A/N: In this chapter, we head back to Tyron and the Cortex. If you need a refresher on his changes so far, re-read AWWD Chapters 97 (Old Acquaintance), 102 (Suspicions), and 105 (May I Have This Dance?).

Disclaimer: I do not own Code Lyoko or CL: Evolution in any way, shape, or form.

Beta read by FP7ETDP43

!~~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~E~V~O~L~U~T~I~O~N~~~!

"When XANA's attacks begin acting sporadically, and at the same time, Jérémie detects abnormal activity in the Cortex, the Lyokowarriors will discover the unthinkable."

A World Without Danger

Code Lyoko: Evolution Rewrite

Season 5, Episode 16: Confusion

Ulrich wasn't sure what to expect when he woke up this morning. Knowing XANA, anything could happen, but what he had witnessed had never happened before.

He was in the boys' shower room, half awake as he sluggishly brushed his teeth. Odd emerged from the shower area, fully dressed for the day, "You ready yet, good buddy?"

Ulrich responded with a gentle order to head down to the cafeteria without him, saying, 'Go on.' However, since his mouth was full of toothpaste, it came out muffled, "Hmmh mhhh..."

So it was no wonder that Odd didn't understand him. "You want spaghetti...?" His roommate was looking at him, wary. "For breakfast...?"

What? How did Odd get that? The blonde's thought process would never cease to amaze Ulrich.

His toothbrush still in his mouth, he replied, "Hmmh mhhh mhh...", which translated to, 'I said 'go'.'

But Odd just came increasingly perplexed, "...With olives?"

Dejected, Ulrich finally took his toothbrush out of his mouth, "Go on ahead! I'll catch up!"

The blonde's confusion was immediately gone. "Oh! Why didn't you just say so?" Ulrich just rolled his eyes. "I'll see you in the cafeteria, then. You made me hungry with your spaghetti with olives thing."

Choosing not to respond to any of that, the brunette just nodded, while also yawning, before he resumed brushing his teeth. He was the only one in the shower room, once Odd left, but he wasn't in any big hurry...

Suddenly, the lights started to flicker. Intrigued, Ulrich turned around in time to see a puff of black smoke coming out of the wall socket behind him. It began to undulate in the room. For a short moment, the black cloud seemed to want to take human form...

Ulrich stepped back in fright. Was this...a spectre? It couldn't be anything else. But why didn't his transwatch warn him?

But then, just as suddenly as it appeared, the dark ambiguous cloud faded away, forced to retreat back into the wall socket.

What was that...?

!~~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~~!

Meanwhile, Yumi entered the cafeteria, looking worried and somewhat distracted. Once she spotted her friends—at the moment, only Jérémie, Aelita, Odd, and William as they ate breakfast—she rushed over to them and took a seat at their chosen table.

"Hey, Yumi," William quickly noticed how preoccupied she seemed. "You okay?"

"Something really weird just happened to me," she explained. "I was at home getting ready and...there was an electrical short... A form appeared. I-It looked almost human, like it was trying to take on my form and failing, and then...nothing. It disappeared right away..."

Her four friends immediately shared her worries. "A spectre?" Aelita asked.

Yumi shrugged, "I'm actually not sure. I had just woken up, so I was a bit groggy. My transwatch didn't go off either, so it may have been my imagination."

The others promptly questioned Jérémie with their eyes. He quickly took out his laptop and began checking the superscan. "How long ago was it?"

"Just before Hiroki and I left to come here," Yumi answered, "so about ten, maybe fifteen, minutes..."

As Jérémie began typing away, Odd started chuckling, "I wouldn't worry. It could just be a morning nightmare. I get those too. I suddenly see Mrs. Meyer's head appear out of nowhere. Especially on the days I have a math test."

Yumi rolled her eyes but was unable to respond verbally. She was interrupted by her boyfriend arriving, his hair disheveled, "I just saw something crazy in the showers!"

"Mrs. Meyer?" Odd joked.

"What? No," Ulrich explained. "It happened right after you left, Odd. A spectre appeared out of the electrical socket and started to take shape, but then–"

"–then it disappeared," Yumi finished for him. "I know. I saw the same thing."

Jérémie briefly tore his gaze away from his laptop screen, "When did this happen?"

"Just now."

The young genius turned back to the system logs in front of him. "Interesting. The superscan picked up digital activity both times, but nothing strong enough to warrant system alert." When seeing his friends' confusion, he explained, "Let me be more specific. A tower was activated both times, but neither attack lasted long enough for the superscan to transfer the alert to our transwatches."

That was the only flaw his invention had. The delay was only about a second or two, but there was nothing he could do to fix it without messing up the entire thing.

Aelita leaned over and looked at the screen from over his shoulder as her boyfriend continued, "Right now, towers are being randomly activated and deactivated constantly before the alert can be relayed to our transwatches. I don't get it..."

"Is it possible that the superscan could be bugged up or something?" William asked.

Jérémie grimaced, as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Yes, but I need to check the source code in its entirety, and that could take a while."

"Our classes don't start until ten o'clock," Aelita suggested. "We have enough time to head to the factory and check things out, right?"

"Yeah." Jérémie closed his laptop and began promptly packing up his belongings. "Let's go," he told Aelita, who nodded and stood up with him.

Ulrich and Odd got up from their seats as well. "We'll come with you," the brunette said.

But Yumi and William remained seated. "Sorry, you guys will have to go without us," the Japanese girl replied. "William and I have a physics test with Ms. Hertz."

It was William's turn to grimace, "Sorry. We'll join you as soon as the test is over, though. We promise."

!~~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~~!

The eleventh graders were surrounding the monitor. Jérémie sat in the chair as he and the other three were watching the superscan. Said window was open while the genius was also studying the program's source code. So far, everything was remaining completely quiet,

"Nothing," Jérémie said, closing the coding window. "The superscan is not bugged up at all. It's working exactly as intended."

"So, something else is going on here," Aelita muttered, while Ulrich and Odd shared a doubtful glance with each other.

Odd suddenly pointed a finger at the holomap, "There! An activated tower!"

The superscan opened, as Jérémie asked, "Where?" However, the window closed just as quickly as it appeared.

"Well," Odd shrugged, "one did appear for a fraction of a second." A short pause, before he pointed at the screen again, "There, again!"

This time the window sat open for about one full second longer. "Yes, you're right! Activated tower in the Mountain Sector!" Jérémie said.

But it didn't last for long, vanishing in the blink of an eye. The group exchanged looks of incomprehension.

Another alert popped up. "It's in the Forest this time," Ulrich commented. It then promptly disappeared.

Aelita was concerned, "What does this mean? Why do they keep activating and deactivating like this?"

"Maybe XANA's managed to trick you, Einstein, and it really has bugged up the superscan," Odd suggested. Jérémie promptly sent him a dry glare in response. "I'm just trying to help!"

The young genius sighed, "And I appreciate it. While it's possible, after what Ulrich and Yumi both saw this morning, I'd rather say that these are miniature XANA attacks."

"Do you think it's another of its tricks?" Aelita asked.

Her boyfriend leaned back in his chair, shrugging with confusion. "The only way to know for sure is to do some reconnaissance on Lyoko." He turned to Ulrich and Odd, "You two up for it?"

The two boys were already rushing towards the elevator. Ulrich pressed the button, and the doors began to close.

Jérémie turned to Aelita, "You stay here for now. This may also be a ploy to force me onto Lyoko in your place."

She couldn't deny that. "True. Should I launch a more in-depth analysis on the superscan?"

"Yes, please." That would be extremely helpful.

She sat down on the holoprojector and took out her own laptop from her bag. As she opened it, Jérémie focused most of his energy on the two people he was now sending to Lyoko.

He slipped on the earpiece, "I'm sending you two to different sectors. Ulrich, you'll be responsible for the Ice and Mountain. Odd, the Desert and Forest."

"Okay!" was Odd's response.

"Roger!" Ulrich replied. "I'll go first. I'm ready."

Jérémie promptly warmed up the scanners.

!~~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~~!

Virtualized one at a time, Ulrich appeared in the Ice Sector. Once he landed on the ground, he quickly got to his feet.

"So, where to now, Jer?" the samurai asked.

"I don't know yet," came the response. "Just wait. I've got nothing for the moment, but it shouldn't be too long."

Ulrich leaned against a nearby ice rock, "Okay. I'm ready."

Meanwhile, Odd had been sent to the Mountain Sector.

"Tell Ulrich to let it go, Einstein." The cat began to warm up with circular movements of the shoulders, "The next one's going to be for me, I can feel it!", followed by a series of small jumps in the air. "I better not strain a muscle."

Despite being unable to be seen, Jérémie rolled his eyes, "Need I remind you that you are an avatar? You can't strain a muscle while in virtual form."

"Hey, you never know!" Odd replied, already wedging himself into imaginary starting blocks. "Anyway, I'll beat Ulrich in no time. I'll already be there before he's even crossed the starting line!"

Right in time. "A tower has just been activated," the moment Jérémie spoke, Odd lifted his buttocks and jumped out of the blocks, "in the Ice Sector. It's yours, Ulrich!"

As Ulrich took off using his Super Sprint, Odd skidded to a stop in the Desert Sector. Now left in a cloud of dust, he was disappointed as he rounded on his intelligent friend, "Hey, that's not fair! I was all warmed up!"

Jérémie lightly scoffed, "That's what you get for trying to turn this serious situation into a competition."

!~~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~~!

In response to the alert, Aelita set her laptop aside before getting to her feet and returning to Jérémie's side. He was intently watching Ulrich travel to the activated tower he was directed towards.

"Should I join him?" she asked, getting ready to head to Lyoko in order to take care of the tower.

"Not yet," he held up a finger to stop her. "Wait to see if the alert reaches our transwatches. If it does, then you'll go."

He made a solid point. "Okay."

!~~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~~!

Ulrich reached the tower in no time, thanks to his Super Sprint. He promptly hid behind an ice wall, before peering out and surveying the area. No monsters, and the halo...

"Uh, Jérémie?" he asked. "You said 63 degrees, south-southeast, right?"

"Yes," came the response. "You're there. What do you see?"

The samurai breathed a quick sigh of relief, now that knew he didn't go the wrong way, before turning back to the tower. "Nothing. Halo is white and no monsters are waiting for me."

Jérémie groaned in frustration.

"Did it reach the transwatches?" Ulrich asked.

"No. The alert went away too quickly."

The brunette frowned in confusion. What in the two worlds was going on here? "What's the point of these short-lived attacks? Maybe setting up for or masking a bigger one?"

"Maybe. Whatever the case, stay alert and don't engage with any monsters you see."

"Roger."

!~~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~~!

Back in the Desert, Odd was lounging against a cluster of rocks. His hands crossed behind his head, he savored this respite, "You know what? This isn't too bad. I might even take advantage of this with a little nap."

Odd had barely closed his eyes and Jérémie's voice resounded throughout the virtual space, "Odd, it's for you this time! Another tower has just been activated in the Desert Sector!"

The cat immediately opened his eyes and leapt into action. He jumped off the rock cluster, "Where?!"

"To the east, past the canyon and inside the rock columns." The Overboard appeared in front of him. "Hurry!"

Odd backflipped onto his vehicle, and sped off. "Thanks for the helping hand, Einstein! Cross country is not my thing!"

!~~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~~!

In the midst of the two taking their physics test, Yumi and William both witnessed their respective transwatches relay the alert of the Desert Sector.

Being deskmates, they were able to discreetly meet each other's eyes. Remaining silent, Yumi pointed to her incomplete test—meaning 'test first'—and William nodded in agreement.

Unless XANA attacked them outright, they would stay here until their tests were done. Besides, due to the strangeness of the current situation, the others were already at the factory trying to figure things out.

!~~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~~!

Aelita was, once again, at her boyfriend's side the moment the superscan alerted them to yet another activated tower. This one, however, seemed promising.

"The alert has reached our transwatches," Jérémie relayed, checking the said device attached to his right wrist. "Ulrich, I'm sending you the Overbike. Head over to the Desert and help Odd. Way tower is ten o'clock, northeast. It's not far from you."

"Okay," Ulrich replied as the vehicle was virtualized. His green arrow promptly took off in that direction.

The young genius then turned to the other blonde, "Odd, I'm reading three Krabes in front of the tower. Do not engage. Wait for Aelita."

"Okay, but hurry up, Princess!" the cat said, his own green arrow reaching the array of rock columns surrounding the tower.

Jérémie nodded at the pink-ette, who took off for the side ladder. She climbed down to the scanner room below and got into one of the scanners.

"Transfer Aelita." Her scanner doors shut, sealing her inside. "Scanner Aelita." A gust of wind began hitting her as the white circular bar began spiraling upward. "Virtualization!"

One final rush of wind from below and Aelita felt her body pixelize.

Once she landed on the ground of the Desert Sector, she looked around and quickly found Odd peering out from behind one of the columns, his Overboard on standby behind him. She burst into a sprint to join him.

"What's on the menu?" she asked.

"We've got a nice welcoming committee here," Odd replied. "Three large, juicy Krabes." He summoned his gauntlets while doing some flexibility exercises. "I normally prefer them with tartar sauce, but I also like them plain."

Aelita waved a hand over her bracelet, summoning her wings, "Well, you don't always get to choose your dish."

"True," Odd shrugged. "Let's go! Jer, tell Ulrich to hurry up or he's not getting the leftovers!"

"He'll be there in about ten seconds."

"Then our back-up isn't far away," Aelita said, before taking off into the air. "Let's go!"

Odd leapt back onto his Overboard and the two came out of hiding. While Aelita remained high in the air—mainly to remain out of reach of any lasers—Odd rushed at the monsters guarding the tower.

"Bye-bye little Krabes!"

He was about to shoot when, in front of him, all three Krabes suddenly exploded in a shower of pixels. Blinded, he passed through the explosions and fell off the Overboard with a yell of surprise.

"Odd!" Aelita cried out. She landed and de-summoned her wings, before running up to his side. "Odd, are you okay?" She knelt down to check up on him.

At the same time, Ulrich arrived on the Overbike. He halted to a stop once past the rock columns. "Odd?" He saw his roommate laying face-down on the ground. "What's wrong?"

Stunned, Odd sat up on his knees, shaking himself. "I'm fine, but–...I-I didn't do anything! Nothing at all!"

All three turned towards the tower. Its red halo was glitching from red back to the neutral white—as if XANA was holding onto it as long as it could—before the white won out.

"And the tower just deactivated by itself," Aelita finished. "Again."

!~~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~~!

Jérémie took off his glasses in order to rub away the incoming headache in his temples. Meanwhile, the transwatch alert closed, no longer relevant. None of this was making any sense. He fell back in his chair, letting out a helpless sigh.

"Seriously, what's going on, Jer?" Ulrich asked, he, Odd, and Aelita still at the tower in the Desert Sector.

"Believe me," he answered, "I wish I knew."

"I don't want to put pressure on you, Einstein," came Odd's jab, "but Aelita's father would have already figured this out."

It wasn't intended to sound mean, but the genius snapped, "You want to trade places, Della Robbia?! We can't all be Franz Hopper!" He was sick and tired of his friends acting like his role was so easy. It wasn't. There were a lot of things to remember, a lot of codes to input that could make things go south quickly if entered incorrectly. That's why he only really trusted Aelita at the controls in his absence.

"Shut up, Odd," said pink-ette coldly added. "Jérémie's trying his best."

Just as he made a mental note to thank his girlfriend later for backing him here, the lift doors opened. He put his glasses back on in time for Yumi and William to emerge into the lab.

"An alert reached our transwatches," Yumi explained, as she and William joined him around the monitor. "It went away rather quickly, but we arrived to help anyway, given what's going on."

"We rushed through our tests," William added, sounding slightly out of breath.

"Well, I appreciate it," Jérémie replied, mentally exhausted due to his outburst at Odd eating away at his mind. "Thank you."

"So what's the latest?" William asked, nodding at the monitor.

"It's been the same dribble," the blonde explained, turning back to the screen. "Towers keep activating, only to deactivate seconds later, with the times varying. It's as if XANA is trying to launch an attack but something keeps blocking it from succeeding in taking control of a tower."

Yumi was deep in thought, "Could it be the result of some kind of firewall or virus?"

That was a good point. "Maybe..." A new alarm signal quickly caught his attention. "What's going on now?" he grumbled, just wanting all this to be over already. He began working away on the keyboard.

"Is it another tower?" Odd asked, he and the other having been listening the whole time.

"No," Jérémie explained, "at least, not anytime soon. XANA's now focusing all of its energy on the Cortex." Here, Yumi and William both leaned in closer to the screen.

"Is it activating a tower there?" Aelita wondered.

"No. Where the energy is going doesn't match up with tower activation protocols," Jérémie replied. "Something else is going on..."

"We should check it out," Ulrich suggested.

"Agreed," Jérémie immediately agreed. That's exactly what he was planning. "Aelita, you stay on Lyoko. If XANA does manage to activate a tower here, you'll already be on site."

"Okay." Aelita's yellow arrow ran into the nearby tower.

"Ulrich, Odd, head to the edge of the Sector," he continued, "direction, south-southwest. Yumi and William will meet you in the Arena."

"We're on our way," Ulrich said, as he and Odd's green arrows took off in that direction, both on their vehicles.

Meanwhile, Yumi and William headed back to the lift. The latter pressed the button and the elevator took them both to the level below.

!~~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~~!

Deep in the heart of Sector Five, Yumi claimed the center spot on the Skid platform, on Jérémie's order. The other three took their usual spots around her.

"It shouldn't stop at towers deactivating themselves and Krabes exploding spontaneously," Odd exclaimed. "If XANA as a whole is shut down for good, we'd finally get a happily ever after!"

"Odd, calm down," Jérémie replied. "For the moment, we don't know anything concrete. Energize."

Bright beams of light engulfed all of them, teleporting all of them to the seat of the Skid that corresponded with their spots. Yumi found herself back in the main cockpit. She had done this before, but she was still afraid to mess something up.

Meanwhile, Odd continued, "But XANA is clearly bugging out! What if it's been infected with a virus?"

"After we've been trying so long to destroy every single trace of it?" Jérémie was taking that with a grain of salt. "I don't know."

"Well, that would be good news for us, right?" Ulrich asked.

"It depends on what causes the bug or virus. It may come after us next. Supports away."

The supports retracted, freeing the Skid from its docking. Yumi pressed the red ignition button under the left joystick, before tilting both joysticks back. The Skid began lifting into the air and soon found itself outside in the Celestial Dome.

"But if XANA is bugging," Odd commented from his Navskid, jubilant at the idea, "then this may be the last time we go to the Cortex."

"Don't get carried away, Odd," William gently warned.

"Just imagine it!" said cat replied. "No more Krabes exploding in your face! No more Megatanks rolling you over! The Lyokowarriors will retire at last!"

Ulrich chuckled, "Really? And what do you intend to do with your free time?"

"I'm going to devote myself entirely to Sam, as promised!" was the answer, as Yumi piloted the Skid through the tunnel. "She'd be a very honorable retirement, no?" The ship emerged into the Forest Sector.

"Poor girl," Ulrich joked. "I feel sorry for her."

"Very funny!" Odd shot back, soaked in sarcasm.

William rolled his eyes. "What do you think, Yumi?"

Yumi checked the status of the shields. "I think Jérémie's right. We shouldn't count our chickens before they've hatched." Seeing they were good to go, she dove the Skid right into the Sea below.

The Skid emerged from Lyoko's floodgate out into the vast network. Yumi switched the ship to horizontal mode and continued toward the coordinates—the ones of the Cortex's hub—that Jérémie gave her.

"Now, you guys are my eyes and ears," the said genius told them. "I need to see and know everything."

"Everything? No problem," Odd shrugged. "Well, in the Navskid above me, there's William, and next to me, uh, I don't know what Ulrich's doing. He and Yumi are probably holding hands."

Ulrich rolled his eyes, retorting, "You can't hold hands in separate cockpits, you idiot."

"And I'm sure Jérémie will be content with the essentials," Yumi added, not amused.

"And nothing but the essentials," Ulrich agreed.

Jérémie amended his statement, "Only the essentials, yes. I meant everything concerning XANA's actions on the Cortex."

"Don't worry, Jer," William said. "We won't let you down."

!~~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~~!

Within the safety of the tower in the Desert Sector, Aelita was sitting on the first platform of the structure, her legs crossed and her eyes closed as she used her Second Sight to sense any digital footprints.

"Aelita?" came Jérémie's voice. "The others are on their way to the Cortex. How's it going with you?"

"I can't sense any pulsations so far," she relayed her own update. "But I won't be surprised if that changes in the next few minutes."

"For the time being, XANA is focusing all of its remaining energy on the Cortex, which means that Tyron is its current target. I don't know why," he replied, "but you're right. We need to be careful regardless."

"I'll stay on Lyoko just in case." She had already decided. "You're alone in the lab, after all."

Her recent dreams, or nightmares (she wasn't sure how to classify them), returned to her mind here. What her cynical self kept telling her about Tyron and what he probably intended concerning XANA needed to be brought up.

"Jérémie...?"

"What's wrong?" He always knew how to read her.

"If Tyron really is trying to find Lyoko's supercomputer," she forced herself to speak it aloud, "what do you think he plans to do with XANA? Will he shut it down or...use it for his own gain?"

Her boyfriend took a deep sigh full of anxiety. "I don't know. Your father posthumously warned us not to take anything Tyron says at face value, but it wouldn't surprise me if it strikes a deal with XANA or attempts to reprogram it. But knowing that XANA is the weapon your father created to combat Project: Carthage...it wouldn't be a shocker either if Tyron destroyed it... Whatever happens, it won't be good for us."

"Right." She felt better, knowing that her boyfriend had the same fears. They felt the same way about this situation, but unlike her, Jérémie was actively trying to prevent it from happening.

Another pause.

"Aelita? I'm sorry for earlier, when Odd brought up your father. And thank you for defending me."

She smiled, "You're my boyfriend." Defending him was a no-brainer in that situation. "And don't worry, I'm not upset. I'm just a little worried because you were more upset by what Odd said that I was at the mention of my father." And that told her a lot. "I know you still feel stressed from Lyoko being entrusted to you, but remember–"

"You and I are a team," he finished for her. "We're in this together. I know. Thank you."

After all, the new Lyoko was their shared creation.

An alert from his end captured his attention, "The others have reached the Cortex. I'll be focused on them for now."

"Okay. Good luck."

Whatever was going on, she hoped that the others found the answer.

!~~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~~!

Jérémie kept his eyes on the screen, intently watching his friends' progress throughout the unforgiving and unrelenting security system of the Cortex, as he stretched out his aches and sores from sitting down for so long.

"Jérémie? We're here at the Core," Odd said. "And uh...we've got something here."

He straightened up immediately. "What's going on?"

!~~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~~!

Odd, Ulrich, William, and Yumi were standing on a cliff overlooking the Core of the Cortex. The heroes, hidden on the height, were stunned by the spectacle before them.

"You're not going to believe this," Yumi replied, "but there's a Krabe and a Ninja...fighting!"

On the walkway leading to the dome, said two enemies were engaging in a battle very reminiscent of the Lyokowarrior's own battle against XANA's monsters.

"Against who?" Jérémie asked.

"Well..." Yumi said. "Against each other!"

Ulrich added, "And apparently, it's the Krabe that attacked first." XANA attacking Tyron—that was making them question everything. It was incomprehensible!

"What?!" The young genius sounded more confused than before. "But why would XANA attack Tyron's Ninjas, when it's thanks to him that it was even revived in the first place?!"

On the bridge, the Krabe overcame the Ninja's defenses and devirtualized them with a couple of shots to the chest.

"Well," Odd commented, "either way, it's XANA: 1, Tyron: 0."

The spiral door was open, making no move to close. It was strange, but that was not at the top of the Lyokowarriors' priority list.

The Krabe headed towards the open door, entering into the dome.

"The Krabe's heading inside the Core," Ulrich relayed. "What do we do, Jérémie?"

"Follow it!" Jérémie said. "We need to know what XANA plans to do there!"

"Certainly not tourism," Odd quipped, "considering the way it took care of the Ninja!"

But he followed the other three in jumping off the ledge. When approaching the spiral door, which remained open, they met no opposition on the way. They didn't even see the Krabe still inside. The four took cover on the sides of the large entrance way just in case—William and Odd on one side, Ulrich and Yumi on the other.

William took a peek inside. "I don't feel the Krabe in there. My Second Sight isn't getting anything." Now that he knew how to use this power, he held no qualms about using it against the AI that inadvertently gave it to him.

"It must have teleported into the Core," Yumi suggested.

"Be careful," Jérémie warned. "The holomap can't read inside the Core until you get there. I can't tell you beforehand what you'll find."

The four passed the still-open spiral door and entered the dome's airlock, each one on guard and armed. They advanced to the teleporter and disappeared in a flash of light, before reappearing in the Core room. They weren't exactly sure what to expect, but it definitely wasn't this.

Balanced on the platforms, a miniature army of Krabes, Bloks, and Tarantulas were opposing the remaining four Ninjas. A fight was raging.

The four teens hid out of view, just watching for now, at least until Jérémie gave the order. Their available senses (sight and hearing) took in every detail that they could. Neither the Ninjas nor XANA's monsters paid attention to them, too busy fighting. The Ninjas repelled the shots with their sabers.

"Wow, it's getting hot here!" Ulrich relayed to Jérémie. "XANA's going all out on Tyron!"

"Now that's something we've never seen!" Odd added. "It's the apocalypse on the Cortex!"

"Where are the Ninjas positioned?" Jérémie asked.

"Near the central interface," Yumi told him. "I have the impression that they're trying to prevent XANA's monsters from accessing it."

"The interface?!" Their resident brainiac sounded totally lost. They couldn't blame him. "XANA needs Tyron's supercomputer to avoid us killing it by simply shutting ours down. Why would it want to destroy it?"

"If XANA wants to eliminate itself," Odd suggested, "then shouldn't we just let it do so?"

"I wish it were that simple, but I don't believe it," Jérémie confessed. "XANA must have a reason for doing all of this! Try to take a closer look!"

"If you say so!" Odd said. Although grimacing, he was already charging.

But he had barely set foot on one of the adjacent platforms when he was immediately devirtualized by a Blok's laser.

"Uh-oh! We've been spotted!" William exclaimed, summoning his Zweihänder.

Momentarily abandoning the Ninjas, XANA's monsters turned against the Lyokowarriors. Yumi took out the Blok to avenge Odd, as Ulrich unsheathed his katanas and attracted the attention of the monsters. Meanwhile, William advanced quickly towards the interface, jumping from one platform to another. Also busy facing XANA's monsters, the four Ninjas didn't seem to pay attention to him.

Each side suffered losses. Monsters were destroyed, and Ninjas were devirtualized.

William turned to face a Krabe, brandishing his Zweihänder. Before the Krabe could even fire, William was devirtualized by a Ninja that appeared behind him. The Krabe shot the Ninja, devirtualizing them.

"They're getting wiped out!" the remaining two Lyokowarriors heard Jérémie mutter in frustration.

Yumi took out a Tarantula. "We're doing our best, Jérémie!"

"That wasn't a criticism," he amended. "I just need to know what XANA's motives are."

The tension dissipated. "Don't worry. You know us!" The geisha then took out a couple more Krabes.

Meanwhile, Ulrich took out the Ninja that devirtualized William. He then turned around and faced the last Ninja. Said enemy crossed their arms with their sabers, and Ulrich mimicked the motion with his katanas.

Yumi finished off the final Blok, before getting devirtualized at the same time she took out the final monster—a Krabe.

Jérémie tried to sigh away his anxiety, "Ulrich, be careful. You're the only one left."

Ulrich stared the Ninja down with a single katana in hand as said enemy was making frightening flourishes with their sabers. "Don't worry, Einstein. It's only us two now." He gave a little provocative smile, lowering his guard a bit, "Come on, buddy! Don't tell me you're scared of me!"

The Ninja seemed to hesitate, before suddenly charging forward, saber outstretched at the samurai.

But at the last moment, Ulrich stepped aside to avoid the charge. Carried away by its momentum, the Ninja did not have time to react, instead falling over the edge of the platform. Fearing the void, Ulrich did the person a favor and devirtualized them with one last slash across the back.

Now the last one standing, Ulrich sheathed his weapon as he breathed a sigh of relief. "All clear, Jérémie." He turned around, though, and quickly studied the room to make sure of that.

Nope. Nothing. No one left standing except him.

"Bravo, Ulrich!" Jérémie exclaimed, relieved himself.

"It pains me to say it, good buddy," came Odd's voice, "but you are the best!"

"Yeah, well, if you didn't get devirtualized right away..." William let himself trail off on purpose.

"Hey!"

Jérémie ignored them. "I'm sending you a digital card, Ulrich. Download as much information about recent updates to Tyron's supercomputer as you can."

Said card appeared in the samurai's hand. "Gotcha." He then slipped it inside the interface and let it go to work, carefully watching the fifteen minute timer.

!~~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~~!

A few minutes later, Aelita was deep into the void of her Second Sight when she was stirred out of it once again by Jérémie. She was still safely in the tower.

"Aelita?"

"I'm here," she responded, opening her eyes. "Still no sign that XANA's attacking."

"Probably because it's gone back to sleep," he told her. "It used up a lot of its energy on the Cortex just now against Tyron."

She was hopeful. "Did you find the answer?"

"I hope so. Ulrich's piloting the Skid back to Lyoko as we speak. Once he's back, I'll bring you both in and we'll all analyze the data together."

"Okay."

She then went back to her meditation.

!~~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~~!

About ten minutes after that, the six were back in the lab, with the Skid back in its garage. The others surrounded Jérémie, intently watching as he analyzed the data Ulrich had retrieved.

The young genius then froze, tense and staring at the screen in silence.

"So, Einstein, what's up?" Odd asked, knowing very well that this meant Jérémie had found something.

The blonde in blue seemed perplexed. He hesitated, checking a few parameters, before addressing the others, incredulous, "Apparently, Yumi's intuition earlier was right. XANA destroyed a simple security update made by Tyron to his supercomputer."

The others gave expressions of understanding, but Odd still seemed lost, "Um...would I look like an idiot if I asked how a security update would bother XANA?"

"No," Jérémie answered. "It's what was causing interference with its attacks earlier."

"The kind that Ulrich and Yumi saw?" Aelita asked.

"Yeah," Jérémie nodded.

"And it also explains the towers activating and deactivating," Ulrich added in a mutter.

"So if I'm understanding all of this correctly," William said, "Tyron acted solo here. We know from a past clip that he does not know about XANA, but he certainly does not like it being within his database. Right?"

"Right," Jérémie confirmed.

"Okay, so here's a crazy idea," the raven-haired boy continued. "What if we warned him? About XANA? I mean, it may make it easier to take out XANA if Tyron finds a way to drive it out."

Aelita's stomach plummeted to the ground. The cynical version of herself was telling her what a bad idea that was. "You mean...joining forces with Tyron?"

Jérémie was also looking wary of this suggestion.

"Of course not," William explained. "I trust Tyron just as much as you guys do: not at all. But we know about XANA and he doesn't. We know that XANA seeks to destroy humanity, but Tyron doesn't."

Aelita was the first to see reason, despite her deep-seeded fears, "That's true. He is at least capable of understanding the danger posed by an artificial intelligence that escapes all control, right?"

There was general skepticism still around, but Jérémie was the first to relent, "Aelita's right. It may not be what we want to do, but it is what we need to do. XANA is still a threat. In any case, we have nothing to lose by trying."

William and Aelita both nodded in agreement. One by one, Ulrich, Yumi, and Odd all relented.

With this, Jérémie began typing away on his keyboard, composing an encoded message to one Lowell Tyron.

"You sending Tyron a sweet word there, Einstein?" Odd made a joke to diffuse the tension.

"Nope. Just a request for a meeting." Jérémie pressed enter, sending the message to the IP address of the Cortex. "Done. Now, we wait for his answer. If it ever comes."

!~~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~~!

The rest of the day passed without any issues, or any response from the man they had to contact on behalf of all humanity. That night, Aelita found herself one of the last few people left in the girl's shower room. She had just taken her shower and was now brushing her teeth, before turning in. She spat out the toothpaste and washed her mouth, as someone else exited the showers area.

Laura was another of those girls moving slowly to bed. She joined the pink-ette at the sinks, looking into the other's green eyes through the mirror. "Hey, Aelita. You've been distracted all day. What's wrong?"

Aelita appreciated the blonde waited until they were alone. She had come a long way in understanding what times were appropriate to bring up certain topics.

That being said, it didn't mean she wanted to talk about what was on her mind throughout the day. "I'm fine, just a bit stressed out over homework."

Laura paused, skeptical. "You're thinking about your parents, aren't you?"

The pink-ette mentally waved a white flag in surrender, "My father actually, but yes."

The blonde paused. "I was wondering...how did your father die? You never said..."

Memories resurfaced in that moment—her father reassuring her that they were safer at the Hermitage, him telling her all about Lyoko after the men in black found them, him telling her not to forget him as he turned the supercomputer off, him bringing her back to life and giving her missing fragment back, him saving her from the Digital Sea, him letting the Mantas hit him to power Jérémie's program...

She felt the tears forming in her eyes, "He sacrificed himself for me..."

Laura was speechless, solemnly silent. She suddenly seemed uncomfortable. "My father...would not do the same." Aelita looked at her, surprised and slightly concerned. "He sees me as a tool to use for his own agenda. He's always pushing me to do better, to complete whatever assignment he gives me with frightening perfection. The more I interact with people here, the more I think that he's not really interested in me as a person..."

"Laura..." the pink-ette began.

But the blonde had her mind set already, "I'm sorry for bringing up a sore subject. Good night, Aelita."

Aelita felt guilty for answering so honestly. While she knew Laura's bond with her father was strenuous at best, she didn't know that the other girl had felt that isolated from him. She was thrown off by that confession, and even if Laura had stayed, the pink-ette would have been left searching for words.

Her toiletries bag in hand, she also left the shower room and made her way to her dorm. After closing her door and shutting her lights off, she laid in bed for a couple of minutes. Her reverie was broken by her charging phone vibrating on the table beside her.

She picked up, "Hello?"

"Aelita?" It was Jérémie. "Are you alright? You sound upset."

What...? She did? She had no idea. "I'm fine," she began wiping her lingering tears away.

"Are you sure?"

She would always appreciate his concern. Even if he took it a bit too far sometimes, it was comforting to know that someone cared about her. "Yeah. I promise." She meant it this time. "So, what's going on?"

"Tyron replied."

She promptly sat up, more alert than before.

!~~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~~!

The meeting was scheduled for midnight, France time. Tyron had set the time, requested the place being the Cortex's interface, and said that only two representatives were fine. According to Jérémie, the message indicated that Tyron seemed annoyed yet open to listen to them. An hour prior, the Lyokowarriors were traveling to the factory, being careful not to catch the attention of Jim (or Yumi's parents) for being caught out of bed after curfew.

Gathering in the lift now, Jérémie revealed his decision on who to send to talk to Tyron. "Ulrich and Yumi will go."

"Okay," Ulrich replied, as he and Yumi nodded.

"Um...wouldn't Aelita be the better choice?" Odd asked.

"Remember what Franz Hopper said?" Yumi reminded him. "About Tyron considering Aelita a personal enemy if he ever found out that she exists?"

Odd's shoulders fell. "Oh. Right."

"Besides, Ulrich and Yumi are diplomatic enough," Aelita added.

"Me? Not diplomatic enough?" Odd asked, jokingly offended. "I'm more diplomatic than William!"

"I only get annoyed when Ulrich is bothering me," William gently retorted.

"That's rich coming from the guy who used to bother us all the time," was the brunette's quick response.

Jérémie abruptly stopped the petty fight, "Stop! I've said that Ulrich and Yumi are going to the Cortex and that's that!" He was firm on his decision, and he wasn't changing his mind.

William and Ulrich both sheepishly agreed with silent nods, but Odd did the same with words, "Okay, fine. We're not all diplomats, but William and I can go with them, right? As long as we keep quiet?"

"You're incapable of keeping quiet, Odd," Yumi replied, as Jérémie pressed the button to close the lift door. "Proof is just now."

"But Odd is right," William said. "It's dangerous to send the two of you alone into enemy territory."

"You're right," Jérémie explained, "but Tyron requested only two of you, citing personal comfort as the reason. In order to stay on his good side, we have to follow his instructions."

"Diplomacy 101," Yumi shrugged, and Odd hung his head again.

"Don't worry," Jérémie continued, "I'll devirtualize you two at the first sign of trouble. I promise."

The others all nodded.

!~~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~~!

Two Ninjas were waiting for Ulrich and Yumi at the edge of the Cortex. Once docking the Skid just out of their reach, the teens disembarked to meet their enemies, who proceeded to guide them to the Core.

"Go on and let them lead you," Jérémie advised. "But be careful."

"Tyron's expecting us," Odd reminded him. "You reached out to the guy, Jer. You don't trust him?"

Jérémie was blunt. "No. I don't."

Ulrich and Yumi didn't respond to this, just letting the Ninjas escort them to the meeting place. But they agreed with their resident genius completely.

Once in the Core, the Ninjas let the two teens activate the interface themselves, hanging back as if waiting for an incoming order. Yumi didn't use Jérémie's anti-detection hacking bug this time, because they wanted Tyron's attention.

In front of them, the large green-colored screen opened, and Tyron's face appeared within the webcam footage.

"So, tell me, little avatars," he began, detailing the two with a small pout, "what is this capital information that I need to know. Do you even know who I am?"

Ulrich barely managed to prevent himself from clenching his fists. "Yes, you are Lowell Tyron, creator of this supercomputer."

"Professor Lowell Tyron," the man smugly corrected.

The teens exchanged a dejected look. Despite this, Ulrich continued, "Professor Tyron, are you aware of the virus in your system? It's actually an artificial intelligence, named XANA."

"'XANA'?" Tyron scoffed. "Never heard of a name like that! What is it? Some sort of video game?"

Yumi prevented herself from raising her voice. "No, XANA is not a game." It was difficult, though. "We told you, it's an artificial intelligence that is trying to gain control of the network." She took a leap, "The reason we keep visiting is because we have probable cause to believe that it is hiding within your supercomputer."

Back in the lab, Jérémie was reading over the data retrieved by Ulrich earlier with increasing concern...

Tyron remained silent for a moment before bursting out into a loud laugh. "Impossible! If that were the case, I would know about it!"

"Ulrich, Yumi," Aelita jumped in, "tell him that if XANA gains full strength, then it will take total control of the network, which means his supercomputer will be toast!" Fortunately, Tyron was unable to hear the teens' comm-link, only the one he shared with his Ninjas.

Ulrich attempted his best, "Professor, you don't realize, but XANA is getting out of control. It's ready for anything, and it only wishes to wreak havoc and destruction on all of humanity. We know it sounds crazy, but it's true."

But Tyron interrupted him, just laughing even harder. "I'm the one who controls everything here! I, Lowell Tyron, fear no one! Not even this XANA that is supposedly hiding inside my supercomputer! Do you want proof?!"

The couple immediately tensed up, but all five teens jumped out of their skins when Jérémie suddenly cried out in utter panic, "Ulrich! Yumi! Get out of there! NOW!"

Too late. Tyron snapped his fingers, and the two Ninjas behind them attacked. Ulrich and Yumi stepped back and got into a fighting position. They expected their enemies to take out their sabers, but they didn't.

Instead, the Ninjas reached out to them, with spherical and luminous balls of energy forming in their hands. Beams of green light shot out and pierced the teens, causing them to cry out. To their surprise, it was painful.

"W-What is this?" Yumi managed to grind out.

"Encoders!" Aelita exclaimed. "They're trying to disconnect you two from Lyoko! If they succeed, you'll be permanently deleted!"

Ulrich and Yumi didn't feel the pain for long, as two seconds later, they felt their avatars materialize and reform back inside the scanners back in the factory.

The Ninjas had no choice but to stand down, as outside, the Skid was remotely piloted back to the Skid Garage in Sector Five.

Tyron growled. He had failed...

!~~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~~!

Once all six of them were back in the lab, and the Skid safely docked on Lyoko, the others rounded on Jérémie for his reaction.

"What made you so panicked, Jer?" Ulrich asked. "Did you discover something?"

Jérémie took a deep breath before explaining, "Before leaving for classes earlier, I ran a more in-depth analysis on the data we had retrieved from the Cortex. During the meeting just now, it finished and uncovered a secret that I should have realized before." He then revealed, "XANA did not destroy that update. Tyron did."

The others were in shock.

"What?" Odd asked. "H-How do you know?"

"This video clip was within the data," the young genius said, before playing said clip.

It was footage from the same webcam Tyron used for the meeting just now. However, the main was working on a computer in the background when an alert sounded on another across the room. He turned to face said screen, and saw that it was what seemed like the same type of program as Jérémie's superscan.

A tower had been activated on the Cortex.

Tyron tensed up, before typing away, obviously trying to see what was going on now. He was clearly sick and tired of XANA attacking his supercomputer for whatever reason.

Behind him, a black spectre came out of an electrical socket. XANA entered Tyron's body, attempting to take over the electrical impulses in the man's brain. But like with Ulrich and Odd a couple years ago, it failed. Tyron's body blackened and glitched out like crazy, but XANA eventually gave up, and retreated back into the electrical socket. On the computer screen, the tower alert window closed, the AI having called off its attack.

Tyron caught the tail end of this, and his reaction was a growl, "Oh no you don't, you pathetic program! You will not control me!"

The clip ended, and Jérémie kept his eyes on Tyron's inhuman-like glare on the screen. He forced himself to continue explaining, "Tyron lied to us. He does know about XANA. His timing was perfect. He deactivated the security update himself when the last Ninja was devirtualized and before Ulrich started hacking into the interface. Coming prepared in the meeting to capture Ulrich and Yumi just proves my point."

"And we walked right into his trap," Yumi muttered. "He even gave us instructions, knowing we'd obey them for the sake of diplomacy."

Her boyfriend was deep in thought, "Now that I think about it, the last Ninja I was fighting...I think they threw the fight. They had a clear shot at me for a good second before I started egging them on, but they didn't take it, when Ninjas automatically take advantage of any opening, being the skilled fighters that they are."

The group was in solemn shock. Tyron had turned the tables on them, and if not for Jérémie's quick thinking and rapid-fire typing, Ulrich and Yumi would likely be either kidnapped or dead by now. Tyron knew that XANA was in his supercomputer, and now, he also had more intel on the enemies he had called the 'little avatars'.

But Jérémie continued to ponder, "We're not defeated yet." His friends all turned to him in surprise. "It's like a chess game. He may have just taken one of our pieces, but he also allowed me to steal one of his."

"What do you mean?" William asked. Could there really be a silver lining to all of this?

Jérémie let slip a tiny smile, "His little update had disturbed XANA, remember?"

Ulrich wasn't convinced, "Yes, and just look at the result. Fiasco all along the line!"

"And this is why I always beat you guys at chess," the young genius replied. "None of you are willing to play the long game." He then explained, "Tyron's update prevented XANA from launching any attacks, which meant that he had to include some of the Cortex's source codes in the programming. Most of which I did not have before this..."

And they needed those source codes for the patch of the anti-XANA program. The other five all began smiling in realization.

"We're not beaten yet," Aelita repeated in almost a whisper.

He met her eyes, his own filled with determination, "Not yet."

!~~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~E~V~O~L~U~T~I~O~N~~~!

Inspiration: CLE's "Confusion"

Up next: Episode 17, The Stowaway - "As Ulrich gets into a fight with his father, Jérémie creates a spy bug, only for Tyron to raise the question about who's actually doing the spying."

A/N: Chapter Meaning: The titular confusion centers around what's going on with XANA's attacks failing. By the end, the mystery becomes much clearer.

-The tower in the Ice Sector is the one from "XANA Awakens" and "Guided Missile", and the one in the Desert Sector is a copy of the Skid tower in "A Lack of Goodwill" and "Hard Luck".

-Seriously, if you haven't downloaded IFSCL already, then do it now. You may be bad at it (like I just recently discovered), but you gain a better appreciation for all that Jérémie does.

~Evolution concepts~

In EVO, the corresponding episode (also titled "Confusion") happens after Intrusion/Stowaway. Here it happens before. The new placement along with the changes I made is meant to make the story more cohesive. I checked and apparently, this is an error. The EVO episode is meant to come before "The Codeless", because XANA is at 80 percent power instead of at 85 percent, and Odd can still deactivate towers.

I took out Laura and Aelita's argument. First of all, the circumstances in this story wouldn't allow it to happen, but second, and most importantly, Laura ends up digging into private information (EVO muddies up what information she's looking up, but the script clears it up) without listening to Aelita and just letting it go. But the most egregious thing she does is have the nerve to taunt Aelita about it afterward like she's winning a game ("Did he abandon you?"), which is why I'm glad that Aelita gains the upper hand in the end, even if the script is the superior version of that scene (Aelita was supposed to start crying when admitting that Hopper had sacrificed himself for her), and even adds another at the end where Laura admits to Aelita that no, her father would in fact not do the same for her that Franz Hopper did for Aelita. Regardless, I've removed it, because Laura's not part of the group and the two girls are now friends by this point. I instead changed into a bonding moment doubled as foreshadowing.

The clip with XANA attempting to possess Tyron has a reason, I promise. It's foreshadowing something that happens in the final chapter. The idea came from my beta reader.