Chapter 6 One Chance (Cruel Dilemma)
A.N. – To start off, I skipped Big Bug due to nothing significant happening in that episode. I didn't forget, just thought that would be important to note. There will be some dialogue that explains what happens. So, let's begin!
Short Summary – When a mistake by Odd makes the rematerialization program operational, Aelita gets concerned that Jeremy will save her past self too early. Aelita needs to find out a way to get Jeremy to change his mind and fast before her plans are compromised.
Disclaimer – I do not own Code Lyoko or the story idea. I am just a fan of the show, and the idea was submitted by James Marshall.
Aelita had just helped the warriors stop another one of Xana's attacks. She suggested for him to use his virus ability to infect something. Unfortunately, what Xana infected was something that could have wiped out the whole country. She warned him that if this was to happen, she would assist the warriors. She helped the current Aelita reach the tower and stop Xana with seconds to spare. She was severely displeased with him at this rate and retreated to her personal home to cool down. She just needed some time to herself.
A week passed by and Aelita had recovered from the most recent attack. She had to talk with Xana before she suggested something that would allow Xana to wipe out thousands of people.
"Xana, we need to talk" Aelita called out to him.
"You okay? You disappeared before we could chat" Xana replied.
"You need to stop with these 'wipe out thousands' attacks."
"Any ideas?"
"Let me do some scouting. You wait until I suggest the next attack."
"I doubt you can do any better. But I'm interested in what you have to say."
Xana disappeared and Aelita returned to Earth to find the next attack.
When Aelita returned she ran into Jeremy who had a really big smile on his face. "Hey A, I have some really exciting news!"
"Oh really, what is it?" Aelita asks.
"I finally found a way to rescue Aelita!"
Aelita's face turned a little sad from this comment. "Don't you think it's too early?"
"I'm not gonna get another shot at this. Odd dropped some candy on the keyboard, and it modified the program which allowed it to work. Plus, if we free her, we'll be rid of Xana. Once everything is set up for her arrival, we rematerialize her. She'll be here soon."
Aelita's plan was getting derailed. She needed a way to stop them and fast. As she was walking by, she noticed something that could be of use. "Bulldozers? If we do this right, we could buy time."
Since no one was around, she returned to Lyoko and presented her attack.
"Xana, we have problems."
"More problems? What are they doing now?"
"Aelita's rematerialization program is ready. In a few days, they're going to rematerialize her."
"We need those keys. If she leaves, I lose my chance."
"Luckily for us, I have the perfect idea. There are bulldozers at the academy. Attack the factory. I know that destroying the lab is a long shot, but it may buy us time to try to find a way to get the keys."
"I didn't trust you at first, but you came through."
"Hold on, do it tonight."
"Consider it done."
All Aelita had to do was wait for the night to come.
The night hour had come and Aelita was in the soccer field, waiting for the time for the attack to come. Suddenly the light came on and the ghost of Xana came and infected the bulldozers. Suddenly they started up and started rolling towards the factory. Aelita noticed how loud they were.
"This could draw some attention" Aelita muttered and hurried to the academy. Along the way she bumped into Jeremy.
"Did you notice the bulldozers?" Jeremy asks.
"Notice them? I saw them."
"We gotta wake Odd and Ulrich and then phone up Yumi."
"I'll manage that."
Yumi did get a new phone, but she never changed her number, so she still had her phone number from the future. She dialed her up.
"Hello, who is this?" Yumi asked in a half-awake state.
"Yumi this is A. You need to get up."
"Do you know what time it is? Do you ever sleep?"
"Listen, Xana is attacking us with bulldozers."
"Bulldozers? What bulldozers?"
"The ones at the academy. I don't know what they're for but he's using them."
"What?! Those are used for demolition! Meet you at the factory!"
At this time, Odd and Ulrich had also gotten up and the four rushed outside to see the bulldozers.
"Whoa, bulldozers. Xana is hitting us hard this time" Odd states.
"A, head to the factory with Jeremy. Me and Odd will try to stop these things" Ulrich tells the two.
"No, I'm going with you Ulrich. Odd, help Aelita" Aelita told him.
Ulrich and Aelita hopped on to the bulldozers. The doors were unlocked, and Ulrich tried to control while Aelita did nothing. She knew that when Xana controlled something, he had full control. It would be pointless for her to try and do something. She hopped off and got onto Ulrich's.
"Xana ain't gonna let us have this one" Aelita told him.
"Head to the factory. I'll see where Xana wants to take these mechanical monsters" Ulrich tells her.
"Ok, good luck."
Aelita knew where Xana was going, but she couldn't say a word without blowing her cover and now was not the right time for that.
Aelita used the passage in the park to get to the factory faster. She arrived minutes after Odd and Jeremy.
"Where's Ulrich?" Jeremy asks.
"He's trying to figure out what Xana is doing" Aelita responds. 'Even though I already know' she thinks after.
Suddenly Ulrich calls. "Jeremy, bad news. I'm on the riverbank. I think Xana's target is the factory."
"Of course. If Xana destroys the supercomputer, we lose all contact with Aelita."
"Don't forget the scanners. If they go, no more trips to Lyoko" Odd adds.
"And that also puts a major hold on your plans to free Aelita" Aelita adds.
"Ulrich, A and Odd are gonna try to deactivate the tower. It's up to you to stop Xana" Jeremy tells him.
"I'm on it, but I wouldn't expect a friendly entrance" Ulrich responds.
The two go down to the scanner room and prepare for virtualization. Aelita decides to go to avoid suspicion. She would talk with Xana later. Hopefully, Xana destroys the supercomputer or at least severely damages it to extend their time to find a way to get the keys.
"The activated tower is in the forest region." Aelita and Odd step in. "Transfer A. Transfer Odd." The scanners close and their ID cards pop up. "Scanner A. Scanner Odd." They are both scanned. "Virtualization." The two are virtualized to Lyoko.
The two land side-by-side in the forest region. Odd points to a tree with his laser arrows ready. Current Aelita emerges from behind a tree.
"A little jumpy, are we?" Current Aelita asks.
"Sorry Aelita, but I never know what I'm gonna find when I arrive" Odd responds.
"C'mon you two. The activated tower is that way."
The two come to an intersection and see the kankerlots blocking them.
"Kankerlots really" Aelita states. "Should've sent something stronger. I need him to pull through with me on this one."
The two fight the monsters and Aelita tries to look like she's actually doing something to avoid suspicion, but this would actually provide enough time for Xana to do what he was doing.
"A, Odd, Yumi is on her way" Jeremy states.
'Great. This is too soon. I need more time.' Aelita thinks.
"We gotta clear these monsters. Why haven't you got any?" Odd asks Aelita.
"I'm on an off day," Aelita responds as she fires an orb and destroys one. 'Might as well look like I'm doing something.'
Odd suddenly freezes as it looks like he saw a ghost. "Odd, what is going on?" Aelita is struck multiple times as she is devirtualized and Odd is followed close by. "What happened on Lyoko?"
"I had a vision. Yumi is in danger of falling into the digital sea."
Aelita remembered the decision she made to sacrifice her place for Yumi in a rematerialization. But if they were to succeed, would Jeremy make the same choice?
Aelita arrives and sees Ulrich unconscious on the floor. "What happened to him?" Aelita asked as she rushed over to him.
"Xana locked him the bulldozer and almost killed him. Yumi pulled him out and rescued him" Jeremy responds.
"Jeremy, I got a big problem" current Aelita says.
"Send me a visual."
The three see a megatank blocking the way. 'A megatank. That's more like it.' Aelita thought.
"There! That's where I saw Yumi fall!" Odd exclaims.
"Send me" Ulrich says as he gets up.
"No! You're in no condition to go anywhere!" Aelita tells him.
"Don't tell me what to do! Let me make my own decisions."
"Don't let your feelings get in the way of reality. You're lucky Yumi arrived when she did, or you would be in even more trouble."
"No one can save her. It's best if I go."
Aelita suddenly had an idea. "No, Jeremy has a way to save her, and he needs to act quick!"
"The rematerialization program" Jeremy speaks up.
"Jeremy, I'm in trouble!" Yumi reports as she's hanging from a cliff.
"Hold on. Aelita is in the tower."
"Jeremy, use the program to bring her in. Aelita may be important to you right now, but Yumi is already a part of this world. Aelita can wait."
"Yumi, I'm bringing you in." Jeremy activates the program that would have been used for Aelita and redirects it towards Yumi. Just at this time, Yumi loses grip and falls, and they hear her scream. "Rematerialization Yumi."
Jeremy presses enter and Aelita goes down to the scanner room to check to see if they were successful. A scanner opens and a weakened Yumi falls out into Aelita's arms. "Thank you, Jeremy" Yumi says.
"It's okay Jeremy. Yumi is back here with us."
Jeremy lets out a sigh of relief. "Jeremy, you got a job to do" current Aelita reminds him.
"Oh right. Return to the past now!"
Time is reversed back to the beginning of the day.
"Well, in the end we saved Yumi. But we can't rematerialize Aelita. The program was only good for one use" Jeremy tells them.
"Yumi is a major part of your world already. She has a family, while I have nobody except you guys. You made the right choice," current Aelita tries to reassure Jeremy. "Trust me Jeremy. Eventually you'll find the right key to my freedom. Until then, you must put the others before me. You will find something eventually."
"I know you're not pleased with what I suggested Jeremy, but we can't lose someone who has a life here on Earth to someone who has no one" Aelita says as she leaves. She still remembers the day she gave up her place for Yumi. Now she was living through the trauma in an unusual way.
After Aelita went up the elevator, she found a secluded place and entered Lyoko.
"Xana, we have time now."
"But why did you fight against me? I thought we had an understanding on that?" Xana asks.
"I had to. I couldn't do much more on Earth, so I had to come. I did my best to delay them. I also convinced Jeremy to use Aelita's program for Yumi. Jeremy has to start again, so we have more time to find a way to get the keys."
"I still have no way of getting the keys from her. I know where they are, but I need to find a way to extract them."
"And they are where?"
"Her memory. But there is a good chance that it is scattered across in multiple pieces. I'll need the full memory in order to obtain the full key."
"Okay. By the way, I'll be the one giving you attacks from now on. You went on too many deadly approaches."
"After this last one, I know you'll be a good connection."
Xana disappeared and Aelita retreated to her habitat. She knew that giving the attacks would prevent the high death rate with the previous attacks. The only problem was if Aelita was to be freed any earlier, how would she stop herself from being free from Xana?
A.N. – And thus ends this chapter with a little change. Obviously, this change will not impact the future that much as it still follows the original. Remember, everything has to play out the same way and Yumi having the program used on herself had to happen. Next time, someone else appears. Who? You'll just have to wait. PM me with story ideas if you have any? Don't forget to review with questions or comments! I will respond! Stay safe and healthy out there! As always, till next time! See ya! -lyokowarrior97