99: Strong Winds

“The Subdigitals are back!” Ulrich told the others as they walked into the Science lab room. “They’re holding a concert tonight in town. It was just announced last minute, and tickets went on sale a few hours ago. Apparently it’s for a fundraiser for a charity.”

“Gonna see if you can swipe a few passes from the band?” Odd said, grinning at Aelita. “They already know you. I mean, it would be sad if they didn’t. You DJed for them as an opening act last year, remember?”

“How could I forget?” Aelita said, rolling her eyes. “Anyway, I’m not going to try and take advantage of them. I mean, they were nice enough to let me DJ for them; I don’t want to abuse that. Besides, since it’s for a charity, the tickets should be bought, not conned.”

“Oh come on!” Odd said, obviously looking disappointed. “They have a new single out, and the word on the street is that they’re gonna open the concert with another new song!”

“I’m guessing you spent all your money on Galactic Invaders 4,” Ulrich said, laughing. “You’re definitely desperate enough.”

Before Odd could reply, Mrs. Hertz rapped her stick on her desk to get the class’ attention.

“Quiet down, please,” she called out. “Class is starting.” The students stopped talking and turned to the front of the room. Odd sulkily turned around.

“Today,” she continued, “we will be starting a completely new unit following our previous unit that ended last week. It is the different forces that may affect an environment.”

“Here we go,” sighed Odd. He was immediately hushed by Aelita, Jeremie and Ulrich.

“You all know, or should remember, from Biology last year,” Mrs. Hertz said, “what functions in an environment and keeps it alive. But what can destroy it? Anyone? Yes, James?”

“There are predators within an environment,” James said, “like the lions that attack antelopes or the sharks that eat fish.”

“Yes,” Mrs. Hertz said, “but I’m looking for things that can affect an environment as a whole. Yes, Jeremie? What is something that can affect an environment as a whole?”

“There are a lot of nasty natural disasters,” Jeremie answered, in his mind sticking his tongue out to James.

“Correct,” Mrs. Hertz said. “For today, we will be studying the concept of natural disasters. We will cover storms and hurricanes later, since they are slightly more common than the others, but today we will start with something that simply forms from wind. Who can tell me what I’m thinking of?”

“Is…is it a tornado, ma’am?” asked Odd.

“Actually, yes,” Mrs. Hertz said, blinking a bit disbelievingly. “Very good, Odd.”

Once Mrs. Hertz had turned her back to then, Odd stuck his tongue out at the others. They rolled their eyes.

“Today we will be studying how cyclones form,” Mrs. Hertz said. “I would like you to open your books to Chapter 13, Natural Disasters, page 548.”

Everyone groaned as they lugged their heavy Science books onto their laps and onto the tables from their bags. There was a heavy thump as all the books plopped onto the table.

---

Odd sighed as they sat down for lunch. “That was definitely one of the worst classes of all time.”

“You say that every single time after one of Mrs. Hertz’s classes,” Jeremie said, poking his macaroni with his fork.

“Except for that time when Xana took control of the Return to the Pasts,” Aelita said. “That time you actually got smart from a Xana attack.”

“I know!” Odd said, crossly, as everyone laughed. “If our friend Xana would be so courteous as to make another attack like that one, I would appreciate it a lot more. Sometimes having an artificial intelligence for a foe can have its benefits.”

Ulrich coughed. “Well…it definitely doesn’t help you with the ladies, that’s for sure.”

Jeremie cut across Odd, who was about to retort. “Anyway…last night I was able to finish that update to the supercomputer. It was installed successfully,” he said, glancing at Aelita.

“Great,” Aelita said, smiling.

“What exactly does the update do again?” Yumi asked. “Even though we probably won’t understand a word of it.”

“It increased the speed of the quantum unit,” Jeremie answered, taking a bite of the buttered slice of bread, “which means that all of the programs operate at a faster speed.”

The others stared.

“What?” Jeremie said.

“Somehow we didn’t expect the explanation to be that simple,” Ulrich said, taking a sip of water.

“Although the update has been installed,” Jeremie said, continuing, “I may have to cut History class this afternoon. I have to make sure that the supercomputer is operating normally, because the update may have accidentally corrupted some of the functions.”

“No, you can’t miss this afternoon’s classes,” Aelita reminded. “Don’t forget that the big history exam on the Cold War is this afternoon.”

Everyone at the table groaned. “I can’t believe I forgot,” Jeremie said, sighing. “There’s no way any of us can miss that if we don’t want our grades to plummet. Mr. Fumet’s tests count for so much of the grade for the term.”

“Only one week into school, and we have a test?” Odd said, sighing. “This is the worst that’s happened since my no-potatoes nightmare.”

Everyone else rolled their eyes.

---

As they left the lunchroom and started walking towards History class, Jeremie tapped Aelita on the shoulder. “Aelita, can I talk to you for a minute?”

Aelita turned and stopped. “Sure, Jeremie, what is it?”

Jeremie shifted, a bit embarrassed. “The Subdigitals’ concert is tonight, and I was wondering…would…you like to come with me to it? I mean, I got tickets a little while ago, and…you know, if you want to…”

Aelita smiled. “Sure I would, Jeremie,” she replied, kissing him on the cheek. Jeremie blushed.

Odd gave a slight cough as Aelita and Jeremie caught up to them. Ulrich gave him a look that plainly said Don’t say anything. They walked into the classroom and took their seats.

Mr. Fumet stood up and walked to the front of the room. “Good afternoon, class. Today, as you all should very well know, is our first test. It is on the Cold War, as we have been studying the last few days.”

The class collectively groaned. “Please clear your desks and take out a pencil and eraser. And just to remind you of the rules, for the members of this class with severe memory loss, if any of you attempt to cheat in any way, you will get a zero and will be sent to Mr. Delmas’ office.”

“I think I studied everything,” Ulrich whispered to Odd as the tests were passed out. “I studied the Vietnam War, the Korean War, and all of the other wars between the United States and China.”

Odd gave a short laugh. “It was between the United States and the Soviet Union, Ulrich,” he said.

Ulrich stared. “…Oh.”

---

“So how was the test?” Yumi said, walking over with William to the others in the courtyard after class. They were all sitting at their usual bench. Jeremie, as usual, was working on his laptop. “It wasn’t too hard, was it?”

“Piece of cake for Aelita and Jeremie, as usual,” Odd said, cutting the others off before they could reply. “I think I actually did better for once. Ulrich, on the other hand…”

“Hey, it wasn’t my fault that half the things I studied last night were about World War II!” Ulrich grouched, as the others laughed.

“Sounds like someone else I know,” Yumi said, rolling her eyes at William.

“And then on top of that we had to sit through another art class,” Ulrich grumbled.

“Slept,” corrected Odd. “I really wish that class was more interesting.”

“Your parents are artists, aren’t they, Odd?” Aelita said. “Hasn’t any of their blood gotten to you?”

“Guess not,” Odd said. “But in my defense-”

“Will you guys mind keeping it down a little?” Jeremie interrupted. The others turned. “Some of us are trying to work here. I’ve just finished doing a remote check on the supercomputer, and all seems to be well. It saved me from a pointless trip to the Factory.”

“Why not?” Odd said. “You could certainly use the exercise.”

---

Odd, Ulrich, Yumi and William entered the concert building on the busy streets of the town.

“How did you guys manage to get here?” Aelita asked, as she and Jeremie walked over.

William shrugged. “My parents said for some odd reason that I needed time off after what happened last year, and they paid for us. No clue as to why.”

“Except they only bought three tickets,” Yumi said.

“So Odd had to cut some shady deal with Sissi as usual,” Ulrich said, giving Odd a dirty look. “It had better not be something to do again with me having to date Sissi.”

“I told you, it’s not involving you!” Odd replied. “And I also told you, Ulrich, that she’s moved on; she’s not interested in you anymore. You know what I mean,” he said, as Ulrich rolled his eyes. “Although…” he continued, glancing at William.

“What?” William said, raising an eyebrow. “What did she say you had to do, Odd?”

“Uh…the less you guys know, the better,” Odd said, glancing away from their suspicious faces.

The lights blinked. “Must mean the concert’s about to start,” Yumi said, checking her watch. “Let’s go.” They headed into the standing auditorium.

The lights dimmed, to be replaced with spotlights shining bright colors.

The announcer cleared his throat. “Please put your hands together for the Subdigitals!”

There was a great deal of shouting, cheering and applause as Chris, Ben and Nico walked onto the stage, waving.

Ben took the mike. “Today we’ll be starting out with a brand new single that will be released in our next album!” The cheering got louder. Aelita, Jeremie, Ulrich, Odd, Yumi and William, although they were screaming and cheering themselves, had to cover their ears.

“I should have brought earplugs!” shouted Ulrich over the noise.

“Even earplugs wouldn’t have helped!” called Yumi.

Suddenly, Jeremie’s bag started beeping. No one heard it at first as the Subdigitals started playing, but Jeremie eventually heard it. He quickly made his way to the side of the auditorium.

Aelita and the others followed him. “What’s going on?” asked Aelita.

Jeremie opened his laptop. A Super Scan window appeared on the screen. He sighed. “Activated tower,” he told the others. They groaned. “And just when we were trying to chill out and have some fun.”

“Let’s get going,” Yumi said. The others sighed and made their way out of the auditorium.

In a parking lot nearby the building, a man sat in his brown sedan, reading the paper. His car was parked right next to the entrance of the parking lot; he was the only one in the lot.

A streetlight started flashing. Purple sparks flew out of the bulb, and something that looked like a blob of black goo dripped out of the light.

The specter gathered on the ground. The man didn’t notice it until wind started picking up behind him. He glanced in the rearview mirror to see papers, cans and random bits of debris collecting in a spinning cloud. He gave a shout of shock, and quickly turned the key in the ignition.

The car revved, and he slammed down the gas pedal and hightailed it out of the parking lot as something that looked like a tall, swirling cloud of dust and wind followed him out of the lot and into the street.

Jeremie and the others were running toward the Factory when a brown sedan sped past them. The man driving it was screaming something about a tornado.

They stopped. “What was that guy doing?” asked Aelita, frowning.

“Trying to get a speeding ticket?” mused Odd.

Suddenly, there was the sound of a great rushing wind behind them. They all turned to see a tornado coming down the street after them.

They all gasped. “What is that thing?” shouted Ulrich.

“A tornado, from the looks of it!” William shouted back. “Let’s get out of here!”

“Wait,” Jeremie called to them as they started off. “It’s us it’s after! If we all go to the Factory, we’ll all be in trouble for sure!”

“Then what do you suggest we do?” Yumi asked over the rushing wind.

“We can try to split up,” Aelita replied. “Its intent, of course, is to destroy the Factory, but Xana also wants to obliterate as many of us if we can. If we all split up and some of us stay to keep the tornado busy, a few of us can get to the tower and deactivate it.”

“Okay,” Odd said. “Ready? GO!”

They all split up. Odd and Ulrich headed up the street. Jeremie and Aelita ran off to the right, towards the river, and Yumi and William ran in the other direction, past the tornado.

The tornado spun in a circle, not sure which way to go. It made up its mind and went after Yumi and William back down the way it came.

“Yumi!” William shouted as they ran, the tornado following them. “Get to the Factory! I’ll distract this monster.”

“Are you sure?” Yumi said, a little shocked. “What if you get sucked in?”

“I’ll be fine,” William replied. “Just go!”

Yumi nodded, and ran off toward the Factory. William turned around and stopped. “Hey airhead!” William called to the tornado, coming toward him. “Looking for me?” He set off in the opposite direction from the Factory. The tornado took the bait and followed William instead of going to the Factory.

---

Jeremie strummed his fingers on the arm of his chair. “Where is everyone else?” he wondered aloud. “Surely at least one more person could have gotten away.”

Aelita paced the room, dialing Yumi. She finally picked up. “Aelita?” Yumi said. She sounded like she was running.

“Yumi!” Aelita called. “Where are you?”

“I’m on the bridge,” Yumi said, panting. “William managed to distract the tornado, and I got away. What about everyone else? Where are you guys?”

“Jeremie and I got here safely,” Aelita replied. “Odd stayed to keep the tornado busy, and Ulrich’s here right now.”

“Okay,” Yumi said, swinging down the ropes to get down to ground level. “You guys go ahead to Lyoko; I’ll be there in a minute.”

“Okay,” Aelita said, hanging up. “Yumi will be here in a minute; we’re going to Lyoko.” Jeremie nodded, and turned back to the computer and started typing. Ulrich got up and followed Aelita into the elevator.

“The tower is in the Desert Sector,” Jeremie told them as Aelita and Ulrich ran into the scanners. “I’ll send you guys now, and Yumi will catch up when she gets here.”

“Got it,” Ulrich said. The scanner doors closed.

“Transfer Ulrich, Transfer Aelita,” Jeremie recited, typing in the necessary codes to get them to Lyoko. “Scanner, virtualization!”

Ulrich and Aelita’s forms appeared over a dark yellow plateau. They landed. “Jeremie, we’re here,” Ulrich called, dusting himself off. “Where’s the activated tower?”

“Just north of your position,” Jeremie replied as the Overbike and the Overboard appeared. “Here are your vehicles. Yumi will join you as soon as she gets there.”

“Here we go!” called Ulrich as they zoomed away.

“Jeremie, I’m here,” Yumi called out as she ran into the scanner room.

Jeremie started typing. “Okay, get into a scanner and I’ll transfer you.”

---

Odd was running through the streetlamp-lighted streets. He could hear the tornado…somewhere near him, but he couldn’t quite tell where.

Suddenly, he rounded a corner and bumped into someone. “Ouch!” they both said, falling backward.

Odd helped William up. “What are you still doing here?” Odd asked, confused. “I thought everyone else got to the Factory.”

“Everyone else but us two,” William said, brushing himself off. “Yumi called and said that she got to the Factory safely, and everyone else is there. You can go if you want; I can handle the tornado by myself.”

“Like you handled the Scyphozoa?” Odd said. “No way, I’m staying with you.”

“Suit yourself,” William said, shrugging.

Suddenly, the sound of the winds got louder. They both looked up the street to see the tornado coming after them.

“RUN!” shouted Odd. “If we don’t, we’ll be tornado toast!”

William followed his lead and sprinted after him. The tornado followed them.

---

“Hi guys,” Yumi called out as she caught up to Ulrich and Aelita, riding the Overwing.

“Hey Yumi,” Ulrich said. “The tornado didn’t cause you any harm, did it?”

“Well, I’m here,” Yumi said, winking. “Don’t see how it could have.”

“Be careful, guys!” Jeremie warned them. “There are some monsters on your tail!”

The three of them looked back as a laser shot fired. Two Tarantulas were following them.

“They’ll never catch us,” Ulrich said. “They’re too slow.”

“Except for the fact that we already have welcomers,” Aelita said, pointing ahead of them. They all turned to see three Krabes waiting for them.

“Uh…Jeremie?” Yumi called as they swerved to a halt, caught between the groups of monsters. “Which way do we go?”

“They’re trying to distract you from the tower,” Jeremie said. “The tower is to your left.”

They looked to the path to their left. The plateau ended, but a narrow bridge took the path across to a large plateau, and at the far end of the long plateau, they could see the tower.

“Let’s go!” called Ulrich. The three vehicles turned, and they headed toward the tower. The monsters cried out and followed them.

Shots continued to be fired at them as they crossed onto the plateau. Ulrich drew a saber, and Yumi took out a fan. They blocked the shots from the Krabes and Tarantulas coming after them.

Suddenly, there was a great rush of wind. Aelita was blown off of the Overboard, and Yumi caught her hand as she flew back past them and pulled her onto the Overwing.

“Huh?” Jeremie said, frowning and adjusting his glasses, squinting at the screen. “What is THAT?”

Clouds of billowing sand came at them from all directions. “Jeremie?” coughed Ulrich. “What’s going on?”

“It looks like Xana is trying to trap you in some sort of sandstorm!” Jeremie replied, frantically typing. “And until I can find a solution, you’re going to be trapped in it! You’ll be pulled into the Digital Sea if you’re not careful!”

The winds suddenly started to pick up speed, and blew in the direction opposite from the tower. All Ulrich, Yumi and Aelita could do was to hang onto their vehicles and try to hold their positions.

“What’s happening to the monsters?” Aelita called out. They turned to see the monsters backing off, not even bothering to cross the bridge.

“Got it!” Jeremie exclaimed. “I think I’ve found the solution. It should neutralize the winds, at least for a little while.”

The winds suddenly started to die down. The sand dropped to the ground and settled.

Shaking off virtual desert sand, Ulrich turned back to Aelita and Yumi. “You two, get to the tower,” Ulrich called. “I’ll hold off this mixture of seafood and arachnids.”

Aelita and Yumi nodded. “Good luck,” Yumi called as they sped off toward the tower. Ulrich turned in the opposite direction and zoomed toward the monsters. He drew a saber and called out, “Hey! Ugly, ugly, ugly, uglier, and ugliest! Catch me if you can!” He went under a Krabe and headed in the opposite direction. The Krabes, looking rather annoyed, sounded their calls and went after Ulrich, but the Tarantulas turned and went after Yumi and Aelita.

As they headed toward the tower, Aelita and Yumi heard monster calls from both in front of them and behind them. They looked forward to see two Tarantulas coming out from behind the tower and assuming firing positions, and they looked back to see the other two Tarantulas coming up quickly.

Yumi sighed, as the Overwing drew to a halt. “Okay,” she said, turning to Aelita. “You go take care of those two by the tower,” she instructed, “and I’ll handle our pals behind us. At the first chance you get to enter the tower, get in there.” Aelita nodded, and jumped off the Overwing and activated her wings.

---

Odd and William were starting to tire running from the tornado. It had picked up bits of debris, and had even damaged a few of the buildings when it went past. “It’s too fast!” Odd panted. “At this rate, the tornado will have us in a matter of seconds!”

“Not if I can help it,” William replied grimly, as they turned into a side alley. The tornado followed them. “We’ve got to split up and try to get to safety.”

“Define ‘safety’,” Odd said, running as hard as he could. “The Factory’s out of the question, and I can’t think of anywhere else!”

“We’ll just have to split up, then,” William replied, his legs aching. “Good luck!”

As soon as they came back onto the main street, William and Odd headed in opposite directions. Pedestrians still walking the town late at night screamed, and ran away from the tornado.

But instead of going after either of them, the tornado went straight. Odd and William turned back and ran back to where they had split. They watched in horror as the tornado headed in the direction of the Factory.

Odd quickly pulled out his cell phone as they started running after the tornado. “Come on, Jeremie, pick up!”

“Odd?” Jeremie answered. “How’s everything on your end?”

“Not very good at the moment, but it’s about to get worse on yours, Einstein!” Odd replied. “The tornado is heading toward you!”

“What?” Jeremie gasped. “Okay, I’ll tell the others to hurry up. Just…just try to keep it occupied, because we can’t let it destroy the Factory, as well as the supercomputer!”

---

Aelita shot her last Tarantula with an Energy Field. It fizzed pink, and then exploded.

Aelita glanced back at Yumi, still fighting her last Tarantula. “Yumi, do you need help?”

“I’m fine, Aelita!” she called, as the Tarantula shot the Overwing. She jumped off of it and threw a fan; it missed. “Just get into the tower!”

Aelita turned and ran toward the tower, only about ten meters away.

Suddenly, there was a strong gust of wind. “Be careful!” Jeremie said, entering codes in frenzy. “The winds are starting to pick up again! I’m trying to neutralize them, but just try to hang on for now!”

Aelita activated her wings as she tumbled backward away from the tower. Yumi drew a fan and slammed it into the ground, and hung on for dear life as the Tarantula was blown away in the strong winds.

Ulrich was facing off with the two remaining Krabes near the edge of the other plateau. “Come on, guys!” he called as he dodged shots from them, still on the Overbike. “You can do better than that!”

“Ulrich, be careful!” Jeremie shouted. “The winds are picking up again!”

Ulrich turned, and his eyes widened as he saw the enormous cloud of sand and wind hurtling toward him. He hung onto his Overbike as the Krabes slowly started to be pushed toward the edge. One finally lost its footing, and tumbled into the depths of the Digital Sea, where it exploded.

Ulrich tried to drive into the cloud in an attempt to stay away from the edge of the plateau, to no avail. He tumbled off the Overbike and managed to grab the edge of the plateau with his hands, but his grip was starting to slip. The last Krabe and the Overbike tumbled over the edge.

“Jeremie!” Ulrich cried, as the winds got stronger. “Do…something!”

“I can’t!” Jeremie said frantically. “I don’t have enough power! If only Aelita could deactivate the tower, I can activate a Return to the Past!”

“Well, at least materialize me!” Ulrich called, “because I’m loosing my grip! And I don’t feel in the mood for swimming!”

Jeremie activated the materialization program, only to have a red error window pop up. “Now what?” Jeremie said exasperatedly. “Oh no…” he said, as the error report window opened. “It looks like the update did damage the supercomputer after all…the materialization program has developed a bug, and the only way to fix it is to remove the update, and that takes ten minutes!”

The Factory started to shake. Jeremie opened a camera window and gasped. The tornado was coming down the river, and it was getting really close to the Factory.

Outside, William and Odd were running across the bridge. Suddenly, they saw the tornado on their left, coming quickly down the river.

“Quick!” Odd said. “For now, our best bet is getting inside the Factory or we’ll be toast! And I don’t think there’s any butter around!”

But just as they had almost made it, William screamed. “AHH!” he shouted as he was sucked into the tornado.

“William!” shouted Odd. He himself tried to hang onto the bridge arch, but he lost his grip and he too was sucked in.

Aelita had activated her wings, and was battling the wind to try and get into the tower. “Come on, you stupid wind,” Aelita said, “let up!”

Yumi had almost lost her grip on her fan. Suddenly, she screamed as she tumbled backward towards the edge.

“Yumi!” shouted Aelita. Aelita turned grimly back in the direction of the tower. Focusing all her energy on flying, she made it meter-by-meter, and finally tumbled into the tower.

“Hurry, Aelita!” Jeremie called desperately, watching the camera, seeing William and Odd sucked into the tornado, and checking the radar screens to see Yumi and Ulrich near the edge of the separate plateaus.

Aelita pressed her hand to the interface. “Tower deactivated,” she called as the interfaces lining the tower were sucked downward.

Jeremie quickly started the program as the Factory stopped shaking. “Return to the past, now!” he cried, pressing the enter key.

---

“That was a close one,” Odd said as they sat down for lunch again, sighing. “But seeing the inside of a tornado was pretty intense.”

“I didn’t like it that much,” William said, shuddering. “I was about to upchuck. Lucky for you Odd that Aelita was able to deactivate the tower so fast, or you would have been splattered with sick.”

“It would go nicely with your outfit, though,” Ulrich commented, taking a scoop of his macaroni.