CHAPTER 7: WELCOME TO LYOKO, AGAIN
- Lyoko – repeated Jeremy in a whisper
- Jeremy, I told you to stay away from the factory. Look what you've done! You have unleashed something that is beyond you, beyond everything.
- What? What are you talking about?
- There is a virtual entity inside the computer. It's trapped, but it can attack our world. And now that you've turned on the computer, I have to fix it from the inside. Get out of the chair.
Jeremy stepped out and Aelita typed the code for the autovirtualization. Then, she got inside the elevator and pressed the button to go downstairs. Jeremy followed her.
- Where are you going? What do you mean the inside? Let's go to the base floor and switch it off again.
- You don't understand Jeremy. It's a quantum supercomputer that uses radioactive materials. You can't switch it off now, we'll have to wait at least a month if we don't want it to explode.
The lift doors opened and Aelita got into one of the scanners.
- Go to the computer, put on the headphones and help me get to the red tower. I hope 10 years of inactivation have in some sort of way weaken XANA.
The scanner doors closed and Aelita entered the process of virtualization, while Jeremy went upstairs to the computer. She was afraid, she had to admit. It had been so many years since she last virtualized and now she had to do it to defeat XANA again, alone.
Aelita fell on the ice sector. She could see the activated tower at the distance, but what she saw around it, that she didn't like at all. There were dozens of kankrealts, an army of blocks and hornets and a bunch of crabs defending the tower.
The princess activated her wings and tried to reach it flying. As she approached, she noticed some hornets getting behind her and attacking her. She tried to avoid them but she kept getting hit and unable to get close to the tower.
- Jeremy, I need you to guide me to another tower. I need to rest, they're too much for me.
- Okay mm, I see one… to your west.
Aelita flew into that direction, avoiding the hornets and destroying some of them. When she entered the tower, she sat on the floor, tired as she had never been.
- Okay, this is not going to work. Fuck! Jeremy, I need help. Please, call Yumi, Ulrich and Odd.
She hated to do this. She didn't want to involve them in this again, it had been a trauma for every one of them, but she needed the help. Aelita just hoped that some of the memories of how to fight where still in them.
- Why do you want me to call those people? Like, Ulrich I can understand, but you want me to call that goof? And who's Yumi?
- Just call them. I'll dictate you Yumi's number.
At the gym, Yumi and Ulrich were training with Jim when the teacher's phone started ringing.
- Hello, Rosa. How are you doing? WHAT? I'm on my way. I'm sorry kids, but training is over.
Jim then ran out of the gym, headed to the cafeteria. In that moment, Yumi's phone started ringing.
- Yeah? Who's this? -asked the Japanese
- Hi, emm, I'm Jeremy. I'm one year below you at Kadic.
- And what do you want?
- Who is it? -asked a curious Ulrich.
- I know this may sound weird but Aelita, the Physic's teacher, needs you to come to the abandoned factory.
- The one at the river? Why?
- Jeremy, let me talk to her! -cried Aelita from Lyoko.
Jeremy figured out how to put the sound of his phone through the computer, letting Aelita and Yumi talk.
- Yumi, please it's me Aelita. I need you to come immediately! My life depends on it.
- Aelita? It's really you. Mm, okay, okay. I'll go, but it's not close.
- Use the secret passage that is in the boiler room, near the gym.
- There's a secret passage? Okay, if you say so. I'll be there as fast as I can.
With that said, Yumi hang up and picked up her things.
- Where are you going? -asked Ulrich.
- Well, I'm, emm…a friend called me. I'm sure yours are looking for you too- tried to say a shy Yumi
- I don't have any friends.
A loud noise came from the gym door. Both teens looked for the source of the sound, they saw a Xanified Jim, looking at both of them with dead and violent eyes.
- Jim? What's happened to you? -Yumi said
All of a sudden, the teacher threw a ray direct to her. Luckily, Ulrich was able to jump and take her out of the trajectory of the ray. They ended up one on top of the other. They looked into each other's eyes and blushed.
- I think we should go -said Ulrich
- Let's go to the old factory, Aelita wanted me there.
- The teacher?
Jim threw another ray, and this woke up the two of them, avoiding it for a few inches. Ulrich grabbed Yumi's hand and they entered the changing room and walking out of the gym and then into the boiling room, where they found the door that conducted them to the sewers. But then, they felt lost, not knowing the route to the factory.
- It's this way -said Ulrich pointing to one the left.
- How do you even know? Do you come here often?
- I don't… I don't know. Call it a gut feeling.
They then ran into that direction, taking care of not being followed by Jim, who they had stopped seeing since quite a lot.
At the same time, Odd was having a date near the river with some girl from his same year when he received Jeremy's call.
- I'm sorry, I don't want to change my phoneline.
- No, no, Odd. It's me, Jeremy from your class.
- Jeremy? Oh, the Einstein. Yeah, tell me, what's up? I'm kinda busy right now.
- Jeremy? Why's the nerd called you? -asked the girl.
- Well, I'll be straight. Aelita needs you to come to the old factory and help her with some videogame-like thing.
- Aelita? You mean the hot pink-haired teacher? And videogames? Wait for me, I'm close from there. Sorry girl, I gotta leave.
- Yeah? For the hot teacher? Go and don't come back. I can't believe I accepted this date -said the girl while leaving.
Odd was the first one to arrive to the factory. He saw a rope hanging in front of him and with no hesitation he decided to slide on it. Once on the floor, he was confused, Jeremy didn't tell him where to go next and he didn't see any traces of him or the pink-hair.
Suddenly, he heard a loud noise coming from the right side of the factory. He approached it, thinking it could be them but all he saw was a giant robot staring at him with big red eyes.
At that moment, he knew he had fucked up, so he started to run around the factory, chased by the robot.
Some moments after, Yumi and Ulrich arrived. Confused as Odd was, Ulrich decided to call Jeremy:
- Oh, it looks like he had called me too. Why would they want both of us here?
Jeremy picked up the phone.
- Ulrich, call the elevator and put the password 59656 and then come downstairs, quick!
They did as he told and arrived to the lab where they saw Jeremy on the computer, trying to fix things.
- Oh here you are. Fast! Go downstairs and get into the scanners. And where's Odd? He said he was near.
- Did you invite that idiot here too? -said Ulrich
- Yeah, I know, but Aelita insisted. She'll explain everything to you, now go.
They both entered the lift again and then entered the scanners, unsure of what was going to happen but, at the same time, with a feeling of home.
- Transfer Yumi. Transfer Ulrich. Scanner Yumi. Scanner Ulrich. Virtualization!
Ulrich and Yumi fell on the cold ice sector, dropping hardly on their butts.
- Thank god you're here. I'll explain everything to you later, but now I need you to come with me and destroy those monsters so I can enter that tower over there. With luck you'll remember how to fight -said Aelita as she left the tower and ran to the other one.
- Fight monsters? How am I supposed to do that? And what's with these fans? -said Yumi confused
- I mean with these swords I can understand, but I don't know about those fans. Have you tried to throw it?
The geisha then threw one of her fans and she realized the power of it just by watching it on the air and then come back.
- Guys, let's go! Please Jeremy, check on Odd.
The three started to run towards the tower and the horde of XANA's monsters. The three of them then started to fight all the monsters. Yumi and Ulrich were amazed by the easiness that they were having to fight. Sure, they knew Pencak Silat, but this was totally different.
Still, Xana's monsters gained on number, so Aelita used her chant to trap some of them.
- Oh, I forgot to tell you. Yumi, you have telekinesis and you Ulrich, superspeed.
Ulrich didn't know how to respond. Everything was being very strange to him, but he decided to give it a chance, so he started to run. Not knowing how, he saw himself suddenly at the edge of the land. Scared, he took some steps back and turned around, seeing how much he had ran.
Yumi on her part tried to use her power on a block, but didn't succeed and moreover she got hit by it, causing her damage and pain, a kind of pain she had never experienced, it was electrical. She tried again the telekinesis on that block. She inspired, exhaled, and then lifted the block up and threw it into some crabs.
At the same time, Odd was hiding from the robot when Jeremy called him:
- Jeremy! I need help, some robot's trying to kill me! -whispered Odd.
- What?! Okay, come to the lab, you need to press the button to the elevator. Call me again when you're there and I'll tell you the password.
- Are you crazy? He's going to hear it!
- Then you'll have to use the emergency ladders.
- The what now? No way, I'm getting out of here.
- Odd Della Robbia! -said an angry Aelita through the speaker- you come here immediately or I'm telling your sister Adèle that it was you who dyed her hair green.
- How do you know that?!
- I'll explain everything to you later. Now, please come and save your princess.
- My princess… okay I'm going. -he hung up- My god, what am I doing?
Notes from the author: Hey! How are you liking the story so far? I hope you do, I'd really like to know your opinions and ideas!
