4. Missing Link

——

~The Factory~

It has been about a week since Eleanor became a Lyoko warrior. She has trained a bit, mainly with Odd, because they can both climb walls and have similar agility levels. Tiny and fast.

Eleanor has two laser guns, a rope she can use to grab the monsters, as well as grab onto objects, people, and other items. She has super jump, which allows her to jump across long distances vertically and horizontally. Another vehicle has been created called the Overglider. It is a red and white glider with a red panda face on the wings. Overall, Eleanor has been a great asset to the team.

She has become more comfortable in the strange world, where she has only seen Sector Five once, and was devirtualized immediately by a block crushing her. She finds the experience in Lyoko fun and exhilarating, yet still scary and unknown. She will get used to it, but at least she isn't alone there.

She just wonders why XANA wants her, and how she is connected to it.

"What can Yumi be doing?! We have to get some data out of Sector 5!" Jeremie exclaimed, checking his watch.

Eleanor, Ulrich, and Aelita stand outside a scanner each, waiting to go. Odd was a few feet away, waiting to go after Eleanor. Yumi was running late. It was early before school, and the warriors were gonna search in Sector Five for some data. Eleanor is curious if she will find anything out about her connections to XANA.

"It's not like her to be late..." Ulrich wondered aloud.

"Maybe she's with William." Odd guessed, and this angered Ulrich.

"Hm?!" Ulrich hummed angrily

"I-I said "maybe!" Odd stammered.

"Let's not fight," Eleanor sighed. "Probably a family thing."

"By the way, Jeremie, have you made any headway on the antivirus recently?" Aelita asked, changing the subject.

Jeremie was hesitant. "Well... Actually, it's going kind of slow. I'm missing a lot of important codes."

Odd comforts a sad Aelita, his hands on her shoulders.

"But with a little luck, we'll find them today!" Odd assured her. Eleanor nodded, hugging Aelita warmly.

"Yeah!"

"And then, it's ciao, XANA! We'll finally be able to shut down the Supercomputer!" Ulrich added brightly.

Jeremie checks his watch again impatiently. "We'd better forget about Yumi. I'm transferring you!"

Ulrich, Aelita, and Eleanor stepped into the scanners. Odd waited outside of Eleanor's scanner, giving her a wink as the doors closed.

"Transfer, Eleanor! Transfer, Aelita! Transfer, Ulrich! Scanner, Eleanor! Scanner, Ulrich! Scanner, Aelita! Virtualisation!"

They virtualized in the forest sector, and moments later, Odd arrived, landing next to Eleanor.

"Now, head for the edge of the Sector, ok?" Jeremie told them.

In the lab, the elevator opened, and Yumi was there, huffing and puffing.

"Oh! There you are!" Jeremie said with relief.

"Hi, Jeremie. Sorry, I-" Yumi began to apologize breathlessly.

"Hurry up. I'll tell them to wait for you." Jeremie interrupted, and Yumi went down to the scanner room.

Jeremie virtualized her, and she landed near the others.

"A little longer, and we would've started the party without you." Odd joked.

"Yumi," Eleanor smiled and hugged her friend.

"Where were you?" Ulrich asked in an invasive tone as the two girls broke their hug

Yumi turned away, hesitantly. "I had something to do."

Odd and Eleanor shared a look as Ulrich scoffed. "Yeah, right. Like being with William."

Yumi turns back around, hands on her hips. "Huh? Hey, don't you get tired of being jealous all the time?"

"Aha! I knew it! You were with him." Ulrich laughed.

Yumi frowned, upset. "You can believe whatever you want. Be a jerk if you want, too!"

"You must think I'm really dumb," Ulrich argued, and Eleanor stepped between them.

"Let's not, please." Eleanor sighed, not wanting to start the day like this.

Jeremie saw three monsters appear on his map on his screen.

"Careful, you have visitors!" Jeremie warned.

Three Kankrelats scuttle towards the group, and Eleanor whiped out her guns, cocking them.

"Hey, settle this later, ok?" Odd told them and cocked his arm for his arrows.

Odd and Eleanor stepped forward, and he nudged the redhead. "Let's give them a little Odd and Eleanor acupuncture!

Ulrich gestured to Aelita. "Aelita, take cover."

Aelita runs off. Ulrich draws his sabre, and Yumi takes out her fans. A Kankrelat fires a laser, and Odd ducks sideways to dodge it as Eleanor leaps into the air. She pointed her laser gun at a Kankrelat and fired a laser at it.

"Laser beam!" She yelled and destroyed the middle kankrelat.

"Nice shot, red!" Odd praised as Eleanor landed on all fours. She smiled proudly, blushing. "One down! Great way to start off the morning."

Yumi jumps up and throws one of her fans. It barely misses one of the Kankrelats, and she catches it again. When the monster fires, she backflips to safety. Ulrich deflects several lasers with his sabre. Odd fires a laser arrow and backflips away to avoid lasers. Eleanor leaps into the air and lands on a tree nearby, leaning off it.

"Watch it. More Kankrelats at five o'clock!" Jeremie warned, and two more Kankrelats came up behind them. Odd spots them, but he doesn't dodge fast enough and gets hit in the leg by a laser.

Eleanor frowns at this and leaps off the tree, swiftly firing a laser at another Kankrelat, destroying it. Ulrich Supersprints over, deflects a laser, and slices through one of the Kankrelats, destroying it. The other Kankrelat fires at him. He moves to deflect the laser but misses, and it hits his shoulder.

Yumi throws her fan and destroys a Kankrelat.

Odd runs away from one of the monsters. He then jumps and does a flip, firing at the Kankrelat when he's upside-down. The monster explodes, and Odd lands again.

Ulrich backs away from a Kankrelat. When it charges its laser, he strikes, destroying it.

Two more Kankrelats approach the group.

"Pretty interesting welcoming committee," Odd remarked as Eleanor landed next to him.

"What do you expect? XANA hates it when we go fishing in Sector 5!" Jeremie reasoned.

The monsters draw closer, and Ulrich, Eleanor, and Odd prepare to fight. Ulrich briefly glances back at Yumi, seeing her run towards them, and then turns his attention back to the monsters. The Scyphozoa glides out in front of Yumi.

"Two more!" Eleanor yelled as the Kankrelats started firing. Ulrich and Eleanor deflect lasers as Odd dodges to the side and jumps off a tree to gain height.

"Laser arrow!" Odd yells as he shoots and destroys the Kankrelat.

"Oh, no! The Scyphozoa!" Jeremie cried out, and the three turned around

"Huh?" The trio gasp and see the Scyphozoa has lifted Yumi in its tentacles. Yumi's fans slip out of her hands as she's lifted into the air by the Scyphozoa. She makes choking noises as it drains something from her.

"Yumi!" Ulrich and Eleanor yell before Ulrich supersprints over and severs the Scyphozoa's tentacles. The monster flees, and Yumi falls to the ground. Eleanor rushes over to her with Ulrich close behind her.

"Yumi! Are you ok?" Eleanor asks, putting her guns away, and helping her sit up.

Yumi rubs her head, disoriented.

"I don't know... I feel kinda funny."

The last Kankrelat scampers off.

"Well, anyway, it seems to have scared the Kankrelats away." Odd pointed out.

"Why would they go after you? We'll abort the mission." Jeremie told them, and began to devirtualize the group.

"Materialisation Yumi! Materialisation Eleanor! Materialisation Aelita!"

The scanners open, and steam pours out. Eleanor and Aelita get out of their scanners and walk over to look at the third one. Its door open, but there's nobody inside. Yumi wasn't there.

"Um, Yumi isn't here, Jeremie!" Eleanor said, sharing a worried look with Aelita.

"Huh?" Jeremie frowned. Yumi was still seen standing with Odd and Ulrich in the Forest Sector.

Yumi got nervous, stammering. "J-Jeremie? Is something wrong?"

Jeremie stumbled over his words, trying not to panic. "Uh...! No! I-I must have made a mistake. I'll reboot the program."

The scanner doors close again, and Jeremie began the materialization process.

"Malerialization Odd! Materialisation Ulrich! Materialisation Yumi!"

Ulrich and Odd arrive in two of the scanners and walk over to Eleanor and Aelita.

Jeremie's eyebrow twitches as he watches with nervous anticipation.

The scanner opens, and it's still empty. Yumi still wasn't here.

"Missed again!" Odd called, amd Eleanor, Ulrich, and Aelita gasp

Jeremie holds his head in his hands in a panic. "I can't believe it! Yumi, I don't know what's going on. I can't devirtualise you!"

"What?!" Yumi yelled.

"What do we do?" Eleanor asked, holding her hands to her mouth with worry. Odd put a hand on her shoulder, comforting her

"Go and hide in a tower while I figure this out. Direction south-southeast!" Jeremie informed, and Yumi left in that direction. "Don't worry, I'll find the bug. You're safe in the tower." 

"It's not XANA I'm worried about, Jeremie. It's the principal." Yumi reasoned.

Jeremie frowned. "Huh?"

"Oh, no. I almost forgot! Today's the class picture!" Ulrich suddenly remembered, and Eleanor gasped, remembering as well

"What class picture?" Jeremie asked.

"Hello?! The ninth-grade picture! It's this morning! One day's suspension for any unjustified absence." Odd explained and scoffed sarcastically. "Thanks a lot, Delmas."

"Can you just picture my parents' faces if...if I get suspended?!" Yumi asked, getting anxious about getting suspended

"I'll do all I can, Yumi. I promise!" Jeremie assured her with a compassionate tone.

'Hey... I have an idea! You know what a great actor I am, right? With a wig, a dress and a little make-up, I could take your place in the photo and bam! Signed, sealed and delivered." Odd suggested, and Eleanor giggled at his idea, thinking it was sweet, but not plausible.

"Signed, sealed, and suspended is more like it. No way!" Yumi protested.

"I don't think that would work with you, Odd." Eleanor reasoned, and he frowned at her.

"Why not?"

"Hang on a second, huh! That's not a bad idea!" Ulrich objected, and Eleanor tilted her head in confusion

"There, you see? Ulrich finally admits that I'm a great actor!" Odd smirked smugly.

"You?! You stink." Ulrcih scoffed, and Odd pouted.

"Huh?!"

"But I know a really great actress," Ulrich told them

——

~ Girls' Dorms~

Odd and Ulrich are waiting for her in the hallway as Eleanor walks into the bathroom. She doesn't like Sissi, but it was to help her friend.

"Sissy, Ulrich wants to talk to you." Eleanor shyly told her as she watched Sissi get ready in the mirror.

"Of course he does!" She smugly replied and walked by Eleanor, who followed her out.

Ulrich stood up straight as he saw Sissi. "Hi, Sissi. Er, say, can I talk to you for a second?"

"Uh, well...yeah, of course!" She smiled. Odd and Eleanor stood next to each other, exchanging a glance.

"I have something...really important to ask you." Ulrich hesitantly continued.

"Who...me?" Sissi asked.

"And in exchange, I'm ready to do...whatever...you want." Ulrich sighed, already picturing what she wanted

"Anything?" She grinned.

"Well...almost anything." Ulrich shrugged.

"I'm listening!" Sissi told him, thinking about it.

"Well, since Yumi can't be here this morning...I'd like you to stand in for her...erm...in the ninth-grade class photo." Ulrich grins nervously. Sissi takes a moment to think about it before she nods.

"Ok!" She agreed.

"Huh?" Ulrich gasped, and he looked at Odd and Eleanor in surprise. "You...y-you'll do it? And um...what do you want in exchange?"

"Oh, what do you think I am? I don't want anything at all." She remarked, and this made the three younger teens stunned.

Sissi smiled. "Just call it a personal favour to you, and that's that."

Sissi walks away, humming, and goes through a door into another hallway. Ulrich, Eleanor, and Odd look at each other again.

"Is she okay?" Eleanor asked, and the boys shrugged.

——

The boys and Eleanor were waiting outside Sissi's door, waiting for her to finish disguising herself as Yumi. Eleanor and Odd are leaning against the wall, and Ulrichi is sitting on the floor.

Ulrich checked his watch, getting impatient. "A quarter of an hour to put on a dress and a wig. Unbelievable."

"Hey, she agreed to help; she can take as long as she wants." Eleanor reasoned.

The door opens, smacking into Odd. He, Eleanor, and Ulrich flinch. Sissi now stands before them, sporting Yumi's hairstyle, a blue, shoulder-baring dress, and knee-high boots.

"There you go! What do you think?" She asked and walked past them, showing off.

"Not bad. The hair looks like Yumi's!" Odd nodded.

"Same height, which helps," Eleanor added.

"Y-yeah, but she doesn't dress like that! She always wears black! And her dresses are longer, and less..." Ulrich trailed off, unsure how to word it.

Sissi poses. "Less sexy? Well, why don't you bring me one of her dresses?"

Sissi walks back into her room, smiling at them.

"R-right. Good idea! We'll try." Ulrich called, stammering.

"Sissi's being um...strangely helpful!" Odd mentioned.

Eleanor folded her arms, frowning. "Yeah, I suppose. Weird, huh?"

——

~Ishiyama House: Backyard~

Odd, Ulrich, and Eleanor went over to Yumi's house. Ulrich searched for the back door and smiled when he found it unlocked. He calls down to Odd and Eleanor, who were waiting by the corner of the house.

"Cool! It's open, I'm in! Piece of cake. You two warn me if you see anyone coming." Ulrich called in a hushed voice.

Eleanor gave him a thumbs-up and saluted him.

"We read you loud and clear, General!" Odd saluted him before Ulrich walked into the house.

Odd and Eleanor were left alone to stand guard. It was silent for a few moments, both teens looking around. The wind blew through Eleanor's hair, and Odd blushed at the sight of her pretty hair.

He cleared his throat, gaining the redhead's attention. "So, uh, how are you feeling about Lyoko so far?"

In all honesty, Odd has loved training her. He is beyond excited about her also being an animal; he stares at her all the time in Lyoko. The cat ears and tail add to her adorableness.

"It's great so far, I'm really glad I joined. Thank you for training me," Eleanor smiled, leaning toward him.

He chuckled bashfully, rubbing his neck. "Of course!"

Eleanor looked away, tapping her foot, and tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear. She felt awkward when she didn't have anything to talk about with Odd; they were so different, and yet it made her want to get to know him more. She likes him and wants to know more about him.

Eleanor clasped her hands together, her pink cheeks visible. She somehow gained the courage to sit on the grass and looked up at Odd, her eyes sparkling.

"Sit," She softly patted the grass, and Odd hesitated before he sat next to her. "I, uh, want to get to know you. Tell me about you."

Odd smiled, blushing. "Well, I'm Odd Della Robbia. 13. I have a dog named Kiwi, who lives in my dorm in secret." Eleanor has met Kiwi and loves him very much.  I have five older sisters, my dad is an opera singer and my mom is a script writer." Eleanor smiled, her eyebrows raising at this.

"Wow, that's so cool. Parents seem cool," Eleanor remarked, her fingers tracing the grass.

Odd shrugged, "It can be, but they are always away, which is why they enrolled me here, because of how busy they are."

Eleanor noded, "Makes sense."

Odd leaned back on his hands, looking at her to answer now. "So?" Eleanor hummed, looking at him. "Your turn."

Eleanor clasped her hands on her lap, shrugging. "Oh right, I gotta talk now."

"That's usually how this goes," Odd remarked.

Eleanor chuckled and sighed. "Okay, uh, I have a little sister, Amelia, she's 10. She's homeschooled, mand y dad has agreed to send us to public school at 13. My mother passed..." Eleanor paused for a moment, touching her necklace. Odd took notice of this. "When I was 10 in a car accident, my dad has since been distant, and never had time for us. He usually works and doesn't want to spend time with us anymore. He usually hires a nanny if Amelia is home alone, because he is barely home."

Eleanor stopped herself, feeling like she was rambling on, and dumping her trauma on Odd. Her eyes looked onto the shiny blades of grass below, sniffling, and Odd blinked for a moment, hesitant on what to do.

"Uh, I'm sorry. I rambled on." Eleanor shook her head, standing up. She wiped her dress off and held her arms, sighing. Odd stood up, and touched her shoulder, squeezing it.

"It's okay, it was nice to hear." Odd assured her, "I'm sorry about your mom."

Eleanor let go of her arms, and waved him off. "It's okay, I've learned to live with it. I still have her necklace."

"It's a pretty necklace." Odd complimented as they faced one another, Eleanor barely having to look up at him. "You're pretty."

Eleanor blushed, chuckling softly. "Oh, you don't have to say that."

Odd frowned in disbelief at the thought of Eleanor not believing him.

"You are," Odd repeated, his cheeks growing red. Eleanor looked into his eyes, and she smiled.

"Thank you," She quietly replied. Odd gently took her hands into his, and they continued to stare into each other's eyes.

"Eleanor-"

"Guys!"

Eleanor and Odd jumped apart, looking up to see Ulrich staring down at them. Odd and Eleanor wwre bright red in the face, awkwardly making eye contact.

Ulrich climbs down a pipe right above them. "Guys, is that how you stand guard?! By making out."

"We weren't-"

"Dude!"

The two looked away from one another uncomfortably, and Ulrich rolled his eyes. Ulrich jumps off the pipe and lands in front of him.

Odd recovers from the awkward moment and clears his throat. "We didn't see anyone go by! You got the dress?"

Ulrich lifts his shirt and takes the dress out, smiling. His phone rings again and he answers this time. He hands the dress to Eleanor, who checks it out.

"Cute," she mumbled. Eleanor likes more color, but this suited Yumi perfectly

"Jeremie. Sorry. I didn't mean to hang up on you, but it was either that or getting caught by Yumi's mum." Ulrich apologized to Jeremie over the phone. Odd caught himself staring at Eleanor, who turned to him, and he looked away, rubbing his arm bashfully.

"Listen to me. Aelita is on Lyoko, transferring her DNA sequence code over to Yumi. The transfer is at about forty percent completion." Jeremie explained, and Ulrich frowned with confusion.

"Uh? So what? You mean that's not a good idea?" Ulrich asked.

"No. Aelita doesn't know that when she transfers her code over, her memory will be exposed!" Jeremie exclaimed.

"What?!" Eleanor gasped with worry as the trio began to walk to the front of os the house

"Why?" Odd asked.

"Are you saying that XANA will just be able to steal it at will?!" Eleanor asked Jeremie.

"That's right! I'm sure that's why the Scyphozoa attacked Yumi. It's another one of XANA's little evil schemes..." Jeremie reasoned

"Then warn Aelita! Tell her to stop!" Ulrich protested.

"I can't. She's cut off all communication with the tower. So you've got to get to Lyoko fast!" Jeremie exclaimed before he hung up. The three teens ran to the school to give Sissi the dress and head to the factory.

——

Odd, Eleanor, and Ulrich were in the girls' dorms, and Sissi was checking out the dress.

"Ok. I wouldn't exactly call it glamorous, but it'll do. You can count on me." Sissi smiled at them,

"Thanks, Sissi," Ulrich said, before he, Odd, and Eleanor began to walk away. Ulrich pauses to say something else. "I owe you one!"

——

Ulrich, Eleanor, and Odd had made their way to the manhole. Ulrich has his phone to his ear.

"Girls! You leave 'em alone for five minutes and it's mess after mess after mess!" Odd complained, and Eleanor frowned, smacking his arm.

"Hey, I'm a girl!" She protested.

"Jeremie! Warm up the scanners – we're on our way." Ulrich told Jeremie before he hung up.

They climb down into the sewers and skate through the sewers. Eleanor had her pink scooter, as Ulrich and Odd had their skateboards.

They made it to the factory and immediately to the scanner room. The three stepped into a scanner each, and Jeremie started the virtualization process.

"Transfer Ulrich! Transfer, Odd! Transfer Eleanor. Scanner, Ulrich! Scanner, Odd! Scanner Eleanor. Virtualization."

Odd, Eleanor, and Ulrich land in the Forest Sector and take off toward the tower the girls were in. Ulrich races on his Overbike as Odd is on his Overboard with Eleanor.

"You should be able to spot the tower now!" Jeremie said after a few moments, and the tower appeared in their view.

Eleanor pointed, "There it is! We'll be there in a minute."

Jeremie pounds his fist on the armrest. "Hurry up...hurry up!"

It didn't take long for Ulrich, Eleanor, and Odd to burst into the tower, stopping the girls

"Aelita! Stop right now!" Odd protested.

Eleanor stopped forward, taking Aelita's shoulder. "If the transfer takes place, XANA will steal all of your memory. Aelita, stop everything right now!"

The connection between the girls disappears. Aelita turns to the interface and closes the DNA transfer window.

"Jeremie?" Aelita called, and Jeremie gasped.

"Aelita! You're so stubborn. That was a silly thing to do!"

Aelita closes the interface and hangs her head apologetically. Eleanor squeezed her shoulder sympathetically

"I'm sorry. But I thought I was doing the right thing!" Aelita apologized.

"I understand. And I appreciate it, too." Yumi remarked.

"I'm glad you're both okay," Eleanor said with relief, and the three girls hugged.

"You're turning into a real human being! You're beginning to confuse generosity with stupidity!" Odd mentioned, and Eleanor chuckled, rolling her eyes.

"Anyway, we still have no idea how to save Yumi!" Ulrich called, changing the subject.

"Don't bet on that. I just happen to have a brilliant idea! XANA has stolen Yumi's DNA code sequence, so it must be in its memory! And how do we get access to XANA's memory!?" Jeremie asked the group

"Sector 5!" The Lyoko Warriors answered.

——

~Sector 5; Arena~

The Transporter drops the five warriors off. Odd puts a hand to his tummy, groaning

"Ugh! It's a good thing I didn't eat breakfast this morning."

Eleanor rubbed his back, and he gave her a weak smile.

"Er, by the way, Yumi, just a little detail: without your human DNA sequence code, you're just as vulnerable as Aelita. If you get hit, you'll disappear forever." Jeremie explained to Yumi, who sighed.

"Great..."

"We will protect you," Eleanor assured Yumi, smiling up at her as the door opened to the passageway.

"Come on, let's go." Yumi gestured, and she led the way out with the other four following.

The passageway opens up as a plain, flat floor that the five of them easily run across.

"The countdown has started! You have three minutes to get out of the Core Zone." Jeremie informed them. Eleanor began to look around for the key.

"First, we have to find the key." Eleanor frowned.

"Check at the end of the corridor! I spotted the mechanism on the wall at the end of the room." Jeremie told them, seeing the key mechanism on his computer.

The gang exits into a large room. There's a single, narrow walkway leading to the other side of the room, and Aelita points at the end of the walkway.

"Yes! I see it over there."

Odd shrugged, stepping forward. "Looks like a trap to me! But, when you gotta go, you gotta go."

Odd starts jogging along the walkway. Ulrich gasps when he sees one of the blocks on the ceiling descend, threatening to crush Odd. Ulrich Supersprints out.

"ODD!" Ulrich cries, and tackles Odd to the ground, out of the way of the falling block. The girls gasp with worry. Another block falls towards them.

"Careful!" Eleanor yelled, her paws covering her mouth in worry.

"Watch out!" Aelita yelled

Huh?!" Odd and Ulrich say, and look up to see the next block coming towards them. They flip out of the way just in time.

"The whole ceiling is booby-trapped! Move it!" Yumi exclaimed, and Ulrich and Odd started running. As they go, more and more blocks fall from the ceiling.

"Faster, guys. You've got one minute left to turn the key!" Jeremie rushed, looking at the countdown on his screen.

"Come on," Eleanor mumbled, using her tail to cover her eyes, but taking a peek frequently.

Ulrich and Odd continue to run, zigzagging to avoid falling blocks. Odd has to slow to a stop to avoid being crushed by one of them, before running off again.

"MOVE IT!" Jeremie yelled, and as they neared the end, the blocks started falling faster. Odd stops and shoulders Ulrich out of the way.

"TIMBERRR!" He cries out as he's crushed by the block. Ulrich sits up on the floor beside it, watching Odd devirtualize in front of him.

"Odd!" Ulrich yelled.

Eleanor couldn't see what happened, but by the sounds of their yells, she assumed Odd got crushed. She gasped. "Odd!"

Yumi put an arm around the redhead, comforting her

Ulrich heard a sound and looked up, "Huh?!"

Another block descends right above him. He rolls out of the way and finds himself right in front of the key, which he activates.

"Ok!"

The ceiling blocks rise back up again, clearing the path. The girls smile, but Eleanor's smile drops a little when she sees Odd is gone, meaning he did get devirtualized.

"Good work, Ulrich." Jeremie praised, and the girls ran to the other side of the room. Ulrich waves them through the door.

"After you, ladies!" Ulrich kindly gestured. Ulrich, Eleanor, Yumi, and Aelita walk out onto the platform and wait for the elevator. "Here comes our taxi!"

"We'd better not miss it," Aelita said, before the elevator passed by them. "Now!"

They all jump on. Once the Elevator reached the top, the three of them exited into the Celestial Dome.

Aelita runs straight to the interface as Ulrich, Eleanor, and Yumi stay back, standing guard.

"Aelita! You know where to find Yumi's DNA sequence code?" Jeremie asked.

"Not really. But I'll manage somehow." Aelita remarked, searching for Yumi's code on the interface

Nearby, a Manta nest grows in size on the outer wall, getting ready to hatch.

Eleanor cocks her guns, pointing to it. "Manta's nest is about to hatch! We don't have much time left!"

Ulrich looked at Yumi nervously, "Uhh, Yumi? I wanted to apologise for this morning. It was none of my business what you'd been doing."

Yumi smiled, shrugging. "That's true. But I'll tell you anyway. I was buying two tickets for the Subsonics concert. And it wasn't easy! Bad Internet connection."

"Aw, sweet, you made up. But can we worry about the bigger task at hand?" Eleanor protested, pointing to the Mantas that had hatched.

"Look out! The nest has hatched!" Yumi called.

Three Mantas float out of the wall, and Eleanor, Yumi, and Ulrich stand at the ready with their weapons drawn. Ulrich deflects a laser, and Eleanor uses her rope to grab one, and Yumi uses her fan to kill it.

"Nice team work, girls!" Jeremie praised, and Yumi and Eleanor fist bumped. "How's it going, Aelita?"

Aelita was still searching, "Nothing yet."

Ulrich deflects more lasers before being hit in the back, and Eleanor fires her laser gun, but misses. A Manta flies low over the platform, and Yumi ducked down to dodge. Another Manta comes up behind Eleanor and fires, hitting her in the back.

Aelita suddenly gasped. "That's it! I've got it!"

Ulrich winks at Yumi and high-fives Eleanor.

"I'm sending it to you now, Jeremie," Aelita said, and Jeremie began to type on the computer

"I've got it, Yumi! I'll download it back to you in a second!" Jeremie told Yumi, who smiled with relief.

"I'm going to be really happy to go ho-" Yumi began, before she was shot by a Manta and devirtualised.

"Yumi!" Ulrich and Eleanor yell.

Ulrich growls and leaps off the platform, stabbing a Manta as it goes to fly underneath. He jumps off and lands back on the platform just before the monster explodes.

Eleanor was taken aback as she put her weapons away. "Nice."

Ulrich shoots her a smile.

"Did you have time to reinsert her code?" Aelita asked Jeremie.

"I sure hope so! You three get out of there!" Jeremie ordered.

The Overbike and Overglider appear. Eleanor hops onto her glider as Ulrich and Aelita get on the Overbike.

"The north tunnel! It's open!" Jeremie pointed out, and the warriors flew off. The final manta begins to follow, but it eventually turns and runs away.

——

~Scanner Room~

Ulrich, Aelita, and Eleanor step out of the scanners. They anxiously await Yumi's arrival, and moments later, a scanner door opens to reveal Yumi, who was lying inside.

Eleanor exhaled with relief, "Yumi?"

Ulrich jumps over the manhole in the centre of the room to get to her and crouches by her side. Eleanor follows, worried for her friend.

"It's ok, don't worry. She's out cold, but she's here with us." Aelita assured Ulrich.

Ulrich places Yumi in his lap, and when she wakes up, she smiles at Ulrich.

Eleanor smiles at the sweet sight, beyond relieved, Yumi was alright.

——

~The Next Day~

Odd, Eleanor, Aelita, and Jeremie were hanging by the door to the building, watching Yumi and Ulrich talk to Sissi

"Your father caught you?!" Ulrich gasped.

"Oh, am I gonna get suspended?" Yumi asked with worry.

"Don't worry! I saved your day. I'll get punished, but not you. Anyway, I know how to talk to my father. Here." Sissi assured them and handed Yumi her dress. "Here's your dress back."

"That's uh...that was really nice of you, Sissi!" Yumi remarked, confused by the random nice act of Sissi.

"Yeah, she's right! Thank you!" Ulrich agreed.

"I told you you could count on me! See you later!" Sissi waves and walks away.

Yumi turns to Ulrich, asking a question in silence. Ulrich nods, and Yumi runs to Sissi.

"Sissi, uh, wait!" Yumi grabs Sissi's shoulder to stop her, and then holds up a ticket. "How would you like to go see the Subsonics with Ulrich?"

Yumi put the ticket in Sissi's hand, who was stunned. "Huh? Are you kidding?! Great!"

The group by the doors watched carefully at what was happening. Everyone was confused by Sissi being nice

"Something's really fishy about the way Sissi's behaving!" Odd pointed.

"Seriously, is she okay?" Eleanor asked, folding her arms.

"Maybe...deep down, she's a...very nice person!" Aelita hesitantly remarked, and Eleanor giggled.

They watch her walk past, holding the ticket up to her face and looking content.

"Or she's really crazy about Ulrich." Jeremie reasoned.

——

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