Angel: I've never done this for reviews in languages that I don't speak, but here goes (If you don't speak the language, you can skip this note): Esto es para que mis lectores españoles con las reseñas recientes se quejen o me den órdenes, y eso es por favor que se detengan. Definitivamente no tomes cosas de mi propio perfil para explicarme lo que debo y no debo hacer en mis propias historias. El hecho de que anuncie una nueva historia no significa que esté aceptando sugerencias de historias. Dejé de tomarlos porque cierto crítico de otra historia me hizo sentir incómodo. Gracias por leer, pero por favor no trates de escribirme en el asiento trasero. Seguiré ignorando este tipo de críticas como lo he hecho durante años. Esta historia, en realidad, cualquiera de mis historias no son plataformas para que hagas un montón de comentarios sobre algo que no he publicado. Ya recibo suficientes sugerencias con respecto a este anime en particular, y no me gusta. Te agradecería que me enviaras un mensaje, crearas una cuenta y me enviaras un mensaje privado si realmente quieres hablar conmigo. Porque de lo contrario, si estás usando una historia para hablar conmigo, no puedo responder a todas las reseñas en español. Además, no hablo español, pero trataré de responder lo mejor que puedo con un traductor. Agradezco a los lectores españoles, pero no si casi todos se van a quejar porque algunos de ellos lo hacen, o si quieres que escriba historias a tu manera. No es así como yo opero. Gracias.

And now for the regularly scheduled chapter. Trust me, I don't mean any disrespect, but it needed to be said.

The bell rings at Kadic as the clock hits 7:30 AM. Odd rubs his stomach as he waits by the door, wearing his backpack. "Hey Ulrich, what are you looking for? I'm hungry," He whines a bit as it's breakfast time. Ulrich is bending down in front of his bed, looking through the drawers. He seems to be looking for something.

"Huh, you go have breakfast. There's something I have to find," He tells his friend.

"...Kay," Odd relents after a few seconds. "I'll tell Ames and Jeremy."

"What's up with you and Amy anyway?" Ulrich couldn't help but ask. "Everywhere I turn, you're always with her," He points out in a bit of a teasing way.

"She's fun to hang around when I don't hang around you," Odd quips back with a small smirk. And with that he leaves, Ulrich opening up the closet. He continues looking, but doesn't find what he's looking for.

"Can't believe this!" He laments and closes the closet. He then opens up another drawer, finding some books, a ball, a tape, a pencil case, a screwdriver, a game device, but not the item he needs.

At the cafeteria during breakfast, Odd literally had a whole buffet, sighing in relief as Jeremy reads a book. Amy just takes a small bite of a croissant, shaking her head in amusement. "Ah, eight slices of toast and three bananas, not bad, huh?" He asks his friends, turning to Jeremy who takes some toast. "Hey, are you skipping gym class again?"

"Yup," Jeremy gives a small nod, turning to the two with a smile. "It gives me time to work on Aelita's materialization."

"Of course," Amy gives a small knowing smile. "But then again, you and gym never got along. Though don't make this a daily thing, Jeremy. Otherwise it'll catch up to you with Jim." Jeremy, being a genius, wasn't exactly...athletic like Ulrich or Odd. And Amy is somewhere in the middle. He didn't have the stamina to participate in gym, and he'd much rather be in front of a computer than a gym track.

"I'm sure it'll be fine. I can survive another day without going to gym class. Besides, you two will cover me like you always do."

Amy raises an amused brow at Odd, who just hums.

Ulrich closes the door to his room. He then looks to the side as he sees Sissi leaning against the wall. And he could tell that she had been waiting for him. "What's wrong, afraid the wall's gonna crumble?"

"Ha! Very funny," She smiles at him. "Can we talk for a second?" He stares at her, wondering what she's up to now...

The bell rings for 8 so that classes can begin soon. Other students who aren't staying at the school enter, one of them being Yumi. "Hi Yumi," She hears and comes to a stop. She lets out a happy hum as she walks over to her three friends near the tree.

"Hello."

"Good morning, Yumi," Amy gives her a friendly smile. She glances around as Ulrich isn't with them and then looks up ahead. Her eyes widen at the sight a few feet away.

"Hey, look over there, it's Ulrich."

The three peek behind the tree to see Ulrich sitting in front of the cafeteria. Sissi is with him and they seem to be talking, but he doesn't look happy. "But...what's he doing with Sissi?" Odd asks in confusion and Amy narrows her eyes.

"Something that's gonna annoy us, I can guarantee it."

"Hey Ulrich!" Odd calls out, him and Sissi looking up to see Odd and Amy waving him over. Sissi then leans in and he gasps as she has a smirk on her face.

"So?"

"Hey, that's blackmail!" He accuses her angrily. "Why do you expect me to give into that?"

"First of all, because it's hard to say no to a pretty girl like me," She gestures to herself boastfully. Meanwhile, he doesn't seem to agree. Not that he thinks she's ugly, but he'd also never let her think that he likes her looks either. "And second of all, I'm not going to give you any choice." He glares at her and she laughs.

"Come on, come on," She drags him away, to the surprise of his friends.

"Did he...just ignore us and go off with Sissi?" Amy blinks slowly at this. "What? L-Like, what?"

Later, they're in history class aside from Yumi, since she's a grade higher than her friends. "In the 17th century, all European states were governed by either a king or a prince." Sissi is admiring Ulrich as they're sitting next to each other. He's busy taking notes so that he doesn't have to pay attention to her, and he knows she's looking. "They rule over mainly peasant populations."

"Hey, what's going on with them?" Odd whispers as he's sitting next to Amy, Jeremy to his left at another table. "I'm seeing things. Ulrich and Sissi, that's weird."

Neither of his friends say a thing since Odd is a bit loud. "With an iron hand, we call this..."

"On the brighter side, check out how jealous Herb is." Amy and Jeremy tilt their heads to see Herb glaring so hard at Ulrich, he could probably make a hole through the boy's head.

"Odd!"

Odd turns around in alarm. "Huh?"

"Are you listening to me, Odd?" The blond smiles sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. He hears giggling, glancing at the corner of his eye to see Amy covering her mouth to hide her laughter. He couldn't help but feel a little less embarrassed by the sound of her laughter. It just felt very comforting to him.

"Gossip all you want, just make sure you do it while watching yourself," Amy looks away with a small smile so that the teacher doesn't notice her giggling. The bell rings and Ulrich leaves with Sissi, although he would rather not given the look on his face.

"We have some important things to talk about, Sissi," Odd grabs the black-haired girl by the arm, to her confusion. "Come on, hurry."

"Hey! But-" She gets pulled away from Ulrich.

"Mind explaining?" He looks to his right to see Jeremy and Amy.

"And trust me, we're gonna overlook you ignoring us for now," She closes her eyes, hands behind her back.

Odd is distracting Sissi, and she doesn't look pleased being away from Ulrich. "Yes, but, it's really important..."

"Ulrich, please tell us that you haven't gone insane or anything like that," Amy starts off to him. "Because there's nothing sane about hanging out with Sissi. Unless you've got amnesia to forget who she is."

"No, it's nothing like that," He sighs a little. "Okay, here goes. I'm in...I'm in a jam," He glances at Sissi to make sure that she's not looking in their direction. "Big-time. For years, I've uh...been keeping a diary," He speaks the last word quietly so that they can't hear.

"A what?" Jeremy crosses his arms, looking confused.

"A diary!" Ulrich speaks louder, a little embarrassed that he has to emphasize this. "And Sissi found it and...now she's blackmailing me. I have to go out with her. If she thinks she'll win me over that way, she's wrong."

"Waaaait...why do I have a bad feeling about this?" Amy closes her eyes, feeling like if he keeps a diary, then he'd probably say certain things that people don't need to know.

"Hold on a second," Jeremy has the same line of thinking as her. "In this diary of yours, did you talk about XANA, or Lyoko?"

"Well, yeah, and if I don't do what Sissi says, she's gonna tell everybody. I don't know what to do," He confesses to his friends. Amy just sighs slowly; not because she's mad at him for writing about it, but because Sissi actually read it.

"I can't believe Sissi is trying this hard just to get your attention," Amy shakes her head, looking annoyed. "But then again, I shouldn't be so surprised. I mean, it's Sissi."

Jeremy places a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry, Ulrich. While you're all at the pool, Yumi and I will look around. We'll find your diary, you'll see."

"Mm-hm," Amy gives him an assuring nod with a smile. He smiles back, grateful for their help.

"The answer is no!" They hear Sissi yell to Odd, causing them to look at her. "For the last time, I did not have a nose job. So stop asking, huh?!"

"Cut it out, Odd," Ulrich speaks up in defense, but only so Sissi won't get suspicious of the plan. "Leave her alone, will ya?" He steps forward and hugs her waist, the girl gasping at him. He leads her away and she glances back at the three, giving a triumphant smirk. She then hugs his arm.

"It's nothing," Jeremy places a hand on Odd's shoulder. "We'll explain."

"Though you're not gonna like it," Amy adds in, crossing her arms. Odd stares at the duo, wondering what was going on.

Electricity cracks near the school, and one of XANA's specters wiggles its way towards the bus. The very same bus that's taking the class to the pool. "Take a look, Odd, not bad, huh?" Jim brags as he's standing near the door. "This bus is the latest in modern technology. It's electricity driven, so it's non-polluting, but powerful too."

Odd gestures to the door so that Amy can go in first. She holds a backpack that is a light pink with black spots, and it has fake light pink fur all over the backpack. The girl glances back to smile at Odd. "Electric and powerful, huh? I'll bet you this crate goes about as fast as its name," He remarks, Jim glaring at him while Amy giggles at his remark. The XANA specter goes into the bus, the XANA symbol flashing from the headlight. Odd and Amy wave to the bus driver, who smiles at their politeness. The two walk off to take their seats. Suddenly the steering wheel sparks and he recoils back in shock.

"What the?! Huh?" Suddenly all the arrows from the screen go haywire and Sissi steps in.

"Come on, come on, all abroad now," Jim orders the students, Ulrich noticing the bus driver's confused expression. He doesn't have time to think on it as Jim pushes him forward. "Go sit down, kid." He bends down to the steering wheel. "Okay, what's the problem?" The bus driver taps the speed display, and a black silhouette quickly jumps out of it. The two gasp while looking up. "What is that?"

"I have no idea," The bus driver taps the display again and Jim just shrugs it off. He points to some of the students checking to see what's going on.

"Sit back down and stay there till we get to the pool!" He orders, everyone sitting down in unison. The doors close as Ulrich whispers to Amy since she's next to Odd. She then whispers to Odd, telling him what Ulrich said he saw. The two look up ahead, on alert as the bus leaves.

In Jeremy's room, Yumi gasps while punching his picture of Albert Einstein since she has nothing else to take her anger out on. Jeremy has just told her everything about Sissi's tactics. "Sissi is blackmailing him?"

"Yeah, incredible, huh? What matters now though is to find Ulrich's diary, before she starts blabbing about Lyoko," Jeremy informs her and she sits back down.

"I'll go through her room. And I'll call you if I need any help," She tells Jeremy.

"I'll be at the factory." They both stand up and leave Jeremy's room.

"Good luck," The two friends say to each other before running in opposite directions.

Jeremy arrives in the lab and gets into the chair as it swivels around. The map of Lyoko appears nearby. "It's Jeremy here, Aelita," He speaks up to get her attention. "Do you copy?" He presses enter as Aelita is in the forest sector, in a way tower. "Aelita?"

"I'm here, Jeremy," She reports as she's at the top. "I was waiting for you to call. In the meantime, I was studying your world a little more." She looks at the interface while sitting with her knees in front of her. "There are so many strange things to discover." She couldn't wait to actually experience those things for herself one day.

Odd suddenly calls Jeremy before he can tell her anything. "Odd, what's up? Huh? Something strange? What bus?"

The stoplight turns green and the bus is going unusually slow. However, no one else seems to really notice. "Isn't this nice and cozy?" Sissi wonders, Ulrich leaning in towards Amy and Odd.

"We're zipping along at two miles an hour," Odd reports as Amy holds his phone.

"We're on the bus to the pool," She adds in, glancing towards the front. "And that's not all, Ulrich said he saw something was up with the bus driver earlier."

"I don't believe this!" The bus driver exclaims as they're going only 20 miles an hour. He steps on the pedal, but there's still no change. "I got it floored, it just refuses to move," He tells Jim standing next to him.

"Okay, I'll load a scan on Lyoko. I'll call you if I find something," Jeremy answers to his friends.

"Okay, gotcha." He hangs up, Ulrich glancing at the duo across from him. "If it is XANA, what would he want with the bus?"

"I don't know, but we'd better keep an eye out on our end too," Amy says with a determined look.

"Hey Ames?" She glances at him, raising a brow. "If you don't mind me asking, what was California like? Did you have friends at your old school?"

"Hm?" She places a finger on her chin in thought. "Well, California was just me, my parents, and Kiki. I'm an only child, so to my dad it's absolutely 'paramount' that I keep up his legacy that he never stops thinking about," She rolls her eyes to the back of her head. "But at least my mom always kept him in check so that he didn't go overboard..." Although nowadays, he's pushed harder and harder on her because she assumes it's just the pressure he has from his life. And I did have friends at my old school, but I mainly kept to myself."

"Did they...know about anything going on at home?" He asks cautiously and she waves her hands.

"Absolutely not. If they did, they'd never hear the end of it from him."

"So then why move all the way near Kadic?" Odd raises a brow. From his perspective, she had a normal life, a semi-normal family, friends.

"My dad was relocating here for work, so we went along with him as soon as my last semester was over," She explains to him, looking away. "It's weird being away from California, but...you know, at least I have you guys."

He smiles at her and she returns it.

Yumi opens Sissi's door, having picked the lock. She slowly steps in and then looks into the closet. She touches the top of it and then looks underneath the desks. However, she couldn't find the diary. Yumi sits on the bed in thought, laying her head back on a pillow. She gasps as the pillow is particularly hard, turning around and smirking. "Ah ha." She grabs it and opens up the back zipper. "Bingo!" She holds up a diary, but then sees that it's pink. "Oh no." So it couldn't be Ulrich's because he wouldn't DARE have a pink diary of his own volition. She then opens it and sees that it's in cursive, and he doesn't write using that.

"This is not Ulrich's handwriting," As she flips through it, she realizes who it belongs to. "Oh, wow, it's Sissi's!" She gasps at a picture of Ulrich, his name written all around it. She then reads the last entry, which was about a day ago.

I'm tired of his acting as if I don't even exist. I can't stand him watching him pay so much attention to Yumi. So, while he was in the lunchroom, I went looking around. I just wanted a picture of him, but I found much better than that. Now, he can't possibly turn me down. I know what I'm doing isn't very nice, but it's the only way I can get him to stop ignoring me.

"Of all the nasty tricks!" Yumi closes the book in disdain. She then calls Jeremy.

"Yumi, did you find Ulrich's diary?"

"No, but guess what? I found Sissi's," She reports back while walking down the stairs. "You were right, she knows about Lyoko. She doesn't really understand what it is, but she's ready to use what she knows."

"Rats! Look, you've gotta find Ulrich's diary before they come back from the pool."

"Don't worry," Yumi smirks as she has a good idea on what to do with it. "I know how to get a hold of it." And with her plan, it's sure to get Sissi off Ulrich's back.

Meanwhile, the bus is going so slow that someone on a bike, which is normally slower, passes by it. "Hey, what if I ask my father if we can go to a movie tonight?" Sissi suggests happily to Ulrich. "That'd be cool, huh?"

"Huh," He replies curtly as he doesn't want to, and he couldn't care less. He'd rather be stuck with Kiwi than Sissi right now, and the dog chews up his shoes.

"Huh?!" Sissi recoils back furiously. "I'm being nice to you right now, but if you keep ignoring me, it just might not last, you hear?" She threatens and he keeps his eyes forward, never once looking at her. "A little friendly advice, pay attention to me or the whole school's gonna read your diary."

Amy rolls her eyes in annoyance as both she and Odd listen. "Any longer like this, and he'll be bombarded by a pack of wolves," Odd whispers to the girl. "Or maybe just one that's really ugly," He glances to Sissi and Amy snickers quietly so Sissi doesn't hear.

"Okay, okay, you don't have to threaten me. I know exactly what I'm risking," Ulrich answers, though is still frowning.

"Oh yeah? You really think so, Ulrich?" Her phone rings before she can tear into him some more, and she answers it. "Hello? Oh, Yumi." Ulrich opens his mouth in shock at the name, turning to her with wide eyes. "What do you want?"

"Well, uh, I wanted to tell you how much I like your style," Yumi says while sitting in the girls' bathroom. She then starts imitating Sissi. "I ran into that dipstick Jim today. What an idiot he looks like in that sweaty gym suit-"

"Okay, okay, what do you want?" Sissi demands quickly as she realizes the situation presented to her.

"Tell me where you've got Ulrich's diary hidden," Yumi demands with an angry look, showing to Sissi that she's serious. "And hurry up or all your nasty little secrets will be on page one of the school paper."

"Okay, okay! If you go into the girls' bathroom, it's in the third stall on top of the water tank, you got that?"

Yumi gives a surprised look as she's sitting in that very same stall right now. She looks up and sees the book peeking out from the water tank. "Okay, I'll go and check," She smirks while staring at it.

"Wait! What about my diary, what are you-" Yumi then hangs up, to her disbelief.

"Thanks a lot, Yumi," Ulrich smiles gratefully, his hands behind his back. "There, you see? It's good to have real friends, isn't it?"

Amy pats the seat next to her and Ulrich goes over to them. "Ames, scooch closer to me so we can make room," Odd orders jokingly and Amy does so, sitting between Ulrich and Odd. The former smirks as he sees Amy and Odd's shoulders touching. Immediately Herb, who was obviously waiting for Ulrich to leave, sits down next to Sissi.

"It's about time. I thought that guy would never get off your back," He comments, jerking a thumb behind him.

"If you know what's good for you, shut up!" She growls in frustration at him as she's not in the mood to be reprimanded. She grunts in frustration as it starts to hit her that maybe she went a little too far to get Ulrich's attention...

Yumi opens the door to the bathroom and runs off, hugging the diary close to her. "Yumi, what are you doing there?" She skids to a stop, seeing one of her teachers has seen her from a window.

"Nothing, sir. I felt sick, but I'm fine now!" She calls out before running off. He just stares after her and decides to not question it again.

"Aelita?" Jeremy wonders as he's asked Aelita to check into whether or not there's an activated tower.

"Jeremy, Odd, Amy, and Ulrich were right. XANA s at it again, the pulsations are getting stronger," She says while now outside of the way tower, looking up ahead.

Jeremy hears something and looks to his left, the scan coming up with the results. "Aelita, the activated tower is in the desert."

"I'm off."

Jim sits at the back of the bus, which hasn't gone any faster. "What's going on? This is weird!" Ulrich looks towards the front as the steering wheel sparks yet again. Except this time, it seems to move on its own. The brakes are pressed thanks to XANA having control of the bus now, and it goes much faster. The students scream, and it gets Jim's attention. He yells in alarm as the bus cuts someone off. Ulrich, Amy, and Odd manage to stand up. Jim stands up as well once he sees them.

"Hey! Get back to your seats!" He calls out to the trio. "You're not allowed to get up!"

However, the three of them ignore him as they stare at the steering wheel. And right off the bat, they notice the sparking electricity. "What's going on with this bus?" Ulrich questions the bus driver in a serious tone.

"God, kid, I wish I knew. All I know is it's out of control!" He answers as Jim rushes over to them.

"Hey, it seemed to be working okay before you recharged the batteries, right?" Ulrich wonders, as there's only one explanation as to why it would act out like this.

"Yeah, everything was just fine, but now, I can't..." The bus driver can't even finish his sentence as the steering wheel moves on its own. Ulrich then contacts Jeremy to update him.

"Ulrich, what's happening, huh?"

"We're in trouble," He explains while walking down the aisle. "XANA has taken complete control of the bus."

"Okay, give me a sec," Jeremy types into his computer to pull up the city-wide map. "I wonder what XANA's trying to do. Where are you?"

"At the corner of Washington Street and Franklin Avenue."

"I'll call you back as soon as I can locate you," Jeremy states as Ulrich sits back down in his seat next to Amy.

"We're in for a rough ride," He tells his friends and hangs up.

"Aelita's gonna need a hand on Lyoko. We've gotta go," Odd says with narrowed eyes.

"Then you go," Ulrich advises the blond. "I'll stay here."

Odd then glances at the brunette. "Ames? Going or staying?"

"I'll stay here and help out Ulrich," She answers, glancing at the boy. Odd places a hand on her shoulder in worry.

"Be careful, okay?" He then glances up to look at Ulrich. "You'll take good care of her, right?"

Ulrich silently nods and then smirks to himself how Odd is being with Amy right now. "Do I look like I need protection?" Amy gives the both of them an amused smile. "Anyway, hurry up, Odd. Go while you have the chance."

The bus driver and Jim pull at the steering wheel to try and get control of it. But it's locked in place, therefore they can't touch. The controls at this point are unresponsive. Odd steps up to the door and forcibly opens it, alarming Jim. He turns around, screaming as Odd leaps out of the bus. Jim yelps before the door closes and Odd lands on the pavement. Amy runs all the way to the back, seeing Odd stand up. He turns around and sees her, waving to her with a reassuring smile. She waves back silently, hoping that he'll make it there quick. The bus accelerates to over 100 kph.

"Take off your backpacks and use them as airbags!" Ulrich orders, the bus going towards traffic as everyone screams.

"Do what he says! All your stuff in your backpacks should be hard enough for protection!" Amy calls out to everyone. The bus knocks down several cars before speeding down.

Jeremy calls Yumi and she picks up while in the courtyard. "Yumi, things are getting tough here. Come straight to the factory after class."

"Right," She turns around and runs off.

"Now hurry up and get your seat belts fastened!" Jim says while on the floor, the bus getting even faster in speed. The bus driver tries and fails to comfort a frightened Herb.

"Come on, kid, take it easy, just calm down, huh? He then looks up at Sissi putting on her seatbelt. "Does the little girl need any help?"

"No thanks, the little girl can take care of herself," She dismisses as she's keeping calm—at least, compared to Herb anyway. The bus honks, speeding right past a truck.

Amy has her phone to her ear while looking at the street they just passed. "We've just gone through the constellation intersection, okay?" She asks, holding out the phone to Ulrich so both of them can hear.

"Don't worry, guys, I've got you spotted now. But I still don't understand what XANA is trying to do..." Jeremy rubs his chin in thought as he doesn't see anything in their direction.

"At any rate, Odd managed to get off the bus for Lyoko, so it's just me and Ulrich now. He should be there soon," Amy says as she glances out the window, slightly worried for him. She hopes that he manages to get over there without any problems, XANA would throw something his way to distract him.

"Where do you think we're headed?" Ulrich asks the brunette once she hangs up.

"I don't know. But this bus is electric, right?" She turns to him, narrowing her eyes as she looks back towards the street. "XANA's definitely got something big planned with it..."

Aelita has arrived in the desert sector, running along as she follows the pulsations. "I can see it, Jeremy! I've got a virtual image of the activated tower," She reports as she can see it in the distance, but still isn't close enough.

"Well done, Aelita. Stay where you are, Yumi is on her way."

Speaking of, Yumi has made it to the park, looking around to make sure she wasn't followed. She opens the manhole cover and then grabs her skateboard. She then runs down the sewers, throwing her skateboard to race down the tunnel. She climbs up to the bridge and runs across it. The black-haired girl then presses the button to the elevator and goes down to the scanner room. The door opens, to Jeremy's internal relief.

"Hurry, in the scan. The situation is getting worse!" Jeremy says in an urgent voice, preparing the process. Yumi stands in front of a scanner and steps in, turning around as he says her name. "Transfer Yumi. Scanner. Virtualization." Yumi gets scanned and virtualized in the same area as the activated tower. She lands safely with her fan ready.

"Yumi! Yumi!" She turns around to see Aelita running up to her with a wave. The girl smiles and rushes over to catch up with Aelita.

Jeremy tracks down the path of the bus. "Crazy!" He exclaims as he finds the destination, and...it's not good news. He holds his head in a panic as the location is zoomed in. "Amy, Ulrich, XANA is launching the bus on the petrochemical complex!"

"He's what?!" The two of them exclaim in unison, and they know exactly what the outcome would be once the bus collides with it.

Instant explosion on impact.

"We need to tell them," Amy glances at her friend.

"About Lyoko?" He recoils back in alarm. "Amy, don't you remember the last time we tried that before a trip to the past?"

"I'm not saying about Lyoko, I'm saying about where we're headed. They deserve to know at least, and besides, they're not gonna remember anyway," She informs him and he nods.

The bus starts driving into a tunnel, Jim cutting several wires from the control panel. He then stands up proudly, flexing his arms. "How's that?" He laughs in supposed victory as that was supposed to stop the bus, but because it's XANA, it doesn't. His smile falters and he falls to his knees in despair and realization. "There's no way to stop this infernal thing."

"We don't have any other choice, we have to jump," The bus driver speaks up and pushes the button, but the doors also don't open. He presses it a few more times, but Jim had just cut off the access to them, not that it would've worked. "Now look what you've done, huh? By cutting the cables, you blocked the door!"

Jim has a sheepish smile on his face as he scratches the side of his head. "Jim," he turns around to Ulrich, his phone to his ear. "Jeremy thinks we're headed straight for the petrochemical plant."

"You mind telling me how he knows that?" Jim looks up demandingly at the duo.

"Uh, we'll worry about that later," Amy glances away, even though they aren't planning on ever telling him of course. Especially since after this is over, everything would be back to normal, relatively speaking that is.

"But for now, you just have to trust him. He can help us," Ulrich adds in.

"And from your perspective, we're out of options. What have you got to lose?" Amy asks bravely as they stare at him silently. He then stands up with a groan.

"Okay, okay." They smile at his cooperation.

"Uh, Ulrich?" The two turn around to Sissi, who looks guilty for a change. "Well, I'm really sorry about your diary. It was wrong to take it. Please forgive me. Can I help in any way?" Amy opens her mouth in shock that she's actually apologizing. The brunette gives a tiny smile that Sissi realizes that what she did was wrong.

"Here, you can take Amy's phone. You can be the go-between for Jeremy and us," Ulrich instructs as Amy digs into her pocket. She hands over her phone and Sissi hums eagerly, nodding at the two. The bus gets out of the tunnel.

Jeremy looks at his screen of the two dots of the diagram of the sector. "Yumi, Aelita, the tower is real close now," He relays to the girls. They jump and slide down a rock, Yumi looking around warily. The tower is a few feet away from them, and yet they hadn't encountered anything. Not even a trace of a monster, and it was not a good sign. Aelita is about to run to it when Yumi holds out her fan in front of the virtual girl.

"No, wait. This is too easy," She opens her fan, stepping towards Aelita protectively. "Coming all this way without seeing even one monster? There's gotta be a trap."

And she's right, because a sand storm approaches them. They turn around to see it heading their way fast. "A sand storm!" Aelita gasps and Yumi points up at it.

"It's a tornado!" They go in the opposite direction and make a break for it. "Jeremy, we've got a problem here!"

"Make that two, there's a monster behind you!" Jeremy sees a red dot on the screen. Yumi looks behind her, but she can't get a good look at it thanks to the storm. However the monster can be deduced as a megatank thanks to its large build. The storm catches up to the girls and the megatank's symbols appear on its shell, having the advantage of surprise.

The bus speeds past a police car, which takes off immediately since the bus is breaking the speed limit. The bus goes past a warning sign.

"Calling all cars. All cars, I said, calling all cars," One of the officers radios in.

Jeremy keeps an eye on the bus' direction, and it approaches two pathways. "In ten seconds, the bus should bear left," He reports to Amy's phone.

Sissi turns to Amy and Ulrich. "He says we're gonna turn left."

"Everyone over here with us!" Ulrich waves everyone forward.

"If you need to, use your backpacks to steady yourselves!" Amy adds in and the bus makes a sharp left. Some people hit the walls, the bus slightly skidding before going at its fast speed. Ulrich, Amy, and Jim all sigh in relief once its over.

"Maybe we should jump off the bus," He suggests as Amy glances outside. "What do you think? Might just be the best idea. That way at least we don't go crashing into the petrochemical plant."

Sissi narrows her eyes at him. "At that speed, there's no way we could survive."

"Unless you want us and the rest of the class to be roadkill," Amy interjects and Jim winces at just imaging it. "Not to mention that the door is still stuck. My phone, Sissi," She holds out her phone and Sissi hands it over. She holds it up to herself and Ulrich.

"Jeremy, how are things going back at Lyoko?"

"Please tell me you have good news," Amy closes her eyes.

"Aelita and Yumi are almost at the tower, except that they're caught in a sand storm," Jeremy tells the duo.

"Okay, we'll wait a little longer."

Amy sighs as she hands her phone back to Sissi, pinching her nose. "Things aren't good, XANA's pulling out all the stops to distract them. Where is Odd?" She murmurs while looking back outside as they haven't heard from him, and they know he's not on Lyoko.

Odd has finally made it to the park and opens up the sewer grate, climbing down the ladder.

"Yumi, be careful at the ridge. If Aelita falls into the digital sea, she'll be lost forever!"

The two try to walk as the storm fights against them, and the excessive amount of sand wasn't helping their eyesight. "Yumi! Careful, in front of you! It's a megatank!"

The monster rolls forward, opening up its shell to power up its laser. It fires its 180-like laser and Yumi pushes Aelita out of the way. "Hurry!" Yumi gets onto her feet and starts running. Aelita scrambles up to follow her. The megatank closes and rolls after them. Yumi continues running until sliding to a stop thanks to a gap in the ground. The other side starts moving away from them, cracks appearing in the ground right behind her. Yumi steps back in alarm, Aelita at her side as the sand storm clears. However, the platform they're standing on starts to become separated from the rest of the ground. "XANA set a trap for us. And he trapped the only one of us who can fly on the bus..."

Aelita gets onto her knees, using her creativity to create a bridge from their spot to a piece of land leading to the tower. "Good work, Aelita!" Jeremy cheers as he sees the creation from his screen. The girls then run across the bridge, reaching the other side with ease.

Odd catches his breath as he's finally reached the factory. "Odd, hurry to the scan!" Odd steps into the scanner room.

"I hope Ames is okay...she's all by her lonesome on that bus..." He murmurs and Jeremy raises an eyebrow with a smirk.

"Uh, Odd, she's with Ulrich, she'll be fine...but are you actually worried?"

"What-no! I know she's not alone, but I'm just concerned about my friend, both of them," Odd defends and the genius is nicknamed Einstein for a reason. He certainly had noticed that stutter at the beginning. He looks at the map to see where the bus is now.

"You'll be reaching the complex in 10 minutes. Careful, you're gonna turn left again," He warns as another police car has joined the chase.

"Everyone to the right!" Sissi calls out as the left turn approaches.

The megatank powers up again as Yumi and Aelita run. The laser fires and then hits Yumi from behind, knocking her onto the ground. "Yumi!" Aelita cries out in worry. She slowly gets up as she's damaged, but still has some life points. The megatank attacks again and Aelita dives out of the way. Once Yumi is hit again, she slowly devirtualizes, to Aelita's shock since she's all alone now.

"Hide, Aelita, and don't move until Odd is there with you, understand?!" Jeremy panics a little since the last time she went off on her own, she was attacked by monsters.

"And you say I worry too much," Odd says to himself as he heard him, stepping into the scanner.

"Transfer Odd." As soon as the scanner closes, Yumi appears from another one, crouched into it. She groans and slams her fist against it. "Scanner. Virtualization."

Odd virtualizes quick and lands, taking a look around. "Aelita! Hey, Aelita! Aelita!" He shouts for her and she turns around.

The elevator doors open to reveal Yumi.

"Welcome to our world!" Aelita greets him and he turns around to see her waving. "Hey, Odd! Odd!" Cracks appear behind her and he gasps, rushing over to her. She starts leaning over as she slips backwards and he grabs her hand. He then pulls her so hard that they both fall, Aelita landing on top of him.

"Okay, let's go to work, Aelita."

"Thank you, Odd," She tells him gratefully. "But maybe not tell Amy about this. I wouldn't wanna stand in the way between you two."

"W-What?!" Odd stammers in bewilderment, and if he could, he'd be blushing right now. There's no way...he and Amy are just friends, good friends both on Earth and Lyoko. So he couldn't tell if she was joking or not. Then she giggles with a wink, and he wasn't sure what that's supposed to mean.

Two more police cars have joined the chase and Ulrich has contacted Jeremy once again. "Listen, we only have four minutes left before we get to the complex. How are things going on Lyoko?" He tells Jeremy, now more worried than last time.

"Okay, Aelita and Odd are handling it," Jeremy reports while typing on his computer.

"Could they handle it faster, please? I don't think you want us to be destroyed before you launch a return to the past, Jeremy!" Amy looks outside the window. And since a return trip can't reverse death, that help better come sooner than later.

"Careful, there's a ridge," Jeremy warns Aelita and Odd. A ridge forms as two pieces of land split apart, causing more sand to appear. Odd turns around in alarm, pointing his paw as the megatank has also returned.

"I have an idea, follow me," Odd grabs Aelita's hand and they both take off. He starts heading towards the ridge and another one appears. Aelita gasps as she sees that they're heading straight for the edge of it.

"Odd, you're out of your mind!" She cries out as he places his hand on top of hers. He starts spinning her around and then throws her across the gap. He then jumps over with a holler, the megatank falling into the digital sea. The sand storm stops soon afterwards as the monster is destroyed. Jeremy leans back with a whistle of relief.

They finally reach the tower. "Hurry up now, Aelita!"

Ulrich looks at the pursuing police cars before nodding at Jim. He breaks the emergency hammer and starts smashing the windows. The bus swerves, however, causing him to be sent through the window. He's facing the street as he yelps, Amy and Ulrich hanging onto his shirt to steady him. "What's the matter? Don't you like it here, Jim?"

Sissi turns around from the front as they're now in front of the complex. "Oh no, we're gonna crash!"

"It's all over for us. It's too late!" Ulrich laments with wide eyes.

"It's not the end yet! Just wait," Amy narrows her eyes as she looks up ahead. They haven't failed to get Aelita to the tower, and they're not gonna start now. So she has faith that Aelita has made it at this point in time.

Aelita slowly enters the tower.

The bus crashes through the security hate at the complex.

Aelita reaches the center and starts floating to the top pad.

Sirens are heard inside the plant.

While she's floating still, Jeremy's map shows that the bus is headed for a massive chemical tank!

Aelita makes it to the top and lands safely.

The bus makes it into the hall.

Aelita steps up as the bus is almost there. She presses her hand against the interface.

Aelita

Code

Ulrich and Sissi scream as they look up ahead. Amy braces herself while Yumi and Jeremy look on in panic. "No!"

Lyoko

The bus stops an inch away from the chemical tank. Amy looks up and smiles a bit. Yumi gives a sigh of relief. "Well, it was close, but we did it!" Jeremy smiles at his friend. "Now are you ready to go back in time?"

Yumi nods with a smile as the tower deactivates. Jeremy launches the time reversion and everything is engulfed in white.

It's now earlier that morning, before Sissi is about to blackmail Ulrich. Yumi takes the diary from on top of the water tank. She slips out of the girls' bathroom, Ulrich recoiling back in surprise. She then holds it out to him like it was nothing, as if it didn't matter what was in it to her.

"Here, I didn't read it. I swear, Ulrich," She assures him and he takes it, smiling up at her.

"I'll tell you about it one day, Yumi."

"I'd really like that," She smiles back at him. Both of them hold onto the book for a few more seconds, as if they didn't want to let go.

"I'd better go," He states and she nods silently. "I wouldn't wanna miss Sissi," He leans forward to her and then leaves. She steps forward a bit on instinct and then waves to him.

Sissi is waiting for Ulrich outside his and Odd's room, looking smug. "Sissi?" She turns to him confidently. "Were you waiting for me? Looking for something?" She notices the diary under his arm as he's about to open the door.

"Uh...uh...no!" She stammers nervously, backing away. "I, uh, I was just passing by, so..." She falters and then runs off in embarrassment. Ulrich opens the door to his room, holding up the diary. Jeremy claps for him while Odd and Amy jump up to cheer.

"Yes!"