Return way too far to the past

by Hyujix

XANA has taken control over the world. Thus, Aelita has to return to the past, to a past where XANA was not even created. But she came late, the IA's been already formed, trapped in the supercomputer though. Aelita will have to be alone, prepare herself for 10 years, become a Kadic teacher and try to reunite the Lyoko gang again in order to defeat XANA once and for all.

20. Chapter 20: A world without danger

FINAL CHAPTER

Odd, Ulrich, Yumi, William and Jim were practicing on the gym for that night's concert. It was almost 7 p.m. and it started at 9 o'clock. Then, Yumi's phone ringed.

- Yumi, we've done it -said a really excited Jeremy through the phone-. Come as quickly as possible, we've got no time to loose.

- Understood, be there in 10 -Yumi hanged up-. Guys, I think we should go get prepared, am I right?

- Yes, indeed Yums -said Odd understanding she wanted to avoid Jim getting in their way-. I think we're prepared.

- Of course we are! -yelled a very excited Jim-. I'm going to put on my best looks.

- Go for it Jimbo -encouraged him Odd as Jim ran to his room with his trombone.

Immediately, the four went to the secret passage through the boiler room to the sewers and arrived at the factory soon after.

- They're here -said Sissy to the other 2 as the elevator doors opened.

- Great, let's do it -said Aelita while sitting on the chair before starting to write on the computer-. Okay, everyone. We've only fought XANA during a month and a half, but at least for me it has felt like ages.

- If you count the return to the past is like 2 months -said Jeremy-. But yeah, it has felt like a lot more.

- Alright Lyoko Warriors, let's destroy XANA.

- But wait -interrupted William just as Aelita was going to start-, didn't you say this was just going to make XANA like a baby again?

- Yes indeed -responded Jeremy-. That's why we're destroying the supercomputer tomorrow. In fact, the whole factory.

- What?! -asked impressed Yumi-. And how do you plan on doing that?

- Well, during this last month I've been sending a lot of anonymous complains about this abandoned building and how dangerous it is.

- And so -said Jeremy-, yesterday I called the mayor of Boulogne-Billancourt (the city where the series is based on) using the voice, created by computer, of the mayor of Paris demanding the instant demolition of this factory.

- So that way, the entry to the lab and the supercomputer will be permanently sealed-thought aloud Ulrich.

- Seems like a plan to me -said Sissy.

- For me too, let's do it baby! -yelled in emotion Odd.

Aelita giggling turned around and pressed enter on the computer, which caused the new antivirus to launch and look for XANA, something the warriors could see either on the screen or on the central hologram of Lyoko.

Kilometres away, on Sweden, Hannibal, Tyron and XANA were welcoming guests to the conference room.

- Do we need to do this? -asked embarrassed Tyron.

- Do you want support once you declare the war to literally the whole world? -asked Hannibal.

Suddenly, something started happening to XANA as she fell to the ground and started convulsionating.

- Someone call a doctor! -yelled Hannibal.

- She's a computer virus you idiot.

Some moments later, XANA's spectrum slowly left the woman's body and entered the closest outlet. Then, the woman who once was xanified woke up.

- Where… where am I?

- Take her out of here -ordered Hannibal to his guards.

- What has happened to XANA? -asked Tyron

- I don't know, but do you still got the codes?

- Yes.

- Do you know how to use them?

- Yes, I do.

- Good. We won't stop just because she has left. We're already too far as to stop. Give me the hard disk.

Tyron searches in his pocket and gives it to Hannibal.

- Listen, maybe we should stop it. I think those kids may have been able to relaunch the antivirus.

- God, are you for real? Look, if you're that scared of them, why don't you do something to stop them? Use that supercomputer of yours or something.

- But… it's in Switzerland.

- Take my plane if you want. Do anything you want, just stop bothering me for one minute. Say hi to Anthea by the way.

Tyron left the room and ran to the hangar to get on the airplane with the pilot and then to go back to his lab. He was sure it was those kids who destroyed XANA and they could end the Green Phoenix's plans too.

On the lab, the warriors looked impatient at the screen.

- Did it work? -asked Yumi.

Suddenly, the tons of monsters that were around started to disappear into smoke and melted all together on sector 5.

- It did! -announced Jeremy, which made all the Lyoko team to jump in joy and happiness.

- Just in time -said Sissy while looking at her watch-. The festival starts in 20 minutes and I don't wanna miss the Subdigitals.

- Okay, let's go everybody! We need to dress up -said Odd in joy while going to the elevator as the others followed him.

- Wait -alerted Jeremy-, what about the supercomputer? Aren't we going to turn it off?

- Don't worry -said to him Aelita-. We'll do it after the concert. We still need to pick up our things, break the monitor and the scanners just in case managed to get in…

- What about your parents Aelita? -asked William-. We could use it to recover them.

- It may seem cruel, but I've tried to save my father's life at the cost of other people's lives too many times. And he has made me clear each and every time that I should let him go and, although with difficulty, I have come to accept it.

- Sometimes, we just need to let go -said Yumi hugging Aelita, although looking at Ulrich holding Sissy's hand- Come on, let's hurry. I still need to put on makeup.

30 minutes later, they were all at the Kadic Music Festival at the gym.

- And without farther ado -said Principal Delmas through the microphone-: the Subdigitals.

The Subdigitals appeared in the scenario, making all the teens yell, clap and jump in excitement.

- And having worked as their support artist for them and as Physics teacher for us, someone I am most proud of: Aelita Delmas, also known as DJ Stones.

The crowd started cheering even louder as they saw their teacher get into the scenario. Then the concert started with the Subdigitals and Aelita together, also leaving some space for DJ Stones individually.

After a few songs, they let the student bands play. After the other 3 groups played, it was time for The Lyoko Warriors.

- Okay guys, it's our turn! -said Aelita to the rest of the band-. Let's do this.

- YES! -shouted the rest at unison.

They entered the stage and everyone got into their places: Sissy and Yumi at front singing and Yumi playing the bass too, Ulrich on the side with the keyboard and besides him Aelita with the mixing table. In the middle there was William and his battery and, on the left, Jim on the trombone, Jeremy with the violin and Odd on the electric guitar.

First, Jeremy took up the front very timidly. He looked back to his friends with fear on his face, but they all encouraged him to begin.

- This song is called "A world without danger" and it was written by Aelita some years ago.

Jeremy started playing on the violin at the rhythm of the intro song of the series.

Then everyone joined respectively and played the well-known and beloved song.

Il existe un monde virtuel et different

Où chaque seconde fait de nous des combattants

Our hopes through our life, if we reset it to the start

Here we are going far, to save all that we love

If we give all we've got, we will make it through

On ira, on saura, sauver notre existence

Pour refaire un monde sans danger

Code: Lyoko: we'll reset it all

Code: Lyoko: be there when you call

Code: Lyoko: tout reprogrammer

Code Lyoko: un monde sans danger

The crowd instantly bursted into applause as the group finished their song.

- A big applause to the Lyoko Warriors. And a great ovation for our teachers Aelita and Jim for joining the festival too! -said very excited Mr. Delmas

Then, Herve entered the gym very loudly and jumped into the scenario, grabbing the principal's microphone out of his hand.

- Everyone! You need to leave the gym now!

- Herve, what the heck do you think you're doing?

- You don't understand. There's a giant teddy bear coming here!

- A what you say? -said Aelita white pale.

Then, a giant teddy bear entered the gym destroying the wall. Everyone ran out of the building desperately, while the warriors looked at themselves knowing what they needed to do.

They all ran into the gym passage to the sewers and went to the old factory.

- What's happened? Wasn't XANA supposed to have been weakened? -asked William.

- It was -said Aelita while on the scooter- something must have not worked. Let's hurry and find out.

They soon arrived to the lab. Jeremy seated and started looking for the cause.

- This is not XANA. It's Thyron. He's using his supercomputer to attack. It seems XANA taught him a few tricks.

- What is that? -asked Sissy pointing at a notification on the screen, which Jeremy clicked on.

An emergency news broadcast appeared on the screen, announcing a nuclear attack all over the world and a small video in mute of Hannibal Mago announcing it.

- This is not a simulation. I repeat, this is not a simulation. The evil organization Green Phoenix has threatened to hack all the nuclear weapons all over the world and throw them if their requests are not fulfilled. Please, stay at home and find shelter.

- Oh my god, that's the guy that kept your father locked -said William

- It seems that they got everything they needed from XANA before we destroyed it -said Aelita starting to panic-. This is not good, this is not good.

Aelita slowly fell onto the ground and grabbed her head in fear and pain.

- It has ended the same way. The same fucking way. I have done everything for nothing. I'm a total idiot. A total incompetent.

- Aelita -said Odd as he kneed up in front of her, followed by the others surrounding her too-. Don't punish yourself, this is not your fault, okay? Listen to me, it's not your responsibility. However, we are the only ones who can stop it and we need you to guide us. You're the most prepared of us all. We need you, the world needs you.

Aelita looked at Odd and the rest with her eyes full of tears and her makeup all undone and decided that it was the last opportunity to do something.

- You're right. There's no time to cry now. I know what to do.

Aelita then proceeded to explain the plan to everyone: they would virtualize themselves into the real world just like William did. Yumi and Ulrich would virtualize at Kadic, fight the teddy bear and save all the students; Odd and Aelita would go to Tyron's lab in Switzerland, destroy Tyron's supercomputer and save Anthea, just in case he used her as hostage; lastly, Jeremy and William would transport into Green Phoenix facilities, destroy their computers so they couldn't launch the nuclear bombs and finally save Franz Hopper. Meanwhile, Sissy would stay on Earth and monitor everyone and also stay alert at any change on the attacks.

And so, the plan started.

At first, they all went to sector 5. There, Jeremy from the inside used his power to use the keyboard to code the tower and use its energy to virtualize Ulrich and Yumi on the campus. There, they found the Teddy bear, but he wasn't alone. There was an alive Alien costume, some xanified people and some wolves by its side. Suddenly, the ground started to move as an earthquake was been created too.

They decided to separate. Ulrich would fight the monsters with his triplicate and Yumi would help the people thanks to her telekinesis. Before she left, she used her power and smashed two of the wolves, knocking them out.

- You're welcome -said before running into the building.

At the same time, the other 4 got into the Skidbladnir and into the digital sea. Eventually they divided and searched for pairs to the Replika's from both Tyron and Hannibal. As soon as they found it, they entered and used the tower.

Jeremy and William appeared in front of the villain base. They entered without dissimulation and fought anyone that got in their way. Once inside, Jeremy told the Scot:

- You go find Franz, I'll find the computer and stop the launching.

William converted into smoke and went to find the scientist. Jeremy then found a very protected supercomputer so he used his power of decoding to transport the guards 10 km away.

Then, he proceeded to enter the supercomputer and stop the launching process. Jeremy pressed the enter key and all the codes disappeared.

- Jeremy, I've got him -said William from behind with Franz on his side.

- Jeremy, why are you here? I told you not to come.

- We're here to avoid the world's destruction. Hannibal Mago has threatened the world to do so.

- But… did you not manage to kill XANA?

- We did apparently -said William-, but apparently he already had everything he needed. If he had had XANA, everything would just have happened sooner and more violent.

- Let's not waste more time, I'll transport you Mr Hopper.

Jeremy then proceeded to key and transport Hopper. Just after that, they found the conference room. William kicked Hannibal and knocked him out. Then, Jeremy transported everyone far away.

That way, they came back to the supercomputer and destroyed it before getting back to Lyoko, which caused the machine and all the complex to explode.

- No! -said Hannibal from the distance as he took the hard drive from his pocket-. Those kids will pay -said before running opposite to the base.

In Switzerland, Aelita and Odd entered without complications into Tyron's lab. Aelita went searching for her mother while Odd decided to fight Tyron.

- Hey, Tyron, do you like giant teddy cats?

- Who the hell are you?

- The one coming to destroy your machine -said Odd before throwing him a punch that knocked him out-. Sissy, I've got him, send me the Overboard.

Sissy entered some code and the Overboard appeared outside the lab. Odd grabbed Tyron with some difficulty due to his weight and got him on the board.

Aelita arrived to her mother's room too.

- Aelita? What are you doing here?

- I've come to get you, mom.

- What did you say?

- I'll explain later, but you need to trust me, okay? I need you to follow me, you're in danger.

- Why? What are you talking about? -said Anthea as Aelita grabbed her and took her outside.

- Your husband has allied with some villains and threatened to destroy the world. Now, please follow me, mom.

Anthea looked at Aelita. She wasn't sure what she was talking about, but the way she said it, the way she looked at her… She truly believed that was her daughter.

- Okay. I trust you, princess.

They both got outside the complex and met with Odd and Tyron on the Overboard and besides them an empty Overwing.

- Mom, you need to get on this and follow Odd, okay?

- Flying?

- Don't worry, ma'am. It's pretty easy once you get the grip.

- Odd, I'm coming back to deactivate and destroy the supercomputer.

- Okay princess, we're leaving now.

Aelita came back inside to the computer room. First, she used her chant to create a giant wall that protected the outside from the explosion. Then, she tried to get into the supercomputer to deactivate everything Tyron had done, but it was useless as he had placed a lot of security.

- This is crap, I don't have time for this. Sissy be ready -said the pink-haired before throwing an energy sphere to the supercomputer and destroying it at the same time she was transported back to Lyoko.

Odd watched back as he heard the explosion.

- Okay, it's done. Next station: the ground. Thank you for travelling with Odd Airlines, Mr. Tyron -said the blonde before descending to the ground and letting the man fall.

As soon as they did that, the teddy bear and its army stopped moving in front of Ulrich and Yumi.

- They did it -said Ulrich smiling.

- They did -replied Yumi-. Come on, let's make sure everyone's safe and come back to the factory. We should do a return to the past.

Like half an hour later, Odd and Anthea arrived at the factory and joined the rest of them, already devirtualized.

- You… -said Anthea while looking at Waldo and approaching him-. Do I know you?

- Anthea, min kjærlighet (my love in Noruegian). What has Tyron done to you? -said Franz in tears.

- Mom… Dad -said Aelita while hugging her-. I can't believe I finally have you both here.

Aelita broke the hug and turned to everyone as she dried her tears.

- Okay, let's end do a return to the past and end this once and for all.

Meanwhile, Hannibal arrived to a small town nearby the base.

- You can't do that Aelita -told her Franz-. If, as you tell me, hasn't been an attack from XANA, doing a return to the past won't change anything.

Hannibal entered the town and got into a small bar very enfuriated.

- The return to the past only maintains the things attached to our supercomputer -continued Hopper.

Hannibal entered the bar and grabbed the waiter by the collar of his shirt.

- Give me a fucking computer.

- But we shouldn't leave all the chaos and the almost war that has started like this -said Yumi-. We should at least return and try to do it before they announce the war.

The waiter gave him a laptop and Hannibal sat, opened it and inserted the hard drive.

- Are you sure? -asked Odd-. I don't think we have that much of a margin.

He then started typing something on the laptop and pressed the Enter key as he maniacally smiled.

- Let's settle this, votes in favour of returning to the past? -said Jeremy raising his hand.

Suddenly, an alarm appeared on the screen, scaring everyone.

- Attention, this is not a simulacre. There is an imminent nuclear attack all over the world. Every nation's nuclear bombs have been hacked and launched. In specific, one's directed to the city of Boulogne-Billancourt. Please, find shelter and leave the areas marked as dangerous -said the tv reporter.

- Oh no -said William in fear-, I think we don't need to vote.

- Sissy! Do it -said Aelita to her sister.

- Return to the past!

A white light englobed everything and they all came back to that morning, just after they launched the antivirus. The first thing they did: explain everything to Sissy.

- Okay, now we need to do everything again the same way -said Aelita headed to the scanners.

- But how did Hannibal manage to launch the bombs if the base was destroyed? -asked Ulrich.

- I don't know -said Jeremy-, but we should find out.

- Maybe we could transport him into a prison or something similar. That way we rest assured that he won't do anything -said Sissy.

- That's a good idea, come on let's go -commanded Aelita.

The plan started the same way, but just dividing into 3 groups: Aelita, Odd and Yumi to Switzerland and Jeremy, Ulrich and William to Sweden.

In Sweden, the guys transported and infiltrated into the base. However, this time they found there were more people around the base going to the conference room.

- Hey, it's you again! -said a guard before shooting them, hitting William on the arm-. We've got intruders, call the boss!

- Fast! William, go search Franz, Ulrich you go for Hannibal and I will go for the supercomputer.

The three parted their ways. William rapidly found Hopper and took him to Jeremy, while Jeremy managed to knock out the guards and erase all the archive on the computer.

Ulrich, though didn't seem to find Hannibal using his superspeed. Then, he heard something on the outside. He peaked through the window and saw a helicopter flying away from the base. He returned and searched the others.

- Jeremy, he's gone. Destroy the supercomputer now, William and I will follow him.

- Okay, I've already transported everyone out.

As the german and the scott escaped the building, Jeremy destroyed the supercomputer, causing a small nuclear explosion to appear, that accidentally devirtualized William back to the Skid.

Ulrich then followed the helicopter, but suddenly a piece of the building hit it.

- No!

Hannibal, on the helicopter was videocalling his associates on his laptop to inform the situation when the piece hit. He grabbed the computer and himself as hard as he could while falling.

Once on the ground, he hardly managed to get out before the vehicle exploded. He looked back and saw his base gone and also Ulrich coming from the distance.

- Those kids… they will pay -he said as he opened his laptop, connected the hard drive and launched the nuclear bombs.

Ulrich arrived and threw his katana to it, but it was too late.

- You can't do anything, boy. Be ready to see the world consumed by radioactivity.

- NO! Sissy, launch a return to the past, now!

- Return to the past.

Again, they found themselves in the lab.

- Guys, what happened? Why did you came back? -asked Yumi.

- Hannibal launched the bombs. They caught us infiltrating, he got away in a helicopter, but it was hurt by a flying piece of the building. So he threw the bombs in revenge.

- That man clearly has anger issues -said Odd.

- Okay, I think the priority is to stop Hannibal at whatever cost. This time, the 6 are going to Green Phoenix's base.

And so they did. Rapidly they managed to enter the base, knock and transport everyone out and find Franz Hopper.

- Aelita, what do you think you're doing?

- We are trying to save the world dad!

- But you know you can't keep coming back.

- You did it to build the supercomputer.

- Yes… but still, you won't manage to keep virtualizing in Lyoko so continued.

- He's right, Aelita -said Sissy-. You only have half your life without having lost anything.

- We need to keep trying -said firmly Aelita-. We need to save the world. Jeremy, transport him.

Just after she said that, Ulrich, Yumi and Odd brought Hannibal with them.

- We've got him, princess. Now he won't be able to launch the bombs.

They all decided to bring him to the police. He was all over the news as the most dangerous terrorist had been detained.

However, as Tyron saw the tv, he understood what he needed to do.

- There's only one way to free master.

Tyron, who knew too the codes to the bombs, launched them immediately.

As the Lyoko warriors noticed, they returned to the past once again.

And it happened again.

And again.

Didn't matter what they did.

The bombs were released.

They changed the plans but in the end they always missed a detail that ruined everything.

This time, the plan was for Aelita to go alone and arrest Tyron while the rest did everything on the villainous base.

- Take me to my daughter NOW -demanded Franz as William opened the door.

Aelita was saving her mom as well as she was threatening Tyron with an energy ball.

- Aelita, stop! -shouted Franz.

- What do you mean? This time I've got it.

- No, you don't. What's happened the last 14 times?

- Last time Hannibal was trapped in the lab, but managed to hold Sissy as hostage and used the supercomputer to launch the bombs. But this time, we're sending them both to a dessert island, nothing can go wrong.

- Don't you see something goes wrong every time. Accept it Aelita, we can't stop this.

- AND WHAT DO YOU SUGGEST WE DO? JUST DIE -shouted Aelita crying.

- Aelita… we need to start over. Let's try one last time everything, but just as we did in the original timeline.

- And how will we stop Tyron from recreating XANA?

- We'll need your mother, if we can convince her, she'll convince Tyron to leave XANA alone.

- But… but I'll lose my memories on the supercomputer.

- I know, I will arrange everything before XANA destroys my principal self.

- Your principal self? What do you?

- It's what I've been trying to tell you Aelita, I was not dead. I had a security copy in the deep web all this time. You'll just need to find me.

In that moment, they realized Tyron wasn't there anymore and had launched the missiles again, so Aelita asked Sissy to come back.

Once in the lab, Aelita explained the plan to everyone.

- So, does that mean we'll disappear? -asked Odd sad.

- Not really, but yeah, your lives will change.

- Ulrich, does that mean you and I? -asked Sissy crying-. And you and me sis?

- I'm sorry, dear -said Ulrich hugging her as well as Aelita.

- I'll miss you so much Aelita -said Yumi joining the hug.

- And I'll miss you all -joined Odd.

- I haven't known you for much, but I hope we'll be friends even after xana controls me -commented William before hugging too.

- I love you… my friends -said timidly Jeremy.

- Okay -said Aelita-, let's do a last Return to the past. Let's hope my father manages to convince my mother. She's the only one able to stop Tyron.

She sat down in front of the screen and started keying. She looked at her friends one last time, smiled, and pressed the enter, causing everything to be englobed by light.

6 June 1994

A kid Aelita and Waldo Schaeffer reunited on the lab room.

- Dad -said Aelita calmly-. I am ready.

- Trust me, dear. This time, everything will turn out alright. XANA's on its original state, and it's just you and me that remember everything.

- Well, not for long -said Aelita.

- You won't need to. I'll carry that burden, as it was all my fault to begin with. I created XANA and I'll be the one to make sure it doesn't reborn.

Franz entered the countdown virtualization process and they both entered the elevator and got into the scanners.

- See you later, dad.

- See you later, Aelita.

From this point on, everything went just as it did on the original timeline. Some time after XANA used Tyron's base and supercomputer on the Amazon Forest, Tryon contacted Anthea through her computer.

- Min kjærlighet, what Tyron is working on now is a menace to the whole world. Please, stop him. Convince him to stop. Yours forever, Waldo. PD: When you wish to find me, just look up.

Anthea looked at the text in front of her and felt strange. She had a deja-vu, the strongest she had ever felt. She decided to talk to her husband about it.

- Um, Tyron dear. What is it exactly that you are working on now?

- Do you remember that virus that possessed my lab? Well, I've been able to track it to this virtual world and I've managed to get its code base. It's the best thing I've ever seen, it's like an entity on its own.

- And what do you plan to do with it?

- Well, I think I could make a lot of profit with it. The Green Phoenix would pay a lot to have an artificial intelligence like this.

- But do you think it's a good idea? They could try to conquer the world.

- Don't be silly. They'll just use it for stopping or spying communications. Although I must say, I need help with it and everyone around here except us is unable to do so.

- So just desist, right?

- What's gotten into you? I found this two kids on the lab. They somehow got there being from France: Aelita Stones and Jeremy Belpois in Kadic Academy -said the man showing some pictures.

- Aelita? -said Anthea while looking at the picture of her daughter in front of her.

- Please, leave me alone. I have work to do.

Anthea left, but with a feeling of indecision about what to do.

She didn't think it anymore. That night she went to the computer room and destroyed every single thing that Tyron had that could store data. Then, she left to the train station and grabbed the first one that headed to Paris.

She arrived two days after XANA was destroyed by the group. After a lot of confusion from both parts, mother and daughter managed to accept the fact that they had found each other, coming to the conclusion that Tyron had erased her mother's memories and was the one asking to capture her.

They both entered to live on the Hermitage. All the group helped in the restoration of the house.

As Anthea was sweeping upstairs, she looked at something strange on the ceiling. Something that looked like it could be pulled. Then she remembered Waldo's words: When you wish to find me, just look up.

She grabbed a ladder and pulled from the handle, revealing another floor of the house. She entered the attic and saw a small green light twitching. She approached it and saw that it was a small computer still working.

She wondered how it still worked and saw a cable that went outside to a small solar panel. She opened the computer and researching she found a small virtual world with just one piece of information: Franz Hopper's data.

She called the others and with the help of everyone they were able to retrieve the data entering via Lyoko, through the web with the Skid and entering the world as it was a Replika in its essence.

Then, they managed to get Franz back to life.

- Aelita, Anthea, you did it -said before falling to the ground.

- Dad! Be careful.

- I'm sorry, my body may be just 40 years old, but my soul is tired of having lived more than 80 years.

- What are you talking about, sir? -asked Jeremy.

- That's a long story to tell young man. You may need a chair.