Chapter 38 Regaining Trust (Vertigo)
A.N. – This chapter is Part 1 of some random number of chapters. Since I don't know how many chapters this new mini plot will go on for is the reason why I am saying this. Once I know I may update this chapter for future readers or rereaders. All I know is that it begins here and ends at the end of Is Anybody Out There?.
Short Summary – When A feels like the group is against her, she aims to make sure they trust her before her current self remembers who she is as Xana starts to target them individually.
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.
The group is in sector five on another data recovery mission. The transporter opens to reveal all five of them in a circle. The wall eventually opens and a path to the core zone opens, and the countdown begins.
"Three minutes to find the key, go!" Jeremy informs them. As they enter the open area all exits close.
"It's a trap!" A tells them as the creepers arrive.
"Here come our old friends" Yumi adds.
"Creepers. They just can't stay away from us" Odd comments.
"Remember guys, the clock is running" Jeremy reminds them.
"And considering the circumstances this time, we won't get back to the arena" A says.
"Right, which means we got to get to that key and activate before the timer expires" Ulrich says.
"I found the key at 2 o'clock, above Yumi" Jeremy informs them.
"Keep them distracted. The key's mine!" A says as she activates her wings and flies to it.
A creeper aims at A and fires. Odd jumps up and blocks. "Shield!" When he lands, he quickly aims. "Laser arrow!" The creeper cries in pain before it explodes.
A creeper appears in front of the key and fires at A. She dodges but can't find an opening. A then dive bombs and gets out of the creepers sight. It looks for her as A reappears behind it. "Yoohoo," the creeper turns around. "Energy field!" A destroys the creeper and activates the key.
"Nice one A" Jeremy congratulates her.
All of them move to the elevator and enter the celestial dome. "I'm connected Jeremy" Aelita informs.
"We have to get the data before the flying mantas hatch."
A looks ahead but doesn't see any movements in the nest. "Strange. There's no movement in the nest."
"Be on your guard. They may try to flank you by coming from the other end of the sector."
A creeper appears behind them. It fires and hits Yumi. Ulrich quickly turns to it and blocks. He is thrown off his balance and Yumi is devirtualized. Ulrich then throws his sword, destroying it.
"Done Jeremy, you can take over again" Aelita says, and Jeremy materializes their vehicles as the flying mantas arrive.
"Perfect timing" A says as she activates her wings. They all take off and as they try to escape, the mantas launch flying mines.
"What is that?" Ulrich says. As they approach the new object, it starts chasing and exploding.
"They're mines!" Aelita comments. They all avoid and make into the tunnel safely.
"Creepers in the celestial dome, flying mines. Somedays, it seems like Xana is trying to kill us" A comments.
"Well, the data you retrieved was very useful. You got me access to Xana's subsystems" Jeremy comments.
"And you're telling this us now why?" Odd asks.
"This one specifically is like a code for a virus and if its anything like Aelita's virus, then I might be able to free you from Xana!"
"You mean…like soon?" Aelita questions.
"Yeah!"
"Then we can focus on finding out what A's connection is and defeat Xana for good" Ulrich comments.
"Okay Einstein, while you focus on freeing princess, while we focus on the climbing wall" Odd says.
"Count me out" Ulrich replies.
"Really? Why not?" Yumi questions him.
"Not a climber. Doesn't peak my interest."
"At least come and watch me" Odd asks.
"Yeah, for once Odd has found a sport where being scrawny is a plus" Yumi jokes.
"I am not scrawny! I'm svelte!" Odd retorts back.
Even in the future, Ulrich never got over his fear of heights. The rest of the group just accepted it after some time. At least for them, Xana never returned. A was hoping she could do it again. "I'm heading back to." A retreats back to Lyoko.
Aelita's Point of View
"You think these codes can help us link Xana to A?" Aelita comments.
"They're just subsystems. For us to link them, I would need A to access a tower. It's the only way for me to scan her full virtual signature to find a link between her and Xana."
"Let's get to work then. The faster we can free me from Xana, the better."
A's Point of View
A collapsed on the couch, exhausted from all she's been doing. For some time, she felt the group was against her. She didn't know what for, but the past missions, she felt a lingering presence among them. She's been doing everything in her power to prove her usefulness to the team, but to no anvil. She needs their trust so there are no possibilities for failure after Aelita's past is revealed.
"How am I going to them to fully trust me again? The only obstacle is why they are acting this way? I don't even know what I did wrong" A begins questioning herself and her actions. "I'd hate to do this, but if I am ever going to get them to trust me, it's time I throw their lives in danger." A exits and heads to sector five.
A was in Xana's secret base within the dome and she started explaining the situation. "After all this time of wanting me to avoid murder, you want me to try to kill them?" Xana asked.
"Don't actually kill them. Just throw a few dangerous situations at them until they trust me" A tells him.
"And why should I do this?"
"If I don't have their trust, I can't help you secure the keys. I need them not to suspect a thing."
"I got a few ideas to throw around. You better not be toying with me. That comes with serious consequences."
"Once I have their trust, I have an idea to help push them far along."
A left as Xana prepared his next attack.
A was in her abode when Jeremy contacted her. "A, we got problems!"
"Xana at it again?" She asks.
"Yeah, problem is we don't know what it is. Also, Aelita is well, she's invisible."
"What did you do to her Jeremy?"
"Nothing. It must be the anti-virus I implanted in her."
"You had an anti-virus, and you didn't tell me?!"
"We were gonna surprise you by saying now with Aelita cured, we can focus on you. But now with her issue, we have to start from scratch. For now, find the others. They're in the woods looking for Ulrich. I wanna make sure Xana isn't attacking them."
"On it. Time to see what you planned this time" A exits from Lyoko into the forest.
As soon as A exits, she hears the wolves howling. Knowing wolves don't howl during the day that much, that only meant Xana has found them. She runs in the direction of the noise and finds a pack of them surrounding the warriors at a rock wall. A stays silent as she sees the warriors escape. She just hopes Ulrich can do it. This was truly a life or death situation. Suddenly, she sees Ulrich fall. She wouldn't get to him quick enough, and she couldn't change into her avatar quick enough. Ulrich survive the fall, and phases through the wolf.
"Fake wolves huh? Weak attack. I didn't know he would half-ass a life threatening situation" A says quietly. The warriors start defeating the fake wolves, but three of them appear to be real.
"Uh oh, this one's real" Ulrich says in realization.
"So are these two" Yumi adds.
"Okay, now it's life threatening," A says as she jumps into action. "Back off mutts!" A stands between them and the wolves.
"A!" Odd says.
"Get to the factory! Aelita's going to need you."
"You sure? Jeremy said she's almost at the activated tower" Yumi asks.
"Something just tells me it's not gonna be that easy."
Jeremy calls Yumi back and confirms what A said. "A was right. The tower doesn't recognize Aelita. Looks like we got to handle this on our own."
"Then get going. Me and A will handle the wolves" Ulrich says as he steps up next to her. "Ready?"
"Ready," A replies. Ulrich picks up a stick and swings it, but it breaks as it hits the wolf. The wolf remains unfazed by the attack. "Anymore bright ideas?"
"Not at this moment."
A looks at her wrist. "I got an idea. Lyoko is safer for both of us."
"Luring the wolves to Jeremy would not be a smart idea. They'll tear him to shreds."
"I have a solution." She shows him her Lyoko band.
"How are we gonna do this?"
"Start running and we'll go through." They wait for a few seconds. "Now! Run!"
They take off and A takes aim in front of them opening a portal to Lyoko. Ulrich is about to run through when A cries out in pain as a wolf has its teeth around her ankle. She kicks it off of her. "Here, grab my hand" Ulrich offers.
"Just go! I'll handle them!"
"Injured? You won't make it!"
"I have my ways." Ulrich leaves and A closes the Lyoko door. "Just you and me Xana." A uses her band to transform into her Lyoko avatar. "Can't let you guys have an unfair advantage." The wolves jump at her. "Energy field!" A was able to knock out the three wolves. She takes off flying to somewhere safe.
The wolves were roaming around looking for A. She was hiding behind a few bushes, hoping the wolves don't know where she is. When she sees the wolves moving on, she looks down at her outfit and sees blood on the sot where she got bitten. She pulls down her leggings and sees the wound the wolves caused. She knows that she can't continue like this, cause she'll eventually bleed out. She decides to use her energy orbs to cauterize the wound and buy herself some time. She squints in pain but is able to stop herself from bleeding. She starts panting trying to hold back a scream to avoid alerting the wolves. She puts back on her leggings and stands up as the three wolves approach her. "You again?" They lunge and she fires.
Aelita is flying through the city as the wolves chase her. People are screaming as the wolves run like madmen. The police are eventually called in but are unable to do anything due to the panic. She sees the factory in the distance. As much as she didn't want to lead them there, she figured it would be easier to defend herself. She then flies in that direction. The wolves still in hot pursuit.
As she approached the factory entrance, a wolf jumps up and gets her leg again in the same spot. A falls onto the ground. The wolves look at her as they go to find a different way down. A once again feels a pain in her leg and can feel herself bleeding out again. She tries to crawl away to somewhere safe before the wolves can reach her. The wolves then surround her. They are ready to pounce and tear her apart, but they suddenly collapse. A also passes out due to blood loss.
A wakes once again on her couch in Lyoko. She falls back with a huge sigh; thankful she survived the attack. This was too close of a call for her. She knew of the risk she was taking and was not immune, but she was wondering if she was the one at risk, rather than the warriors. She decided to check up on Ulrich really quickly before resting up.
A was the rock climbing competition and William was challenging Ulrich. A could take a good guess at what happened earlier due to his rivalry with William.
"First one to the top. Or are still scared like last time?" William says, remembering what happened before the jump back in time.
"You know what, yeah, I am. I have vertigo and there ain't no shame in it. No worse than being afraid of spiders" Ulrich comments back.
"But how did you know about that?"
"It helps to know people who know how to get things. See you around spiderman."
"Hey Ulrich, can I talk to you for a second?" A asks.
"Sure." He goes over to her. "What is it?"
"I just want to know if you trust me?"
"I wasn't at first and I'm not sure I still do fully, but then again you did save my life, so I guess I can trust to do what you have to when needed."
"In other words, you trust me enough to be a valuable part of the team."
"Exactly. We all need to be like you in order to survive Xana's attacks. But that Lyoko band makes you special as it allows us to escape high risk situations like the last one."
"It's nice to know where you stand."
"Thank you though. I'm not sure what might've happened if you didn't send me to Lyoko."
"After what happened to me, you got off lucky." A walks away. "One down, four to go. Only question, how much risk am I going to be at trying to save another one of them?"
A.N. – Ulrich may trust A enough to not to doubt her like the others, but he is only one of the five. The saving will go as follows: Cold War – Yumi, Déjà Vu – Aelita, Tip Top Shape – Odd, Is Anybody Out There? – Jeremy. Once that episode concludes, then the hunt for the truth begins. This season will be wrapping up soon. PM me with story ideas! Review with questions or comments! I will respond! As always, till next time! See ya! -lyokowarrior97