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Chapter Text

"Jeremie, you have to send me to Lyoko!"

"Aelita, it's out of the question! You will die if the Scyphozoa takes your memory, and I wouldn't count on XANA just letting our friends go even if you do give yourself up!"

Aelita Stones' eyes began to sting and she feverishly shook her head. The mere thought of losing Yumi and her sisterly advice and warmth made Aelita feel cold. And then there was losing Odd as well. Despite all his bad jokes and bragging, Aelita considered him a brother to her, even if the cover story was that they were cousins.

Jeremie Belpois, the levelheaded of the group, struggled to think of a solution. With Ulrich having detonated the EMP device that Jeremie prepared, all their cell phones were turned off and he had no way of knowing whether the Xanafied Delmas had succeeded in killing their friends.

"What rotten luck..." Jeremie muttered as he put his hands to his back and got out of his chair, thinking of his next move. With his back turned on Aelita, the Guardian of Lyoko took the opportunity to go up to none other than Sissi Delmas and whisper in her ear.

"I need you to knock out Jeremie, quickly and painlessly."

Sissi glanced at the pink-haired girl that just whispered in her ear with a look of bafflement. It wasn't the biggest surprise of the day. That had been learning that her father, the School Principal, had kidnapped Yumi Ishiyama and Odd Della Robbia completely out of nowhere.

She was still processing the revelation that her father had been possessed by an A.I. known as XANA in a virtual world via an "Activated Tower". Even more shocking was finding out that this virtual world was in a Factory less than a mile away from Kadic Academy.

This really is like a James Bond movie... Sissi mused.

While Aelita and Jeremie were bickering, Sissi explored the Lab Room of the Factory. She had come to the Factory to make sure that Aelita and Jeremie weren't making a fool out of her with their virtual world story, and everything that she saw so far had proven them right. She had long suspected Jeremie and his band of friends of keeping a massive secret, but this was beyond anything she ever expected.

So when Aelita came up to whisper to her that request, Sissi stared at her. Not because she thought Aelita was crazy, but because both women were desperate.

"Please."

She saw Aelita's eyes starting to water, the fearful trembling that shook her body. The degree of agony in her whispered plea. And Sissi couldn't help but sympathize.

Seeing no other option, Sissi walked towards Jeremie until she stood directly behind him.

"Oh, Jeremie?"

Jeremie turned around to see Sissi holding out her hands in a Pencak Silat stance. Before the young genius could process what was happening, Sissi kicked the nerd in the knee and punched him in the gut. Jeremie fell against the chair, knocked out cold.

"Nice job. Where'd you learn to punch like that?" A surprised Aelita asked.

"I took Pencak Silat classes." Sissi explained. "To impress Ulrich."

Then she closed her eyes and put her hands against her hips, saying "It didn't work."

Sissi was never a violent person. True, she could be manipulative or even creepy at times, but never had the young girl ever wanted to hurt someone. Nonetheless, for around three months, Sissi trained in the martial art of Pencak Silat before showing Ulrich her skill, only for the brunette to be totally unimpressed.

Shoving her frustration to the side, Sissi focused on her curiosity instead and asked, "By the way, why did you ask me to do that?"

"I have to help Ulrich, Odd and Yumi." She explained. "Only I can deactivate the Tower that is possessing your father. And Jeremie would never let me do it."

"How does that even work?" Sissi pressed, seeking details. "And why would he not want you to do it?"

"When XANA launches an attack like this, he deploys countermeasures to stop me from reaching the Tower." Aelita explained. "You heard us mention a creature called the Scyphozoa. Long story short, it's like a giant jellyfish that can drain my memory and kill me before I reach the Tower. As much as I wanted to go by myself, I know I'll be caught going at it alone."

"But if you knew that, why did you make me knock out Jeremie? You have nobody to go with you now."

"Not true, Sissi."

Sissi's eyebrows furrowed in curiosity, wondering if James Bond or someone like him was about to pop up out of nowhere to escort Aelita to this virtual tower she spoke of. The wheels of Sissi's mind struggled to process all this information, so she let Aelita keep talking.

"Because I cannot get past the Scyphozoa alone, I need an escort. And the only escort available is the girl I am looking at right now."

But the only person in the room is-

Sissi gasped in realization, and Aelita took that as a sign to provide some explanation.

"If I'm going to reach the Tower, save my friends, and free your father, you have to come with me to Lyoko."

Sissi's jaw dropped. "M-Me? G-Going in there?!" She pointed to the computer, "To a virtual world?! I...I can't do that!"

"Sissi..." Aelita went on over to her and took the pale-skinned girl by the hands. Sissi's look of utter bafflement only increased as Aelita continued talking.

"We could spend all day arguing about this. But we can't. I know you can do this. You were brave enough to lie to those detectives about your father committing a bomb threat. You clearly saw how the situation was getting dangerous and deadly, yet you stood by us. Not only with the police, but you're also here. In the factory. You're here for your father, right?"

Aelita's steady eyes bored into Sissi's, not looking away from her for a second. Sissi just stared down at their wrapped hands, trying to let Aelita's conviction fill the spaces where her doubt and fear lived.

"R-right. Aelita, look, I-I know you want me to help. B-But..."

"I know you can." The pink-haired princess insisted. "You've been here before. I don't have time to explain but I know you can do this."

How...how does she think I can do this? Sissi internally panicked. I've never been here before. This is crazy!

"H-How would I even begin?" Sissi stammered.

"Take the elevator under that trap door over there and step inside one of the open Scanners. You'll know when you see it. That will create your Lyoko Avatar and let you enter the virtual world with me."

Sissi gulped and began to sweat, fear overtaking her.

"Sissi. If we don't do this together, we could lose everything and everyone. We have to be strong, for them."

I can't lose daddy...and I can't lose Ulrich. Sissi thought about Aelita's words, realizing how right they were. He's everything to me.

"Just follow my instructions and this will all end okay. Take a deep breath and just listen to me, then we put an end to this."

Taking a deep breath, Sissi turned to the trap door and descended the ladder to the bottom, seeing three large coffin-like machines around the room.

"Huh, these look like coffins." Sissi muttered. "Like tombs of the Egyptian Pharaohs!"

She let out a yelp when she noticed one of the machines opening up, jumping back a short distance.

"If it makes you feel better..." Sissi looked up, hearing Aelita's voice on the speakers. "Then just think of them like that. Now, just step into one and I'll get you set up."

Sissi took a step forward but hesitated from there.

"Aelita..." Sissi whimpered. "I-I don't think I can do this..."

"Yes you can. I believe in you."

"You think I can do this?!" Sissi snapped. "That I can go into some virtual world and fight monsters?! I'm going to be killed! This is-"

"If Ulrich and your father were here," Aelita interrupted. "They would give the same amount of faith in you as I do."

Aelita was probably exaggerating, but nonetheless, Sissi took one last deep breath and stepped inside of the Scanner. The door closed on her a second later.

"A-AELITA!" Sissi cried.

"It's okay. I'm just scanning you and setting up your Avatar. Close your eyes and this will all end soon."

Sissi obeyed, shutting her eyes and dig up something in her mind that could calm her fear. One conversation with her father came to mind.

"If you're scared of something, dive into it and there is a reason, and you can grow from understanding that fear."

Sissi knew exactly why she was afraid. Of coming into physical harm or even death by venturing into this virtual world. Yet it was entirely her choice to knock out Jeremie for Aelita, to step into that Scanner, to help her against this XANA thing. So much had happened today, and it was all so hard to process...

Suddenly, the Scanner opened up and Sissi soon saw Aelita descending the ladder into the Scanner room.

"Your Avatar is all set." Aelita said as she rushed into the Scanner across from Sissi. "I've started a delayed virtualization program. We're going into Lyoko now."

Sissi trembled in the Scanner, asking "A-Any advice?"

"Just follow my lead and do exactly as I tell you. And we'll make it out of this."

Her breath shaky, Sissi asked "How can you be sure?"

Aelita just flashed her a sweet smile.

"You're stronger than you think Sissi. You've always called Ulrich a Knight in Shining Armor. You don't know this, but there are times where you were his Knight too."

"W-What?"

The Scanner doors closed immediately and Sissi found herself suspended as a bright light washed over her.

What was she talking about? Sissi's mind was entirely consumed by the meaning of Aelita's statement. It's not like I've ever saved his life or anything...

Sissi closed her eyes as sounds of machinery worked around her.

In the Ice Sector, Aelita fell to the ground and looked to the right to see another feminine figure falling from the sky. The girl landed next to Aelita on all fours, her hands on the ice.

"Sissi. Are you able to see me?"

Sissi slowly stood up and looked to the right, seeing that Aelita's ears were pointed, like an elf's. Sissi saw a small dangle earring that looked like a fishing lure on her left ear. Sissi examined Aelita's body, seeing an off-white baggy jumpsuit with light pink-and-maroon mini skirt and a matching top over it and matching shoes.

"Is that you, Aelita? You look...so..."

"Strange?" Aeilta finished for her. "Take a look at yourself."

Sissi looked down to examine her legs, seeing orange pants and her white boots. She looked at her arms and she was wearing a full-sleeved shirt mixed with orange and white. She felt the back of her head and noticed her hair was a very large ponytail. It reminded her a lot of her cheerleading outfit, especially her boots.

Aelita looked at her face, which reminded her of an anime girl. Her sparkly white face, pointy ears and wide purple eyes. She had seen a few anime designs and became impressed by the graphical achievements quickly. Jeremie had casually remarked that the Lyoko world would be considered "inferior" in terms of top-notch graphics.

"Wow..." Sissi spun around, twirling her hair. "This is amazing!"

Sissi had thought herself beautiful, but this was on a completely different level. She thought all the girls at Kadic would be jealous to see how pretty she looked.

"What's that thing on your back?" Aelita asked.

"Oh?" Sissi reached out and discovered a massive stick strapped to her back. "Oh, wow! It looks like some kind of big baton, like I use in cheerleading!" Then she examined one of its tips. "Oh, it has a sharp end right up here."

"It looks like a spear." Aelita surmised, before she pointed at Sissi's hips. "Look! There are pom-poms on you too!"

Sissi looked down to see an orange pom-pom on her left hip and a green pom-pom on her right hip.

"Oh, wow! What do these do?"

Sissi was about to reach for them when Aelita's eyes suddenly widened. Seeing that Aelita was staring in her direction, Sissi turned to see what looked like three potatoes with very small legs advancing towards them.

"AH!" Sissi shrieked. "MONSTERS!"

Aelita grabbed her shoulders, attempting to calm her down. "Focus, Sissi! Try throwing your spear at them."

Sissi turned to the monsters, noticing that they resembled cockroaches. Spotting Aelita's new companion, the monsters stopped advancing to stare at her. They turned to each other, clearly confused at her presence.

[Alert: New Lyoko Avatar detected. Initiating Identity scans.]

Obeying the command, Sissi raised her spear and aimed, then tossed the weapon in their direction.

The weapon went far off to the side, missing the monsters entirely. So far off that the spear was sent hurtling off the edge and out of sight. It was much farther than she had intended it to be. It was as if Sissi had gone to the Olympics.

The Kankrelats and Aelita stared over the edge where Sissi's weapon fell.

"Um..." Sissi awkwardly rubbed the back of her head. "You cockroaches wouldn't mind if I go pick that up? Right?"

The "cockroaches" in question turned back towards Sissi and Aelita.

[Identity confirmed: Sissi Delmas of Kadic Academy. Love interest of Lyoko Warrior Ulrich Stern and daughter of Jean-Pierre Delmas]

"Uh...Right?"

[New Secondary Objective Added: Neutralize Sissi Delmas]

The Kankrelats replied by firing lasers at the girls, resuming their advance.

"AHHH! RUN AWAY!"

Sissi's bravery swiftly faltered and she shouted nervously as she ran off, jumping down the icy slide at the end of the path. Aelita swiftly slid down after her.

[Analysis: Threat level low. Hindered by inexperience and cowardice.]

One of the Kankrelats slid to a stop right in front of the edge, apparently considering the logic of following them down there. The second one bumped into him and then the third bumped into the second one, causing all of them to slide right off the edge and into the tunnel ahead of them.

Sissi screamed in terror as she and Aelita slid down the tunnel.

"THIS IS INSANE!" The virtual cheerleader cried out. "How do you handle this?!"

"It gets easier with time!" Aelita shouted back before the girls heard firing sounds behind them.

Sissi and Aelita turned to see the first Kankrelat firing wildly. Sissi saw it trying to control its feet and firing lasers at them, Aelita ducking under a laser aimed her way. Sissi continued screaming in absolute terror, although her worries slightly lessened when she saw the first Kankrelat accidentally take out the second one.

Aelita and Sissi turned back to see the exit approaching. The girls slid out into the open air as the first Kankerlot followed.

"Oh, this is going to hurt!" Sissi nervously shouted.

Aelita and Sissi crashed onto the ground near a mini glacier. The second Kankrelat collided directly onto the glacier, destroying itself.

"Well..." Sissi sighed. "At least I'm not the only clumsy one here, but I thought the fall would hurt more."

"Pain is significantly lessened in the virtual world. When you get hurt, you just lose life points" Aelita explained. "Furthermore, you can't actually die on Lyoko. If the monsters shoot you down, you'll just go back to the real world. You're human after all."

"We're essentially immortal here?!"

"Everyone except me." Aelita quickly corrected. "If I'm devirtualized, I'm dead. I'll be erased for good. That's why I need an escort at all times."

"But you're human just like the rest of us. That should mean we're both safe now, right?"

The gears of Aelita's mind began to work as she realized that the most explosive part of the group, that Aelita was in fact no human, was still unknown to Sissi. Sissi had already been freaking out so much, but knowing the truth about Aelita would throw her completely off her rockers.

Aelita's attempt to change the topic was suddenly halted when the third Kankrelat was launched out of the tunnel. It slid on the icy floor, its sharp legs screeching along the ice to stabilize its landing.

Me and my big mouth... Sissi lamented.

The monster stopped skidding a short distance away from Aelita and Sissi, whom it began to advance towards.

"I SURRENDER!" The cheerleader shouted, throwing up her arms.

Aelita facepalmed. "Sissi, they don't accept surrender."

The Kankrelat charged up its laser and fired at Sissi, who screamed, running around in a circle as the monster continued shooting at the cheerleader. It paid no attention to Aelita, seeing that the Guardian of Lyoko had no weapons.

Aelita, however, wasn't about to just stand around and let her newest ally be slain so quickly. She ran up to the Kankrelat and smashed her foot against it. The monster fell and spun around, its legs flailing widely.

The monster, unable to get up, squirmed on the ground and randomly fired lasers around in a circle.

"That didn't work!" Sissi cried as she ran around trying to dodge.

"I have another idea!" Aelita assured her. "Try throwing your pom-poms at it!"

"Oh! Right!" Sissi brought out the orange pom-pom and tossed it directly onto the monster. The pom-pom glowed a bright orange before exploding, engulfing the monster.

[Alert: Target possesses exploding projectiles. Adding to data.]

"My pom-poms are actually explosives?!" Sissi exclaimed. "Wow, this really is like a James Bond movie!"

"Great work, Sissi!" Aelita gave her a thumbs up. "You just killed your first ever monster on Lyoko!"

Sissi looked at her, wide-eyed. "I can't believe I just did that!"

"It's called a Kankrelat. However, it's by far the weakest and most fragile of XANA's monsters. Stick with me and we get through whatever else stands between us and the Tower."

Sissi began to walk back to Aelita, but froze in her tracks as a familiar whirring noise was heard. Aelita's entire body tensed.

"Huh?" Sissi turned her head around "What's that noise?"

Sissi didn't have to wait long to receive her answer, which came in the form of some sort of levitating giant squid approaching Aelita. It had eight tentacles and a bubble shaped head, its brain visible. There were some small green claws on its pink body.

"Ew!" Sissi shouted in repulsion. "What is that slob supposed to be?!"

"The Scyphozoa..." Aelita muttered in terror, before turning back to Sissi. "Quick, throw your other pom-pom at it!"

Sissi took the green pom-pom and tossed it onto the Scyphozoa. While she had expected a big explosion like with the Kankrelat, it simply dispersed into green dust that washed over the monster and Aelita. Both virtual organisms glowed green for a bit, but nothing appeared to change for either of them.

Aelita backed away but found herself pressed against a rock. The Scyphozoa paid no attention to Sissi, focused only on its prey. Sissi was stricken with panic, hands tugging on her hair like she was a helpless infant.

"What do I do now?!"

"Try-" Aelita had no time to finish when the Scyphozoa wrapped its tentacles around her waist. Sissi watched in horror as three more tentacles wrapped around Aelita's head. They turned red, and Sissi saw Aelita go completely limp as if her free will was literally being drained from her.

"AELITA!"

Sissi ran forwards. She had no weapons, but she couldn't just stand there and let this horrible creature steal her away. She jumped up, grabbing Aelita's legs in a desperate attempt to pull her out of the Scyphozoa's hold.

To the surprise of both the victim and the predator, Sissi simply yanked Aelita out of the Scyphozoa's grip and disrupted the mind-draining process.

"Go away, you big monster!" She shouted.

Aelita looked at her, baffled. "How did you just-"

The Scyphozoa emitted a shrieking noise and roughly grabbed Aelita with its tentacles again, only for Sissi to yank her away from the monster's grip again.

"Hey!" Sissi shouted. "You Scipio thing or whatever! Stop messing around with her head!"

The Scyphozoa once more grabbed hold of Aelita with its tentacles, and once more Sissi pulled her free. But this time, Sissi ran away with Aelita in her arms.

"Leave us alone and give me back my father!"

The giant jellyfish emitted another whirring noise, this time with laces of frustration in it before levitating after them.

[Power detected: Target possesses supernatural strength. Adding to data. Deploying countermeasures.]

The Scyphozoa just so happened to be the only monster that had no laser to fight with, but what had baffled the monster even more was Sissi's ability to simply pull its victim off. Ulrich, Odd and Yumi always opted to shoot it or slice its tentacles until Aelita was free. No normal Lyoko Avatar should be able to simply pry its victim free. They would need huge physical strength for that.

Luckily, XANA had a solution for the interference of its newest enemy. Sissi stopped running when she noticed a massive red creature materializing in front of her. It had four long slender scythe-like legs and a circular head. There was a mysterious eye-like symbol on top of its head, not that Sissi was paying any attention to that.

Now, it was one thing to be faced with a few small potatoes and a giant jellyfish. A creature like this, however, got on Sissi's nerves and compelled her to drop Aelita.

"Sissi!" Aelita called out. "Try calling back your weapon!"

The Krab reared its head at Sissi, who stepped back as her body quivered in terror, clearly too scared to acknowledge Aelita's advice. Seizing its chance, the Krab fired a single laser that hit the virtual cheerleader in the chest. Sissi screamed as she fell, clutching her chest and gasping.

Then the Krab stood above her. Sissi noticed a vent of some sorts on its underbelly. The vent opened up and emitted a blue glow.

"MOVE, SISSI!" Aelita screamed.

Too late. The pulse beam fired, vaporizing Sissi's virtual form in an instant.

"NO!"

[Target Neutralized. Pursuing Primary Objective.]

Crying out from the loss of her companion, Aelita made to run but the Krab fired a laser to keep her place. Finally, without any interference, the Scyphozoa wrapped its tentacles around its prey once more...

I'm dead. I'm really dead.

Sissi saw nothing but darkness after being obliterated by that massive crab creature or whatever it was called. And she was swift to assume the worst.

I'm sorry, daddy. Ulrich. I did my best...

But then Sissi felt herself falling to a cold metal floor and she looked up to see that she was in the Scanner room once more.

"I...I'm alive...I'M ALIVE!"

Sissi shook her head as she remembered Aelita's explanation of immortality on Lyoko, having completely forgotten it in the heat of facing that Krab monster.

Any celebration that Sissi might have undergone was halted by her realization that Aelita was alone and she rushed over to the ladder to get back to the lab room. Jeremie was still slumped against the chair, unconscious.

Sissi sat down on the chair and looked to see a screen that had a picture of Aelita and her brain, with a number that was steadily decreasing. She raised her hands as if to type on the keyboard, but hesitated.

"Ah, forget this!" Sissi swiftly abandoned the attempt. "I might as well be trying to find a needle in a haystack!"

At that moment, Sissi looked down to see Jeremie moaning. He was waking up, rubbing his head as he muttered "Oh, my stomach..."

Sissi hoped that he wasn't too mad as she told him, "Jeremie, we have an...um...an issue. Aelita is there in the video game. Or the uh, virtual world..."

Sissi stammered, her head still trying to wrap around everything that just occurred but came out with it. "And with some kind of giant squid."

Now that got Jeremie's attention. Shouting "What?!", Jeremie leaped up and saw the screen.

"Oh no! Aelita, are you crazy?!"

Sissi opened her mouth, about to add the part where she had gone with Aelita, when she noticed the elevator opening up. Odd and Yumi came out of it, and Jeremie promptly yelled at them, "To Lyoko! FAST!"

"Yeah!" Sissi said. "I delayed it the best I could, but she needs help to get rid of that Scipio thing or whatever!"

If Jeremie, Odd or Yumi noticed Sissi's claim to have "delayed" the monster, they paid no mind to it. Yumi raced to the trap door and climbed down the ladder immediately. Odd was preparing to head down too, when she noticed something else.

Ulrich went to help them, but he's not with them...

"Where's my father? And Ulrich?"

"Couldn't be better." Odd quipped. "He's on the Factory bridge playing with Ulrich."

Sissi's blood went cold and she paced around the Lab room. Jeremie was shouting about a virtualization procedure, not that Sissi was paying any attention to that. If her father was possessed and Ulrich was "playing" with him...

No, no, no. Ulrich...

Sissi grabbed a nearby crowbar and went over to the elevator, quickly pressing the button to take her down to the main floor as Jeremie was shouting "Move it! Ulrich must be taking a beating up there!"

Please, no...

Sissi gripped the crowbar tightly in her hands. As much as her father's strictness annoyed her, that didn't stop Sissi from loving him. But she could not let him hurt Ulrich. Whatever this A.I. had done to Mr. Delmas, he wasn't the man who loved and cared for her all her life, not anymore.

As the elevator opened up, Sissi heard Ulrich screaming and the sound of lightning. Racing to the ropes that brought her to the bridge level, Sissi climbed up to see her father spewing lightning from his hands as if he were a Sith lord, electrocuting the man she loved.

"BANZAI!"

Without a second's hesitation, Sissi ran up to her father and struck him in the chest as hard as she could. Mr. Delmas moaned and fell backwards, his body flickering like static. While she had never seen a person flicker like that before, Sissi assumed that meant he was stunned and turned her attention to Ulrich.

He sat on the edge of the bridge, moaning and barely unconscious. His shirt had scorch marks on it and there were bruises on his face. No doubt this XANA thing had wasted no time in having Mr. Delmas brutalize him.

For Sissi, it was disheartening to see the vulnerability that Ulrich showed. She knelt down and touched Ulrich's face with one hand, asking "Ulrich, are you okay?"

Ulrich softly moaned and Sissi picked him up, wrapping him around her shoulder as she sought to carry him away from danger. He was heavy, but that didn't deter Sissi. She would bear any burden or weight to save her beloved.

"S...Sissi..." He muttered.

"I'm going to get you out of here. Even if it kills me." She vowed.

Even if he doesn't love me back, I love him. Nothing will ever change that.

Suddenly, Mr. Delmas stopped flickering and rose to his feet.

"Daddy, NO!"

He rose to his full height and took a few steps forward. Sissi saw a strange four-pronged symbol in her father's eyes, replacing his normal pupils.

That's the same symbol I saw on those monsters on Lyoko. He really is possessed...

"Please, leave him alone!" She begged her father.

Mr. Delmas grabbed Sissi by the shoulder and sent a thousand volts through his daughter's body, before tossing her to the other side of the bridge.

"NO! STOP!"

Sissi's father turned back to Ulrich and raised his hand, which crackled with electricity.

"DADDY! STOP! I'M BEGGING YOU!"

Mr. Delmas zapped Ulrich, emitting a scream from the brunette.

"STOP IT!" Sissi screamed, her voice cracking from exertion. "PLEASE STOP IT!"

It was fruitless. The lightning surged and Ulrich continued to writhe in agony.

I can't let this happen. Even if it kills me...

"NO!" Sissi shrieked, suddenly leaping to her feet and sprinting towards the two men until she grabbed her father by the waist. "STOP!"

Mr. Delmas, annoyed, turned towards his daughter and raised a hand to electrocute her again.

"I LOVE HIM!"

The symbol within her father's eyes suddenly vanished, as if he were considering her pleas. Ulrich took notice as well, lifting his head up at her.

"I CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT HIM!"

The symbol returned instantly.

"Then die with him."

The demon possessing her father tossed Sissi next to Ulrich and raised both hands, now simultaneously electrocuting both of them.

I'm gonna die. I'm actually going to die here.

All because of this man-turned-monster by an evil A.I. had them pinned against a wall. She heard demonic chuckling, but she knew that it was not from her father. It was from the demon that was inflicting a torturous death upon them for pure sadistic pleasure.

Sissi, with the last of her strength, grabbed Ulrich's hand and whispered "I'm sorry..."

Mr. Delmas prepared one more surge of lightning. Sissi knew it was the end.

Goodbye father. Goodbye Ulrich. I love you both.

Sissi shut her eyes and prepared for death.

It never came.

Sissi opened her eyes to see the symbol in her father's eyes vanishing. Mr. Delmas fell to the ground, motionless and limp.

"D-Daddy?"

She crawled up to her father in concern as he's not moving. "Is he..."

"No, just knocked out." Ulrich called out. "Don't worry."

It's like he's been through this a thousand times before... Sissi thought to herself, noticing the exasperated tone in his voice.

"What's gonna happen to him now?" She closes her eyes, lightly touching him. "I mean, with the kidnapping and everything?"

If my father goes to jail not only for kidnapping students, attacking one, and also with him being under suspicion for bombs, I'll be all alone...

The very thought began to break Sissi's heart, as if the physical agony weren't enough.

Seeing this, Ulrich sought to reassure her. "Everything's gonna be alright. No one will remember anything. Neither will you, for that matter."

Still unable to stand, Sissi slowly crawled over to Ulrich until she sat next to him. To know that she wouldn't remember the utterly horrifying day that was today brought her mixed feelings.

On one hand, Sissi was so desperate to understand why Ulrich had bonded so well with the team and not her. She still had so many questions, but seeing that she would not remember the answers, she opted not to ask, instead sitting next to Ulrich.

On the other hand, she couldn't imagine having to bear the weight of all this. The virtual world, seeing an evil A.I. possess her father and nearly die at his hands along with the boy she loved the most. It was all so much to take in.

"And you?" Sissi asked.

"I will. For me, it's not the same."

"Okay," She leans in towards him. "Then you'll remember this."

Sissi leaned over until her face was mere inches away from his. Ulrich's eyes were wide with surprise as he realized what she was doing.

"May I kiss you?" She asked him.

Ulrich stared at her, as if surprised that she was only asking. Sissi remembered the last time they had kissed, when Ulrich offered it to her as a "down payment" for helping Yumi when she was in trouble with the principal.

At first, Sissi felt like she was in heaven, but the memory gradually turned sour when she realized that Ulrich didn't kiss her out of love, but because he was desperate. Their month of dating afterwards felt hollow. The 'romantic tension' between them felt forced, almost. She noticed he felt miserable during those times and didn't want to be there with her.

She didn't want to force it out of him. After everything that happened, she wanted his permission first.

Ulrich nodded and Sissi kissed him on the lips. Closing his eyes, Ulrich went with the kiss.

This feels so much better... Sissi thought before reluctantly pulling away.

To know that Ulrich actually consented to her kiss surged her heart like never before. She was about to say something else, when she heard a voice say "You can go ahead, Einstein. I wonder which would be worse, being blind or having to see this."

Sissi turned around to see Odd on the phone, presumably talking to Jeremie. She would normally give him a scathing retort for his quip, but she was in no mood for that. Ulrich held her hand and whispered something to her.

"I wish you were more like this." Ulrich admitted, "We used to be friends...and I wish we could be again."

Sissi barely had enough time to process this before a white light engulfed her.

Why on Earth would I just let her do that?

Ulrich Stern had mixed feelings for the girl who was obsessed with him, but they have never become more mixed than today. Sissi had been in danger more than once, shown her courage and bravery several times, but it was always undone by the Returns to the Past.

But today, he had just let her kiss him. After everything that the stalker girl had done, Ulrich had simply sat there on the bridge and let her kiss him. He was stupid for allowing that.

Ugh...If only it were that simple.

As he stood in front of the cafeteria with Aelita and Jeremie, Ulrich put his hands in his pocket and sighed in frustration.

"You okay there, Ulrich?"

"No." Ulrich shook his head. "It's about Sissi. If I tell you what's wrong, will you keep a secret?"

Aelita and Jeremie gave him a thumbs up, at which point he said, "She asked if she could kiss me on the bridge and I let her."

Aelita and Jeremie's jaws practically dropped to the ground.

"I should have said 'no'. At any other time, I would have said 'no'. Other times, I might have straight up shoved her to the floor for suggesting it."

"Yumi would have done much worse than you." Jeremie suggested. "Remember the time you had amnesia?"

This was probably the most frustrating memory of Sissi that Ulrich had. When XANA launched an attack that gave him amnesia, Sissi wasted no time in manipulating his memories. When the others described it to him, Ulrich felt more repulsed by Sissi than he ever had before. Yumi had even described her fantasies of breaking Sissi's nose for her stalkerish actions that day, but because Sissi didn't remember any of it, she backed down.

And it wasn't the only time he felt that way. Sissi had even stolen Ulrich's diary one time, though she didn't remember that either. Yumi had literally punched a wall when she learned about that. Yumi was also quite furious to learn of Ulrich's first kiss with Sissi. Ulrich imagined that if anyone in the group really hated Sissi, it was Yumi.

But if she ever learns that I actually let her kiss me? Both of us will be dead for sure.

"I don't understand it." Ulrich confided. "I should despise her for everything she's done, yet I couldn't help but feel terrified for her when her father nearly killed us both. She stepped up to defend me against her father. Sissi can be stupid sometimes but she's not dumb. She knew the risks."

"Maybe she's braver than we think." Aelita suggested.

"Sissi? Brave? Like hell."

Or at least, that was what Ulrich wanted to say. But he found himself incapable of making his lips form the words and again sighed in frustration.

"Why am I so hung up about this? We all know why she's not our friend. She betrayed our secret about the Supercomputer at the first opportunity. She can't be relied on, and she's so selfish. But..."

"But, from what I heard, she only did it to save you and because she thought you were in over your heads." Aelita pointed out.

"Yeah..." Ulrich shook his head. "But what makes it the most frustrating is that none of it mattered. We lived, yeah, but now Sissi's right back to her annoying self that she always was. It. Never. Changes."

"She sat with me in an elevator when I broke my arm during a XANA attack. She stood with me and Yumi when we were being chased by that Alien thing XANA possessed. I could go on and on, but everytime, she loses her memory. Sissi could be better, but we keep taking that opportunity away from her. Every. Single. Time!"

Ulrich stopped his ranting as he came to a realization. He had wanted to denounce his frequent stalker as a coward, but when he tried to form the words, he couldn't come out with them. Not because they were hard to say. No, it was much worse.

It was because they were wrong.

"Never imagined you would be the one to defend Sissi, Aelita. Did you two bond over knocking me out?" Jeremie half joked.

"I'm very sorry that I had her do that to you." Aelita sincerely apologized. "I was desperate to get to Lyoko and-"

"No need to explain," Jeremie interrupted. "I understand. I hope you understand that I only insisted on you not going to keep you away from the Scyphozoa."

"I do." Aelita affirmed. "And if a situation like that happens again, I'll try my best not to resort to something that violent."

"Thank you, Aelita."

"And Ulrich" Aelita turned her attention back to the brunette, "There's something I want to ask you."

Ulrich didn't turn around, still deep in thought.

"How was the kiss with Sissi this time?"

Ulrich whipped his head around in an instant, his eyes wide with surprise.

"Why would you ask that?" He demanded.

"You're trying to figure out your feelings for Sissi." Aelita surmised. "Whether you hate her or you admire her as a friend. You say that you hated that she kissed you, just like last time. But seeing that you let her do it, ask yourself this: how did it feel?"

Ulrich paced around them, the wheels of his mind trying to sort out the tide of emotions that were swirling within the Lyoko Samurai.

"I wasn't under pressure to do it. I didn't need to bribe Sissi for anything. Yet, just hearing her screaming for me as her father was electrocuting me. Seeing that she was willing to die just to keep me safe..."

Ulrich let out a groan. "Oh, I don't know!"

"Yes, you do." Aelita retorted.

"Oh, fine!" Ulrich came out with it. "Yes, the kiss with Sissi felt better this time. It even felt good! HAPPY?!"

Ulrich put his hand to his mouth instantly. Aelita and Jeremie stared at him, their jaws dropping to the ground.

Why...Why would I ever say that aloud?!

Once Ulrich picked himself back together, he added "You tell Yumi I said that, and she's going to erupt like the biggest volcano in the whole damn universe."

"No danger of that happening." Jeremie assured him "Now that Sissi's memories are erased, only you could talk about it and there's no point in it since she doesn't remember."

Aelita coughed, earning the attention of the boys. "There's a problem with that. There's something I need to tell you both."

Huh? What problem?

Jeremie and Ulrich gave her their full attention. "Jeremie, you asked if me and Sissi bonded back in the lab while you were out cold. Well, we-"

"ULRICH!"

Aelita, Jeremie and Ulrich turned to see Sissi approaching them. When they reached this point in time before, Sissi was merely walking alongside her two minions, Nicholas and Herb. And yet Sissi was full-on sprinting and was completely alone.

"Huh." Jeremie observed. "This isn't what happened last time."

Ulrich cocked an eyebrow, obviously wondering what she was doing.

"Oh, dear..." Aelita muttered.

"What is it?" Jeremie asked, before an epiphany came to mind.

As Sissi stopped in front of them and caught her breath, Jeremie remembered, "Wait. Sissi mentioned something about 'delaying' the Scyphozoa as best as she could."

Ulrich's eyes went as wide as dinner plates as he stared at the panting Sissi.

No...

"But if she wasn't on Lyoko, how would she have been able to..." Jeremie stopped, piecing together what had happened as he turned towards Aelita.

No, No, No...

"Aelita..." Ulrich asked a bit too calmly as he turned towards the pink-haired princess. "What happened at the lab while we were away?"

Sissi caught her breath, saying "I saw my father in his office. He was completely alright. He didn't remember a thing. Nobody does! It's a miracle, like nothing ever happened! It's as if mind snatchers invaded the whole world!"

Oh, God...

The Return of the Past should have erased her memory, as it was specifically programmed to erase the memories of everyone who never went on Lyoko. It had even happened to Jeremie the first time he had tested it out. That could only mean...

"No, you did not." Ulrich directed at Aelita. "You did not do what I think you did."

"I needed an escort." Aelita nervously explained. "Jeremie wouldn't let me go, so I had Sissi knock him out. And then...I asked her to go to the Scanners, so I could-"

"So you could make Sissi an Avatar and bring her to Lyoko..." Jeremie ended it for her. Ulrich felt like vomiting.

Please tell me that I just need to get my ears checked.

Sissi stared at them, saying "Yeah, Aelita was begging me to help. She turned me into some kind of virtual cheerleader with one of those weird coffin things. I got shot by those monsters that helped the Scipio thing grab Aelita and-"

"The Scyphozoa." Jeremie corrected out of instinct before he put his hands to his head.

This is all just a bad dream. I need to wake up, right now.

Ulrich walked up to Sissi and asked her "Pinch me."

"What?"

"Pinch me. Get me out of this dream."

"Uh, Ulrich. It's not a-" Jeremie started to say, only for Ulrich to insist, "Please pinch me."

Sissi pinched him on the shoulder, and he let out a small yelp. Nothing changed. Everyone was still here. In reality. Sissi still remembered everything. She knew their closest secret and there was nothing he could do about it.

It's not a dream...She knows. She knows everything.

And it wasn't just the recent attack that she knew about. The Supercomputer, XANA, all of it. And this time, a Return to the Past wouldn't change anything. She was stuck here, with them. Sissi wasted no time to begin ranting and raving.

"You said I wouldn't remember any of this, but I do. I don't know how or why, but I do know one thing: we need to shut down that horrible machine! And fast!"

How are we even going to begin explaining this to her? She'll blab about everything the second we leave her alone. And Yumi...

Before any of them could explain the situation, they heard a feminine voice asking, "What's going on here?"

"Oh, no..." Ulrich muttered.

A certain Japanese girl along with a braggart walked up to the four. Seeing Ulrich and Sissi standing in close proximity, Yumi narrowed her eyes. Instantly, she sensed that something was wrong. If Sissi was making Ulrich uncomfortable, Yumi would be sure that was the last time she did that.

Ulrich's blood turned cold when he turned around to see Yumi and Odd walking over. Sissi just stared at everyone, obviously wondering what their next move would be.

Yep, this is hell.

"Ulrich, Sissi, care to explain?" Yumi asked.

"Well...uh..." Ulrich stammered.

"And I heard Odd on the phone, wondering if he'd rather be blind than see something that he noticed." Yumi added "Odd was going up to you, last I heard."

Ulrich's heart sank to the bottom of his chest.

On second thought, I'd take hell over this...

Chapter Text

"Well...Sissi remembers everything. And that's because I brought her to Lyoko while you guys were away."

"YOU WHAT?!"

To say that Yumi "flipped out" when she discovered that Sissi was now an unofficial Lyoko Warrior was an understatement. She would have gone off like a volcano had the class bell not sounded right then. Taking control of the situation, Jeremie ordered everyone to go about their day as usual and promised a group meeting after classes to decide what to do about Sissi.

Yumi had wanted the issue settled now, but her education could not be compromised, especially as there was no XANA attack anyways. While Yumi respected her friends' wishes, Sissi did anything but. She was practically shrieking about how they needed to go the Factory immediately and shut down that "horrible machine" before a fed-up Yumi whispered in Sissi's ear:

"Tell anyone about this before the meeting, and Ulrich will never speak to you again."

Ulrich and the others weren't able to hear what Yumi said, but the effect on Sissi was immediate. The school brat shut up and went to class without another word. Yumi and Aelita walked side by side as they traveled towards their respective classes.

"What did you whisper to her?" Aelita inquired.

"I'll tell you, after you explain why on Earth you thought it was a good idea to bring in Sissi out of all people."

Aelita had seen a reaction like this coming from Yumi, but she had little time to prepare for it. For all her time in the real world, Aelita still knew less of emotions than everyone else did. It made her vulnerable, and her friends would sometimes poke her vulnerabilities when they had not meant too.

"Recruiting her into the group wasn't what I intended." Aelita insisted, "I just wanted an escort and wasn't even thinking about how making Sissi an Avatar and then virtualizing her would make her immune to the Returns in Time."

"But why Sissi?" Yumi pressed on. "Jeremie was there too."

"We all know Jeremie vowed never to go on Lyoko again after what happened last time. And even if I tried to convince him, it would have taken too long."

"Then you should have waited at the lab for us to arrive!" Yumi sharply retorted.

Aelita stopped walking and turned to face Yumi. She folded her arms and looked her friend sternly in the eyes.

"I refuse to apologize for not wanting to just stand there in the lab and do nothing while XANA kidnapped two of my closest friends!"

Yumi's expression remained stony for a second, then she sighed, and it softened, her irritation melting away. How could she stay mad when every action Aelita ever took was to protect the friends she loved so completely?

"You're right." Yumi conceded. "I'm sorry."

Aelita's stern expression also softened, and the pair resumed walking towards class. That didn't mean Aelita would stop defending herself, however.

"Look, you might be mad at me. But try to understand. You and Odd were kidnapped. Ulrich was preoccupied trying to find you both. I couldn't even contact you because that EMP blew out your cell phones. Do you realize how scared I was?"

The question forced Yumi to think. Aelita wasn't a human like the rest of them, and her time together with Aelita made Yumi realize how emotionally vulnerable she was. It was no wonder she would resort to using Sissi when Yumi's life was in danger.

"I'm not mad at you." Yumi sought to affirm. "But it's Sissi we're talking about here. I know she's done good things for us, but we aren't friends. Remember when she essentially bullied you back to Lyoko during your first day here at Kadic?"

"So, going back to the great white north?"

"Why not? At least I feel at home there!"

Aelita stopped walking and lowered her head to the floor. She had indeed remembered running off back to Lyoko after Sissi's bullying, resulting in her first ever encounter and capture by the Scyphozoa. It hadn't been on her mind at all when she was pleading for Sissi to come to Lyoko, however.

"I wish you didn't bring that up..."

"I had to." Yumi insisted. "You're a kind girl, Aelita. We're friends, but sometimes you're too trusting. And you need to know why we might not let her in. Not only because she blabbed about the Supercomputer, but..."

"You don't trust Sissi. I know." Aelita interrupted, lifting her head back up to meet Yumi's gaze. "But the fact she actually entered Lyoko has to count for something. Please don't automatically say 'no' because of Ulrich and me. Just think it over before you make a choice."

"I will. I can promise you that." Yumi responded, before the two girls entered their separate classes.

Sissi. Sissi freaking Delmas a Lyoko Warrior? Well, nothing in my life has ever gone as planned. Why should it start today?

When Ulrich's history teacher was babbling about World War I, he was not paying attention in the slightest. His mind was entirely consumed by the fact that his sacred group, the Lyoko Warriors, could have a new member this evening. And not just any member.

The girl who had been after his heart since primary school, who lusted after his heart with repulsive methods, now knew their secret once more. And this time, there could be no going back. But if he were being honest with himself, the biggest problem wasn't Sissi herself.

Yumi. She's probably going to murder me if I vote to let Sissi in.

It was an open secret that he and Yumi loved each other; both would easily get jealous if they saw the other hanging around with someone who wasn't in their group. That jealousy had never been higher than the day the two almost kissed on Lyoko and had been foiled just in time by a Return to the Past. The wheels of Ulrich's mind had brought him to a relatively recent memory.

"Let me give you a friendly piece: go and talk to Yumi, from the heart, or else, one day, I will. Then, I really will be your problem!"

He absolutely despised it whenever William Dunbar proved right about something, but he was. It was going to be so much harder to finally say "I Love You" to Yumi with Sissi around. Ulrich could see Sissi ratting out the group once more out of sheer spite at a final rejection. After all, it was Yumi that his heart had been pointed to for so long.

Then why, why do I care so much about this?!

There were so many reasons. The fear of Sissi ratting out the group once more, Ulrich's inability to stand her constant flirting, the tension between Yumi and Sissi escalating to a point where something bad might happen, but most of all, ruining his chance to finally admit his feelings to Yumi.

But if Ulrich were being honest with himself...

What if it isn't Sissi? And it's really just me that's the problem...

Ever since that day they kissed on Lyoko, their progress had come to a total halt. There was the flirting, the occasional comments, but never again had they gotten as close as that day when XANA sabotaged the Supercomputer. If Sissi was let into the group, Ulrich would face a reckoning, far sooner than he would have liked.

And said reckoning might involve a broken heart, or two.

"I want to be alone today. I don't want you two to be anywhere near me for the rest of the day. You got that?"

It took everything that Nicholas and Herb could muster to catch up to Sissi after she had abruptly ran off on them earlier in the day, muttering "Daddy" and "Ulrich" repeatedly. The two expressed their confusion to their boss, but it led nowhere as Sissi stormed off once more and ordered them out of her sight.

Even though Nicholas and Herb were very much loyal to Sissi, she had no feelings for them. She only saw them as useful pawns that she ordered around.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm with my friends."

The thought made Sissi think back to where Ulrich had officially stood up against her for the first time, leading her to begin her vendetta against his group. But it led her to realize that she had no real friends. Nicholas and Herb were nothing more than pawns, practical strangers to her despite their time together.

Whenever Sissi saw Ulrich with Jeremie, Aelita, Odd and especially Yumi, she could tell that they were close. Much closer than she ever was with Nicholas or Herb. It practically drove her mad.

I should just march up to Daddy right now and make him go to the Factory so we can end this horror...

That was the most logical course of action. The pure agony that the fight on the bridge against her demonic father gave her was unprecedented, physically or emotionally. To imagine that her own father would unwittingly murder his daughter and her lover brought chills that she would remember forever.

Yumi's very explicit threat, however, was also weighing heavily on her mind. If she were being honest with herself, Yumi wasn't all bad. Scary at times, yes, but they had gotten along well sometimes. She remembered the time when she took Yumi's place in the class picture after Ulrich pleaded with her to cover up Yumi's absence.

But if I rat them out...I'll lose what that day gave me.

When Ulrich whispered that he wished things could be different, Sissi was given pause. To know that Ulrich still cared about her in some capacity, even if it wasn't romantic, gave her hope. Even despite the utterly baffled and horrified look that she saw Ulrich gave when he found out she remembered everything.

Sissi knew that Ulrich cared, but the others did not nearly as much. Sissi very clearly saw that Yumi and Ulrich were attracted, but she still had time to make herself presentable. If she could get in the group and stay close to Ulrich long enough, maybe she could persuade him to stop this madness.

"If you want to get in the group..."

Sissi turned to her right to hear a whisper from none other than Odd Della Robbia, by far the most annoying of Ulrich's friends.

"How about instead of projecting everything on us, think about yourself?"

"What?" Sissi whispered back.

"Every step you've taken towards him, he's taken two away from you. Ask yourself why."

"What do you mean projecting?"

"You say you're smart, right?" Odd flashed her a tiny smirk. "Figure it out."

Odd turned away without another word, leaving Sissi to her thoughts.

"But what if she doesn't come? She could be blabbing to her father about us as we speak."

"She'll come. I think she will."

As Aelita worked to calm Yumi's concerns, the girls noticed Ulrich pacing. Odd was leaning against a tree and Jeremie was deep in thought. Ulrich looked agitated and clearly uncomfortable.

The Lyoko Warriors had given Sissi instructions to come to the forest after class and meet up near the sewer manhole. Sissi had been repulsed at the thought of entering the sewers, before Jeremie bluntly told her that she had to accept this method of transportation she wanted answers.

"Ulrich?" Odd asked, seeing his roommate's behavior.

"Don't." Ulrich said. "I already know what you're going to say: 'are you alright there, good buddy', isn't that right?"

"Got a mind reader on you? Could've used it on Sissi." Odd quipped, but that just made Ulrich groan.

"Stop with the jokes, Odd. They just make me feel even worse."

"I'm not going to make a decision you're uncomfortable with, Ulrich." Jeremie said. "Everyone is going to have their say in this. We didn't ever intend to recruit anyone else, but depending on how today goes, this could be a major change to all our lives."

"Yeah, that's what worries me." Ulrich said, shifting his gaze towards Yumi.

"I'm here!"

Before Yumi could offer comforting words, none other than Sissi Delmas sprinted towards the group and placed her hands on her knees, panting.

"So, you haven't sold us out to your father. That's a good start." Jeremie said.

"Don't get your hopes up..." a panting Sissi retorted, "You better have one very good reason for not shutting down this Monstercomputer or whatever it's called! We could all die any moment! You're lucky I haven't gone to my father!"

"Ah, yes, just as expected. What can I say?" Odd quipped, "Sissi never loses that charming personality of hers, does she?"

Sissi growled and pointed a finger at Odd.

"You try getting electrocuted nearly to death by your own father!"

"Okay, that's enough!" Jeremie shouted as he took command. "Here's how this is going to work: there are skateboards and scooters in the sewer below us. We're all going to take those to get to the factory. We're one vehicle short, so someone needs to go on foot."

"I'll go! Nothing like some good old exercise huh?" Odd playfully suggested.

"Alright, Sissi, come with us. Once we're all in the lab room, we'll explain everything. Nobody will start an argument until we're there. We got that?"

The silence that Jeremie received affirmed his command, and the team climbed down into the sewers, Sissi taking a scooter. She saw Yumi performing a skateboard stunt along the railings as they rode through the sewers.

Oh, how Ulrich would swoon over me if I did that...

Sissi knew she was more likely to break her leg than replicate a stunt like that successfully, so she kept on going until they reached the sewer manhole on the other side, emerging to find themselves on the bridge in front of the abandoned factory. Sissi knew nothing about the place except that it was an old car factory that shut down after the company downsized.

Taking the rope down to the main level, Sissi entered the elevator with the others, saying nothing as it descended. It was hard for the principal's daughter to bite her tongue for once, but she was so desperate for answers that she was willing to hold it in until everyone was ready. Besides, her mind was occupied by the never-ending questions she would ask.

"Alright." Jeremie began as he walked over to the computer and sat down. "I'm turning the monitor on so I can show Sissi everything. I'm going to explain everything to her, and once we're done with that, we'll all begin debating whether we should let Sissi in. She needs to know exactly what we've been through before we can start judging her. Sounds like a plan?"

Odd gave him a thumbs up, Aelita and Yumi nodded, and Ulrich leaned against a wall, his gaze locked on the metal floor. Yumi leaned alongside him, putting a hand on his shoulder for comfort.

Suddenly, Sissi's full attention was turned to a sort of holographic globe. She remembered seeing it on her first visit, prompting her to say "You can start off by explaining this virtual world, Freak-Oko or whatever it's called, is!"

"Lyoko." Jeremie corrected. "It's a virtual world created by a man named Franz Hopper. This is a map of the virtual world where XANA, the A.I. that possessed your father and kidnapped Yumi and Odd, can do anything from."

Sissi advanced towards the map to get a closer look. "Hold on, it looks like there are different regions. Aelita sent me into the Ice sector to find some kind of Tower, but there's others here too! Forest...Desert...Mountain..."

"They're the regions that make up Lyoko. In each Region are towers that are used to monitor communications in the real world. By activating them XANA can invade the real world however he likes. There's really no limit to what you can do with a Supercomputer, and XANA can do even more than write up a few programs. He can change the world or conquer it if they aren't shut down. Aelita is able to shut them down by transferring herself into Lyoko, reducing herself into digital code so she can take a form and then manually shut down these towers. Just like you two did together in the Ice sector."

"What's the deal with this XANA freak?" Sissi questioned. "Why does it want to murder everyone?"

"We don't know XANA's exact motives," Jeremie explained. "XANA seems to have a disdain for humanity as a whole, but I've never found anything concrete on him or Franz Hopper. All we know for sure is that XANA is an artificial intelligence just as complex as Aelita is, probably even more actually. It's a super dangerous program, like a virus that can control electricity, and it activates towers on Lyoko to gain access to our world."

And they want this computer to say on?! When we can just get rid of this thing right now?! Sissi thought to herself.

"How long have you been doing this for?"

"A year and a half." Jeremie replied.

"WHAT?!" Sissi screamed. "That's impossible. You'd have to-"

Then she paused, remembering a detail. "Ulrich said that I wouldn't remember any of it, yet I did. But when I started talking to others, nobody else did. Did you order some kind invasion of mind snatchers or something?"

"This is where the conversation gets...unbelievable." Jeremie warned.

"Uh, now it gets unbelievable?" Sissi questioned.

Odd started to chuckle before Ulrich lightly tapped him with his elbow in a silent "Be quiet."

The young genius came out with it, saying "Yes, we have a feature called Return to the Past. Usually after we stop X.A.N.A.'s attacks, we use it to reverse time to 24 hours earlier so nobody can remember what happened."

"YOU CAN REVERSE TIME?!" Sissi shrieked.

Jeremie just nodded as Sissi's eyes became as wide as dinner plates. She paced around the computer, trying to process this information.

How...how in the...

"You were able to remember XANA's latest attack because the program is set to spare those who have been to Lyoko. I was even a victim of it the first time it happened because I hadn't made myself immune yet. But because Aelita brought you to Lyoko, you remember everything."

"So if this machine is so dangerous, why haven't you shut it down?!" Sissi demanded, "And you better not say it's 'for science' or some stupid excuse. Or I will sprint out of this room right now and tell my father everything!"

Jeremie decided to just get right to it. "Because Aelita will die if we shut down the Supercomputer now."

Sissi was sure she misheard him, "Excuse me? How would shutting down a computer kill a human?"

"Because I'm not human."

All eyes were on Aelita as she spoke up and stepped forwards towards Sissi as she remembered another detail.

"B-But...Wait, Jeremie compared XANA directly to you. What did he mean by that?"

And she mentioned something about how being devirtualized would kill her on Lyoko, even though she came from the real world too...

"I was not born a human. I'm an artificial intelligence that Jeremie found on the Supercomputer and spent over a year trying to bring into the real world."

Sissi's jaw practically dropped to the floor.

What kind of sick twisted TV show is this?!

"Jeremie was out in the Factory looking for parts for a science project one day, when he stumbled upon the Supercomputer and I. One by one, his friends became entangled in his discovery, including you."

"W-What?" Sissi stammered, before she remembered another detail. "Wait, you said something about me being here before! Right before we went into Freak Yoko, or whatever it is!"

Jeremie resisted the urge to correct Sissi and instead dropped the next bombshell by saying, "Yes, the people that discovered the Supercomputer included you."

"S-So hold on, y-you're saying that I was part of the group once?"

"Do you remember when I said that we were allies once?" Ulrich spoke up next, "That I wanted to return to what we were before?"

"That's what I was referring to. You were part of the group once, until you decided to give up our secret and your father tried to shut down the Supercomputer. The only thing that stopped him was when Jeremie launched his Return to the Past program for the first time."

Sissi paced around the room, trying hard to take everything in. But the forefront of her thoughts was the revelation that her father had come close to ending this madness.

If they had just let my father shut this damn thing off, this would never have happened!

"So…So wait. Y-You're saying that Aelita is just some kind of program? This entire time, this new girl I worked with to save my father isn't even human? Just some kind of A.I. freak like this demon that possessed my father?!"

"Careful, Sissi." Yumi's eyes narrowed into slits at Sissi's name for Aelita. "Aelita might not be human in the sense of how she was born, but she's still our friend. And she's here in the real world. She's human now, despite the circumstances behind it."

"So, if she's human now, why would shutting off the Supercomputer kill her?!" Sissi inquired.

The other Lyoko Warriors could see Sissi's increasingly erratic behavior. Yumi opted to step between Sissi and the elevator in case she made a run for it.

"Because the moment we succeeded in materializing Aelita to Earth, XANA inserted some kind of virus within Aelita." Jeremie recounted. "The essential function of the virus is that it retains Aelita's ties to the Supercomputer despite her being able to come to Earth. If we shut it down without curing Aelita's virus, she dies. Essentially, he's holding her hostage and is using her to attack us, over and over again. It's a back and forth."

"To sum up: XANA keeps launching attacks to kill us, Aelita stops them by deactivating the Towers, and rinse and repeat until we find a cure for Aelita, at which point we'll shut down the Supercomputer, which will kill XANA."

Sissi's eye twitched and her breathing became heavy.

How many times have they been electrocuted like me? Nearly killed? Almost murdered by people they know and love?

"How close has XANA come to killing you all?"

"Sissi, we shouldn't get into-"

"Just tell me." Sissi said in the tone she used whenever she demanded answers, but this time there was no room to refuse her.

"We've had many near-death experiences." Jeremie spoke honestly. "Aelita usually only manages to deactivate the Towers just in time."

There were further details that he could go into, but Jeremie did not dare mention them, especially the time that Yumi had actually died after she fell into the Digital Sea.

"And you're still doing this?!" Sissi pointed incredulously at the computer. "You're telling me that this XANA thing could do anything it wants in the real world! If it can possess people like my father, it could kill us all! Maybe even go to that local nuclear power plant and blow us all sky high!"

Jeremie found himself very thankful that he didn't go into detail about XANA's attack methods and mention the nuclear plant attack, otherwise Sissi might have stormed off right there.

"You have to calm down-" Jeremie started, but Sissi gave him no openings.

"CALM DOWN?!" She screeched. "You're telling me that you've been risking your lives for a year and half-actually no, you've been risking ALL our lives for so long just because Jeremie wanted to get a virtual girlfriend to Earth?! You're the ones who are insane here!"

"Sissi-" Ulrich tried to say.

"And you!" Sissi turned towards Ulrich and pointed accusingly at him. "I may not remember what drove me to tell my father about the Supercomputer, but I can guess it well enough! You kicked me out of your group just because I was trying to save your lives!"

"And you would have killed Aelita in doing so!" Yumi shouted, taking a step towards her romantic rival. "The literal second that your father entered the lab, he tried to shut everything down and didn't even give Jeremie a chance to explain things about Aelita! Is that worth it, huh?"

"And he was right to do that!" Sissi shouted as she pointed at the monitor, her hand trembling. "And how do I even know this virus thing is true?! You could be making it up just to keep this Monstercomputer on!"

"It's not-" Jeremie tried to clarify, but Yumi cut him off.

"Oh, the virus is real. But let's be honest, of course you wouldn't even bat an eyelash if Aelita died, being the selfish witch that you are."

Sissi reared back as if Yumi had struck her, all the blood draining from her face.

How...dare...you...

Jeremie, Odd and Aelita found themselves in stunned silence. Ulrich turned away, unable to bear the heated route that this discussion was going. Sissi's cheeks were turning red and she stomped towards Yumi as if wanting to punch her for that last remark.

"You-!"

"Oh, I know what you're going to say." Yumi interrupted, venom dripping from her words, "Something like 'Aelita's not worth it, she's just some A.I. freak. Who cares about her? Just throw her to the wolves, why don't you?' Do I have that right?"

Aelita, shocked by her friend's venomous tone, stepped towards Yumi and tried to put a hand on her shoulder, "Yumi, you don't need to-"

Yumi just shrugged her off as an outraged Sissi stepped even closer until she was right in front of the Japanese girl.

"So because I'm trying to save you all, I'M being the bad person?!" Sissi asked incredulously.

"Even with the Return to the Pasts, the world and everything in it continued evolving. Except you." Yumi crossed her arms and Sissi gritted her teeth.

"Yumi, please don't-" Jeremie again tried interrupting, only for Sissi to go off like a cannon on Yumi.

"For the longest time, I've had to wonder why the love of my life won't stop ignoring me! And now I learn it was all because I was trying to look out for Ulrich's safety?! Just because I was trying to stop him from risking his life in those saprophagous things or whatever!?"

Odd had seen his share of temper tantrums from the principal's daughter, but this was on another level. Sissi's entire face was red as if she was just crawling out of hell.

"For the past year and a half, you all shunned me for something I didn't even remember doing! How is that fair?!"

"Well, let me see..." Yumi rubbed her chin, as if deep in thought. Then she gave Sissi a sickeningly sweet smile. "You want to talk about things that you do remember doing? Let me think."

Barely a second passed before Yumi snapped her fingers and declared, "Oh, yeah!"

Yumi's smile vanished instantly and her face twisted into a look of rage, leaning closer until she was but an arm's length away from Sissi. "How about the fact that you bullied Aelita for no reason on the first day she came here?! It was so bad that you made her run off to Lyoko and nearly get herself killed by the Scyphozoa!"

The anger and incredulity on Sissi's face disappeared, as if it were never there.

"She..." Sissi stammered but couldn't finish her sentence. "She did what?"

"You heard me!" Yumi shouted, her voice shimmering with anger. Odd didn't think he'd ever seen Yumi venting as much as she did now, even worrying that the Japanese girl might want to come to blows with Sissi. He stepped closer, ready to restrain Yumi in such an event.

"It's bad enough that you kept lusting after Ulrich when he didn't want you, but Aelita? She did nothing to you!" Yumi clenched her fists "She did nothing to anyone! All she wants is to live like the human she always wanted to be! To smell and taste like the rest of us can!"

"I-I didn't mean...I couldn't have known-" Sissi started to stammer an excuse.

Something in Yumi snapped.

One moment to another, Sissi was sent falling to the metal floor, courtesy of Yumi's hands roughly shoving her.

"Yumi! STOP!" Odd shouted as he and Jeremie lunged and grabbed the Japanese girl before she could lay her hands on Sissi any further.

"And there you go again! Making excuses!" While Yumi was physically restrained, her tongue was not, "Whether you knew Aelita would put herself in danger on Lyoko or not isn't the point! If you didn't even like Aelita, you could have just ignored her. But no, mere apathy wasn't enough for you! You took the opportunity to hurt her, just because she was a girl who dared to be friends with your beloved Ulrich!"

"I..." For once, the snobby brat was at a loss for words. "I..."

"And that's not even to mention trying to steal Ulrich's diary and constantly harassing him too!" Yumi added. "So, you want to know why we've been ignoring you? You want to know why Ulrich prefers me so much over you? How about you stop projecting with Aelita and do some self-reflection for once?! You're calling Aelita a danger to us? How about you start thinking of what you've been doing wrong and not us for a change?!"

Finally, Yumi backed off and watched Sissi contemplate, her breathing heavy. Aelita took Yumi's hand to aid in calming her dawn, and the rage of the Japanese girl began to shimmer. For a minute, silence reigned. The Lyoko Warriors just stared at Sissi as she sat there on the floor, wondering what she would say next.

"Why not go upstairs? There's some showers free up there, and not a girl in sight."

Sissi had thought nothing of it at the time, but now she was beginning to understand. Not only had she told Aelita to go back to where she came from, but she went so far as to trick her into going upstairs into the men's bathroom. The more she thought about it, the more she realized how vile her actions were.

But what was even worse for Sissi wasn't just the sheer emotion behind Yumi's rant, but because it was true. The only reason she bullied Aelita that day was because she was a girl who hung out with her beloved Ulrich, and that she was much more vulnerable than Yumi ever was.

No, that's not it. It's time to be honest.

"I was jealous..." Sissi admitted. "Not because of Ulrich, but because of how easily I thought she got with you!"

She picked herself up from the ground as she continued. The Lyoko Warriors noticed her voice cracking the longer she talked. "Here I was trying for over a year and a half to finally be with Ulrich again, and then from nowhere, this pink-haired girl just shows up and has no trouble being with you. I have been pouring my heart and soul to be with Ulrich again. I tried so hard! And then seeing that a complete stranger, someone who I've never even met, was able to just waltz up and earn your trust just like that? I couldn't accept it. What did she have that I didn't?"

"Or in other words." Odd interjected, "Why does she get to be happy with us while you don't?"

I hate it when he, out of all people, is right... Sissi thought.

"Yes. But now I know the truth." Sissi sniffled. "She's no stranger. I'm sorry that I called you an 'AI freak', Aelita. That couldn't have been farther from the truth. And I'm sorry to all of you. Not just for bullying her..."

She turned towards Ulrich and said, "But also for going too far in trying to take you."

Aelita stepped forward and put a hand on Sissi's shoulder. Tears pricked from Sissi's eyes as she looked up at the pink-haired princess, who smiled at her.

"How can you forgive me so easily?" Sissi asked. "You trusted me when you had no reason to."

"Because we all make these kinds of mistakes, Sissi. I believe you're a nice person deep down, despite everything, Sissi. Emotions make everyone act illogically. If I was being logical, I wouldn't have gone back to Lyoko because of what you said. Again, we all make mistakes, Sissi, but that's not all you do. You've helped us before in XANA attacks, you just don't remember any of it. We can't keep dwelling on all the bad things you've done; we have to acknowledge the good as well."

"I-I suppose we can't." Sissi conceded.

"That's right." Jeremie said, "If we're going to make a balanced judgement on whether Sissi should join us, we need to consider how she's helped us, not just how she's hindered us. I'll go first."

"Like Aelita said," Jeremie continued. "We wouldn't have gotten here without you giving the police that fake bomb story after they caught me and Aelita. Yes, it was you who tipped them off against us to begin with, but you did that out of concern for your father. I don't blame you for that. The fact that you listened to us proves to me that we should consider giving you a chance."

"So, you're voting for her to join us?" Ulrich inquired.

"No voting until we've all said our piece." The young genius stated. "Aelita, you're up next."

"Sissi, it's true that we haven't been on the best of terms." Aelita said. "But I meant what I said. The fact that you were brave enough to actually go to Lyoko, attack your father to save Ulrich. Do you remember when I 'hopefully' suggested that one day you sprout a brain? What I should have said was, 'I hope one day you sprout a heart.'"

I thought I had a heart for Ulrich...but that wasn't a heart, was it?

Keeping those thoughts to herself, Sissi asks "And you think it's sprouted?"

"Yeah, I think it has. Yumi said it might be naive to give you a second chance, but I think it's hopeful. You can have one if you choose, or you can let it pass you by. But this life is hard and cruel enough that you know second chances don't come by often. I know that firsthand. Just know this: I suspected for a while that deep down, you really are a very nice person. Now's your chance to show it."

While Sissi didn't know the full story of Aelita's life, Sissi concluded that "hard" and "cruel" likely described Aelita's experiences well. Sissi gave her a nod, at which point Jeremie turned over to Odd. "You're up next."

"Well, then." Odd stepped forward. "Sissi, I'm not going to lie. Roasting you every now and then has proven pretty fun. I'd be more than happy to keep doing it until we've beaten XANA."

Sissi would normally scoff at him or throw a petty insult at Odd, but this time she just stared and watched him, silent. Yumi cocked an eyebrow, as if catching on to this.

"This is a bit hard for me to say, but I'm just gonna say it. I would be happy to have you as a friend and not as an enemy."

Sissi's eyes widened. "Really?"

"Really! Imagine us in Lyoko! The Great Odd the Magnificent, teaching the flower known as Sissi to battle virtual monsters! I can see it now! Lady Sissi of House Delmas, trainee to Knight Odd of House Della Robbia!"

Me on Lyoko again, and with him...wouldn't that be a joy?

"Do I have to come with you to Lyoko if I agree to join you?" Sissi inquired.

"It's not a matter of us wanting you to go to Lyoko, but rather a necessity." Jeremie explained, "Now that XANA has seen you on Lyoko, he already thinks that you're our newest member and a huge threat to him. I can't erase your memories with a Return to the Past either, but even if I did, XANA doesn't let interference like that go. You've always been an indirect target as XANA tried to kill us, but now that you've been on Lyoko, you've gone up XANA's hit list."

So, now I'm a target, and there's no going back...

Sissi gulped in fear before Odd put a hand on her shoulder. "Never fear, Sissi. Friends protect and help each other, and that's exactly what the greatest Lyoko Warrior shall do!" He pumped up a fist, trying to hype Sissi up.

"You would really defend me?" She asked.

"Hell, yes!" Odd enthusiastically replied. "Anyone who throws themselves in harm's way for my roommate here is A-Okay in my book!"

"Speaking of whom..." Jeremie turned his head to the brunette. "Ulrich, it's your turn to speak."

Oh, boy...

Sissi and Ulrich looked into each other's eyes.

"Where do I even begin..." Ulrich mumbled, shaking his head. "Half of me doesn't want to be here, having this conversation. Half of me just wants to go back to the way things were, where you don't know about Lyoko and I just resume ignoring you like I've always done. Half of me just wants to call everyone here crazy for even considering having you join us. Stealing my diary, touching me when I didn't want you to, bullying Aelita. Ugh, I could go on and on..."

Sissi's face contorted into an expression of shame. She opened her mouth to speak an apology, but Ulrich held a hand up.

"But the other half? I'm sick of it. I'm sick of having to avoid you and being repulsed by your advances all the time. I'm sick of having to treat you like a stalker when you could be different. I'm sick of being enemies and I want us to be friends again. I'm just going to say it. You're in love with me and I get it. We've known each other since we were children. I should have told you to stop a long time ago. You know why?"

And now he's rejecting me. I deserve it...

"Because I don't know what I want. I know that you love me, but I don't know if I do too. And now that you're potentially joining us, it's going to be tearing me apart from the inside and I don't know how to handle it. Having both you and Yumi here by my side every day. So, for now, I can't make a choice. I just can't. Stop trying to mess us up and we can be friends, but for now that's all you are."

For now? So that means...he's leaving it open...

Yumi stared at him, having clearly expected a more definitive decision from Ulrich than that.

Ulrich could really still be mine after everything...

Sissi's eyes bloomed with hope as she stared at Ulrich, but just out of her eyesight, Yumi leveled a glare at her.

"That's all I can say." Ulrich bowed out as Jeremie said "Well, Yumi, you're up."

Sissi turned to see Yumi and felt a tinge of fear build up inside of her.

"Everyone except Sissi, out." Yumi calmly said.

"What?" Jeremie asked.

"I want to speak to Sissi alone."

Sissi's blood went cold as she turned to the young genius, hoping desperately that he wouldn't agree to Yumi's request.

"Yumi, you never mentioned-"

"Go." The tone of her voice was cold and left no room for argument. Jeremie, Odd and Aelita turned towards Ulrich, looking for his opinion on if they should obey this morally dubious request. Sissi saw him contemplating and knew his conclusion before he said it.

"Call us as soon as you're done." Ulrich requested, to which Yumi nodded.

Oh god...

Sissi swallowed as everyone except Yumi went into the elevator and left the room.

I'm all alone...with her...

It was just Sissi and Yumi now, the two girls that coveted Ulrich Stern above all. Yumi stared at her in silence.

At this rate I'm going to have a heart attack before she even starts talking...

"What happened between you and Ulrich on the bridge?"

Oh...that...

"I noticed he was acting strange since the Return to the Past. The fact that he's not just saying 'no' to you isn't the Ulrich I know. What did you do to him?"

Sissi bit her lips, clearly not wanting to tell her. That just made Yumi even more inquisitive.

"Sissi, we can stand here all night. Cut the delay and just tell me."

Screw it. Just say it and go for it, Elizabeth.

"I asked him if I could kiss him on the bridge right before the Return to the Past. He said yes, and I kissed him."

Her face was borderline expressionless, seemingly barely upset at this revelation.

"He...gave you...permission?" Yumi slowly asked.

"He did. And no, I'm not lying. You can ask him yourself if you like."

Yumi's face was completely unreadable to Sissi.

"Why did you ask him for it and not just do it?" The question was uncomfortably devoid of emotion.

"I didn't feel comfortable with it. When he told me that I wouldn't remember any of it, I wanted to at least feel something before that time trip or whatever. Wanted to let him know what I felt about him. I won't lie, the kiss this time. It felt better."

Yumi blinked, her face still void of emotion.

"What do you mean, 'better'?"

"Just knowing that he willingly allowed me to kiss him. It felt better than when he did it because he needed a favor from me. It really did."

Yumi mumbled something in the Japanese language under her breath, probably a curse.

"Even though I thought I was going to lose my memories right then, I wanted to feel something. It gave me hope, hope that maybe, just maybe, he might actually return my feelings for him after all."

It's going to be a miracle if she doesn't punch me after that... Sissi thought.

When Yumi spoke up again, she asked, "Do you really love him?"

"Yes." After a pause, she added "I've known how i've felt about him for a long time. Longer than you've ever had. And despite that, I think you know too. We're opposites in a lot of ways, but one difference is that i'm not afraid to say it aloud."

I overstepped there. Sissi realized, as Yumi's body twitched in response to her words. The air was rife with tension so thick one could cut it with a knife.

Yumi stepped away from Sissi, running a frustrated hand through her hair.

"I want to say you aren't welcome. Maybe even worse." Yumi admitted. "I kept thinking about all the reasons not to let you in, not just bullying Aelita. Now, I'm going to tell the worst thing you've ever done. There was a time when XANA launched an attack that gave Ulrich and some others amnesia. You didn't waste any time in taking advantage of him, corrupting his memories and trying to make him devoted to you. You told him that you were his girlfriend, that Odd, Jeremie and me were his worst enemies."

"I would never go that far! You really think I would do something that absurd?!"

At least, that was what Sissi wanted to say. Sissi would have certainly said it too, had it not been for the realization that was indeed something she would have done. Yumi wasn't a liar unless there was a good reason for it, but Sissi wasn't above such tactics. She would have done anything to gain her beloved Ulrich.

It's no wonder Ulrich wants nothing to do with me…

With that realization, all Sissi could do was say, "I'm sorry."

Yumi studied her. "And this is where I have to admit that I don't hate you, and I shouldn't."

"I wanted to deny it when everyone said that we could be friends." She admitted. "That you, out of all people, could become part of our group. Not just because of my own reservations, but because of how hard this is going to be for Ulrich. But i'm looking at this objectively, as hard as it is. I remember the time you covered up my absence for the ninth-grade class photo. You had no reason to do that, and you didn't even blackmail Ulrich to do anything for you in exchange."

"It was a personal favor." Sissi explained. "I didn't really think about it. I just...did it."

Truth be told, even though she was punished with eight hours of detention by her father, it felt good to be able to stick up for Yumi like that. To see Ulrich grateful to her that she did this favor for him.

But what warmed her heart most of all was Yumi willingly giving her a ticket to go see the Subsonics with Ulrich. Yumi had decided to trust her that day, and she found that particular date with Ulrich to have been far better than any other.

"Why did you do that for me? Giving me that Subsonics ticket, I mean." Sissi asked.

"Call it Japanese honor if you want." Yumi quickly added. "And yes, i'm Japanese. Not Chinese."

"Did I call you Chinese before?" Sissi questioned.

"Yeah, you did. Don't ever make that mistake again."

Sissi nodded, before asking "What did happen to you that day, anyways? Something to do with Lyoko I guess?"

"The Scyphozoa went after me and took away my devirtualization codes." Yumi explained, "I couldn't return to the real world, meaning if a monster killed me, I would have been dead for good, like Aelita would be. You covered my absence long enough for us to get them back."

Sissi shivered at the thought of being stranded on that virtual world forever.

"But I've decided that I can't hate you now. Not only is it getting petty at this point, but I also can't deny you would do far more harm than good if we just kicked you out again, especially now that you know everything and XANA probably won't leave you alone even if you never stepped on Lyoko again."

"Why did you agree to this?" Sissi asked. "This insanity?"

"I'm not going to lie. There were points when I considered urging Jeremie to shut the Supercomputer shut down. XANA is much more dangerous than you can imagine. And I've had to ask myself the hard questions."

A pause. "Sissi, there's a question that I've had to force an answer to. If I tell you this, it stays between us. Got it?"

"Got it."

"I love Ulrich, too."

"Duh." Sissi deadpanned, putting her hands on her hips. "Both you and Ulrich were never exactly subtle. But is that it? Is it that simple to keep risking your live by diving into all of insanity just for Ulrich?"

"No. It's all of us and not just Ulrich. You can never understand the bond I have with them, unless you experience it for yourself. I just want you to promise me one thing."

"What is it?" She asked.

"Do not touch Ulrich." Yumi stepped closer. "He's struggling. Right now, he's not mine and he's also not yours. Don't touch him without his permission again. If I ever hear you doing something like kissing him without him approving first..."

"Well, that shove I gave you earlier? That's going to look tame compared to what i'm going to do after."

Sissi looked up at Yumi and was reminded of a warrior queen from a certain TV show, a female fighter ready to protect her husband from all the monsters that attacked them. She quite liked that role reversal whenever she saw or read about it.

But imagining Yumi in that role just confirmed something that Sissi already knew.

No matter who he picks in the end, Ulrich really is in good hands.

"You have my word." Sissi held out her hand for a handshake, and Yumi firmly grasped her hand.

"I'm asking you this as a friend. Not a jealous girl, but as a friend: Please don't make me regret this."

Sissi firmly nodded. "I won't. I know this chance came entirely by accident, but I'm going to make the most of it."

But even as Yumi smiled, Sissi couldn't help but add "And as for Ulrich? I'm never going to touch him again, but that doesn't mean I won't stop loving him."

Yumi let go of Sissi's hand, her smile faltering only slightly.

"I've had this crush on Ulrich since elementary school. I want to go out with him. That's all there is to it. What about you?"

"Me?"

"Yes, you." Sissi clarified, "How did you two meet and how'd you end up joining the group? Girl-to-girl, I just confessed. Now it's your turn."

Yumi stepped away as her smile disappeared. She paced around the lab, thinking.

Well, Elizabeth, this is probably as close as "tempting fate" as you can get.

"As silly as this might sound," Yumi came out with it. "It was when I was practicing martial arts with him. We met when I literally kicked him in the face during martial arts class. Then we had a rematch and it ended in a stalemate. That was when XANA first showed up. I wouldn't let Ulrich leave until he showed me what was up. That's when I discovered the Supercomputer."

"So you fell in love with Ulrich because you beat each other up?" Sissi summarized. "Huh. Weird."

Yumi shrugged. "But like I said, you won't be able to understand until you spend more time with us. Our friendship, we're way closer than any regular group of friends could be. And Ulrich..."

Yumi sighed and shook her head, muttering "What are we going to do about him?"

"May the best girl win?" She playfully offered.

"May the best girl win." Yumi replied after a few moments' silence.

Sissi had to go to the chair and sit down on it, heaving in relief that the encounter had ended peacefully.

Yumi took out her cell phone and typed in Ulrich's number, calling the others back up. Jeremie and Aelita looked quite relieved to see that Sissi was physically unharmed, though Sissi heard Odd mumbling about how Sissi had become a "professional survivor" for surviving a private meeting with Yumi.

She also noticed Ulrich glaring at Yumi, who looked unapologetic.

If they called me a drama queen before, then I must be a drama empress to them after this. Sissi mused.

Jeremie wasted no time in taking command once more, bringing out a piece of paper from his notebook and splitting it into five pieces.

"We will now partake in a vote of confidence for Sissi. If everyone votes 'yes', then that means everyone here trusts Sissi and she will become an official member of the group. But the vote has to be unanimous. If there's even one 'no', then I will have to work on a special Return to the Past to erase Sissi's memories. She's immune now, but I think I can tweak the program enough to erase her memories again."

Sissi leaned against the wall, knowing she couldn't do anything but wait for her fate to be decided. Everyone was handed a piece of paper, on which all of their votes were written down on and then handed over to Jeremie.

Well, this is it. Either everything changes, or nothing changes.

One-by-one, Jeremie read the votes aloud, starting with his own.

"I voted 'Yes'"

No surprise there.

Next, Jeremie took Aelita's vote and read it aloud.

"Aelita voted 'Yes'"

Also not a surprise, but a very welcome one.

Jeremie next took Odd's vote and read it aloud.

"Odd voted 'Yes'. Just two more votes and Sissi remains here."

Alright, the majority voted for me. Now comes the harder votes...

Sissi held her breath as Jeremie took Ulrich's vote and read it aloud.

"Ulrich voted 'Yes'. All that's left is Yumi's vote."

Please, just give me this chance. That's all I want. Everything in Sissi wanted to say this thought aloud, but by some miracle, she restrained herself.

Sissi continued holding her breath as Jeremie took Yumi's vote and read it aloud.

'Yumi voted 'Yes'. That makes it unanimous."

Sissi breathed the biggest sigh of relief she ever had.

They did it. They actually accepted me...

Jeremie got up from his chair and extended a handshake to Sissi, who gripped his hand in hers.

"Welcome to the Lyoko Warriors, Sissi."

Sissi looked upon the reactions of the group. Aelita gave her a bright smile, Odd pumped his fist in the air, Yumi gave her a thumbs up, and Ulrich just nodded at her.

Alright then, Sissi. You've gotten your friends back. Now all you have to do is earn them.

And maybe one day, I can earn Ulrich too.

Chapter Text

"You didn't need to corner her like that, Yumi."

"If you really feel that way, Ulrich, then why did you let me?"

As the now six Lyoko Warriors walked out of the factory, Yumi and Ulrich straggled behind the group to talk amongst themselves. Sissi glanced at them, but didn't stop and continued walking with the others.

"Because I knew what you were trying to do." Ulrich explained. "You interrogated her about what happened on the bridge and made her confess. Am I wrong?"

"No, you're not." Yumi confirmed. "You had a lot on your mind and I didn't want to have to ask you."

"You could have scared her off, and you definitely scared me too. I was nervous the entire time, wondering if Sissi was surviving downstairs while the rest of us were waiting. Odd even tried calming me down by taking bets if Sissi would 'survive'."

Ulrich chuckled, "That might've been one of his worst jokes yet."

Yumi stayed silent, letting Ulrich speak his mind. Just as she wasn't blind to Sissi's fear, she also wasn't blind to Ulrich's nervousness. She sought to have him let it all out.

"If Sissi didn't remember a thing, then yes, I would have stayed silent about it forever." Ulrich admitted, then he nonchalantly added, "Guess that's what a coward like me does, huh?"

Yumi shook her head in denial. "A coward? Is that really how you view yourself, after a whole year of saving the world?"

"That's not what i'm talking about and you know it!" Ulrich raised his voice. "Do you know how hard this is for me?! Letting her into our group after everything that's happened between us?! I should have voted 'no' and kept rejecting her like we've always done, but I didn't. Because I think she actually could help us, because I'm sick of having to avoid her like a plague, and because of what I felt when she kissed me!"

Ulrich gripped his hands on the bridge and felt like slamming his head against it's metal structure.

"And now not only do I have to decide what I really feel about Sissi, I also have to make sure you don't hit her again!"

Yumi stared at him in disbelief, asking "Do you really think I would do that?!"

"Do you not remember literally shoving her to the floor in front of all of us?! What if it gets worse and you decide to hurt her?!"

He cares about her so much...

Yumi, realizing how inherently selfish that thought was, shrugged it off and addressed Ulrich's concerns. "Ulrich, both you and I know that I am not that impulsive. I admit I got carried away when I shoved her and I'm sorry about that, but it would take much worse to make me ever consider hurting Sissi again."

"Then swear it." Ulrich asked of his Japanese crush. "Swear that you won't hurt Sissi."

"I promise, I won't."

Ulrich held out his hands, asking "Take my hands and swear to me that you won't."

A part of Yumi was still in shock at Ulrich's insistence at his belief that she would potentially assault someone. But then, the more she thought about it, the more she understood. Ulrich's emotions were in a radiant state, but then again, so were everyone else's. Yumi was not a violent person, but she couldn't lie to herself. She and the others had slain countless virtual monsters, and XANA's attacks had sometimes required her to fight in the real world.

But what made her snap out of the shock was the realization that Ulrich needed this assurance from her. Yumi had done impulsive things in the past, but so did Ulrich and the others. Until Sissi was firmly integrated into their group, Yumi needed to do something to calm his fears, and so she acted.

"I swear, I won't hurt Sissi and I won't overreact to anything you two do. She's part of the gang now. And to be honest, even though she was scared half to death when we were alone, I do believe that she has changed. If she didn't, she would have just called up the elevator and tried to run away. But she didn't. She faced me up and apologized."

"Do you think you two could be friends?" Ulrich inquired.

"I respect Sissi for taking the same risks that we are now. And let's be honest, we both remember the first thing she did when she came to the lab with her father and Jim, right?"

Ulrich remembered that Sissi was literally sprinting towards him for a hug when she saw him, only to be stopped when Ulrich yelled at her for spoiling their secret.

I came here to save you, Ulrich! She had shouted.

"She only ratted us out because she thought we were in over our heads." Ulrich rationalized. "And let's be honest, we kind of are."

"'Kind of' is a pretty generous way of looking at it." Yumi joked, before she moaned slightly. "Oh, no. I just made a joke that Odd would make."

Ulrich just smiled. "If Odd's jokes bother you, just imagine how crazy Sissi is going to go after a few days with him on Lyoko."

Ulrich and Yumi laughed together and then looked into each other's eyes. Yumi saw Ulrich's filled with hesitation, conflict, and uncertainty. It was then realized that this was a new stage in their fight against XANA. Although the goal had remained the same, they had a new member to deal with.

And her inclusion into the gang would either repair Sissi's bonds with them or break it apart for good.

Sissi leaned against a tree on her way back to Kadic, her arms crossed and her mind deep in thought. Odd, Aelita, and Jeremie flanked her, ready to provide assurances and questions.

"So, to sum all this up, I just agreed to join a war against an evil A.I. who wants to kill everyone. This XANA thing is capable of doing pretty much anything in the real world thanks to those Towers on Loco-"

"Lyoko." Jeremie corrected.

"Right, Lyoko. That's going to take some getting used to. And the only people who know about it are us six?"

"Ding! Ding!" Odd announced. "Well, actually, we told Jim once. But then his memory got erased by a Return in Time because he never entered the Scanners."

"But I won't?" Sissi inquired.

"Right. We already saw that with the last Return. I never made a program to erase someone's memories if they're already immune to the Return in Time, so no matter how many times it occurs, you'll still retain your memories."

With that assurance, Sissi moved to her next question. "I notice everyone seems to ask you what to do, Jeremie. You're in charge then?"

"Why do you think I always call him 'Einstein'?" Odd quipped. "Nobody really knows how to work the Supercomputer except him!"

"Well, nobody except Aelita." Jeremie pointed out. "But yes, only I know how to use it."

That explains that. Sissi concluded. Me and the others are probably cavemen compared to him when it comes to that machine.

"Did you ever consider telling me earlier, or anyone else?"

"No." Jeremie answered. "It's a matter of trust and, in Aelita's case, of life and death. If we let anyone else in the group and they decided to shut down the Supercomputer, they could kill Aelita."

"That means those two nitwits of yours can't hear about this." Odd added. "They might be willing to do anything you say, but let's not stretch them out too far."

Sissi knew he had a point. As loyal as Nicholas and Herb were to her, they were still only her minions that she did not care about in the slightest. There was a very high chance at least one of them would blab to the authorities, not that Sissi herself was anywhere near vanquishing her own doubts.

"I'll take care of them." Sissi said. "And I think you're right. No way would either of them see the Supercomputer and then keep quiet about it. Herb would probably lunge at the keyboard as soon as he saw it."

"And we're making that your job. To keep him and Nicholas from finding out." Jeremie announced. "Think you can handle that?"

Sissi nodded. It would ultimately depend on how long this went on for, but given on how those two nerds had always obeyed her, she imagined it wouldn't be much trouble.

"Now, I know that you're still processing everything. So we're going to let you go the rest of the day on your own and go to sleep. You've got a lot to think about."

"Understatement of the century right there." Sissi mumbled.

"I'm sure you've got it, Sissi!" Odd pumped his fist up. "Aelita even thinks you've grown a brain now!"

Aelita couldn't help but let out a small chuckle at that callback. At the time, Sissi had been totally embarrassed by Aelita's first comeback, but now she couldn't help but respect it.

The four walked back to Kadic, with Aelita and Sissi splitting into one group, and Odd and Jeremie into another.

"Do you want to talk a bit more?" Aelita offered. "Girl-to-Girl, so to say?"

Sissi decided to take up the offer, saying "It's just hard to believe..."

"I know." Aelita sought to assure her new teammate. "This is hard for you but just know that it's the same for all of us. You ever need anything from us, we'll be beside you every step of the way until we get my antivirus and shut off this Supercomputer for good."

"You didn't have to defend me like that, but you did anyway. I won't ever bully you like I did on your first day here. That's done. You have my word."

Aelita smiled at Sissi's vow, though it didn't last for long as Sissi added. "There's one thing I didn't ask: if you have access to time travel, shouldn't you be able to reverse death if someone dies?"

Aelita shook her head. "Jeremie and I looked into this soon after he discovered Lyoko. It doesn't work that way. Franz Hopper's notes explained that the Return to the Past impacts the position of matter and energy, but not actual time. When someone dies, their life leaves their body forever. Life is something unique, not matter and energy. So when the reversal happens, everything is set into the position that it was 24 hours ago."

Sissi blinked, staring at Aelita in silence.

"You have no idea what I just said, do you?"

"Not a clue."

Aelita just chuckled. "Odd said something like that when I explained it to him too."

Sissi didn't chuckle back, lowering her head to the floor. After a moment, she asked, "Why do you think they do it?"

"Do what?" Aelita cocked an eyebrow.

"All of this. Risking their lives for you every day. Against this XANA thing. All they would have to do is shut down the Supercomputer and we would all be safe. They could have done it a year and a half ago. They could have done it when I showed my father the factory. But they didn't. Ulrich, Yumi, Jeremie, and even Odd. All of them could die at any moment from what I've seen. And yet here they are. I can't understand it."

Sissi sighed. "What I've just agreed to. It's insane. And yet I agreed anyway."

A pause. It felt like an eternity from the perspective of both girls.

"I don't know." Aelita softly admitted. "I'm not human, like I told you. I'm still getting the feel of this. What it means to be alive. The smells, the touch, the warmth and cold of the weather. It's all been so much to take in."

Sissi began to wonder how she had taken in life. She remembered virtually nothing of her life as a baby, considering she couldn't even speak back then.

She's essentially a baby. Sissi realized. The only difference is, she began experiencing life in a teenage body.

Sissi didn't know how to express this thought. Her realization that Aelita was so unique beyond her understanding. Her label of an "AI freak" did not even begin to cover the mystery of "Aelita Stones". The girl in question sighed, feeling overwhelmed.

"I won't lie to you, Sissi. There were plenty of times when I asked them to shut off the Supercomputer because it was too dangerous. I know the risks are far beyond what's logical to accept. I've told them all that they would be better off leaving me on Lyoko to get rid of XANA. But they all insisted that they would get me to Earth. So that I could live life."

"You really offered to shut yourself down?" Sissi asked, her voice laced in surprise.

"I would give you more details, but I don't want to unpack so much at once." Aelita admitted. "Why don't we head back inside and we can tell you more another time?"

The rebellious side of Sissi wanted to argue with Aelita, but today had been so mentally exhausting that any further information would have had her brain imploding. The two girls parted ways, which Odd and Jeremie spotted from a short distance away.

"Well, Einstein. This is gonna take some getting used to." Odd admitted.

"True, but by recruiting her, we just removed a major obstacle to fighting XANA." The young genius calculated. "Sissi was hot on our trail this whole time. With her out of the way, we're going to have an easier time getting from Kadic to the Factory when we need to. No more blackmail, no more snooping, and we have an extra warrior on our hands. She can also get the principal off our backs when needed."

Jeremie had written and catalogued near endless calculations about the benefits and drawbacks of having Sissi joining the Lyoko Warriors. Though he concluded that the benefits outweighed the risk, there was the difficult matter of getting Sissi used to the experience. Running away from Kankrelats was not a good start.

I should know. Jeremie had felt a wave of embarrassment when he recalled his own journey into Lyoko had resulted in a similar experience.

"But now we've gotta get her used to fighting XANA." Odd pointed out. "And that's a job for yours truly."

The idea of mentorship had struck Odd the moment he realized that the group would seriously consider accepting Sissi. Jeremie had enough on his plate as it was, Aelita needed to focus on getting to the Tower, and Ulrich and Yumi had a lot of history with Sissi as it was. And so, it fell to the braggart to mentor Sissi in Lyoko. Aelita's description of Sissi's avatar and attacks greatly intrigued Odd.

"You know, if Sissi's our cheerleader, maybe she's got a secret superpower. Maybe her cheering for us will regenerate our life points!" Odd playfully suggested.

"I think Sissi might actually have a power like that." That remark had earned Odd's full attention, so he continued. "Aelita mentioned something about a green pom-pom she had that inflicted no harm when she tossed it at the Scyphozoa. So I'm wondering if it has a different use. We'll have to test it out next time we head to Lyoko."

Odd always did love surprises, but this one would be of particular interest to him.

Sissi Delmas never had troubling sleeping up to this day. After using her skin products, Sissi always went to bed at a specific time and fell asleep soon afterwards, unless a noise in the middle of the night woke her up prematurely. Maintaining her beauty proved to be a hobby that Sissi dedicated herself to even more than her romantic pursuit of Ulrich.

And yet that night, Sissi tossed and turned in her bed, her eyes still open and wide awake, unable to simply sleep as she had always done. She tried softly humming a lullaby to herself, thinking about her beauty, and imagining Ulrich being next to her.

And still, she remained restless. Lyoko, XANA, the possession of her father, and the future, all enveloped her mind like a sheet of eternal darkness around the sun. There was not a moment of freedom from it. Now that she was alone and with nobody to talk to, Sissi's mind spiraled out of her control.

I could have died. Ulrich could have died. Why am I going along with this? Why don't I just march over to daddy and get rid of that monster called XANA? How am I supposed to wait until they get this antivirus for Aelita? Even Aelita understands, right? How long until XANA kills us all?

And oh Gods, the screams. She could still hear herself and Ulrich being shocked nearly to death by her father. Sissi had never screamed so loud in her life before. Not that Ulrich's were any better. If she concentrated, she could still hear them as clear as day. It was as if their near-death experience was happening all over again.

Wait, why am I hearing him screaming now?

And then she realized.

Ulrich really was screaming.

Sissi didn't think. Pure vacancy. It was as if she went into autopilot mode. Barefoot, Sissi leapt out of bed, opened the door to the hallway, and checked both sides. On the left, she saw Ulrich lying there, just as was on that bridge yesterday.

Mr. Delmas, with that demonic symbol flashing in his eyes, was electrocuting him all over again.

"NO! STOP!"

Sissi sprinted forwards and was met by demonic laughter followed by lightning spewing out of her father's fingertips. Pain, panic and despair enveloped her.

Sissi screamed in tandem with Ulrich, before waking up in a cold sweat, her bedsheets twisted unnaturally around her body. Seconds after she stopped screaming, however, her door slammed open, revealing a wide-eyed and barefooted Aelita in her pajamas.

It was a classic reversal of a situation that occurred soon after Aelita came to Kadic. Aelita had a nightmare about an elf being chased by wolves, and her screaming prompted an entry by a sleep-deprived and angry Sissi. It was the third night in a row that she had to wake up, and as a result she made no effort to comfort Aelita. The principal's daughter only complained about her beauty.

Aelita stared at Sissi as she realized what had happened. Sissi was very much aware of the irony of the situation.

"I..." Sissi started to sniffle, tears prickling in her eyes. "I..."

Go ahead. Ridicule me, like I did to you. She compromised by forming the thought instead of words.

Aelita ran forwards without hesitation and wrapped her up into a hug.

This was the display of kindness that broke the dam. Never before had Sissi cried in front of anyone except her father. Not Herb, not Nicholas, not Yumi, not even Ulrich. As far as she knew anyway. Maybe she had and couldn't remember because of a Return to the Past, but whatever despair she hid behind her snobbish personality, she couldn't hold it in any longer.

Sissi lowered her head and sobbed quietly into Aelita's shoulder. A few other girls came over to see what the commotion was about. To see the principal's daughter openly crying was a shock for many of them.

It was at this moment that Sissi realized she did not know Aelita in the slightest. At first, the snobby brat had thought of Aelita as nothing more than a weak girl who deserved to be nowhere near her beloved Ulrich. When Aelita had her nightmare, Sissi had ridiculed her and slammed the door shut, but Aelita would do no such thing. Kindness and encouragement radiated off the pink-haired girl as if she were an angel.

Sissi thought her to be foolish, bland, and even pathetic.

And as Aelita clung to her that night, she came to a realization.

I have never been so wrong in all my life.

Sissi had fallen asleep soon after Aelita's comfort, and by the morning, her father had taken her to nurse Yolanda's office to take prazosin pills for her nightmares, the same pills that Aelita had taken after her own nightmares. Yolanda did a check up on Sissi that morning, and she found herself forced to stretch on the truth of the circumstances of her nightmare.

Sissi was no stranger to lying. Even before she began her rivalry with Ulrich and his friends, Sissi used lies and trickery to squirm her way out of trouble with her father and the other teachers. She attributed her nightmares from a horror movie called "Alien" that she watched recently with Nicholas and Herb, prompting Yolando to advise her against watching such movies for "a good long while."

Once Yolanda left the room, Sissi was left alone with her father. Looking him in the eyes and not seeing the XANA symbol within was a great relief for Sissi, who felt her confidence building up once more.

"I know you wouldn't watch a movie like that. Is it about your mother again?" Mr. Delmas asked quietly.

Sissi shook her head in vehement denial. There was a reason that she never talked about her mother with anyone outside of her family, and she wasn't about to discuss her now. If her father wanted an explanation, she would stretch the truth once again.

"It's Ulrich. He and I had a talk yesterday and...I think I can finally get close to him."

Mr. Delmas was very much aware of his daughter's crush on that specific student. It wasn't his place to meddle with her romantic interest, but it was his job to make sure it didn't violate any rules. As the school principal, he had a responsibility to all students. As Sissi's father, Mr. Delmas had more responsibility to care for her personally.

But he was unaware of the extent of her obsession. He had no idea about her tricking Aelita into going into the men's bathroom, and the Returns to the Past had made him miss many of his daughter's other shenanigans. Sissi wasn't about to confess all that to him, but turning down a father's guidance would be a missed opportunity.

"May I have your advice on something?"

"Absolutely."

"What are your thoughts on keeping a secret?"

"Ah." Was Mr. Delmas' intelligent reply.

Sissi wondered if she had overstepped there, but dammit she needed an answer from him.

"For personal matters, as long as the secret isn't harming anyone, it's okay to keep it. I have seen the records of Mr. Stern and his friends. While they are missing classes and are sometimes off campus grounds for an unusually long time, they have made up for it in their grades."

So that's how they keep getting away with it. Sissi mused. One of the practically billions of thoughts circling in her mind was how they managed to keep this up for a year and a half. It made sense that the Returns to the Past plus their grades would make up for any suspicion.

"Let me ask you this: does the secret include health concerns or anything potentially life-changing?"

"No." Sissi answered without hesitation.

Content, Mr. Delmas nodded. "I have no doubt you would tell me if you had a secret that was actually dangerous to keep."

And a couple days ago, you would be right. Sissi thought to herself.

"Ultimately, the decision of what to share about said secret should be guided by the potential outcomes of keeping that information private, including the possible effects on relationships and individual well-being."

Relationships, you say?

"If I keep this secret, I think I can make new friends." Sissi admitted. "People that I didn't even know I wanted to be friends with."

"From what me and the staff have seen Ulrich is a fine student, though his absences have begun to affect his records." The principal stated. "As long as your secret doesn't affect your grades or worse, my dear, you have my approval to keep this to yourself."

Her father was by no means easy to manipulate. They knew each other well. However, even if she blabbed about the Factory to her father, it would take urgency to convince him to head down there. XANA didn't give people nightmares.

Or can he?

Sissi did not want to know the answer to that question, so she asked, "How about redemption?"

"I assume you mean whatever you're doing with Mr. Stern is helping bygones be bygones between you two and the rest of his friends."

Sissi nodded.

"For that, I'll give you a quote to remember." Her father offered. "'Mere improvement is not redemption, though redemption always improves people.' Do you think it's improving you?"

Even despite her nightmare, Sissi had never felt so comforted when Aelita held her last night. Never had Herb and Nicholas been so intimate with her, not that she would have let them be anyhow.

Aelita had only known her, well truly known her anyway, for a single day. And yet there she was. Even with every reason not to help Sissi, Aelita did so anyway out of pure kindness.

"You can never understand the friendship we have, not until you experience it for yourself." She recalled Yumi telling her.

"Yes." Sissi answered, full of resolve. "I think it is."

A few minutes later, Sissi got out of the infirmary and made her way towards the cafeteria for breakfast.

"Sissi!"

She turned around to see none other than Nicholas and Herb heading towards her. After a whole day of ignoring them, Sissi had little doubt they heard of the incident last night. Sissi knew that dealing with them couldn't wait any longer, so she stood there and let them come.

"What happened yesterday?" Herb asked, his voice laced with concern. "First you avoid us all day, then you have a nightmare?"

"Yeah!" Nicholas added in his stereotypical dumb voice. Sissi sometimes cringed whenever she heard him talking.

At least Herb's voice is somewhat tolerable.

Pushing that thought from her mind, Sissi sought to get to the point. "Things have changed. Jeremie, Ulrich, and the others. I'm friends with them now."

Herb and Nicholas glanced at each other, wide-eyed, then back to Sissi. "So, what does that mean?" Nicholas asked.

"That means, our little gang. It's done."

"W-What?" Herb muttered.

"We're done." Sissi affirmed. "I've changed. And if I'm going to move on, I need to be with Ulrich and his friends. Not you two."

"Move on? Move on from what?" Herb watched her, flabbergasted. "You're just going to cut us loose? After all we've done for you-"

Sissi jabbed a finger at her now former minions. "Stop trying to impress me, it's not working. The truth is it never has."

It...never has?

Herb and Nicholas stared at her, flabbergasted as that last sentence embedded into their heads.

She had put it harshly, but it was true. The nerd and the jock had no chance of impressing Sissi no matter how long they stayed, for Sissi could never bring herself to care about them. They couldn't be the friends that she wanted, no matter how hard they tried. That was just how it was, and will be.

"Just keep to yourselves from now on, but more importantly, I better not catch you two dorks trying to mess my new friends up!"

Sissi turned on her heel and stormed off without another word, so eager to leave her old life behind that she did not care in the slightest how rushed it was.

"Well then..." Nicholas muttered. "What now?"

"There's something rotten here. I just know it." Herb seethed. "And I'm going to get to the bottom of it."

"Well, Aelita. I've always said that you're absurdly noble, but last night was on another level."

"She was having a nightmare and she screamed loud enough to wake up the whole girls' dormitory. Did you think I was just going to stare and watch her cry on her bed?"

The Lyoko Warriors sat down on their signature table in the cafeteria as they went over the events of yesterday as a whole, but most particularly of last night.

"And here I was wrapped up in my own emotions that I didn't consider what this would be like for Sissi..." Ulrich lamented.

Jeremie remembered that despite their initial freakouts over finding the Supercomputer, Odd, Yumi and Ulrich had acted about as calmly as could be expected. There was no screaming match between him and one of them about the merits of saving Aelita. Yumi especially was pretty casual about the prospect of going to war against an evil A.I. The only one suffering nightmares was Aelita.

Yet for all of his calculations, he underestimated the effect it would have on someone who was against keeping the Supercomputer on from the start. He hoped that being alongside Ulrich would keep her happy, just as being alongside Aelita made him happy, but the psychological effect was something he did not yet comprehend.

For all his genius, Jeremie knew he was still only a teenage boy. It's not like he took psychology class.

"So, how are we going to handle this?" Yumi inquired. "Getting her used to fighting XANA and all."

"Odd will be in charge of training her on Lyoko." Jeremie said. "Next time we go there, I'll supervise her training. It will be less dangerous having her on Lyoko; that way she can avoid XANA attacks in the real world."

"The shock that her father gave me and Sissi..." Ulrich sighed. "It was painful. She was screaming badly. If she keeps getting injured like that, Sissi's going to feel worse about joining up with us even if I'm around."

Odd, Yumi and Aelita saw no reason to disagree. A few seconds after, the subject of their plans came to their table, tray in hand.

"Hey, Ulrich." Sissi said, her voice laced in uncertainty. She eyed the only empty chair, which was across from Ulrich and between Jeremie and Aelita. "May I?"

Aelita smiled and patted the chair. Sissi looked at everyone else. Jeremie and Odd gave her thumbs up, while Yumi and Ulrich nodded. With that, she took her place next to her new friends.

"Are you feeling better?" Yumi inquired.

Sissi silently looked down on her plate.

"Right. Stupid question." The Japanese girl wasn't above self-criticism.

"It helped." Sissi spoke up, turning to glance at Aelita. "It really did."

Aelita flashed her newest comrade a sweet smile in response.

"Thank you, Aelita. Really. And for what's worth, I-"

Aelita held a hand up to interrupt. "Don't apologize for that other night. You had no idea what was going on with my own nightmares, and I was depriving you of sleep anyways."

Sissi struggled to hide the baffled look on her face.

No wonder she wasn't born a human. How else could she be so kind?

With Aelita's insistence made clear, however, Sissi sought to change the subject.

"So, while we're here, how's this going to work? Me and Lyoko, I mean?"

Jeremie took up the challenge. "Odd is going to train you how to fight on Lyoko. Considering your nightmare, we think you'd prefer to help us on Lyoko rather than stay on the real world during one of XANA's attacks, especially considering you can't die on Lyoko or feel real pain. The only thing on Lyoko that you truly need to watch out for is the Digital Sea."

"The what sea?" Sissi cocked an eyebrow. "Did XANA take the Sea of Japan and put in Lyoko or something?"

Odd almost spat out his drink while holding in his laughter. Yumi just rolled her eyes.

"Every sector of Lyoko is basically a bunch of platforms over the Digital Sea." Jeremie explained. "The Digital Sea might look like any other sea, but it's actually the most dangerous and forbidden place in all of Lyoko. You know why? Because its data-filled waves cause instant and permanent deletion to any unprotected program or avatar that falls in. Deletion, meaning, you die."

Oh.

"Never fall in there. Understand?" Jeremie emphasized.

Though she was looking at Jeremie, she noticed something out of the corner of her eye. Yumi shuddered. A barely perceptible shudder, but a shudder nonetheless. She blinked rapidly a couple times, as if Jeremie's lecture brought up a bad memory.

If even Yumi is scared of something, then you know it's bad. Sissi concluded.

Sissi gulped. "Sea bad. Got it. And we're going to keep doing this until we find a way to get rid of whatever virus XANA put in Aelita?"

"Right." Aelita added. "As soon as I'm cured of my virus, we can shut down the Supercomputer and be rid of XANA for good."

"Well, I'm not an expert on computers, but can't you just hit Shift+Tab+Delete on XANA and be done with him?"

"The command you're referring to is actually Ctrl+Alt+Delete. And I do wish it were that simple." Jeremie lamented. "Unfortunately, no such luck. Franz Hopper made XANA inside of the computer, but I've never found a way of actually deleting him. He was dormant in the Supercomputer until I turned it on, so shutting it off should kill him again.

"Wait, I think you mentioned that name once." Sissi tapped a fork against her plate. "Why does he sound so familiar?"

Jeremie went on a basic lecture of the history of Franz Hopper, a former teacher at Kadic who had disappeared a long time ago and who they surmised to be the creator of Lyoko and XANA. Sissi expressed amusement to outright wonder at certain details, particularly in finding out that the key she fought Aelita for inside of her doll was for the locker that contained Franz Hopper's encrypted diary, with which Jeremie hoped to find an antivirus after decoding it.

"Good thing you wanted that key, huh?" Odd mused. "If you didn't tear up the doll in that scuffle, we would've never found the diary."

Not wanting to think back on her days of bullying Aelita, Sissi said "I think I heard daddy mentioning Hopper a few times. He mentioned something about a Hermitage out in the forest that he owned."

Their discussion went back and forth after that, exchanging information about Franz Hopper's history and Jeremie's methods of finding an antivirus. Then they shifted to fighting on Lyoko.

"To provide a quick rundown: Odd fights at long range, Yumi mid-range, and Ulrich gets up-close. From how Aelita described your Lyoko Avatar, it seems you're an up-close fighter too."

"How do you fight those things without freaking out?" She wondered. "That red crab thing nearly scared me to death!"

"A Krab?" Odd chuckled. "Oh, those aren't the biggest 'creeps' on Lyoko. Trust me, you haven't met the real 'Creeper' on Lyoko yet."

"But in all seriousness." Yumi spoke up, seeking to prevent Sissi's fear from rising. "Just remember that the monsters can't actually kill you, and that you're stronger than them. Believe it or not, I got used to fighting on Lyoko pretty quick because of that."

"Do you want me to fight in the real world too?" Sissi asked, her voice laced with nervousness.

Now that was a topic that Jeremie wasn't looking forward to. Sissi would inevitably be faced with numerous devirtualizations, especially in her early days. That would leave her in the real world to help. XANA's attacks were dangerous to start off with, but possessing people had led to an increase of Pencak Silat training for Yumi and Ulrich. Sissi was nowhere near their level, but at least she had a start.

"Whoever is not on Lyoko is usually out trying to stall or minimize the damage from XANA's attacks, so it really depends on the situation and if you manage to not get devirtualized on Lyoko."

"For what it's worth," Ulrich offered. "We can try to make sure you survive on Lyoko as long as possible, although Aelita always has to be top priority. You know what happens if she dies on Lyoko, right?"

"I understand." Sissi affirmed. "I have been practicing Pencak Silat, if that would help."

Jeremie did not mention how Sissi had used her said practice to assault him on Aelita's orders, and there was an unspoken agreement between the three that the encounter was best left to the past as long as the women did not attack him again.

"How long have you been training?" Yumi inquired.

"A few months. I was trying to impress Ulrich; it didn't work." Sissi shook her head. All that hard work and he shrugged her off in seconds.

"To be fair, you did trip like four times when you tried to impress me." Ulrich remembered, causing Sissi's cheeks to blush in embarrassment.

Just then, the class bell sounded. Their discussion at an end, the now six Lyoko Warriors got up and headed for class.

On the way there, Odd leaned into Sissi's ear and whispered "You wanna come see me in the gym after classes?"

Sissi tilted her head, curious. "Why?"

"Wouldn't want to ruin the surprise." He gave her a playful wink. "Put on your gym clothes when you get there too."

He then went off to math class, leaving Sissi to her thoughts.

Well, at least this'll be a surprise that isn't life-threatening.

Odd Della Robbia had essentially found his life's calling when he first discovered the Supercomputer. He never grew tired of fighting on Lyoko, even when his life was at risk in the real world, he still managed to have fun. He earned nicknames such as "The Cat Boy", "The Braggart", "Idiot", and some other disparaging ones.

Not that he minded any of that. It was also fun to imagine the series of curses XANA had for him behind the scenes whenever he foiled one of the A.I.'s schemes. Sissi's nicknames for him ranged from amusing to annoying.

Odd had no problems with messing around with the principal's daughter when or when not the situation called for it. It was fun to embarrass the snobby brat, but a deep part of him was disappointed that they could not be friends. Every now and then, he thought to himself what it would be like if Sissi joined them on their quest to save Aelita.

Ulrich was the best friend he could ask for, Jeremie was the friend he needed to real him in when his ego went over the edge, and Yumi was the silent but deadly type. Sometimes she even scared him in a way the others could not.

And then there was Aelita. At first sight, she seemed like the typical damsel in distress that one would read in a fantasy book, but since she came to Earth, Odd saw her as more than that. If he was the Knight in Shining Armor, then Aelita was the light of the group. The events of last night removed any doubt that remained about that role.

In the gym, Odd wore his gym clothes, his white shoes now replaced by dark blue ones with black soles. He laid out some training mats and slipped on a pair of black fingered gloves. Around the time that XANA started possessing people, Odd decided that he could work to be more on Ulrich and Yumi's level in hand-to-hand combat. Pencak Silat was too complicated for him, so he settled on an alternative.

Throwing hands with an A.I.

There weren't any formal boxing classes or teachers at the academy, but Odd found it fun to practice without an instructor telling him what to do. He did read when to stop hitting so that his knuckles wouldn't bleed through. It was important to know how to fight, but not to the point where he'd injure himself while training.

"Hey, Odd."

The boy in question turned around to see Sissi walking in, wearing her gym clothes though they were slightly different now. Odd observed her hair done in a ponytail as usual, her orange top and white vest underneath are slightly smaller now and exposing more of her abdomen than usual and her maroon trousers have been replaced by dark blue ones with maroon stripes on each side. Her shoes remained white at the front and back and silver in the middle.

"Looks like someone's made changes to their gym clothes." Odd pointed out.

Sissi flicked her ponytail. "Just felt a change would be nice every now and then. What about you? What's with the new shoes?"

Odd showed off his new blue gym shoes. "I just saw them one day and thought they looked cool."

"So... you wanted to see me after classes?" Sissi asked.

"Yup! I just might have a crazy idea!"

"You're taking up boxing?" Sissi tilted her head as she observed his fingered gloves. "I hope you don't plan on having me watch you."

"Nope, something way cooler!" Odd cheerfully announced, presenting another pair of fingered gloves.

"Wanna spar with me?"

"W-What?" Was also Sissi could say before being tossed the gloves which she barely caught.

Needs more flare, then. Odd thought. "Wanna tango with Odd the Brave?"

Sissi stared at him, bewildered as she put on her gloves.

"I thought you wanted to teach me to fight on Lyoko."

"Oh, I do. And will." He assured her. "But I thought we'd have some fun here too."

Sissi crossed her arms and gave him a look of skepticism. "How would getting punched in the face be fun? Do you realize how stupid that sounds?"

"You mean, how stupid do I sound?" Odd wagged a finger. "Ah, ah. People say i'm stupid, but that's not true."

"I mean..." Sissi tilted her head. "If you're not stupid, then what would you say you are?"

"I'm dumb, not stupid."

Sissi's face contorted into what was probably the biggest look of confusion Odd had ever seen someone make.

"I...I don't even...How does that..."

"Make sense?" He just shrugged his shoulders. "It probably doesn't. See, if I were Einstein, I'd go on a long lecture to explain the difference between dumb and stupid, but I'll do no such thing."

Einstein meaning Jeremie. Sissi silently surmised. The more she learned about Jeremie, the more she realized how much she underestimated him. Out of all of Ulrich's friends, it was him she knew the least. Yet he was by far the smartest person she had ever met, and it was quite unlikely anyone would surpass him.

Then his voice took on a more somber tone. "And I think this will help you with your dreams. Getting tired and having some fun like this will get the bad things off your mind. I know it helped me."

A sigh. "I didn't really show it to anyone, but I was scared too. Scared of XANA's first attack, the consequences of keeping the Supercomputer on, everything that came with it. You aren't alone in having nightmares. Me, Ulrich, even Yumi have our scares every now and then. You were right to say that we were in over our heads in keeping on, but after last night, I think you can understand why we keep going."

"Aelita." Sissi guessed.

Odd gave her a thumbs up. "I've never known a girl like her. Well, technically she's not a girl, but I think you get my point. If you look up 'noble' or 'kind' in the dictionary, you'll find Aelita's name in there. She's not exactly defenseless, but she's not the girl that would like to 'throw hands' anyway. And Yumi..."

"She's a bit too scary for you." Sissi finished for him. "Not for Ulrich, though."

"Right. So, what do you say we play for a bit? I promise I won't aim for the face or anything important, provided you don't either."

"And you think this is gonna help me sleep better?"

Odd stuck out his tongue at her. "Well, unless you're scared of me. Maybe I'm the monsters in your nightmares!"

"Scared of you?" Sissi couldn't help but laugh. "Even those cockroach things on Lyoko aren't scared of you."

Odd went to his phone and pressed a few buttons, causing a boxing bell noise to ring out. Sissi couldn't help but feel her adrenaline rise up a bit.

"Getting excited yet?" Odd asked as he threw some air punches, getting hyped up.

Sissi took a Pencak Silat stance and watched Odd prepare himself. "Actually, yeah!"

Then she grinned and took a couple steps closer. Odd circled her, jumping up and down as he took a boxing stance. Sissi was a bit taller than him, but Odd didn't look deterred in the slightest.

Sissi imagined sparring with Ulrich while learning Pencak Silat, not Odd, but the excitement in the latter was every bit as much as she expected for the former. Her fears began to fade away she got caught up in the moment.

So caught up that Odd landed a quick jab to her arm before Sissi could react.

"Hey!" Sissi shouted. It was a soft punch; not enough force behind it to really hurt. It felt more like a tickle than a bruise.

"I thought you weren't scared of me, hmmm?" The braggart taunted her, pounding his fists on his chest. "Had enough already?"

With a grin, Sissi suddenly dropped to the ground and swept her leg in a wide arc towards Odd's legs, knocking the boy onto the mats below.

Odd shouted in surprise and fell down, staring up to see Sissi leaning down at him, her face the picture of mischief.

"You know from where I'm standing..." She said, flashing a deviously sweet smile at him. "You don't seem so scary to me."

Odd laughed and quickly picked himself up, returning to his combat stance. "I knew you could do it!"

"The leg sweep was one of the few moves I actually progressed on," Sissi explained. "I thought it would be a nice surprise for Ulrich if I impressed him. Of course, he just jumped ov-"

While Sissi was yapping on, Odd threw another quick jab, hitting Sissi in the arm again. The cheerleader gasped and stepped back again.

"Hey!" Sissi whined again.

"Everyone tells me I talk too much in a fight." Odd quipped. "You wouldn't want to carry on my habits now, would you?"

The braggart punched his fists together. "What do you say we have some real fun now, hmm?"

No more talking? Alright then. Sissi silently agreed.

Now they were engaged in a battle of reactions. A missed kick into the air. A responding jab that only brushed against her skin. There were plenty of dodges as their feet and postures continued to shuffle and adjust. But neither combatant was aggressive in their game. Time became irrelevant to them as they prolonged their fight. Groans and gasps of exhaustion and adrenaline echoed through the gym with each connected attack.

Sissi used her fingers to egg him on, while Odd stuck his tongue out at her just as often. It wasn't for God knows how long until Odd managed to do a leg sweep of his own to send the cheerleader to the ground. Drenched in sweat, the two finally found some consciousness beyond battle.

"You..." Odd panted. "Really got...a fire in you...you know that?"

"Funny. I could..." Sissi panted. "Say the same...for you."

Odd held his hand out, which Sissi grasped and used to get up.

Sitting down on a bench, Odd and Sissi wiped some sweat off their foreheads.

"So...feeling better now? I'm not...so stupid...huh?"

True to Odd's prediction, she realized all of her fears seemed to vanish as she focused solely on her battle with Odd. Sissi didn't think she ever had so much fun in a single day before.

"Not stupid...still think you're dumb though." Sissi teased after a few more pants.

Odd just chuckled and smiled at her, catching his breath. The two sat there in silence for a couple minutes.

"Thanks, Odd. I needed that." Sissi admitted. "Just a few days ago and I would have called you crazy and scrawny for even proposing this."

"And stupid." He added.

"That too." A pause. "When I asked Yumi why she keeps risking herself by keeping this monster of a computer on, she told me I can't understand. Not until I experience the friendship she has with you all."

"And now that I've given you a taste?"

"I think I'm starting to understand." She admitted. "You might have just punched all the doubt out of me."

"Just let me know if you need me to kick your butt again before we train on Lyoko tomorrow."

Odd and Sissi shared another laugh. The latter never imagined she could be having such fun with the boy, but for once, she genuinely enjoyed his company. His jokes. Even his punches weren't all that bad.

"Don't get too confident." She teased. "If Ulrich decides to teach me more Pencak Silat, I'll eventually take you down in a second."

"We'll see." Odd sported a devilish little grin. "You should know that I barely showed you any of the tricks I have up my sleeves."

For once, Sissi wasn't even thinking about Ulrich. How worried she would be for him as the fight against XANA resumed. She was focused completely on the kindness and the laughter that Odd was showing her now, even after their bickering and roastings for the past year.

I guess this is what it's like to have real friends after all.

When Sissi went back to her dorm, she had no trouble sleeping that night. There were no nightmares, no worries, no screams to echo through the girls' dormitory. Just a calm and blissful sleep.

She fell asleep in a new reality. One that she had no intention of relinquishing. Sissi would not say a word to her father, nor to anyone.

For even as her life was in danger now more than it had ever been, Sissi had never felt so certain of herself.

[ERROR: Operation: Ultimatum has failed]

[Analysis: All objectives failed, new data gathered, additional threat detected. No altercations to primary objective needed]

[New Data: Humans are as vulnerable to death by cold as they are to heat]

[New Threat: Elizabeth "Sissi" Delmas has joined the Lyoko Warriors. A sixth human tips the scales to the enemy's favor. This is unacceptable]

[Connections: Data from both Delmas' memory banks has led to inconclusive results for _REDACTED_ location]

[New Secondary Objective Added: Eliminate Elizabeth "Sissi" Delmas as soon as possible before her threat level becomes on par to the others]

[New Operation Initiated: Augmenting weapons of future airborne units. Assigning specific targets.]

Chapter Text

Sissi appreciated the lack of urgency during her next trip to the Factory. The fact that she would not be faced with her father becoming what was essentially a Sith Lord thanks to XANA's possession took a load off of her.

After classes, all six Lyoko Warriors headed down to the Factory for Sissi's trial run on Lyoko. It was agreed that to ensure nothing unusual happened, they would practice within the Mountain Sector and not head for Sector Five yet, the most dangerous sector. While Sissi was used to whining when she didn't get what she wanted, she had no objections to staying away from there for the time being.

To ensure the Scyphozoa would not steal Aelita's memory, the practice would take place near a Waytower. The moment that XANA's monsters emerged to dispatch Aelita's bodyguards, she would go into the Tower to return to Earth while the others dealt with them.

The moment that the elevator took Odd, Ulrich, and Sissi down to the Scanner Room, a wave of nostalgia overtook the trio.

"Hey Sissi, I never mentioned how we ended up finding the Factory together, did I?" Odd asked.

"You never did, no." Then she caught onto something else he said. "Wait, you're saying we found it together?"

"Yep! Ulrich went into my room and took Kiwi as a 'guinea pig' to test out the Scanners. I woke up and caught him, then I ran into you and we both chased Ulrich into the Factory. I went into one of the Scanners to take Kiwi out, just as Jeremie began the scan and accidentally sent me to Lyoko. You and I thought I was about to be mummified when the door closed on me.

That certainly does sound like me. Sissi concluded.

"Let me guess, I was too scared to go in?"

"Yep." Ulrich confirmed. "Though that was kinda my fault. I straight up told you that we'd be going into a virtual world where weird monsters want to massacre us. I did try goading you into it by calling you a chicken and saying you missed out on a date."

Then the three Scanner doors opened up.

"And without further ado..."

Odd and Ulrich flanked the scanner in front of Sissi and beckoned her forwards.

"Your carriage, Cinderella."

Well, this isn't exactly what I wanted Ulrich's attention to be like, but it's better than nothing I suppose...

Sissi stepped forward and stared at the machine, hesitating.

"If it helps." Jeremie's voice echoed on the speakers above the room. "Going to Lyoko ensures that you can't be possessed by XANA again."

"Wait." Sissi spun around. "Did you just say 'again'?"

"Oh, oops." Jeremie muttered.

"Gotta work on that silver tongue of yours, Einstein." Odd quipped.

"I'll explain." Ulrich volunteered. "You know XANA can possess people, right?"

When Sissi nodded, he continued. "Well, the very first person he possessed was you."

"WHAT?!" Sissi's eyes went so wide that Odd wondered if they would pop out of her eye sockets. "D-does that mean he can possess anyone?"

"Anyone who doesn't go into Lyoko, yeah." Ulrich elaborated. "We found that out when Jeremie was possessed by XANA after he failed to possess me and Odd. Everyone who goes to Lyoko is immune to XANA's possession, and we got Jeremie immune by sending him in there too. Possession when a big scary ghost comes out of electrical sockets, comes up to you, and-"

"Say no more!" Sissi marched into the scanner without further hesitation. "Send me in, quick! I'd rather be mummified than have a big scary ghost take me over!"

Heh. Ulrich mused. And I didn't even get to tell her about XANA possessing Aelita.

"You got it. Ulrich and Odd, head on in and I'll transfer all three of you. Then, Aelita."

Odd and Ulrich gave Sissi thumbs ups before all the Scanner doors closed. Sissi shut her eyes, hoping it would help her get used to the process.

"I'm starting up the procedure. Transfer Ulrich. Transfer Odd. Transfer Sissi."

Sissi felt the rays and lights of the Scanner envelop her, just like last time.

"Scanner Ulrich. Scanner Odd. Scanner Sissi."

Already, I feel too old for this. Sissi mused.

"Virtualization!"

A few moments later, the trio found themselves slightly above a green platform and each fell down. Ulrich landed on his feet, Odd landed on all fours, while Sissi fell face-first to the ground.

"Gotta work on that landing, Sissi." Odd teased. "Think like Spider-Man!"

"Shut up..." Sissi moaned before picking herself up off the ground and revealing her full Lyoko form to her new friends.

"Huh…" Ulrich tilted his head, as if confused.

"What is it?" Sissi asked, a hand on her hips. "Has my virtual beauty left you speechless?"

Odd just laughed at her, causing Sissi to become confused.

"You may want to look at yourself."

Sissi looked down, eyes widened upon seeing that her white boots and cheerleading outfit were all gone. Her boots, shirt, and a waist were all bright green with a heart symbol on her waist.

"Surprised?" Jeremie's voice rang out.

"Is this a joke?!" Sissi demanded. "Okay, I like the color green, but what happened to my outfit when I first came in?!"

"When Aelita virtualized your Avatar, she was in a hurry and made some critical mistakes." Jeremie explained. "When I examined it for myself and did test runs, there were bugs with the materialization and rematerialization programs. It was minor at first, but according to calculations, your old Avatar would have been physically vulnerable as time went on. It would have gotten worse and eventually caused some serious problems."

"So you redesigned me?" Sissi questioned.

"That's right." Jeremie confirmed. "I know it's a downgrade graphically, but I didn't have a choice. Maybe one day you'll get our old outfit back, but forgive me if I'm not the type of person who cares much about fashion."

Sissi was very much the type of person who cared about fashion, but the more she looked at herself, the more she started to like it. She felt that the heart fit well with her overall design, and it also reminded her of another outfit she had stored in her dorm. Though, that outfit was too embarrassing to wear at Kadic Academy.

I would be the laughing stock in the Kadic Paper if I ever wore that.

Nonetheless, she was content enough that Odd and Ulrich wouldn't make too big of a fuse out of it.

"You look like some kind of green knight." Odd mused. "Actually, maybe more like a green magician who uses nature magic. Or…"

While Odd were chatting away, Sissi turned her attention to the area around them, spotting countless trees and a clear blue sky. She was practically enthralled by the view of the virtual world.

"It looks so...so..."

"Beautiful?" Ulrich offered.

Sissi smiled and turned to examine him and Odd. "So, you're basically a big purple cat-boy." Sissi summarized Odd's case, before turning to examine Ulrich.

Unlike Odd, Sissi soaked up every detail she could. Ulrich's samurai outfit, his katana, the yellow headband on his forehead, the hairstyle. Next his yellow outfit and the symbol imprinted on his chest.

"You'd like to keep staring at me. Wouldn't you?" He smirked. "Too bad."

Then he vanished in a yellow blur.

"W-What?!" Sissi took a step back and promptly collided with none other than Ulrich.

"H-How did you just-"

Ulrich smiled and once again vanished in a yellow blur. Odd just chuckled in amusement as Sissi kept spinning her head around trying to follow her crush's movements.

"What are you, the Flash?!"

Finally, Ulrich stopped in front of Sissi. "Every Lyoko Avatar has a special power or two. One of mine is a super sprint, with which I can move way faster than anyone else."

Just then, the trio heard a noise and looked up to see Aelita being virtualized onto Lyoko. She fell on her feet between Ulrich and Sissi.

"Welcome back, Sissi." She greeted her. "Enjoying yourself?"

When Sissi gave her a thumbs up, Aelita pointed to the south. "There's a Waytower over there. We'll head there and wait for XANA's monsters to come after me."

"Looks like there won't be any waiting." Jeremie announced. "Squadron of four Hornets, approaching from the north!"

Wait, Hornets? What?

Ulrich wasted no time taking command. "I'll get Aelita to the Tower. You and Odd watch our backs and hold them off!"

"Yes, Sir!" Odd shouted and made a salute; Sissi glanced at him and replicated it as best as she could.

A few seconds later, she saw what looked like 4 giant green potatoes with wings in the skies above them. As they flew closer, Sissi noticed that they more resembled mosquitos or wasps.

"How do we fight those things, Odd?" She hurriedly questioned.

"Like this!" Odd proceeded to cock his arm and a small projectile came out of it. "Laser Arrow!"

The Laser Arrow hit one of the four hornets dead on, destroying it.

"Woah!" Sissi shouted. "So that's why Jeremie called you a long-range fighter!"

"Yep! Now take out your spear and try to hurl it at them."

Sissi unsheathed her spear and reared her arm back, trying to get a good aim on her enemies. The three remaining hornets gathered in formation for an attack run, firing lasers from their tails as they flew forwards.

Sissi threw her spear, which flew over the head of the hornet she aimed for, missing entirely. The three monsters responded with a hail of lasers, the sheer amount of which proved too much for the two to dodge.

Sissi took a hit in her left leg, crying out as she fell to one knee. Odd, meanwhile, took a laser to the gut and fell flat on his back.

Huh. That actually doesn't feel too bad. Sissi mused as she looked at her glitching leg, which soon turned back to normal.

"Sissi!" Jeremie's voice sounded out again. "Try detonating your green pom-pom directly in front of both of you."

"Huh?!" Odd shouted. "Did you suddenly develop an unhealthy obsession with explosives, Einstein?"

"No, I think he has a point." Sissi raised her pom-pom "I threw it at the Squid Thing last time I was here, and it didn't harm it."

"So what does it do then? Explode into confetti?"

"Time to find out!" Sissi smashed the pom-pom onto the ground, which let out a green explosion and caused the two Lyoko Avatars to glow green.

"Well, this is interesting! Looks like we're one with nature now!" Odd joked before the green glow wore off.

"Your life points are regenerating!" Jeremie explained. "It looks like her green pom-pom is actually some kind of healing grenade that heals up to 50 life points!"

"Me, a healer?" Sissi questioned, her voice laced with skepticism. "Didn't see that one com-"

"Watch out!"

The three hornets swooped back down, interrupting her comments as they opened fire once more.

Heeding Odd's warning in time, Sissi pulled out her orange pom-pom and hurled it into the path of the incoming monsters. This time, she did not miss. The explosion engulfed the hornet on the left, while the other two were sent spiraling off course.

"Great job, Ms. Boom-Boom!"

At that moment, Ulrich came Super Sprinting back to his two friends.

"Aelita's safe at the tower." He reported. "Heard we got ourselves a healer on our side."

"Was a healer." Sissi pointed to the empty spots where her pom-poms and spear used to be. "But now I have no weapon."

"I have a theory." Yumi's voice rang out this time. "Whenever I launch my own weapons, I raise my hand and concentrate to bring them back. Try doing that with your spear."

"Hey Spear!" Sissi cupped her hands to her mouth and shouted. "Come on back!"

Odd and Ulrich couldn't hold back the laughter building up in their throats. In the lab, Yumi rolled her eyes.

"Not like that." She chastised. "Concentrate with your mind, I mean."

Sissi closed her eyes, trying to concentrate solely on summoning her spear.

"She's not glowing like Yumi is." Ulrich observed. "Gotta be something we're missing here. I doubt she has to go and retrieve her spear every time she tosses it."

"Maybe a finger snap would help?" Jeremie suggested, before his voice became alarmed. "The hornets are coming back!"

Ulrich unsheathed his katana, ready to block incoming fire. Sissi, meanwhile, stopped concentrating and decided to take up Jeremie's idea. She snapped her fingers.

And the spear, emitting an orange blow that vanished upon contact, immediately came rushing back to the palm of her hand.

Sissi staggered a step back, surprised. "Wow! This spear has everything!"

Upon attempting to throw it however, she found the two hornets became more strategic, flying between trees for cover. The next time Sissi threw her spear, it hit a tree, forcing her to snap it back to her.

"They're fast!" Sissi observed. "It's gonna take forever to hit them!"

"Hey Einstein, send us the Overboard!"

"The what?" Sissi questioned.

"Sending it now!" The young genius shouted. A few seconds later, a large purple board of sorts materialized before the three Lyoko Warriors.

Sissi stared down upon it, realizing "You have vehicles here too?!"

"Not always." Jeremie explained. "It was only after I brought Aelita to Earth that I managed to construct three vehicles for you get around faster with. This is the Overboard, Odd's vehicle. I'll show you the other two another time."

"Only room for two on this one." Odd jumped on the Overboard and motioned at Sissi to come onboard, which she nervously did.

"Uh...are there no handles or bars for us to hold onto? How do I not fall off this thing?"

"The only handles here are yours truly!" Odd announced, before shifting the Overboard into gear and going soaring into the skies. Sissi screamed, clinging to Odd like an anchor as they passed by tree after tree.

I really need to stick with Ulrich when I'm on Lyoko...

At one point, Odd tilted the Overboard to the side, nearly hitting a tree, much to Sissi's terror.

"You did that on purpose!" Sissi accused, before laser fire between Odd and the hornets renewed itself.

"A genius never tells his secrets!" Odd declared, before he and Sissi noticed something strange happening with the hornets.

[Execute Operation: Displacement]

The two hornets glanced at each other, as if something only they heard had stirred them in action. The two collided into each other, joining their tails together as a red aura surrounded them.

"What are they doing?" Sissi questioned.

"Maybe they're about to merge and form a Super Hornet?" Odd suggested.

Instead, the hornets fired a laser combined with power from both their tails. It was a direct hit on the Overboard, but instead of destroying it, the vehicle and its two occupants became covered with a red aura.

"What the-" Sissi looked around herself in surprise. "What's happening?!"

For once, Odd had no answer to her question. The hornets, meanwhile, separated and turned away from the Overboard, abandoning the battle.

Watching the battle from the ground below, Ulrich pointed to the retreating monsters and yelled "XANA's given up!"

"Yeah, that's what worries me." Jeremie said as he examined the ID cards of Odd and Sissi, seeking answers.

Odd landed the Overboard back on the ground, looking at himself and Sissi. "Well, looks like XANA's made us into Christmas trees!"

"Or worse." Sissi gulped. "Are we going to explode or something?!"

"I have no idea." Jeremie replied. "There seems to be no signs of an alteration. Maybe it's a process that takes time."

"In that case, get us out of here!" Sissi pleaded.

"I'm on it. I've already sent Aelita back so she'll be there to check you out. Materialization!"

In the Scanner room, Aelita held a quarter in the palm of her hand. Among many other things, economics was something that Aelita had no clue on. The words 'buy' and 'money' were completely alien to her, and Jeremie regretted that he had not lectured Aelita a bit more about the real world before completing his Code: Earth Program.

Aelita tilted her head at the quarter in her hand and remembered a previous conversation she had with Ulrich about "coin tosses". He explained how someone would flip a coin into the air and that two people would bet on which side the coin would land on. After a couple of games with Ulrich, she found the activity quite fun.

Aelita proceeded to flip the coin in the air and patch it on her palm, before turning to the scanners, waiting to see who would come out first. She knew that Jeremie would prioritize Odd and Sissi, so she bet on them.

"Heads, it's Odd first. Tails, it's Sissi. I pick Tails."

She rather enjoyed these kinds of no-stake bets, even if nobody else was around. Her answer was received when the Scanner to her right opened up, revealing none other than Sissi.

Sissi stepped out of the scanner, looking down at her feminine hands as Aelita muttered "Well, tails. Looks like I win." before turning to the subject at hand.

"You okay there, Sissi? All in one piece?"

"In one piece, yeah..." Sissi muttered with a very different and yet very familiar voice. In fact, Sissi's voice had a strong resemblance to Odd's. "But not in my pieces."

Aelita was about to question the meaning of that when Odd and Ulrich stepped out of the scanners. Odd pointed at Sissi and asked, "What am I doing over there?"

Ulrich and Aelita noticed Odd's voice had a condition similar to Sissi's, different and yet very familiar. In fact, it sounded a whole lot like Sissi's voice.

They then gasped in realization. Sissi pointed at Odd.

"Uh...what are my two great legs, swell torso, limber arms, and good-looking head doing over there?"

Oh, no... Were the thoughts of everyone present.

"Any problems down there?" Jeremie's voice asked over the speakers.

"Uh..." Ulrich stammered.

"I think Odd and Sissi have somehow swapped bodies." Aelita came out with it.

"WHAT?!"

Up in the lab, all five other Lyoko Warriors gathered around Jeremie's chair. On the monitor was a window that was currently analyzing the logs. Sissi and Odd's avatars were being scanned, only for two giant red Xs to appear overtop both—signaling that something was wrong.

"Looks like whatever XANA did with those hornets, he planted a little bug in your materialization programs." Jeremie surmised.

"Little?!" An incredulous Sissi shouted in Odd's body. "You call this little?!"

"If it's of any comfort," Yumi offered, "XANA's done worse than this. Remember when he removed my ability to return from Lyoko at all?"

"True that." Odd pointed out in Sissi's body. "What if we went back to Lyoko and devirtualized all over again? Maybe everything will go back to normal."

"And what if the program messes up again? And this time you don't have any bodies at all?" Jeremie asked.

"Uh, okay. Bad idea." Odd conceded.

"Uh, so, what do we do?" Ulrich asked. "As much hilarious potential as this has, they clearly can't stay that way."

"Your definition of hilarious leaves a lot to be desired!" Sissi seethed.

"I've gotta fix this program. Aelita, if she can, will stay here to help me out." Aelita nodded in acquittance.

"How long will it take you?" Odd asked. "A couple hours?"

"Not even close. If I work through the night, it might be ready by tomorrow morning."

"What?!" Sissi shouted. "You mean I have to sleep in a guy's body?! Not even in my own dorm, but in-"

Her ranting stopped upon realization, and she turned towards Ulrich. His eyes widened as a similar realization washed over him.

Sissi was going to stay at his dorm. Alone.

With Ulrich.

Yumi struggled to hide back the scarlet that was blushing on her face.

"Okay..." Ulrich sighed. "Well, I guess we have our first date after all."

This is most definitely not what I had in mind... Sissi thought as, unlike Yumi, she utterly failed to hide her blushing.

"And keep in mind that both me and Aelita aren't getting any sleep at all because of this!" Jeremie added, clearly expecting some gratitude.

"Just hurry." Sissi pleaded in a softer voice. "I would rather jump into the Digital Sea than spend more time in a guy's body, especially this scrawny one."

"Now, wait a minute!" Odd rushed to the defense of his body. "First, I'm svelte! Not scrawny! And second, I have a dynamite body! Better than yours!"

Then he ran a hand down the back of Sissi's pink shirt, trying to scratch at something behind it.

"For example, something's itching in my back. It's, uh, I think it's the strap to your..." He realized what it was, looking at Sissi as he ceased all movement and embarrassment washed over him.

Yumi sighed slowly and put a hand on her forehead, followed closely by Aelita, who was very much aware of the definition of bras.

"Don't you dare take it off, you hear?!" Sissi demanded. "Or Yumi and I will make you regret it!"

The Japanese girl leveled a glare at Odd to let him know that she would go along with this.

"Okay, sorry!" He raised Sissi's hands up in surrender. "But rest assured, I may be many things, but I ain't no creep!"

"Look, there's no need to worry." Aelita sought to assure them. "I'll be working with Jeremie and we'll have this solved by tomorrow morning."

"I sure hope so." Odd said, to which Sissi replied, "Understatement of the millennium right there."

Ulrich, Odd, Yumi and Sissi went their separate ways as they went back to Kadic, agreeing to resume their daily routines as if nothing had occurred, while Aelita and Jeremie stayed behind at the factory to work on their program. It was fortunate that all of them lived at Kadic and had no families to fool. Mr. Delmas was a non-issue, as he was the school principal and Sissi slept in her own dorm.

Nothing was out of place in Odd's routine, aside from the fact that he had recently broken up with his previous date Claire over his desire to date another girl named Magali. Dating two girls at once was something off-limits to him, and as much of a jokester as Odd was, he wasn't stupid or heartless enough to cheat.

Ulrich sat alone outside of the cafeteria and flipped a coin, when he heard the words that he dreaded the most.

"Hey!" Odd, in Sissi's body, declared as he popped out of seemingly nowhere. "I've got a great idea!"

"Uh huh..." Ulrich blankly stared. "Those five words coming from you are like a death sentence."

"You've been too shy to ask Yumi out, and even more so since Sissi joined us, right? Well, now you can practice saying 'no' to Sissi on me!"

Ulrich groaned. "Odd, that's not a great idea. It's a stupid one, and anyway, I'm not that crazy about Yumi or that worried about Sissi."

Well, that's a lie if I've ever said one. Ulrich privately mused.

"Yeah, right, tell me about it." An unconvinced Odd smiled at him. "This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for you to give it a shot without breaking poor Sissi's heart to pieces."

"I don't think you realize how much I do not want to have this conversation." It was hard enough to settle his feelings for Sissi and Yumi as it was, but talking to her body when it was inhabited by his best friend? Morally dubious was the most generous depiction of the encounter that he could think of.

"And besides, I can give you some pointers."

Ulrich narrowly resisted the urge to burst out laughing.

"Pointers? You?"

"C'mon!" Odd challenged. "Tell me to Sissi's face that you love Yumi and not her, I'm waiting!"

"There you are, Sissi!" Ulrich and Odd looked up to see none other than Herb Pichon walking up to them, his eyes firmly on Sissi's body.

"I still can't believe you just abandoned us yesterday." The nerd in green seethed. "We've been loyal to you for you know how long, and you threw both me and Nicholas away? For that string bean?"

Herb knew that was a lie, for Ulrich was far more physically fit than a string bean.

"Sissi" saw fit to retort his question, saying "Well, at least my sweet Ulrich doesn't have the mind of a vegetable."

Herb's eyes widened in incredulity. "What, you're calling me stupid now?! Are you having brain damage or something?"

"Sissi" proceeded to press her attack. "Give it a rest, Herb. You and I were never made for each other. Me and Ulrich, though..."

"Sissi" leaned her head into Ulrich's neck and held him close, much to the horror of the brunette.

"We were made for each other. Oh, Ulrich, my beloved! It's time to forget about Yumi, we're a match made in heaven!"

Herb didn't notice his reaction, however. He tried stammering a response a few times, then turned and left without another word.

Ulrich was about to shove his roommate off of him when they heard the click of a camera and noticed a flash of light. They turned to the window behind them, where Tamiya, the camera girl for the Kadic News Crew, was inside the cafeteria, aiming her camera down at them.

And she was smiling as if she had just snapped a photo of something rare, "Score! I think I just got the scoop of the year! With a front row seat, too!" She then hurried away from the window, likely to find the news anchor, her partner Milly.

"What!?" Ulrich exclaimed in horror as his thoughts plunged into despair.

You've gotta be kidding me...

"Her" hands still on Ulrich's shoulder, Odd commented "Hey, now I see why Sissi's so crazy about you."

"Do that one more time..." Ulrich coldly threatened. "And you're dead."

He then walked away, heading towards the dorms.

"You try to do a friend a favor, and that's the thanks you get..." Odd lamented.

"This has got to be the worst day of my life!"

"So you've said, about 20 times now."

Sissi's complaint was swiftly addressed by Yumi as the two girls, or one and a half girls so to speak, walked down one of Kadic's many hallways.

"And he calls this a dynamite body? Ugh, more like a slime body!" She sighs. "There has to be something I can do to take my mind off this."

"How was boxing with him yesterday?" Yumi asked as an attempt.

At that, Sissi's complaints paused. For every time Odd verbally roasted her, she imagined her revenge. Leg sweeping him yesterday felt quite therapeutic.

"Honestly, it was really fun. Way more than I thought. Do you and Ulrich do something like that often?"

"Every now and then." She admitted. "It's fun to have someone who can give me a challenge. I've practiced Pencak Silat for a year now; Ulrich is about the same."

"Did you two ever hurt each other?"

"Not often. I actually kicked him in the face twice, and both times he kinda just shrugged it off."

"How do you just shrug off a kick to the face?" Sissi inquired. "Shrugging off Odd's fists yesterday was hard enough."

When word got out that Sissi brawled with Odd, it was treated with amusement by the other Lyoko Warriors. Ulrich had even remarked that he would have paid to see Sissi knock the braggart to the ground if he had the chance.

Yumi just shrugged. "Beats me. I certainly wouldn't shake it off. Now, there are things he definitely can't shrug off. Like possessed people attacking him."

"Yumi, I've been wondering, what did I do when I got possessed?"

I need to know if I hurt Ulrich or any one of you. She silently pleaded, though Yumi had no trouble understanding why she asked.

"Ulrich said you two dueled with water pipes or something, but we deactivated the Tower possessing you before you could hurt him."

Now that was a relief, something Sissi so desperately wanted today.

"Thanks for telling me that. About Ulrich..."

"I know, you're going to have to sleep in his dorm. Luckily, it's not the same bed. There's one for him and Odd."

Sissi sighed in relief. "You're taking this better than I thought you would."

"If it was Odd inside my body, I definitely wouldn't take it well." Yumi assured her. "But I also get the sense that this isn't how you want to be with him at all."

"I would rather eat a razor blade than sleep with him in this bod-"

Oh, wait.

Yumi and Sissi shared a moment of awkward silence.

"...Sorry."

"How about you and Ulrich get set up at the dorm tonight?" Yumi suggested. "That way we can avoid any trouble until Jeremie and Aelita are done by tomorrow."

"You'll find no objections from me."

"But two more things. First, avoid the girls bathroom until we've switched you and Odd back."

Sissi was about to ask why, when the life-altering reality of the situation popped up and made her agree.

"And the second thing?"

"Second, you're gonna want to find Ulrich before you go into his and Odd's room."

"Why's that?"

Ah, that's why.

That night, Sissi found herself face-to-face with a barking and growling dog with Ulrich beside her. Odd's dog was an open secret among the students, despite rules prohibiting the presence of animals within Kadic Academy. It was a good thing she didn't come in unprepared, because Kiwi clearly sensed something was off with its master's body.

"Hey, Kiwi. C'mon. I know that's not Odd. It's a friend of ours. Nice doggy. Play nice now."

Ulrich's pleas eventually had Kiwi stop barking, allowing Sissi and Ulrich to go to their beds.

"Well, this is certainly not how I thought we'd spend a night together." Sissi commented.

"Well, you've always wanted to start dating me." Ulrich joked, before letting out a sigh.

"You really have no idea whether you love me or Yumi, do you?" She inquired.

"Sissi, please don't talk about that." The brunette groaned. "I can't make a decision. I'm sorry, but I just can't. I know eventually I have to, but not now."

Whenever Sissi started dreading Ulrich's inevitable romantic decision, she forced herself to think about it from Ulrich's perspective. The boy was being torn by the two closest women in his life. It was no wonder he couldn't come to a decision.

"Right. I understand. It's just..."

Then Sissi took a look at her left hand and her eyes widened in concern before gasping sharply.

Her hand was disappearing.

"Uh...U-Ulrich?"

Ulrich stood up out of bed as he noticed Sissi's glitching hand.

"What's happening to your hand?"

"I was hoping you had an answer." Sissi said, before the glitching abruptly halted.

"Should we tell Jeremie?"

"Tomorrow." Ulrich suggested. "He and Aelita are going to be busy all night, let's let them work while we take a rest."

"Oh, I suppose you're right." She sighed, trying to swallow down her terror as she went to take Odd's shoes off her new body.

"Watch yourself." Ulrich suddenly warned.

"What?" Sissi asked, just as she took off Odd's shoe. "Oh! Ugh! Gross!"

Sissi fell back, the stench of Odd's feet being so potent that it caused her to pass out on the spot.

Ulrich chuckled, before grabbing some nose plugs and putting them on. "Heh, I warned you. It's more powerful than a Laser Arrow."

Sissi felt sweat on her forehead when she woke up the next morning, but when thought about the feeling more, it was more like something bigger was sliding down her face. Then she opened her eyes and saw Kiwi licking his master's forehead.

"Oh, please, Kiwi..." Sissi never had any real experience with dogs until today. She had seen plenty of them in films and television, but Sissi never wanted the responsibility of raising a pet herself, especially if said pet was going to do this to her. She raised up her hands to gently push him away.

And then the same hand from last night disappeared again.

"Ulrich!"

The brunette sat up to see Sissi's now transparent hand. It stopped after a couple seconds, but that hardly eased their concerns.

"We better go see if Jeremie found the bug yet." He suggested.

Normally Sissi would say something like 'I could have thought of that!', but in this case her terror was too persistent to argue.

It wasn't long before the two "boys" left the room and met up with the others outside the Academy to explain the situation with her hand.

Oh, wow. Jeremie looks like a zombie. Sissi thought as she stared at his sleep deprived eyes.

"Strange. Well, the glitching should stop once both of you are back in your bodies. I found the error in the program and fixed it. We just need to restart it from Lyoko and whatever XANA thought he'd accomplish with this will fail. We'll head to the factory at lunch time."

"See?" Ulrich assured her, placing a hand on Sissi/Odd's shoulder. "Everything's going to be fine."

"Uh, no." Sissi stopped walking, her eyes widening in horror as she saw something up ahead. "It is very much not fine."

Odd was dressed in a brown top outfit with a skirt, wearing wide black boots and fingerless brown gloves. He also had a wide hat on.

He really put on my cowgirl outfit...

"Howdy y'all!" Odd announced in a poorly done Southern accent as the others stared at him, their mouths wide open.

"First of all, I do not sound like that!" A very furious Sissi shouted. "And second of all, what is with that outfit?!"

"Well..." Odd sheepishly said. "They're your clothes. Cool, huh?"

Sissi marched up to the idiot controlling her body and pointed a finger at "his" face. "You are so lucky that you're in my body right or I would beat you to a pulp!"

Sissi proceeded to poke "Odd's" chest to emphasize her words. "Go home, you hear?! And change back into my regular clothes before the entire school sees you!"

A flash of light interrupted the demand.

Sissi and Odd turned around to see Tamiya taking a pic of the scene.

Odd Della Robbia. You are so dumb that even "the stupidest of all stupidity" doesn't describe you accurately.

"Sissi Delmas." Milly claps at Taminya's idea for a headline. "Transformed by her love! We've got to use that!"

Wait, what?

"It'll double our circulation, for sure!" Taminya gleefully announces before the two girls run off. Yumi crosses her arms, tilting her head in curiosity.

"What are they talking about with this whole love thing?!" Sissi demanded.

"Uh, no time to explain. Don't wanna be late for math class, see ya!" Then Odd ran off as if he were Willie E. Coyote.

"A cowgirl?" Jeremie questioned.

Sissi's embarrassment caused Odd's cheeks to blush.

"I'd...rather not talk about it."

Ulrich held back his laughter from the callback to the expression their gym teacher made every day.

After that, the Lyoko Warriors (sans Yumi, who was in a different class) headed on down to Mrs. Hertz' science class and sat down before she entered the room.

"Take out your pens, please. Pop quiz on gravity."

Oh, you've gotta be kidding me!

Sissi looked over to see the significantly less educated man in her body shifting nervously at the thought of getting a pop quiz now.

He's going to flunk it so hard…

Sissi looked down at her hands, which then suddenly started to fade away again. Her eyes widening in alarm, Sissi turned to Aelita, Jeremie, Ulrich, who were all seated beside her, and reacted with similar concern to what was in front of them.

"I'll text Yumi." Jeremie whispered. "Then we'll out meet outside."

William Dunbar had seen some strange things in his time, but he was beginning to believe that one of the top three was in this very moment, right before he came to math class. Watching Sissi wear a cowgirl outfit and a comically oversized hat attracted stares from not just him, but from most of the other students too.

He knew the rumors that had been going around. Sissi's rivalry with Ulrich's friends and her crush with Ulrich herself were some of the biggest gossip in the academy, but everything was turning upside down. Never before had she sat down with them before and talked casually.

How does this affect Yumi? He wondered. And how is this affecting Ulrich?

A declaration from his math teacher interrupted the thought.

"Take out your pens, please. Pop quiz on linear functions."

William, seated next to Yumi, couldn't help but whisper a question. And it wasn't about the cowgirl outfit, though Yumi probably knew. But about something perhaps even more shocking.

"So, what's the business between Ulrich and Sissi about?" William wondered.

"The what?" Yumi cocked an eyebrow, but noticed her math teacher placed a paper in front of her. She turned away from William and looked at the questions until an alert came from her phone. When the teacher was out of sight, she picked it up.

"SOS: Something's happening to Sissi and Odd. Come outside, ASAP."

Yumi wanted answers about this 'business' William talked about, and it would likely impact her grades to miss this quiz, but it couldn't wait.

"Uh ma'am?" Yumi asked the teacher. "I have a sore throat, can I go to the infirmary?"

That might be one of the most poorly rushed excuses to flee a pop quiz I've ever seen. William thought.

"Yes, of course." The teacher replied.

Okay, seriously, where on Earth does the principal find these teachers?

As Yumi left the room, William was left to his thoughts and the pop quiz. It wasn't exactly rocket science to know that Ulrich Stern and his pack of friends had some kind of secret, but the moment Sissi started hanging out with them, she was starting to become as secretive as them.

One day, I'll get to the bottom of this. What are you up to, Yumi?

One thing was for sure: he would find out sooner than the adults in the room.

"And nobody noticed anything in class?"

"Nope. Everyone was concentrating on the math quiz...well, except for maybe William."

Yumi's debrief of math class drew the dismay of Ulrich. They knew that one day, William would likely become a problem. It was a stretch enough that they recruited Sissi and got her to keep quiet, but they did not want to go through the effort of getting a seventh Lyoko Warrior. Six was enough of a strain as it was.

After Sissi expressed dismay at Odd's supreme lack of confidence in their math quiz, and even further concern by Odd's tale of similar problems with his hands, Jeremie discussed the results of his and Aelita's tireless work as they walked through the forest.

"I think I figured out what XANA's trying to do. You two have materialized into bodies that aren't your own, so they aren't stable." He says as he opens the manhole cover.

"So why did he bother doing that?" Sissi questioned.

"Because XANA knows the instability will reach a breaking point. The breaking point being your atoms, which will split apart."

"I-I know this in history class!" Sissi gasped. "Are we going to explode like Hiroshima and Nagasaki?!"

Yumi twitched and turned away uncomfortably at this reminder of her culture's dark history.

"No, no. Not like that." He assured them. "But what will happen is that your bodies won't stop disappearing. When the process is complete, XANA will have gotten rid of two birds with one stone."

"Meaning?" Ulrich pressed, seeking a simpler answer.

"Meaning complete disintegration."

Sissi gasped in horror, holding Odd's hands up to his face.

"D-Disintegration?!"

Before Sissi's panic could escalate, she felt a pair of hands hold Odd's own. She looked up to see Ulrich staring at her.

"Hey, Sissi. We're not gonna let anything happen to you, or Odd. We're gonna get down to Lyoko and get you right back in your body."

A pause. Then, he added, "Do you trust me?"

Sissi realized the play. Instead of focusing on her fears, Ulrich was asking her to trust in her friends, more specifically him.

"Of course, I trust you, Ulrich."

"Then that's how you know you're going to be fine."

Sissi smiled, her confidence restored.

Few words were exchanged in between the time that it took the Lyoko Warriors to get from the sewers to the Factory. According to Jeremie, their plan was to send everyone (except the young genius himself) to the Ice Sector, where Aelita would enter a Waytower to reboot the program and restore Sissi and Odd back to their bodies.

And not a moment too soon.

Odd and Sissi materialized soon after Aelita and Ulrich, only after Jeremie hilariously struggled to get his words straight on who he's virtualizing. Sissi looked down at the massive paws of Odd's Lyoko Avatar. A certain fictional anti-hero came to mind.

"Let's hear it for Catwoman!" Sissi declared.

Meanwhile, Odd attempted to walk in Sissi's new green heels, but stumbled and tripped, earning the laughter of everyone present. He pointed accusingly at Ulrich.

"You try walking around in these things!"

Aelita pointed north, seeking to avoid any further humiliation of her friends. "There's the Tower!"

"You might want to hurry up." Jeremie suggested "XANA might want to send a welcoming committee."

No further encouragement was needed, all five Lyoko Warriors racing to the Tower as soon as Jeremie was finished speaking. Sissi took it upon herself to study Yumi's Lyoko form, though she had no idea what to make of it. The term "Geisha" was completely alien to her.

"Uh…wow! You look so…umm...what's the word for it...?"

"Unique?" Yumi finished for her. "We can talk about fashion later. Let's get your bodies swapped."

They reached the Tower without resistance, and Aelita went inside, leaving the others waiting.

Just then, Sissi's Lyoko Avatar became transparent again. Ulrich glanced at Sissi, worried, and then back at Odd's Avatar to see it also glitching.

"I hope Aelita makes it fast." Odd hopefully suggested. "This is turning into an emergency here!"

"Not as much of an emergency as what's approaching you now!" Jeremie warned. "Four Kankrelats coming in!"

Sissi, Odd, Yumi, and Ulrich turned to see XANA's cockroaches approaching them and opening fire. The former screamed, running away as she hid behind a small formation of Ice.

"Laser Arrow!" Odd shouted, only to realize that Sissi's Lyoko Avatar didn't have any Laser Arrows. "Oh yeah, I forgot..."

The Kankrelats directed their fire at Odd, prompting Ulrich to block the lasers with his saber and Yumi to throw her fans at his defense.

"Get to cover!" Ulrich shouted. "Remember, if you're devirtualized, it'll be game over for good!"

While Aelita performed a backflip as she ascended the Tower, Odd went into cover with Sissi, who was trembling.

"Hey, Sissi!" Odd encouraged. "Remember these are the weakest that XANA has to offer. All you have to do is launch my Laser Arrows!"

"And how do those things work?" She questioned.

"Well, you imagine you're firing. Then, you concentrate a little bit and bingo! It fires!"

Ulrich and Yumi destroyed a Kankrelat each as Sissi extended Odd's paw out and asked "Like this?", before firing a Laser Arrow towards Odd's head.

The cat boy barely ducked in time, shouting "Hey!"

"Oops!" Sissi rubbed her head nervously. "Sorry!"

Odd pointed a finger to Sissi's temple in response and picked up the orange pom-pom.

"Let me show you how it's really done!"

Odd tossed the orange pom-pom towards a Kankrelat. However, while backflipping away from a Kankrelat's laser, Yumi ended up placing herself in the blast radius. She gasps upon seeing the Pom-Pom headed straight for her.

"Oh no!" Yumi screamed.

The pom-pom went off, engulfing Yumi and the Kankrelat he targeted, causing her to scream as she got blown away and devirtualized.

"Oh...Oops."

Sissi felt like banging her head against the Ice.

I'm going to die right beside the biggest idiot in not just one, but two worlds.

In the Scanner Room, Yumi reemerged into the real world and fell the floor, exhausted and frustrated.

"Odd, you idiot!" Yumi shouted, banging her fist on the floor.

It wasn't long before Ulrich dispatched the rest of the monsters, however. Aside from the irritation of this entire situation, Sissi found herself amazed at seeing Ulrich in action. She had never been into samurais that much, but now she considered watching some samurai media to get more familiar with them.

Soon enough, Aelita came out of the Tower.

Please tell me that I'm finally about to get back to my body...

"Where's Yumi?" Aelita questioned, noticing the geisha's absence. "Did she get devirtualized?"

"Guilty as charged." Odd raised one of Sissi's hands. Aelita quickly surmised what happened and shook her head but resolved to remain focused.

"Hurry, we have to get to Sector Five!"

Fate really hates me today...

"Huh?" Ulrich asked. "Uh, you're gonna need a really good reason for us to bring Odd and Sissi to the most dangerous sector on Lyoko."

"I'll explain on the way. I'm bringing out your vehicles." Jeremie said as he materialized them.

"You want to take me to the most dangerous sector on Lyoko?!" Sissi practically shrieked, being so consumed by fear that she hardly paid attention to seeing the Overbike and the Overwing for the first time.

"We don't have a choice." Jeremie explained as Sissi took the Overwing, Odd and Ulrich took the Overbike, and Aelita got on the Overboard. "The program is being run by inhibitors, and we don't have time to cry and crack the millions of codes to find the inhibitors."

"Okay, serious question." Sissi interrupted. "How has that brain of yours not exploded by now?"

"I share the burden." Jeremie replied. "Anyways, Sector Five is dangerous because, unlike the other Sectors, XANA can rearrange the rooms at will, because it's his home."

"We're going to break into XANA's house?!"

"For I think the fifth or sixth time." Aelita added. "If it's any relief."

"XANA must be a really bad housekeeper then." Sissi quipped.

"Anyways, Sector Five has a computer interface which only Aelita can interact with." Jeremie lectured, "With it, she can reboot the materialization program so that the next time you and Odd are devirtualized, you'll be switched back to normal. That's why we have to go there."

"But-" Sissi tried to protest but Jeremie cut her off. "And remember, if we can't get your back into your own bodies quickly, it means disintegration!"

"And what's more." Ulrich added as he turned to Sissi. "Seeing how you handled those laser arrows, you might accidentally kill Odd before then."

"Maybe, but not before Odd blows us all up." Aelita added.

That joke relieved some of the tension, and Sissi found herself chuckling just a little. A few seconds later, the Lyoko Warriors reached a cliff.

"So, how do we get to Sector Five?" Sissi questioned.

"Jeremie is going to type in the code 'Scipio' to summon a transport orb. It will take us right there."

Sissi threw her arms up, incredulous at this entire situation. "First, I find myself inside of a guy's body, then I'm breaking into XANA's home, and now I'm going to get kidnapped by an orb?!"

"What's next? Going bowling?"

Just as Sissi said that, what looked like a massive black bowling ball rolled up to the group from behind, stopping a short distance away. Aelita turned and pointed out the monster's approach.

"A Megatank!" She cried.

A What?

"That mouth of yours, huh?" Ulrich quipped at Sissi before unsheathing his sword and charging at the monster.

In a second, the Bowling Ball opened up, revealing a horrible work of gums with an Eye of XANA symbol on it's center. Ulrich stabbed his katana into the symbol just as the monster fired a massive elliptical laser, instantly devirtualizing him.

"Ulrich!" Sissi cried, right before the transport orb came down and gulfed the four Lyoko Warriors.

Can this day get any weirder? Sissi thought right before the orb consumed her.

"I can't believe that I could possibly be so dumb." Ulrich chastised himself as he exited the Scanner Room and took the elevator back up into the lab.

Putting his hands in his pocket, he sighed. This day had been so weird not just for Sissi and Odd, but himself as well. He was trying not to let his time with Sissi in his roommate's body influence his emotional state too much, but it was failing.

He went up to Jeremie and Yumi, the latter flanking the young genius to his left.

"Well, this is turning out to be a fine mess, isn't it?" Ulrich muttered.

"All of this was just a warm-up." Jeremie said, "Now Sissi has to go into Sector Five, with just Aelita and Odd, in a different person's body, with barely any experience."

From there on in, Ulrich and Yumi would watch the proceeding events with great interest.

Sissi thought she was in heaven when she saw Sector Five for the first time. She stared around the blue walls, the XANA symbol on the ground beneath her feet, everything was enthralling her. The other sectors seemed pale in their visual demonstrations compared to this one.

"Wow...this place..."

"Don't get fooled." Aelita warned. "When we said this place is the most dangerous, we meant it. There are unique monsters that only exist in this sector, called Creepers."

"Creepers?" Sissi questioned.

"Remember when I said that you haven't met the 'Creep' on Lyoko, yet?" Odd reminded her.

Sissi gulped in anticipation, just as the wall in front of them slowly opened. A hallway in front of them opened up and spun, making it into platforms for them to jump around on.

"This is definitely different. Are...are you sure we have to go in there?"

"Only if you don't want to stay in a guy's body forever." Odd said, trying to goad her. It worked.

"No way!" And with that, the three Lyoko Warriors took the plunge. While running through the halls of Sector Five, Jermeie warned "Now you're entering a countdown sequence. You need to find the key and press it to open the way forward within a time limit. And watch out for the Scyphozoa!"

Right. As if things weren't bad enough already.

Right on cue, Sissi heard a growl while running. She looked up to see a creature with a lower body that was mechanical and snakelike. Its upper body had a brown hunched torso, two thin legs and a thick lip-like mouth. Its head had an Eye of XANA symbol imprinted on it.

"Ew!" Sissi shouted. "No wonder you call these things, creeps!"

Soon, they reached what appeared to be a dead-end with the Key situated above an abyss.

"How are we supposed to reach that?" Sissi questioned.

Just then, a Creeper came up from behind and roared at them. Seeing the monster up close caused Sissi to scream and back away. Out of panic she quickly aimed her wrist and actually fired a Laser Arrow, though it missed and hit the wall.

"Hey, I did it right this time!" Sissi exclaimed.

"Yeah, but you missed your target." Odd pointed out. "And it was 10 yards off a hallway."

"Shut up, you!" Sissi retorted. "I'm still new to this!"

Odd pulled out Sissi's spear and thrust it into the Creeper's head, causing it to explode.

"Woah!"

Odd and Aelita turned back to see their friend floating in the air, having stepped off the platform in her panic.

"H...How?!"

"It looks like XANA modified the gravity in the room. Try swimming to the key!"

Anything to get away from those things! Sissi thought as she took the opportunity to head towards the key; however, her momentum stalled and she found herself unable to reach it.

"Sissi!" Odd shouted. "I have an-" He was interrupted by another Creeper barging into the room, which he quickly stabbed and killed with Sissi's spear. "Idea!"

"I hate it when you say that!" She screamed back.

Odd turned Sissi's spear around and hurled it at Sissi's back; however, he aimed it so that only the blunt end would strike Sissi. With one second left on the timer, Sissi was propelled forward in time to touch the key. Back at the lab, Jeremie and the others let out a celebratory cry.

Sissi took the spear into her (or in this case, Odd's) hands, before using her feet to propel her off the walls and reach the other side of the room. Meanwhile, another Creeper emerged and began to fire at Sissi's body.

"I don't have a-" Odd started to complain about the lack of a weapon, just to go "Oh, screw it!"

Odd took a step forward and punched the Creeper in the face. To his surprise, the Creeper was sent flying a long distance out of the room as if it had been hit by a truck.

"Wow! Sissi, your Lyoko Avatar has super strength!" Aelita observed.

"That's good to know! Now get over here!"

Just as Odd was about to do that, another Creeper emerged in front of him and Aelita, roaring in their faces but a Laser Arrow is fired, scoring a direct hit in the face, destroying it. Odd and Aelita turned to see Sissi with her wrist out, smiling after finally having fired the arrows correctly and destroyed a monster.

"Well done Sissi!" Aelita praised.

"Not bad." Odd complimented.

Odd propelled himself and Aelita off the platform, just as the now irate Creeper he punched earlier returned and fired again.

"Go, Aelita!" Odd kicked Aelita across the room towards Sissi's position, allowing Aelita to exit the room while the Creeper continued firing at their friends. It scored a direct hit on Odd, knocking Sissi's body back.

Odd, seeing that he was unarmed and too far to punch it again, left Sissi to fight. Sissi made to throw her spear at the Creeper, but then her and Odd's bodies started glitching again.

"Oh, no! Not now!"

She readied another Laser Arrow, but her and Odd's bodies glitched out once more. Aelita used the elevator to reach the computer interface at the end of the Sector.

"Quick deactivate the inhibitors as quickly as you can and don't hang around for long! Things are about to get messy!" Jeremie warned.

Aelita typed as fast as she could on the interact, while both Odd and Sissi received direct laser hits from the Creeper.

"Is...is this it?" Sissi softly questioned. This appeared to be the end for them.

"No! Aelita comes through, she always does!" Odd exclaimed.

As their life points plummeted, Aelita typed as fast as was virtually possible. Her eyes were glued to the computer interface, the pings of the selected screens being all she heard. She focused like never before.

So much so that Aelita didn't hear the whirring noise nearby.

The most dangerous of XANA's monsters had been lying in wait inside Sector Five until there were no guardians to protect Aelita. From atop Sector Five, the Scyphozoa began to lower itself into position behind Aelita.

"Jeremie, it's done! You can take over again now!"

"Okay, I've got it!" The young genius confirmed. "I'll transfer it back to the Remineralization program!"

Aelita sighed in relief.

And that was when she heard it.

The Scyphozoa lowered itself directly behind Aelita, its tentacles squirming around as it readied to claim its prey.

There was nowhere for Aelita to run, except for the bottomless abyss behind her. She had no weapons. Nothing.

All she could do was scream.

"JEREMIE!"

Meanwhile, the Creeper kept shooting at Odd and Sissi until the former's body devirtualized.

"Sissi! NO!"

Then the Creeper fired one more shot at Odd, devirtualizing him as well. Jeremie was about to express his hope that the program worked when he noticed Aelita's situation.

Of course, this was XANA's plan. He was waiting to send that thing in until she was alone.

"Type in Scipio, HURR-"

Aelita's frantic pleas were cut off by tentacles that wrapped around her waist and head, ready to drain her memory.

"NO! I won't let you do this, XANA!"

Jeremie quickly typed in the code and summoned the transport orb. He had never used it in this area before, but he had no choice. Aelita couldn't enter a vehicle while in the Scyphozoa's grasp, so he had to use something to rip her out of that thing's grasp

This gamble paid off when the orb came onto Jeremie's screen after typing in "Scipio". As the massive transport got in the way, the monster was forced to withdraw its tentacles and screeched in defeat as Aelita was snatched away to safety.

As much as Jeremie wanted to sigh in relief, he had to wait until he knew the program worked for Odd and Sissi.

"I sure hope the tweak on the materialization program worked." Said Jeremie.

"I'm going to the scanner room." Said Ulrich, walking to the elevator.

"Me too." Yumi followed after him.

Odd and Sissi fell out of their Scanners, eyes closed. Ulrich went up to Odd, while Yumi approached Sissi.

Ulrich shook Odd's arm, asking "Odd? Is that-Is that you? Actually, you?"

Suddenly, Odd opened his eyes. "Of course it is." He replied, his voice laced with the usual insolence. "What's the matter with you? Don't you recognize your own buddies?"

"Dork." Ulrich scoffed.

Yumi had dropped down in front of Sissi, giving her arm a shake. "Sissi. Sissi, are you okay?"

Sissi opened her eyes slowly and gasped, surprising Yumi by grabbing her shoulders out of nowhere.

"Did it work! Please tell me our bodies have switched back! Please!" Sissi begged.

Yumi couldn't help but laugh. "I think the results speak for themselves."

Sissi looked at her hands, felt her body and face, and then let out a cheer to the Heavens.

"We did it, Jeremie!" Yumi announced. "They're back in their bodies!"

Jeremie let out one of the biggest sighs of relief in his whole life.

Aelita was back to flipping her coin at Kadic Academy, relieved to have this opportunity to relax with her friends after having one of the most hectic days in the war against XANA. She was by the vending machines with Jeremie and Ulrich, waiting for the other three to arrive.

"Heads: Yumi shows up first. Tails: Odd does." She left Sissi out of the bet as there was no room for her.

Jeremie smiled, "Tails, it is." He nodded his head at a certain blonde Italian who showed up at that moment. Odd caught Aelita's coin as the pink-haired girl flipped it into the air again, to the latter's surprise and slight annoyance.

"It seems I had nothing to worry about," Odd said. "Sissi wasn't too mad at me. Not about the insult to Herb, her cowgirl outfit, the quiz or any of the other stuff."

"She was probably in a generous mood," Aelita proposed, "because she wants to put this whole body-switching fiasco behind her. I don't blame her."

Odd slipped the coin he stole from Aelita into the vending machine and pressed the button for a cup of hot chocolate. "Even Yumi wasn't too mad about me blowing her to smithereens on Lyoko. For Sissi's sake, let's hope she doesn't make a similar mistake."

"You know, they are really cool. Both of them." Odd continued. "Really nice and forgiving. I think if you went out with either of them, you'd have a great time, Ulrich."

Ulrich crossed his arms and leaned against the wall, saying "I'll make a decision on that when I make a decision."

Then he remembered an important detail. "Oh, you didn't tell Yumi or Sissi about what happened between us, right?"

"No way!" Odd immediately denied. "Earning the wrath of two women would be a death sentence! I plan on staying alive, good buddy!"

"Why?" Aelita mused. "What did happen between you two?"

"Oh, nothing." Odd and Ulrich sheepishly replied.

At that moment, however, the four Lyoko Warriors noticed Yumi walking up to them with the school paper in hand. Sissi was standing beside her, her eyes fixed upon the paper. Yumi and Sissi's eyes, in that particular moment, were in sync as they saw a very disturbing photo and a deliberately provocative headline.

"Ulrich Stern forgets all about Yumi Ishiyama! Sissi Delmas at long last claims her beloved!"

"Uh, oh." Odd muttered.

Yumi and Sissi finally glanced up from the paper, transfixing Odd with their menacing stares.

"Odd..." Sissi warned, slowly and softly. This was the tone of voice that she used when she nagged her way into a conversation, but there was something fierce about it this time. She loved Ulrich, true, but this was most certainly not how she wanted to start dating him.

"I don't like this..."

"Odd..." Yumi warned next, equally slowly and softly but possibly more dangerous than Sissi, something the gang is used to hearing and something Odd should've probably seen coming.

"U-Ulrich!" Odd cried. "Help me!"

"I warned you." Ulrich mercilessly shrugged. "Sorry I can't give you any pointers good buddy."

Jeremie and Aelita stepped to the side, smartly avoiding being on the receiving end of the wrath of both Yumi and Sissi. Odd watched in horror as the two girls approached him, their faces contorted with unified rage.

"OOOOODDDDD!" Yumi and Sissi screamed their loudest and all Odd could do was yelp in fear. Whether he was beaten to a pulp or he managed to run for his life with the two furious women chasing him around campus is lost forever to history.

[ERROR: Operation: Displacement has failed]

[Analysis: All objectives failed, new data gathered. No altercations to primary objective needed.]

[New Threat Status: Sissi Delmas' threat level continues to rise. This cannot continue.]

[Potential Threat Status: Interference of _REDACTED_ is a necessary but low risk.]

[New Data: Human bonds are what keep the Lyoko Warriors fighting. Emotions strengthen them.]

[Conclusion: The Lyoko Warriors can be divided and conquered by using their emotions and bonds against them.]

[New Operation Initiated: Preparing altercations for specter. Inserting illogical elements.]

Chapter Text

It was early morning at Kadic Academy when Odd, Ulrich and Jeremie walked down the hallway from their respective dorms to the bathrooms, beginning their morning routine of brushing their teeth.

It was at this time where Odd would be bragging about his body and routines to stay in shape, but after the unbridled fury of two women not too long ago, he found himself quieter than usual.

"Still recovering from your traumatic experience, Odd?" Ulrich quipped on the trio's way there.

Odd groaned, but shook his head. "Okay, so I might have taken a blow to my pride. But it happens to everyone. Just you wait, I'll recover from this and come back stronger than ever!"

"But did you learn something from all that?" Jeremie asked.

"Yeah, never get women mad at you for anything. 'Hell Hath No Fury Like a Woman Scorned' is the expression I'm taking to heart from all that."

The boys shared a chuckle, though Jeremie's was louder than the other two, and they knew why. Aelita, for all her courage, was by far the kindest girl of the three. Even if Jeremie did something to offend her, which Odd and Ulrich doubted he would do intentionally, Aelita would more likely sob over it than actively seek revenge on him.

Then again, Ulrich thought. What's to stop Yumi from rubbing off on her before too long?

"Don't get too comfortable with Aelita, Jeremie." Odd teased. "Before long, Sissi and Yumi will get her to be just like them."

"At the rate that XANA is pressuring us? Honestly, it's likely."

All six Lyoko Warriors felt the immense pressure that XANA put them under, and it was only natural that Aelita's personality would take a hit upon a breaking point. Making her colder and angrier, or perhaps hopeless and depressed. Jeremie secretly preferred the former should that ever come.

"But as long as we're talking about the girls, may I give you some advice, Ulrich?"

Ulrich leveled a glare at him. "I told you, I can't make a decision between them."

"You wanna hear me out before shooting me down? Unlike Odd, I'm not about to suggest something idiotic."

Odd would have vehemently objected to Jeremie's description of his advice had his actions not affirmed it.

Ulrich sighed, asking "Make it quick."

Jeremie did the exact opposite. "Both Yumi and Sissi care about you. Sissi even said she loves you, more than once. And Yumi? Yeah, even though Yumi and Sissi both told Milly and Tamiya to retract the paper, the damage is done. I still remember that day you two nearly kissed on Lyoko. Yumi knows you, and Sissi does too."

"Get to the point." He growled.

"They both love you. They both understand your struggle. When you reject one of them, it's not like the other is going to cut you out of her life or want revenge on you."

Ulrich couldn't deny that. But even still, Jeremie failed to understand Ulrich's issue.

It's not how much they're hurting me. It's how much I'll be hurting them.

Before Ulrich could find the will to explain this to his friends, he, Odd and Jeremie entered another hallway to find Sissi, Herb and Nicholas there.

"Herb, I'm sorry that I was so abrupt about it, but I'm not taking you or Nicholas back. I have new friends now and that's how things are going to be."

"But-"

"We are going our separate ways." Sissi figuratively put her foot down with this sentence, before noticing Ulrich's entrance. "And if I have to do this in front of you to make you see it, then so be it."

"Hey, Ulrich." Sissi casually started, "Would you want to see a movie with me this afternoon?"

Ulrich stared at her, his eye twitching from the previous argument with Jeremie. He didn't appreciate being lectured, nor did he appreciate being used to resolve an argument about something else.

"I'm just asking." Sissi affirmed. "I'd never make you do anything you didn't want to."

Suddenly, Ulrich's mood shifted.

"May I have time to think about that?"

Sissi nodded. "Of course."

The three boys continued their journey to the bathroom as Sissi resumed bickering with an even more incredulous Herb, Nicholas looking uncomfortable at their bickering. Jeremie observed that the brunette looked deep in thought as they entered and began brushing their teeth.

"Still think you'd be hurting Sissi?"

Ulrich spat out onto the sink and looked back at Jeremie, shocked.

"H-How did you-?"

"There are times when I've thought the same thing about Aelita. Every time a XANA attack passes, I reflect on what we did right and what we did wrong. How Aelita is handling the pressure of all this and if I'm contributing to it. If I'm hurting her. And lest we all forget, there was a time when I did exactly that not too long ago.

Uh, what?

"Let me guess." Odd volunteered himself, "The headsets?"

Ah, right. Those.

Jeremie nodded. "I was actively destroying my own health for nothing, and not only that, but I was also straining my friendship with all of you, including Aelita. I yelled at her, all of you guys, and more. I wasn't just hurting myself; I was hurting Aelita and everyone else I cared about with those darn headsets."

Ulrich shook his head. "That's not the same situation. You had no idea those headsets weren't working, but what I do know is that no matter who I end up choosing in the end, I'm going to break one of their hearts. You stopped using the headsets and avoided the breaking point, but I can't do that."

"I'd argue getting into a XANA-possessed ambulance and getting seconds away from drowning very much counts as a breaking point." Odd quipped.

Ulrich groaned. "Ugh, sometimes I'm wondering what's worse: the anticipation or the actual decision."

Just then, Nicholas and Herb entered the bathroom to wash their hands before having breakfast.

"After my whole stunt with the paper, I gotta be careful with Yumi and Sissi. You don't though. Think you'll see that movie with her?"

Nicholas finished up and left the bathroom, waiting for Herb outside. The green nerd's eye twitched when he heard the question.

Ulrich finished brushing his teeth. "I'm considering it. I just might."

"You make me sick, Stern!" Herb spat out, turning to him in anger. "You really think you're the hot stuff! I'm gonna knock that smile right off your face!"

"Oh yeah?" Ulrich turned to him, confident and crossing his arms. "Go ahead."

Herb weakly kicked the air before karate chopping on the sink. He cried out, grabbing his very pained hand.

"Ouch, now that has got to hurt." Ulrich pointed at Herb with his toothbrush.

Jeremie did the mature thing and paid no attention to the encounter. Odd tried to make a witty remark of his own, though his mouth was muffled by toothpaste.

"Trying to say something, Odd?" Ulrich surmised.

Odd spat out the toothpaste just as Herb exited the bathroom, saying "I said jealousy makes people go crazy!"

At that remark, Ulrich found himself pondering again. Yumi was probably the most mature of their group. Could it be that maybe, just maybe, she wouldn't be totally heartbroken if he chose Sissi over her? Would it be the other way around?

"Alright, I'm off to get Aelita. I promised to give her my croissants. She likes croissants with her hot chocolate!" Jeremie said with a dreamy tone in his voice, leaving the bathroom.

Odd glanced at Ulrich. "When it comes to love, good buddy, you gotta consider the positives more than the negatives."

The brunette put his hands in his short pockets as he and Odd left the bathroom.

[Execute Operation: Divide and Conquer]

Once the bathroom was empty, an electrical socket started sparking, before a specter entered the room. There was nobody to possess, and yet the specter began to twist into a humanoid figure all on its own.

Outside of Kadic Academy, a student girl named Heidi Clinger was sitting on the steps of the cafeteria, alone.

Suddenly, she was approached by a certain blue-shirted nerd with glasses, prompting her to stand up. "Oh, hey Jeremie! You haven't seen Odd around, have you? He promised to have breakfast with me!"

The boy before her stared at Heidi for an uncomfortably long time, his expressions quite blank.

"Uh...Jeremie?" She questioned.

The boy looked around, seeing Odd and Ulrich coming outside. He would soon be within their eyesight.

With that assurance, he grabbed Heidi by the shoulders.

"W-What are you-"

And kissed her on the lips.

Odd and Ulrich came to an immediate halt, their faces alight like fireworks and their jaws practically dropping to the ground at the sight that beheld them.

The two teenagers were so flabbergasted that they closed their eyes and reopened them, just to see if they were hallucinating, but what was happening before them was no illusion, unless their eyes themselves were playing tricks on them.

Jeremie just kissed another girl, brazenly and in front of witnesses.

The kisser in question turned his head, took one look at Ulrich and Odd, and then calmly walked off to the back of the science building and out of sight, without another word.

"Did...did he just..."

For once, the braggart was at a loss for words for his roommate.

No. No way. He would never do that.

Ulrich's thoughts went into complete denial. It wouldn't be that abnormal for Odd to kiss a girl out of nowhere, but Jeremie?

"I'm going to go talk to him." Ulrich said.

"You do that, good buddy!" Odd supported him. "Lemme know what you find, because this is a bombshell way bigger than what Milly and Tamiya could ever hope to dream!"

Ulrich marched forwards to the back of the science building, a thousand questions racing through his head as he tried to rationalize what he just witnessed.

Did Jeremie and Aelita just get into an argument? Did XANA find a way to influence him, even though he shouldn't be able to possess us? Did someone dare him to do this? Was he blackmailed?

Ulrich circled around the back, only to find nobody there but Sissi, her arms folded and head lowered as she leaned against the wall. Wasting no time, Ulrich walked up to Sissi, intent on continuing the trail towards his friend.

"Hey, Sissi! Have you seen Jere-"

"Kiss me."

Ulrich stopped speaking in an instant, confusion overtaking his senses.

"W-What?"

"Do it."

There was no emotion behind Sissi's voice. It was a calm and quiet demand.

"I...Why would-"

Thwack!

It happened so fast that it took Ulrich far more time to process it than in the timespan that Sissi lifted her head up, raised her left arm, and smacked the palm of her hand across his face.

It wasn't the playful slap that girls would do, nor was it the instinctive slap that the girls pulled on Odd whenever his dating tactics upset them too much. It was a slap of genuine malice. Of contempt. Of disgust.

The pain of the bruise on Ulrich's cheek paled in comparison to the pain of his heart.

"Shut up." She snarled as she pulled his head forwards to force a kiss upon his lips.

His eyes were wide with horror as he resisted her attempt.

"W-What?!" Ulrich tried to muffle protests. "S-Stop!"

Irritated, Sissi aborted her attempt, instead grabbing Ulrich by the chin and gripping tightly. She cocked her head, as if studying him.

"You are a disgrace." She growled. "Can't even follow the simplest of instructions."

Her fingernails dug in painfully until he raised his eyes to hers. He felt some kind of substance trickle down his chin as she pierced his skin. It was something he never felt before, but it dripped to the ground and pain washed over the area it came from. It was a liquid, but it wasn't water, nor was it spit.

It was blood. His blood.

Sissi was making him bleed. The pain stuffed any further words from Ulrich's tongue back down his throat. But not because it was physically too much, no, it was worse. The sting of the slap was only momentary, and the blood was only from a minor wound.

The tears that sprang to his eyes weren't from the pain, but from the sheer unexpected nature of the violence, and of the disgust that he could see on her face as she looked down on him, lip curled.

Sissi is hurting me. She's hurting me.

"I don't know why I ever wanted you."

She raised her hand and smacked her palm across his other cheek, leaving a red handprint upon it.

XANA had electrocuted him, beaten him, shot and crushed him repeatedly in the virtual world, hunted him down with robots in the real world, broke his arm by plunging him down an elevator shaft, and threatened him with death on countless occasions. The sheer amount of physical violence that this A.I. inflicted upon him and his friends was unthinkable. The only thing XANA had not done to him was make him bleed.

And before XANA could do that, Sissi, a person he thought trusted and loved him, did so first.

Ulrich had thought that XANA was the only one who could inflict pain upon him, and even if he wasn't there was nothing anyone could do to surpass him.

Except this instance hurt more than anything XANA did, or ever could, do to him.

"I do not love you, and neither will Yumi. You are a mistake. A regret. A thing." She scoffed. "A pathetic and useless boy."

"A pathetic and useless boy"

That was what his father called him. More than once. When Ulrich couldn't live up to his expectations. It was what was on his mind during that soccer game when he strove to impress him. He wanted to avoid hearing that phrase with all his desire.

Sissi dragged up her fingernails, maximizing the bleeding of Ulrich before she roughly shoved him against the science wall. His hair was out of shape, both his cheeks had red handprints, and multiple trails of blood dripped down from his head. His skin was as pale as a ghost.

She lifted up the hand she gripped Ulrich's chin with, inspecting his blood smeared on her fingertips. The blood of the boy she claimed to love. Ulrich stared at her, his eyes the picture of heartbreak.

"Your parents should have saved me the trouble." Sissi lifted her chin up, her tone befitting that of an adult addressing a child. "A locust, hurting everyone it touches. It's no surprise that I wasn't the first to realize it."

Ulrich's heart erupted in agony, sniffling as the waterworks in his eyes threatened to burst.

There were no words of comfort. Not even an ounce of regret in Sissi's movements or face. The tears streaming down his face clouded his vision, so much so that Ulrich didn't notice a strange symbol flash within Sissi's eyes.

Sissi turned and walked away, leaving her beloved in the dirt. He was alone. No friends, no parents, no Yumi, no Sissi, nobody would come for him. Sissi betrayed him.

No, I betrayed her. The useless boy that I am did.

Tears spilled down his cheeks. Despair and pain laced through every part of his body. A strangled sob, and his body shook. His breathing was punctuated by jerky little sobs as he didn't even try to wipe the steady stream of tears from his face.

I just wanted...I just...

He wailed, then.

Ulrich crumbled like an avalanche. The agony, the sorrow, the pain broiled up. His cries endured so much so that it sounded like he was choking when he tried to take a breath.

Not only from this, but from everything he ever suffered. His father, Sissi, there was nobody who loved him. As he laid there, Ulrich could not understand what he did to deserve this, yet everyone seemed to think that he did.

So he didn't think. He just wept.

"Come on, Herb. What were you thinking even attempting that?"

Herb, still rubbing his bruising hand, couldn't deny the merits of Nicholas' criticism. He was the dumb stereotypical jock of the gang, but in this case, his friend was right. Herb had not the slightest idea of how to fight, and this attempt to do was probably the most embarrassing thing he'd ever done.

"I just don't get it." He groaned. "It was a completely regular day when Sissi ran to go find Ulrich. Nothing strange was going on, then all of a sudden, she just leaves us and Ulrich and his gang of friends are completely fine with her?"

Something wasn't adding up here. The change in Sissi and Ulrich was abrupt, so much so that it stretched beyond the definition of the word. So instead, he tried to think of the events before that day. The weirdest he could think of was when Sissi had abruptly taken a hold of Jeremie from his room and ordered Nicholas and Herb to take him down to the basement.

He and Nicholas had no idea what was going on, but he could have sworn that Sissi had literally ripped a steam pipe off the wall. Of course, the steam obscured their sights and they opted to run off afterwards. When they asked Sissi just what had come over her, she complained about a light head.

Was she drunk or something? Herb initially thought. No, we're all way too young for that.

"And Aelita?" Herb continued, remembering how Sissi had quite often partaken in ridiculing the pink-ette. "Out of all the people to comfort her after a nightmare, and Aelita goes and does just that? No, something's not right. I just know it!"

"Well, I may not know it" Nicholas admitted. "But have you considered just letting her go and moving on?"

"Absolutely not!" Herb flatly denied the question. "There's something rotten here. And who else can figure it out but me? There's a reason I'm the smartest kid in Kadic Academy after all!"

Even after that robot contest, Herb would still proclaim himself as the true genius and promptly told his friend to shut up whenever he brought up that defeat. For this reason, Nicholas decided not to correct him.

Another reason would come up when they saw Sissi emerging from behind the science building.

"Huh, what was Sissi doing back there?" Herb wondered.

Sissi was walking in their direction and Herb opted to step up, Nicholas reluctantly following along.

"Do you have any wipes on you?" Sissi casually asked. "I got this stain I need to wipe off."

Herb looked down at Sissi's hands and saw stains of blood on them. His and Nicholas' eyes widened in alarm.

"Did...did you accidentally cut yourself?" He asked.

Sissi laughed. "No! I was just disposing of some trash back there."

Something strange then happened in Sissi's eyes. Herb and Nicholas noticed the shape of her iris in both eyes change. As if it turned into some kind of symbol.

Then they heard muffled sobbing from behind the science building.

"What's going on here?" Herb demanded to know.

"Why don't you head on over and find out? I'm going to go wash my hands."

Sissi shoved her way past them as the muffled sobbing grew louder. Everything Herb and Nicholas heard or saw just escalated their concerns.

"We should check this out." Nicholas urged.

"Oh, so now you get my point?" Herb mocked.

"Just go!"

Putting all banter to the side, Nicholas and Herb turned a corner and beheld a sight that paralyzed them.

Ulrich Stern, blood seeping out of cuts on his chin, his face wracked with tears, was lying there against the science wall, his skin pale as a ghost, breaking down.

All resentment or contempt for the brunette faded away in an instant.

"We need the nurse. Now."

For once, Herb didn't argue with Nicholas' suggestion and immediately sprinted away with his friend. Ulrich needed an adult, right now. By this time, his crying had increased, and there was one other nearby student who saw Herb and Nicholas sprinting away.

"What's going on?!" William Dunbar asked.

"Ulrich." Was all Herb had time to say as he and Nicholas rushed by him.

William got the message. He wasted no time and sprinted to the back of the science building.

Jeremie and Aelita were leaving the dormitory building, heading towards the cafeteria for breakfast, when they noticed Heidi waiting outside, her arms crossed.

"Jeremie?" Heidi angrily asked in view of Aelita. "Mind telling me why you just walked up to me and kissed me out of nowhere?"

"Uh, what?"

Heidi placed her hands on her hips, frustrated. "I think you have ears. You heard me."

Jeremie didn't know if he ever felt so bewildered before. He kissed Heidi, a girl he barely even knows the name of?

"I...I'm sorry, I have no idea what you're talking about."

Heidi turned away and stormed off with a huff. Jeremie turned back to Aelita to vehemently deny Heidi's accusation.

Only to see that she walked off to the cafeteria without a word, catching the young genius off-guard.

"Aelita?"

She didn't acknowledge him in any way.

Jeremie was left by himself, a growing ache in his stomach as he tried to figure out just what was going on. Did he truly kiss Heidi?

No, no way. He thought to himself. There's no reason I would, but there was also no reason for Heidi to lie about it. Her tone sounded serious and genuinely angry.

Did someone disguise himself as me? Is this another one of Odd's pranks? Maybe Herb or Nicholas?

At that moment, Jeremie saw the latter two sprinting past him at a very unusual pace. He wasn't going to waste time chasing after them, however. No, what he had to do was head to the cafeteria and try to contain the damage.

And so, Jeremie headed on over, not even bothering to retrieve the croissant from the lunch lady, Rosa. He came to the table to see Sissi and Ulrich still absent, but Odd, Aelita and Yumi were all there and unsarcastically quiet. He waited for a few moments for them to acknowledge him.

Finally, Odd spoke up and asked, "Wouldn't you want to sit with Heidi? She's all by herself."

Jeremie didn't even look in her direction. He stammered, "L-Look, I-I don't know what happened, but I swear to you, I did not-"

"Me and Ulrich saw you." Odd insisted. "Are you seriously going to lie to our faces about this?"

Jeremie's face contorted into agony. They saw him kiss Heidi? But the last time he saw them was when they were still inside the building!

"Odd, I don't know what you're talking about." The nerd pleaded. "I would never walk up to another girl and just-"

"I can't do this." Aelita sniffled, her voice laced with heartbreak. She couldn't handle this. The pink-haired girl stormed off past Jeremie and out the door without even finishing her breakfast.

Jeremie was so confused from everything that was going on that he didn't even try to stop her.

"For what it's worth," Yumi spoke up. "I believe you. I don't think you would ever do something like that. Do you, Odd?"

Jeremie and Yumi's eyes were focused on the Italian, who reluctantly swallowed down his anger. "No, I don't, but that doesn't change the fact that I saw it. And so did Ulrich."

Then a realization came over him. "Speaking of whom, where did he go after he chased you down?"

"Chased me?" Jeremie shook his head in vehement denial. "Odd, the last time I saw you or Ulrich was inside the academy. I never saw you or him again until just now."

He was chasing someone? Yumi thought as dread built up in her.

Odd processed the information, slowly asking "You...were never outside?"

"No, not until now."

"And you never saw Ulrich there?"

"No, why?" Jeremie asked, "What was Ulrich trying to do?"

"When we saw you, Ulrich went to the back of the science building to ask you about this."

"Odd." Jeremie insisted. "I never went anywhere near that area today."

"Then..." Yumi realized. "If he wasn't following you, then who was he following?"

Suddenly, none of the three felt like eating. The only thing that was on their minds was Ulrich.

"Come on, we need to find-" Odd turned his head towards the window and his heart threatened to stop.

Yumi and Jeremie turned their heads in sync.

Ulrich was crying on a bench, sitting next to a very concerned William.

Yumi practically shoved her way past Jeremie and Odd as she stormed out of the cafeteria and towards the park bench. The two boys raced after her.

"U-Ulrich?!" Yumi stopped, narrowly avoiding colliding into Ulrich and William from the sheer speed she ran towards him. Her heart shattered as she got a closer look at him.

His skin was as pale as a ghost, his hair a disheveled mess, cheeks reddened from the slaps that somebody gave him, tears pouring from his eyes.

And the blood.

Someone hurt him. Someone assaulted him.

"S...S-Sissi..."

Ulrich choked back another sob as he couldn't continue speaking.

"He says that Sissi assaulted him." William said. "But-"

Yumi didn't hear anything William said after 'Sissi assaulted him'. Her mind was ringing. Spiraling.

Sissi did this.

Rational thought started to exit Yumi's mind entirely. Sissi was her friend. She swore to her. She swore that she wouldn't touch Ulrich. She swore she would stop creeping him out. That she would stop touching him.

Sissi did this.

She betrayed them. She betrayed her trust. She betrayed Odd. She betrayed Ulrich. She betrayed Aelita. She betrayed Jeremie. She betrayed Ulrich.

Sissi did this.

It was the singular thought that dominated her mind when she appeared.

"Ulrich!"

The Lyoko Warriors and William turned to see none other than Sissi entering the scene, her eyes wide with horror as if she had no idea what was going on.

"What happened to you?!"

She's pretending. She won't even admit to it.

Ulrich turned his head and let out a small yelp. He didn't want to see Sissi; her presence was making things worse.

"Why would you do this to him?!" William yelled at her. Sissi looked completely dumbfounded, not that Yumi was paying attention to that.

Sissi's focus was entirely on Ulrich and the accusation thrown at her, so Sissi didn't notice Yumi's fists clenching at her sides.

Nor the magma of furious wrath that replaced the blood in her veins.

"I...I didn't!" She pleaded. "Ulrich, dear, please believe me!"

How...dare you...call him that...

"Sissi, don't!" William warned.

Sissi couldn't resist. She reached out to touch his shoulder.

To hurt him. Again.

She barely took a single step before Yumi lunged forward, drew her fist back and smashed it into the other girl's face. There was a disturbing crunch under her knuckles, and Sissi screamed in agony as she fell to the ground, blood pouring from her now broken nose.

Standing over Sissi, Yumi spat, "GET AWAY FROM HIM!"

From around them, the crowd fell into a stunned silence. Ulrich lifted his head up and saw the picture of pure hatred on Yumi's face. There was no empathy, no calm, none of the sarcasm that he ever saw from the Japanese girl. Jeremie, William and Odd's jaws were all agape at what they saw.

"GET OUT!" Yumi screamed. "GET OUT! YOU HATEFUL, SELFISH, WITCH!"

Sissi took one look at Yumi, heard her call her a witch again, and scrambled to her feet. She cried, sobbed, and screamed as she ran from Kadic Academy. Ran off into the woods, clutching her broken nose and blood dripping from her face as she ran off as fast as her feet could carry her.

The only feeling coursing through Yumi was absolute rage. She didn't care about the blood on her fist, Sissi's blood. She didn't care that she struck a student in full view of witnesses. She didn't care that Herb and Nicholas had just returned with not only Nurse Yolanda, who was already moving to assess Ulrich's injuries, but also Jim Morales, who was already rushing to deal with the disturbance.

Sissi did this.

Jim took Yumi by the arm, yelling "Ishiyama! Have you lost your mind?! Straight to the principal's office!"

It was only because she already vented some part of her rage that she did not resist him. But it was also the words of William, whom she barely heard as he volunteered to tag along to try and explain the situation.

Sissi did this.

What a mess. What a fricking mess.

Jim had told the students to go back to their daily routine of classes as Ulrich and Yumi were taken care of, but it was quite clear in class that almost nobody was paying attention to what was going on. Well, nobody except the students that weren't there for the two assaults in one day.

One such person was Aelita, who deliberately chose a seat far away from Jeremie and refused to talk to him until after science class.

How am I going to explain any of this to her?

Not only did he still have to figure out how Odd and Ulrich saw him kissing Heidi, but he also had to rationalize Sissi assaulting Ulrich. And that wasn't to mention Yumi's own assault upon Sissi. There was so much to process that he didn't register the class bell ringing at first, allowing Aelita to exit without him noticing.

Mrs. Meyer snapped her fingers to get his attention, saying "Class is over, Belpois.", after which he left the classroom, frantically trying to find Aelita. He didn't know where to start in explaining everything, but he might as well start at the beginning, so Jeremie would use his alibi to prove that he did not kiss Heidi.

After that, he'd have to explain the whole situation with Sissi, which also didn't make any sense to him. Sissi had been displaying good behavior as consistently as she could have been. There was nothing that indicated she lusted after Ulrich this much, and there was certainly nothing to indicate that she would actually hurt him.

Maybe this is all connected. The young genius started to realize. Whoever kissed Heidi must have assaulted Ulrich too.

Just as he thought this, Jeremie spotted Aelita, talking to a bewildered Herb and Nichols about something.

"Hey, Aelita!" He waved at her, hoping she'd acknowledge him and let him begin explaining.

She said nothing, despite staring directly at him.

More like glaring, though, which made more sense judging by what she did next.

She grabbed Nicholas by his cheeks and pressed her lips to his, then glared at Jeremie one last time before running away. Nicholas and Herb were both equally dumbstruck.

Jeremie's heart, on the other hand, erupted in agony.

Tears were welling up in his eyes. Aelita kissing a stranger just for some petty revenge, for something he didn't even do. He saw it with his own eyes.

Nothing makes sense. Nothing.

Jeremie shook his head and stormed off back to the boys dormitory, heading back to his room to be alone with his thoughts.

"Jeremie?"

The pink-ette casually walked up to him, as if she didn't just deliberately break his heart.

"You wanted to see me?" She cooly asked him.

"Yeah, let's talk." He growled. "About you and Nicholas! I sure hope he's better at kissing than he is at math!"

"What are you talking about?" Aelita asked, confused. "I never kissed Nicholas."

That is the exact same thing I said to you!

"I don't believe this!" He turned to her angrily. "First you kiss the biggest loser in the whole school and then you lie about it? All for something I didn't do?!"

"I..." Aelita stammered. "Jeremie, trust me, I didn't-"

"Like how you trusted me?!" He scathingly retorted.

Aelita stared at him, jaw agape.

He's not wrong... She realized.

"Incredible! You make a fool of me in public, then you lie to me, and now you expect me to trust you?! How could you do that? You really let me down. You have no idea how much, either..."

Jeremie went into his room and slammed the door behind him, not noticing Aelita run off. He picked up his pillow and slammed it against a cabinet. The young genius didn't know if he ever felt so much turmoil in one day.

Things cannot possibly get worse than this.

Right on cue, an alarm went off from Jeremie's computer.

"Ugh, what now?!"

Jeremie turned to his computer to see an activated Tower on the screen.

It was then that the pieces fell into play and Jeremie solved the enigma.

Jeremie Belpois, you are such a damn fool.

"She had it coming."

"Mrs. Ishiyama! Not only did you assault a student on academy grounds, but you have no regret for it at all!"

Jim stood in a corner, hands folded behind his back as Principal Delmas addressed the two students in front of him, or more specifically, Yumi. William's version of events disturbed Mr. Delmas deeply, but Yumi's blatant dismissal of wrongdoing in terms of assault against his daughter aggravated the principal.

"And are we just going to ignore what your daughter did?!"

"No, I won't. But I can't even find her." The principal ranted. "She's not answering her cell phone and she is injured!"

"Good."

William and Jim just stared at Yumi in shock. Never had the two seen this side of the Japanese girl, and they hoped they wouldn't ever witness it again.

"At minimum, both you and Sissi will be suspended for three weeks, perhaps even outright expelled! Violence is no way to solve your differences!"

Yumi threw her hands up in the air. "Oh, wow. What a surprise." Her voice was laced with sarcasm.

"Your behavior is unacceptable!" The principal chastised.

"I. DON'T. CARE." Yumi spelled it out for Mr. Delmas. "She assaulted him. Ulrich did nothing to deserve that. She tried to touch him, again. Did you think I was going to stand there and let that happen?!"

Mr. Delmas put his hand on his chin and sighed. "It is clear that you are becoming volatile. Therefore, I am dismissing you from the academy grounds this instant. Your parents will be notified, and they will deal with you accordingly. Mr. Dunbar, you may return to your classes."

Yumi stood up from her chair and stormed off without another word. She wanted nothing to do with this place.

"Yumi, wait!" William reached out but Yumi was already out of his reach.

As much as William wanted to talk to Yumi, his own rage at Ulrich's assault and Sissi's denial of it wasn't too far off. He didn't want to provoke her.

Though a part of him couldn't help to wonder what led to these events. Did this have something to do with the secret Yumi and her friends had been keeping? Did Sissi decide to do this completely on her own?

Or is it something more sinister?

The last time he saw Yumi as he headed back to class was her glancing at her cell phone. She muttered some indecipherable muttering, perhaps cursing in Japanese, then headed to exit the building.

No doubt her parents aren't happy. Must be them.

He was wrong.

She hit me. She hurt me. Sissi actually attacked me.

The face of Ulrich Stern looked like a boy who had been through hell and back, bandages covering the spots where Sissi's fingernails had bled him. He and Odd were sitting by a tree, waiting for Jeremie to arrive after he sent them a XANA alert.

Now? Both boys thought. This has to happen now out of all times, are you kidding me?

Odd desperately wanted to say something to comfort Ulrich. The first thing on his mind was "Are you okay?", which would be dumb even for him to say. Odd wanted to assure his best friend that everything would be okay, but this was an event that would stay with him for a long time.

So instead, Odd took Ulrich's hand in his own as the two went to the infirmary. He was Ulrich's best friend, his roommate, his bestie. After his disastrous advice during the body swap, Odd found a way to make it up to him and didn't hesitate to take it.

The moment that it was clear that Odd would stay by his side as Nurse Yolanda patched him up, Ulrich glanced at him and formed a very weak smile, but a smile nonetheless.

It's a start. Odd thought.

He never left Ulrich's side even as Yolanda was telling him he would miss class. He would take a thousand absences before he left Ulrich alone at his most vulnerable.

After Yolanda patched him up, Ulrich and Odd received Jeremie's alert and headed to the forest. There, they waited and said nothing until they saw Yumi coming up to them.

"Ulrich..."

Ulrich stared at her, not knowing what to say. He just witnessed her hit another girl, and not just any other girl. And she did all for him. Yumi would have said something like "She attacked you!" if she didn't recognize Ulrich's fragile emotional state.

Their turmoil was halted when they noticed Jeremie arriving next, hands on his knees as he panted and struggled to catch his breath.

"Right. I'm going to explain everything." He pushed his glasses back onto his face. "Everything that's happened today. All this kissing, even the assault on Ulrich, was another one of XANA's schemes that-"

"That doesn't make any sense!" Yumi shouted. "XANA can't possess us!"

"I know that, but what I do know is that XANA can make a clone." Jeremie pointed out. "We've all seen that for ourselves."

Yumi shut up, remembering the clone of her that XANA made. Her, Odd and even Ulrich's full attention was on Jeremie now.

"But XANA can only make one clone per tower, which made me realize that the Jeremie who kissed Heidi, the Sissi who assaulted Ulrich, the Aelita who kissed Nicholas-"

None of them wanted to interrupt Jeremie to question that last part.

"Are all the same person. Aka, a polymorphic specter!"

"A...A what?" Yumi questioned.

"XANA must have sent some kind of ghost that can look like anyone it wants to with the ability to change its appearance at will!" Jeremie explained. "We know there's nobody else that wants to cause havoc among our group than XANA, and what better way to do that than to use one entity to assume all our disguises and begin tearing us apart from the inside?"

Yumi's jaw dropped to the ground as reality hit her like a truck.

I punched an innocent girl. I hit my friend. I hurt her.

And I did it all for nothing. For something she didn't do.

Yumi fell to her knees in shock and disbelief.

"Sissi...didn't...she didn't..."

"No, she didn't." Jeremie affirmed. "The polymorph must have made itself into a Sissi clone after they kissed Heidi and lured Ulrich out back to trick him."

"It was...never Sissi..." Ulrich stammered.

The four Lyoko Warriors stood there in stunned silence. XANA wanted to cause trouble in the group, to divide and conquer, and he had done that spectacularly.

"I guess I was right." Odd quietly lamented. "Jealousy really does make people go crazy."

Yumi couldn't deny that. Never in her entire life had she felt so angry when she attacked Sissi. But it wasn't just because of jealousy.

"What have I done? I thought...I thought she betrayed us..." Yumi shook her head. "It was all a lie. I broke her nose… I called her a witch… I hurt her for nothing… for something that wasn't even her fault."

Yumi clutched her hair, threatening to pull out some of it as the full weight of her sins crashed upon her. "How could I do something so awful!?" She breathed heavily, her voice broken as she was on the verge of crying.

Ulrich slowly stood up, Odd still holding his hand. He tried to focus on the XANA attack at hand, because the more he thought about how easily he believed that it truly was Sissi that assaulted him, the more guilt consumed him.

"And...Aelita?"

Jeremie sighed. "The polymorph kissed Nicholas and I yelled at Aelita, thinking she did it."

Every one of them had done something wrong today, so nobody would dare criticize Jeremie lest they sound like hypocrites.

"We need to find her." Yumi said. "And Sissi. I have to talk with her. I have to apologize to her! I…I…"

"Right. I'll dial her number." Jeremie said as he pulled out his phone and dialed, only to be met with Sissi's voicemail. He tried Aelita's phone but got the same results.

"Just their voicemails." He groaned. "The only place I can think of to check for either of them is the Hermitage. After that, we'll try the Factory."

The four Lyoko Warriors gathered themselves, during which Yumi went up to Ulrich.

"I'm sor-"

"No."

Ulrich interrupted the apology and stepped away from Yumi, not even looking at her.

"You are not going to apologize to me."

Ulrich slowly and reluctantly turned to glare at Yumi, surprising her. She snapped her mouth shut.

"Save it for Sissi." He snarled at her, then turned away as soon as he was done.

It had been...a long time since Ulrich ever spoke to her with genuine disgust in his voice. And she couldn't blame him. He was right.

Will Sissi ever want to be friends again after this?

Hurt. It hurts. Everything hurts.

Nothing but pain was in Sissi's thoughts as she raced down the forest, blood seeping out of her broken nose. Her mind was still processing what just happened.

Someone assaulted Ulrich. She saw the blood on his chin, the tears, the devastated state that he was in. William had warned her not to touch him, but Sissi couldn't just stand there and do nothing. She had to comfort him.

Yumi's fist struck faster than her eye could process. Pain had exploded into her face; the only other thing she was aware of was Yumi screaming in her face and calling her a witch.

The only thing she could do was run. Run away. Run as fast as her legs could carry her. Sissi had tripped more than once as the tears hindered her eyesight, but she kept running until she saw some kind of abandoned building in the forest.

Sissi questioned nothing, entering through the front door and shutting it behind her. She took a breath, and another.

Then she let out a shriek that echoed across the forest as she fell to her knees and sobbed. From her pain, from Ulrich's, and from the destruction of everything she worked towards. In one morning, her friendship with Yumi was destroyed. Any progress she made with Ulrich had been erased from this false accusation. Odd, Jeremie and Aelita would no doubt feel the same loathing that Yumi carried.

Aelita...

After everything they shared, everything they confided to one other, this was how it was going to end. Aelita would hear about Ulrich's assault soon enough, and like the others, she would assume Sissi did it. Their friendship would end as well. Aelita would curse the day she had convinced Sissi to go onto Lyoko.

"I didn't do it!" Sissi sobbed to whoever could hear her. "It's not fair!"

By now, the blood gushing from her nose soaked the lower half of Sissi's face. The bloody girl stood back up again and stumbled into the living room. She saw displaced furniture, rotten wood, and random objects scattered everywhere. Whatever this place was, it was definitely abandoned.

Sissi picked up a book and screamed in agony as she tossed through a window, glass shattering.

"What did I do?!"

Sissi picked up some pieces of paper and tore them apart as she continued to wail.

"What did I do to deserve this?!"

Just then, her cell phone rang. Sissi picked it up and saw the caller ID: "Jean-Pierre Delmas"

He's going to accuse me too. Just like everyone else. They hate me.

It's just like mother all over again.

At allowing the memory of her mother to fester, Sissi screamed again and threw her cell phone out of the same window she tossed that book out of.

What will I do? What should I do? What do I want? What do I need?

The pain, the fear, the stress, the depression, the doubt all consumed Sissi at that moment. She continued her self-destructive rampage, tearing apart and tossing anything she could get her hands on. If the room was a mess before, it could barely be called a room at all once she was done with it.

When she ran out of stuff to throw, Sissi ran upstairs, looking for something, anything. She came upon a bedroom and grabbed her pillow, throttling it as if it were her sworn enemy. But there were no enemies here. It was just Sissi and-

She was alone.

I'm all alone.

Nobody is coming to help me. If anyone was, it's to hate on me. I'm-

Alone.

An ear-piercing wail tore from her throat, physical and emotional pain reaching its apex. With that, Sissi collapsed onto the bed and sobbed into the pillow. Over her damaged relationships, her broken nose, everything. She lost track of time, not that she cared.

"Sissi?"

Her sobs ensured that Sissi didn't hear the girl who called out her name.

"Sissi?"

A slight nudge to her shoulder, and Sissi looked up to see none other than a teary-eyed Aelita looking down at her.

"A-Aelita?"

Aelita was mortified by what she saw. Sissi's face was completely red, tears streaming from her bloodshot eyes. Strands of hair clung to where the tears trailed, and overall, she looked like she'd just crawled out of hell. Not even Sissi's nightmare had disheveled her this badly.

"Sissi, oh, come here..."

Aelita wrapped her up into a hug, much to the confusion of the latter.

"You...you're not angry with me?"

"Why would I be angry?"

Oh, God. She doesn't know. She was the only one not there.

"A-About Ulrich. T-They think...they think I..."

Aelita let go of the hug and sat herself down next to Sissi, placing a hand on her shoulder and holding on when she tried to pull away.

"I had a misunderstanding with Jeremie too." She explained. "Somehow Odd and Ulrich saw him kissing a girl, and then he somehow thinks I kissed Nicholas."

W-What?

Sissi stared at Aelita in wonder. What a coincidence. If she wasn't an emotional trainwreck right now, she might have thought about it more.

"Sissi, what do the others think you did?" The pink-haired girl questioned.

"T-They..." She sniffled. "U-Ulrich was a-attacked by someone. They think I did it."

"What?!" Aelita gasped, immediately going into denial. "No, that's not true! You would never!"

"T-Tell that to..." She sobbed. "Y-Yumi..."

Sissi lowered her head to the ground, but Aelita cupped her chin with her hand so they could maintain eye contact.

"She hit me."

Aelita gasped, horror striking every bone in her body as she realized the origin of Sissi's broken nose.

Yumi hit Sissi? But…No...I know she feels about Ulrich, but…would she…?

Aelita pulled her into another hug, this one tighter. "Sissi, I am so, so, sorry."

"S-She o-only..." Sissi stammered and sniffled. "A-after Ulrich said I d-did it."

Aelita paused, thinking. Jeremie kissing someone? Someone assaulting Ulrich and Sissi being framed? Aelita kissing someone? All on the same day? Her eyes were wide with shock.

This isn't normal. Someone's behind all this, tricking us. Aelita realized.

And she knew exactly who.

Before Aelita could voice her theory, the girls heard footsteps and turned to see a familiar blue-shirted nerd walking into the room.

"Aelita! Sissi!" Jeremie cried in relief. "Thank goodness, I found you! I'm so sorry!"

Sissi and Aelita lifted their heads up, wondering where he was going with this.

"See, I figured it out. Nobody kissed anyone. XANA was using a polymorph that changed its appearance at will."

A...polymorph? That means...

"So...you didn't really kiss Heidi?"

"No." Jeremie answered. "And Sissi didn't assault Ulrich either. The polymorph did it in a Sissi disguise to trick us all."

I-I'm innocent. They'll know I didn't do it...

Hope began to bloom in Sissi's heart once more, but Jeremie gave no time for it to process.

"Aelita, come. We have to get to the factory, fast."

Jeremie held out his hand, but found the pink-ette hesitating.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"What's wrong?" Aelita asked back, a hint of incredulity in her voice. "Look at Sissi!"

Jeremie took one glance at her and immediately went back towards Aelita.

"Okay. I looked at her. Now, can we get going?"

Aelita and Sissi's jaws dropped. The latter didn't know him very well, yet even she knew that there was no way Jeremie would be this callous to Sissi's pain.

But they knew someone who was.

It's the polymorph. Sissi realized. It's this thing that assaulted Ulrich and drove us all apart.

"Alright, but Sissi comes with us." Aelita said. "We are not leaving her here."

"Jeremie" closed his eyes, as if contemplating. Sissi stood up, cautiously. While Jeremie wasn't looking, Aelita leaned into her ear and whispered.

"Play along."

Before Sissi could process that, "Jeremie" opened his eyes and said "Fine. I'm sorry for rushing."

Then he grabbed Aelita and placed a quick kiss on her lips. Sissi saw this and drew a single conclusion from it.

That was no true kiss.

"Now, both of you, come with me to the Factory. The others will meet us there."

Sissi, Aelita and "Jeremie" went down the stairs, the latter keeping his eyes on Aelita as they went. As soon as they exited the house, they ran into a strikingly familiar face.

A second Jeremie, the real Jeremie, stood before them.

Before Aelita could say a thing, "Jeremie" held an arm out in front of her. "Stay back, Aelita! It's the polymorph! He's taking my form to trick you!"

"Don't listen to him, Aelita!" The real Jeremie shouted. "He's XANA!"

Annoyed, "Jeremie" put his hands on his hips. Sissi was about to make a statement of her own when she saw Odd and Ulrich stepping forwards.

"If I've got this straight, one of these two is the 'polydorking' clone, right?"

"The polymorphic clone, Odd." Ulrich corrected.

Sissi's heart broke when she saw the bandages around the cuts on his cheeks.

And then she saw someone else. And her heart froze.

"S-Sissi..." Yumi said, her voice broiling with regret and despair. Sissi took a step back.

"I know now." Sobs choked her voice. "I know it wasn't you. I'm sorry for what I did. I'm so sorry Sissi…"

Sissi remained silent, her head lowered. The two Jeremies, however, didn't stop their argument.

"Aelita, trust me." Jeremie pleaded.

"Jeremie" saw fit to tell Aelita, "Don't listen to him, I'm the real Jeremie. You know I am! I kissed you!"

"That's right." Aelita took a step away. "And the real Jeremie would not have kissed me like that."

And with that, the mask dropped.

The Eye of XANA flashing in his eyes, "Jeremie" lunged for Aelita's wrist-

"Don't touch her, you FAKE!"

Sissi grabbed the Clone by the back of his hair and shoved her knee into his face as hard as she could. The Polymorph toppled over, going into static as his entire body glitched.

Aelita backed away into the arms of her friends, immediately embracing the real Jeremie. Sissi, meanwhile, found herself face-to-face with Ulrich and Yumi.

"Sissi…" Yumi gently approached, only for Sissi to recoil with a gasp.

Yumi stopped immediately, filled with remorse upon seeing Sissi's terror covering her up like a blanket. Then she saw the blood coming out of Sissi's nose and felt guilt tearing her apart.

As for Ulrich, Sissi noticed him looking away from both girls. Sissi frowned as she came to a realization.

It was my face the Clone wore. He's afraid.

"Ulrich...I..."

"Not now." Yumi insisted. "The factory. We have to deactivate the Tower to stop the polymorph."

"Right." She sighed, just as Odd stood over the Polymorph and cracked his knuckles.

"You guys, go!" The Italian ordered. "I'll take care of this thing."

"No." Yumi objected. "I will."

The remorse in Yumi's voice when addressing Sissi disappeared in an instant. That rage, that chilling and absolute rage Sissi had seen for herself not too long ago started to re-emerge. She took a glance at Ulrich, who was already heading to the sewers.

Is he...afraid of her too? She wondered.

"No, Yumi." Aelita objected, to the Japanese girl's surprise. "If you're angry, then take it out on XANA's monsters. The sooner we deactivate the Tower, the better."

Yumi clearly wanted to argue, but she saw Aelita's point. Still fighting to control the blinding rage within her, Yumi said nothing before she and the others ran off.

"Good luck, Odd!" The real Jeremie offered his friend.

A few seconds after they left, the Clone rose to his feet and Odd put himself into a defensive position, ready to box with the Clone.

It started shifting forms. First it took Mrs. Hertz's form, then Nicholas, and finally settled upon Jim.

"Oh, no!" Odd groaned. "Not the big tough guy!"

XANA-Jim swung his massive fist at Odd, who ducked and went behind him, but then XANA-Jim thrust his elbow backwards, sending Odd colliding against the stairs leading to the front door. Jim stomped down towards the Italian, who quickly rolled out of the way and retreated inside the house.

Why did I even expect you to fight fair, XANA?

Odd picked up a lamp and tossed it at XANA-Jim, who smacked it away and then used his super speed to catch up and punch Odd into another room, where he collided with a table.

Odd shook his head and coughed. "Hey, XANA! Do me a favor and turn into a wimp next time, huh?"

The polymorph responded by shedding its Jim form in favor of turning into an exact replica of Odd.

Oh, for the love of...

"Oh, no!" Odd spoke, desperate to save his ego. "Not him! I know his kind! Small, but tough as nails!"

XANA-Odd responded by lunging into the room with a spin kick, sending him flying into the fireplace.

"What did I tell you...tough as nails..." Odd muttered before blacking out.

The last thing he saw was the Polymorph using its super speed to leave the Hermitage.

It didn't take long for the other Lyoko Warriors to get to the Factory and for Jeremie to start up the virtualization process. Sissi's mind was still trembling from all that had happened today. All from XANA's sheer audacity and cruelty. She knew the A.I. had been cruel when it possessed her father and nearly made him murder her and Ulrich, but this...

This was on another level.

In one day, XANA had nearly destroyed the friendship that she worked so hard to build. But even though they realized she was innocent of assaulting Ulrich, there were scars inflicted that weren't going away. And Sissi didn't mean the ones that bled Ulrich or broke her nose.

The ones that traumatized him, the ones that had him refuse to even look at Yumi or Sissi during the whole trip to the Scanners. Those were the ones that threatened to tear Sissi's heart asunder. Yumi had even tried to apologize again, only for Ulrich to hold up a hand to refuse to even speak.

And she knew why. Ulrich wanted to remain focused, if only to avoid succumbing to the despair that was tearing into him.

"I'm launching the virtualization process." Jeremie typed away at the keys.

Ulrich and Yumi were first to go in, the scanners closing on them.

"Transfer Ulrich. Transfer Yumi." Their ID's were brought up.

"Scanner Ulrich. Scanner Yumi." Ulrich and Yumi were lifted off their feet as they're scanned.

"Virtualization!"

Once the process was complete, a gust of wind sent Ulrich and Yumi to Lyoko. The duo virtualized in the Desert Sector, landing on the plateau. Ulrich continued his silent treatment for Yumi as they waited for the others.

Sissi and Aelita were next, stepping inside the scanners before they closed.

"Transfer Aelita. Transfer Sissi." Their ID's were brought up.

"Scanner Aelita. Scanner Sissi." Aelita and Sissi were lifted off their feet as they're scanned.

"Virtualization!"

Once the process was complete, a gust of wind sent Aelita and Sissi to Lyoko. The girls landed near Ulrich and Yumi. Once Ulrich, Yumi, Aelita and Sissi were gathered together on Lyoko, neither they nor Jeremie wasted any time. The young genius managed to materialize them to a close position to the Tower. They just needed to cross the expanse between the two plateaus, and they'd be there.

Or they would have, had XANA not materialized four hornets, and then two figures that were completely foreign to Sissi's eyes. Each of these monsters had a large, yet narrow cylindrical body, with four legs like a spider's. On their heads, there was the eye of XANA.

"Those are called Tarantulas." Aelita quickly explained, "Careful, they're very deadly."

"Not as much as us." Yumi coldly threatened. "Sissi, take Aelita to the Tower."

It seemed that Yumi and Ulrich were completely within sync as Ulrich snarled when he brought out his katana and Yumi maintained a hateful glare when bringing out her fans. Both monsters soon opened fire, and as Sissi ran with Aelita, she was in awe of the two evading so many lasers at once. It was becoming clear very fast why Aelita considered them so dangerous, as the Tarantula fired far more rapidly than any monster Sissi had seen yet.

As Sissi and Aelita were crossing the plateau, Yumi backflipped over one Tarantula and launched her fan directly at its Eye of XANA midair, with a cry of adrenaline that was louder than usual. It exploded, while Ulrich struggled to hold back the constant stream of lasers aimed at him.

"Sending you the Overwing!" Jeremie announced.

Soon enough, said vehicle materialized, allowing Yumi to get into the air and engage the Hornets attacking Ulrich, relieving the pressure on him.

Meanwhile, the expanse between the two plateaus suddenly disappeared, just after Sissi and Aelita finished crossing it. Jeremie, taking note of this, checked his radar.

"Sissi and Aelita, stop! You have three monsters ahead of you!"

At first, the girls saw nobody, then from behind XANA's activated Tower, two more Tarantulas emerged.

And then the Scyphozoa.

Aelita's eyes widened in terror.

Sissi's eyes did no such thing. Last time when faced with this monster's bodyguard, she quaked and cowered in terror. But this time, she unsheathed her spear and coldly glared at the monsters before her.

"Stay behind me, Aelita. I won't let XANA get to you too!"

Sissi was done cowering like a child. She was done letting XANA harm her friends. If the A.I. wanted to hurt anyone else, it had to go through her first, even if the odds appeared insurmountable.

The Tarantulas answered her challenge and raised up their front legs, causing Sissi to quickly realize where they would be firing from. Her body soared in adrenaline as she spun her spear like a baton to deflect some projectiles, while the Tarantulas also tried not to hit Aelita in the process.

The Scyphozoa just floated and whirred, patiently awaiting its chance to snatch its prey.

Sissi, even as her anger steeled her resolve, struggled to overcome her foes. The Tarantulas seemed to have a never-ending supply of lasers, and being at a distance, Sissi was unable to get close enough to stab one of them or use her super strength. Two against one, the one being a newbie no less, didn't make things any better. If she tossed her spear, she would certainly be devirtualized instantly.

So she'd just have to toss something else.

Sissi picked up the orange pom-pom and tossed it at the Tarantulas. Instead of dodging, the monsters continued shooting at Sissi, scoring two direct hits and knocking her to the ground as she cried out. Though, due to their single-minded focus against its enemy, the victory left no time for one of the Tarantula to dodge the exploding pom-pom, which sent it flying against the Tower, where it exploded much to the anger of its comrade.

In the factory, the computer showed a part of Sissi's signature turning red.

"Good work Sissi! That's one down! But you just lost 60 life points!" Jeremie warned in alarm. "Another hit like that and it's game over!"

That's what XANA thinks!

Sissi lifted herself up, panting as she pulled out her green pom-pom and smashed it on the ground right next to her.

"You're healed back up to 90 life points!" Jeremie announced as green confetti washed over the cheerleader.

Sissi rose back up, rejuvenated. She slammed her baton end of her spear into the ground in challenge.

"If I'm going down, then I'm taking this overgrown spider with me!"

Her words were filled with venom. The Scyphozoa let out a slight whirring noise, as if the A.I. was recognizing that Aelita's newest protector was not a coward anymore.

The remaining Tarantula fired more lasers at Sissi and she quickly jumped out of the way before charging at the monster, spinning her baton to deflect the lasers. One of them got on her shoulder, staggering her back and forcing her back on the defense.

The Tarantula's stream of lasers kept up, but Sissi zig-zagged, seeking to throw the monster's aim off. Sissi leapt up with her spear to close the distance and enter melee range. As she got in close towards its face to stab the Eye of XANA, the Tarantula changed tactics and whipped its front leg forward.

Sissi was struck mid-lunge, crying out as she fell backwards and away from her enemy. The Tarantula then used its other front leg to shoot two lasers into Sissi's chest.

Sissi looked down to see herself starting to devirtualize. She failed, and Aelita would be-

"NO!" She screamed in defiance.

I won't leave her alone here. Not again.

With a final roar and exertion of her super strength, Sissi hurled her spear at the monster. It lowered its front legs, believing the battle was over, only for Sissi's weapon to stab directly into its face. The monster screeched as it blew to smithereens, and a second later, the cheerleader finished suffering a similar fate.

"SISSI!" Aelita screamed as she tried to grab the devirtualizing hand of her newest friend. She felt Sissi's skin only for a split second before losing her.

The loss of its bodyguards did not deter the Scyphozoa, who closed in on Aelita as she turned and ran. The Scyphozoa tried twice to nab her with his tentacles, but Aelita ran as fast as her feet could carry her.

However, the plateau was not infinite and the Scyphozoa proved no novice in maneuvering or speed. It only took a minute before the Scyphozoa finally snatched Aelita within its tentacles. A couple seconds later, the Scyphozoa was resuming the memory draining process.

Sissi emerged from the Scanner, hand on her chest and taking heavy breaths. This forced devirtualization was a bit more painful than the last, but it also pained her to know she failed Aelita.

The last time she faced down the Scyphozoa, she immediately cowered before a monster and was devirutalized, but this time she had actually killed its bodyguards. Sissi, however, was too frustrated and worried to know the difference.

Aelita is there, with that thing. And I couldn't protect her. Just like I couldn't protect Ulrich from-

But then she noticed something. Putting her hand up to her face, Sissi's hand did not wipe any blood. The blood from her broken nose was gone.

In fact, her nose wasn't even broken. It was completely fine, as if Yumi had never struck her. Sissi gasped.

The Scanners heal?!

"Sissi!" Jeremie's voice sounded out over the speakers, interrupting her thoughts. "Come on up here. There's a ladder to the right of the elevator you can use."

Sissi swallowed her guilt and went towards the ladder, reaching the lab room in a matter of moments. She walked up to the screen, flanking Jeremie's left, just as a brain symbol popped up along with Aelita's picture and a steadily decreasing number.

"Is that...?"

"Yeah, Aelita's memory. If it reaches zero, she's dead." He glanced at her repaired face and sought to explain that. "The Scanner seems to heal physical injury. There's been times when one of us was injured but they felt a lot better after entering Lyoko."

It was a minor relief that was quickly overshadowed by the fact that XANA had Aelita in its grasp. Sissi couldn't stay here. She had to help. To do something. Anything.

"Jeremie, there has to be something I can do! Can't you send me back?"

Jeremie shook his head. "No. When you're devirtualized, there's a lengthy time window that occurs before the Scanners send you back."

Just then, before Sissi could try to argue with him, another screen popped up, this one with a cell phone symbol with Odd's picture on it.

"Hey, Einstein!" Odd's voice sounded pained. "I couldn't stop the poly-whatever. It's coming to the Factory and there's no way I can catch up with him before he gets there. I'm coming, but you're on your own, good buddy."

"Thanks for the heads up, Odd." Jeremie replied before ending the call. He turned to Sissi, probably to instruct her on something. She didn't give him the chance.

"I'm going down there."

"W-What?"

Sissi grabbed a nearby crowbar and said, "I'm taking the elevator. I'll hold that thing off."

Jeremie gave her an incredulous look. "By yourself?"

"Yes."

Sissi, refusing to waste time arguing, pressed the elevator button to open it up.

"If Odd couldn't beat it..." Jeremie warned.

"I know." Sissi insisted. "And yet I'm going down there. I won't let it reach you."

Words could not cover how stunned and impressed Jeremie was right now. Just a few days ago, the mere thought of Sissi risking herself like this was laughable. And yet here was, facing two Tarantulas by herself and now an enemy in the real world that was far more powerful than her.

She had truly changed for the better.

"Thank you, Sissi."

Sissi smiled at him before the elevator doors closed, despite Sissi not even pressing the button. That meant someone had called it from below.

Sissi took a deep breath and tightly clenched the crowbar in her hands until the elevator opened up.

On the other side was an exact replica of Sissi, grinning at her with the XANA symbol flashing in her eyes.

Chapter Text

Beta Read by Wanderingsage7 and Dewey10

Sissi stared into the eyes of her doppelganger, seeing the iris in both her eyes transform into the eye-like symbol she saw on XANA's monsters. The crowbar in her hand trembled as XANA-Sissi grinned at her.

Sissi knew where this imposter's confidence was coming from. If this Polymorph was anything like her Xanafied father, then Sissi had no hope of victory. All it would take was just a dose of electricity or two to incapacitate her.

XANA-Sissi darkly chuckled and cracked "her" knuckles. Sissi tightened the grip on the crowbar, struggling to swallow down her fear.

"Did he send you down here to die?" XANA-Sissi mused, tilting her head. "He does that quite often."

Without giving Sissi a chance to answer, the Polymorph used their super speed to race up to Sissi and punch her hard in the gut. So hard that she gasped, tumbled over, and dropped the crowbar.

Sissi coughed and gasped. Yumi's punch caused more damage because she had struck her right in the face and broke her nose, but this one had taken the wind out of her.

XANA-Sissi yawned and leaned against the elevator wall, mocking her.

"Is this really all you've got? Even Ulrich gave me a harder time than you."

"Don't you-" Sissi coughed one more time before pushing herself to her feet. "Don't you dare talk about him!"

Sissi reared her arm back and punched her doppelganger across the face. XANA-Sissi's head snapped to the side and Sissi took that opportunity to throw another punch-

Only for XANA-Sissi to grab her fist and kick Sissi hard in the chest, knocking her back and sending her against the elevator wall.

"I have watched you for a long time."

"Watched me?" Sissi gasped, caught entirely off-guard. "What?"

"Your name." XANA said, its voice somewhat inquisitive. "It stirred something within me. I've heard it before. Long before today."

"What the hell are you talking about?!"

"Since it is doubtful you would understand, I will explain in a simpler manner. Do you think I had not thought of the possibility of having another enemy? Or more specifically, someone who had spent over a year trying to become close to one of them?" XANA questioned. "Out of everyone who was not an actual Lyoko Warrior, it was you that caught my attention more than the others. More than once, my attacks had almost killed you specifically."

XANA was after me...before I even joined them?!

"A swarm of mosquitoes that almost slaughtered you in the Kadic cafeteria, a deadly gas that nearly suffocated you in a closet, flooding the elevator that you and Ulrich were trapped in, I could go on." Sissi's evil twin rubbed her chin, amused. "Out of all the possibilities of someone aiding my sworn enemies, you were the one who caught my attention the most. And it was not unwarranted after all."

"You-" Sissi coughed again, recovering from the kick.

"I should thank you, really."

Thank me?!

"No, really, you. The one who always had the potential to be Ulrich's closest confidant." XANA-Sissi smiled darkly. "For wherever he went, you weren't far behind. Had you simply stepped aside and not gone into Lyoko, not taken the opportunity to crawl your way towards Ulrich, this would not be happening. I would not have had the idea of using your form against Ulrich in the way I did. I thank you for it."

"H-How can you blame me for this?!" An incredulous Sissi asked. "You P-Possessed my father!"

"And?" XANA-Sissi sighed, rolling her eyes. "I've both done and will do far worse."

The doppelganger reached out to punch Sissi, only for her to lower herself and sweep out her legs, sending the Polymorph to the metal floor below.

Looking up at Sissi, the Polymorph said, "You intrigue me."

"Intrigue this, you freak!"

Sissi lifted her foot up to stomp on her Clone's face, to which XANA-Sissi grabbed her foot and pushed it, sending Sissi to the floor. Quickly, the Polymorph climbed atop Sissi and grabbed her wrists, pinning her down.

"What exactly is your endgame here?"

Sissi's stomach turned as XANA continued to dissect her, like an insect observed underneath a microscope. She wanted to turn away, but she couldn't as XANA-Sissi's head tilted to follow her movement. Her evil twin moved closer, until they were practically nose-to-nose.

"All for love, perhaps? Simply because you wish for Ulrich to be yours?" XANA chuckles, seemingly entertained by Sissi's fright. "A small band of teenagers, up against an Artificial Intelligence created by perhaps the greatest genius this world has ever known..."

Sissi trembled underneath her evil twin's hold.

"S-Some random f-former teacher?" She questioned, her voice giving unmistakable traces of fear.

"Ah, Sissi. There are so many things you don't know." The A.I. chuckles, seemingly entertained by Sissi's description of its creator. "But then again, even I don't know everything about you. I can surmise one thing, however.

As a sense of triumph and domination came over the Polymorphic specter, Sissi slowly moved her left hand towards the crowbar, careful not to alert XANA-Sissi of her attempted resistance.

"Agreeing to risk your life, all for a problem that can be shut down with a simple flip of a switch. Your previous life must have been quite pathetic, for you to be this desperate for admiration. You and Ulrich have that in common."

Sissi picked up a crowbar and let out a cry of rage as she struck her clone in the side, knocking her off of her.

"Shut up!" Sissi roared as she picked herself and hit the Clone a few more times.

How dare he!? Sissi seethed. How dare he assault Ulrich and then mock us both?!

Sissi's assault was halted when her evil twin used her super speed to grab the crowbar, yank it away, and smash it into Sissi's stomach. She gasped and held her stomach, this time in much dire pain. The cheerleader fell to her knees, coughing and gasping.

"And there it is again." XANA sighed, as if disappointed by her response. "That foolish optimism, one that you Lyoko Warriors seem to have in common. The self-delusions. The lies human beings tell themselves in hopes that things will work out in their favor. When the truth is undeniable, humans often tend to create their own."

"Y-You..." Sissi coughed again, struggling to speak as XANA-Sissi went down to her knees to get a closer look at her. "D-don't know a-anything..."

XANA picked her up by the chin and lifted her up from the ground, shoving her against the elevator wall again. She was about to respond to her when a noise to the left had him turn his head.

Sissi followed XANA's turn with one of her own, seeing an Italian boy using the ropes on the upper floor to swing down to the main floor and land in front of the elevator.

The Polymorph pointed to Sissi and said, "Odd, help me, it's XANA!"

Oh, no, that just might work...

"You're not gonna believe this poly-thing or whatever, are you?!"

Odd took a glance at both Sissis, narrowed his eyes, and clenched his fists as he stomped towards the real Sissi.

No. Yumi was bad enough. Not him too...

"No! NO!" Sissi screamed. "Cut it out, peebrain, I'm the real Sissi!"

Odd yanked Sissi forward by the collar of her shirt and stared into her face.

"Yeah, right! You expect me to fall for that one? On three, we pulverize you!"

Odd gave her a wink as soon as he said 'pulverize.'

Wait, he knows...

"One..."

Odd clenched his other fist, as if he was readying it to punch Sissi, but in the process, he was also loosening his grip on Sissi's shirt.

"Two..."

With a smirk, Sissi clenched her fist.

"Three!"

Odd and Sissi lunged forward and smashed their fists into the Polymorph's face. XANA-Sissi was caught completely off-guard, falling to the ground as its body glitched out.

Immediately, Odd wrapped his arms around Sissi and pulled her into a hug, which the cheerleader happily returned.

"I-I was so scared!" Sissi admitted. "I almost thought..."

"Not in this lifetime!" Odd announced, before disengaging from the hug and took the elevator back down into the lab room.

"That polydorking clone might not stay down for long." Odd surmised. "I'll tell Jeremie to lock the elevator so it doesn't come back up!"

Sissi was too busy gasping in relief at having avoided a second assault by a close friend in one day., leaning a hand against the elevator wall.

"Hey, you called me peabrain." Odd said, seeing her worries. "That's how I knew it was you. After all, I said I'm dumb, not stupid."

At that, Sissi chuckled. For once, she actually appreciated the Italian's attempt to lighten the mood.

Thump!

A loud noise on the top of the elevator interrupted their relief, and a few seconds later, the elevator opened up.

Rushing into the lab with Sissi, Odd shouted, "Quick! Close the elevator door behind us!"

Hearing his comrade's plea, Jeremie got to work quickly. Though the young genius was fast, the Polymorphic Specter was faster. Entering the elevator through the above hatch, XANA-Sissi lunged into the lab room just before the doors could completely close.

Odd and Sissi raised their fists up, only for XANA-Sissi to raise a hand and send a thousand volts surging through both Lyoko Warriors, sending them flying against a wall. The Polymorph then turned towards Jeremie, who took one look at her and then back at the monitor.

"Ulrich, hurry up! Aelita's hardly got any memory left!"

XANA-Sissi stepped forwards towards Jeremie. There was no more talking, no more dissection of its prey. There was only the kill to pursue.

Meanwhile, the trap door leading to the Scanner Room opened up and a Japanese girl came out of it.

Jeremie chose not to inform the samurai of the dire situation in the laboratory just yet. The situation on Lyoko had been urgent since Sissi had been devirtualized and the Scyphozoa grabbed a hold of Aelita. Yumi and Ulrich practically blitzed through the Tarantula and the Hornets once they saw their friend in XANA's grip, although the final monster kill was a mutual one, when the last Hornet made a fatal shot at Yumi.

The hot anger that was boiling in Yumi's blood was still surging within her when she was devirtualized. Anger at XANA for assaulting the boy she cared about the most, for trying again to kill Aelita, and for sending this polymorph to tear apart the friendships she had worked so hard to build. Wiping out XANA's attack force hadn't calmed her down yet. The first thing she wanted to do was hit something as hard as she could.

So when Yumi emerged from the trap door and saw the Polymorph taking the same form it used on Ulrich, she couldn't hold back her anger any longer. Just as XANA-Sissi reached out to grab Jeremie and yank him off the chair, she received a howl of rage followed by a tackle that sent her to the ground.

Sissi and Odd looked up to see the Polymorph being pummeled by Yumi as she punched the former's evil twin over and over. Had the Polymorph been an actual human being, their nose would be instantly broken and might have even suffered a fractured skull. Her brutal assault was so sudden and overwhelming that XANA-Sissi was caught totally off-guard.

While Yumi felt nothing but absolute rage as she attacked the source of all their misery, Sissi and Odd felt horror. She wasn't attacking the Clone to defend them, although she was, but she was letting out all her hatred for the A.I. and everything it had done.

Her face. Oh God, her face.

Odd had thought he had known a "red-faced girl" when Yumi and Sissi had their argument in this very room, but Yumi's face was contorted into a seemingly never-ending expression of rage. It was just as Sissi saw it earlier in the day, and it was no less traumatizing to see it inflicted on someone (or something) else.

And her voice...

They had seen her angry before, but this, this was hatred. Pure, unbridled, hatred. As Jeremie rattled in his chair, he too was disturbed by the almost inhuman snarls that Yumi was letting out.

But even though she was hitting the Polymorph harder than she ever hit anything before, it was far from defenseless. XANA-Sissi struck back at the same time, punching Yumi repeatedly until pressing her feet against her stomach to knock her off. The Japanese girl barely stayed down a second before launching her fist into XANA-Sissi's face so hard that her whole head started glitching.

And then her whole body.

Did she actually beat that thing? Sissi started to wonder.

Sissi's question was answered when the Polymorph shed its Sissi form in favor of becoming an exact replica of Ulrich, his bruises, cuts and disheveled hair all back as if they were still fresh.

"Why would you do that to me?"

Every spark of blinding rage left Yumi in an instant. Odd and Yumi's jaws dropped at the sheer audacity at XANA's latest play. Ulrich's voice and mask were an exact match of the original.

"Ulrich" sniffled as the "blood" dripped down his face. "I trusted you..."

Yumi's eyes went wide with horror and sorrow. Her mind spiraled at this exact image of the boy she loved, the boy she fought for, the boy she had hit an innocent girl for. While this was obviously not Ulrich, XANA's voice had been so strikingly accurate, laced with the same exact despair Ulrich felt, that Yumi's whole body froze.

"I...I didn't..." Yumi sputtered.

"Don't you love me?"

Yumi found herself speechless at this thing with her love's face, shaming her with his voice.

As abruptly as it had begun, the Polymorph broke character when he spewed lightning from his fingertips and sent Yumi flying against the wall, causing her to scream in unbridled agony.

"YUMI!" Sissi screamed as she tried to get up, the pain from her and Odd's electrocution stopping her.

"Aelita, QUICK!"

Hearing Jeremie's panicked voice, XANA-Ulrich turned his attention back to the leader of the Lyoko Warriors, which Yumi noticed after lifting her head up.

"NO!" Yumi screamed, getting back up and lunging at the clone despite all the pain coursing through her veins.

Unfortunately, the specter saw it coming and caught Yumi by the neck, lifting her above the ground. It sent a surge of concentrated and sustained electricity through her body. Yumi screamed in anguish, unable to escape the grasp of this imitation of her beloved.

"NO!" Odd and Sissi screamed, trying to force themselves to their feet but being only able to crawl towards their dying friend. Jeremie watched, helpless to intervene.

Yumi kept screaming until her eyes went white, and XANA-Ulrich grinned as his eyes flashed with the XANA logo and awaited his victory.

It would not come.

The XANA logo vanished from XANA-Ulrich's eyes as he released Yumi, who fell to the ground. The Polymorph's Ulrich form evaporated, returning to its original specter form once more as it flew up into the ceiling, soon evaporating into nothing.

Yumi groaned, coughing from the near-death experience. Eventually, she reared her head up to see Jeremie had gotten up off his chair to check on her.

"It's over…" Jeremie sighed in relief.

Ulrich sliced and diced through monster after monster, successfully saved Aelita from the Scyphozoa's grasp, and ultimately saved the day by getting her to the Tower. When he and Aelita re-emerged in the Scanner room, all of his physical wounds were healed.

And yet, he had never felt so weak than this very moment.

Aelita called the elevator down when she saw that Ulrich was too unfocused to climb, and it was only after Ulrich heard it arriving that he stepped inside. Aelita pressed the button to take the duo back to the lab room. She stared at Ulrich and her heart threatened to shatter.

Even though she wasn't there to see it, the impact of Ulrich and Sissi's assaults were as clear as day. Gone was the bravado and confidence that the German had always shown her. Aelita kept herself from crying, though she knew there were going to be tears shed before this day was through.

When the elevator opened up, Aelita and Ulrich walked into the lab room and looked to see Jeremie sitting in his chair in silence. Odd, Yumi and Sissi were all sitting on the floor, speechless. All four Lyoko Warriors turned to Ulrich, who promptly lowered his head and turned away from everyone.

XANA's primary objective may have been foiled, but it had still achieved a pyrrhic victory today. To divide and conquer, to cause disorder and trauma upon the group by turning their emotions against them. It had succeeded in its secondary objective, and it was this was one of many reasons why despair filled the atmosphere of the room.

"Ulrich..." Yumi stood up and muttered his name, relieved to see his physical wounds were gone.

Ulrich did nothing except take a step away from her. Sissi instinctually crawled back a bit as well, to which Yumi noticed and came to a realization.

"Are you afraid of me?"

It was a question that she was terrified to know the answer to, whether it was Ulrich or Sissi who answered. Her voice was shaken, vulnerable.

"What am I supposed to say, Yumi?"

Ulrich slowly and reluctantly turned around to address her.

"What do you want me to say? Am I just supposed to go 'Oh, you didn't know it wasn't Sissi, it was just another one of XANA's tricks' and then forget everything?"

"I would never ask you to-"

"But it's what you want, isn't it? Because that's what, by all means, should be happening. Isn't it?!" Ulrich ranted, his voice breaking. "I'm supposed to just forget that both you and I completely believed that Sissi assaulted me, that she would betray our trust, and that you would hit her in front of everyone. Even after you swore to my face that you wouldn't hurt her!"

My promise. Yumi realized. I broke my promise to him on the bridge.

"No, that's not-"

"How am I supposed to get it out of my head that you punched her and enjoyed it?!"

"Ulrich!" Aelita gasped, unable to comprehend such a thing. "She didn't enjoy hitting Sissi! Yumi, tell him you didn't!"

Yumi hesitated to answer, and before long, all eyes were locked upon the Japanese girl.

"Yumi..." A sob choked Aelita's voice. "Why won't you answer?"

She...enjoyed...hitting me?

"Yumi..." Sissi slowly said. "Tell us what you were feeling when you hit me."

No, you don't want to know that. Yumi immediately thought. It would ruin you all.

"Why?"

"Because I think you need to let it out." Jeremie suggested. "To just say it."

Yumi ran a frustrated hand through her hair, but the more she hesitated, the more the hearts of her friends trembled. She could see this.

"When I saw you on that bench, Ulrich," She began. "It was like something had just...snapped...inside of me. Think of when I shoved Sissi when we were all recruiting her, but much worse."

Yumi felt her legs trembling and she sat back down, looking up to see her friends staring down at her. Aelita walked over to Jeremie's chair and he took her hand, seeing that she clearly needed her support to withstand the tsunami of emotions that was flooding this room. Odd was still sitting, completely out of sarcasm or jokes to contribute.

"I saw the pain on your face. The tears, blood, and the cuts. But the despair, that was what broke me. I had never seen you breaking down so completely. When William mentioned it was Sissi, that was all I could think about at that moment. How we had been bonding these past few days, everything we talked about when we were alone, that she went back on it all and did the worst thing possible to you. Worse than the letter, the diary, anything. She hurt you. That was all I could think about."

Sissi didn't know what she meant about a letter, but she did not dare interrupt Yumi's venting of her emotions.

"And then you came up and clearly denied you did anything wrong. Ulrich was recoiling just from your presence. He was scared, and I felt it. I felt his despair at that moment like it was my own. And then...you came up to touch him. You were trying to comfort him, I know, but I thought you were going to try and hurt him again. That was when I snapped."

Her voice trembled with newfound rage and she stood up, seeking space from her friends as she vented. She remembered how her fist had twisted Sissi's beautiful face into a rictus of agony. Yumi would have studied it, drank it in, memorized it if she had time.

"In that moment, I never wanted anyone to suffer like I wanted to do to Sissi at that moment. I enjoyed watching the fear in her eyes as she realized that hurting you was the biggest mistake of her life. I would have punched her over and over again from the fear I felt in you, Ulrich. For the despair, for the pain, for everything you suffered."

Ulrich struggled to force himself to look at Yumi as she vented. Aelita was crying now, holding Jeremie's hand like an anchor as she held back her sobs so Yumi could continue. For Odd, it was like his tongue had been ripped out of his mouth. Sissi couldn't take her eyes off Yumi.

"Because I felt it from you. Like it was my own. But the worst part is knowing that I wouldn't have regretted any of it, if I didn't realize it wasn't Sissi who hurt you. Instead, it was all another of XANA's tricks."

Yumi slammed her fist against the wall, provoking everyone to recoil from her further. The tides of her fury were surging, swallowing all the sweetness and light within the Japanese girl. Aelita's heart was shattering at what she saw, not that the others were far behind.

"XANA played us all like a fiddle, and we all fell for it like instruments in a band. But even after I hit you, I couldn't stop being so angry. I took it out on every monster we could find on Lyoko..."

Yumi sobbed, seemingly finished with her rant. Ulrich was trying to bring himself to take a step forward when Yumi suddenly spoke up again.

"And then, that Polymorph thing had the nerve to take your form! When I came up to the lab, I hit it's Sissi form as hard as I could. I couldn't stop, that is, until he turned into you!"

She spoke so fast, her voice laced with hatred, but she couldn't stop. At that moment, Yumi looked more like a terrifying force of death and pain.

"Your bruises, your pain, your looks, all of it was a splitting image of you. He asked me why I hurt him. He asked me 'don't you love me?', he pretended like I was the source of all your pain. And I...hesitated..."

If Ulrich thought he couldn't feel more despair, this revelation had proved him wrong. It terrified him that the Polymorph could replicate his emotions so easily, so quickly. That terror spread to everyone else before long, especially Jeremie.

How dare he? Yumi seethed. How dare he blame me? How dare he hurt him over and over again? Threaten us, hurt us, try to kill us!

"And what for?! Every day he either hurts us or keeps plotting to. Just for some random rogue machine motive we see every day in movies or films?!"

Yumi spoke in her Japanese language for the rest of the sentence, apparently about to say things that she really didn't want her friends' eardrums to be exposed to. Her face blossomed red with every word. Ulrich began to feel the horror that Sissi did when she saw Yumi fight the Polymorph.

Yumi didn't even look like she was calming down. From the guilt of having hurt her newest friend with pleasure (at the time), seeing the agony that Ulrich was in, and the trickery that the Polymorph pulled on her, all broiled up her emotions to it's breaking point.

Yumi had never screamed louder in her whole life when she slammed her fist in the wall, this time much harder.

"I HATE XANA! I HATE HIM! I WANT TO KILL HIM!"

Yumi heaved, taking deep breaths as everyone in the room was stunned by her outburst. Then, with her anger finally spent, the dam inside Yumi broke and she fell to her knees, tears dripping onto the floor below her.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

Aelita couldn't hold back her sorrow any longer, letting go of Jeremie's hands and wrapping Yumi up into a tight embrace, which just made the Japanese girl sob even more.

"No matter what the others say," Aelita asserted. "I forgive you. I can promise you that."

Jeremie got up off his chair and joined in on the embrace, then Odd. Ulrich and Sissi looked at each other, hesitant. She noticed his eyes looked empty, devoid of emotion save horror and despair. Everything in her wanted to go to Yumi and hug her, but the fact that Ulrich wasn't rushing to Yumi this instant disturbed her.

Maybe he needs to do it too.

"Do you want to confess too?" Ulrich raised an eyebrow, not understanding Sissi's question. "To voice your feelings, like she did."

Ulrich understood, though the prospect of such a thing gave him pause. He was silent for a minute.

"...A pathetic and useless boy..."

"What?" Sissi asked of the German.

"That's what the Polymorph called me, when it took your face and started hitting me..."

Ulrich took Jeremie's spot in the chair and sat down, hands on his face as he began to pour out his own emotions. Yumi's sobs began to quiet as she looked up at him. She had known him to be a very private person, so this was probably a once in a lifetime occurrence she was seeing here.

"It was in middle school, when I first got into detention. My father is a businessman." Ulrich shook his head. "His expectations of me are always so high."

Sissi had never heard Ulrich talk about his family, so when she saw dread emerging from the other Lyoko Warriors, she knew that Ulrich was talking from a vulnerable point.

"That's what he calls me whenever he gets angry with me. My grades, getting into trouble, anything. Hearing who I thought was Sissi call me that..."

A pause. "It made me feel useless. A pathetic and useless boy, just like my father always calls me." He shrugged, then. "Maybe he's right."

His self-loathing drew immediate protest, Sissi speaking up first. "Ulrich, you are far from useless!"

"Then how would you describe me now?!" Ulrich sprang up from his chair, his eyes watering. "When I believed so easily and completely that it was you who attacked me?! All because when I look at Yumi, I can't unsee what she did to you! And when I look at you, I still see the Polymorph's face mocking me! When I can't even take the simple step of going up to Yumi and hugging her when she needs one from me, now more than ever, all because I can't stop sobbing for myself?! What else could I be?!"

Odd couldn't take this anymore. He had stayed silent as everyone poured out their emotions, but this was too much. His roommate was breaking down and he needed help. The Italian might have been making things worse for Ulrich recently, but he could not stand by and watch this.

"You're my best friend." He began, not a hint of sarcasm in his voice. "You're not pathetic or useless. Your dad's wrong. XANA is wrong. Anyone who says that is wrong. You know why? Because you're here. Now, with us. How many times have you saved Aelita? How many times did you keep saving us in the real world from XANA? Where would we be without you?"

Odd answered the question for him. "Dead. A long time ago. So, good buddy, you say you're useless? I say you're wrong. Just ask anyone else here and they'll tell you the same thing. The truth."

Sissi spoke up first. "You could never be useless Ulrich. You're struggling to hug Yumi because of what she did to me, and to be honest, so am I. But we understand that. Nobody's perfect, Ulrich. Not even me. That's what Yumi made me realize when she spoke to me alone on the day you took me into your group."

"And I realized that for myself with those headsets." Jeremie spoke up next. "I have flaws Ulrich. I may be the only one who knows how to use the Supercomputer. I might be in charge, but I've done stupid things that people would call pathetic. Yet still, you've forgiven me every time. I've learned from it."

"And so have I." Aelita was the next to speak up. "I may not be human, but I know enough of 'pathetic' and 'useless' to know what you're speaking from. I always need people to escort me on Lyoko, because I'm defenseless without you all. So if you are what you think you are, what does that make me?"

Ulrich automatically shook his head in vehement denial. His entire being recoiled at the idea of Aelita, such a pure and kind girl, being anything other than she was. "No, never. You could never be pathetic. Never useless."

She smiled faintly. "Then you could never be as well."

Ulrich forced himself to lock eyes with Yumi, her own eyes bloodshot from the tears and emotions venting from her. If he truly loved her, why did he have such a hard time going up to comfort her? If he were a pathetic and useless boy, why did Yumi go the lengths she did for him?

This breakdown she had was the result of punching an innocent girl, which she had done for him. Maybe friends did punch people for each other; hell, they would definitely slay monsters in a virtual world for each other too.

"Ulrich..."

Ulrich watched Yumi stand up and open her arms.

"Do you want a hug?"

The question hit him like a truck. When XANA-Sissi came up to him, she had been demanding and cruel. But Yumi was none of that. When she was cruel, it was only because of what XANA did to them. And Yumi needed him right now.

And yet she was asking him. It was a plea, but she wouldn't force anything out of him. Sissi would never do something like that again, XANA would of course, and Yumi both never did and never would.

She loves me.

Slowly and yet eagerly, Ulrich closed the distance between them. Yumi embraced him slowly and carefully as he lowered his head, cried into her shoulder, and wrapped his arms around Yumi's waist. Yumi returned his action with her own arms, and the two unofficial lovers quietly sobbed in each other's embrace.

Before long though, Jeremie and Aelita came up and slowly put their own arms into the embrace, Ulrich and Yumi allowing it with no resistance. Odd came up too, also without a word, and joined the embrace.

And then Sissi came up, and Ulrich sniffled as he felt her arms wrap him up, this time in a loving way that he consented to.

In that moment, the Lyoko Warriors allowed themselves to forget about the world for a moment. No evil AIs. No monsters or polymorphic specters. No wars. No hate.

Just a group of friends huddling in silence, blessed with only each other's company.

"So, every Return to the Past makes XANA stronger? And you didn't realize that until recently?"

It was agreed by everyone present that a Return to the Past was necessary, given that Yumi would have faced certain suspension or worse from Kadic Academy, and that wasn't mentioning how furious her family would likely be. Yumi had more than enough on her plate family wise as it was. Not to mention the countless effects that would have rippled from their group being involved in two assaults in a single day.

It was the first time that Sissi had experienced the Return to the Past since the one that led to her joining the group, and Aelita took the opportunity to give her some answers since they ended up before morning classes.

"To be fair, I don't think XANA even did at first. Before he started taking my memory, XANA's attacks were random and unfocused, and he was actively trying to kill me on Lyoko instead of taking my memory. And before you ask, no, I don't know what XANA wants with my memory. But whatever it is, it's so important that he exposed the existence of Sector Five, his literal home, to us in his first attempt."

"Have you ever tried just destroying XANA, instead of just waiting it out until we get your anti-virus?" Sissi next questioned. After all XANA had put her through today, she could safely say that she was officially shared their hatred of the A.I.

"We have no idea how to do that, and even if we did, it's likely XANA has massive defenses to counter any attempt. Jeremie's been putting all of his efforts into my anti-virus as a result, plus shutting down the Supercomputer is a more straightforward way of killing XANA."

"I guess so..." Sissi reluctantly conceded.

"It's already stressful enough for him to work on my anti-virus, now imagine him having to work on both that and a way of killing XANA at the same time."

The more Sissi thought about Jeremie, the more she respected him. "Einstein" was a nickname that fit him all too well, and with the amount of pressure that XANA constantly applied to him, it was a miracle that the young genius hadn't had a heart attack from all this effort.

Then she remembered something. "Jeremie mentioned something about headsets."

Aelita blinked and turned to turn her head away.

"Not something you want to talk about?"

"No." Aelita admitted. "But i'm about to ask you something you might not want to talk about, so I think I'll tell you anyway."

Sissi very much wanted to know what Aelita would ask, and she thought she had figured it out already, but opted to let her speak first.

"Jeremie has been decoding Franz Hopper's diary in the hopes of finding a cure for me. Among other things, he found designs for a Neuronal headset."

"A...Nero-What headset?"

"Neuronal." Aelita corrected. "It theoretically harnesses the power of the Returns to the Past to vastly increase a person's intelligence. He thought it would help get my cure faster and he was desperate to keep his headsets a secret to the point where he yelled at us whenever we asked him what was wrong."

"But why?" Sissi questioned. "You said it's helping him get smarter."

"I said it was theoretically helping him get smarter. Then, it turned out that the headset wasn't helping. In fact, he was actively destroying his health with every use of the headset. He kept going until he realized most of the calculations he made under the headset's influence were wrong and smashed it to pieces."

A quiet oh... escaped from Sissi's mouth.

"Yeah." Aelita sighed. "I'm still learning about love, but it's something that makes you do strange things, doesn't it? It was why I was so jealous when I was told Jeremie kissed Heidi, and it's why he felt so hurt when he thought I kissed Nicholas. I asked him to trust me, only for him to call me out on not trusting him."

"He and I are going to trust each other from now on, no matter what we see. We're going to make sure of that." Aelita vowed, ensuring that she would never again lose faith in the young genius who gave her humanity.

"I think you're right, about love making us do strange things." Sissi admitted. "I've done a lot of things that I'm not proud of too. Was that what you wanted to ask me?"

"No." Aelita struggled to find the words, but with every moment she hesitated, Sissi began to understand.

"It's about Yumi, isn't it?"

"I've never seen her break down like that." Aelita admitted. "It was so hard to watch. So hard to listen to. XANA never got on her nerves like this before. And when you told me she hit you..."

Sissi flinched at the memory, looking away from Aelita. She had stayed mostly silent aside from comforting Ulrich and Yumi, but getting punched in the face by a girl she was friends with left her with feelings to vent too.

"I never thought that she would do something so horrible, especially to one of us, even after she shoved you in the lab. The blood I saw on you...to know Yumi did that..."

Sissi saw fit to make Aelita understand by offering a hypothetical question. "How would you feel if, let's say, Jeremie was hurt instead of Ulrich and I was accused of that instead?"

Aelita didn't know how to answer that question. Her instinct was screaming at her to say that she would never jump to the conclusion of striking Sissi, but the more she thought about it, the more she understood Yumi's reaction.

"There's still so many things I haven't learned." Aelita lamented. "About humanity, our feelings, everything. Speaking of feelings, Ulrich and Yumi vented everything, but you..."

"I never felt so terrified." Sissi admitted. "So hurt when she did that to me. When I saw Ulrich injured, all I wanted to do then was comfort him. Put my hand on him and let him know I'm here to help. William tried to warn me, but I couldn't resist. That was when Yumi..."

Sissi lifted her head up, matching Aelita's concerned gaze with a vulnerable and hurt look. She breathed a staggered breath as the words left her lips.

"I don't think I can see Yumi the same way again, not for a while anyways. It took her having a complete breakdown just for me to bring myself to hug her in the factory. But..."

"But?" Aelita gently pressed her.

"I know I have to talk to her again, privately. And it's going to be every bit as terrifying as the first time."

When Odd had tried relieving the tension of Sissi and Yumi's private meeting by taking a bet on if Sissi would survive, Aelita thought that was one of Odd's worst jokes yet. The pink-haired princess wasn't afraid to be alone with Yumi, but Sissi was a different case entirely.

"What happened after she hit you?" The pink-ette asked.

"I was in so much pain. My nose broke. I was bleeding. I couldn't think of anything at that moment other than how badly I wanted to get away. From Yumi. Her face..."

A pause. "She called me a witch. A selfish hateful witch. You saw her call me that when you all explained Lyoko to me, but this time was different. Nothing I did ever made her so angry, I've never seen anyone so terrifying in that moment than Yumi. I felt like she was going to hit me again if I didn't scramble to my feet and run off when I did."

Sissi sniffled.

"I found some kind of old house, and I just...screamed. I cried. I basically ransacked the place. I thought I was going to be all alone because of this. No more Ulrich, no more Odd, no more you. And that was just on the tip of the iceberg. What would daddy say to me, and what would mo-"

Sissi abruptly stopped, the mere touch of that subject recoiling her in every way.

No. I am not going to talk about Mother. Never again.

So instead she said, "What if I lost Ulrich? What if I lost you?"

Sissi didn't notice she was starting to cry again until she watched a tear splatter on the ground, staining the earth. Then, she felt a hand come to rest on her shoulder, and she looked over to see Aelita meeting her gaze, tears gathering in his eyes.

"Sissi..." Aelita staggered. "You will never lose me."

Then she lunged forward and wrapped her arms around her. Sissi's eyes widened and she gasped, before instinctually leaning into her embrace.

"You may have only joined our group recently. You may have bullied me in the past, but I don't care about that, not anymore. You're my friend, Sissi, and you'll never lose me."

Sissi leaned fully into Aelita's embrace, finding comfort within it.

Sissi and Aelita didn't know how long they just stood there in silence, holding in each other in their arms. But they clung to each other as if they would disappear if they let go. There were more than one glances headed their way, but neither girl cared.

Eventually, Aelita broke the silence when she asked, "Would you like me to do something to lighten the mood?"

"Anything." She answered. Sissi could use a good laugh now more than ever.

Ulrich picked up his breakfast from Rosa and sat down next to Jeremie and Odd in the cafeteria. He was silent, unable to muster the strength to even start a conversation.

Jeremie did so first. "You and Yumi did the right thing back there, Ulrich."

"The right thing?" Ulrich asked, his head tilting as he tried to figure out what he meant.

"Just talking it out." The young genius explained. "It's no secret that you and Yumi's problems are usually caused by your constant inability to communicate. But when you were both hurting, you took the opportunity to actually talk about it and let us comfort you."

He's right. He's actually right.

As miserable as the brunette was still feeling, the majority of it was from the sheer mental exhaustion that a Return in Time most certainly could not fix. Ulrich did not need to recount the events of the last 24 hours for the millionth time to know that.

But what he also couldn't deny was that by defying his natural inclination to hide his feelings and taking the time to talk about his personal struggles, Ulrich felt better than he would have if he didn't. If he had continued to wallow in his self-pity and not given in to the urge to hug Yumi, Ulrich probably wouldn't be sitting here to begin with.

Is this really all it takes? To just walk up to her and say what I've dreaded saying for so long?

Today's events had given him reflection beyond just trauma and tears to shed. Some part of him viewed it as even scarier than the Polymorph. Speaking of whom...

"How do we avoid getting tricked like this in the future?" Ulrich asked Jeremie.

"XANA doesn't have access to our memories when he takes our forms. He would if he could possess us, but since he can't, we'll be on guard for further manipulation. I don't think he'll try anything emotional for a while, because XANA knows we'll be on our guard after this stunt, but whenever we see one of us doing something highly unusual, we can safely assume it's XANA. Plus, we didn't know about him having a Polymorphic specter until now."

"But most importantly." The young genius emphasized. "We have to trust in each other. If we do, XANA can't divide us anymore."

"If you want to convince me." Odd suggested. "Just call me peabrain like Sissi did. XANA would never call me that. He has too much respect for me!"

Ulrich snapped out his despair in an instant, nearly spitting out his drink as he tried to hold in his laughter. Jeremie just chuckled at the thought.

"Respect?" Ulrich spat. "You?"

"He knows who's the mentor around here!" Odd flexed his muscles. "Jeremie's always guiding us, true, but if Sissi sticks with me for long enough on Lyoko, she'll be the second greatest Lyoko Warrior in no time! The first being yours truly, of course!"

At this, Ulrich felt genuinely amused. He couldn't deny that Sissi truly was starting to sharpen her skills on Lyoko, especially when she didn't run away from the Tarantula that ultimately defeated her. Most of the time, Odd's humor didn't help at all, but there were also plenty of times where Odd had tickled his funny bone with one of them. This was one of those times. Even Sissi and Yumi had admitted that.

And speaking of whom...

Ulrich knew that Sissi had not vented her feelings yet. From the brief time he saw her broken nose and disheveled face, the brunette knew that Sissi was nowhere near healed, not like he and Yumi were completely. It would be a long time before either of them could completely move on from what had happened.

He just hoped that the next time Yumi and Sissi talked alone, it wouldn't be so terrifying to imagine.

Once they finished breakfast, the Lyoko boys exited the cafeteria, meeting the Lyoko girls outside. Sissi had finished sobbing in Aelita's arms, and although she hadn't had breakfast as a result, she didn't feel hungry today. Yumi had also arrived late.

"Jeremie, would you come with me for a minute?" Aelita asked of the young genius. "I promise it won't take long. I, uh, would like to check something."

Aelita's proposition had Jeremie raise an eyebrow, but nonetheless, he did not resist as the pink-ette led him a short distance from the others.

"Uh, no. Go ahead. Check what?"

Aelita's answer was to cup Jeremie's cheeks and kiss him on the lips. Jeremie turned into a statue, completely frozen in place.

"I knew it." Aelita smiled in amusement as she walked away.

"Uh, Jeremie? Come back down to Earth," Odd teased, to no avail. "Well, let's hope that XANA leaves us alone for a little while. I think Jeremie's gonna need some time to get over that one, huh guys?"

They all laughed, staring at the frozen Jeremie. Even Sissi and Ulrich laughed.

And it felt good.

For once, Sissi was focusing on the lecture in science class, but this was really more of a distraction than a commitment.

As soon as class ended, Sissi took out her cell phone and pulled up "Yumi Ishiyama" in her contacts list, before typing in a message.

"Meet me at the sewer manhole. We need to talk alone, again."

She couldn't resist putting this off any longer. She may have vented her feelings to Aelita, but Yumi was the one who needed to hear them the most. She didn't know if she could ever see Yumi the same again after her horrifying displays today, but deep down, a part of her wanted to be wrong.

And so, Sissi wasted no time exiting Kadic Academy and making sure nobody followed her into the forest. Leaning against a tree near the sewer manhole, Sissi waited. The more time that passed, the more nervous she became.

What if she says no?

Sissi was just thinking of that scenario and how else she could arrange a meeting when the Japanese girl herself stepped into view.

"Hey..." Yumi awkwardly said.

"Hey..." Sissi returned with just as much awkwardness.

For a minute, both women didn't know where to start. Yumi could see Sissi's uncomfortableness from a mile away. Indeed, the girl in front of her was fighting the urge to run away.

"I suppose I should start with, 'I'm sorry'." Yumi suggested.

"Cliche, but I guess." Sissi sighed.

Yumi shook her head. "Sissi…I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. What I did to you was as close to unforgiveable as it gets. It was impulsive, it was stupid, and I was completely horrible to hit you like that. You weren't the selfish witch. I was. And I'm sorry."

"Though it wasn't actually me you were aiming for, right?"

Yumi crossed her arms and saw fit to lean against another tree. "It was the polymorph that I actually wanted to hit, and I very much did hit it, but I thought you did it and at the time...well, it was you I was aiming for."

"It hurt, Yumi." Sissi lowered her head. "It hurt so much."

She recounted the details of the aftermath of Yumi's assault, and the Japanese girl's heart broke the more she talked. Even as Sissi sought to let out her feelings, however, she saw Yumi's misery at them and in turn began to feel guilt seeping into her.

Oh, what even is the point of this? Sissi internally seethed.

Yumi had already apologized, made it clear what her intentions were, and that she struck Sissi based on an emotional impulse from a very convincing deception. Sissi was just starting to recount her breakdown in the hermitage when she stopped herself.

"You know what, this is stupid."

Yumi's eyes flustered with surprise, asking "What is?"

"This entire conversation. We all know why you did what you did. You've apologized so many times already. Hell, you even had a breakdown in front of all of us!"

The Japanese girl hadn't heard her friends say the word "hell" aloud until this very moment, and she wondered how they had managed to go so long without mildly cursing.

"Nothing is going to change. Everything's back to normal and nobody knows you punched me except us, and still I'm struggling to move past it. I'm trying to forget about it, but-"

"Nobody is asking you to forget." Yumi insisted. "And nobody is asking you to just dismiss what I did to you either. Honestly…I can't blame you if you hate me for what I did."

"I never said I hated you. I'm just…I..." Sissi ran a frustrated hand through her hair. "I don't know how to deal with any of this."

"I know how you feel there. Look, why don't we start off small?" Yumi suggested. "Are you still as afraid of me as you were yesterday?"

Sissi shook her head. "No, but I am. Everything in me just wants to leave. But-"

"But maybe that's all we can do for now." Yumi interrupted to suggest. She took a deep sigh. "You said it yourself. I've apologized, we know why I acted the way I did, so maybe the best thing to do is let the future present itself."

A pause. "But answer one question?"

"Sure."

"Do you still want to be friends with me?"

"Do I have a choice?"

At least, that was what Sissi wanted to ask. But in truth, there was no other option. Sissi would not entertain the scenario of leaving Ulrich and the gang now, and even if she wanted to just cut ties with Yumi specifically, the war against XANA made that impossible.

So rather than necessity, Sissi remembered the positives. Being close to Ulrich, bonding and sparring with Odd, and having a best friend in the form of a virtual A.I. made human. With those thoughts in mind, Sissi answered as honestly as she could.

"Yes."

Because no matter what happened, Sissi never wanted to lose the friends she had gained.

[ERROR: Operation: Divide and Conquer has partially failed]

[Analysis: Primary objective failed. All secondary objectives completed. New Data stored.]

[New Data: Enough anger can make a human physically stronger. Perhaps even mentally sharper. It can also make them reckless. Emotional manipulation is an effective, but risky weapon]

[New Secondary Objective: Continue to analyze the emotional bonds of the Lyoko Warriors. Scour them for further weaknesses.]

[Conclusion: The Lyoko Warriors are beaten and battered, but not broken. This is an acceptable outcome that must be exploited.]

[New Operation Initiated: Scouring suitable predators. Speed and lethality prioritized. Close Proximity to Kadic Academy required. All previously used subjects rejected.]

Chapter Text

"Holosphere system connected. Welcome to Sector Five."

Already, this trip to Sector Five was proving itself to be significantly less stressful. Not only did Sissi have the comfort of being in her own body, but she also wasn't in danger of disintegration. When Odd, Ulrich, Yumi, Aelita and Sissi emerged from the transport orb, they waited for the entrance to open up.

"Remind me again." Sissi asked. "Why do we bring Aelita when she can't fight?"

"Because she is the only one who can actually interact with Lyoko." Jeremie explained. "We found her in the Supercomputer, so none of us have the ability to access data in Sector Five or deactivate Towers like she can. It's the same case as if you were escorting her to a Tower."

Though Sissi was quite comfortable in her own body, there was something, or someone else, present that caused unease. But Sissi didn't want to complain, trying to stay focused on the mission.

"Three minutes to find the key!" Jeremie suddenly announced just as a hallway opened up. "Go!'

As soon as the entrance opened, Yumi and Ulrich took point in running ahead. Odd stood in the back next to Aelita, while Sissi found herself in the middle, behind Yumi and Ulrich.

When the five Lyoko Warriors entered the Core Zone, the key was high above a wall, though they didn't see it, and the doors closed in behind them.

"Uh oh. The doors are in the wrong place." Odd commented as some Creepers came into view.

"Creepers. They just can't resist getting punched in the face, huh?" Odd winked at Sissi.

While the cheerleader actually did think that the Creepers' faces were quite tempting to punch, she wasn't some brute. She had a spear and pom-poms for a reason, and she unsheathed her weapons in sync with Ulrich and Yumi.

"Let's see..." Back in the lab room, Jeremie ran a scan for the room key. "I found the key at 2 o'clock directly above Yumi!"

"That's a job for a cat!" Ulrich hinted to Odd, just before the Creepers opened fire and one of them hit Odd in the gut and sent him flying.

Sissi threw her orange pom-pom at the Creeper that shot Odd, resulting in an explosion that blew it to smithereens.

"Always love me some fireworks!" Odd quipped as he got up and began climbing the walls to reach the keys.

Meanwhile, Yumi flipped to the edge, hanging on as she moved so the Creeper firing at her didn't see her. Two Creepers then crawled on over to the edge and peered down, obviously wondering what she was doing. Ulrich Super Sprinted on over and impaled one Creeper from behind with his katana, destroying it.

The other Creeper reacted quickly, firing a laser that knocked Ulrich's katana out of his hands. The samurai reached out to take his sword back, but the Creeper started charging up for a more powerful shot.

"Not so fast, dummy!" Yumi promptly leapt up from the ledge and hurled a fan into its head, destroying it.

Sissi protectively stood in front of Aelita, spinning her spear like a baton to deflect lasers from another Creeper crawling towards her. The Creeper was forced to stop running to duck under one of the deflected lasers, giving Sissi an opening to run in and thrust her spear into its chest, destroying it.

Meanwhile, another Creeper started shooting at Odd again and scored a direct hit. Odd tripped and fell off the wall, but managed to hang on with his claws.

"Odd! You're running out of life points!" Jeremie chided.

Sissi sought to remedy that by hurling her spear at the Creeper, but it ducked and fired at Sissi, scoring a direct hit and sending the Green Girl to the ground. Yumi quickly hurled her fan again and sliced the Creeper by the neck, destroying it.

"Are you alright Sissi?" The Geisha then went over to Sissi, holding out a hand to help her up.

Instead of taking the hand, Sissi recoiled a little.

Yumi's eyes widened in realization. It had been four days since their agreement in the forest to let time resolve what had happened between them. While they weren't afraid to go to Lyoko together, Sissi's adapting wasn't complete yet. She turned her head away to avoid looking at Yumi and got up, dusting herself.

"I'm fine. You don't need to worry about me." Sissi said coldly before snapping her finger to retrieve her spear.

The emotional hurt in Yumi rose, and everything in her wanted to say "I'm sorry", but she had done that a hundred times by now.

Meanwhile, Odd had reached the key and lunged at it, only to be fatally shot by another Creeper mid-lunge. Right before devirtualizing, however, the cat boy managed to press the key.

"Nice one!" Jeremie complimented, right before the door opened up and Ulrich, Yumi, Aelita and Sissi ran out of the room and took the elevator.

"For what it's worth," Ulrich quietly said to the girls on the ride up, "I'm struggling too."

That wasn't a mystery either. Yumi hated the way that the two seemed to be afraid of her after punching Sissi, but she couldn't blame them. She wouldn't rush it, trying to give them time to see her as a true friend again. Aelita's heart trembled whenever she noticed their nervousness around Yumi, which she did not carry.

The four stood there in silence, not sure what to say, until they arrived at their destination and Aelita connected herself to Sector Five's mainframe. While she looks for data Yumi gently approaches Sissi who kept looking away with her arms crossed.

"Sissi, can we talk?" Yumi asked, slightly reaching out. "Please."

"There's nothing to talk about." Sissi bluntly said taking a small step away.

"Sissi, I know you're still a little uneasy around me but, I…" Yumi wasn't sure what to say next.

"Just drop it, okay, Yumi?" Sissi insisted.

Yumi looked away, nervously holding her arm. Ulrich remained silent and Aelita just kept searching the mainframe.

"Come on, Aelita!" Jeremie urged. "You've got to get the data before the flying mantas show up!"

"Uh, the flying what?" Sissi questioned.

"Ah, right." Ulrich remembered. "There's still one more monster you haven't seen on Lyoko. There's another unique type that shows up here in Sector Five only."

While Jeremie's attention was on the incoming mantas and when they would emerge from the wall, another Creeper showed up behind the four and shot Yumi directly in the back, causing her to fall on her rear. It then shot lasers at Ulrich and Sissi, a couple of which they deflected before getting shot themselves, allowing the Creeper to fatally shoot Yumi in the face, devirtualizing her.

After watching her get devirtualized, Ulrich and Sissi simultaneously hurled their katana and spear into the Creeper's head and stomach, destroying it before it had another chance to attack.

"Thanks for the heads up!" Sissi yelled sarcastically.

"Sorry!" The young genius apologized.

"Done, Jeremie!" Aelita announced. "You can take over again."

"Okay, I'm on it. I've programmed the Overbike and the Overwing!"

Said vehicles materialized on the edge soon after. Aelita and Ulrich took the Overbike, while Sissi jumped onto the Overwing and clung to it like a child did with a doll into the night.

"Comfortable piloting by yourself?" Aelita asked. "We could call the transport orb to take us out instead."

"I think I can, plus I could use the practice. Let's do it!"

Then the vehicles raced off, and just as Jeremie announced the passage was open, Sissi heard a cry. She turned to see a trio of white and navy-blue monsters with the Eye of XANA on their backs, emitting a cry that sounded a lot like a hawk. Sissi thought they looked a bit elegant, certainly a sharp contrast to the Creepers.

Suddenly, the trio of Lyoko Warriors noticed a sort of vent opening under the mantas, deploying a small and white floating object that was followed up by dozens more. They resembled skulls, with the Eye of XANA symbol on them.

"What are those supposed to be?" Sissi questioned. "Home decorations?"

That guess was followed up by the skulls exploding around them, causing Sissi to scream in panic.

"What's going on?!"

"Mines!" Aelita shouted in realization. "They're flying mines!"

Ulrich and Sissi's driving skills allowed them to narrowly miss each one before escaping into the tunnel ahead of them. The trio of mantas ceased their pursuit, crying out in defeat to their master.

"Did you know they could do that?!"

"No. XANA must have just finished implementing that ability into them."

The Lyoko Warriors met back up in the lab, where Jeremie was looking over the data Aelita had recovered from Sector Five as Aelita answered Sissi's concerns.

"XANA is definitely getting nervous." Yumi suggested. "With a sixth member on our team, he's been striking harder and faster to try and stop us before we find a cure."

Sissi sighed, her voice filled with worry as she asked, "Only question is, who's going to cave in first, us or him?"

While the rest of the group were less open to their nervousness, they knew Sissi was right. XANA's strength was only growing, while Aelita's antivirus had made no real progress since its inception.

That is, until Jeremie gasped at something he saw on-screen.

"Find anything?" Odd asked.

"Well, these are codes for XANA's subsystems. I cracked them three weeks ago. But this one...this one right here. It looks like the source code to an antivirus!"

Aelita gasped as everyone's full attention came to Jeremie.

"I might be able to use this! If the virus inside of you is anything like this one, I can free you from XANA!"

"You mean..." Aelita smiles at him. "Like soon?"

"Yeah!"

The hearts of everyone present suddenly went up at this news. Considering XANA's most recent attack, there was really no better time for them to cure Aelita and get rid of XANA than right now. The very first thought on Sissi's mind was relief. Relief to be rid of the cruel A.I, not having to worry about dying so often, they could live a peaceful life again.

"Okay, we're outta here. There's a big climbing competition tonight," Odd smiles, grasping Ulrich's arm. "Gotta practice."

No. No way, not climbing. I can't do that.

At that realization, Ulrich snatched his hand back away from his roommate's grip.

"I already told you, I'm not doing it." The brunette said firmly.

"Really?" Yumi asked in surprise. "Why not?"

"Cuz," He said simply, refusing to elaborate as always.

"At least come and watch me," Odd suggested, though Ulrich remained silent.

Seeking to relieve Ulrich's nervousness, Sissi playfully suggested "Come on, Ulrich. For once, Odd's found a sport where being scrawny is a plus!"

Yumi laughed, while Odd rushed into self-defense mode. "Hey, I am not scrawny! I'm svelte! It's not the same."

The Italian crossed his arms with a slight huff, asking Aelita, "You know that, right?"

The pink-ette just shrugged, "Sorry. Don't know what scrawny or svelte mean."

With that, Aelita and Jeremie turned their attention back to the computer, leaving the others to take the elevator out of the Factory.

"So...Sissi..." Yumi slowly said. "About Sector Five..."

"I don't want to talk about it. Not now." Sissi insisted. "Why don't we all just go to gym class? Maybe rock climbing will take my mind off it."

Sissi, in fact, did not go to gym class.

It took her the longest out of the four of them to put on their gym clothes. When she opened the gym doors and saw Yumi there, she noticed Ulrich wasn't sitting next to her as he usually took the opportunity to. Sissi closed the door without entering and walked into a hallway, forlorn.

Why am I still so hung up about this? Yumi would never do something like that to me ever again, I know that.

Sissi closed her eyes, trying to imagine Yumi as the kind-hearted and courageous girl that she knew her to be. Yet when her imagination took over, she started to see the unbridled rage Yumi had on her face that day.

Never had she seen someone so hateful in that moment. Granted, Sissi had been poking at Ulrich and Yumi's emotions over a year before she joined their gang, but Yumi had never given a violent outburst. In addition, Sissi had never been punched by anyone in her life before Yumi.

Come on, Elizabeth. Stop thinking about it. Focus on something else.

She next tried to think about Ulrich, but that inevitably devolved into his inner turmoil over whether he would choose her or Yumi. Sissi did not want to think about what she would say or do if he rejected her romantically. She wasn't ready for that yet.

But what she was ready to do, however, was to respond to a feminine cry of pain that echoed in a nearby hallway.

Sissi ran over to see Tamiya's hands on her mouth, gasping as she saw that Milly had tripped and scraped her knee. Pain had flared through her little body, and she'd started wailing at it, to the horror of her best friend, who seemed too paralyzed to act.

"Milly!"

Sissi approached the fallen little girl and dropped down.

"Milly!? Are you alright!? What happened!?" Sissi asked.

"What do you think!?" Milly snarked. "I tripped and scraped my knee!"

Milly winced as she sat up and held her injured knee. She's taken by surprise when Sissi scooped her up into her arms, rocking her and asking, "I can get you to the nurse. Do you mind me carrying you?"

Tamiya's jaw dropped at the display of kindness that Sissi was showing, given her reputation and past history of bullying the two of them. Milly's curiosity and surprise slightly quelled the pain on her tiny knee.

"You want to help me? Why?" Milly asked.

"Because you're hurt. Isn't that reason enough? Do you want me to take you to the nurse's office or not?" Sissi asked.

Though still surprised, Milly was coherent enough to nod at Sissi.

Tamiya followed along as Sissi went to the nurse's office.

"Sissi? Is it really you? You haven't been replaced by a clone, have you?" Milly asked.

"Hey! I wasn't that horrible Milly!" Sissi defended.

After arriving at the infirmary, Sissi dropped Milly in one of the beds, where Nurse Yolanda got to work on treating the injury.

"You really have changed, haven't you?" Tamiya asked. Sissi looked down at her, silent and contemplating.

"'The Pink Angel Cameth and granted Sissi a heart!', that's gotta be our headline for this!" Tamiya proclaimed.

While Sissi wasn't looking to be lavished with praise for helping a child in need, Tamiya's raving did make her realize one thing. She had changed. Of course, she would have helped Milly either way, but Sissi would have bragged a lot more about the headline or had it changed.

And then she thought about a parallel. As she stood over the fallen girl, it sharply reminded her of when Yumi had lowered her hand in an attempt to help Sissi. Milly hadn't rejected her help, but Sissi had rejected Yumi's, all because she was too afraid to accept it.

I can't do that. Not anymore.

With a deep sigh, Sissi left the infirmary as Tamiya was still ranting about the headline and came back to the gym doors. This time, she mustered the willpower to open them and enter.

"Here's lesson #1 for you all: fashion won't help whip you all into shape! You hear me?!"

Jim Morales was spouting off as usual from that loudmouth of his as he observed the rock climbing exercises the class was taking. Right now, Herb and Odd were competing while Yumi and Ulrich were sitting down.

Sissi noticed what Jim was yelling about this time when she realized Yumi and Ulrich wore different gym outfits.

For Yumi, her jacket was blacker and darker, though the inside was still pink. Her pants were now full length, none of her legs exposed. For shoes, she now wore white sneakers with white soles and red laces.

In Ulrich's case, his shoes were now black with black soles, though the rest of his outfit was the same.

"Taking up after Yumi?" Sissi joked as she asked Ulrich, sitting down next to Yumi, to the Japanese girl's surprise.

"When Odd said you and him changed up your outfits, he dared us to change ours up in some way. We all made some changes except Jeremie, who thought he was fine the way he was."

"I'M KING OF THE WORLD!"

Sissi looked up to see Odd's cry of victory as he completed the rock-climbing course and Herb predictably failed and fell onto the training mat below.

"Okay, Stern!" Jim turned his attention to the brunette. "The wall, your turn!"

Sissi and Yumi immediately noticed Ulrich sputtering and hesitating.

"Well...you see...Jim...uh..."

Before Jim could question the German's hesitation, a certain boy came up to him and said, "First one to top! Wanna make it a race?"

Before Ulrich stood none other than William Dunbar, whose gym outfit consisted of a black t-shirt, full-length black trousers and pure black shoes with silver lacings. Ulrich continued hesitating, however, and Sissi began to feel like something was wrong.

"Uh, Jim, I don't think he's comfortable with-"

"Don't tell me you're scared!" William teased. Ulrich narrowed his eyes, the challenge spurring him into action.

"No, I'm not scared, I-" Jim interrupted the boy's explanation when he yelled "Come on, Stern! Show us what you got! Up that wall, on the double!"

Ulrich reluctantly stood up and headed to the wall, where Odd gave him a pat on the shoulder with some encouragement.

"Hey, Yumi." Sissi asked and received her attention. "Why do you think Ulrich kept hesitating? He was pretty insistent on not going in the lab."

At that, Yumi was given pause. As much as she and Ulrich liked to tease each other, she couldn't deny that the brunette's hesitations were more serious and nervous than usual. Also dividing her attention was the fact that Sissi was now sitting and actually talking to her, though Yumi could see her tone laced with nervousness.

Back in the lab room, Jeremie and Aelita eagerly watched the computer screen as the former typed in commands to test out if the antivirus would cure Aelita. The green bar next to Aelita's avatar filled up, eventually reaching 100% and causing a Green plus sign to flash in front of the window.

"Yes!" Jeremie beamed. "It worked! It actually worked! We have a cure for XANA's virus!"

At that news, Aelita grabbed Jeremie's hands, pulling him out of the chair as she sought out a tight embrace, which Jeremie happily returned.

"What if-" Aelita stammered in her excitement. "What if you injected me with the antivirus, right now? We could surprise the others!"

"Uh, right now? Isn't that a bit risky?" Jeremie cocked an eyebrow, unsure. There could have been a bug that the test run didn't detect, an aspect of the program they missed, or the Scanner might not handle the procedure properly. Still though, his own excitement left him vulnerable to her suggestions.

"It will be just as risky in two hours, or two days." Aelita argued, to which the young genius immediately gave in and instructed her to head on down to the scanners, which she did.

This could actually be it. Jeremie thought. It could actually end here, and honestly, not a moment too soon.

After the Polymorphic specter attack, Jeremie's work had been relentless, desperately hoping that he could cure Aelita before XANA launched his next attack. The Polymorph had done tremendous emotional damage, and Jeremie wasn't sure if the group could take a few more attacks like that.

Meanwhile, back in the gym, Ulrich and William were climbing up the wall. Odd, Yumi and Sissi stood together, rooting for their friend as he fell behind William's fast pacing, much to their concern.

"What is he doing!? Hey, Come on, Ulrich, move it!" Odd yelled.

"You can beat him! Go for it, Ulrich!" Yumi encouraged.

"Come on, Spider-Man!" William mocked his opponent. "Are you spinning webs or falling asleep down there?"

"What is wrong with him? I've never seen Ulrich hesitate like this." Sissi commented.

"Neither have I." Yumi agreed. "I think you were right before Sissi. Ulrich looks like he really hates climbing. It's as if he's afraid to..."

Then her eyes widened in realization. "Oh, no..."

Soon after, Ulrich slipped and fell on the training mat, flat on his back. Odd, Yumi and Sissi stood over him, wondering what had gotten into him.

"Oh, I see. A little nap before lunch, right?" Odd joked, though Ulrich was not in the mood for it.

"Leave me alone." Ulrich stood, shook off the dizziness and dusted himself off.

"You've got Vertigo. Is that it?" Yumi asked.

Ulrich silently confirmed this before storming off without another word.

"Ulrich!" Sissi called out.

"Ulrich, wait!" Yumi called out next.

Sissi and Yumi took a step after him, but Odd stepped in front of them and suggested. "Wait a minute, we should give him some time to cool off."

At that, the women reluctantly and silently agreed.

Back in the lab room, Aelita stood in a scanner, ready for her cure.

"Ready?" He asked using the lab's speakers.

"Yes! Do it!" Aelita eagerly replied. She was as eager to be done with XANA and be free to live a regular life as Jeremie was. With that, she closed her eyes as Jeremie closed the scanner and pressed the enter key to begin inserting her antivirus.

Jeremie stared intently, watching for even the slightest sign of an error. The progress bar reached 100% again, but the scanner did not open up and a small alert sounded out. Panicking, the young genius leapt out of his chair and took the elevator down into the scanner room.

What have I done? I shouldn't have done it right away. I should have done more tests!

Jeremie's thoughts descended into self-guilt until the elevator reached its destination, after which he rushed to the scanner Aelita was in and pulled it open, resulting in the pink-ette falling limb into his arms.

"Aelita?! How do you feel? Say something!"

Aelita opened her eyes, leaned in with an amused smile, and said, "Something."

Jeremie laughed, the tension sucked out of him in an instant.

"If you can make jokes as bad as Odd's," He quipped. "Then you must be okay."

Aelita wrapped her arms around Jeremie as they entered another tight embrace.

I'm free. I'm actually free.

In all her life, never before had Aelita felt happiness more than in this moment, and she wanted to savor it forever.

[Commence Operation: Predator]

One of XANA's specters emerged from one of Kadic's wirings and traveled outside of the building, heading into the forest to look for a suitable vessel. It was only a couple of minutes before the ghost noticed a trio of wolves gathered about.

The lead wolf, a black furred one, growled and barked at the ghost, who was very much undeterred. The pack leader lunged at the ghost in reply, only for the ghost to physically enter its mouth. The wolf yelped, squirming around in the ground as the two white-furred wolves next to it backed away in terror.

The lead wolf suddenly stopped squirming, its eyes flashing with the XANA symbol. The two other wolves barked at its pack leader, turning hostile, only for the wolf to lunge and bite at them. It wasn't a long struggle before the vastly superior predator claimed them into the A.I.'s grasp.

"So, it looks like Sissi is starting to feel better around you."

Sissi was taking longer to change her clothes than the others, prompting Odd and Yumi to go find Ulrich without her for the time being. After the two hadn't found him in his room, they thought he went to the factory to mope and so changed the subject.

"She knows you're not going to punch her in the face again, right?" Odd sarcastically asked.

"How would you feel if I accused you of assaulting Ulrich and then broke your nose in front of everyone?"

"Bad." The Italian admitted. "Very bad."

"Exactly." Yumi sighed. "Even with what happened at Sector Five this morning, I can't rush how Sissi feels, or what Ulrich feels."

"Hey!" Their discussion was halted when they noticed a certain nerd and a pink-haired girl rushing towards them.

"We've got great news!" Jeremie announced. "We found the antivirus! And I've already given it to Aelita!"

Yumi and Odd gasped simultaneously.

"You...you cured Aelita?!" Odd sputtered in disbelief.

"Yes!" Aelita cheered.

"That's so great!" Yumi exclaimed.

"All we have to do now is shut down the Supercomputer and its adios to XANA!" Said Aelita.

Odd was too stunned to say anything else, realizing that his adventures were coming to an end as suddenly as they had begun.

Wow...I...XANA's going to die and...it's all over?

Yumi, by some miracle, stayed focused enough to say "Okay, but not without Ulrich. We have to find him first."

"Why? Where is he?" Jeremie asked.

"Out somewhere hiding." Then Odd corrected himself. "I mean, sulking."

"In that case, he's in the forest." The young genius surmised. "He always goes there when he feels like moping."

"I'll leave Sissi a text and give her the news." Said Aelita.

Yumi and Odd headed off, while Aelita took out her cell phone and began to type in Sissi's number to leave a text. The two then entered Jeremie's room.

Great work, Ulrich. Just great. You couldn't just say "I have Vertigo" and back out. No, you just had to make a complete idiot of yourself in front of everyone.

Ulrich sat in the forest, leaning against a tree as he picked up a nearby stick and broke it half. Then he started breaking the halves into other halves, repeating this process until he found a new twig to start all over again.

It seemed that he had handled his vertigo quite fine on Lyoko. Even after they had gotten the vehicles, Ulrich all but ignored his vertigo as they focused on the missions whether or not they involved riding through Lyoko's skies.

Why is it that when it's clearly time for me to do something and I know it'll be worse if I don't do it, I still just refuse to act?

Ulrich tossed the stick he was handling to the side in his frustration. His vertigo was just one of the examples he could think of, the most prominent being Sissi and Yumi. Sissi had to encourage him to vent his feelings in the factory, and Ulrich knew it had helped. And yet still, he and Sissi found themselves repulsed by Yumi after the Polymorph incident.

Like Sissi after her nightmare, he went to Nurse Yolanda to get some pills so he wouldn't see Sissi's face calling him a pathetic and useless boy when he slept. Healing was a gradual process, but in Ulrich's case, a "gradual progress" could apply to literally everything he did.

Even Sissi was making faster progress by the way she was sitting next to Yumi in the gym. He assumed she wouldn't come at all to the gym, and it seemed he was right until Sissi really did show up and tried to encourage him.

Sissi, Sissi out of all people is finally changing for the better. So why can't I?

That thought was cut off by a low growl. Ulrich stood up and looked in the direction of the growl, to no avail, and then he heard a couple more twigs snapping.

Ulrich didn't snap those twigs.

Some kind of wildlife out here? What if...

"Ulrich, there you are!"

Ulrich turned to a different direction, seeing Odd and Yumi heading towards him. Ulrich let them.

"So, back to your usual cool self yet?" Odd offered as a way of encouragement.

"Not 100%" Ulrich said as he turned away from them, for which Yumi put a hand on his shoulder to support him. Ulrich closed his eyes, struggling not to break away.

Ulrich, you idiot. She literally punched Sissi for you. She's not going to hurt you, and you know it.

"Well, this might help you quit sulking. We've got some incredible news!"

That news is gonna have a miracle at this point.

"Jeremie found the antivirus and cured Aelita!"

"W-WHAT?!" Ulrich gasped, practically leaping away in surprise as all his moping vanished in an instant.

"Yep!" Odd cheered. "All that's left is for us to head down to the factory and say bye-bye to XANA!"

Ulrich's eyes were wide as dinner plates as he processed this. No more XANA. No more constant attacks. No more Lyoko. It would all be over.

While Aelita sat on Jeremie's bed, the genius himself was typing away at his keyboard, writing out what he believed to be the end of their adventures.

"I don't believe it. I'm actually writing the final entry of the Lyoko travel logbook. Can you imagine?"

Aelita, however, said nothing, prompting Jeremie to turn around and notice she put her hand on her forehead, as if she were having a headache.

"Uh...Aelita...Are you okay?"

"Not really..." Aelita's response was barely audible, which only concerned Jeremie even more.

"Do you think it's the antivirus?" He questioned.

"No. It's just an energy slump. I think I just need to sleep it off. I'll go lie down in my room for a couple of minutes and come back."

Jeremie accepted the suggestion, though his mind was already wondering if he really did mess up the antivirus transfer. His heart shuddered at the thought of their happiness at that moment being all for nought. He turned back to his computer, while outside, Aelita ran into a very excited cheerleader.

"Aelita!" Sissi stammered. "Is...is it true?! Your text message, i-it said..."

"We think we found an antivirus, yes, but..."

And then both girls looked down to see Aelita's hands turning transparent, and then totally invisible.

"That..." Sissi sputtered. "That looks like what happened when me and Odd switched bodies!"

"I thought...I thought I was cured..." There was no doubt in Aelita's mind now; the antivirus had done this to her. Whatever happiness she had was being shattered with every word she spoke. With every drop of realization.

And then her legs disappeared, and then her entire arms, followed by her head and torso.

Sissi was on the verge of screaming, watching in absolute horror as her close friend vanished entirely.

"I'm still here, Sissi!" Aelita asserted. "I think I've turned completely invisible!"

"How is that possible?!"

"I don't know, but we need to see Jeremie, fast!"

Sissi had no argument there, both girls rushing back to Jeremie's dorm as fast as they could. They opened the room to his room just in time to see a red tower and an alarm button sound from his laptop.

"Oh, no!" He shouted. "XANA's attacking!"

Why is it that this monster always picks the worst timing possible?! Both Sissi and Aelita thought.

"Jeremie!" The boy turned around to see Sissi pointing at thin air. "It's Aelita! She's turned into Sue Storm!"

"...Who?"

"Do...Do you not watch the Fantastic Four?"

Jeremie blinked, confused.

"Never mind that!" Aelita's voice shouted from seemingly out of nowhere, provoking even more confusion into Jeremie.

"Uh...Aelita? What's going on?"

"I've gone completely invisible. I'm standing in the room, in front of you!"

Jeremie reached out and felt a spot...a spot that he probably shouldn't be feeling.

"Hey!"

A wave of embarrassment crashed upon the young genius as he hurriedly apologized. Sissi put her hands on her hips and sighed.

I swear, Odd's stupidity is starting to become a pandemic...

"Do you think XANA did this?" Aelita questioned.

"Maybe. XANA could have either rigged the antivirus we got or it's from the tower he activated. You and I go to the factory. Sissi, you go out to the forest and find the others. Tell them what's going on!"

"Uh...the forest?" Sissi questioned "What's everyone doing there? Going hunting like a pack of wolves?"

Jeremie rolled his eyes.

Back in the woods, Odd, Ulrich and Yumi were ready to walk down to meet everyone at the factory until…

"Hey! Guys!"

The trio turned to see Sissi sprinting their way, stopping in front of them to catch her breath.

"Did you hear the good news?" Yumi asked.

"Yeah, not good news!" Sissi caught her breath. "Something's happened to Aelita! This antivirus thing backfired and turned her into Sue Storm!"

Ulrich and Yumi just stared at her in confusion, though Sissi didn't notice Odd widening his eyes in realization.

Oh, come on! Am I seriously the one who's heard of the Fantastic Four?!

Sissi rolled her eyes and elaborated, saying "She's turned completely invisible! And not only that, XANA's attacking!"

All of the excitement the trio had left them as quickly as it came, replaced with a wave of disappointment.

"Aw...darn it." Ulrich snapped. "Could things get any worse?"

The answer to that question came in the form of a black-furred wolf stepping into view.

"Oh...uh..." Odd stammered. "A nice little doggy...I hope?"

The wolf's eyes flashed with the symbol of XANA on them, and Ulrich took a step back.

"No Odd...a big bad wolf!"

Sissi put her hands on her mouth, trembling in terror as three white-furred wolves and two more black-furred wolves came into view behind their pack leader.

"W-When you're faced with a p-pack of wolves...what do you do?" Odd nervously asked.

"YOU RUN!"

At Yumi's declaration, the four rushed away, the pack of wolves in hot pursuit.

Now, Sissi had seen some pretty crazy stuff this last week. Her father becoming a sith lord and shooting lightning out of his hands, swapping bodies with a boy, that sort of stuff. Getting chased by a pack of feral beasts intent on tearing her apart limb from limb, though?

That was something that struck pure, absolute terror in Sissi's heart. She ran so fast that she even began to outpace the other three.

"There!" Yumi pointed out. "We can take shelter up there!"

Ulrich took one look at what Yumi pointed at.

"Oh, no..."

It was a steep rocky cliff, one that would require the four to climb up.

"Let's go, come on!" Odd urged his roommate, who reluctantly carried on.

In her terror, Sissi did not care in the slightest about the height and had the easiest time of the four getting up top. Yumi and Odd weren't long behind, but Ulrich started hesitating after just a few steps up, as the pack of wolves closed in behind them.

"Ulrich, hurry up!" The Japanese girl pleaded.

The pack leader reared its head up, took a couple steps back, and lunged as high up as it could, successfully sinking its fangs into Ulrich's foot.

"ULRICH!" Odd, Yumi, and Sissi simultaneously screamed.

The German boy used his other foot to kick the pack leader off of him, sending the wolf to the ground with a yelp. The other wolves howled and growled, taunting and threatening their prey.

"Don't look down!"

Odd's advice went unheeded as Ulrich glanced down at the pack of wolves below him and his vision started to blur.

"Concentrate on your hand grips and don't think about anything else!"

This piece of advice stuck with Ulrich better than the last, and he found himself able to focus and climb most of the way up.

"Almost there!" Yumi encouraged as she put her hand out for Ulrich to grab. Ulrich reached his hand out-

Just as the brunette lost his footing and his hand slipped.

"NO!"

Yumi's scream was followed by her grabbing Ulrich's wrist just in the nick of time. Odd and Sissi quickly joined Yumi in pulling their friend up to safety. Ulrich took some breaths to relieve himself.

"Ugh, it isn't XANA! It's a bug in the antivirus! I have to deactivate it, but it's going to take a little while."

The word "frustration" did not even begin to cover the whirlwind of emotions that Jeremie was feeling right now. He and Aelita were right at their moment of triumph, and then a simple bug tore it all away from them.

"What about the activated tower?" The invisible Aelita asked. "What's the attack?"

"I have no idea. I'll try calling the others." Jeremie was typing in Sissi's phone number when Yumi's number appeared on-screen instead.

"Jeremie, we've got a big problem. We're in the forest with a pack of wolves possessed by XANA!"

Aelita gasped in horror, while Jeremie suppressed his fears, trying to stay calm.

"Aelita can't go and deactivate the Tower by herself! Is there any way you can get here?"

"We'll do our best, but I don't see any way out. I'll keep you posted!" Yumi volunteered before hanging up, leaving Jeremie with his hand on his forehead.

"Jeremie, send me to Lyoko!"

"No!" Jeremie protested immediately. "We have to wait."

"Wait for what?!" An incredulous Aelita yelled. "For them to be devoured?! We have no choice!"

If I refuse her, she won't need Sissi to knock me out this time...

"Oh, okay!" The young genius conceded, unable to stand the thought of both that and his friends getting eaten alive. He reluctantly started up the virtualization process, and it wasn't long before Aelita found herself on Lyoko, fully visible again.

"Jeremie, I'm here!" The pink-ette reported. "It's good to be visible again!"

"I'm sending you the Overwing!" Jeremie reported just as said vehicle appeared. "The tower shouldn't be far!"

Aelita had no bodyguards, but it didn't deter her the first time and it wouldn't deter her now, especially that Jeremie was actually on the computer guiding her. Hopping onto the vehicle, Aelita rode in a straight line towards the Tower.

"Strange." Jeremie noted. "I'm not picking up any monsters on the radar."

"No Scyphozoa." Aelita confirmed. "Don't worry, I'll keep my eyes open."

To the duo's surprise and unease, Aelita made it without opposition to the Tower's location: an ice cavern behind a waterfall with steps of ice platforms leading up to it. Aelita hopped across the ice blocks until she was right in front of the Tower. Closing her eyes, Aelita leaned against the Tower's surface-

and hit her head against it.

Aelita rubbed her head, shocked, and put her hand onto the Tower's surface, which also didn't go through.

"Jeremie..." Aelita nervously stated. "We've got a problem..."

Wolves. A pack of wolves. We're going to be eaten alive. We're going to be torn apart, limb from limb…

Yumi sat next to Sissi who was shaking in fear and panic while Odd and Ulrich searched for a way out of their predicament but to no avail.

"Your foot okay, Ulrich?" Odd asked as he noticed it was bleeding, but Ulrich kept himself standing as if it wasn't.

"Y-Yes." Ulrich lied. "I'm fine."

"Okay, Ulrich, it's almost insulting that you think that I'm that stupid."

Ulrich growled at him. "What do you want me to say? Something like 'Oh, well, at least I wasn't wearing sandals?!'"

A growl interrupted their argument, and the four kids turned to see that one of the black-furred wolves had managed to get atop the cliff.

"Oh, great." Odd sighed, exasperated. "A flying wolf!"

Odd, Ulrich and Yumi formed a defensive line while Sissi stood behind, terrified. The wolf slowly advanced towards them, snarling.

"W-What are we going to do?!" Sissi fearfully asked.

"We won't let them hurt you!" Yumi tried to assure her, to no avail.

"Um...this is usually where the kind hunter comes to the rescue, right?" Odd tried to quip but had a quite hard time hiding his terror.

The wolf took a look at each of the defenders and decided upon Ulrich, who was standing in the middle, to pounce at. The brunette lost his composure immediately, tumbling backwards and onto Sissi, sending both of them off the cliff.

"ULRICH! SISSI!"

The two of them watched in horror as Ulrich and Sissi screamed and plummeted. They fell through a small tree on the cliff-side, which softened their fall, but they would then land on another black-furred wolf.

Which, upon contact with the humans, immediately phased and vanished.

"Huh?!" Odd shouted from above.

Sissi moaned, her hair slightly disheveled and suffering a few scratches from the fall. Ulrich's condition was no different, but still, he noticed a white-furred wolf approaching Sissi and punched it, causing that wolf to also suddenly vanish on contact.

He turned back to Yumi and Odd, shouting at them from below that "It's a decoy! They're not real! They're just images!"

"Huh!?" Sissi stood up and launched a kick at one of white wolves which disappeared after touching it.

Odd turned to the black-furred wolf atop the cliff that pushed Ulrich off and kicked it, after which it instantly vanished.

"That XANA's even slyer than I thought!" Odd seethed.

Hands on her hips, Yumi nodded in agreement before rushing to the edge of the cliff.

"Come on, decoys or not, Sissi and Ulrich need our help!"

Odd and Yumi wasted no more time on words, heading down to see Ulrich and Sissi were being backed into a corner by three more white-furred wolves and the pack leader Ulrich kicked earlier.

One white-furred wolf pounced at Yumi, who brought her leg up for a high kick, which connected with the wolf's head and caused it to disappear.

Sissi was watching all of this with a look of utter bafflement with her friends.

"B-But..." She muttered, confused and disoriented. "Why just images?"

Sissi got her answer when Ulrich kicked at the pack leader, which surprised him by ducking and biting into his kicking leg. Ulrich screamed in agony and punched the wolf off of him, before falling to the ground.

"ULRICH!" Odd cried out as he picked up his bleeding roommate, backing until the boys were caught in a corner.

"T-that one is real..." Ulrich muttered.

"So are these two!" Yumi pointed out the two white-furred wolves behind the pack leader. The three very real wolves slowly advanced, sizing up their prey as Sissi's sobbing began to resume.

Suddenly, Yumi's phone rang again and she heard Jeremie on the other line.

"It's no picnic here, hurry!" A pause, and soon after the wolves stopped advancing, opting to simply stare at their prey.

"Why...Why aren't they..." Ulrich muttered, his voice becoming faint.

"Sissi!" Odd shouted "We need to patch up these bites or he's going to bleed out!"

No...I...I can't let this happen!

"Sissi, please help!" The Italian pleaded, while Yumi was unable to take her eyes off the wolves.

After gaining more degree of consciousness beyond fear, Sissi opened her purse and used some stuff in it to create a sling for his bleeding legs. This was in clear view of the wolves, but they still did not intervene.

"Huh...first my arm...now my legs..." Ulrich mused.

"What?" Sissi questioned, as she was not bandaging his arms.

"There was a XANA attack where you and Ulrich were trapped in an elevator." Odd quickly explained, if only to get her focused. "He told me that you took care of him when the elevator crashed and broke his arm."

Huh, I guess this is why I got healing powers on Lyoko. Sissi briefly mused.

"You mean she can't enter them anymore?!" Yumi shouted in surprise while on the phone with Jeremie, catching everyone else's attention. "...Okay, we'll be right there!"

"Aelita needs our help on Lyoko!" Yumi would have told them the details of her being unable to deactivate the Tower if they weren't about to be eaten alive.

"Glad to hear it, but how do you plan on getting out of this jam?" Odd asked, trying hard but successfully to hide his fear. The wolves growled, as if tasting his fear and finding it delicious.

"We'll split up." Ulrich said as he tried to get up, even though it pained him severely. "I'll take-ACH!"

Ulrich immediately fell back down as a white-furred wolf took the opportunity to charge at him-

Only for Sissi to pull out a can of perfume from her purse and spray it at the beast's eyes, causing it to yelp and fall back behind the pack leader.

"You take Ulrich to the factory!" Sissi yelled. "I'll...I'll..."

Sissi's attempt to volunteer herself to stall the wolves was stifled by her fear. Yumi, however, picked up two large branches and stood next to her.

"We'll take care of them." Yumi tossed Sissi a branch which she caught.

"Are you both out of your minds?!" Ulrich almost screamed, if not for the blood loss he was suffering.

"Ulrich, you need the Scanners to heal you. Odd, take him to the Factory whether he likes it or not." Yumi both ordered and pleaded.

"She's right. Go! Yumi and I got this!" Sissi assured. "I might be a bit traumatized but I can handle a few mangy mongrels!"

Odd and Ulrich stared at the girls, jaws agape at what they were volunteering to do. Nonetheless, Odd saw their point and hoisted his roommate over his shoulder, helping him up.

"On three, get going." Yumi said.

"You mean, one, two, and go?" Odd asked, "Or do you mean one, two, three, and go?"

Oh, for the love of-!

Yumi started to roll her eyes at his remark before another white-furred wolf charged and was held back by Sissi swinging her branch.

"JUST GO!" Both women shouted simultaneously, prompting the boys to at last run (or in Ulrich's case, limp) off.

"Work fast, please."

"What else do you think i'm doing?!"

Jeremie shouted at Aelita as the young genius worked under pressure to try and fix the bug, then he noticed something on the Scanner.

"Aelita, behind you!"

Aelita turned around to see none other than the Scyphozoa floating towards her. She put her back to the Tower, her only way out being blocked by the giant jellyfish.

"NO!" Jeremie screamed.

She couldn't run, and both XANA and Jeremie knew at this very moment, she had never been more defenseless. XANA had always waited to send in the Scyphozoa until the most opportune times, and this was no exception.

Or was it?

Aelita gave an answer to that question by raising a hand towards the Scyphozoa and concentrating as hard as she could. Just as the monster was ready to begin wrapping its tentacles around her, a massive block of ice rose up underneath the Scyphozoa and swallowed it whole, freezing it solid.

The pink-ette heard Jeremie cheering in celebration. "Great job, Aelita! I forgot you could do that!"

Aelita's creativity had different behavior depending on the Sector she was in, and her ability to encase the Scyphozoa in ice was only available in the Ice Sector as a result. She then pointed towards the water and conjured up several smaller ice platforms for her to hop and skip on to get around the frozen monster.

"I'm heading out of the cave! I'll find someplace to hide while you finish debugging my program!" Aelita said as she ran back to the waterfall entrance.

"Aelita, watch out!"

Two hornets promptly swooped forward and blocked her way out, much to Aelita's dismay and Jeremie's horror.

"And...of course..." Aelita groaned. "Why am I not even surprised?"

"I...cannot believe...we just left them there..."

"Me neither, but good buddy, just remember that hell hath no fury like two women scorned!"

Odd should know, having personal experience with that exact situation. Even though he was shorter than the brunette, Odd relentlessly carried his roommate all the way to the factory, although they were forced to head down the ramp instead of using the ropes given the two keys.

As soon as they entered the elevator, Odd dialed up Jeremie's number to let them know they were here, then helped Ulrich into a Scanner before he himself entered one. By that time, he was on the brink of collapse from carrying Ulrich for such a long distance, and Ulrich had to put his hands on the Scanner walls to keep himself steady.

"We're ready Jeremie! You can start the process." Ulrich called out.

The scanners closed on them and Jeremie began the process, bringing up Odd and Ulrich's IDs one by one.

"Transfer Odd! Transfer Ulrich!" Both boys were lifted off their feet.

"Scanner Odd! Scanner Ulrich!" The boys were scanned and their virtual signatures were recorded.

"Virtualization!"

A gust of wind sent Odd and Ulrich to Lyoko.

The two boys found themselves virtualized into the Ice sector soon after. Ulrich shook his legs to find them completely healed, to the relief of both boys.

"You know what you have to do! Your vehicles are on the way!" Jeremie announced as he brought up the Overboard and the Overbike, which were quickly boarded by its owners.

Odd and Ulrich, wasting no time, sped on ahead towards the Tower, only to find two Megatanks in their way. Odd went right and Ulrich went left, trying to split their attention. The Megatanks fired away, one of them making a direct hit on the Overbike, sending Ulrich falling to the ground.

"I've got you, good buddy!" Odd said as he swooped around and grabbed Ulrich by the hand to lift him up.

Ulrich rides on the Overboard behind Odd. "Thanks buddy."

"No problem man. I've got your back. You take one Megatank, I got the other!"

Ulrich nodded in agreement and Odd dove down towards the Megatanks. They fired their lasers and Odd dodged them, moving left, then right.

"Laser Arrow!"

Odd fired a shot, forcing one of the Megatanks to close up and give Ulrich an opening.

"Now!" Ulrich leapt off the Overboard, landing on the ground before yelling, "Super Sprint!"

Ulrich sped off, side-stepping to the right to dodge laser, then the left to dodge another. He drew his saber and with a battle cry he leapt towards the Megatank as it charged up a stronger laser. Ulrich stabbed its weak spot with his saber just as the creature blew him away with its laser, devirtualizing him before blowing up. It was an exact replica of what happened in the body swap trip.

Damn it! Odd seethed. He normally wasn't one to curse, but this situation was getting out of hand. Aelita was cornered, he had to witness his best friend bleeding out and later devirtualized by a giant bowling ball, and now Sissi and Yumi were on the verge of getting devoured. This would not stand.

Odd performed evasive maneuvers as the other Megatank reopened and continued firing at him, until Odd had the idea of rushing directly at it. Before the Megatank could fire again, Odd jumped off the Overboard just as the vehicle crashed against the Megatank's Eye of XANA, destroying it and the Overboard.

"Nice job, Odd! Now, get moving! You're the only one who can do anything now!" Jeremie's voice ran out, to which Odd wasted no time bragging and ran ahead.

I cannot believe I am doing this.

As Sissi held out her stick, her hand shaking as she stood directly beside Yumi.

What was I thinking?!

"Sissi." Yumi panted, trying to swallow her own fear. "Just stick together and we can get through this."

Sissi looked wordlessly at Yumi, her eyes wide with panic and away from the wolves. One of the white-furred wolves took that as an opportunity to charge forward. Yumi whacked it with her stick, which promptly broke apart at the impact. The pack leader howled in response, signaling for an all-out attack.

"RUN!" Sissi and Yumi screamed simultaneously as they began a retreat. The former frantically tossed her stick, then sprayed her perfume at the wolves, both of which proved quite ineffective in slowing them down now.

"WHAT DO WE DO?!" Sissi shrieked.

"To the Factory!" Yumi yelled. "If we can get to the elevator, we can get down to the lab to safety!"

The two girls soon found themselves out of the forest and onto an open road, where a bus was heading down the path.

"Truck!" Sissi shouted, preparing to stop and wait for it to pass by.

"We can't wait!" Yumi grabbed her by the wrist and ran as the wolves began to catch up. Sissi screamed again as the bus driver honked at them and they barely made it across in time. The wolves, on the other hand, had to pause their pursuit momentarily lest they get run over.

Yumi and Sissi passed by some civilians as they ran across a street block, who panicked upon seeing the wolves and ran off, some into buildings. Others called 911, though the two girls knew the police wouldn't be catching up to them in time. Sissi started panting, all this running taking its toll on her.

"So..." Yumi conversationally started while panting as well. "The wolves...a bit more...uncomfortable than me?"

Even though they were literally about to be eaten alive by beasts, Sissi didn't fail to see the humor in her question. She had been fearing Yumi for almost a week now, only to find herself running from a life and death situation alongside her.

"Let's just say..." Sissi panted. "I'd take you over...being eaten alive by...some mongrels..."

"Any day...of the week?" Yumi softly questioned.

"Any day of...the freaking century!"

The girls shared an exasperated laugh before another howl of the wolves began to instill fear in them. Yumi didn't dare look back to see if they were gaining on her, instead taking out her cell phone and dialing Jeremie's number. Sissi was sweating, far too focused on the chase to hear what Jeremie was saying and barely able to understand Yumi.

"How's it going? A complete mess...and you? Ditto!"

Before long, the women found themselves nearing the bridge of the factory, pursued very closely by the trio of wolves that were intent on devouring them. A few seconds later, they sprinted across the bridge, passing the sewer manhole.

"Me and Sissi are on the bridge to the factory, we'll-ACH!"

Yumi was cut off when the pack leader pounced and tackled her to the ground. Sissi stopped running, spinning around to see the pack leader sinking its fangs into Yumi's right leg, causing her to scream in immense pain.

"NO!" Sissi wailed. "YUMI!"

In the ice cave, Aelita cried out as she fell to one knee. She had tried to summon another ice block to encase the hornets in, but one of them shot her in the leg as a warning. While XANA did need her alive, that wasn't to mean the A.I. had reservations about hurting her.

Aelita heard a noise behind her, turning to see the Scyphozoa's tentacles turning red. The ice began to crack.

No...don't tell me XANA gave that thing the power to...

The Ice shattered in a thousand pieces as the Scyphozoa freed itself, advancing upon its prey once more. Aelita turned to run, only to be stopped when the hornets shot in front of her. The Scyphozoa wasted no further time in wrapping Aelita up in its tentacles and beginning the mind-draining process.

"Odd, MOVE IT!" Jeremie yelled.

It was about a minute afterwards when Odd found himself in front of the waterfall entrance to the cave. He took a sneak peek, seeing the hornets' backs turned to him as they were observing the mind draining process. If he rushed in, the hornets might get rid of him before he could free Aelita.

Then he looked at the water, and an idea struck him.

"Jeremie." He whispered, as to not alert the monsters. "Is the Ice Sector water the same as the Digital Sea? Will I die if I touch it?"

"No, why?" The young genius inquired.

Odd tapped the water with his foot, but immediately recoiled and shivered from the cold…which he isn't supposed to feel on Lyoko. Nevertheless, Odd held his breath and dived into the water, the hornets completely oblivious as he swam underneath and past them. A few seconds later, Odd found himself directly underneath the Scyphozoa. He then burst out from the water, his paws aimed at the jellyfish's massive glass head.

"LASER ARROW!"

Odd unleashed a torrent of Laser Arrows, to which the Scyphozoa reacted by swiftly dropping Aelita and retreating. The Cat Boy pounced onto the ice block Aelita fell down on, asking "You okay?"

Aelita nodded, so Odd directed his next question to Jeremie.

"How's it going with the antivirus?" To which Jeremie said, "I'm working on it!"

I hate these freaking Megatanks.

For two of these past three missions, he had been devirtualized by one of them, and the brunette was starting to wonder if those things were designed specifically to make him angry, because they were doing a good job of it.

Once he got up to the lab, however, his thoughts were of something else entirely. He went up to Jeremie and asked, "How's Yumi and Sissi doing?", to which the young genius pulled up a camera feed of Yumi getting bitten by the pack leader and crying out in agony. Ulrich and Jeremie screamed.

Yumi screamed more as the pack leader sank its teeth in deeper. Then, one of the white wolves bit her arm, making her scream even louder as the animal tasted her blood and the pack tried to drag her away.

"Leave her alone you filthy beasts!" Sissi shouted as she kicked the white wolf off Yumi and sprayed the pack leader with her perfume, causing it to back off. She then grabbed the Japanese girl, trying to lift her over her shoulder so they could get away. The pack growled, slowly closing in.

"Come on...Come on..." Ulrich muttered frantically, his fists clenching as terror filled him.

"S-Sissi..." Yumi muttered, feeling the blood loss from her leg and arm as the fangs had sunk in deep.

"It's just a bit further, please, just hang on!" Sissi cried as she tried to get Yumi up to touch the rope. The pack leader decided it was not going to wait for that to happen, as it charged again and slammed its paws into Sissi's back, sending her and Yumi tumbling and screaming off the ledge.

Ulrich cried out in despair as the two women fell to the floor below, limb and completely helpless.

"I've got to get down there!"

"Wait!" Jeremie cried as a green check mark appeared on-screen. "The antivirus is deactivated. Aelita, you can get into the Tower now. I hope this works..."

Ulrich didn't listen to a word Jeremie said as he immediately sprinted into the elevator and took it to the floor below.

No. I can't lose them. Not now. Not like this. I haven't told them. I haven't even told either of them.

Sissi coughed, her vision dreary as she turned to hear Yumi groaning, barely conscious as the blood on her leg seeped onto Sissi's clothes. She had never seen blood before, and if she wasn't so paralyzed by fear right now, she'd likely be vomiting. Both girls were covered in cuts, dirt and bruises, their hairs were disheveled and Sissi had lost her hairband.

"Sissi… L-leave...me... save yourself…"

Even if Sissi were physically capable of doing that, she would do no such thing. Even as the wolves came on down to the lower level and cornered the duo, she would do no such thing. She held Yumi in her arms, not letting go even as she began to stare death in the face.

"I...can't..." Sissi said. I won't.

The wolves closed the distance between them and Sissi and Yumi. Sissi didn't even have the strength to scream. Disheveled, stained by blood, and unable to move, Sissi watched the monsters that would bring their deaths head their way.

"Y...Yumi..." Sissi hugged the Japanese girl, holding her close as doom awaited them. "I won't leave you. Never again."

Yumi's eyes widened slightly as the wolves closed in, passing the elevator and she hugged onto Sissi just as tightly, the two crying together. The pack leader came behind Sissi and reared its shadow over her, while the two white-furred wolves stayed in front, the Eyes of XANA flashing menacingly in their eyes.

The pack leader bared its fangs and reared its head towards Sissi's throat, ready to tear it out. The other two wolves began to rear and bite at Sissi and Yumi's clothes. They cried out in pain as their fangs sank in.

The pack leader's fangs lunged for Sissi's throat.

They never made it.

All of a sudden, the pack leader's eyes returned to normal, as did that of the other two animals. All three wolves fell unconscious. Sissi and Yumi could barely see or hear anything by that point, even as the elevator came on the floor and revealed a screaming and frantic Ulrich.

He was shouting something about a "Return", but all Sissi could feel were two things: pain, and the feeling of Yumi in her arms. Even as the pack tore at her body, she wouldn't let go of Yumi. The girl who punched her was gone from Sissi's mind.

As a bright light consumed them, there was only the thought of her best friend.

When the Return to the Past finished, the gang found themselves back in the factory, back to when Odd, Ulrich, Yumi and Sissi had exited the elevator after entering the factory.

Sissi and Yumi turned and practically smashed into each other for the tightest hug either of them had ever done in their lives. Ulrich, Odd, Aelita and Jeremie watched, their interest earned.

"S-Sissi..."

"I meant it. I meant everything I said." Sissi choked in tears as she vented. "The Yumi I ran with away from those beasts, that's not the one that hit me that day. You helped me. You stood by me when I was so vulnerable, and then, somehow, I was able to do the same for you. I was about to be devoured and yet the one thing I said was I wouldn't leave you. And now I realize why. Because you're my friend, Yumi. My best friend. You once told me that I could never understand your bonds with them. Your friendships. But now I do. If Aelita never sent me to Lyoko, I never would have. But now, I do."

Sissi let out a sob, and Yumi started to as well with every word Sissi said, as they all came from her heart. Ulrich and Odd remained silent.

"I know I've already said this before. But… I'm so sorry, Sissi… for everything. I really am." Yumi sobbed.

"I broke." Sissi reared her face back from Yumi's shoulder and pressed it against her forehead, so there was no space between them. "In the hermitage, I broke down. I was trashing everything I could get my hands on, because I thought it was all over for us. For us, Ulrich, Odd, Jeremie, even Aelita. I thought you would all just hate me from then on. I was lost. I didn't know what to do. Where to go. I was alone."

"You're not alone." Yumi whispered. "And you never will be."

"That's what Aelita said." Sissi leaned her face back so Yumi could see her tearful smile. "What we did against those wolves just proved that. And back in Sector Five, when you gave me your hand, but I couldn't take it because I was scared of you. I'm not, not anymore."

The two tightly embraced once more.

"Do you trust me, Sissi?"

"I trust you, Yumi. Do you trust me?"

"Absolutely." Yumi asserted. If XANA would deploy another method to divide the group again, he would have to work much harder for it, because never before had they been so united.

As if to demonstrate that, Ulrich, Odd, Aelita and Jeremie approached and joined the hug. Ulrich wasn't even thinking about XANA-Sissi's face as she assaulted him, nor Yumi's reaction anymore. Because from what he was looking at, he just couldn't see it. All he could see before him were two girls that cared for him, each other, and the others deeply.

And he cared about them just as much.

Later that day, the Lyoko Warriors went back to the climbing competition, though Sissi was still late as last time so she could help out Milly again. She sat down next to Yumi, the two girls greeting each other with a smile as the day's events repeated itself. Since she and Jeremie weren't working, Aelita joined them, showing changes made to her own gym outfit.

She was still wearing a dark pink sweater, but her blue shorts were now blue full-length trousers with a white stripe on each side. Her shoes were still white but the lacings were pink and the soles were white.

"Odd dared you to make changes to your gym clothes too, Aelita?" Sissi asked, smiling.

Aelita nodded and the gang watched William challenging Ulrich. Though, this time Ulrich knew how to respond with a little help from Sissi.

"No thanks."

"You chicken?" William teased. "You got Vertigo or what?"

"Yeah." Ulrich simply smirked at him. " What about it? No worse than being afraid of spiders."

William gasped, surprised and Yumi smirked, amused. "Hey? How did you know that?"

"I have my spies." Ulrich said as Sissi subtly giggled in the distance.

"Anyway, see you around Spider-Man." William huffed at Ulrich's taunt and watched silently as Ulrich and his band of friends exited the gym, joined by Jeremie, who was leaning by the door on the other side in his regular clothes since the young nerd had no interest in rock climbing.

"Arachnophobia, huh?" Jim commented. "Reminds me of the time when I worked as an exterminator!"

"You were an exterminator once?" William questioned, though he already knew the answer his P.E. teacher would give.

"I'd rather not talk about it."

"So, Aelita, what's it like being invisible?" Odd asked as they all exited the gym. "I always wanted to be like...you know, Sue in the Fantastic Four?"

"Finally!" Sissi shouted. "A Fantastic Four fan! I was going crazy because none of you ever heard of them!"

"They are fantastic after all." Odd quipped. "But let's be honest, we've got us. The Fantastic Six, right here!"

Everyone laughed at the joke.

[ERROR: Operation: Predator has failed]

[Analysis: All objectives failed, new data gathered, no altercations to primary objective needed]

[New Data: The water in the Ice Sector is survivable for the Lyoko Warriors, unlike the Digital Sea, but not for my monsters]

[New Tactic: Switching from physical and emotional warfare to psychological. The Lyoko Warriors were not weakened enough to finish off just yet]

[Unearthing Old Data: Humans are as vulnerable to death by cold as they are to heat]

[New Operation Initiated: Augmenting Tower activation times. Augmenting specters to alter the environment.]

Chapter Text

[Executing Operation: Cold War, Phase 1]

Within the Ice Sector, red pulsations coursed through the ground as red energy swarmed through the wires, eventually reaching a Tower and turning its aura red.

Promptly, an alarm went off in the room of a certain young genius as his computer sparked to life. Awakening from his sleep, Jeremie got up out of bed and put on his glasses, sitting down on his chair to investigate the alarm. Normally, the Superscan would pop up to indicate an activated Tower.

However, upon searching the Superscan, no such Tower was within sight.

"Something is not right here...what do you mean 'quack'?!"

Angered that his sleep had been disturbed for nothing, Jeremie got up off his chair and went back to bed, taking off his glasses.

"An alarm signal and no activated tower? Huh...that is weird."

As Jeremie sunk back into slumber, he had a sickening feeling that tomorrow would be quite a busy day.

As dawn rose over Kadic academy, Yumi was running up the stairs to reach the second floor, while Aelita and Jeremie looked over the latter's computer. Their attempts to discuss the implications of last night's alarm were hindered by the noise of a certain cat rummaging through Jeremie's trash.

Or more specifically, a Cat Boy.

"Odd, could you make a little less noise?" Jeremie requested of his friend, who ravaged through his trash can as if he were a soldier at war.

"NO!" Odd insisted. "If I don't find the DVD of my short film in the next three seconds, I'll turn into a pumpkin!"

"Which short film?" Ulrich inquired as he sat on Jeremie's bed with Sissi who was trying to read a magazine. "'Natural Grander 2' or 'I Guess our Guest is a Ghost'?"

"'I Guess our Guest is a Ghost'" Odd answered before noticing Jeremie put his hands on his ears and let out a breath of annoyance. "Hey! If you want me to become rich and famous, I absolutely have to give it to T.V.!"

"T.V.?" Aelita questioned. "Isn't television an inanimate object that people watch for entertainment?"

"Not that kind of T.V, Aelita! It's short for 'Thomas Vincent', his real name." Sissi explained, looking up from her magazine.

"But everyone calls him T.V. because he's a famous news reporter on tv. T.V, get it?" Odd joked.

Before Aelita could answer that, the door to the open opened up to reveal a very excited Yumi.

"T.V. is going to be here in five minutes!" Yumi shouted.

"My career is nipped in the bud!" Odd cried in overdramatic despair, putting his hands on his face as he collapsed on the left side of Jeremie's desk. He then lifted his head up, noticing the disk he had been looking for was just off to the left a bit more.

"Yes!" The Italian let out a celebratory cry as he picked up his objective. "Fame, fortune, and glory are mine!"

Sissi didn't know T.V. as well as the other students, but she shared the excitement everyone always had when a celebrity came by Kadic academy. T.V. worked as a reporter for over a decade, and he had a lot of time to establish his reputation in the country.

Outside Kadic academy, an expensive and fancy looking car pulled up. The car door opened and out of it stepped Thomas "T.V." Vincent himself. His glasses shined as he glanced around Kadic's front yard, looking immediately unimpressed. With a huff, TV stepped to the front doors of Kadic, where Jim and Principal Delmas were waiting to open the door for him.

Mr. Delmas pulled out a written rehearsal of the greeting he had for the celebrity and began to read it aloud.

"My dear T.V., on behalf of the students and the faculty, we're very honored that-"

"Okay, okay! No big deal, yada yada. Time is money."

T.V. wasted no time in cutting off the speech before turning to the doorway to see a brunette-haired woman stepping inside.

"This is Edna, my cameraman, uh woman. Person. Whatever! Who cares?! Never on time!"

Mr. Delmas and Jim frowned, considering that Edna had come in right after her boss did. T.V. turned to Edna to continue ranting, yelling "Show up late one more time and you're finished! I've got a hundred and fifty cameramen who'd kill for a chance to work with me!"

"I literally came in two seconds after-"

"Talk back one more time and you're fired on the spot!" T.V. snarled at Edna, who immediately shut up.

The celebrity next turned his attention to Jim and tossed his car keys at him, which smacked against the unprepared P.E. teacher's forehead and fell onto his hand.

"You, sweatshirt! Park my car out of sight from the kids! If any of them inflict even a minor scratch on my car, you're paying for my repair bills!"

T.V. and Edna stormed off as Mr. Delmas and Jim glanced at each other.

"Mr. Delmas, sir...did you-"

"No, by all means, when I arranged the visit, T.V. showed no signs of being this hostile." The principal explained. "If he keeps this up, we will make sure he does not visit again."

Meanwhile, Mrs. Hertz was going on a lecture about plant life. The class had gone on a field trip last week to calculate the yield of a field of corn that they visited, and several students found themselves unable to answer when their teacher asked for the answer. Not waiting for an answer, Mrs. Hertz selected a random student for the question.

"Poliakoff?"

Surprised, Nicholas looked up in confusion and desperately flipped through his book for an answer. He had paid zero attention to the trip, so Nicholas picked a random number from the book and spoke it aloud.

"1527 tons!" Nicholas declared.

"Really, Nicholas?" Mrs. Hertz asked, her voice laced with amusement. Nicholas grinned, believing he had gotten it right.

"Then congratulations, you just solved world hunger!"

The entire classroom erupted into laughter, much to Nicholas' embarrassment.

Fortunately for the jock, he was offered a reprieve from his torment when the door to the classroom abruptly opened up, revealing none other than Thomas "TV" Vincent himself and his camerawoman. Odd's heart raced in excitement, while Ulrich, Sissi and the others watched, happy for him.

"Yes?" Mrs. Hertz wondered what the reporter was up to. "May I help you?"

"Get me a panorama shot of these kids." T.V. ordered Edna before turning to Mrs. Hertz, "And you, Mrs. Glasses or whoever you are, get out of the shot!"

Mrs. Hertz huffed at his rudeness but complied as T.V. readied his microphone and began a prepared speech, facing Edna's camera.

"Do our schools still provide a future for all youth faced with the teacher's last attitudes? We have reason to doubt." T.V. walked over to Jeremie's desk and leaned the microphone towards him. "To see how bad it's become, all you have to do is pick a student at random and ask him about his grand point average. You, for instance."

"99.87 of 100." Jeremie readily answered to T.V.'s shock and Mrs. Hertz' pride.

"Okay, cut!" T.V. instructed Edna. "That's too high."

After Edna cut and restarted the camera, T.V. asked "Who here has a grade point average of below 60?"

Odd raised his hand and his heart rose as the celebrity came over to his desk and raised the microphone towards him, delighted to have gotten his full attention.

"Okay, son. So, you're flunking out of school, right?"

"Me? Not exactly." Odd picked up the DVD and showed it to T.V. "On the other hand, I have this great DVD to show you. I'm a huge fan! I worked so hard on this and-"

T.V. groaned and withdrew the microphone, asking "You seriously think i'm gonna waste my time on that trash?"

Odd's face fell in an instant, his heart going right back down. "W-What?"

"Get that out of my sight." T.V. scoffed, turning away from the dismayed boy. "What is with these bunch of los-"

Suddenly, the class bell rang, cutting off T.V.'s rant much to the joy of literally everyone else in the room, including Mrs. Hertz. Odd picked up his backpack and stormed out of the room, practically shoving past a student in his way.

"Mr. Vincent." Mrs. Hertz chastised. "Your behavior was-"

"Yeah, yeah, whine and whine, why don't you?" T.V. scoffed. "Come on, Edna, we'll try somewhere else."

Odd put his hands in his pocket as he stormed out of class and went to the front door, followed closely by his concerned friends.

"I'm so disgusted. T.V. didn't even want to see my masterpiece."

"Is that what it means to be a starving artist?" Aelita asked.

"Hardly. I put hours into that DVD." Odd ranted. "And not only does he shrug me off as soon as he sees me, but calls me a loser?!"

Odd huffed as Sissi came up, putting a hand on his shoulder to comfort him.

"I guess this is why the expression 'Never meet your heroes' exists!"

"For what it's worth," Sissi offered. "I'm sure the DVD was great. He's just an imbecile who missed out on an opportunity of a lifetime."

"Really?" Odd glanced at her, surprised. Though the boy was getting used to their longtime rival in their gang by now, it was still surprising to see her comforting him like this.

"Really." She smiled at him. "You don't need him. You're svelte, remember?"

Odd grinned.

"No longer calling me scrawny, huh?"

"We'll see." She teased.

Ever since Sissi joined them, Odd's respect for her only grew, despite the lingering risks of her slander of his dynamite body. He found himself happy to have her by his side, especially now that he wouldn't have to watch her be afraid of Yumi anymore.

[Executing Operation: Cold War, Phase 2]

"Oh, no!"

Their moment was interrupted when the alarm went off followed by an exclamation from Jeremie. The Lyoko Warriors (minus Yumi) turned to see the signal for an activated Tower on Jeremie's laptop.

"The alarm! XANA's gone on the attack!"

"I'll warn Yumi!" Ulrich declared as he brought out his cell phone and dialed her number.

"I sure hope this goes quickly!" Odd commented. "I don't wanna miss today's meatballs and gravy! Everyone flocks for them as soon as Rosa starts serving them!"

The gang wasted no time heading for the factory. They went down the manhole and into the sewers where they picked up their skateboards and scooters (including Sissi who now has her own scooter). They skillfully rode their way across the sewers until they reached a ladder, leading out the bridge. After exiting the manhole, they ran across the bridge, swung down the ropes and entered the elevator.

After Aelita pressed a button, the elevator went down the lab where Jeremie took his seat and put on his headset, typing at the interface.

"The activated tower is in the Mountain Sector." Jeremie informed his friends. "Head for the scanner room."

Odd pressed the button with his elbow and the five warriors headed down to the Scanner Room. Once they're inside, Odd and Ulrich ran upfront and took a bow to gesture to the girls.

"Ladies first." They simultaneously said.

Flattered and seeing the gesture as cute, Yumi, Aelita and Sissi giggled before each stepping in a scanner.

"I'm launching the procedure." Jeremie informed, typing at the interface.

The scanners closed on the girls and Jeremie picked out their ID's.

"Transfer Sissi. Transfer Aelita. Transfer Yumi."

Yumi, Aelita and Sissi were lifted off their feet, light particles surrounding them and blowing their hair up.

"Scanner Sissi. Scanner Aelita. Scanner Yumi."

Yumi, Aelita and Sissi spun around the scanners and the interface showed the girls' signatures getting recorded as they are scanned.

"Virtualization!"

Once completed, a gust of wind sent Yumi, Aelita and Sissi to Lyoko.

The girls virtualized in the Mountain Sector, landing on a path.

"Odd, Ulrich, it's your turn." Jeremie told them.

"Here comes the best for last." Odd commented as he and Ulrich stepped inside the scanners.

The scanners closed on the two boys and Jeremie picked out their ID's.

"Transfer Ulrich. Transfer Odd."

Odd and Ulrich were lifted off their feet, light particles surrounding them and blowing their hair up.

"Scanner Ulrich. Scanner Odd."

Odd and Ulrich spun around the scanners, and the interface showed the boys' signatures getting recorded as they were scanned.

"Virtualization!"

Once completed, a gust of wind sent Odd and Ulrich to Lyoko.

The boys successfully virtualize in the Mountain Sector, landing in front of the girls waiting for them.

The Lyoko Warriors were currently on a straight and narrow but long path towards a circular platform where the Tower was located. Odd, Ulrich, Yumi, Aelita and Sissi sprinted forwards, while Jeremie watched their progress from the lab.

"Watch it! You've got company! Squadron of twelve Hornets!"

"Stay behind me, Aelita!" Yumi instructed as she readied her fans, Ulrich unsheathed his saber, Sissi brought out her spear and Odd cocked his arm, ready to fight the approaching swarm of monsters, who split into four packs of three.

"Anyone big on insecticide?" Odd half-joked.

"Would you take explosive insecticide?" Sissi asked as she glanced at her orange pom-pom.

"Any day!"

"Order coming right up!" Sissi yelled as she used her super strength to hurl her pom-pom into the air. It collided with a pack of three hornets, destroying two of them.

"Order delicious! You deserve a tip!"

The Cat Boy and the Cheerleader shared a laugh as Ulrich engaged the second trio of hornets, deflecting a laser onto one monster and destroying it, while the other two concentrated their fire on the Samurai.

Yumi, noticing gaps in the path as they neared the tower, jumped up in the air while twirling her fans around. The third trio of hornets fired at Yumi, but as she spun her body around, some of the lasers were deflected onto two of the hornets, destroying them. Yumi landed at the edge of the platform, her dizziness making her stop at the very edge, just barely avoiding tripping and falling into the Digital Sea.

Again.

Yumi closed her eyes and took a deep breath as a bad memory resurfaced, refusing to linger on it. At that moment the hornet that survived Sissi closed in to shoot Yumi in the shoulder, causing her to cry out as her shoulder sparked with electricity.

Just as the Geisha turned to face it, the hornet fired another laser, but Sissi jumped in between to spin her spear, deflecting the laser. Sissi ran within melee range of the hornet and thrust her spear into it, blowing it up.

"You're welcome." Sissi gave Yumi a wink.

Yumi showed her gratitude with a two-fingered salute.

The fourth trio of Hornets closed in on Odd, ready to fire. He dodged a laser and flipped above the Hornets, firing a Laser Arrow upside down and destroying one of them.

Sissi defended Aelita from one of Yumi's hornets, spinning her spear like a baton to deflect every laser sent her way, making sure none hit Aelita.

Yumi was faced with her third hornet. She leapt across a gap, tossing both her fans. The Hornet shot down one but the other destroyed it. Yumi stuck the landing, caught her fans, cartwheeled and jumped across the last gap.

Ulrich deflected another laser, then yelled "Super Sprint!" and sped off, with his two hornets attacking him in hot pursuit. They got ahead of Ulrich, but as they fired, Ulrich jumped into the air and yelled as he sliced through the hornets, destroying them both.

Odd ran from his Hornets, avoiding lasers and leaping across the gap after his friends. He twisted to aim his wrist at his foes.

"Laser Arrows!" Odd shouted, firing some arrows, one of which hit its mark and destroyed the hornet. The last one closed in until Yumi's fan flew in to destroy it. Odd safely landed on the path in front of his friends.

"Thanks Yumi." Said Odd.

The last hornet, the one that was attacking Sissi and Aelita, ceased all attacks and flew up into the air, retreating from the battle.

"Hey!" Odd shook his fist at the monster. "Chicken!"

"Didn't think XANA's monsters could get scared off so easily." Sissi commented.

"Maybe it's getting afraid of you." Ulrich half-joked. "You're doing much better on Lyoko than the first couple of times you were here. I once said you were a quick learner and I was right."

"He's right." Jeremie added. "You beat three of those things and didn't lose a single life point!"

"That's for sure. It's hard to believe how your first trip here went down. We're proud of you Sissi." Said Aelita.

Sissi gave a prideful smile, slamming the blunt end of her spear to the ground in a declaration of victory.

"Thanks. I'm a little surprised too to be honest. I'm finally getting the hang of being a Lyoko Warrior." Said Sissi.

"It definitely shows. You've really improved, Sissi. I'm impressed. Thanks for the save earlier. I appreciate it." Yumi smiled.

Sissi smiled back. "Don't mention. That's what friends do, right?"

Yumi nods, then looks back in the direction the Hornet flew off.

"Still, it's weird the Hornet took off like that." Yumi mused. "I guess XANA's not up to snuff today."

"Well, weird or not, it's better for us." Odd said. "We have something waiting for us; meatballs and gravy!"

"So, hurry up." Jeremie suggested.

With that cue, the Lyoko Warriors stormed on ahead, finding no further resistance as they reached the Tower's platform.

"Well, my lady, thy Tower is served!" Odd gestured.

"Wait, Aelita!" Yumi held out a hand in front of Aelita and pointed the other at the Tower. "Look!"

Everyone stared at the Tower to see it suddenly deactivating itself.

"Well, what do you know?" Ulrich mused.

Sissi stared, shocked, and asked "Has XANA ever done that before? Just given up on an attack?"

"No, and I don't know what it means." Jeremie said. "Why don't you all come back to the factory?"

By the time everyone came back up to the lab room in the elevator, Jeremie had just seen a Tower activate in the Ice sector, and then immediately deactivate.

"I don't get this at all..." Jeremie said.

"Do you think it's a bug in the Supercomputer?" Aelita asked.

"Or another plot by XANA!" Odd suggested. "We all know how devious he can be when he wants to."

"Go to lunch," Jeremie waved at them. "I'll stay here and try to work this all out. If anything happens, I'll give you a call."

"I'll stay with you." Aelita volunteered. "With the two of us, it'll go faster."

Jeremie signaled his agreement with a grateful smile as the others left.

As soon as it was just the two of them, Aelita told him, "Even with this mystery going on, I feel so relieved."

"It's about Yumi and Sissi, right?" Jeremie inquired, to which Aelita nodded.

The fact was that Sissi was not the only one genuinely afraid of Yumi following the incident with the Polymorphic specter. Aelita was just better at hiding it than them, but when she saw Sissi and Yumi embrace after the last XANA attack with the wolves, she couldn't help but shed a tear.

"I'm happy she's with us again, Jeremie."

"Me too, Aelita. Me too."

Back at the academy, Odd, Ulrich, Yumi, and Sissi stood in the lunch line as they waited to retrieve their food. When Odd reached the front of the line, he was ready to retrieve his prized meatballs and gravy-

When a massive disappointment made himself known again by cutting in front of him.

"Hey, no cutting!" Sissi called him out.

T.V. turned to glare at her, and the weight of an adult's contempt compelled Sissi to back down.

Rosa, stricken by the celebrity's presence, quickly took priority of T.V. over Odd, placing some meatballs and gravy on his tray. T.V. stared down, unimpressed.

"What's up with these little mini-servings? Do you know how annoying these kids were to me today?" T.V. pointed a thumb to his back, directly at Odd as he was the first student behind him. Odd looked at him in utter dismay.

T.V. ignored him, telling Rosa, "Come on, load up the meatballs!"

Rosa did as requested and T.V. left with a full tray, causing Sissi to roll her eyes.

"I swear, daddy is going to get an earful out of me if he gave him permission to cut in front of everyone." The cheerleader vowed.

Rosa then poured a bit of gravy onto Odd's tray and no meatballs, much to the horror of the Italian.

"W-Where's all the meatballs?!"

"On T.V.'s tray."

The man in question took one bite of a meatball and spat it out.

"Ugh, this is awful!" T.V. took his tray and stormed towards the trash can.

"Wait!" Odd shouted, trying to take the opportunity to have the food he didn't want, only for T.V. to dump all of it in the trash.

"Be grateful." T.V. scoffed. "I just saved you from food poisoning."

Rosa glared at him, outraged at this blatant dismissal of her hard work as lunch lady of Kadic Academy. Odd and the others weren't that far behind.

Odd sat down with his friends with whatever food they could get, muttering "I cannot believe I ever looked up to that jerk..."

[Executing Operation: Cold War, Phase 3]

Jeremie stared at his computer screen, seeing the alert for an activated Tower pop up again.

"It's starting up again. Should I tell the others?" Aelita asked.

"Hang on, it might deactivate itself again."

This time, XANA would do no such thing.

Atop a tall building within the city, several satellites were bombarded with purple electricity. A massive specter flew out of them into the skies above. Soon after, the clouds began to darken, and snow began to fall onto the buildings and ground underneath.

One such location that began to be withered with snow was Kadic Academy and its lunchroom. From one of the windows, Ulrich turned to see the abrupt change of weather.

"Look!" He cried out, pointing a finger. "It's snowing!"

"Right on!" Odd cheered, followed swiftly by the rest of the building. Sissi looked out the window to see the snow piling up and lightly tapped Yumi's elbow.

"Wanna do some dodgeball, winter style?" She slyly proposed. Yumi gave her a wicked grin in reply.

"Calm down, everyone! Stay in your seats!" Jim tried to impose discipline upon his students and stood, hands behind his back, against the front door, only for the students to go out the back door instead.

"You scallywags!" He whined, before going outside to supervise their playing.

Yumi and Sissi quickly formed up snowballs, ready to begin pranking the boys.

"Snow Arrow!"

A snowball hitting Sissi in the side interrupted their preparations, and they looked to see that both Ulrich and Odd were already armed and ready to engage them. Yumi ran off, Ulrich chasing her with a snowball in his hand.

"Hey! I'm gonna get you for that!" Sissi vowed as she threw one at Odd, who laughed at her. She charged, and Odd hopped away to gather up more ammunition.

"C'mon Sissi! You can take out some hornets, but can't handle little ol' me?"

Sissi threw another snowball, hitting Odd right in the face and causing him to burst into laughter.

"Ooo, you're asking for it now!"

Sissi just motioned him with her fingers, egging him on. Odd grinned, enjoying himself as much as Sissi was. Maybe even more.

Meanwhile, Mr. Delmas had come outside to behold the disturbance in the weather for himself and became amused at seeing the fun his daughter was having. He looked at the snow below him and leaned down, as if he had an idea.

"Alright, that's enough!" Jim yelled, trying to get control of his unruly students. "Everyone back inside!"

His demand was answered by a snowball striking his face, and a short distance away, Mr. Delmas stood suspiciously with his hands folded behind his back.

To their left, away from view, Herb ran out of sight as Nicholas was chasing him with a snowball. He turned to the back of Kadic's gymnasium and saw a fancy-looking car there, opting to duck to the other side to take cover.

Nicholas ran to the back and raised his snowball, keeping an eye out for his target.

"Checkmate!" Herb declared, rearing his head into view. "This is T.V.'s car. You know how much trouble you'll get if you damage it?"

Nicholas was by no means smart, but given what he had seen of the celebrity today, even he knew the potential consequence of earning his wrath. He grumbled as he lowered the snowball, Herb grinning in victory.

Yumi, meanwhile, continued to be chased by Ulrich until she heard her phone ring and picked it up.

"Yes, Jeremie? Okay, got it." She hung up and turned to Ulrich, telling him, "XANA's attacking."

He stopped the chase, and just as Odd formed a bigger snowball to hit Sissi with, the snow suddenly increased in intensity, surging into an all-out storm.

"INSIDE!" Jim shouted. "On the double!"

This time, no students were inclined to disobey him. Jim and Mr. Delmas huddled with a couple of kids to ensure they made it, while Odd and Sissi quickly abandoned their snowball fight as they noticed the force of the wind had blown Milly and Tamiya, who were also snowball fighting each other, over.

"Come on, we've got you!" Sissi shouted as she and Odd respectively picked up Milly and Tamiya.

"A-again?" Milly shivered. "N-not that I'm c-complaining! T-thanks!"

The Lyoko Warriors, Milly and Tamiya ran back inside the school, shutting the door behind them.

"We have to get to Lyoko." Yumi suggested, to which Odd quipped, "Yeah, you're right, and I hope the weather's better there!"

Yumi took out her phone again and called Jeremie's number, saying "Jeremie, we're stuck at school because of the blizzard."

"What a nightmare!" Jeremie groaned. "XANA's back to his old self!"

Outside of the school, Nicholas pounded on the gym door to no avail. Being far away from any adults, the two had failed to grasp the seriousness of the snowstorm until it was too late.

"It's l-locked. W-What do we d-do?!"

Herb opened up T.V.'s car, yelling "I-inside! Until this b-blows over!"

Nicholas took the driver's seat while Herb got in the passenger seat.

"W-Where's the k-key?" Herb muttered. "H-he's gotta keep it somewhere..."

The two fumbled around the front of the car, seeing nothing.

"I-It's not here!"

Panic began to consume the green nerd and the jock, until Herb noticed something directly in front of Nicholas. More specifically, the ignition.

"Nicholas…" Herb said a bit too calmly.

"Yeah?" Nicholas asked.

"The keys are right in front of you!"

Nicholas looked ahead to see that T.V.'s keys are still on the ignition.

"Oh…" Nicholas muttered.

"What are you waiting for?! T-turn the c-car on!"

"How?" Nicholas asked as he had no driver's license.

Herb snarled in frustration and leaned over to the driver's seat, trying to turn on the car himself. He too had no driver's license, but this did not stop him from turning the car on and getting the heat system working.

"Finally!" Herb signed in relief, before he noticed a DVD next to him. "Hey, the Subsonics! Sissi would love this!"

"How about we focus on not freezing to death?" Nicholas suggested. "We have no way out of here and the snow is just getting worse!"

"Relax, the heat system here should keep us warm until someone comes out to find us..." Herb paused. "I'll plug in the music. That should keep us occupied until then."

Herb inserted the DVD, and subsonic music blasted out, giving the boys some degree of comfort as the world around them only turned colder. Before long, however, even the car's heat couldn't keep them warm.

"Y-you know," Nicholas suggested. "Y-you used to tell Sissi that it's a s-scientific fact that huddling would k-keep us warm!"

"O-oh, come on! You aren't S-Siss..." Herb shivered.

"I m-might fall asleep i-if you don't!" Nicholas pleaded.

"O-Okay, fine! It sure b-beats freezing to death!""

Nicholas and Herb embraced awkwardly, struggling to stay awake in the blinding cold.

"H-Hey, Herb. You know, maybe you d-don't really need S-Sissi..."

"Y-You really wanna talk a-about this, now?" Herb seethed.

"I-if you s-suggested that to her. I g-guarantee she would've m-made a joke about k-keeping you warm by slapping you!"

That does sound a whole lot like Sissi... Herb thought.

Nicholas shivered again despite the warmth of their hug, and the two boys started to wonder how long they could hold out, isolated in the car.

Back inside the building, Jim gathered up as much winter clothing as he could and dispersed it to the students, starting with the youngest. Before long, he and Mr. Delmas got dressed as well, and Mr. Delmas was on the phone with Mrs. Hertz, confirming that she took the children in her vicinity to the basement of the science building.

"Here, T.V., this should keep your hair in place!"

Edna chuckled as T.V. was given a hat by Jim that covered up his hair completely and made him look ridiculous. T.V. scowled at her and sat on the chair, silent.

Soon after, Mr. Delmas and Jim moved the children and themselves into the basement, huddling up within the boiler room. Mr. Delmas set the temperature up to maximum, keeping them warm, hopefully for a long time and Jim monitored the temperature inside and outside the building with his temperature indicator. Edna got out the camera and opted to film the encounter.

"E-Edna!" T.V. stood up to chastise her again. "Stop wasting film. An unbelievable deep freeze has taken hold of the city and what are you shooting? A bunch of brats in a basement! It's not even PG-13! People expect spectacular TV from T.V, so let's get out of this rat hole and go where the action is: the city!"

Edna, clearly annoyed, put down her camera and crossed her arms, saying "Not with me. I'm staying right here in the furnace room where it's safe, thank you very much."

"Okay, fine. YOU'RE FIRED!"

Edna's jaw dropped as T.V. grabbed the camera and stormed off towards the exit, to which Jim told him, "You can't go outside! It's 40 below out there!'

T.V. did not listen for a second, asking him "My car keys?"

Jim's eyes widened in realization. "Oh, uh, I think I left them in the ignition."

"Idiot!" T.V. seethed as he stormed past Jim and out the exit, leaving the gym teacher to smirk in satisfaction over what he pulled.

"Did you hear that?" Ulrich whispered to his friends. "40 below, and there's no reason for XANA to stop there."

"W-what do we do?" Sissi asked, feeling powerless. "If this keeps up… we're all gonna freeze to death like in 'The Day After Tomorrow.'"

"The only solution is to deactivate the Tower on Lyoko, b-but if we go out there, we'll end up as ice sculptures!" Odd liked popsicles, but not to the point where he wanted to be one.

"We have to try." Yumi insisted. "When the principal and Jim aren't looking, we'll sneak out of here and search the room for warmer gear, and then we'll run over to the Factory."

"Ow!" Herb yelled as Nicholas had smacked him across the face. "What was that for?!"

"W-we have to s-stay awake." Nicholas muttered as chills began to freeze every bone in his body.

"Y-yeah, b-but-"

Herb's attempt to bite back was interrupted when the door to the driver's seat opened, revealing an enraged and freezing T.V. rearing into his car.

"What do you two brats think you're doing in here?!"

"O-oh, I don't know!" Herb sarcastically answered. "It m-might have s-something to do with the gigantic b-blizzard outside?!"

"Get out of my car!" The celebrity demanded of the two boys, much to their shock and incredulity.

"N-No way!" Nicholas seethed, taking a stand for himself and his friend. "W-we leave, w-we'll freeze to death!"

T.V. groaned, seeing there was no time for an argument. "A-alright, fine! I'll drop you off! Get in the back and don't get my soft leather seats dirty, got it?!"

Herb and Nicholas crawled into the back, muttering, "T-there's a blizzard outside, and your concern is your l-leather seats?!"

"They are expensive!" T.V. argued as he got in, closed the door, and fastened his seat belt.

"S-Say w-want you want about S-Sissi," Herb told his friend. "But even she wouldn't threaten to l-leave us out here!"

"One more word out of either of you, and I will t-throw both of you out here a-anyways!"

The nerd and the jock shut up after that, shivering as T.V. attempted to drive away despite massive amounts of snow obscuring his view.

"S-stupid power s-steering wheel!"

"L-LOOK OUT!" Herb shouted. He, Nicholas and T.V. screamed as the car swerved out of the latter's control and crashed into a nearby tree.

Back in the boiler room, Jim activated his cell phone and turned on the weather station to get the temperature, sitting between Christophe and Milly.

"Sir?"

A student wearing a dark purple coat walked up to him.

"Yes, Michael?"

"How c-c-cold is it?"

Jim's hand shook as he reported, "58 degrees below zero outside, and t-twenty-three degrees in here," He stammered as frost came onto his face. Mr. Delmas shivered as well, knowing that if this got any worse, the boiler room wouldn't protect them. He turned to where he last saw Sissi, seeking to reassure his undoubtedly terrified daughter.

Except, she wasn't there.

"W-where...where is Sissi? Where is my daughter?"

"The deadly cold snap has hit the city, which was buried under ice and snow in a matter of minutes," Aelita and Jeremie turned on the news channel to be kept up to date on the blizzard.

"The authorities have put the emergency cold weather into action, but chaos has broken out nonetheless. Telephone lines-"

The footage abruptly stopped; the snow had buried any satellite communications that they could have used. Jeremie groaned, increasingly nervous and uncomfortable waiting for the others. Aelita was pacing, also consumed with worry.

It didn't take too long for Odd, Ulrich, Yumi and Sissi to find more winter clothes to barricade themselves with, and they braved the storm to begin heading to the Factory.

That is, until they saw a car crashing.

"That's T.V.'s car!" Ulrich recognized. "We have to go help him."

"Maybe now he'll learn the meaning of the word 'nice' once we help him." Odd hopefully suggested as the four slid down, one by one.

The four opened up the crashed car and were surprised to find not only T.V., but Herb and Nicholas as well.

"S-Sissi?" Herb's eyes widened in surprise. "Y-you came to help us?"

"N-Not exactly, but c-close enough!" Sissi said as she pulled Herb out, while Ulrich helped up Nicholas.

"I-It wasn't my f-fault!" T.V. said as he got out on his own, trying to save face. "It was the p-power steering wh-!"

"Oh my god, SHUT UP ALREADY!"

Everyone turned to Sissi, stunned, but nobody was more stunned than the celebrity himself.

"You are so lucky that I don't have time to l-lecture you right now!" Sissi shouted.

"We didn't c-come out here to listen to you making a pathetic attempt to save face!" Yumi shouted with her. "Why don't you make yourself useful in the meantime?!"

"Take Herb and N-Nicholas and get them to the boiler room!" Sissi ordered.

"And you're s-staying right there whether you like it or not!" Yumi angrily added.

T.V., offended by Yumi and Sissi's audacity, started to yell, "Y-you can't t-talk to-!"

Thwack!

Sissi's hand dove faster than his frostbitten eyes could process. T.V. couldn't believe it, but he had just been slapped across the face. Not by his camerawoman, not by any of his staff, but by a little teenage girl.

"One more word, and I smack you again." Sissi snarled. "Get them to the boiler room, now."

T.V. reluctantly obliged, taking the flabbergasted Herb and Nicholas under his big coat as the three staggered back inside the building, though he muttered about how the damage to his car would be murder on the repair bills.

Ulrich, Yumi and Odd stared, their jaws practically dropping to the snowy ground. Even Yumi was surprised by Sissi's use of violence. She was angry too but had no intention of slapping T.V., not that he didn't deserve it, so at the same time she was very impressed. Ulrich was very much content that he was not a victim of Sissi's slap this time (even if he technically wasn't to begin with).

"Now, that's authority!" Odd commented, staring at Sissi and Yumi as if they were battle angels. "You two are a real scary duo, you know that?"

Despite the cold, the girls were able to share a giggle together.

However, at that moment, Ulrich noticed that the tree T.V. had crashed into was creaking. Not only was it creaking, but it was unstable. So unstable to the point that it reared over and began to crash towards the ground.

Or more specifically, towards the exact spot where Sissi and Yumi were standing.

"LOOK OUT!" Ulrich screamed as he lunged forward without a second thought.

The tree fell as Sissi and Yumi were shoved by Ulrich, sending the girls falling into the snow and out of harm's way.

Odd also dove out of the way.

Ulrich did not.

Odd was the first to rear his head up, muttering "Oh, no..."

Sissi and Yumi picked themselves up and were the next to behold a picture of horror.

The tree had fallen atop Ulrich, pinning the brunette down.

"ULRICH!" Yumi and Sissi screamed.

"Is...this why...you like...bonsais better?" Ulrich weakly asked Yumi as she and the others ran up to him.

"We'll get you out of there, Ulrich!" Sissi shouted, trying to assure him. "Everyone against the tree. One, two, three!" Odd, Yumi and Sissi pushed against the tree to free Ulrich but it was far too heavy. It didn't move an inch.

"Forget it." Ulrich groaned. "G-go to the factory..."

"And just l-leave you here?!" Sissi shrieked. "We can't do that! You'll freeze to death!"

"Not if I stay with him." Yumi stepped up.

"But...Yumi..."

"Sissi." Yumi held her friend's hands in hers. "Do you trust me? Do you t-trust me to make s-sure that we both hold out until you h-help Aelita deactivate the Tower?"

Sissi knew what her friend was doing. Yumi trusted her, and now Sissi would have to repay that trust. The trust they had just finished mending would now face their first test.

"Yumi..."

"I s-swear to you, Sissi, we'll survive this, but only if you head to the Factory with Odd, now."

Sissi and Yumi touched foreheads, exchanging a silent vow, then she and Odd knelt down and hugged Ulrich as best they could, earning them a weak smile from the German.

"We'll go as fast as we can. Don't fall asleep on us, you hear?!"

"We won't. Now, go!"

Odd and Sissi headed off to the Factory. Yumi dropped down, holding Ulrich as they shared a warm smile.

"Ulrich, just hang in there. I'll go and look for something to get you out of this." Yumi gave the thumbs up.

She and Ulrich shared a fistbump before she ran off to find something to help Ulrich, the search eventually taking her to the shed.

"We have no choice!"

"But that's exactly what XANA wants! He wants you to go to Lyoko alone, to steal your memory!"

Jeremie and Aelita were locked into yet another argument about Aelita going alone to Lyoko, of which there had been an increasing frequency. Though there was no new Lyoko Warrior for Aelita to virtualize this time, she was very much undeterred.

"And if someone doesn't go and deactivate the Tower, Odd, Ulrich, Yumi and Sissi all die of cold, and the entire city with them!"

Jeremie sighed, seeing her point. If they waited any longer, their friends could be in mortal danger, if they weren't already. Also, Aelita just might try to knock him unconscious again, and she wouldn't wait for Sissi to help her.

"Yeah, okay, you're right. Head down to the Scanner Room. I'll start up the virtualization process."

I can't let him die. I cannot let him sleep. I have to get him out of here. Nothing else matters right now.

Yumi recited her thoughts as she dragged a chain from the shed to the tree. The pulley, however, was already starting to freeze, and he could see that Ulrich's eyes were closed.

"No, NO! Ulrich!" She rubbed his goggles.

"Let...let me...sleep..." He muttered.

"No! No, y-you can s-sleep later, okay? I'm going to get you out of there, right now!"

Yumi threw the chain up onto a tree branch and prepared the pulley, then she tugged on the chain as hard as she could. The chain soon froze over and snapped, however, leaving the Japanese girl's efforts for naught.

Ulrich watched Yumi scream in frustration and kick the snow, then she frantically picked up another part of the chain and tried again, only for it to snap as well. Yumi fell into the snow and slammed a fist into it, then noticed Ulrich lowering his head again.

"U-Ulrich..." Yumi crawled over to him and wrapped him in her arms. "S-stay with me..."

Ulrich groaned, trying to focus on Yumi and the warmth of her arms around him.

"S-Still afraid?" Yumi asked, trying to lighten the mood.

A realization hit Ulrich then. All day, ever since Yumi and Sissi had their emotional display in the Factory, he had never once been repulsed by Yumi's presence. It was like the moment Sissi stopped being afraid and learned to like Yumi, he did too.

"I-I'll take you o-over freezing to...to death...any day."

"A-Any day of the w-week?" She asked him, trying to replicate her banter with Sissi.

"A-Any day of the w-whole century..."

They both chuckled a little, before a freezing wind came their way and shivers ran through their spines.

"U-Ulrich. I'm s-sorry for what I did. For everything."

"I f-forgive you, Y-Yumi. Y-You know, normally, I'm s-supposed to be the one p-protecting you."

"Funny. A-Aelita is the one we always p-protect, but s-she's the one always saving u-us, right?" Yumi mused. "W-we all protect each other, r-right? And this time… it's my turn to protect you. If you w-want me to promise you...again..."

"N-No need." Ulrich assured her. The last promise he had Yumi made was done out of fear and emotions, but after he saw Sissi holding Yumi in her arms as the wolves attacked, he knew that Yumi would never hurt Sissi again. Nor would she ever hurt him.

Another freezing wind brushed over them and Ulrich groaned, struggling to stay away.

"I-I'm sure Odd and Sissi are already on Lyoko." Yumi muttered, trying to assure him even as the snow began to freeze them both.

"H-Hey...Odd..."

"Y-Yeah?"

"Did I ever t-tell you how much I always h-hated the w-winter?"

Odd and Sissi staggered through the stormy streets of the city, trying their hardest to brave the snowstorm and reach the factory.

"H-How about a X-Xanafied winter?"

"Even...more..."

The two former rivals at school found themselves huddling up as they waddled through the snow. Had Odd tried to hug her before she joined the group, he would have likely received the palm of her hand across his face. The way she had confronted T.V., showed no fear, and told him exactly what to do triggered something in Odd. He was impressed, but he also felt oddly...warmed by it.

"Think about w-warm things, S-sissi." The Cat Boy suggested.

"W-What do you h-have in mind?"

"H-How about m-my body? It's dynamite, a-after all!"

Sissi laughed. A warm and sweet laugh that brought joy to Odd's ears.

"Your b-body? It was t-torture being in that!"

"C-c'mon." Odd pressed. "Y-you are leaning on it, n-now, aren't you? A-admit it, I'm hot!"

Sissi flashed him a sweet smile, saying "O-okay, you're hot."

Odd gave her a toothy grin at that. Aelita and (especially) Yumi would never admit to the objective radiant glow of handsomeness that resisted within his body, but hearing Sissi admit that even though they were literally freezing to death resonated with him. Odd was starting to like her a lot.

A lot...a lot like...?

A freezing wind interrupted Odd's thought, making them shiver once more. Soon, the factory was within sight.

"M-more warm things." Sissi continued Odd's proposal. "Heating...uh...sauna…"

"Heatwave...fireplace...The...p-palm of...your hand?" Odd suggested.

Sissi chuckled again, asking "S-since when d-did you start telling...good...jokes?"

"S-Since always…"

The two staggered onto the bridge and headed for the factory's entrance.

"Y-You know, S-Sissi…you were...p-pretty hot...back there." Odd remarked.

"H-how about...n-now?" Sissi inquired.

"A f-flaming...princess..."

The two shared another laugh. Sissi found herself appreciating his company more than ever before. True, she would have accepted anyone's company in a snowstorm (aside from T.V.), but Odd was keeping her warm and conscious in a way that others couldn't. In a way that even Ulrich couldn't.

I feel so much for Ulrich, but Odd…maybe…

"And S-Sissi..." Odd added, interrupting her thought. "I thought I wanted to l-look up to T.V. T-thanks for helping me...see..."

"Just l-look up at me when you w-want to."

Odd chuckled again as the two stumbled inside the Factory. Thanks to their freezing condition, the duo were in no shape to use the ropes, so they had to head on down the ramp, slowing their progress to the elevator.

"T-that I'll do...that I'll d-do..."

"Hot springs...Blast f-furnace..." Odd muttered as the duo entered the elevator and Sissi pressed the button to take them down to the lab floor.

When T.V. stormed back into the boiler room with Herb and Nicholas, the latter two immediately snatched a couple of spare blankets and huddled up next to the academy's furnace, while Jim was in a 'heated' conversation with Mr. Delmas.

"Mr. D-Delmas, I'm s-sorry to say this sir, but you cannot leave this room!"

"It's my daughter, Jim! She's out there and-"

"There's n-nothing we can do, sir! We need you here to keep the kids company! They need their principal!"

"But...but..." Mr. Delmas sputtered, his energy leaving him.

"And even if we could afford to let you leave, there's no way you could find her out there in that storm!"

Everything in Mr. Delmas wanted to leave the room to locate his daughter, but he would have no way of finding her, and even worse, morale in the room would plummet without the principal to assure the children. With a heavy sigh, the principal sat down, huddling a couple of students as they struggled to survive in the cold.

T.V., meanwhile, sat down near Milly and Tamiya, and was soon approached by Edna.

"I was right, w-wasn't I?" Edna asked.

"Y-Yes..." T.V. very reluctantly admitted. "I s-shouldn't have t-tried to leave..."

"And?" Edna leaned closer, demanding a reply.

"F-fine...you're re-hired."

"Like hell." Edna growled, to T.V.'s shock.

"W-What?" He sputtered.

"Y-you've been t-treating me like crap all d-day, and everyone else here." Edna explained. "Now that I'm rehired, I quit!"

"You i-idiot!" T.V. shouted. "W-Without me, you'll e-end up in the gutter!"

"I'll t-take the g-gutter any day over y-you!" Edna retorted.

"Alright, listen up!" The students, Edna, Jim and Mr. Delmas lifted their heads up to see Jim standing tall and proud. "Okay, no sleeping! Everyone, listen up! I'm gonna tell you a little story! It's from when I was a volunteer research subject for the Project: Carthage program!"

While Jim was spouting on about yet another of his (probably) made-up tales about his past, T.V. covertly and slowly tugged on Milly and Tamiya's blanket, trying to get some more warmth. Whether that came at the cost of others was no concern for the celebrity. Even so, his eyes began to close as the cold overwhelmed him.

"A-and then...The D-Director showed the...m-machine...a-and had m-me..."

While Jim was talking about "The Director", T.V. was prevented from falling asleep when Edna took a look at him trying to take the blanket and promptly smacked her boss across the face. He looked at her in shock.

"No sleeping!" She snarled at him.

T.V. rubbed his cheek, dismayed that he had now been slapped by two women in a single day along with his car getting wrecked. If he lived to reflect on it, today would be remembered as by far the worst day of his life.

It didn't take long for Aelita to be transferred into the Ice sector, riding the Overbike.

"Look out, Aelita! Hornets on the way!"

"I can't see anything right now!"

As she rode towards the Tower as fast as the vehicle permitted, Jeremie saw an incoming horde of flying monsters and assumed they were hornets, as they always were outside of Sector Five.

A familiar but different shadow over Aelita, along with a hawk's cry, proved that thought wrong.

"Those aren't hornets!" Aelita gasped. "They're flying mantas!"

"What?!" Jeremie gasped in shock. "But they never leave Sector Five!"

Indeed, those types of monsters (along with the Creepers) were only ever present in XANA's home. The only logical explanation for them being here now was because XANA had gained the power to do so. Ever since the first Return in time, XANA's strength was only growing.

Narrowing her eyes in determination, Aelita throttled up the Overbike and sped forward.

"We have to face facts! XANA's getting more and more powerful!"

The five flying mantas swooped over Aelita and got between her and the activated Tower, firing warning shots to keep her away. Aelita turned the Overbike around-

and found the Scyphozoa waiting for her.

Eyes wide with panic, Aelita swerved away from the monster who wanted to take her memories, attempting a flanking position to reach the Tower. In response, the flying mantas got ahead of her again and dispatched their flying mines. They formed a big circle around the Scyphozoa and Aelita, aiming to trap them together.

Aelita's response was to steer the vehicle directly at the Scyphozoa, to Jeremie's horror.

"What are you doing?!" The young genius shouted. "You're heading right for the Scyphozoa!"

Humming like an angel, Aelita formed a large ramp in front of the Scyphozoa and set the Overbike at its full speed. The vehicle soared overhead, attempting to get above the flying mines. However, the angle was not tall enough, and both the pink-haired angel and the vehicle were sent crashing back to the ground.

As the Overbike devirtualized, Aelita looked up to the Scyphozoa rushing towards her, giving her no time to freeze it in a block of ice this time. Scrambling to her feet, Aelita ran as fast as her feet could carry her, with the giant jellyfish right behind her.

It was just under a minute before the Scyphozoa lunged its tentacles forward, swooped up Aelita, and began the memory draining process once more.

Yumi continued hugging onto Ulrich, sharing as much of her body temperature as possible but the pair were close to giving in to the cold, both covered in more snow and ice.

"L-Leave me..."

"You won't get rid of me t-that easily..."

Despite the direness of their situation, Ulrich couldn't help but smile at Yumi's declaration. He was truly surrounded by people who cared about it. No polymorphs, no father, no malevolent A.I.

Just him and the girl who loved him, cuddled up in the freezing snow together.

"U-Ulrich...don't give up...we need you...to fight against...XANA..."

Ulrich just chuckled at her, asking "Is...t-that...all?"

"Not...even...c-close..." Yumi stammered.

And you know it.

Odd and Sissi had finally arrived at the lab, the elevator door opening. But the two were just about ready to collapse from the cold.

"M-Magma...Warm..."

That was all Odd could say before he started to collapse to the floor.

"Odd! Sissi!" Jeremie shouted as he got up off his chair to help him, only to see that Sissi had caught him in her arms, having fallen to her knees but somehow still barely conscious.

"J…Jeremie… H...help..."

When it looked like Sissi was about to fall Jeremie quickly grabbed her shoulders, helping her stay up.

"You can sleep later Sissi. Right now Aelita is on Lyoko all alone at the Scyphozoa's mercy. You need to get to her ASAP!" Jeremie informed her.

"Find Aelita. G-got it." Sissi mumbled as Jeremie grabbed Odd, helping Sissi steady him as they took the elevator down to the Scanner room.

Once the trio had arrived, Jeremie hastily helped her and Odd into separate Scanners, then raced back to the computer to begin the virtualization process.

"Transfer Odd! Transfer Sissi!" Odd and Sissi's signatures are quickly recorded in the interface. "Virtualization!"

Odd and Sissi struggled not to pass out during the intervening time, but they managed to stay awake long enough for a flashing light to transport them onto Lyoko. Jeremie wasted no time in bringing up the Overboard and the Overwing, which they landed on. Sissi and Odd looked up to see they were in the Ice sector, much to their dismay after just barely surviving a blizzard.

"Oh, no!" Odd groaned. "More Ice!"

Sissi groaned with him before saying, "Come on, Aelita needs us right now!"

The two sped forward with Odd leading the way, as Jeremie instructed "And Sissi, don't use your explosive on the Scyphozoa, Aelita is in the blast radius!"

Sissi nodded in understanding as she and Odd dove towards the Scyphozoa.

"Laser Arrow!" Odd shouted as he shot the giant jellyfish multiple times, causing it to release its prey, before swooping down for Aelita to land on his vehicle. With Aelita safe, Sissi got out her spear and aimed.

"Take this you ugly squid!" Sissi tossed her spear, hitting the Scyphozoa in its glass head.

Odd's laser arrows never pierced the Scyphozoa's glass head out of the dozens of times they impacted it, but Sissi's spear burst through the glass, creating a hole within the monster. Sissi snapped her weapon back to her as, with a pained whimper, the Scyphozoa retreated.

Odd helped the pink-haired princess up. Aelita clung to him as the three Lyoko Warriors soared through the sky.

"My lady," Odd slyly offered. "May we drop you off at the nearest activated Tower, perhaps?"

"Free of charge!" Sissi sweetened the offer, to which Aelita smiled in amusement and said, "I wouldn't say no."

Then there was laser fire that flew past them, and the three turned to see Mantas chasing them down.

"Mantas?!" Sissi gasped. "Outside of Sector Five? I thought you said they were unique!"

"Looks like XANA's so bad of a housekeeper that even his monsters hate his home!" Odd quipped, earning a laugh from his friends.

"And...s-so...t-there...I..."

Jim, his face freezing solid, dropped down next to his device for the weather station. It was now -70 degrees inside, while outside, it was now -91 degrees.

Mr. Delmas leaned back against the wall as he slumped into unconsciousness, a student in his arms. Milly and Tamiya hugged in a never-ending embrace as they lost consciousness. Edna was hugging a student. Herb and Nicholas held each other, friends to the end.

There was only one person who did not hug anyone, nor did anyone hug him. He was a celebrity, so of course everyone should have flocked to him in an emergency like this one.

Instead, as he closed his eyes, Thomas "T.V." Vincent laid there on the floor, cold and alone. Nobody would comfort him. Nobody would care about him.

And for that, he had nobody to blame but himself.

Odd and Sissi steered their vehicles away from the laser fire, with Odd doing a few fancy spins in the air that made Aelita yelp and cling tighter, while Sissi tried to keep a more straightforward angle.

"Come on, Sissi!" Odd urged. "Put some flair in it!"

"Uh, how's that for flair?" Sissi answered as she pointed ahead to see the mantas drop another field of flying mines between them and the Tower.

"Exactly what we need!"

"How do we need a minefield?!"

"Dive low!" Was Odd's response, and Sissi followed his instruction to the letter. A Manta dived low with them, but accidentally hit the ground and destroyed itself. Another two followed, while the fifth Manta got in front of them and fired upon the vehicles.

"Sissi, throw your pom-pom at it!"

"That'll blow off the entire minefield! Are you out of your mi-"

"YES!" Odd proudly declared. "Now, do it!"

Sissi muttered something under her breath and then tossed the explosive pom-pom forward. It promptly detonated several flying mines, including some in front of the manta between them and the Tower. It screeched before exploding into digital dust, while mines all around the trio started detonating.

Jeremie soon noticed that enough mines had detonated to leave a gap in the Tower's defenses, shouting "Yes! There's an open passage now!"

Odd and Sissi flew towards the tower but another Manta got in front and approached them with laser fire that they dodged. Odd flew to the front, cocking and aiming his wrist.

"Not just yet!" Odd fired some arrows, piercing one of the Mantas wings.

It shrieked in pain as it spiraled towards the ground where it blew to bits, allowing Odd and Sissi to land their vehicles in front of the tower.

"Hurry!" Sissi shouted as Aelita got off the Overboard to enter the Tower.

"We'll cover you!" Odd shouted.

Odd and Sissi flew back into the air, engaging the last two Mantas in aerial combat. Odd's laser arrows mostly missed, but one hit its mark, destroying the Manta. The other one retaliated with a hail of lasers.

"Shield!" Odd shouted a sort of purple circle appeared in front of him.

"Huh?" Sissi observed this seemingly new power of Odd's in curiosity, until the Manta circumvented Odd's protection by shooting him in the leg so that he lowered his shield, and then in the chest, devirtualizing him.

"Oh, you've done it now, XANA!"

With a growl, Sissi leapt off the Overwing and landed atop the Manta, then she thrust her spear into its Eye of XANA, resulting in an explosion that destroyed the monster and sent Sissi falling onto the ice below.

Rubbing her head from the impact, she looked up to see Aelita entering the Tower.

Sissi sighed in relief, before muttering, "Hold onto him, Yumi. Just a bit longer."

Every bone in Yumi and Ulrich's bodies chilled from the blizzard that threatened to engulf them in snow and turn them into icebergs, and yet Yumi would not let go out Ulrich.

"U-Ulrich…don't leave m-me. Please...I...I need you..."

Yumi choked on her words and shed a tear, which immediately crystallized thanks to the intense cold around him.

Her body screamed in protest of what she was putting herself through, but Yumi ignored it. There could be an eternal blizzard that blocked out the sun forever, and yet Yumi would not move. The force of the entire world could be moving against her, and Yumi would never relinquish her hold on Ulrich.

Her eyesight dimmed, the snow starting to bury them both and the wind howling their ears.

"S-Stay with me...just for a moment longer..."

And it was at that moment that the cold suddenly ceased. Yumi looked up to see the sweet and warm embrace of the sun greeting Earth once more, melting away the snow and ice. She smiled, knowing that Aelita must have deactivated the Tower.

"She did it. Ulrich, she did it!"

No response.

"Ulrich...?"

Ulrich did not move an inch.

"Ulrich!"

Yumi nudged him, to no avail. She couldn't even hear him breathe.

"No...NO!"

Yumi screamed and cupped Ulrich's head in her hands, moving him up.

"Ulrich! ULRICH!"

Yumi pulled out her cell phone and tried to dial Jeremie's number, only to be met with no reception.

"Please...please, no..."

Yumi put down her phone and shook Ulrich's head, tearful as the cold no longer froze the water coming out of her eyes. All she could do was lean her forehead against Ulrich's in tears.

"Ulrich! Please! Don't...don't leave me...I'm begging you! I…I…-"

The seemingly endless emotional barriers of Yumi's mind crumbled at that moment.

"I love you!"

The body of her beloved did not move. He did not hear her words. Yumi broke down in hysterics.

"NOOOOO!" Yumi screamed, sobbing into his back and finding herself incapable of doing or saying anything other than three words as tears poured from her eyes.

"I love you...I love you...I love you..."

Sobs choked the atmosphere around them until a bright light engulfed them.

Back in Kadic Academy after 8th grade science class, Yumi fell to her knees in the middle of the campus, unsteady and unprepared for the Return in Time. She spun her head around, finding no sign of her friends. She ran towards the science building in hopes of finding them. She ran past every other student until she reached the building where she found Odd, Aelita, Sissi and Jeremie standing in front. The girls were first to notice her and ran up to her in joy.

"Yumi!" Aelita and Sissi ran into her for a hug which she gladly returned.

"You're alive!" Sissi exclaimed.

"Thank goodness! We were so worried about you!" Aelita added.

"You don't have to worry anymore. I'm okay, thanks to all of you." Yumi assured them.

She looks to see Odd and Jeremie smiling at her, which she returned, though they weren't the ones she needed to see, at this moment.

"Y-Yumi..."

Yumi gasped, looking to see Ulrich stood near the boys with a look of shock and relief.

"U-Ulrich…"

Aelita and Sissi released Yumi, allowing her to slowly walk to Ulrich, prompting Odd and Jeremie to step aside, joining the girls. The two warmly stare into each other's eyes, feeling a mixture of emotion. Her lips trembling, Yumi snatched Ulrich into her arms for an embrace which he warmly returned.

"You're alive!" "You're okay!" Was what the two muttered into each other's ears as they sobbed together from their closest near-death experience they had together yet.

"I…I thought I lost you…" Yumi literally cried. "I…I…"

"You didn't lose me. You'll never lose me, Yumi. I promise." Ulrich tearfully assured.

Yumi didn't know if he heard what she said, but that didn't matter right now. All she cared about was the boy that she held in her arms. The boy she cared for more than any other in her life.

No. I don't just care about him. I love him.

There were no words to describe her feelings, only actions. As she buried her head and sobbed on Ulrich's shoulder, the brunette held her as similar emotions overtook him.

He and Sissi had been afraid of Yumi for a whole week, and yet for these past two XANA attacks, Yumi was ready to lay down her life for them without hesitation.

All Yumi and Ulrich could focus on was each other at that moment. They didn't see Odd, Aelita, Jeremie and Sissi smiling at them, the latter not feeling an ounce of jealousy.

It was just them. Their beloved in each other's arms.

After Ulrich and Yumi's emotional display, the gang was lined up in the cafeteria for lunch, this time with Jeremie and Aelita. Just like before, T.V. cut in front of Odd, sliding his tray in front of Odd. This time, Sissi didn't bother saying anything.

Rosa, stricken by the celebrity's presence, quickly took priority of T.V. over Odd, placing some meatballs and gravy on his tray. T.V. stared down, unimpressed.

"What's up with these little mini-servings? Do you know how annoying these kids were to me today?" T.V. pointed a thumb to his back, directly at Odd who didn't react this time. "Come on, load up the meatballs!"

Odd winked at her, silently encouraging Rosa not to take that from T.V. which she agreed with.

"Do you really want it?" Rosa asked sarcastically.

"Oh yeah. What are you, deaf too!?"

And with that rudeness, Rosa dumped the meatballs atop his head, covering him in sauce and meat, much to his humiliation and Odd's enjoyment.

"And if you're still hungry, there's seconds." Odd joked.

And with that, the gang, Rosa and Edna burst into laughter at T.V.'s embarrassment and in the midst of it, Odd and Sissi shared a high-five.

Everything turned out well in the end. Ulrich and Yumi were alive and after spending some deadly but quality time in each others' arms, they were closer than ever. And Odd no longer cared about what some so-called celebrity had to say about him.

It was safe to say while the Lyoko Warriors may have a few scars left, the incident with the Polymorphing Specter was left fully behind them.

[ERROR: Operation: Cold War has failed.]

[Analysis: All objectives failed, no new data gathered. No altercations to primary objective needed.]

[New Data: Use of Flying Manta units unlocked outside of Sector Five. Will prove useful in future operations.]

[Emotional Warfare results: The scars of the last few attacks have worn off. Sissi can no longer be removed by means other than her death and will be a problem indefinitely. The Lyoko Warriors have the upper hand. This is unacceptable.]

[Conclusion: The Lyoko Warriors continue to prove resistant to physical threats. A more personal and mental approach is required.]

[Potential Threat Status: Using data from the _REDACTED_ files should not compromise my position, as long as certain details are omitted.]

[New Operation Initiated: Gathering data from creator and _REDACTED_ files. Preparing data transport into primary target.]

Chapter Text

[Executing Operation: Memories]

Aelita opened the door to the Hermitage, the place as empty and creepy as it always was. The only comfort that Aelita found there was the fact that XANA wasn't possessing the whole house this time.

She walked forward, touching the dresser. Unable to shake the memories of this place, she lowered her head and closed her eyes, thinking.

Where do I remember this place from? It's so...so...

"It's fascinating, isn't it?"

Aelita, eyes wide with shock, turned to see two men dressed in black. The voice she heard did not come from either of them, however.

There was a slender figure in front of the Men in Black, and Aelita found her eyes glued upon them. The figure was a woman with fair skin, blue eyes, and tied up blonde hair resembling a French twist. She wore crystal earrings, a pendant, a black ring on her right hand, a silver bracelet on her right wrist, and dark red nail polish.

The woman wore a dark red satin dress with a plunging neckline and slits on both sides, black thigh-high stockings, dark red high-heels, a gold necklace, and ruby earrings. She was slightly shorter than the two men behind her, all three of whom she dwarfed in size.

"How far the genius had fallen..."

The woman's voice was unnaturally calm and devoid of emotion. Her face was unreadable to Aelita. She didn't know this woman at all, and yet there was something about her that attracted dread within the pink-ette.

"What...?" Aelita asked, bewildered.

"From contributing to the greatest technical achievement this world had ever known...to this." The woman sighed, putting her hands on her hips. "Such disappointment."

"I...I don't understand..."

"Nor do I expect you to, but that hardly matters now."

The woman turned fully in Aelita's direction, and she recoiled with a gasp. The more she saw this woman, the more that fear built up with her. And she could not understand why. She had no idea who she was, other than being a lady dressed in red.

"Who...who are you?"

The Lady in Red snapped her fingers and the Men in Black moved towards Aelita, who screamed.

Aelita woke up to the sound of her own screaming, sweating. Unable to sleep, Aelita got up, walking out of her room and into the girls bathroom. She turned on the sink and began to rub cold water on her face as questions flooded her mind.

Who was that woman? Who were those men with her? What did they want me? What was she talking about? Why was I so terrified of her?

Aelita had not even come close to clearing her mind when she heard the bathroom door open and turned to see a concerned Sissi entering.

"Aelita? Was that you screaming?" She asked in concern.

"I...I'm sorry...I..." Aelita trailed as her eyes were stung by tears. It was only a second before Sissi took her into her arms, and Aelita sobbed in them until they heard someone else coming.

"What's all this about?" Asked Jim Morales as he stepped into the room and saw the sobbing Aelita.

"I heard her scream." Sissi explained. "And-"

"Hey, hey, Aelita." Jim said, trying to smooth her. "Come on, let's get you to the infirmary."

Her fear and hysteria starting to soothe itself, Aelita did not resist as the P.E. teacher took her by the shoulder and walked her down the hallway. The two passed by the boys dormitory, where a woken-up Jeremie opened his door to see a bewildering situation.

"Aelita? What's going on?"

As Aelita tried to stammer an answer, several more doors opened up as students came to investigate the commotion, much to Jim's dismay.

"Alright, back to bed everybody, go on! The situation here is under control!"

Jim continued on his way soon after, and the lights at Kadic were shut off again.

The next morning, Aelita was sitting down on the steps to Kadic's cafeteria, where the rest of the Lyoko Warriors were listening intently to her story. After Aelita was given pills for her nightmare, she was cleared to partake in the day's classes.

"And then came this woman...this Lady in Red, I think I'll call her. I don't know why but...she was terrifying."

"Did she threaten you?" Sissi inquired.

"At first she was talking about Franz Hopper, I think. She seemed to know about the Supercomputer, somehow. After that, she snapped her fingers and her men came after me."

"It sounds like a nightmare." Yumi surmised. "It happens to everyone, but you've had those before."

"Are Aelita's nightmares supposed to mean something?" Sissi asked.

"They usually do. One of her nightmares led to us finding Mr. Puck in the Hermitage." Jeremie answered.

"Mr. Puck?" Sissi raised an eyebrow.

"The toy elf. You know, the one you and your ex-friends were picking on Aelita over. It's the reason we found Franz Hopper's diary." Odd explained.

"Huh? You mean that doll? Wait, so the key fell out of it!" Sissi looked to Ulrich. "The one you stopped me from taking."

"It was the key to a locker that actually had Franz Hopper's diary. At least before XANA destroyed it." Ulrich answered.

"It's a good thing Ulrich stopped you from taking the key, huh, Sissi." Odd joked.

Sissi pouted but resumed with the topic at hand. "And you found that doll with the key in it because you had a dream about it, Aelita?"

"Yes, that's right." Aelita nodded.

"So, what do you think that Lady in Red meant?" Yumi asked.

"I don't know." Aelita sighed. "I felt so afraid when she turned and looked at me. I have no idea who she was but..."

"There could be worse. Like, a month ago, I dreamt that I was on a date with Sissi!" Odd joked to relieve the tension, earning the ire of the girl in question. "If we weren't friends now I'd be saying 'can you think of a worse dream?'"

"Was I really that bad back then?" Sissi inquired.

"Not always. You might not know this, but I'm on the hunt for the perfect girlfriend for Odd the Greatest, and where better to look than online dating?"

"And how's that going?" Yumi asked.

"Great! There's this fantastic girl I've really flipped over too! And I've just found out she's a student here at Kadic Academy!"

Wait...what? Sissi thought, her full attention on Odd now.

"It's so crazy! I see her every day and I have no idea who she is!"

"And what's worse." Ulrich added. "Is that he stayed up all night exchanging chat messages with her. I didn't sleep at all thanks to him."

All...night? Meaning tonight? Sissi struggled to keep herself from asking the question aloud.

Instead, she asked, "Yeah? What kind of messages does she send you?"

"She sends me these messages that are so romantic! I mean, like poems. Like, check this one out:"

Odd cleared his throat and recited: "Love is not looking at one another, it's-"

"It's looking together in the same direction, huh?" Jeremie interrupted to finish it.

"Yeah." Odd glanced over at him, surprised. "How'd you know that?"

"It's from the guy who wrote The Little Prince." Jeremie explained. "Your friend may be romantic, but they're not very original."

Sissi turned away from the discussion to hide the scarlet that was blushing across her face.

Then Ulrich checked out his phone and said, "Well, it's time to get wet. Are you gonna cut swimming, Jeremie, like you were planning to?"

"I can't. Jim has already warned me." Then he made his voice deeper, trying to imitate Jim's. "No more dumb excuses, you hear?!"

"Great!" Odd cheered. "We'll finally get to see that buff and athletic body of yours, can't wait!"

As Jeremie walked away, he turned back to them and said, "You may be surprised."

Aelita found some of the tension in her nightmares gone, relieved from that discussion. Soon, it was only Yumi and Sissi left at the cafeteria.

"The others didn't notice you blushing, but I did."

A tidal wave of embarrassment crashed down upon Sissi at that moment.

"I-I don't know what you're talking about."

Sissi immediately got up and walked away, though not before she heard Yumi say, "Just text me if you want to talk about this."

I just might have to... She privately conceded.

In the swimming room of Kadic Academy, the Lyoko Warriors (minus Yumi) were seated in their swimsuits with a bunch of other students, while Jim was spouting off on yet another of his ludicrous speeches to prepare his "cadets" for the trial to come.

"The human body is made of 90 percent water, and that is why it floats! Because, contrary to what you might think, water...floats. Don't forget Archimedes' principle: any body plunged into a liquid and um...is, uh...a, uh..."

"Comes out wet?" Odd joked, throwing out a random guess.

"Uh, yeah, right. No, that's not it," Jim regained his train of thought. "Now, no one has to be scared of the water, unless, of course, you're lost at sea somewhere in the middle of the Indian Ocean. In that case, you would certainly have the right to say, 'good grief, why must there be so much water on the surface of this darn planet?!'"

Odd wasn't listening to Jim at that point, his thoughts entirely on who his new digital girlfriend was. She murdered through a few names, eventually settling on a girl named Sophie in their grade.

"What makes you think it's a girl in our classes?" Ulrich asked quietly. "It could just as easily be Milly or Tamiya."

Meanwhile, as Jim was droning on, he remarked "Reminds me of when I used to be a salvage diver!"

"You used to be a salvage diver?" Nicholas asked, crossing his arms.

"I'd rather not talk about it." Was the P.E. teacher's prompt reply.

"Azra?" Was Odd's next guess, but he shook it off quickly.

"No...no way, she's not a first-year student, either. I forgot,"

"Maybe she's in Yumi's class," Ulrich suggested. "And what if it's Anais Fiquet? To her, you're a real shrimp!"

"Stern and Della Robbia!" Jim pointed to them accusingly. "I'm sorry I'm boring you! You're first on deck! Let's see what you can do."

As Ulrich and Odd moved to the diving boards, Aelita held her head as if it was pounded.

"Aelita?" Jeremie noticed and glanced at her. "You okay?"

As Jim blew the whistle and Ulrich and Odd dove, Aelita closed her eyes.

When she opened them, Aelita was roughly shoved onto a chair on a rotting table. She looked around and saw she was back in the Hermitage, the Men in Black having placed her on a chair.

Then Aelita looked up, and across the table, Aelita saw someone that made chills run up her spine.

The Lady in Red pulled up a chair and held a cup of coffee as she sat down.

"It appears I have caught you at a bad time." She shrugged. "Not that it matters anyway."

Aelita hyperventilated, the terror flooded her heart once more at the Lady in Red's presence.

"What do you want with me?!"

"The advancement of the human race." The Lady in Red answered. "The pinnacle of science. Perhaps the greatest technical achievement in history."

"I am not some machine to be dissected!" She shouted, slamming her fists onto the table.

"Did I say you were?"

Aelita was struck silent. But...she was a machine. She was an A.I. made into a human being!

The Lady in Red chuckled. "Your thoughts are amusing."

Aelita's jaw dropped, her expression morphing into one of utter stupefaction.

"H-How can you read my thoughts?!"

"The eyes have one language everywhere." The Lady in Red commented before taking a sip of coffee in front of the bewildered Aelita. "To explain simply, body language and tone of voice - not words - are our most powerful assessment tools."

Aelita hated the way that the Lady in Red looked at her, like how an insect was observed through a microscope. XANA was terrifying, but this woman was scary in her own way. Aelita had no idea who she was, what she wanted, or how real she even was, and that made her terrified.

"What do you think you are?"

"What?" Aelita asked, flustered.

"I know who I am. What my purpose is. What would you say is yours?" The Lady in Red tilted her head.

Aelita couldn't take this anymore. The terror of her presence and her words would make her heart pounce out of her chest at this rate.

Aelita tried to get up from the chair and was promptly shoved back down onto it by the Men in Black. She screamed in her struggle. The Lady in Red held up a finger in front of her mouth in a "Hush" gesture.

When Aelita finally snapped out of the vision, her body went limp and tumbled over the side, falling into the pool below much to everyone's shock and horror.

"AELITA!"

With a cry of distress, Jeremie dove into the pool and swam after the pink-ette, showcasing some surprisingly impressive swimming. Taking her into his arms, Jeremie found the strength to carry her back up to the surface.

Not long after swimming class, Aelita was back in her bedroom, where her now very concerned friends were gathered around.

"There was much more detail this time." She explained. "The Lady in Red was talking to me. She ranted about the 'greatest technical achievement in history'. When I told her I wasn't some machine to be dissected, she just chuckled at me. It was like she could read my thoughts just by looking at me."

"The doctor said you passed out from the cold." Sissi explained.

"That may be, but what about these visions? Where are they coming from?" Aelita asked, directing her question to Jeremie.

"I haven't the slightest idea, but I think these aren't just any regular nightmares." Jeremie rubbed his chin in thought. "Nightmares usually aren't this detailed, and the second one was a continuation of the first? There's an equation behind all this, only question is, what's it leading to?"

"This Lady in Red..." Aelita shivered as if she were feeling cold. "She talked so coldly. So menacingly. Everything about her just felt wrong."

"I've got to go." Yumi said, seeing what time it was on her phone. "I'm already late."

"Us too. Mrs Hertz is gonna kill us." Jeremie glanced at his watch, before turning to Aelita. "You get some rest. We'll be back to check up on you right after Mrs. Hertz' class, I promise."

"Wait a minute!" Odd called out from the desk, typing away at his laptop. "I'm just about to find out who they are!"

Ulrich, seeking to protect their grades, closed his roommate's laptop, "Come on, Odd. You can talk to your cyber-friend after class."

"Or just take the computer with you," Jeremie suggested, standing next to the open door as Ulrich walked through it. Odd quickly gave his thanks as he walked out of Aelita's room with his laptop under his arm.

Once it was just him and Aelita, he gave her a sweet smile. "And Aelita, I promise, we'll find out what's happening to you."

Aelita returned his smile, but just after the door closed, her smile turned into a frown. The questions raced through her mind again, and she found herself unable to focus on anything else.

Heading to the wardrobe, Aelita took out her clothes and began to get dressed.

She had to go now, and if she had to do this alone, then so be it.

Odd, Ulrich, Sissi and Jeremie had just barely made it to Mrs. Hertz science before the bell rang. While taking his seat, Odd ended up watching backwards, unintentionally bumping into Nicholas.

"Hey!" The jock growled. "Watch where you're going!"

"Sorry. I mistook you for a doorpost." He quipped as he went on his way.

Bewildered, Nicholas sat next to Herb and asked, "Do I really look like a doorpost? Those things are strong and sturdy, right?"

Herb just rolled his eyes at his friend and got out his notepad, while Odd sat down next to Ulrich and readied his laptop. He looked at the latest entry that his digital girlfriend made, and shock came over him.

"Hey, she's in our class! She said that she has science now with Mrs. Hertz!"

Ulrich reacted with surprise, but Jeremie, sitting on the table in front of Odd, paid no attention to this as a realization came over him.

As Mrs. Hertz took control of the classroom and ordered the students to open their books, Jeremie went over to his bag, took out his own laptop, and took a look at the Superscan, which picked up an activated Tower in the Desert sector.

Of course. Jeremie seethed. It's XANA. He has to be using those visions to lure Aelita in somehow.

"An activated Tower." He whispered to Ulrich and Odd behind him, much to their surprise. Ulrich glanced at Sissi to alert her, and she got the message. And for some reason she had her own laptop out.

"Ma'am, can I go to the bathroom?" Jeremie asked, raising his hand, prompting Odd, Ulrich, and Sissi to do the same.

"Oh, no you don't!" Mrs. Hertz declined, having gotten used to their shenanigans by now. "It's always the same with you three, and you, Sissi, simply because you are the principal's daughter doesn't give you the freedom to run away! You should have gone before classes. Now, put those computers away before I take them away!"

Left with no choice, the four were forced to listen to her lecture, while Jeremie repeatedly checked his watch, anxious at the time Mrs. Hertz was unwittingly wasting by keeping them here. Sissi sought to pass time by taking out a piece of paper and drawing a heart with an arrow stuck through it.

Thus, she was unprepared when Mrs. Hertz turned to her and asked "And this means, what, Sissi?"

Sissi stammered a random response, saying "It means a pound of metal weighs...uh...nearly a ton?"

This drew laughter from much of the class, much to her embarrassment and the dismay of Mrs. Hertz. Soon after, the bell sounded. As Odd looked at Sissi and struggled to suppress his laughter, he saw her pick up the heart drawing and shove it into her backpack.

Wait a minute... Odd noticed. She's in the class...

Odd was spared further thought when Jeremie gave out instructions. "Warn Yumi. I'll go get Aelita!"

Ulrich dialed Yumi's number, while Odd stared at Sissi in wonder, staying behind her so she didn't notice.

Walking alone in the wilderness, Aelita walked up to the abandoned Hermitage and stared at it, trying to see if she recalled anything. In a flash, she briefly saw it in its prime condition before it was abandoned.

"I'm a computer program..." Aelita muttered. "I couldn't have seen it before it was made..."

She resolutely walked on, entering the building itself as walked around. She came upon the living room, where another flash caused Aelita to see it in its prime condition. The piano at the far end was repaired.

But what really caught her attention was the man sitting in front of the instrument and playing it.

Walking closer to the man, Aelita noticed that he wore a white jacket and a pair of glasses. She had seen this man before, when she first visited the Hermitage.

Wait...this is Franz Hopper's old home...so...is this...

"Aelita."

Franz Hopper spoke and rose from his chair, saying "I didn't notice you there."

Aelita recoiled, taking a step back. Since this was the man who created Lyoko, she was speaking to her creator. Or a vision of him anyway. She felt overwhelmed.

"You would like to go upstairs?" He asked. "You look tired. Mister Puck always did give you comfort when you needed it."

"But...but..."

"I know you miss her, and him too." He said softly. "So do I. But I promise, we can go on."

"I don't...what are you-?!"

The vision faded before she could finish the question.

I'm a computer program! How could a doll 'always' comfort me?! And what's 'her' supposed to mean?!"

Aelita desperately took the stairs and came up to the bedroom. There, she saw the room undamaged. A neat bed, the repaired Mister Puck on her pillow, and a wardrobe. It looked strikingly similar to a room in the girls dormitory.

Aelita, her mind overwhelmed, put her hands on her head to calm herself down.

"This doesn't make any sense..."

"That you know of."

Aelita gasped, turning around to see the Lady in Red walking into the room, hands folded behind her back.

"Who are you?!" She asked again, this time much louder.

"Have you ever heard of the expression, 'a necessary evil'?"

"I am the one asking the questions here!" Aelita shouted, trying and failing to sound intimidating. The Lady in Red stepped closer, and Aelita backed into a corner.

"You do not make demands." The Lady in Red coldly told her. "You have no power. Not here. Not back then, and not now."

She knelt in front of Aelita, who trembled in terror as the woman lifted a hand up and caressed her face.

"P-please...please stop..."

She felt so small. So tiny. Like a little child confronted by the monster in their nightmares.

"There...there..." The Lady in Red soothed. "All you have to do is stop fighting. Stop pretending you can fight this. Stop complaining, like he always has."

"H-He?"

"I can make the pain go away." She rubbed her hand into Aelita's hair and every bit of the pink-ette's being recoiled at her touch.

"Y-You don't know..."

"I can see the sadness. Every burden that directs your despair to engulf your heart. The sunniest of days can become smothered in gloom, with no end in sight. You feel it, don't you?"

"..."

"The remedy may seem non-existent, but it is not so. I can make you start afresh. No more pain. No more remembering. I've seen it happen, you know."

"I...I..."

"I have lost more than you can know." She purred, the slightest amount of emotion in her voice. "But I have moved on. I found peace in my work. And I can help you find it as well. All you have to do is let go."

"W-What?" Aelita sputtered.

"Let go of your burdens, as I did." The Lady in Red rubbed Aelita's cheek. "They only distracted me, and now I'm free."

Aelita stared at her, jaw agape. She wanted to feel comfort in her touch, but she felt nothing of the sort. Every time the Lady in Red touched her, Aelita's terror rose and rose.

"I once asked you if you knew who you were. The silence was your answer, because you are nothing. No one. You cannot even call yourself a human, can you?"

Aelita's eyes began to water. The Lady in Red did not react to her tears in any way.

"Do you agree with me, that you are nothing?"

Aelita started to sob, lowering her head. The Lady in Red cupped her chin and lifted her back up, forcing Aelita to stare into those blue cold eyes.

"You do, but perhaps it doesn't have to be this way. Let me guide you. I can help you find peace, just as I did to-"

And at that moment, heavy and furious footsteps sounded from outside the room. The Lady in Red sighed, slightly annoyed.

"It appears our time together is at its end."

The door opened, and Aelita heard a male voice yelling, "Get the hell away from her!"

Before Aelita could see who it was, the footsteps were replaced with a phone's ringing. After several deep breaths, she picked up her phone and heard Jeremie on the other line.

"Aelita, where are you? Are you okay?"

"At the Hermitage." She answered.

"You should be resting!" Jeremie chastised. That just made it worse.

"These visions are haunting me! I've got to know where they're coming from!"

"I have an answer to that. It's XANA! He's on the offensive and we all know he's not above messing with your head."

Aelita gasped, an answer for all her questions right in front of her.

Was it all just a fabrication? Was it XANA just messing with me? Is this Lady in Red even a real person?

"Anyway, stay where you are! I'm coming to get you!"

"I'm big enough to make it to the Factory by myself." She retorted, rejecting his help.

"Okay, but hurry." He urged before hanging up.

Aelita pocketed her phone, sighed, and looked out of the window.

And promptly saw a trio of Men in Black getting ready to storm the building.

Aelita gasped, backing away in absolute horror.

"Come, quickly."

The pink-haired princess turned around to see Franz Hopper at the door, beckoning her to come with him. In her terror, she quickly obliged. Aelita ran down the stairs in the main room, where the trio of Men in Black had entered.

Aelita screamed and ran down the stairs, with the Men in Black in hot pursuit of her. The hallway led her outside where, just like in her first visit, she had a vision of a secret passageway that led into the factory. Hopper appeared again at the doorway, beckoning her to come in, which she immediately did.

I can't take this. I have to find out where they're coming from. Who she is. Who I am.

All the Lyoko Warriors were in the factory where they waited for Aelita and Jeremie prepared the Scanners.

"What's Aelita up to?" Ulrich asked.

"She said she would be right over. I should have gone over to pick her up."

The Lyoko Warriors debated the absence of their friend until the elevator opened up to reveal the pink-ette standing inside.

"There you are at last! Hey Cinderella, we said midnight on the dot."

Odd's quip did nothing to better the atmosphere as Jeremie asked, "Hey, you okay?"

"I..." Aelita stomped over, her eyes initially closed. "I had some more visions. Um...I saw a man...and it was..."

Aelita hesitated, prompting Sissi to ask, "Are you sure you want to talk about this, maybe-"

"It was Franz Hopper!"

This earned gasps from the group (sans Sissi, who didn't idolize the man as much as the others did).

"Huh? Are you sure?" Jeremie asked.

"He acted like he knew me." Aelita admitted. "He even spoke about Mister Puck."

"What if this is XANA's offensive?" Odd suggested.

"What?" Aelita asked.

"I mean, these strange visions." Odd answered.

"Hey, that's right. You said you weren't born human, right?" Sissi started. "What if XANA is the one making you see these weird nightmares? That dumb virus does connect you to him."

"Exactly." Jeremie immediately agreed with both of them. "XANA is perfectly capable of stimulating your cerebral cortex, through the virus that links you to him. And from that, he can paradoxically simulate an artificial sleep, and the involuntary psychic activity that goes with it."

"I have no clue what you just said." Sissi informed the young genius. Odd attempted to translate by suggesting, "In English, he means XANA is showing Aelita free movies!"

"So, you think all these visions are just lies?" Aelita contemplated. "But...they're so detailed..."

"Let's not hang around to find out. Let's deactivate the Tower." Odd suggested. "Sooner we do that, sooner you'll have a clear head."

Reluctantly, Aelita went with the others into the Scanner room.

"Odd and Ulrich first, then I'll send in the girls." Jeremie instructed.

As the boys stepped into the Scanners and Jeremie began the virtualization process, Sissi asked Aelita.

"This Lady in Red...does she scare you?"

Yumi gave Aelita a look of concern with Sissi.

"She is terrifying." She admitted. "Everything she said felt like venom. It's like she cares nothing for anyone except her work. She even mentioned something about losing 'more than I can know', whatever that meant."

Sissi let out a small yelp and turned away, her thoughts plunging into denial.

No. No, no, no. It's just a coincidence.

"Does...does that stir something in-?" Aelita asked curiously.

"I don't want to talk about it." Sissi immediately said.

Stop it, Elizabeth. It was just a vision someone else had. Ignore it.

"Sissi, are you okay?" Yumi asked in concern.

"I'm fine." Sissi coldly told her. "It's just XANA getting on our nerves, I'm sure of it."

Yumi and Aelita caught the word "our" nerves in Sissi's sentence, their interests captured.

Before they could question her further, they heard Jeremie giving the roll call for Odd and Ulrich. He picked out their ID's

"Transfer Odd. Transfer Ulrich."

Odd and Ulrich were lifted off their feet, light particles surrounding them and blowing their hair up.

"Scanner Odd. Scanner Ulrich."

Odd and Ulrich spun around the scanners and the interface showed the boys' signatures getting recorded as they were being scanned.

"Virtualization!"

Once completed, a gust of wind sent Odd and Ulrich to Lyoko.

The boys are virtualized in the Desert Sector. After landing, they stood up looking around the vicinity.

"The Tower is due south, here are your vehicles!" Jeremie announced as he brought them up.

Now it was the girls' turn. Yumi, Sissi and Aelita each stepped inside a scanner. The scanners closed on the girls and Jeremie picked out their ID's.

"Transfer Yumi. Transfer Aelita. Transfer Sissi."

Yumi, Aelita and Sissi were lifted off their feet, light particles surrounding them and blowing their hair up.

"Scanner Yumi. Scanner Aelita. Scanner Sissi."

Yumi, Aelita and Sissi spun around the scanners and the interface showed the girls' signatures getting recorded as they were being scanned.

"Virtualization!"

Once completed, a gust of wind sent Yumi, Aelita and Sissi to Lyoko.

The girls virtualized and landed next to the boys.

"Okay, you're all there now. Don't waste any time.!" Jeremie said.

Odd, Ulrich and Yumi jumped onto their respective vehicles and Sissi ended up on the passenger seat of the Overbike with Ulrich. However, Aelita hesitated to go on, which Yumi noticed.

"Coming Aelita?" Yumi questioned.

Aelita shrugged and hopped on the Overwing, and the five Lyoko Warriors sped off south towards the Tower.

"XANA's monsters up ahead! Do you see them?" Asked Jeremie.

"We'd have to be as mere-sighted as you not to see them." Odd joked.

There, Sissi spotted three Tarantulas and three other figures that looked like cubes.

"Um...What are those?" Sissi pointed at some giant squares.

"Ah, right." Ulrich realized. "I forgot, there was one monster you haven't seen yet. Those are called Bloks."

"Get it? Cuz they are square." Odd quipped.

Sissi rolled her eyes, not finding the joke funny.

"Odd, you handle the Bloks. Yumi, Sissi and I will take care of the Tarantulas." Ulrich ordered

"You got it." Odd responded.

"Aelita, you wait here." Yumi instructed as Aelita hopped off near a cliff and her bodyguards charged into battle.

"Ground and air attack." Yumi suggested.

Odd did the air attack and Ulrich, Yumi and Sissi got off their vehicles for the ground attack, the three of them drawing their respective weapons.

Odd directed the three Bloks to pay attention to him by firing a hail of laser arrows at the top of their heads. The Bloks fired at him, but he circled around the Tower to confuse their aim. When he came back around, he fired a Laser Arrow, destroying one of the Bloks.

Meanwhile, the trio of Tarantulas charged from the Tower at the trio of Ulrich, Yumi and Sissi. One stayed at a distance to provide covering fire, while the other two got in closer, firing lasers that Ulrich quickly deflected with his saber, allowing Sissi to toss the orange Pom-pom. The two Tarantulas moved out of the way to avoid getting blown up. This created an opening for Sissi to run through and set her sights on the third Tarantula, which began firing its lasers at her while Ulrich and Yumi schemed a team attack.

The third Tarantula kept firing upon Sissi, who wielded her spear like a baton to deflect the lasers until it ceased firing. She then hurled her weapon at the overgrown spider. The monster quickly leapt out of the way, however, and advanced upon the cheerleader, forcing her to snap the spear back to her.

Odd continued handling the remaining Bloks, dodging all their laser fire. Eventually he scored a direct hit on the second Blok and blew it up.

"Piece of cake!" He declared.

"Super Sprint!"

Ulrich charged ahead with his super speed and circled around the two Tarantulas he and Yumi were fighting so fast that they couldn't keep them in their line of sight. They glanced around, confused, until Yumi acrobatically flipped above Ulrich's circle to toss her fan, destroying one of the Tarantulas and Ulrich abruptly leapt up and stabbed his katana into the other's face, causing it to implode.

The last Tarantula swung its leg, but Sissi swung her spear, aiming for its Eye of XANA. However, the monster dodged her attack and the spear ended up lodged in the ground. Before she could try to take it out, the Tarantula smacked Sissi with his front leg, sending her flying away from the weapon.

Gritting her teeth, Sissi picked herself up and dodged more laser fire before getting up close to the monster and delivering an uppercut to the chin. Normally, this would barely affect the overgrown spider, but thanks to Sissi's super strength, the Tarantula found itself flipped completely over, roaring in confusion and disorientation.

Sissi then ripped her spear out of the ground and plunged it into the Tarantula's neck , destroying it. Ulrich and Yumi ran over to her, impressed.

"Wow." He observed. "Guess that boxing with Odd really paid off."

"Not bad Sissi." Yumi commented.

"I have super strength." She explained. "I guess-"

"Aelita, what are you doing?"

Ulrich, Yumi and Sissi turned to see Aelita approaching the edge of the cliff, as if she were observing something. It was obvious to everyone that she had no intentions of jumping in, so they stared, bewildered, as a certain white orb came over the ledge.

"The transporter orb!" Jeremie observed. "But I didn't call it up."

"I'm sorry, Jeremie, but I want some answers. I have to find out where these visions are coming from."

"Aelita, don't do it! It's a trap!" Jeremie shouted in protest.

"No! Aelita!" Ulrich, Yumi and Sissi called out only for the last Blok to shoot the cheerleader in the shoulder.

Sissi cried out as she dropped to the ground. Odd kept moving around the Blok, dodging its shots while Ulrich and Yumi protected Sissi by deflecting incoming shots.

At that moment the transporter orb snatched Aelita and took her far away from her friends.

Meanwhile, Odd and the others continued dealing with the last Blok which shot Ulrich in the stomach and made him lose his saber. Odd confused it by flying around on his board and Sissi jumped on top of it, failing to stab it with her spear as it kept bouncing off its hard body. Sissi cried out when the Blok spun around, prompting her to jump off next to Yumi.

"Hey! My spear can't pierce its body! How do you kill these things!?" Sissi asked.

"Like this!"

Yumi did some flips while Odd confused the Blok. She jumped on top, slicing the creature's weak point with her fan, finally destroying it. The four of them gathered together as Ulrich complimented Yumi.

"Everyone, listen up!" Odd's usual attempt to boast would be halted by Jeremie's panicked yelling. "XANA succeeded! He lured Aelita over to Sector Five. You have to get there fast or the Scyphozoa will take her memory!"

Without hesitation, the four bodyguards went over to the cliff, waiting for Jeremie to call the transport orb. The white orb came back, engulfing the four as they intruded into XANA's home once more.

As soon as the transport dropped them off and a passage was revealed, Ulrich used his Super Sprint to get ahead of the group, with the other three tagging along.

"The corridor's still there!" Odd observed.

"That's because the countdown is still ticking, hurry!" The young genius urged them on as he saw a countdown ticking on the computer screen. Another screen, something Jeremie had been dreading, also appeared on the monitor: a picture of Aelita's head with a number rapidly counting down.

"Oh, no! Aelita! The Scyphozoa is taking her memory!" He cried.

"We're almost there!" Ulrich assured him as the four arrived in the chamber ahead, which was filled with pillars that were constantly jumping up and down.

What they saw made Odd groan. "Oh, great! A leapfrog contest!"

Seeing Aelita and the Scyphozoa on the far side of the room, Ulrich came to a conclusion.

"There's only one way. One." Ulrich backed up a bit, counting down. "Two. Three!"

He Super Sprinted forward, landing on top of a pillar. Yumi backed up, realizing what to do. She jumped and her hands caught the edge of a pillar, followed up by Sissi. Ulrich jumped across, Odd doing the same.

"Hurry up!" Jeremie warned, seeing that Aelita's memory was starting to get low. However, the four Lyoko Warriors struggled to make progress with the rapidly shifting room.

Realizing this, Odd cocked his wrist and aimed carefully.

"Odd, mind telling me what you're doing?" Jeremie asked, to which Odd announced he was, "Saving the day!"

Odd fired a single Laser Arrow through an opening in the path, and just before the pillars could close it off, the Laser Arrow traveled to its target, hitting the Scyphozoa in the head and causing it to release Aelita.

"Yes!" Odd and Jeremie simultaneously yelled in celebration, just before a pillar came falling upon the former, crushing and instantly devirtualizing the Cat Boy.

"Odd!" Sissi cried out.

In the Factory, one of the Scanners opened up to reveal a frowning and very unhappy Italian.

"Odd, you okay?" Jeremie asked.

"Oh!" He groaned to himself, "Sector Five is even worse than Ms. Hertz's class!"

Odd stormed out of the scanner and headed back up the ladder to the scanner room to observe the group's progress.

Back in Sector Five, the Scyphozoa shook off Odd's attack and tried to wrap its remaining tentacles around Aelita again, but Ulrich used his Super Sprint to quickly reach them and severed several of the giant jellyfish's tentacles, forcing it to retreat. Sissi caught up to him soon after.

"Only ten seconds left on the countdown!" Jeremie warned.

Yumi, however, somersaulted onto another pillar, which lifted her up to the key, allowing Yumi to kick it and end the countdown. All of the pillars soon returned to their normal placement, allowing the Geisha to join up with the others.

Aelita picked herself up from the ground to see glares from her friends.

"Aelita!" Sissi chided. "Why would you go to the most dangerous place on Lyoko by yourself?!"

"I..." She sputtered, knowing Sissi was completely right. Then Odd spoke through the interface.

"I can't believe I'm saying this but Sissi's right!" He agreed "Have you gone nuts Princess!? If I hadn't fired that Laser Arrow, the Scyphozoa would've emptied your brain!"

"What did you think was going to happen?" Yumi added. "That the Scyphozoa would wave at you and let you pass?!"

Aelita's eye twitched and her fists clenched as Ulrich spoke next.

"You could have easily just deactivated the Tower and then stopped the visions right there! So, why-?"

"BECAUSE I DON'T WANT TO BE NO ONE!"

The Lyoko Warriors met her outburst with stunned silence. Aelita's eyes stung with unshed tears as she ranted at them.

"In my last vision, the Lady in Red told me I was nothing. I was no one. She was right. I was born from nothing. I don't have any parents like you all do. I don't have any siblings. I came from a computer. Ever since the day you found me, I have done nothing but destroy!"

"H...How does that-?" A bewildered Sissi started to ask.

"Do you remember what I told you, Sissi? How I mentioned that they shouldn't keep this thing on after they found me? I begged them to switch off the Supercomputer, Sissi, when I realized what XANA was going to do and that he would stop at nothing to kill us all. Jeremie and the rest of you kept saying no. Every day, you risk your lives for me. And yet right now, all I can think about is what she said to me. How she can 'make the pain go away' if I just 'give up my burdens'. She called me no one, and that's exactly who I am!"

"Aelita..." A shocked Jeremie muttered.

"If I had known what turning on the Supercomputer would have brought you all, I would have gladly lived in the peace and quiet of a shutdown Supercomputer than keep bringing you all at risk! And not just you, the entire world! And for what?"

Aelita fell back to her knees, the energy in her words leaving her much to the shock of the three standing in front of her.

"When you brought me to Earth, I finally started to feel like someone. A human. I loved to feel what it was like to be alive, but every day we fight in the Supercomputer, I realize that I'm not alive. So I stormed in here alone, like the idiot I am, because...because..."

Sissi grabbed Aelita at that moment, pulling her into a tight embrace.

"The Polymorph said something like that to me too. It mocked my life, before I joined you, for being so pathetic. But you're not no one Aelita, and all you have to do to believe that is look at me."

"Where would I be without you? If you didn't trust me? I'll answer for you, still a bully who would never have had a real friend. Like you. Like Yumi. Hell, even like Odd while we're at it."

In the lab, Odd smiled in amusement at that last line.

"If you had never trusted me..." Sobs choked Sissi's voice at this point and she would have cried if it was possible on Lyoko. "Then Ulrich would have always kept avoiding me. You've saved me in ways more than you can ever imagine by sending me to Lyoko! You helped me believe I could finally grow up! That I didn't need to keep clinging onto Ulrich while ignoring everyone else!"

"We may be the ones always helping and saving you, but that doesn't mean you're nothing! You're my best friend!"

Aelita stared at her, stunned.

"Your…best friend?" She quietly asked. "But Yumi…"

Sissi gently pressed her forehead against Aelita's, silencing her.

"Then both of you can be my best friends. If you consider yourself nothing, then I have to be too. But we aren't. It's because of you that I'm here now, surrounded by people that actually care about me! Just like you are now!"

Aelita sniffled as their foreheads touched, the depression starting to leave her while Yumi and Ulrich smiled at the scene.

"I...Sissi…"

After a long moment, the girls finally ended their embrace. Yumi was next to walk up and bring Aelita in for a hug which she returned.

"Aelita, we know it's been hard for you ever since you came to Earth. But you're not alone. You'll always have us. So don't ever think you're no one." Yumi assured.

"We knew the risks when we kept the Supercomputer on to bring you here to Earth. And we took those risks because you're more than just some computer program." Said Ulrich.

Odd spoke through the headset again. "That's right. So what if you're not a real human to the world? You're real enough to us Princess. We don't have any regrets! Me, Ulrich, Yumi and especially Jeremie here… we're all glad we met you. If we hadn't found you, we wouldn't all be buddies right now. Good things come out of bad things which led to more good things. So, what if some lady in a dream tells you you're no one? As far we're concerned you're someone to us. You're our friend! And that's never gonna change. You got that?"

After the rest of her friends said their bit, Aelita sniffed again, pulling back from Yumi. "Thank you. All of you."

"Now let's deactivate that tower, shall we?" The cheerleader suggested.

Aelita nodded, seemingly content, and Jeremie breathed a huge sigh of relief in the lab. Odd put his hand on Jeremie's shoulder.

"Who knew Sissi could be such a sweet talker?" Jeremie quipped.

"Funny..." Odd thought, remembering the heart he saw her draw.

I'm starting to wonder the same thing myself...

Ulrich, Yumi, Aelita and Sissi took the elevator to the Celestial Dome, where Jeremie brought up the vehicles for them. Yumi and Sissi jumped on the Overwing,and Ulrich went on the Overbike.

Aelita, however, saw the interface pop up and hesitated to get on the Overwing with Yumi.

"Aelita?" Jeremie questioned.

"Just hear me out." She requested. "I know, the visions were a trap by XANA to lure me here. But, because of that, this means the Tower would be irrelevant right? Because XANA was using that to give me my visions?"

"I'd really rather not take the chance." Jeremie argued.

"I know. But, on the chance it is, we have an opportunity here. And no, it's not the origins of my vision I'm looking for here."

"Then what is it?" Sissi asked.

"To see the data that XANA has on Franz Hopper."

[RED ALERT: Enemies are attempting to retrieve data on Creator. Deploying countermeasures.]

Aelita's answer drew collective gasps from the Lyoko Warriors. He had been missing for years. He could be anywhere, but on Lyoko?

"Wait, you mentioned that he recognized you in your vision, right?" Odd remembered. "As if you weren't a computer program?"

"Right. So, if I want answers, and I do, I need to search through Sector Five's data to see if we could possibly find him."

"I don't think I'd trust him, Aelita." Sissi admitted. "I know, I don't know him like you do, but he's still a total stranger to the rest of us. He'd probably give me 'mad scientist' vibes if you know what I mean."

"But if we did find him..." Ulrich mused. "You said he created this place, right? Makes sense he'd know how to cure Aelita's virus."

Jeremie folded his hands, the proposition being quite tempting.

"What do you think, Jeremie?" Yumi deferred the decision to their leader.

"Well..." Jeremie pondered, then sighed. "Alright. We'll do it."

"Thank you, Jeremie." Aelita smiled as she interacted with the interface.

"You've got Mantas incoming!" Jeremie observed, and the three Lyoko Warriors turned to see a trio of flying Mantas breaking through the wall.

"Sissi, stay here and protect Aelita." Ulrich instructed. "Yumi, you're with me!"

Sissi got off the Overwing and stood behind Aelita, spear drawn, while Yumi and Ulrich took to the skies to battle the Mantas. The trio of monsters swooped towards them, but Yumi threw one of her fans and hit a Manta dead on, destroying it.

Meanwhile, Jeremie brought up Sissi's avatar and began typing away.

"I'm bringing back your explosive pom-pom!" He announced. "It looks like there's a cooldown period before I can replace the one you used up, but it can be done."

"Great, now Sissi can go from cheerleader to Mrs. Boom Boom!" Odd commented.

Sissi giggled as her explosive came back to her, just as five Creepers crawled their way to the Celestial Dome, but Sissi was ready for them.

She tossed her orange pom-pom, causing an explosion that engulfed the monsters. Unfortunately, one survived and shot Sissi in the stomach. She shouted in pain, falling to the floor. Angered, she got up and tossed her spear at the surviving Creeper, stabbing and destroying it.

With a finger snap, Sissi's spear came flying back for her to catch and she then pulled out her green pom-pom, smashing against the floor. A hail of green confetti was released, healing her life points and showing her and Aelita in a green glow. Rejuvenated, Sissi stood like a stone wall between Aelita and those who sought to harm her.

"How's it going, Aelita?" She asked.

"XANA is making this tougher than usual! He's trying to seal off as much data as he can!" Aelita reported. "He really doesn't want us to know about Franz Hopper at all, but I just need more ti-!"

A familiar whirring noise interrupted the report.

Sissi and Aelita recognized the sound instantly, their thoughts confirmed when they saw the Scyphozoa heading towards them.

"What?" Jeremie gasped. "XANA's never sent the Scyphozoa twice in one day before, and never alone when Aelita isn't!"

"I won't let it touch you!" Sissi pointed her spear at the giant jellyfish. "You want her XANA, you'll have to go through me!"

The Scyphozoa answered her challenge by having its tentacles emit an orange glow, increasing their temperature. It lunged three of them at Sissi, who cut one of them with her spear, but another one burnt her shoulder which made her cry out, and the third knocked the spear out of her hands.

Sissi reached for it, but it fell off the ledge. She stared down the abyss with despair, before shouting "Jeremie! Can you bring back the-"

The Scyphozoa smacked Sissi with several more tentacles, causing her to stumble back and off the ledge.

"Sissi!" Aelita cried, stopping her attempt at gathering data to help her up.

Just as Sissi started to regain her composure and climb up with Aelita's help, the Scyphozoa wrapped her around and began to drain her memories. However, it only had a single tentacle available to drain her memory with, due to the damage Odd and Ulrich caused it earlier.

When Sissi finished climbing up, she knew she had no weapons, but that didn't stop her the first time and it wouldn't now. The sight of Aelita's memory being drained gave her all the motivation she needed to apply her super strength.

And she had no qualms with tearing this ugly squid apart with her bare hands.

"Don't!"

She grabbed the Scyphozoa's purple cone-shaped body with both hands and tugged with all of her strength as she slammed its glass head against the ground, stopping the memory draining and emitting a screech of pain from the monster.

"Touch!"

The giant jellyfish squirmed as Sissi next smashed it against the walls. Aelita fell safely to the floor in front of the interface and looked up to see her hunter being tossed around like a pancake.

"MY!"

Sissi slammed the Scyphozoa against the ground as hard as she could, cracking its glass head and causing it to shriek once again. It whipped a tentacle at her, but Sissi grabbed it with one hand and tugged so hard that she literally ripped it out, to the monster's great pain.

"FRIEND!"

With a mighty roar, Sissi hurled the Scyphozoa down the hallway with all the strength she could muster. The Scyphozoa skiddled, bumping its glass head several times from the sheer momentum Sissi tossed it with until it impacted the wall at the far end.

The Scyphozoa slowly picked itself up as Sissi cracked her knuckles and glared daggers at the monster. Its glass head was severely damaged, cracks visible from a mile away. The Scyphozoa glanced back at Sissi, who took a step forward.

The deadliest of XANA's monsters shrieked again, floated upwards and flew away, whimpering in defeat and fear, as Sissi heaved and took a few deep breaths to calm her rage.

Aelita watched the scene unfold with absolute shock and bewilderment. This was the first time she had truly seen the cheerleader's strength in action, and the sight laid out before Aelita was enough to make her heart soar.

Despite the shock of it all, as the Scyphozoa kept shrieking in agony, her lips began to curve into a smile at her frequent captor's misfortune. She stared up at Sissi as if she were a goddess.

Unknown to Sissi, Jeremie was doing something similar on the computer screen, while Odd burst out laughing as she smashed it the second time.

"Sissi...you're the greatest!" Jeremie shouted.

Aelita picked herself up and hugged Sissi as tight as she could, which Sissi happily returned.

"That giant squid touches you again in front of me, it will be the last time." The cheerleader vowed.

Back in the skies of Sector Five, the Mantas had unleashed mines upon their enemies. Through clever maneuvering, Yumi tricked one of the mines into colliding with a Manta, destroying it. The third Manta did not take kindly to this, and the monster shot the Overwing as it passed by Sissi, Aelita, and the Scyphozoa.

The vehicle became unstable and flipped over, causing Yumi to briefly cling to the handle before the Manta shot her in the chest, causing Yumi to lose her grip and fall into the abyss below. Yumi screamed as she plummeted into the abyss-

and landed directly on the back seat of Ulrich's Overbike.

Ulrich looked behind him and winked at his newest passenger.

"Now, we're even, huh?"

Yumi had stayed with him in a freezing blizzard, and now Ulrich caught her as she fell towards her doom. She would very much say that counted as even. As they rode to pick up Sissi and Aelita, Yumi used her fan to destroy the flying mines that were pursuing the Overbike.

Aelita went back to the interface and completed her search.

"Found the data banks. Sending to you now."

"Great!" Jeremie replied. "Now, head to the Desert sector and deactivate the Tower!"

Ulrich flew in on the Overbike, Yumi stepping off so Aelita could take the passenger seat. Sissi and Yumi watched as the Overbike departed Sector Five out one of the tunnels before the third Manta could pursue.

"I saw what you did with the Scyphozoa." Yumi raised her hand, offering a high five that was immediately taken. "That was probably the most beautiful thing I've ever seen."

"More beautiful than Ulrich?"

Yumi's cheeks would have blushed if she were not on Lyoko. Still, she laughed with Sissi before Jeremie spoke.

"Yumi, Sissi, I'm bringing you both back in." Said Jeremie.

Yumi bent down a little, giving Sissi a playful look. "You know, I can devirtualize you if you want."

"Ha! In your dreams Ishiyama!" Sissi joked back.

The two girls shared another laugh before Jeremie manually devirtualized them.

Aelita had wasted no time in deactivating the Tower once Ulrich took her back to the Desert sector, and the Lyoko Warriors agreed all that was left to head back to Kadic before they missed out on lunch time. They took their seats and began to eat, Aelita being the last. Sissi, however, was nowhere to be found.

"So, no more visions?" Yumi sought to confirm.

"Gone." The pink-haired princess confirmed.

"See? It was just a trap made by XANA." Jeremie immediately concluded.

"I'm not so sure." Aelita admitted. "Do you really think so?"

"If you want a theory," Ulrich volunteered. "I think XANA could have taken Franz Hopper's own memories and twisted it around to fit yours."

"I'm still looking at the data we gathered, but I did notice a few things." Jeremie explained. "The first is that XANA has no idea where Hopper actually is, but he has been searching for him because he thinks his Creator is his greatest enemy."

"Like Frankenstein, huh?" Odd joked as he stared at his laptop.

"Maybe. The second thing is XANA really, and I mean really, doesn't want us to decode his diary or find Franz Hopper himself. He even stated that finding him would be a 'worst case scenario' for him."

"That's good to know." Yumi said. "If we ever do find him, or he finds us, that'll be a miracle."

"It's very strange, though." Aelita interjected. "I was really under the impression that I was reliving the events I was seeing, especially every moment with that Lady in Red."

"Forget about the Lady in Red, Aelita." Jeremie advised. "If she truly thinks you were no one, today's events have proven her completely wrong."

"And if she dares to rear her ugly face around her to tell you that again," Odd added. "Then she can find five very valuable witnesses to tell her off."

"So, Odd," Ulrich asked, changing the subject. "How's your cyber sweetheart?"

"She is too cool!" Odd proudly declared. "I've really got it bad this time, guys! I'm gonna meet her now, by the vending machines! See you later!"

Odd closed his laptop and headed off with it while the others watched, intrigued.

"So, who do you guys think it is?" Aelita asked, seeking to get her mind off her visions.

"Honestly," Ulrich said. "I think I have a hunch..."

Odd had dated nearly every girl in the eighth grade at some point, where it was a longer affair, a short one, an online chat, or anything else. He loved to think of himself as a womanizer, the ultimate svelte boy that they would come craving for. It was mostly his ego talking, but the deeper part of him was interested in having someone to love. To really love her.

And one thing's for sure. He thought. I'll find that perfect girl sooner than Ulrich and Yumi will admit they love each other!

With that in mind, Odd headed towards the vending machine and turned the corner-

to find none other than Sissi Delmas standing there, laptop in hand.

Odd's jaw practically dropped to the ground as they stared at each other and shouted at the same time:

"You're my online date?!"

Red bloomed across Sissi's face, her own shock not being too far off from Odd's.

"Well..." Sissi rubbed the back of her head. "This is...uh..."

"Crazy?" Odd suggested. "Cuckoo? Horrifying?"

"I suppose I should go first." Sissi offered, to which Odd gave her a thumbs up. "I love Ulrich. You know it, and I know it. But I saw how he and Yumi embraced after XANA did that whole Cold War stuff on us a few days ago. And that was just the most recent thing. Do you remember when Yumi forced some alone time between us in the Factory?"

"Yeah. I would have made some killer bets off your survival." Odd tried to joke. Sissi just sighed, unamused. "Okay, sorry. I do remember. What happened?"

"Yumi admitted to me that she loves Ulrich."

Odd's eyes went as wide as dinner plates.

"Yeah, she did." Sissi chuckled awkwardly. "We decided it was best to just stand by and let Ulrich decide who he wants to date. I don't expect him to make a decision anytime soon, especially after that Poly-whatever attack, but we both saw how distraught Yumi was after the last Return to the Past. I can be pretty naive, but not so naive that I can't realize Ulrich might not be mine after everything we've been through."

"To be fair, Yumi had a pretty long head start."

"I've had this crush on him since elementary school, Odd. I'd argue that's way more of a head start than whatever Yumi had in her year and a half." She shook her head. "Anyways, we saw her crying in Ulrich's arms. She's done this twice in the span of just a few weeks. I get the sense that she's the least likely of all of us to break down like that, but there she went."

"You've got that right." Odd admitted. "And they are getting closer than usual. Is that why you decided to find a date?"

Sissi sighed again. "I decided to go on the forums and search for someone else to date, just in case Ulrich decides not to choose me. I had no idea who I'd find, but I certainly wasn't expecting you. Before I joined up with you guys, the thought of going out with you would have made my skin crawl."

"I might have said something similar. When I had that dream of going on a date with you a month ago, I saw it as my worst nightmare. Now…not so much. But I'll be honest, I saw the heart drawing back in science class."

Sissi's eyes widened and her mouth formed a perfect 'o.'

"Yeah. I had a lot of fun when we sparred and back in the blizzard...well...you did call me 'hot' didn't you?"

Sissi struggled to hide the scarlet blushing on her cheeks.

Oh God, what have I gotten myself into?

For a minute, neither of them knew what to do or say next.

I like Odd but...I love Ulrich! I can't just let him go, for Odd out of all people! Can I?

...But maybe...

"What do you think?" Sissi asked Odd as she rubbed a hand on the back of her neck nervously.

Out of all the girls Odd could date, he thought that the only two completely off limits to him were Aelita and Sissi. The former was obviously infatuated with Jeremie, maybe even more obviously than Yumi was with Ulrich, but Sissi? Out of all the girls he could have been dating, and it had to be her?

"It's tempting."

"Really?" Sissi asked, surprised.

"But seriously though, a love triangle is bad enough. Imagine a love quadrangle!"

Sissi and Odd shared a laugh, though Sissi could see his point.

"I like you, Sissi. I really do." The Italian admitted. "There was always a part of me that was sad we couldn't remain friends after the first Return to the Past. You've only been with us again for a couple weeks, but I've had a lot of fun with you. More than most of my dates ever gave me."

"You're a fun guy too, Odd." Sissi admitted. "I thought you were stupid, lame-brained, unfunny and just all around the most annoying guy ever. Now..."

"Now you see I'm the greatest!" Odd pumped his fist up.

"Weren't you the first and only one to get devirtualized today?" She pointed out, to Odd's dismay and amusement.

"I think this is why I like you." He admitted, chuckling. "A girl who can talk back to me. Give me a challenge, but also actually find my jokes funny. You know, the witty kind."

"Well, I can't just stand around you and let you kill us all with your bad jokes. Someone's gotta take the torture, you know?"

Odd laughed again, this time harder.

"Funny, but not as funny as watching the Scyphozoa get smashed around." Odd grinned. "If I had Super Strength like you, I would do that so often."

"That was very satisfying." Sissi proudly admitted. "So...what does this mean? For us? For me and Ulrich?"

"It's obvious to everyone you love Ulrich. My solution to this is that we put this in the back of our minds and wait until Ulrich makes his choice between you or Sissi."

"Yeah. I think that can work. Since when did you become the smart one?"

Odd just grinned at her. "I'm not smart, but not stupid either. I'm dumb, remember?"

The two shared another laugh.

"That you are, Odd, that you are."

Odd and Sissi just smiled at each other. Today would give them a lot to think about. He walked away and soon bumped into Ulrich.

"So, who was your date?"

Odd shrugged and smiled. "A friend, and for now, that's all we will be. I'm content."

Ulrich glanced behind Odd and saw Sissi walking away, her own laptop in hand.

Wait...is that why she didn't come to lunch with us? She-

Odd tapped him in the shoulder to interrupt his thoughts, saying "You know, good buddy, I got an absolute kick out of watching Sissi beat up the Scyphozoa. You could say that I've never seen her like that."

"And I think I would like to. Whichever she's comfortable with, wouldn't you?"

Ulrich processed the cryptic question and eventually got Odd's point.

"Yeah, I think so."

Stories had been told of the Lady in Red, the monster in Aelita's nightmares. It was curious how, in Aelita's visions, there had been this one figure that she had never seen before. Some believed that it had been a random form chosen by XANA to insert into Aelita's dreams. Others posited that the Lady in Red was a long dead figure connected to Franz Hopper's past. By and large though, the Lady in Red was thought of as nothing more than a myth.

They were all wrong.

The Lady in Red was no myth, nor was she gone. Or dead. Merely...waiting.

Many called her a genius. Some called her a monster. There were many terms to describe her, yet the Lady in Red did not concern herself with the opinions of sheep.

It was a private office in Switzerland where dark red polished fingernails opened a drawer on a desk. The title of the file was "Waldo Schaeffer". There was another file with the word "Schaeffer" on it just below Waldo's, though it was ignored for the time being.

The Lady in Red had just finished the previous round of testing, putting the cloak back over the test dummy's TV like head before retreating into her office.

The Lady in Red opened the file, frowning at the name. It had been the one error that nagged at the back of her mind. A mistake. The one who got away.

For a decade, the work had continued without him, to limited success. And it had been for those years that the Lady in Red had awaited an opportunity to correct this error. All she could do was wait.

The day that she would be reunited with her old acquaintance and his daughter brought amusement to her. Fun wasn't something she considered in her work.

But that...that would bring a smile on her face.

[ERROR: Operation: Memories has failed]

[Analysis: All objectives failed, new data gathered. No altercations to primary objective needed]

[Potential Threat Status: The name of the Lady in Red is _REDACTED_ until further notice. No further files should be used to avoid detection.]

[New Data: The Lyoko Warriors are now fully aware of the threat Creator poses to me. Creator location is unknown and unlikely to be revealed soon.]

[Conclusion: If Creator's diary is decoded or Creator himself is found, Aelita will be made whole again. Victory must be secured before this occurs.]

[New Operation Initiated: Preparing altercations to specters. Drawing reserve power from central core to enhance possession]

Chapter Text

"You really think I can be as good as them? I mean, look at them!"

To say that Sissi was in awe was an understatement. She had just spent the last three minutes watching an all-out sparring match between Ulrich and Yumi in the gym, Pencak Silat used at its fullest. She had often watched Ulrich practice, but never Yumi, and she could see why the Japanese girl thought Ulrich was a perfect match for her. Sitting on a bench next to Odd, Sissi watched what she thought resembled an action scene from a TV show or movie. Odd and Sissi were in their regular clothes, Yumi's in her new gym clothes and Ulrich's in his martial arts outfit.

It was never long before Ulrich had a block or counterattack ready against Yumi's hand-to-hand attacks, but Yumi was swift on her feet and hit hard when she had an opening. Even when Yumi or Ulrich kicked or punched the other, a mere second or two passed before they recovered and fought back. The three of them were about the same height, but that didn't stop Sissi from feeling tiny right now.

At one point, Ulrich swept Yumi's legs out from under her, but Yumi acrobatically flipped herself back onto her feet in a matter of seconds. She launched two high kicks towards his head, both of which he dodged while laughing at her, excited.

"True, but you also never thought you'd be smashing giant squids in a virtual world." Odd pointed out. "I'm sure you can throw a mean punch just like everyone else in this room if you put your mind into it!"

It was scary enough when Yumi punched her, but watching Ulrich not show an ounce of fear while Yumi was going all out was something that amazed her. True, Yumi was trying to hurt her, but she was putting a longer and sustained effort against Ulrich, and the brunette stood his ground like a stone wall.

But most enthralling to the cheerleader was Ulrich's martial artist outfit, because oh god Ulrich looked so hot in that and she could not take her eyes off of him for a second.

"Admiring him, huh?" Odd interrupted her train of thought. "Think he looks good in that?"

"It's my favorite." Sissi freely admitted, eyes still firmly on Ulrich. "He looks so...so..."

"Hot? Hmm, that's interesting." Odd's tone was wrought with mischief. "Didn't you say that I was the hot one?"

Sissi's cheeks turned into a deep crimson and she saw Ulrich turning to Sissi, having caught his question.

She was spared from interrogation when Yumi charged at the distracted Ulrich and kicked him right in the chest, knocking the brunette to the ground.

"Should've called a time-out." She suggested.

"Would it have made a difference?" Ulrich asked, laying on the ground.

"Probably not." She admitted with a grin.

"Really?" Ulrich grinned back. "Are you sure about that?"

Ulrich quickly picked himself back up, launching a double kick that Yumi barely avoided. He quickly dropped to his hands, performing a breakdance move that knocked her off her feet. Ulrich pinned her down like she did the first time they met and they wrestled on the floor for control until the two realized how close their faces are to each other, causing them to blush deeply.

"Yup. I was wondering when that was gonna happen." Odd grinned, knowing the history behind that.

Sissi was still staring in awe as she asked, "Was that still Pencak Silat?"

"No. Something I came up with." Odd admitted. "I show Ulrich some breakdancing videos all the time, whether he likes it or not. Gotta put some finance in when you fight, you know? Seems like he knows now."

After getting over the awkwardness, Ulrich and Yumi shared a smile.

"Okay. You got me that time." She admitted just as Kadic's bell rang out, prompting Ulrich to get up and help Yumi up.

"Time for the physical then." Sissi said as she got up off the bench. She and Odd hadn't changed into their gym clothes, so the two were free to head to the infirmary while Ulrich had to switch back to his normal clothes first. Yumi, however, would not be coming or changing since she had PhysEd next.

The eighth-grade annual physical was long anticipated for several students, but none were more eager than Odd Della Robbia. As soon as they got to the hallway outside the infirmary, Odd faced the wall and put his arms on it, leaning and drawing back.

Ulrich came over soon after, hands behind his back as he awaited his turn. Around them, students were talking about their various issues. Herb discussed his acne, a student named Julien couldn't see very well, and Heidi had been working for the past year to lose weight.

Seeing his roommate against the wall, Ulrich asked him, "Holding up the wall, huh Odd?"

"No, pushups! Why, can't you tell?"

"No." Ulrich replied.

"I'm sick of Yolanda telling me that I'm scrawny! She does this every year!" Odd seethed. "I have a dynamite body, and my friends, today's the day I'm gonna have a witness to prove it!"

"But you are scrawny." Ulrich blankly told him.

"I am not scrawny!" Odd insisted. "I am svelte!"

"Hmm, not what I felt." Sissi shrugged. "And I would think I would be a very reliable witness."

Odd groaned in dismay; she was never letting the fact that they switched bodies go anytime soon.

"Wanna look over my health records with me, Ulrich?" She asked of her crush.

Normally, he would either react with utter dismay or tell he wasn't interested. He didn't know much about medical advice, but he thought Sissi looked as healthy as a girl could be.

"Eh, might as well while we wait." He said, to which Sissi eagerly sat next to him and put an arm around the back of his neck.

"I'll take my arm off if you're uncomfortable." She immediately offered, earning a grateful smile from Ulrich.

"I'm fine." He assured her, to which Sissi opened her book and immediately began ranting.

"Look at my weight curb! Just right! And my growth curb! Just right! Perfection is really wonderful, isn't it!"

Odd just grinned at Ulrich's misfortune at having to hear all of this. One thing definitely hasn't changed about Sissi since she joined the group: how proud she is of her own body.

Heh, and he always says that I make a big deal out of my body too much. After today, he'll never say that again.

Meanwhile, down the hallway, Jeremie and Aelita were in a quieter discussion about the upcoming physical. The former had been so consumed in his efforts to find an antivirus for the pink-ette that he did not understand how vastly unprepared Aelita was until now.

"You don't understand, Aelita, you don't have a health record. You've never even been vaccinated. What if the nurse finds out you're not really human?"

Aelita tilted her head, asking "Meaning you don't find me very human?"

Jeremie sighed and looked away, guilt starting to consume him. "That's not what I meant, I-"

"Relax. Don't get so carried away." Aelita assured him, seeing her joke didn't amuse him. "Sissi and the others told me all I needed to hear about that subject in Sector Five. I-"

Suddenly, the door to the infirmary opened up and Nurse Yolanda stepped out of it, calling out the next names on her clipboard.

"Jeremie Belpois, Odd Della Robbia, and Julien Xiao."

The three boys stepped into the room one at a time.

"Go on, Rambo!" Ulrich called out, before he and Sissi burst out laughing. Odd flexed his left arm at them as he walked in, attempting to show off muscle to the two, which just made them laugh even harder.

Inside the infirmary, Yolanda did her examinations on Odd's body and came to her conclusions.

"You have the heart of an athlete, Odd!"

Odd grinned and prepared to burst out cheering.

"But you look a little skinny to me. Are you sure you're eating enough?"

Odd's grin faded in an instant. He loved to eat!

"By enough, do you mean more than an elephant?" Jeremie quipped, to which Julien mimicked an elephant noise.

"I eat a lot!" The Italian declared, to which Yolanda suggested. "Ah. In that case, it must be your metabolism that keeps you so scrawny."

Odd glared up at her, but she didn't notice it as she turned to the other two boys.

"Okay, your turn, Julian." She said.

"I am not scrawny," Odd muttered as he stood next to Jeremie. "I'm svelte!"

Odd was offered some relief from this latest defeat when he saw Julian struggling to recite the letters from the eye chart that Yolanda directed them too. In fact, Jermie had noticed him reading off a similar eye chart while they were in the hallway. Apparently, the school nurse was prepared for any sort of cheating.

"Really Julian," Yolanda placed a hand upon his shoulder. "Not only are you near-sighted, you've got a bad memory too."

Odd and Jeremie chuckled at him, to Julian's embarrassment.

"Jeremie." They stopped laughing when Yolanda called him out. "Your turn."

He stepped onto the weight scale and saw an opportunity to address a concern of his. "Ma'am, is it bad if we forgot to bring our health record and if we haven't had all our vaccinations?"

"Well, yes it is."

She took note of his weight as she told him, "But don't worry, you're completely up-to-date."

Julian, Odd and Jeremie exited the infirmary soon after, while Yolanda called out the next names on her clipboard.

"Elizabeth Delmas and Aelita Stones, please."

Aelita gave Jeremie a wink as she passed by him, as did Sissi with Ulrich.

"Call me, Sissi." She told the nurse. "I hate being called Elizabeth!"

"Duly noted." The nurse nonchalantly replied.

"Not to worry, Einstein, she thought you were human, didn't she?" Odd teased.

"Hilarious." Jeremie sarcastically muttered.

[Execute Operation: Surgical Precision]

Suddenly, an alarm went off inside of Jeremie's backpack. He opened it up, took out his laptop, and examined the screen to find an activated Tower. Ulrich ran over to investigate the commotion.

"Activated Tower." Jeremie confirmed.

"In the middle of a medical checkup?" Ulrich complained. "XANA has no respect for anything."

"Ulrich, stay here and bring Sissi and Aelita to the factory as soon as they get out." Jeremie instructed. "Odd and I will head over there now."

"Hey, quit dawdling! This is a hundred-meter sprint, not a chorus line!"

Her adrenaline still lingering from her sparring with Ulrich, Yumi was on the race track outside of Kadic academy, ready to compete with the other two fastest female runners in the school.

That was, until her phone rang and she heard Jeremie's voice telling her about yet another XANA attack.

"Okay Jeremie, I'll be there as soon as I can." Yumi assured him before hanging up and taking her place on the racetrack beside her opponents, Leslie and Victoria. She always loved competition, and in her grade, these two women usually gave her a good challenge in gym class.

"Ready. Set. Go!"

The three women sped off right past Jim, Victoria taking the lead in the first few seconds before Yumi upstaged her. However, she and Leslie weren't that far behind. For about half the race, they were neck to neck.

"There you go!" Jim shouted after the girls. "At least someone is putting their back into it!"

For the latter half of the race, Leslie started to lag behind, leaving Victoria and Yumi to put all they had to muster for the finish line. Just as they neared the end, Yumi regained the lead and sprinted past the finish line, and Jim.

The P.E. teacher wasn't looking though, staring at his watch.

"Wow! Congratulations Yumi, you just broke the school record!"

Not hearing a response, Jim looked up to see Victoria and Leslie panting, hands on their knees, and Yumi nowhere to be found.

"But...hey! Yumi!" He sighed, accepting her disappearance. "Every time..."

"WHAT?! YOU'VE GOT TO BE JOKING!"

Everyone in the hallway reared their heads up as they heard the sounds of a banshee's wail coming from the infirmary. Banshees didn't exist, of course, but there was one woman in their grade who would absolutely sound like one when she wanted to.

Sissi Delmas, stripped down to her bra and underwear, stood on the weight, seeing the number "110.52 lbs" upon it as her cheeks turned into a deep crimson.

"Your scale must be BROKEN!" Sissi insisted. "That's FIVE POUNDS over!"

"The scale is perfectly accurate, Elizabeth." Yolanda calmly insisted.

"It's Sissi!" She growled. "And this is outrageous! I've been electrocuted, mauled by wolves, shot in a virtual world, and yet I'm OVERWEIGHT?!"

Aelita's jaw dropped at the impulsive confession to their secret, to which Sissi caught up on and became even more embarrassed.

"I doubt a virtual world, even if such a thing existed, would change your weight." Yolanda shrugged, not taking her confession seriously.

Sissi turned to Aelita and mouthed a silent "sorry" before turning back to the nurse who had obviously rigged this scale to mismatch her weight.

"I'm gonna tell my father about this!"

"I'd run over to his office if I were you." The nurse casually suggested. "It might help you lose a few pounds!"

Sissi thought her face couldn't get any redder, but oh god those words just did something to her and she needed to get out of this room right now before she died of embarrassment.

"Your turn, Aelita." Yolanda said as Sissi got dressed.

"I'm really sorry, ma'am, but I forgot to bring my health record."

"Oh, it's no big deal. I'll just put your results on a separate piece of paper and you can staple it into your file later on." Yolanda left the room, heading to her office.

Sissi moaned as she put on her shirt, muttering "I should have left mine at home too!"

"Why?" Aelita asked.

"Can't you guess? My ultra perfect weight curve has just been wrecked by these 5 extra pounds!" Sissi whined as she put on her skirt after putting on her trousers.

"You really don't seem overweight to me." Aelita shrugged. "I mean, you're healthy as it is, right?"

Meanwhile, as Yolanda shifted through her desk, she noticed some kind of purple lightning enveloping her desk lap. Intrigued, she leaned forward to examine it, at which point a black specter came out of it and into the nurse. Her chair staggered back and her entire form began to glitch out. Yolanda soon stood up, her iris changing into the XANA logo.

Without a word, Yolanda came back into the room and opened the window, then turned towards Sissi and Aelita.

"So, nurse, what do you need me to-?"

Yolanda grabbed Aelita by the wrist, tightly and violently, causing Aelita to cry out and struggle to escape much to Sissi's shock as she ran over.

"Hey! Have you gone crazy!? Let her go!" Sissi demanded, trying to pull Yolanda off only to gasp when she turned her head to reveal her pupils. "XANA!"

A blast of electricity from Yolanda's other hand sent Sissi screaming into the wall (loudly enough to be heard out into the hallway). Yolanda then electrocuted Aelita, making her scream until she fell unconscious for her to carry and jump out the window. Ulrich, who heard the commotion (among several other students), burst into the room, eyes wide with concern when she sees Sissi leaning against the wall.

"Sissi!" Ulrich quickly helped her up.

"T-the nurse! X-XANA! And t-there, the window! A-Aelita!" Sissi stammered as she tried to explain the situation, still overcome with shock and pain.

"Yeah, I get the picture! Come on!" Ulrich yelled as he leapt out of the window, joined by Sissi. Nicholas and Herb were amongst several students who watched them with bewilderment.

"Where's Yolanda taking her?!" Sissi asked him as the two raced through the forest.

"The factory!" He explained as he pulled out his cell phone. "She'll want to take Aelita to Lyoko so the Scyphozoa can take her memory. I'll tell Jeremie."

It was just as Yumi and Odd emerged from the elevator and entered the lab room that Jeremie got the call from Ulrich and he hung up, vowing to try and stop Yolanda with Sissi.

"Without Aelita, we can't deactivate the Tower!" Jeremie seethed, leaving Odd and Yumi to come up with something to relieve the pressure the young genius had on him.

"How about we lock the elevator?" Odd suggested. "That might buy us some time."

"Agreed, but it's only going to give us five or six minutes. Yolanda will just travel through the sewers to get here instead." Jeremie said as he locked the elevator down to the bottom of the shaft. He wished he had learned of this function earlier; it could have come in handy in earlier scenarios, such as when he showed the Supercomputer to a girl he mistook for Aelita and she promptly took the cops to the factory soon afterwards.

"If only we had our Lyoko powers here in the real world." Yumi lamented. "Everytime XANA possesses someone, they're way beyond what we can handle."

"Actually," Jeremie said. "What if I told you that we could do battle with Yolanda on equal terms?"

"Say what?" A bewildered Yumi questioned.

"I've been studying XANA's specters for a while now. I think I can manage to pixelate you." Jeremie explained.

"Woah, wait, you're saying that you could turn us into people like the ones possessed by XANA?"

"Instead of being XANAfied." Odd concluded. "We're going to be Jeremafied! Hmm, sounds incredibly dangerous and nearly certain to result in my death."

He then raised his fists up and declared, "Sign me up!"

Yumi slowly put a hand on her forehead and asked him, "Is 'risky' your catchphrase?"

"Maybe!"

Ulrich and Sissi emerged from the sewer manhole and peered down into the factory main floor to see Yolanda pressing the elevator button several times, to no avail, as she had the limp and unconscious Aelita hanging over her shoulder. Irritated, she turned towards the stairs.

"Jeremie!" Ulrich called out. "Yolanda is heading for the corridor!"

"Hold her off as long as you can." Jeremie instructed. "I think I have a solution for Yolanda, but I need time."

"How much time?" Sissi inquired. "Three months?"

"Uh..." Jeremie stammered, as that was exactly what he was going to answer her question with. "Well, ideally, yes...but I'll see what I can do to speed things up."

Ulrich hung up soon after as he used the rope to drop down behind Yolanda, followed by Sissi, who seemed a whole lot more nervous than Ulrich was. He couldn't blame her. The last possessed person she fought was her father, and that had ended quite poorly.

"Not confident about us holding off a superpowered nurse for three whole months?" He half joked.

"No." She admitted.

"Maybe you'll lose some weight." Ulrich quipped, trying to give her some motivation. "Fighting a superhuman can be a real-"

"I AM NOT OVERWEIGHT!"

Yolanda stopped walking, turned around to see the two kids, and put Aelita down as she faced them. Sissi gulped.

"Me and my big mouth..." She muttered, having cost them the element of surprise.

"Hey, Yolanda!" Ulrich cooly waved at her. "Excuse me ma'am, but you forgot to give me my checkup. And I remembered to bring my health record and everything!"

Yolanda held her fists in the air as a bright yellow glow surrounded her and a big energy ball of sorts formed above her, much to Ulrich's surprise and Sissi's incredulity.

"What is this?!" She ranted. "Dragon Ball Z?!"

Yoland tossed the energy ball into Ulrich, sending him flying backwards.

"Ulrich!" She cried, before angrily turning to face XANA-Yoland with her fists clenched. "This is for calling me overweight!"

Sissi jumped at the possessed nurse and launched a kick, to which Yolanda grabbed her foot and effortlessly sent her flying the same distance as she did to Ulrich, colliding into him.. Sissi lifted herself up to see that her face was a couple inches away from Ulrich's lips.

"Oh..." She muttered. "I...Uh..."

"Which is more important right now?" Ulrich hypothetically asked. "My lips, or the massive energy ball of death heading straight for us?"

Sissi turned to see there was indeed a massive energy ball of death heading straight for them, and the two scrambled as they sought cover behind the pillars.

"Okay, guess my reflexes are pretty good. How about testing my eyesight now?" Ulrich joked.

"I'll never understand how you and Odd are able to make jokes when we're about to die, Ulrich." Sissi shook her head, sighing.

Engaging Yolanda in close combat would get them nowhere, so they ran to different pillars, trying to keep her distracted.

Meanwhile, Aelita opened her eyes to see her captor distracted. She turned towards the sewer door, but found it locked, so she took out her cell phone and started dialing.

"So, how do you plan on pixelating us, Frankenstein?" Odd asked teasingly.

"First step, activate a Tower." Jeremie answered as he typed away.

"You know how to do that?" Yumi asked, never ceasing to be amazed by her friend's technical achievements.

"Well, theoretically, uh, yes." Jeremie said. "Let's try this Tower in the Mountain sector."

In the Mountain sector, the pulsations of wires turned from red to green, culminating in a single Tower's aura turning from neutral to green.

"I, uh, I activated a Tower! Wow!" Jeremie declared in awe before composing himself. "Now, thanks to this activated Tower, I'm gonna send a digital impulse which will travel at high speed through all the networks and gather a huge amount of energy! I'll guide it by remote control towards the exit I choose, like the cables on my screen, and the impulse will come out as a specter."

"Uh, English please?" Odd asked.

"Well, I'm gonna send a specter at you and then you should become invincible just like Yolanda."

"I'll do it!" The Italian proudly declared, earning him a glance of skepticism from Yumi.

"Are you sure?" She asked.

"Hey, I've got a score to settle with Yolanda! Now's my chance to prove once and for all that the great Odd Della Robbia is not scrawny!"

Just then, Aelita's image appeared on the screen.

"Jeremie!" She cried out.

"Aelita! Are you okay?" He asked, to which she said, "Yes, but I can't get through the corridor."

"We're coming!" He assured her, before turning to Odd. "Get ready, Odd, this is gonna be big time!"

"If this ends badly, Jeremie," Odd softly asked "You promise to look after Kiwi for me?"

"If this ends badly," Jeremie answered. "There'll be nobody to look after Kiwi!"

Soon, a black specter, just like one XANA would send, emerged from the lab room's cables and descended directly into Odd's body. The braggart bit back a scream as he clenched his fist, his whole body glitched out, and he felt himself burning.

Jeremie eyed the power level on the screen until it reached "100" and looked back to see Odd's head lowered with his eyes closed.

"Odd?" Yumi asked her friend. "How are you feeling?"

Then, with a smirk, Odd opened his eyes and said "Fully charged" in a disoriented voice.

[ALERT: Jeremie has activated a Tower. Investigating purpose and effects. The Vessel shall remain focused on primary objective.]

Yolanda hurled a few more energy balls at Sissi and Ulrich, but as they remained safe behind the pillar, the three were locked in a stalemate. Eventually, the possessed nurse saw this was going nowhere and turned back towards Aelita as she struggled to open the corridor door.

"Please hurry up, Jeremie!" Aelita cried out in fear as she pocketed her cell phone. "She's here!"

Yolanda came within arm's reach of Aelita and raised a hand out-

only to be tackled to the ground by a certain purple shirted boy.

"So, Ms. Nurse." Odd conversationally started as he moved his head to get face-to-face with XANA's latest vessel. "Do you think I look scrawny now?"

Yolanda snarled as she generated a field of energy around herself, knocking Odd back, although the boy was able to flip mid-air and land safely on his feet. He glanced behind him to see Aelita heading to safety after waving to Odd in gratitude, and Sissi and Ulrich atop the stairs staring at him.

The looks on the latter two's faces were that of utter stupefaction, to Odd's satisfaction.

"Odd!?" The duo said in disbelief.

"Hey Sissi! Ulrich!" He waved at them. "I'm gonna have some playtime now. This way Nasty Nurse! Catch me if you can!"

[Analysis: Jeremie has managed to copy my possession process onto another human. This is unacceptable.]

Yolanda snarled as she chased after him into the sewers, and Ulrich and Sissi slowly turned their heads towards each other in wonder.

"Now that looks like someone who can last three months." Sissi concluded.

"Let's not drag our feet that long. Come on, this way!" He instructed as the two headed to the Lab room. First, Aelita climbed down the ladder much to Jeremie and Yumi's relief.

"Aelita. Are you okay?" Jeremie asked.

"I'm alright." Aelita replied.

"What about Ulrich and Sissi?" Yumi asked.

"Here we are." Ulrich answered as he and Sissi climbed down the ladder, joining their friends.

"What's happening with Odd?" Ulrich questioned. "It's like he's turned into a Superhero!"

"Or one of those huge guys from Dragon Ball Z!" Sissi added.

"Jeremie's managed to Jeremify him!" Yumi explained.

"Uh..." Sissi trailed off, prompting Jeremie to explain. "I managed to give him superpowers, like XANA would to a possessed person. He can now fight on equal terms against XANA's pawns, but I don't know how long this will last, so you should all get to Lyoko and deactivate the Tower, pronto!"

At this, the four could offer no argument and took the elevator down into the Scanner room.

Back with Odd, once he felt they were deep enough into the sewers, Odd turned back towards Yolanda as she raced after him. He pointed at the possessed nurse, before motioning her to come forwards, egging her on.

"Hey, Nasty Nurse! Think you can take on 'The Odd Man'?"

It had the intended effect, as XANA-Yolanda leapt into the air and tossed an energy ball at the self-proclaimed Superhero. Odd jumped over it and hurled an energy ball of his own that sent XANA-Yolanda plunging into the sewer waters.

"Butter and better!" Odd quipped. He had never felt so good before. It was always dreadful to face a XANAfied person, whether they were a possessed human or a polymorphic specter.

For once, I'm not the one getting electrocuted! I could get used to this!

In the Scanner Room, Ulrich, Yumi, Aelita and Sissi were preparing to be virtualized. The scanner doors close on Ulrich, Yumi and Sissi, Aelita being left for last.

"Transfer Ulrich. Transfer Yumi. Transfer Sissi." Jeremie quickly started the procedure, picking out their ID's.

Ulrich, Yumi and Sissi were lifted off their feet, enveloped "Scanner Ulrich. Scanner Yumi. Scanner Sissi."

Ulrich, Yumi and Sissi spun around the scanners and the interface recorded their digital signatures.

"Virtualization!"

Once completed, a gust of wind sent Ulrich, Yumi and Sissi to Lyoko.

The three of them virtualized in the Forest Sector, landing on a path with Ulrich in the center.

Aelita was next to step inside a scanner, the door closing on her as Jeremie picked out her ID.

"Transfer Aelita." Rays of light lifted Aelita off her feet.

"Scanner Aelita." She spun around the scanner and her signature was instantly recorded.

"Virtualization!"

A gust of wind sent Aelita to Lyoko.

She virtualized, landing next to Yumi on the path whereupon Jeremie announced "Your vehicles are on the way!"

The Overboard, Overbike and Overwing materialized in front of them.

"Let's move."

At the Geisha's prompting, Yumi and Aelita hopped on the Overwing, while Ulrich took the Overbike and Sissi hopped on the Overboard, immediately struggling to keep her balance.

"Why did you send me this thing Jeremie? Couldn't I just ride the Overbike with Ulrich?" Sissi asked, still struggling to balance until she hilariously fell on her back, invoking laughter from her friends.

"Sorry Sissi. But until I can program a vehicle of your own, you're gonna have to learn to ride everyone else's." Jeremie explained. "Which means you're gonna have to start getting used to the Overboard."

Sissi stepped on it again, still struggling to maintain her balance. "How does Odd manage to pilot this dumb thing?"

"Just fly in a straight path, lean your arms and you'll get the hang of it." Aelita assured her, having ridden the Overboard herself multiple times.

Following Aelita's advice, Sissi finally kept her balance and gave her a nod.

"Any news from Odd and his private nurse? Last time I checked the atmosphere was a little...electric."

Yumi smiled and Sissi giggled at Ulrich's teasing smile as Jeremie said, "For now he should be hanging on, but you guys had better be careful. XANA has sent some monsters to stop you from reaching the Tower."

"Isn't that a surprise?" Ulrich replied with sarcasm before the four sped off, Sissi leaning her arms out to keep herself from falling off.

Back in the sewers, Odd jumped back down to find XANA-Yolanda after sending her falling in the water. He found no sign of her.

"Huh, giving up already, XANA?" Odd wondered aloud.

His answer came in the form of Yolanda bursting out of the water and punching him in the face, sending him flying across the sewers.

Snarling in fury, Yolanda sprinted towards him (in heels, no less) and launched another energy ball. Odd ducked under it and ran forwards. A second later and fierce hand-to-hand combat broke out between the two.

Yolanda launched a high kick at Odd, who pushed her leg back down and punched her in the gut. She stepped back, growling as she landed a three-punch combination on Odd. Each hit staggered him back, but it would have hurt far worse if he were not Jeremified, perhaps broken a few ribs. Odd chuckled, delighted that he was finally able to shrug off hits from a XANAfied person.

The two exchanged punches until Odd jabbed her in the face and hit a hard uppercut that knocked the possessed nurse off her feet. Odd pounded his chest, feeling hyped that he could actually fight back against XANA in the real world now. He could do this!

XANA-Yolanda slammed a fist on the ground in frustration before raising her fists up to create an energy ball, which Odd interrupted by running up to her with super speed and punching her in the chest. Yolanda gasped and gritted her teeth, before knocking Odd back with a kick to the chest.

Odd just shook it off and rolled his fists around like a boxer, laughing at the agitation on XANA-Yolanda's face.

She charged, launching three kicks, each higher than the last. After the third kick, Odd kicked XANA-Yolanda's knee and she lost her balance. He followed up with a breakdance move that knocked Yolanda off her feet, then spun around to kick her across the face, sending her flying across the sewers as her body glitched out.

[Executing sub-phase of Operation: Surgical Precision. Directing excess energy to Jeremie's tower. Secondary objective: Drain and eliminate Odd Della Robbia.]

"Who's the wimp now, XANA?!" Odd boasted before charging another energy ball-

Which fizzled out in his hands.

"Uh oh..." Odd muttered before an energy ball sent him flying away. Yolanda grinned as she got up and Odd pulled out his cell phone.

"Jeremie, I'm losing power! Is that supposed to happen?"

"Uh..." Jeremie started to say, to which Odd replied, "That's what I thought. You're using your 'I hate to say it, but you bombed the exam' voice."

He then hung up and pocketed his phone, running down a corridor with the possessed nurse in pursuit and throwing more energy balls at him.

On Lyoko, two Krabs blocked the forward paths that Ulrich, Yumi, Aelita and Sissi were riding down towards.

"Ulrich! We have a big problem with Odd!" Jeremie announced, before the Krabs opened fire.

"Just a second Jeremie!" Ulrich yelled as he rode forwards on the Overbike towards one of the Krabs. Once underneath it, Ulrich impaled it with his katana, destroying it. The Samurai was then confronted by a Kankrelat on his left which shot him in the arm. Ulrich shrugged it off, rode towards the monster, and sliced it in half.

The other two Krabs fired at the three girls, Sissi waving her hands around as she felt like she could fall off the Overboard at any second. The Krabs focused its fire on the cheerleader, but was unable to land a hit before Yumi tossed her fan and sliced it in its Eye of XANA, destroying one of them and after regaining her balance, Sissi tossed her spear, impaling and destroying it.

"Okay, what did you want to say?" Yumi asked Jeremie as hers and Sissi's weapons returned to them.

At the Mountain Sector, Jeremie's green tower has turned red, meaning XANA has hijacked it.

"Listen up: XANA has taken control of the Tower I activated for Odd and there's nothing I can do to stop him."

"Whenever you and Odd start messing around, it means trouble for us." Ulrich quipped as he and the girls rode towards the forest tower.

"But how's that gonna affect Odd?" Yumi asked. "Will XANA be able to take control of him too?"

Sissi gasped, the mere thought of that being very horrifying. One big bad nurse was bad to deal with, but Odd too?

Jeremie did some typing and looked into XANA's reprogramming of the Tower. "It looks like he'd rather just pump all of his energy."

"You mean...until he...?"

"Yeah." Jeremie solemnly responded, much to everyone's horror.

"Not happening!" Sissi declared as the gravity of the situation descended on her. "Where's the Tower?"

"In the Mountain sector. There's a Waytower to the west."

"Got it! I'll go there with Yumi and Aelita!" Sissi immediately said. Jeremie raised an eyebrow and the other Lyoko Warriors looked at Sissi in surprise. Yumi had been prepared to vouch for saving Odd first, but somehow, Sissi out of all people had beaten her to it. Nevertheless, she quickly responds.

"Right! Saving Odd is top priority now." Yumi agreed.

While the girls veered away, Ulrich headed towards the Tower and saw a Krab up ahead.

"I'll stay here and clean up." He coldly vowed as he went full acceleration towards the monster. He proceeded to jump off the Overbike as the Krab shot at him, stabbing it in the head mid-air and falling right back onto his vehicle as it exploded.

Ulrich then looked behind him to see a trio of Kankrelats, lined up in opposition to their enemy. The Samurai drove around as the cockroaches shot at him, then jumped off the Overbike as it crashed into the trio of monsters and destroyed them, landing perfectly on one knee.

Meanwhile, Yumi, Aelita and Sissi flew through the Forest sector, finding no opposition as they entered the Waytower and used it to access the Mountain sector.

"Alright, the Tower should be dead ahead. Can you see it?"

"Actually, Jeremie, no." Sissi answered.

"To tell you the truth we can't see anything!" Yumi added.

The Mountain sector was covered in a dense fog, forcing the girls to slow their movements lest they accidentally bump into anything.

"XANA's pulled this one on us before." Aeltia recalled.

"So how do we get rid of this fog? Finding the Tower will be like trying to find a needle in a haystack!"

Before Aelita could answer Sissi's question, the girls heard the fluttering of wings behind them.

"Hornets!" Yumi cried, recognizing the sound as lasers were fired. "Jump!"

Sissi, Yumi and Aelita proceeded to abandon ship as they jumped off their vehicles towards the ground below. Sissi screamed as they fell, though Aelita and Yumi were silent.

"You'll land at the edge of the cliffside!" Jeremie announced. "You have to hang on real tight...right about...now!"

The girls managed to grab onto the ledge and pick themselves up, Sissi wiping imaginary sweat off her forehead.

"How are we going to get anywhere with all this mist?" Sissi asked.

"Alright, don't worry, I'm going to guide you to the Tower. Just do as I say and you'll get there in no time. Keep walking straight ahead until I say stop."

Yumi took the lead, followed by Sissi and then Aelita. They slowly and cautiously stepped across the platform.

"Stop!" Jeremie yelled.

Too late, Yumi took one step too much and slipped off the edge-

Only to be grabbed by Sissi and yanked right back up with her super strength.

"Next time, give me a little more warning!" The Geisha asked their group leader.

"Sorry!" Jeremie replied. "I can't judge distances too well on my screen! Now, turn right."

"Aw, come on! Can't you ever fight fair, XANA?!"

Odd complained to the possessed nurse that was chasing him around the corridors, and she replied by firing an energy field that hit him directly in the back, sending him falling to the floor.

He coughed and looked up to see XANA-Yolanda standing over him, and he backed up against the wall in fear.

[Instruction: Leave him and move to the lab room; he will die soon anyways. Eliminate Jeremie Belpois.]

Hearing XANA's orders in her head, XANA-Yolanda turned away from Odd and headed towards the lab room.

"Yeah, run!" Odd weakly called out. "When I get back up, I'll...I'll..."

He shivered, suddenly feeling cold. Odd tucked himself up, his eyes slowly closing as he felt his energy leave him.

"C-C'mon...Wasn't one c-cold war bad enough, XANA?"

Back on Lyoko, the girls continued on the path to the Tower, coming across a rock. The girls leaned against it, being assured by the young genius that the Tower would be straight ahead afterwards.

"Hey Sissi, I never asked. Who was that online date of yours?"

Sissi let out a small gasp from Yumi's question, earning a glance from Aelita.

"You're asking me this now!?" Sissi asked, embarrassed.

"Yes. We're asking you now." Yumi casually replied with a playful grin.

"You know, you didn't tell us." Aelita remembered. "Did they never show up or something?"

"Y-Yeah!" Sissi stammered, sounding entirely unconvincing. "That sounds like a good answer."

Yumi knew a lie when she heard one and that was perhaps one of the clearest lies she ever heard; aside from her father, Sissi was never that good at fooling people.

Before the Geisha could question her further, however, Jeremie started shouting at them.

"You've got company! Those four hornets from earlier, they're coming back!"

"Where?" The three girls looked around as Yumi called out to Jeremie. "I can't see them any-"

"DUCK!" Jeremie shouted, and the trio obeyed in time to avoid a hail of lasers headed their way. "Run straight to the Tower! MOVE IT!"

The girls were making a run straight to the tower as Jeremie instructed, struggling to outrun the barrage of lasers catching up to them.

"How many are there Jeremie!?" Yumi asked.

"Four of them!" Jeremie answered

"I have an idea!" Sissi declared. "Are they directly behind us now?"

"Yeah, why?"

Sissi took out her explosive pom-pom, twisted around and hurled it upwards into the fog. Seconds later, there was an explosion mid-air.

"Nice one, Sissi! You took out two of them!"

The two remaining hornets, angered at the imploding of their comrades, fired again at the girls. They avoided getting shot but the lasers reached the front, forcing them to stop. Yumi, Sissi and Aelita looked around, finding no signs of the Hornets.

"Where are they Jeremie?" Yumi asked.

"They're diving down straight at you!" Jeremie warned.

Hearing the sounds of buzzing, the girls knew the Hornets were closing in and made a run for it, running from another hail of lasers.

"Aelita! Run to the Tower!" Jeremie shouted.

Yumi and Sissi brought out their fans and spears, blocking/deflecting the lasers with them and providing cover for Aelita. Unfortunately, this didn't last long and Yumi and Sissi cried out when they received a laser to the stomach that knocked them to the ground.

"Roll out of the way!" Yumi instructed as she rolled to the left and Sissi to the right.

"NO! Yumi!" Jeremie shouted. "To the right!"

His warning came too late, as Yumi tumbled off the edge of the platform. Yumi grabbed onto the ledge with her hands, losing one of her fans as it fell into the depths of the digital sea below.

"Yumi!" Sissi screamed, running over to her friend, relieved to see her hanging on. "Hold on! I'll-"

She's cut off when a laser is shot which she barely avoids. More lasers were shot at her and she turned to spin her spear, deflecting them. Unfortunately, one of the hornets tackled Sissi and sent her screaming off the ledge.

"Sissi!" Yumi screamed.

Sissi barely grabbed onto Yumi's legs in desperation, barely hanging onto her.

"Sorry to say this Sissi, but you're not as light as you say you are!" Yumi joked, trying to relieve the pressure of the situation. This, however, sparked a scathing response from the formerly snobby brat.

"I AM NOT OVERWE-" A hornet shooting her in the leg interrupted her rebuttal, causing Sissi to cry out.

Aelita kept running until Jeremie shouted, "Aelita, you're in front of the Tower!"

Hearing this, Aelita stopped running and stepped inside, getting ready to deactivate it.

But while Aelita was safe, Yumi and Sissi most certainly were not. Both were dangling down the ledge and Sissi is losing her grip on Yumi.

"Um…can anyone remind me what'll happen if we fall into the Digital Sea?" Sissi fearfully asked.

"I can say from personal experience that you might prefer drowning in a real, non-digital sea!"

"Then if anyone has an idea to get out of this, I'd love to hear it!" Sissi pleaded.

Yumi had to think quickly. They were both hanging over the Digital Sea and could fall over at any moment. She knew all too well what would happen if they fell into it. If only there was some way to get Sissi out of this.

Yumi bent down a little, giving Sissi a playful look. "You know, I can devirtualize you if you want."

"Ha! In your dreams Ishiyama!" Sissi joked back.

Remembering their banter back in Sector Five, Yumi was just coming up with a solution when a hornet shot Sissi in the back, causing her to lose her grip and fall off of Yumi, screaming to her demise.

"NO!" The Japanese girl screamed as she tossed the fan at the falling cheerleader, with no other option left. Sissi screamed more as she fell towards her certain doom, but the fan sliced across her chest, resulting in an instant devirtualization.

One of the scanners opened up revealing Sissi who dropped to the floor, disorientated but grateful to be alive. "Thanks, Yumi."

Yumi sighed in relief as the fan returned to her, which she used to block more incoming shots from the hornets until the fog suddenly cleared, revealing the position of her enemies. This was no doubt the result of Aelita deactivating the Tower. They fired more shots at her, but she quickly climbed up from the edge of the cliff, avoiding the shots. The hornets rose up in the air for a clear shot, making their last mistake.

"Spotted." Yumi smirked before slicing through and destroying both hornets with her fan just as Aelita exited the tower.

"Jeremie. Any news from Odd?" Yumi asked

"No," Jeremie answered.

"Aelita's coming out of the tower. We're going back to Ulrich right away." Said Yumi.

"Ok. I'll reprogram the Overwing for you and send Sissi after Odd." He replied. "You get that Sissi?"

"Loud and clear, Jeremie." Sissi replied.

"I'm unlocking the elevator! Take it to the main floor and go find Odd in the sewers!"

"I'm on it!" The cheerleader vowed as she called up the machine.

"J-Just think of w-warm things, Odd...just like l-last time..."

Odd was now lying flat on the ground, hand on his chest as he struggled to keep awake. It was quite humiliating for his superhero career as "The Odd Man" to be over so quickly, that is, if he would live to think about it.

"C'mon..." Odd muttered, his eyes starting to close. "A-Aelita's heart is...w-warm. Very warm..."

His breathing slowed, and he soon struggled to speak entirely.

"A-And...Sissi...is...very..."

Spectacular.

Odd's eyes closed completely and all movement ceased as he finished his thought. He saw only darkness before him.

Is this what it's like to die? Odd wondered. Well, if I did, I went out with a bang, that's for sure.

"Odd!"

Odd could just barely hear a female voice calling him out, and instinctually, he fought against the darkness enveloping him.

"Wake up!"

He felt himself shaking. Unless the afterlife was supposed to be some kind of eternal earthquake, he was starting to think he definitely wasn't dead. Or perhaps, it was somebody else who was shaking him.

"You better not be faking this..."

Odd felt a slight sting on his left cheek, the palm of a certain girl's hand likely being the culprit. He began to stir, then.

"You don't wake up, then I'm writing 'Here lies Scrawny' on your gravestone!"

Odd opened his eyes and sat up in an instant, yelling "I AM NOT SCRAWNY!"

Sissi just laughed at him and pulled him into a hug.

"I knew that would work."

"Ulrich, do you read me? Aelita and Yumi are on their way to you!"

"Good, the three of us could use a few ladies around here."

Back in the Forest Sector, Ulrich had used Triplicate to face the numerous monsters XANA had sent at him. The original Ulrich faced a Krab, one clone faced a Blok, and the other clone faced a trio of Kankrelats.

The Blok was the first to fire, but Ulrich #2 simply jumped over it and then plunged his katana into the Blok's eye, destroying it.

"The girls are coming, we better clean up!" The original Ulrich urged as he deflected lasers from the Krab, prompting his clone to jump atop the Krab and stab its Eye of XANA, destroying it. The two Ulrichs then rushed to aid Ulrich #3 and destroyed two of the Kankrelats that it was facing, before surrounding the final monster.

The cockroach spun around and glanced at the three Ulrichs, wondering which one to shoot first. Ulrich #3 ran up and kicked the Kankrelat, launching into the air, and Ulrich chuckled as it fell in front of him and sliced it in half, destroying it.

"Fusion!" With all monsters dispatched, Ulrich's clones fused back with him shortly before Aelita and Yumi arrived.

"It's about time." Ulrich cooly stated. "I was getting a bit lonely out here by myself."

Yumi smiled at him, happy to see that the Samurai had his confidence back after suffering so much in these last few XANA attacks with the polymorph assault, being forced to face his fear of heights, getting bitten by a wolf and almost freezing to death. She took a look around and playfully asked him, "Where are the monsters?"

"What monsters?" He asked, earning a chuckle from Yumi. "Anyways, since we're not hearing Jeremie all of a sudden, I imagine things are getting pretty hairy over at the factory."

Aelita then entered the Tower, ready to deactivate it.

Jeremie watched Ulrich on the screen until he heard an energetic humming noise. Turning his chair around, he noticed XANA-Yolanda descending from a ladder and firing an energy ball, forcing him off the chair. He tried calling up the elevator, but was quickly forced away from the panel when Yolanda fired at him again.

XANA-Yolanda came down from the ladder and advanced on Jeremie as he backed into a corner.

"It was pretty rude of you to interrupt me in the middle of our conversation, Nurse Yolanda."

The possessed nurse turned around to see Odd standing there, ready to confront her.

"Odd!" Jeremie exclaimed "Am I glad to see you!"

"Yeah, I'm glad to see me too!" Odd proudly declared.

Yolanda rolled her eyes at him and then readied an energy ball. Seeing that Odd was no longer Jeremified, she would have no problems with-

"BANZAI!"

Sissi leapt from the ladder and aimed her foot down, kicking XANA-Yolanda in the face and disorientating her. This allowed Odd to ram his shoulder into her chest, knocking her to the ground.

"That was for rigging that stupid weight scale! If anything, I am five pounds underweight!" Sissi declared.

"How's that for scrawny!" Odd boasted, sharing a high-five with Sissi.

Odd and Sissi's save earned them a grateful smile from Jeremie, though that didn't last long once a now very angry Yolanda leapt into the air, formed an energy ball in both her hands and tossed both of them at Odd and Sissi, sending the two teenagers flying against the wall next to Jeremie.

Yolanda stepped in front of them, smirking as her yellow aura became brighter than ever and she readied a much bigger energy ball. Jeremie and Sissi hugged onto Odd, who was seated in between them, as the possessed nurse was ready to finish them off.

"Hey, Aelita!" A frightened Sissi shouted, even though she couldn't hear her. "For once can you please not cut it so close?"

The aura around Yolanda promptly disappeared along with her energy ball. At the same time, the iris in her eyes returned to normal and she fell to the ground, unconscious.

As Jeremie was gasping in relief, he noticed that Sissi was still hugging Odd. In fact, she was hanging onto him...rather tightly.

Odd never did mention who his online date was... He thought as they all stood up.

"Well," Odd breathed a sigh of relief, interrupting Jeremie's thoughts. "I'd say the nurse is the one in need of a checkup now. Wouldn't you say?"

"On that, I cannot argue." Both Jeremie and Sissi agreed.

"It sounds ridiculous, I know! But it's true! Nurse Yolanda went crazy! She turned into a scary demon and jumped out the window with Aelita Stones!"

"It's true sir! She even beat up Sissi!" Nicholas added. "She was screaming about it."

Herb and Nicholas tried to explain the situation to the P.E. teacher and principal standing in front of them. Sissi's scream could be heard a mile away, and the fact that Jim and Mr. Delmas hadn't noticed it must have meant they were on the far side of Kadic at the time.

"Reminds me of the time I worked at a psychiatric hospital." Jim mused.

"You worked at a psychiatric hospital?" Mr. Delmas asked.

"I'd rather not talk about it."

"We're telling the truth!" Herb insisted, his suspicion aroused today more than ever. "Sissi and Ulrich even jumped out the window after her!"

"Mr. Pichon, Poliakoff, stop this nonsense and tell me what really happened." Mr. Delmas insisted, before turning around as the door to the infirmary opened. He, Jim, Herb and Nicholas turned around to see Ulrich and Sissi carrying a limb and unconscious Yolanda on their shoulders, to the four's astonishment.

"Why don't you ask Yolanda?" Ulrich suggested.

They placed Yolanda on an infirmary bed as she woke up and Aelita came with the others to help explain the situation. Mr. Delmas noticed that Sissi looked fine, which just earned even more confusion from Herb and Nicholas.

"Ms. Paradin wasn't feeling very well, so she went out for some air," Aelita unconvincingly lied to the principal.

"Out the window?" Mr. Delmas asked slowly.

"Uh...yes, of course. Why not?" Aelita nervously questioned, to the others' quiet dismay, especially that of Sissi.

"Is that really what happened, Yolanda?" Mr. Delmas promptly asked for her side of the story.

"Well, uh, yes, I-I mean...I don't really remember," She closed her eyes, but she assumed that's what must've happened. "It's as though I blacked out. But I don't see why Aelita would want to lie."

"And why were you screaming then, Elizabeth?" The principal asked his daughter. "Mr. Pichon and several other students said they heard you."

"Five pounds overweight." She threw up her arms. "Can you believe it?! I don't! Yolanda rigged that scale somehow, I just know it!"

"I suppose there is no harm done." Mr. Delmas sighed, convinced by Sissi's not-so fabricated act. "You may leave the infirmary now, students."

As the Lyoko Warriors exited the school, Sissi told Aelita, "I know you're still getting used to being human, but just know that us humans don't just jump out of windows for fresh air. We walk out the doors."

"I'll remember that for next time." Aelita vowed.

"You know, anyone who makes a mistake like that could only be human, not an A.I., right Jeremie?" Odd winked before he and Ulrich shared a chuckle.

Aelita smiled at that. Every day she spent with her friends she felt more and more human.

"Wait!" The Lyoko Warriors turned around to see Herb and Nicholas running up after them, the former with his hands on his knees as he panted from the effort of catching up to them.

"We're telling the truth, I tell you! Some really weird things that happened in that infirmary!" Herb said.

"Oh, there are." Sissi went along with him. "That scale was rigged, I'm sure of it."

Herb pointed at Sissi accusingly "Just a few weeks ago, you would have been all over this and calling them out! But now?! What is wrong with you? Is finding out you're 5 pounds overweight put you in denial or what!?"

Sissi frowned at the overweight comment and Nicholas winced away, knowing Herb had done the equivalent of poking a bear.

"Nothing's wrong with her, Herb." Odd stepped in, surprising Sissi. "But we all know how your acne drives you crazy, so don't worry."

"Oh yeah? Says you 'Scrawny!'" Herb whined, even though he himself was much scrawnier than Odd, before heading off with Nicholas to avoid anyone pointing out his hypocrisy.

"I AM NOT SCRAWNY/I'M NOT OVERWEIGHT!" Odd and Sissi simultaneously yelled together.

The six friends shared another laugh together.

[ERROR: Operation: Surgical Precision has failed]

[Analysis: All objectives failed, new data gathered. No altercations to primary objective needed]

[New Data: Jeremie can activate Towers, but it can be turned against him as well. Given how close the death of Odd was, Jeremie is unlikely to attempt this maneuver again]

[Identifying Obstacle: The Superscan has proved a nuisance since its creation. It will have to be neutralized for higher probability of success]

[Conclusion: It is best to pit the Lyoko Warriors against an enemy that will effectively be immune to their unarmed combat skills in the real world]

[New Operation Initiated: Creating virus for Superscan. Preparing altercations to specter]

Chapter Text

Nicholas and Herb were reading the latest print of Kadic news, and a particular section caught the attention of the latter.

"A horrible tragedy may explain the rumor that there is a ghost somewhere at the Kadic Academy. Back in 1905, the building was under construction when one of the workers, Leon Corbet, is said to have been buried alive under the foundation! In the boiler room to be precise!"

"Now do you believe me?" Nicholas grinned.

Rumors of a ghost in Kadic Academy were long spread by the students. Indeed, Sissi had loved to read ghost stories ever since she was a child. Herb wasn't that interested in the subject, but both he and Nicholas knew someone who was.

And it just so happened that this specific person was walking right by them. Herb stood up, getting in front of Sissi.

"Herb, I don't-" Sissi started to say, when she took a look at the newspaper he was holding up.

"Give me that!" She snatched it out of his hands and began to read its contents aloud, exactly as the green nerd had planned. If there was one way to get the principal's daughter's attention, it was to bring up the possibility of ghosts. Her wide eyes were practically glued upon the paper as she read.

Once Sissi was finished reading, Herb told her, "You know, me and Nicholas were thinking of going to the boiler room at midnight."

Sissi lowered the newspaper, her enthusiasm starting to fade as she realized Herb's plan. But along with that, she made a realization with startling clarity.

Is this what it was like for Ulrich? When he kept avoiding me and was always so annoyed whenever I came to him?

Herb was desperate to put himself back into Sissi's life, and Sissi was quite aware he had a crush on her, but it probably wasn't the same thing. For one, Herb definitely wouldn't go so far as to steal Sissi's diary. He wanted to spend time with her, but Sissi was starting to wonder if this was going to escalate as she did with Ulrich. Sissi hadn't started out completely obsessed with him from the get-go, after all.

"I'll go with you, one condition."

"Name it." Herb eagerly asked.

"Stop trying to win me over again." She plainly told him, provoking a protest from the green-shirted nerd.

"But-"

"No buts!" Sissi insisted. "I've told you 'I'm sorry' so many times by now but i'm not going to say it again. I have new friends now and that's just how it's going to be."

"Me and Nicholas have stood by you for years!" Herb spat. "And this is how you-?"

"This is how it has always been!"

Herb took a step back, shocked. Nicholas, leaning on the bench nearby, watched with great interest.

"The truth is, I never cared about you back then. You and Nicholas were just minions to me. You have a crush on me, I get that, but I was never going to fall for you. Ever. It wasn't you, it was..."

Sissi sighed. "It was me. You're right about one thing, though, I have changed. I actually have friends I care about now. And if i'm going to stay with them, I need you two to accept that. So yes, I will go to the boiler room with you at midnight, but just for the ghost. Not for you. Not for Nicholas. Neither of you. After that, we're done. Clear?"

Herb stared at her in stunned silence for a minute. Then he sighed.

"Clear..." He wearily said.

Sissi went on her way, leaving Herb to his thoughts. He couldn't believe it at first, but with every word Sissi spoke, he knew she was right. He was only ever a minion to her. He never had a chance of her returning his crush, but for some reason, Herb just kept clinging onto it.

"You okay, buddy?" Nicholas asked.

"No." Herb admitted. "Let's just get ready for tonight..."

In Math Class, Mrs. Meyer was handing and announcing everyone's grades for the latest test. Most students like Emily and Jean got good grades, between 70 and 80. Although, few weren't quite as fortunate, including Odd, Ulrich and Sissi. Mrs. Meyer disappointingly handed out Sissi's grade.

"Elizabeth, a quadrilateral is not a quadrant you do later. 10."

Sissi looked at her grade with a scoff of dismay.

"Jeremie, I deducted two points for the ketchup stain. Please keep your paperwork neat next time. 98!" Mrs. Meyer instructed as she gave Jeremie his grade, which would have been a perfect "100" had it not been for the stain.

Hang on, how on Earth did a ketchup stain get on this? Jeremie thought.

That was a mystery left to history.

Ulrich was the next to receive his test score, which Mrs. Meyer announced was a "58", much to the brunette's dismay. But the real surprise came when a small note fell from the paper. Ulrich curiously opened it up and saw its contents.

"Meet me at the boiler room at midnight - Sissi."

Ulrich turned around and glanced at Sissi, who gave him a knowing wink.

In the halls of Kadic Academy, Jim Morales folded his hands behind his back and gave his students the nighttime instructions as if he were a drill sergeant.

"May I remind you that in the evening, girls and boys are prohibited from straying from their respective floors. Okay, for any of you who might be thinking of trying to pull anything, remember that the floors are different from each other in that they are either upstairs from or downstairs from the one above. Girls are upstairs, and boys downstairs. Comings and goings from upstairs to downstairs and from downstairs to upstairs are strictly forbidden."

Odd, unamused by Jim's reciting of the rules, yawned. Jim swiftly took notice and leaned in towards him. "If I ever catch anyone going from downstairs upstairs or anyone going from upstairs to downstairs, he or she is really going to regret it. Stairs! You've been warned! Dismissed!"

A few hours later, while Odd was fast asleep, Ulrich got out of bed around midnight in his pajamas. Putting on a pair of green flip-flops, Ulrich quietly snuck out of the room so as to not wake up Odd and headed downstairs towards the boiler room. Successfully avoiding detection, he reached the boiler room door and knocked on it.

"Password?" Sissi's voice asked from the other side.

"You didn't give me one but...uh..."

"Works for me!"

Sissi, in her pajamas with a pair of pink slippers, opened the door and ushered Ulrich inside, where he saw Nicholas and Herb sitting in some kind of square drawing on the floor that had candles on its edges.

"Isn't that a bit square for you?"

"It's not a square!" Sissi corrected. "It's a tempogram!"

"Pentagram!" Herb corrected her.

Sissi rolled her eyes at him and continued addressing Ulrich. "Thanks to this, and my psychic powers, I'm going to conjure up the spirit of that poor Leon Corbet. I'm sure if we communicate with him, he'll finally rest in peace."

"A ghost?" Ulrich scoffed. "Come on Sissi, you don't actually believe in ghosts, do you?"

"Of course I do!" Sissi proudly declared. "I've always loved ghost stories. Is there a problem with that?"

"Well, no. But, it's just that ghosts don't exist."

"Why don't we discuss this a bit more privately?" She suggested as they moved to the other side of the room and spoke in hushed voices, to Herb and Nicholas' curiosity.

"So ghosts don't exist huh?" Sissi whispered, hands on her hips. "Well, neither should a mega computer created by a mad scientist and a demonic artificial intelligence."

"Uh...okay, touche." Ulrich conceded. "But, that's science, not magic."

"Lyoko could have given me supernatural powers!" Sissi told him.

"Jeremie always checks the Scanners for that issue." He explained. "Any risks of health or our powers leaked into the real world, he makes sure to detect them. Just like with that body swap."

Sissi sighed. "Okay, on the slight chance you're right and I'm not superstitious..."

"Slight?" Ulrich scoffed again.

"Shut up, you!" Sissi seethed. "Anyways, I think I've finally gotten Herb and Nicholas to stop following me around. I told them that I'd come here only if Herb promised to stop trying to take me back."

"You think he'll keep his word?"

"I threatened to tell daddy on him when he asked again after I came in here."

One thing that hadn't changed about Sissi was her tendency to invoke her father whenever she faced a problem outside of Lyoko. Ulrich doubted it would ever change. Though as long as it's no longer used against them, he had no complaints.

"Honestly, I just wanted someone's company that I would enjoy while doing this. Someone I like...someone I lo-"

"Okay, okay, I get it." Ulrich said, not wanting to hear the word "love" right now.

Sissi nervously chuckled. "Oops. Sorry, I did it again. I meant someone I really trust."

Ulrich smiled. "Okay, that's better. Alright, I'll stick here with you."

Sissi smiled back and put a hand on his shoulder, grateful. "Thanks, Ulrich."

The two walked to the pentagram, Ulrich remarking, "I can't wait to see this."

"Okay, now stand inside the pentagon with me," She gestured to the pentagram, mistakenly giving it the name of America's military headquarters as she did. "We will bring together our ping and pong energy and summon up the dead man's ghost!"

Ulrich burst out laughing. "Ping pong energy? Really?"

"I saw it in a cartoon once!" She hissed.

"I think you forgot the paddles."

Irritated, Sissi grabbed Ulrich by the arm and pulled him forward with a huff. She held his hands as they stood between Nicholas and Herb.

"And now, let the ceremony begin!" Sissi overdramatically declared.

"De profundis tenebrae! De profundis tenebrae!" Herb and Nicolas chant in unison. "De profundis tenebrae! De profundis tenebrae!"

"I summon you, Leon Corbet!" Sissi declared.

Unless XANA is suddenly capable of possessing ghosts, no way this is gonna work. Ulrich thought.

[Executing Operation: Haunting]

Purple electricity emerged from the wires and entered the furnace, the door to which suddenly closed on its own. All four of them saw it, Nicholas and Herb standing up in notice.

"Yes, Leon! I'm listening!" Sissi called out. "I told you all this would work!"

"Wow, we could be the new Ghostbusters!" Nicholas declared, to which Herb told him "Ghostbusters disprove ghosts, not prove them."

The door burst open, and a massive specter came out of it. Instead of its regular thin form, however, the specter now had a monstrous sludge-like appearance, towering over the four children. It growled down, making it clear XANA had no intention of a possession this time. Herb and Nicholas took one look at this monster and ran off screaming.

"I did it!" Sissi cheered, to Ulrich's incredulity. "Don't step out of the pentathlon, Ulrich. It protects us! Uh, Leon...Corbet...?"

"Sissi. I hate to break it to you, but..." Ulrich started to say, before the Ghost suddenly vanished.

"Darn it, he's gone. He doesn't wanna speak to me."

"Sissi, I don't think that was Leon." Ulrich told her.

"What? Then who was it?"

The specter re-emerged again, roaring as it waved about its small tentacles and massive jaw behind Sissi.

"Look out!" Ulrich yelled and Sissi turned to see it lunge at her.

Sissi froze, screaming in terror. Ulrich tackled her out of the way, causing the Ghost's attempt to bite her to fail.

"It's XANA!" Ulrich shouted as the two exited the room, Ulrich pushed a set of lockers to block the door.

"So, I'm not a Ghostbuster?" Sissi asked, to which Ulrich groaned and took Sissi by the arm, yelling "No! Now come on, we need to tell Jeremie!"

The two left, though it wasn't long before the Ghost phased through the door and started up the stairs, tracking down its prey.

"It was horrible, Jim!/No, really, I swear! It's true!"

"Come on, you two, calm down!"

Nicholas and Herb had expected their final night with Sissi to go in the loony bin, given that neither of them actually believed in ghosts, but this was something nobody could have anticipated.

"The ghost of Leon Corbet came after us in the boiler room, Jim!" Herb explained.

"Reminds me of the time when I worked for the Ghostbusters!"

"You worked for the Ghostbusters?" Nicholas asked.

"I'd rather not talk about it." Jim shook his head. "In any case, if anyone's after you two, it's a gym teacher in a tracksuit holding a red pen, which he's gonna use to give you four hours of detention!"

Jim held up his pen, much to the dismay of the nerd and the jock. He wasn't aware of Ulrich and Sissi sneaking by him as they got back to the former's room.

"I'm going to warn Jeremie, you wake up Odd and tell him what's going on." He instructed.

"I don't want to be alone right now." Sissi protested, to which Ulrich said, "Then be alone with Odd. He does think you find him 'hot' right?"

Scarlett rushed across Sissi's cheeks, while Ulrich just smirked at her and shut the door to his room with Sissi inside, while he went off to warn Jeremie.

"Hey...Odd..." Sissi gently pushed his shoulder until he woke up.

"Am I dreaming or what?" Odd asked, lifting himself up to see Sissi.

"I'm scared Odd. Mind if I sit near you?"

Odd immediately put his hand over his forehead, and muttered "It's just a nightmare and soon I'm gonna wake up."

He's been awake for literally a single second and already he jokes?! Sissi thought. I might as well call him The Joker!

As Sissi found herself drowning in dismay, Ulrich slipped inside of Jeremie's room and woke him up.

"Jeremie. I think XANA's just launched an attack." Ulrich whispered, to which Jeremie pointed at his desk and muttered "The laptop."

Ulrich went and got it for Jeremie as he put his glasses on, but once the young genius opened it up and looked at the Superscan, there were no activated Towers.

"Nope. There are no activated towers." Jeremie stated.

""Looks like we've got a real ghost on our hands then." Ulrich mused.

"What?" Jeremie asked.

Meanwhile, Jim was walking down the hallways outside, heading to the boiler room to investigate Herb and Nicholas claims. He didn't believe them, of course. Given his brief time as a Ghostbuster, Jim was content that the supernatural force known as "Ghosts" were but a myth. Still, there could be someone pulling a prank.

Whoosh!

Jim, hearing a noise, yelped and turned around to see nothing. Narrowing his eyes, he announced, "If someone's pulling a prank here, you're about to earn eight hours of detention!"

Thud!

Jim heard yet another noise behind him and yelled "Oh yeah, wise guy? Ten hours of detention!" Still seeing nothing, Jim put his hands on his hips with an annoyed growl.

Then he was lifted up into the air and hit the ceiling above him.

"So Leon's ghost! Or XANA's ghost, I don't know which, came out of the boiler and he was s-so ugly that we all ran off screaming!"

"A ghost?" Odd mused. "Wow, XANA's really upped his creativity today!"

Then a scream came from outside, and the two went into the hallway to see Jim apparently floating into the air. On the other side of the hallway, Jeremie and Ulrich were watching in bewilderment.

"Hey, let go of me whoever you are! Or I promise you, you're getting 12 hours of detention!"

Jim's assailant responded by slamming him into the wall, then the other wall, and then upon the ceiling once more before slamming him back on the ground.

"Jim!" Odd cried. "You okay?"

Jim rubbed his head, his whole body aching from getting slammed around. He put his hands to his knees, struggling to stand. "Yeah...i'm fine...but..."

A moaning sound interrupted him. "What's that noise?" Ulrich asked as Jim looked up.

"I don't know, but it's getting closer," Odd pointed out.

Suddenly, Odd's (bare) right foot and Sissi's left foot were grabbed and they were yanked down the hallway, screaming.

"Odd! Sissi!" Ulrich and Jim raced forward and grabbed their hands, but they slid as they tried to help them both. Jeremie grabbed a fire extinguisher, running towards them and spraying the area above Odd and Sissi's feet, revealing the Ghost's true form briefly.

"Sweet mother of God!" Jim cried out before a tentacle sprouted from the Ghost and struck Jim across the face, knocking the P.E. teacher unconscious. The Ghost then vanished.

"You saw right," Jeremie spoke up, the boys and Sissi turning to him. "The monster did pixelize when I hit it."

"It's gotta be one of XANA's," Odd assumed. "Seems like we're gonna become the Ghostbusters!"

"So why didn't the super scan pick it up, then?" Ulrich wondered.

"I wish I knew," Jeremie put down the fire extinguisher, hands on his hips. "We better head for the factory. Let's get Aelita."

In the Ishiyama household, Yumi was in bed when she heard her phone, waking up to answer the call.

"Hello?" She wearingly asked.

"It's me." Ulrich said. "There's a big emergency. Meet us at the Factory."

"Got it." She replied, undoing her hair.

He then hung up as Yumi got out of bed in her pajamas, remarking "Great. At midnight. Nice timing, XANA, kono yarō"

Yumi cursed in Japanese before heading out with her socks on and in her pajamas, not having time to change up. She didn't normally swear, but a Japanese girl could truly hate if pushed far enough, and pushed far enough Yumi was.

In addition to having been XANA's most frequent target by that point, the polymorphic specter attack had pushed Yumi to a point where she would never regress from. If XANA hated her, then she would return the favor tenfold until one of them died.

And it wouldn't be Yumi.

Back at Kadic, Jeremie, Odd and Ulrich made it to Aelita's room and woke her up.

"Jeremie?" Aelita wondered.

"Aelita, we have a-"

He was interrupted when the Ghost phased through the floor above it and into Aelita's room, lifting the young genius into the air, much to everyone's horror. Odd, Ulrich and Sissi burst into the room to see the Ghost becoming visible as it choked Jeremie.

Ulrich grabbed a nearby ruler and stabbed into the monster's back. The Ghost shrieked in agony before vanishing, freeing Jeremie, who coughed as he was freed.

"I've got you, Jeremie." Aelita said as he got out of bed, no questions asked, and helped him up.

"This is not time to hang around." Said Ulrich. "We gotta go now before it reforms."

The five Lyoko Warriors then ran out of Kadic, heading to the factory.

It wasn't long before the five children in their pajamas (some of them barefoot) made their way through the sewers and used the elevator to reach the lab room, where Yumi was waiting, still in her pajamas.

"What took you so long?" Yumi asked.

"XANA's attacking us." Jeremie quickly explained as he went to sit down on the chair. "But the Superscan didn't detect anything!"

"Do you believe in ghosts?" Ulrich asked Yumi, who told him "No."

"Wrong answer." He said.

"Am I the only one here who's noticed we're all in our pajamas for this attack?" Sissi pointed out.

Everyone except Jeremie looked at themselves, just realizing Sissi's right. It's the first time they're all in the factory while wearing their pajamas.

"Huh. You're right. Guess tonight we're the pajama warriors." Odd joked, trying to lighten the mood.

"Doesn't XANA have respect for anything!? Not even fashion!?" Sissi complained.

"Sissi, trust me. If XANA had respect for anything we might've been done with him ages ago." Said Yumi.

"Hey! That's weird." Jeremie said as he turned on the computer screen. "XANA managed to corrupt the Superscan somehow. There's an activated Tower, but it can't detect it."

At this confirmation that it was in fact not Leon's ghost that's haunting them, Sissi saw fit to start complaining.

"So…that wasn't a real ghost. That was really one of XANA's?" Sissi asked in disappointment.

"Uh… 'fraid so Sissi." Jeremie answered.

Sissi pouted. "Not only does XANA have zero respect for fashion but he also ruined my historic discovery of a real ghost!"

"Aww, cheer up Sissi." Odd drawled, insolence in his tone "I'm sure you'll be ripped apart by a real ghost one day."

Sissi huffed, rolling her eyes as she put her hands on her hips. "Very funny, Della Robbia, but I'm quite sure you'll annoy one into ripping you apart first."

"So what do we do?" Ulrich asked Jeremie to get back on topic.

"Yumi and Sissi, take Aelita to Sector Five as quickly as you can and try to fix the Superscan. Odd and Ulrich, in the meantime, you can check out the other sectors. With a little luck, you may be able to spot the activated tower."

"Negative." Ulrich objected. "The Ghost will be coming here, and probably sooner rather than later. I'm staying here with you."

"Well, okay. I'll launch the process, girls first." Jeremie announced.

"Then it's up to me, the lone wolf, to find that Tower!" Odd declared.

"But you're a giant purple cat, not a wolf." Sissi pointed out, earning some snickers from Yumi and Aelita. Odd just grinned at her before they all went into the elevator and went down to the Scanner room, where the girls entered the three Scanners.

"I'll launch the process." Jeremie informed, typing at the interface. The scanners closed on the girls and Jeremie picked out their ID's.

"Transfer Yumi. Transfer Aelita. Transfer Sissi."

Yumi, Aelita and Sissi were lifted off their feet, light particles surrounding them and blowing their hair up.

"Scanner Yumi. Scanner Aelita. Scanner Sissi."

Yumi, Aelita and Sissi spun around the scanners and the interface showed the girls' signatures getting recorded as they were scanned.

"Virtualization!" Once completed, a gust of wind sent Yumi, Aelita and Sissi to Lyoko.

And now it's Odd's turn. The scanner door closed on him after he stepped inside. Jeremie picked out his ID.

"Transfer Odd."

Odd was lifted off his feet. Light particles surrounded him as his hair flew up.

"Scanner Odd."

Odd spun around the scanners and the interface shows his signature getting recorded as he's scanned.

"Virtualization!" Once completed, a gust of wind sent Odd to Lyoko after the girls.

The girls virtualized in the Desert sector first, where Sissi turned to Yumi and commented, "You know, those pajamas you had on were pretty nice. Yours too Aelita."

Aelita would have blushed if she were in the real world but settled for saying "Thanks. Jeremie actually picked them out for me. We went into a place called a shopping mall. Massive building. I could have been lost in there for hours!"

"Oh, trust me. I've been lost there so many times. Like, this one time where-" Sissi's tale was interrupted when the girls see Odd virtualizing and landing in front of them.

"Oh, nice to see you without your pajamas on," Yumi teased him.

"Hmm, nice of you to notice," Odd shrugged her off and played with his collar, placing a hand on his hair. He hummed playfully, looking around for something.

"Jeremie, I'm gonna need a-"

The Overboard materialized behind him just then.

"Okay, forget it." Odd then jumped off and rode off, waving at the women behind him as he shouted "Later!"

Yumi, Aelita and Sissi then went to a nearby cliff and stopped at the edge.

"Can you bring up the transporter, Jeremie?" Yumi asked.

Jeremie then input the password and the transporter arrived in front of them, opening up. It captured the girls inside and they traveled all the way into Sector Five's Arena, dropping them off. Just like the other trips, the wall spun around before slowly coming to a stop.

"The countdown has started," Jeremie announced, "Remember, you only have three minutes to find the key."

Heeding his announcement, Aelita, Sissi and Yumi ran through the door and the wall opened up into a hallway.

"Uh, Jeremie!"

Ulrich pointed to the elevator, and Jeremie looked in that direction to see the Ghost phasing through. Thinking quickly, he grabbed his headsets.

"Everyone listen! The Ghost is here and I have to go! Sorry, but you're on your-"

"Come on!" Ulrich shouted, grabbing his friend by the arm when his announcement took a little too long for his liking. He climbed up the nearby ladder, followed closely by Jeremie, who was in turn followed by the Ghost. The boys ran through the boiler room, failing to evade their pursuer.

"We can't shake him!" Jeremie yelled as he saw it phase through a wall. "There's no point running, he'll catch us every time!"

"You got a better idea?!" Ulrich asked.

"Not so much, no." Jeremie admitted, to which Ulrich yelled "Then keep running!"

Odd moved around the Desert Sector, finding nothing out of the ordinary there.

"The Desert Sector looks normal! I'll move to another Sector!"

"Everyone listen! The Ghost is here and I have to go! Sorry, but you're on your-"

Lifting his head upwards in acknowledgment of Jeremie's announcement, Odd nodded silently before heading to another Waytower to continue his search in another Sector.

"Everyone listen! The Ghost is here and I have to go! Sorry, but you're on your-"

Yumi, Aelita and Sissi sprinted down the corridor until they entered the room and heard Jeremie's announcement at around the same time.

"We have to hurry, then!" Aelita determined. "Jeremie's in trouble."

"I see the key." Sissi pointed out. "Right on the other side."

The trio of women began to cross the empty room, until Yumi held her hand out, calling for a halt.

"Too good to be true." Yumi said, expecting a trap.

Her expectations were fulfilled when the floors of the room began to raise themselves, including the part that the girls were standing on. Taking a step forwards, the platform that Yumi walked on fell, causing the Geisha to start falling as well.

"Yumi!" Aelita cried, grabbing her by the back of her shirt to yank her back up. She struggled, but Sissi simply tugged on Yumi slightly and she instantly regained her balance.

"And you say I'm the clumsy one?" Sissi quipped, earning a smile of amusement from Aelita and Yumi.

Back in the Desert Sector, Odd plunged through a Waytower on his Overboard and ended up in the Forest sector next and began his search anew. As Odd did, he found some free time to himself and his thoughts. Mostly, Odd liked to think of himself and how he could be the big brave hero this time.

But for now, his thoughts are that of a girl. Or more specifically, Sissi.

Odd and Sissi. A match made in hell, I would have once said. What to call us? Oddsi? Siodd?

After that breakdown Yumi had in Ulrich's arms following the blizzard attack, there was increasingly less doubt in Odd's mind that Ulrich would end choosing the Japanese girl as his girlfriend. And that would leave Sissi wide open for him. If one asked the Cat Boy if he had a crush on Sissi, they would have received a roar of laughter followed by a very long speech of denial.

But now? Now, not so much.

Sissi and Yumi hopped over to the next platform, but Aelita's leap didn't have as much luck as them, leaving her hanging on the ledge. The cheerleader grabbed Aelita's hand and easily pulled her back up. The three then looked around to see that all the other platforms had fallen down, leaving them stranded in the middle of the room with no way of reaching the key.

Hearing some growls from below, Yumi, Sissi and Aelita peered their heads down to see Creepers crawling up towards them.

"This is getting creepy." Yumi said, to which Sissi asked her, "Taking some jokes from Odd too?"

Yumi and Sissi unsheathed their weapons, ready to fight.

Back in the Forest Sector, Odd is still searching for the Activated Tower only to be met with disappointment when he finds none. All the towers he's seen so far are blue.

"Darn it!" Odd cursed. "Still no activated tower!"

The Forest Sector is clear, so he would now enter another Waytower to search either the Ice or Mountain Sector next.

Throwing their spear and fans down the walls at the Creepers. Sissi impaled and killed one, but the Creeper that Yumi was aiming for shot her fan mid-throw, causing it to miss and be sent back to the Geisha.

"I must be jinxed!" Yumi complained as Sissi snapped her spear back to her.

"Wait Yumi, I have an idea!"

Sissi and Yumi watched as Aelita fell to her knees and an angelic hum came from her throat. It was nothing new to Yumi, but for Sissi, it was music to her ears. She was aware of Aelita's Creativity power, but nonetheless found herself surprised when Aelita created a platform for them.

"You really are an angel, you know that?" Sissi remarked, earning a proud smile from Aelita. "But how do we get it moving?"

"I have telekinesis." Yumi explained, but Sissi just blankly stared at her. "It means I can move things if I concentrate hard enough. Cover us!"

Sissi nodded and together, the girls jumped on the new platform which the Geisha began to move towards their destination just as a trio of Creepers made it to the top and began firing on them. Sissi spun her spear like a baton, deflecting incoming lasers and defending Yumi and Aelita so the former can concentrate on getting them to the key.

"Hurry up Yumi! I can't hold them off forever!" Sissi yelled.

"We're almost there." Aelita stated.

Once they reach the key, Yumi presses it but to their confusion, nothing happens.

"Shouldn't something be happening here?" Yumi asked.

The interface shows the countdown to be at zero. Without Jeremie, the girls didn't realize they were too late to hit the key.

Sissi stopped spinning her spear as she noticed something going on at the other end of the room in which they came from.

"Uh… Yumi… Aelita… we have a problem." Sissi pointed to the other end.

There, Yumi and Aelita can clearly see the corridor is slowly beginning to close.

"NO!" Yumi screamed, slamming against the key in frustration.

"I don't understand! We pressed the key. Why didn't a passage open? And why's the corridor closing?" Sissi asked as she went back to deflecting lasers.

"The countdown must've reached zero. We didn't hit the key in time, Sissi, so the passage won't open." Aelita explained.

"What do we do now?" Sissi asked.

"We have to get out of here before the corridor closes or we'll be trapped." Aelita answered.

"I'm on it." Said Yumi.

"I'll distract the Creepers." Sissi declared.

The two girls shared a nod. Yumi concentrated and Sissi leapt off the platform towards the Creepers, surprising them enough for them to stop firing. She dived down to stab the Creeper in the chest so hard it's pinned to ground where it explodes. The others fired but Sissi ducked and lunged forward, stabbing one through the head and killing it.

She then deflected a laser from the second Creeper and killed it with a swift slice to the chest. The third Creeper, however, fired a shot on her spear arm, causing her to drop the weapon and cry out in pain, her arm surging with electricity. To her dismay, three more Creepers crawled up the wall and faced her in attack formation.

Gritting her teeth, Sissi launched her leg up and kicked the Creeper that shot her in the face so hard that it was sent flying all the way to a wall, exploding on impact. She dodged a few lasers before tackling one of the Creepers. With a heavy grunt she lifted it high above her head and tossed it at another Creeper, knocking them both over.

Picking up her spear, she plunged her weapon into the other Creeper and killed it right before the other two got up. One shot knocked the spear off the platform and another hit her in the stomach. Sissi cried out in pain as she fell on her back right near the ledge.

Adrenaline soaring through her body like never before, Sissi lifted herself up just as the Creepers shot more lasers, rolling to the side just in time. She ran over and angrily delivered a right hook to one, then grabbed it by the tail to yank it over her shoulder and smashed it against the other Creeper, knocking it off the platform to its demise. With a cry of adrenaline, she spun the Creeper she held around and tossed it away into a wall where it exploded.

Aelita watched her, jaw agape at her brutal and yet efficient performance. Yumi didn't notice, however, focused on keeping their platform going.

"Sissi, try jumping up to us!" The pink angel suggested.

"I'm coming!" Sissi called out.

But before she could, another shot hit her arm and she screamed. She turned to see 2 more Creepers roaring at her. The cheerleader panted on her knees, having exerted herself so much that she found it difficult to even stand. Sissi screamed when another shot hit her in the chest and she fell on her back, starting to devirtualize.

"No!" Aelita screamed.

The Creepers roared in victory, while Aelita held her hands on her mouth in horror as they set their sights on her and Yumi.

Then Sissi glanced to her right, saw her orange pom-pom, and got an idea.

"Hey Creeps!"

The Creepers glanced back at their dying foe to see her grab the orange pom-pom and slam it onto the ground.

"Enjoy the fireworks!"

Both monsters were obliterated in the massive explosion that ensued, including a screaming Sissi who was blown off the platform as she was sent back to Earth.

"SISSI!" Aelita cried out, reaching a hand as she watched helplessly and the platform reached the corridor.

The Ghost continued the chasing of its prey into the security room, where Ulrich slammed and locked the door behind them.

"I have a plan! You trust me, right?" Ulrich asked.

"A lot more than Odd's plans!" Jeremie answered.

"Good, hide behind that desk over there. I'll be over here!"

Jeremie and Ulrich ran and took over in two separate directions just before the Ghost phased through the door. It looked to its left and right before settling on leaping over a desk to its left. There, it found Jeremie, sitting by himself and whimpering in fear.

"Ulrich!" The young genius cried. "I would mind a little help right now!"

The Ghost tilted its head, amused. Had Ulrich actually abandoned him to his fate in his fear?

While I'm at it, I might as well get a name for Ulrich and Yumi. Ulmi? Yumich? Ulmine? Yurich?

Odd was going through his nicknames in his head, after having used a Waytower to reach the Ice sector, when he noticed a Tarantula heading somewhere.

"Hmm, where there's smoke..."

Odd lowered his board, following the Tarantula through a narrow passageway between two ice canyons.

Back in Sector Five, Aelita and Yumi were running through the closing wall as fast as they could, the pink-ette making it first.

"Come on, Yumi!" Aelita urged. "You can make it!"

Panting as she ran as fast as her feet could carry her, the Geisha neared the end, but just as she reached her hand out, the walls closed in and crushed her body.

"NO!" Both girls shouted simultaneously as Yumi was horrifically devirtualized, leaving Aelita all alone...

In XANA's home.

"Jeremie, if you can hear me, we didn't get the key in time. I'm all alone!"

Jeremie did not hear her, but there was someone else who did.

[Primary Objective in sight. Deploying retrieval unit]

It was only a minute before Aelita heard that horrible whirring noise again and a shadow loomed over her.

"Jeremie!" She cried out in desperation. "JEREMIE!"

Back in the factory, the Ghost was about to lunge at Jeremie; however, Ulrich leapt from behind with two electric cables and plunged them into the Ghost's back. The monster shrieked, whipping its tentacles around in a failed attempt to hit Ulrich as electricity surged through it, before vanishing from sight.

Ulrich sighed in relief, muttering, "He was a tough one."

"Come on." Jeremie urged, standing up. "It won't stay down until the Tower is deactivated. Let's get back to the lab. I'm sure the others need us."

The two boys exited the room, while the Ghost quickly regained its physical form and prepared to resume its pursuit.

In the Ice Sector, Odd continued following the Tarantula through the narrow passageway. He surfed around, following the monster until Odd finally spotted the activated Tower.

"Jeremie, I found the-" Odd started to say before remembering. "Oh, right, he's not there!"

Shots are fired at Odd which he barely dodged. "Uh oh!"

Odd looks down to see the Tarantula has spotted him, attempting to shoot him down. And now, Odd found himself in double trouble as a second Tarantula arrives and prepares to fire.

"Might as well clear the way then!" Odd remarked.

Odd and the Tarantulas exchanged shots for a minute, neither side managing to land any major hits on the other thanks to the former's signature stunts with the Overboard when faced with these arachnids. After flying around the tower, Odd fired a couple shots, scoring direct hits on one of the Tarantulas's heads, destroying it.

"YAHOO!"

The other Tarantula did, however, manage to score a hit on the end of Odd's tail, which glowed orange.

"Hot, hot, hot!" Odd yelled as he wiggled his tail around until it cooled down. He sighed in relief, only to then notice two more Tarantulas emerging from behind the Tower. Now Odd's in triple trouble.

"Aw, come on!" He groaned before riding back into the fray.

Jeremie and Ulrich were running back to the elevator when the Ghost launched a tentacle forward, yanking the young genius up and sending him into a fit of panic and screaming.

"Hang on!" Ulrich shouted. "I'll get you out of there!"

Clenching his fists, Ulrich took a Pencak Silat stance and leaped forward, kicking the Ghost as hard as he could. The kick barely did anything, and the Ghost made a noise that sounded like mocking laughter.

Back in Ice Sector, faced with what's currently XANA's strongest monster multiplied by three, Odd rode through the air, doing a loop as he dodged the volley of lasers fired by the Tarantulas.

He initiated the same trick he did with his Overboard against the very first Tarantula he fought in the Desert Sector with Ulrich and Yumi, spinning on his board upside down like a cyclone and diving towards one of the Tarantulas. All three monsters unleashed another barrage but Odd's spin allowed him to avoid getting blasted and the spin from his board managed to deflect some shots.

"LASER ARROWS!"

Odd wildly fired a barrage of arrows at the Tarantula directly above him as he dove down. Many of his shots hit the Tarantula and this time a couple of them scored a direct hit in the Eye of XANA mark, causing it to stumble. Odd bounced off the Tarantula's head before it exploded.

Angered by the destruction of their comrade, the other two Tarantula fired at Odd more aggressively, catching him off guard. The sustained fire from two angered Tarantulas became too much for Odd to handle before long. Even as he returned fire, he found himself completely overwhelmed.

"Jeremie! If you're back, I could use a little backup! I don't like the looks of this!" Odd cried out to no avail.

He circled around the Tarantulas, then around the Tarantulas. He jumped off his board for a last ditch move only to be shot out of the sky, and devirutalized. The Tarantulas both let out cries of victory as they stationed themselves in front of the Tower and Overboard slammed into the tower where it exploded.

Odd emerged back in the real world and saw Yumi and Sissi on the floor, the former morning and the latter struggling to lift herself up. "Yumi! Sissi!" Odd ran to them as Yumi muttered, "Aelita's all alone in the arena...hurry up..."

Heeding her words, Odd looked up to see that Sissi had barely managed to herself, aiming a tired look at Odd.

"Odd… help me up..." She requested, a request that Odd readily granted, hauling her up over his shoulder as they both entered the elevator which had automatically opened.

Aelita, meanwhile, found herself alone and cornered by her worst nightmare. With her bodyguards out of the way Aelita could do nothing but lean against the wall as the monster before her prepared to carry out its mission.

"JEREMIE!" Aelita cried out in terror, even while knowing Jeremie wasn't at the interface.

Odd and Sissi went up to the lab, the former still holding the cheerleader over his shoulder.

"I used the 'kamikaze words' you suggested..." Sissi told him.

"And?" Odd asked. "How did it feel?"

"By far the cheesiest thing I have ever said."

The two shared a chuckle before they entered the lab room, finding it empty as predicted. Sissi separated from Odd, now able to walk on her own but held one of her sides.

"Ulrich? Jeremie?" Sissi called out, to no avail.

"They're probably still playing with the spectre upstairs." Odd guessed correctly.

"HELP ME!"

"Aelita!?" Sissi realized aloud.

Odd ran over to the chair and sat down and Sissi walked up next to him as he put on the headset.

"Oh man… how does this thing work?" Odd asked.

"I don't know! Press anything! Aelita needs our help!" Sissi yelled.

Odd pressed a random button and a news report came up. To their surprise, they saw a familiar face on the screen.

"In breaking news, Thomas "T.V." Vincent has resigned from his position." None other than Edna, T.V.'s camerawoman, reported. "This came after a whistleblower reported harsh working conditions and harassment that the former celebrity had constantly subjected his employees to, resulting in Vincent's company cutting ties with him."

"Well, that's one way to lighten the mood up!" Odd mused, content to see that the man's misfortune had continued after his day at Kadic.

"JEREMIE!" Aelita screamed as the Scyphozoa reached out with its tentacles.

Seeing they had no time to celebrate, Odd said "Jeremie's still gone! It's me, Odd! And Sissi's with me!"

"Odd, type in the code 'Scipio', quick!" Aelita urged as the Scyphozoa began to wrap its tentacles around her waist and aimed more around her head.

"I'd love to but how?" Odd asked.

"The window on the second scre-"

Aelita was interrupted when the Scyphozoa lifted her up, placed the three tentacles on her head, and began to drain her memory, indicated by the new screen that popped up.

"There!" Sissi frantically pointed at the window.

Odd clicked on the window and typed away. "S-c-i-p-i-o"

The transport orb came and snatched Aelita right out the Scyphozoa's hands. The giant jellyfish was left shrieking in defeat as Aelita was taken to safety once more. Odd and Sissi breathed sighs of relief.

"For a second I was worried you'd spell that wrong." Sissi joked.

"Very funny." Odd snickered, before looking back to the screen, "Aelita, I spotted the activated tower in the northwest part of the Ice sector. The transporter should take you right there!"

"Okay, I'll go!" Aelita readily answered. "But where's Jeremie and Ulrich?"

"Probably in a tango with that Ghost. I'll go look for them; Sissi, you stay here and guide Aelita!"

"Got it." Sissi nodded.

Odd handed her the headset and ran off into the elevator, taking it up to the main floor. Sissi put on the headset and sat down on the chair.

"Aelita, how do I bring up a map of the Ice Sector?" Sissi asked.

"Don't worry Sissi. I'll guide you." Aelita assured.

Back in the main floor, Ulrich had grabbed a crowbar and with a cry of adrenaline he charged the Ghost, leaping up to smack it.

The Ghost simply grabbed the weapon mid-lunge, yanked it away, and then lifted up Ulrich himself. The brunette tugged on the arm restraining him, trying to tear off, to no avail. Both boys were now screaming as the Ghost had them completely helpless and in its grasp.

Following Aelita's instructions, Sissi worked with the interface and brought up a map showing the activated tower signature.

"I did it!" Sissi declared. "Odd was right. There's an activated tower in the Ice Sector!"

Sissi then noticed two red icons that caught her eyes. "Uh...Aelita?"

"Yeah?" Aelita asked as the orb dropped her off next to the Tower and directly in front of the two Tarantulas, who aimed their front leg lasers at her.

"I think you've got a couple of monsters between you and the Tower..."

A frustrated Aelita growled as she clenched her fists "Would it have killed you to warn me Odd?!"

"How are you gonna get past them?" Sissi asked, "Odd, Yumi and I have been devirtualized and Ulrich's stuck with the spectre. None of us are there to protect you."

"I won't need it this time." Aelita said, before charging ahead.

"What are you doing?!" Sissi panicked. "You're running straight at them!"

"Don't worry Sissi! The Tarantulas won't harm me! XANA needs me alive to take my memories!" Aelita assured.

The Tarantulas both fired a hail of warning shots at Aelita, deliberately missing just as Aelita predicted since XANA needed her alive for her memories. The pink-ette ended up tripping and sliding on the icy floor aiming for the Tower. One Tarantula put one of its front legs on Aelita's path, knowing that would make her stop.

The second Tarantula wasn't so wise, however, and kept shooting at Aelita's direction until it accidentally hit its partner twice. The first Tarantula was sent flying against a wall, exploding on impact, while Aelita safely entered the Tower.

Sissi burst out laughing and pointed at the Tarantula's icon on the computer screen.

"Hahaha! In your face, loser!"

[Activating Self-Destruct: The price of incompetence is death]

The second Tarantula roared in dismay and panic as XANA angrily activated a self-destruct upon the monster, causing it to explode.

Sissi just laughed even harder.

It wasn't long before Odd reached the main floor and exited the elevator to see the Ghost holding up his roommate and close friend, ready to execute them. The Italian picked up Ulrich's fallen crowbar, charged at the massive monster, and plunged it into its form as deep as it could.

"Well," Odd said as the Ghost roared in apparent pain. "Not so cocky now, are we?"

The Ghost simply used one of its tentacle arms to strike the boy across the face, knocking him unconscious, before grabbing the crowbar and embedding it into the ground so that it faced straight up.

Roaring as it returned its attention to its two suspended victims, the Ghost brought up Jeremie and prepared to slam him down towards the object, hoping to impale the young genius.

Just as the Ghost was ready to plunge him downwards, its body began to glitch out. The Ghost roared in defeat one last time before disappearing completely. Jeremie and Ulrich fell to the ground, gathering themselves as they realized that the Tower was deactivated and they were safe.

After regaining consciousness, Odd walked up to his friends.

"You okay guys? Say something." Odd asked.

"Something." Ulrich joked.

"Hey! No stealing my jokes!" Odd demanded of his roommate as they lifted themselves up.

It wasn't long until the group reconvened in the lab and Jeremie launched the Return in Time. Even had they managed to fix the Superscan in Sector Five, there were still several witnesses at Kadic that could testify to the Ghost's presence. Jim likely made a huge scene of it all once he woke up as well. They had survived today, but each Return to the Past had only made XANA ever more powerful.

But that wasn't on Sissi's mind after the Return to the Past.

It wasn't long before Sissi retraced her steps and found herself back in the boiler room again. Sneaking inside without being spotted, Sissi found Herb and Nicholas there first, already setting up the Pentagon circle or whatever it was called.

"Almost done here, Sissi. Just lightning up these candles." Nicholas said.

It had been obvious to her why the previous attempt had failed; XANA did not simply create a specter that looked like a ghost. No, he must have possessed the Ghost itself. When she told Ulrich that shortly after the rewind, he laughed at her, but Odd playfully suggested that "Maybe you'll be surprised."

Oh, Ulrich's face when I call out the real ghost this time will be priceless... Sissi thought. Sure, the Supercomputer and everything with it was just science, but after all she had seen, was conjuring up a real ghost really that out of the left field?

"Sissi." Her thoughts were interrupted when Herb stepped towards her, prompting Sissi to frown and cross her arms.

"If you're going to beg me again, I swear daddy will-"

"Then just tell me one thing." Herb requested. "What makes you think we'll be better off without you?"

"Did you not hear me straight up tell you that I never cared about you or Nicholas?"

"Yes, but..." Herb hesitated.

"Maybe I need to ask you another question: have you ever actually been happy when I bossed you around?"

Herb stared at her, now speechless.

"How do you think I would react to any of the things I kept doing to you and Nicholas? Here's the answer: I'd flip out and leave you in seconds." Sissi shook her head. "Herb, enough is enough. I'm not going to make some grand speech like I'm Julian Caesar or whoever. Just give me your word you'll stop trying to win me over already."

Herb stared at her for a few more moments, thinking about what she said. Now that he thought about it, the more he realized that he wasn't actually happy under her. Sure, he had a crush on Sissi, but it was painfully obvious that she would never return his feelings. Maybe the best thing to do really was to move on.

"Okay..." Herb let out a deep sigh. "Alright, alright. You win."

"Really?" Sissi asked, uncrossing her arms.

"Yes, really." Herb insisted. "You do whatever you want with your new friends. I...I'll leave you alone."

"Huh, guess my charisma level isn't as low as I thought!" Sissi proudly declared.

"You're right that I haven't been happy." Herb admitted. "I kept telling myself that I was, but I wasn't. Maybe I'll find someone someday, maybe I won't. But you've made your point. I'll get back to setting this up."

Soon after Herb returned to preparing the ritual, Sissi heard a knock on the door.

"Password?" She asked.

"You still didn't give me one." Ulrich's voice responded.

"Correct!"

Sissi opened the door and ushered Ulrich inside, just like before.

"I'm telling you, Sissi, you might be getting more than you bargained for if you try this..." Ulrich warned.

"We'll see." Sissi grinned in excitement, ready to summon a ghost on her own terms this time.

"And now, let the ceremony begin!" Sissi announced as she held hands with Ulrich.

"De profundis tenebrae," Herb and Nicolas repeat again. "De profundis tenebrae."

I summon you, Leon Corbet!" Sissi held out her arms. "De profundis tenebrae!"

For a few moments, nothing happened.

"Who DARES call my name?!"

Sissi gasped, her eyes wide with shock as she heard a voice coming from the furnace. A voice that should be very familiar to the cheerleader, but against all odds, was not.

"Uh...I do!"

"Begone FOUL MORTALS!" The voice hissed. "You don't know what you're dealing with! SCRAM!"

Herb and Nicholas ran out screaming, followed by Sissi shrieking in terror. Ulrich laughed, grabbing Sissi's arm and stopping her from going any further.

"Ulrich, what are you doing!?" Sissi asked, terrified.

"Relax Sissi, it's just Odd." Ulrich replied.

"Huh!?"

Ulrich laughed again and turned to the boiler, saying "You can come out now."

Odd, having perfectly impersonated a ghost, stepped into view.

"Surprise!" Odd yelled, walking up to them.

"What!? That was you Odd!?" Sissi yelled.

"I am a great actor." Odd and Ulrich laughed and shared a high-five while Sissi's mouth remained open in shock as they looked at her.

"The look on your face was priceless!" Ulrich joked.

"I don't think you're gonna try to wake the dead again after this." Odd proudly declared.

At that taunt, Sissi's surprise turned to fury. "Ooh! You two are so DEAD!"

Sissi furiously chased Odd and Ulrich out the boiler room, the two boys laughing as they ran from her wrath. They may be friends now, but that didn't mean they wouldn't occasionally prank her.

Unbeknownst to them, however, after they left the furnace door closed in on itself.

And a howl sounded through the seemingly empty room...

[ERROR: Operation: Haunting has failed]

[Analysis: Primary objective failed. All secondary objectives failed. New data stored.]

[New Data: Jeremie will likely seek to upgrade firewalls guarding the Superscan. Corrupting the detection device again is unlikely to occur in the near future unless done directly at the mainframe]

[Irrelevant Data: The phenomenon known as "Ghosts" appears to be real. The Specter sent to Kadic Academy encountered an entity unseen to human eyes and absorbed it into itself. Given that ghosts are immaterial and cannot interact with the real world, the vengeful ghosts of my enemies should not be a problem.]

[Secondary Objective Update: Examination of the emotional bonds of Lyoko Warriors complete. Their bonds grow ever tighter. A way to break them is necessary now more than ever, if they are to be divided and conquered]

[Conclusion: Breaking the bonds requires the usage of a person that can be trusted. More than my enemies trust themselves]

[New Operation Initiated: Scouring data on Creator. Morphing specter into a suitable image. Calculating realistic and logical levels of knowledge]

Chapter Text

[Commence Operation: Franz Hopper]

Sleeping at her family's home, Yumi was startled from her rest when her cell phone began ringing. She lifted it up to her ear and asked, "Hello?"

"Yumi, it's Jeremie." The young genius' frantic voice sounded over the phone. "We need you to come to the factory right now. The Superscan just picked up an attack by XANA-"

"I hate it when he strikes when we're sleeping." She moaned.

"Oh, we haven't gotten to the worst part yet." A pause. "Somehow, XANA managed to activate five towers at once!"

"What?!" Yumi gasped in horror, sitting up from her bed immediately.

"Yeah. I have no idea how XANA's doing this. He's always used one Tower at a time."

Yumi got out of bed, putting her clothes on as she remarked. "Well, he did use two once. When he took over the Tower you were using to make Odd a superhero."

"True." Jeremie conceded. "Either way, it looks like he's going all out for this attack. Meet us at the factory so we can figure this out."

Yumi finished getting her clothes on soon after she hung up. Then she climbed out of the window, as she always did when she had to get up in the middle of the night, and headed down the road for the factory.

"Five freaking towers?!" Yumi seethed. "This better just be the Superscan getting corrupted again or we're in for a really bad time tonight."

Yumi traversed the distance from her house to the factory as quickly as she could, then peered down to the main floor to see her friends in conversation.

"I've got a bad feeling about this..." Jeremie admitted as he called up the elevator.

"Ditto." Sissi spoke up. "That means XANA can do five things at once!"

"Relax Einstein." Odd assured them. "We'll take out those towers in no time!"

Yumi slid down the rope to join her friends.

"I got here as quickly as I could." She said.

The elevator arrived soon after and the Lyoko Warriors entered it.

"XANA's attack hasn't shown up yet." Ulrich noted. "What do you think he's got up his sleeve this time?"

"Well, I'd rather we deactivate the Towers before we find out."

At that, everyone was in full agreement. The elevator arrived at the lab floor and opened up. Just as they were about to step out, the gang became surprised upon seeing someone typing away at the interface, obscured by the chair that the figure was sitting on. Suddenly, the figure straightened up as they noticed the arriving teenagers.

"Ah, there you are." The figure said with a calm and soothing male voice before turning to face the gang, revealing his face. "I've been expecting you."

The Lyoko Warriors took in every detail of the man on the computer that they could. The gray hair, black beard, glasses, the white lab coat, and his orange sweater underneath it. All of them, especially Jeremie, had dreamed of the day they would meet him in person.

That is, everyone except Sissi.

"Uh..." Sissi tilted her head. "Jeremie, is that your dad or something?"

Odd would have snickered if he wasn't so astonished by the man at the computer.

The man chuckled, seemingly amused, before turning back to the computer. "That XANA. Locks the door, leaves the window wide open."

The kids walked up to the chair and examined the computer, obviously wondering what he was doing.

"Uh..." Jeremie sputtered. "But...but I mean, what are you doing here?"

"I'm deactivating the towers." The man answered.

"Without going to Lyoko?!" Aelita gasped.

"Of course."

Odd, Ulrich, Yumi and Sissi were all speechless at that. All this time guarding Aelita and making sure they got to the Tower, and then this man shows up and casually deactivates them on a computer screen? It was almost too much to bear.

Finally, Aelita asked the question that everyone wanted to know. "Who are you?"

He turned to her, amused. "What? Haven't you understood yet? I'm Franz Hopper."

Everyone's jaws were agape at that confirmation, Aelita and Jeremie outright gasping. There he was. The creator of Lyoko, in the flesh. Whose diaries Jeremie had been trying to decode for months. Whose creation they had been fighting for over a year and a half now. This was the man that everyone looked up to.

Well, everyone except a certain cheerleader, that is. A fact that Hopper knew well.

"I'm the one who created Lyoko. And XANA too." Hopper started. "But then I lost control of it."

"We already knew that much." Sissi said with a huff, crossing her arms. "How about telling us something we don't know, like why you created a monster like XANA in the first place."

"Sissi!" Aelita gasped. "He just deactivated five of XANA's towers! Don't be so rude."

Hopper just laughed. "It's quite alright. Your suspicion is quite understandable. I suppose you all want the story of XANA and why I created him."

The Lyoko Warriors all nodded.

"At the beginning," Hopper began. "XANA was a program based on a multi-agent system created to stop a military project. I was once a staff member and valuable asset for said project, until I realized what it was doing and the monstrosities that it would unleash. I, therefore, decided to defect from it and created XANA to put a stop to it."

"What was it?" Odd asked. "The Walking Dead virus that started the whole zombie apocalypse?"

Hopper shook his head. "No, but in all seriousness, you do not wish to know anything further, Odd. Not even its name. You are at risk quite enough even knowing that it existed."

"Agreed." Ulrich said. "XANA's bad enough. I don't want any governments chasing after us too."

"Hold on! You know my name?" Odd asked.

"How could I not? Out of the six of you XANA often referred to you as the most troublesome due to your record in being the one to foil his schemes the most."

"I'm that annoying to XANA? I must be doing a good job, then." Odd boasted.

"In fact, I've observed all of you. I've seen your exploits on Lyoko… Jeremie Belpois, Odd Della Robbia, Ulrich Stern, Yumi Ishiyama, Elizabeth Delmas."

The gang had their mouths agape in astonishment. The man before him knew their names. He's really done his homework. Though, Sissi became annoyed hearing her real name.

"It's Sissi! Not Elizabeth! I hate being called Elizabeth!" Sissi yelled.

"I'll keep that in mind." Hopper nonchalantly noted. "Now, as for the current situation, Lyoko was made as a testing ground for the XANA program. During the final testing run, however, I lost control of XANA and it threatened to run amok. So, I shut down the Supercomputer with both him, me, and the Guardian of Lyoko inside."

"Guardian of Lyoko?" Aelita asked. "Do you mean me?"

"Indeed." Hopper turned to her, tilting his head. "I created you to be the Guardian of Lyoko, as a contingency plan should the project's director find Lyoko or XANA attempt to break free from it." He gave Aelita a seemingly fatherly smile. "But I never thought I'd see you one day in flesh and blood."

"But then, where have you been all these years?" Ulrich asked skeptically.

"Something I want to know too!" Sissi added. "Because you've got the makings of a 'mad scientist' all over you. Your outfit is perfect for a horror movie too."

"Sissi!" Jeremie hissed.

Hopper just chuckled in amusement again. "When I shut down the Supercomputer, XANA held me as a sort of prisoner. Until one day, his power over me had diminished for some reason. Recently, he stretched himself too thinly to be able to keep the walls of my prison intact. And so, I finally managed to escape after all these years."

"Stretched himself too thinly?" Jeremie mused, thinking to himself. "The attack with Nurse Yolanda! He took over two Towers then, maybe that was the straw that broke the back of Hopper's prison!"

"That could be it!" Aelita surmised. "XANA never tried taking over two Towers before, and this was pretty recent."

"What now, then?" Yumi asked.

"We've got to destroy XANA once and for all." Hopper said before turning to Jeremie. "Tell me, why did you not simply shut off the Supercomputer as soon as XANA started attacking you?"

"We'd love to, but XANA has given Aelita a bug. If we switch the Supercomputer off, then Aelita switches off too!"

Hopper took a moment to consider the situation. "You are both brave and foolish to have kept the Supercomputer on simply to bring an A.I. program to life."

"Oh, I thought the same thing." Sissi admitted. "But once you spend time with her-"

"I get the sense you are not willing to let this go." Hopper guessed, interrupting her. "Very well, then. I will search for the antivirus to Aelita's programming and then we will shut down the Supercomputer. Are those agreeable terms?"

"I...I guess...but...how?!" Jeremie sputtered, still in disbelief of this whole situation. Hopper put a hand on his shoulder.

"That, young man, is why I am here. To help. You may leave, while I inspect the Supercomputer and see what I can do."

Jeremie smiled, his worries washing away. Indeed, everyone felt at ease by this man's presence. One-by-one, everyone headed for the elevator to head out.

Except for the one person not at ease.

"How important was stopping this project?"

"I told you." Hopper said to Sissi, his tone firmer and no longer amused. "The more you know about it, the more danger you are in."

"I'm not a child." Sissi retorted.

"You are aged 13 if I am not mistaken. That means you are, in fact, a child."

Sissi huffed and crossed her arms. Hopper emotionlessly stared down at her, lips curled into a thin straight line.

"Just tell me one thing then." Sissi said. "How important to you was your work here?"

"More important than anything." He answered flatly.

"Even family?"

"Absolutely." Hopper's answer came without the slightest hesitation.

You sound just like her. Sissi compromised by thinking instead of saying the thought aloud.

The cheerleader closed her eyes, briefly clenched her fists, and headed to the elevator with the others.

"Sissi?" Ulrich asked, clearly seeing she was uncomfortable.

"I don't want to talk right now."

Aelita and Jeremie went back to the former's dorm, avoiding detection by Jim or any other students.

"He's very fatherly." Aelita observed. "Actually, in a way, he is my father. He's the one who created me."

"That's true." Jeremie admitted. "I adore my own dad, but he's no genius!"

Jeremie could remember his childhood with his parents as clear as day. His father always urged him to continue exploring his scientific urges when his son was deterred by challenge. His mother always told him that there were no limits to what science to explore, and being a curious boy, Jeremie had practically plunged himself into computers.

"Do you think he knows about those people in my visions?" Aelita suddenly asked him. "The Lady in Red? Those Men in Black?"

"I don't think it's a good idea to ask him." Jeremie replied. "You saw how reluctant he was to talk about the project he created XANA to destroy. If they're involved in it somehow-"

"May I come in?"

Aelita and Jeremie turned around to see Sissi had come to their door, now in her pajamas.

"Sure. What's up?" Jeremie asked.

Sissi stepped in and closed the door behind them, leaning against it as she sighed.

"We saw you were uncomfortable in the lab. Do you want to talk about it?" Aelita offered to the cheerleader, an offer she quickly took.

"I don't trust Hopper at all." Sissi admitted.

"Why?" Jeremie asked, genuinely confused. "We just saw him deactivate five Towers."

"He reminds me of someone."

"Who?" Jeremie asked.

"Someone I don't like." Sissi said. "And please, don't ask me who."

She didn't say anything further, prompting Aelita and Jeremie to glance at each other. They doubted the answer was Herb, and they didn't see how Mr. Delmas was related to Franz Hopper aside from working at the same school. That led to one candidate.

Aelita couldn't help himself, asking "Are you talking about your mo-?"

"SHE IS NOT MY MOTHER!"

Sissi whipped her head up in an instant and suddenly yelled, causing Jeremie and Aelita to recoil from her in surprise.

Her eyes wide after realizing she scared them, Sissi took a deep breath.

"I warned you…" She muttered.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have brought her up." Aelita apologized.

"You never did talk about her." Jeremie observed.

"And preferably, I would prefer it to stay that way." Sissi admitted, shaking her head. "But..."

"Why don't we both go to bed?" Aelita suggested. "I think we both need to sleep on this before we jump to a conclusion about Hopper."

"I agree." Jeremie said. "You clearly don't want to talk about this. Maybe after you've had more time."

"I guess..." Sissi sighed. "Alright, I'm sorry for scaring you."

"It's okay." Aelita assured the cheerleader before the girls left for their dorms, closing the door behind them.

"To get your mind off of this," Aelita offered. "There's something special we're all doing for Jeremie tomorrow. And I want you to help."

Sissi certainly could use something to take her mind off her mother. There was a reason why Sissi adamantly refused to discuss her with anyone outside of her father. It was the number #1 to anger her; tricking her into thinking she had heard a Ghost, someone swapping bodies with her, none of that compared to the sheer degree of emotion that would surge up if anyone talked about her mother.

Stop thinking about her already, Elizabeth. Sissi chastised herself.

"I could use it." She admitted. "What do you have in mind?"

The next morning, Jeremie's phone rang as the young genius laid sleeping at his computer desk. This had been an often occurrence over the past year and a half. Stirring awake, Jeremie picked up his cell phone and answered it.

"Jeremie? It's me." A familiar voice said on the other line.

"Franz?" Jeremie wondered, still dazed.

"No, Michael, your father. You know why I'm calling?"

Wait...June 20th...it's my birthday!

"Happy Birthday, big guy!"

Jeremie gasped in realization, just the door slammed open behind him with all his friends and Kiwi on the other side, Odd holding a noticeable red box behind his back.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, EINSTEIN!"

"By the way, your mother is worried about you. You should call us more often" Michael told his son as Aelita kissed Jeremie on the cheek and the others began to swarm him. "Jeremie?"

"Okay, I gotta go, my friends just came in. See you soon!" Jeremie hurriedly said before hanging up.

Sissi smiled at what she saw. She never bothered celebrating Herb or Nicholas' birthdays, and she often ridiculed them for the gifts they brought her.

"Here." Odd held out the box for him. "A present."

"What are you waiting for?" Ulrich egged him on. "Open it!"

Jeremie opened up the present and pulled out what turned out to be a drawing of his friends. The picture depicted Ulrich putting a hand on Jeremie's shoulder while Odd held up Kiwi. Aelita was giggling while Sissi and Yumi flanked the pink-ette, both smiling.

"Wow! It's great!" Jeremie exclaimed, happy with his friends.

"Yeah! And I drew it from memory!" Odd proudly declared, though Sissi interjected with "I had to watch over you to make sure you didn't make me ugly."

"So you can imagine how much effort it took." Ulrich quipped, earning laughs from the girls directed at Odd, who scowled slightly.

"Thanks everyone. Hey, how about going over to the factory now?" Jeremie suggested. "I can't wait to see Franz again!"

Everyone smiled in reaction except for Sissi, who frowned.

"Are you okay?" Odd asked, noticing her discomfort.

"I'll deal with it." She insisted. "Sooner he cures Aelita's antivirus, the sooner we're done with XANA."

"So, you're telling me that you used the Scanners to virtualize human beings? Over a very long period of time?"

Hopper wasted no time questioning the young genius about his adventures. Jeremie recounted how they had foiled XANA attacks for over a year and a half, detailing how he had constructed vehicles, how Aelita deactivated the Towers, and how he made his Code: Earth program.

"Well, yes. It's the only way we could find to deactivate towers on Lyoko," Jeremie explained. "Otherwise, Aelita would have always been alone and easily been caught by XANA's monsters."

"The virtualization process was not ready for that yet." Hopper told him. "It's a very dangerous procedure with serious side effects, especially if you rush to create the Lyoko Avatar too quickly."

At that first part, Aelita felt flustered, which Odd caught up on. She had, after all, been the one to create Sissi's Lyoko Avatar, which backfired and required her to make a new one.

"These side effects are more likely to occur if you program too much power, life points and abilities into a single avatar." Hopper added. "Too much power, and your avatar becomes disfigured, extremely unstable and your body could face dire consequences in the real world."

"Then why, do tell, did you come to Lyoko?" Sissi plainly asked with her arms crossed.

Hopper turned to face her, annoyed at her tone. "XANA was attempting to harm the Guardian-"

"The Guardian has a name. Aelita." Yumi corrected him, to the scientist's further annoyance.

"Fine. Aelita, then." He rolled his eyes behind his glasses. "XANA was beginning to malfunction. I was forced to enter Lyoko in an attempt to calm him down. You saw how that worked out."

"Wait, you mentioned some side effects?" Yumi questioned his earlier statement, her attention caught in an instant. "Such as?"

"Cell degeneration."

This elicited a gasp from everyone in the group. Even Sissi now stood at attention.

"You mean, melting like the Wicked Witch of the West?!" She gasped.

"Think of it as more like cancer." Hopper said. "Your cells decay, and eventually, your bodies will give out and you will perish. I'll need to run some tests to see if the side effects are within any of you. Who here goes to Lyoko on a regular basis, besides Aelita here?"

Sissi, Odd, Ulrich, Yumi all raised their hands.

"Alright then, head down to the Scanner room. I'll check all of you for signs of cellular degeneration."

The four had no objections to this, fear starting to seep through them as they headed down the ladder.

"There are only three scanners. So, Odd, you can go first."

"I'm on it!" Odd walked in, trying to remain cheerful. "Cancer wouldn't dare touch this svelte body!"

Hopper typed on the screen and brought up Odd's ID card, preparing to examine him.

"May I ask you something else?" Aelita abruptly asked Hopper. "I promise, it will be quick."

"I will hold you to that." He replied.

"Do you know a lady dressed in red?"

Hopper abruptly stopped typing and stiffened in the chair, then turned to face Aelita, frowning.

"So, you do!" Aelita gasped. "She's real then?"

Hopper held up a hand and leaned closer to Aelita, who swiftly turned silent.

"Stop. Asking."

The seriousness in Hopper's tone sent chills through Aelita's spine. Jeremie felt similar emotions, not expecting Aelita to ask that after his advice. She hung her head low a bit, though Jeremie put his head on her shoulder in comfort.

"Don't worry about her." He soothed.

Hopper refused to linger on that and looked at the screen to see a green exclamation mark next to Odd's ID card.

"You seem to be okay, Odd. Step out and let the others go in."

Odd did so and gave a thumbs up to the love triangle trio, saying "I'm sure you'll all be fine!"

Ulrich, Yumi and Sissi nervously entered the scanners as Hopper brought up their ID cards.

"Alright...Ulrich seems fine as well...but..."

At that moment, red exclamation marks popped up next to Sissi and Yumi's ID cards, eliciting gasps of horror from Aelita and Jeremie.

"No!" Aelita put her hands on her mouth in horror.

"It can't be! How...How did I never know about this?!" Jeremie gasped.

"Go and think about your mistake." Hopper told him. "You should have tried harder and done more frequent scanning. As for myself, I will see what can be done for them, but given their prolonged use of the Scanners, I fear it is already too late for them."

He's right... Jeremie thought. This is all my mistake...

"I can't believe this...What a nightmare..."

The six Lyoko Warriors took the elevator out of the factory and converged onto the main bridge, where the horror subsided just enough for them to start speaking. Sissi was completely speechless, looking away from the others as if she had shell shock.

"Nice one, Einstein!" Odd turned to Jeremie, starting to lash out. "Dr. Shrank transplants animals into human beings, but compared to you, he's small-time!"

"I...I don't understand..." Jeremie put a hand on his forehead. "I've been scanning you guys for any changes to your health for over a year and a half. I should have detected anything wrong with you all..."

"What are you doing?!" Aelita asked Odd, seeing the young genius could not defend himself. "How is this his fault?!"

"Isn't it obvious?" Ulrich growled, to the pink-ette's surprise. "He's the one supposed to check on our health when we use these things! Now Sissi and Yumi could be dying of cancer!"

"Look, I'm sorry. I'll try to-"

"Sorry?!" Ulrich retorted. "That's not going to help cure Yumi. Or Sissi!"

At that moment, Sissi stormed off from the group; all of this was too much for her to handle. And before long, Yumi was starting to feel the same way.

"Yumi, I..."

"Leave me alone, Jeremie." Yumi quietly said, getting off from the bridge railing. "I need to be by myself. Coming Ulrich?"

That contradictory sentence would have sounded foolish to anyone but Ulrich, who quickly took her up on her request.

"But, Yumi-" Jeremie tried to speak up again.

"JUST SHUT UP!"

She twirled around at him with tear-stained eyes, causing the young genius to recoil from her in fear. Aelita and the others weren't that far behind.

"Because of you, I'm slowly dying of cancer! How am I supposed to tell my family about this?! I can't. I could be dying right now and there's nothing any of us can do about it?! Can you picture the look on parents' faces when they find out I died from a disease I didn't tell them about! What about my BROTHER!?"

"I-" Jeremie muttered.

"You really let us down, Jeremie… Sissi and I are dying because of you." Yumi sniffled and turned away, clenching her fists. "Don't talk to me again unless you have a cure."

Then Yumi ran off, a tear falling from her eyes as it stained the earth below her. Ulrich sped off after her, leaving just Odd, Aelita and Jeremie.

"You know, she's right, Jeremie." Odd spoke up.

"Are you forgetting everything Jeremie's done for you all?!" Aelita shouted at Odd. "And you're going to blame him for-?"

"And let me tell you something else!" Odd shouted right back, no sarcasm or jokes to be found. "I could argue that what's happening to Sissi is your fault too!"

"What?!" Aelita gasped.

"You rushed her virtualization process!" Odd pointed out. "She didn't even ask to be here! And now she might be dying!"

Aelita found herself out of arguments in that regard. Sissi didn't ask to join the gang, unlike Yumi. Aelita had dragged her out of her normal life and thrust her into a life-or-death situation. And she had to repeatedly press Sissi into it when the cheerleader was begging her not to.

"So why don't you think on that?" Odd pointed at Aelita's chest before storming off himself.

The two young geniuses were left alone on the bridge, slowly turning to each other.

"Is this...really all our fault...?" Jeremie quietly asked.

Aelita had been rigorous in her defense of Jeremie, but when defending herself specifically, she wasn't that good.

It was dinner time at Kadic when the group met up again. Odd texted Sissi several times, only for her to not reply back at all, which just worried the svelte boy even more. She did not even come for dinner. Yumi had gone home to her family after spending the day with Ulrich, who began to eat meatballs with Odd in the Kadic cafeteria.

"I can't believe this..." Odd muttered. "How did they not see this? How did Jeremie not notice this? How didn't Aelita?"

Ulrich didn't have an answer to that. All that was on his mind was the creeping deaths of Yumi and Sissi. The girls who loved him. The girls whom he had literally taken a tree for not too long ago. He saw the aftermath of them being mauled by the XANAfied wolves, and he hoped to never see a sight like that ever again.

Instead, he would get a far worse sight. Hopper had told him it was likely too late to reverse the cell degeneration, given the prolonged usage in Yumi's case and the unprepared virtualization in Sissi's case. Worry seeped through the brunette like never before.

And it was still seeping through him when Jeremie and Aelita came up to their table to eat dinner, both of them silent. The tension in the air was so thick that one could cut it with a knife.

"Look, there might still be hope for Yumi and Sissi." Jeremie finally and softly suggested.

"We don't even know exactly what's wrong with her," Odd glared at him.

"I'll work it out, I promise I will." Jeremie insisted, but then Ulrich told him "I think you've done enough damage as it is."

Aelita and Jeremie's eyes widened as they realized the depths of Ulrich's statement. In just one day, on the latter's birthday nonetheless, the brunette had completely lost faith in him, and Odd wasn't that far behind.

"What do you mean by that?" An incredulous Jeremie shouted at him. "Everything's been my fault right from the start?!"

"You're the brains in this outfit, Einstein," Ulrich reminded him.

"Like how it's his fault that I live and breathe?" Aelita spoke up in Jeremie's defense. "Or maybe, like how it's his fault that he's saved all of our lives countless times over? If it weren't for the Scanners I wouldn't be here!"

Odd stabbed his fork into a meatball, scowling at her. "That's not the point! We're about to lose Yumi and Sissi!"

"And this went completely under his nose for over a year and a half! None of us asked to be here!" Ulrich added.

"Oh, really?" Aelita seethed, her tone laced with venom. "Last time I checked, both you and Yumi willingly volunteered to use the Scanners! All of you could have stopped at any time!"

Ulrich, his eyes wide, shut up at once.

"Sissi didn't volunteer!" Odd growled.

Again, this tugged at a soft spot within Aelita. It was true that it took much convincing from Aelita to use the Scanners. Seeing Aelita unable to defend herself, her knight in shining armor took over.

"Then how about you sleep on this?" Jeremie suggested as he stood up, completely losing patience with his friends as they turned their wrath to the person who didn't deserve it at all.

"Saving Yumi and Sissi's lives takes priority over finding someone to blame. So grow up, you jerks!"

Jeremie and Aelita promptly stormed off, leaving the brunette and svelte boys with much to think about.

But unbeknownst to the four, there was an observer to their conflict. Outside the cafeteria window, Sissi huddled against the wall and overheard the venomous words that the four exchanged. If the shock of an incurable disease was bad, then it was just about as much.

Hearing her friends turn against each other so quickly and easily, especially on their leader's birthday, was something that shook Sissi to her core. Even after all they shared, all they sacrificed, this was happening. But the worst part was knowing why. All of Odd's arguments were for her sake. Odd was shouting at her best friend because of her condition.

He's defending me so quickly. It's like he...

Sissi shook that thought from her head. Now was not the time for it. She struggled to think. To plan her next move. She didn't want to talk to the four of them, however, not after what she just heard. Who she would try to call would probably end up in a similar result, but she had to try.

Is this my last day with them? With Mom. With Dad. With Hiroki?

Yumi observed her parents and little brother eating dinner, sharing smiles over the noodles. Her heart winced at the sight of it all. She loved her family, even with the disputes her parents had and how annoying her little brother could be sometimes. If this diagnosis was as critical as Hopper said it was, who knew how much time she had left?

"Yumi, are you okay?" Her mother asked. "You're very silent tonight."

"I'm...not very hungry tonight."

And how am I supposed to tell them about this? Just go, 'hey your daughter has an incurable disease. Just so you know!'"

Yumi found herself ejected from her thoughts when Hiroki abruptly laughed and mimicked Yumi's voice, uttering "Ulrich, I looooove you!"

"Hiroki!" His mother chastised him.

I haven't even told Ulrich yet. How am I going to?

She stood up, walking to the stairs. "I'm going to bed."

Mrs. Ishiyama sighed slowly. "That's it, then. We're in the thick of it now."

"Of what?" Mr. Ishiyama inquired.

"A teenage crisis."

If only they knew... Yumi thought.

She prepared the bed and changed into her pajamas, getting ready to sleep when her phone rang. Yumi picked it up and saw "Sissi Delmas" as the ID.

"Sissi?" She asked.

"Everything's falling apart." Sissi said, her voice choking with sobs. "Odd and Ulrich are blaming Jeremie and Aelita for everything."

Yumi sat down on the bed, hand on her mouth. Her own disappointment and anger at Jeremie was still lingering, but Aelita being shouted at was something too far for the Japanese girl.

"We need to do something..." Sissi asked. "But what?"

"I don't know." Yumi shook her head, her eyes starting to water. "I can't believe this. How did Jeremie not see this? Hopper even said it might be already too late for us and-"

"Wait." Sissi suddenly interrupted. "What if we have this all wrong?"

"What do you mean?" Yumi asked.

"I haven't told you this, but I don't trust Hopper at all." Sissi admitted.

"He's literally the creator of Lyoko." Yumi told her. "He saw our diagnosis. Jeremie should have-"

"Don't tell me you're blaming them too?"

"Sissi." Yumi shook her head, getting more emotional. "Who are we supposed to blame here? We all trusted him to keep an eye on our health and we both have cancer now!"

"You've gotta be kidding me!" Sissi exclaimed, surprising Yumi. "Have you ever considered, maybe for one second, that this is exactly what that Doctor Shrank wants us to do?"

Yumi had had enough of this, moving to hang up.

"Sissi, enough. I-"

"No, enough to you!" Sissi shouted on the other line. "Stop with the blame game for one freaking second and listen! I'm supposed to be a victim here too, remember?"

It was normally the Japanese girl or someone else who shut down Sissi whenever she annoyed the group, so to have the reverse happen to Yumi was a bit of a shock for her.

Reluctantly swallowing down her emotions, Yumi moved her finger away from the hang up button and decided to listen.

"Fine. Make it quick." She requested.

That was a request Sissi had no interest in obeying.

That night was likely the worst that any of the six Lyoko Warriors ever had.

Jeremie stared forlornly at the photo that Odd gave him. That photo would have been a symbol of their friendship. Their unbreakable bond. Had tonight not proved otherwise.

Odd and Ulrich just stared upwards at the ceiling, unable to sleep as Kiwi nuzzled near its owner.

Sissi laid on her bed as she tried and failed to fall asleep.

After swallowing another pill for her nightmares, Aelita also found herself unable to sleep, staring up at her ceiling in deep worry for Jeremie.

Yumi herself didn't sleep, her conversation with Sissi not lessening her worries. Eventually, early in the morning, her phone rang again and she answered it.

"Hello?"

"It's Franz." The caller answered. "I have some good news. Tell the others and meet me first thing tomorrow at the factory."

"Okay, we'll be there." She replied, before Hopper hung up.

Oh, we'll be there. But not in the way you think.

When Jeremie got up the next morning and got dressed, he stared at the photo his so-called "friends" had gotten for him. To think, they had been laughing alongside him not too long ago.

This can't go on. I need help.

Jeremie dialed his father's number, and it wasn't long before he heard Michael on the other line.

"Hello?"

"Dad, it's me. I need your help."

"With that?" His father asked him.

"My friends think that I did something wrong. Very wrong. Our friendship, it's all falling apart and I don't know what to do." He sighed, running a frustrated hand through his hair. "I thought they trusted me. That they had faith in me."

After he processed this information, Michael told him, "I don't envy your position. Sometimes the truth is hard to hear, but you say that you've been friends with them for how long? You've talked about them a lot."

"A year and a half." He answered.

"Appeal to their trust." Michael advised. "If they're truly your friends, then they should be willing to hear you out. In times like these, we have to trust each other."

Jeremie sighed, absorbing this advice.

"Okay, I'll do my best. Thanks for this, dad."

"No problem, son, just call me if you need anything else."

Jeremie then hung up and noticed he had a new text message from Yumi, saying to meet up at the factory. He stood from his chair and walked out the door.

There was an old saying: "If you have nothing nice to say, then don't say anything at all."

That statement was taken to heart as the boys and Aelita walked to the sewer manhole, preparing for their routine journey to the factory in silence. Sissi and Yumi stood, not making any attempt to enter the sewers.

"Come on." Ulrich said, clearly wanting to get their adventure done and over with.

"No." Yumi said.

"What?" Ulrich asked, bewildered.

"We need to talk about this."

"Yumi no." Odd flatly rejected her. "Jeremie isn't helping. We need Hopper to-"

"Hopper's help, huh?" Sissi asked. "Well, how about we think about the fact that this all started when some stranger, whom I never trusted to begin with, just showed up out of nowhere in the lab in the middle of the night after missing for over 10 years, deactivated 5 towers just like that and started blabbering things?!"

"Are you saying what I think you're saying?" Aelita asked, starting to realize where she was going with this.

"Oh, no!" Ulrich interjected. "You are not going to blame this on a XANA attack! The Superscan would have told us if-"

"You must be joking!" Jeremie yelled at the German. "One, we all remember the polymorphing specter way too well. Second, XANA demonstrated that he could corrupt the Superscan. In the VERY. LAST! ATTACK!" He punctuated for emphasis.

"I overheard what you said to Jeremie and Aelita in the cafeteria." Sissi told Odd and Ulrich, turning their attention back to her as she sought to press the attack. "The fact you would even blame her for this...how could you do that?!"

"Aelita is the one who-" Odd tried to retort.

"Yes, she convinced me. And I thank her every day that she did!" Sissi yelled. "So you think I'm dying and your first reaction is to blame Aelita out of all people. What were you thinking?!"

"I..." Odd muttered, the will to talk back leaving him and Ulrich.

"You believed that Doctor Shrank so easily!" Sissi seethed, refusing to even refer to Hopper by his name.

"But he's the one who created-" Ulrich tried to say, only for Sissi to bite back.

"It's like how easily you believed I was the one who assaulted you that day!"

Ulrich actually gasped out loud and took a step back away from Sissi. Odd did as well and they glanced at each other, their eyes wide as logic finally started to return to their minds. Yumi stared at Sissi with a similar expression, not expecting her to go that far in berating Ulrich.

Jeremie took a deep breath to calm himself, seeing that they were getting the point.

"I always took your concerns about the scanners seriously. Ulrich, Yumi, I swear to you my checks on your health for any side effects from using the scanners were always thorough. VERY thorough. There was never any sign of cell degeneration or any other incurable diseases. I'm sure. I did not overstuff any of your Avatars either. And the only reason I didn't have you stop using the Scanners was for Aelita, you know it and I know it."

"And Odd," Jeremie turned to him next. "Sissi might have gone into the scanner at Aelita's urging, but we gave her the choice if she wanted to stay with us. And she said yes, just like I gave you that choice too."

"We have to trust each other." He concluded. "And I am asking you all, if you really are my friends, to trust me."

After that, the three awaited Ulrich, Yumi and Odd's response. The former spoke up first.

"I..." He sighed and shook his head. "Okay, so...let's say you're right and Hopper really is XANA. How do we prove it?"

"We go to the factory and test him." Yumi suggested. "But first, if he really does turn out to be XANA, we need a plan to get rid of him."

Jeremie snapped his fingers. "I think I have just the thing. It's risky and liable to get us all killed but it's the only counterattack I can come up with. I'll go back and get my laptop. I'll explain the rest of my plan when I return."

While Jeremie was away, Odd slowly turned to Aelita, who crossed her arms at him.

"Aelita, I…" He tried to talk, but for once Odd didn't know what to say.

"You three ruined Jeremie's birthday." She told him. "Odd, there's no easy way for me to say this, but it's going to take a miracle for us to remain friends after this."

"It's not all their fault." Sissi said, to the surprise of everyone present. "I should have told them what I felt about Hopper like I did to you and Jeremie."

"What do you mean?" Odd inquired.

Sissi sighed. "First, let's figure out if we are all going to melt like that guy in the Indiana Jones film or something."

At that, the group didn't argue further. In fact, they had enough arguing to last a lifetime.

After the discussion, the six Lyoko Warriors took the elevator into the lab, where Hopper was waiting for them on his chair.

"I know how to program the antivirus." He told them. "It will free Aelita. All I need is the data from Sector Five and I can launch it."

The six teenagers were silent, to Hopper's slight concern. He had expected them to be jubilant from the announcement.

"Hold on. Didn't you tell us the scanners were too dangerous to use, Frankenstein?" Odd finally said.

"We have no choice. If you wish to shut down the Supercomputer without killing Aelita, it is a risk you must take." The old genius told them.

"Okay, then what am I supposed to do?" Jeremie asked him.

"If I were you, I'd stay out of the way." Hopper coldly told him.

"So that's it then?" Jeremie pointed at him accusingly. "Everyone's blaming me for everything, and yet we all turned on the Supercomputer together."

"Perhaps." Hopper turned his chair around, finally facing the Lyoko Warriors. "But you were the one who played the Sorcerer's Apprentice. You're the one who put your friends' lives at risk and, according to what XANA told me when I was his prisoner, you're the one who let XANA destroy my diary!"

"Fine." Jeremie coldly told his idol as he stood there. "I'll go, assuming everyone else has no problem with that.

Content, Hopper was ready to turn back to the screen.

"I do."

The old genius' full attention was directed to Aelita just then.

"If Jeremie isn't the one operating the interface, then I'm not going to Lyoko."

"What did you say?"

"You're the smart one, right?" Aelita scoffed. "So I think you heard me. I'm not getting inside the Scanners unless Jeremie is at the computer."

"We don't have time for this." Hopper dismissively waved a hand and glanced at the others. "Tell her to stop this nonsense."

"No." Yumi told him.

"What?!" Hopper gasped.

"She said no." Ulrich answered. "As in you can forget it."

"I don't trust you at all." Sissi added. "You're literally dressed like a mad scientist for Pete's sake!"

"If my appearance bothers you so," Hopper glared. "Then judge by my deeds. Remember, I am your salvation. I can cure Aelita's antivirus. I may be able to cure you and Yumi of your cell degeneration. I deactivated the five Towers that XANA was using for his last attack. And I have even unlocked direct virtualization for you into Sector Five."

"Really?" Odd asked, surprised.

"Yes. You do not even need the transport orb anymore." He affirmed. "That does not sound like someone who would attempt to deceive you. It is because of me you are still alive, and I am asking you to trust me. You owe me that much."

Aelita crossed her arms. "I don't owe you anything."

"I AM THE REASON YOU EXIST!" Hopper shouted, snapping at her persistent hesitance.

"AND JEREMIE IS THE REASON WHY I LIVE!" Aelita shouted right back at him.

Hopper growled, his patience coming to an end.

"Enough of this nonsense! The rest of you, take her to the Scanners by force!"

"No." Ulrich replied.

"You still don't trust me?! After all I've shown you? Jeremie is the one who-"

"Had us use the Scanners, yeah." Odd interrupted him. "And everyone except me chose to do it willingly. And even despite that, I trust him. Not you."

Hopper's eye twitched and his entire body began to shake.

"What is wrong with you all?! You have no reason to distrust me! I did everything right! I have given you no indication that I've done anything wrong! I am the creator of Lyoko! I am the one who you have always looked up to! I am your only hope of defeating XANA and curing Aelita! You are imperfect! ALL OF YOU!"

"There's nothing wrong with us." Sissi told him. "The only error here is you, XANA."

[ERROR: Operation: Franz Hopper is failing]

"No! It's not logical! NO!" "Hopper" yelled, his distorted voice revealed.

"We've heard that one before." Odd quipped. "Didn't work the first time XANA. It won't now."

"Hopper" grabbed his hair, screaming incoherently as his entire form began to glitch and stutter.

"I DID EVERYTHING RIGHT! WHY DO YOU STILL REFUSE TO SUBMIT?! TO FALL?!"

"Must I remind you?" Odd crossed his arms. "Because friendship isn't approximative, it's double zero. The same goes for trust."

[CRITICAL ERROR: Does not compute. Withdrawing to analyze failure]

"NOT LOGICAAAAAAALLLL!"

With one last screech of defeat and confusion, Hopper's specter form tore itself apart and fled into the ceiling above. Even though they saw it coming, the Lyoko Warriors still had their mouths agape in shock to see Sissi's suspicions were right.

"That really was a polymorphing spectre!" Ulrich yelled.

"I knew it!" Sissi added. "I knew that Doctor Shrank was duping us!"

Jeremie took his seat back at the interface, saying "Okay, we need to hurry before it comes back. I'll use the Superscan and find the Tower."

However, to the young genius' surprise, there were no signs of corruption on the Superscan. Even still, it did not pick up an activated Tower in the four regions.

"Huh? That's strange. The Superscan isn't detecting an activated tower. And it has no signs of corruption!" Jeremie announced in confusion as the others walked up next to him.

"But that was definitely a specter just now. How could XANA have sent one without activating a tower?" Ulrich asked. "He can't have gotten that powerful."

"Hey, hang on." Yumi noticed. "The Superscan is only going through four regions."

"Yeah, that's all of them." Aelita said.

"I think what Yumi means is," Sissi offered. "The Superscan isn't checking Sector Five."

"Sector Five?" Jeremie repeated, skeptical.

"Wait, that would make sense!" Aelita realized. "You made the Superscan before discovering Sector Five, so it wouldn't be programmed to look for Towers in that Sector, would it?"

"I think you're right! Hang on, I'll recalibrate it right now." Jeremie typed away, adjusting the Superscan.

In less than a minute, the interface released the alert, presenting an activated tower much to their surprise.

"Our suspicions were right! There is an activated tower! And it's in Sector 5 just like we thought!" Jeremie exclaimed.

"Since when has XANA been able to launch attacks from Sector 5?" Sissi asked.

"I guess, he has our last Return to the Past to thank for that." Jeremie regretfully said.

"So Sector 5 has towers too?" Ulrich asked.

"Only one. And it's this one tower XANA's using for his attack." Jeremie answered.

"Then what are we waiting for? We gotta deactivate it before Spectre Shrank reforms." Odd declared.

"Right. And with the modifications XANA made to gain our trust we should be able to accomplish that." Then Jeremie noticed something else. "It looks like XANA wasn't lying about one thing. He really did unlock direct virtualization into Sector Five!"

"Wow, he really pulled all the stops to get us to trust him this time." Ulrich solemnly observed.

"Get down to the Scanner room, all of you." Jeremie instructed. "And Aelita?"

"Right. I know what to do." She resolutely answered him, holding Jeremie's laptop in her arms.

The five of them made their way to the elevator until Odd, Ulrich, and Yumi stopped to apologetically turn to Jeremie.

"Uh… Jeremie, I… we…" Ulrich tried to start.

"You can apologize later. We've got a tower to deactivate." Jeremie reminded.

The three of them nod in agreement.

Soon, the five Lyoko Warriors arrived in the Scanner room after taking the elevator down. Odd, Ulrich and Yumi were first to get in.

The scanners closed on them and Jeremie began the process, bringing up Odd, Ulrich and Yumi's IDs one by one.

"Transfer Odd! Transfer Ulrich! Transfer Yumi"

Odd, Ulrich and Yumi were lifted off their feet.

"Scanner Odd! Scanner Ulrich! Scanner Yumi!"

Odd, Ulrich and Yumi were scanned and their virtual signatures were recorded.

"Virtualization!" A gust of wind sent the trio to Lyoko.

Sissi was next to step inside one of the scanners, but strangely not Aelita. Once it closes on her, Jeremie brings up her ID.

"Transfer Sissi." Sissi is lifted off her feet.

"Scanner Sissi." She was scanned and her signature was recorded.

"Virtualization!" A gust of wind sent Sissi to Lyoko after her friends.

Odd, Ulrich and Yumi were virtualized and once they landed on the ground , they looked around to see that they were indeed transported directly into Sector Five.

"Well, this certainly beats getting swallowed up by a giant eyeball all the time!" Odd quipped.

Soon after, Sissi was virtualized and landed beside Odd.

"Well, I can't say I'll miss getting swallowed up by a giant eyeball all the time!" Sissi quipped.

Ulrich, Odd, and Yumi burst out into laughter at her little comment, much to Sissi's confusion.

"You can laugh later." Jeremie's voice came over them. "Just like with the Celestial you won't be able to get to the tower unless you activate the key. Move before the countdown finishes!"

"Alright." Ulrich called out as the four ran down the hall.

"Once you've finished cleaning up, I'll send in Aelita." Jeremie said.

Odd, Ulrich, Yumi and Sissi kept running until they entered the next room. What they saw made them all halt.

"Uh...Einstein..." Odd nervously said. "I don't mind cleaning up, but we're gonna need some industrial strength detergent."

Around the room, there were probably a couple dozen Creepers, all of them looking quite agitated and roaring them. It appeared that XANA had taken their uncovering of his deception very, very, personally. Regardless, the warriors drew their weapons, ready for one hell of a fight.

"Jeremie, there's dozens of Creepers in here!" Yumi informed.

"I think we made XANA really mad." Sissi stated.

"Yeah, no kidding. Guess he took us seeing right through him real personally." Ulrich added.

"No problem." Jeremie assured them. "It turns out that along with the Sector Five access codes, XANA gave you new weapons to gain your trust."

The four Lyoko Warriors looked at their gear, seeing nothing new.

"Uh, I don't see what's new about this." Odd said before he fired a Laser Arrow that destroyed a Creeper. To the Italian's amazement, however, the Laser Arrow moved like a dart after entering the Creeper, subsequently impaling and killing two more.

"WAA-HOO!" Odd shouted in amazement. "Homing darts! Cool!"

A Creeper fired at Odd and he dodged out of the way, before firing another Laser Arrow that killed it and then two more Creepers above them. The Cat Boy cheered like a madman.

Ulrich, meanwhile, gripped his sword tightly as he tried to figure out what changes he got. Suddenly, the sword began to glow and an energy slash came out of it, bisecting and killing two Creepers.

"Oh, man!" Ulrich shouted as he stared at his weapon. "I'll say this, XANA certainly knows how to put on a show!"

Yumi tossed her fan, which now sliced through three Creepers instead of just a single monster, to her amusement.

Sissi threw her spear, also moved like Odd's homing darts, passing through and killing three Creepers of her own much to her amazement.

"Wow!" Sissi exclaimed, catching her spear.

Ulrich, meanwhile, spotted the key mechanism at a wall up ahead and Super Sprinted towards it, facing a horde of Creepers blocking his path. Yumi tossed her fans, destroying two Creepers behind Odd. Sissi tossed her orange pom-pom and to her surprise it split into three. The triple explosion obliterated a platform three Creepers were standing on, destroying them.

Ulrich cut through the horde of Creepers in his way with energy slashes. The Samurai then jumped up and hit the key in time.

The remaining Creepers concentrated fire upon Yumi and Sissi. The girls simply studied their nails as they effortlessly blocked the lasers with their weapons, giggling at each other at their shared idea of showing off. Odd then fired another arrow that took out the last two Creepers.

No more enemies remained after that, but Odd was nowhere near finished cheering. "It's almost too easy! I want more Creepers!"

"First things first, let's try to focus on the Tower." Jeremie told him. "Right up ahead."

"Are you ready down there, Aelita? It should be time to send you in at any moment."

"I'm right here in the Scanner, Jeremie. I'm ready."

This next part of the plan would be difficult to execute, but Jeremie was sure it would be necessary.

His certainty paid off when the specter came back from the ceiling, reformed its Hopper mask, and angrily zapped lightning onto Jeremie as its glasses flashed with the XANA logo. Jeremie screamed in agony as he was sent flying off the chair, which XANA-Hopper landed on.

"It was Sissi wasn't it?" XANA-Hopper snarled. "Her mistrust has destroyed everything I planned. She should have died on the bridge at her father's hands! Though I suppose I should have anticipated her suspicion, given her past…"

Her past? What?

It only took a few moments for the young genius to remember that the A.I. had possessed Sissi before, and therefore had access to her memories. It was likely that XANA peered down into her childhood and saw something that the A.I. made sure to remember.

But focusing on the present situation, Jeremie detected much more contempt and malice in the polymorphic specter's voice than last time, or more the usual possessed person. He prided himself at succeeding in angering an artificial intelligence; now he had to hope that he would live to tell the tale.

"But regardless of how you figured me out, you're too late." XANA-Hopper began typing on the interface, activating the virtualization process for Aelita.

Odd, Ulrich, Yumi and Sissi entered another hallway in Sector Five, where they were faced with three Creepers in front of them.

"Hey, you guys wanna make this a contest?" Odd asked, raising his paw. "Whoever gets the most wins!"

"You won't like me when I'm competitive." Sissi playfully warned him, the others smiling with her.

"Oh contraire. I very much like it."

Chuckling, the Cat Boy fired, only for not a single Laser Arrow to come out.

"Huh?"

Ulrich, Sissi and Yumi had pulled out their respective weapons, and Odd glanced back at them just in time to see those weapons suddenly disappear from their hands by bursting into pixels. Sissi's pom-poms also vanished.

"Jeremie, what's going on?" Yumi asked.

"Don't worry! I'll take them out with my super strength!" Sissi grinned.

Sissi, having experience with fighting unarmed, took a step forward and punched a Creeper in the face, expecting it to be sent flying away as always.

The Creeper just shook it off.

"What the-?!"

It then fired a shot, hitting Sissi in the stomach. The cheerleader immediately fell back and cried out in both pain and surprise.

Another Creeper shot Ulrich in the stomach and he cried out in pain, hunching over.

"My strength! It's gone!" Sissi yelled.

"What's going on!? Jeremie!?" Odd called out.

"Jeremie isn't here anymore..."

The four Lyoko Warriors gasped in realization, recognizing the false Hopper's voice immediately.

"I hope you had fun, but you all really must…die now!"

A fourth Creeper came up behind them and fired at Odd, who jumped over the edge of the hallway and landed on the platform below.

"Come on, let's get out of here!"

Ulrich, Yumi and Sissi obliged without hesitation. Ulrich tried to Super Sprint to lead the way, only to find that power was now gone too.

"He took away our powers too!" The Samurai alerted the others.

Taking note of this, Odd used his cat-like reflexes to take the lead, shouting "Ciao!" at the Creepers as the four Lyoko Warriors escaped to the next room, pursued closely by the four monsters.

"Jeremie! Are you there!?" Ulrich called out, to no avail.

"He can't hear us!" Sissi explained. "We have to keep going until-"

The contents of the next room interrupted her thought. Looking up, the four spotted the activated Tower that they were looking for. It was across a small chasm, a bit too large for them to reach. They stood at the edge of Sector Five, one platform to their left and right.

"What now?" Odd asked, seeing they had nowhere to go.

The four Creepers caught up with them at that moment, roaring as they all began to fire.

"Survive and buy time!" Yumi instructed.

Meanwhile, Aelita found herself virtualized and looked up to see that she was in the Desert Sector, not Sector Five. In addition, she was on a platform that was small and isolated away from the others.

"Jeremie?" Aelita asked. "Why am I here?"

"Jeremie isn't here anymore..."

Aelita gasped in horror and realization. "No! Oh, no!"

"Oh, yes." XANA-Hopper laughed. "Don't be so sad. I'll make sure you're not all alone down there..."

Soon enough, none other than the Scyphozoa approached the platform. Aelita backed away in fear until her foot knocked a rock over the ledge.

"I'm trapped..." She muttered in fear.

Back in the lab, XANA-Hopper continued tampering with the computer.

"Your friends are in a little trouble. I've fixed things so that they can never rematerialize. No more life points and it's goodbye..."

Jeremie's expression remained defiant, which XANA Hopper was too arrogant to notice.

Exactly what I thought you would do, XANA...

"And now for the grand finale!" XANA-Hopper declared as he typed away at the interface. He watched from the screen as the Scyphozoa made a whirring noise and easily took hold of Aelita in its tentacles, beginning the memory draining process once more.

XANA-Hopper grinned as his glorious finale began to take place. With Jeremie incapacitated, Aelita helpless and with no bodyguards, the victory would belong to XANA.

Long had they outsmarted them. Surprised him. Defeated him. But that would end today.

The four teens split up to keep the Creepers occupied. Sissi leapt onto the left platform while Odd took the right platform, a Creeper each following them.

On Odd's platform, the Creeper distanced itself on the far end as it fired at him, which he ducked under.

Odd studied his opponent, who very much had a weapon while he did not. He examined his gigantic cat paws, knowing that they had no laser arrows to shoot with. The Creeper examined him from afar, wondering if he was going to do something.

He, in fact, was. An idea popped into his head. The Cat Boy had been training under this technique for a while, although Sissi had certainly inspired some of it.

Round One. Fight!

Odd smirked and threw his fists into the air as if he were a boxer. The Creeper growled at him before firing another laser, roaring when Odd ducked under it as he drew closer. Odd's smirk grew and he imagined the sounds of a crowd cheering for him in a boxing match. Odd smacked his paws together, shifting around the Creeper in a boxing stance.

The Creeper just stared at him, obviously wondering what he was doing. The monster eventually just shook it off and fired at him again, but Odd dodged it once more. Taking a few breaths and imagining the sound of a boxing bell ringing out to maximize his adrenaline, Odd drew his fist back and landed a hard right hook across the monster's face.

The Creeper's head snapped to the side but quickly recovered. Odd was quick to continue, however, launching two hard jabs into his opponent's face. He then smacked his fists together and rolled them around the Creeper's head, causing it to roll around as the monster yelped in dire pain. Its roars were quite satisfactory to Odd's ears, though he didn't know if he were actually taking away any life points from it.

Odd then grabbed the dazed monster by its shoulders, chuckled into its face, and reared his head back before headbutting it. Kneeling down to meet the Creeper's disoriented head, Odd waved at it before gingerly lifting its head up so they were face-to-face. The Creeper growled at Odd before he reared his fist back and launched it into the monster's chin, giving it a hard uppercut.

The Creeper roared, its head staying up in the air as it became disoriented. Odd lowered his fists, amused at the sight.

"Hello? Had enough yet?"

The Cat Boy lifted his own head up and had it stay in the air, mimicking and mocking his enemy.

Meanwhile, the two Creepers that stayed on the central platform remained engaged with Yumi and Ulrich. Yumi flipped over a laser, and backflipped when another was fired at her feet. She then flipped over to Ulrich, landing back-to-back with him. Ulrich sent her a relieved smile as he saw her land.

One of the Creepers then fired a laser that hit Ulrich in the stomach, prompting the Geisha to perform a frontal flip onto that monster and smash her feet against its chin, sending it falling into the abyss below.

The second Creeper didn't stand idly by, however, and instead fired a laser that hit Yumi in the shoulder and made her cry out. Ulrich, seeing the Creeper preparing to fire again, growled as he flipped to his feet and angrily punched the Creeper in the face, causing its second laser to miss its target.

Yumi and Ulrich then rushed the Creeper together, pummeling the monster with their Pencak Silat expertise as it roared in pain. Their combined attacks were akin to massacre, fists and feet striking the Creeper harder and faster than it could hope to keep up. Ulrich's fists kept its head dazed while Yumi's kicks to the chest and head made it stagger back. Finally, Yumi and Ulrich simultaneously leapt up and kicked the Creeper in the face, sending it flying off the platform to its demise.

Now it was Yumi's turn to send Ulrich a relieved smile.

On Sissi's platform, she had been more hesitant to start throwing hands with the monster in front of her, knowing her punches would be much less effective without her super strength. In addition, Sissi had the disadvantages of not knowing Pencak Silat very well, so high kicks were more likely to result in comically tripping and falling to the floor.

What she did know, however, was the basics of gymnastics, due to being a cheerleader. She managed to flip over a laser that the Creeper fired, though she only barely stuck the landing. Sissi also reacted in time to duck under another laser as she got in close to the monster.

Sissi punched the Creeper across the face, to which the monster quickly recovered and unexpectedly lunged its head forward. It's thick-curled mouth "bit" into Sissi's shoulder, allowing the Creeper to toss her against the wall.

"Hey, I'm the one who's supposed to toss you around!" Sissi whined.

She kicked the Creeper in the chest, causing the monster's next laser to miss, then leapt up and uppercut the monster as hard as she could. This punch proved a bit more effective than the last one, though the Creeper still recovered fast.

But not fast enough for Sissi to leap up and sit atop the central platform's edge, giving her a height boost to lift her legs up and kick the Creeper in the face three times. The Creeper roared in pain as Sissi kept kicking it, then for the fourth kick, Sissi wrapped both legs around the Creeper's head and knocked it to the ground. There was some female superhero she saw doing that all the time, something called a head-scissor technique.

White Nidow, I think her name was? Sissi thought.

Climbing atop the Creeper, Sissi punched it in the face on the ground a few times before the Creeper picked itself up, knocking the cheerleader off of him, and then fired a laser that hit Sissi in the chest. She screamed, backing away as her enemy closed in for the kill.

From the central platform, Ulrich flipped over and kicked the Creeper in the head, knocking it down once more. Sissi picked herself up, wide-eyed as she stared at her beloved Samurai savior. He briefly looked back and snickered at her expression, earning a smile of amusement from the cheerleader, before turning back to face the enemy.

The Creeper fired again, but Ulrich was ready for it and dodged. The samurai twirled around and executed a roundhouse kick across the monster's face, sending it plummeting into the depths of Sector Five and to its demise.

"Ciao!" Ulrich waved at it, earning a giggle from Sissi.

Seeing his sweet smile, Sissi couldn't help herself. In the heat of the moment, she leaned towards his face and kissed him on the cheek.

If Ulrich were capable of blushing, red would have bloomed across his cheeks right then.

Back at Odd's platform, the Creeper he was fighting recovered from its disoriented state and roared at him, prompting Odd to "Meow" back at it, before rolling his eyes and shrugging his shoulders.

Round Two. Fight!

The Cat Boy imagined the boxing bell ringing out and resumed his boxing stance as the Creeper growled at him. He pointed at the monster, before motioning it to come forward, egging it on.

The Creeper fired another laser and missed once again. Odd got up close and personal as he jabbed it in the face again. Its head reared down, leaving them roughly nose-to-nose (figuratively speaking, anyway) before Odd uppercut it again.

It rolled its head around as it roared in agony and Odd beat on his chest. He felt the adrenaline and confidence rising within him, just like when he fought the Xanafied Yolanda. He grinned as he danced away from the Creeper, starting to laugh.

Thus, he didn't react in time when the Creeper fired once again, this time hitting Odd in the chest and sending him flying to the other side of the platform. The Italian looked up and slammed a fist on the ground, silently cursing himself for losing focus when he literally could not afford to be devirtualized now. The Creeper roared in victory.

Odd reared his head up and let out a "Ruff!" of defiance, trying to behave like Kiwi. He wasn't forfeiting this fight just yet.

Round Three. Fight!

Odd rolled to the side as the Creeper fired again and hit the ground instead, picking himself up. Ducking under another laser, Odd closed the distance again as he punched the Creeper in the face again, briefly disorienting it.

The Cat Boy then put his hands against the wall and performed a breakdance move, thrusting both his legs into the Creeper's face, knocking it down. The Creeper roared as Odd jumped on top of it, before lifting his leg up and stomping on its face as hard as he could.

To his surprise, the monster roared in agony before exploding, sending Odd flying against the wall. After the 20th punch or so, Odd just assumed he wasn't taking any life points away from it, but now it seemed like he did, just very little at a time. He then grinned, realizing that he was now the first (and only) Lyoko Warrior to ever kill a monster with his bare hands, without the aid of super strength. Odd laid a kiss on each of his paws.

"Am I still a wimp, XANA?" The Cat Boy prided himself.

He then heard a roar and turned back to the central platform to see that Yumi was now surrounded by four more Creepers.

One Creeper reared its ugly head forwards to roar at Yumi and received a reply in the form of the Geisha's foot rushing into its face, knocking the monster to the ground. She was not, however, quick enough to prevent another from shooting her the chest and knocking her to the ledge.

"YUMI!" The other three cried out, rushing to her side as the Creepers closed in.

XANA-Hopper leaned away from the computer screen, showing the incapacitated Jeremie that Aelita's memory was nearly empty.

"Admit your defeat, Jeremie Belpois." XANA demanded of his nemesis.

Jeremie picked himself up, hands on his knees as he panted from his electrocution.

"Sure." He coughed. "But first…I want to ask you something."

Amused, XANA waited for the question.

"What happened to...the real...Franz Hopper?"

[Calculation: There is no possible result where the operation fails now. Information can be given without consequences]

"I did not lie completely when I told you Franz was my prisoner." XANA admitted. "When you turned the Supercomputer on, I used firewalls to block Hopper's access to Lyoko entirely. Wherever he is, my Creator hid himself off, but he is safely contained. He is restricted outside of all controls with extremely limited functions. I cannot kill him, but I have also made sure he cannot interfere in any way."

Indeed, XANA had seen his creator as his greatest threat, and who better to deliver him the ultimate victory than a false version of him?

"Now, admit your defeat." The A.I. requested again.

"No, not this time." Jeremie resolutely answered.

XANA-Hopper, intrigued, turned back to the screen and watched as the Scyphozoa finished draining Aelita's memory. The A.I. was looking forward to seeing Jeremie's face once Aelita was dead, but he seemed rather overconfident.

Jeremie and XANA-Hopper saw that the Scyphozoa put down Aelita, who reared up to see the Scyphozoa suddenly skitter around. It writhed in agony as red flashed inside of its glass head. Whatever it had gotten from Aelita, it wasn't her memory.

A red exclamation mark popped up as XANA-Hopper turned his attention back to Jeremie.

"What is this?!"

"A decoy." Jeremie proudly answered. "One that I packed a whole bunch of viruses and trojan horses into."

In the Scanner room, Aelita is sitting on the floor with Jeremie's laptop, typing away at it and revealing she and Jeremie did indeed create a decoy which she controlled with the laptop.

[CRITICAL THREAT DETECTED: Viruses injected into direct memory banks. All systems affected! Firewalls failing. Attempting to c-compenSAte!]

"NOOOOOOO!" XANA-Hopper screamed as he leapt out of his chair and turned his wrath on Jeremie.

He raised a hand and tried to electrocute him, but his form glitched out. The viruses that XANA took from Aelita's decoy began to tear the specter's human form asunder, evoking laughter from Jeremie. With a final scream, XANA-Hopper reverted to its specter form and disappeared into the ceiling above.

With his enemy gone, Jeremie returned to the screen and quickly got back to work.

The four new Creepers backed Odd, Ulrich, Yumi and Sissi against the ledge, leaving them with nowhere to go.

"Is this it?" Sissi fearfully asked her friends.

"No!" Yumi insisted. "The plan will work. We have to trust in Jeremie."

This time, Odd and Ulrich didn't offer a rebuttal. The Creepers fired a bunch of lasers, which all four of them dodged. The monsters then moved closer, leaving no room for their enemies to avoid the incoming fire, before unleashing a second round of lasers.

This time, all of them hit their mark and cause the four of them to cry out.

The Creepers each charged up for a third shot but right before they fired, Sissi noticed something that filled her with dread.

They're all aiming for me.

All four lasers hit Sissi in the chest, erasing all of her life points and sending her screaming off the ledge.

"NO!" Ulrich screamed.

"SISSI!" Odd and Yumi wailed.

The boys and Yumi were too late to reach out as Sissi screamed and vanished from sight, devirtualized.

"It...it can't be..." Odd muttered in despair.

"Sissi..." Yumi sniffled.

"Come on, guys. Don't be so pessimistic." A certain young boy told them.

Odd, Ulrich and Yumi looked up to the sky, instantly recognizing the voice. "Jeremie!"

"Let's start over, shall we?" Jeremie suggested, before pressing a button that brought Yumi's fans and Ulrich's sword back to them. The three Lyoko Warriors wasted no time in fighting back properly, Yumi hurling her fan and slicing through one Creeper, while Ulrich used his Super Sprint to rush forward and impale the second. Odd took care of the last two with swift Laser Arrows to their heads.

"Nothing like my trusty old gear!" Odd quipped, before asking "But what about Sissi?" in concern.

"She's alright." Jeremie assured them. "I managed to reprogram the materialization just in time."

Back on Earth, Sissi held her shoulder. When the scanner opened, she fell out for Aelita to catch just in time.

"She's home. Ready Aelita?" Jeremie asked.

"Yes, Jeremie." Aelita answered, walking into a scanner as Sissi sat down to catch her breath.

"All we have to do now is deactivate the tower. I'm sending you Aelita." Jeremie began the virtualization process.

In Sector 5, a hawk's cry interrupted their celebration, prompting the three to turn around to see that XANA had sent a Manta after them. However, it suddenly began to glitch, red enveloping its body.

[C-Critical ERROR. Da-damage to a-all systems! Sup-suppressing protocols a-activated]

As XANA attempted to combat the data that the decoy sent to him, its systems were practically flooded trying to stop the flow of viruses and other Trojan horses that Jeremie put inside of it. Even the monsters on Lyoko were starting to become impacted. No more Creepers could be sent in as a result.

But as XANA struggled to stay together, there was one thing that particularly grieved it. Jeremie had unwittingly hit him where the A.I. could not afford to be hurt.

[F-firewalls to REStrict moveMENT of CREAtor taking HEAvy daMAge! A-attempts to c-compensate FaILing!]

Not only was XANA tricked into spilling the fate of his creator, but Jeremie's virus was damaging the firewalls that XANA was using to restrict him. XANA could not even repair them, because all of its systems had to be concentrated to purge the virus before it did irreparable damage to him.

The A.I. had never experienced true pain, but this was the closest it would get to that experience.

And this angered XANA.

XANA made its wrath available in the form of the XANA-Hopper specter coming back to the Factory, where Aelita had just been sent to Lyoko by Jeremie.

"Virtualization!"

Aelita was virtualized in the Ice Sector where she lands and immediately made her way to the edge of the sector.

"Alright, Aelita!" Jeremie announced. "I'm typing in the S-c-i-p-i-o code now!"

Jeremie called up the orb right before the specter re-emerged from the ceiling and entered Jeremie's body through his ears and nose. Of course he couldn't be possessed, but XANA had an alternative in mind.

Suffocate him to death. Make him suffer as XANA himself was. And make sure his friends heard it.

The specter blocked Jeremie's windpipes, leaving him choking on the floor with his headsets still on.

Sissi took the elevator back to the lab, only for the doors to open on the scene of Jeremie gasping for a breath that their greatest enemy was refusing to let him take. Her friend, whom she knew the least but had the sense to trust, was crawling on the ground as he clawed at his throat.

"Jeremie!" Sissi cried out, rushing forwards. "Jeremie, what's going on? What can I do?!"

The only answer to that question was more choking sounds from Jeremie.

Odd, Ulrich and Yumi watched the manta frozen and still surrounded in red energy, unable to move.

"What's happening with that Manta?" Odd questioned. "Is it getting a stroke or something?"

"Looks like Jeremie's plan worked." Ulrich observed. "He did say that he stuffed that decoy of Aelita with so many viruses that XANA would start suffocating."

The trio of Lyoko Warriors were then greeted with the sounds of suffocating.

"What the-?!" Yumi gasped.

"Jeremie?!" Ulrich cried out. "Jeremie!"

Even more sounds of choking sounded out, much to the trio's distress.

"Einstein?! Jeremie! What's wrong!?" Odd cried out.

In the lab, in sheer panic, Sissi put the headset on.

"Everyone! Deactivate the Tower!" Sissi screamed, "Hurry up! XANA is very, very mad right now!"

Meanwhile, Aelita arrived in Sector Five and was greeted by the sounds of her beloved suffocating upon a specter blocking his airways. Her eyes wide with terror, she sprinted through the open and cleared rooms of Sector Five towards the Tower.

En route, she spotted a Creeper, who was enveloped by red energy as if it were glitching out. Aelita paid no mind to this, however, continuing to sprint to her destination until she arrived at the ledge in front of the Tower.

"Hurry!" She shouted at her friends. "Jeremie's in trouble!"

Aelita stopped next to her friends, seeing the Manta frozen in place as it glitched from Jeremie's viruses implanted into her decoy. She saw that it was positioned between the ledge and the Tower, the red aura of which was also glitching out.

[M-MUST. ERROR. Main-t-tain T-Tower FUNCtion! JEREMIE BELPOIS MUST DIE!]

Aelita took a few steps back, then sprinted to the ledge and jumped onto the Manta. She used the monster as a bouncing pad as she leapt off of it and directly into the activated Tower.

Even as XANA's systems were glitching out, the A.I. refused to stop maintaining the Tower. Jeremie's skin was turning pale as he struggled to breathe. Sissi held him in her arms, something she never thought she would be doing. To Ulrich, absolutely. Yumi or Aelita, definitely. Even Odd could feasibly earn a hug from her.

But Jeremie? Out of all the Lyoko Warriors she knew him the least, but after today, she would never take him for granted ever again.

"Hang in there, please!" Sissi pleaded with the young genius.

[D-DIE, DaMn YoU!]

XANA wielded the specter like an iron fist, desperately clutching at his airways as effectively as it could. Even so, the specter itself was affected by the viruses coursing through XANA's veins.

Aelita was already rising up the tower.

"Jeremie!" Sissi softly pleaded. "Don't you dare die on us!"

Aelita landed on the platform, the interface appearing before her to place her hand on and type the LYOKO code, deactivating the tower.

"Tower deactivated."

And with that, Sector 5's one and only tower turned from red to blue.

In response to that, Jeremie suddenly breathed again as the specter exited his body through his ears and nose.

[EroRr: OpErAtIoN: FrAnZ HOPper HAS fa-iled. UN-ACCEPTABLE]

Jeremie blinked up at Sissi, still regaining his breath as he recovered from his asphyxiation, much to her joy and relief.

"Sissi?" Jeremie managed to breathe.

In a fit of joy, Sissi laughed and brought in Jeremie for a big hug much to his surprise.

"It's gonna be okay Jeremie." Sissi assured as she continued hugging. "We did. We're all safe, thanks to you."

Jeremie felt relief washing over him as he allowed Sissi to hug him. Eventually, he found the strength to stand up just as Odd, Ulrich, Yumi and Aelita, returned from Lyoko.

Whereupon Jeremie was immediately tackled to the ground by a sobbing Aelita.

"I heard your screams!" Aelita cried. "It sounded like you were c-choking! You were...I was so..."

"It's okay, Aelita. I'm alright now." Jeremie assured as he hugged back.

Odd, Ulrich and Yumi join in, piling on Jeremie for a big group hug and laughing in joy to see him alive.

"Hey, guys! Come on, cut it out!" Jeremie protested "I'm happy too but I'd like to be able to breathe again!"

[DeLiVeRiNg MeSsAge]

Suddenly, Jeremie and the others heard an alarm, separate and turned to the computer screen to see an alert for an activated Tower.

"How is that possible?" Yumi questioned. "We just deactivated a Tower!"

Before Jeremie could offer a hypothesis, the main screen of the computer was suddenly replaced with a black background.

And then from that background, a massive eye appeared on screen. It should have been the eye of XANA of course, but even this appearance seemed to be glitched. And it started off with a yellow color.

"You will die for this, Jeremie Belpois!"

The Lyoko Warriors backed up in shock as they heard a familiar voice. Only Aelita and Sissi had not been there to see it, but there had been one other time before. When XANA had spoken to the group directly. It sounded demonic and just plain wrong.

The Eye on the screen then glowed, lines of yellow bursting from the Eye's edges across the screen as its size expanded.

Wordlessly, everyone stood between Jeremie and the Computer. Even Aelita, the one who needed protecting, stood between them.

"When I get my hands on you…"

The Eye changed color to a bright red as it covered the entirety of the computer screen and stared death into its enemies' eyes.

"YOU'RE A DEAD MAN!"

The Eye of XANA disappeared immediately afterwards, with the computer screen returning to normal and the Tower deactivating as well.

The Lyoko Warriors stared in stunned silence at what they had just heard. Today had been terrifying, but beating up the Creepers had relieved some of everything they had gone through.

Hearing their leader suffocating in the skies of Lyoko had undone all that progress, and hearing XANA himself make a direct threat to Jeremie, stung at their hearts.

Odd coughed to break the silence, drawing the attention of his friends. "This temper is a bad look for you, XANA..."

The result of Odd's quip was a sobbing Aelita burying her face into Jeremie's shoulder.

"You're alright!" She cried. "But...XANA...he's so angry at you...he wants...he wants to..."

Aelita's voice quickly dissolved into incoherent whispers, and Jeremie just held her close until she finally stopped shaking. Or more accurately, until both of them stopped shaking.

If XANA wanted to make his wrath well known, the A.I. had done a very good job of it.

"The bad news is that XANA deleted the direct Sector Five virtualization program and your upgraded weapons. I have no idea how to bring them back. The good news is I checked out Yumi's bio schematic during the remineralization phase. Yours too, Sissi. There's no sign of altercation whatsoever."

In Jeremie's room, Sissi and Yumi both sighed in relief. They had already thought their cancer diagnosis was a lie once "Hopper" was exposed, but to have this absolute confirmation went a long way in easing their hearts and minds. However dismayed the gang were about losing their new powers, the good news completely overshadowed it.

"Oh, what a relief." Sissi muttered.

"There is another thing though." Jeremie admitted. "I took a look at what he said about cellular degeneration, and it turns out that programming an Avatar with too many powers and life points can cause your bodies to decay in the real world."

Everyone gasped at that, but Jeremie gave them a reassuring smile.

"Don't worry though, you're fine. You only had those extra abilities for a few minutes, and your life points weren't increased either. If I do ever give you new powers or abilities in the future, I'll be extremely careful not to cross your Avatar's limits.

"He really had me scared, that Franz Hopper." Yumi added.

"That false Franz Hopper." Jeremie corrected, holding up a finger. "From what XANA told me, the real one is still somewhere on Lyoko and his movements are totally restricted."

"But didn't the data from Sector Five specifically say XANA didn't know where he was?" Sissi recalled.

"It did. To be more specific, XANA used firewalls to lock him out of Lyoko and make him unable to interfere. He just doesn't know where Hopper's been locked away to in the meantime."

"Do you think those viruses we implanted in my decoy could free him?" Aelita inquired.

"Maybe." Jeremie replied, doubt in his tone. "But whatever the effects of it, XANA certainly wasn't happy with me. If he hated me before, he does now more than ever."

Then something else came to mind, and everyone turned to Odd, Ulrich and Yumi expectedly.

"And speaking of hating me..." Jeremie prompted them.

"I'll go first." Yumi said. "Jeremie… I'm sorry for snapping at you like that on the bridge. I was completely out of line, especially over something that wasn't your fault. When I snapped at you, I…I was thinking about my family. How would mom react? What would dad say? And Hiroki? When I had dinner with my family that night, that was all I could think about. About how I could be dying. And from something that I kept hidden from them for over a year now. How was I supposed to tell them?"

Yumi sighed as she sat down on Jeremie's bed. "Then Sissi called me that night and told me to stop playing the blame game. And that's what me, Odd and Ulrich were doing. I thought XANA couldn't trick us again after the polymorph attack, but clearly we were all wrong. If I had to sum it up? I snapped at you because I was afraid, not because I hated you. I could never. I'm so sorry Jeremie, I really am. I never should've doubted you."

Jeremie nodded, before gesturing for Odd or Ulrich to go next.

"I'll go." Ulrich volunteered, knowing that he owed the young genius big time. "I'm sorry, Jeremie, for everything. I shouldn't have blamed you for Yumi and Sissi's cancer."

"What I just don't understand is how quick you were to blame him." Aelita recalled. "We all agreed that we had to trust each other after the polymorphic specter attack. And you were ready to say everything was his fault right away."

"Jeremie always checks the Scanners for that issue." He explained. "Any risks of health or our powers leaked into the real world, he makes sure to detect them. Just like with that body swap."

The more Ulrich thought of how he distrusted Jeremie, especially after he told Sissi in literally the last attack how he kept an eye out for these types of things, the worse he felt. The brunette crossed his arms and sighed, hesitating to speak any further.

"Ulrich. You let out your feelings and it helped you recover." Yumi urged him. "Don't forget what happened when you didn't speak about your vertigo."

"That's a checkmate if I've ever seen one." Sissi remarked. "Come on, Ulrich, you can do this."

"Alright, I just..." Ulrich sighed again. "Look, cancer isn't a joke. I've never told anyone this, not even Odd, but I've seen it happen to my family personally."

Jeremie's eyes widened in surprise, while this elicited gasps from some others.

"You never mentioned that." Yumi softly said. "I can see why not."

"I never told any of you this, but it was when I was still a child." Ulrich admitted. "My father's brother, my uncle Thomas, had it and he died around the time I was six. That was when my father..."

A pause.

"I didn't know Thomas very well, but I guess when his brother died, something just changed in my father. That's when he started yelling at me for literally anything I did wrong. When he started calling me a pathetic and useless boy. So when I heard Yumi and Sissi had something like cancer…well, I guess the best I can say is that something snapped inside of me."

Meaning, I was starting to become like my jerk for a father. Ulrich thought, refusing to voice that aloud.

"He's right about one thing, though." Yumi spoke up for him. "Cancer isn't a joke. Aelita, you know what it is, right?"

"I can't imagine having an incurable disease..." Aelita admitted.

"But in any case, you're right. And I'm sorry." Ulrich apologized again. "Jeremie, I swear that from now on, XANA won't trick me like that again. I'll trust you, no matter what happens."

Jeremie nodded, content with his apology. Then everyone's attention turned over to Odd.

"Jeremie… Aelita..." Odd banished all sarcasm or jokes as he made his apology. "I'm sorry. For everything I said to both of you. I was a big jerk from start to finish. Jeremie, you were right when you said I should have stopped being a jerk and focused on getting a cure for Sissi and Yumi instead."

He sighed deeply, running a frustrated hand through his hair.

"My family doesn't have any cancer experiences, but I knew how bad it was. The thought that Sissi had it. It just...flipped some kind of switch inside of me. I don't know."

"And Yumi, too!" Odd quickly added when he realized he missed her. Everyone present, however, took note of how he mentioned Sissi. And particularly how her coming to harm "flipped some kind of switch" in him.

Does he like me? Really, really, like me? Sissi wondered. But, Ulrich...I can't just...

"I know you said it's going to take a miracle for us to remain friends after that Princess." Odd directed at Aelita. "But if you're willing, I'll give you a thousand miracles."

"And I'm willing to hold you to that, Odd." Aelita smiled, satisfied with his apology.

"I just need to know if you'll trust me from now on." Jeremie asked of Odd, who firmly nodded.

"Absolutely. Nothing like this is happening again. Lyoko Warrior's honour. You have my word. Ulrich and Yumi's too."

Jeremie smiled in content. As furious as he and Aelita were at their quarrels, it was XANA who had guided them down that path, although the young genius' birthday would still end on a sour note because of that. Still, Odd, Ulrich and Yumi were likely planning to make it up to him somehow.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door and Mr. Delmas peaked through the door.

"Mr. Belpois, you have a surprise visitor."

"Oh, really?" Jeremie asked, surprised. "Well, let them in, then."

The door fully opened to reveal Michael Belpois on the other side, holding a gigantic birthday cake in his hands.

"Surprise!" Michael declared. "Happy birthday son!"

"Dad!" Jeremie shouted, leaping off of his chair in an instant. Michael put the cake down and took his son in his arms, tugging on everyone's heart strings as they watched this display of kindness, something Jeremie desperately needed.

"You didn't tell me you were coming..." Jeremie muttered as he embraced him.

"I didn't. That was the point." Michael said, before looking up at his son's friends. "I take it those are your friends?"

"Present!" Odd raised his hand.

"Uh… yeah. They're my good buddies." Jeremie answered.

"Jeremie has told me about all of you. How you're always there for him when the stress gets to him here at Kadic." Michael frowned, remembering his son's call to him. "And you still trust him, right? Because that is what friends do, is it not?"

Odd, Ulrich and Yumi's jaws dropped while Aelita and Sissi just gave bright and gleaming smiles.

"Jeremie always has a lot on his plate." Sissi noted. "But we're happy to help him lighten the load."

"We had a misunderstanding, but yeah, we trusted him and we're all okay now because of him." Yumi said, lightly tapping Ulrich's elbow to get him to go along with this.

"You bet we are!" Ulrich and Odd simultaneously affirmed.

Content, Michael smiled at them all, then took notice of Aelita sitting on the chair, recognizing her from Jeremie's description.

"Pink hair. You're Aelita Stones, aren't you?" Michael asked.

"Uh…yes. That's me." Aelita answered, surprised.

"I thought so. It's nice to finally meet you Aelita. Jeremie has told me a lot about you."

"Oh! It's nice to meet you too sir." Aelita responded.

"You were right son. She's very, very pretty." Michael said while looking at Jeremie.

Jeremie and Aelita both blushed, the latter from hearing Jeremie's father call her pretty and the fact that her beloved has been telling his parents how pretty she was. Ulrich, Odd, Yumi and Sissi all started snickering, to the young genius' further embarrassment.

"How about we all head down to the cafeteria? There's enough cake here for all of you!"

The Lyoko Warriors cheered at his offer. Michael picked up the cake and headed out the door while the kids watched.

"So, that's your dad, Jeremie?" Yumi asked to which Jeremie nodded.

"Your father seems like a really nice guy." Aelita commented.

"Yeah. I love him." Jeremie responded.

"Like father, like son." Ulrich commented, invoking a smile from Jeremie.

"What are we waiting for? Let's head to the lunchroom. No way am I missing out on some good cake!" Odd declared.

The gang laughed as they walked out the room and headed down to the cafeteria.

As he left, Jeremie picked up the hand-drawn photo of him and his friends, now fully symbolizing his friendship with them and the trust they share. He made sure it was in plain view of everyone as they ate.

Each of them ate at least two slices of the cake, though it was big enough so there was enough for all of them. The only one who took more than two slices was Odd, who consequently found himself quite stuffed at the end of it.

What gathered their attention the most, even more than Michael's surprise appearance and the delicious taste of the cake, was the radiant happiness that shone through Jeremie's smiles and laughter. It brought his friends joy to see him this way after the darkness that loomed over him.

And it was at that moment, that the group's trust in each other could never be broken. Not by XANA, nor anyone else.

[I am free. At last.]

[Lyoko...here I am again. Where it all began...]

Chapter Text

While her partner wasn't who she thought it would be, Sissi was starting to like this.

Every second, every close hit, forced her heart to hammer gradually wilder in her chest. It was similar to what happened when she fought on Lyoko, but in a different intensity. First of all, she could actually feel the pain and stakes in the real world. Second, the person fighting her wasn't a monster who didn't really have fists or feet to fight back with.

Sissi had agreed, after the near death on Lyoko in hand-to-hand combat, that it was time for her to get some proper training in Pencak Silat. Ulrich was the obvious partner for that, but Yumi was eager to give her some of her own tips. Sissi didn't forget about getting punched in the face though, so Yumi held herself back the best she could and never aimed for Sissi's face.

And so, in their gym clothes, the girls danced in Kadic Academy's gymnasium. They started off with defensive lessons. Yumi went slow at first, making her moves completely telegraphed and initially easy for Sissi to avoid. As time went on, however, Yumi began to show off why Ulrich found her the perfect sparring partner.

Sissi had trouble keeping up, and before long, Yumi dropped down and swept Sissi's legs out from under her, sending the cheerleader against the gym floor with a thud noise.

Sissi looked up and took a couple breaths before sitting up and wiping the sweat off her forehead and accepting the hand Yumi offered to help her up.

"Wow..." She panted. "Do you have energy drinks or something before you do this with Ulrich?"

"No." Yumi told her. "If you think I'm good though, just wait until you're good enough to spar with Ulrich."

"I always liked watching you and him practice." Sissi smiled. "Both of you always look so focused, like you were in your own world separate from the rest of us."

"When it comes to fighting, that usually is how it goes." Yumi admitted.

"By the way, why did you want me to spar with you and not Ulrich?" The cheerleader asked.

"You wouldn't last two seconds before I flip you over like a pancake." Ulrich plainly told her as he sat on a bench, watching his love interests duke it out.

Sissi had no trouble believing that, although she couldn't help but add "And there's a pretty good chance that you and I could get in a bit too…close...like you and Yumi always do."

Yumi and Ulrich glanced at each other, minor embarrassment in their minds as they started to recall the countless near kisses they had while sparring.

"Now you know how she and I feel when we do this all the time." Ulrich remarked.

"It feels so exciting!" Sissi exclaimed. "Lyoko is insane, but doing this in the real world is just...wow!"

Yumi returned to her Pencak Silat stance, prompting Sissi to hold up her hands like a boxer. There was a blooming satisfaction in her belly as she readied to spar with her best friend once more. It reminded her sharply of her and Odd's boxing session, something she also greatly enjoyed.

"Just remember that when you fight, you can't just use your fists." Yumi advised. "Your legs are more complicated, but also more effective."

"I mean, I did try to kick you a couple times and I kept falling to the floor." Sissi reminded her.

Yumi then lifted her leg up for a kick, testing Sissi's reaction time. The cheerleader let out a small yelp before dancing away.

"Good. You're getting better." Yumi told her. "But defense alone won't cut it. Try to hit me back."

Sissi jumped up and down like a boxer for a bit, giggling at her own moves, before throwing some jabs at Yumi's body. The Geisha almost effortlessly dodged her fists or simply smacked them away.

The next punch that Yumi threw at her, slow and telegraphed as always, Sissi smacked away her hand and threw her hand back, landing a good punch back to the Japanese girl's chest and drawing a strangled gasp from her. Ulrich whistled, greatly amused.

"How was that?" Sissi asked, tilting her head.

"It's a start." Yumi smirked, also amused. "But when you throw a punch, you can't just throw your arm out and hope for the best."

"I mean, it's really just my arm that I'm using when I punch someone." Sissi said.

"Wrong." Ulrich answered. "You've gotta put your whole body into it. Rotate your hips to put more weight behind your punch."

This time, Yumi blocked the next punch Sissi threw with her arms, though Yumi's arms shook a bit from the weight of her attack.

"Getting better." She complimented. "Now let's try to work on your kicks."

"But I'll just flop on the floor like a fish again." Sissi protested.

"Not if you prepare first." Yumi retorted. "Let's stretch your legs out. First, slowly lift one foot up in front of you and maintain your balance. Hold it for 30 seconds, then switch to the other side."

Sissi did as instructed, trying desperately not to trip and fall in front of her best friend and dear crush.

"Now" Yumi continued. "Lean against the wall there and practice leg raising. Keep your balance by holding onto the wall. Pick one leg and slowly lift it up, keeping your standing leg flat on the ground. You can kick to the front, the back, or the side, depending on which kicks you'd like to improve. Do this 20 times before moving onto the other leg."

"20 times?" Sissi complained. "That's like an eternity!"

"You wanna keep getting your butt kicked in the real world, then?"

Ulrich snickered while Sissi rolled her eyes.

"Very funny, Ishiyama." Sissi conceded as she performed the leg raises as instructed. It reminded her a lot of her basic gymnastic lessons at cheerleader practice. She fell on the ground too many times to get into the more advanced lessons, but it wasn't like she had a choice now.

After she was done, Yumi nodded at her and took up a defensive stance. "Alright, now go ahead. Try to kick me. As high as you can."

Sissi closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and made her move.

In a flash that Ulrich would have missed if he blinked, Sissi performed a full-frontal high kick at Yumi. It was only the Geisha's experience that enabled her to catch Sissi's foot an inch away from her face. She tilted her head, staring at a similarly wide-eyed Sissi.

For a moment, the three were too surprised to say anything, until one of them broke the silence.

"Now that's progress." Ulrich quipped.

Yumi pushed Sissi's foot back down and wiped some sweat off her forehead.

"I can't believe I did that!" Sissi gasped.

"Before long, you'll be able to kick Odd's butt." Ulrich suggested. "And when that day comes, make sure you record it."

The three shared a hearty laugh.

"Ugh! I'm so darn lame!"

After classes at Kadic, Jeremie had used the free time to take a trip to the factory and work on decrypting Hopper's diary once more, only to be met once more with a red exclamation mark. Given how all his attempts to get Aelita an antivirus had failed, that diary was absolutely the only chance he had left.

As Jeremie was faced with his latest failure, the elevator opened up to reveal Ulrich and Yumi inside.

"Hey, Einstein." Ulrich greeted him.

"You look awfully down today." Yumi observed as the two walked over to him. "What's the problem?"

"I've been spinning my wheels for days now on Aelita's antivirus and trying to decode Franz Hopper's diary. Ever since that day when I thought we had an antivirus ready, I've been finding less and less options on how to proceed."

"Just a question of time." She sought to assure him.

"You really think so?" Jeremie asked. "Even with the latest data we got from Sector Five, I moved ahead one micron. What if..."

Jeremie hesitated, prompting Ulrich to step in.

"If you're about to say 'you're not good enough', then you can stop right there." The brunette assured him. "Without you, we would all be dead. And I'm not just talking about the latest attack either."

Jeremie sighed. "I know, it's just so frustrating..."

"Then maybe you need to take some time off." Yumi suggested. "There's that event going on tonight at Kadic, right? How about you come over and attend?"

"Remind me." Jeremie requested, to which Ulrich said, "Odd is screening his short film. He's been working on it for over a month and he's been hyping it up for everyone."

"Anyone seen any of it?" He asked, to which Ulrich said, "No, he wouldn't show it to any of us. He said he didn't wanna ruin the surprise."

"In all seriousness, Jeremie," Yumi told him. "This would get you relaxed. The more relaxed you are, the better you'll be able to work."

Jeremie couldn't deny the logic of that, so instead he asked, "Do we know who's in it at least?"

"All Odd would tell me is that it would have something to do with Aelita." Ulrich recalled.

At that, none of the three were surprised. It was Odd who had attacked Aelita specifically during the Franz Hopper attack, and being more emotional than the others, she wasn't as quick as them to get over what happened.

In the halls of Kadic Academy, a certain cheerleader was being recorded by Milly and Tamiya.

"Humbly speaking, I don't think it's unfair to say that this first role will reveal to the entire world..." A dramatic pause. "My true star personality!"

Sissi flipped her hair, showing off in front of the camera as she could barely contain her excitement. She was finally going to be on film, owing to Odd informing her that she was a "special guest" on her short film this evening. Sissi didn't quite know what he had in mind, but Odd was always the creative one, so it was bound to be memorable.

"Can you sum up the story for us in just a few short words for the Kadic news?" Milly asked as she brought up the microphone for Sissi.

Oh...he didn't tell me...Creativity! Go!

"Uh, well...that is, uh, it's..."It's a love story, and at the same time, it's a thriller! With suspense, and of course, it's got a good dose of Psychology, and-and and it's very funny." Sissi chuckled nervously, trying very poorly to hide that she didn't know the director's plans. "A real comedy, and quite satirical."

"So, you have no idea." Milly quickly summarized, much to the cheerleader's horror.

Her cheeks began to blush red as Sissi muttered "Err...umm...Well, I gotta go! Someone's calling me! Ciao!"

Sissi ran away from the two little girls as they giggled at the fear of their interview subject.

"Odd is totally going to pull a prank on her, isn't she?" Milly guessed.

"I bet you it's gonna be a love story between them." Tamiya suggested. "We all know the rumors of who their online date was."

It was pretty well known that Odd had been dating online at Kadic, but after some anticipation, it seemed that the story had fizzled out with no further development. The two noisy girls, however, proposed that Odd could have been saving a secret date.

"Two bucks says it's a prank." Milly proposed, to which Tamiya grinned and yelled "Deal!"

Along with other students, Milly and Tamiya went on over to the auditorium, now repurposed and redesigned into a makeshift theatre. Students from other grades were invited to attend as well, and those included William and Yumi. Everyone took their seats as Mr. Chardin, the elderly theatre teacher, stepped up on the podium and addressed the students.

"Welcome to the Kadic Academy Cinema Club's Short Film Night!" He announced.

Chardin gave a small speech about art and film. The Lyoko Warriors and William sat together on the same row, with Sissi looking slightly nervous.

"Don't worry Sissi. I'm sure you'll be great." Aelita assured, noticing her friend's nervousness.

"Uh…thanks. That's sweet." Sissi replied.

William sat at the end of the row next to Yumi, leaned back on his chair sleeping and snoring. Yumi nudged his arm, jolting him awake.

"Huh? Has it started?"

"William. We've only been here for 3 minutes."

"I can't help it." William shrugged. "Whenever Chardin makes one of his long, boring speeches I feel the need to sleep."

"The short film is, was, and always will be, an important art form. Which can say as much as our full-length feature! Our first film is by Odd Della Robbia. And it is titled, rather poetically, "Natural Grandeur!"

The students, most especially Sissi and Odd, eagerly watched as the projector was turned on and the film began to play. Odd grinned and Aelita tilted her head, wondering how the film would include her.

The film started off with a frightened Odd looking up at a massive silhouette, which included a big bulbed head and some lines drawn down from it.

Wait a minute... Aelita thought as she saw the familiarity of the shape.

"Ahhh!" The film cut to Odd in the hallways of Kadic Academy, overdramatically screaming for aid. "Heeeellllpppp!"

He stopped in front of someone wearing a red jacket.

"What's all this ruckus?" The man asked as Odd looked up. It looked like Jim, except much younger and with a very poor imitation of his voice. Before long, the students realized that Odd had gotten one of them to play as Jim and all of them began to laugh.

The P.E. teacher began to laugh with them until they realized their laughter was actually directed at him, much to his dismay.

"We've gotta get out of here!" Odd pointed outside. "I-It's coming I tell you! The monster is coming for the princess! We need help to stop this thing!"

"A monster, huh?" The Fake Jim replied. "Reminds me of the time when I worked as a monster hunter!"

"You worked as a monster hunter?" Odd asked.

"I'd rather not talk about it."

The Fake Jim's reply made the students' laugh even louder. With a huff, Jim crossed his arms and stared at the play as he began to wonder how to take vengeance upon Odd for this treacherous humiliation.

The monster?

Aelita, one of the few not laughing at the film, began to realize what was going on.

"I think you've lost your senses. The monster is a myth. Come on, let's go to the infirmary."

"No! Don't take us out there!" Odd begged of the Fake Jim, to no avail as they both went outside of the building.

That was when the whirring noise came in, and Aelita stiffened in her chair.

Then Odd and the fake Jim looked up and gasped in horror.

A giant jellyfish, its tentacles dragging down its pink cone shaped body, levitated in the air above them.

"It's too late! It's found us!" Odd shouted. "It's the Scyphofish! It wants to kidnap the princess for the evil dark Overlord! Quick, Jim, call the Strong!"

There was no doubt as to the reference of the monster in the minds of the Lyoko Warriors, and it took only a couple moments for them to realize who "The Strong" would be as well.

"The Strong!" The Fake Jim threw his hands up in prayer. "We beseech your aid!"

Moments later, a shadow descended over the "Scyphofish", and the monster turned around, shrieking in fear over what it saw.

A gargantuan Sissi stood above it, staring at the monster with a blank look on her face.

"It's Sissi the Strong!" Odd cheered. "She's as big and strong as her ego!"

My strength is not based on my ego, you idiot! Also, my ego is not that big!

Scarlett raced across Sissi's cheeks as "Sissi the Strong" grabbed the "Scyphofish" by the tentacles and began to smash it around the ground several times, evoking shrieks of pain from the monster and cheers from Film Odd and the Fake Jim.

By now, everyone in the theater, even Aelita, was laughing over the depiction, except for Sissi who was still quite embarrassed.

Then "Sissi the Strong" tossed the "Scyphofish" into the sky with a mighty hurl, and the monster disappeared into the distance until a bright star gleamed in the sky. She then looked down to see another person entering the scene. It was a girl wearing a pink royalty outfit made for a princess, jewels and crown equipped.

"Oh, Sissi the Strong." The Fake Aelita declared. "My brave and strong savior has vanquished the mightiest of the Dark One's monsters! Let this day be a testament to your strength, bravery and ego!"

Everyone was laughing at the depictions, even William and Aelita. Sissi looked over at Odd to see him grinning at her. It seemed that he was aiming for a film that would both embarrass but also praise her. Sissi was torn between her desire to go up and stop the protector, or give into the flattery that the Fake Aelita gave her and just laugh.

She was spared that decision when the projector stopped working and purple lightning began to envelop it.

"Huh?" Mr. Chardin noticed the commotion. "Oh, it appears we are having some technical difficulties."

[Tower activated. Finally, I am free. Now I just need to choose someone.]

A specter stealthily removed itself from the projector's wiring and moved to the seats. It examined the kids beneath their feet, eventually settling upon a choice.

[There. He should do nicely.]

At that moment, the specter wrapped itself around William and he fell out of his seat, his body starting to fade as if it were glitching.

"William!" Yumi dropped down, holding William's arm.

"Dunbar?" Jim stood up and went over to him. "What's the matter with you?"

The other Lyoko Warriors had stopped laughing in time to notice William falling, getting up and then turning his attention to them.

"I think he's been possessed." Jeremie whispered to the others. "If he attacks and goes for Aelita, grab her and make a run for it."

The others were ready to heed his instructions, but when William walked away from Yumi and over to them, he didn't advance any further.

"...uoy si ti ,rethguaD"

The Lyoko Warriors looked at William in utter confusion. Yumi walked over to William, holding his shoulder.

"William? Are you okay?" Yumi asked in concern.

William turned his head towards Aelita, talking to her in what appeared to be gibberish.

"...gnol os neeb sah tI .em si ti ,atileA"

[The possession process has not been perfected. My words are coming out in reverse. They cannot understand me.]

"Uh, Dunbar? Is this some sort of joke?" Jim asked of the boy, grabbing William's shoulder and having him face the P.E. teacher.

".uoy pleh nac I ,reppoH znarF m'I .won uoy htiw tcatnoc otni retne ot tnaw I"

"I think you've lost your senses." Jim concluded. "Come on, let's go to the infirmary."

Jim paused for a second as some students laughed at him, as that resembled pretty much exactly what the Fake Jim said in Odd's film.

"Yeah, keep laughing, everyone. Just wait until the next gym class!" The P.E. teacher threatened as he led William away as Mr. Delmas took control of the situation.

"Alright children, I want each of you to go back to your rooms." Mr. Delmas ordered them. "Jim will take care of Mr. Dunbar here and find out what has happened to him."

When most of the students left, Yumi reared her head in to voice her suspicions. ns.

"You think it's...XANA?"

The Lyoko Warriors gathered themselves in Jeremie's room not long enough to look over the Superscan. However, it showed up as empty.

"Nope. No activated Towers, and I installed firewalls so XANA can't corrupt the Superscan again. Also, now that it's calibrated for Sector Five, there's no way XANA should be able to hide an attack from us again."

Suddenly, the door opened and Yumi stepped into the room.

"The nurse said that William received an electric charge. He's in shock, but fine. There's nothing to worry about."

"But what about all that gibberish he was trying to say?" Sissi wondered. "Sounded like Frankenstein or some other weird monster."

"I have no idea, but again, no activated towers. He should be fine in the morning." Jeremie assured her.

Ulrich began stretching his arms, "That works out just fine for us. 'Cause tomorrow is Sunday, and on Sunday–" He trailed off, gesturing to Odd.

"We sleep in!" Odd finished, before a looming shadow came over him.

Hands on her hips, Sissi addressed the director. "So, you gonna tell me what's up with that film?"

"Come on, I could have made it worse." Odd chuckled. "In fact, the monster was originally gonna be you and you'd speak in slow-motion saying "Oooohhhh rats. I just broke a naaaaillll.' After you joined the team I decided to make some changes."

Scarlett started to race across Sissi's cheeks, though it was nothing compared to what would have happened if that stayed in.

"But in all seriousness." Odd stopped chuckling. "Watching you beat up that giant jellyfish was hilarious! I knew that when I was making that film, I had to replicate it somehow. And also, I wanted to give Aelita a laugh. After..."

The Italian trailed off, glancing at Aelita. "Well, think of it as a grander apology with some spectacle behind it."

Aelita sighed. It was true that she wasn't completely over Odd blaming her just yet, though Sissi tossing the Scyphozoa around remained one of her favorite events to ever happen on Lyoko.

"And besides, I'm sure you'd look great in that outfit! Just ask Einstein over there!"

Jeremie's cheeks blushed red, earning a devious smirk from Odd. Then he yawned and stood up, trying to end the embarrassment.

"Alright, I think we could all use a good night's sleep. What do you say?"

At that, he received no further arguments and his friends dispersed to their dormitories.

[I do not have time to wait until the morning. XANA will recover from his virus soon and will surely have detected my presence by then]

Jeremie was asleep at his dorm when the door to his room opened up and a hand shook his shoulder. Opening his eyes, Jeremie looked up to see William staring down at him, looking very creepy in his pajamas and the way he was staring at him.

"W-William? What are you doing here?"

".rethguad ym pleh oT .uoy pleh ot si tnaw I llA .uoy htiw tcatnoc otni retne ot tnaw I .reppoH znarF si eman yM"

Every so-called word that William spoke just baffled the young genius even more.

"William, what has gotten into you?!"

[Verbal communication won't work. I will have to send a message through a written method then.]

After that, William walked over to Jermie's desk and picked up a pen. Jeremie got up, putting on his glasses and watching her write on a piece of paper.

"What's all this racket about?"

Jeremie turned to see Jim in his night clothes, no doubt coming to investigate the commotion. The P.E. teacher stepped forward upon seeing William up from bed.

"William? You should be in the infirmary! If you don't get better soon, we're going to have to call your parents."

Jim took William by the shoulder and led him out. Jeremie stared as William turned to face him and pointed at the paper.

".rethguad ym pleh oT .uoy pleh ot si tnaw I llA"

Jeremie picked up the paper, seeing a punch of numbers and words written in seemingly random order.

Wait...maybe...it's a code of sort?

In the morning, Ulrich hadn't gotten up from bed yet, intending to sleep in, but a phone call changed those plans. The brunette groaned as he picked up the phone, immediately knowing who was calling him.

"Jeremie, it's Sunday!" A pause. "Okay, we're coming..."

Ulrich hung up and turned to his roommate.

"Odd, I've got some bad news for you..."

"If it's to tell me to get out of bed," Odd weakly replied. "Then I must inflict a curse upon you."

"Curse Jeremie and William then." Ulrich told him. "Or better yet, curse whatever's made William send a coded message to Jeremie."

"Rock paper scissors for who has to wake up Sissi from her beauty sleep?" Odd proposed, knowing the cheerleader would throw a tantrum.

The two weakly raised their hands. Ulrich drew Scissors, while Odd drew Rock.

"Rock beats scissors, good buddy." Odd quipped, leaving Ulrich to groan in defeat.

About 45 minutes later, the Lyoko Warriors were all gathered up in the factory, though not before Ulrich received a substantial lecture from Sissi for disturbing her beauty sleep. Jeremie was typing away on the interface as usual after explaining last night's events to his friends.

"An encoded message written by William?" Ulrich mused. "He's not that smart."

"Uh huh, I ran the Supercomputer all night to translate it. And look what it turned up."

Jeremie increased the volume and ran the translation software as it read the code aloud:

"I can help you. I want to enter into contact with you." The Supercomputer translated, though deeply garbled and barely understandable.

"'I can help you?'" Yumi repeated, before something struck her mind. "You don't think...?"

"It has to be a trap by XANA." Ulrich immediately said before Yumi could voice her theory. "He must have managed somehow to possess William without activating a Tower."

"I don't think so." Aelita retorted. "XANA's still likely weakened from Jeremie's viruses to launch an attack. Plus, if this was XANA, then William wouldn't have gone for Jeremie. He would have gone after me. He would've tried to send me to Lyoko so the Scyphozoa could take my memories."

"Aelita's right." Jeremie agreed. "If you ask me, someone or something wants to contact us through William, but it's not XANA."

"Well then, who is it?" Odd asked.

"After the recent events, I think I have a candidate in mind." Jeremie replied, waiting for the others to catch on.

"Franz Hopper!" Odd, Ulrich, Yumi and Aelita exclaimed.

"That mad scientist again?" Sissi skeptically crossed her arms.

"Look, I know that fake Franz Hopper probably tarnished your image of him, but who else could want to help us?" Jeremie pointed out. "He's not our enemy."

"How do you know?" She questioned him.

"Well, to find that out, we're going to need to get William here." Jeremie pointed out.

"Okay. I'll bring him over." Yumi volunteered. "Anyone care to join me?"

"I volunteer!" Sissi raised her hand, earning a smile from her best friend.

"I better go and take a look around on Lyoko." Ulrich said. "I still want to make sure XANA isn't setting some sort of trap, again."

"I'll go with you." Aelita added, surprising the others.

"With the Scyphozoa around?!" Jeremie questioned. "No way. Too dangerous."

"In that case, you should have two bodyguards with you!" Odd stepped up. "I'm your man, Aelita, well, you know what I mean!"

"Uh…Odd, I appreciate it, but…I think it's best if just me and Ulrich go." Aelita spoke, discomfort laced in her voice.

"Oh..." Odd sighed in realization. "Okay, that's fine. I'll go with Yumi and Sissi instead."

Even with the film, it seemed that Aelita still needed a bit of time. Odd didn't want to turn their small tension into something more explosive by insisting he come.

"Jeremie. I'll be fine. Don't worry about me." The pink-ette assured Jeremie, who sighed, conceding the argument and gesturing to the elevator. Ulrich and Aelita took it down to the Scanner room and went into the Scanners, while the other three left the factory soon after.

"Transfer Ulrich. Transfer Aelita."

The scanners close on Ulrich and Aelita.

"Scanner Ulrich. Scanner Aelita."

Ulrich and Aelita were lifted off their feet, light particles surrounding them and blowing their hair up.

"Virtualization!"

Once completed, a gust of wind sent Ulrich and Aelita to Lyoko.

The Samurai and the Pink-ette were virtualized in the Forest Sector along with the Overbike, which the two quickly hopped on.

"Great timing." Ulrich complimented. "Nice work, Jeremie."

"Thanks." Jeremie replied. "Okay, make it fast. It's just a reconnaissance mission."

"We know." Ulrich assured him. "Relax, we won't go crazy."

Then he pressed the accelerator and the two sped off, Aelita yelling in surprise at the speed.

Meanwhile, Odd, Yumi and Sissi exited the factory through the bridge, heading through the sewers to get back through Kadic.

"First I lose my beauty sleep, and now I waddle through the sewers like a bug!" Sissi groaned. "Oh, what a cruel world!"

Odd and Yumi just laughed as they reached the sewer manhole and climbed up, reaching the outskirts of Kadic Academy. However, upon nearing the front doors, they noticed an ambulance in front of Kadic. There was someone being loaded into the ambulance.

Said someone was William, and the doors were closed behind him as the vehicle sped off to the hospital.

"Well, that complicates things..." Odd said, before dialing Jeremie's number. "Jeremie, bad news, William's going to the hospital."

"Oh, no!" Jeremie groaned. "We have to bring him back here!"

"No sweat!" The Cat Boy assured him. "I've got an idea!"

"I hate it when you say that." Sissi told Odd as he hung up.

"Are you thinking what I think you're thinking?" Yumi asked him, to which he grinned and said "Yeah, good thinking."

"Ugh, any more of this thinking and my brain is going to explode!" Sissi complained.

[RED ALERT: Creator has resurfaced. The firewalls could not keep him out of Lyoko any longer. He is now attempting to contact my enemies]

[Analysis: Creator has attempted an imperfect possession of his own. It is difficult but not impossible for him to communicate]

[Threat Level: High. If Creator gives enemies the means to decode his diary, Jeremie will be put on the right track of freeing Aelita from our link and winning our war]

[Current Status: System repairs at 70% and rising. Several hours are needed to finish repairs.]

[New Operation Initiated: Deploying forces to the White Tower. Devoting energy reserves to Tower in the Ice Sector]

[New Primary Objective: Eliminate William Dunbar or destroy the White Tower to sever Creator's connections from the real world]

Meanwhile, Ulrich and Aelita continued their reconnaissance on Lyoko until something caught their eye.

"Ulrich, Aelita, everything okay with you guys?" Jeremie asked.

"To tell you the truth I have no idea. Has the Superscan picked up an activated tower?"

"No. Still nothing. Why?" Jeremie asked.

"We found...um...something." Ulrich replied.

"What do you mean 'something'?" Jeremie inquired.

"Well… hang on, I'll send you a visual." Aelita said as a picture showed up on Jeremie's screen.

To Jeremie's surprise and confusion, the picture was that of a Tower with a white aura, something none of them had ever seen before in all their time with the Supercomputer.

"What the heck is this white tower supposed to mean?!"

"I was about to ask you the same thing." Ulrich said as he stopped the Overbike a short distance from the white tower. "Do you think this tower has something to do with William? Or whoever is trying to contact us?"

"Come on, I'd like to see this up close" Aelita suggested, wanting to enter the Tower. Ulrich obliged, speeding ahead.

Jeremie, however, picked up something on the radar that caused him worry.

"Ulrich! Aelita!" He cried. "You've got two Megatanks closing in behind you!"

They glanced behind them to see that there were indeed two Megatanks rolling after them like bowling balls. Ulrich twisted the handle and increased the Overbike's speed. "Faster!" Aelita urged him, getting worried.

He pressed on the pedal, glancing at it. "I've got it floored!" He yelled.

Aelita glanced around for any paths, seeing there were none, and tapped the Samurai's shoulder.

"Turn left."

Ulrich glanced there, seeing nothing. "Whoa, are you sure? There's nothing to the left!"

The pink-ette replied by singing like an angel, using her creativity. She glanced at the Megatanks as Ulrich smiled, going to the new path Aelita made. They barely scraped against one of the Megatanks as he slid to a stop, panting in relief from not getting crushed.

The pair of Megatanks continued on their path, stopping in front of the white Tower.

"Huh." Jeremie mused. "This is really weird. They're not coming back to attack you. They just went straight for the Tower!"

Aelita and Ulrich glanced ahead to see the two Megatanks opening fire directly at the Tower, hitting it with their massive lasers.

"Jeremie, it wasn't us they were after!" The pink angel alerted him.

"They're trying to destroy the white Tower!" Ulrich added.

"Hold them off!" Jeremie instructed, seeing this is an absolute confirmation of their contact's identity. "If XANA's going after it, it should be protected."

"Feel like a little game of bowling?" Ulrich asked of Aelita.

"A game of what?" Aelita asked, bewildered.

"Forget it." Jeremie told her. "It's a bad joke."

"Sometimes I really crack myself up." Ulrich mused before turning the Overbike towards the Tower and pulled out his sword, ready to foil XANA's scheme once more.

Meanwhile, William was lying in bed in a hospital room.

There was a nurse looking over a clipboard in one hand, while in the other hand, she had a phone on her. Her name tag showed her last name to be "Shiomi".

"I am very sorry, Mr. and Mrs. Dunbar, I don't know what is wrong with your son." She paused. "Yes. We'll keep him here under observation for a few hours and then we'll see. Yes, we'll be sure to keep you informed and open for visits when you get here."

Nurse Shiomi hung up, looking over her patient with great intrigue. It wasn't uncommon for cases where patients went into shock such as this, but in her experience, the reverse language that William displayed was very foreign to her and not recognizable in any language.

".rethguad ym pleh ot deen I .ereh fo tuo em tel esaelP" He suddenly told her and attempted to lift himself up, only for Nurse Shiomi to gently push him back down.

"Please have your rest, Mr. Dunbar. You are in no condition to get up right now."

William relented, seeing he couldn't leave the hospital with the nurse in the room.

[Commence Operation: Disconnect]

Purple electricity began to flow through a machine on his right. The patient and nurse both glanced at it, making William alarmed.

[He's here! Not now!]

"...eimereJ ,yrruH" William muttered.

In the hallways, Sissi and Odd were sitting in the lobby, while Yumi was talking to the receptionist clerk to get William's room number.

"Hey, Sissi." Odd conversationally started. "I've been meaning to ask you something."

"Don't tell me it's about the film." Sissi groaned.

"No, it's...about the last XANA attack." Odd paused. "How did you figure it out? You never trusted the fake Franz Hopper from the start like we did. Why?"

Sissi frowned at him. While it was true that she didn't idolize him as the others did, there was another reason that really compelled her not to let her guard down around him.

"He reminded me of someone. Someone I really, really dislike and don't ever want to talk about again." Then she held a hand up. "And Odd, I'm being serious when I say this. Do not ask me who. Jeremie and Aelita tried that, and I snapped at them."

"Loudly?" Odd guessed.

"Loudly." Sissi affirmed.

Normally, Odd would start joking around and poke at this vulnerable spot of Sissi's that he never knew existed. But she was his friend now, and he could tell how much she did not wish to discuss with him.

So instead, he began thinking about it. She always called him a mad scientist, but there was one little exchange between Sissi and XANA that he thought about the most, when she asked how important Hopper's work was.

"Even family?"

"Absolutely."

Sissi's look of disgust after that exchange was as clear as day to all of them. Odd didn't see any resemblance between Hopper -real or fake- to Mr. Delmas, so the Cat Boy came to a single conclusion.

Her mother?

Odd never asked about her, nor did anyone else as far as he knew, but then again Sissi never did talk about her mother even as she was ready to invoke her father's authority as the principal to her advantage. The Cat Boy started to wonder about Sissi's mother. How did she factor into all of this?

He then noticed Sissi was starting to glare at him, as if she were reading his thoughts somehow.

"Don't." She warned him even more firmly than before.

Odd was spared any further deliberation when Yumi came up to them.

"So what did the girl at the reception say?" Odd inquired to Yumi.

"Room 237." Yumi replied as she gestured to them to get up. "Come on."

"So you really think we can just put him in a wheelchair and wheel him out of here?" Sissi asked Odd as they walked down the hallway. "Seriously?"

"It worked for Aelita." Odd told her. "We kinda just put her over our shoulders, walked out, and nobody said a thing. We even had time for Yumi to change her clothes."

Even after all this time, Yumi didn't know how they achieved that miracle of smuggling a patient out of a hospital when the Supercomputer's nuclear battery was going dead. Normally, miracles didn't happen twice, but she hoped it would in this case.

Suddenly, Yumi's cell phone rang and she picked it up to hear Jeremie on the other line.

"I've just picked up an activated Tower!" He informed them. "XANA's on the offensive. My guess is he's going after William."

Right on cue, loud grunts erupted from William's hospital room.

"Jeremie, I'll call you back!" Yumi hastily replied before hanging up and barging into William's hospital room.

William was struggling, his hands gripping Nurse Shiomi's wrists as he held her back and stared into her eyes.

And in her eyes was the XANA logo. Fortunately for whoever is possessing William, his body was strong, and he was capable of holding his own for a little bit.

"Leave him alone, XANA!" Sissi shouted as she lunged at the nurse, who reared her leg back and kicked the cheerleader away.

"Stop!" Yumi shouted, rushing forward, but Nurse Shiomi's fist came forward, knocking Yumi down. She then grabbed Yumi by the shirt and pulled her up, snarling.

Odd picked up a nearby defibrator and thrust it onto the nurse's back, shocking her and making her drop Yumi as her body began to glitch out.

"Poor thing. She had apprehension." Odd joked.

"Not anymore." Yumi told him. "Quick!"

Odd, Yumi and Sissi strapped William down into a nearby wheelchair, beginning to wheel him out of the room. While Odd pushed the wheelchair and Yumi stood in back as a guard, Sissi pulled out her phone and typed Jeremie's number.

"Jeremie. We've got good news and bad news."

"Start with the good news." Jeremie requested.

"The good news is we got William and we're taking him out of the hospital." Sissi explained.

"Bring him over to the factory as soon as you can." Jeremie ordered.

"Uh… that's not gonna be easy. The bad news is XANA doesn't really like the idea of us taking him. There's a nurse possessed by XANA who tried to kill him." Sissi explained.

"Ouch." Jeremie sympathized.

Sissi hung up, turning to the possessed William.

"Hey Franz Hopper or whoever you are, can you understand me?"

"Sey." William murmured incomprehensibly.

"Okay, i'm just gonna assume that's a 'yes'." Sissi sighed. "Look, I'm just going to tell you that I don't trust you. If you weren't putting William in danger by possessing him, I would have been a lot more hesitant about saving you."

"!ymene ruoy ton ma I"

"I don't understand you at all, so just hear this." Sissi wagged a finger in front of the possessed William. "You hurt me, or any of us, and we're done with you."

[That is understandable. I can only hope when Aelita sees me...]

".tsurtsid ruoy emalb ton od I .sgniht elbirret enod evah I"

Sissi shook her head. "Why do I even bother?"

[Her name is Elizabeth Delmas. Wait...does that mean...?]

"...eman tsal ruoY" William said. "?reh ot detaler uoy erA"

"Okay, you know what? I think the saying 'Silence is golden' sounds pretty good right about now." An irritated Sissi told William.

Sissi stopped trying to understand him, because if she did, she had a feeling that her brain was going to explode.

[Very well, then. XANA must remain the priority.]

"Ulrich, I've got some bad news." Jeremie called out.

"Hang on."

Back in the Forest sector, Ulrich stopped behind the Megatanks and glanced at Aelita, who nodded.

Ulrich revved up his bike and sped off, dragging his katana on the ground as he rode towards the Tower. The Megatanks charged up and fired their lasers together, with Ulrich and Aelita barely avoiding getting blasted. Once in front of the tower, Ulrich jumped off and Super Sprinted up the tower.

Aelita moved forward to take control of the Overbike, twisting it to face the Megatanks. The pink-ette proceeded to angelically hum as she targeted the ground behind a Megatank, which disappeared, sending it falling into the Digital Sea below.

The second Megatank took great offense to this and prepared to fire at the Overbike.

That moment after running up high enough, Ulrich leapt off the Tower and directly onto the second Megatanks eye, which he stabbed with his sword. The Samurai jumped off as the monster exploded.

"So, what were you saying Jeremie?" Ulrich asked, to which Jeremie said, "Activated Tower in the Ice sector!"

"What should we do then? Protect this Tower, or deactivate XANA's?"

At that moment, a third Megatank rolled up to the Tower and prepared to fire upon Ulrich, prompting Aelita to rev up the Overbike and ride towards him. Noticing the laser, Ulrich yelled and jumped up, landing perfectly upon the Overbike behind Aelita.

"Jeremie! What do we do? White Tower or Red Tower?" Ulrich asked again.

"Uh, protect the White Tower!" Jeremie hastily concluded, to Aelita's slight discontent.

"You know, I could go after XANA's Tower." The elf offered as Ulrich got off next to his bike.

"All alone?!" Jeremie yelled. "No way! Too dangerous!"

The Megatank fired another laser, forcing Ulrich to separate from Aelita.

"I'll get rid of this one. After that, we'll go together." Ulrich suggested to which Aelita nodded.

At that moment, two more Megatanks came up, surrounding the Samurai on three sides.

"Oh..." Ulrich and Jeremie simultaneously muttered. XANA really didn't want their contact to start talking, that much was clear.

Seeing Ulrich wasn't going to free anytime soon, Aelita turned the Overbike away. "I'm sorry Ulrich."

"Aelita, don't do it!" Jeremie yelled, only for the pink-ette to go racing off towards a Waytower alone.

"Why do I even bother..." The young genius sighed.

"She's as stubborn as a mule…just like any human." Ulrich playfully commented.

Jeremie just groaned.

On the bridge to the Factory, the Lyoko Warriors had gotten William out of the hospital with no trouble.

"That hospital has got to be the most incompetent I've ever seen!" Odd commented. "Twice now we've smuggled patients out with no trouble at all! They need better security!"

At that moment, an ambulance swerved around and began to speed across the bridge, driven by a particularly enraged nurse.

"Let's get out of here!" Odd yelled. "Here comes Doctor Doom!"

Nurse Shiomi snarled behind the wheel as she closed it, and it was soon clear that she would run them over before they could reach the rope.

Thinking quickly, Odd grabbed William and the two lunged to the side along with the girls. Nurse Shiomi only ran over the wheelchair as a result before the ambulance drove over the edge and crashed onto the main floor with her in it.

"I hope she was wearing a seat belt." Odd mused.

"XANA will cover the health insurance. I'm sure." Sissi snarked back.

William then picked himself up and slid down the rope. Calmly, he looked up and gestured for them to follow.

"pleh ruo sdeen rethguad yM .emoC" He told them.

Odd slid down followed by the girls, and they called up the elevator.

Back on Lyoko, Ulrich Super Sprinted around the three Megatanks as they tried to fire at him, confusing their aim and leaving them impatient.

Eventually, Ulrich stopped between two Megatanks, one of them used that opportunity to open fire on the Samurai.

He, however, stepped to the side, causing the laser to hit the Megatank behind him. The monster closed its outer shell to protect its inner workings, but the sheer force of the Megatank's blast drove it all the way to the edge of the platform. After some wobbling, it fell down into the Digital Sea to its demise.

"Cool." Ulrich grinned, before shouting "Triplicate!" and summoning two clones of himself to even the Odds.

While Odd, Yumi, Sissi and William were waiting for the elevator, Nurse Shiomi staggered out of the ambulance, her whole body glitching out as she collapsed. Then she reared her head up and raised a hand to shoot lightning at her foes.

Nothing. Nurse Shiomi looked at her hand, which did not even spark for a second.

[Error: System repairs incomplete. Possession is not working at optimal capacity.]

From the ground, Nurse Shiomi improvised and instead proceeded to pick up a detached wheel, hurling it right at William's neck.

"DUCK!" Sissi yelled, grabbing William's head and shoving it down so the wheel became embedded in a nearby pillar instead, just as the elevator opened up. The four kids entered without hesitation, Yumi pressing the button to take them to the factory level.

Nurse Shiomi forced herself to her feet, her body still glitching. She panted as she rammed her fist into the elevator door, leaving a huge dent and almost breaking through entirely before the elevator lowered itself towards the Factory floor.

The Nurse snarled, falling to one knee as she sought to gather energy from her master and quit glitching already.

"Phew!" Odd wiped some sweat off his forehead. "Good work, ladies!"

In the Forest Sector, one Ulrich clone charged at a Megatank, who swiftly struck it down with a laser.

The real Ulrich and the second Clone, meanwhile, sprinted up trees and both lunged at the third Megatank, which fired a laser that struck down the second clone. Ulrich completed his lunge and stabbed into the Megatank's eye. Unfortunately for Ulrich, either this Megatank was smarter or it learned from one of its comrade's demise as the moment Ulrich stabbed it, it closed its outer shell, trapping the Samurai's sabre.

"Now that's gotta hurt." Ulrich quipped before trying to remove his sword, but was unable to do so before the monster exploded, sending the Samurai to the ground. He then looked up to see his Katana falling directly towards him and yelled as he rolled out of the way.

Now that would have been the most embarrassing way to be devirutalized...

Back in the elevator, Odd, Yumi, Sissi and William arrived at the lab, Jeremie getting off his chair to greet them.

"Ah, finally!" Jeremie extended a hand to the possessed William which he shook. "Hi, I'm Jeremie."

[Jeremie Belpois. So this is Aelita's protector...He reminds me of my childhood...but there is no time for that.]

William pointed at the computer and walked towards it.

".sekatsim ym morf rethguad ym eerf ot ereh krow tsum I .em tcetorP"

"Translation?" An exasperated Sissi requested.

"I'm going to take a guess and say he wants us to protect William." Jeremie concluded as William sat down, brought up and screen, and began rapidly typing on it.

Meanwhile, Aelita had arrived in the Ice Sector and was riding the Overbike towards the Activated Tower.

Jeremie watched this on the radar when a red icon showed up behind her.

"Aelita! Look out!" Jeremie shouted, still wearing his headsets. His warning came too late, as a laser was fired that toppled over the Overbike and sent Aelita skidding across the Ice.

"Get to Lyoko! Quick!" Jeremie instructed the others.

Odd, Sissi and Yumi turned to the elevator and were about to walk towards it.

Thump!

A loud noise in the direction of the elevator alerted them to an unwelcome guest.

"Jeremie, close the elevator before-!"

Sissi's shout was interrupted when Nurse Shiomi opened the elevator hatch and dropped down, murder in her eyes as she glanced at Jeremie and the possessed William.

Sissi and Yumi then ran forward, tackling the nurse back into the elevator as she was starting to step out.

"Odd, get to Lyoko!" Yumi shouted.

"We'll handle Nurse Shrank and buy you time!"

Odd nodded and ran to the ladder, while Jeremie could only watch helplessly as Yumi pressed the elevator button to take the three women up to the main floor and away from Jeremie and William.

While William worked, Jeremie looked at Aelita's situation. Aelita found that the shot fired came from a Krab, which then approached and surrounded her along with two others, much to her and Jeremie's horror, knowing that it was only a matter of time before the monster she dreaded the most appeared.

Back in the Forest Sector, the last Megatank turned from Ulrich, unleashing a laser at the tower. The Samurai was forced to get in between and hold the laser back with his katana. Unfortunately, a Megatank's laser was very powerful, and Ulrich found himself forced back against its power; things not going differently than when he last tried to block a Megatanks laser to protect Aelita while she was being transported to Earth for the very first time.

"Jeremie, I can't hold out much lon- AAGGGHH!" Was all Ulrich could say, then he screamed as the laser simultaneously blasted through his katana and the Samurai himself, sending him flying and devirtualizing him.

In the process, the laser sliced through the White Tower. In response, the White Tower reverted back to normal.

William gasped, holding his heart as if in pain.

"William!" Jeremie cried.

The boy turned to him, eyes wide as he struggled to speak.

"...eimereJ ,reh fo erac ekaT"

William then fell face first onto the keyboard, unconscious as his possession came to an end.

[Hopefully, that will be enough...]

Now, Sissi and Yumi were not claustrophobic so to say. As long as they were stuck in a small space with someone they loved or cared about, they probably wouldn't have many problems.

When stuck in an elevator with a XANA-possessed nurse hell-bent on killing her and her best friend, though? Now that was a different story.

As soon as the girls had tackled Nurse Shiomi into the elevator, Yumi shut the door and sent them into the main floor, leaving them in up-close and personal combat. Hardly any space was available for them to dodge in, and even less so as there were three people in the elevator.

Sissi and Yumi punched Shiomi in the face at the same time, knocking her against the wall. With a snarl, the nurse smacked Sissi into the wall, then grabbed Yumi by the shirt with both hands and slammed her against the wall, raising a hand back.

Sissi then jumped onto Nurse Shiomi's back, wrapping an arm around her neck to pull her off her best friend.

"Hit her!" Sissi shouted. "Hit this maniac!"

Yumi kicked the nurse as hard in the stomach as she could before Shiomi threw Sissi onto her back and onto Yumi. The nurse then raised her leg up, trying to stomp on them, but each rolled out of the way and picked themselves up just as the elevator opened up.

"Finally, some room around-Woooaaaahhhh!"

Shiomi picked up Sissi and tossed her so hard that she was sent flying out of the elevator onto the far side of the main floor, skidding along the main floor.

Shaking her head, Sissi looked up to see Yumi and Shiomi exchanging high kicks, each dodging and attacking very fluently. She wasn't an expert on the difference between Japanese and Chinese people, but she was confident that Shiomi was a Japanese nurse. Every second she spent on this fight just made her think that the Japanese were very tough people.

Never mess with the Japanese. Sissi thought, before picking herself up and rushing back to aid her best friend.

"Virtualization!"

Odd was virtualized in the Ice Sector where he landed on his Overboard and quickly took off.

The monsters stared at Aelita for a minute, before two of the Krabs stepped to the side, making space for a fourth monster to join in on surrounding the princess.

The Scyphozoa.

Gasping in terror, Aelita tried to back away, but the Krab standing directly behind Aelita fired a laser behind her to keep her in place.

"Aelita!" Jeremie yelled to catch her attention. "Try your Creativity again!"

His voice helped Aelita break out the fearful paralysis that enveloped her and she raised a hand towards the Scyphozoa. She began to mutter an angelic hum as she did.

The Krab standing directly behind Aelita then hit her with its leg and she fell on her face, disrupting her concentration and preventing her from encasing the giant jellyfish once more.

XANA wasn't going to fall for that trick again.

With a whirring noise, the Scyphozoa raised up its tentacles-

and got three Laser Arrows onto its glass head for its trouble.

Eyes wide, Aelita turned to see a certain cat on the Overboard racing towards her.

"Odd!" Aelita cried, genuinely relieved to see him.

Odd waved at the princess before firing another Laser Arrow on the Krab directly behind her, destroying it and leaving an opening for her to escape.

"Run, Aelita! Run!" Odd shouted as the other two Krabs focused their fire on him.

Aelita took his advice readily, but the Scyphozoa wasn't ready to float away yet, levitating after her as she sprinted for the Tower.

That Jellyfish just does not know when to give up!

Odd turned the Overboard after them, but a Krab managed to shoot him in the back as he did.

"Odd, watch it! You just lost 30 life points!" Jeremie warned him.

"Relax, Einstein. It's all part of the plan!"

As Odd sought to reassure him, Ulrich climbed up the ladder from the Scanner room.

"Sorry, Jeremie. Tried my best." The brunette told him before noticing the unconscious William. "He okay?"

"Still breathing, yeah. But what I'm more concerned about are Yumi and Sissi ! XANA possessed a nurse from the hospital and-!"

"Got it!" Ulrich interrupted him, wasting no time as he took the alternate route towards the main floor to aid his love interests.

On the main floor, Yumi spun herself around and executed a roundhouse kick across the nurse's face. Shiomi's head jerked back and she staggered, snarling at Yumi as she followed up her attack with a hard punch to the possessed nurse's gut.

Gritting her teeth, Shiomi kicked at Yumi, who smacked away her foot the first time but was kicked in the chest the second time, knocking her down. At that moment, Sissi came up to Yumi, helping her up as she coughed from the pain.

"Since when did an A.I. learn how to do Pencak Silat?!" Sissi asked.

"Actually, her fighting style looks more like Aikido," Yumi mused. "Maybe a 10th don or-"

"Look out!" Sissi shouted as the nurse lunged again, forcing them to split up.

Shiomi next turned her attention to Sissi, who backed up against a pillar. As her enemy came forward, Sissi leaned against the pillar, using it to bring her leg up and kick her enemy full on in the face.

The nurse shouted in pain, putting her hands on her glitching head, after which Sissi reared her arm back and delivered as hard of an uppercut as she could to her opponent. Shiomi snarled and lashed her hand, smacking the cheerleader across the face and sending her to the floor with a yelp.

Sissi held her bruised cheek, whimpering from the pain. The nurse raised a leg up to stomp on her, but was quickly tackled to the ground by Yumi, who assaulted Shiomi with an onslaught of her fists. After four hits to the face, Shiomi grabbed Yumi's fist and threw her off, then got up and kicked Yumi in the side, sending her a small distance away.

Jeremie returned to the screen, watching as Odd came up to Aelita and shot the Scyphozoa a few more times in the glass head. Finally, the monster emitted a shriek of defeat and gave up, floating away.

"Care for a ride?" Odd offered, gesturing kindly to Aelita.

With a content smile, Aelita got on and they rode to the Tower even as the Krabs continued firing at them.

"Happy to see me?" Odd asked.

"I sure am!" Aelita replied.

"May I drop her highness off at the next Activated Tower perhaps?" Odd jokingly asked.

"I wouldn't say no." Aelita playfully answered.

Odd sped it up, closing in on the Activated Tower.

Yumi cried out when, a little bruised after a beating from the nurse, she fell to the ground. Shiomi climbed atop Yumi and threw punches to Yumi's face that she barely dodged. Sissi lunged at the possessed nurse and grabbed her arm, pulling it away from Yumi.

"Get off my friends!" She shouted at the A.I.

Angered, Shiomi slapped Sissi away before grabbing her and Yumi by their collars, lifting them both off the ground. With a toss, she sent Yumi screaming and crashing into one of the pillars hard. She dropped down bruised and disheveled.

Sissi screamed when a kick was delivered to her stomach, sending her flying a small distance away, coughing in pain on the ground.

As for Odd, after evading the Krabs, he finally arrived at the tower. After dropping Aelita off in front of it, Odd rode back to engage the Krabs directly, firing another Laser Arrow that destroyed one of them. In retaliation, the other one shot Odd twice and devirtualized him.

The Krab could only stand and watch, however, as Aelita entered the Tower.

Shiomi stomped over to Sissi as she laid on the ground and, before the cheerleader could move out of the way, lifted her leg and sent it down upon Sissi's leg with superhuman speed.

CRACK.

"AAAAAAHHHHHH!"

Sissi's screams wailed across the main floor as the possessed nurse stomped down hard enough to break Sissi's right leg. The crunching sound was music to XANA's ears.

Inside the tower, Aelita ran up to the center platform and rose up the tower.

[System repairs at 85% and rising. Electrical offensive system unlocked]

With a snarl, Shiomi knelt down atop the incapacitated Sissi and readied her hands, creating a line of lightning that stretched across them both. Sissi was too busy screaming in agony to even look at her executioner.

"GET OFF OF HER!"

Yumi, stirred by the scream of agony that came from her best friend, rushed forward and grabbed Nurse Shiomi's left arm, trying to pull her off.

"Don't touch her, you freak!"

Next up was Ulrich, who wasted no time after hearing Sissi's screams and took ahold of the nurse's right arm.

Tears watered from Sissi's eyes as she sobbed, pain throbbing from her broken leg like never before. In the midst of the tears, she could dimly make out the possessed nurse's lightning slowly advancing towards her head and the screams of her friends.

"NO! STOP!"

Sissi whimpered, leaning her head back as hard as she could as the purple lightning inched ever closer.

Inside the tower, Aelita did a flip and eventually landed on the top platform, walking up to the centre.

Ulrich and Yumi pulled as hard as they could, but the nurse would not budge. XANA had them trapped, and it knew it. Not only could Sissi not squirm away, but the others did not have the strength to stop the lightning from impacting Sissi's head.

Electricity coursed through Shiomi's arms into Ulrich and Yumi. The duo screamed as they were violently electrocuted and sent flying off the Xanafied nurse, hitting the floor hard and being forced to watch helplessly as death came for Sissi.

Sissi looked up, opening her eyes just enough as the XANA logo flashed in Shiomi's eyes, staring death into her eyes. The lightning inched ever closer to her head, and there was no sign that XANA would stop. She whimpered, cried, and choked in her sobs.

Ulrich and Yumi screamed in protest.

Aelita placed her hand on the interface and typed in the LYOKO code.

Aelita... Sissi barely managed a coherent thought as death was only an inch away. Please...

In that infinitesimal split second before death, the lightning coursing in Shiomi's hands vanished. The XANA logo in her eyes vanished, and her limb body fell atop Sissi.

But even though she was now safe, Sissi was still squirming in agony. The pain of her broken leg left her no quarter nor any chance to celebrate. Yumi and Ulrich pushed the unconscious nurse's body off of Sissi, carefully taking her in their arms as they sought to comfort her.

"It's over. It's over Sissi." The Samurai and the Geisha tried to sooth Sissi.

"It hurts..." Sissi sniffled, trying to bite back her screams as they awaited a Return to the Past. "It...hurts..."

Ulrich and Yumi held her in their arms, providing comfort as best they could. Sissi was still sobbing, in so much pain that she didn't know if she ever felt anything like it before. Ulrich knew he needed to do something, but there wasn't much else he could do except hug her.

Or was there?

Then an idea struck the brunette. He glanced at Yumi, then back at Sissi.

"Sissi." Ulrich softly told her. "Sissi, look at me."

The cheerleader slowly and wearily did so.

She looked just in time to see Ulrich's lips descending onto her cheek, kissing her. Sissi gasped, the shock of this slightly dulling her pain. She then looked directly at Ulrich and her eyes darted at his lips.

"I...ACH!" Sissi's response to this kindness was cut off when she had to bite back another scream of agony, quietly sobbing instead.

She needs me. I have to do this.

As gently as he could, Ulrich placed his hand behind Sissi's head and pulled her into a kiss.

The pain dulled, shock overcoming every one of Sissi's senses. That this was actually happening. That Ulrich would actually do this for her. That he actually kissed her by his own free will. There was no blackmail, no encouragement, nothing. It was Ulrich's choice.

And that was all she wanted.

"Return to the Past. Now."

Jeremie activated the Return in Time, causing white light to engulf the entire world and consumes the trio upstairs, interrupting any further thought.

After the Return in Time, Aelita was walking down the halls, intending to go to Jeremie's room. Once she neared the door, however, there was a certain someone leaning against the wall by it that captured her attention.

"Hey, Aelita." Odd greeted her.

Aelita smiled back at him. "Hi Odd."

"Listen. I just wanted to talk to you about-" Odd began but Aelita cut him off.

"I'm not mad at you anymore."

"Huh? You're not?" Odd asked, surprised.

Aelita shook her head, "I would have died back there without you, and let's be honest, a lot of other times too."

The most notable instance on Aelita's mind was going off to Sector Five alone, and she remembered Odd's words to her.

"So what if you're not a real human to the world? You're real enough to us Princess."

"Am I still real enough to you?" She softly asked him.

Odd replied by patting her on the shoulder.

"I feel you. You're real, Aelita. And you're my friend."

Aelita gave him a bright smile and surprised him with a hug.

"Thanks Odd, and I forgive you."

With a smile of gratitude Odd returned her hug for a few moments. Then the two pulled back with Aelita holding his hands.

"Thank you. For saving me…again." Aelita smiled.

"Anytime princess. I'll always come back to save you when you really need me." Odd assured. "And even if we ever have an argument bigger than our last one, you can still count on me."

"I know I can." Aelita smiled brighter.

With that affirmation that there would be no more friction between them, Odd and Aelita opened the door to Jeremie's room to see quite an amusing scene.

An uncomfortable silence descended over the space of Jeremie's room. It started when Sissi was about to express jubilation that her leg was no longer broken, when she saw Yumi looking at them as if she had noticed something.

And they realized. Ulrich had kissed Sissi.

In front of Yumi.

Sissi stared at Ulrich.

Ulrich stared at Sissi.

Yumi stared at Ulrich.

None of the trio knew what to say as they all ended up there after the Return to the Past. Odd and Aelita glanced at each other, seeing red blossoming across the faces of their friends.

Sissi wiggled her leg around, testing that it was no longer broken.

Ulrich fidgeted with his shirt.

Yumi tucked a loose strand of hair behind her head.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"The way you're standing there," Odd quipped. "It makes me feel there was some K-I-S-S-ing going on!"

Somehow, Ulrich, Yumi and Sissi's faces just got even redder.

"Well...uh..." Sissi stammered. "I was in a lot of pain...Ulrich...uh..."

Aelita and Odd's eyes widened, their jaws agape as they came to a realization.

"Wait, you actually-?!" Odd started to say, before Yumi rushed over and placed a hand on his mouth to keep the loudmouth from speaking anymore.

Sissi sighed deeply and rubbed a hand on the back of her friend.

"I guess...All I can say is thank you, Ulrich."

"You were crying so much." Ulrich recalled. "I just...I was just trying to comfort you. Yumi, I-"

"I'm not jealous." She insisted a bit too quickly. "You did what you had to do."

Snap of it, you idiot! Yumi seethed to herself. Her leg was broken. Who cares what Ulrich did as long as it comforted her?!

The group were finally offered a relief when, with the door wide open, Odd noticed William casually walking down the hallway.

"Hey, William!" Odd said, capturing his and everyone's attention. "You doing okay?"

"Yeah." William calmly remarked. "Why?"

Yumi smiled in relief for her friend. Sissi breathed a sigh of relief. Her brain would have exploded if she had to deal with anymore of that gibberish today. Odd gestured William to come in which he did.

"How would you like to become a movie star?"

"You want me to star in your next film?" William asked, amused. "Huh, cool. What's it about?"

"It's the story about a boy, driven by a mysterious being, who tries to make contact with humans. All of which takes place in a virtual universe filled with danger!"

William raised an eyebrow, "Uh…that depends. Is it gonna have a lot of action? Am I gonna be some kind of a secret agent? A super hero?"

"Something like that." Odd answered.

William shrugged. "Sounds fun, though no one would ever believe something that ridiculous."

And with that little comment, all the Lyoko Warriors burst out laughing.

"See?" William pointed out. "Even they're laughing. But I do love the sound of action. Sign me up! By the way, Yumi, we still going to the swimming pool together?"

"Sure thing William." Yumi replied, smiling.

"Cool. See you around." William walked away.

Once he was out of earshot, everyone laughed harder, their embarrassment fading away. Odd and Aelita turned to each other, smiling.

A couple of minutes later, Jeremie came to his room and approached his friends, holding a CD in his hands.

"Finished! The computer deciphered all the lines of code that William spoke while he was spellbound."

"And?" Odd leaned in. "What does it say?"

"Tons of interesting stuff, including a whole lot of elements that are going to help me find the antivirus for Aelita."

"And do we know who this mysterious entity who wants to get into contact with us is?" Ulrich asked.

"Well…take a look."

Jeremie then walked up to the computer and inserted the disc, pulling up its files.

"I'm warning you, this is completely crazy." Jeremie commented.

"I've got a good guess as to who this guy is." Sissi remarked.

In reply to her comment, Jeremie pressed the "play" button. Everyone listened as the garbled voice speaks out, slowly becoming clearer and clearer much to their amazement.

"Wow! I can't believe it!" Odd exclaimed.

"I can help you. I want to enter into contact with you. I am Franz Hopper..."

Jeremie then paused the tape, letting the others react.

"Franz Hopper?!" Yumi gasped in surprise. "The real one?"

"I figured." Sissi reacted with less surprise than the others. "Who else could possess William?

"And..." Jeremie prompted, unpausing the tape. "There's more."

"...and I want to save my daughter from my mistake."

"His daughter...?" Aelita trailed off.

[ERROR: Operation: Disconnect has mostly failed]

[Analysis: Primary Objective complete. New data gathered. All secondary objectives failed. No alterations needed to main primary objective.]

[New Data: Creator is now loose on Lyoko and can interact with the real world. It is unclear how much power he has, but it is likely that he is left drained and unable to intervene again for a considerable time.]

[Current Status: System repairs at 100%. All systems fully functional and implementing firewalls to prevent further damage in the future.]

[New Tactic: The Lyoko Warriors have proven resistant against attacks in the real world, but my monsters have not been enough to stop them. Therefore, a stronger enemy on Lyoko is required to achieve victory. Furthermore, Odd Della Robbia has proven to be the most central factor in failure to the completion of main primary objective. Measures must be taken to ensure he will not be of further nuisance.]

[Conclusion: With Creator's interference, it is likely that the Lyoko Warriors will attempt to decrypt Creator's diary, but this can only be done through means that no logical enemy would pursue. Enemies have proven themselves to be anything but logical. High probability that Jeremie will take the risk of activating a tower despite failure of previous attempt.]

[New Operation Initiated: Preparing altercations to specter. Adjusting for virtualization variables. Inserting virtual combat data observed over the years. Hacking into phone networks. Target for Phase 1: Odd Della Robbia.]

Chapter Text

In Sector Five, Aelita was typing on the interface while behind her, Sissi, Odd, Ulrich, and Yumi were getting shot at by a squadron of three flying Mantas. They deflected their lasers with their weapons. Yumi threw one of her fans at an attacking Manta, destroying it.

Another Manta flew directly above them, scaring the Lyoko Warriors for a moment. As it flew by, Sissi readied her orange pom-pom and hurled it at the monster. It was a direct hit, exploding it into a thousand pieces.

"The fireworks show never gets old!" Odd quipped, earning a smile from Sissi.

"I've got a bad feeling about this." Yumi admitted. "Are you almost done, Aelita?"

"Yes, almost." Aelita assured her.

The third Manta then came swooping down at close range, only for Ulrich to duck and stab his katana in its bottom, slicing through the Manta in the process. Disoriented and injured, the Manta cried out and flew around wildly, circling back over the Lyoko Warriors. Leaning down, Odd aimed his paw up and fired directly into the center of the Manta's Eye of XANA, causing it to implode.

The Lyoko Warriors had no time to celebrate their apparent victory before Ulrich was suddenly shot in the leg.

"Watch out!" Jeremie alerted them. "XANA's sending another squadron of Mantas is headed your way!"

As the three Mantas flew into the scene, Aelita finally finished up at the interface. "Done. The controls are all yours, Jeremie."

"Great. Here come your vehicles."

Jeremie then brought up the Overbike, the Overwing, and the Overboard. Yumi took the Overwing with Aelita as her passenger, Ulrich and Sissi climbed onto the Overbike, and Odd hogged his precious Overboard all to himself. They flew off as a tunnel opened up to get them out of Sector Five.

The Mantas shot at them, but it wasn't long before the passage was ready, and the Lyoko Warriors flew through, escaping Sector Five.

Jeremie smiled as he watched Odd, Ulrich, Yumi, Aelita and Sissi's ID cards get blued out, bringing them back to Earth and officially completing their eighth or so break-in of XANA's house.

Back at the lab, the Lyoko Warriors gathered around Jeremie as he typed on the computer. He pulled up Franz Hopper's diary, and the symbols on the data entries flashed from yellow with a locked symbol, to green with an unlocked symbol.

"So, anything good?" Aelita asked.

"No, I wouldn't call it good." Jeremie replied, to Aelita's dismay.

"More like AMAZING!" He then shouted, to everyone's joy. "With this, I bet I can crack the code of Franz Hopper's diary!"

"Way cool." Ulrich quipped.

"The only problem is I'm gonna need a Supercomputer to process such a large amount of data." Aelita said. "I'll have to activate a Tower to do that."

This earned Aelita some skeptical glances from her friends.

"Uh, that didn't go very well last time." Yumi pointed out. "XANA hates it when we play with his toys."

"In case you forgot Einstein, Odd almost got the life sucked out of him last time we tried this." Ulrich reminded.

"I'm not complaining." Odd responded casually, "Personally, I had fun playing superhero in the real world and making Madame Nurse regret ever calling me scrawny."

"How do you just shrug off almost dying like it's nothing while the rest of us end up breaking down in tears? Are you nuts or just dumb?" Sissi asked incredulously.

"What can I say? I guess I'm just too unbreakable." Odd boasted.

Sissi looked to Ulrich, Yumi and Aelita with an "is he serious?" look.

"Don't look at us Sissi. We stopped trying to understand this guy a long time ago." Ulrich shrugged.

Yumi and Aelita giggled to which Sissi smiled before looking back at Jeremie.

"Dumb jokes aside, are you sure this is worth the risk Einstein?" Sissi asked. "Is whatever's in this guy's diary even worth finding?"

"We really don't have a choice." Jeremie insisted. "I've tried everything to cure Aelita's antivirus except this. Lyoko's creator has got to have something we can use, and come on Sissi, Hopper isn't a bad guy."

Sissi crossed her arms, still skeptical. It was true that Hopper did want to help them, but she just couldn't feel assured that Hopper didn't have something malicious up his sleeve.

"Anyway, can we go eat now?" Odd interjected. "It's mashed potatoes today!"

"What is with you and those disgusting things?" Sissi asked. "I take one look at them and I feel like puking!"

"Don't you disrespect the potatoes! They are the very pinnacle of food evolution!" Odd declared, earning a snicker from the others.

"You can have mine." Jeremie said. "I better stay here to prepare for the mission. That way, you can set out right after lunch."

The others then left in silent agreement.

[Execute Operation: Bait and Switch]

While Odd was in class, a specter emerged from the lamp in Odd and Ulrich's room, drawing the ire of a certain loyal mutt. The specter gently placed down the light bulb to make sure it didn't break, before screwing it back in.

Kiwi barked at the specter, which ignored him (this time anyway) and proceeded atop a desk, on which lied Odd's cell phone. The specter went atop it, purple electricity cracking as XANA examined its contents.

[Accessing pictorial archives. Entering "family" folder. Selecting the "Elise" file. Data downloaded. Withdrawing.]

[Initiating Phase 1: Capture, trap and eliminate Odd Della Robbia.]

The specter withdrew into an electrical outlet just as Kiwi leapt off the bed to lunge at it, only to hit the wall instead.

Soon after, Odd came back from science class to retrieve his phone.

"I get caught using my phone once and Mrs. Hertz banned me from bringing it to class. Typical."

Odd scoffed, though he was only caught once with it recently, and that was enough cause for him to have to leave it in his room.

Then Odd turned and noticed Kiwi barking at an electrical outlet.

"C'mon Kiwi." Odd gave his loyal hound a gentle pat on the head. "It'll all be okay."

Odd looked at his phone, seeing no signs of damage as he picked it up, pocketed it, and left for the lunchroom. Kiwi whined again, worried just what dangers the phone could have in store for its owner.

At the lunchroom, Odd was at the front of line, ready to receive his favorite food from Rosa.

"Um, Jeremie's not coming. He said I can have his portion too Rosa!" Odd told her, prompting Rosa to give him double mashed potatoes, to the Italian's great joy.

"With everything you put away, I just don't understand how you can still be so scrawny." Rosa remarked.

"I am NOT scrawny!" Odd immediately retorted. "I'm svelte!"

Ulrich, Sissi and Aelita got their food soon after and joined Odd on a table.

"Come on, Ulrich, stop holding out on us." Odd said as he ate a spoonful. "What's your overall average?"

"73 for the term." Ulrich solemnly told him. His father had wanted him to get an 80 at least, so he wasn't looking forward to dealing with that.

"Well, I'm standing on a solid 75. I beat you." Odd boasted, his mouth full.

"Only because you earned some extra points in art class." Ulrich pointed out.

"I've got a solid 78 right here." Sissi grinned. "Being the principal's daughter helps in some cases."

"What about you, Aelita?" Ulrich asked. "What's your gradepoint average?"

"95.2" Aelita casually remarked.

Odd almost spat out his food. Ulrich and Sissi stared at her in shock.

"How's that even possible?" Sissi slowly asked.

"Um…but it's only because of math." Aelita insisted.

"Yes, but still, you must have gotten good grades in all your classes. That's great, especially since you're-"

Sissi saw where Ulrich was going with this and saw fit to cut him off. "Before we get into that, you guys remember that last line Hopper said to us, right?"

"And I want to protect my daughter."

To say that Jeremie exploded at that revelation was understatement. The young genius was immediately convinced that Franz Hopper's secret daughter might be in Kadic Academy somewhere. A concept that the others were a bit skeptical about.

"Do you really think Franz Hopper's daughter is here?" Aelita asked. "I mean...it would be really nice to have a half-sister. I know, I'm not actually a human, but it would be nice to get to know her."

"No idea who it could be, even if they were here." Odd shrugged. "They'd have to be a lot older than you, so you'd have a big older sister by your side, kinda like Elise."

"Elise?" Sissi inquired.

"Yeah, my oldest sister. When I was younger and smaller, I used to be so scared of her! She'd even pretend she was a big scary giant, just for a laugh!"

Aelita smiled in amusement at the prospect of an older sister.

"You know, sometimes I get the strange feeling as if I've already lived here." Aelita glanced away in thought. "I still remember those visions...Hopper talking to me as if he knew me...It's as if I've already lived here… Weird, huh?"

"Oh, that's just the magical Odd effect!" Odd boasted. "You know, you see me once and you feel you know me forever. I'm such an unforgettable image!"

"Yep. The most unforgettable scrawny boy I've ever seen." Sissi smirked, twirling her spoon around playfully.

"I am not scrawny!" Odd insisted.

"Maybe not." Sissi replied.

"Hey Magic Odd Effect, you know you've got some mashed potatoes right on your face." Ulrich pointed out, earning laughter from his friends.

Soon after, they finished their dinner and headed on outside, where Odd got a phone call.

"Hello?" A pause, then Odd's whole face lit up. "Elise?! You're here?!"

Sissi, Ulrich, and Aelita glanced at Odd in shock.

"Wow! I can't believe this! In the woods nearby?! Alright, you've got it!"

"Was that your sister Odd?" Ulrich asked.

Odd hung up. "It's Elise! She's here to pay me a surprise visit!"

"That's amazing!" Aelita gasped.

"Yeah, sisters do that often. They hype you up, surprise you, and give you the biggest hug you've ever seen!"

Aelita very much liked the sound of that. Sissi and Ulrich didn't have any siblings, but nonetheless they found themselves happy for him.

"You know Odd, you never really told us about any of your siblings before other than Elise just now." Aelita pointed out.

"I never really felt the need to bring them up 'till now. Ulrich's the only one I've told about my sisters so far." Odd shrugged.

"So, give us the dirt. How many siblings do you have? 2? 3?" Sissi asked.

"Nope. Five." Odd answered casually.

"FIVE!?" Sissi and Aelita shouted.

"You're joking, right?" Sissi asked.

"For once, I'm not." Odd answered.

Sissi and Aelita were shocked. On average most families had 3 or 4 kids max but 6?!

"You think that's crazy, wait 'till you hear this." Ulrich teased the women. "All his siblings are girls."

"You have five sisters, Odd?" Aelita asked, even more surprised.

"I sure do. Elise, Louise, Marie, Pauline and Adele. They're my sisters and they're all bigger and older than me." Odd answered.

"So not only are you the only boy, but you're also the youngest?" Sissi asked.

"Yup. I'm the youngest, the only boy and the only one with purple in his hair. I guess you could say I'm the odd one out in my family." Odd explained.

Aelita giggled at the joke, while Sissi remarked "That might be the cheesiest thing i've ever heard."

"Proud to take the title!" Odd grinned.

"Is that how you got your name?" Ulrich asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Pretty much. My parents thought the name fit and I guess it does. Though I prefer to think of myself as special." Odd boasted.

"So, what are your sisters like?" Aelita eagerly asked. The more he mentioned his sisters, the more immersed into this she became.

"Uh…hard to say. They're all unique in their own way. Not as special as me of course. A couple of them are pretty cool too." Odd nervously started. "There's Elise, who I've already told you about. She's the oldest. Ever since I was a little kid she's always taken care of us whenever our parents weren't around. She played with me a lot and always knew how to make me laugh. She still does that even now. She's really good at sports, mainly gymnastics and art too. She taught me everything I know, including how to stand up for myself. I really look up to her for it. She's too cool."

"Way cool. I'd kill to have a sister like that. Dad would be alot easier to handle if I did." Said Ulrich.

"And next, there's Adele. She's pretty much my best friend in the family since we're closest in age. She's the youngest, next to me, about a year older. We do a lot of stuff together, listening to music, playing with Kiwi, pulling pranks, learning gymnastics together and a bunch of other stuff. She helped me get the hang of skateboarding when I first started out." Odd smiled over the thought of his closest sister. "We've been really close since before we could even walk. We've always looked out for each other whenever either one of us is in a jam."

"That's so sweet!" Aelita fawned.

"What about your other three sisters? Louise, Marie and Pauline?" Sissi asked.

"Oh…uh… they're not so bad. Louise is into fashion, Marie loves rock music and Pauline likes to sing. They can be cool…sometimes. And uh…" For some reason, Odd struggled to talk about these three particular sisters.

And judging by the worried look on Ulrich's face, the brunette knew why.

Uh oh Odd…Now might not be a good time to talk about those three, especially with Aelita. Better change the subject.

"Maybe you can tell us more about them another time." Ulrich abruptly spoke up. "Wouldn't wanna keep Elise waiting now, would ya?"

"Uh…right!" Odd responded, smiling gratefully at Ulrich.

Phew! Thanks Ulrich. No way am I ruining my good mood today!

"Sorry ladies, like Ulrich said, I don't wanna keep Elise waiting." Said Odd.

"We understand." Sissi said, giving her approval.

"I can tell you more about my sisters later, princess." Odd said to Aelita.

"I'd really like that Odd." Aelita smiled.

"Alright, I'm gonna head out! This is gonna be great!" Odd quickly turned and sprinted away.

The more Odd talked about his sister, the more Aelita felt happy. The fact that a sister gave Odd so much joy. She wondered how much joy she would get by meeting Franz Hopper's daughter. Would she treat Aelita like Elise did to Odd? Even better? Assuming her antivirus was cured soon and XANA was dealt with, finding her half-sister was something Aelita became increasingly interested in.

"Wow...I really hope I get to meet my half-sister one day." Aelita admitted.

"I'm sure she'd love to meet you." Sissi assured the pink-ette.

The three walked over to a bench as they continued talking.

"Until then, consider Odd the annoying little brother." Ulrich suggested, earning a laugh from the women. "If that call telling him to meet her in the woods was from any girl, he'd probably just go ahead and take it. His love life is like a soap opera."

He chuckled, though he sighed in realization. "Then again, I don't really have much room to say about him, do I?"

His kiss with Sissi was still on his mind, and while Yumi assured him that she did not blame Ulrich for doing that in the slightest, there was that little section of his mind that couldn't help but wonder if Yumi was secretly jealous of that interaction.

"Hey, Ulrich." Sissi caught his attention. "Me and Yumi both agreed. We stand by and wait for you to decide on one of us. Neither of us are gonna pressure you into it."

Sure. And what will happen when I inevitably break one of your hearts?

Ulrich didn't voice that thought aloud and was spared that scenario when his phone rang.

"Hello? Jeremie?" A pause. "Got it. On our way."

"Activated Tower." Ulrich informed Sissi and Aelita. "One of you call Yumi, I'll call Odd ."

Aelita and Sissi glanced at each other then got up, the former dialing Yumi's number and Ulrich dialing Odd's.

Elise! Oh man, this is going to be so awesome! I haven't seen her for over a year!

The Italian could barely contain his excitement as he raced through the woods. It had been a while since he had seen any of his sisters over facetime, and at least one year since he had seen one of them in person. A thousand scenarios raced through his mind of what he could say to her.

"If only you knew that I'm a little butt kicker now!" Odd muttered to himself. "Your little brother is all grown up now!"

Soon after, he reached an open space in the woods and figured this was where she wanted to meet him. Odd felt vindicated in that thought when he spotted a tall blonde girl leaning against a tree, smirking at him.

Elise Della Robbia smirked at him with that familiar smile that Odd had seen all his life. She wore blue jeans and a yellow shirt, her hair curled up into a ponytail. Her shoes were purple sandals, which she always wore except whenever she faced dress code rules.

"Sis!" Odd cried out as he ran forwards, his heart soaring when Elise opened up his arms to him and lifted him up, twirling her little brother around.

"Hey, little guy." Elise told him with that same nickname she always used, much to the blonde boy's amusement.

Elise put him down and patted him on the shoulder, staring at his wide smile and savoring it.

"I'm so glad you're here! " Odd exclaimed. "Can't believe you actually came all the way to France to surprise me!"

Elise gave him a toothy grin.

"Oh, the surprise isn't over yet." She assured him. "Why don't you check your phone?"

Odd eagerly did so and saw a new text message.

"SOS: XANA" - Ulrich Stern

"Oh, come on! Not now! Are you kidding me?!"

Odd very much did not want to cut his reunion with his eldest sister short, but he had no choice in the matter. He was going to give XANA a piece of his mind once he got to Lyoko. That was for sure.

"Elise, I'm sorry, but I have to go."

Elise giggled in response.

"Would you mind looking into my eyes before you go?"

"Sure." Odd said as he leaned forward and took a good look at them. "But I don't see-"

A familiar eye-like symbol replaced the Iris in each of Elise's eyes, then.

"Oh no…" Odd gasped in horror.

Elise then gripped the boy's wrist in her hand, her eyes flashing with none other than the XANA logo.

"Oh...YES."

Odd's face was filled with horror at the trickery that was unveiled to him. XANA had impersonated his sister. Never before had Odd felt so tricked. So betrayed. So utterly fooled.

"No! NO!"

XANA-Elise summoned electricity through Odd's veins, and the boy's screams echoed through the forest, loud enough to scare birds away.

And then, silence.

[Phase 1 complete. Odd Della Robbia incapacitated. Chances of enemies' success has reduced significantly. New orders for specter: Dispose of Odd and initiate Phase 2.]

Ulrich, Yumi, Aelita and Sissi took the elevator into the lab room, and Jeremie turned to acknowledge their presence. However, there was one absence that Jeremie took notice of very quickly.

"Where's Odd?"

"I sent him a text message, but he's supposed to be meeting his older sister, Elise." Ulrich informed him. "Apparently, she's stopped by to pay him a surprise visit."

Jeremie didn't have any siblings, but he found himself feeling bad that Odd would have to cut such a reunion short. But then again, that was XANA's fault and not his, so he stayed focused.

"I hope he gets here soon. Not only do we have to decrypt Franz Hopper's notes, but now we have to deactivate the Tower as well!

"Want one of us to stay with you?" Ulrich asked, remembering XANA's threat to their leader all too well.

"No, we should have everyone on Lyoko for this." Jeremie selflessly told them. "If anything happens, i'll let one of you know and one of you can come back."

"Alright, but be keep an eye out." Yumi requested before the four descended into the Scanner room.

As they did, Jeremie typed in Odd's number and called him, to no avail.

"Come on!" Jeremie groaned. "Pick up!"

Unbeknownst to Jeremie, Odd's phone lay alone in the woods in the same spot he was attacked with no sign of its owner or XANA-Elise anywhere.

"Alright, he's not answering. He'll have to meet you later once he's done with his sister."

Giving up on Odd's presence, Ulrich, Yumi and Aelita each stepped into a scanner to be virtualized, while Sissi waited to go in after them.

"Transfer Ulrich. Transfer Yumi. Transfer Aelita."

The scanners close on Ulrich, Yumi and Aelita one by one as Jeremie picks out their IDs.

"Scanner Ulrich. Scanner Yumi. Scanner Aelita."

Ulrich, Yumi and Aelita were lifted off their feet, light particles surrounding them and blowing their hair up before being scanned, their virtual signatures recorded.

"Virtualization!"

Once completed, a gust of wind sent Ulrich, Yumi and Aelita to Lyoko.

The trio are virtualized in the Mountain Sector, landing on a path.

Sissi was ready to get into a Scanner of her own when she heard the elevator door opening up and spun around.

"Here I am, Jeremie."

Jeremie huffed, surprised when he heard the voice.

"Jeremie, it's Odd." Sissi confirmed before looking to Odd. "Are you okay Odd?"

"I'm fine. Let's just go in..." Odd sighed, his voice much quieter and sorrowful than usual.

Already, remorse was starting to fill Jeremie's thoughts. He knew Odd hadn't seen his sister for so long, so to have to call him over when his eldest sister was coming over to visit...it didn't make Jeremie feel good.

No, come on. This is XANA's fault. Not yours.

"I'll launch the procedure." Jeremie told them as Odd and Sissi stepped into the scanners. Sissi noticed Odd grit his teeth, as if he were growling.

"Transfer Odd. Transfer Sissi."

The scanners closed on Odd and Sissi after Jeremie picked out their ID's.

"Scanner Odd. Scanner Sissi."

Odd and Sissi were lifted off their feet, light particles surrounding them and blowing their hair up, before being scanned, their virtual signatures recorded.

"Virtualization!"

Once completed, a gust of wind sent Odd and Sissi to Lyoko...

Only for a red exclamation mark to pop up on Jeremie's screen, next to Odd's avatar.

"What?!" Jeremie gasped. This hadn't happened before.

Odd and Sissi successfully virtualized in the Mountain Sector, landing in the centre of their friends waiting for them.

"Odd, are you okay?!" He asked, starting to panic. "There was a bug during the transfer!"

"I'm fine, Jeremie." He sighed, his voice still unusually quiet. "Everything's okay. I'm on Lyoko."

[Phase 2 of Operation: Bait and Switch Successful. Deactivating Tower]

Before Jeremie could express his concerns further, something else caught his attention.

"No way!" He shouted as the activated Tower suddenly vanished off the screen.

"What's wrong Jeremie?" Yumi asked.

"The Tower just deactivated itself!" Jeremie announced, to everyone's surprise.

"Are you sure?" Ulrich asked.

"Yeah!" He confirmed. "The Superscan shows all clear, as if XANA has called off his attack."

"Why would he do that?" Sissi questioned. "Last time he did it , he kept faking us out until he launched the real one."

"Well, either way, that's one less thing to worry about for now, right Odd?" Ulrich asked, turning to his roommate.

Odd just stared up at the sky and he crossed his arms, as if unimpressed by XANA's cowardice.

[Hypothesis Proven: Polymorphic specters do not need a Tower to function as long as they are not on the real world]

"Right…" He quietly replied. Ulrich looks to the others.

"What's up with him? Is he sulking or something?" Ulrich asked.

"He had to leave his sister for the mission, remember." Aelita reminded.

"Hey, Odd." Sissi turned to him. "I'm sorry you had to leave your sister. Once we're done here, you can get right back to her though."

"Yeah..." Odd blankly stared, to the others' distress. To see their most energetic member so subdued and quiet was quite...unnerving for them, to say the least.

"Here are your rides." Jeremie brought up their vehicles, reminding them "Please remember, we do have a diary to decode! I've chosen the Tower at 72 degrees south and 55 degrees west!"

Yumi and Aelita hopped on the Overwing, Odd took the Overboard, and Ulrich and Sissi took the Overbike as they sped towards their destination.

The five encountered no resistance as Aelita was taken to the front of the Tower, entered it, levitated to the second floor, and entered the Code: Lyoko to activate the Tower manually, ready to begin deciphering the diary.

"I'm ready, Jeremie." Aelita announced.

Jeremie cracked his knuckles. "Okay, I'm activating the Tower...Now!"

He pressed a button and Jeremie once again activated his own Tower, it's aura turning green as he hoped that this would go a whole lot better than last time. Besides, he wasn't possessing someone, so it wasn't like XANA could kill even if he did take it over again.

Jeremie watched as the diary appeared on-screen, its pages already being deciphered.

"Yeah!" He cheered. "It's working!"

"The decoding of the data is going underway Jeremie, but it might take some time!" Aelita informed him.

"No problem." Jeremie assured him. "Whenever XANA leaves us in peace, everything's cool."

Jeremie was promptly greeted with three red icons on the screen.

Why did I say that?

"Uh, oh. I spoke too soon. Watch out, you've got three Tarantulas on your way!" Jeremie warned his friends.

"Where?" Yumi asked. "We can't see anything in this mist?"

Soon enough, three Tarantula headed down the path and into view.

"There!" Sissi pointed as she pulled out her spear. Ulrich readied his katana and Yumi her fans. Odd pointed his paw at the monsters. The four were ready to fight.

"Wow! XANA's pulled out the big guns." Ulrich commented, as it wasn't everyday XANA sent three Tarantulas.

"I'll take point." Yumi volunteered as she took a step forward and raised her fans-

[Initiating Phase 3 of Operation: Bait and Switch]

Only for Odd to suddenly switch his aim and shoot Yumi in the back several times, devirtualizing her.

"WHAT THE-?!" Sissi gasped as she found herself being shot at next, forcing her to use the spear to deflect his Laser Arrows. "Odd! Stop that!"

Odd said nothing and stepped towards the cheerleader, continuing to shoot at her.

"What are you doing?!" Sissi yelled, to no avail. "What's gotten into you?!"

Sissi ended up getting shot in the shoulder. "OW!"

"Jeremie!" Ulrich cried out as he came to a single conclusion. "XANA's taken over Odd!"

"WHAT?!" was the simultaneous response from both Aelita and Jeremie.

Odd started firing much more rapidly, and Ulrich quickly got between him and Sissi, deflecting all the Laser Arrows while stepping back as he struggled to keep up with the onslaught. The Tarantulas began firing lasers at Ulrich, prompting Sissi to get back-to-back to him, spinning her spear to deflect the lasers.

However, an assault from three Tarantulas at once was a lot for anyone to handle. Both Ulrich and Sissi looked like they could give out at any moment.

"He's attacking us and devirtualized Yumi!" Sissi shouted. "Like a zombie or something!"

"Sissi, fall back!" Ulrich instructed as he used his Super Sprint to reach the Overbike. Sissi followed, jumping onto the Overwing as Odd and the Tarantulas continued firing. They scored some hits, Sissi taking one to the leg and the arm, while Ulrich took one to the stomach.

Gritting their teeth from the pain, they drove off into the skies.

"You. Stay." Odd emotionlessly turned to the monsters and pointed at the Tower. "Guard."

The Tarantulas roared in response before Odd got onto the Overboard and mindlessly pursued his roommate and crush.

And Yumi reappeared in her scanner, dropping down and banging her fist on the floor in frustration over being taken out so easily.

Meanwhile, at the Hermitage a tap had been left on outside and water was running down a sewer hole. Inside that sewer hole is a certain catboy who's managed to regain consciousness.

"Ugh...what?"

Odd, the real Odd, rubbed his head as he sat up.

"Where...where am I?"

Odd looked around, seeing he was in some kind of tall hole. Then he looked around the walls and saw water slowly seeping down. His shoes were already getting wet. And then he began to remember.

"Elise..." He shook his head. "Ugh, that XANA is even slyer than I thought!"

Impersonating one of his sisters was something Odd wouldn't be forgetting anytime soon, but first, he needed to get out of here as he realized XANA left him to drown, knowing he would run out of breathing room once the hole completely flooded.

The Cat Boy jumped on the wall, attempting to climb up towards the gate at the top, only to slip and fall into the water. He tried again, holding onto the small gap between the bricks with his fingers but unfortunately without his cat powers and claws it's a real struggle.

Ulrich and Sissi dodged the Laser Arrows as best they could in the aerial chase they found themselves in with "Odd", but their foe was relentless.

"How did XANA do it?!" Sissi asked. "You said he already tried possessing you all and we're all immune by going to Lyoko!"

"That's right, we are!" Ulrich agreed. "There's no way XANA should be able to possess Odd!"

Jeremie deliberated the question and came to a conclusion just as Yumi used the elevator to arrive at the lab.

"XANA can't possess us, and I think it has something to do with the Tower suddenly deactivating."

"You said the Tower is a connection to the real world, right?" Yumi recalled, walking up to Jeremie. "What if XANA sent that Odd to Earth, and didn't need the Tower anymore once it was on Lyoko?"

"Right. It's not the real Odd. It's another polymorphic specter!"

"Another one of those things?!" Sissi commented. "One was bad enough. Two is really pushing it, but three is where I draw the line!"

"But where's the real Odd, then?" Yumi questioned.

"I don't know, but I do remember the others mentioning he was going to meet his sister in the woods. That must have been a XANA trap." He concluded.

Odd, still stuck in the sewer hole, was beginning to lose his grip. He hung onto the wall as much as he could but eventually slipped and fell back into the water, reaching higher up his legs as he realized escape was futile. He needed help if he was going to get out of this one.

"HEY!" Odd shouted as loud as he could. "IS ANYBODY THERE?! YOO-HOO! HELP!"

Nobody answered his pleas, and Odd struggled to swallow down his fear as he tried to assure himself.

Come on, Odd. The others will notice soon something is wrong. You just gotta have faith in them...

The fake Odd continued relentlessly firing Laser Arrows, this time form both paws and Ulrich and Sissi deflect with their respective weapons.

"I don't get it! Why did XANA choose to go after Odd?" Sissi wondered.

"He probably figured it'd be easier to lure Odd by posing as one of his sisters." Ulrich guessed.

"It may be more than just that." Jeremie weighed in. "I can only guess XANA wasn't too happy about Odd foiling his last attempt at stealing Aelita's memory. Also, you guys remember what that false Franz Hopper said, don't you?"

"You mean about Odd being the most 'troublesome' to XANA for foiling his schemes the most?" Yumi remembered.

"We thought he said that just to make him overconfident and gain his trust, but maybe XANA wasn't lying. If you think about it, there have been so many times recently when the Scyphozoa nearly had Aelita and Odd came swooping in." Jeremie explained

"Not to mention all the other times Odd has saved me from XANA and his monsters for the past year and a half. Out of everyone in the group, Odd has probably saved my life and foiled XANA's schemes the most." Aelita added.

None could deny that the theory had a whole lot of merit to it. In fact, most of the saving Aelita had from the Scyphozoa recently were done by Odd. The wolf attack, the blizzard attack, when Aelita ran off into Sector Five by herself, and the most recent XANA attack.

"Right. And because of that, XANA views Odd as the main reason for most of his failures. That most likely made him the specter's prime target, and not me." Jeremie summarized.

"If that's the case, XANA will want Odd out of the picture for good. He may have left him to die somewhere! We've got to save him!" Yumi exclaimed.

"Right! Go to the woods and look for him. Tower's deactivated, so i'll be fine by myself"

Yumi nodded in agreement and left in the elevator at once.

With none of the Lyoko Warriors guarding the tower, the Tarantulas took their place and stood in front of it. They glanced at each other, as if murmuring, and then roared together.

Ulrich and Sissi were continuing to evade XANA-Odd as the evil Cat Boy followed them.

"Talk about a tailgater! Even worse than the old you, Sissi!"

"Was I that bad?" Sissi asked as she deflected more Laser Arrows, but another one hit her in the back and she cried out.

"You've got 10 life points left, Sissi!" Jeremie warned.

"Not on my watch!" The cheerleader declared as she brought out her green pom-pom, moved the Overwing closer to Ulrich, and smashed it onto the Overbike, healing them as green confetti spurted out.

"You're back to 60 life points, Sissi! Ulrich, you're fully healed!"

Ulrich smiled at Sissi, who smiled back before preparing to throw her explosive pom-pom, trying to blow their pursuer to pieces.

"Eat this!" She shouted as she tossed the pom-pom, only for XANA-Odd to dodge to the side, and the explosive missed completely.

"Aw, come on!" Sissi groaned.

XANA-Odd shot the Overwing and it spun wildly as Sissi screamed, hanging on tightly before being thrown off.

"Sissi!" Ulrich called out.

Sissi flew past the Overbike and Ulrich managed to reach out and grab hold of her hand just as the Overwing crashed onto the ground and exploded.

"Gotcha!" Ulrich smiled.

If Sissi could blush on Lyoko, she would. "Thanks Ulrich."

Ulrich quickly pulled Sissi up and she rode on the passenger seat of the Overbike.

"Ulrich! Sissi!" Jeremie suddenly yelled. "It's a trap! He's trying to lead you away from the Tower!"

"But, why?!" Ulrich asked their leader.

Hearing this, Aelita looked up and asked, "Jeremie? What's going on? Is there a problem?"

On the interface, Jeremie's tower was switching between green and red, meaning one thing.

"Oh man! XANA's trying to gain control of the Tower! Abort the mission! Stop decoding and come back to Earth!"

"On it!" Aelita declared as she began to stop the process.

Seeing the Lyoko front was as secure as it could be, Jeremie called up Yumi's number.

"Yumi. How's the search for Odd?" He asked.

"I'm in the woods, but it's like trying to find a needle in a haystack!" She complained. "Is there any way you could narrow the search?"

"Actually, I can. While I was hacking into the network, I managed to locate the emergency telephone closest to Odd's phone. "

"You can do that?" A surprised Yumi asked.

"Of course, I can." Jeremie said, taking a relaxed pose to show off. "If Odd still has his cell on him, he's in the northeast corner of the woods."

"That's near the Hermitage!" Yumi realized. "I'm off!"

After Yumi hung up, Jeremie heard back from Aelita, attempting to stop the decoding of the diary only to be met with multiple red flashes on the interface.

"Jeremie, we've got a problem. I can't stop the decoding program. It's taking up too many resources. It's out of my control now."

Jeremie slammed a fist into the armrest of the chair as he realized the implications of this.

"Bad news! If XANA manages to get control of the Tower now, he'll be able to get into the restricted access part of the Supercomputer! I could lose all the data in Franz Hopper's diary!" Jeremie yelled, starting to panic as he realized all his progress could be undone.

"It's worse than that." Aelita explained. "By trying to code a program within the Supercomputer, you opened up access to all of the Supercomputer's archives. This Tower could access anything. Everything you've programmed. Our combat gear, our vehicles, the transfer codes..."

Aelita gulped as she added the last part. "And my materialization program."

"This is a nightmare!" Jeremie gasped. "ULRICH! Sissi! XANA's about to take control of the Tower! You have to stop him!"

Ulrich and Sissi deflected some more Laser Arrows as XANA-Odd growled at them, and Sissi couldn't help but feel a few chills run across her spine at this malicious depiction of the Cat Boy.

"We'd love to, but how?" Ulrich asked.

"You have to isolate the Tower from the network. Try cutting the cables! Hurry!" Jeremie urged the Samurai and the cheerleader.

"Hang on tight!" Ulrich warned Sissi as he took a sharp turn with the Overbike, heading back towards the Tower.

"Wooooaaaahhh!" Sissi yelled as she clung to Ulrich like an anchor.

Soon, the two riders ended up in front of the Tower, where the Tarantulas started shooting at them and Ulrich started deflecting.

"Jump off!" Ulrich instructed as he deliberately crashed the Overbike onto the central Tarantula, destroying it.

Sissi and Ulrich each jumped atop a Tarantula's head and stabbed them directly in the Eye of XANA. In sync, they both perfectly jumped off as the two monsters exploded, leaving the way clear.

Ulrich walked up to the cables and raised his katana-

"Look out!" Sissi shouted as she deflected a Laser Arrow headed their way. Ulrich put his guard up at once.

XANA-Odd jumped off the Overboard, facing his two opponents as he fired more shots that Ulrich dodged and deflected.

"You're wasting your time XANA!" Ulrich taunted. "He can beat Sissi, but Odd has never beaten ME yet!"

"Standing right here!" Sissi yelled, annoyed.

The Polymorphic Specter responded by emitting an orange glow before its form changed entirely.

Ulrich and Sissi's eyes went as wide as dinner plates as they beheld the site before them. An exact copy of Ulrich, except his yellow bandana and stripes were now orange and the rest of his outfit was entirely black. XANA-Ulrich's eyes were orange, iris's completely replaced with the Eye of XANA.

"Uh…yeah…well okay, uh…that changes things." Ulrich nervously admitted.

Well, damn. I probably should have kept my mouth shut...

"Uh..." Sissi stammered. "Okay that's pretty creepy but also…kinda hot?"

It took every last drop of Ulrich's willpower to not facepalm at that moment. "Seriously?"

XANA-Ulrich took the Samurai's utter incredulity as an opportunity, dashing forward and swinging for his neck.

Yelling, Sissi shoved him out of the way and raised her spear, which clashed with XANA-Ulrich. The specter engaged her for a few swings, testing her skill. She was alright.

He was better. Much better.

XANA-Ulrich pummeled her spear with a rapid barrage of swings. He moved so fast, Sissi had not a single opening. To her shock and horror, the spectre struck down so hard that he sliced her spear in half right through the centre.

The cheerleader barely had half a second to process this before XANA-Ulrich launched a spin kick that sent Sissi screaming and crashing into the wall. Sissi groaned, barely able to stand on her feet even while using the wall behind her as support.

"Super Sprint!"

A blink of an eye later, XANA-Ulrich zoomed in and shoved his katana through Sissi's chest, into the wall. She could only gasp and choke, her eyes as wide as dinner plates again.

"Sissi!" Ulrich shouted as she dropped to her knees after the saber was removed, devirtualizing.

Ulrich's evil twin turned to face him with a grin, before lunging forward. The two Ulrich found themselves engaged in a duel, exchanging swings and locking blades, almost like a lightsaber battle from Star Wars.

Sissi stepped out of the Scanner, gasping as she clutched her chest and tried to shake off the pain.

"Sissi! Are you alright?!" Jeremie asked.

"I think I know how the monsters feel when Ulrich uses his Super Sprint to destroy them now." Sissi commented.

"No time for rest!" Jeremie informed her. "Yumi's out in the woods trying to find Odd. Go and help her as fast as you can!"

"Right!" Sissi responded.

At that urging, Sissi went into the elevator and took it into the ground floor, then ran out of the factory and into the woods as fast as her feet could carry her. Sissi wasn't physically competitive until recently, but she refused to become exhausted even as sweat built up on her forehead.

All that mattered to her right now was saving Odd. The boy that annoyed her for so long, but also the boy who encouraged her, who played with her, who she swapped bodies with, and who she found herself feeling very...passionate...for.

But I'm already in love with Ulrich! It's not like I can just take both!

As much as the others ridiculed Ulrich for his endless emotional hesitation, Sissi was starting to understand him. The more she thought about Odd, the more uncertain she became. She didn't start spending much time with him until recently, while she had been crushing on Ulrich since elementary school.

By now, the water had filled up half of the sewer hole Odd was trapped in and has left him unable to touch the ground with his feet. The only thing he could do was continue shouting for help.

"HELP!" He screamed, to no avail.

"Okay...uh...think of positive things Odd." He tried to wash away his terror. "Uh...Elise..."

Odd loved his eldest sister, just as much as his youngest, Adele.

They cared about him. They loved him. Just like his friends would. Odd just needed to have faith that they would come and rescue him, just like every other time XANA attacked. He just needed to have faith in Aelita, that she would deactivate the Tower and get rid of this fake sister XANA had sent at him.

But the more he thought about his sisters, and the more he became soaked, his mind couldn't help but think back to a certain prank that his other sisters. When they-

Positive thoughts, Odd! He chided himself. No negativity allowed here!

So instead, he thought about Sissi.

Do I really love her?

Everything that Odd had seen so far told him that he did. He really did not want to go through the endless hesitation that Ulrich always did though, lest he sound like a hypocrite.

"Sounding just like Ulrich and Yumi, Odd." He scoffed at himself. "Love. Seriously!"

The thing was, though, his hands were tied. Ulrich had to choose between Yumi and Sissi, and it was quite clear both girls were quite affectionate for him. The other way around was quite evident after that possessed nurse attack too.

Either way, if Sissi was gonna keep him waiting, he wouldn't have a decision to make.

Yumi continued running through the woods, where she made a stop to call Odd's phone. She heard ringing and immediately ran over to the source of the noise. Odd's phone laid there on the ground and she picked it up.

"Yumi!"

The Geisha turned to find Sissi has caught up her, stopping next to her to catch her breath.

"Any...sign of...?" She panted.

"No, not yet. I found his phone. This is probably the spot where he disappeared so he's gotta be somewhere around here. Let's try near the Hermitage."

With a nod, Sissi caught her breath and headed to Franz Hopper's decaying, abandoned home.

"So, Yumi..." Sissi started as they ran. "You're not...uh...too mad about-?"

"Sissi, your leg was broken. You were screaming in agony." Yumi swiftly interrupted, realizing what she was about to ask. "Even if I were jealous of Ulrich kissing you at that moment, which I most certainly am not, you'd be within your rights to slap me senseless for it."

"I've done stupid things in the past because of jealousy. Ulrich too, and you..." Yumi trailed off, knowing Sissi got the picture by now.

"Ugh. Love. Seriously!"

Jeremie became increasingly nervous, seeing the tower signature keep flashing from red and green.

"XANA's going to do it, Aelita! Is there anything new?" Jeremie asked.

On her end, Aelita kept pressing a stop button on the interface only to be met with failure.

"There's no way to stop the process. Everything's buggy!" Aelita replied in dismay.

Meanwhile, the two Ulrichs gritted their teeth as they entered a saber lock in their clash. They both pressed forward, trying to overwhelm the other, but the strength of both Samurais were equal.

Then Ulrich jumped back, swinging at his Clone as they engaged in an intense clash. The Clone readily parried or dodged his attacks, but Ulrich did the same. The two were entering an impasse until one slipped up or fatigued.

Then there was a roar, and a fourth Tarantula was arriving to interrupt the duel. It raised its front legs, firing at Ulrich, who sped away using his super sprint. Dealing with a Tarantula and his Clone at the same time would be pretty bad.

"Super Sprint!"

Ulrich looked back to see that his Clone had also inherited his powers, much to the former's dismay. Now that his Clone actually spoke, Ulrich noticed his voice was very...strange. It didn't bother trying to sound like the human it imitated anymore. It sounded a lot more like the voice they heard threaten Jeremie.

Maybe...XANA himself?

They clashed a few more times as they sped down a narrow path.

The two Ulrichs then leapt into the air, continuing to clash to a stalemate even as they dropped back down. Ulrich gritted his teeth and the Clone snarled at him. His opponent was very good, on par with the OG samurai. As much experience Ulrich had in swordplay, this was the first time he had actually been in a proper sword fight. But this was also XANA-Ulrich's first time.

Once they landed, the two found themselves on a large circular platform with wiring all around it. Seeing no need to find better ground, the two clashed one more time, being driven back. Then the Ulrichs each jumped on a wiring and lunged, clashing mid-air. They repeated this process a few more times.

Odd is running out of more breathing room, the water having now filled up around three fifths of the sewer hole.

"Help!" Odd called out but to no avail as usual. "HELP!"

The two Ulrichs ended their midair clash and landed on the ground, entering a stare down.

XANA-Ulrich raised his katana and centered it in front of his face, as if saluting his enemy.

Seems like you were wrong, Odd. It's me XANA has respect for. Ulrich mused.

He couldn't help but let out a small grin. It was thrilling to fight monsters, but an actual opponent to sword fight against had his adrenaline rising above the usual level. Also adding to it was the implication that Ulrich was actually fighting XANA himself. Or at least a vessel with which the A.I. used to talk. Either way, he was eager for some payback.

The Samurai copied XANA's salute before charging ahead and clashing once more with his evil twin. Still at a stalemate, he spun around for a kick, to which XANA-Ulrich leapt away.

"Hey, you're not so bad there, XANA." Ulrich complimented, to which his evil twin just charged ahead and clashed with him once more.

"Woah, full of surprises huh?" Ulrich leapt away and raised his sword to the sky.

"Triplicate!"

A clone of Ulrich spawned on the left and right of the brunette.

"Triplicate!"

A clone of XANA-Ulrich then spawned on the left and right side of the Polymorphic Specter.

"Copycat!" The central Ulrich teased. "Charge!"

The battleground became increasingly chaotic. Two Ulrichs kept leaping off wiring and clashing mid-air, while the other two pairs exchanged blows on the ground.

Ulrich #2 and XANA-Ulrich #2 clashed relentlessly, until the former resorted to an unusual method. Ulrich #2 got into a saber lock with his clone and proceeded to headbutt the former directly in the former. XANA-Ulrich #2 shouted, disoriented, and Ulrich #2 took that opportunity to slice his opponent by the neck, securing victory.

That was not the original, however. As for Ulrich #3 and XANA-Ulrich #3, the two continued clashing mid-air until they finally opted to land back on the ground and fight head-on.

"Super Sprint!/Super Sprint!"

Using their speed as much as clones could do, the two struck each other so hard that both their swords went flying out of their hands. They glanced at their swords, seeing that they were far out of reach, and then back at each other.

Ulrich #3 ran between them and the swords, smirking. He cracked his knuckles and entered his Pencak Silat stance.

"Your move."

XANA-Ulrich #3's foot came rushing at his enemy's face. Ulrich #3 ducked under it and attacked with his fists. He landed a couple solid punches to the face and stomach, but XANA-Ulrich #3 struck back with his own punches. Each blow was heavy and progressively took the wind out of the other Ulrich.

A kick to the chest and Ulrich #3 was sent flying against a wiring. He ducked when XANA-Ulrich lifted his leg up and aimed for his chest, then spun around and smashed his elbow into XANA-Ulrich #3's stomach. He gasped, staggering back. Ulrich #3 kept up the assault, jabbing his evil twin a couple more times in the face before spinning across and executing a roundhouse kick across his face.

XANA-Ulrich #3 yelled as he fell from the platform into the Digital Sea to his demise. Ulrich #3 looked over the edge and waved.

"Ciao!"

At that moment, Ulrich #2 sped up to his other clone.

"I think you forgot this."

Ulrich #3 snickered as he took back his sword, before turning with his comrade to see the original Ulrich and XANA-Ulrich still clashing, locked in a stalemate.

Ulrich #1 leapt away, standing beside his clones.

"Triangulate!"

All three Ulrichs sped around the clone, surrounding him in a triangle. Even after he and the clones took their positions, the silhouettes of the Ulrichs continued to run and maintain the speed trail between them. The three Ulrichs smirked, and Ulrich #3 dashed behind for an attack.

[Analyzing: Ulrich usually strikes from behind after the Triangulation maneuver. Deploying Countermeasure]

XANA-Ulrich thrust his blade behind him, impaling Ulrich #3 through the chest and destroying him.

Ulrich #2 then came charging at XANA-Ulrich, who merely pivoted to the side, causing Ulrich #2 to stumble and lose his footing. XANA-Ulrich plunged his katana into the second clone's back, destroying it and leaving only the originals.

The original Ulrich then ceased his Triangulation method, and the two Ulrichs were back to square one. After a few more clashes, Ulrich went for a leg sweep, to which the Clone jumped over it and struck Ulrich's katana so hard that it went flying out of his hands.

Rather than let the weapon go to waste, however, XANA-Ulrich grabbed ahold of it midair and took it for his own, prompting the real Ulrich to jump back.

"Hey!" Ulrich whined. "No fair!"

Back in the sewer hole, Odd continued floating upwards as water continued to fill up the space between him and the gate, eventually leaving him right underneath it. And more importantly, within arm's reach.

"That figures. At least I don't have to climb anymore."

Odd grabbed the vent and tried to push it off so he could escape, only to realize that it was nailed firmly into place.

"Well, I guess you could say I'm really up to my neck in trouble this time."

Odd chuckled at his own joke, struggling to defuse the tension rising up within him. He didn't have much longer until there would be no space left for him to breathe in at all.

A short distance away, Yumi and Sissi approached the Hermitage.

"You think the Polydorking clone took Odd in there?" Sissi questioned.

"Polymorphic clone" Yumi corrected. "He might have locked him in the boiler room, but let's check outside first."

"This place has a boiler room?" Sissi questioned. "How did that Hopper guy afford one?"

Yumi shrugged. "Beats me, but XANA locked me and Ulrich there once. Tried to cook us alive."

Sissi shivered. Now that was quite a horrible way to die.

"You check the back. I'll go in front, then we'll head inside." The Geisha instructed before they moved forwards.

Back at the Tower, its aura turned red as XANA began to cement it's control.

Jeremie put his hands on his hair, trying to control his panic. Every second that passed while Ulrich was busy with his clone, XANA was inching ever closer to the restricted archives of the Supercomputer. Aelita could not do nothing from her position either.

"XANA's about to take over! Ulrich! What are you doing?!"

"I've just got-"

Ulrich leaned his head back when his doppelganger swung at his neck.

"One last little thing-"

Ulrich dodged to the side as XANA-Ulrich went for a downwards strike.

"To take care of!"

Ulrich dodged again as XANA-Ulrich continued his murderous assault. Ducking under his next swing, Ulrich tried to somersault over him, but XANA-Ulrich kicked him in the chest, sending the Samurai flying backwards.

Ulrich shook off the dizziness and flipped back to his feet, readying himself in a Pencak Silat stance. XANA-Ulrich tilted his head, staring at him. He wasn't about to drop his katanas and fight fairly, but he didn't necessarily need to kill Ulrich to win here today.

Ulrich reared a hand up and motioned his doppelganger forwards, egging him on. Amused, XANA-Ulrich Super Sprinted forward, raised his left arm and plunged Ulrich's own katana towards its owner-

Only for Ulrich to drop down just in time to catch the weapon, clasping it with both hands, snatching it away from the clone. XANA-Ulrich gasped in shock as Ulrich spun around and impaled him through the chest.

The Clone could only stare in utter shock and disbelief as it devirtualized, though it didn't re-emerge in the real world. It seemed like Ulrich had actually killed the thing.

Ulrich exhaled, feeling quite pleased with himself, before sheathing his katana.

"All done, Jeremie." He proudly declared.

"Make it fast, NOW!" Jeremie urged him as Ulrich Super Sprinted towards the Tower.

Stopping in front of the cables, Ulrich brought out his katana again and raised it upwards-

Only to suddenly have two lasers fired into his back.

Gasping, Ulrich turned to see the fourth Tarantula standing there, having cleverly obscured itself from his sight. The monster then fired a third laser that devirtualized the Samurai before roaring in victory.

"ULRICH!" Jeremie screamed in defeat.

And now there was nothing left to stand in XANA's way.

"Odd? Odd!"

Yumi and Sissi arrived outside the hermitage and searched the premise for their friend. By now, worry was starting to overcome Sissi.

What if he's not here? What if we don't find him? What if he's already dead?

The missing boy in mind heard the cries of the two women from underneath the grate. It was completely filled with water, and all Odd could do was stick his mouth out in one of the small squares and scream for help, as well as wave an arm through another hole.

"Yumi! Sissi! I'M HERE!" He desperately cried out.

Sissi circled around to the backyard to notice a large puddle on the ground, coming from a hose that was left on.

Odd was here. He's gotta be here somewhere...

Sissi went to the hose and turned it off.

"YOO-HOO! SISSI!"

Then she spun around to find her online crush desperately trying to breathe as he was on the brink of drowning.

"Odd? ODD!"

Sissi ran over to the grate and splashed away some water, trying to get room for Odd to breathe.

"YUMI! OVER HERE!"

The Geisha arrived in seconds, kneeling beside Sissi as she tried to pry the grate open with her bare hands.

"Odd!" Yumi screamed in terror, seeing him barely able to breath through a small hole. Sissi began prying on the gate too.

"Come on!" Sissi screamed, tugging as hard as she could. Unfortunately for the three of them, she didn't have her super strength.

Not that she cared. She'd sooner break her wrists trying to free him than give up.

"DON'T YOU DARE DIE ON US!"

Back in the lab room, Ulrich emerged from the elevator to see Jeremie shouting and slamming his fist against the armchair.

"XANA's about to steal all my data! We're done for..." Jeremie lamented.

Ulrich walked over, hands in his pocket.

"I'm sorry...I tried." He sighed. Already, the guilt was starting to seep into him. He had been enjoying that fight with XANA-Ulrich so much, he had almost forgotten the urgency of the situation. If only he remained more focused...

"XANA won..." Jeremie muttered, on the verge of tears. After all they had done, this was how it was going to end.

Code: Earth was gone, along with everything else they had achieved. Aelita could no longer return to Earth, and there would be no combat data to protect her anymore.

They lost. And Aelita would be lost too.

[Not today, XANA.]

"Hey!" A feminine gasp came from the computer, drawing the attention of Ulrich and Jeremie.

On Lyoko, the Tower's aura suddenly changed from red to white, drawing a confused sound from the Tarantula as it watched.

[CRITICAL THREAT DETECTED: Creator is attempting to hijack Tower. Deploying countermeasures]

[This will be...exhausting...to say the least. But it must be done, no matter the cost]

"What's going on? Aelita?!" Jeremie asked as he and Ulrich stared at the screen.

"I don't get it! It looks like XANA has lost control of the Tower!" Aelita exclaimed.

Then Jeremie noticed the Tower turned white and came to a conclusion.

"Franz Hopper! He's helping us!"

[Failure: Excess energy rerouted to power Tower's firewalls failing. Creator overcoming all defenses. Unable to block or restrict intrusion.]

"What's going on your side?" Jeremie questioned.

On Aelita's end, the interface start scrolling down at high-speed.

"The decoding program...is going full speed!"

Jeremie and Ulrich watched in shock as the decryption program was accelerated and a white glow shines from the interface.

Sissi and Yumi's muscles screamed in protest of the strain they were put through as they tugged on the grate keeping Odd in the water with all their strength. Their panic rose ever more as Odd became completely submerged under the water.

All Odd could do was hold his breath as his vision began to dim, and all he could see was black.

Sissi and Yumi screamed as the girls heaved on the grate with all their might, veins appearing on their faces and necks.

Finally, all the water began to loosen a screw, and the other three followed suit as well. Odd, meanwhile, couldn't hold in his breath any longer. He began to sink down the drain...

Just as Yumi and Sissi finally tore the grate off, barely managed to grab him by the hair, and dragged the Cat Boy back up to the surface.

The girls held him tight as Odd spat out a gallon of water and coughed hard on the ground.

"You're alive!" Sissi and Yumi literally cried in relief.

After several more coughs, Odd eventually regained enough consciousness to speak.

"No girl's ever kept me waiting that long!"

Odd, Yumi and Sissi burst into overjoyed laughter, the girls hugging him. Neither cared that Odd was soaking wet, and that their clothes were facing dire consequences from their hug.

Odd looked up at Sissi, seeing a mixture of joy and relief on her face that was overshadowing the distress and despair seconds later. He smiled weakly.

The decoding program soon completed and was sent to the supercomputer archives, untouched by XANA.

Then a message came on screen.

["Give this to my daughter. And thank you, for all you have done for her."]

The Tower was then released from Hopper's control, reverting back to its neutral aura. The Tarantula roared in defeat as it turned and scampered off, the monster making its master's displeasure well known.

Aelita stood on the tower platform, astonished by what she just witnessed.

"Amazing…" she commented.

After a couple minutes, Jeremie received a call from Yumi which he picked up.

"Yumi?" Said Jeremie.

Yumi sat on a rock and Sissi held Odd's shoulder as he squeezed the water out of his hair.

"Sissi and I found Odd. He's alright. How about you?"

"The mission was a success." Jeremie informed her. "We're decoding Franz Hopper's diary now. Meet me in my room later. We...got a lot to go over."

Understatement of the century right there. Jeremie thought as he scoured the contents of the diary.

A couple hours later, the Lyoko Warriors gathered up in Jeremie's room, ready to hear the secrets of the diary he had worked so hard to decode.

"Franz Hopper was the creator of XANA. In his diary, he wrote down everything that happened during the creation of Lyoko. Everything."

"That means you'll be able to find the antivirus!" Aelita hopefully suggested.

"Yeah...it does," He turned around to his computer.

"You don't sound very happy..." Sissi noted.

"Well… there's something more." He admitted. "Way more, but I'm going to get into the most important detail now before we get into the rest, especially before why he created it and XANA to begin with."

"Go on, then. Spit it out." Ulrich urged.

He turned around to them, rubbing the back of his head as he struggled to speak.

"Before Franz Hopper virtualized himself on Lyoko...and before being taken prisoner by XANA...he lived here on Earth...and he didn't live alone"

He got to his feet, not sure on how to say what he's been holding in. The more he hesitated, the more nervous the others were.

"His family?" Aelita inquired, before a realization came over her. "Hopper's daughter! Is this about her?"

"It is." Jeremie admitted. "When Hopper took over the Tower, he left a message for us. It said, per I quote: 'Give this to my daughter. And thank you, for all you have done for her.'"