What Now
Creesila looks in horror. "What is going on?" The group turns around and looks at Cressila. "Ya'll don't look that supposed at that thing. What is going on?" Cressila demands. Brock rushes to Cressila. "What are you doing? I thought you were heading back to check on our families?" Cressila folds her arms. "I called them, and then I followed you." Jeremy holds his head as Odd rants. "What the hell? I thought XANA was dead! Jeremy? What did you do?" Jeremynstandsnup and looks at Odd. "Excuse me? I didn't do anything. XANA was gone! We destroyed it!" "Well, maybe you fucked up!" "I did not! Stop blaming me, Odd!" "Boys!" Allison shouts. "Enough! Blaming Jeremy is not the problem nor the answer!" "Excuse me!" Cressila shouts. "I still need answers!" Cressila opens the curtains and sees waves of XANA's ghost flying through the sky. Yumi runs to her and closes the curtains. "Let's not attract attention," she said. "Well, we have been friends for two and a half years, and this 'XANA' thing has never come up. Yet all of you look like you know what is happening! Spill the tea." Aelita looks out the window and sighs. "Tell her," she said. "Are you sure, princess?" Ulrich asks. "Princess? Allison is the princess!" Cressila snaps. "True, but there is a reason for my nickname," Aelita said. "Okay. Sit down, and we'll tell you everything," Jeremy said. Ash passes out beer. "Why are you giving out beer?" Cressila asks. "Because the tale about XANA is deep," Allison said.
Cressila's eyes widen as the group fills her in on all things XANA. "Crows, bees, floods, possession, robots, and what?" "Blizzards, placing me in a coma, and more," Jeremy said. "And Aelita is tied to XANA?" "I was. However, I didn't realize I had a life on Earth. When I regained my memories, I wasn't tied to XANA anymore," Aelita said. "And XANA was destroyed in the fall semester of tenth grade at your old school, right?" "Right," Yumi said. "Or so we thought." Cressila finishes her beer. "Who made this thing and why?" "My father," Aelita said. "Wait, Mr. Shaeffer made it? Why?" "He created XANA to counter Project Carthage, a system meant to block enemy communications, but it had a much darker intention than my mather fault." Cresslia nods. "I think my father mentioned it before." "Wait, he did?" Jeremy asks. "Yes. I was so little I thought he was talking about printer ink, but he mentioned a Tyron." "Professor Lowell Tyron?" Dawn questions. "Yes. However, it was not good." "Professor Tyron is an evil, insecure man who made fighting XANA harder." Cressila nods. "And you said I helped?" "At the end, when XANA went from 50 to 100, it was rough, but you helped deal with the damage on Earth while we dealt with XANA on Lyoko." "I don't remember. I think this is insane, and now it's back!" Cressila starts to freak out.
In the meantime, Jeremy begins to search XANA's activity. "XANA has only been active for three days," Jeremy said. "That is how long we all have been in town," Ulrich said. "That is not a coincidence." "I know." Allison sits next to Cressila while Aelita takes a sip of her beer. "You know, my nightmares have stopped only six months ago," Aelita said. "I'm sorry," Cressila said. "XANA caused so much pain in my life. Tyron caused so much pain in my life. I finally have my family back, and XANA won't take them away." "Which is why we called all our parents and told them that there is trouble in Paris and to be wary," Dawn said. "Also, XANA hates Aelita's father more than us, so he needs to stay far away from here," Allison said. "My head hurts. Give us one minute, and we'll all have a great time. Then, bam! XANA is taking over the world," Brock said. "Maybe XANA had helped?" Ash asks. "Of course it did. I think Tyron made a comeback after we broke into his lab," Jeremy said. "Broke into his lab?" Cressila asks. "It was in correlation with Calvin," Odd said. "He was going to expose everything with XANA, which could put everyone in danger." "So, we broke into his lab and switched the evidence. We had alibis and everything," Yumi said. Cressila nods but goes for another beer. "Okay! This is all batshit crazy! An evil AI is taking over the world, and a bunch of teenagers are going to fight it. Well, I chose to stay." "I found something," Jeremy said.
"What is it?" The group speaks in unison. "I found a local access point nearby," Jeremy said. "A what?" Odd asks. "There is a device where someone activated a dead fragment of XANA." "Where?" Yumi asks. "Versailles." "Okay, let's go." "We all can't go." "I'll go," Aelita said. "I'll go too," Allison said. "You'll need backup." "Then count me in," Dawn said. "Okay, but I'm not staying here," Odd said. "Why not?" Cressila asks. Moments later, one of XANA's ghosts crashes through the back door and flies around the villa. The ghost grew more prominent and started to spark. Brock shields Cressila from possible possession while the sparks affect the lights. They all hear a haunting laugh, and the ghost leaves through a crack in the window. "That's why! I'm not staying here!" Ash starts to gather his bag. "Where would we go?" Ulrich asks. Allison hands Ulrich a set of keys. "If you all cross to London, my family has a villa. It would be best to leave the country. The girls and I will meet up after retrieving the device." "Are you sure?" "Yes." "We do have to leave. It would be wise to go somewhere else," Jeremy said. The group made a plan: Aelita, Allison, and Dawn headed for Versailles in a car while the others headed for London on motorbikes. On the way there, they saw someone. "No," Jeremy said.
Once at Versailles, Aelita finds the device. It was an iPad mini that had XANA's information on it. Next to the device, there was a glove with wires on it. "What is that?" Allison asks. "A memory-snatching glove," Aelita said. When she puts it on, it starts to glow. "If something is happening, we're coming too," Dawn said as Allison and she grabbed Aelita and the glove and transported them to a building surrounded by leaves. "Hide," Allison said. The girls hide and see Anthea and a woman with brown hair chat. "Let's see if we can get this done," Anthea said. "Oh, where is your husband, Waldo?" The woman with brown hair asks. "He is on a research trip with Lowell and Alan." Aelita does a double take. "Did we go back in time?" "I think we did. The glove did that," Dawn said.