107: The Guardian – Part 1

A door opened into an old house across the street from the woods, sending a gust of air through the greeting room. Forgotten papers and documents that no one had bothered to pick up blew across the floor as a pink-haired girl stepped into the old home full of memories.

Aelita slowly pulled the door shut behind her as she walked cautiously into the room. As the door closed with a click, a few hanging shards of glass fell from the door’s broken round window and landed on the ground with a clink. Aelita remembered that the others had mentioned it had smashed when a moving cupboard hit the door, sent by Xana. That was years ago, but the window, like her past, still had never been repaired or assuaged.

Strangely, Aelita felt no tears push at her eyes as she walked into her old home. She could barely remember her first home in the mountains, but here, memories came to her, shimmering like the reflection of the sun on water. She had left behind her first home, as well as her mother, to move with her father to the Hermitage. But that had been more than two decades ago.

Aelita glanced into the living room on the right as she passed it. The ancient piano had not made a single note since its player had left the home with his daughter. Aelita could remember the first words from her first piano lesson:

“It’s like math. Let me show you.”

Even though Aelita had regained her memories over a year ago, she had never attempted to play the piano, even though she had visited the Hermitage many times. She viewed it as something that would always belong to her father, and now that he had left this world…

Aelita had tried to forget. She had tried to push away her past numerous times, and yet it clung to her as if it was chained to her leg like a weight. How easier it would have been if none of this happened, Aelita imagined, and I was still alone on Lyoko. I never would have remembered my past, and I would never have felt this sorrow.

And yet, Aelita thought, if Jeremie Belpois had never restarted the supercomputer, she wouldn’t be here right now; she wouldn’t have been able to smell, to see vibrant colors, to feel thoughts, even. She would just be a human without any memory of how to be human. But Aelita’s arrival onto Earth had eventually cost her the sorrow of her lost past. A black stain of her memories had come with her happiness.

Now that my past died with my father, it’s the same thing all over again, Aelita thought sadly. Before I even knew of my past life, it haunted me, wanting to be found. But even though it’s died with my father, it’s still haunting me, but now that it’s been found it doesn’t want to be forgotten.

Suddenly, a white light flashed across Aelita’s field of vision. The living room suddenly became clean, and the furniture was in its usual place. The windows were fixed once more, and the piano was good and brown instead of old and broken. And on a bench in front of it sat a man, wearing a white lab coat over a tattered red sweatshirt and dark pants. He was playing “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star”. He suddenly stopped and turned to look at Aelita. His round-rimmed glasses, dark and green with age, flashed so brightly that Aelita was almost blinded.

Aelita caught herself before she swam too far into the past. Sighing, she headed for the stairs. Aside from these visions, her past had been haunting her through her dreams, but they had been getting worse and worse. And Aelita felt that she needed to start in the place where her fate took an irreversible turn: her old room.

---

Jeremie opened the door to his room.

“SURPRISE!”

Jeremie gave a start as Ulrich, Yumi and Odd laughed, throwing confetti around the decorated dormitory room, until they realized that Jeremie was alone.

“Einstein, don’t tell me that you suddenly turned her invisible!” Odd joked.

“Jeremie, where’s Aelita?” Yumi asked. “I thought you said you were going to go and get her.”

Jeremie sighed. “She wasn’t in her room. I’ll have to call her on her mobile.” He reached into his pocket and took out his cell phone, beginning to dial her number.

“Great, now we just wasted a bag of confetti,” Ulrich grumbled, reaching under Jeremie’s desk and snatching another one. “Because we’re definitely not picking all of it up.”

“Isn’t that wasting money, though?” Jeremie said, frowning as he put his phone to his ear. “We only bought the extra stuff in case we needed to use it.”

“And now we do, at your expense. You should have called before you came in,” Ulrich retorted crossly.

Jeremie grunted in response.

---

Aelita stepped over the threshold of the old room. At one time, the room had been almost completely decorated with pink, but since she had left it so many years ago, it had almost all faded, leaving the room a bare gray of faded colors.

Aelita stepped lightly across the floor to avoid stirring the layers and layers of dust and grime. She glanced to her left, at the poster above her dresser where Mister Pück had sat for so long, alone and yet so peaceful until Aelita had come to reclaim him. Mister Pück, whose name had been suggested by her father, giving her the only explanation that it meant “goblet”. In what language, Aelita didn’t know, but she also had no way of knowing then that Mister Pück would be the holder, the protector to Train Station Locker 167’s key, into which old knowledge locked away for years had finally been recovered.

“Great! Maybe we’ll be able to find out more about the Hermitage’s mysterious owner,” Yumi said.

Franz Hopper’s diary had eventually been decoded (by Jeremie, of course), and unearthed the long-hidden secret: Aelita was human, and was also the daughter of a man she could not remember. At least, only for a few days, until her father had given back her memories in Sector 5, after having what was left of her stolen by Xana through his loathsome Scyphozoa.

Should I have left him there to prevent my past from coming back? Aelita asked herself. No, she thought, her past would have returned even without Mister Pück, and then she would have come back to find him anyway.

Aelita caught a glare in the eye, and she glanced to see sunlight shining through the window. She walked over to it. As she glanced through the broken glass, a familiar pink-haired girl appeared, staring back at her with melancholia in her eyes.

Suddenly, Aelita felt something independently stir at the back of her mind. Before she could tear her gaze away from her reflection, before she could move at all, a white light that seemed to come from everywhere and yet nowhere overpowered her vision. Aelita dropped to the floor, still and silent as stone. Unconscious, she failed to hear her phone ring.

---

Jeremie frowned, taking his phone away from his ear and glancing at the screen for the third time. “She’s not answering,” Jeremie said worriedly. “I’d better go and look for her; she could be in trouble.”

“Is there an activated tower?” Yumi asked.

“Already checking,” Jeremie replied, already sitting down and typing at his computer. “No, it doesn’t look like there is. I’m going to go and look for her.”

“Where is there to look?” Ulrich asked. “She could be anywhere.”

“She’s seemed really sleepy lately,” Odd offered. “Wait…do you think she could still be getting nightmares about her past?”

Jeremie gave a start. “She denied it when I asked her,” Jeremie said, thinking hard, “but she could have been lying. I’m going to go and look at the Hermitage first.”

“Don’t forget to call us before you enter,” Ulrich said irritably as Jeremie walked out and pulled the door shut.

---

Aelita tried to keep her eyes scrunched shut, but her vision wanted to be witnessed. Aelita finally gave in and opened her eyes.

When she did, she was met with a shock.

She was in the lab. A frail figure sat slumped against the wall, motionless. With a gasp, Aelita recognized the round-rimmed glasses, the white coat, the red sweater, the gray hair and the gray beard…all of it.

A dark figure stepped out of the shadows. No words were spoken, but as the figure raised a hand out, white lightning flew across the room. Franz cried out as he was electrocuted and thrown across the room. He hit the opposite wall and fell to the floor, motionless and silent.

Aelita ran over to her father, forgetting that she was in a dream. “Daddy? Daddy?” she cried, trying to shake her father awake. “Daddy, it’s me, Aelita!”

Her father looked up, and surprise weakly flared in his eyes. But Aelita felt something disappear in the dark eyes hidden behind the glasses. Her father slumped to the ground once more, and moved no more.

There was a cackle from the other side of the room. Aelita turned in horror as the figure raised an arm, and lightning blinded her. A split second before the lightning hit her, she saw the eye of Xana almost glowing black in the figure’s eye.

Aelita suddenly sat up, gasping for breath. With a sigh, the tears finally came, and Aelita bent her legs and flopped her arms onto them. It’s my mother I’m still looking for, Aelita reflected sadly, but it’s my father who was truly lost with no chance of return.

Suddenly, Aelita heard steps in the hallway. She stood up, wiping the tears from her face and heading toward the door.

As Jeremie walked off the stairs into the hallway, he saw movement in a doorway. Jeremie walked over to Aelita. “Hi, Aelita,” Jeremie said, giving her a brief hug. Aelita mumbled a reply, but it was caught in Jeremie’s shoulder.

Jeremie glanced at her, and he worriedly noticed signs of tear tracks. “Are you okay?” he asked. “I tried calling your cell, but you didn’t answer.”

Aelita nodded. “I’m fine,” she replied. After thinking about it, she finally decided that someone else needed to know, and who better than Jeremie? “Well…at least now I am. I…I just had another vision.”

Jeremie stared at her. “’Another’? You mean, you’ve been having them before?”

Aelita shifted. “Yeah, I have. I thought I could handle it, but…”

Jeremie wrapped her arms around her again. “It’s okay,” Jeremie comforted. “You don’t have to face your fears alone.” Aelita managed to smile a small smile.

“Anyway, I think I have something to cheer you up,” Jeremie said.

“Really?” Aelita said, trying to be enthusiastic. “What is it?”

“It’s a surprise,” Jeremie smiled. “You have to follow me to find out.”

---

“SURPRISE!”

Aelita nearly screamed as Odd, Ulrich and Yumi greeted her as she entered Jeremie’s room. Confetti and streamers flew through the air and scattered around the room. Everyone was wearing party hats, and Odd even had a party blower, which he blew into and emitted a loud sound.

“Happy Birthday, Aelita!” Ulrich, Yumi and Odd said, smiles upon their faces.

Aelita glanced at Jeremie, a bemused expression upon her face. Jeremie smiled. “Well…you did tell me to pick a day, and I said it would be a surprise!”

Aelita managed a small smile. “This is great, everyone. Thank you,” Aelita said with all the enthusiasm she could muster; she didn’t want to let her past dampen her friends’ efforts.

“Oh yeah, I almost forgot,” Jeremie said, walking over to his desk. In front of the computer monitor sat a rectangular object wrapped in foil.

Jeremie carefully lifted the foil off. A large cake smothered in white frosting and decorated with pink read “Happy Birthday Aelita!” in large block letters.

Jeremie quickly took a large candle displaying the number sixteen in pink and white out of his pocket, along with a lighter. He centered the candle and placed it near the top of the cake. Odd, Ulrich and Yumi gathered around Jeremie, and Aelita quickly shuffled closer to the cake.

“Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you…”

As her four friends began to sing “Happy Birthday” to her, Aelita felt her gaze drawn not to the cake, but the computer monitor directly behind it facing her. She glanced into the blank, dark glass, and she saw a pink girl staring back at her. But in a second, the green eyes changed to red ones with eye-like black symbols flashing in them.

Aelita heard someone shout her name as she fell to the ground, her head spinning and her field of vision flying everywhere before darkening.

---

The candle upon Aelita’s cake blew out from a strong gust of wind, but no one noticed. Streamers and confetti lay scattered around Jeremie’s room, but there was no one in the room to notice it.

Ulrich, Yumi, Odd and Jeremie lay gathered around a bed in the Infirmary, in which a pink-girl lay with her eyes closed. Aelita had not moved for minutes, but those minutes seemed like years to Jeremie.

Yolanda checked Aelita’s pulse again. “She’s still got a pulse,” Yolanda noted, “and she’s still breathing, but I don’t know what’s wrong. I’m going to call the hospital,” Yolanda called as she moved away from the bed and walked into her office. Jeremie took Aelita’s hand into his own, his expression showing his fearful concern.

“Odd, you didn’t happen to take off one of your shoes as a prank, did you?” Ulrich asked, raising his eyebrows and glancing at the blonde boy with his hair in a spike.

“No, I didn’t,” Odd replied indignantly. “Or was it that you brought one of your sweaty shirts over from our room?”

“Guys, save the clowning around,” Yumi intervened. “It’s bad enough that Aelita’s out. What if it’s a Xana’s doing?”

“It most likely is,” Jeremie said, reaching for something on the floor. “I didn’t get the chance to check for an activated tower before we brought Aelita here, but I might as well now.”

Ulrich sighed, but as his gaze passed over Aelita, he stopped and stared, not sure if he had seen movement. “Guys, Aelita’s eyelids are moving!”

The other four Lyoko Warriors stopped and stared at Aelita’s face. “You’re right, Ulrich!” Jeremie said, leaving his laptop on the floor and straightening up to get a better look. “She must be dreaming.”

Something stirred at the back of Jeremie’s mind; was it déjà vu, perhaps? It had only been a few years ago when Xana was still alive and Aelita’s memory not yet recovered, when Jeremie had been in the same situation after unsuccessfully attempting to use the Return to the Past to increase his brainpower.

But Aelita had not been using a headset and not been hurting her physical and mental health lately. But she had been having memories…but how did a computer monitor spur fainting? Memories were not that powerful, not even for someone once separated from them. Or were they?

Jeremie’s train of thought broke off as he heard a beep from his laptop. He kneeled down and looked at the screen, which had focused on a red tower.

“I knew it,” Jeremie said to Ulrich, Yumi and Odd, shutting his laptop and standing up. “Activated tower, Mountain Sector.”

“But how are we supposed to deactivate it?” Yumi asked. “With Aelita out cold, there’s no chance of deactivating the tower. Unless…unless Xana is the one behind Aelita’s faint!”

Jeremie froze, realizing that he had forgot to check something. “That’s right, I forgot to check what Xana’s using the tower for!” he said, kneeling back down and quickly opening his laptop again. But before he could direct the program to the tower, the Super Scan window flashed as the tower turned from red to blue.

Jeremie frowned. “Hey…that’s really weird.”

“What?” asked Odd as he, Ulrich and Yumi walked over and looked down at Jeremie’s laptop. “Don’t tell me that Galactic Invaders V is out!”

“No, Odd,” Jeremie sighed. “Unless Xana has managed to bypass the Super Scan yet again, the tower’s been deactivated. Manually, from the looks of it.”

Suddenly, there was a soft groan from the bed. Everyone stood up to see Aelita blinking her eyes open. “What happened to me?” Aelita asked drowsily.

“Aelita!” Jeremie cried, smiling. “You just passed out in my room, and we brought you to the Infirmary.”

Just then, Yolanda walked out of her office as there was a knock on the Infirmary door. It opened to reveal two men in white-and-blue uniforms carrying a stretcher.

“Yolanda, Aelita just woke up!” Odd said happily.

“Oh,” Yolanda said. She turned to the ambulance men. “I suppose we won’t need to take Aelita Stones to the hospital, after all,” Yolanda told the two men. “I’m sorry for taking up your time.”

“No problem, ma’am,” one of the men replied. “Better safe than sorry. Although, if you would like to see me again,” he said, flashing a smile and winking, “don’t hesitate to call 911.”

Yumi and Ulrich heard the last bit and gagged. Yolanda frowned at the man. “In case you weren’t aware, I’m married,” Yolanda informed the man tartly.

The man’s smile dropped off of his face. “Oh,” he stuttered. “My apologies, madam.” He and his partner carried the stretcher out of the Infirmary and shut the door.

Yolanda turned to Aelita. “How do you feel, Aelita?” Yolanda said, walking over to stand at Aelita’s bedside. “Dizziness, blurriness in vision, trouble breathing?”

“No, I don’t think so,” Aelita replied. “I feel perfectly…normal.”

“Okay,” Yolanda said. “I suppose it could have been the heat. It’s been rather hot lately. I’ll make a note of this in your record, and you can leave.”

“Thank you,” Aelita said as Yolanda walked back into her office and closed the door. Aelita carefully turned to the side of the bed, stretching.

“Let’s get you out of here,” Jeremie said to Aelita, helping her stand. Jeremie lowered his voice. “Did you have a dream?”

Aelita hesitated. “Yes, I did,” she replied quietly. “It was the same one as when you found me: a Xanafied person was attacking my father.”

“What?” the others gasped as they left the Infirmary.

Aelita nodded. “I can’t even remember witnessing it before my father…sent us to Lyoko.”

“Then it must be Xana’s doing,” Jeremie decided. “There was an activated tower at the time, but Xana deactivated it himself as soon as I found it with the Super Scan. I think he’s trying to take you out of the game.”

“Yes, but how?” Aelita asked. “I don’t think there’s any way for him to do that without a…virus…” As they left the dormitory building, Aelita stopped and glanced at Jeremie, her eyes full of apprehension. “You don’t think that Xana gave me a virus, do you?”

Jeremie shrugged. “Unfortunately, anything is possible,” he replied. “Let’s go to the Factory right now so that I can scan you. We have half an hour before Science starts, so let’s get going.”

“We’ll cover for you with Mrs. Hertz if you’re late,” Ulrich said. Jeremie and Aelita nodded their thanks, and started to sprint toward the park.

“If anything, this memory business is certainly bringing our Couple Number Two together,” Odd noted.

Ulrich frowned. “If they're Number Two, then who’s Couple Number One?”

Odd grinned. “Guess,” he said. He was already running before Ulrich and Yumi realized who he was referring to.

Unbeknownst to the five Lyoko Warriors, Xana was already planning his next attack. In the far reaches of the Forest Sector, the passage tower suddenly turned from blue to red.

---

Mr. Delmas was hurriedly finishing last-minute paperwork for student applications, cursing to himself that he shouldn’t have procrastinated this far.

Suddenly, his desk light blinked. He looked up, and his frown changed to a bewildered stare as purple sparks started to fly across the light. He started to back away as a black ghost formed, but was too late to get out of its path. He was sent backwards as the specter entered his body, and as his form started to blink black, his vision blacked out.

Sissi was heading towards her father’s office to complain about one of her classmates, but as she was about to open the door it opened from the inside; Sissi was knocked aside as her father left his office.

“Daddy, that wasn’t very nice!” Sissi cried aggrievedly, but Mr. Delmas didn’t seem to hear her. Sissi frowned. Something was up. She followed her father out of the Administration Building at a safe distance.

---

More than a mile away and two floors underground, Aelita stepped into a scanner and turned around. “Jeremie, I’m ready,” she called.

“Okay, Aelita,” came the reply as the scanner door closed shut.

A window opened as Aelita was scanned. Jeremie glanced through the incoming results, taking in line upon line of data.

The elevator door opened, and Aelita walked into the lab. “So,” she asked Jeremie, “what did you find?”

Jeremie turned to her. “I was right,” he replied. “It seems that Xana has given you a virus.”

“For real this time?” Aelita said, raising an eyebrow. “I mean, not something that just seems like a virus? Like having my memories of my past life stolen?”

“No,” Jeremie shook his head. “This time it appears to be…authentic. Xana must have given you a virus through the Scyphozoa. It’s not a virus strong enough to bind you to him, but it serves as a strong enough connection to you. It allows Xana to be able to activate a tower and manipulate your cerebral cortex and stimulate an artificial sleep.”

Aelita frowned. “Didn’t this happen before? I vaguely remember hearing you explain to me the exact same thing.”

Jeremie shifted. “Actually, that time, it was more likely that it was simply your lost memories of your past life calling out to you, and not Xana’s doing. This time, however, it appears to be Xana behind it all. I’m already working on an antivirus; it shouldn’t take too long.”

“This virus isn’t strong enough for Xana to possess me, is it?” Aelita asked warily.

Jeremie turned to her, concern in his expression. “I’m not sure of that,” he answered carefully. “I still have to check that out in the results. But Xana has to first activate a tower to use the virus, so we’ll be notified if he does. We’ll be on our guard.”

Suddenly, there was a beep from the computer. Jeremie and Aelita turned back to the screen to see a Super Scan window open. After a few seconds, it focused on a tower, which blinked red.

“Oh no…not already!” Aelita cried.

Jeremie quickly opened the program. After glancing through the results, he turned to Aelita. “Don’t worry, it doesn’t look like Xana is using the virus. But it seems like he’s using it to possess someone…”

“I’d better get to Lyoko,” Aelita said. “I think we need a head start.”

“Are you sure?” Jeremie said worriedly. “It could be a trap, for all we know.”

“Don’t worry,” Aelita said to Jeremie as she started toward the elevator

“Be careful,” Jeremie replied apprehensively. Aelita gave a small smile and winked as the elevator door closed.

After a few beeps, Odd picked up the phone. “Einstein, are you guys almost done?” voice said. “We had to cover for you, and I don’t think Mrs. Hertz was convinced…”

“Odd, we found that Xana’s given Aelita a virus,” Jeremie told him. “But more importantly, Xana has just activated a tower. Aelita’s going ahead to get a head start, but she needs you guys as well.”

There was a groan. “Now we have to come up for an excuse for ourselves!” Odd sighed. “It was difficult enough giving an excuse for your supposed tardiness. But I’ll tell Ulrich, and we’ll get out of here as soon as we can. Anything is better than listening to Mrs. Hertz go on about neutrons this and protons that.”

“Okay,” Jeremie replied. “If you could call Yumi, that would save me some time.”

“Oh, and Jeremie?” Odd said. “Sissi isn’t here either, but I could have sworn I saw her earlier today. Just a heads up.”

Jeremie frowned. “Okay,” he replied as he hung up.

“I’m in place, Jeremie,” a voice called.

“Okay,” Jeremie said. “But before, I virtualize you, I’m going to give you an antivirus. I just found it in the supercomputer’s archives; it looks like your father created it. It might be better to spend some time working on a real one, but it doesn’t seem like we have that kind of time. The antivirus won’t completely cure you, but it’ll hopefully prevent some of the nastier things Xana may have up his sleeve from happening, since it’s somewhat ‘universal’.”

“So it’s kind of like a flu shot?” Aelita asked.

Jeremie shrugged as he opened up the antivirus program. “I guess you could put it that way.”

---

Odd turned to Ulrich. “So, what’s the plan?”

Ulrich turned to him. “Well…we haven’t tried the faint plan yet.”

Odd stared. “No, I’m not taking part in that,” he said indignantly. “I’m not going to make a fool out of myself!”

“Well, we won’t know how it works,” Ulrich replied. “Besides, you make a fool of yourself on a daily basis.”

Odd glared at Ulrich before turning to the front of the room and raising his hand. “Mrs. Hertz, may I go to get some water?”

Mrs. Hertz turned from her blackboard drawing of an atom and frowned. “Mr. Della Robbia, class just started five minutes ago. Surely you could have gone before class started.”

“I know,” Odd replied, “but I was studying the Periodic Table of Elements! I was expecting a pop quiz.”

Mrs. Hertz turned her gaze on him, and Odd flinched. If any teacher was the best at picking out a lie, it was Mrs. Hertz.

“Very well, Odd,” Mrs. Hertz sighed. “You may go. But be quick about it.”

As Odd stood up, he suddenly gasped, clutching his throat, and dropped to the ground with a sickening crunch.

All the students in the room turned and stared at Odd, some of them gasping.

“Odd!” Ulrich said, kneeling down and shaking Odd. “Are you okay? Did the heat get to you?”

Odd slowly opened his eyes; the only thing giving away the fact that Odd hadn’t simply fainted was his hard glare at Ulrich. Odd slowly stood up. “I feel…okay, I guess,” he said as Mrs. Hertz walked over. “I think I’d better go to the Infirmary.”

“Yes, of course,” Mrs. Hertz replied, obviously flustered. “Ulrich, would you kindly take your classmate to the Infirmary?”

“Of course, ma’am,” Ulrich replied, perhaps overdoing the flattery a little too much. He helped Odd to his feet and helped Odd out of the classroom.

Once the door was shut, Odd immediately straightened and glared at Ulrich. “I still think there are better ways of improving my improvisation skills,” he said through clenched teeth.

“We can worry about that later,” Ulrich said, hiding a smile, before his seriousness returned. “I’ll call Yumi. We’d better get to the Factory as soon as we can.”

---

“Did Jeremie say what the attack was?” Yumi asked as she climbed out of the sewer onto the bridge.

“No, but I have a feeling it’s the classic,” Odd replied, climbing out after her. “I’m still wondering how long it’ll take before Xana manages to possess one of us.”

“Probably never,” Ulrich said as the three of them started to sprint toward the Factory. “We all have immunity to Xana from fighting on Lyoko, remember? Except I’m not so sure about Einstein.”

Suddenly, there was a scream and a flash from in front of them. Yumi, Ulrich and Odd stopped and glanced at one another before sprinting into the Factory.

In front of them, their headmaster was attacking his daughter with flashes of purple sparks. It didn’t take the Lyoko Warriors long to realize what was going on.

Ulrich and Odd immediately went to distract Mr. Delmas as Yumi rushed over to Sissi. “Sissi, are you okay?” Yumi asked, helping Sissi sit up.

Sissi was obviously shaken. “I just noticed that my father was acting rather strangely,” she said, gasping for breath, “and I followed him here, and he attacked me!”

“It’s okay,” Yumi said, helping Sissi to her feet. “You’re not going to believe me, but your father has been possessed by an artificial intelligence.”

Seeing her father fight two of his own students, Sissi felt she could believe just about anything.

Suddenly, there was a shout as Mr. Delmas grabbed hold of the advancing Odd by the neck. Odd was electrocuted and thrown toward the broken platform. Half unconscious, he grabbed desperately for a hold to prevent falling the ten-meter drop.

“Odd!” Yumi shouted. She and Sissi ran over to Odd just as he slipped off the edge. They grabbed him by his arms and hauled him back up onto the platform, all three of them gasping for breath.

“You guys go and help Aelita!” Ulrich called, still facing off against Mr. Delmas. “I’ll stay here and buy for time.”

“But that’s dangerous!” Yumi called. “We can’t just leave you here alone!”

“The tower’s the only way to stop this madman,” Ulrich replied, dodging a blow. “Just go already!”

Odd passed a reluctant glance to Yumi, and Sissi followed the two Lyoko Warriors down the ropes.

---

Aelita landed on the green pathway, spraying virtual dust as her feet hit the ground. “Jeremie, I’m here,” she called. “Where’s the tower?”

“It’s just northeast of where you are right now,” Jeremie instructed. “Turn around and go down the path, and take a right at the crossing. It’s not very far.”

“Okay,” Aelita said, turning around and sprinting away. “By the way, Jeremie, forgive my asking, but do you think this antivirus will prevent me from getting into the tower?”

“I sure hope not,” sighed Jeremie, rubbing his glasses. “Once was enough; we don’t need a relapse.”

“Were you able to find out what the Xana attack was this time?” Aelita asked as she turned at the crossroads. “We don’t want Xana to pull a nasty one on us.”

“That’s a good question,” Jeremie frowned, typing. “I forgot to check that.”

The elevator door opened, and Jeremie turned. Odd and Yumi walked over, grim expressions on their faces. A confused-looking Sissi followed them.

Jeremie’s eyes widened. “Sissi! This is a surprise!” he said. He frowned at Odd and Yumi. “I didn’t know we were expecting guests.”

“We had to, Jeremie,” Yumi asserted, almost in a pleading manner. “Mr. Delmas has been Xanafied, and Sissi…well, she followed her father here. We couldn’t just leave Sissi there to be electrocuted to death!”

“Ah,” Jeremie replied. “I guess that answers the question of what the Xana attack is. But where’s Ulrich?”

“Still up there, brawling with our headmaster,” Odd said.

“Okay,” Jeremie said, turning back to the screen. “You guys had better get to Lyoko. Aelita’s already there, and she could use your help getting to the tower.”

Finally, Sissi could bear ignorance no longer. “But where’s this Lyoko?” she implored. “Who’s this Xana, and why is my father attacking Ulrich?”

“It will be okay, Sissi,” Yumi said, trying to act calm and reassuring in spite of the situation. “Your father will be back to normal soon, and if you can stay here, Jeremie will explain everything.” She threw Jeremie a pointed glance, and he sighed.

As Yumi and Odd walked back into the elevator and turned around, Odd subconsciously passed Sissi a reassuring smile. For some reason that Sissi herself did not even know, the smile seemed to calm her, and she managed to return it with a small one of her own before the elevator door closed shut.

---

Back upstairs, the fight had moved down to ground level. Ulrich ducked as his Xanafied headmaster shot another thick bolt of purple electricity at him. “Mr. Delmas, I don’t know what I did to deserve this appointment with you, but I’d like to get back to Science class as soon as possible,” Ulrich said. “So if we could rap this up quickly, that would be nice.”

Mr. Delmas responded with a growl and charged a sphere of energy, and flung it at Ulrich; Ulrich jumped out of the way and it exploded against the back of the empty elevator shaft with a hiss and a flash.

When Ulrich glanced back toward where Mr. Delmas had been, he frowned to see the headmaster nowhere in sight. Ulrich noticed a growing shadow on the ground, overlapping his own. He glanced upward and flung himself out of the way as Mr. Delmas landed where he had been a split second ago. Mr. Delmas swung his body around in a kick, and Ulrich ducked, lashing out with a kick of his own.

Mr. Delmas groaned as he lost his balance and fell backward, but not before unleashing another bolt of electricity at his opponent. This time, Ulrich caught it right in the stomach, flying backwards and hitting the wall facing the elevator and then falling facedown to the floor.

Mr. Delmas stood up, regarding his opponent with a bit of triumph. Ulrich looked up and rolled to his right as quickly as he could to avoid another shot of electricity, and then rolled into a standing position. Mr. Delmas started to run toward him. Still clutching his stomach, Ulrich jumped out of the way of a downward punch and brought his leg up, kicking Mr. Delmas in the stomach.

Ulrich limped over to the elevator shaft and pushed the button, then glanced back at the headmaster. “Come on, Mr. Delmas!” Ulrich mocked. “Wasn’t it you who said that we should have a strong stance if life hits you in the stomach?”

Mr. Delmas growled as he got up, and started to run toward Ulrich with inhuman speed. Just as the elevator arrived and opened its door, Ulrich jumped out of the way at the last second. Mr. Delmas careered past him and hit the back of the elevator with a sickening crunch. As he fell to the floor, his form fizzed black.

Ulrich strode into the elevator and punched the red button, stepping out of the elevator as it closed. Just as Mr. Delmas began to get up, Ulrich took a strong-powered kick at the elevator button.

The elevator shook as it grounded to a halt. Mr. Delmas frowned, and then directed his gaze toward the control button. He shot a bolt of electricity at it, but as soon as he did, the electricity rebounded around the elevator, and Mr. Delmas was shocked unconscious.

Ulrich took out his mobile as he started to sprint for the corridor. “Jeremie, I took out Mr. Delmas,” he said into the microphone, “but you might want to shut off the elevator, just for now.”

“Any specific reason?” Jeremie asked.

“Well…I don’t think we want to run into our headmaster just yet,” Ulrich replied. “He might be too shocking to see again. I’m on my way.”

“Good thing, too,” came the reply. “Yumi and Odd have just arrived on Lyoko, and from the looks of it, they’re in for the fight of their life.”

Yumi sped along the green path on the Overwing with Odd in tow on the Overboard. “Jeremie, how’s our Princess doing?” Odd asked. “Is her diplomatic mission going well, or has she already run into Lyoko’s hostile natives?”

“Not yet, but they’re approaching,” Jeremie replied. “She’s almost at the tower, but there are some monsters approaching her. Be careful; you guys may have problems getting through.”

“Why’s that?” Yumi asked as she and Odd swerved around a bend and onto a plateau.

A sound that distinctly reminded them of a mechanical weapon charging up started to sound. Yumi and Odd approached two trees on either side of the plateau, and as they passed between them they swerved forward to avoid a wall of laser fire.

“Ah, that’s what you meant,” Odd replied as he and Yumi zoomed onto another path with a Megatank in pursuit. “I was hoping the natives would be able to entertain us.”

“Yeah, just stay away from the guy’s eye,” Yumi replied as she veered right out of the way of another wall of fire. “This species seems to have a nasty death stare that’s hot with precision.”

“I know this might seem like obvious advice, but please try to stay alive,” Jeremie called. “Aelita still hasn’t encountered any monsters, but it looks like the sea creatures indigenous to this world are threatening to disrupt her peace. I would recommend that you guys split up.”

“Yumi, you go,” Odd said, glancing over his shoulder and noticing that the Megatank was partially open, just open enough to fire while keeping most of its armor protection. “I have a score to settle with this rolling death-ball.”

“Be careful,” Yumi replied, and zoomed away as Odd leaned backward on the Overboard. The Overboard did a complete vertical U-turn, and Odd flew upside-down toward the Megatank. “Sorry Mr. Bowling Ball, but you’re about to meet the pins!” Odd shouted, firing Laser Arrows as fast as he could.

Unfortunately, the Megatank, which had been charging up to fire again, managed to close its armor just in time, and the Laser Arrows bounced harmlessly off of the gray rock-solid armor, barely even making a dent.

“Rats!” Odd said as he turned right side up again. The Megatank stopped and started to roll in reverse, trailing Odd.

Meanwhile, Aelita was still flying a few meters above the path. She was on one of the three paths that were connected to the plateau housing the tower, but was unaware that she was about to meet her welcoming committee.

“Aelita, just an update,” Jeremie called out from the sky. “Yumi’s on her way, while Odd is having a run-in with a Megatank, and I’m about to virtualize Ulrich. But be careful; it looks like Xana’s sending you some seafood.”

“But lunch is just in an hour,” complained Aelita. “And anyway, seafood doesn’t seem to be a good entrée.”

Suddenly, as Aelita approached the tower’s plateau, she noticed white lines appearing in midair. As she flew closer, three Krabes formed and landed on the plateau.

The Krabes immediately saw her and started firing. Aelita quickly joined two Energy Fields to form a shield, but she was too late to block a shot already fired close to her shoulder. The shot caught her in the wing, and as her wings disappeared Aelita tumbled to the ground.

“Uh, Jeremie?” Aelita called to the sky, rolling to avoid more laser shots as the Krabes cut her off from the tower, moving to stand between Aelita and her destination. “Could you ask the others to hurry up? I think I could use some help right about now.”

“Just hang on for a little longer,” pleaded Jeremie. “Yumi’s almost there!”

“Jeremie, I’m ready,” came a voice from the speakers.

“Okay, Urich,” Jeremie replied, opening up the virtualization program. The scanner door closed. “Transfer, Ulrich. Scanner, Ulrich. Virtualization!”

Ulrich appeared above a Forest Sector path, spraying virtual dirt as he landed. “What’s the situation, Einstein?” he asked as the Overbike appeared.

“You’d better hurry. Aelita’s run into some Krabes by the tower, Yumi’s almost there to help her and Odd is fighting a Megatank, so there’s no time to dawdle!”

“Got it,” Ulrich replied, jumping on the Overbike and zooming away.

Back in the elevator, Mr. Delmas opened his eyes; he was lying on the floor. The eye of Xana flashed brightly in his eyes as he stood up and jumped out of the elevator’s roof emergency door before landing on the ground outside. With a growl, he started to make his way for the corridor.

---

Yumi was still flying as the Digital Sea flowed hundreds of meters beneath her, glowing its bright yellow-green. She was desperate to reach Aelita before Xana succeeded in devirtualizing her. Suddenly, she heard the sound of wings flapping, which seemed to come from every direction.

Yum sighed. “Jeremie, please tell me that isn’t what I think it is,” she said, glancing over her shoulder.

“Unfortunately, it is,” Jeremie said crossly as Hornets appeared and started to engage Yumi in a crossfire. “Don’t worry, though; you’re not far from Aelita now. Just try to get through that swarm, because Aelita’s in the fight for her life!”

“She’s not the only one,” replied Yumi, drawing a fan and furiously blocking shots. Yumi then flung her fan behind her, and the fan took out the five Hornets surrounding the Overwing in one swipe.

“Wow,” Yumi said, surprised at her luck as she caught the fan and zoomed away. “That was certainly a bit of needed luck.”

“Yumi, the plateau is right in front of you,” Jeremie called. “Protect Aelita at all costs; she has to get into the tower and deactivate it before Mr. Delmas decides to do something nasty.”

Yumi nodded and zoomed onto the path, heading straight for Aelita and the three Krabes surrounding her.

Aelita heard the Overwing and turned toward Yumi, and gave a sigh of relief. Suddenly, Yumi saw her expression change to shocked surprise. “Yumi, on your right!” Aelita shouted.

Yumi glanced to her right and jumped off the Overwing just in time as a Megatank destroyed it. She landed acrobatically on the ground and drew her fans, rolling to dodge another laser wall. The Megatank closed shut in response and began to roll toward her.

Odd was still fighting a Megatank of his own. Odd had changed direction and was now heading toward the tower once more, but swerving every few seconds to avoid laser walls from the Megatank pursing him. “I know that my hair spike makes me look like a bowling pin, but I’m seriously not one!” Odd called as he dodged another thick laser shot.

“Funny,” a voice called from in front of him. “The purple spot in your hair could be the target.”

“Ulrich!” Odd called, surprised to see him on the Overbike rushing straight at him. Odd moved out of the way as Ulrich swerved at the last second to zoom past the Megatank.

The Megatank closed shut and stopped. It was unsure of which target to purse; then it realized it could hit both at once. The Megatank turned in position and then opened, charging up and getting ready to fire.

Ulrich skidded to a halt and looked back to see large yellow rings shrinking and disappearing in front of the Megatank’s eye of Xana. He jumped off of the Overbike and drew both his sabers in a single motion as the Megatank fired. “Odd, heads up!” he shouted.

Odd turned back and narrowly avoided getting shot as the wall of fire moved past him. It suddenly stopped as the other side made contact with Ulrich’s sabers.

“Now!” shouted Ulrich desperately as he began to be pushed back from the strength of the shot.

Odd wasted no time and quickly turned around, aiming a Laser Arrow and firing. The small yellow arrow made contact with the Megatank’s eye, and the Megatank exploded as the wall of fire disintegrated.

“That’s what I call teamwork!” Odd beamed as Ulrich slid his sabers back into their holder attached to his back.

“Great work, guys, but don’t forget about Aelita and Yumi,” Jeremie called. “They could really use your help right now.”

“We wouldn’t dream of forgetting the ladies,” Odd said, winking at Ulrich. Ulrich jumped back onto the Overbike, and he and Odd sped toward the tower.

Back at the Factory, the door to the corridor was blasted off its hinges and fell backwards down the small set of stairs. Mr. Delmas, the eye of Xana pulsating in both of his eyes, started down the stairs and into the room above the lab.

---

Aelita dodged more shots and ran under a Krabe, glancing upward at its underbody. As it started to charge a blue blast, Aelita summoned an Energy Field and threw it upward. She ran out from under the Krabe just as it fizzed pink and exploded. Her path to the tower now clear, Aelita sprinted for the tower. “Jeremie, I’m about to deactivate the tower!” she called.

But as Aelita tried to run into the tower, she was rudely denied access and reeled backward as the tower remained solid.

“Uh…Jeremie?” Aelita said, rubbing her head and walking toward the tower. “I think we have a problem.”

“Oh no…” sighed Jeremie as a Super Scan window. “It looks like Xana has finally activated a tower, and he must be using it to corrupt your virtual ID through his stupid virus. Ugh…and I still haven’t had enough time to finish the antivirus!”

“Well, do what you can,” Aelita replied, dodging more shots as the Krabes caught up to her. “But please hurry!”

“Yeah, because right now we’re having such a good time,” Yumi called, running away from the Megatank that was rolling after her.

“Do you want to swap?” Aelita asked as Yumi ran straight at her.

“Sure,” Yumi panted. “Anything to get away from this bowling ball.” Aelita activated her wings with a wave of her hand and launched herself into the air, flying above Yumi and passing her as the Megatank stopped, opened and fired.

Yumi glanced behind her, and both she and Aelita dodged the shot. The two Krabes in front of Yumi quickly moved apart to get out of the way of the laser wall, and Yumi, still running, drew a fan and threw it forward with backhand.

The fan flew upwards and hit the shell of one of the Krabes, and it exploded. As its partner moved out of the way from the explosion, Yumi ran forward. She front-flipped onto one of the Krabe’s front legs and then onto the shell, catching the fan and then throwing it into the Xana eye in front of her feet. Yumi jumped off the second Krabe as it exploded, and then started to run back to help Aelita.

Aelita was flying around the open Megatank, throwing Energy Fields that harmlessly exploded on its gray armor; she was unable to get a clear shot at its eye because of its continuous firing. Yumi threw a fan at the eye just as a wall of fire receded, but the Megatank closed shut in time and the fan rebounded off of the Megatank’s armor. As Yumi caught the fan, the Megatank started to roll towards her.

Yumi jumped aside at the last second, and the Megatank careered past her, but it was able to make a wide turn and roll right back at her. Yumi sprinted, but the Megatank began to gain on her.

There was a shout of “Yumi! Duck!” and Yumi saw something shining blue hurtling toward her. Yumi jumped aside as a saber flew straight at the Megatank. The Megatank wasn’t open, but the saber lodged itself into the Megatank’s armor with a metallic ring, and surprisingly, the Megatank exploded.

“Well, I guess that’s a new way to kill those things,” a voice called.

“Odd! Ulrich!” Aelita called as the boys screeched to a halt in front of her. Yumi ran over, smiling.

“So sorry that that big metal thing almost ran you over,” Ulrich said, jumping off of the Overbike and walking over to where the Megatank had exploded. He picked up his saber. “Those things may not rock, but unfortunately they definitely roll.”

“Ha, ha,” Odd said, rolling his eyes at Ulrich. “I could think of a ton of better lines than that one.”

“Before Odd goes off rambling,” Jeremie said from the sky, “let’s remember that there’s still this tower to deactivate. Aelita, I’m almost done with the antivirus, so it’ll just be a few more minutes before I’m able to give it directly to your virtual form.”

“Okay,” Aelita replied.

Suddenly, there was the sound of what sounded like heavy objects rolling. The four Lyoko Warriors looked around, for they recognized the sound.

“Two Megatanks inbound!” shouted Ulrich, pointing at the two spherical monsters rolling towards them from the first path.

Suddenly, there was a growl in front of them, and a hiss of smoke from their right. Three more Krabes were approaching the group from the path in front of them, while a thicket of purplish black smoke was flying toward them from the third path.

“It’s a full-scale attack!” Yumi shouted, summoning her fans. Odd got ready to fire, while Ulrich drew his sabers. “Aelita, find somewhere to hide while we take care of this,” Ulrich said as he, Yumi and Odd stepped forward to protect Aelita from the monsters approaching them from three different directions. “If you’re devirtualized, we’ll never be able to get out of this mess!”

With a hiss, William jumped out of the black smoke and landed a few meters away from Odd. Yumi ran forward to attack the Krabes, and Ulrich sprinted forward to engage the Megatanks. Aelita ran towards the edge of the plateau and got ready to activate her wings, preparing to take refuge on a nearby plateau.

Suddenly, there was a sharp hiss from in front of her. Aelita stopped, a couple of meters away from the edge of the plateau, and gasped as a monster she was all too well acquainted with floated up onto the plateau.

Jeremie’s eyes widened. “Guys, the Scyphozoa is attacking Aelita!” Jeremie shouted as Aelita started to back away from the virtual jellyfish.

Odd, dodging a blow from William, glanced over at Aelita and groaned. “As if we didn’t have enough problems, now Prince Charming has come to claim the Princess!” he said as he sprinted toward Aelita.

But before Odd could reach Aelita, there was a shout of “Super Smoke!” from behind him, and Odd glanced back to see the thick line of smoke overtake him. William jumped out of the smoke to stand between him and the Scyphozoa, holding his large cleaver in a menacing battle stance. “You’re not going to foil Xana’s plan this time,” William smirked.

“Right, and pigs will fly,” retorted Odd, and he jumped as William swung his saber in a low slash. He jumped backward as William swiped at him again. William thrust his sword straight on at Odd, and Odd jumped up, landing on the vertical sword. Before William could do anything, Odd kicked William, who was sent sprawling as his sword dropped to the ground. He looked back at the edge of the plateau just in time to see the Scyphozoa take Aelita in its tentacles.

“No!” Odd shouted desperately. Before he could even fire a Laser Arrow at the Scyphozoa, there was a whoosh as the sword flew back into William’s hand and he swung it at Odd, who had to jump out of the way to avoid a slash at his torso.

Ulrich was still fighting the two Megatanks, but meanwhile Yumi had managed to dispatch all three of her Krabes, and started to run over to help Aelita. But before she could throw a fan, she was forced to stop to avoid a barrage of laser shots from seven incoming Hornets.

“Jeremie, isn’t there anything you can do?” Yumi cried out as she blocked more shots from the Hornets. “Xana’s doing a good job of keeping us busy, and we might not be able to devirtualize Aelita!”

“You’ll have to!” Jeremie said. “If you don’t, she’ll throw herself into the Digital Sea, and Xana will win. Unless…” Jeremie started to type in a frenzy. “I still have Franz Hopper’s program, the one that will reboot the supercomputer without having to shut down the power. I’ll need a few minutes, though, so you’ll have to hold out until then.”

“In the meantime, Odd,” Ulrich shouted, jumping backwards to avoid laser walls from both the Megatanks, “you can think up some new bowling ball lines, because I’ve run out of my supply.”

“I bet it was scant to begin with,” Odd replied. He aimed and fired Laser Arrows at William. William was able to block a few, but one caught him in the shoulder, and as he lost his balance and fumbled with his sword, another hit him in the stomach. William fell backwards, and the smoke glowed red as he was devirtualized.

“Take that, Mr. Invincible!” taunted Odd as William’s form disappeared from view.

A shout of “No!” from Yumi drew Odd’s attention, and he turned around to see Aelita on the ground, seemingly unconscious. The Scyphozoa was slinking away, its work done.

With Yumi still occupying the Hornets and Ulrich still fighting the Megatanks, Odd ran over to Aelita. “Aelita, are you okay?” he asked, lightly trying to shake her awake. He suddenly gasped and backed away.

“Just fine, thank you,” Aelita sneered in a thick voice as she got up. Both of her green eyes had been replaced by the black eye of Xana.

“Einstein, what do we do?” shouted Odd as he jumped aside to avoid an Energy Field. “Do we devirtualize her, or what?”

“Just hang on for about twenty seconds,” replied Jeremie. “The program is almost ready.”

“That’s a lot to ask right now!” called Odd as he summoned his shield to block more Energy Fields. Odd was able to block the first Energy Field, but upon contact with the second pink ball of energy, Odd’s shield exploded.

“Oh, that’s just great,” Odd said crossly. He ducked to avoid a kick from Aelita, and he lashed out with a sweeping kick of his own. Aelita was able to back flip before she got tripped, and she threw another Energy Field at Odd. Unfortunately, this one was able to make contact with Odd, and he flew backwards, fizzing pink for a second.

“Another hit and it’s game over, Odd,” Jeremie informed.

“It would be even nicer not to have one of my best friends trying to kill me,” Odd replied. “Jeremie, is the program almost ready?”

“Now!” Jeremie called, pressing the enter button.

The ground started to shake, and Ulrich, Yumi, Odd and the Xanafied Aelita stumbled around, trying to keep their balance. The Megatanks stared around, and even the five remaining Hornets stopped firing.

A blue transparent wall appeared not too far away. It moved across the plateau, the Lyoko Warriors, the monsters and the tower, and everything that it passed over was frozen in time.

After a few seconds and much rumbling, the wall passed over all of them again from the same direction and disappeared.

The five Hornets dropped to the ground around Yumi, their minds too muddled to continue flying. Odd began to feel lightheaded, and dropped to the ground on all fours, panting as he had a slight headache. As Odd slowly got up, he glanced around and noticed that Ulrich and Yumi were recovering from similar attacks. Then he turned back to the pink-haired girl a few meters from him.

Aelita was sprawled across the ground, her eyes closed. Odd walked over. “Princess, are you feeling better?” Odd asked, shaking her awake again. “It looks like you suffered from another one of Xana’s brainwashes.”

Aelita blinked her eyes open…and Odd jumped away from her, gasping to see that her normal green eyes still had not returned. He jumped out of the way as a growling Aelita with the eye of Xana in both eyes threw an Energy Field straight to him.

“You’re going to have to do better than that, Jeremie,” Aelita said coldly, lifting her head up to the sky.

Jeremie’s eyes widened, and he started typing furiously. “I don’t get it,” he said. “That program rebooted the supercomputer all right, and it should have returned everything to its normal state, including de-Xanafying Aelita…unless…” He slapped himself in the forehead. “That stupid virus that Xana gave her must be shielding her from the effects of the program!”

“Then how’s that antivirus coming, Jeremie?” Odd asked, jumping aside as Aelita threw a kick at him. “Because right now, not even a knight in shining armor can save our Princess from herself!”

“I’ve compiled all the data, but I still need about two more minutes,” replied Jeremie.

“Two minutes? That’s an eternity!” exclaimed Odd. He ducked to avoid another swinging kick, and Odd fell backwards into a handstand before finishing the back flip and ending up right side up on his feet again. But just as he recovered and looked up, a pink glare took over his field of vision before everything turned to black.

“Odd!” shouted Ulrich as his friend disappeared. He looked over at the still-Xanafied Aelita, who wore a triumphant smirk on her face.

Ulrich heard Yumi shout his name, and he turned to look at her still fighting the Hornets. “No!” she shouted, waving her hand and pointing in front of him.

Ulrich looked back to see one Megatank where there had last been two. He heard something roll to a stop behind him, and as he glanced behind him, he realized he was caught between the two Megatanks.

“I take it this isn’t a friendly game of monkey in the middle?” Ulrich said grimly to his opponents. The Megatanks responded by opening and beginning to charge their lasers.

As both Megatanks fired at once, Ulrich spun and drew his sabers. But just as Ulrich prepared to block both laser walls that were running at him from both directions, he realized that he didn’t even need to block the walls to protect himself. The Megatanks, in their haste to take out Ulrich, had overlooked a rather obvious fact of themselves.

Ulrich jumped out of the way at the last second, and before the Megatanks had time to realize what was happening and retract their laser walls, the laser walls from each one passed through the other.

“Well, that was rather stupid,” Ulrich commented as both Megatanks exploded. “They just destroyed themselves without me. Those things seem to have just as much brains as the Blocks.” Ulrich turned, and seeing Yumi still fighting the remaining five Hornets, started to run toward her.

“Ulrich, no!” called Jeremie. “Aelita’s about to throw herself into the Digital Sea!”

Ulrich spun around and saw Aelita heading toward the edge of the plateau in a trancelike walk. He glanced at Yumi, who waved him off. “Go and help Aelita! She’s more important, and I can manage here,” she shouted over the fire of the Hornets, dodging more lasers and throwing her fans through the air. They managed to take out two more of the Hornets.

Ulrich nodded, and sprinted over to Aelita. Aelita’s elf-shaped ears were the first sense that told her he was coming, and she spun around and threw an Energy Field at Ulrich. He blocked it, and the second duel between Aelita and Ulrich started fiercely.