "But what about that thing? It'll follow us to the lab!"
"I'll distract it!" Odd panted. "You guys just get to the factory and stop this thing!" With that he turned a corner opposite the rest of the gang. The robot-monster didn't follow him.
"Oh no!" Aelita yelled. "It's still chasing us!"
"What do we do now?" Yumi cried. "It's gaining on us!"
"Hey! Big, bulky, and stupid!"
There was the sound of something hitting the metallic robot behind the group. Aelita glanced over her shoulder and saw Odd standing on a garden wall with a big rock in his hand.
"Hya!" He screamed as he hurled the second rock at the monster. With a groan of sorts, the robot turned to face Odd instead, giving the rest of the group the chance to escape.
"We have to hurry," Aelita gasped, "before Odd gets hurt!"
"What'll we do if X.A.N.A.'s not behind this?" Ulrich wheezed when they finally reached the factory.
"Damn these heels," Yumi muttered under her breath, leaning down to rub her ankles. "We'll just have to hope for the best. We'll know as soon as we get down there."
Together, the four got into elevator, Jeremie entered the access code, and the elevator started its descent.
"It's impossible. X.A.N.A. can't be back," Jeremie kept muttering under his breath. Everyone got off at the level of the supercomputer. "Okay, let's see..." Jeremie sauntered over to the monitors, but it was obvious. The supercomputer was up and running: the scaled model of Lyoko in the center of the room proved that much. "But... it's impossible. How could it be on? We all saw it..." Everyone jumped when his cell phone started ringing. "Uh, hello?"
"Hey, I hope you guys are hurrying, because I don't know how much longer I can run!" The group heard Odd's voice screaming clearly from the mobile. "I could use some help!"
"Right, we're on it, Odd. The supercomputer's on, so I'm sending them in. Guys, head down to the scanners."
Aelita nodded frantically, and Ulrich and Yumi mimicked her. They backtracked into the elevator, jamming the button. When it opened on the scanner room, each quickly got into one of the three metal tubes.
"All right. Transfer Ulrich. Transfer Yumi. Transfer Aelita. Scanner Ulrich. Scanner Yumi. Scanner Aelita. Virtualization!" There was a flash of light and a gust of wind in Aelita's scanner, and then she was appearing in Lyoko. She dropped to the ground, landing on her but painfully. Next to her, there were two identical thuds.
"Damn, I forgot how high that was," Ulrich muttered, rubbing his rear end. "It's been a while..."
"But Lyoko still looks the same as ever," Yumi said, looking around the forest sector. "Hey, why are we in our old outfits?"
Aelita and Ulrich shrugged, looking down at their own clothes. Yumi was dressed in her old Kimono-Japanese outfit, Ulrich in his samurai outfit, and Aelita in her original outlandish outfit.
"Jeremie, are you there?" Aelita called.
"Yeah, but we were in such a hurry, I forgot to launch the scan! Do you see anything weird?" Jeremie sounded panicked, but as they could no longer see him, tone was all that they had to go off of.
Aelita pointed at the ground. "X.A.N.A.'s pulsations. They can guide us there." Without another word, she set off, Ulrich and Yumi right behind her.
~$*GABBY*$~
I grimaced with my eyes closed. The painful light was grating against my closed eyelids, blinding me with red. Was it morning already? What time was it? I wondered if I could get away with skipping breakfast. I must have fallen asleep while reading my physics chapter. And where was Aelita? She was what had dragged me out of bed every day this week. What was to stop me from sleeping in until noon if she didn't?
"Ugh," I groaned. The light was bothering me. Were the curtains open? It was so bright... I should check. I was on an upper floor, but it was weird to think that people outside might be able to see me sleep. Finally, after about ten minutes of lying there wishing I were telekinetic and could close the curtains using my mind, I opened my eyes.
Oh fuck.
I closed my eyes again. I reached down and pinched my arm, only to find that it really hurt. Meaning I wasn't dreaming. I really was in a desert and not in my room. Maybe if I lay here a little longer, I would find myself in my bed, or at least in my desk chair. But I got the feeling that, wherever I was, I was being watched. So I opened one eye again, sitting up to better observe my surroundings. The light was still blinding me, but not enough to keep me from seeing the red-orange sand, the sharp drops to nothing, the wide open light orange sky, and my father looking down at me with one eyebrow raised.
"My princess... what are you doing still laying on the ground? I brought you here twenty minutes ago."
"Brought me... where?" I asked as he extended a hand to help me up. I took it and he pulled me to my feet. Daddy smiled.
"A virtual world called Lyoko. You remember that I said I would need your help again?" I nodded.
"But how does bringing me into a virtual world help you? Won't this just trap me in a computer too?"
"No. I can see how you might think that, but I brought you here and I can easily send you back. Besides, it's only your mind that's here; your body is still in your dorm room, unconscious." He suddenly frowned. "You haven't taken the opportunity to look at yourself," he said, stepping back and looking me up and down. "You need to discover your weapons so that you can fight when they get here."
I stared at him, suddenly noticing that he wasn't in his usual suit. Instead, he was wearing tight leather pants and some black boots, with two pistols at his waist, and no shirt to show off his finely chiseled muscles. He pointed down suddenly.
"Well, look at yourself."
I looked down at my own clothes and gasped, because I was in a suit a lot like his: tight leather pants, black boots, and a blank tank that dove low enough to show a little cleavage. I also had on fingerless gloves that went up to my elbows. I even had a gun at my waist.
I looked back at my dad. "Why are we dressed like this?"
He ignored my question, looking at my gun with a furrowed brow. "I think you'd better practice with that. Unless you've used a gun?" he asked with an amused smile.
"M-me?" I stuttered. This whole thing seemed to be getting weirder by the minute. Now he expected me to fight? "Use a gun? Daddy, you know I'd never use a gun! All I need is my good looks and my charm—"
"If you don't use your gun, you'll be useless."
I gaped at him. He'd never said anything like that before... obviously, the situation was serious. He wouldn't have said something like that otherwise. "I'm sure that I—I can use it just fine. But maybe a few practice shots?"
He nodded and pointed at an odd rock formation not far away. "Aim for that, and we'll see how it goes."
I nodded too and aimed my weapon at the rocks, closing my left eye and pulling the trigger. The recoil scared me, but the resulting explosion scared me even more. I looked at my gun and realized that there was a switch on it. It was currently set to "BOMB." The other option was "BULLET." Huh, that would have been helpful to know five seconds ago. Daddy looked pleased, though, so I just shrugged it off.
"That was brilliant, my dear girl," he praised, pulling me into a hug. "Wonderful! Now listen to me, Gabrielle," he said seriously, drawing back and holding me by the shoulders while he looked into my eyes. "It is important that you do the best you can to stop the people who are coming. Do you see that tower over there?" he asked, pointing to a white tower that was currently glowing deep red. I nodded. "It is important, vital to our goals, that that tower stay red. But the people who are coming are going to try to turn it blue-green, to turn it off. I need you to hold them off as long as you can, so that I can be materialized outside of this computer. Do you understand?"
I bit my lip. "That red tower's going to help you?" He smiled and nodded.
"Have I ever lied to you, my Gabrielle?"
He hadn't. But I still got a weird feeling about that red glow. I suppose that, if it was going to help Daddy get free, I would keep these people away, but the feeling didn't go away.
"Okay. I'll do what I can."
"That's my girl." He kissed my forehead and turned to walk toward the tower. He'd taken one step, however, when he came to a stop. "And, Gabby, I want you to stay away from the computer now. We're done with it. And don't hold back, my dear girl, even if the people are people you think you know." I blinked in confusion, about to ask him what he was talking about, but he was already running towards the tower, and within a minute, he was gone.
Sighing, I turned to face the distant horizon and sat down.
~$**$~
Where were these people, I thought dully. I was so sick of sitting here. It had to have been about an hour since my dad had disappeared. Was he having troubles in the red tower? Maybe something had gone terribly wrong. What if he was dead? Really dead this time? I stood up, about to run to the tower to check when I saw movement.
The people had finally come. I started to walk that way instead. After all, my father had told me what he needed from me. But I froze as soon as I could make the people out.
Yumi and Aelita were flat out sprinting my way. Was this real? Or had I finally gone crazy? Yumi and Aelita were out dancing with the guys. They couldn't be here! What if, I cogitated, I shot the two with my gun and they really died? I didn't want to be responsible for murder! And if I recognized them, they'd be sure to recognize me, if they hadn't already. My dad had told me what to do, but he had forgotten to mention that my new friends were "the people" who were trying to stop us. I couldn't attack them!
Aelita and Yumi had slowed to a stop, looking at me nervously, and I noticed the crazy outfits they were wearing. What was with the weird clothes in the virtual world? They seemed to be discussing something. And then Yumi pulled out two fans and they started running at me again.
"Yaaagh!" Yumi screamed when they were about fifty feet away, hurling one fan at me as if it were a Frisbee. I jumped to the side, but it still cut across my left arm. I gasped at the pain, but looking at the place of impact I saw that there was no cut, no blood, just some electricity and the pain. I looked up again, just in time to dodge the second fan. Why were Yumi and Aelita attacking me?
Oh, wait, they were my enemies in this world... right. I pulled out the gun and flipped it to "BULLET;" if I was going to shoot them, I at least wasn't going to blow them up. I took aim at Yumi, as she was the one who was attacking me, and I pulled the trigger. Yumi staggered backwards a step as the bullet hit her, clutching her arm, but, like me, she didn't seem to be extremely hurt. In fact, she recovered from the pain quite quickly, pushing Aelita behind a rock as I took aim again, but not quick enough. The bullet hit Aelita in the leg, and she collapsed behind the rock, out of view. I heard something behind me and stupidly looked around.
A swarm of the ugliest and biggest hornets I'd ever seen flew past me, within inches, obviously after the other two and not me.
I felt a splitting pain in my thigh, and I knew without looking that Yumi had hit me again. Turning back to her, I shot again without looking, and I was surprised to see it make contact. But now the hornets were attacking her, and it seemed... indecent, I suppose, to attack her while she was distracted.
A second later, something hit me in the back, enveloping me in a pinkish red electric field and knocking me forward, but I didn't hit the ground.
I sat bolt upright in my chair, gasping in pain while my skin tingled painfully with shock and my arm and leg throbbed. After about five seconds, the tingling went away, but my thigh and arm continued to hurt. Looking at my arm, I realized that I was bleeding, red staining my white shirt. I shuddered when I figured out why.
Any damage I took in this Lyoko translated to my body on Earth.
~$*ODD*$~
Odd was panting, trying vainly to get air into his lungs. He couldn't run anymore; he didn't have the energy, or the breath. If his brain didn't get oxygen, he was going to pass out, and then the robot wouldn't have much trouble getting rid of him. He slowed and turned around, still gasping for air. There it was, big and ugly, X.A.N.A.'s mark burning on the screen where music videos usually played.
"Okay, big guy, I'm done running. Let's see what you can do."
The robot, meanwhile, didn't stop. It continued stomping towards Odd, who grew slightly nervous as it approached. This was stupid, he didn't have a weapon, and this robot-monster was going to kill him. Now the monster was right in front of him, reaching down to grab him. With a yell, he dove between its legs, sliding on his belly and jumping right to his feet as he emerged on the other side.
"Yeah! Ha-ha! Can't get me, can—Whoa!" he cried as a cord snaked around his ankle and lifted him into the air. "You stupid robot, you're ruining my night out! I only get a few nights off campus a month, and you're ruining it! Put—me—down!" he yelled, kicking at the cords to no avail. All he managed to do was make it angry. How could he tell? Because it tossed him into the air. He fell to the ground, miraculously not breaking anything, or at least not anything that he could tell. But he was now lying on the ground, face down, in a very vulnerable way. He wished dearly he had a weapon of some sort, or that he was in good enough shape to run again. But it was too late for that. He had no way to defend himself as the giant metal foot came down at him from the seemingly the sky itself. It was over. He was going to die.
He let out one last yell and covered his head with his hands, closing his eyes tightly against the sight of the foot, waiting for it to crush him into the ground.
But it didn't. After about a minute, he dared to open his eyes.
The foot was resting less than an inch above his protecting arms, still looking ominous as it hung over him. He quickly crawled out from under it and let out a sigh of relief.
"Nice job, guys," he said. "Knew I could count on you."