Note: Happy New Year, everyone in the world! 2024 is over and 2025 has finally arrived. With that in mind, the new year means new stories and new chapters. A few new authors might join the site and get their start (assuming that they aren't AI or scam accounts). Who knows what will really happen during this year? It really just depends on what happens. We cannot predict or control everything, after all.
In order to prevent myself from rambling, let's move on with the story. It's time for chapter twenty-five.
Chapter 25: The Anonymous Message
It had been two days since the last Return To The Past and the Belcher children managed to take the test. The test covered each subject that the students had taken throughout the year (barring optional ones such as physical education or Spanish class). As such, Tina, Gene and Louise took it like everyone else at Wagstaff and, with more time to study, they felt confident that they would ace it. Once they had finished taking the test, they handed their copies to Mr. Frond and continued on with their day. The kids hoped that the Lyoko Warriors were doing alright, considering how they were in charge of fighting X.A.N.A and saving everyone in the world from freezing to death. Even if something came up, they knew that their tutors could handle it.
Sitting alone in the library, Jeremy typed away at his laptop, having nothing better to do. As the Lyoko Warriors had recently completed a mission, that meant that nothing would be going on until X.A.N.A decided to launch another attack. The students had taken the test, but it wouldn't be given back to them until next week. Tomorrow was a Saturday, which meant that Jeremy and the others would have the weekend off, barring a situation where a kid who attends Wagstaff would need them. With that in mind, the spectacled blonde hoped to have some time off from fighting X.A.N.A as well. Even if something came up, the best the Lyoko Warriors could hope for is a commotion in town that isn't tied to Lyoko.
Leaving the library, Jeremy watched as Mr. Branca walked through the highway, cleaning the floors. Not wanting to be in the custodian's way, the spectacled blonde walked away, heading towards the back of Wagstaff. He reached the exit on that side of the school in no time, though he did have time to speak to a teacher on his way to the door. The teen walked out, deciding to skip going to the lab for the time being. While it wasn't normally something he would consider, he was hoping to relax for the weekend. As long as there was nothing to do, Jeremy was happy to himself.
Hopefully, nothing goes wrong tomorrow! He though to himself.
In the morning, Bob and Linda opened the restaurant while the kids finished eating breakfast upstairs. While doing so, they noticed how quiet it was outside, with not a single person on the street. Usually, there would be a fun event or absurd special occasion happening in Seymour's Bay on the weekend. For this weekend, however, it seemed as though nothing was going on. As far as Bob was concerned, it meant that there would be more business for the restaurant. Linda, on the other hand, found it boring when nothing was going on in town. No matter what, business had to continue.
"We have a busy day ahead of us." Bob spoke.
"Yeah," Linda said, "and it seems like we'll have plenty of business today."
"Which is good, because nothing big or important that could obstruct our restaurant is going on in town." The restaurateur said.
"It's boring, but we need customers to keep this business from going down the drain." The cashier stated.
"We did pretty good yesterday, though." He said. "All those families came in during the lunch rush."
"Too bad we can't get more customers like them." She said. "Teddy and Mort are fine, but we need more regulars."
"And it's a shame that none of the others come here, especially Ulrich."
"Why Ulrich? Oh right, he's Vanessa's son and the relative we never knew we had."
"I can understand why Ulrich didn't mention he was related to us until now, but he's still family. Pretty much the only family member who visits her is Gayle, and she never comes to order food. Your parents also come, but it's the same situation."
"You get along with them sometimes. I'm not sure if we'll get along with Walter and Vanessa, though."
Tina, Gene and Louise arrived through the entrance, causing Bob and Linda to finish their conversation. Needless to say, the kids were curious about what their parents were talking about.
"What's up, mom and dad?!" Louise spoke.
"Nothing much." Bob said.
"Just waiting for customers." Linda said.
"Sounds like fun." Tina said.
"Not really." Louise said.
"It would be fun if we could do an arts and crafts thing here." Gene said.
"Gene, do you remember the last time you did that?" Bob asked.
"It would be different." The eleven-year-old said. "For this one, we would let the customers do the arts abd crafts."
"For a fee, of course." Louise added.
"Oh my God." Bob groaned.
"By the way, have any of your tutors considered coming here?" Linda asked.
"No." Gene said.
"Why would they?" Louise asked.
"They haven't considered it." Tina stated. "Well, Odd is an exception to that."
"Kids, you should really invite them to come to the restaurant." Bob said. "If we're gonna be a team, we need to meet in the same areas and discuss certain things."
"So, you want someone to get suspicious when we talk about Lyoko?" Louise asked.
"No, Louise, we don't want anyone outside of the team to get involved." He said. "We just want to speak to everyone more than we usually do."
"And maybe see if Jeremy will let us come along for a mission." Linda added.
"Speaking of which, we didn't go on the last mission because there was a blizzard and we were freezing our asses off." Gene said.
"Gene, that only partially explains why we didn't see you at home during that blizzard." Bob said. "We thought you had gotten detention again."
"Nope, it was a X.A.N.A attack!" A familiar voice entered the restaurant, joined by the familiar bell of the entrance.
Looking to the side, the Belchers saw Jeremy standing near the entrance. The spectacled blonde had his backpack on, despite the weekend being time off for him and the other Lyoko Warriors. He didn't look too eager to celebrate the weekend, considering his stoic facial expression. The Belchers couldn't blame him, as nothing exciting was going on in Seymour's Bay.
"Oh, hey Jeremy!" Linda greeted.
"How's it hanging?" Bob asked.
"Fine, I guess." Jeremy spoke. "However, I find it rather risky to discuss Lyoko, X.A.N.A and the supercomputer in the restaurant, where your customers would be curious."
"At least we can use the Return To The Past if too many people ask about what we're doing." Louise said.
"We can't use it all the time, though." The spectacled blonde said. "I'm still not sure if X.A.NA's tied to the supercomputer or if he's on the World Wide Web itself."
"That's an awful lot to think about." Bob said.
"Yeah, why don't you take a seat?" Linda said. "We can even serve you a burger."
"I'm not hungry at the moment, but thanks for the offer." Jeremy said, sitting down at a table.
Now that Jeremy was inside the restaurant, the Belchers watched as he got out his computer and began to type at it. Whether it was something related to Lyoko or a personal hobby of his, they did not know. However, they needed to know if a mission came up. They were all on the same team, which meant that they had to be up to date on everything.
It had been days since the last mission and Aelita had not told Jeremy about the message, nor did she show it to anyone. She had several opportunities throughout the rest of the week, but there were always papers to grade. The pink-haired teen hoped to show it to her friends now that it was Saturday, but she didn't want to ruin the weekend for everyone. Knowing that the Belcher children would be working at their restaurant, she promised herself that she would only go there if they wanted to speak with her. As the entire family (except for anyone in the extended family) was part of the Lyoko Warriors, they would have to speak with the group and join in on the missions. The away team would have to help out as well, considering how the war against X.A.N.A needed more fighters to stand up to the evil computer program.
Walking on the sidewalk, Aelita kept an eye out for Bob's Burgers. She had been inside the Belcher household before, but she had never considered entering the restaurant. The Belchers were friendly and welcoming, but it felt wrong to enter a restaurant and not order food. Aelita had eaten earlier, so she wasn't feeling terribly hungry. But, considering how Tina, Gene, Louise and their parents were part of the Lyoko Warriors, the pink-haired teen wanted to show them the message she had received. Even if there were customers, she hoped to rally the family.
Upon seeing the restaurant, Aelita made her way to it. Before she could enter the building, she saw ... Jeremy? What was he doing in there? The spectacled blonde was on his laptop, but why was he risking a random innocent bystander getting suspicious about Lyoko? There were only three customers in the restaurant, with two of them being the Belcher family's regulars. None of them seemed interested in what Jeremy was doing, but Aelita didn't want to take the chance.
Entering Bob's Burgers, Aelita immediately walked over to the table Jeremy was sitting at. However, she didn't go unnoticed by the Belchers.
"Oh, hi there Aelita!" Linda greeted.
"Hi, everyone." Aelita spoke, her attention primarily on Jeremy. "I need to show you something."
"I hope it's nothing bad." Jeremy said.
"Your hopes might be crushed, Jeremy." The pink-haired teen said. "It's something very important."
"What is it, Aelita?" Tina asked.
"Don't worry, Jeremy and I will talk about it." She said. "I do not intend to distract you from your jobs."
"Eh, we've gotten out of work for numerous reasons before." Louise said.
"Besides, aren't we all on the same team?" Gene asked.
"You know what?" Linda spoke. "Why don't you, Jeremy and the kids go up to the house and have your conversation?"
"But what about your business?" Aelita asked.
"We can handle it by ourselves." Bob said. "Like Louise said, this isn't the first time the kids have left us to run the restaurant by ourselves."
Nodding her head, Aelita walked out of the restaurant with Jeremy, Tina, Gene and Louise following her. As they left, Bob and Linda continued cooking and serving food to their customers. However, that did not stop the Belcher parents from wondering what Aelita wanted to show them. Whatever it was, the mystery intrigued the restauranteur and his wife.
"Do you think the kids will go on a mission?" Bob asked.
"Maybe, but who knows?" Linda spoke. "I kinda want to go with them on this one, though."
"If it happens when we close, we'll go." He said.
"I hope so." She said. "I really want to see our kids in action again!"
Once they were in the house, Aelita immediately took out her cellphone and showed the message she had received to Jeremy, Tina, Gene and Louise. Needless to say, they noticed how ominous it was. However, they were curious as to who it could've come from. Aelita claimed that it was from X.A.N.A, but Jeremy and the Belcher children weren't sure.
"Are you sure that the message came from X.A.N.A, Aelita?" Jeremy asked.
"It has to be from him." Aelita spoke. "Whenever I receive a message, it's usually from you or the others."
"Wouldn't X.A.N.A mark the message with his symbol?" The spectacled blonde asked.
"He likely left it off the message to make it more anonymous." The pink-haired teen said.
"Or maybe it's from some crazy guy who has been following you." Louise guessed. "You wouldn't happen to have any stalkers, would you?"
"No." The teen said.
"I also think that X.A.N.A sent the message." Gene spoke. "But that's mainly because I haven't gotten one from him."
"Like Aelita said, it has to be X.A.N.A." Tina said. "You know how he is with technology, so it's likely he sent the message and manipulated Aelita's phone to make it seem like some random person sent it."
"Look, this mystery is intriguing and all, but we should get back to the restaurant." Louise said. "Usually, I wouldn't want to work there, but it's the weekend! We all need a break from all this Lyoko stuff!"
"She's right." Jeremy said. "We shouldn't try to worry about Lyoko over the weekend. Let's head back down there. If a X.A.N.A attack breaks out, then we'll head to the factory and get the mission done as quickly as possible."
Before the Belcher children and their tutors could head to the restaurant, a knock came on the door. Tina walked down the stairs to answer it, hoping that the visitor wasn't someone that the Belcher family hadn't encountered before. When she pulled the door open, she saw Odd standing on the other side. He looked as friendly as he always did, but Tina could sense that there was a catch.
"Hello Tina." Odd greeted.
"Hi Odd, what brings you here?" Tina asked.
"Well, I was going to get some food at your family's restaurant, but Aelita called and told me to meet inside your house." The blonde said.
"In that case, she's upstairs with Jeremy." The brunette said. "You should see them as soon as you get upstairs."
"Thanks." The teen said, walking past her.
As Odd went upstairs to join Jeremy and Aelita, Tina followed him. She was hoping that a X.A.N.A attack wouldn't happen today, seeing as it was the weekend and Bob and Linda needed the kids at the restaurant. Even if a X.A.N.A attack didn't happen, it would be a relief if nothing crazy happened to the Belcher family. They had been through a variety of crazy moments, from a mechanical shark attacking the restaurant to having to deal with the cousin of their landlord, who wanted to burn down Wonder Wharf and replace it with condos. With that in mind, if nothing crazy (X.A.N.A-related or otherwise) happened today, that would be a relief. Once Jeremy, Odd and Aelita left, the Belcher children would go back to work.
Please let there be no mission. Tina thought to herself.
Back in the restaurant, Bob and Linda continued serving customers, waiting for the kids to return. If they didn't return, that meant that there was a mission and they had to go to the factory. With that in mind, Linda was hoping to go with her children, so that she could watch them fight evil on Lyoko. She couldn't be Virtualized, but she could still give encouragement to everyone in the team. Bob on the other hand wanted to continue working, just in case the restaurant had more customers than usual. He wanted to head to the factory, but he hoped that missions wouldn't happen in the middle of work.
As they continued working, Bob and Linda noticed Ulrich walking by. He didn't stop to enter the restaurant, as he seemed more focused on what was ahead of him. With three of the Lyoko Warriors (that they knew of) coming near their location, the Belcher parents felt as though something was about to happen. Whether or not a mission was going to happen on Lyoko, they didn't know. All they knew was that Aelita needed everyone to meet up so that she could show them what she was talking about. Even though they were working, Bob and Linda were intrigued, hoping that the kids would get it all worked out.
"It has to be from X.A.N.A." Ulrich spoke. "Every message we receive on our phones includes the ID of the person who sent it."
From inside the Belcher household, Tina, Gene, Louise and most of the Lyoko Warriors were looking at the message. Needless to say, they were still surmising who it could be from. Assuming that X.A.N.A had sent it was far more likely than anything else. Even if it wasn't something the malignant computer program did, there was something else going on. Whether it was from a stalker or a student at Wagstaff, the group needed to know. Until they got an answer, they were stuck.
"So, what do you think we should do?" Louise spoke, looking at Jeremy. "Should we head to the factory?"
"We'll have to." Jeremy said. "But, considering how the message was addressed to Aelita, and only Aelita, it could be a trap set up by X.A.N.A."
"If he's looking to drain her with the Scyphozoa again, he better rethink that plan!" Odd spoke. "With more people on the team, we'll make sure that techno jerk doesn't lay a hand on her!"
"It doesn't mean that X.A.N.A's unprepared, Odd." Ulrich said.
"And I've never even seen this Scyphozoa thing." Tina spoke. "What if it goes after one of us instead of Aelita?"
"Then I hope that we're quick to stop it before X.A.N.A turns someone into his new warrior." Jeremy said. "It was bad enough when he did it to William and I don't want it to happen to anyone else."
"I'm not letting that jellyfish catch me." Louise said. "I'll throw my knives at its tentacles and watch as it runs away like the coward it is!"
"Unless it's smart enough to dodge your knives." Ulrich said. "X.A.N.A can be unpredictable with his monsters sometimes."
Suddenly, Aelita let out a surprised gasp.
"Everyone, I received another message!" She said. "And it's from an anonymous source like the previous one!"
"Open it, Aelita!" Jeremy spoke. "It might contain a clue to the identity of whoever sent you the first message."
Picking up her phone, Aelita immediately went to her messages and selected the most recent one. Once it was selected, the new message said the following:
Head to the cellphone tower in town. I intend to speak to you there.
"The cellphone tower?" Louise asked.
"Okay, it's definitely a crazy stalker." Gene said. "Hopefully, he's not super ugly."
"Gene, don't joke about that stuff!" Ulrich said.
"I'm not joking!" The eleven-year-old defended himself.
"Whatever is going on, we should head to the cellphone tower and get to the bottom of this." Aelita spoke. "If it's not X.A.N.A, then we should all go together, just in case whoever sent this message is a dangerous person."
"Aelita, you sure you want to do this?" Jeremy asked.
"Yes," the pink-haired teen said, "but only because we have to be sure about this."
"We should probably wait until later, considering how the restaurant is still open." Tina said.
"Yeah, Mom and Dad are waiting for us." Louise said.
After that conversation, the Belcher children and the Lyoko Warriors who arrived split up. The kids went back to work at the restaurant, serving food and working behind the grill. It was much busier now that it was late in the afternoon, which meant that more customers were coming. Despite that, the Belcher family worked to serve every customer in the restaurant, not letting anything slow them down. They continued working until it was closing time, where only a few customers were left. Once those customers left, satisfied and with their bellies full, Bob and Linda closed up shop for the night, while the kids went back to the house.
Just as the restaurant closed for the night, the Belchers went outside to meet up with the Lyoko Warriors. This time, the entire team was together, with Jeremy having promised to call them before he left the house earlier. Bob and Linda were with the kids and the tutors, mainly because they didn't want anyone getting hurt. The only people to not be in the group at the moment were Henry, Jimmy Junior and Zeke, as they were presumably busy with something in their personal lives. With that in mind, the Lyoko Warriors figured that they could tell them what happened once the whole situation was cleared up. Even if it was nothing X.A.N.A-related, it would still be something to discuss during a later mission.
"So, what's going on?" Linda asked. "What are we doing?"
"We're heading to a cellphone tower to meet someone who has been messaging me on my phone." Aelita spoke.
"That's probably not something you should be doing." Bob said. "Scratch that, it's not something ANY of us should be doing!"
"Yeah, I've seen enough true crime videos and movies to know that this is the part of the story where we will be murdered or worse." Sissi said.
"We'll all be in a group, though." Odd spoke. "If it's a murderer, at least we can overpower him and turn him in to the police."
"Regardless of who it is, we should all stay together." Yumi said. "Like Odd said, this person won't be able to take us all on at once."
"Assuming that they aren't under X.A.N.A's control." Jeremy said. "It's still possible that this entire situation is a trap set up by X.A.N.A."
"Well, unless we go to the cellphone tower, we won't know for sure." Ulrich said.
"Then what are we waiting for?" Louise spoke. "Let's move it!"
It didn't take long for the Belchers and the Lyoko Warriors to find the cellphone tower. In fact, it was just a few buildings away from the Belcher residence. The message didn't specify which one it was, but Aelita had a gut feeling that it would be the first one the group came across. No one had been near it before, but it had to be the one mentioned by the anonymous author of it. Seymour's Bay didn't seem like a town that would have a cellphone tower, which would've made looking for one a wild goose chase. Despite that, the Lyoko Warriors and their allies managed to find it in just under an hour.
Standing beneath the cellphone tower was a silhouette of a person. It was hard to tell if they were male or female, but they were tall, looking around Linda's height. From what the Lyoko Warriors could tell, the mystery person was looking around, clearly expecting someone, or something, to show up. This made Aelita nervous, as she didn't know whether this person was under X.A.N.A's control or not. If they were, the group would have to head to Lyoko to free this person from their mind control. If not, then whoever this was had some sort of malicious intent on their mind.
"Well, there they are." Aelita spoke.
"Anyone want to take a guess as to who that might be?" Ulrich asked.
"No clue." William spoke.
"I can't tell who it is." Bob said.
"Whoever it is, they better not be a murderer." Linda said.
"I think you should speak to them, Aelita." Jeremy spoke.
"Yeah, the messages were sent to YOUR phone." Louise stated.
Letting out a nervous gulp, Aelita took a step forward. The person standing under the cellphone tower seemed to notice, so they approached her as well. As they walked towards each other, the pink-haired teen and the unknown person were cautious, not exactly trusting of the other. Both the Lyoko Warriors and the Belchers found this strange. It was one thing for Aelita to be cautious, but for the stranger to act the same way? Something strange was going on and they wanted to know what the answer was.
"I'm right here." Aelita spoke. "Now, whoever you are, show yourself!"
"Uh, okay?" A voice rang out. "I was kinda waiting for YOU to show YOURSELF."
Once they heard that voice, the Belchers immediately knew who it was. They didn't know it at first, but it was obvious the moment this person stepped towards Aelita. With the streetlights illuminating Seymour's Bay, it revealed this person's identity. She was a woman with long brown hair and green glasses. Instead of her usual clothes, she was wearing an orange jacket over a yellow shirt, jean pants and leggings. While the Lyoko Warriors didn't know who this woman was, the Belcher family knew her, as she was a relative of theirs.
"Gayle?" Linda spoke.
"Linda, what are you doing here?" Gayle, the woman, asked. "And who is this girl who told me to show myself?"
"That's Aelita Stones." The brunette said. "She's tutoring Tina, Gene and Louise at Wagstaff."
"She's not the only one, though." Louise said. "The teens who are standing with us are our other tutors: Ulrich Stern, Jeremy Belpois, Odd Della Robbia, Yumi Ishiyama, William Dunbar and Sissi Delmas."
"Wow, they are a garden of teenagers." Gayle said.
"They definitely are." Linda said.
"Now, ma'am, why did you send me a message telling me to meet you at this cellphone tower?" Aelita asked.
"What are you talking about?" Gayle said.
"Aunt Gayle, she received a message from someone asking for her to meet them under a cellphone tower." Tina stated.
"Unless we're at the wrong one," Louise said, "then we're gonna assume you sent it to her by mistake."
"Uh oh, that message was for Rory!" Gayle gasped.
"Who's Rory?" Bob asked.
"He's a guy I met at the grocery store one day." The brown-headed woman said. "We bumped into each other, spoke for a bit, then decided to go out on a date."
"Well, that explains the message." Aelita said.
"But why at a cellphone tower?" Jeremy asked. "Does your phone have poor reception?"
"I WAS going to save this for when I visited the restaurant again, because I wanted it to be a surprise." Gayle said. "But, now that you're all here, with your tutors from school, I can say this: I got a job working at a cellphone service!"
"You did?" Linda said. "Oh, that's wonderful!"
"Never thought I'd live to see the day you got a job, Gayle." Bob spoke.
"Let alone a job working with cellphones." Louise said.
"Is anyone gonna introduce me to her?" Ulrich spoke. "I am a part of the family, too."
"We should give Mom and Aunt Gayle some time." Tina said.
After Linda and Gayle had shown their excitement, something was still nagging at Aelita's mind. She didn't want to accuse someone she had never met before, but she wanted to get to the bottom of a mystery. If the pink-haired teen didn't have answers, then she would never get it over with. Taking a step towards Gayle, she spoke what was on her mind.
"If you were trying to text your date, then how did the message get on my phone?" Aelita asked. "Did you type in the wrong phone number?"
"I must have." Gayle said. "I sent Rory a few messages beforehand, then I sent another one. That one was likely addressed to your phone on accident. Sorry about that."
"That's okay." The pink-haired teen said.
"Looks like the mystery has been solved." Louise said. "So, let's head home before anything bad happens to us. Not that I can't kick some ass!"
"Yeah, it's dangerous to walk the streets at night, especially in a town like this." Jeremy said.
"Before I go, it was nice to meet you." Aelita said, looking at Gayle. "At least I know who had sent me the two messages."
"Two messages?" Gayle said, looking confused. "I only sent you one, albeit on accident."
Upon hearing that, Aelita looked at her phone again. There had been no new messages, but she had to look at the one she had received before the accidental one she had received from Gayle. By the time the Lyoko Warriors and the Belchers decided to go their separate ways for the night, the pink-haired teen made her way to Wagstaff, deciding to have some privacy. She read the older message again, feeling as though something bad would happen if she didn't. The message's sender was still unknown, but it wasn't hard to guess as to who they were. Aelita thought about it, but she was hoping her guess was correct.
It has to be from X.A.N.A. She thought to herself. If it isn't from him, then who could it be from?
Meanwhile, someone was all alone in an empty room, holding a cellphone. They were hastily typing a message on it, intent on sending it as fast as possible. Once the message was completed, the mysterious figure sent it, hoping that whoever it was for would get it. The recipient's name wasn't written, with only their phone number being shown on screen.
"She has to receive it." The person said to themselves. "It's the only way I can communicate with her. She hasn't seen me in years, but I hope to see her again."
Note: Looks like the person who sent the first message wasn't X.A.N.A after all. But, this raises the question: Who is this mysterious person? Are they friend or foe? Will the Lyoko Warriors get the chance to meet them? If so, what will happen next for our heroes? Will the Belchers be involved, or will this be something that doesn't concern any of them?
Until next time, this is ElectricWizard99, signing off. Peace!