Author's Note: Happy holidays everyone! I'm really sorry for the late entry. I'm facing some minor health issues that affect my availability for writing. Be sure that I haven't forgotten about this story, and I will keep writing it sooner or later.

This episode is the shortest one yet, consisting of only three parts. I hope to get the last one either today or by the weekend. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy this one!

Powers and Gear

Odd feels the floor under his feet, a bit softer than the usual solid ground. He opens his eyes and finds out that he's in the digital world. In front of him, there's Yumi and Ulrich, joined by the girl he saw on the screen moments ago.

Yumi: Welcome, Odd.
Odd: (looks at his hands) I still can't believe it… I'm inside a computer!
Ulrich: Yeah, the disbelief doesn't wash off, get used to it.
Aelita: Hello, Odd. Nice to meet you.
Odd: (looks at Aelita; clears his throat) Charmed. Aelita, ritght? (extends his hand)
Aelita: (chuckles lightly, accepts the greeting) The one and only.
Odd: Your friends talked about you as a "sort of pen-friend". I take that I haven't been told the whole story.
Aelita: Indeed, they didn't. I've been a prisoner here for a long while now.
Odd: Prisoner? You mean you can't get out of the computer?
Aelita: That's right.
Odd: Hold up… and can we get out, or is it too late to think of that?
Yumi: (laughs) We can get out, Odd.
Odd: Oh, okay! For a moment, I thought I'd already eaten the last meal of my lifetime, and hadn't enjoyed it as such.

Aelita sighs.

Odd: Oh! Sorry, that was a bit inconsiderate, I can tell.
Aelita: It's okay.
Jeremie: Yeah, well, our purpose is to get Aelita out of there.
Odd: (looks around) Whoa! Jeremie? Where are you?
Jeremie: Still outside, Odd. I can communicate directly with you all.
Odd: Oh, I see. You were saying…?
Jeremie: I said that we want to get Aelita out of the computer.
Aelita: Yeah, unlike you, I'm a bit bored of being in here.
Odd: Surely. How long have you been here?
Aelita: Awake, about two weeks; but effectively, six years.
Odd: Six years!? Jeez, that's quite a lot, I'm sorry.
Aelita: Thanks, Odd. At least I have company these days.
Odd: That's a good thing. I hope I'm not quantity over quality in terms of company.

Yumi and Ulrich look at each other, suspiciously. Aelita only chuckles.

Aelita: We'll be able to get to know each other. Of course, being their friend adds a lot of points.
Odd: Good to know.
Jeremie: Okay, guys. Today, we'll test a few programs that I'll attach to you. Yumi already tried one that granted her telekinesis, and it went fairly good. I have a few others ready to be tested: one of super-sprint and other of feline agility.
Odd: Ooh, the feline agility one sounds interesting! What does it entail?
Jeremie: It gives you sharper reflexes and the skill to climb walls and trees.
Odd: Great! Ulrich, if you don't have a preference, I'm going with that one.
Ulrich: Lucky for you, I'm inclined to the super-sprint one.
Jeremie: Seems we've reached a consensus. I'll attach you the necessary items. I'll also grant you your protections, in order to avoid problems. Surely the use of these skills will be dangerous.

Jeremie enters the necessary commands, in a single pipeline. The kids levitate for a few seconds, and then fall to the floor again.

Odd: What was that?
Jeremie: Secondary effects of program attachment. Any volunteer to test?
Ulrich: Let's see how this works.

Ulrich starts jogging, then running. Feeling little resistance, he keeps speeding up. He then starts going in circles around the square, each lap faster than the previous one. Once he starts lasting only a second per lap, he starts slowing down.

Ulrich: (grabbing his head) Okay, okay, this superpower doesn't make you immune to dizziness.
Yumi: (laughing) You okay, Ulrich?
Ulrich: I think so. I'm not hurt, at least.
Odd: Who's next?
Aelita: Yumi and I already premiered our skills, a few hours ago. You go.
Odd: Alright. How does this activate?
Jeremie: Should be relatively intuitive. Try scaling the fountain on the center.
Odd: Let's see…

Odd climbs the fountain until its highest point (about two and a half meters above the ground), but doesn't use any super-human abilities to do so.

Odd: Nothing out of normal, honestly. I have my experience escalating.
Yumi: Odd, I have an idea! Stay there.

Yumi whispers something in Aelita's ear.

Aelita: Okay, I'm ready.

Aelita starts singing. Ulrich and Odd hadn't heard her sing before, and look around, confused.

Ulrich: What is this?
Jeremie: Calm down, it's just Aelita.

Aelita stops singing. Yumi bends her knees.

Yumi: Odd, catch!

The japanese girl jumps, straightening her legs. In front of Odd, a fist-sized stone jumps from the floor, reaching a little over the boy's head. Almost instinctively, he jumps towards the stone and grabs it with both hands. When he falls to the ground, he does it hands first, and in a surprisingly elegant manner.

Odd: Whoa!
Yumi: Whoa!
Ulrich: Looks like it works.
Odd: You ruined the whoa streak, Ulrich!
Aelita: Surely this has some potential. Let's see how you deal with the terrain.
Jeremie: Excellent, guys. There's something else I've been working as well, to help you keep XANA's creatures at bay.
Yumi: What do you mean?
Jeremie: Some weapons.
Ulrich: Wow! Now that would be an immersive experience.
Jeremie: For Yumi, I have some boomerangs implemented. Inspired by the telekinetic power, I thought it'd be interesting to give her a tool that could glide and be monitored.
Yumi: Sounds awesome, Jeremie! Can't wait to try them.
Jeremie: You'll be able to in a moment, Yumi. For Odd, I have some gloves that have claws in them. This should complement your feline agility.
Odd: Sounds most excellent.
Jeremie: For Aelita and Ulrich, I don't have anything complementary to your powers, but I'll give you a few choices: energy projectiles, arrow-like projectiles, a freezing ray, a sword, an acidic spit…
Ulrich: Do you have something like a katana blade?
Jeremie: As a matter of fact, I do.
Ulrich: Give me that one.
Aelita: I'll take the energy projectiles.
Jeremie: Very well. Two melee weapon users and two range weapon users.
Odd: Can I take an extra weapon?
Jeremie: Hmm, I don't see why not. I hope that doesn't become a problem later.
Odd: I'll see how to manage that.
Jeremie: Alright. Ulrich, only you remain using contact damage. Do you want anything else?
Ulrich: I'm okay like this. Maybe I can replace a projectile's swiftness with the super-sprint.
Jeremie: Fair enough.
Ulrich: Plus, I think it's an approachable challenge.
Yumi: Ooh, Mr Ulrich wants a challenge!
Ulrich: It's a good way to play and learn, don't you think?

Yumi chuckles, with a bit of nervousness.

Jeremie: Okay, guys, here's the situation: the last times XANA has activated on Lyoko, it's created several hostile creatures that now populate the map. The current number of creatures stands in 64: that's 36 kankrelats and 28 bloks. To ensure your safety and Aelita's, we should try to get rid of the largest amount of monsters possible. The monsters should be relatively fragile all things considered, so it should be enough to hit them with your weapons in their weak spots. Kankrelats have their weak spot in the frontal part of their heads; bloks have four of them, each one on one of their side faces, pretty explicitly. Any questions?
Odd: How do monsters look like?
Jeremie: It should be easy to recognize them, since they contrast highly with the landscape. Kankrelats are small (maybe a bit larger than Kiwi) and have a body shape similar to a skull's. Bloks have the shape of a cube and are about three quarters of your height.
Odd: Sounds straightforward enough. Thanks, Einstein.
Jeremie: Great. I'll grant you your tools now.

Jeremie types. Two boomerangs spawn in front of Yumi; a pair of gauntlets appear over Odd's hands, of which the left one has a sealed tube in the back; and Ulrich acquires a katana that's sheathed at the left of his waist.

Jeremie: All ready, guys. I'd suggest you go north for now, where there's several creatures.
Ulrich: On our way.
Odd: After you, Ulrich.

Ulrich grins as he gets on his way, jogging.

Yumi: C'mon, let's not get too far behind!

The rest of the kids start running north and uphill. They keep it up by about half a minute.

Jeremie: Do you see any monsters?
Aelita: No, Jeremie, should we?
Jeremie: (looking at the holomap) Seems to me you should. Are they hiding maybe?
Ulrich: Tell me where the closest one is.
Jeremie: Um, about 80 steps at your 10:30, but…
Ulrich: On it!

Ulrich accelerates and activates his super-sprint.

Jeremie: Wait, Ulrich! The kankrelats are…

Ulrich smashes his face against a tree, after which he falls on his back. From behind the tree appears a kankrelat. Two more show up from further behind.

Jeremie: Watch out, Ulrich, they're surrounding you!
Ulrich: (dazed) Oooww… What happened…?
Jeremie: There's no time for that, Ulrich, get up now!
Yumi: Ulrich is in trouble! Faster, guys!

Odd starts climbing up the hill, helping himself with his feline skills, increasing the distance between him and the girls.

Ulrich: Ah! Outta here, freak…!
Jeremie: Hurry, guys, please!
Yumi: We're going as fast as we can!
Odd: Ulrich!

Odd sees three kankrelats surrounding Ulrich, ferociously attacking him with their legs.

Odd: (somewhat disgusted) Eugh! What are those things?
Jeremie: We'll tell you later, now we need you to shoot them!
Odd: How do I do that?
Jeremie: I don't know, try focusing, or looking for a trigger or something!

Odd, anxious, aims with his left arm and supports it with his right hand. No effect. Then, he presses the glove with his hand, and this time it works: a crossbow-like arrow is shot from the glove's barrel, but misses all targets.

Odd: Ah, found it!

This time, Odd aims a bit better and shoots. The arrow reaches one of the kankrelats, which blows up and disassembles.

Odd: Bullseye!

Ulrich raises his torso from the ground, but before he can keep standing up, he's pushed forwards by one of the monsters. Then, he disappears with a sweep animation as Odd looks at him.

The girls arrive to the zone.

Odd: (shocked) Ulrich, no!
Yumi: What happened, Odd?
Odd: Ulrich vanished! Jeremie!

Yumi chokes out a cry. Jeremie looks at the scanners. The leftmost one, which was closed, opens its doors. Ulrich is there, moving. Jeremie sighs deeply.

Jeremie: Don't worry, guys, Ulrich is here in the real world.
Odd: What!? What on earth just happened? You gotta tell me if something like I just saw can happen!
Jeremie: I'm sorry, Odd, I didn't expect it to happen this soon and quickly.
Yumi: That gave us a nice scare, Jeremie! Such a relief that the emergency protocol worked!
Jeremie: Yeah, it's a relief alright.
Aelita: Guys, take cover!
Odd: Huh…?

Suddenly, a light turns on in front of the remaining kankrelats' head. After that, two beams of light come out from both creatures. One of them barely touches Yumi, and the other one fully hits Odd, who falls on his back.

Yumi: Odd!
Odd: Ouch, that hurt! But I'm okay, let's go take cover!

Aelita signals the others with a hand from his hiding spot. The kids manage to get to it without getting shot.

Ulrich sits on the stairs that lead to the scanners.

Odd: You also didn't tell me that these things could shoot! Some initiation rite, you guys!
Jeremie: They didn't shoot before. I must research something.

CONSOLE
IN: tm
OUT: Programs running:
- lyoko
- tm
- xana

Jeremie: Aha, it's XANA! It's activated!

Jeremie types some more.

Jeremie: Yep, looks like XANA attached the light beam to its monsters. Seems like it didn't find it fair that only we had ranged weapons.
Odd: So that means that our rival leveled up?
Yumi: Ha ha, you could think it that way. Seems like every time XANA activates, it "levels up".
Odd: And what triggers its activation?
Aelita: We don't know yet, but we're always looking for answers.
Odd: That's convenient.
Yumi: By the way, Jeremie, how's Ulrich?
Jeremie: (looks at him) Looks in one piece. Hey, Ulrich! How're you holding up?

Ulrich sighs and looks down.

Jeremie: (lowering his voice) Looks we're facing an Ulrich moment, guys.
Yumi: Hey, let him be, what happened to him wasn't the nicest thing!
Jeremie: You're right. I'd ask for more details, but I have to take care of you first. How's the situation?
Aelita: The firing has stopped for now. What do you see?
Jeremie: (looks at the holomap) More monsters approach. You'll be surrounded in no time. I suggest that you fall back to avoid it.
Aelita: Understood, Jeremie. C'mon, guys, it's downhill time!

- END OF CHAPTER 17 -