Chapter 4 of old ver.
Ulrich wakes up to see the alarm clock read 6:30. His tries to rack his mind when he remembers . He quickly changes and leaves for breakfast. Odd, Aelita and Jeremie were already there.
"So anything interesting going on?" he asks hoping for something.
"You should read the Kadic news" Odd gives a smirk.
Curiously, he takes the paper from Odd and reads the page he was on. His eyes widen then look at Jeremie with surprise.
"Jer-"
"That's all a lie!"
"But-"
"That's not how it went"
"Waffi doin wiff lawa anawas?" Odd muffles through a mouthful of food
"Excuse me?"
He gulps down what ever was in his mouth and repeats his question.
"What was you doing with Laura anyways?"
"I was just helping her with her work, nothing else" he told them "Now Aelita won't even talk to me"
"Maybe you just need some manly charm" Odd grins giving him charismatic smile.
Both ignore him.
"Weren't you-"
"Didn't I say, she doesn't want to talk to me" Jeremie repeats "Anyways since XANA is back I have been theorizing what its new plan could be"
Odd and Ulrich looked at each other and gave the no-point-talking-to-him look.
...
During class they all sat in silence scribbling down answers for the test they were currently doing. Gilles paces the classroom watching everyone in silence. Jeremie finishes fifteen minutes early and runs out of the room with his bag. Several minutes later Laura leaves the room at the same time Aelita does. Both glare at each other as they exit before going separate directions.
After everyone had to give their papers in the bell rang allowing everyone to exit their classrooms. Ulrich and Odd notice Aelita sitting on a bench not to far away engrossed into a book.
"Where is Einstein?" Odd inquires as they approach her.
"Oh him... he's probably in his room, not wanting to be disturbed" she replies without looking up "Well I better go back to my own room..." and with that she left.
They look at each other unable to find anything to say. William and Yumi soon approach them.
"Is she still mad about what happened?" William sighs
"Yeah..." Ulrich replies
"And I thought Ulrich, Yumi and William had a love triangle" Odd mutters blankly making the three glare at him
"Whaaat, it's true' he says grinning sheepishly "You guys did have a rocky relationship"
"Well whatever" sighs Ulrich rubbing his forehead just when his phone starts ringing
He takes it out of his pocket and looks at the message raising an eyebrow.
"Jeremie says we need to go to the factory after class"
William looked at him confused "For what?"
"Oh he says we need to go to sector 5 to help Aelita find some data on what X.A.N.A. may be up to"
"I guess we all meet up after class okay?" William says holding out his fist.
"Of course! Can't miss it" Odd grins fist bumping with him before they all leave.
...
So just as the bell rings Jeremie and the others run out of the classroom much to the confusion of the teacher; as they reach the forest they hear footsteps but it turns out to be Yumi and William.
"There you guys are" smiles Odd "Ready for a trip to the Carthage?"
"Is there a need to ask?" William grins back "I have always been ready"
"Well we better get going" says Aelita going in first; Yumi, William and Ulrich going in after.
"Are you still worried?" Odd questions
Jeremie responds with a nod before sighing.
"How am I going to tell her about-"
"Einstein chill, all you need is to be your self and don't fret"
Jeremie looks down at the manhole before looking back at Odd.
"Thanks Odd" he smiles
...
They arrive at the supercomputer. Jeremie went over to the computer while Odd pushes a button allowing him to go down to the scanner room where the others were waiting.
"What took you two so long?" asks an annoyed Ulrich
"Me and Jeremie were just having a heart to heart chat" Odd explains making Jeremy's eye twitch and Aelita smile a little.
"Just get in you guys..."
William, Odd and Yumi go in first. Ulrich looks at Aelita's face in concern but quickly goes into the scanners.
"OK Jer we're all in" William informs him as Ulrich and Aelita landed in the Arena.
"Good take the door in front of you"
The gang walk in silence together until Odd speaks up.
"Will... I never had the chance to say this before... but... your Lyoko costume..."
"Yeah... I know... I'm surprised as well..." he says looking down at his hand "Jeremie once said it could be a sign of me overcoming the time I was taken over by XANA... even back then when i became part of the group.. I still had the dark costume and the supersmoke... but now... I'm thankful... even though I still have the smoke ability... It really is a sign of me growing and overcoming..."
Everyone stayed silent as he said this. No one wanted to interrupt him as he spoke and they were glad they didn't. Soon enough they arrive at a large open area of the core zone.
"Shouldn't we just go?" Ulrich asks Jeremie, stepping forward.
"No wait!" Jeremie warns.
But he already takes a step forward and almost gets crushed as Odd pulls him back.
"Seems we have to get past this" William mutters.
"Seems we all have to go our own way as well" Aelita adds activating her wings before looking at the others.
The all nod at her before Yumi tells her to not worry as long at least three of them make it. Ulrich, Odd and Yumi had to run while trying to avoid the crushing blocks from above; not to mention the creepers shooting from the sidelines.
Aelita after activating her wings flies to the left while also avoiding the blocks from above; William uses his supersmoke form to quickly go past the crushing blocks.
William being the first manages to make it safely to the end. Ulrich using his superspeed almost reaches the end when a creeper laser makes contact resulting in a loss of 20 life points; it throws him in the path of another crushing block instantly devirtualising him.
"Ulrich!" yells Yumi stopping for a split second which gets her devirtualised.
Odd on the other hand also makes it to the end. Aelita also having made it to the end used her wings for support as she tried to destroy the creepers from afar. She sees that he Odd has made it to the end and Yumi and Ulrich were nowhere to be found.
"We'll just have to go on" Aelita says flying though the entrance with the others behind.
Yumi comes out of the scanner where Ulrich was waiting.
"Sorry"
"Don't worry about it, at least the others made it"
Aelita, Odd and William carry on until they come up to six creepers blocking their way to the exit.
"You guys go on" Odd says stepping in front of them "I'll handle these guys"
Aelita continues to fly while William uses his supersmoke to get to the celestial dome. Aelita runs up to the interface and starts to search up information rendering Jeremie unable to help them.
"Damn Jeremie, I need more ammo"
"Sorry Odd, Aelita is on the interface, I can't do anything"
Oh great, I have to think of something else now" he sighs continuing to dodge the remaining two creepers's attacks.
"Unless..."
So Odd runs in-between the two creepers, taunts them and leaps up just when they fire making the creeper's shots hit each other
"Now to go forward" he grins running on all fours.
He arrives into the celestial dome to see Aelita and William standing near the interface.
"So did you- oh come on" he groans noticing five mantas hatch from the walls. Aelita decides to stop for a while so Jeremy could virtualise Odd's overboard and refill his arrows.
As he jumps on he tells William to protect Aelita as she continues to search up information. He nods as a manta comes up to them shooting a ray of beam at Aelita. William blocks it with his zweihander before Aelita throws an energy field at it. Smiling, Odd proceeds to the four mantas. Odd jumps on on the closest one; while it was trying to shake him off he scratches the eye with his claws. He backflips back on his overboard just as it gets devirtualised leaving only three left. He goes after another while a second one comes up behind him. It fires a laser which Odd evades.
As he can now fire a maximum of three arrows from each hand he fires a barrage from his right hand at the one in front of him and uses his left hand to fire at the one behind him devirtualising them both. Unbeknownst to him more were hatching from the walls.
The third manta flies towards Aeilta but both send an energy slash and energy field at it instantly devirtualising it.
"William go help Odd" she tells him stopping on a piece of data for a while "It seems there are more hatching"
"But-"
"Don't worry, I'm fine, I can look after myself besides there are no mantas here"
He sighs "Okay... if you say so" he replies "But try not to get devirtualised while I'm away okay?" so he turns into his supersmoke form just as three more hatch.
The trio of mantas head for Odd. He veers left as they fire. He then uses the trajectory to fly upwards over the monsters before firing at one devirtualising it. William comes out of his supersmoke form above another unleashing an energy slash before turning back into smoke. Odd heads towards the third which suddenly changes course towards Aelita.
"Aelita!" Odd yells trying to fire at it but failing to make the eye.
"Guys I think I finally fou-" she didn't get to finish her sentence as the laser found its mark. She didn't get devirtualised but instead flung of the platform.
"Aelita!" everyone yells as she falls to the bottom.
"Einstein, rematerialize her!" Odd cries out just before the manta devirtualises him sending his devirtualised form flying off his overboard.
Jeremie didn't need telling twice and quickly types in the materialization code bringing her back just before she hits the bottom. Odd having also been devirtualised at the same time comes out of his scanner and sees Aelita with her back against the scanner and her knees bent.
"You okay princess?"
"Ughhh… I think so" she groans rubbing her head as Jeremie (who left his station) rushes down to the scanner room.
"Aelita!" he cries as he runs over "I was so worried"
"Don't worry I'm fine Jeremie… thank you" she looks up at him smiling while Odd supported her.
"Well you better rematerialize Will" Odd reminds him.
Jeremie nods understanding and goes back up the ladder while the two continue to wait near the scanners. Odd helps Aelita up as they wait. Soon enough the third scanner opens revealing William using his arm to lean slightly against the scanner. Slowly he got out still with the annoyed look on his face.
"I had to destroy that last manta who didn't pay the slightest attention to me!" he quips rubbing the back of his neck annoyed.
Odd and Aelita just laugh. The three go back up to the computer room using the lift where Jeremie, Ulrich and Yumi were waiting.
"Don't worry you guys" she smiles nervously "Jeremie managed to save me, thanks again by the way" she adds her cheeks going slightly pink like her hair.
"Don't mention it" he returns also slightly blushing rubbing the back of his head "And about the Laura thing... er-"
"Don't worry I know you were just helping her with her work, I just over reacted"
She looks at the rest of the gang who are smiling except William who stands a feet away from the group lost in thought.
"William? What's wrong?" Aelita asks noticing his silence.
"I don't know" he tells them "It's still bugging me: back in sector 5, the mantas, they completely ignored me even when they first hatched out off the walls"
"Maybe XANA was going to unleash the Scy-" Odd jokes; Aelita glares at him "What?"
She sighs "Anyway, talking about strange I managed to get some information before I fell" she starts, making them all look at her. She turned to face them "It seems... It seems that XANA might be creating a new monster but - but this one could be more difficult than what we faced before" she says making them all look at each other in concern.
They thought they would have gone back to normal but their battle against the sentient AI has just started again. Who knows what else it might throw at them. They have to be prepared for anything.
W