A/N: You don't really need to re-read TTOE for this, or re-read any chapter of AWWD except for 98: Contingency Plan. If you don't want to, though, I'll give you a quick summary of what you need to keep in mind going into this chapter: Jérémie's mother Sophie is paralyzed from the waist down due a car accident that occurred (now) six years ago, and XANA is after Jérémie's half of Lyoko's Keys, which if drained will kill him.
Also, Christmas Holiday occurred between this chapter and the last. According to the real world calendar, it happened from 20 December, 2008 to 5 January, 2009 (which was a Monday). Just so you all know where we are in the timeline now. This chapter takes place on 10 to 11 January, later that week (Saturday and Sunday, respectively).
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~~~!
"XANA's been awfully quiet lately, and it's unnerving. Whenever the AI is quiet for a week, it means bad news. And boy, is this news bad."
A World Without Danger
Code Lyoko: Evolution Rewrite
Season 5, Episode 15: Worst Case Scenario
Even though Monday was the final day of Christmas Holiday, Jérémie had been permitted to stay at home in Reims an extra week. His mother had come down with a sudden case of pneumonia, and a call from his father influenced Mr. Delmas to sign the permission slip.
The other Lyokowarriors were waiting by Kadic's front gate that Saturday afternoon as a small yellow car pulled up to the curb. Inside were Jérémie and his father Michel. The boy's friends lingered back to give the two their privacy.
"Alright, we're here," Michel said, stealing a glance at the five kids nearby. "There are your friends."
Jérémie let slip a tiny smile in their direction, "Yeah, they're the best." He had kept regular contact with them, so they already knew why he was so late in returning to school and that he was coming back today. He turned back to his father, pausing for a moment, before engulfing him in a hug, "So are you," he whispered.
He heard Michel softly chuckle before returning the hug, which proceeded to linger a touch longer than it usually did. However, it was understandable when knowing why, as the shared pain of watching Sophie fall ill during what should have been a festive time was currently influencing both of their actions here.
"I love you," Jérémie whispered.
"Love you too, mon chéri," Michel replied, before finally breaking the hug. "Take care," he said in a normal volume, as his son grabbed his suitcase. "Your mother and I will call you tomorrow night at 9:00 pm."
Jérémie opened the door and sent his father one last smile, "I'll be waiting for it," before climbing out of the car and closing the door behind him.
Michel continued to linger until Jérémie joined up with his friends still at the gate. All five of them caught his eye and waved with smiling faces. He returned the gesture, mentally entrusting to them his son's wellbeing, before leaving.
"Hey, Einstein!" Odd greeted Jérémie, as Ulrich took the genius' suitcase from him. "Good to see you again."
"Thanks," Jérémie replied as he accepted Yumi's comforting hug. "Good to be back."
As the six made their way to his dorm to drop off his suitcase, Aelita remained at his side, so close she was almost touching him, like she had no knowledge of what personal space was. She missed him, due to her needing to stay at Kadic thanks to XANA. At least she had stayed at Yumi's place, so she wasn't lonely, but it wasn't the same without her boyfriend.
As the group entered the dormitories, she asked, "So how is Sophie?"
Four sets of eyebrows were raised in response, as William asked, "Who is that?"
"Mrs. Belpois," Aelita told them, as if the answer was obvious.
"You call Jérémie's mother by her first name?" Yumi asked.
The pink-ette promptly blushed. "Yes. She and Michel, um, insisted." The memory of Jérémie's parents affectionately referring to her as their future daughter-in-law flashed through her mind. And they weren't joking; no, they were sincere.
Jérémie was also blushing as the other four all shared a knowing and teasing glance with each other. But they chose to show mercy and let Jérémie continue the conversation.
The young genius cleared his throat. "Anyway, Maman is fine. She was released from the hospital yesterday."
"What did she have?" William asked.
"Pneumonia," Jérémie explained, "received from a sick child who did not know how to cover their mouth when they coughed."
"But isn't your maman just a hospital receptionist?" Odd asked.
"Yep," came the answer from the young genius, "but kids aren't exactly the best at listening to adults. Pneumonia isn't normally lethal for people Maman's age, but due to being paralyzed from the waist down, her immune system isn't what it used to be. It was touch and go for a while, but she fortunately responded to the antibiotics fairly quickly. She's home now, and Aunt Éloïse is taking care of her. Oh," he quickly added, remembering, "Patrick says 'hello' by the way."
Yumi hummed in response before reassuring him, "At least you were able to be with your family again. How was the rest of your time back home?"
"Full of anxiety, as you can imagine," Jérémie replied. "The last couple of days were better, though, once she was released from the hospital." He smiled at the memory, "We had to fit all holiday traditions in those two days."
"So you ended up having a good holiday after all," Odd exclaimed.
Jérémie promptly quipped, "Well, if you can call spending most of my time in a hospital room a 'good holiday', then yes, my holiday was fantastic."
By this time, the six had reached his dorm. After Jérémie unlocked and opened his door, Ulrich set the blonde's suitcase down inside the room before letting his friend close and lock it back up again. The group then proceeded to make their way to the rec room.
"Anyway, how was your guys' week without me?" Jérémie asked, as he pressed a button on the side of his transwatch, turning it back. He turned it off at his friends' insistence, understanding that his mother being sick was not the time to focus on XANA.
"Don't worry, you didn't miss anything exciting," Ulrich replied. "XANA was completely quiet. Tyron too."
"And I took notes for you, from all the classes you missed," Aelita added. "They're on your bed."
"Thank you," Jérémie replied. "So nothing noteworthy?"
"Nope," Odd confirmed. "It's probably because you were gone." That made sense; after all, XANA needed Jérémie's half of the Keys first. The boy in purple changed the subject, "There's a field trip tomorrow to the amusement park that just opened up. You may be exempt from it, Einstein, due to your late return, but you should come with us. It might cheer you up."
To their mild surprise, Jérémie's answer to that was quick, "Sure. After the holiday I just had, I could use an actual break."
His friends all offered him sympathetic smiles. Christmas holiday was supposed to be a fun time (if you actually liked your family, that is), and during the fight with XANA, it was meant to be a mandated break from his usual self-imposed grind. However, the moment he got home, his maman had fallen ill with pneumonia and needed immediate medical attention. What was supposed to be a relaxing time for Jérémie was instead filled with anxiety and worry that his mother may get worse than she already was. She fortunately pulled through, but that apprehension and uneasiness their friend had felt was still lingering. After all, Sophie Belpois may have gotten through the worst of it, but she still needed to recover her strength.
When the group reached the rec room, Odd ran up to the open foosball table. "Who's up for a game of foosball?"
"I am!" William readily jumped in.
"You're on!" Ulrich agreed, as always.
"You know you're gonna get creamed right?" Yumi asked, stepping up to the table at her boyfriend's side. "You always do."
"You guys go ahead," Jérémie softly cut in. He was heading towards the couches near the television set. "I'll just watch."
Aelita took one look at her boyfriend and told her friends, "I'll watch with him."
The other four just shrugged, not questioning either of their choices, before turning to the foosball table and starting their game. Meanwhile, the two geniuses both sat down, and she immediately snuggled close to him.
"I'm glad you're back," she muttered to him, her voice just barely above a whisper. "I'm also glad Sophie's okay."
Jérémie didn't say anything, only leaning his head on her shoulder. Aelita softly smiled at him before linking their hands together.
Her instincts were correct: he was exhausted emotionally, and physical energy meant nothing when you didn't have the willpower to do anything. Christmas Holiday was supposed to be his break amidst their fight against XANA and Tyron both, but it didn't end up that way. She was glad he had so easily agreed to go with them on tomorrow's field trip. Right now, he just wanted to actually rest before then.
She understood that. In the months following her father's death, she went through phases where she just wanted comforting snuggles from Jérémie, and nothing else. He was all too happy to indulge her, even now, so it was her turn to repay him.
The two of them contented themselves in staying like this for the next few minutes. The sounds of their friends' foosball game were background noise, a soothing reminder to Jérémie that he was back at Kadic—his home away from home. As the sounds of the game began slowly dying down, Laura came into view.
Her expression immediately broke out into a smile once she laid eyes on her friend, "Jérémie, you're really back!"
He failed to match her enthusiasm, but he managed to return her smile, "Hey, Laura." Neither he nor Aelita really minded the blonde girl's presence, as long as she didn't ask them to do anything physical.
"Welcome back," Laura replied, sitting down on one of the chairs across from them. "Aelita and William told me that you were delayed due to family matters, but didn't give me any specifics. Has everything been resolved?"
Jérémie appreciated his friends for keeping the whole story on the downlow. He made a mental note to thank them for that later. "The situation is too personal for me to let everyone know about the specifics." Laura likely didn't understand that, given her lack of tight family dynamics—according to Aelita, that is. "But yes, everything is fine now." For the time being, he neglected to add, because it would be a validation of his fears that his maman wouldn't actually recover.
"Good. I'm glad." Fortunately, Laura didn't ask him to elaborate.
This allowed him to change the subject. "So, Laura, are you going on the field trip tomorrow?"
"To the amusement park?" Laura was suddenly closed off. "Well, um, I'm not sure. Everyone keeps telling me to go, but I have no idea what an amusement park even is."
"You don't?" William suddenly asked, and all three geniuses almost leapt out of their skin. They hadn't heard or noticed him approaching them with the other three in tow.
"No," Laura answered, accepting the sudden intrusion rather quickly. "I was homeschooled until I arrived here at Kadic, and my father was strict with my personal schedule. I was never allowed to do anything 'for fun'." She motioned the quotations with her fingers.
As she was speaking, the other four Lyokowarriors had all sat down in the empty seats around the table.
"You should go," Aelita told her. Her response here was a bit surprising to the others. After all, up until recently, the two had been at odds whether Jérémie was brought up or not. "In fact, we'll be your guides."
"Really?" Laura asked, perking up after hearing that.
"Yeah!" Odd exclaimed. "Amusement parks are fun, and there's lots of things to do! Be warned though; you may get overwhelmed."
"That's a risk I'm willing to take," Laura, now excited, replied. "I'm off to tell Jim right now!"
She proceeded to leave the rec room with an obvious skip in her step.
The others then turned to Aelita. "Well, well, Princess," Ulrich commented, "aren't we all buddy-buddy with Laura now?"
"I told you, we found a common ground that wasn't Jérémie," was Aelita's calm response. "The more I get to know her, the more I see myself in her. Her lack of family plus her sheltered upbringing reminds me of my excitement post-materialization to try new things and experience the world in a way I never had before."
"You know, there was something fun about that," Odd softly confessed, "seeing the world through your eyes, Aelita. Thanks to you, we were able to acknowledge all of the things that we humans often take for granted. So I'll give you kudos, Princess. Showing Laura around the amusement park is a great idea."
"Agreed," William quickly said. He had to admit, seeing the smile on her face would be worth it.
"William too," Yumi added, making him glance at her. "Being a latecomer, we still need to give him the full Lyokowarrior experience."
William found himself smiling in anticipation, "Can't wait."
!~~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~~!
The next day, the six Lyokowarriors got off the bus that Kadic had taken to the amusement park, having arrived a couple of minutes after 10:00 am. Jim and Ms. Hertz were the chaperones, while the other teachers remained at the school approximately fifteen minutes away. watching over the students that either couldn't go or didn't want to. The two adults were on each end of the line through the admission stands. On the other side, students began grouping up.
As the Lyokowarriors regrouped off to the side—due to having different seats of the bus—they heard Jim speak to all of them, "Alright, pay attention. Suzanne–" said woman shot him a glare, "...er, Ms. Hertz and I have a few rules before we let you all go. One," he raised a single finger, "stick together. Have at least two or more of you in a group, and don't wander off. Two," he raised a second finger, "keep an eye on the clock. We'll regroup back at the entrance, by the gift shop, at 7:00 pm when the park closes. And three," he raised a third finger, "if there is an emergency, find the nearest park staff before you worry about calling Ms. Hertz or myself. Would you like to add anything, Ms. Hertz?" He turned to the woman beside him.
Said teacher just shook her head, "No, I believe that's it."
"Alright!" Jim finished his speech. "Then off you all go!"
During this, Laura had lingered by herself while looking around for her guides. Around rule number two, she had received a text message from her father: 'That amusement park is a waste of time. Focus on your homework.'
She left him on 'read'. The more she socialized like a normal human being, the more she came to realize that her father really didn't know what he was talking about. She finally felt like she belonged somewhere, like she had friends. And that was her greatest wish.
When Jim told everyone that they could split up now, the students around her took off in different directions. William caught her eye and waved her over. Seeing him brought her joy that quickly overshadowed the dread her father's text had brought her, and she quickly jogged over to him, to her friends.
"Hey, William!" she immediately greeted upon approaching them, slightly out of breath. "Hey, guys!" Taking a better look at Jérémie, she noticed that he seemed a bit lighter on his feet today. A bit. "So, what do we do first?"
"It's up to you," Odd tells her. "What do you want to do?"
She instantly froze in fear and indecisiveness, "U-Um...what I want...? That's a lot of pressure..."
Yumi elbowed Odd's stomach, causing him to yelp out in brief pain. "That's a stupid way of phrasing it, you dork. Laura's never been to an amusement park before, remember? She probably doesn't know what anything here even is."
"Oh, right," the crazy-haired blonde realized. "Sorry."
"How about this, Laura?" Ulrich amends, "Let's just walk around and get a general layout of the park. We'll lead the way, and if you come across something that interests you, tell us."
That made much more sense to her; her brain hurt less. She could accept this plan, so she did. "Sounds good," she smiled.
For the next four hours, the seven teens stuck together. At first, Laura was just taking everything in. It was a bit overwhelming at first, but it got easier because of her friends helping her process it all. She joined Odd on a rollercoaster, Ulrich and Yumi in playing laser tag, Jérémie and Aelita in the funhouse, and William in the haunted house (she may have been tightly clutching onto him the whole time, but he didn't seem to mind). Sissi and Sam joined them for the ferris wheel and the photobooth. Laura would always cherish the photo that she was allowed to keep.
After that was lunch, and to wind down afterward—because Jérémie reminded them to wait at least an hour after eating before going on another rollercoaster—the group went into the arcade, where the others were showing Laura how to win at some of the games. The music inside was pretty loud, but no one seemed to bat an eye at it.
Odd was in the middle of determinedly trying to beat the claw machine (because it kept 'stealing' his money), when Christophe M'Bala approached Jérémie and tapped on his shoulder.
The young genius turned around, "Yeah?"
"Jim's outside waiting for you," Christophe jabbed a thumb at the exit of the arcade that was behind him. "Says he wants to talk to you."
"Alright." Jérémie turned to Aelita, "I'll be right back." This might be a trap of some kind, he told himself, but he would be meeting Jim, someone he could trust with his safety. What Jim wanted to discuss with him could be anything, but Jérémie had a feeling that it was about his current family situation (the reason he was late returning from break).
Aelita nodded before turning back to watch Odd's struggle with the claw machine. Jérémie then made his way to the exit. Sure enough, Jim was right outside, waiting for him. The man was partially hidden behind an arrangement of bushes, but still visible. Whatever he wanted to say was probably private.
Jérémie approached his phys. ed. teacher with a gentle greeting, "Hey, Jim. You wanted to see me?"
The man had his eyes closed, and the silence from outside finally allowed the boy to hear what the loud ambiance from the arcade had covered up: an alert from his transwatch. But the realization came too late.
Jim opened his eyes to reveal the emblem of XANA, before launching an electricity-charged punch at Jérémie, knocking him clean out.
!~~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~~!
It was almost ten minutes later when Jim barged into the same arcade and marched right up to Christophe, who was with his girlfriend Anais Fiquet, demanding, "M'Bala! I thought I told you to tell Belpois to meet me outside!"
"I did, Jim," Christophe replied. "I swear."
The second surname he mentioned caught the attention of said genius' friends. "And we can confirm that, Jim," Aelita calmly told him, somewhat confused, "Jérémie left here to see you seven minutes ago."
"That's exactly how long I've been waiting!" Jim revealed, prompting Aelita's instincts to flare. "I wonder if he got lost..."
"That's probably the case," the pink-ette reassured him. She gently elbowed Yumi, William, Odd, and Ulrich in their respective stomachs, "We'll go look for him. The rest of you stay here in case he comes back."
"Be careful," Laura called out, as five of her friends left the arcade together.
"We will," William called back, before turning his attention to Aelita once the five of them were outside. "So where do you think Jérémie could be? He's not one to get lost so easily."
He brought up a good point. During the year before XANA returned, the group went to a fall festival as per a Kadic field trip. The corn maze was Odd's idea, but he got them all lost within it. They were fortunate that Jérémie knew how to read maps, without the use of a compass at that.
So for him to lose himself in this amusement park, when Jim would normally be right outside, raised a red flag. Jérémie was the least likely of them to get lost.
The five teens didn't wonder for long, as like with their friend minutes prior, the loud atmosphere of the arcade faded and was quickly replaced by the classic alarms of the superscan. They all turned to their transwatches with horror as dread immediately filled their stomachs.
Wearing a solemn expression, Aelita held out her transwatch's screen to her friends, "The tower was activated seven minutes ago. XANA sent a polymorphic spectre to kidnap Jérémie, and succeeded."
"And with the factory fifteen minutes away," Yumi realized, "there's no way we'll reach them in time to cut them off."
XANA, once again, had struck at the most inopportune time.
"No," the pink-ette explained. "XANA will beat us to the factory, but we can still win if we act now. Let's go."
She then took off towards the entrance of the amusement park, and the other four were hot on her heels—all of them praying that Jérémie would be able to hang on for fifteen minutes.
!~~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~~!
Jérémie felt unnaturally slow as he regained consciousness. As he began to stir, he suddenly felt a pain in his head. The memories came back in that moment—XANA luring him outside under the guise of Jim wanting to tell him something, only to knock him out. He opened his eyes and quickly recognized his surroundings. Sure enough, he was on the bridge leading to the factory, being carried by XANA-Jim.
He groaned, catching the spectre's attention. "XANA," he muttered, disoriented.
Before he could say another word, electricity suddenly emitted from the spectre's fingers, surging throughout his body. He was in an immense amount of pain one minute, writhing from the impact, before falling back into unconsciousness the next.
XANA, in response, growled at the boy now limp in its arms. It thought that an electricity-charged punch to the boy's skull was enough to keep him from struggling until after he was on Lyoko, but it must have miscalculated.
Still using Jim's appearance, XANA forewent the ropes and simply jumped off the gallery, landing on the factory floor below. It then used the lift to travel down to the scanner room, where it placed an out-cold Jérémie inside one of the scanners. The doors closed as it reverted to spectre form to travel up to the lab above.
There, it re-assumed the form of Jim Moralès before activating the virtualization program. Once it pressed enter, before reverting back to its spectre form and left the factory, heading back to the amusement park...
!~~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~~!
Jérémie remained unconscious as he was virtualized in the sky of the Forest Sector. Even after landing, he lied there, completely still...
!~~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~~!
Eight minutes later, the other Lyokowarriors finally arrived at the factory. But when they emerged into the lab from the lift, they were met with an empty lab. Aelita promptly rushed over to the interface, where she saw that Jérémie had already been virtualized.
She slipped on the earpiece, "Jérémie! Are you there?"
He groaned, "Yeah..." He sounded like he was just waking up.
Yumi was beside the pink-ette, "Are you okay?" The other three were also surrounding her, intently watching the screen for any updates.
"Let's just say I've seen better days..."
Their hearts collectively went out to him. He had agreed to go to the amusement park with them to relax after an emotionally-draining week with his sick mother, only for XANA to interrupt.
Aelita was about to respond when William's phone ringing cut off whatever thought she had. He picked up quickly, "Hello? Laura?! What's wrong?"
The others tensed up in anticipation.
!~~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~~!
XANA's spectre had entered the various control panels for the rides and started shutting them down, one after another.
Laura was trying her best to ignore the loud groaning and creaking of the metal all around her, and she would have succeeded if not for the concerned murmurs amidst the scared screams of people still stuck on the now defunct rides.
"The park just had a massive power failure!" she explained to William. "I don't understand! Everything was fine a moment ago, and it's just the park!" She glanced back at the stopping center on the other side of the highway, which still had power.
Her next thought was cut off by the nearby scream of a child for their mother. She looked in that direction, and saw the child trapped on a rollercoaster that had stopped mid-loop. She was beginning to understand just how much of a nightmare this situation was. Everything had a risk, even fun things like an amusement park.
She continued, her entire body trembling, including her voice, "Emergency services have been called, but they haven't arrived yet. Everybody is already stretched thin because everything had just shut down all at once without warning. A lot of people are stuck on the rides." Another barrage of frightened screams sounded in that moment, proving her point. She winced as she heard them. "The mechanics and ride operators believe that a supernatural force may be at play. They're saying that everything shutting down like this isn't normal."
She didn't really believe that, because she saw logic as superior, but if 'hell' did exist, then this would be the closest she'd ever gotten to it.
"I see," she heard William mutter. Miraculously, he was managing to keep calm. How?! She felt like descending into a panic attack! "Don't worry, Laura. Help is on the way. Reunite with the other Kadic students and evacuate as soon as you're able to. We can't come back to help you guys, so it's up to you to mitigate the damage until the help arrives, okay?"
She found herself believing him. "Okay." Maybe because he sounded so assuring.
"Stay safe."
"I will," she replied, before he hung up.
!~~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~~!
William put his phone back in his pocket as he turned back to the others, all of whom were staring at him expectantly. "XANA's attacked the amusement park," he solemnly explained. "Now the entire place is without power and a lot of people are stuck until the emergency services arrive to help."
"The tower is in the Desert Sector," Aelita was typing in rapid commands, "but it sent Jérémie to the Forest."
"You guys focus on the tower," came Jérémie's order. "Don't worry about me."
"We should materialize you first," Ulrich began.
But the blonde cut him off, "There's no time! Everyone in that park is in danger! Just direct me to the nearest tower." So he could hide in it until the tower was deactivated—a smart plan.
"North, northwest," Aelita replied, and Jérémie's yellow arrow began moving in that direction. The pink-ette turned back to her friends. "He's right; we don't have any time to bring him back here. Knowing this, XANA will do all it can to devirtualize me so that Jérémie's forced to remain on Lyoko to take my place in deactivating the tower. Ulrich, Yumi, you guys secure Jérémie. Once you do, devirtualize him and then he'll direct you two to the Desert Sector, where Odd, William, and I will be."
"Right," Yumi agreed, before she and Ulrich ran towards the elevator. "Good luck!" Ulrich pressed the 'down' button.
"You too," Aelita returned the sentiment as the lift doors closed.
!~~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~~!
Jérémie was running toward the tower Aelita had directed him towards. He had overheard the others' plan, and he could only hope that things would work out that way. According to William, Laura and their schoolmates were in serious danger, but so was he. He just had to enter the tower and wait for Ulrich and Yumi. Part of him knew it was smarter to stay on Lyoko in case Aelita was devirtualized, but the other half knew very well that it was safer if he was at the controls.
He could see the tower now. It was in the middle of a clearing, visible on the horizon and glowing with a white halo.
But relief suddenly turned into dread when he heard the all-too familiar cry of a certain monster, quickly followed by the unsettling sound of slithering tentacles. Jérémie halted in his tracks, his eyes widening with fear as the Scyphozoa emerged from behind the base of the tower.
He began fearfully backing away, "Um, Aelita?" It moved towards him. "Are you still there?"
"Yes. I see it," she told him. "Ulrich and Yumi are in the scanners now."
That still wasn't enough time. The Scyphozoa was only destroyed once—as a result of the Skid protection program being activated once—and Jérémie was the least experienced fighter of the group. The only way to survive would be to turn tail and run.
It shot out its tentacles at him, and he just barely managed to dodge them. He quickly turned around and ran away, getting further from the sanctuary that was the tower.
About three seconds later, Ulrich and Yumi were virtualized very near his current coordinates. The two landed just in time to see Jérémie running away from the Scyphozoa, not far from them.
"Well, well, if it isn't the Scyphozoa," Ulrich muttered, as their respective vehicles appeared in front of them. "It's been a while..."
"What, you don't like seafood?" Yumi quipped.
"Not when it's in jelly," the samurai replied. "Let's go!"
The two promptly took off running, only to see three Tarantulas also appear with red wireframes, landing between them and their vehicles. The monsters immediately opened fire, keeping them from helping their friend.
Yumi summoned and threw a fan, only for it to go straight between two of the Tarantulas. Ulrich somersaulted onto a Tarantula's head and unsheathed a katana to stab its eye. He jumped off as the monster exploded, leaving two left.
Only getting farther away from his friends, Jérémie chose to delay his fate by briefly turning around to fire two handfuls of daggers. But the Scyphozoa dodged all of them. One dagger grazed its head, but it remained unfazed.
"Screw you, XANA!" Jérémie muttered as he turned back around, waving his hand over his bracelet as he did so.
But before his wings could properly appear, the Scyphozoa quickly batted his hand away from the star image on his bracelet. It wasted no time in snaking its tentacles around his torso and lifting him off the ground, before beginning its work.
!~~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~~!
Elsewhere on Lyoko, Aelita, William, and Odd had all self-transferred to the Desert Sector. They virtualized in the sky before landing on the ground, where the Overboard was already waiting for them.
The activated tower was visible on the horizon. It was located on an adjacent, though smaller plateau connected to the one they were on via a wide bridge. There were no monsters waiting for them. The area was unnaturally clear.
"Really? No welcoming committee?" Odd scoffed, "Do better, XANA."
As if on cue, five Mantas appeared from behind the tower. They all cried as they flew towards the group, promptly opening fire.
William dodged a laser. "Way to jinx it, Odd!" he retorted, unamused.
"Shut up!" Odd shot back as he backflipped onto the Overboard, before taking off, drawing the attention of two Mantas.
Aelita ducked to avoid a shot aimed at her head, before quickly forming and firing an Energy Field. Fortunately, it met its target, and a Manta was destroyed.
But a second Manta turned on her. She would have been hit by the incoming barrage of lasers if not for William using Super Smoke to reach her in time. He blocked all of the shots with his Zweihänder. "Head for the tower, Aelita! Odd and I will hold off the air show!"
"Okay!" she agreed, before sprinting off towards the tower.
The sooner she deactivated it, the sooner they could help Jérémie, and the sooner they could return to having a fun and relaxing day.
!~~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~~!
Laura was amazed that she had not descended into pure panic by now. She was very tense and breathing heavily, but her head was still level somehow. She barely managed to ignore the large and constantly creaking of heavy metal as she escorted Tamiya and Johnny back to Milly and Hiroki—both of whom were waiting with Jim, Ms. Hertz, and the other students by the exit.
The rides and equipment were beginning to collapse in on itself, all at once. It was like something heavy (and invisible) was crushing it by sitting on it like a chair. No one knew what was happening, but Laura was starting to believe the 'supernatural' theory.
Other people were in danger, and emergency services were doing their best. However, all of Kadic was safe—except for her friends, that is. William, Aelita, Odd, Ulrich, and Yumi were still somewhere in the park, searching for Jérémie. Jim was understandably freaking out, feeling guilty for endangering them by needing to talk to Jérémie in the first place.
There was suddenly a loud snap of metal directly above the group, and Laura sharply winced, cowering in fear.
It was the ferris wheel, and it looked like it was standing on its last legs. No one was trapped within it, fortunately, but people had to run past it in order to reach one of the exits.
Shaking, Laura pulled her phone out of her shoulder bag and dialed William's number. It rang...and rang...and rang...
...Before going to voicemail.
No answer.
Helpless and feeling defeated, Laura could only pray that her six friends were safe, wherever they were.
!~~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~~!
Said friends were not exactly safe.
In the Desert Sector of Lyoko, only two Mantas remained, Odd having taken out two thanks to his long-range weapon, and William only one thanks to his energy slash taking up some of his stamina. Aelita had almost reached the bridge when the entire Sector began to tremble.
William reverted to smoke form and traveled up to a nearby rock column, while Aelita activated her wings and took to the skies. Odd remained on his Overboard. All three felt like it was safer to let the earthquake pass, and wait to face XANA's latest tactic once it was over.
But amidst the tremors, the sky began to fill with dark clouds, eclipsing the atmosphere of the usually sunny Desert Sector so that everything now seemed various shades of dark gray instead.
On the larger plateau, a monster began virtualizing with a dark red wireframe. It was half the size of the Kolossus, and when its colors formed, it was revealed to be a large brown-colored scorpion-like monster. There were three eyes of XANA on its body, one of its head, the second on its right claw, and the third on its tail. One last tremor occurred as it landed on the plateau, before the shaking stopped altogether.
"Woah..." Odd muttered, dumbfounded.
"Any ideas for a name, Odd?" William asked, remembering one of the rules in the Lyokowarriors' handbook he was given.
'Rule #12: If there's a new monster, Odd always names it. If you try otherwise, you will be the next target for his pranks.'
"The Skorpion is the only thing that comes to mind," the cat replied, unable to take his eyes off of the giant monstrosity in front of them.
"Not the time, you two!" Aelita yelled at them, looking directly at the tail as it guarded the tower. It moved whenever she did, rendering her unable to get around it.
There was a way around it—via flying underneath the plateau and emerging on the other side of the tower, the one usually facing away from her. She took off, moving quickly.
But the Skorpion was faster, despite its size. It lifted its right arm and swatted Aelita out of the sky like she was a mere fly.
She was devirtualized in an instant, leaving William and Odd horrified by the sudden turn of events.
!~~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~~!
Aelita emerged from a scanner, breathing heavily, as she tried to process what just happened.
That monster—fine, Odd; the Skorpion—was able to devirtualize her without breaking a virtual sweat. Her wings were supposed to help her evade attacks, making her fast enough to move far out of XANA's reach, but they failed here.
She could still help, though. But she had to hurry before Ulrich and Yumi devirtualized Jérémie.
Heading up to the lab via the side ladder, she ran over to the monitor. Her panic didn't die down when she saw that dreaded window. The memory count window. It was showing that Jérémie was in the grip of the Scyphozoa, and he only had 0250 bites of memory left, and it was only counting down.
Slipping on the earpiece again, she ordered, "Ulrich, Yumi, hurry up! Jérémie's also out of memory!"
!~~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~~!
"We're doing our best, Princess!" Ulrich replied, using his Overbike to evade the shots from the remaining two Tarantulas in the foliage of the Forest Sector. "XANA had a head start, remember?"
Yumi was flying around on the Overwing. She summoned a fan and threw it, only for it to be shot out of the sky. However, Aelita had previously foreseen this problem, so Yumi merely summoned the fan back to her hand.
"These Tarantulas still prove to be a problem," she muttered, grateful for the upgrade.
"You just focus on Jérémie," Ulrich told her. "I'll handle our friends here."
"Right. Good luck!" she said, before breaking off from their formation, speeding up.
Ulrich circled around the two monsters before turning around, drawing their attention. They both began stalking after him, one standing up on their hind legs to fire at him mid-walk, and the other doing the same seconds after the first got back down on all fours.
The samurai suddenly turned back around, before leaping off the Overbike and unsheathing both katanas. Mid-motion, he threw both sabers at the two Tarantulas. Both hit their targets, destroying them. His job done, Ulrich landed on his Overbike, and he drove off after summoning his katanas back to his hands.
Meanwhile, as Yumi neared the Scyphozoa, she threw the fan that was already in hand. Fortunately, it met its mark this time, hitting the Scyphozoa's body and making it let go of their friend. Jérémie hit the ground, going limp, as Aelita breathed a huge sigh of relief back in the lab when the memory count stopped at 0026.
Once she reached him, Yumi hopped off the Overwing and knelt at Jérémie's side. "You okay?"
The elf began to stir, "I'm fine. Just give me a minute." He was visibly disoriented as he slowly sat up.
Ulrich reached them in this moment on the Overbike, braking the moment he was in between his friends and the Scyphozoa. He stared down the squid monster with a harsh glare, mentally daring it to test him. Fortunately, XANA seemed to know what a bad idea that was and retreated.
Once it was gone, Ulrich let out a breath he wasn't aware he'd been holding until now. Remaining on the Overbike, he then turned around to see Yumi carefully helping Jérémie to his feet. Now that things weren't so dire, he realized that Aelita's voice had come from the lab.
"Aelita, were you devirtualized?" he asked, not thinking much of it. It seemed like a normal question, given the circumstances. If she was, then it meant that Jérémie had to, once again, take her place.
But he did not expect the panic in Aelita's voice when she answered him, "Yes. XANA's created a new monster and it took me out in one swing. Approach it with extreme caution."
"One hit?" Yumi asked, surprised. "Is it like the Kolossus then?"
"Um, yes and no. You'll see when you get there," the pink-ette told them, her voice shaking slightly. "Hurry! The nearest way tower is south by southeast!"
Yumi hopped back onto the Overwing, and Jérémie quickly joined her. Together, they and Ulrich took off in the aforementioned direction. "We're on our way, Aelita!" Ulrich promised.
!~~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~~!
William was now riding on the Overboard as Odd's passenger, the two of them flying around and surveying the Skorpion from all sides. It seemed to attack them only if they got close enough or if they hit it first. Therefore, the safest option for them was keeping their distance while also studying the thing with their eyes.
"William, Odd, I'm back to you two now," Aelita cut in through the tension. "Hang in there. Jérémie, Ulrich, and Yumi are on their way."
"Thank goodness!" Odd exclaimed in relief. "This thing is surprisingly faster than its size indicates." The Skorpion was slower than the Scyphozoa, but faster than the Kolossus, yet just as deadly as both of them—as indicated by Aelita being devirtualized in one hit earlier.
"It has three eyes," William relayed, explaining his observations so far. "I managed to hit the one on its head, but while the impact slowed it down, it wasn't destroyed."
"Don't engage yet," Aelita told them. "I'm doing research to locate its weak point." Just as Jérémie did for the Blok Wall.
Some unseen or unspoken cue had XANA finally taking the initiative. Up until now, the Skorpion had been hanging back. But here, it raised its tail up and launched it at the duo.
William instantly reverted to smoke form and bailed, but Odd was a second too late in turning the Overboard around. Said vehicle was destroyed as the tail pierced the cat's chest.
As a result, Odd fell to the ground, and William reverted to human form as he rushed to his friend's side. "Odd! You okay?!"
Odd could only groan, feeling a type of pain that usually wasn't a thing here on Lyoko. If you felt it, it was an indication that something was wrong.
"What just happened?!" Aelita asked, sounding like a mix of angered, worried, and scared. "Odd, you just lost eighty lifepoints!"
"It was the Skorpion, Aelita!" William explained. "He was hit by its tail!"
"The tail?" the pink-ette asked, sounding befuddled. "But I was taken out just by a swing of its arm. What makes the tail so different?" There was a pause, as she did some further research. "Uh oh..."
And William's stomach fell. "What's wrong?"
"You know how scorpions will sting you if they feel threatened or are provoked?"
"Yeah."
"Well, they also sting to capture their prey," Aelita continued. "And that's what XANA just did to Odd. He's been poisoned. I don't know what exactly it did, but his digital profile is all messed up, so Odd, please don't take another hit."
Just as she said this, however, one of the remaining two Mantas hit Odd with a laser, taking away his last twenty lifepoints and devirtualizing him.
He didn't even get the time to cry out.
!~~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~~!
Aelita's heart skipped a beat in fear as she saw Odd's ID card unload from the system. "Odd! Odd, please answer me!"
Nothing. There were no sounds coming from the scanner room, where her friend should be.
She typed in the commands that brought up the security footage of that room, only for it to show all three scanner doors open and completely empty. Odd Della Robbia was nowhere to be found.
An alarm from the monitor drew her attention back to William—where it needed to be—just in time for her to see his ID card gain the same poisoned icon that Odd's had. His profile then promptly unloaded, the hit having taken away the sixty lifepoints he had leftover from his previous fight with the Mantas. She hastily turned back to the security footage.
The scanner room remained empty...
The Skorpion had stung William too, and now both he and Odd were gone. They weren't on Lyoko, but they weren't back here on Earth either. Now, both of their profiles had red exclamation points over their respective portraits. That could only mean one thing.
Close to a panic attack, she averted her attention to the trio that had just entered the way tower in the Forest Sector.
"Guys...William and Odd are lost in virtual limbo..."
!~~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~~!
Ulrich, Yumi, and Jérémie all emerged from the way tower, finally arriving in the still-darkened Desert Sector. They halted in their tracks when hearing Aelita's news. This new monster was very visible on the horizon.
"What?!" Yumi asked, incredulously. "What happened?"
"The Skorpion you see there stung them with its tail!" the pink-ette frantically explained. "Its poison messed up their digital profiles, preventing them from returning to the real world!"
Jérémie was quiet, "I see. So that's why XANA was so quiet over break. It was making and perfecting this thing." He nodded at the Skorpion. "And it didn't poison Aelita because it still needs her..."
"Which means that Yumi and I are the targets this time," Ulrich finished. "With the four of us lost in limbo, you and Aelita will be alone and defenseless until you two can find a way to bring the rest of us back."
"Exactly," Jérémie solemnly confirmed. "So please don't get poisoned, either of you. And if you are, don't get devirtualized."
"You can't tell us to run away, Einstein," Yumi promptly began to protest. "We won't."
"I'm not," Jérémie corrected. "I know you guys too well now to give that order. All you will do is disobey that and charge in with guns blazing anyway." He gave a sharp look to Ulrich here, knowing all too well that the samurai was guilty of doing such a thing. "But William and Odd are already lost in limbo, and I have no idea how long it will take to bring them back. Or if we even can."
The other two were quiet, thinking over the truth in his words.
"We'll try our best," Yumi vowed, her boyfriend wearing an identical determined yet solemn expression.
Jérémie nodded to show his gratitude for their promise, and with that, the trio took off toward the tower. They began preparing themselves for the upcoming fight.
"According to my research," Aelita softly cut in, quiet until now, "the Skorpion has three targets. It's the same deal as the Kolossus—all of them must be hit at the same time."
The said monster was getting larger on the horizon as they approached.
"That's one target for each of us," Jérémie replied. "I'll take the tail. It will reduce the chance that either of you are poisoned if it means that it might hit me by mistake." Right. Because XANA needed him alive.
"He's right," Aelita agreed. She was now looking into possible ways to get William and Odd back.
"Roger that," Yumi said. "I'll take the head then."
"That leaves me with the claw," Ulrich added. "Let's go!"
"Good luck," Aelita said, as Jérémie activated his visor and wings.
The trio promptly flew off, going their separate ways. The sky was still dark. If not for Aelita confirming their location, none of them would recognize this as the Desert Sector that they knew.
"Watch out for the two Mantas!" Yumi warned, spotting the two monsters that had not been destroyed yet.
The three gave the Skorpion a wide berth as they got into position. The Mantas held their fire, confirming that XANA wanted to trap Ulrich and Yumi in limbo first. It took a few seconds, but eventually, they were all ready to attack.
"Ready!" Ulrich called out as he unsheathed a katana.
"Ready!" Yumi and Jérémie both replied, a fan and a dagger being summoned.
"Go!" came the samurai's order.
All three teens charged at their assigned targets. But just when they got close enough to strike, the Skorpion suddenly turned around so that the targets were switched. The tail pierced Ulrich's chest without warning, and the Overbike was destroyed. The brunette flew across the ground, before landing in a heap a few hundred meters away due to the impact.
The poison, though virtual, appeared to weaken him. Ulrich attempted to sit up—trying to retreat as he previously promised—only to find his strength severely lacking. He could not find the necessary strength to do anything, much less crawl to take cover. The effects of the poison were instantaneous, but made sense when remembering that it messed with one's virtual avatar. Being bugged up while still virtualized was painful.
"Ulrich!" Yumi called out, breaking off from formation to fly towards him on the Overwing.
Within the span of three seconds, a Manta shot Ulrich down, devirtualizing him, just as Yumi reached his location, with the other Manta shooting down the Overwing. Upon landing on the ground below, she was immediately met by the Skorpion's tail coming towards her, but Jérémie beat XANA to his friend. He grabbed her wrist and flew her up out of the tail's reach.
As suspected, the monster instantly pulled its tail away the moment Jérémie got in its range, making him the only true defense that Yumi had.
"Jérémie..." she muttered, her heart breaking due to what just happened to her boyfriend.
"I know," was his solemn response. "Aelita?"
!~~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~~!
The loss of Ulrich only added onto Aelita's panic. First Odd, now William, and then Ulrich. And if Yumi wasn't careful, she would soon follow. Then Jérémie would die, and by that point, there would be no more fight left in the pink-ette. And back at the amusement park, her new friend Laura and everyone at Kadic would probably go along with the rides.
When said boyfriend said her name, uncertain himself, she finally broke down into tears, holding her head in her hands, as she cried, "I don't know what to do! I can't find any way to access the limbo space myself to bring them back! And there's no way XANA will ease up on its attack because the holomap reads the Scyphozoa waiting by the tower! Papa...please help us..."
Her body was being wracked with sobs, and despite her father being dead and unable to help them anymore, she wanted nothing more than to feel his comforting presence...
!~~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~~!
"Papa...please help us..."
As Jérémie gently lowered Yumi onto the ground, the two couldn't unhear the hopelessness in Aelita's voice amidst her sobbing. They knew she was upset when she openly admitted to wanting her father to come back. She knew he was gone; she had long since accepted it. But this was the first time she had spoken this sentiment out loud.
Yumi's hands tightened into fists, and her gaze lowered into a determined glare. If she could cry on Lyoko, she would be starting to in this moment. "I won't get poisoned, Aelita. I promise. And once that tower is deactivated and this monster is gone, we're going to Sector Five and finding a way to get the others back."
Aelita didn't respond to this.
Jérémie was quiet, digesting the raw emotions his girlfriend was feeling. "He can still help, 'Lita. Launch the reboot program."
The pink-ette finally reacted verbally. "Huh?"
!~~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~~!
"Huh?" Aelita asked, amidst her surprise, tears, and tear-stained cheeks. "A-Are you sure?"
"Not one hundred-percent," Jérémie confessed. "But a hard reset of the entire system could weaken the Skorpion enough for me to slip past it and deactivate the tower." That's right. Laura and their classmates were still in danger. "We have to at least try."
He was right. "Okay."
The pink-ette then grabbed the supercomputer handbook from where it was hidden underneath the monitor. She opened it and took out the program CD and inserted it into the slot on the side of the monitor. After typing in the necessary commands, she took a deep breath.
"Here we go." She pressed 'enter'.
The screen glitched and went black before returning, showing a loading bar. The research window she was using re-opened, as did the three bugged-up digital profiles. She attempted to type, only for the screen to start glitching badly, freezing and turning pink in color.
Aelita frowned in tense anticipation.
!~~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~~!
The entirety of Lyoko began to shake, though the tremors were only felt in the Desert Sector. The Skorpion began looking around in confusion, XANA 2.0 searching the original's memories to determine what was going on. The Mantas stopped flying as a result.
A dark vortex opened up in the direction of the Core, drawing in black smoke until it and the smoke turned white. In a flash, a huge, white wall of energy began sweeping over all five sectors.
Unlike before, Yumi knew what this was. This time, she just closed her eyes and let the wall pass over her. Beside her, Jérémie also relented to his temporary fate.
But the three monsters found the original XANA's memories of this phenomenon a bit too late. The Mantas attempted to fly away, only for the wall to pass over them, thus freezing them all in place. The Skorpion launched its tail in one final 'hurrah', but its tail froze meters away from the geisha's face.
The Core formed another black vortex, which turned white and sent out another energy wall that swept over all five sectors, unfreezing everything.
Both weakened, Yumi and Jérémie collapsed to their knees, with the geisha catching the elf before he could hit the ground.
But the Skorpion was weakened more than they were. Before, it was deceptively quick for its large size. Now, it could barely lift its own tail.
Seeing her chance, Yumi activated her telekinesis, using it to pick up the massive monster and dropping it over the side of the plateau and into the Digital Sea below. As a burst of energy spiraled up into the sky, Yumi fell to her hands and knees, exhausted due to using her power beyond its usual limits (despite her Jérémie-given upgrade).
Now that the threat had been deleted, the sky went back to normal. Gone were the grays, being promptly replaced with the usual, classic bright yellow and orange.
!~~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~~!
The monitor was no longer buggy, and the Skorpion was gone. Seeing these two factors, Aelita checked the digital profiles and saw that the poisoned icons weren't there on Odd, William, or Ulrich's profiles. Her tears turned into ones of joy as she activated the materialization program.
She pressed 'enter' after each name, "Materialization Odd! Materialization William! Materialization Ulrich!"
The security footage window reopened and this time, it showed all three scanners opening to reveal her friends back home—with her, where they belonged. All three of them were tired, but otherwise fine.
"Ugh...what happened?" Odd asked, his voice sounding over the comm. system.
"You guys were lost in virtual limbo. " Aelita explained to them, happiness and relief filling her entire being. "Jérémie told me to reboot the supercomputer, and it allowed Yumi to destroy the Skorpion. Both of those combined allowed me to bring you back here."
"And the tower?" William asked, his mind returning to Laura.
"Jérémie's entering it now," Aelita reassured him.
!~~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~~!
As she escorted Jérémie to the activated tower, Yumi kept a careful eye on the Mantas still flying around and the Scyphozoa still by the tower. The Mantas, to her surprise, bowed in respect before flying away.
Approaching the base, the Scyphozoa also seemed to nod before retreating as well—XANA was letting them have this one.
Jérémie chose not to question it, instead entering the tower at a sprint.
!~~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~~!
The ferris wheel was finally giving up after a few minutes of hanging in there. All frightened eyes were on it as it finally collapsed in a heap of metal, giving out one last creak of metal. The collision with the ground let out a cloud of dust.
Luckily, no one was in it, thanks to emergency services.
But it wasn't the same story for the roller coaster. A large groaning of metal began to sound, hurting everyone's ears, as the few people still trapped on it, despite emergency services' assistance, began crying out in raw and utter fear.
JEREMIE_
Despite being safe with her schoolmates, Laura stared at it with widened eyes. She couldn't look away. The entire structure began collapsing...
CODE_
A large scrap of metal fell off, plunging towards the ground where a little girl could only look at she was about to die in disbelief...
LYOKO_
The girl's father reached her right as the piece of metal froze in mid-air, as if time itself had stopped. But it was only the metal; the people were able to freely move around still. The scary sounds of the rides all collapsing at once had stopped, and cries of fear quickly turned into confused murmurs.
It didn't last long, as the entire world was engulfed into a bubble of white light...
!~~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~~!
No one had died. The Lyokowarriors knew this, because no one suddenly dropped dead due to heart issues (what usually happened whenever there was a death by XANA attack) throughout the day. That was a win by itself.
The fun had to end sometime, though, and they and Laura returned to the entrance of the park at 7:00 pm, as per Jim's rules that he had recited earlier that morning.
"So did you have fun today?" William asked Laura.
The blonde promptly smiled with pure joy. "Of course I did!" She had no memory of XANA attacking the amusement park. Instead, she remembered having fun with her friends—exactly how the Lyokowarriors wanted it. "I want to do this again!"
William's expression softened into a gentle smile, as he vowed, "You will."
Her resulting smile was blinding.
As the Kadic group waited for the remaining members to regroup here, Jim approached Jérémie after a day of letting the boy actually have fun. He had been reminded of the reason by Jérémie's friends.
"Belpois," Jim said, "got a minute to talk in private?"
The young genius' response was swift, "I'd rather we talk here with witnesses, Jim. I mean, you yourself said it was a bad idea to wander off alone." His eyes wandered to his friends starkly watching the encounter like hawks.
"Touché." The man accepted it. "I heard about your mother. I wanted to ask how you were doing today, if you were having fun following the break you had."
Jérémie blinked in mild surprise, before softly smiling, "I'm fine, Jim. Maman's fine, too. I just wanted to relax before getting back into the usual swing of things. And it worked." It really did. "This is exactly what I needed."
"Good to hear, Belpois," Jim exclaimed. "I'm glad you and your mother are doing well now. That means you'll be ready for tomorrow's relay race."
This elicited a reluctant groan from the boy, "Do I have to be?"
Jim just laughed out loud. "There's the Jérémie Belpois I know and love!" He then left in good spirits.
The Lyokowarriors claimed the back seat of the bus, since it was a row of six seats together. Since the sun was barely visible on the horizon now, having long since set, most of their schoolmates were asleep, Laura included. This left the six teens in the back the chance to talk about what had happened.
"We came close to defeat today," Jérémie solemnly said, in a voice just above a whisper. "XANA's attack was almost perfect, choosing to strike when we were off-guard and fifteen minutes away from the factory. We need to be careful. XANA let us have this one, but it will be back."
"Right," Aelita quietly agreed. "And who knows what will be waiting for us next time?"
"Whatever it is, we'll be ready," Odd said.
"Yeah." Ulrich replied, "From now on, we use the buddy system. Never go anywhere by yourself if you can help it."
"And if you have to be alone," Yumi added, "then keep your phone on at all times, as per our rules."
William finished with, "If anyone needs any refreshing on the rules, just ask and I'll lend you my handbook."
He was met with five tired smiles in response.
!~~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~~!
Back at Kadic, Aelita kissed Jérémie 'good night' before heading straight to bed. As she got ready, she couldn't help but think about the larger implications of what XANA's attack today entailed. XANA would never allow itself to remain under Tyron's boot for any longer than it had to be. Once it had both copies of the Keys to Lyoko, then it would be free and no one would be around to stop it.
In dreamland, she returned to a familiar black abyss, where the dark version of herself seemed to reside.
"Congratulations on your victory," cynical-Aelita sarcastically said.
Real-Aelita raised an eyebrow, not amused at the snark, "What are you on about now?"
Cynical-her scoffed, "Why are you asking me that when you already know the answer? Remember, XANA's plan is to get the Keys and kill you guys off, but after that, what's next? Well, it plans to take over the Green Phoenix, kill Tyron and Maman, and then take over the world. Why bother fighting?"
"Why are you always asking me that?!" Real-her found herself blowing up. "Stop it!"
"There's no use," came the answer. "Your loss is inevitable. After all, you almost experienced it today. Remember, you called out to 'Daddy' like a little girl."
"Shut up!" the pink-ette yelled, and the black void instantly disappeared.
In the next moment, she woke up, and the sun was shining through the window, signaling the start of a new day. Aelita was horrified. The cynical version of herself may have been a dread to converse with, but she always made good points.
XANA's full plan—she knew it must never happen.
!~~~C~O~D~E~~L~Y~O~K~O~~E~V~O~L~U~T~I~O~N~~~!
Up next: Episode 16, Confusion - "When XANA's attacks begin acting sporadic, and at the same time, Jérémie detects abnormal activity in the Cortex, the Lyokowarriors will discover the unthinkable."
A/N: Chapter Meaning: A brand new monster that's on the same level as the Kolossus, Jérémie almost losing his Keys, and three Lyokowarriors lost in virtual limbo, all with no way to win in the foreseeable future, certainly qualifies as a worst case scenario for the Lyokowarriors.
-I said this before, but "mon chéri" is a pet name commonly used in France, translating to "my dear". It's my headcanon that Jérémie's parents call him this, even when he's an adult.
-The corn maze bit is dedicated to my sister, who surprisingly read the map we were given better than me or the adults with us (not our parents; it was a church trip).
-Rule #12 was given to me by AO3's Morpho in a review on Chapter 4 (Rivalry). If any of you can think of others, feel free to tell me in a review.
-The reboot program was first discovered, created, and launched in "Wrong Exposure".
-The final scene was an idea from my beta reader, FP7ETDP43. Cynical Aelita will make another appearance in a later chapter.
~Evolution concepts~
Nothing really. This is just me reminding people that XANA can be terrifying and throwing spite at Evolution for keeping the attacks fairly tame.
Story wise, this chapter just continues the trend this season of poking at Aelita's greatest fear being her losing her friends, especially Jérémie.
Also, the scenes with Laura further defines the dichotomy between what she wants to do versus what her father wants her to do.