Chapter 32 Trust Issues (Common Interest & Temptation)
A.N. – Ok, so first things first, Common Interest will alternate between Jeremy and A due to the issue of the supercomputer failing. Second, Temptation will have an ending scene showing how smart Xana really is. Let's begin!
Short Summary – A and Aelita start to feel weak the day after a criminal escapes. After Jeremy finds out that the supercomputer is failing, it's up to him to save Aelita, A, and Xana.
Short Summary – Jeremy starts to suffer serious mental health problems as Xana continues to attack in order to gain Aelita's memory. But with Xana's increased intelligence, he may have found an alternate way to achieve victory.
Disclaimer – I do not own Code Lyoko or the story idea. I am just a fan of the show, and idea was submitted by James Marshall.
Common Interest
Xana's Point of View
Xana was working on something in sector 5. The interface he was working on was playing on the Lyoko Warriors last conversation on repeat. He was questioning the same thing as Jeremy, is A Aelita? Besides the age and height difference, everything about her matches. Suddenly, the interface shuts down and sector 5 goes dark. "What is going on?" Suddenly Xana feels weak. "Am I dying?" Power comes back and Xana quickly investigates. He sees the battery of the supercomputer running low. "Time to solve this problem." He activates a tower and finds the perfect candidate.
A's Point of View
A comes into the courtyard, almost feeling sick. She had no physical problems, but she could throw up at any times. Still, she went to see the warriors. "Anything new in the world?"
"Besides this criminal mastermind escaping, no nothing. What about you? You look sick?" Ulrich asks.
"Oh, it's nothing. Just a rough week," A lies, not wanting them to be concerned.
"What's even more concerning is the police described a supernatural force" Yumi adds.
"You think it's Xana?" A asks, knowing Xana is not subtle.
"Not a chance. The superscan shows all clear. What about Lyoko?" Jeremy says.
"Nothing. All clear."
"What did this Peter Duncan guy do anyway?" Odd asks.
"Oh nothing much," Jeremy responds, naming off his rap sheet. "Fine art theft, safecracking, kidnapping, bank robberies…"
"Robbery expert. Semmes like a guy who can get what he wants" A responds. 'Could be useful' she thinks next.
The group then notices A and Aelita in similar situations. "You two okay?"
"Just a rough week" A responds.
"I just didn't sleep well last night" Aelita responds next.
The bell and A heads back for the forest and the group heads to class. As she waits for the day to pass, she starts to have the feeling of nausea this time only worse. She then has a massive headache, and collapses on her knees, gripping her head, and then everything went black.
Jeremy's Point of View
"Aelita!" Jeremy gasps as she suddenly collapsed on the ground.
Aelita is taken to the hospital in an ambulance, Jeremy by her side as they wheel her through the emergency room. He stops when they go into a room. He waits, hoping Aelita pulls through.
A's Point of View
A's vision is blurry as she slowly opens her eyes, grunting as well. She slowly gets up and holds onto a branch to gain balance. "What happened?" She didn't know what the cause of this was, but there was only one place that held that answer…the factory. She slowly walks towards the sewer entrance.
Jeremy's Point of View
The group, minus A, were waiting to hear from the doctors. "So, how is she?" Jeremy asks as a doctor arrives.
"She's fine don't worry. She'll be alright, but it's a strange case" the doctor responds.
"Can we see her?" Yumi asks.
"I don't see why not, but not too much noise. She needs to rest."
"How are your test results?" Yumi asks.
"Completely normal" Aelita responds.
"Maybe it's got something to do with the fact you're not really human" Ulrich points out.
"It could be the virus Xana implanted in me."
"Wait, we forgot about one thing. If Aelita is suffering, what about A?" Jeremy asks.
"You're right, they're connected" Yumi realizes.
Jeremy quickly dials her number.
A's Point of View
A has almost made it the manhole cover, still moving slowly. Her phone rings. "Jeremy?"
"A, are you alright?" Jeremy asks.
"Just fine. I collapsed, but I woke up."
"Just like Aelita. She's also okay too. Just checking in on you." He hangs up.
A moves the cover and descends into the sewer.
Jeremy's Point of View
"A said she had the same experience as Aelita, but nothing too serious," Jeremy says. "I'm going to the factory to check it out."
"We'll go with you" Ulrich responds, putting an arm around Odd's shoulder.
"I'll stay here. We can have a girl-to-girl talk for once" Yumi adds.
A's Point of View
A has almost made it to the factory, right up at the bottom of the ladder. Suddenly, Jeremy, Odd, and Ulrich appear. "A, are you okay?" Ulrich asks arriving first.
"Just a little weak from the blackout" A responds.
They help her up the ladder, and across the bridge to the laboratory. They put her against the wall.
"Of course, the superscan bugged up. If there is a tower, I can't find it. At least, not yet" Jeremy explains.
"Well how about me, Ulrich, and A go investigate?" Odd suggests.
"Go without me. I'm too weak" A quickly responds, not knowing how good she'll be on Lyoko, especially with the fainting spells.
"Fine then, just me and Ulrich."
"Ok then, head down to the scanners" Jeremy tells them, and he virtualizes them to the ice sector. "Here come your vehicles."
The boys take off and Odd soon reports. "Jeremy, we found the tower. No monsters in sight" Odd says.
"Okay, it's marked. 25 degrees North Northeast."
"Next step, get Aelita here to deactivate it" Ulrich says.
"It's really strange. Why would Xana Aelita's life if he needs her memory?" A asks.
"Who knows? His tactics are always unknown" Jeremy replies.
"But you remember the Valentine's Day attack? Xana didn't risk her getting devirtualized, but he's gonna risk her dying on Earth."
"Maybe he's hoping we virtualize her, hoping it will cure her." A hasn't talked to Xana since the Marabounta, so not knowing what's happening on the other end, A is in the dark along with the warriors. Suddenly, the screen goes dark, and all controls are useless. "This is bad." And everything goes black again.
Jeremy's Point of View
Jeremy heard a thud and saw A knocked out. "A! A! What happened?!" Jeremy exclaims but gets no response. He feels her pulse getting weaker and weaker. He heads down to the supercomputer room, knowing her and Aelita are connected to it. "What's wrong with this darn supercomputer?" Jeremy pulls the lever, trying to do a reset, but the supercomputer doesn't restart. "Ugh, this is really bad!" Jeremy continues to try with the same result. "Come on! Start up, will ya!" The supercomputer eventually fires up. "Oh, finally!" Jeremy looks at the power and notices the battery dying. "Oh no, the nuclear battery is almost dead!"
A's Point of View
A again wakes up with a blurry vision. She also sees Jeremy walking in. He runs up to her. "What's…what's happening?" She asks weakly.
"Bad news. The nuclear battery is dying, and soon it will go along with…" Jeremy starts.
"Aelita, Xana, and me…"
Jeremy's Point of View
Jeremy is at the hospital explaining the situation to his friends, except Aelita. "The uranium in the nuclear battery is almost all used up, so the supercomputer keeps failing. And pretty soon, it will turn off altogether."
"Then just change the battery Einstein" Odd tells him.
"This is serious Odd. This isn't World War II Germany! You can't find uranium available to anybody! Only military personnel and scientist. Which neither of us are."
"Is there some kind of emergency battery?" Ulrich asked.
"No, I checked" Jeremy replies.
"Xana is dying" Yumi says.
"And so are Aelita and A. All because of that miserable virus and A's connection to Aelita. I'm going to get something to drink."
Jeremy was holding his cup in the waiting room. He doesn't know what A's connection to Aelita is that allows her to be affected by this trauma. A watches him and knows that if Aelita were to ever perish in the past, she would cease to exist. She walks up to him.
"Hey there…" she says.
"Hey" he replies weakly.
"You know, even if we are to lose this battle, just know that we all died with purpose. Sure, we may never know the secret's of the past, but I think a normal life is more important then risking life and death fighting Xana every day."
"I would still like to know who you really are and what your connection to Franz Hopper really is?"
A decide it's now or never. And if she was going to die, it's better Jeremy knows the truth. "Listen, I…"
"There you two are" a man says. They look up to see Peter Duncan and both are knocked out.
Jeremy reawakes in the supercalculator room, with Duncan, A, a radioactive suit, and a new uranium core battery. "What…what are you gonna do?" Jeremy asks.
He throws him the suit. "Save us, and me. Then I'm gonna kill you" Xana replies through Duncan.
Jeremy quickly changes and he shuts down the supercomputer and calls Ulrich. "Ulrich, it's me."
"Jeremy, where are you? Aelita just had another attack" Ulrich replies.
"That figures. I just turned off the supercomputer."
"What?! Why would you do that for?"
"Peter Duncan is under Xana's control. He kidnapped me and A and he is making me replace the battery."
"That means A and Aelita are gonna be saved!"
"Yeah, but if A doesn't wake up immediately, Duncan is gonna try to kill me. I'll try to escape, but it will be up to you to get to Lyoko and deactivate the tower. It's the only way to stop Duncan." He hangs up and starts to work on the battery. He pulls out the old one and puts the new one in. He closes the case undresses and restarts the supercomputer. "Please let Aelita be okay." He pulls the lever, and it restarts.
A's Point of View
A immediately wakes up and stands up, seeing Duncan go after Jeremy. She rushes him. "Not so fast!" She tackles him.
"A!" Jeremy exclaims.
"Go! You have got to get the others to Lyoko! Leave him to me!" Jeremy presses the button, and the elevator ascends. Duncan quickly retaliates and pushes a off of him. A quickly recovers but Duncan phases through the wall. "Oh, you got new tricks now huh?"
A presses the button and waits for the elevator. She steps in and heads up to the top. The elevator opens to see Ulrich getting owned by Duncan. A rushes him again, knocking him down. "Don't think I down for the count yet."
"I see the new battery replenished your strength" Xana says.
"And I see you haven't changed either."
Ulrich tries to take advantage of him being distracted but is pulled off and thrown against a wall. "Now it's your turn" he turns to A.
"Bring it!" A says with a fire in her eye.
A and Duncan go ff fighting. Xana is trying to land a hit on her, but can't due to A's advanced martial arts skills. "Giving up yet?" A asks.
"No! But I always have a plan B" he says as he fires electricity at her, throwing her at the wall and landing next to Ulrich. Duncan goes after Jeremy. Just before Duncan can go after him, he collapses as the tower is deactivated.
"What do we do about him?" Ulrich asks.
"I'll take care of him" A says as she drags his body away.
Jeremy's Point of View
Yumi reads the news the next day. "Peter Duncan has reportedly disappeared. Police have no leads as there is no evidence of him leaving through any means necessary. If any information is found, a reward is being given to information leading capture or arrest."
"What do you think A did with him?" Ulrich asks.
"Who knows if it was even A. He could've woken up, knocked her out, and made his escape" Jeremy replies.
"Yeah, guess we'll never know" Odd says.
A's Point of View
A is sitting across from Duncan, as he wakes up, tied to a chair. "Hey, what's going on? Is this an interrogation?" Duncan says, struggling.
"No, an offer. You want to be free? Without police hunting you?" A asks.
"I should be. I got sloppy."
"Well I can give you that chance, but you have to follow a certain set of rules."
"What are they?"
"1. No crime whatsoever. 2. Remain at large, but don't get caught. 3. And most importantly, I need a favor in return and when I need it, you will do it, no questions asked. And break any of these rules, I will not spring from prison, and I won't hesitate to turn you in. Am I clear?"
"Crystal."
A lifts his head to look him I the eyes, threateningly. "Don't play with me Duncan. It won't end well for you. If needed, I will return bloodied and beaten up. I will ask again: am I clear?!"
"Yes, for God's sake."
"Good." She unties him slowly before whispering in his ear. "Remember those three rules and your freedom will be secure."
A walks away as Duncan also leaves.
Temptation
A has returned to her virtual abode to rest after dealing with another Xana attack. Recently, he has been quietly communicating with her. She believes that he has become intelligent enough to carry on without her. But both of them know the other is the threat and they are stronger together than against. But still, she wondered why Xana cut off all communication.
But another thing, Jeremy has become a real pain lately. He does things without thinking, cuts classes, and preoccupies his time in his room, or at the factory. And the last time was the worst. He launched a return in time when Xana didn't do anything in the real world. Knowing it increases Xana's power, he still did it anyway. He didn't even communicate with her when he was at the factory.
A decided to go visit the warriors for lunch to see what was wrong. She joined them at the table. "Any news with our boy genius?"
"No, still the same old grouch from a few days ago" Ulrich replies.
"Have you guys noticed why he has been like this?"
"Who knows. Stress from Xana, school, work.
"He needs to pace himself. He can't let dealing kill him physically. He can only do so much."
"Well that's Einstein. He stressed sleepless nights freeing princess over here" Odd says pointing to Aelita.
"And now he's still doing it. I know my virus keeps me linked to Xana and stops us from living normal lives, but he can't kill me through it" Aelita adds.
"He almost did. Me too" A reminds her.
"Yes, but he also wanted Jeremy to save us. Xana cares too much deep down to get rid of us, especially me."
"That's only because he wants something out of you Aelita. If Xana didn't need you, he would eliminate you" Yumi tells her.
A couldn't comment but she knows that when Xana achieved one thing, Aelita was never truly free from Xana's grasp. He used her memory for escape, her access to the towers to eliminate the sectors, and used her to draw her father out of hiding. A knew she was going to experience these things again, but what Aelita didn't know is how it was going to occur, but A did.
"I'm gonna go check on him" Aelita says.
"I'm coming with you" A adds and follows her.
The two enter Jeremy's room and find him hard at work on the computer. Aelita tries to reach him, but he pushes her away. He tries to tell her something, but Xana activates a tower and Jeremy returns to how he was before.
Jeremy, A, and Aelita reach the factory and head into the laboratory. "Head for the scanners" Jeremy informs them.
"Shouldn't we wait for the others?" Aelita suggests.
"They're not coming. Xana has possessed Rosa, so it's just us three" Yumi informs them. The three descend down and are virtualized into the mountain sector.
"The tower should be straight in front of you" Jeremy informs them.
Before they can respond, they are fired at. Yumi and Aelita run, and A fires an orb. "Energy field!" She fires and destroys one before returning to the two.
"Jeremy, we got an army of monsters in our way!" Yumi tells him.
"I got an idea, but it's gonna take a few minutes to prepare," A suggests. A combines two of her energy fields and starts to create a mega one. She moves slowly and fires. "Energy field!" She takes out at least 7 of them with it. "Catch me if you can!" She takes flight and half of them follow.
A starts to lead them away and after a few minutes, Jeremy informs her the tower has been deactivated. "Too bad, so sad" A taunts them as they fire and devirtualize her.
A returns to the school to see an ambulance parked out front. The warriors outside it. "What happened?"
"Jeremy was found unconscious in his room after the jump in time" Ulrich tells her.
"There has to be some clues as to what happened" Yumi says.
"We could check out the factory" Aelita suggests searching with Odd.
"Me and Ulrich will check his room."
"I'm coming with you" A adds, also curious as to why Jeremy is the way he is.
Yumi, A, and Ulrich are searching Jeremy's room. Yumi checked Jeremy's computer, A checked Jeremy's notes, and Ulrich looked in his closet.
"Nothing special. Except I found out Jeremy still wears underwear with kangaroos on them. I'll have to tell him to move onto boxers" Ulrich comments.
"We don't need to know that" A adds. She had seen enough of that from the future.
"Superscan shows all clear, but there's a lot of files. Hey, I can't open this one" Yumi says as she tries to open it but can't. "It's called My Journal." A moves in and hacks the files. "How…how did you do that?"
"Jeremy isn't the only one who can hack" A says. She can hack, but the real reason being she knows how to crack all of Jeremy's locks. This one was like a walk in the park compared to what he uses later on.
Ulrich phones Aelita so they can all see what was hidden on the file. "These are video files" Aelita says.
"Just open the first one" Yumi says as Aelita clicks it.
"Today I decided to start a video journal. A bit like the diary Franz Hopper had. This way, if anything happens to me, others may be able to continue my research. My search to find the anti-virus which will free Aelita from Xana has never been closer to success. I also looked into A as well and found out that her Aelita may be the same person. How is unknown." Aelita pauses the video and closes her eyes as the others look at her.
"Care to explain?" Ulrich asks.
"Can I decline? Main focus is saving Jeremy. Worry about me later" A said, needing to come up with a convincing lie. She couldn't risk telling them yet.
Aelita resumes the video. "And it's thanks to Franz Hopper's diary, and thanks to the data recovered from sector five that I was able to decode part of the diary that explains how to use the returns to the past to logarithmically increase your intelligence. I immediately tried it. It's amazing. It's as if my brain suddenly had the processing power on ten computers linked in series." He holds up a headset.
"A neural headset" Aelita says.
"Yes, he increased his own smarts, but he didn't consider how much of a threat Xana could be" a says. 'Or how smart he is now' she thinks.
"Open the most recent entry" Yumi tells her.
"This one's from yesterday" Aelita says opening another video.
"Everytime I use the headset, my mental and physical health gets worse and worse, but I'm moving so far in my research. I can't stop this close to success."
"Guess that explains why he was unconscious" A says.
"Question is, how do we save him?" Aelita asks.
"That something Jeremy has to do himself. He's fighting a mental battle by decreasing his mental health. Once he snaps out of it, he'll return. What we need to worry about is Xana. He can eliminate Jeremy and if succeeds, Aelita will be linked to him forever."
"Let's get to the factory" Odd says.
"I'll go check on Jeremy. I need to make sure Xana ain't targeting him" Yumi says.
The four arrive at the factory and A gets into the lab. "I'll monitor you guys. Without Jeremy, Xana can pull a nasty trick on you." She sits in the chair and puts on the headset. "You ready?"
"Ready" all of the reply in unison.
A virtualizes them successfully into the ice sector. "The tower shouldn't be too far from your current position. You'll have to go on foot though. And move quickly but safely as well. You're all clear but that bound to change."
A watches as their blimps move closer to the tower. Suddenly monster appear around them. "Be careful. Xana is sending you some monster." A sees the sector break part due to an idea Ulrich tried. With it, some of the monsters were destroyed as well. As they were trying to get to the tower, Yumi calls. "Yumi, what's happening?"
"Xana is taking us for a tour at the bottom of the river. Please tell me Aelita is in the tower" she cries out in terror.
"Guys, time is running short. You're gonna have to force your way." A sees Ulrich devirtualized seconds later. Every second that ticks, is a second that Jeremy and Yumi could be wiped out. Aelita eventually makes a bridge that allows her to access the tower. With the tower deactivated, a return has to be launched.
"You know how to do the jump back in time?" Ulrich asks.
"Yes, here we go. Return to the past now!" A presses enter and time is reset.
A escaped back to Lyoko before the others had a chance to question her. But she was not out of the woods yet as Xana appeared. "A, we have a few things to talk about" Xana told her.
"What about?" She replies.
"You know I have been absent for a while. Well there is a good reason. With each jump back in time, my power as well as my intelligence increases dramatically. Jeremy with his little escapade also affected me in the same way. I am now smarter than any AI out there."
"Yeah, so?"
"So, I began looking onto you and Aelita and the similarities between you. So I began thinking of an alternate way for me to get what I want."
"Which is?" A replied while clenching her fists.
"If I can't steal the keys from little Aelita, why don't I take the keys from you!" Xana pinned her to the wall. He also called the Scyphozoa as well.
"Wait! You can't steal the keys from me!" A pleads.
"Why not?"
"Because you already took my keys!"
Xana became interested. "I knew you were from a different time, considering your age, but explain further."
"It's true, you succeeded in stealing my keys. I came back to make sure events happen in a certain way. All events up to here have happened before. Actually in my time, you were good. But no one believed you. The warriors wanted to destroy you to use the power of the supercomputer to rule the world. You wanted to stop them, and due to this, both sides think the other is evil. You want out and to save the world from them, you must continue working with me and fighting against me. I have obtained their full trust and when the time's right, you will get the keys and then we can start moving against the warriors."
Xana released her. "With my power and intelligence, I don't need you."
"But if Aelita is able to recover her memories from you, our world is doomed. If things play out differently, you need me to makes sure they happen correctly."
"I'll be watching you."
"When the time's right, I'll let you know."
A was now found by Xana. The warriors would soon know where she would reveal the truth, but they needed to find out the truth behind Aelita first.
A.N. – And another combination chapter happens as well as the reveal of the future Aelita to Xana. Next time, destruction and devastation as Xana sends the krabs to Earth. Get ready for an explosive episode. PM me with story ideas if you have any! Don't forget to review with questions or comments! I will respond! As always, till next time! See ya! -lyokowarrior97