Chapter 14 Plagued
A.N. – The only major change that comes with this is that Nadia will be with Jeremy as requested by the submitter that she take the tests as well.
Disclaimer – I do not own Code Lyoko, the plot, or the story idea. I am just a fan of the show, the plot is owned by the creators, and the idea was submitted by LittleRedRebel.
In the city sewers, a rat crawls into an intersection. There's a group of rats trying to get a pinecone. They try climbing but fall down. One rat steps on another to jump, making the second one upset. He tries climbing on a rat, but it hisses at him. The others follow in on the hissing and the lone rat leaves. He scampers down the tunnel, sniffing the air at something dangling from above. He crawls up the roof, appearing in a storage room. He sees apples and scampers past an outlet, one of Xana's ghost coming from it. As the rat digs in, the ghost advances. The rat looks up, only to be pinned down. He screeches, struggling. The ghost enters him, and he tries to fight it, but is ultimately possessed. The rat opens his eye to reveal red pupils with the symbol of Xana…
Jim looks through a magazine as he monitors the students in the library. Jeremy is sitting in front of his laptop, talking to Aelita. "But I can't speak any louder, I'm in a library now."
"What's a library Jeremy?" Aelita wonders.
"A databank where everything printed on paper. And where you can't make any noise" he explains.
"Oh, I guess because you need silence to concentrate on what you're studying."
"Yes, and so not to miss the match point."
Jeremy glances to the side, where a makeshift foosball table sits between Odd and Ulrich. Yumi sits next to Ulrich while Jeremy is sitting to the right of Odd, Nadia is to the left. Odd and Ulrich stare at each other. Odd holds the crumpled-up ball. He serves and Ulrich hits it back.
"Hey, quiet!" Jim calls out, not even looking up. He then does, seeing Odd and Ulrich's match. Ulrich hits it up in the air and Odd jumps, hitting it hard. Ulrich tries to hit it back, but it falls on Odd's side, but barely.
"Game, set, and match" Yumi declares the end of the game.
"And once again Ulrich proves that he is better than Odd" Nadia adds.
"Yeah!" Ulrich cheers but falls to the ground. Jim walks up to him.
"Ulrich! Is that what you call studying?" Jim asks as Ulrich laughs sheepishly. "In case no one told you, this is not the school yard! You are here to work, okay? And work means silence!" Yumi snickers into her hands. "And no more games from now on!" The principal opens the door, stepping into the library. "Ah okay. Well, if that's the way you want to play, I can play just as hard as you can, my little friends!" He turns around, grabbing the principal's ear. "You! Two hours detention. I'm – oh, sorry about that, sir. I uh-"
The five snicker and the principal walks up to them, clearing his throat. "Hello there Jeremy, Nadia. Would you both come to my office now? I want to talk to you, it's very important."
The rats have managed to grab the pinecone, digging in. They turn to see the possessed rat, hissing at him. He attacks the, biting one on the arm. The rat falls before he's possessed too. The rats look at the group and they screech as they're being attacked.
The three wait outside the principal's office, just wondering what the principal would want with Jeremy and Nadia. They didn't have to wait long as Jeremy opens the door, followed by Nadia. They both walk past them, sulking. "Jeremy? Nadia?" Odd asks as they look in confusion. They catch up with the two.
"What's going on?" Yumi questions.
"Well, you know the principal. He went on and on. He says the school psychologist has been 'observing' me for a long time. And ever since last year, he also started looking at Nadia as well. And he thinks we are both…overly gifted students" Jeremy tells them.
"Is that all? But that's nothing. We were scared that the principal had found out about the lab," Odd states. "Big deal."
"That's just the beginning. Tonight, me and Jeremy are take some tests to determine our IQ's" Nadia mentions.
"Yeah, so?" Ulrich asks.
"If the tests show that we have really high IQ's, the guy is gonna see to it that we get sent to another school" Jeremy responds.
They stop in surprise.
"Are you saying that he's gonna send you two to a school for like future Einstein's?" Odd wonders.
"Yeah" Jeremy and Nadia both respond.
"That is serious. If Jeremy goes, we can't go to Lyoko, and Nadia, we lose one member. And Xana will be able to do what he wants" Yumi says.
"And all of Jeremy's research into materializing Aelita and ours saving the world will all be in vain" Nadia adds.
"It's not just that guys. We don't want to leave here because of you all. You're my friends" Jeremy explains.
"Me and Jeremy both know what it's like to arrive in a new place, not knowing anyone. I was nervous on my first day here, but I took the initiative to make a friend. You guys, just sort of fell in place in the following days after Xana's reawakening. That's not gonna happen again."
"Hold on, cool it. Don't panic, okay?" Odd walks up to him. "I mean, he can't force you two to change schools" they start walking again.
"It's not all that easy. The psychologist creep couldn't wait to talk to my parents and Nadia's mom. He told them both that at that kind of school, I'd be entitled to a big scholarship. My folks aren't gonna pass up a chance like that" Jeremy reveals, walking ahead of them.
"And that would take a load off my mom's shoulders. She would be very happy that I'm following in her footsteps" Nadia adds.
"Why is that?" Odd asks.
"Before I was born, my mom worked as a scientist, top of the line with other bright minds. She is a lot smarter than people give her credit for."
A rat screeches, surrounded by the other possessed rats. They start swimming to the ladder that leads to the bridge of the factory.
The bell rings, classes now over, "What's the big problem? You mess up on the test, then they'll think you're both total morons. Nobody will ever know, and you're home free" Odd suggests as they lean against the wall.
"Sure, I thought of that. There's only a problem because tests like that are full of all kinds of trick questions. And if you really wanna mess up and make mistakes, you've gotta be very clever" Jeremy explains.
"Plus, you can't be obvious either. You need to put a response that is wrong and convincing" Nadia adds.
"But that's great, since you two are the cleverest kids around" Yumi grins.
"Well, okay. I'll do my best to flunk. But I can't promise anything" he walks away, and they look at Nadia.
"I'll try to do the same, but no guarantees. Wish us luck" she follows after him.
"Uh, I'll see you guys later. Keep me posted, okay?" Yumi leaves since her parents might worry. Tonight would determine the fate of the group, Aelita, and the world.
Jeremy and Nadia walk up to the psychologist in the library. "Ah hello there, Jeremy, and Nadia. Do you recognize me? I'm Mr. Simone, the school psychologist."
"Of course I do" Jeremy responds.
"You have a face had to forget" Nadia bit her tongue from saying something mean and nasty. She just had to get through this.
"Is it really true that you're planning to get us transferred to a school for gifted children? That's great, my parents and Nadia's mom are gonna be so glad!" Jeremy acts stupid on purpose to try and change Mr. Simone's mind.
"Just thrilled" Nadia gives simple answers.
"Well, that's what we're here tonight to find out. Now, to start off, I'm going to give you a multiple-choice test. It's a test in which you…well, I'm sorry, I'm sure you both already know' he chuckles sheepishly.
"Who, me? No!" Jeremy answers.
"Me too" Nadia answers next.
"Oh" he answers.
The bell rings for dinner time and the students walk out of the dorm building. "So, what's for dinner?" Ulrich asks.
"Oh, I don't know. Some kind of hash. They all taste the same" Odd deduces.
Sissi sneaks back into her room because she forgot something. She turns on the lights and screams when she sees some clothes chewed on. "Oh no, it can't be! My brand-new Gucci dress!" She picks it up and a rat drops to the floor. "Oh, I don't believe it!" She sees the rat. "Ah, so you're the savage who did this!" The possessed rat screeches at her. "Ugh! Here, take that!" She throws her shoe at it and the rat runs behind her wardrobe. She groans and looks behind to see nothing. She smiles in satisfaction, turning around.
Aelita is lying down on a pad, looking at the interface. She was studying more about Earth. She's in the desert sector, where there's pulsations…they lead to the tower Xana activated not far from her location. She gasps as she hears the disturbance.
"Jeremy!" She appears on Jeremy's computer in his room. "Jeremy, listen. Xana's woken up; he must be preparing an attack!" Unfortunately, Jeremy's still taking the IQ test in the library. "Jeremy?"
Jeremy puts down an answer as Mr. Simone tries to solve the Rubik's cube. Jeremy looks up, seeing his frustration. Mr. Simone puts it down on the table, waiting for Jeremy and Nadia to finish.
Some rats are chewing on wires on the power system near the school. The power goes out in the whole city, including the school. The students shout in surprise in the cafeteria.
"Sir, don't you think we oughta stop?" Jeremy asks, wanting to leave as soon as possible. If they didn't finish the test, they wouldn't have to transfer.
"Uh, but that would be silly, huh? The, uh, tests are almost finished. Besides, the lights are bound to come on again," he shines a flashlight on the two's faces before he shines on the two's paper. "Ah."
Sissi tries to turn on her vanity lights. "Oh, what kind of two-bit school is this?" She complains, brushing her hair. She hears a rat and turns around. She sits on her vanity, knocking down some hair supplies. She also breaks a perfume bottle and there are more rats screeching at her. Sissi starts to cry as she leans against the wall. She moves slowly to the left, trying to get to her door. The rats just hiss and she's almost to her door. She quickly steps off and rushes out before they can do anything. "Help!"
"Uh," Jim stares at the students horsing around. "That's enough! Get back to your seats right now and quiet down! Go on now, the lights will come on again soon. Now stop all your playing around, you understand?! Come on now!" Odd bangs his fist against the table while Ulrich stays quiet. Ulrich shushes them.
"Quiet down, listen!" Ulrich tells them.
They look in confusion since they don't hear anything…until there's shuffling from the vents. "What?" Jim opens the shaft and sees the rats there. He screams, falling to the ground. They look up and the rats start falling down from the roof. The students scream, running away.
"We better get out of here," Ulrich tells Odd, shouting in surprise as a group of rats fall near them. Odd and Ulrich run using the tables.
"Don't panic!" Jim calls out as Rosa starts hitting the rats attacking her with a tray.
"Take that! And that!"
"Move, move!" The students start running.
"Don't panic, I said. Just get out of my way!" Jim shouts as he trails behind them. Rosa hits another rat. Ulrich lands at the door and is about to open it…until he sees all the rats outside.
"Oh no!" Ulrich exclaims.
"Uh, oh" Odd sees them.
"We're trapped!" Ulrich hits the glass slightly.
"Nice going Xana. The rats all waited for night time and they attacked us as soon as we were all in the cafeteria" Odd comments.
A few students star shoving them. Ulrich calls Yumi to inform her.
Yumi's reading a magazine as she picks up her phone. "Is that you Ulrich? Huh? What?"
Jeremy's phone rings but Mr. Simone takes it. "But-."
"After the test, you can make all the calls you want. Your phone too Nadia."
She places it on the table, just as it rings.
"Oh, what's the problem, why won't he answer?!" Ulrich says in frustration.
"Nadia's not answering either. We're on our own," Odd tells him. The students start using trays as shields. "The extinguishers Jim. Hurry up!" Odd shouts as Jim presses his back against the wall. He shakes in fear.
"Don't panic, j-just don't p-p-panic, okay?"
Christophe runs past him with the fire extinguishers and the students start moving them backwards.
"Pass them down!" Odd tells them.
Sissi closes the door of the dorm building and looks back to see more of them.
"Okay, outside, everyone," Odd orders as Ulrich uses the fire extinguisher to fend off the rats. "There are too many of them. We'll never be able to hold them back all night." Both of them are using the extinguishers.
"Help, help! Over here!" Sissi calls out, getting the attention of the rats.
"Sissi! What's she doing her anyway?" Ulrich asks in annoyance.
"We have to help her or she's gonna be eaten alive!" Odd tells him.
As Jeremy and Nadia try to finish, shuffling can be heard at the door. Mr. Simone points his flashlight at it. "That noise is unbearable!" He opens the door. "Listen, this racket has got to-" He sees the rats, backing away. They jump and he closes the door just in time. His hand starts to shake as Jeremy presses himself against the door. "T-They're rats! Like a whole army of them!"
"Oh, Xana" Jeremy guesses.
"That means the others were trying to reach us" Nadia adds.
"Yeah, and also Aelita as well." A sound is heard by the door. "They're trying to eat through the door. We've gotta barricade it."
The rats look up, hearing a bell. Yumi rides on her bike, using the forest as a path to the school. The other way was covered in rats.
"Ah, here she comes!" Ulrich says in relief. Yumi drives past the rats and skids to a stop in front of Sissi.
"Your carriage, Cinderella!" Sissi gets on and Yumi speed through the rodents, skidding to the boys.
"Welcome to the rat pack!" Odd tells them.
Jeremy, Nadia, and Mr. Simone look at the barricaded wall. "Okay, keep going along sir," Jeremy encourages, running to the desk. "Oh, let's hope this will hold them back long enough" he opens his laptop. "Aelita?"
"Xana has activated a tower Jeremy" Aelita reports as she's lying down on the sand. "I've spotted where it is. I'm on my way there now. I'll try and get a closer look, okay?" She logs off and Jeremy closes his laptop, sighing in worry. He sees his cellphone.
Yumi gets a callas Odd and Ulrich fend off the rats. "Hello Jeremy. Yes, the rats have attacked. Okay, right, we'll meet at the lab." Yumi looks to Odd and Ulrich. "We have to find a safe place."
"Where, huh? The rats are all over" Ulrich calls out.
"Oh, I know where. The only place with no access to the sewers is the science building, let's go!" Jim explains.
"Better hurry" Yumi tells the others.
Jeremy walks up to the window, looking at the rats. "Oh this time, we're the rats in the trap, and I don't like it at all…"
"Think Xana's planning at clawing away at us until there's nothing left?" Nadia asks.
"Or silently finding a way to eliminate Aelita cause we can't get to Lyoko."
Jim's hands shake as he stands in front of the science building. "Hey, get a move on, huh? The extinguishers are nearly empty!" Odd calls out.
"Come on, easy it does it" Yumi guides Jim, smiling. He stares at her before opening the door.
"Faster!" Christophe runs inside, followed by the others. The rats chase after them and Ulrich slides back, shooting a little foam as the extinguisher runs out.
"Oh, what do I do now?" He drops the extinguisher, jumping over the stairs and slamming the door just in time. Ulrich pants, giving a thumbs up.
"Okay, let's go up to the roof. If the rats get in, we'll be safe up there," Yumi orders. They all go up to the roof of the science building. Odd closes the door as Yumi and Ulrich look over the edge. Odd joins them, seeing the rats chewing on a tree. It falls down and breaks a window, allowing the rats inside. "We have to get to the factory. Jeremy and Nadia will meet us there, as soon as they can, that is."
"Sounds great, but how do we get there, huh?" Ulrich turns to her. Odd finds a hose, throwing it over. He holds onto it.
"Here I go" Odd jumps over.
"Hey, wait, come back! What are you doing?" Jim demands. Ulrich jumps over. "No, come back. You can't – hey, come back!"
"Too late!" He slides down. Once he's down, they run into the forest. Fortunately, the manhole cover wasn't surrounded…unfortunately the inside is.
"No choice, we have to go over the wall" Yumi declares.
Mr. Simone flips the flashlight on and off. "Not rats. Anything but rats." Jeremy looks up. "When I was a boy, a rat came up to my…my room."
Jeremy notices something as the light turns on and off. He takes the flashlight and looks over the window. He turns the light on, and the rats fall down, startled by the light.
"Bingo," he turns around. "You stay here sir. I gotta get to the photo lab. Be right back." Jeremy runs off, leaving Nadia and a traumatized Mr. Simone.
"So, tell me more about this rat that ended up in your room?" Nadia asks, trying to pass the time.
Odd, Yumi, and Ulrich run to the bridge of the factory, only to find it blocked by rats. "Oh, Xana's thought of everything!" Ulrich grumbles.
"Come on," Odd runs and jumps over the railing. They run over to the railing to see Odd standing near a raft. "Care for a little cruise?"
One rat looks at them rowing to the other side. He calls his friends over, and Yumi turns around.
"Faster!" Yumi exclaims as Ulrich and Odd row as fast as they can. The rats start jumping in the water. They make it, jumping off and running. The rats follow after them. "Hurry up, faster, hurry!" They jump through the basement doors, shutting the rats out just in time.
Mr. Simone still looks scared as he tells Nadia his story. "That experience, s-s-scared the life out of me! N-N-Never could face a rat ever again!"
"It's okay" Nadia says to calm him as Jeremy comes back, holding camera equipment. He looks at a window before flashing the rats.
"It worked, great," he's hooked up to a camera to a light. He hands it to Mr. Simone. "If they come, use this, it'll chase them away." Jeremy and Nadia run to the window.
"Stay…please don't go," Mr. Simone begs. Jeremy flashes the ground. "I- I'm afraid of rats. Oh no." Jeremy and Nadia are already gone.
Yumi runs into the lab while the boys stay in the elevator to go down to the scanner room. She was going to handle the virtualizing since Jeremy was still gone. She looks at the computer in confusion, not knowing what to do. This was usually Jeremy's thing. She dials him.
"Hey Jeremy, I'm in the lab. I have to contact Aelita and virtualize Odd and Ulrich. Explain to me how to do it."
"Listen up now," Jeremy starts as he and Nadia walk. Aelita looks up from her hiding spot, hearing something. Three krabs approach and she stands up, running off from the lasers.
"Okay, that's done. I found the activated tower, and I've located Aelita. She's got a problem. Um, what? Speak louder, I can hardly hear you. I have to type in the coordinates, say that again? 19 degrees west? That's it, isn't it? 19 degrees west?"
"Wait, no, I said 79 degrees west, 79 degrees west! Listen Yumi, the rats have invaded the city, you hear?" Jeremy insists.
"You think she caught the 79 degrees?" Nadia asks.
"Hopefully, if not, Odd an Ulrich might end up on the other side of the sector."
"Okay then, I'm ready" Yumi says.
"Yumi, can you hear me?" Jeremy looks at his phone. Yumi types in the coordinates, which are in fact the wrong ones.
The scanners open just as the boys arrive. They walk up to the scanners. "Transfer Odd. Transfer Ulrich." Two of the three scanners close. Yumi continues to type as their ID cards are scanned. "Scanner Odd. Scanner Ulrich. Virtualization." They're virtualized into the desert sector, with no sign of Aelita or an activated tower.
"It's okay, you did it Yumi" Odd reassures.
"Do you see Aelita?"
"No, she should be around here somewhere" Ulrich looks around.
"Oh no, I didn't enter the right coordinates. I virtualized you too far away from Aelita" Yumi says in realization.
"That's okay, we could use a little exercise to get warmed up" Odd waves a hand.
Outside the factory entrance, Jeremy and Nadia look at the army of rats that await them. "Smile" he and Nadia use the camera equipment.
Ulrich and Odd run and pant as they race to find Aelita. Ulrich skids to a stop and Odd stops as well. "Do you see her now?" Looking up ahead, they see Aelita being chased by the krabs.
"Yeah. I see her!" Odd points to her direction. "She's here. The only problem is. She's not alone."
"Be careful." Aelita looks behind her before seeing the two, sliding to them. Ulrich bends down to her.
"Hello princess" Ulrich says to her.
She looks up. "That was close, I just managed to get away."
"Your two knights in shining armor have come to protect you" Ulrich reassures.
The krabs stop and they step forward. Aelita hangs back as a krab stomps its two front feet in front of them. They continue walking, but the ground starts to tilt up.
"Hey, you know, this is kind of weird" Odd comments.
"Odd, Ulrich, what's happening?!" Yumi asks in shock.
"That's a good question" Ulrich answers as they hang onto the moving ground.
"I don't understand, it could have been my mistake, although…" Yumi's hands, shake as she starts to panic.
"It's Xana, he's changing the slope of the plateau. Better hang on tight" Aelita explains as they fall. Aelita presses her hand to her head, using her creativity powers to create a platform underneath them. They land roughly.
"Wow, well done Aelita." Odd comments before a laser is fired right in front of his face. He looks up to see the krabs can move just fine, firing lasers at them. Aelita looks up, covering herself.
"No!" Aelita screams as Ulrich stands in front of her, taking the shots himself. Yumi looks in shock.
"Three krabs, a battery of lasers, the life points per impact!"
The three press their backs against the wall huddled together to miss the lasers. "Ulrich, you cover Aelita. She's lost too many life points. I'll try to attract their attention," Odd jumps, landing on a rock. He stands on top of it, looking up at the attackers. He continues to climb, panting as he presses his back against the plateau. He turns to the krabs and one of them turns to him. "Laser arrow!" He fires three times. The laser destroys two, but the last one destroys the krab. The other one fires at him and Odd jumps, avoiding several, but one of them hits him in the chest, knocking him to the ground. The krabs continue to fire as they come closer to Odd. Odd ducks, getting hit again.
"No Odd. Get out of there now!" Ulrich shouts.
He runs, jumps, and holds on to a stone. He avoids the lasers and looks up, jumping. The stone is destroyed and Odd falls.
"Odd!" Ulrich shouts. "No!" Luckily, one of the lasers devirtualizes him before he could fall into the digital sea. Ulrich presses his back against the wall.
"Need any help?" Jeremy places a hand on Yumi's shoulders and she gives a look of relief.
"Oh Jeremy, Nadia, you're finally here. Listen, Odd has just been devirtualized and Ulrich has hardly any life points left" she reports.
"Well, you know what you two have got to do" Jeremy answers.
At the school, everyone is huddled together on the roof as they hear the rats trying to chew through the door. The krabs continue to fire at the two and Ulrich dodges them all with his sword.
Ulrich is able to reflect one back, making the krab lose balance and fall off. He then defends. He is then hit and knocked to the ground. Ulrich thinks to himself and as the laser fires, he jumps and the krab fires another laser, devirtualizing him.
"No!" Aelita yells, but a fan destroys the leg. She looks up to see Yumi. She catches her fan and the krab turns to her. Nadia jumps off the top screaming as she stabs the krab as she's falling down. The krab explodes as Nadia lands where Aelita is.
"Miss us?" Nadia asks.
"A little. You missed most of the fighting though" she responds.
"Now go. We got a city to save."
The rats start to break through the door.
The three arrive at the tower with no problems and Aelita steps in. She walks to the center of the platform and starts floating.
"Go on Aelita. You're there now, go on" Jeremy encourages as she lands at the top pad.
Mr. Simone backs away as the rats come through the barricaded door. "Say-say cheese" he holds up the flash equipment Jeremy gave him.
Aelita presses her hand to log in.
Aelita
An army of rats swarm in, the students, Rosa, and Jim scared.
Code
They shake in fear as the rats come closer.
Lyoko
As a rat jumps up, they suddenly stop thanks to Aelita. The tower deactivates and Jeremy activates the return to the past. "Return to the past now." Time is reversed back to the library.
"So," Yumi says, "Did you two figure out a way to flunk the test, hm?"
"Well, now that we know all the questions, we shouldn't have any trouble giving all the wrong answers" Jeremy explains.
"Are you sure it's going to work?" Ulrich wonders.
"We should. We have the ultimate study guide" Nadia says.
"Yeah, it's foolproof. And it's called Odd" all but Odd laugh, who is unamused.
"Yeah yeah, go on, laugh your head off, but who knows? You might be in for a big surprise!"
"Quiet" Jim calls out, looking up.
Jeremy and Nadia were for sure to never leave now. The adventures of the Lyoko Warriors continue…
A.N. – So, this chapter was researched prior to the revision so some events were edited and scraped, like dialogue and an extended Lyoko scene for Nadia. Nothing much to be noted, but I thought it was appropriate to mention. PM me with story ideas! Review with questions or comments! I will respond! As always, till next time! See ya! -lyokowarrior97