It was a cold day of December, and as the school grounds were covered in snow, the students were quietly eating at the cafeteria.
ODD - I'm so excited, tonight is the big night.
YUMI - Kadic organizing a big party before Christmas was quite a surprise, for sure, but a welcome one.
JEREMY - And Aelita is going to be dealing with the music.
Aelita blushed a bit.
ODD - Anyways, tonight I will be presenting you Emilie.
ULRICH - A new date again Odd ? What happened to Sophie ?
ODD - Our souls were not meant to spend the eternity together.
YUMI - By which you mean she dumped you.
ODD - Yes. But Emily is different, they are just so sweet, and kind, and cute. You'll see.
AELITA - They ? You don't know their gender ?
ODD - They are non binary actually, and use they/them pronouns.
AELITA - Oh, OK, makes sense. Didn't know there were any non binary students around here.
JEREMY - Sorry to interrupt you, but there is something we need to tell you before classes take over.
AELITA - Ah, true, Jeremy and I finished developing a little tool which should be helpful if XANA decides to attack.
JEREMY - I rerouted the superscan to be able to access cellphone service and...
ODD - In french, Einstein ?
AELITA - Basically you will be receiving a text when the superscan activates. This should make everyone ready faster.
ULRICH - Isn't taking replikas down more urgent ?
JEREMY - No, XANA has been relentless with his attacks, and relying on me checking my computer is not reliable enough, and is starting to be dangerous.
YUMI - OK, more importantly, how do we use it ?
JEREMY - You don't do anything, as soon as the superscan detects something, you will be notified. An alert will be displayed with the details on the tower. A button will allow you to send an help signal which will triangulate you and tell everyone. I also added an electromagnetic jammer to the program, but I'm afraid it lacks power and XANA might be able to learn how to avoid it, so use it only if necessary, and target small areas.
YUMI - Whoa, that's actually pretty good. I like the idea of the help signal.
JEREMY - Aelita came up with it.
The pink-haired girl blushed a bit.
AELITA - Anyways, Yumi, can we let you tell all about it to William ?
YUMI - Yes, I will.
AELITA - Thanks.
ULRICH - We should get going, classes start soon, we wouldn't want to be late for the last afternoon.
YUMI - Yes, see you later.
ODD - Later, Yumi.
A last afternoon of math, a boring class about functions. Boring to Ulrich and Odd because they could not care less, and to Aelita and Jeremy because the class was covering the basics of a topic they were already very familiar with. The bell finally rang and delivered the group of friends.
ODD - I hope this isn't on the test, I did not understand anything.
JEREMY - It's not that hard though. What did you miss ?
ULRICH - The whole class. His notebook is basically made up of doodles of his new crush.
Odd blushed a bit.
ODD - You didn't need to tell them. Anyways, they are not just a simple 'new crush', they are THE person who is going to be completing me in my life.
AELITA - Yes Romeo, just like the last 30.
ULRICH - Anyway, if you think the subject was that easy, I'm not against a bit of help during the holidays. My grades are especially bad this semester so I need to make them at least decent if I want my parents to leave me alone, at least a little bit.
AELITA - I'm not really available right now since I need to get ready for tonight, but we can do that during the holidays if you want to.
ULRICH - Thanks Aelita.
On that note, Aelita had to leave her friends to get ready. Tonight was her night, she would be dealing with all of the audio. She had already done a first part for the Subdigitals, so she knew she could do it, but she still had to be perfect.
Hard to believe, but Sissi, in an effort to become friendlier with the group, even offered Aelita her help for the makeup. Aelita did not need her help, but accepted regardless to help bridge the gap with Sissi.
In the meantime, everyone else was preparing. Even though they would not be on stage, they all wanted this night to be memorable.
Yumi had bought a long black dress for the occasion. She had never really worn anything that long. She had worn a few dresses, of course, though she didn't wear them on a day to day basis, but they were all knee-length, while this one stopped at her ankles. She likes how she looked, even though she was not very comfortable as she was not very used to dresses.
Ulrich decided to go with a black tuxedo to match Yumi's dress. He was wearing a simple outfit, but did not care about it much. All he knew was that Yumi would like him wearing this outfit, and that was enough for him.
Jeremy did not care at all for what he would be wearing, so he just kept whatever he had on, and spent a bit of time working on the latest skid update while everyone was getting ready. He did, however, pick a pink wristband. They talked about it with Aelita, and they were both happy about it. She would be wearing a blue one to remind of him, and was wearing the pink one. Nothing big, but it was enough for them.
Aelita wanted to go with the outfit she used for the Subdigital's first part, but she decided with a dress in the end, as she was more used to those on a day-to-day basis. She wore a simple pink dress, with two pompoms hanging from her neck. She also put on a special pink eyeliner, and found interesting shades of pink for her eyeshadow. She also decided (against Siss's recommendation) to use a light blue for the inner corner of her eyes. Lastly she took the blue Wristband.
Odd, however, decided to try something new. He did not have special clothing to wear, so he'd just go with his classic look, but he would be putting his hair down.
William went for a black costume, to remind of Yumi's, but did pick something he would be comfortable dancing in. He knew Yumi was probably going to spend the night with Ulrich regardless.
The party finally started. Aelita started with one of her favorite pieces, to boost her confidence, as she was still a bit nervous, and focused on one point in the public to help with her track. She obviously picked Jeremy, who knew she would be doing that, so he made thumbs up signs. Odd and Emilie were talking in a corner, and seemed to be having fun. Yumi and Ulrich were sitting a bit further from the dance floor, and William was dancing to try and enjoy his night.
When suddenly, everyone's phone started to vibrate. Jeremy checked, and there was no doubt, it was a XANA attack. Forest sector. He quickly showed his screen to Aelita who was still looking at him, but it was too late, as dark smoke started emanating from the mixing table. Aelita fell unconscious. All of the friends knew what had happened, at least they knew XANA was behind it.
JEREMY - I'm taking her to the nurse office.
Jim, seeing that Jeremy was her friend, and that he was preoccupied with the little girl decided to let Jeremy handle Aelita. He would handle the cables in the meantime to accommodate the students.
ODD - I'm sorry, I need to go.
EMILIE - Why ? Aren't we having fun.
ODD - I'm sorry I can't tell you, but it's very important.
EMILIE - OK, but on one condition. First, close your eyes.
Odd did not have time to argue, so he closed his eyes. He felt a quick smooch on his right cheek.
EMILIE - You will tell me what you can later, go.
ODD - Thanks, see you later.
Ulrich and Yumi came to Jeremy's help. He was not very strong, so even though Aelita was not particularly heavy, she still was hard for him to carry alone.
The rest of the group met up in the park, on their way to the factory.
ODD - She'd been easier to carry two years ago, on a USB stick, climbing down the ladder with her is quite dangerous.
ULRICH - Do you have a better idea ?
JEREMY - XANA did not try to kill her, only to make her unconscious, he needs her to be able to make Hopper get out of his hiding.
YUMI - But what is XANA planning ? He did not just attack her out of spite ?
JEREMY - Probably not, we will need to be on guard. Just in case I think you should not all be going to lyoko, keeping some backup might be crucial when XANA sends his spectre to the factory.
ULRICH - OK, I'm staying.
WILLIAM - I'm staying as well.
JEREMY - Very well, Odd, Yumi, I'm sending you. Can you carry Aelita to a scanner ?
YUMI - Consider it done.
JEREMY - Thanks.
After a few procedures, the three friends land on lyoko. Aelita was not able to land on her feet however, and landed right on her butt.
AELITA - Ouch. Where am I ? Is this the forest sector ? How did I get on lyoko.
Yumi put a hand on his friend's shoulder.
YUMI - Don't worry, it's us, you are fine, but XANA activated a tower to harm you, so we will need to deactivate it.
JEREMY - I'm launching the scan Aelita, you should be feeling a lot better when you come back. In the meantime, I'm sending you your vehicles.
ODD - Thanks Einstein.
JEREMY - The tower is to your east. You should be able to see it from where you are.
YUMI - Yes we can. We can also see a few crabs.
JEREMY - I can see 3 crabs and two hornets.
AELITA - Thanks. What do we do ?
YUMI - If we sneak on them we should be able to get a few of them down.
ODD - Let's do it then.
Odd rushed ahead.
AELITA - He sure seems in good spirits.
YUMI - His date must have been going well.
As Odd arrived next to the group of monsters, he sent a few laser arrows, and devirtualised both hornets.
ODD - I'm the best, like always.
Odd spoke too soon, obviously, as the krabs noticed him and shot him in the back.
JEREMY - Odd, you have lost 60 life points, don't take an other shoot.
Aelita sent an energy field to one of the crabs who dodged it, but moved right into Yumi's fan while doing so.
AELITA - Good job Yumi.
YUMI - Thanks, same to you.
JEREMY - Try to be fast, while you were fighting, XANA sent his specter to the factory as expected, and pseudo Jim is giving a hard time to the boys.
AELITA - OK Jeremy.
Aelita activated her wristband and two pink wings grew in her back. She flew to the tower as Odd moved between the krab and her.
ODD - You're not doing anything.
The krab fired at Odd before being destroyed by Yumi's fan, but it was too late, Aelita was already in the tower.
The group had too many emotions for the night and decided to stay at the factory for a while before going back home, except Odd, who wanted to go back with Emilie.
AELITA - At least one person will enjoy his night.
Jeremy pushed his wristband against Aelita's.
JEREMY - You are a bit disappointed because you couldn't really do your mix ? You were really looking forwards to it.
AELITA - Yeah, a bit. At least our program worked, but I'm still a bit sad.
YUMI - What about a little party, just the 6 of us, when we come back from winter holidays ? You will be able to make up for it.
AELITA - I don't have a mixing table though.
Jeremy did not say anything, as it was the Christmas present the group wanted to give her.
YUMI - We'll find a way don't worry about it.
AELITA - Thanks then.
