Happy 2020! So, are you fine? Have you eated and received gifts at will? I hope so.
So, here's the 6th Chapter! Even if it's more like a "Chapter 5 part 2". But...no buts, here it is!
As usual, review story, characters and everything else.
BUONE FESTE NATALIZIE DALL'ITALIA! (Merry Christmas Holidays from Italy!)
KADICK, COMPUTER ROOM
For Jeremy, this was the worst day of his life: some kids had discovered the supercomputer, XANA had come back and get hold of a student, who was now trying to break down the door of the IT classroom, poorly barricaded. He had ordered the students to move away and regroup on the opposite wall; he had to protect them in every possible way.
Unfortunately, while Jeremy was completely panicked and paralyzed with terror, the barricade collapsed, and the door was violently unhinged, falling to the ground. On the threshold was the student who was previously in the infirmary; apparently a normal boy, if only it hadn't been for the abnormal strength and the symbol of XANA replacing his pupils.
The Xanified boy, with a speed as superhuman as his strength, grabbed Jeremy by the collar, without him having time to react, and then threw him out of the classroom and into the wall. Jeremy then fainted from the impact. The students, petrified in fear, simply watched the Xanified student advance towards Jeremy, who was about to finish him off with a direct kick to the throat.
Unfortunately for XANA there would be a change of plan: as he was preparing to strike, the boy was thrown to the ground, his head hurting: he stood up and could see who had obstructed him: Ulrich Stern.
Ulrich: "Hey XANA, glad to see me again after so long?", so he took a fighting pose, just like in the old days.
ABANDONED FACTORY, LABORATORY
For Yumi and Odd it was all a giant, nostalgic return to 16 years ago. For Sylviane and Maya it was a big surprise. The latter was as surprised as Edward was at the beginning of everything; on the other hand, Sylviane was quite more calm about the discovery: her passion for amateur reading and writing had accustomed her to the suspension of disbelief, even though she was not fond of science fiction; and then she was partly a quiet person of her own.
Jacket, on the other hand, had rushed straight to the monitor station, placing his backpack next to him to check the situation on Lyoko.
Maya: "Can you tell me where we are now?"
Edward: "Well, in simple terms it's an underground complex, with a supercomputer inside which is Lyoko, a virtual world...". Maya still had a puzzled look in her eyes.
Odd: "Yeah, that's a long story, too..."
Maya: "This is so... crazy... And you still haven't answered me: How do you know my mother?"
Jacket: "Can we postpone the explanations until later, when we've sorted out this whole mess!?"
Sylviane: "...What's the situation on this... Lyoko?"
Jacket: "Summing up: there are 10 XANA creatures lurking in front of an active tower , in Ice Sector."
Maya: "XANA?"
Yumi: "The artificial intelligence that attacks the earth using Lyoko and its towers as connecting points. Also, right now your father is trying to keep a person controlled by XANA at bay." Noting the worried look on the girl's face, he added, "Don't worry, my husband went to help him, they'll be fine."
Jacket: "So, everybody ready to go?"
Sylviane: "You mean, get inside Lyoko and then neutralize the creatures?"
Jacket & Edward: "That's right," they said in chorus.
Yumi: "I say no way! The four of you will stay here, Odd and I were expert fighters on Lyoko, we can handle it!"
Edward: "I'm sorry, but I disagree: think about it, XANA might send more reinforcements, Jeremy and Ulrich are busy fighting the set student, and according to Jeremy's diary, without Aelita we can't disable the tower! You need as many forces as possible!"
Yumi: "Sorry, but I have no intention of risking your life!"
Jacket, upon hearing this bickering that was starting to go on for a long time, got very nervous and finally came to blink:
Jacket: "STOP YOUR FUCKING ARGUING, NOW! I don't give a shite about your beliefs, the fact is that now we have to solve this messy situation, so you", he said, pointing to Yumi, "will call Aelita and tell her to get here as quickly as possible, and then you will all go down to the scanner room, enter Lyoko and fight XANA's monsters, while I will help you from here, and eventually we will deactivate the fucking tower! "
Jacket's intervention had made everyone bleach: Maya was almost frightened, Odd and Edward were speechless, while Yumi was also offended to receive orders from a 14-year-old. Sylviane, despite her wide open eyes, was almost amused by the turn taken by the situation, and even smiled slightly...
Sylviane: What a temper. I think we've got a boss now.
Sylviane: "I agree with him: the situation is an emergency, so I vote in his favour." and raised her gloved hand. Jacket and Edward both raised their hands. Yumi was against it and Odd had apparently abstained. But at the last moment, Maya's hand was also raised.
Maya: "They're right, we must defend Lyoko and the land. Also, if this has anything to do with my parents, I want to see it for myself."
Yumi, although irritated, was also a bit happy in some ways: she remembered when she was as stubborn as a mule to discover the supercomputer to get Ulrich to join the old team.
Yumi: "Apparently we have no other choice... okay, you guys go down to the scanner room downstairs. I'll call Aelita."
BELPOIS HOUSE
Aelita was busy making lunch when her phone started ringing: it was Yumi.
Aelita: "Hello Yumi? So, how did it go with your plan?"
Yumi: "Listen Aelita, there's no time to talk. You have to come to the factory right now!"
Aelita: "What? Yumi, what's going on?"
Yumi: "...the worst you could imagine, and you know what I mean... he's back."
Aelita, hearing the words "he's back", was in a state of total shock: all the memories of Lyoko, of the father who sacrificed himself for her... of XANA, came back to her.
No, no no no no no no, that's not possible! I thought we defeated him! It was over!
With great effort and a weak voice, Aelita replied to her friend.
Aelita: "I'll be right with you."
When the call ended, she turned off the stove, got dressed in a hurry and got into the the car. She had to get to the factory, and in a hurry.
KADICK, SCIENCE BUILDING CORRIDORS
Ulrich wasn't exactly doing so well.
As people possessed by XANA were not only very strong, but also extremely resistant to pain, Ulrich had to put all his Pencak Silat techniques to good use. A constant exchange of punches, kicks, grabs, and disengages, all while Jeremy was still unconscious. Ulrich had to keep the Xanified student from doing more damage, or worse, getting to the factory.
He had to think of something effective.
ABANDONED FACTORY, SCANNER ROOM
Jacket: "Very well, are you ready?"
Edward: "Affirmative!"
Jacket: "Great. Yumi, Odd, Ed, you first. In the meantime, I'll explain everything to the newcomers."
While the three entered the scanners and Jacket was virtualizing them in the Ice Sector, the latter had begun to explain to Maya and Sylviane how virtualization worked.
Jacket: "Maya, Syl, listen carefully: as soon as the scanner doors open again, you will have to enter in them; that's where I will virtualize you inside Lyoko, where you will take the form of your own virtual avatar, with various skills and equipment".
Maya: "What if we get stuck inside Lyoko, or the monsters kill us? "
Jacket: "You won't have to worry about this: on Lyoko you'll have a total of hit points, which if it drops to zero due to monster attacks or anything else it will bring you back to earth, all in one piece. Ah a little service note: if you see a sea below you, DON'T FALL FOR ANY REASON! If you fall there, it's a point of no return. All clear so far?"
Syl: "Crystal clear."
Maya: "All right."
The scanner doors opened.
Jacket: "It's time to go!"
The girls entered the scanner; Maya was extremely nervous, while Syl was, as always, decidedly calm. Too calm.
TRANSFER: INITIALIZED
SCANNER: INITIALIZED
VIRTUALIZATION
LYOKO, ICE SECTOR
Maya and Syl felt all the symptoms of virtualization: a feeling of suction, loss of sensitivity, and the usual bump on the backside.
Realizing that they were all still whole, they stood up, while their sight got used to the virtual world. Their eyes could observe an immense landscape made up of an immense ice land, where the figures of the towers "towered" over the horizon and, unlike the desert sector, no cables passed over the ground. Here, too, it was not necessary to breathe and you could not feel the glacial temperature.
Edward: "Welcome, girls."
Remembering not being alone, the two newcomers turned their eyes to Yumi, Odd and Edward. Or rather, their virtual avatars: Yumi was wearing a tight purple fuchsia jumpsuit, and she had two weird marks over her eyebrows. Odd looked like a cat man, with two paws instead of hands; his hair remained the same. Finally Edward was back in the role of the Knight Protector.
Remembering Jacket's explanation, the girls looked at each other, to see what they were wearing:
Instead of her dungaree, Maya was wearing a strange white dress with gold ornaments, very wide sleeves, which was fastened to her waist by a gold ribbon. Underneath her legs were covered by a soft pink skirt, decorated with gold, with a diagonal cut, leaving one leg uncovered. She was barefoot, and had no weapons or objects of any kind with him.
Syl, on the other hand, had more elaborate clothing: a short skirt in black leather studded with bronze, from the waistband of which hung a chain made of brass gears. Her feet were worn with leather boots, also black, with gold inlays. The bust, on the other hand, was covered by a leather bodice, and the right shoulder was protected by a thin studded shoulder, and the right hand was covered by a glove identical to his in the real world, with the difference that it reached up to the elbow. The most peculiar thing were the tattoos that covered the left arm, from hand to shoulder: they represented runes, drawings and phrases with mysterious and occult meanings... almost infernal. Finally, unlike Maya, she had a weapon: on her shoulder hung a reinforced staff, a mixture of wood and burnished steel, and at one end there was a sharp, curved blade.
Maya: "What kind of clothes are these? They're so... weird."
Odd: "Tell me about it. I've been looking like a purple cat for quite a few years."
Syl: "New world, new rules." she said as she took the staff and then swung it around a bit.
Maya: Wait a minute, I have no weapons, how am I going to defend myself? "Uh, Jacket, can you hear me?"
Jacket: "Loud and clear!" On Lyoko her voice from nowhere took on almost divine connotations.
Maya: "Unlike all the others, I have no weapons to defend myself with."
Jacket: "Uhh... weird. Ok, while I'm trying to examine the cards of your avatars on Lyoko, you shall go east, towards the active tower, you'll recognize it by the red halo; according to the map you'll have to go through a suspension bridge first. All clear?"
Odd: "Crystal clear, Einstein II." So the whole group started running towards the active tower.
Einstein II? What the fuck kind of nickname is that?
While Jacket was looking for Maya and Syl's cards, he remembered they needed Aelita to deactivate the tower.
I hope she gets here soon. I don't know how long Jeremy and Ulrich can keep up the Xanified guy...
KADICK, CORRIDOR
Ulrich: "Argh!"
Ulrich was thrown to the wall after receiving an electric sphere in his stomach. Stunned and teary-eyed, he saw the blurred figure of the Xanified student, who was preparing to finish him off forever.
In the meantime, Jeremy had slowly regained consciousness : an explosion of excruciating pain pierced through his skull as he got back on his feet; fortunately, his glasses were all in one piece. And it was through these that he saw Ulrich about to be killed by the student.
Ulrich! I must do something! Think, Jeremy, think...
Jeremy looked around, and then took the closest thing to him at that moment: a fire extinguisher. Following his instinct, and full of adrenaline, Jeremy grabbed the heavy object and, with all the strength he had in his body, ran towards the kid he grabbed, and then hit him with the fire extinguisher from behind. The force of the blow knocked out the student, who at that moment looked like a staggered hologram.
Ulrich: "Ouch, that hurt... thanks Jeremy!"
Jeremy: "No problem! Now we have to run to the factory first, there's no time to lose!"
Ulrich nodded, and soon the two ran to the factory, while the rest of the students were still petrified by fear.
PARIS, STREETS.
Not even Aelita was having a good time: unfortunately the traffic was quite dense, and the traffic lights didn't help. At that moment she regretted having chosen to live away from the boarding school.
At this rate, I'll never make it to the factory! I've got to hurry, traffic rules or not!
Aelita then backed up and then went into the other lane, starting to drive at high speed: in that situation the traffic rules could go and get screwed.
I hope Jeremy and Maya are OK... I can't lose them!
LYOKO, ICE SECTOR
The group, in the running, arrived at the beginning of the suspension bridge mentioned by Jacket: a long road of ice, suspended above the digital sea, which joined the mainland and an island to the east, on which stood the tower, surrounded by the red halo of XANA. The bridge was littered with frozen rocks, big enough to use theme as a cover.
At the same time Jacket had finally found Syl and Maya's avatar cards: both had 100 life points, like everyone on Lyoko. As for special abilities, the first one had a skill called "Control", while Maya... just what they needed.
Jacket: "Guys, little change of plans! Protect Maya and escort her to the tower! She's got just what we need!"
Yumi: "You mean he can activate the Code Lyoko and deactivate the tower?"
Jacket. "That's right! Come on, hurry up, we don't have much time."
Yumi: "Right, move on!"
Yumi didn't have time to finish the sentence that a stabbing pain struck her arm: XANA's monsters had arrived at the other end of the bridge.
Edward: "Everybody take cover!" she shouted as Odd fired laser bolts from her arm, killing only a block monster. Yumi instead pulled out the fans, and after parrying a barrage of hornet-like monsters, she threw them at the creatures, destroying them. In a short time, everyone took shelter behind the rocks to avoid being hit.
Maya had hid behind a rock in the middle of the bridge, right behind Yumi; Syl was in a more precarious situation: she had to take shelter and, at the same time, not to fall off the bridge and end up in the digital sea that was practically behind (and under) her.
Jacket was starting to panic at that moment: he had to find a solution to get them out of the way immediately, while the monsters were advancing along the bridge.
Wait a minute... "Control" huh?...
Jacket: "Syl, do you copy? According to your data on Lyoko, you have a power called "Control": lean out just enough to see XANA's monsters, then try to focus and take possession of a creature!"
Syl: "Do you intend to fully control him?... All right, I can try." Cautiously, the girl sprouted enough to see the row of monsters: in the center there was a giant steel ball, with an opening sign on its entire circumference and a seal that had the symbol of XANA's eye.
That creature looks pretty devastating to me... All right, let's give it a try!
Syl then stretched out her tattooed arm towards the spherical monster: the tattoos lit up with a purple color streaked with black, like a nebula. Suddenly Syl didn't see with her eyes anymore, but she saw the monsters in front of the giant sphere, in a sort of red screen that had the symbol of XANA in a corner. At that moment it stopped, along with the rest of the little parade.
I did it! I took control of the monster! Well, now let's see how much it hurts...
The sphere-shaped creature opened up, revealing an interior made of red tissue that held it all together, almost like human tissue. In the center, on a kind of loom, there was a slightly larger XANA symbol, which had started to pulsate. Finally, a red fan of energy was released everywhere, hitting both monsters in front and those behind, dividing them in half like butter, and then make them disappearing forever.
Edward: "A monster of XANA killing his own allies?"
Jacket: "If anything, thank Syl, she controls it."
Odd: "So you can control monsters? Cool."
Syl was both embarrassed and flattered at the same time: outside of her family, which she could call perfect, she never had relationships beyond being classmates or acquaintances; and deep down she hadn't suffered, she had her hobbies to keep her busy. But all this big "change of plans" made her happy and not a little bit.
Suddenly something strange happened: Syl lost control on the spherical monster, which disintegrated. At that exact moment, she was struck by excruciating pains all over her body; the shock was so strong that her balance started to fall backwards, towards the digital sea...
Syl: "AAAAAHHHH!"
Yumi: "NO!"
Jacket: "SYL! I GOTTA FUCKING DEVIRTUALIZE HER RIGHT NOW!"
12 meters...
Jacket: "Move, damn it, move!" he panicked as he feverishly typed the devirtualisation commands on the keyboard.
15 meters...
Jacket: "Come on, we're almost there!"
2 meters... And just before she touched the water, Syl disappeared in a series of data: she had been devirtualized in time.
Jacket then opened a window showing the scanner room from a camera: one of the scanners opened... And Syl came out of it, slowly and a bit wobbly.
Jacket: " *pant ... *pant ... I did it ..." Then he raised his middle finger in front of the monitor "Meet Alt-F4, XANA! Syl, are you in one piece?"
Syl: "I think so, a little diziness aside..."
At that moment the girl felt more than owed to Jacket. Like a rollercoaster of feelings.
KADICK, ENTRANCE GATE
Throughout the street you could hear the squeal of the tires of Aelita's car when she braked in front of the Kadick gate. Fortunately, no policeman had seen the car speeding at that speed. Or so she hoped.
As she got out of the car, Aelita ran down to the manhole in the park. Simply opening that rusty iron disk brought back the whole past to her mind. But it wasn't time to wallow in memories. She had to move on.
KADICK, CORRIDOR
Jeremy and Ulrich's race was over just after it had just begun: as the duo arrived at the door, a ball of electricity conflagrated in their midst, causing them to suffer an electric shock that forced them to the ground. The Xanified student then approached and, stretching out his hands, began to torture Jeremy and Ulrich with continuous shocks of electricity; it would be a slow and painful death.
They couldn't last that long; time was running out.
ABANDONED FACTORY, LABORATORY
Syl: "Do you have any idea about why this happened?"
Jacket: "Hmm?"
Syl: "Suddenly I lost control of the monster, he disintegrated, while I received a burst of pain, which made me fall..."
Jacket: "... Maybe it means you can only control it for a little while; if that's the case, I'll see if I can improve your skill."
Syl: "Thank you, Jacket. For everything."
Jacket: "No problems: Administrator's duties!"
LYOKO, ICE SECTOR
In the meantime Yumi, Odd, Edward and Maya had just crossed the bridge and hid behind a rock, about ten meters from the tower; to protect it there were four tarantulas ready to shoot on sight.
Maya: "Okay. What's the plan?"
Yumi: "You stay here; the three of us will take care of the tarantulas, taking them by surprise."
Edward: "All right." he said, only to remember one thing: when he had been on Xanadu, Jacket had told him that he had a skill called "Heal," which meant "Heal. Then, remembering that Yumi had been hurt, he placed his right hand on his shoulder, trying to channel energy into it: a green halo covered his hand, and Yumi felt invigorated.
Yumi: "But... what did you do?"
Jacket: "Edward has a skill that allows him to give you some of your lost life points; not bad, eh? Okay, you guys ready?"
Ed, Yumi, Odd: "Yes!"
Yumi jumped on the rock and then swirled through the air as she threw her fans towards two tarantulas, killing them with the first blow. Odd, with a lateral somersault, came out of hiding, then aimed and struck a third creature. Finally Edward used the same trick he used on Xanadu: he threw his sword straight at the symbol of XANA on the head of the virtual spider, making it explode into a thousand pieces.
Odd: "Nice aim Ed!"
Yumi: "Okay, Maya, the coast is clear. Get in the tower, hurry!"
Maya: "I...What?"
Jacket: "Listen Maya, I'll tell you what to do, but you have to get into the tower now! Your father can't hold on much longer!"
Maya: "...All right, I'm going!", and she ran towards the tower, feeling the black wall to find a sort of door: first the arm, then the rest of the body went through the wall, until it was inside the tower: there was also the symbol of XANA on the platform, while the inner walls were covered with data screens.
Jacket: "Okay, now walk to the center!"
As Maya, with a fast pace, walked toward the center of the platform, XANA's symbol on it lit up, emitting a clear sound as she walked forward.
KADICK, CORRIDOR
As the Xanified student grew more and more the intensity of the electric shock, Jeremy and Ulrich, in the immense pain of electricity, were slowly yielding...
ABANDONED FACTORY, ELEVATOR
As the elevator was slowly descending towards the Lab, Aelita was in a mix of worry, fear, panic and nostalgia: the worst nightmare of her life was back, and who knows if Jeremy and Maya were okay...
LYOKO, TOWER
Maya, once she reached the center of the platform, felt as if an invisible force from above wanted to make her go up, and so it was: Maya levitated high, until she reached the foot of another platform, practically identical to the one below; in the center there was a holographic screen, suspended in the air.
Maya: "Uh, Jacket, I've just climbed into the tower, and now I have a screen in front of me: what should I do now?"
Jacket: "Great! Now press your hand on the screen, so you'll enter the Code Lyoko and deactivate the tower!"
Maya: "All right!" As soon as she pressed her hand on the holographic screen, an inscription appeared:
MAYA
Followed by:
CODE LYOKO
At that exact moment, all the data that appeared on the inner walls of the tower began to descend. Yumi, Odd and Edward saw how the tower lost the red halo surrounding it, replaced by another halo, this time blue.
Jacket: "Phew! We did it... we did it... 2-0 for us, XANA."
Syl: "And what's for the other score?"
Jacket: "Well, I saved you from a permanent swim in the digital sea, didn't I?"
At that joke, Syl gave a smile: not a funny one, but a far more sweet one...
Jacket: "Very well, team, mission accomplished! Now I'll take you all back to earth!"
While he was making the various devirtualisations, he heard the elevator door open: Syl remained motionless, her hands resting on the back of the chair, while Jacket slowly stretched his hand towards the open backpack...
The doors, once opened, revealed a woman in her thirties, with white skin and short, pink hair. This one saw to her amazement the two boys at the monitor station of the Laboratory.
Jacket: "...Aelita Schaeffer, right?" he said, while her hand was still reaching towards his backpack.
Aelita: "...Yes, that's me...and you, if I'm not mistaken, are Richard, the boy in that picture Maya took."
Syl: Richard?...so Jacket isn't his real name...
Jacket: I see it all now!: Maya must have seen me on my way back to the dorm, Jeremy found out about the photo, and sent Yumi and company like hounds after me...
Jacket took his hand off the backpack: she was definitely Waldo Schaeffer's daughter. "...That's right. Oh, and for the record, your little "photographer" managed to deactivate the tower just in time."
Aelita: "Maya? So... can she deactivate the towers too?"
"Mom!"
Aelità turned around, only to be embraced by her daughter; the elevator was, strangely enough, going up, so the boys, one by one, went up the stairs that connected the Laboratory to the Scanner Room. Now only Jeremy and Ulrich were missing.
Aelita: "Maya! Let me give you a hug!" he hugged her, careful not to choke his daughter. "You did great!" Then he let her go from his grip, and then he turned to everyone else "You protected my daughter and saved Jeremy and Ulrich, I don't know how to thank you!"; a tear fell from one eye, while Aelita smiled.
Odd: "There's no need for that, Princess; after all, saving the day was our routine."
Yumi: "Oh, by the way: my congratulations to you all, you were exemplary fighters."
At that moment the elevator door opened again, showing Jeremy and Ulrich, with their clothes burned and their hair shot in the air, but still alive. As soon as they saw them, Aelita and Yumi ran to hug their husbands.
Yumi: "Ulrich! Are you all right?"
Ulrich: "Yes, although now my hair looks like Odd's."
Jeremy: "Luckily Aelita deactivated the tower just in time!"
Aelita: "Well... it wasn't really me."
Jeremy: "What? Then who did it?". At that moment Jeremy noticed the group of students, including Maya; in particular he saw Jacket sitting at the command post.
Jeremy: "As I suspected... Richard."
Jacket: "Aye. In addition to being a photographer, your daughter can disable the towers. "Long live genetics", huh?"
Jeremy was stunned by his student's response. This meant that Maya had found out everything and gone to Lyoko.
Jeremy: "Maya, is it true what he says?"
Maya: "...Yes dad, it's all true."
Ulrich: "My dear fugitive, I think it's time to explain a few things."
Jacket: "Okay okay, take the popcorn and be careful, because I won't repeat myself."
Then Richard explained everything that had happened from the beginning: the file hidden in the Deep Web, the prototype supercomputer located in Rome, Xanadu and the reboot of Lyoko's supercomputer, the blackouts... and XANA's return. It took a good half hour to tell the whole story in detail.
Ulrich: "So he's really back... which means Jeremy's program didn't work."
Jeremy: "And I wonder how that's possible: I mean, you all saw it, XANA was destroyed."
Jacket: "Well, that means that the most likely scenario is that your program just shattered XANA like a vase: it takes a lot of time, but you can always rebuild everything; besides XANA had escaped into the internet, right? Most likely he copied some of his data around the Internet, so he could recover it in case he wasn't completely destroyed. Knowing this, the undersigned, so me, has a new plan in mind: we'll find a way to get XANA back into the supercomputer, block any escape route, and finally delete everything: no more Lyoko and no more Xana; it will all become an empty metal shite heap. In the meantime, we'll have to neutralize XANA's attacks and collect as much useful data as possible, both in Lyoko and in the network. And we'll be able to shut this thing down for good."
Jeremy: "I thank you Richard, and thank you too for protecting my daughter, but I can't let my students risk their lives, especially Maya. Leave it to us adults..."
Aelita: "Jeremy, don't talk nonsense: you are the only one who teaches the Kadick, while the rest of us live away from boarding school, and XANA will surely attack me and the others too. Maya was able to deactivate the tower, and the other kids were able to stand up to XANA."
Odd: "I agree, although this is their first time on Lyoko, they've been tough ones."
Aelita: "I'm worried about Maya too and I'm the first one who doesn't want to see her involved, but there's no other choice: we need them. Not to mention that now going back in time won't have any effect, and we can't ignore that."
At that moment Jeremy was extremely conflicted: he didn't want to risk losing his daughter and his students, but at the same time Aelita was right: the old group couldn't do it alone, they need a hand, and those 4 guys were the best people he could count on.
Jeremy: "I... you're right, they're the only people we can count on. We have to defeat XANA, and this time for good. "That's our job," remember? Very well: Richard, Edward, Sylviane, Maya, you are now full-fledged Lyoko Warriors."
Edward: "We'll do our best!". Maya and Syl nodded in unison.
Jeremy: "Richard, I think you know what to do now."
Jacket: "Sure, sir!" and started typing a series of commands on the terminal "Syl, Ed, Maya: get ready to have a great sense of déjà vu!".
Syl: "Hm? What do you mean?" At that exact moment Jacket pressed the Enter key.
RETURN TO THE PAST
From the center of the room a column of blinding light was generated, which began to expand everywhere; a giant bubble of light swallowed up the entire city of Paris...
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10TH, 7:00 A.M.
At a table in the college cafeteria, crowded with students having breakfast, sat Jacket who, while eating his hot croissant, was waiting for the rest of the group: he needed to know if the Return to the Past had worked, and if everyone remembered what happened yesterday... or better, "today" yesterday.
Just as he swallowed his last bite, a familiar voice, in a very calm tone, turned to him.
"Is there space for me to sit?"
Jacket turned his head to find himself in front of Syl: now he could better observe her unique clothing and, above all, her heterochromatic eyes.
I couldn't remember her being so attractive...wait, what!?
Jacket: "Is that a rhetorical question?"
Syl: "... Who knows?" At the same time she winked very eloquently: she remembered everything.
While Syl was sitting next to Jacket, a group of girls at two tables away looked at Syl with an astonished look: since when Sylviane, who didn't even have a friend and was always by herself reading books, sat down with another person, a cute guy nonetheless. Too bad for them that the latter noticed their looks. So Richard, greatly annoyed that a friend of his was fixated on her like that, told them plain and simple that he couldn't stand it. All in a very strong Scottish accent.
Jacket: "What ya starin' at ye wee posh cunt?"
In a moment the group of girls, intimidated by Richard, turned around and went back to speak for themselves.
"You must have really scared them. What were they looking at you like that for?" At that moment Edward and Maya had arrived and sat down with Richard and Syl; the quartet was full.
Syl: "Well, let's say they are shocked that I sat down with you: before "yesterday" I had never even had a proper friend. What can I say, all turned upside down in an instant."
Jacket: "Okay, guys, I'm gonna ask you a rhetorical question: do you remember "we-know-what"?"
Edward: "Affirmative."
Maya: "Yes. It's all so... incredible. When I woke up, I thought I just had a weird dream. But it's all real."
Jacket: "Weird but true, huh? Anyway, seriously, are you sure you want to do this? I mean, we're talking about risking our lives while protecting the world from out-of-control artificial intelligence. I won't blame you in case you want to take a hint..."
Edward: "I'll always be there for you, XANA or no XANA: after all, as you already know, my job is to protect you, isn't it?"
Maya: "That's right, and if I make a difference in all this, then count me in. My parents are part of all this, so I have a duty to help you."
Syl: "Know that I owe you: you saved my life, so I have every intention of returning the favor. You are my first true friends, and I could never abandon you."
Jacket at that moment smiled, but not with his usual smug smile, or sarcastic one: it was a smile of pure happiness and relief. "...Thank you guys."
Throughout the rest of the time the quartet continued to talk about both worldly things and Lyoko, being careful not to be heard from the other students. Eventually it was time to go to class: Maya was on her way to the music class, while Edward was in the gym. Jacket, on the other hand, was on his way to the science building, more specifically the chemistry room; as he walked down the deserted corridor (they were a bit early), he noticed how Syl was following him by his side.
Jacket: "Do you have chemistry too? I didn't see you around here yesterday."
Syl: "Yes, and I'm also in your computer class. See, I was a little down, so I was in the infirmary for a couple of hours. Then I was on my way back to class, when "someone" pushed me as he was running away..."
Jacket: "Oh. Well, maybe I owe you an apology..."
Syl: "hihihih! I was joking, you don't have to apologize; if it hadn't happened, I could never have known about Lyoko!". Suddenly she stopped. "Oh I almost forgot...". Suddenly she turned to Jacket and, catching him by surprise, kissed him. At that moment Jacket's mind had crashed: although he had previously felt attraction to a fair number of girls, he had never gone this far. He could smell her pleasant perfume , which was at the same time intoxicating enough to stun the senses.
When Syl separated her lips from those of Jacket, she looked him straight in the eye; the girl's gaze was extremely intense.
Syl: "This is my way of thanking you for everything." So she put her lips to his ear, whispering in a fucking seductive tone "Je me demande si je t'adore ou si je te taquine..., Richard. I wonder if I adore you or I'm just teasing you...". He walked back to the courtroom, only to turn to Jacket, who had stood there like a statue.
Syl: "Well, aren't you coming to class?"
It was those words that unblocked Richard from his trance, causing him to return to the classroom in complete silence.
At that moment Richard was submerged in a sea of emotions he'd never felt before. If Syl's kiss and "statement" were shocking enough, another thing was shocking enough.
In his entire life, no one except his cousins, his parents, and his teachers had ever called him by his real name.